[FM20] All That's Left is to Find Out the Colour of the Hair Dryer

[Mandy42]

April 2023

Quarter Final 2nd Leg

We haven't played Chelsea at home yet this season, we were supposed to right before this game, but it has been moved due to their FA Cup commitments

Thus we have played them away twice and lost twice.

We made it to the Semi Final last year after seeing off Juventus, however we never trailed in that game.

Before kick off, a screenshot I  was not expecting

We are top of the table in something!

Combined with being top of the table in transfers spent in January and that is quite an accomplishment

Anyway back to the game.

I'm still angry, thus playing the Hammer away, we play the Hammer at home!

We started well in the 1st leg, but then came undone towards the end.

We get off well again at home.

Not a long throw!

It takes a mistake at the back in order for Wolf to dart in and snatch us the goal that sends us through on away goals.

The problem is, getting what you need after only 4 minutes, doesn't relax you regarding the remaining 86.

The game was very, very cagey, only 1 goal has separated us in both other games this season.

Chelsea seemed to be in no great panic, they had scored in both those other games, and they only needed 1 goal as it stood to go through.

We had profited from their defensive mistake, but didn't seem able to create anything on our own.

Our success from long throws had dried up.

Half time and I tell the lads to keep going, they are doing well.

Never not throw it long

Shortly after the restart we double our advantage with a great Maddison finish.

Chelsea need to score 2 now in order to progress.

They come forward with more urgency, but we stand firm at the back, blocking crosses, clearing corners.

They aren't as smooth as they were in the 1st leg, they are having problems building from the back.

We finally press a mistake out of them at the back

A comedy of errors sees us go 3-0 up on the night. 5-3 on aggregate.

Chelsea still only need 2 goals, but that would now take us to extra time.

I have no intention of taking my hand of the haft with so little time remaining.

Perhaps the only thing making Chelsea nervous is the fact we are willing to throw bodies forward.

We hammer the last nail into the coffin with just under 10 minutes to go.

Maddison's second rounding off the perfect evening.

Didn't forget to take the picture this time!

That is now 4-0 wins against Chelsea, City and Utd.

For crying out loud!

There are other teams in Europe other than the English.

isn't that right @ManUtd1

Having said that PSG put us out last year in the Semi Final stage!

[Mandy42]

April 2023

Game Week 32

Starting page 4 off with a bang there! getting into the Champions League Semi Final for the 2nd year in a row.

Back to the league, and I am beginning to think there are no easy games in this league, especially not at this time of year.

Next is Arsenal at home. Arsenal who are sat on our shoulder in 4th, due to goal difference alone.

Though they have played 1 more game than we have.

If you had money on us to score from a long throw

You can take that to the bank!

I said I would take 1-0 wins till the end of time, but they aren't exactly the best for my nerves!

Everyone else wins as well

Thus other than hopefully seeing off Arsenal's challenge for 3rd

We are no closer to either of the teams above us.

 

[Mandy42]

April 2023

Game Week 33

It is put up or shut up time. 

Liverpool, at Anfield, in the league.

Hilariously we are unbeaten against them this season. 

But neither of those games have been at Anfield.

One was at the King Power

The other at Old Trafford in the Carabao.

If we have any hope of winning the league this year, we need a win.

Paulo Diaz's 2nd goal in 2 games.

It wasn't from a throw in, it was from a corner, but not how you think!

Just watch the damn video!

I didn't have much hope that we would hold on, as Liverpool absolutely battered us trying to get an equalizer.

This is the 1st opposition goal I have shown

Mainly because it is the arch enemy Liverpool.

But also I have a general question, is there a way for me to influence the number of players in the wall? 

As there is no way I  would have only had 2 in there in that situation!

Anyway, that is our one and only change to directly influence Liverpool's league points total.

Chelsea suffer with only 10 men

Man City pull ahead again slightly

Spurs just suffer

On Sunday:

Arsenal need a stoppage time penalty to close the gap to us again.

I thought I had seen them off!

Yes I have a game in hand but it means I have to try win the damn thing!

Plus Roberto Martinez is on my **** list, as he took Pedro Chirivella on loan with an option to buy.

However he has hardly played him, so I doubt he is going to buy him!

Anyway, after our game at Anfield, we now prepare for our next game.

At Anfield

 

[Mandy42]

April 2023

Semi Final 1st Leg

Once more we play in the Champions League Semi Final.

We play Liverpool, and like most of the knockout rounds this year we are away in the 1st leg.

Remarkably we are still unbeaten against them this season.

If you have Paulo Diaz to score, sorry but he is being rested.

Before the game:

Think Spurs have left it too late to push into the top 6.

Man Utd could still put pressure on Arsenal.

Right! Champions League

It seems no Paulo Diaz means no goals.

Couldn't care less we are now 4 games unbeaten this season against Liverpool.

I feel we have blown a real chance, any score draw in the second leg puts Liverpool through.

We will have to win when we return to the King Power.

Which won't be for another game yet.

We play Everton away, good job we booked the travel lodge for the whole week!

One fantastic thing that came from this game:

Alex Meret only signed in January, I had to go back and look, the man has only conceded 3 goals in the Premier League

3!

Best player I never bought.

 

[Mandy42]

April 2023

Game Week 34

Away to Everton, before we go home to play Liverpool for the 3rd time in 4 games.

We play in the late game, thus I can give you all the other results 1st!

Cardiff are relegated already, and feeling rather chilled out about it.

The wheels are definitely off at Chelsea.

And after drawing back to back games against us Liverpool do it again vs Spurs

For all you betting people, Paulo Diaz starts.

3 goals in 3 starts!

I might have to reconsider selling him at the end of the season!

Seems strange seeing Liverpool off the top spot, but they hold 3 games in hand.

Man Utd are breathing down Arsenal's neck, which might just save Ole his job.

 

[Mandy42]

May 2023

Semi Final 2nd Leg

Last time we were here, PSG put us out on away goals.

A score draw puts Liverpool through and us out on away goals.

We go with the Hammer, because, why on earth not.

We do not go with Paulo Diaz, he needs a rest.

Ethan Ampadu starts, though he too needs rest having just returned from injury, he won't be able to play the whole game.

For them, Sadio Mane, their top goal scorer is out, pulled abdominal muscle.

Serves him right for caring so much about his 6 pack instagram selfies.

The last 3 Champions League games we have scored in, we have started fast!

Once again it's an opposition mistake

But it still leaves Wolf with a lot to do, and against the keeper with the most clean sheets in the Premier League.

It is also the same as the 1st goal Madrid, it means nothing. 

Liverpool needed 1 before, they still only need 1.

It descends into much the same game as the previous two, which I guess isn't surprising.

Neither team has much new to offer, the game is tight, not many chances.

I am sweating bullets!

1st half comes and goes, I make no changes.

60 minutes comes and goes, I don't dare deploy the Shark Tank.

I am not going more defensive when Liverpool only need 1 goal.

If we are to be beaten on away goals two years in a row, it will be on the front foot.

I don't actually believe it!

A header won up the pitch. A pass into loads of space, a 1st time finish

Liverpool need 2, they have just under 18 minutes.

I was told Ampadu could manage 75 minutes. 

I sub him the moment the 2nd goal goes in.

We are playing in the Champions League Final!

The credit has to go to our defenders, all 3 of my substitutions came in our back line, Liverpool must have run them ragged.

But they held firm, and we will play:

Oh for the love of!

It's even at Wembley.... not very European

 

 

[Mandy42]

May 2023

Game Week 35

4 Games to go.

But before we get to our game against Norwich. 

Other teams have got games to play.

Plus, since this time last season it was very unclear what was going on.

I have provided additional visual aids to help with the changing landscape.

The day after we knock Liverpool out of the Champions League

Man Utd use their game in hand to climb above Arsenal into 4th.

Chelsea remove almost any hope of Spurs getting into the top 6

Only 2 days after Liverpool got knocked out of the Champions League

They have to get a  result at Brighton 

Which puts them back top of the league.

Two days after that they are flagging and lose to Southampton at home

2 penalties for Man City see them past Stoke, relegating them in the process.

Which sees Liverpool back into 2nd but still with games in hand.

Just depends if they have the legs to take the points from them.

We play Norwich on the 7th, this happens before kick off:

I've no idea what I said, but I am not standing for that, I can't remember what I  said before the game either.

Paulo Diaz starts, though I don't think you can even get odds on him to score.

4 in 4 games. Stick that in your beard Santo

 

We have an outside chance still, but only really mathematically.

City have to take less than 2 points from their remaining 2 games (or we have to make up the 10 goal goal difference)

Liverpool have 4 games and have to take less than 4 points, and we won't catch their goal difference.

After the Norwich game:

Shut up... I beat you...

I was still rather angry.

ooops

 

 

Edited May 17, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

May 2023

Game Week 36

So that Chelsea game, we play them at home finally, seen as though they had the nerve to still be in the FA Cup.

We play 3 games in a week, Liverpool have to fit another game in, we might have only the slimmest chance of changing our league position.

But it is on between City and Liverpool

Cardiff know they are down though, they are already on holiday!

Which lifts Liverpool back to top, and means they have to lose their last 3 games for us to be able to win the title.

We play next, with the rest of the peasants playing at the weekend.

Did not expect that!

Not all long throws are created equal

Don't know why I spend so much money on attacking midfielders!

I had to go check, but gladly Paulo Diaz doesn't have a goal bonus in his contract, he might ask for one soon though!

We need another point, technically 2 to ensure we finish 3rd, but I don't see United overcoming the goal difference.

We play Spurs in the last game of the season, though all they have to play for is to not have Everton pip them to the Europa Conference league.

Utd are pushing as much as they can.

Arsenal do us no favours in our attempts to catch City

City back top, but Liverpool still have 3 games to find the points they need

 

[Mandy42]

May 2023

Game Week 37

Almost there!

Cardiff turned up to upset Chelsea!

 

I must admit, this was a 2nd / 3rd choice team selection.

However let me be clear, there was more than enough quality on the pitch to win this game.

Though Damien Lally scored his 1st senior goal for the club

It means Huddersfield take their attempt to avoid relegation to the final day

And it means a draw for us on the final day clinches 3rd. 

Even a loss for us and a win for Utd will see us stay 3rd, unless there is a goal difference swing of more than 4.

Hold on just a minute! 

Why I like having points on the board instead of games in hand

Yowser!

Apologies for ruining 4th and 5th  spot

But it comes down to the final day, 

Man City win and the title is theirs

Man City lose and a draw is enough for Liverpool.

At the bottom, Cardiff and Stoke have long been relegated.

It is between Huddersfield and Villa for the final spot.

 

 

[Mandy42]

May 2023

Game Week 38

It's the Final Countdown!!

We play Spurs at home

This amuses and scares me at the same time.

Man Utd host Man City at Old Trafford, with the moral quandary of beating City gives the title to Liverpool

Liverpool host Watford at Anfield knowing that a draw is enough, but ONLY if City lose. If City draw they have to win, if City win, it is over.

Chelsea host Villa at Stamford Bridge, Villa have to match Huddersfield result in order to stay up.

Arsenal host Huddersfield at the Emirates, Huddersfield need a win to have a chance, and Villa to lose.

 

Will an early scare wake Huddersfield up?

Doesn't look like it.

Oh dear!

1st blood at the top of the table, as it stands Liverpool are Champions on goal difference.

Liverpool go 2 points clear at the top of the table. City need to win to have any chance.

Huddersfield are gone, there is no coming back to win from 4-0 down.

Spurs put us under sustained pressure in the 2nd half, but we never looked like conceding.

It might have been easyish, but it wasn't very comfortable.

Arnie sets us on our way!

City fall at the final hurdle, but can Liverpool capitalise?

They certainly can! Back to back  titles for Liverpool, but they made heavy weather of it.

Huddersfield did "relatively" better in the 2nd half.

Villa lose but survive.

1 win and 7 goals shy of moving up into 2nd spot.

In the end only 5 points behind the Champions.

Maybe this is a lesson in never giving up, if we had played to win that Huddersfield game, and possibly a couple of the others in the season when I was disillusioned.

Compare this to last season's finish, we were equal points but 10 goals behind 2nd place City

We were 3 points behind Liverpool.

However this season we won the Carabao cup, and still have the Champions League Final to play.

I am willing to accept that this season has been progress in the right direction.

It just feels the margins to pushing on and taking the next step are ridiculously fine.

 

 

[Mandy42]

June 2023

Final

Says it all really.

We held the obligatory team meeting before the big game.

I told the players that you don't play in a final everyday so go out and enjoy yourselves.

The majority of players responded well. However a couple of douchebags at the back felt that was too much pressure!

Enjoying yourself is too much pressure? Woah!

Tommy Tavares injured his ankle in the weeks build up, he is out for 4-5 weeks, I could have given him an injection but I don't trust it.

Ruben Neves wore a brace for his broken arm and he played, but was crap.

You don't even use your arm for football, well, not as much as your ankle. So no, you don't play.

The game is similar to the majority we have played against big sides this season.

We create chances, they have the majority of the ball. We look most dangerous when we pinch the ball off them.

We have to soak up a lot of pressure.

15 minutes in and James Justin, the replacement right wing back for Tommy, pulls up with a potential pulled hamstring.

I don't have a sub for him on the bench, not one I want to make. I leave him out there as it is just him signalling he wants to come off.

His condition plummets, my assistant manager tells me he needs to come off because he looks exhausted.

I hang on another couple of minutes, I just want to make it to halftime and make the change.

His condition crawls back up above 70 and he stays on for now.

I love how much pressure we can soak up, yet still have Nathan Wood my Libero make assists in the final 3rd

Yari Verschaeren has really stepped up this season!

Long may it continue.

We go in at halftime, and after multiple orange segments, James Justin can play on.

He won't be able to finish the game, but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

I tell the players the job isn't done.

2nd half and City come at us, I am watching James Justin's condition like a hawk.

70% is my cut off, it's strange I want to stay in the Hammer as long as possible, but I don't want him to make a mistake which could have been avoided if I had brought him off sooner.

When the time comes I switch to the strikerless Gungnir tactic I talked about at the beginning of the season.

Reason being is that Paulo Diaz has a chance of being able to play as a right back, he has no chance as a wing back.

Can't fault Diaz for the goal, City overload the box as a cross comes in from the right and Brandt is the man over beyond the far post.

He wraps his foot around the ball and we are all square.

Not much happens for the next 20 minutes, both teams seem resigned to be going to extra time.

I start checking off penalty takers, compared with who I have on the bench, whose condition means they wont make it through extra time.

My head is a whirlwind of permutations, which particular set of dice do I want to roll?

A direct Nuno Taveres run and an incisive 1 touch pass sees us take the lead at the death

I want to dive head 1st into the Shark Tank, but that would mean Diaz goes out to a wing back position and i'm like hell no.

I pull the Gungnir mentality back to balanced in a hope it keeps us tight.

I honestly don't believe we have come through as Champions!

Nicely book ended, the least important cup and the most important!

Not sure if I am smiling this time, but I think I've been captured mid pelvic thrust

[Mandy42]

June 2023

End of Season Review

Made it to the end of another year! 

However the same cannot be said for these guys:

At that point these were the contenders to be next.

Guardiola comes in as 3rd favourite to be sacked! 

Senol Gunes won the FA Cup final with Chelsea which might have been enough to save his job.

He is yet to be sacked.

Pep won nothing, just finished 2nd, he is yet to be sacked.

Bit of a consolation being the manager of the month when you still lose your job.

The legend that is Diaz wins player of the month

Nathan Wood scoops Young Player of the month.

Alex Meret finishes second in the golden glove competition.

He only played half the season!

Hmmm not this crap again, we only survived one takeover and that at the beginning of the season!

However I understand how spending that much in the transfer market, but spending the least in turnover on wages, would make us an attractive business proposition.

The vision of the current board:

Finally they want more than finishing in the top half every season.

Luckily for me, at the end of year meeting the players also FINALLY agreed that more than top half was acceptable as well!

Team of the season and fan favourites.

Interesting the signing of the season isn't either player the chairman brought in.

Seems strange that Mason Mount isn't in the team of the season, as he played often enough.

Same goes for Tommy Tavares.

All time best 11 sees just one addition, James Justin at right back.

Strange, having beaten Kasper's clean sheet record in half a season Alex Meret doesn't get in.

European dream team has lots of runners up in it!

The defender of the season, doesn't make it into the dream team?

 

 

[Mandy42]

July 2023

Preseason 

So we start again, I had toyed with the idea of taking a break from this save and focusing on my Dafuge challenge save for a season.

But I am having too much fun trying to emulate Sir Alex in this save.

A few things that came up towards the back end of last season:

New sponsorship deals! including a branded drinks company deal. There is Red Bull.

Say hello to Blue Fox, stay foxy!

Alex Meret did in fact beat Kasper's clean sheets record (and only took half a season to do it)

Still bewilders me how he didn't make the Leicester best ever 11.

We have moved up 19 places! and that is still without a coefficient score in the 18/19 season.

Arsenal once more found the back door into the Champions League by winning the Europa League.

Only upgrade I was able to get the board to agree to.

Interestingly if you see the new vision from the last post.

Play attacking football is gone, as is 4 year contracts for 1st team players, also, build the team using the youth facilities has vanished as well

Moving to this season:

Over the summer the board have decided the Europa League isn't enough, they want us in the Champions League through league position.

Luckily the players agreed when we came back at the start of preseason.

However the odds suggest we will be finishing in a Europa League spot, though, this is the highest finishing position we have been given to date.

Ole to Spurs is an interesting move, the rest I will have to wait and see what they are like.

Senol Gunes has spent as much money as he can before he gets himself sacked!

I have no idea how he is making those kind of moves on Europa League money.

However he has sold Kingsley Coman and N'Golo Kante this window.

Will discuss our transfer moves in the next post with a full squad review.

The board seem content enough with them, the fans happier!

 

Yari is the only player we have who is tipped for a chance at an award.

If he kicks on again like he did last season I can see why!

Edited May 19, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

August 2023

Squad Review

With a new season, and the excitement of starting again with a clean slate, comes the added incentive of tactical tinkering!

We were very successful in 2 out of 3 cups last season, however in the league, while we finished in the same position as the year before, we were further behind.

We drew the joint most games in the league, 10, alongside Wolves who only just finished in the top half.

We were solid, very solid at the back, despite playing with a very attacking mentality, we just struggled to score against teams who didn't turn up to play.

Thus I attempted to make some adjustments to the primary tactic (Which has been #Hammertime for the last couple of season.

You might remember I dabbled with Gungnir (another fabulous strikerless tactic) through parts of last season.

Now don't worry, I haven't suddenly become a tactical expert, I have simply mashed my two favourite tactics together.

I present to you:

Mjolnir

I have taken the inverted winger and complete wing back on the left side from Gungnir and bolted it onto the Hammer tactic.

I am hopeful that this will create more space in the final 3rd of the pitch in order to break down stubborn defences.

As in some games the Hammer's boxed front 4 of 2 shadow strikers and 2 Mezzala's seemed  to be far too centrally focused.

The deepest midfield player is a roaming playmaker as I want him to be able to follow the Mezzala's up the pitch and provide a backwards passing option to recycle the ball.

Also, keeping the number of clean sheets we kept last season, the back 3 must be doing something right.

Plus in games against really packed defences, the Libero surging forward will hopefully force players to engage higher up the pitch and again create more space.

So that's the system we will be deploying most often, here are the players who I hope will be able to make it happen.

Scott Mckenna was a free transfer arranged last season that would go through at the end of his contract.

Naci Unwar spent time with us on loan 2 seasons ago, he has come along leaps and bounds since then, hence the price. 

Freddie Woodman was a goalkeeper I have no problem leaving on the bench, he was signed in case Alex Meret gets injured, and allows Kieran Polley to go out on loan and play a full season.

Nemanja Jocic signed with the future in mind to build my number of home trained club players.

Same with Thomas Beil

Basically, the key here was to move on any player who had less than or equal to 3 stars current ability and no more than 3 stars potential.

Plus attempt to be as ruthless and unsentimental as possible. Thus Nuno Tavares, Paulo Diaz and Martin Odegaard all moved on.

 

Current Squad

Goalkeepers

Alex Meret was the chairman's buy last January, he came straight into the starting 11 and played 23 league games, keeping 19 clean sheets and conceding only 4 goals.

He kept a further 6 cleans sheets in the Champions League.

At a cost of £54M that is just over £2M a clean sheet

Freddie Woodman comes in to keep the bench warm at a cost of £3.4M

 

Defenders

Harvey White joined last season from Spurs, he is strangely a natural at left back and Mezzala, which means he poses a decent attacking threat down the left. He will be 1st choice this season.

Luke Thomas is the backup left back, he is an academy player and gets another season in the rotation.

Tommy will play 1st choice right wing back, slightly unhappy that he had 5 star potential when he signed, but he has been a good player for us at his current level.

James Justin is a hard working backup who will rotate with Tommy

Nathan Wood is last seasons Leicester Young Player of the Year, he set a new average rating record with 7.30

He is 1st choice Libero and is definitely growing into the role, his passing alone has increased from 10 when we bought him.

Ethan signed from Chelsea last season he went straight into the 1st team and will stay there

Edson will be the 3rd 1st XI centre back and already has a partnership with Wood and Ampadu from last season.

The free transfer is a backup defender, no frills at all.

Jesus is possibly looking at his last or next to last season, depending on how he copes with being in the 2nd XI

Only 17, I am hopeful of big things for this lad, his work rate and teamwork are insane.

His passing is already as good as Woods before he starts training as a Libero.

 

Midfielders

He isn't a natural roaming playmaker, but his work rate makes up for it, with him charging around after the mobile midfielders ahead of him.

He is the 2nd chairman buy from January this year.

Yari starts in the Mezzala slot for the 1st XI. 

I was underwhelmed with him in his 1st season and his supposed 4 star ability.

He came good last season scoring a few more goals and providing assists.

Maddison has secured the most player of the match awards 2 seasons in a row.

He will either start alongside Yari, or he will rotate with new signing Naci in the inverted winger position.

The reason Maddison might not always start is that it feels wrong keeping Youri in the 2nd XI so form will dictate where these two land.

Likewise having Ruben as the 2nd XI roaming playmaker seems wrong, but it hopefully means that the 2nd team won't be drawing as many games this season.

Hannes Wolf and Mason Mount were very similar last season, and that was fine when we played the Hammer and had 2 shadow strikers.

Now in the Mjolnir formation we only have 1, and that 1 will be Wolf.

Mount is his back up, and again, shows that the 2nd XI will have more bite to it this year.

Naci comes straight into the starting XI seen as he cost £84M that shouldn't be a shock.

Hoping with finishing of 17 he causes goalkeepers all sorts of nightmares!

Sidnei is a backup Mezzala for the 2nd XI and has the added benefit of being an academy player.

Thomas goes out on loan to newly promoted Crystal Palace, to help him discover his potential.

Though once more, high work rate and teamwork suggest he will be able to provide an effective presence on the pitch.

Bayern in the 1st friendly had a player sent off, and a penalty awarded against them.

Everyone else we just rolled over looking very good.

However we smashed preseason last year, and then went on to take 3 games to bag our 1st win.

Fingers crossed with Watford and West Brom (2 teams we drew against last year) up early, we can show we have changed.

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

August 2023

Game Week 1

Ah a virgin season! The blank slate in which everyone starts anew, on paper we have a fairly straight forward start, am excited to see how the new players do, and see how the 1st and 2nd XI's work out.

Opening day, we play at 19:45 in the evening, dunno if this is due to TV or whether  we just wanted a lie in! Either way we are last match of the day.

Shock of all shocks!

I like to think Kane did this on purpose, I have to start if I can score 5 minutes after kick off, and you can't substitute me if I can score 5 minutes from the end!

In your face Immobile!

Another shock! A Man City penalty!

Right here we go! Our turn.

Well.... That's certainly a change from last seasons draw.

A set piece, we missed a clearing header and they had a tap in at the back post.

Very underwhelmed with the 1st XI!

On Sunday:

Chelsea's turn to be value for money, £414M well spent.

Arsenal... same story different season.

Obligatory but pointless opening weekend table, lowest we have ever been since my 1st season in charge

[Mandy42]

August 2023

1st time using this logo! Hope it's not the last.

So, we got to this point by WINNING THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!

Although, we went through Chelsea, Liverpool and then Man City on our route to lifting the trophy, not exactly European.

Even the final was played at Wembley!

Thus no real surprise that the trend should continue and we would play Arsenal in the Super Cup...

Though the game is being played in Greece, which makes a lovely round trip now the Premier League has just gotten underway!

I sure hope that is Greece and not the name of Arsenal's new stadium, I never want to have to refer to that ever again.

sigh... we weren't in the game until the sending off, even after that, Arsenal put 9 players behind the ball and we just spent the remainder of the game pinballing the ball around their box.

I am hoping that they were just more up for it than we were.

New manager syndrome on their part. I don't know.

One saving grace is the fact that our board didn't see it as important.

Another, we received £3M just for turning up.

Unfortunately that is now 2 losses in a row for my supposed 1st team XI

 

 

[Mandy42]

August 2023

Game Week 2

We play at home to Bournemouth, who during my tenure have caused us more problems that Watford.

Which is why it might be a bit of a silly decision to decide this is a 2nd XI game.

The 1st XI haven't been setting the world on fire, and I feel I need something to kick start the season.

Time is running out, I have 2 more years after this one to win the league if I am to stay on course with the challenge.

We go from playing 1st on opening Saturday to playing last on Sunday the week after.

Current Champions Liverpool are staking their claim early.

Frustrating to see Arsenal capitulate to Norwich after they gave us such a torrid time in the continental competition.

I must have missed Jonathan Tah being sold from Chelsea to Man City

And Stambouli for Wolves had a game to remember!

On Sunday:

Yeah Watford get wrecked!

 

It is a win, which was the desired outcome, but there is still a lingering tang of frustration.

1stly, that we dominated throughout and I was beginning to feel that their keeper was going to deny us taking all 3 points.

2ndly that we conceded at the death, we seem to be much more complacent and less focused than we were at the back end of last season.

Finally, that my 2nd XI is attempting to make themselves my 1st XI, which would become very confusing.

Don't know many centre backs doing cartwheels!

Did not expect my 1st goal of the season to be scored by my back up free transfer centre back!

The video replay for the 2nd goal broke, might be due to the fact that the 1st one was still uploading when the 2nd goal went in.

Went back to watch the goals back from the schedule screen and I had played too far into the save and couldn't get full match details for this game.

Balls.

Captain Youri gets on the score sheet late in the game

And yes, both him and my vice captain Ruben Neves are both 2nd XI players.

Nice to see two academy products combine for the 4th goal

David Kirby is all of 16 great to see his 1st assist in his 1st game of the season.

 

inspired by @_Ben_ and his in depth analysis of pretty much everything. I will be looking in greater detail at my 1st and 2nd XI's at the halfway and end of the season.

 

For now it is good to get a win under our belt!

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

August 2023

Game Week 3

Perhaps I am trying to prove a point to my 1st XI, perhaps I am just sticking with the in form team.

This week the 2nd XI rides again! At home to West Brom, who we drew with twice last season, improvement is required.

Arsenal play on Friday for some strange Arsenal reason

At least the goal Leon Bailey scored against us in the Super Cup isn't the only goal he scores all season.

Before this weekend only 3 teams were on maximum points, Man Utd fall out of that group with a draw against newly promoted Palace.

Well it's a win, which is the improvement I wanted.

Nice to see us not wait until the 2nd half to score our goals!

However the own goal was ridiculous. The ball deflects off Alex Meret, dribbles towards the goal line and STOPS.

Only the fact that Scott McKenna cannot wrap his foot around it and clear it means that he touches it and sends it into his own net....

Last seasons 3-3 draw with West Brom had me furious and feeling helpless that they came back from 3-1 down in the last 10 minutes with 2 absolute boomers from beyond 25 yards.

When Mohamed Daramy scored a carbon copy of those goals in the 87th minute I felt we were going to be robbed again.

Thankfully we held on, however it is worrying that the man who conceded only 4 goals in 19 Premier League appearances last season, has now shipped 4 goals in 3 games.

 

With regards to our goals

The McKenna cartwheel celebration seems to be catching on

This is the sort of play I hope for / expect from our chosen tactic.

Hard work and good team work from all players, typified here with Mezzala Sidnei Tavares tracking the opposition back to almost our corner flag before winning the ball back. Then, swift vertical passing and attacking movement, Direct running from the inside winger, who in this case is James Maddison, with the intelligence to know they have the best chance of scoring a goal in this situation if they take it on themselves and not look for the pass, coupled with the confidence and ability to make this happen. I think when we played the Shark Hammer in our 1st season I made a comment about the average number of passes to a chance on target being 3, that is exactly the case in this highlight, and that pleases me, less can go wrong with 3 passes compared with 30.

Mason it seems cannot cartwheel

He can however drive at defenders just like Maddison in the 1st highlight. Even better here (although the clip doesn't show it due to technical problems of the 1st highlight uploading) is that we win the ball back in the middle of the pitch and drive forward from there. I love the fact that at the point we win the ball, our right sided wing back with a support duty is the furthest player up the pitch. 2 passes here, and we have a goal, fantastic.

Never not cartwheel McKenna

2nd goal in 2 games for my 6th choice centre back, and even he doesn't cartwheel this time! Maybe he fears he will kick Maddison in the face as he comes towards him from the corner flag. I don't know why FM is adamant that my last choice centre back should be the one who scores the most goals. Paulo Diaz fell into this category last season, and Scott McKenna is picking up where he left off. Which don't get me wrong is a good thing. With no striker, and our shadow strikers and Mezzala's playing off each other in the centre of the pitch, one coming deep to provide space for the other going past them, it is only natural we are going to have to rely on sharing the goals around. We picked up a hefty number of our goals from set pieces last season, and I am hoping it continues this year.

 

In the late game Liverpool continued to average 4 goals a game through game 3.

Early days but Watford kept themselves up at the top end of the table.

That brings the month of August to a close which means monthly review time

Yay! thank goodness the players love me! And I have no idea what is wrong with the Woodman transfer, he cost next to nothing.

Speaking of transfers, it is nice to not have the pressure of appearing on this graphic.

Especially with Chelsea languishing in 14th place after spending £414M

The beginning of September also heralds the start of new competitions and the draws for said competitions.

Not the easiest draw, but it is definitely a winnable game.

For the 2nd time in 3 seasons we find ourselves in the same group as Real Madrid.

To say we were a 1st seed (due to being defending Champions) it could have been better.

That is obviously what group D stands for by the way Defending Champions.

 

 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great last season.

[Mandy42]

33 minutes ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Great last season.

thank you  

especially when I got my numbers wrong and the season before I was 13 points adrift not 3!

So to go from 13 points off top spot to only 5 this last season is a big improvement, that's before we add the cup double cherry on top

[scousevasey]

On 20/04/2020 at 10:24, Mandy42 said:

Breaking NEWS

Eek! Amit Bhatia was the guy who said he would replace me if he got the job.

While at the time I made some flippant comment about maybe that is the way the save should end, I have since calmed down from my tantrum about the way we were playing.

Mainly because I slapped myself around and realised we were (at the time) 8 games unbeaten and we were effective even if we weren't playing "Champagne football"

So yea, don't sack me!

These are the club finances just before the take over. So we are in a good place!

Still no confirmation that I will be staying, I mean he's replaced directors, I guess he would have shipped me out sooner rather than later?

He's made promises about a new stadium which is what the club needs moving forward in order to close the gap between us and the bigger teams above us.

That message is the 1st news I heard about these new signings.

Not convinced I need anymore midfielders, which sounds just a little ironic even to me.

The squad feels we are short of depth at centre back, but he didn't do anything about that.

This signing I understand, he's looked at the two young goalkeepers we have and seen an instant improvement at the position.

Then a days later.

I had no say in any part of the process. I hope this isn't the way it is going to be from now on.

I am still waiting for an update on the clubs vision going forward (and if I am actually part of that vision)

I have an A in my last monthly review regarding player support which might be why I am still here. We will see.

 

I am struggling with how I feel about this, Arnie "Get to the Choppa" Maier pretty much ends the Leicester career of Pedro Chirivella.

Then there is Kieran Polley in goal....

There is a sense of outrage that I picked those players, I put the effort in to work out who I wanted and went and got them.

On the other side, the new Chairman has just dropped nearly 100M to improve the squad, and must be intending on putting money in as our transfer budget is currently only 40M.

Plus only a couple of posts ago I was indicating I needed to be less attached to my players.

Polley can go out on loan to fulfil his potential, and Pedro was a cheap buy who has peaked in terms of his ability and will bring in a profit.

I will keep looking for the positives until there isn't one, as long as he doesn't sack me, or demand I play possession football!

 

I have seen this in some other threads where the incoming chairman goes on a bit of a spree.  Quite nice that in the GK he picked someone decent, instead of a journeyman who doesn't fit the tactics and then get uppity when you don't play him.

I think it is a good thing to see, as most new regimes end up with spending sprees, and the stories of Abramovich and others show the top brass throwing their weight around.

On 13/05/2020 at 17:31, Mandy42 said:

January 2023

Semi Final

Didn't these used to be 2 legged affairs? Or am I making that up? 

Either way, we face Liverpool, at Old Trafford, which is sweetly cruel in it's own right.

As much as I want to win trophies, I had already met expectations in this competition, and we had the FA Cup against Arsenal up next.

Thus I didn't field a full strength 1st team.

 

Got a feeling that the 2022/2023 season is the reason, with the Qatar interruption meaning a few games had to go by the wayside.  Will be worth double checking this season, whether or not you make the semi finals

 

And congrats on the European success

[Mandy42]

56 minutes ago, scousevasey said:

I have seen this in some other threads where the incoming chairman goes on a bit of a spree.  Quite nice that in the GK he picked someone decent, instead of a journeyman who doesn't fit the tactics and then get uppity when you don't play him.

I think it is a good thing to see, as most new regimes end up with spending sprees, and the stories of Abramovich and others show the top brass throwing their weight around.

Got a feeling that the 2022/2023 season is the reason, with the Qatar interruption meaning a few games had to go by the wayside.  Will be worth double checking this season, whether or not you make the semi finals

 

And congrats on the European success

thank you  

taking my turn with the joint save at the moment, but will keep my eye on the Carabao to see if it goes back to 2 legs. (seen as I had forgotten I asked that question! 

[Mandy42]

September 2023

Game Week 4

Brighton, our next opponent, are bottom of the league, they seem like the perfect opposition to try and kick start my 1st XI.

Plus, I need them fresh in 2 weeks time to take on Real Madrid at home in the Champions League, thus ruling them out of the next weeks game against Wolves.

Elsewhere:

Arsenal step up and take points off Man City, I like that!

Man Utd win their 3rd game, to remain unbeaten, only themselves and Liverpool remain in that club now.

Sometimes I just despair!

We weren't interested until we went behind, and then it felt like I had to flog the players in order to get them to get themselves back into the game.

One positive (other than giving Brighton their 1st point of the season!) Is the goal

Not only is the soundtrack by Halestorm

But there is only 1 pass in it!

Even better, for a team who doesn't have an attacking player over 5ft 9, and has been asked to play low crosses since day one.

That I believe is the 1st actual cross (not a cut back) that I would consider fits into that category.

On Sunday:

Wow! That hasn't happened this early in a season for the last two years.

For some reason I have a screen shot of the table before the Liverpool game, not after.

But Man Utd now sit top as the only undefeated team left in the league.

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

September 2023

Game Week 5

Wolves sit only 2 places above Brighton in 18th place, thus with my 2nd XI picking up 6 out of our 7 points so far this season. I feel comfortable playing them in this game.

Before we play

Can count on Arsenal to take points off City then throw them away against Southampton!

 

I will not be calling my 2nd XI my 1st XI as that  would just get confusing, and potentially curse them with whatever hoodoo is affecting the 1st team.

Wolves played like a team in the relegation places, with 4 shots, only 2 on target all game.

Who is Harvey White saluting in the crowd when he is moving over to take the corner?

If you know, please supply answers on a postcard.

Also if you would like to enter the competition to make sweet sweet love to Jesus (who wouldn't when he can hit a ball like that)

Please apply in the same way.

Mason Mount's goal Shows how we can actually string more than a few passes together.

Also, I must grudgingly admit that he would struggle to get his head onto that cross, thus it definitely falls in to the low cross category.

More than that though, it demonstrates the quality, both on and off the ball, to score what looks like a very simple goal, while only having 1 player in the box, compared to 6 or more defenders.

The cartwheel is back

The final goal, which begins with us winning the ball back on the halfway line. Gets very scrappy on the edge of the area, but shows we are willing to not give the ball up.

Then there is nothing scrappy about Sidnei's 2nd goal of the season, his 2nd 1st time volley.

 

Bournemouth follow up beating Liverpool with another good win.

While Liverpool bounce back.

Man Utd continue to impress winning again.

Norwich stay at the right end of the table.

Chelsea do not, with a poor draw against Watford.

Man City, who seem to be happy swapping players with Chelsea (Phil Foden has gone to Chelsea, while Tah and Coman went the other way) spank Villa for 7 in an attempt to wash losing to Arsenal out of their system.

10 points from 5 games and only 3 points off the top is very acceptable.

Especially when everyone in the top half has lost at least once (except Utd)

 

[Mandy42]

September 2023

Group Stage Match Day 1

I don't always start the group stage at home, but when I do, I like to do it against Real Madrid!

Though last time we played Madrid at home in the group, we lost 5-3. Hazard scoring a hat trick that the press still ask me about today.

IE "How are you going to stop Hazard? He's scored 3 goals in the last 4 games you have played"

Eh.. no, he scored 3 goals in 1 game, the rest we've kept him quiet, surprised he hasn't been dropped to be honest.

Next question.

A draw against the most successful club in European football has to be a positive result.

However, they didn't even register a shot on target, though we only had 3 out of 9 attempts.

Could be a wasted opportunity, we will see.

 

[Mandy42]

September 2023

Game Week 6

It isn't often that the schedule comes along and works so well in your favour. I mean, play the hardest team (all be it at home) in the Champions League, then the next fixture is newly promoted Birmingham.

Has 2nd XI written all over it.

Man City are not flowing like they did in previous seasons.

Southampton showing the Arsenal game wasn't just a fluke, they can beat other teams 1-0, and move into a European space early on in the season.

Love when the music goes perfectly with the video

The Birmingham keeper can't get a good grip on the ball and Scott McKenna bags himself another goal.

Always good to see some long throw action!

Their equaliser While I can't say I enjoy conceding goals, nor being level with 50 minutes played, I can't really complain about this one, as it's a goal of the season contender.

However.... the cartwheel celebration is taking the ****.

A Ruben Neves free kick, and a Mason Mount effort from outside the area late on sealed the points.

Stats wise it was quite even, we just had the quality to take our chances.

Bournemouth show that anything Southampton can do, they can do, as they move into 5th.

Wins for the London clubs see them actually make it into the top half of the table!

On Sunday:

Man Utd drop points for only the 2nd time this season but remain unbeaten @andychar Knows what that is like!

Liverpool show that if they aren't going to lose then they might as well score 5, bet they had 3 of those goals in the Bournemouth game!

Happy to be in the running early, however only 5 points from top to 10th mean a slip could spoil the good start.

I don't know if I should be concerned about the fact I am dropping points to the likes of Brighton and Watford, while others around me have played "bigger" teams.

Plus there is always the problem that my 1st XI is yet to actually win a game.

 

 

[Mandy42]

September 2023

3rd Round

The competition that last year I didn't give a crap about until the semi final, and then still fielded half of the youth team.

This year, due to the way the fixtures are laid out, this is going to be a 1st XI game, that and if they can't get their mojo flowing against Championship opposition, well I might just terminate all of their contracts!

As the 3rd round is played over two evenings usually in the middle of the week, we received even more incentive to field a stronger team and defend our trophy.

On the Tuesday night a weakened but still strong Man City team dropped a bollock or 3 against bottom of the table Brighton.

Chelsea's youth team needed penalties to see off West Brom, and Spurs went out against Arsenal.

On the Wednesday

The 1st XI finally won a game!

Does this count as a set piece goal?

Either way it's a beauty! As much as scoring goals from the roaming playmaker position is not a top priority, it is nice to have players that play there that can chip in.

1stly their manager has to be annoyed at not defending such a horridly straight free kick!

Good to see that after a ropey start where he was picked out as the player who "had a bad game" Naci is now scoring and assisting.

I did buy him to be a goal scoring threat, and to really give some clout to the inverted winger role from the left. However whether he is scoring or assisting, it means the goals are still going in.

Plus with vision of 16 and passing of 15 it's no wonder he could see Tommy free at the back post, and find him with the ball.

Our prize in the 4th round

an away trip to a mid table Premier league team.

 

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Game Week 7

Aston Villa away is our 1st game of the month, and while they languish in 18th place in the league, I intend to play the 1st XI.This is mainly so they are fresh for the Man City league game 6 days later (and won't play the Dynamo Kiev game mid week.) It feels strange playing the (on paper) weaker team in the continental competition but

A) They have been slaying all competition before them until now

B) They have been playing better than the 1st team

C) Dynamo are considered the weakest team in our Champions league group.

D) The league has to be the priority, the challenge demands I win at least 13 of them, with the 1st one coming no later than the 7th year, and an FA cup league double no later than the 8th year. I'm in year 5, and while top 4 finishes and Champions league football are all well and good, they won't see me through the challenge (I only have to win 2 of them). Don't get me wrong, I will be attempting to fulfil board expectations for all competitions, but we missed out on the league last season by only 5 points, which to me suggests with a little bit of luck and focus we can bridge that gap and challenge.

So yeah, struggling Villa will face the wrath of the 1st XI, or at least I hope it's the wrath, they haven't exactly been setting the world alight. We play Sunday, which means this happens 1st:

Arsenal are all about taking points off big teams and not being able to maintain it against lesser sides! Something I have had all too familiar experience with in previous seasons

Spurs are still struggling to push on from making it into the top half.

While Bournemouth need better results than that if they want to stay in the top 6 long term.

On Sunday:

No shocks in Manchester

Arne scores his 2nd goal in 2 games.

His strike is almost a carbon copy of the one against Leeds

I am glad to see that Nathan Wood is comfortable spraying long passes about, while also the team is comfortable putting pressure on the ball in order for us to win the ball back when the pass doesn't connect 1st time. I don't really know what Naci was attempting to do with his 1st ball into the box! The cut back is a much more sensible option

I have been waiting for this goal for a while

Or rather I have been waiting for the team to execute it correctly. Harvey White seems to be the target of every free kick into the box since the start of the season, which seems strange for a player  with heading of 10. What is more surprising is that he scores pretty much everyone of them. The only problem to date is, he has been offside every single time. Now, does he score because he is offside? IE the opposition know it and therefore don't defend it and it goes in? Does he always get a free header because all the defenders are busy marking someone with better aerial ability. Does heading of 10 really come into it in this situation? IE a well delivered ball and he is very close to goal? I am just wondering, compared to the higher finishing numbers of say Naci / Mason but they get more shots saved. But here, a heading of 10 basically means he has a 50/50 chance of a good outcome, and that close to goal, with the goalkeeper having so many threats to deal with, maybe that is all you need. Compared with an attempt on goal where all of the keepers stats come into play because they only have target to focus on? Either way it's good for him to score, and we keep a clean sheet besides! Then on Monday night:

It isn't going too well this season for the £418M spenders.

Very happy with this, one of only 5 teams to have lost less than 2 games, within 2 points of the top. However the board seem to have other ideas:

C- for results on the pitch, there could be  trouble in paradise! So I dug a little deeper.

We have had attacking football removed with the new board, and are simply required to play entertaining football, and it seems I should be shouting up at the directors box, a la Russel Crowe in Gladiator. While I admit that a 0-0 home draw against Real Madrid might not be the most entertaining spectacle they have ever seen, a point against the most successful team in the history in European football should never be graded as an E. A 4-1 win against Bournemouth is our best rated result at a B, however a 3-0 win against Wolves, which is the same score difference, but with a clean sheet on top is a lower grade. This really concerns me, because if going forward I have to ensure that the team I pick not only gets a positive result but scores loads of goals, and concedes 1 goal (the West Brom result shows it is negative for them to score more than 1) but for us not to keep a clean sheet as that is boring, then just me being happy that the 1st XI is finally starting to pick up points might not be enough.

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Group Stage Match Day 2

From the hardest game in the group to what the bookmakers suggest is the easiest. With Man City next in the league, and with the priorities I put forth in the previous post, I'll be fielding the 2nd XI here.

I began to wonder if this was the first stumbling block for the 2nd team when we fell behind. I told them I demanded more, and they didn't look back. Captain Youri picked the team up on the road. His 1st goal I love the fact he touches the ball twice in the build up, and that Justin the wing back creates the space for him to cut inside and hit a beauty beyond the keeper. For his 2nd, a bit of a rarity, he doesn't score many headers. Once more I'm happy with the directness, including the throw in, there are 5 passes from start to finish, going all the way back to the keeper before coming down the left. We had been pretty much in complete control since we equalised, going ahead just made them more desperate to get something out of the game and forced them to come forward more. Our 3rd goal I like a lot, in the first instance we win the ball the ball back from them and play it forward into their half straight away. Secondly, David Kirby, at only 16 is involved in the move, while he doesn't do a lot, he is surrounded by two defenders and does the basic things very well, finds a team mate and moves the ball forward. We do get a bit bogged down in their boxed, but the Captain and Vice Captain keep a cool head and the ball gets moved out to Justin in space, who finishes well. The Cherry on the top is Sidnei's goal in the 65th minute. While it is a poor Dynamo ball under very little pressure, we win the ball back by pushing up out of defence and go straight forward again. Justin turns provider this time crossing in from the right. 4 points from 2 games sees us top the group, though we still have the toughest test of Madrid away later in the campaign.

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Game Week 8

1st real domestic test for the 1st XI this week. Which is slightly worrying as they haven't exactly made light work of who they have played so far. We go to the Etihad to play top of the table Man City. On the face of it I don't have great expectations for this game, which in and of itself upsets me, these are the games which we need to be making progress with in order to progress deeper into the challenge. Yet if we cannot beat Watford, I best not hold my breath.

We both played midweek in the Champions league, and that might explain why in the 1st half, very little of substance happens at all. Neither team creates much quality, and any effort is speculative at best and from long range. I wouldn't say we are growing into the game, but if you offered me a point at half time I would have snatched your hand off. Imagine my glee then early in the 2nd half when James Maddison gets beyond the defence and calmly slots home to give us the advantage! I am ecstatic as normally for us to score it takes countless 1v1 saves before we find the back of the net, here we score with our 1st attempt on target. Unfortunately our goal seems like the shot in the arm that City need, it takes them only 6 minutes to restore parity, working space over on the right for Joao Cancelo to hit a curling effort which possibly Alex Meret could have done better with. I hope his 1st season was not a flash in the pan, as he definitely isn't performing as well at the beginning of his 2nd season. 

The game suddenly opens up, chances and last ditch tackles at both ends keeping the score level. For the 1st time I see the vindication of the full rotation policy, across the whole team we are fresher than City giving us the ability to get up and down the pitch faster and as the game goes deeper into the 2nd half we look the most likely. Until disaster strikes, we lose the ball in the tackle on the edge of our area, a rash attempted clearance pings off 2 players before it is rolled out to the right for Cancelo, if his 1st effort was a tad lucky not to be saved, the same cannot be said about this one. He lashes his foot through it and it is in the back of the net off the inside of the left post, all before Meret can fall over as though shot. 16 minutes to go and we trail for the 1st time in the game. very frustrating as we haven't looked bad all game.

Once again our rotation helps us, we turn the screw and come close a couple of times, however nothing is going our way in the final 3rd and the clock is winding down. We enter stoppage time at the end of the game and I begin to resign myself to the fact that although we have played well, we will leave with nothing. Until in the 94th minute, we throw the ball long from a throw in on the right side. Jesus controls the ball and sensibly squares it for Yari Verschaeren to sweep home in the bottom corner. Beautiful! nerve shredding but beautiful. Pep Guardiola suggested that our late goal was on the fortunate side, I can see where he is coming from, but only in one aspect. I don't see where the 4 minutes of stoppage time came from, but this is the Sir Alex Ferguson challenge, a bit of fergie time in my favour will never be scoffed at. Other than that, we were the better team in the closing stages, and if his team cannot stay switched on to defend a long throw in, then he can suck it!

 

  

In the other Saturday games

Norwich leave it late to stay in the European places. Otherwise there are no surprises in the other games. (Unless Arsenal not dropping points is a surprise)

On #LondonSunday:

Southampton continue to grind out 1-0 wins, which keeps Spurs out of the top half.

Chelsea's win sees  them scramble to 7th, hardly a convincing start for the money spent.

We slip a place to 4th, falling in the queue of 1 point separating each team sequentially from 1st to 7th.

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Game Week 9

After the international break we now have 6th placed Norwich, Lyon and then Man Utd in the next week to round out the month. The only saving grace is the fact that all three games are at home. Maybe not the only saving grace, we return from the international break with no injuries, meaning the 1st XI will play against Norwich and Utd. Speaking of Norwich:

I didn't reply, but the reprobate still hasn't shaved, I just hoped the players would do my talking for me on the pitch. After a very frustrating start put us behind having played only 4 minutes, I feared the worse. Though a rash challenge only 2 minutes later saw us level from a James Maddison penalty with only 6 minutes played. After such a hectic start the game settled down, I was pleased to see we dominated the chances, if not the possession, but we have proven we don't need the ball in order to score. A simple near post header saw us take the lead in the 36th minute. Then with the Norwich team still regrouping from going behind, we strike again. James Maddison bagging his 2nd with what I consider the closest we will get to a "strikers" goal while playing in this system. With the attacking player sitting on the shoulder of the last defender and having the ball played over into space behind. Two goals in 4 minutes and the Norwich team limp off at half time chuntering about how ridiculous their managers beard looks.

We all get those 1st half performances where we blow  teams away, and then come out in the 2nd half and nothing happens. This 2nd half wasn't exactly like that, Norwich had the majority of the ball but we nullified them completely, we created chances but not with the same lethal edge we had shown in the 1st half. That is until the end of the game. We win a free kick a third of the way inside their half in the 86th minute.A Maddison delivery sees Edson Alvarez's header go through their keepers hands and give us a 4th. Yet we aren't finished there, only a minute later, we win the ball back near halfway. Mason Mount tries come forward but a Rocha slide tackle dispossess him of the ball, however the free ball runs to who else but James Maddison. He drives forward, all the way to the edge of the Norwich box, drawing 3 defenders to him. He coolly slides the ball to the left, for Naci Unuvar to finish to the keepers left.

Stick that in your beard Santo.

No surprises that with 2 goals and 3 assists James Maddison picked up the player of the match award. While the individual performance in and of itself is very pleasing, it is hopefully only the start of things to come. Rotating the full team allows players to well play. Last season I was having to make all 3 changes in every game in order to preserve fitness and reduce the chance of injury, this process usually started around the 60th minute. Also, deeper into the season when more players were tired, there would likely be more than 3 candidates who could benefit from being subbed, and over the course of a few games they would rotate round based on who was the highest priority for a rest. This season, I am not having to make any changes until between 70 and 75th minute, and it is unusual that all 3 subs are required to get us through the game. This allows me to make more changes for positive reasons, such as giving players returning from injury, or youth players on the verge of the 1st team more minutes. All while allowing my best players to influence games for longer.

Elsewhere on Saturday:

Fabulous result, not just as a Chelsea fan, but points taken off the only undefeated team left in the league and going to a team only just in the top half.

This game looks like it had draw written all over it until the goalkeeper mistake.

No such luck for Fulham or Palace, not a sniff of a draw in these games.

Then Sunday:

The Bournemouth point lifts them into 7th. 9 games in and last seasons top 3 hold the top 3 spots again. However we are only above Utd by a single goal, which makes the game at the end of the month massive. It is early days, but for the 1st time our expectation is to qualify for the Champions League through league position which means we are only a point above where we need to be.

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Group D Match Day 3

Lyon come to the King Power in the final game of the 1st half of the group stage. We currently sit top, thanks to a 2 goal advantage in goal difference over Real Madrid. If we match their results and they don't overhaul us on goals, then we will win the group, big if! I had expected Lyon to pose a bigger test than Kiev, however the odds see us favourites, maybe that is by virtue of being at home, will see who they back on match day 4. I could get used to this early penalty lark, as once again James Maddison puts us ahead from the spot within the opening 10 minutes. I seem to be winning more penalties since deploying the inverted winger role in the formation, whether it is Naci Unuvar specifically (I can't see any indication that he dives from his sheet) or just the direct role of that position making defenders make bad decisions, either way we are reaping the benefit. Much like long periods of the Norwich game, we created chances, nullified the opposition, but nothing much happened for the rest of the 1st half.

Into the 2nd half and Lyon came out wanting to get back in the game, after a few half chances in the opening 10 minutes I demanded more from the team as I didn't want to see our slender advantage pegged back. The reaction as you can see from the video is pretty much immediate. Whether the shout is a placebo and they would have created this goal anyway I will never know. Also how often or frequently I can shout at the players before this reaction wears off I am unsure. With a 2 goal cushion we looked very comfortable and once more the game seemed likely to wind down to it's conclusion. Unfortunately for us, in the other game in the group Real had scored 6, conceding only 1 which put them above us on goal difference by 1 goal. 

Whether the players on the pitch could sense this or, it was simply the way they wanted to play anyway. We scored possibly the best goal of my time here at Leicester so far. From a Lyon corner, and a blocked attempt at a cross, Maddison chases down the ball instead of letting it go out of touch. With seconds remaining in stoppage time at the end of the game, he doesn't waste time, nor play a safe ball, he gets his head up and finds Mount on halfway. With a direct ball he finds Youri, and although we get a bit lucky after the 1st blocked cross, we keep at it and finish the game with a fantastic goal. One which showcases our ability and desire to get up the pitch regardless of the amount of time on the clock, and the willingness of the players to sign up to a mentality which sees us committing 7 players into the opposition box when we are already 2 goals up and with only seconds left to play. That goal sees us draw level on goal difference with Madrid and thus climb back to the top of the group!

A win next game in the return fixture in France could see us secure qualification for the knockout rounds, the earliest we would have accomplished such a feat.

[Mandy42]

October 2023

Game Week 10

We end the month playing the red half of Manchester, though this time we are at home and I feel we have grown into ourselves this month (whatever that means) and we are beginning to build some momentum after some poor results right at the start of the campaign. That said, we only sit above Man Utd by a single goal, they started the season on the front foot and the coming game is massive if we want to be in this position (board expectation) or better (my personal desire) come the end of the season. Which can mean only one thing, it's time for a good ole fashioned milking!

Suffice to say this is a 1st XI game, I tell them to go out there and keep our good run of form going, they haven't filled themselves with glory on a consistent basis so far this season, but last time out against Norwich they scored 5, and as a club in our last 2 games we have scored 8 and conceded only 1. The key in both those games is we have been ahead within the 1st ten minutes.

Dream start once again as decisive running from Naci, a bit of luck, and we are ahead. The media would later describe it as a mistake from de Gea which led to the goal, I just see Naci having too much skill for the ageing keeper. The game falls into our usual pattern, we boss the chances created without holding onto the ball, Man Utd haven't turned up, and as the clock winds down in the 1st half with us dominating completely I begin to wonder if we will regret only having 1 goal to show for it, as surely Man Utd cannot be this toothless in the 2nd half.

For all the pressure and back to back corners we have had, it's a moment of madness from Maguire who is deemed to have pushed Naci to the ground mere seconds before the half time whistle. Maddison converts his 4th penalty of the season, his 3rd in 3 consecutive games and I go into half time breathing just a little bit easier. I tell the lads the job isn't done, knowing that a win will put us top of the league, maybe only for a couple of hours but it is still top of the league. We go back out and continue, Man Utd do a better job of stifling our creativity from open play, but they cannot stop the building pressure from free kicks, corners and long throws. 

This has been a threat since kick off, If at 1st you don't succeed  win another corner. We certainly don't lack quality in our ability to put the ball in the box, and the benefit from set pieces that comes from playing 3 centre backs is massive, it just took this long into the game for Man Utd's defensive discipline to slip. We look home and hosed, I really don't like seeing player mentalities change to complacent, it just doesn't fill me with any sort of confidence or respect for a players character. However, even I feel we are done here, Utd have offered nothing.

 

Much like both Man City goals earlier in the month, they work the ball from one side of the pitch to the other very quickly and they have a man over on the right. He hits it hard, and low, it's in the net and it seems poking the bear a 3rd time was one insult too many and Utd bite back. For the 1st time the full weight of the rotational system hits me. In this situation in previous seasons, the path would be clear, I would be forced into making changes due to fatigue or poor player performance. However under the new system, nobody needs to come off, and everyone is playing well, some better than others, but there are no players making mistakes that need to sit down and talk to themselves. Thus, with 60 minutes to play and Utd offering the 1st glimmer of getting back into the game, I have to decide am I going to stick or twist, stay the course in the attacking formation that has brought us to this point, shut up shop and hope to hold on, or try and find some form of middle ground?

I was still mulling all that over when Franck Kessie's absolute lightning strike hit the back of our net, an unsaveable 30 yard worldie from a player who has scored goals like this from day 1 of him coming to the Premier league. In this instance it is even more galling, he's only been on the pitch 2 minutes! In the space of those 2 minutes the entire game has changed and for the next 10 minutes we are hanging on while Utd finally use their majority share of possession to do more than just keep the ball away from us. I am mad enough and frustrated enough at our throwing away of the lead that I keep us (for better or worse) in the same formation and mindset, my self rationalisation being that still trying to go forward will keep Utd honest at the back as they push to try level. I bring Maddison off for Captain Youri hoping that freshness and leadership slap bang in the middle of the park will pull us through.

Into the last 15 minutes now, the game is end to end, like two punch drunk fighters going into the final round, knowing neither can knock the other out, just frantically trying to score more points than the other. Reckless, breathtaking, the advantage lies with us, once more largely due to the rotational system. Man Utd have made all 3 of their substitutions and some of their players look on their knees. Across the pitch we are in better shape as the game enters the final act.

 

I bought Naci for many reasons, some as self reassuring as I wanted to play an inverted winger in the formation and he was a wonderkid I had on loan in a previous season who I hoped would play the position well. Being young, exciting, fast all factors in his purchase, his finishing of 17 a huge part of it and I hoped I wasn't being led up the garden path by that number. What I mean by that is, in previous seasons, in earlier incarnations of the formation which is now Mjolnir, I had 4 Shark Maw players who were not out and out strikers, but their stats suggested they knew where the goal was. Mason Mount, a prime example at Finishing 14, who to this point in his career (in my opinion) has required too many shots on target per goal scored. 14 out of 20 is 70% success rate, I don't for a second believe that should mean he scores 70% of his shots, I know it is more complicated and has more factors to it than that. However I think it does mean that 70% of the time should be a positive outcome such as shot on target or a forced keeper save, and his scoring stats simply don't reflect this. Therefore I wondered if I was being seduced by Naci's 17 Finishing, a 15% increase over Mount's. But (although it is only early days) he seems to be already producing.

I again take this as vindication of the change in system, one of the few times I have dabbled in the tactics section myself and not just pilfered a working tactic from steam or these forums. (The current tactic is the love child of two tactics that I stole and documented earlier in this thread, but baby steps!) The inverted winger, rather than a 2nd Shadow Striker, opens up a completely different front of attack, producing more space for both players. Couple this with Naci's undoubted talent and the overload on the left with the Complete Wing Back with an attacking mentality. I believe leads to the situation in the above video.

Granted it is a counter attack and Man Utd's players are committed up the pitch, however where as before, one or both shadow strikers would come deeper to get the ball, and require one of the Mezzala's to go beyond them up the pitch to create a threat. Here Mount drops deeper as a shadow striker should, but Naci has no such inclination, all he wants is to drive from a wide position to a more central one, which means his natural starting position is higher up the pitch and the attack takes less time to develop. As the Utd defence come back, they have to be wary of Harvey White, who, also playing on the left, wants to get forward with the ball and stay wide. This results in more space for Naci in the left channel, dragged opposing defenders into areas they don't want to get into. He has too much space, and too much pace for them to be effective, the system putting both him and Mount into positions where there are less limiting factors on their respective Finishing stats.

The game shows no signs of calming down, Man Utd scored 2 in 2 minutes once, if they can do it again then they will salvage a point, they put 3 at the back and go more attacking, it is their turn to force multiple corners and throw ins.

A carbon copy of his 2nd. Once more we break up a Utd set piece, once more Mount starts as the furthest player forward but doesn't drive on himself. Naci is always the next highest player and goes straight up the pitch. Another great ball from Mount to Naci and the young Dutchman is played in on the right side of the defender, with a 1v1 against the goalkeeper inside the penalty area, a situation that greatly increases his chance of success and he bags his hat trick (hopefully his 1st of many).

Man Utd can't stop attacking, and we just keep profiting from it at the other end, this time Mount the benefactor as we take advantage of Utd's lack of players at the back. Not the best goal highlight as Gyazo was struggling with so many goals so close together and I was struggling to stop myself running round the room with my t-shirt pulled over my head!

Utd just want the final whistle  as even just a shot on target from them allows us to launch a counter attack starting with the goalkeeper and 3 passes later the ball is in the Utd net. This goal shows the dual threat of the attacking Complete Wing Back coupled with the Inverted winger on the left side. Even if Naci doesn't get forward himself he can feed his wing back counterpart and keep tiring out the opposition defender. I think by this point the Utd defenders have had enough and although they have numbers back none of them have the capacity to stop a simple cross and back post header.

Previously in this thread I have questioned when we would be in a position to replicate some of the other teams in the league and put 5/6/7 goals past teams on a regular basis. I still don't think we are Liverpool, who this season are still scoring at least 4 goals close to every week regardless of their opponent. However I do feel that this result shows that with the group of players we have, and the rotational system in place, we have the quality to destroy anyone when we are on our game, Furthermore, while we might struggle against teams who park the bus and look to frustrate us, having to rely on a long throw or set piece to muscle ourselves a win. This game shows that if a team comes to play they will leave us the space that our system thrives on to punish teams quickly and frequently. The real challenge now is to keep the mass of young talent together and ensure we don't explode financially or the weight of expectation doesn't ramp up too quickly.

Elsewhere

Arsenal need another own goal

Liverpool make my point, although with help from a sending off.

No upset for City either. On Sunday:

A late goal sees Chelsea continuing to find winning form.

Tottenham leave it late but score 3 against a flagging Fulham

Which means we finish October and the 1st quarter of the season in 3rd, we had sat top for all of 5 hours before 1st Liverpool and then City went back above us. However a 3 point gap and 11 goal difference above 5th placed Utd sees us in good early shape to begin building on the boards requirement of Champions League football qualification through the league. Beyond that, it is early days but after a shaky start I am growing in confidence and maybe belief. This could be our year, whether that means a league title, or a 2nd placed finish and highest position since I took over. Or we might waste our potential and crash and burn. Only time will tell

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

November 2023

4th Round

We play Everton in the one competition that the board truly has no interest in this season. As defending champions, and with a need to win trophies for the challenge, I don't want to just throw it away. However there is no doubt that the most important games going forward are in the Premier League, as titles don't win themselves. This month especially as we will face Tottenham who have rallied somewhat to find themselves in 7th, and Liverpool who sit just above us in 2nd. Lyon away is a trickier proposition than they posed us at the King Power but the decisive tie is likely to be at the end of the month playing Real Madrid in Spain. Before we get to the Carabao Cup game, there are awards aplenty with it being the end of the month.

When you win 3 games, score a load of goals and don't concede you are likely to win it, regardless of who you play. Considering we played two teams in the top 4 and didn't lose I would say I did better than Jurgen, or maybe I'm just bitter.

However, this is very, very pleasing, we take a clean sweep of the young player of the month awards, as Thomas Beil is our player on loan at Palace. The future is very bright as I continue to look to youth (if not exclusively youth through our own academy.) The aim will be to put together a team that will be both together and successful if not for their entire career, then at least their prime years. 

Also not surprising when you score the number of goals that both us and Liverpool did, that we would dominate the team of the week. Interesting that Meret gets in even though we conceded 2 goals, when Liverpool kept a clean sheet, perhaps because their keeper had nothing to do? 

Still a B, with the game performance getting a better score that means something else as slipped, and maybe slightly worryingly it's the backing of the players, which has been an A for as long as I can remember (which probably isn't that long!) It might be a reflection of the rotation policy, will have to keep an eye on it. 

Seriously don't understand this, if this crap eventually gets me sacked I won't be happy! Ok that might be a little dramatic but a 5-1 home win against 7th in the league is only a B-? How on earth is a 4-1 win against the worst team in the Champions League group the same score as smashing 7 past Utd, because it's away from home? I also find it frustrating that I picking up negative comments for not retaining possession, even though there is no requirement for me to play possession football! If it pisses you off then make it a requirement don't just bitch about it quietly. Right, the Carabao Cup, we played on the Wednesday which means there was a whole set of fixtures played the day before us:

All the games decided by a single goal, good to see Thomas Beil on the score sheet for Palace, even if not on the winning side. Then on Wednesday night:

Which leaves Newcastle and Hull as the only none Premier League clubs left in the competition.

Normally for a game which is 2nd XI material, choice 1st team players sit on the subs bench, however for this tie, and with Spurs only 3 days away I dove into the U23 team to fill out the match day squad. Damien Lally a 5 star academy prospect at striker, who I might have ruined by retraining as a shadow striker, Oli Ewing who can play anywhere down the centre of the midfield and Andrew Frew a 16 year old left winger. It might be the 2nd XI but we play the same way. In previous saves, when I have played with strikers and set out with a possession based attacking game the game quickly became very formulaic, the goals frequently looking very similar. Here however, the inverted winger, shadow striker and complete wing back are all involved just like in the last game but the goal looks completely different. 

What was also completely different, was being pegged back instantly, which I found annoying. Admittedly with this being a team with less stand out talent that the players who smashed Utd I didn't expect us to dominate play. However these players have all played enough games together, especially the back 3, to not switch off just after scoring. Not very much happens, neither team creates much and I want to get the players in at half time to give them a talking to. Then vice captain Ruben converts a central free kick into the top left corner and we can go in at halftime with a smile on my face. Our quality at set pieces is really coming through, Maddison with corners and indirect free kicks, Youri and Ruben with direct attempts.

In the 2nd half the game drags along, nothing much happens, we catapult a few long throws forward but their keeper comes and claims all of them, at our end Freddie Woodman (making his debut) has a couple of headers to catch but nothing too taxing. Inside the last half hour and I have a decision to make. Hannes Wolf, who over the past few seasons I have developed a soft spot for mainly due to his ability to score completely spontaneous individual goals, is struggling. He has perhaps been the worst player across both XI's so far this season, so much so in fact that he started the year in the 1st XI but has been replaced by Mason Mount. This game is no different, the Wolf looks toothless (every pun intended) and I contemplate bringing him off, Damien Lally can play in the shadow striker slot and the young prospect could benefit from the minutes. Instead I swap Lally (and Ewing) for Ruben and Youri, which hacks the experience and leadership out of the middle of the park and replaces it with an 18 and 16 year old respectively. Might well backfire, all with the sentimental aim of giving a favoured player more time, (in all honesty I have an arranged transfer in January for someone who can play in his position and he will probably have to leave). 

As the above graphic shows, he scores. The move starts, of all things, with a short throw in! Before we go down the left and Wolf hammers it home. I am off the sofa with my fist in the air, and rapidly have to explain to my dog (who thinks someone is breaking in) that it's his 1st goal of the season and thus worthy of getting hyped over. The dog, is less than convinced.

A kind draw for all of the bigger teams sees the two Championship teams drawn against 2nd and 3rd in the Premier League. Chelsea perhaps have the worst draw, as Wolves in the past few years has proven they can beat them if things go their way.

 

[Mandy42]

November 2023

Game Week 11

Our last 3 games of October were all at the King Power, the 1st 3 of November are all away. Thus the 1st Premier League of the month sees us travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, to play, well, no prizes for working that one out. Once again, we play 1st on the Saturday, which means for the 2nd weekend in a row we can claim top spot with a win, even if for a short period of time.

It is fair to say in my 4 years in charge I have turned over a fair few players, especially in the original squad of players who were here before I signed. I mean they only have themselves to blame, if they hadn't gotten themselves to 19th place then they wouldn't have ever met me! The majority are gone and I don't care about, Ben Chilwell plays for Spurs and I can't stand the man. Well I say plays for Spurs, he's injured (shock horror) and isn't available for selection. Paulo Diaz is perhaps the exception to this rule, a player who if I don't exactly miss, then admire what he brought to the club while he was here and worried if I would be able to replace it. I had no fear about saying something positive about him in the pre match build up as it was the truth and he would play well regardless of what I said about him.

 

An interesting game, the commentary ended with it being considered a classic. Ethan Ampadu, perhaps spurred on by the comments about Diaz before the match, decided to emulate him, scoring a quality goal from a long throw in. The rest of the 1st half was rather strange. Spurs, despite being the home team, set up to defend and frustrate, in that period we saw as much as 60% possession and failed to do very much with it as Spurs had players behind the ball. For them, Leroy Sane was a constant threat, forcing mistakes from our defenders and generally appearing all over the pitch and driving the ball forward with pace. He hit the bar late on in the 1st half, but that is as close as they came to drawing level.

2nd half and the game was more familiar, Spurs came forward more looking to get back into the game, we did better on the counter attack because of it. Our turn to hit the bar and the post, both from Maddison as the 2nd half ticked on. Another positive, Alex Meret had probably his best game of the seasons, making 12 games in total, and for the 1st time in a while looked like the player he had been all of last campaign, with notable 1v1 stops against Harry Kane and Leroy Sane. Later that day:

We are getting closer, if Fulham and Everton had held on a few minutes longer and drawn their respective games then we would have stayed top. Then on Sunday:

Chelsea continue their revival at the expense of Arsenal.

The gap to where the board require us to finish is 3 points and 11 goals, which just shows how much the margin for error has shrunk now in my 5th season in charge. In previous years, we were ok to just finish in the top half, which would mean we would be 12 points clear if that was this years target. However, not this year, the Liverpool game later in the month will give us another indicator whether we will keep the pace at the top or start to slip backwards like previous years.

 

[WillHoward42]

Just read all the way through this.

Really enjoy the week by week updates.

Imagine this takes a lot of time! I wouldn't have the patience... not just for the updates, but the need to continue through the save quickly 

With the challenge in place... would be good to see some sort of comparison to where you are and what you've won, in comparison to Fergie at his time/stage.

See if you are behind or on target to match/emulate his career.

Either way, great updates and exciting to follow!

[Mandy42]

31 minutes ago, WillHoward42 said:

Just read all the way through this.

Really enjoy the week by week updates.

Imagine this takes a lot of time! I wouldn't have the patience... not just for the updates, but the need to continue through the save quickly 

With the challenge in place... would be good to see some sort of comparison to where you are and what you've won, in comparison to Fergie at his time/stage.

See if you are behind or on target to match/emulate his career.

Either way, great updates and exciting to follow!

Thank you for the kind words and glad you enjoying following along.

I enjoy doing it, which helps, though there are some times where I feel I am spending more time updating than I am actually playing, but then results like the Man Utd game or the Champions League win make up for it as you can't wait to share those on the thread. It comes down to how well we do, the more goals we score the more videos there are and the effort required to update ramps up quickly.

Gyazo helps a lot with the updating, as I can edit the videos / screenshots there on the website and not have the files stuck only on 1 computer.

With regards to the challenge, I do post an end of season update to the thread in the challenge forum, which is probably why I have never added one in here, I'll correct that at the end of this season.

Once again thanks for following

[Mandy42]

November 2023

Group D Match Day 4

I don't have fond memories of playing in France, PSG taking advantage of us being a man down due to injury and playing through the vacant space on the pitch to score being the main reason. But I also think their teams and maybe the league in general gets underestimated. I was surprised we were rated as favourite in the home tie and going into the away game once again we are supposed to come away with all 3 points. This is a good team and Real's 1-0 loss here at Groupama Stadium on match day one is a cautionary tale if ever I needed one.

Fuming! Felt we had battled back to salvage a point before Batman decided he was going to ruin it for us. Though Lyon had done there best to ruin it all night, crunching tackles on both of our wing backs meant I had to change formation at half time and play a very uncertain Edson Alvarez at right full back and a limping James Justin at left wing back. Adrien Rabiot's header was saved magnificently by Meret, tipping it onto the bar, only for the rebound to fall kindly to the Frenchman as he nodded it into the open net. Once more Hannes Wolf offered little to nothing going forward and what little confidence he had garnered from his thumping 1st goal of the season last time out, evaporated as I withdrew him in the 2nd half for Yari Verschaeren. Navi Unuvar came on for David Kirby, who is an U19 England international but is probably the weakest link in the 2nd XI. Neither Ruben or Youri indicated why they should be 1st XI players rather than their current 2nd string status, especially Neves who has indicated he wants to discuss his playing time. Despite  all that, two of the substitutes were involved to pull us level, though the image of Alvarez's bald head out their on the right wing touchline is not one I care to repeat. There was however one saving grace in the whole evening.

With Madrid having gone top of the group on superior goal difference before they even kicked off, I feared the worst with them playing bottom of the group Dynamo and their -11 goal difference. However by hook or by crook they held the Spaniards to a draw which leaves the table looking like this:

I am quietly confident of getting a result against Dynamo at the King Power, and unlike France, we travel rather well to Spain, having not lost at the Santiago Bernabeu in the last 3 seasons, thus it is still very much to play for.

[Mandy42]

November 2023

Game Week 12

It has just dawned on me that the Lyon result was the 1st defeat for the 2nd XI this season. In and of itself that isn't overly remarkable, as long as the growing form of the 1st XI continues it's upward trend. Having come through Man Utd and Spurs in the last 2 league games they now face an even sterner test in defending champions and top goalscorers Liverpool. Thus I find it quite surprising that in the lead up to kick off, we are favourites to win, if only slightly. Once more we are the 1st game on Saturday which means another potential trip to the top of the table.

I am unsure whether we caught them on a bad day, or we played well, or somewhere in between. In many ways for us it was a normal game, we only had 35-45% possession through out, but we create as many chances. However it felt nowhere near as comfortable as the majority of our games. We had the early pressure, and we pushed hard, to the point where it felt that if we didn't score when Maddison superbly finds the net, then we might rue dominating but not taking the lead. Amusingly we had far easier chances to score before then, but that is the one we decided to stick away. The Liverpool response to going behind was instantaneous. and the rest of the game became very uncomfortable to watch. Which in itself is unusual, over the course of adapting this quality over quantity tactical system I have slowly grown used to going long periods of time without the ball or having our highlights start out as the oppositions highlight and we press the ball away from them. This game felt all Liverpool, to see that they only managed 3 shots on target (out of 13 total) and finished with only an average of 55% possession was a bit of a shock. It felt like they battered us, and until Naci volleyed in from close range, in what looked potentially an offside position, I didn't feel safe at all. Though when the dust settled at the end it did mean for the 3rd weekend in a row that we would spend some of it top of the table, this time with only one team that could remove us.

Will admit that I am hopeful other teams will break up the status quo of the top 6 teams, and while Norwich, Bournemouth, Southampton, Watford and Wolves have all looked like they could at various points in the various seasons since I have been in charge , none of them have stayed the course through a full season. Norwich are currently the last team standing in that best of the rest bracket in the current campaign. The flip side of this particular coin is that if any or all of these teams do kick on to mount a challenge without it coinciding with a similar decline in a current top 6 team, it will make the league more competitive and harder to achieve the challenge goals!

Unlike Liverpool, who usually smash in goal after goal, Man City are grinding out results that see them once again finish top of the table when the weekend finishes. Arsenal continue to struggle to take points off teams in the bottom half. While on Sunday:

Chelsea jump above both Man Utd and Arsenal as Spurs take points from a team above them in the league once again

Our lead to 5th grows to 5 points and 13 goals and we remain very much in the hunt of top spot

 

[Mandy42]

November 2023

Game Week 13

After the international break we go away to Crystal Palace, to play our 13th game, against the team in 13th place in the league..... It has been an unlucky break for a couple of our players, well more than a couple. Ruben Neves has continued moaning about his lack of play time, and moaned to a lot of the players, most of whom agree with me regarding my treatment of him. It is not the actions of someone I want as my vice captain, and when my backroom staff come to me advising I put him on the market in case he runs down his contract, I agree. Hannes Wolf joins him on the market after he played better against Andorra than he has played for me all season, he isn't happy about being forced out of the club, but I didn't force him to become crap in front of goal. Choppa and Henrique Jocu have also been unlucky, I think since Neves went on the transfer list he has been spotting the players who can play in the same position as him in the weight room, as both of them are sidelined with muscle strains. On the lucky side of the coin sits Nathan Wood, who made his 1st international appearance for England and with it was recommended for the team vice captaincy going forward. Speaking of luck:

Friday night saw the two  teams who share the last 6 Premier league titles between them go head to head in a cagey affair. While a draw would have probably been the perfect result, a Liverpool win means that a win for us against Palace tomorrow will see us go top and stay top (at least till the next round of games).

Spurs and Arsenal continue to struggle for form, while Chelsea are definitely putting their early season slum behind them.

I was unsure how the team would do, what with me being forced to play both players I had transfer listed in the starting lineup, David Kirby was very tired having played for the England U19s late in the break but I was desperate to save both Naci and Maddison for the Real game coming up midweek. Captain Youri give us the perfect start as the keeper is unable to keep his left footed volley from finding the net, just like that 5 minutes in we are top. Then 5 minutes later, just like that we are back to 3rd, a wayward pass sets Palace away on the counter, only for Meret to make a good 1v1 save that goes for a corner. Thiago Silva whips the corner in and Ben Wilmot's bullet header is pretty much unsaveable. Palace are really making a game of it, and if that isn't evident in them creating that many chances it is definitely clear in the condition of our players, they are being made to work to get on the ball and are suffering for that effort. None more so than David Kirby, who I had hoped would make it to halftime but looks like I need to sub nearer the 30 minute mark. I keep him on and he rewards me by scoring his 1st senior goal for the club having come through our academy. From a Palace corner we win the ball back and go the length of the pitch, not the cleanest finish from Kirby but great to see him score and good to see so many players making the effort to get into attacking positions to give us back the lead.

Andrew Frew comes on at half time for the tired Kirby, again possibly not the best idea putting on an unproven 16 year old when we only lead by 1. However we rarely if ever look threatened in the 2nd half, and Captain Youri's 2nd gives us breathing room. I can now substitute the two transfer listed players, and especially in the sad case of the Wolf, don't think they will play much more football for us.

 

On Sunday Norwich come from 2 down to win, while Utd try keep hold of Chelsea's coattails as the London club continues to pile up wins.

We stay top for the 1st week in my career, our biggest rival is Chelsea who still has the ability to take 6 points off us, however any of the next 4 teams below us have the quality required to hit a vein of form that could carry them to the title.

[Mandy42]

November 2023

Group D Match Day 5

We go to Spain knowing the same as we did before we went to France, a win would put us in the best position to qualify from the group, but a draw would not be the end of the world, and that Dynamo could do us a favour in their game against Lyon. Unlike the last match day, our game was the late game so we would know the lay of the land before we played.

They left it late to secure the win just like they did against us, but they got the job done, which leaves the table like this.

Some good news before kick off:

To have two young players in the running for the award confirms the fact that the future looks bright.

However, there was very little bright about the game itself. Firstly, it rained almost throughout, which I thought might make us feel at home but no. Neither team asked enough of the other to deserve to come away with 3 points. For them, they never really managed to get the ball down in our box, we either blocked their passes out wide, or headed clear when they did manage to cross. For us, we always seemed rather isolated when we broke after clearing one of their crosses, Mount and Naci didn't link up as well as they had in previous games. Even when either of them could beat the 2 or 3 Real defenders to get an attempt on target, they were usually shooting from a position which was not going to trouble a keeper with the quality of Courtois. Which means with 1 game to go:

We play Dynamo at home, looking for a repeat of the 4-1 win we achieved in the 1st game. Any sort of win and we will go through, if the other game is a draw we go through as group winners. If Madrid win we could even sneak through with a draw (I think) down to our head to head with Lyon over the 2 games, beating them 3-0 but only losing 2-1.

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Game Week 14

We begin our defence of top spot at home to Southampton, a team that started very well, but have stuttered to mid table and seem to be struggling to revive their forward progress. They favour a direct style of play, but then so do we I suppose. After having played 1st for the last two weeks, we now play last, I doubt the fixture people have such an accurate crystal ball to have planned it on purpose, but with the way the fixtures are laid out, the league lead could change hands three times in the space of this afternoon. Though before we get to that, it is the beginning of the new month, which means we have awards etc to dish out.

Ave it! and not a Klopp or Pep in sight! 

Never had that before! Have had players dedicate awards to me, but never seen the chairman say good job like that, bodes well I hope.

Definitely seems to be reflected in the review, 1st time I have received an A since the takeover, maybe ever in this save. Also, if I am reading it correctly, that grade is all about this season, it has nothing to do any longer with last years over achievement in the Champions League. Lets see how long that lasts for!

Liverpool leave it very late but just do enough to go top, at least until Man City kick off.

No such hesitation in Manchester ans both teams decide they are only going to score in one half.

This would be the day, when we look back, that it began to change. I was reminded that the U23 game was to be played on the same day, thus if I wanted David Kirby, Oli Ewing, Damien Lally in my starting XI then I had to shift them before Saturday, so I did. This meant that they would be fit for this game, and hopefully fit for every other 2nd XI game, meaning I no longer needed to rely on Neves and Wolf. £40M in value, £204,000 in wages just carved out and left on the side until the January window opens, a brave move if it works, a stupid one if it doesn't.

We start really well, peppering their goal but not getting anything for the effort, they look dangerous on the counter, which is more than a little ironic all on it's own. Though I can accept that, 5 of the starting 11 are academy products, 5 of the players are 20 or younger. Then just when I think they are going to limp to halftime without conceding we get a breakthrough. Nemanja "Jock Itch" Jocic wins a header from a long throw which drops to Sidnei Tavares on the edge of the box and he strokes it into the bottom right corner. Fantastic! Less than Fantastic however is 2 minutes later when a Southampton throw gets them down the right hand touch line and they cross into the box, Morelos simply gets there 1st and wraps his foot around it to bring them level. 

I tell them at halftime that I am disappointed, once more we went from 3rd to 1st to back to 3rd again in the blink of an eye, not good enough. Everything about this goal excites me, we win the ball back in midfield due to pressing Southampton into a bad pass and have intelligent players in the right position. Sidnei goes forward straight away and David Kirby shows how in just a few short weeks he has come on leaps and bounds, he doesn't lose the ball to the defender or play it simple as he so often does. Instead he delivers a beauty of a cross for Youri making a Captains effort to burst forward in his mezzala role and restore our lead. We held on, which left us only waiting on #LondonSunday:

A Joao Pedro masterclass and Spurs are sinking, not able to capitalise on Norwich dropping points

Chelsea just keep getting the job done.

We survive our 1st week in top spot! It's going to be a hell of a ride if it's like this for the next 24 weeks!

 

 

 

 

[WillHoward42]

Really enjoy how tight the top 6 going through the season, I think that is why I appreciate the weekly updates. It's intense!

Also got me curious to do a similar save with Wolves. Not many leagues where you have so many competitive teams, especially with 4/5 keeping up the pace after Christmas. Exciting times!

[Mandy42]

1 hour ago, WillHoward42 said:

Really enjoy how tight the top 6 going through the season, I think that is why I appreciate the weekly updates. It's intense!

Also got me curious to do a similar save with Wolves. Not many leagues where you have so many competitive teams, especially with 4/5 keeping up the pace after Christmas. Exciting times!

Yeah it feels really intense going through it. For a number of reasons.

the gap in points at the end of the season has been coming down, 13 then 5 last year so it sometimes it feels like we are getting closer. Other times it feels like Liverpool and Man City especially are just machines at churning out results.

Pressure from the challenge to win trophies, because that’s what Sir Alex did, I might feel slightly relaxed once I bag he 1st one (as long as it is within the time period) but not by much as I’ve got to get a fa cup / league double in soon! Without tanking other competitions too much and pissing off the chairman.

I feel the full 11 rotation policy ( well I don’t always swap goalkeeper) is what is keeping me in the hunt this year. Which is great, however players are starting to complain about not playing often enough, so I have to maintain player support while keeping the talent at the club AND turn good form into titles and trophies ! 

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Group D Match Day 6

Here we go! Final game of the group, which sees us start the evening in 3rd spot. However our destiny is within our own hands, if we win we progress simple as that. If either Real or Lyon win then we will go through as runners up. If Real and Lyon draw AND we win then we will go through as group winners. I am quietly confident, as the last and only time we played Dynamo we beat them 4-1. This is a 1st XI game, as there are 5 days between this and our next league game. Plus, as much as the league is the priority I would be a fool to not maximise my chances of meeting board expectations (which is Champions League quarter final) and bringing in much needed finances. There has been no talk of stadium upgrades or moving (despite there being nearly £100M in the bank) so until then I need to milk the Champions League for every penny in order to keep up with bigger clubs with bigger stadiums.

During the game, we dominate early proceedings but are wasteful with our chances and put a lot of them wide, conversely, Dynamo are very accurate, they create two early chances and both require Meret to make saves. Just over 20 minutes gone and news is coming through of a penalty in France!

It goes the way of the Spanish which leaves the group looking like this:

Our superior goal difference and head to head with Lyon puts us through, however, that requires us to see out the game with at least a point! Henrique Jocu steps up to put us one step closer towards that! I love this video, not just because it puts us ahead and jumps us to 11 points with some breathing room over Lyon. A big part of it is that Jocu (who is playing with a minor injury), standing in for the injured Choppa, a sure test of my resolve to not play Ruben Neves has come up with the goods. Also just the way the video itself plays out, I contemplated capturing a replay from the schedule screen, but I just love the fact I am caught checking the update tab to peek at the group table position just before the goal goes in!

Not long after Lyon bite back meaning the group now looks like this:

Dream land! the perfect scenario, Madrid now the team that comes through in 2nd due to their superior head to head and goal difference over Lyon. The only problem? The fact we have only played 31 minutes and there is a lot of football left to be played. Except:

There isn't, it was nervy, and definitely not as emphatic as the away game but we get the job done at our end.

And the game in France stays the same as well! Meaning we qualify from the group stages for the 3rd year in a row. Meaning we are only 1 kind draw away from reaching board expectation. While in other news:

Think it is awesome we have been drawn against our "rival" as far as the challenge is concerned (the one team we can never do transfer business with)

 

 

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Game Week 15

5 days since we secured knockout football in the Champions League we go away to the Emirates to. Arsenal played their Champions League game the day after us, so have had less time to rest and prepare, which is good, as this is the 1st time the 1st XI will play back to back games without an international break between them. In fact, it is the 1st time in a long time I start the same XI for two games in a row. However, before that there are games played midweek, and on Saturday, before we take the field on Sunday.

Wednesday evening saw Norwich begin to grow into their attempt to become best of the rest this season.

While Spurs woes just kept on coming. Then at the weekend, an early Christmas treat for football fans with Man City v Man Utd early on Saturday. Chelsea v Liverpool at tea time, then our game against Arsenal on Sunday.

2nd v 5th

4th v 3rd

6th v 1st

Man City went back top, with Spurs needing a stoppage time goal from a defender to salvage a point against 17th place Villa.

Liverpool got the better of a cagey affair at the Bridge, and in the space of an afternoon a gap was beginning to form between the top 3 and the rest of the top 6. Liverpool and City had done their part, it was now down to us, to put Arsenal in their place. However, Arsenal had beaten us already in the Super Cup this season, and had been responsible for taking points off other top 6 clubs, just balancing that out with struggling against teams lower down the table. 

A strange game, we play to attack, whether we are home or away, however in recent games, home teams have set up 1st to nullify us before attempting to secure the result for themselves. I should be flattered and content with this, and maybe I would be, if it wasn't stifling my ability to pick up points.  For most of the 1st half Arsenal had nearly 80% possession, but did very little with it, in fact by the end of the 1st half both teams had recorded 2 attempts on target. We had needed 2 shots to reach that, Arsenal had required 6. They seemed very content to let us try build out from the back, committing only 1 maybe 2 players to press which saw them achieve very little in our half.

At half time I told the players I wasn't happy with the performance but I did reduce our mentality to attacking just to see if we stopped being as spread out and isolated on the pitch as we moved forward. 2nd Half and while the reduced mentality saw us have more of the ball we didn't do much with it. With 60 minutes gone we were however growing into the game. Arsenal began to tire and for the last 30 minutes it was all us. Yet Arsenal had a plan for this as well, they surrendered the middle of the pitch, sitting 5 to 6 players deep, and committing the rest to press our defenders and keeper. So while we could move the ball to the halfway line with ease, progress from past that became slow and cumbersome. 

Which means our 1st stint at defending top spot ended after 2 weeks. We are now 3rd though only 1 point behind new leaders City. We still hold a 4 point gap back to Chelsea.

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Mandy42

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Game Week 16

The frustrating thing about December is it's the time of year when a shed load of games need to be fit in. Until this point in the season everyone generally plays their games in order, no games in hand to be seen. However, with Champions League, Carabao Cup still to finish, and the FA Cup starting in January, fixtures get swapped and shuffled around leading to teams playing at strange times. Thus, before we play our 1 league game this week, some teams have two to play!

Norwich are still looking good to make a serious challenge for some form of European football next season.

As they leapfrog Arsenal up into 6th place. 2 days later on the 13th:

Arsenal can't respond, and  the only surprise in the other games is the lack of goals.

The other frustrating thing is goal difference, especially for us, while ours is healthy in comparison to Man Utd, it looks rather anemic compared to Liverpool's. Which means even if we win our game, it is doubtful we will move out of 3rd. We play 3 days later on the 16th, but then so does pretty much everyone else!

Liverpool's goals seem to have dried up, while Arsenal don't seem to want to stay in 6th spot.

Norwich have a real good go at Old Trafford, coming back from 4-1 down to scare Man Utd

City had no such problems, and then finally it was our turn!

Diogo Nascimento is Everton's up and coming new wonderkid, and he as well as taking his goal very well, he was a constant threat all afternoon. I wasn't overly fond of coming from behind. Naci's solo effort dragged us back level, and we seemed to stagnate there. I wondered if this was the point in the season, like every season so far, that would be the start of our slow slip back from the top 2 as we leaked points. This definitely seemed the case when This goal wasn't given, the net ripples and the ball was clearly over the line on the ball position replay, however no goal was awarded! We were staring down the barrel of our 2nd consecutive draw until Their goalkeeper gifted us the lead. That error knocked the wind out of them completely and we saw out the last 10 minutes plus stoppage time without a problem. Then on Sunday:

No surprises there, although it could be reaching the point where Spurs winning is a surprise! Which means after an eventful week:

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Quarter Final

Here we go, that competition that nobody on my board cares about, but I like, as we are the current holders! Well let me rephrase that, I like the Carabao Cup as long as it keeps giving me the easiest draw of the round, which this time out means we get a home tie against Hull who sit in the relegation zone of the Championship. So yes, this is definitely a 2nd XI game. Though just before we get to the game, a little off the pitch info.

This frustrates me, not the fact the intake isn't much to write home about, I'm yet to play a youth only save, though it is something I might look into in the future. However, more frustrating is the fact that I keep getting suggestions to use the youth facilities, then don't get great intakes, go to the board to upgrade the facilities, and be told that the facilities are good enough for a club of our size. This goes round and round, and seems a bit hypercritical to me, what with the new chairman not investing in youth facilities but bringing in a 24 and 25 year old at the time of his appointment.

This was the expected outcome, which is always nice when it happens and there isn't a surprise FMing when playing a much weaker team. I  think hull registered 1 shot in the game and it wasn't even on target. Probably why my 3 centre backs go bored and decided to go score goals instead. Jesus Vallejo pumped up from his goal as a substitute in the last game, gets us underway, charging from the far post to steal a long throw in goal from a tardy Scott McKenna. I have been waiting for Nemanja to score his 1st goal for the club, for obvious reasons.

Into the 2nd half, and One of the many things I love about FM is that the majority of the narrative occurs inside your head, the game provides you with the template and your mind fills in the colour. Our 3rd goal for example, it could have happened simply as shown in the video. However in my head, I know I had just replaced Tommy Tavares my usual right back with Edson Alvarez, who can play right side of defence if he has to. I made this change because Tommy is a 1st XI player, but he was at home with a cold for the Everton game. Now I wanted him to get some game time in his legs, but I didn;t want him to play the full game as then he couldn't rotate back to the 1st XI in their next game. All fascinating  stuff, but what does any of it have to do with the goal? Well I am so glad you asked! All of my wing backs regardless of side or which XI they play in, are on long throw in training, so that you don't rely on only 1 player, and also to stop the wrong sided wing back having to come all the way over to the other side of the pitch and leave you open to a counter down the opposite side. Thus when Tommy comes off, Alvarez is not on the long throw in list, now he could have just wound up and slung it in, probably not leading to anything, but he didn't, he goes short. A very, very rare occurrence for us in that area of the pitch (hell anywhere in the opposition half) Now had Hull watched tape of us launching it into the box? Probably, did they switch off at the back post when they saw us drop it short? That moment of relief that they don't have to deal with another ball flung in from the touchline? Most likely, well that's what I tell myself anyway, which is why I can write a full paragraph on a simple long throw in goal.

Feeling someone other than a defender, should get on the score sheet, Sidnei Tavares volleys home from the edge of the area. I like this clip because it demonstrates the development of the players within the system now that they are either fluid or accomplished in all aspects of the tactic. While it could be suggested that a mezzala, attacking wingback and inverted winger could quite easily get in each others way (and probably did in the early stages of training) this clip shows they are able to overload the left side without hindering the others. I especially like Sidnei's movement. He starts out left, and runs more centrally, until both Thomas and Kirby are further forward than he is, before he cuts back and out left, providing both a cut back option and ensuring he isn't crowding the box if the wide player wants to drive into the area. A good solid win, which is less than can be said for the other games:

Even if you are playing a younger side I doubt the game plan was to leave it to the lottery of penalties! As the games are played over 2 evenings, I was asked in my press conference who I wanted out of the remaining teams before they had played. I chose West Ham and I figured I could beat them. Then the next evening:

The dream is alive!

This competition loves me!

 

 

 

 

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Game Week 17

As a Christmas eve, eve treat we host Burnley at the King Power, our 6th game of the month with one more to fit in before the fireworks on New Years eve. We play middle of the pack in the afternoon but before that:

With the top of the table as tight as it is a the shock of Spurs taking points off City would have been the ideal. The next best thing is a low scoring win to give us a fighting chance to catch up on goal difference.

Norwich, possibly still suffering from the massive effort they put in against Man Utd can only stumble to a draw.

Southampton had good early season form, and they rediscover it here to put Chelsea to the sword.

Man Utd come out firing and have the game over in 30 minutes.

It is a win, which is the main thing, if it didn't jeopardise my job due to not playing entertaining football, I would take 1-0 wins every day of the week for a month of Sundays. However, at the time, when watching the updates ping up in the top left corner of free scoring Utd (who bagged 3 before we got our 1) it did become frustrating. Whether we score was however the only problem, once more we shut the other team down, allowing only 1 attempt and that wasn't on target. The highlight even sees Olmo's goal flash up in the top left corner, as we work the ball around the box. James Maddison eventually finishes beautifully. In the late game:

Liverpool go on Santa's naughty list.

AND I don't think Daniel Levy is on Ole's Christmas card list, bit awkward if the secret Santa has already been handed out! No idea why Pep would want to leave top of the table City for struggling Spurs in 9th but oh well.

Norwich can't hold on to the dizzy heights of 6th, we keep the pace, but don't close the gap any.

[Mandy42]

December 2023

Game Week 18

Last game of the year, note to self, next post remember to write 2024! We finish with a boxing day bash against rock bottom of the table Fulham at the King Power. Sounds simple, yet we have form of not turning up against bottom of the table sides. We gifted Brighton their 1st point of the campaign with a lacklustre 1-1 draw earlier in the year. The fact Fulham haven't won in their previous 17 games tells me it is nailed on for us to struggle. But before that:

A late Christmas present for us from Utd who hold Liverpool and give us a chance to close the gap.

Never going to complain about teams lower down the table taking points from team above them (unless that team is us obviously!)

Just shot myself in the foot with the last comment, as Spurs are below Norwich in the table, but would be nice to see Norwich bounce back and take the next step and challenge the top 6. Though unfortunately that is 1 point from their last possible 9! Now to us:

4-0 is comfortable, but that result didn't feel comfortable! Not until well into the 2nd half, and then only truly when we scored the 2nd goal. The 1st half was hard, Fulham didn't come out like a team who were bottom of the league with only 5 points, they had the ball for the 1st 20 minutes and we couldn't lay a glove on them, think we got to 20% possession somewhere around the 30th minute. I was ready to tell the players they had been disappointing come half time when Sidnei Tavares ghosts in at the far post to give us the lead. This clip gives an example of how we exhort pressure even without the ball. Most throw ins that we get inside the opposition half end up going into their box, couple this with the extreme pressing we do and you get a situation where hoofing it out of touch under pressure isn't the best option. Either the opposition plays long, hopeful, low percentage balls which stay in the field of play and we collect, or it goes out of play and we get to put it in their box. 

Damien Lally is an academy prospect who came through the year before David Kirby, both those players started life out as strikers, but as we don't use strikers they are being retrained as a shadow striker and inverted winger respectively. This seems an easier transition for Kirby than it is for Lally, whose star potential has taken a dip since the year from his intake. I am trying to move away from stars as a be all and end all metric of whether I keep / buy / play players (I have relied on it heavily in the past) but I still factor it in. I want them both in the team to effectively get the most out of the best prospects of two separate intakes, but also hope that developing their partnership early will see them become better than the sum of their parts. So to see one assist the other, and such a cracking strike for his 1st goal of the season is a pretty special moment.

Our 3rd, is us ruthlessly pouncing on a poor goal kick clearance, after our pressing hand scared them into no longer rolling the ball out short. Then the icing on the cake, this time Fulham manage to get their goal kick into our half, but good defensive positioning from Choppa wins us the ball back. We are deep into stoppage time at the end of the game, but we aren't done. His ball forward finds Kirby, who having turned 17 and signed a professional contract is growing in confidence, he is much more direct and willing to take people on than he was just a few short months ago. Damien Lally is waiting in the box and the combination nets us another goal. Man City don't play till tomorrow, they spent boxing day eating left over vegan nut roast at Pep's place.

They take care of business on Sunday

Win our game in hand and we go 2nd, 1 point behind Man City, and beginning to build a comfortable cushion over the teams below us. Onto other news, with it being not only the end of the month but the end of the year, there are even more awards than normal being dished out:

We roll in 3rd in the manager of the month competition, which I guess is fair seen as we are 3rd in the league.

Meret is awarded goalkeeper of the year, the chairman is going to milk this one all the way to the bank! Impressive ratio of clean sheets, and shows just how dominant he was end of last season as his form this season hasn't been as solid. But awards for players in our squad don't stop there:

James Maddison joins Alex Meret in the world team of the year, which is also not really surprising with the number of player of the match performances he receives. I was wondering, with the 3 goalkeepers all being from English clubs if this was due to me only having the Premier League and Championship loaded (as per the challenge instructions). However the world team has players from Spain, France and Italy, which would suggest that those 3 keepers are just the best 3 in the world.

Naci picks up the U21 footballer of the year, having already shown glimpses of why I paid £84M for someone who was apparently valued at £3M. His value by the way is now at £42M. He is currently our top goal scorer on 8 goals in the Premier League, and while that is a rather steep investment at £10M per goal. I am hopeful I can keep him for years to continue building the 1st team around him.

If your the best U21 player in the world, I guess it is no surprise you are the golden boy of Europe! Our future is bring indeed!