El Payaso Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) Chelsea FC Part Ways with Mauricio Pochettino After Disappointing Start to the Premier League Season Defeat to Crystal Palace the 'final straw' Lampard considered as the interim manager? What went wrong, once again? Chelsea FC has announced the shock departure of manager Mauricio Pochettino following a dismal start to the 2023-2024 Premier League season. The decision comes just eight games into the campaign, with the most recent blow being a 3-0 defeat away at Crystal Palace on Monday. Pochettino, who took charge of the Blues in the summer, failed to live up to the high expectations set by the Chelsea hierarchy. The recent defeat at Selhurst Park, where Chelsea was convincingly beaten by Crystal Palace, marked the final straw for the club's board. The Argentine manager, renowned for his successful stints at Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain, struggled to find the right formula at Stamford Bridge. Despite having a talented squad at his disposal, Chelsea's lackluster performances and inconsistent results led to the decision to terminate Pochettino's contract. This abrupt departure adds Pochettino to the growing list of managerial casualties at Chelsea in recent years. Frank Lampard, who enjoyed a legendary playing career with the club, faced the axe in January 2021 after a promising start to his managerial career began to unravel. German tactician Thomas Tuchel replaced Lampard, guiding Chelsea to a Champions League triumph in the 2020-2021 season. However, Tuchel's tenure also ended abruptly in September 2022. The German was followed by Graham Potter, who arrived from Brighton and took over the managerial reins in a highly expected move, which ended less than seven months later. Following Frank Lampard's brief spell as the interim manager, the decision to appoint Pochettino was seen as an attempt to bring in a more experienced manager with a proven track record, but the results on the pitch did not match the club's ambitions. Chelsea now faces a crucial decision in finding a new manager to steady the ship and salvage the season. The club's hierarchy will be under scrutiny for their rapid turnover of managers in recent times, with fans and pundits alike questioning the stability of the coaching setup at Stamford Bridge. The club currently sits in 13th place in the Premier League, with just 8 points from the first 9 games of the season. As Chelsea fans brace themselves for yet another managerial change, the club's board will undoubtedly be looking for a candidate who can bring stability, success, and a long-term vision to guide the team back to the summit of English and European football. Edited January 23 by El Payaso 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 4 Author Share Posted January 4 (edited) Cesc Fabregas Returns to Stamford Bridge: Appointed as Chelsea FC's New Manager Chelsea FC has officially welcomed back a familiar face to Stamford Bridge, as Cesc Fabregas takes the helm as the club's new manager. The former Chelsea midfielder, known for his illustrious playing career and astute footballing intelligence, now steps into the managerial spotlight to guide the Blues through the challenges that lie ahead. Fabregas, 36, returns to Chelsea with a wealth of footballing experience and a deep understanding of the club's ethos. Fabregas won the English Premier League title twice with Chelsea in 2015 and 2017, along with a UEFA Europa League title in 2019. After leaving Chelsea in 2019, Fabregas continued his playing career with AS Monaco in Ligue 1, showcasing his leadership skills both on and off the pitch. He finished his career in Italy in May 2023, after playing his final season as a professional in Serie B. The midfielder's transition into coaching has been eagerly anticipated, and now, the moment has arrived for him to make his mark from the dugout. Speaking about his new role, Fabregas expressed his enthusiasm. Quote "Returning to Chelsea in a managerial capacity is a dream come true. This club holds a special place in my heart, and I am excited to contribute to its success in a new role. I understand the expectations, and I am ready for the challenge." Chelsea's board has placed its faith in Fabregas to instill a winning mentality and bring a fresh perspective to the team. The appointment is a clear signal of the club's commitment to promoting a long-term vision, with a manager who understands the values that make Chelsea unique. The Blues' faithful will not have to wait long to witness Fabregas in action on the touchline, as Chelsea is set to face Luton Town in their first game under the new manager's tenure. The clash, scheduled after the international break in October 2023, is anticipated to be a momentous occasion as the team aims to kickstart a new era under Fabregas. Fans can expect to see the iconic midfielder's tactical understanding and passion for the game translated into the team's playing style. The match against 10th-placed Luton Town will be a crucial test for Fabregas and his squad, as they look to turn the page on a challenging start to the season and embark on a positive trajectory under their new manager. As the excitement builds around Cesc Fabregas' return to Chelsea, the club is united in the hope that this appointment marks the beginning of a successful chapter, bringing glory and silverware back to Stamford Bridge. Edited January 4 by El Payaso 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 A dream start for Fàbregas as The Hatters are brushed aside In a thrilling encounter at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea FC secured a commanding 4-1 victory over Luton on October 22, 2023. The Blues showcased their attacking prowess early in the game, with goals from Moises Caicedo and Cole Palmer putting them 2-0 up within the opening 10 minutes. Chelsea's dominance was evident from the start, as they swiftly took control of the midfield. Caicedo's goal came from a well-executed team move. Just minutes later, Palmer displayed his clinical finishing to double the lead from the edge of the penalty area, leaving Luton with an uphill battle. However, Luton managed to find a lifeline just before halftime in an unexpected turn of events. A rare mistake from experienced defender Thiago Silva allowed Ross Barkley to capitalize and convert Luton's only shot of the game, making it 2-1 at the 42nd-minute mark. The second half saw Luton adopting a resilient defensive approach, successfully thwarting Chelsea's attacking advances for much of the period. The Blues struggled to break down the opposition, but the late stages of the game witnessed a resurgence in their attacking prowess. Armando Broja and Nicolas Jackson sealed the victory for Chelsea, scoring two goals in the last ten minutes of the match. The goals were a testament to the Blues' persistence and ability to capitalize on turnovers in the midfield. Amidst the dynamic team performance, Cole Palmer, deployed as a central midfielder, emerged as the game's standout player. His talent was on full display, contributing both as a goal-scorer and provider with one goal and an assist. The match underscored Chelsea's midfield dominance, with all four goals originating from quick dispossessions and turnovers in the middle of the park. The hard-working midfielders showcased their ability to transition from defense to attack seamlessly, ultimately securing a convincing 4-1 win for Chelsea FC. The victory saw the Blues climb up to the 10th position in the Premier League table. Chelsea FC 4-1 Luton Town ⚽ Moises Caicedo 5' 1-0 ⚽ Cole Palmer (Fernández) 11' 2-0 ⚽ Ross Barkley (Morris) 42' 2-1 ⚽ Armando Broja (Callagher) 82' 3-1 ⚽ Nicolas Jackson (Palmer) 85' 4-1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 Newcastle and Chelsea locked horns in a thrilling encounter Saturday evening at St. James' Park saw two underachievers of the season facing each other in an entertaining game. The home team went to the game with no real injury worries, while the visitors were without the services of Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernández, who both got injured during the one-week break after the match against Luton. The visitors started brightly and were one goal ahead after just ten minutes through a good setup play between Roméo Lavia and Mykhailo Mudryk. Newcastle got their engines running with the early cold shower and took control of the game. Alexander Isak saw his goal ruled out in the 24th minute due to an offside, but just a minute later Lavia's lack of match fitness led to an error, which was punished by Joelinton, who got through on goal against Sanchez. After the break, Chelsea gave yet another freezing shower for the home team as Mudryk scored his second goal in the 47th from a good cross delivered by captain Reece James. The clinical away team sealed the game after the one-hour mark when James won the ball back at the halfway line and set up Conor Callagher through on goal against Nick Pope, who was helpless against the powerful finish to the far corner of the net. The final goal of the game was also scored by the visitors as Mudryk and Raheem Sterling broke in a counter-attack against the now very attacking home team. The unstoppable Ukrainian was the provider this time as Sterling finished only his second goal of the season just seconds before being substituted. The Blues were as clinical as they possibly could have been as they finished from all their 4 shots on target. Newcastle on the other hand created 12 shots in total, out of which 5 were on target, most of them saved by the Spanish keeper Sanchez. Mykhailo Mudryk was awarded the Player of the Match award after a productive performance, with two goals and one assist. The result saw Chelsea climb up to the 8th position in the Premier League table, while the struggling Newcastle side remained 12th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 (edited) Ipswich town produces as a surprise as Chelsea exits from the Carabao Cup A perfect defensive display sees the Championship side progress into the fifth round. Cesc Fàbregas suffered his first defeat as the new manager of Chelsea as The Blues were eliminated from the Carabao Cup in the fourth round by Ipswich Town. The Premier League giants were unable to break the sturdy defensive line of the Championship side and were punished from set pieces. Fábregas made 10 changes to his starting eleven that beat Newcastle United at St. James Park just three days earlier. Numerous players from the under-21 squad were included and the attack was led by Armando Broja and Nicolas Jackson, who was the only player who has started all three games with the Spaniard in charge. Chelsea dominated possession throughout the game but wasn't anywhere near scoring until the home team shocked the footballing world with a goal in the 57th minute. The goal came from a corner kick and was scored by Harry Clarke, with a precise header from Cameron Burges' flick-on. After conceding, the visitors brought in Cole Palmer, Conor Callagher, and Ben Chilwell in an attempt to turn things around. The Blues controlled the last 30 minutes of the game and were close to scoring more a few times while piling on the pressure. In the 93rd minute of the game, Chelsea got a corner, which saw goalkeeper Dorde Petrovic join the attack. Ipswich's defense was able to clear and find Dane Scarlett free at the halfway line, where the striker was able to finish into the open Chelsea goal. Chris Walton, who made just 3 saves during the game, was voted as the Man of the Match. The 27-year-old wasn't overly bothered between his pipes but made important saves inside the last 15 minutes of the game to the efforts of Cole Palmer and Broja. Chelsea will continue with their busy schedule on Saturday by hosting Aston Villa in the Premier League. Ipswich, on the other, will travel to Birmingham to face Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City in the Championship. Edited January 6 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 6 Author Share Posted January 6 (edited) Honours even at Stamford Bridge after an uneventful afternoon Chelsea and Aston Villa met on Saturday afternoon amid a busy schedule. This was the third time these two teams featured in just seven days. The 16th-placed visitors got off to a flyer as Douglas Luiz set up center-back Pau Torres for an easy chance as the Blues defense failed to clear out the ball properly after a corner kick that was delivered in by the Brazilian. Chelsea got even after just five minutes through a nice passage of play that saw Cole Palmer releasing Raheem Sterling through the right-hand side and between Torres and fullback Álex Moreno. The trickery winger then had an easy job setting up Armando Broja inside the six-yard area, who was unable to miss the open net. Douglas Luiz was the best player in the park for the first half an hour, but the Brazilian was then taken out of play by an effective man-marking effort performed by the home team's Conor Callagher, who started to control the middle of the park ever since. Aston Villa were slightly the better team in the first 45 minutes, but the tables turned during the second one. Raheem Sterling was by far the most dangerous player on the pitch for the second 45 minutes, but the hosts were still unable to make their momentum pay off. The home team was without the services of Nicolas Jackson, who injured his ankle just a day before the game. The young forward joined a long list of injured players formed by Malo Gusto, Roméo Lavia, Enzo Fernández, Noni Madueke, Axel Disasi, and Wesley Fofana. The long list of injuries allowed young Deivid Washington a rare opportunity in the Premier League as the Brazilian replaced goalscorer Broja as the lone forward in the 72nd minute. The youngster came close to scoring twice in the dying minutes but was denied on both occasions by goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez. Both teams remain in their respectable positions after the draw. Chelsea is currently 9th in the table, while struggling Aston Villa are 16th. MAN OF THE MATCH Raheem Sterling, Chelsea Goals: 0 Assists: 1 Rating: 8.20 Edited January 6 by El Payaso 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick87 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Nice update style mate,looks very well laid out. I considered a career as Fabregas myself but managing Como in Serie B, who he's managing in real life. Opted for a lower league career instead though. Keep up the good work 👍 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 The Garibaldis fall into a disappointing late draw Saturday 11 November 2023 The 15th-placed Nottingham Forest hosted Chelsea at the City Ground. The points were drawn as the visitors scored a 94th-minute equalizer through Conor Gallagher. The hosts were in control of the opening minutes of the game but were mainly threatening their visitors through set pieces. Nottingham got lucky after the 20-minute mark as Hudson-Odoi's corner delivery ended up at the feet of Serge Aurier and the experienced fullback had an easy job to finish his first goal of the Premier League campaign. It got Chelsea plenty of time to get their engines running, but the visitors were able to respond after the half-hour mark. The goal scored by Cole Palmer was built with a nice passage of play that started with Mykhaylo Mudryk cutting in from the left flank and setting up Raheem Sterling into an easy position where he was able to feed Palmer inside the six-yard box. As the game was for the taking in the second half, Chelsea were looking for a brighter start for the second 45 minutes. This didn't exactly happen as Nottingham was able to hit first just after the break. Raheem Sterling's loss of possession high up the pitch turned out costly as the hosts were able to find Hudson-Odoi free down the right-hand side and the tricky player made his former team pay with a precise through ball for Divock Origi, who was able to beat Roberto Sanchez with a precise finish. The visitors responded positively and took almost full control of the game after the 60th-minute mark. The Blues were able to build attack after attack, with limited success though. Chelsea's hard work and control of the game finally paid off in the last minute of the stoppage time, when Ben Chilwell's strong run down the left flank saw the ball ending up in the feet of Moises Caicedo, who was able to find Conor Gallagher inside the penalty area. Chelsea's best player of the season so far made no mistake and left Matt Turner without any chance for a save with a powerful finish. The former Chelsea winger Calum Hudson-Odoi was voted as the player of the match. The result saw Nottingham Forest climbing up to the 11th place in the Premier League table, while Chelsea remained 9th. The Premier League will continue once again in two weeks after the international break. Chelsea will host Fulham next, while Nottingham Forest will travel to London for a match against Crystal Palace. _____ @Rick87 Thank you for the positive feedback! Very much appreciated. I'm still looking for ways to improve this content. Along with my matches, I would like to make it easy for the readers to follow the league's events in general as well as write a bit about my tactics when I get something more permanent lined up. It's been years since I last produced content like this and you can sadly see it in the quality, but I will try to improve all the time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 The Blues in control in the West London Derby Saturday 25 November 2023 9th and 10th placed teams Chelsea and Fulham met each for the first time in the current season at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The sold-out stadium witnessed a high-quality game of football, where the hosts were in control for most of the 90 minutes. Chelsea were without the services of captain Reece James and Mykhailo Mudruk, who had gotten injured during their international duties with England and Ukraine, which saw Malo Gusto and Noni Maduake breaking into the starting eleven of the Blues. The hosts' midfield trio, consisting of Enzo Fernández, Conor Gallagher, and Cole Palmer was pulling the strings for the Blues during the first 45 minutes of the game. Especially the latter's relatively free role and active forward runs were a thorn in the side of Fulham during the first half. Palmer managed to set up both Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Jackson for easy chances during the first half, which the duo should have finished inside the penalty area. As his teammates turned out to be ineffective in front of the goal, Palmer took matters into his own hands in the 44th minute. The goal came through Fernández's good interception in the midfield, which saw the Argentinian setting up his English colleague in a great scoring position after Palmer's trademark run into the penalty area. Fulham were threatening Chelsea mainly from set pieces and came close a couple of times. The hosts continued to control the game during the second half too, recording almost 70% of the ball possession. Things were kept interesting though as the home team was unable to turn this possession into a big amount of high-quality chances. Hard work paid off for the Blues in the 80th minute when another good passage of play through the center of the park turned into a good goal. Sterling played a nice one-two with Conor Gallagher, who found Armando Broja making a well-timed run between the Fulham center-backs. The Albanian super-sub made no mistake taking the ball past Bern Leno and putting the game in the bag for the home team. The victory saw Chelsea climb up into 7th place in the Premier League, while Fulham dropped one position to 11th. Cole Palmer was awarded as the man of the match for the 4th time already this season. PREMIER LEAGUE GAME DAY 13 RESULTS LEAGUE TABLE PLAYER STATISTICS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Match Report: Early fireworks in the West London derby Sunday 3rd of December 2023 Matchday 14 turned the attention to the London Olympic Stadium, where the 8th-placed home team hosted their 7th-placed rivals. Along with the West London derby, it was also a debut for Chelsea's new striker Christopher Nkunku, who had recovered from his serious knee injury. The Frenchman witnessed three early goals from the bench as we saw a cracker of 5 minutes after the 15th-minute mark. Jarrod Bowen gave his side the lead in the 14th minute from a cross provided by the experienced left-back Ryan Cresswell, who was able to jink past Malo Gusto after a long run with the ball. This was soon followed by a powerful header from Thilo Kehrer, who headed home James Ward-Prowse precise delivery from a corner kick. This goal was the fourth set-piece goal that the Blues had conceded in the last five games. The visitors fought their way back to the game just two minutes later when Nicolas Jackson set up Enzo Fernández to a decent position 20 yards out of the goal. The industrious Argentinian needed no further invitation as he buried away his first goal of the season with a powerful shot to the top corner of the net. The highly anticipated Nkunku debut was seen in the 62nd minute as the Frenchman replaced Jackson up top. The forward was unable to help his team to the points though as the Hammers made no mistake defending their narrow lead. The result saw Cesc Fàbregas losing first time as the Chelsea manager in the Premier League, as well as the Hammers climbing up their local rivals into the 7th position. As Newcastle United were able to win their own game away at Aston Villa, Chelsea slipped into the 9th place. Jarrod Bowen was chosen as the Player of the Match this time. The inside forward was a thorn in the side of Chelsea by scoring the first goal as well as summing up five shots and three successful dribbles in total. PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHDAY 14 RESULTS Saturday 2nd of December 2023 Sunday 3rd of December 2023 LEAGUE TABLE PLAYER STATS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 Early goals enough for Chelsea in a third consecutive London derby Wednesday 6th of December, 2023 Chelsea featured in their third consecutive local derby as the team hosted Brentford at Stamford Bridge on a breezy Wednesday afternoon. The former Premier League giant featured inconsistently under their new boss Cesc Fàbregas was looking for full points against their local rival currently battling for the same positions as their more famous hosts. The home stand erupted for the first time after just 2 minutes of play as Chelsea finished off a fantastic counter-attacking move. A good combination between Raheem Sterling and Marc Cucurella down the left-hand side was enough to free Conor Gallagher at the edge of the visitors' penalty area and the midfielder on the other hand had to quality to free Nicolas Jackson for an easy scoring chance. The goal was only Jackson's fourth of the season, but it was well taken this time. Cucurella, who was chosen to the first eleven ahead of Ben Chilwell, was the architect of the second goal just five minutes later. Raheem Sterling's low cross was initially dealt with by the away team's defense, but the Spanish full-back was able to win the ball back inside the penalty area before a precise finish. Two goals up seemed to be enough for the home team as the hosts lifted their leg from the throttle. The Blues were in control of the game but didn't really produce anything dangerous for long periods of time. The same could be said about Bournemouth, who only produced one shot during the whole 90 minutes. The best player on the park, Conor Gallagher, got a late award as Trevor Chalobah won the ball back halfway line before setting up his fellow Englishman to a one-against-one against Mark Flekken. The chance was well buried by the midfielder, who scored his fourth goal of the season. PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH DAY 15 RESULTS Tuesday 5th of December, 2023 Wednesday 6th of December, 2023 LEAGUE TABLE PLAYER STATS Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 (edited) Cracker of a debut for Burchnall as Wolves hosted Chelsea Saturday 9th of December, 2023 Wolverhampton Wanderers' interim boss Ian Burchnall led his team to a first challenging encounter as the 17th-placed Wolves hosted Chelsea at the Molineux. The new caretaker manager was looking to cut the home team's five-game losing streak short. Things couldn't have started better for the home team as they were ahead just 15 minutes into the game. Wingback Nelson Semedo was able to get past both Raheem Sterling and Ben Chilwell down the right flank before delivering a precise high cross to the head of towering forward Sasa Kalajdzic, who was able to find space between Chelsea's center-back duo Thiago Silva and Benoit Badiashele. The Austrian made no mistake finishing his fifth of the season with a precise header. It took another 15 minutes for the visitors to replay. The build-up started from a strong challenge provided in the midfield by Conor Gallagher, which allowed Armando Broja and Nicolas Jackson to play a nice one-two at the edge of the home team's penalty area before the Albanian scored with a powerful finish to the top corner. The game was deservedly tied at half-time as neither of the two teams could take real control of the game. Chelsea started the second half with a bang, though as the in-form striker Nicolas Jackson struck again. Chilwell's deep cross was poorly dealt by Jonny Castro inside the penalty area as the fullback directed his clearing header straight at the Senegalese, who was able to release a placed finish straight from a volley. Things got bad to worse for the home team just minutes later as Max Kilman fouled Cole Palmer inside the penalty area. The young and in-form midfielder took the penalty himself and placed it confidently past Jose Sá, who was sent in the wrong direction by the Englishman. The Palmer show continued in the 70th minute when the youngster was able to find subbed-on Enzo Fernández at the edge of the Wolves penalty area. The Argentinian made no mistake placing the ball to the left-hand top corner of the, making the numbers 4-1 for the visitors. The match ended in the same way as it had begun as the home side got their consolation goal 15 minutes before full time. It was Jonny this time, who delivered the devastating cross from his flank, and the Austrian Kalajdzic was able to finish again with his head above the Chelsea central defenders. Cole Palmer was once again named the player of the match after the wonderkid was able to both score and assist once. The trophy was already his fifth of the season, which took him to the joint first place along with Marcus Rashford and Erling Haaland. Palmer will be looking to extend his rich run of form as the Blues host Manchester City in a home game at Stamford Bridge. Wolverhampton on the other hand will be looking to cut their woeful form in an away game against Crystal Palace. *** PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH DAY 16 RESULTS PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE AFTER 16 ROUNDS Edited January 9 by El Payaso 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 (edited) Injury-hit Manchester City edged by Chelsea in hard-fought battle Stamford Bridge 16th of December, 2023 Pep Guardiola's men suffered their third defeat in five games as the reigning Premier League champion visited Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The Citizens were missing a large number of their key players, such as injured Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Ederson, and Ruben Dias. Phil Foden, on the other hand, missed the game thanks to a suspension from a straight red card against local rivals Machester United. As City's backup goalkeeper Stefan Ortega was also injured, 41-year-old Scott Carson was forced to make his first Premier League outing since May 2021. Young centre-backs Lakyle Samuel and Kane Taylor were handed their first Premier League starts in the visitors' defense. Cesc Fàbregas also opted for a couple of big chances, most notably in his choice of formation, which saw Chelsea line up for the first time in a 5-man backline and without wingers. The Blues' captain Reece James was out due to flu, which saw Malo Gusto starting as the right back. The attacking duo was formed by still-recovering Christophe Nkunku and in-form Nicolas Jackson. The Citizens were up against it in a difficult away game, but the visitors started the game brightly. After just 10 minutes, the visitors took the lead as Bernardo Silva's corner was cleared by the hosts' defense but Josko Gvardiol was able to play the ball back inside the penalty area, where Silva had found himself some space. The Portuguese playmaker made no mistake finishing an important goal that took the visitors ahead. As everybody was thinking that things couldn't get any worse for the visitors in terms of options, things actually got worse for them in the 22nd minute, when Mateus Nunes caught Malo Gusto with his studs up. The Portuguese midfielder was thereby sent off with a straight red card. Fábregas decided to make a few changes to his cautious mentality and brought Cole Palmer on for Romeo Lavia after just 30 minutes of the game and placed the former City midfielder just behind the attacking duo. Palmer was able to get his team going and once again provided a decisive touch, when he set up Jackson for an easy chance at the far post in the 41st minute. The Citizens were looking to regroup and take something out of the game in the second half. Their plan panned out almost until the end as the hosts were unable to turn their slight control of the events into anything productive. The same duo that created Chelsea's first goal struck again in the 87th minute as Marc Cucurella spotted Palmer's run into a channel between Kyle Walker and the young centre-back Samuel and the youngster was again able to set up Jackson at the far post and the Senegalese was able to beat both Gvardiol and Carson to the ball to make it 2-1. Chelsea were probably not as convincing as they should have been with the man advantage, but the third consecutive win took them to the 6th position. Manchester City on the other hand are hoping to get past their dreadful spell with the injuries and be able to keep up with Tottenham, who now have a seven-point lead at the top. Chelsea will have yet another London derby in their schedule on the 23rd of December as they will face Arsenal at the Emirates. City on the other hand will continue their games in the Club World Championship where they will face Al-Ittihad in the semi-final. Edited January 10 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Not sure if I have any readers for this career update, but if you happen to be one, please feel free to give me ideas on how I can improve the story and make it more interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 MATCH DAY 17 - A DREAM ROUND FOR THE SPURS Tottenham Hotspurs took one step closer to their dream of winning the Premier League as the Spurs beat Arsenal narrowly with Richarlison's goal. The round of fixtures suited the London-based team's desires as Chelsea were able to beat Manchester City at Stamford Bridge. Elsewhere Manchester United dropped points as the fierce battle of rivals ended in Liverpool's narrow victory at Old Trafford. In mid-table Aston Villa continued their rising trend by beating Fulham 3-1 at home. At the bottom end of the table, things are not looking good for Everton, who are now 6 points away from safety after losing 2-0 at home against Brighton. LEAGUE TABLE AFTER MATCH DAY 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Arsenal and Chelsea cancel each other out in the London derby Saturday 23rd of December, 2023 Two Pep Guardiola's apprentices met each other at the Emirates in the West London derby. Chelsea's Cesc Fábregas met his former team for the first time as the manager of Chelsea as the high-flying Blues featured in already their fourth West London derby in December. The home team Arsenal wanted to keep their title hopes alive in a game where only three points would be enough for Mikel Arteta's men. The home team almost got a perfect start as Gabriel Jesus escaped the attention just two minutes into the game. The in-form Brazilian got behind Chelsea's defense from Declan Rice's precise through ball but placed his shot narrowly wide from the right post of Chelsea's goal. The game remained fairly quiet for more than ten minutes. Still, Arsenal got another excellent chance to get in front when they were rewarded a rather soft penalty as Levi Colwill was judged to push Gabriel Jesus inside the penalty area. Bukayo Saka took Robert Sanchez on but was unable to get the Spaniard, who dove to the right side and was able to turn the ball past the left post of Chelsea's goal. Chelsea were unable to threaten the home team in any way during the first 45 minutes as Fábregas' new 4-2-3-1 formation was mainly only able to nullify most of the Gunners' attempts. The visitors took full advantage of their first chance of the game in the 55th minute. Christophe Nkunku's free-kick was blocked by Arsenal's wall, but Conor Gallagher was the first one to react. The English midfielder then set up Nicolas Jackson at the edge of the penalty area, who had a free shooting lane in front of him. Jackson's finishing attempt was one of a confident striker and the Senegalese took the Blues in front. Sanchez kept acting as the away team's hero of the day in the second half by denying both Bukayo Saka's and Gabriel Martinelli's efforts after the one-hour mark. If the match in general was lacking both excitement and drama, the stoppage time of the game made a huge difference. While Arsenal only managed to sum up 8 shots in total during the whole 90 minutes, their 94th-minute equalizer was well-deserved. Sanchez was first able to save Kai Havertz's header from Saka's precise cross, but the Spanish keeper was finally helpless when the rebound fell to Jorginho, who was able to place the ball into the empty net of the visitors. Just a minute later Arsenal seemed to take the lead as Leandro Trossard escaped from Malo Gusto and offered the ball on a platter for Gabriel Jesus, who finished with ease inside the six-yard box. The goal was checked with VAR and the decision turned offside. Arsenal were left rueing their missed chances as well as waiting forward to the result of the match between Liverpool and Tottenham at Anfield Road. Both teams will be in action once again on Boxing Day. Chelsea will continue their difficult end-of-the-year schedule by hosting Liverpool at Stamford Bridge while Arsenal will visit Crystal Palace. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 (edited) Chelsea and Liverpool clashed in a Boxing Day match Wednesday 26th of December, 2023 Chelsea hosted Liverpool in the 19th round of the Premier League at Stamford Bridge. With both teams practically already out of the title race, Chelsea were looking for an opportunity to draw their way back to the fight for the last Champions League place. Things didn't start brightly for the hosts as Ben Chilwell ended up fouling Mo Salah inside the penalty area after Liverpool's attacking throw-in in the 6th minute of the game. Rob Jones checked the tackle from the VAR but was happy with his initial decision and let the penalty stand. Mo Salah was the one taking the penalty and made no mistake by sending Roberto Sanchez in the wrong direction. The goal was Salah's 200th in his senior career. It didn't take long for the Blues to reply. In the 8th minute of the game Liverpool was trying to counter through Salah down the right-hand side, but Egyptian was this time cleanly dispossessed by Chilwell, who was able to find Moises Caicedo at the halfway line, the ball moved quickly to Cole Palmer, who released Raheem Sterling in the right flank. Sterling was caught up by Andrew Robertson, but Curtis Jones was not following Reece James' supporting run properly. The fullback was able to get a free pass inside the penalty area from which Mykhailo Mudryk was able to finish. The rest of the first half was uneventful as the hosts were looking for solutions through Sterling, who was often marked by both Robertson and Jones, who did a good job by nullifying their countryman. The only half chance that Sterling was able to provide through his runs down the flank was in the 15th minute when he found Cole Palmer at the edge of the penalty area and the youngster sent the ball to the stands. Liverpool started the second half brightly and looked way more productive going forward in the early minutes of the half. Many of their build-ups were interrupted by offside flags though, which also disturbed the general flow of the game. Chelsea tightened their screw after the one-hour mark and from that point on Liverpool were barely holding on. In the 64th minute, the Blues came close as both Sterling and Caicedo were able to test Allison from distance. The Brazilian was calm and parried both of the attempts to safety and gave Chelsea no chance to have a go from the second ball. Sterling's nightmare of a game continued twenty minutes from the full-time when he had two chances inside 20 seconds. In the first one, the Englishman ended up crossing to no one, and in the latter, Alisson was again there to stop him. Chelsea's best chance of the second half came in the 87th minute, when the man of the match Caicedo made a strong run to the byline before sending in an inviting ball for both Conor Gallagher and Enzo Fernández to finish. Gallagher was able to get to the end of it but was unable to beat Allison from close range. The strong second-half performance must have left both Chelsea and especially ex-Liverpool player Sterling thinking that they could and probably should have won this one. Both teams will be ending the year on the 29th of the month, when Liverpool will host Luton Town and Chelsea will travel to Sheffield to face home team United. Edited January 11 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 (edited) Delete Edited January 13 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 (edited) v The Blues end year 2023 in style 29.12.2023 Sheffield United hosted Chelsea at Bramall Lane in the last fixture of 2023. Important points were on the line as the hosts were looking to climb above the drop zone, while Chelsea is having a tough battle against Newcastle for the 6th position. Chelsea has had a great December so far as the team has only lost their first game of the month against West Ham, while facing Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool in a row. Sheffield United on the other had won 3 of their six and lost against Liverpool, Manchester United, and Burnley. The Blues got to a great start as they scored the first goal in the 13th minute. Enzo Fernández and Ben Chilwell played a nice one-two down the left flank, which saw the left-back escaping attention and having a free chance for a low cross that reached Christopher Nkunku, who scored his first goal for the Blues. The second goal for Chelsea came through a nice collaboration between their fullbacks as Reece James found Chilwell at the edge of the penalty area. The Englishman was on fire in this game as he jinked past George Baldock before a good finish to the bottom corner of the net. Sheffield United's dreams of a comeback were quickly buried in the beginning of the second half when Mykhailo Mudryk was able to beat Baldock on the left side before setting up Cole Palmer for an easy finish inside the penalty area. The Blues had been dominant through most of the game and Cesc Fábregas saw an excellent chance to change things around after the hour mark. The Blues made four of their five substitutions already in the 62nd minute and seemed to also lift their leg from the throttle a bit. Chelsea were desperately looking for a clean sheet to improve on their rather mediocre defensive record. Dreams of doing this took a bad turn in the 89th minute when Malo Gusto fouled Rhian Brewster inside the penalty area. The Blues conceded a penalty kick for a third game in a row, which Brewster himself buried. The Blues were lucky to concede only once though as Benie Traore also hit the crossbar in the 93rd minute. Matchday 20 results *** Decided to continue this career update anyway as I have found it interesting save, mainly thanks to the fact that I found the @GIMN's brilliant Mustermann Iconic skin, which has made the gameplay so much more interesting as well as forced me to rethink my gameplay. Sadly I don't have the league table to offer at this point as I already played the first game of 2024. The aim in future updates is to concentrate more on my gameplay and talk a bit more about statistics, tactics, etc. which might be more interesting for the followers than just reading about results. General feedback and wishes are of course warmly welcome as I am all the time looking to improve my content. Chelsea is also an interesting save for me as I see the team really talented and well-built for the future, which means that I really don't have to build the squad, but instead keep developing the players that I have at the moment and bring many of those tens of loanees finally to the first-team. When thinking about squad building for the summer transfer window, I only see replacing Thiago Silva as a necessity. Silva has already fallen into a rotation role after the many mistakes he has made for us this season and his lack of pace is really hurting at times in our style of play. I know that we have loads of young talent and even quality in this area, but I want to keep things also logical and have at least one more experienced center back in the team to bring both leadership as well as the capability for mentoring our young talent such as Colwill, who has already become our first-choice central defender. So, what I am mainly looking for in summer 2024 is assessing our loanees and giving as many of them a possibility in the first team as I realistically can. Out of those more experienced ones I am also looking to bring Lukaku back to the first team. Edited January 19 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlfieLucas Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Being a Tottenham fan, i hate Chelsea. But goodluck anyways. And from my stand point, i prefer it when you add in the match day scores and tables, as it's good to see Spurs doing so well 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick87 Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 Really good, well laid out and easy to read updates mate. Well done! Doing pretty well in the league too, better than real Chelsea. Also like your use of the classic team badges. Keep up the good work. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 (edited) Cesc Fàbregas' philosophy with Chelsea As we have past 2023 and also reached and passed the midway point of the season as well as found some result-based and tactical consistency, it is a good moment to talk a little bit further about our tactical philosophy. Main principles (CESC) Cunning We want to be always hard to predict by mixing our style of play and being dangerous in many different ways. Exciting I want my team to play attractive football, score plenty of goals, and dominate most of the matches. Sharp Even though we are looking to control possession and build a large amount of passes per game, we always look to hit the opposition hard, when they make a mistake or simply lose possession in the wrong place. Creative I want to take most of our individuals and let them play football in their natural way. I am especially looking into our central midfielders and concentrating a lot of my tactical efforts on how I can make the most of their strengths as well as minimize their weaknesses. Formations The two main formations that we have used so far have been 4-1-2-2-1 (4-5-1) and 4-2-3-1 with defensive midfielders. These two are both flexible setups that can work in many types of football. The flexibility also Team instructions Positive mentality We do not go into any of the games thinking that we are not able to win or that we will settle for a draw. I think we are capable of challenging any of the Premier League teams in their own game and taking them on to see who is stronger. Mixed passing and tempo For me, creativity means that you don’t limit your team to play in a certain way in possession. I am thereby giving the team the freedom to decide on what kind of pass they are going to play in certain situations, as well as letting them choose, whether they are going to take slow things down or try to break the opposition with a quick break. Counter-press and counter I want my team to be as active as possible and always look to win the ball back as quickly as possible after losing the possession. In my opinion, it is also logical to combine this with the will to hit the opposition in a break as often as possible. After all, the opposition will be most vulnerable right after losing the possession. This also suits well within the team that I am working with. If you compare the current selection of players to the ones that for example Barcelona had, when Cesc was playing there, the difference is obvious. While the players are somewhat comparable to the Busquets, Xavi, and Iniesta trio in some areas, it is obvious that we are way off in terms of creativity, movement, and passing ability. This means that our midfield trio is more of a physical and hard-working one we cannot rely on building enough high-quality chances for the more advanced trio by restricting them to just slow tempo and ball control. This style also applies to their strengths out of which winning the ball back from the opposition and delivering it quickly to our more advanced attacking trio is one of the main ones and which also should make us dangerous. Be more expressive I want the team to have as much creativity and fluidity as possible so this is quite an obvious choice. While we are more of a hard-working team than an intelligent one capable of playing a tiki-take style of football and creating something out of somewhere even with the minimum tempo, I want to actively encourage my players to take risks and pick up the pass that they see as the most suitable one. Might cost us at times, which has happened, but that is football for you. Prevent short distribution We want to be active throughout the whole pitch and won’t allow the opposition to play free out of the back. Stop crosses We have conceded most of the goals so far from crosses. I want to try and force the opposition to try and focus their attacking play throughout the middle, where our main strengths within the defensive play also lay as we have high-quality and hard-working midfielders within the team. Player roles and instructions Roaming I have instructed all the four most advanced players to roam freely. I want this quartet to be our main source for creating chances as well as finishing them. For me it makes a lot sense to let these players Tight marking I want my wide players and more defensive-minded midfielders to always do tight marking to make it more difficult for the opposition to find space. Within the park. In theory, this will also increase the amount that we can win the possession back and counter. Defensive line Centre back pairing This is a fairly general setup if I am honest. Many of our centre-backs are capable on the ball and I want one of them to be able to also produce something going forward when the situation allows. I have never been a fan of stopper and cover combination as in my opinion, this leaves a bit too much room for an error on both of the players. Wingbacks These are probably the two most challenging roles in the team as this duo has to be productive on both ends of the pitch. As we are a team that plays fairly narrowly when in possession, I want these two to be offering the width and different kinds of passing options for all the rest of our players. Especially the attacking left wingback should also find himself by the byline and even inside the penalty area finishing attacking moves. Midfielder trio Deep lying playmaker We have two variations for these. The deep-lying playmaker’s role is to serve as a sort of quarterback who has the freedom to also play progressive passes to his colleagues. I like Enzo Fernández a lot in this role as he is a very complete midfielder and a bit of a mix between Fàbregas and Frank Lampard. A player that is both solid defensive as well as capable of going forward and even ending attacking moves. B2B midfielder / Defensive midfielder The rest of the two are chosen so that the box-to-box midfielder role, often occupied by Gallagher or Caicedo is expected to provide support to both ends of the pitch. Here the high work rate, stamina, pace, and general versatility come into play. If you have hard-working and still productive options available, then the box-to-box midfielder role is always something to be considered utilizing. I also like to keep this role as a fairly generic one, which allows me to do a lot of small tinkering based on the performance and the way that the game is playing itself out. Attacking midfielder The third midfielder has been given a bit more slack in terms of defensive play and encouraged to be as productive as possible when going forward. This has been working great for us in both of the formations as Cole Palmer has been the best player in the team so far this season. Gallagher is also a player who can fill up to both of these roles, yet with him, we have to tinker a little bit with the personal instructions as he is technically and creatively a more limited player than Palmer is. Attacking trio The idea for the attacking trio is to have them move as freely as possible and also be as difficult to mark as possible. Inverted winger Raheem Sterling is usually the one occupying the inverted winger role down the right-hand side. The idea here is to allow Sterling to attack both the space between the opposition center-back and full-back as well as at times act like a regular winger, which is a logical choice when you take into account Sterling’s abilities as a footballer as well as his right footedness. Inside forward The inside forward’s role is to sit more narrow and help our team with the buildup in the middle of the park, be there to finish the chances, especially when we attack through the right-hand side, and provide space for the left wingback to attack in the space by dragging the opposition fullback inside. Complete forward I always want my striker to be active in the game and participate in both the buildup process as well as be there to finish our attacking moves inside the penalty area. While our strikers haven’t been that effective in terms of goals so far, there have been many cases where the striker deserves a lot of the credit for the goals that for example Palmer has been scoring so far this season. The complete forward is often causing havoc in his active movement and by that leaving Palmer or one of the other attacking players within the team unmarked. Nicolas Jackson has been showing a lot of promise in this role and Nkunky also played his best game of the season so far against Sheffield United, which is encouraging. The currently injured Armando Broja has been the most effective in this role for us and next season it will be really interesting to see Lukaku back in the squad as he also has the Diego Costa effect in him with his strength and aerial ability. Strengths and weaknesses The main strength within the team is the fact that we have a bunch of hard-working, versatile, skillful, and pacey players. This allows us to be effective in both actively winning the ball back from the opposition as well as getting it to the areas where we can be dangerous. The main weaknesses are at the moment the age structure of the team and also the lack of experience, leadership, and the right type of mentality. This is also a thing that makes for example mentoring and player development a bit more difficult and it will be a difficult task for us to make some of our brighter talents reach their potential. We also lack final third movement and size, which can make our attacking play a little bit ineffective. If the opposition can force us to the flanks and drop deep waiting for crosses, we are at least in theory going to be in trouble. The final third movement and the ability to play low crosses against an unorganized defense are both one of our main principles within training and style of play. *** @AlfieLucas and @Rick87 - Thank you so much for the comments and support! Much appreciated! I am always looking to write something that interests people and it's good to see that I have at least a few active readers. Hopefully, with the changes that I am making, I'll be able to make this more appealing and interesting type of career update. Edited January 18 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 13 Author Share Posted January 13 (edited) January 2024 Schedule After a busy and very difficult December, a four-game month is warmly welcomed. After facing many of the main rivals during the last month, the schedule could also be described as rather easy. During the month, we will be without the services of Nicolas Jackson who is representing his country in the African Cup of Nations. *** vs 1.1.2024 Stamford Bridge After six games unbeaten, we had all the reasons to go into this game full of confidence. After the hard patch of fixtures, we decided to rotate a bit by bringing Cucurella, Malo Gusto, and Rómeo Lavia to the starting lineup. Things started well, as we were able to score the first goal after just 20 minutes of play. Ben Chilwell had been the best player in our previous game and Marc Cucurella wanted to also show what he could do. The Spaniard was invited to make a run to the byline by Brighton's defense, which the fullback also did. His precise cross found Cole Palmer inside the penalty area and we were 1-0 up. We continued to dominate the half after the opener but were not able to extend the lead even from some good chances that the team created. A one-goal lead always makes you think that anything can still happen and this thought was always there even though the team was dominating possession and also creating chances. The relieving second goal came in the 56th minute when we got a lucky deflection from a corner kick and the ball fell to the feet of Fernández, who had an easy job to finish in the open net. Brighton came into the game only after the hour-mark and came close to scoring a few times as we passivated a bit more than I would have liked. There was only one goal more and this came to the hosts again, when Malo Gusto was able to release Sterling in front of him. Sterling then had an easy task to provide a tempting ball inside the area, which was finished by young substitute Deivid Washington, who scored his first goal in the Premier League. Matchday 21 results League table It's only mid-point of the season but Tottenham are already practically already the Champions. Out of nowhere, we have taken ourselves into a position where we could still at least in theory be battling for second place. Along with Tottenham, only Newcastle and Chelsea are having a good form. Edited January 18 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 (edited) January 2024 - part II We will continue our journey with the FA Cup fixture against Ipswich Town, the team that had already knocked Chelsea out in the Carabao Cup. We will also cover the Premier League round 22, where we will be hosting Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. FA Cup Third Round There isn't much more that we can say about this fixture. We were in total control of the game but had to work hard to find the opener, which came through a nice passage of play between Mudryk and Cole Palmer, who got through on goal with a perfectly timed forward run. After this, we were missing chance after chance and also taking a lot of somewhat silly sots at the edge of the penalty area. In these matches, it is often the case that when you cannot take your own chances, you will be hit by the odd one from the opposition at some point. This also happened to us as James' passive defending down the right-hand side invited a low cross in, which Conor Chaplin buried. This result forces us to a replay, which takes place just 3 days after our game against Bournemouth. *** Chilwell joins Al Hilal! Ben Chilwell's tenure at Stamford Bridge came to an end as the long transfer saga with Al Hilal came to a close. The Saudi Arabian club offered us 52 million pounds up front, which we were able to negotiate up to £62M. As the offer was accepted, the ball was at the feet of the fullback, and he had the freedom to decide what he wanted to do: continue his prime years of football at the highest level possible or take the money and maybe return to European football in a couple of years. Many of our team members voiced their concerns about the transfer, which is understandable. This also forced us to put finding a new left-back as our main priority in the scouting assignments. I do trust that Cucurella and Maatsen can do the job for us, but if the right opportunity arises in January, we will probably take it. We were also close to signing Arsenal's Emile Smith-Rowe, who had not been featuring in the team as much as he would have liked to. The negotiations fell down and after just a couple of days, the two parties were able to solve their differences as Smith-Rowe was sadly removed from the transfer list before we were able to try again. *** Premier League Matchday 22 VS Sunday 14th January, 2024 A strange round of fixtures, where Arsenal, Manchester City, and even the almost unbeaten Tottenham had dropped points, saw us in a place, where we could even make our way to the battle for the European places. And could it get any better than facing the team bottom of the table together with Everton and Wolverhampton? The match against Ipswich had gotten us worrying that the opponents are now starting to adapt to our style of play and forcing us wide to play in ineffective crosses. Bournemouth made this thought even stronger by nullifying us almost throughout the whole match. It took us almost an hour to break through and it must be said that we broke through with pure luck as the opener came to us from a corner, where Raheem Sterling was able to set up Mykhailo Mudryk at the edge of the penalty area and his shot took a wild deflection that left the opposition keeper without a chance. After the go-ahead goal, the visitors also needed to crawl out of their shelves, which allowed us more space to play our own style of football. I think we were all afraid that the away team would do us the same thing that Ipswich had done 8 days ago, but luckily the second and last goal of the game also came to us. This was also more like it as Palmer started a swift move at the halfway line releasing Noni Madueke down the right flank and instead of running byline, the young winger decided to play a through ball for Christopher Nkunku to run to. The Frenchman took his chance and gave us the all-relieving second goal that saw us through. *** Premier League Matchday 22 results *** League table Player stats *** FA Cup Third Round Replay We opted to play our second-choice team also in the replay fixture. This time an early goal was a welcome bonus and made our job so much easier. Noni Madueke, Armando Broja, and Ian Maatsen all came to the team as well as they possibly could as they were rated the three best players in the park. We finally also had a bit of luck against Ipswich in the third goal as it was Nkunku's shot from a freekick that deflected in from Broja. The other three were quite well-worked ones coming from quick breaks that we are always looking for. The statistics also tell you that we were able to force Ipswich to play some football by scoring early on and forcing them to chase the game. This is always going to be better for us, especially against teams that are considered weaker than us. We will be facing Burnley on the 27th of January in the fourth-round fixture. This is an away game and will be covered in our next update. Edited January 19 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted January 15 Share Posted January 15 Love your writing style! The EPL is actually the most intriguing it’s been for a while. I was tempted to do a Man United save myself. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 15 Author Share Posted January 15 (edited) January Part III The journey continues in the fourth round of the FA Cup Cup against Burnley and another away game against Everton. One of the main points of interest is the question: will we find a replacement for Ben Chilwell? *** FA Cup Fourth Round VS 27th of January, 2024 Vincent Kompany's Burnley was looking for some form of consolation in their battle against relegation in the Premier League by progressing to the fifth round of the FA Cup and dropping one of the big boys. Even though this current Burnley team isn't the same that we were used to under Ginger Mourinho, it was still a task in hand. Especially considering that we would be without the services of both Enzo Fernández and Moises Caicedo who are representing their countries at the sub-23 level until some point in February. A bright start is something that we were all hoping and that is what we also got when Sterling scored our goal of the season so far. It was a swift move, where the Englishman played two one-twos, first with Nkunku and then with Mykhailo Mudryk, who released the pacey winger through on goal. Just ten minutes later it was Mudryk's turn to make things two-nil from a long through ball provided by Axel Disasi, who has been getting some starting minutes in the cup games. We continued controlling the game after this, not creating anything massive and taking our substitutions early on. Just ten minutes before the full-time, I was already thinking that this could easily be crowned as our most solid defensive effort as even though Burnley was active and trying hard to break through, we didn't give them even a sniff of our goal. This thought was quickly shot down when Sanchez made an easy mistake by dropping a crossed ball in a corner kick, which was finished by Hannes Delcroix. The final minutes of the game were nervy but we held on. Even though it was Mudryk, who was elected as the player of the match, I do have to give a huge credit to players such as Disasi and Lavia, who were superb at winning the ball back in tight situations. The fifth round will see us hosting Brentford at the Bridge, which will give us an excellent chance to progress. *** Premier League Match Day 23 VS 30th of January, 2024 Everton are once again fighting for their lives in the Premier League. A win in the FA Cup, and especially at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the previous round in the Premier League must have gotten both Sean Dyche and his team thinking that they can survive once again. We started brightly once again by creating two really good scoring chances through Mudryk and Nkunku in the first fifteen minutes of the game. The 23rd minute saw Mudryk drop out because of a minor muscle injury. The substitution of the in-form Ukrainian also started our downfall and Everton started to come alive. Dyche's men had already beaten Pochettino's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge thanks to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who was the one causing havoc also this time. I don't know, what has gotten into Reece James lately, but his defending in the 39th minute is something that we don't want to see. The club captain simply invited Arnaut Danjuma to have a go against him before allowing a free cross inside the area, which was buried by the towering Calvert-Lewin. This was the 6th goal that the striker had scored in January and his third of the season against Chelsea. The haunting of the Englishman continued just two minutes later when he beat Thiago Silva on the ground before hitting the post with a powerful drive. We were done after this and the killing shot came just before the halftime when Amadou Onana was there for the second ball after an Everton corner-kick. Our final possibility to salvage something from the game was gone when the substitute Ugochukwu got injured in the 74th minute and we had run out of substitutions. The final notable action came in the 83rd minute when Dele Alli almost scored against us with a long shot that parried away by keeper Sanchez. Even though we lost this game deservedly and didn't even manage to score, I really cannot blame the effort that we made. We got into the right areas many times during the 90 minutes and could easily have scored, but the difference seemed to always be that Everton were hungrier at both ends of the pitch. Their defending inside their penalty area was simply sublime and this also shows in the amount of shots that we had. Fair play for Everton. Hope they will stay up. *** Matchday 23 results Manchester United took vital points against Tottenham who now lost their second game in a row, which takes their total tally of losses to three. It is still looking unlikely that the Spurs will be able to lose this title but at the moment they are doing their best to make things at least a bit interesting. Chelsea on the other hand dropped back to 7th as Newcastle kept their rather good form alive. *** League table Player stats *** Two join Chelsea on the deadline day! Chelsea made two new signings in the dying minutes of the transfer deadline day. Emile Smith-Rowe was someone we were monitoring throughout the month. The situation with the Arsenal youngster kept going back and forth and when he was placed on the loan list on the 30th day of the month, we decided to act and loan him for the rest of the season. The second signing was a permanent one from Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg. The youngster was one of the first ones that our scouts found after the move of Ben Chilwell. As we were scouting almost ten different options, the 21-year-old Bosnian international also seemed the most suitable one. It's a huge risk of course making this decision after just a few days of thinking but we were able to snap the youngster in front of AC Milan, who had placed a £5M more valuable bid than we did. With £33M transfer fee this could prove to be a really good signing for us. Welcome to Chelsea Amar Dedic! *** @SixPointer thank you so much for your comment! I also find this season very interesting both in my career as well as in real life. There are many good teams and none above the others. Edited January 18 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 (edited) February 2024 Part I The beginning of the month could be described as very difficult and also interesting in a way that we will be having our chance to put our spoon in and mix the Premier League title race in a big way. The 9-day break comes in handy for sure as after this short run without any games, we will be having two of our important midfielders back from international duty. *** Premier League Matchday 24 VS 3rd of February, 2024 Eight games without losing, two wins in a row against Tottenham, and second place in the Premier League table. Erik ten Haag's team is doing well at the moment. Young left-back Amar Dedic was given a start in the most difficult fixture that he could imagine, while Emile Smith-Rowe was on the bench. This was also the last push for Conor Gallagher and Romeo Lavia who have been performing magnificently well in the midfield while our two South Americans are absent. The board and fans were ready to settle for a draw, but this didn't apply to the players who made Stamford Bridge erupt in the 7th minute with a goal worthy for a game of this stature. Lavia started the move by winning the ball back deep in our half from Mason Mount before setting up Noni Madueke for his trademark run down the right-hand side. Madueke then found Cole Palmer in the middle, who was able to set Christopher Nkunky free from the Red Devil's defense before a powerful finish from the edge of the penalty area. It was all Manchester United from then on as the visitors took clear control of the game. The best chance of the first half fell to full-back Dalot, who was able to trouble Sanchez with a well-placed effort that was deflected wide by the Spaniard. We should have gotten two up at the beginning of the second half when Smith-Rowe was able to play Sterling through on goal with his first touch on the ball. The Englishman somehow froze when he was supposed to be applying the finish and Onana was able to rob the ball from his feet. Manchester United's attacking play was nullified mostly by their bad timing of forward runs which saw the visitors piling up a huge amount of offsides through both Hojlund and Rashford. The visitors almost found the way through again in the 72nd minute, but this time it was Christian Eriksen who was denied by Sanchez. This was the last threatening thing that Manchester United was able to produce and it meant that we had limped over the finish line, just barely. How did our debutants fare? Smith-Rowe was the most productive player going forward after coming on at halftime. Dedic on the other hand looked comfortable throughout the 90 minutes and almost scored with a long-range effort in the 67th minute. *** *** Premier League Matchday 24-25 fixtures Arsenal and Manchester City had a busy schedule but both of the teams were able to keep their good form going. This means that the hunting pack was quickly approaching Tottenham who lost their third game in the Premier League and fourth game in total in a row. As both the Gunners and City were going to play their matchday 26 game earlier than the Spurs, the results could see Tottenham already dropping third before the match against Chelsea at their home stadium. Premier League Matchday 25 VS 12th of February, 2024 Tottenham were 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League table before 2024. The new year has been awful for Postecoglou's men who were now on a four-game losing streak and in real danger of losing the once sure-looking Premier League title. What made things even worse was the fact that Manchester City and Arsenal winning their gameday 26 fixtures saw Spurs dropping third in the table. A fully healthy Chelsea was a good test for the former league leaders. A win here would still make Tottenham favorites for the title and could turn the tide for them. The first half of the game was something that could easily have expected. A hard fight in the midfield saw both teams canceling each other out. We were one attempt ahead of Tottenham in the shots throughout the first 45 minutes but we can't say that either of the teams was threatening. Then out of nowhere came the Enzo Fernández strike that took us one goal ahead. It was a nice piece of play from Cole Palmer and Cucurella down the left flank that set up Nkunku inside the penalty area for an attempt. The French striker was unselfish though and pulled the ball back for his Argentinian colleague who finished securely from the edge of the penalty area. Tottenham were able to tighten their screw in the second half and were a way better team, especially after the hour-mark. We had plenty of opportunities to counter but were wasteful giving the ball away dangerously instead of being able to play it to the space between the defence. On the 54th minute it looked like we were 2-0 up but Jackson's goal, set up once again by Nkunku was judged as an offside by the VAR. Tottenham deserved something from the game and deservedly got their equalizer in the 81st minute. We gave the ball away cheaply in the midfield which saw Richarlison escape from Reece James before setting up Son with a precise low cross who finished the nifty attacking move. Both teams tried to win the game in the end but didn't come close to doing so. A 1-1 draw was quite well justified, yet disappointing for both teams. *** Matchday 25-26 results *** League table Player stats Edited January 18 by El Payaso Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich ruzzian Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Champions League is going to be really tough. Lets hope you can build on the victory against ManU Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 13 hours ago, rich ruzzian said: Champions League is going to be really tough. Lets hope you can build on the victory against ManU I think Champions league is already gone and even beating Newcastle for the 6th place is going to be tough. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 18 Author Share Posted January 18 (edited) February 2024 Part II Our journey continues with two Premier League games against Burnley and Crystal Palace and we will finish the month with an FA Cup home game against Bournemouth. *** Premier League Matchday 26 VS 17th of February The dropped points against Tottenham meant there was no chance for an error in an away game against Burnley who were sitting 19th in the form-table. As there was no room for errors or hesitance, the plan was to hit the home team early and hit them hard. Burnley was able to deflect our first wave away with both a good piece of defending and a pinch of luck. We always looked confident and found our way through in a rather extraordinary fashion when Axel Disasi headed in Conor Gallagher's free-kick delivery in the 26th minute. There was a quick-fire double when Emile Smith-Rowe finished a quick counter-attacking move just four minutes later from a good releasing pass provided by Noni Madueke. We took our foot out of the gas pedal after going two-nil up and had to wait until the hour-mark to see something happen again. The third goal of the game luckily also fell to our side as Gallagher and Smith-Rowe played a nice one-two at the edge of the penalty before a precise finish from the latter. It was the first start for the Arsenal loanee and a brace to celebrate. Burnley had taken more control of the game during the second half and they got their consolation rather deservedly in the 81st minute. It was Hannes Delcroix again punishing us with a powerful near-post header. We looked unconvincing through the last 10-15 minutes of the game and a second goal was practically waiting for itself to happen, but luckily we pulled through. A ruthless performance and three points are all we wanted here. *** *** Matchday 26 results Liverpool's point drop against West Ham means that the race for the sixth place is now turning into a fight for the places between 5 and 7. Tottenham's miserable form continued in a local derby while especially Manchester City is showing signs of yet another Premier League title. *** Premier League Matchday 27 VS 24th of February Crystal Palace were the team to give the final judgement for Mauricio Pochettino who was sacked after a humiliating 3-0 defeat. Even though this gave a chance for our new management, it was also a great chance for a payback. You would think that the team would be motivated enough for circumstances like this but we played the worst game of the season so far. It was only one brilliant youngster that saw us through this time. And it was the same man that had saved us so many times this season already. Our player of the season so far, Cole Palmer got us through after 23 minutes when Cucurella's powerful run down the left flank ended in a low cross that was buried by the midfielder inside the six-yard box. It didn't take long for the visitors to get back on even terms when Reece James once again forgot his defending duties and how to mark a man. It was a great through ball by Matheus Franca for the new loan signing Yoane Wissa but James was nowhere to mark the in-cutting wideman's run. Crystal Palace was able to disturb the tempo of our game with many hard fouls that saw four of the players leaving the pitch before intended. I don't know if this was the reason why our team looked uninterested and even scared most of the time. We got lucky though just 20 minutes before the end when Palmer played a quick one-two with Armando Broja before escaping to score the second goal. Crystal Palace was well worthy of a draw here but we take the three points with gratitude and luck. *** *** Matchday 27 results The surprising point drop for Liverpool sees the competition getting even tighter. Newcastle on the other hand is not willing to give us any chance of getting past them. *** League table Player stats *** FA Cup 5th Round *** Going back to this game simply annoys and hurts us all so much that we decided to even skip the regular match review session. The two things that you can think about at this point are the fact that we have now played two of our worst matches in a row and secondly why is this happening now? I take full responsibility for this loss. The team has been well most of the time during my era, and it is now my job to be able to find ways for us to reach this level of performance again. We can't take any positives out of this game for sure. Well, maybe the fact that the amount of fixtures is going to be a bit lower from now on gives us the full possibility to concentrate in the league and secondly, Reece James was not responsible for either of the goals that they scored which is a real rarity. Edited January 18 by El Payaso 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 20 Author Share Posted January 20 March 2024 As Liverpool had given us an open invitation to the race for the fifth spot, there was no chance for point drops here. The monthly schedule was interesting, especially the two games in the middle both huge and difficult. There was also no place for underestimating Luton or Nottingham Forest who have both been performing above expectations and stayed clear of the relegation race. Premier League Matchday 28 - 2nd of March, 2024 Two games without a victory had seen Luton Town dropping positions and making a late invitation for the relegation battle. The Hatter were looking to turn their tide into positive again by securing three points against the Chelsea side, which might still be battling for fifth place. The home team looked threatening for the first ten minutes of the game as Barkley and Doughty were combining well down the left-hand side multiple times. Our defense stood tall though and we were able to counter many times directly from our powerful clearances from our penalty area. The first goal of the game came through the brilliance of Cole Palmer once again. Romeo Lavia won the ball back in the midfield in the 15th minute before finding Palmer down his flank and the creative Englishman played a first-touch through ball for Nicolas Jackson to run to. The Senegalese made no mistake in his finish and it was 1-0. Things seemed to get easier when Marvelous Nakamba chopped down Palmer attempting to start a counter attack just two minutes later. Anthony Taylor gave the aggressive midfielder his marching orders and the home side was a man down with more than 70 minutes to play. Luton responded magnificently though as just five minutes later Alfie Doughty got into the wrong side of Reece James and was able to make a run to the byline before placing a precise low cross for Ross Barkley to finish. It was a fantastic move from the home side but once again a clear indication of James' defensive liability that had cost us many times this year already. The rest of the first half looked like we could edge it at any moment and we did get the go-ahead goal after the half-hour mark when Palmer was able to cut inside from his right flank before finding Enzo Fernández 25 yards out of Luton's goal. The Argentinian once again showed his lethal shooting technique by burying his attempt. There were no further goals in the second half but it was a surprise to see how well Luton was actually able to match us with 10 men. They could have easily equalized the game from 'somewhere' and especially the battle between James and Doughty was all the time looking dangerous as our captain simply wasn't up to his defensive task. Even moving Fernández to the right-side DM position didn't seem to help a lot. *** *** Premier League Matchday 28 results Arsenal took a huge 3 points against Manchester City to boost their title odds Manchester United are the hottest team in the Premier League at the moment and crawling their way to the title race. Tottenham ended their abysmal run at the expense of Newcastle which saw the home team ending their five-game winning streak. Premier League Matchday 29 - 9th of March, 2024 Home game against brilliantly performing Newcastle United and two teams battling for the positions between five and seven. Two teams with really hard-working midfielders and pacey attacking players looking to launch deadly counter attacks. Can it get any better than this? The 4-1 loss against us was a work accident for Newcastle and you could see it straight from the beginning as they looked really up to this game, challenging us in every aspect. For us, it had been back to the drawing board after three poor performances. 4-5-1 formation was back and heavily re-invented intending to get more out of our team that can perform magnificently well when in a 'mood' to do so. Luckily we did look sharper than we had been in the last few games and this was also our salvation as otherwise, Newcastle would have eaten us alive today. The game itself was exactly as most of us were expecting. Hard fighting in the midfield and both teams nullified each other's attacking threat. Raheem Sterling was the first victim of the hard battle as the Englishman had to leave the pitch just 4 minutes into the game after being tackled by Livramento. The game was lacking good scoring chances but we got one just before the half-hour mark when Nkunku made a powerful run into the byline before finding supporting Madueke who was able to cut inside from the flank and find Cole Palmer open inside the penalty area. Our best player of the season then had an easy job to apply the finishing touch and make it one-nil. It didn't take Newcastle long to reply when Anthony Gordon's corner kick was poorly cleared and Callum Wilson got an easy chance inside the penalty area to finish off. Newcastle took the physical advantage in the second half and we constantly seemed to be losing the battles in the midfield. A draw would have probably been a justified result here but we had luck once again, like we have been having a lot lately, just before the one-hour mark when Nkunku was finally able to escape from Guimaraes and Lo Celso in the midfield before setting up Mudryk for a run down the left-hand side. The Ukrainian had the patience to stop and watch Palmer making his late run inside the penalty area before a simple pass that found the youngster free once again. Palmer made no mistake in his finish and this was enough for us to get the vital three points which finally turned the tables around between us and Newcastle and placed the Magpies in the chasing position. Sterling's injury was quite bad this time and the Englishman would miss the rest of the month and join Smith-Rowe in the injury bay. This, on the other hand, will give more opportunities for Madueke and Mudryk to impress. The match itself was one of the most entertaining and high-quality that we have seen in the Premier League so far this season. Two very evenly sides against each other and the feeling of battle all the time present. *** *** Premier League Matchday 29 results Vincent Kompany and Roberto De Zerbi both got sacked after matchday 29. Liverpool's poor form continued with a huge loss against Manchester City in a game that the home side dominated. Jürgen Klopp is rumoured to be the next in line and another poor result would probably seal his faith. Tottenham's victory against Newcastle was just a short relief but they are still holding a place in the title race. Manchester United are a force to be reckoned at the moment and there seems to be no team that can stop them. Premier League Matchday 30 - 20th of March, 2024 We had a few small injuries during the international break which meant that we went to this game without a backup keeper as Petrovic was among those less fortunate. Aston Villa had been fairly inconsistent this season which had already seen the Birmingham-based team dropping out of the battle for European spots. An away point against Tottenham in the last round showed us once again how good a side they can be at their best. We got the worst possible start to the game as Cole Palmer had to leave the pitch after just ten minutes of play. Luckily we had Smith-Rowe back in the lineup and this gave the Arsenal loanee an excellent chance to step up and build his match fitness. Event-wise the start was good though as Christopher Nkunku scored a rare but even more important opener in the 25th minute after burying Mykhailo Mudryk's shot's rebound into the open net. Aston Villa were the better side in the opening half and they got the equalizer just before the break. It was probably the most annoying way to concede though as there were two players totally unmarked in Aston Villa's freekick which allowed Yuri Tielemans just to chip the ball above our wall of players to Alex Moreno who had an easy job to score against Sanchez who had been left totally alone. Note: even though I want to take this career update as a footballing career update, these kinds of bugs in the match engine are the only ones that make me consider reloading the game and playing the match again, but I decided against it like always. Thorn in our side Ollie Watkins got Aston Villa through the lead just after half-time when Tielemans got the ball in the midfield and was able to spot the striker's well-timed run into the penalty area with a beautiful lofted through ball. This game reminded me a lot of the one that we just had against Newcastle and the home team seemed to edge us out just barely throughout the game. We got lucky again just before the hour mark when Aston Villa failed to clear our corner kick delivery properly and Reece James was able to set up Smith-Rowe for an easy finish. The final half an hour of the game was fairly evenly matched and both teams mainly threatened from long distance time after time. We had the best chance of the dying minutes when Mudryk was able to pounce in Aston Villa's defensive lapse but was unable to get the ball through Martinez who made an all-important game-saving save. Cole Palmer's injury will see him missing the rest of the month but he might survive with just two weeks of absence. Otherwise, we are close to being fully fit once again as even long-term injured Wesley Fofana has returned to light training. *** *** Premier League Matchday 30 results Arsenal and Tottenham both dropped points which means that the Manchester sides are now in the pole position considering the title race. Liverpool didn't get a win but Jürgen Klopp will have at least one more chance to turn things around when they will face Burnley in the next round. Newcastle were able to bounce back and stay in our tail. Premier League Matchday 31 - 30th of March, 2024 The month ended in a matchup between two in-form teams as Chelsea were 2nd in the latest form table while Nottingham was sixth. One of the main questions here would be how many chances the away side would be able to produce through the wide-area battle between Reece James and Calum Hudson-Odoi who had already torn us apart once this season. The answer was three, inside the first 15 minutes. But we did do our job decently well inside our penalty area to nullify the threat that those crosses were providing. We also had a new hero for this game as Emile Smith-Rowe was ready to make his first start after his 4 weeks of injury. The Arsenal loanee scored us the first in the 23rd minute when Conor Gallagher made a strong run down the left flank before placing a good pass into the space for Smith-Rowe to run to. It was a nice combination of play between the midfielder and wide player which saw the middleman finding himself by the touchline and wide-man making a rightly timed run in the middle. Exactly how you would like a Mezzala to work with an inverted winger. We got our relieving second one just after the half time when Mark Cucurella stepped inside from his full-back position before spotting Smith-Rowe's well-timed in-cutting run to the penalty area which ended up the Englishman free inside the penalty area. A brace and what a way to introduce himself to the starting lineup again and replace all-important Cole Palmer there. We were looking comfortable at this point but decided to make things more interesting through a goalkeeping error provided by Sanchez who dropped an easy corner delivery for Moussa Niakhate to finish after the hour-mark. After this things got really nervy and Nottingham was able to connect from every single set piece that they got and Sanchez had to be there to pay back his error more than once. We only got back in control after we took Thiago Silva on in the 81st minute to calm things down. The 39-year-old did exactly what we wanted: no Nottingham highlights at all after that. Yet another successful limp over the finish line. *** Premier League Matchday 31 results Manchester United's monstrous form continued with yet another convincing win. Manchester City took a slip. Tottenham took a convincing win which could see them regaining some confidence and form. Klopp's Liverpool took the result that they needed. Newcastle are not giving up either. League table This might well be the most thrilling title race in the history of the Premier League. Manchester United has come out of nowhere to take the pole position while Arsenal has a game in hand against Brighton. The battle for fifth position is also very much open as well as the relegation race. Player stats Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 21 Author Share Posted January 21 April 2024 A month where you could talk about make or break. If we want to keep our chances of reaching the fifth position, there is no room for error and point drops. Two local derbies make things interesting and those are always going to be games where anything can happen. Premier League Matchday 32 - Both Liverpool and Newcastle had put early pressure on us by surpassing us in the table. As both of the teams were still included in the FA Cup they had played their 32nd league matches the days between and also featured in round 33 earlier today when we faced Fulham. Liverpool had won both of their games and Newcastle had piled 4 points out of their two games. We immediately made the first mistake of dropping points here. Fulham got already in the 6th minute of the game from a well-worked throw-in routine that saw Alex Iwobi applying a finish inside the six-yard box. We controlled the first half quite clearly and also got our equalizer in the 30th minute when Smith Rowe fed Christopher Nkunku inside the penalty area after a nifty move down the left-hand side that was started by Conor Gallagher. We were expecting to turn this game into a victory in the second half but actually, our dominance turned into a narrow Fulham control in the second 45 minutes. Even though Sterling and Palmer were both able to come in from the bench, they were not able to provide us with any real impact. We pushed until the very end and tried to get the go-ahead goal but the luck was not on our side this time. A local derby or not, dropping points against the second-worst-performing team in the league was a huge disappointment. *** *** Premier League Matchday 32 results A perfect round of fixtures for Tottenham who have turned the tables again. Liverpool and Newcastle are putting on a serious fight for the fifth place. Vital three points for Wolves against Everton. Premier League Matchday 33 - We had used that one opportunity of point dropping already this month which meant that we needed a victory against 8th placed West Ham who had been suffering from a huge amount of injuries lately. The game started with a real collector’s item when Raheem Sterling scored already in the fourth minute of the game from Dedicr’s through ball. The early goal was followed by a lucky spell when James Ward-Prowse got himself injured in the 25th minute and had to leave the pitch. This was followed 13 minutes later with our quick break that ended with Emerson fouling Sterling through on goal which gave us a penalty and a straight red card for the former Chelsea full-back. Christopher Nkunky buried the spot-kick with confidence and we looked good value for the three points for the first time in a long time. The second half allowed us to sail smoothly to our home harbor. We took a notch or two out of our tempo and simply controlled the game. Sterling crowned his exceptional afternoon at the beginning of the second half by making a precise run to Caicedo’s long through ball before setting up Enzo Fernández at the edge of the penalty area. The Argentinian continued his rather effective scoring form by finishing with confidence. A ruthless 3-0 victory was all that we could ask for. This result made our lossless streak 11 games long and gave us a much-needed clean sheet too as Kelechi Iheanacho missed his only chance of the game in the 89th minute by chipping the ball over both Sanchez and his goal. *** Premier League Matchday 33 results Tottenham seems to be full of confidence now. Liverpool is another team in a hot streak of form. Interesting managerial switches: Dyche took control of Brighton, Dean Smith was hired by Burnley and Graham Potter now took the reign at Everton. Premier League Matchday 34 - A trip to Brentford under pressure was not something that we were anticipating. We had already thrown away the one opportunity to slip during April and needed a win to keep up with Liverpool and Newcastle. The first half was uneventful but ended in the worst possible way when Ivan Toney was able to use their only chance of the half with a precise finish in the 42nd minute. Our team responded in the best possible way at the beginning of the second half when Nkunku, Palmer, and Smith Rowe combined well, releasing the latter through on goal to score. We were the better side in the second half but were not able to break through. Madueke finally scored the goal that looked like to be the winner in the 88th minute but the goal was ruled out as a narrow offside call. We would probably have deserved to win this but considering the cutting edge that we have had in these tight games earlier this season, we can’t complain too much. *** Premier League Matchday 34 results Manchester City took the points in the Manchester derby which sees United's title hopes coming to ruins. Chelsea needed three points to get past Newcastle and Liverpool but failed. Premier League Matchday 35 - Wolves are the real mystery team of this season and in real danger of getting relegated with a fairly good squad in hand. The all-important victory that they took against Everton at the beginning of the month had been followed by heavy defeats against Manchester United and Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final. Things were looking difficult for them. We failed to show any mercy for the visitors as we went 2-0 up in less than 20 minutes with a brace from Christopher Nkunku, the striker who seemed to finally be finding some goalscoring form after our tactical tweaks. Nicolas Jackson made it three after the half-hour mark which took the game out of their hands. Wolves were playing quite well, especially in the second half, and threatening us a few times. The last goal of the game fell to us though as Noni Madueke hit a screamer in the 59th minute to make it 4-0. It was a big moment for Wesley Fofana as he featured for us for the first time in almost a year after a serious knee injury. The French centre-back was taken on in the 62nd minute and by that got some vital minutes in the Premier League, getting prepared for the new season where we are looking for him to be like a new signing for us. Wolves were probably the most fragile team that we had met this season. A bunch of decent individuals lacking confidence and a clear game plan. It looks like they will be relegated. *** Premier League Matchday 35 results Everton captain Seamus Coleman injured his knee seriously in the match against Liverpool, which saw the right-back retiring from football with an immediate effect. Tottenham took huge three points from City which completes the total turnaround for them - The Spurs could clinch the title on matchday 36 when they visit Arsenal. Liverpool and Newcastle are sadly the two best teams in the league at the moment among Tottenham. 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AlfieLucas Posted January 21 Share Posted January 21 You've done well to get closer to the top 4. Loving that Spurs could win the title at Arsenal 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 22 hours ago, AlfieLucas said: You've done well to get closer to the top 4. Loving that Spurs could win the title at Arsenal Would be ideal for them. Never remember FM having this intriguing title race full of twists and turns. Tottenham did their best to throw it away just to turn things around in the final stretch. The schedule for us is also really nice twist as we will be playing our own part in this for sure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 22 Author Share Posted January 22 May 2024 With a challenging schedule in our hands, it would take a miracle for us to reach anything but the seventh place that we had already secured ages ago. This was interesting though as like Gollum in the Lord of Rings, our part in the Premier League title race could be huge. Premier League Matchday 36 - 4th of May, 2024 Pep Guardiola's men were up against it at City of Manchester Stadium. The recent loss against Tottenham meant that only a win would be enough for the reigning champion to put up a fight to retain the title. The home side got to a dream start as Kevin De Bruyne's corner kick bounced to former Chelsea center-half Nathan Ake to finish in the 6th minute. It didn't take us long to reply as a quick counter-attack led to Mudryk's darting run inside the penalty area. The Ukrainian's shot was deflected up in the air and straight for Raheem Sterling to head home. Manchester City were lacking the passion in the match that they should have won to keep the dream alive. City was controlling the game fairly well but didn't produce anything dangerous for the rest of the game. We were a good value to take a point here which we also did. We didn't threaten them a lot but neither did City. A point that we gladly took to keep at least a small glimmer of hope alive to reach the sixth place. City's dream of winning the title this year was gone on the other hand. Match Stats: *** Premier League Matchday 36 results Tottenham didn't take their first chance to secure the title as Arsenal took a convincing home victory. Newcastle and Liverpool both took three points in their must-win encounters. Everton has started well under the helm of Graham Potter and looks like a good candidate to survive. Premier League Matchday 37 - 11th of May, 2024 And then there was Arsenal. Mikel Arteta's men had come close this season like they did a year ago. Anything else than a victory here would mean that Tottenham would practically secure their title, no matter how they would do in the game against Liverpool. Even though we didn't have any preferred winner for the title, a loss to Arsenal was not something that we were planning to do. We also had just a tiny bit of reasons to fight for as a victory here would mean that we might still be able to overtake Liverpool. It wasn't a derby to remember as both teams kept being quite equally matched. Arsenal had a bit more shots but we were creating the better chances here. The only goal of the game came in the 20th minute when Mudryk and Palmer combined well down the left flank and the Englishman was able to break inside the penalty area before setting up Christopher Nkunku for an easy finish. Arsenal looked tired and when we took a more defensive lookout for the last 20 minutes of the game, nothing happened anymore and we were easily able to secure a 1-0 victory. Wesley Fofana's first start in almost a year was magnificent and the young centre back formed an unbreakable pairing along with Levi Colwill. Match Stats: *** Premier League Matchday 37 Tottenham clinched the title by beating another in-form team Liverpool in a home game. Newcastle United practically secured the fifth place by winning their own game. Liverpool and Chelsea will decide the destiny of sixth place at Anfield in the final round. Everton keeps going and Graham Potter is aiming to take the Manager of the Month award this month. Premier League Matchday 38 - 19th of May, 2024 A visit to Anfield and a must-win scenario to climb one place up in the table. Not impossible but something quite difficult to be honest. Especially if you take into account Liverpool's recent form that had been unbeaten until their narrow loss against the new champion Tottenham. Liverpool was the better team and this was the first time in a long time when we really had to hang on to keep level with them. The battle between Cucurella and Salah looked quite unfair as the Spanish full-back did his best to keep up with the trickery Egyptian but clearly wasn't on the same level with him. Salah himself could have put the game in the bed quite early on but his fellow attackers were not actually thanking him for all the chances that he was able to create for them. The former Chelsea forward took matters to his own hands just before the hour-mark and finished past Sanchez with a deflected shot that took a bounce from Levi Colwill. It didn't look likely that we could get anything out of this game but all of a sudden in the 81st minute Cole Palmer spotted Christopher Nkunku's forward run which he fed with a precise through ball. The French striker did well rounding Allison before finishing the unlikely equalizer. Game on! The last ten minutes of the game was the first time that we had applied a high pressing system this season and it nearly paid off in the 89th minute when Nicolas Jackson fed Nkunku who had almost a similar chance to score his second. Allison was the man of the moment and was able to stop the Frenchman's close effort. A 1-1 draw saw Liverpool securing the sixth place and we were left 7th narrowly. Match Stats: Premier League Matchday 38 A 1-1 draw was enough for Everton's Graham Potter to secure the Manager of the Month award. Pep Guardiola's era at the helm of Manchester City ended in a convincing 5-1 victory before a surprising sacking. Final league table Wolves, Burnley and Sheffield United were relegated Middlesbrough, Leicester and Southampton promoted League Cup was won by Liverpool and Arsenal took the FA Cup Player stats *** The Golden Glove The Golden Boot Player of the year Manager of the year Young player of the year Team of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Summer 2024 There were a few clear things in my mind for the summer. Club DNA - Even though we didn't talk about this much in the tactical post, it has all the time been important to fill the team with certain kinds of players. These are related to both personal preferences as well as ideal suitability for our team. It is obviously impossible to tick all these boxes straight away, especially when you talk about youth prospects but they do give us good guidelines on who could be the right type of player for us when we do scouting. Mentoring groups - The logic behind our squad building is that we want to rely heavily on young players and develop them into the first team as effectively as possible. This means that we need to have a really good set of more experienced players to get things started well through mentoring groups. The aim is to have at least one great mentor available in each position that we use in our 4-5-1 formation. We also take into account the style of plays here which means that a destroyer type of midfielder should be the one who mentors our younger players that are about the same mold. On the other hand, a playmaking type of midfielder will be the one mentoring those who are a bit more comfortable in possession. We also divide these groups so that the maximum number of players in one mentoring group is four. Financial status - Even though I don't agree that taking care of finances is part of a manager's responsibility, I am actively looking to turn this area around for us. The club has been doing some really badly thought business lately and this is one the main reasons for the downfall that we have experienced since the glory days. The aim for us is to make the squads smaller in size and to cash in on many players in the long term and make things more sustainable for us by concentrating more on creating our own talent. This is not the regular Chelsea way but something new. Like new signings - Chelsea have been criticized a lot for their approach to loan out tens of players each season. This is an approach that we wanted to change already in our first summer together. Instead of bringing in masses of new players, we are looking to give many of our young and more experienced loanees a fair chance in the first team. Kepa Arrizabalaga and Romelu Lukaku both had fantastic campaigns in their last season's clubs while younger talent such as Ángelo and Andre Santos had more challenging ones and should see themselves trying to reach their potential here at the club. Cruel summer When going into the summer, we had a quite clear list of what we wanted to improve and who we might be willing to sell if the right offer came. What we didn't expect, though, was that we would be like a herd of lambs trying to keep away from a pack of wolves during the summer. We were bombarded by declarations of interest and offers for multiple of our key players while it was quieter on those who we could have sold. In general, the summer was a challenging experience where we were forced to do more business than we were hoping for. Departures Romelu Lukaku - We were honestly looking forward to the Chelsea and Lukaku reunion this time. It was already predicted ten years ago that this was the man who would replace Didier Drogba as Chelsea's number 11. Due to the club's transfer policy and the personal problems later on, this never really materialized. We tried to offer him a new contract to keep him here after the previous one was supposed to expire in one year but his agent told us that he wouldn't be interested. I was expecting teams in Europe coming for the player that scored 17 goals in total last season in Serie A but it was a club from Saudi Arabia that came knocking on the door and triggered his release clause of £50M. Christopher Nkunku - Real Madrid first came for him with a £92M bid that we rejected. This was followed by both Saudi Arabian interest and Mauricio Sarri's Manchester City. Nkunku played a promising spring season for us but in fear of him becoming unhappy and kicking things off in the dressing room, we decided to budge and let him go. It was a huge profit compared to what the club paid for him a year ago. Hopefully, we will not regret this. Thiago Silva - The Brazilian legend is not exactly a club legend but an icon for sure. Silva featured quite a lot for us last season but at the age of 39 years and not having a clear opinion on whether he wanted to stay or not, we decided that this was the right time to let him go. As we already had 5 other center-backs in the team, it would have been difficult to find him any minutes and I didn't want to keep him in the team for just mentoring purposes and his leadership. Dorde Petrovic - Here is where we made a huge mistake in communications and the backup keeper from last season was sold to Manchester United, for free. He was an odd purchase in the first place but we should have gotten between 7-10 million pounds for him and now our Director of Football just let him go for free. Robert Sanchez - To make things even worse, Robert Sanchez kicked off when we didn't accept the first bids for him coming from Saudi Arabia. We then agreed that if someone would be willing to pay £34+ for his services, we would accept the offer. It didn't take long for the deal to come and going into the Premier League season, we will be going with only Kepa Arrizabalaga guarding our goal. Arrivals Angel Di Maria - The Argentinian legend will start his final season at the absolute top level. The reason why we wanted to bring in Di Maria was his personality traits as well as style of play, which ticks almost perfectly into our club DNA. Di Maria is also still a quality player who can cover any role in the midfield and down the flanks. And if we happen to play in a cup final of any kind this season, then Di Maria will be starting the game. Interesting to see the 36-year-old finally also in the Premier League. Andrew Robertson - At the age of 30, Andrew Robertson leaves Liverpool in his prime years. We were surprised to see him willing to leave Liverpool after all these years but we will take it. Robertson is once again a great personality and a born leader who should be able to help us take our defense to a whole new level. He should also still have three or four good years in him. Álvaro Fidalgo - One of the players that our scouts recommended and someone who we didn't have that much information about as the former Spanish U-17 midfielder had spent the last couple of seasons in Mexico. Fidalgo is a Real Madrid academy product that never got the chance to feature in the first team. The years far away from home have grown him into a fine and intelligent midfielder who also fits into our club DNA nicely. With a relatively low transfer value, this midfield maestro could be a real bargain for us. Ansu Fati - The talented Barcelona youngster was brought into the team to fill the gap that Nkunku had left. Fati is still one of the most promising players in European football who will look to take his game to a whole new level and become a world-beater. Fati can strengthen our team both down the flank as well as lead the line. Lazar Samardžić - Probably our biggest signing of the season. The Udinese midfielder was someone who we had been scouting for a long time to make sure that he would tick those boxes in the club DNA that we were looking for. He is still far away from his full potential but someone that we are looking for to make a difference for us in the midfield. Guido Rodriguez - The Argentinian international was someone who we went first and already in March when he was recommended to us by one of our scouts. With a free transfer, the 30-year-old midfielder was a no-brainer. Rodriguez is both a really good holding midfielder as well as a great influence for some of your younger players such as Romeo Lavia and already close to being world-class Moises Caicedo. Two tours We started in the United States where we featured in five games in total. We also had friendlies agreed with David Beckham's Inter Miami and Los Angeles FC but these were cancelled due to the teams entering cup competitions. This meant that we had to cut our United States visit short and continue to Portugal where we had time to match up with two of the local giants. Would have been nice to include Benfica here too but we didn't want to take any risks before the new Premier League season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carambau Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 Wonderful style Gonna follow this! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertluque Posted January 27 Share Posted January 27 Love the layout of the latest post. Is that your work or the skin you're using? If it's the skin I'd love to know the name of it. KUTGW. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 21 minutes ago, albertluque said: Love the layout of the latest post. Is that your work or the skin you're using? If it's the skin I'd love to know the name of it. KUTGW. Thank you for the comment. This is a work of the skin: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Payaso Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 21 hours ago, Carambau said: Wonderful style Gonna follow this! Thanks. Sadly I have lost my interest in this save like I often do after season one. Looking to start a new and more challenging one after the winter transfer window closes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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