Football Manager: Chapter IV, December to remember
We’ll be Gunning in November

The third Manager of the Month was picked up for this season.

The board projected we’d pass the FFP regulations. How remained a mystery to me.

The board was positive about me and very happy with the number of young players given a chance with the first team.

Though we were still losing money at a frustrating level.

Looking at the fixtures Liverpool would be the only heavy hurdle for us as they had some impressive matches against Chelsea, Man Utd and Inter.

Surprising news as Frank Lampard was appointed manager of Championship team Aston Villa. This would be his first managerial job but would he go down to League One?

Man Utd left nothing to chance in the League Cup while Championship side Middlesbrough impressed beating Premier League club Newcastle.

Gibbs fell ill a few days before the match against Newcastle. This was a chance for Josh Tymon to step up again.

Lukaku was looking to force a move away from Everton as he wanted to play Champions League.

In the other League Cup match up Tottenham lost in a high scoring game against Leicester City. While another Championship team took a Premier League scalp.

Another former Chelsea player picked up a manger role, this time John Terry. He will need pull Blackpool out of the relegation zone.

The first half against Newcastle was another match which hardly saw any action. It raised the concern again of our effectiveness going forward.
In the second half we changed to 4–2–3–1 in the hope the chances would increase but alas. Our biggest chance was in the second half when a long ball was played to Dybala who tried to go around the keeper but wasn’t quick enough. In the 74th minute we were rewarded a penalty. It was almost a sign that we could not score from an attack and only from the spot. And with Dybala scoring he confirmed this. Adding insult to injury was Kos who picked up a injury late in the second half.

Without the captain out for almost two weeks he would be missing the Liverpool game, so I could only sulk.

In the FA Cup draw we were matched up against Everton. I was so not looking forward to playing an EPL team at this time. Chelsea had it easy playing against League Two Doncaster.
Against Dynamo we were willing to continue with out formation experiment 3–4–2–1, it had to work in some way. Though a risk playing this in an away game and with the second choices it was worth a shot.
An early counter attack saw Dragomir receive a pass from Buitink. He dribbles towards goal while chased by two defenders. In an attempt to go around the keeper he shot and the keeper blocked but it in the path of an rushing Ødegaard who added into an empty goal. A second goal quickly followed from a corner. Cleared by a defender Chambers headed it back into the box as Dragomir passed it on to Iwobi who shot it passed the keeper.
Paulista was pulled out of position causing a void in the three man defence. Yarmolenko ran and then cross the ball as it reached the free standing Gonzales cutting out lead in half. Dynamo came close to a equaliser as a corner was headed against the bar and then cleared by Sarr. A Dragomir through ball saw Buitink face the keeper one on one, this time finishing coolly.
A long ball by Dynamo’s keeper saw Sarr and Paulista miss calculate the drop and see the forward waste his opportunity. In another attack the ball was played to the other side and saw their striker go into the box but then being dispossession by Chambers who cleared it to Ødegaard. He played a splitting through pass to Buitink who beat his marker on pace before applying a clinical finish for the 1–4 with that being the final result.

For the second consecutive year we had managed to get the maximum points in the group phase. Hopefully this would not be a repeat of last were we lost in the final but rather win it this time around.

Managerial chances happened again with Monaco appointing a new boss.

While Jaap Stam made an odd choice leaving his 15th place Swansea for 19th placed Leicester City.

A familiar name was appointed manager of Cardiff.

Roma seemed to have had enough of Mancini less than a year with him.

While Rangers tried something new

Despite a drab start to the Burnley match Oli put us up 0–1 after a Alexis cross. An minute later an Oli lobbed through ball saw Dybala make it 0–2 while under pressure from his marker. Sarr made an interception which lead to a counter attack in which Alexis moved inside before passing it to Dybala on the left wing who shot it at the far post to make it 0–3. Burnley had a chance just before half time when a through ball saw Ji Dong-Won miss a opportunity that was blocked by Giani.
In the second half Alexis made a move into the box when he got tripped. The referee pointed to the spot. Dybala was up again and shot it calmly in the opposite corner of were the keeper dived to. I decided to throw on Ødegaard, Iwobi and Buitink who played well in the last match to finish it off. But after the penalty it looked like the team had fallen asleep as a few passes and a final through ball led to a Burnley goal. After that goal things feel silent in terms of promising attacks.

Dybala’s performance put him on the radar of Real as the press asked me if we were going to be able to keep him. Time would tell but I made sure to issue a hands off to Zidane.
Sadly I was responsible for another scalp. Di Matteo was let go by Burnley after our win over them.

Our Champions League faith was known after the draw. Atletico vs City looked to be the toughest match up.

We looked for the attack against Liverpool. A through ball from Jack saw Alexis go one on one with Karius, he managed to tip the ball wide. From a throw-in Özil managed to reclaim the ball and quickly give a pass to Oli who quickly shot to put us up front. Another attack saw Oli pass the ball to Alexis who shot the ball at against the bar as it rolled out for a corner. As the corner was taken it was cleared but Özil reintroduced it into the box. He passed it to Jack who had no room to shoot so he played it on to Dybala as he shot hard in a crowded area to put us up by two. Tymon dispossessed Mané beautifully in our half before launching a long ball to Dybala who rushed towards goal, skipped passed the keeper before shooting it wide. A missed opportunity just before halftime.
After the break Liverpool’s first attack looked dangerous but just before it got to our box it was blocked. Some quick passing and the ball was with Dybala who squared it off to Özil, who then played it on to Oli. His shot was parried by the keeper as was picked up by a Liverpool defender. In another counter attack Oli played the ball on to Dybala who rushed towards goal, his accuracy was not as good as his pace as he shot it wide.
A Liverpool goalkick ended up with Alli who beat Sarr to head it on to Mané, he exchanged passes with Alli before releasing a ferocious shot from outside the box into the top corner.
We responded in an attack a few minutes later when Oli was sent clear towards goal, he tried to lob the ball while under pressure but Karius just got his finger to it to tip it wide as it bounced out of play. You could sense there was some panic on the field. An attack which led to Buitink was squandered as he could not hold his composure under pressure from two defenders as his bad first touch prevented him from making a clear run toward goal. From that same attack we launched another as a ball was played to Dybala who ran toward goal with three defenders chasing him before shooting it wide. We held on till the end to win it 2–1

A late goal meant the end for Vigiani at Spurs.

Arsene started to out some concerns regarding the attention some of the player were getting from other clubs. Aside from Dybala Real were also interested in Özil. While City were looking at Jeff, Reiss and Chambers. Liverpool set their eyes on Buitink. City needed my players for their home grown numbers it appeared.
I decided to rest a few players for three days as we had a crazy schedule coming up after after the Watford game.
The only team to have beaten us in the League so far was the team we faced at the start of the season. I took a risk resting seven first choice players and having Kos and Gibbs play their first matches after long injuries. Then there was a bench brimmed with talent but not the experience to turn a match around if needed.
Watford had a corner to open the match with the first shot. After that we stepped our game up. The forwards were eager being caught offside a few times. Watford maderuns forward but their efforts were not precise. Pereyra was robbed in midfield by Elneny who passed it to Jeff. Iwobi made a turn and cross it back to Santi whose effort was easily caught by Pickford. In a weird event Pickford dropped the ball and Buitink was very quick to react as he tapped it for the goal. It remained balanced till half time.
During the break I reminded the team to stay sharp. Iwobi tried to make a run but was dispossessed, the ball went to Deulofeu who dribbled forward. They passed the ball around before it went wide to Deulofeu to run forward and cross it to the near post were Agbo beat Kos to the ball. We could not make an attack work as the game ended in a draw. We had failed yet again.

Chelsea manager Fatih Terim had no shame in saying he was interested in taking the Roma job. Was he looking to bail before being fired himself?

Man Utd played two days after us and also drew. This kept out 4 point advantage alive as we headed into the second half of the competition. The title fight looked to be down us and Utd. And the difference between #4 and #14 was only 6 points, so anything could happen.

Compared to the month before we only managed to keep a clean sheet once.

We were not looking to get through the Christmas season without a scratch.
(The Book of Gooner follows the career of a long time Championship/Football Manager player)

