Football Manager: Chapter IV, November November

Vilmar
Vilmar
Jul 25, 2017 · 8 min read

Give us goals!

A new month and a new award as I picked up my second Manager of the Month award.

The first chance we could make to adjustment to our budget was offloading some players during the January window, through sale or loan with full wage and compensation.


We look determined going forward until the final step when let go of poor shots at goal. This was the whole first half display. We looked to get luck just before half time as we were awarded a penalty. Dybala stepped up and shot it right at the keeper.

The second half saw us pressing more and a corner was a Silva header fly in as the keeper was not able to properly parry it. Sloppy handling in the box by Reading saw Silva capitalise by putting pressure and score from close by. Our third came deep in the second half as a cross was headed in at the near post by Buitink.


Sparta Praha looked comfortable the first 20 minutes. Odegaard his passes were poor as it looked like he missed the connection with the rest of the team. A poorly taken goal kick landed with Jeff who dribbled forward before an rushing Jack passed him and he played it to him. Instead of pass Jack went for a shot which was blocked by the keeper. PRaha had a chance on the counter but we managed to parry their attack on three occasions before we launched one of our own. A Jeff cross was headed in by Oli leaving the keeper chance-less. Odegaard missed a chance when he got a pass from Jack in the box as the whistle was blown for half time.

In the second half we continued with our play a second offence by Lukas Maracek saw him get sent off. Which led to our second goal in which Tymon crossed the ball to Jack who released a shot from the edge of the box beating the keeper.


Our focus now went to Chelsea.

Musi was pushed giving us a penalty. Dybala stepped up and he missed his second consecutive penalty but was quickest to react to the blocked ball to still tap it in.

Our chances increased but we weren’t able to properly capitalise on them. Özil his lack in sharpness of passes started to show as more of his passed didn’t reach their mark. Was also frustrated me was the shots on goal. There was no power in them making it easy saves for keeper. As halftime neared Chelsea got more grip on the match as the moved forward more often. It was not until the 37th minute Maia intercepted a pass and played it Dybala who played it out to Alexis. He moved into the box for a cross where Dybala beat Courtois to head it into an empty goal.

I instructed the players to remain focused and not drop their performance as we headed into the second half. Alexis almost scored from a deflected shot but Courtois was able to push the ball wide. Chelsea came close to a goal as a cross from Sergi Roberto was headed passed the goal. In less then a minute Oli had a chance to head a ball in but he was to far from goal for it to be a real threat as it went wide. It continued to go back and forth with chances until the match ran out.

We played a friendly against Toolstation Premier team ‘Street’. It was an effort to keep the match fitness of those left behind up. Sadly we planned it on the same day as there was an U18 match so we lost a few selectable players. The friendly was won with 0–5.

Former Bolton and West Ham player Kevin Nolan returned to managing after tow stints with Leyton Orient and Notts Co.

Just before the Stoke match there was a report Ronaldo was out for 4 months with a broken ankle. With Real already trailing in La Liga behind Barcelona they needed somebody in the team to step up or buy an instant hit in January.


It became clear pretty quickly that our 4–3–3 formation had no effect with Stoke. They anticipated movements well and easily intercepted our passes,m this made me decide to switch to 4–2–3–1. After some one touch passing outside of the Stoke box Silva slipped a through ball to Dybala who finished it off. We were in front. Minutes after that a ball intercepted by us in midfield saw Özil pass it to Silva who moved passed one of the centre defender who was caught out of position in an attempt to intercept the pass, continued into the box and put it passed the keeper. It became clear to us that there was one weakness in this team, the keeper. I have instruction to close Jack Butland down more often. Just before halftime Ox reached for his knee as he went down. We subbed him for Iwobi.

Alex Pritchard was sent off after less than 10 minutes for a two legged tackle on Alexis. The referee rushed over and without a moment of hesitation pulled out a red card. Özil got his goal after his initial shot got blocked but a second attempt slipped passed the keeper. Half way through the second half we had another injury, this time Silva. We now had lost two first choices with what appeared to be serious injuries. After the whistle my first thoughts went to Ox and Silva.

With Silva it was worst than I initially thought. David Fevre informed me that due to the injury he would lose some agility. I spoke to him and told him to focus on his recovery.

Then he informed me about Ox, though initially thought to be a severe knee injury it was “just”some strained ligaments.

A number of clubs sacked thier managers. Hertha BSC parted ways with Dirk Schuster. Rangers said goodbye to Alex Mcleish.


The Sevilla match would secure out top spot if we won or drew.

In a time span of 5 minutes we picked up three yellow cards, so I reminded those players to take a step back. We got another penalty and this time Santi stepped up to take it. Though taken well the keeper reacted well to stop it. Just before the halftime break an Iwobi through pass got to Oli who was cold as ice as he scored under pressure from two defenders. There was something to cheer at the break.

A long pass forward causing a counter saw Buitink squander a chance to score as he shot it wide. From that restart the ball was intercepted by Santi who played it to Buitink. He cut inside before passing it to Santi who had moved forward towards the box before laying it off to a waiting Jack who had rush forward to shoot it in. Just as we were preparing to sub Iwobi dribbled as 3 defenders were chasing him. He managed to cross to Buitink who was unmarked, the defender was first to the ball and kicked the ball away but Buitink headed the ball in the direction of the goal putting it passed the keeper. He managed to get his goal just before he would get subbed. A few minutes later a free kick was taken. It went passed all the defenders with Sarr moving quick enough to react to the bouncing ball to tape it beyong the keeper before he could cheer the whistle blew that it was offside. An Odegaard corner resulted in a penalty for us as one of our players was pushed. Oli stepped up and made a low shot in the corner, Sergio Rico reacted correctly again to tap it away to make it our third straight missed penalty.


During the press conference Mourinho dared to call this just another game. We knew the pressure was on him to reduce the deficit to just one point. We were lucky to see that Depay was not registered with their League team.

Our 4–2–3–1 formation would be leading this effort. It was a dull 23 minutes until a through pass by Lewandowski saw Mkhitaryan score from a weak effort. The controlling midfield I had placed with Elneny and Maia failed. We responded a few minutes later when Maia combined with Dybala to for a through pass on Iwobi who finished calmly with one touch.

And as the second half started so did it finish with not many chances being created by us. We got away with a point but as champions I saw it as a two point loss.

After the match I was agitated as it showed we were not able to get forward more but also unable to prevent them from getting close. This was something we needed to improve in our next encounter against them and similar foes of their stature.

We had an almost perfect month with Man Utd being the only one to score against us and taking a point from out match.

We did however manage to maintain our top stop in the league though not increasing lead on the rest. Man City and Chelsea were still having a difficult time while West Ham was holding on just like West Brom was two seasons ago.

And just before midnight several clubs decided to party ways with their managers. Some notables ones being Leicester parting ways with Lee Johnson as their poor table position left their board with some concerns.

Monaco who needed a new manager to keep their talent machine running. Funny to see former Arsenal player Luzhnyi being reported as a possible contender for the position.

(The Book of Gooner follows the career of a long time Championship/Football Manager player)

Book of Gooner

The story of a passionate manager in the world of Football Manager

Vilmar

Written by

Vilmar

A philosopher, dreamer, Gooner, bounty, realist, jack of all trades with heart of the 3 year old | P.S en ook een gelegenheidsneger met kroezelhaar

Book of Gooner

The story of a passionate manager in the world of Football Manager

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