tomhaydon1
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Day 1, Alex Ferguson is replaced by the unknown manager from Plymouth, Tom Haydon. Eyebrows are certainly raised, players are disgruntled that an unknown has taken over. The hard work starts here?..
I wanted to make an immediate impact on the squad to let them know who?s boss. Anderson, Buttner, Young, and Nani are all sold abroad. Sadly, Shinji Kagawa is sold back to Dortmund for 28 mill. A good price for someone unfortunately will not fit into my new plans for the team.
For a long time now everyone has noted that the United midfield is in need of serious change. That is exactly what I have brought in. Days after the above departures, re-enforcements arrive at Old Trafford and the fans?..are loving them!
In:
Luke Shaw ? LB from Southampton, cover for Evra at 32 years old ? 15.5 mill
Ilkay Gundogan ? CM from Dortmund, hopefully the answer to our midfield creative problems ? 19.75 mill
Ross Barkley ? CM from Everton, the next shining light at Old Trafford (more on him later) ? 21 mill
Pepe ? CD from Real Madrid, offered to me by his agent for 5 mill, thought it great cover for the ageing Ferdinand and Vidic while Jones develops
During the press conference, I make special note that Ross Barkley could lead this club to glory??
I call in Nemanja Vidic and ask him to welcome the new arrivals, settle them into the squad. I then set everyone on intensive fitness training, before I organise and pre-season tour of America.
The lads come back fresh, I feel excited about the Community Shield against Wigan. All of my new players line up for their debut?s. RVP sits on the bench as he needs some extra rest time. We line up as follows:
De Gea
Rafael, Vidic, Pepe, Shaw
Januzaj, Gundogan, Carrick, Valencia
Barkley, Rooney
In what turns out to be almost like a friendly, we coast to a 3-0 victory, Pepe with a debut goal, Rooney and Valencia grabbing the others. I open the trophy cabinet door to put the Community Shield in it and I feel very positive about the future?..
First league game of the season see?s United travel to Hull City. I am wary as the newly promoted side are fresh and hungry, but I line up exactly as I did for the Wigan game except young Fabio comes in for Luke Shaw. 10 minutes in, Vidic gets rightly sent off for a two footed tackle. I send on Jonny Evans for Gundogan to plug the hole. We still dominate the game even with a man down, but cannot score. Things are nervy in the last 10 minutes, but I always felt we could score, and we did as Fabio burst into the box after a majestic through ball from Rooney. We take 3 points from the 1-0 win and can build on this??
My first home game in charge of Man Utd at Old Trafford see?s Swansea travel up North. Again I pick the same 11 as the Hull City win. I walk out onto the turf for the first time and feel extremely paranoid that I must win my first home game. I have to. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.
Wayne Rooney makes it 1-0. Goals from Pepe and Valencia make it 3-0 at half time. My half time team talk is very relaxed and I tell the boys how great they are playing.
5 minutes later, Adnan Januzaj shows he is going to be a first team regular. He ghosts past 3 players and slots it home for 4-0, then gets his second of the game with a nice header for 5-0.
Ross Barkley arrives late in the box countless times and finally gets a deserved goal on his home debut to make it 6-0!
This Man Utd 11 were relentless though, they kept pressing, and Rooney bagged his second of the afternoon for 7-0, to rub salt in the wounds of Swansea, van Persie was introduced for the excellent Barkley who earned a standing ovation, and he helped himself to a goal after horrible defending by the Swans. 8-0??
To cap a dream home fixture, Rooney fired in a whipped free kick and Ilkay Gundogan notched his first Man Utd goal. Suddenly, I am realising if we can score 1 more goal, we will better our best ever game of beating Ipswich 9-0 in 1995. Sadly there was no 10th goal?..
I couldn?t of asked for a better start to the league campaign, but a tough home fixture against Arsenal loomed large, especially now they were operating with Ozil. It was tight affair in the first half, but the new boy wonder Ross Barkley scored a van Basten like volley over his shoulder for 1-0, Ferdinand made it 2-0 and Januzaj made sure in the last 10, Ozil grabbed a consolation but another fine performance from the lads to put us top of the league. 3-1
Draws for the Capital One Cup and Champions League are made. I?m paired with Liverpool in the 3rd round, while in our group stage we get Juventus, Basel and Spartak. True to Man Utd?s form in the League Cup, I field my promising youngsters against Liverpool:
Amos
Smalling, Evans, Jones, Shaw
Cleverley, Barkley, Januzaj, Zaha
Van Persie, Hernandez
I thought the in-experience of this 11 could fall down here, but to my surprise, even with Suarez in their starting line-up, we coasted to a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford. (Hernandez, Jones and Barkley scoring again!)
We boarded the plane to Italy to face Juventus in my first Champions League game. Straight away you could see this was a different kettle of fish. It was tense, we were outplayed in parts, and was very grateful to return with all 3 points after a scrappy 1-0 win. More work is needed to add experience to this promising side.
A few days later saw us travel to West Brom, who were in fact riding high in 2nd position. I think I may have overestimated them being up there, putting it down to early season results, they deservedly took the lead through Shane Long, and then we found it very hard to break them down, finally finding the equaliser through Valencia to come away with a point. This makes me realise away games are quite difficult no matter who you play and some tinkering with the tactics are needed.
So all in all, a bright start to the new campaign for this young, fresh Man Utd side. Top of the Barclays Premier League table on goal difference, through to the next round of the Capital One cup, and 3 points in the Champions League.
Highlights so far:
Ross Barkley ? great goals, assisting, running midfield, the new Wayne Rooney?
Adnan Januzaj ? goes past players like they are not there, popping up with goals, will develop into a star
David De Gea ? Will be in goal for us for the next 20 seasons he?s that good.
Until the next time??..
I wanted to make an immediate impact on the squad to let them know who?s boss. Anderson, Buttner, Young, and Nani are all sold abroad. Sadly, Shinji Kagawa is sold back to Dortmund for 28 mill. A good price for someone unfortunately will not fit into my new plans for the team.
For a long time now everyone has noted that the United midfield is in need of serious change. That is exactly what I have brought in. Days after the above departures, re-enforcements arrive at Old Trafford and the fans?..are loving them!
In:
Luke Shaw ? LB from Southampton, cover for Evra at 32 years old ? 15.5 mill
Ilkay Gundogan ? CM from Dortmund, hopefully the answer to our midfield creative problems ? 19.75 mill
Ross Barkley ? CM from Everton, the next shining light at Old Trafford (more on him later) ? 21 mill
Pepe ? CD from Real Madrid, offered to me by his agent for 5 mill, thought it great cover for the ageing Ferdinand and Vidic while Jones develops
During the press conference, I make special note that Ross Barkley could lead this club to glory??
I call in Nemanja Vidic and ask him to welcome the new arrivals, settle them into the squad. I then set everyone on intensive fitness training, before I organise and pre-season tour of America.
The lads come back fresh, I feel excited about the Community Shield against Wigan. All of my new players line up for their debut?s. RVP sits on the bench as he needs some extra rest time. We line up as follows:
De Gea
Rafael, Vidic, Pepe, Shaw
Januzaj, Gundogan, Carrick, Valencia
Barkley, Rooney
In what turns out to be almost like a friendly, we coast to a 3-0 victory, Pepe with a debut goal, Rooney and Valencia grabbing the others. I open the trophy cabinet door to put the Community Shield in it and I feel very positive about the future?..
First league game of the season see?s United travel to Hull City. I am wary as the newly promoted side are fresh and hungry, but I line up exactly as I did for the Wigan game except young Fabio comes in for Luke Shaw. 10 minutes in, Vidic gets rightly sent off for a two footed tackle. I send on Jonny Evans for Gundogan to plug the hole. We still dominate the game even with a man down, but cannot score. Things are nervy in the last 10 minutes, but I always felt we could score, and we did as Fabio burst into the box after a majestic through ball from Rooney. We take 3 points from the 1-0 win and can build on this??
My first home game in charge of Man Utd at Old Trafford see?s Swansea travel up North. Again I pick the same 11 as the Hull City win. I walk out onto the turf for the first time and feel extremely paranoid that I must win my first home game. I have to. Turns out I had nothing to worry about.
Wayne Rooney makes it 1-0. Goals from Pepe and Valencia make it 3-0 at half time. My half time team talk is very relaxed and I tell the boys how great they are playing.
5 minutes later, Adnan Januzaj shows he is going to be a first team regular. He ghosts past 3 players and slots it home for 4-0, then gets his second of the game with a nice header for 5-0.
Ross Barkley arrives late in the box countless times and finally gets a deserved goal on his home debut to make it 6-0!
This Man Utd 11 were relentless though, they kept pressing, and Rooney bagged his second of the afternoon for 7-0, to rub salt in the wounds of Swansea, van Persie was introduced for the excellent Barkley who earned a standing ovation, and he helped himself to a goal after horrible defending by the Swans. 8-0??
To cap a dream home fixture, Rooney fired in a whipped free kick and Ilkay Gundogan notched his first Man Utd goal. Suddenly, I am realising if we can score 1 more goal, we will better our best ever game of beating Ipswich 9-0 in 1995. Sadly there was no 10th goal?..
I couldn?t of asked for a better start to the league campaign, but a tough home fixture against Arsenal loomed large, especially now they were operating with Ozil. It was tight affair in the first half, but the new boy wonder Ross Barkley scored a van Basten like volley over his shoulder for 1-0, Ferdinand made it 2-0 and Januzaj made sure in the last 10, Ozil grabbed a consolation but another fine performance from the lads to put us top of the league. 3-1
Draws for the Capital One Cup and Champions League are made. I?m paired with Liverpool in the 3rd round, while in our group stage we get Juventus, Basel and Spartak. True to Man Utd?s form in the League Cup, I field my promising youngsters against Liverpool:
Amos
Smalling, Evans, Jones, Shaw
Cleverley, Barkley, Januzaj, Zaha
Van Persie, Hernandez
I thought the in-experience of this 11 could fall down here, but to my surprise, even with Suarez in their starting line-up, we coasted to a 3-1 victory at Old Trafford. (Hernandez, Jones and Barkley scoring again!)
We boarded the plane to Italy to face Juventus in my first Champions League game. Straight away you could see this was a different kettle of fish. It was tense, we were outplayed in parts, and was very grateful to return with all 3 points after a scrappy 1-0 win. More work is needed to add experience to this promising side.
A few days later saw us travel to West Brom, who were in fact riding high in 2nd position. I think I may have overestimated them being up there, putting it down to early season results, they deservedly took the lead through Shane Long, and then we found it very hard to break them down, finally finding the equaliser through Valencia to come away with a point. This makes me realise away games are quite difficult no matter who you play and some tinkering with the tactics are needed.
So all in all, a bright start to the new campaign for this young, fresh Man Utd side. Top of the Barclays Premier League table on goal difference, through to the next round of the Capital One cup, and 3 points in the Champions League.
Highlights so far:
Ross Barkley ? great goals, assisting, running midfield, the new Wayne Rooney?
Adnan Januzaj ? goes past players like they are not there, popping up with goals, will develop into a star
David De Gea ? Will be in goal for us for the next 20 seasons he?s that good.
Until the next time??..