Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

Lallana is making a good start to winning some of the fans back over and he is settling back in nicely as his goal earns us a draw against Fenerbahce. Not a good result however as Van Persie scoring for them gave them an away goal which is not ideal. We are going to have to play well to progress.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Targett, Fonte, Bartra, Tete, Cataldi, Slattery, Tadic, Hesketh, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

A really good performance as we ease past Crystal Palace and into the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Graziano Pelle has really kicked on in the last few months and we superb again today as he scored the only goal of the match with a well taken finish. Great stuff.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Ward-Prowse, Pelle.

A really good effort from the boys offensively but they were let down badly by our defence who got slaughtered by Judivan and Yuri as we go out by just the single goal. If we could have found one more we would have gone through on away goals but it just wasnt to be. Slattery, Pelle and Tadic all gave us hope but once again we crash out of the Europa League.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Strootman, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Benteke.

What a game and a marvellous comeback. Two goals for Jake Hesketh kept us in the running with Blackburn but it was Pelle coming on late on i place of the returning Benteke that stole us the game as his late brace fired us to the win.
 
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February Review​

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I overran slightly into March but oh well. A decent month despite being knocked out of the Europa League and losing to Newcastle. Two consecutive wins in the Premiership against Stoke and Blackburn are good progress and we are still in the FA Cup.
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The table hasnt changed much since the last update but Chelsea have hit a bit of a rough patch and are slowly being caught by United. Bournemouth and Watford appear to be in a bit of strife at the bottom while Derby have question marks over them in terms of having the quality to stay up.

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The FA Cup quarter final has seen us drawn against Nottingham Forest away from home.
Player of the Month​
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Jake Hesketh has been superb this month and his last two performances have seen him earn match ratings of 9.0. His two goals against Blackburn were both superbly taken and he is still only going to improve.
March Preview​
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What a month. I find myself thankful we are out of the Europa League as this is a truly horrible run of fixtures. Make or break.
 
Wow. the pace at which you keep these updates going is very impressive! First up excellent results during December, January and February. Too bad about the Europa League but since you've still got a serious shot at the FA Cup it might be for the better. Also going very strong in the Premier League, like you said March is going to be a very important month with some tough fixtures, I wish you the best of luck!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Targett, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Cataldi, Slattery, Rodriguez, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

Gutted. Out of the FA Cup in the quarter finals as I can only say we got trounced by Nottingham Forest. This I think is going to be a major turning point in the progression of the team and some serious changes are going to be made.
 
TheOtherSpecialOne said:
Wow. the pace at which you keep these updates going is very impressive! First up excellent results during December, January and February. Too bad about the Europa League but since you've still got a serious shot at the FA Cup it might be for the better. Also going very strong in the Premier League, like you said March is going to be a very important month with some tough fixtures, I wish you the best of luck!
Click to expand...

Shame we are out of the cup as well now! It's all about the league push! thanks for your support! :)
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

So my first attempt at a 'gegenpressing' tactic yielded some interesting results. We pushed high up the pitch and closed down heavily in an attempt to win the ball back quickly before playing short, high tempo passes into space to try and create, and create we did! a fantastic attacking performance let down slightly by a defensive display but its something to build on!
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

That was truly special. A magnificent performance at St Mary's see's us take the win and the three points and moves us ahead of Arsenal in the table. Jake Hesketh put in a world beating performance, scoring two wonderful goals, Callum Slattery looked like hed been creating in midfield his whole life and Chambers and Van Dijk at the back were both out of this world, getting match ratings of 9.0 and 8.6 respectively despite not getting any assists or goals.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Wanyama, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

We come away from Stamford Bridge feeling a little unlucky but satisfied that we gave the match our absolute all and pushed them all the way. The scoreline flattered Chelsea somewhat but thats what you get when you face the top of the league, sometimes they earn their own luck. Adam Lallana chipped in with his 4th goal since rejoining and Slattery had yet another good game in midfield.
 
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March Review​

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A mixed month but one that we have to look on as positive. The Nottingham Forest result was unacceptable and we took that opportunity to have a serious look at what we were doing and rethink our tactical approach from the ground up. This led to wonderful wins against Everton and Arsenal and then a good performance against Chelsea, so plenty of positives to take.
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Very happy with how we are sitting in the Premier League table this season. Realistically ourselves and Arsenal are in a fight for the 5th/6th positions but with the ambitions that we have at the club we have to believe we can chase Liverpool for that 4th place.


Player of the Month​
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Jake Hesketh takes the award again this month after his two goals against Arsenal and dominating performance against Everton. The lads game value is up to £8.25 million now and still climbing. Got so much love for this kid.
April Preview​
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I am not going to say ANYTHING about our run in after I cursed us last season. I will just leave you to draw your own conclusions on our European chances.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Chambers, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Lallana, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

Back to step one as we lose out to West Brom away from home. We just cant seem to find any consistency whatsoever, in fact the only consistency we do have is complaining about inconsistency. Callum Slattery got us back in the match mid way through the 2nd half and I really thought we were going to go on and win it but it wasnt to be as Borini won it for West Brom with a good header.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Tadic, Hesketh, Lucas, Benteke.

Superb at home again as we blew Watford away with ease. Callum Slattery popped up yet again to put us into the lead and continue his own fine form. Virgil Van Dijk then doubled our lead after half time with a good header before Kevin Strootman wrapped the win up with a thumping drive into the bottom corner of the net.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Chambers, Bartra, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Tadic, Hesketh, Lucas, Pelle.

This time it was the turn of the scoreline to flatter us as we flopped slightly at Old Trafford. Graziano Pelles late goal was somewhat undeserved in a match where we struggled to control Uniteds attacking players.

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Gutted with this. A serious blow.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Chambers, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Slattery, Tadic, Lallana, Lucas, Pelle.

What a match! and one that I am mighty relieved that we won. Graziano Pelle scored a stunning hatrick as came from behind to reignite our charge towards Europe. Marc Bartra chipped in with a goal as well as we showed off our attacking prowess.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Tete, Wanyama, Slattery, Insigne, Lallana, Lucas, Pelle.

With the injury to Hesketh, the door is open for somebody else to stake a claim for a place and that person was Lorenzo Insigne. The Italian scored both of our goals and managed a full 90 minutes on his return to first team action following the best part of 4 months out injured. We really were very good and despite Wanyama dropping us in it with a horror of a two footed tackle, we saw the game out reasonably comfortably.
 
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Starting XI - Horn, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Barta, Tete, Strootman, Slattery, Insigne, Ward-Prowse, Lucas, Pelle.

After a close first half, I sent the boys back out with the instruction to just go for it, attack, entertain the fans and see what happens. Well what happened was we absolutely battered them in the 2nd half. First Insigne set up Lucas to take the lead, then Lucas set up Insigne to double our lead and then Marc Bartra headed in a corner to make it 3-0. All of this happened in the space of about 10 minutes to top off a really good performance and yet another win.
 
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April Review​

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A poor start to the month picked up fairly quickly and the three wins at the end of the month were superb and a joy to watch.
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Poor old Bournemouth and Derby have already taken the plunge through the trap door to the Championship and it will take somewhat of a miracle for Watford not to follow them. The race for the title is hotting up with United refusing to let go of Chelsea's lead and with games to play it is in their hands. We currently sit 5th in the table and have matched our record Premier League points tally that was set last season. We have also qualified for the Europa League which is good and maintains our presence in Europe.
Player of the Month​
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Marc Bartra has been on fire this month and has actually won the official Premier League player of the month award! His last five appearances have seen him earn an average rating of 8.02 and have seen him score twice. A mention also for young Callum Slattery who has won the official young player of the month award.

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May Preview​
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Just the two games to go and it is a simple matter of a derby against already relegated Bournemouth who will be fighting for pride, and then welcoming Man City to St Marys. Nothing major to play for but we would all love to finish ahead of Arsenal in the league so points could be crucial!
 
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Starting XI - Lewis, Bertrand, Van Dijk, Bartra, Chambers, Cataldi, Slattery, Insigne, Ward-Prowse, Lucas, Benteke.

Well it wasn't as comfortable as I wanted it to be, but a rotated side managed to beat Bournemouth in the new South-coast derby. Lorenzo Insigne is making up for lost time as he scored yet again to notch the only goal of the game and do enough to grab us the win. On the balance of the game I would say it was thoroughly deserved.. but then again.. I am slightly biassed.
 
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