Cracking the top 4

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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Tah, Dier, Chambers, Schneiderlin, Ozil, Alli, Bale, Lucas, Williamson.

Disappointing but not the end of the world as we lose the first leg of our Champions League playoff against Beskitas. That away goal scored by Lucas could prove to be vital yet and we are still well in the tie. We would have secured the draw if it wasnt for an absolutely godly finish from Gregor to deny us.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Schneiderlin, Barkley, Alli, Bale, Lucas, Williamson.

A 2nd consecutive hatrick in Premier League games for Gareth Bale was the foundation for us putting Blackburn to the sword at St Marys. Mike Williamson and Dele Alli grabbed the other goals with Alli scoring a wonderful solo effort after dribbling from the halfway line before launching a shot into the top corner from 30 yards. Ross Barkley picked up two assists on his debut and Thibaut Courtois keeps a clean sheet as the new signings begin to flex their muscles.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Maia, Barkley, Alli, Bale, Lucas, Williamson.

We got the result we wanted but the scoreline was a little tighter than hoped for. It took a scrambled Jonathan Tah finish to put us through into the group stages of the Champions League after Gareth Bale missed a penalty. We dominated the match and played really well which is encouraging. Onwards!
 
First up congratulations on a great season! Looks like you achieved your target of cracking the top 4 eh ;) too bad about the FA Cup final but that's football for you. Very good transfer with Courtouis, I can't believe that Chelsea actually let him go... You've had a great pre-season and I'm expecting some real fireworks from you this year round :)
 
TheOtherSpecialOne said:
First up congratulations on a great season! Looks like you achieved your target of cracking the top 4 eh ;) too bad about the FA Cup final but that's football for you. Very good transfer with Courtouis, I can't believe that Chelsea actually let him go... You've had a great pre-season and I'm expecting some real fireworks from you this year round :)
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Thanks my friend :) I think Courtois wanted Champions League football, with Chelsea failing to qualify, so they sorta had to let him go! I was more than happy to take advantage!
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Schneiderlin, Barkley, Alli, Bale, Lucas, Martial.

We just cant seem to beat Guardiola and his City superteam. Despite Gareth Bales best efforts we fell short again as City controlled the match. Two goals for Morata and two assists for Raheem Sterling were enough to bury us but Gareth Bale did grab a consolation goal to keep his 100% Premier League scoring record for this season.
 
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And with that the first International break of the year is upon us and this means it is time to assume my position as England manager. Only in football can matches be so perfectly suited, my England debut will be Ronald Koemans England against the Netherlands in the Nations League. This will be a really stern test to start my England career but as reigning European champions we have to be put down as favourites. After the Holland match we will then face Austria who are the other team in our group.

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With this in mind I set about selecting my very first squad. It is immediately clear that we have a huge array of talent to choose from as the England set up begins to move on from the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Cahill. We did have some injuries to contend with, in particular Luke Shaw and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. With this in mind this is the squad of 23 that I selected.

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Perhaps only a few surprise inclusions with Spurs striker and former Bolton man Zach Clough included over the ageing Sturridge and Welbeck as he is banging in the goals at the moment. Nathaniel Chalobah is included as an option for the half back role and Brandon Galloway is included in defence to give him some first team experience.
 
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I cannot believe we lost this match. We wasted chance after chance and got punished in injury time by a ridiculous goal with Joe Hart wandering out of his goal. We are going to realistically need two wins out of our next two game to qualify from our Nations League group. Looking in hindsight, I may have gone around this England setup wrong, perhaps I should create a system around the players I have rather than trying to force them into my Southampton setup.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Turza, Schneiderlin, Ozil, Alli, Bale, Insigne, Martial.

A fantastic win against Tottenham as we get back to business with Southampton. We controlled the game nicely throughout and never really looked in much danger as first Ozil and then Martial gave us a comfortable lead. Dele Alli then popped up to score against his former club to make it three before half time and from that point it was just a question of seeing the game out.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Maia, Ozil, Hesketh, Bale, Insigne, Martial.

Not a bad way to start our Champions League campaign with a point away from home against the toughest team in the group. Anthony Martial did well to score our goal and hopefully can hit some sort of form.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Dier, Maia, Ozil, Barkley, Bale, Insigne, Martial.

A really good point at Anfield! If we are to challenge for the title we need to improve our performances against the other big sides and that is exactly what we did today. We fell behind early in the 2nd half from a Jonathan Tah mistake which allowed Vietto to score. Our short passing approach just wasnt working so we went direct and put two up front which worked spectacularly, Ross Barkley smashing home an equaliser to earn us a point.
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Whiteman, Van Dijk, Tah, Turza, Maia, Hesketh, Barkley, Insigne, Lucas, Martial.

A horrific day that could seriously dent our whole season. Yes we won the match but that really isnt important in the grand scheme of things. Blackburn did their very best to come out and damage us and it worked. Lorenzo Insigne will miss the next 5-6 months with a broken leg. Lucas will miss the best part of a month and Anthony Martial is going to have to play through a wrist strain. Bastards.

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Ouch those are frustrating injuries! Looks like you have the squad to seriously challenge on all fronts this season though :)
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Digne, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Maia, Ozil, Hesketh, Bale, Villalba, Martial.

OK seriously, what is going on? we are now in the midst of an injury crisis as West Ham manage to break Gareth Bales foot who will miss the next four months. The plus side is that we managed to scrap a win, Anthony Martial scoring from a Villalba assist.

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PatrickLFC said:
Ouch those are frustrating injuries! Looks like you have the squad to seriously challenge on all fronts this season though :)
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Those pesky injuries just keep on coming! Might have to consider changing formation to something that doesnt have wingers though with Bale, Insigne and Lucas all out.. Makes me slightly regret selling Sanchez. At least Ozil and Barkley can do a shift out wide if needs be. Congrats on the Champs League qualification by the way!
 
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Starting XI - Courtois, Whiteman, Van Dijk, Tah, Chambers, Maia, Ozil, Hesketh, Barkley, Villalba, Williamson.

A make shift sort of team managed to secure us another point in the Champions League in what must go down as a disappointing result at home. Mike Williamson stepped up to fill the void left by some of the injuries by scoring our opener but we let that lead go almost immediately.
 
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