Cracking the top 4

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Everton Vs Southampton
13th March, 2021.​

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An incredibly frustrating day at Goodison Park as we cant break down a stubborn Everton side, meaning we have to play another fixture which is not what we wanted. Eric Dier really didnt help matters by getting sent off for a stupid challenge, but I dont think we were going to break them down even with him on the pitch. A positive is the return of Lorenzo Insigne who played the last 20 minutes.
 
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Another positive is the return of Mesut Ozil! he has reported back to training feeling much better about the whole situation and wants to repay the faith I have shown in him, good lad.

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And our injury list shrinks a little as defensive midfielder Thiago Maia returns from a spell on the sidelines to add some depth to our available squad.

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Southampton Vs Chelsea
20th March, 2021.​

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Is that the sound of wheels falling off I hear? After the match against Norwich we went into this match against 12th place Chelsea a bit low on confidence, and conceding the first goal didnt help matters. At half time I decided I had to change things up and went to a narrow diamond, bringing Williamson and Ozil on for Insigne and Lucas. Thankfully Williamson produced some heroics to at least scramble us a point, but it means we fall further back in the title chase.

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After what feels like an age, it is International time again! I cant remember if I posted about it, but in case I didnt, here is the group for our World Cup Qualifiers.

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For this international break we have two matches, away to Cyprus and then at home to Albania. With this in mind, here is the squad I selected for those games.

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The only missing name is Raheem Sterling who has had a few knocks recently so I did a favour for Guardiola and let him have the International break off. Mike Williamson also gets his first call up and could make his debut, with Theo Walcott dropping out to accommodate him.
 
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England Vs Albania
29th March, 2021.​

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It took less than 6 minutes for Mike Williamson to get his first England goal on his debut as we triumphed in a scrappy match against Albania. We really should have won by a much larger margin but it doesnt alter just how comfortable this match was. Jack Grealish picked up the man of the match with a goal and an assists as we continue our 100% start to our qualifying campaign.

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March Review​

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A really poor month in all honesty. It took us two tries to beat Everton in the FA Cup, lost to Norwich in the League and only managed a draw with Chelsea. The positive has to be progression in the Champions League, but we have fallen right off the pace in the Premiership.
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5 points off the lead of the Premier League. It is starting to look like a tough ask to take the Premiership crown but we cant give up now!

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As you know, the FA Cup has drawn us against Arsenal in the semi-final.

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While our Champions League opponents will be Real Madrid in the quarter-finals



Player of the Month​
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A bit of an odd choice here but Lucas Digne gets the nod for me. In a month where we have struggle to score goals, he has been a rock at left back for most of the month and offers some wonderful creativity in terms of getting forward and putting crosses in.


April Preview​
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A wickedly tough month. We have to play Real Madrid twice, Arsenal in the FA Cup, Man Utd in the league, all the while beating the likes of Derby and Villa to stay in the title race.
 
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Southampton Vs Aston Villa
10th April, 2021.​

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The lack of goals is really starting to worry me now. With 27 shots on goal, I cant believe we only scored the one, and that was a beauty of a free kick from Mesut Ozil. Thankfully, our defence held firm and the one goal was enough to give us three more precious points. With Mike Williamson out injured for a few weeks, Martial is now under immense pressure to deliver.

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A massive shock as West Ham manage to beat United 2-0, blowing the title race wide open, if we manage to beat United next week, we can get ahead of them in the League.
 
What the f*ck 27 shots ON goal seriously?! How many shots like 50? But still I believe that you can catch Manc$he$ster teams and win BPL!
 
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Real Madrid Vs Southampton
13th April, 2021.​

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That was really hard to watch. We weren't as bad as the scoreline suggests, but Aboubakar and Zivkovic just finished everything beautifully. For a moment we thought we were well in the tie when Martial equalised to make it 1-1 and give us an away goal, but Madrid ran away with it. That is effectively us out of the Champions League and with a lot of work needing to be done in the days leading up to our crucial clash with Man United.
 
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Manchester United Vs Southampton
17th April, 2021. ​

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Really considering my position as manager after this defeat. Our squad and the players that we have should be performing at a much higher level than this. We were 2-0 up early on, both Anthony Martial goals, but then the collapse started. Mauro Icardi scored five!! yes five!! against us as we leaked six goals and pretty much threw away our title hopes. A bad day for the club.

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**** that's awfully unlucky. Don't give up though, a couple of bad losses but you'll get through it I'm sure! And it will be all the sweeter when you do win the title!
 
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April Review
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In all honesty, if this month had come at any other time of the season it would have been a decent month, but with so much at stake, the losses to Real Madrid and Man United put us out of contention in both the Premier League and the Champions League. The FA Cup is now our last chance of silverware. It would be horrible if such a brilliant season finished without any trophies at all.
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Our games in hand mean very little, the title race is between the two Manchester clubs. Norwich have perhaps been the surprise of the season and are in with a serious chance of a Champions League place to add to their League Cup trophy this season. Wolves look almost certain to drop through the trap door back into the Championship, but the other two relegation places are still up for grabs.

Player of the Month
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Six more goals for Martial this month in all competitions so his ever impressive goal tally continue to rise. While he has missed out on the Premier league golden boot to Mauro Icardi this season, he has still collected 35 goals and 10 assists in 44 appearances this season. Lethal.
May Preview​

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A pretty straight forward and relaxed run in with a couple of wins being enough to guarantee us third spot in the table. All of our attentions will now be aimed solely on City and the FA Cup.
 
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Everton Vs Southampton
1st May, 2021.​

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A hard earned point against Everton is all that it was possible to come away with today from Goodison Park. Gareth Bale went off injured in the first minute, causing a reshuffle and despite falling behind, Anthony Martial had us level at the break. Martial himself then went off injured and Williamson fluffed his lines on several occasions to cost us the game. I have now decided to run the narrow diamond until the end of the season and see how we go, even with Martials injury.

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