Power Overwhelming!
Power Overwhelming!
As we went on with the season, we thought the fairy tale would never end as we went on to host
Chelsea for the 3
rd round of the
League Cup. With Television coverage, and pretty much a sellout crowd, everyone was looking forward to this game and what joy would it be if we could topple such team.
The game went downhill the minute we kicked it off. Chelsea stormed to a 3-0 first half and never looked back. We never stood a chance to begin with. Possession was dominant and it was obvious which the better team is. My squad only had a 4 chances at the goal and was given a goal from an own goal caused by a corner kick. The score ended 3-1 with Chelsea not really taking the game seriously after the half. I had them on my list and will be looking forward to chances like this to score one on them. Both squads shook hands at the end of the game and the crowd applauded our performance. No one was expecting us to win but I guess the defeat brought us back to reality.
Injuries were a concern to me as I start going hard on trainings when I signed my top guys to full contracts. I left my other players to part time and non-contract as I believe they’ll be replaced when I move on to the next division. After a while, I guess the team is starting to get attention as we are offered with players left and right. One bargain deal caught my attention.
U.D. Marbella, a Second Divion B4 team in Spain, offered
Abel on Free Transfer and when we discussed his contract, I can’t believe what a bargain he is. He possess fair amount of speed and is overall decent in his technical and mental stats. I’ll probably re-sell him if I can get him going. He’s versatile and can play as a Striker, AMC, ML and a DL. I also parted with the veteran center back
Will Antwi to free up some space and allow my younger players more playing time.
After the defeat from
Chelsea, the team’s morale seems down and momentum wasn’t there to sustain our run falling short and allowing
Rochdale to equalize late in the game.
Stevenage was tagged to be a easy win for my squad but ended a scrappy game that needed a goal in extra time to bag the win. The frustration continues as
Yeovil dominated the game but failed to win it after allowing a penalty in the second half for the game to end as a draw. Our 2
nd Round Jonhstone’s Paint match against Morecambe went to penalty to seal the ticket to the next round. I guess fatigue is killing us as the games are packed from 24.9 to 19.10. Morale is pretty average and it took a Team Meeting to raise it a bit. The
Exeter match was even hard on us. Leading 2-0 for 2/3rds of the the game until allowing a double salvo in a span of 5 minutes to end as a draw. I sent my squad to rest for 5 days thinking that it’s the fatigue that’s causing this and I guess I was right.
We looked great against
Bury scoring a 3-2 win that saw the game going back and forth. From there I guess we never looked back. We went on winning 14 games that scheduled us a date against
Notts County for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy N Finals. We were so looking forward to this and pretty much hoist our first cup entering League 2. The TV right for the Semi Final against
Wrexham is a good indication that we’re slowly getting more reps through winning. The 2-1 win was a classic. Playing back in the new
Damson Park, almost 3000 in attendance saw a thrilling duel for the next stage.
Michael O’Halloran was playing above expectation as he orchestrated the win after
Wrexham’s Tom Pope look to have sealed their fate late in the match.
FA Cup started as well and we’re very lucky to have scored two easy matches against Northampton (4-1) and AFC Wimbledon (4-1) to inch higher up the rounds. Round 3 was not so much when we are to visit
NPower Championship – Portsmouth. I started focusing on a more defensive formation (4-5-1) that looks to score on counter or error from the opposing team and try our luck and go to an offensive 4-2-4 in the last minute since it’s easy to shift from a 4-5-1. I started training it right after the draw and saw it go 3 wins 2 draw and a lot more to improve on in the defensive end. I also happen to ****** a couple of players on free transfer after unloading 6 players including fan favorite
Phil Younghusband and newly signed
Gaizka Arkarazo to sign 6 more just enough to get the squad ready for the next league as we are sitting on top of
League 2.
I find my team to be weak in linking the defense and the offense so I look to sign midfields to improve my current squad. I’m also into improving my attacking wings as most of them are scouted to only be at League 2 level. First up was
Paul Best, a Full back that can play on both ends who has decent speed and high workrate and overall mental stats at a very young age. He’s pretty much a copy of my best defender
Soren Gerber which is pretty cool. Next one is a (20%) loan on the unhappy
Robbie Cotton from
Blackburn who is an above average
npower Championship midfielder that’s a good midfield upgrade another one was offered by
Manchester City –
Junior. A very intelligent player from Guinea-Bissau and can play attacking midfield and the center mid pretty well. With an injury-plagued Left wing, I threw in a bid on
Kayleden Brown who formerly played for Yeovil and Dag & Red. He’s a very fast player (15! Pace) with good physical stats, above average mental stats and decent technical attributes. Training his finishing and composure will make him a deadly scorer.
Sam Mantom is the last to beef up the midfield. He’s a very athletic player that can even be trained to play a defender’s role. He has a very good mental stat (mostly 10’s and up) which means he can be trained as a ball winning mid if ever you’ll need one. Like Kayleden, he’s also from
West Brom’s youth squad but pretty much didn’t make the cut. Lucky he was scouted. Last one of my signing was former
Blackburn U18 player –
Curtis Haley. Haley is a very fast striker that boasts of a good technical set paired with a good attacking mentality. I luck out on him and to think that he’s only 19. I signed him up thinking he’ll do well till say I reach the
npower Championship division.
We arrived in
Portsmouth for the 3
rd round of the
FA Cup. The goal was try to win it there and then if we can. We are bombarded by attacks; I had my boys try to go harder on their tackles and test how the referee would react. It looks like he is allowing both team to play more physically and so we did. 10 minutes into the game, Portsmouth were awarded a penalty but was deflected and cleared away from danger. The physicality of the match saw midfielder Gaizka go down to an injury. The rest of the half was the same thing until an error from our own keeper gave a one up for the home crowd. We went to the dug-out thinking that we still have a chance despite having no attempt at the goal. We tried to storm back in the second half. Everyone looks tired but motivated; in the 73
rd Phil Younghusband was tackled hard and was out of the game. We were about to give up until
Ewan Moyes drilled a header in just 8 minutes left in the match to draw even and force a match in our own
Damson Park.
The rematch was a different story now. I guess fatigued got to them having to play 3 more matches before the rematch.
Benjani scored in the 8
th minute on a put back before youngster
Adam Clement evened in the 20
th mark. Prolific scorer
Harry Bunn scored on a shot outside the box just before the first half ends. Benjani evened 5 minutes after the break until the first match’s hero Ewan Moyes scored the game winner just within the last 10 minutes of the match.
Prior to the win, we already drew
Fulham for the 4
th round in the event we qualified and man was I raring to have a go at it. With less than 2 weeks to spare, I focused hard on keeping my squad fit for the match. Momentum and morale is pretty high after the qualifying and I hope it carries us through. The match started with
Fulham unloading nonstop barrage on my defensive line. I started with a 4-5-1 counter attacking formation and which lead to a follow up shot by Harry Bunn in the 21
st minute. We had as much as 6 attempts in the first half and were able to match their midfield. I think they are missing some players to injury but still the difference in skill was evident. Pablo Counago made sure our third shot on target went in when we hit the visiting team on the break. The half ended with a 2-0 score something that only dreams are made of. Morale was high and everyone is playing great. 2 minutes into the second half and
David Rozenhnal turned an own goal in when they had a miscommunication with the Fulham keeper. Robbie Colton, subbed in the second half, scored the 4
th goal that sealed the win. Fulham never gave up and continued to pour the attack on. Fulham inched in with less than 20 minutes to the game with a double salvo in a 5 minute barrage but it was too late. The quality of attempt was the difference in the game and I guess a lot of luck.
The win got us
npower Championship Middlesbrough with more than two weeks to prepare. I kept on the 4-5-1 formation and went on to win qualify for the final round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy against a League 1
Oxford team. I hoped for Middlesbrough to be in bad shape going to the game and they were. The game went back and forth until we almost allowed a score with the referee calling for a penalty.
Habib Habibou missed widely and the game is still up for anyone. I believe that scoring first will lift the morale of the team which translates to them playing a lot better. After the half, winger
Kayleden Brown scored on a put back.
James Brown scored on the 72
nd that seem to have been offside.
Harry Bunn went received the ball from midfield and went all the way beating two defenders for the lead with less than 10 minutes left.
Habib made up for the missed penalty with a long shot from 30 yards.
Tied game means we’ll be going back to
Damson Park for another showdown. The second game was different. We barely managed to keep up with a rested
Middlesbrough team. The difference in skill was evident and we were cracked open numerous times.
Pablo Counago returned from an injury days before the match only to start in this 1-0 win. We locked the goal with 5 defenders and 2 Defensive Midfields and went on to win the match.
Things look good from then on but only to be up against another big team in Aston Villa for the 6
th round of the FA Cup.
How long will the fairy tale story continue, Stay tuned…. (6)
