Journeyman - Conquering Europe
- Thread starter Harryy
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No player instructions, it never seems like they do what I ask them to do when I give individual instructions so I prefer to keep it simple. And I'm too lazy to figure out what works best.
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October
vs. Slovakia
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Our first qualifier of the international break came against Slovakia where I expected us to get the win. Chamberlain got us off to a flier as he knocked in a rebound after his first shot was saved. Stones then scored his first goal for England when he got on the end of debutant Kieran Trippier's cross. We were 3-0 up at halftime after Chamberlain added his second of the game. Slovakia pulled one back after the break as Stones failed to fulfill his marking duties from a corner. Chamberlain later completed his hattrick with a strike from the edge of the box. A comfortable 4-1 win, where Harry Kane and Kieran Trippier made their debuts.
vs. Ireland
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A trip to Dublin followed to face our rivals Ireland. Welbeck opened the scoring after just four minutes as we took control of the game. Adam Johnson was a surprise starter but he showed what he's capable of as he got on the scoresheet. The Ireland 'keeper had an excellent game as we could of scored about eight but Walcott managed to beat him to give us our third and seal the win.
Player of the Internationals
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It had to go to Chamberlain again for his hattrick performance and he was decent against Ireland too.
Qualifying Table
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4 wins from 4 and well on our way to qualifying.
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October
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Our run of tough games continued as we travelled to take on Napoli. They were by far the better team and scored all types of goals as they cruised to victory. Rami scored a consolation goal just before full time, which was nowhere near enough to make up for his poor performance at the back.
We were in desperate need of a win when we played Fiorentina but we got off to a poor start as Roncaglia gave them the lead after four minutes! Thankfully we tightened up at the back after that but we still trailed at halftime. Hazard scored an equaliser midway through the second half after he got his head on Yagatomo's cross. It didn't take us long after that to find another to put us in the lead when Belotti found the net. Hazard went off injured in the final minutes and will be out for 4-5 weeks. A good second half comeback to get back to winnings ways.
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Our run of tough games came to an end when winless Cagliari came to the San Siro. We couldn't of gotten off to a better start as Belotti scored after four minutes. Just a minute later Belotti was brought down in the box and El Shaarawy converted the penalty. 2-0 up after five minutes! Menez scored a fine goal from the edge of the box which he put in the bottom corner. We were awarded another penalty in the second half and Menez stepped up this time to score his second of the game. It ended at five when Belotti scored his second. A very convincing performance against a poor side.
We headed to Empoli after our big win and they had suffered a heavy 6-0 at the hands of Juventus. We were fortunate to see one of their defenders sent off after just four minutes. It didn't take long for the extra man to make the difference as Henriksen scored his first for the club. It was 2-0 soon after as Belotti found the net once again. Trindade de Vilhena scored his first since his debut and Menez converted another penalty before halftime. The second half was much quieter to start with but Trindade de Vilhena scored his second to make it 5-0. Empoli scored a consolation goal through Verdi, who I sold earlier this season. It wasn't over though as Giovinco came off the bench to score again and end the game at 6-1!
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This was a bit of a blow as Hazard is out too.
The last match of October came against a high-flying Atalanta as they beat Juventus midweek. I wasn't expecting an easy game but it didn't take long for that man Belotti to put us in the lead. It was an even game and they deserved their equaliser but straight after we were awarded ANOTHER penalty which was converted by El Shaarawy this time. A quiet second half saw it end as a 2-1 win for us.
Player of the Month
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Nagatomo has had a good month registering two assists and putting in numerous good performances.
League Table
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We're 4th after 10 games while our rivals Inter remain unbeaten at the top. Belotti is the top scorer and Trindade de Vilhena is the top performer in the league.
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November
vs. Andorra
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Our qualifier against Andorra was easy as expected as we cruised to a 7-0 victory. Welbeck scored a hattrick as he did so many times while I was in charge at Arsenal. Wilshere scored one. Shelvey scored his first for England. Chamberlain found the net in an England shirt once again and Nathan Redmond came off the bench to make his England debut and scored his first goal for his country too.
vs. Holland
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Next up was a trip to Amsterdam but unfortunately to play the dutch national team. They took a very early lead as Joe Hart decided not to attempt what would of been an easy save. Not too long after we found ourselves 2-0 down as Hart deflected van Ginkel's shot into the net. They were cruising and I was furious. The second half was much quieter and just as I had accepted defeat Chamberlain came flying into the box to smash the ball into the roof of the net. And it wasn't over yet, Phil Jones got on to the end of Wilshere's set-piece to salvage a draw. The football gods were definitely on our side, well for the last 3 minutes at least.
Player of the Internationals
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Jack Wilshere was the best player over the two games as he scored one and assisted four more. He certainly relished the chance to play in behind the striker in Sterling's absence.
Qualifying Table
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We're in a strong position and anything but finishing top would be unacceptable. No more internationals until next year now.
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November
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Perugia were in the relegation spots when we played them and I expected us to win easily but they were able to keep us out in the first half although they did not create much themselves. Early into the second half I felt that we needed to make a change if we were going to make a breakthrough so on came Bonaventura. It wasn't long before he made an impact as he scored the first goal of the match with a tap in at the far post. Minutes later he scored again to put us in a commanding position from which we won the match.
Our first match after the international break saw us come up against Bologna who were also lying low on the table. We got off the mark pretty quickly this time out with Menez tapping in after El Shaarawy's shot rebounded off the post. El Shaarawy scored one of his own shortly after as we looked to kill the game off early but Rojo had other plans as he went it with a two-footed tackle and saw red to head in for a very early bath. Luckily El Shaarawy was able to score another on a quick break away created by Henriksen's long pass. They did pull a goal back but weren't able to find any more as we won 3-1.
Probably our toughest match of the month was against Sampdoria. We took the lead through a diving header from Rami and we had been in control up until that point but they pulled a goal back after Sau scored a wonder goal from 30 yards to level it up immediately. They scored a much less spectacular goal in the second half but it was enough to give the win.
November ended with a Italian Cup tie against Catania where most of my bench players got a start. Niang was out to prove himself and he did a fine job giving us the lead. Hazard had been complaining about game time although he always seems to be injured but he too found the net with a freekick. Bonaventura had his scoring boots on again as he put us 3-0 up at halftime. A quiet second half saw it end 3-0, which sent us into the first round of the Italian Cup where we will face Sampdoria...
Player of the Month
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No one really stood out this month so Bonaventura was the winner with 3 goals.
League Table
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We're second on the table but Inter have a game in hand. Belotti is still the league's topscorer although the didn't manage to score once this month.
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December
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The first match of a short month was at the San Siro against Lazio. It was in tight match in the open stages but Trindade de Vilhena found himself in the middle of a goalmouth scramble and managed to put the ball in the net after about three other players failed to. We didn't hold our lead for long as Nsue found space and cracked off an audacious attempt which went in the top corner. We're awful at holding leads but Belotti restored ours once again after having a dry spell last month. 2-1 at halftime and we were worthy of our lead. We really should of extended our lead in the second half as we tallied at least ten clear cut chances but the one goal lead was enough for the three points.
We travelled to Torino after our narrow win and I expected us to walkover them as Juventus had in their previous game. Belotti scored against his old team off probably our first chance of the match and I thought it would be easy from there. It wasn't as the remaining 88 minutes of the match was very even and tense for myself. We were probably lucky that they didn't score and we escaped with a narrow 1-0 win.
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Two casualties we could of done without before the big game.
The year came to a massive end with della Madonnina Derby. I was desperate to get the better of our rivals, Inter, but I knew it would be tough. We were without De Sciglio and Rojo who were suspended and Rami and El Shaarawy who were injured, four of our better players. It was a quiet match to start off with as neither side seemed to want to risk it all for a goal but just before halftime we were given a gift as Ranocchia's backpass left Handanovic stranded and played Trindade de Vilhena through on goal where he fired past a hopeless Handanovic. I was delighted that we had the lead at halftime but there was still another half to be played and I let the lads know. Unfortunately, Alex must be going deaf in his old age as he was caught napping when Kovacic dribbled past him to go through on goal and slot it past Consigli. I could not believe that we had given away a lead once again but the match was far from over. This didn't help us much though as they seemed to take control of the game and we created very little but the derby ended at 1-1.
vs. Inter
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Player of the Month
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Tonny Trindade de Vilhena (he really needs a nickname) was my player of the month with two goals and solid performances in all three games.
League Table
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We're still 2nd and Juventus are starting to pull away a bit now, tbf their squad might be old but there's a ton of quality there and I don't see them slipping up. We're almost halfway through the season though and it seems to be more favourable with some of the tougher games at home, perhaps we can do some business in January.
