Malmo FF - A Swedish Adventure
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PatrickLFC
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PatrickLFC
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Looks like the title is in yours to lose now.
2-0 loss to Madrid at Bernebau isn't too bad, I think. Excellent progress..KIU!
Yeah it's effectively won, they can only catch us on points if they win their last 3, we lose our last 5, and they overcome a 24 goal differential!
I was pretty pleased with the Madrid result, though I don't know if we will be so lucky next time, Olsen had a blinder!
PatrickLFC
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League Status
We are 9 points clear and have 5 games left. However, second placed Elfsborg have only 3 matches left, and with a goal difference 24 goals inferior to ours, we are virtually guaranteed the title. It’s really been too easy, I felt that with our early inconsistency somebody should have put up more of a challenge. I don’t know if it’s good that they’re all so competitive or not. Probably not - regardless, hopefully next season will be a closer battle for the title - though perhaps not involving AIK, who are our next opponents and somehow languish in 15th (of 16).
Inzaghi is sacked from Milan after just 6 league games! A record of 1 win and 3 draws surely doesn’t merit sacking this early, especially as two of the draws were away at Napoli and home to Fiorentina!!
Interesting times ahead as the board prepares for an election.
We are 9 points clear and have 5 games left. However, second placed Elfsborg have only 3 matches left, and with a goal difference 24 goals inferior to ours, we are virtually guaranteed the title. It’s really been too easy, I felt that with our early inconsistency somebody should have put up more of a challenge. I don’t know if it’s good that they’re all so competitive or not. Probably not - regardless, hopefully next season will be a closer battle for the title - though perhaps not involving AIK, who are our next opponents and somehow languish in 15th (of 16).
Inzaghi is sacked from Milan after just 6 league games! A record of 1 win and 3 draws surely doesn’t merit sacking this early, especially as two of the draws were away at Napoli and home to Fiorentina!!
Interesting times ahead as the board prepares for an election.
PatrickLFC
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Thank you, it's a relief as my start was pretty inconsistent and I thought the season might never kick off!
xJamieWilliams
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Am I missing something? October 2014?
PatrickLFC
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The Swedish season started in about February 2014, if that's what you mean?
In my 2nd season so far it's a 5 horse race with AIK,Gothenburg,Hammarby and Oster all challenging me. Have got a 1pt lead and just away to start my Champions League campaign so will be a hectic time
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JamesScott2908
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Well done on wrapping up the league as Im pretty sure you will get the 1 point needed!
PatrickLFC
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Interesting times ahead then!
PatrickLFC
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Thank you, hopefully we can wrap it up soon, though realistically it's done already
PatrickLFC
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Injury News...
Molins out with yet another injury following the last match
Gustafson injured for 3 weeks on international duty! Terrible blow!
Neri picks up an injury too
Isaac Kiese Thelin is on loan, and has only made one substitute appearance, so I doubt his 7 week injury will worry my friend Pete too much. Disappointing for Isaac and myself though
Atouba complains that I haven’t played him enough, despite a red card suspension. He’s played roughly 1 in every 2 or 3 matches anyway, and is behind arguably my best player, Ricardinho, in the pecking order! Anyway, I have promised to give him a chance in the next couple of months
Molins out with yet another injury following the last match
Gustafson injured for 3 weeks on international duty! Terrible blow!
Neri picks up an injury too
Isaac Kiese Thelin is on loan, and has only made one substitute appearance, so I doubt his 7 week injury will worry my friend Pete too much. Disappointing for Isaac and myself though
Atouba complains that I haven’t played him enough, despite a red card suspension. He’s played roughly 1 in every 2 or 3 matches anyway, and is behind arguably my best player, Ricardinho, in the pecking order! Anyway, I have promised to give him a chance in the next couple of months
PatrickLFC
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Swedish Premier Division - Game 26 - AIK (Away)
So a draw here at AIK hands us the title, although realistically it’s won already. We play Basel in 3 days so I’ve rotated everyone bar Thern (due to Gustafson’s injury), and my keeper, Olsen.
And it was Olsen’s cat-like reflexes that kept us level in the 3rd minute, as he flew to push away the AIK striker’s effort.
In the 24th minute, the AIK striker (Igboananike) did incredibly well to watch a long ball over his shoulder and strike it first time on the volley, but once again, Olsen was too good.
But in the 29th, he finally got on the board, when Olsen just stood at his post and watched the striker run onto a through ball and pass it into the net from right next to him - I don’t know what Robin was thinking! It was an excellent pass from Ezequiel, I’ll give them that.
And in the 45th minute, a long ball found Igboananike, and Hammar was adjudged (questionably) to have chopped him down in the box when he had his back to goal. I was livid! Ezequiel smashed his penalty straight at Olsen, but was fortunate enough that the rebound fell right back to him, and he slotted it home.
I exploded at the team at half time - we had barely threatened the home side once! Nothing was happening and so I made a triple change in the 56th - Mehmeti, Forsberg and Possebon taking the field in place of Eriksson, Cibicki and Rakip. Lepiller moved to left wing and Forsberg was on the right.
We finally got on the board in the 82nd minute through Simon Thern, whose bobbling shot found the far corner.
In the 91st minute, a clearance from the AIK defence flew upfield and between my two central defenders, and it was a race between Johansson and Igboananike for the ball. The result of this race will never be known, as Hammar decided it would be a good idea to step in and trip the flying striker. He was already on a yellow, but not for long.
That more or less sealed our fate, though we didn’t really deserve to equalise anyway - whilst the match stats were similar, we failed to create any quality chances. Mr “I-want-to-play-in-the-first-team-ahead-of-Ricardinho-who-leads-the-league-in-average-rating” Atouba had a shocker, with his match rating hovering around 5.9 all game before rising to 6.3 for reasons unknown near the end. I knew I was playing a weakened team and that this was a possibility, but that doesn’t mean I had to like it. It was a risk I was willing to take ahead of Basel’s visit in 3 days. A result there would be crucial, and give us a fantastic chance of qualifying.
POM: Ezequiel (8.1, 1G, 1A)
Best Malmö player: Simon Thern (7.9, 1G, 0A)
Elfsborg travel to Brommapojkarna, and seal a 1-0 victory to ensure we can’t officially celebrate the title yet.
So a draw here at AIK hands us the title, although realistically it’s won already. We play Basel in 3 days so I’ve rotated everyone bar Thern (due to Gustafson’s injury), and my keeper, Olsen.
And it was Olsen’s cat-like reflexes that kept us level in the 3rd minute, as he flew to push away the AIK striker’s effort.
In the 24th minute, the AIK striker (Igboananike) did incredibly well to watch a long ball over his shoulder and strike it first time on the volley, but once again, Olsen was too good.
But in the 29th, he finally got on the board, when Olsen just stood at his post and watched the striker run onto a through ball and pass it into the net from right next to him - I don’t know what Robin was thinking! It was an excellent pass from Ezequiel, I’ll give them that.
And in the 45th minute, a long ball found Igboananike, and Hammar was adjudged (questionably) to have chopped him down in the box when he had his back to goal. I was livid! Ezequiel smashed his penalty straight at Olsen, but was fortunate enough that the rebound fell right back to him, and he slotted it home.
I exploded at the team at half time - we had barely threatened the home side once! Nothing was happening and so I made a triple change in the 56th - Mehmeti, Forsberg and Possebon taking the field in place of Eriksson, Cibicki and Rakip. Lepiller moved to left wing and Forsberg was on the right.
We finally got on the board in the 82nd minute through Simon Thern, whose bobbling shot found the far corner.
In the 91st minute, a clearance from the AIK defence flew upfield and between my two central defenders, and it was a race between Johansson and Igboananike for the ball. The result of this race will never be known, as Hammar decided it would be a good idea to step in and trip the flying striker. He was already on a yellow, but not for long.
That more or less sealed our fate, though we didn’t really deserve to equalise anyway - whilst the match stats were similar, we failed to create any quality chances. Mr “I-want-to-play-in-the-first-team-ahead-of-Ricardinho-who-leads-the-league-in-average-rating” Atouba had a shocker, with his match rating hovering around 5.9 all game before rising to 6.3 for reasons unknown near the end. I knew I was playing a weakened team and that this was a possibility, but that doesn’t mean I had to like it. It was a risk I was willing to take ahead of Basel’s visit in 3 days. A result there would be crucial, and give us a fantastic chance of qualifying.
POM: Ezequiel (8.1, 1G, 1A)
Best Malmö player: Simon Thern (7.9, 1G, 0A)
Elfsborg travel to Brommapojkarna, and seal a 1-0 victory to ensure we can’t officially celebrate the title yet.
PatrickLFC
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Champions League Group Stage - Game 3 - Basel (Home)
So the big match against Basel - we are at home, and therefore this is our biggest chance to push for second ahead of them. The bad news is they picked up a point against Madrid, which could be very handy if we have similar results against Galatasaray and split results between us. My strongest available lineup takes the field against the Swiss champions.
In less than 40 seconds, Rosenberg found Molins, who sent a return cross into the 6 yard box. Markus got a piece of it, but it was held by the keeper Rossi.
In the third minute, Rosenberg created some space outside the area, but shot wide from a promising position.
The match settled down from there, although we continued to dominate the shot chart despite similar possession.
In the 28th minute, Rosenberg held the ball up well and played it into the path of Ricardinho, who burst down the touchline, cut inside and blasted from the edge of the box. Rossi was beaten, but the crossbar wasn’t.
We went into half time all square, despite being “the better of the two sides”.
In the 64th minute I brought Neri on for Moussi, and moved him into the AMC role.
In the 77th, Adu replaced Possebon and Mehmeti came on for Rosenberg, as I tried to push for a winner. Simon Thern was exhausted, but our best player by far, along with Ricardinho, and so I couldn’t bring myself to substitute him.
There were no real chances in the second half, as the match fizzled out into a draw.
Unfortunately, the well disciplined Basel side managed to hold out for a nil all draw. I was very disappointed, but Basel defended well - this is a side that kept out Madrid, after all. Nonetheless, with 23 shots to their 6, I felt we should have wrapped up the 3 points. This goes down as a missed opportunity.
POM: Simon Thern (7.7, 0G, 0A)
So the big match against Basel - we are at home, and therefore this is our biggest chance to push for second ahead of them. The bad news is they picked up a point against Madrid, which could be very handy if we have similar results against Galatasaray and split results between us. My strongest available lineup takes the field against the Swiss champions.
In less than 40 seconds, Rosenberg found Molins, who sent a return cross into the 6 yard box. Markus got a piece of it, but it was held by the keeper Rossi.
In the third minute, Rosenberg created some space outside the area, but shot wide from a promising position.
The match settled down from there, although we continued to dominate the shot chart despite similar possession.
In the 28th minute, Rosenberg held the ball up well and played it into the path of Ricardinho, who burst down the touchline, cut inside and blasted from the edge of the box. Rossi was beaten, but the crossbar wasn’t.
We went into half time all square, despite being “the better of the two sides”.
In the 64th minute I brought Neri on for Moussi, and moved him into the AMC role.
In the 77th, Adu replaced Possebon and Mehmeti came on for Rosenberg, as I tried to push for a winner. Simon Thern was exhausted, but our best player by far, along with Ricardinho, and so I couldn’t bring myself to substitute him.
There were no real chances in the second half, as the match fizzled out into a draw.
Unfortunately, the well disciplined Basel side managed to hold out for a nil all draw. I was very disappointed, but Basel defended well - this is a side that kept out Madrid, after all. Nonetheless, with 23 shots to their 6, I felt we should have wrapped up the 3 points. This goes down as a missed opportunity.
POM: Simon Thern (7.7, 0G, 0A)
PatrickLFC
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Swedish Premier Division - Game 27 - Mjällby (Away)
After a single day’s rest, we take the field against Mjällby with another opportunity to wrap up the title. Rotation is by necessity, as we have a lot of tired players after the Basel match.
We looked dangerous right from the off, and some desperate defending kept our opponents safe for all of 30 seconds, before Lepiller was brought down and a penalty awarded. Matthias converted his own penalty in the first second of the second minute.
Atouba’s 17th minute cross was intercepted, but the defender was lazy, and Eriksson tackled him inside his own box and cut it back inside to Lepiller, who drilled it through the keeper’s legs.
In the 33rd minute, Possebon found Lepiller on the edge of the area, who shot top right. The keeper made the diving save, and Eagles was first to the ball. He swung in a back post cross, and Lepiller made it there first, but the post denied him a hat trick.
Neri was dictating play well in the centre, and Tinnerholm put in a cross from one of the Italian's passes, which Eriksson volleyed into the net from just outside the 6 yard box.
Enock Adu picked up a knock early in the first half and had to be taken off for Moussi.
And it was game on in the 54th minute, as some clever build up play involving a back-heel led to a goal at the back post when Atouba lost his man.
Eriksson was the next to be forced off by injury in the 61st.
Mater replaced the yet again disappointing Atouba in the 71st minute.
The hosts brought the game to life in the 82nd minute with their second goal. Olsen brilliantly denied a free kick, but was left sprawled on the turf, and was helpless to stop the rebound being centred and finished.
We wrapped up the points in the 7th minute of injury time, when Rosenberg brilliantly stepped his man inside the box and passed to Eagles, who nailed it past the motionless keeper.
A good win, despite some laziness in the second half, and I am very displeased with Atouba, who may well have played his last match for the club. On the other hand, Eriksson was unreal, and I hope he isn’t seriously injured. He had a goal and assist for his 9.0 rating, but Lepiller was given man of the match for his 2 goals.
POM: Matthias Lepiller (9.0, 2G, 0A)
Enock Adu out for 2-3 weeks
After a single day’s rest, we take the field against Mjällby with another opportunity to wrap up the title. Rotation is by necessity, as we have a lot of tired players after the Basel match.
We looked dangerous right from the off, and some desperate defending kept our opponents safe for all of 30 seconds, before Lepiller was brought down and a penalty awarded. Matthias converted his own penalty in the first second of the second minute.
Atouba’s 17th minute cross was intercepted, but the defender was lazy, and Eriksson tackled him inside his own box and cut it back inside to Lepiller, who drilled it through the keeper’s legs.
In the 33rd minute, Possebon found Lepiller on the edge of the area, who shot top right. The keeper made the diving save, and Eagles was first to the ball. He swung in a back post cross, and Lepiller made it there first, but the post denied him a hat trick.
Neri was dictating play well in the centre, and Tinnerholm put in a cross from one of the Italian's passes, which Eriksson volleyed into the net from just outside the 6 yard box.
Enock Adu picked up a knock early in the first half and had to be taken off for Moussi.
And it was game on in the 54th minute, as some clever build up play involving a back-heel led to a goal at the back post when Atouba lost his man.
Eriksson was the next to be forced off by injury in the 61st.
Mater replaced the yet again disappointing Atouba in the 71st minute.
The hosts brought the game to life in the 82nd minute with their second goal. Olsen brilliantly denied a free kick, but was left sprawled on the turf, and was helpless to stop the rebound being centred and finished.
We wrapped up the points in the 7th minute of injury time, when Rosenberg brilliantly stepped his man inside the box and passed to Eagles, who nailed it past the motionless keeper.
A good win, despite some laziness in the second half, and I am very displeased with Atouba, who may well have played his last match for the club. On the other hand, Eriksson was unreal, and I hope he isn’t seriously injured. He had a goal and assist for his 9.0 rating, but Lepiller was given man of the match for his 2 goals.
POM: Matthias Lepiller (9.0, 2G, 0A)
Enock Adu out for 2-3 weeks
PatrickLFC
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Well in the end, it was much easier than it could have been. Some very poor early season form had us worried for a while, but fortunately, we were the only team to have any sort of consistency by the end of the season, and will finish comfortably clear of second place.
Budgets set for next season, and I have an initial transfer budget of 10 million!! Hopefully I can use this to strengthen the squad significantly.
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 at home with two early second half goals in the first Clasico, helped by Mascherano’s early red card.
Budgets set for next season, and I have an initial transfer budget of 10 million!! Hopefully I can use this to strengthen the squad significantly.
Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-0 at home with two early second half goals in the first Clasico, helped by Mascherano’s early red card.
PatrickLFC
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I once saw Salah score in the 9th minute of stoppage time for Atletico, can't remember if it was in 14 or 15
Thanks, so pleased to get there in the end!