Malmo FF - A Swedish Adventure

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Chelsea are still coming back for Thauvin. Luckily they’re not offering anything near his release clause of 15m. I may have to offer him a new contract within the next year as I’m sure it won’t be too long before the bids get that high.


 
Friendlies Update...


The friendly matches so far have mostly been comfortable wins. We returned to Russia to play Zenit again, after thrashing them 6-1 there last time. It was truly one of the most exciting matches I’ve seen, with both teams creating chance after chance in an exhilarating end to end match. I couldn’t believe we kept a clean sheet, Mohlin did a great job between the sticks, and Santos was brilliant pulling the strings all day. Jovic scored a great goal too, but was ruled offside. 2-0 doesn’t seem very exciting but as you can see, both teams had 5 clear cut chances! It was an epic!

 
Sorry Lippo :( I’m happy for Mallorca though, and great to see Athletic beat Madrid!



End of Pre-season

These were our last two friendlies before the first leg against Liverpool, at home in 5 days. Going to be a huge match!

I screenshot this last friendly because of our 47 shots to 2, as well as the name of their key player. Who? It’s a Surprise ;)
 
Champions League First Knockout Round - First Leg - Liverpool (Home)

So here we go, taking on Liverpool at the Swedbank Stadion. If we are to have any chance of progressing, we have to get a good result here. Helander is somewhat short of match fitness and condition, but starts regardless. I opted for Biro-Biro as anchorman in the 4-3-3 rather than Molins on the right and Santos behind the striker in the 4-2-3-1, but that is still an option if things don’t go to plan. Jovic starts ahead of KBH, as I’m keeping the Korean up my sleeve as an impact sub with his electric pace. Liverpool have a predictably strong lineup (in game at least, this would be suspect IRL :P). I’m quite disappointed with Rodgers right now to be truthful, Shaqiri and Markovic don’t get any games, and in fact Shaqiri is transfer listed! I tried to bring him in on loan but he was too expensive, so I turned to Quintero. Anyway, on to the game!

In the 6th minute, I almost leapt out of my chair when Santos cut in from the right, between two players and unleashed a vicious drive from at least 35 yards which I thought went in, but actually just missed the top left corner.

In the 21st minute Sturridge’s cross from wide on the left was headed by Coutinho, but it rebounded off the crossbar! The ball was worked to Henderson on the edge of the box, but he shot high.

In the 29th minute we took the lead through my favourite player, Coutinho! Wait, I’m not going for Liverpool here :( Moreno crossed, Balotelli headed it down and Coutinho finished. 1-0, and not to my team.

In the 38th minute we - sorry, they - launched a counter down our left, and Sturridge sent a low cross into the 6 yard box. It was pretty harmless, as Balotelli was well short, but Bengtsson decided to slide in for it anyway, and knocked it past Mohlin for a 2-0 lead to the visitors. We can kiss this tie goodbye already!

4 minutes later we were 3 behind. Biro-Biro made an excellent sliding tackle to dispossess Henderson on the edge of the area, but it went right to Joe Allen just a few yards out, and the Welsh Xavi made no mistake.

Molins replaced Helander in the 54th minute. Biro-Biro dropped into centre back, we switched to 4-2-3-1, and Santos moved behind the striker to accommodate Molins.

20 seconds later, Santos teed up Molins for a rocket of a shot, but Mignolet somehow tipped it over the bar.

Our misery was compounded in the 59th minute, as Thauvin was forced off by injury. KBH came on, and Jovic moved to the wing.

Díaz replaced Gustafson in the 63rd.

In the 73rd, Coutinho was unlucky to hit the post after a great pass from Sturridge.

Sturridge made it 4 in the 88th with a low volley from a Giovinco cross.

We pulled one back in the 92nd minute, a Bengtsson cross finding Linnes, who for reasons unknown was lurking at the penalty spot, and he slammed an emphatic volley into the bottom left corner. Mere consolation.

Seems Rodgers knows what he's doing after all! Believe it or not, the stats were very even, we actually had two more shots. The post match report was titled “Reds strike lucky”. But Liverpool created the better chances, and were far more clinical, and deserved their win. It was quite an embarrassing result, and we are without a doubt leaving Europe at the First Knockout Round for the second straight year. Can’t help but be pleased for Liverpool though, they’ve not been in great form in the league and have dropped to 5th.


POM: Daniel Sturridge (Liverpool - 8.4, 1G, 1A)

Best Malmö Player: Biro-Biro (7.4, 0G, 0A)


And to make matters worse, Thauvin is out for over a month!

 
Unlucky mate. Still stranger things have happened so you might just over turn this yet.
 
Yeti01 said:
Scoring 3 goals in the second half on a May night in Instanbul to send the Champions League final to extra time before winning on pens? Unlikely!!

;)
Click to expand...

You know it ;) But we're against Liverpool here unfortunately :P
 
So we had three more friendlies before the first Swedish Cup fixture. Here’s how they went.


The 11-0 win could have been more. Eriksson scored 4 and had one ruled out for offside, as did KBH, though he only scored 1 which counted. Eriksson has been truly brilliant this pre-season, and I’m thinking of starting him up top against Liverpool. He netted 4 in the next fixture as well, meaning that during this pre season he has 3 hat tricks, two of which were 4 goal performances! 14 goals in 5 starts and 3 substitute appearances - never completing 90 minutes. Quite a pre season for the striker.



In the 3rd friendly we had two goals disallowed for offside within the first 8 minutes, again from Eriksson and KBH. Molins was injured in the first half, and his replacement, Quintero, netted a scorcher from the free kick he was fouled on! The match also saw KSG return from injury, playing the last 20 or 25 minutes.

 
Swedish Cup Group Stage - Game 1 - Landskrona (Home)


We beat Landskrona comfortably in pre season and should do so again today. Drasko Petkovic starts against his former club, and a mostly rotated lineup joins him. Eriksson starts up top, and if he impresses me today, he’ll be in line for a start against Liverpool in 4 days time. KSG starts in goal despite being well short of match fitness. Quintero makes his debut.

In the 8th minute a vicious Forsberg shot was parried, and Eriksson got between two defenders to stab the rebound home.

In the 13th minute, a Landskrona free kick was collected on the edge of our box by Petkovic. He passed forwards to Quintero, who launched a perfect long ball cross field and forwards to Forsberg, who was in oceans of space. Forsberg cut inside and it was him and Eriksson against the keeper. Eriksson wasn’t needed, as Emil struck a composed finish inside the far post.

In the 23rd minute Tinnerholm found Forsberg with a cross, and his header struck the bar.

A minute later, Forsberg’s effort hit Eriksson, though probably would have been saved anyway.

Eriksson took a knock and had to be replaced in the 53rd minute by Luka Jovic.

Within a minute of taking the field, the Serbian scored, having been found by a great Forsberg pass.

3 minutes later Jovic returned the favour, squaring for Forsberg to tuck inside the right post for a 4-0 lead. Two goals and two assists for Forsberg!

Jovic scored just a minute later from a Romagnoli long ball, but was offside.

In the 77th minute Forsberg, still short of match fitness, and tired as a result, was replaced by Delahaye, with Jovic moving to the left wing, and Kardum also came on for Quintero.

Petkovic picked up a knock in the 90th minute and so I took him off rather than risk him.

A good solid win, with some good performances from all the players involved. We travel to Merseyside now, and I have a selection dilemma up top.


POM: Emil Forsberg (9.6, 2G, 2A)


Petkovic is out for about a week.

 
JamesScott2908 said:
Flying now Patrick! Another comfortable season in the League you reckon?
Click to expand...

Most likely I'd say, can't really see anyone challenging us, although Djurgarden were awesome last year! I'm hoping our coefficients will improve and some of the other teams will start making group stages of the Europa League
 
Champions League First Knockout Round - Second Leg - Liverpool (Away)


Second leg against Liverpool, highly likely to be a mere formality. Eriksson gets the nod up top ahead of Jovic. We need to win by 4 goals to go through, unless we score 5, in which case we only need to win by 3. Easy right? I decided to go with the more attacking formation today - as they say in cricket, “six or sticks”. Go for broke. Liverpool surprised me by lining up in a 4-3-3.

In the 6th minute a Liverpool corner was cleared, and Markovic passed it back to Allen at the edge of the box, who smashed it at the bottom left corner - but KSG was there to meet it with his outstretched hands, and pushed it aside.

Two minutes later, Moreno tripped Molins just outside the box, Bengtsson stepped up and curled a free kick inside the right post for a 1-0 lead!

In the 36th minute, a Bengtsson corner found Milosevic at the spot, but his volley was held by Mignolet.

In the 44th Crisetig was forced off by injury - a huge blow to our chances. Biro-Biro was his replacement.

Eriksson hadn’t made much of an impact so Jovic replaced him in the 50th minute.

Forsberg came on for KBH in the 64th minute.

In the 71st Molins was forced off by injury, leaving us a man short.

4 minutes later, Santos was also forced to leave the field through injury. We were dropping like flies!

Giovinco had a couple of late chances but KSG saved them both.

In the 4th minute of injury time, Helander tripped Giovinco in the box, and the Italian had the chance to score from the spot. KSG got both hands to it but couldn’t keep it out of the net, as the English outfit picked up a wholly undeserved draw.

I told the team they had been unlucky after the match, as it was true. We deserved to win, and still drew despite playing almost 20 minutes with 9 men through no fault of our own. I just have to hope none of the three injuries suffered today were serious, as all three are key players for us.


POM: Pierre Bengtsson (8.7, 1G, 0A)


I couldn’t believe my luck as none of the injured players were ruled out. I was feeling pretty gloomy at the end of the match, but Santos is the worst off, with no injury but condition at 55%. A few days rest and they should be okay :)
 
Swedish Cup Group Stage - Game 2 - Hudiksvall (Away)


We shouldn’t have any trouble against Hudiksvall today. Most of the side is rotated today, and Sixten Mohlin starts in between the posts.

Kardum opened the scoring with a clever finish inside the near post in the 8th minute.

In the 12th minute, KBH squared for Jovic just a couple of yards out, but he kicked it straight into the arms of the keeper - shocking miss.

In the 16th minute a Ricardinho cross found Quintero. His first effort was blocked, and his followup hit the crossbar before being cleared.

In the 19th Jovic played a clever flick-on for Kardum, whose looping shot hit the crossbar.

In the 32nd minute, Jovic passed to Quintero whose first time through ball found Kardum. The youngster lined up his shot but was tackled brilliantly. Unfortunately for Hudiksvall the ball rolled straight across the goal, and KBH nipped in front of his defender to poke it home.

From the kickoff, Kardum won the ball and raced down the right, before sending a cross along the turf, which found KBH at the penalty spot - the Korean fired straight at the keeper.

In the 34th minute KBH did pick up his second goal, escaping his man to get on the end of a Quintero free kick which cleared the wall and left him with a tap in.

Just a minute later, KBH turned provider, putting in a cross which Jovic leapt up to and headed home.

In the 43rd minute an exceptionally clever pass from Kardum through the legs of his man found Quintero, who weaved through the defence and nestled a finish just inside the far post - his first Malmö goal!

A minute later Jovic had a second, a brutally powerful half volley from Kardum’s cross finding the top right corner!

In the 48th minute Milosevic rose highest to thunder a header home from Quintero’s corner.

In the 65th minute an outrageous piece of skill from Quintero just outside the box was followed by a sweet drive, which unfortunately hit the crossbar.

In the 74th minute, whilst I was waiting for a stoppage to replace Díaz with Neri, that stoppage came in the form of an injury to Díaz! Not happy! The substitution went ahead, of course.

A minute later Neri’s effort from outside the area beat the diving keeper, hit the inside of the post, and rebounded off the keeper into the net.

Thern and Tinnerholm replaced Biro-Biro and Linnes in the 76th.

A great win today, our front four were absolutely devastating - Quintero and Kardum each had a goal and two assists, whilst KBH and Jovic had a brace and an assist apiece! The only worry is Díaz - I hope he isn’t seriously hurt.


POM: Luka Jovic (9.5, 2G, 1A)
 
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Swedish Cup Group Stage - Game 3 - AIK (Home)


We take on AIK in the final Cup match, and a draw will see us wrap up top spot, though chances are we will do so even if we lose. I’m hoping they put up a fight because I’d like to see them have a good year and achieve promotion.

Santos scored a very strange goal in the 8th minute. Kardum’s poor first touch gave the ball away outside the area, but the AIK player passed it back to his centre back. Jovic slid in and knocked the ball away, and the ball just sat there. Santos ran up and kicked the ball straight at the keeper, before tucking away the rebound.

In the 20th minute, Kardum’s through ball found Santos, but he was practically on the baseline before he shot, and the keeper blocked it straight back to him. He shot again from the rebound and somehow managed to beat the keeper and score. I truly didn’t know how it went in from such an angle. Watching the replay, the keeper stepped forwards off his line, likely in anticipation of a cut back, and Santos drilled it straight along the ground between the keeper and the near post, hitting the far side netting.

A succession of Linnes crosses in the 22nd minute led to a flurry of shots, with Jovic unable to beat the keeper from a couple of yards to end the sequence.

An epic long ball from Linnes less than a minute later was just chased down by Santos, who delivered a fantastic cutback/cross to Jovic, who nailed a first time effort inside the near post for a 3-0 lead.

Just two minutes later KBH decided that he was every bit as capable of scoring from a sharp angle as Santos, and did so from the other side, his low effort taking a slight touch off the keeper, though it wasn’t enough to stop it thundering into the net, finishing off Kardum’s lovely through ball.

In the 32nd minute AIK finally showed that there were two teams in this game, with only a fantastic last ditch sliding block from Helander preventing the striker from testing Mohlin from inside the box.

KBH raced towards the box in the 36th minute, and his shot was deflected to Jovic, who would have picked out the bottom left corner were it not for the outstretched hands of the AIK keeper.

KBH gathered the ball and chipped a cross back in, which Quintero half volleyed into the top left corner with uncanny precision - I felt really bad for the keeper.

KBH released Kardum in the 49th minute, but his storming run ended with a pretty meek effort straight into the grateful goalie’s arms.

In the 58th minute a brilliant swivel and pass found the gap between my centre backs and former player Pawel Cibicki got on the end of the ball to slide it past Mohlin and get AIK on the board.

In the 61st minute Quintero lobbed a ball out wide for Linnes, who drilled a low cross into the box which the Colombian picked up. He was immediately dispossessed, but the loose ball fell favourably for Jovic, who belted the ball past the poor keeper.

In the 70th minute, Delahaye, Díaz and the returning Thauvin came off the bench for Quintero, KBH and Kardum. Thauvin was on the left and Delahaye on the right, with Santos behind Jovic.

Within two minutes of making his return from injury, Thauvin ghosted past two defenders and hammered a shot from an angle almost as sharp as Santos and KBH’s goals, past the keeper, taking a slight touch off the near post on it’s way! Good to have him back!

Helander picked up a knock in the 82nd and I decided to play a man short, despite him being centre back, and not having a utility like Biro-Biro on the field. I shut up shop.

Unbelievably, in the 85th minute a long ball appeared to be going through our defence and the AIK striker was going to win the race for it. Milosevic brought him down and received a straight red card. We now had no centre backs! This is the lineup I had to improvise to see out the last few minutes. Left winger Thauvin playing right back!


Nonetheless, they did the job.

A great win, once again our forward line was devastating, and Kardum was brilliant again, this time in central midfield rather than right wing. We finished the group stages with a goal difference of 18 in just 3 matches

POM: Santos (9.5, 2G, 1A)
 
**** - a 7-1 win finishing with 9 on the field. Thats impressive!
 
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