Malmo FF - A Swedish Adventure

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**** - a 7-1 win finishing with 9 on the field. Thats impressive!

Yeah I was pretty surprised they didn't score at least one more when we lost both centre backs, but their confidence must have been shot to pieces. Our attack was brilliant though!
 
My assistant recommended I appeal against Milosevic’s ban, and so I did. I gave him a warning anyway. You can see on the left that our 7-1 win was a “triumph against the odds”, due to us finishing the game with 9 players.

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[I don't remember getting an email saying so, but I'm pretty sure the appeal was successful]



Injury News...

Double injury blow here! Fortunately Helander will be back very soon.

 
We get arguably the toughest draw we could have for the Swedish Cup Quarter Final - last years league runners up Djurgården.
More job interview offers - Sevilla, Hannover and Lyon



Due to our delayed fixture, we have our opening fixture in a few days. The other teams all played, with Elfsborg and Häcken picking up wins, along with IFK Göteborg announcing themselves as a real threat this year with a 4-1 thrashing of Djurgården!



Consideration for the League Season Ahead

With all my young imports not yet classed as home grown, it could be a bit of a struggle the next couple of seasons to meet the league requirements of 9 home grown (in nation) players in the match day squad. This means I’m unlikely to be able to select a full strength side, or at least bench, for most league games. Should keep things interesting!
 
Swedish Premier Division - Game 1 - Norrköping (Away)


First game of the new campaign against the team who finished 3rd last year, Norrköping. A good chance to lay down a marker and show the league that we mean business once again.


Our task became a great deal easier when their right back picked up two yellow cards in the first 4 minutes and received his marching orders.

In the 6th minute Santos’ lofted through ball found Thauvin, but the Frenchman should have done better with his shot, which was held by the diving keeper.

Two minutes later Thern chipped a ball forward into the box, which Santos ran onto and lashed goalwards - the keeper got a touch but couldn’t keep it out.

We kept attacking but seemed to be getting caught offside too often.

In the 31st minute Thern combined with Santos again and the latter blasted the ball into the keeper, and Forsberg’s half volley from the rebound was also saved by the keeper for a corner.

In the 32nd minute Bengtsson had a good opening but fired wide.

Thauvin kept up the recent fashion by drilling a low shot past the keeper from a tight angle in the 36th minute, having been found by Santos.

He almost scored a second in stoppage time, but his header from Linnes’ cross struck the bar.

In the 51st minute Thern played a lovely ball for Jovic, who sent a bullet into the roof of the net, but was offside.

In the 62nd minute I replaced Thern and Thauvin, who were both tired, as well as Forsberg. Kardum, KBH and Petkovic came on in their stead.

In the 68th minute a shocking back-header from Romagnoli sent their striker through, but he hit the outside of the net.

In the 77th minute Petkovic’s cross almost made it to KBH at the back post, but their keeper decided to steal the glory for himself and put it into the net first.

Bengtsson scored a beauty of a free kick from 25 yards in the 81st minute, finding the top right corner.

A good win in the end. Bengtsson’s wondergoal saw him ****** the POM award from the grasp of Santos, who was brilliant. Linnes, Thauvin and Jovic were also all excellent, and despite a rating of just 7.5 in his 60-odd minutes, I was very impressed with Simon Thern, who dictated play from midfield and displayed the creativity on show during my first season here. I’d love for him to return to that sort of form, after struggling with injuries all throughout last year.


POM: Pierre Bengtsson (9.1, 1G, 0A)
 
Unlucky with Liverpool, strong start to the new season though. Looks like an walk in the park is on the horizon!

Yeah I think I was overconfident going into the first Liverpool leg, after all our good results against big teams recently. The domestic season shouldn't be too difficult though
 
Swedish Premier Division - Game 2 - Halmstad (Home)


We play Halmstad today, should be a comfortable win.


I couldn’t believe my eyes when 19 seconds in Halmstad waltzed through our defence and their winger fired past KSG to stun the home crowd into silence - fortunately, it was called offside.

In the 12th minute Kardum found KBH on the edge of the box, and the Korean turned and sent a lovely ball in behind, which Quintero ran onto and stroked past the keeper.

In the 18th minute their centre back mistrapped a back pass, and KBH took a snapshot, but couldn’t hit the target.

From the goal kick, KBH sent a brilliant killer ball through for Neri, but the Italian took it too close to the baseline and could only hit the post from the tightest of angles.

KBH picked out Neri in the box with a great pass in the 34th minute, but the Italian’s goal was ruled out for offside.

Ricardinho’s low cross in the 64th minute was blocked inches away from Petkovic, and fell to Quintero, who somehow shot the wrong side of the post.

Santos and Thern replaced Neri and Quintero in the 66th, with Kardum pushing forward to AMC.

KBH scored yet another goal from an impossible angle in the 67th minute. Ricardinho’s free kick was headed across goal by Helander, and KBH chased it down before it went over the backline, and then somehow picked the gap between the keeper and his near post.

Romagnoli replaced Helander in the 70th.

KBH found Petkovic’s run behind the defence in the 73rd minute, but the keeper tipped the winger’s shot around the post.

In the 84th minute KBH had a shot blocked from inside the 6 yard box.

Halmstad’s keeper launched a massive kick over the top and found their striker in the 90th minute, who stepped inside but blasted over the bar.

KBH and Ricardinho were the standouts in a reasonable team performance. Neri had a poor game on the left wing. We got the job done though, and credit to Halmstad for keeping the score respectable. I was disappointed that we only managed two goals from 8 clear cut chances and 2 half chances.


POM: Ricardinho (8.2, 0G, 1A)
 
I couldn’t believe it when Bengtsson came and complained about a lack of first team football. He’s my first choice left back and including friendlies, has participated in 16 of our last 20 matches, with his squad status of “First Team”. I spouted the usual dross about a player, in this case Ricardinho, being in great form, and he bought it. He also had a slight concern about wanting to join QPR, but the first team football argument, somewhat ironically, did the trick there.



PSG have now gone 30 games unbeaten in all competitions. The last team to beat them was the one and only Malmö FF, way back in November last year!



Jovic is the latest player to jump on the “I want first team football” bandwagon. Starting to think I may need to sell a few players soon, because it seems I rotate too much to keep everyone happy. The trouble is, the weakest players I have are mostly the homegrown ones who I need for my league match day squad. Anyway, he agreed that KBH was in great form and that he’d wait for his chance. I don’t know why he’s complaining in the first place though. We’ve had 7 competitive fixtures, he’s started 4 and come off the bench twice. What’s the issue?

 
Häcken and IFK Göteborg won again, and Djurgården bounced back from their opening round loss to IFK in style. The former two join ourselves, Elfsborg and Ljungskile with two wins from two.



Getting sick of this! Thauvin wants to discuss joining Everton. Come on guys, you know the words…

 
Swedish Premier Division - Game 3 - Hammarby Fotboll (Away)


A more or less first choice team takes the field here. The only definite change I would make for my strongest team is Gustafson in place of Thern, and a possible forward line reshuffle involving KBH depending on form.


In the 9th minute Santos’ cross was headed clear, then back in by Thern. It was going over the backline until an acrobatic scissor kick from Jovic sent it at goal, before it was denied by an even more acrobatic save from the keeper!

In the 10th minute Santos put a little cross in, Thauvin’s shot was blocked and Jovic’s followup was well saved again by the keeper.

In the 26th minute Jovic finally beat their keeper with a great volley from another Santos cross.

A lovely turn and chip forward from Thern in the 41st found Thauvin leaping high for a header, which struck the bar, and he was offside anyway.

Quintero doubled our lead in stoppage time when he raced into the box and met Linnes’ low cross outside the near post, scooping it over the keeper with his first touch!

In the 52nd minute Thauvin danced into the box with some lovely skill and squared for Jovic, but the Serbian was denied by the keeper yet again.

In the 60th minute Thauvin got on the board when he picked up Quintero’s pass, stepped inside his man and fired inside the near post.

Kardum replaced Thern in the 65th minute.

In the 68th minute Thauvin picked up his second with an unbelievable effort. He picked up Kardum’s pass with his back to goal, turned beautifully, sending two defenders running past him, and then curled the ball into the top left corner with precision. Stunning play from the Frenchman!

I was distracted by the brilliance of the goal and forgot to make my next subs until the 80th minute. KBH and Petkovic replaced Quintero and Santos, and Thauvin moved behind the striker.

Jovic picked up his second in the 89th minute, blasting home Petkovic’s unselfish squared pass.

A good win, with some blistering attacking on display, Thauvin’s second goal the obvious highlight. Great performances across the board.


POM: Florian Thauvin (9.4, 2G, 0A)
 
Here are the league results for the day. I took the screenshot because of Djurgården’s loss to two 90th minute goals!
Getting tired of player interactions right now! :P Ricardinho wants to join Gremio, same old story and I talked him around.


Eriksson wants first team football. Fair enough, but he hasn’t played as well as KBH and Jovic, and I told him so. No surprises, it worked. His squad status got reduced to backup.

 
Swedish Premier Division - Game 4 - Häcken (Home)


Häcken are a great side, and are one of the few teams who can really give us a game. But if we show up to play, we are more than capable of blowing them away. Strong lineup again today. The only reason Thauvin isn’t playing is he is still struggling with match fitness following his recent injury.


In the 8th minute KBH opened the scoring following a great counterattack where Santos’ raking pass found Jovic, who played the Korean through, and he duly did the rest.

Some brilliant passing in the box almost led to a 31st minute goal, but Quintero’s shot was blocked by a very brave defender.

Two minutes later Quintero chipped a ball across the top of the box to KBH, who unleashed a spectacular bicycle kick, but the diving keeper snatched it out of the air.

KBH was found by Jovic just a minute later but his attempt to cut inside and shoot was blocked out for a corner.

Quintero’s clever through ball in the 36th minute was rifled across the keeper into the bottom left corner by a swivelling Jovic - I don’t think the keeper even saw it!

KBH scored his second in the 59th minute when he nutmegged his man on the edge of the area, stepped inside, and drilled it into the bottom right corner. In the 60th minute KBH released Jovic, who had a crack from the edge of the box, but a defender got a foot in, and the ball ricocheted to Santos, whose lobbed effort went narrowly over. Romagnoli replaced Helander in the 65th. Some great interplay between Jovic and Santos in the area in the 76th minute led to the Brazilian’s shot being parried, before Jovic’s attempt from a very tight angle off the rebound hit the post. Diaz and Thern came on for Quintero and Crisetig in the 77th, with Kardum switching to AMC. KBH, Jovic and Quintero were the stars today, Quintero with 8 key passes in his 77 minutes!

​POM: Kim Byung-Hyun (9.2, 2G, 0A)
 
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Swedish Cup - Quarter Final - Djurgården (Home)

Djurgården have had a disappointing start to the season, and we’ll be hoping to compound their misery by kicking them out of the cup. A number of prospects get to start today.

In the 23rd minute Ricardinho ran along the touchline before swinging a dangerous corner into the box, which Eriksson managed to get his foot onto, redirecting it past the keeper to give us the lead!

In the 25th we countered from a free kick, Petkovic to Eriksson, to Thauvin, to Delahaye, who unleashed a rocket of a shot which almost shattered the crossbar, and Eriksson was on hand to turn home the rebound. Delahaye’s effort though - one of the most powerful shots I’ve ever seen!

An appalling missed interception from Romagnoli in the 33rd minute allowed Djurgården to continue upfield, but the eventual effort was high and wide.

In the 36th minute Delahaye won the ball from their right back, stepped outside and put in a lovely cross, which Eriksson volleyed into the net off the diving keeper, to complete his hat trick!

In the 50th minute Petkovic played a lovely ball through the legs of his man for the onrushing Thauvin, but the Frenchman shot high.

Neri and Forsberg replaced Díaz and Thauvin in the 62nd, with Delahaye moving to AMC.

Molins replaced Petkovic in the 72nd.

In the 75th minute Eriksson picked up his 4th goal with a lovely finish into the top corner from a Delahaye pass - his third assist!

Brilliant stuff from the team today, and Eriksson displayed the clinical finishing that he was producing regularly in pre season, giving me something to think about. Delahaye did his prospects no harm with a great performance on the wing, and behind the striker, picking up 3 assists in his first start for us! I have a luxury of options to choose from.


POM: Magnus Eriksson (9.8, 4G, 0A)
 
Swedish Premier Division - Game 5 - Brommapojkarna (Home)


We should beat Brommapojkarna today, particularly at home. I had earmarked Kardum to spend most of this season with the Under 19’s but he’s been absolutely brilliant so far, and starts in central midfield again today. Gustafson, the regular first choice, makes the bench for the first time since his injury.


Some great play down the left in the 21st minute from Bengtsson and Quintero found KBH on the baseline, and he crossed the ball inside for an easy tap in for Jovic.

In the 30th minute Santos played Quintero through, and his high effort was parried, before his second attempt from a sharp angle was also saved.

A lovely cross from Bengtsson in the 40th minute found Santos, who stabbed a low volley home to double our lead.

In the 53rd a great pass from Quintero found Jovic on the edge of the area, who turned and fired a sensational shot into the top left corner!

In the 67th Quintero let fly with a great effort from outside the area, but it narrowly missed the top left corner.

In the 69th Bengtsson sent in a cross which went across the goal and almost over the backline, before Jovic chased it down and redirected it into the post from a very sharp angle.

Gustafson replaced Quintero in the 70th, and Kardum moved forward.

Milosevic was replaced by Romagnoli in the 72nd.

Molins came on for Kardum in the 78th, and moved to right wing.

In the 80th Gustafson squared the ball for Santos, who found the top left corner from 25 yards with an incredible first time strike!

Jovic’s brilliant glancing header from Santos’ 83rd minute cross was acrobatically saved by the keeper.

Once again the potency of our attack tore our opponents to shreds. I’m really struggling to see anyone challenging us this season.


POM: Santos (9.3, 2G, 0A)
 
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