Patrick Vieira - from Midfielder to Manager

View attachment 200697

Next up we faced Napoli in the Italnian Cup Quarter Final. With Juventus going so well in the league, I really feel that the cup is our best hope of success this season.

Napoli won't be an easy Quarter Final though but hopefully they see this as a distraction as they challenge for a top 4 spot in the league.

View attachment 200696

We line up with the same side who beat Atlanta last time out.

Napoli go with a 4-5-1 with 2 very attacking wingers, we'll have to watch Malcom on the left wing especially. They eventually drop Barbosa for this game after only scoring 4 goals all season, Zapata starts instead but his goal return doesn't look much better.

View attachment 200695
​


View attachment 200692

We were actually pretty poor here but managed to get the win which puts us into the semi final.

Nigel De Jong opened the scoring early on after Zappacosta supplied the cross to the far post and De Jong, unnaturally, found himself unmarked there and finished with ease.

View attachment 200691

Midway through the second half and Mangala fouled Malcom in the penalty area with the referee having no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Mark Hamsik sent the 'keeper the wrong way as he equalised.

Carlos Bacca though scored, what turned out to be, the winner just 2 minutes later. This time the cross came in from the left hand side and Bacca beat Balanta in the air to head home.

Despite winning this really wasn't a good performance and if Napoli could take their chances then they'd have won quite comfortably today.

​

MAN OF THE MATCH - NIGEL DE JONG

View attachment 200690

He played really well and led the side well. He even got a rare goal which he really isn't known for.

Beating Napoli here today meant we went into the hat for the Semi Final draw which took place straight after the match ...

View attachment 200688

We drew Lazio in the semi final with Juventus to play Roma in the other tie.

Pretty tough but very winnable, my only aim in this draw was to avoid Juventus ... and we did.​
 
View attachment 200680

With Ron-Robert Zieler leaving the club and the only arrivals being Jonhson on loan and Kevin Strootman on a free (to join in the summer), I had a tiny bit of my budget to spend. I though I'll spend it as soon as possible before the chairman removes it again ...

View attachment 200679

We had a loan offer accepted for midfield, David Silva.

Even though the offer was accepted, I still wasn't that confident that he'd join us simply because we weren't in any kind of European competition.

But to my surprise ...

View attachment 200678

He signed on the dotted line just two days later.

I'm really chuffed with this signing and think he'll fit the side brilliantly, either playing wide left or behind the striker.

We also have the chance to sign him permanently for £3 million at the end of the deal. The only stumbling block here are his near £200k per week wages which we can't get anywhere near to competing with.

He joins the club in time to be in contention to start in the next match, against Livorno.​
 
View attachment 200677

Back to league action now and we face Livorno, second bottom in the table. There seems to be a real feel good factor amongst the Milan fans today with new signing, David Silva, expected to start.

View attachment 200676

View attachment 200675

David Silva goes straight into the team with Mauri playing a slightly deeper role which should suit him better. I'm really confident today against a side we really should be beating comfortably.
​


View attachment 200674

What a absolute shocker!

We were so poor here and fully deserved to lose this one.

Livorno opened the scoring after just 9 minutes. Tomer Hemed headed home from a Maicon cross from the right hand side, he beat Mangala in the air far too easily for my liking.

Even after going 1-0 down we still had 80 minutes to find an equaliser but our play was so slow and sloppy, we just couldn't break them down.

I think this is actually the most disappointing result of the season as I really expected a win here and a good performance from David Silva in his debut.

I would now say that this puts our title chances to bed with Juventus winning yet again, they now go 8 clear at the top and looking very strong.
​

MAN OF THE MATCH - MAICON

View attachment 200673

Set up the only goal of the game and stopped Antonelli being any kind of attacking threat all game.​
 
View attachment 200672

Just as I thought my weeks couldn't get any worse after losing to Livorno, I came across this ...

View attachment 200671

Barcelona are reportedly interested in signing Zappacosta, presumably as a replacement for the ageing Dani Alves.

To be fair, if there's anyone who deserves a move to the Camp Nou then its Davide Zappacosta. His form this season has been insane! He's got 11 assists and 3 goals in 22 games from right back this season!

I've now just got to hope that this interest doesn't turn his head ...

View attachment 200670

Well that didn't last long!

Zappacosta came to see me to express his desire at joining, possibly, the biggest club in the world, Barcelona.

I pleaded with him to stay and promised to qualify for the Champions League in the hope of him realising his dream here. He seemed to accept this but said he'd be gone if we don't qualify.
​

Just after we had this conversation however, things got even more complicated ...

View attachment 200669

Barcelona then showed their hand and put in a formal offer for the right back.

They offered me £23 million but the majority of it was to be paid in instalments and would depend on his future form.

I'd be reluctant to sell Zappacosta anyway after this form this season but I definitely won't be selling him with only 5 days left in the January window.

I'm sure this will be re-visited in the summer.​
 
View attachment 200668

The final game of the month see's us take on 10th place Palermo as we desperately search for a win after a disappointing run.

View attachment 200667

View attachment 200663

We totally change our shape and system for this game in hope of re-finding our form of a month ago or so. We've been poor now for a number of weeks so we throw away the diamond formation and go back to a 4-5-1 with 2 attacking wingers.

David Silva and Ayoze Perez shift out wide with the licence to cut infield whenever they can. Zappacosta and Antonelli also drop back to a conventional full back as we go back to basics until we get some form back.
​


View attachment 200662

It seemed to work as we claim a much needed win against a decent Palermo side.

It was a much more balanced performance as we gave nothing away and didn't even allow Palermo to have a single shot on target all game.

Our job was made much harder when Antonelli was shown a second yellow card just after the half hour mark. His disciplinary this season has been shocking, in 16 league games he's had 11 bookings and 2 sending offs!

We eventually broke the deadlock fairly late on when center back Alessio Romagnoli scored his first of the season with a powerful header from a corner from the left hand side.
​

MAN OF THE MATCH - Alessio Romagnoli

View attachment 200661

He took the corner which Romagnoli scored from, he put in a much improved performance from his debut, he looked a class above everyone else on the pitch.​
 
View attachment 200321

January finished will the win over Palermo in what turned out to a very up and down month for us ...

View attachment 200320

The Sassuolo and Livorno defeats were so disappointing!

In the middle of that we had a couple of really impressive wins, especially the 2-1 cup win over Napoli which put us into the Semi finals.

After picking up only 6 points from 12, we allow 3rd place to close the gap on us ...

View attachment 200317

We stay 2nd but the gap between us and Roma in 3rd closes to just 5 points, although we do have a game in hand over them.

The form of Juvetus doesn't seem to be slowing up either as we stay 8 points adrift.

With January done with and us avoiding any business being done on deadline day, we now have another set of tricky fixtures to come ...

View attachment 200315

February must be one of the busiest months of the season with 7 games to be played.

The toughest have to be Juventus and Napoli towards the end of the month as well as Roma and the 2 legged cup tie against Lazio.​
 
View attachment 200312

The first game of February sees us against 6th place Genoa in what really could be a tricky game.

View attachment 200311

View attachment 200310

We went with the same system as last time out with the only change being new signing, Fabian Johnson coming in for Antonelli who's suspended yet again.
​


View attachment 200309

Job done, we're getting back to our best now but at least we're picking up wins along the way.

We kept the ball really well, much better than we would have done by playing the diamond formation. The main worry here is an injury to Ayoze Perez after just 5 minutes, he didn't look in a good way as he was stretched off in some distress.

Mangala scored the only goal of the game with a good header from 8 yards out. David Silva put the ball in from a deep free-kick and Mangala got his head on it. We'll probably see more goals from set pieces now as Silva seems to have a great delivery as he claimed his second assist in the last 2 games.
​

MAN OF THE MATCH - Eliaquim Mangala

View attachment 200308

A really good performance from the ever improving Mangala. The match winning goal and a clean sheet highlights his importance to us.​
 
View attachment 200306

The win against Genoa was soon put to the back of our minds with this news ...

View attachment 200307

The injury to Ayoze Perez was worse than we though as we was ruled out for between 7 and 9 weeks with shin splints.

I feel really sorry for the lad who was just starting to find some form after a difficult start to his life at the San Siro.

He'll probably be fit again for the beginning of May so he'll probably only make another couple of appearances this season.
​
 
View attachment 199405

We have a rest from league football now and turn our attention to the Italian Cup where we face Lazio in the first leg of the Semi Final.

View attachment 199404

View attachment 199403

Thiago Maia and Nigel De Jong were both suspended for this game which meant Onazi and Mijailovic came into the side.

Also, with the lengthy injury to Ayoze Perez meant that Bernard came in as a straight replacement.
​

View attachment 199402

We weren't as good here as we had been in the previous 2 games but we still got a decent result and kept the tie alive for the home game in the second leg.

Anthony Martial opened the scoring after Zappacosta tried to head the ball back to the 'keeper but it was woefully short and Martial nipped in and scored.

We equalised when Bernard cross low and hard for Calos Bacca to score from inside the 6 yard box.

Lazio were down to 10 men when Jacopo Sala was shown his second yellow. We couldn't capitalise on the numerical advantage though as we just couldn't break down a resilient Lazio side.



MAN OF THE MATCH - CARLOS BACCA

View attachment 199400

Led the line well but was really feeding off scraps as the Lazio defence stood tall. He's now got 16 goals in 23 league games.​
 
View attachment 199391

Back to league football with a tough trip to face Roma as 2nd play 3rd. We're 8 points clear of them so it's unlikely there'll catch us but a win for them here would give them a chance.

View attachment 199390

View attachment 199389

We lined up with the same system but with Antonelli coming back into the side and De Jong and Mauri coming back after suspensions.

The Roma side itself looks pretty good. I'm keen to see how Kevin Strootman plays as he'll be joining us in the summer.
​


View attachment 199388

Really disappointed with this!

Roma raced into a 2 goal lead with goals from Mohamed Salah and Nikola Vlasic. Our defending for both goals was shambolic, we gave them the lead with our poor play.

Carlos Bacca got one back just before half time though to give us a chance. Bacca scored from within the 6 yard box after connecting with a cross from Bernard.

Bernard then got himself on the scoresheet to draw us level. This time the cross came from the left and from Antonelli which found Bernard at the far post who finished well.

We then went for the win which was probably our undoing as Roma went and scored a 3rd which turned out to be the winner. Doumbia scored the 3rd after Mangala misjudged his header which Doumbia latched onto and slotted home.

View attachment 199386

This now means we're only 5 points clear of Roma, although we do have a game in hand. If we're not careful then Roma will be breathing down our necks for second place.
​


MAN OF THE MATCH - BERNARD

View attachment 199387

A goal and an assist from Bernard who seems to be a good replacement for the injured Ayoze Perez.​
 
View attachment 199385

We had to quickly get over the defeat to Roma, and we were given the opportunity to do so as we took on bottom of the table, Verona next.

View attachment 199384

View attachment 199383

We make one change as Nigel De Jong is ruled out for suspension so Ljajic comes in for a first start since late November after being ruled out with a dislocated shoulder.

​


View attachment 199382

We got away with one here!

We kept Verona from creating very little, in fact they didn't even have a single shot on target all game.

Once again, Luca Antonelli put us in a awkward position by getting himself sent off yet again just after half time. This now means he's had 3 sending off this season already!

Verona leveled things up by getting their own man sent off, Levan Mchedlidze seeing a straight red card for a shocker of a tackle from behind on Carlos Bacca.

After trying to break down a very stubborn Verona side, we brought on Niang to go with a front 3 to try and rescue a win from a poor performance.
​

MAN OF THE MATCH - Alessio Romagnoli

View attachment 199381

Marshalled the defence well and kept another clean sheet. He's played in every league game apart from 1 this season and has been the one player who's been decent throughout, very rarely makes a mistake.​
 
View attachment 199379

We've played Napoli a few times recently and every game has been really tough, I expect exactly the same today.

View attachment 199378

View attachment 199377

The only change we made was Johnson coming into replace Antonelli who is suspended once again.

We really have to watch the front 3 of Napoli, Barbosa, Callejon and Malcom can all really cause us issues

View attachment 199376

So disappointing! I think this is actually our worst performance of the season!

We failed to even have a shot on target, although we did hit the post twice late on.

Their opener came from a long throw where Callejon won the header which he flicked on to Vukasin Jovanovic volleyed home from close range. This is doubly annoying as it was almost like a carbon copy of their goal against us the last time we played.

We really went for it and brought Niang and Torres on to go 3 up-front, because of this though we were suspect to the counter attack. This was proved right when Malcom doubled their lead in injury time.
​

MAN OF THE MATCH - MALCOM (Napoli)

View attachment 199375

He had a good game and looked a really good player. This was his 8th goal of the season from a wide left position.​
 
View attachment 199374

After a pretty disappointing run, this was just about the worse fixture we could possibly have to come next ...

View attachment 199373

View attachment 199372

With the arrival of Juventus at the San Siro I decided to put another midfielder in to try and be difficult to beat against the form team of the division. Everyone dropped deeper in the hope of containing Juventus.

Looking at the Juve side, I just can't see a weakness. It'll be interesting to see how Mesut Ozil does today after turning us down in the summer.
​


View attachment 199371

Juve nick it late on.

We started the game really well with Carlos Bacca missing a golden 1 on 1 chance within the first 10 minutes.
It wasn't until the half hour mark before Juventus had their first shot on target.

Our chances were then drastically reduced when Mangala was shown a straight red card before half time.

Dybala found himself through on goal when Mangala fouled him from behind and was fairly shown a red card.

The numerical advantage really allowed Juventus to dominate and at times made us look totally out of depth.

We kept the score goalless right up until the 71st minute when Lucas Pratto scored the only goal of the game.

To be fair to Juve it was a really well worked goal as Mandzuic played through Pratto who found some space and finished well.

View attachment 199366

We actually had a few chances late on with Zappacosta hitting the post with the best chance but we just couldn't find a way to equalise.

​

MAN OF THE MATCH - PAUL POGBA

View attachment 199368

Had a really good game and was a constant threat going forward.​
 
View attachment 199364

The final game of the month saw us parttake in the Italian Cup Semi Final Second Leg against Lazio. With the first leg ending in a 1-1 draw at the Olimpico stadium, a goalless draw was all we needed.

However with 2 defeats in a row and 3 from the last 4 games, I was desperate for a result here.

View attachment 199365

View attachment 199363

We lined up with the same side we put out against Juventus, although we los the game I was still really happy with the way we played in that game, especially when it was 11v11.
​


View attachment 199362

Great result as we reach the Italian Cup final for the first time since we last won it back in 2003.

Give then awful form we've been on, this was some performance as we really dominated against a decent Lazio side who are 4th in the league.

Srdjan Mijailovic broke the deadlock with a good finish from a low David Silva corner. This put us well on our way to the final.

Silva then recorded his second assist of the game late on by supplying the cross for Kenedy who scored a bullet header from 12 yards out. Kenedy hadn't even been on the pitch long, coming off the bench for the injured Bernard.


View attachment 199360

A brilliant result from the lads which puts us into the final where we'll play Juventus!

View attachment 199358


​

MAN OF THE MATCH - DAVID SILVA

View attachment 199361

2 assists from the Spaniard really capped off a good performance. He'll be disappointed not to get on the scoresheet himself though after missing 2 really good chances which he should have really scored.​
 
Last edited:
View attachment 199359

The brilliant win over Lazio signalled the end of the month ...

View attachment 199357

Another very up and down month for us during February.

We did really well to qualify for the final of the Italian Cup but struggled somewhat in the league.

It was always going to be a tough with us playing Lazio (twice), Roma, Napoli and the champions, Juventus. And we didn't really do ourselves justice in these games (the lazio cup games aside).
​

With only 6 points taken from a possible 12, our 2nd spot in the league is now under threat ...

View attachment 199356

We're still second but the gap to 3rd closes to just 5 points.

We should still have enough of a gap to finish 2nd but with our recent form, anything is possible.
​



Team of the month

View attachment 199355

Only Carlos Bacca makes the team of the month this time around with 3 goals from his 5 games.

The omission of everyone else I think tells you everything about our recent form.​
 
How the **** does anyone stop the Juve machine!

I have faith you will topple them after getting some spending money!

Also, how is Mauri doing? Developing well?

Enjoying the story mate keep it going :)
 
Last edited:
Average Joe said:
How the **** does anyone stop the Juve machine!

I have faith you will topple them after getting some spending money!

Also, how is Mauri doing? Developing well?

Enjoying the story mate keep it going :)
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know mate! I've tried setting up to have a go at them and defensively in both the games ... neither tactic worked! Mauri's doing pretty well, he's a bit up and down but for his age pretty good :) Thanks man
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top