Profit making challenge

Tracz said:
Id say some great signing there mate,
Have you got rid of all the players over your budget now?
Click to expand...

Cheers mate!
Yeah all the 'over-budget' players have gone now (apart from the 3 I'm allowed over). Will be tough competing in the Champions league!
 
Amazing story! Btw it says Louis Van Gaal and Manchester United Parted and he retired from football he wasn't sacked. Cut Manchester some slack...:D
 
savan21 said:
Amazing story! Btw it says Louis Van Gaal and Manchester United Parted and he retired from football he wasn't sacked. Cut Manchester some slack...:D
Click to expand...

Haha, you know, i never even saw that lol. He didnt retire for long because he's managing PSG now!! Makes more sense though as Man U had a pretty good season.

Thanks for following anyway mate!
 
PaperClipFMer said:
Haha, you know, i never even saw that lol. He didnt retire for long because he's managing PSG now!! Makes more sense though as Man U had a pretty good season.

Thanks for following anyway mate!
Click to expand...

You have done an amazing job so far...cheers!
 
August 2015

So, just after winning the Super Cup, we came back to the office with some bad new waiting for us . . .

View attachment 300066

Italian giants, Juventus, offering £31.5 million for influential playmaker, Christian Erikson.
I have to admit, i was tempted by this offer but eventually declined it after seeing who i could get to replace him . . . no one !!

​
We also confirmed a couple more outgoings . . . .

View attachment 300056
First up, Andre Hahn leaves the club for Spanish side Real Sociedad. A fee of £11 million came in handy for a player who never really cemented his place in the starting line up. ​

View attachment 300054
The final departure was center half, Federico Fazio who left for Sampdoria for a fee of £7 million. I liked Fazio but with the addition of Phil Jagielka he would be 4th choice center back. I also didnt want him to slow down the development of Liam Moore. ​

So, after all the transfer dealings are out the way, we can get into the action of the Premier league . . .

LEICESTER 0 - 1 TOTTENHAM

View attachment 300043
A good start to the season.
To be honest, our performances warranted a bigger score line than just the 1-0. We blew them away in the first half, hitting both the post and the crossbar in the first half an hour. Kevin Gameiro socred within 20 seconds to put us 1-0 up.
We took our foot off the gas in the second half but still managed to see out the 1-0 win.

​
Next up was a potentially trick game, at home to Newcastle . . . .

TOTTENHAM 2 - 0 NEWCASTLE

View attachment 300042
Another very good, very professional performance. We dominated the game from start to finish and only allowed Newcastle one shot on target throughout the whole match.
Erik Lamela opened the scoring after beating the offside trap and slotted home under the onrushing goalkeeper. New boy Tom Cleverley then doubled the lead late on after smashing home from a corner.

In a short month, in terms of fixtures, we finished the period with an away trip to Hull . . .

View attachment 300041
A much poorer performance than the previous games this season! We started well with early chances before Christian Erikson put us 1-0 up with fantastic free kick from 30 yards. After this we didnt really create the amount of chances we should have done. Curtis Davies then levelled after poor marking from a corner just after half time.
4 goals in 3 games just isnt good enough for us!

With August complete, and only 3 games gone we find ourselves in 4th place on 7 points.

View attachment 300040

This isnt a bad return from 3 games, however i feel we should have won all 3 given the teams we played.

Unsurprisingly, Arsen Wenger won the manager of the month award.

View attachment 300036

We came third in the running but were never going to win it with 3 sides having maximum points. I'm surprised Mourinho got second when Laurent Blanc at Man Utd had won his first 3 games in charge.

I guess the conspiracy against Chelsea must be over . . . .

During August we also were also in the draw for the Champions League group stage . . . .

View attachment 300033
After finishing 3rd (and winning the Europa) we got drawn straight into the group stage. Our reward was being draw with,

Benfica
Dortmund
Videotrons

A tough group! Dortmund and Benfica will be tough opposition. Videotrons should be the whipping the boys of this group (never even heard of them).

We end the month with some unwanted injury news . . . .

View attachment 300030

Tom cleverley was injured for 3 weeks.
If I'm honest i was a little unsure of his signing but he's fitted in really well, he'll be missed for the next few weeks or so.

View attachment 300029

The next casualty was Danny Ings.
I'm hoping Ings will start performing a bit more consistently this season. The only good news here is we covered more up front this season with Andy Carroll signing so we should be able to cope.​
 
Solid start to the season mate,
It looks a tough group but im sure you can make it through, worse case you finish 3rd and get to challenge for europa league again,
What are your finances looking like?
 
Fantastic season last year mate, will be very interesting to see if you can continue to grow in stature. PS I told ya if he wasn't good for anything else, at least Hahn is a money maker ;) Good luck with the new season
 
Tracz said:
Solid start to the season mate,
It looks a tough group but im sure you can make it through, worse case you finish 3rd and get to challenge for europa league again,
What are your finances looking like?
Click to expand...

Finances are pretty good mate, I'll try and post a screenshot tonight :) Tough group but i beat Dortmund last year in the Europa so I'm still confident we can qualify.

Bullardinho said:
Fantastic season last year mate, will be very interesting to see if you can continue to grow in stature. PS I told ya if he wasn't good for anything else, at least Hahn is a money maker ;) Good luck with the new season
Click to expand...

Hahah, was a good shout mate! He never really did enough to keep his place so couldnt turn down that kind of money for him.
 
September 2015

After a busy transfer deadline day, i forgot to mention the last departure . . .

View attachment 299309

Nacer Chadli leaves White Hart Lane for Liverpool for a fee of £7.5 million. Chadli looked decent for us but was never able to hold down a startling place. With Townsend, Zaha, Erikson and Lamela all in front of him in the pecking order. £7.5 million isnt a bad fee. ​

After all the transfers were finished with, we concentrated on some football . . . .

TOTTENHAM 4 - 0 Southampton

View attachment 299308
A very, very good win!!

After scoring only 4 goals in 3 games i decided to go to a 4-4-2 formation with Ings coming into the side and Kevin Gameiro dropping back to a false 9. And it looked to be his perfect position as he netted a hattrick!

Southampton would probably class themselves as unlucky, they actually had 3 goals disallowed, all for offside. Dele Alli also got on the score sheet after coming off the bench which was pleasing. ​

Next up our attentions turned to Champions League for the first time since 2011 with a home game against group favourites, Dortmund . .

TOTTENHAM 0 - 2 Dortmund

View attachment 299307
A poor performance here led to a 2-0 defeat to the German side. In retrospect we went a little too attacking from the start! We stuck with the same side that beat Southampton last weekend.

If i were to play this again we'd go for another midfielder and counter attack them. Mats Hummels got the opener before Kagawa bagged the second late on.

Our first defeat of the season, and in truth, it was deserved.


We actually recieved some MORE injury news after this defeat​
View attachment 299306

Danny Ings sustaining a twisted ankle in the game against Dortmund which will keep him our for upto 4 weeks! This is really not what we wanted!
This was only the second game back for Ings who had previously been injured for 2 weeks!


And back to league action . . .

TOTTENHAM 4 - 2 West Brom

​
View attachment 299304
And back to winning ways!
We did conceed 2 sloppy goals though which needs to be looked at! We again went 1-0 down and had to come back from a losing position like we did far too often last season.

Goals from Jonjo Shelvey, Christian Erikson, Andy Carroll and substitute Nabil Bentaleb. I'm really pleased for Carroll who scored a great header on his first start for the club.


Once again, this result comes at a cost . . ​

​
View attachment 299303
Kevin Gameiro twisted his knee during the game and is now ruled out for 2-3 weeks. This leaves Harry Kane and Andy Carroll to lead the line between themselves.


Next up was a league cup tie against Liverpool . .

TOTTENHAM 3 - 0 Liverpool​

View attachment 299302
A fantastic result and performance!

I'm not particularly bothered about the League Cup this season but its always good to continue winning.
A great game from Andy Carroll, replacing the injured Kevin Gameiro and Danny Ings.

Carroll effetely won the game for us by bagging a brace in between a Danny Rose goal from close range.

This win against Liverpool ensured our passage into the 4th round . .

View attachment 299301

We've been handed quite a nice tie in the 4th round here, matching us up against League 1 side Preston North End.
I've already said that I'm not too bothered about the League Cup this season, but It's actually quite an easy trophy to win. If we beat Preston then we're into the Quarters already!!


After a good league cup win, our attentions turned to a much tougher game . . an away trip to Old Trafford to face inform Man Utd

Man Utd 5 - 1 TOTTENHAM

View attachment 299300
​
What a shocking result !!

Once again, just like last season, Man Utd totally batter us at Old Trafford! I dont know how we can go from beating Liverpool 3-0 to losing 5-1 against Man Utd with no changes made.
Falcao, Rooney, Van Persie and a brace from Di Maria got Man Utd the win. Wilfred Zaha scored against his parent club to pull one back for Spurs.


This result was bad enough, but even worse news was to follow . . . ​
View attachment 299298

Our star player, Erik Lamela was ruled out for between 3 and 4 months! A hip injury rules him out until the new year!
We just cant keep this lad fit, he had two long term injuries last season which kept him out for 20 games or so.


After that terrible result we turned up to face Benfica desperate for a win . . ​

View attachment 299299
What an unbelievable comeback!

We were poor all game up until the last 5 minutes where we came back to score 2 and steal the 3 points. We through everyone forward with 10 minutes to go and Townsend popped up with the equaliser before Zaha struck to win it.
We really needed something from this game as Dortmund are on 6 points already, as would Benfica had they won here.

View attachment 299296
We finish September in 3rd, 3 points behind leader Arsenal and second placed Man Utd. Its a good start but plenty of football yet to be played.



​
View attachment 299297

A decent month, really disappointed with the losses to Man Utd and Dortmund.
Man Utd absolutley battered us and probably deserved more than the 5 they scored. Dortmund were also the better side and deserved to win. We need to improve against the bigger sides if we want to challenge for the title this season.

​
 
October 2015

After a decent month, we start October with a tough away game against Everton!

Everton 2 - 0 TOTTENHAM

View attachment 299283
Everton look just as strong as last year on this showing!
A late brace by Samuel Eto secured the win after a poor performance from Spurs. We didn't really create anything and yet again, just like last season, we struggle without the injured Kevin Gameiro.


After 2 league defeats on the bounce, we really needed something out of our next game! A home game against Premier League champions Chelsea.

TOTTENHAM 1 - 0 Chelsea

​
View attachment 299271
Back to winning ways!!

A great 1-0 win against 6th place Chelsea. We put in a great performance with Kevin Gameiro, starting after a few weeks out, bagging the winner! This just shows to me how important Gameiro is to us! We struggle every time he's out the team. The 2 full backs were great today and really got forward well as the Chelsea wingers were reluctant to track back.

After that great win at Chelsea, we had an opportunity to cement 2nd place with a home game against group outsiders, Videotrons . . .

TOTTENHAM 1 - 0 Videotrons​
View attachment 299264
A really nervy game!
We played well and deserved the win but we had to really work for it!! We had 22 attempts and 11 on target, their goalkeeper probably had the game of his life! I really thought it would end a goalless draw here until, once again, Kvein Gameiro popped up with the winner.

This was an important win as Dortmund went on to be beat Benfica, leaving them top and us second. .

View attachment 299262


​
Next what followed is what should be a confortable home game against Burnley . . .

TOTTENHAM 2 - 0 Burnley

View attachment 299261
This was very similar to the Videoton's game!
We played really well but just couldnt find a way past the goalkeeper. Again, we had over 20 attempts on goal and had several opportunities to take the lead. Harry Kane replaced Danny Ings on the 73rd minute and opened the scoring just 3 minutes later. Kane scored with a right volley from the edge of the box! Andy Carroll then sealed the victory after poor defending from Shackell.


We followed these wins with the league cup game against Preston . . . ​
View attachment 299260


A straight forward victory here!

Wifried Zaha put in a great shift and opened the scoring after half an hour! Bailey Wright then doubled our lead thanks to his own goal. Again it was good work from Zaha who put in a teasing ball, Wright then deflected into his own goal before Harry Kane could get to it. Kevin Gameiro then rounded off the scoring, netting from a great cross from Erikson.


Our reward for beating Preston is a home Quarter final tie against Hull. ​
View attachment 299259This is very winnable and with Arsenal drawn against Man Utd in the same draw, this will just leave one of them, ourselves and Chelsea as the big teams left to fight it out.


The last game of the month sees a tricky away trip to the Britannia . . .​

View attachment 299258

Another good win!

This makes it 5 wins on the bounce! Our day was eased when Stoke went down to 10 men after Alaixys Romao was sent off for a second bookable offence. We eventually opened the scoring thanks to a converted penalty by Kevin Gameiro. Stoke then got back into the game thanks to a deflected shot by Mama Diouf.
We then kicked on in the second half and Kevin Gameiro once again struck to re-take the lead. Zaha then scored the third from a back post header to complete the scoring.


After 10 games we now find ourselves 2nd in the league, joint points with top side Man Utd and a clear of arch rivals Arsenal. ​

View attachment 299255
Arsenal have seen a complete meltdown this month, after we lost to Everton we were 6 points behind them. Now after 10 games we're a point above them!

Just shows you how much can change in football.


For the second time this season, Hoddle was recognised in the manger of the month award . . . ​

View attachment 299254

Once again coming third! It was just the defeat to Everton which saw him miss out.

Finally one of our young English gets some International recognition . . . .

View attachment 299257
Danny Rose gets his first England call up!
Rose has been a regular now throughout my time at the club and I feel this call up is totally deserved.

​
 
November 2015

After a brilliant October, our fixtures for November didnt look too bad, on paper at least. Unfortunately, it didnt quite go as well as hoped . . .

View attachment 299253

Back to back defeats against Dortmund and Nottingham Forest were a couple of the poorest displays of the whole season.
Also a draw with Videotrons isnt good enough!!

Wins against Cardiff and Swansea made our Premier League record respectable this month!

View attachment 299252
The fact that we didnt play many league games this month means our league position doesnt really change.
We fall a point behind Man Utd but remain in second place, still a point clear of Arsenal.


​
 
December 2015

After a very mixed bag in November, we really needed to start December well if we wanted to stay around the top of the league . . . .

Man City 0 - 1 TOTTENHAM

View attachment 298469

And start well we did !!
A great away win against a struggling, but still brilliant Man City side! It was a pretty even game throughout but I feel we just edged it. A great goal from Kevin Gameiro eventually won us the game after he broke the offside trap.


After that great win, we headed back home for a potential banana skin against mid-tabled side Aston Villa . . .

TOTTENHAM 0 - 0 Aston Villa

​
View attachment 298467

A poor game in which we never looked like scoring!
We had enough shots but none were really threatening!! We could have played another 90 minutes and we still wouldn't have scored!
We close the gap to Arsenal ever so slightly, we're now 1 point behind with Arsenal having a game in hand.
​

Next up was the final Champions League group fixture against Benfica, if we avoid defeat here then we confirm qualification . . .

TOTTENHAM 2 - 1 Benfica

View attachment 298458
WE'RE THROUGH!!!

A really good performance confirms our qualification from group A alongside group winners, Dortmund.
Mousa Dembele put us 1-0 up with a deflected finish after just 17 minutes. An own goal from Sunzu then doubled our lead and really out the game beyond doubt.
Alison got one back for Benfica to set up a nervy last 15 minutes or so but in truth it was too little too late.

View attachment 298436

Now back to the Premier League and a tough game against 4th placed Liverpool . . .

Liverpool 1 - 1 TOTENHAM​
View attachment 298455
Not a bad result!

I'd have taken a point before kick off so I'm pretty pleased with one now. We didn't play badly but again really struggled to score! Kevin Gameiro seems to have lost his goal scoring touch which isnt helping! Danny Ings came off the bench and saved the day late on.
Chelsea overtake us by a point now which leaves us behind in 3rd.

Next up our attentions turned to yet another competition, this time the league Quarter Final tie against Hull . . .

TOTTENHAM 2 - 1 Hull
​

View attachment 298454
We're through to the semi's again!!

Another pretty good performance from us here, beating 16th place Hull to reach the semi finals. Danny Ings opened the scoring after half an hour before Hull got back into with a controversial penalty. Andros Townsend managed to put us 2-1 us though just before half time.
We weren't at our best but given the amount of changes we made I'm happy with our performance.


And back to the Premier League . . . .

Arsenal 0 - 2 TOTTENHAM​
View attachment 298453

Our first derby win!!

What a game, What a result, What a performance!!

After drawing both North London derbies last season it was nice to get the win. It was even throughout the first half with very few chances for either side. The second half continued the same way up until the 75th minute when Tottenham really went for it. Kevin Gameiro broke the offside trap and rounded the keeper before ballooning his effort over the bar to keep the scored at 0-0. Minutes later however, Gameiro thread a ball through to Zaha who finished from a tight angle to pt us 1-0 up.

Zaha then won us a penalty with just minutes to go which center back Phil Jagielka powered into the top corner!
Lamela came back into the starting line up after several weeks out, he managed an hour but certainly wasn't at his best!

View attachment 298451​

We really needed the win here to keep our title challenge going. We're now level on points with Arsenal who are top, although they do have a game in hand.


​

Another London derby awaits next . . .

TOTTENHAM 4 - 0 QPR

View attachment 298450

An absolutely dominating performance!

This was more like men against boys as we run out 4-0 winners. Kevin Gameiro opened the scoring early on after good work from Zaha set him up. Zaha then got on the scoresheet himself . . . twice! Zaha really is coming into his own!
Andros Townsend then rounded off the scoring late on. Townsend really needs more performances like this to keep his starting place. With Lamela coming back and Zaha in such good form i cant see a place in the starting 11 for Townsend.

Most importantly, this result takes us top of the league!! We overtake Arsenal by 3 points as they lose to Chelsea. Chelsea now become our nearest challengers, being only 1 point behind.

​
Next up we have a very winnable game against relegation favourites Wigan . . .
TOTTENHAM 1 - 1 Wigan
View attachment 298449
A very poor performance!

We need to be winning these games if our title challenge has any real chance. Kevin Gameiro got the late(ish) equaliser but we just didnt do enough to win this.
We now drop down to third behind both Arsenal and Chelsea.

​
After that disappointing draw, we faced another team in the bottom three in Leicester . . .

TOTTENHAM 2 - 0 Leicester


View attachment 298448

Back to winning ways!

A game we were heavy favourites for and really a game we should have won. A Kevin Gameiro double won us the game but it was Wilfried Zaha who looked most dangerous.
This now takes us back to the top following Chelsea's draw with Newcastle, although Arsenal do have a game in hand and are only a point behind. ​


View attachment 298445
A really good month for us here! Unbeaten in 9 games with some cracking wins against Man City, Benfica and most importantly north london rivals Arsenal.

View attachment 298444


This great period leaves us top of the league after 20 games!
We're 1 point clear of Chelsea and Arsenal, however Arsenal do have a game in hand over us. Man Utd in 4th are only 2 points behind and 5th placed Liverpool only 3 behind.
Its very tight at the top so it's going to be tough to stay there!​


After beating Benfica in the final group game, our reward was a first round knockout game against Russian side Zenit

View attachment 298434

We also got the opportunity to get a couple of the younger lads tied down to longer term deals

View attachment 298433 View attachment 298431

Both Harry Kane and Dele Alli are tied down to long term deals. Dele Alli is really coming into his own this season after a difficult start to his spurs career. Harry Kane also looks to have a great future so I'm really pleased to get these lads on long contracts.


 
January 2016

After such a good month in December I wasn't too concerned about taking part in the January transfer market. We just couldn't find anyone good enough without paying silly money.

This meant we could fully concentrate on our fixtures for this period.


View attachment 298418

Another very good month!
We started with a dull goalless draw against Chelsea in the FA Cup 3rd round. We weren't great here but the FA cup isn't our priority this season.

We then had a good win against relegation fighters Hull, goals here from Jan Vertonghen and Andros Townsend won us the game, Jelavic got a late consolation goal.

Next up was the FA cup replay against Chelea, we couldnt finish the job as we went down 2-1. We went 2-0 thanks to an Eden Hazard brace. Andros Townsend then got one back but we just couldnt find an equaliser. Its always disappointing to lose but with all the games we're playing already, the FA cup wasnt a priority.

Back to the league and a good 3-2 win over Southampton. We raced into a 3-0 lead within the first 10 minutes thanks to an opener from Zaha and a brace from Kevin Gameiro. The saints then came back into after a poor second half. A good performance from Jagielka ensured we came away with all 3 points.

Next up was the League cup semi final against West Brom. The first leg was away from home but we still managed to get the win. Early goals from Kevin Gameiro and Tom Cleverley set us up nicely for the second leg, although away goals dont count in the League cup.


The second leg was actually a lot tighter, probably because West Brom had nothing to lose. We again took an early lead through Kevin Gameiro before Dwight Gale levelled. Jonjo Shelvey then scored the second to put us 4-1 up o aggregate. Giovinco then levelled the scores on the night before Gameiro scored yet again to restore our 3 goal lead.
This takes us into the final where we'll play Chelsea at Wembley!


We then had to put that victory behind us and concentrate on a tough home game against Man Utd. This is probably one of our best results of the season, after the mauling they gave us in the reverse fixture this was particularly pleasing. Once again we scored an early goal through Wifried Zaha, Kevin Gameiro then doubled the lead before Falcao pulled one back. Kevin Gameiro then rounded off the scoring to complete the victory.


View attachment 298394
Despite another good month, we actually drop down to second place.
However, this is because we've been involved in various other cup games. Liverpool overtake us into top spot but we now have 2 games in hand and only 3 points behind.

We didnt partake in the transfer window and to be honest a think a lot of the teams thought the same. Hardly any big transfers to announce,

ENNER VALENCIA Moved from West Ham to Liverpool for a fee of £10.25 million.

JAVIER HERNANDEZ Moved from Man Utd to Sporting Lisbon for £4.5 million.

MAROUANE FELLAINI Moved from Man Utd to Aston Villa for £3.7 million.

The biggest news from January was another couple of long term injuries:

View attachment 298393 View attachment 298392

First up Andy Carroll was declared injured for 6 months!! This now means he'll miss the end of the season. We got this news on deadline day so didnt find enough time to find a suitable replacement.

Erik Lamela also picked up ANOTHER injury! We just can't keep him fit! He's only really just come back after being injured for 4 months.

​
 
Great first half to the season! Hopefully you can keep it up,
Tough luck with the injuries, could selling lamela be a option if he keeps getting injured?
 
Tracz said:
Great first half to the season! Hopefully you can keep it up,
Tough luck with the injuries, could selling lamela be a option if he keeps getting injured?
Click to expand...

Thanks mate!
Think I might have to look to sell him. He's really good but no good to us constantly injured
 
February 2016

View attachment 298278
We start February with 2 straight draws, the first one being a 3-3 draw away at West Brom.
West Brom played really well and took a shock 2-0 lead before Kevin Gameiro got us back into the game just before half time.
Wilfried Zaha then scored a brace to put us 3-2 up. We then totally switched off after scoring the 3rd and allowed West Brom back in it!! This leaves us 2 points behind Liverpool in second with a game in hand.

The second draw came against a decent Everton side.
Again we played well but just couldnt see out the win. Once again this season, we go 1-0 down and have to come back!
A Jan Vertonghen own goal put Everton 1-0 up before Kevin Gameiro levelled late on.
Everton didnt even have a shot on target all game yet came away with a point, how does that happen!
We now drop down to 3rd, 4 points off top with a game in hand.

After 2 draws in a row, it was vital we got something out of the next game, a tough trip to Stamford Bridge to face an inform Chelsea side. So a 3-1 was great!
That completes our double over Chelsea this season!
I would say this is our best result all season! Chelsea are doing great at the minute but are still 6th and are reigning champions! Kevin Gameiro opened the scoring before Jan Vertonghen headed in from a corner to double our lead. Nicolas Nkoulou then made it 3 with his own goal, Nkoulou turned the ball into his own goal from a Danny Rose low cross/shot.
Chelsea did get one back thanks for Andre Schurrle who netted at the near post from a long throw.
We only had 3 shots on target all game but managed to score them all !
Liverpool drew with Leicester, meaning we're now 2 points off them with a game in hand.

A good win against Newcastle followed away at St James Park.
This wasnt our best performance but a fairly straight forward win nonetheless. An early goal from Christian Erikson put us 1-0 up within 5 minutes. Kevin Gameiro then scored his 22nd league goal from the penalty spot to double our lead.
This win takes us top of the league by a single point with Liverpool breathing down our necks.

A comfortable 3-0 win over Stoke rounded off the Premier League action for February.
Dele Alli capped off a great performance to put us 1-0 up early on. Kavin Gameiro then doubled the lead with a tap in after Begovic saved his penalty attempt. Jan Vertonghen then rounded off the scoring with a powerful header.
Erik Lamela also returned to the line up as a second half substitute. Hopefully he can have a big part to play in the run in.

Liverpool drew yet again which means we go clear at the top of the league. We're now 3 points clear of Liverpool with a very similar goal difference.

The final game of the season saw us take a fantastic 3-1 first leg advantage against Zenit in the Champions League.
This result should set us up well for the away second leg. A double from Kevin Gameiro in between a great Wilfried Zaha goal grabbed the deserved win. In the process Gameiro bagged his 30th goal of the season.

Zenit got back into the game with a late consolation goal which means the second leg will be slightly nervy over in Russia.

View attachment 298273

We remain 2nd, level on points with Liverpool but with a game in hand. With just 10 games to go its all to play for, really the whole of the top 4 are still in the title hunt.


​
 
LEAGUE CUP FINAL

View attachment 298270


The 2015/2016 League cup final pits Premier League champions Chelsea against this seasons surprise package Tottenham.


View attachment 298267

Chelsea line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation today with Diego Costa leading the line, and back up coming from Eden Hazard, Cuadrado and Oscar.
Chelsea's biggest advantage today with be their size difference between them and Spurs.

Tottenham line up as predicted withe the emphasis on not losing the game. JonJo Shelvey will act as cover for the back 4 while Zaha and Townsend have the license of going forward at will. Ben Davies comes into the side to replace the ill Danny Rose.

Lets see how the game goes . . .

View attachment 298263
How disappointing!

Chelsea were a completely different opponent to one we beat at Stamford Bridge just a few weeks ago. We just couldnt control Juan Cuadrado who bagged a brace and really won the game for Chelsea.

Cuadrado himself put the Blues 1-0 early on before Dele Alli scored the goal of his life to pull us level. Diego Costa then retook the lead for Chelsea before once again we equalised, this time through Wilfried Zaha. Cuadrado then put Chelsea ahead for the 3rd time just before half time.

With 10 minutes to go we put Lamela, Kane and ings on and went all out attack! And it paid off within 2 minutes, Wilfried Zaha won a penalty which Gameiro converted.

However with all the attacking players we had on the pitch, we could control the match and Chelsea soon scored their 4th and what turned out to be the winner. ​

 
March 2016

After a really disappointing cup final loss, we needed to start March well.

View attachment 297928
Unfortunately, we didn't !!

We started the month with a 1-0 defeat away at Cardiff.

A 1-0 defeat against mid table Cardiff takes away our advantage at the top of the league. We now drop down to 3rd, level on points with second place Man Utd and 3 behind leaders Liverpool, although we do have a game in hand on both sides.


A 2-1 victory against 16th place Burnley.

We desperately needed 3 points here to keep our title challenge going!

Erik Lamela opened the scoring with his first goal since returning to action. Jan Vertonghen then grabbed the winner with a near post header after Ciprian Marica levelled for Burnley earlier.

This was our game in hand, meaning we now go level on points with Liverpool but with a worse goal difference by 4.
​


Another defeat followed, this time a 2-0 loss at home to Swansea.

After Liverpool lost 1-0 to Man Utd in the early kick off, we had a great chance to make top spot our own. A very poor performance made this a deserved defeat!

This now leaves us, Man Utd and Liverpool all on 66 points and goal difference separating us all. Arsenal aren't out the running either, they're only 3 points behind with a similar goal difference.

A 1-1 draw against Zenit followed in the champions league.

This ensured we went through to the Quarter Finals with a 4-2 aggregate win.

A very nervy game but at least we're through to the next round.

After Zenit took the lead after just 2 minutes, it's fair to say i feared the worst! Christian Erikson then levelled after 26 minutes to regain our 2 goal lead, this also gave us an important away goal too.

We didnt play that well but it was a good defensive performance which saw us through.

A goalless draw at home to Man City ended the month.

A decent draw against a good Man City side. We dominated the game with 17 shots compared to their 5 and City only had 1 on target. We just couldnt find a way past Joe Hart!

Surprisingly this draw actually takes us top of the league by a single point after Liverpool lost to rivals Everton and Man Utd lost to fellow challengers Arsenal.
​

View attachment 297926

We finished the month top of the league with just 6 games to go!

Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd are all a point behind.

6 consecutive wins would secure us the league title.

​
View attachment 297925 View attachment 297924

2 of our younger English lads managed to grab their first international caps this month.

Danny Ings was brought into the squad after impressing recently. I'm a little surprised Ings got into the squad as he hasn't featured much this season and has only scored 3 goals all season!

Dele Alli also grabbed his first cap, this is totally deserved. Alli's been in great form and is fast becoming one of the first names on our team sheet.

The European Championships start at the end of the season so hopefully both the these lads can force themselves into the squad.


The worse news of the month, was news of an injury to top scorer, Kevin Gameiro.


View attachment 297923

Kevin Gameiro was ruled out for 5 weeks with damaged knee cartilage. This pretty much rules him out for the run in, hopefully he'll be back for the last couple of games.



After beating Zenit in the Champions League 1st knockout round, the eagerly awaited the Quarter Final draw . . .

View attachment 297922

As you can see, we've probably got the hardest draw possible here (Bayern aside) with a two legged tie against Barcelona.

Barcelona are currently second in La Liga but are only a couple of points behind leaders Real Madrid.


 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top