Taking Southampton North!


English Premier League - Game 24 - Arsenal FC (Home)


A very important match as we take on Arsenal at St. Mary’s. 3 points here would make it very difficult for the Gunners to get back into the title race, but if we lost, everything would be thrown wide open once again. I love the fact that Arsenal’s centre back pairing have come from their two most hated rivals.

Makeshift right back Jurcik almost created an opener in the 2nd minute but Sindelar’s shot after bringing down his cross was blocked by a desperate Wimmer.

Dragowski pushed away a low Wilshere strike in the 23rd minute. Impressive save, although it looked to be going wide.

I really hate Oxlade-Chamberlain on this save, he always seems to score against us - taking a twisted pleasure in knifing his old club - and he did so again in the 35th minute to open the scoring against the run of play. Very frustrating.

In the 41st minute Asensio equalised with a deftly curled shot into the top corner after a lovely passing move from Gitschier and Sindelar.

Jack Wheelchair was injured just a minute later, believe it or not.

In the 56th minute horror turned to relief in a split second, as Gitschier’s drive struck the far post, but Asensio darted in to turn home the rebound for the 50th league goal of his career - 35 with Southampton.

In the 63rd minute Dimarco sent a cleared corner back in, and Sindelar’s cracking volley smashed his own team mate - Süle I think - in the back, which prevented a certain goal.

Arsenal countered and Oxlade-Chamberlain found himself in space, but fired tamely straight into the arms of Dragowski.

We raced back down the other way, and Dimarco crossed low to Sindelar, who hit the post! End to end football!

Candreva was introduced in place of Doebel in the 64th minute.

Vietto came on for Sindelar in the 71st minute.

In the 79th minute I don’t know how we didn’t score, as in the space of 10 seconds Laporte and Gitschier had efforts blocked off the line, and Vietto was denied by Rajkovic from a third attempt! Desperate defending from Arsenal!

But that wasn’t enough for them as we shut up shop and sealed an important win.

A fantastic comeback for the second game in a row, as Asensio came up trumps with a match-winning brace. He was ably supported by his usual accomplices in Gitschier, Ward-Prowse and Dimarco, who all had excellent games too. Sindelar was unlucky in front of goal but looked threatening throughout despite a poor match rating.

POM: Marco Asensio (9.0, 2G, 0A)
 
randommonkey said:
Just on attributes alone, don't think Flohr is worth that money!
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naterr said:
yeah that is one over-priced 19 year old....
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Agreed, that's why I never made a move. A shame for Dortmund because he's done really well for them (look at his season stats!) but they should be able to find a decent replacement. As for Madrid, hopefully that signing ends their interest in Asensio
 

English Premier League - Game 25 - Blackburn Rovers (Home)


I’m expecting a routine win against Blackburn today. Wellington has returned to training but isn’t fit enough to start, so he’s on the bench. Prins and Lovell are the only changes from the lineup that triumphed against Arsenal.

In the 5th minute Sindelar had a volley blocked on the line by Miyaichi from a corner.

In the 10th minute Laporte thundered a header off the top of the post from another corner.

In the 21st minute Sindelar lashed a volley inside the near post from a Dimarco cross.

In the 25th minute Doebel used his blistering speed to skin his man before slotting past the keeper to double our lead. Another assist for Dimarco, too.

In the 32nd minute Miyaichi made his second key intervention of the match, but this time up the other end, as he curled the ball beyond Dragowski from 25 yards out. Stunning strike, and once more we fail to keep a clean sheet. It was - unsurprisingly - his first goal of the season, too.

3 minutes later Ojeda made a superb stop to deny Asensio, who streaked through alone from a Jurcik through ball.

Just a minute further on and Stephens clattered Sindelar to the deck inside the 6 yard box to deny an almost certain goal. No card was given, but a penalty was. Gitschier nestled it in the top left corner.

In the 47th minute Drmic scythed Laporte down with a vicious tackle, and was sent down the tunnel.

Two minutes later Gitschier’s stooping header from Dimarco’s cross crashed off the bar.

In the 57th minute the German raced through but fired inches over the bar.

So he decided to change tact, and turned provider for Doebel in the 61st minute, laying the ball through for his compatriot to blast home and claim his second.

Smith and Wellington replaced Jurcik and Ward-Prowse in the 71st minute.

Jacobsen replaced Asensio in the 74th.

In the 77th minute Wellington played the ball to Prins just outside the box, who took a touch before arrowing a sublime strike into the top left corner! It was still rising as it hit the net, stunning effort from the youngster!

Miyaichi was still having a great game, and he whipped a ball in for Akpom in the 83rd minute, but the striker’s header bounced off the bar.

In the 86th minute Dimarco angled a ball in for Doebel, whose flashing shot was parried across the goal by Ojeda, and Jacobsen hit the post from a sharp angle, before having Floranus block his second attempt.

In the 89th minute Pulgar blocked another close range Jacobsen attempt, this one off a corner, and the partially cleared ball was worked back to Dimarco, who sent a shot whistling over the bar.

An action packed match ended in a convincing win for the home side, as our attack ran riot. Prins scored the best goal with an absolute screamer, though it was matched by Miyaichi’s effort for Blackburn.

POM: Sven Doebel (9.3, 2G, 0A)
 

FA Cup - Fourth Round - Crewe Alexandra (Home)


Feichtinger is one of a number of youth players on the bench today, though he only made the squad due to Velchev being absent with the flu. This young, rotated side should be able to get past Crewe without too many problems.

Prins opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a glancing header from a cross sent in by the Italian assist machine, Dimarco. 14 for the season for our left back.

Our other fullback, young Smith, picked up an assist himself - his 6th of the season in just his 10th appearance, 5 of which came from the bench - in the 23rd minute as he crossed for Jacobsen to head in at close range.

Prins had his second two minutes later with a low volley after Vietto chipped a ball into the box for him.

Feichtinger, Rodriguez and Kranjcar replaced Süle, Jacobsen and Vietto in the 66th minute.

In the 69th minute Amrani netted his first goal for the club after a cleared corner was sent back in by Dimarco, and Feichtinger’s header was saved, but fell to the youngster to slot home.

A solid performance as we comfortably go through to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup. Hopefully we get another relatively easy draw so that I can give the youngsters some more game time after they impressed today.


POM: Marcel Prins (9.3, 2G, 0A)
 

Transfer News...


You guys thought Real Madrid’s deal for Flohr was bad? Check this out! Quality player but that fee is insane! And on top of their Barbosa deal too.

But they make an excellent signing to go along with that, bringing Nastasic back to the Etihad. They’ve taken two key players off Schalke this window, plus one from Leverkusen. Over 125m on 3 Bundesliga players, with rising fees to come. An outflow of talent from Germany this window. Leverkusen’s replacement for Pavon is arguably an upgrade, a talented striker I’ve been following for years. He scored 5 minutes into his debut.

So overall, the Manchester clubs went nuts, with United also snapping up Burnley’s best player for his release clause, along with Kingsley Coman from P$G
 

English Premier League - Game 26 - Manchester United (Away)


We should beat United today, even at Old Trafford and despite drawing at St Mary’s earlier in the season. We’re the much stronger side. My only concern is that Chambers is short of sharpness, but I’m confident we can get the job done.

De Gea was called into action after 45 seconds, denying Gitschier at his near post after Ward-Prowse slipped the German through. Should have scored.

In the 17th minute De Gea produced another world class save to once again deny Gitschier, this time from a powerful close range volley after Doebel had released Dimarco on the overlap.

It was left to Asensio to break the deadlock for us, as he sidestepped a pair of challenges on the edge of the area in the 23rd minute, before curling the ball casually into the top right corner. So classy.

In the 28th minute Doebel skinned his man on the counter and whipped a ball into the 6 yard box. Sindelar’s point blank volley was somehow parried on the line by De Gea! 3 absolutely top class saves in the opening half hour.

Just 3 minutes later he made another, as Gitschier split the defence for Sindelar, who raced through but couldn’t beat the Spanish custodian. Crazy.

And in the 59th minute we were made to pay, as Herrera crossed for Himcinschi, whose header was tipped onto the post by Dragowski, but then 3 defenders ran over the ball, leaving it for the striker to tap home. Absolutely ludicrous defending.

On the hour mark Lovell replaced Chambers, shifting Jurcik to right back, and Jacobsen was on for Doebel.

Vietto replaced Sindelar in the 65th minute.

We were hit on the counter in the 75th minute but Dragowski was able to deny Bruma to keep the scores level.

Just a minute later we were opened up again, but Dragowski turned Herrera’s effort aside.

I’m absolutely livid, and let the team know it, as world class keeping from De Gea kept United in the game in the first half, before simultaneous brain explosions from not one, not two but three of my defenders gifted United an undeserved draw - and they even looked more likely to win from that point on, as we pushed forward and were opened up on the counter. They should have been buried in the first half. De Gea made 9 saves in total. Two draws against them this season isn’t good enough for a Liverpool fan! We have to knock them out of the FA Cup. If Chelsea win their two games in hand they’ll be just a point behind us, so the title race is well and truly alive.


POM: Marco Asensio (8.4, 1G, 0A)
 
UEFA Champions League First Knockout Round - First Leg - Feyenoord Rotterdam (Away)


The first leg against Feyenoord is in the Netherlands, and hopefully we can score a couple of away goals and bring a lead back home, which will allow me to rotate the side a bit more at home. Nishimura makes his injury return at right back, whilst there’s also a bit of rotation throughout the rest of the side too.

In the 20th minute Candreva opened the scoring from the edge of the box after Vietto intercepted a throw in, raced forwards, and cut it back to the winger.

In the 32nd minute Candreva swung in a free kick, and centre back Jurcik netted his team-leading 6th Champions League goal of the campaign with a low volley. Only two off the top of the competition chart too!

Burtic made an excellent stop to deny Van Wolfswinkel after they countered from another free kick of ours.

In the 40th minute Dimarco nailed his first goal of the season, first time across the keeper and into the top right corner, off a feed from Wellington. Quick switch of play and a superb finish.

Our two young Dutch wonderkids came off the bench in their home country in the 60th minute, Prins replacing Gitschier and Amrani - formerly of Sparta Rotterdam, Feyenoord’s rivals - in place of Candreva.

Miguel replaced Dimarco in the 70th minute.

A professional and clinical performance in Holland sees us virtually guarantee ourselves a Quarter Final berth. Jurcik and Nishimura succeeded in picking up yellow cards, as I wanted them to, and will now be suspended for the second leg, which is essentially a dead rubber. And as I mentioned, Jurcik is now equal second on the goalscoring charts - maybe I should have tried to avoid a yellow so he has more chance of winning the Golden Boot!

POM: Federico Dimarco (9.0, 1G, 0A)
 

Here is Cosmin Himcinschi, as requested. As you can see, not a bad player. I’ve scouted him fully too, but never made a move



With 10 days between the Feyenoord match and our next fixture, I arranged a friendly to keep the squad sharp. My assistant took charge of a fairly comfortable 3-1 victory, with Sindelar netting a brace.
 
osullm said:
Just wondering who the replacement is?
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A brilliant young Spanish striker called Javier Arteaga. He's a regen who I probably should have signed when I had the chance. I think he cost them 27m rising to 42m. I'll get a screenshot of him too if you like
 
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