I am back with the 2012-2013 season in a few words.I have a new chairman in the person of Yvonne Allen and i brought some new staff so now i have at least 4 stars in every training category.
After an OK pre season I started the season on Wembley against current PL champions Man City.We went 1 down soon after kick off but helped by Srna's dismissal we turn the game around thanks to a great goal by the capt.First trophy of the season.
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PL season went really from there and the next meeting with the champions turned out to be a real shock.
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It was Candreva's match and his awesome display trigger a lot of interest from top european teams.I soon accepted a 10 mil pounds offer for him from Inter.He left in january but it didn't affect the team too much as i just put G.Fernandez in an AM position and gave new boy Lucas Viatri a starting position up front along side Diego Costa.
It was a great season but they were some things that made me think carefully when planning for next season.
First my team played excellent against the big teams in the PL but against the smaller teams was awful.
Second I had discipline problems as a lot of my players got red carded,with Bertolacci the main villain.
Third my strikers lack consistency : 1 good game,at least 3 really bad.
Fourth my plan to retrain Schelotto to be a right back backfired.And to make things worst he refused to sign for Montpellier, a deal that would have seen Bocaly join Leeds for only 1 mil pounds and Schelotto.Things were bad on the other side of the defense too,where Aldrete and White were awful.
But to bring you back at the PL.Most parts of the season we were in the first 4.Man Utd seemed to win but they had a poor finish that brought Leeds, with 1 game in hand, 3 points apart before the last game of the season.The last game that turned out to be the final of the PL.A direct confrontation on OT between fierce rivals Leeds and Man Utd.But as i said we had a game in hand.Because of a better goal advantage we needed to win on OT regardless of the result from the game in hand.So i took a chance and fielded a very young team against Wigan, knowing that i only needed not to loose that game in order to still challenge Man utd for the title in the last game.That gave me the opportunity to rest most of my regular players for the final confrontation.I manage to draw thanks to a Rousselle goal and my team was ready for the final showdown.
The game started brightly for us as Viatri scored from a corner in the 2nd min.But seemed to be the last offensive play from our part as Man Utd took control of the game.At half time I change to a more defensive formation and by the end of the game this is how Leeds looked:
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Helped by a great defensive display Leeds won the first PL title since 1992 and how sweet it is to win it on OT against your fiercest rivals.
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View attachment 228478I also won League Cup after a final against Liverpool and the FA Cup after a thrilling encounter against Newcastle
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And for the last competition my first european competition.After surviving group stage against Leverkusen,Metalist and Partizan the 1st knockout stage put me up against the italian giants Milan.1st leg was great with Viatri scoring the only goal in Italy.But nothing could have announced what happened next on Elland Road with Paloschi determined to make a point to his former employer:
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Next stop was Sporting and they won the first leg on ER 1-0.And the 2nd leg didn't started to well either as they were 1 up early in the game after a pen.G.Fernandez equalised in the 22nd min and Fierro brought Leeds back in the game in the 63 min.But 9 min later Sporting equalised only for Paloschi to score in the 79 min and put Leeds through.Next stop it was a very familiar face as I endep up playing 6 times against Liverpool in various competitions this season.First match was on Anfield and it ended 2-1 for me after Kelly scored a 90min goal for them.And what an important goal turned out to be as the return leg was full of drama. They were 2 goals and 1 man up in the 85 min when Viatri scored to take the game in extra time.I had lost Santacroce to injury and his replacement Kisnorbo was having a really poor game.But fortunately for me Viatri completed his brace in the 118 min and put Leeds through to the semifinal
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There we met Rennes and this time there was no drama.A 4-2 win on aggregate and Valencia awaited in the final.
A poor final really with 2 penalties missed and a great goal by Diego Costa that put Leeds back on the european map.
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This is the season as fixtures goes
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