The Phenomenon - A Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima Story

[iHoward]

The Phenomenon is back... Remember the Day

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Today is a day that will be on the lips of many football fans for weeks as Brazilian footballing legend Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima has announced his intention to return to the sport in a managerial role. Ronaldo's career spread over 5 countries as he played for 7 different clubs and won two World Cup's with Brasil and World Player of the Year 3 times. It is unknown what club Ronaldo will begin his managerial career with but with his reputation it is surely not going to take him long to find a club.​

 

[iHoward]

Ronaldo Looks to Re-Build Broken Atletico

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Today after months of searching and having clubs chasing his signature Ronaldo has signed his first managerial contract at Spanish club Atlético Madrid. Ronaldo has gone straight in at the deep end with Atletico struggling down in 15th position but he has been given assurance by the board that a top half finish will suffice as he aims to build a squad capable of breaking down the top 2 in Spain, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It is believed the view of the fans on this appointment is mixed at best with Ronaldo both lacking managerial experience and having played for arch rivals Real Madrid.

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[iHoward]

December 2012

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Atletico 0 - 1 Levante

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Not the start I imagined with the home fans witnessing my career begin with a defeat, the pressure is on from day one

Zaragoza 1 - 1 Atletico

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Much better, the fans want a good cup run and the travelling supporters showed just how much the club desires something to show for this season. We should have won this if not for bad decision making

Espanyol 0 - 0 Atletico

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A boring game in all honesty. The score line doesn't lie and I had to make sure my team give the fans something to cheer about not just at home but away for our faithful who travel to support

Atletico 5 - 1 Zaragoza

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We have arrived! This is the start of something special, I can feel it. We dominated the game from start to finish and Koke was a true hero with his constant working both offensive and defensively

Vallecano 1 - 4 Atletico

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I waited for my first win as a competitive manager and then two come along at once, David Villa showed his class in this game as Rayo proved to lack the depth to last the full 90

League Table

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[iHoward]

January 2013

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Atletico 0 - 1 Bilbao

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Bilbao are a top side who are contesting for Champions league places and have much more confidence than us but I still think we should get something from this game if we want to be successful

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Valencia 2 - 1 Atletico

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An away goal in this fiesty tie could prove key if we are to progress and the fact the tie isn't over is pleasing but the goals we conceded to do were poor, especially by our standards

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Atletico 1 - 0 Valladolid

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We created much more chances than Valladolid today but we still could not convert and we really need to improve our finishing if we want to pick up points, a lucky win however is more than welcome

Atletico 2 - 0 Valencia

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That's more like it! We are through to the semi final of the Copa against Barcelona, the next tie will not be easy but to reach the semi final's is a real honour but we want to take Barcelona on head strong

Sevilla 1 - 3 Atletico

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The game was very one sided, we were strong in the middle of the park and controlled the game but it took an inspired Adrian to come of the bench to get us a very valuable 3 points

Barcelona 0 - 0 Atletico

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The most entertaining goal less draw I have had the pleasure to witness, tackles flying in everywhere, a feisty affair that gives us a great chance of taking the game to them at the Calderon

Atletico 2 - 4 Elche

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We got what we deserved in this game, we went in full of confidence but our naivety cost us against an Elche side who are challenging for European football this season

Atletico 2 - 0 Barcelona

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Who would have believed it? If you asked anyone before this tie they would have written us off hands down but our display over the two legs wasn't pretty football but it was effective and we play Real Madrid in the final, what a derby that will be

League Table

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[iHoward]

February 2013

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Atletico 2 - 0 Celta

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A routine win against a lacklustre Celta side who sat back and tried to defend but the two early goals really killed off them and then the game as players were rested for a key European game

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Atletico 4 - 1 Fenerbache

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A comprehensive victory that gives us one foot in the next knock-out round. We still need to be professional and see out the tie but chances are we can prepare for the next round

Granada 1 - 0 Atletico

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We never really turned up for this game, I don't know if the team was still excited about the victory over our Fenerbache but a result like this for us in no longer acceptable whilst I am in charge

Fenerbache 1 - 0 Atletico

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Key players were rested this game, our lead from our fantastic first leg gave us the opportunity to do so and we are through to the next round despite this defeat

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Valencia 1 - 2 Atletico

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A fantastic win in a tight affair against one of the best teams in the league has given us great confidence and Diego Costa's winner is something to be commended so late on

Atletico 4 - 1 Fenerbache

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Two wins in two once again it is left late but it proves how professional our side is and how fit the team is that they can muster the strength in the final 3rd of the game to get us the 3 points

League Table

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[iHoward]

March 2013

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Atletico 0 - 0 Barcelona

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We've done it again, another game against Barcelona which we have avoided defeat and a draw with a team with likes of Messi and Neymar in their ranks is nothing to feel disappointed about

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Atletico 0 - 0 PSV

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I'm not happy and the players know it. We were outclassed by a young PSV team and I expected a result to take to Holland but without a win here we have left ourselves a lot to do

Sociedad 2 - 3 Atletico

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What a game! An absolute classic tilts our way as we win 3-2 against a strong Sociedad side who are struggling but their class with some very good players made this a very pleasing 3 points

PSV 2 - 1 Atletico

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I knew this was coming after the first leg which we had nothing to show for our efforts a trip to Holland was going to be very hard and as it proved when the young Dutch side triumphed

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Atletico 1 - 2 Real Madrid

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****! My first derby and we loose it. This was a good way to see however what needs to change for us to be able to win the Copa Del Ray when we meet our rivals again in a 90 minute duel for silverware. I hope we perform better then

Almeria 0 - 2 Atletico

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We are back to winning ways, the derby defeat could have ruined our confidence but it hasn't as we overcome Almeria in a simple 2-0 win

Malaga 0 - 3 Atletico

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The score line makes the game look as if it was easy but it was far from it, the two goals coming so late in the game meant a 1-0 lead for the majority of the game was not something that gave me the most confidence but we saw the game through and claimed another valuable 3 points

League Table

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[iHoward]

April 2013

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Atletico 4 - 0 Getafe

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It looks like our tactic is finally starting to click into place and the players seem to be enjoying there football as was evident with such a dominant performance, hopefully Turan will return for some of the tough run in though as his presence in the midfield is pivotal to the way we play

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Atletico 2 - 1 Villarreal

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A good win against a struggling Villarreal, I honestly expected these to be challenging for European places like the Villarreal of 5 years ago but it seems not and we dominated and the scoreline doesn't do our performance justice

Osasuna 2 - 1 Atletico

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I thought our run would never end but it seems it had too. It's hard not to blame the sending off here, we were on top despite conceding early on and when we were reduced to ten men our control of the game was removed and made the game easy for Osasuna

Levante 1 - 3 Atletico

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We have showed what we can do when we have 11 men on the pitch and we keep our discipline. We dominated a doomed Levante from start to finish and Leo who has been disappointing finally produces the goods but if his performances don't improve he may need to look for a new club in the summer

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Atletico 1 - 0 Espanyol

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Demichelis returned from his suspension for his sending off at Osasuna to provide us a victory in a very tight affair showing just how valuable he is not just defensively but from set pieces as well. A cheap goal for Espanyol to concede but our three points will not be something I will complain about

League Table

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[iHoward]

May 2013

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Bilbao 1 - 3 Atletico

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A vital win in our quest for champions league football, this all but guarantees a top 4 finish for us but if we can win our last two games 3rd place is possible giving us automatic qualification for the champions league

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Valladolid 0 - 1 Atletico

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A poor performance but when it mattered David Villa slotted home from 12 yards and it is down to us to win our last game and that will guarantee us 3rd place, however if we don't win it depends on the results of Valencia and Bilbao

Atletico 1 - 1 Rayo

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We have only drawn this game against a Rayo team battling it out to avoid the drop on there final day also, both teams had something to play for so we had to wait to hear news from the other games but both Valencia and Bilbao lost meaning 3rd place is ours as is automatic qualification to next years champions league

League Table

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[SVB]

Great story ! But I've never seen a team get as many yellow cards as yours Madness

 

[iHoward]

Copa Del Rey 2013

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Line-ups

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We lined up with a strong side, we weren't going to change the way we'd been playing because it's working and we want to show the fans that we can play lovely football and still beat the best so this was the way I decided to do it. The only changes from the first choice 11 was Cristian Rodriguez and Raul Garcia in for the suspended Diego Costa and the injured Arda Turan respectively.

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Real Madrid fielded the strongest possible 11 with the only change being Pepe being brought in at centre half for the suspended Sergio Ramos. I believed this could be the weakness we needed however Ramos can sometimes be a loose cannon and if he got sent off it would certainly make our job a lot easier. Nevertheless he was not able to play and we faced what could be described as the best team in Spain this year. If we wanted to get anything from this game we had to nullify the Real Madrid attacking quartet especially World Player of the Year, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Report

It was a very even game with the possession roughly 50% to each side. We were much more potent in front of goal but Real Madrid had the best of the chances with two that were very clear cut.

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Result

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We played so well in this game and ironically it wasn't the sending off that won us the game. The ten men of Real Madrid performed much better than the eleven they started with. However it was the player who was making his first start under me, Cristian Rodriguez who was the key player in this match. He stepped up and single handedly played a part in 3 of the 4 goals and as a result was awarded MOTM for the final. He was outstanding as was our on loan midfielder Thiago Motta, together they won us this tie and gave me my first piece of silverware as a manager and I hope there will be many more to follow

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[iHoward]

Yeah it's a source of great frustration to me. Next season I'm definitely tempted to lower the tackling but the tactic has worked so well since I took charge I'm wary of changing it

 

[iHoward]

Atletico Bring in Big Names

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Atletico Madrid have today announced the signings of 3 major names in the footballing world. Christian Benteke, Mark Ander Ter-Stegen and Andriy Yarmolenko joined the 2013 Copa Del Rey winners for a combined fee of £57m.
All 3 players have spoken to the press and informed them of there desire to win silverware for the club and are excited about learning from the manager with his vast wealth of playing experience.


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[iHoward]

August 2013

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A strong opening day win from the boys, not much more I could ask for, 3 points to start the season, lets keep it up!

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The atmosphere in here tonight makes you understand why it's called the Cauldron, we won this because we had the twelfth man and we take a lead to the Bernabeau

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It breaks my heart to think that this could be our year and then we go and get destroyed in the second half at the Camp Nou, it will hopefully now lower our confidence for the Super Cup

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We've done it! Pepe was a loose cannon as always and our early leads killed off Madrid but complacency kicked in but we proved to make the extra man count and we have another trophy to our name

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Champions League Draw

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[iHoward]

September 2013

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Another Routine win for the lads in a feisty affair that contained far to many cards for my liking but if the results stay this good I won't be complaining about that for long

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Bilbao are a good side, no one can deny that and Toquero scored a great header, there was no response from us but we need to make sure we react better when behind

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What a comeback! Ayew was reckless getting sent off so early and the extra man when fatigue kicked in during the second half meant it was easy to control the game and then win

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Costa I bow down to you. What a performance from the in form Brazilian who is relishing the role of being dropped into number 10

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The cards are starting to frustrate me, the amount we pick up costs us with many dismissals and bans but we were unlucky to loose here today

League Table

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[iHoward]

October 2013

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What a way to continue on from out with against Monaco and we sit top of the group on goal difference over Bayern

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Another demolition job, it gives me lots of optimism this early on in the season when we make good teams like Osasuna get made to look less than average

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We keep our run of form going and this time our victory also had good disciple, I hope this continues

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We held our own with one of the best teams in Europe, it shows the progress from when I took charge last year

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Our unbeaten month continues and we get a very routine win over a struggling Malaga side

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We finish the month with a disappointing draw against fallen giants Oviedo but we finish the month undefeated so I can't complain that much

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[iHoward]

November 2013

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I don't want to talk about this game, it was horrible and heartbreaking to watch us concede sloppy goals

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Another painful defeat and a pointless sending off gives us more selection dilemmas

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We finally get back to winning ways but it wasn't the greatest performance and it took a lot more effort than I'd have liked

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That was more like it a comfortable win against a struggling side but after the last week or so I'd take anything

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The relief didn't last long, ouch this was the worst of the lot because I expected to win this game and the side was far to complacent

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This just rounds off my worst month in charge of Atletico, it was horrible to watch Insua sent off and then us concede so late on

​League Table

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[iHoward]

December 2013

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Against a good Betis side I am not going to complain about the loss but the sending off again was cheap and leaves us short at the back

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We came through but we didn't make it easy and it was an own goal that unlocked the door because we couldn't do it ourselves

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Well it was certainly an entertaining match but it as heartbreaking to see us score an own goal in the final minutes

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We had to win this game to give us any chance of qualifying for the knock out stages but Monaco beat Bayern to qualify and we are in the Europa League once again

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A strong first leg but once again a stupid sending off with 2 yellows in one minute gives us more selection dilemmas

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This time it was a sending off for the opposition and it proved pivotal as we went on to the next round of the cup and the defence of the title is still on for us

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A good way to finish the month with Villa scoring a good brace to ensure we end on a high

League Table

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