The Utrecht Adventure

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Excelsior v. Utrecht

0’ - Our lineup is similar to the one we used last time out, as a regular first choice starting 11 begins to form. There were a few changes, as *** comes in at left fullback to replace the injured Nganioni, who is out for 3 more days with a bruised rib. Rubin is away on international duty, so Haller steps in to replace him. Ludwig was very solid in his last appearance, so he takes the place of Utaka. In injury news our 2nd choice striker Ruud Boymans is nearing a return to fitness, as he has missed the whole season so far with a broken foot.
2’ - Following an early free kick we recycle possession through Janssen. Janssen hits it forward to Ayoub. Ayoub holds off a challenge outside the box and lays the ball forward for Traore. Traore looks up and slices the ball through the defense for Haller. Haller hits it first time to the near post and he finds the net! I must say he looked slightly offside there but the flag stays down! 1-0 Utrecht! What a start to the game for Haller! His first league goal of the season!
10’ - Kuwas gets control of the ball for Excelsior. He fires it in from the right toward Van Weert. Van Weert meets the ball first, but his shot is blocked by Letschert. The ball again falls for Van Weert 8 yards out. Ruiter is out of position now. The shot by Van Weert... blocked by Browning. He saved a certain goal there. Letschert clears.
11’ - Bruins with the ball now on the left. Lovely effort to keep that ball in play. He hits a cross into the center. Van Weert is there in the box, tightly marked by both center backs. Van Weert rises highest, and heads towards goal... I shouldn’t have been worried... Ruiter in perfect position to make an easy save.
23’ - Stans drives forward with the ball for the home side. He beats Ramselaar with a silky dribble, and plays it to Kulas who checks to him from the right. Kulas hits it first time into the space he created for Van Weert. Van Weert hits it from the penalty spot, aiming for the top right corner. Ruiter dives across and holds the shot. Magnificent save.
33’ - Van der Maarel drives forward from his fullback position on the right. He leaves Brito in his dust as he drives to the byline just inside the box. He hits a cross to Haller but Karami gets up and heads clear. Ramselaar heads the ball back at goal but Matheij blocks his shot down into the box. Ramselaar gets to the loose ball first, and the keeper is out of position, surely his first goal of the season here! But Kuipers jumps in front and blocks Ramselaar’s shot. Janssen picks up the loose ball and fires it at the far post, but it lacks the necessary power and Kurto gathers it easily.
39’ - Excelsior drive forward now, and Kuwas looks to cut inside and have a crack on his left but *** lunges in and makes a great tackle. *** looks upfield and plays Ludwig into acres of space - the break is on here. Ludwig plays it to a supporting Ayoub inside. Ayoub to Ramselaar - immediately to Janssen. Janssen sees Traore making a great run and plays him through. Traore sees the keeper leaving space on the near post a hits a vicious strike and hits the bar. Unlucky again.
58’ - Utaka replaces Ludwig who looked to be slowing down in the second half.
64’ - Keskin comes in for Ramselaar, and shifts Janssen to the BBM role while he himself will play as our AP.
72’ - Klaiber replaces Van der Maarel at fullback and we look to close out the game.
90+3’ - Full time and another impressive win. We may not be scoring too many goals currently but we have looked solid in the back. It was very pleasing to see *** have a decent performance, I will look to keep playing him as a fullback instead of as a makeshift CB as he did not look comfortable in that role at all earlier.
 
Injury Update


A crushing blow here, as our best player so far this season is out for almost 2 months. Ruiter will be hard to replace between the sticks, as the youngsters Heus and Bednarik will both compete for the starting role. Heus will start for at least the Roda game, but a poor performance could see Bednarik come into the fold.
 
Utrecht v. Joda RC

0’ - Over the international break, Haller continued his recent goalscoring form, putting 4 goals past the Faroe Islands in his first appearance for the French u21 side. Ramselaar also had a solid showing for the Dutch u21s and both will look to continue their form in the match today. Joosten will get a chance to impress on the left wing, as we continue to look for someone to lock down that spot as their own. Looking at Roda’s recent form, they have only scored twice in their last 5 Eredivisie matches, so it looks like we could well carry on our good run.
7’ - Letschert whips in a corner to the far post, and Rutjes heads clear. Joosten picks up the loose ball and sprays it back out to Letschert. It gets played right back to Joosten who found some space on the edge of the area. Joosten plays the ball square to Janssen on the top of the box, Janssen controls and then hits it to the near post.. Yes! What a goal that is. The team is clicking right now and the captain caps a wonderful flowing move. 1-0 Utrecht early on here.
14’ - Peterson comes forward for Joda. He smashes a cross across, but it hits the bar and bounces over. He should have done better there.
31’ - Jansses recieves a simple pass from Ramselaar and has space to drive forward deep into Joda’s territory. Jansses gives the ball to Haller at the top of the box. Haller takes a touch out to the right, he sets himself up with a small touch towards goal. Haller is tightly marked here, just inside the box. Van der Kooy misses a tackle on Haller and he lets fly towards the near post. Verbist is diving for it... but he will not get there. A magnificent strike from Haller. Although Van der Kooy should have done better with his challenge. Utrecht take a 2 goal lead here at the Stadion Galgenwaard.
34’ - Klaiber intercepts Van der Kooy’s cross field ball and lays it down to the feet of Janssen. Janssen hits it quickly to Joosten out on the left flank. Joosten cuts inside and gives it to Ramselaar in the middle of the park. Ramselaar controls and looks to turn - Ugur Inceman comes flying in and takes him out! He is already on a yellow card! The referee has no choice here... Inceman is off! Joda are down to 10 men!
67’ - Van der Maarel intercepts a poor cross from Gullon and looks upfield. He plays it all the way up to Haller at midfield who lays it to Traore making a run up the right wing. Traore takes his space and then finds Janssen who is unmarked. Janssen plays it square to Ramselaar. He than sees Joosten making a run out wide and plays a cross field ball over the shoulder of the fullback into Joosten’s path. Joosten cuts above the retreating fullback and crosses into the center with his right. Haller is in space and the ball falls to him and he taps it home! 3-0 Utrecht as they boys are running all over Joda!
78’ - Van der Maarel whips in a cross from the right, and Haller meets it at the near post, but his headed effort can only find the woodwork and goes wide.
79’ - Three changes here, as Keskin replaces Jenssen, Kallon comes on for Traore, and Leeuwin gives Letschert a rest.
90+1’ - Similar to what happened earlier Ramselaar picks up the ball with his back to goal, and Rutjes comes through his back picking up a needless second yellow card and an early bath. Pure frustration from the Joda man.
90+1 - Full time, a great team win.


 
PEC Zwolle v. Utrecht

0’ - After the last result, we are temporarily occupying the 2nd spot in the league. Only one change from the team from last match as Ayoub returns from suspension and comes back into his defensive midfield spot in the team. Zwolle are coming into the match on a solid run of form, as they have only lost one of their last 5 games in the Eredivisie. They haven’t been banging in the goals, but they have looked very solid at the back recently so we have been working on our attacking movement so that we are better prepared to break them down. The narrow approach that they are playing will also see us try to utilize our flanks more to take advantage of the extra space available.
13’ - *** takes a throw deep in the oppositions area. Joosten lays it right back to ***. *** in acres of space now. *** with an in-swinging cross met in the center by Traore who redirects it into the corner and made it look easy. 1-0 Utrecht early on here.
45+1’ - van Hintum drives forward on the right - covering plenty of ground today the fullback - he has plenty of time to size up his options, and he decides to play an early ball to Menig in the center. The defense had dropped back, perhaps expecting a cross to come in. Menig at the top of the area takes a touch inside and unleashes a vicious strike which beats Heus and rattles the crossbar. Warning signs from Zwolle.
45+1’ - Joosten attempts to play Haller in on goal but his pass is intercepted. The defender couldn’t maintain possession however and the ball bounces back into the path of Joosten. Joosten could score here, a difficult angle however. Van der Hart does excellently in the end and closes down any opportunity Joosten had before smothering his shot and redirecting it wide for a corner.
63’ - Utaka replaces Haller who hadn’t shown up tonight.
66’ - Heus sends the ball forward, and Janssen flicks it into the box for Utaka. Utaka all alone with the keeper now, and he takes the shot first time and sends it harmlessly over the bar. Really should have tested the keeper there. He had the time and space to take a touch and calm his nerves but he wasted it.
67’ - Ludwig replaces Joosten who is looking rather tired. He still doesn't have the stamina required to play 90 minutes consistently.
72’ - Klaiber comes in to replace Ayoub who was unsurprisingly on a yellow card.
86’ - Becker drifts in a deep cross from the right hand side, and Van der Maarel looses track of Menig on the back stick. Menig with the header, and he beats Heus but hits the woodwork yet again. How unlucky can Menig be tonight?
90+2’ - Full time! Another good team win, and clean sheet, to keep up our good form.

 
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Another injury blow, as Bednarek goes down with a broken finger. Hopefully Heus can stay fit because we are scarce on options until Ruiter returns from his injury.​
 
Utrecht v. FC Twente


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0’ - Slight change in tactics today, but with the base formation the same, and only small adjustments to roles and instructions the players look confident in the game plan for this one. Hopefully Vink, a goalkeeper pushed up from our U19s will remain on the bench until Ruiter returns in a month's time, but recently our players between the sticks have been rather injury prone so he may well see his debut in the next few fixtures.
5’ - Ziyech lines up a set piece for Twente. It looks to be no more than 25 yards out. Ziyech steps up and strikes at goal. His shot dips past Heus’ outstretched hand and finds itself in the back of the net. What a magnificent goal. He has been in scintillating form this season Ziyech. Scored in 4 straight games in the league for Twente. Very frustrating start.
33’ - Ter Avest comes forward on their right wing. He hits a ball to the far post, met in the air by Ede who finds the back of the net. 2-0.
56’ - Ludwig for Joosten who was invisible today.
61’ - Conboy replaces ***
62’ - Haller wins the ball just inside Twente’s box. He takes a speculative shot from a tight angle and he beats the goalkeeper but his shot rebounds off the crossbar.
65’ - Keskin replaces Ramselaar
67’ - Gutierrez floats the ball in towards Oosterwijk. Oosterwijk has a crack from close range, but Heus parries. The ball falls back to the feet of Oosterwijk and he fires off another shot, but Oosterwijk again saves and the ball is cleared out of danger.
71’ - Ayoub, again on a yellow, wins the ball and plays it forward to Haller. Haller cuts across his defender and shoots from 25 yards.. Again Haller is denied by the woodwork. Drommel gathers the rebound easily.
75’ - The announcers announce that our fans are already leaving the stadium. We surely have not been that poor today.
77’ - Keskin receives the ball in the middle of the park. He plays the ball in for Ludwig to gather in Twenty’s box. Ludwig squares the ball for Haller at the penalty spot. Haller hits it first time back across to the left... Drommel is left stranded! Haller scores! A simple pass into the back of the net! A well deserved goal for the striker! 2-1
90+4’ - Ziyech is again lining up a free kick. Similar position here, maybe slightly farther to the outside. Ziyech takes... Heus was not to be beaten this time! An excellently taken set piece but Heus was wise to it and holds on well.
90+4’ - The referee blows the whistle as soon as Heus looks to get us moving upfield again. I thought we deserved a point today but it was good to see the squad rally around and keep fighting for the full 90 minutes. We drop below Ajax to third in the league table.

 
Injury Update


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Looks like Utaka will be out for a few months. He had fallen behind Joosten and Ludwig in the pecking order, and could find it even harder to find playing time if they both continue to perform in the coming months.​
 
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Heus manages to work himself into the Eredivisie TOTW for the first time in his young career! All credit to the young lad, as he has done a top class job filling in for Ruiter during his injury absence. Hopefully we can keep ahold of him as he continues to develop, as there were already a few clubs trying to pry him away during the summer window.​
 
PSV v. Utrecht

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0’ - A very tough matchup against a strong team today. They have not had the best of seasons so far, but they still have the potential to be very dangerous. We will line up in the same formation as we did against Twente, and look to hit them on the counter. Conboy will come in for *** to start tonight, as he has been after more first team football. Leeuwin and Klieber also make returns to the starting lineup. Boymans will make his return to the squad from the bench after over 11 months out with a serious injury, and Giovanni Troupee has made the bench for the first time this season.
12’ - Janssen plays a simple ball forward for Haller. Haller cuts across to the right and takes a go at goal from 25 yards out. Haller beats the keeper and the ball pings off the crossbar before Zoet gathers it. That’s 3 times in 2 games for Haller. How unlucky.
34’ - From a set piece Arias gets the ball in space on the right. He hits a low cross across the face of the net for De Jong who taps it in before Heus can react. Too easy for De Jong. 1-0 PSV.
47’ - Guardado takes a corner and hits it near post for Bruma who flicks it on towards De Jong. De Jong taps it in for his second of the game. 2-0.
48’ - Two changes as Ludwig replaces Joosten and Boymans makes his return replacing Haller.
60’ - Willems takes another corner and finds Arias who heads home to the far corner. Should have been saved really. 3-0.
68’ - Troupee replaces Klaiber who has been dreadful.
79’ - Guardado takes another corner and finds Van Ginkel. He heads it at goal, and Heus parries it away. Locadia pounces on the rebound and slams it home. 4-0 PSV. Embarrassing scoreline. We deserve to lose this game, but they did not play as well as the score shows.
80’ - Traore with the ball cutting in from the right. He sees Boymans making a good run across and plays him through. Boymans with a chance here. A tight angle. Boymans shoots at the near post... and Zoet cannot get there. A consolation goal, but a good showing from Boymans in his return. Look for him to be starting soon. 4-1.
82’ - Arias comes forward on the wing as PSV chase a 5th. Conboy out to close him down. Boymans is making a run already if Conboy can win the ball. Conboy lunges in and... oh that was a bad one. Conboy looks to be in real trouble here. Didn’t seem to get any of the ball. The referee does not even think about it. Conboy is off! A straight red! He will be going straight to the reserves.
83’ - We drop to a 4-4-1 to see out the match.
90+1’ - Full time. Plenty to work on before the next match.

 
Utrecht v. NEC

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Away at NEC today we look to use our frustration from the last few defeats to push us forward towards a big victory. Several changes to the lineup sees Nganioni return, as well as Van der Maarel as our fullbacks. Ludwig also takes Joosten’s spot further up the wing.


The first chance falls for us in the 18th minute as Haller gets played through on goal. It should be a simple finish for the striker, but he smashes it wide.
At the break now and we are in command of the game, but are just lacking confidence in the final third, and it is showing clearly. We have taken 7 shots at this point, only one being from long range, and only that long range shot has been hit on target. Haller has been very disappointing, and is replaced by Boymans at the start of the second half.
Woudenberg plays the ball across for NEC. Heus rises and collects the ball easily. However in typical FM fashion, Heus drops the ball in front and puts no effort into retrieving it and Roman runs forward and taps in for NEC to take the lead. 1-0 in the 56th minute.
56’ - *** replaces Nganioni.
Van der Maarel plays the ball forward to Traore now. Traore cuts into the box and looks to play Boymans at the far post. Oh! A clear penalty! Traore is taken out before he can play the ball. No card for Golla. Janssen steps up and levels the score! He sends the keeper the wrong way and the game is tied in the 65th minute.
66’ - Ludwig is replaced by Joosten
90' - Full time.

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A disappointing performance tonight. We really should have gotten the 3 points from NEC, as they are near the bottom of the table. We currently hold on to the 4th position in the league table, and will look to solidify our position before the January window opens.
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Hopefully Ramselaar's fitness does not become a problem for us. We have some crucial matches over the next month, so it would be devastating if we had to readjust our midfield at this point.​
 
December
We have 3 games this month, and it looks like it could be a tricky one. Ajax and AZ are two very good teams, and I would be happy with 1 point from those two games. However we really should be beating De Graafschaap in the first game of the month, as they currently lie in 18th place.


De Graafschaap (0 - 3) FC Utrecht
A big performance from the team tonight as we grab 3 vital points. Rubin made his return as a 45th minute substitute and his introduction seems to energize the team as we take control of the game. Ruiter continues his shutout streak, which is now up to over 450 minutes.

FC Utrecht (2 - 2) Ajax
The game was looking good for us through 30 minutes, as we had grabbed an early lead before they equalized through Milik. Conboy however got sent off in the 31st minute, letting the team down again. Ajax then looked to control the game after Milik gave them the lead late in the first half. In the last few minutes we threw bodies forward, and Van Rhijn gives away a silly penalty as we enter stoppage time. Janssen steps up and smashes the ball down the middle to steal a point away from Ajax.

AZ 1 - 0 FC Utrecht
We had our chances, but could not find our way back into the game after Vaarnold took the lead with his first career goal for AZ.

Overall we achieved my goals for the month, although we may feel that we could have grabbed at least one point away from AZ in the last game. We are still holding on to 4th place in the league, but PSV and Den Haag are both tight on our tail heading into January.
 
January Update

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Moving into the transfer window our needs have still not changed by too much. We are still looking for a top quality striker, as Haller continues to disappoint. We are also lacking first team quality on the left wing, as Joosten still needs to develop and Ludwig has not proven that he can produce at this level for us. Having a rotational central defender would be useful as well, as an injury to one of our first choice defenders would leave *** as part of our first choice pairing. ***’s form has dropped off as a fullback as well, and a replacement could be coming there as well.

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In other news the board has finally offered me a new contract, and I have signed on a new deal which extends me for another season until June 2017.

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Good start to the season so far, enjoying the story, i've been Utrecht on a few FM saves in the past!

Don't worry about the silly losses, once you've had time to mould the team your way, these will start fading away!
 
Transfer Update


​
We have made three moves so far in the January window as we look fill some holes in the squad as well as get rid of a few players that have not performed for us so far this season.

Utaka has left on a free transfer to Lokeren. He never really showed up in any of his appearances, and we are more than happy to show him the door.


Lazio also come in for another one of our youth players, and Mounji departs to Italy for 1.5 million and 20 percent of any future sale.


Looking at our strike force we were needing some reinforcements, and we found just what we were looking for in young English striker Marcus Rashford. Rashford joins from Manchester United on loan until the end of the season.


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Boymans also looks to be departing the club as he has been complaining about his playing time recently.

Our schedule for January looks promising as I am aiming for 9 points. The final game of the month against FC Twente will be quite tricky however and could well be a repeat of the match played against them earlier in the season.

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January
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Here in January I am aiming to take 7-9 points from the 4 league games. Groningen, Zwolle, and Roda are all winnable games, and if we are going to push on for a European place we really should be winning these games. The final game of the month, away at Twente, will be very challenging and we would do well to steal a point from them.

FC Groningen ( 2 - 0 ) FC Utrecht*** gave away an early penalty which was converted by Groningen. Groningen played sturdy defense throughout the match, and they were helped by Ayoub picking up yet another red card in the 77th minute. A poor defeat.

FC Utrecht ( 1 - 1 ) PEC ZwolleIn the 17th minute Marcus Rashford flicked Van der Maarel’s cross past the helpless goalkeeper. Brilliant start for Rashford, who scores an early goal on his debut for the club. Zwolle grabbed a deserved equalizer in the 67th, and looked the more likely to grab the 3 points. A very disappointing match here, as for the majority of the game we looked like we were in control and would walk away with the points. This month has not gone well for us at all.

FC Utrecht ( 1 - 0 ) Roda JCA must win game here in my eyes, and I let the squad know that just before the game. The game did not play out like I envisioned it, as we really should have no trouble with Roda. However a late tactical switch and a moment of brilliance from young striker Marcus Rashford ensures we take home our first win of 2016.

Our new alternative tactic sees Fagrie Lakay play a crucial role for us just behind the striker. Nganioni will also play a much more valuable role for us as he will bomb forward on the left flank to provide width.

FC Twente ( 3 - 2 ) FC UtrechtI was slightly worried about using the new tactic away against such strong opposition, but we got off to a perfect start as Lakay played the ball forward to Rashford who put Traore through on goal, and Traore sent the keeper the wrong way as the ball deflects off of his defender and sends us up 1-0 in the 9th minute. Twente tied the game up in the 26th as Malenga sees his header clip the bar and bounce over the line. Late in the first half Ramselaar’s pass in towards Rashford is intercepted but Bruno Uvini cannot control it and Rashford smashed the ball home to regain the lead. Andersen levels the scores again in the 70th minute as Ruiter can only push his shot further into the corner. Twente then grab the winner in the 77th. Undeserved. We played much better than them today and deserved at least a share of the points. We had a chance to level the scored late on, but in typical fashion Haller hits the bar from close range.

All in all a disappointing month as we only manage to take 4 points from 4 games. Games against Groningen and Zwolle were both winnable games for us, and we must improve going forward. The team did however put a good performance in against Twente, and that is a good sign as we look to improve from our poor run of form.


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We drop to 7th in the league table, and are now outside of the European places. Getting a European place would be huge for the club, as the extra revenue would help with the squad revamp coming in the summer.​


Player of the Month: Marcus Rashford - 3 Appearances, 3 Goals, 1 Assist - 7.43 Average Rating
Goal of the Month: Marcus Rashford v. Roda JC
 
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Injury News Traore will be out for around a month after injuring his hamstring in the match against Twente.

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Transfer News Boymans has confirmed his transfer away from Utrecht. Not a whole lot of money involved here, but it takes an unhappy player away from the squad and frees up a little more space for us in the wage budget.​


 
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