Tranmere Rovers 2014-15... Sky Bet League 2 Champions and FA Cup WINNERS

  • Thread starter Thread starter liquefry
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 288
  • Views Views 72K
Im loving the story mate, a few more ss of the table/results would be good though. Im amazed you have progressed so quickly, if you are able to get barbosa in during the summer it would be great, surely he's older then 17 though, i think he starts at that age at the beginning of the game,
I look forward to more updates
 
Thanks. Will take that on board - I only started reading the other managers stories a couple of days ago and thought I could do that prose style as well. More screenshots it is :)
 
Not being bias(im a ipswich fan) but you should have a look at ted bishop at ipswich (thats where he starts) huge talent for the future,
 
I pour over my notes thinking through the lineup for the day. Norwich have a strong lineup. The main threat will come from out wide. Josh Murphy and Neil Redmond are super fast, lethal wingers.

View attachment 326736 View attachment 326735

These guys can really exploit our weakness. I don't have any great fullbacks. Nathan Ake - probably the best DM in our team, is the first choice left back due to a lack of any other options. Still, he's as good as we have to keep Redmond in check.
View attachment 326734

He is outpaced significantly:
Pace Ake 14 Redmond 17
Acceleration Ake 16 Redmond 18

His movement is dangerous too:
Off the ball Redmond 15
Positioning Ake 13

Basically he will be a real threat.

The problem on the other side is even worse. My best option is still Danny Holmes:
View attachment 326733

Pace Holmes 12 Murphy 17
Acceleration Holmes 11 Murphy 17
At least Murphy might be able to handle him positionally - he has the nous to know where to sit.

I will need speedy and tall centre backs to counter the crosses these guys will rain down in the area. My best options at the moment are Janoi Donacien and Donervon Daniels.

View attachment 326732View attachment 326731

(to be continued)
 
Norwich centre forward - Andrej Kramaric
View attachment 326727

Our defenders should be able to neutralise any threat from the air here. Kramaric is shorter than either Donacien or Daniels, with lower jumping reach and heading ability. He's a little more agile than Donacien but that shouldnt be a problem. Passes along the ground shouldnt be much of a problem either, both of my guys are faster and have good positioning to cut off any through passes. He has a pretty lethal acceleration which might cause an issue if he is one on one with Donacien but overall I'm pretty confident that we won't concede through him - the bigger challenge will be either Murphy or Redmond breaking from the wings and getting in goal scoring positions themselves.

Midfield matchups.
I'm pretty confident in the midfield. Brendan Galloway and Richie Towell are an automatic first choice at the moment and match up fairly well with the opposition:

View attachment 326730
Howson vs Towell - Richie is slightly lower across the board. First touch is probably the biggest difference, Howson 14 Towell 10 - an area the Tranmere man needs work in. They are evenly matched in decisions, off the ball, vision, work rate and positioning, suggesting a stale mate in the middle for these two.

View attachment 326729
Trotter v Galloway - Brendan has the edge in all the physical and off the ball characteristics. One up for Tranmere here.

Philip Billing is playing very well at the moment and will start the game as DM. Norwich is starting with Alexander Tettey. A Dane vs a Norwegian - Scandinavian flavour to the game.

View attachment 326728

Billing is the better of the two in most important categories, although much lower in work rate and stamina - might be a factor late in the game. Of course these two don't usually directly match up, it is more about their ability to shut down the opposition midfielders and Billing will do this ever so slightly better than Tettey. Another plus for Tranmere.
 
Finally, let's see how we line up in attack. Martin Olsson should be able to easily neutralise young gun Joaquin Torrano. I'd prefer to have Ryan Kent available but he's injured (again). Torrano will not beat his man for speed, or from off the ball movement and vision - although he can make a lethal pass if given the space.

View attachment 326726View attachment 326725

On the other side, Teixeira might prove more of a handful for Russell Martin. He has better acceleration, vision, and off the ball movement so should be able to create space for himself and others. Like Torrano Teixeira isn't much of a crosser so we don't expect many goals that way - it's all about diagonal passes into the path of marauding midfielders or Stockton running into space.

View attachment 326724View attachment 326723

Centre matchups:
Stockton is our first choice, a decent finisher who is working well in the False Nine role.
View attachment 326720
I'd like him to have better finishing and first touch, you can see from these figures that he's definitely still Championship material rather than Premier League.

Norwich's back pair are Wootton and Bennett.
View attachment 326719View attachment 326718

Stockton won't beat either with pace or acceleration. They both have superior vision and positioning, and strong marking and tackling will make it a tough day out for Stockton. He will need a burst of brilliance from Towell or Galloway, who can beat these guys if they get a chance, and look to clean up any fumbles if those guys break through.

Overall, the two teams are evenly balanced, with Norwich looking better through wide attacks, and Tranmere better in the middle of the park. We will hope to control the midfield and stifle the wide players. It's not going to be a goal fest for us, although there is a potential for a blowout to them if our fullbacks don't play at their very best.

On to the match!
 
It is a rainy day in Norwich. This might help neutralise those wide players, could work in our favour. As I enter the changerooms I can feel the nervous excitement. The players look expectantly to me for some words of wisdom.

"Pick up from where you left off last time boys" is enough to get them going, along with a personal reminder that I have faith in them, that each of them are good enough and they deserve their position. With this, everyone is looking motivated and ready to go.

Uh oh. 18th minute and the first chance comes through Wootton, from a Howson free kick. Looks unstoppable, but fon Williams makes an athletic dive to punch the ball away. And it turns out Wootton was offside anyway. Disaster averted, but the danger signs are there.

View attachment 326716
fon Williams makes a great save.

All quiet until the 27th minute. Stockton takes the ball and breaks down the right, all the way to the right corner. He's made a lot of space for Holmes behind him, and drawn two Norwich defenders very wide. Great play.
View attachment 326715

Holmes makes a first touch pass to a now unmarked Torrano in the box. The angle is too narrow for a shot, and Torrano holds up the ball. The defence closes in on him, leaving Stockton unmarked on the right. Torrano makes a cheeky back heel pass to the open Stockton.
View attachment 326714
Torrano drawing the two defenders in.

Stockton takes the ball and Torrano breaks back toward the top of the box, giving himself a bit more space. The fullback moves out to close down Stockton, and Bennett hurries back into position. Stockton then puts an inch perfect pass back to Torrano in a great position, who hits it a low volley toward the near post. GOAL! I'm in raptures, and so are the players. What a well worked move down the right.

View attachment 326713

Half time Tranmere 1 : Norwich 0
 
Half time break
The players look tired but happy, but I'm not totally satisfied. My strong midfield players are underperforming, and I intend to let them know it's not good enough. "Listen up. You're doing well, but there is still room for improvement" I tell the room, and then round in on Brendan Galloway. "Brendan, you're not playing well. I'm not happy". That should fire him up! I give the same treatment to Richie Towell, but he is less impressed.

View attachment 326712

Time to get back out there.
 
75 minutes, and we're still 1:0. My back line is tiring now, and we're in danger time for those powerhouse wingers to wreak havoc on my flanks. Holmes is playing out of his skin, and still looking pretty fresh so I will leave him out there for a bit longer. On the left Ake is exhausted, and needs to come off. On goes Ruben Barbosa, our backup. He's got speed to burn and great tackling and positioning. I'm confident he can do the job for the last 15 minutes.
View attachment 326703

Towell is still playing poorly, so I'll bring on Marco Da Silva as well. He's a very capable MC.
View attachment 326704
 
Last edited:
One more chance for Norwich from out wide, but they havent learned that crossing in the air is not a way through this team. Easily neutralised, and there goes the whistle! Great game for us, 1:0 is a solid result.
 
Great win over the scum,
Will you be doing all your match's like this or was this due to it being a big game?
 
Owain fon Williams is selected as the player of the match. He did play well, and the Norwich chances were not featured heavily in the highlights package - 9 shots on goal altogether compared to my one.

View attachment 326702

The defenders all did a great job actually. Puts us in a very strong position in the league at the almost half way point, 9 points ahead of Norwich, and 12 ahead of Palace. A job well done, although today was a warning shot that the work is not yet done - we were lucky to get away with it really.
 
Last edited:
I'll do it for the big games... Takes too long to play it this way!
 
The next big game is the very next game... Crystal Palace at home. Palace is third, and another strong team. They dont have the same teeth in attack as Norwich though. They play a 4-5-1 formation, and are looking weak up front. Their lone striker is Emilio Nsue, a speedy 27 year old striker but he shouldnt be too much of a handful for our defence.
View attachment 326694

The five man flat midfield will be hard to break down, so the risk here is a 0-0 draw, or our boys pushing too hard and getting hit on the counter. I'm pretty confident though.

Our starting lineup will need to change a bit. Billing is suspended so I will move Ake into DM, and leave Barbosa on the left fullback. He's fast, and a good defender. But he has terrible natural fitness and tends to fade badly in games. Kent is back from injury and moves onto the right wing in place of Torrano.

View attachment 326696

Kent is fast, with good decision making and decent ball movement skills. He is a handful for any defender and is getting better by the month.

Donacien will play on the right fullback, we need his pace out wide and with a bit of focussed training he will be a better prospect than Holmes. I'm confident he will do a good job out there.
 
7 minutes in, and Tranmere scores from a corner. Towell with a well placed shot through the crowd. 1-0 and looking good.

On 20 minutes, we strike problems though. Palace plays a probing long ball down the right flank, and our young fullback Barbosa collects the ball. He has a woeful first touch though and is immediately stripped of the ball by McLaughlin on the burst.

View attachment 3266791 second later, gifted to McLaughlin: View attachment 326678

McLaughlin has huge space now to draw the hapless Tranmere defenders out. He sends a ball in to find Nsue in the middle. With a header no less
View attachment 326677

1:1. Back on even terms, and Nsue showing that my predictions of a toothless attack were ill founded.
 
Last edited:
21 minutes, a great chance to Tranmere. Teixeira picks up a long ball, and nods it down to Galloway who breaks past his defender.

View attachment 711178
Acres of space, he can't possibly not score, right? No, for some reason he holds the ball and runs toward the goal line. Tries to squeeze off a shot at the near post but the keeper easily deals with the threat. Poor effort at the end of that one.

38 mins. Sweeney hustles Nsue in the box. A bit of contact, and Nsue sees the opportunity - down he goes. Penalty!
View attachment 711181

The players are furious, and so am I. That was a dive! Oreliana drives the penalty straight and low, beating fon Williams who has made an acrobatic dive to his left. 1:2 to them.

And while I type this up I accidentally left the game running... and Williams scored a fine free kick from 30m out. A thumping drive, and fon Williams didnt even move. 1:3... real trouble at half time.
 
So, half time talk is awkward. Sweeney has had a shocker, rating just 5.8. I will move Ake into the backs, and bring on Da Silva in his place. I'm going to take off Barbosa as well, and insert our very young reserve left back Niklas Skokic. Let's see if some fresh blood makes an impact.
 
I've suggested that the players go into overload mode, and they're throwing everything at Palace. On 63 mins Daniels hits a clearance from his own box which the Palace keeper has to deal with.

View attachment 711192
He does so poorly though, straight to Stockton who has a totally open goal in front of him. Eyes lighting up, he has a crack... and skews it wide. What a miss!

View attachment 711201

That's the last meaningful play in the game. A significant loss to Palace, I'm shattered.
 
I sit silent in my chair, steam from a hot cup of tea slowly spiralling toward the ceiling. What went wrong? I picked it I guess, we overextended on attack and left ourselves vulnerable on defence. And a few key errors from our back line cost dearly. Still, I'm not happy with the loss. A minor consolation is that Norwich drew, so we have only lost one point at the top of the table.

Snap out of it! I scroll through my inbox. Oh, FA Cup draw, nice. Who will we face this year? West Brom apparently. We havent really lucked out there, the Baggies are in fairly good shape this year. It will be another test for us, but one I will make sure the players are up to. We need to learn from the Palace result and plug those gaps.
 
Tracz said:
if you are able to get barbosa in during the summer it would be great, surely he's older then 17 though, i think he starts at that age at the beginning of the game
Click to expand...

Are you thinking of Barbosa the Gremio keeper? I'm not looking at him, it's his striker team mate Gabriel I want for the Rovers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Back
Top