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

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After the firecracker start to the first half, we were expecting a barrage out of the gates of the second. But the boys took the game to them instead.

46th minute, Kent breaks down the right and runs to the flag. There are plenty of white shirts in the middle...
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He finds Towell, who volleys...
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Straight into Cech. Save. Hazard collects and danger dissipates.

52 mins
Coman collects a ball in a decent position, but is well covered by the defence.
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His first touch is excellent though, using it to skip past Sweeney and into the box.
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His shot is poor though, weak and straight into fon William's legs.
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54 mins
Ward-Prouse fires in a corner, which Felipe Luis claims on the volley. He bangs it goalward but hits Sweeney. A bit of pinball between Sweeney and Daniels,
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before the Diego Costa claims it and spreads it back wide.

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Ward-Prouse puts it straight back in with another cross, hit on the volley this time by Chalobah.
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He hits fon Williams, and the ball bobbles out with Chalobah right there... but Barbosa makes a goal line clearance. Awesome.

Coman is starting to get annoyed. He has long range shots on 61 and 63 mins, the first straight at fon Williams and the second miles off target. He hits another on 65, but this one has no sting at all, goes straight to fon Williams who collects easily. Da Silva takes a similar shot on 77 mins, but is blocked. Hazard has a pop from the corner of the box on 78 mins, low and to the near post, and fon Williams saves. From the clearance, we have a nice passage of play culminating in Kent playing a through ball towards Stockton at the edge of the box
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Stockton has a good look, and has a crack with loads of room.
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Cech gets low but dives too far to his left. He saves with his feet - so close!
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91st minute
Hazard taking a free kick within shooting distance
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He takes the shot, a fierce curling that is low and to the keepers left. fon Williams gets down fantastically and parries it away
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Nkoulou is the first to react, and has an open goal at his mercy from a very tight angle... Tranmere hearts in mouths at this stage!
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The angle was too tight in the end, and he hits the cross bar.

That's the last dangerous chance, and it ends 0:0! A good result for us, although I dont see much room for improvement on that effort. Tranmere brilliant in defense, and created a few chances but generally Chelsea were in control.

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Billing is PotM, with Sweeney and fon Williams also fantastic for the Rovers.
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Chelsea dominated attacking stats, but possession is pretty even. On the player stats, Sweeney made 3 key tackles and won 3 key aerial challenges, fantastic effort by him. Daniels won 4 key headers too. Chelsea peppered us with crosses even though we were pretty dominant in the air.

Last stat - check out this average position for Hazard. He ran equally down both sides but stayed out of the congested middle. Raumdeuter? Tough to predict from this where he would be in any play.

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What an epic - I was pausing and alt-tabbing out of the game every 30 seconds! It took me two hours to finish the game! I'm exhausted, and a bit elated. The replay will need to wait for tomorrow, I'm exhausted!
 
Great result! Still think you'll be able to grab a 1-0 in the replay!
 
Accurate summary
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I called Richie, Pierce Sweeney and Owain fon Williams aside after the game to praise their performance. Sweeney and fon Williams were happy, but Towell wasnt - he wasnt happy with his performance apparently, and thought we had different standards if that was good enough for me! Well, at least he has set a high bar, if a player of the match effort against Chelsea isnt enough for him.

The replay is likely to feature Fabregas, and I doubt they'll play that 15 year old again. Courtois may come in for Cech although he did a good job, and there's always Oscar, Kevin Volland, Willian, Sami Khedeira, etc etc. Fingers crossed
 
Last thing before bed - FA cup semi final draw:

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Palace took Man U to the wire, they needed an 85th minute goal to stay in the running. Could it be an all-Championship semi?!
 
Great story so far pal!!! I'm using the eriksen tactics as well and they work wonders! I was just wondering if you find that the strikers don't score as many as they should? I have used them in two saves now and both times my AP midfielder outscores my striker and I don't get consistent enough performances out of them.
 
Last match before the replay is Tranmere v Birmingham. Birmingham is relegation threatened so shouldnt pose much difficulty... I give the youngster a run.

The first half was a clinical display by Stockton - 5 goals before half time. Every one of them came from corners played short in to the near post man, who laid it back to Stockton for a goal. Rinse/repeat 5 times... crazy.

Second half was relatively tame, it ended 5-0. Pity, I still havent got that double hattrick achievement! Great runout for the lads before a much sterner test in Chelsea.

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Full disclosure - it was 1am when I went to bed last night, and I forgot to save. Laptop ran out of batteries, fortunately I'd saved after the Chelsea match - but I lost the next round draw. The winner of the game will now play Man City.

Also since that game we've had our youth intake. Pretty much dross, need to keep investing there or hope for a fluke. The best of the lot is Alex Clifton, an short and fairly speedy AMC.

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I'll sign the recommended players but don't expect any to be with us if we last in the Premier League... assuming we qualify of course. We're now 20 points clear on top with 10 games to play.

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Well, you can't blame him for trying to bring us down a peg, but Adkins has lost the plot!

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I'm guessing he was watching a different game, surely not the one that we were winning 3-0 before 20 mins were played!
 
15 March 2017 - FA Cup round 6 replay: Tranmere at home to Chelsea.

The kickoff is at 7:45pm, and it's cold and drizzly
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Full house, surely any neutrals in the ground will be barracking for the Rovers, so we should have get a bit of a boost there.

Chelsea have made a couple of changes to their first round lineup.
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It is almost an entirely new team!

Diego Silva stays up front, but the 10 is Willian. Fast, great technically and a threat with long range shooting...
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Hazard is the only survivor in midfield - he is joined by Fabregas, Khedira and Volland. They don't have any weaknesses to exploit, we'll be hoping for an off night. I suppose they are fairly slow in the middle, but that is not a real problem for those creative players.

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As expected, their 15 year old right back is dropped and in comes Spaniard Montoya. He is another player that can run all night, and has good marking and tackling. Will be tough to get around him.

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They have brought in veteran John Terry for Schar, unexpectedly. He will give them mental strength and is pretty good in the air, but is very slow and his tackling is not what it once was. He will mark Stockton closely though.

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Across their back four, only Terry is really any good in the air actually. That is probably where they are most vulnerable. Unfortunately we don't have the right players to take advantage really - Stockton has modest stats in the air himself, and our crossing is also average.

Courtois in for Cech, going for their first choice keeper. He was only runner up in last season's Premier League golden gloves comp, so that's something!


I'm tossing up between playing Kent on the left with Cotterill or Torrano on the right, or Teixeira on the left and Kent on the right.

Kent is the best wide player we have, but the other three have different strengths and weaknesses:
Teixiera v Torrano -

Teixiera is noticably faster, with better mental stats. Torrano is better technically, with great first touch and long range shooting, and decent crossing
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Teixeira v Cotterill
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Cotterill is faster again, a real speed demon. He has better stamina too, Teixeira tends to fade in the later parts of games. However, Teixeira is much better mentally and technically at this stage.

Teixeira v Kent
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Kent is also fast, mentally almost as strong as Teixeira and pretty even technically.

So Chelsea is fast out wide, we will need speedy wingers. I think Kent and Teixeira, with Cotterill to come on as an impact player if needed. We can't afford his poor passing/crossing in this game, even if he has the speed to get past their guys we need better technical skills on the ball for this one. Torrano is better than Teixeira technically, but he doesnt have the speed to be a threat in this game.

Our lineup then
 
hmm. Apparently that wasn't their lineup, not sure why that was what came up in the pregame. Their actual lineup is:

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Pretty much the same as last time, with Azpilicueta for the youngster, and Aboubakar in for Diego Costa.

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With the players they have on offer, I'm tempted to think that we are being underestimated... anyway our game plan will be the same, this team is still very dangerous.
 
2 mins

Donacien finds Kent in a bit of space.
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Kent puts on a burst of speed to work his way to the middle, tracked by Felipe Luis who is standing off for some reason
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Stockton in front of him, Kent lays on a nice pass and Stockton hits it first time towards goal.
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He can only find Cech though
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Kent blazes past Luis to grab the rebound
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But he hits the defender trying to centre the ball, and it is out for a corner. Great play!

Corner is dealt with easily, and Chelsea's goal is safe. A fantastic start by Tranmere, on the front foot straight away. They aren't looking outclassed in this one.
 
4 mins
Kent finds Towell in space on half way
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Towell glances up and sees Stockton charging into space in the middle
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Stockton plays the offside trap perfectly, and Towell's through ball finds him with only the goalkeeper to beat. A fair way out though, can he do it? Chelsea's defenders are faster than he.
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Stockton chips an advanced Cech, who dives desparately to claim it.
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It goes just wide, and a groan comes from the crowd. So close!
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10th minute, Chelsea havent been doing their homework. Tranmere plays a short corner

Kent to Teixeira, look at those Tranmere shirts desparate to get on the ball at the near post
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Teixeira finds Galloway, this is the same move that Birmingham fell for 5 times in the very last game. Can we get Chelsea with this set piece as well?
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Galloway beats Cech, but there is a blue shirt on that post and he makes a desperate goal line clearance. Chelsea safe by the skin of their teeth!

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22 mins, and the first good chance to Chelsea. They build up through the middle, and Coman looks for Aboubakar in front of himView attachment 325719

He plays a very wide pass, giving Aboubakar space for a shot but a very narrow angle. Is he up to it?
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No, fon Williams gets low and tips it around for a corner.
 
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