Hello eveyone and welcome back to my Cambridge United story which last time saw the build up to the new season and now The «U’s» prepare to take on the Premier League giants!
August 2016:
In front of a capacity crowd at The Abbey Stadium we began the new season against Spurs though it didn’t take long to carry on where we finished off last time in the EPL going behind within 3 minutes. Spurs were absolutely dominant giving us only one half chance in the first 45 minutes. Two quick goals early in the second half saw Spurs stretch their lead and a fine strike by Mehmeti briefly gave us a glimmer of hope but that’s all it was in this 3-1 defeat.
Villa Park provided the venue for our next game which saw a repeat performance of the season opener expect that we gave the opposition more shots on goal whilst we only got across the halfway line once in the entire game! Our biggest problem is giving the ball away far too cheaply.
Our next game was away to League 2 side Accrington in the League Cup and we got off to a fantastic start with Andrew Driver heading home after just 50 seconds. I was expecting the floodgates to open but the home side fought back and missed two easy first half chances. A powerful strike from Mariano Blanco doubled our lead early in the second half and that would prove to be all we could muster but at least we are through to the next round.
Our final game of the month was at home to Stoke City with Agon Mehmeti giving us the lead after 31 minutes – controlling beautifully a cross ball from Sean Power and placing his shot neatly in the corner of the net. Stoke set up camp in our end of the field up until the interval and were rewarded with a goal just before the break. We took the lead again early in the second half through Jacob Walcott who is fighting to stay in the first team but then through poor marking we threw away 3 points 8 minutes from time when we had the game in the bag.
Standings:
At least we are not bottom!!
Finances:
Well, the finacial situation is terribly messy indeed as we have dropped into the red even further this past month. Hopefully we get some good home attendances and perhaps a decent cup run to bolster things a little.
Fixtures:
We start of the next two months with a trip to Wigan before meeting Stoke again in the League Cup and will finish up October with tough encounters at Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium.
So, a short post this time to bring me in line with a two month report. As for my international career with Sweden there will be more on that next time and will be included in the Cambridge story rather than a separate post.
Thanks for taking the time to read this update.
Lye
2 сентября, 2011 at 01:26
Hi Kevin,
Tough start there. The goal in the closing stages against Stoke deny you a win which should see the players confidence increases. You should have chance against Wigan and Nottingham Forest in the next two games, hopefully you can get off to a good start by winning those two games. Good luck.
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:02
Thanks Lye — To be honest I expected to lose but hopefully we can gain some points against simliar opponents.
Johnny Karp
2 сентября, 2011 at 07:02
The schedule didn’t do you any favours, getting the Spurs and Aston Villa in the first two games is not easy for any Premier League side. It’s way too early to draw any conclusions but I’m quietly optimistic :) Good luck Kevin!
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:03
I wasn’t too happy to see spurs and Villa but a bit more confident with my next opponents
lee
2 сентября, 2011 at 09:51
take the next job you get offered lol get out of cambridge ur to big for them lol they seem to be a yoyo club
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:05
Hi Lee
Greetings from Canada and thanks for the comment. I like your suggestion so maybe i’ll just do that…we’ll see :)
vaibhavc
2 сентября, 2011 at 10:06
Hey Kevin
Spurs and Aston Villa. Not that easy for any mid-table team as well, let alone a newly promoted side. At least you are not last! Make sure you don’t stay last though.
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:06
I’m happy not be last as well :) I was really hoping for an easier start especially after last time we were in the EPL.
Darren Smith
2 сентября, 2011 at 12:00
I’m sorry to see Cambridge struggle in the top flight again Kevin…but remember those clubs are good and I think the results were to be expected. What really matters are the matches away from home to fellow relegation candidates. Good luck mate.
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:09
You’re right of course and hopefully we will produce the goods against these teams over the next few weeks.
Laxeyman
2 сентября, 2011 at 12:54
Tough start Kevin, but Spurs and Villa are good sides, so you shouldn’t be too worried, the main thing is that you beat bottom half teams, and if you do that you should stay up. At least you got a point and played alright against Stoke, so hopefully you can build on that. Good luck!
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:10
Thanks Laxeyman
The Stoke result was a bit more encouraging.
Excessive
2 сентября, 2011 at 13:00
Agree with Laxey here, Spurs and Villa are top teams so you aren’t expected to get a result against those lot. The point against Stoke are the ones you need to get so the next 3 league games should prove your worth in the Prem!
Good luck :)
Kevin
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:13
Hi Excessive
I hope to prove our worth in the upcoming games against similar ranked opponents.
Sears
2 сентября, 2011 at 17:54
Tough start Kevin, but like the others said you had a tough start and gained a valuable point against Stoke. Good luck mate!
Kevin
3 сентября, 2011 at 10:02
Cheers Sears — I hope we can build on the first point gained :)
onecapwonder
2 сентября, 2011 at 23:27
Echoing most people here you’ve had a pretty tough start and the match stats suggest you’ve been pretty competitive. You had more possession in all three Premiership matches and losing against Stoke seems to have been a result of misfotune in the last 10 minutes.
Given you’ve had so much more possesssion yet creaetd relatively few chances you could try playing slightly more directly against better opposition. There doesn’t seem to be much point enjoying more possession at Villa Park than the home team it it doesn’t get you any where. A more dierct approach may reduce the risk of your passes being intecepted in your own half and so cut down on scoring opportunities for your opponents.
Hope the next few matches go your way, if you can win those types of matches then you should be able to avoid the drop.
Kevin
3 сентября, 2011 at 10:07
onecapwonder — thanks for taking the time to leave a comment and for the tactical advice. I’m actually already playing a direct passing game which I’ve done so since the start of my career with Cambridge. You make a good point about possesion and the lack of benefit from having so much of it.