England are the Champions!!!

Hello, everyone! I am pleased to say that our European Championship dream has come true! Yes, it was fantastic as we beat Spain 1-0 in the final.

 Before that, though we had to actually get there. As I said in the last post, we were drawn against Portugal in the quarter final. You can see from the match stats that Portugal were probably the better team, although it was a very tight game. We were unlucky to go behind when Ashley Cole somehow converted into his own net from a corner. Frank Lampard then equalised out of the blue with a stunning curling shot that went in off the bar. The match continued to ebb and flow, with both sides creating chances. I thought neither team was going to score, as the quality of finishing was poor throughout. However Gerrard hammered in a freekick, from a full 35 yards, another great goal from him. It was a worthy winner, and proved to be so, because I set the strategy to counter and restricted Portugal’s chances. This was quite harsh on Portugal as they deserved a draw at least, but we weren’t complaining and we were one step closer to the final.

Barring our path, however was Italy, currently the top ranked side in the world. If any team was going to test us, it was them. However I thought we played well, although the match stats suggest it was a very even game. It seems that in every game we have had less possesion, despite the setting — Counter Attack being turned off. I don’t know why this is, and it even seems to happen against weaker teams. However, back to the Italy match. Ashley Young gave us the lead with a curling shot into the top corner, after he had cut in from the left. He seems to do this really well and it is really working for us. Italy equalised from a corner, with a thumping header from Udinese DC Felipe. However not long afterwards a fine move was finshed of cooly by Rooney, to win it for us.

It was a great win, beating the top side in the world, and meant we had booked a place in the final against Spain.

The Final was going to be a very close, tight, tense affair. And so it proved to be. I felt we deserved the win though. We dominated the game in terms of possession and shots. Casillas had more to do than Foster, although he was forced to make one great save from a Torres shot. The game started off scrapily, with neither side getting the ball down and passing it. However, in the 24th minute, Rooney found Lampard, who found Lennon, who set up Gerrard, who fired into the top corner from 20 yards, to leave Casillas helpless. The game wasn’t a very good one, to be truthful, and a lot of shots were taken from long range. Villa was brought on in the 69th minute, and immediatley Spain looked more dangerous, so I switched the strategy to standard, from attacking. This sort of worked and I also brought Hargreaves on for Lampard to play as a DMC and protect the back line.

Thankfully, we managed to hold on, as I  would have been devastated to concede and lose, after what happened with Liverpool in both the FA Cup and Champions League. When the final whistle went, jubilation and relief swept over me. I am really glad, and happy that we won this, especially as I have only been in charge for 8 months.

That’s all for now, the transfer window has just  opened so I am on the look out for signings now!