Notts County August 2014 — More Silverware On The Table

Hello dear friends, I’m happy to welcome you back to another episode of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story. After all the transfer news and rumors we had to prepare for the real deal, the first games of the new season. We had to reconfirm our status in the Premier League but we also had new challenges to face: the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Community Shield. There was silverware on the table right away as the last two trophies were going to be offered in August.

In fact, the first game of the month was the Community Shield at Wembley, we had to face our fierce rivals from last season — Manchester United. They finished right behind us in the Premier League after battling hard until the last game, now they wanted revenge. They looked very determined in the first minutes of the game but we took the lead right away, Barton sent in one of his powerful crosses and Bonetti pushed it in from the far post. Manchester United got back level only four minutes later though but we recovered well and continued to play beautifully. Sam Hinshelwood was directing our attacks, I employed him as a central midfield playmaker in that game and he delivered the goods. It was one of his trough balls that set up Demba Ba for the second goal but the Senegalese striker missed another few of chances before the break. On the other hand Man United were launching dangerous counter attacks but Ochoa made a solid debut between the sticks, he saved anything that was coming at him. I changed the strategy to counter for the second half and Manchester United were restricted to long shots giving Ochoa a few opportunities to show his skills again. We had quite a few chances on counter attacks but my strikers were not very inspired, they missed a whole lot. The final whistle erased all the tension, we were celebrating another trophy at Wembley Stadium!

We had to end the celebrations quickly though, the first game of the Premier League was coming up next. The game was at home with Fulham, a team that finished in 14th place last season. I already knew their fierce defending style and they didn’t let me down, they were defending extremely well and trying to strike on counter attacks. We played rather poorly though, Fulham took the lead and Rafael Sobis saved our first half by inventing a splendid volley to make it all square. Fulham totally parked the bus in the second half and despite trying hard we were unable to create chances. We had to try to score with long shots but we lacked precision. That was it, Fulham had one shot on goal and that went in, it’s frustrating but they deserved the draw for the determination that they showed in defense.

We had the chance to recover right away, our next game was away at newly promoted Middlesbrough. I wasn’t expecting an easy game though, Boro just won the Championship and that’s a good achievement for any team. Guilherme made the game a lot easier for us, he scored an early goal in his first game of the season as he finally recovered from the bad injury that he suffered at the end of the previous season. Rafael Sobis and Steven Defour only needed a few more minutes to make it 3-0, the game seemed to be as good as over. We continued to play well but missed a few chances while Boro took advantage of some poor defending to claw one back before the break. The result was beyond doubt though, we kept on pushing forward in the second half and Rafael Sobis converted just one of the many chances that we created.

The last league game of the month was a much more difficult one, at home with Aston Villa. They were coming from two straight wins and I was expecting a tough battle. The spectators were the witnesses of an action packed first half, both teams created chances but both keepers, Begovic and Ochoa, proved to be in great form. We looked a bit better than our opponents though and I hoped to capitalize on that in the second half. It was not possible though, the last 45 minutes were quite ugly, the players were nervy and the fans had nothing more to watch other than lots of fouls and yellow cards. We could have won the game with a bit more luck but still, something was not working as it should have.

The last game of the month was the UEFA Super Cup game with Real Madrid but just before the battle we had something else to watch, the Champions League groups draw. We were seeded 3rd for the draw, so I wasn’t expecting an easy group. It didn’t go too bad though, we’ll have to face mighty AC Milan, CSKA Moscow (the team that we knocked out in the Europa League semi finals last season) and Danish side Brondby. I guess we’ll battle for the second place with the Russians, I’m looking forward to play at San Siro though :) Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Now let’s get back to the Real Madrid game. They won the Champions League last season, so I thought that they must have a pretty strong team. When I looked at the line ups my feeling of respect turned into something closer to fear.

I was afraid that their four players upfront would rip our defense to pieces, so I decided to start the game with a more cautious approach by changing the starting strategy from attacking to counter. Our most expensive signing, Ashley Young, was suspended for the game due to a red card that he picked up in the previous season. My cautious approach seemed to work well in the first half, we kept them under control and even had two good chances on counter attacks. Unfortunately Iker Casillas still is a world class keeper, he was looking unbeatable. Real pushed harder in the second half but we continued to defend well and restrict their chances, We didn’t create much in attack though, so the game went to extra time. We had 30 more minutes of suffering but a corner kick header from Raul Albiol put an end to our hopes. It could have gone differently though, a couple of minutes after their goal Sam Hinshelwood sent a thundering shot from the edge of the area, it hit the underside of the crossbar but bounced clear… The last 15 minutes were a pointless struggle, we were unable to create any more emotions for Casillas.

I was not too sad after that defeat, we faced a superior opponent and the lads did their best to get a result. September will bring our Champions League debut, it will be at San Siro! We’ll start at the Emirates Stadium though and then we’ll also have Manchester United coming at Meadow Lane, it looks quite entertaining. Speaking about the Premier League, I am a bit disappointed with our start and I think I will make some tactical changes but you’ll know more about that in the next post.

September will also bring my debut with England, the European Championship Qualifying games will begin and we seem to have a fairly easy group with Malta, Estonia, Northern Ireland and Switzerland.

We’ll also have a tough friendly game at Wembley against fresh World Cup winners Spain, I think that I would have wanted an easier opponent for the debut.

The assistant manager suggested that I should call up this bunch of players for the first two games, with Spain and Malta. You’re my assistant managers too so I’d like to know your opinions about the squad selection, take a look at those names and tell me who shouldn’t be in there or who should be but isn’t. Please consider that we’re in 2014 and that I intend to use a 4-4-2 set up almost identical to the one I’m employing at Notts County.

Before closing the post, here’s some information that Kyle WHU requested the other day. Apart from the screen shots that you required I can tell you that Swindon Town are safely in League One, moving around the middle of the table for the last few seasons.

That’s all for now folks! Thanks for reading and I’m looking forward to seeing your comments and suggestions. ;)

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