The Champions League draw was held a few days later and we were quite lucky, we’ll have to face Valencia which is a lot better than Barcelona or Bayern. It won’t be easy though, there are no easy games at this stage.
Back to the Premier League then, we had a very difficult game coming up at home with Liverpool. They were coming from a good run lately, three straight wins. The game was fairly even and it took something special to break the balance: Andrea Romano skipped past Skrtel and placed it in. That didn’t last long though, Liverpool got back level with a corner kick header. A few minutes later we took the lead again, Sam Hinshelwood headed in a free kick cross from Romano. We were playing pretty well in the second half but Liverpool scored again, some bizarre marking during a free kick gave them the chance to level the score. Then we took the lead once again, Romano picked up a through ball from Simon Kjaer and powered it in. But it just wasn’t our day, Liverpool were awarded a penalty kick and the score was level again. We missed a couple of good chances until the final whistle, it was quite a weird game.
We had to play better in the next game, away at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were right behind us in 2nd place so we couldn’t afford to lose the game. The Blues were coming from five straight wins, so they were quite confident and showed that right away. We got lucky in the beginning of the game, Simon Kjaer jumped higher than John Terry and headed in a corner kick but then we were under a lot of pressure. My defense coped with it pretty well but cracked eventually, Chelsea made it all square a few minutes before the break. Chelsea were pushing forward but their overconfidence proved to be costly, Rafael Sobis received a ball behind the defense on a counter attack and placed the ball past Cech. We were 2-1 up at the break against the run of play, I guess we were lucky. The team played better after the interval and managed to capitalize on that rather quickly, Bonetti received a through ball and slotted it home from close range. We kept things well under control until the last 10 minutes, Chelsea‘s late reaction was stopped by a couple of great saves from Akinfeev.
The last game of the year was at home with Aston Villa, only two days after the Chelsea game. We started the game well, my boys were moving the ball around beautifully but were unable to convert that into a goal. Cristian Zapata took care of that again, he netted yet another corner kick header. We kept on missing good chances and Aston Villa came very close to scoring on a counter attack. Andrea Romano doubled the lead just after the break and it was a stunning goal, he skinned three defenders before placing it home. Two minutes later the Italian striker set up Sam Hinshelwood for an easy finish, it was all over. Aston Villa tried hard to get back into the game but they couldn’t beat the in-form Akinfeev.
So, we were top of the table at the end of the year, four points clear and with two games in hand. The title race is still on I guess, even Arsenal have a good chance if they win their games in hand.
Now let’s have a look at the player stats at the halfway point of the season (sorted by average rating). Centre backs Kjaer and Zapata were absolutely stunning, rock solid at the back and very efficient in attack with their countless corner kick headers. Upfront Rafael Sobis and Andrea Romano were in lethal form, they scored more than 30 goals between them. Romano is a very important team player too, he tracks back to help in midfield and placed quite a few assists. I can’t understand what is wrong with Guilherme, he was my first choice striker at the beginning of the season but he failed to produce the same type of performances that he showed last season. I guess it’s a confidence problem and I hope we’ll sort it out in the second half of the season.
I’ll let you discover the other interesting things in the stats :)
Cristian Zapata and Rafael Sobis were picked in the FIFA World Team of the Year, that could be a big confidence booster for the entire team.
We’ll have 8 games to play in January and our fans will have quite a few tight games to watch: the Nottingham derby (twice!), Arsenal both home and away in the Premier League and last but not least, Manchester United at Old Trafford.
That’s how it was my friends, I’m glad to be back and looking forward to your comments!
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Lye
31 марта, 2010 at 16:27
Hi mate, your team is unbeatable. You will be ruling the premier league again and should have no problem easing past Valencia. Thought you have a tough group for England, should be vying with France for the top spot. I am very impressed with your centre half paring, they can defend and they can score too.
cory berman
31 марта, 2010 at 17:46
good to hear from you again and your team is going from strength to strength even with the delph injury and guilhelme’s unexplained lack of form, But that can happen. I dont agree with Lye, valencia have a great team : silva,villa,juan manuel mata,joaqiun and Co. but im sure you are better team and shall prevail over two legs but you might encounter some problems in doing so. Good luck!!
ravenie
31 марта, 2010 at 18:03
I wish my player were such good finishers as yours my young strikers finding it difficultto find the net
Majk
31 марта, 2010 at 18:09
Your centre backs are immense. Sobis is way too good aswell. 18 goals in 15 innings is truly remarkable. Valencia shouldn’t pose that much of a threat as long as you can keep their few star players in check. Villa and Silva might even be a bit old at this stage? Well Silva should be around 30-ish anyway, still a real threat, unless he has been sold.
Hope you’ll do well with England as that is your biggest challenge, seeing as your Notts Co is more or less unbeatable.
Sears
31 марта, 2010 at 19:13
Cory,I agree with Lye’s remark over yours because I think your forgetting how old some of those players you mentioned are.Remember,he’s in the year 2015,not 2009.But yes they do have a great team,but maybe its old by now?Im not sure but Johnny has gone a few years in to the future!
Johnny, your team is doing fantastic.Title is sealed allready,it just has to be wrapped up now.Two big derbys coming up, I wish you luck in what should be a trilling encounter.Well done,you should be very proud of yourself and your team.
sam warren
31 марта, 2010 at 19:25
Well done another good month. You should be able to easilt progress from the euros with England and I think that you can easily go all the way.
I think that you have got the title wrapped up and in the bag for a second consecutive season and I hope you can win the Champions League as well. Busy 6 months ahead of you then, hope you can achieve it all.
warren
Laxeyman
31 марта, 2010 at 19:48
Hi Johnny,
Well done, another great month. The title will surely be yours once again, your team is just unbeatable! The Valencia game will be quite tough, but I think you’ll go through as they’re main players are probably quite old by now.
The England group is tough, it will be a challenge, but I think you’ll finish at least second.
Kevin Mayo
31 марта, 2010 at 20:49
Welcome back Johnny
I’ve missed your updates but it’s good to see that all is as should be in the world of Notts County, that being unbeatable. A nice little lead at the top of the table to finish the month and games in hand too. Romano has been a superb buy for you and I’m glad to see Hinschelwood still gets a look in.
Micheal
31 марта, 2010 at 20:55
Wow Sobis is in deadly form at the moment. No 1 as far as I can see will stop you winning the league.
Johnny Karp
31 марта, 2010 at 21:57
Thanks for sharing your views and for the kind words folks, I surely missed your passionate approach to the game. :)
@Lye
The pair of centre backs has been essential to our progress so far, all the big clubs are sending in offers for Zapata and Kjaer now…
@Cory
Valencia have a good team even if, as the others said, Villa & co are quite old now. Villa is 34 if I remember correctly but his technical skills are still world class. I’ll tell you more about their team in the February update.
@Ravenie
Experience is pretty important, strikers gain composure and concentration with age. Rafael Sobis is 30 years old, so I guess he’s at the peak of his career.
@Majk
I agree that England is the biggest challenge but I still have something to prove with Notts County, win the Champions League!
@Sears
I am quite pleased indeed but I still hope to see better performances from them.
@Sam Warren
I don’t think we’ll have an easy run with England, France have an incredibly strong team, Italy and Spain are great too.
@Laxeyman
I’d settle for the second place in the group with England, I just hope we won’t have any injuries because there are not too many world class players available to call up.
@Kevin
I think that Romano is the best transfer I ever made, he is unstoppable and still young!
@Micheal
Sobis is a killer indeed, he started the season on the bench but then fired his way to the top.