Notts County November 2013

Hello folks and thanks for coming back to read the stories on this website. Here we go, another episode of the Notts County story is ready to be told, I was quite impatient to play the games in November and now I’m eager to share the experience with you. We were in 2nd place at the end of October, right behind Manchester United but with two games in hand! Things were looking good for us but we had to keep it up in order to stay in the top spots of the table.

The first game of November was at home with Wolves, probably the most surprising team of the league so far. They were up in 4th place and playing pretty well, so everybody was expecting a close game. The match began beautifully for us, right winger Nicola Bonetti found the way to the net with a fantastic missile shot from 25 yards out. Wolves‘ keeper was awfully busy until half time but unfortunately we couldn’t get one more past him. The second half was a bit different, my team lowered the tempo and allowed Wolves to create far too many chances. An error from goalkeeper Sergio Romero led to the equalizer and we couldn’t react to that, the match ended in a draw. I have to say that Wolves really look like a strong team but we could have solved the game in the first half.

Next up, a tough Europa League game, away at Olympiakos. A win would have secured our qualification to the next round but I would have been quite pleased with a draw. The start of the game was quite tough, the Greeks missed a couple of chances right away. We went 1-0 up though, Demba Ba took advantage of his strength and stature and headed home a corner kick. Olympiakos deserved to get back level and they did that in style, a fantastic volley from 25 yards out right in the top corner. We picked up the pace after the equalizer but Rafael Sobis missed two very good chances before the break. We went up again in the second half, Kevin Thomson powered one in to finish a team move. Later on it was striker Marcelo Moreno who had a chance to shine, he came back after some injury problems and made his presence count by finishing off a counter attack. A few minutes later an error from Dodo gave Olympiakos a way back into the match and the final minutes of the game were quite difficult. Sergio Romero kept us afloat with a few fantastic saves, it was his win more than anybody’s.

We were officially through to the next round with two games to spare, I’ll have the chance to rest some players in the last games.

Back to the Premier League, we had an away game at 15th placed Burnley. We were off to a dream start again, Rafael Sobis placed one in after picking up a fine through ball from Lucas Biglia. Burnley didn’t lose their heads though, they were dominating the game especially on the flanks. And that’s how the equalizer eventually came, a cross and a header from inside the penalty area. The Brazilians gave us the lead before the break though, an assist from Sobis was converted by Guilherme with a placed shot. I decided to switch the strategy to counter after half time, we were failing to outplay the opponents. We managed to keep things more quiet that way and Steven Defour put the game beyond doubt with a bomb shot from 25 yards out. Another win in our bag but the team was unconvincing again.Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

The next game was a more difficult one, at home with 13th placed Sunderland. The first half was fairly even but Sunderland had a couple of great chances on counter attacks. Lucas Biglia stepped up again in the second half, he played a perfect little ball for Guilherme and the striker passed it into the back of the net. Our defense was quite leaky again, we allowed Sunderland to create way too many chances but Sergio Romero saved us again, he was fantastic. We were still unbeaten but I was afraid that if we would have played like this in the next game the great run had a good chance of coming to an end…

… and that is because the next game, and the last of the month, was away at Emirates Stadium, 7th placed Arsenal were eager to give us a good beating. I hoped that the players would realize that it was a very important game. The first half was quite even, none of the teams looked like prevailing. There were only two big chances until the break, one for each side. Our chance was missed by Marcelo Moreno (in for injured Guilherme) and Arsenal‘s chance was created by Uruguayan left winger Juan Angel Albin but Romero took care of it with a fine save. We looked much better in the second half though, we were outplaying Arsenal! Marcelo Moreno created some space for himself and launched a shot from the edge of the area… but it hit the crossbar! A few minutes later the same player, Bolivian Marcelo Moreno, took advantage of some poor defending from Clichy and banged the ball home with a powerful header! We kept control of the game until the 75th minute when I chose to switch the strategy to counter, I was afraid of crumbling under pressure. A counter attack move doubled our lead though: Sobis played a fine assist for Sneijder, the shot was parried but the ball jumped to Sobis again. The Brazilian took the shot, the keeper touched it again but it went in off the post! The crowd was extremely silent after that moment and so was Arsenal. My boys were unleashed and young Italian Nicola Bonetti found the strength to shoot from inside the box after dribbling past two defenders… It went in, straight into the top corner! I was dancing in front of the dugout, that was a massive result!

Manchester United didn’t drop any points in November though, their lead was now up to three points. I guess I can say that we have a good chance of getting one of the top four spots at the end of the season.

Roberto Mancini, Arsenal’s manager, made a nice statement after the game. That might be just psychological warfare though, we shouldn’t get carried away.

Take a look at all the games that we have to play in December, it will be a massacre! The good thing is that I’ll be able to rest some players in the Europa League matches but still, it will be an extremely tough challenge.

That’s how it was folks, we managed to stay unbeaten for another month. If I’ll be able to say that at the end of December then we can evaluate our chances for the title. Until then, I can say that we are in for a Champions League spot. I’m looking forward to reading other opinions though :)

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