Notts County Story — February 2015

Hello dear friends and thank you for coming back to read another chapter of the Notts County Football Manager 2010 story. As you know from the previous post we managed to open up a decent gap over second placed Manchester City, we were 6 points ahead of them. That gave us a bit of room to breathe and more serenity in looking forward to the next games. We still couldn’t afford to relax though, we had to keep on winning to stay on course and defend the title.

The first game of the month was a tough test, away at Old Trafford with Manchester United. The Red Devils were having a very disappointing season, they were down in 8th place and were looking like a shadow of the team that challenged for the title last season. They still had Rooney though and that’s enough to win any game against any opponent. We won the last game against them 2-0 at Meadow Lane back in September, I was hoping for a good performance again. The first half was incredibly boring, neither of the two teams managed to create chances. Even more, we didn’t have any shots on target in the first 45 minutes while Man United had only one! Rooney came out of the dressing room with great determination and he had a chance to score right away but Akinfeev denied him with a fine save. We took control after the first five minutes of the second half and the good performance finally paid off when Steven Defour played an exquisite through ball for Bonetti, the right winger placed the ball past the keeper to give us the lead. We were safely in control and doubled the lead just before the final whistle, Kjaer flicked on a near post corner kick and Nordtveit pushed the ball in.

The morale was quite high in our dressing room and everybody was expecting an easy game at home with 10th placed Newcastle, we beat them 3-0 away from home in September. We got off to a flying start thanks to a placed finish from Rafael Sobis and then produced a wonderful display of attacking football. We were already 4-0 up by the half hour mark, it was a massacre. Nicola Bonetti continued his good form by scoring again but the whole team played beautifully, I was very pleased.

We had to take a quick break for international fixtures, England had a tricky away friendly in Greece. I wanted to try a few new players and choices, so I started with Sturridge and Rooney upfront and a new pair in the middle of the defense, Shawcross and Wheater. We got off to a bad start, a pass through the middle surprised our defense and Greece took the lead nine minutes into the game. The team reacted pretty well and I was particularly pleased with Sturridge, he was very determined to succeed. He got us back on track a few minutes later, he got the ball back in midfield and went with it all the way, a fine solo effort. Ashley Young gave us the lead five minutes later thanks to his skills, he dribbled past a defender and placed the ball past the keeper. Sturridge kept on playing well in the second and he scored again after missing a couple of chances. The fourth goal started from him too, he played a perfect assist for Delfouneso (in for Rooney). It was a good result and it seemed that I found the perfect partner for Rooney upfront, Chelsea‘s Daniel Sturridge.

Back to Notts County, the next game was the FA Cup 5th round clash with Liverpool. Most of my players came back pretty tired from the international fixtures so I chose to rest most of the team regulars, we won the FA Cup last season and although I would have loved winning it again it was not a priority. Liverpool took the lead thanks to a blitz from Torres but we got back on level terms right away, Demba Ba struck one with real venom from inside the penalty area. My backup players were doing quite well, we were dominating the game. Striker Chris Gadi hit the post in the final minutes of the first half but we took the lead before the break, Bonetti finished after receiving a nice assist from Tinga. We continued to play well in the second half but Liverpool scored against the run of play, it was a wonder goal from Torres. The Reds took control of the game but we missed a few good chances on the break. Unfortunately my defense couldn’t cope with Torres, he gave Liverpool the win with a fantastic solo effort. I guess we didn’t deserve to lose it but Torres made the difference with his fantastic skills.

Back to the Premier League, our next game was at home with 13th placed West Ham. We won the away game 2-1 in October but it wasn’t easy at all. West Ham were defending pretty well and despite our efforts we were unable to crack their defensive wall. That was until Sam Hinshelwood stepped up, he finished a team move with a perfectly placed shot to give us the lead. We were taking the game to our opponents but we were unable to convert the chances into more goals until half time. The second half was pretty quiet, West Ham were not giving us any headaches. When it seemed to be all over Rafael Sobis couldn’t resist and he scored with a delightful lob from 25 yards out. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

Next up, another easy looking game, at home with last placed Blackburn. We won the away game 4-1 in October, I was entitled to expect another win. We took the lead early in the game thanks to centre back Havard Nordtveit, he made his strength count in a corner kick scuffle and pushed the ball into the back of the net. Blackburn were playing pretty well though, Akinfeev had some work to do after the goal. Rafael Sobis doubled our lead before the break with a fine placed shot from the edge of the area, we were in control. Agnaldo and Demba Ba got their names on the score sheet after the interval, a good win in a game that was much more difficult than expected.

Our good run opened the gap a bit further, Manchester City are 10 points behind now! There are 10 more games to play and we surely have one hand on the title but we have to be careful, a couple of defeats could make the title chase wide open again.

We had one more game to play before the end of the month, the first leg of the Champions League battle with Bordeaux. They finished second in their group behind Barcelona and above Benfica. Their main strength seemed to be the attacking pair, Marouane Chamakh and Fernando Cavenaghi. We started the game well, we were controlling the midfield and took the lead 10 minutes into the game when Guilherme picked up a good through ball from Defour and slotted it home. Things changed after the goal, we were still in control but we were unable to create anything upfront, Bordeaux‘s defense was rock solid. The French team looked way more attacking after the interval, they were pushing forward and we were forced to defend. We did that pretty well until the 73rd minute when a misunderstanding between two of my players left Barnetta with an easy chance. We tried to react but despite having good ball possession we were unable to go anywhere interesting with the ball, our attacks were crumbling down before reaching the penalty area. The result was not bad but I am a bit worried about the second leg, we have to do much better than this to qualify.

Next month’s highlight will be the Carling Cup final, we’ll get to meet Liverpool again but this time I’m going to send in the best available eleven. We’ll also have an important league game with Chelsea and last but not least, the second leg of the Champions League encounter with Bordeaux.

That’s how it was folks, thanks for reading. The priority for March will be winning the Carling Cup and going through in the Champions League. Of course, I’d be extremely happy if we could keep the great league form :)

P.S.: I’d like to invite you to visit a brand new football site I’m writing for, it’s a website that offers daily football related polls. I have selected a question just for you: «Who will be England’s first choice right midfielder at the World Cup?» The answers so far indicate that most people would prefer Aaron Lennon:

I’d love to see you sharing your ideas over there, thanks.

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