Notts County Story — January 2017

Here we go again folks, welcome to 2017! My  Notts County were looking quite alright at the halfway point of the season after bringing home another piece of nice shiny silverware, the FIFA Club World Cup. The Premier League situation also improved, we were top of the table six points clear of the other contenders and with a game in hand.

The first game of the new year was the first leg of the League Cup semi final clash with Manchester City. I was expecting a close hard fought game but things took a dream like turn right away as Andrea Romano went through the defense and scored only 11 seconds into the game! The Citizens were shocked and a few minutes later Sergio Aguero slotted one home. We were playing like extraterrestrials and Ashley Young made it 3-0 with a nice shot right into the top corner just before the half hour mark. Then Andrea Romano took over and banged in a free kick from 35 yards to add his 20th goal of the season. Seven minutes later the Italian striker slotted another one home from an assist served by his mate Sergio Aguero. We were 5-0 up at half time and the team slowed things down a bit in the second half. Even so, we created another few chances and scored another goal when Zapata jumped higher than the keeper and headed home a corner kick. I was in disbelief at the end of the game, I honestly didn’t think that my team can play so well.

Next up, a Premier League game away at 11th placed Sunderland. We got off to a good start again, Sergio Aguero was brought down inside the box and Gergely Varga converted the penalty 13 minutes into the game. Then Segio Aguero created and missed a couple of chances until half time but we were in control of the game. The second half was also fairly quiet until Steven Defour decided to celebrate his 100th league game for the club. First he played a fine through ball for Guilherme (came in for Aguero 25 minutes from time) who doubled our lead. Then Rafael Sobis made it 3-0 and just before the final whistle Defour played another superb assist for Nicola Bonetti.

The next game was at home with surprise package Burnley, they had a great first half of the season and were lying in 7th place. We totally dominated the first half but were unable to find the way past Burnley‘s tenacious defense, probably their most valuable asset. We did score the opening goal a few minutes into the second half, right back Stefan van Dijk unleashed a powerful cross and Agnaldo connected with a well placed header. Then there was silence until the final whistle, Burnley continued to defend and we didn’t have too much determination to score either.

The most important game of the month was coming up, at home with 2nd placed Manchester United. I was surely looking to make the gap between us and them even wider, I wanted a win. We started the game in full throttle and Sergio Aguero made the difference once again: after missing a good chance in the first minutes he played a superb assist for Fabian Delph who slotted it home from inside the box. The team immediately looked to net a second goal but we were punished on a quick counter attack only two minutes after taking the lead. Then we resumed our attacks and scored again as Havard Nordtveit headed in a fine free kick cross from Andrea Romano. The game was fairly even until half time with each team missing a clear chance to score. The second half was completely different though, Manchester United took control of the game and we were under steady and heavy pressure. We had an immense Igor Akinfeev between the sticks though, he played one of the best games of his career in the last 45 minutes. We had a few opportunities to strike on counter attacks but my strikers were not incisive enough to get past United’s defense. We secured a great result but I have to say that we had luck and a great Akinfeev on our side in the second half.

The next game was the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final and since we won the first leg 6-0 I decided to send in the players that had less chances to feature in the starting eleven until then. There was no pressure and the team produced a decent performance, obviously not anywhere near the fantastic football that we displayed in the first leg. James Milner scored his first goal for the club to give us a well earned 1-1 draw. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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

Then we had to meet Manchester United again, this time in the FA Cup. The game was not as important as the league one but I surely wanted another win. My dynamic duo upfront were looking ready to strike and they did that 13 minutes into the game: Aguero played a through ball for Romano and Italian rounded the keeper and passed it into the back of the net. Then things took a sad turn, both strikers got injured before half time and I had to change the tactical set up because I was left with only one striker. Manchester United took advantage of that and dominated the second half. We defended well though and even had a few chances to strike on counter attacks. Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about the game anymore, I wanted it to end so that I could read the physio report on my strikers. Well, it could have been worse: Romano was going to be out for a week while Aguero had to be away for 4 weeks.

Back to the Premier League for a difficult away game at 4th placed Aston Villa. Without my two star strikers I had to send in Rafael Sobis and Guilherme upfront but I was fairly confident before the start of the game. My mood changed a bit during the first 45 minutes and despite a pretty harsh half time team talk the team failed to react. We played a modest game, below average, and Aston Villa ran us ragged on counter attacks. It was our first league defeat of the season and I was quite bitter especially because I couldn’t understand why the team played so badly.

The last game of the month was at home with struggling 19th placed Stoke. We had to get a comprehensive win to shake off the disappointment of the defeat at Villa Park. Andrea Romano was recovered from his injury and he immediately contributed with a goal. Then Rafael Sobis banged in a quickfire double to settle things before half time. I took out Romano at half time to protect him from an eventual recurring injury and his replacement, Guilherme, played a fine assist for right winger Nicola Bonetti. We could have scored a few more but I was satisfied with the performance.

I protected Romano but that didn’t do too much good, he got injured in training a few days after the game and this time he will be out for around three weeks. Anyway, we were 7 points clear of Chelsea with one game in hand.

February will start with a couple of easy games but it will get tougher towards the end of the month when we’ll have to play the Nottingham Derby, the first leg of the Champions League tie with Celtic and last but not least, the League Cup final against Arsenal.

That’s how it was my friends, thanks for reading. A quick update on the «Which Should Be My Next Team» poll, Dorchester Town is still leading with 35 out of 96 votes but things can still change until Sunday, please cast your vote if you didn’t already do that!

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