The last league game of the month was at home with Sunderland, we had to win it in order to confirm the good run. It was a good display from my lads, they solved the game in the first half and then took the foot of the gas. The first goal was particularly pleasing, a fine flowing team move found Delph inside the box and he finished with a placed shot.
We are top of the table and have already opened up a decent gap, I hope to keep it up and dominate the league this season.
The month was not over yet, the last game was the Champions League encounter with mighty Atletico Madrid. After having a look at their squad I was sure that we would have a tough game: they had Otamendi in defense, Hamsik in midfield and Aguero in attack and these are their best players but the rest of the pack were solid players too. My boys were not afraid though and we started the game in great style, Rafael Sobis scored an early goal after picking up an assist from Andrea Romano. Atletico produced a fierce reaction in the following 10 minutes but then we took control of the game and deservedly doubled our lead before half time. It was yet another corner kick header from Zapata, he’s a monster in the air. We were under heavy pressure after the interval, Atletico were firing from all over the place. Adler was in great shape though but he was defeated eventually from the penalty spot. We took control of the game after the goal but just when we were pushing for the third goal Atletico punished us on a counter attack. I was thinking that maybe I should have pulled back to defend the one goal lead… Fabian Delph changed my mood a few minutes later, he was running the show in midfield, passed it through to Romano and the Italian didn’t miss the opportunity. It was a spectacular game and I’m extremely happy that we managed to win it. The away game will be very difficult though…
Before moving on I want to show you what centre back Cristian Zapata did in the last game. He scored a goal with a corner kick header but he dominated his opponents in the air all over the pitch. His heading stats are more than impressive, I’m quite happy I chose to buy him this season.
We’ll have an easier schedule in October, just one tough game with Manchester City.
We’ll have to be careful not to get complacent though, we could easily get into trouble if we don’t show the right attitude on the pitch. That’s how it was my friends, thanks for reading.
Kevin Mayo
19 марта, 2010 at 14:15
Hello Johnny
Nice that you have a four point lead already with a game in hand so hopefully you can extend your advantage by the end of the month. That was kind of weird seeing England lose to Belgium like that but a good rebound against Estonia.Both your CL games looked liked difficult encounters but you did well all things considered and should pick up all three points against Bratislava.
Lye
19 марта, 2010 at 14:46
Hi mate, though your team sometimes frustrate you with their performance but they were still nicking results. Thats the true sheer determination of a title winning team. Good results against Lyon & At Madrid, definitely not easy opponents there. Hope your team will perform better next month though i think you should be able to take maximum points.
Jaffa
19 марта, 2010 at 17:52
Well done-a sign of a champion that u can win without playing amazing. With so many good players, I don’t no ur team-could u post it?? Thx
sam warren
19 марта, 2010 at 18:12
Well done, hope that you manage an unbeaten season in the Premiership. I was pleased to see that you beat Sunderland (being a Neewcastle fan I was very pleased. Keep up the good work
warren
Laxeyman
19 марта, 2010 at 18:29
Hi Johnny, well done on another good month. You seem to just grind out results, Zapata has been amamzing, he must have won many points with his goals from corners. A strange reslut v Belgium but pleasing to see that the team bounced back well.
Good luck for next month.
Johnny Karp
19 марта, 2010 at 18:48
@Laxeyman
Thanks mate, that Belgium game is still on my mind as I can’t figure out what happened.
@Sam Warren
Thanks Warren, I’d rather win the Champions League than stay unbeaten for the whole season. We’ll see what the future will bring.
@Jaffa
I agree, it’s a sign of mental strength. You can see all the player profiles and squad in the Current Squad pages — https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/current-squad/
@Lye
Thanks mate, I’m quite happy with the results and the team shows signs of progress each week. I hope we’ll be in full strength in the second part of the season.
@Kevin
Thanks for the comment, a win against Bratislava is a must, we can’t afford any slip ups there.
Jaffa
19 марта, 2010 at 18:50
Thanks but I meant ur first team. Sorry if Im being a nag!!
Aaron
19 марта, 2010 at 19:08
in my game i am currently managing Chelsea and Brazil want me to manage them as well but when i go to accept the job it doesn’t let me. What could i be doing wrong?
ravenie
19 марта, 2010 at 19:13
I know I have the same problem Ghana asked me and I accepted 10 times didnt work :|
Laxeyman
19 марта, 2010 at 19:24
Aaron and ravenie you need to install patch 10.2. It happened to me until I installed the patch. Patch 10.3 should stop it as well.
Johnny Karp
19 марта, 2010 at 20:20
@Jaffa
If you mean the regular first eleven I don’t really have one, I rotate the players quite often. But I guess the best eleven would be Adler — Varga, Zapata, Kjaer, Barton — Hinshelwood, Shelvey, Delph, Young — Romano, Guilherme
Jaffa
19 марта, 2010 at 20:50
Thank u! And some English players too! But the strength in depth u have is amazing.