Tottenham vs Vauxhall (Premier League)
Venue: White Hart Lane
Attendance: 53,461
Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Javier Godoy, Mervin Simon, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana
Team Talk: You can win today!
There was no storm though, at least not in the first half. We dominated most of the opening 45 minutes and could even have broken the deadlock eight minutes before the break when Parana was denied by a spectacular double save from Spurs keeper David De Gea. The home side did have a chance too, they broke through on a counter attack on 41 minutes but Luis Guilherme pulled off a nice save to keep the score level.
Half time score: 0-0
Half time team talk: You can win today!
Half time substitutions: Hans Larsson for Touya, Robert Ackermann for Indio, Walid Mechergui for Tiago
Tottenham started the second half with a more attacking attitude and that could have paid off after just five minutes, Dzeko had a huge chance but he fired well wide from inside the penalty area. The home crowd was totally silenced a minute later, a quick move saw Zé Carlos exchanging passes with Parana, Zé was clean through after receiving the return pass from his Brazilian friend and he fired into the bottom corner! We were 1-0 up and the title was looking a lot closer! The goal gave the lads even more confidence and we could have scored again on the hour mark but Walid Mechergui‘s effort from 5 yards was pushed away by a fantastic De Gea. Two minutes later it was Mervin Simon who could have doubled the lead but his corner kick header went inches wide of the post. Tottenham rallied the troops and started pushing forward in the last 20 minutes and they could have made it all square after a fine move but their finishing was poor once again. I decided to switch the strategy to counter for the last 10 minutes and the change paid off, we kept the Spurs away through good possession and we clinched the massive three points!
Full time team talk: Well done!
Man of the match: Parana
Flop of the match: Tiago
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
The five-point cushion means that we only need four more points out of the last three games to secure the title. By the way, last season we had won the title with 87 points…
We’ll talk more about the Premier League later, we had a trip to France before the end of the month. Lyon were not totally unknown to us as we had met them in the Champions League group stage in 2017 and we did pretty well back then as we recorded a 1-1 draw away and beat them 2-1 at home. However, their current team was much better as it featured last year’s striker of the year, a Brazilian wonderkid named André.
Lyon vs Vauxhall (Champions League Semi Final Leg 1)
Venue: Stade des Lumières
Attendance: 58,140
Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Javier Godoy, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana
Team Talk: You can win today!
The opening minutes of the game showed that we were totally up against it, Lyon were dominating as their skillful players were finding it quite easy to move the ball around. They broke the deadlock after just 8 minutes but the goal was a bit fortuitous, a free kick shot bounced back from the wall and then was fired home. We tried to react after that goal but that didn’t do us too much good, Nani unleashed a beautiful shot on a counter attack and Lyon were 2-0 up after just 15 minutes! It seemed that we were heading toward a disastrous evening but the lads did react quickly and we could have pulled one back after just two minutes, Zé Carlos was denied by the keeper and the ball bounced into the path of Parana, my striker had the empty net in front of him but he hit the post! We continued to push forward after missing that huge chance but our hopes received a big blow 10 minutes before the break, Parana caught an opponent with his elbow and the referee showed him the red card! Luckily we did manage to score on the stroke of half time, Javier Godoy played a perfect long ball for Leandro Velasco who displayed a great first touch before firing into the roof of the net. That goal was just what we needed given the numerical disadvantage.
Half time score: 2-1
Half time team talk: Sympathise.
Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Tiago
We were down to 10 men but that didn’t really show on the pitch until the 70th minute, my boys were playing with great courage and determination and managed to dominate the game until those final 20 minutes. Then we ran out of gas and Lyon started to push us back but my defense held out beautifully until two minutes from time. That’s when our numbers were reduced even further, Javier Godoy left the field and as I had already made the other two substitutions we had to play the final minutes with just 9 men and a totally improvised defense. That could have proved costly but the lads were simply heroic during those final minutes, Pierre Touya did a great job as a centre back while Walid Mechergui played his heart out as a makeshift left back. It was a defeat but I think it’s a great result given the circumstances. We still hold a chance to qualify if we win the second leg, it will be tough especially since we will miss suspended Parana and injured Godoy (out for a month).
Full time team talk: Good effort!
Man of the match: Leandro Velasco
Flop of the match: Parana
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
The players’ top five suffered a few modifications this month, Marat Bykov leads the charts now with a 7.42 average rating but Zé Carlos and Parana are not too far behind. Mervin Simon made his way into the top five as he scored quite a few goals lately but he wasn’t as good in defense to be honest. Javier Godoy is having his best season at the club but unfortunately he picked up that injury against Lyon and he will probably miss the whole month of May.
This month’s youngster comes from Sweden, a 17-year old striker named Christoffer Brannstrom. I paid a small fee to IFK Goteborg for this lad, just 300K, and I have already received offers for him from the likes of Chelsea and Arsenal. My assistant believes that he can become as good as Zé Carlos, I surely hope that he’s right. He still has a lot of work to do but I believe that he’s willing to work hard and improve over the next couple of years. If he doesn’t, I’ll cash in ;)
So, we need four points to defend our title but those won’t be easy to get given our Premier League schedule. However, we meet both Manchester United and Chelsea at home and I hope that we will get those points in those two games. The return leg against Lyon will be fierce, we will surely try to beat them and advance to the final but it will be a very difficult game. Last but not least, we will make our return to Wembley to meet Tottenham in the FA Cup Final, we beat them twice this year and I’m looking forward to making it three wins ;)
That’s it for now my friends, I guess the month of April couldn’t have gone any better! The Premier League title is ours to lose now while the Champions League and FA Cup campaigns went better than last season. Thanks a lot for reading, I hope to see your thoughts in the comments.
Stromson
14 июня, 2011 at 15:33
Woot, a title (well, almost)! Tottenham wasn’t able to pull it off in the end, and I’d be shocked if you sustained any sort of threat to your title run. That was a brilliant recovery against AC Milan, and a tough loss to Lyon. You do have the away goal to your advantage though, and hopefully you can make use of that in the return leg.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 16:32
I guess the title should be ours but we still have to be careful. That was a good result at Lyon in my view, maybe we could have done better without Parana’s dismissal.
vaibhavc
14 июня, 2011 at 15:38
Hey Johnny
The title is almost confirmed and done. It is yours to lose. The AC Milan victory was great, you have had many goals gone against you in injury time, and you finally got one back! I really think you can come back from the 2-1 lead to go through.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 16:33
Thanks Vaibhav, I agree that we can pull it off against Lyon especially after seeing my lads battling it out in the second half despite the numerical disadvantage. I hope that we’ll sort out the title as soon as possible.
Laxeyman
14 июня, 2011 at 17:49
Fantastic form Johnny, and the title is now your hands, you’ ve already got a very high points total, so you deserve to win the league. You’re also still in the Champions League tie with Lyon, and I reckon you’re in for a great game and hopefully you can triumph. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 18:34
Thanks Laxeyman, I hope that we will get that win against Lyon. We played pretty well at home in the Champions League and maybe we’ll be able to do that one more time.
Sears
14 июня, 2011 at 18:38
Aww, shame Párana got sent off against Lyon… You did really well against them though. I’m sure you can beat them in the return leg, as well as win the title, despite having two tough fixtures against Man U and Chelsea. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 19:26
Thanks Sears, the title should be ours as I don’t believe we’d lose two of our last three games. I’m looking forward to the second leg against Lyon, it should be a great game.
Darren Smith
14 июня, 2011 at 18:54
Brilliant form Johnny, you have turned an unlikely title into a real possibility. I reckon you’ll hold out and win the league. Amazing stuff against AC Milan and that result gives me confidence for the OL return leg. If you can make a repeat performance we’ll be enjoying the CL final and FA Cup. Great work.
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 19:27
Thanks Darren, the Champions League final would be a nice bonus.
Aaron
14 июня, 2011 at 19:16
Good post Johnny. I was expecting the end of the season in there too, but you left us waiting haha. Quick favour, what do you think of FM2011 compared to 2010? I had 2010 but it seems to be just about to quit on me, nothing to do with the computer its just the game. I was thinking of getting 2011 to replace it to fill the next few summer months, do you think its a lot better than 2010?
Johnny Karp
14 июня, 2011 at 19:29
Thanks Aaron, I still have to play the last month of the season and I thought it would have been to much to put into one post. About FM 2011, I think it is better than FM 2010: the match view is better and the inclusion of player agents is nice as well. So I recommend buying it, it has a reduced price now anyway :)
Aaron
14 июня, 2011 at 21:25
Ah yeah that’s fair enough. It looks good from the screenshots I’ve seen but I just thought theres not much point with 12 out soon. But since my game is messing up I think I may as well
Erick Wolf
14 июня, 2011 at 23:45
You just had to end it there didn’t you?
Ahahah, good post.
What a thriller.
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 06:38
Sorry mate :)
Kevin
15 июня, 2011 at 00:37
Hi Johnny
Have to agree with Erick — you’ve last us all hanging to see how this is going to end. The Milan game was just a thrilling read and the retrun leg against Lyon is set up nicely too for the neutral fan that is. Good luck as you race towards the end of the season.
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 06:38
Thanks Kevin, we surely will need some luck as well.
Lye
15 июня, 2011 at 01:37
Hi Johnny,
You have beaten Chelsea before and i am sure you will beat them again. Win that and draw another one and you will be celebrating another title. It’s mouth watering final against Tottenham in the FA cup, i can’t see why you can’t dealt them another blow. Lyon is quite strong and losing Pirana is a blow. I wish you can squeeze in with another 1-0 win.
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 06:39
Thanks Lye, we’ve also beaten Man United before and I hope we’ll do that again too. The final against Tottenham will be great, I’m looking forward to it.
CsAtlantis
15 июня, 2011 at 02:40
There is still Man Utd, Villa and Chelsea to contend with, though four points out of those 3 games is not too hard you just have to avoid complacency Johnny, not a bad result away to Lyon considering how many shots they had against you, you should do better at home and hopefully go on to the finals :D
The Swedish kid looks like a good bargain :D
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 06:41
Thanks CS. I guess Lyon would have had a few less shots if we wouldn’t have received that red card but I think it’s a good result since it leaves the door open for the second leg.
Mariano
15 июня, 2011 at 09:13
Hi Johnny!
Well done, the Premier is almost yours and you are doing very good in the CL, an amazing game against Berlusconi´s boys:)
How did you finf the Swedish youngster?, by scout recommendation?,if yes, they were scouting Scandinavia or Sweden?
I´ve been scouting regens with Darren´s tips from his post and it´s very useful!
I´m in my 6th season playing premier league in my Havant game, I´m 12 points ahead of the 2nd that is Man city with 8 games left to play, so it seems I will finally win my first premier title with a Lower league team!
What I did this season was to keep on using your tactic but with a counter attack philosofy, and it worked better for me:)
Cheers and thanks for the FM story site!
ps:next weekend is the last game of the Argentinian season and then the Copa America here in my country where I´m at right now.
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 12:22
Hey Mariano! The win against Milan was quite nice, especially since it came in stoppage time :) About the Swedish youngster, I do have a scout assigned to Scandinavia but I don’t remember if he was the one that found the lad or if he was spotted at an international Under 19 game (I scout all those competitions). It looks like you’re going to win the title now, well done! I’m definitely going to follow the Copa America too, I’m looking forward to it! By the way, did you know that Argentina will be coming to Bucharest for a friendly game against Romania in August?
Sibo
15 июня, 2011 at 10:06
Brilliant form Johnny!
You have had a great run-up to the end of the season and I can’t wait to see if you pull it off! Bring out the next post! :D
Johnny Karp
15 июня, 2011 at 12:23
Thanks Sibo, the next post will probably be coming to you tomorrow! ;)
Sayam Khan
15 июня, 2011 at 17:41
A lot of 90minute winners! Happy days for you Johnny, everything seems to be going to plan and you should rap up your title in May! Unlucky against Lyon but i think you can still get to the final! Good Luck!
Johnny Karp
17 июня, 2011 at 10:48
Thanks Sayam, we’ve been living on the edge but so far it’s going well enough :)
vasco
17 июня, 2011 at 13:45
Awesome run Johnny!!
I really hope to be as best manager as you you know, but I’m a little bit sad coz my youth player in my opinion not reached their true potential. Could help me on training schedules for players??