Vauxhall Motors Story: August and September 2018

Hello folks and welcome to my ninth season in charge of the Motormen, the Football Manager 2011 story continues! After winning the Premier League title and strengthening the squad with a few very talented players the whole town was looking forward to watching the Motormen play at the brand new Vauxhall Stadium. Alright then, let’s see how things went in the first two months of the new season!

Winning the league gave us the right to a nice bonus match, the Community Shield. We were going to meet FA Cup winners Arsenal, the team that knocked us out of that cup last season and also handed us a critical league defeat. I wanted revenge!

Vauxhall vs Arsenal (Community Shield)

Venue: Wembley

Attendance: 90,000

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Mervin Simon, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Marcos Fernandez, Robert Ackermann, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: For the fans!

The opening minutes of the match saw an even game, none of the two teams was looking particularly good. Luckily our best player made the difference in the 16th minute, Zé Carlos made an awesome counter attack run and then squared it for Tiago who had nothing left to do than to apply the finish and we were 1-0 up! Arsenal tried to reply but they were denied by the post four minutes later and we made them pay two minutes after the half hour mark when Leandro Velasco muscled the ball off the left back and drilled a low cross into the box that was slid home by Parana. We appeared to be in control of the match at that point but Arsenal did manage to pull one back through their best new signing, striker Vaclav Kadlec. We could have restored the two-goal lead before the break though but Zé Carlos was in a wasteful mood as he squandered a pair of good chances.

Half time score: 1-2

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Hans Larsson for Touya, Radek Vecera for Fernandez

Our wasteful display continued after the break and we nearly got punished on 50 minutes when Luis Guilherme pulled off a great save to deny Kadlec. We were saved by the woodwork seven minutes later when a shot from distance bounced off the crossbar so I decided to make a change on the left flank, new signing Walid Mechergui for Tiago. We regained control of the match and the substitution paid dividends six minutes from time when Mechergui headed home a good Leandro Velasco cross. Payback time!

Full time team talk: Congratulations!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Radek Vecera

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Liverpool (Premier League)

Venue: Vauxhall Stadium

Attendance: 24,424

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Mervin Simon, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: For the fans!

The league debut was not the easiest one, we were welcoming Liverpool to our brand new stadium. We had a record attendance so I was particularly keen on giving the fans something to cheer about. We didn’t manage to do that in the first half though, the Reds defended very well and we came close only on a set piece: new signing Indio hit the crossbar with a fantastic free kick shot from 30 yards out.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: For the fans!

Half time substitutions: Radek Vecera for Indio

We resumed our attacks after the interval and finally broke through after 10 minutes when Zé Carlos scored his first goal of the season from the penalty spot after substitute Vecera was pushed inside the box. I made another two substitutions around the hour mark, Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco and Graham Howson for Fernandez, and both substitutes made an impact. First Yaysien missed a glorious chance and then Graham Howson helped to put the result beyond doubt as his free kick cross was headed home by centre back Marat Bykov.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Marat Bykov

Flop of the match: Mervin Simon

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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The game against Liverpool broke two records for the club, and quite convincingly too! It’s nice to get almost the entire weekly wage budget after just one game :)

This time we were seeded second for the Champions League groups draw and that went pretty well as we were going to meet FC Bayern, Dinamo Moscow and Czech side Banik Ostrava. We should finish second quite easily but we’ll surely try to knock Bayern off their pedestal ;)

The bookies seem to have a better opinion of us too…

Back to the pitch, we had a bunch of easier matches coming up. Burnley were handled easily, Zé Carlos took care of things by netting a hat-trick but we got a bit complacent at 3-0 and allowed the home side to score a consolation goal. Then we dispatched West Ham in just 45 minutes, Leandro Velasco provided two assists and Robert Ackermann scored his first goal for the club. The away match at Wolves was a pretty tough one, we were down to 10 men from the 36th minute as Parana got sent off, but the team showed great spirit after the break and we managed to clinch the three points. Our first Champions League match of the season was all easy, Banik Ostrava were not good enough even for my backup eleven and we won comfortably after enjoying 75% ball possession. Last but not least, a spectacular game against Bristol City: we were awesome in attack but terrible in defense, absolutely terrible. Anyway, we grabbed the three points and scored six goals but letting in three goals in a game against Bristol City was not a good sign at all…

The last two games of September were another pair of tricky ones, both away from home and both against top notch opponents: Tottenham in the League Cup and Arsenal in the Premiership.

I wasn’t too optimistic after conceding those three goals against Bristol City, head over to the next page to find out if my worries were justified.

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

Tottenham vs Vauxhall (Carling Cup 3rd Rnd)

Venue: White Hart Lane

Attendance: 52,712

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Mervin Simon, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Robert Ackermann, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: You can win today!

We got off to a flying start at White Hart Lane, the Spurs were shocked as we scored twice during the opening 8  minutes. The first goal came after just two minutes when Julian Marino found Parana inside the box with one of his trademark long throw-ins, the Brazilian striker fired a shot that deflected off Leandro Velasco and went in. Eight minutes later Parana did some damage again, his shot was blocked this time but the loose ball fell to Zé Carlos who applied the finish. An injury to Pierre Touya diminished our enthusiasm but the lads kept on pushing forward forcing goalie David De Gea to a string of awesome saves. Tottenham‘s left back got sent off two minutes before the break and that concluded an almost perfect first half for us.

Half time score: 0-2

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Louis Laing for Bykov

The Spurs started to play better after the break despite the numerical disadvantage and they pulled one back after eight minutes on a corner kick. They continued to press forward after that goal, it was quite an impressive performance from them to be honest, but we managed to hold out courtesy of some resolute defending and a few more good saves from Luis Guilherme. I was pleased to have qualified despite an unlucky draw but the next round will not be a lot easier as we are going to meet Aston Villa… Oh, and Pierre Touya‘s injury was not a light one, he’s going to be out for a month and a half.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Robert Ackermann

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Arsenal vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Emirates Stadium

Attendance: 59,226

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Mervin Simon, Marat Bykov, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Indio,  Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: You can win today!

Arsenal again… They had a good start in the Premier League despite that Community Shield defeat, they had four wins and a draw before the clash at Emirates Stadium. They surely wanted revenge though, I could feel it, and the initial minutes of the game were fairly even as a result. However, we took the lead on a dead ball situation as a free kick cross from Indio was knocked home by Russian centre back Marat Bykov! That goal surely upset the Gunners as they started pouring forward but Luis Guilherme kept the score intact with a pair of great saves on Kadlec.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: Encourage.

Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco, Graham Howson for Fernandez, Walid Mechergui for Tiago

The equalizer did come shortly after the break though and Arsenal surely deserved it, Kadlec slotted home again. We reacted after just three minutes and we did that in style: a wonderful team move saw the ball traveling from Mechergui to Parana, then to Howson, then to Zé Carlos who fired in off the post! That goal gave the lads more courage and we came close again on 62 minutes but Zé Carlos missed what appeared to be an easy finish. Things turned sour three minutes later, Walid Mechergui had to leave the field due to an injury and we were down to 10 men. I decided to move Ze Carlos back as a makeshift left midfielder, Arsenal were putting us under great pressure. We managed to survive though and even delivered a fatal blow four minutes from time when my magical Brazilian made a fantastic run from inside our own half before firing into the bottom corner of the net. I think that we deserved to win this one although the match stats show four clear cut chances for Arsenal and none for us. I guess those numbers are always debatable, I counted three for Arsenal and around 5 for us (we had seven half chances according to the match analysis screen).

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Zé Carlos

Flop of the match: Tiago

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Six wins out of six, not bad so far in the Premier League! Moneybags Man City have already lost twice, that makes me even happier! (Sorry Jake, it’s about Mourinho, not you :) )

New signing Marat Bykov received the September Player of the Month award, he surely deserved it after scoring three goals and putting in some very good performances at the back.

The top five average ratings are not too relevant at this point as some players had only a couple of games but I think that it’s safe to say that Zé Carlos proved to be our best player again. He scored nine goals in 8 games and he also provided three assists while Leandro Velasco has six assists and two goals to his name.

Aaron gave me an idea by commenting on the last post, he wanted to see some of my youngsters from the reserves so I will introduce the best of them one by one from now on. Fabio Ortiz is one of the most exciting youngsters in the reserves team, he joined us last year for 1.5 million pounds from San Lorenzo and has already made his debut in the first team last spring (he even scored on his debut too!). The assistant report shows 2.5 stars under current ability and 3.5 stars under potential ability but I think that he’s not ready for the first team yet and that’s mostly because of his speed. The coaches are working hard on that aspect with him, he already shows signs of improvement, so I hope that he’ll be fully prepared to make the big step next summer. If not, I already have refused a few 7.5 million pound offers for him so I will surely make a profit if he doesn’t become first team material.

As you might remember I also have a nice extra job now, I’m managing mighty Argentina. There isn’t too much excitement this year as we only have a few friendlies to play but I am planning to test a few tactical setups in these four matches. We have already played two of them and the results were not too bad, 2-0 against Northern Ireland and a goalless draw in Italy.

October will be much tougher, at least the first week will as we’re going to meet Bayern away in the Champions League and then Man City in the Premiership! I hope to remain unbeaten through October but it will be difficult…

And now, before wrapping up, some news from real football: I’ve just bought my ticket for Romania vs Bosnia, a make or break game for us that will be played tomorrow evening in Bucharest. I’m quite disappointed by our national team to be honest but this game is our last chance to stay in the qualification race for Euro 2012, we have to win it and I thought that I must give my support to the lads.

That’s all I have for you today folks, thanks a lot for reading and don’t forget to submit your entries in the Goal of the Month Competition! Feel free to make any requests/suggestions in the comments section below, I’m listening! :)