Vauxhall Motors Story: February and March 2017

Hello folks and welcome back to Ellesmere Port for a fresh episode of my Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! This update begins with the first day of February 2017 and will cover all the events that went on until the end of March, a very important stage of the season. As you might remember we were doing pretty well at the end of January despite the injuries to several key players. We were 5th in the Premier League, qualified for the Europa League knockout round and also preparing to face Tottenham in the 5th round of the FA Cup. A lot of fish to fry there, let’s light up the stove!

The first two games of February were considered to be easier league battles but unfortunately we only managed to get four points out of them. We were quite unlucky against Wolves as we had no less than three goals disallowed and several squandered chances but we did well to recover against West Brom by scoring four goals. Ibrahima MBow was still scoring on a regular basis and I was quite pleased with that since our two Brazilian strikers had another month to spend away from the pitch.

Those were just warm-up games compared to what was ahead of us, we had to meet title holders Tottenham before the Europa League double against Dynamo Kyiv and then we had another tough encounter with Chelsea. Let’s go through those games one by one.

Vauxhall vs Tottenham (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Wellington Paulista, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Tottenham were still in with a good chance to defend their title as they were in 3rd place before the game and not far off the top spot. We were in 4th place though and only one point behind the Spurs, an upset would have pushed us up into the podium! Our first half display surely showed that my lads were fully capable of pulling it off, we dominated for more than half an hour but there were no clear chances for us to be honest. On the other hand the Spurs squandered a pretty good one on a counter attack but then we went on to hit the crossbar twice just before half time!

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Mark Brown for Vecera, Stephan El Shaarawy for Surman

The Spurs looked a bit more determined to attack after the break but we were still pretty much in control as our opponents were unable to fire a single shot on target until the hour mark. We didn’t show much in attack either, the second half was a lot more quiet but the Spurs could have won the game on a late chance but their shooting continued to be wasteful until the very end. It was a good result overall but we could have gotten more out of the game if we would have scored in the first half.

Full time team talk: Good result!

Man of the match: Julian Marino

Flop of the match: Stephan El Shaarawy

Match Stats

Dynamo Kyiv vs Vauxhall (Europa League 1st Rnd leg 1)

Venue: Valery Lobanovs’kyi Stadium Dinamo

Attendance: 12,397

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Kwabena Quartey, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Leandro Velasco, Mark Brown, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Wellington Paulista, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

The trip to snowy Kyiv was expected to be a pretty tough one since Dynamo were having quite a few very good players in their squad including former Chelsea midfielder Ramires. The first five minutes of the game were totally crazy as the home side took the lead on 2 minutes courtesy of a great volley and then we restored parity on 4 minutes when Leandro Velasco pushed home on the rebound after Ibrahima MBow‘s initial shot had been parried by the goalkeeper. Then we took control of the game, dominated through very good possession, but it was Dynamo who scored again two minutes before the break when their striker breezed past Louis Laing before firing home. I was pleased with our display though, the result was unjust.

Half time score: 2-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Shyamdew Weibolt for Howson, Kai Kramer for Surman

We continued to dominate after the break but we were unable to create chances, the Ukrainian defense was looking quite solid. We did deserve an equalizer though and we finally found it on 67 minutes after a pretty good team move: substitute Shyamdew Weibolt ran with the ball on the right flank before floating at the far post where Pavol Vesely touched it first time back into the middle of the area from where Leandro Velasco powered home for his second goal of the evening. We grabbed a good 2-2 away draw and we were the favourites to qualify at that point.

Full time team talk: Good result!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Louis Laing

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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The two goals that we scored in Kyiv were added to an already impressive tally and we were announced that we had just broken a record that was held by mighty Real Madrid!

Record or no record, we still had to face a tricky second leg against Dynamo Kyiv, we had to secure a low-scoring draw or a win to push through.

Vauxhall vs Dynamo Kyiv (Europa League 1st Rnd leg 2)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,166

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Graham Howson, Andrew Surman — Wellington Paulista, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: Encourage.

This time we got off to a very good start and we could have taken the lead after just 10 minutes but the Ukrainian goalie pulled off a great save to keep it goalless. We were piling on the pressure and the reward finally came on 19 minutes when Mervin Simon headed on a free kick cross for Louis Laing who found the back of the net with a sliding finish. Dynamo needed to score twice at that point but we were still dominating the game. They did find a goal however, it was a good flowing move but I was a bit frustrated since it came totally against the run of play. My lads were not too affected by it though, we continued to push forward but the second goal eluded us until half time. We were forced to make a substitution four minutes before the break, midfielder Graham Howson left the field on a stretcher and Mark Brown took his place.

Half time score: 1-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Grant Baddeley for Godoy, Andrew Driver for Surman

The second half saw an even better spell of dominance from my players, I don’t think they could have played any better. We managed to send in quite a few shots on target as well while Dynamo were not seeing much of the ball. Our poor finishing could have cost us dearly 10 minutes from time when Ramires fired a wild shot from distance that went past Dean Bouzanis but thundered off the crossbar! That was a close shave but it would have been totally frustrating to lose the qualification like that. We did have reasons to be sad after the game though, Graham Howson‘s injury was serious and we had to do without our best central midfielder for between two and three months…

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Andrew Surman

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Paris Saint-Germain won their tie against Rubin Kazan quite easily so we were going to travel to the French capital for the next round.

Until then, back to the league where we were meeting 2nd placed title contenders Chelsea in the last game of the month.

Chelsea vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Attendance: 40,444

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Shyamdew Weibolt, Andrew Surman — Wellington Paulista, Pavol Vesely

Team Talk: You can win today!

Chelsea had beaten us 4-3 in December at the end of a thrilling match and I was expecting an equally entertaining display at Stamford Bridge. Unfortunately we were not playing as well as we did in December, Chelsea were outplaying us but we managed to hang in there for a while. We had another injury, I was getting used to that, Wellington Paulista was stretchered off and Ibrahima MBow came in to replace him. Chelsea were not creating chances despite dominating the game but they broke the deadlock on a corner kick and then made it 2-0 on a fine shot from Marek Hamsik 10 minutes later. We had a very poor first half, something had to change!

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: Disappointing!

Half time substitutions: Kwabena Quartey for Marino, Mark Brown for Vecera

The second half was a bit better from our part, we did show a bit of football but Chelsea kept things under control without breaking too much sweat. Our seven-game unbeaten run came to an end but I was relieved to find out that Wellington Paulista‘s injury was not very serious, he was going to be out for only a week.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Mark Brown

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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We only managed one win in four league games in February and our position suffered as a result, we were down in 6th place at the end of the month but we were virtually 7th since Aston Villa had a game in hand. The table was quite tight though, I was expecting a fierce battle for the first four places. As you can notice Manchester City had secured an Europa League spot as they won the Carling Cup by beating Liverpool 2-0 in the final.

The top five at the end of February shows something a lot more important than the ratings and the goals: Parana and Zé Carlos were close to a return to full fitness!

March was expected to be quite demanding for our group of players since we were starting with a crunch FA Cup match at White Hart Lane before taking on Manchester United at home and then preparing for the Europa League clash with PSG.

Well, I already know what happened in March and I can tell you that there were quite a few spectacular matches in there and also a few surprising results! Read all about them in the next page! ;)

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

Tottenham vs Vauxhall (FA Cup 5th Rnd)

Venue: White Hart Lane

Attendance: 38,136

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Louis Laing, Grant Baddeley — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Mark Brown, Andrew Driver — Pavol Vesely, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

I was hoping to pull off an upset and qualify for the quarter finals especially since the winner of the fifth round tie was going to meet Championship side Bolton in the next round! The game seemed to be equally important for both sides, Tottenham were dominating like they often do at home but there were no clear chances until the last minute before the break. That’s when goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis pulled off a miracle to keep the score level as he made a double save on Iker Muniain who was clean through on goal.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco, Shyamdew Weibolt for Brown, Andrew Surman for Driver

I was hoping to keep the defense tight throughout the last 45 minutes and maybe score on a counter attack but my plans were undone just a few seconds after the re-start when Louis Laing made a terrible gaffe, the ball got stolen from him inside our penalty area and the Spurs took the lead. We had to attack at that point but my lads were unable to break the very well-organized Tottenham defense while the home side had several opportunities to kill the game off on counter attacks. Ibrahima MBow had a good chance to make it all square on 70 minutes, then Tottenham hit the crossbar twice before we finally found the equalizer in a rather fortuitous fashion. There were just two more minutes of play when the Tottenham defense was unable to clear a free kick cross and Andrew Surman fired home from inside the penalty area! We were quite lucky in this game to be honest, Tottenham had another chance to win it in injury time but we were saved once again by the woodwork! We earned the right to a replay at home, I was quite pleased with that although we didn’t really deserve the result.

Full time team talk: Good result!

Man of the match: Andrew Surman

Flop of the match: Pavol Vesely

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Tottenham (FA Cup 5th Rnd replay)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Kwabena Quartey, Louis Laing, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Mark Brown, Shyamdew Weibolt, Andrew Surman — Parana, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: For the fans!

The replay was played just three days later so our league game against Manchester United was postponed for the end of the month. I was hoping to see a much better display from my lads especially since we had something to celebrate: Parana was back in the team! He wasn’t fully fit yet but I was sure that he was good enough to play for at least 45 minutes. Tottenham got off to a better start though but our friendship with the crossbar continued as the Spurs tested the carpentry with a shot from distance after just two minutes! The visitors were the better team for around half an hour and they even managed to create two clear cut chances but Dean Bouzanis did a very good job again on both occasions. We had our own good moments in the last 15 minutes of the half but we squandered a good chance.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Elias Kost for Brown, Kai Kramer for Surman, Wellington Paulista for Parana

The two teams were looking more and more tired after the break so the second half was fairly even with both sides trying their best but not being able to do much. The game was heading towards a goalless draw when my defense screwed up nine minutes from time: some sloppy defending from Javier Godoy and Louis Laing left Higuain with an easy chance and the striker made no mistake. I wasn’t hoping for much at that point but my lads proved their fighting spirit again as we pulled level five minutes later when a long pass from Shyamdew Weibolt found Ibrahima MBow behind the defense and the French striker powered home. I was already making plans for extra time but I didn’t have too much time as Tottenham restored the lead with a great goal moments later. Our FA Cup run was over, we gave Tottenham a good run for their money but not really good enough.

Full time team talk: Good effort!

Man of the match: Shyamdew Weibolt

Flop of the match: Leandro Velasco

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

PSG vs Vauxhall (Europa League 2nd Rnd leg 1)

Venue: Parc des Princes

Attendance: 26,665

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Javier Godoy, Mervin Simon, Grant Baddeley — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Mark Brown, Andrew Surman — Parana, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Paris is a great city but I told my players that it’s dramatically overrated, they had to focus on the game! :) And it seemed that they were, Mervin Simon hit the crossbar five minutes into the game but then found the back of the net on a free kick seven minutes later! We scored a very important away goal but the game was far from over as PSG pulled level on 21 minutes courtesy of an awesome shot from distance. We were playing pretty well though and we managed to get back in the lead after seven minutes when Ibrahima MBow fired home his 20th goal of the season after collecting a loose ball off the keeper’s gloves as the goalie had stopped a fierce shot from Parana. Things got a lot better just five minutes later when we scored an all-Argentinian goal: defender Javier Godoy played a pinpoint long ball for Leandro Velasco and the right winger scored his 10th goal of the season. Our amazing first half was complete three minutes before the break when Parana made a good move and squared it for Ibrahima MBow who coolly slotted home.

Half time score: 1-4

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco, Andrew Driver for Surman, Pavol Vesely for Parana

We were thinking about the next round at that point but it was a bit too early, PSG played a pretty good second half and managed to pull two goals back. However, the second one came as a result of a mix-up between left back Grant Baddeley and centre back Mervin Simon, they really should have shown better concentration there. Complacency had cost us two goals but with a 4-3 away win we were almost certain of making it to the quarter finals. The usual injury report showed that we were going to miss striker Pavol Vesely for a month.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Ibrahima MBow

Flop of the match: Andrew Driver

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The second leg against PSG was quite entertaining as well, it ended 3-2 but we had always been in control as we led 1-0 and 2-1. Wellington Paulista and Shyamdew Weibolt managed to score their first goals for the club in that game, I was very happy for them. Zé Carlos made a triumphant return in the league game against Everton, he bagged a brace in a game that we should have won quite comfortably. We were leading 4-0 after 48 minutes but then Everton pulled off an amazing comeback and made it 4-4 in the 74th minute! We finally managed to grab the three points six minutes from time through Ibrahima MBow but I was a bit concerned, the team was getting complacent quite easily. The game against West Ham was totally different as we had to deal with a crowded defense but the lads did a good professional job to put three goals past them.

Meanwhile we had witnessed the Europa League quarter final draw and I have to say that we were quite lucky to avoid the likes of Dortmund and Juventus. We are going to meet Spanish side Zaragoza who had knocked out Roma earlier in the competition, and if we manage to get past them we will meet either Juventus or Olympiakos in the semi final. The Greek side pulled off an upset in the previous round as they knocked out cup holders Arsenal!

Back to the Premier League for the last game of the month, a very important one considering the table situation. Our good run of late saw us climbing into 5th place, 3 points behind 4th placed Manchester United! So you can understand that it was a crucial game in the battle for a Champions League spot, a defeat would have virtually taken us out of the contest.

Vauxhall vs Manchester United (Premier League)

Venue: Rivacre Park

Attendance: 10,266 (sold out)

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Julian Bazzi, Mervin Simon, Javier Godoy — Leandro Velasco, Radek Vecera, Mark Brown, Ibrahima MBow — Parana, Zé Carlos

Team Talk: You can win today!

I was finally able to field the Brazilian duo upfront again and I chose to send in Ibrahima MBow as a left winger to get the most out of his great recent form. My plans seemed to be a bit too optimistic though, Manchester United took the lead after just 50 seconds and then hit the crossbar from distance two minutes later! It seemed that the Red Devils were taking no prisoners on that Saturday evening but we had our own good chance to make it all square on 10 minutes when Leandro Velasco was denied by the goalkeeper. The remaining minutes until the break saw a fairly even game, Manchester United seemed to be happy to control the match while we were unable to find a breakthrough. But we did! First we found the equalizer four minutes from time when a low cross from MBow found Zé Carlos inside the box and he scored by blocking the defender’s clearance and then we scored the second goal just two minutes later! That goal was a nice one too, it all started from MBow again who passed to Ze Carlos who passed further to Parana who fired into the bottom corner of the net! Get in!

Half time score: 2-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Louis Laing for Simon, Stephan El Shaarawy for Velasco

I was sure that the Red Devils were going to react and they did: Chicharito hit the post on 51 minutes! My Brazilians were better than their Mexican though and we scored again on 55 minutes! Zé Carlos was in charge of the assist again, a great pass for Parana who powered it in from the edge of the area! We were leading 3-1 but our joy didn’t last too long, Manchester United were trying a number of shots from distance and one of those went in on 62 minutes. The game was wide open again and United came close to making it all square on 72 minutes when Wayne Rooney wasted a glorious chance. We had a great chance ourselves through Ze Carlos, the Brazilian missed it but then made amends as he scored our fourth goal on a counter attack eight minutes from time! The three points were secured, it was time for entertainment! Parana earned his hat-trick with a great strike on 87 minutes, then Rooney hit the post on the stroke of full time and last but not least Zé Carlos scored his third goal of the game during injury time! A double hat-trick for my Brazilians and a 6-2 win against Man United, now that’s a great evening in Ellesmere Port! Saaaambaaaaa do Brasil! :)

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Zé Carlos and Parana

Flop of the match: Radek Vecera

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The fabulous victory against United pushed us into 4th place but the battle isn’t over, Aston Villa and Arsenal are still very close and we will have to play very well if we want to keep that fourth spot. The title battle seems to be between Man City, Chelsea and holders Tottenham, we’ll be in for an exciting season finale!

The top five sees the two Brazilians back in top shape although Ibrahima MBow is our new top goalscorer with his 23 goals. The three central defenders continue to hold impressive average ratings and also quite a few goals to their names.

I was given my second Manager of the Month award of the season, I guess that the 6-2 beating of Man United impressed the jury :)

We have seven more games to play in the league and I am happy to report that we seem to have a rather easy run until the end of April. That’s when two crucial games will be played as we will meet 7th placed Aston Villa in the last game of April and then 6th placed Arsenal in the first game of May. The fixtures might be rearranged at some point if we get past Zaragoza and I surely hope we will.

That’s how these two months were my friends, a rather disappointing March in the Premier League, then a painful FA Cup exit before the grand finale with the historic win against Manchester United. I guess we have a pretty good chance of finishing fourth but the most important thing will be to get the points in the matches against the weaker sides, that might give us a cushion before the decisive battles against Aston Villa and Arsenal. I don’t know what to expect from Zaragoza, they seem to have a weaker squad than Dynamo Kyiv but you can’t expect easy matches at this stage of an European c0mpetition. Thanks a lot for reading and I’m looking forward to your comments, as always. I would also like to remind you that the voting has started for this month’s best Football Manager 2011 goal, express your opinion by clicking here!