Vauxhall Motors Story: January and February 2020

Hello my friends and welcome to the year 2020! As some of you might remember my Motormen were top of the Premier League table at the end of December 2019 but the title race was quite tight with Arsenal, Tottenham, Man United and Man City pretty close behind us. We were right on track though since we still were involved in all the cup competitions and just one step away from the second Carling Cup final in the club’s history. This update will cover our progress in January and February, let’s see what happened.

The year started with an easy FA Cup fixture against League One side Crewe, it was all easy and we won 3-0 even if I sent in the backup players on that occasion. The same thing can not be said about our next game, it was a nightmare against Aston Villa… It was one of those games in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong, Aston Villa managed to capitalise on each of their opportunities and although we did pull one goal back at that point we never looked like avoiding defeat. Fortunately we got back on track against Birmingham courtesy of two beautiful goals, I strongly suggest watching at least the first one since I believe that it’s one of the best corner kick goals I’ve ever seen (click here to open the video). Then we had the first leg of the Carling Cup semi final at Everton, we were rather sloppy at the back again but we pulled off a good result that gave us a very good chance of reaching the final in the second leg.

But before that we did manage to bring in a new player, I already told you that I was trying to sign a new central midfielder because of all the injuries and I’m pleased to report that we have finally captured a Brazilian youngster that I had been chasing for two seasons now. His name is Da Silva, he is just 20 years old and we paid 13 million pounds to Fiorentina for him. He is incredibly tall and strong, hard-working and determined, not really an ace on the ball but his technical attributes are at least decent at this point. He will be unavailable for the Champions League matches but I’m not worried about that, he should use the remaining months of the seasons to adapt and then give his best next year.

Back to the league now with some not so good news, we were held to a 2-2 draw at Wolves. It was a tricky match but in the end we paid the price for a sending off in the first half. Then we recovered against West Brom, we won 2-0 but we could have scored a lot more considering that we squandered no less than 7 clear cut chances. The last game of the month was the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final and given the 2-1 away victory in the first leg I decided to field a weakened eleven at home. The decision seemed to be a good one as we dominated the game but we missed countless chances before Everton pushed the game into extra time when their first shot on target went in. I was fearing the worse at that point but luckily Ibrahima MBow did us justice in extra time. We advanced to the final and we’re going to meet Manchester City at Wembley with the silverware on the table.

Unfortunately the poor league results proved costly, Arsenal climbed up in first place while we moved back into second. The good news is that both Man City and Man United seemed to be dropping out of the title race at the end of January.

The schedule for February was as difficult as it gets, we had to meet both title rivals plus Chelsea in the Premier League and we also had to meet Arsenal once again the the FA Cup 4th round.

The FA Cup was not too important for me though, we had won it last season and I wasn’t particularly keen on winning it again. However, we did manage to win in the fourth round thanks to Zé Carlos‘ 20th goal of the season and despite another early sending off as Tiago saw red on 28 minutes for a shocking tackle.

Back to the league now as we were facing a tough trip to the brand new Lampard Arena to meet 6th placed Chelsea.

Chelsea vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Lampard Arena

Attendance: 56,116

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Gary Warner, Javier Godoy, Danny Wilson, Pierre Touya — Moustapha Gueye, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Walid Mechergui — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: You can win today!

We had beaten Chelsea 1-0 at home in September at the end of a pretty good match so I was hoping to see a similar performance from my lads. The game didn’t start too well, Luis Guilherme had to make a great save on Neymar early on, but we took the lead against the run of play thanks to a superb corner kick header from Danny Wilson. Chelsea were the better side though, there were obvious holes in our defence and the Blues finally capitalised on that seven minutes before the break. Our problems were mostly caused by a rather wobbly midfield but despite that we took the lead again just before the break courtesy of another Danny Wilson corner kick effort.

Half time score: 1-2

Half time team talk: Encourage.

Half time substitutions: Radek Vecera for Indio, Graham Howson for Ackermann, Abdallah Yaisien for Mechergui

We continued to play rather badly in the second half and Chelsea finally made it all square on 68 minutes through Neymar. I couldn’t really explain what was going wrong there but the obvious thing was that we were losing most tackles in midfield for some reason. However, a long ball from right back Gary Warner sent Zé Carlos clean through, he squared it for Parana and we were back in the lead with four minutes to go. Chelsea started throwing themselves forward and they could have scored again, we did little to stop them but Neymar‘s finishing was atrocious. We grabbed the three points but we didn’t deserve them at all.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Danny Wilson

Flop of the match: Walid Mechergui

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

We did much better against a weaker opponent a few days later, Fulham were unable to cope with us and we were back in first place one point clear of Arsenal!

The most difficult games of the month were yet to come though, we had to meet both 2nd placed Arsenal and 3rd placed Tottenham. Please go to the next page to find out how those games went.

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

Tottenham vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: White Hart Lane

Attendance: 53,694

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Gary Warner, Mervin Simon, Danny Wilson, Marat Bykov — Moustapha Gueye, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Walid Mechergui — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: You can win today!

The first game of the season against the Spurs had gone pretty well, we had beaten them 4-0 in October, but I was sure that we wouldn’t see such a score line again. In fact, Tottenham had a bright start to the game and they broke the deadlock on a corner kick after 13 minutes. That goal was the only exciting moment before half time though, the remaining minutes were painfully boring.

Half time score: 1-0

Half time team talk: I want to see more from you!

Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Mechergui

We started to plat a bit better after the break but we still were rather unconvincing. I made another pair of changes on the hour mark, Hans Larsson for Warner and Leandro Velasco for Gueye, and fortunately those changes paid off after just a few minutes. Substitutes Larsson and Velasco worked together to create the chance, the ball went inside the box for Parana and a desperate tackle took the ball away from him but sent it into the back of the net. Then we started to take the game to them but Tottenham held out for the draw. We were still top of the table though as Arsenal were held to a 2-2 draw at Fulham.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Marat Bykov

Flop of the match: Parana

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

We had two cup games coming up and I’m pleased to say that we won both. First we clinched a good away result against Schalke in the Champions League, not a big win but definitely good enough, and then beat Liverpool in the FA Cup fifth round despite fielding a weakened eleven (Liverpool are not what they used to be…).

The last game of the month was the most important one too, we were facing 2nd placed Arsenal at Vauxhall Stadium. The Gunners were just 1 point behind us before the game and although we had beaten them in the FA Cup earlier in the month all our fans remembered that it was them who inflicted us the very first defeat of the season, 2-1 in October.

Vauxhall vs Arsenal (Premier League)

Venue: Vauxhall Stadium

Attendance: 25,875

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Gary Warner, Marat Bykov, Danny Wilson, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: For the fans!

We got off to a bright start this time and could have broken the deadlock early on but Parana missed a certain goal after just five minutes. We were not to be denied though and we scored the opener on 17 minutes when Tiago made a stunning run on the left flank before crossing in for Velasco who anticipated his marker and slotted home. We continued to press forward, Robert Ackermann squandered a big chance five minutes later but we did score after another two minutes on a corner kick. It was Danny Wilson who headed on for Marat Bykov whose header forced a desperate clearance attempt from Kadlec who couldn’t do more than to push the ball into his own net. Our domination continued, Arsenal were unable to cope with my lads and that resulted into a second own goal, a rather lucky one this time.

Half time score: 3-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco, Graham Howson for Ackermann

Arsenal were a bit more lively after the interval but we were handling them pretty well. Our mission became easier on 67 minutes when Arsenal‘s left back got sent off for a wild tackle on Yaisien, we had a numerical advantage and we made that count 10 minutes from time when Parana‘s parried shot fell to Graham Howson who slotted home. It was a great win against our closest title rivals, I was quite happy with the display.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Leandro Velasco

Flop of the match: Robert Ackermann

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The league table looks a lot better now, we have three points on Tottenham and four points on Arsenal while Man City still hold mathematical chances. Man United are out of the race while Liverpool are sinking…

Parana has been our best player so far, he has scored 24 goals and provided 10 assists. Marat Bykov is pulling off another great season while Zé Carlos and Leandro Velasco are as reliable as ever. As you can see Danny Wilson‘s performances are improving, he managed to score five goals and I think that he will be an essential player during the decisive months of the season.

March will start with a big match for us, our second shot at the Carling Cup after getting beaten in the final two seasons ago by Manchester United. Then we’ll meet Man City again in the league, I hope to beat them twice just to hear Mourinho complaining :) Then we should wrap up the qualification against Schalke before facing a tough trip to Old Trafford in the Premier League.

That’s about it for now folks, thanks a lot for reading. I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts in the comments, requests and questions are also allowed, as always.

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