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.
Plobdork
9 июля, 2011 at 19:15
wow very surprised to see liverpool there gud resultes there johnny title almost a certainty how long are you carrying this story on for by the way?? :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) hopefully forever.
Johnny Karp
9 июля, 2011 at 19:50
Thanks mate. Forever is not an option but I will let you know when I’ll start thinking about ending the story.
vaibhavc
9 июля, 2011 at 21:05
Hey Johnny
Big win against Arsenal puts you first in the league table. You seem to be doing very well in the FA Cup and good luck in the Carling Cup final.
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 01:27
Thanks mate, I’m quite keen on winning the Carling Cup for the first time.
Darren Smith
9 июля, 2011 at 23:14
Well done Johnny, still on for a quadruple and you have the players to pull it off. I think this story has a lot of years left in it to be honest and wouldn’t want to see it end. Great work as always and I can’t wait to see how far you go. My prediction is a double at least, maybe even a treble. Good luck
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 01:28
Thanks Darren, I’d settle for a treble but not with the FA Cup :)
CsAtlantis
10 июля, 2011 at 03:19
Atsudo Uchida in the Barca squad, interesting………
Doing fine in the league johnny, Arsenal and Tottenham are keeping pace though, keep it up and the trophies might just swarm in like they are out of style :D
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 10:08
Thanks for the encouragement mate.
Lye
10 июля, 2011 at 09:26
Hi Johnny,
Good win against your closest rival Arsenal. You are still competing in all competition and i hope this will be your best season ever. Give us the quadruple this season. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 10:09
Thanks Lye, we’re on track but there still is a lot of work to be done.
Kevin
10 июля, 2011 at 09:37
Hi Johnny
Those end os Janaury EPL results were a little concerning but as usual when it matters your team came up with the bid results especially over arsenal to put you back in the driving seat. Good luck as you go after all the major trophies!
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 10:09
Thanks Kevin, we will surely need some luck along the way.
Mike
10 июля, 2011 at 10:41
Hi Johnny,
Your team seem to be progressing really well in the cup competitions and i think you have a great chance of going the distance in all of them. Good luck in the carling cup final, I think city have a strong team but I reckon your lads will turn up in the big game. As for the league, you have had some fantastic results against the big clubs and that’s given you a well deserved lead at the top. With ten to play, its in your hands.
Great post, as always!
Mike
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 12:52
Thanks Mike, I’m looking forward to the Carling Cup final. I agree that the title is in our hands now but we’ll have to grab good results in March if we want to hold on to it.
Laxeyman
10 июля, 2011 at 14:24
Good results again Johnny, you’re in a fantatstic position to win the league now, and I’m pretty sure that you will. Hopefully you can bag a double or a treble, you’re doing well in the CL, so hopefully you can keep going, good luck!
P.S Liverpool in the relegation zone :( Hope they can pull out of it!
Sears
10 июля, 2011 at 16:03
Great stuff Johnny, great win against Arsenal! I’m sure you will win the league, and all the other cups too… Good luck pal :-)
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 17:02
Thanks Sears!
Rob
10 июля, 2011 at 20:39
Good results Johnny, again, definitely backing you for the treble :D will you do another game on fm11 as universitatea craiova, the team that came 2nd in the vote all the way back in november, or will you play this game until the next fm?
Johnny Karp
10 июля, 2011 at 21:32
Thanks Rob. I don’t think I will do a Craiova game before FM 2012 because there simply won’t be enough time for that. But since that choice came second in that poll I will keep my promise and start a Craiova game in FM 2012.
Erick Wolf
11 июля, 2011 at 09:00
Great months. I’m delighted with Da Silva’s acquisition!
Can I get just one more screenshot?
Jonathan Dos Santos and/or Jorge Espiricueta
Johnny Karp
11 июля, 2011 at 10:32
Thanks Erick. You can request as many screen shots as you want, no problem. Just to make sure, we’re talking about Mexican player Jorge Espericueta, right?
Matt Clark
11 июля, 2011 at 19:19
Great results pulling yourself back ahead of arsenal
I can’t believe how badly Liverpool are doing could you show a screenshot of their team and who is the manager
Johnny Karp
12 июля, 2011 at 07:42
Thanks Matt. Liverpool are quite surprising indeed this season, I will post those screen shots in the next update.
Ana Garcia
13 июля, 2011 at 20:51
In prime postion once again with a narrow three point lead over second place, still some tricky games to go so hopefully you can win the title.
Good to see Mourinho still struggling in the league! :)
Thanks for the Barca pic, looks a little wierd but I bet your happy to see a Romanian there!
Good luck!
Johnny Karp
14 июля, 2011 at 10:12
Hey Ana, I’m quite happy to see Mourinho failing in the Premier League once again. About Barca, we used to have two Romanian players there in the 1990s and one of them was the captain… It’s all in the past now unfortunately.
Keenannn
16 июля, 2011 at 13:08
Can you post a screen shot of the liverpool team please?
Johnny Karp
16 июля, 2011 at 13:15
I will publish that in the next post.