Vauxhall Motors Story — November 2015

Hello folks and welcome back to the Vauxhall Motors Football Manager 2011 story! October 2015 saw my Motormen going unbeaten throughout the month, we were unbeaten in 5 league games and managed to move up into 8th place in the Premier League. However, we had a tough schedule ahead of us as we were going to meet Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea in the first three games of November. Our chances of remaining unbeaten were rather slim but we had nothing to lose. Let’s see how it went.

Vauxhall vs Manchester City (Premier League)

Venue: Halton Stadium

Attendance: 13,500

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Cameron Lindsay, Mervin Simon, Jelle Van Damme — Radek Vecera, Shyamdew Weibolt, Mark Brown, Roni Porokara — Connor Wickham, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

We started this one pretty well despite the superior quality of the opponents. Unfortunately things went well for just 16 minutes, Manchester City took the lead with a free kick header and then made it 2-0 just eight minutes later when Carlos Tevez proved to be way too quick for my defenders and punished us on a counter attack. My lads played pretty well but the scoreline was disappointing, we could have avoided at least one of those two goals.

Half time score: 0-2

Half time team talk: Disappointing!

Half time substitutions: Grant Baddeley for Marino, Wayne Routledge for Porokara

We continued to play well after the break, we were trying to get back into the game but an unfortunate goal just after the hour mark put an end to our comeback hopes. My lads did their best though, we dominated the game but somehow managed to get beaten 3-0… It’s true that we didn’t have any clear cut chances but still, we looked like a solid team out there.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Mark Brown

Flop of the match: Jelle Van Damme

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Arsenal vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Emirates Stadium

Attendance: 57,774

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Osman Chavez, Mervin Simon, Jelle Van Damme — Wayne Routledge, Inigo Perez, Mark Brown, Roni Porokara — Andrés, Ibrahima MBow

Team Talk: You can win today!

Arsenal were in 4th place before the game and they were surely looking to get revenge for the Carling Cup defeat that we inflicted them back in September. We enjoyed a decent start again but it only lasted 17 minutes, some rather clumsy defending allowed Arsenal to break the deadlock. Things took a turn for the worse on 28 minutes courtesy of a terrible blunder from centre back Osman Chavez, he was just standing there admiring the view while his teammates stepped up to play the offside trap and we got punished for his mistake. I wasn’t expecting such a gaffe from someone of his experience…

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: Disappointing!

Half time substitutions: Grant Baddeley for Marino, Lionel Riehl for Brown, Nathan Dyer for Porokara

We started to play a bit better after half time, created a couple of decent chances but squandered them much too easily. We could still have snatched a point or at least a consolation goal but luck was against us as well as substitute left winger Nathan Dyer hit the post twice (in the 75th and 82nd minute). That was that, we were handed our second consecutive defeat and I guess we deserved it more this time.

Full time team talk: Sympathise.

Man of the match: Dean Bouzanis

Flop of the match: Ibrahima MBow

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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Vauxhall vs Chelsea (Premier League)

Venue: Halton Stadium

Attendance: 13,500

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Cameron Lindsay, Mervin Simon, Jelle Van Damme — Radek Vecera, Shyamdew Weibolt, Mark Brown, Nathan Dyer — Connor Wickham, Andrés

Team Talk: Pressure is off.

Third placed Chelsea were coming up next and I was quite afraid that we would get a third consecutive defeat. We came pretty close to breaking the deadlock this time though, centre back Mervin Simon displayed a good corner kick header six minutes into the game but it rattled the crossbar and bounced out of danger. Then Chelsea took over and were presented with a perfect chance to score as the referee awarded them a penalty kick on 11 minutes. Luckily the spot kick got saved by goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis and that did wonders for his confidence as he pulled off another couple of stunning saves to keep the score level until half time.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Wayne Routledge for Vecera, Inigo Perez for Weibolt, Ibrahima MBow for Wickham

The pressure got even more intense after the break and we couldn’t survive more than five minutes, Chelsea finally broke the deadlock and I have to admit that they thoroughly deserved it. My lads tried to react after the goal but there was no way past the Blues‘ defense, their players seemed to be much stronger and quicker than ours. However, luck smiled upon us this time: Mervin Simon nodded home from a free kick cross and we were level six minutes before time! Chelsea went all out to attack during the final minutes and they came close to rescuing the three points but we were saved by the crossbar two minutes before the final whistle. We snatched a point that we would have deserved to get against Manchester City…

Full time team talk: Good result!

Man of the match: Mervin Simon

Flop of the match: Connor Wickham

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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West Ham vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Upton Park

Attendance: 25,825

Starting line up: Dean Bouzanis — Julian Marino, Cameron Lindsay, Mervin Simon, Jelle Van Damme — Radek Vecera, Shyamdew Weibolt, Mark Brown, Roni Porokara — Connor Wickham, Andrés

Team Talk: You can win today!

The last game of the month was against someone in our own «league», 18th placed West Ham. We had to play better and get a good result this time but the opening 45 minutes of the game were not too spectacular, the match was rough and the crowd got to see more violent tackles in midfield than shots on goal. We were looking like the better team though and we managed to capitalize on that a minute before the interval when Connor Wickham found Roni Porokara with a through ball and the Finnish winger hit a low drive past the goalkeeper to give us the lead.

Half time score: 0-1

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Wayne Routledge for Vecera, Nathan Dyer for Porokara

West Ham started showing more impetus in attack after the re-start but my lads were holding up well in defense, there was no way past them. We even managed to create some danger on counter attacks but Connor Wickham was not having a good day and he missed two glorious opportunities to put the game to bed. We could have paid the price for his poor finishing two minutes from time but Dean Bouzanis was our guardian angel again and saved the three points that we had worked so hard for. It was a rather scrappy game but I was very pleased to end the month with an away victory.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Andrés

Flop of the match: Thorsten Schon

Match Stats

Video Highlights

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So, we played well against Man City and lost 3-0, then played a decent game against Arsenal and lost 2-0, then survived the onslaught and snatched a point against Chelsea and finally returned to winning ways after a hard-fought match at Upton Park. I guess the month went fairly well considering the opponents, it surely could have gone much worse.

We moved one place down into 9th after this month but I’m pleased to report that we’re 12 points above the relegation zone now. It’s a good cushion to have at this point and I hope to make that even wider at the end of December.

Centre back Mervin Simon was elected Premier League Young Player of the Month yet again, he probably is my only reliable asset in defense alongside goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis. It’s quite strange that there are no big clubs chasing him just yet but I think it’s only a matter of time.

December will really test the limits of my squad as we will have no less than eight games to play. It will all start with a tough trip to Stamford Bridge for the Carling Cup quarter final but then we could get some points against Middlesbrough or Wolves. The year will end with a home game against Manchester United, I hope that my lads won’t be too tired by then…

That was it my friends, thanks a lot for reading this quick update. I’m looking forward to reading your comments and please don’t forget to vote for this month’s best goal, we have quite a few worthy candidates!