Hello folks, I’m glad to bring you another episode of the Vauxhall Motors FM 2011 story! It’s been a while since the last update and I’m sorry that I had to keep you waiting but I hope you will enjoy the episode. Our season started very well, we won all the games that we had played in August and September and that surely gave the fans some confidence that we were going to defend our Premier League title and maybe give them a few other nice surprises. It was too early to celebrate though, the tough part of the season was yet to come.
The first game of October was a tough clash with German giants FC Bayern in the Champions League group, I was quite curious to see my lads in action against such a strong team.
FC Bayern vs Vauxhall (Champions League Grp A)
Venue: Allianz-Arena
Attendance: 53,854
Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Julian Marino, Javier Godoy, Marat Bykov, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Robert Ackermann, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana
Team Talk: You can win today!
The initial minutes of the game were quite pleasing, we were dominating and then managed to make that count after 16 minutes when a fine team move ended with Zé Carlos setting up Parana who fired into the roof of the net to give us the lead. Things got even better six minutes later when one of Bayern‘s centre backs received his marching orders for a violent tackle on Ze Carlos, we were one goal and one man up. Our superiority was quite clear at that point and we managed to double the advantage on a counter attack, Zé Carlos was the builder again and Parana played his finishing role perfectly. Bayern attempted a fightback but they were unlucky to hit the woodwork while Parana was denied the hat-trick just before half time.
Half time score: 0-2
Half time team talk: Pleased.
Half time substitutions: Indio for Fernandez, John Fleck for Tiago
The second half was comfortably quiet, we kept things well under control until 3 minutes from time when Bayern managed to pull one back. It was too late for them though, we won the game and I can say that we surely deserved it.
Full time team talk: Well done!
Man of the match: Parana
Flop of the match: Indio
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
Vauxhall vs Manchester City (Premier League)
Venue: Vauxhall Stadium
Attendance: 19,604
Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Mervin Simon, Marat Bykov, Hans Larsson — Leandro Velasco, Robert Ackermann, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana
Team Talk: For the fans!
Our first Premier League game of the month, another meeting with last season’s rival José Mourinho… We beat them to the title last season and things started well this time too as Marat Bykov headed home a Marcos Fernandez free kick cross after just six minutes. The Citizens hit the crossbar from distance just two minutes later, then Parana missed a good chance on 28 minutes and Man City squandered a great opportunity on the half hour mark. That’s all that happened in the first half, we dominated possession but the game was fairly even overall.
Half time score: 1-0
Half time team talk: For the fans!
Half time substitutions: Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco, Walid Mechergui for Tiago
The second half started in a similar fashion, we were dominating but Manchester City were the ones creating chances, fortunately Luis Guilherme did very well to stop Belfodil on a counter attack. Our domination was finally converted into a goal on 71 minutes, Zé Carlos‘ shot was blocked but Parana pounced on the rebound and slotted home. There was no reaction from the visitors, we kept the ball very well during the final moments of the game and earned an important victory against our rivals.
Full time team talk: Well done!
Man of the match: Marat Bykov
Flop of the match: Walid Mechergui
Match Stats
Video Highlights
Click here to watch the highlights.
The remaining games in October were supposed to be easier and some of them really were. First we cruised past West Brom with Zé Carlos bagging his 10th goal of the season and then our backups earned an easy victory against Dinamo Moscow in the Champions League. Then things took a turn for the worse as we were held to a home draw by Blackburn and then recorded the first defeat of the season as Aston Villa knocked us out of the Carling Cup in the fourth round. The only good thing in those two games was a sensational free kick goal from Tiago against Blackburn (click here to open the video)
The premature Carling Cup exit was a big disappointment but our league campaign was still on track, we were top of the table but tied with Tottenham on 25 points.
November didn’t have any special fixtures in store for us so we’ll go through the month in quick mode. First we dispatched 16th placed Fulham with ease although we should have scored a few more goals in that game. Then our backups did a great job again in the Champions League against Dinamo Moscow, we scored five goals but Indio surely bagged the best of them (click here to open the video). The next league match was quite disappointing, Everton held us to a 1-1 draw and they surely deserved to get that point. Our unconvincing performances continued against Blackpool but that time Parana saw us through with a clinical display. Our team was getting back on track but we were rather unlucky in the next game against Hull: first we conceded an unlucky early goal, then we squandered loads of chances, hit the woodwork twice but eventually took the lead and last but not least Hull netted the equalizer with an unbelievable injury time shot from 35 yards. Things went a lot better in the last two games of the month as we demolished Ipswich in the league and then eased past Banik Ostrava in the Champions League to secure our passage to the next round with five wins out of five.
The two league draws proved costly, Tottenham surpassed us at the top of the table and they also had a nice cushion: one point and a game in hand.
The good news is that we were going to meet the Spurs in December at Vauxhall Stadium so we had a chance to test our strength against this season’s most likely title rivals before a tricky away double against Chelsea and Manchester United.
Before the crucial Tottenham game the lads showed great fighting spirit against Sunderland, always a tough team to meet. The game was quite entertaining for the neutral football fans as we fought our way back from 1-0 and 2-1 down and eventually clinched a spectacular win that proved to be quite important for the league table as well because…
…because Tottenham got beaten 2-1 at White Hart Lane by Blackburn! That meant that we were back in top spot before the derby at Vauxhall Stadium, 2 points clear of the Spurs but they still had a game in hand. I guess you want to see what happened in that game, don’t you? Well, the next page has the answer! ;)
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Nick
8 июня, 2011 at 07:22
Nice month! Beating Bayern was incredible!
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 09:52
Thanks Nick. Beating Bayern was easier than expected though :)
Lye
8 июня, 2011 at 08:41
Hi Johnny,
Solid results against most of your rivals except for the loss against Man Utd. I was surprised that Bayen was not giving your team any fight at all. Good job there. Half a season gone and you are still in three competition. Tottenham is running in good form. Seems they will challenge you all the way but i believe you will prevail. Good luck.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 09:53
Hey Lye, I was a bit surprised about Bayern as well, I wasn’t expecting to beat them in both games. The title race will surely be tough, Tottenham have a fantastic squad.
Erick Wolf
8 июня, 2011 at 10:00
Good read!
You’re well on your way to another title!
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:46
Thanks Erick, there still is a long way to go but I hope we’ll be in the race until the end.
CsAtlantis
8 июня, 2011 at 10:23
Great stuff in the group stage, a 100% record! :D
As for Ricardo, maybe he will just brute force his way through with his high strength instead of rely on pace :P
Doing quite well in the league, first and most of the chasing pack have a big gap to make up with the exception of Tottenham, hopefully they step on some banana skins :D
And congratulations on the Romania win, Marica is pretty good
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:46
Thanks for the comment CS! Ricardo is similar to Adriano I guess, I believe that he has what it takes to become a good striker (good enough to sell for good money at least :) )
And about Marica, he did very well although I was a bit upset because he missed a huge chance early on. But then I forgave him after he bagged a double :)
Laxeyman
8 июня, 2011 at 11:31
Brilliant form Johnny, the way you dominated the Champions League group was amazing, and you’re right in the thick of the title race. I can see Tottenham slipping up, and hopefully you can take advantage of that. Good luck!
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:47
Thanks Laxeyman. I guess we might throw away some points too but hopefully not too many.
Darren Smith
8 июня, 2011 at 11:56
Good two month period Johnny, you could have done without losing some of those points but you can’t win em’ all. I still believe you’re in the driving seat and your CL form is incredible. We may well witness a shock in Europe this year as your boys seem up for the big games. Great youngster in Ricardo btw, he’s certainly benefit from individual training on his quickness.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:49
Thanks Darren, I will be pleased to reach the semi finals in the Champions League this season and maybe make the big step next year. About Ricardo, he is still very young so I think that he might be ready for some first team football at the end of next season. If not, he’ll be sold for at least 5 mil :)
Stromson
8 июня, 2011 at 12:32
Okay, while the camera quality wasn’t very good, that was a pretty awesome video and gave a real sense of atmosphere. Congrats on the win; where does this put Romania in the Euro qualifiers now?
In terms of your game, those are once again some pretty great results! It looks like the league is a little bit tighter this year than it has been in the past, or maybe it just seems that way since it’s still early days.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:53
Thanks Stromson, I was too lazy to take a camera to the game so I used my ancient phone :) About the qualifiers, our chances are pretty slim I guess: we’ll have to win the remaining four games (away in Luxembourg, at home with France and Belarus and away in Albania) and then we might have a shot at the second place which will lead to the playoff. I’ll surely be there for the France and Belarus games ;) Now about FM, the league table was tighter last year if I’m not mistaken, there were like four teams in the title race at the end of December.
kevin
8 июня, 2011 at 13:29
Hi Johnny
Your team is in sensational form though that pesky Spurs team always seems to have a game in hand over you. I think you have a great chance of going far in the Champions League especially if your Brazilians continue playing the way they are. Ricardo looks great BTW.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:55
Hey Kevin, we surely can win anything with those Brazilians, hopefully they won’t get injured again like they did in the last couple of seasons.
Sibo
8 июня, 2011 at 13:46
Very good so far Johnny! It was a shame to see you bow out of the League Cup so early :( but that is not a very important competition and judging by your form in the CL it looks like you will be chasing bigger and better trophies this year! :D
Well done, keep up the good work and good luck! :D
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 13:56
Thanks Sibo. I was quite disappointed to be out of the Carling Cup so early, I really wanted to win it this time. But it will all be well if we win another trophy :)
Joelance
8 июня, 2011 at 14:03
Good results Johnny. Tottehnam can be a pain in your butt for sometime,but if your form continues, you should win.
I saw the Romania game, not the entire game but the highlights. I especially loved the second Marica goal, lovely chip. Cool finish from Mutu too.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 20:19
Thanks Joe. I liked the third goal too, great chip and I also appreciated that he also did all the work to steal the ball from the defender.
vaibhavc
8 июня, 2011 at 15:40
Hey Johnny
Great results and the position shows it. The win against Tottenham must have been very crucial. But somehow Man United always seem to beat you! It is great to see you beat Bayern, I hate them.
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 20:20
Thanks Vaibhav. We beat Man United a few times too but I guess the league defeat had to come at some point, I hope we won’t record many others.
Sayam Khan
8 июня, 2011 at 18:09
Hi Johnny, Excellent few months there. Dissapointing to see you out of the cup so early, but you can’t do great every year! Fantastic performances in the CL. I’ve been impressed by Parana in these few months. Good Luck
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 20:21
Thanks Sayam, Parana was quite impressive indeed this season, he proved that he is probably just as good as Ze Carlos.
Sears
8 июня, 2011 at 20:37
Your team is looking fantastic Johnny, I was particularly impressed with your win in Germany against Bayern. I honestly reckon you can qualify for the semi finals of the CL at least, depending on who you draw. Ze Carlos and Parana are a formidable striker force and they’ll always score goals for you if given the opportunity. Parana has certainly improved since last season too, if I remember correctly he was injury prone, right? Anyhow, disappointing you got beaten in the League Cup but your position in the league is excellent although Spurs have a game in hand. I think you can pip them to the title! Good luck :-)
Johnny Karp
8 июня, 2011 at 22:47
Thanks Sears. I’m very happy to see Parana back in shape, he deserved more than he got in the last two seasons. I wouldn’t say that he’s injury prone, he just got his bones broken by some «enthusiastic» defenders… But he didn’t have any muscular or ligament problems so that’s why I don’t think that he’s injury prone, maybe just unlucky.
Daniel
9 июня, 2011 at 01:26
Thanks for uploading the screenshot, i’m currently managin grimsby Town, taking them to the premiership, so when i get there, considering to buy him or not, great start to the season and good that you’re very consistent! Ze Carlos is worth more than £50million like you said, £75 million is about right!
Daniel ;D
Johnny Karp
9 июня, 2011 at 08:50
Thanks Daniel, I’m happy that you agree on that 75 mil fee :)