Vauxhall Motors Story: October — December 2018

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.

Vauxhall vs Tottenham (Premier League)

Venue: Vauxhall Stadium

Attendance: 22,367

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Louis Laing, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Robert Ackermann, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: For the fans!

It was a special game, the stadium was almost full but not a sell-out unfortunately. And we almost got off to a flying start, Parana had a good chance 90 seconds into the game but his shot from inside the penalty area cannoned back off the post. We continued to dominate the game and that finally paid off on 20 minutes when Zé Carlos showed great movement off the ball and a cool powerful finish. Tottenham tried to fight back and they nearly got back on level terms shortly after the half hour mark but Higuain‘s finish was palmed away by Luis Guilherme. That save triggered an immediate counter attack from my lads, Zé Carlos ran away with the ball and then squared it for Robert Ackermann who applied an easy finish to double our lead! The closing minutes of the first half saw a spectacular end-to-end game but both keepers were in great shape so it ended 2-0.

Half time score: 2-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: none

The entertainment continued after the break and the crowd went wild on 56 minutes when a great burst from Leandro Velasco was stopped by a tackle inside the penalty area but the loose ball fell to Robert Ackermann who fired home for his second goal of the game. The match cooled off after that goal, Tottenham were trying to fight back but our defense was holding up well. The Spurs pulled one back 11 minutes from time but our victory was never in doubt although Higuain did manage to score a sensational goal deep into injury time. It was too late though, the three points were ours!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Robert Ackermann

Flop of the match: Louis Laing

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Our fans witnessed a festival of football in our last Champions League group game, the result didn’t matter anymore as we were already sure of finishing top of the group. The game was extremely spectacular, seven goals were scored but Abdallah Yaisien and left back Hans Larsson scored the most beautiful ones (click here to watch Yaisien’s goal, click here to watch Larsson’s goal).

With six wins out of six we dominated the group, it was fairly easy I guess although Bayern were the favorites. We scored 22 goals and conceded just three, no complaints there :)

Finishing top of the group ensured us a good first round draw, we’re going to meet Russian side CSKA Moscow and I believe that we should qualify to the quarter finals.

Back to the Premier League now, we still had four really tough matches to play before the end of the year.

Chelsea vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Stamford Bridge

Attendance: 40,940

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Louis Laing, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: You can win today!

Chelsea were in 6th place before the game but that surely didn’t affect their determination, their players were tackling hard and that kept my physios extremely busy throughout the opening 20 minutes of the game. They had the strength but we had the talent: Zé Carlos gave us the lead on 25 minutes as he curled one home from the edge of the area. The Blues missed a good chance moments later and they surely regretted it as Parana doubled our lead shortly after the half hour mark with a cool finish. Zé Carlos was unstoppable, he probably wanted to prove that he’s better than Chelsea‘s Neymar and he did that by scoring his second goal of the game eight minutes before the interval. 3-0 at half time at Stamford Bridge, what can be more pleasing than that? :)

Half time score: 0-3

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Hans Larsson for Touya, Abdallah Yaisien for Velasco, Radek Vecera for Indio

Chelsea managed to come back into the game just 40 seconds after the break with a great goal but their hopes of a fightback suffered a major blow after five minutes as one of their centre backs finally got sent off. That put the game back into our hands and Marat Bykov put the result beyond doubt on 63 minutes with a fine header on a Marcos Fernandez free kick cross.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Zé Carlos

Flop of the match: Abdallah Yaisien

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Manchester United vs Vauxhall (Premier League)

Venue: Old Trafford

Attendance: 74,420

Starting line up: Luis Guilherme — Emanuele Santoni, Louis Laing, Marat Bykov, Pierre Touya — Leandro Velasco, Indio, Marcos Fernandez, Tiago — Zé Carlos, Parana

Team Talk: For the fans!

Manchester United were in 5th place before the game, surely not good enough for such a club, so I was sure that we were going to have a very difficult match ahead of us. Both sides showed good football during the opening minutes of the game but the finishing made the difference on 15 minutes as Wayne Rooney found the back of the net and Marilungo hit the post while my Zé Carlos and Parana were denied by the goalkeeper. The woodwork saved us again three minutes before the break when a thumping long range shot from Rafael thundered off the crossbar.

Half time score: 1-0

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

Half time substitutions: none

Things got better after the break and we managed to make it all square on 53 minutes when Leandro Velasco made a dazzling run down the right flank before bending a perfect cross for Tiago who headed home. Our joy was short-lived though, Manchester United reacted quickly after the goal and they managed to restore the lead courtesy of a Jack Rodwell shot from the edge of the area. We could still have clinched a draw but Zé Carlos squandered yet another chance eight minutes from time, the Brazilian ace had a very poor game this time and that cost us the first league defeat of the season.

Full time team talk: Disappointing!

Man of the match: Tiago

Flop of the match: Zé Carlos

Match Stats

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

The last two games of the year restored our faith in the team, the lads played very well against Aston Villa and Liverpool with Parana being our most valuable player. I was pleased to get revenge over Aston Villa for that Carling Cup exit and then we managed to beat Liverpool at Anfield Road quite easily, we could have scored quite a few more in that game.

We’re top of the table at the end of 2018 but I guess we’re virtually second since Tottenham are just two points behind with a game in hand. It appears that this season will see a two-horse race for the title between us and Tottenham but I believe that Manchester City could well re-enter the chase.

The stats show that Zé Carlos and Parana were our best players so far, they scored no less than 35 goals between them but what’s more pleasing is that Ze Carlos is finally playing more for his teammates as he provided 11 assists. New centre back Marat Bykov had no adaptation problems at all, he scored 6 goals so far and was our most reliable defender. Our three new central midfielders are doing pretty well too: Robert Ackermann has 6 goals and 3 assists, Indio bagged a goal and 8 assists while Marcos Fernandez contributed a goal and 9 assists. As you can notice quite a few of our players are wanted, rumors are flying but I can tell you that I will not sell any of the players at this point.

The best news of the year was that one of our players was considered for an UEFA award! Zé Carlos surely made a name for himself and Barcelona reportedly are ready to put 50 million pounds on the table to buy him! I guess I’d let him go for around… 75 mil :)

And now let’s continue the «meet our youngsters» series :) This time I will introduce the «new Zé Carlos«: Brazilian 18-year old forward Ricardo. I paid just 1.5 million pounds to Gremio for this lad and I guess he’s worth a lot more than that. His current ability is at 1.5 while his potential ability is at 3.5, he could well become our new star but I guess his speed will have to improve if he wants to be our next number 9. He did well for the reserves team so far: 6 goals and 4 assists in 7 starts.

January will have a tricky double battle with Arsenal, I guess we are quite unlucky to meet them in the third round of the FA Cup…

Last but not least, the screen shot that Daniel has requested: Vaclav Kadlec‘s profile and season stats so far.

That’s about it for now my friends, thanks for reading and for your support. Our season is going pretty well so far, except the early Carling Cup exit… We’re well in the title race, we’re on track to reach the Champions League quarter finals but the most important thing is that the team manages to play very good football in most games, not very far from the ideal football that I would want to see… I’m looking forward to your comments and screen shot requests, none would go unanswered! :)

P.S.: As you might remember I went to the Romania vs Bosnia game last Friday and I can tell you that it was a great evening, we beat them 3-0 and played very well too. The crowd was sensational, I did my best to chant and shout throughout the match and my voice recovered only after two days. I captured a video with my crappy phone after the second goal, the quality isn’t great but it might give you an idea of the joy that I lived together with the other 10,000 fellow fans (click here to open the video). Unfortunately our coach resigned after the game due to some conflicts with the FA, I honestly regret that.