Matches
Against Tottenham(Champion’s League Semi-Final, Leg 1),
Tottenham truly did deserve to win. Out of all our 9 shots, we had none on target….NONE. They played better as a team then us even though I sent probably our top starting XI. Dawson, who went on to deservingly win the Man of the Match award, scored the first in the 49th off a header. My team just couldn’t do what I wished them to do and so I between the 60th and the 70th, I used all 3 of my subs by taking off Nani(for Anderson), Fletcher(Welbeck), and Ferdinand(Smalling). The sub’s didn’t help much and it was a player who was out on the field who helped us. It was Gallas!!!! In the 72nd minute, William Gallas took a pass from Rooney and decided to put it in his own net. This gave us the tie and the vital away goal.
This is unfortunate….
Against Blackburn(Premier League),
Since Rooney was gonna be out of the next Champion’s League Match, I decided to play him in the league match against Blackburn. I started him on the bench with a bunch of U-18 players starting in the game. Blackburn, although not playing as well as we were, did manage to exploit our inexperience due to the youth and scored in the 11th minute. Our finishing was letting us down as we just couldn’t find a goal at the other side of the pitch, no matter how hard we tried. As a result, in the 45th, I took out Nowlan and Harding and sent on Rooney and Valencia. I did take a while, but in the 60th, Rooney scored his first goal of the match. 8 minutes later, I took out Walker for Vrsaljko. Then, we finished the scoring. Miles Naylor scored in the 76th minute and Rooney finished his Hat Trick in the 83rd and then the 90+1. Assists by Eriksen(2) and Valencia.
Against Tottenham (Champion’s League Semi-Final, Leg 2),
The complete opposite of the previous match, we absolutely dominated this match. We had 23 shots to their 5 shots 
. We only had to wait 9 minutes for the first goal, with Saviola scoring a PK confidently. The second came from Anderson in the 28th minute to give us a 2-0 lead. In the 45th, I took out Saviola as he didn’t do much other then the Penalty and sent on Welbeck. Towards the end of the match, I also took out Smalling and Anderson for Walker and Eriksen. Then, in the 83rd Welbeck scored to finish the match. Assists by Fletcher(2).
Against Chelsea(Premier League),
I went half and half as far as ratio of First team players to youth players. Chelsea were a stronger squad from the beginning but we had a bit of luck on our side. Rooney was the first to score in the 13th minute with a header from a cross. 2 minutes later, the match changed. Lars Bender got a straight red card… In the 15th… Against Chelsea… I knew it was gonna be a long day. Torres equalized in the 17th minute as he was having an amazing game. He then went on to make it 2-1 with a goal against us in the 31st minute. I kinda got worried about them blowing us out so I took of Giggs for Smalling and pushed Jones from CB to DM. After half time, I decided to maybe go a bit offensive as we had been defending all match. I subbed Rafael on for Vrsaljko and ordered him to attack from the RB spot. It did help a bit but we were still the lesser team on the field. That was until, Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young put in one of the best 10 minutes of football I have seen at the club. In the 77th minute, Ashley Young scored an equalizing goal after dribbling past Ivanovic. It was a great goal which I was proud of because Rooney had made a perfect pass after dribbling around some players himself. I then took off the Injured Digne for young spanish DM Augusto from the U-18 to make his league Debut. This didn’t matter however because Rooney and Ashley Young combined again in the 86th minute to score the winning goal against a stronger side. We had a substantially stronger second half. Assists from Rooney and Young(2).
Against Newcastle (Premier League),
The team again controlled the match. I sent out a strong starting XI because it was our final home match of the season so I wanted to give the fans a good show from their team . Rooney started early with a quick goal in the 5th minute. He made it 2 in the 35th minute with a blast from outside. I subbed Rooney and Eriksen off in the 42nd to send on Welbeck and Pogba in order to give them a chance on the pitch. Our final goal came from Rafael in a complete fluke fashion. He tried to cross a from right next to the sideline and instead managed a goal that hit opposite post and went in. Great final home win of the season. Assists by Giggs, Eriksen and Ferdinand.
Against Stoke City(Premier League),
I went with a very young squad. The youngsters(not normally in the first team) who started were Ramirez(15), Augusto(17), and Zamani(18). We stuggled a good amount in the beginning as the team couldn’t make plays together. Welbeck did manage to score a goal in the 41st but it was partially due to luck that he did. In the 45th, I took out a tired Serge Ramirez and put on Kyle Walker. I then made the team more offensive by maneuvering sliders. It still wasn’t much of a help so in the 58th I took out Welbeck and sent on Miles Naylor(17). Pennant managed a goal in the 68th which gave my team some life. We started playing better and in the 72nd, Zamani scored a shot from a tight angle to give us the lead again with his first ever league goal. I think took out Nani in the 76th to give the fans a last shot to see Rooney in the league. I don’t know if he was the catalyst because he wasn’t that amazing, but we ended up scoring 2 more goals. In the 85th, Pogba scored his first ever league goal for Manchester United as well. Then, in the 90th, Naylor went to go score the final goal for us in the league. Great end to the league season. Assists by Rooney, Vrsaljko, and Eriksen.
Now a bit of bad news before the Man Utd Barcelona final.
Thats unfortunate….
End Of Month
Match Against Barcelona(Champion’s League Final)
Preview
Unavailable Players
Man Utd- Ferdinand, Douglas Costa
Barcelona-N/A
Result-
WE WON THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AGAIN!!!! And just like last year, it was a 2-1 win after Overtime that allowed us to win. The match was very impressive in the back and forth game, giving both teams a chance to get in front. Neither could do that during the first half and so I took out Fletcher to put on Eriksen(who was performing well offensively in previous matches). Nothing happened yet and so I took out Anderson to go with Welbeck to see if I could challenge their CB’s a bit more by adding speed to Rooney’s skill. This didn’t come out as I planned as Barcelona was the team to score with a Pique header from a corner. I subbed off Nani for Valencia and just went all out attack. I ended up playing with a 2-2-1-1-2-2 having 2 CB’s, 2 WB’s, 1 DM, 1 CM, 2 Wingers, and 2 Forwards. Barcelona still survived our onslaught and I finally accepted that we would lose. BUT I WAS WRONG! In the 1st minute of extra time, Valencia(who was not doing anything in the match) won a penalty in the penalty box. And Wayne Rooney made no mistake as he tied the match 1-1 in the final minutes before Extra time. After the equalizer, I pushed the 2 WB’s back into FB positions to have a 4 man defense. We got our last goal in the 102nd minute. Eric Abidal, the one who gave us the PK, managed to give us a bit more when he gave us an Own Goal. For me, he was the man of the match :p.
Next post will be a review of our team in the League.
Matches(Part I)
Against Bolton(Premier League),
I started the month off on the right foot, scoring 5 goals in my second consecutive match. In the match, we again used a couple of youth players like Pogba, Walker and Bender. I also started the match with Saviola at the front. He was the one who scored first with a goal in the 22nd. Then, in the 24th, Ashley Young scored to make it 2-0. In the 45th, I took of Walker for Serge Ramirez and Saviola for Danny Welbeck. After half time, in the 53rd Danny Welbeck scored a goal after getting quickly behind the defense. I took of Pogba for Seedorf in the 78th, and 5 minutes later Welbeck made it a brace with a pass from Seedorf. The final came in the 90+2 when Ashley Young scored another in injury time to end the match.
Against Everton(Premier League),
I played the match with many many youth players as I was already confident about the league and wanted to prepare for the Champion’s League match. As a result, Players like Vrsaljko, Pogba, Eriksen, Zamani and Eriksen all got starts in the match. I initially regretted it as in the 12th minute, Coleman scored fr0m outside the box. This didn’t last long as 7 minuts later, as Danny Welbeck exploited Heitinga’s lack of pace to score. Welbeck made it 2 in the 26th to give Man Utd the lead. The subs in the match were Vrsaljko for Ferdinand in the 45th. Zamani then came of in the 58th minute to give Nani some time on the field as well as a stronger presence up front. The final sub was taking Eriksen off to give Miles Naylor some time on the field. Welbeck made it a hat-trick in the 81st minute when he recieved a pass from Naylor which he just needed to tap in. It was an even match which we won do to individual performances rather then by the team. Assists by Eriksen, Pogba, and Naylor.
Against Shakhtar(Quarter Final, Leg 1),
After resting many of my first team players, I sent out a strong first XI for the first match in Ukraine. In all honesty, Shakhtar gave us a great game with some attractive football. We started off very strong with Rafael drawing a penalty which was converted by Rooney. In the 63rd, a tired Ashley Young for Nani. After alot of back and forth play, I subbed off Rafael for a fresh Chris Smalling in the 71st minute. Right after this sub, Rooney got his second of the match. Our final sub was Douglas Costa who gave way for Christian Eriksen in the middle of the field. Rooney made his last in the 81st minute when he scored of an Eriksen assist. Shakhtar never let up though, and in the 83rd minute, Chygrynskyi scored a header from a corner kick.
Against West Brom(Premier League),
I again went with resting many of my first team players. Players who started included Daniel Rugani, Lindegaard and Welbeck. Just like last match, we didn’t start very well. West Brom were the strongest team on the field. They opened up the scoring in the 20th minute from a Tchoyi goal. In the 45th, I took out Rugani and Lars Bender to sub on Fletcher at DM and Walker at CB. In the 49th minute, just after half time, Vrsaljko crossed a ball back to the outside for an Eriksen goal. 6 minutes later, Eriksen teed up an assist for Nani to give Manchester United the lead. Unfortunately, West Brom was a better team through out the match and this showed especially at the end. This was possibly because I subbed off Eriksen in the 76th for Anderson. Eriksen was our strongest performer and I took him off because I thought the game was over. 1 minute later, Dorrans tied the match up at 2. We kept trying to go for the winning goal, but West Brom were the ones who were awarded. They got their match winner from Morrison in the 90th minute to win the match. Overall, I’m disappointed by the loss but I’m also impressed with the performances of Eriksen, Vrsaljko and Welbeck as all three played very well. Assists by Eriksen and Vrsaljko.
Against Shakhtar(Quarter-Finals, Leg 2),
We against went with a strong squad to finish of the match up. We were the greater team and only had trouble with scoring because of their amazing gking performance. After a first half of no scoring, I took out Anderson to put on Saviola to give the team more of an offensive presesne. It worked. We pushed up more into their half and in the 57th minute, Saviola was put through by Wayne Rooney to score. It happened again in the 69 when Saviola only had to tap the ball in to the back of the net. The match up was decided and so I took of Rafael and Douglas Costa for Nani and Vrsaljko. Assists by Rooney(2).
Against Fulham(FA Cup Semi-Final),
We used a mixed squad with players that gave the team the chance to get to the semi-finals, combined with the first team players challenging in the League and Champion’s League. We were missing that extra step, that extra inch to win the match on multiple occasions. We were the stronger side through out the match, and the first half was no different. This didn’t matter much, however, as they scored just before half time with Zamora taking advantage of a Rafael error. I took this opportunity to go more offensive as I took out a uninspiring Seedorf for a quick Danny Welbeck. Proved to be the correct move as Welbeck gave Rooney the space, and pass, to allow him to equalize the match. I took off another disappointing player(Valencia) to send on Nani once again as a sub in the 50. In the 75th minute, we still hadn’t found a goal so I took off the attacking Rafael, sent on the defensive Smalling, and sent my midfield into full attack. No goal was to be found after much play. We lost in the penalty shoot out after our 2 top players(Rooney and Young) both missed their PK’s. Disappointing end to our FA Cup campaign. Assist by Welbeck.
Match against Arsenal(Premier League)
Preview
Unavailable Players
Man Utd- N/A
Arsenal- N/A
Result-
With this win(and a Manchester City loss) MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE WON THE PREMIER LEAGUE!!!
Matches(Part II)
Against Bristol City(Premier League),
I again used lesser players in the hopes to give them more time on the field and also to rest my first team players for the match against Tottenham. There isn’t anything to say at all. We were the much better team and they were lucky we didn’t score more. We opened up the scoring with a goal from Nani in the 22nd minute from outside the box. He was a bit injured though so I took him off on half time for a Ryan Giggs who was making his 650th league appearance. Danny Welbeck scored right after half time to make it 2-0. I subbed off Kyle Walker and Eriksen for Rugani and Valencia in the 76th before we won the match. Assists by Walker and Eriksen.
Awards
Other
Youth Intake
Before going on to tell you about how our month was so amazing and about how we played, I want to announce the new intake of youth players for the Manchester United Youth Team! Last year, between the players who tried out for our youth candidate team and the ones who were purchased, we accumulated a group of youngsters who could very well become some of the best in the world should they realize their potential. To expect to duplicate that would be absurd, but to not attempt it would be ludicrous. (Sounded really deep just now didn’t it? ) Out of the players, the ones who won a spot in the team were all English youngsters. They were:
- Eddie Rodwell(16), DL: The player that is the least highly rated among the new group of youth players. Rodwell, not related to the England DM, is a player who doesn’t really have a future in the club’s first team. Regardless, there is no harm in keeping him. His potential rating of 1 star could see him excel in the reserves.
- Tommy Kay(16), MC: The next player from the youth candidates is a young player by Tommy Kay. A player that excels in free kicks and his Work rate. He has a potential of 2 stars which is enough to reach the level of a “Good” Premier League player. See him as potential long term sub/Reserve player.
- Gareth Peers(15), MC: Very similar to Kay, Peers is another central midfielder that has a 2 star potential. The youngster has a great teamwork rating and as well as a very strong tackling. The youngster also has a 2 star which also gives him the chance to get to be a sub.
- Richie Robson(15), AMR: A pacey winger, Robson is the “Middle Player” in that he is in between the 2 previous players who will be backups and the 2 players ahead who can be the starters. Robson has a level of 3 stars which is enough to be a decent starter in the squad if need be.
- Craig Healy(15), ST: The first of a duo of strikers that can be some of the best in the world, Healy is a player that is a dominant player in the air. The 6’2 forward is a determined striker that can has great finishing. His potential of 3.5 stars is enough to be among the best in the world.
- Tommy Christian(15), ST: The same as Craig, Tommy is a player with 3.5 star potential. As opposed to the target man, however, Tommy is more of a poacher type player. The 5’9 player can make a deadly combination with Craig in the future of the team.
Matches(Part I)
Against Watford(League Cup, Final),
we started with a very mixed squad. In the back, we had Walker, Vrsaljko, Vidic and Phil Jones protecting Lindegaard. In the midfield, Bender protected the back 4 while Giggs and Seedorf were tasked with moving the ball around. Up front, Wayne Rooney was flanked by the stars of the reserve and U-18 sides, Zamani and Andy Nowlan. We started the match in the best possible way with Wayne Rooney scoring just a minute 30 into the match. I then decided that the game would e amazingly easy. How wrong I was… Right after the goal, Watford started playing at a level that is expected of the elite teams in the Premier League. We started playing back and forth between us Until Andy Nowlan scored his first goal in the Manchester United first team. At half time, I took out a very tired Nowlan for Elliot Harding. Then, disaster struck. In the 49th minute, Vrsaljko had a moment of madness and had a terrible challenge for which he got a red card. As a result, I took of Bender off an played Smalling at LB(never played there before). Nothing much changed, and we both exchanged chances. I took off Seedorf in the 77th to send on Eriksen. He then went on to score the final in the 84th minute. We Won the League Cup!!!! Assists by Walker, Seedorf and Smalling.
Against Wigan(Premier League),
we sent out our starting defense while using a young Midfield and Saviola up front. The Match was very very once sided, we got in the lead in the 13th minute of a goal from Vidic. In the 22nd, Valencia made it 2-0 and in the 32nd Saviola started his brace(ended it in the 45+1.) After half time, we still dominated the match and Young made it 5-0 with a goal in the 52nd minute. Because of the score line I , in the 54th, subbed off Rafael for Walker and Evra for Digne to give them a chance in the match. I then subbed off Saviola in the 79th minute for Welbeck which turned out to help a bit. The final goal came in the 90+1 when Valencia was put through one on one by a Welbeck pass. Assists by Ferdinand, Eriksen, Young, Saviola and Welbeck.
Against Man City(Premier League),
we used all the players that were again rested before this important match. Both teams were even with 12 shots and 5 on target. It was also a very rough game, shown when Anderson was injured in the 7th minute. I subbed him of for fellow Brazilian Douglas Costa, who was making his return from injury. In the 21st, Young came very close only to miss the shot by going wide. In the 28th, Man City responded by a threatening David Silva shot after a great pass by Dzeko. We managed to open up the scoring when Ashley Young used his trickery to get fouled in the box. Rooney stepped up and scored confidently. The match was entertaining, especially when Aguero had a period of about 3 minutes where he had 2 great shots. I eventually subbed off M’Vila and Valencia for Ferdinand and Giggs, in order to add more experience and concentration to the match. The match ended and we won the bragging rights against City since I beat them every time we played this season. Assist by Ashley Young (Wont be playing them anymore since their out of Champions League and FA Cup.)
Match against Lazio(1st Knockout, 2nd Leg)
Preview
Having tied the previous game 1-1 away from home, Man Utd hold the obvious advantage of playing the next leg at home as well a possibly crucial away goal. Manchester United also hold an obviously better squad, led by the worlds greatest player, Wayne Rooney. It is Manchester United’s match to lose, and if manchester are eliminated it will be by no fault but their own.
Unavailable Players
Man Utd- Anderson, M’Vila
Lazio- Andre Dias
Result-
A close but disappointing victory for Manchester United, we again failed to score as much as we should have. We wasted to many chances and if we want to get far in this competition, we need to stop. Regardless, It was a great match for Ashley Young who was amazingly dangerous. Assists by Ashley Young and Evra.
Next up we play Douglas Costa’s former club, Shakhtar in a match up that is very much to my liking. This is due to the fact that 1 of Real Madrid and Barcelona will be eliminated as well as one from Tottenham and A.C Milan. We had much luck in the overall draw.
Matches(Part II)
Against Burnley(FA Cup, 6th Round),
we went for a very young team. De Gea was covered by Walker, Smalling, Ferdinand and Lucas Digne. In the middle, M’Vila, Eriksen and Pogba were charged with creating chances. Finally, up front, Zamani, Harding and Nowlan were all started for a forward line with an average age of 16.66 years of age. We were the better team in the match but again our finishing was a problem. Out of our 19 shots, 8 were on target and 1 hit the back of the net. Also, we had 3 clear cut chances and 3 times when we hit the woodwork. We should have won by much more. Anyways, the first moment of note was when Zamani combined with Harding(who was playing striker) to shot from the edge of the area, but the shot hit the post. Many similar chances followed until half time came. I took out Harding and subbed on Wayne Rooney. I know that any team has a chance of scoring a goal because thats just how soccer is, so I wanted more of a chance to score. This helped a bit because Rooney pushed the defense back. Then, in the 66th, Zamani scored his second ever goal for the Red Devils. He was unfortunately injured shortly after and so I subbed him off for Ryan Giggs. Then, I finally subbed of Nowlan for Miles Naylor for my last sub. The match eventually ended with us going to the next round. Assist by Eriksen.
Against Swansea City(Premier League),
we went for another mixed squad. Lindeegard was protected by a strong back 4 as well as having Pogba, Eriksen and Bender in the midfield. Up front on the field, Nani, Douglas Costa and Wayne Rooney started the match to take charge of scoring. In the first half, Rooney scored in the 17th minute and then once again in the 29th minute to take him to 26 goals so far in the season. We kept pressuring and in the 42nd, we forced Hamalainen to score an own goal which bounced of him and into the net. We made 2 changes after half time with Eriksen coming of for Miles Naylor and Douglas Costa for Danny Welbeck. The players who came on played very well, for example causing the corner that led to Vidic’s goal in the 70. In the 73rd minute, Lars Bender came off for Kyle Walker who was hoping to stay in the English National Team. The final goal came from Miles Naylor who scored his first ever goal for Manchester United’s first team. It was a wonderful match for the 17 year old. Assists by Eriksen, Nani and Welbeck.
England National Team
All the expected players were called up to the National side with the surprise inclusion being Carrick. He hasn’t appeared for us yet this season and yet he was called up which I found beyond weird.
Very disappointing result for the team in which it seems that Manchester United’s lack of efficiency from the past couple of games(not including Swansea) has translated to the English National Team. Ashley Young, however, played very well and pushed England forward going for the win. Something to notice is that 4 out of the 11 starters are players on Manchester United .
Awards
Finances
Not a great place to be in, we are currently in the Red 
. The amount of money we pay is absurd($13.08M per month) and the amount that is left is even greater. Every season, we have to pay $156.96M to the bank. This means since when I took over the club, we have been paying more then $200M to the bank. Not really sure how to beat this debt and still to be competitive other then to “Farm” players. As a result, I looked for players who were available for free. Here are the ones I got to the club
After being released by Real Madrid, Altintop has been available for free for a while. I don’t expect to use him, I just wish to sell him during the transfer season to maybe get a quick $2-3M.
A regen called Mourad Meriah, he has already appeared for Tunisia as a starter. He has a 2 star potential which I think could make him worth about $5M in the near future. This could, once again, be used for a bit of quick money which could help a bit with the debt we find ourselves in.
At the bringing of next season, Palermo legend, Fabrizio Miccoli will be coming to Old Tratford. The italian forward, who is also an ex-benfica player, will bring with him the same experience as Saviola, but with a much better shot. We have been a bit lacking in our scoring so maybe he will be able to help against those types of teams. It is also possible that I could sell one of our forwards and replace them with Miccoli.
Matches (Part I)
Against Nottm Forest(FA Cup, 4th Round),
we went for a particularly young squad. This was most notable in the back with Walker on the right, Vrsaljko on the Left and Rugani in the center. Behind them was Lindegaard while the other notable inclusions were Bender, Pogba and Welbeck starting up front. We started of terribly in the match, particularly on the defense. In only the second minute of play, a penalty was called against us when Walker downed an opponent in the Area. Fortunately the shot was saved and the mistake went unpunished. Forest played well against us and actually pushed us back a couple of times. We were the ones who broke the 0-0 marker first though, as Danny Welbeck got behind the defense to convert his first goal since December. The joy was short-lived, however, as 2 minutes later(in the 15) Andy Reid made up for his missed PK and scored a great volley from outside the box. The match went back and forth for a long time until suddenly, something ticked with Manchester United. In the span of 3 minutes, we went from a game of back and forth football to one where we were completely dominant. In the 32nd minute, Welbeck again got behind the defense after a wonderful weighted pass form Giggs. He converted that goal by simply running past the goalkeeper and slotting it into the empty net. Then, in the 40th minute, Welbeck let Nani loose who then also scored his first goal of the new year. Half time passed with no changes, and then in the 47th minute, Valencia was assisted by Welbeck as well. The match continued with my dominance so I made 3 changes. I sent on Eriksen(Giggs, 56th), Digne(Vrsaljko, 59th) and Douglas Costa(Pogba, 76th). We continued and found found our final goal in the 89th on the boot of Welbeck who completed his first hat trick. Great match by the kid. Assists by Welbeck(2), Giggs(2), and Eriksen.
Against Wolves(Premier League),
I began thinking about the match against the Spurs so I again went with a slightly weaker squad. I started with the same defense except for one(Jones instead of Rugani). I also started with the front three of Valencia, Nani and Saviola hoping to keep my other starters rested. We were the greater side in our home match, Saviola opened the scoring in the 19th minute with authority. In injury time for the first half, Valencia scored a good goal where he used perfect timing and pace to get one on one. I subbed off M’Vila for Bender to keep him fresh for the next match and in the 62nd(after Saviola missed a PK 4 min before), Bender said thank you with his first goal of the season, second overall. I subbed off Walker and Giggs in the 67th to send out Smalling and Pogba to the field. Thats when Valencia scored his second goal of the match in the 72nd minute. Assists by Fletcher, Valencia and Saviola(2).
Against Tottenham(Premier League),
It was a very even match. Tottenham had more shots and shots on target while we had the better chances and 61% possession. We started with a very strong starting 11, using all the players I had rested recently. We started the match very well with Wayne Rooney taking only 17 minutes to open up the scoring. This isn’t to say that Tottenham were inactive during this period. De Gea managed to block a shot by Bale from point blank before the opener. We went of in a great game where Rooney and Douglas Costa came close for us while Bale and Modric did for them. Just before half time, we got a bit lucky in that a corner from Young crossed untouched onto the far post after bouncing in the box to a lonely Vidic who easily scored. Half time came and with it, came confidence for my side. Not a good thing. 1 minute after halftime, Gareth Bale had a beautiful cross into the middle that reached Berbatov. He simply had to redirect it for the score. This brought me back to reality. The game was a tight one so just because we had a couple of goals didn’t mean we were guaranteed a win. I decided that the best way to win was to keep the ball up front, in a intimidating manner but not trying to force the ball. I activated a more passing friendly system where the ball would travel the midfield. Then, in the 55th, I took out Anderson, pushed Douglas Costa towards the center, and put on Valencia on the wing because of his recent form. Game was going well, so I decided to make a bold move. I knew that Tottenham needed a win. My team had a large advantage at the top of the table and a tie would just benefit me essentially. Also, I couldn’t see them scoring more then 1 goal, so what I did was that I went more offensive. If I scored a goal, it would be game over, if neither scored, I would win and if they scored we would tie. So I took Fletcher out for Saviola And then took Douglas Costa off for Ferdinand. That ended up being enough with us securing the 2-1 win .
Against Birmingham(Premier League),
I decided again to rest key players, this time for the Champions League. I started with Walker and Vrsaljko in the back, Eriksen and Pogba in the middle and Welbeck leading up front. Match started very well as 9 minutes in, Douglas Costa scored the first goal of the match. Mutch then equalized in the 22nd thanks to Waker . The match, overall, was very very boring. We didn’t do well honestly. I tried to change that in the 45th when I subbed out Walker and Eriksen to call upon Seedorf and Smalling. Then, in the 67th minute, Douglas Costa was injured I subbed on Nowlan who was making his league debut. The match ended with nothing else of not occurring. Not the greatest day for us. Assist by Welbeck.
England Call Up(Was played between Spurs and Birmingham Match)
5 of our players were called up with Walker being the only one on the team who hasn’t yet been capped for the National Team. The defensive Duo of Smalling and Jones were called up after being the most called upon defenders in the Manchester United team. The other 2 were the top offensive outlets for England, Ashley Young and Wayne Rooney.
Good match for England in the overall match, the score didn’t represent the superiority of the Three Lions. In the friendly, Capello went for a back four that included a certain Kyle Walker and Baines replacing Ashley Cole. The midfield had about 12 shots for which all but 1 were off target. The forwards only had 4 shots on target from a combined 10 shots. Rooney was the one who scored with Ashley Young as his assister ‘ala Manchester. All our players played well in the match(Kyle Walker was even Man of the Match) with 4 starting the game.
Match Against Lazio(Champions League, Leg 1)
Preview
Unavailable Players
Lazio-Andre Dias, Granit Xhaka
Manchester United-Douglas Costa
Line Ups-
Result-
For the second game in a row, we just couldn’t get the ball forward. The match was even in that we both had the same amount of shots(9) and shots on target(4). The only difference was that we had 2 clear cut chances to their 0, and 5 of their shots were long shots while none of ours were. The one who really lost us the win was Valencia in my opinion. Yes, he may have gave us the goal, but he also had all three of the clear cut chances. Rooney, three times, passed him the ball so that he was one on one with the goalkeeper. He scored only once when it was harder to miss then score. In the first half, nothing was happening so I took out Giggs at half time for fletcher. In the 58th, on his second one on one attempt, Valencia managed to score. I took of a tired Rafael of for Smalling. Then, Sculi scored in the 69th. My last sub was Saviola on for Anderson in the 83rd. Assist by Rooney.
Matches(Part II)
Against QPR(FA Cup, 5th Round),
We got our revenge for our lose to QPR earlier this season. Ok, maybe we went a bit to far but the feeling of vengeance got to me . Our first half was amazing, we had to wait only 4 minutes for Rooney to open up his account. 4 minutes later, Vrsaljko scored his first ever goal for Man Utd. In the 14th, Rooney got his second goal of the match before Nani(30) and Young(41) each got got one in the match. Young wasn’t satisfied so he went and got another in the 43rd minute. In the 45th, I took of Ferdinand for Jones and Nani for Zamani. Rooney capped his hat trick in the 56th minute to make it 7-0. I took Rooney of for Welbeck in the 72nd and we ended the game. Assists by Rafael, Seedorf, Anderson, Young, Rooney(2).
Against Nottm Forest(Premier League),
I started with another strong line up. I wanted to take the momentum from the last match and increase it so to counter balance the morale decrease from the two ties I had this month. Well it seemed to go very well as in the first minute Darren Fletcher scored the first. 12 minutes later, Rooney scored yet again, with a powerful shot from inside the box. He completed his brace in the 21st with a similar goal. We added a 4th goal before half time through a confident goal by Anderson. I took advantage of our lead on the team to make 3 changes in the 58th. The players who came on were Lars Bender(M’Vila), Daniel Welbeck(Rooney), and Andy Nowlan(Ashley Young). We came close with Nowlan and Bender both having great chances, but Anderson is the one to add the fourth, scoring in the 70th. Assists by Ashley Young(2), Rooney(2) and Lars Bender.
It seems that the same thing as last year is happening to Tottenham. They, again, seem to be collapsing midseason and look like they give up on the title after January. Where we were the ones following at the beginning of the season, they have dropped many many points since. They have now given me a space of 12 points at the top while I also have a game in hand. With about 11 games left, this gives me a a lot of confidence at the top. This means that out of the next 12 games I have, Tottenham have to get 12 points more then me. So if Tottenham get the full 33 points, then we only need to get 21 points out of our possible 36. Winning 10 in a row isn’t an easy task however….
Awards
Other
Premier League
With about 60% of the Premier League being played already, it looks as though it is time to analyze the First team just like the youth prospects were before.
- Top Offense:Manchester United(53)
- Top Defense:Manchester United(12)
- Worst Offense: Stoke(13)
- Worst Defense: Q.P.R(57)
So far this season, its very similar to the previous one. We are just above Tottenham who continues to challenge us. Us 2 are above 3rd place Man City. Then Man City is just above a group of 4 teams who are all challenging for spots in Europe. The amazing thing is the difference between the top of the table and the bottom. If we take the difference between our GD, it is a vast 76 point difference. That is a vast amount especially since it is only just above half way done through the season. Now on to the top individual players in the league as of right now.
Goal
The top goalscorer at this point, Rooney has scored 20 goals in his 19 matches. In second place, and an impressive sum it is, is Odemwingie from West Brom. It is interesting to not that because of Odemwingie’s goals, West Brom is in 7th place. He accounts for almost 40% of the goals of the club. In third, and again an amazing sum as well, is N’Gog with 16 goals. Bolton has had trouble scoring this season with him scoring more then half of the goals for the club. Without N’Gog, Bolton would be only 1 goal above the worst offense(14 goals as compared to 13). After the top 3, the following people had less luck in front of the net. Berbatov and Brunt had 11 goals while Demba Ba, Dembele, Bale and Dzeko all scored 9 times. Only team to have more then one player in the top 10 is Tottenham.
Assists
Top assister at this point is Luka Modric from Tottenham. He is tied with Juan Mata from Chelsea with 11 assists a piece in 21 matches. After is the Trio of Young, Bale and Silva who have 9 assists. Young is at the top of the three because he has played in 19 matches. Bale has played in 3 games more then Young while Silva played in an extra game more then Bale. At the bottom of the list is the in conquerable Wayne Rooney who ties with Aguero with 8 assists a piece. 19 matches for Rooney has him above Aguero who has 21 matches. There are 3 duos from 3 teams that are in the top 7 on the assist charts. Mata is the single one from Chelsea.
The top shot blocker(at least as far as Clean Sheets are concerned) has been the young David De Gea. The spaniard has been at the top of the league and could be considered one of the greatest in the world after his great season. I would consider him the number 2 of Spain. Right after, Szczesny has has 11 clean sheets. This makes Arsenal’s buying of Adler all the more interesting as their goal keeper had been shown as more then capable. In third is the ever amazing Petr Cech followed by Gomes, who benefits from the great team in front of him. The final of the top 5 is the only surprise in Vorm. Vorm is arguably the one who is the most tested out of the top 5, and so has deserved this spot more then the others.
Manchester United
Things that come to mind are
- Rooney is once again the most important player on the offensive side of things, with 20 goals and 8 assists.
- Young has not been able to continue his form from last year, most notably in the scoring side.
- Douglas Costa has taken up the scoring that is missed by Young by scoring 8 goals already. This is double his amount for all of last years Premier League.
- Phil Jones and Chris Smalling have appeared the most out of the Defenders.
- M’Vila has had the best passing percentage(89%).
- The Midfield(Anderson, Giggs, Seedorf, Pogba, Eriksen and Fletcher) has been much better in getting on the scoresheet and assisting, having a total of 7 goals and 14 assists.
