August 17th, 2012 March 2013 & The Perfect Month

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.