The Carling Cup semi final saw us taking on Manchester City and I was quite pleased to watch the first leg as we thrashed them at Vauxhall Stadium courtesy of braces from Iain McManus and Parana. The second leg didn’t start too well as the Citizens took an early 2-0 lead but thankfully we managed to restore parity and advance to the final once again.

I was quite confident before the final because we were going to face Liverpool, not a very tough opponent to be honest. But I wasn’t expecting an easy game either. Well, it turned out quite easy after all as we thumped the Reds 6-0 in a game that really saw just one team playing football at Wembley: the mighty Motormen! Lucas Cuello started things off with a superb goal and then, four goals later, Parana wrapped it up with an awesome effort. (click here to watch the highlights)

This was our third consecutive Carling Cup and fourth overall, I’m satisfied with what we have done in this competition.

Now let’s move on to the Premier League results, I was expecting a good battle for the title with Manchester United. January went pretty well for us up to a certain point, we snatched four consecutive wins at the beginning but then we were stopped by Liverpool before getting beaten again by Manchester City! That game was quite frustrating even though my lads didn’t play too well but Man City scored twice from two shots on target, that’s never easy to swallow. However, the situation at the top of the table was unchanged as we were level on points with Man United.

February was a lot better, we grabbed all our points while Manchester United dropped no less than six of them! The best game of the month for us was the 3-2 win against Arsenal, a victory that seemed highly unlikely after 40 minutes as one of my players got sent off. The lads showed great spirit in that game and pulled off a massive victory which helped us to build a six-point gap over Man United at the top of the table.

We suffered a setback in March as Ipswich managed to clinch a 2-2 draw against us but Manchester United had it far worse as they dropped four points in March due to a couple of unbelievable high-scoring draws: a 4-4 and a 6-6 against Liverpool! That means that we were enjoying a lead of 8 points at the top of the table , the title was ours to lose at that point.

The first game of April was the title decider as we were travelling to Old Trafford, Manchester United had to win it in order to get back in the title race. That didn’t happen though as my boys turned on the style and eventually won the game 2-0 courtesy of a brace from backup striker Thiago. (click here to watch the highlights) The title was secured two games later and that left us with a relaxed finale to the Premier League season.

We won the title by a considerable margin mostly because Manchester United really crashed in the last part of the season, they even lost the runner-up spot to Arsenal. We scored quite a few goals again this season but it was the defence which impressed me with only 19 goals conceded in 38 games.

This was our seventh consecutive Premier League title out of nine top-flight seasons, I guess I couldn’t have wished for more.

Now on to the Champions League, I was quite keen on winning it again after being knocked out in the semi finals last season. Things went smoothly again until the last four as we went past Sevilla and Juventus without major headaches. But then it happened again… The first leg of the semi final against Chelsea was immensely frustrating as we dominated the game from start to finish but the Blues survived the onslaught and silenced our fans with a late corner kick goal. The second leg was even more annoying as we didn’t play too well. Nevertheless, we managed to push the game into extra time but then it went to the penalty shoot-out and we lost it…

Manchester City won it eventually and that really annoys me as they have won four of these since the start of the game while we managed only three… I know that we are better than them, we have proven that in the Premier League by winning seven titles in a row but somehow they always managed to turn up for the Champions League big matches. As you can see, they have never lost in a Champions League final, that’s what I call efficiency!

The disappointing Champions League exit left us with only one more trophy to aim for, the FA Cup. We cruised to the final even though we met tough teams like Chelsea and Tottenham on the road to the final act. The most difficult test was against the Spurs in the semi final, the game went into extra time as the score was 1-1 after 90 minutes but we really nailed them in those last 30 minutes

In fact, the big final was a lot easier than the semi final. We met Aston Villa in the final battle and really outplayed them throughout the 90 minutes. They had survived the onslaught for quite some time but a fortuitous goal from centre back Gerhard Heinrich finally opened the flood gates and allowed Lucas Cuello to bag a brace and wrap things up in style. (click here to watch the highlights)

This was our third consecutive FA Cup and fourth overall, it’s nice that we have won in all the finals.

My strikers had a really good season, especially Parana who scored no less than 49 goals. Zé Carlos was not up to his standards this time but there is a good excuse as he was injured for a couple of months during the second half of the season.

That wraps up my last season with Vauxhall but this post isn’t over yet, I have a few interesting statistics for you in the next page plus a nice international surprise!

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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Things started quite brightly as the first match of the season, the Community Shield against Tottenham, was won by a comfortable margin. The lads seemed to be enjoying the new tactic and there was one player in particular who took advantage of the new formation: World Cup hero Lucas Cuello. He bagged a hat-trick while employed as a trequartista and that gave me hope for a few more goals from him throughout the season. The only downside was that the Spurs enjoyed better possession than us, I’m not really used to that (click here to watch the highlights)

So, we grabbed our third consecutive Community Shield and fifth overall, I guess this trophy really has our name on it!

Carling Cup

Our League Cup campaign started with an unfortunate draw as we were pitched against Tottenham in the very first round but fortunately we put four goals past them again! Then we dispatched Northampton and Exeter by the same margin and now we can prepare for an epic battle against Man City in the semi finals.

Champions League

The Champions League group stage rarely caused us any problems and this season was not different at all. We went through the group unbeaten even though I rested most of my stars in these games. The first knock-out round will see us taking on Spanish side Sevilla, we should be able to win that tie.

Premier League Results August and September 2023

Our Premier League campaign got off to a good start, we clinched five wins in a row and conceded just two goals in the process. But then we suffered a severe setback, Man City beat us 3-0 and that defeat really hurt. It’s not only the result that was painful but the whole performance, the game was quite even and Man City made the difference through much better finishing. An even game is not what I’m used to though, we always used to dominate our opponents in the past few seasons regardless of the results…

Premier League Results October and November 2023

We failed to get back to winning ways in the next game as Arsenal held us to a draw at home but this time we had an excuse as one of our players got sent off after just 13 minutes of play. Then we bounced back and won the next four games while keeping a clean sheet throughout but then we were held to a couple of shameful draws by Ipswich and Huddersfield. It seemed that my strikers were totally out of confidence, they were missing the net from the very best possible positions…

Premier League Results December 2023

I admit that I was a bit worried at that point but the last month of the year really eased my fears. The lads turned on the style and managed to win all six games while scoring an impressive 22 goals in the process. The sweetest win was against Manchester United as the Red Devils were top of the table at the time, we scored four and they got back with two but only after the three points were already safely in our hands. (click here to watch the highlights)

So, we are top of the table at the end of the year but that is only because Man United have a game in hand. They are really putting up a good fight this season and it seems like we’re going to have a two-horse race for the title.

The new tactics seems to have benefited Lucas Cuello, now he has a place in the starting eleven alongside Zé Carlos and Parana and the Argentine striker is surely making the most of it. My top three strikers bagged 51 goals between them, that’s not so bad, but the most pleasing fact is that almost every player in the 23-man squad got on the score sheet in the first half of the season.

That’s about it for now folks, I guess the first half of the season went fairly well considering that we switched to a new tactic and that we have a few new players that have to blend in. Thanks a lot for reading, see you in the comments box

P.S.: Ciaran Harper kindly asked me for the current save game so I’m putting it up here for anyone to download and enjoy (the file is zipped so you will have to unpack the archive before using it).

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

So, the board decided to be quite generous even if they might not have been aware of my decision to quit the post at the end of the season. They gave me the biggest transfer budget ever but, as you will find out soon enough, I didn’t really depend on that money.

The bookmakers continued to show a bizarre attitude towards us, we have won six Premier League titles in a row but they were still thinking of us as outsiders!

As you might remember I decided to change tactics for my last season in charge, I will be using a flat 4-3-3 and that means that I don’t need my wingers any more. Selling the likes of Leandro Velasco and Gilson brought huge sums of money into the club’s coffers and, added the sales of quite a few youngsters from the reserves and a few more first team names, we managed to bring in a staggering 227 million pounds!

I just couldn’t leave that money rot in the bank so I spent all of it and a bit more: 245 million! I brought in a few backups that will play in the reserves and prepare for the eventual moment when I might need them and four big names for the first team. As you can see I spent crazy amounts on a couple of those players, we’ll get into details right away.

The first new face that I’m going to introduce is our new goalie, I spent 25 million for him and I did that because of two reasons: he’s as good as my previous keeper and, most important, he’s home-grown. I tried to sign him every summer for the past three seasons but I always gave up because of the price tag, now money was not important any more so I finally snapped him up.

With Danny Wilson leaving due to his age I decided to bring in the very best centre back in the world, at least in my view: Manchester United‘s Dodô. The price tag was nothing short of insane, 100 million pounds, but I really wanted him!

I needed strength in numbers in midfield so I brought in Ivan Gatto, he’s not a special player by any means but he’s a good hard working lad that will surely prove a valuable asset when the fixtures will start piling up.

And, last but not least, there’s Ricardo! I paid Porto 77 million quid for him, a price that I would never have paid for a 29-year old. But since it’s my last season I figured I was allowed an erratic buy However, this player is just great, a tremendous talent that I always wanted to get into a Vauxhall shirt especially after he scored an awesome goal against us in the Champions League two seasons ago.

I am counting on 23 players as the core of my first team this season, there’s a lot of talent in the squad and I hope they will give me a memorable year to end my FM 2011 career.

The new tactic that I told you about was mentioned by Birdy in his forum story, here’s how my projected best eleven for the season looks like (with each respective player role):

Unfortunately I was unable to use that eleven in any of the friendly games because of some injuries and because most of my stars spent their summer away at the Copa America with their national teams. So I guess I can’t really say that the new tactic will work, we’ll have to wait and see…

That’s all for now folks, thanks a lot for stopping by to read this. I’m looking forward to your comments and suggestions, as always

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

Carling Cup

We met Aston Villa in the League Cup semi final and it was quite easy after we defeated them 3-0 in the first leg. Right winger Moustapha Gueye was the hero of the tie as he scored three goals overall, he was doing a great job in fighting with Gilson for a spot in my best eleven.

We played Mourinho‘s Man City in the final, a very defensive team to be honest. Luckily we managed to break the deadlock after just 13 minutes when Gilson bent in a free kick cross and young defender Keimo Landre powered in the header. We dominated the proceedings throughout the first half but our right winger was unlucky to hit the post on the half hour mark. The domination continued but Man City‘s Joe Hart did a pretty good job to stop Zé Carlos while Franck Gnahoua, my goalie, kept cool and denied Man City‘s only decent chance of the game 12 minutes from time. We won the Carling Cup again and that made it two in a row and three overall for the mighty Motormen (Click here to watch the highlights)

Premier League Results January 2023

Our league form was not so good in January even though we started with a flamboyant 4-2 win against Chelsea. The next game saw us getting only a goalless draw at Man City (Mourinho really parked the bus that day…) and then we got beaten 2-0 at home by Man United, our second defeat of the season! We recovered with a 3-0 win against Liverpool so we remained top of the table on 58 points at the end of the month but Tottenham had 58 points as well! We had a game in hand though…

Premier League Results February 2023

February saw us regaining our finishing touch with Parana and Zé Carlos banging them in like in the good old days. The four consecutive wins improved the table situation as we were three points clear of second placed Tottenham (with a game in hand) at the end of the month.

Premier League Results March 2023

The rampant scoring form continued in March but we were unable to keep it up as Hull held us to a home draw in the last game of the month. It was quite frustrating but the league table was looking much better as we were five points clear of second placed Man City and seven points clear of Tottenham.

Premier League Results April and May 2023

We just needed to keep winning to clinch the title and that is exactly what we did although we didn’t really score as many goals as we used to. The defence was impenetrable though and that led us to five straight wins and… another Premier League title with two games to spare! It was our sixth consecutive Premier League title, I’m quite proud of that

The last two league games of the season were not important at that point so I decided to rest all my important players against Arsenal in the final game of the season. That was obviously a bad choice considering the shameful result but we had bigger fish to fry…

The competition was pretty tough this season as Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City managed to amass quite a few points. In other news, Newcastle got relegated again…

Champions League

We had won the last three editions of the Champions League and I was quite keen on making it four in a row. Things went smoothly in the first knockout round and then in the quarter final as we cruised past Rubin Kazan and Chelsea but then… Then we met Tottenham in the semi final and it was a complete disaster! The first leg at White Hart Lane saw a terrible performance from my team and I though that it was just an accident that could be repaired. We were on the right track to do that as we opened the scoring in the second leg but then the team reverted to the terrible attitude that they had shown in the first leg and Tottenham easily put two goals past us to wrap things up. This was a huge disappointment and what bothered me the most was that I really couldn’t explain what happened there…

FA Cup

We did much better in the FA Cup as we stormed past all the opponents to reach the final and we were going to meet… Tottenham at Wembley!

It was a good chance to get revenge for that shameful Champions League exit and maybe give the fans a bit of consolation. All my players were fully fit as I kept them well rested in the last Premier League match but that didn’t seem to make much of a difference as the first half saw an even and rather boring match. We could have gone into the dressing room with an advantage though but Tiago rattled the crossbar minutes before the interval. Disaster struck two minutes after the break, veteran Gareth Bale unleashed one of his trademark free kick shots and we were suddenly behind… The team reacted well this time, we were pushing forward in numbers but Spurs keeper David De Gea performed miracles to stop Gueye and Ackermann. Our persistence finally paid off four minutes from time when the referee pointed to the spot after Zé Carlos was brought down inside the penalty area and Parana fired into the top corner to convert the kick. The game was heading towards extra time but my lads seemed to resent that prospect: a superb flowing move brought the ball to Parana inside the area and he buried it on the stroke of full time! We had to hang on during the few minutes of stoppage time, I was already preparing to celebrate… But I relaxed too soon… My lads displayed some dreadful defending and basically invited former Motorman Shyamdew Weibolt to make it 2-2!

The game went into extra time and our domination was even clearer, the Spurs were barely hanging in there… A few chances went to waste but we managed to bag that decisive goal on a corner kick, it was youngster Keimo Landre who did it again and we won the FA Cup for the second time in a row and third overall. (Click here to watch the highlights. )

Zé Carlos and Parana, the usual suspects, were our two best players of the season as they bagged no less than 79 goals between them! Right winger Moustapha Gueye also did a wonderful job as he scored 21 goals and provided 17 assists while new centre back Landre had a fantastic first season at Vauxhall Stadium.

So, we won quite a few trophies again but it wasn’t another clean sweep as we slipped up in the Champions League. That was quite disappointing and I also was a bit let down by our league performance as we grabbed less points than last season, scored less goals and conceded more! We won the league but when you win six in a row just winning it doesn’t make you that happy any more

I have decided that I will play just one more season with Vauxhall in Football Manager 2011 as FM 2012 will be coming to us in just 20 days. And I want to make another experiment in that last season: I will change the tactics! I will give up on the Bulldozer and go for a flat 4-3-3 that our friend Birdy has mentioned in the forum. That means that I can sell my wingers, I think I’ll get quite a bit of money for them, and I hope to witness some entertaining performances with the new tactic.

Thanks a lot for reading folks, I’m looking forward to your comments, questions, suggestions

© www.footballmanagerstory.com

Community Shield

The first match of the season was the Community Shield and we faced Tottenham, our bitter Premier League rivals from last season. The game was as easy as it gets although I was expecting more from the Spurs: we took a three-goal lead in less than 20 minutes of play and then just contained the opponents to clinch the win. It’s true that the Spurs tried to fight back, mostly in the second half, but Da Silva ended their hopes by scoring the fourth goal 10 minutes after the interval. (Click here to watch the match highlights.)

I was totally unaware of our unbeaten run before that game but I was pleased to find out after lifting the trophy that we were unbeaten in 42 games!

UEFA Super Cup

The second available silverware of the season was the UEFA Super Cup and we had to play Chelsea again as they won the Europa League for the second time in a row. The game turned out to be fairly easy, mostly thanks to World Cup hero Lucas Cuello who gave us a two-goal lead before half time. Chelsea tried to fight back after the break but Zé Carlos punished them and it was all over, our trophy cabinet just got even more crowded (Click here to watch the match highlights.)

Carling Cup

Our League Cup path was easy enough, we met only Championship teams until the semi final and we cruised past them even though some reserves and backups got some playing time in those games. We will meet Aston Villa in the semi final and I think we have a very good chance of going to Wembley again.

Champions League Group Stage

We were quite lucky with the Champions League draw as well since we entered a group with Shakhtar, Olympiakos and some Danish team whose name I can’t pronounce. We grabbed six wins out of six with fair ease, except the two games against Shakhtar, and we’ll face Russian side Rubin Kazan in the first knockout round. If you look at the screen shot below you’ll notice an unknown goal scorer: Miranda. You’ll know more about him later, all I will tell you know is that he is a very tall centre back that I decided to promote from the reserves team.

Club World Championship

The intercontinental competition proved to be another easy one for my team, we battered Japanese side Kashima Antlers in the semi final before putting five goals past Los Angeles Galaxy in the final to claim the Club World Championship yet again. It was too easy though, I didn’t even celebrate

FA Cup

The FA Cup started a bit early for us this season as we faced Chelsea on New Year’s Eve. It was a frustrating match as we found ourselves one man down after just 17 minutes due to a red card but the lads fought on to record a high-scoring draw. I hope we will get our revenge in the replay.

Premier League August – October 2022

And now, finally, the Premier League results! The season started with a very frustrating away draw at Tottenham, we had no less that 8 clear cut chances in that game but weren’t able to score more than a goal. Things got better after that match as we went on to record five straight wins but that streak ended in the first game of October when Liverpool held us to a 1-1 draw. We had an excuse though as we had to play with 10 men for 79 minutes as Gary Warner was sent off just 11 minutes into the game. Our autumn ended with three consecutive wins and we were top of the table at that point and our unbeaten run was still on.

Premier League November – December 2022

November was perfect, we grabbed five wins out of five, but we recorded another setback in the second game of December as Blackburn held out for a 2-2 draw. We squandered 7 clear cut chances that day but we shouldn’t have conceded twice in the first place, it was a rather poor performance. Our unbeaten run was still standing though, it went up to 72 games and then… it ended… Arsenal beat us 3-2 at home on Boxing Day and there were no excuses for that result: we had a two-goal lead and things seemed to be heading our way but probably the lads got a bit complacent and Arsenal punished us severely. We ended the year with a good win against the Spurs but I felt a bit bad about losing that unbeaten streak…

The title race is still wide open at this point, we are in command but we can’t afford any slip-ups in the coming months.

These were the Vauxhall results in the first half of the season but the post is not over yet, head over to the next page for some interesting statistics, awards and news about my progress with Senegal.

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

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