July/August Month Report

5W1D1L but we are not having a good start in the league, and are already 5 points behind the leader. We did reasonably well in Europa and will be in the group stage. Despite playing for more than 1 month now we are still unable to play consistently in 90 minutes. More works need to be done by Roy and there could be one or two signings to be coming.

Players of the Month: (1) Carragher 7.08 (2) Ngog 7.07 (3) Reina 6.90. Despite one year older Carragher was as consistent as ever and have many good performance during the month. Ngog also shows he is capable as a deputy to Torres and scored 4 goals in the month. And despite a setback vs Arsenal Reina recovered and were solid between the goal post.

September Prediction:
9/12 Birmingham City (a) We did not win quite often at St Andrew's under Rafa and it is now time for a change.
9/16 Steaua Bucharest (h) Start of Europa Group stage and the kids will have a go.
9/19 Manchester United (a) Toughest match of the year and we need to gear up.
9/22 Northampton (h) Another chance for the kids to perform,
9/25 Sunderland (h) Black cats did not have a good start but we still need to perform to bring three points home.
9/30 Ultrecht (a) Kuyt comes home.

Match Report 100829 vs West Bromwich Albion: First win

1-0 and we have won our first league game under Roy in the third attempt. The performance was not good and the team still needs to be fine-tuned, but what is important is to get the momentum running, and three points is what we needed at this moment.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Great save followed by a superb vision that provided us the winning goal.
Johnson: 6.5 Not much support offered for attack.
Carragher: 7 Solid as usual.
Skrtel: 7 Lively and almost scored from a corner.
Lucas: 6 Doing the dirty job.
Poulsen: 6 Lack some killing pass.
Kuyt: 7 Worked hard on both flanks and provided assist to the goal.
Gerrard: 7 Worked tirelessly.
Jovanovic: 6 Not effective.
Torres: 7 Scored a great goal and could have score more.

Substitutions:
Maxi: 6.5 Lively when come up.
Babel: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Roy: 6.5 Would be delighted to bagged the first victory, although the form need to be improved.

West Bromwich Albion: 6 Defended well but at the end the different of class tells a difference.

Man of the Match: Reina. Great vision.

Back to focus

After the midweek Europa game the focus is now back to the league, with West Brom visiting. They have never score against us in the league, but we should not take it for granted. We still need to perform in order to bring home the first league win of the season.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Agger
Lucas
Poulsen
Kuyt
Gerrard
Jovanovic
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 100826 at Trabzonspor: Early scare

2-1 and it was after some nervy early scare that we fight back with two goals. We did poorly in 1H but improved after the break. But we still need to wait until the 84 minutes to equalize and secure the progression.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6.5 No chance on goal conceded.
Johnson: 7.5 Have a goal scored ruled out and provided the crucial pass that lead to the own goal.
Carragher: 7 Solid at the back.
Kyrgiakos: 6.5 Did well on the evening.
Kelly: 6.5 Did OK on the left.
Lucas: 6.5 Solid in the middle.
Poulsen: 6.5 Getting closer to match fit.
Kuyt: 7 Scored the winner.
Cole: 7 Provided assist to the winning goal.
Aurelio: 6 Not effective.
Ngog: 6.5 Hard battle at the front.

Substitutions:
Pacheco/Babel: 6.5 Not enough time to impress.

Roy: 6.5 Would be relieved to see the team progress and Kuyt commits.

Trabzonspor: 6.5 Credits to them in giving us an early scare and hold on for so long.

Man of the match: Johnson. More similar performances needed.

Pick up the mind

After a dismal defeat the focus is now changed to Europa. With a one goal lead the tie is far from over. Again first goal will be crucial. Although Europa is not high in our priority we still need a result to pick ourselves up.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Aurelio
Lucas
Poulsen
Pacheco
Cole
Babel
Ngog

Result 2:0

Match Report 100823 at Manchester City: Reality Check

0-3 and we suffered the largest defeat for 1.5 years. We did not do well, Roy probably get it wrong with the 442 formation as we were flooded in midfield, and at the end the 0-3 result were justified. It is still early in the season and we have a lot of works to do to salvage the season.

Players Rating:
Reina: 6 Helpless.
Johnson: 6 Not effective going forward.
Carragher: 6.5 Solid at the back.
Skrtel: 5.5 Conceded a penalty but was lucky to stay on.
Agger: 6 Not effective going forward.
Kuyt: 6 Not into the game.
Gerrard: 7 Only spark after two goals down.
Lucas: 6.5 Solid in the middle.
Jovanovic: 6.5 At time showing signs of greatness.
Ngog: 6 Have a good shot saved.
Torres: 6 Not back to top form yet.

Substitutions:
Babel: 6.5 Have a great shot saved when came on.
Pacheco: 6.5 Not much time to impress.

Roy: 6 Honeymoon is over and he need to get his tactics right. 442 away at City is like suicide.

Manchester City: 7.5 Very compact and were hungered to win. Not many teams will come here and get a result.

Man of the Match: Gerrard. But we expect more from our captain.

Money isn't everything

The second league game have us visiting big spending City. City may have spent a lot to buy glory but there are something that money cannot buy. And after all, this is a game of 11 vs 11 in 90 minutes, so money is not everything.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Aurelio
Mascherano
Poulsen
Kuyt
Gerrard
Jovanovic
Torres

Result 2:0

Match Report 100819 vs Trabzonspor: More work to do

1-0 at home is not a bad result, but failing to visit Trabzonspor with a two goal lead means that the game is far from finished, and we have a lot of works to do in the second leg.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7.5 Made a good save to keep us the first of many clean sheets.
Kelly: 7 Good run from the youngster.
Carragher: 7 Rock at the back.
Kyrgiakos: 7 Good support at the back.
Aurelio: 7 Glad to see him back in action.
Lucas: 7 Solid in the middle.
Poulsen: 7 Almost scored on his debut but was controversially ruled out.
Maxi: 7 A nice run-out.
Cole: 7 Nice assist but missed the penalty to see us two goals up.
Jovanovic: 7 Another impressive run.
Babel: 7.5 Grab his chance well with a nice taken goal.

Substitutions:
Torres: 7 Almost score from his first action.
Ngog: 6.5 Did well when come up.

Roy: 7 Would be delighted about the 2H performance and the one goal advantage.

Trabzonspor: 6 Could be dangerous at home so we need to be guarded.

Men of the Match: Reina/Babel. Combined to bring us the one goal lead.

2nd team to shine

With the priority in league Roy may let some second team player to play in tonight's Europa game. We have not played Trabzonspor for 34 years but we know that traveling to Turkey could be tricky. So we need to get a result at home before we visit them.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Aurelio
Lucas
Poulsen
Kuyt
Cole
Babel
Ngog

Result 2:0

Match Report 100815 vs Arsenal: Wrong decisions cost us points

1-1 and it was two wrong decisions that cost us a victory. Cole's straight red was a bit harsh, and Reina's rare error means we have to settle for one point. Anyway the boys can be proud of their fighting spirit, and we shall continue to fight for the season.

Players Rating:
Reina: 7 Made many world class safes but at the end an error cost him the MoM glory and 2 points for us.
Johnson: 7 A good performance.
Carragher: 8 Rock solid performance for the evergreen player.
Skrtel: 7 As tough as ever.
Agger: 7 Good display despite suffered from concussion.
Gerrard: 7.5 Lead the team with example.
Mascherano: 7.5 Another superb performance despite wanting to leave.
Kuyt: 7 A bit quiet in the first half but gradually picking up.
Cole: 5 Stupid tackle that earned himself a red card.
Jovanovic: 7.5 Very impressive league debut.
Ngog: 7.5 Scored another great goal to continue his nice run.

Substitutions:
Maxi/Torres/Lucas: 6.5 Doing well when called up.

Roy: 7.5 Would be delighted about the fighting spirit of the team, although he still need to finetune the squad a bit.

Arsenal: 7.5 Did well in 1H but somehow let us score. At the end 1 point for them is not a bad result.

Man of the Match: Carragher. Evergreen.

League starts

Another season, another manager, and potentially another owner. This is a fresh start and we have a tough opponent in gooners. Torres is still not available, but the remaining players would be eager to impress the new manager and please the fans.

My Team Prediction:
Reina
Johnson
Carragher
Skrtel
Agger
Gerrard
Lucas
Maxi
Cole
Jovanovic
Kuyt

Result 2:0

Match Report 100805 vs Rabotnicki: Eased through

2-0 and we are easily scroll through to the next round of Europa. In truth this is more like a friendly game as we have 2 goals from the first leg. Players have a good run in this game and it is good for the preparation of the league to be started in 10 days' time.

Players Rating:
Cavalieri: 7 Another clean sheet from the Brazilian.
Johnson/Carragher/Skrtel/Kelly: 7 Easy game for the defenders.
Gerrard: 7.5 Opened his account with a nicely taken penalty.
Lucas: 7 Another good performance.
Pacheco: 7 Good home start for the youngster.
Cole: 8 A good all-round game with a nice assist.
Jovanovic: 7 Another good performance from the new boy.
Ngog: 7.5 Scored another nice header.

Substitutions:
Aquilani/Maxi/Spearing: 6.5 Did well when called up.

Roy: 7 Would be delighted to see the team finish the game off professionally.

Rabotnicki: 6 The gap between the teams is too big for them.

Man of the Match: Cole. A home debut that pleased everybody.

Home debut

The first home game of the season also signals the home debut for many players and the manager, and with a two goal lead we are in a good position. Our standard should be much higher than our opponents but still cautious is the key, as an early goal conceded can make the team very nervous.

My Team Prediction:
Cavalieri
Johnson
Kyrgiakos
Carragher
Insua
Lucas
Gerrard
Aquilani
Cole
Jovanovic
Ngog

Result 2:0

Match Report 100729 at Rabotnicki: Young guns make us proud

2-0 and this was a very good away result in Europe. Without so many first team regulars the match would be tough. But our boys did well and provide us a two goal cushion into the 2nd leg.

Players Rating:
Cavalieri: 7 Solid performance.
Kelly: 7.5 Good assist.
Kyrgiakos/Skrtel: 7 Solid in the back
Agger: 7 Good performance as make-shift left back
Aquilani/Spearing/Jovanovic: 7 Good game in midfield
Lucas: 7.5 Good assist as the team captain.
Amoo: 7 Good game from the young boy.
Ngog: 8 Scored 2 great goals.

Substitutions:
Darby/Dalla Valle/Eccleston: 6.5 Solid display from the young boys.

Roy: 7 Would be delighted with the performance of the team.

Rabotnicki: 6 Feared by our name and did not perform well.

Man of the Match: Ngog. Two great goals that build us a comfort cushion.