The Truth Will Out

By: Mike | January 28th, 2009

First thing’s first. I’ve got to confess something. I’ve cheated. When games weren’t going well I x-ed out and replayed them. But only like three times! Now that I’ve come clean, will you forgive me?

So my calendar is packed and my squad is getting pretty tired. I’m doing my best to rotate players, since I’ve got some really great depth in my squad, and basically my whole team is a starting XI.

For the most part I’ll be writing my match write ups as I play, basically giving you a play-by-play of any big action that happens. Let me know if they’re too long and in depth or whatever. I’m always looking for feedback on my posts, and I’ll do my best to listen

Aston Villa 0-1 Man City – Away
Fabio Daprela’ is on international duty, Zabaleta has a broken arm, Keirrison has a calf strain and Pogrebnyak is just returning from injury (has the orange “inj” tag) so this match really strained my squad. My leading scorers are out, and my defense is very fatigued. Went 4-1-3-2 with Jo (who hadn’t scored in 615 minutes) and Aguero up front. Villa have a strong squad and Agbonlahor is FAST. Told the defense to push up and tried to keep him offside, instead of playing deep. (It paid off)
Jo ended his goal drought in the 33rd with a simple placed shot, up 1-0, woohoo. And it’s half time. The lads are playing alright, Villa is threatening with some decent long range shots. Not too worried, so I told them not to get complacent and sent them back out. Carlos Cuellar gets a second yellow and is sent off in the 58th, but I’m not gunna push it, so I’m sticking to my tactics. Pretty drab second half. Jo and Wright-Philips (got MOTM) both got 7.5’s and performed quite well, told them I was “delighted.” Another 3 points in the bag.

So my Nigeria ass man told me to attend a game between Roma and Udinese to scout Obinna. Turns out the match was actually between Brescia and Udine, and Obinna wasn’t on either squad. I immediately left the game and the press then issued this statement:

Nigeria boss Michael Mele was seen at Mario Rigamonti during Udinese’s 2 – 1 Serie A victory over Brescia.

Sources in the media are so far at a loss to explain Mele’s reason for attending the game.

I found it to be funny, actually.

Nigeria 1-1 San Marino – Away
A few key players are out with injury, but this is just a friendly, and my first match as Nigeria coach, so I’ll be tinkering around. I’ve just realized I made a terrible, horrible mistake. When making my call ups, I neglected to call up a keeper… I don’t know how that slipped my mind… Great. Well I’m going with a 4-2-3-1 (how funny, San Marino used the same formation) and defensive middie Ajilore is playing keeper, as instructed by my ass man. I found worldsoccer.com’s prediction to be pretty funny…

I would have opted for a Nigeria win, but with their manager opting to put Femi Ajilore in goal, anything could happen. I’m stunned and I know the fans will be when they see the lineups.

22nd minute goal courtesy of Yakubu. A close range tap in from a corner. 24th minute goal for San Marino from 30 yards out. A little tip: Make sure you include a keeper in your squad -_-
Half time, swapped out most of the squad. We had almost all of the possession and had a plethora of chances but couldn’t put any more away, and most of the team actually got above 7.2 ratings. Beh, it’s just a friendly, and my first match with Nigeria, doesn’t bother me much.

My next match is a derby against Man. Utd. in the Prem. If there’s one team I hate to play it’s them. I’m pretty confident in my side being able to beat most teams, but seeing Utd. on my fixture list still scares me.

On a side note, I won Manager of the Month for the 5th month in a row, woohoo!

And on another side note, I forgot to mention I signed Russian keeper Igor Akinfeev for a whopping 40m. Should be worth it though, since Joe Hart has asked to be transfer listed, which I gladly obliged to, and because according to some recommendations will develop into one of the best keepers in the game. Here’s a shot of his stats: