What a week for my Football Manager game. I forget to mention to all 9 of my readers, but because I won the Champions League last year (shock to me still), I get to go to the Club World Championship in Japan this year. Which means in the middle of my domestic season I fly across the globe to play two mediocre teams from Asia and South America. Awesome, as if my season was busy enough. But this meant I had to register players to go to the competition with me, so I gave most of them a rest before they went and said “its now or never” for my younger guys. They didnt disappoint.

Lyon vs. Nancy French Ligue 1

Nancy is an exact replica of Valenciennes. Park the team bus in front of the goal and hit on the counter. Im kind of surprised that they even showed up for the match though, as they knew they were gonna get creamed. My cockiness towards the league will surely bite me in the ass, but I cant help myself, my squad is just to awesome right now. I sent out a very young team for this game because of two reasons. One was that I wanted rest for them, a luxury I now possess, as the trip to Japan for the Club World Championship is coming up soon. Second was that I had already decided to play them against Shaktar and Inter in my remaining Champions League games as I was guaranteed qualification already. Finishing top meant getting 1 point from either game, which I though was doable.

A young lineup, not as young as what I wanted to because there were a few international games that took away some u-19 players, but I think off the top of my head the average age 22. Cris and Makoun were the experienced spine of the team, while Mounier and Gassama both have played over 50 games for me already so they are not new to first team football. I have begun to trust in Pjanic as my attacking midfielder, so much that I think I will shop around Ederson come January. Keirrison is a goal machine so I was hoping he would settle this game on his own if the rest of the young whipper snappers could not get it going.

Enzo Real, Luca Tremolada and Mathias Jorgenson I have big hopes for. Tremolada was let go by Inter for a paltry million euro, and I gradually integrated him in the reserves. Jorgenson was pretty expensive but he has so far proved to be an able 4th choice, and Reale is my youngest player ever, and has come into his role as a central midfielder in the reserves, so I thought that he should start getting use to the first team. Reale did well, as did most of the team, but I had to sit on my hands until I subbed in Steve Savidan and Juninho to add some experience on the field. Savidan scored a quick double and that was that. Game was a little slow and disorganized, but these guys have not played together much yet so I have to patient. Hopefully the Champions League will go better then this game. Still, a win is a win for the young guys, so I told them their performance was exceptional after the game. White lies cant hurt, right?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Next up was the conclusion of my Champions League campaign with a home game against Shaktar and an away game against Inter. Both games are detailed below:

Lyon vs. Shaktar Champions League Group Play

This game was more important then the Nancy game, because I was putting first place in the CL group on the line. If the young guys were to loose, I would be obligated to play a full strength side against Inter I suppose, which I did not want to do. So the pressure was on, whether they knew it or not. Stuck with pretty much the same team from Nancy, but I removed Makoun and Cris from the team to make it a 88 birth year and above starting eleven. Scary thought maybe, but I was confident that youth internationals, many of whom were bred in my academy with my tactical system could step up. They did, and I reveled in this win for some time.

Kolo and Gassama were the wingbacks, and they were to attack much like Grosso and Reviellere do. Gassama is a good defender, but when he is pressing the other team back he is most effective, while Kolo is a pretty average defender, so his attacking makes him look better. Jorgenson and Nestor were my center backs, Nestor becoming a favored utility player at the back. Mehamha was to shield them and do a lot the breaking up of play, something he excels in more then physical battles because of his smallish stature. Reale was to again play at center midfield and be the link man, while Pjanic was to do his thing, with my trust.

The question mark was upfront. Assulin is an unknown commodity at this point, and his performances in the reserves are nothing exceptional, but I thought I would give him a shot. Tremolada always impresses me, so lets hope for the best, while Tafer is returning from an injury so I dont know how effective he will be. Well, Tremolada scored in the 5th, Tafer in the 9th and the game was over. Pjanic was inspirational, Tafer was clinical, and Tremolada was running circles around the defense. Mehamha and Reale were doing a great job and the defense was solid. Because I was rotating Mehamha and Reale, their ratings suffered, but their effectiveness in the game was awesome. Everyone did really well, it was breath taking. Youth is the future!

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Inter Milan vs. Lyon Champions League Group Play

With a win over Shaktar in convincing fashion, I was all about sending the young guys out against Inter, even though I knew they might not have such a good time at the San Siro. But the experience is what counted, and first placed was under raps. Jose Mourinho again did not say anything about me or my team, so the game really was not as exciting as I had hoped. The 12 year olds I sent onto the pitch must have angered the great man, because he had his troops motivated. Ibrahimovic was sensational, and my fullbacks could not handle Inter’s wingers. It was a miserable night. A 4-2 loss does not seem that bad when you consider the circumstances, but both goals were scored by defenders.

My attack was dismal, with Kierrison going through a goal drought and loss of form, while Tremolada did not have the goods while returning home. Pjanic was off too, although Bakar played well. Nuri Sahin also was awful, and I feel as if its time to cut my losses with him, even though I signed him on a free last summer. No Tafer because he got re-injured in training and is out for 4 months (boo) but I already signed him up for a loan at Bastia come January, so he will get rehab game time there. Reale was used off the bench, while Defour and Ninis were brought on to stimulate some offense to no avail. Young guys arent ready for Inter yet, but who could blame them? Lessons learned, and I am in the first pot for the knockout round.

Up next is a match against Nice before traveling to Japan for the Club World Championship. More squad rotation so that I can have my first team healthy and rested to win some more silverware. Until then, au revoir!

I bring this up for two reasons. The first is that I have never seen any of the other FM bloggers here on this sit put up a screen shot of it or even mention it, so my thought process is that we as a group see little value in it. I mean stats are great, although they are a little tough to track in football, but this page really does not effect your game play if you dont look at it that much. I am sure are there are many more screens that people never look at, although I must say that I have a second game going with tiny FC Guegnon in the National of France and since I have no money and rampant player wage expenditures, I pay much more attention to club finances and have become a ruthless negotiator.

The second reason I bring this up is because technically, this screen is how you should pursue domestic transfer targets, or any target for that matter. Here me out. You want to go all English, like Tom is attempting valiantly to do with his Arsenal team right now, or you just want to look for some really get talent to improve your team instantly, not in a few years. Scouting reports end up being a dime a dozen when you have good scouts, and they often bring you some really high priced players. Well, go to a league, lets say La Liga, and check out the player stats page to see what available. My goal here is to add some foreign flair to my team (I have plenty of flair and alot of different nationalities represented but this is just an example). Lets have a look and see what we can find:

Well look at that. Obviously well know names populate the charts in La Liga, which means besides the obvious players, the lesser known names who are doing just as well as the Xavi’s and Ruben De la Reds of Spain are a real bargain. I for instance am not completely comfortable with my left back situation next year. Fabio Grosso will be moving on in favor of some new blood. Loic Nestor and Timothee Kolodziezciak are my two very young options there. Nestor is streaky, and Kolo is 18. I like them both, but maybe its to early. Kolo probably needs a loan to Ligue 2, so why not look elsewhere. Cue Filipe Kasmirski of Deportivo, who has three assists which to me means he is a good attacking fullback. Since I watch La Liga intensely I already know this, but if I didnt I would then look him up and see his stats are amazing. Check him out for yourself.

The reason I did this? Well it was kind of just a random thought, but I think it sure as hell beats looking at a long list of players in a Access database thats jazzed up only slightly. My filtering is done for me with the different categories, and it gives me the best of the best. You can do it for every league, and every competition, so it really is a great way to look for players. Just thought I would throw it out there for everyone.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Just a side note about my game. I just hired former World Cup winner and current Portsmouth scout Christian Karembeu (not because of his impressive dread locks or hot model wife) to be my new scout . I intend on re-working my personnel at the end of the season, but I thought bringing him on now and starting to work out a scouting network was far more advantageous then doing it in the summer. Here is Mr. Karembeu’s stats:

Poor Valenciennes. The small city outside of Lille, France has had a lower league team for most of the past century, but in the past five years, Valenciennes CF has been in the top flight and frustrating teams with its incredibly defensive approach to football. They were even in the top half of the table this year, 5th place to be precisely, so they were doing well. But they have never had a good track record against my team, and this match was not to be any better. Beware, a thrashing is below.

Lyon vs. Valenciennes

A pretty straight forward lineup in this game because I wanted to guarantee a win but I also knew I was going to be using some young guys against Shaktar in the CL later in the week. Two out of three for the attacking force, although Bakar played well last time out, so I am hoping he will start to show some consistency. The midfield had Ederson starting in place of Defour, who bizarrely was away on international duty. Makoun and Bodmer were Ederson’s support, and they were to do the switching thing all game as I instructed them too. It usually leads to a poor rating for Bodmer and a great rating for Makoun, but in the end both end up playing well regardless.

At the back, I rested Revs again in favor of Gassama, but I was thinking of trying Opare against Shaktar just for a good ole role of the dice. So more rest for Reviellere and a spot on the bench for Gassama next game. I dont tell the players that because then they would have not motivation if there was no way they were to start the next game.

We played a cracker, and were able to score at will it seemed. Bakar got us started with a nice horizontal run that ended up with Benzema putting the ball on his foot with Bakar still moving forward. Watch the video in full screen mode to see Bakar look like he screwed it up only to slam the ball into the top corner. What a beauty! The kid has got the talent, but he needs to develop the consistency of showcasing that talent otherwise he will be another Kader Keita.

The second goal was pure class as well, as Ederson receives a nice ball in the left channel of the box from Benzema but instead of crossing he bends a shot past the keeper and in to the top corner. Amazing stuff yet again. At this point, I knew we had the game in the bag, because when your team produces quality football and two of your less then consistent players pull off goals like that, everything is clicking. I made some moves just after halftime, letting Juninho and Tremolada come on for Mounier and Bodmer. Both deserved game time, with Tremolada impressing against St. Etienne and scoring, while Juni has not played in awhile so I gave him a game. Tremolada scored the third, with another incredible effort, meaning two goals in two substitute appearances. Dilemma now; Bakar or Trems in the next game against Shaktar?

Enzo Reale, my youngest ever player, was brought on for Makoun as I went for the kill with no defensive midfielder. Enzo played well in the DM spot, even stripping a ball that lead to the passing move for Tremolada’s goal. He was then brought down in the box which allowed Juninho to score the 4th goal on the PK. Juni would add a 5th with a tap in after good work from Grosso on the wing. Great performance, but I know feel like I am tempting the gods by not playing any of these guys next game. Should I keep this in-form lineup out there for the meaningless (sorta) Champions League game or is this a good opportunity to play young guys and get them great experience, which is what I am all about. Let me know.

Here is what the league table looks like after crushing Valenciennes:

We have a pretty comfortable 8 point lead over 2nd place Toulouse, with Marseille and Monaco a further point back in 3rd. Its still early days, but both PSG and Bordeaux got off to sluggish starts and I dont know how much of a challenge they will be. Marseille seems to be my main contender, but remembering the thrashing Toulouse gave me last season in the League Cup, I have to admit I fear playing them the most. They are somewhat of a bogey team. Until next time everyone, enjoy!

My quest for another league title took a back seat to domestic cup competition this week, when I took on local rival St. Etienne in the Coupe de la Ligue, one of the two cup competitions in France. A chance to play some youngsters and give my regulars a rest.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

I have never been a fan of St. Etienne, or their coach Luis Fernandez. He is a cocky man, and rather jealous of me even though he has little reason to be. So I have done my best to piss him off since I took this job, and I would like to think I have done a good job. I am always playing mind games with him before matches, but this time I decided that I would compliment him to throw him off his rhythm.

He did not really respond to my comments and I think that may have thrown him off a bit. I came out on top even when I was playing nice, so “Shut Up Jean!”.

Lyon vs. St. Etienne: Coupe de la Ligue 4th Round

So I threw a bunch of young guys out there all at once. I use young players all the time, but not as a whole unit of 11 players, so it was a bit of a leap of faith. The attacking line comprised of guys that have alot of substitute experience, but the average age between them was 19. Keirrison is a goal machine only if he gets the correct service, so while Ninis was back from injury, Hazard could be relied on to be the spark up top. Pjanic was in to show his stuff after some good performances at right wing in Bakar’s mediocrity and Ninis’s injury, but as the attacking midfielder he was to tackle his natural position. Makoun was the sturdy member of the midfield, so I went with Mehamha so I could have Makoun and Mehamha swap positions on the fly.

The back line boasted Lamine Gassama, a first team regular, and Loic Nestor as a center back. Might as well try something different right? Jorgensen was his partner and Timothee Kolodziecziak got a rare start at left back, which he will have to get use to as Fabio Grosso’s career winds down. Johan Hartock gets a run out as well because I have always liked him, but with Hugo Lloris being so amazing he will only get limited time.

Les Verts opened the scoring first, with Loic Perrin being plaid through 1v1 with Hartock where he could smash the ball past him and high in to the net. A bit of a let down because we were containing St. Etienne pretty well in the 1st half, but it was inevitable they would score as they were pretty rampant as the home team. In the second half, after a rousing team talk to pick the young mens heads up, the game really cam alive. A great chance for Keirrison was well blocked by the St. Etienne keeper, but the ball rebounded to Mehamha at the top of the box. The keeper was off his line but while Mehamha could have easily shot and scored, there was a chance of it being saved while the keeper frantically moved back to protect his goal. Mehamha dished to debutant Luca Tremolada who quickly fired the ball in to the net. A smart play from Mehamha, and one of many great passes he executed all game.

The game went to over time and I did feel that we were in the ascendancy. So I pressed the team on, and added Ederson towards the tail end of the match for some added flair. But it was not to be needed. Hazard was able to step up to a free kick at the outside corner of the box, where I expected him to loft a ball in for one of the center backs to head towards goal. But Hazard went for goal and beat Viviani at the near post and the game was effectively over. An amazing goal, and I was completely stunned that he pulled it off.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

After the match, I had some interesting news. Said Mehamha was being watched from the stands by another Ligue 1 coach, and after his virtuoso performance, I expect to field some offers for him this winter market. I dont know if a loan is really beneficial for him if he can work his way in to at least the subs bench more often. I have so many young guys out on loan right now that I really dont think that I can afford to send more out on loan for a lack of emergency squad depth.

And this is exactly why I am not going to be sending any more players out on loan. After a great performance against St. Etienne, Eden Hazard got injured in training and will be out for three months. A cruel blow, but that is how football works.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Up next is a league game against Valenciennes at home that should provide 3 points to keep a bit of a cushion on top of the league, before I get to host Shaktar at home in the mid-week for a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds and hopefully win my group. Inter have already slipped up, but will they slip up again? Doubt it, but with three points from these two games it will have been a great week for Lyon.

While Bordeaux is known for its wine, and maybe its rugby team, its football team is helmed by Laurent Blanc and has a bunch of punters filling out the ranks. I always get nervous when I play Bordeaux not because they might win, but because they might, or probably will injure half my squad in the process of loosing. Its a problem, but a manager cant fear the threat of injury to his players, or you begin to see them as fine pieces of china, which is delusional at best. So I approached the game as normal and hoped for the best. What I got was much, much better then that.

Check out this post, as it includes my first match video!

Bordeaux vs. Lyon

So the game went really well. Defour was inspired for the first half, but he lost it after the half time team talk. Keirrison was incredible all game, and so was Bakar and Mounier. We clicked offensively, even though most of our shots were off target, but the three that were on target went into the net, so I suppose I should be happy. It was an away game, but Bordeuax attacked more then I expected. I did not really weather any storms though, as Bordeaux’s shots were really weak, and there passing was poor. We had all of the possession in an away game which is great though. And Mehamha scored his first ever goal for Lyon’s first team, which was a great move by the team. It was the third one since the video is a little blurry.

My first video! The quality is not great and it is still on the smallish side but I am working on learning the ins and outs of a new screen capture program and then the process of converting the files to something I can put on YouTube. Anyways, you can see the goals in the video, and below is some pictures just in case you cant make out the stats and lineups. I have a feeling that if I was to make videos for every game, I would not write to much on the game anymore. But let me know what you think of the video; whether you like it or not and whether I should do them for all my match write ups.

Let me know what you think of the video, and whether you want me to still include pictures of my lineup, team stats etc.

So after the match, as you may have seen in the video, Laurent Blanc backed my team for the title this year, which is a nice compliment from one of Ligue 1’s better coaches. He also decided that the two of us could become friends, which goes to show, quality coaches can have spitting matches, but the still respect each other and can be friendly. But the crappy coaches, the men who helm up the Valenciennes and Auxerre’s of the league will always be slightly jealous of me and my position, so there is no need to play nice. That may sound like a Jose Mourniho-esque rationalization, but since it is a video game, its really does not matter in the end.

Thanks Laurent, maybe we can go wine tasting one weekend. You can come up to the Rhone valley to try some of our wine, and I will come down to Bordeuax to try some of yours. It will be a nice little holiday. Corey and Laurent, BFF <3 Forever!

I was planning on a nice, easy game against Partizan because, to be honest, its Partizan. I figured that a win against them would keep me top of my Champions League group, but a draw was not the end of the world because Inter would surely beat Shaktar in the other game of the round. You know what happens when you assume though. More on that later.

With the clear intention in my mind to take it easy in this game and use it as a minor squad rotation exercise, when faced with a stupid question in the pre-match press conference, I answered arbitrarily and bam, this happens:

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The first screen cap shows my answer to a question in the pre-match press conference. The press pin-pointed Bogunovic as a possible threat, so as he was a striker, I said Sandy Paillot, my starting center back for the game, would be handling him. For some reason, this did not go down with Sandy or the squad. The second screen cap shows John Mensah (mind Paillot is Mensah’s center back partner) and his attitude towards my comments. He was enraged that I didnt pick him to be my weapon of choice for handling tricky center forwards. Logically this makes no sense for a few reasons. One being Mensah was to be rested for this game, so he was not an option anyways, but for some reason Cris was not an option when answering the question so I picked Paillot. Two, I shower my players with praise every day, but for some reason Mensah though that because I did not give him a pat on this ass this one time he was to be ‘enraged’. The third thing that bothered me is that Paillot was uneasy with the comment (why? You have been a Lyon player your whole life except for your loan spell with Grenoble) enough to be upset. But not only that, but several prominent squad members who will remain unnamed were upset to. Again, why?

Paillot is an academy grad, and a local lad at that. His father is my best coach, and Paillot is my pick for future captain. He might not have much squad influence as he had been away for two years, but now was the best time to take some sort of leadership role. Guess not. So I have upset John Mensah and his Mensahtral Cycle (he got his period I guess), but I dont care because in this case the club (and the manager) are bigger then the players so while I was gonna leave him on the bench, he was dropped immediately. Note to self, check the time of the month before dolling out praise for players.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Lyon vs. Partizan Belgrade

The front line was rotated, with Bakar getting a chance to impress and Hazard and Keirrison hopefully there to help him do that. I have great faith in both Hazard and Keirrison now, but the problem is Mounier and Benzema are two very good players that are ahead of them. And I have a secret man crush on Mounier, atleast in this game, because his stats are not great but he plays like a mad man. Nuri also got a chance to impress, but I have 0 faith in him right now, so Said Mehamha was on my mind as an early substitute in the 2nd half. Makoun and Defour maintained their positions, and Mensah was obviously dropped in favor of Cris, even though I made that decision before the interview fracas.

8 or 9 of Partizan’s players have last names that end with -ic. Just thought I would point that out. Tosic is the danger man, as he is in real life a Manchester United player. But other then that they are a pretty flat side. They wont concede many, but they wont score many either.

We played well, with Mr. No Confidence Paillot scoring off a corner mid-way through the first half, and Keirrison adding a second around the same time in the second half. A stroll in the park for sure, and I was able to use Mehamha and Pjanic which was great. Grosso picked up a knock before halftime so I had to throw Nestor on but I was not worried about that. He did well and he will have an extended run probably because Grosso is older and his injuries often last longer then usual. All in all, a good result.

Result: 2-0

_____________________________________________________________________________________

When I went through all the post game rituals, including an interview and visiting a reserves team game, I took time out from my busy schedule to check the match day scores. Sure enough, Inter lost to Shaktar! Dont ask me how, but it happened and I am now guaranteed to finish top of the group, which means my reserves get a run out at the San Siro in a fortnight. Exciting stuff for the young guys.

My decision to name Paillot as my defensive lynchpin for the game? It worked out well now didnt it:

I was bored late last night and was checking out some random websites when I found a collection of Nicholas Cage pictures that were pretty funny, along with an article on the recent purchase of a castle in Germany during these tough economic times. While looking at these ridiculous pictures, I learned a lesson from them. Besides the obvious ‘my hair is a bird, your argument is invalid’, I also learned that math saves the world and that if you have a disappointing match, or movie in his case, you go out there and do five more movies and hope they all dont suck too. So I got back out there to win some games, and hope I didnt loose them all.

The disappointing draw against St Etienne is now behind me, and I have to keep moving along in the league, picking up points where I can but fully focused on the Champions League and the upcoming league cups. Here is what my schedule looks like for the next few weeks:

Its a little hectic, and I believe there is an international break in there some where, which is good and bad. On one hand some players get a rest, but last time there was an international break, 42 players in total left for international duty, either for senior or junior squads. Thats a great honor for the club and especially the academy, which produces half of the French u-18, u-19, and u-21 teams. Its one of my main goals for the club, so great. But I also have most of my senior players, barring a few, that leave for senior international duty. Which means while you would want to give them a rest after the international games, the young players who should be fresh and ready to step up are not because they went through the same grueling schedule.

Anyways, before I get ahead of myself, lets do some work in these next three games and put my team in a great position. League wins against Lorient and
with a Champions League game at home to Partizan sandwiched in between for good measure. If I can pick up maximum points from all three of those games, I will be top of the table in both of my groups.

Lyon 1-0 Lorient

My starting lineup was back to normal sort of, well kind of not normal, with Makoun preferred to Bodmer and Mounier to Hazard. I still used Pjanic just because I thought the kid deserved another shot at it, especially with Ninis healthy again (!!!) and Bakar about ready for another good game followed by a couple crappy ones. I rested Mensah and Cris was restored to the starting line up alongside Paillot, while Gassama got to play instead of Reviellere. Squad rotation I guess? No because I foolishly left Ederson in to start even though Defour performed so well last time, likewise Keirrison started on the bench again. I was hoping to see more form from both Ederson and Benzema before pulling the trigger. I didnt get the form I wanted.

Alot of end to end action all first half, but no clear cut chances, which I attribute mostly to the lack of pace from Pjanic on the wing and the uninspired play of Ederson in the attacking midfield role. I am a patient man, but I got very upset with the game when I tried to sub Defour in for Ederson in the 65th minute and waited until the 78th for him to get on the field. Stupid. Keirrison and Juninho had already been on the field for a little while, but when Defour stepped on to the pitch, things started to happen. Namely he collected a cleared corner kick and chipped the Lorient defense for Keirrison to run on to at the half way line with only the keeper to beat. But Keirrison tried to lob it, and the ball sailed way right towards the corner flag. DOH!

But then, and it is like you saw this coming, Defour slid a ball into the left channel that Mounier ran on to, hesitated on, then took a touch a slow-rolled it past the on rushing Audard into the net! It was such a great goal, Mounier’s first of the season, and it was well deserved. 3 points in the bag, and a chance to finish first in my CL group was my next task.

So the Lyon-St.Etienne (Rhone Valley) derbi is up next on the schedule, so my (fake) mailbox was bursting with interesting news. But before I could get in to sniping Luis Fernandez, St. Etienne coach, I had to deal with coaches making comments about my players, in a flattering way.

The Special One has been making eyes at Jeremy Toulalan lately, and here is an example after Le Toule score a rocket against Lille:

Encourage youngsters to play like Toulalan? No kid plays football at an early age to only win a ball back in a challenge and then pass it off to a team mate. Better try harder Jose. Toulalan is the best in the world in his position, and as long as he does not ask to leave, he will not leave. So hold your tongue Jose.

I didnt feel the need to shower Toulalan with praise to count-balance the Mourinho effect, but then again I didnt have to wait long to start talking to the press. The next cycle I had Fernandez mouthing off about how my team could not retain the title blah blah blah. I am getting tired of other coaches telling my team and I we are no good. Its really a poor choice of words, as we are French and European champions! But there is always those who are “slightly jealous of you and your position” so I didnt waste much time in firing back at him.

I dont play nice, so I told Fernandez that my team were better and to watch his back. You never should play nice with an opposing coach in this game, it just does not make sense. Most coaches in Ligue 1 hate me, although most of the continental coaches like me, which goes to show that I may be a big fish in a small pond.

The press of course is pretty generic in this game, but it still irks you to no end. During the pre-match press conference, I was asked about Mathieu Bodmer’s poor form. I sat in front of my laptop scratching my head for a minute, because I did not get it. He had a bad game against Lille, but when I checked his stats from his previous games, he had performed at an acceptable level this year, although he has had a few knocks. He has even started becoming a regular in the France team.

Lay off of him. With the St Etienne around the corner, I am unsure as to whether to use him in the starting eleven. It seems a bit of a gamble, because to be fair, he has been mediocre the past two or three games, and I didnt want any more fan backlash if he was to perform poorly in this game. What is a manager to do when the fans get on a player?

St Etienne 1-1 Lyon

So I decided to go with this starting eleven for the derbi match. A combo of strength and skill:

Hazard and Pjanic as my wingers. I was bold, I was brave, I was to never win anything with kids. I dont like that saying, because I have before, but the experiment was a rocky one. Hazard and Pjanic are not new to the first team, but they dont have the same chemistry with Benzema as Mounier and some times Bakar. I was hoping that my midfield would provide most of the balls for Benzema to work with, including Bodmer, who I stuck by. I thought about using Makoun instead to counter the Matiudi-Boateng partnership, but I went for a little more skill then strength.

Pjanic and Hazard were both pretty disappointing, and Ederson absolutely stunk it up. Gomis was to score in the first half, probably the only thing my defense did wrong all game. All four defenders had above a 7 for their match rating, so they played very well. But we just never got much going in the attacking half. It didnt help that Benzema picked up a knock early in the 2nd half. Bodmer was able to put in a good shift though, and repay my faith in him. Les Gones faithful should be hard on players more often I guess?

15 shots is misleading, because when you watch the game, you may only see 5 or 6 of them, the other shots are made up for stats purposes. Keirrison was brought on for Benzema and Defour for Ederson, and I hoped for a spark. I was to be rewarded, as Keirrison yet again proved he is a super-sub. Defour played him in and he slammed the ball past Viviani in the 65th minute. After that, realizing the complete lack of attacking impetus, I replaced Toulalan with Mehamha and made things go quiet. A 1-1 draw “away from home” is a good result for us, especially as its the derbi, although the fans may have wondered why I didnt go for it Mounier on for one of Pjanic or Hazard. I am an attack minded coach, but just this once I got cautious.

Lyon 2-1 Lille


Sandy Paillot recovered way to fast from his injury. I dont know how, but he did it, so he started alongside Jorgensen, while Reveillere was making his first start in a few weeks after a minor knock. I also stuck with Loic Nestor on the left, as he had done well the past few games. The replacement process for my defensive stalwarts is beginning. The midfield featured journeymen Samson at attacking midfielder and Hazard and Pjanic being used as wingers. It was the way of the future for the forward line along with Keirrison, and I was hoping for good things.

7 Shots on target, 7 Shots off target was how it went. Somehow Lille were able to score with 1 shot on target, which is a little ridiculous if you ask me. Sure football is strange in that way, but it feels like this game goes out of its way to piss me off sometimes. 1 shot, and a weak shot at that from Fauvergue hit Nestor, wrong footing Lloris and going in. What a joke. Own goal I guess? It was a lame goal, but it kept Lille in the game even though they put nothing forward.

I felt confident with my team entering the second half, but a goal was not coming so I made an unprecedented move, at least for me, with the triple substitution. Ederson and Benzema were brought on in order to search for that last goal in the final stage of the match, and Nuri Sahin was more of a “what the hell” sub, with Bodmer having a bad game. I thought it interesting then that Sahin would provide a telling ball off of a free kick for Hazard to score the winner against his former club. A foul outside the box, maybe 20-25 yards out was taken quickly by Sahin. Hazard had drifted to the right and was completely free, so Sahin’s ball put him 1v1 with Malikci, and he made no mistake, smashing it past him!

Sticking with Hazard paid off, but Loic Nestor did not, as he was a disaster the whole game. Maybe he is not ready for the starting left back berth on a full time basis yet. A good win, and all of these late goals have made me excited for each game all of the sudden, as they have thrills up until the final whistle.

So after a win against Lille, the table looked like this:

I have a game in hand on the chasing pack except for 2nd place Valenciennes, which means I have a good lead to focus on. I would say that at this point in the season, I will be looking to slow things down a bit in the league and just maintain my points advantage as I look to finish top of my Champions League group. The two league cups will kick off soon enough as well, but they wont over extend my squad as I use all of my young guys, a la The Voyeur. Up next I have St. Etienne in the first derbi du Rhone of the year. Should be a good one!

First up is Ederson. He was not even suppose to be around this term, as I tried to sell him. But it just didnt happen. But now he is injured for 2-4 weeks, which means I have an opportunity to do some things I wanted to do earlier. The first is I play Pjanic a whole lot, despite Defour being in good form. Pjanic needs game time badly, so I am going to give it to him no matter how horrible he plays. A screen cap of Pjanic currently:

I also have the option of using one of the old pros that I had signed on trial and then given 1 year deals to, Stephane Samson. At 34, he is still in great shape and has some decent stats even though he should be retired. He is a creative guy, and I feel that he merits atleast a few first team games this season. Between him and Pjanic, I can ride out the loss of Ederson. Sampson has more experience in French football then most of my team, which is also very impressive. Look at his journey-man career which was usually spent in Ligue 2, where he scored alot from midfield. Ligue 2 > Ligue 1, but still, he can do a job as well.

Next up is Lamine Gassama. He was suppose to replace Anthony Reviellere when he got injured. Well Revs is no longer injured, but he will need two weeks in the reserves most likely. Gassama will also when he recovers from his knock, which means there is a two to three week window for Daniel Opare to play. Opare was signed from Real Madrid’s C team as he was no longer even a starter in the team, and I paid 400k for him! Peanuts I know, and the lad has been excellent in the reserve team. I think that he might not be ready, but that his time is coming, so a little exposure now wont hurt. He has the physical attributes as an 18 year old to be a Ligue 1 player, but whether he can run with the big boys just yet will be decided on the field. Here is his screen cap:

Ninis had just gotten into a groove before he was hacked so many time during the Shaktar, PSG and Inter games that his legs just gave up. He will be out 1 month, which really sucks, because it means I have to use Djamel Bakar again. He is so flaky when it comes to performing, but I have a card up my sleeve. I signed Ryan Boudebouz on loan for the season towards the end of the transfer window. A sneaky transfer of a player with alot of talent who was not being used at Sochaux. Of course my next opponents are Sochaux so I cannot use him, but he and Bakar have a month to duke it out for who gets to start. Screen caps of both players:

Sandy Paillot is the final player who’s absence I will miss. Paillot is a great defender despite his stats, and I was really happy he broke in to my starting eleven so quickly. Cris and Mensah will continue their partnership now, but it gives Mathias Jorgensen a chance to play a few games at center back. Paillot is only out 2 weeks, but I figure Mensah needs a rest so why not give Jorgensen a chance. I could also use Loic Nestor at center back again and see how that goes, but I do prefer him at left back. The problem is that Kolodiezciak is looking good in the reserves and is clamoring for a shot at the first team, so while Grosso is by no means out of a job, this will probably be his last season and I need to bring two left backs on to be prepared to pick up the slack. Jorgensen and Nestor’s stats:

Sylvinho and Yanis Tafer are both squad players, so their absence is not as gravely missed. I do wish Tafer was not going to be out as long as he is though, 2 months will stunt his growth especially with Lacazette playing every week for Tours in Ligue 2 and Keirrison so far impressing me.

My question to my readers, all 7 of you, is what do you think of this strategy. My next game is at home to Lille, so it wont be to tough a challenge. I feel that giving young players first team minutes when ever possible is my job, but I am also aware that they could be shell shocked and could get a ripe hiding at home. Let me know what you think!