Season 24 week 14 processing...

As you can imagine I was a bit busy yesterday so I've just started thinking about opening the envelopes...

So far I only have orders from

Man City, Birmingham, Leicester, Plymouth, Watford, Charlton, Fulham, Inter, Barcelona & Inverness.

and I'm thinking the damn post has been held up again, so I will enter these orders and see what comes today.

No orders in the end from Newcastle Chelsea Real or Schalke.

hi Paul, bit of a week of personal upheaval for me. I'm putting together my orders via email as we speak. I hope thats ok?

Rich@Leicester wrote:

hi Paul, bit of a week of personal upheaval for me. I'm putting together my orders via email as we speak. I hope thats ok?

yes

you should have them now?

Plymouth v Liverpool

We start off this week with a fixture that few would predict anything other than a home win.  Plymouth are firing on all cylinders recently, climbing back to the top of the tree.
After a pulsating away win last week against Ben's main rivals for the title, Watford, confidence couldn't be much higher going into this one.  Not quite an AGUEROOOOOO... moment last week but close.  Although it was in the 74th minute and not injury time, the significance of it could turn out to be very similar, a vital 3 points for Ben in the race for the title.  The only documented absentee for Plymouth this week is the suspension of Alou Diarra after his sending off last week.  There are no injuries or suspensions at Liverpool this week, so Kenny's team will arrive fully fit and ready to try and cause an upset.  Dalglish will be telling his players that they may be an opportunity here, as Plymouth could possibly take their eye off the ball and not give the opposition the respect they deserve.  Team selection will be a headache for Ben as he faces one of the biggest games of his managerial career in the midweek before this clash.
Surely the big names will all be lining up in the big competition when the Home Park club square off against the mighty Barcelona.  Can the players perform twice in a week or will the manager use his squad to rotate and prioritize the bigger of the two games.  Liverpool do deserve some respect this year, as last weeks 3-0 win against Chelsea shows, and they won't go down in this game without a fight as they have already shown on many occasions this year.  Sitting comfortably in midtable, few would have given the side from L4 the chance of survival at the start of the season, but they have more than held their own. 
Will Plymouth be too strong for the Reds?  A lot may depend on the eleven players chosen to take them on, with the majority of Plymouth eyes on the midweek game.


Chelsea v Spurs

Another team who have exceeded all expectations this year so far.  Sat midtable, a massive ten points clear of the dotted line, Spurs are another side who look to be punching above their weight this year, being another favourite for the drop at the start of the season.  To be fair to them though, they have picked some notable results and deserve to be where they are.  Last weeks massive 1-0 win, albeit against an experimental Birmingham line-up, was just another example of how this team can cause you problems if you don't manage to get your tactics spot on.  No fresh team news coming out of the Lane, so barring any injuries picked up in training, the manager should be able to pick from a fully fit sqaud.
Chelsea are a difficult team to predict this year and must be driving their manager mad.  He seems to have faith with the starting eleven, but consistency seems to be a major issue this year.  Last week was an important game between themselves and Liverpool as the loser would be in danger of getting sucked into a relegation dogfight.  And so it has proved. A 3-0 reverse last week has left Chelsea sat just above the drop zone, 3 points clear of a resurgent Arsenal side and a Leicester side, whose luck is surely about to turn.  Despite having very good players available for selection, the manager is having trouble getting the best out of them it seems.  Although Gaz has been absent a bit this season, you'd think both he and his squad should surely be too strong to being in danger of the drop?
No new injury worries for the West London outfit, so a fully fit squad need to show their qualities this week and provide their manager with a much needed three points.


Birmingham v Arsenal

The first time for a long time that the 'Kendal Derby' has not been as keenly contested, due to the departure of the previous Arsenal manager.  Despite being a close friend and ally, the competition between the two was always quite fierce.  The league is definately worse off without
the two managers banter before the big game.  However, Arsene has taken over the reigns since, at his beloved Arsenal, and slowly but surely he is restoring the brand of football that the fans used to love at the Emirates.  Results recently have certainly turned and this commentator said last week that is certainly isn't a good time to be playing them at the minute.  I fully expect them to pick up enough points between now and the end of the season to be well clear of the threat of relegation, the quality of players left by the previous manager certainly is up there with the better squads in the league.  It has just been a case of Arsene getting them to all play together in harmony in the last few weeks which he certainly looks to have done. One player whose face doesn't seem to fit, is that of Daniel Agger,who was unceremoniously dumped on the transfer list last week.  Rumours of a training ground bust-up suggest the Dane has no future at the club, although I'm sure there will be many suitors for his signature.  Arsenal go into this game without the influential Mikel Arteta, whose position will be probably be filled by the ever dependable Flamini, who never seems to let his manager down. 
Birmingham seem to be a team very much in transition.  An easy statement to make, but this team really seem to be struggling at the minute to nail down a formation to get the best out of their world class players.  Results seem to be suffering as a consequence and the team currently sit in 8th position, but with six points breathing space between themselves and the bottom three.  If teams below them start to pick up points then they could get sucked into trouble.  Be interesting to hear Rich's thoughts and tactics for this weeks game to see if he is persisting with a new formation or going back to a tried and trusted one.


Leicester v Man City

Another tough fixture this week for the Foxes.  They just seem to keep on coming. City come into this game on the back of a pulsating 4-4 draw with last years Champions. Not quite sure what happened in that game, analysts are still trying to work where it was won and lost, seems it was just 'one of those games' for both sides.
Unlike Fulham, Geoff's City come out of that game without any suspensions or injuries, so travel to the Walkers with a fully fit squad, which must come as bad news for the Leicester manager.  Not many teams have stopped City this year and they seem more than settled in the new formation, one things for certain, it is never a dull game when they are involved.  Geoff is doing a fanatastic job of trying to turn around the fortunes of the once dominant side.  A few years ago Geoff had the Citizens flying high in the Premier League and the Champions Cup, always starting the season as one of the favourites due to the sound structure of the club and the unbelievably good squad that was built.
Unfortunately due to a few years away from the club, things began to change, not for the better.  A couple of managers came in and tried, but failed, to maintain the success previously installed.  A lot of players were let go and not good enough replacements were brought in causing City to fall from the top of the tree to near relegation one year.   The messiah returned though, and despite a transitional period last year, the rebuilding has definately begun and the signs are there that City will become a force once again sooner rather than later.  The critics always say you should never go back, but there aren't many City fans who would agree with that now!  Hats off to Geoff for doing a sterling job, as
it must have been heartbreaking retaking the seat he gave up a few years before.
Leicester, on the other hand, are doing their very best to keep their heads above water this year.  Despite a 3-0 reverse last week, there was a tactical switch that the fans are hoping might bring a few more goals for their team. It remains to be seen whether that was a one-off for last weeks game, or it is something that the manager would want to persist with.  It didn't produce the required result last week but then at times new formations can cause a few moments of misunderstanding within the team.  No fresh injury news or suspensions coming from the Walkers, with Anderson looking to undergo a late fitness test to see if he can come back into the side.  Although the games just seem to get tough for Rich, 3 points are becoming more and more important to keep in touch with those above him.  As it stands, Leicester are only three points from safety and there are nine games to go, so there is still plenty of time to stage a surgwe up the table, but they really need to start picking up points soon.


Fulham v Watford

Hot on the heels on the win against Charlton, Will has another 'local derby' this week against Jamie's Watford.  The press are suggesting this one could be a tasty affair with both managers telling their players not to hold back.  A rivalry that goes back a fair few years to the days of the playoffs in the Championship, now sees the teams both fighting at the top end of the big league.
Jamie's Watford currently hold the edge in terms of position and league points, but you can never rule out the Champions as Man City found to their cost last week.  Will be very interesting to see the line-ups of both sides this week, as both have big European games in the midweek before.  Where will the managers place their priority?  Will they go for it and play the strongest side in both and risk
fatigue setting in, or will they do a 'Jose' and play the second string and park the bus in the league game.  To be fair though, if they could get the same outcome as Jose, it wouldn't be a bad idea.
Fulham come into this game without the influential Sandro, suspended after last weeks indiscretion.  The players seemed to give their all in last weeks game to rescue a point in the last minute, having played the majority of the game with just 10 men.  Will they pay for such a energy sapping game, with those two big games this week? Or will it give them the injection of belief they need to believe in themselves and kickstart their season turning it into another successful one.
What a heartbreraking defeat last week for Jamie.  A 3-4 reverse to Plymouth.  No shame in losing to Plymouth at all, as they seem to get stronger from week to week.  It was just such a free-flowing entertaining game, it is never nice to come out on the wrong side.  No fresh injury or suspension news for Jamie, barring any accidents in training, so a fully fit squad to choose from.  To have a second defeat in two weeks would be a hammer blow to Jamie's title hopes, albeit they would be far from out of it, but the way Plymouth are playing at the minute it is not a good idea to give them a few points lead going into the last eight games of the season.  Will be an interesting game, as a Watford win would maintain their charge for a maiden title win, whereas a win for Fulham would give them a great boost and possibly put them back into the title race.
Any early team news guys?

Sorry Paul nothing from me,

And well done Tom for a great build up

Great read tom as per usual.

Quite a bit of disruption this week which is very frustrating for what is and probably will be our biggest week of the season.

Sandros absence is a massive blow, especially for an away trip to the San Siro, the absences of both jagielka and Rodwell while not being crucial to the potential starting 11 does mean that some players who would have been rested in the league for the big cup tie are having to play two fixtures in a week which is not ideal at all.

Both fixtures will see us take to the field in a 442 formation.

Ideally the cup side would have been a 451 but that wasn't to be.

Mario starts the league game partnering Carroll and the away game sees Suarez partnering the big man with Mario to come on and hopefully become a hero.......... Or the villain lol

A big week to be sure. I have Roma in the League - if Inter don't win I think the title is Roma's. A draw is not enough. An unchanged line up sees the power of Cavani and Higuain try to get the win we desperately need. 

And then Europe ...... it's 442 for me instead of he usual 433, starting with a midfield quartet of Pirlo, Vidal, Khedira and Lars Bender. Maybe some surprises later on with Diego Costa and El Shaarawy on the bench.

Thanks for another superb preview Tom.

I've just started running the weeks reserve,youth & schoolboy games and I'll let you know the kickoff time a bit later.

League games are scheduled to kickoff at 1000 hours wednesday morning.
Good luck to everybody.

Nothing from me again, Struggling to find anytime to do my turns at moment, Will transfer some money to your account at weekend as currently scraping every spare penny for season ticket next season

Great read Tom

Watford are without player of the season so far mousa dembele,  so garcia comes in at AM and pogba moves to DY 

Same team for the league and Europe this week

Gaz@Chelsea wrote:

Nothing from me again, Struggling to find anytime to do my turns at moment, Will transfer some money to your account at weekend as currently scraping every spare penny for season ticket next season

Okay Gaz thanks for letting me know, not cheap at your place is it.

Kickoff will be delayed slightly as the away side have been held up due to their coach breaking down...

eta 30 minutes for a 1030 kickoff

the teams are out warming up ...

and we're off...

Dortmund 1 Hannover 0 Tuncay on 2 minutes. gets the first goal of the day.
Motherwell 0 St Johnstone 1 McManus.

Rosario 0 Boca 1 Fernandez on 3 minutes.
Gremio 1 Fluminense 0 Soldado.
Groningen 1 Feyenoord 0 De Leeuw.
Cagliari 1 Empoli 0 Julio Santos.

and Charlotte Green can bring us news of an early goal in the big derby in Madrid...

It's a freekick that has broken the deadlock here and you wont be surprised to know that Lionel Messi is the scorer, so after just 3 minutes Real lead cross town rivals Atletico thanks to the murcurial argentine, so often their hero, to make it

Real 1 Atletico 0

Flamengo 1 Portuguesa 0 Susaeta freekick on 4 minutes.
Nantes 1 Lyon 0 Lucio.

Good start to the day for some of the feeder clubs...

Carlisle 1 Wycombe 0 Midson on 5 minutes.
Katowice 0 Gornik 1 Saganowski.
Cosmos 1 Miami 0 Feilhaber.

Bochum 0 Schalke 1 Muller on 6 minutes.
Breda 0 Ajax 1 De Jong.
Betis 1 Sevilla 0 Pjanic.

and we have our first Premiership goal of the day so lets cross over to John Oaksey to get the details, come in John at Birmingham...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Flamengo 1 Portuguesa 0 Susaeta freekick on 4 minutes.
Nantes 1 Lyon 0 Lucio.

Absolutely right Paul, great start from the French boys. Massive game this week against Lyon, especially as Ribery is out injured.

Although some are saying he could do with a rest after losing a little bit of form recently. Not the only one to look off form last night against Real though!!