Season 27 week 14 processing...

Welcome to week 14, Euro cup quarter-final week, reset is underway...

Biggest week of the season so far.

Feels like a long time coming this week. Sent my turn in ages ago! Hopefully fortunes change this turn as I've got a league game vs West ham. However got euro game vs Athletico Mardrid. Would like to have to had more chance to settle my team down. 

Well it looks like a easy win on paper vs the premier league's whipping boys... Fulham have picked up a single point for 6 turns. Which is the longest baron run I've had since being in hemsoft. With the quality I have in the team is a huge shame. However the team should be more settled this turn without a single change to the first team. It would be nice to walk away from the Olympic stadium with 3 points to ease my nerves as relation is a reality now after last week's result. How ever this is football! A couple of changes to player commands to try and balance the team out and help shift the ball around. Will it make a difference to the result or game play? We will find out. 

Genk have 1 change to the team due to player sales and hopefully it won't affect the team too much. ISF seems to be working for them as we gained another 3 points last game. The production line at Genk seems to continue to grow and hopefully bring in some more new faces this week. 

Botafogo. Well similar story to Fulham havnt picked up many points however it has been trial by fire so far with all the teams played above me in the league. Keeping things settled and holding onto the safety in the league is this most important thing ahead of the rebuild that is required with majority of players at 35 years of age!

Data entry started, got some huge turns to process this week, so I expect the league games to start later probably thursday I reckon...

Paul did mine arrive?  Was a bit late sending it (Saturday) so wasn't sure it'd make it on time!

Fixtures: 
 Liverpool v Birmingham Westham v Fulham
 Arsenal v Leicester Watford v Plymouth
 Chelsea v Villa Charlton v Man City

Liverpool v Birmingham Likely Lineup;

Gulacsi:GK,Fabio:LB,Coates:CL,Huth:CR,Garrido:RB,Huddlestone:AL,Aquilani:AR,Zaha:RW,Slimani:CF,Tevez:TM,Moses:LW

Begovic:GK,Rafael:RB,Clichy:LB,Wanyama:CL,Evans:CR,Nani:DY,Herrera:DR,Hernandez:ST,Fellaini:CF,Jovetic:S2,Payet:DL

So Liverpool decided to change things up last week swapping for WIN to FLY. Wedging the taslismanic Tevez in at TM. How ever not a ideal place to make your debut at Maine Road. The Liverpool gaffer decided to player Aqualini in a deeper role at AM to let Tevez spearhead the attack. Will the Liverpool boss give him time to settle or will he move Aqualini back to his prefered role at PM? Slimiani hasn't found any form as of recent. Will he find his scoring boots? With the wide players of Moses and Zaha you'd expect some pace to allow Liverpool to find some space. However Rich has managed to transform the fortune of Brum with a shrewed move to ISF playing a recongised keeper seems to have helped also. Will the Brum manager keep things settled or will he bring in the new arrvial of Tim Krul to make his debut? Fellaini seems to have relished his chance to play up front using his brute strength to bully the CB's however Payet was the man to conver the ample chances created. Another 3 points for the Brum i feel.

Westham v Fulham Likely Lineup;

Siegrist:GK,Christie:RB,Thompson:LB,Collison:DY,Collins:CL,Dann:CR,Song:P2,Crosas:PM,Cole:CF,Jarvis:RH,Mcgeady:LH

Reina:GK,Davies:LB,Walker:RB,Mangala:CL,Skrtel:CR,Sandro:AM,Schweinsteiger:DR,Negredo:S2,Sanchez:ST,Silva:TM,Toure:DL

The Hammer's boss was absent from the duggout last week, is that the reason for there poor showing? Will the boss make it through the London traffic this week to be in the duggout in time. Stu will have his ideas of his team with a few players also on the transfer list not cutting it for the Hammers boss. However a change of tactic may come soon as the SLO seems to have been picked apart. Siegrist to be MOM this week ? Will the Hammers manage to probe a opening against Fulham? Fulham... On a run of 6 straight defeats so after a few new arrivals and a tactic change it seems Fulham are now ready to settle down and put the graft in on the pitch to earn themselves a place in the premier league next season. Will the legs of Yaya and Bastian carry them through 90mins. Will we see the brilliance of Sane? The spanish speaking trio of Negrado, Silva and Sanchez start to dazzle defences. On paper this looks like 3 points for Fulham. However i've learnt not to count my chickens. The points are much needed otherwise relegation looms!

Arsenal v Leicester Likely Lineup;

Forster:GK,Veretout:AL,Koscielny:CL,Cahill:CC,Chambers:CR,Flamini:AM,Schneiderlin:AR,Giroud:ST,Berahino:S2,Ozil:TM,Nasri:DY

Jansson:GK,Smedley:RB,Buttner:LB,Cambiasso:AM,Demichelis:CL,Chiriches:CR,Valencia:RW,De Jong:DY,Adebayor:CF,Dawson:CC,Gnabry:LW

The Gunners boss decided he would try something very unexpected last turn and go with 3 CB's and 3 AM's however this unusal formation seemed to prove sucessful as he walked away with 3 points from previous match. How ever how will the Gunners boss approach this week's game against the Wingers of Gnabry and Valencia will he swap back to a more traditional lineup or will he leave his flanks exposed and hope to hold Leicester in midfield? As for the Foxes there fortunes don't seem to be getting any better as of late. With majority of core players sold and found new homes Foxes manager is expecting the rest of the team to step up.. Will he stick with 3 CB's and hope to hit on the counter or will he through another body in midfield to help retain the ball? Arsenal victory if he get's his shape right.

Watford v Plymouth Likely Lineup;

Lloris:GK,Clyne:RB,Rose:LB,Stones:CR,Kompany:CL,Dier:AM,DeBruyne:RH,Pogba:DY,Rooney:TM,Kane:CF,Bale:LH

Cech:GK,Bellerin:RB,Gibbs:LB,Elneny:AM,Ramsey:DR,Vermaelen:CL,Welbeck:ST,Wilshere:TM,Vardy:S2,Delph:DL,Alderweireld:CR

Well it seems the Watford manager has his team firing on all cylinders goals flying in from left right and centre! It would appear Pogba read my preview last week and accepted the challange of helping with the goals! Extremely dominate display from the Hornets with Lloris not even touching the ball. With Watford sitting in second how is Jamie going to motivate his players to make the final step? Will his players get complacent? It would seem there is high expectations for Jamie and will he have the composure to deliver? Plymouth boss Ben seems to be very quiet on the forum these days.. However his players as making plenty of noise on the pitch with a great run of form they've found. Even with key players absent. Wilshere kept his place after impressing last week and a rare apperance for Elneny with Fernandinho most likely suspended. How ever will the Plymouth boss recall the likes of Mahrez and Fernandinho to give himself the best chance of taking some points from Watford... Great game to be had here for sure. With the neutrals hoping for a draw or a Away win to blow the title race wide open at this crutial time!

Chelsea v Villa Likely Lineup;

Mcgregor:GK,Filipe:LB,Vlaar:CL,Lovren:CR,Kelly:RB,DeJong:AM,DiMaria:DL,Falcao:ST,Afellay:TM,Remy:S2,Mikel:DR

Butland:GK,Coleman:RB,Brady:LB,Mccarthy:AM,App:CL,VanDijk:CR,Eriksen:PM,Dembele:DR,Coquelin:BW,Bony:CF,Chamberlain:DL

Chelsea boss will feel aggrived having lost the previous game having dominating the chances created.. how ever its not what you create its what you convert that matters! Will the Chelsea boss be looking to improve on Mcgregor? A rare dip in form for Afellay, the goals will need to come from else ware if there main player is lacking confidence. Villa boss Rob will have felt he made a rookie error last time round having only played one recongised CB. Surely he will rectify that this week. Eriksen seemed to enjoy his role at PM. But will Rob continue to tinker and find his best formation or will he settle ? It would seem a bad time to play a wounded Chelsea side most likely out for revenge and i can see them making the home advantage count!

Charlton v Man City Likely Lineup;

Mignolet:GK,Cesar:RB,Kolarov:LB,Henderson:AM,Luiz:CL,Willian:DL,Lucas:CR,Lallana:DR,Coutinho:TM,Mane:ST,Firmino:S2

Hart:GK,Cresswell:LB,Lescott:CL,Smalling:CR,Richards:RB,Paulinho:DL,Gundogan:DY,Dzeko:CF,Carroll:ST,Aguero:S2,Drinkwater:DR

Biggest game of the season for the Charlton boss.. It's a huge 6 pointer for the title race. If results go right elseware it could really boost Charlton's title hopes! This is what we Play for isnt it? I would imagine Tom will have kept his side settled.. Why wouldnt he? His front 3 seem to have clicked and have been free scoring in recent weeks. How ever this city side are hard to beat.. Will Chartons front 3 dance around city or are they lightweight and need a battering ram like City have in Dzeko to take them to the next level? Strength vs Skill.. As for City, Geoff seems to have found a winning formula and a very consistant lineup allows for the league leaders to be unstoppable so far. How ever its a different challange for them this week. Will Geoff have any tactical suprises up his sleeve? Countinho could have a free role in the centre of the Park and allowed to pull this strings... I'm hoping for a Win for the Home side. Would make things very exciting wouldnt it?

Stuart@WestHam wrote:

Paul did mine arrive?  Was a bit late sending it (Saturday) so wasn't sure it'd make it on time!

arrived.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Data entry started, got some huge turns to process this week, so I expect the league games to start later probably thursday I reckon...

Just out of curiosity, what constitutes a 'huge' turn?

Andy@Schalke wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Data entry started, got some huge turns to process this week, so I expect the league games to start later probably thursday I reckon...

Just out of curiosity, what constitutes a 'huge' turn?

more than 3 news or 3 reviews, each one takes me about 20 - 30 minutes.

Friendly games are underway...

great preview read Phil.  Just the one change in the line-up for West Ham this week but a change in tactical approach.  Probably not going to change the outcome of the match, but the tactic of the previous manager just wasn't working so no point carrying on with it having seen enough of it for two games now.  I'll be happy to just score a goal and build from that 

reserve games underway...

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Andy@Schalke wrote:

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Data entry started, got some huge turns to process this week, so I expect the league games to start later probably thursday I reckon...

Just out of curiosity, what constitutes a 'huge' turn?

more than 3 news or 3 reviews, each one takes me about 20 - 30 minutes.

Oops, sorry!

Paul must have put a hell of a shift in today to get the pre games running tonight.  Thanks

Great review again Phil.

Tom@Charlton wrote:

Paul must have put a hell of a shift in today to get the pre games running tonight.  Thanks

Great review again Phil.

No problem. 

Thanks for sending me the info!

Phil is right, normally at home to City at this stage of the season would be the biggest game so far, however this year the gap is so big there isn't actually that much riding on it.  Charlton gave up on the title a few weeks back and its all about trying to get the team to knit together for next season.  Could be very entertaining today due to the fact that City don't bother marking Coutinho and I haven't made any tactical changes which I normally would to face Geoffs side, which means Aguero has the freedom of the park too.  Certainly not gonna be 0-0 that's for sure, hopefully not a hammering in front of my own fans!
Apologies Jamie, probably one of the games you would have hoped City might drop points but I have to concentrate on the long term of my own side. 

Biggest game of the season for the Charlton fans now is the away fixture in the Nou Camp this week.  Absolutely nothing to lose there, told the players to give it their best but to go to such a top team whilst not firing and not being settled doesn't bode well.  Could be two heavy defeats for Charlton this week.....


After that depressing review of my games in England, my other teams remain top of their leagues fighting hard for their respective titles.  Nantes on a good run of form at the minute, playing at home to bottom of the table Lyon, what could possibly go wrong.....meanwhile 2nd play 3rd so one of those two will drop points for sure.

Fluminense have a tough fixture this week, away to Steve's Corinthians who I'm guessing will still be in a honeymoon period as he has recently taken over from Geoff there.  Real tough fixture, gonna be a tight game and one where I could really feel the loss of Lucas Lima to injury.
Elsewhere in Brazil, a small matter of Flamengo v Santos.  The El Clasico of the Brazilian league.  Will be a very high quality game where hopefully my main rivals, Santos may drop points.  Could be a very high scoring game that one too.

Brighton need three more wins for promotion, a few changes going on at the Amex recently, players being sold in readiness for next season already.  Hopefully the team can still produce a result despite a few changes against a Hyde side in disarray.  They currently have 8 players, only one of whom is under 32.  If Brighton don't get a positive result here, heads will roll......


Good luck to everyone this week, cup competitions get very exciting this time of year, anything can happen.  I think there may be a big game going on in Italy too......

European games underway...

Relatively large week in Italy as Inter travel to Juve.  Only 3 points seperate the teams at the top of Serie A and that was when Inter beat Juve in Milan at The Santini Stadium (we love our corporate sponsorship). Inter are without midfield lynchpin Marco Verratti although Daniele De Rossi should provide an experienced and even more highly skilled replacement.

Then we have the big game ..... where Bayern come to Milan in the Champions League. 

Villa's players have been on a 4 week victory parade since reaching 21 points. It'll be hard to get them to focus on the job in hand so not expecting much at Stamford Bridge except a nice pint on the Fulham Road after the match.

Villa are also in European action against Spurs ....... again no idea how that'll play out. 

Good luck to everyone.

Champions Cup
Barcelona 4 Charlton 2
Man City 2 Watford 3
Inter 1 Bayern 2
Juventus 0 Schalke 2 aet

Europa Cup
Monaco 0 Roma 2
Parma 1 Valencia 5
Liverpool 1 Soton 0
Etienne 1 Gornik 4 aet

Copa Libertadores
Fluminense 5 Bolivar 0
Santos 1 Sao Paulo 0
Boca 0 Flamengo 1
Corinthians 1 Vasco 0

Confederations Cup
Cosmos 3 Galaxy 0
Phoenix 0 Wollongong 1
Harrisburg 3 Vancouver 0
Chicago 3 Kashima 0

European Cup Winners Cup
Hamburg 0 Brondby 1
Man United 1 Bilbao 2
Wednesday 3 Dragovol 0
Chelsea 2 Olympiakos 0

European Cup
PSV 2 Lisbon 1 aet
Cherry 1 Red Star 0
Porto 2 Dinamo Minsk 0
Gladbach 3 Jena 0

Fairs Cup
Cagliari 1 Lazio 2
Villa 0 Spurs 3
Innsbruck 2 Mechelen 0
Viking 0 Dortmund 0 aet pens 3-4

Intertoto Cup
Fiorentina 2 Wolves 1
Grasshoppers 0 Liege 0 aet pens 4-2
Atletico 1 Fulham 0 aet 
Marseille 0 Wimbledon 1

African Champions Cup
Dragons Oueme 0 Marrakesh 1
Wydad Casablanca 1 Zimbabwe Dynamos 0
Kaiser Chiefs 4 Esperance 0
Zamalek 0 Etoile Sahel 1 aet

These competitions are always tough especially at the quarter-final stage, commiserations to those that didn't make it through but we do have some exciting semi-finals to look forward to. Congratulations to everybody who won and all semi-final games are played on neutral grounds.

Semi-final draw to follow...

League game reset is underway and the league games may well kickoff later this afternoon...

Always gonna be a tough ask at the Nou Camp, congrats to Matt.  Think I had that coming after the Fluminense - Flamengo game last week....

Strong lineup in the semis, very surprised at Bayern squeaking through.....

Fluminense get through to the semis, but what a lineup of teams left.  Dominated by Brazil teams this year and whatever the draw is, it is gonna be very very tough.

Verratti out I think costing me dear this turn. Well done to everyone.

Quote :

Intertoto Cup
Fiorentina 2 Wolves 1
Grasshoppers 0 Liege 0 aet pens 4-2
Atletico 1 Fulham 0 aet 
Marseille 0 Wimbledon 1

These competitions are always tough especially at the quarter-final stage, commiserations to those that didn't make it through but we do have some exciting semi-finals to look forward to. Congratulations to everybody who won and all semi-final games are played on neutral grounds.

It's a shame to go out after such a positive start to the competition. But leaves me to focus on the league! Every cloud and all that! Ha.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup
Barcelona 4 Charlton 2
Man City 2 Watford 3
Inter 1 Bayern 2
Juventus 0 Schalke 2 aet

Three away wins in the 4 quarters - excellent win for Bayern against the favourites there....