February started with a trip to London to face Fulham. We scored in the 30th minute, and that proved to be our only goal despite having 11 shots on target. Kamil Grabara had a strong game in goal for them. A win and three points are what matter most at this stage, and that’s exactly what we achieved.
Now it’s time for some off-field news.
Firstly, despite Campos signing a new deal that would come into effect next season, we decided to sell him to Bari for £1.4 million. He was only a backup player, and next season I will likely bring in someone stronger to make the squad more competitive, so letting him go was an easy decision.
Tommy Marques wanted to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season, so when Salernitana made an offer, he accepted it. He will join them at the end of the season as free agent.
My scout recommended a Chilean youth prospect, Josué Guajardo from Universidad de Chile. He had already attracted interest from Chelsea F.C. and top Italian clubs, so I moved quickly. I made an offer, and the deal was completed within two days, including the work permit.
I wasn’t happy with Monterisi’s performances at wing-back, so I decided to sign Alex Freeman from Orlando City.
The final signing was a loan. After Borussia Mönchengladbach terminated Pereira’s loan, I needed a backup urgently. I brought in Stefan Smarkalev on loan from Werder Bremen.
That concludes our January transfer business. Below is a summary of the top transfers that took place during this transfer window.
On the 5th we played second leg against Chelsea in the EFL Cup. We started with the RAF formation on a Positive mentality, but we conceded first. We equalized, only for them to score again. With the same result as in the first leg, the tie went to extra time.
I didn’t want penalties, as they have stronger individual players, so I instructed the team to push higher, be more creative, and press aggressively. That decision paid off as Raimondo intercepted the ball as they tried to play out from the back and scored.
We then immediately switched to a more defensive approach, turning off counter-attacking and focusing on discipline. We were the better team in extra time, and in my opinion, we fully deserved it. We are finally learning how to see games out.
We are off to the final at Wembley to face Manchester City.
On the 8th of February, we hosted Crystal Palace. It was an even contest until the 80th minute. We had already switched to an attacking mentality around the 65th minute, but it wasn’t enough to break them down. So, around the 80th minute, I switched to Very Attacking. Three minutes later, Otto scored.
After taking the lead, I returned to an attacking mentality, and we added two more goals in the 90th and 93rd minutes. What seemed like a tough match ended in a convincing 3–0 win.
We then had a short international break, during which I scheduled a friendly against Hastings, which we won 5–0. This was mainly to improve match sharpness for rotation players ahead of our FA Cup clash with Reading.
Despite being the better side, we only won 4–3. It wasn’t the style of performance I wanted, but progress is still being made. Unfortunately, Bonfanti picked up an injury and will be out for 11–13 days.
