Sunderland's Beastly Charge to the Top!

UEFA Champions Laague - 2 Oct 2012

Sunderland vs Villarreal (Home)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 1-0

Sunderland:
Sigurosson (86)
Vrsaljko (27)

Villarreal:
Angel (45+1)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Vertonghen (7.6)

Manager Views

A tough home match, but im glad we triumphed. Our second European victory, which stands us in good stead. If we can win all the home matches then we may stand a chance of getting through. We were admittedly lucky to win this match!

English Premier Division - 6 Oct 2012

Sunderland vs Fulham (Home)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 5-2

Sunderland:
Kadlec (20)
Felipe Anderson (45+2)
Fierro (61, 73)
Prestia (80)
Nistelrooy (39)
Felipe Anderson (45+1)

Fulham:
Dembele (18)
Riise (84)
Dembele (58)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Fierro (8.7)

Manager Views

A great match with goals coming from the youngsters. Fierro played brilliantly and looks a real star for the future. Eden Hazard was sublime as usual, and we got a good goal from our new young defender Prestia, which was a delight to see. I was however concerned with the amount of chances Fulham created and with them scoring 2 goals!

English Premier Division - 20 Oct 2012

Burnley vs Sunderland (Away)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 0-2

Burley:

Sunderland:
Sigurosson (26)
Ji Dong-Won (87)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Vrsaljko (8.2)

Manager Views

Not a great match really, and we didnt make the most of the ball. We squandered possession and frankly, didnt play very well!

Hey, I just thought of a good way to use Hazard, tried it and worked a treat. Play 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-3-1 using Hazard, a dedicated playmaker without much pace (I used wilshere) and a ballwinner (mine was fernandinho). I had wilshere as the amc with a role of attacking midfielder and support, and hazard advanced playmaker on attack. It really opens up defences as you will have the two creators playing in wingers and striker or have 4 attackers making runs while the amc holds it up. My results were 5-0 against shaktar, 4-1 against west brom and 3-0 against man city. It works well against teams playing wide, as the midfield is open enough for dribbling and one-twos.

#45650 Nickbonista : Hey, I just thought of a good way to use Hazard, tried it and worked a treat. Play 4-4-1-1 or 4-2-3-1 using Hazard, a dedicated playmaker without much pace (I used wilshere) and a ballwinner (mine was fernandinho). I had wilshere as the amc with a role of attacking midfielder and support, and hazard advanced playmaker on attack. It really opens up defences as you will have the two creators playing in wingers and striker or have 4 attackers making runs while the amc holds it up. My results were 5-0 against shaktar, 4-1 against west brom and 3-0 against man city. It works well against teams playing wide, as the midfield is open enough for dribbling and one-twos.

Thanks mate, i will give it a go. The thing is i really like having 2 strikers!! lol. But saying that, i hae stumbled across this one formation which has worked really well for me, 4-1-3-1-1. I score a lot, though i did concede a few against AC Milan in the Champions league. But in all fairness i was playing away, and i dont have the most solid defence, and my tactic are set up to play with a quick tempo and a lot of width

English Premier Division - 23 Oct 2012

Sunderland vs AC Milan (Home)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 0-2

Sunderland:
Giuliano (38)
Wes Brown (90+2)

AC Milan:
Robinho (47)
Tevez (pen 63)
Abate (24)
Ambrosini (34)
Chedjou (49)
Mexes (61)
Thiago Silva (74)
Boateng (89)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Pato (8.1)

Manager Views

We put up a good fight, but we were overcome by a superior team. I hold my hands up too for getting the tactics wrong. And its a pity because that was our first ever home defeat under my management!

English Premier Division - 27 Oct 2012

Sunderland vs Tottenham (Home)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 2-1

Sunderland:
Hazard (24)
Wickham (40)
Dante (36)
Ji Dong-Won (62)
Vrsaljko (75)

Fulham:
Parker (26)
Bale (16)
Sandro (51)
Sosa (64)
Dawson (66)
Doumbia (71)
King (84)
Walker (87)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Hazard (8.3)

Manager Views

A good win for us, in a game which we dominated. We created a fair few chances, and it was a good bounce back after we had lost to AC Milan

League Cup 4th Round - 31st Oct 2012

Aston Villa vs Sunderland (Away)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 3-4

Aston Villa:
Collins (pen 15, 28)
Cuellar (90+1)
Warnock (84)

Sunderland:
Fierro (6)
Vertonghen (12)
Dante (33)
Hazard (57)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Collins (8.8)

Manager Views

Great game for the neutrals, poor game for us. Conceding 3 goals! Shocking! But a win is a win, so i wont be complaining too much. I am very pleased with how Fierro is coming along, and he is scoring a few too!

English Premier Division - 3 Nov 2012

West Brom vs Sunderland (Away)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 0-3

West Brom:
Yanbaev (40)

Sunderland:
Felipe Anderson (6)
Kadlec (pen 12)
Dante (58)
Vrsaljko (51)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Brunt (8.9)

Manager Views

A great away win. I decided to play a new formation today which worked very well for me. We didnt give a pacey West Brom many chances and we took ours very well. Dante has also been good recently and deserves credit for his good work!

Your team is a machine! Keep up the good work...

How do you get the red bars (Line up, Formation etc) at the start of your posts?

UEFA Champions League - 7 Nov 2012

AC Milan vs Sunderland (Away)

Formation and Line-ups

Matchday Information

Full Time Score: 3-3

AC Milan:
Pato (31)
Thiago Silva (5)
Ibrahimovic (67)
Antonini (4)
Nocerino (42)
Chedjou (57)
Taiwo (69)
Boateng (79)

Sunderland:
Kadlec (15, 71)
Hazard (55)

Player Ratings

Man of the Match: Kadlec (9.1)

Manager Views

We should have won. Simple as that!! We created chance after chance after chance, and in all honesty it was the poor finishing which was our downfall! Im very pleased with the fact that we held ourselves very well at the prestigious Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. It shows we can stand up to some of the best teams in Europe!

3-3 is a great result against a strong ac milan side. but your sunderland team is also a veryyy strong side! you sure did a beastly charge to the top mate! continue and you'll be there in no time!

You're doing excellently. How do you like the 4-1-3-1-1 formation?

#45740 Sporting_23 : 3-3 is a great result against a strong ac milan side. but your sunderland team is also a veryyy strong side! you sure did a beastly charge to the top mate! continue and you'll be there in no time!

Definitely looking to be a dominant force in Europe by next year! Hopefully we can keep up our performance in the Premier League too!

#45757 Geneharper : You're doing excellently. How do you like the 4-1-3-1-1 formation?

Thanks man. The 4-1-3-1-1 seems to be working well. Im in a dilemma though because i really like playing with 2 strikers!