EPL
Man Utd 1 - 2 Man City (Welbeck/Toure Yaya, Tevez)
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Vidic, Smalling, Fabio, Jones, Giggs, Valencia, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
Disappointing result. City was leading since a 29th minute goal from Yaya Toure, but then Welbeck, who had only been subbed in a minute ago, made an immediate impact and equalized. Just as I thought we would at least get a point, Rafael brought down Tevez in the area and the referee decided to give a penalty that Tevez ultimately tucked away.
OTHER NEWS
Paul Lambert has departed Norwich for the Sunderland job and my assistant coach Mike Phelan has declared his interest in the Norwich job. The board are disappointed with Phelan's lack of professionalism apparently and even if he doesn't take up the post at Norwich, I do think I'll be getting a new assistant coach soon.
My assistant coach Mike Phelan has officially took over Paul Lambert as Norwich manager.
EPL
Man Utd 3 - 0 Sunderland (Cleverley(2), Welbeck)
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Jones, Evra, Anderson, Giggs, Hoilett, Young, Cleverley, Welbeck
Good result as we get the three points, and I'm pleased with my youngsters' progress.
EPL
Everton 0 - 3 Man Utd (Welbeck(2), Hoilett)
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Jones, Evra, Anderson, Giggs, Hoilett, Young, Cleverley, Welbeck
An unchanged line-up from the last match as by accident I went to start the match before selecting my team, but the lads still did well. Hoilett scored a magnificent goal and Welbeck now has 9 Premier League goals in 8 Premier League appearances.
EPL
West Brom 1 - 2 Man Utd (Mulumbu/Rooney(2))
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Anderson, Jones, Hoilett, Young, Rooney, Welbeck
Went all the way up to the 82nd minute when Rooney scored to make it 1-0, Mulumbu's goal in the 85th minute equalized for West Brom and looked like I would only go away with a point, but classy Rooney scored again in the 92nd minute to ensure we got the three points and maintained the pressure on Man City. Nani also made his comeback from injury as a sub in this match, but talking about injuries Rafael is out injured after getting tackled in today's match. Starting to think he's injury-prone because this is the third time he's got injured this season...
EPL
Wolves 0 - 2 Man Utd (Nani, Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Anderson, Scholes, Nani, Young, Cleverley, Rooney
Nani continued his encouraging comeback from injury as he scored a goal to put us ahead. Super sub Chicharito then got clear of the last defender after receiving an excellent ball from Cleverley, and put the ball in the net easily. Chicharito had come on for Rooney, who had gotten himself injured in as early as the 7th minute.
INJURY NEWS
The only players left injured in the squad after the last match is Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney. Carrick will be back in 2 to 6 days while Rooney is out for 5-6 weeks, which is quite convenient because it gives me the opportunity to experiment more with my other strikers. Also Darren Fletcher, who has been arguably our best central midfielder alongside Ryan Giggs, this season, will not play for the rest of the season due to apparent medical reasons.
TRANSFER NEWS
Tomasz Kuszczak has officially joined Real Madrid in a $1.5M deal. The January transfer window has also opened and I'll be looking to get a youngster in and maybe a central midfielder because I feel we don't have enough talent in that area. I'm also extremely interested in Eden Hazard because I have dropped Kerim Frei to the reserves after deciding he wasn't up to the standard I wanted him to be. However I think Hazard will be a buy for next summer because I don't have much funds now. I'll be open to any transfer suggestions for this transfer window.
41-year-old Brazilian Jair Ventura has joined Man Utd as my new assistant coach from Brazilian side Botafogo, replacing Mike Phelan who has moved on to Norwich. I have also rewarded some of my staff with new contracts and also looking to get currently unemployed fitness coach Paul Winsper in.
FA Cup Third Round
Man Utd 3 - 1 Sunderland (Young, Hernandez, Hoilett/Evra OG)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Scholes, Giggs, Nani, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
Brushing aside 20th-placed Sunderland was easy and we are now through the fourth round.
League Cup Semi Final Leg 1
West Brom 0 - 1 Man Utd (Hoilett)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Carrick, Giggs, Hoilett, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
West Brom played fantastic and I would say we are lucky enough to get away with even a goal, now we have the advantage going into the second leg and I'm really confident of getting into the final. Also, Carrick makes his comeback from injury.
EPL
Man Utd 5 - 1 Blackburn (Hoilett, Valencia(2), Welbeck, Tom Paul OG/Rochina)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Pogba, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Hoilett, Welbeck
Handed Pogba his first Premier League start and also played Hoilett as an attacking midfielder for the first time(I always field him as a right or left attacking winger). He opened the scoring against his former club, then a great display by the team led to another three goals coming in the form of a Valencia brace and wonderkid Welbeck. Blackburn's young defender Tom Paul then put the ball into his own net. Valencia received the Man of the Match award but my personal Man of the Match was Nani because he assisted literally all five goals. He provided crosses for all the goals including the own goal, where he crossed to Tom Paul who accidentally chested the ball into the net. I am happy to say that I have a quality team right now and I'm sure we can challenge for honors this season. Pogba is also developing very nicely and he completely bossed the midfield, and deserved a goal.
OTHER NEWS
Carrick is back but Jones is now sidelined for three to four weeks because of hernia. Rooney is still on the injury list too. In the transfer market, Atletico Madrid have got Anderson for $9M. I have approached Juventus' Arturo Vidal and Shakhtar's Fernandinho, but both clubs want at least $20+M for their players while I only have $16M. However we have managed to get fitness coach Paul Winsper to join the club.
Why would Madrid want to sign Kuszack? lol they can do a lot better than him
That puzzles me too, hahaha.
EPL
Arsenal 2 - 3 Man Utd (Diego Perotti, Walcott/Mertesacker OG, Hernandez, Nani)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Ferdinand, Vidic, Fabio, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Nani, Hoilett, Welbeck
Arsenal scored first through their summer signing Diego Perotti, but their defender Per Mertesacker then scored an OG for us. Five minutes later we were up and running as sub Chicharito put us ahead, but Walcott then equalized. With the score at 2-2, Arsenal conceded a late penalty and Nani tucked it away.
League Cup Semi Final Leg 2
Man Utd 1(2) - 0(0) West Brom (Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Pogba, Valencia, Nani, Cleverley, Hernandez
We shot many times but our finishing let us down again and we didn't score as many as we would have liked, but at least now we're through to the final, where we will face Chelsea who triumphed over Fulham in the semis. In the league though, Chelsea are having a poor run of form under Roberto Di Matteo who is on the verge of getting sacked. Let's hope they take their poor form into the final. Walker is also keeping Rafael out of the team very well with his consistent displays at right-back.
FA Cup Fourth Round
Leicester 0 - 4 Man Utd (Hoilett, Hernandez, Smalling, Young)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Pogba, Nani, Young, Hoilett, Hernandez
We easily brushed Leicester aside to get to the next round of the tournament where we will face Championship promotion contenders West Ham.
I was unable to get a good central midfielder to replace Anderson because of my budget. I approached many different clubs and players but none of them were willing to sell/come. The January transfer window is now over.
JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW
In:
Omar (Real Madrid, $4M)
Rene Adler (Leverkusen, Bosman)
Moises (Free)
Carlos Fierro (Chivas, $2.3M)
Out:
Anderson (Atletico Madrid, $9M)
Gyliano van Velzen (Bolton, $550k)
I have sold one of my reserves, van Velzen, because he wasn't really up to standard and when Bolton offered $550k for him I accepted. I was also looking to get rid of Anderson because I didn't really rate him but thought he could do good for me for one, two more years, but when Atletico offered $9M I decided to cash in on him. Omar, Moises and Fierro at 18, 17, and 17 respectively are ones for the future, while I signed Rene Adler because of his expiring contract and because the salary he asked for was way lower than Lindegaard's. Omar has been assigned the No. 37 kit while Moises, Adler, and Fierro will join us in the summer.
THE SUMMER
Berbatov and Owen could both leave for nothing at the end of the season. I will also be looking to ship out Anders Lindegaard since I already have Rene Adler and Ben Amos as backup to De Gea, and also Park Ji-Sung. My targets for next summer are Eden Hazard and Barcelona B's Gerard Deulofeu and Sergi Roberto. Unfortunately I estimate these transfers would add up to $60M so I'd better be getting a transfer kitty soon...
EPL
Man Utd 3 - 0 Bolton (Smalling, Hernandez(2))
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Evra, Giggs, Scholes, Hoilett, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
We followed up the FA Cup triumph with a win against Bolton in the league.
EPL
Man Utd 1 - 0 Swansea (Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Smalling, Vidic, Fabio, Giggs, Carick, Nani, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
Bad performance as we only managed to grab a solitary goal at Old Trafford.
EPL
Chelsea 2 - 2 Man Utd (Malouda, Torres/Terry OG, Smalling)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Jones, Vidic, Fabio, Valencia, Giggs, Pogba, Hoilett, Berbatov, Hernandez
Berbatov and Owen are like my bad luck players... whenever I play them I can never get a result. Anyway this shows me I'll have to play all my best players in the League Cup Final against them.
FA Cup Fifth Round
Man Utd 1 - 1 West Ham (Ferdinand/Noble)
Line-up: Lindegaard, Rafael, Ferdinand, Smalling, Evra, Omar, Pogba, Valencia, Hoilett, Frei, Rooney
Decided to give some of my youngsters a start since I didn't think West Ham would pose much of a challenge and that didn't turn out very well. We were fortunate enough to get a draw, really.
Champions' Cup Round 1 Leg 1
LOSC Lille 1 - 0 Man Utd (Roux)
Line-up: Lindegaard, WAlker, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
Decided to give Lindegaard in a start in a Champions' Cup match. Didn't work out so well. Now we are going into the second leg with a disadvantage and we'd better do well to reach the second round...
INJURY NEWS
Everyone have recovered from their injuries and are fit for selection except for Darren Fletcher and Rafael who is suspended for two-three matches because of a disgraceful challenge in the FA Cup clash with West Ham.
My next match will be the League Cup final against Chelsea. Meanwhile, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs have confirmed they will stay with the club in a coaching capacity after their retirement from football. I have also called a team meeting to lift the team's spirits up after their poor result in the Champions' League First Round and it has lifted the players' morale, so we are now all ready for the final! The downside is however, Rafael will miss the tournament through suspension, and both Walker and Welbeck will be unavailable because of international duties.
League Cup Final
Man Utd 3 - 0 Chelsea (Hernandez(2), Ferdinand)
Line-up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Young, Rooney, Hernandez
An unexpected but pleasing result as we completely dominate Chelsea in the final. I was expecting it to go into extra time but we triumphed and I can see the team meeting definitely did us some good. The board is also very pleased with me now and Man Utd legend Bryan Robson has praised my "spirit". My second trophy as Man Utd coach! Things are going well!
EPL
Newcastle 0 - 2 Man Utd (Valencia, Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Young, Rooney, Hernandez
This win has taken us to 5 points clear at the top with 61 points and 26 games played. Man City and Tottenham have 27 games played and both have 56 and 52 points respectively at 2nd and 3rd position. West Brom is 4th with also 52 points, and Arsenal and Liverpool are trailing behind at 5th and 6th with 49 and 46 points respectively.
FA Cup Fifth Round
West Ham 1 - 3 Man Utd (Piquionne/Hernandez, Ferdinand, Young)
Line-up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
After learning from the draw against West Ham a few weeks back, we came back with a stronger team and eventually triumphed and we're now through the to the next round of the FA Cup where we will face form-stricken rivals Liverpool. I'm delighted to have gotten Liverpool because I think they'll pose a challenge for my players. Also I'm happy my squad have teached Sam Allardyce a lesson who before the match stated the style of football I wanted my team to play was "bad".
EPL
Man Utd 3 - 0 Aston Villa (Giggs(2), Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Jones, Giggs, Valencia, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
My unbeatable streak in the league still will not stop and we have extended my unbeatable run to twelve or thirteen games. We have 11 more league matches until the end of the season and I'm confident we can beat Man City to the title, who are lying 6 points below us with one more game played in 2nd place.
YOUTH
Manchester United have announced the new intake of youth players who will be evaluated by the United management before officially giving any of them a youth contract. The youth candidates played against the United U18s and my assistant Jair Ventura and I watched as the match ended at 1-1. I eventually offered six of them youth contracts and the most promising is 15-year-old right winger Nigel Byrne. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on him and the other promising ones.
Champions' Cup 1st Round Leg 2
Man Utd 3(3) - 0(1) LOSC Lille (Hernandez(2), Young)
Line-up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
Chicharito is relishing in Rooney's injury at the moment. He has been hitting the net in practically every match he played in and this one was no different as we managed to recover from a one-goal defict easily at Old Trafford. We are through to the quarter finals!
FA Cup Sixth Round
Liverpool 1 - 1 Man Utd (Kuyt/Scholes)
Line-up: De Gea, Smalling, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Carrick, Jones, Nani, Young, Scholes, Hernandez
We couldn't win over our rivals and eventually Liverpool held on to draw, and we'll have a cup replay soon.
EPL
Norwich 2 - 1 Man Utd (Morison, Barnett/Omar)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Smalling, Vidic, Fabio, Pogba, Omar, Valencia, Nani, Scholes, Welbeck
Our luck eventually ran out as Norwich overcame us 2-1, probably because of the weak midfield I played today. Norwich scored two goals first before Omar netted a consolation for us in the 72nd minute. This is the end of our long unbeaten run and I must say I'm pretty disappointed it had to end at Norwich. I was expecting a bigger team like maybe Man City to end our unbeaten run, but what's done is done. We are still about three points clear of Man City with one less game played in late March, so I can say we are pretty much safe.
EPL
Man Utd 4 - 0 Stoke (Young, Hernandez, Ferdinand, Pogba)
Line-up: De Gea, Rafael, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Omar, Valencia, Young, Cleverley, Hernandez
A very good way to recover from the Norwich blow as our team completely thrashed Stoke 4-0 and Paul Pogba got his first goal for the club after coming on for Omar and scoring the last goal of our 4-0 rout with a strike in the 91st minute. However, the bad news is that Young and Rafael have both suffered injuries in this match - Young will be out for 3 to 4 weeks after suffering broken ribs, while Rafael will be out for 4 to 5 days and will only miss the next match.
OTHER NEWS
We have drawn against Chelsea in the Champions' League Quarter Final, and if we win we'll face either Man City or Napoli. Real Madrid will face Barca in the semis if they win against current opponents Bayern Munich and Barca also have to beat their quarter-final opponents OM. I have a feeling Man Utd, Man City, Real, and Barca will all win their respective matches.
Champions' Cup Quarter Final Leg 1
Man Utd 5 - 1 Chelsea (Nani(2), Cleverley, Hoilett(2)/Ramires)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Hoilett, Cleverley, Hernandez
We thrashed Chelsea 5-1 at Old Trafford after a superb display from my wingers. We're pretty much in the semis now!
EPL
QPR 1 - 4 Man Utd (Djibril Cisse/Nani, Hoilett(2), Welbeck)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Jones, Ferdinand, Evra, Pogba, Giggs, Nani, Hoilett, Cleverley, Welbeck
My wingers continued their impressive run of form as they won the game for me again, with Hoilett scoring twice, and Nani assisting most of the goals and also scoring once.
Champions' Cup Quarter Final Leg 2
Chelsea 3(4) - 2(7) Man Utd (Mata, Raul Meireles, Ramires/Welbeck, Hernandez)
Line-up: De Gea, Walker, Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra, Carrick, Giggs, Nani, Hoilett, Welbeck, Hernandez
We lost 3-2, but we still go up to the semis on aggregate. I chose to play Welbeck as an attacking midfielder today to see how he would fare, and he impressed, scoring the first goal of the match. Chicharito then added a second, but Chelsea equalized pretty quickly. Ramires then struck the winning goal in the 89th minute.
TRANSFER NEWS
My scouts have scouted a few promising youngsters and I'll hope to bring some of them to my team soon. I have already brought 17-year-old Blackburn midfielder Robbie Cotton to the club via a Bosman transfer and he will join us in the next transfer window when his contract expires.
You are reading "My FM12 Story - Road to the Top".
