December – Mixed Fortunes
It was bizarre to see so little games to be played in the month of December as usually it is one of the busiest months with a lot being decided. I couldn’t believe how the team took the game to title favourites FC Bayern who just had no answer for our player of the month, Marcus Berg. FC Bayern totally dominated the game as I decided to play the team in a defensive 4-1-4-1 formation with our approach as counter. This meant that they dominated in terms of shots on goal but René Adler just stopped everything that came his way and if it wasn’t for Berg scoring a brace, he would have received the man of the match award.
You can understand my disappointment to see the team then slump to a defeat in the next game. FC Bayern were challenging for the title whereas Mainz were fighting to avoid relegation...how did we lose this game? HSV seem to be the most inconsistent team I have ever come across! All of my players came away with a rating of 6.9 and it showed in the fact we couldn’t even string simple passes together. It was one of the most frustrating games that I have ever experienced on Football Manager.
Even more bizarrely the German First Division has a long break which will see us fill the gap with two frendlies against lower league teams. This will give us a chance to get a bit of confidence back as we will have a difficult start back in the league with a match against title challengers Stuttgart, who had experienced a poor start to the season and had changed their fortunes.
It has been incredible to see so many managers being sacked this month and it does make me wonder whether I was too hasty in taking up the reins at Hamburg. However, a number of these teams are way above the head of a manager who only has Sunday league experience.
Player of the Month – Marcus Berg