[NoSkillz]

Mon. January 18, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Dover (15-2-6, 47 points, 3rd) vs. Chelsea (15-2-6, 47 points, 4th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 13-8 Draw: 2-1 Chelsea: 6-4 (Favourites)
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 6L

A huge 3 vs. 4 matchup against Chelsea, a team we are without a point against in six career matches. We are ahead on goal differential by a substantial amount but that's meaningless today, as whomever comes out on top will vault ahead by three points. They are actually on a relatively poor run of form, having lost 3 of their last five games in all competitions, most recently a 2-1 loss on Wednesday in the first leg of the League Cup semis to Manchester City. They have a dynamic striker in Romelu Lukaku, who has 14 goals in 22 games thus far and they are loaded with top talent all over the park.

We have a couple of injuries and one international absence so we need to make changes. GK Ingo Wilke and ST Giorgos Gesios are both not ready to return so Lukasz Fabianski will man our net and Gerardo Escobar will play a second consecutive game up front. DC Paulus Tjiuoro is also still too banged up to play so young Claudio Contreras will play and new signing Emir Faccioli will be on the bench. DR Salim Loucif is with the Algerian National team so the very capable Jozef Kuciak is the next man up. MC Neil Cairney is back from his one game suspension and will move back into the middle of the park. Against my better judgement, I'm going to start with my aggressive 4-2-3-1 tactic that's won me a number of recent games. Chelsea play a pretty aggressive formation too so it's power against power. I can always adjust to a flat 4-4-2 if necessary mid-game. Renato Gaucho is fully fit after returning from broken ribs but I've made enough changes already by necessity. Gaucho will be on the bench and I'll stick with the in-form Jozef Varga for tonight.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - L. Fabianski
D - J. Varga, C. Contreras, C. Rodriguez, J. Kuciak
M - A. Rocca, N. Cairney
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - G. Escobar
Bench - E. Faccioli, R. Gaucho, D. Pratley, Mancini, C. Murray, P. Kostal, P. Simek

They are in a 4-2-3-1 as well but their attacking mids are all in the centre. They could be tough to defend without a defensive midfielder but we can adjust later if necessary with Mancini on the bench. I tell the team that they can win today and pull aside Escobar, Contreras and Bardi for personal talks.

5' - They work some one-twos down the left sideline in our territory and eventually work the ball into the box but the shot is deflected wide. We safely clear the ensuing corner.

15' - Chelsea are tackling aggressively and have been given two yellows already. We get some control in their area but Zoltan Bardi's shot is well wide.

18' - They win a free kick from about 35 yards away and Graham Dorrans lines up to take the boot. He curls one at goal and it's right at Fabianski but for some reason, he tries to punch it out. It's raining out and perhaps his hands were wet but the ball squirts to his right, hits the post and deflects in. Horrible gaffe from Fabianski and we're down already. CHELSEA GOAL 0-1

25' - We start a counter attack and the ball is sent down the left sideline to Arsene Bamba. He crosses it in for Escobar but a Chelsea defender heads it back out. It goes right to Neil Cairney and he starts the most beautiful play I've seen in some time, with a first touch pass in to Bardi, who then one touches it over to the right to Gianluca Bolis and he immediately strikes the ball into the left corner of the net, off the goalpost, for the tick-tack-toe stunner!!! GREAT GOAL!!! DOVER GOAL 1-1

33' - Chelsea have some great movement from their fullbacks and I may need to move to a counter attacking philosophy. They are very aggressive and maybe I can take advantage of it. We'll see. As for the play, Bamba is taken down and needs to come off for some medical attention but he looks like he can shake it off.

42' - Chelsea's movement continues to impress and they get a great chance from distance that just screams wide from midfielder Salamon.

HALFTIME - We're only holding the ball for 45% of the time and are getting outshot handily 8-2 (2-1 on target). I decide to switch to a flat 4-4-2 control in order to ensure that my wide midfielders come back with the pinching Chelsea fullbacks and hope our two strikers can possibly take advantage of any situation with only two men back. I tell them to go out there and do it for the supporters but pull aside a struggling Rodriguez ("prove a point") and the two strikers ("I have faith") for individual words.

46' - Right off the kickoff, we move up field and it's Bardi cutting across the field and shooting just wide with a big blast. Great chance right off the bat!

48' - Jozef Kuciak takes a man down and earns a yellow card.

51' - Cristian Rodriguez earns one three minutes later for a takedown at midfield.

56' - We're controlling play much better by the looks of it through the first ten minutes of this half. Cairney sends a lovely ball up the right centre of the park to Escobar and he dribbles in before delivering a heavy shot that the Chelsea keeper Romo saves and holds on to.

58' - It's Dorrans again, this time sending a through ball to Lukaku. He is able to stay a half step in front of Rodriguez and he beats Fabianski with a shot into the right corner. Sigh. CHELSEA GOAL 1-2

69' - They have dominated the last ten minutes of highlights and almost score again off a corner, with the ball just barely going over the net.

70' - I change back to a 4-2-3-1 but move to an attacking philosophy. Petr Simek is on for Escobar.

79' - Not much happening - I bring in Darren Pratley and take out Bardi. I move Rocca up to AMC.

84' - We overload.

88' - We work a counter attack and head the ball down the left flank to Bamba. We have numbers by the looks of it as Bamba crosses into the box. Chelsea captain Mamadou Sakho is there to clear but it deflects off another Chelsea player coming back to help and comes back toward goal. That little bit of confusion is enough for Andrea Rocca to get to the ball first and fire it past the stunned Chelsea keeper for the shocking late equalizer! Wow! DOVER GOAL 2-2

We move back to a counter attacking philosophy and bring in new signing Emir Faccioli for Cristian Rodriguez.

90'+2 - We get a GLORIOUS chance on a long ball sent up field. Simek has fresh legs and is able to get behind the Chelsea defence by a half step but his shot ends up getting blocked. The rebound comes out to Bamba and he just fires wide from the outer edge of the area. Sooo close!

Good game!

Dover 2 - 2 Chelsea
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (7.4), Andrea Rocca (7.2)
Assists - Zoltan Bardi (6.8)
Man of the Match - Graham Dorrans, Chelsea AMC (7.9)
Other Dover Notables - None
Attendance - 15,750 (sell-out)

That is our first point EVER against Chelsea and we'll take it! We only held the ball for 45% of the game but ended up outshooting them 13-12 (5-4 on target) so we definitely edged the second half.

-- Arsenal did us a favour by knocking off Liverpool on Saturday so that gives us additional breathing room for the Champions League spot we're hoping to earn. We maintain our hold on third place, tied with Chelsea on points but ahead on GD, ten points back of both City and United. Dover and Chelsea are eight points up on fifth place so we're holding steady!



Injury Update

-- We currently have a clean bill of health and everyone is training in full. Great news!


-- So just before my reserve team game, a receive an enquiry from Blackpool in the Championship about our striker Roberto. His contract is expiring at the end of this season and as indicated previously, he's not really in my plans. My scouts feel his game isn't good enough for the Premier League. He's valued at £500,000 so I ask for that, thinking it's likely extravagant for a player with an expiring contract and add a few clauses. Then, lets move onto the reserves game...



Dover Reserve Team Update

-- We host Chelsea's reserves in a nice coincidence, considering we just played their senior team. Well I'll be damned if we don't DESTROY them 6-1 and not only that, but Roberto scores three goals and adds three assists too. SIX POINTS in one game and a never-seen-before 9.9 game rating. Seriously…you can't give the kid the full monty for a six point performance? Craziness! His agent once again comes calling after the game with the same demands from last week. Wow. Do I need to reconsider my stance on this kid? The next day, Blackpool say they won't be following up on the enquiry. Well, okay then!



-- DR Salim Loucif continues to play well for Algeria in the African Cup of Nations, helping them beat Ghana 1-0. Algeria currently lead their group in the competition.



-- Manchester City have offered me £3,500,000 for young DC prospect Abdallaye Kokaina, who I picked up in the summer transfer window from FC Bayern for £2,500,000. He's only 18 and I'd like to keep him around for a bit longer despite being absolutely stacked at that position right now.



Next Up

-- We face Stoke City away in Premier League action