[NoSkillz]

Sat. September 26, 2020

Barclays Premier League
Chelsea (2-0-2, 6 points, 10th) vs. Dover (5-0-0, 15 points, 1st)
Zola Stadium, London, UK

Betting Odds: Chelsea: 5-4 (Favourites) Draw: 11-5 Dover: 7-4
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 5L

We have lost all five previous matchups against Chelsea. The oddsmakers actually give us a fighting chance in this game, with Chelsea only slight favourites at home. Roman Abramovich still owns the club and they continue to be one of the perennial contenders for the league crown. They last won the league in 2011/12 in this dynasty and finished 5th last year so they are playing in the Euro Cup this year. Chelsea made quite a play for Zoltan Bardi before the transfer window shut down so there may be some bad blood here. Their key players look to be striker Romelu Lukaku and winger Diogo, a 25 year old Brazilian. Chelsea have been traditional slow starters since I came into the Premier League but they are on a good run of form right now, with four wins in a row across all competitions. They usually play the same formation I use, the 4-4-2 DM. I'm going with that formation but I'm going to play narrow, deep and slow the tempo to start. We'll change up our personnel somewhat too. Gerardo Escobar will start up front and for the first time this year, Andrea Rocca will play AMC instead of Bardi, who will be rested today. Cameron Murray is in for a resting Bamba. Wonderkid Neil Carney is back in after his first game off all year against Arsenal. Bolis is back in, as are all of my main starters on defence - Thomas Andersen will go in for Paulus Tjiuoro. Ingo Wilke back in goal.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Rodriguez, T. Andersen, S. Loucif
M - L. Craig, N. Cairney
AM - C. Murray, A. Rocca, G. Bolis
S - G. Escobar
Bench - L. Koscielny, P. Tjiuoro, Mancini, D. Pratley, M. Prochazka, Roberto, P. Simek

They are in the same formation as us. We'll see how we match up, I guess!

4' - On an innocent looking run up the middle, Escobar somehow eludes a tackle and splits right through the defence. His low drive just misses wide. Great early chance but one he should have had.

19' - They win a corner and it's Liam Craig losing a battle in front, allowing Salamon to easily poke home the sitter. CHELSEA GOAL 0-1

21' - It goes from bad to worse. Their star winger Diogo races down the right and arcs a gorgeous cross into the box. Their midfielder Tabanou is there for the forceful header and we're in trouble. CHELSEA GOAL 0-2

27' - We're getting our butts handed to us. They curl in a free kick and their DC is unmarked. Thankfully, Wilke stops his point blank header and the rebound is cleared to safety. This is a mess!

39' - Wilke is forced to make another diving save on a header off a corner kick.

44' - Yellow card for Loucif on a rough challenge.

HALFTIME - Our worst half of the year. Chelsea has a modest possession advantage (52%-48%) but a 9-3 (5-1 on target) shot advantage. My assistant thinks our recent run of form has some guys thinking that they can just show up and win. Lunacy! I tell the team I want to see much more from them this half and switch back to our normal width, tempo and depth.

47' - Andrea Rocca goes on a long run through the defence and gets a pretty good chance inside the area but he's on his weaker foot and the keeper is able to make the save.

53' - More horrendous defending on corners - I'll really have to look at our assignments after the game. We get two headers blocked and are fortunate to clear.

58' - Cameron Murray gets the ball around midfield and Chelsea's right back goes down to make a tackle and misses. Murray storms up the left sideline and as a defender approaches, he feed the ball into an unmarked Gianluca Bolis. He calmly sets the ball down and finishes into the half empty net. We're back in this! DOVER GOAL 1-2

65' - Cristian Rodriguez with a yellow card. He has been a bit wild today with his challenges and our assistant could see that booking coming from a mile away.

67' - Chelsea looks dangerous as their striker Lukaku cuts against the grain into his stronger foot and Wilke is up to the task once again.

68' - Roberto comes in for Liam Craig. I drop Rocca back into the central midfield and hope Roberto's fresh legs up front can help.

77' - Petr Simek is in for Escobar and Tjiuoro is in for Cristian Rodriguez.

81' - Time to attack and press.

85' - GLORIOUS CHANCE! Rocca gets the ball across the field to Bolis and his one time shot is saved by a diving Chelsea keeper. The rebound pops right out to Simek and with the net at his mercy, volleys wide. Unreal.

87' - Chelsea has the ball on an extended sequence following a corner and they get another point blank blast away that's saved by Wilke.

Three minutes of extra time.

90+2' - Bolis takes a long clearance from Loucif and screams toward the goal. His shot is deflected behind the net. The ensuing corner is cleared.

And the whistle blows.

Chelsea 2 - 1 Dover
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (7.4)
Assists - Cameron Murray (6.9)
Man of the Match - Franck Tabanou (Chelsea AML - 8.2)
Other Dover Notables - Ingo Wilke (5.8), Gerardo Escobar (5.7)
Attendance - 56776

Wilke was blamed for one of the goals, likely the first one. That's crap - that was Liam Craig who lost that battle, not Wilke. Our keeper singlehandedly kept us in this game. We lose possession 52% to 48% and they also outshoot us 18-10 (9-4 on target). This was a winnable game but we fall once again to one of the traditional powerhouses.



-- Man United loses to Middlesbrough so despite the loss, we maintain our hold on the division lead.



Dover U18 Update

-- Our under 18's draw 1-1 versus Ebbsfleet. Carlo Cerbone strikes for our only goal.



Dover Reserves Update

-- Our reserves continue to dominate, showcasing our improving squad depth. I sent Gerardo Escobar down in hopes of him gaining some confidence and maybe it works, as he nets a hat trick in a dominating 6-2 win away against Wolves. Darren Pratley, Jonathan Adam and Emmanuel Agbo notch the other markers.



October Update

-- We have four league games this month: we're at home to Sunderland on the 3rd then we have a one week international break. We're back in action on the 17th away at Liverpool then make our way to Emirates Stadium again on the 24th, this time for a league match at Arsenal then finish the month with a home date against Manchester United on the 31st. Needless to say, this is a very difficult schedule for us and our upcoming match against Sunderland, who are sitting at the bottom of the table, is vitally important.

- Our assistant manager points out that Andrea Rocca, Gianluca Bolis and Martin Prochazka all trained well last month while Lukasz Fabianski, Darren Pratley and Zoltan Bardi all failed to impress. I have a sit-down with each of those three to express my displeasure with their work ethic in training and all three agree they need to be better. On our U18 squad, Matt Hewitt, Abdallaye Kokaina and Johnny Mardenborough all impressed with their training efforts.



Barclays Premier League Monthly Awards

- Manchester City's star striker Enrique wins Player of the Month. Everton's fullback Milan Mojsky wins Young Player of the Month, with our own Gianluca Bolis coming in second and Neil Cairney coming in third. Chelsea's Leonardo wins Manager of the Month after handing us our first defeat.



October Board Confidence Update

-- The board are very pleased with my overall leadership of the team. Our stature increase continues to be the main reason and Simon Rideout's departure their main disappointment. We made a profit of £1.44 million last month.

-- We are offered a buyout on two separate transfer clauses we included in deals made in the offseason. We are being offered £200,000 to wipe away the 30% profit clause we included in Ryan Alnwick's £275,000 deal to Southampton and being offered £105,000 to void the 30% profit clause included in fellow GK Simon Hayward's £450,000 deal to St. Johnstone. I don't even need to do the math on this - I know these are good deals and I accept both. The board also negotiated buyouts on separate "games played" clauses at about 75% value - I decide to take the money here as well.



Next Up

-- We will host league cellar dwellers Sunderland at Crabble