[NoSkillz]

Sat. November 14, 2020

Barclays Premier League
Aston Villa (5-4-3, 19 points, 6th) vs. Dover (8-0-4, 24 points, 3rd)
Villa Park, Birmingham, UK

Betting Odds: Aston Villa: 4-5 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 3-1
Past Meetings: 2W 0D 4L

Villa, like Middlesbrough, have been a Premier League mid-table constant and have played top flight football since 1988-89. In this dynasty, they've finished as high as 6th and as low as 14th, finishing 10th last year. They have started out well this year and play a very defensive style under manager Andre Villas-Boas. Their top goal scorer is 27 year old Will Keane, who has four goals in 8 league appearances. They blew their transfer budget this year on 28 year old right fullback Phil Jones, an influential English international with 16 caps to his credit. They also made a splash in the free transfer market. luring legendary English striker Theo Walcott over from Arsenal. Walcott has three goals in five games but broke his foot recently and will miss the next 3-4 months.

I will maintain the same 4-4-2 DM Counter attacking tactic that worked well in the second half of our last game. My scouts feel that we should play through the middle of the pitch at Villa Park due to the narrow nature of the setup so perhaps a counter attacking formation will work well. We are coming off a game only three days ago but I'm going to field a mostly full-strength squad. I'll bring in Lukasz Fabianski to play goal and Cristian Rodriguez will return to his spot in the centre of the defence alongside Paulus Tjiuoro. Gianluca Bolis also returns to his right winger spot. I do make extensive changes to the makeup of my bench, simply due to the fact many of my starters may tire quicker and I need some cover in different positions.

Dover: 4-4-2 DM (4-2-3-1) Counter
GK - L. Fabianski
D - R. Gaucho, C. Rodriguez, P. Tjiuoro, J. Kuciak
M - A. Rocca, N. Cairney
AM - A. Bamba, Z. Bardi, G. Bolis
S - G. Gesios
Bench - L. Koscielny, R. McLaughlin, L. Craig, D. Pratley, M. Prochazka, G. Escobar, P. Simek

Villa are going with a standard 4-5-1 with a defensive midfielder. I tell the team that they can win today and have individual talks with Gesios, Bardi and Bamba.

11' - They work the ball down the right flank and are able to get a cross in. Kuciak heads it out but they pick the ball up just outside the area and send a blast toward the goal. Wilke makes a nice diving stop to keep it out.

13' - We start a counter attack and Bardi sends a nice through ball down the right centre of the pitch to GIanluca Bolis. He uses his pace to stay in front of the chasing defenders and Villa's keeper Guzan makes a lovely stop to keep the game scoreless.

15' - Arsene Bamba gets the ball in his wheelhouse, down the left side of the penalty area but his far corner blast just skims the top of the bar. So close!

20' - We work a give and go between Bolis and Zoltan Bardi and Bolis then sends a lovely cross into the box toward Giorgos Gesios. Gesios loses the battle but the ball comes free to a charging Bardi, who blasts the ball off a Villa defender and into the goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0

27' - Fabianski plays the ball upfield and Gesios takes a Villa player down on an ugly challenge. Yellow card for Gesios and he's reached his yellow limit and therefore will miss our next match against Derby.

31' - There is some sloppy midfield play by Villa and Neil Cairney wins a challenge up to Gesios. Villa defender Kevin Renton goes in with a horror tackle on Gesios and Renton is given the straight RED CARD! Villa is down to 10 men!

Villa change to 3 DCs, bringing their fullbacks into the middle (3-5-1)

39' - In an inexcusable blunder, we lose the ball in their end and they start a counter attack. They have numbers on us and their left winger gets the ball into our area and their man Rehak is wide open. Somehow, he misses the sitter and shoots wide from 10 yards away. Shocking miss. We still are playing a defensive formation so I'm totally upset that we were so badly out of position there.

40' - We move the ball upfield right away and it's Cairney heading the ball to Bamba down the left side. He cruises into his favourite spot and unleashes a shot that is saved by a diving Guzan!

HALFTIME - With us up a man, we have an understandable possession edge 56-44 and are outshooting them 7-6 (3-2 on target). I tell them I'm pleased but I change to a slightly more aggressive control philosophy.

Villa switch to a flat 3-4-2 to start the second half.

54' - We're playing very sloppy offense right now, with missed passes and Villa, to their credit, are playing very aggressively despite being down a man. They actually change to a 5-2-2 and get a counter attack. They spring a nice pass into our box and Paulus Tjiuoro makes an incredibly bold sliding tackle in the area to deflect the ball out of play.

I change back to a counter attacking philosophy.

56' - Their fullbacks are really jumping into the play and we take advantage on a counter. Bolis streaks unopposed down the right flank and sends a low cross into Neil Cairney. He has time but elects to one time his shot, just missing on the right. A real chance wasted.

65' - Great - Gesios is taken down hard again and he's hurt enough to force a substitution. I bring in Petr Simek in his place.

Aston Villa now change to a 4-3-2 formation.

70' - We win a corner and for the first time in what seems like ages, we capitalize on one. Rocca's lovely ball is headed in by young defender Cristian Rodriguez and we have a two goal cushion! DOVER GOAL 2-0

75' - I make a double substitution, taking out Bardi and Rocca and inserting Gerardo Escobar and captain Darren Pratley. I also switch to a flat 4-4-2 counter attacking formation.

81' - Despite playing a very defensive style, their striker is able to get past our defence and storm into the area but thankfully, Fabianski is there to make the point blank save. We work a counter attack off that stop and Simek sends a lovely ball up to Bolis but his shot from inside the area is way wide.

They have a few chances from distance but nothing of note the rest of the way. We close it out.

Aston Villa 0 - 2 Dover
Goals - Zoltan Bardi (7.4), Cristian Rodriguez (8.6)
Assists - Gianluca Bolis (8.1), Andrea Rocca (7.7)
Man of the Match - Cristian Rodriguez
Other Dover Notables - Lukasz Fabianski (7.2), Jozef Kuciak (7.6), Paulus Tjiuoro (7.6), Renato Gaucho (7.3)
Attendance - 33912

It was a pretty dull game to be completely frank but anytime you can win on the road, you take it! We win possession 57% to 43% and outshoot them 14-11 (6-3 on target).

-- Thankfully, Giorgos Gesios wasn't seriously hurt and isn't listed as having any injuries at the moment. That said, he'll miss our next league match against Derby due to suspension for yellow card accumulation.



Dover U18 Update

-- The kids had a couple weeks of rest and come back to beat MK Dons U18s 1-0. Midfielder Matt Hewitt scored the Dover goal.



-- There's still nothing to comment on with respect to the Premier League table. We continue to sit comfortably in third place with 27 points, five points up on Everton and Reading. Manchester United are three points ahead of us and Man City continue to roll at 11-2-0 and sit five points clear at the top.


-- Athletic Club Bilbao fire manager Ronald Koeman and I'm named as his possible successor. Not happening fellas.


-- We get two players named to the Premier League Team of the Week. Cristian Rodriguez and Zoltan Bardi are given honours.



Injury Update

-- Right midfielder Petr Kostal sustains fractured ribs in a training ground collision with Cristian Rodriguez and will miss at least four weeks of action. Kostal is our second choice right winger but I have enough cover with Martin Prochazka so this shouldn't be an issue. Gianluca Bolis gets the majority of playing time anyway. Our only other injury right now continues to be DR Salim Loucif, who is still a couple weeks away from returning to training after breaking his arm.



Dover Reserve Team Update

-- We destroy Blackpool 5-1 away behind a 1 goal, 2 assist performance from our captain Darren Pratley. Young striker Dennis Kunz scored twice and Roberto and Matt Hewitt notched the other markers. Mancini also had two assists in the match.



International Update

-- Of the eleven players away on international duty, only Cameron Murray found the scoresheet in Scotland's 2-0 friendly win over Andorra. That is Murray's first ever International goal! Gianluca Bolis contributed an assist for Italy's U21 team. Unfortunately, Andrea Rocca did not get into Italy's senior team match and therefore hasn't received his first cap.



-- Ah, the circle of life…Sacked Athletic Club Bilbao manager Ronald Koeman just got hired by Huddersfield. Meanwhile, AC Milan pays £2,000,000 to Sunderland in order to pry away their manager Oscar Garre and bring him to Italy. Garre has always been a thorn in my side during my time in the Premier League and he's listed as one of the guys that dislikes me most in this universe. Now he's gone, which can't be a bad thing. And yes, dispatched Huddersfield boss Dennis Wise ends up getting hired at Sunderland. Hilarious!



Next Up

-- A home match against struggling Derby County.