[NoSkillz]

Tue. February 27, 2024

Champions League - First Knockout Round First Leg
AZ (1st in Holland Eredivisie) vs. Dover (1st in English Premier League)
DSB Stadion, Alkmaar, Holland

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

AZ Alkmaar are leading the Holland Eredivisie but they unquestionably are a beatable club. This was likely the best draw we could have hoped for in this round, as they are one of the few clubs, if not the only club still remaining in the competition that is smaller than ours. That said, they are two-time defending Eredivisie champions and have won it six times in the last eight years. They certainly have some dangerous players, with strikers Fabian Berg (24 goals in 33 games) and Patrick Boyomo (16 goals in 24 games) topping their charts. Marcel Schmidt is a backup striker and has 12 goals as well. They have a wide midfielder in Mario Gonzalez who has a value of £12 million after being signed for that amount in the offseason but he is injured with a broken collarbone and will miss both legs against us.

We are coming off our first loss in ages and hopefully will be sharper today. No surprises - we field our normal starting lineup, with Jose, Gianluca Bolis and Ingo Wilke both back in the starting eleven. Despite being the slightest of underdogs and being on the road, I’ll go with our normal control mentality today.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Renato Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, N. Cairney, Jose, G. Bolis
S - P. Moses, Chiquinho
Bench - C. Guzman, S. Nasri, E. Harvey, A. Rocca, G. Allan, Z. Bardi, S. Andrea

AZ also play a flat 4-4-2 and have Boyomo and Berg up front today. Adama N’Diaye is their keeper. I tell the team that they can win tonight and pull aside Chiquinho, Loucif and Cairney for personal pep talks.

1’ - AZ gets the opening kick and move quickly into our side of half. A pass deflects off Claudio Contreras and bounces back to an AZ midfielder and it’s immediately sent up to their leading scorer Fabian Berg. He turns on Rayane Hamon and sprints into the area, quickly shooting and Wilke gets a piece of it but not enough. Oh boy, what a horrific start and AZ is on the board only 22 seconds into the match! AZ GOAL 0-1

4’ - Some good defensive work by Chiquinho sees him steal the ball in our side of half and dribble up the pitch. He passes up to Moses and receives the ball back on a give and go. Chiquinho has a step on the defence and shoots but N’Diaye is there for the stop! But there is a rebound and it’s Moses pouncing on it and sending the ball quickly into the empty net! Instant reply!! DOVER GOAL 1-1

7’ - We have a corner and Jose’s cross is to the far post and Contreras and his header is deflected on it’s way to goal but N’Diaye makes the stop.

14’ - Some nice dribbling by Patrick Boyomo sees him gaining space and getting off a shot from just inside our area and Wilke dives to make the stop.

17’ - AZ with a throw in deep down the right flank and the ball eventually is passed into the middle to midfielder Fernando Basualdo. He’s just at the outer edge of the area and rips a vicious shot into the top corner of the goal past the outstretched Wilke. We are playing terrible football all of a sudden! AZ GOAL 1-2

25’ - Jose with a GORGEOUS pass up the field to Moses and he’s in on a breakaway! He’s in on goal and N’Diaye makes an enormous stop!

35’ - Gianluca Bolis grabs the ball on our end and in a breathtaking display, dribbles through about five defenders and in on goal. He RIFLES a shot and the AZ keeper makes a great stop. What a play by Bolis - he did everything but score there.

HALFTIME - Ooh boy. We’re slumping here and have some really struggling players, especially our back four. AZ held a 52% possession advantage but we outshoot them 12-6 (5-4 on target). My assistant feels I should sympathize with the team but screw that - I tell them I expect more in the second half and just to change things up, bringing in Saber Nasri for Claudio Contreras. AZ has two very speedy strikers, with Boyomo especially taking advantage of Contreras and Renato Gaucho. Nasri will help us in that respect.

50’ - Jose up to Moses again and he’s dribbling in on goal. His shot is right at N’Diaye and he makes the save. Moses gets it back and passes to Arsene Bamba, who is joining the rush late and his quick shot is just wide!

56’ - Renato Gaucho with a yellow. He’s having a terrible game.

58’ - Now it’s Chiquinho with a yellow.

59’ - My goodness. AZ with a shot from distance and Wilke makes the reflex save. There is a big rebound and it pops right to the foot of Griguol but Wilke again turns it aside! Come on guys!

67’ - Neil Cairney is hurt and needs to come off. Wonderful. I bring in Andrea Rocca and we move to an Attacking mentality. DOVER INJURY: NEIL CAIRNEY

73’ - Bolis has the ball down the right sideline and outworks a defender to gain a bit of space. He attempts the miracle cross and the prayer is answered, as Arsene Bamba is there and boots it past N’Diaye on the volley and we pull level!!! DOVER GOAL 2-2

We pull back to a control mentality and AZ move into a defensive 4-5-1 with a DMC.

82’ - Rocca with a ROCKET from distance off a free kick and N’Diaye makes a great reflex stop!

83’ - We take out Chiquinho and bring in Shanon Andrea, as we look for fresh legs in search of a third goal.

86’ - We have a free kick in the middle of the field and Rocca sends a ball into the area. Somehow, our leading scorer gets some space and takes the ball and shoots after one step and it’s past N’Diaye and IN! Moses has two on the game, FORTY on the year and we are AHEAD! DOVER GOAL 3-2

AZ move back to a flat 4-4-2.

89’ - AZ with a dangerous looking rush and they get a weak shot off and Wilke is there to make the stop.

We hold them off for the three minutes of added time! Big win!

AZ 2 - 3 Dover
Goals - Paul Moses 2 (8.8), Arsene Bamba (8.0)
Assists - Gianluca Bolis (7.0), Chiquinho (6.8), Andrea Rocca (6.9)
Man of the Match - Paul Moses
Other Dover Notables - Jose (7.2)
Attendance - 20,503

AZ held 51% of possession but we outshot them 28-12 (10-8 on target) for the match. Fine second half performance for our club and we have three away goals, which is key.

-- Neil Cairney suffered a bruised rib in the game but will only miss 4-5 days. Whew! That said, he’ll likely miss our League Cup final match against Manchester United.

-- There is one other match in Champions League play on this night and Juventus throttles Galatasaray 4-0. The next day, Atletico Madrid squeaks by Celtic 1-0 and Man United beats up on Olympique Lyonnais 3-1.



Dover Reserves Team Update

-- Gian Marco Fanfoni scores and we benefit from a very late Lubos Polacek own goal to take a 2-1 win over Fulham’s reserves.



International Update

-- We get a note that says that 26 (!) of our players are called up for international duty. That’s an incredible number! The most interesting for me is seeing Emmerson Harvey getting the call from England for their senior club - if he plays, it will be his first ever senior cap.



Manchester City Sack Dunga

-- Man City have certainly been a disappointment this year and I guess it’s no surprise to see that they sack manager Dunga, who failed miserably in following in the hallowed footsteps of Carlo Ancelotti, who retired in July. It certainly didn’t help when they decided to sell the best player in the world in Enrique but these guys should be much better than they are. Of course, I’m named as the club’s top choice but I’m not going anywhere! I decide to issue a statement to the press denying interest and that delights my board.



March Update

-- It’s a relatively light month for us in league play, with only four Premier League matches in March: Chelsea (away), Liverpool (home), Arsenal (home) and Manchester City (away) are the opposition. That’s a TOUGH month of matches! We also have the League Cup final coming up this weekend and the second leg of our Champions League first round knockout versus AZ. So only six matches this month.

-- Another good month of training for our lads, as Gian Marco Fanfoni, Claudio Contreras, Emmerson Harvey, Ben Patterson, Warren Wind and Felix Hernandez all get positive notices. Only a couple of our middling U18 prospects get negative reports and I’ll be chatting with Anthony Gardiner and Eddie Robinson, the two culprits.



Premier League Monthly Awards

-- Man United striker Yaya Sanogo wins the Player of the Month award after scoring four goals in as many matches.

-- United midfielder Rogerio wins Young Player of the Month and Paul Moses comes in second.

-- Liverpool’s Thomas Schaaf wins Manager of the Month honours and I finish in second.



March Board Confidence Update

-- The board are absolutely delighted with the way I’m leading the team. Our big League Cup semi-final win over Southampton continues to be the highlight while our FA Cup performance, or lack thereof, is the only slight disappointment.

-- We lost £716,000 last month.



Premier League Update

-- As we prepare for the League Cup final against United, league action continues, with Chelsea knocking off Middlesbrough and Tottenham beating up on Norwich.



Cairney Gets Further Suspension

-- Neil Cairney was red carded in our last league game and the FA give him a further two game ban for his actions against Sunderland. So he’ll miss three games, one of which will be our League Cup final but he’s injured right now and would have missed it anyway. So no harm done there but he’ll miss a couple of key league match ups in the next week or so.



Dover U18 Update

-- The U18 squad wins 5-2 over AFC Wimbledon, with Steven Miller bagging a brace. We also get singles from Matthew Neil, Eddie Robinson and Felix Hernandez.



Next Up

-- Wembley Stadium will likely be packed for the League Cup finals between our club and rival Manchester United, as we prepare to defend our 2023 title win!