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Old 11-17-2013, 07:46 PM   #39
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
2018/19 Barclays Premier League Results

We were thrown into the fire right away with a home match against Liverpool in our Premier League debut. We'd handle the pressure and stress well in game one, splitting possession equally with our much more cultured opponents but a goal in the 36th minute from Israeli international Ben Sahar was enough for Liverpool to escape with a 1-0 win. We'd win our first ever top flight match in week two, in an away contest no less, defeating Fulham at Craven Cottage 1-0, with new signing Ashley Young scoring the goal, our first in Premier League play.

Understandably, we'd have trouble scoring goals and an equal amount of difficulty in keeping the ball out of our own goal as well. That said, we were determined enough to avoid long losing streaks, with our longest league losing streak only lasting four games. Our longest winning streak was three games but what a streak it was, starting with a 3-2 away win at Wolves before our biggest win of the season, a 1-0 stunner at home against powerhouse Arsenal! We'd then win a 3-2 decision away versus Sheffield United to give us our lone three game win streak of the year.

One of the main things we'd need to correct going forward was our tendency to lose big: the game immediately after the Shef United win was a 6-1 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool and I'd lose a few weeks later by the same score against Manchester United, the eventual league champions.

Our biggest loss was in the penultimate game of the season, against Arsenal. Gaining revenge for their embarrassing loss to us earlier in the season, they put on an absolute clinic at Emirates Stadium in London, defeating us 7-0.

Thankfully, we won more than enough to stay afloat for another year in the Premier League, finishing 11th on the table in 2018-19.



Barclays Premier League 2018-19 League Awards

Top Goalscorer: Enrique, Manchester City - 51
Most Assists: Bruno, Manchester City - 19
Highest Average Rating: Enrique, Manchester City - 8.20 (35 apps)
Most Man of Match Awards: Enrique, Manchester City - 17
English Footballer of the Year: Enrique, Manchester City - 35 apps 51 gls 12 asts 8.20 avg
English Players' Player of the Year: Moussa Sissoko, Manchester City - 33 apps 11 gls 11 asts 7.38 avg
English Players' Young Player of the Year: Bruno, Manchester City - 26 apps 2 gls 19 asts 7.33 avg
Manager of the Year: Oscar Garre, Sunderland

Barclays Premier League Players' Team of the Year
GK - Emiliano Viviano, Manchester United
DL - Gareth Bale, Tottenham
DC - Simon Kjaer, Manchester City
DC - Nchimunya Munyao, Arsenal
DR - Luiz Carlos, Manchester United
ML - Fabio Coentrao, Manchester City
MC - Jack Wilshere, Arsenal
MC - Moussa Sissoko, Manchester City
MR - Bruno, Manchester City
ST - Enrique, Manchester City
ST - Yaya Sanogo, Manchester United

Enrique is simply an astonishing player. The 24 year old Spaniard is worth over 35 million pounds and is just lethal - he was purchased in 2016 from Real Madrid and scored 59 goals across all competitions this year, winning the European Golden Boot and was also named as the best player in the Champions League as well. A remarkable year. As for Bale being listed as a DL - well, I don't know - he played most of the season at ML/AML but obviously played enough at DL to get consideration at that position.

I'd finish in 3rd place in the Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year voting - not bad for finishing 11th!

Cup Competitions 2018-19

FA Cup -
Another tough year in FA Cup play - we'd draw Peterborough, a Championship side in a 3rd round matchup at home and win 3-1 but run into Arsenal in the 4th round. We did well to play them to a scoreless draw away despite being dominated throughout and then fought gamely in the replay at home. We'd be scoreless through 90 minutes despite playing with only 10 men from the 2nd minute of the game, as young defensive midfielder George MacKenzie got sent off for a professional foul. However, their class ultimately came through, courtesy of Aaron Ramsey in the 94th minutes then an embarrassing own goal from Glen Johnson and we'd be out of the competition.

3rd Round - Dover 3 Peterborough 1
4th Round - Arsenal 0 Dover 0
4th Round Replay - Dover 0 Arsenal 2 (extra time)

League Cup
We faced Brighton, a League 1 side in the 2nd round and won easily before a huge 2-0 win away at Premier League side Fulham. We'd then host another Premier League squad, Everton, in the 4th round. We'd be tied 1-1 through 90 minutes but similar to the FA Cup replay against Arsenal, we'd run out of gas, giving up two extra time goals to bow out of the League Cup.

2nd Round - Dover 3 Brighton 0
3rd Round - Fulham 0 Dover 2
4th Round - Dover 1 Everton 3 (extra time)

2018-19 Overall Dover Statistics

Top Goalscorer: Gerardo Escobar - 9
Top League Goalscorer: Gerardo Escobar - 9
Most Assists: Gerardo Escobar - 8
Highest Average Rating: Ingo Wilke - 7.02 (24 apps)
Most Man of Match Awards: Zoltan Bardi - 3
Fans Player of the Year: Zoltan Bardi

We had great trouble scoring goals all year against top flight competition, with no players getting into double digits. Escobar showed great potential but had a bit of trouble settling in to the club. Bardi was a surprising choice as top player, to be honest.

2018-19 Dover Best Eleven

GK - Ingo Wilke - 24 apps 0g 7.02 avg
DL - Leo Creemers - 19 apps 0g 6.84 avg
DC - Luke McCullough - 29 apps 3g 6.78 avg
DC - Rayane Hamon - 25 apps 0g 6.75 avg
DR - Jozef Kuciak - 23 apps 0g 6.60 avg
DMC - Darren Pratley - 35 apps 5g 6.71 avg
MC - Andrea Rocca - 20 apps 6g 7.29 avg
MC - Liam Craig - 37 apps 6g 6.89 avg
AML - Cristian Rodriguez - 27 apps 3g 6.84 avg
AMR - Petr Kostal - 25 apps 4g 6.72 avg
ST - Zoltan Bardi - 34 apps 7g 6.86 avg

Other notables: GK Fraser Forster 20 apps 0g 6.66; DC Stephane Mbia 20 apps 1g 6.74; DC Oliver Nicholas 22 apps 0g 6.73; ML Ashley Young 25 apps 2g 6.67; ST Gerardo Escobar 35 apps 9g 6.69; ST Robbie Benson 13 apps 3g 6.74; ST Roberto 7 apps 2g 6.86

GK -
New signing Fraser Forster got plenty of chances to take the reigns at GK but played very poorly for us, showing terrible rebound control and making poor decisions. Ingo Wilke, despite having less natural talent, was the better keeper, without question.

D -
Defensively, we were a mess against top flight competition - we just don't have the requisite speed to keep up with the pacy Premier League strikers, especially guys like Man CIty's Enrique and Man City's Sanogo. Young loanee Rayane Hamon was arguably our best defender all year. Right fullback Glen Johnson, a very cultured and highly pedigreed star, was absolutely terrible all year and his declining pace was shocking to witness as opposing strikers and wingers rocketed by him each game.

M -
Our midfield was our best area all year. Andrea Rocca was excellent when healthy (7.29 avg rating in 20 games) but he missed 3 months due to a calf injury. Ashley Young, like many of the veterans we signed, saw his skills decline rapidly throughout the year. Liam Craig, after a very special year getting us to the Premier League, was shuttled back and forth between left wing and central midfield and his production suffered as a result.

F -
We had trouble scoring goals all year up front, with new signing Gerardo Escobar leading the team in both goals and assists but doing so in unimpressive fashion. He showed glimpses of greatness so I'm hopeful he'll continue to grow next year. Zoltan Bardi played a lot at midfield in addition to his play at striker. Robbie Benson showed an appalling tendency to dive (and get carded for it) and I'll likely try to move him in the offseason. Young striker Roberto came up with a couple of key goals as a substitute and with proper development, I can see him turning into a contributor. We could really use a game-breaker at striker.

Year-End Financials



The money in the Premier League is absolutely ludicrous! And I mean that in the best possible way

We see close to an 800% increase in our revenue, with television rights money being the biggest contributing factor. Our wage costs quadruple and our net transfer spending was north of five million pounds but despite all of that, we clear a profit of well over £13 million in 2018-19! Our bank balance is extremely healthy and I'm hopeful that we can not only make a splash in the transfer market next year but also make some much needed improvements to our facilities.

The only number above that might not make sense on the surface is our average attendance, which was down considerably from last year. Remember that we had a three and a half month period where we were playing in a reduced capacity stadium and had Premier League matches with a maximum capacity of 890 people until mid-November.

Closing Thoughts

We had our growing pains in our first year of top-flight football but an 11th place finish likely has to be deemed a success. We need to drastically reduce the amount of goals against and tighten up much more against bigger clubs. We still need talent upgrades throughout the lineup and I'm guessing I'll get much more money to play with in the transfer market next season, which will help us reach our goals.

Last edited by NoSkillz : 11-17-2013 at 07:53 PM.
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