[cschex]

September 18th Match #3 v. Palermo

I’d say more about this match I lost my write-up and I don’t have the heart to re-type it. We got destroyed 3-1 and I am seriously on the lookout for a new goalkeeper in the January window.

We have no time to breathe as we travel to Roma, who sit 4th in the table. We are currently 7th

September 21 Match #4 @ Roma

GK: De Sanctis
Def: Miguel, Huth, Maduro, Kerkeni
DM: Poujol, Besagno
AM: Vantaggiato, Baykal, Devisscher
F: Cipriani

I replace 5 starters from the Palermo debacle and pray that we can keep this close. In a surprisingly even, free-flowing first half, Roma gets the better of the chances but we hold them off the board. The highlight was a goal line clearance by Kerkeni off of a Roma corner. 3 minutes into the second half, some nifty ball control in the midfield sends Miguel free on the right. He takes his time and plays the ball right to the feet of Baykal, who turns and fires a shot inside the left post for the lead. In the 63rd minutes a ball played into the box is won by Cipriani, who nods it down to an unmarked Baykal. Ali places this shot in the same place as his first and we lead 2-0! Not content with that, five minutes later Poujol sends Vantaggiato free of the offside trap, and Daniele squares it for Cipriani to tap into an empty net. Baykal completes the humiliation in stoppage time as he deflects a Celio Junior into the net for his first career hat-trick and the third for Bologna in the young season. We register our first shutout of the year and destroy Roma 4-0 on the road.

Baykal rates a perfect 10 and is the obvious MotM. Poujol, Vantaggiato, Cipriani, Miguel, Huth and De Sanctis all rate 9’s. This is the team that is the strong contender for the title. Now if I can just get them to show up every match. We move up to 5th with the win, 3 points behind undefeated Palermo. We face 3rd place Inter in our next match.

Inter coach Robert Mancini continues his praise of me (going back the last three seasons) saying he hopes the best team wins and he considers me a good coach. I respond by saying I have deep respect for Mancini’s coaching abilities. Hugs all around.

September 24, Match #5 v. Inter

GK: De Sanctis
Def: Miguel, Huth, Maduro, Avine
DM: Celio Junior, Besagno
AM: Vantaggiato, Baykal, Mota
F: Cipriani

A long clearance off of a corner kick early leaves Adriano free behind our defense. However, De Sanctis comes out to challenge and makes a great one-on-one stop to save the goal. After a couple of dangerous plays, I assign Huth to tightly mark Adriano and drop Besagno back as basically a fifth defender. Inter gets more chances, but nothing good and all are easily gathered by De Sanctis. Right before the half, Celio Junior wins a 50-50 ball and send it to Mota down the left, who gives it right back to a cutting Celio. He dribbles into the box and, with the angle seemingly cut off, blasts it right over the keeper for a goal. In the 60th minute some neat passing by Inter frees Adriano from his marker, and he is free in the box to attempt a lob on De Sanctis. How he gets back to the ball I’ll never know, but he just gets enough of it to palm it over the bar. Maybe he heard me talking about acquiring a new keeper, because he has be great the last two games. I bring in Kitambala for a tiring Cipriani, hoping his fresh legs will have some effect. It pays off in the 73rd minute as Kitambala beats his man on the left and sends the ball to Baykal racing down the center of the pitch. He rushes into the box and, still on the run, coolly smacks the ball past the keeper for a 2-0 lead. I bring off the goal scorer for Bangura, essentially giving myself six defenders for the rest of the game. Besagno heads in a Mota corner in the 81st minute for another goal. The whistle blows and we close a dominant second half with a 3-0 win over Inter.

Bruno Mota is the MotM for his 2 assist performance and rates a 9 along with Baykal. 6 other players rate 8’s, including our keeper, 3/4ths of our backline and both starting central midfielders. The dominant way we’ve played the last two matches is making the Palermo game look more and more like an aberration. We move up to second with the win, but since it was a Saturday match, we could slip down to fourth if Milan and Juventus both win.

We do slip to third, but are only a point behind Milan and Palermo. De Sanctis, Maduro, Vantaggiato, Baykal, Mota, and Poujol were all named to the Team of the Week, a personal high for the team.

September 28, Champions League Group B @ FC Bayern

We travel to Munich to take on the German champions today in what should be a showdown for supremacy of Group B.

GK: De Sanctis
Def: Miguel, Huth, Maduro, Kerkeni
DM: Poujol, Besagno
AM: Vantaggiato, Baykal, Borriello
F: Cipriani

A scoreless first half ends after De Sanctis has robbed both Ballack and Hargreaves. We are being out shot 7-2, and I make a few tweaks to try and generate some pressure. Our backline is playing well, but the attacking idfielders and forwards are all rating 6’s past the 60th minute. Bayern finally breaks through in the 73rd minute as Santa Cruz beats Maduro to a Schweinsteiger cross and heads it past De Sanctis. The rest of the game is uneventful and we fall 1-0.

We were outshot 15-6 and we only had one shot on target. Maduro was our only player to rate above a 7. I fear we still aren’t ready for competition against the top-flight clubs in Europe. We sit second in the group, tied with Shakhtar on points but a +4 in goal differential.

October ‘11

Our Board is still very pleased with the job we are doing here. We lost about 2.9 million Euros last month. We definitely need a bigger stadium.

October 2, Match #6 @ Piacenza

GK: De Sanctis
Def: Miguel, Huth, Maduro, Avine
DM: Poujol, Besagno
AM: Vogel, Baykal, Mota
F: Cipriani

We face relegation candidates Piacenza today and get off to a quick start. Cipriani runs down the right in the 4th minute, draws two defenders and the attention of the keeper, and then squares a great ball for Baykal to poke in the back of the net. 4 minutes later Mota is fouled in the penalty area. He steps up and converts the kick to double our lead. Potential disaster strikes in the 45th minute, as keeper De Sanctis has to come off with an injury. Frederico Agliardi sees his first action of the season. Poujol scores his first ever goal for Bologna in the 53rd minute after converting a Miguel cross. In the 74th minute, Mota makes a brilliant run down the left, beating three defenders before passing to Baykal, who beats the keeper near post. Baykal just misses his hat trick in stoppage time, blazing a shot over the bar from 6 yards out. Nevertheless, we crush Piacenza 4-0 and vault up to 2nd in Serie A.

Poujol is my only player to rate a 9 and accordingly wins MotM honors. Eight other players rate an 8, including both of my goalkeepers. Hopefully we’ve put the Bayern game behind us.

Unfortunately, the news on De Sanctis is worse than I could have imagined. He tore a calf muscle in the game and is out for a minimum of 4 month. Agliardi is a decent backup but exposed as a long-term starter. I will bring up reserve keeper Pablo Rochi to rotate with him and hope I can survive until January, where I will bring in a better keeper on loan or through transfer. Normally I say we have adequate cover when we lose a big player to injury but in this case I say, truthfully, that his absence is a huge loss for us.