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Old 12-07-2013, 09:35 PM   #99
NoSkillz
College Benchwarmer
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: St. Catharines, Canada
Sat. November 21, 2020

Barclays Premier League
Dover (9-0-4, 27 points, 3rd) vs. Derby (2-4-7, 10 points, 16th)
Crabble Athletic Ground, Dover, UK

Betting Odds: Dover: 4-7 (Favourites) Draw: 5-2 Derby: 4-1
Past Meetings: 3W 0D 2L

We are touted as comfortable favourites against Derby, who currently are just above the relegation zone. We've had six very tough games in a row against top half sides (and 8 of our last 9) so this is a welcomed matchup. That said, we'll definitely have to guard against complacency.

Derby have been up and down many times between the Premier League and the Championship over the course of this dynasty, having been relegated three times in the past ten years. This is the first time they've enjoyed consecutive seasons in the Premier League since 2001-02 but they only barely stayed up this year after a 16th place finish in 2019-20. Old friend Fraser Forster is their starting keeper but their most notable player is new signing Joao Henriques Almeida, a Mozambique striker picked up in the last transfer window for £10,250,000 from French club Stade Rennais FC, likely breaking the bank. He has two Premier League goals in 9 appearances.

We'll run with our single striker formation (4-4-2 DM Control) and with Giorgos Gesios unavailable due to suspension, I'll go with Gerardo Escobar up front. Ingo WIlke is back in goal, otherwise the lineup is the same as last weekend, with some changes made to our bench composition.

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

Derby start with a 3-5-2 formation. Hopefully I can really take advantage of that with our wingers but with five midfielders, they'll likely have a possession edge. Boys, I expect a win today!

1' - Lots of action right off the opening kick. We gain possession and Jozef Kuciak heads it upfield to Gianluca Bolis. He dribbles from midfield all the way into Derby territory and into the area but his low, left footed shot through traffic is gobbled up by Forster. Nice run by Bolis there.

20' - We're getting plenty of possession and pressure but no real scoring chances.

24 - Dumb foul by Neil Cairney and he's given a yellow. We're possibly getting frustrated at being unable to break these guys down and my assistant notices that Cairney "looks ill-disciplined".

31' - We win a free kick from the right side just outside the area. Rocca's in-swinging kick meets the head of Paulus Tjiuoro but his vicious header is stopped by Forster! He gets the rebound and hits the post before a defender kicks it out for a corner. We're piling on pressure and that's our best opportunity so far. Forster certainly didn't make saves like that for Dover! On the ensuing corner, Tjiuoro gets another chance but the ball is kicked off the line by the defender guarding the post.

36' - We win yet another corner and it's headed just wide by Cristian Rodriguez.

42 - We build up play nicely from the back, with a beautiful pass upfield from Kuciak to Escobar. He dribbles down the centre and springs Zoltan Bardi cutting into the middle. Bardi's curling blast just misses the post and hits the side netting. Half the stadium thought it was in!

HALFTIME - This is nuts. We are DOMINATING this game, with an unfathomable 70% possession and 11-0 (4-0 on target) shot edge. We simply can't break them down. I want to send more players forward to start the second half but I'm worried about a counter attack against us. I think I'll just stick with this formation for now but change to an attacking philosophy.

47' - We build on offense and Cairney delivers a lovely ball into the box but Escobar can't get to it before Forster. Andrea Rocca is hurt on the play and comes off for a bit but he can shake it off for now.

64' - Arsene Bamba dribbles down the left hand side from midfield and gets to the byline before making a high cross into the box. Bolis is there but his header strikes the crossbar! Forster is out of position after attempting a diving save and it's Zoltan Bardi who is there to clean up the mess, heading it in off the ricochet to FINALLY get us on the board! DOVER GOAL 1-0

We'll revert back to our control philosophy and Derby changes to a flat 4-4-2.

69' - After taking a pass from Bamba, Gerardo Escobar dribbles halfway down the field, weaving through the defence. He is able to get a step on them through the middle but his shot JUST misses to the right. "He missed a sitter", says the commentator.

74' - Kuciak picks up a yellow card.

81' - I bring in Petr Simek for a tired Zoltan Bardi and in the process, switch the formation to a flat 4-4-2 counter.

90'+5 - They are down to ten men after making all their substitutions then losing a defender to injury. We're deep into extra time and they have a dangerous free kick in our area. It's not a good one and Cairney intercepts and sends the ball immediately up field to Petr Simek. It's basically a two-on-two situation as he dribbles down the right centre of the pitch with a defender chasing him. Escobar is cutting to the net and two other Dover players are coming in, leaving the last remaining defender in no mans land. Simek feeds the ball into a wide open Escobar and he easily one times it past Forster for the final dagger! DOVER GOAL 2-0

The ref blows the whistle before Derby can even kick off!

Dover 2 - 0 Derby
Goals - Zoltan Bardi (7.1), Gerardo Escobar (7.4)
Assists - Gianluca Bolis (7.1), Petr Simek (6.9)
Man of the Match - Jozef Kuciak (7.5)
Other Dover Notables - Paulus Tjiuoro (7.3), Cristian Rodriguez (7.1), Renato Gaucho (7.4)
Attendance - 9081

Well, we showed great patience and perseverance in this one and we finally were able to break them down in the second half. Overall possession was in our favour by a 64% to 36% mark and we outshot them 17-2 (6-0 on target). A solid effort and we did well to avoid complacency. Jozef Kuciak has played extremely well at right fullback while Salim Loucif recovers from his broken arm and was awarded man of the match. He's strung together four wonderful games in a row, which is great to see.

-- We've now won four in a row and the press comment on our great run of form, saying that even our harshest of critics can't help but "admire the way Dover play the game". We have a reasonable schedule coming up and there's a decent chance we can keep this thing going for awhile. Our next three games are as follows:

AT Huddersfield (16th)
AT Newcastle (14th)
vs. Fullham (20th)

We end December with tough games versus Everton (4th) and Man City (1st) but with a record of 10-0-4, we're only 5 wins away from matching last year's total!

-- Man City draws 2-2 against relegation candidates Sunderland, who did beat us earlier in the season so there's not much I can say. United continue to roll, defeating Newcastle 5-0 so we remain in third place, six points back of first but SEVEN points up on 4th place.



-- Lots of manager turnover in the Premier League, as struggling Tottenham sack Tony Mowbray. As usual lately, my name is at the top of the pundits list of potential replacements but I don't comment on the move.



Dover Injury Update

Petr Kostal is our only long term injury right now and it looks like DR Salim Loucif will soon be ready to return to full training after breaking his arm. We also send DC Oliver Nicholas home for a few days when he gets the flu.



Possible Transfer

-- Ok, we're still operating under a closed transfer window but I come to an agreement on a deal with Independiente out of Argentina for yet another young central defender and also come to an agreement with the player on a contract. We'll have to go through the permitting process but my scouts feel that everything will work out. I'll hold off on reporting on the player until we get official confirmation but this is a move that will hopefully satisfy our young star in the making DC Cristian Rodriguez, who still is looking for us to bring someone in to help him settle in England. This new defender is a fellow Argentinian so I'm hoping this works out. He is rated 3.0/4.5 by two of my scouts so he has star potential. Very exciting - I have to make some budget adjustments if this is to go through and may have to move a player out at the next window as well but if it makes Rodriguez happy, it's all worth it.



Next Up

-- We travel to visit surprise relegation candidates Huddersfield Town for a Sunday afternoon televised matchup.
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