Fixture Preview
Well, you saw the plan. If we win out, we shouldn't need a lot of help to win III. So, onto week 1 of the second half of the season. We have a winnable series game and winnable cup game but I'm going to have to spread out the talent a little. It will be similar to last week except Tetlie will be playing the whole game with Treibahs hurt. I have this nice security blanket with substitutions should something go wrong.
But the rain was falling in Jersey on this dark day...
Kits
Bridgemen 1 - 1 Hippopotami (217931302)
3-23-2009 01.00
The crowd of 35087 turning up at
Bridgemen Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Bridgemen started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. They fielded: Cooke - Porto, Orgad, Mesika, Pinczés - Bagay, Williams, Waller, Miller, Klangdahl - Roosenboom.
Hippopotami decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Özkutay - Delcarte, Gafni, Kavelashvili - Sidorczak, Marsh, Little, Quijada, Regúlez - Tetlie, Angulo.
The wings were the focus of most of Bridgemen's attacks on this day. Hippopotami showed off their creative tactics.
Mikey Miller showed great fighting spirit and didn't seem to mind the rain at all.
Tor Tetlie had a good try after 6 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide.
Oliver Angulo slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. Bridgemen created a good opportunity to score 37 minutes into the match when
Graham Waller's hooked ball from the left created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors' defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 41 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from
Erdem Bagay, who, unaided, came in from the right wing hooking the ball over the visitors' keeper. Halftime score was 1 - 0. The forty-five minutes were dominated by Bridgemen, with an impressive 54 percent possession of the ball.
The bench was restless, and in the 46 minute the coach gave
Carlos Thacker the opportunity the player had been hoping for.
Thomas Little reluctantly left the field. The visitors'
Tor Tetlie was alert on a play coming in from the left, tying the score at 1 - 1 after 58 minutes. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami's
Donald Sidorczak got himself booked. After 77 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to Hippopotami's
Juan Alberto Quijada being carried off the pitch and replaced by
Arkadiusz Cyburt.
Chema Delcarte became the new Hippopotami captain. 84 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but
Oliver Angulo, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. With 85 minutes played
Yossef Mesika almost gave the home side the lead with an unexpected free kick set up, but the visitors'
Batı Özkutay was onto it, grabbing the would be breakthrough ball. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Hippopotami's
Zurab Kavelashvili got himself booked. Bridgemen enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.
Most important Bridgemen player was
Mikey Miller.
Frederik Roosenboom on the other hand, had a terrible day. Hippopotami's top performer was clearly
Carlos Thacker. On the other hand,
Zurab Kavelashvili's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 1.
Rating details
| Bridgemen | Houston Hippopotami |
| Midfield | solid (very high) | solid (very low) |
| Right Defence | excellent (high) | formidable (high) |
| Central Defence | excellent (high) | excellent (low) |
| Left Defence | excellent (very low) | inadequate (high) |
| Right Attack | inadequate (very low) | inadequate (very low) |
| Central Attack | wretched (high) | excellent (very low) |
| Left Attack | inadequate (high) | solid (very high) |
| |
| Indirect set pieces |
| Defence | inadequate (very high) | inadequate (very high) |
| Attack | weak (high) | passable (low) |
| |
| Team Attitude | (Hidden) | Play it Cool |
| Tactic | Attack on wings | Play creatively |
| Tactic skill | formidable | - |
Highlights
Possession
54%
46%
52%
48%
Series Standings
Fixture Recap
I didn't watch this game as I was out on Sunday but as soon as I saw my front page and the "15 game unbeaten streak", I knew something had gone wrong as I should have also had a "4 game winning streak".
The rain ruined some of our scoring chances and ratings of our quick players while my midfield was awful due to holding back Thacker and Quijada being injured. Now we really need some help since we're 1 point behind Selma and 2 behind Supra. Like I said, I think Supra will come back to earth but Selma has an easy second half schedule and I need someone stealing points from them.
What a difference a week makes. Quijada and Treibahs are hurt. Selma has wrenched the series favorite mantle from us. Thinks are certainly looking most bleak...
"The Monarch"
What is that on the horizon? Is it a bird? A plane? Superman? No, that'd be silly. But it is royalty- John King, "The Monarch", and his mythical playmaking (and formidable passing) will be manning the midfield in our upcoming matches. He's instantly our best middie and comes to us in solid form and in our hour of need.
I'd been wanting to upgrade the midfield for a little while now and this is a perfect opportunity. The cup run brought in some extra cash and I had some cushion already. Ultimately, I'll have to sell someone once Quijada comes back (likely Marsh) to offset some of the $3.1M I paid for him but, more importantly, to offset the increased wages. But we'll worry about that once the dust settles.
For now, it's time to prepare for the cup and then try to steal a series game or two!
Quote:
John King (112974707)
26 years and 42 days, Next birthday: 6-3-2009
Born in: USA
In solid form, formidable stamina.
A controversial person who is temperamental and honest.
Has inadequate experience and passable leadership abilities.
Owner: Houston Hippopotami (since 3-25-2009 (9/38), )
Total Skill Index (TSI): 188 120
Wage: 92 550 US$/week
Warnings: 0
Injuries: Healthy
Stamina: formidable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: mythical Passing: formidable
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set pieces: solid
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SI