No longer the most hated team in the country: A Football Manager 2012 AAR

[johnhughthom]

No longer the most hated team in the country:
A Football Manager 2012 AAR

Following the demise of the critically acclaimed* "Another kind of tactical genius", I have decided to try something totally different and use a big team. Since I realised I would never fulfil my fantasy of becoming a Russsian billionaire's personal plaything I decided to do the virtual equivalent and become Chelsea manager. I have used the editor to send Villas Boas back to Porto, so it will be like he was never at Chelsea and my leadership abilities and tactical genius convinced Roman to give me a shot. In the AAR I'll pretend I was a youth team coach beforehand, to give it some semblance of realism. It will be written in the form of an online fansite, with a more critical slant on things than the previous AAR. I'm not intending it as a career game, if I get sacked that will be the end of it. I still intend to do a full AAR when the game is patched, but I will probably wait a few months for the final patch around February. Hopefully this will keep me going until then. I'll do the first post after pre season, which will probably take a few days as I'm not used to coming in to a club with three full squads to get to know. I haven't decided on weekly or monthly updates, let me know what you think. If weekly updates are more popular I will try to get every goal uploaded and linked.

Chelsea FC

Founded: 1905
Stadium: Stamford Bridge, Fulham, West London. Capacity 41,841

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Colours: Blue

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Captain: John Terry

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Trophies: English Champions: 1955, 2005, 2006, 2010.
FA Cup: 1970, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2010.
League Cup: 1965, 1998, 2005, 2007.
Cup Winners Cup: 1971, 1998.

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* OhTheLastDays: "good writing and an interesting read"
Secura: "it's a darn good read!"
Drone:
mambaman: "It's enjoyable and well written."
d'Arthez: "Looking forward to the new one"
Beskar: "johnhughthom is a writer of unparalleled brilliance." **

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

** Possibly fabricated.

[mambaman]

OOh I will be following this one John

Quick question: how is the new game compared to FM11? I have to say I couldn't see that much of an improvement and quite happy continuing with Arsenal in my game (especially as I have conquered the world and into my 4th season have won the league 3 times, the FA cup twice, the League Cup three times and the Champions League twice!!! Why would I want to change hahaha)

[johnhughthom]

TBH, I'm struggling to think of any differences. The match engine is still the same, with a few new camera angles. Pretty much all the changes are minor, and the majority are cosmetic.

[mambaman]

Kinda what I thought John-I won't be buying it just yet methinks

What about the crowds? They are supposed to be better? Stadiums?

[johnhughthom]

I've only really played lower league, with crowds around 100 people. The stadiums I played at were nothing like the real life equivalent, it seems every stadium has to be fully four sided, whereas many of of them in the Irish league are little more than local park pitches. You'll be able to see for yourself when I upload highlights from my games.

[drone]

Chelski then. Your first act as manager should be to send Terry on his way.

[johnhughthom]

The Blue View

Season Preview

A new gaffer at the bridge:

Carlo Ancelotti was relieved of his duties at the end of last season, following a trophyless year for the Blues. A terrible run in early winter gave the team too much to do, and Manchester United won the title by nine points. Dumped out of the Champion's League at the quarter final stage, and early exits in both domestic cup competitions gave the fans little to cheer about. Ancelotti's departure was still a shock to many fans however, particularly after he guided the team to the double in his first season.

The identity of the new man was a shock to everybody, Chelsea fans and neutrals alike. The favourites for the position were Guus Hiddink, still popular with the fans after his short spell two years ago, and man of the moment Andre Villas Boas, the young Portuguese having had a terrific season with Porto and being touted as the new Mourinho. One thing about Roman Abramovich is that he always does his own thing, and he decided to try something different this time, promoting from within.

The new man was youth team coach John Doggart, who seemed as surprised as anyone regarding his appointment. He faced a barrage of questions in his first press conference, his answers convinced few of the press or Chelsea fans however.

Chelsea's pre season program consisted of seven games, and the team came through them unbeaten. Most of the games were against continental opposition, they did travel to Gigg Lane to face Bury and thrashed the League One side 6-0, a couple from Frank Lampard, Alex, Torres, Drogba and Malouda with the goals. The first game of pre season was a trip to Arnhem to face Vitesse, who had on loan Chelsea youngsters Tomas Kalas and Ulises Davila in the team, a terrific performance form Vitesse keeper Piet Velthuizen earned them a 0-0 draw. HSV and Porto visited the Bridge before the team travelled to Spain for a training camp and a couple of friendlies against la Liga clubs. The Germans, with on loan Jeffrey Bruma in their side, were brushed aside 3-1, with Chelsea being three up at half time, the goals form Luiz, Malouda and Lukaku. Porto, for whom Andre Villas Boas got a mighty cheer from the Chelsea fans, perhaps to convince him to ask Mr Abramovich for a job, managed to go back to Portugal with a 1-1 draw, Fernando Torres thought he'd won it with a last minute goal, but a defensive mix up let Porto in for a last gasp equalizer.

The Spanish training camp saw two victories for the Blues, a Solomon Kalou goal saw off Racing Santander, while a terrific game against Rayo Vellecano saw the home side twice take the lead, but two goals from Florent Malouda pegged them back, before Daniel Sturridge bagged a late winner. The final warm up game was at the Bridge against another Spanish side, though Villareal were a much tougher proposition than the two sides played in Spain. Villareal took a first half lead against the run of play, with Lukaku spurning three golden opportunities for Chelsea. A change around at half time saw Malouda come on for Mata, and it was his pass that put Fernando Torres through for the equalising goal.

An unbeaten season has done little to ease the pressure on rookie manger Doggart, he will be desperate for a good start to the season and the fixture Gods have been kind to him, with a home game against Tottenham the toughest game until the visit of champions Manchester United in late October.


New arrivals:

Juan Mata


The Spanish playmaker was linked with Arsenal all summer, but it was Chelsea that parted with £23.5 million to bring him to England. Comfortable on the left wing, but favours a central position in the attacking third, he brings a new creativity to the Chelsea squad.

Raul Meireles


Meireles will be remembered for his winner against Chelsea for Liverpool last season, though if he can replicate his performances for Liverpool he will quickly make the Chelsea fans forget about that. That Liverpool were willing to let him go was something of a surprise, the £12 million fee seeming like a bargain in comparison with the £20 million Liverpool are rumoured to have spent on his replacement, Jordan Henderson.

Romelu Lukaku


Dubbed "the new Drogba" in his native Belgium, the eighteen year old was the top scorer in the Juplier League the past two seasons and already has ten caps for Belgium under his belt. We look forward to seeing his development at the bridge.

Ivica Dragutinovic


Vastly experienced Serbian international, brought in to add cover for the central defence. A free transfer after his release from Spanish side Sevilla.


Farewell:

Yuriy Zhirkov and Yossi Benayoun left the club over the summer. Zhirkov returned to his native Russia to sign for Anzhi, while Benayoun will spend the season across London on loan with Arsenal.


Seasonal expectations:

The early summer was spent guessing who the club would bring in as manager, and the choice certainly makes a difference to the fans expectations for the season ahead. The majority of the Chelsea squad have won the title before, a number of them more than once, and the quality is certainly there to do so once again, the only question is do they have a manager capable of motivating them to do so? Abramovich's holy grail is still the Champion's League, something Mourinho, Grant, Hiddink and Ancelotti have all failed to bring to west London, it seems unlikely somebody in their first management job will do any better. With the circumstances of the previous manager losing his job, it seems certain that Doggart will need to win the Premier League or Champion's League to be in the job next year. We doubt he'll be in the job come Christmas.


Next up:

Newly promoted Norwich City are the team's first opponent of the season. Paul Lambert's double promotion winning side have added a few new faces over the summer, including strikers Steve Morison and James Vaughan, and recently announced the signing of Robert Pires. Nothing less than a win will suffice in Doggart's first game in charge.

[mambaman]

Good opposition to ease you into the season I note....

[johnhughthom]

The Blue View

Week One

Norwich City 0-1 Chelsea

Line ups:

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The long summer wait is over, football is back! A strange summer at the Bridge with Carlo Ancelotti replaced with a young manager with no experience, the pressure was on John Doggart to bring success to the club before a ball had even been kicked in anger. Despite a summer of transfer activity which saw five new arrivals, the line up for the first game of the season saw eleven familiar faces. Some would say a game against a club who were in League One fifteen months ago was the perfect time to introduce the new faces to English football, Doggart obviously thought differently. Raul Meireles, who already has a season of Premier League experience under his belt, was the only new boy the fans were able to see in action this week.

Chelsea began the game with a 4-4-2 diamond, Norwich began with a 4-4-2 that saw both central midfielders playing in a deep holding role. Looking at the Canaries line up, a case can certainly be made that there was little point in playing Mikel in a holding role and that he would have been more involved pushed forward into the heart of the midfield, the manager obviously had ideas of his own and the Nigerian played the nineties minutes just in front of his back four. David Luiz was given the central defensive slot alongside JT, the Brazilian is fast becoming a cult figure amongst Chelsea fans, his compatriot Alex on the bench. Ivanovich ahead of Bosingwa for the right back slot was the only other constentious choice, most fans believing the Portuguese player's ability going forward would have served the team better than sometime centre back Ivanovich. Norwich playing two up front was something of a surprise, two hard working strikers who would give Luiz and Terry a tough, physical game.

Norwich started the game confidently, Morison a lively threat down the Norwich left and linking well with the hard working Bradley Johnson. A fierce Morison drive from the left edge of the Chelsea penalty area was pushed away by Cech, the only shot on goal in the first ten minutes. Chelsea began to come more into the game, keeping possession better, and a controversial moment came on eleven minutes. An aerial ball down the left flank for Lampard was flicked on by Torres, he chased his own pass and arrived in the box to meet the ball, but Kyle Naughton got there a fraction earlier and cleared. Chelsea weree convinced it was a penalty, though replays showed the Norwich man won the ball cleanly. Soon after Morison got another chance on goal,getting up above Ramires to meet a Hoolahan cross, which he couldn't get on target.

Soon after came the Chelsea goal, a nice counter attack after another City chance. This time it was Morison, again winning an aerial battle with Ramires, who played in Hoolahan, his shot from a tight angle beat out by Cech. Ivanovich picked up the loose ball and played it forward to Drogba who took it down the right flank, before playing the ball inside to Malouda. There seemed to be no danger as the ball came to the Frenchman, he let the ball run across his body and fired a fierce shot with his left foot that flew past John Ruddy into the top corner of the Norwich goal. Chelsea's first goal of the season, and we won't see many better.

Norwich reacted well to going a goal behind and kept good possession from the kick off, eventually creating a chance for Grant Holt, which Cech did well to keep out. Chelsea's ability on the break was evident from the resulting corner, as Terry's clearing header was met by Torres, who ran the length of the pitch, only to fire straight at John Ruddy.

On the half hour a David Fox challenge on Didier Drogba on the half way line saw the striker forced off with a rib injury. Rather than bringing on Romelu Lukaku, billed as the new Drogba, Doggart brought on Salomon Kalou as the replacement.

The final ten minutes of the half saw some concerted Chelsea pressure, without really coming close to scoring. Norwich survived a succession of Chelsea corners, finally managing to break in the final minute with Bradley Johnson going down in the box under an Ivanovich challenge. Referee Kevin Friend deemed it a dive however, and booked the home player.

Norwich replaced Russel Martin with Andrew Surman at half time, with Chelsea coming back out with the same eleven who finished the match. The first goalmouth action of the half saw Torres sent scampering through by Ramires, he took the ball wide however and fired straight at Ruddy again. A number of long range efforts from both sides were the only moments of note until fifteen minutes from time, when John Terry dispossed Holt in the area with a slide tackle. Norwich appeals for a penalty were waved away, and replays showed it was a great tackle from the Chelsea and England hornball. I mean captain.

With ten minutes to go a tiring Ivanovich was replaced with Paulo Ferreira, and Lampard came off for Meireles five minutes laters as Chelsea slowed the game down and looked to keep possession. They managed to do so, the only chance coming when Malouda was put through by Torres, only for Ruddy to make another fine save.

A win for Chelsea then, but not the sort of dominant performance that the fans would have looked for against newly promoted opposition. With Drogba injury the front line appeared lightweight, most of Chelsea's chances coming on the break with their superior pace. It was a fantastic goal by Malouda, who looked dangerous in the hole behind the strikers, all too often poor movement meant he had little opportunity to play them in and had to pass sideways to keep possession. A clean sheet will please the back four and keeper, in truth Norwich rarely looked like having the ability to break the Chelsea defence down and only a loss of concentration by one of the defenders in Blue would have let them in. Cech faced a number of long range efforts and dealt with them comfortably.

The injury to Didier Drogba was the low point of the afternoon, the confirmation coming that he had broken ribs and would be out for around six weeks.

Malouda goal:

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Around the league:

A number of big games this weekend meant Doggart could approach the game with less attention than he might have expected. The lunchtime kick off saw the first Merseyside derby of the season as a late Suarez goal won it for Liverpool. Manchester City saw off Champion's League hopefuls Spurs two nil, and newly promoted Swansea City got a morale boosting win at Sunderland, Chelsea old boy Scott Sinclair with the goal. The big game of the weekend was Manchester United's trip to Arsenal, the visitors went two nil up with goals from Rooney and Ferdinand, Walcott and Song replied for the Gunners as Nani was sent off for the Champions. United's next game is at home to Liverpool, a tough start in contrast to Chelsea's comfortable looking early season games.

Next up:

Wolverhampton Wanderers travel to Stamford Bridge this week on the back of a terrible home performance against West Brom, the five one defeat against a fellow relegation candidate will surely have been a devastating blow to their morale, one that Chelsea will look to exacerbate this weekend. Drogba and Essien out injured, Drogba is unlikely to be back before October, whereas Essien will be lucky to see any action this season with the cruciate injury suffered in pre season. Daniel Sturridge still has two games of his suspension for being sent off while at Bolton last season to complete. His indiscipline may cost him, as he would likely have come in to contention to replace Drogba this weekend, though Kalou, Lukaku and Anelka will all feel they can come in and stake a claim.

[d'Arthez]

Just a minor comment:

The early summer was spent guessing who the club would bring in as manager, and the choice certainly makes a difference to the fans expectations for the season ahead. The majority of the Chelsea squad have won the title before, a number of them more than once, and the quality is certainly there to do so once again, the only question is do they have a manager capable of motivating them to do so? Abramovich's holy grail is still the Champion's League, something Abramovich, Grant, Hiddink and Ancelotti have all failed to bring to west London, it seems unlikely somebody in their first management job will do any better. With the circumstances of the previous manager losing his job, it seems certain that Doggart will need to win the Premier League or Champion's League to be in the job next year. We doubt he'll be in the job come Christmas.

Should be Mourinho.

Looking good :)

[johnhughthom]

Good spot, thanks!

[mambaman]

Good opening game. Michael Essien injured? Imagine that?

[johnhughthom]

Gah, my game is doing the dreaded Game not available, try again later thing... Tried all the usual solutions, full reinstallation in order.

[d'Arthez]

Roman Abramovich did not count on that. Hope the reinstall does the trick.

[mambaman]

Ummm hope your save games are ok mr!

[johnhughthom]

Ummm hope your save games are ok mr!

Yeah, moved them somewhere safe. Still not working for me though, going to have to try a full reinstallation including Steam. Luckily Skyrim is the only other Steam game I have installed, hopefully moving the Skyrim folder somewhere else and then back again when Steam is reinstalled will mean I won't have to redownload that.

[mambaman]

Skyrim...mmmmm I want that game