Beta Than Nothing Episode 3: Making Statements


Hello and welcome one and all to another slice of FM22 content as we're here with episode three of our 22-23 season adventure at the helm of Manchester United. If you want to catch up with the most recent instalment before this one then simply click here. 

After out slightly feeble showing in the derby defeat to Manchester City, a change of approach is requited as we anticipate a visit to Bosnia in the Europa League. Pairing Casemiro and Christian Eriksen together instead of having the Dane play in front of the former Real Madrid man pays dividends as sweep aside Zrinjski 5-1 to give the players a much needed morale boost. Cristiano Ronaldo grabs two fine goals with Lisandro Martinez snatching another in first half stoppage time before Eriksen and impact substitute Anthony Martial wrap up the victory. 


It was important to use the Europa League win as a platform to arrest our stuttering league form that had seen us winless since the opening day rout of Fulham. Thankfully, it's more of the same from us as we punish a poor Everton side with a stellar 4-0 win at Old Trafford. Ronaldo once again gets underway by opening the scoring and his goal triggers a brutal 19 minute goal glut which renders the game over as a contest by half time as Bruno Fernandes nets a penalty before Marcus Rashford grabs his first goal of the campaign. Christian Eriksen is in the form of his life and once again comes up with the goods as he curls a superb free-kick past Jordan Pickford to cap a fine afternoon for the club. 


After an international break, it's back to the bread and butter of league action as we travel to St. Mary's to take on a Southampton side surprisingly flying high in the table. We're not at the races from the off and this is duly punished when Moi Elyounoussi gives Ralph Hassenhutl's men an early lead and we're fortunate to not be further behind at the half time interval as we have David De Gea to thank for pulling off a string of fine saves. Once again we're grateful for having a player of Christian Eriksen's calibre as the magical Danish midfielder grabs us an equaliser when he stabs home two minutes into the second period and it's his pass that provides the winning goal as he lays on an opportunity for under-fire striker Patrik Schick to chase and slide home only his second goal for the club, awarded after a nervy wait while the VAR official makes absolutely sure. 


It's a good night to be a Portuguese Manchester United player as Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes steal the show with us recording another emphatic Europa League win, this time overcoming German outfit Union Berlin 5-0 at Old Trafford. Ronaldo helps himself to a hat-trick while Fernandes nets a second half penalty before closing out the show with a fine free-kick of his own. The win puts clear daylight between us and Berlin and leaves us within touching distance of the knockout round. 


This instalment comes to an end with us welcoming Wolves to Old Trafford and we round it off with a 1-0 win which comes despite us not particularly being at our best. Ronaldo puts us ahead after just eight minutes but that's really as good as it gets for us as we offer little else going forward and actually are left hanging on towards the end. Despite Joao Moutinho being sent off for the visitors, the numerical advantage is wiped out soon after when Aaron Wan-Bissaka disappointingly goes off injured after all our substitutes have been used. With no more changes at my disposal, Nicolas Siewald is moved from midfield to right back with Wolves exploiting the Austrian's unfamiliarity in the position. Only some wasteful finishing coupled with a pair of inspired saves from De Gea ensuring we run out winners. 


The title of this post is 'Making Statements' and I feel that we have done this as we're now on a three-game winning streak in the league, right in the top 4 mix with a game in hand and probably three-quarters of the way through to the next round in Europe. Mission accomplished if you ask me! 

Ciao For Now! 

Follow me on Twitter @DanBarkerGray and check out my podcast Not Another 90s Football Podcast on YouTube, Spotify and @90sFootballPod

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Campeonatio, di Calcio, Italiano: Episodio Uno

Image
The year is 1997, Juventus rule the roost domestically but surrendering their Champions League title to Borussia Dortmund at the end of the previous campaign still hurts. In their quest to get back to the top of European football's totem pole, the Old Lady of Turin have turned to me in order to bring the famous old trophy back to the Stadio Delle Alpi as well as maintain the club's stranglehold on the major domestic honours. Here's how our Italian affair begins.  Here is our squad at the beginning of the save, I'm quite happy with the squad depth generally although I'm tempted to bring in another central midfielder to ease the burden on Antonio Conte as the anchorman. In one of the best deals of the decade I manage to tempt Augustine 'Jay-Jay' Okocha to swap Istanbul for Turin in an absolute steal of a £1,500,000 deal.  Our season gets underway with the SuperCoppa Italiana against last season's Coppa Italia winners Vincenza at the Stadio Delle Alpi. Afte...
Read more

London Calling #1: The Non-League Haaland?

Image
Yes lads and lasses it's the best day of the year for nerds like myself as Football Manager 2023 is finally unleashed into the gaming wild. For my long-term save on the game I'll be aiming to rule the footballing world using clubs only from the Greater London area (I explain in a little bit more detail  here ). Our adventure begins in the Vanarama National League South at Champion Hill with Dulwich Hamlet, here's how the opening stanza of my time with the club unfolded.  My task with my new club is clear, I'm expected to reach the VNS play-offs and utilise players that are 23 and under to fit in with the club's ethos. As a firm believer in bringing through youth, I'm more than happy with this. I made a couple of forays into the transfer market and brought in some highly rated young players. My first piece of business sees 19-year-old central defender Andi Janjeva join the club and he is swiftly followed through the door by 25-year-old former Arsenal goalkeeper R...
Read more

Campeonato, di Calcio, Italiano: Epiosdo Due

Image
Buon giorno and welcome to the second instalment of my retro Italian adventure with Juventus in Championship Manager 97-98. If you missed last week's episode then you can catch up  here .  After our defeat to Milan in the last outing, the last thing we need is the Champions League creeping up on us, although we should turn over Maccabi Haifa on our home turf. Cue the music Perhaps my optimism was misplaced as we labour to a dour goalless draw at the Delle Alpi against our Israeli opponents. We manage ten shots on goal but can only get two of them on target, Maccabi don't offer much and it's a case of they get what they came for by going back to Israel with a point.  French midfielder Corentin Martins comes in for £4,500,000 from Strasbourg but it'll be a week or two before he can make his debut as he comes to us with a slight injury.  There's more injury misery for us when right-back Marco Zamboni limps off in the first half of our home clash against Lazio but we...
Read more