Fighting for Life
Still Struggling to End the Losing Streak
RSL in the WSL Part 32
We’re up against it once again – another road match, this time against Atlas FC. This means we’ve got yet another one of those long bus rides ahead of us:
Atlas are only 15th in the league, but they’ve been playing better than we have lately. We’d better hope we’re playing our best today.
We’re just barely keeping our collective heads above water at the moment. And it shows when you take a quick look at our tactics for this evening:
We’re hitting the real stretch of the season right now, and December will likely eat us up. Zhang Shilin is getting his first start in the back. Cardozo is back, and I’m just praying that he isn’t sent off this time.
Paredes is certainly not my first choice on the left, but Ørsahl isn’t going to last long if we keep starting him twice a week. Meanwhile, Shehu is on vacation for a week due to overuse. Further injuries have forced us to start Roxo, who comes up from our Reserves.
Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Carmona and Rodriguez up front. I just hope we can pass the ball to them.
Match
Well, it wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure. Javier Correa scored a really nice looking goal in the 35th minute. Nedum Onuoha, who is going to retire after our next match, came back with one – but then Milton Caraglio scored to start the second half, and that was all she wrote.
Our gazelles up front put a bit of pressure on Atlas in the first half, but seemed to completely disappear in the second half. This was particularly noticeable after I took Holm off. As I’ve said before, he’s really the quarterback of our offense. Get rid of him and we simply melt away.
Our squad is still weak, but we are managing to score goals here and there. It could be worse. We need to think positively.
Analysis
We won the possession battle, which is one thing. Zhang Shilin struggled, which doesn’t surprise me – but he could have played worse. That’s really about it, though. We simply disappeared in the second half.
I had a field day after the match, fining players left and right and scolding them for performing poorly. Honestly, we were simply outmatched. Some of these players need rest. I think we’ve already had almost 40 players appear for our first team, and yet I feel like we don’t have enough to truly rotate.
As you can see, we completely disappeared in the second half. Still, 2-1 isn’t a bad scoreline – we prevented them from scoring again, which is a victory in itself.
The Board
Apparently I’m in the news:
Yeah, this isn’t a great look for me. Spending £20 million on a team that will be lucky to barely avoid relegation isn’t the way I want to be remembered.
I do want to note that it hasn’t just been reckless spending around these parts. We did sell £25 million worth of players this year – a bit of information that the in-game media seems ignorant of.
The board might be tracking the press, though. I noticed this on the Club Vision screen:
Normally I’d say something like “oh, this is nothing,” or “I’m sure it’s a glitch.” Actually, I’m worried that this is an indication that the board is starting to lose patience with our floundering.
We do have players coming in on January 1st; however, there are 8 matches between now and then. It pains me to say this, but there really is an outside chance that I might wind up sacked before we reach that point.
Standings
Only 2 points separate us from the very bottom – but, lucking for us, there are 3 other teams with fewer points than we have. Let’s hope we can salvage at least a draw tomorrow.
Blog Roundup
The FM Academy gives us an update on the 1860 Munich save. Let’s hope they can avoid relegation!
LutterworthFox brings us more from the Gibraltar nation building save.
And FMheathen brings us more from 1946, in a save you really should be following.
Channel Watch
MrGran2 has more from Brazil in his international journeyman save. Props to you for being willing to sit through Football Manager’s international mode!
Nik FM gives us a Manchester United Tactics and Transfer Guide. I can’t imagine anybody taking over United and not wanting to instantly make about 15 transfers.
Is CaptainGoodspeed going to get the sack? I hope not!
The Cult of FM goes into depth about player development.
FM DNA shows that a “broken” FM20 tactic is still broken on FM23.
RDF Tactics brings us another broken FM23 tactic – well, with Haaland, at least.
Thaibeefy FM brings us a Carabao Cup tie for Tottenham.
Oisty FM comes in with another chapter of The Ferguson Challenge.
Jay Edworthy shows us the start of League One with Forest Green Rovers.
Zealand tells us why star ratings don’t matter. I should learn from this one.