Season 34 Week 4 processing...

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WATFORD 

Manager was delighted to get his first win of the season last week, in a exhilarating match. However, games come thick and fast and this week's opponents are Plymouth who boast one of, if the the best teams in the league. Luckily the manager can only field 11 players, which seems to cause the manager a bit of a dilemma when picking on form. Hornets boss is sticking with his side from last week, with only change Emile Smith Rowe makes the bench which allows for the manager to change up both the wings. Last week Barnes came off the bench and scored. Bernardo Silva was MOM and will no doubt be looking forward to showing the Plymouth boss what he's missing. 
In the CUP PSG are the opponent's, but the manager has been pleased with his CUP side so Madison and Barnes keep there place. With ESR getting his chance from the start at LW. 

GENK 

A scintillating display from the Belgian side last week scoring 6 goals.. the side are looking to keep settled and promise to bring the good times back to the fan base which seen a sharp increase in fans due to worldwide advertising. Manager looking to add more firepower to the side to keep the momentum going. 
As for the CUP side, Enzo Le Fee gives Camavinga a chance to rest and rotate at DY but otherwise a largely unchanged side. 

LEVERKUSEN 

Leverkusen were the only side not to win last week and currently sit on a epic 1 point so far this season. Which might have already cost them a chance for a title push. However, not all is lost with the manager confident the side back start picking up points and look to build momentum. No changes to the side but manager looks to make most of a much improved bench this season with Muani and Olmo looking to be match winners. 

BOTAFOGO 

The Rio side have been busy this week, with the arrival of Artur Guimares on Trial and Clieton also to give some rotation and competition. A deal also been stuck to bring in a midfielder which spells the end of Schelottos time at the club and allows the midfield to be a bit more dynamic. A couple of players to join the transfer list to comply with squad restrictions. 

The manager been busy this week and attended all the matches from his side from SBA, Youth and Reserve to understand the requirements needed to boost development. 

Good luck to all.

Thanks Phil a great read as usual. Data entry is underway...

There were some important midweek fixtures this week...

Champions League - Matchday Two results

Milan 0 Charlton 1
Man City 3 Real Madrid 2

Inter 1 Plymouth 2
Benfica 0 Barcelona 1

Ajax 3 Chelsea 2
Porto 5 Bayern 0

Paris 0 Watford 1
Anderlecht 0 Schalke 2

Europa Cup

Gornik 0 Bohemians 2
Rangers 2 Sevilla 3

Man United 4 Nantes 2
Cektic 0 Mechelen 1

Etienne 0 Atletico 1
Feyenoord 1 Arsenal 1

Monaco 2 Genk 2
PSV 0 Liverpool 1

Copa Libertadores

River Plate 0 Santos 1
Amexica 1 Danubio 3

Argentinos 0 Fluminense 4
Estudiantes 3 Sao Paulo 4

Corinthians 0 Botafogo 1
Cruzeiro 0 Vasco 0

Boca 2 Independente 2
Penarol 2 Flamengo 0

European Cup

Salzburg 0 Villa 1
Betis 1 Frankfurt 1

Twente 3 Lazio 0
Brondby 0 Cologne 1

Inverness 1 Wolfsburg 8 ( eight )
Cork 3 Hamburg 0

Viking 0 Espanol 1
Leverkusen 3 Vitesse 0

Fairs Cup

Bilbao 2 Lille 1
Stuttgart 0 Gladbach 1

Liege 4 Braga 2
Deportivo 1 Valerenga 1

Glentoran 0 Hannover 3
Dunfermline 0 Innsbruck 1

Valencia 2 Coleraine 2
Gothenburg 2 Partizan 2

Intertoto Cup

St Johnstone 1 Consett 1
Dundee Utd 1 Coventry 1

Dundee 0 Bate 2
Marseille 0 Red Star 2

Raith 2 Rennais 2
Parma 1 Lisbon 1

Azogues 0 Wednesday 1
Cagliari 7 ( seven ) Crusaders 0

Copa SudAmerica

Cruz Azul 0 Nacional 4
Palmeiras 3 Fenix 6 ( six )

rest of the results with your turns later in the week...

League games will kickoff at 1000 hours this morning...

Thanks Paul, decent set of results. 

Nantes probably gone too attacking away to United but Flum and Wolfsburg with very good wins. 

Charlton in boring 1-0 win shocker, absolutely delighted with this one!!!!

Sorry, not done a preview in a while. Been busy.

Barcelona
The run of tough games continues with Valencia visiting the Camp Nou. They have a team littered with Spanish internationals like Koke pulling the strings in midfield and Asensio on the wing. Inaki Williams up front is also a threat to be wary of. The good news is that Pedri is back on the bench after injury and the team should be back to full strength next week. 
I have the benefit of writing this after the European results have come in. Delighted and relieved to have managed a win at the Stadio de Luz against Benfica. With 6 points after 2 tough away games I'm starting to feel like Barca can survive the group of death. 
Lots of transfer rumblings going on with huge names being thrown around. No movement at Barca this week although there are questions about succession planning for Benzema and Brozovic in particular.
The big news at Barcelona for all die hard fans is that the board of directors have finally sanctioned the building of a scoreboard. 

Nacional
Last week saw the team scrape a very uncomfortable 1-0 win away at a weak Cerrito side courtesy of a free kick from star midfielder Manuel Ugarte. This week it's Defensor who are a considerably tougher prospect and one of the traditional big 4 in Uruguayan football. The lack of a reliable goal scorer has cost Nacional over the last couple of seasons and is an issue the recruitment team need to address. No names are currently in the reckoning but keep tuned in as the search goes on.
Cruzazul didn't pose the threat in the Sudamericana the manager was worried they would although it will be interesting to see how wily old schemer, Keisuke Honda, played for them in midfield. 
International, box to box midfielder, Felipe Carballo, joins from sister club Rennais in a deal that potentially will see a midfield reshuffle in the reserve team. As already mentioned finding a cutting edge for Nacional is the big open question and needs to be answered quickly.

Hannover
Wolfsburg are the visitors to Hannover this week. Tom's team are head and shoulders about the rest in Germany at the minute. Current Champions with a stunning title win last season, they are already 3 points clear with a 100% record this season. Toughest job he has is fitting them all on the team bus!! Gnabry, Sterling, Richarlison, Bissouma, Adeyemi, Antonio, Mudryk, Kroos, Paljinha and Wijnaldum .... they have more stars than the Hollywood Walk of Fame and that just the midfield and attackers. To say I'm worried is a massive understatement.
I had no idea what to expect playing Glentoran in Europe and I'm pleased to have gotten through comfortably.
Jonathan David makes a welcome return from injury and will be on the bench for both games. Hannover's lack of depth needs to be addressed to help compete in a tricky Bundesliga and the scouting team are turning their eyes eastward to what are hopefully some relatively untapped markets. Let's see.

Rennais
This week's opposition are Grazelec who are surprising co-leaders in the League. It should prove an interesting game with an unchanged side and the new midfield bedding in. 
A draw away at Raith in Europe is slightly disappointing but not to be sniffed at as every point is vital. I was excited to be up against Gustavo Scarpa who, as every Forest fan will tell you, is either prime Baggio or prime Benny Hill with nothing in between. A 2-2 draw and Scarpa the main man at Raith says he probably played at his best in this game. Really interested to se how it played out.
Noah Okafor joins from Hannover as an additional wing option and will hopefully give Griezmann a rest for later in the season. The recruitment team are working on strengthening the defence as the manager feel it is the current Achilles heel when coming up against stronger teams.

Have a great week everyone and good luck!!

The players are ready and the ref checks his watch...

And the ref blows ( slow watch ) and good luck to everybody this week...

Independente 1 Velez 0 Gallagher on 3 minutes.
Corinthians 1 Fluminense 0 Vitinho.
Rennais 1 Gazelec 0 Fofana.

Schalke 1 Karlsruhe 0 MBappe header on 4 minutes.
Maritimo 0 Braga 1 Alaba header.

Genk 1 Bruges 0 Mahrez on 7 minutes.
Banstead 0 Villa 1 Giroud.

Santander 1 Sevilla 0 Alena on 8 minutes.
Nacional 1 Defensor 0 Gavi.

Manager is currently watching from the Zoo… remotely talking to his assistants…

Man City 1 Chelsea 0 Foden freekick on 10 minutes.
Lazio 1 Bologna 0 Rebic.

Ben@Plymouth wrote:

Manager is currently watching from the Zoo… remotely talking to his assistants…

Scouting ?

Plymouth 0 Watford 1 Rice on 11 minutes.
Santander 2 Sevilla 0 Fernandez.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Ben@Plymouth wrote:

Manager is currently watching from the Zoo… remotely talking to his assistants…

Scouting ?

The forwards from Nacional are all in the kids petting zoo bit. Sign says donkeys ..... can't miss them.

Leverkusen 1 Hamburg 0 Lewandowski on 14 minutes.