Football Manager Blog | Football Manager Guru | League Cup Champions and A Tales of Two Wonderkids

As you can read from the title, yes Wolves are crowned League Cup Champions. Yes, this is also my first piece of silverware with Wolves, ever since I started a new game with them. And god does it feel good, sure it’s no Premiership Title, but the fact that the Wolves squad was practically unknowns 2 years ago, and suddenly here we are, winners of the League Cup is extremely satisfying. We had the good fortune of having our injuries crisis clearing up as the finals with Chelsea approached and hence I was able to pick a full strength squad.

We played the exact same formation as Chelsea in the League Cup Finals, and won, just shows that my players were so much hungrier for the title. It was no fluke. We won convincingly.

In addition, this month saw the few wonderkids that I bought over the last transfer window, stepping up and winning games on their own. I think they might be read to stake a real claim on an actual position in the squad next season. Without further delay, I bring you the League Cup Final!

Everyone is psyched about the League Cup Final.

Of course, nobody expects us to beat Chelsea in an actual Cup Final, including our own fans.

I fielded the identical same formation as Chelsea, a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, and this is my current strongest lineup.

We started the game looking extremely lively with a couple of long shots. Ebanks-Blake fired us in front when Forren slipped him a beautiful pass from the by-line and he smashed be past Cech’s near post. I was really surprised that we managed to take the lead so early. Great stuff from the players.

Brilliant assist by Forren, this is what I saw in him when I paid to bring him to Wolves this season, he might not have the best start at Wolves, due to injury and what not, by what an assists. Ebanks-Blake looks fired up for this game. And it almost paid off when his cross was connected with a header from Milveskyi, if not for Cech, we would have been 2-0 up in the cup final.

The next turn of events was beyond my wildest dreams, I could not have asked for a better start from the squad. Richard Stearman played a brilliant through pass to Krivets, and Krivets always so consistent from 1-on-1 situations this season, made no mistake in putting it past Cech.

We were now 2-0 up in the Cup Finals. Chelsea barely had a clear chance on goal, credit to Kacar and Hasebe who worked really hard to close down the Chelsea midfielders. Lampard barely even saw the ball.

We continued to attack Chelsea, I was not ready to play defensive and depend on a 2 goal cushion to carry us through, it was too early in the game for us. The players were reminded not to be complacent in my half-time team talk. I guess Enyeama did not really heed my warning, because when Chelsea scored in the 55th minute, it was because he fumbled with the ball within the area after trying to catch a corner, resulting in an own goal from him.

Being 2-1 up made me a little edgy considering we were playing Chelsea. Off we went into the defensive mode, attacking only on the counter. My players gave it their all they hassled and hassled Chelsea whenever they had the ball, and they barely had time to pick out a decent pass in the 2nd half. Drogba had no service at all.

As the game crept closer and close to the 90th minute mark, we were more and more edgy, Chelsea had a few shots on target from far out now, could we hold on to our lead all the way past injury time?

Our fears were finally laid to rest in the 79th minute, when Hasebe took a brilliant free kick from the side of the pitch, and guess who connect with the ball? Yes, it’s Berra, the man who never failed to score from corners when I managed Wolves for the first season. Chelsea, were done and dusted. We played possession football and the rest was history. We were CHAMPIONS of the League Cup!

We had more shots on target than Chelsea, twice as much to be exact (:

Forren as named man of the match and for a good reason. Look at the passes that he is putting down the left. Most of them are into dangerous areas like the penalty box. His through pass for Ebanks-Blake was just magic. I’ve never seen such a performance from him before, he really knows how to pick his time to shine!

Well, my Wolves squad is always known to be bad at crossing balls into the box, due to our narrow tactics, but Forren provides an additional option now that be can put cross into the box. Guess we can see another dimension to Wolves’ attack next season.

Everyone was in a jubilant mood after the cup win, and I was honoured to be credited as the person who made history happen for Wolves.

Apparently,  I was not the only one who appreciated Forren’s contribution this game, his spectacular display was also recognized by Chelsea’s manager Ancelotti.

And with this win over Chelsea, we have already completed our goal for this season, which is to qualify for a European competition and we did just that. Of course we would still be chasing after a Champions League spot though.

After our emphatic win over Chelsea in the cup final, we hosted Middlesbrough at home. Ebanks-Blake continues his brilliant form for us when he latched onto a through ball from Krivets to finish the team move with a sweet shot. We lead 1-0 early on in the game. Boro hardly threatened at all, and seeing what an easy game it was for us in the first half, I decided that it will be safe to rest some players in the 2nd half. I took Ebanks-Blake off for the 2nd half, with a Man United game tie coming up, I thought it was wise to rest him. Kone was his replacement.

Milveskyi then put Boro to the sword when Verratti, another 2nd half substitute, brought the ball forward after a Boro corner was cleared by us. He brought the ball forward into the Boro half and waited for the perfect moment to release a perfectly weighted pass for Milveskyi to chase. Milveskyi was one on one with the keeper and the keeper simply had no chance 2-0. Verratti capped his super sub performance with his own goal in the dying moments of the game.

Krivets spotted him unmarked and squared a ball to him, and he hit a long shot first-time and he flew past the keeper for the 3rd goal of the game. Verratti looks really lively today. Final score, a 3-0 comfortable win over Middlesborough.

The next game was a crucial one for the title race, as we entertained Man Utd at home. United was 2nd in position and had 2 games over us before the game started. It was a nervy start from both sides, Ebanks-Blake nearly scored as Van der Saar rushed to tipped his looping header over the cross bar. It was a really messy game, both sides hardly got passes going for them due to the high work rate of players from both sides.

Milveskyi gave us something to cheer about just before half time. Ebanks-Blake who sprinted down the left flank, planted a cross into the box and Milveskyi rose above Vidic to connect with a looping header that Van der Saar could only flail at. We enter the dressing room looking good, leading 1-0. Forren was also performing great on the left, I hardly saw Valencia get past him at all.

Berbatov scored a brilliant solo goal that broke our heart, when he weaved past 2 defenders to plant a perfect shot past Enyeama, and from then on we were a really nervous team. United varied their tempo from time to time, fast playing and slow playing at times, and we can’t seem to keep up with the rapid changes in tempo. When Berbatov scored the 2nd goal, I was truly livid and furious.

How on earth did he manage to score from such a tight angle? It seemed like an angle that was quite impossible to shoot from. But that’s soccer for you, games are won by moments of brilliance. If not for Berbatov I believed we would never have been beaten by a United squad who seemed uncreative and lacked penetration.

Nevertheless, our fans were still pleased with our display against United. Even the media reckons so.

The next game we went to Preston, eager to erase that disappointing loss to Man United. Well, we had one major problem though, Enyeama was away on International duty, and I was stuck with a reserves goalkeeper who I frankly think is unable to make the cut in the EPL. But what choices do I have? Mental note to self: Get a promising keeper as backup for the new season.

Guess we just have to outscore Preston, because I surely was not going to depend on my keeper to make any good saves today. Milevskyi had two chances saved in the opening 10 minutes, but I guess Preston was going to crack from our onslaught sooner or later.

Verratti, who started in the place of Krivets due to excellent performance against Boro, showed why he is the best person after Krivets to play in the AMC role. Ebanks-Blake squared a ball to Verratti who fired a great shot past the keeper to open the scoring for us. We lead 0-1. Krivets would have been proud of that strike. However we considered perhaps the most bizarre goal the whole season, thanks to a certain poor reserve keeper.

He got chipped from the half way line because he was in a bad position! I was furious with him. I was so furious I had the urge to terminate his contract immediately after the match lol. He then conceded yet another goal in quick succession from a Preston free kick. We were now trailing 1-2 thanks to his incompetency.

Milveskyi was there to save the day though. He instantly pulled one back after the Preston free kick after he dribbled his way into the box and was pulled down to the ground. Penalty! Milveskyi makes no mistake from the penalty. We are now level at 2-2.

In the 2nd half, wonderkid Verratti rewarded my faith in him with a gem of a strike. Ebanks-Blake flicked a header into his path, and Verratti took the shot on the bounce, a volley that was unstoppable. We led 2-3. What a goal from Verratti.

Verratti justified why he is so many FM player’s favourite wonderkid when he put the game beyond doubt for us. Verratti was set through on goal by a magic pass from Milveskyi from our own half in the dying stages of the game and we scored to make the score 2-4. True, we might have a terrible keeper, but if we could outscore Preston I guess that does not really matter.

Wonderkid Verratti, 2 shots, 2 goals. 100% conversion rate!

The next game saw us yet another away game, this time to Fulham. Good news was that Enyeama is back with us! Verratti continues up front, following his magical performance at Preston. However he is playing in the CM role, and Krivets is back as AMC at the tip of the diamond. Milevskyi continues with his recent goal streak, when he finished off a through ball in the 9th minute from Krivets.

I am glad he stepped up in absence of Ebanks-Blake who was injured for the game. Santa Cruz equalised for them in the 35th minute, after we had a few chances to double our lead, which was prevented by their keeper who seems to be inspiring form. After the half-time, the players came out looking more motivated and hungry. I gave them a hairdryer session at half time, because I felt they were not giving their best at all. I guess it worked when Kone, playing in the absence of Ebanks-BLake stepped it up in the 55th minute to fire home a powerful volley.

I brought on Fonseca for Kone after Kone scored the goal, and Fonseca showed that he does still have some magic in those pair of old legs. In the 62nd minute, Fonseca evaded the challenge of a Fulham defender and unleashed a stinging low shot that the keeper had no chance of saving. Mission accomplished! We return home with all 3 points!

After the Fulham game, it saw us top of the table, in 1st place. And this time, Man United had no more games in hand. They played 33 games as well. And the best part, was that we were 4 points in the lead! What an accomplishment. This is far beyond my wildest dreams. Apparently Man United dropped a few points in recent games.

Just a few more games remains, and could Wolves really go all the way and accomplish a magical season? Can the trophy cabinet see the EPL trophy that has been missing for a really really long time? Only time will tell my friends. Come back next time, and we will know how Wolves fared in the title run in (: