Hello! Day 10 will see four knockout games which means…four more managers will depart. Today we’ll be looking at the left side of the draw, whether you want to call it the top half or not is up to you.
DaveMathieson84 vs MarkCarruthers_
Kicking us off is Group B winner Dave Mathieson. I’ve waxed lyrical about this side already, which in hindsight is like patting myself on the back seeing as I technically made it (albeit at random).
Mark has had some time to think and has concluded Witschge for Rob Lee will allow Gazza to flourish. Did you know Richard Witschge played for Blackburn? Look it up. Will 442 conquer all?
Spoiler: it won’t. Owen, Ricken and Anderson score in 11 minutes to all but end the contest, which sparks back into life for 2 minutes when Petit of all people reduces the arrears. Sonny Anderson ends all hope and then future Barnsley manager Ismael sees red for little to no reason. It ends 4-1.
Twice as good. Mark can have no complaints.
Campos and Sol were a two man wall trying to stop a tidal wave of attacks. Would a wall stop a wave? What does stop a wave? Not Slaven Bilic it seems.
Let’s see if match two is any closer.
CornishZak vs FPLHints
Zak has abandoned the lopsided formation that was designed to see off Philip…but didn’t. It’s an interesting looking formation.
Ash was our 2018 winner and he’s tinkered his way to the knockouts once again. The formation starts as below, it won’t finish as this.
Zak takes a very early lead and Ash immediately reacts on 9 minutes, subbing Cois for Scholl and having a reshuffle. It somehow works, Paganin equalises on 34 before WILMMMAAAAA puts Ash in front. The sub, Scholl, is then subbed as the brick wall is assembled. Zak tries and throws on all the weapons at his disposal but nothing lands, shots on target are at a premium. Ash advances!
A strange old game where Zak’s shot accuracy was awful. Ash was bold with his changes and they somehow paid off.
The defenders get the job done. Zak will wonder what might have been.
Another el baldico up next between two former winners.
RossBell1984 vs Winkveron
Ross sticks with what got him here, this Nikolai special. There’s a recall for Fowler but otherwise, the very German looking team continues as is.
Dan Winky sticks with 2-3-1-2-2. It doesn’t always stack up well against human opposition but with a front 4 of Signori, Weah, Dani and Djorkaeff, there’s every chance it will start.
Robbie Fowler has turned up! Only 3 minutes are on the clock when the man dubbed God by Liverpool fans opens the scoring, much to the delight of Man Utd fan Dan. Meanwhile, Leeds representative Ross is 2-0 and then 4-1 up, Tony Yeboah causing carnage and Marc Wilmots bending it like Beckham before that was even a thing. Pep Guardiola pulls one back but that’s as good as it gets for Dan, who bows out.
TWENTY EIGHT SHOTS. A standard bar order for these two but Dan had twice as many shots only to score half as many goals as Ross. Poetry, of sorts.
Unsurprisingly, Marchegiani, Worns and Kohler stack up well.
Good times for Ross but who will come out on top in the final match of today?
KingOfTheRooks vs S4ooter
Andrew has had a memorable season blogging on this very site and ChampManFans and his love affair with Phil Neville has seen him put total faith in this Man Utd fullback pulling double duty as a left back/goalkeeper.
Dan has Ronaldo. Can Phil Neville stop Ronaldo? Figo is also back from injury and there’s a tweak to the system.
It takes Figo one minute to mark his return and he runs through and slots beyond young Phil. It’s a real blow for Phil, his direct opponent on the right wing getting the better of him. Somehow, that is the only goal of the game. Andrew throws the lot at it, and by that I mean Jorge Cadete, but finds Ravelli in great form. David James looks on, shocked.
1 shot on target, 1 goal. Can we blame Phil?
Dumas and Chamot join Ravelli as the key men. A severe lack of spark from the Rook Kings.
With that, the left side of the draw is complete! Our two former champions are left in this side of the draw but somebody from the right hand side will make the final and have the chance to become a first time winner.
We’ll find out who that is tomorrow so join us then for more drama. Bye for now!