Part 144: Chapter the Eleventh: Butterflies of the stomach.
Chapter the Eleventh: Butterflies of the stomach.April 20, 2023-May 27, 2023
Winning the league title will hinge on whether Arsenal and Manchester City drop points. City has a murderers row of matches coming up, with three games in two weeks against their cross town archrivals Man U in the Champions League semifinal and the FA Cup final as well as a season ending trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. I could see them dropping points pretty easily in their league matches considering how tough their schedule is. Arsenal, though, has only four matches remaining as they went out to Internazionale in the quarterfinal of the Europa League. They face relegation contenders Sheffield United and Southampton in two of those four matches. Manchester United is three up on us, but we play them in our second to last match of the season and if we beat them will likely slide by on goal differential (currently 3 goals in their favor).
vs. Reading, April 22, 2023
Premier League
It's title contender with everything to play for against midtable squad with nothing to play for. I like our chances, even though I'm holding a couple players in reserve for our midweek tilt with Real Madrid. Players are starting to feel the burn, with their match fitness at less than 100% due to fatigue from the long season- we've played 60 matches so far this year going back to our American tour last July. At least Blackburn is also looking tuckered, they don't have nearly the squad depth we have and are starting five players with stamina at or below 92%.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1
Starting 11: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga (c), Hammatt, Loseille, Morvan, Petts, Argenti, Stringel, Taborda, Bastable.
Subs: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Todd, Mair, Julio, Mujkic, Aarts.
The Bastard gives us the lead in the 2nd minute, grabbing his own rebound from a Petts corner that youngster Steve Reed earned. Two minutes later Rodrigo Taborda jukes his man out of his boots at the wide edge of the area, while Isaac Stringel arrives late in the box with no marker and has all the time in the world to take a touch and then put it past the keeper. Two minutes after that, Taborda is tackled in the box, but the ball rolls straight to Stringel, who had drifted out wide. Stringel floats a perfect cross into the six yard box that Bastard redirects inside the near post. It's the 7th minute of play and we're ahead three-nil.
After that early goal glut Reading has some success on the counter, grabbing one back before the half hour is up, but Rocky Bastable completes his hat trick in the 36th minute after a wonderful one touch pass from Morvan sets him up. He runs to the corner flag and is mobbed by his teammates. We enter the half up three, but we've allowed too many good chances for me to be entirely happy with our performance. I change our tactics so that we're not pushing as high up the pitch and order the players to keep their form, and am rewarded with a much better defensive performance when play resumes. That lets me sub out Petts and Bastable after an hour, and gives super-sub Julio a chance to score another goal off the bench, his sixth of the year. After 34 matches we sit a point behind City and Arsenal and three back of Manchester United. For all my moaning about the end of our title aspirations we're still very much alive.
Man of the Match: Rocky Bastable
Wrexham 5-1 Reading
Loseille has been amazing as an 18 year old, he's a gigantic talent and will eventually supplant Suslov as our starting left back in a year or two. It's also nice to see Stringel play well, he hasn't set the world on fire yet but he's got time to grow.
Fingers crossed.
vs. Real Madrid, April 25, 2023
Champions League, Semifinal
I want a 4-0 demolition job here. Last year we took a 1 goal lead to Madrid and suffered our worst loss in years. We played well against Real Madrid this year in the group stage, winning 3-0 at home and losing 1-0 away, but that was months ago and we can't afford to let up even an inch against one of the best teams in the world.
The right side of the Madrid defense is slooooow. Fran Abarzuza is still an amazing player, but at 36 his physical peak is half a decade in the past. Meanwhile young Mikel Santamaria has all the potential in the world, but suffers from a very low top speed that's only partly ameliorated by his good positioning and anticipation. I'm going to be unleashing Mujkic and Suslov down that side of the field, they could be a key to our success today. That's not without risk, Matias Mercado will find more room to operate in as a result, but it's one I'm willing to take.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey, Petts, Parr, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Hammatt, Mair, Taborda, Stringel, Argenti.
Things are looking promising early, and our away tie gets easier when star defensive midfielder Johannes Witt picks up a yellow card and earns a suspension for the next match in the 12th minute. I look like a genius five minutes later when Mujkic finds himself 1v1 with Abarzuza and the old man cannot keep up with our captain, allowing him to volley in a pass from Parr. Mercado proves the danger of leaving him space to operate and equalizes just before the half, but we're still playing better than our opponent. Parr picked up a slight injury in the first half, and I pull him for Argenti. I also order Suslov to stay further back and deal with Mercado in concert with Todd.
Mujkic starts the second half with what looks like his second goal, but it's called back as he was just a foot offside when the ball left Shirra's boot. Real Madrid loses another player for the next match in the 57th minute when their star left back picks up a yellow. Bastable finally makes good on the chances he'd been accumulating all evening, using his noggin on a Meteor corner. Despite forcing Real Madrid's keeper to make several more saves, and despite Mercado getting loose for a second time in our penalty area, the scoreline stays the same. We take a slightly disappointing 2-1 victory. We'll need at least one goal in Madrid, something we haven't done since Shirra scored during a friendly back in July of 2021.
Man of the Match: Matthias Laux
Wrexham 2-1 Real Madrid
With great crowds comes great gate receipts.
I don't think we're going to make it out of that group...
Why couldn't we have gotten England's draw?
At Watford, April 29, 2023
Premier League
Manchester City lost to Derby, we will now finish higher than them if we win out. Watford are on a streak, having beaten Manchester City 2 weeks ago and risen to 9th place on the table. The motto for this match is “don't blow it.”
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Feruga, Hammatt, Loseille, Mair, Petts, Taborda, Stringel, Mujkic (c), Aarts.
Subs: El Sayed, Cirjak, Todd, Morvan, Julio, Parr, Bastable.
Aarts has an attempt stonewalled early, then Stringel is likewise denied shortly thereafter. This feels like it might be One Of Those Games, where we play extremely well and fall 1-0 because we can't finish. Then Taborda scores in first half stoppage time, and I'm breathing a bit easier. Kovacevic makes a diving effort to prevent the equalizer, and we're given a gift by the referee on a very poor penalty call. Mair converts from the spot with just over 20 minutes left to give us a safe lead. It's a good thing, as Watford pull one back immediately, but any glimmer of hope they had is quashed when Bram Aarts makes up for a day's worth of scuffling with a late goal. We finish with a solid win and having rested players for our next match against Real Madrid.
Man of the Match: Rodrigo Taborda
Watford 1-3 Wrexham
He scored 6 goals in Man U's 8-0 annihilation of Newcastle, and is now only 1 goal off the real record held by Luis Suarez and Cristiano Ronaldo. That ridiculous display gives Manchester United a significant advantage in goal differential, we will have to be very good for the rest of the season to top them. If we come in second because of GD I'll screech like a branded mustang.
This squad won't be quite as strong as the one that won the CONCACAF U20 tournament, because a couple of the players will be making their senior team debut in the Gold Cup and others are nursing serious injuries. But we should still be at least as good as Romania and Morocco, even if France's squad is going to beat us around the head and neck until we're barely conscious. I wonder if James Loseille will be on the French team.
Sorry France, we're going to need Loseille at the end of the year.
At Real Madrid, May 3, 2023
Champions League, Semifinal
It's the day before my birthday! You wouldn't want to disappoint me for my birthday, would you? Real Madrid are missing two of their best defensive players, both suspended thanks to yellow cards picked up in the last match. Manchester United have already dispatched Manchester City, they await the winner of our tilt.
The suspensions have caused trouble for Real Madrid, whatever Welsh legend Shaun Davies has been in his career the one position he isn't suited for is fullback, with 10 Tackling and Positioning. He's also well into his physical decline, with Pace and Acceleration of 10. Hopefully Argenti can make something of that, I don't like our chances of keeping a clean sheet.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Counter
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey, Petts, Argenti, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga, Mair, Morvan, Taborda, Stringel.
Meteor flies down the left flank in the sixth minute, easily beating the aged Abarzuza and shambling centerback Martin Henning down the pitch before sending a cross into the penalty area. We have three attackers onside and awaiting the cross, and all of them have beaten the other centerback and Shaun Davies to create a 3 on 1 with the keeper. The cross finds Argenti at the far post, and his header gives us the vital away goal and a two goal lead. Eat our dust, slowpokes!
Mercado keeps getting free despite being marked by both Suslov and Todd, but Kovacevic is able to deny him twice in the first fifteen minutes. Real Madrid whine about not being given a penalty after Mercado earns them a corner, but the ref stonily ignores their plaintive caterwauling. Madrid do pull back to within a goal after half an hour courtesy their Italian striker, who has had more room to operate thanks to our focus on Mercado. Then, just before halftime, we make another rapacious run down the pitch at the Madrid defense. Richard Petts takes a shot that hammers the crossbar, and Shaun Davies proves his Welsh loyalty forever when he puts the ball into his own net as Bastable is bearing down on him. With two away goals Madrid now need to beat us 4-2 if they're to survive.
Our counter attack remains deadly when the game restarts. In the 53rd minute Shirra finds Argenti 10 yards past Davies as he enters the final third and with Real Madrid's centerback wildly out of position. It's a simple pass and dribble, and we're up 3-1. Real Madrid need a miracle. More importantly, they need four goals in forty minutes. They get the first one quickly, and another with 15 minutes remaining, and then a third in the 82nd minute. I was a fool to count them out, now we're walking the knifes edge. But in the fifth minute of three minutes stoppage time, and what seems like a dozen last minute corners for Real Madrid, we're going to the Champions League final, which will be held in this stadium come May 27th.
Real Madrid (5) 4-3 (5) a Wrexham
Our just desserts. We'll get another £8.9m if we win and £5.5m even if we lose, Champions League money is huge for a relatively small club like ours.
I'm going to be livestreaming this match. If we're lucky, we'll be going for the double.
The joy keeps coming. Sheffield United are fighting desperately to stay up, and just did themselves a lot of good by taking down Manchester United. Now only Arsenal can stop us from winning the league if we win our three remaining matches.
Thank god. Norwich have been a menace for Wrexham, second only to the Manchesters in taking points from us.
Hahahahaha. From the Champions League to relegated in seven years. From being worth close to half a billion pounds to being worth only £86m in that same time. What a catastrophe.
Home again, home again, jiggity jig.
I think we're going to need another expansion. We were only drawing about 18,000 a game to Wolverhampton, but that was an hour and a half trip for our fans. I suspect we're going to pack the house every match now that we're back in town. The Racecourse Grounds can be expanded another 5,000 or so seats, which would take us to 28,000. Hopefully that upgrade will be quicker than this one.
This will run us £1.4m a year, but Chivas is located in LA and has been one of the three best teams in MLS over the last three seasons. It's a good link for Wrexham, though I feel bad for the new Wrexham supporters who will have to wake up at 2am local time to catch our games live.
City avenged their defeat in the Champions League with a three-nil pasting of United in the FA Cup final. No one is winning a triple this year.
Their CL and EPL bonuses are going to be a good deal larger.
vs. Blackburn Rovers, May 7, 2023
Premier League
Let's give the fans something to cheer about in our first match back at the Racecourse Ground since the end of last season. A win sees us pass City, pull even with United, and one point back of Arsenal. Blackburn are having a good season, sitting in 7th place thus far.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Feruga (c), Todd, Suslov, Morvan, Petts, Parr, Julio, Taborda, Stringel.
Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, Hammatt, Mair, Shirra, Argenti, Aarts.
The Aston Villa-Arsenal match is taking place at the same time as this one, and Arsenal go down 1-0 in the first minute. If Arsenal draw or lose our fate will rest in our own hands. In our match all Julio seems to do is score, giving us the lead in the 27th minute with a nicely placed shot following Stringel's assist. Taborda earns a penalty after being tripped in the area, and Petts converts from the spot to give us a 2-0 lead. Then Taborda bends a free kick around the Blackburn wall just minutes later to run us out to 3-0. Blackburn close to 3-1 after the restart, and our uninspiring second half performance gives them several more chances to make a game of it. We still win, while Arsenal never finds an equalizer. We're also now three back of Manchester United and one behind Manchester City in goal differential, which opens up a path to the title even if we manage just a draw against United.
Man of the Match: Rodrigo Taborda
Wrexham 3-1 Blackburn
And this is why Loseille is not with the French U19 squad. He'll be in the lineup against Manchester United, which is pretty heady stuff for someone who only turned 18 earlier in the season.
vs. Manchester United, May 10, 2023
Premier League
Well this is a suitably epic match for the final week of the season. We're not dead if we draw, but both City and United have better goal differentials right now and it would be hard to pass both of them on the last day of the season. A win will put us in pole position and only needing a victory against Derby to claim the league. With four teams having realistic hopes for the title going into the final week of matches this will go down as one of the great seasons in Premier League history.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Loseille, Bailey, Petts, Argenti, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Hammatt, Mair, Taborda, Stringel, Aarts.
Our fans have their hearts catch in their throats when Bastable sends it wide in the first minute from a corner. Their hearts keep trying to escape when a brilliant save by Kovacevic denies Anton Leadbitter in the 6th minute. United are outplaying us on our own turf and have significantly more possession, but we switch up to a counter-attacking style. That catches them off guard, and allows a quick strike on a Mujkic to Shirra cross. At the end of the half Argenti has two great chances to score but biffs both.
The crowd is brought to their feet twice in the early second half, first when Cirjak launches a cracker that skims the crossbar and then when Meteor ripples the side netting, but it's still only a one goal lead after an hour. I replace a fatigued Petts with Stuart Mair in a defensive role alongside Bailey, we need to avoid giving up any easy chances. Just as I'm done shouting that exact thing from the sideline, Kovacevic is called upon to make an out of this world save, and I grimace profoundly. For the final ten minutes I drop the team back into the old 4-5-1, with Mair playing as an anchor man and Shirra dropping deeper into the midfield. It works. United don't threaten again, and we're one match away from winning the Premier League.
Man of the Match: Vid Kovacevic
Wrexham 1-0 Man United
We play midtable Derby, who have a very outside shot of Europa League qualification if they win while West Ham and Aston Villa lose. Arsenal plays host to Southampton, who need a win if they want to have any hope of escaping relegation. United host Aston Villa, who are two points back of Europa League qualification. Lastly, City have the sternest test, having to travel to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea.
Oh, right, there's things besides this final week of matches. I've been putting off determining the USMNT and US U20 rosters for the summer tournaments because of Premier League drama. The team announcements aren't until May 19th and 20th, so that's going to wait until after we either win or lose the league.
Really? You're only making 1.7k/wk right now, kid.
Darn tootin', El Compadrito. But don't get cocky.
Manchester United are thankful that we held on to beat Real Madrid and the stadium will actually be a neutral site.
At Derby County, May 14, 2023
Premier League
This one is for all the marbles. A win and the best team in England will hail from Wales. A draw or loss and we likely choke away the title. It's all hands on deck, the Champions League final isn't for another thirteen days and there's no point in worrying about fatigue now.
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Morvan, Petts, Argenti, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable.
Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga, Bailey, Taborda, Parr, Stringel.
Derby put an early jolt into our supporters, with two very good attacking moves that each could have resulted in a goal, while Arsenal jumps out to a quick two-nil lead over Southampton. Arsenal is the only team we'll beat on goal differential if we draw. In the 9th minute Mark Bloem puts City ahead of Chelsea, and we fall into second place. We retake the top in the 31st minute when Shirra puts a great touch on a long cross from Suslov to give us the lead. Then as the clock ticks away in first half stoppage time the ref misses a penalty that could have been called against Petts, and Derby is suitably outraged heading into the lockers. We are 45 minutes from glory.
Chelsea equalize just after the half, while United is still in a goalless tie with Aston Villa. So long as those results hold we'll take the title even with a draw. We continue to trade punches with Derby, and they crack the woodwork twice as the opening hour draws to a close. Bastable has a great chance on a counter after steaming upfield, but can't put the ball on net. Instead, it's the Golden Boy who scores his second of the game, aided by Meteor and a defensive lapse on the part of Derby in the 69th minute. As the announcers gush over Shirra's “all-conquering display in midfield” I pull Petts for Bailey and Cirjak for Reed and drop into the 4-5-1. It's time to defend our lead. With ten minutes left we're still up two, while United had their chance to take the lead over Villa dashed by a missed penalty, Chelsea has kept up with City in a 2-2 match, and Southampton has bravely drawn level with Arsenal. It's ours to lose.
I'm worried about doing just that when Derby score from a corner in the 85th minute, as Arsenal take the lead back from Southampton and United finally find a goal, but in the fourth minute of stoppage time Rocky Bastable is fouled just outside of the box. Meteor steps up to take the free kick and delivers it to Justin Bailey. It's fitting that the final goal of our season is scored by the man who's been with us since day one, as his shot through traffic hits the back of the net and secures our first Premier League title.
Man of the Match: The Golden Boy
Derby 1-3 Wrexham
Pop champagne!
We are the champions, my friends. We won the league despite our big summer signing missing most of the season, our star striker seeing his output drop precipitously, and our captain only making 16 appearances due to injury and international obligations.
Make it rain, HR. They earned it.
We can certainly afford it.
This is the first time since 2015 that a club from outside Manchester has won the league. It's the first time since 2005 that a Manchester club hasn't finished in first or second place. Damn right I'm awesome.
Well, I did tell you that I was making a title challenge.
I do have some bad news, though. We won't have another record high finish next season.
About time he got axed. It's a pity that it took Southampton's relegation for it to happen.
None of our players take home awards this season, though Petts is second runner up for goal of the year. John Baxter fails to match the record of 31 goals in a 38 game season, and that's a big reason why Manchester United didn't win the league.
We only have one player who even makes the EPL team of the year, Matthias Laux. That's fewer than fifth place Chelsea. His selection triggers a modest bonus.
I guess it's fitting that I win my second EPL manager of the year award if the world thinks that our players weren't all that great and yet we still won the silverware.
Back to work. The U20 tournament team is limited to 20 players, meaning I had to leave out some very good prospects because none of them play defense.
The senior team was an easier choice, but we're without our second best player, Bobby Padilla, because of a three game suspension. This is just the preliminary squad, in a few days I'll have to cut it down to 23.
The national team hasn't won crap with other players. Perhaps you should trust the guy who just finished dragging a team from the Conference National to the top of the Premier League?
We could end up facing our own player during the tournament. It looks like Mexico is bringing their A team, that makes them big favorites to win the competition, but we've still got a punchers chance.
This is the guy who got Cardiff relegated from the Premiership and was sacked from Liverpool in less than five months. Not a great choice, Sky Shadowing.
The offseason has disappeared now that I'm a national team coach. I just hope the Gold Cup and Toulon Tourney are both over in time for me to put together a respectable group for the Copa America.
Well, the Toulon Tournament will be over, at least.
It's a good squad, but not as good as Mexico. None of that matters for the moment, though.
It's time to focus on what's important...
Aww, thanks. I'm glad there's at least one top level coach who isn't constantly trash talking me.
We beat them for the league, we can beat them for the continental title as well.
No matter what happens in the Champions League final, we have every right to be proud of our season. Only 23 other teams have won the top division in English football, and no team has joined that rare fraternity since Nottingham Forest did it back in 1978. Only five teams have won the title in the Premier League era, and four of those teams are Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, and Chelsea. So lets take a moment and look back at how far we've come, as a team languishing in non-league football taking a chance on a just sacked American nobody.
