bruno

I’ve decided to alter the storytelling a bit. There will be no more monthly updates. I will write match reports and write about what happens in between the matches.
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Manchester City vs. Leeds United – City of Manchester Stadium
Premier League

Squad: Gianluigi Buffon; Carles Puyol, Ian Harte, Lúcio, Walter Samuel; Jermaine Pennant, Francesco Totti, Andrés D’Alessandro, Jermaine Jenas; Adriano, Alan Smith

Report: A badly placed Manchester City needed to win this match to climb in the table. But they also knew facing Leeds would be no walk in the park so they started with a defensive formation. And to a start it worked well for them, closing down the space for us. Adriano and Alan Smith was time after time outmanoeuvred by Richard Dunne. However when Dunne picked up an injury in the 25th minute their defence collapsed. Adriano wasn’t late to take advantage of the situation; he broke the offside trap to find himself clean through on goal. David James advanced trying to catch the ball at Adriano’s feet but the Brazilian curled it to the left of James. A rerun almost took place minutes later but this time Adriano was in an offside position. James made many fine saves in the first half, and in the beginning of the second, to keep City in the game. But Andrés D’Alessandro blemished the home fans hope of an equaliser when he in the 68th minute headed the ball past an edgy David James. However Steve McManaman revived their hope of a tie in the 81st minute. But Gerard Wiekens took down Adriano in the penalty area 7 minutes later and Francesco Totti put away the penalty fairly uncomplicated to shatter City’s hope once more. And in the finishing seconds of the match Alan Smith managed to get his name onto the goalscoring sheet after turning deftly on the ball and place it to the right just inside the post.

Final score
Man City 1: McManaman 81’
Leeds 4: Adriano 31’, D’Alessandro 68’, Totti pen 88’, Smith 90’


Post-match interview – Sky Sports interview with Paul Campbell

Reporter A spectacular display tonight from your team Mr Campbell, wasn’t it?

PC We showed some good quality tonight, yes.

Reporter This was Ronaldo’s second game in a row on the bench. Why?

PC Well, mainly it’s because he collided with Gigi Buffon on training a couple of days ago which resulted in a gashed leg. Also Alan Smith has been in outstanding form lately so he has earned his place in the squad. And I can’t complain in Eddies ability to pick the best team for the night as Alan scored tonight too.

Reporter Yes he has certainly showed he wants a place in the starting eleven. Eddie and his men has clearly showed now at the beginning of the season that they have a team that will be up there, fighting for the title but you go all the way?

PC It’s too soon to say with certainty that we’re going to win the premiership but we have a good chance of doing so. We just have to keep playing like we have done so far and hopefully we will be fortunate not to get any major injury concerns.

Reporter Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that he didn’t think that you had any chance of winning the title this season. I quote: So far they have been lucky. But at some point their luck will run out. And then they will drop to where they belong, at the bottom of the table. What’s your response to that?

PC What can I say? He’s just annoyed due to the fact that United are nine points behind us. And I’ve got a message to that red-nosed Scotsman: wait till you come to Elland Road. Then we will show you how football is supposed to be played.

Reporter One final question then. Are you currently looking for anymore players?

PC I can say that we have our eyes on a few players yes. At the moment we’re happy with the players we’ve got. But you never know.

Reporter Back to studio then…

Stings

Good story I think I might just do the same thing with 1860 Munich, since I've just finished winning the Premier League and Champions League with Manchester United.

P.S Buy Xabi Alonso!

bruno

Thanks Saha... But I'm not sure about buying Xabi
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As I looked out of my kitchen window, I could see that the pavement was cold and ice-covered; cracks could be seen at some places. I don’t remember the winter ever being so cold as this year, and it hadn’t even started yet. However I hadn’t been home in England in the wintertime since I left for the states so what did I know? Even with the sun shining it was a real cold day, with temperatures around –13 degrees Celsius. The chilly wind didn’t exactly help either. I poured some coffee in a mug, walked to the living room. I picked up the remote and turned on the TV, changing between a few channels before finishing my coffee and turning off the TV again. I got up and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. Damn your handsome I thought with a smile on my face. I put on my cap and drove off to the office.

It felt like an eternity before I finally made it to my office. Everyone within the organization seemed to have something they needed to talk to be about this day, or at least they wanted to shake my hand. But I made my way through to my office. Just as I sat down in my leather chair, head scout Adrian Heath walks in.

AH You look like Mr red nose Ferguson.
He laughed.

PC I’m not in the mood today. What do you want?

AH As you probably know I’ve been in Italy for the last month.

PC: Yeah, and?
I looked at him.

AH I must say that I’m a bit disappointed with my trip. I wasn’t impressed at all by any of the players I saw. Except for this one player. You ever heard of an 18 year old called Riccardo Montolivo?

PC Can’t say I have, no.

AH He’s something extraordinary if truth be told. He reminds me of Jermaine Pennant. Great crossing abilities and he possesses an astonishing technique. I strongly suggest to you that you launch a bid for him before it’s too late. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona had scouts in Italy during this period. And from the look of it I could tell they were impressed.

PC How much?

AH Eh… I’m afraid I don’t understand.

PC Are you a complete imbecile or are you just kidding me? I meant how much do they want for him?

AH I’d guess around £7-8 million

PC You’d guess? I don’t want any guesses. I want answers! Go talk to Eddie. I’ll leave it up to him… As I said earlier, I’m not in a very good frame of mind today.

AH Ok. Damn your easily upset today.

As Adrian left my office I got up, walked to the window and stood staring out. Despite of it being very cold, it really was a lovely day with the sun shining. The trees had long since lost their leafs, only branches reaching for the blue, cloudless sky. The frost covered the grass nice and thick, making it look all silvery. Perhaps I had overreacted?

As the clock turned 21.00 I figured that it was time for me to head home. It had been a long day at the office and I was exhausted. I gathered my papers, put them in my brown leather briefcase and closed it with a click. I put on my coat and closed the door to my office. As I came out into the winter night, a chill was sent down my spine. It was still freezing outside, even colder than before.

As I strolled down to the parking lot I heard some noise behind me but when I turned around nothing was there. Perhaps it was my imagination playing me tricks. It most likely was, I had been on edge nighttimes ever since after the explosion last month. As I put my key in the car lock I felt a blow to the back of my head, making me fall to the ground. I was kicked time after time. Then, suddenly, the kicking stopped. “Get the hell away from Leeds United and take your filthy money with you. If you don’t, you’ll not be so lucky next time”, a man voice whispered in me ear. The last I remembered before blacking out were the footsteps of the perpetrator, running away.

bruno

I tried to open my eyes but the eyelids had got stuck together. Finally, after numerous tries, I managed to get them open. However the light blinded me and I could see nothing. It felt like I had been run over by a train. My head was throbbing and it felt like someone was poking my abdomen with knifes. I slowly discerned the contours of a lighting fitting in the ceiling. It was white, with the cover almost completely transparent. My eyes slowly, minute by minute, regained full fitness, and I realised I was in the hospital. I tried to get up but I fell back onto the bed. The door opened. A nurse entered the room, carrying a silver tray. At a first look she looked quite attractive.

Nurse So you’re awake now.

I nodded.

Nurse How do you feel then, sir? You have a quite nasty gash at the back of your head.

PC I’ve understood that I’m in the hospital, but why? What happened?

Nurse Don’t you remember?

I shook my head, not remembering much at the moment

Nurse According to the police a witness saw you being attacked, and then kicked several times, by a camouflaged man, or woman.

PC Yeah, I remember... But it wasn’t a woman, that’s for sure… Do you know if the police around?

Nurse Yes, they have a officer sitting outside your room. Do you want me to get him?

PC Yes, please. Could you?

PC Certainly sir.

She left the room, almost marching out, the door closed behind her. Shortly after a police officer entered the room, dressed in uniform. He was quite long and skinny, almost 2 metres long. He sat down and introduced himself as officer Peter Jones. I didn’t feel the need for me introduce myself; I started to tell him what had happened. During the whole conversation, or me storytelling if you like since he didn’t speak much, he took notes. I figured it was to make it easier to write a report. Before not to long he suggested that I should try to get some sleep, before he left the room in a hurry. I was alone once more.

retired_kimmymarlo

I'm really enjoying the dialogue to this story, it's very engaging. KUTGW :thup:

bruno

Thanks Andy, I'll try to keep it up...
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Meanwhile

A very suspiciously looking man lies flat on a mattress in a corner of this, more than a little run down, apartment building. Outside in the corridor crack addicts and junkies can be heard cursing and muttering; making much noise figuring out when they’ll be able to pipe up again. Eventually the sounds wear off.

The man, who have been asleep for quite some while now, suddenly wakes up; all sweaty, hands trembling, heart pumping. He looks around quite anxiously, seeing his place look like it’s always done. The apartment is cluttered; some people would say lived in. The wallpaper is torn away at a few places on the wall, to reveal flowery wallpaper underneath. The wallpaper flowers are supposed to be red roses, but the grime has made them look pale; more pink than red.

After lying in his bed for a few minutes, the man gets up, walks across the room to the window. He looks out at the surrounding buildings and rooftops. He ponders something; not for very long though. He picks his coat off of the coat rack and leaves the apartment; the door being left wide open.

bruno

Leeds United vs. Chelsea Football Club - Elland Road
Premier League

Squad: Gianluigi Buffon; Carles Puyol, Ian Harte, Lúcio, Walter Samuel; Jermaine Pennant, Francesco Totti (c), Andrés D’Alessandro, Jermaine Jenas; Adriano, Ronaldo

Report: Having been a bit unlucky at the start of the season, Chelsea had climbed in the table, currently holding a 3rd position. But with Scott Parker, Adrian Mutu, Hernán Crespo and Juan Sebastián Verón all on the injury list they had a tough match ahead of them.

And the away side couldn’t have got off to a much worse start in front of the 40 000 home fans. 13 minutes into the first half Adriano bore down on goal, skipped past John Terry after a dreadful attempt from the Englishman of stealing the ball and smashed the ball to the left of an abandoned Carlo Cudicini.

Still it was early in the match and Chelsea still had time to change things around. But it didn’t look good as we created chance after chance. Without the marvellous goalkeeping of Cudicini, which prevented us from extending our lead, Chelsea would have surely been 6-0 down even before the break instead of 1-0.

Claudio Ranieri made a few changes to his side at the break; replacing Luis Enrique with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Geremi stepped off to be replaced by Joe Cole. At a start they both added some excitement and some glimmer to Chelsea but soon they also faded away; due to a wonderful midfield display from Jermaine Jenas who was at their backs all the time.

Although Cudicini continued to play well, making a rock solid performance, Chelsea conceded one more goal before the match was over. Again it was Adriano who outsmarted, for the night, a jittery and rubbish John Terry. Terry, who ironically was made captain this night, was booed out when he left the pitch after the match.

Leeds 2: Adriano 13’, 63’
Chelsea 0:

retired_pahuja_satish

good stuff, KIU.

retired_kellyk

Great story very engaging.

bruno

Thanks guys...