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Pre-Game Analysis
It's rivalry week and we will be hitting up our third of five mutual supporters for a rivarly game, Doug5984's Louisiana Cyclones. Two seasons ago, Morrisville beat us 4-2 under clouds. Last season, we beat ausonny's Bees 1-0 (who just missed out on joining IV.21 when Iowa beat them last week) in the rain. This week, more rain. We'll be trotting out our "new look" starting lineup for next season with Little now on the A Team at offensive middie, Koos Teepen now playing offensive wing, and Arcadio Sanchez at wingback (even with his form slump).

Prediction
We're putting out our starters which means I'll be putting up a 75ish NSI and either a solid or excellent midfield. He'll be putting up 70-75 but only an inad midfield. Midfield trumps defense: 3-1 Hippos.


Gameday Live
Date: 11/6/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 10002275
Arena: The Hippodrome
Crowd: 1306

Due to an all-day shower, 1306 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at The Hippodrome. Hippopotami tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Cristiano, Schrader, Sánchez - Teepen, Benito, Connors, Little, Starks - Phelan, Spagnuolo.

Louisiana had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Hendrix - Stubblefield, Rusu, Blalock, Rusu, Moore - Crespo, Kumar, Oskarsson - Tunna, Pedrosa Garcia.

Hippopotami seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Louisiana clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could, using their excellent talent for it. Almost all the way down to the corner flag Koos Teepen somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for Mick Starks who struck for 1 - 0. Hippopotami put their lead ahead another goal as Gualtiero Spagnuolo struck home the 2 - 0 goal, after an attack from the left setting him up unmarked with the keeper. Gualtiero Spagnuolo should probably have put his team up another goal in the 14:th minute, but some great goaltending by Tracy Hendrix kept the visitors in the game. A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Hippopotami´s Thomas Little putting the lead up to 3 - 0. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 79 percent possession rate.

Louisiana seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. Hippopotami put themselves up 4 - 0 when Thomas Little broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. Hippopotami put themselves up 5 - 0 when Carlos Alberto Benito broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. Tracy Hendrix was caught napping a bit later as Clement Schrader lifted a ball over him after a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keepers arms. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 85 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Hippopotami player was without a doubt Carlos Alberto Benito. Arcadio Sánchez on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Louisiana player was without a doubt Cody Stubblefield. However, Sebastian Rusu made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 0.


Statistics

Stadium
Terraces: 838/20000
Basic seats: 292/8000
Seats under roof: 125/3200
VIP seats: 51/800
Total: 1306/32000

Notes: Too bad for the rain- we would have had a pretty big crowd, otherwise. Only made about $4K.


Team Ratings

Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: excellent (8)
Right Side Defence: passable (6)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: outstanding (10)
Central Attack: outstanding (10)
Left Side Attack: outstanding (10)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 65/73

Louisiana Cyclones
Midfield: wretched (2)
Right Side Defence: outstanding (10)
Central Defence: supernatural (14)
Left Side Defence: supernatural (14)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 62/64

Notes: I think our midfield is just fine with Little in there. An excellent even with both middies and wings playing offensive. Our defense needs a little help now with no one playing back but we'll see how this season progresses. But, of course, the big story is that our offense was outstanding across the front!


Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Lorenzo Cristiano ***
DM Clement Schrader ***
DW Arcadio Sanchez *~
WI Koos Teepen (o) ***~
MI Thomas Little (o) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***~
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ****~
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
FO Gualtiero Spagnuolo ***~

Total Stars: 36.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Friendly
Tactics: Attack in the Middle

Notes: Benito follows up his ****~ last week with another ****~ today. Connors, Teepen, Starks, Little, Timber, and Spagnuolo all got ***~ so that makes 7 with ***~ or higher. Phelan is still hanging out around **~ and Arcadio Sanchez is still in a brutal form slump.

The Postgame Show
With the huge midfield advantage, we got 79% possession in the first half and 85% in the second half. the Cyclones never had an event. The only mention of one of their players was Tracy Hendrix who made a save in the first half and then was caught napping in the second half but Clement Schrader's shot hit off the crossbar. Mick Starks scored the first goal and Gualtiero Spagnuolo scored the second before the game was 10 minutes old. Thomas Little scored one before the half and one after the half and Benito scored the last goal as we won 5-0.

Three Stars
Sure Kimber pitched the shutout but the offense was the star

Bronze: Carlos Alberto Benito
Another ****~ and a goal
Silver: Mick Starks
Scored the first goal of the game which turned out to be the game winner
Gold: Thomas Little
A pair of goals and an excellent midfield show I have little to worry about with him in the middle


Press Release
11/6/2003 at 08:40 Hippos beat Cyclones for Rivalry Week Win
UberTrainee(TM) turned starter Thomas Little scored twice and Timber pitched a shutout as the Hippos shut out reciprocal supporter Louisiana Cyclones in their rivalry week game. Coach Braden's unpopular decision to sell Herchel Meek and elevate Thomas Little to starter has proven to be the right decision for now as all attacks were outstanding and midfield was excellent. However, the defense suffered without Meek helping out and Braden will have to answer this problem in the coming weeks.


In Closing
I'm trying to figure out where I most need to spend the $1.5M in cash I have. I need a trainee but I'm not sure how much I want to spend on that and until I figure that out next week, I won't know where else I plan on improving my team. For our Cup game next week, we will play the Mississippi Samurais (Mississippi... Samurais...?) from VI.389, a computer controlled team.

SI