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In Division 1 midseason report
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28 JAN 2002 League Match 18.....Monaco 1 - Liverpool 1
Liverpool jumped off with some early shots and opened the scoring in the 19th min when Gregory Vignal scored off a brilliant free kick from 20 meters out. He bent the ball right over the wall and past the outstretched fingers of Jean Arnaud. Monaco would answer back, when Juan Mihalovic brought them level in the 42nd min off of a wonder one-time kick that powered past a bewildered Dirk Heinen. The crowd erupted expecting Monaco to then take the match. Monaco's last chance to win the match came when Albertini's shot was parried away by Heinen in the 82nd min. The crowd then got unruly and tossed bags of urine on visiting Liverpool fans, shouting "Palmiero is a Tosser, Palmiero is a Tosser." Thomas was quoted, "we'll what can I say. We played well today, but we just couldn't get another good shot on Heinen. I tip my hat the GK, he kept us out after that Mihalovic strike. Arnaud looks to be getting his form back, taking home the MOM honors. That can only mean he will improve. I don't want to talk about the France match. So go pound sand in yerass. Yeah you can write that in the daily."
23 JAN 2002 Manager's Comments
Hello everyone, it is my favorite time of the week. A chance for me to fill you in on our club. I must confirm the rumors flying around in the Monaco media. We have sealed a deal to bring us two youth club players to Monaco. We are short at CM and GK. So we will be sending Sebastien Squillaci, Alfredo Santaelena and Simone Vergassola in exchange for Juanjo and Spassakov of Zaragoza. This fills needs of both clubs. I am also proud to announce that Johan Millier and Christophe Poteau will be making their first runs with the Senior Squad. Poreau has enabled us to let Vergassola go. Vergassola has performed well in the 4 matches he has started this season for us. I am sure he will no doubt help Zaragoza. Santaelena has served well for the club. Millier is the future. Santaelena will help shore up Zaragoza's week RM. Squillaci has been a rock for the youth side and should be helpful for Zaragoza. I wish them all success with Zaragoza. I also will confirm that Trezeguet is going to Oviedo on a loan for 10 weeks. That will see him get consistent first team action and pair up with former Monaco ST, who has reborn his career at Oviedo, Alessandro Del Piero. It is our hopes Trezeguet and Del Piero can gel and help push Oviedo up the table. Trezeguet is looking forward to linking up with Del Piero and experiencing some promotion pressure football. We are also Loaning Mari out to Bordeaux. We feel Bordeaux is a quality club who is just a few players short from being dominant in their division. In the Monaco tradition of helping smaller clubs, we decided that Mari would gain great experience teaming up with Salman (Juve Loan) and propelling Bordeaux into one of the promotion slots. Mari is excited to jump into a tight race and be a factor.
As for our youth side. Ranan continues to improve at ST. We would like to see his strike ratio improve. Millier has progressed to make the move to the senior squad. Sebastien Mazurier, Julien Riou, Isaac Joshua, Gerard Thomas, and Patrice Castro have all been solid this season, and continue to improve. We have had many offers for Maural as of late. He is going no where any time soon. Thank you, until next week."
20 JAN 2002 League Match 17.....Juventus 3 - Monaco 2
Monaco was on pace to take another suprising away victory leading 2-1 until Juve came storming back to win at home. Dangerous Daniel Fonseca struck first in the 12th min with a brilliant jink to the left to get by Serge Blanc, and put the ball in the upper left corner of the net. Monaco responded with attacking pressure of its own when Mihalovic beat Cremoli then Peruzzi to slot home his 2nd goal of the campaign in the 42nd min. Not to be outdone Albertini followed with a strike of his own in the 42nd min on a great through ball from Mihalovic to give Monaco a 2-1 lead over the home side. Jordi Lardi was then given a Pen on a horrible call by the ref in the 46th min on a Thuram foul. Lardin followed with another penalty winner in the 75th min on a suspect foul called on Djetou. Thomas stated, " It was obvious the officiating of this match was complete SHIT. Yeah quote me on that one. It was clear from the outset of the match, and I see why Juventus has a "home field advantage," the 12th Juve player was handing out the penalty kicks."
16 JAN 2002 League Match 16.....Monaco 0 - Atletic Bilboa 2
Francesco Mancini shut out Monaco at Monaco's home. Nick Barmby slotted home the first strike in the 60th min off of a brilliant Gueillermo Amor back heel pass. Amor then made an unbelieveable run through the Monaco defense and put away the match in the 61st min. Manager Rich Thomas stated, "I am very dissapointed in the club today. We lost a valuable match at home to Bilboa. It seems to me that they have our number this season. We will have to remedy this next seasonl. I can smell a rivalry brewing here."
08 JAN 2002 Manager's Comments
Hello everyone, it is my favorite time of the week. A chance for me to fill you in on our club. We are home to Atletico Bilboa. I can't wait to get a chance to exact revenge for their pounding us in the first match of the season. They have a very capable club. I feel they are just as strong as us. I am hoping their lack of true LD and RD will be their downfall. I have a plan of attack for that. We just need to stop Marco Haber, he killed us in the last match. I have made repeated offers to bring him here, but they don't want to ship him out. I just want to get a win and maintain our progress. I am looking forward to watching Isaac, Thomas, Ranan, Riou, Thorpe, Arne Riise, and Mazurier continue to improve in the youth side."
07 JAN 2002 League Match 15.....Bayern Munich 0 - Monaco 0
Monaco put forth a great effort today away at Bayern. It was a rather low slow match with only 9 total shots combined on goal. This lack of offense in this match can be directly related to the horrible southern German weather this time of year. The lads from the principality withstood the extremes and Jean Arnaud carried them home. Albertini came close twice, only miraculous saves from Vladimir Mervyn-Smith was able to keep Demetrio from scoring. Thomas had this to say, "Well, I will take 1 point away at Bayern everytime I get the chance. They are a first rate club, current Beckenbauer Champs, and Cryuff Cup holders(2 yrs in a row), and a great manager(england will go down). It's just that blasted German weather I can't stand."
31 DEC 2001 Manager's Comments
Rich Thomas quotted as stating, "The match against Fiorentina was a needed 3 pts for this team. We had just lost two close matches to traditional Division 1 powerhouses. I am not saying Fiorentina was a cakewalk...look at the score. The rumors are true, yes we are looking for another RM and we are taking offers for Benarbia. The Bayern Match will be tough in Munich. I am going to start Kluivert and Mari at ST. Now many supporters of Monaco see why I sent Barthez for Mari, 'He's only 22, still improving and his finishing was great against Fiorentina. Toldo is a great keeper. I want to finish with this, We have had a successful first half of our season in Division 1. The second half will be exciting. Everyone have a great New Year's Eve, and drink plenty of Corona!"
31 DEC 2001 League Match 14.....Monaco 4 - Fiorentina 3
Monaco bounced back from a two week skid with a wild match at home against Fiorentina. Frey raced out of his area to clear a long ball by Emiliano Bigica but his weak volley was deflected only as far as Javier Javi Gonzalez in the 36th min, who rolled the ball into the unguarded net from just outside the penalty area. Anselmo Robbiati was duly allowed space to head home Emiliano Bigica's flighted free-kick in the 38th min. Emiliano Bigica then slotted home a brilliant strike on a thru-ball. Monaco was in dissaray. Jose Jose "can you see" Mari notched Monaco's first goal in the 67th min off a nice touch and go with Mihalovic. Trezeguet then put away his 2nd goal of the season in the 68th min. Mari followed with a score when he burst through the defense to put his 2nd goal of the night away, bringing Monaco level. The crowd lost it and went wild. Mari wasn't finished. He put away the winner in the 88th min to complete his hat trick and give Monaco the 4-3 victory while taking home MOM honors. Manager Thomas had this to say, "I am stoked that Jose took this opprotunity and shined. We have some gifted ST here and he made sure that he plays next week."p>26 DEC 2001 International Cup...France 0 - Denmark 2
France lost 0-2 at home to Denmark. France just couldn't get anything rolling today. One shot on goal is horrible. The crowd was calling for the head of Thomas. Letizi had a great match but the rest of the team took the day off. Marc Rieper scored in the 74th min to put Denmark up. He was followed by Oyvind Svenning in the 84th min to seal the match and leave France with no points from 2 matches. Thomas was quoted saying, "I played the guys who had been playing the best in their positions this season. Letizi will start the next match. I will be glad to get Pires back. We have no player for France who has been scoring in league matches this season. I believe we can make it through the next round. We must win from here on out."26 DEC 2001 Cryuff Cup Replay...Real Madrid 1 - Monaco 0
Monaco lost its second match in a row, falling away to Real in the Cryuff Cup Match. Dirk Freund opened the scoring in the 27th minute with a nice header off of a rounding corner kick from CM Marcus Gayle. Demetrio Albertini brought Monaco back level in the 52nd minute with a scorcher of a strike from a Gaspar pass. But Real was not to be denied when Fernando Morientes continued his great form and slotted home the Real winner in the 81st minute. It was a great match as Monaco managed to outshoot Real. Thomas stated, "Well two losses in a Row stinks. It is time to adjust our tactics and play to our strengths."24 DEC 2001 League Match 13...Monaco 0 - Milan 1
Monaco suffered a disapointing home loss to division leading Milan. Clarence Seedorf put away the winner in the 14th minute with a wonderful freekick shot that sailed over the wall to the near corner just out of the reach of outstretched Jean Arnaud. Monaco out-shot Milan 17-5 but couldn't get anything past the Russian International Shovkovskyi. Manager Richard Thomas stated, " yes we are very dissapointed. We played great today, and put many shots on goal. There is no denying that Shovkovskyi had a brilliant day, and would have defeated any team in the league. It was his day."15 DEC 2001 League Match 12...Arsenal 1 - Monaco 2
Monaco stole a crucial away victory from perennial frontrunner Arsenal. A Victor Ikpeba Nosa header put Monaco ahead in the 10th min. Arsenal brought it level in the 75th minute when Roger Garcia put home a wonderful shot past Jean Arnaud. But it was a classic Monaco goal which gave Rich Thomas's side their first ever win at Highbury when Josip Gaspar split the Arsenal defence with a superb pass and Iosif Rotariu fired past Arsenal keeper Gianluigi Buffon. Arsenal controlled the ball for most of the match. Monaco just slotted home more shots.08 DEC 2001 Manager's Comments!
Rich Thomas quotted as stating, "I am totally shocked and proud of the guys for pulling off such a huge upset. This has strengthened our resolve and given us a shot of cockiness. I only hope that we don't suffer a let down, and that we can have a good result at home against Milan. Milan is #1 right now. They are the target. I am just glad to see Rotariu find his game again. Now if we can just beat Real Madrid at home in the upcoming Cryuff Cup match, then we can celebrate for a day. This season has just started for Monaco."
08 DEC 2001 League Match 11...Monaco 1 - Real Madrid 0
Monaco notched a much needed home win against Real Madrid. Juan Mihalovic slotted home the winning goal in the 49th minute in route to winning MOM honors. Mihalovic has been a rock for the left side of the Monaco club. Clemens Zwijnenberg finished his last game on loan from Inter, he did a superb job for MOnaco while Jean Arnaud was injured. Kluivert was very busy today with 4 shots on goal, but to no avail. Monaco is now headed for a showdown with 1st place Arsenal, at Highbury."
08 DEC 2001 Thierry Henry lights it up for Vicenza!!!
Thierry Henry on loan to Vicenza has found his form of late and is looking to continue to improve his game for Sarah Elliot and Vicenza. Due to the number of ST at Monaco it was best thought to have Henry get some first team time with a smaller club rather than play in our reserves. Henry nailed a double for Vicenza in the last match. Keep it up Henry.
08 DEC 2001 Jean Arnaud returns to guard the nets!!!
Monaco's young French International GK phenom, Jean Arnaud, has returned from injury just in time for the BIG Arsenal match this upcoming Saturday. Arnaud's recovery went extremely well. Manager Rich Thomas, "well we didn't want to rush him back. We had Clemens from Inter and we picked up Frey, so we were as solid as we were going to get. Getting Arnaud back has fired up the team, and we are hoping to snatch an upset from Arsenal this Saturday." Arnaud, "I am glad to be back with the guys. We still have a shot at some glory this season."
01 DEC 2001 League Match 10...Monaco 1 - Kosice 1
Monaco followed up their impressive win over Werder Bremen by drawing Kosice at home. Sebastian Frey had a great day only allowing 1 goal to the high powered offense of Kosice. Serge Blanc recieved MOM honors for his defensive display in shutting down Shmarov of Kosice. Kosice took the lead with a Kevin O'Connor strike in the 59th minute. Ali "Sahir al-Sahara" Benarbia took Monaco level in the 71st minute, proving the older maestro can still get it done. The crowd was drunk for the most part, as Corona "the choice of Monaco fans" sold $1.00 pints of beer. Rich Thomas "I really wanted to take this match, I felt we had a good chance today. We are still not anywhere near I want us to be. We should be an improved team in the next couple of weeks."
28 NOV 2001 Beckenbauer Match Day 6....Monaco 4 - Werder Bremen 0
Monaco needing a win to continue in the Beckenbauer Tournament dominated the match crushing Werder Bremen 4 to nil. Playing with some urgency and with form that resembled last season's Division 2 champs, Monaco seem to have found their form. Iosif Rotariu redeemed his lackluster form of late by sloting in a back heel pass he received from Josip Gaspar 8 meters out. Patrik Kluivert drilled in Monaco's second as he burst through the Bremen defence to collect Juan Mihalovic's through-ball. Bremen tried to rally but was put out of the match with back to back scores in the 85th minute by Mihalovic and Gaspar. Corona beer was flowing in the stands and the fans were singing "sha na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, good-bye Bremen." Monaco ensured that they will be in the last 16 of the Beckenbauer Tourney.
25 Nov 01
Rich Thomas "Well I have just returned from a scouting trip for the past 6 weeks. I left the recently fired Assistant Manager Jimmy Lufton in charge and see that he has dug us in a hole. I look to secure the services of a quality RM and light a fire under our ST force. It will be nice to get Arnaud (GK) back from injury. We need a win this Tuesday over Werder Bremen. Then maybe we can stay around the Beckenbauer Tourney a little longer."
League Match 9.....Metz 0 - Monaco 1
In front of 15,649 Metz faithfull, Monaco was able to take a precious away victory in the 81st minute. Clemens Zwijnenberg made 4 key stops in a 6 minute span, where Monaco answered with a Victor Ikpeba Nosa goal in the 81st. After some shoddy refereeing of the match where Monaco suffered 5 yellow cards and one red card, seeing Dieter Yugo sent off in the 71st minute, Monaco was able to shut down the Metz attack playing a man down. This showed great character on the players part and renewed faith in manager Rich Thomas. Monaco bounced back from a poor outing vs Liverpool and a mediocre match vs Parma.
Info on players and expectations.
Ron Bacardi Crown Jewel of Monaco Tourney
All info for the upcoming super end of the season tourney can be found here.
