Arsenal all the way to Glory: An Experiment with a New Way of Using Assistant Managers in FM

[Stomalomalus]

Looks like your teams starting to come good! Some good victories there. Ive always found away matches harder for some reason, and as shown by your draw with Villa and narrow win over Ipswich you might do too, but at least thats 4points from 2 tricky away games. Some good results recently, and it seems you have good backup for your strikers. Lets hope you keep up the good form!

[GreyedOutMan]

Fulham continue to impress – a 4-3 win at Bramall Lane taking them level on points with us, though having played a game more. Meanwhile Liverpool’s recovery seems to be underway – they’ve shot up from 17th to 6th in just 5 games – a 4-1 win over Scunthorpe, who are fading after an encouraging start, the latest in a string of 6 wins in 7 games. Man Utd will play Man City in a top-of-the-table clash at the same time as:

31.10.10 ARSENAL v Newcastle – Premiership

Havent got a great record against Newcastle, with just 1 win and 3 draws in 6 matches. Vela came back in for Murphy to try to put that right – a touch-and-go decision but Vela’s quality will show through again soon, and its not like he’s playing terribly – 4 goals in 10 games at 7.00 isnt bad, its just not as good as Vela can produce. Garay retained his place for now. The first attack of the match produced two great saves back-to-back from veteran ‘keeper Shay Given, and Eduardo’s one-on-one with him after 13 minutes should have produced the opening goal. The Newcastle goal continued to be peppered with shots, but Newcastle broke and Michael Owen scored after 23 minutes, totally against the run of play.

After that, Newcastle bossed the game for a while, and at half-time, the players really did need a kick up the proverbial. Vela had a fair few chances in the first twenty minutes which he should have buried, before Fernando Belluschi doubled Newcastle’s lead. I had to go for it, so I pulled Diaby off for in-form Murphy, switching to 4-3-1-2 with Vela in the hole. To be fair, looking at the stats with 20 minutes to go, Newcastle were good value for their 2-0 lead. Though we had dominated for the first 20 minutes, since then it had been all Newcastle. Though the substitution led to a spell of dominance, we never really looked like scoring in the next 10 minutes, until a cross from Nani found the head of Sakho – spot on – and it was 2-1 with 10 minutes to go. It was tense. Very tense. Eduardo’s shot was saved by Given in the 84th minute, and I felt that the best chance had probably gone, but from the resultant corner, the same player scored with an identical shot, this time beating the Newcastle ‘keeper. 2-2, and two goals in 5 minutes. Could we complete a great comeback and secure a vital 3 points that could be the turning point and transform our season from good to outstanding? Lax defending let in Michael Owen for a shot in the 90th minute, turned over by Pouplin. In the next attack, Gyan, Vela and Eduardo all had good shots saved by Given, and they proved to be the last of a very exciting match. A good comeback, but a real shame that 3rd goal couldn’t be found. Vela’s poor performance cost us dear, a ‘6’ at the end of the game an accurate reflection of the day he’d had, though admittedly up against a ‘keeper on top form – in fact, both ‘keepers had stormers and were perhaps unlucky to conceded 4 goals between them. Still – 9 games without defeat now.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 2 Newcastle AFC Scorers: Sakho, Eduardo da Striker. Man of the Match: Pouplin.

After the game, Cesc Fabregas was named player of the month for the Prem in October. With ratings of 8-9-8-8, there could be no doubt it was well deserved. The 23-year-old has developed into and absolutely World-Class midfielder. And he lists me as one of his 3 favoured personnel ïŠ.

With this in mind, I did a quick search for players I didn’t know of who listed Arsenal as one of their favourite clubs. I sent Grimandi to have a look at a few likely candidates for January moves to see if they might be interested – a couple of full backs might be helpful with Adriano and Alves STILL underperforming. The first report came back for DC/DMC, Fulham’s Ryhor Filipenko. He’s 6’3 and only 22, and Grimandi seemed to thing that he might be a good player, so I put in an offer of £7.5m.

[GreyedOutMan]

3.11.10 ARSENAL v Aston Villa – League Cup R4

Fit-again ATex came into the team today in place of Gyan, who has been disappointing lately, and still-underperforming Carlos Vela made way for Adrian. Tiago Dutra came in for Diaby just to give him a run-out.

First half was really dull (seems to be happening a lot lately) until injury time, when a free-kick from Fabregas picked out Micah Richards for the opener. But Salifou pounced on a Pouplin parry from a free-kick from Zarate to equalize just 2 minutes into the 2nd half. However, Eduardo restored the lead on 57’ with a neat finish from a nice pass from Tiago Dutra. Despite spurning a lot of chances to seal the game, including a shot from Adrian which crashed against the bar, 2-1 always looked enough.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 1 Aston Villa – AFC Scorers: Richards, Eduardo da Striker. Man of the Match: Richards.

[GreyedOutMan]

...and cheers for the feedback Stoma - keep it up!

[GreyedOutMan]

Fulham asked for £14.5m for Filipenko. That seemed a little steep to me for a player valued at £4.4m but his good form and my healthy bank balance swayed it, and I offered £12m. Fulham popped out of the hat for the quarter-final of the League Cup, and Arsenal prepared for the visit of Man City – familiar faces on both sides with Richards and Lescott both facing former team-mates.

6.11.10 ARSENAL v Man City – Premiership

City came to us still as league leaders by 4 points. They, like Chelsea and United, are still unbeaten 11 games in, and it was vital for me to get 3 points to close the gap back down to just 3 points between myself and City, and keep the pressure up on Chelsea and United, ahead of us by 2 points and on goal difference respectively. Vela came back in for Adrian, and Diaby returned for Dutra. ATex, however, retained his place. I instructed my team to make sure City star Elano was kept quiet, and the game got underway. In the 2nd minute, Eduardo scored, but was clearly offside and indeed the goal was chalked off. We weren’t to be denied though, and 29 minutes of constant pressure was eventually rewarded by a Diaby goal from a Fabregas corner. Cesc’s set pieces have been a real asset this season so far, let’s hope he can sustain that. Indeed, another corner 7 minutes into the 2nd half led to Garay scoring his first goal of the season. Once again, right onto his head from Fabregas – what a player he is! Though it wasn’t to count as an assist on the final occasion, he then completed his hat-trick of vital contributions as on 62’, his free-kick led to a penalty-box scramble after which the ball was turned into the back of the net by Richards. The two centre backs and my DMC had scored the goals – unlike last year, we’re not relying so heavily on Eduardo and Vela – they haven’t scored quite as many this year and yet we’re doing better – and that can only be a good thing. And that is a very good win against the in-form side in the league....

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 0 Man City AFC Scorers: Diaby, Garay, Richards. Man of the Match: Diaby.

...and Filipenko had a fine game from Fulham – he will be a good signing I think. And to round off a great day, Man Utd drew with Spurs at Old Trafford, and Chelsea lost to Newcastle later in the day, leaving Arsenal legitimately in 2nd place at the end of the day, a point clear of Chelsea and United and only 3 points behind City...things are looking up for Hearn and the Gunners this season, methinks!

Back later tonight, I hope.

[GreyedOutMan]

Fabianski kept his first clean sheet for Sunderland in a 0-0 draw with Birminham on the Sunday. Looks like he’s doing OK – nothing special (6.83) but acceptable in a poor team who have managed only 8 goals so far and no wins. Fulham accepted the latest offer for Filipenko, and a contract was offered. He didn’t seem keen for some reason, so I offered him £45k p/w, only slightly less than the average wage for a first team player at the moment, and a whopper £2.2m signing on fee. Hey, I have money! I also gave him an appearance fee of £5k, meaning that essentially, if he breaks into the first team, he’ll be on £50k pw. Cesc also signed a new contract, tying him in until June 2015, on a whopping £92k p/w, but hey at a AvR of 7.46 (7.60 in the league), I’m not complaining, especially as he’s been consistent:

2007-8: 7.29

2008-9: 7.12

2009-10: 7.26

2010-11: 7.46 so far....and almost ever present for three seasons and a bit...he’s now made 214 appearances at a rating of 7.20, and that’s just in the league – in all competitions, he’s not far off that number of games in the time I’ve been at Arsenal alone – he’d made exactly 150 appearances in the first 3 seasons of my management...

Sorry...little Cesc rant there, but if you’re a true Gunner, you’ll understand! God he’s wonderful!

In the Champions’ League (clearly that rant lasted 48 hours...), United got a draw away in Marseille, which left them in 2nd place but looking a touch precarious, but Liverpool sealed qualification from the group of death with a 3-1 win against Bayern at New Anfield. Odd – they’ve taken Europe by storm this season but have been underwhelming in the league...oh wait...nothing new there!! The next night, Chelsea’s draw at Hamburg still meant they were top of their group, and with only 2 points required from games against Roma and minnows CFR Cluj, they’ll be safely through. Everton, meanwhile, all but sealed qualification win a 3-0 home win against Leverkusen. Sevilla have won every game in that group, but Everton have won 3 of 4 and sit 6 points clear of 3rd place Leverkusen with just two games to go. Whipping boys Herenveen have perhaps had a little bad luck – 4 defeats and yet they’re goal difference is only -4, so they’ve lost every game by a single goal. Oh and Filipenko turned Arsenal down due to not wanting to leave Fulham for their local rivals – given that Arsenal aren’t really local rivals to Fulham, and Filipenko lists Arsenal (and not Fulham) as one of his favoured clubs, I would suggest this is evidence of a slight bug in the game?

Onto more important matters in the UEFA Cup, the crunch match between Arsenal and Villarreal. This game should decide who wins the group, really. It wasn’t going to be easy, especially with Javier Saviola banging in the goals for them like nobody’s business. Once again, I dropped Vela for this game – his form is still underpar, and its disappointing after his heroics last season, which are on a par with Ronaldo’s IRL.

And even as a Gooner, I must pause on this note to salute Man Utd and Ronaldo in particular. Unlike in 1999 when they were jammy as hell when Bayern hammered them in the Champions’ League final and Arsenal really ought to have won the double – one point away in the League, and Bergkamp missing that penalty in the final minute of normal time in the Cup semi-final – no-one could possibly argue that they have deserved all their success this year. And as for Ronaldo: simply sensational this year. I still believe that he’s a very good player but no more than that, and will never be able to live up to this season. To really establish himself as the true great he has to produce over a long period as players such as Henry, Bergkamp, Giggs etc. have done, not to mention the player he is always compared to, George Best. However there can be little doubt that this has been amongst the greatest seasons any individual players have had outside of Football Manager! Though I refuse to go any further than that yet, congratulations Ronaldo, on a simply stunning season. 42 goals is an absurdly high figure, and for that to come from a player who, though perhaps not a genuine midfielder, is definitely not an out-an-out striker either...well....well done!

Wow. I didn’t enjoy that, have never done it before, and refuse ever to do that again. But I felt it was necessary because when a player plays that well, it stops being about the club he plays for.

BACK TO THE GAME

11.11.10 ARSENAL v Villarreal – UEFA Cup

As I was saying, I dropped Vela for this match, with Murphy preferred on this occasion. Mertesacker came back in for Garay, whose early season heroics had leveled out a bit, though he’s still playing well, but I still feel Mertesacker is the better player for now. Garay’s youth points to a great career in the making, but Mertesacker’s experience, given that Richards is the other DC, is vital. Gyan also came back into the team for ATex, despite a good run of form from the young Brazilian, who is improving all the time.

Eduardo opened the scoring after 16 minutes with the first genuine chance of the game. Though the rest of the half had little fizz to it, 4 minutes before the break, Sakho hit an absolute scorcher from the edge of the area. It came from out of the blue, totally unexpected – great goal – from a Richards free kick, via Diaby. 2-0 at half time and it was comfortable, but I told the players not to relax. Indeed, with 23 minutes to go, Villarreal got a goal back through the wonderfully named Toto Tamuz with another scorching effort from distance. The threat of Saviola haunted the next ten minutes, and it was his fantastic flick-on that sent Tamuz through for an equalizer exactly ten minutes later. Not a lot we could have done about either goal to be honest, but it was a disappointing end to the game we had completely controlled for 45 minutes.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 2 Villarreal AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Sakho. Man of the Match: Tamuz. AFC MOTM (MC): Diaby.

Abou only got a ‘7’ whereas both scorers got ‘8’, but Diaby’s 99 completed passes out of – well I don’t know how many because it was 3 figures, which the screen cant cope with – to me indicated a good performance, and he got 2 shots out of 2 on target and both assists, too. And Mertesacker’s 10 headers won out of 10, Murphy’s 3 shots on target from 4 and Cesc’s 78 passes completed from 92 were also indicators that this was a game we were probably unlucky to lose...

[GreyedOutMan]

Quick update for you on the major loanees this season:

Lee Carlton

12 appearances for B&H at 6.75, with 1 assist. Not spectacular but solid.

Nacer Barazite

Excelling at Slavia Prague for the 2nd season in a row, only better. 9 apps, 3 goals at 7.56.

Andy Carroll

Not so much going on here – 2 games at Plymouth at 6.50.

Lukasz Fabianski

Doing well in a struggling team at Sunderland. AvR of 6.86 in a team languishing 5 points clear of safety and without a win in the first 13 league games is a good effort.

Havard Nordtveit

Seems a regular at Espanyol, making 13 appearances at 7.07 including 2 man of the match awards. Certainly seems to be a prospect.

Sergio Mota

20 games for Palmeiras at 7.30 – impressive and his attributes have shot upwards. Looks like a star of the future.

[GreyedOutMan]

Our impressive recent run (no defeat in 12 in all competitions) was next tested at Goodison Park. After their heroics last season, Everton have been a let-down this year, backing 10th, and with only them, followed by Spurs, Birmingham, Sheffield United, Fulham, Pompey and Blackburn remaining before the turn of the year, this good run could well continue.

14.11.10 Everton v ARSENAL – Premiership

Vela returned for Murphy – hope he can rediscover some form, or he’s in danger of losing his place. This was, of course, a final look for me at James Vaughan before he arrives at Emirates in a month and a half. It was the man he’ll be bidding to compete with for a place, Eduardo da Striker, who opened the scoring after 20 minutes, rifling through a crowded 6 yard box. Worryingly, Vaughan then got injured 4 minutes later, but six minutes later still, Vela finally got a goal, with Fabregas finding him with a perfect ball for a run on goal and it was 2-0. Everton pulled one back shortly before half-time with Gutierrez out-muscling Sakho on the near post to slot home into the far. In the 2nd half, it looked precarious for the Gunners, and in the 83rd minute, Yobo rose high to head home past Sakho on the far post after a corner. A disappointing 2 points dropped.

FINAL SCORE Everton 2 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Vela. MOTM: Gutierrez. AFC MOTM (MP): Richards.

[GreyedOutMan]

Good news regarding Vaughan – not a serious injury – he’ll be back in action for Everton within a week.

Latest Euro qualifiers: England took until the 90th minute to beat Andorra, a goal from Ferdinand sparing their blushes against the minnows. Cesc scored one of the five which Spain put past the Faroe Islands, Diaby got an assist for France in a 2-0 win over Hungary, and even Nordtveit got a goal for Norway against Slovenia. Meanwhile, Carlton returned from Brighton complaining that it had been a waste of time, and to be fair it did appear that way, Carlton only managing 6.69 in 13 starts.

After an impressive performance, fed by Barazite, for the Dutch U21 side, I put in a small-ish offer for Genero Zeefuik, who I’ve had for Man City before and has done a job. He wouldn’t be a first choice, just cover and a player for the future, but he’s a decent striker already.

The World Footballer of the Year nominations were revealed the next day. Roma’s Daniele De Rossi seemed the favourtie, but he was joined by three Spaniards in David Villa, Jose Reyes (who is doing fantastically back at Sevilla), and our very own Cesc Fabregas who is bidding to add that to his recent Confederations Cup and World Cup medals, not to mention numerous other personal awards. I don’t think anyone can argue any more that he is a worth Arsenal captain! Meanwhile, England scraped together another last minute win, at home to Australia in a friendly, Jermaine Defoe this time the rescuer as Rooney’s 58th minute goal was cancelled out 15 minutes or so later by Scott McDonald. Incidentally, winners in 07, 08 and 09 were Toni, Ibrahimovic and Ronaldo respectively. Cristiano that is.

The offer for Zeefuik was accepted and I offered a contract. Then it was back to business with the visit to the Emirates of Sp**s. An injury to Joe Hart brought Mihaylov onto the bench, and Gyan was replaced by ATex.

27.11.10 ARSENAL v Tott****m Hot****s - Premiership

This was Vela’s 75th league appearance for Arsenal – a decent landmark for the young Mexican. Spurs’ team was actually not that changed from the current side: Robinson, Hutton, King, Defour, Jenas, Berbatov and Bent all started. The first 20 minutes was all Arsenal, but after that it seemed we’d rather run out of steam, and we’d failed to get an opening goal. I gave the team a quick lift and sent them out to give me a much better performance in the 2nd half and win the game convincingly. When nothing had happened after 20 minutes of the 2nd half, Vela made way for Adrian. Disappointing from him again. Diaby also made way for Murphy so we could switch to 4-3-3. We needed a win badly. But the goal never came, and a disappointing performance yielded another 2 dropped points. The team is not quite gelling at the moment, it’s a shame.

FINAL SCORE: ARSENAL 0 – 0 Tott****m Hot****s Man of the Match: Jose Enrique. AFC MOTM (MP): Fabregas.

[GreyedOutMan]

One thing to note there - we actually missed out on the opportunity to go top with that result. Legitimately too, after the same amount of games, though on goal difference - and if we'd won at Everton as well, we'd be two points clear.

[GreyedOutMan]

I’ve lost my patience with Vela’s form. Adrian is coming into the side for an extended run, and if he doesn’t perform, he’ll be replaced by Murphy. I want an improvement from Vela before he returns. Its such a shame because he’s clearly very good. And the pressure will be on him even more: Genero Zeefuik completed him move, to be officially carried out in a month’s time. Again, he’s for the future really, but he could well be knocking on the door sooner than he might think if others don’t perform. He’s got 5 in 10 for PSV this year...

Champions League. Everton sealed qualification with a 0-0 draw with Heerenveen, whilst Chelsea’s draw with Roma means that they’re through too, though the FM engine hasn’t worked that out, because HSV are only 2 points behind them in 3rd, with Roma in the middle, one point behind – but as HSV and Roma play each other in the last game, Chelsea cannot finish lower than 2nd.

Apparently Alves has been training well lately, so I’m giving him another chance in place of Vanden Borre. Meanwhile I finally got a report on an Arsenal fan, Razak Boukari. Grimandi recommended him so I’ve put in a bid. His stats this season certainly are impressive, 12 goals in 21 games and I don’t think he’s played every game up front, as he’s an accomplished winger (both sides) too...and I still have £75m of my budget remaining, and that was to go up the next day as Adebayor scored his 40th league goal for Valencia, triggering a payment of £2.6m. In all competitions, he’s scored 56 goals in 73 games for them. Its impressive, I know, but he could never produce that form at Arsenal, and I got a good deal for the Togolese striker.

2.12.10 Panathinaikos v ARSENAL – UEFA Cup Grp Phase

14 games without defeat next went to Athens. But it was also put under threat. Radek Sirl scored a goal on the stroke of half time, rather against the run of play. However, the performance didn’t merit much better and I told the players I needed more from them. Just after the hour mark, I brought on Gyan for ATex, but Eduardo broke down the middle to score the equalizer before Asamoah could get on. And by the 80th minute, it was Pana 1 – 2 Eduardo. He’s really hitting some form again lately. A great turnaround. And in the last minute of stoppage time, Fabregas’s corner was, as usual, perfect, and Mertesacker put the result beyond doubt. 2nd half performance was FANTASTIC!

FINAL SCORE Panathinaikos 1 – 3 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2, Mertesacker. MOTM: Eduardo.

[Stomalomalus]

If Vela isnt playing well, I always find it uselfull to show your dissapointment at his performances, and then drop him to the reserves for a few games to get some goals. Other than that, your doing well. I would recommend shipping out some if your bringing some in, just to even it out.

Oh, and James Vaughan is a beast!

[GreyedOutMan]

With that advice in mind, I had a look at both my squad and the upcoming transfers. I think the squad as it stands is quite well-balanced, though possibly left-heavy, especially following the decision to promote young Lee Carlton to the first team squad. We’re also perhaps slightly short on full-backs in general compared to the other positions, as Alves and Adriano are the only out-and-out full backs, but with players such as Sakho, Richards, Eduardo and Vanden Borre all able to play there, I’m ok with that. Bodmer is on his way out, and the people coming in January are a DC (Gerson – very young, backup), AMC (Rakitic – will replace Bodmer/Riquelme), SC (Zeefuik) and possibly Boukari, who would add a little more balance as he can play on either wing or up front. The only issue there for me is Zeefuik. With Vaughan arriving in the summer too, this will mean that we’ll have 6 out and out strikers, seven if you include Keiran Brown who is in the reserves but pushing hard with a string of good performances, not to mention ATex, Vela, Gyan, Simpson and perhaps Boukari who can all play up front. The problem is I cannot get rid of Kiessling though I’d like to. I’ll push him into the reserves if and when Zeefuik proves he’s better. And at the end of the season, I’ll make a decision about whether to keep Adrian – though with Eduardo having the season of his life and, at 27, probably near the peak of his value, its also possible that an astronomic offer for the Croat would tempt me to sell, especially if Vaughan is so good...we’ll see.

Thoughts?

[Queen of the Stevenage]

This is my first foray into this thread, so I'd best give you a bit of background.

I'm currently Paris FC 2000 in the French National league and well into my 3rd season with them.

We avoided relegation by goal difference the first season and finished strongly last season in 4th.

Currently we're top of the National, however my best strikers keep being stolen for big (for the National) money. (Ortega for £2.5m and Hoiland for £3m).

So the issue is finding good strikers to play in the National (there aren't many, plus with my team being semi-pro, we're not likely to get better)

[GreyedOutMan]

5.12.10 Birmingham v ARSENAL – Premiership

With Diaby injured, Tiago Dutra came in. Meanwhile, Lee Carlton was on the bench for the first time and will come on for either Nani or ATex at some point, almost certainly. Adrian continued up front with Eduardo – the next couple of weeks will decide his future at the end of the season, I expect.

Fabregas’s early goal was encouraging – you always want a debutant to come on with a comfortable lead in the bag. But though we had a couple of chances, the 2nd goal wasn’t forthcoming and other than Cesc, the team was underperforming. And with half an hour to go, I decided to go for it, but with an alteration – Eduardo made way for Carlton, with ATex moving up front, and Nani to the right so Carlton could play on the left. In injury time, Nani was sent off for a 2nd yellow, and Carlton had to move in to AMC for a few seconds to cover, but nothing happened. Carlton was on a ‘7’ when Nani was sent off and in the 15 seconds afterwards, he went back down to a ‘6’ which is a shame, but it seemed to me that he didn’t do much wrong – a solid start to his Arsenal career, and more importantly, 3 points on a day when the team as a whole didn’t really play that well.

FINAL SCORE Birmingham 0 – 1 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Fabregas. Man of the Match: Fabregas.

[GreyedOutMan]

Worryingly, Jose Mourinho was in the stands, rumoured to be looking at Cesc. Guess who he’s managing? You guessed it, Real Madrid! They aint getting their paws on him, trust me! Cesc has four and a half years still remaining on his contract. He’ll be 28 by then, so I’ll probably tie him into one more long contract and that’ll be it.

Finally got some bids for Kiessling which were immediately accepted. £2.5m for a player bought for 11 who has managed only 8 goals for me isn’t exactly great, but hey, he was among my first signings in this game, and he’d scored 17 in 36 for Leverkusen in the first half of that season, so I don’t think I can be totally blamed for thinking he might be good!

Two home games against Fulham (League Cup QF first, then Prem) will now sandwich an away trip to Sheffield United before a UEFA Cup match against Mlada Boleslav which should put us through to the next round. A real chance here to go into 2011 on a good run of form.

The Boukari offer of £12m plus clauses was accepted. He looks good and he loves Arsenal, so the contract will be a formality. Meanwhile, Cesc dismissed Mourinho’s praise, claiming that my praise was more important to him. Good to hear, Cesc. GOD I love that man!

FA Cup R3 draw: Middlesbrough v Arsenal. Other than that, notably: Chelsea v Barnsley or Stockport; Ipswich v Man City; Liverpool v Coventry and Bradford v Man Utd. Before the Fulham match, Boukari’s deal was completed. Really pleased about that – if you guys remind me when he arrives, I’ll show you a screenie, but he looks good. And its gotta be good to get Arsenal fans in, right? I still have £66m to spend by the way, but unless major sales are made or I can find a really good full back, I wont be dipping into the market again for January.

8.12.10 ARSENAL v Fulham – League Cup Quarter Final

With Nani suspended, Carlton got a first start. Hart came in for Pouplin for a run-out, and Dutra retained his place for this game despite Diaby’s return to fitness (and good form, incidentally). 16 games without defeat, going into this game, by the way. Carlton put an early cross in which, whilst easily cleared, was encouraging and eventually did actually lead to Eduardo’s opener, though Carlton could in no way claim much credit for that. In fact, the goal was eventually credited as an own goal, but after 13 minutes, Eduardo fed Adrian for a goal that most definitely was the Spaniard’s. He needs to score more and be able to have more of an impact off the bench, but it’s a start. Kamara spurned a good chance to get Fulham back into the game just before half-time, but eventually he set up Daniele Dessana to get that goal, beating Cesc to the ball in a crowded box. A rare slip by Cesc. I probably should have rested him for this match, perhaps given Riquelme a game. Immediately after half-time, Fulham actually equalized. They’d scored goals either side of half-time which totally changed the feel of the match, and it took a great strike from Adrian, having drawn keeper Viera, to restore a vital lead. Adrian was having a stormer that might be vital to his career. With 20 minutes to go I pulled off Fabregas who was struggling with the pace today without a doubt. 10 minutes later, Dessena scored another equalizer, a good goal this time, wrong-footing Pouplin. Extra time seemed to beckon. Despite a free header for Dirk Kuyt for Fulham with the last touch of normal time, it did arrive. I told the team one more goal would do it, pull Gyan on in place of ATex, and extra-time started. Great substitution in the end – it was Gyan’s great cross that found Eduardo in the centre, having got goal-side, to slot into the net. At half-time, Eduardo (Defender) came on for Dutra for a rare appearance at MC, because Dutra’s physical condition was deteriorating and I was worried he might slip up. Inevitably, Eduardo then fed Eduardo who went close to a 2nd goal just in extra-time, but it wasn’t necessary – the game was never in doubt after Eduardo’s goal. Fulham knew it as much as I did. At the full time whistle, it was Adrian’s performance which gave me both the most pleasure and the most difficulty – he’s going to be impossible to let go now.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 4 – 3 Fulham AFC Scorers: Adrian 2, Own Goal, Eduardo (striker). Man of the Match: Dessena. AFC MOTM: Adrian.

[GreyedOutMan]

Carlton watch: he got a '7'. He'll get there. One or two good crosses.

In other news, quite important on this occasion, Arsenal's final two UEFA Cup group games were made almost meaningless due to Mlada Boleslav's defeat to Panathinaikos, meaning that Arsenal cannot finish below 3rd. Does anyone know if the position in the group is at all relevant in that competition, once you've qualified? Is the 2nd round seeded?

[GreyedOutMan]

In other news, Alves’ performances are FINALLY starting to pick up. He might still turn into a quality player! Wahey! Sakho is doing a great job at left back, and the centre back are rock-solid – 13 goals conceded in 15 games is only behind Liverpool and United in the league, and our goal difference is the same as United’s and +6 better than Liverpool...so things are really looking good. Most importantly of all of course, with 15 games played by all the teams in the Premiership, we’re in 2nd, 1 point above United and City, and 1 point behind Chelsea. Fulham, Newcastle and Liverpool are all within touching distance, even Liverpool only 5 points behind Chelsea in 7th. After that there’s a 4 point gap to Pompey. Sunderland, Boro and Birmingham are cut off at the bottom at the moment, 6, 5, and 4 points behind Reading respectively.

Kiessling rejected Aston Villa for some reason, claiming that it’d be a step in the wrong direction. Idiot. He’s not playing here, he should go! Meanwhile Avram Grant expressed interest in Diaby. Not going to happen, I like him too much.

League Cup Semi-Final threw up Man Utd, whilst Sheffield United, my next opponents coincidentally, drew Chelsea.

11.12.10 Sheffield United v ARSENAL – Premiership

Carlton dropped back to the bench to make way for Nani and Diaby came back in for Dutra for his 100th career league appearance. We dominated the first half – every highlight was an Arsenal chance, but we couldn’t convert and it looked like we’d be going in level at half time, until, after EXACTLY 45 minutes, Adrian was fed by ATex to score with a nice, predatory finish. Eduardo was underperforming, and I withdrew him for Carlton after 62’, with ATex moving up front and Nani to the right. But a 1-0 lead is always precarious, and a free kick took a huge deflection off Diaby to find De Ridder in acres of space directly to the right of the free-kick taker. Immediately, I threw on Murphy for Diaby, and put ATex in AMC with Adrian and Murphy up front. Disappointing result but I can’t really complain about the performance apart from that of Eduardo – as the commentary pointed out, “Arsenal’s 2nd half performance was a joy to beholdâ€. That’s a bold statement given that we lost the half 1-0!

FINAL SCORE Sheffield United 1 – 1 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Adrian. Man of the Match: De Ridder (despite only playing 30 minutes). AFC MOTM (MP): ATex.

[GreyedOutMan]

Following a great scout report, I put in a big bid for 24 year old Miguel Veloso. He’s a DC/DMC, and his stats are amongst the best I’ve ever seen. I’m going to be trying to get rid of Senderos, Djourou etc this summer, so I’m ok with getting him in. The bid was £15m, but delayed until July.

Meanwhile, Ipswich seem interested in Carlton. Not going to sell him just yet, I’m still excited by the prospect. However, his early performances haven’t been great, and though he’s strong in some ares, he’s really not strong at all in others. We’ll see how he develops.

18.12.10[/b] ARSENAL v Fulham – Premiership

Bidding for our 19th game without defeat! Mertesacker was banned after picking up 5 yellow cards. Garay slotted in, no worries. In came Riquelme, perhaps for his last ever appearance, for Fabregas, who, whilst not physically tired, has been performing poorly lately and its probably on his mind, and he could do with a rest. He’ll come off at some point, and it might be for Carlton, to see if he can do a job as emergency cover in central midfield. The improvement of Alves was pointed out by the fact that he was the Key Man – and as the predictions panel pointed out, Arsenal have only conceded 10 goals in the 10 games he’s played this year.

Riquelme – what can you say? He’s still a master (as his attributes attest) – he actually managed to not only score the first goal, but actually set it up too! Classic! He might get a few more games in the next few months (don’t worry, not with Cesc unless we move to 5 in midfield!). He continued to boss the game, at the centre of every move. However after 30 minutes, yet another screamer hit the back of an Arsenal net. Seems to be happening a lot lately – we’re playing well and are pegged back by a great goal that we couldn’t have done much about. Even in the 2nd half, when he started to tire, he still pulled strings magnificently, and after 65 minutes, timed a pass to Eduardo perfectly for the Croat to restore the lead with a magnificent finished, drilled hard past Viera. A few minutes later, I pulled Riquelme off. He could have finished but I felt he deserved an ovation – he’d clearly been the man of the match as far as I could see. As promised, Carlton came on for the last 20 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, Eduardo put Adrian through, who shot against the keeper, but pounced on the rebound to put the ball into an empty net and secure a vital 3 points. Carlton did indeed have a couple of Riquelme-like moments, and it seems he could indeed play in MC if necessary – and who knows, he could be better there. A good 3-1 win was all that was required, however. 19 games without defeat.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 1 Fulham AFC Scorers: Riquelme, Eduardo (striker), Adrian. Man of the Match: Riquelme – I called it right!!!

[GreyedOutMan]

Apologies for the formatting error!

Vela returned to the first team but having played only one reserve match (a ‘7’), I sent him back for a few more games. Adrian has managed 7 goals in 8 starts and 4 from the bench, not to mention 3 assists, so we’re ok for now. Steve Bruce (yes, Man Utd manager) expressed an interest in Alves. Such has been his improvement this year, I decided to issue a hands-off warning. Ditto for Mourinho, who seems to be stepping up his interest in taking Cesc to the Bernabeu.

Palmeiras’ offer to extend Sergio Mota’s loan until the end of the season was accepted as he’s doing very well there. The 21 year old is looking like a fantastic prospect. Arsenal’s future is probably looking even better now at the end of 2010 than Wenger keeps claiming it does in mid-2008!

Sporting asked for £19.5m for Veloso. Reasonable for a guy who is 24, rated £11.5m and with an AvR of 7.21 this year. Plus most of that will be in monthly installments. If a deal is made, it wont go through until 1/7/11. Mota decided to come back to Emirates at the end of his original loan deal – he might get a few games actually.

Reserve squad for a meaningless dead-rubber in the UEFA Cup:

22.11.10 ARSENAL v Mlada Boleslav – UEFA Cup Groups

Team: Hart, Eduardo (D), Adriano, Sidnei, Garay, Simpson, Carlton, Sakhare, Dutra, Murphy, Adrian. Bench: Mihaylov, Vanden Borre, Sakho, Cesc, ATex, Vukcevic, Gyan.

The new central midfield partnership combined really well in the 23rd minute, Dutra putting a free-kick on Sankhare’s head to open the scoring. Good stuff. 1-0 at half time, and cruising. And in the 66th minute, the attacking duo combined, Murphy heading down for Adrian to slot home into an open goal which he had created for himself by good movement. A Boleslav consolation on exactly 90’ could do nothing to dent the confidence I realized I had in my 2nd string – none of these players are first choice at the moment, remember. Yes it wasn’t exactly a great side we were up against, but despite no-one really being on great form, they could still beat what was put in front of them. Good stuff.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 1 Mlada Boleslav AFC Scorers: Sankhare, Adrian. Man of the Match: Sankhare.

[GreyedOutMan]

Oh and that result did in give us 1st spot, so whether it makes any difference or not, I got that

[GreyedOutMan]

Bid for Veloso accepted. Contract offered. Arsenal drew Dinamo Kiev in the UEFA Cup 1st K/O round and Werder Bremen or Spartak Moscow in the round after if we get there – a decent draw, I think, for the 1st round, though the 2nd is probably one of the tougher draws available.

Sergio Mota came back from Brazil. He goes straight into the team for Pompey, though its not quite his debut. A £12m bid came in for Mertesacker just before the game, and I rejected it.

26.12.2010 ARSENAL v Porstmouth – Premiership

Riquelme also came in for Cesc for this game – again, simply because he seems to be mentally tiring and recently his performances have dipped. Don’t worry, its not permanent! If we manage to avoid defeat here, we’ll make in 20 games in all competitions without defeat! Closing in on the real-life record we set this year of 28 games in all competitions between April and November. Come on Gunners!

It took only 4 minutes for Riquelme to curl a beauty into the top corner of the Pompey net. After 15 minutes, Riquelme’s ball to Adrian was flicked on for Eduardo to double the lead. Once again Riquelme was playing a stormer. After 20 minutes, an unlucky deflection off Richards pulled Pompey level. You know, we’re doing so well this year and something that illustrates this is the amount of unlucky goals we’ve conceded, whilst still managing to win most games, and stay unbeaten for so long.

Anyway, Riquelme was instrumental again in the goal on the stroke of half time, passing to Eduardo, receiving it back, and spraying wide for Nani to shoot into the top corner for 3-1. Great half. And in the 2nd half, nothing changed, Riquelme once more finding the crucial pass to Adrian for the Spaniard to score the latest in an impressive run. This was turning into one of the best individual performances I have seen on FM. It yielded no more goals, but another asterisk next to his name – only his 2nd start and he’s got 2. He probably should’ve had one more, too.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 4 – 1 Portsmouth AFC Scorers: Riquelme, Eduardo (stri), Nani, Adrian. Man of the Match: Riquelme.

[GreyedOutMan]

The deal for Veloso was confirmed, and another player will be joining up on 1.7.11. A couple of minor reserves are on their way too – no-one noteworthy though.

Despite the best individual performance ever, Riquelme dropped to the bench for Blackburn – he just cant play 2 games in 3 days.

28.12.10 Blackburn v ARSENAL – Premiership

Diaby and Nani combined well to give Eduardo the opener on 20’. Nice lob over the keeper. 18 goals in just over 23 games Eduardo! Wow! But Richards undid all that good work, missing a cross from Fenin for Santa Cruz to equalize on the stroke of half-time. After 60 minutes, Eduardo (def) came on for injured Mertesacker, and Diaby made way for Riquelme – we needed a goal. Then 10 minutes later, Adrian made way for Murphy. 10 minutes later still, Murphy got what looked like the winner until Faty climbed highest from a corner to equalize a few minutes later and the game was drawn 2-2. Disappointing, and Chelsea’s win meant that though we’re still 2nd, the gap is now 5 points to Chelsea.

FINAL SCORE Blackburn 2 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Adrian. MOTM: Enyeama. AFC MOTM (MC): Fabregas.

[GreyedOutMan]

Cesc missed out of the World Player of the Year award, finishing runner-up to David Villa. However, he did win the European Footballer of the year ahead of Reyes and Ramos, as well as Midfielder of the Year. Apparently his performances in Spain’s World Cup success were the major factor, but his amazing form for us had to be important. Meanwhile, ATex won the Young Player of the Month in England, and the 2nd and 3rd spots in the goal of the month went to Eduardo da Striker and Nani respectively, for the goals against Fulham and Pompey.

On Jan 1st, Rakitic, Zeefuik, Boukari and Gerson all arrived, Gerson after a 3 year wait! I gave a debut to Boukari, in for Mota, but Riquelme retained his space on the bench instead of putting Rakitic straight in there though Zeefuik also came in on the bench for Murphy.

1.1.11 Sunderland v ARSENAL – Premiership

For all the new signings, it was the longest-serving player, captain Cesc, who opened the scoring at the Stadium of Light, a good goal from the edge of the box. 1-0 it stayed until half-time. After 58 minutes, I brought on Zeefuik for his debut for the disappointing Eduardo, and Riquelme for Cesc, who had picked up a booking and looked primed for a red card. With captain and vice-captain off the pitch, the armband went, for the first time, to Micah Richards, the ultimate unsung hero in this team. Since his arrival 2 years ago to the day, he’s been a total rock. I wanted to make a 3rd substitution after 75 mins and it was a straight choice between Carlton and in-form ATex. I though, as it was only 15 minutes, Carlton should be given a chance to perhaps grab his first goal for the club, while ATex had little to gain from it. Boukari made way after a solid debut. However, stupidity reigned, and I brought the wrong player on without noticing. Oh well! He didn’t even touch the ball in any noteworthy incidents anyway – though somehow he did manage to up his rating to ‘7’ in the short time he had on the pitch. 23 games unbeaten, and closing on that record.

FINAL SCORE Sunderland 0 – 1 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Fabregas. Man of the Match: Pouplin.

[GreyedOutMan]

thats all for tonight folks. hope you're enjoying, and the more feedback the better...

[GreyedOutMan]

Next day, Bodmer moved on to Barcelona for £14m. This left me with £61m still in the kitty, but I don’t think the squad needs strengthening any more ay this point. Tough run now, and the fixture list has thrown up 3 games against Man Utd (league first, then 2 legs of the League Cup Semi), 2 against Middlesbrough (FA Cup then League) and 1 against Liverpool (in the league) in the remainder of January. Big, big month.

Jack Wilshere moved to Wrexham for the rest of the season.

3.1.11 ARSENAL v Man Utd

Richards’ suspension brought Garay into the team for United. Vela has now scored 2 goals in 4 games for the reserves at 7.40 which isn’t bad but I want him to have a few more games so I sent him back down for a month or so – Adrian is still performing well with 9 goals in 12 starts, and we have Zeefuik now too. This was a real test to my unbeaten record, which stood at 23 games before the match.

Man Utd peppered our goal in the opening exchanges, but Eduardo popped up in the box to connect with a neat lob over the defender from Nani to open the scoring. But United continued to press, though generally limited to long-range shots. Rooney then scored a neat goal which was dubiously ruled offside – a good let-off for once there. We were very lucky to go in 1-0 up at half-time. I needed more creativity, so I brought on Riquelme in place of Eduardo, switching to 4-1-4-1 with Diaby at DMC. I had been tempted to take Fabregas off, as he was on a yellow-card. As it turned out, I should have done – 6 minutes into the half, he was dismissed for a 2nd yellow. Diaby moved up to MC, but I didn’t have high hopes for the rest of the game. Rooney’s shot a couple of minutes later felt like his 100th, such was United’s dominance. Indeed, after 66’, Rooney took advantage of a bad error from Mertesacker to give the ball to Menez unmarked in the 6 yard box to head into an empty net for a richly deserved equalizer. Worse was to come with 10 mintues to go as Diego fed Rooney to put United ahead. I couldn’t really complain – it had been coming for a long, long time! My long, nearly-record-breaking unbeaten run was finally over.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 1 – 2 Man Utd AFC Scorers: Eduardo da Striker. Man of the Match: Rooney. AFC MOTM(MP): Rooney – gotta be. He totally dominated the game and no Arsenal players got close to him, though to be fair the defence did their job in keeping him to long-range shots for an hour.

[GreyedOutMan]

8.1.11 Middlesbrough v ARSENAL – FA Cup R3

My record before this game vs. Boro: P8, W7, D0, L1, F14, A5

A good one – and the last defeat was in March 2008, close to three years ago, and 6 matches back.

Cesc’s suspension made way for Riquelme to start, with Dutra on the bench. Richards came back in for Garay. Gyan came back into the side for Carlton, who’s struggling slightly (6.67), and Rakitic was given a place on the bench, almost certain to replaced Riquelme at some point. Without Cesc, though, we’re not the same team – he’s got 13 assists this season, and Nani is 2nd in that list with just 5. New signing Gerson, by the way, is doing really well, pushing for a first-team spot already at only 18, and in fact, according to TA, is as good as Richards. He’s not quite ready yet, but he will get a few games this season.

Our good record against Boro seemed under threat in the first half, with the Teesiders creating lots of good chances, and Pouplin called into action several times. Arsenal were not playing well, and were lucky to go in at half-time level. I told the team I needed much better than that and sent them out again. For the first 15 minutes nothing changed, but after 64’, Riquelme magic produced a goal, with a great shot through a crowded box into the top corner. He was immediately replaced by Rakitic and received a standing ovation for his stunner. It looked like it was about to turn into W8 for Arsenal against Boro – and indeed just 7 mminutes later, Rakitic scored with an even better shot, this time from a free kick, wrong footing the keeper and slotting the ball into the top corner of the near post. What a start to his Arsenal career! Adrian was withdrawn for Zeefuik with 5 minutes to go, with the result not in doubt – despite a goal from Budan in the 92nd minute, it never really looked likely that Boro would get back into the game. They didn’t.

FINAL SCORE Middlesbrough 1 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Riquelme, Rakitic. Man of the Match: Riquelme (yet again).

[GreyedOutMan]

Nani’s suspension gave Boukari another game, and Cesc came back in for Riquelme. FA Cup third round produced no real shocks, though Liverpool were held at Anfield by Coventry, whilst Chelsea put 9 past Stockport (9-1), with 4 from Scott Sinclair. I got Millwall in the 4th round, and promising young defender Robert Brazier moved to Doncaster on loan. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll returned from Plymouth with just three goals in 10 games at 6.82. He said it was a waste of time, I’m thinking he was a waste of money!!

Talking of which, an absurd bid came in for Justin Hoyte of £9.2m. He’s now 26 and hasn’t played for me – needless to say it was accepted. Meanwhile, Carlos Vela signed a contract extension until 2014.

12.1.11 ARSENAL v Man Utd – League Cup Semi Final L1

Little happened in this game until 10 minutes after half-time, when Sakho pounced on the rebound from a Boukari free-kick to put Arsenal in front. For the 2nd time in recent days, it was Arsenal 1 – 0 Man Utd. Could we hold on this time? Better still – Adrian was put through by Eduardo, ran half the length of the United half before curling a great goal in from about 22 yards past Ochoa. 2-0! And what great form the young Spaniard is in!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 0 Man Utd AFC Scorers: Sakho, Adrian. Man of the Match: Sakho.

[GreyedOutMan]

Then, the absurd transfer of Hoyte went through. £7.75 initially, rising with clauses. I’m not complaining! £69m in the kitty now. Sakho’s injury gave Eduardo da Defender a chance at left-back, and Adriano moved to the bench, while Nani came in for Gyan.

15.1.11 Liverpool v ARSENAL – Premiership

Having only ever lost once to Liverpool in 8 games, I was keen to get another win under my belt at New Anfield (possibly my first game here at Liverpool’s new ground?) and keep that run going. But it was Steven Gerrard who opened the scoring with a nice turn and shot into the bottom right hand corner. Adrian and Eduardo both went close before the former picked up a knock. I decided to leave him on for now, he seemed OK. I needed more from the team in the 2nd half, though, and told them so. After an hour, with only one chance created in the 2nd half, Rakitic came on for Diaby to help the team create more, whilst Adrian’s knock overcame him, Zeefuik replacing him. And after 70 minutes, Boukari put a cross right onto the head of the young Dutch striker, and he had his first goal for the Gunners. Torres fed Crouch with 8 minutes to go and the beanpole should have scored, but the game ended 1-1. A good result in a tough fixture, I think. Looking unlikely that we’ll win the league this year, 7 points behind leaders Chelsea having played a game more, but you never know, and The next 6 teams are only separated by 4 points, from City on 44, through Unted and Arsenal on 43, Newcastle on 42, Fulham on 41 and Liverpool on 40. Then there’s an 11 point gap to Blackburn, and Rovers have played a game more. So it’s starting to look like Chelsea to regain their title, and a dogfight for the Champions League spots and to avoid finishing 7th and totally out of European competition for the next 6.

FINAL SCORE Liverpool 1 – 1 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Zeefuik. Man of the Match: Gerrard. AFC MOTM (MP): Fabregas.

[GreyedOutMan]

Next day I decided to run the rule over Chelsea. Conveniently they were playing Sunderland, so there was a chance for me to watch Fabianski in action too. And immediately it was “Arsenal boss Luke Hearn has been spotted in the stands todayâ€! And he was jumping up and down on 8’, when Jermain Defoe gave Sunderland the lead at The Stadium of Light! After half an hour, Defoe nearly got a 2nd, saved by Cech. But Sunderland did go in at half-time 1-0 up. Defoe’s 19th goal of the season, and his 13th in the league. The problem is, of course, that the rest of the team had only managed another 5 league goals between them in 21 and a half games! Sunderland were rock bottom, 12 points adrift of Reading with only 1 win and 6 draws all season.

Fabianski was having a stormer to keep the Chelsea strikers out, and at the final whistle, he fully merited his 3rd clean sheet in 15 games – not bad in a team with only 12 points in the whole season – it means he alone has won them at least 5 of those, and possibly 9, without playing much more than half of their matches! A fantastic result for Sunderland, and it really did throw the door to a title challenge ajar.

Top 7:

Chelsea P22 50pts

Man City P22 44pts

Man Utd P21 43pts

ARSENAL P22 43pts

Newcastle P22 42pts

Fulham P22 41pts

Liverpool P21 40pts

[GreyedOutMan]

Valencia want Garay but he’s too good to part with now – yes Mertesacker has taken his place this year but Garay is a perfect deputy and he’s a bit younger too. Meanwhile, Carlton, who has struggled a little lately, was moved back down to the reserves for a month to get some more games under his belt, along with Simpson.

22.1.11 ARSENAL v Middlesbrough – Premiership

After dominating the first half, Cesc scored a wonderful free-kick on 34’ to give us a well-deserved lead. After that, it was a dull affair, and in the 89th minute the game was sealed with a goal from Eduardo following a 1-on-1 which ended up lobbed over the head of the keeper.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 0 Middlesbrough AFC Scorers: Fabregas, Eduardo. Man of the Match: Eduardo.

[GreyedOutMan]

Due to a lack of replies, I'm going to put this on hold for a bit and just play the game. If people want to read more, I will happily pick it up again but from the lack of responses lately, I'm assuming interest has waned rather...

[Stomalomalus]

Sorry for the lack of feedback recently, it all seems to be going better for you this year

The signing of Veloso will really bolster that midfield after Bodmer left. Next season could be good for you with the youngsters coming good.

Have you thought of loaning Carlton out so he gets regular 1st team football? That might be an option.

Other than that, keep up the good work, would like to see what happens at the crux of your season

[GreyedOutMan]

thanks stoma. the more feedback the better. Carlton has been out on loan to Brighton (read above) but didnt do that well...

[GreyedOutMan]

you havent actually missed any games - its now the 2nd leg against united. Match report coming up. I actually lost this game but then my computer crashed so I got a reprieve. 2nd chance so i hope to make the most of it....

[GreyedOutMan]

26.1.11 – Man Utd v ARSENAL – League Cup SF L1

Eduardo’s goal after 14 minutes seemed to almost kill off the tie. 20 minutes later, Pazzini scored (he always does against us) to equalize on the night, and on the stroke of half-time United went ahead through Rooney. Not so good. Still ahead on aggregate, but the players needed to step up their performance.

After 70 minutes Eduardo scored again, but was ruled offside. It was tense. With 15 minutes to go Pazzini equalized for United! Level on aggregate, and extra time beckoned, though Arsenal were ahead on away goals. But 5 minutes later, a run down the wing from Sakho fed Adrian who headed across the box for Eduardo to score again. 3-2 on the night, 3-4 on aggregate, and the game was over. A good win. Wembley beckons.

FINAL SCORE Man Utd 3 – 2 ARSENAL Arsenal win 4-3 on aggregate AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2. Man of the Match: Pazzini.

[GreyedOutMan]

Chelsea beat Sheffield United in the other Semi, so a London derby awaits in the final...

[GreyedOutMan]

Switch of cup competitions at the weekend, with a tricky trip to Millwall. Murphy came in for Eduardo, and Riquelme for Fabregas, but otherwise, the side stayed the same.

29.1.11 Millwall v ARSENAL – FA Cup 4th Round

After 15 minutes, Adrian’s injury saw him replaced by Zeefuik, who promptly scored after 20 minutes only to have his celebration cut short by the realization that the offside flag was up. He was to get his reward after 28 minutes though, when he chased a lost cause only for the Millwall keeper to fail to clear, handing Genero an opportunity at an open-goal which he took. 1-0, which was the score at half-time too. 20 minutes into the 2nd half, a great ball from Diaby onto the head of Richards 15 yards out put the game beyond Millwall, and it was carnival time. Though Millwall did pull one back soon after, they never looked like getting another. Dutra replaced Diaby with 20 minutes to go and did an excellent, albeit brief, containing job. Not a great performance all round but a good, professional job.

FINAL SCORE Millwall 1 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Zeefuik, Richards. Man of the Match: Zeefuik.

[GreyedOutMan]

With Adriano’s performances still not up to much, I put in a bid of £6.5m for Sebastian Pocognoli, an attacking left-back similar in style to Adriano. Once again, delayed until July...and with Veloso and Vaughan also arriving on 1.7.11, its shaping up to be a big-name summer (unlike IRL at the moment – when will Wenger learn that he needs one or two big names?! Not loads like Chelski, but ONE OR TWO!!).

In the FA Cup R5, we drew Birmingham away. Nice draw for us! The Pocognoli bid was negotiated up to £7.5m, and I consented to pay that for the young Belgian gooner – he was one of those found through his Arsenal leanings. By the end of the day, he signed on the dotted line and will be the third signing to arrive on July 1st. So far, I’m losing a striker on a free, and getting in a DMC, a D/AML and a SC for a combined £32.5m, and I still have £52m left over. Assuming we don’t make any more significant sales (though I need to offload at least one more striker, probably), I don’t need to buy anyone with that because the squad is fairly well balanced, so it’ll all just be saved up for the future! Good stuff.

1.2.11 ARSENAL v Aston Villa – Premiership

Cesc came back in for Riquelme, whilst injury to Adrian meant that along with Eduardo, returning after being dropped for the cup match, Carlos Vela came in for his first game in over 2 months. He’s been doing a little better for the reserves, though hardly spectacular. He needs to really up his AvR for the first team so far this season, which is down at 6.93 – and after his sensational stats last year (42 goals in 53 games at 7.58), that’s not good enough. I’m also considering moving him to the left wing, a slightly problematic position at the moment, as both Boukari and Nani seem better on the right. We’ll see how he goes back in the side for the next month or so. Nani got a slight knock in the last match, so Mota came back in. Kick in the teeth for Aissati, I know, but has to be done!

After a confusion in the penalty area, Sergio Mota seized on his 2nd opportunity from a rebound to put Arsenal one up after 28 minutes. We were looking far from comfortable, however, and Villa’s press for an equalizer paid off a minute before half-time, Di Maria belting one home through a crowded penalty area from 22 yards or so. It had been coming.

In the 2nd half, though, Arsenal picked up the pace a little, with several chances, and when Villa’s Zarate missed a penalty after 64 minutes, there was a sense of justice because we’d dominated the 2nd half. A minute later, Mota’s excellent cross found Diaby, whose pass to Cesc gave him the chance to curl a spectacular goal home from the edge of the area. Now we were looking far more convincing, and a 3rd seemed imminent, despite one or two decent chances for Villa. After 86’, though, Vela sent Eduardo through on the left to slot home between ‘keeper and post and seal the game. Vela himself got in on the act 2 minutes later, a wonderfully weighted touch from Cesc beating the Villa defence and allowing Carlos to let fly into the Villa net one last time. A good result.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 4 – 1 Aston Villa AFC Scorers: Mota, Fabregas, Eduardo, Vela. Man of the Match: Fabregas.

..and Vela played well too. With him finding his form again, perhaps this team is destined for better things this season? That result put us just one point behind leaders Chelsea, though both United and City are also on course to be ahead of us, the Manchester pair level on 47 points compared to our 49, but they have played a game more than us and Chelsea on 50.

[GreyedOutMan]

...but after Bojinov (who has scored 23 goals in 28 games for City this season) was named player of the month, inevitably Man City then lost to Fulham the next day, thanks to a Johansson goal in the 89th minute. United’s game in hand is not until Feb 16th, a midweek game against Liverpool, so things are looking good for the Gunners, with only next weekend’s trip to Chelsea and a trip at the start of April to Man City left to really fear: the run in is as follows, demonstrating the strength of our position given the games we have remaining:

Ipswich (H) 5 Feb

Chelsea (A) 12 Feb

[/i]UEFA Cup/FA Cup R5/UEFA Cup/League Cup Final – significant break from league football.[/i]

Bolton (A) 2 Mar

Reading (H) 5 Mar

Newcastle (A) 12 Mar

Scunthorpe (H) 20 Mar

Man City (A) 2 Apr

Everton (H) 9 Apr

S***s (A) 16 Apr

Birmingham (H) 23 Apr

Fulham (A) 25 Apr

Sheff Utd (H) 30 Apr

Pompey (A) 7 May

Blackburn (H) 16 May

...not a bad run-in at all!

5.2.11 ARSENAL v Ipswich – Premiership

Alves was suspended for the Tractor Boys’ visit, so Vanden Borre deputized. Nani came back in for Mota, who got a place on the bench as reward for a good performance, instead of Adriano, who really does need to go! Vela continued his excellent run in the side after only 10 seconds, beating his man and beatng the ‘keeper before the crowd had settled. After 4 minutes, the match seemed over as Vanden Borre’s corner found Eduardo on the near post to head home. With Ipswich putting up little or no fight, Arsenal relaxed a little, and after 34 minutes, this proved costly as Castillo ran straight through Richards to slam the ball into the back of the net and re-open the contest. Vela’s excellent show of pace to beat his man again and then lob the advancing keeper meant that only lasted 9 more minutes, and he does seem to have rediscovered his form. After that, the game really was over, and the 2nd half was a dull affair, so dull in fact that it was over before the idea of a substitution crossed my mind! Arsenal are hitting form at the right time, and a title tilt is definitely on here folks!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 1 Ipswich AFC Scorers: Vela 2, Eduardo. Man of the Match: Vela.

[GreyedOutMan]

....in other results that day, Chelsea’s 5-2 win at Villa and United’s 4-0 thumping of Reading means there’s still very much a fight going on at the top, but Man City seem to be dropping out of that, with another disappointing defeat, this time at Fratton Park. That result actually saw them drop to 6th, and Liverpool are breathing down their necks with a game in hand, too:

Premiership Top 7

Chelsea P25 53pts (+30)

ARSENAL P25 52pts (+26)

Man Utd P24 50pts (+26)

Newcastle P25 47pts (+19)

Fulham P25 47pts (+14)

Man City P25 47pts (+14)

Liverpool P23 46pts (+15)

(Blackburn in 8th are a long way behind on 36, and what you can see will almost certainly be the top 7).

Crunch time with Chelsea was up next. Having conceded 2 at Villa, I thought perhaps their defence might be a bit shaky which might give me a little bit of an edge, while in the Arsenal defence, even Alves is hitting top form at last, making it into the team of the week for his performance against Villa earlier in the week despite missing the Ipswich game. With Sakho on the left side, and Richards and Mertesacker in the centre, its starting to become a mean back-line, and in fact we’ve conceded less (23) than Chelsea (24) this year, only 2 more than United (21), and the best defence in the league, Liverpool’s (16), is useless to them because they cant score enough to make use of it! Garay has done well when he’s been called upon and has a better AvR than Mertesacker, but the defensive unit is working so well at the moment that I have no wish to change it!

...oh and also, for the first time I can remember, all of my first-choice starting XI (I currently have a fully fit squad apart from Adrian who wouldn’t be in it) have AvR’s of over 7. Richards leads the way on 7.46, and he’s also played more games than anyone else (even Pouplin) followed closely by Eduardo on 7.45, Garay on 7.38 (having played only 8 games) and Cesc on 7.34.

12.2.11 Chelsea v ARSENAL – Premiership

Alves came back in for Vanden Borre, the latter replacing Eduardo da Defender on the bench – he’s AvR-ing at 7.24 as apposed to Eduardo’s 6.78. This huge match was to mark Diaby’s 100th game in an Arsenal shirt, and Richards’ 75th. It was probably the most important of the lot, for both of them. Chelsea slight favourites, and all hopes, according to the media anyway, lay on the shoulders of the man who has now made the most appearances of anyone currently at the club – Cesc Fabregas, for whom this marked his 226th league appearance, and his 285th overall. He’s on course to play in his 200th game under my management during this, only my 4th season. And his performances have been consistently up there with the best of them. Quite remarkable.

The game got off to a good start, Eduardo beating Terry to open the scoring after 11 minutes. But I never feel comfortable in these games, and Chelsea were all over us after that, Drogba’s eventual equalizer on the half-hour mark inevitable. I was determined my team were not there to make up the numbers, not about to roll over and die at Chelsea’s feet. I told them they could win this game, and really change the look of the top of the table. The response was positive, with Arsenal creating the first chance of the 2nd half, but the crucial third goal didn’t come, and with every passing minute it felt more likely that goal would be a Chelsea one. I threw ATex on for the once again disappointing Vela, and Zeefuik for Boukari, because I knew that a win here would go a long way towards sealing a title for Arsenal which had looked impossible at the start of the season. And it was ATex who found himself on the end of a pinpoint ball from Eduardo da Striker in the 91st minute to seal a memorable victory. I cant remember ever feeling so proud of my team. A dramatic game, and perhaps a title-sealing late goal.

FINAL SCORE Chelsea 1 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo da Striker, ATex. Man of the Match: Eduardo da Striker.

That result, fortunate perhaps, but nonetheless well deserved, put Arsenal on top of the table for the first time this season, and though United’s 2 games in hand could give them the edge by a solitary point, that hard-fought win and an easy run in explained why the media seem to think that “winning the league title is getting closer and closer to becoming a reality for The Gunners...They have looked unbeatable recently and must be comfident that they will still be top of the league when the season draws to a close.â€

Theres a fair way to go yet, but I’m starting to believe my first ever FM08 league championship could be in this 2010-11 season. The squad deserves it this season, with so many sensational players that team selection is far from easy, and players who have AvRs of 7.30 (Adrian) and even up to 7.38 (Garay) aren’t even making it on to the bench at the moment.

[GreyedOutMan]

Liverpool did eventually squeeze through their 4th Round FA Cup replay with Southend, but only after Southend missed their first three penalties in the shootout to hand them victory. Meanwhile, in other league games that day, Man City and Newcastle both won to keep up the pressure on the top 3, but Fulham’s defeat more or less takes them out of the running for the Champions’ League, especially with Liverpool’s two games in hand meaning that they can leapfrog all of them into 4th. Starting to look like the traditional top 4 again this year. Let’s hope the Arsenal will be top of the pile!

In relegation issues, with 12 or 13 games left for teams down there, it looks as if the three promoted teams might all stay up this season after the 3rd season’s teams were exactly the same as the first season’s due to the promoted three going down and the relegated three coming back up. And in the Championship, though it looks likely that West Ham are set to bounce back, 5 points clear at the top, Wigan are in 7th at the moment, with Derby languishing in 13th – so its looking like we could even have 5 teams in the Premiership next year who weren’t in it back in 07-08. All for that, healthy to have teams moving about freely. No-one would have though Scunthorpe could be in the Prem by 2010-11, let alone 4 points clear of the drop zone. Middlesbrough’s heavy defeat at Villa combined with Scunny’s good draw with Portsmouth extended that to 5 points byt the end of the day, and it looks like a bit of a disaster for the Northerners, with Middlesbrough and Sunderland now looking very likely to go down along with Birmingham. I’ll keep you updated.

[GreyedOutMan]

And people, dont leave it all to Stoma! I want LOTS of ass. man.'s!!!

[GreyedOutMan]

The title race took another turn for the better with Liverpool holding Man Utd at OT, leaving Arsenal as legitimate leaders, by 2 points from Chelsea, of the Premiership, while Liverpool now face a real dog-fight for 4th spot, with Newcastle and Man City 3 points ahead of them having played only 1 game more.

Now ‘tis time for a break from the league, at least for Arsenal, with Cup competitions taking centre stage for a while.

17.2.11 Dinamo Kiev v ARSENAL – UEFA Cup K/O R1

Due to ineligibilities, both Adrian and Garay were called up to the bench for this game. It’s a mark of the depth of the squad that even those two have AvR’s of over 7. Of the matchday squad of 18, only Dutra and Joe Hart, with 8 starts between them, have a rating of less than 7.

Carlos Vela’s opening goal after 8 minutes seemed to set the tone for the match. Arsenal, the away side, played as if they had played in sleety, -1 degree weather all their lives. Pouplin had to made a couple of good saves, but the defence generally held sway attacking football was as fluent as ever. After 32 minutes, Sakho’s cross found Eduardo in the middle to double the lead. Kiev got one back only moments later, due more to a fantastic bit of individual skill than any blame that could be attached to any Arsenal player. It still looked as if Arsenal could score more – I was even wondering if memories of “sub-Standard Liege†in 1993 were relevant. At half time it was still 2-1, though, so it looked unlikely, even when Arsenal came out for the 2nd half with all guns blazing, a Boukari cross finding the head of Vela to score his 10th goal of the season and restore a 2 goal advantage. All this, remember, in the away leg. However, after some sustained pressure from Kiev, in the 67th minute, I decided to bring on Vanden Borre for the re-established Vela (rating 9 here) to make sure that we didn’t concede again and throw the tie open. But before VDB could make an impact, a corner for Kiev resulted in that 2nd goal. After that, he did a good job, sitting in front of the back 4, one vital clearance in particular that prevented the equalizer. But he couldn’t do anything when that goal did come, Marchenko taking advantage of some lax defending by the disappointing Mertesacker to equalize and turn what looked like a potentially fabulous evening after 51 minutes into only a decent result. 3-3 away from home isn’t bad at all, and it means that anything other than a defeat should see us through, but it didn’t feel very good having conceded two sloppy goals late on.

FINAL SCORE Dinamo Kiev 3 – 3 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Vela 2, Eduardo da Striker. Man of the Match: Vela.

[GreyedOutMan]

FA Cup next.

19.2.11 Birmingham v ARSENAL – FA Cup 5th Round

Birmingham have reverted back to Trevor Francis in recent years in a desperate effort to slide back into the mediocrity he gave them. 20th in the Premiership, it seems it will be a successful effort this time around. But I didn’t want to give him a ray of hope with a shock win over Arsenal, so the only change was enforced, Diaby’s suspension bringing Tiago Dutra in for his 7th start. The underdogs took advantage of a rare poor clearance from Cesc to take the lead after 8 minutes, and I would have to confess I was concerned. But a long ball from Alves put Vela through just after the half hour to continue his impressive form with another goal, his sixth in less than 5 games – he clearly only had a small dip against Chelsea. With 23 minutes to go, it was still 1-1 so Adrian and ATex came on for Nani and Vela for an injection of fresh legs. With a fixture pile-up already on the cards, I could do without a replay, but no goal was forthcoming despite dominating possession (55% over the whole match), so that’s what I’m going to get. Definitely unlucky in this instance.

FINAL SCORE Birmingham 1 – 1 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Vela. Man of the Match: Valencia. AFC MOTM(MP): Tiago Dutra.

That replay meant 5 consecutive cup games. After trips to Kiev and Birmingham, the next three are in London, with the return of Kiev being followed by the trip to Wembley to play the recently-vanquished Chelsea, and finally the replay at Emirates with Birmingham before we can focus on the run-in again. If the quadruple is still possible come March 5th – well it becomes a possibility....!!

[GreyedOutMan]

Birmingham or Arsenal will face either Sheffield United or Newcastle in the next round. With Chelsea losing to Fulham and United losing to Sp**s back in R4, this is a real chance for us to win this trophy, having lost to Chelsea (twice) and Man United in each of the last three finals. I still haven’t lost in the Cup away from Wembley....!! Bet there are not many managers who can say that after four years – though to be fair, saying that and then realizing that I still haven’t won the damn thing rather takes the glamour off that impressive record.

In the Champions league, it wasn’t a good week for English clubs with the first legs being played on the Tuesday and Wednesday. Man Utd drew with Roma in Rome, but Everton lost 1-0 to Milan at Goodison, Chelsea lost 2-0 to Bayern in Munich, and Liverpool lost 1-0 to PSV in Eindhoven. Rangers provided the only ray of hope for Britain, with an impressive 1-0 win at Ibrox against Inter. 2nd leg updates will follow....

The Kiev return leg was to mark my 100th game as Arsenal manager (for those of you who notice the problem with that – yes, you’re right – but I’m a Gooner at heart and had to manage Arsenal! Only happened once though, in June ’09).

24.2.11 ARSENAL (3) v (3) Dinamo Kiev – UEFA Cup K/O R1 L2

Lee Carlton moved up to the bench for this game – if the game is beyond doubt he’ll come on. Diaby came back in for Dutra, but otherwise the team stayed the same. Incidentally, not sure if this has happened before, certainly not this early in the season – Vela’s form recently has taken him to 11 goals this season, meaning that three players have 10 or more goals for the club this year. That’s healthy. Eduardo of course leads the way with 26, but Vela and Adrian have 21 between them, Cesc has 5, Richards 4, and even Murphy with just 6 starts has 4 to his name. No chance of this side being accused of being a one-man team, and its starting to have “WINNERS†stamped lightly all over it.

It was a nervous type of game, but with 3 away goals to our credit, the longer it went on the more it looked like it would be Arsenal’s night. Boukari was injured after 36 minutes, bringing Lee Carlton’s entrance forward somewhat. I was tempted to bring on ATex, but he’s been a supersub this season and I want to save him for later in case we need a goal. Half time came with the game still goalless, and I knew that if Kiev scored it would really put the pressure on. Eduardo, the wonderful saviour, eased the tension just three minutes into the 2nd half with the opening goal of the game from a pass by Vela. But after 60 minutes, Donets skipped past Richards to chip Pouplin and level the scores. Vela scored moments later, but it was disallowed. With the pressure really on, Mertesacker, who had picked up a knock, was replaced by Garay, while Vanden Borre came on to hold in DMC for Vela. That was my three subs though so I knew that if we conceded again that was probably curtains. In injury time, Carlton popped up on the left to give a good pass to Eduardo in the centre to round of the win, but it was too close for comfort, and we’ll need to improve in order to stand any chance of winning this competition. But for now, the quadruple is still on!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 1 DINAMO KIEV ARSENAL win 5-4 on aggregate AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2. Man of the Match: Eduardo.

[GreyedOutMan]

The draw for the 2nd knockout round threw up a trip to Germany to face Werder Bremen, with the first leg (away) on March 10th, meaning that the 5 game run of nothing but cup games will be followed by 1 league game before the next UEFA Cup game, and after returning from Germany, only a trip to Newcastle before the 2nd leg. Fixtures are piling up and I might have to rotate my team somewhat, certainly for the Birmingham replay.

In other news, Boukari’s injury turned out to be serious, and will keep him out until the last few weeks of the season.

FA Cup opponents Birmingham gave themselves a ray of hope and effectively ended Fulham’s Champions’ League challenge with a 2-1 win at St. Andrews. But even now, Middlesbrough, Brum and Sunderland still look almost doomed. Sunderland replaced Birmingham on the bottom after vitally failing to win at Scunthorpe. Oh and running concurrently to the League Cup Final, 5th placed Man City were home to Blackburn, 4th and 3rd met at St. James’s as Newcastle played Man Utd, and 6th placed Liverpool travelled to Reading. It could be a decisive day in more than just the League Cup.

27.02.11 ARSENAL v Chelsea – League Cup Final (Wembley)

Our impressive form meant that Arsenal were strong favourites for the Carling Cup Final. Without a trophy since winning this competition back in 2008, this was a big game for me. The Carling Cup Final team saw only one change with ATex, on a fantastic run of form, came in for the injured Boukari. Carlton retained his place on the bench, and might get the chance to make himself a hero...

Eduardo came within a whisker of opening the scoring after about 7 minutes, but after that, Chelsea pressure dominated the game for a while, punctuated by an injury to ATex which saw Carlton’s introduction brought forward again. Despite a couple of fantastic Arsenal chances just before the whistle, the half-time score of 0-0 flattered Arsenal rather. It looked like it was a one-goal-takes-all game, and I told my players they just needed to find a goal. But Wembley was to turn into a sea of blue only 2 minutes into the 2nd half, Lampard opening the scoring in the final. Fabregas’s shot 10 minutes into the half wasn’t far away, and Carlos Vela should have scored having run half the length of the pitch for a 1-on-1 with Cech. With 15 minutes to go, nothing had happened for us, so Nani made way for Adrian as we were forced to go for it, Carlton moving to AMC in a very offensive 4-2-1-3 formation. The adventurous tactics paid off, as Adrian ran through a static Chelsea defence to fire home with 9 minutes to go. Vela and Carlton moved back wide, and it was time to hold firm. Penalties was looking like our best chance of victory, but we went one better, with Richards pouncing on a mistake by Mikel to put Eduardo through after 88 minutes to win Arsenal’s first trophy for three years ! Adrian’s 3rd goal in stoppage time was the icing on the cake of a historic day. Yes, its just the Carling Cup, but not having won the FA Cup since 2005, and the league since the invincibles in 2004, its still very significant, and the faces of the players really showed that. GET IN! 1 trophy down, lets get another 3 in the cupboard before the season’s out!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 1 Chelsea AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Adrian 2. Man of the Match: Adrian. ARSENAL are the winners of the Carling Cup for 2011!

...and to make it better still, Man City lost to Blackburn, Newcastle held Man Utd, and Reading held Liverpool, who are now 7 points behind us, and though they have a game in hand over some teams, the Carling Cup Final today means that Arsenal are not one of them!

Arsenal fans all over the country thanked me for the success, and Arsenal’s 4th League Cup. The board was pleased, and legend Thierry Henry even put in his words of encouragement following the win. As undertaker Grant pointed out, Adrian’s performance had turned it. He has scored several vital goals this year and has now amassed 12 in 19 starts, with only 6 from the bench. He’s really turning it on. And finally, the squad received a hefty bonus of £1.7m to share following the success. They deserved every penny, but stiffer challenges lie ahead if we’re to challenge on another 3 fronts this season.

[GreyedOutMan]

2.3.11 ARSENAL v Birmingham – FA Cup R5 Replay

Adrian’s wonderful performance in the final brought him a start against Brum, in place of Vela. It was Eduardo, however, who had two decent chances in the opening 20 minutes. At half-time it was still 0-0, though, and ATex was struggling with a knock, so Carlton came on for a run-out. Adrian justified his selection after 52 minutes with the opener, and it seemed that Arsenal were going through to the Quarter-Final of the FA Cup as usual – remember, we still haven’t lost in the FA Cup away from Wembley in nearly 4 years, and now that we’ve also won at Wembley...!

Anyway, Adrian’s fantastic performance was cut short by injury, and Vela came on for the last half-hour. He actually scored with 12 minutes of the game remaining, but that was chalked off, and when McFadden was held back in the box by Richards, it looked like we’d be going to extra-time, but Pouplin’s save followed by a wonderful run and finish by Vela only seconds later turned 1-1 into 2-0, and the game was safe. The quadruple is STILL on!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 0 Birmingham AFC Scorers: Adrian, Vela. Man of the Match: Taylor. AFC MOTM (MP): Fabregas.

...meanwhile, Liverpool's struggles continued with a goal-less draw at Ipswich, leaving them Chelsea's 3-0 win over Boro took them top of the league, but our game in hand should see us overtake them soon. Meanwhile, it seems to condemn Boro to relegation - they're 6 points behind Scunthorpe. Birmingham and Sunderland are one and two points further back respectively.

[GreyedOutMan]

sorry that should read "leaving them 17 points off the pace".

[GreyedOutMan]

...thats all for tonight, folks. Tune in again tomorrow for more updates and possibly the conclusion to the season, depending on how busy I am!