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

[Stomalomalus]

Well done, its definately starting to come together! BTW, do you know about the Chelsea bug? If you play with 1up front and 2 wide attacking midfielders with farrows to CF postitions, the Chelsea CBs mark the wingers, leaving the middle open for the ST to run through on goal. If hes quick, like yours are, then hell get 1on1 at least 10 times in a game. Produces some big wins against Chelsea!

Looking good though, keep up the good work and you may have the title in your hands

[GreyedOutMan]

We drew Newcastle in the Quarter Finals. The game will replace the league game with Newcastle, so the itinerary for the next few matches doesn’t change, though the fixtures of course continue to pile up, the league game at St. James now sandwiched in between 2 Saturday games in the first two weekends of April, in what will probably now be the title-deciding week of the season. We need to keep winning and winning, because the pressure is on from the fixtures...

Eduardo is now one goal away from his 3rd successive season with 30+ goals, and is roughly on course to beat his highest scoring season of last year with 39 goals – he’s managed his 29 in 39 appearances so far, and if he stays injury free, he has up to 23 games left this season. As far as the team is concerned, we haven’t lost since losing to United in the League Cup, and it was a result that still put us through. Our last meaningful defeat was also to United, but that’s now 2 months ago to the day, since which we’ve played 14 matches, and for our last defeat to anyone else, you’d have to go back to September 18th and a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. Arsenal have so far lost only 4 matches in all competitions this season, 3 to Manchester United and 1 to Chelsea, and one of the Man Utd defeats gave us an aggregate victory – if we can continue that record of not losing to anyone but United and Chelsea for a little longer, this season could easily end up going down as Arsenal’s greatest ever season, particularly as they’re both out of the FA Cup. Sorry, but it had to be said!

5.3.11 ARSENAL v Reading – Premiership

Earlier in the day, Gooner spirits were raised by a thumping 5-1 win for Pompey over Sp**s. Vela came in for the injured Adrian, who was replaced on the bench by Murphy. Vela had a couple of decent chances in the first half but couldn’t convert, and it was goal-less at half-time. However, immediately afterwards, quick thinking by Fabregas allowed him to put Nani through with a quick free-kick to open the scoring. After looking comfortable for the rest of the half, Richards was beaten on the near post for Diakhate to level in the 87th minute, and we’d dropped a disappointing 2 points. But we’re still unbeaten in all competitions against anyone but United or Chelsea!! For those who are interested, it was in fact Reading who inflicted Arsenal’s last defeat to anyone else, with a 4-1 win at the end of last season.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 1 – 1 Reading AFC Scorers: Nani. Man of the Match: Nani.

The impact of these dropped points was minimal, though, as Chelsea also drew with Ipswich. They stayed top, though by only one point as United beat Scunny 3-1, and Liverpool cranked up the pressure somewhat with an impressive 2-0 victory against Champs League rivals Newcastle. Its really looking exciting at the top now, anyone’s title really, even Fulham aren’t exactly out of it, with that game in hand – perhaps the most exciting title race ever shaping up?

Premiership Top 7

Chelsea P28 57pts (+32)

Man Utd P28 56pts (+28)

ARSENAL P27 56pts (+27)

Man City P28 53pts (+16)

Liverpool P28 52pts (+20)

Newcastle P28 51pts (+18)

Fulham P27 47pts (+11)

[SkidRo]

it is looking extremely close with your game in hand you can gather the upperhand.

congrats on carling cup and its good to see your still reporting back in gret detail, makes the reading that more exciting.

[GreyedOutMan]

Sunderland’s poor form this season saw Sr. Keano lose his job. Hee hee! Fulham beat Boro to keep alive their faint title hopes (who would have thought they’d be in with any chance at all March?!), and further condemn another Northern side to relegation. Next up for Arsenal was the UEFA Cup, and a trip to Germany. Before that, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton all crashed out to the Champions’ League at the first knockout stage to Bayern, PSV and Milan respectively, though Rangers managed a victory on penalties over Inter, having lost the 2nd leg at the San Siro only 1-0. Overall though, a disappointing night for English teams. Man Utd squeezed past Roma the next night to improve matters slightly, whilst managerless Sunderland lost 4-3 to Reading and are now 8 points from safety.

10.3.11 Werder Bremen v ARSENAL – UEFA Cup K/O R2, L1

Four wins out of four against Bremen previously, so I wanted to keep that run going...Adrian replaced Murphy on the bench but other than that the team stayed the same. Vela and Eduardo’s understanding demonstrated that it was back to its best when Eduardo was put through after just 2 minutes to open the scoring. A great start. Eduardo almost scored a 2nd give minutes later, but it was to be Vela who got the 2nd after just 8 minutes. Once again thoughts of sub-Standard Liege went through my mind, especially when Vela rocketed home a 3rd goal after 41 minutes. In truth, 3-0 could easily have been 6-0 by that stage. Arsenal were really turning it on. At half time I told the players to relax and have fun, and they did. Cesc scored a wonderful goal 15 minutes into the half to make in 4, and when Bremen midfielder Vranjes was sent off, it was party-time. Vela came close soon afterwards, and then Eduardo’s shot was missed by the ‘keeper to give the Croatian his 2nd and Arsenal’s 5th. It was a question of who would get to their hat-trick first, it seemed. Eduardo should have done after pouncing on a goalkeeping error, but Bremen actually scored next through Carlos Alberto to make it 5-1, and that was in fact the way it stayed until the end. A great performance, though perhaps we should have scored a few more.

FINAL SCORE Werder Bremen 1 – 5 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2, Vela 2, Fabregas. Man of the Match: Eduardo.

[GreyedOutMan]

Cheers, SkidRo. Keep reading!

That brace took Eduardo to 31 goals this season. It’s the 3rd season in a row that he’s made it to 30 goals. He might make it to the elusive 40 mark this season, after getting ‘only’ 39 last year...we’ll see. He’s never been the Premiership’s top scorer though, and at 17 league goals to Drogba’s 21, he might not manage it this season either. FA Cup up next, and though not before Chelsea cranked up the pressure by winning 5-3 at Bolton to go 4 points clear at the top. I’ve played 2 games more, but it really does mean the pressure is on. Of the 11 league games I have left, I think I’ll have to win at least 9 in order to claim the title this year. I should do it, as the run-in is, on paper, simple, but its not going to be easy with so much pressure on and a fixture pile-up.

12.3.11 Newcastle v ARSENAL – FA Cup 6th Round

Eduardo da Defender came in for Sakho who was exhausted, but otherwise it was the same team once again. As usual, it seems, Eduardo and Vela combined in the opening minutes for one of them to open the scoring. Vela this time, and it was 1-0 Arsenal after just 6 minutes. With 10 minutes to half-time, it got better, with Cesc’s corner, accurate as ever, finding the head of Eduardo on the near post to make it 2-0. After 38 minutes, Dani Alves once again threw a spanner in the works by getting himself sent off, and we switched to 3-4-2 with 3 DCs, Eduardo slotting in as one of them. Old boy Robin van Persie halved the deficit shortly before half time, pouncing on a mistake by Richards. At half time I told the boys to be careful – it would be a shame to go out here having been 2-0 up. Van Persie had a couple more chances to equalize for Newcastle, but he turned provider with 7 minutes remaining, his cross finding Owen in the centre to rifle home. The tie was heading back to Emirates and a very unwelcome replay. Disappointing, but still no defeats to anyone but United/Chelsea this season!

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

....meanwhile, Reading beat Everton in the day’s other quarter final, and Middlesbrough and Birmingham both took another step towards the Championship with a defeat at home to Pompey for the midlanders, and a 1-1 draw away at Ipswich for the Teesiders. Next day, Fulham pulled off the shock, beating Liverpool 1-0, whilst Villa beat Man City by the same score. Our cup to lose, now.

[GreyedOutMan]

Reading await in the semi, if I overcome Newcastle in the replay. I must be close to setting a record this season for the most games played in a season, with long runs in all 4 competitions, and several replays...

17.3.11 ARSENAL (5) v (1) Werder Bremen – UEFA Cup K/O R2, L2

5 wins out of 5, and a goal difference of +12 against Bremen meant this game was all but irrelevant. Which was lucky, as Cesc and Diaby were both suspended (Dutra and Carlton deputized), and Richards was injured (Sakho). After a dull first half, a penalty from Frings on the stroke of half-time seemed to be more or less academic, with Bremen needing to score at least 4 more in the 2nd half to go through. 15 minutes into the 2nd half, Eduardo’s disallowed goal would have provoked controversy in a closer-contested game, but he did pop up with 15 minutes to go to ensure that Arsenal not only went through, but maintained our record of not losing to anyone but United or Chelsea this season.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 1 (6) v (2) 1 Werder Bremen[/b] AFC Scorers: Eduardo. Man of the Match: Frings. AFC MOTM: Eduardo.

In other results, Man City scraped through on penalties at Ajax, Benfica got through against Betis on away goals despite a 4-1 defeat in the away leg, Dortmund scored the only goal in 180 minutes to squeeze past Napoli, Fiorentina beat Espanyol on pens, Newcastle hammered Fenerbahce 5-1 on aggregate, Hamburg won 5-2 against Porto, and Valencia cruised past Celtic 4-2 on aggregate.

UEFA Cup QF/SF Draw:

(Benfica vs Newcastle) vs (Dortmund vs Fiorentina)

(Arsenal vs Man City) vs (Valencia vs Hamburg)

So its Man City first, then Valencia or Hamburg. Interesting...

[Stomalomalus]

You seem to have got the harder side of the draw but good luck for them!

Id say trips to Geordieland and White Hart Lane are potential banana skins though! Be careful in those games, the computer does favour the home team. This could go all the way!

Keep it up

[GreyedOutMan]

With Arsenal playing on the Sunday, the other teams were given a chance to exert more pressure – indeed Chelsea were playing their 30th game of the season against Reading before Arsenal could play their 28th, whilst United played their 29th at home to Everton, so I would have 3 games in hand over Chelsea and 2 over United following these games. Chelsea and United did indeed pick up wins, and even lowly Sunderland picked up a rare win, at hope to Sp**s. Going into the following game, I was on 56 points, behind United by 3 with 2 games in hand, and behind Chelsea by 7, but with a full 3 games in hand.

20.3.11 ARSENAL v Scunthorpe – Premiership

Vanden Borre came in for Alves, who had his suspension extended by the FA, and will miss the next 3 games. Cesc came back in for Dutra, Carlton dropped to the bench for Diaby, and the rest of the team stayed the same. We had a succession of good chances, mainly from corners, in the opening exchanges, and after 17 minutes, ATex broke free after a nice passing move and a good ball from Sakho to blast the ball to the side of the keeper and into the net from a tight angle. He’s been doing really well lately but needs more goals, so here was a good start... but it was to get better as Sakho again turned provider for Cesc to score through a tight gap in the crowded area and into an empty net. 2-0 it stayed until half-time. With 20 minutes left I replaced Diaby with Carlton, to give him a run out in the middle of the park. Doesn’t seem to be ideal for him, he didn’t really contribute much. But for now its just an experiment. A good win, nonetheless...and just to point out, we’re still getting 60,000 even for a game against Scunthorpe. Might be worth asking the board to expand the stadium and compete with the Man Utd’s of this world? Liverpool’s draw with Man City and Fulham’s defeat at Pompey means that Champs League football is now all-but assured. Man City seem to be favourites to claim 4th spot. I have bigger fish to fry...

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

And the board disagreed that stadium expansion was worth thinking about. Oh well...might try at the end of the season and give them an ultimatum if we’ve done well....they wont sack me if I win the league!

23.3.11 ARSENAL v Newcastle – FA Cup R6 Replay

Richards came back in for Vanden Borre, and Boukari came on to the bench for Gyan. But by half-time we hadn’t scored which was unusual. I left it for a bit, but after 7 minutes of the 2nd half, Richards got a 2nd yellow and received his marching orders. Vela came off for Vanden Borre, and we switched to 4-4-1. After 66 minutes, though, neat combination work from Cesc and Diaby gave Eduardo the opening goal, a nicely worked one two the crux of the move. Owen and van Persie both scored for Newcastle late on but the goals were both chalked off for offside, and another trip to Wembley beckoned in another semi-final, this time against Reading. Hopefully, the 2nd of three this season. Man Utd beat Man City to cement the normal big 4 as almost certainly the top 4 this season, and with United and Chelsea 4 and 5 points ahead, there’s big pressure on our 2 games in hand now.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 1 – 0 Newcastle AFC Scorers: Eduardo. Man of the Match: Pouplin.

More feedback from more people would be good...anything people want to know? Questions? Comments?

[GreyedOutMan]

and incidentally, that win against Newcastle means that we will maintain my record of no defeats in the FA Cup away from Wembley for another year...!

[Stomalomalus]

Srill going well

I think the reason youre not getting so much feedback atm is because your team seems to playing rather well. The problems you had at the start seem to have been sorted out. Im sure plenty still look at the thread as its really well written though

Looking forward to the end of your season almost as much as my own, lol

[GreyedOutMan]

Fair enough I guess, we'll see what happens if we hit a sticky patch. And over the summer, I want advice on whatever few signings might be helpful. Keep an eye out folks!

[GreyedOutMan]

Tough game up next against Man City – with the possible exception of Newcastle, the toughest challenge remaining in the league. Actually, we’ll be playing City three times in 12 days, as the UEFA Cup comes 5 days after this game, and then the 2nd leg a week later, punctuated by another trip to Wembley for the semi final of the FA Cup.

2.4.11 Man City v ARSENAL – Premiership.

Liverpool were held by Everton in the Mersey derby earlier in the day. United were away at Sp**s at the same time we were playing, and Chelsea away at Newastle at 5.15. It was going to be a big day in the title race. Liverpool, now 2 points behind us after 3 more games, seem to be out of it now, however. Diaby’s injury gave Dutra a game, while Richards’ suspension gave me a bit of a problem in defence with Alves also suspended. Vanden Borre came in at right back, with Eduardo continuing to deputise in central defence. Recent signing Gerson got onto the bench for the first time.

We hadn’t conceded in the league for almost a month – a slightly misleading stat, as in that time we’d only played 1 game, against Scunthorpe! Oddly, since the 2-1 win at Chelsea on Feb 12th, this is our 12th game, but only our 3rd league match. The run came to an end after 8 minutes, Elano scoring a scorcher from 22 yards or so. Samaras then scored an even better goal after a knock-back from Bojinov to really put my unbeaten run in jeopardy. After 30 minutes though, Eduardo put us back in the game with a neat penalty. But City still looked a threat, and Eduardo’s 2nd goal 7 minutes later was by no means a guarantee against a defeat here. 2-2, however, and it was a good effort to come back from 2-0 before half-time.

5 minutes into the 2nd half Nani completed the comeback, putting us 3-2 up with a nice finish from the edge of the box. It looked as if it would be 3 points snatched from defeat, but City still looked a bit of a threat – the game was not over. Samaras missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-3, and Elano also went close, forcing a reflex save from Pouplin. Carlton and Mota came on with a few minutes remaining to close out the match by packing the midfield. Samaras had time to miss one more golden opportunity, a free header, but that was as close as City got to equalizing. This could be a title-winning turnaround...

FINAL SCORE Man City 2 – 3 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2, Nani. Man of the Match: Eduardo.

Wow! Really starting to believe our name is on this Premiership trophy this year, folks!

[GreyedOutMan]

Newcastle 3 - 1 Chelsea

...especially with that result!

Prem: Top

1. Man Utd P31 65pts (+33)

2. Chelsea P31 63pts (+35)

3. ARSENAL P29 62pts (+30)

4. Liverpool P31 57pts (+23)

5. Fulham P31 56pts (+14)

6. Newcastle P30 54pts (+17)

7. Man City P31 54pts (+14)

[GreyedOutMan]

Jack Wilshere came back from Wrexham saying he’d learnt a lot. It seems he has – AvR of 7 and his attributes are up there looking at possibly pressing for a few games in the first team next season. We’ll see. Would like to bring some home-grown talent in – only Carlton is at the moment.

In the Champions’ League quarter final first legs, Man Utd lost 2-0 to Barcelona at the Nou Camp, and Sevilla managed a 1-1 draw at home to rivals Real Madrid. On the Wednesday, Milan beat Rangers 1-0 at the San Siro, whilst PSV went down 3-1 to Bayern at home – the only tie that seems as good as over.

7.4.11 ARSENAL v Man City[/i] – UEFA Cup Quarter-Final L1

Mertesacker’s suspension gave Garay a game, with Vanden Borre replacing him on the bench as Alves was back. The first half produced no incident, but a corner early in the 2nd half gave City an away goal through Bojinov. Once again I had to come from behind against City. But Elano was sent off shortly afterwards which I felt could only help! I switched to 4-3-1-2 with Vela in the hole, and Adrian up front with Eduardo, but not before we’d equalized while I was making the change. I missed the goal, but it was scored by Eduardo (as usual). With 5 minutes to go, a Fabregas corner found Eduardo who headed back for Nani to blast into the net via a huge Bojinov deflection. 2-1. Not a great result in the home leg but it’ll do.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 1 Man City AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Own Goal. Man of the Match: Eduardo.

[GreyedOutMan]

grrr stupid formatting tags!

[Stomalomalus]

With Elano suspended for the away leg that result looks better though

Are Lansbury and Nordtveidt still around? Soz, forgot

[GreyedOutMan]

Newcastle beat Benfica away, 3-1, which was a great result, while Fiorentina won 2-0 in Dortmund, and Valencia beat Hamburg 1-0 at home.

Players’ Player of the Year speculation started on the Friday. Cristiano seems to be in front, but Cesc is in contention...

On the Saturday, Villa beat Fulham to reach the FA Cup Final, and both United and Chelsea kept the pressure up with wins against Birmingham and Scunthorpe respectively. 4 and 6 points ahead, but I have 3 games in hand.

10.4.11 ARSENAL v Reading – FA Cup Semi Final

A 2nd trip to Wembley for the Gunners. Eduardo missed out as he had picked up a knock and made way for Adrian, Zeefuik getting a spot on the bench. Matt Derbyshire opened the scoring for Reading but had his goal chalked off as Frazier Campbell had been offside. He did eventually get his reward, a good ball from Harper setting up Campbell, who shot at Pouplin only for Derbyshire to get on the rebound. We then had several good chances to equalize before Vela found a way to get the ball through three Reading defenders and into the top corner from distance. 1-1. And by 33’, Dutra had put Vela through to lob the keeper from 25 yards and score a stunning 2nd goal. And on the stroke of half time, Dutra and Cesc combined to put Adrian through to virtually seal a place in the final. With 20 minutes left, Parker got a goal back for Reading, though, and it was squeaky bum time. Vanden Borre replaced Adrian as we tried to hang on. It was precarious, and Shane Long scored with 5 minutes remaining, but was rightly pulled back from his celebration for offside, and Arsenal hung on by the skin of their teeth.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 2 Reading AFC Scorers: Vela 2, Adrian. MOTM: Vela.

[GreyedOutMan]

Meanwhile, Liverpool were held by Spurs in the league, leaving them 4 points behind us after 3 games more!

[GreyedOutMan]

Lansbury: moved to Celtic for £10m at the start of last season and has AvRs of just over 6.5 in both years so far, so not much good....

Nordtveit: still a Gunner, currently on loan at Espanyol after spending last season at Monaco. 6.86 last season, 6.90 this year. Not sure about him - we have plenty better. Gerson and Sidnei are around for if/when Garay/Mertesacker/Richards are indisposed!

[GreyedOutMan]

In the Champions league, Bayern cruised through, their 1-0 home defeat to PSV meaning they progress 3-2 on aggregate. But Rangers pulled off a huge shock, turning around a 1-0 first leg deficit to win 2-1 on aggregate, beating Milan 2-0 at Ibrox. Get in!

Next day, Sevilla pulled off arguably an even bigger shock by beating Real Madrid 2-0 at the Bernabeu to progress 3-1 on aggregate, while Barcelona held United to a goalless draw at OT to progress 2-0 on aggregate. Hee hee! Semis will be Barca v Sevilla and Bayern v Rangers. Anyone’s cup. Wouldn’t even put it past Rangers to go all the way, after that impressive result. Meanwhile, Fulham lost to Sunderland to put the Northerners back in with a shout of staying up, while Fulham, now 6 points behind Arsenal after 3 more games, are clinging on to a UEFA Cup place at the moment, their chances of getting into the Champions League almost gone, and with Newcastle and City now close enough to overtake them with their games in hand. Bottom of the table is really hotting up, though:

Bottom 6

15 Bolton P31 29pts (-20)

16 Sheff Utd P32 27pts (-15)

17 Scunthorpe P32 26pts (-28)

18 Birmingham P32 25pts (-25)

19 Sunderland P32 23pts (-24)

20 Middlesbrough P32 23pts (-31)

14.4.11 Man City v ARSENAL – UEFA Cup Quarter Final L2

For City, this was the third consecutive game against the Gunners. Arsenal, of course, had the Cup Semi in between the 2nd and 3rd. Both of the first two finished as odd-goal wins for Arsenal, and it meant that City had to win 1-0 or by 2 clear goals to progress. The odds were stacked in Arsenal’s favour, especially having gone almost a year now without losing to ANYONE except Man U or Chelsea! Eduardo returned to the team, and in the continued absence of Richards, Mertesacker came in for Eduardo, who bench-warmed instead of Mota. On the right, incidentally, Alves has been Arsenal’s most improved player this year and is an outside bet for player of the year, though it will go to either Cesc or Eduardo. Cesc, unfortunately, had to go off after 16 minutes of this game, to be replaced by Carlton. Unfortunately for young Lee, it was his mistake which ultimately led to Bojinov’s opener after 25 minutes, leveling the scores on aggregate, and City had the away goal, so I now needed to score at least one. By half-time, no goal had arrived, and I was seriously concerned. I told the team that I wanted much more from them, and sent them out with a rocket fresh up their backsides. Former Gunner Lescott came close to scoring City’s 2nd, and with 15 minutes to go, I had to throw caution to the wind – after all, if we conceded but still managed to get the goal, it would be extra time, which was better than a defeat! Adrian came on for Nani, and we switched to a very attacking 4-1-3-2 formation. It was a lot of responsibility for Dutra as a lone midfielder, but needs must... But, to my dismay, the attacking formation didn’t even produce a single chance, and dreams of the quadruple evaporated into the Manchester air. Very, very disappointing. Our first defeat of the season apart from against United or Chelsea. And it comes at the worst possible time.

FINAL SCORE Man City 1(2) – (2) 0 ARSENAL Man City go through on the away goals rule. Man of the Match: Almunia.

Really down after that, I really felt there was a serious chance of a quadruple, with Newcastle, Valencia and Fiorentina the only teams left in the competition along with City now. Almunia had a stormer in the City goal – though Arsenal only had 9 shots to City’s 13, 7 of those were on target to City’s 3, and only a great performance from the former Gunner stopped us progressing. Its not an excuse, we should have managed at least one goal in that match.

[Stomalomalus]

Unlucky. Although it may be a blessing for the home front - less games means more chance of winning the laegue and FA Cup.

[GreyedOutMan]

We really needed to pick ourselves up from that – Spurs away was up next, starting the run in – no UEFA Cup meant the final 9 league games (in succession) in the space of less than a month – only once more would the team get a week between games, and the final four games would be played in 8 days from Sunday May 8th to Sunday May 15th, during which time we’d play Pompey (A), Everton (H), Newcastle (A) and Blackburn (H), before one more week leading up to the Cup Final, against Villa. But given that the last 15 games have included only 3 league games (that’s quite something, isn’t it?!), the fixture congestion was not unexpected, and as that run had provided one trophy and another final to look forward to, I wasn’t too upset, despite the hugely disappointing UEFA Cup exit.

Remarkably, the media started suggesting that I might not be offered a new contract, with Stuart Pearce, Joachim Low and Tony Adams (my assistant) linked with the job. Surely not! There’s still a very large possibility of a domestic treble! If I lose my job after this season then one of two things is true – either Arsene Wenger should have lost his job several times over since 2005, or the game is hugely flawed!

On the following Saturday, Liverpool were held one again, this time at Birmingham, who moved out of the relegation places on goal difference at the expense of Scunthorpe. That would be a seriously “great escapeâ€...

On Sunday, Fulham hosted Man Utd in a vital top-of-the-table clash, whist Man City hosted Chelsea in another. Arsenal faced a short trip to Sp**s....

17.4.11 Tot*****m v ARSENAL – Premiership

Injury to Fabregas gave Riquelme a game, with Rakitic moved to the bench in place of Gerson. After 4 minutes, disaster struck as Robbie Keane put Sp**s ahead. Could my season be falling apart? No! Of course not, a great shot from Vela hit the bar before falling to ATex to equalize only 6 minutes later, and after 22 minutes, Nani and Vela put Eduardo in to put Arsenal ahead. The team shows a remarkable ability to turn games around fast, another reason why the Man City game was such a let-down. However, before half-time, Berbatov equalized for Spurs and at the whistle, the game was interestingly poised at 2-2. Soon after the restrart, Keane hit the post. After an hour, Rakitic came on for Riquelme, and Arsenal continually pressed for a winner, Eduardo going close several times, and Vela having one good chance saved. Totally against the run of play, I was dismayed to see a Ribery corner find the head of Farfan with just 3 minutes left, and give Sp**s an unlikely victory. HELP! My season is falling apart!

FINAL SCORE Tot*****m 3 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: ATex, Eduardo. Man of the Match: Farfan. AFC MOTM: ATex.

[GreyedOutMan]

Once again, lady luck smiled on the greatest football club in history (about time). Fulham held Man Utd, and only a late Ronaldo penalty gave United even a single point. Chelsea actually lost to Man City. These results meant the top of the table looked like this (the top 3 are now the only realistic title challengers, though its close for 4th):

Premiership Top 3

1. Man Utd P33 69pts (+35)

2. Chelsea P33 66pts (+37)

3. ARSENAL P30 62pts (+29)

Close or what?!

[GreyedOutMan]

20.4.11 Bolton v ARSENAL - Premiership

Games coming thick and fast now. No time to think! And to be sure of the title, we now need to win every game. I left the team unchanged for this game, with Richards, Cesc and Diaby all still out. When Bolton took the lead after 9 minutes through a Nolan free-kick, I started to wonder if we’d ever win again! After the spectacular form of recent months, this has been an equally spectacular fall from grace, and when Donovan scored a 2nd just short of half-time, I started to think my job might seriously be under threat. We needed a spectacular turnaround. Vela’s injury 5 minutes into the 2nd half didn’t help, and Boukari came on, but after 59 minutes, Donovan scored a 3rd to put the game beyond doubt and perhaps end Arsenal’s real title challenge? Boukari then got injured so Adrian came on, and Carlton replaced Riquelme. Terrible game. Sound the death-knoll, Arsenal’s season is over apart from a Cup Final....?

FINAL SCORE Bolton 3 – 0 ARSENAL

[GreyedOutMan]

Vela’s season is over. The injury he picked up in the defeat at Bolton will keep him out for a month. Chelsea beat Everton to notch up the pressure on new favourites, Man Utd. If we can win all our remaining games, we’ll have 83 points, which means United would need to win all 5 of their remaining games to win the title. But with 7 games left for us, it’s a big if, especially after three consecutive crushing defeats, to City in the UEFA Cup and Spurs/Bolton in the league. The next game with Birmingham had the potential to really end our title challenge. We badly need to end this terrible run.

23.4.11

Vela was injured, so ATex replaced him up front, and Carlton came in on the left wing, Gyan and Murphy taking places on the bench. Cesc is nearing fitness but isn’t ready for first team action yet, so Riquelme, who really cant cope with the physical demands of this run-in, was replaced by Rakitic for his first start. Juan Roman might come on towards the end. Once again, Arsenal conceded an early goal, Garry O’Connor opening the scoring just 5 minutes in. It needed a spark to turn this around and convince the team that they could still win. Lee Carlton going off injured after 24 minutes didn’t count, as far as I was concerned!!! Gyan replaced him, with Nani moving over to the left wing to accommodate. After 39 minutes, a Rakitic corner found Mertesacked on the near post to head home and the relief around Emirates was tangible. In fact, the goal was credited as an own goal by O’Connor, who had therefore scored at both ends in one half! With 20 minutes remaining, though, the winner was eluding us, so it was caution to the wind, and Adrian came on for Dutra. It did the trick, with a Nani cross finding the young Spaniard’s head within seconds! Great substitution, and that’s his 15th goal of the season. Not bad for a player who hasn’t been a regular?! And we held out for an absolutely vital win which keeps our title chances alive. United won 4-0 at Sheffield United, however, and with only Pompey, Blackburn, Sunderland and Middlesbrough left on their fixture list, I don’t have very high hopes. We’ve thrown this away, just like IRL!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 1 Birmingham AFC Scorers: OG, Adrian. Man of the Match: O’Connor. AFC MOTM: Adrian – as he played only 15 minutes, you can tell how poor the rest of the side was!

[GreyedOutMan]

sorry, forgot to put in the fixture info which messed up the formatting, but you get the idea!

[GreyedOutMan]

25.4.11 Fulham v ARSENAL – Premiership

This was part of a full Premiership Easter Monday programme. United’s trip to Pompey was probably the biggest chance they had of dropping the points that would let us back into the picture for the title which looked like it was ours so recently. Chelsea meanwhile, who are 4 points ahead of us after 2 games more, faced a tough trip to Spurs. Aissati came into the team for Carlton. The squad is ravished by injury. The current list in full reads as follows: -

Richards

Diaby

Fabregas

Boukari

Vela

Carlton

...so that’s another explanation for the complete U-turn in our fortunes. But if we can win every game from here on in, we’re in with a good chance, and will finish no lower than 2nd.

Fulham, of course, are no pushovers at the end of the 2010-11 season, and needed the points for their UEFA Cup push, and even an outside chance of the Champions’ League. But ATex’s effort deflected into the path of Eduardo after just 4 minutes to settle some nerves and put Arsenal back on track. Inevitably, it wasn’t that simple, with Lopez feeding Kamara to beat Pouplin 1-on-1 after 17 minutes. Then, Eduardo had to come off, and Sakho was also struggling. I chose to leave the latter on and replaced Eduardo with Adrian, a capable deputy as he has continually proven this season with a handy 15 goals, some really vital ones included. One here could be as important as any.

Half-time came and went, but soon afterwards, disaster struck as Kamara jumped above Garay to head into the net. Knowing that a defeat here would definitely end any lingering hopes, I brought on Murphy for ATex and Riquelme for Alves, changing to a 3-4-1-2 formation. Risky, especially with Sakho really struggling, but we needed not just a point but all three to really stay in the hunt for the title. Sakho’s game was over soon afterwards though, his injury holding him up and making it all the more likely that he would mis-time a tackle and pick up a 2nd yellow, which he did. All I could do was move Dutra to AMC, and the wingers inside, playing a really narrow 2-1-2-2-2 formation. The game seemed to be up. However, after 74 minutes, Adrian was put through to equalize, and the race was back on. But it was Fulham who got the winner, the two defenders unable to cope with Kamara, who raced through to complete his hat-trick and give Fulham a vital win. Bouazza then rounded it off in injury time with a poachers goal to make it 4-2, but by then the Arsenal players were spent. Can’t fault the effort, lads. But that really is it for the title, you’d imagine, though, to add insult to injury, both United and Chelsea drew, so a win at Craven Cottage would have seen us return to within touching distance, just 5 points behind United with 2 games in hand. As it is – we’ll need a miracle now to win the league, though 2nd isn’t at all out of the question, but we need to pick up some wins!

FINAL SCORE Fulham 4 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo, Adrian. Man of the Match: Kamara.

[GreyedOutMan]

The injury list grew, with Eduardo now out for the rest of the season, whilst Sakho’s red card will see him banned for a game too. However, Cesc returned to full training to ease the pressure a touch on my injury-ravaged side, but as my two main strikers are out for the rest of the season, even the 5 wins that we’ll need to stand any chance at all of winning the title seem unlikely.

Champs League: Barca beat Sevilla 2-1 at home in the first leg, to leave the tie delicately poised. Barca will have to go out to get a goal in Seville, you’d think. Next day, Bayern beat Rangers 1-0 at home, a result that really should put them through to the final.

UEFA Cup: Can hardly bear to watch – we should be there! Newcastle 2-0 Fiorentina and Valencia 2-0 Man City. Should be a Valencia v Newcastle final. About time Newcastle won something, methinks....

30.4.11 ARSENAL v Sheff Utd – Premiership

Hoyte returned to Emirates after his bizarre £9m move to Bramall Lane. United were playing Blackburn concurrently, and we need them to lose really, because though if they draw, we have the potential to draw level on points with them with games in hand, their goal difference will be superior to ours unless we can manage at least one huge win, possibly two. Earlier, in perhaps the most depressing day in the North ever, Middlesbrough beat Sunderland, only to realize that even that result meant that barring a miracle, they’d both be going down!

For Arsenal, Richards and Fabregas had both returned to fitness and immediately came back into the side for Garay and Rakitic. Riquelme has almost certainly now played his last game for Arsenal. Though limited this year, he’d had two great seasons before that, and was well worth £8.75m. If I cant offload him, I’ll be giving him a free transfer at the end of this year.

The first half was dire. Nothing happened. I gave the boys a pep-talk, and sent them back out to actually do something in the 2nd half. With 20 minutes to go and no goal in sight, Zeefuik replaced ATex, and Nani made way for Murphy, in a switch to a 4-2-1-3 formation. Immediately, Murphy connected with a Dutra free-kick to pressure Rui Fonte, another former Gunner, into scoring an embarrassing own-goal. Soon afterwards, Adrian put Zeefuik through to score a 2nd and seal the points, and the challenge for 2nd place, at least, was still on. And you never quite know....

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

[GreyedOutMan]

United have games against Sunderland and Middlesbrough remaining, and with a goal difference that’s +14 better than mine, I need them to drop at least three points. Unlikely. All I can do, though, is win the four remaining games and hope for the best. If I do that, of course, I will finish 2nd at worst.

The managerial speculation continued, and when Trevor Francis’s future as Brum manager was thrown into doubt, I found it highly amusing to see Sol Campbell linked to the job, though Steve McLaren was seen as the favourite. At the moment, though they’re not as doomed as Boro/Sunderland, it looks as if whoever does take the job will be managing in the Championship next season.

The speculation over my future, however, ended, with a Hill-Wood offering me a 2 year contract on a mammoth £110,000 p/w. However, I don’t need money – what use is that? I wanted to tell him to save the cash, pay me £10k p/w and give me an extra 2 years on top of the 2 he’d offered. However, it didn’t let me ask for less money, so I just asked him to make it four years. He ended up making it three, and I accepted, signing on the dotted line to stay until June 2014 at least.

In the league on the Sunday, Chelsea beat Brum 1-0 to keep up the pressure, while Villa and Fulham (8th and 7th) drew 2-2 and City (6th) drew with Reading. Newcastle were the big winners, their 2-1 win over Scunny moving them up to 5th, and with a game in hand over those behind them, and in fact over Liverpool, with whom they could draw level on points with a win in that game in hand.

In the Champions League, Bayern beat Rangers 2-0 at Ibrox to reach the final, where they were joined the next day by Barcelona, who secured a 3-1 win on aggregate over Sevilla. The UEFA Cup final will be between Newcastle and Valencia. Even 2 own goals from Valencia’s players wasn’t enough for Man City, who had conceded the crucial first goal – an away goal, and lost 3-2 on aggregate.

Title Race STAT ATTACK

Before Arsenal’s 35th game on the Sunday, Chelsea and United both played their 37th matches of the League season, at Fulham and Sunderland respectively, while Liverpool went to Blackburn. Liverpool could only manage a draw, but United and Chelsea won, meaning that I officially need to win all four of my remaining matches (all in a week) to have any chance of the title, and even then I need United to lose their last match, or its 2nd place this season.

Promotion/Relegation STAT ATTACK

Sunderland’s defeat at home to United also confirmed their relegation. Only a point ahead, Middlesbrough will surely join them soon. But after that, its hard to tell. Its almost certainly between Sheffield United and Brum, level on 30 pts each, though if they both win and Scunthorpe lose, it will be Scunthorpe who make way for the play-off winners, who will join already-promoted West Ham and Watford in the Premiership for 2011/12. The playoffs will be contested by Wolves, West Brom, Leeds and either Leicester or Wigan. Oddly, this means we’re guaranteed at least two of three, and there is a 62.5% chance that we’ll have three teams promoted whose names all begin with W....pathetic I know, but I just thought I’d point out that interesting tid-bit! Shame really, because currently the table before any games are played has To******m bottom of the table (on alphabetical order, of course...but it still looks nice).

8.5.11 Portsmouth v ARSENAL – Premiership

The league title might be over, it is true, but this game could guarantee 3rd spot and move us closer to guaranteeing 2nd, not to mention the possibility still that United might just slip up and lose their last match...

Unchanged team. As so often this season, Arsenal went behind, this time another old boy, Fran Merida, opening the scoring after 12 minutes. 1-0 down and of course that would put the final nail in the title coffin and mean that we’d be relying on Chelsea to lose their last game to even make 2nd place. That wouldn’t do. And when we hadn’t got an equalizer at half time, I lost my cool in the dressing room and told the players this was unacceptable and we must get 3 points in this game. It would be hairdryers at 12 paces if we didn’t win this. After an hour, with still no goal arriving, Zeefuik, Gyan and Murphy replaced Cesc, Aissati and ATex – we had to go for it. 4-3-3, and an attacking 4-3-3 at that – with all out attack settings. But the game seemed up a moment later when a Yakubu penalty doubled the deficit. Injuries to key players at key moments have really put paid to what was shaping up to be a really magnificent season. Lets see if a Cup Double can restore a little faith...

FINAL SCORE Portsmouth 2 – 0 ARSENAL

[GreyedOutMan]

With Chelsea at home to Sheffield United in their final match, that probably is the end of my hopes of finishing 2nd even. However, just three more points from the final three games will guarantee third, and 4th spot will be assured with even one point, as long as it’s against Newcastle – if we lose there then 2 will be needed. If we can get three points in the next game, we can rest players in the final two so they’re nice and fresh for the Cup Final. The last 5 games have really put paid to my season in a brutal way as far as the league is concerned – 3 defeats! If just one of those had been turned into a victory, we’d be in with a chance, and if 2 had been – well we’d be favourites! Only 5 points behind United, with 2 games in hand. In the end, injuries and a ridiculous number of fixtures in a short space of time have been the deciding factor – if only we’d gone out of the UEFA Cup earlier!!

11.5.11 ARSENAL v Everton

One defeat in 10 games against Everton suggested this should provide that win to secure 3rd place and a 10 day rest for the first team before the final. Sakho came back in for Adriano, and Boukari for Aissati. Eduardo’s injury, incidentally, was doubly cruel when you consider that, stranded on 39 goals, the same number he scored last season, it robbed him of the last 6 games of the season, and most of the 7th to last too as he was injured after 27 minutes. Surely he would have scored a 40th! Still, 39 goals in 52 games is actually a slight improvement on last year when he scored the same number in 53 starts and one appearance from the bench. His AvR has gone up from 7.24 to 7.50, a truly remarkable number, and it’s a real shame we couldn’t “win it for Eduardoâ€.

After 28 minutes, Sakho’s mistake gifted Everton a penalty which Arteta dispatched to give the Toffees the lead. The team has lost its way to such an extent that I no longer believe we can win when we go behind. I resolved to get Cesc to have a word with the team, as skipper, to make sure that we rediscover our form in time for the Cup Final. After three consecutive defeats in that final, I’m in no mood for another! After 65 minutes of this game, ATex was replaced by Zeefuik, but before the change could be made, ATex equalized. Thank god for that! He left the pitch to a standing ovation, and Zeefuik had 22 minutes to win the game. It didn’t happen, and we had to be content with just one point. Still, even two more draws will be enough to guarantee 3rd, so I’m not too worried, now that the chance of catching Chelski and United States of Manchester has gone.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 1 – 1 Everton AFC Scorers: ATex. MOTM: Arteta.

Despite morale being at a real low, for some reason it wouldn’t let me ask Cesc to call a team meeting to discuss the problems that had put paid to a promising title challenge. Oh well. Some of these bottlers will be out on their ears at the end of the season, anyway. Newcastle next, and a point will guarantee 3rd place.

[GreyedOutMan]

Actually it wont, quite. I do still need 2 points to guarantee it because if we only manage one, Liverpool win their last game they’ll be level on points with us and will have a better goal difference than us (its level now, but if Liverpool win it will go up...). On the Friday, therefore, I kept a strong team out against Newcastle in an effort to get the 3 points that would give the team an extra two days off before the Cup Final. In the only change, the exhausted Nani was replaced by Simpson, who hasn’t played much this year and should be fresh.

13.5.11 Newcastle v ARSENAL

A win here would be vital for morale in the build up to the final. TA says morale isn’t very good at the moment. After 20 minutes, Adrian went through to open the scoring. That was a good start, certainly, but van Persie was a constant threat. Half-time came and went, but still van Persie was getting chances. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, ATex had a good chance to put the result beyond doubt, but he missed, and that seemed to be a turning point, with Belluschi equalizing 5 minutes later. The exhausted Fabregas made way for Zeefuik, and in a 4-3-3 formation we chased a winner. Van Persie went off soon afterwards for Martins, which was a bit of a relief, and ATex had another great chance to win the game, but in the final minute of stoppage time, he made up for it, finally getting a shot past Krul into the net to apparently secure a win. However, 30 seconds into the 4th of 3 minutes’ stoppage time, Belluschi curled a free-kick into the top corner of Pouplin’s net to deny Arsenal once more. SO frustrating. We need a point from the last game now to guarantee 3rd. All these points dropped - we REALLY should be champions this year. What looked like an easy run in has ended up being the run that has cost us the title.

FINAL SCORE Newcastle 2 – 2 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Adrian, ATex. Man of the Match: Belluschi.

[GreyedOutMan]

Just 2 days later, the final match of the season meant a visit from Blackburn Rovers. Man Utd’s 3 point lead over Chelsea was not backed up by a hugely superior goal difference, so United had to get a point to win the title, whilst the bottom was simply too close to call. Scunthorpe would be safe with a point even if the two below them won, but Sheffield United and Birmingham, on either side of the all important line, were separated only by 1 goal, so it was extremely close.

15.5.11 ARSENAL v Blackburn

With a point needed, I was forced to play a fairly strong team for this match. Simpson continued on the right for the still-exhausted Nani but otherwise, it was as strong a team as I could muster with injuries still a major factor. Boukari’s screamer from about 25 yards in the 7th minute eased the nerves – we really didn’t need a win, just a point, so it more or less did the trick. When ATex scored a 2nd shortly before half-time, I knew that 3rd place was assured, but more importantly, it looked like the team was finally coming back into a little bit of form in time for the Final. Adrian rounded it off with a 3rd in the final moments, and the league season had at least ended on a high.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 0 Blackburn AFC Scorers: Boukari, ATex, Adrian. Man of the Match: Boukari.

In other issues:

Man United’s win over Middlesbrough rendered Chelsea’s win against Sheffield United meaningless as far as the top was concerned: United were champions for the 2nd year running, after Chelsea had won in 08 and 09. Liverpool also won to confirm their place in the Champions’ League, whilst Newcastle squeezed into the UEFA Cup place on goal difference above Man City by just 2 goals, with a 3-1 win over Everton.

At the bottom: EVERY one of the bottom five lost on the final day, meaning that Sheffield United were relegated with Middlesbrough and Sunderland, on GOALS SCORED behind Birmingham. On 30 points and both with a GD of -25, Brum had scored 4 goals more than Sheffield United and stayed up by the skin of their teeth.

The Arsenal squad received £3.8 for bottling the title this year and finishing 3rd, and the club received a £18.5m winfall for the final position. Cristiano Ronaldo pipped Fabregas to the Footballer of the Year award, with Rooney in third. ATex was named as the Young Player of the Year, Steve Bruce (Man Utd) pipped a certain Luke Hearn to the managerial award, and three Arsenal players (Richards, Nani and Fabregas) were selected in the Team of the Year for the Premiership. I would certainly have taken this at the start of the season, but exactly like IRL, the circumstances mean that its been a really gut-wrenching end to the season – in fact I think this is more extreme than IRL...

Cup Final next, but I badly need some food so it’ll be a little while!!

[GreyedOutMan]

Before that, congratulations must go to Valencia who beat Newcastle on penalties in the UEFA Cup Final after a 3-3 draw. Ironically it was Belluschi, he who denied us 3 points back on Friday, who missed one of the two crucial penalties. Adebayor scored in normal time and converted a penalty to round off another good season with 28 goals in 44 games – he’s managed 67 goals for Valencia in 2 years since I sold him. Good for Ade! UEFA TV revenue meant another £2.4m windfall for the Gunners, £200k of which went on the squad’s bonus for getting to the quarter final. Lets hope that doesn’t distract them from the important business ahead:

21.5.11 ARSENAL v Aston Villa – FA CUP FINAL

Good news ahead of the final: Eduardo’s injury healed faster than expected and he will get one last chance to make it to 40 goals this season in the Cup Final. Nani replaced Simpson in the starting XI, with Gyan retaining a place on the bench, while Eduardo came in for Adrian who replaced Murphy on the bench. Mertesacker’s injury meant Garay was given a chance to prove himself in the Cup Final. Remarkably, Pouplin was making his 60th appearance of the season, Cesc his 50th, and 5 other players have played 50+ games in this longest of long seasons...

The Cup Final started with Villa dominance, and they actually dominated the first half but couldn’t make it count, and Cesc Fabregas scored following a Barry mistake on the stroke of half-time. A Cup Double was on...and when Garay hammered a shot home 7 minutes into the 2nd half following a clever free-kick from Fabregas, the game was all but over. The only question was whether Eduardo could make it to 40 goals...

Boukari scored a 3rd for Arsenal to put the game totally beyond doubt with 20 minutes remaining, but time was running out for Eduardo, and, clearly unfit, he was struggling to make an impact. He had a glorious chance after 78 minutes, saved well by Villa’s keeper, and when Dutra got injured, I brought on Adrian to give him more support. For the final six minutes, EVERYTHING was focused on Eduardo. Everyone was giving him the ball, the definitive target man, but it just didn’t happen for the Croat and once again he was stranded on 39 for the season. Still, he’s been a star for us, and I cant complain in the slightest! More importantly, ARSENAL had won the FA Cup, and were the kings of English Cup football, and it went some way towards curing the disappointment of the failure in the league and UEFA Cup, as well, of course, as ending the FA Cup Final hoodoo – that was my 4th one, and the first time we’ve walked away with the trophy.

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 3 – 0 Aston Villa AFC Scorers: Fabregas, Garay, Boukari. Man of the Match: Boukari.

Tune in again tomorrow for summer transfer dealings – there might be more than I expected after the way the team messed up the end of that season: we really should have 4 trophies, not 2.

[Stomalomalus]

Away form did it man, unlucky.

It might be worth devising a new tactic for away games thats more defensive and counter attacking as the home teams gets a big boost.

Have you got any screenies of the table, formation, squad, etc.?

With Veloso, Vaughan and Pcognoli coming in...

How does Pocognoli look? I havent seen him this far into a game, he looks OK on mine 2nd season, but nothing special. B good to see how hes improved.

[Bloodbore8]

Good season. I enjoy reading your stories. Go Arsenal! Better luck next season! I recommend bringing in some better defenders; find which ones excelled on Teams of the Year last time (not your team) and bring 'em in!

Of course, it can never be so easy but it's worth a shot.

[GreyedOutMan]

Cheers Bloodbore. I really appreciate feedback and its good to know Stoma, great though his insights are, isnt the only one out there! Whenever you read an update, post a comment or suggestion - i read them all and take them all into consideration.

[JRHaggs]

This is a great read, buddy.

As you continue, I'll gladly start adding my two cents.

It looks like you're building quite a squad. I'd be wary of bringing in too many big players this summer. Try to find youth. Hard to say what's missing, really. It seems like a top class left back might be the most important signing.

Keep it up, Goon-King!

[GreyedOutMan]

Fabianski returned from Sunderland and declared that he’d learnt a lot there. He’d done well, conceding 57 goals in 30 games in a relegation side isn’t too bad, and he had an AvR of 7.00, but history tells us that Arsenal players who go out on loan and get tarnished with relegation rarely thrive, at least at Arsenal – Pennant, Hoyte, Bentley to name but three. We shall see.

Barcelona beat Bayern 4-3 on penalties at Ibrox in Glasgow to claim the Champions’ League trophy. On the home front, interest in Havard Nordtveit highlighted his massive improvement lately – he’s going to give me a selection headache next year.

End of season summary shots (will get you other season summary stuff when its shown later in the next month or so – hope the images are ok, they took forever to upload!):

1. Table:

2. Squad:

3. Tactics:

4. Season:

5. Pocognoli:

Bids came in for Carlton and Wilshere. They were both rejected, especially as the Carlton one was from Sp**s.

One thought, Bloodbore – do you mean full backs? Because the centre backs have been great lately – Richards and Mertesacker do well together, and Garay is a more than capable deputy...I agree that full backs are needed, but hopefully Pocognoli will fill the left side...and Alves has done much better this year, he’s the most improved player in the world!

[GreyedOutMan]

Cheers JRH - do i take it word of this thread is spreading?

[Bloodbore8]

Originally posted by Bloodbore8:

Good season. I enjoy reading your stories. Go Arsenal! Better luck next season! I recommend bringing in some better defenders; find which ones excelled on Teams of the Year last time (not your team) and bring 'em in!

Of course, it can never be so easy but it's worth a shot.

I'd love to give you advice but it's actually you he's making me better at this game. I've been playing the demo LIKE CRAZY and wondering when my online ordered copy of the game will show up. Great stories and advice!

Some people have told me it's possible but I'm going to try to carry over my demo account to the full game when I get it. Will there be any unwanted limitations? Just wondering if you know 'cause, you're the FM08 master, lol. (at least compared to me.)

And I think that you should have kept Clichy and Sagna. They're earning straight 8s in my demo.

[GreyedOutMan]

Im really not the master - most people can clean up with Arsenal. Yes, looking back Clichy and Sagna should have stayed, but i did get a lot of money for them.

I believe you can carry your demo game over to the full game but im not sure, i'd ask in another forum to be sure of that. And honestly, im not that good so any thoughts you have, tell me!

[Jens Lehmann]

Originally posted by Big_scary:

im just jealous

why are you jealous, he has clearly overspent and undersold all the talent with no silverware !! another george graham

[GreyedOutMan]

Jens - double cup and we'll do better in the league next year, you'll see....some really good young players in now.

[dafuge]

Just to let people know, this thread is in the process of moving over to the Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments forum. For a week or so there will be a link to it from the general discussion forum although some of the page links may not work due to the differing number of posts per page across the two forums.

[GreyedOutMan]

dafuge - are you the official mod for this thread now?! What did i do to merit my own mod?!

[GreyedOutMan]

Hope the new way of posting links has worked OK, sorry if anything goes wrong like spacing errors - im new to that!

Disappointment as Wilshere, who was out of contract, signed for Bolton instead of Arsenal. However, we have plenty better than him, so its not the end of the world. But IRL – have you seen him?! Saw a vid of him on YouTube – he looks a real prospect. Unfortunately, a flurry of others followed suit – only youngsters, but some decent ones: Randall, Brazier, Carroll, and Thiago. Carroll was the only real blow, as I’d shelled out £6.25m for him a while back, and got nothing out of him. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk (or unrenewed contracts!). The only major player free to leave this summer is Kiessling and that’s fine by me – good riddance to bad rubbish. Unlike Carroll, he’s had plenty of chances.

A couple of bids came in for Fabianski, but I decided to hang onto him for now. With the Champions League returning to Emirates this year, I need to keep the numbers in the squad high, though I’m probably a couple of left wingers too heavy at the moment, and if I can shift the likes of Djourou, Adriano, and perhaps Aissati then I will, but at the moment no offers are forthcoming.

I wanted to see what the finances were like after the transfers we’d already agreed went through, so I left the transfer activity for a little later in the summer. With no World Cup or Euros on this year, I had plenty of time. FINALLY, a bid came in for Adriano. Given the £22m I’d paid for him less than 2 years ago, £4.3m, mainly in installments, plus a 20% sell on clause was a bit of a kick in the teeth, and I asked them if they’d be prepared to go up to £7.5m up front and 35% sell-on clause.

The European Club Rankings had us down 1 place in 8th, with Real Madrid the best team in Europe, and it was a mark of how good he’s been this season (7.20AvR) that an enquiry for ATex was met by a valuation of £20m. Sevilla, who hadn’t made the original enquiry, came in with an offer of £14m plus clauses, but its not enough, and I told them so. If I do get a bid of £20m+, I will want some advice – what do people think? Meanwhile, many enquiries have also come in for Nordtveit, who has now made the step up to the first team squad, incidentally, but they were knocked back, and of course the invitations to the reserve and U18 leagues were accepted.

Season Summaries as Promised:

Season Summary (1) – Note RvP – to be fair, he merits that with 46 goals in 47 games, but he wasn’t producing anything like that for Arsenal, and look at Vela/Eduardo...

Season Summary (2)

On the Arsenal side of things, Eduardo da Striker was announced as the Player of the Year, and these are our best XIs for this season and "All-Time" (with Alves and Sakho the only new players inducted after last season - of course several of the players in the season's XI were already in the all-time one).

The fixture list gives us a start against Leeds (A), Bolton (A) and Reading (H), and of course the normal £29.5m TV revenue was added to the coffers....good stuff! I would have told the board I felt another title challenge was realistic this year, but as I don’t think we need any big changes, I decided to lift the pressure and go with the aim of Champions’ League qualification. It still gave me a hefty transfer budget of £54m, and as the wage budget was set at £2.1m p/w and I’m only currently spending £1.5m p/w, that will rise significantly. The usual crop of really average regens joined up in the U18s – even Carlton, the best regen to come through at Arsenal so far, isn’t really looking up to scratch, to be honest. He might make it but I’m yet to be convinced. Regens seem not to be all that good so far...

That's all for tonight folks - keep giving me your feedback overnight/tomorrow before I start posting again. Assistant Manager input and comments about the form of the thread are equally important - let me know what you think about the new way of posting - i'll try to start packing more screenshots in and in this new form from now on. See y'all tomorrow, folks! Let's see if we can't get Arsenal moving up those rankings, eh?!

...No, I'm really not American!!

[GreyedOutMan]

ARGH! Dafuge! Help! That didnt really work! what did i do wrong?!

[dafuge]

Originally posted by Luke Hearn:

ARGH! Dafuge! Help! That didnt really work! what did i do wrong?!

When you use photobucket, copy the 'Direct Link' into the URL box at the top, then put the title in. It doesn't need any IMG tags.

[PaulHartman71]

Originally posted by Luke Hearn:

dafuge - are you the official mod for this thread now?! What did i do to merit my own mod?!

dafuge is the mod for CSE, he seems to be one of the better and more 'interactive' mods around.

Since you are here now, check out our very own OTF

it makes our little community a very happy place

[GreyedOutMan]

Just to clarify, i wasnt complaining! Its great to have someone to help out with things like the links! Cheers dafuge.