[[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?]

Arsenal Season 1 – March/April

Still a three horse race.

 

FA CUP 5^TH ROUND

ARSENAL 3 – Pepe 29 61 Martinelli 67

WEST HAM 0

A March dominated by regens and only four matches began with a good win over West Ham to send us into the FA Cup Quarter Finals. I took a bit of a risk with team selection but we managed the game well. We would play Man City at home in the quarters. They beat their neighbours at Old Trafford. Spurs lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 4 – Aubameyang 2 (pen) 10 Bale 16 23

NORWICH 0

Possibly our easiest game of the season. 4-0 after 23 minutes before I put the handbrake on. Norwich committed 30 fouls in the game.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Bale 68 Saka 81

CHELSEA 1 – Mount 64

Despite not having their best season, Chelsea games are never easy. Having taken the lead against the run of play they sat back allowing first Bale and then Saka to snatch a 2-1 win. Could be crucial come the end of the season.

 

FA CUP QUARTER FINAL

ARSENAL 1 – Pepe 48

MAN CITY 1 – De Bruyne 90

Arsenal win 5-3 on penalties

 

I was Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsdale away from playing a full strength team. It was an even game of good quality but bad tempered. Pepe gave us the lead after half time before De Bruyne equalised with the last kick of normal time. Extra Time came and went in a flash before Pepe, Partey, Aubameyang, Smith Rowe and Martinelli all scored their penalties while John Stones missed the crucial one for City. A semi final against Bournemouth awaits. Liverpool would play Crystal Palace in the other semi. Our third penalties success of the season.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

WATFORD 0

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 5

With three away games in a row we reached a crucial stage of the season with games becoming more about points than performance. Both Man United and Liverpool were still above us while Man City had also joined the race. Aubameyang’s early goal the difference. He did also have two disallowed.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

WEST HAM 1 – Noble 65

ARSENAL 2 – Odegaard 59 Pepe 63

We put in a really good display at West Ham. A good result at a tough ground.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

NEWCASTLE 0

ARSENAL 0

We had a good record over the season of turning draws into wins but unfortunately that wasn’t the case at Newcastle. Both Keepers were the highest rated player for each side. Ramsdale earning man of the match. The following day saw Man United lose 2-0 at Southampton so it ended up not being a bad point.

 

FA CUP SEMI-FINAL

BOURNEMOUTH 0

ARSENAL 2 – Pepe 12(pen) Aubameyang 90

Ten points clear in the Championship we faced a very inform Bournemouth at Wembley. I risked carnage by resting the whole defence and Aubameyang for the game. Although we secured a comfortable win Bournemouth showed enough that they’ll be ok in the premier league next season. Aubameyang off the bench with a lovely curled strike just before the end. Liverpool spanked Crystal  Palace 6-2 in the other semi.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Smith Rowe 39 Aubameyang 79 Pepe 83

LEICESTER CITY 1 – Maddison 44

We finished the month with three home games. Smith Rowe picking a good time to score his first goal of the domestic season. He also laid on the two assists for the other goals.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 12

WOLVES 0

It should have been far more comfortable but Sa in the Wolves goal had a blinder.  

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Aubameyang 42 89 Xhaka 90

MAN CITY 2 – Mendy 1  Torres 44

The final game of April saw us host Man City in a five goal thriller which im not quite sure how we won. A terrible start saw City take the lead after only 59 seconds. Smith-Rowe then went off with an injury and would be out for three weeks. We controlled the first half and looked like we would be going in 1-1 at half time but then City went and scored from kick off. It took a brilliant strike from Aubameyang to get us back to 2-2 and a draw was ok but then out of nowhere Xhaka smashed a volley past Ederson in the fourth minute of Injury Time. safe to say I was pretty happy at the end.  Citys faint title hoped were all but finished.

 

Premier league table  - Played/Points/Goal Difference

1.       Arsenal P 35 P 83 GD 48

2.       Man Utd P 35 P 81 GD 59

3.       Liverpool P 34 P 80 GD 69

4.       Man City P 35 P 76 GD 41

5.       Brentford P 35 P 63 GD 21

 

I don’t remember having a season this close late on. With four games left and a 21 better goal difference it is in Liverpools hands. However their fixtures are the most difficult including a trip to Old Trafford. I think 7 points should be enough to win the league for us.

Fixtures

Arsenal – Everton (A) Burnley (A) Aston Villa (H)

Man Utd – Liverpool (H) Tottenham (A) Wolves (A)

Liverpool – Crystal Palace (A) Man Utd (A) West Ham (A) Tottenham (H)

 

Brentford have done remarkably well to get to May and be fifth. They are level on points with Leeds but have a +2 better goal difference. Both will finish in the top six though as Chelsea are too far behind.

No teams have been officially relegated yet but Watford are only surviving by maths. Burnley and Crystal Palace have a slight chance of staying up but Leicester are four points clear of the dreaded relegation zone. All other teams are safe.

Bournemouth have been promoted back to the Premier League while Fulham, Barnsley, West Brom and Birmingham are in the play offs with the second promotion place still up for grabs with one game to go.

 

Premier League Top scorers

Ronaldo 27 Aubameyang, Salah 25 Greenwood 20 Calvert-Lewin 19

Premier League Top Assists

B Fernandes 17 Robertson, Canos 13 Sancho 12 Buendia 11 (Tomiyasu 11)

Premier League Av Rating

Robertson 7.85  B Fernandes 7.82 Ronaldo 7.80 De Bruyne 7.52 Salah 7.50 (Tomiyasu 7.34)

Premier League Motm

Ronaldo 10 B Fernandes 9 Robertson 8 De Bruyne 7 Trossard 6 (Tomiyasu 6)

 

REGENS

Three very highly rated players came through the academy. Two wingers and a cdm.

Otherwise I scoured the world for talent but there wasn’t too much available. Most of the best were goalkeepers with scout ratings never going above a C+. However I did sign a few players (15) but only three were English so most won’t be available for a couple of years at least. A 15 year old called Bertin from Bayern looks very promising.  

 

EUROPE

PSG and Bayern have already won their leagues. Barcelona are one win away and Juventus should win the Italian league.

Man United beat Bayern 3-0 at Old Trafford in the first leg of the champions League semi final. Real Madrid won 2-1 at Inter in the other game.

In the Europa League Lyon are 4-1 up on Leverkusen after the first leg in France while Villarreal and Napoli finished goalless.

There was an all English clash in the semi finals of the Conference League with Spurs and West Ham drawing 0-0 after the first leg. AZ and Roma also drew.

 

May Fixtures

Everton (A)

Burnley (A)

Liverpool (N) – FA Cup Semi Final

Aston Villa (H)

[[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?]

Arsenal Season 1 – January/February

A busy two months

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

SOUTHAMPTON 0

ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 31

We started the new year 5 points behind Man United but with a game in hand. It was a tough game only settled by an Nketiah freak goal. A pass back to the goalkeeper hit Nketiah and went in. The  fact that Ben White was man of the match shows it was a tricky game.

 

CARABAO CUP SEMI FINAL (1^ST LEG)

ARSENAL 1 – Tomiyasu 44

CHELSEA 0

All three African players were now away at the African Nations, which wasn’t the best timing. I kept Gabriel and White as the centre back pairing instead of switching it. Chelsea came looking for damage limitation and once the brilliant Tomiyasu scored I was happy to take a 1-0 to Stamford Bridge.

 

FA CUP 3^RD ROUND

BURNLEY 0  - Vydra miss/pen 88

ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 70

A third 1-0 win in a row saw us get past Burnley and set up a fourth round meeting against Plymouth at the Emirates. However we were battered the entire game. Leno with an 8.9 including saving the late penalty. Burnely had 23 shots on goal! XG of 2.53 to our 1.04. No shocks in the other ties.

 

CARABAO CUP SEMI FINAL (2^nd LEG)

CHELSEA 1 – Lukaku 15

ARSENAL 1 – Saka 13

Arsenal through 2-1 on aggregate

Chelsea became the first team this season to out possession us (54%) but despite putting in a decent display ( we were dreadful) they couldn’t find the second goal and we went through to face Tottenham at Wembley at the end of February. Spurs drew 2-2 with Man United at home but then managed to win 1-0 at Old Trafford. Should be a good final.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Saka 13 Bale 60(pen)

LEEDS 0

A low scoring month (and season) saw Saka score in the 13^th minute for the second game in a row. Spooky! With Aubameyang away Bale was on penalty duties and dispatched the spot kick.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Bale 44(pen) 48

TOTTENHAM 1 -  Zapata 84(pen) Hoiberg s/o 61

Before we would play them at Wembley we faced Spurs twice in the league. A fiery game which saw 7 yellow cards and a red saw us get a valuable 2-1 win. Spurs seemed to improve after the sending off.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

BRENTFORD 1 – Wissa 78

ARSENAL 0

A second dreadful 1-0 away defeat of the season. Out passed, out shot, out possessioned. Just awful.

 

JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW

Deadline day was busy. Having promised Mari, Maitland Niles and Cedric I would get rid of them if they didn’t play they all left on the final day. Mari went to Seville for 11.25 million, Cedric left for PSV for 9 million and Maitland Niles went on loan to Bournemouth.

I tried to sign Artuto Vidal but he wanted too much money and too long a contract. In the end I had to rush so loaned in Umtiti, Arthur and Lainer. A young Australian signed but he won’t be able to play for a while.

There weren’t many 6 month expiring contract players I liked but the two I wanted I failed to get. Dybala joined PSG and Boubacar Kamara went to Roma. Two still available are Isco and Zakaria but I don’t think I’ll go for them.

Not much other activity. Spurs signed Zapata and Carvalho, Newcastle bought Coquelin back to the premier league while Coman went to real madrid in the biggest European signing. Mbappe still hasn’t signed a contract yet.

 

FA CUP 4^TH ROUND

ARSENAL 4 – Martinelli 20 32 62(Pen) Nketiah 28

PLYMOUTH 1 – Broom 39

All three of my new signings started. Pepe was back from African nations duty while I chose not to play Aubameyang or Partey. To my surprise neither Martinelli or Smith Rowe has scored during the season so I told both to get more goals and although Smith Rowe couldn’t Martinelli went and scored a hattrick. 30 shots on goal and an XG of 4.61. Both highs for the season.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

TOTTENHAM 1 – Moura 90

ARSENAL 1– Martinelli 40

We were nearly at full strength with just Saka missing for the short trip to face Spurs again. Martinelli got an early goal and it was backs to the wall from then on. We seemed likely to hold on for big win before a poor pass from white allowed Sessegnon to intercept and cross for Moura to tap home in stoppage time. A sucker punch but we didn’t deserve anything. Not the last time Spurs would dominate us in a game this month.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 4 – Aubameyang 5, 45 Odegaard 29 Martinelli 75

CRYSTAL PALACE 1 – Gallagher 54

We returned to winning ways with a commanding victory over Crystal Palace.  A good performance and nice to see goals.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

LIVERPOOL 1 – Origi 54

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 46

We were 3 points behind Liverpool heading into the clash at Anfield. Luckily for us they had distractions of Europe so didn’t play as strong a team as they could have. Salah was also missing for them. We took the lead just after half time but Klopp made a triple substitution and Origi gabbed an equaliser. Both teams after that settled for a draw.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Bale 32 Aubameyang 50 90

MAN UNITED 0

Three days after playing second we hosted top. The table wasnt pretty with United six points clear with a game in hand. Bale headed in a superb Tomiyasu cross for 1-0. 5 minutes after the break a horror back pass from luke shaw saw Aubameyang nick in frot of De Gea for 2-0. After that we just managed the game before Aubameyang added a fine third in stoppage time.  Not one United player scored more than a 6.7. De Gea getting a 5.9. United drew with Man city the game after to leave us still in with a chance of the league. Liverpool are there though as well.

 

CARABAO CUP FINAL     

TOTTENHAM 0

ARSENAL 0

ARSENAL WON 4-1 ON PENALTIES

 

Tottenham and Arsenal have (had) never met in a major final. I left out all three new signings from the squad as none had played before in the competition. Partey was also injured while White was suspended. Spurs played much better over the 120 minutes with an 0.97 higher XG than us. However their only clearcut chance fell to Ndombele rather than Kane, Son or Moura.  The game petered out in extra time. Kane stepped up for the first penalty but hit it straight down the middle at Leno. Hojbjerg then also missed allowing Aubameyang to kick the final penalty. Nice to win the trophy and obviously also beat Spurs again.

 

 

Premier League Table -  Played / Points / Goal Difference

1.       Man Utd P27 P65 GD51

2.       Liverpool P26 P 61 GD55

3.       Arsenal P27 P 61 GD 37

4.       Man City P27 P58 GD30

5.       Brentford P27 P50 GD 14

 

Watford(13) and Burnley(15) look likely to go down. Crystal Palace are 18^th on 20 points then surprisingly Leicester with just 22. Brighton next on 27.

 

March/April Fixtures

Man United – Norwich (H) Chelsea(H) Newcastle (A) Watford (A) West Ham (A) Leicester (H) Wolves (H)Man City (H)

Liverpool – Man City (A) Aston Villa (A) Everton (H) Burnley (H) West Ham (A) Southampton (H) Brighton (A) Leeds (A) Brentford (H)

Man City – Liverpool (H) Newcastle (H) Norwich (A) Chelsea (A) Leicester (A) Watford (H) West Ham (H) Arsenal (A)

 

Premier League Top scorers

Ronaldo 25 Aubameyang 18 Salah 16  Lukaku Bale 15

Premier League Top Assists

B Fernandes 16 Robertson 11 Sancho 10 Salah, Canos (Brentford) 9 (Tomiyasu 7)

Premier League Av Rating

B Fernandes 7.95 Robertson 7.94  Ronaldo 7.80 Origi 7.70 De Bruyne 7.55 (Aubameyang 7.28)

Premier League Motm

Ronaldo 9 B Fernandes 8 Robertson, De Bruyne 6 Pulisic 5 (Bale 5)

 

 

Arsenal stats (1^st team)

Appearances

Tomiyasu 30

White 29

Gabriel 27(+1)

Xhaka, Ramsdale 27

Odegaard 26(+4)

Bale 24(+7)

Saka 23(+3)

Aubameyang 22

Partey 19(+1)

Tierney 18(+3)

Tavares 17(+4)

Smith Rowe 14(+14)

Martinelli 14(+8)

Nketiah 14(+3)

Lokonga 13(+9)

Pepe 11 (+13)

Leno 9

Holding 8

Arthur 2(+2)

Umtiti 2

Patino 1(+7)

Lainer 1

Hutchinson 0 (+4)

 

Goals

Aubameyang 20

Bale 15

Nketiah 8

Saka, Martinelli 5

Odegaard 4

Pepe 3

Xhaka, Tavares, Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel, Lokonga 1

 

Assists

Saka 8

Xhaka Tomiyasu 7

Pepe  5

Odegaard Bale Smith-Rowe 4

Partey 3

Tierney, White, Lokonga 2

Aubameyang, Martinelli, Lainer 1

 

Man of Match

Bale 5

Tomiyasu Aubameyang 4

Leno Odegaard 2

Pepe Tavares  White Ramsdale Holding Smith-Rowe, Martinelli Gabriel 1

 

African Nations

 

The early rounds were quite high scoring. Ghana, Gabon and Ivory Coast all made the second round although the latter two joined Egypt in being knocked out. Ghana lost 2-0 to Nigeria in the quarters ending Arsenals interest. The semis saw Senegal need extra time to beat Nigeria while Cameroon beat Algeria 1-0. The final was deservedly won by Senegal while Nigeria came third.

 

MESSI AT PSG

Although not nearly as dominant as before Lionel Messi has still had a decent first season at PSG.

Played   27(+6) Goals 15 Assists 9 AV Rating 7.62 MOM 6

 

MARCH/APRIL Fixtures

A decent run of fixtures. I would expect to beat Chelsea at home. Strange to have three away games followed by three home games.

By the end of April I hope to be top of the league

March will also be busy with all the youth players coming. My scouts and my pen and paper are ready.

West Ham (A) – FA Cup 5^th Round

Norwich (H)

Chelsea (H)

Newcastle (A)

Watford (A)

West Ham (A)

Leicester (H)

Wolves  (H)

Man City (H)

[[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?]

Arsenal Season 1 – November/December

Closing the Gap.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

CHELSEA 1 – Werner 37

ARSENAL 1 – Bale 66

Heading into our first game of November we were 8 points behind Liverpool with a game in hand. Unfortunately we weren’t given the easiest fixture. However we played pretty well and were marginally the better team.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Bale 14(pen) Saka 27 Nketiah 86

WATFORD 1 – King 39

Aubameyang missed the game through Injury but we didn’t miss him having one of our highest shot counts (20) and XG (2.32) of the season so far.

PREMIER LEAGUE

LEICESTER CITY 1 – Perez 30

ARSENAL 1 – Bale 45

Auba was still missing as we travelled to struggling Leicester with both United and Liverpool starting to stutter in their results. Unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise as we put in a poor performance and only deserved a point.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Odegaard 21 Pepe 39 Nketiah 57

WEST HAM 0

The first match of an 8 game December saw us host West Ham. Nketiah still starting upfront. We played well and dominated an easy game. The Hammers never really turned up.

PREMIER LEAGUE

WOLVES 1 – Hoever 90

ARSENAL 2 – Pepe 29 Odegaard 50

Aubameyang returned but niggles in the squad meant constant rotation. A tight game but we managed to just sneak the win. Could be crucial.

PREMIER LEAGUE

MANCHESTER CITY 0

ARSENAL 0

A great defensive performance saw us get a draw at the Etihad. We still had more possession which was nice to see as well as a 94% pass accuracy. The team started well but as City grew into the game we started having to sit deeper and deeper. Not pretty but a good point. 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Bale 22 60

EVERTON 0

We were back to winning ways at home with a good win over Everton. We should’ve scored more though.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ASTON VILLA  1 – Ramsey 78

ARSENAL 2 – Aubameyang 9 Gabriel 38

A second really good 2-1 away win in December. Villa played really well and definitely deserved something from the game.  Aaron Ramsey scoring for Villa although not the former Arsenal one apparently.

CARABAO CUP QUARTER FINAL

ARSENAL 2 – Aubameyang 60 68

LEICESTER CITY 0

Only White Xhaka and Aubameyang from the regular first eleven played but it was still enough to ease past Leicester and set up a semi final with Chelsea. Spurs play Man United in the other tie.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Aubameyang 10(pen) 51

BURNLEY 0

We finished the month with the first of two home games in three days. Mari kept his place from the Leicester game as I rested each first choice centre back. Another brace by Aubameyang enough in a poor game.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 4 –  Bale 8 Saka 21 Xhaka 70 Nketiah 90  (Aubameyang miss/pen 42)

BRIGHTON 0

We scored over 3 in a game for the first time since September to end the month and year in good style. Hopefully more goals will start to flow as that’s an area I’m not happy with.

Premier league table

1.       Man Utd Played 20 Points 49 Goal Difference 38

2.       Liverpool P20 P 47 GD43

3.       Arsenal P 19 P 44 GD 28

4.       Leeds United P 19 P 40 GD 23

5.       Man City P20 P39 GD21

 

Chelsea are now sixth Spurs having sacked Conte and replaced him with Bielsa lie in 11^th. Leicester also have a new manager in Genaro Gattuso. The are 16^th.

 

Liverpool United November December record

The records of Liverpool and United and Arsenal over the November December league fixtures showing how we've closed the gap. Liverpool beat united when the played each other at the end of December.

MAN UNITED – WWWLWWDWLW

LIVERPOOL -  DWDDWLWDWW

ARSENAL - DWDWWDWWWW

 

Transfer news

I sold Elneny for 7.5 million to Al Ahli having decided not to offer him a new contract. We then picked up injures to Partey and Xhaka so could’ve done with him but just had enough to get by.

 

Premier League Top scorers

Ronaldo 23 Salah 16 Aubameyang 13 Mane Greenwood 11

Premier League Top Assists

B Fernandes 10 Robertson 8 Bowen W-Prowse Sancho 7 (Saka 5)

Premier League Av Rating

Ronaldo 8.00 Robertson 7.93 B Fernandes 7.88 Mane 7.60 Salah 7.55 (Tomiyasu 7.28)

Premier League Motm

Ronaldo 9 Robertson 5 B Fernades Buendia Bale 4

 

Other top 5 leagues

Spain – Barcelona 44 Real Madrid 37 A Madrid 36

France – PSG 49 Nice 38 Lens 38

Germany – Bayern 39 Dortmund 37 RB Leipzig 34

Italy – Milan 45 Inter 42 Juventus 41

 

EUROPE

Not that I’m particularly interested in Europe this season but I’ll give a brief summary as the group stages have ended

Champions League

Not too many surprises. Brugge topped their group with Dortmund, Seville Ajax and Atletico Madrid all going out. All four English clubs topped their groups.

PSG vs Man City the best of the first knockout ties. Juventus play Real Madrid. United are against Wolfsburg, Chelsea play Benfica and Liverpools opponents are Inter.

Europa League

In the Europa League Leicester and Celtic eased through but West Ham came third in a tough group with Napoli and Frankfurt. Leicester play Rangers in the last sixteen while Celtic are against Porto.

Europa Conference League

Tottenham won all six group games and didn’t even concede a goal. Not as much fortune for Aberdeen and St Johnstone who both were given tougher groups and went out.

 

January/February Fixtures

Southampton (A)

Chelsea (H) – Carabao Cup Semi Final (1^st Leg)

Burnley (A) – FA Cup 3^rd Round

Chelsea (A) - Carabao Cup Semi Final (2^nd Leg)

Leeds (H)

Tottenham (H)

Brentford (A)

Tottenham (A)

Crystal Palace (H)

Man United (H)

Liverpool (A)

[[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?]

Arsenal Season 1 – September/October

Go away Liverpool!!

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 5 – Bale 20 83 Aubameyang 22 39 Saka 45

BRENTFORD 0

We got off to  a great start with a thumping win over Brentford. Bale has made a good start to his Arsenal career so far.

CARABAO CUP 3^RD ROUND

ARSENAL 2 – Pepe 15 Nketiah 90

PRESTON 0

I made 11 changes for the visit of Preston. We were comfortable throughout. Preston failed to muster a shot on target. Pepe scoring the opener and then setting up Nketiah to add some gloss to the scoreline. We would face Bournemouth away in the 4^th Round.

PREMIER LEAGUE

CRYSTAL PALACE 0 – Kouyate s/o 40

ARSENAL 2 – Holding 25 Bale 49

Palace failed to register a single attempt on goal. I could have been more ruthless but I didn’t want any silly mistakes with two tough games next.

PREMIER LEAGUE

MANCHESTER UNITED 2 – Ronaldo 28 90 Telles s/o 71

ARSENAL 3 – Bale 38 Aubameyang 58 82

We headed to Old Trafford with United who were 7 wins from 7 in the premier league. However we were far the better team and despite Ronaldos best efforts we managed to see out the win in a good display.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 47

LIVERPOOL 1 – Salah 38

Liverpool came to the Emirates one better than United with an 8 out of 8 win record in the premier league. Salah gave them the lead in an even first half. Aubameyang quickly got us level after half time and I went more attacking to try and get a winner but it sadly never came.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 3 – Aubameyang 15(pen) 26 40

NEWCASTLE UNITED 1 – Wilson 51

A good win to follow the disappointing draw with Liverpool. Aubameyang lashing in a first half hattrick.

CARABAO CUP 4^TH ROUND

BOURNEMOUTH 1 – Lowe 45

ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 15 Elneny s/o 22

Arsenal win 4 -2 on penalties

I made another ten changes from the Newcastle game but having opted to start Patino in midfield I chose Elneny as his partner rather than the rawer Lokonga. We started well controlling the game and taking the lead but then Elneny got himself stupidly sent off and it was backs to the wall from there although we were still the better team. Cedric did miss a penalty in the shootout but thankfully Pepe, Maitland Niles and Partey all scored before Nketiah hit the winning kick to send us into the quarter finals against Leicester.

PREMIER LEAGUE

NORWICH CITY 1 – Pukki 80

ARSENAL 0

With Liverpool relentless in winning we couldn’t afford silly slipups against teams they beat 6-0. Unfortunately the players never turned up at Norwich and we lost a poor game 1-0. A terrible way to end the month.

 

Premier League Table

1.       Liverpool Played 10 Points 28 Goal Difference +31

2.       Man Utd P 10 P 27 GD 19

3.       Leeds United P 10 P 22 GD 11

4.       Chelsea P 11 P 22 GD 7

5.       Arsenal P 9 P 20 GD 13

 

Spurs are 16^th while Man City are 8tth with 17 points. We need Liverpool and United to start dropping points or it’s going to be tough to catch them.

 

Premier League Top scorers

Salah 13 Ronaldo 12 Aubameyang 10 Jimenez (Newcastle) 9 Lukaku 8

Premier League Top Assists

Robertson 7 Canos (Brentford) 6 Mendy (Man City) Creswell Sancho 5 (Saka 3)

Premier League Av Rating

Robertson 8.27 Ronaldo 7.96 Mane 7.82 Salah 7.79 Jimenez 7.54 (Aubameyang 7.53)

Premier League Motm

Ronaldo 5 Robertson 4 Pulisic Fofana Tomiyasu 2

 

Liverpool/Man Utd results – their goals first

Liverpool;

Wolves (H) 4-0 – Mane 2 Salah (pen) Henderson

Norwich (A) 6-0 – Mane 4(1pen) Salah Thiago

Newcastle (H) 6-0 – Salah 4(1pen) Thiago Gomez

Chelsea (A) 1-0 - Firmino

Leicester (A) 4-0  - Salah Jota 3

Watford (H) 5-0  - Salah 2(1pen) Henderson Minamino 2

West Ham (H) 1-0  - Salah

Arsenal (A) 1-1  - Salah

Everton (A) 2-0  - Salah Firmino

Man City (H) 2-0 – Mane Firmino

 

Man United

Norwich (H) 4-1 – McTominay 2 Greenwood 2

Newcastle (A) 3-2 – Greenwood Sancho Ronaldo

Chelsea (H) 3-0 – Greenwood Fernandes Ronaldo

Watford (A) 4-0  - Greenwood Sancho Fernandes (pen) Ronaldo

West Ham (A) 2-1  - Ronaldo 2

Leicester (H) 3-0 – Sancho Ronaldo 2

Arsenal (H) 2-3 – Ronaldo 2

Man City (A) 2-1 – Rashford Ronaldo

Aston Villa (A) 3-1 – Ronaldo 2 Greenwood

Everton (H) 2-0 – Rashford Ronaldo

 

 

Arsenal stats (1^st team)

Appearances

Partey Bale 9(+1)

Xhaka Aubameyang White Ramsdale 9

Tierney 8(+1)

Tomiyasu Saka 8

Smith Rowe 7(+4)

Gabriel 7

Odegaard 5(+2)

Holding 5

Pepe 4 (+6)

Tavares 4(+2)

Martinelli 3(+3)

Leno Mari Cedric Nketiah 3

M-Niles Lokonga Elneny 2(+3)

Patino 1(+2)

Hutchinson 0(+1)

 

Goals

Aubameyang 10

Bale 5

Nketiah Pepe Tavares Odegaard Holding Saka Lokonga 1

 

Assists

Xhaka Bale Saka Lokonga 3

Cedric Tomiyasu 2

Partey Tierney Aubameyang Smith Rowe Lokonga 1

 

Man of Match

Tomiyasu Aubameyang 2

Pepe Tavares Holding M-Niles Bale 1

November/December Fixtures

Chelsea (A)

Watford (H)

Leicester (A)

West Ham (H)

Wolves (A)

Man City (A)

Everton (H)

Aston Villa (H)

Leicester (H) Carabao Cup QF

Burnley (H)

Brighton (H)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?]

Arsenal Season 1 – Pre-season / August

 

I only played a season and a half of Fm21 but will try and play more this time

 

PRE-SEASON

Pre-season began with me gutting all of the useless staff and bringing in my own men. My new 1^st team coaching squad is;

Assistant Manager – Helmut Jungheim

Coaches – Joel Bats (gk) Inaki Cana (gk) Oliver Bartlett (fit) Shad Forsythe (fit) , Nicolas Jover , Cavell Tivey , Louis Fuerer , Thijs Faber and Ruben Prieto

Physios – Jordan Reese (head), Liam Kershaw,  Simon Murphey,  Pete Shaw.

 

My new head performance analyst is Guiseppe Bellistri. His team are Mark Curtis, Adam Ridgewell Eric Dubray and Gustavo Plaza

I also added staff to the under 21s and under 18s but will be updating and upgrading as time goes on.

Transfers

I only made one signing in the form of Gareth Bale. He only cost 5 million which I can accept. A few other deals tempted me including Martial but ultimately I was happy with the squad and I will see how the team are doing in January.

Out of the door went Lacazette (7.5m), Chambers (7.5m) and Kolasinac (4m). Balogun has gone out on loan as have a few of the other youngsters.  

Squad

GK – Ramsdale – Leno

DL – Tierney – Tavares

DR – Tomiyasu – Cedric – M-Niles

DC – Gabriel – Holding

DC – White – Mari

MC – Xhaka – Lokonga

MC – Partey - Elneny

CAM – Odegaard – S-Rowe

ML – Bale – Martinelli

MR – Saka – Pepe

ST – Aubameyang – Nketiah

 

Pre-Season

I only played the five pre season games not feeling the need to play too many given we had no European Football. I usually play all pre season games away unless I play yhr Emirates Cup but I decided to have the last game at home. Overall performances weren’t bad with possession and chance creation being high and I was pleased with what I saw.

Boreham Wood (A) – 0-1 Aubameyang  

Barnet (A) 2-4 Balogun (3) Cirjan

Rangers (A) 4-3 Aubameyang (2) Pepe

Crystal Palace (A) 0-0

Club Brugge (H) 2-0 Bale Aubameyang

 

AUGUST

PREMIER LEAGUE

BRIGHTON 0

ARSENAL 2 – Tavares 25 Odegaard 81

The Premier League season got underway down in sunny Brighton. The team was at full strength other than Tavares who ended up scoring the opener. Odegaard added a second late on  and we were rarely troubled throughout  

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Aubameyang 20 Bale 66

SOUTHAMPTON 0

We were excellent against Southampton with 21 shots on goals but in a carbon copy of the Brighton game a goal in each half was enough.

CARABAO CUP 2^ND ROUND

QPR 0

ARSENAL 1 – Lokonga 49

Not the easiest of draws was well negotiated. Patino and Hutchinson made appearances off the bench. Preston at home in the 3^rd round

PREMIER LEAGUE

LEEDS UNITED 1 – Harrison 50

ARSENAL 1 - Aubameyang

We were one game away from making it a perfect August. Unfortunately Leeds carved out a draw. Bale blazing a free close range header over the bar in the final seconds didn’t go down well.

 

Premier league table

1.       Liverpool Played 3 Points 9 Goal Difference +16

2.       Man Utd P 3 P 9 GD 7

3.       Brentford P 3 P 9 GD 5

4.       Chelsea P 4 P 9 GD 1

5.       Arsenal P 3 P 7 GD 4

 

A decent start. Liverpool have hit six against Norwich and Newcastle in their last two games.

 

Global Transfers

Not too many big transfers. Newcastle bringing in Jimenez for 52 million the biggest. Man City signed Ferland Mendy and Renato Sanches.

September October Fixtures

A good start but I don’t play to come fourth so will still aim to win the league this season.

Brentford (H)

Preston (H) – Carabao Cup 3^rd Round

Crystal Palace (A)

Man United (A)

Liverpool  (H)

Newcastle (H)

Tottenham (H)

Norwich (A)

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 2 DEC/JAN

Good progress made but League is still very close.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

MANCHESTER UNITED 3-1 ARSENAL  - Barbosa 1, 44, 90 – Pepe 8

ARSENAL 1-0 FULHAM – Luiz 45

ARSENAL 2-1 BURNLEY – Depay 83 Lacazette 89  - Wood 90 Cork s/o 39

SOUTHAMPTON 2-2 ARSENAL  Elyounoussi 48 Obafemi 89 - Aubameyang 15, 50

ARSENAL 2-0 ASTON VILLA - Aubameyang 31 Depay 72

ARSENAL 2-0 WOLVES – Partey 31 78

BOURNEMOUTH 0-0 ARSENAL

SHEFFIELD UINITED 0-3 ARSENAL – Celik 3 Arrascaeta 41 Aubameyang 73

 

November started with us heading to Old Trafford with Man United just one point behind after 11 games. Game plan worked as we restricted their chances to just five attempts it’s just Gabriel Barbosa kept scoring them. A bad start. We played well against Fulham but only scored through Luiz. Fulham failed to register a single shot. Burnley defended brilliantly with ten men but we eventually got the goal having thrown the kitchen sink at them. They scored with the last kick of the game and their only shot on target. For a second season in a row we drew 2-2 at Southampton. A late equaliser by Obafemi was fully deserved from them. We followed it up with consecutive home 2-0 strolls. Wolves also being a carbon copy result from the previous season before with a like buses brace from Partey. We went goalless at Bournemouth in an awful display before ending a low scoring two months in the league with a solid win at Sheffield United.

Man United have been the stand out performers of the season so far. They lost to Leeds and Man City in their only two blips in the two months and also beat Barcelona home and away in the Champions League to top the group. Their Jan/feb fixtures are kind as well whilst ours aren't.

League Table

1.      Man Utd P19 P45 GD41

2.      Liverpool P19 P45 GD37

3.      Arsenal P19 P45 GD29

4.      Chelsea P19 P41 GD9

5.      Leeds P19 P34 GD14

7. Man City P19 P32 GD0

8. Tottenham P19 P31 GD-2

Four points separate the bottom seven clubs with Bournemouth, Fulham and Burnley currently occupying the relegation spot.

 

Prem stats

Goals – Rodrigo 16 Rashford 13 Aubameyang 13 Mousset (shu) 12 Greenwood 12

Assists – Salah 7 Bellerin 6 Rashford 6 W-Bissaka 6 Alaba (che) 5

Av Rating – Robertson 7.44 Salah 7.44 Rashford 7.36 Rodrigo 7.34 Greenwood 7.33

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

MD4 – AA Gent 1-4 Arsenal – Kliendienst 26 - Pepe 28 Aubameyang 34 Draxler 71 79

MD5 – Juventus 0-0 Arsenal – Xhaka s/o 90

MD6 – Arsenal 4-0 RB Leipzig – Tierney 9 Aubameyang 24 Depay 30 Partey 59

We conceded our first goal of the campaign but having already dominated ran out comfortable winners. Of course Juventus away would be the big test but like the home game they didn’t really turn up and Leno had a comfortable night in a goalless draw. We still needed a win against Leipzig to top the group so I played a strong team and we ran out easy winners. Leipzig were terrible.   

1 – Arsenal P6 P14 GD9

2 – Juventus P6 P13 GD6

3 – RB Leipzig P6 P7 GD0

4 – AA Gent – P6 P0 GD-15

Round-up

All five (yes five) English clubs progressed. Both Madrid sides, Napoli, Inter and holders Celtic fell at the group stages. Liverpool and Chelsea face tough tests to get to the quarters after drawing Dortmund and Juventus. Man United got Club Brugge and Man City drew Zenit.

 

LEAGUE CUP

Quarter-Final – ARSENAL 3-0 WEST BROM – Willian 3(pen) Lacazette 34, 74

No idea why Willian took the penalty but still a comfortable win for a second eleven to take us into a semi final against Liverpool. Spurs vs Man City the other semi final.

 

ARSENAL SEASON STATS

Goals – Aubameyang 16 Pepe 12 Depay 7 Lacazette 5

Assists – Tonali, Bellerin 6 Xhaka, Nelson 5 Aubameyang, Depay 4

Av rating – Holding 7.29 Leno 7.24 Pepe 7.23 Bellerin 7.21 Partey 7.16

Motm – Pepe 6 Aubameyang 3 Leno Depay Tonali Bellerin 2

 

TRANSFER NEWS

With their contracts running out at the end of the season I cashed in on Lacazette and Kolasinac. I'm also trying to get rid of Guendouzi.

I've replaced Lacazette with Diego Costa who’s coming in January. Will be interesting to see how he fairs in an Arsenal shirt. I'm still yet to find a decent left back to cover Tierney.

A few players out of contract in the summer. Among them; Ramos, Luis Suarez, Dembele, Benzema, Isco, Aguero, Bailly, Bale and Perisic. Some decisions to make. I’m not even going to attempt to get Ronaldo.

 

LOAN WATCH

A quick word on some of the loan signings that are playing at other clubs. A mixed bag.

Willock (PSV) P16(+5) G1 A6 AVR 7.21

M-Niles (Lyon) P17(+3) G2 A4 AVR 7.16

Elneny (Valencia) P19(+1) G1 A7 AVR 7.36

Martinelli (Aston Villa) P15(+8) G7 A1 AVR 6.88

Cedric (Bournemouth) P16(+4) G0 A2 AVR 6.83

S-Rowe (Mallorca) P16(+1) G2 A1 AVR 6.72

 

YOUTH WATCH

With an influx of new players and staff the youth team should’ve improved.

The Under 23s are 2^nd in the league two points behind Chelsea and still in both domestic and European competition. Goals and assists spreaded around.

The Under 18s is a bit of a different story with regen John Buttler hitting 27 in 27 to fire the team to the top of the league. At just 16 he has an average rating of 7.58 and looks like the gem the coaches thought he was. They are also still in both competitions.

 

JANUARY/FEBRUARY FIXTURES

Premier League – Everton (H) Man City (H) Chelsea (A) Leicester (A) Nottingham Forrest (A) Leeds (H) Crystal Palace (H) Norwich (A) Tottenham (A)

League Cup Semi Final – Liverpool (H) Liverpool (A)

Champions League 1^st Knockout Round – Hoffenheim (A)

FA Cup 3rd Round – Rochdale (A)

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

SEASON 2 UPDATE – September/October

Echos of “1-0 to the Arsenal” can be heard.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal 2-0 Nottingham Forrest – Aubameyang 25(pen), 55

Leeds 0-1 Arsenal – Aubameyang 21

Crystal Palace 0-3 Arsenal – Gabriel 26 Pepe 34 59

Arsenal 6-1 Norwich – Aubameyang 19, 50 Depay 24 83 Saka 45 60 – Cantwell 48

Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham – Aubameyang 67

Brighton 1-0 Arsenal – Quaison 6

Liverpool 0-2 Arsenal – Pepe 49, 53

September started with a routine win against Forrest. They only had a single attempt and the score should’ve been wider. The win against Leeds started a run of three 1-0’s in a row. Good wins at Crystal Palace and especially at home to Norwich were followed by edging a very tight and tense North London Derby. On international duty before the game Arrascaeta tore his thigh muscle and would be out for two-three months. We followed up our Champions League game against Gent with an awful performance at Brighton for our first loss of the season. Just nothing was happening going forward. Heading to Anfield for our last game of October the reds had a perfect 10 out of 10 record meaning a win would send them 8 points clear. I decided to park the bus in the first half but Mane went off with an injury early and I decided to go slightly more positive. Two fantastic Pepe strikes and we found ourselves 2-0 up. I wheeled the bus out again and we survived an offside goal and an overturned penalty to gain a crucial win.

Liverpool still two points clear but I’m confident of catching them. Liverpool have Chelsea next followed by Everton and Man City away. Speaking of Man City they and Chelsea have come back well after slow starts.

 

League Table

1.      Liverpool P11 P30 GD26

2.      Arsenal P11 P28 GD28

3.      Man Utd P11 P27 GD31

4.      Leeds P11 P22 GD10

5.      Chelsea P11 P22 GD5

7.   Tottenham P11 P19 GD-2

8.      Man City P11 P18 GD0

 

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

MD1 – Arsenal 1-0 Juventus – Pepe 57

MD2 – RB Leipzig 0-0 Arsenal – Nkunku s/o 29 Gvardoil s/o 90 //

MD3 – Arsenal 1-0 AA Gent – Luiz 83

Despite being the toughest fixture the opener against Juventus wasn’t too bad. They came very defensively despite the attacking talent and only got going once we scored but still didn’t create much. I would’ve taken a draw in  Leipzig before the game but playing against 10 men for 60 minutes we should’ve won. Unfortunately all the attackers were poor. They’d go and score 6 against Norwich the game after though. Our final game against Gent was also frustrating. I haven’t scored many goals with defenders so far but David Luiz got a crucial one.

1 – Arsenal P3 P7 GD2

2 – Juventus P3 P6 GD3

3 – RB Leipzig P3 P4 GD0

4 – AA Gent – P3 P0 GD-5

 

LEAGUE CUP

3R – Leeds 0-1 Arsenal – Lacazette 58

4R – Aston Villa 0-3 Arsenal – Lacazette 29 Cash o.g 31 Pepe 74

 

Three days after beating them 1-0 in the league it was 1-0 again in the cup. A much changed team of course although Tonali and Bellerin played. At Villa I expected a tricky game but didn’t get one.  

 

SEASON STATS

Goals – Pepe 10 Aubameyang 10 Depay 4 Arrascaeta, Lacazette, Saka 2

Assists – Xhaka 5 Aubameyang 4 Bellerin 4 Depay Nelson 3

Av rating – Pepe 7.41 Leno 7.31 Aubameyang, Kolasinac 7.28 Bellerin 7.19

Motm – Pepe 5 Aubameyang 2 Bellerin 2

 

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER FIXTURES

Premier League – Man United (A) Fulham (H) Burnley (H) Southampton (A) Aston Villa (H) Wolves (H) Bournemouth (A) Sheffield United (A)

Champions League – AA Gent (A) Juventus (A) RB Leipzig (H)

League Cup QF – West Brom (H)

Liverpool vs Burney, Norwich vs Tottenham, Man City vs Birmingham  

 

Overall a good two months. Just 2 goals conceded in the 12 games with 10 clean sheets (Llama would be proud!) and five 1-0’s.

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 2 PRE SEASON/AUG

SEASONE ONE SUMMARY

Transfers in – Draxler Depay

Transfers out – Socratis, Ozil, Mustafi

League – 1^st – 89 points

Europa League – Quarter-finals – Lost 1-3 vs Roma (1-1a, 0-2h)

FA Cup – Winners – Beat Manchester United 3-1 in Final

League Cup – Quarter-Final – Lost 0-2(away) vs Liverpool

Community Shield – Winners – Beat Liverpool 4-2 on penalties (1-1draw)

 

SEASON TWO

Season two began with me attempting to rip up most of the staff and scouting. That didn’t really happen due to a lack of decent options. I sacked Steve Round and In came Mauro Tassotti but I’m not anticipating he’ll last long. The closest I got to a target was Bertrand Reuzeau but despite accepting a contract worth 41k a week (highest I could go) he still rejected me and stayed at Monaco. Bould and Gillard are still manager of the youth teams but now have much better staff to help them.

In terms of signings I tried to sign Alaba who was a free agent but he rejected me without even wanting to negotiate and ended up going to Chelsea. Joe Hart, Jesse Lingard and Theo Walcott were among the released players and I was tempted by all three but in the end didn’t go for any of them. Free agent Ozil is now at Napoli.

TRANSFERS IN

Zeki Celik (RB) – 18m

Georgian De Arrasceta (CAM) – 9.75m

Sandro Tonali (CDM) - 15m

Ben Foster (GK) – 170k

I missed out on Max Aarons who went to Liverpool. Lamptey was 50 plus million which I refuse to pay. Celik can also play left back which is handy. I thought for his price Tonali would be a good signing despite having plenty of central midfielders, I didn’t want Runnarson as a back up so brought in Ben Foster who despite being 38 is still a better back up.

Eight youth players came in while Nineteen(!) will be arriving over the next few years.

TRANSFERS OUT

Pablo Mari – 17.25m

Eddie Nketiah – 12m – (PSV)

No major departures although I had offers for Holding and Xhaha. Holding deciding to stay while I rejected the 35 million pound offer for Xhaka. I planned to keep Nketiah but felt it was time he needed a change.

Cedric, Martinelli, Willock, Elneny, Smith-Rowe and Maitland Niles among a few others were all loaned out for the season

 

SEASON SQUAD (4-2-3-1)

GK – Leno – Foster

DL – Tierney – Kolasinac

DR – Celik – Bellerin

DC – Luiz - Holding

DC – Gabriel – Saliba

MC – Partey – Guendouzi - Torreira

MC – Xhaka – Tonali

ML – Draxler – Saka - Nelson

MR – Pepe – Arrascaeta

AMC –– Depay – Willian

ST – Aubameyang – Lacazette

 

PRE SEASON

We travelled to the USA for a training camp. Having not had a single red card all last season we got one I the first pre season game. Nketiah the culprit before he was sold. Xhaka also got his marching orders at AZ in the final game. We weren’t at our best during the matches but dominated all the games having Posession in the high 70's against Barnet and Boreham Wood.

NEW ENGLAND (a) 0-0 – Nketiah s/o

INTER MIAMI (a) 0-2 – Martinelli Aubameyang

BARNET (a) 0-3 – Xhaka Lacazette Saka

BOREHAM WOOD (a) 1-4 – Sheaf Partey Nelson Arrascaeta

NOTTINGHAM FORREST (a) 1-3 – Partey Arrascaeta Torreira

AZ ALKMAAR (a) 3-4 – Draxler 2 Depay Aubameyang Xhaka s/o

 

COMMUNITY SHIELD

Arsenal 1-0 Manchester United – Aubameyang 6

Scoreline might look drab but it wasn’t the case. United had 37 shots on goal with Leno producing an 8.4 rating and Man of the Match. Still happy to win of course although United showed they’ll be a danger this season.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

Everton 1-4 Arsenal – Richarlison 16 – Depay 62 71 Arrascaeta 73 Aubameyang 90

Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea – Pepe 68 Draxler 84 – Pulisic 48

Man City 1-1 Arsenal – De Bruyne 43 – Pepe 53 – Saka s/o 90

Arsenal 5-0 Leicester – Pepe 22 54 Aubameyang 40 66 Arrascaeta 70  - Tierney s/o 85

A tough opening four fixtures was well negotiated with 10 points. We began at Everton with Aubameyang inspiring the comeback and finished it with a lovely dink over Pickford having set up the other three goals. Chelsea game was tight, and we were lucky to edge it. City saw the first competitive red card of my reign. Xhaka and Partey dominated midfield and we had nearly 60% possession but we couldn’t get the winner.  City scoring another free kick against me. Leicester was a really great performance to finish the first batch of fixtures before the international break.

League Table

1.      Liverpool P4 P12 GD19

2.      Man Utd  P4 P12 GD15

3.      Arsenal   P4 P10 GD9

4.      Leeds P4 P9 GD3

5.      Leicester P4 P9 GD3

6.      Chelsea P4 P9 GD3

8.      Tottenham P4 P8 GD-8

19.    Man City P4 P2 GD-4

Liverpool and United have come storming out of the blocks. Liverpool beat Spurs 7-0 in the second game and followed it up by hammering Sheffield United 6-0. They’ve so far scored 20 and conceded 1 after just 4 games. United also haven’t been goal shy and beat Spurs (again!) 6-0 while also scoring five against Palace and four against Norwich.

Man City meanwhile have only two points from the first four games. Two home 1-1 draws against us and Bournemouth and two away 1-3 defeats at Wolves and Everton.

Unsurprisingly Liverpool and United lead most of the charts Greenwood is top scorer and rating with 7 and 8.38. Mane has 6 goals, Rodrigo has started the season well at Leeds and also has 6.

Other news

Euro 2020/21

The Euros has a surprise winner in Croatia.

England topped their group beating Portugal 4-1 along the way. Wales had the group of death with Croatia, France and Italy and didn’t even score a goal.

England lost in the second round 1-0 to Belgium. Vanaken getting the goal while scotland also went out losing 3-0 to Spain.

Quarters

Portugal 1-4 Germany

Italy 0-1 Croatia

Holland 3-2 Swizerland AET

Spain 3-4 Belgium

 

Semi Finals

Germany 0-0 Croatia – Croatia won on 4-3 penalties

Holland 0-2 Belgium

 

Final

Croatia 1-0 Belgium AET

 

TRANSFERS

The worldwide summer transfer market was busy. Sterling went to Real Madrid in an 86 million deal. City replaced him with Icardi Leon Bailey, Nuno Mendes, Thorgan Hazard and Hermoso ultimately spending 203 million. Liverpools major signing was Lautaro Martinez for 75m but they did also buy Theo Hernandez and Max Aarons. While Man United signed luis Alberto for 80m. Spurs loaned in Mahrez. No big marquee signings from the European powerhouses but lots of movement.

Champions League draw

Back in the champions league we were given a decent draw and will face;

Juventus

Leipzig

AA Gent

I expect to get through that. Otherwise  City got their usual Uefa helping hand but Chelsea have Dortmund and Napoli while Man United got Barcelona

League Cup 3^rd Round Draw

Leeds vs Arsenal

We will play them twice in five days. Should be simple enough for the rest of the top teams. Man City drew one of only three League two teams left in of course. Not just Uefa helping them.

 

September/October fixtures

Looking forward to playing in the Champions League again but not expecting to win it for this season.

 

Premier League – Nottingham Forrest (h) Leeds (a) Crystal Palace (a) Norwich (h) Tottenham (h) Brighton (a) Liverpool (a)

Champions League – Juventus (h) Leipzig (a) AA Gent (h)

League Cup - Leeds (a)

 

 

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 MAY

Double Delight.

PREMIER LEAGUE

We started May 4 points ahead of Liverpool having played a game more with still a north London derby and a trip to Anfield to come. Our fixtures began with a visit to Leeds which I thought might have been tricky but after a poor start was a stroll, Partey scoring a brace. A comfortable home win against Brighton was coupled with Liverpool losing the Merseyside derby to a 94^th minute winner from who else but Alex Iwobi. They’d also lose their next game at relegated West Brom too. We still couldn’t quite seal the league against Spurs but we won the North London derby. Another goalkeeper o.g for us and an Aubameyang late goal gave us the win.  Heading to Anfield the league was all but done. A win would clinch the title and we got off to a good start with Aubameyang giving us an early first half lead. Unfortunately origi equalised and despite controlling the ball and the game we didn’t get the winner denying us from winning it ourselves.

Man United had moved above Liverpool as the only side capable of catching us but lost 1-0 at Anfield on the final Wednesday which meant we were champions. The final game came at villa and I was probably annoyed at having no guard of honour so didn’t really focus on the game. We lost 2-1.

Leeds United 1-5 Arsenal – Rodrigo 6 – Pepe 12 Partey 31 34 Willian 43 Meslier o.g 51

Arsenal 2-0 Brighton – Depay 43 Aubameyang 90

Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham – Lloris o.g 62 Aubameyang 90 – Bale 57

Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal – Origi 31 – Aubameyang 9

Aston Villa 2-1 Arsenal  – Cordoba 21 Mcginn 84 - Aubameyang 44(pen)

LEAGUE TABLE

1.      Arsenal P38 P89

2.      Man Utd P38 P86

3.      Liverpool P38 P85

4.      Man City P38 P79

5.      Aston Villa P38 P62

6.      Chelsea P38 P58

9.   Tottenham P38 P56

18. West Brom P38 P31

19. Newcastle P38 P25

20. West Ham P38 P24

Leicester got the final European place. Norwich, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forrest were promoted.

 

FA CUP FINAL

Although winning the league was always the priority I was keen to do a double. However Man United weren’t the easiest opposition.

Both sides had played just 2 days before so there were tired legs. Thankfully my players had enough in the tank to win comfortably.

FINAL

Arsenal 3-1 Man United – Aubameyang 10 68 Draxler 77 – Szoboszlai 60

 

SEASON SUMMARY

PREMIER LEAGUE BREAKDOWN

WDWWWWDWWWWWDWLDWWDWDWWWWLWWWWWDWWWWDL

HOME

P 19 W 15 D 4 L 0 GF 48 GA15

AWAY

P 19 W 12 D 4 L 3 GF 35 GA 16

OVERALL

P38 W27 D 8 L 3 GF 83 GA 31

PREMIER LEAGUER SEASON STATS

Goals – Aumaneyang 31 Vardy 23 Salah Nketiah 19 Cavani 16

Assists – Bruyne 19 Salah 17 Mane 14 Pepe 12 Moutinho 11

Mom – DeBruyne 13 Salah, Depay 9 Mcneil, Pepe 7

Av R – Salah 7.82 De Bruyne 7.74 Mata 7.43 Bruno Fernandes 7.37 Depay 7.35

 

ARSENAL SEASON STATS All Comps – (Subs)

OVERALL RECORD

P61 W43 D 6 L 12 GF 139 GA 58

INDIVIDUAL

Appearances – David Luiz 51(1) Leno 52 Partey 47(4) Aubameyang 47(4) Gabriel 46(1) Pepe 45(8) Tierney 38(1) Depay 37(8) Semedo 34(3) Ceballos 31(6) Draxler 30(15) Xhaka 29(9) Lacazette 24(12) Saka 23(18) Willian 22(20) Kolasinac 21(4) Elneny 17(25) M-Niles 16(12) Holding 15(3) Bellerin 12(1) Runnarson 9 Saliba 8(3)

Goals – Aubameyang 42 Pepe 24 Lacazette 17 Draxler 10 Depay 9 Saka 7 Willian 5 Xhaka 4 Partey 3 Ceballos Bellerin 2 Kolasinac Saliba Holding Gabriel Elneny Luiz 1

Assists – Pepe 14 Depay Saka 11 Tierney 10 Ceballos 8 Draxler Partey Willian 7 Semedo 6 Aubameyang 5 Lacazette 4 M-Niles 3 Xhaka 2 Kolasinac Saliba Bellerin Gabriel Elneny Luiz 1

Mom – Depay 9 Pepe 7 Aubameyang 4 Leno Tierney Lacazette 3 Kolasinac Ceballos Saka Gabriel Willian 2 Xhaka Draxler Luiz 1

Av R – Depay 7.30 Aubameyang 7.26 Tierney Bellerin 7.18 Pepe 7.17 Saliba 7.16 Kolasinac Ceballos 7.14 Lacazette 7.12 Semedo Partey 7.10 M-Niles 7.08 Holding 7.04 Gabriel, Luiz 7.03 Leno 7.01 Saka, Elneny 6.99 Draxler 6.96 Willian 6.93 Xhaka 6.92 Runnarson 6.78

SEASON AWARDS

Team of the Year

Leno Tierney Gabriel Luiz W-Bissaka Rashford Partey De Bruyne Salah Cavani Aubameyang

Player of the year – Salah

Young Player – A-Arnold

Manager - Kinglara

 

OTHER WINNERS

Forgot to add Italian League. Will have it next season.

La Liga – Barcelona (85 Points)

Ligue 1 – PSG (89)

Bundesliga – Bayern (86)

Europa League Final – Chelsea 3-1 Roma

Champions League Final – Liverpool 0-3 Celtic

 

SEASON REVIEW

Overall a good first season. Will be nice to be back in the Champions Leagued. I’ve brought in several youngsters on pre-contracts so interested to see who sticks when they all get thrown at the wall (proverbially)!

I plan to almost completely gut the reserves and youth coaching as well as hiring a new assistant. Hopefully having secured the league a few better coaches will be happier to negotiate.

Not sure yet about transfers. It will decide what offers come in. I want a new striker to supplement Aubameyang. Lacazette only scored two league goals. Nketiah has done well at Crystal Palace but I want more experience.

 

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 APRIL

Closing in on a domestic double.

PREMIER LEAGUE

April began with 5 points separating the top 4 teams as we headed for a tough trip to 4^th place Manchester City. I set up for a draw but 23 seconds in we went 1-0 up through Pepe. Bernardo Silver levelled and as the game looked to be petering out into a draw with 10 minutes to go I brought on Depay. He stabbed the winner to get the month off to a great start. We scored both our only shots on target but had more possession and deserved the win.

Sandwiched in between the Europa League tie was a comfortable home win against Fulham. Despite going behind we recovered well. The final three league games of the month were all tough. We narrowly beat wolves before a Barnes thunderbolt gave Leicester a deserved draw and Burnley played well and weren’t flattered by the scoreline as I had to send on the cavalry off the bench to rescue the game.

Man City 1-2 Arsenal – Silva 39 – Pepe 1 Depay 81

Arsenal 3-1 Fulham – Draxler 31 34 Saka 71 – L-Cheek 22

Wolves 0-1 Arsenal – Depay 33

Leicester 1-1 Arsenal – Barnes 56 – Aubameyang 12

Arsenal 3-0 Burnley – Bellerin 74 Pepe 78 Aubameyang 79

 

A run of four games in eight days will test whether we can win the league. Key game against Liverpool at Anfield to come. City fallen away.

1.      Arsenal P33 P79

2.      Liverpool P32 P75

3.      Man Utd P33 P74

4.      Man City P34 P70

 

Fixtures –

Arsenal – Leeds (a) Brighton (h) Tottenham (h) Liverpool (a) Aston Villa (a)

Liverpool – Everton (a) West Brom (a) Arsenal (h) Sheffield United (a) Man Utd (h) Man City (h)

Man Utd – Crystal Palace (a) Southampton (a) Sheff Utd (h)  Liverpool (a) Everton (h)

 

EUROPA LEAGUE

All went to plan after the first leg in Rome. We played poorly with only one player (Depay) having a 7+ rating but having got the away goal I was confident we’d easily brush Roma aside at the fortress Emirates. Sadly I was wrong with no player scoring more than Pepes 6.9 as we had only one shot on target. Aubameyang also missing an early penalty didn’t help.

Not too bothered and with fixtures piling up and lots of tired bodies probably a blessing to go out.

Quarter-Final

Roma 1-1 Arsenal – Zaniolo 79 – Gabriel 29

Arsenal 0-2 Roma – Dzeko 44 Spinazzola 78

 

FA CUP

Liverpool got the Kinglara masterclass! Having gone out to Roma on the Thursday I didn’t want a double defeat so parked the bus against Liverpool who fell for the trap when Aubameyang counter attacked and scored with 11 minutes to go. Match Stats weren’t pretty but we’re in the final against Man United who beat Birmingham 5-0. Cavani hattrick and Dan James with a brace.

Semi-Final

Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool - Aubameyang 79

 

MAY FIXTURES

Despite a couple of clear spaces we still play 4 games in 8 days. Will be tough to juggle selection but needs must.

May 2^nd – Leeds (a)

May 8^th -  Brighton (h)

May 11^th – Tottenham (h)

May 13^th - Liverpool (a)

May 15^th – Manchester United (N) (Fa Cup Final)

May 23^rd -  Aston Villa (a)

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 FEB/MARCH

Heating up at the top of the table.

PREMIER LEAGUE

February started with 18^th place Newcastle visiting the Emirates. I expected  a routine win which it should’ve been but Andy Carroll capitalised on a poor Willian pass to score a late equaliser. We bounced back well to beat West Ham in probably the best league performance of the two months. Crystal Palace came to the Emirates for the second time in four days and scored their first set piece goal of the season. After Milivojevic was sent off we threw everything at Palace but they held firm before finally getting the narrow win. Two good victories followed before a shocker at Everton. Sandwiched between Europa League games the players didn’t bother to turn up. We had 27 shots against West Brom but needed Aubameyang off the bench to rescue the win. Man City was topsy turvy and even but Bellerin playing his first league game of the season after a cruciate injury grabbed a beautiful 95^th minute winner after it looked like Gundogan had got them a draw with a quite outrageous free kick.

Arsenal 2-2 Newcastle – Ceballos 42 Aubameyang 78(pen) – Wilson 20 Carroll 90

West Ham 0-4 Arsenal – Xhaka 18 Ceballos 21 Draxler 33 Aubameyang 71

Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace – Depay 75 Draxler 77 – Riedwald 5 Milivojevic s/o 29

Sheff United 0-1 Arsenal – Aubameyang 75

Arsenal 3-0 Southampton – Xhaka 9 Aubameyang 24(pen) Depay 44

Everton 2-0 Arsenal – Calvert Lewin 17 Bernard 78

Arsenal 2-0 West Brom – Aubameyang 87 90

Arsenal 3-2 Man City – Xhaka 1 Pepe 59 Bellerin 90 – De Bruyne 30 Gundogan 88

Six wins a draw and a defeat is ok especially with Europa League involved but it’s still very tight between the top 4. Villa are 17 points off the top 4 in 5^th. Chelsea and Spurs both under new management are 12 and 14^th.

1.      Arsenal P28 P66

2.      Man United P28 P65

3.      Liverpool P28 P63

4.      Man City P28 P61

 EUROPA LEAGUE

Not for the first time this season we surrendered a two goal lead in the first leg. We matched Napoli well, dominating possession (61%) and should’ve won. I may have gone defensive too early. I’m not sure what happened in the second leg. The players just came out firing and we went into half time 5-0 up. I expected Rennes to be more comfortable, but it wasn’t. Aubameyang scored our only shot on target in the first game as I angered the fans by shutting up shop too early. We had 29 shots in the return leg but needed extra time to scrape into the quarters.

1^st Knockout Round

Napoli 2-2 Arsenal – Zielinski 65 85 Bakayoko – Saka 2 Aubameyang 24

Arsenal 5-1 Napoli – Lacazette 6 Aubameyang 15 19(pen) 39 Draxler 45 – Osimhen 90

2^nd knockout Round

Rennes 1-1 Arsenal – Maouassa 75 – Aubameyang 22

Arsenal 2-1 Rennes (AET) – Pepe 75 96 – Niang 64

All of the English teams were given tricky draws apart from Leicester who beat Gent 10-2 after hammering them 7-0 at the king power. Man United and Chelsea advanced but Spurs lost 3-1 on agg to Roma. We play them next.

FA CUP

A much rotated squad played well against Palace but needed extra time while Wolves was a good performance.

5R – Arsenal 2–1 Crystal Palace (AET) – Draxler 65 Pepe 96 – Batshuayi 57

QF – Arsenal 4-1 Wolves – Lacazette 4 29(pen) 35 Draxler 45 – Jimenez 59

Liverpool await in the semis, Man United play Birmingham.

SEASON STATS

Goals – Aubameyang 33 Pepe 21 Lacazette 17 Draxler 7 Depay/Saka 6

Assists – Pepe 11 Tierney 9 Partey/Depay/Saka 7 Semedo 6 Draxler/Aubameyang/Willian 5

Av rating – Aubameyang 7.34 Depay 7.30 Tierney/Pepe 7.24 Lacazette 7.23 Kolasinac 7.21

Motm – Pepe 8 Depay 7 Aubameyang 5 Tierney/Lacazette 3 Kolasinac/Leno/Willian 2

INJURIES

Ceballos currently out for two weeks. We’ve had lots of niggles but I’ve tried to keep players rotated as much as I can. Chambers might play before the end of the month.

Youth Candidates

Always my favourite part of the season. I like that it’s more unpredictable as well From our squad we have one striker called John Butler who has high potential. Don’t think the rest will make it although a couple could.

So far I’ve snapped up 6 others with a potential 5 others on the way (and counting) from other academies. One of those is a token though. As a massive Eastenders fan I couldn’t resist signing a player called “Grant Mitchell”

ARIL FIXTURES

Premier League – Man City (A)  Fulham (H) Wolves (A) Leicester (A) Burnley (H)

Europa League – Roma (A) Roma (H)

FA Cup Semi Final – Liverpool (N)

STAFF

I haven’t found a decent assistant manager yet. The Italian Brickcommo23 mentioned isn’t in my game. In the past I’ve had Mauro Tassotti but he doesn’t seem as good. I haven’t had a proper look yet.

 

 

 

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 DEC/JAN

Not perfect but overall a decent two months.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Two solid performances against Fulham and Leicester were followed by a bore draw at Burnley. We picked ourselves up for the game against Leeds but then suffered a first defeat of the season at Brighton. They scored with their only shot on target. We were unlucky against Liverpool as they scored two goals in first half stoppage time after the allotted one minute had been played. I’m sure it had nothing to do with Mike Dean being the ref! Spurs were 18^th when we went to their new stadium but put in a good display although the result flattered them. We were awful against Villa and lucky to win. We had 22 shots against United to their 7 but De Gea made some good saves and they scraped a draw. Finally at Chelsea we were excellent after going an early goal behind. Shouldve won by more. We were meant to play man city as well but it was rearranged.

Fulham 0-2 Arsenal – Aubameyang 14 47

Arsenal 3-1 Leicester – Aubameyang 19 27 37 – Iheanacho 6

Burney 0-0 Arsenal

Arsenal 3-0 Leeds – Pepe 56 58 Aubameyang 90

Brighton 1-0 Arsenal – Propper 38

Arsenal 4-4 Liverpool – Aubameyang 17 62 Pepe 41 49 – Vincicius Junior 11 Wijnaldum 26 Mane 45 Milner 45(pen)

Tottenham 3-4 Arsenal – Bale 47 Bergwijn 90 Reguilon 90 – Depay 29 Pepe 38 44 Aubameyang 64

Arsenal 2-1 Aston Villa – Aubameyang 29 Konsa o.g 63 – Grealish 8

Arsenal 1-1 Man United – Saka 38 – Greenwood 42 Pogba s/o 85

Chelsea 1-2 Arsenal – Kovacic 6 - Xhaka 16 Luiz 45

Overall played 10 won 6 drew 3 lost 1 isn’t bad considering the other teams were also dropping points. Man City won every game in December and looked like running away with it but then lost three in a row. Home to Leeds and Liverpool and joined us in losing away at Brighton. It’s tight at the top. Villa in fifth some way behind on 36. Chelsea are 11^th (29) and Spurs 15^th (22)

1.      Liverpool P21 P48

2.      Arsenal P20 P47

3.      Man United P21 P46

4.      Man City P20 P46

 

EUROPA LEAGUE

God I hate typing Europa league! Very sad.

We had already qualified but I still wanted to top the group to avoid the bigger teams in the second round (hmmm…) A mostly rotated squad but kept pepe in who hit a very nice hattrick. By the time we played PSV we were guaranteed top spot so the kids came out. Pepe one of a handful of first team players came on and scored but I wasn’t too bothered by the result.

Nice 2-4 Arsenal – Schneiderlin 27 Dolberg 76 – Lacazette 56 Pepe 58(pen) 69 90(pen)

PSV 3-2 Arsenal – Malen 2 Gakpo 22 Gotze 37 – Azeez 63 Pepe 68

 

CARABO CUP

I didn’t realise the semi final was one leg until after I selected my team. Not sure if it would’ve made a difference but still a silly mistake. Liverpool at full strength minus Salah who was injured against my mostly rotated team. Liverpool play Leicester in the final.

QF - Arsenal 5-0 Walsall – Lacazette 12 Willian 21(pen) 45 Saliba 25 Draxler 35

SF – Liverpool 2-0 Arsenal – Thiago 6 Keita 67

 

FA CUP

Two generous draws so far. I had no fit striker against Wigan so decided to throw Moller in and he did well.

3R – Cardiff 2-3 Arsenal – K Moore 48 53 – Lacazette 31 34 90

4R – Wigan 0-2 Arsenal – Moller 29 Saka 69

SEASON STATS

Goals – Aubameyang 22 Pepe 17 Lacazette 13 Saka 5 Depay/Willian 4

Assists – Pepe 10 Saka 7 Tierney/Depay 5 Partey/Willian 4

Av rating – Aubameyang 7.34 Pepe 7.31 Lacazette 7.30 Depay 7.24 Kolasinac 7.19

Motm – Pepe 7 Depay 5 Tierney 3 Kolasinac Aubameyang Lacazette Willian 2

INJURIES

A few knocks but nothing major. Bellerin around a month away from playing, Chambers slightly longer.

 

TRANSFERS

No major ins or outs but I made two future transfers after both work permits were accepted. One is established player Giorgian de Arrasticaeta the other is a youngster also with a tricky name Giuliany Ben David dos Santos. Also a winger but rated well by the scouts.  Arrasticaeta cost 10million and Dos Santos 1 million.

Elsewhere only thing of note was Man United buying Szoboszlai for 34 million.

 

FEBRUARY/MARCH FIXTURES

Premier League – Newcastle (H) West Ham (A) Crystal Palace (H) Sheffield United (A) Southampton (H) Everton (A) Man City (H) West Brom (H) Wolves (A)

Europa League – Napoli (A) Napoli (H)

Hardly ideal. I’m not to0 bothered generally about Europa League but of course would like to win. Should be a good test.

FA Cup 5^th Round – Crystal Palace (A)

 

STAFF

I’ve decided once the season finishes to have a staff clearout from all three of the squads. Too many duds especially in the under 23s and under 18s. Steve Round is ok but I feel there is better.

Can anybody recommend a decent assistant manager?  

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 OCT/NOV

A solid two months. Top of the league after 10 games and only team yet to lose. Other than facing United and Chelsea in the first two fixtures they’ve been kind. December should also be productive before heading into a nightmare January.

I’m now playing a 4-2-3-1 attacking. I will be adapting more when we come up against the tougher teams.

PREMIER LEAGUE

A good month. Should’ve won every game.

Currently top by one point. Man city have 25, Liverpool 23 and Man United make up the top 4 with 21. Chelsea are in 12^th with 12 and Tottenham in 14^th with just 10 points.

CRYSTAL PALACE 0-2 ARSENAL  - Aubameyang 24(pen) 74

ARSENAL 4-0 WEST HAM – Lacazette 20 Pepe 45 84 Aubameyang 66(pen)

ARSENAL 1-0 SHEFFIELD UNITED – Aubameyang 81(pen)

SOUTHAMPTON 2-2 ARSENAL  Ings 28 Armstrong 67 - Partey 60 Depay 68 Aubameyang (miss/pen 73)

ARSENAL 6-1 EVERTON  - Pepe 24 65 Aubameyang 34 43 Saka 79 Willian 82 – Semedo o.g 64

WEST BROM 1-4 ARSENAL – Krovinovic 76 - Aubameyang 2(pen) Pepe 3, 90 Draxler 87

ARSENAL 2-0 WOLVES – Depay 36 Patricio o.g 38

 

EUROPA LEAGUE

We were pitted in what looked more like a Champion’s League group. Nice, PSV and Antwerp. It meant I had to play stronger teams. After a poor first game we have bounced back well and have qualified with two games to spare.

ARSENAL 2-2 NICE – Aubameyang 6(pen) Lacazette 64 – Dolberg 12 Bambu 25

ARSENAL 3-2 PSV - Depay 2 Willian 21 Pepe 54 – Madueke 53 Malen 78

ANTWERP 0-2 ARSENAL – Elneny 45 Saka 87

ARSENAL 3-0 ANTWERP – Aubameyang 25(pen) Saka 45 Holding 80

 

SEASON STATS

Goals – Aubameyang 12 Lacazette 8 Pepe 7 Depay 3 Saka 3

Assists – Saka 5 Pepe 4 Tierney 4 Partey 3

Av rating – Aubameyang 7.43 Tierney 7.35 Kolasinac 7.33 Pepe 7.31 Depay 7.30

Motm – Pepe 3 Tierney 2 Depay 2

INJURIES

Bellerin is recovering well and could play again this season. Chambers also did his cruciate and won’t return for three-five months. Injuries have eased a bit otherwise though. Xhaka slowly getting back to starting in the team.

DECEMBER/JANUARY FIXTURES

Premier League – Fulham (A) Burnley (H) Leicester (A) Leeds (H) Brighton (A) Liverpool (H) Tottenham (A) Aston Villa (H) Man City (H) Man United (H) Chelsea (A)

Europa League – Nice (A) PSV (A)

FA Cup – Cardiff (A)

[[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 Pre-Season/Aug-Sep

I haven’t played Football Manager since fm2016 but thought I would start again.

Since I played of course Arsenal have gone from a top 4 club to Europa league regulars. Hopefully that will quickly change. I’ve never failed to win a first league season as Arsenal but this may be the biggest challenge to that.

The game still seems the same although not as easy to navigate as before. All these new analysts I’m still struggling to understand and get used to how they work.

As I always do I brought in a lot of staff although the quality was lacking from what’s been there before. Steve Round stayed as assistant but I will bring in a new one when the first season is over.

Three days into my reign Bellerin tore his cruciate and would miss the whole season. I acted quickly and brought in Semedo on loan. Injuries were rife at the start and I barely had enough players to fill out matchday squads.

I brought in Draxler as I wanted more options on the left and right and just before the close of the window I was offered Depay and decided to take him with only two registered strikers at the club. I also signed two other players but their work permit applications aren’t due until January so not sure if they’ll go through.

With Draxer and Depay coming in I had to get rid of a couple of players due to squad registration restrictions. Cedric and reluctantly Ozil were loaned out. Mari and Mustafi are still at the club but not registered. Neither is Runnarson for Premier League or Europa.

TRANSFERS IN

Semedo (loan)

Draxler (12m)

Depay (18.5m)

OUT

Sokratis (2.3m) Fenerbahçe

Smith Rowe (loan)

Nelson (loan)

Nketiah (loan)

Cedric (loan)

Ozil (loan)

 

SQUAD

 

My squad for the season

GK – Leno – Runnarsson

DL – Tierney - Kolasinac

DR – Semedo - Niles

DC – Luiz - Holding

DC – Gabriel - Chambers

DM – Partey – Elneny

MC – Xhaka - Willock

MC - Ceballos

ML – Draxler - Saka

MR – Pepe - Willian

AMC - Depay

ST – Aubameyang – Lacazette

Overall on the pitch though pre-season went ok. Lazio played a full strength team while I mostly played kids with the bones left of the first team resting ahead of the Community Shield.

Port Vale 2-0  - Aubameyang Lacazette

Fenerbache 2-1 – Nketiah Nelson

Celta Vigo 3-1 – Aubameyang 3

Olympiakos 1-1 - Semedo

Lazio 0-3

 

COMMUNITY SHIELD

LIVERPOOL 1 - Tiago 22

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 89

ARSENAL won 4-2 on penalties

A tough game to start. Liverpool probably should’ve won but happy to win my first trophy.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United 0

Arsenal 2 – Aubameyang 42 Lacazette 63

The fixture gods weren’t kind with two of the top four in the first two games. Id have taken a draw but was very pleased to overcome a nervous United and win comfortably.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal 0

Chelsea 0

Chelsea parked the bus and got the draw.

 

Carabao Cup 3^rd Round

Arsenal 4 – Lacazette 3 69 Azeez 18 40

Birmingham 1 – Colin 45

I only played Azeez as I wanted one experienced midfielder on the bench. Very comfortable win.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

Newcastle 0

Arsenal 1 – Aubameyang 54

Much more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

 

Carabao Cup 4^th Round

Arsenal 4 – Kolasinac 35 Lacazette 43 55 65

QPR 1 – Ball 81

Despite making a mistake with the tactics it was still comfortable. Walsall at home in the quarters in December.

 

Overall a good month.

We don’t play any of the traditional top six in October/November so should make good progress in the league.