An Arsenal Story for the 16/17 Season

Off season injuries:

Andrew Robertson 5-6 days with a bruised shin.
Alexis Sanchez 2-3 days with a dead leg.
Jese 9-11 days with a chest injury.


Mertesacker wants to leave to Wolfsburg, Sven Van Beek unhappy with lack of football despite playing in friendlies.

Loftus-Cheek moves on loan to QPR.

Marquinhos and Mertesacker receive bids from PSG but both well below my valuations.

Man City win the Community Shield.

We draw AC Milan in Champions League Qualifying.

Premier League

View attachment 181508An awful start to the season and a awful performance. The only way is literally up.

Aboubakar out for 4-5 days with a gashed head

Nainggolan out for 4-5 weeks with a sports hernia.

Premier League

View attachment 181507A better showing at home against the Premier League new boys.

Ziyech out for 9-11 days with thigh strain.

Cazorla out for 4-5 days with a gashed head.

Champions League Qualifying 1st Leg

View attachment 181505A good 1st leg home win, no away goals to contend with and the tie is well and truly in our hands.

Yarmolenko out for 9-10 days with thigh strain.

We sign Antonio Pintus as a coach.

Premier League
View attachment 181503We were holding our own and bossing the game until Papastathopolous got himself sent off, unfortunately it all collapsed after that and we were thumped.

Champions League Qualifying 2nd Leg (0-2)

View attachment 181506A 90th minute Mertesacker goal seals the tie with an away goal, Bacca's immediate response was in vain with us having scored away from home.

Capital One Cup Third Round Draw Aston Villa vs Arsenal

Champions League Group Draw sees us with the most difficult group I can remember getting: Real Madrid, Roma and Viktoria Plzen.

Brendan Galloway out for 3-4 days with food poisoning.

Premier League

View attachment 181494Nikola Vlasic is outstanding as we continue to climb up the table. We are nearly in the top half.

Oxlade-Chamberlain is out for 5-6 days with a broken nose.

Walcott out for 7-9 weeks with a dislocated shoulder.

Player of the Month: 1st Hazard (Chelsea), 2nd Olsson (Norwich), 3rd Markovic (Liverpool)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Vlasic (Arsenal), 2nd Martial (United), 3rd Delle Alli (Spurs)
Manager of the Month: 1st Mourinho (Chelsea), 2nd Simeone (City), 3rd Neil (Norwich)
 
We reject an offer from Reading for Jese and two days later he suffers a serious injury and will be missing for 7-8 months with damaged cruciate ligaments.

Premier League

View attachment 181082Need to do something to improve away form, this is getting silly. How I still have a job is beyond me.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 181081We come from behind to win against Roma. A good and necessary three points looking at how difficult the group is.

Premier League

View attachment 181077A very good performance helps us move a little further up the table and above Liverpool and Spurs for now.

Capital One Cup Third Round

View attachment 181076Vlasic with another outstanding performance, he looks a true talent. We progress for the first time in this save to the fourth round of the Capital One Cup.

Capital One Cup Fourth Round draw sees us tied against Charlton.

Premier League

View attachment 181075
An away win and we move into fourth place, we are only 3 points off the top, it isn't as bad a start as it first looked.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 181074
Nainggolan sent off and that doesn't help, but Real Madrid beat us and beat us well again.

Premier League

View attachment 181073Berahino turned us down in the summer, and he signed for the mighty Swans. Unfortunately he got a hat trick and we suffer back to back away defeats.

Ozil out for 12-14 days with a twisted knee.

Player of the Month: 1st Paloschi (Reading), 2nd Berahino (Swansea), 3rd Haller (Villa)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Delle Alli (Spurs), 2nd Coric (United), 3rd Onomah (Burnley)
Manager of the Month: 1st Pulis (Stoke), 2nd Mourinho (Chelsea), 3rd Clarke (Reading)
 
Sanchez out for 3 weeks with a chest injury.

Cazorla out for 7-10 days with a gashed leg.

Ross Barkley out for 3-4 weeks with a back strain.

Premier League

View attachment 1810723 goals within the first 8 minutes and the game is done. 31 shots between both teams in the whole match show it was hard fought but not overly exciting.

Aboubakar out for 12-14 days with a twisted knee.

We sign Michael Lejan as an Under 18s coach.

Champions League Group Stage.

View attachment 181071No such thing as an easy away Champions League match, but the home team couldn't even manage a shot on target.

We sign Chris Beardsley as a coach.

Koscielny out for 3 weeks with Achilles tendonitis, he is now considering retiring due to repeated injuries.

Cech out for 1-2 days with a stubbed finger.

Premier League

View attachment 181070A late own goal gains us the three points but this was a real game for the neutrals, tense, exciting and a proper battle.

Capital One Cup Fourth Round

View attachment 181069We come from a goal down to win and progress to the next round. Not a competition I am bothered about but I need all the good results I can get.

Capital One Cup Quarter Final Draw sees us draw Chelsea at home.

Premier League

View attachment 181068Aboubakar and Sanchez the dream team from last season score the goals to get us another away win. Four points between the top four teams.

Aboubakar out for 2-3 weeks with a pulled hamstring.

Walcott out for 12-14 days with a twisted knee.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 181067A stonking 5-0 victory and we drop to third because of the daft head to head rules, we beat Roma, they beat Real, Real beat us. The last two matches against Roma (a) and Real (h) are the make or break, they both have Viktoria Plzen to play, guaranteed 3 more points each.

Player of the Month: 1st Otamendi (City), 2nd Hazard (Chelsea), 3rd Redmond (Norwich)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Delle Alli (Spurs), 2nd Onomah (Burnley), 3rd Zekhnini (Newcastle)
Manager of the Month: 1st Me (Arsenal), 2nd Simeone (City), 3rd Peter Grant (Fulham)
 
Transfer budget has been raised again to £75M

Premier League

View attachment 177340Man United were reduced to 9 men and scraped an injury time equaliser, it makes this point away at Old Trafford that little bit more frustrating.

Premier League

View attachment 177339Our tricky run of matches continues and we slump to a defeat despite being the better team, Gabriel's sending off did not help our cause.

Liverpool and Low part company.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 177338An even battle resulted in another defeat which leaves us with the hardest of challenges to progress from the group.

Stoke sack Pulis

Premier League

View attachment 177337Sanchez scores early and late goals to help seal a victory over the early surprise package that is the canaries.

Ziyech out for 4-5 days with a bruised thigh.

Crystal Palace sack Pardew.

Capital One Cup Quarter Final

View attachment 177336Probably one of my favourite performances of the save so far, we have never looked so comfortable against Chelsea.

Luis Enrique takes over at Liverpool.

Player of the Month: 1st Zekhnini (Newcastle), 2nd Doumbia (Norwich), 3rd Berahino (Swansea)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Onomah, 2nd Delle Alli (Spurs), 3rd Kuhl (Reading)
Manager of the Month: 1st Pochettino (Spurs), 2nd Jemez (Man United), 3rd Howe (Bournemouth)
 
We draw Watford in the Capital One Cup Semi Final

Premier League

View attachment 177334Last years heroes secure the three points with a good win away to Bournemouth.

FA Cup Third Round draw sees us with the tricky tie of Man City away.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 177333We played for the win and got trounced because of it. Europa League football it is.

Ozil and Bellerin request meetings after the early exit from the Champions League, they both say they will leave if we don't qualify for the Champions League.

Barkley out for 4 weeks with a hernia.

Sean Dyche takes over at Stoke.

Premier League

View attachment 177332A small away win to Burnley helps in the quest for top four.

Teemu Tainio takes over at Crystal Palace.

Europa League first round knockout sees us drawn against Wolfsburg.

Dragowski injured and out for 2-3 weeks.

Europa League second round knockout sees us or Wolfsburg against Besiktas or AS Monaco.

West Ham sack Bilic.

Premier League

View attachment 177328An emphatic victory against mid-table Leicester.

Aboubakar out for 5-6 days with concussion.

Premier League

View attachment 177325Another cracking result helps us keep a run of clean sheets which can only improve confidence.

Premier League

View attachment 177323I spoke to soon as the congested fixture list see us only manage a draw against Southampton.

Premier League

View attachment 177321A 2-0 win against the minnows of Liverpool. :-)

Aboubakar out for 4-5 weeks with a sprained ankle.

Swansea sack Vieira.

Aboubakar wins the Broadcasters African Player of the Year and is third in the African Footballer of the Year.

Player of the Month: 1st Hazard (Chelsea), 2nd Sanchez (Arsenal), 3rd Sterling (City)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Galloway (Arsenal), 2nd Delle Alli (Spurs), 3rd Cerri (Stoke)
Manager of the Month: 1st Me (Arsenal), 2nd Pochettino (Spurs), 3rd Mourinho (Chelsea)
 
We make some new signings at the start of January, the squad is massive but I am looking at an overhaul potentially for the start of next season.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco for £8M
Martin Odegaard for £13M
Oliver for £10.25M
and regens Damian Pelosi for £7.75M and Pitbull for £5M.

Capital One Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

View attachment 177222A convincing 1st leg performance Watford will have to pull out all the stops to halt our run to the final.

West Ham hire Bielsa as manager.

Koscielny is a target for PSG who have a bid for him rejected.

Gabriel out for 5-6 days with a bruised shin.

We loan new signing Pelosi out to Boca.

Van Beek moves on loan to Fenerbache.

FA Cup Third Round

View attachment 1772162 quickfire goals for City are ultimately enough to plunge us out in the third round. This isn't looking good, FA Cup and Champions League now gone.

Bellerin out for 5-6 days with a bruised head.

PSG now bid for Marquinhos and have it rejected.

Premier League

View attachment 177215An even match but a point is all we can manage.

Wilshere out for 5-6 weeks with strained knee ligaments.

Papastathopolous signs for Aston Villa for over £6.5M.

Liverpool have a bid rejected for Hakim Ziyech.

Premier League

View attachment 177214Nainggolan sent off but that is no excuse to lose to the recently promoted Fulham.

PSG enquire and then bid £50 million for Ozil which is rejected.

Premier League

View attachment 177212Back to winning ways but the match in truth was far more even than the scoreline suggests and we are in danger of getting me sacked I fear.

Swansea hire Kushev as manager.

Premier League

View attachment 177210We go 1-0 up but the lead doesn't last for long and I am at a loss for what is wrong with the team.

We sell Ziyech to Liverpool for £24M but the fee could rise to £35 which would mean a massive £29M profit on the attacking midfielder.

Capital One Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg (0-3)

View attachment 177209Annoyingly the board don't rate the Capital One Cup as I progress to the final against Newcastle.

Aboubakar out for 5-6 days with a bruised shin.

Premier League

View attachment 177207A practice run for the cup final goes our way with a hat trick for Mr Welbeck.

Oxlade-Chamberlain out for 4-5 days with a bruised rib.

January Player of the Month: 1st Welbeck (Arsenal), 2nd Ozil (Arsenal), 3rd Montillo (Norwich)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Onomah (Burnley), 2nd Ntcham (Palace), 3rd Barbosa (Liverpool)
Manager of the Month: 1st Neil (Norwich), 2nd Simeone (City), 3rd Gunes (Leicester)
 
Robertson out for 2-3 weeks with groin strain.

Premier League

View attachment 177205A valuable 3 points away from home. 12 games to go and we sit between Norwich and Spurs in 4th place.

Everton sack Martinez.

Walcott out for 3 weeks with a twisted ankle.

Premier League

View attachment 177204An awful away result....... again!

Welbeck out for 12-14 days with a damaged shoulder.

Europa League First Round Knockout first leg

View attachment 177202An injury time own goal hopefully puts the tie out of Wolfsburg's reach.

Europa League First Round Knockout second leg (0-3)

View attachment 177201A 1-1 draw ios more than enough to see the next round where we will face AS Monaco, a team we have failed to beat on all previous meetings.

Capital One Cup Final

View attachment 177200A hard fought and well battled match, we win and lift our first piece of silverware of the season.

Odegaard out for between 7 and 9 weeks with a broken toe.

Cazorla out for 2-3 weeks with a pulled hamstring.

Premier League

View attachment 177198Koscielny getting sent off did not help and we lose away from home, surprise surprise.

Welbeck out for 4-5 weeks with a sprained ankle.

Player of the Month: 1st Dembele (Fulham), 2nd Perez (Chelsea), 3rd Dybala (City)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Onomah (Burnley), 2nd Odegaard (Arsenal), 3rd Gomez (City)
Manager of the Month: 1st Mourinho (Chelsea), 2nd Simeone (City), 3rd Peter Grant (Fulham)
 
Frank Lampard takes over at Everton as manager.

Premier League

View attachment 177142We get Fats Lampard's managerial career off to an awful start.

Bellerin out for 3-4 days with blisters.

Europa League Second Round Knockout first leg

View attachment 177141We fail to win or score past AS Monaco....... again.

Nainggolan out for 12-14 days with a damaged heel.

Europa League Second Round Knockout 2nd Leg (0-0)

View attachment 177140We frustratingly concede a third whilst chasing a second of our own. We are out of our third competition.

Board request a meeting to discuss confidence, they at least agree that AS Monaco played better than anticipated.

Burnley hire Frank De Boer as manager.

Premier League

View attachment 177139A late late equaliser spares our blushes, but not entirely as we find ourselves in 6th place.

Premier League

View attachment 177138The tricky fixtures always appear to come in quick succession. I am packing my desk up as I type this.

Sanchez out for 5-6 days with a bruised shin.

Premier League

View attachment 177137Aboubakar with a hat trick as we climb to fifth.

Player of the Month: 1st Higuain (Liverpool), 2nd Dybala (City), 3rd Walcott (Arsenal)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Barbosa (Liverpool), 2nd Cerri (Stoke), 3rd Onomah (Burnley)
Manager of the Month: 1st Enrique (Liverpool), 2nd Simeone (City), 3rd Graeme Jones (Newcastle)
 
Premier League

View attachment 177136We come from a goal down and the result sees us climb to fourth.

Ozil out for 4-5 weeks with a sprained ankle.

Premier League

View attachment 177135I love away fixtures...... :-/ Norwich leap frog us into fourth spot.

Walcott and Cazorla both out for 12-14 days with twisted knees.

Premier League

View attachment 177134We win away from home.... Hurrah! Unfortunately Norwich trounce Fulham and we need them to slip up and soon.

Sanchez out for 2-3 weeks with a pulled hamstring.

West Ham relegated.

Man City retain the Premier League crown.

Premier League

View attachment 177131Goals from my central midfield pairing move us up into fourth place. Two matches to go and we will at least get fourth.

Everton relegated.

Odegaard out for 5-6 days with a bruised head.

Swansea relegated.

Premier League

View attachment 177127A bore draw but we cling on to fourth place. We go into the last match with the only importance in our own hands.

Player of the Month: 1st Zuculini (Newcastle), 2nd Cabella (Newcastle), 3rd Negredo (Palace)
Young Player of the Month: 1st Grey (Norwich), 2nd Zekhnini (Newcastle), 3rd Ould-Chikh (Burnley)
Manager of the Month: 1st Simeone (City), 2nd Pochettino (Spurs), 3rd Mourinho (Chelsea)
 
Cech out for 12-14 days with a twisted knee.

Premier League

View attachment 177119Norwich lose away to Reading so we have fourth place for this season. Not happy with how it has went this season which is a shame because we won silverware.

West Ham sack Bielsa.

Hazard wins footballer of the year.

Aguero wins the Player's Player of the Year.

Top Goalscorer: 1st Dybala, 2nd Aguero (City), 3rd Higuain (Liverpool)

Harry Kane wins Young Player of the Year.

Golden glove: 1st Mignolet (Liverpool), 2nd Hart (City), 3rd Courtois (Chelsea)

Simeone Manager of the Year.

Ozil selected in the Premier League Team of the Year.

Arsenal Awards for the season:
View attachment 177110
Swansea sack Kushev, with me being at 3-1 to be the next sacked. The board tell me from the next five games I must win 11 points.

Watford win the FA Cup.
 
Off Season:

Signings:
Gareth Bale from Real Madrid for £34M
Mario Mandzukic from Juventus for £20M
Patrick Cross (regen) from Ipswich for £8M

Sold:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Burnley for £25M
Per Mertesacker to Burnley for £1.2M
Jese to Ipswich for £10.25M

Loaned Out:
Kelechi Iheanacho loaned out for the season to Basel

Contract Expired:
Jack Wilshere joins Everton on a free.

Injuries:
Alexis Sanchez out for 3 months with a broken ankle.
Vincent Aboubaker out for 5-6 days with a bruised head.
Ferreira-Carrasco out for 2-3 weeks with calf strain.
Mesut Ozil out for 3-4 months with a damaged achilles tendon.
Theo Walcott out for 2-3 weeks with a pulled hamstring.
Santi Cazorla out for 6-9 days with a gashed head.
Ruud Van Dinteren out for 3 weeks with a twisted ankle and 4-5 days with a bruised thigh.

Staff:
Out - Kurt Niedermeyer (retired) In- Paul Harsley as U18s coach. Joleon Lescott as U18s coach
 
Scotland won the World Cup.

I accept a job offer from Holland without an interview or declaring my interest.

England take Southampton manager Cocu to replace Ronald Koeman (former Southampton manager) as England manager.

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink joins West Ham as manager.

Swansea hire Steve Mclaren as manager.

Man United resign Angel Di Maria.

Chelsea have repeated bids for Chambers rejected as do Aston Villa, Mesut Ozil was the subject of many bids from PSG and Athletico but I need to keep him, unfortunately he picked up a big injury but he will still do a job at some point of the season.
 
Friendlies

Arsenal 3 Arsenal Under 21s 0 (Pitbull og, Welbeck, Odegaard)

Arsenal 0 Fulham 0

Arsenal 2 Antwerp 0 (Van Beek, Oliver)

Arsenal 1 Middlesbrough 0 (Aboubakar)

Arsenal 3 Racing Club 1 (Mandzukic, Barkley, Welbeck)

Club Brugge 0 Arsenal 1 (Bale)

Arsenal 2 River 1 (Bale, Aboubakar)

Arsenal 11 Rushden and Diamonds 0 (Mandzukic (3), Bellerin, Koscielny, Ramsey, Bale (2), Vlasic, Yarmolenko, Aboubakar)

A good pre-season all in all, not too many real tests but a good sharing of the goals between the squad.

Champions League Playoff draw sees us play Sporting

Southampton unveil their new manager in the form of Michel.
 
Squad for the upcoming season:

Goalkeepers:
Bartlomiej Dragowski
Petr Cech

Defenders:
Laurent Koscielny
Gabriel Paulista
Marquinhos
Hector Bellerin
Calum Chambers
Brendan Galloway
Sven Van Beek
Andrew Robertson
Yannic Bilsch

Midfielders:
Vlad Dragomir
Martin Odegaard
Theo Walcott
Gareth Bale
Santi Cazorla
Radja Nainggolan
Yannick Ferreira Carrasco
Nikola Vlasic
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Ross Barkley
Aaron Ramsey
Oliver
Callum Rook
Mesut Ozil
Andriy Yarmolenko
Alexis Sanchez

Strikers:
Mario Mandzukic
Vincent Aboubakar
Danny Welbeck
Ruud Van Dinteren
 
August

Watford win the Community Shield

Premier League

View attachment 176076A good away win to start the season, new signing Mandzukic gets on the scoresheet but fellow new signing Bale gets injured.

Bale out for 5-6 weeks with a torn groin muscle.

Odegaard out for 5-6 days with a stubbed toe.

Champions League Playoff 1st Leg

View attachment 176072That man Mandzukic again getting on the scoresheet but we concede an away goal.

Premier League

View attachment 176071I play with two up front in this match and both strikers find the net as we win again.

PSG bid for Sanchez rejected.

Sven Van Beek out for 7-10 days with a strained wrist.

Champions League Playoff 2nd Leg (1-1)

View attachment 176069We win 3-2 and qualify for the Champions League proper phew.... Mandzukic on the scoresheet for the fourth consecutive match.

Mandzukic out for 5-6 days with a bruised head.

We draw Brentford away in the Capital One Cup Third Round.

We draw Leverkusen, Sevilla and PSV in the Champions League Group Stage

PSG want to be Arsenal I am convinced, they once more bid for one of my players, this time Aboubakar and it is rejected for various reasons.

I resign as manager of Holland without playing a match, my heart wasn't in it and I want to be successful with Arsenal before International management.

August Player of the Month: 1st Caulker (Leicester), 2nd Aboubakar (Arsenal), 3rd Elyounoussi (Leicester)
August Young Player of the Month: 1st Odegaard (Arsenal), 2nd Ewing (Reading), 3rd Rui Pedro (Stoke)
August Manager of the Month: 1st Me (Arsenal), 2nd Gunes (Leicester), 3rd Pochettino (Spurs)
 
September 18/19

Premier League

View attachment 173042A solid away win at Chelsea, considering I was sure I would be sacked for not hitting the points target considering the fixtures I am very happy so far.

Blisch out for between 12 and 14 days with a twisted knee.

Premier League

View attachment 173041Aboubakar with a brace as we keep the early pressure on Leicester.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 173040Nainggolan continues his impressive disciplinary record as we only manage a point away to Leverkusen.

Premier League

View attachment 173039Yarmolenko and Mandzukic seal the win away to struggling Sunderland.

Blisch moves on loan to Everton and Van Dinteren and Dragomir join the Hammers on loan.

Capital One Cup Third Round

View attachment 173037We scrape through with a 4-2 win on penalties.

Capital One Cup fourth round draw sees us tied with Sheff Weds.

Premier League

View attachment 173036Late goals from Vlasic and Mandzukic spare our blushes after former Arsenal man Jese had given Ipswich the lead.

September Player of the Month: 1st Lukaku (United), 2nd Di Maria (United), 3rd Bellerin (Arsenal)
September Young Player of the Month: 1st Coric (United), 2nd Rui Pedro (Stoke), 3rd Louis Reed (Sheff United)
September Manager of the Month: 1st Me (Arsenal), 2nd Gunes (Leicester), 3rd Jemez (United)
 
October 18/19

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 173031It's that man Aboubakar again.

Bellerin out for 4 months with a broken foot.

Ramsey out for 2-3 weeks with calf strain.

Premier League

View attachment 173030We drop our first points of the season with a 1-1 draw against the Canaries.

Gabriel wants to leave for regular football.

Sanchez injured on International duty and will be out for 11 days to 2 weeks with a damaged heel.

Premier League

View attachment 173029Back to winning ways with a comfortable home victory.

Champions League Group Stage

View attachment 173028Again we are struggling a little in Europe, the board expects to get to the knockout phases this time, so although the expectations are more realistic we may struggle to match them.

Premier League

View attachment 173027We had the match won by half time and we sit atop the Premier League

Capital One Cup Fourth Round

View attachment 173026Two goals from Mandzukic in stoppage time save another match potentially being decided by penalties.

Welbeck out for 12-14 days with a twisted knee.

Blisch loaned out to West Ham.

October Player of the Month: 1st Dybala (City), 2nd Thomas Toure (Aston Villa), 3rd Aboubakar (Arsenal)
October Young Player of the Month: 1st Louis Reed (Sheff United), 2nd Coric (United), 3rd Crowley (Fulham)
October Manager of the Month: 1st Jemez (United), 2nd Dyche (Stoke), 3rd Me (Arsenal)
 
Wow, how have I missed this!? XD

As always, good, good story. Petr Cech is complete rubbish in this game I feel, conceded an unbelievable amount of goals in the first season. Arsene Wenger (who is my Director of Football) purchased Bart Dragowski at the very start of the 2015-16 season; 4 seasons on I sold him for £1.5m and failed to make a single appearance.

Keep it up and good luck, it goes without saying that I will be following.
 
Dragowski is my first choice keeper, he is rated more highly than Cech now by myself and staff.

Thanks for reading
 
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