Arsenal - A home grown legacy

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

View attachment 281679We thought we had won this match late on with an Aaron Ramsey goal but Olympiakos earned a deserved point with an 88th minute equaliser.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281678A good home win in the league to keep us ticking over.

Giroud out for 3-4 weeks with broken ribs.

Cleverley unhappy once more for the continuing lack of first team football.

Wilshere injured on international duty out for 2-3 weeks.

Cleverley injured on international duty, out for 2-3 weeks with groin strain.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281677We threw away a lead to lose to an inferior team, I hate away matches, I cannot seem to find a way to gain momentum away from home.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

View attachment 281676Back at the Emirates we clock up another victory and another clean sheet, this result sees us qualify with a game to spare for the knockout phase of the Champions League.

Mertesacker injured for 3-4 weeks.

Bellerin out for 5-7 days.

Coquelin again unhappy with the lack of first team football.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281675We gain a fantastic three points from Manchester United. This is probably my trickiest run of fixtures approaching, Man United at home, Chelsea at home, Spurs away and Liverpool at home interspersed with Villa away, Ludogorets away and a Capital One Cup Quarter Final against my bogey team West Brom, so a much needed win to start the run.

November awards

Player of the Month: 1st Trippier, 2nd Koscielny, 3rd Cazorla
Young Player of the Month: 1st Murphy, 2nd Redmond, 3rd Stones
Manager of the Month: 1st Mourinho, 2nd Neil (Norwich), 3rd Me
 
PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281343We scrape a victory but dominate the match, in the middle of this difficult run this had to be a win.

Koscielny asks to join Real Madrid, I concede to accept an appropriate offer at the end of the season. He believes he owes the club as least that. Still not sure whether Real Madrid want him though.

Lingard out for 5-6 days.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 28134032 shots against Chelsea is rather impressive but more so is the 3 points we gain.

Wilshere out for between 12 days and 2 weeks.

Giroud out for between 12 days and 2 weeks.

FA Cup Third Round draw sees us drawn away to Crystal Palace.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

View attachment 281338We thump Ludogorets to keep this good run going.

View attachment 281337We top the group as would have been expected prior to the start of the group stage.

Gibbs out for 9-11 days.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281336
Paulinho's first half sending off did us a favour, and Danny Welbeck capitalised by finishing late on in the match to get another 3 points and a vital away win.

QPR sack Roy Keane and Manchester United part company with Louis Van Gaal.

CAPITAL ONE CUP QUARTER FINAL

View attachment 281335We finally beat West Brom although it takes penalties to do so. Cazorla, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Crowley and Jenkinson score before Ospina saves from Pocognoli.

I complete my Continental B Licence.

Capital One Cup Semi Final draw sees us face Man City at home for the first leg.

First Knockout Round draw of the Champions League sees us face CSKA Moscow.

Rudi Garcia takes over at Man United.

Crowley injured for between 12 days and 2 weeks.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281333
Wow! Simply fantastic. Welbeck adds the sixth as we come through the tough run of fixtures completely unscathed.

QPR hire Steve Mclaren as manager.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281332A change of formation during the match sees us run out 2-0 winners.

Walcott out for 3-4 weeks with a fractured arm.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281330
The 3 points just keep stacking up.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281329Oh dear! I spoke to soon. It had to happen eventually I suppose, and at least it wasn't to the closest competition.

Gnabry unhappy with lack of first team football.

Koscielny and Sanchez make the World Team of the Year, Mesut Ozil makes the bench.

Koscielny second in French Player of the Year.

December Awards

Player of the Month: 1st Sigurdsson, 2nd Macheda, 3rd Welbeck
Young Player of the Month: 1st Sterling, 2nd Delle Alli, 3rd Can
Manager of the Month: 1st Me, 2nd Pochettino, 3rd Rodgers
 
FA CUP THIRD ROUND

View attachment 281326We get the required victory after the disappointment at Southampton.

FA Cup Fourth Round Draw is the first nice draw this season as we face either MK Dons or Gateshead.

Vallejo out for 3 weeks.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281321A comfortable win as we continue to recover from the Southampton defeat.

Cleverley transfer listed at his own request.

Lingard out for 3 weeks.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281316Welbeck added two more to his tally to make it 7-0 and we are refocussed and looking more convincing than ever.

Ramsey out for 2-3 weeks as is Cleverley.

I am going to post the next four matches in a post of their own as they could be very interesting. I play Man City in the league, MK Dons in the FA cup and two further matches against Manchester City.
 
If anybody else decides to do a save using the rules I set out at the start of this story let me know how it goes, or if you have a story of your own using the rules point me in the right direction. I am curious to follow any other successes or fails.
 
So, I thought the run of matches we had a little earlier in the season was one of the nastiest fixture groupings I have had on Football Manager. To play United, Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool in the space of six matches was unfortunate but we came through with out any real losses, points wise or personnel wise (obviously we will have that selection of fixtures reversed towards the end of the season as well Yey!). The next four games will either see us still in with a shout on all fronts or see us plunge out of a competition or two and possibly damage our confidence and set up a disappointing second half of the season.

Premier League - Man City (a)
Capital One Cup Semi Final 1st Leg - Man City (h)
FA Cup Fourth Round - MK Dons (h)
Capital One Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg - Man City (a)

These matches cover an eleven day period, so fitness is key.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 281303Sanchez conceded a penalty late in the first half, but a shift in formation and the desire of the players saw Sanchez atone for his error and we earn a point.

Mertesacker injured for 2-3 weeks

CAPITAL ONE CUP Semi Final 1st Leg

View attachment 281302Man City started to chase the game a little in the final moments and we capitalised as patience paid off. Two goals in the last few minutes see us run out winners in the first leg, yes Man City have an away goal but a two goal cushion has to count for something.

Chambers unhappy with the lack of first team football, I promise to include him but he has to perform. I have a squad of players where everyone is performing so fitting everybody in is very difficult.

FA CUP FOURTH ROUND

View attachment 281299Was genuinely concerned about this match, this was the first time this season we had played competition from outside the Premier League and with the second leg of City in three days I felt it was a good time to rest the first team and play some of the younger players and hope their desire to play more would win this match. They did not disappoint.

Serge Gnabry is out for upto 11 days, these little niggly injuries are increasing in number.

Would you believe it, the Fifth round draw of the FA Cup happened and it is fitting considering this post that we are drawn against Man City at the Emirates for our fifth meeting of the season.

CAPITAL ONE CUP SEMI FINAL 2nd Leg

View attachment 281297
This can only be described as an efficient performance. A 3-3 draw sees us win 6-4 on aggregate and progress to the final to meet Southampton, the last team to beat us.

The league table looks as follows:

View attachment 281294
Despite some massive results we are joint first with Chelsea and Liverpool although we have two matches in hand on Liverpool. Our goal difference is the only thing pushing Chelsea into 2nd, we need them to drop some points.
 
Fantastic end to last season, well done. Not too bad a start this year, too. Keep it up.

Did anybody notable come through the youth ranks last season? I seem to get at least one potentially world class every season.
 
I have not promoted anybody of major note, everybody in my first team squad has been mentioned, I don't dip into my youth or reserves throughout the season. I did realise I never posted a squad list at the start of the second season, will do that next.

Bellerin was the young player of last season, he pretty much forced Debuchy out of the club with his performances, Maitland-Niles and Akpom look like good backup players but jury is still out on everybody else.
 
So here is my squad list for this season, I made no additions or sold no players in January so this has been the same for the season.

Goalkeepers: Szczesny and Ospina

Defenders: Koscielny, Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista, Chambers, Bellerin, Gibbs - Joined first team squad this season: Vallejo, Jenkinson and Digne

Midfielders: Coquelin, Arteta, Bielik, Ramsey, Maitland-Niles, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Gnabry, Wilshere, Ozil - Joined first team squad this season: Cook, Cleverley and Crowley

Attackers: Sanchez, Walcott, Giroud, Welbeck and Akpom - Joined first team squad this season: Lingard.

I am adding another rule which I have not considered before. If I sell anybody off the reserves or under 18s the funds can be added to my bankroll, I cannot however add a player to the first team squad without first getting rid of somebody on the above squad list.

Players still to hit the ten match safety mark this season are: Crowley (6), Vallejo (5), Bielik (5), Cleverley (6), Gibbs (7) and Maitland-Niles (5). I will try and get everybody over the 10 match mark but as was seen last season, the team comes first and I would rather win matches than make unnecessary changes to accomodate everybody.
 
I will endeavour to post some more later this morning, but would like to call a press conference if anybody has any questions in the mean time, feel free to ask them.
 
Coquelin out for 5-6 days.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 280419Some more dropped points away from home. We came from behind twice to salvage a point as Debuchy opened his scoring account for the Hammers against his former club with an absolute screamer.

JANUARY AWARDS

Player of the Month: 1st Sanchez, 2nd Ozil, 3rd Glen Johnson
Young Player of the Month: 1st Shaw, 2nd George Williams, 3rd Markovic
Manager of the Month: 1st Jol, 2nd Garcia, 3rd Rodgers
 
PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 280418Well you never know, maybe we have ended the bad run against the Baggies. COnvincing and patient play, always looked like we would win this one.

Sanchez out for 4-5 days with a bruised rib.

David Platt and Alex Gibson are signed as coaches.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 280417A valuable three points away from home to keep the pressure on Chelsea, who although in second place they have a match in hand.

We sign Claude Fichaux as a coach, as we continually try to improve the backroom staff.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 280416We beat Everton, which feels a little bittersweet considering who their manager now is in the save (Arsene Wenger).

Sean Dyche sacked by Burnley.

FA CUP FIFTH ROUND

View attachment 280415We remain unbeaten against City this season after 5 matches. We progress to the next round of the FA cup with a heavily rotated squad.

FA Cup SIxth Round Draw Arsenal vs West Brom. A replay of the match that saw us dumped out last season.

Giroud unhappy with the lack of first team football.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 280414We went down to ten men in the last fifteen minutes and conceded two late goals to make this scoreline a little less embarassing for Swansea. A masterclass from Ozil.

Oxlade-Chamberlain out for 5-6 weeks with a broken arm.

Malky Mackay takes over at Burnley, which was not a popular decision with his former fans at Wigan.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE KNOCKOUT STAGE 1st Leg

View attachment 280412A solid first leg away victory, the second leg should be a no brainer.

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

CAPITAL ONE CUP FINAL

View attachment 280411A relatively poor match with us rotating a few players. Lingard scores the only goal of the game in his first appearance in months to secure our second piece of silverware of the season.
 
FEBRUARY AWARDS

Player of the Month: 1st Balotelli, 2nd Enner Valencia, 3rd Fer
Young Player of the Month: 1st Wilson, 2nd Sterling, 3rd Januzaj
Manager of the Month: 1st Mourinho, 2nd Me, 3rd Rodgers

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 279812With a crazily difficult run of games approaching and Chelsea dropping points this was a must win game for us, unfortunately the Toon Army have other ideas.

FA CUP SIXTH ROUND

View attachment 279811We dominated whilst West Brom were clinical, scoring two off two shots on target. We progress to the next round.

The semi final draw for the FA Cup sees us tied against Chelsea or Wolves (Come on Wolves!!!!!).

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 279809Fricking away matches! We throw away a lead and lose away to Norwich, I do believe this is the first time in this save we have lost back to back league matches.

Walcott out for 3-4 months with a torn calf muscle.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 279808After the last two league matches we thoroughly needed this result. Our strikers aren't contributing as much this season as last but at least Koscielny and Cazorla are picking up the slack.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIRST KNOCKOUT ROUND 2nd Leg

View attachment 279805We go through to the Quarter Finals with a 3-0 aggregate victory.

Sanchez out with a bruised rib for 4-5 days.

We draw Chelsea in the FA Cup semi final (thanks a lot Wolves!!!!).

The Champions League draw sees us take on Bayern Munich. This upcoming run is looking absolutely horrible, especially on current form.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 279802A late Xavi goal costs us a valuable point as we lose another away match.

Gnabry requests a transfer.

Dan Crowley out for 4-5 days with a bruised rib.

MARCH AWARDS

Player of the Month: 1st Yaya Toure, 2nd Baines, 3rd Lamela
Young Player of the Month: 1st Delle Alli, 2nd Murphy, 3rd Stones
Manager of the Month: 1st Garcia, 2nd Rodgers, 3rd Pochettino
 
My upcoming fixture list looks like this:

Chelsea (a) League Fixture
Bayern (h) Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg
Aston Villa (h) League Fixture
Bayern (a) Champions League Quarter Final 2nd Leg
Chelsea (n) FA Cup Semi Final
Tottenham (h) League Fixture
Liverpool (a) League Fixture
 
PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 278549Clawed the game back from two down, only to chase the victory and concede late on. Stupidity on my behalf.

Wilshere out for between 12 days and 2 weeks.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINAL 1st Leg

View attachment 278548Up until 88 minutes this looked like a good win following Sanchez and Welbeck getting injured and Coquelin getting himself sent off. Thomas Muller scoring two goals at the death to make this tie a proper uphill struggle.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 278547A valuable three points in the difficult run in.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINAL 2nd Leg

View attachment 278542Had we won the first leg this would have been a fantastic performance, as it was it was just a little too little.

Olivier Giroud transfer listed at his own request.

FA CUP SEMI FINAL

View attachment 278540A proper thriller in the cup sees us through to our second final of the season. Four penalties in this match, and it was Hazard's saved penalty which helped us become victorious.

We will face Spurs in the final of the FA Cup.

Akpom out with a gashed lower leg for 7-10 days.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 278538Oh no! This season is slipping away, this is the worst run of results since I took charge.

Calum Chambers unhappy with lack of first team football.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 278537Yet another thrown away lead, and yet another away defeat. We are in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League now - how did that happen?

Chelsea win the league, we have done a Man City and failed to retain and struggling to cling to top 4.

Gibbs out for between 12 days and 2 weeks.

Cardiff have been relegated to the Championship.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 278536Another away match where we throw away a lead and drop points. We are left needing to win the last match to remain in the top four but at least it is in our hands.

Burnley relegated to the Championship.

APRIL AWARDS

Player of the Month: 1st Balotelli, 2nd Sterling, 3rd Hazard
Young Player of the Month: 1st Sterling, 2nd Wilson, 3rd Murphy
Manager of the Month: 1st Pochettino, 2nd Mancini, 3rd Mourinho
 
Mertesacker unhappy with the lack of first team football.

PREMIER LEAGUE

View attachment 277760We win and we deserved it and needed it. Chamakh got two goals back but we secure 4th place.

Crystal Palace relegated, so we managed to send Burnley and Palace down in our last two matches.

View attachment 277759We finish in fourth, ahead of City and United but 13 points behind the Champions.

Ozil is named as the footballer of the year.

Hazard claims the players player of the year.

Top Goalscorer: 1st Kane, 2nd Remy, 3rd Balotelli

Sterling wins the Young Player of the Year award.

Golden Glove: 1st De Gea, 2nd Lloris, 3rd Courtois

Mourinho named as manager of the year.

Koscielny picked for the Premier League select.

Ramsey out for 2-3 weeks with a groin strain.

FA CUP FINAL

View attachment 277758We win our third piece of silverware for the season, not only do we beat Spurs but we do so emphatically. A nice way to end any season.

Maitland-Niles is the only player to miss out on the 10 match safety net and is transfer listed immediately.

Chelsea offer £9.25M for Olivier Giroud, and despite them matching his asking price we reject as don't want to sell to immediate rivals.

The manager sackings commence with Villa parting company with Sherwood, Cardiff sacking Slade, Fulham removing Kit Symons, Swansea seeking a new manager following the dismissal of Monk and Southampton opting to oust Koeman.

I ask the board to improve training facilities and they agree to do so.
 
Bayern Munich win the Champions League.

Martinez takes charge of Southampton whilst Sean Dyche is the new manager of Cardiff, Solskjaer takes the helm at Villa and Aston Villa opt for Cotteril to lead them next season.

Antonio Gomez signs as a coach to replace the retired Jim Cassell.

O'Driscoll takes over at Fulham and Joey Barton becomes the England Under 19s manager.

Giroud is wanted by Hull for £10.6M, we reject as did not believe the breakdown of the bid was good enough.

Liverpool have a bid for Oxlade-Chamberlain of £27M rejected.

Tom Cleverley is sold to Swansea for £6.78M.

We have 1 player space now and £9.28M to spend.

Liverpool have a £14M bid for Digne rejected.

Gnabry signs for Norwich for a fee of £9.25M

2 player spaces and £18.53M to spend.

We sign Maximilian Meyer for £5.09M

1 player space and £13.44M to spend.
 
Season Records

Top Goalscorer: Danny Welbeck 31

Top League Goalscorer: Danny Welbeck 17

Most Assists: Mesut Ozil 15

Highest Average Rating: Mesut Ozil 7.70 (41 apps)

Most Man of the Match: Mesut Ozil 9

Youngest Player: Krystian Bielik 17 years and 217 days

Youngest Goalscorer: Ainsley Maitland-Niles 18 years 147 days
 
Walcott injured on international duty out for 12 days to 2 weeks.


Ozil wins the fans player of the year

View attachment 277754


The board state that I am expected to win the league this season, I have no options to set the expectations for the season.


Southampton bid for Giroud rejected as only worth an initial £5M


Arteta signs for Granada for £805K.


2 spaces and £14.24M


Giroud signs for West Ham for £9.25M


James Wilson signs for £14.7M


2 spaces and £8.79M


Joel Campbell and Yaya Sanogo promoted to first team.

Vallejo out for 3-4 weeks with broken ribs


I applied to be England manager after a poor performance in the Euros sees Hodgson quit.


Santi Cazorla selected in the substitutes of the European Championship dream team

Gibbs out for between 12 weeks and 2 days


Sanchez out for 5-6 days with concussion


France have offered me the position of manager
 
So the question has to be............

Do I agree to be the French National Team Manager as well as Arsenal Manager?
 
waynethickett said:
So the question has to be............

Do I agree to be the French National Team Manager as well as Arsenal Manager?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't in your position - in my Arsenal save, I was head-hunted by England: took the job, immediately regretted it as it was too much work switching back and forth, keeping an eye on players etc.

Doing well to keep with your transfer policy, it's inspired me to start a new Arsenal save and do a similar sort of thing.
 
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