Five years in - Arsenal's continued hunt for the league title!

[waynethickett]

After 5 years in charge of the Arsenal we have seen success in the form of 1 FA Cup, 1 Capital One Cup, 1 Europa League title, 1 Champions League title and 1 European Super Cup. What has eluded us is the league, my final league positions read like so:

View attachment 295095So I see the main challenge still to come, I need to find a way to break the hold Chelsea have had as in those five years Chelsea have won the title 4 times and Liverpool have even managed a title.

In this summer break I have offloaded seven players (not including those released from contract), these were:
Ruben Vezo (CB) to BMG for a fee of £14.75M
Sven Bender (DM) to Wolfsburg for a fee of £10M
David Faupala (ST) to Villareal for a fee of £9.5M
Nathaniel Chalobah (DM) to Aston Villa for a fee of £3.4M
Laurent Koscielny (CB) to LOSC for a fee of £2.3M
Gedion Zelalem (CM) to Ipswich for a fee of £1.8M
Robert Terrace (RM - regen) to Brentford for a fee of £450K

My squad now looks like and their stats under me:
Original Arsenal Players:

GK - Szczesny 186 Appearances, 239 conceded, Average Rating 6.88
DL - Gibbs 142 (21) Appearances, 5 Goals, Average Rating 7.09
CM - Crowley 11 (5) Appearances, 1 Goal, Average Rating 6.83
CM - Ramsey 168 (54) Appearances, 34 Goals, Average Rating 7.10
CM - Wilshere 156 (37) Appearances, 31 Goals, Average Rating 7.07
AM - Sanchez 169 (38) Appearnaces, 81 Goals, Average Rating 7.20

Real Signings over the five seasons:

GK - Ter Stegen £45M 69 Appearances, 85 conceded, Average Rating 6.91
DR - De Sciglio £32.5M 156 (12) Appearances, 3 Goals, Average Rating 7.08
DC - Nastasic £46.5M 88 (5) Appearances, 6 Goals, Average Rating 7.26
DC - Mustafi £45M 58 Appearances, 4 Goals, Average Rating 7.27
DM - Lucas Silva £13.75M 146 (30) Appearances, 22 Goals, Average Rating 7.01
DM - Hojbjerg £38.5M 54 (18) Appearances, 11 Goals, Average Rating 7.15
CM - Hughes £16M 26 (22) Appearances, 6 Goals, Average Rating 6.79
DR/DM - Oztunall £32M 71 (9) Appearances, 5 Goals, Average Rating 7.15
AM - Depay £9M 105 (48) Appearances, 56 Goals, Average Rating 7.17
AM - Bakkali £30M 20 (15) Appearances, 10 Goals, Average Rating 6.92
AM - Reus £58M 7 (11) Appearances, 6 Goals, Average Rating 7.41
AM - Coutinho £33M 127 (67) Appearances, 35 Goals, Average Rating 7.14
AM - Gotze Free 75 (8) Appearances, 49 Goals, Average Rating 7.50
ST - Lacazette £11.75M 73 (61) Appearances, 51 Goals, Average Rating 7.13

 

[waynethickett]

Here is a list of the regens in and around my first team:

GK - Kevin Buhrer signed for £3.5M as a third choice keeper, has made 3 Appearances, conceded 1 and has an average rating of 7.02.
View attachment 295092
WBL - Luis Ernesto Flores signed for £7.5M initially as a future prospect but at 19 with a four and a half star current ability is the first name on the squad sheet. 27 (1) Appearances, 6 Goals and an average rating of 7.22
View attachment 295088
DC - Adie Tanner signed for £975K
View attachment 295087
DL - Carlo Voltattorni signed for £10.25M 2 (4) Appearances, Average Rating of 6.90
View attachment 295086
DC - Nicholas Harris promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 295084
DC - Jorge Fabila promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 295083
AM - Dave Williams promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 295082
ST - Larry Egbedi £2M, 7 (6) Appearances, 1 Goal Average Rating of 6.75
View attachment 295081

 

[waynethickett]

All of the above players have screenshots but they don't all appear to be loading all of the time.

 

[waynethickett]

My new signings for this season are:

CB - Jaoa £14.5M
View attachment 786038
DM - Billing £10.25M
ST - Schrijvers £15.75M

ST - Ismael £16M
View attachment 786040

So that is my full first team squad for this season, or at least until the transfer window in January. I am loaning out Harris, Fabila, Voltattorni, Williams and Egbedi at least for the first month or so, but assuming all goes well with not getting injuries or such like they will probably be away for the duration of the season to get first team experience.

 

[waynethickett]

My friendly fixtures for the 19/20 pre season went:

Arsenal 4 Arsenal Under 21s 2 (Joao, Mustafi, Coutinho, Buhrer og)

Leverkusen 3 Arsenal 4 (Depay 2, Ramsey, Reus)

Koln 1 Arsenal 4 (Mustafi, Bakkali, Shrijvers, Holek og)

Dortmund 1 Arsenal 2 (Oztunali, Depay)

Hertha 1 Arsenal 5 (Reus 2, Depay, Gotze, Egbedi)

Genk 0 Arsenal 6 (Joao, Gotze, Bakkali, Reus, Mracek og, Boli og)

Very pleased with the pre-season, more so than usual as the level of matches was higher than normal and all good wins away from home.

 

[waynethickett]

This is the formation I have settled on for this season:
View attachment 294728
It is a very solid formation on the whole, I play with an attacking mentality and a very fluid team shape. I imagine for the more difficult matches I will drop the wing backs deeper into the defence and play a more structured and counter attacking based style of play.

My team instructions are:
View attachment 294727

 

[waynethickett]

The first fixture of the season is the European Super Cup, last season we played in this cup and caused a shock when we dominated Real Madrid and won 3-0. This season the fixture looks slightly easier facing the Europa League winners Hull.

Arsenal 3 Hull 1 (Reus 45+1, Flores, Gotze. De Sciglio injured)

Hull took the lead after 2 minutes and things looked relatively grim until Reus equalised in first half stoppage time.

The first match of the Premier League saw us at home against fellow Londoners QPR.

Arsenal 3 QPR 0 (Reus 3, Gotze 36, Wilshere 81. Oztunali and Ramsey injured)

A couple of minor injuries did not damage a solid victory.

In the first few matches every season I always face several of the biggest teams in the league away from home and they always create an early stumbling block.

Chelsea 2 Arsenal 1 (Depay 51)

I decided to play a more defensive game and it bit me hard on the backside. Chelsea scored 2 goals inside 17 minutes and were dominating. At half time reverted to my usual formation and pulled one back but that was as good as it got.

Arsenal 3 Everton 0 (Coutinho, Gotze, Flores)

My left back is on the scoresheet once more as we comfortably win.

 

[waynethickett]

The second of our big away fixtures, i decided to start more defensive again.

Man United 0 Arsenal 0

After 30 minutes we weren't getting anywhere so I again reverted to my usual formation and although the performance improved we were left with a goalless draw.

The first match of our Champions League was possibly the easiest fixture of the group stage on paper.

Arsenal 2 Tel Aviv 0 (Lacazette, Depay. Reus injured)

A solid win, but not as convincing as I would have hoped.

The next Premiership match so us again at home facing the Black Cats.

Arsenal 5 Sunderland 0 (Gotze 2, Coutinho, Joao, Reus)
View attachment 294726As perfect a performance at home as one could hope for. With 40 shots the only surprise is a team with the quality we possess didn't score more.

Our first Capital One Cup match sees last years finalists pitched against each other.

Arsenal 4 Southampton 1 (Reus pen, Amat og, Gotze, Coutinho)

and we progress to the fourth round with a comprehensive victory.

 

[xJamieWilliams]

I'd suggest having a screenshot of your results etc, it attracts more people!

 

[waynethickett]

Szczesny has asked every season to be allowed to leave to find a new challenge. This season is no different however again he is placated by the promise of silverware. He has found himself benched so far this season so I would not imagine this is the last request he has of me.

The fourth round draw of the capital one cup sees us facing Championship side Blackburn Rovers who knocked the Premiership side Stoke City out in the third round.

Premiership
View attachment 294725
What else can you say but that we were well and truly FM'd, all four shots on target for Southampton hit the back of the net and a keeper who had conceded once in five matches concedes four in one.

In an under 21s match the team was dealt three blows, Nastasic was injured and will be missing for 4 weeks, Ismael was injured and will be missing for 5-6 weeks and Bakkali will be out for 3 weeks.

Flores receives the young player of the month for September.

The league table at the end of September looks like:
View attachment 294724

Adie Tanner is allowed out on loan for one month to Notts County.

Champions League

View attachment 294723
3 goals in the dying moments of the match made this encounter appear a lot more interesting than it actually was.

Premier League

View attachment 294722
0-0 at half time and only 5 shots each. The second half was much improved and a fantastic spectacle, with us having 30 shots and scoring 3 times.

Jack Wilshere is injured for 3-4 weeks, Schrijvers is injured for 3 weeks as well.

Egbedi's loan is extended for 3 months.

Kieran Gibbs wanted to leave for first team football, he was convinced into staying a little longer but being the third oldest player in the squad I imagine it could be his last season with the team.

Williams loan extended for three months.

 

[umay]

Here is a list of the regens in and around my first team:

GK - Kevin Buhrer signed for £3.5M as a third choice keeper, has made 3 Appearances, conceded 1 and has an average rating of 7.02.
View attachment 786012
WBL - Luis Ernesto Flores signed for £7.5M initially as a future prospect but at 19 with a four and a half star current ability is the first name on the squad sheet. 27 (1) Appearances, 6 Goals and an average rating of 7.22
View attachment 786021
DC - Adie Tanner signed for £975K
View attachment 786024
DL - Carlo Voltattorni signed for £10.25M 2 (4) Appearances, Average Rating of 6.90
View attachment 786027
DC - Nicholas Harris promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 786030
DC - Jorge Fabila promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 786033
AM - Dave Williams promoted from our own youth academy
View attachment 786036
ST - Larry Egbedi £2M, 7 (6) Appearances, 1 Goal Average Rating of 6.75
View attachment 786037

well with not getting injuries or such like they will probably be away for the duration of the season to get first team experience.

 

[waynethickett]

Carlo Voltattorni loan was extended for a further three months.

Premier League

View attachment 294531An early penalty saw us get an early foothold and despite pulling a goal back on 50 minutes Nottingham Forest never really threatened an upset.

Aaron Ramsey is feeling jaded and is in need of a rest which he surprisingly agrees to.

Champions League

View attachment 294530
The good news is we came back from two down other than that should never have been dropping points from this match.

Gotze injured for 4-5 days.

Premier League

View attachment 294529
As dominant a performance as you could see, Villa were woeful and Coutinho was rather majestic.

Capital One Cup 4th Round

View attachment 294528
The scoreline looks far closer than the highlights and statistics suggested it actually was. We need to be converting more chances. However bearing in mind how unfit the squad were it is a good result. I like to field players with a condition percentage of 90 or greater and was unable to do this in every position in this match.

Sanchez injured for 5-6 days.

Coutinho player of the month for October, Depay was in second place.
Flores won the young player of the month award again.
Coutinho also won the goal of the month award.
I finished second in the manager of the month award.

Capital Cup Quarter final draw sees us drawn away to Fulham.

 

[waynethickett]

Premier League

View attachment 294527
Well, what can you say, we played ok but we were not only beaten 2-0 by Spurs, we were beaten by two Danny Welbeck goals. Welbeck left for Bayern in a big money move, they offloaded him after one season and he has been brought back to England this season after a spell in France. Awful result.

Champions League

View attachment 294526
A solid away win, patience paid off in the second half as fitness became the deciding factor.

Premier League

View attachment 294525
A dubious penalty made for a nervy last fifteen minutes, in truth we dominated but again the opposition scored both their shots on target.

Marco Reus injured in training and out for 4 weeks.

Adie tanner loaned out for 1 month.

Kieran Gibbs wants to leave and has been placed on the transfer list.

View attachment 294524
Away to the top of the table we play solidly and win convincingly, limiting Liverpool to just 3 shots on target. Schrijvers scoring a fantastic goal to open his account for the Gunners.

Gotze injured for 12 days to 2 weeks.
Joao injured for 2-3 days.

Crowley loan extended for 3 months.

Champions League

View attachment 294523
A rare hat trick for a centre back puts Tel Aviv to the sword. The result means we qualify as group leaders with a game to spare. A nice place to be heading into December.

A very strange occurrence as Granada take a punt and offer me a job interview, I am currently 5th in the Premier League and Granada 14th in La Liga, little confused but needless to say the offer was rejected, I rejected an offer for an interview from Athletico Madrid at the end of last season.

Mustafi injured for 9-11 days.

League table at start of December

View attachment 294522

 

[waynethickett]

Premier League

View attachment 294000
A solid performance, City found it hard to break down our defensive formation and in all honesty the highlights showed it was a top drawer performance from Joe Hart which kept the scoreline to 1-0.

View attachment 293999
Some dubious refereeing which saw a Newcastle defender only booked for bringing Lacazette down when through on goal saw Newcastle remain unfairly with 11 men. Lacazette missing the penalty did not help matters and the fact that they stayed with 11 men helped Newcastle force a draw. The own goal was a little unfair with Krul simply pushing the ball into the net from a Sanchez shot.

Adie Tanner loan extended for three months.

View attachment 293998
A comfortable home victory, 3-0 up at half time we sat back a little in the second half, but the red card for Kacaniklic put paid to any fight back from the Hammers.

We were drawn away to Blackburn in the 3rd round of the FA cup.

Champions League

View attachment 293997
After going behind three times in this match we ran out comfortable winners with Ismael scoring his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals for the club. Convincing group winners.

Club World Championship

Semi Final

View attachment 293996
The goals continued to fly in our next match, scoring 5 with Depay getting the 5th goal. America really had no answer for us.

De Sciglio was injured but thankfully it only means a 5-6 day absence.

The Capital One Cup semi final draw has been made, and our involvement in the club world championship has seen us fall behind in our fixture list and Fulham or ourselves are drawn away to Chelsea.

The Champions League knockout round draw has seen us drawn against Juventus away from home in the first leg.

 

[waynethickett]

Club World Championship Final

View attachment 291213
The words Oh and Dear spring to mind. We were proper F - M'd. I have no words to describe how we lost this match.

Oztunali injured for 2 weeks.

Club World Championship best players:

1st: Alexis Sanchez
2nd: Alexandre Lacazette
3rd: Matija Nastasic

Ismael is unhappy with lack of first team appearances, after a long talk I eventually concede to give him an opportunity in the first team, will have to wait and see if that is possible.

Premier League

View attachment 291209
We were fortunate to get a draw away to Hull, a point gained instead of two lost based upon the highlights, but I can feel the season slipping away.

View attachment 291208
We dominated this match but still only score one, that is one goal in three matches now.

Egbedi loan extended by three months.

PSG offer £10 million for Alexis Sanchez, needless to say this massively poor offer was rejected flat out.

Marco Reus selected for World Team of the Year.

Flores came 3rd in North American Team of the Year.

I came 2nd in the Manager of the Month for December.View attachment 291207

 

[waynethickett]

Bakkali signs for Hull for £1.12 Million. He was purchased for £30 million and has done absolutely nothing for us, his contract was expiring at the end of the season so the best I could do was get a paltry fee for him.

Capital One Cup

View attachment 291206
A quality performance, we even had the generosity to allow Fulham a consolation goal. Not sure why Joao was down to take the penalty though.

Williams loan extended for 3 months.

FA Cup

View attachment 291203
We are still in the FA cup. So despite the loss to Boca we have steered ourselves back on track and are still fighting on four fronts this season.

Alexis Sanchez out for 5-6 weeks.

Voltattorni loan extended for 3 months.

The FA cup fourth round draw sees us drawn away to League one outfit Birmingham City.

Shrijvers injured for 3-4 days.

Premier League

View attachment 291201
A good away win, with a bit of squeaky *** time at the end when we were down to 9 men following an injury to Wilshere and a moment of madness from Mustafi. He will now miss the Chelsea match.