Gunning For Glory - An Arsenal Story

[turkishdelight]

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Arsene Wenger Retires!
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The legendary Arsenal boss has decided to retire from management as he would like to spend more time with his family. The Frenchman stated that he was sorry that he couldn't leave the club on a high note and that he has left a suggestion on who the next manager will be. Many bookmakers are labeling Guus Hiddink as favourite to fill the gap left vacant by Wenger. Others in with a shout include Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola, Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers, Rafa Benitez and Arsenal youth team manager Christopher Simpson. Simpson's youth team have been performing spectacularly and he had a very close relationship to Wenger.
Arsenal have released the following statement; 'We wish Arsene the best and he will always be an integral part in Arsenal history. He has brought countless trophies to the club and let him be remembered for that rather than the past few trophyless seasons. For his replacement we will be looking inside the club first and if no suitable candidate can be found we will headhunt managers throughout Europe'​

 

[Gabriel Sutton]

nice- following- i thought it was a joke- 'countless trophies'

still, looking forward to seeing how u do

 

[turkishdelight]

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Simpson Named Arsenal Manager
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Arsenal youth coach Christopher Simpson has been promoted to the first team manager. The Englishman has impressed with his youth sides since taking over as the youth team manager in 2008. The 33 year old never played the sport professionally but signed for Arsenal as a scout in 2007 after his impressive find of Tuncay Sanli for Middlesbrough during his time as a scout there. It was clear that Simpson had undoubted ability in scouting and brought Samir Nasri and Carlos Vela to Wengers attention during his first transfer window with the club. In 2008 the youth team manager job opened up and Simpson was put in charge. His ability was very clear guiding Arsenal to an FA Youth Cup in 2009 and FA U18 National Academy Play Off wins in 2009 and 2010. Wenger was very impressed with Simpson and it was likely that Wenger recommended the young Englishman be awarded the job.




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Simpson unveiling interview
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Q. Taking over from a legendary boss like Arsene Wenger, you must be feeling the pressure to deliver from the beginning of your career in professional management?
Of course I'm going to feel pressure in a job like this, it's the greatest job in the world and I'm glad I'm getting the chance to manage one of the finest clubs in world football.

Q. Don't you think you were incredibly lucky to get this job? Most managers have to work there way up from the bottom and you were just given this job unexpectedly.
I don't think it was completely unexpectedly. The club let out a statement saying they would look within the club before they looked outside. I also believe that I have the ability to manage this side to greatness

Q. What will your transfer policy be? Will you continue where Wenger has left off or will you spend on more experienced players?
I think that Arsene had the right idea, think of the amount of world class players he has created at this club, Henry, Vieria, Fabregas, Nasri, van Persie, Adebayor and now Wilshere. I plan to do something along the same lines but I will also sign more experienced players if needs be.

Q. Do you have any transfer targets in mind?
Well I'm not willing to reveal them to the press as I don't want to unsettle them from there clubs, but I will be looking for a left back, a midfielder and possibly a striker.

Q. Arsene Wenger has always insisted that the club has always had the budget to sign world class players, can you assure us of the situation?
We have over £50 million to spend on players as well as a healthy wage budget. All is well at Arsenal football club. No more questions.

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[turkishdelight]

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Arsenal reveal new trio signing
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Today Gunners boss Christopher Simpson has unveiled his first signings of his management career. He has lured Everton left back Leighton Baines away from Goodison Park for a fee thought to be around £17m, Brazillian midfielder has been signed from Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk for £11m and fellow Brazillian Leandro Damiao has been signed from Internacional for a new Arsenal record of £28m. Arsenal fans have warmly welcomed Leighton Baines to the squad but are unsure of the Brazillian pair. Willian is uncapped at international level and at 23 years of age it is unsure whether or not he will do so, and Arsenal fans are bewildered at why the club would fork out £28 million on a striker when they already have world class Robin van Persie leading the line.

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I believe that Leighton Baines is a great signing for us. The English international is proven in the Premier League and his set plays will be a real threat for us. £17m was quite expensive but I don't trust Andre Santos's defensive skills or the fitness of Kieran Gibbs. I believe the latter of the two will be sold as tree left backs is too many for my team and I doubt that Baines will miss many games for us this season.




View attachment 239220I think that Willian will help provide us with some of the creative spark that has been lacking since Fabregas and Nasri have left the club. It hasn't helped that Arsene has loaned out Andrei Arshavin either as he would've helped. I think that Willian will play a majority of his games on the left taking over from where Nasri left off. It's a shame that the Frenchman has left as I'd have loved to manage him.. Many people have questioned his lack of international game time, all the better for us, less chance of him getting injured.




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When I heard that Man United, Man City, Chelsea and Spurs were all interested in the Brazillian international I had to act quickly. I've been an admirer of this guy for some time. He's an all round forward who scores a plentiful amount of goals. He's already an international and hasn't played outside Brazil. It will be interesting to see how quickly can adapt to the English game. I know £28m is quite expensive but let's be honest, Robin is more than likely going to be injured at some point this season and I don't trust Chamakh or Park to do the job when he is. I can also see van Persie and Damiao playing along side each other and being one of the most feared strike partnerships in world football.

Preseason;
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I was relatively happy with our pre season. Other than the 4-0 defeat to Dinamo Bucharest we were unbeaten. And in the defeat it was just complacency which cost us the game, I'm hoping not to see that again. I was pleased to be able to see a majority of the players at my disposal and it helped shape my opinion on each of them. I now basically have my starting 11 ready and formations selected. At home we'll mainly be playing a 4-4-2 with advanced wingers, and away we will play a 4-5-1 or a 4-2-3-1 depending on our opponents. We have a few injuries including key centre back Thomas Vermalaen but I believe the squad is strong enough to at least make the top 4.
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[turkishdelight]

August Report


Arsenal 5-1 Norwich
Premier League

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Braces from Robin van Persie and Per Mertesacker as well as a as a Leandro Damiao strike fired Arsenal to victory over newly promoted Norwich City.
Steve Morrison opened the scoring for the Canaries in the 15th minute to the delight of the away fans. Arsenal dominated the play and missed chance after chance. Robin van Persie equalised on the stroke of half time, a wonderful finish just inside the area.
Arsenal continued to dominate the second half and were awarded a penalty in the 52nd minute when Bradley Johnson hauled down Leandro Damiao inside the area. van Persie converted the penalty to put Arsenal 2-1 up. In the 68th minute Mikel Arteta whipped in a corner which was headed home by German international Mertesacker. New signing Leandro Damiao scored a powerful finish ten minutes from time. Mertesacker completed the scoring in the 88th minute via another Arteta corner.

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MOTM;
Robin van Persie
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Udinese 0-2 Arsenal
Champions League

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A tough draw in the Champions League play off matched Arsenal with Italian side Udinese. Goals from Laurent Koscielny and new signing Willian won the game for the English side.
Both sides were nervy in the first half, but Robin van Persie's corner was headed across the six yard box by Per Mertesacker and his centre back partner Laurent Koscielney outjumped the Udinese defenders to put Arsenal 1-0 up.
Arsenal dominated the second half seven minutes after the restart Willian collected the ball from Lucas Fabianski on the halfway line before rounding 3 defenders and placing the ball into the near post to the dismay of the home fans. Arsenal kept possesion superbly for the rest of the game and Udinese barely had a shot due to Arsenal's defence.​

MOTM;
Willian
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QPR 0-1 Arsenal
Premier League

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Robin van Persie scored the only goal of the game in a tightly contested affair at Loftus Road.
The goal came from an Arsenal break which was started by new signing Leighton Baines, who passed to Wales captain Aaron Ramsey who dribbled past 2 QPR players before passing to van Persie who rounded his marker to finish with a powerful drive. This was Arsenal's only shot on target, and QPR also only managed one which was saved by Polish keeper Lukasz Fabianski.
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MOTM;
Robin van Persie
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Arsenal 3-0 Udinese (Agg. 5-0)
Champions League
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Arsenal will be happy to progress to the group stages of this years Champions League with such ease. It was predicted that they'd struggle with the Italian outfit but the Gunners brushed them aside with ease. Laurent Koscielny, Robin van Persie and Yossi Benayoun were all on target for the Gunners this time out.
Arsenal dominated the game from kick off and set the tempo when Damiao's strike was saved by the Udinese keeper inside the first two minutes. On the 23rd minute mark, Mikel Arteta's corner was converted by Koscielny the delight of the Arsenal fans. The Gunners continued to dominate the game and looked dangerous every time they went forward.
On the 70th minute mark Robin van Persie was assisted by strike partner Leandro Damiao. The Dutch forward rifled the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area. 7 minutes later substitute Yossi Benayoun ​ dispossessed Undinese left back Pasquale and placed the ball into the far corner to complete the scoring.
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MOTM;
Laurent Koscielny
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Arsenal 4-1 Liverpool
Premier League

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Arsenal performed well in what should have been a close encounter with Liverpool. A brace from Leandro Damiao as well as goals from Robin van Persie and an own goal from Daniel Agger won the game for Arsenal. Andy Carroll netted for Liverpool on the stroke of half time to give the Liverpool fans something to cheer about.
van Persie opened the scoring on 17 minutes with a fierce strike. Damiao doubled Arsenal's lead 6 minutes later. Arsenal continued to play well and against the run of play Carroll pulled one back for the Reds.
Arsenal continued to play well in the second half and 2 minutes in Damiao restored their 2 goal cushion. Arsenal dominated play in the second half and searched for the killer 3rd goal and found it when Agger put the ball into his own net in the 51st minute. Arsenal continued to attack and were unlucky not to score a fifth when Marouanne Chamakh's header rattled the crossbar late on.
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MOTM;
Leandro Damiao
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Monthly Review;

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Positives- Practically everything that could have gone right has, we're scoring goals, the defence has been tight and the midfield are creating chances. The new signings have all settled in really well and we won every game, hopefully we can keep this form up and really push on with the season.
Negatives- I'm going to find it hard to drop Koscielny and Fabianski when Vermalaen and Szczesny return from injury.
Player of the Month- Robin van Persie. The Dutchman's played extremely well so far and I'm hoping he can keep this run of form up. If van Persie plays well so does the rest of the team.

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