Gunning for Youth: Arsenal Quest for Victory

[casey32]

On July 1st 2009 Simon Casey took charge of Arsenal FC, this young Irish man has been tipped by many to be on his way to the sparkling success of seeing his name carved in the Hall of Fame. We will follow his success with season update at first but will be followed by monthly updates. Feel free to comment ask for screenshots etc. Please note this game was started on Chris22 update and one of the earlier versions. With finally a new laptop and no more sitting at a desk, my long term stories are back. I hope you follow, let’s start with season one………..


Season 2009/2010

Casey came in with a mentally that the base of the squad was good enough, he didn’t plan bring in many players that would challenge for a 1st team spot but mainly aimed on bringing in youth with would enable less spending in the future and more income for those who improved but didn’t quite reach the bar of excellence which will be required. The most expensive signing of the summer was Romelu Lukaku from Anderlecht for £12.5m, a lot for a 16 year old but one of the biggest youngsters on the planet as most of you will know. I will now give a list of the player how came in the where expected to challenge or break into the squad. Will be shown in order of… name, position expected to challenge for, previous club and price


David James (GK) –free transfer
Yannick Djalo (ST) – Sporting CP - £800K
Liedson (ST) - Sporting CP - £6M
Joseph Yobo (CD) – Everton - £7.25M
Etienne Capoue (CM) – Toulouse - £8.75M
Vincent Enyeama (GK) – H.Tel-Aviv - £220K
Colin Kazim-Richards (RW) – Fenerbahce - £1.2M
Simon Vukcevic (LW) - Sporting CP- £8.75M

January Window

Goran Pandev (ST) – Inter - £3.9M

Not many left the club but a high number of youngster went on loan with I will get to later. The player that left were as follows…….

Jay Simpson – Leeds - £2.1M
Mark Randall - Everton - £2.1M
Lukasz Fabianski – Olympiakos - £2.7M
Manuel Alumina – Stuttgart – Ln Fee £700K
Tomas Rosicky – Bordeaux – Ln Fee £1.4M
Nicklas Bendtner – Birmingham - £7.5M

January Window

Denilson – Schalke - £6M


Now before I go on to the youth I will go into the season itself as the youth did not feature in this aspect as of yet. Arsenal ended the season with two pieces of silverware, the premiership title and the FA Cup. The league was won in style with 91 points, 101 goals and 38 conceded as Casey showed the 4-4-2 can be used and still be successful in modern day football. The FA Cup final was a tight affair with Arsenal playing Chelsea at Wembley. Van Persie gave the Gunners an early lead but it was cancelled out by a Malouda goal before half time. The major turning point was the sending off of Ricardo Carvalho for a professional foul, Although Chelsea were down to ten men it wasn’t until stoppage time in the second half of extra time that Arsenal took the lead to win the cup, a Pandev beauty ensure a double winning debut season.

Fans celebrate double

Casey side saw themselves knocked out in the 4th round on penalties in the Carling Cup. Real Madrid ended the Londoners European dreams in the quarter finals of the Champions League, wining just on away goals.

Now to the Players, James kept the keeping spot but was released at the end of the season as Enyeama showed in the 14 games he played he was ready for the spotlight. The defence consisted of Yobo the key man partnered with Vermaelen, yet towards the end of the season Djourou made a strong challenge to be included. Sagna and Clichy were the full back and rarely made a mistake.

Now to the Midfield, Captain Cesc held his place all season but didn’t hit form till late in the season, the Spaniard only scored 3 goals and 14 assists in 44 games. A mash up of choosing Song or Capoue lead to both being picked to support Cesc on rotation, both playing just under 30 games. The wings was were the talent was this season , Arshavin and Vukcevic battled for the left wing spot, sometimes both played with Vukcevic playing in midfield with Cesc supporting. Arshavin scored 12 times in 47 games and provided 8 assists, as for Vukcevic had the season of his life, in 53 games he scored 14 goals and set up 24. The right flank on the other hand was owned by one Theo Walcott, Theo played 49 games, scoring 21 and a return of a poor 5 assists but his goal contribution was huge.

Looking to start with a bang next season

Now to attack, Van Persie was the top scorer with 26 goals in 40 games closely follow by the surprise figure of Carlos Vela with 24 goals in 40 games. Pandev scored some vital goals and after his arrival in January scored 10 in 21. Chamakh and Liedson both disappointed.

Now about the new youth let me just list them as there is a lot to go through….
Marco Verratti, Luc Castaignos, Craig Walsh, Ruben Rochina, Sergi, Adam Hlousek, Alessandro Tuia, Marco Ezio Fossati, Jacob Mellis, Miles Addison, Nathanial Clyne, Lorenzo Crisetig, Mathias Jorgensen, Luca Tremolada, Alphonse Areola, Alex Smithies, Jack Cork, Ryan Bertand, Daniel Kofi Agyei, Romelu Lukaku, Maxime Lestienne, Wellington Silva and Gai Assulin.

A new post will follow will be more indepth and will be looking at the new signings and which youngsters have impress to be considered for 1st team football…………
​

 

[Jake]

Nice, some screenshots would be good though...

 

[casey32]

Nice, some screenshots would be good though...

will do for next season i have some screenies, end of table and transfers of first season but that about it, ill put them in as attachments on 1st post and for new updates ill work them in

---------- Post added at 02:06 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 AM ----------

Season Two​

Arsenal Wave Goodbye and Say Hello

Arsenal’s next league campaign kicks off soon and Casey has been quick to get rid of the deadwood at the club. Arsenal have received £61M in total from there sales, 18 players were allowed leave. After a poor debut seasons at the club Moroune Chamakh returned to Bordeaux for a fee of £9M, all 3 parties are said to be delighted with the deal. Another big the deal was the surprise sale of Andrey Arshavin to Aston Villa for a lower than expected fee of £11M, Casey stated he was fed up of his consistency going on to say “if you are earning that much a week you owe the club 110% every week , not when you feel like it.” Tomas Rosicky followed the Russian to Villa Park for £4.3M. Newcastle came in to swoop Liedson for £4.6m, the Brazil born Portugal international didn’t prove himself last term and with his age the wrong side of 30 it was an easy choice to let him go. Manuel Almunia joined Stuttgart for a previously arranged fee of £3.9M.

A war of words saw him leave but who can fill the gap?

Along with the above some more promising player were also shown the door. Colin Kazim-Richards went to Rangers for £2.5M after Walcott shut him out. Armand Traore joined Sevilla for £3M, with Clichy and Gibbs he was surplus. Yannick Djalo left for Malaga with £2.3M being paid, a favourite of Caseys but couldn’t score for love nor money in an Arsenal jersey. Abou Diaby was next, going to Spanish side Zaragoza for £4.6M, a good player but he would of wasted his talent here let him go to future his career. Laurent Koscieiny joined At.Madrid, with defenders coming in Laurent wouldn’t of had a chance. Lastly Vito Mannone joined Italian giants AC Milan for £1.3M.

Hopefully a step in the right direction for the respected Diaby

Others to leave were…… David James, Luke Freeman, Conor Henderson, Alessandro Tuia, Giles Sunu, Sanchez Watt, Rhys Murphy, Craig Eastmond.
Again plenty of players were sent on loan but the shockers was Aaron Ramsey sent to Standard for a season to ensure 1st team football and European cup competition experience.

Now to the new faces…… £95M spent and six new players to meet.

Jack Rodwell – Everton - £15M

Very bright English star, will be looking to gaining 20-25 games this season, will be used mainly in midfield but impressed at the back in pre season.

Mesut Ozil – Werder Bremen - £17M

The German playmaker will be adding more technique and flair to an already impressive midfield, his arrival sparked the departure of Arshavin.

Neymar – Santos - £20M

Scored for fun in pre season and may be on his way to a starting place, a young Brazilian with pace to burn, composer and technique in abundance.

Gary Cahill – Bolton - £13M

A promising solid English center back impressed enough to receive an England cap last season, looks to make the jump to the top with this move.

Luis Suarez – Ajax - £19.5M

Certainly not cheap in wages earning £110K p/w but could prove to be a big player this season, will have completion from RVP, Vela and Neymar so will need to prove himself fast.

Nicolas Otamendi – PSV - £11M

Brought in to add bite to defence, will be trained to play right back, only problem is the argentine’s temperament has already been questioned even in friendlies
​

 

[nunomiguel]

Keep the good work mate.

Loving your story

 

[Sumsion10]

I like it, I like it!

 

[casey32]

Thanks lads

 

[Joss]

Hardly 'gunning for youth' the arsenal way if you've spent £95m... :S still looks good so far, but some screenshots would be nice.

 

[Average Joe]

Hardly 'gunning for youth' the arsenal way if you've spent £95m... :S still looks good so far, but some screenshots would be nice.

You mean the Wenger way

 

[casey32]

Just wanted to bring in some players to improve squad for Europe i will be looking to use the players i brought in first season yet they are not ready and will be on loan, next season will see more of a push

 

[casey32]

Arsenal 1st Team Announced for 2010/2011​

GK: Vincent Enyeama, Alex Smithies​

DF: Bakary Sagna, Kieran Gibbs, Joseph Yobo, Gary Cahill, Thomas Vermaelen, Mathias Jorgensen, Johan Djourou, Nicolas Otamendi, Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue.​

MF: Jack Rodwell, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Simon Vukcevic, Henri Lansbury, Etienne Capoue, Alex Song.​

ST: Neymar, Goran Pandev, Luis Suarez, Robin Van Persie, Carlos Vela.​

Playing Breaking through​

Alex Smithies

​

A young keeper, the England under 21 international will be under a lot of pressure if Vincent Enyeama suffers an injury. Casey is set to give him game time in cup competitions but Smithies is the 2nd choice, if called upon Casey will hope he proves his faith in him​

Kieran Gibbs

​

Very promising left back, probably will need a miracle to force his way ahead of Clichy. Kieran impressed when need last term and will be looking to improve his amount of games this season. May be drafted to left wing if needed.​

Jack Wilshere

​

The boy wonder has a lot of pressure on him to fill the media speculation but so far so good. Scored twice last season and showed that he didn’t need any more time on loan after a short spell at Norwich. There is a lot of competition in midfield but Jack has a certain something about him that gets the fans up of their seats.​

Henri Lansbury

​

The most shocking to be breaking into the first team, Henri is an all-rounder, very versatile and I can see him having a long future at the club. Lansbury spent last season on loan at Reading, playing 34 games scoring 9 times and providing 14 assists, This fine form saw a shock call up to the England 1st team squad during the summer, although he didn’t get his 1st cap I’m sure he will be aiming for that this season.​

 

[PafcLad]

Will definatly be following mate

 

[casey32]

August Report

Community Shield

Man City 3-5 Arsenal

Man City goals: Gareth Barry (1, pen 83), Emmanuel Adebayor (36)

Arsenal goals: Luis Suarez (17, 30, 34), Robin Van Persie (39), Theo Walcott (66)

Review: Not as close as the score line suggests, quite an easy win for the Gunners as they created chance after chance. Luis Suarez had a dream debut netting a 34 minute hat trick to cap a wonderful day out at Wembley.

Premier League

Man United 3-3 Arsenal

Man United goals: Wayne Rooney (58, pen 60, 90+2)

Arsenal goals: Robin Van Persie (12), Theo Walcott (54), Neymar (71)

Review: Really should of won conceded a stupid late goal when we should of just shut up shop, you have to give it to Rooney though on his day he is unstoppable. Was nice to see Neymar open his account for the club. Looking at it a draw at Old Trafford is good but a win would have been great.

Premier League

Arsenal 4-3 West Brom

Arsenal goals: Neymar (1, 22, 67), Joseph Yobo

West Brom goals: Joe Mattock (59), Jonas Olsson (80), Jerome Thomas (pen 86)

Review: 1st home game of the season kicked off with a win, nowhere near as close as it sounds. Conceded the 3 goals from set pieces and will be looking to address this problem. Neymar what can I say…. He can skip by defenders, scored with ease, he could be a recorder breaker at the club.

Premier League

Burnley 1-3 Arsenal

Burnley goal: Peter Grajciar (86)

Arsenal Goals: Neymar (8, 47, 90+3)

Arsenal info: Mathias Jorgensen injured (34)

Review: Another win, would of liked a cleansheet but I’ll take it. Neymar 2 hat tricks in the last 2 games and 3 games scored in a row, my god he is good. Not much to say about this game except a predicted 3 points.

Premier League

Arsenal 3-1 Everton

Arsenal goals: Mesut Ozil (25), Neymar (67, 90+1)

Everton goal: Ishmael Miller (9)

Review: Ozil really was the key to the win today, his playmaking ability combined with Neymar’s sharp shooting form lead to a game which always seemed under control despite and early set back. Another 3 points and an improvement in defence see Arsenal looking good heading into September

Monthly News

To no one’s surprise Neymar won the Player of the Month award, the Brazilian earned a call up to the national team after he scored in 4 consecutive league games netting 9 times. Samir Nasri left on a season long loan to Dinamo Kiev for £3M, the Frenchman will be getting regular 1st team action along with Champions League football. This departure has led to more speculation that Wilshere is expected to challenge for a starting place.

League Table

​

 

[casey32]

Champions League Group Announced

Arsenal will be on there way to France, Spain and Denmark this season, the Gunners have been drawn against Ath.Madrid, PSG and FC Midtjylland in Group F. Arsenal will be expected to win the group as Madrid and PSG battle for second spot. Sorry Midtjylland fans but even the chances of a 3rd place Europa League qualifier looks bleak ​

 

[Jasonlfc96]

good story and nice layout but you're conceding a bit too many goals are'nt you lol

 

[The Shots]

Nice layout.

Im not trying to critisize but it looks more like a post your results type thing at the moment.
Try and make it not just an FM game if you know what im saying.

But even as a spurs fan, you got me following so you've done something right

 

[Average Joe]

I think your wrighting it up well enough. Bit of information about the matches and the scores and its all clearly done.

I cant be assed reading ones that go "I woke up in the morning and looked at the clock......'

 

[casey32]

I like to keep or more like websites and news articles, the story will be similar to my Birimingham and Coventry ones, the layout will grow over time as the start is normally the worse and improvements will be made

Examples:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/...o-european-dreams-a-casey32-story-t39719.html
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/...ntry-city-the-premiership-chapter-t33468.html

Another Example i may use this layout but it was very time consuming and led to the death of it, but as an arsenal supporter i could stick with it yet updates would be not as often.
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f81/the-new-don-revie-leeds-united-from-pain-to-pleasure-t43505.html

I'm not story teller in the sense of as in the of Joe157 "I woke up in the morning and looked at the clock", just so people know what to expect. Feedback is much appreciated, anything u'd like to see from previous stories brought back or any suggestions feel free to comment and i will take all into consideration.

---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:34 PM ----------

Nice layout.

Im not trying to critisize but it looks more like a post your results type thing at the moment.
Try and make it not just an FM game if you know what im saying.

But even as a spurs fan, you got me following so you've done something right

I get what you saying i normally leave out screenshots to take the game factor out but as people asked i using them, normally would go with pictures with captions under, i would consider going back to that is people would prefer it

good story and nice layout but you're conceding a bit too many goals are'nt you lol

Ye i know i didnt do too bad last season, main aim was to improve the defence and ive made it worse, well as long as i out score them im happy

---------- Post added at 05:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------

Casey sets eyes on english youngsters

Thomas Cleverley: Emirates bound?

Simon Casey has was seen at the England under 21 game versus Sweden, he claims he was watching the progress of Arsenal youngsters Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, Addison and Smithies but reports claim he is interested in 4 of the squad.

Top of the list seems to be Cleverley a gifted footballer with an eye for goal, Cleverley ended the game with a goal, a beauty curled in from 25 yards. There may be a problem United are going to be reluctant to sell to there rivals and may not sell at all or look for an inflated price. That were a similar player comes in to play, Junior Stanislas, the West Ham starlet would be alot cheaper and may be on par with Cleverley's talent although Cleverley would be the more wanted by Casey.

Next on his speculated shortlist is two defenders, Phil Jones from Blackburn and another West Ham starlet James Tomkins. Both would be a similar price and are at a similar level as Casey is looking to bring in an English prospect to the backline.​

 

[casey32]

September Report

Premier League

Fulham 2-2 Arsenal

Fulham goals: Andy Johnson (48, 90+2)

Arsenal goals: Bobby Zamora own goal (17), Neymar (26)

Review: Fulham were extremely lucky to get a point at Craven Cottage, the two London sides battled hard but Arsenal came out top on all accounts. Fulham grab to sloppy goals the 1st after a hoof down the field from the Fulham keeper caused a mix up at the back allowing Johnson clean through, the second was horrible Arsenal had full control keeping the ball from Fulham and running down the clock…. But then Enyeama decided to smash the ball of Johnson which deflected into the net, poor show Vincent.

Champions League Group F

Arsenal 3-0 FC Midtjylland

Arsenal goals: Winston Reid own goal (22), Gary Cahill (29), Neymar (50)

Review: 1st cleansheet of the season, yes I know not more in the terms of opposition but it’s a cleansheet all the same. New look tactics failed to impress but the defence must be sorted it may to out to be a tricky few weeks in store as they try to find the right balance.

Premier League

Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle

Arsenal goals: Robin Van Persie (5), Johan Djourou (75)

Newcastle info: Steven Taylor sent off (53), Fabricio Coloccini sent off (71)

Review: Another cleansheet but the fact the score was only 2-0 when we played against 10 for most of the second half and even 9 for the last 15 shows the attack has dropped dramatically. Van Persie came back with a goal after missing a few games through injury. Should be happy with the win but im not. Back to the tactics board we go.

League Cup 3rd Rnd

Cardiff 0-4 Arsenal

Arsenal goals: Robin Van Persie (14, pen 20), Joseph Yobo (30), Luis Suarez

Review: Played some sublime football against opponents of inferior quality. Suarez scored a beauty meeting a Neymar cross with a stunning volley. Van Persie topped that though scoring what I can only describe as the best worked team go I have seen, would of made Barca jealous.

Premier League

Arsenal 2-1 Stoke

Arsenal goals: Luis Suarez (51, 59)

Stoke goal: Liam Lawrence (pen 64)

Arsenal info: Joseph Yobo sent off (62)

Review: Stoke is always a tricky game, but this time we came out on top with ease. Was disappointed when Yobo gave away a penalty, being sent off in the process and will be sorely missed during his 3 match ban.

Champions League Group f

At. Madrid 1-1 Arsenal

At. Madrid goal: Diego Forlan (22)

Arsenal goal: Goran Pandev

Review: A very tight game, happy to come away from Madrid with a point as they will be the toughest team in the group. Goran Pandev showed again when needed he will score. First half was the worst performance of the season, fairplay to the lads they really turned it around in the second half.

Monthly News

Ok top of the table, doing well in the cups but the performances have been nowhere near last seasons. Goals are leaking in, a lack of goals from the flanks and the center of the park struggling to play has led to a revamp of tactics. Theo is my Player of the Month, Walcott picked up the Young Player of the Month award in the league, he has not been hitting the back of the net as much as I would like but his pace always causes havoc.

League Table

Loan Watch

A few players that are impressing….

Playing well and may end up getting his chance next season if he can keep up the form. Always nice to see home grown talent.

Looks like a great prospect, is showing that he should be held onto by Arsenal.

Still young and with a goal in every second game he has taken to the Championship like a duck to water.

Everyone loves an attacking full back and Ryan is proving he can attack with 1 goal and 5 assists. Will need to work on his defensive side if he is to break through.



​

 

[pimpdollar]

Nice an arsenal save first in a while

 

[NCFCJakex]

Great story, Neymar has been brilliant for me aswell