GUNNING ONCE MORE

[chrisyboy]

(I must say before I start that this game was created with Arsenal's funds slightly altered, wih the income upped slightly and all debts wiped out)

GUNNING ONCE MORE​

Following the sale of star players Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, the Arsenal board, finally impatient of their manager, sacked him. Arsene Wenger was soon replaced by young, talented Englishman Chris Blackett. Unknown to the rest of England, let alone the world, Blackett was hired by Arsenal for his future vision of the club and his raw talent in managing. He started off by shoring up the defence and was in the market simply for talent and depth. Arsenal would begin their pre-season against Maritimo and Vit Setubal, with games against OL, Colorado, Southend and AC Milan, before heading to Brazil to end the pre-season against Santos. It was officially announced that Blackett would have £60m available for transfers, with a £2.5m wage budget also available. Chris Blackett announced his first signing for Arsenal as English centre-back Ryan Shawcross. Officially an undisclosed fee, it is rumoured to be at around £15m, just above Stoke's asking price. Blackett was quoted saying
"We have a reasonably strong defence, but this signing gives us some more depth to the back line. He is a top player, who is only going to get better and better. He is quite a lot of money, but not too much to break the bank and in my opinion he is may be very good value for money."
Another £37.5m was splashed out on Brazilian 'wonderkids' Ganso and Willian. Ganso took the majority of the cost as £22.5m, with Willian clocking in at £15m. The 21 and 22 year olds join from Santos and Shaktar respectably. Blackett hopes they will give them a bit more creativity, along with youngster Jack Wilshere. Maybe it could turn out at a decent 3 for 2 swap with in Arsenal after Nasri and Fabregas left on rather deflated prices.
Blackett wasn't finished there either, adding Mahamadou Diarra for one year on a freebie. The 30 year old defensive midfielder isn't expected to be playing a lot this season, but taking a back-up role behind Alex Song. It is for that reason that he is only here for one year, "otherwise he would be here for more", Blackett said.
The pre-season didn't start too well for Arsenal as they stuttered to a 1-2 loss to underdogs Maritimo. The Portuguese side got by Arsenal through 48% of the possession and just 8 shots compared to Arsenal's 19. Is this a sign of bad goalkeeping? Maybe so, but Blackett does not see the need to add to the already chock-a-block position that consists of Manual Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Wojciech Szczesny, Vito Mannone and now Jason Steele*, another new signing this summer. Arsenal started with a basic 4-4-2 formation, which certainly isn't one of Blackett's favourites. Szczesny started the match for the Gunners, who were sporting their new away kit. A slight alteration adorns the home strip, as tradition; in red. The away strip changed to yellow, this time more golden than the last yellow shirt, with the third being a dark maroon and black hooped design.

The rest of the pre-season will be wrapped up tomorrow in the next update.​

To recap the transfer window, Blackett brought in:
​

• Ryan Shawcross from Stoke for £15m
• Ganso from Santos for £22.5m
• Willian from Shaktar for £15m
• Mahamadou Diarra for £0

​

*Steele was added using the pre-game editor for free from Middlesbrough.​

 

[Quasit]

Shawcross? Really... The one english defender fans would never want to see in Arsenal shirt.

 

[chrisyboy]

How come? I think he's quite good, I'm not an Arsenal fan so I don't know why they don't like him :/

 

[Quasit]

He broke Ramsey's leg.

 

[chrisyboy]

oh yeah, forgot :/

 

[chrisyboy]

THE PRE-SEASON

THE PRE-SEASON
​

A decent pre-season was put on show by Arsenal to their hungry fans. Unknown and under-pressure manager Chris Blackett was expecting something big from his new players, could they deliver?

Now with new additions Ryan Shawcross, Ganso and Willian, Arsenal looked like a different team. With Wilshere acting as a new signing when he got the call up from the reserves to add more quality. Vit Setubal were next up to challenge the Gunners, but were brushed aside pretty easily. Although the score ended up relatively close, Arsenal were definitely in control. Shawcross was the only new guy to break into the line-up as the Brazilians only just touched down that morning. The new 4-5-1 tactic was employed, focussing on possession and a slow, probing play. Again, Arsenal has 52% of the possession, and way more shots on goal (16-7 to Arsenal). Yossi Beneyoun gave Arsenal the winner on 47 minutes.

The first team of real quality that Arsenal would meet in the pre-season was OL. The result ended up at a pleasing 1-0 win for Arsenal. Szczesny nearly gave OL the lead on 3 minutes, but they failed to capitalise, just3 minutes later Andrey Arshavin, of whom Manchester City had made an £85.m offer for, netted what turned out to be the winner for the Gunners. Again, Arsenal led on shots, this time a close 16-13. Neither Ganso nor Willian made the cut for an appearance against OL.

It didn’t help Colorado’s chances against Arsenal in the next game when Mark Salgado earned a red card, just when Colorado needed to begin to get back at Arsenal. Maroune Chamakh gave Arsenal the narrow lead after just over half an hour, before the red card was issued. The game was very much controlled by Arsenal throughout the night. The new guys were settling in rather well according to Blackett, apart from Willian, who he confirmed had a calf injury that was hampering his settlement.

The Gunners continued to perform quite well in the pre-season, recording a 4-0 victory over Southend with goals from Arshavin and Chamakh, plus two own goals. Another win came at the Emirates against AC Milan at a score line of 2-1. The close encounter wielded goals from Chamakh and Ganso for Arsenal with Pato adding the Rossoneri’s only goal. After plucking Ganso from Santos earlier in the summer, the two teams met in Arsenal’s final pre-season game. It ended up 3-1 in favour of the Gunners, Walcott, Vermaelen and van Persie scored for Arsenal, with Nunes pulling one back for the visitors.​

“Overall, I am quite pleased with our pre-season. We took our time getting started, but once we got going we got the wins. Beating OL and Milan proves we are a team to be reckoned with. Although we didn’t absolutely crush the ‘lesser’ teams, a win is a win and in the end, that’s what wins you silverware. If we can just keep plugging away throughout the season, we will be successful. Our squad is huge this year, meaning we will be one of the freshest clubs come the end of the season as we can rotate players in the cups and keep the top guys fit.”

PLAYERS WHO NEED BIG SEASONS:

Manual Almunia

Thomas Vermaelen

Jack Wilshere

Mikel Arteta

Robin van Persie

Theo Walcott

Maroune Chamakh​

"If our key players can hit top form, we will destroy teams. They really need to get going early."​

​

 

[itsBilly]

>being arsenal
>not flogging almunia straight away.

Plamen Iliev < plays for Levski. 19yrs old. Bulgarian. Becomes amazing later in the game. Nice replacement when Almunia is done

other than that nice story. Im a gunner so i'll be following.

 

[chrisyboy]

is it good I didn't sell almunia straight away? and thanks for the tip and for following
is he a prospect or a straight replacement?

 

[Jasonlfc96]

Did Man City really bid £85 million for Arshavin?

 

[chrisyboy]

no, they bid for mertesacker and some young guy, where did you get that from?

 

[Jasonlfc96]

just3 minutes later Andrey Arshavin, of whom Manchester City had made an £85.m offer for,​

Thats where

 

[chrisyboy]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

FIRST IMPRESSIONS
​

The new-look Arsenal, with 11 new players this season, would begin their Premier League campaign against Manchester City. Following the City game would be the first leg of the Champions League Best Placed Play-off 1st leg against Panathinaikos before Newcastle host the Gunners in the Premier League. The Champions League Play-off comes to the Emirates, then the month is wrapped up with a home match against top-four hopefuls, Tottenham.​

This game will act a gauge for Arsenal to judge the rest of the season. First games see most teams way below their top form, so if Arsenal can get good result it will show what to expect from them later on in the season against the top teams. Blackett considers an early 0-0 draw with City as a good result, and very much expects the three points in their next meeting. It was a good, close game between the top four rivals, with no one really on top. Arsenal had a goal disallowed, but looking at the replay, Chamakh was clearly offside. Other than that, City dominated the shots department at 8-15, but Arsenal took 60% of the possession, which pleased Blackett.

Arsenal couldn’t pull out a win in the next game either, falling to a surprise 1-0 loss against Panathinaikos in the Champions League Best Placed Playoff. It was a gritty performance from the underdogs to achieve the win, but the real talking point was the lack of quality from Arsenal. Giorgos Karagounis got the winner from 18 yards out after a Per Mertesacker mistake. Possession play just didn’t work for Arsenal as they gave up 52% of the possession. The did get 6 more shots than Panathinaikos, but if it weren’t for their lack of scoring prowess, Arsenal could’ve gone down by more.

It was back to the Premier League next before Panathinaikos return for the second leg of the playoff. Blackett fully expects the three points here, but can Arsenal deliver this time? Well, just about. 0-1 was the score once again, this time in favour of the Gunners. Wojciech Szczesny put in a man of the match performance in goal to prevent Arsenal dropping the win. It was in the second half when the game caught alight, van Persie began the half with a screamer of a goal on 53 minutes and Newcastle came close just 13 minutes later. With 5 minutes to go, Cabaye had a great chance to level the score with a penalty, but Szczesny stepped it up with a save. Newcastle had the shot advantage, and possession broke even in an exciting match for the neutrals.

Star player Robin van Persie would not be lining up for the return game against Panathinaikos through injury, but Blackett remained confident of a much-needed win. It did nothing to stop Blackett’s men steamrollering the weaker side with a 4-0 victory at home. After just 7 minutes Andrey Arshavin netted the opener, and it was new boy Korean-international Park Chu-Young that doubled the lead 13 minutes later. Just after half time Arshavin struck again with a bullet header, Chu-Young popped up again to complete the rout with a well-taken shot into the bottom corner. Arsenal got through on a 4-1 aggregate score.

Tottenham were up next for the Gunners, who intend to have the guns blazin’ again. They weren’t exactly blazin’, but they got their points. Theo Walcott came up big in the London derby on 6 minutes, cannoning it in off the post. With them looking at a loss, Jake Livermore’s penalty shout was turned down. With four minutes of regulation time remaining, Alex Song put Arsenal under pressure after his red card. Spurs prevented the creativity from hurting them by hurting Arsenal, the number of fouls committed prevented Arsenal from playing properly. Shots and possession broke even at 20-20 and 50%-50%.

"Overall, I am very happy with our early season form," Blackett said. "People say it's not a spectacular start, but for me it is. This team has had to gel a lot over the summer and they have been brilliant. If we can keep this up, there will be some silverware at the end of the road."

Chamakh was offside for his goal against Manchester City that would have secured three points for Arsenal

Almunia couldn’t prevent Karagounis’ shot going in.

Szczesny made a great penalty save against Newcastle's Cabaye.

Chu-Young got a double in the Champions League Playoff.

Mertesacker and the much-hated Shawcross held the fort for the tight win over Tottenham.
​

 

[itsBilly]

Iliev is a great prospect. But with Sczesny in the team you dont need no replacements.

 

[chrisyboy]

Thats where

It's supposed to be 8.5, my bad :/

 

[chrisyboy]

I'm gonna strengthen our goalkeeping in the summer if I have funds to spare, but I may focus on getting an out-and-out goalscorer as that's where I feel we are lacking

 

[chrisyboy]

A VERY HAPPY HALLOWEEN

THE SEASON REALLY BEGINS

​

Arsenal hit October in 5th place, just two points behind leaders Manchester United and level with 3rd place Fulham and 4th place Manchester City. Blackett hopes the relatively easy Premier League fixture list for this month will benefit Arsenal’s title hopes if they secure the full 9 points available. Blackburn are possibly the biggest threats, but Wolves and Fulham mustn't be under-estimated. Outside the Premier League, Arsenal Dortmund at home in the Champions League Group D fixture, and travel away to Tottenham and Lille in the League Cup and Group D. If they can successfully negotiate this month in top form, they will be well placed for a decent month against some of the top teams in November.

Blackburn, bottom of the table heading into the match, did nothing to dispel the notion that they would be stuck in the relegation battle. The new boys struck gold with this game, Park Chu-Young netted two, while Willian scored a hat-trick on his debut for the Gunners. Pederson got Blackburn off to a flyer with a goal on two minutes, three minutes later it was cancelled out by Chu-Young. Just before half-time Willian sunk Blackburn’s hopes with a goal seconds before the whistle. Chu-Young gave Arsenal a cushion not too long after the restart, before Willian added another two to the score. Szczesny even managed a goal to close the game up, but if you could do the maths you would realise it was an own goal in favour Blackburn. Arsenal dominated in the shot department, but Blackburn actually had more possession. Michael Salgado managed a red card with ten minutes remaining, but Arsenal couldn’t take advantage of the extra man.

The Champions League came to England with Arsenal hosting Dortmund. Manchester United began their campaign away to Litex while Chelsea and Manchester City would start the next day. It was called a solid result by Blackett, but it was called a disappointing result by the fans. The score was 1-1, so it was not a disaster at least. It was a close-fought, gritty match with the goals coming from Chamakh and Mertesacker. Obviously Mertesacker’s goal was an own goal, but Blackett was still able to take some positives from the match:
“We didn’t give them an inch, we were always straight up pressuring them. Of course there are some holes in our game, but there are more positives than negatives. If we can sort out the negatives early, we will dominate games like this.”

Blackett said the Premier League would be his main focus, and it seems his players are buying into that view. They take another win at Wolves with a score of 2-0. It was a very confident performance from the Gunners, with the strikers matching the teams performance with a couple of goals. Although hated by the majority of the crowd, Shawcross is loved by Blackett, he proved his worth with a bullet header just before half-time that proved to be the winner. Karl Henry’s penalty shout was turned down shortly after. Brazilian wonderkid Willian was in top form once more and added the second for Arsenal with 6 minutes left. With four straight wins to their name, Arsenal lie in second place, just behind Manchester United. Shawcross grabbed the man of the match as he tried to win over the fans’ hearts.​

Arsenal are looking to extend their winning streak of 4 league games beyond the Premier League in the League Cup. Tottenham are a tough opponent and everyone in around Arsenal knows that, so the Gunners will have to be at their best to proceed in the Cup. The 0-2 score line kept them in the Cup with ease. Again, they showed you don’t need possession to get a result as Tottenham took the majority. It was an error-ridden game for both sides, but superb finishing secured the win. Willian struck gold as he seized on an error by Modric and potted the ball. Another error, this time from Bassong gave Chamakh a goal in the second half. Spurs had their strike questionably chalked off the board, but other than that Arsenal were in complete control. Arsenal were drawn against Premier League new boys QPR for the next round of the Cup.

The Premier League returned for Arsenal in the shape of Fulham, a strong team that is tough to score on, according to Blackett. Eventual man of the match, Maroune Chamakh, grabbed two goals as Arsenal pull out a 1-3 win. Per Mertesacker got his first Arsenal goal after 26 minutes with a strong header from six yards out. 20 minutes later Chamakh popped up at the back post to knock in a cross from Arshavin. Another ten minutes later, after half time of course, Clint Dempsey added one for Fulham and suddenly Arsenal weren’t sitting so high. With three minutes remaining, Szczesny nearly gifted Fulham a goal, but nothing came of it. With just three minutes added on, Arsenal scored twominutes in the added time. With five straight wins now, Arsenal find themselves 2 points behind United.
Arsenal made their first trip out to mainland Europe for their clash against Lille. Blackett highlighted the danger of the unknown, stating the only guy they knew was ex-Chelsea and Liverpool player, Joe Cole. The unknown hit them hard as Arsenal crashed to a 4-0 loss at the Lille Metropole. Despite the score line, the game was very close, the only difference being that Lille were able to capitalise on their chances. With seconds on the clock, Arsenal’s first goal was questionably chalked off, nobody was sure why at first. Youngster Edin Hazard netted the first official goal of the game, his perfectly-timed, close range shot gave Szczesny no chance. Balmont jumped at the chance Chu-Young Park gave him, netting the second. The same happened again, this time Santos allowed Moussa to score. Hazard grabbed his second of the game with just over 15 minutes remaining on the clock with a great shot from the edge of the area. Through the loss, Arsenal find themselves bottom of the pile in Group D without a win. Everyone began with a draw before Milan and Lille grabbed a win. Lille top the table with 4 points and +4 GD, Milan have 4 points and +3, Dortmund have 1 point and –3, while Arsenal have 1 point and –4.

“Unfortunately we couldn’t get a result against Lille, and that may come back to haunt us later on. Other than that, I am very happy with the performances in England, we need to continue that next month. It’s gonna be a tough month, with two of the top five teams, plus AC Milan in Europe. We really need to beat Milan, Liverpool and United to stand any chance of success.”

Willian was named player of the month for September.
Wojciech Szczesny was named 3rd in the young player of the month for September.
Maroune Chamakh won goal of the month for his chip over the keeper against Fulham.
Willian was named 2nd in the goal of the month for his powerful effort against Blackburn.

Willian grabbed a hat-trick against Blackburn on his way to the player of the month and 2nd place in goal of the month.

Chamakh scored against Dortmund and won goal of the month.

The hated Ryan Shawcross scored the winner against Wolves.

Hazard sunk Arsenal in the Champions League to put them under pressure to achieve qualification.
​

 

[chrisyboy]

A REASONABLY HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A REASONABLY HAPPY HALLOWEEN

​

Arsenal got back to the Premier League with a tough draw at home against Liverpool in a game that Arsenal didn’t actually score in. Solid Spanish keeper Pepe Reina was left red faced after he managed to pot an own goal. Lucky for him, Maxi Rodriguez netted an equaliser 51 minutes later. Still unbeaten in 7 games, Arsenal hold their 2nd place position, but that’s only because West Brom have played two less games and are just 2 points behind the Gunners. Aston Villa are up next for the Gunners before they travel to Milan to face AC Milan in the Group D clash.

Arsenal dug themselves into an even deeper hole by dropping 2 points against Aston Villa. Former Spurs player Jermaine Jenas got the game under way with a half-time goal seconds before the whistle. Willian continued his fine form with a perfect close-range header just under 5 minutes after the restart. Arsenal dropped to third place after City caught them up with a couple of wins. The Gunners are two points behind them and three points behind United. West Brom are snapping at their heels with a game in hand.​

Back off to Europe were Arsenal to take of AC Milan, a massive clash that could either save or kill Arsenal’s Champions League hopes. Well, they’re on the road to salvation after a 1-3 win for the away side. Pato grabbed the game’s first goal on 10 minutes with a superb finish. Things weren’t looking good for Arsenal until Park wiped the slate clean with a screamer on 32 minutes. Midfielder Mikel Arteta scored his first Champions League goal on the hour mark to put them ahead 1-2. Alex Song netted the security goal for the Gunners with about 20 minutes left with a well executed strike off a corner. That result puts the table like this: (points/goal difference): Dortmund 7/+5, Lille 4/+2, Arsenal 4/-2, AC Milan 1/-5. The big surprises being Dortmund and Milan. Many were predicting Milan to finish first and Dortmund to finish last.

Arsenal were let off with the last game and were looking to take the opportunity to get back to winning ways in the Premier League. The ‘break’ continues with a trip to QPR for the League Cup, before the dreaded Man United end the month. They certainly took the chance, a 4-1 win ensued but there was a bit of a red mist hanging over the club. With 10 minutes it was Theo Walcott who netted the first, his placed shot gave the keeper no chance. Just 10 minutes later he added his second with a superb diving header. Vermaelen’s goal was also a header, the keeper once again had no chance as it came from point-blank range. Walcott got his hat-trick goal from a penalty given away by Stam just after the half hour mark. Wigan’s consolation came from the free kick courtesy of Wojciech Szczesny’s red card for a handball. The three points move the Gunners back to second ahead of City, although the latter has a game in hand.

They took this once close, too close in fact. At 0-1, many thought Arsenal were going to cough up the win, but they held on just long enough. With just7 minutes gone, the eventual winner was put in by Alex Song. QPR generated chance after chance, but couldn’t get the ball behind Almunia. After the win, Arsenal will face Blackburn in the quarter final.

The top of the table clash would be another stepping stone for Arsenal. Could they finally get a win over one of the top five teams? After 0-0 and 1-1 draws with Manchester City and Liverpool, the Gunners were looking to take it a step further. They could, just. Despite the score line suggesting Arsenal were easily on top, it was in fact Man United who dominated. 1-3 came courtesy of Mertesacker’s early goal and Andrey Arshavin’s second half tap in. Willian added the third with just over five minutes remaining. As ever, United were dangerous late on, but this time the added-time goal didn’t win them any points; it was Tom Cleverly who tapped it in after Andre Santos’ error. United’s dominance came from 59% of the possession and 29 shots over Arsenal’s 6. The month was wrapped up rather well, but Arsenal will be under a lot of pressure from the off in November from AC Milan, Sunderland and Dortmund. They also play Stoke, Swansea and Blackburn (in the League Cup).

New boy Jermaine Jenas made a big impact for his new club with a goal against the Gunners.

Arteta's first Arsenal goal came at an opportune time during a tight clash against AC Milan.

Theo Walcott bagged a hat-trick against Wigan to ensure an easy win.

QPR could be proud of their performance against Arsenal, despite the 0-1 loss they played well.

Mertesacker kept his emotions in check despite scoring a massive goal against Manchester United.

​

 

[chrisyboy]

GUNNERS STILL UNBEATEN IN NOVEMBER

GUNNERS STILL UNBEATEN IN NOVEMBER

​

This would be a tough month for Arsenal, right from the off. AC Milan came to London on the 1st and they travel to Dortmund in an effort to scrape through to the knock out round of the Champions League.

Through recent form, Ryan Shawcross is started to nudge his way into Arsenal fans’ hearts, he once again produced a fine display with Mertesacker at the back as Arsenal played it safe into a 1-1 draw. 15 minutes in, Alberto Aquilani slid home the first goal. Mikel Arteta was given a straight red for a vicious tackle just before half time. Just after the start of the second half, Arsenal netted what they thought was the equaliser, but it was chalked off. After watching a replay, Blackett agreed Park was offside. Later on however, Arshavin did get the equaliser with 12 minutes remaining. Arshavin got the man of the match for his great performance, but mainly his late equaliser. Arsenal remain outside of the qualification places, but only on goal difference behind Lille. It is now certain Milan will not qualify as they still have no wins on the board.

With points all but certain in the Premier League games against Stoke and Swansea, all Arsenal have to do is successfully beat Sunderland to take all the available points this month. They did exactly that. At 2-1, it doesn’t show the ease in which they did it. A poorly struck shot from the edge of the area deceived Szczesny to allowed Kieran Richardson’s goal to give Sunderland an early lead. The shot was wiped out by van Persie’s freak goal almost on the half time whistle. Chamakh netted the eventual winner on 69 minutes with a beautifully placed shot from the edge of the area. Having played one more game than both City and United, Arsenal hold 1st place.

Red and white stripes were back against Arsenal once again with Stoke taking on the Gunners. Having, as expected, slipped back to 3rd, Arsenal desperately needed another win. The win did come eventually, although not as comfortably as expected. Jones gave Stoke the lead that was almost doubled not long after, Song’s error gave Stoke a glorious opportunity but nothing came of it. Chamakh and van Persie gave Arsenal the lead with goals just five minutes apart. Cameron Jerome levelled the match with less than 15 minutes remaining, but Chamakh broke Stoke hearts with a last-minute winner. Goal difference is letting them down again as they are level on points with United, but United are ten goals to the good.

A rather tougher take against Dortmund was another must-win to give Arsenal a chance at success. They are 3 points down on Dortmund at the top, but level on points with Lille. A Lille loss and a two-goal win over Dortmund would put them in a very good position heading into the final match against the dreaded Lille. The two-goal win was there for the taking, and Arsenal happily grabbed a-hold of it. Dortmund had it bad and good in the first ten minutes, Barrios, of whom Arsenal were looking at buying, scored the first after Song’s error. Wonderkid Mario Gotze’s vicious was enough to earn a red card. van Persie netted Arsenal’s equaliser, but Barrios added a second to put Dortmund back in the lead. Chamakh’s first of two gave Arsenal a taste of things to come with his simple tap in. Song got himself back in the good books following his error with a diving header that turned the ball into the back of Dortmund’s net. Chamakh’s second came with 15 minutes remaining to put Dortmund way out of contention. Unfortunately for Arsenal, Lille also grabbed a win to put the table like so: Dortmund, Lille and Arsenal on 8 points, AC Milan on 2 points. It’s game on for Lille and Arsenal, Arsenal need a win to qualify while Lille only need a draw. Milan are out, although Dortmund still need a point to secure promotion.

Heading into their game against Swansea, Arsenal were very pleased to know that United had dropped two points against QPR and Liverpool had done the same against West Brom. Luckily, Swansea were easy enough to beat for Arsenal, at 0nly 2-0 it didn’t look as easy as it actually was. Willian continued his goal scoring despite his tag as ‘playmaker’. Per Mertesacker added the second with a blast from the edge of the area to give Swansea no way of return. With 5 wins in a row and still no loses, Arsenal lie in 2nd place, just two points behind Manchester City.

Blackburn attempted to halt the steamroller that was Arsenal in the League Cup quarter final, a cup Arsenal intend to win this year after going so close last season. It was this trophy that cost Wenger his job as it was the only trophy they were favourites to win, Blackett intends to show Arsenal he is the right man with a win. A 2-3 win moved them on to face either Chelsea Man City or Newcastle. Young Jenkinson made his Arsenal debut but coughed the ball up to Jason Roberts who dually gave Blackburn an early lead. Willian equalised soon after through another error before Park’s scuffed shot somehow found its way in. Grella equalised for Blackburn just ten minutes into the second half, but Arsenal countered through Alex Song three minutes later.

Willian won goal of the month for his curling shot against Swansea.
Pat Rice was third in the top boss award behind Andre Villas-Boas and Roberto Mancini.

“I am very pleased with this month, we were unbeaten for the second month in a row and we won nearly every game. Apart from the draw with Milan, we easily outplayed our opponents without taking the majority of possession. It was very pleasing, especially against the top teams like Dortmund and Manchester United in the previous month.”​

Arsenal celebrate an offside goal that was wiped out moments later by the referee.

Chamakh got yet another goal against Sunderland to ensure the win.

Chamakh and van Persie scored against Stoke in another win. The two popped up again to secure points against Dortmund.

Willian netted another one against Welsh side Swansea.

Song's goal was enough to get a win against Blackburn in a surprisingly tight game.​

 

[chrisyboy]

ARSENAL GIFTED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PROGRSSEION BY SANTA

ARSENAL GIFTED CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PROGRSSEION BY SANTA

​

An easy ‘warm-up’ game against Norwich precedes Arsenal’s most important game to date, a must-win Champions League game against Lille to get through to the knockout round. QPR head up a Blues double-header with Chelsea and Everton taking on Arsenal for the first time this season, and West Brom and Bolton end the festive month. Arsenal need wins in every single game this month to give them a solid chance of success. Lille are the only club that can knock Arsenal out of a competition, but every other team can knock them out of the title race. Arsenal were drawn against Man City in the League Cup to set up a double header with the Citizens next month.​

The easy game was taken full advantage of by Arsenal as they took the three points with 8 goals to 2. After 10minutes, the game had its first goal; by 12 minutes the game was on. James Vaughn gave Norwich a surprising lead, but Arshavin managed to equalise just two minutes later. The next three goals came from a single man: Maroune Chamakh. His first coming another two minutes after Arshavin’s, and his second just about preceding the halftime whistle. On 56 minutes, he got his hat-trick. Simon Lappin added a fifth for Arsenal with an embarrassing own goal. Chamakh rubbed salt into the wounds with his fourth of the game to make it 6-1. Robin van Persie and Alex Chamberlain made it 7-1 and then 8-1 with goals just five minutes in between. Vaughan struck again with four minutes remaining. Through 8 goals, Arsenal broke this season’s most-goals record. Man City slipped up for the first time with a loss against Fulham (0-2) to allow Arsenal to finally go top by one point. The top three are beginning to distance themselves from the rest of the pack, leaving the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool with no hopes of the title even at this stage; they are 9 points ahead of fourth place Newcastle.

Blackett and the fans new full well this game wouldn’t be an 8-2 win, due to the high quality of Lille, and 8-2 loss wasn’t that far out of the question. Pre-match, Arsenal were handed a tough draw for the 3rd round of the FA Cup as they faced the mighty Man City. For now though, they were solely focussed on this game, the toughest so far. Moussa Sow gave Lille the lead to begin with, although Song nearly got Arsenal a penalty but the shout was turned down. Sow added his second to leave Arsenal fans hearing the Europa League calling. Song got back at Lille with his second half goal to liven the game up, Arsenal continued to press more and more but it wasn’t until the 74th minute that the break through came. Maroune Chamakh netted the equaliser to the delight of the Arsenal fans. With Dortmund slipping up against AC Milan, their 2-0 loss allowed Arsenal and Lille to scrape through to the first knockout round. On goal difference alone, Lille went through in first place. Dortmund were a point behind and Milan had just 5 points after two draws and only one win.

The next was Just as successful, with a 1-2 win over QPR to gain another three points in the title race. Leonel Vagioni got QPR on the score sheet with a brilliant shot tucked into the bottom corner. Arsenal’s captain, Robin van Persie, just under the half hour mark with a powerful blast from the edge of the area. Just before halftime, Chamakh grabbed yet another goal, one that proved to be the winner with a diving header from close range. With no goals in the second half, Arsenal held first place again through controlled possession (43-57%) and domination of the shot department (8-15). City and United kept the gap from Arsenal, both still1 and 2 points away.

Arsenal, again before an important match, were drawn a tough Champions League draw as they would face Real Madrid. 4th place Chelsea, despite being 12 points behind Arsenal, gave them a tough test. Reportedly, a key member of Chelsea’s squad claimed his side were lucky to escape with a point. Romelu Lukaku gave Chelsea an early lead with a close range finish just under the quarter hour mark. Luiz nearly gifted Arsenal an equaliser, but they failed to net the chance. Just a minute after the second half began, Russian hot shot Andrey Arshavin scored the equaliser. With Man United getting a win over West Brom at 3-0, they take 1st place back on goal difference (+33 over Arsenal’s +25).

Blues number 2 were next up, although this is a game Blackett expects a win from. Everton hold 8th place, and need a win to take them level with Chelsea in fifth. Meanwhile, an Arsenal win would put them in first place, although United could retake that place with a win over Bolton the next day. The 3 points just about came for Arsenal, a 1-2 win over Everton was just enough to satisfy the boss. With half an hour gone by, Alex Song gave Arsenal a well earned lead. Shawcross’ error allowed Victor Anichebe to net the equaliser; it was game on again. A deftly executed close-range strike from Chamakh gave the lead to Arsenal again with just 16 minutes remaining. Arsenal went top for about 24 hours before United took the lead back with a narrow 1-0 win over Bolton.

The Manchester derby could give Arsenal a lifeline once more atop the table if City can get a result. Obviously that would put the Gunners under pressure from City so a victory was important for Arsenal. A clash with a bottom-half club couldn’t be more perfectly timed for Arsenal. Dorrans and Odemwingie gave West Brom an early 2-0 lead to give Arsenal a lot of catching up to do. Chamakh and Gervinho put the game back level before half time; there was no telling who would win. Chamakh, on a hot season, added a second to give the Gunners the maximum points. United lost 0-2 to City to put Arsenal three points to the good over them. City are now two points behind United, but United are nine goals ahead of them (in goal difference) and now just five over Arsenal.

Bolton rounded up an extremely good month for Arsenal. Unbeaten, Arsenal advanced in all of their competitions and only recorded two draws, both against two of the top teams in Europe. Intending to get some goals back over United, Arsenal were far more attacking in their play, preferably, they needed to regain 8 goals. It was a good start with a 6-0 win. In the first five minutes, a heated and exciting game was on. Chamakh took two minutes to score the first and Steinsson had an early penalty shout turned down. Mikel Arteta grabbed his first Arsenal goal with a blast just before half time. The hour mark brought misery to Bolton as Gary Cahill earned himself a red card. Within four minutes, van Persie had two goals; one from the free kick that ensued from the card and another from an 18 yard blast. With less than 5 remaining, van Persie grabbed his hat trick to get hold of the match ball at full time. Mertesacker added the sixth to put the game way, way, way beyond doubt.

A superb team effort gave Arsenal a great win over Norwich.

Stoned: Eden Hazard couldn't get Lille a win over Arsenal that allowed the latter progression through to the knock out round.

van Persie was flying high with his goal against QPR.

In a close encounter, Chelsea were lucky to get away with a point from Arsenal.

Chamakh scored yet againt in a win that put the Gunners top.
​

 

[chrisyboy]

JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW

JANUARY TRANSFERS WINDOW
​

Due to the top form of Arsenal in the Premier League, Blackett was allowed extra funds to strengthen his bids for dominance. Blackett let slip some of the positions he wished to change and strengthen, goalkeeper and striker were the main ones he revealed. “I have to admit I want an out-and-out goal scorer, and maybe extra cover in goalkeeping.”​

Andrey Arshavin was named in the team of the year on left wing.
Alex Song and Maroune Chamakh were named in the African Best XI.
Chamakh got the player of the month award for December.
Chamakh was third in the best goal of the month for December.
Pat Rice was second in the top boss award for December.
Song was second in the top African midfielders.
Chamakh was the top African striker.

Jean Marie Dongou joined Arsenal from Barcelona on a free transfer, The promising 16 year old striker signed with Arsenal as he could see a ‘great future’ for them.

The out-and-out goal scorer arrived at the Emirates in the form of Carlos Tevez. The 29 year old striker was picked up from City for a costly £45m. In his introduction press conference, Tevez stated that he was ‘ecstatic’ to be rid of former manager Roberto Mancini. Blackett said he is fully aware this is a hefty price tag for a player and said there would be no more figures of this stature for at least the next two years.

Due to the new signing, Carlos Tevez, needing a roster spot, Blackett had to make a some cuts. Neither Thomas Rosicky nor Yossi Beneyoun made the cut and Beneyoun moved back to Chelsea after Blackett terminated his loan.

WELCOME TO ARSENAL: Carlos Tevez through his West Ham years and also his Manchester career at United and City.​

​

​