munchymart
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Background
One day on a whim, I decided I wanted to follow English soccer (or football, as you insist on calling it). As a youngster, I had disliked football as I perceived it to be boring and lacking in action. However, as my eyes matured, I began to realise and appreciate the true beauty in a team of individuals operating selflessly as one. As a diehard NBA fan, I love nothing more than when a team just GETS it, and clicks as a unit. When guys look like they’ve been playing with each other since they were born, when players can pick out their team-mates with pinpoint passes without even looking, when every player knows where every other guy is on the court/field at all times. Chemistry. It’s a wonderful thing to experience. Once I began to appreciate this, I recognised football for what it was: a tactical chess-match of guys probing the field with pin-point passes, until finally – a breakthrough! And Fabregas delivers a killer through ball to a streaking Arshavin into the box for a goal!
As you may have guessed, after extensive research (mainly Wikipedia), I decided to follow Arsenal. I loved that their manager was supposedly an attacking genius, who hated playing 1-0 games as much as people hated watching them. I loved that despite being a relatively rich team in a big market, they didn’t just buy the best players, but got in young talent for cheap and developed them INTO good players. I liked how multicultural the team was. I liked how they went undefeated, just like the NFL team I adore (the New England Patriots). I liked that they had heated local rivalries. I liked that they called themselves arses and gooners.
And so, one thing led to another and here I am with Football Manager 2010 as the new manager of Arsenal, not knowing anyone on the team outside of Gallas (saw him on the French national team at a WC) and Robin van Persie (saw him on the news once). The first season was a rocky one, spending my entire transfer budget on Sidney Govou because I liked that he was French, then releasing him on a mutual termination because I thought he was too old and was stealing playing time from Arshavin and Nasri (hey, I was completely new to football’s transfer rules!). I quickly got eliminated from the Champions League, and although at the end of the year it seemed like I was starting to put something together, a collapse in the last month led to me finishing 7th in the Premier Division, barely qualifying for the Euro Cup.
View attachment 78483
From there began a string of heartbreaks, consistently finishing in the top four but not quite breaking through – seemingly putting it together before falling apart against top teams. Despite winning the Euro Cup the next year, there was little success in the Champions League and I was barren of any silverware for the first four years.
There were flashes, though. There was the 32 game premier league unbeaten streak in 2011-2012, but ultimately being unable to overcome a sluggish start and (again) falling apart late in the year in head to head match ups with eventual winner, Liverpool.
View attachment 78482
By year 5, I was becoming increasingly disenchanted with both the game and my team. My strategy thus far had me maintaining the discipline of previous manager Wenger, buying up young youth prospects. I had a few gems – Spanish centre back Arturo Chaves, English midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, French goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, American striker Jozy Altidore, etc., but complementing these with the rare big splash I was able to make. There was the 44 million Euro purchase of Spanish right back Cesar Azpilicueta, and the 85 million Euro purchase of Italian striker Mario Balotelli (I know, I probably overpaid. But it was worth it! Set a new team record for goals scored in his first full season and consistently great in every season since).
View attachment 78502View attachment 78501
What I didn’t realise was that my young team (youngest in the Premier League every season I have been at the helm) was just going through the bumps and pains of growing up. They consistently hung around at the top, just couldn’t get over the top to get real results to show for it. Despondent with frustration, I pondered what to do about this quandary, and set about buying some veteran stability in midfield and between the sticks (Igor Akinfeev and Claudio Marchisio on a free transfer). But then a curious thing happened. My young team somehow toppled mighty Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions league, after an epic second leg where Cesc Fabregas nailed the winning goal in extra time (115 minutes), which landed me a surprise appearance in the big game!
View attachment 78499View attachment 78500View attachment 78477
Excited just to be there and with nothing to lose, I used a radical tactical change (swapping from my regular narrow 4-1-2-1-2 formation to a wide 4-5-1 to exploit Chelsea’s lack of width) and came out with an aggressive attacking mentality in the finals, against a Chelsea team that had bullied me in the Premier league and denied me of the division title. Young Alphonse Areola had the game of his life, accruing a 9.2 rating, and goals by Mario Ballotelli (at 30 minutes, to give us a morale boost heading back into the locker room at halftime with a lead) and Samir Nasri (a clincher deep into injury time to ice the game) put me on top of the football world with a dramatic 2-0 win over a HEAVILY favoured Chelsea squad. I did not realise that one could experience such EUPHORIA over an accomplishment achieved in a video game, but I could NOT stop smiling, and the giddy pride I felt for my plucky young underdogs was indescribable.
View attachment 78479View attachment 78480View attachment 78481
The next year, boosted by the confidence of being kings of Europe, and with the signings of the aforementioned Akinfeev and Marchisio to settle the team down (along with the natural maturation of my young players such as Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Apilicueta, Balotelli, Altidore and Alex Song all hitting their primes, or close to it), we went on to blitz the Premier division and won the league by 27 points, (97 points – 31 wins 4 draws 3 losses – one of those losses a meaningless game after we had already clinched and was preparing for other competitions) with a + 57 goal differential. Young Jozy Altidore set the league on fire, scoring 36 goals with 18 assists and 11 Man of the Match performances for an average rating of 7.6 in 51 total appearances (would’ve won English footballer of the year if not for missing about a month of premier league games with injury), and a mind boggling 14 goals 4 assists and 4 MoM with an average rating of 7.9 in 13 Champions League appearances.
After nailing down the Premier League with a month to go, I set about preparing for the two big games at the end of the year. The first was an FA cup win over Chelsea with 2 goals by Theo Walcott on the way to a 2-1 victory for Arsenal.
View attachment 78487View attachment 78486View attachment 78485
In Europe, my team staged a valiant title defence, overcoming a Bayern Munich side in the semi finals which boasted stars such as Ribery, Marek Hamsek, Edin Dzeko, Toni Kroos, Neymar, Martin Demichelis, Arjen Robben, Philip Lahm and Guillermo Ochoa in goal. After a heartbreaking 3-2 loss on the away leg, young Theo Walcott brought the team from the brink with a dramatic goal in the 91st minute of the home leg to bring the aggregate score to 4-4 and Arsenal advancing with the advantage on away goals.
View attachment 78488View attachment 78489
I had thought that through an unlucky draw I had faced the most loaded team in the semi’s and that the finals would let up a bit. Not so. Facing a loaded Real Madrid squad featuring Benzema, Kaka, Pato, Christiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luka Modric, Romelo Lukaku, Lassana Diarra, Pepe, Sergio Romero and Iker Casillas in goal, I grimly accepted that a win would be a tall order and was just happy to be there, with a shot at defending our crown.
View attachment 78490
At halftime of the big game, we entered the dressing rooms level at 1-1 after goals by Mario Balotelli and Pato two minutes apart from each other. In the team talk I told the lads just to enjoy the rest of the game, no matter what happens, hoping to alleviate some of the tension that I personally was feeling.
Then, as it went that whole season, a dominant Jozy Altidore came out fired up and scored two goals (at 60 and 62 minutes) to leave Real Madrid reeling, and Arsenal go back to back, sweeping the 3 major competitions, with Jozy Altidore announcing his arrival as a legitimate worldwide superstar, earning player of the tournament honours along the way.
View attachment 78491View attachment 78492View attachment 78493
Which brings us to this year. The year is 2016. Arsenal are defending champions of England and Europe (twice). After a convincing 3-0 win over hated Tottenham to kick the season off in the Community shield however, Arsenal travelled to White Hart Lane to start the Premier League Season. There, we had an uninspiring 1-1 draw, which unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the season, filled with malaise and complacency. A string of convincing wins would be followed by draws or losses to the likes of West Brom, Sunderland, Wigan and Hull, along with disastrous 2-4 and 2-3 results to Chelsea and Man Utd respectively, where we blew 2-0 leads both times (and at home), devastating the fans.
Deciding that some drastic action was needed to shake up the team, I spent the money that I had accrued through a combination of winning the various competitions, profit from selling veterans whose value I had built up (but with young youngsters ready to step in immediately as part of my strategy – or so I believed), and extra funds made available to me by a new ownership group that had taken over, I bought none other than Lionel Messi, in his prime (28) for 125 million Euro, with money left over then for a backup left back (Jean-Alain Fanchone) and a young Italian striker prospect.
View attachment 78494
In truth, the problems were probably more to do with the fact that the previously mentioned promising young centre back prospect Arturo Chaves had torn his knee into pieces near the end of the first Champions League season. A star performer who averaged a 7+ rating, I had to turn down offers for him nearly every week before the injury. Following the injury, he has struggled to find his fitness and form, leaving me with no blue-chip players in the heart of my defence. That is to go along with my problems at left back, after selling Gael Clichy to make room for another young stud, English prospect Dean Owens. What I had not considered was that while Owens was spectacular in spurts, filling in for Clichy, he accrued high ratings mainly for his attacking play, using his quickness to run deep into the opposition territory and make plays. I had not considered however, his poor marking ability. This lead to many an opponent exploiting the left side of my defence, before swinging it into the box, and with no stud centre backs, conceding goals at the worst moments.
A typical performance for my team usually went like this: concede early goal before the 20th minute to put us in a hole, **** around for the rest of the game, equalise around the 70th minute, before conceding another heartbreaker in the waning minutes.
View attachment 78495
This then seems fixable. However, I have tired of my team making boneheaded blunders at the worst times, against the easiest of opponents. I have tired of generating some momentum before quickly losing it with a dispiriting performance against a bottom-dwelling team. I have tired of telling my team the same thing, only for them to carry on playing unintelligent and gutless football. I have tired of players complaining of underachieving, and then when I tell the players not to get complacent, or that their performance was disappointing, the players becoming upset with “the way I talk to the team”. And most of all, I have tired of the EXPECTATION of winning.
And that is what brings me here today. So far, despite the struggles the team has won all the minor competitions it has appeared in (Community shield, European super cup, World club championship, League Cup). However, after a draw to Hull City (which I only managed to salvage after a late equaliser deep into extra time), my Premier League hopes hinge on beating Man City head to head, and then Man City dropping two games out of these opponents: Wolves, Burnley, Hull (I’m 7 points behind with 4 games to play – one of which is against Man City).
In the Champions league, I am currently in the semi finals, having won the first leg at home 3-1, but with the away leg looming against…. Man City.
And finally, I have an FA cup finals berth booked against, you guessed it. Man City.
View attachment 78498
Winnable? Yes. I have already beaten them once this year in the League Cup, and thrashed more or less the same team (minus their big purchase in the offseason – striker Romelo Lukaku) 6-0 in a premier league game last year. However, given my team’s inconsistency and general malaise, nothing can be taken for granted.
View attachment 78497View attachment 78496
And this is where my story begins: at a crossroads. If my team can somehow regain their championship spirit and win the champions league again for an unprecedented three-peat in Europe, or at the very least if they manage to salvage an FA cup win out of this campaign, I will be playing out the last year remaining on my contract at arsenal, and make a go of it one more time with a full year of Messi.
If we come away empty handed? I will resign and seek a job overseas. Preferably France, but currently the best jobs available happen to be Schalke, Juventus, Espanyol and Valencia (currently favouring a move to Spain)
I will be posting monthly updates, which will recap games, transfers and be more of a tactical discussion – as opposed to the (rather wordy ) narrative style of this background post – leading up to the end of this current campaign and the time of the big decision(!) after which you will either be reading a story of Arsenal dominance P) or a story of a mid-level European team’s ascendance to the elite class of Europe (hopefully!).
Hope you enjoy the story, and please, offer tips/advice as you go along
One day on a whim, I decided I wanted to follow English soccer (or football, as you insist on calling it). As a youngster, I had disliked football as I perceived it to be boring and lacking in action. However, as my eyes matured, I began to realise and appreciate the true beauty in a team of individuals operating selflessly as one. As a diehard NBA fan, I love nothing more than when a team just GETS it, and clicks as a unit. When guys look like they’ve been playing with each other since they were born, when players can pick out their team-mates with pinpoint passes without even looking, when every player knows where every other guy is on the court/field at all times. Chemistry. It’s a wonderful thing to experience. Once I began to appreciate this, I recognised football for what it was: a tactical chess-match of guys probing the field with pin-point passes, until finally – a breakthrough! And Fabregas delivers a killer through ball to a streaking Arshavin into the box for a goal!
As you may have guessed, after extensive research (mainly Wikipedia), I decided to follow Arsenal. I loved that their manager was supposedly an attacking genius, who hated playing 1-0 games as much as people hated watching them. I loved that despite being a relatively rich team in a big market, they didn’t just buy the best players, but got in young talent for cheap and developed them INTO good players. I liked how multicultural the team was. I liked how they went undefeated, just like the NFL team I adore (the New England Patriots). I liked that they had heated local rivalries. I liked that they called themselves arses and gooners.
And so, one thing led to another and here I am with Football Manager 2010 as the new manager of Arsenal, not knowing anyone on the team outside of Gallas (saw him on the French national team at a WC) and Robin van Persie (saw him on the news once). The first season was a rocky one, spending my entire transfer budget on Sidney Govou because I liked that he was French, then releasing him on a mutual termination because I thought he was too old and was stealing playing time from Arshavin and Nasri (hey, I was completely new to football’s transfer rules!). I quickly got eliminated from the Champions League, and although at the end of the year it seemed like I was starting to put something together, a collapse in the last month led to me finishing 7th in the Premier Division, barely qualifying for the Euro Cup.
View attachment 78483
From there began a string of heartbreaks, consistently finishing in the top four but not quite breaking through – seemingly putting it together before falling apart against top teams. Despite winning the Euro Cup the next year, there was little success in the Champions League and I was barren of any silverware for the first four years.
There were flashes, though. There was the 32 game premier league unbeaten streak in 2011-2012, but ultimately being unable to overcome a sluggish start and (again) falling apart late in the year in head to head match ups with eventual winner, Liverpool.
View attachment 78482
By year 5, I was becoming increasingly disenchanted with both the game and my team. My strategy thus far had me maintaining the discipline of previous manager Wenger, buying up young youth prospects. I had a few gems – Spanish centre back Arturo Chaves, English midfielder Jonjo Shelvey, French goalkeeper Alphonse Areola, American striker Jozy Altidore, etc., but complementing these with the rare big splash I was able to make. There was the 44 million Euro purchase of Spanish right back Cesar Azpilicueta, and the 85 million Euro purchase of Italian striker Mario Balotelli (I know, I probably overpaid. But it was worth it! Set a new team record for goals scored in his first full season and consistently great in every season since).
View attachment 78502View attachment 78501
What I didn’t realise was that my young team (youngest in the Premier League every season I have been at the helm) was just going through the bumps and pains of growing up. They consistently hung around at the top, just couldn’t get over the top to get real results to show for it. Despondent with frustration, I pondered what to do about this quandary, and set about buying some veteran stability in midfield and between the sticks (Igor Akinfeev and Claudio Marchisio on a free transfer). But then a curious thing happened. My young team somehow toppled mighty Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions league, after an epic second leg where Cesc Fabregas nailed the winning goal in extra time (115 minutes), which landed me a surprise appearance in the big game!
View attachment 78499View attachment 78500View attachment 78477
Excited just to be there and with nothing to lose, I used a radical tactical change (swapping from my regular narrow 4-1-2-1-2 formation to a wide 4-5-1 to exploit Chelsea’s lack of width) and came out with an aggressive attacking mentality in the finals, against a Chelsea team that had bullied me in the Premier league and denied me of the division title. Young Alphonse Areola had the game of his life, accruing a 9.2 rating, and goals by Mario Ballotelli (at 30 minutes, to give us a morale boost heading back into the locker room at halftime with a lead) and Samir Nasri (a clincher deep into injury time to ice the game) put me on top of the football world with a dramatic 2-0 win over a HEAVILY favoured Chelsea squad. I did not realise that one could experience such EUPHORIA over an accomplishment achieved in a video game, but I could NOT stop smiling, and the giddy pride I felt for my plucky young underdogs was indescribable.
View attachment 78479View attachment 78480View attachment 78481
The next year, boosted by the confidence of being kings of Europe, and with the signings of the aforementioned Akinfeev and Marchisio to settle the team down (along with the natural maturation of my young players such as Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Apilicueta, Balotelli, Altidore and Alex Song all hitting their primes, or close to it), we went on to blitz the Premier division and won the league by 27 points, (97 points – 31 wins 4 draws 3 losses – one of those losses a meaningless game after we had already clinched and was preparing for other competitions) with a + 57 goal differential. Young Jozy Altidore set the league on fire, scoring 36 goals with 18 assists and 11 Man of the Match performances for an average rating of 7.6 in 51 total appearances (would’ve won English footballer of the year if not for missing about a month of premier league games with injury), and a mind boggling 14 goals 4 assists and 4 MoM with an average rating of 7.9 in 13 Champions League appearances.
After nailing down the Premier League with a month to go, I set about preparing for the two big games at the end of the year. The first was an FA cup win over Chelsea with 2 goals by Theo Walcott on the way to a 2-1 victory for Arsenal.
View attachment 78487View attachment 78486View attachment 78485
In Europe, my team staged a valiant title defence, overcoming a Bayern Munich side in the semi finals which boasted stars such as Ribery, Marek Hamsek, Edin Dzeko, Toni Kroos, Neymar, Martin Demichelis, Arjen Robben, Philip Lahm and Guillermo Ochoa in goal. After a heartbreaking 3-2 loss on the away leg, young Theo Walcott brought the team from the brink with a dramatic goal in the 91st minute of the home leg to bring the aggregate score to 4-4 and Arsenal advancing with the advantage on away goals.
View attachment 78488View attachment 78489
I had thought that through an unlucky draw I had faced the most loaded team in the semi’s and that the finals would let up a bit. Not so. Facing a loaded Real Madrid squad featuring Benzema, Kaka, Pato, Christiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Luka Modric, Romelo Lukaku, Lassana Diarra, Pepe, Sergio Romero and Iker Casillas in goal, I grimly accepted that a win would be a tall order and was just happy to be there, with a shot at defending our crown.
View attachment 78490
At halftime of the big game, we entered the dressing rooms level at 1-1 after goals by Mario Balotelli and Pato two minutes apart from each other. In the team talk I told the lads just to enjoy the rest of the game, no matter what happens, hoping to alleviate some of the tension that I personally was feeling.
Then, as it went that whole season, a dominant Jozy Altidore came out fired up and scored two goals (at 60 and 62 minutes) to leave Real Madrid reeling, and Arsenal go back to back, sweeping the 3 major competitions, with Jozy Altidore announcing his arrival as a legitimate worldwide superstar, earning player of the tournament honours along the way.
View attachment 78491View attachment 78492View attachment 78493
Which brings us to this year. The year is 2016. Arsenal are defending champions of England and Europe (twice). After a convincing 3-0 win over hated Tottenham to kick the season off in the Community shield however, Arsenal travelled to White Hart Lane to start the Premier League Season. There, we had an uninspiring 1-1 draw, which unfortunately set the tone for the rest of the season, filled with malaise and complacency. A string of convincing wins would be followed by draws or losses to the likes of West Brom, Sunderland, Wigan and Hull, along with disastrous 2-4 and 2-3 results to Chelsea and Man Utd respectively, where we blew 2-0 leads both times (and at home), devastating the fans.
Deciding that some drastic action was needed to shake up the team, I spent the money that I had accrued through a combination of winning the various competitions, profit from selling veterans whose value I had built up (but with young youngsters ready to step in immediately as part of my strategy – or so I believed), and extra funds made available to me by a new ownership group that had taken over, I bought none other than Lionel Messi, in his prime (28) for 125 million Euro, with money left over then for a backup left back (Jean-Alain Fanchone) and a young Italian striker prospect.
View attachment 78494
In truth, the problems were probably more to do with the fact that the previously mentioned promising young centre back prospect Arturo Chaves had torn his knee into pieces near the end of the first Champions League season. A star performer who averaged a 7+ rating, I had to turn down offers for him nearly every week before the injury. Following the injury, he has struggled to find his fitness and form, leaving me with no blue-chip players in the heart of my defence. That is to go along with my problems at left back, after selling Gael Clichy to make room for another young stud, English prospect Dean Owens. What I had not considered was that while Owens was spectacular in spurts, filling in for Clichy, he accrued high ratings mainly for his attacking play, using his quickness to run deep into the opposition territory and make plays. I had not considered however, his poor marking ability. This lead to many an opponent exploiting the left side of my defence, before swinging it into the box, and with no stud centre backs, conceding goals at the worst moments.
A typical performance for my team usually went like this: concede early goal before the 20th minute to put us in a hole, **** around for the rest of the game, equalise around the 70th minute, before conceding another heartbreaker in the waning minutes.
View attachment 78495
This then seems fixable. However, I have tired of my team making boneheaded blunders at the worst times, against the easiest of opponents. I have tired of generating some momentum before quickly losing it with a dispiriting performance against a bottom-dwelling team. I have tired of telling my team the same thing, only for them to carry on playing unintelligent and gutless football. I have tired of players complaining of underachieving, and then when I tell the players not to get complacent, or that their performance was disappointing, the players becoming upset with “the way I talk to the team”. And most of all, I have tired of the EXPECTATION of winning.
And that is what brings me here today. So far, despite the struggles the team has won all the minor competitions it has appeared in (Community shield, European super cup, World club championship, League Cup). However, after a draw to Hull City (which I only managed to salvage after a late equaliser deep into extra time), my Premier League hopes hinge on beating Man City head to head, and then Man City dropping two games out of these opponents: Wolves, Burnley, Hull (I’m 7 points behind with 4 games to play – one of which is against Man City).
In the Champions league, I am currently in the semi finals, having won the first leg at home 3-1, but with the away leg looming against…. Man City.
And finally, I have an FA cup finals berth booked against, you guessed it. Man City.
View attachment 78498
Winnable? Yes. I have already beaten them once this year in the League Cup, and thrashed more or less the same team (minus their big purchase in the offseason – striker Romelo Lukaku) 6-0 in a premier league game last year. However, given my team’s inconsistency and general malaise, nothing can be taken for granted.
View attachment 78497View attachment 78496
And this is where my story begins: at a crossroads. If my team can somehow regain their championship spirit and win the champions league again for an unprecedented three-peat in Europe, or at the very least if they manage to salvage an FA cup win out of this campaign, I will be playing out the last year remaining on my contract at arsenal, and make a go of it one more time with a full year of Messi.
If we come away empty handed? I will resign and seek a job overseas. Preferably France, but currently the best jobs available happen to be Schalke, Juventus, Espanyol and Valencia (currently favouring a move to Spain)
I will be posting monthly updates, which will recap games, transfers and be more of a tactical discussion – as opposed to the (rather wordy ) narrative style of this background post – leading up to the end of this current campaign and the time of the big decision(!) after which you will either be reading a story of Arsenal dominance P) or a story of a mid-level European team’s ascendance to the elite class of Europe (hopefully!).
Hope you enjoy the story, and please, offer tips/advice as you go along