The rampaging Red Devils

[arnabjoy]

Summer of 2011

Sir Alex Ferguson retires: The way forward for the Red Devils?
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Sir Alex Ferguson has retired at the end of the 2011 season, after leading the Red Devils to an unprecedented 19th Premier League title, thus trumping fierce rivals Liverpool. Having left behind a squad with a mix of young and old, it is to be seen who is selected as the next Manchester United manager and what approach he follows in leading the Red Devils to further glory. Among the greatest challenges of the new manager will be finding an approach to beat United's recent nemesis-the Catalan giants, Barcelona.
It is rumoured that Jose Mourinho, Louis Van Gaal, David Moyes are among the favourites to take over the coveted spot. Some rumours doing the rounds also state the possibility that someone relatively unknown might also be given the job, provided he impresses with his vision.


Arnab's Diary-

June-18,2011

Its a great day for me. Had sent off an application for managing the Red Devils, but didnt even think in my wildest dreams that I would be given the opportunity to appear for an interview with the board!! I have some experience in managing Indian football clubs, but nothing of the scale of Manchester United!! I will give everything to ultimately become the manager!! Will be booking my flight tickets for Manchester!! Interview scheduled for June 24

June-25,2011

The last 7 days have passed in a blur!! Appeared in my interview.Was star-struck at first to see so many legends to interview me.Among the people present were David Gill, Sir Alex Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, and the recently retired Paul Scholes.
The interview, though stressful, went quite well, as I was able to convince the people about my vision and how I would go about my job.
What also pleased my was the total absence of the Glazer family as it was an indication that though they were the owners, they would not meddle with the matters related to football.

Newspaper reports on July 5,2011.

In an official press release from Carrington, it has been said that Mr Arnab Chatterjee has been appointed the manager of Manchester United for a period of 2 years. Mr Chatterjee, though a relative unknown in British football, has been quite successful in leading Indian football clubs to various domestic titles. The 25 year old comes with the immense burden of filling in the boots of Sir Alex Ferguson. It is to be seen how Mr Chatterjee goes about his task

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P.S.- This is my first attempt at writing a story. So please put forth comments about how I can improve the story. I will be putting in monthly updates with regular screenshots


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[arnabjoy]

July 5, 2011


My first interactions were with David Gill and the club coaches and scouting staff. After looking at the squad, I thought that though the squad was apparently weak in midfield, it could be improved with a signing or two. But I was very pleased with all other areas of the squad, which had a great mix of youth and experience. So, I accepted the challenge of winning the EPL. The board armed me with a transfer budget of $33.45 million and a wage budget of $2.8million/week.

July 7, 2011

My first press conference went off quite well, answering questions about my philosophy, about the challenge of replacing Sir Alex and how I would venture in the transfer market.
After quickly getting done with the press conference, I went back to my office to ponder about tactics and also decide about some transfers.

So, this is the tactic I adopted.

View attachment 212918

Another pressing need was to remove some of the deadwood. So, I have offered Gibson and Michael Owen to other clubs. Sadly, Mame Biram Diouf has suffered an injury, so plans of off-loading him has been put on the backburner. Kusckzak will also be sold in the next few days.

Meanwhile, I am thinking of buying a few young players. After scouting, Kovacic, Emre Can, Mbaye Niang and Carlos Fierro are the targets that I have in mind for the time being. I have promoted Pogba, Morrison, Welbeck and Macheda to the senior squad from the reserves to give them more exposure.

I also have a few friendlies lined up, with Feyenoord Stuttgart and Schalke the most challenging among them. Lets see how my tactic stands up in the friendlies.

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Next up will be an update for July, with all the matches and transfers

 

[arnabjoy]

July Update

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July 7, 2011:-


My first friendly against the reserves, won 3-1 by the first team squad. Michael Owen looked pretty sharp for the reserves. So I am having second thoughts about selling him off!! Cleverley and Rooney were on target for me, with Cleverley impressing with his passing and also scoring a good one from outside the box. Rooney also grabbed a brace to kickstart the season. But Cleverley unfortunately suffered a long term injury(7 weeks) with strained knee ligameents

View attachment 213295

Next up followed a series of friendlies with FC Bayern and 3 teams from China.

The friendly against FC Bayern ended in a 1-1 stalemate, though my team's performance was not up to the mark and it was up to Danny Welbeck to salvage some pride with a late equaliser.

View attachment 213296

The friendlies with the Chinese teams were won pretty easily except the last one against Pohang FC, which ended in a 4-3 thriller in favour of the Red Devils, with Kiko Macheda coming on as a late substitute to clinch victory

View attachment 213299


Transfers Update:-


Mame Biram Diouf and Tomasz Kusczak have been sold off to Napoli and Malaga respectively. I got about $5.25 million for Diouf and $1.9 million for Tomasz

View attachment 213300

Emre Can and promising keeper Branescu have been brought in without spending much money. I have also signed agreements with Carlos Fierro(free signing with a compensation of $2 million for Chivas) and Mateo Kovacic( fee of $3.1 million, from GNK Dinamo). Both of them will join next season.

I am also negotiating with Everton for Jack Rodwell, in a bid to bolster the midfield. But a bid of $23 million has been turned down by Everton, who are asking for $63 million+addons!!

I don't think it is worth the money going for Rodwell, especially at this cost!! Lets see what happens in August with the Community Shield match against the 'Noisy Neighbours' and also the beginning of the EPL season.

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I am already into the month of August. Will be posting an update as soon as I finish. Meanwwhile, please feel free to comment on my story. It will encourage me a lot and also will help me to improve my shortcomings!!
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[arnabjoy]

Community Shield
Man City(2)-Man Utd(3)​

Dzeko Cleverley
Aguero Rooney(2)
The first competitive match of the season, and it is the Manchester Derby. The best opportunity to get local bragging rights. The teamtalk was simple- go and do it for the fans as they deserve it!
The first goal came in the 7th​ minute with Anderson tapping in the rebound after Welbeck’s shot had been saved by Joe Hart. The score remained 1-0 till the hour mark, after which City replied with 2 goals in 3 minutes, Dzeko heading in Srna’s cross by outjumping Jones. Aguero scored the second after dribbling through the entire defence, a truly wonderful goal.
Sensing trouble, I brought on Hernandez for Welbeck and Giggs for Carrick in a Deep Lying Playmaker role. In the 69th​ minute, Nani levelled the scores after Rooney found him out in the penalty box with a nice pass. The match was won in the 75th​ minute when Jones headed in Ryan Giggs’ free-kick to take a 3-2 lead. Despite some late attacks from City, United held on .
13th​ Aug,2011

Stoke City(0)-Man Utd(5)​

Rooney(2), Berbatov(2), Park​

My first EPL match was against Stoke, a team famous for its physical play. The match began in a reatively sedate fashion, with both teams pretty wasteful in the few chances that were created. But the deadlock was broken by a moment of sheer brilliance by Berbatov. He received the ball with his right foot, made a deft left turn to leave the defender behind and then unleashed a 25 yarder which screamed into the left corner of the net. Rooney then scored from the spot on the hour mark, after Shawcross committed a somewhat debatable foul in a mad scramble inside the penalty box. United received another penalty in the 68th​ minute after Upson committed a professional last-man foul on Rooney, who again dispatched the ball deftly into the right bottom corner of the net.
After this, I brought on Fletcher for Carrick and Valencia for Nani, who was having a bit of a mare. Soon after, we made the man advantage count as Rooney slipped a wonderful pass for Park to score the 4th​. Berbatov grabbed his brace after expertly taking down Valencia’s cross in a moment of exquisite ball control and fired home from short range, thus completing the 5-0 rout.

This was followed by a 4-0 victory over West Brom and a 3-0 victory over Wigan. The surprise package was Rio Ferdinand scoring a couple of headers against Wigan!! Overall, a very successful month of August.

The league table at the end of August looks like:
View attachment 213475

Though its just the beginning of the season, I can expect a strong fight from Manchester City and Chelsea. The race will only be heating up more over the course of the next few months!!