Third time lucky

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waynethickett

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I started a story not so long ago, but unfortunately a bad sequence of results led to me being sacked before I even got the majority uploaded, I then started once more as Arsenal manager dropping out of each competition early but finishing higher than expected in second place to Chelsea by 3 points. Confidence was high but last night following a run of 23 matches with only 1 defeat the team imploded, for no reason I can identify they then failed to win four in a row so the board set me a target 11 points from 5 matches very doable I thought........ Liverpool and Chelsea away were my next two matches and ultimately my final two matches in charge.

So here I am again, I intend to spend a bit more time on everything and hope I can have some success this time around. Being an Arsenal supporter it does feel like like unfinished business so once more I have taken the helm at the Emirates.
 
So the board want me to play possession and attacking based football as well as develop players through the youth system, this seems acceptable considering the squad we have. We are predicted fourth however the board won't allow this as an expectation this season so I have a choice between Title Challenge - 36M and 1.8Mp/w or Winner - 39.5M and 1.9M p/w (current spend 1.64M p/w)

so a bit of a no brainier I opted for title challenge although would have rather had European qualification as an option in first season.
this time around my first focus is going to be on coaches, I have neglected this area in the past but want to raise all the stars in the coaching area to five over the next two seasons.

Coaches in:
Paulo Paixao, David Platt, Renzo Cassellato, Gian Nicola Bisciotti and Philipp Laux
Coach Out:
Marcus Svensson

This resulted in only Shooting having 3 1/2 stars and the rest being 4 or higher.

If anybody knows how much this actually impacts upon the team please let me know.
 
Friendlies and transfers

Arsenal 3 Arsenal U21s 0

Giroud, Walcott, Podolski MOM: Sagna

Ayr 0 Arsenal 4
Giroud, Ramsey (2), Oxlade Chamberlain. MOM: Ramsey

The first signings of the season Sven Bender was signed for £14M and striker Mame Diouf was signed for £4.9M. A 15M signing of Alexis Sanchez was cancelled after being agreed because of a shortage of funds????? Although having taken a second look at my squad he may have been an unnecessary signing, something I want to avoid this save round.
 
Gladbach 1 Arsenal 1
Koscielny

I sold Fabianski to Nottingham Forest in a deal worth £2.1M, I like Fabianski in real life but as with real life he was in the final year of his contract and wanting first team football which I was never going to offer him that. Mikel Arteta also left for Manchester United for £7.5M outright, hate selling players to rivals but he is a 31 year old defensive midfielder and with Bender coming in it is safe to say he is surplus to requirements and not a threat anymore.

Arsenal 8 Corinthian 0
Diouf (3), Wilshere (2), Koscielny, Giroud (2). MOM: Diouf

Signed centre back Juan Jesus from Inter Milan in a £7M deal and terminated the Kim Kallstrom loan deal who was pointlessly hiding in the U21s squad.

Besiktas 0 Arsenal 2
Ramsey, Diouf. MOM: Ramsey

Aris 0 Arsenal 2
Koscielny, Wilshere. MOM: Koscielny
 
Looking at my squad I feel quite happy with the exception of left back, I aren't the biggest fan of Monreal and whilst I like Gibbs he can be injury prone, I also like the option of playing him as an attacking midfielder. So looking to the future I decided I was going to purchase Luke Shaw, although I know I am going to have to pay through the nose for him, but he is a homegrown player with very high potential so I had to bite the bullet. I visited the board who increased the transfer budget to £24.15M.

Arsenal 2 Velez 1
Wilshere, Walcott

Arsenal 4 Anderlecht 2
Mertesacker, Giroud, Jenkinson, Diouf

After meeting with staff and setting individual training schedules they suggest Monreal tutor Jenkinson, I like Jenkinson and as I previously mentioned not Monreal's biggest fan, Monreal gave me no further cause to like him as he refused to help.

Although help was on the way I signed Luke Shaw for a staggering £26.5M (although that is less than United in real life). Monreal will remain until at least January when I reassess the squad. I have a couple of hundred thousand left in transfer budget and about 80K per week to allow for wages not too bad.
 
Arsenal 5 Hayes Gate 0
Diouf, Ramsey, Oxlade Chamberlain, Mertesacker, Giroud MOM: Diouf

I created some fixtures against far weaker opponents to give the team confidence. I also promoted Dan Crowley to the main squad, it was a toss up between him and Zelalem, but I figured with the formation I was playing at the moment Dan Crowley would be of more use at the time being.

The Champions League Playoff fixtures were drawn and Arsenal were drawn against FC Red Bull Salzburg.

Tomas Rosicky was sold to Celtic for 600K, I love Rosicky he represents what I believe professional footballers should be, hardworking, exciting, attacking, leave everything on the pitch and don't make the papers for anything other than football. However in this save I am trying to keep my squad a manageable size.

The final friendly:
Arsenal 7 Sutton United 0
Oxlade Chamberlain (2), Diouf (2), Koscielny, Ozil, Crowley MOM: Oxlade Chamberlain

Crowley made his first appearance in an Arsenal shirt and got on the scoresheet in a true confidence builder.

As pre seasons go 9 wins, 1 draw and 0 defeats isn't too bad, I know the fixtures weren't by any means the most difficult but 38 goals for and 4 goals against is not too shabby.

Some screenshots coming I promise.
 
The Season begins:

A tricky looking first fixture, Liverpool away. On one hand probably a good time to play them, no Suarez or Sturridge but it is one of the more difficult fixtures on paper so at least it is out of the way.

Liverpool 0 Arsenal 3
Henderson (og), Diouf, Oxlade Chamberlain MOM: Oxlade Chamberlain


View attachment 355065What a game, we dominated, helped somewhat by Skrtel's first half red card but to limit a team like Liverpool to just 2 shots at home is outstanding.

Fc Red Bull Salzburg 1 Arsenal 1
Gibbs

View attachment 355064An important away goal from Kieran Gibbs who was featuring in the AML position. Unfortunately Per Mertesacker gave away a needless penalty and 1-1 was all we could manage in a match we dominated.

Arsenal 3 Newcastle United 1
Oxlade Chamberlain, Walcott, Wilshere MOM: Wilshere Sent Off: Oxlade Chamberlain

View attachment 355063

Oxlade Chamberlain's red card led to Newcastle putting the pressure on which gained them a consolation after we went 3-0 up. Dan Crowley's appearance meant that he became the youngest player in Premier League history. Assistant manager Steve Bould recommended we appeal against Oxlade Chamberlain's suspension as he believed the red was harsh - so we did.

Arsenal 0 FC Red Bull Salzburg 0
View attachment 355061
We dominated this match and 0-0 was enough to go through on the away goal but it was squeaky *** time throughout. Look at the action zones for just how little we were under threat.

As always my first few matches have featured squad rotation quite heavily but as the season progresses a first choice line up will develop.

Oxlade Chamberlain's one match suspension was upheld.
In the Champions League group stage draw Arsenal were treated to a fairly tricky group which included PSG, Dortmund and Viktoria Plzen (I feel sorry for Viktoria, if they manage a point they will have done well.
The Capital One third round draw was more generous Leicester away.

Wilshere was injured in training for 2-3 weeks, with my next fixture being Man United away Wilshere and Oxlade Chamberlain will be greatly missed.

My two dominant wins in the Premier league landed me the August Manager of the Month award so quite pleased with the start to the save.
 
I will be adding more in the next day or so but I was wondering what are people thinking so far any suggestions or tips. All feedback appreciated.
 
September 13/14
Started the month with an injury to Giroud, thankfully he is only out for 3-5 days but this does mean for Manchester United away I am now without Wilshere and Giroud.

Manchester United 3 Arsenal 0
View attachment 353967This was a god awful performance, the third goal coming from a penalty given away by Sagna with a completely unnecessary foul late on.

Podolski was then injured in training, because of the nature of the hip injury he would have to be sent to the specialist and would miss two months of the season.

I was dreading the next match, after the confidence of pre season and August the result against Man United had deflated me completely. Chelsea was not the best team to be playing next........ or were they?

Arsenal 4 Chelsea 1
Diouf, Vermaelen, Cech (og), Walcott MOM: Walcott
View attachment 353965Kieran Gibbs picked up another injury for the team and will miss the next three weeks. Other than that though a convincing victory.

My first Champions League Match came three days later, we were away to Dortmund whilst PSG faced Viktoria Plzen.

Dortmund 3 Arsenal 0
View attachment 353964A poor performance and the result could have been much worse.
Viktoria Plzen however held PSG which could prove to be a very important result for us.

Arsenal 3 West Ham 0
Bendtner, Oxlade Chamberlain (2) MOM: Oxlade Chamberlain
View attachment 353963Thomas Vermaelen missed a penalty at 0-0 and I have to confess I expected that to set the tone for the match. However we dominated and Bendtner rewarded my trust in him with his first of the season. Walcott unfortunately picked up another injury but is only out for 5-6 days.
 
Capital One Cup third round:
Leicester 2 Arsenal 3
Ozil, Morgan (og), Giroud MOM: Ozil
View attachment 353956

A battle as you may expect against a reasonably strong Championship team away from home in a cup competition. We are through not too much else to take from this result. 2 games unbeaten and Giroud (normally a beast) picked up his first goal of the season.

The fourth round will see us play our North London rivals at ***** Hart Lane.

Aston Villa 0 Arsenal 1
Walcott MOM: Walcott

View attachment 353951We dominated this match from start to finish and Walcott's goal was a deserving winner in every sense.

So that concluded September's fixtures. I finished third in Manager of the Month even with the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, Walcott's strike against Villa saw him collect the goal of the month and we finish the month in second place to an unbeaten Everton side.
Chelsea are massively underachieving and Mourinho may be the surprise first dismissal should their run continue.

View attachment 353945
 
Is anybody following the save? What could make it better? What would you like to see?
 
waynethickett said:
Is anybody following the save? What could make it better? What would you like to see?
Click to expand...

From my experience, 90% of people will read, enjoy and follow the story without commenting. Upload the story and have fun because you enjoy the process, don't do it to get a following. Just because no ones commenting dose not mean people are not following :)

A bot of editing with the screenshots can really make a story come to life. Point us to where you want us to pay attention. Let us know what else is happening in your save (John Terry took over Aston Villa in my Liverpool Story and I had to do an update about it :P )

My Two cents: People come here to read a story, not read about FM. We spends most of our time playing FM, we want to see how you play it and what it means to you :D
 
October 2013/2014

Arsenal 1 Viktoria Plzen 0
Bendtner MOM: Vermaelen

View attachment 353388Should have been more but a win is a win and in this group I am more than happy with 3 points regardless of how they come about. Bendtner getting on the scoresheet once more was nice to see.

Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 1
Cazorla MOM: Cazorla

View attachment 3533861-0 is rapidly becoming the war cry from the stands, our third 1-0 win in what was a much closer affair than hoped for.

Hull 0 Arsenal 2
Wilshere, Bendtner MOM: Vermaelen

View attachment 353382Another goal for Bendtner and another Man of the Match performance by Vermaelen this season is full of surprises. Our third consecutive away league match and our fourth clean sheet in a row.
 
The following 8 matches possibly represent the trickiest run I have seen in a long time, PSG at home, Southampton at home, Tottenham away in the cup, Tottenham at home in the league, PSG away, Everton the unbeaten league leaders away, Man City away and Dortmund at home.


Champions League 3rd Match
Arsenal 1 PSG 1
Cazorla MOM: Cazorla
View attachment 353376Paris Saint Germain are a tricky side with some quality in their squad, however I had hoped for a victory in the home tie.

Arsenal 1 Southampton 1
Cazorla MOM: Cazorla

View attachment 353374Santi with another goal and Man of the Match but to no avail, disappointing result which makes me worry for the next few matches.

Capital One Cup Fourth Round
Tottenham 3 Arsenal 4 AET
Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere, Bendtner

View attachment 353358A thoroughly delightful result after a enthralling if somewhat terrifying match. Pure edge of the seat stuff and putting the Tottenham in their place. My signings are proving to be unnecessary at the moment.

Arsenal 4 Tottenham 1
Walcott (3), Giroud MOM: Walcott

View attachment 353345Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!! Unbelievable Jeff!!!!!!! 0-0 second half was disappointing lol. Walcott coming into form and Giroud adding another in what has so far been a poor season for him.

The League Standings
View attachment 353342Everton still lead and are still unbeaten, we follow them in second 6 points clear of third placed United, whilst if you look all the way down to 13th Chelsea have only won two of their first 10 and are still sticking with Mourinho.
 
PSG 2 Arsenal 2
Bendtner (2) MOM: Bendtner
View attachment 353341Panic set in after Pastore scored late on but Bendtner coolly finished off a quick move to give an instant response to earn a draw away from home. I suppose to come away from the two PSG matches unbeaten is a positive, unfortunately it is another 2 points dropped.

Everton 2 Arsenal 1
Wilshere

View attachment 353340First versus second, nobody played particularly well but in a fairly even team the home advantage clearly paid off, not overly happy as Everton remain unbeaten and now 4 points clear.

Manchester City 2 Arsenal 2
Walcott (2) Sent Off: Monreal

View attachment 353339Monreal was sent off in the first half to make me like him even less. A great defensive performance and Theo playing fantastically in front of goal see us take a point from the Etihad. However 5 points dropped in two matches.

Arsenal 2 Dortmund 1
Walcott, Ozil MOM: Ozil

View attachment 353338Walcott continues his awesome form, Ozil has a good game (which isn't as regular as you may think) and we see ourselves in control of our own destiny, Dortmund have qualified we are in second with Viktoria Plzen to play and third place PSG face Dortmund in their final match.

My squad and some of their stats.
View attachment 353336
 
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