FM09 - Arsenal

[law90026]

8th July 2008, 8 am:

Shocking news at a sudden press conference arranged by the board of Arsenal FC as they announced that the Arsene Wenger had resigned as manager of the club. In a short terse statement, it was stated that:

"The board wishes to thank Mr Wenger for his contribution to the club over the past 10 years and for the trophies and success he has helped the club achieved.

However, we have decided that now would be a good time for a fresh start for the team and will announce the new manager's identity shortly. We wish Mr Wenger all the best."

Rumour has it that this "resignation" wasn't really a resignation. An inside source tells us that there was a long boardroom meeting on 7th July, during which questions were asked about the club's collapse during the 07/08 season, which swiftly degenerated into a shouting match between the manager and the board. More details will be provided if available but, for now, the Gunners fans are in shock.

[law90026]

8th July 2008, 12 pm:

Instead of a press conference being announced to reveal the identity of the new manager, all the club did was to put up a short bio on its official website. An unknown 30 year old, Dayne Ho, has been appointed to be the manager for Arsenal for 1 year.

Tons of questions arise: Who is he? What experience does he have? Why is Arsenal FC doing this now after a year when they came in 3rd in the Premier League?

Pundits have labelled the decision to appoint an unknown manager as "shocking", "disgraceful", "insulting to the fans" and "a disaster waiting to happen".

Fans have begun to protest outside the club, demanding answers.

[law90026]

And so, on my 30th birthday, I was appointed as the manager of Arsenal FC. I'm just as shocked as everyone else as to how this came about.

One minute I'm in my office in a lawfirm, drafting contracts while facing another long night at work, and the next? I get a call from Mr Peter Hill-Wood offering me this job, solely on the basis that I know how to negotiate contracts, love the club and have repeatedly criticised Mr Wenger on various fan forums as to how he's ruining the club.

Is this a joke? I have no idea but I'm going to take this opportunity and ride it out. Hopefully I know what I'm talking about and will not get fired 1 month into the job.

(OOC: backstory established kinda. Just picked up the game and going to use this dynasty to figure it out. The reporting style may change over time to something I'm comfortable with.)

[law90026]

At 6pm, I walked into the dressing room of the club, where I faced many serious and angry faces. All the backroom staff and players were there and I knew this was going to be a rough meeting because Arsene Wenger had been revered at the club.

I would need to win these guys over and fast, or else it would be an impossible season to manage.

As I took my seat, the room exploded into noise as the more vocal members of the team began to shout questions at me. Frankly, I could not decipher most of what was being yelled as it was noisy and spoken in heavily accented English.

Realising that this couldn't carry on and that I needed to be able to exert some authority, I grabbed the airhorn from my bag and blasted it for an extended time just to shut everyone up. Finally, after 5 minutes or so, silence. Blessed silence leading to my first speech to the team and staff:

"I understand you are upset. And I would be too if I were in your shoes. But let me be clear. Whether you like it or not, I am here as your manager, appointed by the board, and I have authority over most club matters. That also means your playing time.

I am not here to be a joke and neither am I here to be pushed around. I do not ask for your respect because that I will earn. But I will not be yelled at like a child on the playground being bullied by bigger kids.

So understand this. Tomorrow, we start work. Mr Wenger has done a phenomenal job over the years but it's time for a change. Hopefully, that change brings trophies. I need you to trust in me and, if you do, I believe we can make this season a success.

And that's it. I will be speaking to each of you over the off-season break but, for now, Pat (the assistant manager), let's go to my office."

And with that, I walked out of the dressing room. I've always believed in not overstaying my welcome.

While I wasn't sure of all I had to do, I realised though that I would need to send a message to the players, that I wasn't someone to be trifled with. That meant moving some of them out and soon.

[law90026]

It had been a long night.

Pat Rice had been surprisingly supportive. He had prepared dossiers on the players and they had been in my office for my review. His view was that we needed a new goalkeeper and more depth in the midfield, things which I also believed to be true. But, just to be sure, I began to set out my thoughts on the members of the first team squad and selected members of the reserves.

Goalkeepers:

Manuel Almunia, 31: Big Al looks like a decent keeper. He's not phenomenal but he's adequate. Might be a good stopgap if I can't find anyone else to replace him.

Lukasz Fabianski, 23: Not good enough for a 23 year old I think and Pat agreed with me on that. He definitely isn't ready to be a goalkeeper in the Premier League and I've offered him out to other clubs.

Vito Mannone, 20: Another young keeper that doesn't look good enough for the future. Also going to be offloaded.

Thoughts: Definitely need to pick up a good keeper, if not for this season, then for the future.

Defenders:

Kolo Toure, 27: One of our top defenders it would appear with a lot of strengths in the key areas for a defensive player. Going to be a mainstay in the defence this season.

William Gallas, 30: Another top defender though perhaps reaching the stage where he's starting to slow down a tad. Likely to partner Kolo Toure in the centre of defence.

Mikael Silvestre, 30: Decent defender, likely to be a backup to the first team though. Not sure why Wenger signed him but he'll be decent if we have injuries.

Johan Djorou, 21: Young still and I'm not convinced he will be able to play for extended periods in the Premier League. He still has time to develop though so he'll be a backup to the first team for now.

Alexandre Song, 21: Another youngster that hasn't developed enough to be a first teamer. His strength is that he can play a bunch of central positions so he's ideal to be a backup for this season.

Bakary Sagna, 25: Our first choice rightback in all likelihood. Good defensively and going forward.

Gael Clichy, 22: He looks pretty good but I think there are some flaws in his game. He's definitely not great offensively because he isn't good at crossing and his heading is definitely sub-par. His marking is also below average for a top knotch defender but his blinding pace allows him to recover from his mistakes. Not entirely sure whether I need to pick up another left back to be honest. He's the only left back in the team, which is a scary thought.

Emmanuel Eboue, 25: Eboue is decent in a number of areas but he doesn't excel. A back up right back and might be a candidate to be moved.

Thoughts: Looks like I need to sign a reserve leftback at the very least and possibly a better centreback for the future.

Midfield:

Denilson, 20: The young Brazilian is still raw and not ready to be part of the first team. I'm tempted to loan him out but he might be decent as backup for the times when players need a rest.

Abou Diaby, 22: He's out for 2 more months so he'll only really be match fit a few months into the season. He's a real dilemma. On one hand, he is a physical freak and he has good offensive attributes. On the other hand, he's a disaster waiting to happen as he's not great defensively and he also has poor concentration. Might move him.

Cesc Fabregas, 21: Out for 2 months as well, which hurts. He looks to be a potential key player for us when fit again.

Aaron Ramsey, 17: He's going to be sent out on loan. The kid has great potential and is already a superb passer of the ball at 17 years of age. It's just that he isn't developed enough for top flight football yet. Give him a few years though.

Theo Walcott, 19: Theo is an athlete. I'm just not sure he is a footballer. He may be able to run fast but can he contribute beyond that? I just don't know. Substitute for now and, sadly, I'm thinking of moving him.

Samir Nasri, 21: Quality offensive midfielder at 21. But he is going to be a sieve defensively, especially if I play him on the left wing. I'm not sure he can work with Cesc in the middle of the park either.

Tomas Rosicky, 27: Mr Sicknote himself is out for 4 more months. If he comes back, he'll be a decent backup to the first team while he gets used to playing football again. Another decent offensive player but weak defensively.

Thoughts: It's a decent set of midfielders but they are soooo young. I need a good defensive midfielder and either a first choice right winger or a backup at the least.

Forwards to come.

[law90026]

Forwards:

Robin van Persie, 28: Very talented forward who can also play as a winger. Concerns are that he can lose concentration and makes bad decisions too often.

Carlos Vela, 19: Young and one to watch for the future. Not quite ready for this season yet but may be useful for lesser fixtures.

Emmanuel Adebayor, 24: A physical freak but I'm pretty sure I'm going to offload him. His tendency to be disinterested and bad positioning makes him an easy target for me to send a message to the rest of the team.

Nicklas Bendtner, 20: He's a big strong forward with some skills. It's just his bad personality that concerns me and his poor teamwork.

Eduardo, 25: Out for 5 more months. A predator in the box but I can't rely on him as he'll miss half the season.

Thoughts: Need to sign another good forward I think. Maybe a swap deal of some sort involving Adebayor.

[law90026]

14th July 2009:

6 days in and I've made my first signing for the year.

Recognising that I need some steel in my midfield, I've managed to pick up Nigel de Jong from HSV for a relatively bargain price of 5.5 million pounds.

I was also pursuing some other options but, with this signing, I may be able to move past them now and focus on other areas of the squad.

I've also sold off both backup keepers (Fabianski to Juventus for 2.5 million and Mannone to Verona for 775k). That means signing a keeper is an immediate need.

Sadly though, I think I may be forced to keep Adebayor after all. Sigh.

[law90026]

17th July 2009:

This was a deal I had to think long and hard about making. But, in the end, I couldn't resist and had to pull the trigger, paying 13 million to Sampdoria for a superb defensive midfielder, Angelo Palombo.

This makes the previous deal for de Jong seem silly, especially when my transfer budget is tight. Still, de Jong can play in defence as well, so that's another option there.

[law90026]

19th July:

We could only manage a 0-0 draw in a friendly against Barnet. I tried using a 4-1-4-1 formation for this match. While we dominated possession, it felt like we didn't really create many clear chances as we only had 3 out of 15 shots on target. We did have 64% of the possession though and were never in danger of losing.

The line-up:

Adebayor
van Persie Walcott
Palombo - Nasri
de Jong
Clichy - Toure - Gallas - Sagna
Almunia

[law90026]

21st July:

1-0 over Motherwell in a 2nd friendly. Our thin squad is really telling right now as our players are really tired.

The goal came in the 84th minute when Denilson got the ball at the edge of the box and played it in. Somehow, Eboue managed to turn and slot it under the keeper.

56% possession, 7 shots (4 on goal). Again, in no real danger of losing.

[law90026]

23rd July 2008:

Managed to finally get the signing of Samir Handonvic done today for 14 million pounds. Samir is a 24 year old Slovenian keeper and he'll deputise for Big Al for now but will be ready to pick up the No. 1 position if needed. Another headache out of the way.

[law90026]

26th July 2008:

And I'm nearly out of funds for transfers this year as I pay 4.3 million for the services of Mario Santana, a 26 year old right winger. He'll either start or backup Theo Walcott, something I have not decided on yet.

Breaking down the differences:
Mario is a better crosser of the ball, a better dribbler, better with long shots, better passer, and overall a better physical specimen than Theo.

Theo is a better finisher and overall faster but doesn't offer much more than that.

I think my choice is clear.

[law90026]

1 August 2008:

Arsenal 5-0 Boreham Wood
Vela 2
Vela 4
Gallas 46
Eboue 57
Bendtner 70
Finally, a more convincing win today as we beat non-league side Boreham Wood 5-0. We had to make some changes in the squad today as de Jong had international duties. The man picked to replaced him, Vela, impressed as he scored the first 2 goals, the first a tap into an empty net and the 2nd a 25-yard scorcher. Goals in the 2nd half from Gallas (a free header from a freekick), Eboue (poor marking from a freekick) and a 25-yard freekick from Bendtner sealed the win for us.

There was a drawback though as van Persie is going to be out for a month after suffering a twisted knee. Sigh.

Man of the Match: Vela

[DaddyTorgo]

still thin defensively though right? that'd worry me if I was you...maybe explore a formation where you can play de Jong & Palombo at the same time as twin-DMC's to provide additional defensive support?

[law90026]

I kinda am playing both at this time.

My formation is essentially 4 at the back, 1 defensive midfielder in front of them, 2 central midfielders (either de Jong or Palombo is one of them for now), 2 wingers and 1 striker.

For now, I think I need a leftback but I'm running out of cash >.>

[cschex]

I kinda am playing both at this time.

My formation is essentially 4 at the back, 1 defensive midfielder in front of them, 2 central midfielders (either de Jong or Palombo is one of them for now), 2 wingers and 1 striker.

For now, I think I need a leftback but I'm running out of cash >.>

Is Traore still loaned out (or can you recall him)? I suppose you could emulate this season and use Silvestre as cover *shudder*. De Jong is a good passer, but tiny (isnt he like 5"8 ) for a central D, but hopefully Gallas doesn't fall off a cliff this year. Anyway, I 'm certainly following along.

[DaddyTorgo]

too bad you can't offload walcott or adebayor

could you bring somebody in on loan? have your ass man search for left backs to loan in...you might not find anybody of good quality but you might get lucky.

or try a swap with some team that's overloaded with left backs and toss them walcott?

[law90026]

Thanks for the comments and queries.

Re the leftback situation: Gallas can actually play there so I may not need a backup after all. I could switch him there if necessary and play either de Jong, Song or Djorou at centreback.

I would love to move Adebayor but I don't have the funds to make a big move. I'm tempted to try to exchange him for a "lesser" player but I'm not sure that would work out well in the long term for us.

[law90026]

7 August 2008:

Club Brugge 0 - 3 Arsenal

Walcott 24'
Ramsey 31'
Nasri 90'

Our last friendly for the year and we win at a canter as we dominated the match with 61% possession. A bright start when a corner was only half cleared and controlled by Ramsey at the edge of the box, who promptly played a first time pass for Walcott to run onto and a clean finish from the youngster for 1-0. 7 minutes later, another corner was cleared to 25 yards out and Ramsey showed no fear in taking 1 touch to control it and then smashing it into the top corner. Finally, in the 90th minute, a hopeful ball was punted up for Bendtner to chase. The Brugge keeper came very far out to clear but only to Nasri, who first timed it from 40 yards out into an empty net.

A good result for us and it will give us some confidence going into the first leg of our Champions League qualifying round.

[law90026]

11 August 2008: Signed 18 year old French teenager Sofiane Feghouli for 2.9 million pounds. My scouts rate him highly and he'll be parked in the reserves for a season or 2.

[law90026]

Champion's League Qualifier Leg 1:

Arsenal 1 - 0 Vit. Guimares
Walcott 17'

We get a win in our first competitive match under my charge. Pre-match, my major concern was how bare our squad was as injuries and the Olympics have robbed me of a number of players. We could only field 15 players instead of the regular 18 (11 players, 7 subs).

Still, we managed to eke out a 1-0 win over the Portugese side as Walcott pounced on an error by their CB at the edge of the box and first timed a shot past the keeper.

Overall, we played decently as we dominated the game and they had no attempts on goal. Santana had a good debut as he showed pace and skill on the right flank.

MotM: Vit. Guimares keeper as he kept out a number of efforts.

[law90026]

16 August 2008: Premier League Match #1

Arsenal 1 - 1 Sunderland
Vela 4'
Cisse 59'

Our squad was bolstered with the return of de Jong, Vela and Song from the Olympics. I had to drop Santana though as he was exhausted after the midweek match.

Our goal was a beauty as we knocked the ball around the park for a long time. A pass from de Jong to Nasri opened up the middle of the pitch and Nasri played a superb through ball for Vela who was accelerating from his left wing position. Vela promptly slotted it past the keeper coolly.

Cisse hit our bar in the 18th minute though, which should have served as a wake up call.

We had a disallowed goal in the 42' minute which I disagreed with (offside). Adebayor was put through in the 44' minute but he shot straight at the keeper.

The equaliser for Sunderland came in the 59th minute as they played a ball to Cisse at the edge of our box. He outmuscled our CB, turned and then blasted it past Almunia. Disappointing.

He nearly won the game as well as he scored in the 72' but he was clearly offside.

This was not a good game from the team. Walcott, de Jong and Clichy all played badly and Adebayor remains goalless for the season. Nice performance from Vela though.

MotM: Vela

[law90026]

24 August 2008: Premier League Match #2

Hull City 0 - 0 Arsenal

RvP injured during training and so is not available for this game. I decided to drop Adebayor and play Walcott up front, with Vela and Santana supporting him on the flanks.

Hull City indicated their intentions early as they had a number of heavy fouls on our players, including a few consecutive fouls on Nasri. Referee Chris Foy refused to book anyone though, wanker.

Santana was a threat down the right flank and came close to scoring on a few occasions. Nasri had to come off early at half time as he was injured from the fouls.

It was a disappointing draw as we dominated the game. They only had 1 shot on target compared to our 6.

I'm not entirely satisfied with the current formation, I think it makes it hard for our 1 striker to perform well. I might have to tweak it a bit.

[law90026]

27 August 2008: Champions' League Qualifying Leg 2

Vit. Guimares 0 - 3 Arsenal
Vela25'
Adebayor 37'
Adebayor 45'

Good news for us as Cesc is on his way back to fitness, resuming full training before the match. He won't be ready for full matches so soon but it's good to have him available as a sub soon.

We start the game brightly using a new formation (a modified 4-1-3-2). In the 25th minute, Vela scores as he blasts the ball in from outside the penalty box. Despite what I said about him not being ready, he's proving me wrong.

Adebayor finally comes to life with 2 goals, both headers (one from a corner and one from a freekick). Hopefully this new formation allows him to play better, especially since I can't move him.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

28 August 2008:

We have been drawn into Group H of the Champions League. Our opponents are Juventus, Villareal and Shaktar.

I think it's a group that we can qualify from, provided we perform well against Villareal.

[law90026]

30 August 2008: Premier League Match #3

Arsenal 1 - 0 Aston Villa
Nasri 39'

End to end stuff in an exciting match. Villa started more brightly and came close on a few occasions. However, we slowly began to take control of the game and the chances started coming, with a couple of close attempts from Walcott and Santana.

The only goal of the game came from a corner which Villa were not able to deal with. It dropped to Walcott at the edge of the 6 yard box and his shot was parried by Friedel but only as far as Nasri, who then blasted in his first goal for Arsenal!

Our Slovenian keeper, Handanovic, played well today, stopping a number of Villa attempts and getting the MotM award.

MotM: Handanovic

[law90026]

1 September 2008: Transfer Window round-up

While we brought in the most players (5), the big spenders were Man City as they signed the following:
Andrey Arshavin - 12.75million
Marek Hamsik - 14.25million
Fernandinho - 11million
Yury Zhirkov - 11.5million

Spurs picked up Joao Moutinho (13.5 million) and Darijo Srna (16.5 million).

Overall, a relatively quiet window as Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea didn't buy anyone of note.

[law90026]

13 September: Premier League Match #4

Bolton 1 - 2 Arsenal
Vela 32'
Taylor 68'
Walcott 88'

A game that we should have won by a bigger margin I feel. We played well and had plenty of chances but failed to convert.

Vela started the scoring when a through ball from Santana put him through. Vela continues to impress me though he suffered an injury and had to be taken off.

They scored in the 68th minute when Sean Davis proved too much to handle in the box and he flicked the ball on to Matthew Taylor to smash past Handanovic.

Walcott came on as a sub in the 74th minute and proved his worth as he raced on to a through ball and slotted it past the Bolton keeper in the 88th minute, ensuring we got the 3 points today.

MotM: Vela

[law90026]

Vela out for a month with cracked ribs after the Bolton game :( That'll be a disappointment, considering his good form.

[law90026]

17 September 2008: Champions League Group Phase, Match #1

Arsenal 2 - 1 Villareal
Cazorla 16'
van Persie 51'
Santana 93'

Success as we beat one of the other contenders in our group 2-1. Villareal started out very brightly and scored via Cazorla on the break.

However, the team really started to pick up their performances after that and it always felt like an equaliser would come. True enough, a great cross by Santana was tapped home by RvP, though he was lucky the centre back missed his clearance.

The substitutions were made in the 60th minute, with Walcott coming on for an exhausted Cesc, Bendtner on for a poor Adebayor and Song for a booked Gallas.

In injury time, a quick exchange of passes allowed Walcott to play Santana through the right flank. Santana cut in quickly and slotted it past the keeper to secure the win.

MotM: Santana

[Izulde]

Looks like Walcott's turning out better than you first thought and Santana appears to have been a great signing so far.

[law90026]

From what I've seen of Walcott, he doesn't play tremendously well as a starter right now but as an impact sub, he's doing well.

And yeah, I'm really really pleased with the Santana signing, considering his price.

[law90026]

21 September 2008: Premier League Match #5

Arsenal 3 - 0 Man City
Adebayor 38'
de Jong red card 71'
Bendtner 86'
Adebayor 94'

A strong result today from the team, during a match which featured yet another overly lenient referee. Seriously, if I have to replace 3 players at half time because of knocks they are taking and Man City has no yellow cards, he's doing something wrong.

Adebayor opens up the scoring when a corner is not cleared properly by Man City. Cesc played it back out wide to Clichy, who lofted a cross to Adebayor. One touch past the Man City defender and he slots it past the keeper.

de Jong is sent off in the 71st minute when he goes in 2-footed on Jo. Frustrations boiling over I suspect at this stage.

Man City start to press but Bendtner, who hasn't shown much so far this year, decides to channel his inner Henry by taking the ball at the halfway mark, accelerating down the left flank, cutting in and curling a beautiful goal past the Man City keeper. This seals the win for us.

Adebayor is then played through by Eboue and he slots past for his 2nd goal of the game. He looked offside though.

Injuries: Santana out with a pulled hamstring for a month :(

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

24 September 2008: League Cup 3rd round

Arsenal 4 - 1 West Ham
Eboue (og) 19'
Adebayor 37'
Fabregas 48'
Adebayor (pen) 58'
Ramsey 68'

This was a game where I wanted to let my reserves play. One thing it did reinforce though is that my squad isn't really that deep yet because this "reserve" team still had a number of first teamers in there.

The reserves in were Eboue (RB), Djorou and Song (DB), Denilson (DM), Diaby (CM).

We started brightly but they scored first when Eboue scored an own goal. We didn't give up though and continued to pressure them, resulting in an Adebayor goal when Bendtner flicked on a header for him to chase. Adebayor showed his strength when he outmuscled 2 defenders to slot past the West Ham keeper.

This was followed by a Cesc goal from the left side of the box, an Adebayor penalty after Cesc was brought down and finally Ramsey scored a 4th within moments of coming on, as poor marking left him alone in the middle of the penalty box and he gleefully lashed the ball home.

A better result than expected.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

27 September 2008: Premier League Match #6

Liverpool 1 - 0 Arsenal
Keane 14'

We fail to beat one of our rivals for the title this year, despite dominating possesion 54-46. We had 0 shots on target while they had 4. Their goal was a deflected attempt from long range by Keane, which sucks.

A major concern is that Adebayor is out for 2 weeks, Toure for 2 weeks and Clichy for a month. The injuries are starting to pile up.

MotM: Palambo

[law90026]

30 September 2008: Champions League Group Phase Match #2

Juventus 0 - 0 Arsenal

A goalless draw works for us under the circumstances and keeps us in a good position to qualify. We had to field a makeshift defence, with Gallas at LB and Song and Djorou at CB.

Song impressed though, earning the MotM award. It was also impressive that we dominated the game at Juve's homeground, considering we had 56% possession and 10 shots on goal, compared to their 44% possession and 6 shots on goal.

MotM: Song

[law90026]

1 October 2008: Recap

Angelo Palombo is named the Player of the Month for October.

Bendner's goal against Man City won Goal of the Month.

Right now, I think we're doing ok, save for the spate of injuries. We are currently 7th in the Premiership with 11 pts, 5 pts behind Chelsea (16), and a host of other clubs at 14 pts (including Man Utd). Liverpool are currently 9th with just 8 pts.

[law90026]

4 October 2008: Premier League Match #7

Wigan 0 - 1 Arsenal
Eboue 75'

A game in which we struggled to impose ourselves. It was definitely not the most exciting game until Eboue, a substitute, popped up in the 75th minute to head home from a corner. This prompted Wigan attacks and they put the ball in the back of the neck in the 92nd minute, only to be called offside.

MotM: Eboue

[law90026]

18 October 2008: Premier League Match #8

Arsenal 6 - 0 West Ham
van Persie (pen 13', pen 17', 25')
Adebayor (pen 30', pen 37')
Robert Green (og 44')

One of the more ludicrous results I have ever seen and I'm glad it's in our favour. We destroyed West Ham today and scored 5 goals from setpieces, 4 of which were penalties! Our passing was a joy and it was clear that the West Ham defence could not handle us.

It was nice to see Robin pass up 2 penalties for Ade to take after he had gotten his hattrick.

MotM: Robin van Persie

[law90026]

21 October 2008: Champions League Group Stage Match #3

Shaktar 1 - 2 Arsenal
Nasri 30'
Brandao 92'
Walcott 94'

I wouldn't say we were fortunate to win in Russia but a draw wouldn't have been an unfair result either. Shaktar came out with a vengeance and were pressing us hard right from the kickoff. We coped well enough though and we scored first as de Jong played a sublime long ball out wide to Santana, who crossed for Nasri to head past the keeper.

They equalised in injury time and I was furious as Brandao was clearly offside. However, the lads didn't hang their heads and attacked immediately from the restart and, as they say, fortune favors the brave. A long ball punted up was flicked on by Adebayor and Walcott, a late substitute, managed to run on to it (again that pace!) and slot past the Shaktar keeper.

There was pandemonium in the stands and we hurriedly left the stadium for our flight home. This results puts us in a good position to qualify. 1 more win against Shaktar at home would pretty much guarantee it I suspect.

Eboue out for 2 months after the game though as he broke his toe.

MotM: Brandao

[law90026]

25 October 2008: Premier League Match #9

Arsenal 3 - 0 Fulham
Adebayor (pen 2', 4)
van Persie (8')

The game was effectively over as a contest in the first 10 minutes as we hit Fulham with 3 goals. Adebayor scored from a penalty then a header after Santana sent over a beautiful cross. van Persie then scored a 30 yard screamer which the keeper had no chance of stopping.

Since the formation change, Adebayor has been on fire. He now has 10 goals in all competitions.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

30 October 2008: Premier League Match #10

Middlesborough 1 - 1 Arsenal
Downing 23'
Fabregas 50'

I'll take the blame for this loss as I fielded a weaker side today, with Song coming in for Toure, de Jong coming in for Palombo, Vela in place of Fabregas and Nasri for Santana.

Still, we had enough chances to win the game, especially when Cesc and Santana both came close in the last 10 minutes.

Downing's goal was a super freekick that no keeper could have stopped. We kept attacking though and Cesc eventually equalised when he came on after halftime, pouncing on an Adebayor strike that came off the woodwork.

MotM: Sagna

[law90026]

Recap so far:

I figured I would do quarterly recaps and now's a good time since it's 10 games into the Premier League season.

Overall:
I'm pleased with our performance overall. We're currently 3rd in the league and in good shape to reach the knock out stage of the Champions League.

Our top performers so far this year are Palombo (7.34 rating in 13 games), Santana (7.30 rating in 12 games) and Sagna (7.23 rating in 15 games). Glad to see that two of my buys are there :)

Our top goalscorers are: Adebayor (10) and van Persie (5) with a bunch of others on 3 goals.

Top assists are: Walcott and Santana (5 each).

Right now, the squad could maybe use a little more depth in central midfield. Cesc is a starter there with Nasri as backup. Rosicky is coming back soon too. Yet it feels like a little more quality there could be useful. Our strikeforce could also maybe use 1 more out and out forward, since the only other option I have right now is Bendtner, who is adequate at best.

Premier League Standings:
1. Man Utd Played 10 Win 7 Draw 3 Losses 0 For 18 Against 3 Pts 24
2. Tottenham P 10 W 6 D 4 L 0 F 15 A 3 Pts 22
3. Arsenal P10 W 6 D 3 L 1 F 18 A 4 Pts 21
4. Newcastle P10 W 5 D 4 L 1 F 15 A 8 Pts 19
5. Chelsea P10 W 6 D 1 L 3 F 16 A 10 Pts 19
6. Liverpool P10 W 4 D 4 L 2 F 14 A 9 Pts 16

So the top 4 clubs are right there in the top 6, with Spurs and Newcastle being potential pretenders to the throne.

Top goalscorers: Aghonbolar (Aston Villa striker) 7, Adebayor (Arsenal) and Darren Bent (Tottenham striker) 6

Top Assists: Ishmael Miller (West Brom striker) 5, 4 others on 4

Top Rating: Aghonbolar 7.52, Zuiverloon 7.49 (West Brom RB), Fernandinho (Man City attacking midfielder) 7.44

[law90026]

1 November 2008: Premier League Match #11

Arsenal 1 - 0 West Brom
Fabregas 38'

Prior to the match, van Persie was presented with his Player of the Month award. I had come in 2nd in voting for the Manager of the Month, so no prizes for me.

We came out in determined fashion and absolutely dominated this game, though we failed to score more than 1. Fabregas made a late run into the box to meet a Santana cross and planted a firm header past the WBA keeper. Memories of Dennis Bergkamp flashed across my mind.

As an indication of our domination, we had 58% possession and WBA did not have a single attempt on our goal. his reuslt pushed us to 2nd in the league (Spurs first?!?) as Man Utd lost to Stoke 1-0 in a shock result.

Bad news though as Sagna was injured and is out for 5 months! Toure is going to swap to RB for this period and either Djourou or Song will play a lot more in the middle of defence.

[law90026]

5 November 2008: Champions League Group Stage Match #4

Arsenal 3 - 0 Shaktar
Song 63'
Nasri 86'
Santana 88'

The scoreline reflected our domination of the game. While the first half was goalless, it was clear we were the better side and we would score at some point. This was proven to be true when Song headed home from a corner. A possibly offside goal from Nasri clinched it for us as Bendtner played him through down the left flank and he blasted it past the keeper. Santana then finished the match off with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty box after Adebayor cut it back for him.

This win also guarantees us qualification from the group with 10 points, level with Juventus. Villareal only has 3 so far, a win over Shaktar. They've lost twice to Juventus and once to us. Time to let the reserves play more for the next 2 games.

MotM: Nasri

[law90026]

9 November 2008: Premier League Match #12

Tottenham 2 - 5 Arsenal
Jenas 3'
Bentley 16'
Song 51'
van Persie 54'
Adebayor 69'
Fabregas 86'
van Persie 88'

What a game of 2 halves. I feared the worst when they scored twice in the first 16 minutes and we really really looked shell-shocked. Frankly, both goals were soft rebounds and the defence was just not pulling its weight.

At half time though, I put in van Persie for Vela and Walcott for Santana. Vela had started this game because van Persie had not been playing incredibly well the past few games while Santana has picked up a knock.

And what a difference van Persie made as he orchestrated our comeback. He was everywhere it seemed as he scored 2 and created 2 more.

The first goal came when van Persie crossed it nicely for Song to head home. This was followed up with a beautiful finish when van Persie was put through by Walcott, though there were suspicions that van Persie had controlled the ball with his hand. Nasri then played a nice throughball for Adebayor to tap home. This was followed up by a Fabregas 25-yard strike from a van Persie pass. van Persie then scored the last goal of the game with a rocket from the edge of the penalty box.

It was a tremendous game and showed a lot of character from the team. Importantly, it put us top of the table as well as being a major win over our archrivals.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

12 November 2008: League Cup 4th Round

Aston Villa 2 - 4 Arsenal (after extra time)
van Persie 3'
Carew 14'
Rosicky 39'
Carew 86'
Laursen (og, 106')
Adebayor 108'

I wanted to let some of the reserves play tonight, including a nearly fit again Tomas Rosicky. Song and Djorou played in the middle of defence, de Jong started at defensive midfield and Bendtner got a start in place of Adebayor.

We started very well when de Jong won the ball in the middle of the park, played it to Nasri who then knocked it first time forward to van Persie to put him through. A classy finish followed. Carew equalised though when Young also played a really nice throughball for him to slot past Almunia.

In the 2nd half, I though we had done enough to win the game when Rosicky marked his first competitive start with a curler from just inside the penalty box. However, lax defending meant that Carew stole in to tap the ball home inside the 6 yard box just before full time. Worse was to follow as van Persie had to be taken off and we faced extra time with 10-man.

The team did not disappoint though as they continued to play attractive football. A Denilson shot was deflected by Laursen into his own goal at the half time of extra time. We then caught them on the break as Adebayor was put through and he chipped it sublimely over the Villa keeper to seal the win.

I was a little upset that the players had to play extra time though, that doesn't give them the rest I would have liked. More bad news as van Persie will be out for a month with a twisted knee. Sigh.

MotM: Rosicky

[law90026]

15 November 2008: Premier League Match #13

Arsenal 5 - 0 Blackburn
Bendtner 24'
Nasri 26'
Bendtner 39'
Adebayor 43'
Bendtner (pen) 50'

A sparkling first half performance meant that the 2nd half was a mere formality. A flickon from Adebayor allowed Bendtner to race through on goal and slot it below Friedal. Nasri then scored a beautiful freekick from 25 yards out. Not to be outdone, Bendtner also scored a freekick after that. Adebayor outjumped the Blackburn defence at the far post to head home our 4th goal. Finally, Bendtner stepped up to complete his hattrick after we were awarded a penalty.

MotM: Bendtner

[law90026]

22 Nov 2008: Premier League Match #14

Man Utd 0 - 3 Arsenal
Walcott 7'
Walcott 18'
Fabregas 41'

Top of the table clash early in the season against our archrivals and we get a most satisfying result. Walcott's pace upfront today (he starts in place of the injured van Persie) was too much for Man Utd to handle. He scored first when he was first to reach a Santana cross and his 2nd goal was somewhat fortuitous when he managed to get his head to a long ball that resulted in a a chip over van der Saar. Fabregas then ran on to a Adebayor flickon and toe poked it under van der Saar to seal the match.

The injuries continue to pile up though as Rosicky is now out for 3 weeks with a bruised shin.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

25 November 2008: Champions League Group Phase Match #5

Villareal 0 - 2 Arsenal
Nasri (pen) 79'
Denilson 95'

A game where I wanted to field a reserve team since it was inconsequential, only to realise I couldn't even field a first 18 with the recent spate of injuries we had. I started Ramsey on the right wing, Denilson in attacking midfield just to patch up the holes and to try and let Santana and Fabregas have a rest.

The game was always close, with both sides coming close to goals. However, it was in the 2nd half when we scored, after Nasri scored from the penalty spot when Walcott was brought down in the box. Denilson then scored from the halfway line late in injury time when Villareal pushed everyone up, including their goalkeeper. Great finish from the youngster :)

MotM: Denilson

[law90026]

30 November 2008: Premier League Match #15

Arsenal 0 - 0 Everton

Not much for me to say about this game as we failed to break down the Everton defence. Despite having 11 shots on goal, we really only had 2 clearcut chances and failed to convert them.

MotM: Clichy

[law90026]

3 December 2008: League Cup Quarter Finals

Arsenal 0 - 0 Tottenham (Arsenal win 4-2 on penalties)

Another goalless draw has me a little worried as it has been 210 minutes since we last scored. Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come.

The penalty takers held their nerve while Bent hit the post for Spurs and Huddlestone's penalty was saved by our keeper.

Gomes, the Spurs keeper, was named MotM though because he kept us out during the full duration of the game (we had 15 shots on their goal).

MotM: Gomes

[law90026]

6 December 2008: Premier League Match #16

Chelsea 1 - 3 Arsenal
Bendtner 3'
Bendtner 39'
Lampard 45'
Adebayor 60'

Another top of the table clash against another rival for the title and we see them off in style at their homeground. We absolutely outplayed them today (61% possession to 39%) and the scoreline should have been greater in our favour (we hit the bar and Adebayor failed at 2 one-on-one situations with their keeper).

Bendtner headed in our first goal from a Rosicky cross, then added a second from a van Persie cross. Slight worries arose when Lampard tapped in a goal just before half time but we put the game out of doubt when Adebayor rose to power home a header from the penalty spot area. After that, the game was pretty much over as Chelsea deflated.

MotM: Bendtner

[law90026]

10 October 2008: Champions League Group Phase Match #6

Arsenal 0 - 0 Juventus

A goalless draw as neither side could score the decisive goal. However, we were fortunate not to lose because Juventus had a lot of chances against a relatively 2nd string side on our part. Almunia deserved the MotM award as he essentially saved us from losing.

And van Persie is injured again! 3 weeks this time. I need more durable players.

MotM: Almunia

[law90026]

13 December 2008: Premier League Match #17

Arsenal 1 - 0 Stoke City
Djourou 11'

Not a win by the scoreline I would have predicted as we were terribly let down by Adebayor's abysmal finishing today. He missed a 9th minute penalty then managed to somehow miss a host of chances thereafter. Luckily Djourou popped up to score from a freekick, planting a firm header by the Stoke keeper. It was pretty much one way traffic for most of the match although they did give us a scare in the final seconds of the game with a shot that Almunia saved.

This game also marked the return of Eduardo, who came on as a sub in the 72nd minute.

MotM: Djourou

[law90026]

21 December 2008: Premier League Match #18

Arsenal 3 - 0 Portsmouth
Fabregas 12'
Clichy 62'
Adebayor 75'

We continue our good form as we beat Portsmouth 3-0 at home. While they just about matched our possession (52-48 in our favour), we were a lot more creative and had more chances at scoring (11 shots compared to their 6). That was probably the difference today .. well that and clinical finishing by us.

The first goal came when Rosicky was left free on the right hand side of the penalty box after a corner. His shot was parried by James but Fabregas was on hand to slot home the rebound. In the second half, Clichy turned in a super performance as he scored our 2nd when poor marking left him unmarked at the left hand side of the box and he put it past the keeper. He then crossed for Adebayor to head home.

Defoe was dangerous for them and Handanovich had to save twice from him as his pace allowed him to get past our defence too easily.

MotM: Clichy

[law90026]

26 December 2008: Premier League Match #19

Newcastle 1 - 2 Arsenal
Eduardo 49'
Eduardo 85'
Xisco 91'

We managed to squeak out a win against the Magpies and they will feel like they did not deserve to lose. They actually had more chances to score but Handanovic pulled off a string of saves to ensure we took away the 3 points today. He was rewarded with the MotM award.

Eduardo got his first competitive start in a long time today and repaid my faith in him with 2 goals. The first was classy finishing from him as he chased down a long ball and rolled it past the advancing Newcastle keeper. He scored the 2nd from a close range header following a Walcott cross. Newcastle pulled one back in the dying seconds though as Xisco forced home a cross but they did not have enough time to get another goal.

MotM: Handanovic

[Izulde]

Great work you're doing. :) And man, Walcott's a blast to see out there.

[law90026]

Midway Point Review:

With 19 matches gone, we're at the halfway point of the Premier League.

Overall:
I'm obviously delighted with our performances so far. We are first in the Premier League, 9 points clear of Man Utd (who have a game in hand though), in the semi-finals of the League Cup (against Liverpool) and will face Lyon in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, a fixture that we have a good chance of winning.

With the recent return of a number of players from long term injuries, squad depth also looks decent again and that may mean I will not sign anyone during the January transfer window, although the lack of funds also plays a part in that decision (I have about 3 million pounds left).

Our top performers so far in my mind are Clichy and Palambo. Clichy has really stepped up his game recently and is a real threat down the left wing with his pace. Palambo remains a consistent player who does all the necessary defending in front of the defence and is a reason why we have conceded so few.

Disappointing players so far include de Jong (who has not been able to get a regular starting spot and hasn't played tremendously well when given the opportunity), Vela (he has really cooled off after his hot start) and Adebayor (he may be our top scorer but he disappears in so many games).

Top Goalscorers: Adebayor (15), van Persie (8), bunch of others on 6
Top Assists: Walcott (9), Santana (7)

Premier League roundup:
We are at the top of the table, with a little distance separating us from Man Utd. Spurs and Chelsea are 3rd and 4th, with a bunch of clubs tied for 5th, including Liverpool. Chelsea lost 3 matches in a row, which accounts for their 4th place right now.

At the bottom of the table, the surprise team is Aston Villa who are 18th in the league, followed by West Ham and Hull props up the bottom. If Villa get relegated, I'll strongly consider going in to pick up some of their players.

1. Arsenal Played 19 Win 14 Draw 4 Losses 1 For 41 Against 8 Pts 46
2. Man Utd P 18 W 11 D 4 L 3 F 32 A 11 Pts 37
3. Tottenham P19 W 10 D 6 L 3 F 31 A 15 Pts 36
4. Chelsea P19 W 11 D 2 L 6 F 28 A 17 Pts 35
5. Liverpool P19 W 9 D 6 L 4 F 26 A 16 Pts 33
6. Everton P19 W 9 D 6 L 4 F 26 A 18 Pts 33
7. Sunderland P19 W 9 D 6 L 4 F 23 A 17 Pts 33

Top Goalscorers: Yakubu (Everton) and Adebayor (10), Bent (Tottenham) and Aghonbolar (Villa) (9)
Top Assists: N'Zogbia (Newcastle) (8), Miller (West Brom) (7), Ronaldo (Man Utd) (6)
Top Rating: Diarra (Portsmouth) (7.40), Ronaldo (Man Utd) (7.34), Clichy (7.31)

[law90026]

Great work you're doing. :) And man, Walcott's a blast to see out there.

Thanks!

Yeah, I have to say Walcott has been a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect that much from him to be honest but he can really be a game-changer at times.

[law90026]

1 January 2009:

At the start of the New Year, I was delighted when I received a call from Pat Rice, informing me of the awards our players had won.

Gael Clichy had been named to the World Team of the Year and also came in 3rd in the voting for Defender of the Year.

Samir Handanovic had come in 2nd in the voting for Goalkeeper of the Year.

Fabregas had won the Premier League's Young Player of the Month award.

And I had won the Premier League Manager of the Month award for December! Finally, maybe some recognition that I wasn't going to destroy Arsenal after all.

[law90026]

3 January 2009: FA Cup Round 3

Charlton 0 - 4 Arsenal
Bendtner 12'
Eduardo 38'
Bendtner 42'
Vela (pen) 61'

The FA Cup, a trophy of historic importance but perhaps less practical relevance in modern day English football. Still, it would be nice to do well in this competition. Having said that, I field a reserve side against Charlton although the argument could be made that our reserve side is better than most other first teams in England.

We started the following:
1) GK: Handanovic (Almunia is injured);
2) RB: Toure (Eboue injured);
3) LB: Clichy (only other LB is Gallas);
4) CB: Djourou;
5) CB: Song;
6) DM: de Jong;
7) RW: Ramsey;
8. LW: Vela;
9) AM: Rosicky;
10) ST: Bendtner
11) ST: Eduardo

And the 2nd team is good enough to earn us an easy 4-0 win over Charlton. Bendtner's chipped in the first after a superb cross ball from Vela set him free. Ramsey then crossed for Eduardo to tap in from inside a crowded penalty box. Bendtner forced home a corner and Vela finished the scoring with a penalty.

MotM: Bendtner

[law90026]

6 January 2009:

I thought long and hard about signing another experienced player for the 2nd half of the season. However, looking at my squad, it felt like it might be strong enough to cope with the rigours of competing on 4 different fronts. Perhaps I would be wrong and I would commit the same error that Mr Wenger had committed in the past. Time would tell.

As a result, I decided to use the funds available to me to pick up 2 young players:

1) Ryad Boudebouz: 18 year old French winger who comes highly recommended by my scouts. He already has excellent technique and will likely develop into a very fast player.

2) Daniel Sturridge: 19 year old English striker from Man City. Another highly rated prospect and a steal for only 2 million pounds. If he develops well, he could be a star in the future.

I do also sell Diaby for 6 million pounds to Auxerre in the French league.

[law90026]

7 January 2009: League Cup Semi-Final Leg #1

Liverpool 0 - 2 Arsenal
Adebayor 2'
Walcott 75'

We play the first leg at Anfield and the boys came out hungry to prove that the loss to Liverpool earlier in the season was a fluke. And how they proved it as we dominated the game from start to finish. Put it this way, when the away team has 56% possession and 13 shots (10 on target) compared to the home team's 44% and 3 shots (0 on target), it meant the home team got demolished.

Adebayor, who won the man of the match award, opened the scoring after 2 minutes when he raced on to a Eduardo throughball and scored with a well place shot. Walcott added one more in the 75th minute when a beautiful reverse ball from Bendtner gave him enough space to score past Reina.

The bad part of this game is that we had enough chances to make the 2nd leg a formality. Adebayor missed 2 1-on-1 situations while Bendtner hit the bar in the last few minutes.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

9 January 2009:

We sign Thiago Silva, a Brazilian centre-back, to a contract after he failed to extend his existing contract with Fluminese. He will join us for next season's campaign and will give us more depth at centre back. This will probably allow me to move Gallas in the off-season.

[law90026]

10 January 2009: Premier League Match #20

Aston Villa 2 - 2 Arsenal
Gallas 15'
Barry 20'
Aghonbolar 35'
van Persie (pen) 83'

A frustrating result for us as we failed to beat Aston Villa and further increase their chance of relegation.

We were clearly the better side as we had 55% possession to their 45% and had 18 shots on goal (12 on target). However, our defending really let us down today as both Toure and Clichy had games to forget.

We started brightly when Gallas sent a bullet header past Friedel from a Rosicky freekick. Things were going well until a quick Villa counterattack allowed Ashley Young to cross for Barry to tap in. No one was marking him in the 6 yard box, absolutely inexcusable. Worse was to follow when the same thing happened 10 minutes later, this time Aghonbolar able to put it in from 6 yards. When Rosicky missed a 45' penalty, I feared for the worst.

In the second half, we absolutely bombarded their goal but were unable to break through until Rosicky was brought down in the 85th minute. This time, van Persie stepped up and held his nerve, smashing it in with great power.

MotM: Aghonbolar

[law90026]

14 January 2009: Premier League Match #21

Sunderland 2 - 3 Arsenal
Jones 1'
Eduardo 6'
Jones 53'
Adebayor 77'
Adebayor 86'

We win a nailbiter as we fell behind twice to Kenwyne Jones' goals. They started the game with a 1st minute goal as Jones beat Handanovich with a 25 yard strike. Eduardo stole in behind the defence in the 6th minute though to put the ball past the Sunderland keeper. At this stage, the game was still pretty even.

In the 2nd half, Jones scored again as Toure failed to keep out the Sunderland winger from putting in a low cross. At this time, things were looking bad and I put on Adebayor, Walcott and Nasri to try and change things around.

Amazingly, we started our comeback as Adebayor took full advantage of a missed Sunderland interception in the penalty box and he smashed home a volley. In the 86th minute, a beautiful ball was played through for him by Rosicky and he held off a Sunderland defender before putting it into the back of the net. He continued to terrorise the Sunderland defence as he got Nyron Nosworthy sent off after Nosworthy had no choice but to bring him down when Adebayor was through on goal.

MotM:Jones (Sunderland)

[law90026]

17 January 2009: Premier League Match #22

Arsenal 3 - 0 Bolton
van Persie 3'
Adebayor 27'
Palombo 40'

A very physical game was played today with the tackles flying in hard and furious. This concerned me a lot as Rosicky and de Jong were both hurt badly enough they couldn't continue, while Vela and van Persie both picked up knocks.

We started the game brilliantly with a rocket freekick from van Persie. Adebayor then added a very pretty 2nd goal when he curled it home from 25 yards out. Sometimes the big man can really do magical things, he's just so damn inconsistent though. Palombo then scored the 3rd after Walcott did all the hard work by racing down the right flank then cutting it back for him to score.

After the match, I get the bad news that de Jong is out for 2 months with a heavily sprained ankle. Luckily, no other injuries of concern.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

19 January 2009:

It turns out I was wrong, Thiago Silva is actually out of contract and is available to join us now. Squad depth has now improved again though he will need time to settle in as well as get some match practice.

In other news, I am irritated that Real, Inter and Barcelona repeatedly bid for Walcott and Clichy, even though I've already stated that they are not for sale. However, just on a lark, I have asked Real for 50 million for Clichy and they withdrew their bid. Heh.

[law90026]

21 January 2009: League Cup Semi-Final Leg 2

Arsenal 3 - 1 Liverpool (Arsenal win 5-1 on aggregate)
Adebayor 33'
Eduardo 37'
Fabregas 44'
Torres 91'

And we reach the first cup final of my career on the back of 2 dominating performances over Liverpool.

This tie was effectively over when Adebayor scored because Liverpool would have needed to score at least 3 more unaswered goals to advance. However, 2 more goals from Eduardo (a nice placed finish from the edge of the box after a Liverpool defender dallied on his clearance) and Fabregas (a header from a Nasri cross) meant Liverpool's chances were over.

Credit to them though, they kept going in the 2nd half but Handanovich kept them out, though he could do nothing about a fabulous 30 yard strike from Torres.

We will be playing Man Utd in the finals. That should be fun.

MotM: Handanovich

[law90026]

24 January 2009: FA Cup Round 4

Arsenal 2 - 0 Portsmouth
van Persie 55'
Fabregas 93'

We were somewhat fortunate to win the game today as I decided to let Denilson, Alumunia and Bendtner start.

The first half was relatively boring. However, after van Persie smashed in another freekick for the opening goal, Portsmouth began to attack relentlessly and we were very lucky not to concede an equaliser. Part of this was probably my fault as I had assumed we would coast to victory after van Persie's goal and I had brought on a half-fit Eboue to slot in for Toure at right back.

Luckly, we held firm and managed to him them on the break in the 93rd minute of play to seal the win. Adebayor chased down a long ball and his shot was saved by James. However, the rebound was first timed home by Fabregas from 20 yards out, a great technical goal.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

28 January 2009: Premier League Match #23

Arsenal 3 - 0 Hull City
van Persie 23'
van Persie 37'
Bendtner 51'

I never like playing against Hull because they are a bunch of thugs and especially when the referee refuses to protect our players. van Persie, Nasri and Adebayor all came off injured in this game. The most shocking incident was when McShane went through Adebayor from the back and didn't even receive his 2nd yellow card.

van Persie managed to continue his fine form in the first half as he pounced on a cross to open the scoring. He then dribbled past a defender to lash the ball home from just inside the penalty box. He had to come off though at half time and Bendtner came on in his place. The Danish youngster continued the goalscoring when he forced home a close range header.

Luckily no really serious injuries although Fabregas is out for 2 weeks after taking a series of knocks and Nasri is out for a week.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

31 January 2009: Premier League Match #24

Man City 2 - 0 Arsenal
Fernandinho 17'
Perez 36'

I was seething inside, even though the game had ended nearly an hour ago. Sure, some could say that we had to lose at some point in time and that football is a funny game, but these cliches don't change the fact that I absolutely hate to lose!

The worst part of it all is that we were the better side in the game as we had more possession and shots than Man City. But Joe freaking Hart somehow decided to stop everything we threw at him and won the Man of the Match award as a result.

Their first goal came out of nothing as Fernandinho took a ball 25 yards away. However, he somehow managed to score with a first time shot, unbelievable. Then, Zhirkov beat Toure easily on the right side to cross for Perez to score. Despite our continued attacking, we failed to pull anything back.

This game emphasized a few things to me. First, Adebayor was non-existent, again illustrating his inconsistency. Second, Toure is terrible at right back. The number of goals we have conceded recently from the right side is a problem. Sagna should be back soon but it may mean I need a backup right back for next season.

MotM: Hart

[law90026]

We receive news that Fabregas wins the Young Player of the Month award for January while I come in 3rd in voting for Manager of the Month. A slight salve for the bitter taste in my mouth following the Man City loss.

Man Utd is hot on our heels in 2nd place, just 3 points behind.

[law90026]

4 February 2009: Premier League Match #25

Fulham 0 - 1 Arsenal
Adebayor 75'

While the 3 points is nice, we had to endure a scary time. Once again, little protection for the players meant that 3 of them had to come off at half-time (Rosicky, Eduardo and Nasri). On came Walcott, Fabregas and Adebayor. Then, Toure got injured from another hefty challenge .. and we were down to 10-man, with Palombo having to play at centreback and Song at right back. I feared the worst at this stage.

However, we somehow managed to stop them from really getting any threatening chances, although they had a few shots on goal. Then, in the 75th minute, a quick break allowed Santana to swing a cross over for Adebayor to stab home and we held on for the win!

The injury report after the game? Toure out for 3 weeks with a damaged heel (which means Eboue is going to have to start until Sagna is ready). Luckily none of the other injuries were serious.

MotM: Jimmy Bullard (Fulham)

[law90026]

8 February 2009: Premier League Match #26

Arsenal 0 - 1 Liverpool
Gallas (og) 20'

Damn it! Things are starting to look a little pear-shaped now and, I have to admit, the pressure is starting to get to me. Maybe the team is recognising that as they really underachieve today, failing to create any real chances in the game.

The only goal of the game came when Gallas somehow put the ball past Handanovich in the 20th minute, without real significant pressure. Very disappointing and now Man Utd is just 3 points behind with 1 game in hand.

MotM: Clichy

[law90026]

14 February 2009: FA Cup 5th round

Arsenal 2 - 0 Ipswich
Vela 15'
Rosicky 59'

Just the right match for us, an easy win over Championship side Ipswich Town. This was a chance for the reserves to get a game and they duly came up with a win, though it wasn't the most impressive result.

Vela was bright and enterprising down the left flank and opened the scoring from the edge of the box with a crisp finish. Rosicky then scored a 30 yard screamer of a freekick to ensure we progressed to the next round.

Hopefully this turns the slide around.

MotM: Vela

[law90026]

21 February 2009: Premier League Match #27

Arsenal 0 - 0 Wigan

It was just one of those days when we were not able to score, no matter what we did. 19 shots on goal, 5 clear cut chances .... and not 1 goal. It was little surprise the man of the match was Kirkland, the Wigan keeper. They had 1 shot on goal which was off-target.

Luckily, Man Utd only managed a 0-0 draw with 3rd placed Chelsea, so we maintain the same distance from them for now.

MotM: Kirkland

[law90026]

24 February 2009: Champions League Knockout Stage 1 Leg 1

Arsenal 1 - 0 Olympique Lyonnaise
Adebayor 71'

We eke out a close win over Lyon in the first leg. Not as dominating a win as I would have liked but the fact we didn't concede an away goal will be very important I think.

We started Nasri, Fabregas and Satana in the attacking midfield positions and had van Persie and Eduardo upfront. We failed to score though and Lyon had the better chances in the first half, including an audacious chip attempt from Bodmer from the halfway line which just went wide.

However, we slowly began to get a grip on the game and Adebayor, who came on as substitute in the 65th minute, forced home a cross from Santana, showing his strength as he was sandwiched between 2 Lyon defenders. He's been a nice impact sub lately.

Toure will be out for the 2nd leg though as he picked up a yellow card today and reached the limit.

MotM: Lloris (Lyon keeper)

[law90026]

1 March 2009: League Cup Final Preview

My first cup final as the manage of Arsenal! And, to make it more exciting, we are up against old rivals Manchester United.

Our line-up:
GK: Handanovich
RB: Toure (Sagna out for 2 weeks with an injury after the Lyon match)
LB: Clichy
CBs: Toure and Song
DM: Palombo
RM: Santana
AM: Fabregas
LM: Nasri
STs: Adebayor and Eduardo

Subs: Almunia, Djourou, Walcott, van Persie, Bendtner, Rosicky, Eboue

Man Utd line-up (classic 4-4-2):
GK: van der Saar
RB: O'shea
LB: Evra
CBs: Ferdinand and Vidic
RW: Ronaldo
LW: Nani
CMs: Carrick and Scholes
STs: Tevez and Manucho (Rooney out with an injury)

This is a game that is going to be way too close to call. Our past record against Man Utd this season? We beat them 3-0 at Old Trafford so they will be hungry for revenge.

[law90026]

1 March 2009: League Cup Final running commentary

1': Kickoff and Arsenal attack from the start. A pass from Nasri to Adebayor gives him a little space. He shoots and it's parried but the rebound falls to Adebayor. He plays a neat little reverse ball for Santana who shoots and scores! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

9': Arsenal attack on the break. Long ball played to Santana on the right wing, who controls it well. The cross is too high but falls to Nasri on the other side of the box. He takes one touch to control it and sends another low cross into the 6-yard box and the ball is in the net! O'shea scores an own goal! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20': Scholes with the ball on the edge of the box and he plays it for Ronaldo, who first times the shot. Saved by Handanovich. Corner.

27': Adebayor with a fierce shot that hits the cross bar.

39': Tevez sent clear on goal! Handanovich comes out and manages to parry his shot.

45': A cross is partially cleared to just outside the penalty box. Palombo lines up the shot and shoots and it curls past van der Saar! GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!!

HT score: Arsenal 3 - 0 Man Utd

46': Scholes with a curling shot from just outside the box, saved by Handanovich. Corner.

53': Tevez with a bit of space and he shoots. Saved by Handanovich but it falls to Ronaldo on the edge of the box. He first times it but fails to hit the empty net! Relief for us.

62': A fast Man Utd counterattack allows Tevez to get a shot in but it's saved.

64': Substitution as we bring on Rosicky for a tiring Fabregas.

64': Ronaldo nearly scores as he hits the bar.

73': Nice series of passes by Man Utd and Hargreaves sees an opportunity. He shoots but saved and held well by Handanovich.

76': Substitutions for Arsenal. van Persie on for Adebayor (picked up a knock) and Walcott for Santana. That's it, no more substitutions for us.

89': Wild shot from Walcott, nowhere close to scoring.

91': Long ball chased down by van Persie. He cuts it back for Rosicky who blasts it wildly over the bar! Wasted chance.

93': We're starting to hit them on the break. A nice through ball for Eduardo but his shot is parried away and none of our players are able to put it in within a crowded penalty box.

94': Game over, we win!!!!

Final score: Arsenal 3 - 0 Man Utd

I was really pleased with the win. Again, we totally outplayed our rivals and this win gives me my first trophy with Arsenal.

It was a lot closer than the score indicated though as Man Utd had their chances, just that Handanovich played really well. No surprises when he wins the man of the match award.

MotM: Handanovich

[law90026]

4 March 2009: Premier League Match #28

West Ham 0 - 3 Arsenal
van Persie 54'
Bendtner 57'
Silva 60'

We pile more misery on to West Ham, keeping them firmly entrenched at 20th spot in the League.

The first half was drab and boring and I was concerned that the boys were still hungover from the League Cup win. Fortunately, van Persie and Bendtner combined to give us a 2 goal lead. van Persie smashed home a freekick and Bendtner headed in a cross 3 minutes later. Thiago Silva then scored his first ever goal from us as he headed in a corner in the 60th minute.

However, the win came at a cost. Clichy is out for 5 months with a torn calf muscle. That's a disaster.

Zola, the West Ham manager, is fired after the loss. Oops.

Man Utd keep up the pressure on us when the beat Portsmouth 1-0.

MotM: Silva

[law90026]

7 March 2009: FA Cup 6th round

Chelsea 0 - 2 Arsenal
Gallas 35'
Adebayor 85'

A satisfying win over Chelsea as we advance to the semifinals of the FA Cup. This was never going to be an easy match and we were very evenly matched. The real difference was one moment of brilliance from former Chelsea player and current Arsenal captain, William Gallas.

Playing at left back because of Clichy's injury, Gallas somehow managed to dribble past a bunch of Chelsea players from about 35 yards out all the way to the 6 yard box before curling it past Cudicini. It was a very impressive goal, especially considering he's normally a centreback.

After that, both sides came close but the deciding goal came in the 85th minute when we broke away incisively. A long ball from Nasri was controlled by Eduardo who crossed for Adebayor to clinch the game.

Injury concerns continue to rise though as Santana is now out for a month with a fractured arm. Bad timing as we reach the crucial last quarter of the Premier League season.

And we're drawn against Man Utd in the semifinals. This would have been the dream final but I guess it wasn't meant to be.

MotM: Gallas

[law90026]

11 March 2009: Champions League Knockout Stage Leg 2

Lyon 2 - 0 Arsenal (Lyon win 2-1 on aggregate)
Keita 22'
Benzema 84'

Damn it. Just .. damn it.

We get beaten by Lyon 2-0 and we're out of the Champions League. A precise Keita strike and a Benzema goal from a breakaway ends out European campaign. We had a penalty appeal turned down and that might have changed things.

Ugh.

MotM: Keita (Lyon)

[law90026]

14 March 2009: Premier League Match #29

Arsenal 6 - 0 Middlesborough
Rosicky 20'
Eduardo 34'
Rosicky 50'
Song 77'
van Persie 85'
Eduardo (pen) 94'

After the loss to Lyon, there was 2 ways we could approach this game. Either we would play badly or we would dominate. And we dominated.

Rosicky scored a beautiful freekick then Eduardo planted a firm header past the keeper to put us 2-0 up at halftime. In the 2nd half, another Rosicky freekick put us 3-0 up. Song then scored a screamer from 20 yards out after going past 2 defenders and van Persie proved he was no slouch at taking freekicks either, scoring our 5th from yet another freekick. Eduardo finished the scoring by putting it in from the penalty spot.

Middlesborough were down to 9 man at the end of the match as they had 2 players sent off, one for a very nasty challenge on Adebayor.

Good news as Man Utd lost 3-1 to Newcastle, putting us at least 3 points clear at the top of the table.

However, Adebayor is out for 3 weeks after that challenge.

MotM: Rosicky

[law90026]

18 March 2009:

More good news as Man Utd only manage to draw their game in hand against Everton.

This means that we are 5 points clear at the top with 9 matches to go.

[law90026]

21 March 2009: Premier League Match #30

West Brom 1 - 2 Arsenal
Eduardo 31'
Rosicky 68'
Morrison 87'

A narrow win for us as we maintain our advantage over Man Utd (they won 2-1 earlier in the day).

We had more possession and chances but the last few minutes were scary as West Brom scored to make it interesting.

Eduardo scored first when he put in a cross from close range. Clinical finishing from him. In the 2nd half, 2 second half subs combined to give us a two goal lead. Eboue rushed down the right flank and cut it back to give Rosicky a simple chance to score. However, Morrison took his chance in the 87th minute, their only real chance of the game.

MotM: Carson (West Brom keeper)

[law90026]

4 April 2009: Premier League Match #31

Arsenal 4 - 0 Tottenham
van Persie 7'
Walcott 42'
van Persie (pen) 72'
Adebayor (pen) 85'

Before the match started, I was a little concerned as we had lost Nasri and Fabregas to injuries in the preceding 2 weeks. They had both picked up injuries while playing for their countries.

However, we swept Spurs aside in confident fashion as van Persie opened the scoring with another trademark freekick. Walcott then put in one more after Toure played a really nice reverse ball for him to give Walcott just a bit of space in the box. 2 penalties in the 2nd half added the icing to this victory.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

Season Update: The last quarter

With 8 matches to go, we remain 5 points clear. With each game being worth 3 points for a win, we need to win 20 points to assure ourselves of the Premier League title. That means 6 wins and 2 draws (assuming Man Utd win all their remaining matches).

We are also still challenging for the FA Cup so a double is still on the cards.

Premier League standings:
1. Arsenal 72 pts
2. Man Utd 67 pts
3. Liverpool
4. Everton
5. Newcastle
6. Chelsea

Our remaining fixtures:
Blackburn (away)
Everton (away)
Man Utd (home)
Chelsea (home)
Portsmouth (away)
Newcastle (home)
Stoke (away)

The 2 games back to back against Man Utd and Chelsea could prove decisive in whether we win the title or not. 2 solid results would put us in a really good position .. but 2 losses and we would likely find ourselves in 2nd place. All the other games are winnable.

Man Utd's fixtures:
Aston Villa (home)
Bolton (home)
Arsenal (away)
Man City (away)
Liverpool (home)
Fulham (away)
Wigan (home)

For Man Utd, they do still have to play Liverpool, which is good news for us. Liverpool are 5 points behind Man Utd and so they also have incentive to try and beat Man Ud.

[law90026]

11 April 2009: Premier League Match #32

Blackburn 3 - 3 Arsenal
Eduardo 34'
Reid 36'
McCarthy 44'
van Persie 46'
Adebayor 50'
Santa Cruz 60'

Disaster as we fail to win this match. We defended poorly throughout and pretty much gifted them all 3 of their goals.

We started well enough when Eduardo slotted home a clever ball from Santana. However, van Persie lost possession near our box and a cross was put in by Reid. Worse news when McCarthy somehow found enough space to turn in the penalty box and score. van Persie did score a super freekick to ensure we went in at halftime 2-2.

In the 2nd half, Adebayor scored when he reacted fastest to an Eduardo header. Then, in the worst mistake of the night, Toure and Almunia got things mixed up and Santa Cruz nipped in to put the ball into an empty net.

Man Utd won 2-0 which means our lead is down to 2 points.

MotM: Stephen Reid (Blackburn midfielder)

[law90026]

18 April 2009: FA Cup Semi-Finals

Man Utd 1 - 2 Arsenal
Walcott 7'
Berbatov 17'
Adebayor 70'

We win again against our rivals. While I'm pleased, I'm also aware this run against them can't always continue and I'm really hoping it doesn't end when we face them in our upcoming Premier League match.

We started brightly as Walcott used his pace to get in behind a defender to push the ball past van der Saar. Berbatov's equaliser was clearly offside but allowed to stand. In the 2nd half, we had a penalty appeal turned down but Adebayor raced on to a nice throughball to give us the lead.

Song was sent off in the 84th minute though when he elbowed Rooney. I'm furious at his rashness, not just because it made the last 10 minutes scary but also because he will now be suspended.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

25 April 2009: Premier League Match #33

Welcome news at the start of the game as Man Utd only managed a 1-1 draw against Bolton.

Everton 3 - 2 Arsenal
Adebayor 9'
Cahill 47'
Cahill 49'
Osman 53'
Adebayor 57'

And we fail to take advantage of the slip-up when we lose to Everton. There really isn't much to say when we let Cahill and Osman score from long range 3 times.

The lead is 2 pts with the next game against Man Utd.

MotM: Cahill

[law90026]

29 April 2009: Premier League Match #34

Arsenal 3 - 0 Man Utd
Walcott 34'
Fabregas 70
van Persie (pen) 92'

We beat Man Utd again to relieve some of the pressure and restore a 5 point lead at the top of the table with just 4 games to go.

Walcott scored first with a nice turn and shot after Evra missed his interception. Fabregas then added a 2nd in a crowded penalty box when he lashed it home. van Persie finished the scoring then he was tripped by Scholes in the penalty box.

Don't choke now boys! Chelsea next and a win there would be huge.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

2 May 2009: Premier League Match #35

Arsenal 3 - 0 Chelsea
van Persie 9'
Eduardo (pen) 81'
Adebayor 90'

We're getting so close to the title now that I can taste it. We take a major step towards winning the Premier League with a very convincing 3-0 win over Chelsea, a game in which we were never in danger of losing.

van Persie scored yet another freekick, his 20th goal of the season, and I have to say I'm really impressed with his deadball skills. We continued to attack and Cech had his hands full keeping us out. The clinching goal came in the 81st minute when Walcott was brought down in the box and Eduardo coolly slotted home the penalty. Eduardo then turned provider when he held off 2 defenders before playing a nice little ball for Adebayor to force home.

Nasri picked up a slight knock and is out for a week.

8 points clear with 3 games left. 1 more win or 2 draws will seal the title.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

9 May 2009: Premier League Match #36

Portsmouth 2 - 3 Arsenal
Crouch 15'
van Persie 33'
Adebayor 50'
Crouch 60'
Adebayor 93'

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

We win the Premier League title with 2 games left in the season as we beat Portsmouth in a pulsating match. Peter Crouch, a player not necessarily known for his shooting ability, scored a 30 yarder early in the game. However, van Persie scored the equaliser from, you guessed it, a freekick.

Adebayor was then played through brilliantly by Walcott and he rounded the keeper to give us the lead. However, Crouch was playing brilliantly and scored from a header at close range, using his lanky frame to good effect. I thought we would have to postpone the celebrations but Adebayor popped up to force the ball in after a goalmouth scramble in the 93rd minute. As much as I think he's inconsistent, I have to say he's been playing really well recently and he has 31 goals for the season!

Have I mentioned that WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS?

MotM: Crouch (Portsmouth striker)

[law90026]

16 May 2009: Premier League Match #37

Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle
Bendtner 37'
Eduardo 72'

The reserves get a chance to play today and they showed that they are ready and able to step up if necessary. Thiago Silva, Djourou, de Jong, Ramsey, Denilson, Vela and Bendtner were the reserves that were given a start.

Bendtner opened the scoring when he scored with a crisp finish off a Denilson pass. Eduardo then planted a firm header past Given from a Ramsey cross.

MotM: Denilson

[law90026]

24 May 2009: Premier League Match #38

Stoke 1 - 0 Arsenal
Moreira 54'

An inconsequential match for us but not for Stoke. I'm sure the relegation candidates were pissed that we fielded a weak team but I'm looking ahead to the FA Cup final next week.

A drab game with Moriera's long range strike the highlight of the game.

We let youngsters Barazite, Merida and Sturridge get their debuts for the first team today.

MotM: de Jong

[law90026]

With the end of the Premier League season, the award winners were announced:

Player of the Year:
Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
Runner up: Wayne Rooney (Man Utd)
3rd place: Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

Players' Player of the Year:
Winner: Xabi Alonso (Liverpool)
Runner up: Michael Carrick (Man Utd)
3rd place: Nani(Man Utd)

Top Goalscorer:
Winner: Benni McCarthy (Blackburn), 24 goals
Runner up: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal), 21 goals
3rd place: GabrielAghonbolar (Aston Villa), 21 goals

Best U-21 player:
Winner: Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
Runner up: Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)
3rd place: Micah Richards (Man City)

Manager of the Year:
Winner: Dayne Ho (Arsenal)
Runner up: Alex Ferguson (Man Utd)
3rd place: Joe Kinnear (Newcastle)

Players Team of the Year:
GK: Gomes (Tottenham)
RB: Srna (Tottenham)
LB: Clichy (Arsenal)
CBs: Gallas, Toure (Arsenal)
RM: Ronaldo (Man Utd)
LM: Nani (Man Utd)
CMs: Diarra (Man City), Alonso (Liverpool)
STs: McCarthy (Blackburn), Rooney (Man Utd)
Subs: Jaskelainen (Bolton keeper), van Persie (Arsenal), Agbonholar (Aston Villa), Carrick (Man Utd), Yakubu (Everton), Emerton (Blackburn), Adebayor (Arsenal)

[law90026]

30 May 2009: FA Cup Finals

Arsenal 3 - 0 West Bromwich Albion
Adebayor (pen) 7'
Barnett (og) 27'
Gallas 37'

This game was essentially over after 15 minutes. First, Adebayor had given us the lead from the penalty spot. Then, Meite was sent off when he went in late and from behind on van Persie. We pretty much knew the Cup was ours once that happened.

An own goal from Barnett when he deflected a van Persie freekick followed by a Gallas goal after we worked the ball in intricate fashion around their penalty box sealed the game.

Their keeper was the man of the match as he kept us out, otherwise the score could have been even more lopsided.

We do the Treble!

MotM: Carson (WBA keeper)

[law90026]

End of Season Summary:

The players had just left for their deserved holiday break and this was a good time for me to just sit back and enjoy the success we had achieved this year. I had hoped for a good showing in all competitions but I definitely had not expected a Treble-winning performance. The quarter-final loss to Lyon still hurt but there was always next year.

For me, our top performer had to be Angelo Palombo. He was available for practically every game and the only reason he didn't start was because I rotated others into his defensive midfield position to give him a break. Gael Clichy might have been a close contender if not for the fact that he suffered a season-ending injury around the midway point of the season. Other standouts included our 1st choice central defence pairing of William Gallas and Kolo Toure.

I wouldn't say there were any really terrible performers in the first team, although Nasri could perhaps have performed more consistently. Still, he's young and adjusting to life in a new country.

Our top goalscorer was Adebayor, with 32 goals in all competitions. van Persie had 21 goals and Bendtner and Eduardo had 11 each. It's nice to see our 4 strikers be our top goalscorers. However, I'm going to have to decide whether I intend to keep all 4 or whether I might want to replace 1 of them with a better striker (if available).

Walcott was our top assists guy with 13. I stand corrected about my pre-season assessment, he's ready for the big leagues. Rosicky,despite being injured for part of the season, had 12 assists. Santana had 11 while van Persie assisted on 10 goals as well.

Competitions Summary:

The winner of the Champions League was Barcelona, when they beat Lyon 2-1 in the finals. We lost to the runners-up, not bad hey? :)

AC Milan won the Euro Cup (1 tier below the Champions League), beating Bordeaux 1-0 in the finals. A good year for the French sides apparently.

Lyon won the French league, 4 points clear of 2nd placed PSG.

Werder Bremen won the German league, 3 points clear of Bayern Munich.

Real Madrid won the Spanish league, 4 points clear of Barcelona.

Premier League round-up:
We won the Premier League title in style, with the best attack and defence. Manchester United came in 2nd, 5 points behind us (80 points). The top 4 were rounded out by Everton (who came in a surprising 3rd and who drew and beat us this season) on 72 points and Chelsea was 4th with 71 points.

Questions will be asked at Liverpool as they only managed 5th place and were tied on 70 points with Tottenham (6th) and Newcastle (7th).

The relegated sides were Bolton, Fulham and Hull. Their places will be taken by Preston, Bristol City and Wolves. Nice to see 2 traditional names in English football (Preston and Wolves) make it to the Premier League.

[law90026]

As the off-season progresses, I'm a little frustrated.

I've missed out on a few players because I'm at my wage cap and I can't sign them. So far, I've missed out on Ashley Young, Diego and Loic Nestor.

[law90026]

15 June 2009:

Nigel de Jong is off to Valencia. I enjoyed having him around this season but Palombo is clearly my first choice defensive midfielder. Denilson is also really starting to improve now and so there's just no space for de Jong.

His stats: 22 games, 2 assists, 1 MotM award, 6.93 rating

[law90026]

25 June 2009:

It's time for me to start making offers as my new transfer funds have arrived. 29 million to spend.

I bid 975k for Wijnaldum, a Holland U-21 international. He's a real talent for the future.

A bunch of bids also came in for Silvestre and it'll be nice to offload him for extra funds.

I also bid for Jerome Boateng, a 20 year old German right/leftback. 4.5 million as a starting point.

[law90026]

1 July 2009: Transfer windows open

Silvestre and de Jong both leave the club.

Wijnaldum joins for 1million.

[law90026]

4 July 2009:

Gai Assulin, an 18 year old Isreali international, signs for us from Barcelona for 1.2million.

[law90026]

I've changed my transfer targets and I'm close to signing the 2 players I want for the season.

The first is 19 year old Monaco defender Nicolas N'Kolou. He's essentially a younger, more raw version of Kolo Toure and will be providing depth for this season. My offer of 16 million for him has been accepted and now the transfer is waiting for his work permit to be approved.

The second is versatile 21 year old Brazilian midfielder/striker Willians Santana. My bid for him of 6.75 million has also been accepted and his move is also waiting for his work permit to be approved. He will provide welcome depth at right wing although he can play in all midfield and striker positions.

[law90026]

21 July 2009: Squad Analysis

We're going to play our first friendly of the pre-season shortly against Grenoble.

As the players start their warm-ups, I consider the squad to see if there are any glaring holes that need to be filled. Starters in bold.

Goalkeepers
Manuel Almunia, 32: Big Al is likely to be the first choice keeper for this year. There is very little separating him from Samir Handanovich but he is just a bit better (I think).

Samir Handanovich, 25: The Slovenian international may be surprised to find himself backing up Big Al since he played well last season. However, he has time on his side as he's young from a goalkeepers perspective. Also, I'll probably rotate the 2 of them somewhat.

I might want to pick up a cheap young keeper somewhere as a 3rd choice.

Defenders
Bakary Sagna,26: Our first choice rightback is one of the best in the world. He's got all the right attributes for a fullback and my only hope is that he will not suffer a long term injury again this year.

Emmanuel Eboue, 26: Eboue is our backup right fullback, similar to last year. To be fair to Eboue, he's actually a pretty good player in his own right but he loses out just slightly to Sagna, especially in terms of concentration. Still, the right back position looks safe, especially since Toure can deputise here if absolutely necessary.

Gael Clichy, 23: Our first choice left back is also one of the best at his position. He's amazingly athletic and his tackling has really improved in the last year. Just returning from a long injury but luckily he's ready to play in the pre-season fixtures to get match fitness.

Armand Traore, 19: Armand is young and will be 2nd choice leftback. There is quite a steep dropoff from Clichy to Traore though. While the raw talent is there, it's not quite developed yet. Again though, with Gallas being able to fill in at leftback if necessary, I think we'll be fine at the leftback position this season.

Kolo Toure, 28: One of our first choice centrebacks this year. He's strong and reliable. He's also more athletic and faster than Gallas, who is starting to fade as he grows older.

William Gallas, 31: Tentatively pencilled in as the other first choice centreback. He still has all the technical abilities and mental attributes to play at the highest level. My concern for him is that he is starting to fade physically. I suspect this might be his last season for us at the top flight, or at least the last season as a regular starter.

Thiago Silva, 24: The Brazilian centreback will be the 3rd choice centreback this year. He's going to be really good if he keeps developing but he's just slightly worse than both Toure and Gallas. Still relatively young though so he has time on his side.

Philippe Senderos, 24: The Swiss defender spent last season on loan at AC Milan. He's your quintessential big man defender, strong in the air and a good tackler but pretty slow. He'll be 4th choice in the pecking order I suspect.

Johan Djourou, 22: The other Swiss defender in the squad. I might send him out on loan as I don't think I can find that much playing time for him this year. He's not too bad but not as good as the other 4 overall.

Alexandre Song, 22: Song had a pretty good year last season but, at least based purely on attributes, he's last in the centreback rotation. However, one good thing is that Song can play in midfield as well so he might be useful as a backup at the defensive midfield position.

Midfielders
Angelo Palombo, 27: Our best midfielder I think and was also a fan favourite, winning the Arsenal fan's player of the year award. He's the ideal defensive midfielder and he'll spend another year protecting the back 4.

Denilson, 21: Denilson will be Palombo's understudy this year. He's another youngster with a lot of potential but I fear he might be a little too lightweight to really be a great defensive midfielder.

Theo Walcott, 20: Theo will be the first choice right winger this year though there isn't very much that separates him from Santana. While he has slightly worse technical skills, Theo's pace is just a real gamechanger at times.

Mario Santana, 27: The Argentinian international is the backup at the rightwing position. However, since I do like to rotate players around, he'll get his share of playing time. Santana will definitely be able to contribute as his crossing and dribbling skills are impeccable.

Samir Nasri, 22: Samir is my choice to play on the leftwing. However, I have to admit that might change because Vela has improved a lot. There is very little difference between the 2 of them now and they might rotate a lot.

Carlos Vela, 20: The Mexican international is really starting to blossom. He would likely be a starter in other teams but he's just unable to force his way into the first team right now. Still, much like Santana, he will definitely have his chances to shine.

Cesc Fabregas, 22: A worldclass player and he's going to hold down the attacking midfield position this year.

Tomas Rosicky, 28: Tomas will backup Cesc at the attacking midfield position and he's also versatile enough to help out at leftwing if absolutely necessary. I'm not sure Tomas has that much more of a future here to be honest and, if his playing time is limited, I may move him as early as the January transfer window.

Strikers
Emmanuel Adebayor, 25: Love him or loathe him, I have to give him credit for the fact that he's scored a lot of goals the past 2 years. He's our first choice big man striker for this year.

Robin van Persie, 25: Our other first choice striker. He's the classy dribble/ freekick specialist and serves as a nice complement to Adebayor. If the two of them stay on at the club, they could be playing with each other for a long time more.

Eduardo, 26: Eduardo is a real predator in the box but he's just not good enough to command a regular starting spot. I think he'll be a nice change in pace as a sub or when Ade or RvP need a break.

Nicklas Bendtner, 21: The youngest of the 4 strikers, he's a backup to Ade at this stage. He's very strong in the air but he's not that great from a mental perspective. I'm hoping he improves because I'm concerned about his poor concentration and workrate.

Overall
I'm quite please with the squad overall. I don't really think we need to splash out cash necessarily though the 2 players I'm looking to sign will give us even more depth.

We are also a relatively young team and we might be able to do great things for a long time if I don't lose anyone.

I suspect my transfer policy for the next few years will be to see if I can pick up some of the really good players out there and, if not, focus on some of the highly recommended young players.

[law90026]

21 July 2009: Friendly

Grenoble 1 - 4 Arsenal
van Persie 9'
Dia 15'
Nasri 28'
Bendtner 50'
Eduardo 89'

An easy pre-season friendly win over a Swiss team. Not going to go into much detail as we easily dominated and could have scored more if not for their keeper's heroics.

MotM: Nasri

[law90026]

24 July 2009:
We complete the signing of Willians Santana for 6.75 million and Nicolas N'Koulou for 16 million.

That's pretty much all I'll be doing I suspect unless an unbelievable deal comes along.

[Izulde]

*buys a Walcott jersey*

Congrats on the treble! :)

[law90026]

*buys a Walcott jersey*

Congrats on the treble! :)

Heh thanks.

[law90026]

30 July 2009: Friendly

Real Sociedad 1 - 3 Arsenal
Inigo Diaz de Cerio 33'
Bendtner 42'
Walcott 57'
Adebayor (pen) 82'

Another easy win as we gear up for the season.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

2 August 2009: Friendly

Nacional 0 - 6 Arsenal
van Persie 15'
Adebayor 25'
Adebayor 38'
Adebayor 36'
Fabregas 46'
Santana 60'

The friendly wins are continuing to pile up as we have our most impressive performance yet. It's a stark contrast to last year when we were having real difficulties in the pre-season.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

8 August 2009: Community Shield

The Community Shield is the traditional kick-off to the English football season. It's supposed to be played between the winner of the League and the winner of the FA Cup but, because we won both last year, we will be facing our arch-rivals Manchester United, the runners-up in the League.

This isn't a real cup competition in the sense of it's importance. However, it would be nice to keep the winning streak going against Manchester Utd.

Our line-up:
GK: Almunia
RB: Sagna
LB: Clichy
CBs: Gallas and Toure
DM: Palombo
AM: Fabregas
RM: Walcott
LM: Nasri
STs: Adebayor and van Persie

Man Utd line-up (traditional 4-4-2):
GK: van der Saar
RB: Neville
LB: Evra
CBs: Vidic / Ferdinand
CMs: Carrick / Scholes
RM: Ronaldo
LM: Nani
STs: Rooney / Tevez

8th minute: Long range shot from Carrick, easily held by Almunia.

29th minute: Long range shot from Vidic, way over the bar.

37th minute: Walcott cross headed by Adebayor, pushed by van der Saar over the bar.

38th minute: From the ensuing corner, Walcott flights it over and van Persie heads it home! 1-0 Arsenal

42nd minute: Beautiful long ball from Toure down the right side of the field. Walcott easily gets to it with his pace and he cuts to the byline before crossing it for Adebayor to finish. Great play. 2-0 Arsenal

50th minute: Nice interchange of passes on the right wing frees up Tevez for a shot. Not enough power though and Almunia holds on to it comfortably.

56th minute: A freekick is passed to Tevez at the edge of the box. His shot is parried but only as far as Ronaldo, who one-times it from 20+ yards out. Brilliant strike. 2-1 Arsenal

58th minute: van Persie picks up a knock and has to come off. Double substitution for Arsenal as Eduardo comes on for van Persie and Vela on for a tired Nasri.

71st minute: Vela's fresh legs allows him to accelerate past Nani easily. He knocks in a dangerous cross which Evra has to clear from practically the goalline. However, it bobbles at the edge of the box and Palombo first times it into goal! 3-1 Arsenal

79th minute: Last substitution for Arsenal as Santana comes on for Walcott.

84th minute: Tevez put through on goal but Almunia narrows the angle well and parries his shot away. Hacked clear by Sagna.

87th minute: Vela shows his dribbling prowess as he takes the ball from the left wing all the way into the 6 yard box but van der Saar is quick to clear it to safety.

87th minute: From the throw in, Clichy plays it to Vela, who tries an audacious shot from a narrow angle on the left side of the penalty box. Hits the bar but it bounces clear.

95th minute: Full time! Arsenal win 3-1.

I'm pleased to see us maintain our dominance over Manchester United. They might have started off more brightly but we took our chances a lot better than them and we fully deserved this win.

The bad news is that van Persie is out for a month with a damaged thigh.

MotM: Clichy (for marking Ronaldo out of most of the game)

[law90026]

Premier League 2009/2010 Season Preview: Guardian Tribune

As it gets closer to the start of the English Premier League season, the early season favourites must be Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Arsenal are the current defending champions and, under the management of their young manager, play very attacking and attractive football. Currently, they seem to have a slight edge over their closest rivals as they have managed to beat most of them in quite comprehensive fashion since last year. Arsenal's squad depth is much improved this year and it might actually be a new challenge for Dayne Ho to see how he juggles his squad around to keep everyone happy.

Over at Old Trafford, there is already a rising sense of vengeance directed at Arsenal. It's clear they are pissed that the Gunners beat them repeatedly last season, including the finals of the League Cup, the semi-finals of the FA Cup and twice in the League. It didn't help that Arsenal beat them in the Community Shield either. However, one has to wonder how improved Man Utd can be when they didn't actually strengthen their squad for this campaign.

Chelsea, on the other hand, took a very different approach. Michael Owen, Elano, Ashley Young and Luisao are their summer recruits for a grand total of 44.5 million pounds as Chelsea look to challenge for the title this year. Last season's 4th place finish was not good enough for their owner and they will be looking to better that this season.

What about the other less likely contenders?

Liverpool finished a disappointing 6th last year. Their big summer signing was Rafael van der Vaart, a talented Dutch striker. Will that be enough for them to make up ground on the top clubs though?

Everton finished a surprising 3rd last year. Their spending has been minimal though, just 8 million pounds on Shaun Maloney (AM), Clint Dempsey (AM/ST) and Andy O'Brien (CB) to give them some additional depth. Will their disciplined style of football be sufficient to maintain their top 3 position or will the lack of true quality be telling this year?

Other possible contenders might be Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham. Aston Villa started very badly last year and will be looking for a much better start this year. The sale of Ashley Young might hurt them though. Manchester City on the other hand supposedly have money to spend but their lack of real pedigree prevents them from signing top stars. Tottenham always threaten to do well but seldom are able to maintain their form for an entire season.

Predicted finish:
1) Arsenal
2) Chelsea
3) Manchester United
4) Liverpool
5) Everton

[law90026]

15 August 2009: Premier League Match #1

Arsenal 0 - 1 Manchester United
Evra 47'

Ugh, not the start to the season I was hoping for. In one of the quirks of scheduling, we play Manchester United for a 2nd week in a row and this time they get the better of us.

A wonderful Evra goal was the only goal of the match as he raced down their left flank, beat a bunch of players then slotted it home from close range. We came close on multiple occasions but failed to get an equaliser.

MotM: Evra

[law90026]

22 August 2009: Premier League Match #2

Everton 1 - 4 Arsenal
Walcott 33'
Eduardo 83'
Nasri 87'
Vaughan 91'
Thiago Silva 93'

We rebound nicely from last week's loss to beat Everton 4-1 in convincing fashion. What a last 14 minutes though!

Walcott scored the first goal of the game when he forced home a rebound from a Fabregas shot. We had some chances but convert anymore until the 83rd minute when Eduardo turned in a Santana low cross in a crowded penalty box. Nasri then scored when he reacted fastest to a parried Santana shot. Vaughan made it interesting though when he scored an absolute peach of a goal, racing on to a throughball then chipping it over Almunia.

However, Thiago Silva made sure of the 3 points when he blasted home a penalty for a foul in the penalty box from a corner kick.

MotM: Eduardo

[law90026]

The draw for the Group Phase of the Champions League pits us against Bayern Munich, Olympiakos and Lokomotiv Moscow. It's a relatively easy group on paper and we should make it through without problems I think.

[law90026]

29 August 2009: Premier League Match #3

Arsenal 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Adebayor 35'
Bendtner 48'

Goals on either side of halftime give us the win. However, the match could have gone very differently as Aston Villa hit the bar twice during the match.

Adebayor scored with a well placed header to give us the lead. Bendnter, who came on as a sub for the injured van Persie then held off a defender and slotted it coolly past the Villa keeper to give us a 2 goal lead.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

12 September 2009: Premier League Match #4

West Ham 0 - 3 Arsenal
Palombo (pen) 7'
Eduardo 50'
Santana 71'

The long international break was not good for us as we lost a few players to injuries.

However, we still managed to field a strong team that beat West Ham quite comprehensively. Palombo opened the scoring with a penalty when Bowyer brought down Eduardo in the box. In the second half, Eduardo scored a cheeky goal when he deflected a Bendtner shot past the West Ham keeper. Santana then confirmed the in for us with a wonderful 25 yard freekick.

West Ham were largely restricted to long range shots though some did come close.

MotM: Santana

[law90026]

We do have a minor injury crisis right now though. Players out are:

1) Thiago Silva: out for 2 more weeks at least with a gashed leg;
2) Samir Nasri: out for 3 more weeks with a calf strain;
3) Adebayor: out for 3-4 weeks with a twisted ankle;
4) Clichy: out for 1 month with a twisted knee;
5) Sagna: out for 6 more weeks with a sprained ankle;
6) Walcott: out for 3 months with cracked ribs.

That's 6 first team or key reserves out.

[law90026]

15 September 2009: Champions League Group Stage Match #1

Bayern Munich 1 - 3 Arsenal
Bendtner 14'
Bendtner 25'
Toni 39'
Bendtner 56'

We get a very good result against our toughest opponents in our group and at their homeground at that.

Bendtner was absolutely amazing today as he scored a hattrick to lead us to victory. His first goal was a towering header from a Vela cross, his second was a scorching 30 yard freekick and his third was a sublime chip over the Bayern keeper from outside the box!

Toni pulled one back for Bayern today with a crisp finish in the box but it wasn't enough for the Germans.

MotM: Bendtner

[law90026]

19 September 2009: Premier League Match #5

Arsenal 3 - 1 Middlesborough
Huth (og) 2'
Eduardo 13'
Heskey 32'
Eduardo 82'

Today was a day for the reserves to play. We fielded a relatively young squad: 2 19 year olds at RB and LB (N'Koulou and Traore), a 22 year old CB (Djorou), a 21 year old DM (Denilson), a 20 year old LW (Vela), a 21 year old RW (Stillian) and a 21 year old ST (Bendtner).

We were still good enough to beat Middlesborough though. Stillian crossed for Bendtner and his shot came off the bar but Huth scored an own goal from the rebound while under pressure from Eduardo. Eduardo then scored with a nice finish as he found just a bit of space from a freekick to poke it home. Terrible marking from us allowed Heskey to score but Eduardo sealed the game with a well placed header from a Santana cross late in the game.

MotM: Eduardo

[law90026]

23 September 2009: League Cup Round 3

Tottenham 1 - 2 Arsenal
Bent 33'
Bendtner 47'
Eduardo 82'

A close game against our North London rivals. Derby games against them are always tense and this was no different.

They started the first half brightly and scored when Bent pushed in a rebound from a parried Pavluchenko shot. Santana was badly hurt in the first half and was practically a bystander and Willians Santana came on for him at half time.

We scored twice clinically to win the game although Spurs had their chances to equalise too. Bendtner used his size to good use when he headed home a van Persie freekick from close range. Eduardo scored teh winning goal when he raced on to a through ball and lashed it home from just outside the penalty box.

MotM: Jenas (Spurs midfielder)

[law90026]

26 September 2009: Premier League Match #6

Stoke 0 - 2 Arsenal
Santana 44'
Fabregas 80'

Another opportunity for the youngsters to play against one of the weaker Premier League sides.

Stoke actually had better chances in the first half until Willians Santana stepped up to blast home a freekick. We went in with a 1-0 lead. The 2nd half was pretty drab and the 3 points were confirmed when Fabregas was fast enough to react to a weak shot from Denilson and turn it past the keeper.

MotM: Willians Santana

[law90026]

30 September 2009: Champions League Group Phase Match 2

Arsenal 2 - 0 Lokomotiv Moscos
Eduardo 49'
Palombo 94'

This was a match we completely dominated. We had chance after chance and so much possession but it was frustrating to go into halftime tied at 0-0.

In the 2nd half, things started off much better as Eduardo scored from just inside the box. I was wondering when a Lokomotiv player would get sent off as they had yellow cards aplenty (6 total for the game). Palombo made sure of the win when he blasted home a volley from outside the penalty box after van Persie floated the ball to him.

MotM: Palombo

[law90026]

3 October 2009: Premier League Match #7

Arsenal 0 - 0 Bristol City

Ugh, 19 shots on goal, 3 clear cut chances ... and we fail to score. Bristol City essentially packed everyone around their box and we just failed to break them down.

MotM: Esteban (Bristol City GK)

[law90026]

17 October 2009: Premier League Match #8

Newcastle 1 - 1 Arsenal
Afellay 40'
Rosicky 62'

We only manage a draw against 3rd placed Newcastle. I do have to say that I am impressed with the team at Tyneside as they have a bunch of talented players, including Afellay and former Gunner Jose Antonio Reyes.

Afellay scored first with a stunning 25 yard strike. However, we equalised when Rosicky, who came on for Fabregas, scored the equaliser in similar fashion. We dominated possession but chances for both teams were few.

Bad news as we lost Gallas for 3 months with a broken ankle.

MotM:Palombo

[law90026]

21 October 2009: Champions League Group Phase Match #3

Olympiakos 1 - 4 Arsenal
Diogo 32'
Fabregas 38'
Rosicky 68'
Walcott 83'
Adebayor 93'

We headto Greece and come away with a good win and that pretty much ensures that we will qualify from our group.

Olympiakos was the better team in the first half as they scored first when Palombo made a rare mistake and lost the ball near our penalty box. Diogo gleefully slammed it home from the edge of the box. However, we equalised when we counterattacked in style and a throughball was slotted home by Fabregas. However, we were lucky not to be 2-1 down when a Diogo header hit the bar.

In the 2nd half, we hit Olympiakos on the break 3 times. First, Rosicky was sent through on the left flank and he took the ball into the 6 yard box before finishing the move. Walcott was then put through by Vela and his acceleration ensured he had plenty of time and space to curl it past the Olympiakos keeper. Finally, Adebayor was sent through in injury time and he blasted the ball home.

The lopsided scoreline definitely was not indicative of the fight that Olympiakos put up.

We lost van Persie for a month when he fractured his arm near the end of the game.

MotM: Rosicky

[law90026]

25 October 2009: Premier League Match #9

Arsenal 2 - 0 Blackburn
Adebayor 53'
Adebayor 91'

We finally win after 2 consecutive draws in the Premier League. It seems to be a lot harder to score goals this year for some reason. Still, our defence was resolute and Blackburn only had 1 shot the whole game which was offtarget.

Adebayor opened the scoring when he received a ball in the penalty box and used his strength to turn Nelson before blasting it home. He then scored his second when he received a ball at the edge of the box and he chipped it exquisitely over the Blackburn keeper.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

28 October 2009: Premier League Match #10

Sunderland 0 - 4 Arsenal
Eduardo 33'
Djourou 53'
Eduaro 58'
Adebayor 63'

Just as I say it's getting harder to score, the 2nd string side I put out today put 4 past Sunderland.

Eduardo was in top form today as he first clinically dispatched a shot past Gordon in the first half. Djourou scored with a header from a freekick to make it 2-0. Eduardo then deflected a Vela volley past Gordon for his 2nd goal. Adebayor raced on to a long ball and the Sunderland defence was caught napping as they let him through to push it past Gordon.

However, we lost Adebayor for a month when he strained his calf just about at full time. Ugh.

MotM: Adebayor

[law90026]

Premier League Update:

It's the quarter way mark for the Premier League and it's shaping up to be an interesting season.

Manchester United are currently top of the table, 3 points ahead of us. Ugh that loss to them hurts. We then have Spurs, Newcastle and Manchester City in 3rd, 4th and 5th place respectively ... while Chelsea and Liverpool are 7th and 8th. Could this be a sign of a shakeup to the Big 4?

1. Manchester United 26pts
2. Arsenal 23pts
3. Tottenham 23pts
4. Newcastle 22pts
5. Manchester City 22pts

Top Goalscorers:
Eduardo (Arsenal), Jermain Defoe (Spurs) - 6
Kenwyne Jones (Sunderland), Danny Weber (Bristol City), Emile Heskey (Middlesborough) - 5

Top Assists:
Xisco (Newcastle) - 4
A whole bunch of players on 3, including our Mario Santana

Top Rating:
Gomes (Spurs keeper) - 7.58
Zalayeta (Spurs striker) - 7.48
Fernandinho (Man City attacking midfielder) - 7.42

[law90026]

31 October 2009: Premier League Match #11

Man City 1 - 1 Arsenal
Walcott 10'
Robinho 23'

We were lucky to escape with a draw today as Manchester City had a lot more chances to score.

We lost Fabregas after just 4 minutes to an injury. Walcott scored the opening goal when a crazy backpass gave him the entire goal to aim for. However, Robinho equalised when he managed to wriggle free in the penalty box to put it past Almunia.

We also lose Fabregas, Bendtner and Rosicky to niggling injuries for the next 2 to 3 weeks.

MotM: Robinho

[law90026]

3 November 2009: Champions League Group Phase Match #4

Arsenal 1 - 0 Olympiakos
Eduardo 84'

We were down to a barebones squad for today's game and we barely had enough players to field a first 11 and 7 subs. A number of players were also required to play out of position.

However, despite the selection problems, the team played really well. Olympiakos had no chances at all the whole game while we had 15 shots on goal. The only goal of the game came when Eduardo headed home a Traore cross to confirm our qualification from the group.

More injure woes though as we lose Vela for 2 months with a twisted ankle.

MotM: Renic (Olympiakos keeper)

[law90026]

8 November 2009: Premier League Match #12

Arsenal 6 - 0 Tottenham
Palombo 3'
Walcott 5'
Willis Santana 25'
Walcott 37'
Thiago Silva (pen) 58'
Bale (og) 71'

A tremendous result despite the fact that we again had difficulties fielding a full strength squad. I definitely did not expect to win by such a huge margin.

Palombo scored with an absolute piledriver in the 3rd minute, the power on the shot leaving Gomes with no chance whatsoever. Walcott then scored the goal of the game when he dribbled past the Spurs defence before scoring from close range. Santana then knocked the ball in when Eduardo headed into his path. Walcott scored his 2nd when he curled the ball in from the edge of the box.

In the second half, Thiago Silva stepped up to take a penalty when Walcott was brought down by Ledley King. Gareth Bale compounded Spurs' misery when he headed the ball past his own keeper.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

11 November 2009: League Cup Fourth Round

Arsenal 3 - 0 Aston Villa
Walcott 28'
Walcott 47'
Eboue 77'

We cruise to victory over Aston Villa in the fourth round of the League Cup. Since there was a 10-day break coming up, I fielded a strong team for this match.

Walcott, given a start at striker instead of his normal winger position, showed how much he has improved as he scored a 25 yarder to open the scoring. He then smashed another long range shot against the bar before heading home a corner just before halftime to give us a 2-0 lead.

Eboue, a second half substitute, finished the scoring when he knocked in a Traore cross from close range. Good play from Traore to create the goal.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

In other news, I sign a young 17 year old Spanish midfielder, David.

It's not often that players come highly recommended by my scouts but this youngster was and I quickly snapped him up for 1 million pounds from Villareal. He has been labelled the next Xabi Alonso (a Liverpool midfielder) and I'm hopeful he will develop into a top player for us.

[law90026]

21 November 2009: Premier League Match #13

Liverpool 0 - 4 Arsenal
Thiago Silva 6'
Palombo 15'
van Persie 59'
Thiago Silva 63'

We crush Liverpool today as we finally have close to all our players back from injury. Liverpool on the other hand had some key players out, such as Gerrard, Torres and van der Vaart.

Thiago Silva was amazing today as he was dominant in the air and he scored 2 headers. Palombo continued to show a new side to his game this year as he scored a curling 25 yarder. van Persie, back from a long injury, scored a freekick as well.

With that win, we also jump to the top of the table as Man Utd drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion.

MotM: Thiago Silva

[law90026]

28 November 2009: Premier League Match #14

Arsenal 1 - 0 West Bromwich Albion
Toure 66'

A bit of a letdown after the Liverpool match as we fail to beat WBA convincingly at home. We dominated the game but we didn't take our chances, including a missed penalty by Adebayor in the 11th minute of play.

Still, a Toure header in the 2nd half was sufficient to give us the 3 points today.

MotM: Rosicky

[law90026]

1 December 2009: League Cup Quarterfinals

Wolves 1 - 3 Arsenal
Willis Santana 17'
Vokes 44'
Eduardo 101'
Eduardo 120'

This should have been a relatively easy game against the last placed team in the Premier League.

It started out well enough when Santana scored with a piledriver from just inside the penalty box. However, we let them equalise when poor marking allowed Vokes to head home a freekick.

We failed to break their defence down and had to go to extra time. Walcott created our 2nd goal when he used his pace to break down the right wing and crossed for Eduardo to tap it in. Eduardo then broke the Wolves offside trap when a long punt from Handanovich sent him clear and he finished clinically to confirm the win.

MotM: Eduardo

[law90026]

5 December 2009: Premier League Match #15

Wigan 0 - 2 Arsenal
Adebayor 50'
van Persie 88'

I have to admit I was a little concerned in the first half as we failed to create many chances. Wigan were clearly prepared to sit back and defend.

Things changed in the 2nd half though when I brough van Persie on for an injured Eduardo. First, van Persie created the Adebayor goal when he deftly flicked it past the Wigan defence for Adebayor to pounce on. Then, in the dying moments of the game, he took a throughball and curled a beautiful shot with the outside of his left boot past the advancing Wigan keeper to secure the 3 points.

Wigan had no shots on goal at all.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

8 December 2009: Champions League Group Phase Match #6

Lokomotiv 3 - 3 Arsenal
Charles 20'
Torbinskiy 25'
Song 27'
Traore 42'
Song 63'
Sychev 83'

A pulsating exciting match was played in Moscow as the 2nd team came away with a 3-3 draw.

It looked to be a disaster in the making when Lokomotiv took a 2-0 lead by virtue of 2 long range shots. However, things started to change when Song, playing in an unfamiliar attacking midfield role, headed in a Willis Santana cross. Lokomotiv's Cagua was then sent off for elbowing Willis and we then equalised via a Traore freekick, reminiscent of van Persie's style.

In the 2nd half, I thought we had won it when Song scored from the edge of the box. However, poor marking in the last 10 minutes allowed Sychev to nip in and grab an equaliser.

I'm not displeased with the result because this was our second string side, including Daniel Sturridge (who normally plays for our reserves). We also limited Lokomotiv to long range shots for most of the match.

MotM: Song

[law90026]

12 December 2009: Premier League Match #16

Portsmouth 1 - 1 Arsenal
Palombo 23'
Crouch 66'

I'm not entirely sure what to say about this result. We absolutely dominated Portsmouth and their keeper singlehandedly kept us out, except for a nice strike from Palombo. Walcott also hit the bar in the first half.

Then, out of nowhere, Peter Crouch scores from freaking 40 yards out. 40 yards out. Let me say that again: Peter freaking Crouch scores from 40 yards out. W...T....F. The worst part of it is that this is the 2nd time he's scored this kind of amazing goal against us (he scored a 30 yarder near the end of last season).

MotM: Crouch

[law90026]

The Champions League draw sets us up against German side Schalke. This is a fixture we should be able to win but I'm going to have to emphasize to the team not to be overconfident after what happened last year (when we lost to Lyon over 2 legs).

[law90026]

20 December 2009: Premier League Match #17

Arsenal 2 - 0 Reading
van Persie 41'
Adebayor 50'

2 goals on either side of halftime gave us the win and keeps us at the top of the table.

van Persie scored from a close range header off a Santana cross though there were suspicions he might have been offside. Adebayor then turned in a Walcott cross from close range to give us a two goal cushion. Victory was pretty much assured when Djimi Traore got himself sent off for Reading in the 78th minute and a 10-man Reading team wasn't going to do very much against us at that stage.

MotM: Federici (Reading keeper) - we had 19 shots at his goal, 9 on target and he saved a lot of them.

[law90026]

We have a brutal stretch of fixtures coming up.

We play:
23 Dec: Chelsea
26 Dec: Wolves
30 Dec: Man Utd
2 Jan: Southampton (FA Cup)
6 Jan: Liverpool

We play 3 of our biggest rivals over the 17 days as well as the fact that we have to play 5 games over the same period. It's going to be an important period for us.

[law90026]

23 December 2009: Premier League Match #18

Arsenal 4 - 0 Chelsea
van Persie 1'
Nasri 13'
Silva 53'
Silva 69'

The team was fired up today as we prepared to take on one of our rivals and they were clearly intent on starting this series of fixtures on a bright note.

And it couldn't have started any brighter when van Persie raced on to a long ball and knicked it past Cech, the Chelsea keeper, and coolly slotted it into an empty net. Definitely Cech's fault there as he came out but failed to clear the ball quickly enough.

Nasri then doubled our lead with a curling shot from just outside the box.

In the 2nd half, it was the Thiago Silva show as he headed in 2 corners. Another amazing performance from the centreback.

MotM: Thiago Silva

[law90026]

26 December 2009: Premier League Match #19

Wolves 1 - 4 Arsenal
Senderos 25'
W. Santana 32'
Bendtner 49'
Eduardo (pen) 68'

No surprises today as we beat Wolves in comprehensive fashion.

Senderos scored with a bullet header from a corner kick. W. Santana then dribbled down the right flank and cut into the box before beating the Wolves keeper from close range. He's such a delight to watch.

Bendtner scored the 3rd when he took the ball from 25 yards out, turned sharply and just unleashed a powerful shot that the Wolves keeper had no chance of saving. Eduardo then converted the penalty he had earned when he was brought down in the box.

It was crazy though as I lost Traore to an injury from a reckless Kightly challenge, which he was not booked for. Song came on and also had to be stretchered off moments later when Kightly again challenged recklessly ... still no booking. I'm furious at this lack of protection.

Song is now out for 5 months with a torn calf muscle but luckily Traore is only out for a week with a bruised shin.

MotM: Senderos

[law90026]

30 December 2009: Premier League Match #20

Manchester United 0 - 1 Arsenal
Adebayor 37'

Revenge is sweet as we beat Manchester United at their homeground to consolidate our position at the top of the table.

The only goal of the game came from Adebayor as he scored with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty box. Foster could not keep it out and probably saw it late as there were a lot of players jostling for space in the box at the time.

Manchester United were probably unfortunate not to have come away with at least a draw as they had 5 good chances to score but Almunia was the man of the day, keeping them all out.

MotM: Almunia

[law90026]

Season midway point review:

We are probably just about past the midway point of the season right now. We struggled a little at the start of the season and I have to admit I was a little worried but it seems we have regained our confidence and swagger once more and are starting to really control games again.

Little surprise that Palombo is our top player so far this year. He remains consistently excellent playing at defensive midfield. Clichy and Thiago Silva are both playing well too.

Our current top goalscorer is Eduardo with 12 goals. Adebayor has 9 while Walcott has 7.

Mario Santana has 8 assists, impressive considering he hasn't played as much this year due to injuries. Walcott and van Persie have 7 each.

**********

In the Premier League, we are top of the table, 5 points clear of rivals Manchester United. We are really building up momentum at this time and hopefully it will carry over to the 2nd half of the season.

Chelsea and Liverpool continue to struggle, still 7th and 8th respectively. Chelsea though are only 4 points behind 4th place Spurs as the top 7 spots are quite tightly bunched up. Liverpool are potentially in real trouble though as they are on 33 points, 8 points behind Spurs. If they don't start picking up their game, they might miss out on Europe completely.

1. Arsenal 49 pts
2. Man Utd 44pts
3. Newcastle 42pts
4. Tottenham 41pts
5. Manchester City 41pts

Top Goalscorer:
Robinho (Man City), Elmander (Newcastle) - 9
4 players on 8

Top Assists:
Bent (Tottenham) - 8
Santana (Arsenal), Xisco (Newcastle) - 7

Top Rating:
Zalayeta (Tottenham) - 7.44
Clichy (Arsenal) - 7.44
Palombo (Arsenal) - 7.44
Thiago Silva (Arsenal) - 7.40

[law90026]

Awards time:

World Awards:

Gael Clichy is named to the World Team of the Year.

The World Team is:
GK: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
RB: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid)
LB: Clichy (Arsenal)
CBs: Philippe Mexes (Roma), Pepe (Real Madrid)
RM: Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
LM: Darijo Srna (Tottenham)
CMs: Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Miguel Veloso (Sporting)
STs: Karim Benzema (Lyon), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)
Subs: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Frank Ribery (Bayern Munich), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Robinho (Man City), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)

World Footballer of the Year is Benzema (Lyon). Ramos (Real Madrid) and Mexes (Roma) were 2nd and 3rd.

World Player of the Year is Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd), his 2nd consecutive award. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) was 2nd and Benzema (Lyon) was 3rd.

Europe Awards:

The Defender of the Year award goes to Lyon's Cris. Joris Mathijsen (HSV) was 2nd while Clichy was 3rd.

Goalkeeper of the Year is Iker Casillas (Real Madrid). Buffon (Juventus) was 2nd and Cech (Chelsea) was 3rd.

Midfielder of the Year is Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd). Kacar (Hertha) was 2nd and Toulalan (Lyon) was 3rd.

Striker of the Year is Benzema (Lyon). Guignac (Toulouse) is 2nd while Erdinc (FC Sochaux) is 3rd.

Footballer of the Year is Benzema. Ronaldo was 2nd and Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria) was 3rd.

[law90026]

2 January 2010: FA Cup 3rd Round

Southampton 0 - 2 Arsenal
Senderos 22'
Denilson 46'

A cup game against lower division opposition is always an opportunity for the 2nd team to prove their worth. Today, they showed that they are a strong and capable side, running out as two goal winners over Southampton.

Senderos opened the scoring when he just belted the ball in from 25 yards out, probably the only time he'll ever score such a goal in his career. Denilson added a 2nd in first half injury time as he scored from 25 yards out as well.

MotM: Kelvin Davis (Southampton keeper - it should have been a huge deficit for Southampton but he saved a lot of shots)

[law90026]

6 January 2010: League Cup Semi-Final First Leg

Arsenal 4 - 1 Liverpool
Walcott 9'
van Persie 26'
Adriano 32'
Nasri 52'
Adebayor (pen) 95'

We are up against Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup Semi Finals and we crush them at home. This victory should see us through to the next round and I will likely field a 2nd team for the return leg at Anfield.

Walcott opened the scoring when he used his pace to burst into the Liverpool penalty box and he slotted the ball past Reina, the Liverpool keeper. van Persie doubled the lead with a powerful shot from just inside the box. Adriano, on his debut for Liverpool, turned Toure and pulled 1 back for his side with an equally powerful shot.

In the 2nd half, we continued to dominate and Nasri raced on to a nice throughball from Adebayor to tap it past Reina. Adebayor then converted a penalty when the ever energetic Willis Santana earned a penalty late in injury time.

MotM: Walcott

[law90026]

9 January 2010: Premier League Match #21

Arsenal 3 - 1 Sunderland
N'Koulou (pen) 19'
Eduardo 35'
Chopra 41'
W. Santana 68'

No let up in the fixtures as we play against Sunderland 3 days after playing Liverpool. Squad depth is really playing a part now as we are able to field strong teams despite the large number of fixtures and rest key players where necessary.

The game started badly when we lost Rosicky to a challenge from behind by Sunderland midfielder Hugo Colace. Colace was sent off for that challenge and Rosicky is out for a month.

Vela earned us a penalty when he was tripped in the box by former Arsenal player Lauren. N'Koulou stepped up to slam it home and that's his first goal ever for us. He has been unhappy recently for not featuring in the first team and I have to say that it is my fault for overlooking him in the rotation.

Eduardo then volleyed home a Fabregas cross to double our lead before poor marking allowed Chopra enough space in the penalty box to score before halftime.

Willis Santana made sure the points were safe though when he used his skills to absolutely destroy the Sunderland leftback and ghost into the penalty box where he had plenty of time and space to pick his spot for his 5th goal of the year.

MotM: N'Koulou

[law90026]

16 January 2009: Premier League Match #22

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Arsenal
Aghonbolar 15'
van Persie 37'
Reo-Coker 49'

It was disappointing that our unbeaten stretch finally came to an end against a "lesser" side. Villa are languishing in midtable and I would have expected us to come away with at least a draw.

Credit to Villa though as they took their few chances well and made us pay for our wastefulness.

Aghonbolar was the first to score when he beat our offside trap with ease and had lots of time and space to score. We equalised via a van Persie header after Sagna had swinged in a beautifully weighted cross. However, things fell apart when Reo-Coker scored from 30 yards out and we just seemed to deflate after that, unable to create any more chances.

MotM: Brad Friedal (Villa keeper)

[law90026]

20 January 2010: League Cup Semifinal Leg #2

(note: I had been leading this fixture 3-1 when the game froze and so I had to restart it. Nearly lost it the 2nd time round)

Liverpool 6 - 3 Arsenal (Arsenal wins 7-7 on aggregate, away goals rule)
van Persie 6'
Reira 10'
Mascherano 23'
Vela 38'
Senderos 68'
Alonso 70'
Keane 72'
Torres 85'
Torres 85'

A truly ridiculous game and one in which our defence was abysmal.

We started it well with a van Persie header from a Vela cross. Vela played really well this game, always involved, always active and always dangerous. We let them equalise when poor marking from Denilson allowed Reira to sneak in at the far post to bundle the ball home. Mascherano then gave Liverpool the lead when he turned in a Kuyt cross. However, Vela powered home a strike from the edge of the box before halftime.

Things should have been safe in the 2nd half when Senderos headed in a corner. But that's when things started to fall apart. I had to take off Sagna and on came Thiago Silva at right back. On came Eduardo for van Persie and Walcott for W. Santana.

And Liverpool just scored and scored and scored. Alonso first with a 20yard half volley. Then poor defense left Keane in a 1-on-1 situation against Handanovich. Torres stabbed home from close range twice in 2 minutes .. and volleyed just over a few minutes later.

It was a real miracle we held on for the draw and the boys are going to get a stern telling off for their inept performance in the last 20 minutes of play.

MotM: Torres

[law90026]

23 January 2010: FA Cup 4th Round

Crystal Palace 0 - 3 Arsenal
Ramsey 21'
Bendtner 67'
Walcott 72'

We cruise to victory over Championship side Crystal Palace. Once again, the 2nd / young team prove their ability by brushing aside their lower division opposition.

Ramsey, who recently returned from loan at Wolves (where he played pretty well in 15 starts), scored his first ever goal for us, a screamer from 25 yards out. In the 2nd half, Bendtner headed home a cross before Walcott blitzed past the Crystal Palace defence to slot home.

MotM: Ramsey

[law90026]

27 January 2010: Premier League Match #23

Arsenal 4 - 0 Everton
van Persie 11'
Eduardo 22'
Thiago Silva (pen) 54'
Fellaini (og) 84'

The first team gets to play after a little time off and they come back with a vengeance, sweeping aside Everton 4-0.

van Persie scored a beautiful goal when he took the ball 25 yards out, turned quickly and then curled it home. Eduardo doubled our lead when a throughball found him with a bit of space in the box and that was all he needed to stab it past the Everton keeper.

A Thiago Silva penalty was next after van Persie was brought down in the box followed by a Felliani own goal when he glanced a van Persie corner past his own keeper.

We lose Clichy for a month though with a fractured arm. I'll have to decide whether I want to play Gallas or Traore at leftback for this period.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

31 January 2010: Premier League Match #24

Arsenal 2 - 2 West Ham
van Persie 9'
Bellamy 23'
Thiago Silva 54'
Upson 69'

A wasted opportunity today as we fail to take advantage of a slip up by 2nd placed Newcastle. A win would have put us 8 points clear, rather than 6 points as it now stands.

We started the game well with an early van Persie goal, a thunderous freekick from 35 yards out. However, our centreback pairing of Senderos and Thiago Silva seemed to have difficulty coping with the pace of Bellamy and he duly equalised when he nipped in between the 2 of them to chip it over Almunia. I'll probably field Gallas and Thiago Silva in the next game with Traore at leftback.

Thiago Silva gave us the lead again when he headed home a van Persie corner. He then became the villain when he failed to close out Upson and allowed him to force the ball home for the West Ham equaliser.

MotM: van Persie

[law90026]

6 February 2010: Premier League Match #25

Arsenal 2 - 0 Stoke City
Vela 26'
Vela (pen) 76'

2 goals on either side of halftime by Vela gave us a comfortable win over the relegation candidates.

Today's team was a mix of youth and experience as it was a good game for players like Nasri, Rosicky and Santana to make their comebacks from injuries as well as letting reserve players like Traore and Vela get more first team experience.

Vela was a constant attacking threat today and he headed home a Sagna cross to give us the lead. We dominated the first half and were unlucky not to go into halftime with a bigger lead as we hit the bar twice and desparate defending by Stoke kept out a few other attempts.

In the 2nd half, a Vela penalty sealed the points for us after he was tripped in the box.

MotM: Vela

[law90026]

13 February 2010: FA Cup 5th Round

Hull City 1 - 2 Arsenal
Senderos 47'
W. Santana 56'
Cousin 67'

We beat Championship side Hull City 2-1 to advance in the FA Cup. As expected, it was a physical game against a thuggish side and I am displeased at the amount of protection that their players received despite the repeated and constant fouling of our players. A more strict referee could easily have sent off 2 or 3 of their guys for getting 2 yellow cards in my opinion.

Regardless, we were never really in danger in this game and a Senderos header and W. Santana finish pretty much confirmed our spot in the next round. A header from their top striker Cousins made the game look closer than it really appeared but they hardly had any chances during the game and I was never concerned.

MotM: Mario Santana (he created both our goals)

[law90026]

20 February 2010: Premier League Match #26

Middlesborough 1 - 2 Arsenal
van Persie (pen) 6'
Palombo 17'
Downing 59'

Another game that looked closer than it really was.

Vela earned us a penalty in the 7th minute of play when he was tugged back after getting past Wheater. van Persie dutifully scored from the penalty.

We then scored a beautiful goal as the ball was worked from right flank to left flank. A Traore cutback was touched on by Nasri to Palombo who smashed it first time from 25 yards out for a delightful goal.

A Downing freekick from 30 yards out gave Middlesborough some hope but we were never really threatened thereafter. It was a really pretty freekick though as it curled in from long range.

MotM: Palombo

[law90026]

24 February 2010: Champions League Last 16 First Leg

Schalke 3 - 3 Arsenal
Palombo 13'
Fabregas 28'
Gallas 47'
Altintop 67'
Altintop 87'
Asamoah 91'

I'm still not sure how we went from 3-0 up to 3-3 at full time.

We were absolutely cruising, not just in this match but to the next round, with a Palombo 25-yard strike, a Fabregas rocket from just inside the box and a Gallas header from a corner.

Then, I had to reorganise the defence slightly as Clichy was knackered. On came Thiago Silva to play with Toure in central defence and Gallas went to leftback. Suddenly, we fell apart.

Altintop was the beneficiary of a Farfan cross, after Farfan had beaten Gallas handily on their right wing. Then, Altintop was put through behind Thiago Silva, who was slow to react and Altintop finished with aplomb. In injury time, Toure missed an interception and it allowed Asamoah to blast home from inside the penalty box. Unbelievable last 20 minutes or so and a shocking defensive collapse.

MotM: Altintop (Schalke forward)

[law90026]

28 February 2010: League Cup Final

We are up against a "lesser" side today as we seek to defend the League Cup. Portsmouth are our opponents.

Since I've taken over at Arsenal, we have played Portsmouth 4 times, winning 3 and drawing 1. This is the side that fields Peter freaking Crouch, he of the magical long distance super strikes against us.

Our lineup:
GK: Handanovich
RB: Sagna
LB: Traore (resting Clichy)
CBs: Toure and Gallas
DM: Palombo
RM: Walcott
LM: Nasri
AM: Fabregas
STs: van Persie and Bendtner (Adebayor is out with a hip injury)

Portsmouth are playing a very defensive 3-5-2, essentially 3 centrebacks, 1 defensive midfielder and 2 wingbacks, 2 central midfielders and 2 strikers:

GK: Ashdown
CBs: Berra, Distin and Parmarot
RWB: Hunt
LWB: Rat
DM: Muamba (former Arsenal trainee)
CMs: Thomson and Bryson
STs: Defoe and freaking Crouch

2nd minute: Freekick on the rightside of the Portsmouth penalty box. van Persie steps up, strikes it ... and it's a bullet to the corner of the goal. 1-0 Arsenal!

7th minute: Nice passing releases Walcott on the right flank. Intricate passing allows Sagna to swing in a cross that Bendtner connects on but Ashdown makes a good save for a corner.

21st minute: Ball played into the box for Bendtner, he displays good control and turns his man. Sliding tackle from Berra takes Bendtner down, penalty! Palombo steps up, takes a deep breath and blasts it into the bottom right corner. 2-0 Arsenal! Palombo has been a real scoring machine lately!

25th minute: Gallas booked.

27th minute: Distin booked.

34th minute: Thomson sent off for a crude tackle on Fabregas. Portsmouth players are furious.

38th minute: Header from Bendtner saved by Ashdown.

41st minute: A corner is played short to Palombo who shoots. Bryson sticks a leg out and deflects it past his own keeper for an own goal. 3-0 Arsenal

42nd minute: Diop on for Defoe. This signifies even more defensive play for Portsmouth as Diop is a midfielder while Defoe is a striker. Apparently they're no longer interested in trying to win the game.

At halftime, I take off Fabregas and Palombo, both of who have taken knocks. On come Vela and Denilson and I hope this move doesn't backfire as the spine of my team has been replaced.

50th minute: Long range shot from Diop, parried away by Almunia and Traore picks up the loose ball.

52nd minute: Petrov (leftwinger) and Kaboul (centreback) come on for Crouch and Hunt. Portsmouth are playing without a recognised striker now.

69th minute: N'Koulou on for a tired Nasri. Reshuffling my defence now so that Traore is now playing left wing, Vela is the attacking midfielder, N'Koulou partnering Toure at centreback and Gallas at leftback.

74th minute: Long range shot from Denilson over the bar.

75th minute: Bryson booked.

77th minute: Long range shot from Denilson, just over the bar.

And that's it! A relatively boring 2nd half but enough to ensure we win a successive League Cup.

Man of the Match: Palombo

[law90026]

3 March 2010: Premier League Match #27

Bristol City 1 - 1 Arsenal
Rosicky 34'
Eagles 66'

We again fail to beat last placed Bristol City. The most frustrating bit is that we didn't really create many chances at all and never looked like winning this game.

Rosicky scored the first goal with a powerful shot from just inside the box. However, a Eagles freekick in the 66th minute tied things up.

Our lead over 2nd placed Man Utd is now 4 pts.

MotM: Eagles

[law90026]

6 March 2010: FA Cup 6th Round

Arsenal 2 - 0 Blackburn
W. Santana 71'
W. Santana 81'

Another game in which we found it difficult to break down a side that set out to defend. The first half had few chances though things began to change after Blackburn's Tony Kane was sent off in the 44th minute for a 2-legged challenge on Fabregas.

In the 2nd half, we needed some luck to score both goals. A M. Santana cross-shot was not handled well by Friedal and W. Santana was on hand to stab home. A similar situation arose for W. Santana's 2nd goal when a cross shot was hit with low pace ... and ended up as some sort of bizarre throughball for him.

We suffer a serious injury blow though as Palombo is going to be out for 2 months with strained knee ligaments. Denilson needs to step up.

MotM: W. Santana

[law90026]

We are drawn to play Aston Villa in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. This sets up the potential for an Arsenal - Liverpool final.

[law90026]

9 March 2010: Champions League Last 16 Second Leg

Arsenal 0 - 0 Schalke

Whew, we escape with a draw and go through to the next round.

It was a very close match and both sides came close to scoring but, on this day, Handanovich was our hero as he pulled off a number of stunning saves to protect our goal. Schalke came closest to a goal though when a Kuranyi shot cannoned off our bar in the first half.

As a result of the goalless draw, we go through on the away goals rule as we had scored 3 at their homeground.

More injuries though as we lost van Persie for a month and Bendtner for 2 months. I currently only have 1 first choice striker left in Eduardo as Adebayor is still out with a hip injury as well.

MotM: Handanovich

[law90026]

14 March 2010: Premier League Match #28

Arsenal 3 - 1 Newcastle
Nasri 18'
Eduardo 45'
Thiago Silva (pen) 83'
Martins 89'

A nice win over 4th placed Newcastle today as the team bounced back from a poor effort in midweek.

Nasri opened the scoring when he was first to a rebound after Given was unable to hold on to a powerful Vela shot. Eduardo scored just before halftime when he turned in a M. Santana cross.

In the 2nd half, Coloccini backed into Vela in the box and the referee awarded a penalty. It was a bit soft to be honest but I'm not complaining. Thiago Silva duly converted it. However, Martins managed to steal in between Clichy and Thiago Silva near the end of the match and guide the ball past Almunia.

Major injury though as Sagna's season comes to an end when he tears a calf muscle. Out for 5 months :(

MotM: Nasri