FM09 - Arsenal

[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]

Originally Posted by Izulde

*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