The Gunners: A Dynasty

[orion523]

A casual fan of the EPL since the glory days of Sheffield Wednesday in the early 90's, I've just recently over the last year really gotten into the league again, and with that I decided to choose a team to support. Not normally a "front runner" type, I originally thought I would choose a club outside of the "Big Four" to support but a funny thing happened along the way, and they're called Arsenal. No matter how hard I tried to avoid supporting them I couldn't help myself because to me they are the epitome of class and guts. Anyway now that I've settled on a club, I'm going to see if I can continue their run of success with a new dynasty. As for the dynasty, I know I've had a few failed attempts already recently but this time I have the right team, my team, the GUNNERS!

[orion523]

The Rules!

1. During the first transfer window I'm going to focus totally on scouting and getting to know the club, I may loan out a few young players but I do not plan on making any transfers during this window.

2. I will play the game full manual using Gonira's sliders, legendary difficulty, and legendary board.

3. My personal goals for the year are to capture at least one Cup(F.A., Champions League, or Carling) and to finish in the top four, whether or not that allows me to keep my job is anyone's guess!

4. I will start off with a season preview than get into the action with game by game recaps for Arsenal and scores from around the BPL.

[orion523]

Arsenal Admit Defeat In battle To Keep Fabregas And Nasri

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger has conceded defeat in his fight to keep Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri at The Emirates and he has told the club's chief executive to finalize their transfers to Barcelona and Manchester City as quickly as possible so that he can begin to pick up the pieces from two destabilizing sagas. The sales are expected to bring the club roughly £60,000,000 but Wenger must act fast if he hopes to have replacements in line for the opener at Newcastle which is just a few short weeks away.

[orion523]

Arteta, Gervinho, And Three Others Headed To The Emirates As Wenger makes His Move

Just ten short days following the loss of stars Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger has completed a flurry of deals in the hopes of bolstering his club for the opening game of the season at St. James Park just seven days from now. Leading the way are former Lille winger Gervinho and former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, both of whom were snatched up for roughly £10,000,000 pounds each.
Also heading to Arsenal are defenders Andre Santos and Per Mertesacker along with striker Yossi Benayoun who was acquired via a season long loan deal with Chelsea. Asked if he was through spending, Wenger admitted he was, but he didn't rule out a sale...

[orion523]

Friday August 12th, 2011

Arsenal Season Preview
First the good news. Jack Wilshere seems perfectly happy to play for Arsenal. Thomas Vermaelen looks ready to resume a promising career for the club after a season blanked out by injury. Gervinho might prove to be another classic Arsène Wenger bargain, an athletic and pacy ball player raring to step up a level, spirited over from France for a fee that doesn't make a certain manager with a well-documented devotion to cautious housekeeping choke as if he was asked to fix the Greek economy before breakfast.Unfortunately at this point the scales lurch with a foreboding clang towards the less good news, the downright depressing news and the bewildering lack of news in critical areas that have made this the most pessimistic close season for Arsenal in decades.
For some years now summertime has merely represented a mix of dread about the best players being picked off, together with frustration that the handful of ambitious signings required to turn potential into the real deal never came. But few really expected, or even asked for, a radical overhaul.
Until now.
This summer was always going to feel different. For a start, patience wore down to breaking point as the 2010-11 campaign imploded in a way that was as miserable as it was predictable. Why are the lessons never learned? Arsenal were mauled like a pretty animal in a David Attenborough documentary that ends up as dinner to even the rangiest of scavengers. To make matters worse their fate was largely self-inflicted as they made traps for themselves to fall into (witness the fiasco against Birmingham City in the Carling Cup final).
So much goodwill in the bank from Wenger's past successes has been raided. Also, for the first time, it became obvious that some players had lost belief in the manager's philosophy. The atmosphere in the dressing room became increasingly bitter during a run of two wins from their last 12 league matches post-Carling Cup final. They knew, with even more clarity than any fan or pundit, that this youth project, for all its valiant idealism, has profound failings.
The other fundamental difference about this summer is the new scene at board level, with Stan Kroenke's takeover and Alisher Usmanov's increased shareholding suggesting that something somewhere would be adjusted in terms of the club's direction. But so far, the only thing to be altered is ticket prices, hiked with timing perfect in its clunkiness.
Even though there was never much chance of Wenger departing, this summer required major surgery in all departments to lift the mood. Experienced players are a necessity. Dead wood needs binning. A change in both the coaching staff and ideals can refresh an approach that is too feeble, too flawed, to last the distance (Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp's new roles elsewhere look like an opportunity missed, and while the competition are signing up the likes of Steve Clarke and Roberto Di Matteo as assistants, Pat Rice was talked out of retirement to prolong the status quo).
Wenger doesn't want to practice defending? Fine, so long as you bring someone in who will. The squad players not up to the task when the going gets tough? Fine, so bid au revoir to Manuel Almunia, Emmanuel Eboué, Sébastien Squillaci, Carlos Vela etc.
August brings meetings with Liverpool and Manchester United, plus a crucial Champions League play-off and a trip which is bound to remind them of all their worst foibles, to Newcastle United, where last term the good, the bad and the hideous of Arsenal morphed into one extraordinary game.
Arsenal remain in an elite group who have qualified for the Champions League for 14 successive seasons, and they have managed it with the "sustainable business model" that operates at a fraction of the outlay of their competitors. It is admirable. But with the big four now potentially a big six, it may not be workable for much longer.
With a shaken-up squad, the other source for change has been at the training ground where Andrey Arshavin has suggested they have been working on set pieces and a more intense pressing game during pre-season. Notably Arsenal's most impressive performances of last season, wins against Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona, showed how energetic pressing, rather than languid passing, reaps rewards. Equally notably, that approach didn't transmit to less interesting challenges. It remains to be seen whether Wenger can inspire enough of a change and whether his many alterations are enough.
Last season Wenger asked people to judge him in May. This time, judgement might come as early as September.

[orion523]

Newcastle United 2-2 Arsenal

Newcastle- The 2011/12 Barclays Premier League season got underway today, and what a start it was as Arsenal battled their way to a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United here at St. James Park in Newcastle.
Giving as good as they were getting, twice Arsenal fell behind and twice they fought back, with goals from Robin van Persie in the 45th minute and Jack Wilshire in the 77th earning them the away draw. On the injury front, newly acquired midfielder Mikel Arteta injured his foot early in the second half and could miss up to three weeks of action. Ismael Cheik Tiote and Papiss Cisse each scored for Newcastle.

Premier League Round One Results

Home - Visitors
Blackburn 1-1 Wolverhampton
Fulham 1-2 Aston Villa
Liverpool 1-1 Sunderland
Newcastle United 2-2 Arsenal
QPR 3-1 Bolton
Tottenham 1-1 Everton
Wigan 1-2 Norwich City
Stoke City 1-1 Chelsea
West Bromwich 2-2 Manchester United
Manchester City 4-1 Swansea City

[orion523]

Arsenal 0-4 Liverpool

North London- Facing a newly rejuvenated Liverpool squad who've recently added pacy winger Aaron Lennon to the fold, Arsenal quickly fell behind 2-0 in the first twenty minutes (no)thanks to two controversial penalty calls and never recovered, dropping an ugly 4-0 decision in front of a stunned capacity crowd of 60,361 here at The Emirates.
Reds striker Luis Suarez easily converted both penalties while adding another at the 57 minute mark to complete his hat trick, the first for Liverpool since Maxi Rodriguez accomplished the feat in a 5-0 rout of Birmingham City last April. Martin Skertl's strong header off of a corner in the 41st minute accounted Liverpool's other goal. As for Arsenal, the scoreline really isn't indicative of how the Gunners played, they owned 57% of the possession, and had more shots(17-14) and more shots on target(8-7), but Reds keeper Pepe Reina was not to be beaten on this day, time and again denying Arsenal's shooters.

Premier League Round Two Results

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Arsenal 0-4 Liverpool
Aston Villa 1-0 Blackburn
Chelsea 3-0 West Bromwich
Everton 0-2 Queens Park Rangers
Norwich City 1-2 Stoke City
Sunderland 1-1 Newcastle United
Swansea City 0-1 Wigan Athletic
Wolverhampton 1-2 Fulham
Bolton 0-0 Manchester City
Manchester United 2-1 Tottenham

Silva Demands Transfer!

Manchester- Manchester City officials were stunned this past Thursday were seemingly out of nowhere. star midfielder David Silva demanded to be transferred, just five days short of the close of the window. Although unconfirmed, rumors have circulated about a rift between Silva and enigmatic striker Mario Balotelli who himself is no stranger to conflict. Stay tuned....

[orion523]

Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal

Despite Huge Effort, Gunners Remain Winless

Manchester- Anders Lindegaard was phenomenal this afternoon, stopping the Gunners time and time again, while at the other end of the pitch the unbelievably talented Wayne Rooney did what he does best, slashing into the box before slamming one past Wojciech Szczesny from 14 yards out to give Manchester United all they would need in a 1-0 triumph over a desperate Arsenal club at Old Trafford. The loss drops Arsene Wenger's lads to 0-1-2 on the season, and already the blades are out, calling for the head of Wenger.

Premier League Round Three Results

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Tottenham 0-2 Manchester City
Aston Villa 2-0 Wolverhampton
Blackburn 2-2 Everton
Chelsea 2-0 Norwich City
Liverpool 2-0 Bolton
Newcastle United 2-0 Fulham
Swansea City 1-2 Sunderland
West Bromwich 1-0 Stoke City
Wigan Athletic 2-1 Queens Park Rangers
Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal