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KingLara

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  1. FM24 ARSENAL SEASON 1 – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER Premier League Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 1 – Zinchenko 77 We travelled to Selhurst Park for the first game of September. Palace were yet to win this season after two draws and a defeat. Also being dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties at Swansea. We controlled the game but needed a Zinchenko arrowed shot from a clever Rice pass to get the winner. 94% pass accuracy was nice. Premier League Arsenal 4 – Martinelli 39 Saka 49 Nketiah 53 Odegaard 57 Wolves 2 – Dawson 25 Sarabia 77 Wolves came to the Emirates having won their opening four league games. Having played for England (I forgot to withdraw him) Saka played for the first time this season. Partey came back from International duty a little tired so Jorginho came in and grabbed two assists. Wolves took an early lead and despite conceding 76% possession had a high XG of 2.35. However 3 goals in 8 second half minutes took the game beyond them. I rested some legs with the Champions League game on the Tuesday although would have liked a couple more goals. Champions League – Group Stage MatchDay 1 Arsenal 1 – Rice 25 Real Sociedad 0 The Champions League returned to the Emirates for the first time since 2016. Kieran Tierney was eligible to play but picked up a yellow card in an average display. None of the attacking players sparkled in a tight game of only three shots on target. Declan Rice on his Champions League debut heading in from a corner via a rebound. Happy to start with a win. The other game in our group also saw a 1-0 win, This time for Bayern at Dinamo Zagreb. Kane scoring after just 2 minutes. Premier League Newcastle United 1 – Isak 65 Arsenal 2 – Saka 15 Odegaard 27 Having won our opening five league games we faced our toughest task so far with a trip to Newcastle. They were riding high after beating Barcelona 1-0 a fews days before. We got off to a good start taking a 2-0 lead before going into our shell a bit and allowing Newcastle back into it. They pulled a goal back through Isaak but the equaliser never really came close. Carabao Cup – 3rd Round Arsenal 3 – Havertz 13, Trossard 38, Sousa 54 Leeds 3 – Gnonto 60 83 Enciso 63 Arsenal win 5-3 on penalties I rang the changes for the Carabao Cup. Injuries to White, Cedric and Tomiasu while also wanting to rest Zinchenko Gabriel and Saliba meant I started with a back four of Sousa Kwior, Foran and Walters. Azeez also started whilst James Sweet, Sagoe, Henry-Francis, Ferdinand, Rosiak and Cozier-Duberry were on the bench with the latter coming on as a sub. Having gone 3-0 up we seemed to be cruising but then Gnonto started to be a pain and with me being too lazy to make tactical changes Leeds came back to level. I pushed again to avoid penalties but we couldn’t get the fourth. However in the shootout Vieira, Havertz, Trossard, Cozier-Duberry and Nketiah all scored while Raya finally did something right in the match and saved Liam Coopers penalty. A relief to get through. Man City's tricky start to the season continued as the lost to Everton on penalties at the Etihad. Just 11 points from the first six games after draws with Chelsea and home to Fulham and a 3-0 humbling at Anfield coupled with also losing their opening champions league tine and home to Ac Milan. Elsewhere Liverpool won 3-0 at Brighton a good result in the context that Brighton were 2nd in the league wolves knocked out Newcastle while Man United trailed Fleetwood 3-2 at half time before coming back to win 5-3 in the second half. The fourth Round draw would see us play Everton at the emirates. Man United would play Liverpool and Fulham would be up against Chelsea. Premier League Arsenal 2 – Saka 55 Gabriel 82 Brighton 1 – Fati 39 Brighton headed to Emirates having suffered their first defeats of the campaign first at Brentford in the league and then in the carabao cup at home to Liverpool. After an early Nketiah goal was ruled out for offside Fati gave Brighton the lead. Saka got us back level before Gabriel scored from our 13th corner. Seven out of seven in the premier league with a good chance to make it 10 with the three games in October. Champions League – Group Stage Match Day 2 Bayern 1 – Muller 15 Arsenal 2 – Nketiah 8 Saliba 11 Our second game of the champions league group saw us head to Bayern for a reunion with Harry Kane. I went with the double pivot of Jorginho and Rice wanting to stifle bayerns attack and try and get a 0-0. However a 30 yarder from Nketiah and a Saliba header saw us gain an early 2-0 lead. Muller quickly pulled one back but Bayern didn’t create enough to get an equaliser despite clawing back a 40-60 possession first half to 48/52 by the end. Kane ending with a 6.3 and a yellow card. Sociedad and Dinamo drew the other group game 1-1. It left us in a very strong position after the first two games. Premier League Burnley 1 – Roberts 9 Arsenal 3 – Havertz 2 Trossard 26 Saka 34(pen) We headed to Burnley after the high of the win in Germany. Zinchenko was out with an ankle sprain meaning Kwior started at left back. A comfortable first half performance was enough to get an easy win. Premier League Arsenal 4 – Saka 12 23 Partey 52 90 Nottingham Forrest 0 After another international break we hosted Nottingham Forest. Braces for Saka and Partey in another easy win. A couple of assists for Kwior as well. Providing good cover for Zinchenko Champions League – Group Stage Match Day 3 Arsenal 3 – Rice 14 Trossard 56 Partey 79 Dinamo Zagreb 0 Match day 3 saw us host Dinamo Zagreb. They failed to muster a shot on target while our 3.29XG should have led to more than the three goals. Just like at Dinamo Bayern won 1-0 at Real Sociedad courtesy of Kane. Premier League Luton 0 Arsenal 4 – Saka 30(pen) 65 Cedric 73 Nketiah 83 Luton started life in the premier league with a 3-0 win over west ham followed by a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. However the had since lost the next seven league games. We could have scored more in an easy win to make it 10 wins from 10 in the league. Saka with a perfect 10 display. Carabao Cup 4th Round Arsenal 0 Everton 3 – Danjuma 7 Young 85 Beto 88 Having won our opening 15 games of the season we played Everton at The Emirtates in the carabao cup. As expected I rang the changes choosing to rest most of the senior players but having a little insurance on the bench with Trossard and Nketiah. However only one youth player (Azeez) started so it was still a decent side. We went behind early but I tried not to panic. However with time running out we pushed more and more forward and Ashley young got a second for Everton before Beto put a cherry on the cake. We had a better XG than them and 70% possession but just couldn’t score. Raya with a 5.9 not helping his chances of making the loan deal permanent. Khayon Edwards came on late to make his debut. Go again next season. Premier League Table 1. Arsenal P 10 P 30 GD 21 2. Man City P 10 P 23 GD 7 3. Man United P10 P20 GD 4 4. Brentford P 10 P 20 GD 3 5. Liverpool P 10 P 19 GD 6 Spurs and Chelsea are just hovering underneath Liverpool both on 17 points. Luton Sheffield United and Everton are in the relegation zone. Wolves finished August in 3rd but having lost 6 of their next seven are now down in 12th. Premier League Top scorers Son 9 Saka 8 Hojbjerg Cunha 6 Salah 5 Premier League Top Assists Richarlison Antony 6 Groß 5 Lo Celso Ward-Prowse 4 (8th Saka 3) Premier League Av Rating Saka 8.52 Mitoma 7.58 Son 7.43 Partey 7.42 Enzo Fernandez 7.40 Premier League Motm Mitoma 4 Salah Foderingham Son 3, Saka 2 Team XG Arsenal 2.16 Man United 1.96 Tottenham 1.69 Liverpool 1.66 Man City 1.62 Team Av Possession Man United 65% Arsenal Man City 64% Chelsea 61% Liverpool 59% Arsenal stats (1st team) Appearances (16 played) Saliba Ramsdale Rice Gabriel 14 Odegaard 12(+1) Zinchenko 10 Nketiah (9+4) Partey 9(+3) Tomiyasu 9(+2) Saka 9 Nelson, Martinelli 8(+4) Trossard 7(+6) White 7(+3) Jorginho 6(+5) Kwior, Jesus 6(+1) Havertz 4(+12) Vieria 2(+4) Raya, Azeez 2 Sousa, Cedric 1(+1) Walters, Foran 1 Cozier-Duberry, Edwards 0(+1) Goals Saka 8, Havertz Partey Odegaard Nketiah Trossard 3 Rice Martinelli Gabriel 2 Sousa Zinchenko Cedric Saliba Jorginho Nelson Jesus 1 Assists Odegaard Saka Nelson 4 Jorginho 3 Kwior Partey Tomiyasu Nketiah Rice Martinelli 2 Zinchenko White Trossard 1 Man of Match Partey Saka Nketiah 2 Zinchenko Tomiyasu Odegaard Jorginho Ramsdale Nelson Rice Gabriel 1 Europe While we seem to be cruising in our group all three other premier league teams are struggling. Man United are currently 3rd after losing both away matches in Sevilla and Marseille. Newcastle are also 3rd but are level on 6 points with Barcelona and Porto above them. Meanwhile Man City are bottom after losing their first two games home to Ac Milan and Away at Dortmund. They then followed it up with a goalless draw at Celtic. They are four behind Dortmund an six behind Ac Milan. In the Europa League Liverpool and Brighton are progressing well and should go through but west ham are currently facing a battle for 2nd with Toulouse on maximum points after three games. The hammers to have Ajax at home though so a slight advantage. Englands only representative in the Conference league aston Villa have won all of their games and should top their group. Other news Domestically five points separate the top 5 in Germany Bayern are 3rd 3 points behind Leverkusen and Dortmund. Like us Inter have had nearly a perfect start with nine wins and a draw giving them an early 7 point lead. PSG and Nice have already opened up an 8 point gap at the top of Ligue 1. Finally in Spain Villareal lead the way with Barcelona and Real Madrid 1 point behind. The Under 21s got off to a poor start but are now recovering and are currently 5th in the league 5 points behind Brighton. They also won their opening international cup match against Barcelona. The under 18s are currently 2nds in their league behind Norwich. In the Uefa youth league they are currently 3rd but have a good chance to still progress. November/December Fixtures Premier League Brentford (H) Aston Villa (A) Man United (A) Everton (H) Chelsea (A) Tottenham (H) Man City (A) Liverpool (H) Fulham (A) Sheffield United (H) Champions League Dinamo Zagreb (A) Real Sociadad (A) Bayern (H)
  2. FM24 ARSENAL SEASON 1 – PRE/SEASON/AUGUST A bit late to get started this year. Looking forward to the challenge. Transfers In None Out Elneny (5m) – Roma Smith-Rowe (loan) – Juventus Ejiheri (loan) - Doncaster Having already spent a huge amount of money before I took over there wasn’t much left in the kitty for new signings so I drew a blank. I was tempted by Lingard who was the only decent option on the free transfer market but ultimately chose against it. I also decided to keep most of the youth players at the club for the first half of the season. On deadline day Juventus came from nowhere and asked for smith-rowe on loan. I decided to do it. Cedric somehow managed to escape another transfer window and remains at the club. I will use him at some point though. A wealth of Staff also came in. My trusted assistant from previous iterations Bryan Klug came in alongside 33 other additions. Among them were a new loan manager David Woodfine and an absolute joke of a head of youth development Paolo Morganti who has a 20 rating in all three recommended categories. Norbert Elgert would take charge of the under 21s. Pre-Season [SQUAD] I will start with Ramsdale as my number one and see how the season goes from there. Cedric will likely be 3rd choice in both full back positions. GK – Ramsdale – Raya DL – Zinchenko DR – Tomiyasu – Cedric DC – Gabriel – Kwior DC – Saliba – White DMC – Rice - Jorginho MC – Partey – Vieria AMC – Odegaard – Havertz AML – Martinelli – Trossard AMR – Saka – Nelson ST – Jesus – Nketiah Pre-Season Fixtures We cruised through our first four pre-season games winning all of them. Defensively we were good and no team had over a 1.00xg. Bristol City giving us the toughest game. Saka broke his arm in the Antwerp match meaning he would miss the first six weeks of the season. Charlton (A) 2-4 – Anderson o.g Partey Saka White Bristol City (A) 0-1 - Azeez Antwerp (A) 0-3 – Nelson, Nketiah, Havertz LASK (A) – 1-4 – Jesus White Nketiah Odegaard Emirates Cup We hosted Boca Juniors, Frankfurt and Espanyol in a watered down Emirates Cup. We eased past Boca in the semi finals with youngster seb Ferdinand getting a goal Despite going behind early on in the final a rampant first half saw us score four goals in another good display. An excellent final showing before the competitive matches began. SF – Boca – 3-0 - Nketiah Ferdinand Martinelli FINAL – Frankfurt – 6-3 – Martinelli (3) Jesus Nelson (2) COMMUNITY SHIELD ARSENAL 0 MAN CITY 0 Arsenal win 4-2 on pens The first game of the season turned into a snoozefest with neither side creating many chances. Just the combined three shots on target and 0.87xg. However our possession was better (57%) as well as our passing accuracy (93% vs 90%). Rice and Havertz made their debuts but neither took a penalty as Jesus, Trossard, Odegaard and Vieira all scored while De Bruyne saw his saved by man of the match Ramsdale and needing to score to keep City in it Bernardo Silva blazed high and handsome. Happy with the first trophy in the cabinet. Premier League Arsenal 2 – Gabriel 3 Odegaard 61 Bournemouth 0 A gentle start to the season at The Emirates, We were a bit waseful having 29 attempts 74% possession and a 2.19xg but happy enough to start with a win and not face a shot on target. Premier League Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 2 – Nelson 21 Havertz 87 Another kind fixture saw us travel to Sheffield United. They had lost 4-1 at Brentford on the opening night of the season. They restricted us well but a goal in each half was enough. Premier League Arsenal 3 – Jesus 7 Martinelli 35 Jorginho 83(pen) West Ham 1 – Paqueta 26 The final game of August saw Declan rice have his west ham reunion. A fiery game saw 34 fouls but we dominated it and should have scored more with our 3.66xg. A good start and already some daylight from other teams struggling. Table 1. Brighton P3 W3 D0 L0 GF10 GA4 GD+6 P9 2. ARSENAL P3 W3 D0 L0 GF7 GA1 GD+6 P9 3. Wolves P3 W3 D0 L0 GF5 GA 1 GD +4 P9 4. Man United P3 W2 D1 L0 GF5 GA2 GD+3 P7 5. Man CIty P3 W2 D1 L0 GF3 GA1 P7 Liverpool began the season with two goalless draws against Chelsea and Everton before winning at Spurs 2-1 thanks to a Salah brace. Spurs are currently in 14th with 1 point having also lost at Man City and conceded a 95th minute Moussa Diaby equaliser at home to Aston Villa. Summer Transfers Unsurprisingly Saudi Arabia were still the busiest place for transfers with most sides having done their signings earlier. Jose Gaya was the most expensive deal moving to al ittihad for £63million Spurs sold Bissouma for £54m and brought in Andre and Matheus Reis. Liverpool brought in Bayern right back Mazraoui while Raphinha went from Barcelona to Man city on a 1.8m loan. Chelsea also dipped into the loan market signing Guardado from Betis. Europe We were handed an early reunion with Harry Kane in the champions League draw with Bayern, Real Sociadad and Dinamo Zagreb making up a potentially tricky group. Man united were drawn with Sevilla, Crvena and Marseille. Newcastle face Barcelona Porto and Shakhtar while Man City are against Dortmund Ac Milan and Celtic. Liverpool, West Ham and Brighton should all qualify from their groups in the Europa League. Aston Villa face Vitesse, FC Twente and Lizern in the conference league and should also get though. Carabao Cup In the Carabao Cup we drew Leeds at home. Man City vs Everton, Brighton vs Liverpool and Manchester United vs Fleetwood the most notable ties of the 3rd Round. Spurs are already out having lost in the 2nd round 3-0 at home to Fulham. September/October Fixtures Premier League Palace (A) Wolves (H) Newcastle (A) Brighton (H) Burney (A) Forrest (H) Luton (A) Champions League Real Sociadad (H) Bayern (A) Dinamo Zagreb (H) Carabao Cup Leeds (H)
  3. FM23 Arsenal Season 3 Review One last dance before FM24 PRE-SEASON TRANSFERS IN Jude Bellingham 105m Out Granit Xhaka (Fiorentina) 17m Cerdric (Montpellier) 5.5m Trusty (Troyes) 1.5m Pepe (Crystal Palace) 12.5m Flores (Barcelona) 22m Balogun (Nottingham Forrest) 2.2m A slew of loans and small transfers There was only one man I wanted for my team and that was Jude Bellingham. I matched the release clause and he joined us after the Euros. Departures were quite simple. Elsewhere, Havertz went to PSG for a whopping 182m. Dembele joined Man City. Brandon Soppy and Renato Sanches also made the move. Citys neighbours United spent 44m to sign Watkins from Villa as well as Kumbulla. Chelsea signed Guedes and a still at Benfica Enzo Fernandes. Chelsea brought in Tapsoba and an Out of contract Kyle Walker. Spurs and Newcastle were busy but unproductive. Finally Real Madrid raided Bayern for three players as Gravenberch, Goretska and Coman made the switch for a combined fee of 176m. Matches After a strong side beat our affiliate club Milwall in the pre-season opener we travelled to the USA to play three more games. We won all of them but only scored four goals. We returned for an Emirates Cup semi-final against Real Madrid but lost 2-0 to two late goals. We easily won the 3rd play off though thumping Ac Milan 4-0. We rounded off Pre-season with another 4-0 win at AZ. Mika Biereth doing his first team hopes no harm by scoring a hat-trick. Milwall 3-1 (Saka, Kroos Nketiah) . Colorado 2-1 (Ideho, Pulisic), San Antonio 1-0 (Biereth), LAFC 2-1 (Smith-Rowe Pulisic) Real Madrid 0-2, AC Milan 4-0 (Saka Odegaard, Martinelli, Nketiah, AZ 4-0 (Green Biereth 3) Squad GK – Ramsdale / Turner DL – Zinchenko / Tierney DR – Tomiyasu / Norton-Cuffy DC – Gabriel / Umtiti DC – Saliba / White DM/CM – Kroos / Patino DM/CM - Bellingham / Partey / Danilo CAM – Odegaard / Vieira / Ndour LW – Martinelli / Pulisic RW – Saka / Smith-Rowe ST – Jesus / Nketiah Community Shield Our Competitive Season got underway with the Community Shield against Liverpool. Neither side were at their best but an early naby keita goal condemned us to defeat at Wembley. We would get a quick chance for revenge when we travelled to Anfield on the third week of the Season. Arsenal 0-1 Liverpool PREMIER LEAGUE Attempting to win three titles in a row we hosted West Ham on the opening weekend of the season. Jesus opened the scoring after ten minutes but just two minutes later Gabriel got himself sent off and two second half goals saw us lose at home. We got back to winning ways at Leicester before Saliba this time got himself sent off in a 5-2 drubbing at Anfield. After a win against Crystal Palace we travelled to Man City and this time I shut up shop in a goalless draw. Jesus missing a late penalty for us to nick it. However Ederson getting man of the match shows that we gave a good account. But just seven points from the first five matches saw us lying in 10th at the end of August. However we would go on to win our next ten games including victories at Chelsea and Spurs (a last minute winner from Saka) and a martinelli inspired 3-0 win over Man United at The Emirates. We would go on to score 32 goals conceding just 5 with Pulisic hitting a hat-trick in a 7-0 win over Middlesbrough. December started with our run ending in poor style losing 4-0 at Aston Villa. The rest of December was positive though winning five of our six games with the only blemish a goalless draw at Everton. Liverpool were also going well and although we led the table by three points they weren’t out of it. The new year started with a comfortable win over Norwich before we suffered another defeat this time conceding an injury time winner at old Trafford to lose 3-2. We drew the next game at West Ham before going on to win the following four including a 6-0 thrashing of Everton at the Emirates and an excellent 2-1 win at Newcastle. Aston Villa followed up their 4-0 win over us at villa park by holding us to a 1-1 draw at the Emirates. We dispatched Spurs 2-0 in the North London derby and a 5-1 win at Fulham saw us end March 7 points clear with a game in hand over Man united and Liverpool. A favourable fixture list in April saw us win all four games by a two goal margin with the premier league title wrapped up with a 4-2 win at crystal palace. The potential crunch Liverpool clash ended up as a dead rubber and a 2-2 draw. We also drew at Wolves in the next game by the same scoreline before rounding off the season with a 5-1 over a ninth place Man City at the Emirates. Table 1. ARSENAL P38 W28 D6 L4 GF105 GA43 P90 2. Man United P38 W25 D4 L9 GF79 GA42 P79 3. Liverpool P38 W22 D11 L5 GF88 GA39 P77 4. Fulham P38 W21 D4 L13 GF69 GA57 P67 5. Brentford P38 W19 D9 L10 GF51 GA38 P66 Premier league stats Goals – Haaland 28, Mitrovic 27 F. Torres (Chelsea) 23 Scamacca 21 Calvert Lewin 20 – =6th Odegaard 18 Assists – Saka 13 Perreira, R. James, Odegaard, Salah 11 AV Rating – Odegaard 7.42 Mitrovic 7.39 Saka 7.38 Haaland 7.36 F. Torres 7.35 MOM – Mitrovic 11 F. Torres Calvert-Lewin 9 Haaland 7 Saka 6 Clean Sheets – Pickford Alisson Raya Areola 15 Ramsdale 13 Possession – Tottenham 58%, Arsenal 57%, Liverpool, Chelsea 56% West Ham 55% X.G – Arsenal 2.08, Liverpool 1.80, Man United 1.79, Newcastle 1.50, Chelsea 1.46 Pass Accuracy – Tottenham 89% West Ham 88% Arsenal, Chelsea, Southampton 87% Season Awards Footballer of the Year – Martin Odegaard Players Player of the Year – Martin Odegaard Young Player of the Year – Jude Bellingham Golden Glove – Jordan Pickford (15) Manager – Kinglara Team of the Season – Pickford Dalot, Van Dijk, Saliba, Tomiyasu, Martinelli Kroos, Bellingham, Saka, Haaland Mitrovic Arsenal in the Premier League Home P 19 W16 D2 L1 GF63 GA15 Away P19 W12 D4 L3 GF42 GA28 Overall P38 W28 D6 L4 GF105 GA43 Performance timeline LWLWDWWWWWWWWWWLWWDWWWLDWWWWDWWWWWWDDW CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Our Champions League campaign started with a home game with Marseille. The new format proved testing to some teams but not us as a relatively kind draw saw us win all eight group games scoring at least three each time. The new format meant no major casualties exited although Bayern only scraped through in 20th. Marseille – (H) – 4-0 – Odegaard 13 Saka 65 Nketiah 79 Balogun 90 Villereal – (A) – 2-3 – Martinelli 4 Saka 22 Odegaard 41 Benfica – (H) – 3-1 – Odegaard 9 Pulisic 49 Saka 84 Legia – (H) 6-1 – Martinelli 5 49 71(pen) Vieria 35(pen) 43 Bellingham 56 Napoli - (A) – 0-3 – Bellingham 9 Saka 27 Jesus 90 Bayerrn - (H) – 3-2 – Odegaard 1 Martinelli 70 Pulisic 81 Young Boys – (A) – 4-6 – Pulisic 3 Martinelli 21 64 Nketiah 30 Zinchenko 81 Dymond 90 Apol Limassol – (A) – 1-5 – Smith Rowe 10 Nketiah 18 34 39 Vieria 29 Table 1. ARSENAL P8 W8 D0 L0 GF33 GA11 P27 2. Liverpool P8 W7 D0 L1 GF19 GA5 P21 3. Real Madrid P8 W6 D2 L0 GF24 GA6 P20 4. PSG P8 W6 D2 L0 GF16 GA5 P20 5. AC Milan P8 W6 D1 L1 GF16 GA6 P19 6. Inter P8 W5 D2 L1 GF19 GA6 P17 7. Gladbach P8 W5 D1 L2 GF13 GA8 P16 8. Barcelona P8 W4 D3 L1 GF16 GA4 P15 9-16 – Ajax, Hertha Berlin Dortmund Benfica Roma Porto Napoli Juventus 17-24 – Real Sociadad Rangers Tottenham Bayern PSV Marseille Wolves Villereal 25-36 – Southampton Celtic Nice Copenhagen Jablonec Salzburg Young Boys Qarabag Legia Partizan Antwerp Apol Limassol Wolves and Spurs were both knocked out in the play off round to Italian opposition. Spurs beat Napoli 2-1 at home before losing 5-0 in Naples. Wolves also won the first leg at home 1-0 before losing 4-0 in Turin. Meanwhile Bayern beat Dortmund 2-0 both home and away to progress The second round saw us face Herta Berlin. We drew a nervy first leg in Germany before a Jesus Brace overcame them at The Emirates. Liverpool almost pulled off another of their great European comebacks. Having lost 3-0 to bayern in Germany they managed to win 4-1 at anfield to take it to extra time before running out of steam and losing 7-4 on aggregate. Hertha Berlin 1-1 Arsenal – Odegaard 14 Arsenal 2-0 Hertha Berlin – Jesus 6. 24 2nd Round Roma 4-3 Gladbach – Gladbach 0-1 Roma – Roma through 5-3 on aggregate Bayern 3-0 Liverpool – Liverpool 4-4 Bayern(aet) – Bayern through 7-4 on aggregate Porto 0-0 AC Milan – AC Milan 3-0 Porto – AC Milan through 3-0 on Aggregate Juventus 1-0 Barcelona – Barcelona 0-2 Juventus – Juventus through 3-0 on Aggregate Benfica 2-2 Real Madrid – Real Madrid 3-0 Benfica – Real Madrid through 5-2 on Aggregate Napoli 3-0 Inter – Inter 2-0 Napoli – Napoli through 3-2 on Aggregate Real Sociedad 0-1 PSG – PSG 2-1 Real Sociedad – PSG through 3-1 on Aggregate Quarter Final The Quarters saw us face PSG. I went slightly damage limitation for the first leg in paris but two assists from 182million man Kai Havertz saw us lose 2-0 despite dominating possession and having a decent 1.55xg. Neymar and Raphina with a goal in each half. Having rested nine of the eleven for the league fixture I expected us to come out and and blow them away at the Emirates, which we did but a combination of wastefulness and bad luck saw us squander a 3.87XG to only score once. Soler pulled one back at the end to get a draw as we pushed for the second. A disappointing end. PSG 2-0 Arsenal Arsenal 1-1 PSG – Jesus 65 – (Jesus miss/pen 10) Napoli 0-2 Real Madrid – Real Madrid 2-0 Napoli – Real Madrid through 4-0 on Aggregate Roma 3-0 Bayern – Bayern 3-2 Roma – Roma through 5-3 on Aggregate Juventus 1-3 AC Milan – AC Milan 3-0 Juventus – AC Milan through 6-1 on Aggreagte Semi Finals Real Madrid 3-0 PSG – PSG 3-3 Real Madrid – PSG win 6-3 on Aggregate Roma 1-0 AC Milan – AC Milan 1-2 Roma – Roma through 3-1 on Aggregate FINAL Roma 0-2 Real Madrid FA Cup Our defence of the FA Cup began at Hull a comfortable 5-1 win saw us ease into a fourth round date away again at Huddersfield. Circumstance meant we played a stronger side than I usually would have. Braces from Nketiah and Ndour saw us comfortably through 4-0. Our third straight away game saw us travel to Middlesbrough. I again played a strong side and we eased through Gabriel opening the scoring before setting up a nervy last 20 minutes by getting himself needlessly sent off. The Quarter finals saw us finally drawn at home this time to Man City. Both sides played near full strength teams. We raced into a 5-0 lead at half-time before taking our foot off the gas in the second half to finish 5-2. We got the toughest of the semi-finals playing Liverpool whilst Chelsea met West Ham. Our defence stood firm as Liverpool had over double our xg but a lovely Jesus dink sent us into the final against Chelsea who beat West Ham 4-3. Feran Torres hitting a first half hat-trick. The final was a tight game unfortunately settled by a 93rd Rahim Sterling winner. Chelsea committing 26 fouls with only 1 yellow card but overall played better than us. 3rd Round – Hull (A) – 1-5 – Biereth 2, 78 Pulisic 9 Patino 25 Jesus 55(pen) 4th Round – Huddersfield (A) – 0-4 – Nketiah 19, 59 Ndour 55, 89 5th Round – Middlesbrough (A) – 1-3 - Gabriel 15 Partey 40 Jesus 65 – Gabriel s/o 74 QF - Man City – (H) – 5-2 – Pulisic 2 Odegaard 9, 44 Jesus 18 Bellingham 35 SF – Liverpool – (N, Wembley) – 1-0 – Jesus 57 FINAL - Chelsea – N, Wembley) – 0-1 CARABAO CUP Our Carabao cup campaign began and ended in the 3rd Round. I played a decent fringe side but we were comprehensively beaten. 3rd Round – (A) West Ham 4-1 – Nketiah 79 SEASON STATS GK Ramsdale had a solid season but dipped from the previous campaign with a -17 average rating and conceding 10 more goals with a whopping 9 less clean sheets. Neither Turner nor Hein were given much of a chance to stake a claim. Played Conceded Clean sheets Assists MoM Av rating Ramsdale 52 57 17 0 1 7.02 Turner 3 6 0 0 0 6.60 Hein 3 5 1 0 0 6.97 Defence Overall the defence was also solid. Tomiyasu with a decent return as well as Saliba but I would expect better from the others. Not enough goals. I was happy with Cuffy though with it being his first season with the first team. Played Goals Assists MoM Av Rating Tomiyasu 49 (+5) 2 8 1 7.12 Saliba 44 (+1) 2 1 2 7.15 Zinchenko 38 (+8) 1 4 1 6.88 Gabriel 35(+6) 1 1 0 7.05 White 35 (+5) 0 1 0 7.05 Tierney 15 (+12) 0 3 1 6.93 Norton-Cuffy 9 (+7) 0 0 0 6.90 Umtiti 4 (+5) 0 0 0 6.76 Foran 2 0 0 0 7.10 James (regen, loan Jan) 1 0 0 0 6.6 Midfield Good numbers for the midfielders with Odegaard clearly the standout. Bellingham with at least a 7 in every competition he played. Surprised by Partey making 23 appearances off the bench. Played Goals Assists MoM Av Rating Kroos 46(+3) 4 13 1 7.20 Odegaard 45(+2) 25 15 6 7.43 Bellingham 44(+2) 6 13 2 7.20 Vieria 11(+23) 9 5 1 7.22 Danilo 9(+7) 0 5 0 7.12 Patino 9(+6) 1 8 1 7.53 Ndour 6(+7) 2 0 0 6.91 Partey 5(+23) 1 0 0 6.88 Forwards Martinelli was a bit below par but happy with the rest of the players. Smith-Rowe suffering the same problem as Partey and not starting enough. Conway making it onto the season stats after coming on for the last 11 minutes in the final game of the season. Great prospect though. Played Goals Assists MoM Av Rating Saka 45(+1) 20 18 9 7.36 Martinelli 32(+18) 14 8 4 7.22 Pulisic 30(+17) 19 7 4 7.22 Jesus 30(+11) 23 6 3 7.24 Nketiah 27(+16) 21 8 4 7.15 Smith-Rowe 5(+24) 2 5 0 6.95 Dymond (regen) 1(+5) 4 0 1 7.20 Conway (regen) 0(+1) 0 0 0 N/A Biereth (loan Jan) 2(+2) 2 0 0 6.97 Balogun (left Jan) 1(+4) 1 0 0 6.65 Final Bits Middlesbrough Norwich and Leicester were relegated. Man City finished 9th and Spurs 11th. Watford won the Championship finishing on the same points as fellow promoted side Brighton while Sheffield United beat Stoke 1-0 in the play off final. Samuel Bamba on loan from Dortmund II with the goal. An early Rodrygo brace saw Real Madrid beat Roma in the Champions League final in Munich. Roma with an X.G of 0.09. Man United made it all the way to the Europa League final only to lose to Atalanta. Midfielder Ederson with the goal. Man City and West Ham both made the semis but lost. West Ham won the first leg 2-1 in Italy but lost 2-0 at home to a Leandro trossard brace. United won 2-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford before losing 3-2 at the Etihad. A haaland Hat-trick not enough on this occasion. Newcastle suffered more trophy heartache as they made it to the conference final only to lose 12-11 on penalties to Lazio after a 1-1 draw. No other English representation. PSG, Bayern Napoli and Real Madrid won their respective leagues. Madrid were run the closest winning by just 3 points from Barcelona. A 1-0 victory at Barcelona in May the crucial clincher. They also won the Spanish Cup beating Villareal 1-0 in the final to complete a treble. The under 21s won their league by 11 points and reached the quarter finals of the papa johns trophy but failed in the other three competitions. The under 18s romped to the north division league by 18 points. 22 goals fore Pearce Dymond before beating Norwich 3-0 in the final. They reached the second round in the uefa youth league but lost on penalties to Marseille. Birmingham knocked them out of the cup in the quarters of the north division cup but round things off nicely by being victorious in the fa youth cup beating Norwich 5-3 after extra time. Lots of talent in the squad. At one point winning 21 consecutive games. Summary Happy with the three league titles but no European trophy and just one fa cup and one league cup are disappointing returns. Maybe I will return for one more season if I get bored of FM24.
  4. FM23 ARSENAL SEASON 2 REVIEW I finally finished my Season 2 after having an over-extended break. PREMIER LEAGUE We won the Premier League at a canter. Retaining our title by 10 points after a stuttering end to the season having to juggle other competitions. We were unbeaten for the first 33 games before losing 1-3 at Southampton before going on to also lose 2-3 at Leeds. Keeping tradition with winning the title at rival grounds we headed to anfield needing just a draw but managed a 4-3 win in a highly entertaining game. Pulisic and Odegaard with braces. We finished the season with 96 points seven better than the previous season. Elsewhere, Liverpool, Wolves and Tottenham made up the top 4. Southampton finished fifth but will also be playing champions League football next season due to the new rules. The two Manchester Clubs finished 6th and 7th. United and City the right way around. Newcastle were 8th and Chelsea 12th. Watford, Burnley and QPR completed a three up-three down relegation. Leicester and Middlesborough won automatic promotion to the Premier League while Norwich beat Brighton in the Play off Final. Table 1. ARSENAL P38 W30 D6 L2 GF99 GA33 P96 2. Liverpool P38 W27 D5 L6 GF 93 GA38 P86 3. Wolves P38 W25 D3 L10 GF66 GA42 P78 4. Tottenham P38 W23 D7 L8 GF64 GA38 P76 5. Southampton P38 W21 D4 L13 GF66 GA55 P67 Premier league stats Goals – Isak, Nketiah 23 Saka 21 EL-Nesri (Man Utd) 20 Mitrovic 19 Assists – Salah 23 Saka 15 Kroos, Son 13 Rashford 12 AV Rating – Saka, Haaland 7.56 Odegaard 7.43 Salah 7.40 Rashford 7.34 MOM – Saka 10 Daamsgard, Son 7 lsak, Watkins 6 Clean Sheets – Ramsdale 17, Alisson 16 Domenech (Wolves), Leno 15 Lloris 13 Possession – Chelsea 60% Arsenal 58, Tottenham 57, Liverpool 56, Man City 55 X.G – Liverpool 1.97, Arsenal 1.88, Man City, Newcastle 1.65 Man United 1.64 Pass Accuracy – Chelsea 90% Tottenham 89% Arsenal 88%, Liverpool, Man City 87% Season Awards Footballer of the Year – Bukayo Saka Players Player of the Year – Bukayo Saka Young Player of the Year – Bukayo Saka Golden Glove – Aaron Ramsdale (17) Manager – Kinglara Team of the Season – Ramsdale, Robertson, Gabriel, Saliba, Tomiyasu, Diaz, Milinkovic-Savic (man utd) Kroos, Saka, Nketiah, Isak Arsenal in the Premier League Home P 19 W17 D2 L0 GF61 GA12 Away P19 W13 D4 L2 GF38 GA21 Overall P38 W30 D6 L2 GF99 GA33 Performance timeline WDWWWWDWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWDWDWWWWDDWLWLW CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Having topped our Group with 14 points we faced Leipzig in the round of 16. I set up defensive in Germany for the first leg culminating in a drab goalless draw. It was a different story at Emirates and we raced into a 4-0 lead before half-time courtesy of a Pulisic hat-trick and Nketiah. Werner pulled one back on the hour but we eased through to a meeting with old foes Barcelona. Elsewhere Liverpool dumped out Bayern Atletico Madrid beat Man United. PSG beat Ajax 9-0 across the two games. Mbappe scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win in Amsterdam before netting another five ina 6-0 demolition in Paris. Messi with the other. In the Quarters we faced Barcelona with the first leg at home. I wanted a win so it meant we could sit and counter in spain. Lewandowski scored first before Elneny preferred to partey alongside Kroos equalised. Martinelli got us the winner in the second half. In the second leg Lewandowski again opened the scoring but Jesus equalised and we seemed to be heading into the semis but Lewandowski scored form a corner in injury time to send the game into extra time. It meandered out into a penalty shootout and Lewandowski missed the opening penalty which turned out to be the only one missed sending into s semi final with PSG. Real Madrid would play Liverpool in the other semi. The semis pitched my master tacticial tactical mind (if a say so myself) against the messi mbappe Neymar attack. We blew PSG away in the first half of the first leg at Emirates only to be caught twice by mbappe on the counter but still leaving us with a 4-2 cusion heading to Paris. The second leg saw us fail to have a single shot on target but we restricted them to just three as PSG’s front three were shunted and the game ended 0-0 to send us into the final. Real Madrid beat Liverpool 4-3 after extra time. The final saw us produce one of our worst collective performances of the season. Having said that we were only two minutes asway from taking the game to penalties but Valverde grabbed Madrids winner in 118th minute. Still an alround decent champions league run and a good springboard for the change of format next season. Champions league stats Goals – Mbappe 16, Laborde 12, Nketiah 10, Lewandowski, Benzema 9 Assists –Kroos, Neymar 8, Salah 6, Hakimi 5, Sarabia (Juventus) 4 AV Rating – Nketiah 7.98, Pulisic 7.93, Lewandowski 7.86 Laborde, Sarabia 7.82 MOM – Lewandowski, Mbappe 4, Pulisic 3, Nketiah, Laborde 2 Clean Sheets – Donnarumma 7 Alisson, Courtois 6, Ramsdale, Maignan 5 Possession – Sporting 60 Dinamo, Barcelona, At Madrid 59 Bayern 57 – (12th - Arsenal 54%) X.G – Bayern 2.16, Barcelona 2.06, Real Madrid 2.00, Liverpool 1.87, Arsenal 1.83 Pass Accuracy – Sporting 91% At Madrid 89 Gladbach, Barcelona, Bayern 89 - (14th - Arsenal 87%) FA Cup Our Fa Cup journey began at home to Fulham. A decent side needed a second half brace from Smith Rowe to advance. Gabriel Jesus went one better in the next tie hitting a hat-trick as we eased past Forrest. Next up was Man City. Both sides went strong but city were certainly more physical with 27 fouls. Ben White struck the only goal in extra time. CItys best player on the day a certain Declan Rice. We strolled into a north London derby semi final with a first half onslaught in the quarters. Spurs were comfortably put to the sword in the semis offering little in attack. The final saw another London derby as we faced Crystal Palace who knocked us out in the 3rd round at the Emirates last season. . We dominated the game but found Sam Johnstone in inspired form unable to get past him. We missed the first penalty in the shootout but Ramsdale made a good save from Jesse Lingard before Kelvin Amian missed to win us the cup. A good journey if a little fortunate to have every game drawn at home. 3rd Round – Fulham (H) 2-1 – Smith Rowe 55, 82 4th Round - Nottingham Forest (H) – 3-1 – Jesus 9, 30, 75 5th Round - Man City (H) – 1-0AET - White 108 QF – QPR (H) 3-0 – Kroos 10 Isco 18 Vieira 39 SF – Tottenham (Wembley) – 2-0 – Pulisic 19 Jesus 38(pen) Final - Crystal Palace (Wembley) 0-0AET (Arsenal win 7-6 on penalties) Carabao Cup Our carabao cup campaign started away at now championship side Brighton. We needed penalties to win after a goalless draw. Back to back comfortable home wins over Everton and Blackburn saw us into a semi final with Newcastle. We comfortably won the first leg before falling to a 1-0 at St James Park but it still meant we were in the final against Aston Villa. Tierney gave us the lead inside 2 minutes. We had an x.g of 4.32 with 29 shots on goal and 14 on target but old gunner Martinez produced an inspired display with an 8.4. However, Martinelli grabbed the winner in the 111th minute and another trophy was secured. 3rd round – Brighton (A) – 0-0 (Arsenal win 3-0 on pens) 4th round – Everton (H) – 4-3 – S-Rowe 3, 68 Vieira 31 Lokonga 41 QF – Blackburn (H) – 4-1 – Vieria 1, 31 Jesus 21 78 SF 1st Leg – Newcastle (H) – Pulisic 56 Nketiah 60 66 SF 2nd Leg – Newcastle (A) – 0-1 FINAL – Aston Villa (Wembley) – 2-1AET – Tierney 2 Martinelli 111 OVERALL SEASON STATS Played Goals / CS Assists MoM Av rating Ramsdale 55 26 0 3 7.19 Tomiyasu 54(+5) 1 7 2 7.12 Kroos 54(+4) 7 23 3 7.36 Saka 51(+4) 23 19 10 7.38 Saliba 49(+3) 7 2 3 7.25 Odegaard 46(+5) 14 13 5 7.31 Gabriel 46(+1) 1 1 0 7.18 Partey 39(+5) 0 4 0 6.99 Tierney 35(+17) 3 4 2 7.16 Nketiah 33(+17) 35 5 7 7.22 Jesus 32(+15) 19 5 3 6.94 Zinchenko 29(+20) 0 1 0 6.94 White 27(+11) 1 1 1 6.94 Martinelli 26(+16) 7 6 3 7.10 Vieria 24(+24) 10 16 3 7.27 Elneny 22(+29) 2 3 1 7.03 Smith-Rowe 21(+20) 6 8 2 7.09 Umtiti 10(+2) 0 1 0 6.77 Turner 9 1 0 1 6.93 Isco (Loan Jan) 6(+14) 1 2 1 6.95 Kirk 1(+1) 0 0 0 7.20 Ndour 0(+8) 0 0 0 6.73 Diamond (regen) 0(+1) 0 0 0 Unrated Lokonga (Sold Nov) 4(+1) 1 1 0 7.40 Marquinhos (Sold Jan) 0(+4) 2 0 0 7.07 Rosier (Sold Jan) 5(+8) 0 2 0 6.88 Final Bits Bayern and PSG won their leagues easily. A different story in Italy where the top five were separated by just seven points. AC Milan finishing 1st. Real Madrid won the league losing just one game amassing 105 points. They were denied a treble by losing the Spanish cup final to Valladolid. Napoli won the Europa League beating Inter in the final having knocked out Man City along the way. An own goal in the final was enough for West Ham to beat Lyon to win the Conference League. Looking towards next season my main transfer target is Jude Bellingham. 105Million release clause will get him but he isn't too keen and will only discuss offers after the Euros. I don't expect many outgoings but Odegaard currently isn't happy so I have allowed to let him go if a 100 million pound bid is made. I also plan to use more of the youngsters, especially the regens.
  5. SEASON 2 January/February PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Martinelli 18 Saka 50 60(pen) Vieira 76 SOUTHAMPTON 0 We held a four point lead at the top from Liverpool heading into January. We had also won 16 games in a row. We started the new year in good fashion. The saints lucky it was only the four. PREMIER LEAGUE CRYSTAL PALACE 0 - Telles s/o 69 ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 10 Just 65 hours later we headed to Crystal Palace. We were the better side but just lacked a clinical edge. Telles getting sent off allowed us to relax and we killed the game from there. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 6 – Tierney 3 Nketiah 10, 63 Saliba 20 Kroos 61 Odegaard 90 QPR 0 - Johansen s/o 37 Another red card meant another easy win. However QPR suffered more punishment than Crystal Palace. Vieria with another three assists. CARABAO CUP SEMI FINAL 1ST LEG ARSENAL 3 – Pulisic 56 Nketiah 60 66 NEWCATLE 1 – Gonzalez 45(pen) After three games in six days and with more to come I was able to rest players for the start of three cup matches in a row beginning with the first leg of the carabao cup semi final. Newcastle came out strongly but in the second half we showed our quality and built a healthy lead to take to St James’s Park in a weeks time. Aston Villa beat Man United 1-0 at Villa park in the first leg of the other semi-final. FA CUP 3rd Round ARSENAL 2 – Smith-Rowe 55, 82 FULHAM 1 – Mitrovic 87 We hosted Fulham as we began our FA Cup campaign. I started the same back five as against Newcastle just shuffling the forward line. Fulham came with quite an attacking game plan but a brace from smith-rowe saw us record a routine win before Mitrovic pulled one back. No major casualties from the third round. Liverpool winning 4-1 at Leeds. We would face another home tie in the fourth round against Nottingham Forrest. Chelsea vs Liverpool and Everton vs Tottenham the pick of the other ties. CARABAO CUP SEMI FINAL 2nd LEG NEWCATLE 1 – Isak 69 ARSENAL 0 – Our run of 19 consecutive wins stretching back to October ended as Newcastle won a tight second leg 1-0. I actually played a strong team but set up quite defensive and Newcastle could only find the one goal. Aston Villa beat Man United 2-0 at Old Trafford meaning we would play them in the final having lost to them in the 4th Round last season. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 34 TOTTENHAM 0 - We returned to league action for the first time in a fortnight with the small matter of the north London derby. A tight game saw only five shots on target settled by odegaards flicked rebound after Lloris had saved from Nketiah. PREMIER LEAGUE WEST HAM 0 ARSENAL 1 – Saka 44 We travelled to west ham for another London derby. A solid display by the defence saw us nick a another 1-0 after Saka bundled the ball in just before half-time. Only 45% possession by far our lowest of the season. Just a single shot on target as well in not one of our best displays. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Vieria 9 84 Saka 15 MAN UNITED 0 - Fernandes miss/pen 87 Having only scored three goals in our last four games we hosted Man United at the Emirates. Nketiah turned form goal machine to provider to lay off two on a plate for Vieria and Saka to give us an early 2-0 lead. De Gea was Uniteds best player as Ronaldo and Fernandes both scored only 6.0 ratings. 16 league wins in a row. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Nketiah 19 20 36(pen) WOLVES 0 Our last game of a 10-match January saw us host Wolves. Just the five January goals for Nketiah but he made amends with a first half Hattrick. Wolves were still pushing for champions league places but were no match for us. TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY The January transfer window was busier for us than expected. I received good offers for both Rosier and Marquinhos so sold both. It did mean a slight shortage in central midfield so I yet again went to the Real Madrid graveyard and signed Isco on loan from Sevilla. At right back I have White as cover and will decide in the summer whether to promote Norton-Cuffy or buy someone. There are no decent offerings on the pre-contract list so I will wait for next January. IN Isco - Loan Out Rosier 23.5m - Benfica Marquinhos 24.5m – Bayer Leverkusen PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 47 MAN CITY 1 - Alvarez 35 Our third home league game in a row saw us entertain Man City. City set up with a back five looking to frustrate which they managed but also had chances of their own and were good value for a point. It ended our 17 match winning streak but meant we were still unbeaten. Nature of the game meant no debut for Isco. FA CUP 4th Round ARSENAL 3 – Jesus 9 30 75 NOTTINGHAM FORREST 1 – Broja 31 We eased into the fifth round with a dominant performance against Forrest. Isco started and performed well although we should have won by more. Liverpool won 2-0 at Chelsea, Spurs beat Everton at Goodson Park. The fifth round draw gave us another home time but this time against Man City. Man United travel to crystal; palace and Southampton host Newcastle. PREMIER LEAGUE WATFORD 0 ARSENAL 2 – Saka 23 Odegaard 90 Having collected just 2 points from their first 23 league matches Watford had gone and won their previous two games against Brentfort and Leeds prior to facing us at Vicarage Road. For them they saw the game as pure damage limitation. Only mustering one attempt to our 25. It would have been nice to win by more but I’ll take the win. PREMIER LEAGUE EVERTON 1 - Calvert-Lewin 75 ARSENAL 1 – Pulisic 60 Friday Night Football on the eve of our champions league game saw us travel to Everton. The toffees were midtable but had only lost once at Goodison in the league all season. Their good run continued as we put in a pretty poor display and despite taking the lead on the hour never looked like holding on and were a bit lucky to come away with a draw. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2ND ROUND 1ST LEG ARSENAL 0 RB LEIPZIG 0 The champions League returned as we travelled to Leipzig in the first leg. I parked the bus and we kept the dangerous Leipzig forwards fairly quiet. I would back us to get the win at the Emirates. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Jesus 52 Saka 71 79 86(pen) FULHAM 2 - Okafor 64 76 Our final game of February saw us host Fulham. After a poor first half we were dominant throughout the second but the pacey Okafor twice took advantage of the high line to draw Fulham level. Saka hitting good form. Premier League Table 1. Arsenal P28 P76 GD56 2. Liverpool P27 P67 GD47 3. Tottenham P27 P55 GD20 4. Wolves P27 P53 GD16 5. Newcastle P27 P45 GD15 10 games away from an unbeaten season. Man United are sixth two points behind Newcastle. Chelsea and 9th and Man City 10th although there are only six points difference between 5th and 10th. Watford Burnely and QPR look set to be relegated. West Ham are 17th with a 6 point cushion. In the Championship Leicester are closing in on 100 points while Brighton also look set to gain automatic promotion back to the premier league. Arsenal stats (1st team) Appearances (43 played) Kroos 38(+1) Tomiyasu 36(+3) Saka 35 (+2) Ramsdale 35 Saliba, Gabriel 33(+1) Odegaard 31(+3) Partey 27(+1) Nketiah 24(+9) Zinchenko 23(+13) Tierney 20(+16) Jesus 20(+10) Martinelli 18 (+11) Vieira 17(+17) Smith Rowe 17 (+14) Elneny 13(+20) White 13(+9) Pulisic 13(+6) Umtiti 9 Turner 8 Isco 1(+5) Ndour 0(+6) Goals Very disappointing from Martinelli. Nketiah 31 Saka 15 Jesus 14 Odegaard 10 Pulisic 8 Vieira 7 Saliba, Smith-Rowe 6 Kroos 4 Martinelli 3 Tierney 2 Tomiyasu Gabriel Elneny 1 Assists Kroos 17 Vieria 13 Saka 12 Odegaard 9 Smith-Rowe 8 Martinelli 6 Tomiasu 5 Partey, Nketiah 4 Pulisic Jesus 3 Tierney Elneny 2 Umtiti Zinchenko Saliba White 1 Man of Match Saka 8 Nketiah 6 Odegaard 4 Vieria, Jesus 3 Pulisic Tierney Ramsdale Smith-Rowe Martinelli 2 Turner Saliba Tomiyasu Elneny Kroos 1 Other News The january transfer window for the premier league was quiet. Chelsea and Liverpool did no business at all while Man City only brought in an 18 year old Roony Bardghji on a free transfer. Brighton down in the Championship lost Caicedo and Lamptey to Brentford and Wolves. Man United signed centre back kumbulla. There were mixed fortunes for Liverpool and Man United after the first legs of their champions league knockout ties. Liverpool beat Bayern Munich 5-2 at Anfield while Man United lost 2-0 at Atletico Madrid. PSG, Real Madrid Roman and Nice look likely to go through but Juventus vs Barcelona is delicately poised after the first leg finished 1-1 in Italy. In the Europa League Man City needed extra time to get past Wolfsburg. Rangers are out after losing 2-0 home and away to Napoli. Celtic also departed to Club Brugge 3-2 on aggregate. Domestically PSG comfortably lead the way in France. Likewise Bayern in Germany. Over in Italy things are much tighter with Juventus Milan and Roma separated by just 2 points at the top. Finally in Spain Real Madrid hold a whopping 16 point lead over Barcelona in second. With so many players out on loan the depleted Under 21s have taken a hit this season and are currently lying in seventh in the league. The under 18s are top of the south group with Omari Benjamin again leading the way with 17 goals. They are also still in both the cup competitions with the added help of the youth candidates to come in just a few weeks time. March/April Fixtures Aston Villa – (N) – Carabao Cup final Manchester City – (H) – FA Cup 5th Round Chelsea (H) Leipzig (H) – Champions League 2nd round 2nd leg Bournemouth (A) Burnley (H) Aston Villa (A) Brentford (H) QPR (A)
  6. Season 2 – November/December CARABAO CUP 4TH ROUND ARSENAL 4 – Smith Rowe 3 68 Vieira 31 Lokonga 41 EVERTON 3 – Calvert-Lewin 9 Onana 44 Mcneil 77 Having fallen at this stage the previous season I was determined to advance to the quarters having been given a favourable draw. Without having suitable replacements in midfield wanting to rest Kroos and Partey I paired Jesus and Nketiah upfront. A Vieria free kick was the highlight in an entertaining if a little nervy game but we got over the line to set up a quarter-final again at home to Blackburn. No other shocks in the 4th round other than Bournemouth winning at Brentford. Man United won 3-0 at Salford. They would host Spurs in the quarters, Newcastle would play L:iverpool and there would be a midlands derby with Aston Villa against West Brom. Jesus and Vieria both picked up minor knocks and would be out for a couple of weeks. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Odegaard 40 Saka 48 53 Nketiah 60 WEST HAM 1 – Orsic 10 Riding high in the Europa Conference League with five wins from five including a 13-0 drubbing of Sheriff Tiraspol, West Ham arrived without a league win in six since a 4-3 win over everybody's whipping boys this season Man City. They weren’t going to get any reprieves from us as we ran out easy 4-1 winners. Every outfield player with a plus 7 rating. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCH DAY 4 PARTIZAN BELGRADE 2 – Jovanovic 4 Bojanic 15 – Prodanovic miss/pen 83 ARSENAL 5 – Smith Rowe 20 Nketiah 28 37 55 78 Usually by this stage of the european group stages I would be able to play a weakened team. However after drawing the first two games I couldn’t do that meaning the liksd of white and rosier were getting angrier at not playing. Gabriel and Saliba were both suspended but otherwise I played the strongest available team Belgrade had lost the three previous group games by three goals including a 3-0 loss at the Emirates. That run continued after we overcame a dreadful start. Nketiah and Kroos helping themselves to foursomes in goals and assists. Nice and Inter drew the other game in the group 2-2 meaning we just had to beat Nice at the Emirates to go through. PREMIER LEAGUE BRENTFORD 0 ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 88 We put in a solid if unspectacular performance at Brentford to keep up our winning run. An Odegaard free kick enough to beat a side who had a higher xg and a better pass accuracy while only narrowly missing out on having the same possession as well. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Gabriel 22 Odegaard 42 Nketiah 54 ASTON VILLA 0 With fresher legs after the international break, we recorded a routine win over Aston Villa. Martinez keeping the score to just the 3 goals. I stupidly put Pusilic available for international duty and of course he suffered another injury meaning he wouldn’t play again until January. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCH DAY 5 ARSENAL 6 – Nketiah 8 31 36 48 Saliba 15 Marquinhos 90 NICE 0 Needing a win to go through we delivered in spectacular style. Another four-goal haul for Nketiah with Vieira this being the main assist provider with three. Inter needed a couple of late goals to beat Partizan 4-2 in Belgrade which meant we would have to avoid defeat to the in the san siro to top the group. PREMIER LEAGUE BURNLEY 0 ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 20 Vieira kept his place in the team for the trip to Burnley. It was a bit of a slog and we were quite wasteful but Nketiah smashed in a martinelli ball over the top and burnley never looked like equalising. Martinelli twisted his ankle so would be out for a few weeks. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCH DAY 6 INTER MILAN 0 – Martinez s/o 75 ARSENAL 2 – Nketiah 13 Kroos 25(pen) We travelled to Milan knowing just a draw would see us top the group and avoid some of the big boys in the knockout stages. I played the strongest team available to me knowing Inter had threats. We started the game well with Nketiahs clever flick giving us the lead before Kroos killed the game with a penalty. We just sat back and let Inter pepper the goal but Ramsdale was comfortably behind everything. Martinez then hacked at Smith-Rowe and it was game over. Top of the group is a good feeling as are five clean sheets in a row. Not sure where that has come from. Nice beat Partizan 6-0 meaning they leapfrogged Inter and went through to the second round. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Nketiah 3, 5 Marquinhos 88 BOURNEMOUTH 0 Bournemouth having escaped relegation on the final day of the previous season were comfortable this time around in mid-table. Nketiah put us 2-0 up after just five minutes and it seemed like another high scoring win but the next goal never came and it took Marquinhos to come off the bench to get the third late on. An easy day for Ramsdale with Bournemouth having an XG of just 0.04. PREMIER LEAGUE CHELSEA 0 ARSENAL 2 – Saka 12 Jesus 90 At one point Chelsea seemed like our closes title challengers but a poor run of form had seen them drop to seventh when we visited Stamford Bridge. Saka picked the pocket of mount to open the scoring and it was pretty easy from there. Jesus heading in an Odegaard corner in stoppage time to seal the win. There wasn’t a single clear cut chance in the game and just a combined XG of 1.7. Always nice to beat Chelsea especially away from home. Our seventh clean sheet in a row. CARABAO CUP QF ARSENAL 4 – Vieira 1 31 Jesus 21 78 BLACKBURN 1 – Hyam 53 – Buckley s/o 67 Due to Under 21s and Under 18s having key fixtures I had a very thin squad to choose from. Kroos, Partey and Saka all started where they would usually be resting. The game was very comfortable. Rovers had been doing well in the championship challenging for a play off place but were nowhere near good enough. They did manage to score though as we conceded our first goal in eight games. The winning run stretches to fourteen. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Nketiah 2 48 Saliba 53 Saka 59 WATFORD 0 December 23rd finally saw us play bottom club Watford. A 2-2 draw at home to Everton the only point the have picked up in the 17 league games. With Man United just three days away I rested Odegaard and Partey. Watford showed why they only had 1 point with a toothless display in which they had 0 shots on goal to our 30. Kroos got all four assists in a perfect 10 display. 13 assists in all competitions for him now this season. PREMIER LEAGUE MAN UNITED 1 – Fernades 6 ARSENAL 3 – Nketiah 34 73 80 Boxing Day saw our final game of the month and year as we headed to Old Trafford. United started well and took an early lead but we soon grew into the game with Nketiah scoring another hat-trick taking him to 22 in 14 starts. United huffed and puffed but didn’t create a single clear cut chance as we comfortably saw the game out and made it 16 wins in a row. Premier League Table 1. Arsenal P17 P47 GD33 2. Liverpool P17 P43 GD32 3. Wolves P9 P38 GD14 4. Tottenham P36 P20 GD12 5. Man Utd P9 P34 GD22 We won every league game in November and December but so did Liverpool. They also beat United at Old Trafford. Wolves are still defying expectations but suffered a 5-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in their previous game. Man City have found their feet slightly but are still 11th. West Ham and Burnley are in the relegation zone alongside Watford. Premier League Top scorers Nketiah N. Gonzalez 13 Calvert Lewin 10 Isak, Lukaku 9 Premier League Top Assists Salah 11 Kroos, Son 8 Odegaard, Saka 7 Premier League Av Rating Salah 7.60 Saka, Nketiah, Semedo 7.49 Odegaard 7.38 Premier League Motm Saka, Milinkovic-Savic (Liverpool) Gonzalez Edouard 4 Calvert Lewin 3 Team XG Liverpool 2.05 Man City 1.82 Chelsea 1.77 Man United 1.75 Arsenal 1.74 Team Av Possession Chelsea 61% Arsenal 58% Tottenham 57% Liverpool 56% Man United 55% Transfer News At the beginning of November, Lokonga left for Al Hilal after I accepted a 40million bid. It means we are short in Midfield so I may buy or loan in January as I don’t feel any of the youngsters are ready to step up and I want Vieria and Smith Rowe to concentrate on the forward positions. Zinchenko is an option as he hasn’t been playing as much recently due to Tierney's good form. I don't plan to do any business in January although I might look at getting in a free transfer for next season. Gundogan for 11million is tempting. Loan Watch 36 players on loan I am not going to go through all of them but here are the stats of the first team members and a couple of youth Balogun (Toulouse) – Played 5(+5) Goals 3 – Assists 0 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 6.77 Biereth (Stoke) - Played 12(+2) Goals 4 – Assists 0 – MOM – 1 – AV Rating 6.78 Cedric (Montpellier) - Played 12 Goals 2 – Assists 2 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 6.91 Danilo (Sporting) - Played 25 Goals 1 – Assists 3 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 6.98 Flores (Montpellier) - Played 8 Goals 1 – Assists 3 – MOM – 1 – AV Rating 7.20 Norton-Cuffy (Millwall) - Played 23 Goals 1 – Assists 3 – MOM – 1 – AV Rating 6.93 Patino (RB Salzbug) - - Played 5(+5) Goals 1 – Assists 0 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 6.5 Pepe (Crystal Palace) - Played 14 Goals 5 – Assists 3 – MOM – 2 – AV Rating 7.09 Rekic (FC Lorient) - - Played 15 Goals 0 – Assists 0 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 6.63 Xhaka (Fiorentina) - Played 14 Goals 1 – Assists 2 – MOM – 0 – AV Rating 7.06 Europe In the champions League Liverpool won their final group game against Dormund at Anfield to pip them to second spot in the group behind Barcelona. Dynamo Kiev lost all six games. Man City crashed out after finishing third behind Bayern and Real Sociedad. Man United finished top of their group though above Real Madrid. Celtic and Rangers both finished third in their group. Not too many surprises elsewhere. The second round draw will see us play RB Leipzig. Man United play Atletico Madrid and Liverpool are up against Bayern. PSG play Juventus in the stand out tie of the other games. Man City now in the Europa League will play Wolfsburg in the play off round. Spurs and Chelsea finished top of their groups. West Ham won all six games in their Europa Conference League Group and finished with a +25 goal difference mainly thanks to a 13-0 win over Sheriff. They didn’t even concede a goal. Draws Two draws domestically. In the Fa Cup we drew Fulham at home. Leeds vs Liverpool and Man United vs Brentford the stand out ties from an insipid draw. In the Carabao Cup semi-finals we will play Newcastle with the first leg at the Emirates. Aston Villa face Man United in the other game. January/February Fixtures Ten games in a packed January. QPR (H) Newcastle (H) – Carabao Cup Semi-final 1st Leg Fulham (H) – FA Cup 3rd Round Newcastle (A) – Carabao Cup Semi-final 2nd Leg Tottenham (H) West Ham (A) Man United (H) Wolves (H) Man City (H) Everton (A) Leipzig (A) - Champions League 2nd Round 1st Leg Fulham (H)
  7. Arsenal Season 2 September/October PREMIER LEAGUE WOLVES 1 – Barnes 88 ARSENAL 3 – Martinelli 11 Odegaard 65 Smith-Rowe 87 Our first game of September was a trip to Wolves who had two wins from two. There was an early season appearance for Matt Turner after Ramsdale suffered food poisoning on the eve of the game. The match itself was a comfortable one. We managed to pick up four yellow cards from just seven fouls but everything else was positive. Saka with two assists. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Jesus 58, 90(pen) Pulisic 77 LEEDS 1 – Doan 85 Ramsdale returned but Odegaard was missing as we hosted Leeds. It was another comfortable game and we should’ve won by more. Pulisic scoring on his debut off the bench. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCHDAY 1 ARSENAL 1 – Pulisic 85 INTER MILAN 1 – Brozovic 85 Our first forays into the champions league saw us host Inter. I set up tight with the Italians going five at the back trying to counter. Brozovic headed home a free kick to give Inter a late lead only for Pulisic off the bench again to equalise straight from kick off. I was happy to start the campaign with a draw even if it was at home. Nice won 3-0 at Partizan Belgrade to get their group stage off to a good start. We would travel to Nice next. PREMIER LEAGUE NEWCASTLE 0 – Gonzarlez miss/pen 31 ARSENAL 1 – Jesus 46 – Saliba s/o 53 With tired legs we travelled up to a Newcastle side having won three of their opening four games and thumped wolves 5-1 in the carabao cup. Nicolas Gonzalez didn’t live up to his 48 million price tag as ramsdale saved his penalty in a cagey 1st half. Jesus gave us an undererved lead before Saliba was harshly sent off. From there it turned into the Ramsdale show with a 9.0 rating. Newcastle had a 2.67xg to our 0.28 but just couldn’t beat him. The kind of game that wins you leagues. CARABAO CUP 3RD ROUND BRIGHTON 0 ARSENAL 0 (Arsenal won 3-0 on penalties) Saliba chose the right game to be suspended as we travelled down to Brighton. I made eleven changes but named a strong bench. Brighton had started the season well with sitting top of the championship with six wins from seven. It showed as our best player was again the goalkeeper. Turner with an 8.4 not quite Ramsdale level but still good. A poor game with just three shots on target combined was decided by penalties. Wood, Buonanotte and Pereira all missed for Brighton while Jesus Vieiria and Elneny scored for us. Man citys poor domestic form continued. 14th in the league five points from five games they lost 1-0 at Wycombe. No wins in their last six. Chelsea also went out losing 1-0 at home to Newcastle. We would play Everton at the Emirates in the fourth Round. Salford at home to Man United and Bournemouth hosting Liverpool the pick of the other ties. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Saka 3 Tomiyasu 22 Jesus 90 LIVERPOOL 2 – Thiago 31 Odegaard o.g 52 Liverpool won both league games last season so it would be interesting to see if we could stop the rot meeting them at the Emirates. Pulisic was preferred to Martinelli in the only change from the win at Newcastle. We started well going 2-0 up after just 22 minutes. However goals either side of half time seemed set to earn Liverpool a deserved draw. But up popped Jesus from a Tomiyasu cross to earn the win. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCHDAY 2 NICE 4 – Koita 1, 6 Laborde 23 Delort 56 ARSENAL 4 – Pulisic 10 60 71 Tierney 67 We travelled to Nice for out first away game and got off to the worst possible start giving away two sloppy goals to trail 2-0 inside 6 minutes. Pulisic pulled one back shortly after and I thought from that point we would run away with it but Nice went and scored again. They made it 4-1 after half time and I had to make a choice whether to take the loss or go and try and get back into it. I went with the latter and as we went all out attack the goals kept going in. Sadly having got back to parity we couldn’t find one more. Not a good game for the heart or the defence. Luckily Pulisic with a 9.7 saved our blushes. Partey limped off before the hour with an ankle injury meaning he would miss the next few games. Two draws from the first two games isn’t idea but with Partizan home and away to come we can be confident. Inter beat Belgrade 4-1 at the san siro which included a maitland-niles penalty. PREMIER LEAGUE TOTTENHAM 1 – Richarlison 79 ARSENAL 1 – Saka 61 Spurs weren’t the ideal opponents to be facing after a 4-4 draw. Unsurprisingly I set up much more rigid and it worked with both sides creating little. Tomiyasu was out but I thought it was too early for Rosier so played White at right back. Sakas second half goal seemed likely to be the winner only for Richarlison to slot past a poorly positioned ramsdale to equalise. Not the worst result. Just a 0.2xg for us plus only 51% possession. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 5 – Elneny 14 Odegaard 34 Pulisic 51 Nketiah 90 Kroos 90(pen) CRYSTAL PALACE 2 – Zaha 17 Mateta 81 Post international break we responded well to the draw at Spurs. Saliba missed the game through injury but Elneny stepped up for Partey with a man of the match performance. We should have scored more. CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE MATCHDAY 3 ARSENAL 3 – Saliba 10 Martienllli 11 Jesus 43 – Jesus miss/pen 48 Gabriel s/o 69 PARTIZAN BELGRADE 0 Having already lost 3-0 and 4-1 we added to belgrades woe with a routine win despite playing the last 20 or so minutes with ten men after Gabriel got a red card. Saliba joined him in being suspended for the next game after picking up a yellow card. On another day it could have been more painful. An xg of 3.83 hitting the woodwork three times and a missed penalty all letting the Serbian team off lightly. Inter and Nice drew 1-1 in the san siro meaning the top three all have five points after three games. PREMIER LEAGUE FULHAM 1 – Mitrovic 26 ARSENAL 4 – Odegaard 30 Nketiah 48 87 Vieria 68 Despite scoring in the last game Jesus wasn’t performing at his best so I took the chance to play Nketiah. He bagged a brace in a dominant display once we drew level. Vieria scoring his first of the season. League Table 1. Man Utd P9 P23 GD22 2. Arsenal P9 P23 GD14 3. Wolves P9 P22 GD14 4. Chelsea P9 P20 GD18 5. Liverpool P9 P19 GD16 Us and Man United the only teams yet to lose a game. Man City under new manager Vincent Kompany are having a terrible season. 14th in the league, out of the carabao cup to Wycombe and also in danger of being knocked out in the champions league. West Ham and Burnley are in the relegation zone while Watford have lost all nine games scoring only three and conceding 27 including six at Man United and five at Chelsea. Premier League Top scorers Isak 9 De Bruyne, Barnes (wolves), Jesus, Lindstrom (Southampton) 6 Premier League Top Assists Saka Mount 6 Chilwell Salah 5 Antony 4 Premier League Av Rating Antony 7.77 Pavard (Liverpool) 7.63 Barnes 7.59 Isak 7.58 Rashford 7.57 ( 7th Saka 7.54) Premier League Motm Damsgaard 3 Antony Barnes Milinkovic-Savic (Liverpool) Rashford 2 ( =2nd Jesus, Saka 2) Team XG Liverpool 2.05 Chelsea 2.00 Man City 1.99 Man United 1.91 Newcastle 1.81 ( 8th Arsenal 1.44) Team Av Possession Chelsea 63% Arsenal 59% Liverpool 58% Man United 57% Tottenham 55% Where’s Haaland? 14 league goals at this stage last Season there is no sign of Erling Haaland on the charts this time. Here is his season so far. It still isn’t too bad by normal standards. Played 7(+3) Goals 7 Assists 0 MOM 2 Av Rating 7.28 Arsenal stats (1st team) Appearances (17 played) No youngsters yet. Saka 13(+1) Gabriel, Kroos 13 Jesus 12(+2) Saliba Tomiyasu Ramsdale 12 Odegaard 11 Zinchenko 10(+2) Martinelli 9(+4) Partey 7 Elneny 5(+5) Pulisic 5(+2) Tierney 4(+5) Vieira 3(+9) White 3(+3) Lokonga 3(+1) Nketiah 2(+6) Turner 2 Smith Rowe 1(+6) Rosier 1(+3) Umtiti 1 Goals Jesus 7 Pulisic 6 Odegaard 4 Saliba, Saka Nketiah 3 Martinelli Kroos 2 Vieria Tierney Tomiasu Smith-Rowe Elneny 1 Assists Saka 8 Odegaard, Kroos 5 Tomiyasu 3 Vieria Jesus Elneny 2 White Smith-Rowe Martinelli 1 Man of Match Pulisic Ramsdale Saka Jesus 2 Turner Odegaard Saliba Elneny 1 Youth teams With 36 players on loan the Under 21s have suffered and have only seven players in the squad which include two goalkeepers. I will address this for next season. Currently fifth in the league but not a lot of good to report. Goalkeeper Tom Smith has so far been by far and away the best player. The under 18s however bolstered from some regen signings are unbeaten at the top of their league. Omari Benjamin again leading the way with 22 goals. Europa League / Champions League Conference League Bayern and PSG are the only teams with a 100% record in the champions League. Liverpool, Barcelona and Dortmund all have six points in group A while Man City only have three trailing Bayern with nine and Real Sociadad on six. Man United are level with Real Madrid at the top of Group F with six points. In the Europa League Spurs and Chelsea should qualify comfortably. As should West Ham in the conference league. Europe Domestically the same old story in Ligue 1 PSG have ten wins and a draw from their first eleven games. In italy the top seven are separated by just three points. Juventus lead the way. In Spain and Germany Real Madrid and Bayern are like PSG also unbeaten with both having 28 points from 30. November/December Fixtures Everton (H) – Carabao Cup 4th Round West Ham (H) Partizan Belgrade (A) – Champions League Brentford (A) Aston Villa (H) Nice (H) – Champions League Burnley (A) Inter (A) - Champions League Bournemouth (H) Chelsea (A) Watford (H) Man United (A)
  8. Arsenal Season 2 – Pre-Season / August After a good first Season where we won the league I returned following my short summer holiday to begin the start of pre season and returning to proper European football in the name of Champions League. I made a few staff changes bringing in a new regen assistant David Puig. Jose Fontes came in as loan manager. We head many players returning from Loans plus a few I wanted to get rid of so balancing that wasn’t an easy task and took many sheets of paper trying to whittle down who I wanted to keep sell and loan. Even by 11pm on September 2nd I still wasn’t overly happy. Transfers IN Christian Pulisic 22m Valentin Rossier – 10m Samuel Umtiti – 165k Cher Ndour - Free Transfers OUT Nuno Tavares – 11.75m – Rangers Rob Holding – 8.25m – Ajax Maitland Niles – 8m – Inter Pablo Mari – 4.3m – Zenit Lino Sousa – 1.2m – Bournemouth Runnarson, Awe, Bandeira, Quamina, Taylor-Hart, Butler-Odeyeji and Kovacevic all departed for small fees. 36 players went out on loan including Xhaka, Cedric, Pepe and Balogun. The likes of Patino, Flores and Norton-Cuffy have also left with me feeling they are just short of being in the first team squad. I tried to sell Xhaka Pepe and Cedric to gain funds but had no takers or the contracts were rejected. Pulisic adds depth to wide areas after Eden Hazard finished his loan spell. I should have kept Mari but needing a back up left footed Centre back the only decent option was Umtiti. Tomiyasu is current first choice but I expect Rosier to push him. Marquinhos has stayed at the club in the under 21s just in case we need him at some point. Of course lots of players can play in multiple different positions but I would have like one more winger to back up Saka. Speaking of Saka with a 101m release clause I was worried Man City would pay it but the offer never came. I will try to extend his contract before January but his demands are very high. Bellingham has a release clause of 105m and although I don’t like spending that kind of money I would like to have him so am kind of saving up. SQUAD - 4-2-3-1 wide GK – Ramsdale – Turner DL – Zinchenko – Tierney DR – Tomiyasu – Rosier DC – Gabriel - Umtiti DC – Saliba – White CDM – Partey – Elneny CM – Kroos – Lokonga – Vieria AMC – Odegaard – Smith-Rowe AML – Martinelli – Pulisic AMR – Saka ST – Jesus - Nketiah PRE SEASON Pre-season saw us travel to Singapore. However, international tournaments in America and Africa slightly disrupted us. The trip as well as the matches went well with all players contributing. We managed to win every game quite easily until a draw with Genk in the Emirates Cup semi-finals. As fun as it is to rack up the goals I don’t think I will be visiting Singapore again. Niigata were the domestic champions. Milwall (A) 3-1 – Smith Rowe, Jesus (pen) Saka Si Ling United (A) 16-0 – Vieria 3 Saliba Saka Smith-Rowe Nketiah 6 Odegaard Balogun Gabriel Kroos Niigata Unicorn (A) 10-0 – Nketiah Partey 2 Marquinhos 2 Odegaard 2 Jesus 2 Saka Colchester (A) – 2-0 – Martinelli Rekik Anderlect (A) – 2-0 – Pepe Kroos Emirates Cup Genk – 1-1 (5-4pens) – White Barcelona – 4-2 – Saka 2 Jesus Vieira COMMUNITY SHIELD ARSENAL 1 – Saliba 7 LIVERPOOL 1 – Fabinho 41 – Robertson s/o 42 Alexander-Arnold s/o 48 (Arsenal won 4-3 on penalties) The season started with an entertaining if not frustrating curtain raiser at Wembley with Liverpool. Playing the last 42 minutes against 9-men despite 25 shots we just couldn’t score and were one kick away from an embarrassing loss only for Pavard to miss. Smith-Rowe struck the winning kick. No summer signings made debuts as Pulisic picked up an injury meaning he would be out until after the first international break and I didn’t find space in the game to bring Rosier on. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Jesus 8, 71 Saka 60 EVERTON 1 – Gordon 59 Our defence of the premier league began with a home game against Everton. We were good if not spectacular but a solid enough start. A hat-trick from Cody Gakpo saw Liverpool beat Burnley 5-1 at Anfield on the opening night. They look like being the biggest challengers again. We will play them in the penultimate game of the season at Anfield on May 11th. The last of four league away games in a row. PREMIER LEAGUE MAN CITY 3 – B. Silva 2, 75 De Bruyne 26 ARSENAL 3 – Odegaard 29 Saliba 30 Kroos 86 It was Man City away in our second game for the second consecutive season. Last time it was a 2-2 draw and on this occasion the same result. New manager Vincent Kompany left Haaland on the bench having also done so in their opening 4-1 win at Watford. New signing Declan Rice started. We were at full strength but didn’t play like it finding ourselves 2-0 down. Once odegaard and Saliba had pulled us level though the game became even and we dominated possession but City had more shots. A late Kroos equaliser very much deserved and another good point. Ederson with a 5.9 in the city goal. League Table Newcastle setting the pace in the early days. Spurs beat Liverpool 3-0 but lost at Man united in their opening games. 1. Newcastle P2 P6 GD7 2. Wolves P2 P6 GD5 3. Man Utd P2 P6 GD4 4. Man City P2 P4 GD3 5. Chelsea P2 P4 GD3 6. Arsenal P2 P4 GD2 Other News The summer was busy with transfers both home and abroad. Liverpool spent nearly 140million to bring in Cody Gakpo and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. Chelsea signed Ferran Torres and Icardi. Koopmeniners went to Spurs. Man City brought in Declan Rice and Douglas Santos while Newcastle were the biggest spenders of all buying seven players with Pedro Porro the standout name. Man United didn’t spend a penny until deadline day when they brought in En-Nesyri. Leicester now in the championship lost Ndidi who went to real madrid, Tielemans and barnes but kept maddison, daka,vardy etc. Similarly Brighton also relegated only lost Trossard to Atalanta. PSG raided the premier league taking Neves and Toney. They also signed Luis Suarez on a free transfer to go alongside my target Asensio. Real Madrid signed Todibo, Zubimendi and Sutalo. Chukwueze and former gunner Lucas Torreira joined Barcelona. Aubameyang went to Sociadad on loan. Germany and Italy were fairly quiet. Guardiola became Chelsea manager. Two former arsenal players took up new roles. Arteta at Fiorentina and Vieira at Strasbourg. Internationally Rafa Benitez became England manager. Keeping my seat warm until after the Euros 2024. Draws. Back in the champions league we were given a favourable draws with Inter Partizan Belgrade and Nice. The balls weren’t so lucky for some of the other English teams. Liverpool will do well to get out of their group with Barcelona and Dortmund. Man United also won’t have it easy with Real Madrid, Benfica and Gladbach. Man City drew Bayern but should overcome Sociedad and Salzburg. In the Europa and Conference League Spurs Chelsea and West Ham should comfortably qualify from their groups. Last season we crashed out in the 4th round of the carabao cup on penalties to Aston Villa. Our third round would get underway at now championship side Brighton. Leeds host Man United and Chelsea play Newcastle in an otherwise tame 3rd round draw. September/October Fixtures Wolves (A) Leeds (H) Inter (H) - Champions League Newcastle (A) Brighton (A) – Carabao Cup 3rd Round Liverpool (H) Nice (A) - Champions League Tottenham (A) Crystal Palace (H) Partizan Belgrade (H) - Champions League Fulham (A)
  9. Fm23 season 1 – MAY / END OF SEASON REVIEW PREMIER LEAGUE WOLVES 2 – Jimenez 33 Neto 48 ARSENAL 2 – Odegaard 44 Nketiah 73 We lead Liverpool by three points heading into the final four fixtures of the season. For the first one we found ourselves both playing at the same time away from home with us at Wolves and them at the trickier looking Newcastle. Ramsdale picked up an injury followed by a setback meaning he wouldn’t play again this season. Wolves had earlier in the season beaten Liverpool 4-1 at home, so I knew it would be difficult and so it proved. They were the far better team with 21 shots on goal to our 10 and a 2.31 xg to our 1.07. Jimenez missed a free header from about six yards out in the dying seconds. Partey picked up a yellow card which was his 15th in the league and meant a three match ban and no domestic games for the rest of the season. To compound our miserable day a Nunez brace saw Liverpool win 2-1 at Newcastle and move 1 point behind with a +20 on goal difference and us still to go to Chelsea. EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI FINAL 1ST LEG ROMA 4 – Cristante 15 Dybala 44 Zaniolo 88 Abraham 90 ARSENAL 2 – Jesus 53 Zinchenko 88 Having beaten Lazio in the previous round we returned to Rome to face Roma in the semi finals. Much like the Wolves game we were mostly outplayed with Roma having a 93% pass accuracy. We were 2-0 down at half time and I decided to shut up shop but from nowhere Odegaard produced a beautiful pass for Jesus and then Zinchenko scored a cracker for his first for the club. 2-2 was a good result but Roma retook the lead straight from kick off and with the last kick of the game Tammy Abraham gave them daylight with a header from a corner. Not out of it but work to do. Braces by Eriksen and Rashford saw Man United beat Leipzig 4-1 at Old Trafford which should mean enough to send them through to the final. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Gabriel 2 74 Hazard 28 Saliba 53 – Jesus miss/pen 57 NOTTINGAM FORREST 0 A game at home to already relegated Nottingham Forest was exactly what was needed. I rested Saka and Odegaard completely to keep the fresh for the Roma return leg and the Chelsea game. All three defender goals came from Fabio Vieria deliveries. Liverpool beat Man United 4-0 at Anfield to keep the gap the same. Darwin Nunez with a hat-trick. They would play first in the penultimate weekend away at Crystal Palace. EUROPA LEAGUE SEMI FINAL 2nd LEG ARSENAL 0 ROMA 1 – Abraham 90 I was confident heading into the second leg against Roma. Unfortunately, in a scrappier game than the one in Rome their stubborn defence were able to keep us at arms length until Abraham popped up with another 90th minute header from a corner. Man United lost 2-1 to Leipzig in germany but went through to the final 5-3 on aggregate. PREMIER LEAGUE CHELSEA 1 – Sterling 12 ARSENAL 2 – Jesus 22 Smith-Rowe 83 Things were slightly rosier as Odsonne Edouard hit a 93rd minute winner as relegation threatened Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 1-0 which meant a win at Stamford Bridge would give us the title with one game to go. The game was tight and tense and I would have taken a draw but with seven minutes to go Smith Rowe poked home at the back post to win us the league. Stamford Bridge joining White Hart Lane ’71, ’04, Old Trafford ’02 and Anfield ’89. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 0 BRENTFORD 1 – Toney 45 The final game of the season saw us host Brentford at a celebratory Emirates. On another day I would have been annoyed as we were the better team and should’ve won easily but the result didn’t matter. Final Table Premier league table - Played/Points/Goal Difference 1. Arsenal P 38 P 89 GD 47 2. Liverpool P 38 P 85 GD 68 3. Man Utd P 38 P 75 GD 37 4. Man City P 38 P 74 GD 41 5. Tottenham P 38 P 64 GD 21 Chelsea finished 6th one point behind Spurs. Bournemouth won at Aston Villa on the final day to stay up as Nottingham Forest, Brighton and Leicester were relegated. Burnley and QPR were promoted automatically. Watford beat Middlesbrough in the playoff final. Premier league season stats Goals – Haaland 34, Jiminez 27 Toney, Salah 26 Jesus 22 Assists – Salah 16 Eriksen 15 Damsgaard 13 B Silva, Son 10 - (=8th Saka 9 ) AV Rating – Salah 7.78 Haaland 7.60 D Nunez 7.38 Mount 7.34 Tsimikas 7.27 ( - 7th Gabriel 7,25 ) MOM – Salah 14 Toney Jiminez 9 Haaland 8 Ronaldo 7 (=6th Odegaard 6 ) Clean Sheets – Alisson 17 Lloris 16 Raya 15 Ramsdale 13 Ederson 12 Possession – Arsenal, Chelsea 61% Man City, Tottenham 59 Liverpool 56 X.G – Liverpool 2.32 Man City 1.95 Arsenal 1.81 Newcastle 1.71 Man United 1.65 Pass Accuracy – Chelsea 91% Tottenham 90% Arsenal, Man City 89% Aston Villa 88% Season Awards Footballer of the Year – Mohamed Salah Players Player of the Year – Mohamed Salah Young Player of the Year – Erling Haaland Golden Glove – Alisson Manager – Kinglara Team of the Season – Ramsdale Robertson Gabriel Saliba Alexander-Arnold Diaz Partey Keita Salah Jesus Haaland Arsenal in the Premier League Home P 19 W17 D0 L2 GF51 GA14 Away P19 W11 D5 L3 GF32 GA22 Overall P38 W28 D5 L5 GF83 GA36 Performance timeline WDWWWWDWLWWWWWWWWLWWWWDLWWWWWWWDWLDWWL Arsenal premier league stats Goals – Jesus 22 Nketiah 12 Saka 10 Odegaard 9 Martinelli, Gabriel 5 Smith Rowe Hazard 4 Xhaka Vieria 3 Saliba 2 Cedric Lokonga Elneny 1 Own goal - 1 Assists – Saka 9 Odegaard 8 Kroos 6 Vieria Zinchenko Martinelli 5 Xhaka Tomiyasu 4 Jesus lokonga hazard 3Tierney cedric Saliba Smith-Rowe Nketiah 2 Partey White Elneny 1 Mom – Odegaard 6 Saka Jesus 5 Gabriel 3 Xhaka Tierney 2 Vieria Partey Saliba Smith-Rowe Martinelli Lokonga Hazard 1 OVERALL SEASON STATS Played Goals / CS Assists MoM Av rating Odegaard 41 9 13 6 7.23 Gabriel 40 5 0 3 7.19 Jesus 39(+8) 32 4 7 7.09 Saka 39(+3) 10 10 5 7.16 Ramsdale 38 14 0 0 7.08 Partey 37 0 1 1 7.03 Martinelli 31(+12) 8 6 2 7.07 Zinchenko 31(+5) 1 6 1 6.99 Tomiyasu 31(+1) 0 4 0 7.00 Saliba 29(+1) 2 2 1 7.18 White 28(+5) 0 2 0 6.96 Tierney 21(+11) 0 2 2 7.02 Cedric 21(+2) 1 2 0 6.96 Hazard 20(+18) 6 3 1 6.89 Xhaka 20(+8) 5 6 2 7.24 Lokonga 17(+8) 1 6 1 7.37 Kroos 17(+5) 1 7 1 7.25 Turner 15 5 0 0 6.95 Nketiah 14(+19) 16 2 1 7.09 Elneny 12(+19) 4 1 2 7.27 Smith-Rowe 11(+15) 5 8 1 7.33 Vieria 9(+23) 4 8 2 7.11 Holding 8(+4) 0 0 0 7.06 Butler-Odeyeji 2(+2) 2 0 0 6.93 Marquinhos 1(+5) 0 0 0 6.70 Bandeira 1(+2) 0 0 0 7.05 Awe 1(+1) 1 0 1 8.00 Walters 1(+1) 0 0 0 7.00 Jeffcott 1 0 0 0 7.20 Ideho 0(+2) 0 1 0 7.50 Vigar 0(+1) 2 0 1 8.40 Nelson (Sold Jan) 7(+4) 1 3 0 7.14 Final Bits Two goals in the last six minutes from Depay and Lewandowski saw Barcelona beat PSG 3-2 in the Champions League Final. Mbappe with a brace not enough for PSG Our Semi final conquerors Roma beat Man United 2-0 in the Europa League final. A brace from Zaniolo In the Conference League Fc Koln needed extra time to beat Monaco 2-1. Domestically PSG totalled 105 points in winning Ligue 1. In Germany Bayern also won the title easily with Dortmund just scraping in the champions league places. Ac Milan won a tight three way battle in Italy despite losing to Inter on the final day. Juventus needing only a win could only draw at home to Roma. Finally, Real Madrid comfortably beat Barcelona to the title in Spain. Liverpool needed penalties to beat Nottingham Forrest in the FA Cup final after a goalless draw at Wembley. Man City sacked Guardiola. Potter also left Chelsea. Final Summary Premier League – 1st Europa League – Semi Finals – Lost 5-2 on Agg to Roma FA Cup – 3rd Round – Lost 1-0 at Home vs Crystal Palace Carabao Cup – 4th Round – Lost 3-3 7-8 on penalties Away vs Aston Villa Obviously delighted to win the league although it was tighter than I would have liked. Our Fa Cup loss was unlucky but I would like to do better than that for next season and get to at least the latter stages. Back in the Champions League we will try to at least make it out of the group stages and go from there. I will look for another winger and a right back in the summer plus replacing players that are sold. Lokonga and Smith-Rowe were two players that surprised me when looking back at the stats for the season and I will try and give them more game time. I want to bring in some of the youngsters like Patino and Awe to the first team as well. Like most first seasons our goal outputs were poor. We also lost four of our last nine games winning only three which wasn’t a great way to end the season. I will also replace and bring in better staff for all three teams.
  10. FM23 SEASON 1 ARSENAL – MARCH/APRIL PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 2 – Jesus 64 Saka 79 MAN UNITED 1 – B. Fernandes 53 We faced a big challenge in our first game of March but rose to it well with a very convincing win. The scoreline flattered United. We should have won by a lot more. EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 1ST LEG FRANKFURT 1 – Kamada 33 ARSENAL 0 Our Europa League campaign continued with a clash against Frankfurt. They were languishing in midtable domestically and I was expecting a routine victory. We played a near full strength eleven but didn’t turn up and despite Saka and Xhaka hitting the crossbar we lost a tight game by a goal. I’m still confident of going through though. PREMIER LEAGUE LEICESTER 0 ARSENAL 1– Odegaard 90 Sandwiched in between was a tricky trip to Leicester. Liverpool had lost the previous day at Wolves so it was a chance to extend our lead at the top of the league. I again went strong making only three changes from the Frankfurt loss. Leicester made the game bitty giving away 23 fouls but had the better chances and deserved at least a draw. However having thrown the kitchen sink late odegaard headed in the winner after a vardy goal had been ruled out moments earlier for offside. The fifth 1-0(odegaard) match of the season. EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 2nd LEG ARSENAL 3 – Jesus 53, 70 Martinelli 76 FRANKFURT 1 – N’dicka 55 We qualified comfortably through to the Europa League quarters as I suspected with a good display. Frankfurt kept the ball well and had 47% possession which is higher than pretty much every team we have faced especially at the Emirates but it was only us that was creating the chances. They didn’t have a single player receive a rating over 6.9. Saka went off injured and would be out for a month. We would play Lazio in the Quarter Finals. The first leg being the Emirates bringing a different challenge. Man United eased past Nantes and would play Union Berlin. The other two matches were Roma vs Marseille and an all german clash with Leipzig vs Freiburg. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Smith Rowe 44 Jesus 47 68 Odegaard 52 EVERTON 1 – Mcneil 88 – Gordon miss/pen 4 Our first game back after the international break saw us host a struggling Everton. We had a sloppy first half first giving away e penalty which was saved by Ramsdale and then despite possession being unable to create much. A goal by Smith -rowe before half time though galvanised us and in the second half we were much better and ran away with it. A goal and assist for Smith Rowe on his first start since boxing day. PREMIER LEAGUE BOURNEMOUTH 2 – Zinchenko o.g 14 Billing 37 ARSENAL 4 – Jesus 59 83(pen) Hazard 75 Nketiah 90 A trip to relegation threatened Bournemouth seemed like an easy three points but 2-0 down at half time I had to get the hairdryer out. It worked though as second half we were much better. Smith-Rowe rolled his ankle and joined an ever extending injury list. EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 1ST LEG ARSENAL 1 - Patric o.g 85 LAZIO 0 Saliba returned to the bench after two months out. In the absence of Saka and Smith-Rowe I opted for Marquinhos at right wing. Quite a game to make his first start. Lazio committed 25 fouls but came to play and narrowly had more possession. Both teams had a 90% pass accuracy in a good game just lacking chances. Hazards shot deflecting off the unlucky Patric. A good win heading to Italy for the second leg. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Martinelli 83 CRYSTAL PALACE 0 – Konsa s/o 75 I hadn’t realised Fabio Vieira could play right wing before the Lazio game so he started at home to Palace. Saliba also came in for the rested Gabriel. Marquinhos looked like he had scored his first goal for Arsenal two minutes after Martinelli but it was disallowed for offside. Saka made his return from injury late on. EUROPA LEAGUE LAST 16 1ST LEG LAZIO 1 – Immobile 28 – Pedro s/o 40 Milinkovic-Savic s/o 56 ARSENAL 3 – Hazard 10 Jesus 15 Kroos 21 I expected a tough game In Italy but never got one as we raced into a 3-0 lead to basically kill the game in the first 20 minutes. Toni Kroos ran the show with an 8.8 rating including a rocket for the third goal. Lazio players got frustrated and two terrible challenges meant they played the last 35 minutes with 9 men. I rather have my players rested so just took the win. A tricky obstacle overcome. We would be staying in Rome for the semi-finals as we drew Roma. Man United eased to a 7-0 aggregate win over Union Berlin and will play Leipzig. PREMIER LEAGUE ASTON VILLA 2 – Watkins 53 Bailey 90 ARSENAL 2 – Gabriel 45 Jesus 90 We headed to Villa Park on a high after the Europa League win in Rome. Villa took advantage of tired legs and played pretty well having got back level. Gabriel giving us the lead heading in a Kroos corner on the stroke of halftime. Jesus seemed like he had bagged us a late winner after pouncing on a poor touch by mcginn in the area but before my park the bus tactics could be sent out bailey had equalised for Villa. They deserved it. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Jesus 38 45 47 SOUTHAMPTON 1 – Adams 46 – Ryerson s/o 40 We responded well three days later with a comfortable win over Southampton at the Emirates. I took the opportunity to rest Gabriel, Kroos, Partey and Odegaard. A red card for Southampton meant the game was done by half time. PREMIER LEAGUE WEST HAM 2 – Soucek 49(pen) Scamacca 83 ARSENAL 0 A fourth game in nine days proved too much as we lost a poor game at the London Stadium. Despite having 70% possession we had no energy and lost easily. Only four games left and still a three point lead but can’t afford another loss with a -22 goal difference to Liverpool. Premier league table 1. Arsenal Played 34 Points 82 Goal Difference + 43 2. Liverpool P 34 P 79 GD 65 3. Man Utd P 34 P 70 GD 40 4. Man City P 34 P 67 GD 37 5. Tottenham P 34 P 58 GD 21 The top four seems done with City 9 points above Spurs. Nottingham Forrest are all but relegated with just 19 points. Brighton are five points off Palace in 17th so seem likely to also go down. Bournemouth are just a single point adrift and Fulham are also not safe yet. With one game left in the championship Burnley are promoted. QPR are all but there with a 3 point lead and 6 goal difference over preston in third. Six other teams can still make the play offs with one game left. Title run-in – Liverpools much tougher on paper but I would have preferred the United and Spurs games to be away rather than at Anfield Arsenal – Wolves (A) Nottingham Forrest (H) Chelsea (A) Brentford (H) Liverpool – Newcastle (A) Man United (H) Crystal Palace (A) Tottenham (H) Relegation run-in - Brighton (25 Points) – Crystal Palace (A) Brentford (H) Newcastle (A) Chelsea (H) Bournemouth (29 Points) – Leicester (H) Leeds (A) Southampton (H) Aston Villa (A) Crystal Palace (30 Points) Brighton (H) Fulham (A) Liverpool (H) Southampton (A) Fulham (34 Points) – Chelsea (A) Crystal Palace (H) Everton (A) Wolves (H) Premier League Top scorers Haaland 29 Salah 26 Jimenez 24 Ronaldo, Jesus 21 Premier League Top Assists Eriksen 15 Salah 13 Damsgaard, Harrison 10 B. Silva, Tsimikas, Saka, Son 9 Premier League Av Rating Salah 7.79 Haaland 7.55 Tsimikas, Mount 7.34 Nunez 7.31 - (8th Xhaka 7.26) Premier League Motm Salah 13 Jimenez 8 Haaland, Toney, Ronaldo 7 – (=6th Odegaard, Jesus, Saka 5 Team XG Liverpool 2.36 Man City 1.95 Arsenal 1.84 Man United 1.69 Newcastle 1.66 Team Av Possession Arsenal 62% Chelsea 60% Man City, Tottenham 59% Liverpool 56% Europe/Other News/Transfers PSG have comfortably won Ligue 1. Just the 25 points above Nice with five games left. They have won 29 games but did suffer one loss 1-2 at home to Lille. Bayern have also had it easy in Germany winning the Bundesliga. Champions League places are tight though with Dortmund in danger of missing out. Real Madrid have all but secured the title in Spain. Finally in Italy Milan hold a four point lead over Juventus in second but have played a game more. Inter in third also aren’t out of it despite being 14 points behind have played three games less. There is a Milan derby in the final round of fixtures. In the champions league Man City recovered from a 0-2 deficit to Bayern to stun them, 3-0 at the Etihad and progress. A Lukaku brace saw Inter beat Chelsea having won the first leg at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool knocked out Ream Madrid after winning 3-0 at Anfield. Courtois with a 5.9 rating. In the Quarters Liverpool and Ac Milan drew 2-2 at Anfield before the Italians won 2-0 in Italy. Man Citys quest for a first champions league was over after getting thumped 4-1 at the nou camp after drawing 0-0 in Manchester. Benfica held their nerve to see off Juventus and Hakimi hit an 88th minute equaliser which ended up with PSG beating inter on penalties after both games were drawn. The semi finals are Ac Milan vs PSG and Barcelona vs Benfica In the conference league west ham were knocked out in the last 16 by Villarreal drawing 2-2 in Spain but losing 2-1 at home. The semi finals see Villarreal's conquerors in the quarters Koln play Austria Vienna and Monaco vs Real Sociedad. The Fa Cup final will see Liverpool play Nottingham Forest. The under 21s have won the premier division league, cup as well as the Johnsons paint trophy. Sadly in the international version they were knocked out in the group stages. The Under 18s came 3rd in their league and were knocked out in the premier division cup but did manage to win the fa youth cup beating Chelsea in the final. All the regens and youth candidates came in. We have a decent five star potential striker in Pearce Dymond. The rest are ok but nothing outstanding. There were a couple of decent players that we scouted but most wouldn’t come. I did snap up five players from other domestic academies and am still on the search for more. Edu stupidly put a 101 million minimum release clause in Sakas new contract which means he may leave in the summer if Man City as expected match it. Xhaka also wants to go. May Fixtures Wolves (A) Roma (A) - Europa League Semi Final 1st Leg Nottingham Forrest (H) Roma (H) - Europa League Semi FInal 2nd Leg Chelsea (A) Brentford (H)
  11. Thanks. Losing home and away to Liverpool hasn't helped!
  12. FM23 SEASON 1 ARSENAL – JANAUARY/FEBRUARY The good, the bad and the unlucky PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 7 – Cedric 11 Jesus 13, 45(pen) Odegaard 22 Saka 32 Martinelli 42 Elneny 77 BRIGHTON 2 – March 52 Buonanotte 78 Our last game in December had ended in a disappointing defeat at Old Trafford so I wanted to see a reaction in our next game less than 48 hours later and categorically got one. Unlikely goalscorer Cedric struck his first of the season and then turned provider two minutes later for Jesus. The other three attackers and a Jesus penalty made it 6-0 at half time. Brighton won the second half 2-1 but the players had their feet up by then. FA CUP 3RD ROUND ARSENAL 0 CRYSTAL PALACE 1 – Edouard 90 With a gap of a week before the next fixture I went strong for our FA Cup opener at home to Palace. The front four attackers all started as well as Lokonga and Cedric from the Brighton game. We dominated the game and Sam Johnstone was excellent by my blasé tactics at the end to get the winner came back to bite me as with no defenders back we got hit on the break from a corner and Edouard knocked us out of the cup with one of palaces only two shots on target. PREMIER LEAGUE LEEDS 0 ARSENAL 2 – Jesus 40 57 We Responded well to the disappointment of going out of the fa cup with a good win at leeds. A goal in each half by Jesus taking him to double figures in the premier league. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Vieria 88 TOTTENHAM 0 After going goalless at the Tottenham Stadium back in September we hosted Spurs at the Emirates. That day we were lucky to get a draw with Tottenham having a 3.19xg but this time they set up for another 0-0. It looked like happening but up popped Vieria off the bench to poke in a late winner. Turner deputising for an Ill ramsdale was never really tested. TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY A quick pause in the fixture list as we entered the last few days of the transfer window. Rob Holding seemed certain to leave to either Ajax or Newcastle but ended up rejecting both. Reiss Nelson did go though in a 7.5 million move to West Ham as I didn’t wish to extend his contract. I didn’t plan to buy anyone but a trawl though the asking prices I saw Toni Kroos for 2.8 million and couldn’t say no. The only player I tried to sign on a pre-contract was Asensio who I was close to getting in the summer but he chose PSG. I did sign one player for next season in the form of Danilo from Porto but I think I will loan him out. IN Kroos 2.8m Out Nelson 7.5m Smith, Vigar. Sousa, Walters. Ideho – Loan PREMIER LEAGUE NEWCASTLE 3 – Isak 4 Joelinton 45 Murphy 81 ARSENAL 5 – Martinelli 30, 32 Jesus 42, 48 Saka 53 A 14 day break meant we were well rested for the trip to Newcastle. Ramsdale had recovered from a virus and started in goal. Kroos was on the bench on his first appearance We got off to a terrible start with Isak giving Newcastle a 4 minute lead. Martinelli struck twice in three minutes to turn the game around and when Jesus added a third before half time it seemed job done but Joelinton gave Newcastle a lifeline going into the break. Kroos came on at half time for the injured lokonga and after Jesus gave us daylight he set up sakas goal to finally put Newcastle out of reach before Jacob Murphy added a third for the toon late on. Saka outstanding with 2 assists to add to his goal and a 9.3 rating. Kroos debut saw a solid 7.8. A good result heading into the crunch Liverpool game. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 90 LIVERPOOL 2 – Diaz 24 Salah 65 We headed into the top of the table clash with Liverpool 4 points clear. Unfortunately we produced our worst performance of the season to deservedly lose 2-1. A very poor display. The gap cut to 1 with Man City also not far behind. PREMIER LEAGUE BRIGHTON 1 – Welbeck 84 ARSENAL 1 – Saka 46 News didn’t improve with Saliba ruled out for two months with a hip injury. Ben White has been very unhappy at not playing but will now get a chance. We had scored 7 at the Emirates against Brighton but found goals harder to come by at the amex. We produced a better performance than the Liverpool game though and looked like getting a vital 1-0 win only for Danny Welbeck to sucker punch us with a late equaliser. Liverpool beat Man City 2-0 at Anfield the same evening who we would play next. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 78 MAN CITY 0 31 goal Erling Haaland was suspended for the game in a huge stroke of luck. They were also missing Grealish and Walker. City had come to the emirates off the back of two 2-0 defeats to Liverpool and Bayern Munich. They dominated the first half having 59% possession but had nobody to finish the chances. We were better in the second and pulled possession back to 50/50 by the end of the game. Odegaard striking a low shot past Ederson with 12 minutes to go. City failed to have a single effort on target from their 14 shots. Seven points clear of City with a game in hand should be enough of a lead. A big win. PREMIER LEAGUE FULHAM 0 ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 47 It was Adam Websters turn to score a late equaliser for Brighton this time at Liverpools expense on the Friday night football. We took full advantage on the Saturday with a nervy win at Fulham. Odegaard again scoring the only goal from of all things a header. Just 4 goals in our last 4 games. One point clear at the top but a whopping 21 behind in goal difference. Premier league table 1. Arsenal Played 26 Points 63 Goal Difference +35 2. Liverpool P 26 P 62 GD 56 3. Man City P 26 P 56 GD 35 4. Man Utd P 26 P 52 GD 25 5. Chelsea P 27 P 46 GD 10 Spurs are a point behind Chelsea. Fulham Wolves Bournemouth and Brighton are separated by just two points from 16th-19th. Nottingham Forest are 10 adrift at the bottom and will need a miracle to stay up. In the championship Burnley are 8 points clear while Watford QPR and Sheffield United are fighting for the other promotion spot. 6th-19th is separated by just 5 points. Premier League Top scorers Haaland 26 Salah 23 Jimenez 17 Ronaldo 16 Toney 14 - (=8th Jesus 12) Premier League Top Assists Salah 11 Silva, Tsimikas, Saka 8 Eriksen 7 Premier League Av Rating Salah 7.96 Haaland 7.69 Tsimikas 7.40 Foden 7.36 Mount 7.32 (7th Xhaka 7.30) Premier League Motm Salah 12 Haaland 7 Ronaldo Toney 6 Goncalves 5 (=8th Odegaard, Saka 4 Team XG Liverpool 2.49 Man City 1.96 Newcastle 1.81 Arsenal 1.80 Man United 1.71 Team Av Possession Arsenal 61% Chelsea 60% Man City, Tottenham 59% Aston Villa, Liverpool 56% Arsenal stats (1st team) Appearances (35 played) Saka 27 (+1) Ramsdale 26 Odegaard Gabriel 25 Martinelli 23 (+4) Partey 23 Saliba 22 Jesus 21(+8) Tomiyasu 20 Tierney 17(+8) Zinchenko 17(+4) Xhaka 16(+4) White Lokonga 15(+4) Nketiah 14(+9) Cedric 14 (+2) Hazard 10(+13) Elneny 9(+14) Turner 9 Smith Rowe 8 (+10) Holding 7 (+3) Vieira 5(+15) Kroos 4(+1) Butler-Oyedeji 2(+2) Bandeira 1(+2) Awe Walters 1(+1) Jeffcott 1 Ideho 0(+2) Vigar, Marquinhos 0(+1) Goals Jesus 18 Nketiah 14 Saka 9 Odegaard, Martinelli 6 Xhaka 5 Elneny Vieira 4 Smith-Rowe Hazard 3 Gabriel, Butler-Odeyeji, Vigar 2 Awe Cedric Lokonga Saliba Nelson 1 Assists Saka 8 Odegaard 7 Xhaka 4 Smith-Rowe 6 Martinelli Lokonga 5 Vieria Zinchenko 4 Tomiyasu, Nelson 3 Tierney Cedric Nketiah Jesus Hazard Kroos 2 Partey 1 Saliba White Ideho 1 Man of Match Odegaard Saka Jesus 4 Xhaka, Vieria, Tierney, Martinelli, Gabriel, Elneny 2 Awe Partey Nketiah Lokonga Hazard, Vigar 1 Europe/Other News/Transfers Celtic were knocked out of the last 32 in the Europa league on penalties to Freiburg. The draw for the next round sees us play Frankfurt. Man united are against Nantes. It looks like us and United are among the heavy favourites to make the final. In the champions league all three English sides lost their first knockout round ties. Chelsea the only one losing at home though so nothing is over. In the conference league West Ham face a tough tie against Villarreal. West Ham beat Man City 9-8 on penalties to win the Carabao Cup. Ake the only player to miss. Scamacca had given the hammers a 13th minute lead only for Haaland to equalise in the 90th minute. Two minutes into extra time Kalvin Phillips was sent off for City but West Ham couldn’t find the goal. Both teams are out of the Fa Cup with City losing 2-1 at the Etihad to Chelsea from a 91st minute winner from Aubameyang. Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs all kept apart in the fifth round draw. My conquerers Villa are at home to Bournemouth. A few manager sackings and replacements in the premier league. Conte was replaced at Spurs by Luis Enrique. Neil Lennon became manager of Leicester and Mark Van Bommel joined Brighton. Eight managers replaced this season if if I am included as well. The January transfer window was quiet on the whole. Nicolaz Gonzarlez joined Newcastle from Fiorentina for 48 million in the biggest deal. Man united signed Mac Callister from Brighton for 32m. United also signed Thauvin for 18m March/April Fixtures Man United (H) Frankfurt (A) – Europa League 1st Leg Leicester (A) Frankfurt (H) – Europa League 2nd Leg Everton (H) Bournemouth (A) Palace (H) Villa (A) Southampton (H) West Ham (A)
  13. I pretty much play the same system just make minor tweaks depending on personel etc. I agree with not making too many radical changes.
  14. FM23 SEASON 1 ARSENAL – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER World cup fever but still strong domestically. EUROPA LEAGUE AS MONACO 1 – Ben Yedder 18 – Camara s/o 45 ARSENAL 3 – Awe 19 Martinelli 47 Xhaka 83 The group stages concluded with on paper its toughest fixture. After five wins from five we were guaranteed top spot but the clash of the under 21s own European fixture meant I played more of a second string than a youth team. Zinchenko, Gabriel and Elneny were all one yellow card away from suspension so I left them out completely. Zach Awe was the only under 21 to feature from the start having not played in the other game. I started Martinelli upfront as he had still yet to score. Monaco struck first through Ben Yedder before Awe got a goal from a smith rowe free kick. The game was even but Camara got himself sent off and the second half was a stroll. Martinelli duly did bag his first of the campaign while Xhaka came off the bench to rocket a shot past Nubel for a 3-1 win. Six out of six in a tricky group stage well negotiated. Freiburgs 2-0 win against Zurich in the final game meant they progressed and Monaco dropped down to the conference league. Zurich finish bottom with 1 goal scored and 20 conceded. 1st ARSENAL 9 Points 2nd Freiburg 9 3rd Monaco 9 4th Zurich 0 PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Nketiah 4, 77 Vieria 36 Saka 46 BOURNEMOUTH 1 – Rothwell 77 We eased to a win at the emirates against Bournmouth with two goals being scored in the same minute. Rothwells came first. CARABAO CUP 3RD ROUND ARSENAL 4 – Jesus 16 54 Elneny 27 79 BIRMINHAM 1 – Sanderson 15 Our Carabao cup journey started at home to Birmingham. Scheduled on the same day as the under 21s youth game against Bayern I again fielded the first team fringe players. We recovered well from going a goal down to net a good win with two Elneny crackers continuing his good form. There is usually one casualty and it was Liverpool who lost 2-1 at stoke. Newcastle nearly joined them in being knocked out but overcame Norwich on penalties. We would face Aston Villa away in the fourth round. Chelsea vs Spurs the pick of the ties. PREMIER LEAGUE EVERTON 0 ARSENAL 1 – Hazard 49 The final match before the world cup saw us travel to Goodison Park. Despite both scoring braces in the previous game Jesus and Elneny found themselves back on the bench. It was not the most exciting game with a combined 1.05 xg but Hazards bit of quality got the winner. Lampard was sacked afterwards. Liverpools draw at Aston Villa meant we had a five point cushion heading into the world cup. Odegaard returned from injury added a further boost. CARABAO CUP 4th ROUND ASTON VILLA 3 – Watkins 38 Bailey 43 Ings 50 ARSENAL 3 – Xhaka 8 Martinelli 23 Smith Rowe 90 – Xhaka s/o 34 Aston villa won 8-7 on penalties. We had two friendlies after the world cup winning 1-0 in Greece against Paok thanks to odegaard and then winning 2-0 at the Emirates to dutch team RKC Waalwijk with Jesus and Smith Rowe scoring in a very ill tempered game that saw 12 yellow cards and Elneny miss a penalty. Due to it being the first game after the world cup I played a strong side with White and Holding the only non regular starters. We got off to a great start going 2-0 up early but then Xhaka stupidly got himself sent off and despite shutting up shop Villa were back level by half time. They took the lead through Ings and that seemed to be it but I threw a few men forward late on and Smith Rowe managed to prod in a late equaliser to send the game to penalties. Villa scored all eight of their penalties with ramsdale doing a great impression of real life Petr Cech and diving the wrong way almost every time. Tomiyasu eventually missed our one. A shame to go out but at least a few less games. Chelsea hammered Spurs 4-0 in one of the other fourth round ties while Man United also suffered penalty loss away at Hull. They play Everton in the quarters while Villa are at home to Leicester. Man City vs Millwall and West Ham vs Chelsea the other ties. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 6 – Martinelli 46 Nketiah 52 Smith-Rowe 56 Lokonga 73 Jesus 77, 79 LEICESTER 0 We responded well to the villa loss with my biggest win so far. 0-0 at half time I told the players I expected more and they delivered in style. Poor Leicester just fell apart. Lokonga starting ahead of Xhaka was outstanding. Food for thought going forwards. PREMIER LEAGUE MAN UNITED 2 – Sancho 34 Martinez 57 ARSENAL 1 – Odegaard 50 New Years eve saw us visit Old Trafford. Lokonga kept his place and despite playing well and having 63% posession we succumbed to two soft goals and lost 2-1. Odegaard scoring just his second of the season. Not a great way to end the month and year but we still have a 2-point lead. Premier league table 1. Arsenal Played 18 Points 44 Goal Difference + 24 2. Liverpool P 18 P 42 GD 40 3. Man City P 18 P 39 GD 26 4. Chelsea P 18 P 34 GD 10 5. Man Utd P 18 P 33 GD 8 Nottingham Forrest are 10 points below safety and look likely to go down. Fulham and Brighton also in the relegation zone. In the championship Burney and Watford look well set for promotion. EUROPE No real surprises in the Europa league group stages. Feyenoord finished second in their group behind Betis. Sociedad finished third but had a tough group with Fenerbahce and Lazio. One smile to be had watching the champions league from afar. Spurs finished bottom of their group after losing the crunch final match 1-0 to Celtic in Glasgow. Chelsea went through but as runners up with Milan going above them after the final matchday. They face the other Milan, Inter in the second round. Bayern play Man City and Liverpool are up against Real Madrid. In the conference league West Ham topped their group but Hearts and Dundee went out. WORLD CUP Tomiasu, Saliba and Martinelli among the surprises left out. Arsenal players England – Ramsdale, Nketiah, Saka, White Ghana – Partey Brazil – Jesus, Gabriel Switzerland – Xhaka USA – Turner, Balogun Belgium – Hazard. Lokonga Tunisia – Rekik Group Stage The World Cup kicked off with Holland thumping Qatar 6-0. The hosts would also concede six in the next game against Senegal. However Ecuador would pip the african champions to second spot in the group behind the dutch. England got off to a good start in Group B beating Usa 3-1 in the first game thanks to two Harry Kane Penalties. Ramsdale the only gunner to play from either side. However a 1-0 defeat to Wales thanks mostly due to a reece James red card saw the top three all finish on six points. England only managed a 1-0 win over Iran (kane again) and went home early on their head to head result with wales. Argentina, Mexico France and Denmark qualified from Groups C and D while Germany and Spain sent a tomiyasu-less Japan home in the first round. Croatia couldn’t recover from losing to Morocco in the opening game and went out. Belgium came top. Serbia finished above Brazil in Group G on goal difference despite their game finishing 4-1 to the Brazilians. Portugal failed to win a game as Uruguay and Ghana went through in group H. Second Round Neymar was sent off as Uruguay beat Brazil 2-0 while Serbia and Belgium needed penalties to beat Ghana and Spain. No other surprises in the other games. Holland easily dispatching the welsh. Wales 2-4 Holland, Argentina 2-0 Denmark, France 2-1 Mexico, USA 4-3 Ecuador (AET) Ghana 1-1 Serbia (Serbia 5-3 on pens) Morocco 0-3 Germany Brazil 0-2 Uruguay Belgium 1-1 Spain (Belgium 10-9 on pens) Quarter-Finals Serbia earned a superb win over Germany while Lionel Messi struck a 94th minute winner as Argentina beat Holland. Luis Suarez hit a hat-trick and Eden Hazard was sent off as Uruguay beat Belguim in a brilliant game while France edged out USA. Serbia 1-0 Germany, Holland 1-2 Argentina Uruguay 5-2 Belgium, USA 1-2 France Semi-Finals Argentina left messi on the bench but still easily beat Serbia. While despite scoring again Suarez wasn’t able to prevent Uruguay losing to France. Argentina 5-1 Serbia France 2-1 Uruguay 3rd play off/Final The 3rd place play off saw Serbia beat Uruguay on penalties whole had played much of the game with ten men. An Argentina vs France world cup final had a distinct déjà vu. Not quite the same spectacle though with just a 0.78xg. Lionel Messi did get his moment of magic and struck the winner in the 46th minute. Serbia 1-1 Uruguay (Serbia win 5-3 on penalties) France 0-1 Argentina – Messi 46 World cup stats Top Scorers – Suarez 8 Mbappe 5 Alvarez 4 Kane 3 Lewandowski 3 Top Assists – Tadic Nkunku 4 Stengs Vlahovic Arrascaeta 3 Top Av Rating – Vlahovic 8.02 Lewandowski 7.93 Noboa 7.75 Nunez 7.62 De Ligt 7.53 Mom – Vlahovic Suarez 3 Kane Lewandowski Zigi 2 TOTT – Guzman Acuna Molina Boyata Kounde Lazovic Messi Kante E. Ferandez Giroud Mbappe Arsenal at the world cup No appearances for Balogun. Jesus producing the only goals and assists in an otherwise poor tournament for our representatives. Ramsdale Played 3 Clean Sheets 1 Conceded 2 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.87 Saka Played 1 Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.7 Nketiah Played 1 Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.4 White Played 0(+1) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.9 Turner Played 1 Clean Sheets 1 Conceded 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 7.5 Hazard Played 4 Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.6 Lokonga Played 1(+3) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 7.1 Xhaka Played 0(+3) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.57 Gabriel Played 0(+3) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.65 Jesus Played 3 Goals 1 Assists 2 Av Rating 7.10 Partey Played 3(+1) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.93 Rekik Played 2(+1) Goals 0 Assists 0 Av Rating 6.0 January/February Fixtures Brighton (H) Crystal Palace (H) – FA Cup 3rd Round Leeds (A) Tottenham (H) Newcastle (A) Liverpool (H) Brighton (A) Man City (H) Fulham (A)
  15. FM23 ARSENAL SEASON 1 – SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER A busy two months but going well. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 82 CHELSEA 0 Our first game of September saw us host Chelsea at the Emirates. It was Hazards first game as an arsenal player so naturally he had to start due to it being against his former club. Sadly he recorded only a 6.7 in an overall poor display from the team. Xhaka was suspended after having his one match ban for getting sent off in August at Wolves extended. A team average rating of 6.96 is not what I want to see in a big game at home. Fortunately for us Ramsdale was in good form and Nketiah came off the bench to grab a late underserved winner. A fourth 1-0 win in the first six games. EUROPA LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Nketiah 1, 14, 40, 49 MONACO 2 – Ben Yedder 26 Boadu 80 Cards on the table, I don’t care about the Europa League. I forgot to add Matt Smith, Marquinhos, M’Hand, Ibrahim and Sousa to the squad registration so all were ineligible for the group stages. I did like all the glossy indents though and look forward to seeing the champions league version next season. Our tournament began at home to Monaco. Xhaka due to being suspended domestically started as did Gabriel and Odegaard as I wanted to get off to a good start and Monaco have some dangerous players. Nketiah struck all four goals in a perfect 10 display. Zach Awe made is debut late on. A good performance and win. PREMIER LEAGUE TOTTENHAM 0 ARSENAL 0 We headed down the road for the first north London derby of the season. After his four goal haul Nketiah kept his place. Both teams combined to hit the woodwork five times but Spurs missed the only two clear cut chances of the game. I was happy to come away with a point. EUROPA LEAGUE SC FREIBURG 0 ARSENAL 1 – Nelson 39 A fifth 1-0 win of the season. Midfield and defence excellent, attack apart from nelson not so much. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Hazard 18 Nketiah 54, 59 LEEDS 1 – Harrison 9 We had a good response against Leeds in our next game as Eden Hazard got his first goal for the club. A commanding display saw more attacking intent as we had 28 shots on the Leeds goal but only three managed to go in. PREMIER LEAGUE LIVERPOOL 2 – Salah 66 Thiago 87(pen) ARSENAL 1 – Nketiah 25 Our first game post international break saw us travel to Anfield. We were dreadful and suffered our first defeat of the season. Even though Thiago needed a soft penalty to score a late winner Liverpool dominated the game. EUROPA LEAGUE ARSENAL 5 – Jesus 25 41 53 75(pen) Elneny 72 FC ZURICH 0 We responded well to the anfield defeat with a thumping win over Zurich at the emirates. Jesus had been stuck on the bench or the treatment room recently so was good to see him find his shooting boots. Tomiyasu also returned after being injured in the win over Spurs. Elneny with one of his 30 yard specials just to add a cherry on the cake. Butler-Odeyeji and Walters the latest young guns to make their debuts late on. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 4 – Jesus 28 Xhaka 44, 78 Saka 50 NEWCASTLE 1 – Isak 66 Similar to Nketiah after his four goals against Monaco Jesus kept his place in the starting eleven. He opened the scoring in another free flowing display. EUROPA LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Butler-Odeyeji 25 72 Vieira 77 FC ZURICH 0 I wanted to try an experiment against Southampton on the Sunday so rested both strikers and started Butler-Odeyeji. A goal in each half against a very poor Zurich team. Every player scored above a 7 rating. Vieria the highest with an 8.9. Bandeira and Ideho were the latest to make debuts. PREMIER LEAGUE SOUTHAMPTON 1 – Armstrong 25(pen) ARSENAL 2 – Gabriel 55 Nketiah 71 – Hazard s/o 72 I decided to pair both strikers together so played a 4-2-2-2 with two defensive midfielders and two wingers. It meant no place for Odegaard. A feisty game saw 8 yellow cards and 1 red. Despite having 75% of the ball we needed a bit of luck to get out of St Marys with a win. Gabriel scoring our first set piece goal of the season. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 2 – Nketiah 10 Jesus 28 ASTON VILLA 0 Back at home and missing Partey through suspension I played the same team but with Odegaard as a cam and Xhaka covering the centre. I felt we didn’t need a dm at home. Both strikers scored in the first half an hour and it was game management from there on in. A pretty drab midweek game. PREMIER LEAGUE CRYSTAL PALACE 2 – Ayew 24 Milivojevic 37 ARSENAL 3 – Gabriel 30 Xhaka 32 Nketiah 62 Odegaard was injured in training the day before the game and would be out for around 4-6 weeks. With him injured it was back to the 4-2-2-2. It worked well on the whole and we created enough chances but were hit on two counter attacks. Palace managed to score twice from just a 0.31xg. Still, we held on and recorded our sixth win in a row. EUROPA LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Hazard 8(pen) Vigar 78, 82 SC FREIBURG 1 – Griffo 31 With four wins from four just a draw would see us progress as group winners. I afforded the luxury of starting a few youngsters with Jeffcott and Walters at full back, Bandeira alongside Lokonga in midfield and Butler-Oyedeji again leading the line upfront. Despite the youth we played well and had a 4.19 xg only for flekken in the Freiburg goal to keep the score down. I had given every first team member that had played 10 matches five days off so had 12 youngsters on the bench but picked the right one Billy Vigar to come on and score a brace to give us the win. PREMIER LEAGUE ARSENAL 3 – Saka 15 Vieria 74 Saliba 90 WEST HAM 1 – Cresswell 46 – Paqueta s/o 32 The final game of an exhausting October saw the visit of West Ham. I threw Vigar on the bench as a reward for his brace against Freiburg but unfortunately the nature of the game meant I couldn’t bring him on. We started well with Saka opening the scoring and then Paqueta getting himself stupidly sent off. However West Hams only shot on target of the game a cresswell free kick flew in and we couldn’t seem to get the winner until finally Vieria curled in a beauty. Saliba scored his first goal for us in stoppage time. 38 shots was a season high although 84 passing accuracy lower than the usual early nineties. It was however our eighth win in a row and a perfect October record after the defeat at Anfield. Premier League Table 1. Arsenal Played 14 Points 35 Goal Difference +15 2. Liverpool P 14 P 32 GD 31 3. Man City P 14 P 27 GD 17 4. Man Utd P 14 P 26 GD 8 5. Tottenham P 14 P 26 GD 6 Newcastle and Chelsea trail Spurs and Man United by a single point in a tight top 7. Brighton Fulham and Nottingham Forest are in the bottom 3. Premier League Top scorers Haaland 14 Salah 12 Jimenez 9 Ronaldo Scamacca Trossard 8 - (=7th Nketiah 7) Premier League Top Assists Silva 6 Sancho Tsimikas Salah Harrison Lingard 5 - (=7th Odegaard 4) Premier League Av Rating Salah 7.81 Haaland 7.68 Foden 7.45 Keita 7.42 Nunez 7.42 (= 7th Xhaka 7.35) Premier League Motm Salah 5 Haaland 4 Aubameyang Eduoard Coutinho Scamacca KUlusevski Jimenez 3 (=9th Xhaka Odegaard 2) Team XG Av per 90mins Liverpool 2.42 Man City 2.22 Arsenal 1.86 Newcastle 1.83 Leicester 1.48 Team Av Possession Arsenal 61% Chelsea 60% Tottenham 58% Man City 58% Liverpool 56% Arsenal stats (1st team) Appearances (19 played) Gabriel 15 Ramsdale, Saka 14 Xhaka, Saliba 13 Odegaard 12 Jesus 11(+5), Partey 11 Tierney Nketiah (9+4), Zinchenko 9(+3) Martinelli 9 (+2), Cedric 9 (+1) Tomiyasu 9, Hazard 7 (+4) Lokonga 6 (+4), White 6 (+2) Elneny 5 (+9), S-Rowe 5 (+6) Nelson 5 (+4), Turner 5 Vieria 4(+4), Holding 4 (+1) B-Oyedeji 2(+1), Walters, Bandeira 1(+1) Jeffcott 1, Ideho 0 (+2) Vigar, Awe 0 (+1) Goals Nothing for the fullbacks or Martinelli yet Nketiah 11 Jesus 8 Saka 5 Xhaka Gabriel Vieria Hazard B-Odeyeji, Vigar 2 Odegaard Saliba S-Rowe Nelson Elneny 1 Assists Odegaard 5 Xhaka 4 S-Rowe 3 Vieria Zinchenko Tomiyasu Nelson Martinelli Lokonga Hazard 2 Cedric Saliba Saka Nketiah Jesus Ideho 1 Man of Match Xhaka Vieria Odegaard Saka Jesus 2 Partey Tierney Nketiah Gabriel Hazard Elneny Vigar 1 Youth Teams The Under 21s are top of their group aided by 9 goals from Vigar and 8 from Cozier-Duberry. Matt Smith leading the team well with an average rating of 7.47. The have qualified for the next round of the papa johns but in the domestic cup have work to do after just two points from three games, The Under 18s are second in the south group behind runaway leaders Norwich. They have won their first two matches of the cup. Omari Benjamin has 21 goals at an average rating of 7.86. Still only 16 but one to keep an eye on. Seb Ferdinand also performing well. Europa League / Champions League Conference League Not much to report on the Europa League. No real surprises or casualties at this stage. Man United should also qualify in first place. In the champions League Spurs are out. Despite beating Celtic in their opening game have gone on to lose home and away to Bayern and Napoli. Celtic will finish above them if they beat them in the final matchday. All four teams can qualify from Group E with Chelsea on 8 points with AC Milan and Dortmund 7 and Marseille 6. Chelsea travel to Marseille in the final game. All the other big guns are safely through. West Ham have qualified from their Europa Conference group. Europe Domestically in Ligue 1 PSG are unbeaten after 11 wins in their first 13 games. In Germany Bayern lead Hoffenheim by four points with a game in hand. Milan and Juventus are separated by a point in Italy while Real Madrid lead a tight race in Spain with 8 teams above 20 points. November December Fixtures Set to be a strange two months disrupted by the world cup before two tricky trips against Leicester and heading to Old Trafford on New Years Eve. Monaco (A) – Europa League Matchday 6 Bournemouth (H) Birmingham (H) – Carabao Cup 3rd Round Everton (A) Leicester (H) Man United (A)
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