Hey guys, welcome to issue 9 of the T100 mag. Time isn’t my friend today so I’m gonna get right on it and get the reports up from Sunday.

Division 1

Barcelona v Arsenal

The champions welcomed Arsenal to the Camp Nou looking to maintain their unbeaten start to the season. The game started slow with both sides figuring each other out a bit, On 20 minutes the first real chance and the first goal of the game. Arthur worked himself into the box before flashing the ball across the goalmouth, Lionel Messi got in front of Gomez to apply a delicate flick of his left foot on the ball which diverted it past Patricio, 1-0. That goal set up a bit of an onslaught from Barcelona, Patricio forced into saves from Neymar, Alaba and Messi before half time as the hosts took control. The only chance Arsenal mustered in the 1st half was a self made chance from Rashford, He cut in from the left beating Carvajal before firing just over the bar. HT 1-0. The visitors improved somewhat after the break, Harry Kane’s knockdown for Sancho who drove the ball towards goal but it lacked any real threat and was a comfortable save for De Gea. Kane himself then worked himself in to a great position before getting a shot away which again didn’t really trouble De Gea. Those chances were punished as on 70 minutes De Bruyne and Hazard linked well before Hazard unleashed a drive from the edge of the box which flew past the keeper into the roof of the net, 2-0. The hosts weren’t troubled after and saw out another victory, thats just 3 defeats in 53 league games now for Barcelona.

Division 2

Sassuolo V Hamburg

Table toppers Sassuolo were looking to put an end to 4 successive draws when Hamburg rolled into town, themselves on the back of 2 successive defeats. The match started in great fashion with both sides looking to start on the front front. Smolov for the hosts and Gabbiadini for Hamburg both twice denied goals in the first 12 minutes as the game flowed from one end to the other. The visitors started to take control with Willian dictating play. The Brazilian had already passed up a few chances before on 37 minutes he broke the deadlock, Meza creating the opportunity before Willian struck a low effort beyond the outstretched dive of Consigli, 0-1. The lead lasted less than a minute as straight from kick off Sassuolo responded, Pedro went down the right flank before crossing for Smolov who smashed a half volley into the top corner, 1-1 and it stayed that way till HT. The second half started slow, a couple of efforts off target from both before Hamburg were reduced to 10 men in the 69th minute, Stepanenko lunged into Marchisio with a dangerous challenge, catching Marchisio just above the knee, and there was no question what colour card was coming. The red card actually galvanised Hamburg and on 81 minutes that man Willian was at it again, receiving Gabbiadini’s lay off he struck a fantastic curling effort into the top corner from the edge of the box, 1-2. Sassuolo were unable to mount any fightback and Hamburg leave with the 3 points, Sassuolo lose top spot as their winless run extends to 5 games.

Division 3

Celta Vigo V Southampton

2 sides with eyes firmly on promotion met at The Balaidos as Celta and Southampton battled it out, Celta looking to keep track with the leaders in Division 3 whilst Southampton holding the last play off spot. In truth the game was a poor affair, a stop start match where the referee was kept busy. 35 minutes in before the first effort on target, Falcao firing at the keeper from 15 yards out when he should off hit the back off the net, yellow cards outnumbered shots on target in the first half, 0-0 HT. The home side started better in the second period Gotze feeding Llorente who forced Cragno into the save of the match, going full length to tip the ball to safety. The game fell back into mediocrity soon after as the home side continued to put the challenges in to stop any chance of the game breaking into anything resembling a football match. Gotze produced the games real talking point with 5 minutes left when he took Gago from behind with a vicious challenge, he could of had 2 red cards it was that filthy. The game played out with no further action and the drab affair came to an end to everyone’s relief. FT 0-0 Celta stay 3rd whilst Southampton hold on to their 7th place spot.

Division 4

Stuttgart V Crystal Palace

Stuttgart welcomed Palace in this Division 4 encounter looking for their 4th successive win, Palace with 1 win in their last 5 games. The game was a tactical affair, the best effort of the first half on 40 minutes when Cabaye curled a fantastic effort from 20 yards out which Asenjo went full length to tip it on to the post before quickly collecting at the 2nd attempt. HT 0-0. The second half followed the same pattern, shit for those watching, with the game springing into life on 67 minutes, Arao split the defence with a peach of a ball which Santini latched on to , took a touch before slotting past the keeper however celebrations were cut short by a snide offside flag. Crystal Palace’s best effort almost won the game for them, 76 minutes in when a deep cross was nodded down by Babacar to Sansone who smashed it towards goal, it looked destined to burst the net before Pope showed all his reflexes to get a hand to it, Divine intervention from Pope. That was it basically for the game, bored me to death watching it and I’m feeling the pain writing about it. 0-0 FT. Stuttgart stay 4th, Palace remain 10th. Thank Christ that is over with.

Division 5

Augsburg V Atalanta

Finally we get to Division 5 as Augsburg looking to continue making moves towards promotion entertain Atalanta who have suffered 3 straight defeats after being top themselves only a few weeks back. Ivan Anic’s side took just 9 minutes to take the lead when Ramirez played a high ball over the static Atalanta defence which wionderkid Felix met with a delightful lobbed effort which dipped over the stranded keeper and went in off the post, unbelievable finish, 1-0. The visitors were almost level when Guendouzi fed a wonderful ball through to Cornet who struck the ball first time but unfortunately the well struck effort was straight at Masip in the home goal. HT 1-1. Guendouzi provided Unal with another great opportunity in the early stages of the second half, the striker flashing in an effort at the near post which the keeper got down well to save. on 59 the Italians were so close to levelling, Cornet feeding Theo Hernandez who hit a low drive which had Masip beaten before it smashed against the outside of the post. On 65 minutes the hosts went 2-0 up as Ramirez again providing the assist, this time linking up with Mendez who’s quick shot caught out Berisha who was unable to get down to it in time and the ball sneaked past him, 2-0. That knocked the stuffing out of the visitors as Felix, Jordan and Esgaio threatened to make it a more convincing scoreline. FT 2-0 and Augsburg are up to 2nd as Atalanta drop to 7th after their 4th straight defeat.

In the Hot Seat with….

Today we welcome Arsenal manager Michael Bowes to the hot seat, He’s been at the gunners since season 2.

You’ve been at Arsenal since season 2 of T100, do you feel you should of won something by now? tough question Norman. I came in the second season so missed the first season’s transfer but was left with relatively a untouched Arsenal side apart from Ramsey. If this was an English Championship i would say 100%, but realistically Arsenal are probably around 10th in terms of the team in division 1 so i feel like I’ve done well to keep them in the division every season. We never gone far in the cups as I’m always a manager who concentrates on the league but i agree, we certainly should have won or came close to winning something by now.

You’ve built a very talented young squad, have you ever been tempted to sway away from the youth build for a couple of higher rated older players to push you on to that next level? i have swayed away to a degree at times although it all depends on what’s available. Deals in T100 are extremely tough as i feel everyone over values their players, its also been hard for me as I’ve built a team where 80% of the players im more than happy to keep and they kend to be the players which everyone asks for.

Your scouting, here and in other GW’s is outstanding work, how long do you spend checking out players? kind words Norman – every weekend i have a look around the real life results using the Flash Scores app on my phone. You can see lineups etc on there which tends to point me to potential risers etc. I would say i scout a couple of hours a week so probably not much more than the standard manager in here.

You’ve just lost at Barcelona last night, is there anyone who can stop Scott again this year? honest answer Norman. No. Scott has proved season on season how good of a manager he is. I would love to see how well he would do without Messi but to be fair to Scott he has kept a core team pretty much season on season and he’s reaping the rewards.

14th in the table, what are you’re objectives this season? Is it just staying up? my season objectives are always to better the season before. I’ve let my eye of the ball over the last couple of seasons as I’ve concentrated on more social active game worlds and more just used T100 for the competitiveness in trying to muscle together transfers

Real life club and aims for the season? Manchester United is my real life club – aims for this season has got to be top 6, i really think we should stick will Ole. We’re in a transition period and he has only been given 1 transfer window, we need in invest heavily in packing the midfield out, untill that is rectified then we can begin to think we can challenge the top 4.

 What would you do to improve T100? it needs to become more active, myself included. Whether thats through Facebook, news feed or the blog. My pet hate is managers letting bids rot though, i dont agree with it one bit and shouldn’t be happening in a GW like T100, i would give out stern punishment for proof that a bid has been left for a certain amount of days. If managers haven’t logged in for 3/4 days then T100 also shouldn’t be for them

Thanks to Michael for his time, and good luck for the rest of the season.

The T100 Gossip Column

Norman Little was left disappointed his efforts to land Yacine Adli were to no avail, he is looking to revist the situation after the next review. Its believed Ajax were also strong rivals {Bild}

Augsburg are tracking Atletico defender Rick Van Drongelen, their inital enquiry was knocked back but its believed they are preparing another bid [ Augsburger Allgemeine]

Augsburg looking to steal Xaver Schlager away from Man City! {Daily Mirror]

Man City are beginning to get frustrated in their efforts to sign Caglar Soyuncu, their bids have been met with a wall of silence so far. [Manchester Evening News]

Misfiring Internacional striker Wissam Ben Yedder has been given 5 games to score at least 2 goals to save himself from the axe. [FourFourTwo]

That is all for this issue, time is getting the better of me here, as always my inbox is open for gossip of any kind for the mag, Seen a bit increase in news feed posts which is great lets keep it going.