Arsenal
Arsenal Review
What a tough second season in Division One, we hoped to improve on 6th, but selling Lewandowski maybe was not the best idea, but i was trying to take a longer term view on the clubs players.
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In came Mane , Casemiro and Werner but playing with tactics trying to find the right blend didnt quite work and we became very inconsistent in the league, far too many draws and losses.
What helped the season was taking part again in the Youth Cup a great run with a top young team lead by Captain Vanhuesden and we had a great time in the World Club Cup, i was over the moon to win this competition , every team best players available, so a real test and some tough games playing in form Barcelona in the semi final and then Levante in the final.
The Final
Another fantastic Cup run in the SMFA Shield narrowly beating Hertha in a tough semi final, has left Arsenal with a very difficult game against Alex and Manchester City, who he has really turned around doing magnificent in the league and already with the the Youth Cup in hand, he has a taste fot it and not just the JD & Coke afterwards.
Top players on form for City also in the cup and a great team.
Lets hope we can creat a great final, we are missing two signifiacnt players in Koulibaly and Conman but this gives chances to Calvert Lewin and new man Rudiger and then its on to the new season.
Preperation for next season has being taking place as Rudiger comes in to the back line most likely Ginter moving to right back and we line up as below at our strongest.
Squad depth is very hard when trying to build at the same time, my reserves at there weakest next season..
Youth Team
I am hoping keeper makes it for the age cap a signifcant drop again and we need to look at the CB area before the tournament starts, but also to keep within the squad cap.
The 21 somethings, have some fine pedigree and hopefully will come good, but i am in a little limbo on waiting for them to progress.
Well thats my planning and players for the end of this season and the up and coming season, always a plan just doesnt always work.
Any how off i go scouting for a under 21 centre back.
All best for the end of season play offs and well done to the managers and contributors to this great game world.
Dortmund Wipe Arsenal Out, Old Lady Beats Barca
A night to forget last Saturday, as EIGHT managers forfeited the three points and had a 0-3 defeat recorded against their team for fielding ineligible players, or failing to arrange their fixtures.
Just a gentle reminder that all fixtures can be found on FixtureList.com (search for Top 100) and here on the blog :
- Groups A. B and C: https://smtop100.blogspot.co.uk/p/youth-cup_13.html
- Groups D, E and F: https://smtop100.blogspot.co.uk/p/youth-cup-groups-d-e-f.html
- Groups G, H and I: https://smtop100.blogspot.co.uk/p/youyh-cup-groups.html
The competition rules and player eligibility criteria are here, too: https://smtop100.blogspot.co.uk/p/youth-cup-shield-spoon-season-7.html
Lastly, the Group Tables are updated in FixtureList.com (as above) every Sunday, and here on the blog a bit later: https://smtop100.blogspot.co.uk/p/youth-cup-group-tables_28.html
Group A
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Benfica recorded their first win in this season's competition with a convincing victory in Genoa. Those precious three points, and Barcelona's stunning defeat at the hands of Juventus, lifts the Portuguese side off the bottom, plonking the Spanish giants there in their place.
The Turin club's victory lifts them into second place, as Manchester United failed to stop Bayern's 100% start to the defence of their title.
Group B
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-->Dortmund followed Bayern's suit by thrashing Arsenal at the Emirates. Four goals form Kasper Dolberg, and four assists from Nikola Vlasic ensured the German club retain their 100% record in Group B.
With just three points between second and sixth place, the fight for the two remaining Youth Cup knockout stage qualifying places sees Atletico leapfrog Verona, while Youth Cup Founder and Honorary Life President Sir Stephen Beddows is busy planning for his retirement by not selecting his team, gifting Chelsea their first three points this season.
Group C
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-->Independiente were extremely unfortunate not to record their first victory in this season's competition after it emerged post-match that one of their loan players was, in fact, 41 and not 21.
Hoffenheim were similarly unlucky playing the same overage player two weeks running. "he looks about 12!" said Hoff boss Salgado. Their defeat handed a fifth successive victory to Leverkusen.
All three off Marseille's victories have come about as the result of their opponents playing overage players, and thanks to those 3-0 wins they stay in second place ahead of Flamengo on goal difference.
Group D
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-->Milan kept up the pressure on Villa at the top of Group D with victory over third-placed Everton.
Napoli cemented their place in the Shield qualifying places with a win over bottom team Roma, while Stoke's Potters were smashed by the Villains.
Group E
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-->In the Group of Death, leaders Sporting failed to win but hold on to top spot thanks to Espanyol's victory over Sevilla. Newcastle's win against Manchester City means that just two points separate first from fourth and the Cup, Shield and Spoon qualifying places.
Group F
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-->Group F was a bit of a washout with both top clubs Basel and Anderlecht failing to select eligible players. Basel boss Chopper Harris got the chop immediately afterwards to be replaced by uno Sr. C. Caniggia.
Swansea meanwhile celebrated their first point in front of their fans at the Liberty Stadium.
Group G
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-->Fiorentina beat Augsburg to put themselves back in with a chance of qualifying for the Shield knockout stage. Berlin knocked Shakhtar of the top with an impressive win in Donetsk, while Inter disposed of sorry Spurs to move into first place.
Tottenham are now the only team in this season's competition yet to win a point.
Group H
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-->Like Group F, mangers, fans and viewrs at home shrugged their shoulders and collectively sighed, 'Huh!' as Besiktas failed to turn up at all for their game against Brugge, while Udinese fielded their senior team in Bordeaux.
Unsurprisingly, both teams occupy the bottom two places in the group, and face outright disqualification from the competition. Lazio's victory at leaders Villarreal means there is just one point separating the top four and the Cup, Shield and Spoon qualification places.
Group I
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-->Finally, In Group I, the Spoon Army celebrated an amazing victory in Cologne after twice being behind in the game. That sees their team move into second place in the group, ahead on goals scored over third placed Leicester, who won at Crystal Palace.
Bottom club Lokomotiv gifted three points to leaders Celta Vigo by playing their senior team.
Arsenal End of Season Summary
Arsenal, Season 3
Season 3 has come to an end and Arsenal again have managed to secure a 3rd straight 8th place finish. With expectations at the start of the season to finish better than the previous season, it turn't out to be a successful season on the basis that they finished 2 points better than season 2 and if it wasn't for a poor performance on the final day against already relegated Fiorentina would had finished in a very respectful 7th place. With that in mind season 4 expectations will be to, as always, finish better postitionally or mathematically than the previous season.
Season 3 saw a few highly rated players leave for new challenges. The likesof Gareth Bale & Borges Willian were just 2 of the high class profiles which left leaving big holes in the attacking third and needing replacing. James Rodriguez was one of the names who came in and really set the ground running. Bowes looked towards more youthful players this season, players who he felt could have more resale value. Some top talents made the trip to north London, the likes of Raheem Sterling moved from Chelsea, Yannick Carrasco arrived from Spain before eventually moving to Portugal at the back end of the season. Emre Can, Saido Mane, Giannelli Imbula, Kelechi Iheanacho & Breel Embolo are just a few other who also made the trip to London.
Players with years of experience under their belt also arrived or left the club. Petr Cech was one name everyone was surprised to see leave, regarded as a world class keeper, left for a relative small fee. It showed the Top 100 community the route Bowes was looking to transform his team, English prodigy Jonathan Leko being the main focal point of the deal along with German stopper Kevin Trapp. Xabi Alonso was also another to leave Arsenal, a fee believed to be for 2 players from new Inter Milan manager Alex McLean in Geoffrey Kondogbia & Federico Di Marco. Another message of what MB was looking to achieve with the team.
A new signing which has got everyone talking is the arrival of Spanish playmaker Alcantara Thiago from Bayern. Michael Bowes has been trying to bring the midfielder to England for many months before the deal was agreed and the continued pursuit shows how highly the young English manager rated his new signing.
"To bring Alcantara here is something I've tried for many months, he brings some much needed quality in to the team and someone who I feel will progress massively to become a world class player here. We will give him the support and coaching needed to let him showcase his talent on the highest stage. It's a message of content that we can bring these high standard of players to London and Alcantara will fit in with the likes of potential we have here in Ross Barkley, Luke Shaw, Raheem Sterling & Hector Bellerin"
Along with Thiago, Bowes has managed to bring in defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic. A player who is one of the best in his position will bring some quality to replace the departed Alonso. With previous experience in England with Chelsea it's expected Nemanja will slot straight in.
"It's great to be back! After spending a couple seasons in Germany with Schalke and Dortmund there's just nothing that compares to England. The fans here love there football and the passion is easily visible"
With transfers wrapped up its time to look to the results side of business. The season started quite poor and seen the side fluttering around the bottom few places for the first 8 games. Results steadily improved as the team full of new players and characters gelled. Mid season saw the team steadily climb the table before the gunners took their foot of the gas as the final few games dribbled in. Arsenal managed to get to the 3rd round of the cup before being knocked out by Lazio, a run which had hoped for bigger things. Lazio were again the opponents in the 4th round of the shield and gained their revenge by beating the Italians 2-0 away, the run ended in the Semi finals against Andre's Porto with the departure of Petr Cech a huge loss to the side.
With the team looking to take a youth step, Arsenal will be looking at the possibility of entering the Youth cup for the first time in season 4. With the youth setup at Arsenal being highly rated for many years is surprising that this will be their first appearance in the tournament. With season 4 in mind, the reserve side looks in a solid shape and a good cup run again is something we will be looking to achieve along with a improvement on our league position.
One thing is for sure, Michael Bowes is the right man to take us forward!
FANNIE TO FANNIES: The Interviews, number 7, MICHAEL BOWES (Arsenal)
Good day to you all and welcome to another of Fannie Licker's interviews with managers from the TOP 100 game world. This is number 7 in the series and Fannie has an announcement to make about the future of the interviews. As you know, Fannie has been desperately trying to lose weight and she has been doing very well. In fact, Houston, we have a problem! Just over a week ago, Fannie reached her target weight to the delight of everyone connected to her but when it was time to come off the diet, she couldn't do it. She turned her nose up at every little thing that contained sugar or had too many calories, so she stayed on the diet. The result? well you will see soon enough as I believe she is so delighted with the amount of weight she has lost that she had to post a photograph of herself as of yesterday. Also, here is the part I have been contracted to do, Fannie has released a cook book with all her favourite recipes. There is also a part where she takes you through step by step on how to make her special do-nuts. So, I hope you buy the book just for that part alone and I really do hope that all of your do-nuts look like Fannies.
Anyway, for now, it's time to get on with the show. So, ladies and gentlemen!! well ok just gentlemen. Oh ffs, ok .... Gentlemen and Roy Keane, I present ..... Miss Fannie Licker!!!!!!
Wooooooooooo!! Hi guys, Hi Roy, it's me Fannie Licker. You may not have recognised me straight away because all my fat is a thing of the past and I have this new slim look. I hope you like it. Some say I have went to far but I luuuuuuurrrrrrrrvvvv it!!
Fannie in her white dress
Anyway, lets move on to today's guest and I must say he is a bit of a looker. He is in line to be my next stud muffin. I am sure you all know who I am talking about already :)))). Yes it's Mr Cristiano Ronaldo, woooooooooo!!!!.
Oh welcome Cristiano, you are looki....... Wait a minute, you are not Cristiano Ronaldo!! You don't even look Spanish!! Who are you? right wait there a minute, I will be back.
Ok let's do this anyway. Right guys I present to you the next manager to be interviewed. It's some dude named Michael Bowes. Yeah whatever.
Hahahaha, I am only joking Michael, I knew it was you all the time hahaha. Just my little joke.
Ok lets go and here we will look at Michael's personal profile
MICHAEL BOWES - PERSONAL PROFILE
Full Name: Michael Bowes
Born: 1992 (Bedford)
Height: 6ft 2in
Marital Status: Girlfriend
Nickname: All my friends just call me Bowes
Favourite Sports teams: Manchester United
Favourite food: Mexican
Favourite drink: Koppenberg
Favourite band/singer: Drake
Favourite all time song: Kano - Ps & Qs
Favourite Colour: Electric Blue
Favourite animal: Haven't got one
Favourite film: Any Fast and Furious
Your Car: Currently dont drive
Best Friend: Ellis
What phone do you have: Samsung Galaxy S5
Best sport to watch: Football of course
What scares you most: Spiders & losing people close to me
Phone, iPad or laptop to play SM: Phone
Embarrassing moment: Haven't got one of the top of my head
Ever won anything on the lottery: Played it 3 times won £25 every time, would say thats good going
If you could have any job in the world what would it be: Apart from a footballer i would say a lorry driver
Who would you most like to meet (dead or alive): David Beckham
If you could attend any sporting event in the world what would it be: A high profile football final or even the Olympics when it was in London would had been good
Thank you Michael. I see we have quite a lot in common. I currently don't drive either and your favourite food is Mexican, while mines is American. That's right next door to each other if you look at a map.
Next we have the main event. It's the interview of course and here is how it went.
FL: Michael, handsome Michael, you are entering your first full season in charge of Arsenal. Do you feel that there will be added pressure because of that and that the fans will be looking for the team to make advances after two 8th place finishes?
MB: Oh Fannie, what a pleasure it is to see you after all of these years, How are you? We've had two solid seasons now and two very respectable finishes in a league which is very well built around excellent teams. The club, the fans and of course myself want the club to progress so of course there's pressure to do better but it's those pressures that want me to be a manager.
FL: I am very well Michael, also very slim as you can see. After a credible 2-2 draw at Bayern, things have went downhill with two home defeats and another draw leaving Arsenal in the bottom 4. Its not the start you wanted or expected. Have you pinpointed what the early problems are? Are there players that have not produced the goods and how long are you prepared to keep patience with them?
MB: After a promising opening day result against a title favourite it certainly raised expectations for the season among the fans, sadly we haven't been able to build on that and I do think it's come down to fire power. It's no secret I've been after a striker for some time now. We've only managed to find the net 3 times this season which is dreadful. Defensively were quiet solid just lacking that finish to seal the game.
FL: Of your signings made during the close season, have the players settled in to your approach to the game and who are you most pleased with?
MB: We were quite quiet on the transfer front compared to what I usually am. None have really been given the chance to showcase there talent as of yet but I was pleased with the performances of Victor Wanyama in pre season and I'm sure he'll turn out to be a valuable player here at Arsenal.
Victor Wanyama
FL: The two home defeats are, without any offence to the opposition, games you would have expected to win but the team failed to even score. Are you worried that Arsenal could once again be looked upon as too negative and become known as boring Arsenal?
MB: I certainly don't think we're a boring Arsenal. We play some good attacking football, keeping possession well and creating chances. The problem lies in our finishing, we just haven't got someone who can hit us 20+ goals a season. Problem is everyone only wants either of the talented trio of Ross Barkley, Hector Bellerin or Luke Shaw and that's just not something we as a club want to entertain at the current moment in time.
FL: The target before the season started of finishing top 6 would have came as no surprise to anyone. From what you have seen of your team, have you reviewed that target to a lesser aim and maybe decided to concentrate on bringing some silver to the Emirates via one of the cup competitions? Failure to at least come close in any of the domestic competitions would surely raise questions about whether you are the man to take Arsenal forward. Do you feel there is pressure on you to deliver this season?
MB: The first 4 games have certainly damaged our aim of getting to our target of 7th place but we're only 3 points off getting into the top half which I certainly feel is very achievable this season. The cups are always at the back of my mind when it comes to management, the league is and always will be the most important competition for us.
FL: There is a good core of youths at the club YET Arsenal are not involved in the Youth Cup. I find it surprising that one of the better youth academies do not have a team entered into a competition that they would have a good chance of reaching the latter stages. What are the reasons for this?
MB: We do have a good bunch of lads here and probably would do quiet well in the competition, I feel for the best interests of the club with all the added fixtures, that it would be best to sit out in case it effected our league form. I'm not writing off ever competing in this excellent run cup though in the near future.
FL: Arsenal are competing in the World Club Cup. Do you not think that with the domestic competitions and the Euro Shield that you are putting too much pressure on the players and that come the last few games of the season they will be exhausted and unable to perform to their full ability?
MB: We have quiet a good squad together now where I feel we can compete while still changing the squad round, certainly in the midfield area where were been at our strongest under my leadership. Competition for places is intense and makes my decision every game extremely hard. In regards to the Euro Shield we've been very poor and a meeting is in place to speak to Ian Wright as to where we feel has been the problem to gain results against, no disrespect to opposing teams, but less talented squads. We are Arsenal though and we will come out fighting!
Arsenal squad
FL: We always like to keep an eye on the young boys behind the scenes. Well that is certainly the case for Rolf here, if you know what I mean (wink). Is there any of the lesser known youngsters that you have big hopes for and that we should maybe keep an eye on?
MB: Oh Rolf, that's why he's been hanging around the training ground recently with close friend
Mr Saville? We've got some talented lads in the youth setup. Lorenzo Pellegrini is a regular in the Sassuolo team, Gabriel Suazo recently got called up for Chile national team for the warm up games for the Copa America so there be the two less known lads to keep an eye out for over the next few seasons.
Mr Saville? We've got some talented lads in the youth setup. Lorenzo Pellegrini is a regular in the Sassuolo team, Gabriel Suazo recently got called up for Chile national team for the warm up games for the Copa America so there be the two less known lads to keep an eye out for over the next few seasons.
FL: The final question is standard for all managers. If you could manage any club in the Top 100 who would it be?
MB: I'm rather happy here at Arsenal and proud of what I've built. I'm a United fan but I always hate managing them on SM for some reason so would chose my old club Everton. It was a hard decision at the time to leave as I felt I was building something good but they've got a good man in charge now in David and I have been in close contact with him trying to bring as many lads with me as I can.
FL: Thanks Michael. Some good answers there and I also think you might make a good politician in the future.
So, Michael seems to be satisfied at how things are coming along at the Emirates but getting away from that bottom four should be a priority before he gets caught up in a relegation battle that can be tricky to escape from. We wish him well though and I am sure that Arsenal will be climbing the table before very long.
Myself and the producers of the Fannie Licker interviews had a meeting a few days ago and we have came to an interesting decision as far as I am concerned. We have decided to do three more interviews, which would bring the series to ten, before moving on to pastures new. We are currently putting some ideas together and I can guarantee that while the interviews will come to an end, for a while anyway, you will not be getting rid of me that easily. We will come up with a new idea for a new Fannie Licker series and we will announce the name of the show and what it will be about during the tenth and last interview of the Fannie to Fannies show.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed our latest show and I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my little article. I wish you all the sex you can get and I hope you enjoy it. From me, Fannie Licker, I bid you good night and I will see you next time.
Ciao
Arsenal transformation
With the season end nearly upon us, we here at Arsenal Central decide to weigh up two recent Arsenals squads. With our new manager firmly making a stamp on the squad since he's came in way back at the start of the season, both the first team and reserves have been freshened up. We look closely in this article and compare the squads before Michael Bowes came in, compared to the one which currently takes the field at the Emirates. First up is the starting line ups:
With both sides Petr Cech is in goal, a reliable, experienced keeper and one of the words best. The current full backs of Bellerin & Moreno lack experience but have bags of energy and pace compared to the more stable but aged Monreal & Debuchy. The central of the defence has improved with the arrival of Benatia who replaced the German Mertesacker to partner Koscielny. Moving just in front of the defence is new pairing Alonso and Perez, both more defensively minded than the old pairing of Fernando and Wilshere, when fit Wilshere would had been a vocal point of this team for sure but with lack of minutes we feel Bowes made the right choice in brining in the experience of the new defensive midfielders. Moving to the 3 attackers behind the lone striker, it certainly has taken a hit in talent to improve the rest of the team with Sanchez, Ozil and Santi Cazorla providing a dangerous attacking threat, but Bale, Barkley & Willian is sure to have defences scratching their heads on how to handle them. This lands us to our lone striker, the man whos job it is to score the goals, that job is in the hands of Oliver Giroud. A vocal point with his height or the option to keep it on the floor and lay it off to the pace on the wings is something which fits Bowes's system perfect!
The first team being talked about now leads us on to the squad players who are pushing the team mates for a starting role:
Big pressure is on Cechs shoulders now with Szczesny departing as he's now the only recognisable goalkeeper. With the arrivals of Barta and Jones this allows Chambers to move over to his more comfortable role at right back. Talented Luke Shaw made the switch from Manchester United to complete a near English back line. With the defensive duo of Flamini and Coquelin leaving at the start of Bowes's era, Eric Dier was brought in shortly over to provide that defensive cover with Roberto Soriano arriving rather recent with some fans not knowing too much about him. Young prodigy Max Meyer leads the midfield line in between the experience of Nasri and dos Santos, the loss of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a big one to take for the fans with so much hype around him but the deal was right for the long term future for our precious club. The ever reliable and hard working Danny Welbeck was replaced by another English man in Saido Berahino with us here at Arsenal Central not overly sure this man has what it takes to succeed on his own.
With the future looking bright and with so many young lads who have huge amount of potential, we feel Michael Bowes is the right man for this club. The style of football played by our leader is something which we hope can be replicated week in week out. One thing is for sure:
Arsenal never dies.
Arsenal Freshen Up In Numbers!
Arsenal have been rather busy in the market recently, revamping the squad. The likes of Gareth Bale, Medhi Benatia, Luke Shaw & Phil Jones have all made the trip to the red side of London. With Michael Bowes not stopping with negotiations, he continued to search for the quality in the areas of the squad he thought lacked stability. MB was very adamant atleast 1 world class central midfielder was needed, the Arsenal leader turn't to Bayerns very own 'Arry Redknapp himself, Gursimran Brar. A deal which was agreed all the way back on the 9th April and took days of negotiations was completed on 28th April that saw Douglas Costa move back to Germany. A familiar face of many English heads from his days at Liverpool would be part of the deal to take Costa away from the attacking hands of MB, that man was Xabi Alonso. The world class midfield Arsenal was craving all season! Time isnt something the Spainsh man holds with him being 34 years old but something he can bring is experience and quality. Young German prodigy Max Meyer also joins but it isn't understood wether or not he can displace the attacking trio of Willian, Barkley or Bale for a starting spot.
With one central midfielder in and with enough time to try and find someone to partner Alonso, Bowes went on the hunt for a second deal. Enzo Perez would be the man he decided on. The Argentine came at a price of Paulo Henrique Ganso along with Marco Van Ginkel & £9m exchanging hands. A cheap price for someone who's rated at 91. Arsenal started the MB reign with Wilshere & Fernando holding the midfield, with recent dealings the new pairing of Alonso and Perez plan to end the season with a few games under there belt.
With depth lowing and the age of the squad getting high, MB looked to move in the market to replace the higher rated players for younger, hungry squad team members. The likes of Per Mertesacker, Reges Fernando & Ezequiel Lavezzi who are all close or over the dreaded 30 age limit and wouldn't be guaranteed minutes due to the recent transfers were the men Bowes looked to ship out and bring in players who were more suitable for the roles of squad players and can mature into first team regulars. Marc Bartra of CSKA Moskva was the first man to be brought in, the ever reliable Reges Fernando would depart. With a CB being brought in Per Mertesacker was pushed even further down the pecking order with less minutes promised, talks with Gav Harmer's Sampdoria started and Italian Roberto Soriano was the man on his lips. £9m & Per Mertesacker would eventually move to Italy to seal the deal.
After looking at the transfer market for what deals wheeler and dealer Bowes could find, he spotted no other than Hamburg's RB Dennis Diekmeier, with a price tag of £8m Arsenal decided to match it and proceed to contract negotiations with the 26 year old German. All papers were signed and within hours was shipped out to Top 100 president Frank Hirst's Genoa. With the Divsion 4 title and automatic promotion still widely open, MB hopes the RB can be a big part in the last 6 games and prove his worth.