It's been a long time since my last post and in that time I've been through a couple of career modes but now I wanted to try something new, something different, a super league. The league I created comprised of teams including Barcelona, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, Milan, Inter, Madrid, Athletico, Santos and my team, Arsenal, all put together in the English Premier League.
So J.Pearce was appointed as the new manager of Arsenal who had qualified for the champions league previously. Stan Kroenke and the rest of the Arsenal board set goals to reach the final of both the domestic cup and European cup and a goal of finishing mid-table in the league with a budget of only £24m to play with.
With such a difficult league to compete in Pearce knew that strength in depth would be vital so rotation can be frequent and players full of energy on a gamely basis when opponents wouldn't have this liberty. Pearce saw that the side needed strengthening mainly in the striker position and in defence and signed Aubameyang, Ogbonna, Montoya, Sakho, Vidal, Piazon and Butland on permanent deals. He also acquired plenty of loan signings in the shape of Varane, Fontas, Mbaye, Marrone and Roberto which added the needed depth to the squad after the sales of Ramsey, Gervinho, Sagna, Koscielney, Rosicky and Arshavin.
After the summer window closed the Arsenal squad looked of a similar standard but with the added youth like it would surely be close to trophies in the near future. The strongest lineup went as follows;
GK Szczesney 80
RB Montoya 74
RCB Ogbonna 80
LCB Vermaelen 83
LB Gibbs 76
RCM Vidal 84
LCM Wilshere 82
CAM Cazorla 85
RW Walcott 80
ST Aubameyang 81
LW Podolski 83
Bench; Sakho, Mbaye, Diaby, Marrone, Piazon, Chamberlain, Giroud
The first half of the season was mixed as early on in the Capital One Cup Arsenal fell victim to Dortmund and went out via a destructive 3-0 performance. Elsewhere things were slightly better after scraping through Group C in the Champions League and third in the league, with Barcelona and Real Madrid marginally ahead and with a gap of nine points to great rivals spurs in fourth. Pear eps management performances got him rewarded with a job offer from Belgium which was instantly snapped up and the team are currently second in qualifying for the world championships behind Italy.
January arrived and the depth still wanted by Pearce wasn't there but fortunately in late December the takeover of the club had helped grant a generous £70m transfer budget. Pearce now had his eyes on the title knowing what he could potentially do with his squad. There was no hesitation and on the first day enquiries and bids were made on 8 players some of which later joined. Pearce obviously saw that his midfielders and wingers tired easily and needed back up for Aubameyang upfront after many weak performances from Giroud and after speculation about Montoya's right back performances experience would be called upon.
The first signing of the window was Sigurdsson, swiftly followed by the new main man through the middle, Jovetic who more than replaced Giroud. Two big haired Belgians in centre midfield were added to the squad in Felllaini and Witsel as well as another Belgian, Vertonghen for more depth at centre half after selling the less then speedy Mertesacker. The brute strength of Bony was added upfront for further cover and impressed in his debut after being substituted on at 60 minutes and grabbing a brace to see off Manchester City 3-1. Pearce then decided to grab a couple of bargains on the flanks by investing in players with 6 months remaining on their contracts, these signings included Tello, Sturridge and the promising looking Dzagoev. The final signing of the window was that of Micah Richards to plug the hole at right back.
Even though some top quality signings were made arsenal did suffer the massive loss of star player, Santi Cazorla when an irresistible £30m offer came in for him and he wasn't getting any younger so the money was taken and used on younger talent. Other sales were that of Mertesacker, Giroud, Frimpong, Gnabry, Coquelin and Santos. The only loan sale was that of Piazon who would have struggled to break into the depths of the Arsenal squad.
The squad could now be split evenly into two high quality squads but below is the best Arsenal squad available;
GK Szczesney 83
RB Richards 82
RCB Ogbonna 83
LCB Vermaelen 84
LB Gibbs 78
RCM Vidal 86
LCM Wilshere 85
CAM Witsel 84
RW Walcott 84
ST Jovetic 85
LW Podolski 85
Bench; Vertonghen, Mbaye, Fellaini, Dzagoev, Chamberlain, Aubameyang, Bony
Pearce's philosophy of strength in depth was being questioned after a draw with Napoli with a slightly weakened squad but now towards the end of April a particular set of tough fixtures arrived with 4 games with Manchester United and 1 with Milan within 14 days. The first game was a struggled 1-0 win to Arsenal and as United tired into the next game Pearce was able to completely change his outfield squad to destroy United 8-1 in the champions league semi final first leg.
There's more to come on how Pearce's Arsenal manage through to the end of the season. Stay tuned.
