Greetings and welcome to the second episode of this save with Colwyn Bay. In our last update we had won against Doncaster Rovers. We will be now playing game 7 out of 46, against Hull City.
Game 7
Colwyn Bay 2 – Hull City 2
Lineup changes:
David Evans for Chris Pike
Tough and gritty game against Hull. Lots of tackles on their part, and we managed to scrape a point though, in our own backyard courtesy of Nathan Wigg.
Game 8
Brighton 1 – Colwyn Bay 2
Crazy game, but we were resilient enough to avoid being defeated in Ninian Park. Despite the 4 goals, our young defender Jarman was the man of the match with a key tackle and two key headers.
Game 9
Colwny Bay 3 – Colchester 0
Lineup changes:
Tony Rees for Mark Cross Pat Van Der Hauwe for Eric Young
After a quite uneventful first half, hell broke loose at the late stages of the game and we managed to add a couple of goals.
League Cup 2nd Round Leg 1
Derby County 2 – Colwyn Bay 0
Lineup changes:
Darren Davies for Dayfdd Owen Russell Coughlin for Jamie Day
As expected, we weren’t able to handle them and we got beaten. Thomas was of the Man Of The Match as he had two key interceptions in the game and did a great job to prevent the score being bigger than it was.
Game 10
Colwyn Bay 1 – Hartlepool United 1
Lineup changes:
Dayfdd Owen for Darren Davies. Jamie Day for Rusell Coughlin. Mark Aizlewood as a sub. Marc Williams for Gavin Maguire. Wayne Russell for Brian Thomas.
Early lead from Hartlepool when Halliday plays through a lovely slide ball which Hunter, their left forward, fires low into the bottom corner. From then on, we trade blows until we finally managed to beat Hollund from a corner kick action.
Windscreen Shield Groups
Rochdale 2 – Colwyn Bay 2
Started well with an early lead from Wigg. Bailey equalised with a shot that smashed the ball past Russell. In the 83th minute they scored again, but we were able to neglect their advantage pretty quickly when Rees tapped in a rebound after a David Evans’ shot. In the end of the match, Rochdale had the last ball and fortunately for us the shot they took hit the bar and no one was able to tap it in. Fair result.
Game 10
Colwyn Bay 2 – Cardiff City 1
Philliskirk decides to shake our nerves for a while but Evans put this game to bed rather quickly by scoring a double. The rest of the game fizzles out without much happening.
That’s it for this episode folks.
Join me this saturday for a new episode of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂
I’ll be attempting to do a Wales players only challenge. I’ve already seen people do it with Swansea and Cardiff, therefore I’ll be trying a different team. I’m choosing Colwyn Bay, who up to 2019 played within the English football system
I loaded the English, Scottish & Dutch leagues.
Goals? Well, the usual ones when you start in lower divisions, right? Within a period of years, attempt to establish Colwyn Bay as a Premier and European football contender.
This is the squad we begin with:
As they were non-league and had to put them in at the expense of Chester City, they don’t have any players
We only have a budget of 100 k, so signings will esentially be free transfer for the time being. We’ll need a little bit of a mix between Welsh and non-Welsh players to avoid having to play with “grey” players in the event we have players called up by the U-21 or the Wales national team. Bearing that in mind, let’s hit the transfer market.
Despite the low stamina and strength, seems more than capable to do the job.
Experienced and seasoned guy with good defending qualities. Good influence too, so he seems like a good candidate to become the captain of this team. Either him or Van Der Hauwe
A few days later, we have news from these group of lads.
Good! Our first five signings.
Let’s go hunt for some more players to make up the numbers.
These are my next targets:
Let’s see what their decisions are:
Awesome, everybody signed up all of them. 10 players so far, let’s go get some more.
My next targets are:
Let’s see what they decide:
Nice! 5 more and we have a total count of 15 signings so far. We were lucky to pick Graham, as he was strongly recommended by one of our league scouts and was touted by teams with slightly better reputation than ours. We’re ok in the strikers and goalkeepers department so far. We’ll be needing a couple of central midfielders, two central defenders, a left full-back and I guess with that we could be ready.
Let’s get right to it:
What’s it gonna be, boys?
Another good signing party! We reached 20 signings now. As it was the case with Deniol Graham, gladly surprised that Andy Johnson decided to join us.
Up to this point, we have a pretty operational squad. We need just a bit more bodies to add depth in some positions.
For the moment though, the first match for Division 3 is just around the corner so we’ll have to deal with it right away with what we have.
Let’s set up the tactic and prepare our first game.
Usually when I’m starting in lower divisions, I pick 442 direct but this time I’ll be trying something that has worked for me in Scotland’s lower level and that I used in Arsenal with good results For those who have played CM 01/02, you’ll know this one as IodineCF
Game 1:
Darlington 1 – Colwyn Bay 2
A promising debut at The Feethams Ground.
After the match, we can focus in looking for that players who will provide what we need.
He’s usually released at the start of the season, but Arsenal have chosen to keep him this time. They made him available for loan though, so I’ll bid for him.
Very good attributes, and fits especially in the midfielder where I need players who can cover and pass the ball well
No need for introduction here. And as he’s available for loan, it’s my cue to jump in and ask for him. Maybe we get lucky.
We’ll have to wait a few days though, to know their answer. Meanwhile, we have a game to play
League Cup 1st Round, Leg 1
Colwyn Bay 1 – Swindon 0
A good result at home against a D1 team. Hopefully it’s enough of a lead to carry on the next round.
Now yes, everybody answered.
Unfortunately Notman rejected us, but the rest of the guys join Colwyn Bay. With 23 players in the squad at the moment, it looks pretty good. Even so, we’re not going to close the door on future signings, just yet. If we have injuries and called-up players for the national team, we will consider bringing in a few more.
Game 2
Colwyn Bay 2 vs Torquay United 1
Just a change in the lineup. Jamie Day for Nathan Wigg and we move Andy Johnson to the AMC role.
Our second win comes from an inspired Gavin Allen, who scored twice.
On the rundown to the 2nd leg against Swindon, we have two injured players.
Fortunately, by the time of the match Russell recovered well but as a precaution I will play Thomas and Russell will go to the bench.
League Cup 1st Round, Leg 2
Swindon 3 – Colwyn Bay 3
Lineup changes:
Jamie Day is cup-tied, so we’ll have to revert to Nathan Wigg in midfield.
Brian Thomas starts, Russell in the bench
Close call, but we’re through to the next round!
Swindon won 2-1 in the 90 minutes, so we went to extra-time. We subbed in Deniol Graham and man, was he the right choice. His late goal three minutes from the end of the extra-time, sent us to the 2nd round. Now we have to wait for the result of Van Der Hauwe’s injury.
Phew!, just a few days. No worries then.
Game 3
Colwyn Bay 0 – Peterborough 2
Lineup changes:
Dayfdd Owen for Pat Van Der Hauwe
Chris Pike for Gavin Allen
Evenly matched game for both sides but their strikers were on the good side, and they took the win. Erase, rewind and move forward.
Game 4
Rochdale 0 – Colwyn Bay 4
Lineup changes:
Jamie Day for Russell Coughlin Pat Van Der Hauwe for Mark Aizlewood in the bench
Boy, we came out on the rampage! Absolutely blistering first half for Nathan Wigg and Chris Pike who scored two each and gave us a 4-0 edge at half-time. From then on, it was just cruise control and no goals were added by either side.
Game 5
Colwyn Bay 4 – Scunthorpe 0
Lineup changes:
Mark Cross for Ricardo Gabbiadini
Another scintillating performance by our boys, obliterating Scunthorpe.
Game 6
Doncaster Rovers 0 – Colwyn Bay 2
Johnson gave us 3 points, because Chris was on great performance overall. Lincoln’s goal was the first chance they had in the game up to that point.
So that’s it for this episode, folks.
Tune in next wednesday for episode number 2 of this series with Colwyn Bay. See ya 🙂
Hello! Welcome to the last episode of this save with Arsenal
6 games until the end of Premier League with the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup to play. I’m excited, let’s jump right into it.
Game 33
West Ham United 3 – Arsenal 4
Fun match. Especially happy for young Liberian Cristopher Wreh, who in the limited playing time I had given him, hadn’t had the chance to show his skills yet. I honestly thought the game was over when we were leading 4-0, but West Ham didn’t want to go down without a proper fight. Sinclair made a bold statement by scoring a hat-trick and even forcing a bunch of saves from Seaman in the closing stages. We emerged victorious nonetheless.
Game 34
Tottenham 1 – Arsenal 2
Another version of the Northern London derby, this time in White Hart Lane. The only change to the lineup is the return of Boa Morte for Marc Overmars. Marc will sit this one out due to a suspension for reaching 21 disciplinary points. There’s the added pressure here to perform as a win would mean clinching the Premier League, and in our greatest rival’s field.
Yes! We’ve done it. We are the champioooooons, my frieeeeeend!!! ♫♫ . The great Dennis wanted to celebrate the title already, and put a great performance to give us the win. Tottenham piled up the pressure and tested Manninger, but the young Austrian stood firm and took the Man Of The Match award.
Told you guys I wasn’t gonna bottle it
With the PL clinched, let’s focus in getting the best of our young players for the remaining 4 matches.
Ouch! Terrible news for poor Timmy when he was finding his place in the starting team.
Game 35
Arsenal 2 – Sheffield Wednesday 1
Time to bring back the mighty Ian after a while. He’ll be on the bench while Wreh starts. Steve Bould comes in for the injured Timmy Griggs. Rest is the same
A little hangover from celebrations? None of that. Surely, it wasn’t our usual display of good football but we got the job done.
Meanwhile…
Not now Patrick. We’re trying to win some trophies my friend. Stay put, your time will come.
Game 36
Arsenal 1 – Manchester United 2
Small wobble here but I’m not tremendously concerned. My aim is winning our match against them for the FA Cup final.
Game 37
Coventry City 1 – Arsenal 0
Lucky for us, we’re not in a dog fight for the Premier League. A very lacklustre match from our part, and Coventry made us pay the price for it.
UEFA Cup Final
Schalke 04 2 – Arsenal 4
We will bring all the big guns back for this important match. The starting lineup will be looking like this:
Props to Schalke because they were a tough rival. They were ahead twice in the score and at some point it didn’t look like we could overturn the match and I thought we would go extra-time or penalties. But Overmars and Ian stepped up their game and finished off the germans to give us another title!
Woohoo! Title number 3!
Before the last game with Bolton…
Man, that’s bad. Well, I guess Grimandi will have to play in the FA Cup final.
Game 38
Arsenal 5 – Bolton Wanderers 2
No time to rest on our laurels though, as after the UEFA Cup final there’s this last game against Bolton.
Lineup changes:
Manninger as starting GK Jamie Day in the bench Nigel Winterburn for Emanuel Petit
We showed no mercy and they boys stormed out of the locker room with fire in their boots. At the end of the first half, we were up 4-0. Then Bolton made a little effort to overcome the embarrassment and were able to score twice. Vieira rounded up the 5-2 at the closing stages of the match.
FA Cup Final
Manchester United 0 – Arsenal 3
We collected 3 titles so far. Can we go for a fourth?
Lineup changes:
Gilles Grimandi for Nigel Winterburn Tony Adams for Martin Keown
The answer is YES! We were quite active looking for the opening goal in the first half, with Ian Wright having a penalty. Unfortunately, Schmeichel got in the way and stopped it. The second half was still in our favour, we had a goal by Bergkamp disallowed. Just two minutes afterwards, the goal came through thanks to Overmars. From then on, Manchester United seemed to have a reaction and came with great impetu to our goal. In the midst of their attack, Platt scored and Bergkamp just a few minutes later just rounded the score and crushed the hopes of the reds
4/4. I’m blown away. I knew Arsenal had a good squad, but honestly this result is beyond something.
FINAL STANDINGS:
FIXTURE RECAP:
The agony for Manchester United doesn’t end though, as Barcelona deliver another blow to their hopes, beating them in the Champions League final
AVERAGE RATINGS:
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS:
GOALS SCORED:
GOAL ASSISTS:
MANAGER OF THE YEAR:
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
FOOTBALL WRITERS PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Before wrapping up, let’s take a brief look in what happened in the World Cup:
As you can see in the first picture, England’s gaffer affords to sit Ian Wright on the bench, when he was the top goalscorer in the PL. They crash out quite early against a not so difficult group
Meanwhile, the World Cup final is an odd one. Would’ve never expected Mexico to go that far. They had important victories on the previous play-offs against France and Brazil
Now yes, it’s time to put a lid on this save with Arsenal. I’m ecstatic for having won the 4 competitions we were playing and I feel like the tactic used may be a good fit for other teams.
Join us again to read about more challenges in this blog. Hope you enjoyed it 🙂
Hey! Welcome to episode 7 out of 8 of this save with Arsenal.
We start firstly with transfer news. The transfer deadline is close and team are sending their last minute offers:
Sure thing! I accept.
Now yes, onto our next match for the UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup Quarter Finals Leg 2
Arsenal 3 – Auxerre 0
C’mon gunners! Dixon will be back as Bjarmann can’t play in UEFA. Rest of the team, untouched.
In Highbury, the boys rise up to the occasion and completely dominate Auxerre, restricting them to only 3 shots which were off-target. The man of the match award goes to Remi Garde who had a very active game looking for a goal which he actually got.
After the match, Isaiah Rankin goes to Port Vale.
There’s a 12-day gap between our current time and the league cup final date so I assume we’ll have to deal with potential offers and maybe injuries.
Indeed it’s the case and we received a loan offer for Matthew Upson. We accept as we have a surplus of left full-back at the moment.
A bit of a scare when you read this sort of news. I expected him to play against Manchester United.
But my concerns were unfounded as David makes a quick recovert. Fantastic news!
League Cup Final
Arsenal 0 – Manchester United 0 (won 3-2 on penalties)
The only change for this game is Steve Bould for Tony Adams. Tony will be out this match due to two yellow cards received in the past playoff against Southampton.
Game on in Wembley! Let’s go gunners!
We collect our first title! Even against United, we were dominant throughout the game but Schmeichel being Schmeichel, you’d know how hard he plays and how difficult it is to score against him. In the penalties, the importance of having a guy like David Seaman between the sticks is proven as he stopped Beckham and Giggs penalties.
UEFA Cup Semi-finals Leg 1
Liverpool 0- Arsenal 2
Adams is back on duty and will replace Bould. Rest of the team, the same.
A great win which puts us on the verge of the UEFA Cup final. The match was solved quickly in the first half and we literally cruised on “damage control” through the 2nd half to take the win.
FA Cup Semi-finals
Manchester City 1 – Arsenal 2
Lineup changes:
Ruben Sosa for Ian Wright Torgeir Bjarmann for Lee Dixon.
Nerve-wracking game. Weaver and Vaughan were City’s best players, stopping us from winning in the first 90 minutes of the match. In the extra-time, when everything seemed headed for a replay, Bergkamp took charge and with a header, gave us the elusive win. In the other semifinal, Manchester United disposed of Liverpool by thrashing them 4-0, which means we will meet again and also for a final.
Game 30
Everton 2 – Arsenal 1
With a comfortable lead in the Premier League, I believe it’s a safer time to give youngsters some playing time.
Lineup changes:
Alex Manninger for David Seaman
Nigel Winterburn for Gilles Grimandi
Timmy Griggs for Martin Keown
Nicolas Anelka for Ruben Sosa (who will be on the bench)
Paul Barrett for David Platt
Ray Parlour for Patrick Vieira
Rough game in Goodison Park, and the home team takes a much needed win to escape relegation. Anelka shortened the gap near the end of the first half. It’s just the third defeat in our whole run in PL so I’m not really bothered.
Game 31
Derby County 0 – Arsenal 0
Lineup changes:
Marc Overmars switches to the left side and Paulo Vernazza for Luis Boa Morte (goes to the bench).
Despite the result, I can assure you it wasn’t a snoozefest. Both teams had equal chances of scoring but Poom and Manninger had both good games and were able to stop the shots that came their way. Another point for us
UEFA Cup Semi-Finals Leg 2
Arsenal 5 – Liverpool 2
Wow, have Liverpool become used to take a beating, or what’s going on here? They had a brief moment of attempting to get back in the game after being 3-1 down but Boa Morte and then Anelka crushed any hopes of at least leaving Higbury with a draw. Fowler’s goal was just a mere statistic. We will be meeting Schalke 04 in the final, who eliminated Udinese.
We now have a string of 6 straight Premier League matches, the UEFA Cup Final slotted in between and the last match of the Premier League
Game 32
Arsenal 3 – Leicester City 0
Lineup changes:
Torgeir Bjarmann for Lee Dixon Matthew Wicks for Tony Adams Cristopher Wreh for Ruben Sosa (on the bench)
Good result to keep it going in the league. We’re now level with Manchester United and Liverpool in matches played and we have United 13 points behind. 6 games left and we’re smelling the Premier title.
And just like that, we reached the end of this episode
Join me soon for the last one of this save. See ya 🙂
Hi and welcome back! Our new episode begins with a Premier League match against Villa
Game 25
Aston Villa 0 – Arsenal 4
Aston Villa are put to the sword on their backyard. Ruben Sosa and Platt gave the early lead into halftime. Vernazza (who I subbed in for Overmars) and Bergkamp placed the icing on the cake to round up 4 goals.
Despite the offers from Luton Town and Nottingham Forest were better than Charlton, Dayfdd chose to go with them.
Game 26
Blackburn Rovers 2 -Arsenal 2
We edged Blackburn by halftime with Ruben Sosa scoring a penalty and Tim Flowers being sent off. Nevertheless, they fought back and managed to draw the game. A bit of a poor performance but we still hold a decent advantage against the 2nd placed team in Premier League.
Board however, was not so amused
We’re not gonna bottle it, i promise
Game 27
Arsenal 4 – Wimbledon 1
So much better than our Wednesday fallout against Blackburn. By the looks of how the game was unfolding, I believed it was going to be either a narrow win or another 2-2 draw. However, the changes made invigorated the team and they finished Wimbledon off, adding 2 goals to the tally.
UEFA Cup Quarter Finals Leg 1
Auxerre 1 – Arsenal 2
Ian won’t be present in this one due to being suspended for a match (two yellows). Ruben Sosa is cleared now so he’ll be the starting striker and Anelka will be his backup.
Très Bien Arsenal! Our attack swarmed all over Auxerre.
FA Cup Quarter Finals
Coventry City 2 – Arsenal 3
We lose Luis Boa Morte for two matches due to disciplinary points suspension, so we’ll re-arrange the team by placing Ruben Sosa on the left side and Wright taking up the striker role.
Everything seemed quite calm by the 70th minute of the game but Coventry had different plans in mind. They made a strong push at the end trying to get back in the game, however they fell short, and that means we’re in the FA Cup Semi-finals.
Game 28
Arsenal 1 – Leeds United 0
We’re 13 points ahead of Chelsea so we can afford to change some players for this one.
Lineup changes:
Lukic for Seaman
Bould for Keown
Vernazza for Overmars
Bjarmann for Dixon
Clean sheet for Lukic. A curling ball across the box meets Nicolas Anelka’s volley and we take the game. We were also helped by the fact that West Ham beated Chelsea 2-0, and we extend our lead to 16 points.
Game 29
Arsenal 4 – Chelsea 0
Not even Garde being sent off stopped us on our tracks. We took advantage of Chelsea’s late blunder and we punished them 4-0. So now we’re 19 points clear in the run for the title and I feel more confident with each match.
With this match, we reached the end of this episode.
Hello! This is episode number five of this save with Arsenal.
We begin with the League Cup. We play against the surprising Stockport County, who caught Liverpool off-guard in Anfield Road and managed to beat them 3-1. Hopefully they don’t succeed in taking us out of the competition as well.
League Cup Quarter Finals
Stockport County 0 – Arsenal 2
And they didn’t! We suffocated Stockport’s attackers and restricted them to only two shots on our goal, neither of them found the net. Meanwhile, we displayed our usual barrage of shots and thanks to Ruben Sosa and the great Dennis, we won the match. We’re in semifinals and we await for Southampton or Northampton Town.
Ahhhh, more offers. Nice!
Another on-the-run business done!
Game 22
Arsenal 3 – Liverpool 0
At the end of the first half I noticed Dixon was having a sub-par game, therefore I felt it was the right time to call Bjarmann in. He did good in this one. Meanwhile Ruben Sosa had an amazingly active game which saw him taking 10 shots on Liverpool’s goal, and two of them found the net. Bergkamp had previously opened up the game by scoring a penalty kick.
Game 23
Barnsley 0 – Arsenal 1
With Bergkamp suspended due to points for two matches, I’ll be placing Anelka in the AMC role and Ian as the lone striker. Ruben Sosa has played a decent number of matches as the starting striker so it’s a good time to swap the role.
It was a narrow win and Bergkamp greatly timed passes were missed here. Anyway, Anelka got the job done.
FA Cup 4th Round
Bolton Wanderers 1 – Arsenal 4
Bolton was one of the only two teams who beat me so far, so definitely I expect to have a better game than our last meeting
A much better game. Ian was on fire tonight and scored a hat-trick. Overmars helped with a goal of his own. The one and only Peter Beardsley decorated the result to finish 4-1.
Game 24
Arsenal 2 – Newcastle 0
Surprisingly Newcastle are doing really bad despite having a nice squad. They are 16th and just 2 points away from relegation.
Andersson, Shearer, Gary Speed, Batty, and they just manage ONE shot!? Geez. No wonder how they’re so low in the standings then.
Before the League Cup semi-finals, bad news for Vieira
League Cup Semi-Finals Leg 1
Southampton 1 – Arsenal 1
With Patrick injured, Remi Garde will return to the starting lineup
Fair result here. Both teams had the same amount of shots on goal and as such both GK ended with a high average rating cancel each other out completely. I’m confident we can the seal the deal in Highbury.
However the board wasn’t exactly enthralled by our display of football at The Dell.
Don’t worry folks, i got it covered
FA Cup 5th Round
Arsenal 3 – Leeds United 0
My last meeting with Leeds ended up in a draw which led to penalties. Let’s hope this time we can advance in a safer way than that.
Safer it is! Overmars had a heck of a game, having 6 runs past opponents and earning the Man Of The Match award. Wright and Bergkamp as well on the top of their game, they combined to place 3 goals on Leeds net. We move on to Quarter Finals.
League Cup Semi-Finals Leg 2
Arsenal 1 – Southampton 0
Prior to this game, Grimandi let us know that he was unhappy for having no playing time. So, I’ll be placing him in the starting lineup. Also, Ruben Sosa will make a comeback with Ian on the bench.
A little short considering that we once beated them 5-0. Nevertheless Bergkamp class was enough to keep the result and win the playoff, therefore sending us to the League Cup final. We will meet Manchester United, who drew their first match and won at Sheffield 1-0.
Before the next game against Aston Villa, we received offers for Owen.
Greetings and welcome to episode 4 of this save with Arsenal.
Game 17
Arsenal 2 – Coventry City 1
In many saves Coventry has stopped on my tracks when trying to progress into cups, or a continuing winning streak, so in a sense of way I’m wary if this time will be anything different.
Coventry striked first and the «here we go again» line crossed my mind. But Ruben Sosa and Bergkamp came to the rescue and knocked Coventry down. We take the 2-1 in front of our crowd
League Cup 4th Round
Leeds United 1 – Arsenal 1 (won 0-3 on penalties)
We got ahead early and we were managing the game quite well until the very last minute when Dixon had the misfortune of commiting a penalty. In the extra-time we traded blows but neither team could break the other. The penalties (thankfully!) were a whole different story. Seaman stopped the first two and Hasselbaink blasted the third one wide, whilst our players scored their shots. Lucky escape, huh?
Game 19
Bolton Wanderers 1 – Arsenal 0
The first half is the worst display of football so far, a complete snoozefest. Things were looking a tad better in the second, with us pushing upfront for the victory. However, a corner kick by Pollock met Cox’s head and the ball went into the net. 1-0 loss at the Reebok Stadium.
UEFA Cup 4th Round Leg 2
Arsenal 3 – Helsingborg 1
Ian is back in the starting lineup as Ruben Sosa can’t play until QF
Damn right!. We didn’t give Helsingborg a chance to get into rhythm and we ended up taking the game 3-1. Onto the next one!
Our next game against Southampton is 11 days away so I guess there will be some news coming our way in this period of time. And a few days later, indeed there are news. In this case, good. We received an offer for this guy:
We’re well covered in the midfielder department and I don’t really have him in the plans, so I’ll just let him go.
Honestly I expected I would receive word from Eintracht in a matter of days but luckily the business was done quite promptly.
Great, I’ll start looking for a right full-back as an alternative to Lee Dixon.
The first name that came to my mind was Vikash Dhorasoo, but he’s contracted to Sporting Gijon and is listed as Unavailable, which means I’ll have to scout in the market for other players of good calibre to join Arsenal
This guy looks quite interesting:
While we await for Torgeir’s decision, the Southampton match arrives.
Game 20
Arsenal 5 – Southampton 0
Grab your popcorn folks. It’s a show in Highbury!. Ian netted two early and we were up 3-0 by half time. Bould converted a header from a corner kick in the 59th minute of the game and Garde managed to score from a deflection by Southampton’s GK, which fell to his feet.
Game 21
Crystal Palace 1 – Arsenal 3
The triumphant road continues. We had the game decided in the first half. In the second half, the team just cruised around and Palace took the fight to us. At the late minutes of the game, they managed to score one, but they couldn’t do much.
A few days later, Torgeir arrives to be presented at Highbury
FA Cup 3rd Round
Arsenal 2 – Stoke City 1
I’ll be giving our new man a chance to get himself into our squad. Therefore, I’ll have him as a sub for this game.
Some debut for Bjarmann, huh? Murmurs roared in the sky after the misfortune of the own goal. Nevertheless, Stoke were never in the picture and we advance to the next round, courtesy of Ruben Sosa and Luis Boa Morte’s goals.
That brings this update to an end for the day.
Join me soon for the next episode of this save. See ya!
Hi again. Welcome to episode 3 of this save with Arsenal.
As in episode 2, we’re opening with the UEFA Cup again.
UEFA Cup 3rd Round Leg 1
Arsenal 2 – Rangers 1
Not a great advantage to go onto leg 2, but at least it’s a win in our home turf.
Game 14
Arsenal 1 – Derby County 0
This one was neat. Derby retaliated and had a bunch of shots on our net. Luckily we have Ian on our side and he did his usual shootaround the opposition’s net until he scores.
Just before the game we received (FINALLY!) an offer from a bunch of suitors for one of our players. I hope that we can sell some.
League Cup 3rd Round
Arsenal 1 – Blackburn Rovers 0
A lone goal by Bergkamp was enough to keep Blackburn at bay, and progress to the next round.
Our first sale is successful! Hughes joins Leicester City.
At last one slot free in the squad. I’ll go straight to pursue the player I want. I present you:
Top lad and more than capable to do the deal!
UEFA 3rd Round Leg 2
Rangers 1 – Arsenal 3
We head down to Ibrox, in order to secure our qualifying for the next round. C’mon gunners!
Despite having done a proper job in Highbury, Rangers are just completely off their pace in their own home. Ian Wright smelled the blood and punished them accordingly with a hat-trick. Onto the next one!
Game 15
Arsenal 1 – West Ham United 0
Again Ian saving the day after a barrage of shots against Boumnijel weren’t finding the net.
Exciting news! Welcome Ruben!
Game 16
Sheffield Wednesday 1 – Arsenal 3
We place Ruben Sosa right into the starting eleven, and Wright goes in the bench.
It turns out to be a really good debut by my compatriot, 5 shots on target, 3 runs past opponents and a goal. Boa Morte and Bergkamp’s contributions led to a 3-1 win at Hillsborough.
Game 17
Manchester United 1 – Arsenal 1
Now yes! The moment I’ve been waiting for. I sense I’ll find them in another competition, but this is the real test of the season as their squad is so stacked of talent. I switched to 442 briefly to give Ian a little bit of help upfront
The switch didn’t give us the result i was hoping for. Wright gives us an early lead but after trying for so many minutes, Butt levels the match. We were overawed in Old Trafford and we were lucky to get out of there with a point.
UEFA 4th Round Leg 1
Helsingborg 3 – Arsenal 3
Time for the next round in the UEFA Cup. Ruben Sosa won’t be able to play until Quarter Finals and Bergkamp will be out for one match (suspended due to two bookings). So, in goes Anelka and also I’m placing Lukic again as starting GK.
Bit of a surprise this one. Didn’t really think too much of them and they fought like hell to avoid losing in front of their crowd. Luckily we managed to escape defeat and we’ll be deciding the outcome of the playoff at Highbury.
After this match, we reached the end of episode number 3.
Hope you enjoyed it, I’ll see you soon with the next one. See ya!
Greetings and welcome to episode number two of this save with Arsenal.
We begin this episode with the first match in the UEFA Cup after we were given a bye in the first round. Our next adversary is Chernomorets
UEFA 2nd Round Leg 1
Chernomorets Odessa 2 – Arsenal 5
Wonderful display which saw us take a 5-1 win at half-time. Chernomorets managed to discount by scoring one more, but I feel pretty confident that we will advance to the next round.
Game 7
Arsenal 2 – Aston Villa 0
The fate of the game was pretty much decided in the first half thanks to the great contributions of Wright and Boa Morte.
Game 8
Wimbledon 1 – Arsenal 0
Neither team has lost yet, so it will be a decent battle. Let’s see who comes up on top
Wimbledon strikes first in this two-horse race. An unfortunate mistake by Martin Keown in the very last minute of the match couldn’t be stopped by Seaman and it goes into the back of the net. Neither of our lads were able to change the game and we leave with a defeat. We’re still leaders nonetheless, 3 points ahead of Wimbledon..
Game 9
Arsenal 4 – Tottenham 1
Ah, the big North London derby is coming up against a lacklustre Tottenham who are sitting in 11th place and have won only two out of 9 games.
We unleashed hell in the 2nd half and overrun them all over the place. Solid victory after the mishap at Selhurst Park. The gunners congregated in Highbury must have returned home joyous with the display of football.
UEFA Cup 2nd Round Leg 2
Arsenal 2 – Chernomorets Odessa 2
Lots of changes in the lineup for this one to give some playing time to the young guys, so the team ends up looking like this.
An early goal from Chernomorets reminds me I picked up the wrong captain. After realizing the mistake, I picked David Platt. Wreh was absolutely atrocious, missing every shot he took, and in general it was not a entirely convincing performance. We narrowly escaped defeat in the last minute of the game.
Game 11
Chelsea 0 – Arsenal 2
After a De Goey showfest, finally Overmars (who made 10 runs past opponents) had a chance to crack the net and Ian’s goal put the icing on the cake for a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Just before the next game against Everton
Poor Tony. In will go Steve Bould surely.
Game 12
Arsenal 3 – Everton 0
Lineup changes:
Steve Bould for Tony Adams
After the 3-0 we eased a little bit and Everton started making their shots and approaching our goal but to no avail. The score remained unchanged and we won convincingly in Highbury.
Game 13
Leicester City 2 – Arsenal 4
Lineup changes:
The only change for this match is Lukic starting as GK. He expressed his unhappiness for not being played so I guess it’s the right time to put him in.
We came up ferociously and managed to be 3-0 up by the 20th minute of the game. An attempt to comeback into the game by Leicester was cut short with Vieira’s goal, who kept us in the lead. In the 2nd half we were still dominant but their defense halted the progression in the score with key interceptions.
And with this folks, we reached the end of episode number 2 of this save.
During the quarantine, i was toying around with some saves when following David’s page, this idea came up. I thought the Arsenal one was quite interesting and here we are then.
I loaded the English, Scottish & Spanish leagues.
This is the squad we begin with
As you may see, there are way too many defenders and some midfielders than I don’t plan to use. Hopefully offers for these players will come soon, and with the space created we can bring some interesting names.
Time goes by and we are arriving at the start of our road in the Premier League without any offers as of yet.
It’s August, 9th. We skipped pre-season for the time being and we go straight to the first match. It’s time to set up the tactic.
I’m trying something new for me this time. I’ve had some degree of success in lower divisions with this one, and I’m going to give it a shot. It’s a small variation of the 4231 direct with two midfielders pushing diagonally upfront instead of going backwards.
It looks like this:
Game 1
Southampton 0 – Arsenal 4
A very promising debut against the Saints. Not a great display of accuracy (we had 7 shots on target from 19 total), but we managed to outclass Southampton and put 4 goals past them
Game 2
Arsenal 3 vs Crystal Palace 1
Lineup changes:
Marc Overmars in the right forward slot, and Paulo Vernazza as a sub.
Emphatic win against Crystal Palace. We absolutely dominated the game until the 70th minute of the game where they woke up and started to retaliate, managing to score a goal at the closing stages of the game.
Game 3
Liverpool 1 vs Arsenal 4
Our first big test of the season. Let’s see how we do here.
What can i say? Honestly expected a closer match but Wright upfront is absolute bonkers. We held Liverpool to just 2 shots on our goal.
Game 4
Arsenal 4 – Barnsley 1
Sluggish start, we go to half-time with a 0-0 draw. After Bergkamp netted a goal, all hell broke loose and the goals started raining in.
Game 5
Newcastle 0 – Arsenal 3
Solid victory in St.James’ Park. We had a lot of chances but after we subbed in Anelka for Ian Wright, the doors opened and we managed to finish the game. Nicolas rewarded us with a goal in the 74th minute of the game. 5th victory in a row
Game 6
Arsenal 3 – Blackburn Rovers 1
Due to international U-21 matches, Boa Marte and Manninger won’t be able to play.
Lineup changes:
Marc Overmars to the left and Vernazza will play on the right. Lukic will be the sub GK for this one.
Despite the changes, we dispatch Blackburn with relative ease. A great performance overall. Lincoln’s goal was the first chance they had in the game up to that point.
Game 7
Leeds United 0 – Arsenal 2
This one was a little more even than the rest of our games so far. It was a weird game for Ian Wright, who had 3 opportunities and he wasn’t able to net neither of them. Therefore, I felt it was time to give Anelka some playing time (also in came Ray Parlour for Vernazza and Barrett for Garde). Within 3 minutes, Anelka closed the lid on the game and we won it 2-0.
After this match, it’s a wrap-up for this first episode.
Join me soon for another episode of this save with Arsenal. See ya 🙂
CM9798 Gaming Journeys 