The EU Might Have Something to Say About That….

By: Tom | March 11th, 2009

Managing Arsenal is a disheartening experience in many respects. Every time a new version of Football Manager is released I, as a loyal Gooner, always christen the game by shunting Arsene Wenger out the door to join the dole queue (where he invariably stays; why does he never seem to find another job?) and take the reigns at the Emirates. I never last more than a couple of seasons.

Not because I am sacked (although the high expectations coupled with my avatar’s zero experience has resulted in that happening once or twice after a bad run), but because I just don’t enjoy it as much as I expect too. There’s still a thrill if you manage to garner some success early on, but you are dogged with the knowledge that at such a relatively big club, that is not such a huge achievement, and even if you do, there’s the sense of, well, where do I go from there? Sure, there’s the possibility of doing it all again the following year, but when the seemingly inevitable second season syndrome kicks in instead and you drop down the league, the sense of despondency is all the more pronounced.

What if there was a way to stick with the Arsenal, but ensure challenges that, if bested, would bring that sense of triumph and accomplishment? How about re-jigging the rules of the game to create just such a scenario?

We all have our opinions on FIFA’s proposed 6+5 ruling, and I won’t discuss my own views here, but if there is one team in England that is likely to be affected by it the most if and when it comes into effect, it is Arsenal. So why not see how they’d do? De-Wengerfy Arsenal in the sense of stripping them of their glamourous foreign imports and create a team with an English core. But let’s go beyond 6+5 and aim for a fully English side. Can it be done without incurring a significant drop off in success and a subsequent sacking?

FIFA’s proposed timeline for reaching 6+5 status is (obviously) staggered, aiming for 4+7 by the 2010-2011 season and adding one more to that for each of the following two years. I want to ramp things up a bit faster than that, hopefully reach their own target before them, but I am conscious of the fact that I can’t go too crazy. To say I’m not starting from a position of great strength with Arsenal is an understatement, with Theo Walcott being the only realistic candidate for the first team from the off, and while there are a few decent prospects in the youth and reserve sides for the coming years, that doesn’t help me much in the very beginning. So trying to come up with a first season target is a very fine balancing act.

If I say that I must field a fair number of English players in the starting line up for every single game in my first season that means a fairly significant overhaul of my squad in the preliminary summer transfer window, and that is unlikely to bode well for the season ahead. If I set it lower, I give myself a bit of briefing room at the start; I can still bring in my English boys this season, but I’m not forced to throw them all into the starting eleven from the off and can ease them into the first team, hopefully creating a strong base for the following year.

So, I have a two-part question for you.

Firstly, what should my first season target be? Two, three or four English starters in every match? I won’t go higher than that at this stage as I fear it would be professional suicide and result in a very short lived FM experience.

Secondly, and equally importantly, do you think that the number of Englishmen on the pitch (at least in this first season) should be maintained over the entire course of the match? FIFA’s proposals place no restrictions on substitutes, meaning that a side that starts 6+5 could finish 3+8. Should subs matter?

I await your decision on tenterhooks.

How many English players in the first season?
( surveys)