The North-East’s Finest

By: Tom | July 4th, 2009

In the course of this little experiment in Englishness, I’ve got to thinking about how much I, as an Arsenal fan in real life, actually care about having English players. The answer now would be, not very much.

When I first started supporting the Gooners in the early nineties, we, like every team in the country, were predominately made up of British players, with the odd foreigner like Anders Limpar or John “Shoot!” Jensen thrown in for good measure. The arrival of Bergkamp and then Wenger heralded the start of the internationalisation of the team, but even then we still had a defence that was homegrown. Once the old guard made way we were left with the odd local boy like Ashley Cole or Sol Campbell, and while most supporters wouldn’t openly criticise Wenger for a lack of Englishness, most would remark that it would be nice to have one or two more at the club.

I can understand that sentiment, but I absolutely don’t share it. There is an obvious disconnect between fans and the superstar players of today, but even more so when it comes to those from around these parts. I don’t really like any of the players who represent the national team these days (with the exception of young Theo, who seems a fine upstanding sort), and I wouldn’t paticularly want to see any of them joining my club. Give me Cesc, Almunia and Van Persie.

Which makes me all the sadder that those three players will have to be moving on to new Football Manager pastures sooner rather than later. I might be building a new identity for the team, but it’s not necessarily one I feel any connection to.

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Middlesbrough vs. Arsenal – Premier League
24th October 2009
English starters: 6 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Walcott, Young, Wilshere

That 100% record is no more. Typically, it would be at somewhere like Middlesbrough.

A grim day for anyone hoping for entertainment would have been much worse were it not for a late flurry of activity in the last 15 minutes, when my players woke up and realised there was a game to be played. Yes, despite what seems to be a high number of shots, there was very little activity of any description for most of the afternoon.

After a run of league games where we won but looked far from convincing, things finally caught up with us. I could only hope this would be the spur needed to get us back to our early season form.

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Sunderland vs. Arsenal – Premier League
31st October 2009
English starters: 6 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Walcott, Young, Wilshere

Goals – Chimbonda (OG 10), Adebayor (31), Young (34), Bangoura (62)

I may have found a nemesis in the shape of Roy Keane. At least off the pitch, as his Sunderland team didn’t put up much of a fight on it. In the pre-match press, Keane tried to stir things up, claiming we hadn’t a chance of winning the title. The doubts crept in to a couple of the players who swallowed Keano’s tripe. So I responded in kind, saying that I didn’t think he could keep Sunderland (16th at the time) from being relegated this year.

What fun! Ex-Spurs scum Chimbonda put past his own keeper early on when he couldn’t react quick enough to a cross, and then Adebayor and Young gave us an unassailable 3-0 lead going into the break as Sunderland proved themselves inept at the back.

They pulled one back in the second half, but never looked like getting another, and then had Anton Ferdinand sent off towards the end.

I had another dig at Keane after the game. A couple of my players thought I was being unprofessional, but what do I care? Who can resist?

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Manager of the month for the third time running, and, for the first time since taking over, the board are now something more than just satisfied with my performance. They’re actually pleased!

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Krylja Sovetov vs. Arsenal – Champions League, Group Stage
4th November 2009
English starters: 7 – Foster, Lescott, Taylor, Jagielka, Walcott, Wilshere, Young

Goals – Fabregas (32), Walcott (90+2)

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it yet, but the reason I’ve not been playing Veloso in any European games is because the little blighter is cup tied; a fact I was unaware of when I signed him. It’s my own fault. Turns out he played for Sporting in the UEFA/Europa Cup qualifying in the summer. Ah well, I would have bought him anyway.

Without him I’ve reverted to pushing Jagilka back into the middle of the park (with Cattermole playing in some fixtures). He did an admirable job and allowed his partner Fabregas to get forward and score our first with a low drive from the edge of the box. Walcott wrapped it up in the dying seconds and secured our progression to the next round of the competition with two games to spare, allowing for a bit of experimentation in those fixtures. I’m thinking perhaps going with the 4-2-2-2 formation suggested by Colin in the comments a little while back.

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Arsenal vs. Newcastle – Premier League
7th November 2009
English starters: 6 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Walcott, Young, Wilshere

Goals – Young (55), Gabby (90+1)

Our little round robin with the teams of the north-east finished with us comfortably beating a Newcastle side boasting the £6 million Huntelaar.

Great running from Wilshere and a wonderful pass to pick out Young lead to our first, and it was plain sailing from there, with the Geordies never really threatening. Gabby came off the bench and had a simple finish in stoppage time to bring his tally for the season to five in eleven appearances. Not too shabby, considering he hasn’t started too many of those on the pitch.

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Sitting pretty at the top with an eight point lead. Not somewhere I expected to be at this stage. Only conceding three goals thus far is a very nice bonus as well.

We’re now in the middle of November and here’s how the table looks: