2013/2014 was a milestone year for Arsenal. We were undefeated in the season in all competitions. We won the quadruple. We were unbeaten in 100 league games. We swept the domestic awards, with Ben Arfa winning the Player's Award, Benzema the Footballer of the Year Award, and Wilshire winning the Young Player's Award.
And Kolo Toure turned 32.
He's an old man now. He lost his first-team place this year to Mamadou Sakho. His pace is starting to go and he's made some terrible mistakes in defence. In the crunch games, I play Sakho and Richards because they're my two most reliable defenders. Kolo's still captain of the side, but he leads from the bench and Cesc Fabregas has become the de facto captain of the side. Kolo's got one more year left on his contract, and the sad thing is that I'm going to have to let him go.
Kolo Toure has been brilliant for Arsenal. He's captained us to 4 leagues, 4 Champions Leagues, and 3 or 4 domestic cups. He's tutored a whole heap of young defenders who've picked up on his loyalty and professionalism. He was a world-class defender in his time, and will always remain an Arsenal legend.
Anyway...
I've wasted so much time on Football Manager that it scares me (and yes, I have a problem). And over the years, I've thought a lot about the game. The most poignant thing about it is the speed with which a player ages. One minute, they're a promising 20 year old who's won a "Young Player of the Month" award. Seven hours later, they're a 31 year old veteran who's being moved on to Barcelona. It happens so quickly.
A life passes by in the blink of an eye. You've only got so much time to make an impression, and you've got to make it count. One day, you're a kid with the world at your feet. Then you get stuck into the world, and the next minute, you've reached the end of the line. You're 32, you're old, you've wasted your youth waiting for a future that never came.
In 2014, the World Cup will be held in Brazil.
In my FM08 game, I'm manager of Argentina. We've won the Copa America, we've won the Confederations Cup and we haven't lost a game in three years. I've found this great kid named Oscar Trejo who scores a goal a game. We're the raging favourites to win the World Cup.
In real life, I haven't got a fucking clue where I'll be in 2014.
Showing posts with label FM08. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FM08. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Yaya Toure Belongs To L'Arse
"The 25-year-old Ivory Coast international (Yaya Toue) only arrived at Barcelona last summer in an £8million transfer, and Wenger is prepared to pay around £12million to take him to England."
- Mr Comfort, from caughtoffside, blowing more smoke than a chimney
In my FM08 game, I've got the best midfield in the world - Ben Afra, Sankhare, Fabregas, Flamini and Nasri. I've got the second best midfield sitting on the bench. And yet, I'm considering spending an additional 20 million on Yaya Toure.
It's not a sensible plan. He's not as good as Sankhare, Flamini or Denilson. And I've a couple of promising young frenchies in the reserves. I'll have to sell Diego and Denilson to justify Yaya's inclusion. And yet, I still want to do it.
He's an Arsenal fan, he's French-African, he's Kolo's brother - he's a perfect fit for the Gallic Arsenal side I've put together. I'm going to do it in July; sell Diego, Denilson and Marcelo, and bring in Yaya, with Saviet and Saunier coming back from loan.
Meanwhile, in real life...
Yaya and Kolo go with Arsenal like cream and jam on a warm butter scone. They're tailor-made for Arsenal's style of play, and they're awesome players as well. We could be so good with Yaya driving forward from midfield. It's Yaya's destiny to join us. He's Kolo's younger brother, he's an ASEC alumni, he's African and atheletic and violently talented.
We won't buy him because Barca don't want to sell, and Wenger's never been one to prise good players from big clubs. We'll get Bischoff and someone else, probably. But still, that sentimental part of me wants to see the Toure brothers line up for us.
It would be cool.
- Mr Comfort, from caughtoffside, blowing more smoke than a chimney
In my FM08 game, I've got the best midfield in the world - Ben Afra, Sankhare, Fabregas, Flamini and Nasri. I've got the second best midfield sitting on the bench. And yet, I'm considering spending an additional 20 million on Yaya Toure.
It's not a sensible plan. He's not as good as Sankhare, Flamini or Denilson. And I've a couple of promising young frenchies in the reserves. I'll have to sell Diego and Denilson to justify Yaya's inclusion. And yet, I still want to do it.
He's an Arsenal fan, he's French-African, he's Kolo's brother - he's a perfect fit for the Gallic Arsenal side I've put together. I'm going to do it in July; sell Diego, Denilson and Marcelo, and bring in Yaya, with Saviet and Saunier coming back from loan.
Meanwhile, in real life...
Yaya and Kolo go with Arsenal like cream and jam on a warm butter scone. They're tailor-made for Arsenal's style of play, and they're awesome players as well. We could be so good with Yaya driving forward from midfield. It's Yaya's destiny to join us. He's Kolo's younger brother, he's an ASEC alumni, he's African and atheletic and violently talented.
We won't buy him because Barca don't want to sell, and Wenger's never been one to prise good players from big clubs. We'll get Bischoff and someone else, probably. But still, that sentimental part of me wants to see the Toure brothers line up for us.
It would be cool.
Monday, June 23, 2008
My FM08 side
You'll be glad to know that my FM08 side has won the Premier League and Champions League double. We were unbeaten in the league and won it in a canter. We beat Chelsea 1-0 in the CL final. The only sour point was that we lost the FA cup final to Man Utd through a fluky Rooney goal. That still grates. Would've been a glorious treble.
Anyway, in the off season, I sold Vela to Barcelona for 23 million and Diego. I didn't have much choice - Vela was champing at the bit to go, and he never felt comfortable in England. I also sold Wright-Phillips, Rosicky and Diaby and bought Benzema. I wanted to sell Eduardo, but no one wanted to buy him.
I'm still sticking with 4-1-4-1. It's a good formation. Flamini's developed into a world-class defensive midfielder, and I'm drooling over the prospect of seeing Ben Afra, Diego, Fabregas and van Persie support either Adebayor or Benzema. I'm undecided about the effectiveness of Miguel Veloso as Flamini's understudy, however. He's got great stats, but he's really poor in that holding midfield role. I think I'll wait a year for Sankhare to mature, and then move Veloso on.
Gallas is still captain, but not for long. His contract expires at the end of this season, and he'll be 32 by then. I think I should let him leave on a Bosman and make Toure captain. Bellaid, Sakho and Nordveit will be more than adequate replacements at CD. It's cruel because Gallas has been an excellent captain, but there's no room for sentiment in professional football.
And yes, I know it's just a computer game, but it beats reading about how we're going to lose Adebayor and how we're not going to sign anyone older than 19.
Oh, and I worked out how to do La Roulette with a futsal ball. I'm awesome - like Zidane, only with hair.
Anyway, in the off season, I sold Vela to Barcelona for 23 million and Diego. I didn't have much choice - Vela was champing at the bit to go, and he never felt comfortable in England. I also sold Wright-Phillips, Rosicky and Diaby and bought Benzema. I wanted to sell Eduardo, but no one wanted to buy him.
I'm still sticking with 4-1-4-1. It's a good formation. Flamini's developed into a world-class defensive midfielder, and I'm drooling over the prospect of seeing Ben Afra, Diego, Fabregas and van Persie support either Adebayor or Benzema. I'm undecided about the effectiveness of Miguel Veloso as Flamini's understudy, however. He's got great stats, but he's really poor in that holding midfield role. I think I'll wait a year for Sankhare to mature, and then move Veloso on.
Gallas is still captain, but not for long. His contract expires at the end of this season, and he'll be 32 by then. I think I should let him leave on a Bosman and make Toure captain. Bellaid, Sakho and Nordveit will be more than adequate replacements at CD. It's cruel because Gallas has been an excellent captain, but there's no room for sentiment in professional football.
And yes, I know it's just a computer game, but it beats reading about how we're going to lose Adebayor and how we're not going to sign anyone older than 19.
Oh, and I worked out how to do La Roulette with a futsal ball. I'm awesome - like Zidane, only with hair.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Vail, Arsenal 08-13
I deleted my FM08 saved games over the weekend. It was an incredibly bad oversight, because it means I'm stuck with reading the same interminable empty gossip that you lot are reading. I can no longer escape into my dream team. Oh well.
So this post is a eulogy for the best Arsenal squad since my CM 03-04 team. Together we won 4 Premierships, 4 Champions Leagues (all against Real Madrid), 3 FA Cups and 2 League Cups, while upholding the principles of Wengerball. We proved that beautiful attacking football can dominate the world.
GKs: Lloris, Edwards
DEFs: Marcelo, Clichy, Toure, Breno, Sahko, Bellaid, Sagna, Traore
MIDs: Menez, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby, Sankhare, Ben Arfa, Silva
FORs: Adebayor, Benzema, Walcott, Saivet, Vela
As you can tell, there's a definite Francophone flavour to the side. It was deliberate. I felt that, as a French manager, I had a duty to the national side to promote French youth. The really frustrating thing was that my next generation (Ayew, Le Tallec, Saivet, Sankhare, Sahko) were ready to take flight. And now, I'll never know if they had the ability to play become world-beaters.
So this post is a eulogy for the best Arsenal squad since my CM 03-04 team. Together we won 4 Premierships, 4 Champions Leagues (all against Real Madrid), 3 FA Cups and 2 League Cups, while upholding the principles of Wengerball. We proved that beautiful attacking football can dominate the world.
GKs: Lloris, Edwards
DEFs: Marcelo, Clichy, Toure, Breno, Sahko, Bellaid, Sagna, Traore
MIDs: Menez, Fabregas, Denilson, Diaby, Sankhare, Ben Arfa, Silva
FORs: Adebayor, Benzema, Walcott, Saivet, Vela
As you can tell, there's a definite Francophone flavour to the side. It was deliberate. I felt that, as a French manager, I had a duty to the national side to promote French youth. The really frustrating thing was that my next generation (Ayew, Le Tallec, Saivet, Sankhare, Sahko) were ready to take flight. And now, I'll never know if they had the ability to play become world-beaters.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Carlos Vela on FM08
"His time in Spain has now come to a close and he is just waiting for his passport. He has worked the amount of time required by the Premier League and everything is going fine. He has been granted permission to play and will be joining Arsenal in July for the beginning of pre-season training."
- Eduardo Hernandez, Vela's agent
It's something I'm eagerly anticipating. It's a strange thing, because I've never seen him play (other than on youTube), and all I've heard are breathless reports from Arsenal fans. However, I am a big fan of FM08, and Carlos Vela is a big, big player in that game.
In my Arsenal team, I've got Adebayor and Benzema as the strikers, Denilson and Fabregas as CMs, and Walcott and Vela on the flanks. They're all good players, but Vela is something special. Whenever Ade or Benny misfire, I switch Vela upfront and sure enough, our little Carlitos scores the winner. He has a shot like a cannon and moves like a beemer. He scores big, big goals. He's my clutch player in a team of clutch players.
Love the guy to bits - classy, classy player.
The other news is that we're going to sign Nasri. Again, I've only seen him on FM08, but in that game, he's over-rated. I'd rather a winger/forward like Ben Arfa, a more robust attacking midfielder like Silva or a genuine striker like Aguero. Still, you don't call a guy the "new Zidane" unless he's talented and of Algerian descent.
It's all getting very exciting, isn't it?
- Eduardo Hernandez, Vela's agent
It's something I'm eagerly anticipating. It's a strange thing, because I've never seen him play (other than on youTube), and all I've heard are breathless reports from Arsenal fans. However, I am a big fan of FM08, and Carlos Vela is a big, big player in that game.
In my Arsenal team, I've got Adebayor and Benzema as the strikers, Denilson and Fabregas as CMs, and Walcott and Vela on the flanks. They're all good players, but Vela is something special. Whenever Ade or Benny misfire, I switch Vela upfront and sure enough, our little Carlitos scores the winner. He has a shot like a cannon and moves like a beemer. He scores big, big goals. He's my clutch player in a team of clutch players.
Love the guy to bits - classy, classy player.
The other news is that we're going to sign Nasri. Again, I've only seen him on FM08, but in that game, he's over-rated. I'd rather a winger/forward like Ben Arfa, a more robust attacking midfielder like Silva or a genuine striker like Aguero. Still, you don't call a guy the "new Zidane" unless he's talented and of Algerian descent.
It's all getting very exciting, isn't it?
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