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A report in the Times the next day read :

The Blues Strike Lucky

Lady luck smiled on Chelsea as they ran out 2-0 winners over Arsenal on a fine summers day at Ashburton Grove.

The match was a tight affair and Arsenal were left ruing the scoring opportunities they missed.

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I wasn’t so sure, I felt we hadn’t created a great deal of chances in the first place, and Chelsea generally had the better of us for much of the game.

On leaving my office I was approached by a reporter,


“Mr Wulfric, what is your view on the game against Chelsea?”

“Well I wasn’t too displeased with my team to be honest” I replied, “I thought they did quite well but credit to Chelsea and we must now bounce back as soon as possible.”

“How easy or rather, difficult, do you think that will be?”

“Well of course it is hugely important to any successful team, I will always believe that it is not how you do when you are winning, but how you react when you are losing that counts, and we need to focus on the upcoming game against Liverpool, which, I must stress is just as important.”

“Do you think Chelsea deserved the win?”

“Well they played well and I don’t think you could argue they didn’t merit it”

“What do you say now to Jose Mourinho, who has just beaten you?”

“Not much. He has won and that is good for him but it doesn’t mean a great deal, you win some you lose some and we will be better prepared next time so he should not take us lightly.”

“How do you rate your chances against Liverpool?”

“I think we have enough for the win but of course we must react in the right manner and show them that we are still a big force. We have home advantage for this one as well and hopefully the crowd will be able to get behind us.”

“Media speculation is mounting that you are in talks with Palermo over a possible January move for right back Mattia Cassani, even with the transfer window just closed. Can you confirm these rumours?”

“Well it’s people like you who start contribute to the speculation, so I suggest you take a look at where you got the idea from, and ask them. I have nothing more to say on the topic.”

I am indeed in talks with Palermo over Mattia Cassani, and have just had a bid of £2,900,000 accepted, though I don’t know how anyone found out, it is virtually impossible to keep a deal quiet these days.

Although the match against Chelsea was an important one, I felt the upcoming game against Liverpool was even more so. We had to bounce back from our defeat, and it was another league game, a chance to get back on track. I felt it was the most important match of the season so far. There was no two ways about it, we had to win.

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Team against Liverpool :

Lehmann

Eboue
Toure
Richards
Emanuelson

Hleb
Gilberto
Fabregas
Guardado
Asamoah
Henry



Subs :

Adebayor
Cardenas
Rosicky
Van Persie
Moutinho

Guardado moves into his favoured left midfield position to make way for debutee Urby Emanuelson, who will quite possibly become our first choice left back this season, it seems to be between him and Clichy anyway. The fully fit Julio Baptista is omitted from the squad as in form Asamoah keeps his place up front, and Van Persie moves to the bench.


English Premiership 20/9/2006
Emirates Stadium, Arsenal

Arsenal V Liverpool

The game got off to a brilliant start as Gyan Asamoah out-jumped Jamie Carragher to head in a cross from Alexandr Hleb. With only 57 seconds on the clock we had seized control of the game, and although that was the end of the scoring until half time, we created plenty more chances and Liverpool were thouroughly outclassed. The players had reacted just as I had wanted them too, and I stuck with what I had already got, not making any changes for the second half.

The second half became even better than the first, with nineteen minutes to play Cesc Fabregas, who had been superb all day, played a delicious 45 yard ball to Asamoah, the once capped Ghana striker surged past Sami Hypia and, catching Reina off his line made a fabulous chip over the Spanish goalkeeper to make it 2-0. This was by some way our best performance of the season so far, and we were building momentum, seven minutes later Asamoah turned provider as he crossed one in for Henry to finish. After that we took our foot off the gas a little, and were punished as Fabio Aurelio unleashed a deadly free kick from some way outside the area to pull a goal back near the end, but the damage was done and we cruised to a well deserved, and much needed victory.

To cap off a fantastic event, referee Martin Atkinson did not give out a single booking, showing the high amount of professionalism and respect present throughout the match. The undoubted highlight however was the virtuoso performance from Gyan Asamoah, who has now sealed his spot in the first team with numerous impressive displays. It was also extremely pleasing to see Urby Emanuelson enjoy a solid start to his career at the club.

Arsenal 3
Asamoah 1, 71
Henry 78

Liverpool 1
Aurelio 80

Man of The Match : Gyan Asamoah (Arsenal)

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Post Match Conference

“A great win today then, what are your thoughts on the game Mr Wulfric?”

“I am delighted with the players, I couldn’t have asked for anything more from them and they were superb. It was vital to bounce back from the result we had a few days ago and we did, so a very pleasing win”

“New signing Urby Emanuelson gave a good performance on his debut today, how pleased are you with your new recruit?”

“Well I always feel a good team performance will help players in their own performance, and the team played very well today, but yes considering it was his first game Urby did very well and I am sure he will get even better as he gets used to the way we play and the physicality of the English league.”

“He was one of many signings this summer, and you now have a lot of players capable of plying on the left, what do you have to say to those who perhaps won’t get much football this season because of that?”

“Everyone will get their chance, if they train well and prove to me that they should be in the team then they will play. But this club is not about furthering players careers, and if one player will do better than another then he will play.”

“One of your other signings this summer, Gyan Asamoah, has been attracting attention with some good performances in the league recently, what are your future plans for him?”

“Well I was aware that he had a lot of potential when I signed him but one of the main benefits of the loan was to give us more options up front and he is a strong lad, something we have been lacking. The option is there to sign him but I will not be rushed and I will obviously be keeping an eye on him, it is very pleasing to see him playing so well.”

“He is attracting a lot of attention from other clubs at the moment, Bayern Leverkusen have declared their interest in the player, will this make things difficult?”

“There are two factors here. We have an agreement with Udinese already in place so that is no problem. That leaves the desire of the player and that of Arsenal. If we want to sign him and we have sufficient funds then Gyan will decide whether to go back to Italy or go to another club or stay here. We know exactly where we stand though, we have agreed a fee, but at the moment I am not thinking about buying him.”

“Do you not think there might be a danger that if he plays really well he might start attracting interest from the top clubs and will want to go there?”

“If he would rather go to another club then I would rather he go to another club so I am not worried, if we did want to sign him I don’t think there would be much problem.”

“What are your thoughts on the upcoming game against Manchester City?”

“I do not think it is ideal timing as we only now have three days to recover before the match but I think the team will be ready and I hope the best team wins, Stuart Pearce is a very good manager and I’m sure he will make it difficult, but I look forward to it.”

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I feel we are in a strong position with Gyan Asamoah, the truth is that I am very much considering buying him, and injuries permitting I may try to sort something out in January. I do not feel threatened by other clubs interest in him as we already have an agreement so that should speed things up, and he already looks at home here. But for now I will just be keeping an eye on him and will make a final decision whether or not to sign him on a permanent deal in the next couple of months.

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Just a few days from the Man City encounter we were drawn against Derby in the League Cup third round. This year I will be using the competition to help blend my younger players in to first team football and give them a chance to develop an understanding with one another that will be useful in the future. The biggest game if the draw looks to be the Everton V Chelsea fixture, to be played at Stamford Bridge. Holders Man United have also been given a top flight opponent, they will face West Ham at Old Trafford. Our game against Derby will be played at the Emirates on the 25th October.

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Team against Man City :

Lehmann

Eboue
Toure
Richards
Emanuelson

Hleb
Gilberto
Fabregas
Guardado

Asamoah
Henry

Subs :

Adebayor
Cardenas
Rosicky
Van Persie
Moutinho

I am able to name an unchanged squad for the match, and that is very pleasing as it should help the players get into a rhythm if they are playing every week with the same players. Of course injuries have not been a problem recently, so that is helping a lot.

English Premiership 23/9/2006
The City of Manchester Stadium, Man City

Man City V Arsenal

It was pleasing to see the team settle comfortably in to their normal style of play and pass the ball around well in the opening stages of the game, but it was City who took the lead against the run of play in the 24th minute when Oliver Dabo’s shot deflected off Alex Hleb into the path of Bernado Corradi, who had a simple finish. I felt it was a set back, but nothing to panic about, and didn’t look to change anything, ’keep calm’ was the message being relayed to the players. That was proving difficult, as City’s ill disciplined midfielder Joey Barton was up to his old tricks again, making stupid tackles and picking arguments. The 24 year old finally got himself booked when after about half an hour of play he needlessly crashed into Gilberto to earn a caution.

We still kept control of the game though, and just before half time Thierry Henry scored his third league goal of the season when put through by Emanuel Eboue. So the teams went in level at half time. The only performance that had really stood out was that of Cesc Fabregas, who was having one of his rare off days. I brought on Joao Moutinho for the Spaniard.

The second half was similar, in that we dominated and played well, but it was a frustrating game as DaMarcus Beasley, who had been poor in the first half scored a diving header at the near post just after the hour. Chances came and went with Thierry Henry missing a sitter with moments left on the clock, but despite good performances from everyone in the team who played to the end of the match, we were unable to capitalize on possession and succumbed to an inferior City performance.

I felt deeply frustrated by the result, we had played well, better than Man City, yet we had lost. It was perhaps a sign of our dominance that Andres Isaaksson was the best player, preventing us many times, but after beating Liverpool I felt that this was a very disappointing result. One positive I could take from the game was Joao Moutinho’s quick adaptation to life at the club, he has settled into matches very well in his handful of substitute appearances for the team, and I am very pleased with him.

Man City 2
Corradi 24
Beasley 64

Arsenal 1
Henry 43

Man of The Match : Andres Isaaksson (Man City)

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BBC Sport

Arsenal Finalise Cassani Move

Palermo’s Mattia Cassani has sealed a deal to join Arsenal when the transfer window opens on January 1st. The Italian right back, who often provides back up to Italian international Cristian Zaccardo at the Renzo Barbera, will move for £2,900,000. Cassani has been in talks with the Gunners since the transfer window closed and will now join in the new year. The twenty three year old has been described by future manager Tom Wulfric to have the potential to a ‘quality attack and defence balanced right back’. “I see Alves as the best attacking right back and Zaccardo as the best defensive, Mattia is somewhere in between and he will be a very good player one day. I already have Eboue, who is very attack minded, so this is the sort of player I am looking for.” he said, “ Zaccardo was out of our price range for the time being, and I Mattia has a bit more attacking ability about him, which is good, Zaccardo would still be a good player for us but Mattia gets forward more and so he is less of a Zaccardo, I like full backs to get forward and Mattia does that but he is also a very good defender. He is your typical efficient Italian player I feel.” Cassani can also play further forward however, he has been known to play at right midfield, and he can even play at left back as well, though with so many players already available in that position Arsenal are unlikely to play him there. Cassani is currently a fixture in the first team for Palermo, as his team mate Cristian Zaccardo is playing at centre back at the moment, though the former Juventus defender is unlikely to be anything more than back up at Arsenal, at least for the first few months. Wulfric stated that Cassani is likely to be Arsenal’s only signing of the winter transfer window, “The club has a very strong squad now and is not made of money” he said, “I am happy with what I have got and we cannot afford to go splashing silly amounts of money on players.”

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I am glad to have wrapped this up before the window opens, as Cassani can join straight away in the new year, rather than having to spend January negotiating.

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I had a look at players progress in the training schedule that I devised a while ago and was very pleased by results. Pat Rice and other members of the coaching staff told me that most players have improved many aspects of their game on the new schedule and those that haven’t are still progressing at a good rate. Overall I am extremely pleased by the players condition and progression throughout the season so far.

An offer came in from Hull to loan midfielder Claudio Marchisio but was politely declined, I informed their manager Phil Parkinson that I am looking to keep him at the club and progress him through our training and football in the reserves and cup matches.

Despite having many players capable of playing at left back, I have not got too much to choose from for the upcoming trip to Turkey where we play Galatasaray. Clichy is still injured, Emanuelson ineligible and Guardado is playing at left wing. William Gallas (who has been displaced from the team by Micah Richards for the time being) and Justin Hoyte are both available for the left back spot but I may play Armand Traore, it is a risk, as he is so young, to play him in a game like this, but one I am considering taking.

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Team against Galatasaray :

Lehmann

Eboue
Toure
Richards
Traore

Hleb
Gilberto
Fabregas
Guardado

Asamoah
Henry

Champions League Group C Game 2 27/9/2006
Ali Sami Yen, Istanbul

Galatasaray V Arsenal


Any ideas people had before the game that the opening stages would be tight and cagey were vanquished within three minutes as Aliaksandr Hleb contributed to a blistering start with his first goal of the season. The midfielder broke free of the defence and pounced on a deflection off Stjepan Tomas to put us ahead in Istanbul. Far from stifling Galatasaray however, the goal prompted them to attack more and they were soon on level terms with a superb free kick from Ates Necati evening things up. Necati was on the score sheet again fifteen minutes later when the Turkish forward powered a shot through the defence. After that Galatasaray eased off and comfortably absorbed all our pressure until half time, though it was limited, as I had instructed the team to suck the Turks in before breaking forward and they were unwilling to commit numbers.

Thierry Henry was given unlimited creative freedom as I made several tactical changes at half time, I also told the team to play quicker and go on the attack, but at the same time look to break whenever Galatasaray come forward. Asamoah was told to abandon all defensive duties and concentrate on attack, while players with a decent strike were instructed to try a few long range efforts now and again.

The changes paid off as Galatasaray struggled to cope with our relentless pressure. Twelve minutes after the break Gyan Asamoah went on a fantastic solo run before slotting home for 2-2. The Turks were our of ideas and in need of help as the Arsenal train built momentum, just two minutes later Henry struck with a anrrow angled goal that put us 3-2 up. We continued to dominate and play good football for the remainder of the match, but only in the 90th minute could we breath a sigh of relief as Alexandr Hleb crushed Galatasaray’s hopes of a comeback with his second goal of the game. When Gyan Asamoah’s long range shot was only parried by Mondragon, Hleb was first to react and tucked home to give us a hugely impressive 4-2 win and I felt that this had been our best performance of the season so far, particularly as we had played in a foreign country. It was a super comeback and I let the players know how pleased I was with them.

Galatasaray 2
Necati 21,36

Arsenal 4
Hleb 3,90
Asamoah 57
Henry 59

Man of The Match : Gyan Asamoah (Arsenal)

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A few days after returning to England I went along to an organised five-a-side tournament between the players at the training ground and Pat Rice approached me.

“The lads have been doing really well recently” he commented

“Yes I’ve noticed, I’m pleased with the way they’ve applied themselves” I replied

“I don’t suppose you’ve thought anymore about Gyan?”

“I’m monitoring his progress, but then I’m doing the same with everyone. If he keeps playing well then I will have to think.”

“ Look boss, I’ve seen a lot of him in training, and it doesn’t take a genius to see he’s got something”

“They all have” I replied

“Yes but… well” Pat cast around for the right words, “He’s very young, but he’s arguably been our best player so far this season, and he’s only just arrived. He’s at home here, he’s settled in, and he’s keeping Robin and Julio out of the team”

“Yes I’m aware he’s doing well, I presume you think we should sign him?”

“Definitely. He’s got some talent, and after what I’ve seen I feel he has a great future ahead of him. Just looking at the deal that brought him here, you can get him for around five mill. and that’s a steal, his value is higher than that now.”

“I have been thinking about keeping him here Pat, he has a lot to offer the team, but I don’t want to get too caught up in that, one of the main purposes was for him to help us this season, despite his age I was sure he could be valuable, and he has been.”

“Well” said Pat, “I would hate to see him leave next summer. There are clubs queuing up for him already and his value is increasing all the time. If we don’t buy him someone else will, and it will be for a lot more than five million”

“Thanks for your advise Pat” I said, “I’m not too worried about the interest of other clubs. Before I sign him there are two obstacles to be negotiated. One is the board, I’ve spent a lot already and I don’t know if they’ll agree to a move for Gyan. They told me what was available but we must keep the finances stable, then we must see if he survives all the media hype that is building up. He was fairly unknown, but now he is playing fantastically well and there will be more attention on him. Defences will pay more attention to him as well. He must cope with that.”

“Just don’t let him slip away” urged Pat, “He’s got a huge future ahead of him if he is taken care of and you should do what you can to get him”

As he walked away I felt unsurprised at what my assistant had said. I knew Asamoah was a good player and I would be advised to get him if he kept doing well. As far as I am concerned I am 90% sure I want to sign him, whatever I may tell people, and the only real obstacle is the funding. I know there is money available, but I am still unsure as to how much I should be spending.

Cash is still coming in nicely though, our win over Galatasaray means another £220,000 in the bank.

retired_Brandon Scott

excellent Tom-lovely

btw I had the problem with Fabregas being pretty inconsistent which is why I sold him: reckon the code isnt right: someone with his stats and his ability should consistently do much better

love the way you are mixing up the story-deffo the way to keep us reading :thup: