Gunning For Glory

The squad I've inherited from Arsene Wenger is a strong one with a mix of experienced internationals and some bright young talent. I felt that in my first season we should be aiming to consolidate our top four position with a view to challenging for the title, as well as seeking to win one of the domestic cups. The squad is pretty big and should be able to cope with the rigors of such a challenge but I felt a bit of investment wouldn't go amiss. The two glaring holes in the squad were up front where Nicklas Bendtner is the only real competition to Olivier Giroud, and in centre-defense, where we have only three first-team options. Vermaelen was also out injured for the first few weeks of the season so cover was certainly needed.

Transfers In

Diego COSTA - Atlético Madrid - £22m


Costa was one of the best strikers available to me and seemed well worth the £22m required to prize him away from Atlético. I only had to pay him £70k p/w and hope he can start scoring goals as regularly as a certain Dutchman did a couple of seasons ago. I intend to rotate him with Giroud and whoever scores more or plays better will warrant a starting berth.

Marc BARTRA - FC Barcelona - £7.5m


I managed to land Marc Bartra from Barcelona for a very reasonable £7.5m to give myself more options in the centre of defense. At only 22 he has his best years ahead of him and shouldn't be too upset about not playing every game. His ability to cover at right-back will come in handy too.

James WARD-PROWSE - Southampton - £18.5m


After landing Costa and Bartra I had a bit of money left to spend but didn't have any immediate concerns with the squad I had at my disposal, so in the end I decided to treat myself to a young, home-grown wonderkid who can be a big player for us in the coming years. I may have overpaid slightly for Ward-Prowse but English talents demand a premium and I am confident he'll develop into a fine player. I doubt I'll use him much this season but he's a good option to have.

I was drawn with Greek outfit PAOK in the Champions League qualifiers and had a favourable start to the Premier League with games against Hull City (H), West Ham United (A) and Norwich City (H).

No Doria or Balanta?

Good luck TS.

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The season started as expected as newly-promoted Hull City were brushed aside with relative ease. Marc Bartra made his debut at right-back after Sagna and Jenkinson picked up knocks before the game and did a solid job, whilst Diego Costa marked his debut with a well-taken goal. Walcott opened the scoring after Costa's shot was saved and the ball fell to the Englishman. Mesut Ozil was also making his debut and showed a few glimpses of quality even if he didn't grab a goal. Per Mertesacker wrapped up the win with a quickly taken finish that beat Steve Harper and claimed the man of the match award with a good all-round performance. All in all, and good three points and a clean sheet to boot.

XI: Szczesny; Bartra, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta (c), Ramsey (Ward-Prowse, 64); Walcott, Ozil (Flamini, 64), Cazorla (Podolski, 76); Costa
MOM: Per Mertesacker (9.0)
Injuries: None

I liked the look of Bartra and was a steal at that price. I wanted Zouma originally but he would have cost me £20m or more.


Thanks.

I felt that we had nothing to fear going into this tie and I was proved right after we effectively wrapped the game up before we'd hit the 25-minute mark. Mesut Ozil completely ran the show, scoring two goals and laying on an assist for Lukas Podolski as the PAOK defense scrambled to cope with our relentless attacks. I had switched the side up a bit by giving starts to the likes of Monreal and Oxlade-Chamberlain in order to keep things fresh with two Premier League games either side of this one. Alongside Ozil, Lukas Podolski was another star performer as he grabbed his first goal of the season and caused the PAOK right-back numerous problems down our left side. It was a convincing victory and put one foot firmly in the Champions League group stages with only an away trip to Greece standing in our way.

XI: Szczesny; Bartra, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamini, Ramsey (Arteta, 77); Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil (Rosicky, 64), Podolski; Costa (Giroud, 68)
MOM: Mesut Ozil (8.9)
Injuries: None

After two comfortable victories to start the season, we really had to dig in our heels at Upton Park in order to leave with all three points. The game started well with Per Mertesacker making it two goals in two Premier League games with a header from a corner, and we were in control for the most part. However, after a couple of silly challenges Laurent Koscielny managed to get himself sent off in the 42nd minute before Jack Collison slotted past Wojciech Szczesny on the brink of half time to make it a miserable few minutes. I feared that we were going to drop points and potentially even lose the match but after some solid defending in the second half, Olivier Giroud managed to find Santi Cazorla with a slick through ball before the Spaniard blasted home the winner at the near post. We sat deep and kept West Ham quiet for the remaining portion of the game to ensure an impressive away victory having played more than half of the game with only ten men.

XI: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta (Flamini, 77), Ramsey; Walcott (Bartra, 43), Ozil (Rosicky, 60), Cazorla; Giroud
MOM: Santi Cazorla (8.2)
Red Cards: Laurent Koscielny (42)

Seem to have gotten off to a grande start, keep it up!

Good stuff here man, liking the layout, good luck.

Good luck man. Liking your style!