If you play Football Manager fervently like I and some other folks in the world do, you’d know that there are some certain ways to keep a squad ‘happy’. It’s not that I’m saying I wanna be the next Arsene Wenger (I love my Oil and Gas job, thank you) but if the results are good on the virtual FM pitch, the morale of all your players would be ‘superb’. Translating that to reality, Arsenal has won five consecutive games, yes, five games and the mood around the Emirates is more confident than how it was following that 3-3 draw with Anderlecht. I’m sure you get my drift.
Another thing in FM that can make the players and fans ‘happy’ is when the manager hands contracts to some players in the team. Depending on the player, he may delighted, pleased or even relieved to sign the contract but the bottomline remains that he’d be in the club for the long-term and the chances of him being in a protracted transfer saga are slim to none. Switching back to reality, Arsenal’s Chuba Akpom has ended speculation linking him to Dortmund, Liverpool, FC Twente and Feyernoord by signing a four-and-a-half year contract with Arsenal (isn’t that how it’s stated in FM? Damn, I’m an addict).
BBC Sport in their infinite wisdom report that Arsene Wenger had it in mind to give Akpom a chance, so he accelerated the departures of Lukas Podolski, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Podolski was whining about not getting enough playing time, or that Sanogo looked so ‘raw’ in his performances that everyone believed that a loan move would be beneficial to him and that Campbell was clearly not part of Wenger’s plans for this season at least. Yeah, it was definitely about giving Akpom a chance.
It’s always good seeing a youngster make it from the youth team to get a shot at first team action. There’s always that feeling of satisfaction the fans get when they see a home-grown player do so well when he’s thrust into the ball game called competitive football. Jack Wilshere may be in the news for more things than one but I don’t think there was any Arsenal fan out there that wasn’t proud of his performances in the 2010/11 season that rightly earned him the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Other players like Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczesny rose from the youth setup to become prominent members of the first team.
The tale of Francis Coquelin is another example of how hardwork, determination and sheer luck can open doors for you, but you have to take it with both arms. This was a lad that was farmed out to Charlton and would have probably been released after his loan spell there but injuries to Arteta and Mathieu Flamini’s concerning form paved the way for the Frenchman.
With those three forwards out on loan and Danny Welbeck out injured, Akpom would still get some minutes as the season progress but it would be beneficial to his football development if he’s farmed out on loan next season.
His potential is there for everyone to see but sometimes you need to walk before you jump.
I’m glad Akpom has signed a new contract and I’m sure Arsenal fans are too
Sayonara
