Arsenal all the way to Glory: An Experiment with a New Way of Using Assistant Managers in FM

Hey all. One area of FM that i feel is underdeveloped is the advice that your assistant manager can give you. Despite getting Tony Adams in, a true Arsenal legend, to take over from Pat Rice, the game engine simply doesnt do enough in this field. So, I thought to myself, why not use the expertise of managers across the community, some of whom have more experience in this game than every major continental manager has in real life put together?! The aim of this thread will be to improve the performance of the team through as much interaction as possible with my Assistant Manager - YOU! Read my updates, and then provide me with as much feedback as you can, especially to any questions I ask. Lets see if, together, we can make Arsenal the best team in the world!

So this is my plan: what I intend to do is post regularly on this board with updates about how my team has been doing, tactical changes, signings, potential signings, sales etc. I will not stop what I'm doing to post on here....so for example if an offer comes in for a player that I quite like the sound of, I will accept it, but every now and then I will post a 'state of play' post on here, and what I want is feedback from other, more advanced managers on my general gameplay/things I could do better etc. I always play with Arsenal, and as I said, I'm now in my third season of my latest game. I have always been around 4/5 place before - last season I finished fifth for the first time so I am in the UEFA cup this year. My team seems to be heading in the right direction, however. I have been climbing the league this season after a bad start and now sit in 4th place, but fully 13 points behind Man Utd, so I have catching up to do, and only another 13 games to do it in! Title this year looks out of reach but I have a feeling next year might be possible. For now, I'll just let you know my first team...or at least as far as i know it (GK and Defenders for now, will do the rest in separate posts).

GK

Simon Pouplin

Signed in season 1 for £10m, AvR around 7.1 for two and a half seasons)

Reserve GK

Joe Hart

Recent signing, probably over-paid at £9m. 1 appearance to date, rating 7.

DR

Daniel Alves

Signed at the start of the season for £37.5 at the time when Arsenal were the richest club in the world. Has really underperformed this year, AvR of 6.93.

Other DRs

Micah Richards (See DC), Justin Hoyte, Eduardo (see Other DLs) or Fabricio Coloccini - signed from Fiorentina for £16.75m at start of season 2, was a big disappointment (6.71), and is now backup. Can also play DC or DMC, but backup. Emmanuel Eboue - has barely played under my management. 29 appearances in nearly 3 seasons, AvR well below 7.

DL

Adriano

Similar story. Signed from Sevilla for £22m this year, average rating of 6.64 and hasnt always been first choice here...

Other DLs

Eduardo

Signed from Botafogo for £2.2m in season 1, a really good prospect and though still backup and has room for improvement, has improved this season, with 15 starts at 6.87. Can also play anywhere in defence, DM or AMLC. Possibly shaping up to be a first choice DC in future.

Also Joleon Lescott (see DC).

DCs

Micah Richards - £47m January of season 2, 7.23 AvR that season, up to 7.39 this year. A gem. Well worth a huge fee. Can also play DR and has sometimes.

Ezequiel Garay - £18.75m from Barcelona start of season 3. AvR of 7.06, has started most games.

Other DCs

Per Mertesacker - first choice for first two seasons, making over 100 appearances. 7.34 in S1, 7.09 in S2. Probably unlucky to lose his place this season to Garay, but seems to have reacted badly with an AvR of just 6.86 in 7 appearances.

Joleon Lescott - signed for £13.75m at start of season 3, mainly confined to the bench, but can also cover at DL.

Mathieu Bodmer (see MC), Eduardo (see DL), Senderos etc, as well as Mamadou Sakho in reserves but looking likely to step up at some point, and Sidnei likewise (19 and 20 respectively). Djourou still in reserves but unlikely to be a first team contender really. Nordveit looking a prospect, currently on loan at Monaco playing at 6.88.

Well...I know you cant tell much from this but its a start. Any thoughts, let me know. I will post my Midfield soon.

my opinion is you got too much money

And on to the midfield...tends to rotate a bit, but this is my best team in terms of this season's AvR combined with their star ratings.

MR

Robin van Persie - seemed to struggle up front, scored only 15 goals in 58 games in season 1 despite a good AvR. Has been doing fine on the wing, and tends to switch over from time to time depending on who else is playing. AvR in season 1 was 7.37, season 2 - 7.06, season 3 - 7.15.

Other MRs

Nani - signed in Jan 2010 (i.e. a few weeks ago), got a long term injury in his first match and wont be back until next season.

Carlos Vela (see FC), Jay Simpson - has been used sparingly and often on the bench but AvR has been around 7 throughout and Alex Teixeira - an absolute gem of a young player, signed for £5.25m from Vasco in season 1, started like a house on fire with an AvR of 7.38 that year when he helped us push for the title after signing in Jan (eventually finished a close 2nd). Since then has struggled a little bit. 6.92 in first half of last year, before a spell on loan at Atletico Madrid where he couldnt get a game. Injury and loss of form has plagued this season, making only 8 starts and 11 sub appearances at 6.58. Sometimes plays at FC too, and possibly more effective there. Also Alex Hleb but he isnt really the player he is in real life and never gets anywhere near the team any more. Carlos Vela can play here too but doesnt...for the reason why, read on...

ML

Ismail Aissati - only just broken into the first team, and probably wont stay there long as Nani will almost certainly come in eventually. However, his consistency has resulted in a first call up for the Dutch 21 year old, who has AvR'd at 7.06 in 13 appearances and 4 from the bench this season, and he does look a prospect.

Other MLs

Adriano can play here, but doesnt often. Carlos Vela ditto and for reasons which will come later. Alex Teixeira, Robin Van Persie, hopefully Nani, and if necessary Eduardo (the defender) can also play here.

MCs

In general (though not always), I play with a MC or DMC in central midfield alongside an AMC, but still playing at MC (often with a free role and more creative licence).

Cesc Fabregas - nuff said. Keeps on improving and this season's AvR is currently 7.42.

Juan Roman Riquelme - at 30 when i signed him, now 31, but was a bargain for under £9m. Coaches dont rate him but I have persisted, and though he cant always finish games, his AvR has always been around 7.30 or so, and he scores some screamers...13 goals in 26 games from midfield after arriving in January last year. Only 3 in 32 this year, but a ridiculous EIGHTEEN assists shows his importance, and a passing rate of 84%.

Other MCs

Abou Diaby - was first choice last year with Fabregas and was player of the season, AvR of 7.20. Has been restricted by the form of Riquelme this year, but still performing at 7.0 in 5 starts and 3 from the bench.

Denilson - highly rated but has been very limited. First two seasons when he did appear he played at barely above an AvR of 6, and this year has only made one start, though he did get an 8. Still looks a good player but just cant break into the side with so much quality above him.

Mathieu Bodmer - Diaby replaces Cesc when injured or suspended. Bodmer comes in when Riquelme cannot play, and makes a fair few sub appearances if I want to keep the same tactics when I take Riquelme off and not revert to two more holding players. Signed for £21m from Lyon in season 2, that year got 6.86 in 14 games (inc 4 from bench), but this year has improved to 7.15 from 13 (3 from bench).

Aissati, Eduardo (DL), Coloccini, Hleb and Teixeira can all play here on occasion but with so much talent, its usually two from those five.

Enjoy that people, strikers will arrive shortly!

And to reply to big scary...ive been wheeling and dealing a lot in the transfer market, but also continued champions league participation until this season and increased TV revenue...so...

For what its worth, total transfer income in the near three seasons so far has been £217m, and total spending is at £394. The team has evolved considerably, and I shifted a lot of players last summer, several of whom had been trainees or bough for peanuts - Merida (10m), Adebayor (10m), Lansbury (10m), Clichy (8.75m) and various others I had signed early on which hadnt really worked out, but all of whom I made profits on. Current bank balance is £83m, but at one point it was about £175m. That was before signings this season totalling £177m - but thats on a lot of real quality:

Sakho 11.25

Adriano 22

Sidnei 6.5

Lescott 13

Garay 18.5

Aissati 10

Alves 37.5

Hart 9

Murphy 11.5 (but due to a 45% sell on clause as he had been my player, that was more like 6)

and Nani for 33m.

Quality players....cost a lot of money my friend!

Oh and I also got £21.5m for Bendtner after an amazing run in the side in the first few months of season one...and yet Milan have barely played him since....odd one.

...onto strikers after that brief sidetrack.

First Choice

This season - no contest!

Eduardo (striker) - 29 goals in 33 games at 7.74 AvR - has now scored 83 goals for AFC in less than 3 years.

Carlos Vela - has really come into his own this year. 31 goals in 32 games including a run where he scored in 12 consecutive matches including 4 hat-tricks and 2 braces. AvR this year of 7.65.

Other FCs

Havent got much chance this year, mainly due to the form of those two. van Persie used to play there but is now better wide.

Rhys Murphy - was sold to Sheff Utd for 11.75m and was just bought back for 7 less than 6 months later, with Arsenal recouping about 6m of that fee due to the sell-on clause! Fantastic! Has only made three starts, one goal, but he looks good.

Kevin Doyle - 10m from Reading in season 1. Unmitigated disaster. Has only scored 3 goals for the club. Cant shift him now!

Stefan Kiessling - £11m from Leverkusen. Hasnt been great either - though with only seven starts, his displayed stats of 7 goals in 27 starts arent quite as bad as they seem, and likewise with a couple of minutes at the end and no time to make an impact, his AvR of between 6.5 and 7 isnt as bad as it looks. But he's not exactly quality. Jay Simpson, Alex Teixeira, van Persie and Murphy are now the real cover for Vela and Eduardo. But if they get long term injuries - well lets just say Id quite like another striker! Only problem will be keeping a quality striker happy with bench-warming duties, because Vela and Eduardo's partnership is too good to let go!

im just jealous

Well thats my squad...other than a few players in the reserves who are interesting and might step up and some players out on loan - i'll fill you in as and when necessary. Any thoughts from anyone would be really great. I know i havent given you much, so whatever info you need, just ask and I'll provide no problemo!

As for performance...

2007-8

Champs League Semi-Final

Premiership Runners-Up

FA Cup Runners-Up

League Cup Winners

...so that was a good season but i missed out on the title to Chelsea by 3 points and lost to them in the cup final on pens, so their double could have so easily been our domestic treble. And Alex Teixeira was named signing of the season in the EPL.

2008-9

Champions League Quarter Final

Premiership : 5th

League Cup Quarter Final

FA Cup Runners Up

Community Shield was lost to Chelsea.

...second year running I'd lost in the cup final to chelsea, on pens! Reeally annoying. Eduardo got 30 goals, though, Riquelme was fantastic and the players all seemed to be doing well...not quite sure why the team didnt, I finished 6 points off Spurs in 4th place that year, and 16 behind United in 3rd...thats one of the reasons why I wanted to start this thread...cant understand the disparity between very good individual AvRs and stats, and yet such poor performance in the league.

This year:

Prem: 4th (13 games left, 13 points behind leaders)

UEFA Cup: in first K/O rnd v Ajax (next match actually)

League Cup: lost in QF

FA Cup: in 5th round vs West Ham, sandwiched between the two legs of the Ajax match.

My personal this year is to make it into the champions league, though if I could win the league or at least make it to 2nd again that would be good, win the FA Cup at last, and get to at least the semi's of the UEFA cup, though no reason why I couldnt pick that trophy up to. If i could win the FA Cup and UEFA cup, and make it into the Champions League, I think I'd regard that as my best season yet even though I finished 2nd in my first year.

From now on my updates will just be that...updates. I'll provide any stats I think are relevant, tell you my results, any big news items etc. And I'll try to make this entertaining...but I'm new to this so bear with me, and any feedback/constructive criticism would be great

Ajax come to the Emirates

First K/O round of UEFA cup, first leg. Tense affair. Vela scored early on (14m), and actually I think that wasnt the best thing because it made the team very cagey from then on.

van Persie picked up a knock in the 2nd half and Riquelme made his customary exit after about 70 minutes (with an '8', i might add, he can still do it!), for Simpson and Bodmer respectively.

Eduardo wasnt playing very well but he's in too good form to be taken off so I let that lie for the time being. Bodmer then picked up a knock but I figured he'd be ok for another few minutes. The rest of the game passed quickly and without incident, and 1-0 in the home leg of a 2 legged tie is a good result. One goal at the ArenA and I'll be sorted, I reckon Good to see Vela still cant stop scoring! Get in Carlos!

Remember people, as well as feedback on the story-telling aspects of this post, I am really looking for any advice from a managerial point of view. I've never had a huge amount of success with FM so I'm no expert, and though I dont want to cheat, I figured having a virtual Ass Man could be really useful. So any questions you need to ask to give me any advice, I can answer.

By the way, just to update you - the date is 12 Feb 2010...EARLY February, and Vela already has THIRTY TWO goals in all competitions this year. Eduardo has TWENTY NINE. I know people talk about strikers getting loads all the time, but I would imagine theres a decent chance they might get 100 between them this year if they stay fit. Has anyone had that happen before? 100 goals in a season from a strike pair?

West Ham (Away) - FA Cup R5

Between the Ajax legs there was the really important fixture with West Ham in the cup to consider. Loan offers came in for Andy Carroll, who I had bought from Newcastle for £6.25m in 2007, and I accepted as I figured even Scunthorpe, Wrexham or Rotherham’s first team was better than playing in the reserves as Carroll had been doing (and scoring for fun) since arriving. He does look a good prospect for the future but he’s a long way from being ready. In other transfer rumour news, Chelsea’s interest in Vela prompted me to offer him to them for £100m to scare them off. This backfired as Vela saw it as a genuine attempt to offload him – note to self!

With no really huge games until the end of March, I decided the West Ham match called for a more or less full team to give me a real chance of making it through to the quarters once again and continue my run of not having lost a match in open play in the FA Cup yet, and in fact only ever losing on penalties at Wembley! Richards was suspended and made way for Lescott, and Bodmer’s injury meant that Hleb was given a rare berth on the bench. The only other change from the team which beat Ajax in midweek was a return for Fabregas for the tiring Riquelme who was given a rest, which meant a rare start for Mr. Unlucky, Abou Diaby: player of the year 2008-9, alongside Fabregas due the absence of Bodmer. My media criticism of Adriano and Dani Alves’ poor performances was met with dismay on both counts, and I was hoping this might mean I might finally see an improvement from my two expensive full-backs who had left me feeling short-changed until this point.

West Ham’s negative tactics (4 defenders, 2 DMCs and 2 MCs, running only to the sides) encouraged a particularly attacking mindset, but Dean Ashton’s wonder-goal looked set to win the tie for West Ham before a last-minute screamer from substitute Rhys Murphy took West Ham back to the Emirates for a replay. This was a lucky escape, and I let the players know in no uncertain terms what I thought of them, though being careful to single out the excellent Abou Diaby for praise, and letting Murphy off the hook likewise for scoring the equaliser. Looking back on it afterwards, I could see the problem: 65% of the possession, and 19 shots, but only 8 of those were on target. I needed to up the ‘shooting’ elements of the training regime. Does that sound right to you experienced managers out there? That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m worried about in terms of my managerial skills.

ArenA showdown

Before the Ajax return leg, Andy Carroll chose Scunthorpe to spend the rest of the season with. Hopefully this will give the 21 year old some competitive games. If his AvR there is over 7, he might be pushing for a spot in the first team squad for next season. Just maybe. That said, he’ll need big work done on his lack of pace, and composure in front of goal if he’s ever going to be a quality Premiership striker.

For Ajax, Riquelme returned to the bench, but I didn’t have the heart to drop Diaby after a great performance again, so he kept his place alongside Cesc. Lescott dropped to the bench for the returning Micah Richards, but otherwise the side stayed as it had been. Alves and Adriano still had average ratings of only 6.93 and 6.71 respectively, but as they had both been getting consistent ratings of 7 in recent matches, they retain their places...for now. But Eduardo the left back is nearing full fitness, in fact so much so that he made the bench for Ajax, replacing the ineligible Denilson, and Lescott hasn’t done badly lately when called upon. As Richards could easily slot into right back to accommodate him, both Adriano and Alves need to watch their step. In the hours before Ajax, the draw for the FA Cup popped out Middlesbrough or Oldham if I win the replay against West Ham, so that’s a plus. And Liverpool drew Chelsea so we’re guaranteed to lose one of the big three, not to mention that Spurs, if they beat Birmingham in their replay, will be playing Man Utd! A good draw, methinks, and the Semi-Finals really ought to be a bare minimum now. Noticing that van Persie was a yellow away from a suspension, and Riquelme was also, I decided that I didn’t want to lose them both at the same time if I could help it, so as Riquelme wasn’t playing in this game, I set van Persie’s tackling to ‘hard’, thinking that it would be a good time for him to be suspended, and if he got booked, I could take him straight off for Simpson to avoid the risk of a red. The bookies had Ajax as slight favourites for this one, despite the chance for Arsenal to break their record for this season by making it 12 games unbeaten. Form, rather than probability, needed to hold true. An early goal from Eduardo the Striker was followed by another a few minutes later which was disallowed, but already it looked like the tie was over. However, two Ajax goals followed swiftly, and though Arsenal led on away goals, it was getting a bit twitchy before Carlos Vela pounced just before half-time to make it 3-2 and though I advised caution in the 2nd half, I was never really worried from then on because I felt that if the defence wasn’t working well (Adriano in particular – he got a ‘5’ before being substituted with ten minutes to go), I would back my strikers to score more goals. In fact, I was wrong, as Ajax scored again, and the last few minutes were extremely tense before the final whistle saved the day and away goals came to our rescue after what was, to be fair, another very poor performance from all but the two young strikers who really do look set to take on the world. Real Betis in the 2nd knockout round, and despite two classy strikers in Sobis and Pavone (39 goals between them in 60 apps), they dont look the team Ajax are. Key players such as Gelson Fernandes, Melli and Ilic have got AvRs of under 7 this year. If we can keep Pavone and/or Sobis quiet, we should be fine there.

Feedback?

I have a feeling I’m putting too much detail in but I don’t know what I could be doing without. If you’re reading this, please do tell me what bits are good and what aren’t. I will make it better, but I can only do this with your help! And also, any ideas of how to cure my problem of world-class players bought for vast sums who just aren’t performing? Adriano got a ‘5’ before being substituted against Ajax, and Adriano got a ‘6’. They’re both a long way under an AvR of 7. For a combined fee last summer of almost £60m, that’s not very good!

Blackburn (Home) – Premiership

My unbeaten run is huge, but I also felt that now would be a really bad time to lose it, because I had a run of games which, on paper, was relatively easy, and Prem wins against Blackburn, Boro, Spurs, Newcastle and Wigan before playing Man Utd away would give the team a huge amount of confidence going into a game that, given that form, might even be a title-deciding match, though the run in after a game away to Liverpool two weeks later didn’t look very tough either, with Fulham, Sunderland, Reading and Derby, and the only away game in that run a trip to the Madejski. Its still a long shot, but five wins now before United and four wins in the run in and I would be in with a real chance, particularly if points could be gained against Villa and West Ham between the United game and Liverpool. So, I felt now was the time to show some strength. Alves and Adriano were dropped to the bench in favour of Lescott and Eduardo, with Richards moving to right back so Lescott could operate in the centre. Depending on performance, it will probably only be for one game, but with any luck it might be the kick up the proverbial backside that the ailing £20m+ full backs require. Riquelme also came in for Diaby to create a more attacking mindset, and I had the intention of making sure Simpson got at least half an hour from the bench to inject some genuine pace into the wings (Walcott was sold to Juventus in January for £13.75 – he was actually improving but his stats didn’t really look all that good to me so I felt it would be a good idea to cash in on him while he was in impressive form). I let Lescott and Eduardo the Defender know that I had absolute faith in them – and I meant it too, Lescott is quality, and Eduardo keeps improving. Meanwhile I felt that Fabregas, whilst he hadn’t put a foot wrong in any way, was performing within himself lately, getting lots of 7’s but very few 8’s or 9’s, so I told him it was about time he got a Man of the Match award. I made sure the team was aware of the threat of Santa Cruz, who had scored in every game I could remember against Blackburn, and the match got underway.

After half an hour Vela carved out a great chance for Eduardo which he headed just over the bar, and a spell of pressure from Rovers followed this, culminating in a goal from Martin Fenin just before half-time. This was a big blow, and Eduardo in particular, who probably should have done better, was very downhearted. Whilst I gave the rest of the side a rocketing for not really creating enough in the first half, I told Eduardo that there was no pressure on him, and hoped this would raise his morale and cause his performance to improve. Murphy and Simpson were sent to warm up from the start of the half, but before they arrived, there was a marked improvement and some half chances were created. For the first time in a very long time, it wasn’t going right for my strikers, so Murphy and Simpson were brought on for Vela and Eduardo the Striker. Van Persie moved from the wing to partner Murphy whilst Simpson’s pace on the wing was employed as planned. Chasing the match, I moved Riquelme up to AMC, and told the team to push Blackburn back and attack them more.

After 72 minutes, I finally had a bit of luck. After a Riquelme corner, Van Persie was brought down in the box for a penalty. To make this even better, a Rovers defender then decided to aim a kick at Robin, and was shown an instant red card, before Riquelme was given the chance to equalize from the spot, which he did with ease. I sensed there was a good chance of three points being snatched from the jaws of defeat here, and wished I had the services of young striker Adrian, currently out on loan, to bring on for the last 15 minutes to try to snatch a win. However, with no other strikers on the bench, I left things as they were. The team continued to exert heavy pressure on the Blackburn defence but some dogged Rovers defending restricted us to mainly long shots (which, with Riquelme in the team, is actually quite useful at times!). On this occasion, none of them flew in, and to be fair, the performance probably didn’t deserve it. 1-1, and unsurprisingly, Blackburn ‘keeper Enyeama was named man of the match. Once again though...26 shots to the opponents’ 7, but only half of those on target, and only one goal converted. Finishing isn’t up to scratch...but a draw extended the unbeaten league run to nine games, so things aren’t all bad. But the table rarely lies, and 12 points behind the leaders having played a game more doesn’t make for happy reading for a team that was being tipped for the title in August.

West Ham (Home) – FA Cup R5 Replay

With the title now looking like it has slipped away, this match held all the more importance to me, and this is a trophy I desperately want to win. I think I’d choose this over the UEFA Cup, even. The bookies made us massive favourites to win this, so much so that I smelt a rat...and sure enough, West Ham had been on a run of 13 games without a win and were in the relegation zone. There could be no excuse. I told the players, through the media, that a good performance would be required, and decided to take no prisoners. If this match wasn’t won, tempers would flare in the dressing room afterwards. The form book combined with a record against the Hammers of P6, W4, D1, L1 meant that actually I was quietly confident. Alves and Adriano were once again left on the bench, and in fact the team was unchanged, though I was looking for a big performance from the strikers, who by their own very high standards, had been poor of late, particularly Eduardo with three ‘6’s in his last four games, and Rhys Murphy was begging for a starting berth.

Realistically, Eduardo had until half-time to score. He saw three good chances go begging in the first 25 minutes, all of which he should have scored. On better form there is no doubt whatsoever that he would have got two at least. In the end, to hammer the point home, he was withdrawn in the 41st minute for Murphy, but not before one last golden chance wasted. Two minutes later, West Ham’s Scott Parker was sent off, and I started to feel that things had to go our way today. By half time, we had squandered 14 shots, though with 9 on target, the training seemed to be doing the trick. West Ham had not managed a single shot, on target or off, and had only had the ball for 35% of the game. How we weren’t winning was difficult to work out, though not a single player had a rating of ‘8’ or more, so that might have explained it. I told them I was disappointed and expected better, and told Murphy there was no pressure on him today. He couldn’t do any worse than Eduardo had done in the first 40 minutes.

Eleven minutes into the second half, it finally came. Riquelme fed Murphy, who played a wonderful one-two with Fabregas before curling a great shot into the corner of the net. What a substitution, and game over. Surely. There was a twist.

In the 73rd minute, van Persie mistimed a tackle very badly and the referee leveled the numbers on the pitch. As Riquelme was languishing anyway, I replaced him with Alves and pulled Aissati into a more holding role in the centre next to Alves and Cesc. Vela was moved into an AMC position, and the attacking mentality was reined in a little (though still above 50% - I’m an attacking manager and always have been). A few minutes later, a final substitution saw Diaby on for Aissati. We simply HAD to hold on for the last ten. It was better than that. Before the 4th official even attracted the attention of the referee to make the change, Alves fed Murphy for a one-on-one with the keeper, which Murphy converted to put the game beyond doubt. Two goals and a man of the match performance off the bench...that’s going to be difficult to ignore, no matter how good my two main strikers are! Final score 2-0, and a place in the quarter final against Middlesbrough. And to improve my mood even better, in the League that evening, Man U (who are top and probably can’t be caught) beat Liverpool (who are in 2nd), and Chelsea suffered a 2-1 reversal at Man City. Though the title has almost certainly gone, suddenly my Champions’ League ambition is becoming a much more realistic target:

Top 5 (26 games gone)

Man U 61p +37

Liverpool 57p +26

Everton 50p +4

Chelsea 49p +40

Arsenal 46p +23

Oh and Van Persie quietly accepted his two weeks’ docked wages for a very cynical foul for which he definitely deserved his red card.

Last update for this evening, folks. I’m turning in!

With Real Betis looming large in a few days’ time, I rang the changes for my trip North to the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough. Van Persie was suspended anyway, so he was replaced by Simpson. Alves returned to the team, but replacing Richards rather than Lescott, and poor Per Mertesacker got a rare start in place of Garay. Denilson and Bodmer came in for Cesc and Riquelme, but Aissati was retained on the left wing. Up front it was a new-look pair of Rhys Murphy and Kevin Doyle, though Eduardo and Vela were both waiting on the bench, just in case. And new(ish) signing Joe Hart was given a second start in place of Simon Pouplin, with Fabianski promoted to the bench. Boro’s team, I noticed, was remarkably similar to their current team, and frankly even with a 2nd string team out, I wasn’t too concerned. Aliadiere always scores against me, but I was confident I could get at least two.

Middlesbrough (Away) – Premiership

My confidence was proved well-founded. After twenty-two minutes, Denilson fed Doyle on the edge of the box, and the Irish striker scored his first of the season with a good finish. Boro’s claims for offside were nothing short of ludicrous, as the shot rounded a defender and possibly might even have taken a deflection! Doyle had another chance shortly before half-time that went begging, but he was still to get his 2nd before the oranges were brought out. A corner from Denilson picked out his head perfectly and it was two for Doyle, two for Arsenal. Fifteen seconds into the second half, it was to get even better as Doyle stole the ball from David Wheater and slotted home to complete a memorable hat-trick. With Murphy and now Doyle staking their claims to first-team football, Eduardo and Vela will need to start hitting the form of December and January again. Vela won four consecutive young player of the month awards either side of the new year, and they each won one in the senior player category, too. There certainly doesn’t seem to be any need for any more strikers, as I had feared, though given the sell-on clause, Murphy was well worth the money.

Boro did get a consolation through Igor Budan, but never looked like getting another in a game that petered out towards the end when the result was never in doubt. A great performance from Doyle which should earn him a place on the bench for Real Betis, our next match. Come back tomorrow to see how it goes!

Final Score Middlesbrough 1-3 Arsenal AFC Scorers: Doyle 3

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FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG: DRAFTING AREA!

Doyle got some superb press coverage for his great performance at Boro, and I really did have a dilemma on my hands for the match against Real Betis. I decided that, with the FA Cup tie pitting us against Boro again only two days after Betis, that was the game to give him another shot at. For Betis, my strongest team was called for so Pouplin, Garay, Richards, van Persie, Fabregas, Riquelme, Eduardo the Striker and Vela all returned with only Alves, Eduardo the Defender and Aissati retaining their places from Boro. My Doyle dilemma was in fact lifted when I realized that he wasn’t in fact registered for the UEFA Cup anyway, so Simpson and Bodmer both got a spot on the bench. Simpson had recently declared himself delighted at the chance he had been given to train with van Persie so perhaps he is ready to start more often. With Teixeira and Nani both out for the rest of the season, that can only be a good thing. However, despite deciding on playing my strongest team, with this limitation in mind, and five players only one card away from a suspension, Aissati and Riquelme were dropped late on in favour of Adriano (a rare start on the wing for him) and Bodmer. This had been why I wanted van Persie booked in the last match, but oh well! Van Persie and Richards, another player nearing a suspension, were both told to tackle hard, in an attempt to get them banned now, as I didn’t want them missing a harder game later in the tournament and when other players might be banned too. With van Persie picking up a two match domestic ban for his red card in the West Ham match, this was a game for him for sure. Alves I wasn’t so worried about, as his performances still weren’t up to scratch and I have no problem with sticking Richards, Eduardo or even Eboue/Hoyte there if necessary.

4.3.08 - Real Betis (Home) – UEFA Cup K/O R2 First Leg

Having in fact lost 4-3 to Betis in the group phase back in October, having been 3-1 in front, this was something of a revenge mission. Betis dominated the first ten minutes, but with our first attack, Fabregas floated a corner right onto the top of Carlos Vela’s head, and it was 1-0. Revenge already felt sweet, but after the debacle earlier in the competition, I had to be wary. Alves then made a really terrible tackle but was let off the hook by the referee. But, I thought, he must be close to the booking which would see him pick up a suspension. Then just before half time, a marvelous run by Bodmer, and a quick one-two with Robin ended with Mathieu blasting one into the net from 25 yards. Vela then rounded the half off with a third, but that one was disallowed for offside. Still, things were looking good. The one worry was Eduardo the Striker, who I hadn’t noticed at all, and was indeed operating at a ‘6’. One goal in five and a half games is unusually low for a player for whom that one goal was his thirtieth of the season. I let him know I was disappointed but gave him the chance to atone for his poor showing in the first half by leaving him on the pitch. Ten minutes in, he carved out a good chance with some excellent movement, and the keeper did well to save the shot. But one chance wasn’t really good enough, and Murphy replaced him with ten minutes to go, still with Eduardo on ‘6’. Oh well. Despite a turgid second half, we held firm, not conceding the away goal. The one incident of note was Richards’ second half booking, which combined with that of Alves, means that I will be short on right backs for the return leg in Spain. Might call for a 3-5-2 scenario, perhaps. But with a 2-0 lead from the home leg, I’m not overly-concerned, and at least that means that we have two players getting their bans out of the way.

Final Score: Arsenal 2 – 0 Real Betis Arsenal Scorers: Vela, Bodmer.

Apologies for the header at the top of the last post, don’t know why that happened!

With van Persie and Riquelme suspended in domestic competition, Simpson started, and Eduardo was given a space on the bench that he wouldn’t have got otherwise. Doyle started up front with Vela, Garay was replaced with Mertesacker, Diaby came in for Fabregas, and Lukasz Fabianski got a first start for the season, with Hart staying on the bench for the moment. Alves and Richards retained their places, of course, with their suspensions against Betis meaning their recuperation would come in midweek.

6.3.10 (sorry I put ‘08’ last time, but the year is 2010)

Middlesbrough (Home) – FA Cup R6

Having scored a hat-trick against the same team last weekend, Doyle was sent on with a very simple instruction to pick up where he left off. Quite literally. But it was Carlos Vela who opened the scoring with a well placed shot from a Simpson throw in after 9 minutes. Goal number 35 for the season in all competitions from someone who didn’t start the year as first choice. Impressive. At twenty-one, I’m hoping to get a good ten years from that lad, and at thirty-plus goals a season...

Some good defending from Mertesacker on his return, and finally some effort from Alves at the back helped fend off a spell of pressure from the Northerners, and half time almost came without too much by way of scares. A very bad tackle on Jay Simpson left him hobbling around the field, probably able to continue, but it wasn’t worth the risk so Murphy replaced him at half time, with Vela moving to the right wing. Doyle’s performance was disappointing and continued into the 2nd half, with a ‘6’ after an hour of play. A similar injury to Adriano prompted another substitution, with Aissati brought on on 66, but the game really wasn’t much of a spectacle. Two good shots from Diaby fizzed wide and over the bar on 69 and 80 mins respectively, but other than that, there was very little of note. Doyle’s performance didn’t pick up, gaining only a ‘6’ at full-time. Still, the Semi-Finals beckoned, and that could only be a good thing.

Final Score Arsenal 1 – 0 Middlesbrough AFC Scorers: Vela.

Man United beat Spurs in the cup too, which was a shame. Completing the semi-final line-up were Liverpool, for whom a Gerrard penalty saw off Chelsea, and Newcastle or Charlton, who played out a 1-1 draw at St. James’ Park, a result which saw my match against the Geordies moved back two weeks, which was a bit of a kick in the teeth with the UEFA Cup run going so well. No prizes for guessing who I wanted in the Semi-Final draw! Newcastle/Charlton came out against United, however, and having lost to Liverpool only once in five, I wasn’t too worried about playing them again at Wembley on April 4th. Then, the day before Betis, Man Utd beat West Ham and Liverpool beat Derby. The fight for the automatic Champions’ League spots might well be over now, with even Liverpool in 2nd a full twelve points clear of me, albeit having played a game more. Still, Chelsea and Everton are only three and four points clear of me so the qualifiers is still a very realistic target.

11.03.10 Real Betis (Away) – UEFA Cup K/O R2, Second Leg

Injuries, ineligibilities and suspensions ravaged my squad for the return leg against Betis, particularly in the defensive department, and I only had 21 fit players from whom to choose a squad of 18. The slightly unfamiliar team was:

Pouplin, Eduardo (Def-playing at DR for the first time), Adriano, Garay, Mertesacker, van Persie, Aissati, Riquelme, Fabgregas, Vela, Eduardo.

Subs: Hart, Hoyte, Lescott, Bodmer, Diaby, Simpson, Murphy.

After eighteen minutes, Garay conceded a penalty, but Sobis’ effort was saved by the excellent Pouplin. In truth, a poor penalty. Pouplin went on to make four or five fantastic saves in a half that was dominated by Betis, but which ended 0-0. Still, I knew that one goal for us would definitely end the tie, so I wasn’t worried despite a poor performance. With that one goal in mind, I upped the mentality even higher in an effort to finish the tie off early in the second half and told the strikers to have more faith, whilst giving more creative freedom to the midfield to try to give them more supply. But early in the first half, a bad tackle from Mertesacker gave Betis a free kick from which Mark Gonzalez, formerly of Liverpool, netted the opening goal. And on 67, Pavone got past Mertesacker to equalize the tie. Now the pressure was on, and Betis kept coming forward. I couldn’t work out why our performance was so lackluster, with only one shot on target. Pouplin made a couple more fantastic saves, which was encouraging but very scary, and indeed in the last minute, Dani pounced on a rebounded shot after another great save from Pouplin to win the tie for Betis. Very disappointing, and I cannot claim bad luck, the performance was simply shocking, and we were dominated for ninety minutes. Disappointing in the extreme, and I just don’t know what went so badly wrong there!

There was a media frenzy after the game, when replays clearly showed that Betis' goal in the last minute which won the tie was offside. My complaints were met with silence by UEFA, and we all know what the means! Though it wasnt an excuse for a very poor performance, a team-talk at the start of extra time could well have turned things in our favour, so its hard to take.

With only the FA Cup and Champions' League qualification left to aim at, the Tottenham game which followed three days later at WHL took on a huge significance. Since the draw at Blackburn, where I set myself the target of four wins before the game against United, I have only had that league game and one other, thanks to an FA Cup replay, a UEFA Cup tie and the FA Cup Quarter-final. So four from two...could be worse, but to really step up my campaign for Champions' League qualification, wins at Spurs and home to Wigan before the trip to Old Trafford were essential, and of course the Liverpool game at Wembley followed on after that before a huge league fixture pile up, with six matches in eighteen days following that. No doubt about it, this was going to be a tough, but vital, run-in. Before the North London Derby, Chelsea, United and Liverpool all won their matches. Though Liverpool and United are gone, Chelsea are now my closest rivals for 4th spot, though with that win they leap-frogged Everton into 3rd having played a game more. But Everton are next up for them, and with games against United and Liverpool also still to come, I started to think even 3rd place wasn’t necessarily a lost cause. While our derby was being played, Everton took on relegation-threatened Portsmouth on the South Coast, which would clearly be a big game. But on to events in North London:

14.03.08 – Tottenham (Away) – Premiership

With a record against the old enemy of P9, W7, D1, L1, on paper this game didn’t pose too difficult a problem. However, with van Persie suspended, Nani and Alex Teixeira still injured, the crisis on the wing was an obstacle to overcome. Adriano was dropped as he had made it clear he wasn’t really up for this and frankly, as an Arsenal player, if you’re not up for a match against Spurs at a vital stage of the season....well you deserve to be dropped. Eduardo (defender) came in for him. Vela played on the right side of midfield in the absence of so many wingers, which meant that Doyle and Eduardo could start together for the first time, with Murphy on the bench, and Fabregas continued his successful partnership with Riquelme.

We didn’t get off to the best start, Robbie Keane opening the scoring on nine minutes and a couple more gilt-edged chances later, Berbatov scored a second for Spurs. Things got worse after half an hour when Micah Richards was sent off after hauling down Keane as the last man. Fabregas, who was struggling with a knock, made way for Mertesacker. Worse was to come, as Jefferson Farfan smashed in the resulting free-kick. Oddly enough, unlike recent matches when we hadn’t carved out enough chances, we had created six to Spurs’ seven, with three on target. But the performances were not up to scratch, and I let the players know in no uncertain terms that 3-0 down at half time to Spurs was unacceptable, and nothing less than a 4-3 victory would save them from a real rollocking after the game. An immediate response was required and indeed on 51 minutes, Eduardo pulled a goal back. However, no more came, and after 76 minutes, Garay committed the same error as Richards and suffered the same fate. Collocini replaced Alves as we switched to a back three, and Murphy replaced the disappointing Doyle. This time, Pouplin made a great save from Farfan’s free-kick, but if I was honest, I knew it wouldn’t make much difference: with nine men, we weren’t going to make the comeback we needed in 13 minutes, and indeed Keane got a second right at the death to secure a really rather embarrassing defeat, our first in eleven league games and at a really terrible time. Not good at all. What is going so wrong?!

FINAL SCORE Tottenham 4 – 1 Arsenal AFC Scorers: Eduardo the Striker.

Since my target of four league wins before United came around, I have managed a draw, one victory and a defeat. I now need to win at Wigan to keep alive any realistic shot at Champions’ League qualification, let alone anything better than that. Our form was so bad that when the invitation to the Intertoto Cup came on the Monday, I gratefully accepted, especially with Everton holding Chelsea to a draw at Goodison.

Just realised I put '08' again in that last post. Apologies!

20/03/10 Wigan Athletic (Home) – Premiership

I restored Vela to the centre-forward role, with Van Persie returning from suspension. Doyle, having now played seven games this year, scored a hat-trick in one, and been distinctly average in the other six, was left out, with Murphy retaining his spot on the bench. After both centre backs were dismissed against Spurs, Mertesacker and Lescott started in those berths, with Senderos coming into the 18 on the bench. Wigan had recently signed Alan Smith, so he was a threat we had to be wary of, and Lescott was given the task of keeping him quiet.

After 23 minutes, we were given a penalty which Eduardo dispatched. Perhaps finally my fortunes were turning. It was obvious the teams’ performance had improved significantly. A second goal from Eduardo early in the second half made the game safe, though Wigan did pull one back with ten minutes remaining. Vela, however, finished things off in the last minute, and continued his good form when starting up front. That’s now 36 goals this season, 19 in the league for him. With Eduardo (striker) managing 33, with 26 of those in the league, that’s a really encouraging partnership. To improve my mood still further, Everton drew with Blackburn, and we’re now only three points behind them with a game in hand, and a far superior goal difference, so things are looking up at last!!

Final Score: Arsenal 3 – 1 Wigan Athletic AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2, Vela.

I have to say, what happened to Sagna and Traore?

And Lansbury, Adebayor, Bendtner?

These 5 become some of the best players in the game, and Sagna starts as the 2nd best RB in the game! Adebayor usually scores for fun, and Bendtner scores like a madman!

I would suggest investing in a world class DM. Playing Fabregas and Riquelme in midfield is all well and good, but against teams with a good attack they will be swamped. I would recommend either Mascherano or Veloso.

Good luck

Hullo.

Try Vela behind your striker(s). He was top scorer for me for a couple of seasons in this role. His stats do seem to make him lethal going forward from deep.

Internationals followed the Wigan match. Doyle picked up a facial injury which was to keep him out of the match against Man U, but he probably wouldn’t have played anyway.

27.03.08 – Arsenal v Man Utd – Premiership.

Before this game I realized that though I had thought that Eduardo’s 26 league goals, and Vela’s 19 were great, Rooney had scored 32 and even Ronaldo, without hitting the heights of this season in real life, had managed 15. The worrying statistic was the next scorer, Kevin Doyle with only three goals in the league to his name. Then I had a look at my squad list: in all competitions, 33 and 36 for Eduardo and Vela respectively, but the next top scorers in all competitions were Riquelme and Murphy with 4 goals each! That had to have been my downfall this season. With this in mind, I increased the attacking mentality of the two wingers and told them to take more shots. Riquelme and Fabregas were also given more license, in the hope that more goals might start coming from other sources. Richards and Garay returned for Mertesacker and Lescott, but otherwise the team stayed the same. A presentation was made to Simon Pouplin before the match in honour of his 100th game for the club. He’s been a good servant and deservedly forced former favourite of mine from previous games Hugo Lloris out of the club with his consistent miserly performances between the sticks. At 24 years of age, he’s got plenty left in the tank, and 400+ appearances is a real possibility.

After twenty minutes of United pressure, Eduardo turned the tables and put Arsenal two up, with two goals in five minutes either side of the half-hour mark. But with our record for losing leads in the past, I was still wary, and indeed five minutes later, Carrick pulled one back for United, and five minutes further from that, the same player got another goal. Not great, having gone into a two goal lead in the space of five, to lose that lead in another ten. The second half could easily be the most important half of the season. Could we regain the lead and hold on to it? The answer was no, with Rooney going on to score a hat-trick in the second half and secure, lets face it, a good win for United from two goals behind. But to be 2-0 up against United and then conceded five is, let’s face it, criminal. Fabregas did grab a consolation in the last minute, with the first goal from anyone other than Eduardo and Vela since the first leg of the tie against Betis. But all in all, not a good day at the office, in a season that has petered out badly. And don’t hold much hope for the Cup semi against Liverpool. In this form, I’d give us next to no chance, unfortunately. We need the likes of Nani and Teixeira back. This result leaves me a full three points behind Everton, now without a game in hand, and indeed with Newcastle only two points behind and they have a game in hand over us! Intertoto Cup looking a real possibility now ïŒ We need to pick up some results. Lucky we have an easy run-in.

FINAL SCORE Man Utd 5 – 3 Arsenal AFC Scorers: Eduardo 2, Fabregas.

Remaining Fixtures (after Cup Semi, up next)

West Ham (A)

Liverpool (A)

Aston Villa (H)

Fulham (H)

Newcastle (H)

Sunderland (H)

Reading (A)

Derby (H)

One advantage of the fixture pile-up: five home games in the last six matches...

One reason you may have conceded 5 is a lack of a true DM. What formation are you playing?

How did pouplin get to 100 matches for the club if your still in 2008?

you seem to have a very creative team, try increasing the overall team creativity (not full though) and see if this helps, because your players should be winning matches on thier own for you

also, i think i read you swapping your centre backs for matches - this is usually a very bad move as you invariably end up conceding, especially swapping the centre backs

Just noticed some replies at last...keep them coming. I will reply to them all.

Sagna: sold to Milan for £20m after season 2. He did quite well, AvR of 7.05 (S1) and 7.25 (S2) but £20m was too good to turn down, and Alves SHOULD be better...

Traore: went to Barcelona for £10m after a decent first season. On reflection, possibly a mistake. But in the past now!

Lansbury: Nearly made it into the team at the start of this year, but a bid of £10m from Celtic before he'd even played a competitive game for the club...couldnt turn that down!

Adebayor: 16 goals in season 1, 10 in season 2. AvR always under 7, had to leave to make space for Eduardo who was awesome both years, and Vela. £9.5m to Valencia at the start of this year.

Bendtner: Told you about that before, was awesome for the first few months of the first season, but went to Milan in Jan for £21.5m. Has barely played since, though I note now that he has played a few recently, with 8 apps this season for Milan and 5 goals. He's good but he's not as good as Eduardo or Vela.

The DM might be a fair point, and with Riquelme aging....the only thing is that it seems a little harsh on Denilson and Diaby, both of whom, when they play AvR at just under 8. I had a player called Alberto Zapater for a few years but he didnt really do the job i needed him to and he left for Sevilla for £10m at the start of this year.

As for Vela behind the strikers...he's scored 36 goals this season and its not yet April! I dont think I need to change that somehow do you?! I generally stick to some variant of 4-4-2 unless I'm playing no-hopers or need to win by a big margin. Sorry, Vela is playing too well up front to move him permanently. He plays on the wing when necessary, in a huge injury crisis such as now, but all things being equal, he's easily my first choice striker with Eduardo. They're deadly. The fact that no other player has scored more than 4 goals, and we had a title tilt until recently is testament to how awesome they have been together this year!

Couple more replies since i started the last post. Yes, I can see the lack of DM might be a problem, but as I said, to replace Riquelme eventually with a DMC seems harsh on Diaby/Denilson...

I'm playing 4-4-2 with slight variations on occasion. And medicineman, I'm not in 2008, that was me typing a date on auto pilot. Its March 2010.

The team already has very high creativity...I'm there already!

What do you mean swapping centre backs? Unless there are injuries/suspensions or its a meaningless game, its always Garay and Richards....

Thanks for the replies anyway guys, good to know I'm being read! Any thoughts on the way I'm doing this? Too much detail? Any more information you need?

i have had massive success with arsenal, and i stick to a few simple rules, all players must be able to pass the ball, no AMC's in central midfield, and minumum tackling rating for an MC is 13. play a balanced flat 4-4-2, not overly ambitious, but not inviting them on. similar squad mentalities for all.

I'll bear the AMC rule in mind for the future, and the advice about getting a quality DMC makes sense (Could Diaby fill this role, perhaps?), but Riquelme's great performances over the last two years seem to counteract your theory a bit. I dont think my tactics are overly ambitious - we play with an attacking mentality and I like my wingers to get forward with a little support from the full-backs, but its not gung-ho....

i play with defence in mind first, diaby could do the role yes, but a fabregas-diaby partnership in midfield, with very balanced stats on them wud see a noticable improvement in defensive ability overall

With this in mind, Diaby and Denilson have now both been assigned DMC re-training. Denilson is apparently already accomplished there, Diaby unconvincing. But I'd hesitate about playing Denilson with Fabregas...serious lack of bulk/height with those two together....

they dont need to play a DM role, diaby's stats and physical abilities make him perfect as a slightly more physical, battling player in midfield

read wwfan's tactics and thereoms framework, on tactics and training thread. ur transfer dealings do look a bit suspect though, lots of money on players not of real quality. dont feel u have to sell if u get an offer. i will fight to keep players.

Who though? I mean, Alves and Adriano yes, but I assumed they'd be as good as they sound/look! Who else have i signed for a lot who hasnt been good? Richards is going to win player of the year this year, Garay has been a revelation, Nani...well got injured in his first game so we'll see...but in general...

pouplin and hart are decent but u cud do better, alves overrated, adriano and eduardo are poor choices, you have better to start with. coloccini, lescott, are poor signings. van persie is not really a right midfielder, wud do far better with a new proper MR in there, riquelme unbalances the midfield, regardless of how well he has done he unbalances the side, bodmer is ok, aissati i have never been convinced by. doyle, kiessling are bad signings, teixeira is taking up a place in the squad.

there are most of ur errors, sorry mate but u ahve let good players (clichy, sagna, traore, adebayor) go and got not so good in for them

The disappointment of the United game was followed by the news that Micah Richards was considered a major contender for the accolade of Young Players’ Player of the Season, which was good. He was up against the likes of James Vaughan and Steven Defour, as well as Carlos Vela. For me, though Richards has had a good year (AvR 7.27), 36 goals in 43 matches at 7.65 really should make Vela a shoo-in.

On the subject of young players, I had a glance at my reserves before the Cup Semi-Final. Lee Carlton, a 17 year old AMLC, seems to be the rising star. Already valued at almost £1m, and with 7 goals and 7 assists in 17 starts at 7.39, he definitely looks like a good player for the future, and possibly not too distant. Kieran Gibbs also had a good year this year, with an AvR of 7.40, and young Sakho and Sidnei weren’t far behind at 7.08 and 7.0 respectively. Randall hasn’t performed so well and probably wont make it, and for a full report on the players out on loan, come back at the end of the season (if I remember!). There’s certainly plenty of talent. In the under-18s, likewise, theres a young striker naked Kieran Brown who has managed 16 goals in 12 starts, and another, Glenn Wakeford, who has 13 in 15, but the star seems to be the left winger, Dave Philliskirk, at only 16, but AvR of 7.53 this year. But he has ridiculous hair! Is it me or do the vast majority of the regens have either very long hair or dreds?! Anyway...they do seem talented, even if they look ridiculous.

Everton and Newcastle both won in the league the next day, which wasn’t ideal, and meant that we’re now legitimately in 6th place, though level on points with Man City in 7th with two games in hand over them. UEFA Cup should be a formality, especially with the FA Cup having gone the way it has, and of course there’s still a good chance we could win that...or is there? Read on...oh and just to let you know, I’ve sent my scouts out with the mission to find the next Patrick Vieira. Diaby can probably do it but it cant hurt to have another one, and someone needs to come in as Riquelme is fading fast.

4.04.10 Arsenal v Liverpool – FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley

Have only lost once to Liverpool so I was fairly confident, but also aware that the whole season was now resting on the FA Cup, and I felt I was in danger of losing my job if I didn’t win it, harsh though that would be given that I’m trying to re-build a team from scratch, having had a large clear-out lately. I’m still really concerned about the fact that other than Eduardo and Vela (71 goals between them), only seven players have scored at all this year, and only managed fifteen between them. Fabregas was suspended for this, and Riquelme injured, so Diaby and Denilson started...I was tempted to go for Bodmer, but given the advice I was given from you guys...well I went with the two more defensive players.

This game seemed to be all about Vela – 36 goals in 43 games against Torres – 25 goals in 38 games. On the face of it that gave us the edge, but with no Fabregas or Riquelme, I admit I was worried. I told the players there was no pressure on them today, made sure they knew that Torres was the main man to stick to, and kept my fingers tightly crossed. Knowing my luck their other striker, Pandev, will get a hat-trick!

The game started with constant Arsenal pressure, with about five good chances in the opening four minutes. In the end the pressure told and Vela scrambled one in on 13’. We did keep the pressure up, and looked destined to score a 2nd. Eduardo went very close with a 1-on-1 with Reina, and by half-time we had managed fifteen shots to Liverpool’s three, and 55% of the possession. However after the Man Utd debacle, I was still concerned, and instructed the players not to get complacent. My wonderful players came to my nerves’ rescue early in the half, with Diaby slamming one into the back of the net from thirty yards. Wonder goal, and finally a different player had scored this season. The rest of the game was mercifully uneventful, and only the team in red (us) had any chances of note. No third goal was required, however, and no third goal came, only a third consecutive FA Cup Final for the Gunners!

FINAL SCORE ARSENAL 2 – 0 Liverpool AFC Scorers: Vela, Diaby.

pouplin and hart are decent but u cud do better, alves overrated, adriano and eduardo are poor choices, you have better to start with. coloccini, lescott, are poor signings. van persie is not really a right midfielder, wud do far better with a new proper MR in there, riquelme unbalances the midfield, regardless of how well he has done he unbalances the side, bodmer is ok, aissati i have never been convinced by. doyle, kiessling are bad signings, teixeira is taking up a place in the squad.

there are most of ur errors, sorry mate but u ahve let good players (clichy, sagna, traore, adebayor) go and got not so good in for them

Pouplin has been a revelation! Hart was bought as cover when Lloris was sold - couldnt hold on to him because he was unhappy as Pouplin was keeping him out of the side and I got a good offer. Alves and Adriano, probably overrated, but I didnt realise that. Eduardo is doing really well, and he's one for the future. Coloccini and Lescott...fair enough, especially Collocini, though Lescott has done OK when called on this year. Van Persie has improved no end since moving to the wing, and couldnt score for love nor money up front. If Riquelme unbalances the side why is it that Fab, van P, Aissati etc and the strikers are doing so well? Aissati is young, and as I say, he's not really my first choice. Doyle and Kiessling, yeah I know, though Doyle has done well lately at last. Teixeira cost nothing and I'm not paying much to him in wages, and he's done a good job at times, even though he's not exactly been the best player lately. Hopefully he'll come back next season after his loan spell and do better.

As for the other players....they just werent doing that well! For the money I got for them....Clichy in particular, I felt that Adriano was a better player, and so he had to move on. Perhaps that was wrong, but Adriano came with a good reputation and good-looking stats...thats how you spot good players, right? Sagna wasnt doing very well and £20m for an under-performer isnt really something you wanna miss out on. Traore perhaps was a mistake but I'm not sure he was quite first-choice material. Certainly he's not as good as Adriano should be. And as for Adebayor....I dont have space for a striker who doesnt score, and with Eduardo and Vela both likely to get more than 40 goals this year....come on!

The current squad can win you the title plus the champions league alone. I dont know but I think you need to work on your transfers more than your tactics. You paid 33 MILLION pounds for Nani? a player nor more than average or not any better than what you already have.

Plus a screen shot on your tactic would be good. There is no way you should lose champions league football specially to fking Spuds.

Just to let everyone know, its Arsenal v Man Utd at Wembley in the Cup Final on May 15th 2010. At least it’s not Chelsea for the third time in a row! With any luck it’ll be 3rd time lucky this time around. Before that, 8 more games in the premiership and we need, I reckon, at least 6 wins to sneak into the Champions League. Possibly seven.

Also, though Drogba appears to be the front runner for the main player of the year, it seems that Eduardo and Vela are both in with a chance of winning that, which is good. Why Drogba is in contention compared to them is beyond me. 23 goals in 31 at 7.10 is ok, but compare that to 37 in 44 at 7.66 or even 35 in 44 at 7.38, and to be honest.....

Oh well...

7.04.10 West Ham (Away) – Premiership

Going into this match, West Ham were languishing in 19th, six points from safety, so this was, on paper anyway, an easy three points. It was hard to drop Denilson who now has three appearances at 8.00, but Fabregas was available and is hard to drop, and I didn’t want to play Denilson with Fabregas unless in a 5-man midfield. Denilson did get a space on the bench in place of Bodmer, however. The line-ups screen showed once again a ridiculously defensive set-up and I wished Riquelme was fit, in order to slice through their defences a little easier. I told Aissati, whose performances had dipped a little lately, that a performance was expected from him, and sent the players out. Once again, the team was roaring from the start, dominating possession from the first minute. Good chances inevitably followed, but the first incident of any real note (other than an injury to Ashton, surprise surprise!), was another penalty conceded by Garay – that seems to be a bit of an issue. Mark Noble put away an unsaveable penalty and we had to come from behind. Vela came very close shortly before half-time, the ball not quite reaching the goal-line after a 1-on-1. The dominance we’d enjoyed had not been reflected in the quality of the performances from my players and I made it clear that nothing less than a win would suffice here. It was a vital game, and one we should be winning with ease. Soon after half-time, Simpson came on for the disappointing Aissati, and van Persie switched wings. This didn’t seem to have much effect on the team as a whole though, and with just 7 minutes to go, Eduardo made way for Murphy, the super-sub. It wasn’t him but Vela, however, who scored the injury-time equalizer (goal number 38 for the season, and his 20th league goal) that had been coming. But it wasn’t really enough.

FINAL SCORE West Ham 1 – 1 ARSENAL – AFC Scorers: Vela

Very happy to give screenshots but dont really know how to do it - i can get one saved but not sure how to upload...let me know if you can tell me how. As for Nani - he's actually done really well for United, and has been a better player than Ronaldo on this game. THat was his price. What some of you need to remember is that every game is different. Whilst in some games, Vela might be better as an AMC, here he clearly isnt as 38 goals this season with a few games still to go shows...and players such as Adebayor, Clichy etc simply werent performing. Look at Ade's stats above - he was first choice for two seasons but his form simply didnt justify his spot, and with the strikers getting the goals they have this season, I dont regret letting him go in the slightest...and they're not new signings either remember!

Oh and if i do miss out on Champs football, it wont be to Spuds thank god - they're a point behind me having played two games more. Its Everton and Newcastle - played the same games, but 5 and 3 points ahead respectively. Seven games to go though, and after Liverpool its a very easy run-in, so I'm quietly confident that I could still sneak into 4th.

Before the game against Liverpool, on paper at least the hardest game left this season (though with Liverpool having just lost in the FA Cup to us, and to United in the Champs League in the space of just 3 days...they might be vulnerable), Glenn Wakeford scored another two goals for the U18s, taking his tally to 15 goals in 16 starts. He looks good from that, but his attributes are really not very good. Majority under 10, and nothing over 13, so we’ll have to see if he does develop, but perhaps he’s not the prospect that his stats suggest.

10.04.10 Liverpool v Arsenal – Premiership

For this game I dropped Aissati whose form had dipped a lot from his early promise. Adriano was given another chance on the wing – you have to bear in mind that Nani and Alex Teixeira are both injured and they both would be in ahead of him. Diaby kept his place in the continued absence of Riquelme.

After beating Liverpool so recently, I was slightly worried about complacency, but told the guys that the pressure was off anyway, as we were massive underdogs. Eduardo opened the scoring once more, however, on 5 minutes. But as usual in that case, I was worried. We have lost far too many leads this year. When Eduardo scored a second I was possibly even more worried after recent form, and indeed Pandev pulled a goal back 5 minutes later. I told the team to maintain their performance and make sure we didn’t lose this lead as we had lost so many before.

The second half started with constant Liverpool pressure, and after 56 minutes, Pandev equalized. Why does this keep happening?! Fabregas was underperforming and having been booked, was withdrawn for Denilson. The captaincy passed on to Eduardo in the absence of Mertesacker – surprisingly the Croatian has a high influence rating. And he completed his hat-trick with eight minutes to go with, apparently, a vital winner. Let’s hope that’s the final turning point in a season that could still end really positively, I thought. However, injury time proved disastrous. First, Alves was dismissed for a 2nd yellow, and then, after more than 5 minutes of time added on (4 were indicated), Pandev completed the game’s 2nd hat-trick, and Arsenal left Anfield with only a point. Disappointing, but I would have taken that at the start of the match, with such an easy run-in from now. But maximum points from here on in, please!

FINAL SCORE Liverpool 3 – 3 ARSENAL AFC Scorers: Eduardo 3

Oh and just to keep you updated - 7 games to go including the cup final, and both Eduardo and Vela have 38 goals. Any bets on who will finish as the top scorer? I think my money is on Eduardo, but I'm unsure.

Originally posted by Luke Hearn:

Oh and if i do miss out on Champs football, it wont be to Spuds thank god - they're a point behind me having played two games more. Its Everton and Newcastle - played the same games, but 5 and 3 points ahead respectively. Seven games to go though, and after Liverpool its a very easy run-in, so I'm quietly confident that I could still sneak into 4th.

Ohh damn. I was refering to your second season but you are also fighting for 4th spot this season as well.

You should be doing much much better in the league with the players you have. And Adebayor is a beast in the game. you just have to use him to his best. He scores no less than 40 goals per season for me and most of Arsenal fans who play as Arsenal manager. Plus I would advice you to check on the Arsenal team thread in "Player/Team Guide" forum. You will get much more in-side and a lot of help since it is concerning Arsenal. Arsenal Guide - "Home Of Gooners" - No MOney No problem

To take screen shot:

1. Press the button (on your Keyboard ) "printscrn/Sys Rq" usually same row with F12.

2. When you press that button, the computer will take a picture of the current veiwing page. So you need to be viewing tactics, if you want tactic screen shot, when you are pressing this button.

3. Minimize the game, and go to (open) Painting in your computer. Paste the picture by press CTRL+V. Tdddddd...

4. Now You can see the picture taken. Then save the picture...

5. Go to www.imageshack.us (A website to upload pictures). When the website is load, click "Browse" and then upload the picture. When the picture loaded, Copy the code of "direct link" at the bottom of that website and just give it here to people.

At the moment you are struggling with the tactics, So I would advice you to read This thread: Highly recommended (Click here) And this one: It is more like FAQ thread

I hope if helps.

TOUGH AT THE TOP UPDATE

The next day, Everton beat Spurs which, whilst decreasing our chances of Champions’ League football, more or less guaranteed a UEFA Cup spot for next season, which was something. Chelsea also beat Newcastle which meant that the top 8 now looked like this:

Man U P32 79pts

Chelsea P34 69pts

Liverpool P32 68pts

Everton P32 61pts

Newcastle P32 56pts

ARSENAL P32 54pts

Spurs P34 52pts

Man City P33 52pts

RELEGATION/PROMOTION UPDATE

The next news was that Sam Allardyce, who had returned to Bolton in February of my first season, was unlikely to get his contract renewed. Good riddance! Bolton, however, do appear to be safe despite only being in 16th place: it looks like Derby and two from West Ham (26pts), Wigan (28pts) and Middlesbrough (30pts).

Oh and just to let you know, the relegations and promotions have worked out such that the 20 teams in the Prem this year are the same 20 teams that started in 2007-8. Wigan, Derby and Birmingham all went down that year, but they then all came up after a thrilling end to the season in 2009, where they completely dominated with Wigan finishing on 82pts, Birmingham and Derby both on 81, with the Brummies pipping Derby on goal-difference to automatic promotion, but the Rams going on to beat West Brom and Scunthorpe in the play-offs.

As for this year, Sheffield United have run away with the Championship title, and need only two points from three games to confirm that. Ipswich and West Brom are locked on the same points chasing automatic promotion, eight points further back. Playoffs are more or less set with a big gap between 6th and 7th. It’ll be one of Ipswich and West Brom plus Coventry, Scunthorpe again, and Watford. With Watford, Ipswich and Sheffield United all getting relegated last season, there seems to be a good chance that we’ll have the same three back again this year. Oh well – Sheffield United only made 11 points last season, and only Watford got anywhere near staying up. So at least that’s 18 points guaranteed in 2010-11!!!

I always play with Arsenal and would never dream of doing what you did!

Firstly- CLichy AND Traore sold OMG- why? You dont need to think about your LB position for 10 years!!

Sagna- defensively better than Alves, should have kept him.

CB- Where's Toure gone? Djourou turns out to be good. But good signings in this position with Richards, Garay and Sakho (exactly what I did!!)

MR- RVP- sell him, not good enough right winger. Buy someone like Aaron Lennon, and Nani- no way! Not good enough.

ML- 2 players worth mentioning- Silva (Valencia) and Matias Fernandez

MC- Fabregas -NEVER sell him, need back up Denilson and Diaby ok but not world class. I went for Nasri as back up.

DMC- You need players in this position, I bought Mascherano and Banega- world class!

ST- Eduardo never performed for me, but if he is then keep him.

Vela is a legend, I bought Aguero as well.

Walcott, Bendtner and Adebayor really good. But I sold them due to wanting instant success. Bought in Anelka, Owen and legend HENRY back!!

Won everything in 2 years.

With Arsenal, you have endless amount of money, the squad is good already, needs a few established stars. Good youngsters coming up so

I dont want to read 'guides' - that feels too much like cheating to me. I prefer the concept of using this thread to get some feedback from you guys as ass. managers - as i said at the top, its something you dont get enough of in the game. What screenshots would you like exactly? Just the formation?