whats the deal with Arsenal?

ok first off i dont want to come across as a whiner in this thread but i do have a few problems with the state of arsenal when you start the game.

ive played 5 08/09 seasons back to back with arsenal and every single one has been AWFUL. i then played 1 season as man utd and won the league after just buying Rafinha.

with arsenal i even cheated to see if that would help, i bought kaka/aguero/buffon/chiellini/de rossi and i went out to galatasaray in the 3rd round champions league qualifier.

ive been playing FM since back when it was still CM. in FM 08 i got to #1 in the world hall of fame with arsenal so ive had enough experience with the game to know what im doing.

im really really baffled as to how this team is so terrible. especially the forwards. Adebayor isnt too bad but Van Persie is about as useful as my mum on that pitch. theo walcott only seems to work as an impact player brought on late in the game and every time i start him he does nothing. carlos vela i dont expect too much from and nicklas bendtner is 50/50 but thats pretty accurate.

this is going to sound hilariously ironic but ill go ahead and say it:

losing to Hull at the emirates is just a joke (LOL i know!)

in real life ye ok whatever but in the game hull arent as good and should get steamrollered by a team with a prediction of 3rd.

like i say ive tried everything to get this team to work and nothing is happening. theres not even a noticable difference in performance when i switch formations.

i tried

5-3-2 attacking and defensive

4-4-2 attacking and defensive

4-5-1 defensive and attacking

i even gave 4-2-4 attacking a shot

none of these formations did anything dramatic to my performance and no matter how i tweak my player/team instructions nothing seems to help.

is anyone else having a similar experience or is it just me?

please keep your responses civil and constructive, for me FM is one of the greatest games ever made (all genres inclusive) and so far FM09 seems to be very different to previous versions.

cheers

I always play liverpool, and arsenal are the strongest other team, and their players are highly rated in this game. I played as Arsenal once and found it 'too easy' to be arsenal.

I think tactics doesn't make much difference at the game as i heard about people saying they played the same match over 40 times with different tactics and they always got the same result. I think when you're supposed to lose, there's not much you can do.

Ive now completed two 08/09 seasons, Both times Arsenal have won the premiership...

yes but have u been managing Arsenal?

when i played a season as Man Utd, Arsenal were my main rivals for the title and they also beat me in the champions league final. i know they are really good when controlled by the game my post is talking about when you are controlling them.

Like I say, I did, and it was too easy.

I am playing United, and realistically I see Arsenal drop points all the time to clubs like Fulham and Stoke

I am playing United, and realistically I see Arsenal drop points all the time to clubs like Fulham and Stoke

In my game they always win the league with 94-95 points... only losing 2 matches... Not that I care since I havent played in the English league yet..

arsenal win the league all the time on my game

Arsenal dominate on my game too, all they have done is sign Diarra back when pompey went down, the vast majority is the current squad, and the players are all shortlisted/win awards

Chelsea seem to be a bit weaker (i beat them 6-1 with my 5th place Wolves side lol), but they buy loads of players, Man city do pretty well from the second season onwards

The game doesn't cheat. Arsenal is no different to any other club. The stats are the same when you control them as when the computer does.

So what's your theory?

You say you don't want to whinge but you don't isolate a problem. Your post is a general complaint about the state of Arsenal without picking a specific thing that you think is the problem and want fixed.

If anything Arsenal are too strong on FM09...

i am arsenal and i won the 08/09 premiership and FA cup...walcott and vela were both worth 25 mil at the end of that season and were both star players and wonderkids!! in the second season i am top of the league with a few games to go with an average squad age of 22 with only almunia really over 25/26. i dont know what ure problem is mate....maybe your just not good enough ha ha

hey, Galatasaray are a bloody good team, especially at home. I'd say sell bendtner then all your dreams will come true.

you seem to mention that van persie is useless, you can sell him. You also say that walcott is only good as an impact player, so use him as that.

Can't say i've been Arsenal on the game yet but they dominated in the 1st season and are 2nd to chelsea in the 2nd season

i won the league, league cup and champions in my first season with arsenal. brought diarra from pompey to play right back, pirlo as defensive midfield and tevez up front, played van persie as a left wing, also brought balotelli from inter, cheap 18 year old attacking midfielder as cover for walcott and van persie. played a 442 defensive with the wingers pushed forward.

It wouldn't be a very exciting game if it just total up the stats and the best team won each game would it. So you can't complain that you lost to Hull. If it was like that you could just pick a good team, and buy a couple of players and you would win every game. Go and play Fifa if you want that.

on my game (Im managing Man United btw)

Arsenal just wont drop points and i will play them in the UEFA CL final

everytime i play with arsenal either lose or drawn never won

duno y but i hear ppl also say arsenal is over powered

Arsenal thumped everyone in my first season in charge (I was playing Liverpool). Finished about 8-10 points clear at the top IIRC.

at first i have problem to wif arsenal in fm09.... every player doesnt seem to perform...

fabregas always get >6.5 , van persie doesnt score at all, adebayor rating for every match are terrible....

the only player that seem to perform well are samir nasri....

i got fade up and start a new game by changing a lot of tactics that i usually use for fm08 and i set every individual tactic for each player thoroughly that suits them, after dat it work wonder for my arsenal team....

fabre got 14 assist in 23 match, my top goalscorer is carlos vela; score 18 in 25 match, and theo walcott is unstoppable at the right flank in my 2nd season in arsenal...

and i didnt buy any star player at all, just bought a bunch of good young player for future....

my advice is set your tactics thoroughly for each individual player that suits them best.... it works wonder for me....

Arsenal under-rated in FM, your having a laugh mate, they have destroyed every team in my version me including, they have 3 premierships in 3 and a champions leauge final victory.

Over-rated imo, but i think this is what lies in the future and i relish the challenge.

Another thing worth noting is the reputation you choose when creating a new manager...

If you dont pick international reputation and then manage a big team you will find it harder to get your players to perfirm for you.

I am playing as Arsenal in my career game, just started the 13/14 season. So far my achievements have been:

Premiership:

08/09 : 2nd

09/10 : 1st

10/11 : 1st

11/12 : 4th

12/13 : 1st

Champions League:

08/09 : Winner

09/10 : First Knockout

10/11 : Winner

11/12 : Semi-Final

12/13 : Quarter-Final

FA Cup:

08/09 : Fourth Round

09/10 : Semi-Final

10/11 : Sixth Round

11/12 : Semi-Final

12/13 : 4th Round

So it's not Arsenal being hard to play with. I suggest you go ask for some help in the Tactics & Training Forum.

I am playing as Arsenal in my career game, just started the 13/14 season. So far my achievements have been:

Premiership:

08/09 : 2nd

09/10 : 1st

10/11 : 1st

11/12 : 4th

12/13 : 1st

Champions League:

08/09 : Winner

09/10 : First Knockout

10/11 : Winner

11/12 : Semi-Final

12/13 : Quarter-Final

FA Cup:

08/09 : Fourth Round

09/10 : Semi-Final

10/11 : Sixth Round

11/12 : Semi-Final

12/13 : 4th Round

So it's not Arsenal being hard to play with. I suggest you go ask for some help in the Tactics & Training Forum.

no way skorp looks like the FA Cup is eluding you big style lol. Are you fielding youngsters? Especially considering your Prem/Champ league consistency

I won the League AND Champions League in my first season with Arsenal.

Walcott was one of the best players in my team, getting over 20 assists, as well as pitching in with a few goals, he won young player of the season.

Adebayor scored 38 goals in 50 matches, admittedely van Persie was quite poor but even he managed to score double figures.

I'm in November of season 2, beat Liverpool in the community shield and the Spuds in the Euro super cup.

Bought ??? and a few youngsters, still unbeaten in the league so far and the third richest club in the world, so i'd say Arsenal are a good team to be, i'm carrying on until the proper pacth comes out, then i'll start unemployed or lower league!

Arsenal are my bogey team so far and are leading the Premiership at this point of time, albeit by only 1 point.

I won the League AND Champions League in my first season with Arsenal.

Walcott was one of the best players in my team, getting over 20 assists, as well as pitching in with a few goals, he won young player of the season.

Adebayor scored 38 goals in 50 matches, admittedely van Persie was quite poor but even he managed to score double figures.

I'm in November of season 2, beat Liverpool in the community shield and the Spuds in the Euro super cup.

Bought ??? and a few youngsters, still unbeaten in the league so far and the third richest club in the world, so i'd say Arsenal are a good team to be, i'm carrying on until the proper pacth comes out, then i'll start unemployed or lower league!

Please don't name players in this forum, as many users don't want to see them. If you want to talk about players use the Good Players & Team Guide Forum. Cheers.

They have won the league in all 4 seasons I have played so far so I would say ther a pretty decent side lol

no way skorp looks like the FA Cup is eluding you big style lol. Are you fielding youngsters? Especially considering your Prem/Champ league consistency

Yeah, FA Cup is mostly youth. I will win it with youth one day!

Arsenal do seem a bit overpowered when controlled by the AI, they have won the double 2 years a row on mine and their finances are far superior compared to everyone else.

Other games I've seen they always seem to dominate the league without anyone else giving much of a fight.

I don't know if it's because they have a lot of wonderkids, or if the AI Wenger is overpowered, but given that the first season is supposed to represent the season we're in now and Arsenal totally dominate, I'd say there were a few inaccuracies.

I have played 5 seasons now with a lower league team. I always set the EPL to full detail ... Arsenal have won the EPL 5 years in a row (though this last year they only won by 1 point, so its getting closer). They have also won the chapmions league twice and the league cup 3 times.

Very realistic

Arsenal have been the one team I dread coming up against since FM07. They attack with such pace and they never give the ball away. No tactic I come up with seems to stop them. They're like rampaging wilderbeest, but with ball skills and an eye for goal.

They're like rampaging wilderbeest, but with ball skills and an eye for goal.

Are you saying normal wilderbeests don't have skillz?

Are you saying normal wilderbeests don't have skillz?

Well I've never actually seen one play football, so I suppose I shouldn't have commented.

Arsenal have been the one team I dread coming up against since FM07. They attack with such pace and they never give the ball away. No tactic I come up with seems to stop them. They're like rampaging wilderbeest, but with ball skills and an eye for goal.

Are you saying normal wilderbeests don't have skillz?

Well I've never actually seen one play football, so I suppose I shouldn't have commented.

HAHAHAAH, this made me LOL.

so much for constructive replies.

in regards to about 80% of the replies so far, you are all talking about playing AGAINST arsenal. my post was asking players who CONTROLLED arsenal to give me some feedback to see if it was just me or if others were noticing some problems.

anywayi think about 3 people gave me information i can actually use and to them i thank you for your replies.

might as well lock this thread now before it gets even more ridiculous.

Try the GPTG thread on Arsenal, that will get you quicker, more detailed results.

Arsenal were the best computer controlled team in 08 and they are again in 09, chelsea and Liverpool again seem to not as good as they should be, in fact i think aresenal has taken a little of chelsea and liverpool's AI and intergrated into their own these past 2 versions, they once beat me by one point in the league when i had stayed unbeaten, totally uncalled for imo

It's funny though because abilities wise, Arsenal is the 4th best team in England yet they seem to over-perform. I don't know why that is the case.

And yes, go to Arsenal GPTG thread. Lots of success stories in there. I for one have got bored of playing ARsenal after winning too much. I'll start my careers game as soon as the patch come out.

Also, try reading the TTF by wwfan on the tactical forum. Extremely helpful.

ok first off i dont want to come across as a whiner in this thread but i do have a few problems with the state of arsenal when you start the game.

ive played 5 08/09 seasons back to back with arsenal and every single one has been AWFUL. i then played 1 season as man utd and won the league after just buying Rafinha.

with arsenal i even cheated to see if that would help, i bought kaka/aguero/buffon/chiellini/de rossi and i went out to galatasaray in the 3rd round champions league qualifier.

ive been playing FM since back when it was still CM. in FM 08 i got to #1 in the world hall of fame with arsenal so ive had enough experience with the game to know what im doing.

im really really baffled as to how this team is so terrible. especially the forwards. Adebayor isnt too bad but Van Persie is about as useful as my mum on that pitch. theo walcott only seems to work as an impact player brought on late in the game and every time i start him he does nothing. carlos vela i dont expect too much from and nicklas bendtner is 50/50 but thats pretty accurate.

this is going to sound hilariously ironic but ill go ahead and say it:

losing to Hull at the emirates is just a joke (LOL i know!)

in real life ye ok whatever but in the game hull arent as good and should get steamrollered by a team with a prediction of 3rd.

like i say ive tried everything to get this team to work and nothing is happening. theres not even a noticable difference in performance when i switch formations.

i tried

5-3-2 attacking and defensive

4-4-2 attacking and defensive

4-5-1 defensive and attacking

i even gave 4-2-4 attacking a shot

none of these formations did anything dramatic to my performance and no matter how i tweak my player/team instructions nothing seems to help.

is anyone else having a similar experience or is it just me?

please keep your responses civil and constructive, for me FM is one of the greatest games ever made (all genres inclusive) and so far FM09 seems to be very different to previous versions.

cheers

Are you for real. Maybe this game just isn't for you. I was Arsenal and I found it so easy it was boring. There team is just complete. Walcott is by far my best player, followed by v.persie. Try chess or something.

Are you for real. Maybe this game just isn't for you. I was Arsenal and I found it so easy it was boring. There team is just complete. Walcott is by far my best player, followed by v.persie. Try chess or something.

No need for that. This is the sort of elitist rubbish that I hate about computer games. Games are about enjoying yourself, not who found it easiest to win the league or who can complete Half Life 2 in the quickest time.

No need for that. This is the sort of elitist rubbish that I hate about computer games. Games are about enjoying yourself, not who found it easiest to win the league or who can complete Half Life 2 in the quickest time.

here here,

its amazing how sylane93 quotes my whole post and yet fails to read half of it.

do you not understand the definition of constructive?

and i hardly think that after playing a game for about 10 years, saying the game is "not for me" is justified.

anyway i guess this is to be expected, this is the internet after all

I have to agree when i 1st started out Arsenal were way to good so in my practice seasons to learn how to use the new things in FM09 i decided when i started my real new game i would take a new and high risk approach.

I knew arsenal would be almost unstoppable for atleast 2-3 seasons (turned out 4-5 seasons) so i took Man utd in a different direction i went for youth and had a 3-4 year plan (took 4-5) i paid a little over the price for some but not by much and because i sold some fringe players early on and got through the 1st 2 seasons with a strong but thin side i was able to build up my money i also took on board arsenal's wage structure from RL and enforced overtime a tight wage system (still not how i want it yet but almost there) i have just started my 6th/7th (kinda forgot as i am typing this) and my investment in youth has really paid off in the last season and this one i have just started.

I didn't win anything in seasons 2-5 thats not to say i did awful because i would of been sacked i lost in a few finals due to injuries and bad tactical decisions on my part but i was always in with a shout i have won the CL once but in this 6th/7th season i am ranked number 1 in europe that just shows how consistant i have been.

where aresnal started invincable and i was steady but not great it has revearsed now the last season i won the league and arsenal finished 8th this season i am looking good for the title after 1/4 of the season while arsenal are again looking at dropping down in the league.

I also have been very consistant with my formation and tactics and even through the bad times i never gave up on these tactics i knew if i persisted that it will pay dividends especialy as my youth investments will of developed using this system when they matured it would be 2nd nature to them.

the morale of this is to give you hope that just because Arsenal are strong at the beginning don't lose faith just do you thing and when you finaly get to where i am being succesful just tastes so much sweeter then it would of when i 1st started the team i have is my own and exactly how i want it with atleast 3-4 seasons of maybe not having to buy another player, ofcourse i will still invest in new youth players but atm i have if i stopped buying enough players to last over 10 years and in that time youths from my own acadamy would of come through so i consider myself to have a self maintaining club where as aresnal after their initial greatness seem to be in deep trouble.

Also like to point out Arsenals downfall happened after Arsene Wenger left can't remember if he retired or was sacked though either way i think this was a important event.

I am well aware many have played as Man Utd nad enjoyed instant success and proberly did alot better then me but i am proud of how i have done considering i haven't played a FM since FM06, i also know that my achievments are down to man utds starting advantage but i have more then done enough to be happy with my game

The only thing I can say is to try fiddling about with the player instructions/tactics. Watch them perform in a match then if it still isn't doing anything change them again and keep changing them until you have found one that works well.

Arsenal are walking everything on mine. Far from the opposite problem on yours, they are too good on mine!!! Wenger is spending money he like he is Mourinho.

I'm into my 5th season as Man United manager, I won the league in the 1st 2 seasons (just about), but in the last 2 seasons, Arsenal have just been unstoppable:

08/09: 2nd but only on goal difference (89 points)

09/10: 2nd by 1 point (87 points)

10/11: 1st by 7 points (94 points)

11/12: 1st by 13 points (99 points)

you are so **** if you cant win with arsenal im 6 seasons in with arsenal and have only lost leauge once and won champions leauge 4 times

you are so **** if you cant win with arsenal im 6 seasons in with arsenal and have only lost leauge once and won champions leauge 4 times

There's no need for abuse.

Arsenal is definately loaded in FM2009. Only weak spot is lack of experienced def midfielder but u got denilson and he's a wonderkid so he'll be fine in the future. Here is my exeperience playing Arsenal career game in fm2009:

season1:

won the league quite easily, by at least 10 points over manU, semi finals of champions league, FA cup semi finals as well.

season2:

won league again very easily, by 18 points over manU again, final of champs league which i lost 0-1 to manU.. (still fuming over this loss), won FA cup.

About to starts season 3 so i'm hoping for some champs league glory this term.

To sum it all up, i think the OP's troubles are definately not the team but perhaps tactical approach.

I always play liverpool, and arsenal are the strongest other team, and their players are highly rated in this game. I played as Arsenal once and found it 'too easy' to be arsenal.

ya i agree its almost too easy at the start playing as arsenal...i set up a friendly fixture in the preseason against chelsea and they fielded a noname squad and i beat them 20-0, not that it should have been close because they werent the best 11 for chelsea but still 20-0 is outrageous

Arsenal and Chelsea suck in all three of my career games since 9.2.0.

Manchester Utd clearly now the new overrated team.