[FM10] Arsenal - From Heroes to Zeros?

Okay, so I figured I would start up a thread, I'm not sure yet how much I'll post in this, but let's just say that I hope my Arsenal career doesn't come to a premature end!

I don't really care much if anyone views or even follows this, or if they even like it, I figure it would be more useful for me personally, as I lack the discipline to stick to one game and follow it through, and this might help me to stick at it.

A lot of people will probably think less of me for starting at the top, rather than building up from the bottom as many people seem to do, but that's their opinion, and hopefully they can keep it to themselves!

Okay so...how do I do this?

First off I guess I should follow the rules...I am playing FM10 with the first update installed, and that's it, no alterations at all, and that's how it's gonna stay.

Now on to the proper stuff...

Leagues Loaded: England (CC League 2 and above), Spain (Second Division B2 and above), Italy (Serie C2 and above), Germany (Second Division and above), France (Ligue 2 and above)

Tactics will all be my own, which may be a mistake

Training schedules have never been my strong point, and so I have downloaded and will use Tug's Training 2010, which you can find here

Now, I am certainly not the most talented FM player out there, so this could all go horribly wrong, as I will attempt to play it out as it happens, knowing my luck I could get them relegated within a few seasons...but I will give it a good go, and if anyone does decide to read this, and has any tips to give me, feel free to share, I am always open to suggestions!

I think that's enough for an opening post, and hopefully at least someone will find this thread interesting to follow

3 league games in to the new season finds Arsenal lying in 6th place with 3 wins and 1 defeat.

Birmingham City 1-0 Arsenal

Bolton 0-2 Arsenal

Arsenal 4-0 Burnley

Also the Champions League playoff has been done, with a 5-3 aggregate victory over FC Twente, placing me in a group with Olympique Lyonnais, Standard Liege and VfL Wolfsburg, a potentially difficult group to navigate, but one I hope to do with relative ease.

This season's goal in the Premier League is to make the top 4 and fight off the challenge of Man City and any other pretenders, anything above 4th place is a bonus, and will be considered a great season.

I have no immediate concerns over the squad, as most are young and talented players, however I will be keeping an eye out for any talent that I can get my hands on, especially at Centre Back.

Miguel Veloso was signed for £10m and van der Vaart for £8.5m, and have been my only major signings so far, and probably will be my only major signings this season.

More soon! I will probably post an update at the turn of the new year, although I will also post updates of any interesting results (wins or defeats) that I come across.

The current Arsenal team looks like this:

Good signings so far, try and get your hands on Renan from Brazil, Corinthians I think he plays for. In every game I've had in FM09 he turned out to be the 1st choice GK for Brazil and at only 18/19 at the moment you've got a couple of years before he's ready to step up to GK position full time although he can play against smaller Prem teams alredy!

Good luck and I will be following

Update:

Arsenal faced off against Liverpool at the Emirates, a game which Liverpool were perhaps favourite to win despite being away. With Miguel Veloso out injured, Alex Song plays alongside Fabregas in midfield, otherwise it is the same side Arsenal have played all season.

It all went wrong from the very start for Liverpool as Arsenal got off to a fantastic start. Robin Van Persie scoring a fantastic 30 yarder inside 14 minutes. Barely 5 minutes later and Cesc Fabregas makes it 2-0 to Arsenal, and it is all too easy for the Gunners.

With Liverpool being restricted to the odd long-range shot, they don't look capable of getting back into this game, and on 53 minutes a foul inside the box gives Robin Van Persie his second goal from the penalty spot, and makes it 3-0 to Arsenal, and no way back for Liverpool now.

A single consolation goal from Fernando Torres being the only positive Liverpool can take after a domination by Arsenal. A fantastic win, handing Liverpool their first defeat of the season.

Final Score: Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool

Man of the Match: Robin Van Persie @ 8.7

A couple of quirks during the International break as saw Belgium defeat Spain 2-1 at the Mestalla in Valencia, and Slovenia travelled to Wembley to take on England, and will be delighted to have won the game 3-1, a scoreline which perhaps was unfair on England, but they can have no complaints at their waste of chances.

Next game for Arsenal is against Manchester City, another tough tie, especially having to travel to Manchester.

Manchester City vs Arsenal

Arsenal travel to the team planning on gatecrashing the big 4 this season, although an indifferent start to the season has seen City pick up only 5 points in 4 games, while Arsenal have picked up 9 points, and find themselves near the top of the table.

This was always likely to be an interesting match, and it didn't disappoint.

Manchester City took the lead inside 3 minutes, as Carlos Tevez scored a screaming 30 yarder, and then after 30 minutes, poor defending from the Arsenal back line allowed Carlos Tevez to sneak in and head in a cross from 6 yards, leaving Manuel Almunia with no chance.

That was where the good news ended for Man City, as barely 2 minutes later, Arsenal are awarded a penalty, Robin Van Persie kicks the ball straight at the keeper, who can only parry it, noone reacts quickly enough, and Robin Van Persie is first to the ball, allowing him to poke it into the corner.

Half Time: Man City 2-1 Arsenal

A much more hungry Arsenal emerge in the second half, and within the very first minute, Robin Van Persie cuts inside from the right wing and unleashes a thunderbolt into the left corner, Stuart Taylor can only watch as the ball nestles in his net. 2-2!

The game is finely poised, and Man City are having more shots, although most are from range, when suddenly, Carlos Vela - on as a sub - plays a through ball for Nicklas Bendtner, running straight at the keeper, he twists and turns his defender, before shooting, only to see Taylor keep it out, but noone can stop Robin Van Persie today, who sprints in from the wing and powers the loose ball into the back of the net. Arsenal have turned this match around! From 2-0 down Arsenal suddenly lead 3-2! Man City look shellshocked, and Arsenal have stolen the victory.

Okay! We are now into January 2010 with Arsenal and fortunes at the Emirates have been mixed this season.

The good news is that we are currently top of the Premier League after 21 games, and 9 points clear of Liverpool! We just played them for the second time, and recorded our second 3-1 win of the season.

Eduardo was injured for the best part of the season so far, and returned in mid-December, so far he has been fantastic since his return, and scored a hat-trick against Wolves on his first start after injury. Unfortunately we did play Chelsea a week or so before that, which he hadn't recovered in time for, and with Robin van Persie injured too, we ended up getting thumped 4-1. One of only 2 defeats we have suffered this season. We also managed a 2-2 draw against Manchester United.

Rafael van der Vaart has been fantastic for me this season, a creative and goalscoring force in AM, currently my top scorer in the league with 10 goals, and also top assists with 9.

Unfortunately Europe was not so great. As I said above I was drawn along with Lyon, Wolfsburg and Standard. I managed to pick up 3 wins, 1 draw, and 2 defeats, which unfortunately put me in 3rd place in my group, which Wolfsburg won, I needed Wolfsburg to at least draw with Lyon in the final game, but Lyon won it 2-0 and I got dumped into the Europa League.

We were also dumped out in the Fourth Round of the League Cup by Man City 3-1, we didn't perform anywhere near good enough, and I can have no complaints at the scoreline.

Regardless, the Arsenal train will carry on, we still have the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League to play for! So trophies this season is still a very good possibility, and with a 9 point gap in the league, it is already looking close, even with 17 games left to go!

FA Cup against Crystal Palace is up next (interestingly they became a feeder club to Arsenal a couple months before).

League Table:

Unlucky in the Champs League but Europa League really should be won now as you must be the best side left in it, great season so far in the Prem though, hopefully you can take the title back to Emirates again and end the trophy-less seasons

You would hope so am aiming for Europa League domination, and I *should* really achieve it.

I hit a rough patch in the league, losing consecutive games against Bolton 2-1 and Burnley (yes, Burnley) 4-2 (yes...4-2!), followed up by a 1-1 draw with Man City which reduced my lead to only 1 point. However that is back up to 4 points now, Man City doing me a favour with a 3-2 win against Liverpool.

The Europa League still contains Ajax, Fiorentina, Werder Bremen, Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Marseille, Villareal and Hamburg who could provide some opposition, but I play Anderlecht in the next round, so fingers crossed.

Now into the FA Cup 5th round, gone to a replay against Bristol City after a 1-1 draw. Obviously backing myself to go through, although I will get Chelsea in the next round.

Had some discipline problems, with Miguel Veloso being sent off twice in recent games within about 5 minutes of the start of the match, but we managed to win those games 4-0 and 2-1 which I am very proud of. Also had Alex Song sent off against Bristol City, leaving me with no good DM around for the game against Stoke, but I should win comfortably without one.

Anyway...about to face off against Anderlecht. This performance could make or break my season!

Good luck in Europa League, some very good teams left in it so could be an interesting battle but I'd still expect a minimum of semi's being the strongest team in the comp but as they say, anything can happen in football

Cruised through 7-3 on aggregate against Anderlecht, and have drawn Villareal in the next round, pretty confident of winning against them too. You're right, Semi's are the minimum I should be aiming for, but with the financial situation at Arsenal, I think I have to be aiming to win it.

First Leg:

Second Leg:

Bring on the end of the season! 10 games to go in the Premier League!

Lookin gd 4 a league title, will Cesc's 1st since joinin Arsenal lol Mind u, it'll b his 1st piece of silverware since joinin the Gooners

Alright! Season 1 has just come to an end. Only the World Cup left to play. But every domestic and continental competition has ended.

This season ended quite well for Arsenal, Premier League and Europa League victory for the Gunners. Bringing home the first trophies for a while.

Premier League was a lot closer than I would have liked, going down to the final game. However we managed to overcome West Ham 2-0 to secure the title by 1 point over Liverpool. Rafael van der Vaart finished my top league scorer with 15 goals, after having a fantastic debut season, hopefully he can repeat this next year, he is vital to my team.

Europa League wasn't so close, and we reached the final against Galatasaray. I had a selection problem to sort out before the game. Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner were playing poorly, and hadn't scored any goals for a few games, and Robin van Persie was injured. So I decided to throw in Theo Walcott up front, and he didn't disappoint. 3-1 was the final score, with Theo scoring a hattrick.

Premier League: 1st

FA Cup: Sixth Round (defeat vs Chelsea)

League Cup: Fourth Round (defeat vs Man City)

Champions League: Group Stage (3rd)

Europa League: Winners

League Cup Winners: Manchester City

FA Cup Winners: Manchester United

Champions League Winners: Olympique Lyonnais

Arsenal Player Stats:

Top Scorer: Robin van Persie - 21

Top League Scorer: Rafael van der Vaart - 15

Most Assists: Andrey Arshavin - 23

Most League Assists: Andrey Arshavin - 15

Most MoM: Robin van Persie - 7

Most Yellow Cards: Miguel Veloso - 16

Most Red Cards: Miguel Veloso - 2

Premier League Stats:

Top Scorer: Fernando Torres - 39 (in 36 games)

Most Assists: Steven Gerrard - 17

English Footballer of the Year: Fernando Torres

Players' Player of the Year: Steven Gerrard

Players' Young Player of the Year: Theo Walcott

Arsenal Players in Team of the Year: Manuel Almunia, Andrey Arshavin (First XI) Rafael van der Vaart (sub)

Premier League was mixed for some teams, Aston Villa were relegated, while Man Utd miss out on Champions League football next season after finishing 5th, perhaps the two most intriguing.

Final League Table:

First pre-season friendly against Boreham Wood is out of the way, and I feel I may have done some overkill...should have just played reserves/youths I think...even so most of the players on after 60 mins were backup...

Premier League odds for the new season have just been released. The most interesting news is that Man City have been touted as favourites at 7-4. Despite finishing 3rd last season. Joint second favourites are Arsenal and Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd are joint fourth, with Tottenham trailing behind.

Odds:

Man City - 7/4

Arsenal - 3/1

Liverpool - 3/1

Chelsea - 5/1

Man Utd - 5/1

Tottenham - 33/1

Man City certainly must be watched this season, with all their money to spend, they are a force to be reckoned with. Liverpool were very strong last year, and certainly must not be underestimated, while Chelsea could be good odds at 5/1. I found them difficult to beat last year, losing 4-1, 3-2 and a 1-1 draw in 3 games against them. Man Utd could come back strong and could also be a contender, and I would be surprised if they finished outside the top 4 again. Tottenham however just look like the best of the rest.

Devastating news as the new season just about gets into swing. Cesc Fabregas picks up an injury in a Friendly match. Unfortunately the injury was a broken foot. Meaning he will miss the first 3-4 months of the season. This means he should be back in time for christmas. So hopefully a nice early christmas present. But a massive blow for the club.

More devastating news in Miguel Veloso. He also picked up an injury in a Friendly match. Strained knee ligaments keeping him sidelined for the first month or so of the season.

So with my central midfield wiped out, it looks like Alex Song and Denilson will get their chance to shine. Other players that could figure in there could be the likes of Fran Merida, Jack Wilshere, Nacer Barazite, Jay Emanuel Thomas, Aaron Ramsey, Henri Lansbury or Samir Nasri. A lot of depth in CM/AM for Arsenal, some quality young players there. but Fabregas has some big shoes to fill.

Only 1 summer signing of note: Igor Akinfeev. He wasn't cheap, but he is a fantastic keeper, scouts highly recommended him. Renan didn't appear to have the potential that Akinfeev does. So I decided on the Russian, and he hasn't let me down yet.

Also signed Corry Evans who had been released from Man Utd. The coaches don't reckon he is up to much, but he is only 20, and he has some decent enough stats, I don't think he will be starting any time soon, but could do a lot worse for young backup at DM. Hopefully he can still improve some. Also signed a 14 year old right back from Germany. Has some good stats already, and hopefully with my coaches he can become the next Sagna.

Speaking of coaches, I have been frustrated this season by the departure of a number of my coaches to other clubs. I lost at least 3-4 already. Fortunately I already had a good number to cover the losses and with 1 or 2 new coaches, I seem to be coping okay.

The Friendly matches went okay. Just the one defeat against Valladolid 2-0. Which, while frustrating, doesn't really matter.

One Cup already in the Arsenal cabinet this season is the Community Shield. Facing off against Man Utd in front of 90,000. Rooney put them 1-0 up from long range, before van Persie responded barely a minute later. Rooney put them back ahead 5 minutes later with a second long range strike of the match. Then with 20 minutes left, a ball was played over the Man Utd defence, which sub Samir Nasri ran on to, before rounding the keeper and slotting it in the net. 2-2 and a fantastic equaliser. It went all the way to penalties, where Nemanja Vidic and Alex Song both missed the 6th penalties for either team, before Jonny Evans saw Igor Akinfeev save his effort then Bacary Sagna cooly slotted in his to win the match 8-7 after 9 penalties!

First League game is against Chelsea...typical...I swear the people who decide these fixtures are intentionally biased against me...oh well...hopefully we can make a fist of it and get something out of the game...

First XI this season (ignoring injuries) will be:

I am considering a change of formation. But I really need something that fits my players, and this really seems to be the best formation I can come up with. So much attacking midfield talent, which is kinda frustrating. I am considering shoving van Persie up front. But he scored so many goals from the wing last season, and seemed to play better out there than as a striker. But with the likes of Carlos Vela, Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri pushing for starting spots right now, if Nicklas Bendtner doesn't perform, we may be seeing some changes very quickly. Also with Arshavin starting to reach 30, he could be on the way out, but after his fantastic season last season, it is hard to push him out just yet. Perhaps one more season. Perhaps a January transfer out if the likes of Nasri step up. van der Vaart also had a fantastic first season, and at 27 should be right in his prime. I don't want to keep the younger players down though, so perhaps 2 more seasons from him. Unless I get a massive offer from another club.

Anyway...this post ended up a lot longer than I originally intended...and if anyone actually managed to get to the end of it then well done...think I will go back and edit some posts ro remove some images now...

Congrats on a successfull season, hopefully u can push on and get Champs League this season

Just had the new groups for Season 2 of the Champions League drawn. This season has seen a far more kind draw than last season. Olympique Lyonnais are now top seeds after winning the competition last year having been 2nd seeds in my group.

So Group E of the Champions League will contain: Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic and Palermo. So still some very tough games in there. But I fancy my chances more than I did against Lyon and Wolfsburg last year!

Speaking of Lyon, I am just about to face them for the European Super Cup. Fingers crossed.

Much kinder draw this time round but as you said, still a tough draw, hopefully semi's of the Champs League minimum this season lol

Okay, I'm putting this thread on hiatus for a little while. I read multiple threads were okay. So look out for my new one if you want to follow it. No posts will be made here by me for a while.