FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[griffiths.ross]

42 million for saying you will be a contender, 50 for winner. Wages I can't remember

Thanks mate, im sold...i reckon Tevez will be my 1st signing

[llama3]

Anyone ever had Sidney Sam at Arsenal ? i was going to sign Marco Reus when i stumbled across Sam and took a punt on him

as he was 9 million cheaper..typical of Arsenal manager to go with the cheaper option.

haha good lad! thats the spirit!

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - January 2012

Premier League

Fulham 3-0 Arsenal

A shocking under-par performance, we deserved nothing, got nothing.

Swansea 1-0 Arsenal

Went behind in the first minute to Joe Allen's drilled shot from distance, and we couldn't find a way through or get hold of the ball all game, disappointing 2 league defeats in a row.

Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United - Diaby, Ramsey

We bounced back from 2 consecutive league defeats to dominate the game against Man Utd, shut out their attack and finally took the lead with Diaby's powerful effort after 72 minutes. Ramsey finished off a great team counter attack with 7 minutes left. Great result.

Bolton 1-2 Arsenal - Ricketts og, Arteta

We survived an early onslaught, but made a few tactical changes, and came back into the game, went 2-0 up, with Arteta superb throughout, before Bolton got a late goal back.

FA Cup 3rd Round

Arsenal 5-1 Cardiff - Chamakh (3), Benayoun (2)

Excellent performance, Chamakh scored 3 close range finishes and Benayoun contributed well. We looked every bit the top division side against Cardiff.

FA Cup 4th Round

Burnley 1-4 Arsenal - Chamakh (2), Chamberlain, Koscielny

Went 1-0 down but put in another convincing performance to emerge as winners.

FA Cup 5th Round

Arsenal v Liverpool

[Suggy33]

League and FA Cup double secured in season 2.

Handanovic (£0), Kagawa (£0), Muniain (£19m) & Corchia (£13.25m) to come in.

Sagna, Arteta, Walcott, Djourou, and Lansbury on my mental list of outs. The first 3 there have been plagued with injuries and just aren't good enough for the team.

38 games, 118 games.

[The Chosen One]

My Arsenal save is now in 2017, and Aaron Ramsey's attributes are phenomenal. For some reason, however, I can't seem to get the most out of him -- his average rating hovers around low-7's, he's almost never the man of the match, doesn't score, and gets very few assists. I use him in a 4-3-3 with a flat 3 in midfield, two wingers and a striker. Of my 3 MC's, he is set as an advanced playmaker (alternating between support and attack). My team has been playing extremely well for several seasons now, and my other mids always seem to do great things at Ramsey's position (Wilshere, Thiago, Alan Dzagoev, etc.). What's up with this guy? His attributes look like he should be the next Iniesta or Xavi, but he sure doesn't act like it on the pitch.

Recently I'm trying to retrain him as an AMC. I've slightly altered my formation to use an AMC instead of the MC AP, so while he trains up I use him at one of the two MC slots and set him to swap position with the AMC. My thinking here is that maybe if he's farther forward he'll be more involved in the attack...

What have people done to get him involved?

I have the same issues with Ramsey albeit only in fourth season. He scores the odd goal and assists very little. He plays in CM as DPL with support. I have edited his settings to have him run from deep often just to see if that improves his chances. He never gets MOTM but performs around 7.

[ziotree]

update

after taking the arsenal job in 2015 I brought in leandro damiao, gaitan, ross barkley and benzema on loan in jan

managed finish 3rd but a massive 12 points behind utd at the end of the season so a lot of ground to make up next season

got a massive 140 million to spend without adjusting any wages at the start of this season prob due to having a bank balance of 289million and a new chairman taking over.

whats bad tho is its like the other clubs know i have a huge transfer kitty so the prices for players treble. eg i was quoted 140million for gotze who i really wanted.... bid 90 million straight cash for him and still couldnt even offer a contract so gave up on him. brought a 20 year old regen defender who is amazing but had to pay 50 million which is just ridiculous for 20 years old and wasnt even at a great club (monaco) also its like the players know too as all of them ask for 150+ a week from me when negotiating a contract

splashed out big to get neymar, pastore and the regen defender plus some other regen young players to fill out the squad

spent a total of 158million this pre season so just waiting for the season to start now.

decided to sell alex song for 20 million to city, gervinho for 20 million to city, perotti for 10 million to city, scott dann to liverpool for 4mill and fabianski to barca for 2mill.

those were the main players out and with the others i sold a total of 58 million

despite spending 158mill the bank balance is still healthy at 176 million

hopefully can close the gap and pick up a trophy

also got in a hong kong second nationality english goalkeeper through the acadamy who is 15 and rated as one of the best of his generation... hopefully he turns out good.

[lewis999]

How does everyone play RvP? Obviously if he has stayed fit, has anyone managed to get him scoring 30 goals a season at all? Veering towards advanced forward but somethings telling me Trequartista.

[dagoonerfan]

How does everyone play RvP? Obviously if he has stayed fit, has anyone managed to get him scoring 30 goals a season at all? Veering towards advanced forward but somethings telling me Trequartista.

I would also say deep lying forward

[lewis999]

Which version is it?

In FM08, FM09 and FM10 Arsenal played in a white away kit or as their 3rd kit.

No it's FM12 that's why i'm curious and confused.

[lucatonix]

I would also say deep lying forward

I play him as a complete forward support and he does really well there; scoring nearly a goal a game and assisting about 1 in 3.

[llama3]

How does everyone play RvP? Obviously if he has stayed fit, has anyone managed to get him scoring 30 goals a season at all? Veering towards advanced forward but somethings telling me Trequartista.

Trequartista attack for me, he scored 12 goals in his opening 14 games for me in the role

[lomekian]

RVP for me as complete forward....on my most recent game 45 goals in 42 games in season 1 + 17 assists (massively helped by the good form of the wingers + stopping him shooting with power ASAP!). Its funny how people have such different experiences with players. I struggle to get song or arteta playing as well as they should, and sagna is without a goal or an assist, but Gervinho has a beastly 17+15 in 28 starts on my most recent game, and park got 11 goals as 3rd choice striker/AMC/AML...go figure

[Marsupian]

RVP for me as complete forward....on my most recent game 45 goals in 42 games in season 1 + 17 assists (massively helped by the good form of the wingers + stopping him shooting with power ASAP!). Its funny how people have such different experiences with players. I struggle to get song or arteta playing as well as they should, and sagna is without a goal or an assist, but Gervinho has a beastly 17+15 in 28 starts on my most recent game, and park got 11 goals as 3rd choice striker/AMC/AML...go figure

I noticed that as well, walcott was almost invisible for me the first season while Benayoun, Gervinho and Archavin were great. Even Park played better than walcott for me. Arteta and Song were decent for me but nothing too special (partly because of the roles they play). Sagna was defensively solid but didn't do much else for me apart from the odd assist (I think 2 or 3) and he might have picked up a goal somewhere.

I play Van Persie as complete forward (attack) with wide play set to normal. He has been great for me but I rotate every game so he hasn't picked up anywhere near 30 goals (I think first season was 17 goals and 14 assists with about half of the games played). Especially in the first half of the season he was scoring regularly with a slump later on in the season. Still managed to win the Prem and get to the finals in the Champions Cup.

The thing is that while playing him like this worked for me it was mostly because of how I employed the players around him. To his right he had an inside forward on attack who was constantly threatening with runs past the D-line. Behind him in the AMC position he has an attacking midfielder who moved into the channels and made runs from deep past him while he stayed central and on the left he had an advanced playmaker cutting inside to get in an ideal position to give him a through ball. I also had one of the MC's as box to box midfielder who would make runs forward or step up into the space of the AMC when the AMC made a run forward.

The reason I played Van Persie with his wide play on normal was because he had an inside forward on the right, an AMC making runs forward into the channels and an advanced playmaker on the left who would also make a run from time to time. Van Persie with his PPM "drops deep" would often get into an ideal position to play in one of these players and drag defenders out of position while also making runs himself if the AMC, advanced playmaker or BtB midfielder had the ball.

If I played a different tactic with the AMC playing as a trequartista or advanced playmaker I would have probably played Van Persie as poacher or advanced forward with wide play set to move into channels and I'm sure he would be great in that system as well.

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - February 2012

Premier League

Arsenal 4-0 Blackburn - van Persie (3), Samba og

Outstanding hattrick from van Persie, and overall superb performance. Enough said.

Sunderland 1-1 Arsenal - Arteta

Started well, but injuries had taken their toll and eventually we were pegged back at 1-1.

Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham - Ramsey, Djourou

Took a very early lead but was pegged back just as quickly, leaving the scores at 1-1 after 4 minutes. Parker was dismissed after 11 minutes and it took until the 71st minute to finally get the winner from Djourou after immense pressure all game.

UEFA Champions League Knockout Round 1st Leg

Marseille 0-1 Arsenal - Walcott

Survived an early onslaught to score a breakaway goal with 20 minutes left. A good start to the tie.

FA Cup 5th Round

Arsenal 1-2 Liverpool - Walcott

Took the lead with Walcott, but was unable to convert anymore chances. We suffered from 2 moments of poor defending to go out of the FA Cup at the Emirates.

[Carmi88]

Won the carlin cup and League In 2021/22 season, just need to play the fa cup final

[managerdude_66]

Halfway into the 1st season.

Played over 25 games.

Won all of them.

(NO cheating).

Anyway has anyone had a monthly expenditure of 20+ million?

It is eating away into by balance.

Please help.

[llama3]

good cup runs etc and tv money wil help at the end of the season, but i suggest selling players and not having such high earners

[Marsupian]

Halfway into the 1st season.

Played over 25 games.

Won all of them.

(NO cheating).

Anyway has anyone had a monthly expenditure of 20+ million?

It is eating away into by balance.

Please help.

20 Million a month? Do you have all your players on 100K p/week wages or something? The only solution is to sell players and make sure you win some good prize money. Always be mindful of your clubs finances and don't always try to get the most out of your wage and transfer budget. Just because you are allowed to spend a lot by the board doesn't mean it won't make the club go in the red figures. You can take a little gamble from time to time and spend a little more than the club can take because it will allow you to grab prize money to make up for it but if you don't manage to grab the money it will hurt the club in the long run.

Still 20 million a month is hard to make up with just prize money. I would try and offload players and next time try to buy less players and players who can come on cheaper wages (usually younger players who haven't build up a world class reputation yet). Also try not to use the "I'll pay it in 24 months so it won't hurt my budget" trick too much as in the end it WILL hurt your budget. Only use it if you really need the player and you are sure you can get the money back if you sign him.

[Dejay]

Hi guys, I haven't done an update yet on this, done a game with my beloved Arsenal.

I'm 2 seasons in so here's a re-cap of how it's gone.

First season we managed to win the league with a game in hand, out of CL in semi's to Chelsea, won League Cup and out of FA cup in semi's. I didn't sign many players the 4 first team signings being Wilfried (as back up - more on him later) Xherdan Shaqiri (9.75M) Vrsaljko and Haris Medjunian (for 500k! bragain - mainly to provide cover to AMC while Wilshire was out), I also bought in some youth, total spending ending up at £20.5M.

I let a handful of players go, most notable being Diaby and Vito Mannone, bringing in 7M in total. Some youth went on loan too.

I have been playing a 4-2-3-1 with inside forwards with RVP or Walcott up front. Walcott ended up playing mostly up front scoring 21 league goals. Arteta and Shaqiri also chipped in a lot with goals and assists.

I went in to the second season with only one major signing, with was Tevez for 17M. I also bought in Hargreaves on a free, with low wages to tutor and provide a little cover in midfield. He did well on the few occasions he was used. Tevez did well, playing most of his games from the wing in the latter half of the season thanks to Wilfried. The man from the Ivory Coast really surprised me, coming in to the first team when RVP was ruled out long term, scoring 18 in 23 in the league including a few hattricks.

I let a lot of players go during the summer window, including Bartley (3M) Squillaci (1M) Chamakh (6M) Bendy (6M) and a lot of reserves youth, for 22M in total.

This season started of poorly, losing my first 2 league games, and being hammered 8-1 by Shakhtar in the CL group. We managed to turn it round though and go on a good run in the league, ending the season on the 27 game unbeaten run (Man United went 50 unbeaten until 4 games from the end when they collapsed). We were really lucky with the league with results in the last 3 games really going for us, City beat United, then Spurs beat City, then they both drew on the last day while we won 5-1

So on the last day, we won the league after starting the day in third place happy days! We did quite poorly in the domestic cups, going out of LC in semi's, and FA cup at 5th round to Chelsea (Hulk tore us a new one).

Our CL story was magical to be honest, after our drubbing to the Ukrainians and then losing to Leverkusen it looked like we wouldn't make it out of our group, but results went in our favour, and we battled to win the group in the end. Next up were marseille and Lyon respectively, both losing 7-0 on aggregate, up next stepped Real Madrid in the Semi's.

First leg and the Bernebau was a battling, but losing performance, but we played well, Gibbs had Ronaldo in his pocket, and we looked good in possesion, but a thunderbolt from Higuain gave Madrid a 1-0 lead going into the second leg.

Enter the Emirates, enter Wilfried. We totally battered Madrid, they couldn't get the ball forward at all, we beat them all over the park and ran out 4-0 winners, in a display of pure domination. Fans were jubilant, I was proud and we were through.

Up next, the old rivalry, Arsenal v Barcelona at Wembley.

RVP was just coming back from injury at 70% so I chucked him on the bench, Wilfried started once more. We stepped on to the pitch and pressed from the start, leaving no space for Barcelona's pretty passing and breaking at speed whenever we had the chance. We took the lead through Wilfried on 5 minutes, and continued to shut out Barcelona and attack at will. We we much the better side, but Barcelona equalised on 70 minutes and we couldn't break through again in normal time.

It went to extra time and I threw on RVP for the tiring Tevez, and swapped Rambo for Arteta. We continued to press but nothing would go in, it was a bit like the last 15 mins bombardment of Wolves last week.

So it went to penalties, Messi up first but CHESNEY SAVES, and saves 3 more as we go on to win the Champions League for the first time ever!

So now we look to next season, I am looking for a new LB and Santos isn't playing enough to justify his wages, neither is park. I'll update soon!

[managerdude_66]

Only 1 player is on 100k wages a week, 3 on 70-90k per week.

I dont have any players on monthly installment deals.

5 million is my monthly wage budget.

The only thing is I have a custom World Club comp but I am not sure this will affect it.

I get huge prize moneys from it and am just about able to make up for the loss.

[Marsupian]

Only 1 player is on 100k wages a week, 3 on 70-90k per week.

I dont have any players on monthly installment deals.

5 million is my monthly wage budget.

The only thing is I have a custom World Club comp but I am not sure this will affect it.

I get huge prize moneys from it and am just about able to make up for the loss.

Maybe your squad is just too big with too many players on average wages eating into your finances for no reason.

[Dejay]

How did you guys go about shifting Mertesacker? Nobody seems interested in him.

[llama3]

I like Mertesacker, very different kind of option to Koscielny and Vermaelen

[llama3]

Only 1 player is on 100k wages a week, 3 on 70-90k per week.

I dont have any players on monthly installment deals.

5 million is my monthly wage budget.

The only thing is I have a custom World Club comp but I am not sure this will affect it.

I get huge prize moneys from it and am just about able to make up for the loss.

Have a look at your finances page, and expenditure to see where all the money is going

[Marsupian]

How did you guys go about shifting Mertesacker? Nobody seems interested in him.

I didn't , gave him a few games but mostly kept him on the bench as I was playing with a decently high line and I like ball playing defenders (mertesacker was maybe rated a bit harshly here). I imagine he would do an absolutely great job if you play with a deep line. Maybe I'll get some time to build an attacking tactic with deep defensive line in the future and test it with Arsenal in which case he would probably be one of the first on the team sheet for a big match.

I managed to get him away on loan (don't remember if it was jan window or end of season) and he got bought on the agreed price. I don't remember how much it was but it was decent money I think. Still not near the 10mil he was bought for sadly.

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - February 2012

Premier League

Liverpool 3-1 Arsenal - Walcott

A poor performance, we were not clinical enough, and did not win the midfield battle. Very disappointing.

Arsenal 5-0 Newcastle - Walcott, van Persie (2), Vermaelen, Chamberlain

Finally a good performance, and we ripped Newcastle apart, creating chances at will.

Everton 3-4 Arsenal - Gervinho (2), van Persie, Mertesacker

Gervinho was outstanding in this thriller. We took the lead after 35 minutes when Gervinho was fed in by van Persie. We conceded an equaliser 2 minutes later with Jenkinson's error punished by Louis Saha. The game was at stalemate until Gervinho repeated his earlier goal to put us 2-1 ahead after 71 minutes, but Szczesny turned in a drilled cross into his own net with 15 minutes to go. When Cahill put Everton 3-2 up with 7 minutes left, it looked rather difficult to get anything out of the game, but van Persie levelled it at 3-3 a minute later with a superb goal, and the game was finally won when Mertesacker headed in the winner in the 3rd minute of stoppage time. A classic.

Arsenal 3-0 Aston Villa - Vermaelen, Gervinho, Diaby

A great performance, with Vermaelen's header getting us off to a good start. Gervinho fired in from close range in the 16th minute and we were in complete control. Diaby rounded off a great passing move with a drilled effort from outside the area into the bottom corner with 4 minutes left. Another good performance.

UEFA Champions League Knockout Round 1st Leg

Arsenal 0-2 Marseille

A really poor performance, out-competed and out-played all game. To top it all van Persie missed a first half penalty with the tie at 0-1. We went out 2-1 on aggregate.

[Ron_Burgundy]

Just coming to the end of my first season at the Emirates.

Unfortunately, I just lost 3-2 on aggregate to Man City in the CL Semi-Finals and was already out of the FA Cup and League Cup but the title is going down to the wire.

Amazingly, United just lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea and coupled with my tense win at Blackburn, the table looks like this:

Which, usually I might take to mean the title is mine to lose and I suppose it is...but how about these for end of season fixtures??

I am heading back in later on... most tense title race ever.

Praying for a crappy Utd result as my away form isn't the best and would be underdogs to get anything out of Old Trafford... but the spirit of Michael Thomas lives on...

[Dejay]

I didn't , gave him a few games but mostly kept him on the bench as I was playing with a decently high line and I like ball playing defenders (mertesacker was maybe rated a bit harshly here). I imagine he would do an absolutely great job if you play with a deep line. Maybe I'll get some time to build an attacking tactic with deep defensive line in the future and test it with Arsenal in which case he would probably be one of the first on the team sheet for a big match.

I managed to get him away on loan (don't remember if it was jan window or end of season) and he got bought on the agreed price. I don't remember how much it was but it was decent money I think. Still not near the 10mil he was bought for sadly.

To be honest he never did badly for me, he just didn't have the pace to cope with my high line, and it showed. I couldn't justify him being a rotation player on £80K P/W. I managed to sell him for £9M to Bayern in the end and replaced him with Boyata. We've only conceded 2 goals in 6 thus far, with Boyata putting in consistant 8's and on only £17.5k P/W and room to improve.

[css_matt]

Coming to the end of my first season. 6 teams all going for it for the majority, but after liverpool and united pulled away it is now me who has the chance to catch them up with games in hand.

A little dilemma though. I have to many midfielders. My current first team & future transfers looks like this.

Eden Hazard

Jack Wilshere

Alex Chamberlain

Gervinho

Afellay

Di Maria

Walcott

Rosicky

Ramsey

Arteta

Benayoun

Coquelin

Frimpong

Song

I play 4-2-3-1 and i emphasize on youth &/or bargains. What would you do?

Im thinking of getting that number down to 10? 14 midfielders at the moment.

[Carmi88]

Sell rosicky and benayoun(let him return to chelsea?) and loan out 2 of the youngsters

[css_matt]

Added De Jong to that list for 10m

Benayoun gone

Rosicky sold

Arteta on his way

Put coquelin up for sale but he cried and I felt bad..

[lucatonix]

Unless you are using an edited database, Frimpong doesn't have the potential to be good enough for the first team but Coquelin can so Frimpong should be sold instead imo. There's not really much point getting Afellay with the quality of the other wingers and attacking midfielders in the team.

[Kieran87]

Hi all I finally took the plunge and started an FM2012 game in the Prem. I usually play league 1 and progress but wanted to have the cash so to speak.

I started off as we all do and picked up a couple of bargains however from reading the last 12 pages I have done it a completely different way to you all!

signings:

I struggled immensely and can't seem to get a good run going. The team is full of top quality and I have shed loads of possesions and shots just get no where.

I think I am doing something wrong but not sure what. I keep getting the "lose this game and he will loose his job" media statements.

[Kieran87]

Well I decide to play the same team that beat Videoton, this being the 1st time i play the same squad and don't rotate and I win.

Is that all you do? Just play the same team week in week out? Or was there something I missed?

[Dejay]

Hi all I finally took the plunge and started an FM2012 game in the Prem. I usually play league 1 and progress but wanted to have the cash so to speak.

I started off as we all do and picked up a couple of bargains however from reading the last 12 pages I have done it a completely different way to you all!

signings:

I struggled immensely and can't seem to get a good run going. The team is full of top quality and I have shed loads of possesions and shots just get no where.

I think I am doing something wrong but not sure what. I keep getting the "lose this game and he will loose his job" media statements.

Try pushing Arteta (and later Wilshire) into an AMC role. I'd suggest using him as a playmaker and seeing how that goes. I also notice you are using a high line, is Mertesacker being caught out often? Maybe you should drop it a bit deeper if you are using him.

[Kieran87]

Thanks. so play 2 middle and Arteta in line with the wingers?

I just seem to have so much possession and shots but hardly any goals

[lucatonix]

Try being less attacking to try to create better goal scoring opportunities rather than shooting at an early opportunity which looks like what is happening at the moment. Saying that, your tactic looks quite good but a lack of player confidence and finishing quality in the team (only van Persie in your 1st eleven is really good at finishing. Gervinho, Chamakh and Arshavin were the other good finishers at Arsenal but with Arshavin sold, I would definitely play Gervinho and work hard at improving Walcotts finishing and composure.)

[Kieran87]

thanks luca... i may well go with standard rather than attacking for a bit. My biggest problem is that players take shots from 25 yards all the time. they just snap @ them. Should i tell people to work ball into box?

[Dejay]

thanks luca... i may well go with standard rather than attacking for a bit. My biggest problem is that players take shots from 25 yards all the time. they just snap @ them. Should i tell people to work ball into box?

Try going in to player instructions and set long shots to rarely unless they are good at them. In my side I only have my AMC with long shots on often, and my IF's with them as sometimes, I find the ball gets moved into the box more often that way.

[Kieran87]

brilliant. It is soo anoying seeing Walcott try a 30 yarder when he doesnt seem to score from 10 yards for me let alone there ^^

[thegame24]

anyone got henrys game stats

[llama3]

Unless you are using an edited database, Frimpong doesn't have the potential to be good enough for the first team but Coquelin can so Frimpong should be sold instead imo. There's not really much point getting Afellay with the quality of the other wingers and attacking midfielders in the team.

completely disagree, got plenty of quality and potential. you aren't 1 of those "if his PA isn't 180+ he is no good" people are you? his potential is plenty enough to make him very consistent and skilful

[KingLara]

November/December update

Premier League – MANCHESTER CITY 1-1 ARSENAL – Gibbs o.g 35 – Song 83

I would obviously have preferred a win but I’ll take a point. Gibbs who had an awful game scored an own goal and after that we bombarded city where Joe Hart was in great form. Eventually Song scored the goal that had been coming and Schurrle had a glorious chance to win it after, blazing over when he could have easily squared to Chamackh. The biggest blow was Walcott limping off in the first half. He suffered a hip injury and would be out for 3 months. Time for Van Persie to step up me thinks!

Champions League – ARSENAL 3-1 APOEL – Park 23 30 Van Persie 28 – Aloneftis 57

Van Persie finally scored! We were brilliant in the first half and very lacklustre in the second. Nice to see Park get a brace. Could have had more too.

Premier League – ARSENAL 3-0 EVERTON – Van Persie 44 66 Granero 56

Due to the disgusting premier league fixtures giving us two games in three days, I was forced to play a much weakened team against Everton on the Saturday as we faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the Monday. As for the game itself was easier than I expected. The real test would be at Chelsea.

Premier League – CHELSEA 2-2 ARSENAL – Bennayoun 6 Lampard 78pen – Van Persie 33 Vela 62

A great result given the circumstances over the game. I thought we might sneak the game when Vela put us infront but unfortunately Chelsea managed to grab the equaliser they probably didn’t deserve. The only way they looked like scoring was through a penalty which surprise surprise they got. A gap is starting to open at the top now. Spurs and Man City just keep on winning.

Premier League – ARSENAL 3-0 STOKE CITY – Song 3 Van Persie 58 Park 66

A good win against Stoke ,marred by an injury to Schurrle. A superb display by Song earned him the opening goal and the man of the match award. Van Persie and Park also added to the lead. I went to sub schurrle but before he came off he got injured. He would be out for a month.

Champions League – LYON 2-0 ARSENAL – Lopez 14 73 Masson m/p27

The only really disappointment was that I played quite a strong team. Adler, Van Persie, Arteta ect…all played and yet we still lost. Much like the story of the month Lyon scored twice with two of only 4 attempts. It didn’t really matter though as a win at home to Ajax on the final day will still see us top the group.

Premier League – SUNDERLAND 0-3 ARSENAL – Van Persie 12 33 Koscielny 36

An excellent away win coupled with a good performance. A brace by the resurgent van Persie and a header by Koscielny gave us all 3 points in a time where we really can’t afford to drop points.

League Cup Quarter Final – ARSENAL 1-0 STOKE CITY Chamberlain 87 Vertonghen 27

A serious test of my management ability. Firstly playing an already weakened side with no right backs on the bench Vrsaljko got injured with my only option to bring on Vetonghen and play Bartley there. Vertonghen then got sent off for a vicious tackle meaning I had to shuffle again to 3 at the back with Baines in the centre. 7 minutes later Chamakch picks up an injury and is forced off meaning Carlos Fierro on debut has to play as a lone striker for the rest of the game. Incredibly despite a Fierro shot that slammed back off the crossbar and creating little else up popped Chamberlain to tuck home for a 1-0 smash and grab with 3 minutes to go. Stoke I feel will never have a better chance of winning at the Emirates.

League Cup semi final draw – Manchester United vs Wolves

Manchester City vs Arsenal

FA Cup 3rd round draw – Sheffield United vs Arsenal

Liverpool host Everton in the only tie of any interest.

Premier League – ARSENAL 4-1 WOLVES – Schurrle 9 Park 25 34 Van Persie 54 – Hunt 81

A nice comfortable victory over Wolves. Could have been a few more but still a pleasing performance. A shame we couldn’t keep a clean sheet.

Champions League – ARSENAL 6-1 AJAX – Van Persie 11 Park 16 59 Koscielny 21 Granero 34 Baines 50 – Sulejemani 43

The only way we couldn’t go through was if Ajax could reverse their 2-3 defeat in Holland and if Lyon beat Apoel away. Lyon won but Ajax got a hammering. Easily the best performance of the season. Utterly dominant. Baines scored a cracker of a free kick from 30 yards. Van Persie went off just after he scored but it was only a bruised rib.

Premier League – BLACKBURN ROVERS 0-3 ARSENAL – Park 31 Koscielny 76 Lansbury 90

Missing Van Persie and Walcott the team were still able to deliver an excellent away performance. Goals from Park, Koscielny and sub Lansbury as Man City slipped up at Wolves losing 2-1.

Champions League draw – Athletic Bilbao vs Arsenal

Man United drew Barcelona with the first leg at the Nou camp. Chelsea got Galatasaray and Man City drew Sevilla. Lyon vs Real Madrid was the pick of the other ties

Premier League – TOTTENHAM 0-2 ARSENAL – Schurrle 9 Park 61 Van Persie m/pen 50

Hasn’t been such a critical North London derby in a while. It was a brutal hard game. The first half alone saw seven yellow cards. Unfortunately for Spurs my teams are made of much harder stuff and Schurrle gave us a great start by slotting home on 9 minutes. After half time Van Persie then had the chance to double the lead from the spot but blazed over. There were a few frantic moments although a couple of counter attacks saw Gervinho and Park go clean through and miss before park secured the 3 points just after the hour mark. Spurs huffed and puffed but just couldn’t break us down and we should have added to the lead. 4 points behind after 17. A grand total of 12 yellow cards. No reds. 5 for Spurs 7 for Arsenal. A 25k fine I’ll gladly accept. Massive massive win.

Premier League – ARSENAL 3-1 BIRMINGHAM CITY – Park 8 67 Chamberlain 27

It was the first of three back to back league games at home. I had to rotate the team a bit as we entered the busy Christmas period and a tough run of fixtures. It meant Chamberlain got a rare start which he capped with a superb goal. Due to the desperate need for wins I stuck with Van Persie and Park up front and it was the latter that delivered with a brace. Next to visit the Emirates will be Man United. Tottehnham lost 1-0 at Villa just to add more champagne to the table. 1 point behind now.

Premier League – ARSENAL 3-1 MANCHESTER UNITED – Park 28 Koscielny 63 Gervinho 74 – Rooney 67

A magnificent result. United never really turned up and I was always confident in getting the win. The first half was pretty even but in the second we were in complete control. Koscielny’s 8th of the season. Great time for Gervinho to get off the mark this season as well. Arteta and Koscielny were both forced of with injuries in the second half. Arteta misses a month Koscielny a couple of weeks.

Premier League – ARSENAL 3-1 LIVERPOOL – Park 7 Van Persie 41 57 Van Persie 60 Vermaelan 78 – Costa 30

Liverpool visited the Emirates a mere two days after United. I did something I very rarely do and that was to play a team littered with players below 95%. Infact had I stuck to my guns only Mertersaker would’ve played. Sometimes exceptions are best and another magnificent result gave us maximum points form two very tough games. Park gave us the early lead before Liverpool’s only attack of the whole half resulted in their equaliser. Van Persie gave us a half-time lead that was deserved. Van Persie then scored again to go 3-1 up. I considered subbing some players but thought one goal for Liverpool would leave us in danger. I regretted it when Van Persie ran onto a beautifully weighted through ball by Baines and seemed to be hauled down by Kelly. I screamed for a red card as Kelly had already been booked and the red card was dished out to VAN PERSIE!! He had already picked up a booking and had been accused of diving. I was livid. My mood not helped when Vermealen was also sent off late on. We managed to hold on. An extraordinary end to the month. It also meant for the first time this season Arsenal were top of the pile.

TOP SCORERS (all comps)

I don’t know how he does it. Park has 13 for the last two months. Van Persie did pretty well to get 11.

Park – 14

Van Persie - 11

Walcott - 9

Koscielny - 7

Schurrle - 6

Vela - 3

Granero – 3

Wilshere - 3

Lansbury – 2

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 2

Song – 2

Arteta - 2

Chamackh - 2

AVERAGE RATINGS (all comps minimum 5 games)

It was a rich vein of form by Park that saw him rocket up the list. Not impressed with either Vermaelen or Adler. Adler has already been dropped.

Chu-Young Park – 7.66

Laurent Koscielny - 7.57

Robin Van Persie – 7.55

Theo Walcott - 7.37

Leighton Baines – 7.34

-------------------------------

Andre Schurrle – 7.25

Thomas Vermaelen – 7.09

Rene Adler – 7.00

LEAGUE TABLE

The league table looked awful last month. Not often am I in 5th by the end of October. This month due to an excellent run of form we have come back into it and now top the table. However, the chasing pack all seem in good form and it may be those games that decide the destination of the league.

1. Arsenal played 20 points 48

2. Tottenham played 20 Points 46

3. Man United played 19 points 43

4. Man City played 18 points 42

5. Aston Villa played 20 points 35

-----------------------------------------

6. Chelsea played 20 points 33

7. Liverpool played 18 points 31

GAME OF THE MONTH

To be honest nothing really stood out. The only game you could argue had significance came right on the last day with United’s win at City

MANCHESTER CITY 1-2 MANCHESTER UNITED

Kompany 68 /-/ Rooney 18 Criscito 58

Shots 17 - 10

On Ta 6 - 5

Poss 51 - 49

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Chu-Young Park

Amazing. A bit like Carlos Vela in FM11 He just seems to be a diamond for me. Goals galore last season and now this. Love him.

November

NS

8.8 (2)

7.1

NA

7.8 (1)

5.9

December

7.9

NS

8.8 (2)

9.5 (2)

8.3 (1)

7.5 (1)

8.8 (2)

8.5 (1)

8.2 (1)

STAT OF THE MONTH

A way to vent my anger. Shots against to goals conceded has really annoyed me thse last couple of months. Mainly because I have around 20 shots in a game 13 on target and only score 3 or 3. My only problem is I have no idea how to rectify it. For or against

Shots 20 On Target 6 Goals 1

Shots 4 On Target 1 Goals 1

Shots 4 On Target 0 Goals 0

Shots 10 On Target 3 Goals 2

Shots 6 On Target 1 Goals 0

Shots 12 On Target 4 Goals 2

Shots 12 On Target 6 Goals 0

Shots 8 On Target 0 Goals 0

Shots 5 On Target 2 Goals 1

Shots 6 On Target 2 Goals 1

Shots 15 On Target 5 Goals 0

Shots 18 On Target 8 Goals 0

Shots 7 On Target 1 Goals 1

Shots 10 On Target 4 Goals 1

Shots 9 On Target 4 Goals 1

January and February sees the start of the Fa Cup, African nations, the semi-final of the league cup against Manchester City and the Transfer Window opening. I’m not tempted to buy as eventually I have to give Chamberlain a run in the side. I may try and sell if any offers come in.

[Kieran87]

nice read there. I'm the same, i have helped it a bit by playing standard and then giving creativity to who needs it and the shoot from distance and rarely. I now score more than 1 a game

Edit:

Anybody able to share some simple tactics they employ with the gunners? I use above and still seem to concede stupid goals and my strikers just don't score enough

Also on a side note do any of you getting Pat Rice and Steve Leonard telling you players have the wrong squad status set?

[llama3]

i would be ignoring that advice there from Leonard

[Kieran87]

haha, I keep getting it for all the players that are half or 1 1/2 stars potential. It makes me laugh.

anyhow... I may of just cracked it. I warned Walcott as he hadn't scored in 10 games and kept shooting from distance and i tweaked the poacher role to suit his irl abilities and

WOW...im on cloud nine. I know its only blackburn but Woop!

[thegame24]

Henrys stats anyone???

[Kieran87]

do you mean thierry? He is no longer @ Arsenal but here is a screenie of him in January 2012 ( 6 months into game )

[Dejay]

haha, I keep getting it for all the players that are half or 1 1/2 stars potential. It makes me laugh.

anyhow... I may of just cracked it. I warned Walcott as he hadn't scored in 10 games and kept shooting from distance and i tweaked the poacher role to suit his irl abilities and

WOW...im on cloud nine. I know its only blackburn but Woop!

Glad the tweaks worked! Nice work with Theo.

[Dejay]

Wow.