FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[llama3]

thats not clever Carmi88...

[dz47]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice and opinions to help me make a decision on how to set-up and kick-start my first full save as Arsenal. I've got two main options that I'm currently trying to toss up between:

Option 1: Set up a 442/424 and buy Cavani to play up top with RVP. I would then have Wilshere set up at AML as an advanced playmaker (he is accomplished here and I would train him to natural), and Gervinho/Chamberlain at AMR/winger. My MC's would be Arteta/Ramsey (creative) and Song (defensive). This would be quite an attacking formation that I reckon would score loads of goals, but might be a bit weak defensively against the better teams. In response to this, the advantage would be that I could easily switch to a 451 with the same personnel; with RVP up top, Cavani on the right, Gervinho on the left, Wilshere moved back to MC, and Song moved to DM.

Option 2: set up a 451 and buy Hamsik, but play him at AML as an inside fwd. He is accomplished in this position (and I would train to natural), and looking at his finishing, composure, creativity and off the ball, I reckon he could be a real handful in this role. RVP would be the lone striker and I would look to get another striker to rotate with (possibly Giroud...looks pretty good as a TM and would make sense given real life transfer rumors!). Again, Gervinho/Chamberlain would play as the other inside forward on the right, Wilshere would partner Arteta at CM, and Song would shield the defence at DM.

So they are the two options I'm tossing up. I'd really appreciate your thoughts. Cheers.

[llama3]

option 2- but i would not buy hamsik and try and mould him - that frankly sounds a lot of unnnecessary work - you could play hamsik as an inside forward support, and keep the other flank as an attacking duty?

[dz47]

Thanks for your response. Out of interest, did you suggest option 2 due to a preference for the shape or the personnel, or perhaps some other reason?

[llama3]

both shape and personnel - i prefer 4-2-3-1, but 4-5-1 is pretty good. think the personnel suit it better than 4-4-2

[Nonlondoner]

I can agree with what was said about Étienne Capoue. I've restarted (with Podolski and Giroud obviously) and Song was pretty pants during first pre-season so I snapped him up for £14m. Half way through the first season he's got an average stat of 7.14 and 2 EPL goals. He acts as a brilliant shield for the defence and tends to kill attacks then plays a sensible ball. Very impressed. If he's anything like that in real life Wenger can give up on M'Vila.

Giroud's coming at the end of the season (to make things a bit real-life) but he's been superb in his last season in France, seems to get a lot of headed goals. Glad I spent the £12m.

[ewok01]

Anyone else finding wage demands are killing any chance of signing anyone decent. I get the chance to offer contract but players asking for 100,000's of pounds a week. As usual man City end up signing them all. Another annoying aspect of these contract discussions is for example a player is asking 125k a week from me and yet signs for another club (again usually Man City) cheaper, example 75k, WTF!? I am so tempted to use FMRTE to give myself heaps of cash however last time I used it my game 'crash dumped' :-(

Anyway just curious how others have managed this growing issue?

Cheers

[Hyperlogic]

At one point during my Arsenal save (which i recently started playing again) I was very frustrated with some wage demands from Rossi. You can find the original post on page 18 but I will copy paste most of it here haha

Warning, ROSSI RANT!

After placing the £35 million bid I tried offering Rossi a contract just to see what would happen.

Status : key player

Appearance Fee : £16.25k

Goal Bonus £16.25k

Team Of the Year : £800k

Wage : £170k per week

Loyalty Bonus : £6.25m

Agent Fee : £5.75m

Not to mention the clauses:

Seasonal Landmark Goal bonus after 15 goals : £1.5m

Match Highest Earner Clause

Sell on Fee Percentage of 10%

I think I can safely say.... **** that! What a greedy butt hole his agent is. I mean this Arsenal team is not like the Arsenal IRL, it stands a chance of wining trophies, sorry to the fans for that one haha Not to mention the fact that Villareal are on a 9 game run without any wins, out of Europe, out of the domestic cup and 10th in the league.

I tried negotiating but still no where near what I was willing to sacrifice finance wise.

With Villareal's poor form and the fact we were champions of England at the time how can that be justified plus the fact he's "only" on £43k per week.

[Carmi88]

I've noticed all current players are all willing to extend their deals in a season or 2 for minimal increase, if any at all in wages, meaning any players I sign im willing to pay a bit more for wages

[dz47]

Yep some of the contract demands are frustrating to say the least. This is definitely frustrating from a faceplate perspective, but I'm not sure how unrealistic they are in comparison to real life. For example I tried to sign Baines in first transfer window but he wanted over €100k per week and to match highest earner. Those clauses do seem to be difficult to negotiate down. I also find in this version it is much more difficult to get players to accept squad status other than first team or key player. as a result I've found myself focussing on buying players who's contract demands I seem to be reasonable and who have decent agents. Does make it more challenging

[ewok01]

Here is an example of what RVP could expect in real life, read below:

Big-spending Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala are prepared to offer Arsenal's 28-year-old striker Robin van Persie £300,000 a week to play for them.

Thats just crazy.

[ewok01]

Yep some of the contract demands are frustrating to say the least. This is definitely frustrating from a faceplate perspective, but I'm not sure how unrealistic they are in comparison to real life. For example I tried to sign Baines in first transfer window but he wanted over €100k per week and to match highest earner. Those clauses do seem to be difficult to negotiate down. I also find in this version it is much more difficult to get players to accept squad status other than first team or key player. as a result I've found myself focussing on buying players who's contract demands I seem to be reasonable and who have decent agents. Does make it more challenging

Yep both him and another Everton player I was trying to buy both wanted 115k, always have trouble spelling the other players name Phil Jagielka cheers

[jimbobBRFC]

Yep some of the contract demands are frustrating to say the least. This is definitely frustrating from a faceplate perspective, but I'm not sure how unrealistic they are in comparison to real life. For example I tried to sign Baines in first transfer window but he wanted over €100k per week and to match highest earner. Those clauses do seem to be difficult to negotiate down. I also find in this version it is much more difficult to get players to accept squad status other than first team or key player. as a result I've found myself focussing on buying players who's contract demands I seem to be reasonable and who have decent agents. Does make it more challenging

Ive just tried to sign Javi martinez at start of my Arsenal save and he wanted £150,000 a week. Safe to say I walked away from that one. Although I do need to find a back for Song, M'Vila might do the job

[dz47]

Yep wage demands are a real hassle on this version. I'm sure m'vila would be class, but probably too good to be a back up player. What about one of the Bender twins?Adam Vass is also worth a thought as a rotation fm and should be pretty cheap

[jimbobBRFC]

Yep wage demands are a real hassle on this version. I'm sure m'vila would be class, but probably too good to be a back up player. What about one of the Bender twins?Adam Vass is also worth a thought as a rotation fm and should be pretty cheap

well M'villa would probably hold down a starting role as the tactic im currently using uses 3 DM's so there will be a lot of rotation. Never even looked at the Bender twins or Adam Vass, how much would they be looking at costing cant be that much surely?

[dz47]

Not too sure about the Bender twins as I haven't bought them before. I have scouted them though and from memory they were both rated between 10-15 nil. Both look like quality dm's. Vass costs less than one million at the start of the game and would be a decent rotation option. I'd also consider naingollan (sp?) and re-training him to dm. Quality player and top class tutor.

[jimbobBRFC]

Not too sure about the Bender twins as I haven't bought them before. I have scouted them though and from memory they were both rated between 10-15 nil. Both look like quality dm's. Vass costs less than one million at the start of the game and would be a decent rotation option. I'd also consider naingollan (sp?) and re-training him to dm. Quality player and top class tutor.

yeah I thought about Naingollan after looking through this thread. Vass seems like a better option for a player who is only going to be a backup, although may go for one of the Benders for a bit more quality. Naingollan can play anywhere in midfield and is young so would probably be a good signing regardless Got Subotic coming in just need to find a RB. Got offer accepted for Corchia and he wouldnt even enter discussions. Srna is my number 1 target now. Although could really do with a backup for RVP, although the formation im currently using doesnt use a striker, so could do with someone who can play up top and AMC. RVP does it well

[Sparky_07]

Guys, in need of some advice. Started a game as Arsenal using latest Weegie update. I'm going to play a 4-3-3 formation as follows.

Team Instructions - Balanced and Control

Sweeper keeper - Szczesny

Wing Back Right - Automatic - Sagna

Wing Back Left - Gibbs

Centre Defender - Defend - Mertesacker

Centre Defender - Defend - Vermaelen

Anchor Man - Defend - Song

Ball Winning Midfielder - Defend - Ramsey

Deep Lying Midfielder - Support - Wilshere

Poacher - Attack - Walcott

Deep Lying Forward - Support - Van Persie

Advanced Forward - Attack - Podolski

Do you think this setup could work? Any adjustments I should make?

Looking to bring in a Central Defender and maybe another Defensive Midfielder.

[ajw10]

hmmm. Definitely play Arteta over Ramsey and Koscielny over Mertesacker, the latter is no use due to the ME's hard on for pace.

[Cesc_cil]

right just installed fm12 again haven't played it for about 8 months went back to fm11, anyway i have the weegie update and i have put giroud in the team.

for those of you who play a lot, i like to buy english where i can any suggestions?

[Cesc_cil]

First Update:

Transfers in:

Butland ~ £2.1m

Kjaer ~ £9.75m

Van Der Wiel ~ £11.75

Beria ~ £7.5m

Niang ~ £4.9m

Fernando ~ £5.75

Total: £36m

Brought Fernando because Song is out for 3 months, then reliased he wont come till he is 18 D'oh

Out:

Bendtner ~ £6.5m

Chamakh ~ £6.5m

Arshavin ~ £7.5m

Diaby ~ Loan

Squillaci ~ Loan

Santos ~ Loan

Park ~ Loan

+ a few more youngesters on loan

Total: £25.5m

Formation 4222

Szczesny

Van Der Wiel

Beria

Kjaer

Vermaelen

Song

Wilshere

Walcott

Gervinho

Van Persie

Podolski

Subs

Giroud

Koscielny

Gibbs

Rosicky

Chamberlain

Ramsey

Coquelin

Arteta

Results EPL

Reading 0 - 2 Arsenal Podolski2

Arsenal 8 - 0 Norwich Walcott, Podolski3, Beria, Coquelin, Giroud, Ramsey

Man City 2 - 1 Arsenal Giroud

Champions League Group

Basel

Zenit

Montpellier

[Dejay]

Righteo, I really can't get into any saves on FM lately, so it's back to starting over with my beloved Arsenal.

Nearing the end of pre season now and our form has been terrific, scoring 36 and conceding 1 in our 9 friendlies. RVP has been on fire and Theo has been superb too.

I am playing a 4-2-3-1 formation with an AMC sitting behind RVP and two inside forwards. It's working quite well and we're holding on to the ball nicely and creating a lot of chances too. So far so good. I've also shook up the back room staff and bought in the best coaches I could find. I've also asked for our youth recruitment network to be improved, I want the best youngsters to be here.

Transfer wise I haven't gone mad, but focussed on youth and saving on wages.

In -

Gylfi Sigurdsson - £9M from Hoffenhiem. I have had him on a previous save with Dortmund a while back and he was fantastic. I want him from the start to check out how well I can develop him. Excited by him.

Sime Vrsalijko - £3M from Dinamo. Another youngster I really like, to be rotated with Sagna and eventually become his replacement.

Leandro - £9.25M from Gremio. A promising youngster that my scouts found. I checked out his thread on here and it looks a little mixed but hopefully I can get the best out of him.

Out - Arshavin (Man City £11M), Almunia (Malaga £1M), Afobe (Loan Charlton), Sanchez Watt (Loan Exeter) and it looks as though Miyachi is going out on loan. I also sent Benayoun back to Chelsea. I'd rather not pay £65K a week and develop my own talent.

Roll on the start of the season.

Edit:

- First game of the season at home to Swansea.

Arsenal 6 (RVP, Mertesacker, Sigurdsson, Gervinho, Chamakh, Arteta missed penalty 84) Swansea 0.

Absolute domination from us, 37 shots in total and 70% possession. Good stuff.

[Dejay]

Ok so I have my August update, hope I won't be taking over the thread

So after a strong pre season I was confident of a good start. I have been without Leandro, the Ox and Diaby.

Arsenal 6-0 Swansea.

As mentioned in the previous post we dominated, a great result which could have hit double figures. Arteta missed a penalty.

Standard 0-3 Arsenal.

I plumped for playing my second string here and it worked nicely. Walcott scored a neat brace and Rosicky scored a magnificent goal from range. We we never in danger.

Wolves 0-2 Arsenal.

This game was a bit tighter than against Swansea but we were still comfortable. We are wasting a lot of our chances but we got there in the end. A cracking hit by Sigurdsson and a poachers effort from RVP on the hour sealed it on a miserable August afternoon.

Arsenal 1-0 Standard.

Again I rotated the squad and again we were dominant, however we just couldn't score. Leandro and the Ox both made their debuts and looked solid, however the former picked up a knock. Rosicky curled a beauty from inside the box to win it. Should have been more comfortable though.

Arsenal 0-0 Manchester City.

I thought that my honeymoon period might come to an end here, and during the first fifteen minutes they were all over us. We came back though and ended up controlling the game but we wasted chance after chance. Arteta also missed another penalty and Clichy got sent off late on. Gibbs was magnificent and my unbeaten run as Arsenal manager continues.

In other news we were drawn with Dinamo, Ajax and AC Milan in the Champions League group stage.

I'm also left with £33M in the kitty and £175K wages left over in case things go t*ts up. I'm trying to unsettle Lucas Moura - I'll let you know how it goes.

[Ben_reeson]

Just signed Fernando Torres on my game, well joins in January anyway, He was transfer listed at Chelsea for 8.25m.

Offered him a contract worth 120k a week which he signed, He now becomes my highest paid player well above the highest

which is RVP on 75k.

Wondered if anyone else has had him and what to play him as.

My current strikers are

RVP, Podolski who i play out wide, Giroud played 10 scored 10, Matias Suarez who hasnt featured this season and is likely to be sold.

then i have a few youth coming through like Sanago and Afobe.

[Vipertitan]

started gunners save tonight will post how i get on later

[cyborgscouse]

I'm gonna start an Arsenal save, I'm a liverpool fan but my my 2014/2015 file ended up being corrupted and I can't be bothered starting it again right now. Well that and apart from Liverpool, I always like playing as teams who have great youth academy's on this game, the only thing I'm gonna do first is put through the two striker transfers in the editor

[Dejay]

Good luck with your Gunners saves guys.

September Update 2011 -

So we had a pretty good month in August, but after the international break RVP came back with an injury. Out for 6-8 weeks.

Aston Villa 3-3 Arsenal.

Villa are my bogey team on this game and it showed again here. It was a great game back and forth but we just couldn't assert ourselves. Sigurdsson, Arteta and Chamakh scored, but Gylfi took a knock and is out for 2 months.

Arsenal 4-0 Ajax.

Our first group game and we hammered them. An easy win for us with Chamakh scoring a brace, Mertesacker scoring from outside the box (I know right?) and Gervinho finishing them off. Good stuff

Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal.

Our away form isn't great. We really struggled here and gave away a penalty. Gervinho scored an early goal but after that it was mostly Sunderland. Cattermole got sent off late on and we managed to nick a win with a Turner O.G.

Arsenal 3-1 QPR (League Cup)

Easy win. Played the second string and it worked nicely. Theo, Djourou and Park Chu Young scoring. Park was really impressive.

Arsenal 3-1 Blackburn.

Another good win. Blackburn we poor in truth and it should u have been more for us. A lot of tired legs though as this is one of 4 games in 10 days. Song scored from close range, Chamakh hit another and Leandro scored his first Arsenal goal.

Dinamo 1-1 Arsenal.

Another tough game on the legs for us. We went behind from an early goal but bossed it from there. Poor finishing cost us.

Up next is Fulham away before a short break. Shall be glad to rest some players and hope we don't get anymore injuries. Our attacking options are becoming limited.

[Cesc_cil]

Sept 2012 update

Premier League

Arsenal 4 Van Persie2, Gervinho, Vela

West Brom 1

Arsenal 5 Podolski3, Van Persie, Ramsey

Wigan 0

Everton 0

Arsenal 4 Podolski2, Chamberlain2

Champions League

Zenit 0

Arsenal 2 Van Persie, Arteta

Arsenal 8 Dragovic o/g, Podolski4, Giroud2, Arteta

Basel 0

League Cup 3rd round

Arsenal 4 Gervinho, Wilshere, Podolski, Chamberlain

Man City 2

Excellent month won every game scoring lots and not conceding many. Podolski is on fire its getting a bit silly 15 goals in 9 games!!!

Sitting pretty at the top of the league a point above Utd. So far so good.

Still want some English talent if anyone's got some ideas?

[Dejay]

A much better September than me

Tonnes of goals!

[Cesc_cil]

attacking version of 442 seems to be working

[Dejay]

I'm struggling right now with a 4-2-3-1

October / November update.

Fulham 3-6 Arsenal.

Epic game but we couldn't defend! Very attacking from both sides but we had the better of it. Rosicky, Leandro, Metersacker Gervinho and a Walcott brace saw off Fulham.

Arsenal 2-0 Everton.

We bossed this and went 2 up quite early thanks for Walcott and Leandro. Sagna got sent off late on to put us under pressure but we held firm.

Arsenal 0-2 AC Milan. (CL)

We should have at least drew this match. We had the better of it and had a lot of chances, but Milan took their only two chances to win it. Frustrating.

Norwich 1-3 Arsenal.

Norwich scored early on and I thought our confidence may be gone, but we fought back with Chamakh, Rosicky and then returning Van Persie scoring.

Bolton 1-1 Arsenal (League Cup - Bolton win on penalties)

Frustrating game again. We bossed it but could not score. This is becoming an issue with us and it needs sorting. Chesney flapped at a cross to concede and nearly cost us a second by booting the ball to Davies 20 yards out.

Stoke 0-1 Arsenal.

A tough game as always ans I thought a goal would never come. In dramatic fashion Vermaelen scored from the last corner of the game. Brilliant.

AC Milan 2-1 Arsenal. (CL)

Another game where we just could not finish our chances. We went 1-0 up early on thanks to Gervinho but a quick brace from Pato saw us off, and leaves us in trouble in Group E.

Wigan 2-2 Arsenal.

Yet again not finishing our chances. Chesney made another error and Song scored an own goal. Theo and Gervinho scored for us but it was not good enough. Confidence is an issue.

Arsenal 2-2 West Bromwich Albion.

An awful performance, we went 1-0 early on thanks to a Sigurdsson penalty. Chesney misjudged a through ball and let Odemwinge through to scored. He's testing my patience now. WBA wen't 2-1 up very late on but Vermalen once again saved us, this time with a fantastic hit from outside the box.

Ajax 1-5 Arsenal. (CL)

We tonked them again, but looked shaky at the start and went 1-0 down early on. Theo scored a great goal before RVP hit us into the lead. After the break we looked a lot more assured and Leandro, Sigurdsson and Ramsey finished the route. A big boost to confidence here.

Manchester United 3-2 Arsenal.

We played very well, RVP put us one up before the break only for Park ji Sung to out jump everyone in the box to score from a corner. RVP then finished another neat move to put us 2-1 with 10 minutes to go but then Sagna picked up a second yellow and was sent off, again. Park then popped up at the back post to score from another corner before Hernandez scored from close range to break Arsenal hearts.

That was a massive result for United as it knocks us off our perch at the top and puts them in the driving seat. We have really struggled recently and we are still in danger of a CL exit, and we're out of the league cup.

I thought we were supposed to bottle it after Christmas??

[Cesc_cil]

oh dear not going so well dejay, i have had a worst month this time update later

[Cesc_cil]

October 2012 Update

Premier League

Arsenal 2 Podolski, Kjaer

Chelsea 0

Newcastle 3

Arsenal 1 Giroud

Arsenal 4 Walcott, Podolski2, Arteta

West Ham 0

Champions League

Montpellier 0

Arsenal 0

League Cup 4th Round

Arsenal 4 Podolski3, Walcott

Spurs 2

Not that bad a month, a disappointing loss at St James Park and a bore draw in france the two down sides. The phenomenal Podolski now has 24 in 14. and yes that is the right way round!

[Dejay]

Not a bad month! Podlski and Giroud seem to be doing well for you mate!

December update 2011.

So, after a tough October and November riddled with injurys we're looking to bounce back over the festive period.

Arsenal 1-1 Tottenham.

We played really well despite not being a great form. Chamberlain scored on the half an hour mark and we controlled the game well, but Van Der Vaart hit a screamer late on. Disappointed. Van Persie injured once again.

Arsenal 3-2 Dinamo (CL)

This game was a must win if we were to advance out of our group in the Champions League. We went 1-0 up early on thanks to Chamakh. Kos headed us two infront from a corner before Dinamo drew level with two quick goals. Our CL hopes were fading fast but with 2 minutes to go Theo Walcott pounced on a loose pass and slammed home. We're through (and playing Lyon in the next round)

Newcastle 3-1 Arsenal.

I decided to go into this game with a counter attacking mentality and it paid off. Newcastle didn't really have a sniff. Colocinni scored and own goal before Arteta and Park scored. Best scored a late consolation.

Arsenal 2-0 Bolton.

Bolton were flying in the league sitting fifth at the time. They came at us and the game was scrappy but we managed to take our chances and they didn't. Sigurdsson scored a trademark screamer and Walcott added the second.

Chelsea 1-1 Arsenal.

A tough game at the bridge, but we controlled the match well and went 1-0 up after an hour thanks to Walcott. He's really on fire. Chelsea pressed after that and Mata hit an equaliser on the 94th minute to rob us of two points.

Arsenal 1-0 Liverpool.

A fiesty game with many a yellow card. Theo once again scored the winner, but Liverpool were denied a penalty. Walcott and Mertesacker are in top form.

QPR 2-3 Arsenal.

A tough game with tired legs but we managed to come out on top - although it was a big test with our injuries. We went 2-0 up early on thanks to Chamakh and Leandro but they pegged us back. Sigurdsson scored a magnificent goal in the 91st minute to win it in dramatic fashion. Theo got injured

So a better month but Man United have been on fire. They're pulling away from us sadly but I hope we can keep pace with them and hope they slip up. So after 19 games we're at..

Man Utd - 47 (+42)

Arsenal - 42 (+23)

Liverpool - 38 (+16)

Man City - 37 (+26)

Bolton - 37 (+14)

Chelsea are way down in 9th and Spurs 10th.

I am looking to buy a striker in January to help us out as Chamakh seems to be struggling a little.

[llama3]

i find chamakh generally plays quite well tbh. podolski is excellent, but otherwise got a few suggestions on opening post

[Super Gooner]

hey guys im trying to get van persie to place shots instead of shoot with power on ppm but it doesnt give me the option isnt available to click on ppm where it does with all the other players. is there any way i can change this

[dsqd]

I've got quite an exciting Arsenal save on the go at the moment, I managed to bring in Mesut Ozil in January of the first season after he got fed up by Real's bad form (they fired Mourinho, heh). I wonder if anyone has used him, or how they would use him for Arsenal. His attributes for an Advanced Playmaker (Attack) are absolutely impeccable, his only problems are low determination and workrate, which make him something of a luxury player.

To counter that fact I've set up a wingerless 4-3-1-2, with three CMs doing his work for him, and two strikers for him to pick out. I'm not sure how to set up the three CMs though, I have Ramsey, Arteta, Wilshere, Benayoun, Song, Diaby and Coquelin who could fill those spaces, and so far I've gone BWM(s)-DLP(s)-CM(d).

Suggestions or ideas welcome.

[llama3]

Ozil is a classic trequartista, no further discussion to add on that - perfect for it

[dsqd]

Hmm, I suppose that is what I've described there isn't it? A lazy genius. I'll try him as a treq, thanks.

EDIT: Unscientific results after the fist game show a success. Ozil assisted 2 and scored 2 as a trequartista in a 6-0 thrashing of Sunderland. Second game he was anonymous as we squeaked a 1-0 against Bolton, I guess that's what you get with a guy like him though...

[Dejay]

Arsenal update - January / February 2012.

We were in decent form but not nearly as hot as United, can we catch them? Oh, and I signed Leandro Damiao too

Swansea 2-0 Arsenal.

An easy fixture against the struggling Swans. Gervinho won it for us with two classy finishes.

Watford 0-2 Arsenal (FA)

Rotated my squad and handed Leandro Damiao his first start, with which he rewarded me with two fine goals. A good performance from the youth.

Arsenal 1-0 Wolves.

A poor performance in which we struggled with tired legs. Leandro scored a screamer to win it. Poor game.

Man City 4-3 Arsenal.

A cracking game but we just didn't have enough. Our defence has been leaky all season and this game was the same. Aguero scored four. Leandro Damiao scored two for us and Leandro scored our third. (So many Leandro's). City closed the gap.

Arsenal 0-0 Villa (FA)

Bore draw. Two poor sides.

Arsenal 2-1 Villa.

A better performance this time but not stellar. Leandro Daiao scored again and Chamberlain scored our second but we still found it tough. I hate Villa.

Arsenal 1-0 Sunderland.

Leandro scored the only goal of a poor game, but at least we won. We struggle against teams that sit back.

Aston Villa 2-5 Arsenal. (FA 4th Replay)

An absolute cracker. Villa went 2 up early on but I rollocked them after the break and then we hit back. An RVP hat-trick set us up nicely, then Leandro and Mertesacker finished them off.

Arsenal 1-0 Fulham.

We're scraping out the wins and that's what counts. Very lucky that Chris Baird scored an own goal.

Arsenal 0-0 Lyon.

A poor game again. Where are our shooting boots? At least we kept a clean sheet and puts us at an advantage for the second leg.

Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal (FA cup 5th round)

A better performance if not great. 2 Van Persie goals set us up nicely. They pulled one back late on.

Blackburn 1-3 Arsneal.

Games still coming thick and fast but we played much better. We dominated this one and Arteta scored twice and Leandro Damiao finished them off. They scored late on.

So much better but still seven points behind united. They are beating everyone 3-4 nil. Fantastic..

[Cesc_cil]

November & December 2012 Update

Champions League

Arsenal 5 Walcott2, Wilshere, Arteta, Vermaelen

Monpellier 2

Premier League

Arsenal 6 Gervinho, Podolski2, Vermaelen, Van Persie2

Southampton 0

Man Utd 1

Arsenal 2 Van Persie, Podolski

Champions League

Arsenal 6 Podolski, Djourou, Vela, Bartley, Song, Bruno Alves o/g

Zenit 0

Premier League

Arsenal 3 Van Persie2, Walcott

Aston Villa 2

League Cup Quarter Final

Sunderland 1

Arsenal 3 Van Persie2, Walcott

Semi final draw is Newcastle vs Wolves, Arsenal vs Blackpool

Premier League

Spurs 2

Arsenal 0

Champions League

Basel 0

Arsenal 8 Podolski3, Van Persie4, Kjaer

**Qualified top of the group dropping just 2 points, Conceding just 3 and scoring an impressive 29! Round of 16 puts us up against FC Nordsjaelland?

Premier League

Arsenal 3 Wilshere, Van Persie, Walcott

Liverpool 0

Q.P.R 0

Arsenal 3 Wilshere, Podolski2

Arsenal 1 Walcott

Sunderland 0

Swansea 2

Arsenal 3 Podolski2, Allen o/g

Arsenal 2 Walcott, Podolski

Stoke 1

Top four Premier League At half way point

Arsenal 48 +42

Man Utd 46 +31

Man City 37 +18

Chelsea 37 +18

Another good period the obvious high point a win at Old Trafford however Vidic was sent off early on so that helped, again obvious low point a loss at White Hart Lane, just didn't turn up.

Podolski has slowed up slightly now has 36 in 27, another big positive has been Theo who is deputising for the frequatly injured RVP and developing a good strike force with the goal machine, long may it continue as RVP is now out for 7 weeks.

[css_matt]

It has been a while...

The First Two Months

I have taken over Arsenal with a business plan that has the objective of turning the club in to a 1billion valued business. Its time for some low cost success.

First of all, I changed most of my backroom staff. I even let Pat Rice go early. I will be adding one more physio and am to still review the scouts.

Once they were all sorted, onto sorting out the players..

Here is my shortlist, these are people ive been having trouble getting for a reasonable price

Went into the first game of the season, sporting a 4-3-2-1. Fulham the opponents.

My first team is pretty weak at the moment, and I only managed to sport three substitutes. The Ox already out for 3 weeks due to an international!

PremierLeague

Fulham - 0

Arsenal - 3

(RVP (2), Ramsey)

ChampionsLeague

Arsenal - 2

(Gervinho, RVP)

Rubin - 3

(Kisliak, Valdez, Martins)

PremierLeague

Arsenal - 2

(Walcott, Merts)

Wolves - 1

(Jarvis)

ChampionsLeague

Rubin - 0

Arsenal - 2

(Koscielny, Arteta)

PremierLeague

Norwich -

Arsenal -

(RVP (2), Gervinho, Arteta)

[css_matt]

10th December 2011. Sacked...

Frustrating really. The lack of cover did it. A week after my last post, I had about 6 first teamers out and no worthwhile substitutes for the next two months. In this time period I went from #1st to approximately 8th, 15 points behind United who were sitting top.

I was often the better team throughout this period, and when i finally got a full fit squad in November (bar Wilshere), I was dominating possession and shots by miles. Yet my conversion rate was terrible. Ultimately Id got myself into a viscous cycle.

I managed to pull of a miraculous Champ League Group turnaround, bottom after three games with three points, to win 2/3 of my next games and pip the previous group leaders Dortmund to 2nd spot.

Shame, had a couple of people coming in in January, including

- Kara

- Ferdinho(?) A Porto DM, transfer listed

- Romario

- Niang (in negotiations)

Luckily, while searching though league 2 for a new job, I managed to get myself stuck in a timeloop. I found myself back as the new manager of Arsenal but at the time of my sacking. Strange..

Just one of those mysterious events eh

[Dejay]

Well lads I've finished my first season and it's been so-so.

I'll start with the good. We won the FA cup which was nice with an easy 3-0 win over Wigan in the final. We had a fairly easy route though with teams like Watford and Stoke. Still nice to win something but it was our only success.

I'll go onto the league now which is just one of those things, in another season we would have probably won it but United were just so damn good. Hernandez lit up the league and scored 32 goals in 31 apps in the league alone.. On a good note though we ended the league with an 8-1 win over relegated QPR.

As you can see we left the other miles behind but we just couldn't beat United.

The league cup was really poor and the Champions League was promising until we met United in the semi finals and lost 6-0 on aggregate, despite dominating both games. Bet you can guess who scored four of the six goals..

I'll get down to how the team performed now then. We we're great but not bad until Christmas as I was playing a high pressing short passing tactic but when teams sat deep we struggled. So I changed it to a 4-1-2-2-1 but Gylfi Sigurdsson and the returning Wilshere weren't being utilized as good as they could be so I then settled for a 4-2-3-1 which worked a treat. We scored more and conceded less and everyone played brilliantly. Shame it took me so long to settle on this tactic. The players - (all stats all comps)

Robin Van Persie - Even though he only played in 35 games total because on injury he still managed 19 goals and 21 assists in that time, and usually in crucial moments. He led by example and was always the one who stepped up when things were tough. Top player with a rating of 7.64

Gervinho - Slow start but after Christmas turned it on. Was excellent on the right flank and caused chaos in defences everywhere* Finished the season with 17 goals and 14 assists, 7.46 rating. Will be better next season.

*United not included

Theo Walcott - Theo had his injury problems but always made things happen when he played with his direct approach and pace. 14 goals, 13 assists and a memorable solo effort reminiscent of the one Henry scored against Spurs. 7.50 rating and getting better and better.

Leandro Damiao - This kids gonna be a star. Signed in January for £26M he made things happen big time. 12 goals and 3 assists in 24 games he showed he can step up in Europe. Will be a big, big player for us next year. 7.21 rating

Tommy V - Rock and the back for the main part, he also popped up with a couple of goals and six assists. MOM 10 times he led from the back. Has formed a great partnership with Mertesacker. 7.20 rating.

Gylfi Sigurdsson - Absolutely outstanding at the start of the season but faded when I changed the tactic. I'm set back up for him to play to his strengths now so next season he'll be great. 10 goals, 11 assists and 89% pass completion - quality.

Leandro - Stepped up after a big move at a young age. Made the left flank his own and scored some crackers. 10 goals 8 assists and some good experience for him. Will only get better.

Wilshere did well when he returned, Chamberlain also impressed in his time on the pitch. Mertesacker and Djourou both did very well too as did Sime Vrsjlko and Sagna. The biggest let down was Koscielny who was really poor and probably leaving this summer.

I'm looking to ship out quite a few players to save wages, and bring a new centre half at least.

So all in all I'm content. 1 trophy, and semi and in another season we would have walked the league. A little bit more class at the back and we're good to go I think.

[llama3]

beat man utd 6-2 at home, but then lost 4-1 at stoke in the league cup, and lost 1-0 at liverpool in the league - inconsistency is the issue!

[Dejay]

Sold Miyachi to Real Madrid for £8M rising to £11M after first international appearance +40% of next sale.

Good deal?

[css_matt]

Sounds it Dejay.

How comes some have got Sigs in the first year?

In mine hes coming at the end of the season..

[Dejay]

I'm playing unpatched.

Righteo the Season has just started and here's a quick update.

In -

Nicolas Otamendi - Young and going to be great. City were sniffing so I have to move quick and was done in June. £13M our big signing.

Fraser Forster - Back up to Chesney, counts towards HG. Young and can improve a bit. £2.1m

Carlos Fierro - Young mexican is highly rated. £1.3M - cover for up front.

Lorenzo Crisetig - Inter listed him so I bought him in for £500K. Going to rotate with Song.

I also signed 3 young regens for around £1M each. All rated 4* potential so hopefully they'll come good, or at least I'll make a profit.

Total in £23.5M - Although I'm trying to bring in Aly Cissokho when he's fit again.

Outs -

Bendter £10M - Lyon.

Kos - £5M - Udinese. He'd been very poor first season, sorry to see him go.

Ryo Miyachi - £8M - Read Madrid. Can rise to £11M

Park Chu Young - £4M AC Milan

Denilson - Schlake £2.7M

Squillaci - £1M Fiortentina

Fabianski - £3.5M Osusana

Santos - £1.5M Loan - Dortmund (Agreed fee of £6M)

Diaby - £1.3M Loan - Newcastle (Agreed fee of 3.5M)

Also let a lot of youngsters go.

Total £35M.

So made a profit as of now. Hopefully my team will be good enough to win the league this time.

[css_matt]

Project 4th

Its the 15th of December and Arsenal are struggling in 12th. 21 Points behind United and 13 points behind Tottenham in 4th.

I am only being judged on my Champions League run (Knockouts), but as that is hit and miss my personal target at the

halfway point of the season is to jump 8 teams and retain CL status for the next year.

My training scheme is back in place and the same style of play is being implemented (although more refined). Pr. 4th is go!

17th December 2011

Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester City

(Ramsey)

21st December 2011

Arsenal 1 - 0 Newcastle United

(Park Chu-Young)

28th December 2011

Arsenal 2 - 0 Fulham

(Van Persie (2) )

31st December 2011

Wolves 4 - 3 Arsenal

(Kevin Doyle (2), Roger Johnson (2), Arteta (2), Van Persie )

Not happy. All the good work in those matches is completely undone but the farce against Wolves. 4-0 down after 40 minutes.

Had jumped up to 8th but now back in 11th.

January 2012

- Van Persie named in World Team of the Year

- Romario joins Arsenal

- Fernando joins Arsenal

- Gustavo joins Arsenal

- Adryan agrees future deal with Arsenal

- Labyad agrees future deal with Arsenal

- Remy agrees future deal with Arsenal

- Schieber agrees future deal with Arsenal

- Rosicky requests mutual termination, accepted

- Sanga leaves for Manchester City

January 4th 2012 FA Cup

Fulham 0 - 4 Arsenal

(Chu Young (2), Arteta, Ramsey)

January 14th 2012

Arsenal 5 - 0 Norwich

(Chamberlain (3), Van Persie, Ramsey)

January 18th 2012

West Brom 3 - 1 Arsenal

(Van Persie)

January 21th 2012

Arsenal 1 - 0 Chelsea

(Ramsey)

January 28th 2012 FA Cup

Arsenal 5 - 1 Northampton

(Van Persie (4), Ramsey)

Fairly busy January. Defensively bulked up with the new signings although slightly weak on the left. Gibbs out for a month and Santos is appalling bad. Rosicky was falling down the pecking order and with just a few more months on his contract I decided to agree to termination and save some wage budget. With Vrsajklo and Romario coming in I decided to cash in on Sagna at 16m, although could have got 18.5m if I hadnt tried to rinse City for every penny possible.

As far as the games go, okay. Good win against Chelsea and all the others, bar W.Brom, where just what I would expect. What is irritating me is how I am not turning up for random games. Wolves and West Brom I have watched my team get absolutely dominated and its killing my push for a top 4 finish. I didnt manage a shot against West Brom until the 75th minute.

4th Liverpool - 51 Points

7th Arsenal - 37 Points

-- Lots of teams with games in hand below me

[ajw10]

So I'm 14 games into the season and as you can see I'm bossing it.

RvP has obviously been the stand out player, but he's helped massively by my wingers who have just ripped teams to shreds so far. Giroud has been an excellent back up too, I've been pleasantly surprised by him. M'Vila has been vital for my team, especially away from home. He's overpriced at £27m and doesn't get particularly good ratings, but he breaks up play and hardly ever gives the ball away. A quick check shows his pass completion rate in the Prem at 86%.

The revelation of the season has been Chamberlain though. He usually comes good for me after a season or two and it's in the wide areas that he flourishes. However, due to injuries to Arteta, Rosicky and Wilshere I've been forced to play him as the main playmaker in CM. He's been so good that I think I might keep him there for good.