FM2008 - Arsenal FC. mo money, no problems edition.

[steve dewilde]

guys, guys

im gonna cry, it seems i cant find a consistent tactic with 2 strikers upfront no matter my tweaks, i changed so many times now that i feel my team is ****ed up

even now i tried to used kimz tactic no matter which version it seems broken too

Anyone would be kind to help me a bit indicating me which kimz version you re using or even better giving me some advices for a 2 strikers upfront tactic

cheers guys, so desperate i feel to go back on my Milan save or start a new game

shame i had more success with less talented team before dunno what happened

[DiscoStu94]

I use the Kimz 2.0 tactic, works well for me. Maybe it's your players? I usually line up with:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Lehmann

Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy

Flamini Diaby

Rosicky Fabregas Van Persie

Adebayor </pre>

For a 4-4-2, I use my own tactic (deleted now though, as I was look to delete as much unused stuff as I could from my computer about a month ago), and Hulk's 4-4-2 Personal, which is brilliant for Arsenal, as it uses wingers that cut in to the AMC position like IRL.

[DiscoStu94]

Oh and perservere with one tactic for about 10 or so games, then you'll find results. Try watching on full/extended highlights, see where your team is going wrong, make tweaks whee needed, see the opposition's key players and shut them down. If I were you I would go to the Tactic's forum, and see Cleon's Sheff Utd Project.

[Taylor_08]

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll231/rafa-de-gafa/arsenaltransfers.jpg

these are my current transfers in and out in first season, iv got hoyte leaving for 3million soon and after that deal goes through il have just over 40million to spend, marcelo is coming in as back up for clichy(as im sending traore out on loan) and future back up for left midfield, he will cost 5million.

that will leave me with 35million to spend

i want ben arfa but they want 45 million so think i might leave it

any suggestions?????

[theincrediblehulk]

steve dewilde

Follow DiscoStu94's advise and try and stick to a tactic for a few games. A team usually needs a little time to adapt. Kimz tactic usually is very effective with Arsenal and you can rip teams apart with it.

But anyway, if its not working for you then I guess you'll have to try something different. It all depends on the players though.

Stick around for a bit. I had promised a few other people on here that I'll share my tactic with them. I'm just getting around to it. I should have it up in a short while (will take me a little time to type some stuff up etc). You can try them and see if they help you any.

[mmmark]

Originally posted by liam_everton89:

That Barkroth looks good, is he a regen?

Pace is very low the same with some important mental attributes but at 16 he's got plenty of time to improve them. Good find

hes not a regen pick him up at 15 years old

[Heisenberg]

Hey all, I'm heading into the 2011 season and my squad is starting to get a little bit old. I've got young players coming through in most places they're needed but I'm a bit worried about the right wing. Hleb is 30 and I think starting to decline and my back up is Merida trained to AMR. He looks decent enough but I'm not sure I can rely on him yet, so I was wondering who could be a good replacement at top level?

Here's my squard, incase it helps:

GK: Gordon (Kameni)

DL: Clichy (Traore)

DR: Van Den Borre (Hoyte)

DC: Toure (Djourou)

DC: Richards (Gallas/Wells[R])

MC: Fabregas (Randall/Mordic)

MC: Flamini (Denilson)

AML: Rosicky (Modric/Eaton[R])

AMR: Hleb (Merida/Wallcott)

ST: Bendtner (Vela)

ST: Walcott (Eduardo/Conroy[R])

[R] denotes a regen

Modric will soon replace Rosicky and rotate with Eaton, Gallas is still at the club as he's a great tutor and he seems to be happy only playing a few cup games a season and being a sub occasionally.

Money is not exactly an object when it comes to buying players, though I'd prefer to avoid any really big signings (e.g. Kaka, Ronaldo etc)

Any thoughts?

[steve dewilde]

Originally posted by DiscoStu94:

I use the Kimz 2.0 tactic, works well for me. Maybe it's your players? I usually line up with:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Lehmann

Sagna Toure Gallas Clichy

Flamini Diaby

Rosicky Fabregas Van Persie

Adebayor </pre>

For a 4-4-2, I use my own tactic (deleted now though, as I was look to delete as much unused stuff as I could from my computer about a month ago), and Hulk's 4-4-2 Personal, which is brilliant for Arsenal, as it uses wingers that cut in to the AMC position like IRL.

Cheers DiscoStu94

Same line up than you except Frey as GK.

Yeah i first made like 8 friendlies worked like a charm with Hulk Personnal 442 and suddenly i had a really bad string of results dominating most games in term of chances and loosing 1-0 at the end opposition having like 1 shot on target

Team talks cant be that im using the guide, can be bad luck but tbh i find EPL team a lot more harder to beat than serie A teams, my Milan is a lot more weaker than my Arsenal and usually i barely loose a game on a whole season.

theincrediblehulk Mate, cheers once again for your support and advices, im not gonna give up like this without trashing Man U and chelsea for few seasons

Oh one thing i noticed also, dunno if it helps most of bad games i had AI using a 4-2-3-1 tactic

[theincrediblehulk]

Ok, some people asked me for my tactic a little while ago. Sorry its taken me so long to get around to uploading it but here it is now. Giving some details on what I try and do/achieve with them too. Hope they help someone!

Before you start using them, I HIGHLY recommend that you guys see the player instructions first and adjust according to the players you have. I'll try and cover what I can. When I'm talking about a position and I mention "they", it means I'm talking about the players occupying that particular position on the pic.

Tactic 1:

Ok, this is the one I use most often. Its pretty much a standard 4-4-2 with both my wide men cutting side. I used to play them at AML/AMR but that used to leave my defence exposed many times as then they tended not to track back. This way they help out in defence too.

Full-backs: I dont have them getting forward much at the start. I do let them run with the ball as they are both decent dribblers. I suggest you reduce the dribbling if you FB's are not good dribblers. Dont want them getting forward too much as I'm not playing with a DM. They do attack, but dont usually get exposed in defence.

Centre-backs: Full defence. No nonsense with them. Only thing you need to adjust is the passing. If your CB's are good passers AND they have good composure, then let them pass it around short. Else, have them tonk it forward. Like I said - no nonsense! If you're not sure, leave it at mixed and adjust after you've seen them play a few times.

Wide-men: Ok, this one is the trickiest I guess. Firstly, they need to be able to play both on the respective wing AND also AMC. If doesnt matter if they're natural or not. They need to atleast be "accomplished". Also, they need to be good passers, have high creativity, good dribbling. These 3 stats would be the most important I think. Will also help if they are "flair" players. Speed doesnt matter a LOT but dont expcept players with speeds of 10 or 11 to do well! With these guys, I let them do practically everything. ADJUST your players according to their stats. If they're not good crossers, then dont let them cross often. If they cant shoot (Hleb!), then have LS down to "rarely". Now, one thing I've not figured out yet is strength. I should thing its very important but for some reason, I cant figure it out. Both of my men have strength of 11. But although Cole gets knocked off the ball quite easily at times, players can never seem to get the ball away from Rosicky. Like I said, not figured this one out yet so you'll have to watch out for it. If your players are getting knocked off the ball easily, then you might be in for trouble.

Central players: Firstly, the one the right - Fabregas. Pretty standard stuff really. Cesc is ideal over there with the instructions I have. Gets plenty of assists for me, a few goals and also generally does well. In the centre, strength DOES matter. A LOT! They dont need to be bull-dogs. But atleast 14-15 is minimum I guess. If the player is not of the calibre of Cesc and Toulalan, possibly more. Cant comment much about this position but you would need to have someone very good here. I've tried Lucho Gonzalez, Joao Moutinho and Denilson in this position and all of them rock. So that gives you a little idea. Tried Rosicky here and he failed miserably!

On to Toulalan. A bit trickier this. I've not managed to figure out the best way to play this position yet. With the instructions he currently has, he's doing well enough. Gets a few assists but doesnt seem to score sadly. Never gets below a 7 but rarely gets an 8 either. I'm now playing him with the same instructions as Fabregas and experimenting. Afraid you guys will have to mess around a little with this one. Also, I've only got Toulalan in this year. Last year, I had Flamini in this position. Unless I forget, I'll put a note about what I did last year with a DM at the bottom.

Strikers: They both have pretty much the same instructions. Except Van Persie has a little more creative freedom. Bring it in the centre if the player playing instead of RVP is not very creative.

If you're losing a game with this tactic with only like 30 mins or so to go, then switching to the below tactic usually helps. But you'll need to substitute appropriately.

Tactic 2:

Pretty much the same as the previous one. Not too many things have changed. Except, for the wide men ofcourse. The team instructions have changed slightly for the play to be focussed "down both flanks".

There are 2 key things here which I'll mention below.

Full-backs: Same as above. Except, their crosses are aimed at the "centre". Not very important, but they seem to get a few assists at times.

Centre-backs: Same as above.

Wide-men: Ok, this is important. Your 2 wide men, of all things, NEED to have some pace and some acceleration. I'm thinking 17 or more if possible (which both Walcott and Di Maria have). Secondly, they need to be alteast decent dribbliers of the ball. The better they are, the more consistent they will be. And lastly, would help IMMENSELY if they have good crossing. Oh, and the MR needs to be predominantly right footed and the ML needs to be predominantly left footed. Else, the crosses just dont come in. The aim here is to exploit the 2 full backs of the opposition ofcourse. Now, both my players are quite interesting. Di Maria is not as quick as Walcott but is much better at dribbling and crossing than him. So he does well. Walcott however, has got such a great amount of pace, that even though he doesnt possess the kind of stats you would require, he more often than not, does well too. So choose these 2 fellows carefully. They will be the 2 guys who're doing most of the work for you. Obviously, stats like stamina, strength etc help. Note here, I've not been able to try this tactic with even better wingers. For eg, never tried it with Joaquin on the right and say Silva or someone on the left. I did put Van Persie on the left a few times when I didnt have Di Maria and he usually caused a LOT of chaos.

Central midfield: The right one is exactly the same as above. The left one, I usually edit the tactic a little when I play Cattermole. I have him tackling at "hard", his creativity and attacking at normal (in the centre), his long shots at "mixed". Seems to work as he's been bloody brilliant so far. No idea why it doesnt work for Toulalan!

Strikers: The other key area. The most important thing here is that your 2 ST's HAVE to be good in the air. Both Bendtner and Vaughan are very good in the air. I've played Adebayor and Bendtner before as well with the same tactic and it creates even more havoc! The idea is obvious. Just keep supplying these 2 with a lot of crosses and they'll usually get their head on it and score.

Now, a few other points about this tactic:

- If you're losing and need to score, it usually helps putting a CB or a DM (or someone with good heading and jumping anyway) at AMC with an arrow going between the 2 strikers. Have him make a lot of forward runs as well. NOTE: this is what I was talking about when I was mentioning Flamini above.

- If you're losing, change your full back instructions to forward runs "often". Also, have an arrow from LB/RB to AML/AMR. But remember, you're commiting a LOT of players forward. Might leave you exposed on the counter. With that team, I usually put in another CB or DM instead of Cattermole and push Denilson back to DM. Figure that Denilson will be able to pass the ball around better and will be able to defend as well. So its only 3 at the back.

- Try your best to have 2 other wingers on the subs bench with pace. If its not working out great, sub both your wide players and get the ones on the bench on. They NEED to have a lot of pace again. With the opposition full back tiring, they will blow by every often and whip crosses in. I've got Barnes for Walcott atm and he does very well coming off the bench. In all honesty, Barnes is probably better than Theo and he might just be replacing him in the starting line-up next season. Dont have one for Di Maria yet sadly. But if he gets injured or something, I usually put RVP in. Or sometimes, I put Mattock at LB and push Traore to the wing.

Anyway, I think I've got most of it down. Might have missed some points. But feel free to ask whatever you need.

Here are the links to the 2 tactics:

Tactic 1

Tactic 2

Now, these are not fool-proof tactics and I dont guarantee that they'll work. But they have worked well for me so far and I thought I'd share them. Hope they work out for someone though!

Like said above, if you have any questions, just ask.

Now I pray to God that I've not made too many mistakes in that post and that it comes out right!! Its bloody long you see!

[theincrediblehulk]

Damn-it! Forgot to post the screenshot of the second tactic. Here is the link to it if you need:

Tactic 2

[steve dewilde]

theincrediblehulk

Brilliant mate, thx a mil, i ll give a go tomorrow,

not exactly same back up guys than you so if i find out any helpfull stuff for this tactic i ll report back here

[arsenalandaa4life]

Hello everyone,

I am an Arsenal fan and with Arsenal on the verge og signing Samir Nasri(wohoo) I have decided to play as Arsenal. Currently, I am half-way through the season and going strong.

Premiership

Transfers

Highlight of the season so far

Squad

As you can all see from my squad screen, alot of players are on international duty or injured. I think I might go from hero to zero just like we went in real life. I need some backups for positions where you people think are needed. I have around 46 million pounds to spend. Any help would be welcome. Also, tell me of any players I should keep and any players I should try to get rid of.

[steve dewilde]

arsenalandaa4life

Well, from my point of view, i would say:

A Center Back:someone like Barzagli or Burdiso, strong and not too slow

A Fast Striker good enough to fight with RVP for the slot: Aguero or Bojan ?

Full backs are ok since you kept all your good players sagna clichy traoré

Midfield seems good enough to me

GK never tried Boruk before is he great ? prefer usually to go for Fry or Lloris

In short i would buy a CB and a fast striker but if you re doing it, just buy real quality otherwise it will be useless since you ve quality team they wont even fight for a back up slot

[theincrediblehulk]

Taylor_08

You got some really bad deals in the players you've sold mate. Should have easily got more for Almunia and Diaby. The other 2 are fine I guess.

Anyway, I guess you have a solid enough squad. Dont think you need Ben Arfa mate. You've got Modric and Menez that you've bought. More than enough. You also have Hleb and Rosicky around. With Marcelo already coming, you'll definitely be needing to sell off some players mate. I'd recommend starting with Hleb who's probably the worst of the lot (but still a good player though). Dont think you need players anywhere really. If you do buy, make sure you sell one in the same position to balance it out. You can maybe try to get rid of Gallas and buy a younger CB like Vidal or Fazio.

Heisenberg

I'd start with RB mate. Get rid of Van Den Borre. He's a TERRIBLE defender. With concentration of 5, he shouldnt be anywhere NEAR your defence. Seriously, get a bette RB. He might get good ratings but that will only be because he attacks well. The game in misleading there. Saying that, dont sell him. He's actually a wonderful winger. You should have a ready-made replacement for Hleb right there. I see you're not the spending type, so I guess it'll make sense. Just get a better first choice RB. If you fancy a big player (even though you say you dont), get Ramos. Quality of course. De Silvestri is also a big name I guess and he'll be expensive. See how Loic Abenzoar and Nedum Onuoha have turned out. Become excellent RB's sometimes. Also, check on Danny Simpson. If not at Man Utd, you might be able to buy him. Else, you can try for Behrami. Also quality but not the best of markers (dont let him man-mark basically!). Or you can just shift Richards to RB and look for a better CB. Federico Fazio, Arturo Vidal, Gerson, Rafael Forster are a few options.

Other than that, you're good I reckon. Where are guys like Lansbury, Wilshere, Bartley though? All become very good. Lansbury and Wilshere are MUCH better than Randall mate (or atleast turn out much better). Also, where is Nordtveit???

steve dewilde

No worries mate. Hope it helps. Let me know how you get on if you use the tactics.

arsenalandaa4life

Looks like a very interesting season there mate. Bet you're enjoying it!

Not convinced about Boruc mate. He's decent but not that good. A little TOO eccentric. Lloris or Frey are MUCH better imo.

You need a CB or two. I'd say get 2. 1 experienced and 1 younger player. The experienced guy can pair up with Gallas till Toure comes back. And youngster can play in smaller games. Sell Senderos. Next season, sell Gallas too. The new experienced CB with start and the youngster, along with Djourou will be backups. For an experienced hand, try Burdisso or Barzagli if he's not moved. Mertesacker is another one. For the younger option, check out Federico Fazio or Arturo Vidal. Both excellent. Also, Habib Bellaid is an option. Becomes quality after a season or two.

You're fine elsewhere. Play Eduardo at ML instead of Diaby. You can actually sell Diaby if you want. You've got plenty of cover in midfield. Also, give Bendtner more games. You dont want him to get annoyed and leave mate. Trust me!

[Taylor_08]

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll231/rafa-de-gafa/arsenalsquad.jpg

started the season very well beating birmingham, newcastle and reading in the league, scoring 9 and conceding none

iv still got 30 million to spend, 33million when hoyte goes to everton, also looking to offload gilberto soon

any suggestions were to strengthen, tried for ben arfa but they wanted 40-50million

[Remalap]

I've got a question for you all.

I've just got a news feed saying that Pato's contract is set to expire in 6 months, so he can be signed for free.

The players I've got in his position are:

Emmanuel Adebayor (first choice striker, for obvious reasons)

James Vaughan (second choice and cup game striker. He always plays well and I want to keep him fit for my England team)

Sergio Aguero (Third choice, and is starting to get frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities)

As far as I can tell, the options I have are:

1. I sell unhappy Aguero for a good price, and replace him with Pato for free;

2. Give Aguero some games and try to keep him, and leave Pato to resolve his differences at Milan;

3. Keep Aguero and get Pato anyway, as at the end of the day free is free and if I don't use him I can sell him for a big profit in a short while.

I'm quite liking option #3, but interested to see what everyone else thinks.

[arsenalandaa4life]

thanks hulk and stevie. i have decided to go for 2 defenders. Fazio and Burdisso. Are you sure about Boruc? He is brill for me.

[arsenalandaa4life]

Originally posted by Remalap:

I've got a question for you all.

I've just got a news feed saying that Pato's contract is set to expire in 6 months, so he can be signed for free.

The players I've got in his position are:

Emmanuel Adebayor (first choice striker, for obvious reasons)

James Vaughan (second choice and cup game striker. He always plays well and I want to keep him fit for my England team)

Sergio Aguero (Third choice, and is starting to get frustrated at his lack of first team opportunities)

As far as I can tell, the options I have are:

1. I sell unhappy Aguero for a good price, and replace him with Pato for free;

2. Give Aguero some games and try to keep him, and leave Pato to resolve his differences at Milan;

3. Keep Aguero and get Pato anyway, as at the end of the day free is free and if I don't use him I can sell him for a big profit in a short while.

I'm quite liking option #3, but interested to see what everyone else thinks.

I take it you are using one striker. if so, then either option 1 or option 2. Decide who you think is better. Aguero or Pato? Also, whats with James Vaughan? Pato is twice the player he is. Why not just get rid of him and replace him with Pato?

[Remalap]

Originally posted by arsenalandaa4life:

I take it you are using one striker. if so, then either option 1 or option 2. Decide who you think is better. Aguero or Pato? Also, whats with James Vaughan? Pato is twice the player he is. Why not just get rid of him and replace him with Pato?

a) I want to keep a good percentage of my squad English

b) He's got 59 goals in 60 starts over 4 years for me, compared to Pato's record of 48 in 119 starts for Milan

c) He doesn't whine at being second-choice

[arsenalandaa4life]

keep aguero and leave pato then. pato's form is poor

[Balthazars]

Originally posted by theincrediblehulk:

Centre-backs: Full defence. No nonsense with them. Only thing you need to adjust is the passing. If your CB's are good passers AND they have good composure, then let them pass it around short. Else, have them tonk it forward. Like I said - no nonsense! If you're not sure, leave it at mixed and adjust after you've seen them play a few times.

...

Both of my men have strength of 11. But although Cole gets knocked off the ball quite easily at times, players can never seem to get the ball away from Rosicky. Like I said, not figured this one out yet so you'll have to watch out for it. If your players are getting knocked off the ball easily, then you might be in for trouble.

...

Gets a few assists but doesnt seem to score sadly. Never gets below a 7 but rarely gets an 8 either. I'm now playing him with the same instructions as Fabregas and experimenting. Afraid you guys will have to mess around a little with this one. Also, I've only got Toulalan in this year. Last year, I had Flamini in this position. Unless I forget, I'll put a note about what I did last year with a DM at the bottom.

...

Now I pray to God that I've not made too many mistakes in that post and that it comes out right!! Its bloody long you see!

Very good work, and a solid tactical discussion. I note that a lot of players simply aren't willing to sit down and take the time to take apart their tactics in the early stages of the game and expect things to be able to 'pick up and play'. Maybe in past games, but recently, it's certainly not the case.

I'll add in some of my own thoughts on using a 4-4-2:

Centre-backs: irrespective of their passing ability, you need to be careful when setting them to long or direct passing. I used to like doing this, but I found with my new Arsenal game that this costs me a lot of possession and leads to the CB's having a lot of unsuccessful passes. Taking that down to the highest notch of 'mixed' passing (in other words, one more tick takes them to direct) keeps possession much more.

...

Strength certainly is a strange stat, but I've tended to find it could almost be considered a stat that 'synchronizes' with other stats.

For example: good strength + good dribbling + technique + ball control equals someone extremely hard to dispossess; especially when they're on the run. Cole might lose the ball more than Rosicky because he isn't as good a dribbler or doesn't have as good technique (not sure, would have to check their stats).

Similar: good strength + good jumping + heading = someone very hard to beat in the air. With jumping and heading stats equal, someone who has more physical strength probably has a slight advantage in winning the ball. (Trust me, as a small CB in my playing days, it can be a real struggle sometimes).

...

A CM playing as DM is tricky to manage in FM games... I have mine a few notches more defensive in mentality than the attacking CM (but still ranked at 'normal'), which means they drop a bit deeper and as a result, see a heck of a lot more of the ball. Problem is, unless they're a good passer, they don't tend to do much with it. If they're a poor passer, then again, you'll lose possession often - and often dangerous possession just around the half-way line, because they'll give the ball away trying to pass.

As a result, I like to have a ball-playing DM with decent creativity. Hard to find, but if you can retrain someone to the posistion it could work.

Surprisingly, Fabregas can play this role, but it'll usually forego any goal-scoring and probably reduce his assists, but the team will knock the ball around well.

...

Also, DiscoStu mentioned something really important - especially at the start of the game, or with a new team, your tactics will usually produce some fairly crap results for at least a month, probably two, maybe more (if you're really unlucky). Persistance is the name of the game. As long as you're not getting creamed, gradual tweaks is the way to go, otherwise players have no time to settle.

This game (if you read my story *hint hint* ) started with some good results, but generally playing really poorly in August, but into September, with a few minor tweaks, the performances improved substantially.

After a few months with a settled 4-4-2, I'll try to tinker and get the team with a back-up formation for when things aren't going too well. I'm thinking a narrow 4-1-3-2, harking back to my old Reading days on FM05...

Oh, also watch extended or full match highlights in friendlies and early games, as they help to show how your team performs much better than key highlights (when everything is either going really right, or really wrong!). Also, have a look at your team stats at the end of the game - pay attention to interceptions, passes attempted/completed and headers/runs to see how players are performing.

So stick with it, working through tactics can be frustrating (when you're getting creamed), but is a really rewarding portion of the game when you get it right!

Hope it helps.

[Taylor_08]

http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll231/rafa-de-gafa/arsenalsquad.jpg

started the season very well beating birmingham, newcastle and reading in the league, scoring 9 and conceding none

iv still got 30 million to spend, 33million when hoyte goes to everton, also looking to offload gilberto soon

any suggestions were to strengthen, tried for ben arfa but they wanted 40-50million

[theincrediblehulk]

Taylor_08

Mate, you're not being ignored on here. I've answered you twice now.

This is the first time:

Clichy is definitely good enough defensively. Great full back.

As for attacking players, it depends what position you need them for. I reckon you're fine with strikers. In Adebayor, Van Persie, Eduardo and Bendtner you have 4 top-class strikers.

For the wings, you can try Matias Fernandez, Hatem Ben Arfa, Jeremy Menez, Marcelo for a start. By Jan, you should be able to pick up Fernando Belluschi, Vicente and Joaquin cheapish if you want.

If you want players for central midfield, try Lucho Gonzalez, Joao Moutinho, Miguel Veloso, Ever Banega (loan with an option to buy), Javi Martinez.

And this is the second time:

You got some really bad deals in the players you've sold mate. Should have easily got more for Almunia and Diaby. The other 2 are fine I guess.

Anyway, I guess you have a solid enough squad. Dont think you need Ben Arfa mate. You've got Modric and Menez that you've bought. More than enough. You also have Hleb and Rosicky around. With Marcelo already coming, you'll definitely be needing to sell off some players mate. I'd recommend starting with Hleb who's probably the worst of the lot (but still a good player though). Dont think you need players anywhere really. If you do buy, make sure you sell one in the same position to balance it out. You can maybe try to get rid of Gallas and buy a younger CB like Vidal or Fazio.

Those two are in reply to the other 2 posts you made.

[Ville Valo]

I think i might start again, I've got way too many youth players, and I have 1 billion in the bank, Not much point now. I'll post a new game update later

[theincrediblehulk]

Remalap

Tough choice that. No chance of playing Aguero as AMC? He's excellent there too you know. Ideally, I would say start playing 2 upfront. With players of that quality you would need to.

Anyway, if you want to stick to your current formation, then I wouldnt bother with Pato mate. Let someone else get him. Hopefully, it'll be a competitor of yours which would just make the game a little more interesting! But everytime I've played, Aguero has ALWAYS been better than Pato imo. So I'd stick with Sergio and start giving him some games. You shouldnt need money that late in the game. With Arsenal, you always have plenty. So no point getting Pato just for the future money.

arsenalandaa4life

Yep, I'm sure about Boruc mate. He is a good GK but because his eccentricity is so high, although he'll full off some classic saves at times, he'll also commit some howlers. But stick with him if he's doing well for you I guess.

Balthazars

Cheers for that.

CB's: Yeah you're right about the possession. But like I said, if they have good passing and composure, they will be fine passing the ball short as well. That helps you keep possession. If you tonk it forward, you'll most probably lose it.

Strength: Its a strange one alright. Like I said, it still doesnt make sense. Because Rosicky and Cole have very similar stats but still, like I said, Cole gets knocked off the ball easily at times but Rosicky doesnt. Rosicky is slight better so maybe that helps I guess.

DM: I like the bit about increasing his creativity a little. Got to try that the next time. Still cant get the best out of Toulalan though. And he's a CM as well.

Oh, and I did read some of your story mate. Couldnt read the whole thing though but will get around to it eventually.

[Taylor_08]

thanks hulk i took your advice about toure and the other signings, but chairman accepted the 20 million, and toure wanted to leave so couldnt stop him, had to bring garay in as cover and along with gallas and djourou and sakho i should be fine

also signed ninis and bruna from liverpool, both with PA's well over 180

in january il look to offload hoyte(rejected everton's wages), gilberto silva and probalvy hleb

just wondering are there any special instructions for fabregas because for me he has been very average in comparison to the rest of the team, no goals and very few assists, when he was suspended denilson had a higher average rating and scored and flamini is outperforming both of them

[theincrediblehulk]

Taylor_08

Personally, I quite detest Garay as he lacks some of the key stats to be a world-class CB. Shame you lost Toure. He's bloody good and you're going to miss him. Dont forget about Nordtveit in your reserves. Becomes quality - much better than Garay.

No special instructions for Cesc. Play him a CM with an attacking mentality and high creativity. RWB often, TB often, FR often, LS mixed and CB mixed. If you wish, make him the playmaker. Cesc doesnt always perform very well in the first season for some on reason. He's good, but not great. But if season 2, he starts playing awesome. Just stick with him and he'll come good I'm sure. He doesnt usually get a lot of assists or score a lot but thats mainly because of the way the game engine is. CM's dont usually score a lot in the game and getting assists through the middle of the park is hard too. But if you watch the complete match, you'll see the number of crucial passes he makes and number of times he sets up attacks. Quality the lad is.

[Taylor_08]

thanks and im not a fan of garay either but i needed some back up for gallas and barzagli and it was the last day of the window and his release clause was only just over 10 million, im sure i can sell him for more at the end of the season and bring someone like pique in to replace him

[Remalap]

Originally posted by theincrediblehulk:

Remalap

Tough choice that. No chance of playing Aguero as AMC? He's excellent there too you know. Ideally, I would say start playing 2 upfront. With players of that quality you would need to.

Anyway, if you want to stick to your current formation, then I wouldnt bother with Pato mate. Let someone else get him. Hopefully, it'll be a competitor of yours which would just make the game a little more interesting! But everytime I've played, Aguero has ALWAYS been better than Pato imo. So I'd stick with Sergio and start giving him some games. You shouldnt need money that late in the game. With Arsenal, you always have plenty. So no point getting Pato just for the future money.

Yeah, the finances are pretty strong, currently standing at £290m with an unused transfer kitty of £172m so I don't really need the money at all. I forgot to mention that I use Aguero as a AMC, and he's had a few games since my last post - getting himself 7 goals and 7 assists in 10 games in all comp's. His form has been so great that he's kept top-scorer Messi out of the team.

I've decided not to bother with Pato, the future £20m-plus transfer fee really isn't worth the potential trouble he could cause if my other forwards become unsettled with the amount of competition. Plus, Vaughan is on fire (himself keeping Adebayor out of the starting XI).

As far as tactics go, I'm too scared to change. My main area of weakness in FM is formations and I know that if I were to be brave and venture away from Kimz, I'd crash and burn. I've decided that once I get bored with this save, I'll start again and get msyelf tactially aware but until then Kimz is my Holy Grail.

[mmmark]

Hey can i get a link to Kimz =]

[Remalap]

Here's the link to the thread:

http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/6652005383/p/1

If you look through the pages, there's a version 2 which is the one I use and have had much success with.

[Heisenberg]

hulk

Cheers mate, I'd used VDB as cover for Hleb in the past so I know he can cut it on the wing. I have a young DRL who looks very promising and I'm hoping to use him at RB in the future, so I'm thinking it makes more sense to bring in an older player who'll cover for a few years till Abbey (the regen) gets good enough to play there. Failing that, Onuoha is currently at Porto and looks very affordable, so I'm scouting him now

I've sold Lansbury to Blackburn with a buy back of £3.5M, he really didn't look the business at all and wasn't getting a game. Wilshere, Bartley and Nordtveit are all on season long loans at the moment but I'm expecting to have to make some tough choices when they're pushing to get in to the first team

[louis118]

What do people think about this bid?

[LabbRatt]

Hi guys im starting an Aresnal save. Just wondering are there any must buys and which staff should i bring in. Im on Patch 8.02. Cheers

[DiscoStu94]

That's pretty tough, but I can assume you don't need the money (only £20M will come to the transfer kitty anyway), and IMO he becomes the best defensive midfielder in the world in the game later on, so I'd reject. If they had offered about £20M up front as well, then I'd accept. In my other game (up to 2014), he was head and shoulders above everyone else, one of the reasons I conceded the least amount out of all of the major leagues.

[DiscoStu94]

LabbRatt

Check out page 96 (or 97), Hulk made a massive post about where to strengthen and who to buy etc etc. Staff is more tricky, they tend to change in ever game. What I usually do is sack anyone without 7 stars (bar Primorac, he needs £3M compensation, just let his contract run out), then use the guide in the Tactics Forum to find staff that do have 7 stars in particular area. Set pieces is the hardest, only once ever found someone with 7 stars there.

[theincrediblehulk]

louis118

I wouldnt sell Denilson mate. You shouldnt be needing the money so whats the point? It doesnt matter what the offder is. Keep him.

LabbRatt

Check out page 96 on this thread mate. I made a big post regarding the same question on there and hopefully you'll find it useful too.

[louis118]

yep I wont sell him.

[Flair]

Heh. I'd take that at the start of the first season, (since 50% sell on means you'll pretty much always break even buying back).

However, yeah, his probably already bossing midfield, and continues to do so for about 6-7 seasons. At least.

[Mark.]

Hey guys, just working my way through the pre season window and still got a fair bit of cash left and realised im not really that happy with my CB rotation.

I sold Gallas as Milan came knocking with an 10m approx offer. So to fill his void I signed Burdisso who I imagine is going to be just as good alongside Toure. However im not sold on my back-ups; so far its only Djourou and Senderos, I like Djourou, but I really don't have much faith or time for Senderos.

So im thinking ill either sell Senderos or send him on loan to Ajax and bring in someone like Vidal or Fazio. Only problem is im not entirely sure that those two would be ready enough to back up in the ECL etc, and on that matter im not 100% that Djourou is ready.

Also I sent Walcott and Diaby to Ajax to get more games, Im looking to sell Diaby so this is just to hopefully boost his value, but im not so sure if sending Walcott was a good idea, will it stunt his growth or will he do fine there?

BTW im on 8.0.2 and this is at the beginning of the first season.

[LabbRatt]

Hulk and Disco Stu

Cheers will check it out.

Disco Stu

Can you post the link to the set peices screen.

[Balthazars]

Mark

Personally I would rather keep Walcott with the first team in the first season. He's flexible in that he can play right wing or up front, so he should be able to get a few games with injuries/rotation.

While Eboue isn't bad on the wing in the game, I think Walcott would still outperform him if he's given a few games to find his feet.

Diaby is a mixed bag. He got injured for 4 months in mine, so it looks like I'll be loaning him out too once he regains fitness.

I've not had to rotate my CB partnership yet (Gallas and Toure are doing fine), but I'm a bit of a fan of Senderos and so I'm willing to give him a shot. Personally I never really liked Djourou that much, but I haven't played him yet in FM08 so no idea of his quality.

[Remalap]

Mark.

You're right, Senderos is hopeless in this game. Djourou becomes very good, but doesn't start to hold is own until season 3 in my opinion.

If you've got a fair bit of money left (and aren't afraid to spend) then maybe Micah Richards? He's expensive, but he is SOOOOOOOOO worth it.

Failing that, you could try for Barzagli. Will cost you something like £13m if I remember correctly. As we all know, he's real quality and perfect for Champions' League rotation.

[louis118]

Brought Back Henry for 2 million, first game back he showed Man Utd what they've missed...

[stelly999]

Hey guys, just looking for a few suggestions on where I can improve my current squad.

Atm I'm looking towards maybe a young CM. I've got at least £50M to spend so money isn't really an issue.

Here's my current squad:

Any suggestions?

[DiscoStu94]

LabbRatt

When you set pieces link, I presume you mean how to get seven stars in it? Here is the link: [urlhttp://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/9782070312[/url]

[DiscoStu94]

LabbRatt

When you set pieces link, I presume you mean how to get seven stars in it? Here is the link: http://community.sigames.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1519717/m/9782070312

[LabbRatt]

Disco Stu

Yeah, thanks for the link.

Anyone know of a good centre back who is young and will replace Gallas 1st season. I have £40mill to spend on him. Preferable under 23.

[DiscoStu94]

Federico Fazio, Serdar Tasci, Fabiano Santacroce, Marek Suchy, Benedikt Howedes, David Rochela, Mamadou Sakho, Havard Nordtveit, Arturo Vidal, Micah Richards, Patricio Araujo, Obama.

[LabbRatt]

are they good enough to replace him first season because i want to see him, i dont rate him as a player.