FM15: Arsenal FC

[arsenalthebest]

October Report

07/10/17 | Barclays Premier League | Stadium Of Light

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7.3 RB: Stones 8.8 RCB: Koscielny 6.7( Naughton 45/7.4) LCB: Doria© 9.2 LB: Taylor 8.9 MCR: Wilshere 7.6 MCL: McCarthy 7.7 AMR: Malcom 9.2 AMC: Munir 8( Pogba 70/6.9) AML: Campbell 6.9( Oxlade-Chamberlain 66/7.4) STC: Giroud 9.5(MoM)

Arsenal 5 ( Giroud 33 , Munir 38 , Doria 66 , Oxlade-Chamberlain 72 |Assts: Taylor 1 , Malcom 2 , Giroud 1 , Naughton 1)

Sunderland 0

21/10/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7 RB: Stones 8.1 RCB: Koscielny 7.9 LCB: LB: Taylor 8 MCR: Wilshere 6.9( Pogba 73/6.8) MCL: McCarthy 8.6 AMR: Malcom 8.1( Deulofeu 66/6.9) AMC: Munir 9 AML: Gibbs 7( Oxlade-Chamberlain 66/7.2 STC: Giroud 9.2(MoM)

Arsenal 4 ( Giroud 5 , Munir 33 , Doria 56 , Oxlade-Chamberlain 85 | Assts: Giroud 2 , Wilshere 1 , Malcom 1)

Everton 0

25/10/17 | UEFA Champions League (Grp Stage) | Signal Iduna Park

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 6.8 RB: Chambers 7.4 RCB: Koscielny 7.3( Naughton 56/6.5) LCB: Doria© 7.8 LB: Taylor 7.2 MCR: Wilshere 8.9( Pogaba 81) MCL: McCarthy 8.3 AMR: Deulofeu 8.8 AMC: Munir 9 AML: Zivkovic 9.1(MoM - Oxlade-Chamberlain 81) STC: Giroud 8.8

Arsenal 5 ( Giroud 19 & 37 , Munir PEN 45+2 , Zivkovic 62 , Deulofeu 81 | Assts: Deulofeu 3 , Chambers 1 , Munir 1)

Dortmund 2 ( Firmino 82 , Hummels 90+1)

28/10/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7.3 RB: Chambers 7.6 RCB: Koscielny 7.6 LCB: Doria© 6.8(Kjær 26/7.1 LB: Taylor 7.2( Gibbs 45/6.6) MCR: Nevas 6.9( McCarthy 72/8) MCL: L.Long AMR: Halilovic 7.3 AML: Malcom 8.8 STCR: J.Long 8.5 STCL: Campbell 9.2

Arsenal 5 ( J.Long 2 , Campbell 28 , L.Long 36 , Campbell 45+1 , McCarthy 85 | Assts: Malcom 2)

Charlton 1 ( Van Wolfswinkel 62)

[JEinchy]

Another year, another COC final, another defeat. City beat us 4-3, with two of their youngsters scoring on their debuts, of course.

EDIT: Another year, another disappointingly poor intake of youth players. Has anyone had a decent batch yet?

[arsenalthebest]

Another year, another COC final, another defeat. City beat us 4-3, with two of their youngsters scoring on their debuts, of course.

EDIT: Another year, another disappointingly poor intake of youth players. Has anyone had a decent batch yet?

yep I have last season I got a potential to be key player and a potential to be a quality player

[css_matt]

So I got offered the Arsenal job after guiding West Brom to 2 consecutive 7th placed finishes. The board wouldnt support me financially and my best players were getting poached. I took the Arsenal job under the expectation I should be challenging for the title.

21 games into the season and I am 5th, 11 points off top. I have let in a massive 36 goals.

I have torn up the tactics and will be starting them from scratch but I need suggestions. This years game seems funny in that some games I can dominate as I would expect yet against certain formations lesser teams will dominate me.

I have a small youthful squad available to me.

Szczesny, Ospina

Clyne, Debuchy

Stones, Chambers, Jones, Abdennour, Per

Gibbs

Gil Romero, Pirlo, Jojic

Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozilm Gnarby

The Ox, Shaqiri, Sanchez, Bruno

Aguero, Ruidiaz

Aguero cost me a massive 120m but his injury proneness is proving to be a pain and he cant get a run of games going. Considering this & the season so far. Alexis Sanchez will be the main man, the team will be made around him to compliment him. He has a great return so far of 14 in 20 playing as an Inside Forward on the left.

Need some suggestions on how to give him as much space as possible.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I've been playing a team set up like

GKd

FBs CBd CBd FBs

RGAs

CMd CMa

IFs Ws

AFa/TMa/F9s/DLFa depending

On Structured/Defend, with instructions to lower the tempo and attempt to get and keep possession. With that squad I'd tinker with the midfield a bit. I don't really like playing a CAM so maybe retrain Ozil to either CM or Striker (or just play him out of position). Maybe Ozil as an APa ahead of a CMd BWMs duo, or Romero as a DMs behind Wilshere's APa and Ramsey's BBM central midfield duo. On the wings, play an IF on the left and either a Ws or another IF on support on the right depending on who your striker is and how they'll score.

Generally it seems much easier to set up a team to attack than to defend.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Tom Whittaker

£110k/week until 2020.

Reputation 85%

Media Handling 1%

Tactical Consistency 75%

Hands On Approach 80%

Managing Finances 100%

Handling Team Discipline 80%

Loyalty to Players 55%

Domestic Player Bias 20%

Best Opinion: Per Mertesacker, Paulo Sousa, Roberto Mancini, Brendan Rodgers, Massimilliano Allegri

Worst Opinion: David Trezeguet, Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino, Rene Girard, Mark Hughes

Wot's your Arsenal manager look like?

[Chewy2006]

Hey, does anyone know or had issue where you have clubs interested in either loaning or buying a player you have listed but yet they don't make an offer so you can't sell or loan player out?

[JEinchy]

Wot's your Arsenal manager look like?

Roberto Martinez, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Massimiliano Allegrei and Ruud Gullit have the best opinion about me.

Pochettino, Darren Ferguen, Peter Schmeichel, Gus Poyet and, hilariously, Abou Diaby all hate my guts.

Dan Crowley just scored the best goal I've seen on this year's FM:

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Hey everyone, I am having great fun and am in the form of my life playing an attacking shape similar to the Invincibles of 2003/04. If anyone's interested, I thought I'd share.

I'll start with a screenshot & then I'll explain.

The shape is a fluid 4-4-2 shape, which could be described as a lopsided 4-2-3-1.

The mentality is attack and the team instructions are drop deeper, close down much less, stay on feet, and tighter marking in defence and exploit flanks, pass into space and play out of defence in attack. The strategy is to drop deep, draw the opposition out and hit them like lightning on the break.

The result has been devastating:

89 goals in 27 games. 21 goals and 16 assists from Sanchez, in Henry-esq form. Another 20 goals from Cazorla, completing the Henry-Pires double act:

So, how does it work?

Cleon mentions in his Walls of Jericho article that space, movement and width are the key to breaking a side down. Combine this with Arsenal's squad, particularly in attack, the recurring trend is pace and technique and you have a devastating tactic.

Width is already a strength of an attacking mentality, so I maximise this by playing a Complete Wingback (Attack) on the left, and Winger (Attack) on the right. Crucially this stretches the defence, occupies the fullbacks and creates space for the men in the middle.

The low block created by team instructions drop deeper, close down much less, stay on feet, and tighter marking tempt the opposition forward and leave gaps at the back.

Breaking down the movement, I'll start from the top:

Sanchez, in the Henry role

Sanchez already has great Off the Ball movement and the PPMs move into channels and likes to try to beat offside trap, which is perfect. Combine this with a Complete Forward (Support) role, with instructions move into channels and run wide with the ball and you have some devastating attacking movement.

Sanchez is also a quick, powerful striker. A great dribbler and comfortable on the ball. Sanchez is the spearhead of the team.

Cazorla, in the Pires role

Cazorla is an intelligent, creative player with excellent movement. Comfortable with both feet, great dribbler, excellent technically and composed. He is not a grafter, hence why he is in the AML position. I use Cazorla to overload the opposition DRC so he plays Inside Forward (Support) with sit narrower and get forward more.

Cazorla is the main threat arriving in the space vacated by Sanchez.

Gibbs, in the Cole role

Gibbs simply plays as a Complete Wingback (Attack). He charges down the wing aggressively, creating an overload on our left flank. We often have 2v1 or 3v2 on the left side.

Ozil, in the Bergkamp role

Feeding this flurry of movement and pace I have Ozil, one of the best playmakers in the world, as an Enganche (Attack). I choose Enganche as I didn't want the movement of the Trequartista. I want Ozil staying in 'the hole', being as available as possible for the ball at any point, ready to change the direction of play, slow things down or play that killer ball. I like having one, more stationary, focal point to an attack. He occupies the opposition DMC if they have one, preventing him helping stop the overload on the left, or sitting in open space & drawing the defender out, if they don't have one. I also don't want Ozil moving wide, clashing with Sanchez, Cazorla or Gibbs on the left or Theo on the right.

The midfield

Quick note on the midfield - clearly very different to the Vieira - Gilberto axis of the Invincibles. This was my big concern at the start of the season. Would this work? Could Ramsey and Wilshere control a midfield together? The answer has been a unanimous YES. They have been excellent. Ramsey has been the engine room of the team, whilst Wilshere is the heartbeat. Ramsey has returned 10 goals and 13 assists in the league, supporting the Cazorla, Sanchez, Gibbs combination. Wilshere has dominated games with his vision and technical ability from deep. I model this midfield combination of Real Madrid of recent years.

The right flank

Again, very simple but actually crucial. Stretching the defence. We regularly start the attack down the right before getting the ball to Ozil who switches the play to the left and destroys the overloaded defence.

Putting all this together

The final point I feel has added to the success has been training attacking movement for a day before each game and training Team Cohesion as much as possible for general team training. Certainly seems to help!

Anyways, I've enjoyed this game - hope you've enjoyed reading. Have a go yourself and let me know if I can help or if you find any improvements!!

Disclaimer: I'm not going to finish unbeaten, that's not the point. I am hoping to record a 100+ point finish though.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Roberto Martinez, Carlo Ancelotti, Rafa Benitez, Massimiliano Allegrei and Ruud Gullit have the best opinion about me.

Pochettino, Darren Ferguen, Peter Schmeichel, Gus Poyet and, hilariously, Abou Diaby all hate my guts.

Dan Crowley just scored the best goal I've seen on this year's FM:

That is a bit of a peach.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Currently I'm getting to do one of my favorite things: blood a ton of youngsters in a game against much lower-league opposition. It's a home tie in the FA cup against Gosport in January 2018.

Kierran Gibbs is my left-back and captain with David Ospina in goal; regular right back Javi Manquillo makes a rehab start. I've also got an extremely strong bench with Gotze, Balanta, AOC, Ramsey and other first-choice players. This is because my central midfield partnership is 17 year old Soliou da Silva, French DM/M prospect, and 18 year old Israel, 18 year old DM/DC prospect. 17 year old Tom Sharp, signed last year from the Leeds system, starts alongside 17 year old Franck Morel, a Frenchman I scouted and signed from FC Sochaux. He made his debut in a League Cup loss last season; this will be his second game for Arsenal. Academy product Adam Gill starts on the right with Jon Ander Portillo, signed from Osasuna back in 2014, on the left. Portillo is 21 and has spent the last three seasons on loan at AZ, PSV and Hannover; he's just starting to break into the senior squad. 17 year old Nuno Tiago starts up front; as a 15 year old, he was released from Braga B, signed by Portuguese Second League side Freamunde and later sent on loan to SV Mattersburg in Austria. He made 14 appearances with a 6.55 rating, but either my DoF, Walter Sabatini, or my HoYD, Adrien Yonkers, was impressed enough to sign him; he's got immense potential and has scored 13 goals in 15 matches in the U21s, the U19 Champions Cup and the European U21 Championship. 18 year old Nicolas Barrios Alfonso plays just behind him in a free role; signed last window from Belgrano in Argentina, he's an excellent dribbler who hasn't quite figured out what else to do.

The first half is a bit of a clowning, with Porillo, Tiago and Alfonso combining for 14 shots, six on target. Alfonso scored a classic poacher's goal but has otherwise been a bit peripheral. He's drifting around making passes, but I'm thinking I need to change some PIs to get the best out of him. I want him running at defenders, but it might be that Tiago is creating too much trouble for everyone. I'm going to monkey with roles and PIs for the second half to see if I can get the strike duo clicking a bit more. Ball retention in midfield has been excellent; Israel and da Silva have combined to complete 102 of 116 passes. Manquillo has made 37/41 and Gill 26 of 27. With da Silva on the right as the more advanced of my two DMs - I'm playing a 4-4-2 DM - play is naturally being funneled down that side. Portillo on the left, though, has been the most dangerous creative player with 3 key passes. For the second half, I've moved Tiago from right striker to a central role as a Poacher and dropped Alfonso into central attacking midfield as a Trequartista with instructions to run wide with the ball. With two wide midfielders coming inside, his runs outside should open up space. Space is important as Gosport is playing with nine players packing their box.

Later in the second half, I removed Alfonso's instruction to run wide and changed him to a Shadow Striker with Tiago taking a more creative role as a CFs. Alfonso was putting in decent-ish crosses from wide, but that's not what I wanted. I was hoping for more reverse passes to midfielders attacking the box; Tiago isn't big or good enough to challenge Gosport's centerbacks in the air. After the change, Tiago scored an excellent goal; dropping deep, he intercepted a pass, laid it off to da Silva, who picked out Alfonso's attacking run. The run drew a defender off Tiago, who hammered a first-time shot into the top corner. Quite delightful, and within five minutes Gill and Portillo had both hit the post. I'm still getting lots of crosses so I've added the Low Crosses TI. Both Alfonso and Tiago are much faster than the defenders and center midfielders of Gosport. Unfortunately, Alfonso is injured and carried off in the 78th minute. Josh Murphy replaces him; I don't like using a senior player here but I don't have much choice. I thought seriously about putting Szczesny in goal and moving Ospina up front, just to protect important outfield players from injury and fatigue. I have a game against Aston Villa in two days.

At the end of the match, it's a 2-0 shellacking. 37 shots, 11 on target, with 62% possession. Tiago is the MotM.

Da Silva played quite well as a BWMs in the right DM position but I'll need to focus on developing his passing in the next few years. 82% is a little too low, and with his 17s in Pace, Stamina and Work Rate and 16s in Determination, Vision, Acceleration and Agility, he's got most of the tools to be a great RPM or RGA; 10 passing won't cut it. I've changed his training to CMs to work on tackling, marking and passing.

Israel already has most of the technical skills to play a defensive midfield position. He just needs to improve his physicals. I think jumping reach is a lost cause as he's 5'8", so I'm going to focus on strength for the time being. If he can't get out-muscled his work rate and determination will play better. His mentals generally are above-average for a player his age. He's a strange sort of anchor man in that he's short, not fast and not particularly strong, but is excellent at retaining the ball, marking and tackling. With 13 Finishing he's also handy in a goalmouth scrap after an attacking corner.

Sharp and Morel are going to be more or less standard defenders. If I get a particularly talented DM prospect with some attacking technical skills and a bit of size, I may retrain them as a ball-playing defender as both Sharp and Morel are pretty bad as anything other than limited defenders.

Gill is still only 16 so I'm happy as anything with his 18 Determination and Teamwork, 17 Work Rate and 16 Stamina and Acceleration. I'm training him currently as a defensive winger to take advantage of that, to improve his 5 Marking and cover up his 5 Flair and Finishing.

Portillo can dribble and cross but not much else. I'm training him as a winger currently, because I think it's too late in his development to make him a more rounded player. He's a good prospect who I just can't see having a future with me long-term.

Tiago has 1 Bravery and 4 Vision. He's fast as hell though. Even though he's young I don't see the point of trying to make him anything other than a finisher, so he's on Advanced Forward training.

Alfonso isn't quite as fast - but it's close. They're very similar players, but while Tiago is only a Striker, Alfonso is a natural AMC who can also play AMR, AML and Striker; he's also quite two-footed. I think it's worth the effort to turn him into a more rounded creative player, so he's training as a DLF. I need to bring up his Passing and Vision before he can be the driving force I want. 17 Teamwork and Dribbling with 16 Flair help, though.

[JEinchy]

Ö-zil to the Arsenal! - Some excellent work there. I don't see many people who prefer to take a more stand-offish approach to defending. In theory, your style is more physically intensive than one that emphasizes ball retention so I have a couple of questions regarding that: 1) what is your average possession? 2) does your style result in player condition dropping faster?

Sunstrikuuu - Integrating young players into the side and watching them develop is certainly one of the joys of FM. Having a few interesting prospects is what keeps my save going.

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

I wrapped up my fifth season in charge last night...

Competitions

Results Part 1

Results Part 2

Results Part 3

In the league, everything was going well, almost too well, up until April. Around that time, for whatever reason, our form dipped. Chances were being made by the truck load but just weren't being converted, which put more pressure on my somewhat-porous defence to keep the goals out which went about as well as you'd expect. Drawing away to Stoke and Southampton despite being in winning positions, then losing at home to Nottingham Forest allowed Chelsea to get back into the title race and had me fearing a bottle-job was on the cards. Our schedule wasn't going to lighten up with the Champions League congesting things, so those games against Man City and Chelsea took on a completely new level of importance.

I think, though, that playing so many big matches is such a short time helped us regain our focus and confidence that had taken a knock after losing to City in the Capital One Cup final. The 3-0 win against them at the Emirates was the turning point; the moment that everything in the world was right again and that I felt sure that we were going to win the title. Thanks to that win, we would do just that by beating Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. We did more than that. Playing some of the best football I've seen us play, we outplayed them completely, with Rotariu's curler from distance being the icing on the cake. We were 2-0 up at half-time and were never going to let that lead slip. Chelsea beat us to the league title last season and did so emphatically, so to win the title back from them in their own stadium was extremely satisfying.

It wasn't our year in the two domestic cups. Man City proved to be our bogey team, beating us in one final then knocking us out of the FA Cup in the 6th round. In the end, not having to play an FA Cup semi-final between the Juventus games probably helped us a bit, so I'm not too upset about that. Also, in the five seasons I've been at the club, we've been in five COC finals, winning three of them, so that's not a trophy I'll miss, either.

The ultimate goal was to win the Champions League again. Last season we were dumped out early by Galatasaray, which stung a lot - the game seems to enjoy reminding me of this embarrassment, annoying enough - so I really wanted to make amends. We've been in three finals in five years and only won one of them so I wanted to improve on that as well.

Getting through a group of Dortmund (who I've drawn at least three times in the last five years), Sevilla and Zidane's Bordeaux was simple enough. Atletico Madrid, who would eventually go on to win La Liga, were our first knockout round opponents. A couple of seasons ago we took them apart in their own stadium, but this year the game was completely different. We played terribly and they were were well-worth their 2-0 lead. Ozil's last minute header turned out to be a vital away goal and helped us turn the score around in the second leg. A 2-0 win at the Emirates booked our place in the quarter-finals against Juventus. The Italians were having a poor season by their standards despite having a supremely talented set of players. I was anticipating a difficult game but we completely ran riot in the home leg and won 4-1. A 2-2 draw in the away leg was more than enough.

That left the last four as being us, Man Utd (the holders), Chelsea and Schalke. At that point, I was confident about winning the whole thing. We were drawn against Man Utd in the semi's. Under Frank Rijkaard, they've been a huge disappointment and were certainly no trouble for us at the Emirates. We were 2-0 up and comfortable before they scored an away goal. Just when I started to think that the away leg was going to be a bitch to play, we scored two quick late goals, effectively putting an end to the tie. A bonus 1-0 win in the away leg saw us through to the final against Chelsea.

The one time we've won the CL was against Chelsea a couple of seasons ago in 2016. My record against Mourinho is similar to Mourniho's record against Wenger in real life, so I felt confident. Maybe over-confident, because we were no where near our best in the final. We had to rely on two set-piece goals from the legendary poacher that is Lewandowski to get the win in the end.

So two major trophies in the bag. The goal next season is to do a clean sweep of all seven available competitions, which I've yet to do. Going the season unbeaten is still on my check list as well.

Players

As usual, I'm very pleased with my players. One of the main difference this season has been the emergence of a very potent and creative front three in the shape of Rotariu (Winger, A), Ozil (Advanced Playmaker, S) and Lewandowski (Complete Forward, S), As you can see in the screenshot, their returns are nothing short of fantastic. The three of them swept the individual honours at the end of the season: Ozil won Player of the Year, Lewandowski won Players' Player of the Year and Top Goalscorer, and Rotariu won Young Player of the Year for the second year running. Hopefully, at least one of them will be nominated for the Balon d'Or next season.

On the downside, their performances have meant that Welbeck and Walcott have seen less time on the pitch. The former did surprisingly well despite that, while I struggled to find a role for the latter. Because of that, both will be sold this summer despite being big favourites with the fans and, in Theo's case, a long-serving players (he's been at the club for 13 seasons). At 28 and 30 respectively, I feel it's time for them to move on. I should be able to make good money off of them, free up about £300,000 p/w on the wage bill and give their spots in to the squad to two of my better academy products.

The only other change is that Joe Gomez, who I recalled from loan to cover at right back after Debuchy's sale, will be sold as he hasn't developed to the standard I hoped he would. He'll be replaced by a very talented Brazillian regen known as Adrian, who's screenshot I'll upload later.

Beyond that, it'll be as you were.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Ö-zil to the Arsenal! - Some excellent work there. I don't see many people who prefer to take a more stand-offish approach to defending. In theory, your style is more physically intensive than one that emphasizes ball retention so I have a couple of questions regarding that: 1) what is your average possession? 2) does your style result in player condition dropping faster?

My average possession is usually <50%.

In fact, the occasions I have >50% are the occasions I struggle to score. When that happens I drop even deeper by swapping Ozil for a DMC and playing counter mentality. I didn't post that because it's not very in-keeping with the theme of the 03/04 team.

In most games my possession is in the 42-48% range and that allows be to hit back enough to grab 3+ goals. Scoring early helps a lot as the opposition are forced to attack more.

I haven't noticed any massive difference in player condition. TBH I rarely do with top players. Saying that I have invested heavily in the squad so try to limit players to 1 game per week where possible.

Congratulations on a great season!!

[Welshace]

Hey everyone, I am having great fun and am in the form of my life playing an attacking shape similar to the Invincibles of 2003/04. If anyone's interested, I thought I'd share.

I'll start with a screenshot & then I'll explain.

Brilliant post and something i'm going to enjoy trying to replicate with a lesser team maybe.

[arsenalthebest]

November Update

04/11/17 | Barclays Premier League | Brittania Stadium

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.3 RB: Chambers 7.8 RCB: Stones 6.9( Doria 66/6.7) LCB: Koscielny 8.3 LB: Taylor 7.4 MCR: Pogba 7.9 MCL: McCarthy 6.9( Wilshere 66/6.7) AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 8.3(Deulofey 76) AMC: Munir 9.6(MoM) AML: Sterling 9.2 STC: Malcom 9.1

Arsenal 6 ( Malcom 14 , Munir PEN 18 , Koscielny 25 , Munir 40 , Malcom 65 , Munir 90+2 | Assts: Chambers 1 , Ox 2 , Sterling 3)

Stoke 2 ( Gayle 31 & 55)

07/11/17 | UEFA Champions League( Grp Stage) | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.1 RB: Naughton 7.8 RCB: Kjær 8 LCB: Koscielny 7.6( Doria 69/6.9) LB: Taylor 7.6 MCR: Crowley 6.9 MCL: Neves 6.9 AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 9.2(MoM) AMC: Munir 8.6( Malcom 69/6.8) AML: Sterling 6.9( Deulofeu 45/7.9) STC: Zivkovic 8.7

Arsenal 3 ( Oxlade Chamberlain 25 & 63 , Deulofeu 66 | Assts: Munir 1 , Zivkovic 1 , Deulofeu 1)

Dortmund 0

11/11/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.4 RB: Naughton 6.8(Chambers 65/6.8) RCB: Kjær 7.7 LCB: Koscielny 7.6 LB: Taylor 7.6 MCR: Neves 6.7( Wilshere 45/6.8) MCL: Crowley 7.8 AMR: Sterling 8.4(MoM) AML: Oxlade-Chamberlain 8 STCR: J.Long 6.5( Zivkovic 51/6.9) STCL: Giroud 7.1

Arsenal 3 ( Giroud MISS PEN 2 , Giroud 53 , Sterling 67 , Oxlade-Chamberlain 69 | Assts: Sterling 1 , Ox 1)

Wigan 0

25/11/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7 RB: Chambers 7.4 RCB: Stones 8.6 LCB: Koscielny 7.4( Doria 79) LB: Taylor 7.7 MCR: Pogba 6.9 MCL: Wilshere 6.9 AMR: Deulofeu 7.1( Oxlade-Chamberlain 63/6.9) AML: Campbell 9(MoM) STCR: Munir 7.3 STCL: Zivkovic 6.6( Giroud 63/6.6)

Arsenal 3 ( Stones 45+1 , Munir 66 , Campbell 86 | Assts: Deulofeu 1 , Campbell 1 , Ox 1)

Watford 0

29/11/17 | UEFA Champions League (Grp Stage) | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.9 RB: Chambers 7 RCB: Kjær 6.9 LCB: Koscielny 7.1 LB: Taylor 7 MCR: Pogba 7.4 MCL: Wilshere 8.2(McCarthy 45/6.8) AMR: Deulofey 6.7( Sterling 56/8.1) AML: Campbell 7.7 STCR: Giroud 8.8(MoM) STCL: Zivkovic 7.2( Munir 68/6.6)

Arsenal 4 ( Wilshere 33 , Giroud 38 & 44 , Wilshere Inj 45 , Sterling 62 | Assts: Wilshere2 , Campbell 1 , Zivkovic 1)

Marseillee 2 ( Germain 9 & 40)

[lomekian]

Hey everyone, I am having great fun and am in the form of my life playing an attacking shape similar to the Invincibles of 2003/04. If anyone's interested, I thought I'd share.

[/b]

I like what you've done...having destroyed all oppostion with my tactics in 14/15, i'm liking your model as a possible inspiration going forwards, particularly with Pogba in my squad.

As for my game Summer 2015 has had quite a turnover, some planned, some not so.

Among the departures have been : Podolski to Roma for 16m, Giroud to Juve for 28m (rising to 35m) - both forced wanted to leave. Monreal to Juve for 16.25m was planned, as was Nacho to southampton for 5.25m. PSG offered 19.5 for Debuchy, which was too good to turn down given his age and Jenkinson returning from loan. Jesse Lingard, (picked up in Jan for 600k) went to Hull for 5m

The early freebie squad boosters like Jere Uronen, Petteri Forsell, Opoku, Guberti, Alex Dominguez, Herolind Shala, Diskerud, Ezequiel & Fran Merida and Ze Eduardo (most of whom were signed and loaned out) went for another 40m ish between them.

So big transfer kitty (no thanks to new Chairman!).

INCOMING!

Lukaku 30m

Depay 17.5m (both appear to have been boosted by the update which is nice)

Alex Sandro 13m

Pavel Kaderaback 2.5m

Gabi Barbosa 7.5m + 40%

Raheem Sterling 19m+20m over 38 months +30% future profit.

And some regens, free kids etc.

And the prior arranged Bosmans - Khedira, Bakkali, Praet, Pereyra and some reserves etc

Hopefully they can all integrate well...I shouldn't really need to sign anyone for a while if they do.

So the squad quality has improved with all expenditure recouped. I was reluctant to sell Giroud but Lukaku should be a real challenge for Welbeck, and Depay and Sandro are upgrades over Podolski and Monreal. Sterling is the joker in the pack, who i bought when Juve were hovering around Santi, but in the end they decided not to bid for him. So its embarassment of riches time going forward.

[lomekian]

ATB - glad to see my formation is still working for you! ;-)

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Brilliant post and something i'm going to enjoy trying to replicate with a lesser team maybe.

Thank you.

It should work. Interestingly I have had very similar results from my 2nd team who play all the cup games etc. and Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay have also smashed it up.

Depay has 15 goals and 11 assists in 24 starts and 13 subs at AML. Anthony Martial has 20 goals and 14 assists in 21 starts and 14 subs up front. Both in all competitions.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Anyone else having trouble retaining players, and agents demands in particular?

I just finished my first season. We won the Premiership, FA Cup, Carling Cup and Europa League (slipped in the CL group stage) and I haven't even got as far as the transfer window and I have Sanchez & Walcott making noise about BIG new contracts and Koscielny telling me he wants to join PSG and Cazorla to Barcelona.

Need to decide whether I fight to keep them and pay mega $$$ or let them go and rebuild the spine of my team. I do have replacements already in my squad:

• Koscielny -> Umtiti
  
• Walcott -> Oxlade-Chamberlain
  
• Cazorla -> Depay
  
• Sanchez -> Martial
  

According to my assistant I'd be taking a slight step backwards in current ability but possibly two steps forward given the additional potential so I am tempted to cash in.

Sanchez in particular could attract a big bid after 31 goals and EPL Player of the Year, Golden Boot and 3rd place World Player of the Year, whilst still reasonably young. The fans may kill me if I sell though.

I'd still need to think about replacements for the squad if I do that though.

Whatever I decide, I need to be on my best game

[AndySummers]

I'm struggling to get through my 3rd season, a lot of time taken up by the online Bundesliga game with my old man. However, a quick word about Danny Welbeck. After coming from nowhere to blaze a trail during the second half of '15-16, including his memorable four-goal-haul at the Camp Nou, he has started '16-17 in lunatic fashion. 13 Prem goals in 8 appearances. We are scoring for fun at the moment, already with 33 goals in the 9 Prem fixtures to-date. Ozil simply cannot be handled in his DLF role with 'roam from position', he routinely tears opponents apart. Although he is yet to 'do a Firmino' and create 10x KPs in one game

Which leads on to my next question; has anyone had success telling a disconcerted player that they aren't featuring as 'Player X is in the form of their life'? It never works for me. I've ended up selling Saido Berahino as he was unhappy and didn't accept featuring behind Welbeck. Considering his response to the above was 'I'm certain I can do the same if given the chance'.....yeah sure, Saido!!

The low block created by team instructions drop deeper, close down much less, stay on feet, and tighter marking tempt the opposition forward and leave gaps at the back.

How do you find defendng crosses, O-zil? I've used 'close down much less' a few times, normally if under duress after a red card, and it seems very prone to concessions from wide.

[nyte`]

My best regen in 2028, his stats aren't as good as my other strikers but he bangs them in

I'm really disappointed that a lot of regens still have poor mental stats despite this issue supposedly being fixed in FM2015. Pretty much every world class regen that's not a defender has less than 8 for bravery/aggression.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

How do you find defendng crosses, O-zil? I've used 'close down much less' a few times, normally if under duress after a red card, and it seems very prone to concessions from wide.

To be honest, when you have an Attacking mentality and then apply these low-block instructions you end up with something similar to a standard mentality defence so we're certainly not sitting on the edge of our 18 yard box.

Think I conceeded 19 goals in the Premiership so pretty solid. Per Mertesacker is a rock.

[JEinchy]

I'm really excited by some of my future prospects. My aim to do at least ten seasons doesn't seem so unrealistic at the moment:

Richie Hickie - A centre back that emerged from the academy a couple of seasons ago. He's been on loan in Scotland and in the Championship, and is now on loan at Everton in the Premier League with a view to replacing either Mertesacker (34) or Koscielny (33) soon. I'm hoping to improve his technical ability in the future.

Ruben Barbosa - Signed from Herenveen a couple of seasons ago. With Gibbs now pushing 30, Barbosa will be my first choice left back. He's something of an old-school full back, which is fine since my left back tends to be the more reserved of the two full-backs. I'm hoping to improve his Passing and Crossing a bit more to make him more dangerous going forward, and to improve his Heading so that I have the option of using him at centre back.

Andre Rocha Vaz - The new signing this season for a whopping £20mil (rising to £30mil after various add-ons and purchasing the rights owned by his agent). He came to my attention at the start of last season when Dinamo Moscow signed him. I didn't need a right back back then, so I had a scout follow him for the season. He averaged 8.06 over 20 games in Russia and with Debuchy gone, I decided it was time to bring him in. His technical stats are incredible, and it's only his low Flair and Vision that prevent me from re-training him as a midfielder. He's perfect for my attacking right back role, and can play as a Defensive Winger whenever I switch to a 3-4-1-2 (as I've taken to doing in some games against teams who play two strikers). His mentals needs some work but still, I'm really excited by him.

Chris Allaway - Signed from Blackburn a couple of seasons ago and one of the biggest talents at the club. He's well on his way to becoming a top-class midfielder in the mould of Lucas Romero. I'd actually like to play him at centre back, but he is, unfortunately, too small.

Unai Martinez - A French Basque player signed by Jonker the summer just gone. He's already got superb mental and physical attributes, so all he needs is to improve technically to be in the first team. Technique, Tackling and Passing are a bit too low at the moment. If those improve, then he and Allaway will make a great midfield partnership in the future.

Marcin Olejniczak - One of the few my players my Poland-based scout found, and what a gem he is. Already at a good level technically and has great mental stats (again; my scouts have been excellent in finding these guys). I'm hoping to mould him into the next Aaron Ramsey. He's let down a lot by his physical stats, so the plan is to keep him at the club until those improve to a decent enough standard.

Dan Khatib - An academy product and one of the more weirdly balanced regens I've seen on this save. I'm not entirely sure what to do with. He's a giant of a midfielder at 6'4 and has the strength to back it up, so central midfield appears to be his best position, but with Tackling at 4 and Passing at 9, he's got a lot of work to do. Passing and Vision is a bit too low for him to play attacking midfield, and he's too slow to play on the flank. Not sure how to develop him at this stage: anyone got any ideas?

Gary Murphy - One of the first players to come through the academy on this save. I see him as a winger and will use him as backup for Rotariu this season after a successful loan spell at Stoke last season. He should be equally good in the centre, too. Will be a valuable player to have in the squad in the future.

Callum Lincoln - Another academy product. Lincoln was on loan at Middlesborough last season and his 24 goals lead to promotion to the Premier League. This season, he'll be my immediate backup to Lewandowski with a view to replacing him in a couple of seasons time, during which his Vision and Long Shots will have improved enough for him to play as a Complete Forward.

[arsenalthebest]

December Update

02/12/17 | Barclays Premier League | Liberty Stadium

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7 RB: Chambers 7.5 RCB: Kjær 6.9( Doria 65/6.8) LCB: Koscielny 7.2 LB: Taylor 7.4 MCR: Pogba 7.8 MCL: Wilshere 8.3 AMR: Deulofeu 7.6 AML: Campbell 7.3( Sterling 60/7.3) STCR: Giroud 9(MoM) STCL: Zivkovic 6.5( Munir60/6.8)

Arsenal 4( Wilshere 24 , Campbel 45 , Giroud 60 , Sterling 76 | Assts: Giroud 2 , Pogba 1 , Deulofeu 1)

06/12/17 | UEFA Champions League(Grp Stage) | Sukru Stadium

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.8 RB: Chambers 6.8 RCB: Kjær 7 LCB: Koscielny 7 LB: Taylor 6.9 MCR: Crowley 7( Pogba 54/6.7) MCL: McCarthy 6.8 AMR: Campbell 8.3 AMC: Zivkovic 6.7( Sterling 45/6.8) AML: Deulofeu 6.4( Munir 72/6.7) STC: Giroud 7.4

Arsenal 1 ( Campbell 44 , Crowley Inj 54) | Asst: Giroud 1)

Fenerbache 1 ( Cetin 3)

08/12/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 7.2 RB: Chambers 8(Naughton 82) RCB: Woodward 8.5 LCB: Doria© 7.9(Kjær 65/6.8) LB: Yenga 7.3 MCR: McCarthy 7.7 MCL: Crowley 8.4 AMR: Halilovic 9.4(MoM) AMC: Munir 9 AML: Deulofeu 7.6( Malcom 65/6.8) STC: j.Long 9.3

Arsenal 5 ( Munir 8 , J.Long 36 & 47 , Halilovic 48 & 82 | Assts: Deulofeu 1 , Munir 1 , J.Long 1)

QPR 1 ( Stocker 12)

13/12/17 | FIFA Club World Championship(Semi-Fianl) | Stade Olympique

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 7.9 RB: Naughton 8.7 RCB: Woodward 7.9( Hales 45/6.8) LCB: Doria© LB: Yenga 9.4 MCR: Bäron 7.9( Sterling 57/8.1 - position swap with Ox) MCL: Barry 8.2 AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 9.4 AMC: L.Long 8.9 AML: Campbell 9.5 STC: Berahino 9.5(MoM - Zivkovic 75/7.8)

Arsenal 8 ( Yenga 6 , Ox 12 , Berahino 14 & 16 , Campbell 45 , Sterling 65 , Campbell 89 , Zivkovic 90+2 | Assts: Yenga 2 , Ox 2 , Campbell 1 , Zivkovic 1 , Berahino 1)

Etoile Du Sahel 0

16/12/17 | FIFA Club World Championship(Fianl) | Stade Olympique

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Ruddy 6.9 RB: Naughton 6.9 RCB: Woodward 6.8 LCB: Doria© 7( Hearn 65/6.7) LB: Yenga 6.9 MCR: Bäron 7.9( L.Long 65/7.8) MCL: Barry 6.9 AMR: Malcom 9 AMC: Oxlade-Chamberlain 9.3(MoM) AML: Campbell 7.5 STC: Berahino 7.9

Arsenal 6 ( Berahino 12 , Ox 16 , Gomez O/G 23 , Malcom 38 , L.Long 79 , Ox 88 | Assts: Ox 2 , Bäron1 , Berahino 1 , L.Long 1)

Corinthians 3 ( Gomes 3 & 14 , Vangore Love 83)

19/12/17| Capital One Cup(Qtr-Final) | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Ruddy 6.9 RB: Nuaghton 7 RCB: Woodward 6.7( Kooscielny 57/6.8) LCB: Doria© 7.1 LB: Yenga 7.2 MCR: Bäron 6.3(Sterling 45/7.4) MCL: Barry 7(Vannucci 82) AMR: Malcom 7.5 AMC: Oxlade-Chamberlain 7.5 AML: Campbell 6.9 STC: Berahino 8.8(MoM)

Arsenal 3 ( Berahino 28 , Barry PEN 51 , Berahino 70 | Assts: Ox 1 , Campbell 1)

Stoke 1 ( Ngoy 12)

23/12/17 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7 RB: Chambers 8 RCB: Kosicelny 7.3 LCB: Doria© 7.7 LB: Gibbs 7.5( Taylor 72/6.9) MCR: Pogba 9( Wilshere 66/6.9) MCL: McCarthy 7.9 AMR: Deulofeu 7.3( Oxlade-Chamberlain 66/6.6) AMC: L.Long 8.7 AML: Sterling 9 STC: Munir 9(MoM)

Arsenal 4 ( Munir 4 , Pogba 32 , Munir 34 , Sterling 77 | Assts: Chambers 1 , Sterling 1 , Wilshere 1)

Liverpool 1 ( Balotelli 74)

26/12/17 | Barclays Premier League | White Hart Lane

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7 RB: Chambers 7.1( Taylor 66/6.8) RCB: Doria© 8.4 LCB: Kosicelny 8.4 LB: Gibbs 7.9 MCR: Pogba 8.5( Wilshere 66/6.7) MCL: McCarthy 7.9 AMR: Deulofeu 9.2 AMC: L.Long 6.9 AML: Sterling 9 STC: J.Long 9.6(MoM - Zivkovic)75/6.7)

Arsenal 4 ( J.Long 5 , Pogab 16 , J.Long 53 & 69 | Assts: Deulofeu 3 , Sterling 1)

Tottenham 0

30/12/17 | Barcalys Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 7.1 RB: Chambers 7.3 RCB: Woodward 7.3 LCB: Doria© 7.4 LB: Gibbs MCR: Pogba 9 MCL: Neves 7( McCarthy 63/6.7) AMR: Robert 7.8( Zivkovic 63/6.8) AMC: L.Long 9 AML: Campbell 9.1 STC: J.Long 6.7( Munir 61/6.6)

Arsenal 4 ( Campbell 12 , L.Long 38 , Pogba 63 , Campbell 75 , Doria Inj 90+3) | Assts: Robert 2 , L.Long 1 , J.Long 1)

Crystal Palace 1 ( Lundstram Inj 23 , Phillips 86)

Sterling wins world player of the offer the year , Malcom wins European Golden Boy , Grioud wins French player of the year , Munir , Ox & Sterling are on the world team of the year with Giroud on the bench on loan Zouak won Ligue 1 revelation of the year

[arsenalthebest]

If I keep up my current goals/game Ave in the league I'll score 122 going to aim for 125

[lomekian]

If I keep up my current goals/game Ave in the league I'll score 122 going to aim for 125

That's almost as much as my goal difference! ;-)

Glad to see my tactic is still working for you...I'm kind of holding fire until the transfer window closes before i play any more...

[arsenalthebest]

That's almost as much as my goal difference! ;-)

Glad to see my tactic is still working for you...I'm kind of holding fire until the transfer window closes before i play any more...

what's your average?(I guess that's what you meant)

[arsenalthebest]

the nationalities of my Senior Squad

1x Argentinian

1x Belgium

5x Brazilian

1x Costa Rican

1x Croatian( On Loan)

1x Danish

15x English

3x French

1x German

1x Portuguese

1x Italian

2x Spanish

1x Welsh

[lomekian]

what's your average?(I guess that's what you meant)

2014/15 = 154 goals for 31 Against in 38 Leage games, so an average of just over 4 goals a game...can't imagine I'll repeat that, mind you...sadly have been too busy in work land to play any further...

[arsenalthebest]

2014/15 = 154 goals for 31 Against in 38 Leage games, so an average of just over 4 goals a game...can't imagine I'll repeat that, mind you...sadly have been too busy in work land to play any further...

god that's insane I'm currently increased my average currently on course to get 146 league goals going to try and beat yours!!!

[arsenalthebest]

January Update

01/01/18 | Barclays Premier League | Carrow Road

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.8 RB: Chambers 6.8 RCB: Koscielny 8.1 LCB: Stones 7.1 LB: Taylor 7.5 MCR: Wilshere 6.9( Pogba 68/6.7) MCL: McCarthy 6.8 AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 6.8 AMC: Halilovic 7.6( Munir 68/7.1) AML: Sterling 8.1 STC: Malcom 6.9( Zivkovic 84)

Arsenal 3 ( Sterling 3 , Malcom 20 , Munir 77 | Assts: Ox 1 , Taylor 1)

Norwich 1 ( Bigirmana 76)

06/01/18 | F.A Cup(4th Round) | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 7.2 RB: Chambers 7.8 RCB: Koscielny© 7.4 LCB: Stones 7.1 LB: Gibbs 7.4 MCR: Barry 6.6( Pogba 50/6.6) MCL: Bäron 6.9 AMR: Halilovic 7.4 AML: Campbell 6.8( Deulofeu 84) STCR: J.Long 9.8 STCL: Zivkovic 8

Arsenal 4 ( J.Long 2 & 5 & 89 & 90+2 | Assts: Zivkovic 3 , Chambers 1)

Doncaster 1 ( Main 50)

10/0/18 | Barclays Premier League | Old Trafford

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 8.4 RB: Chambers 7.1 RCB: Stones 7.8 LCB: Koscielny 6.8( Doria 76) LB: Yenga 7 MCR: McCarthy 7.4 MCL: Pogba 6.9 AMR: Sterling 8.2 AML: Oxlade-Chamberlain 6.8( Deulofeu 70/6.8) STCR: Munir 6.7( Malcom 70/6.8) STCL: Giroud 6.6

Arsenal 2 ( Sterling 59 , McCarthy 83 | Asst: Munir 1 )

Man Utd 1 ( Rondon 9)

13/01/18 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.6 RB: Chambers 8.7( Doria 67/6.8 - Swap position with Stones) RCB: Koscielny 8.9 LCB: Stones 8.8 LB: Yenga 8.5 MCR: Wilshere 9.2 MCL: McCarthy 7( Halilovic 72/6.8) AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 9.1( Malcom 67/7.3) AMC: Munir 9.1 AML: Sterling 9.2 STC: Giroud 9.6( MoM)

Arsenal 6 ( Giroud 10 , Wilshere 17 , Giroud 26 , Oxlade-Chamberlain 27 , Giroud 86 , Malcom 86 | Assts: Chambers 1 , Koscielny 1 , Ox 1 , Munir 1 , Sterling 2)

Aston Villa 0

20/01/18 | Barclays Premier League | St Mary's

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.8 RB: Chambers 7.1( Doria 66/6.7 - Swap Pos Stones) RCB: Koscielny 8.1 LCB: Stones 7.4 LB: Yenga 7.1( Taylor 72/6.8) MCR: Wilshere 6.3 MCL: McCarthy 7 AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain 8.1 AMC: Munir 8 AML: Sterling 9.4(MoM) STC: Berahino 7.3( Malcom 66/6.7)

Arsenal 4 ( Kosicelny 10 , Sterling 38 , Munir 45 , Sterling 60 | Assts: Ox 2 , Sterling 1 , Berahino 1)

Southampton 1 ( Ramierez 26)

23/01/18 | Capital One Cup (Semi_Final , Leg 1) | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 7 RB: Chambers 7.6 RCB: Kosicelny 8.4 LCB: Doria© 7.5 LB: Gibbs 7.5 MCR: Crowley 7.5( Ox 77) MCL: Neves 8 AMR: Halilovic 8.6 AMC: L.Long AML: Campbell 7.9 STC: Berahino 7.9

Arsenal 4 ( Berahino 24 , Campbell 37 , L.Long 55 , Neves 85 | Assts: L.Long 2 , Halilovic 2 , Crowley 1

Spurs 1 ( Bacca 8)

27/01/18 | F.A Cup(4th Round) | The Den

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero 6.8 RB: Naughton 6.8 RCB: Woodward 6.7( Hales 45/6.8) LCB: Doria© 7.3 LB: Yenga 6.8(Stones 45/6.8) MCR: Caetano 6.9 MCL: Vannucii 6.8 AMR: Halilovic 7.5 AMC: L.Long 7.2( Rosa 64/6.7) AML: Campbell 6.8 STC: J.Long 9.5(MoM)

Arsenal 3 ( J.Long 41 & 53 & 90+1 | Assts: Halilovic 1 , L.Long 1)

Millwall 1 ( Blackman 55)

30/01/18 | Capital One Cup( Semi-Final , Leg 2) | White Hart Lane

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 6.8 RB: Naughton 7.6 RCB: Woodward 6.7( Stones 72/6.8) LCB: Doria© 8.5(MoM) LB: Yenga 7.4 MCR:Caetano 6.8( Pogba 45/6.9) MCL: Neves 6.7 AMR: Malcom 7 AMC: L.Long 8.1 AML: Campbell 6.9 STC: J.Long 6.8( Ox 67/7.3)

Arsenal 2(6) ( L.Long 74 , Ox 90+2 | Assts: Malcom 1 , Pogba 1)

Spurs 1(2) ( Lamella 90+3)

[JEinchy]

Player interaction is really frustrating me at the moment.

Last season, Dan Crowly came to me wanting to discuss moving to Chelsea because he felt he'd have a more important first team role with them. I tell him I've got his best interests at heart and that he should stay. He accepted that, we moved on.

A few months later he came to me again, stating his desire to go on loan because he's not playing as much as he'd like. He was my immediate backup for Ramsey so I tell him I'll give him a chance. Fast forward a few more months and he played a few games, but still thought it wasn't enough and asked to be sold. I didn't want to lose him, so I apologised (even though I gave him plenty of first team football). He accepted the apology.

I made sure to play him more and I get a message saying he's happy to stay. Great.

Now in December, he wants to speak to me again, this time about moving to Man Utd, who he feels will give him a more important first team role. Even though he's played even more this season.

And now Chamberlain has just asked to join Atleitco Madrid because they're a bigger club. Even though we've been a much more successful club in the last six years. A quick use of the Real Time Editor reveals Atletico's current reputation as 8770, while our's is 8745. Four PL titles and two CLs is apparently not enough to have a higher reputation than a team with one league title in five years. How does that work?

[lomekian]

god that's insane I'm currently increased my average currently on course to get 146 league goals going to try and beat yours!!!

I was helped by a couple of very large wins early on, and injuries mostly to back-ups rather than first choice-ers...hopefully if I get some time next week, I can see how the 2ns season goes!

[Swills417]

At the conclusion of the second season, we ended up empty handed. Was a two horse race for the final 8 games or so, as Tottenham and Manchester United fell away. Liverpool did not threaten and was able to shrug off mid-table form for a late surge for the top 4. Manchester City were poor all season, I did the double over them and as a result have sacked Unai Emery. Looking to apply for this as I've never managed city, and it would be odd to play as a club I use mainly as an outlet for overpriced mediocre players in previous iterations of the game.

Finished a point off a Chelsea team who are on the verge of the quadruple, with only the UCL to play against Barcelona. I was knocked out of the group stage of UCL, and went out in the quarters of the EURO cup to Liverpool, who retained the trophy in the final.

In terms of player performance and tactics, we weren't as prolific as I would of liked with the front three of Ozil, Welbeck, Chamberlain and their deputies Walcott, Ayoze and Sanchez were all injured for a few weeks at differing stages of the season. Welbeck was on course for 30+ goals this season, but injuries made him only net 23 times in 34 games, which enabled him to have the best minutes/goal ratio in the league. Ramsey made the most appearances and netted 9 times, mostly from the penalty spot.

Ozil became natural as a LAM, and as result plays more like David Silva does for city by cutting in, as Alex Sandro provides overlapping runs. The purchase of Busquets in January added a solidity to midfield that was lacking before. Our next best option at CDM was Llorente who has a 2* rating there!

In order to make ground on Chelsea next season, a process of strengthening our depth is needed. A lack of quality backup for Welbeck meant we struggled up top at times, and if Ramsey or Busquets got injured we only have championship quality players to fill in.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Player interaction is really frustrating me at the moment.

Last season, Dan Crowly came to me wanting to discuss moving to Chelsea because he felt he'd have a more important first team role with them. I tell him I've got his best interests at heart and that he should stay. He accepted that, we moved on.

A few months later he came to me again, stating his desire to go on loan because he's not playing as much as he'd like. He was my immediate backup for Ramsey so I tell him I'll give him a chance. Fast forward a few more months and he played a few games, but still thought it wasn't enough and asked to be sold. I didn't want to lose him, so I apologised (even though I gave him plenty of first team football). He accepted the apology.

I made sure to play him more and I get a message saying he's happy to stay. Great.

Now in December, he wants to speak to me again, this time about moving to Man Utd, who he feels will give him a more important first team role. Even though he's played even more this season.

And now Chamberlain has just asked to join Atleitco Madrid because they're a bigger club. Even though we've been a much more successful club in the last six years. A quick use of the Real Time Editor reveals Atletico's current reputation as 8770, while our's is 8745. Four PL titles and two CLs is apparently not enough to have a higher reputation than a team with one league title in five years. How does that work?

I am having the same thing. I won the league first season and now Sanchez, Cazorla, Walcott and Koscielny are all pushing for moves elsewhere!!

[Mark.]

I am having the same thing. I won the league first season and now Sanchez, Cazorla, Walcott and Koscielny are all pushing for moves elsewhere!!

I find this a tad concerning! But I guess all I will do if this eventuates is use the editor to increase my rep, if the game is broken just take matters into your own hands I guess...

[Mark.]

JANUARY 2015 REVIEW

Transfers

Nothing really to report here other than Romero pleasantly returning from his loan back adding some problematic, but positive selection issues.

Martin Odegaard and Niek van den Berg arrived in the U18s while Gnabry got a loan to Burnley for the rest of the season to get more Premier League games.

I was open to offers for both Cazorla and Giroud who have talked to me about leaving for Juve and Bayern respectively, but nothing eventuated, so unfortunately some of the rotation players will have to wait for more games. (Plus Cazorla's form IRL is making him very hard to want to move!!)

Fixtures

(Comments where relevant and memory serves)

01/01/15 - Premier League (A)

Arsenal 0 - 0 Man City

A tough game. Un-inspired I thought and let the team know afterwards. Still taking a point in these tough away fixtures is nothing to sneer at.

05/01/15 - FA Cup 3rd Rnd (A)

Arsenal 5 - 0 Leyton Orient - Munir (7, 61), Rosicky (10, 49), Campbell (69)

Team responded well after the Man City game. Obviously this was a rotated side, but our depth right now really is something to admire. Rosicky and Munir were excellent, Munir is really looking like a great signing and has brought forward some of my squad movement plans.

10/01/15 – Premier League (H)

Arsenal 5 - 0 Burnley - Giroud (19, 87), Oxlade-Chamberlain (45), Alexis (74,76)

Another 5 Star performance. Giroud has really upped his game recently, not sure if it is the pressure from Munir or the attention of Bayern. Alexis as usual lethal, he really likes scoring in bunches!

18/01/15 – Premier League (H)

Arsenal 11 - 0 Sunderland - Welbeck (2, 15, 17, 24), Ozil (4), Koscielny (23), Alexis (56, 57, 65), Giroud (79), Cazorla (pen 86)

The attack is really clicking! This is what I have been waiting for! What did I say about Alexis and bunches? It was Welbeck who was the real star today though, no idea how he didn't end up with a 10/10 match rating.

24/01/15 – Premier League (H)

Arsenal 1 - 0 Leicester - Walcott (83)

The scoring dried up for this one. I did rotate a little bit, but think it was a poor team talk and just not being incisive enough that meant it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that Walcott, finally back and fit put us ahead with a trade mark run in behind. Still getting the points is what really matters.

31/01/15 – Premier League (H)

Arsenal 6 - 0 West Brom - Cazorla (pen 29), Alexis (43, 66), Ramis o.g. (48), Oxlade-Chamberlain (54), Walcott (72)

Back to free scoring ways. A nice all round performance from the team. Ox was really really dominant in his central winger role and has rightfully so requested a new contract, as really he is absolutely key to the first team now. Good to see the recently returned Walcott finding good consistency early on.

Summary

Really not much to complain about this month. City game was always going to be a battle, so a draw is fine. 23 goals in the last 4 matches was great, but they were all at home vs lesser talented sides. Still the fact we can break them down most games when they come and park up is a very positive sign. Add to this the quality of some of the counter attacking goals I have been seeing and I am very very pleased. It is also important to note my Free Kick and Corner routines are absolutely rubbish with us hardly ever making anything of them.

Alexis and Ox have been the key men, but there have been plenty of strong performances from the whole cast. Really are rolling and as long as I can keep complacency out, we are looking odds on favorites now for the Title.

February

PRM Liverpool (A)

PRM QPR (A)

PRM Crystal Palace (H)

FAC Swansea (A) 5th Rnd

PRM West Ham (A)

ECL Real Madrid (A) 1st KO Leg 1

PRM Swansea (H)

Shortest month of the year, certainly not the shortest schedule! Early on I wasn't tabbing this as that tough a month, however looking at that list right there..... An awful lot of matches on the road. Add to that a tough Anfield trip to kick it off, then the Madrid matchup near the end. Tough stuff. Will be very interesting to see how we hold our own at the Bernabeu!

[arsenalthebest]

Got a good chance of 100% record in the league 25 wins in 25 games remaining fixture are Charlton(a) , Reading (H) , Stoke(H) , Swansea (H) , Wigan (a) , Man U(H) , Chelsea(a) , Watford(a) , QPR(a) , Newcastle(H) , Spurs(H) , Pool(a) , Crystal Palace(a)

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

I find this a tad concerning! But I guess all I will do if this eventuates is use the editor to increase my rep, if the game is broken just take matters into your own hands I guess...

Mine comes, in some part, from reluctance to offer "super money" contract. Sanchez was demanding #240k per year after winning player of the year. Not totally unrealistic but not the way I wish to run my club. Cazorla was similar.

I have ended up shipping Sanchez, Cazorla, Walcott, Koscielny and Debuchy raising #170m in transfer revenue.

My first team now looks like this:

It's experimental but brimming with potential. Can't say I am too disappointed with the results so far.

My squad is very light. I am either trusting youngsters as backup across the squad, or adding to the team before the end of the window. There's doesn't seem to be many amazing options available though..

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Got a good chance of 100% record in the league 25 wins in 25 games remaining fixture are Charlton(a) , Reading (H) , Stoke(H) , Swansea (H) , Wigan (a) , Man U(H) , Chelsea(a) , Watford(a) , QPR(a) , Newcastle(H) , Spurs(H) , Pool(a) , Crystal Palace(a)

My money is on a slip up at home to Reading

Good luck.

[KingLara]

Arsenal FM15 Season 2

PRESEASON / AUGUST

After quite a long break I returned to my Arsenal save looking to build on a season where we won four trophies only missing out on a double and quadruple by losing the Fa Cup final. First things first the transfers;

IN

I only made one major signing in the form of Bernard. I tried to get Reus for his release clause but he signed a new contract. Four of the other five are regens I quickly snapped up as soon as they became available. Only Gallo looks likely to be anything of note though. Finally after selling Monreal I needed a left back as cover for Gibbs. The options were too expensive so turned to Bertrand until January when I will look again.

Bernard – 18m

Matt Richards (Regen) – 2.6m

Henri Vanni (Regen) – 1.9m

Mirko Gallo (Regen) – 775K

Kieran James (Regen) – 725K

Ryan Bertrand – Loan

OUT

I didn’t intend on selling Giroud or Samper but both were good offers. Girouds will rise to 30m while Samper 16m. Monreal the less impressive 6.5. The rest needed to go. Arteta was released along with the likes of Diaby, Wellington Silva, Miyaichi, Benik Afobe and Chuba Akpom. Meanwhile a host of players went on loan including Traore, Crowley and Wilock

Olivier Giroud – 19m

Sergi Samper – 12m

Joel Campbell – 5m

Naxto Monreal – 4.1m

Carl Jenkinson – 2.5m

Mathiue Flamini – 2.4m

Yaya Sanogo – 1.6m

Diego Lugano 165K

SQUAD

Squad for the upcoming season. Walcott has been converted into a striker.

GK – Szczesny / Ospina

DL – Gibbs – Bertrand

DR – Debuchey – Chambers

DC – Mertersacker / Balanta

DC – Koscielny

MC – Wilshere – Ramsey

MC – Khedira – Romero

AML – Podolski - Bernard

AMR – Sanchez - Chamberlain

AMC – Ozil – Cazorla

SC – Walcott - Welbeck - Munir

PRE-SEASON

Due to the game making me unable to arrange friendlies a few weeks before I only played three games before the Emirates Cup. Bernard made a name for himself on his debut and we were outstanding against Bournemouth and Bari. Less so against Bolton although we played the second half of the final two matches each with ten men. Against Bari we had 40 attempts on goal. 23 on target.

Bournemouth 3-8 Arsenal – Bernard (5) Welbeck Ozil (Pen) Chamberlain

Bolton 1-1 Arsenal – Ozil – Balanta s/o 22

Bari 1-4 Arsenal – Chamberlain (3) Welbeck – De Graca s/o 44

EMIRATES CUP

After the previous cup got cancelled due to the bloody German domestic competition clashing I invited Boca Juniors to take part. Ajax also joined after Juventus turned down my invite. We played well in both games winning the cup easily by beating Barcelona in the final.

SF

ARSENAL 1-0 BOCA JUNIORS – Podolski

BARCELONA 3-2 AJAX – Song Deulofeu Suarez – Cerny Zvikovic

3rd Play/off

BOCA JUNIORS 0-3 AJAX – Milik (2) Boilesen

Final

ARSENAL 4-0 BARCELONA – Chamberlain Koscielny Bernard Sanchez

COMMUNITY SHIELD

LIVERPOOL 1

Sturridge 38

ARSENAL 1

Chamberlain 21

[Arsenal win 5-3 on penalties]

Liverpool – Balotelli Flanagan Coutinho Sturridge

Arsenal – Sanchez Wilshere Podolski Munir Debuchy

We were back at Wembley looking for revenge after losing to Liverpool in the Cup Final. Inform Chamberlain gave us a good start but once Sturridge equalised Liverpool dominated. We defended very well but Liverpool wasted their chances. In the end we nicked it on penalties.

SUPER CUP

ARSENAL 2

Walcott 5 86 Gibbs s/o 83

CHELSEA 3

Cuadrado 2 Remy 56 85

Match Stats Possession 51/49 Shots 12(6)/25(13) Corners 11/4 Fouls 11/13 CCC 5/5 WW 1/1 YC 4/3 RC 1/0 Passes 360/335

Man of the Match- Theo Walcott 9.0

Arsenal – Szczesny Gibbs Debuchy (Welbeck 83) Mertersacker Koscielny Ramsey Khedira (Cazorla 83) Podolski (Sanchez 60) Chamberlain Ozil Walcott

Subs Not Used: Ospina Balanta Monreal Wilshere

Chelsea – Courtois Luis Azpilicueta Cahill Dragovic Moutinho (Willian 66) Fabregas Hazard Cuardado Oscar Remy

Subs Not Used: Delac Bertrand Insigne Schurrle Santon Mikel

While we were poor against Liverpool and got away with it there was no such luck against Chelsea. It was quite an open game but they always looked the more likely to score. Walcott was our only player to get above a 7.0

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 7

Cazorla 1 26 Ozil 3 Walcott 18 19 27 Sanchez 90

NEWCASTLE 2

Deeney 54 74

We scored 108 League goals last season and look well on the way to bettering that as we responded with a resounding win against Newcastle to kick off the league season. I left the players under no illusions of my expectations before the game and was delighted to return to the dressing room at half-time leading 6-0. Second half we dropped off but the damage was well and truly done. Walcott enjoying his new role.

PREMIER LEAGUE

WATFORD 0

ARSENAL 2

Walcott 45 Mertesacker 61

A good solid win. Watford gave a decent account of themselves but never looked like scoring.

League Table

1. Arsenal Played 2 Points 6

2. Southampton Played 2 Points 6

3. Everton Played 2 Points 6

4. Tottenham Played 2 Points 4

5. Liverpool Played 2 Points 4

Other News

Champions League group is Galatasaray Grasshoppers and Kiev

In the league cup we play Fulham away.

Spurs new signing Toivonen won player of the month. Walcott was third. Young player went to Januzaj while I won manager of the month.

In the transfer market. Man City were the biggest spenders coughing up a combined fee of 84m to bring in Ayew Keita Van Ginkel and Vela. United only bought Falcao. Liverpool signed El Shaarawy and Chelsea brought in Barkley and Insigne.

September fixtures

League

Wigan (H) Man City (A) Liverpool (A)

Champions League

Galatasaray (H) Dynamo Kiev (A)

League Cup

Fulham (A)

[arsenalthebest]

started a new save with lfc's Jan update mostly be using it as experimental may do 2/3 updates/season

[JEinchy]

Haven't updated in a while. I'm into January 2020:

The Club World Cup has given us a handful of games-in-hand against Chelsea and if we win all three we'll have a healthy lead over them and the rest of the chasing pack. The league is marginally tighter this season, with City and Liverpool being a lot more consistent than they've been in previous years, while Man Utd are improving under their new manager. Newcastle were up there for a while, but they've fallen off dramatically in the past month or so. I'm anticipating another title race with Chelsea, but it'd be cool if a couple other teams could get involved as well.

We won the Community Shield, Euro Super Cup and Club World Cup, we're in the quarter-finals of the COC (for some reason, I keep getting easy draws for this competition) and we blitzed through our CL group with a 100% record. The goal is to win every trophy available, which will test the depth of my squad.

At the moment, I've having a fair bit of success with a 3-5-2, especially against teams who play with two strikers. My young Brazillian full-back Andre is loving the new system and is nigh unstoppable down the right flank at times, and I've been able to get Rotariu closer to the opposition goal. It's also enabled me to give my young striker Callum Lincoln more game time and he's doing very well; his 12 goals so far make him our second highest goalscorer this season, behind Lewandowski with 16. Wilshere, who I've struggled to get into the team at times, has adapted well to playing as a Defensive Winger on the left hand side. If/when I start a new game, I may try playing him there from the start.

The 4-3-3 is also working well, though I've had to tinker with it slightly by swapping Ramsey (CMa) and Romero (Regista, S) around. Romero's athleticism and power makes him a very different threat to Ramsey's clever movements, and Ramsey can make full use of two-footedness and passing in a deep position while still being allowed to arrive in the box late and score goals. I use a similar combo in the 3-5-2, only Ramsey stays deeper as a DLP since the additional striker means I don't need the extra midfielder to attack the box.

With any luck, I'll get through January without any of my players demanding to leave.

[Cesc_cil]

When is the final patch to be released so i can start my career game with Arsenal??

[arsenalthebest]

Febuary Update

03/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 6.9 RB: Chambers 7.4 RCB: Woodward 6.3( Stones 45/7) LCB: Doria© 7.3 LB: Yenga 6.9 MCR: Wilshere 6.9 MCL: McCarthy 6.9 AMR: Malcom 6.8( Ox 31/8.6 - MoM) AMC: L.Long 7.8 AML: Campbell 7.9 STC: Ings 6.3( Berahino 45/7.7)

Arsenal 3( Malcom Inj 31 , Campbell 55 , Berahino

57 , L.Long 70 | Assts: Ox/Berahino 1)

Man City 1 ( Welbeck 29)

07/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | St James' Park

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Savic 7.9 RB: Chambers 6.9( Stones 51/7.5) RCB: Woodward 8 LCB: Doria© 8.3( Hales 73/6.8) LB: Yenga 8.1 MCR: Wilshere 9.4 MCL: Pogba 8.7 AMR: Halilovic 9.5 AMC: L.Long 9.6(MoM) AML: Campbell 9.1 STC: Ings 9.6( Rosa 73/6.7)

Arsenal 8 ( L.Long 6 , Ings 11 , Halilovic 13 & 56 , Ings 57 , L.Long 63 , Ings 70 , L.Long 90 | Assts: Wilshere 4 , Halilovic/Campbell 1)

Newcastle 2 ( Lascelles 14 , Ince 21)

10/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Ruddy 7.3 RB: Chambers 7.5 RCB: Woodward 7.6( Stones 70/6.8) LCB: Doria© 7.6 LB: Yenga 8.3 MCR: Wilshere 9 MCL: Pogba 7.2( McCarthy 70/6.9) AMR: Deulofeu 9.5(MoM) AMC: L.Long 6.9 AML: Campbell 7.5( Ox 65/6.7) STC: Berahino 9.4

Arsenal 6 (Bridcutt O/G 17 , Berahino 25 , Deulofeu 31 , Berahino 40 , Woodward 54 , Deulofey 89 | Assts: Wilshere/Deulofeu/Campbell/Berahino/McCarthy 1)

Sunderland 2 ( llori 56 , Pasalic 59)

13/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | Goodison Park

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.3 RB: Chambers 7.9( Doria 76) RCB: Stones 8.7 LCB: Koscielny 8.9 LB: Gibbs 8.2 MCR: Pogba 7.7 MCL: McCarthy 7.5( Wilshere 73/6.8) AMR: Ox 8.5 AMC: Halilovic 6.9( Deulofeu 73/6.8) AML: Sterling 9.3(MoM) STC: Munir 7.7

Arsenal 4 ( Muniir 8 , Sterling 21 , Stones 36 , Sterling 75 | Assts: Pogba/Ox 1)

Everton 0

17/02/18 | F.A Cup(5th Round) | Pride Park

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.9 RB: Chambers 6.9 RCB: Koscielny 8.6 LCB: Stones 7( Doria 79) LB: Gibbs 6.9( Taylor 79) MCR: Pogba 7.7( Wilshere 82) MCL: McCarthy 6.9 AMR: Ox 8.8 AMC: Halilovic AML: Sterling 8.6 STC: Munir 9.1(MoM)

Arsenal 5 ( Muniir 4 , Hailiovic 12 , Koscielny 20 , Sterling 82 | Assts: Munir 1 , Ox/Halilovic 2)

Derby 2 ( Martin 22 & 42)

21/02/18 | UEFA Champions League( 1st Knock-Out Rd Leg 1)| Alianz-Arena

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.5 RB: Chambers 5.8(Doria 82 swap with Stones) RCB: Koscielny 6.2 LCB: Stones 6.6 LB: Gibbs 6.3 Taylor 82) MCR: Pogba 6.3 MCL: McCarthy 6.3 AMR: Ox 8.8 AMC: L.Long 9 AML: Campbell 7.3( Deulofeu 82) STC: Berahino 7.6

Arsenal 5 ( Ox 8 , Stones PEN 29 , Ox 52 , L.Long 57 & 67 | Assts: Campbell/L.Long/Ox 1 , Berahino 2)

Bayern Munich 6 ( Kovacic 18 , Lewandowski PEN 26 , Muller 42 , Lewandowski 62 & 82 & 87)

24/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | The Valley

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 7.6 RB: Chambers 9 RCB: Kosciely 8.7 LCB: Stones 7.1(Doria 65/6.9) LB: Gibbs 8.8 MCR: Pogba 9.2 MCL: McCarthy 8.2 AMR: Ox 9.4 AMC: L.Long 9.6(MoM) AML: Campbell 8.8( Deulofeu 65/7 STC: Berahino 7.6( Malcom 70/6.9)

Arsenal 6 ( L.Long 6 , Berahino 18 , L.Long 49 , Pogba 71 , Ox 75 , L.Long 80 | Assts: Campbell/Ox 2 , Malcom/Chambers 1)

Charlton 0

28/02/18 | Barclays Premier League | Emirates

STARTING FORMATION/TEAM: GK: Romero© 6.2 RB: Chambers 7.7 RCB: Kjær 7.2 LCB: Stone 72 LB: Gibbs 8.2 MCR: Pogba 8.9 MCL: McCarthy 7( Wilshere 74/6.8) AMR: Malcom 9( Ox 74/6.7) AMC: L.Long 9 AML: Deulofeu 9.2(MoM) STC: J.Long 8.2( Giroud 63/6.7)

Arsenal 5 ( Deulofeu 9 & 30 , Pogba 38 , J.Long 55 , Chambers 63 | Assts: ( Malcom 2 , L.Long 1)

Reading 2 ( Weimann 50 , McGregor 53)

[FMnutter89]

Any advice for someone starting a Arsenal save

[SJ234]

Buy Romero

[arsenalthebest]

Any advice for someone starting a Arsenal save

buy Munir

[BenjiB]

Hi guys,

Apologise if this has been asked and covered before but what tactics and formations are you using? I've tried a few different ones now and nothing seems to really work well (and i'm not exactly a newbie at FM either but just can't seem to get things to work with Arsenal on 15 for some reason) so was wondering if anyone knows of any good tactics to download or tips re formations and team settings

Thanks in advance!

[JEinchy]

Any advice for someone starting a Arsenal save

Give the current squad a chance. That includes the likes of Monreal and Podolski. There's a lot of talent to work with there, so there isn't a need to take a hammer to the squad straight away.

Hi guys,

Apologise if this has been asked and covered before but what tactics and formations are you using? I've tried a few different ones now and nothing seems to really work well (and i'm not exactly a newbie at FM either but just can't seem to get things to work with Arsenal on 15 for some reason) so was wondering if anyone knows of any good tactics to download or tips re formations and team settings

Thanks in advance!

If you go back a page or two you should find a post about a counter-attacking tactic that people are having some very good success with.

From my own experience, 4-4-1-1 is good, balanced set-up. I've also had success with a 4-3-3 and 3-5-2.

Having said that, tt's difficult to give advice without knowing how you want to set-up and what's not going right for you, exactly. All I can off you is general advice, otherwise.