FM18: Arsenal - Victoria Concordia Crescit

[gandrasch]

Arsenal Football Club
 

Nickname(s) The Gunners
Founded 1886; 129 years ago as Dial Square
Owner Arsenal Holdings plc
Chairman Sir Chips Keswick

Ground Emirates Stadium
Capacity 60,260








Arsenal Football Club was founded in 1886 as a munition workers' team from Woolwich, then in Kent, now southeast London. They turned professional in 1891 and joined The football League two years later. They were promoted to the First Division in 1904 but financial problems meant they were close to bankruptcy by 1910. They were bought out by Sir Henry Norris that year and to improve the club's financial standing, he moved the team to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, north London in 1913. After the First World War he arranged for the club's promotion back to the First Division, in controversial circumstances.








It was not until the appointment of Herbert Chapman in 1925 that Arsenal had their first period of major success; Chapman modernized and reformed the club's practices and tactics, and under him and his successor George Allison (who took over after Chapman's death in January 1934), Arsenal won five First Division titles and two FA Cups in the 1930s. After the Second World War, Tom Whittaker continued the success, leading the club to two First Division titles and an FA Cup. After Whittaker's death Arsenal's fortunes gradually declined; by 1966, they were in mid-table obscurity and had not won a trophy in thirteen years. This led to the dismissal of Billy Wright as manager in 1966, and with it the appointment of Bertie Mee, who would go on to turn around the club's fortunes.

 

 

Following Bertie Mee's appointment in 1966, Arsenal won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, their first European trophy, in 1969–70, and their first League and FA Cup double in 1970–71. The Double-winning side, however, was soon broken up and the following decade was characterised by a series of near misses: Arsenal lost three FA Cup finals (1971–72, 1977–78, and 1979–80) and the 1979–80 Cup Winners' Cup final on penalties. The club's only success during this time was an FA Cup win in 1978–79 against Manchester United.

After stagnation in the 1980s, the return of former player George Graham as manager in 1986 brought a third period of glory. Arsenal won the League Cup in 1986–87, two League title wins in 1988–89 and 1990–91, the FA Cup and League Cup double in 1992–93 and a second European trophy, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1993–94. However, Graham's reputation was tarnished when it was revealed that he had taken kickbacks for signing certain players and he was sacked in 1995.

Arsenal fourth period of success came with the appointment of Arsène Wenger in 1996. Under him, Arsenal won a second league and cup double in 1997–98 and then a third in 2001–02. In addition, the club were victorious in the 2002–03 and 2004–05 FA Cups, and won the Premier League in 2003–04 without losing a single match. In 2005–06 became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions 

League Final, and lost 2–1 against FC Barcelona. During the following close season, they left their longstanding home of Highbury to the new Emirates Stadium nearby. The club had not gained a major trophy since the 2005 FA Cup until 17 May 2014, when Arsenal beat Hull City in the 2014 FA Cup Final. Arsenal appeared in the FA Cup final for the second year in a row, thrashing Aston Villa 4–0 in the final.  Arsenal later won the FA Cup for a record 13th time, defeating Chelsea 2–1 in the 2017 final and became leading in terms of FA Cups won. The victory also saw Wenger become the first manager in English football history to win seven FA Cups. However, in that same season, Arsenal finished in the fifth position in the league, the first time they had finished outside the top four since before Wenger arrived in 1996.

Past Glorys:

First Division (until 1992) and Premier League 
Winners (13): 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04

FA Cup
Winners (12): 1929–30, 1935–36, 1949–50, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016-17 (record)

League Cup
Winners (2): 1986–87, 1992–93

FA Community Shield (FA Charity Shield before 2002)
Winners (14): 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017

European

European Cup Winners' Cup
Winners (1): 1993–94

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
Winners (1): 1969–70


Record Players:

Most games


1 David O'Leary (722 games)
2 Tony Adams (669)
3 George Armstrong (621)


Most goals



1 Thierry Henry 228 (377)
2 Ian Wright 185 (288)
3 Cliff Bastin 178 (396)


Fun Facts

In August 1928, Arsenal, alongside Chelsea, made history by becoming the first football clubs to wear numbered shirts. A year earlier the first ever live radio commentary of a football match took place, between Arsenal and Sheffield United. Arsenal played in the first match broadcast live on television, against their reserve counterparts in 1937.
__________________________________________________

[gandrasch]

Squad

Key: ***** - Poor, ***** - Back Up Player, ***** - Rotation Player, ***** - Key First Team, ***** - World Class (Current Ability only)

 

Goalkeepers

Cech ***** - Still one of the best keepers in the game, but probably need someone to succeed him in the foreseeable future

Ospina ***** -  Enough to be a okay backup, but not even remotely as good as Cech is 

 

edit: wow is this forums software annoying

 

Defenders

Koscielny

Mertesacker

Mustafi

Chambers

Holding

Bellerin

Debuchy

Monreal

Kolasinac

 

Midfielder

Özil

Ramsey

Xhaka

Wilshere

Coquelin

Elneny

Cazorla

 

 

Forwards

Sanchez

Giroud

Lacazette

Iwobi

Walcott

Welbeck

Nelson

 

[gandrasch]

Okay, you can start posting your Arsenal related things. Will start my save on Sunday probably, but did some testing in the Beta.

[NabsKebabs]

I'm gonna start a new save when the proper product is released because of the Sanchez contract issues. Seems impossible to sign him on in the beta.

[Kazeria]

Thanks for starting the thread off!

 

Elneny and Walcott are fantastic for Arsenal this season, both are keepers. Lots will look to sell these two straight away but they are worth holding on to.

[craiigman]

Why do we insist on having a history lesson with every new season? lol

[Nonlondoner]

Thanks for doing this thread, always a good read. 

[vozzon]

Nice thread gandrasch, getting the game shortly but will have to wait until home from work to play. Always start with the gunners as my first save.

Who is everyone signing in the first transfer window. Have been reading that Seri and Dembele (celtic) come at a decent price. 

 

[Nonlondoner]

Yes

6 hours ago, vozzon said:

Nice thread gandrasch, getting the game shortly but will have to wait until home from work to play. Always start with the gunners as my first save.

Who is everyone signing in the first transfer window. Have been reading that Seri and Dembele (celtic) come at a decent price. 

 

Add Malang Sarr as well, young CB/LB. Good enough for first team from the start.

 

 

 

 

[gandrasch]

Like I said in the other thread, I will revamp the midfield. With 80 million starting budget there is a lot of room for improvements. 

 

My shortlist in midfield is down to Pereira (the Porto one), Savic (Lazio), Seri (Nice), Diawara(Napoli) and Arthur (Gremio, could be the next Romero for me). McKennie (Schalke) looks promising as well, but isn't easy to lure away. Goretzka (Schalke) will be out of contract next season so despite me disliking his player profile in FM I will probably sign him on precontract in winter if he doesn't renew there, which I will try to sabotage with bids in the summer.

Hutvagner (Sampdoria) will succeed Cech for me, but he's young and very raw.

Some backup for Bellerin would be good but I don't have names yet. I really liked Danilo from Real last year, but he's gone to City now.

I will go for a deep DM 4231 with a Shadowstriker behind Lacazette. Fekir (Lyon) could be a possibility, but I have already Özil there, as well as Wilshere and Goretzka is pretty good in this role as well. 

On the flanks I want to try Promes (Spartak) and Sisto (Celta Vigo) and maybe Chiesa (Fiorentina) or Zivkovic (Benfica). Also Pulisic (BVB) was available in the beta for around 30-40 mil, which would be quite cheap. 

Another young forward who will be loaned like Martinez (Racing) or Kwang-Song (Perugia)

 

Walcott will definitely be sold, even if I can't find a real replacement, because I can't see him around at Arsenal any longer. Probably will sell Sanchez too. He's such a good player, but I don't like his attitude and you can still get around 40 to 60 mil for him. Coq has to go as does Debuchy.

 

 

Worst thing, I won't be able to really play before Sunday evening as we have guests coming over for the weekend >.<

[luka_zg]

Started my save when beta came out. First season won the league on +1 goal difference over Spurs. That was sweet.

In Europa league, lost in semis against AC Milan. Lost Carabao cup final against Chelsea and lost in the 6th round of FA cup against Ipswich. I've played 4-2-3-1 for the whole season.

Sold Elneny to City and replaced him with Diawara from Napoli. Also brought in Tierney (Celtic) and Rosales (Malaga) to reinforce LB and RB positions.

Tried to sell Walcott at the start of the 2nd season but no luck. I think he is too expensive after quite good campaign. Don't think I will offer him a new contract though. Brought in Lucas Moura (PSG) and Virgil van Dijk (southampton).

I gave lot of playing time to Nelson in the 1st season, he is developing really good. Also Iwobi had a great season. Sanchez left on free to City. 

Lacazette was player of the year but he broke his leg in the 2nd friendly I've played.

Second season, I have quite big issues in away games, losing against Newcastle and West Ham ,and losing opening day game against Tottenham at the Emirates. So that's three loses already in 7 games. Won against Bournemouth away with a 90 minute goal from Wilshere in otherwise uninspiring performance from the team. I must reshape my away approach.

On the other hand, in the CL we have won both games, home against PSG and away at Inter. Quite impressive start to the campaign.

My ideal first team for now is:

Cech - Tierney,van Dijk,Mustafi,Bellerin - Diawara,Xhaka - Iwobi,Ozil,Lucas Moura - Lacazette

My ideal second team is:

Heaton - Kolasinac,Koscielny,Chambers,Rosales - Coquelin,Ramsey - Nelson,Wilshere,Walcott - Welbeck

[puffascruffowitz]

I just clinched the league title with a save I started in the beta. Sitting on 91 points with 2 games to play there's a chance we could break the points record which is 95. I signed Embolo the opening transfer window who has become my first choice RM, and I signed Matt Lowton as cover for Bellerin in January. He's not the youngest, but for me he's about as solid as a back up as I could hope for, and seems content to play very rarely.

I also signed Denis Geiger who has some developing to do but looks like he could be a great DLP. I also signed Rocky Bushiri as a youth CB for very little money (not sure he'll pan out though). Reiss is coming along really well, he has a 7.8 avg rating in the PL.

Not sure who to sign in the 2nd summer. Sanchez won't sign a new deal. I'm thinking Pulisic or Lemar although they'll both cost a fortune. I'd love another top class midfielder, but I kind of don't need one. Ramsey/Wilsher/Coq/Ozil have all played fantastically. Coquelin especially I'm surprised by. He's chipped in with 8 goals and 10 assists from just a CM-S role.

 

[ben carter]

Is Sanchez leaving Arsenal hard coded? I haven't seen a game yet where he stays. Admittedly it seems extremely unlikely he'll re-sign in real life but surely if you were to win the league and some other trophies with Arsenal there would at least be the slightest possibility he'd sign.

[georgey]

9 minutes ago, ben carter said:

Is Sanchez leaving Arsenal hard coded? I haven't seen a game yet where he stays. Admittedly it seems extremely unlikely he'll re-sign in real life but surely if you were to win the league and some other trophies with Arsenal there would at least be the slightest possibility he'd sign.

It was hard-coded in the beta.  There is rumours this won't be the case in the full game so i am eagerly awaiting any news on if anyone can talk him into staying before the season end.  I am having a play with a chelsea game i had started but then i want my career save to be arsenal so i hope there is ways to keep him , e.g winning the title or the euro cup etc

 

[KrookDale]

It certainly seemed very impossible in the beta.

 

I think the team is a tad too strong in the game. Bellerin is probably among the top3 RBs in the game, Mustafi is probably a bit stronger than in real life. The midfielders are good and Welbeck is immense.

 

A good tactician could possibly win the first season without any transfers.

[puffascruffowitz]

11 minutes ago, KrookDale said:

It certainly seemed very impossible in the beta.

 

I think the team is a tad too strong in the game. Bellerin is probably among the top3 RBs in the game, Mustafi is probably a bit stronger than in real life. The midfielders are good and Welbeck is immense.

 

A good tactician could possibly win the first season without any transfers.

I agree, Coquelin is much too overrated in FM this year. 14 technique for Coq?? Mustafi is overrated, while Kolasinac I feel is a bit underrated. I realize his good form might not have come into play, but even at Schalke he was good going forward and getting assists. His attacking attributes are pretty poor.

[KrookDale]

Regarding Alexis, I ended up keeping him, to ensure a good result in the first season. Money is borderline unlimited with the 300m warchest, and until you secure champions league, it's hard to attract players of equal skill level.

 

I'm very fond of the young offensive guys you start with. I gave Nelson lots of game time in the first season, and he developed immensely, result is he secured the Golden Boy award in 2018.

[Hara Bau]

Yah. Alexis doesnt sign no matter wht. Wanted to sign griezmann but hes on 325k per week. Who hve u guys bought? Lemar looks like the best replacement. 

[KrookDale]

I secured Asensio to get a new star, he plays in the centre for me, but could do a great job on the flank as well.

[Maaka]

What tactic(s) are y'all using with Arsenal?
I'm going for (at least some) realism, so I've retained Wenger as a DoF, and have given him the responsibility to handle all transfers and contracts (as a DoF would do IRL, in most cases), so I'm both frightened and excited about what players I might end up with.

[rafiomcnick]

2 hours ago, KrookDale said:

I secured Asensio to get a new star, he plays in the centre for me, but could do a great job on the flank as well.

How much did you pay for him and when did you buy him? I tried at the start of the first season with 70 M £ but Real refuses to sel

[KrookDale]

Had to pay around £90m for him, after one season. Players are insanely expensive in FM2018 (which is good), so if you can get one of the top of top talents at a price below 100m, it's worth considering imo.

[vit1 ☔]

I try to sell Alexis for her 7X value but no one pays more than 45 so:



 

And after play al day, game crash without save fml

[Aron]

What up folks!
Quick question: what do you guys do in order to get the most money for the deadweight players? I usually offer them out for 150% value and lower it successively until there's interest, but this takes ages. Thanks!

[Reece3]

Hi All,

First time poster. Although I am not an Arsenal fan, I am really excited to do an Arsenal save which I will start tonight. 

I will be playing 4-2-3-1 with Inside forwards (habit from last couple years). Will be looking to move    Sanchez, Coq and Debauchy on. Keeping Elneny, Walcott and resigning Ozil (current thoughts).

Feel a new mid is important, looking at Savic (Lazio). Maybe another striker and an IF on the right, maybe Felipe Anderson. Defence wise I will try and bring Malang Sarr in and a right back. I am really stuck on a young right back to play back-up to bellerin. Would love some suggestions?

Couple of staff related questions. Do you guys keep Wegner on as DoF? Secondly the head of youth development looks weak? Any replacement suggestions?

 

thanjs guys! Pumped to make this a long save! I will try and reply to other questions and help where possible...new to this forum. Good luck

 

 

[Reece3]

1 hour ago, Aron said:

What up folks!
Quick question: what do you guys do in order to get the most money for the deadweight players? I usually offer them out for 150% value and lower it successively until there's interest, but this takes ages. Thanks!

I usually offer their value unless a key player or a player with contract        issues. 75% of the time an offer comes through, if not I ask the player to try and make it happen. Then start reducing (can be frustrating).

i usually don't offer higher than their value unless a key player. 

Let me know if you find something that works or get a really good value offer for an Arsenal player.

i have had 60 accepted for Sanchez, 23 for Coq and 5.25 for Debauchy.

[Aron]

1 minute ago, Reece3 said:

Hi All,

First time poster. Although I am not an Arsenal fan, I am really excited to do an Arsenal save which I will start tonight. 

I will be playing 4-2-3-1 with Inside forwards (habit from last couple years). Will be looking to move    Sanchez, Coq and Debauchy on. Keeping Elneny, Walcott and resigning Ozil (current thoughts).

Feel a new mid is important, looking at Savic (Lazio). Maybe another striker and an IF on the right, maybe Felipe Anderson. Defence wise I will try and bring Malang Sarr in and a right back. I am really stuck on a young right back to play back-up to bellerin. Would love some suggestions?

Couple of staff related questions. Do you guys keep Wegner on as DoF? Secondly the head of youth development looks weak? Any replacement suggestions?

 

thanjs guys! Pumped to make this a long save! I will try and reply to other questions and help where possible...new to this forum. Good luck

 

 

While Savic is a perfect fit, both Coq and Elneny have really good attributes this year and should really do the job. Same with Ramsey/Xhaka for the playmaking role.

Agree that RB has been difficult. As Bellerin is quite young, it might be smarter to pick up a more experienced backup. Vidal is listed at the start of the season, and Montoya is solid as well. I've gone for San Emeterio for a punt, will update.

Keep Wenger and put him on contract renewal and development list duty! He'll fill the staff quotas first summer as well if you let him. 

[gholliday87]

So, Sanchez, what's everyone done? I'm tempted to cut my losses now, and flog him.

Looking to sign Kai Havertz, but Leverkusen want £190m!

[Sean3h]

How have people been handing the Sanchez departure? I haven't started a save on the full game yet, but when I tried to offer him out in the beta he kicked off and didn't want to leave (even though he won't sign!)

[SteveUK]

I'm waiting for a reply from the data issues thread to see if Alexis being hardcoded to refuse contracts is how the FM Team meant it to be, which i am fine with if it's the case but my issue is with the fact that Ozil should be the same and Ross Barkley, who will sign a new contract for a pittance (60kp/w the lowest i have heard someone get him to stay for) at Everton.

[Nonlondoner]

20 hours ago, vit1 ☔ said:

And after play al day, game crash without save fml

I'm sorry, are you saying that you played the game for 12+ hours and didn't manually save it?

I save at least every week and have a parallel back-up version too and a start of season save. Just for good measure I save one to the cloud at the start of every session. Never lost a game since FM06 and that was when my hard drive died.

Consider that a life lesson and learn.

 

[Ventricity]

I'm half way on my second season. I won the first one after almost getting fired untill changing tactic and started winning around late october. I did not even qualify from the europa league group stage, I lost my first league cup match, and did not last much in the fa cup either. The tactic I changed to after being completely unable to get any tactic that didn't use wingers to work. Good tactic from some streamer.

Player bought first season: 

 

Second season: 

I went abit bananas with the spending second season as my goal is win champions league. But I could never seem to sell my players for much money, so I rather just let them go for very little just to get rid of them. I find it highly unlikely that no club wants a player like Aaron Ramsey or Xhaka for more money. 

Things I would do differently: 

Not buy Savic(really good, but not perfect for my formation), Ødegaard (too high wages, reminds me of Canales, but is improving), Villar (will never become good enough), Tierney(not home grown, not quite world class and injury prone) first season. I also bough some insane talents that probably won't get work permits for many years like Barco and Martinez.

Second season: 

Lemos for 17m was way too expensive and not worth it.

Lafont for 55M probably not worth it on short term, might be worth it long term.

Danilo Pereira not quite worth the price. Krychowiak is probably just as good in the defesive midfield role with defend duty and for far less and with much needed leadership skills.

Romagnoli is worth 13.5, but he is not nearly as good as on FM17.

Best buys so far; Nissen - bargain right back backup for Bellerin, Pulisic seems to be fanastic, Seri is great, Ceballos for 6m has been really good, Lozano is developing nicely for me as a right winger.

Other players: Too many injuries. I'm sick of players being injured all the time: Iwobi, Welbeck, Walcott, Ramsey. Walcott did really well on the right wing when he was playing though. Ramsey is very good as roaming playmaker. But I have no patience for overpaid injury prone players. 

Elneny is great in all roles, meaning he is not world class but the perfect player on FM because he is professional, well liked, good, but not good enough to command insane wages or playing time. Sanchez was a beast as inside forward and probably the main reason I won the league alongside Lacazette who started to score alot eventually. Özil was also good the first season, but second season he has dropped and i'm looking to sell him before third season. Ceck retired after the first season, probably because I placed him on the transfer list (mistake).

[yorkie87]

Contemplating sorting Sanchez's contract issues through the in game editor if I have a good season and he still wont even talk to me.

[Reece3]

Hi All,

Started my save last night. Sold Sanchez for 60 mil to City. Had offers from City, Liverpool, Chelsea and United. I feel the contract situation is hard coded. I have watched a few saves on Youtube and I am happy to take the 60 mil and run. People sold him for as low as 10 mil toward the end of the year. Plus injury could prevent you selling him later in the first season.

I am 3 friendlies into the season. 2 wins and a draw. Playing counter 4-2-1-3. Working well at the moment as my away tactic. Will play 4-2-3-1 at home with attacking mentality. Kept Wenger on as DoF. Brought in a few new staff including a young HoD from Valencia (18 PA 18 PP and high Adaptability).

Sold: Sanchez 60 mil, Coq 24 mil, Debauchy 5.5 mil.

Bought: Savic 35 mil, Correa 19 mil, Dolberg 18 mil, Sarr 12 mil, Jonny 10 mil, Marin 800k.

Still have 50 mil in the bank.

Loving the Arsenal save at the minute. Will keep everyone updated along the journey.

[Reece3]

21 hours ago, Aron said:

While Savic is a perfect fit, both Coq and Elneny have really good attributes this year and should really do the job. Same with Ramsey/Xhaka for the playmaking role.

Agree that RB has been difficult. As Bellerin is quite young, it might be smarter to pick up a more experienced backup. Vidal is listed at the start of the season, and Montoya is solid as well. I've gone for San Emeterio for a punt, will update.

Keep Wenger and put him on contract renewal and development list duty! He'll fill the staff quotas first summer as well if you let him. 

Thanks for the great advice Aron. Kept Wenger on and gave him those responsibilities. Put him on youth contract renewals but still received and email with youth contracts expiring?

Although Coq has great stats, I am too in love with Savic in this game. Sold Coq to increase transfer revenue and made the Savic deal happen. 3 friendlies in and Savic has a goal (screamer) and an assist and he only played 20 minutes in the second friendly.

For Rb I went for Jonny (Spanish) for 10 mil. Can play both Rb and Lb. He will replace Monreal in the 2nd or 3rd season. I am also scouting Rasmus Nissen from FC Midtjyland, apparently a great young buy for around 2-4 mil.

How is your save going mate?

[Aron]

Played half a season now after trying the team out in a couple Beta saves.

Transfers out:

• Giroud, 24M to Southampton - couldn't get him to deliver in the other saves so cashed out and invested in Dolberg.
• Welbeck, 19M to Stoke - he wants game time which I can't give him.
• Debuchy, 6M to AS Monaco - he somehow always has buyers so I took advantage of that. 
• Ospina, 3.3M to Galatasaray - as Cech is getting older I wanted his backup to be a youngster who could eventually replace him.

Transfers in:

• Felipe Anderson, 27M winger from Lazio - I couldn't get a work permit for Andrija Zivkovic and Anderson was the second choice. Tricky either footed inside forward with 19 flair and 17 dribbling & technique. 3 goals 4 assists in 13 games for a 7.44 average, playing inside forward on both sides. 
• Kasper Dolberg, 26M striker from Ajax - huge talent and perfect for my system. 8 goals 2 assists in 12 games for a 7.03 average. Can have bad games and still hasn't found a social group, but he's only 20 so I'm keeping faith.
• Angel Correa, 22M attacking midfielder from Atletico Madrid - this was an impulse buy on deadline day. He's a natural AP-a but I think I'll retrain him to IF-a and play him on the left when Alexis inevitably doesn't want to extend. 19 flair 20 determination and likes to run with the ball, should be a good replacement right? 4 goals 5 assists in 8 games for a 7.50 average. Still haven't found a social group, but he likes me and Lacazette which is nice.
• Will Mannion, 12M goalkeeper from Hull City - my pick for the Cech prodigy. Still 19 and getting tutored by Cech, he's played the cup games for me and has a 7.13 average from 8 games. Not sure if he'll become good enough to take over by the time Cech steps down, I'll let you know!
• Borja San Emeterio, 4.2M right back from Sevilla - my 20 y/o choice for Bellerin backup. He's allround solid and loves his deep crosses. 3 assists in 11 games with a 7.38 average. I like his contribution so far, but once he starts taking up a spot in my squad registration, I'm not sure anymore.

Tactics:

After tinkering for the first couple of games, I've settled on a very very simple 4-2-3-1. It's Attacking/Flexible with 0 team instructions. Full backs on FB-a, centre backs on CD-d. Double pivot as DLP-d and BBM-s (added Shoot Less Often), Özil as AP-s, wings as IF-a (added mark LB/RB respectively). Lacazette as CF-s. Very basic. 

Results:

League: After 18 games - 12 W 2 D 4 L. Losses are away to Watford and Bournemouth early in the season, as well as to United and Liverpool away later on. Two 0-0 against City at home and Chelsea away respectively. All in all, very consistent results once the tactic settled down. I'm 3rd in the table, Chelsea are in the lead still unbeaten and with only 3 goals allowed. Going to be a tough chase.

Cups: Got knocked out of the league cup, FA cup hasn't started yet. Had a ridiculously easy Europa league group with Steaua Bucharest, Vitoria and Mlada Boleslav. 

Outstanding players: Chambers has 2 goals and an assist in 9 games with a 7.74 average. JEFF has 3 goals 4 assists in 7 games with a 7.71 average. Great showing from the youngsters, albeit because of the easy opposition in Europe. In the league Felipe Anderson has been my best performer with 3 goals 4 assists and a 7.55 average.   

 

[Aron]

20 minutes ago, Reece3 said:

Kept Wenger on and gave him those responsibilities. Put him on youth contract renewals but still received and email with youth contracts expiring?

Think he does them once he's decided he wants to keep them or something. You can still make him do it manually if necessary. 

Good find in Jonny!

[Reece3]

5 hours ago, Aron said:

Played half a season now after trying the team out in a couple Beta saves.

Transfers out:

• Giroud, 24M to Southampton - couldn't get him to deliver in the other saves so cashed out and invested in Dolberg.
• Welbeck, 19M to Stoke - he wants game time which I can't give him.
• Debuchy, 6M to AS Monaco - he somehow always has buyers so I took advantage of that. 
• Ospina, 3.3M to Galatasaray - as Cech is getting older I wanted his backup to be a youngster who could eventually replace him.

Transfers in:

• Felipe Anderson, 27M winger from Lazio - I couldn't get a work permit for Andrija Zivkovic and Anderson was the second choice. Tricky either footed inside forward with 19 flair and 17 dribbling & technique. 3 goals 4 assists in 13 games for a 7.44 average, playing inside forward on both sides. 
• Kasper Dolberg, 26M striker from Ajax - huge talent and perfect for my system. 8 goals 2 assists in 12 games for a 7.03 average. Can have bad games and still hasn't found a social group, but he's only 20 so I'm keeping faith.
• Angel Correa, 22M attacking midfielder from Atletico Madrid - this was an impulse buy on deadline day. He's a natural AP-a but I think I'll retrain him to IF-a and play him on the left when Alexis inevitably doesn't want to extend. 19 flair 20 determination and likes to run with the ball, should be a good replacement right? 4 goals 5 assists in 8 games for a 7.50 average. Still haven't found a social group, but he likes me and Lacazette which is nice.
• Will Mannion, 12M goalkeeper from Hull City - my pick for the Cech prodigy. Still 19 and getting tutored by Cech, he's played the cup games for me and has a 7.13 average from 8 games. Not sure if he'll become good enough to take over by the time Cech steps down, I'll let you know!
• Borja San Emeterio, 4.2M right back from Sevilla - my 20 y/o choice for Bellerin backup. He's allround solid and loves his deep crosses. 3 assists in 11 games with a 7.38 average. I like his contribution so far, but once he starts taking up a spot in my squad registration, I'm not sure anymore.

Tactics:

After tinkering for the first couple of games, I've settled on a very very simple 4-2-3-1. It's Attacking/Flexible with 0 team instructions. Full backs on FB-a, centre backs on CD-d. Double pivot as DLP-d and BBM-s (added Shoot Less Often), Özil as AP-s, wings as IF-a (added mark LB/RB respectively). Lacazette as CF-s. Very basic. 

Results:

League: After 18 games - 12 W 2 D 4 L. Losses are away to Watford and Bournemouth early in the season, as well as to United and Liverpool away later on. Two 0-0 against City at home and Chelsea away respectively. All in all, very consistent results once the tactic settled down. I'm 3rd in the table, Chelsea are in the lead still unbeaten and with only 3 goals allowed. Going to be a tough chase.

Cups: Got knocked out of the league cup, FA cup hasn't started yet. Had a ridiculously easy Europa league group with Steaua Bucharest, Vitoria and Mlada Boleslav. 

Outstanding players: Chambers has 2 goals and an assist in 9 games with a 7.74 average. JEFF has 3 goals 4 assists in 7 games with a 7.71 average. Great showing from the youngsters, albeit because of the easy opposition in Europe. In the league Felipe Anderson has been my best performer with 3 goals 4 assists and a 7.55 average.   

 

Good start, like the business you have done. Couple quick questions.

Plans for the money you have left over?

Where are you playing Chambers to get those results?

Are you planning on keeping Sanchez and letting him go on a free?

Good luck mate!

[Aron]

2 minutes ago, Reece3 said:

Good start, like the business you have done. Couple quick questions.

Plans for the money you have left over?

Where are you playing Chambers to get those results?

Are you planning on keeping Sanchez and letting him go on a free?

Good luck mate!

There was about 10M left in the budget when I was done with the transfers and the board raised that to 70M before the January window. Haven't brought anyone in. Have pretty much given up on catching up with Chelsea and this squad is big enough for my remaining games. Hopefully with a CL spot I can attract a superstar next summer instead.

Played Holding-Chambers at the back in the midweek games. That's why they've gotten so good ratings, I finished the EL group with 6 wins and only 2 goals conceded.  

In my beta saves, Alexis was performing miracles every game so I figured there was no good replacement available (no CL -> no party). This time, he only has a 7.02 average so far and I have no qualms letting him go if he doesn't want to extend. Got Correa - Özil - Anderson ready anyway.

[Reece3]

3 minutes ago, Aron said:

There was about 10M left in the budget when I was done with the transfers and the board raised that to 70M before the January window. Haven't brought anyone in. Have pretty much given up on catching up with Chelsea and this squad is big enough for my remaining games. Hopefully with a CL spot I can attract a superstar next summer instead.

Played Holding-Chambers at the back in the midweek games. That's why they've gotten so good ratings, I finished the EL group with 6 wins and only 2 goals conceded.  

In my beta saves, Alexis was performing miracles every game so I figured there was no good replacement available (no CL -> no party). This time, he only has a 7.02 average so far and I have no qualms letting him go if he doesn't want to extend. Got Correa - Özil - Anderson ready anyway.

Thanks for the quick reply. Curious to know if Chelsea bought anyone in your save? Fantastic results in the Europa league! Super excite to get into the real games (still only preseason).

Yeah fair play, 60 mil for Sanchez was too good to turn down.

Is the increase in transfer revenue set for every Arsenal save? did you ask for it? If you don't spend that money does it carry over to the next season and then get another block of revenue on top for season 2?

Thanks mate, sorry for all the questions.

[Aron]

3 minutes ago, Reece3 said:

Thanks for the quick reply. Curious to know if Chelsea bought anyone in your save? Fantastic results in the Europa league! Super excite to get into the real games (still only preseason).

Yeah fair play, 60 mil for Sanchez was too good to turn down.

Is the increase in transfer revenue set for every Arsenal save? did you ask for it? If you don't spend that money does it carry over to the next season and then get another block of revenue on top for season 2?

Thanks mate, sorry for all the questions.

Yeah bizarrely Chelsea brought in Gignac and Inigo Martinez in January. No summer transfers though. They've been just so good it's crazy.

I wouldn't have said no to 60 mil! Could have gotten a big money player in for that. 

Don't remember getting it in my beta saves, didn't pay that much attention to it though. Think it depends on wage management as well? Not sure that it carries over, every season the budget is set depending on the clubs finances though. So if you didn't spend it then you should still get a bigger budget.  

[gandrasch]

Played preseason yesterday.

 

I did way more business than I wanted to.

Sold Coquelin to PSG for up to 45 mio (30 up front), Debuchy for 6 mil to Monaco and Sanchez for 45 to Chelsea. Still wanna sell Özil as well, because he doesn't fit my system. And I dislike Walcott, but I need someone experienced on the wings so he will stick another season. Then Jeff and my new signing will replace him.

De Ligt was was my first transfer because Liverpool wanted him and I got greedy. Paid 25 million but he turned out not to be as good as in my beta save. Savic for 35 million was the second transfer as he perfectly fits the Mezzala role. I would be he will be the most transferred guy this year .

Then I got myself Lemar as Sanchez replacement for a staggering 114 million (40 up front 40 over time 34 per clauses) . Also Kluivert for about 15 million for the other flank. 

 I was also looking for a Carrilero. I tried to get Seri but he demanded way to much, so I ended up with Herrera who was quite cheap. I just paid 15 mil in straight cash to United and it probably could have been even cheaper. 

Then I went for a Xhaka backup and was thinking about the "standard wonderkids" like Arthur or Diawara but then my scouts found Dennis Geiger from Hoffenheim who is pure gold. Got him for around 15 million as well .

I also pimped my youth squad with players like Paulinho and Salcedo.

Still need a RB backup and really want some youngsters like Geubbels, Gomes and some other Lyon youngster for the future. And I still have about 30 million in cash.

 

Won the most of my preseason games, but not all was convincing. But I managed a draw against Real Madrids A-Team. Maybe I will tweak some more, but it again look like the conversion rate is my biggest problem.

 

 

[stgahoy]

How is Lacazette doing for you guys ?  What roles suit him best?

Just grabbed him for my Juve side at the start of season 2, he was transfer listed by request for 40M it was a bargain I believe. Hope he can cope well with Higuain and Dybala in a 3 man attack.

[Aron]

Just finished the season.

Sold Walcott in the January window to Lazio for 26.5M. Cazorla had returned from injury and I felt that the depth was there. 

Won against Chelsea at home, ending their undefeated run. Alexis got himself sent off in the FA cup semi against Hull, and we lost. Bellerin broke his leg, leaving me with San Emeterio at RB for the final run.

Finished 3rd in the league behind Chelsea and United. Lacazette claimed the Golden Boot and the highest average rating with 21 goals, 11 assists and 7.47 avg from 23 starts. Felipe Anderson was my other top performer with 10 goals, 10 assists and a 7.54 average.

Won the Europa League against Galatasaray, with Dolberg coming on late to grab a goal and an assist to make it 2-0.

Alexis isn't extending, and I'm also letting Cazorla go. Will make Mertesacker the new Head of Youth Development. 100M warchest for the summer, not sure who to spend it on. A left back maybe.

[Time_Consumer]

Did anyone already try to incorporate the current 3-4-3, 5-2-3, 5-4-1 or whatever you may call it? I'm inclined to try because the thought of using both Monreal and Kola at the same time as well as the number of DC prospects make it worth a try. On the other hand, what to do with Walcott (who's still good in the game) and Nelson? Retrain? Make Neson attacking wingback? Mh.

[gholliday87]

Made an enquiry for Van Dijk, Southampton politely told me to get on my bike, I bid £54m (£4.5m over asking price) as we know how easily his head is turned irl, Southampton accept...

If only buying everyone was so easy!

[TheBigBoss]

1 hour ago, Time_Consumer said:

Did anyone already try to incorporate the current 3-4-3, 5-2-3, 5-4-1 or whatever you may call it? I'm inclined to try because the thought of using both Monreal and Kola at the same time as well as the number of DC prospects make it worth a try. On the other hand, what to do with Walcott (who's still good in the game) and Nelson? Retrain? Make Neson attacking wingback? Mh.

Think the players suit 3-4-3 well although Wenger isn't the man to coach it irl, I'd still bin Theo no role for him in the system and possibly retrain Nelson to play attacking mid

[NabsKebabs]

Update on Sanchez issue

https://community.sigames.com/topic/415807-alexis-sanchez-promises-to-stay-if-i-qualify-for-cl-i-qualify-and-he-leaves/?tab=comments#comment-11065348

It's impossible to resign Sanchez even if you win everything and he promises to stay if you qualify for CL. Nice one SI lol

 

[gholliday87]

43 minutes ago, NabsKebabs said:

Update on Sanchez issue

https://community.sigames.com/topic/415807-alexis-sanchez-promises-to-stay-if-i-qualify-for-cl-i-qualify-and-he-leaves/?tab=comments#comment-11065348

It's impossible to resign Sanchez even if you win everything and he promises to stay if you qualify for CL. Nice one SI lol

 

To be fair, I'd probably agree. I don't think he'd stay even if Arsenal won everything (which is highly unlikely!)

My biggest shock will be if he doesn't sign a pre-contract with someone else in Jan.

[NabsKebabs]

Just now, gholliday87 said:

To be fair, I'd probably agree. I don't think he'd stay even if Arsenal won everything (which is highly unlikely!)

My biggest shock will be if he doesn't sign a pre-contract with someone else in Jan.

If Wenger was sacked at the start of the season and we had a good manager this season and were top of the league do you really think Sanchez would definitely be on his way out? In the game Sanchez seems to 100% of the time sign with City. I have seen saves where someone wins the league with Arsenal and they lose Sanchez to City who finish 6th and had sacked Pep. Not very realistic imo.