FM20 - Arsenal: Time For Artekkers Tiki Taka Tactics?

[dcaine100]

3 hours ago, Yoeri said:

How do you guys use Niles? As an midfielder he seems great but the midfield is already full of players...

I use as a RB seems to play well there and he is quick off the mark.

Edited December 13, 2019 by dcaine100

[samiam]

Well we've just shat the bead in the the FA Cup Final of the second season against Brighton; but all is not lost as we won the League 7 points ahead of Liverpool and City! Pepe was star of the show taking home the Player of the Year award with 24 goals in the League. We got knocked out of Europe by Porto in the First Knockout Round which was disappointing.

As the season progressed I simplified my tactic to the below, though the CF's in the system (Lacazette and Haaland) haven't really been scoring so I have been toying with the idea of playing Haaland as a CF(a) for next season, though I don't want to isolate him up there. Any ideas?

I've already got Camavinga and Rice coming in this summer (both $50m in installments), with the plan to start Rice next to Dias and rotate Camavinga with Torreira and Guendouzi. I really didn't want to buy either of them but they transfer listed themselves by request and I couldn't pass it up...

The summer plan is to sell Lacazette (if I can get a good price for him), and maybe Torriera depending upon how much I can get out of PSG (who are interested).

[TheBigBoss]

On 12/12/2019 at 09:52, hickmanrocks said:

How are people managing the home grown quota? 

I get moving out deadwood but selling all or just some of the likes of Chambers, Holding, Willock, Nelson, Maitland-Niles, Sako, Smith-Rowe et al would surely leave you short no?

weird to be selling all of them Saka, Smith-Rowe and Nelson are good enough to be regulars. Willock, Holding, Chambers and Niles can easily be squad players or even more depending how you develop them

[1984mattyd]

16 hours ago, Yoeri said:

How do you guys use Niles? As an midfielder he seems great but the midfield is already full of players...

as a rb/lb, he has been a great replacement for bellerin or tierney when they are injured or even on rotation

[TheBigBoss]

Season one finished managed to finish 3rd in the league so CL football is back at the Emirates, lost to Benfica in the semi final of the Europa League as well as a quarter final defeat in the FA Cup to United

Got a massive £125mil transfer budget with 600k wages so it'll be a big summer for the club still want to promote the talented youngsters but I'll be adding some quality especially at CB and probably try and offer a cheeky contract for Eriksen.

Bit of a clearout needed. Ozil, Mustafi, Sokratis are all at massive risk and maybe even Xhaka and Luiz (depends on signings)

I don't want to be involved in a top 4 race that goes down to the last day as it did this season going into next season the aim is to chop away at Liverpools 22 point lead over us

[noelnoel]

Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t been performing for Me as IF or PF despite giving him tons of starts. 
 

is this related to random ability generator of the ME? Will restarting a new game help? 
 

Thanks guys

[Kieran87]

1 hour ago, noelnoel said:

Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t been performing for Me as IF or PF despite giving him tons of starts. 
 

is this related to random ability generator of the ME? Will restarting a new game help? 
 

Thanks guys

Short answer, nope.

Long answer, he thrives in a role where he plays off someone with lots of forward runs and movement also.

eg. playing him with Ozil doesn't work for me as he is lazy with his tracking, if you have him with Laca and a pressing midfielder with a high block, at least for me, I get the most out of him.

[Harper]

Have to say, this game has been pretty easy with Arsenal. 

Started with transfer window disabled.

Once the summer window "closed" in September, I asked the board to buy Chiesa. Agreed for £56M and 88k per week.

Then in January, had the option again, so asked for one Ruben Dias. Agreed for £52M and 73k per week. 

Chiesa, Pépé, and Auba destroyed Liverpool at Anfield. Chiesa with four goals, Auba with two, and Pépé with three assists. 

January window closes and I get the option for a board negotiated transfer again. Ask for Haaland. Agreed for £63M on 83k per week. 

Silent Stan putting in the money. 

[Harper]

16 hours ago, noelnoel said:

Gabriel Martinelli hasn’t been performing for Me as IF or PF despite giving him tons of starts. 
 

is this related to random ability generator of the ME? Will restarting a new game help? 
 

Thanks guys

He's done decent for me as an IF. I don't have the game in front of me, but my general tactic is a 4-3-3 with the AMR and RB set to cross to the far post. Before the January window in which Chiesa arrived, I was rotating Martinelli (IF), Saka (IW), and Smith-Rowe (IF) in the AML position and they've each popped in a few goals across various competitions.

Edit: Back at computer

Martinelli

Overall: 10 starts, 13 subs, 7 goals, 2 assists, 0.59 goals per 90

Europa League: 3 starts, 2 subs, 4 goals, 0 assists

Premier League: 4 starts, 9 subs, 1 goal, 1 assist

FA Cup: 1 start, 1 sub, 2 goals, 0 assists

League Cup: 2 starts, 1 sub, 0 goals, 1 assist

By comparison,

Saka has 6 starts, 10 subs, 6 goals, and 6 assists

Smith-Rowe has 10 starts, 7 subs, 4 goals, and 2 assists.

 

 

Edited December 17, 2019 by Harper

[Amazingortega]

On 17/12/2019 at 21:04, Harper said:

He's done decent for me as an IF. I don't have the game in front of me, but my general tactic is a 4-3-3 with the AMR and RB set to cross to the far post. Before the January window in which Chiesa arrived, I was rotating Martinelli (IF), Saka (IW), and Smith-Rowe (IF) in the AML position and they've each popped in a few goals across various competitions.

Edit: Back at computer

Martinelli

Overall: 10 starts, 13 subs, 7 goals, 2 assists, 0.59 goals per 90

Europa League: 3 starts, 2 subs, 4 goals, 0 assists

Premier League: 4 starts, 9 subs, 1 goal, 1 assist

FA Cup: 1 start, 1 sub, 2 goals, 0 assists

League Cup: 2 starts, 1 sub, 0 goals, 1 assist

By comparison,

Saka has 6 starts, 10 subs, 6 goals, and 6 assists

Smith-Rowe has 10 starts, 7 subs, 4 goals, and 2 assists.

 

 

Can you share your Tactic? I’m struggling with arsenal 

[hasdgfas]

Post-Season 2 Update:

League:
A very solid league performance, ending with us as Champions! 

Carabao Cup:

A victory over Spurs in the final, although we left it late.

FA Cup:

This was a tough competition for us. We squeaked by(or at least it felt like we squeaked by) several teams before United shredded us in the semifinals:

Champions League:

Good performances in the group stage and against Inter, but we just completely lost it in the second leg against Liverpool:

Summer Transfers:

I felt very good about my transfers this time around.

I was able to acquire McKennie from Schalke and Belmonte from River for a cheaper combined price than I got rid of Xhaka for.  With the departures of Xhaka and Zeca, my midfield gets a LOT younger.

I was also able to sell Mavropanos to Norwich for a much better price than I was expecting. He was not developing to the level I wanted out of my defenders, and it was just time to get rid of him. Between that, sending Sokratis out on loan, and the impending retirement of David Luiz, I needed some new blood.

I found that new blood. Badashile is a backup who I am hoping to develop over the next couple seasons. He'll get some time with the first team, but has a little bit to go before he's a regular starter.

I am VERY happy with the acquisition of Christian Romero. At 10M I feel like he's a huge bargain who will be a rock in my defense for YEARS. Hopefully he turns out as expected.

Unfortunately for Ainsley, he just wasn't quite reaching the level I wanted from a first-team player, and with the purchases I made in the midfield, he just wasn't going to get any starts. So I hope he succeeds at Lyon, but I wasn't going to turn down 23M.

[samiam]

On 18/12/2019 at 19:20, hasdgfas said:

I am VERY happy with the acquisition of Christian Romero. At 10M I feel like he's a huge bargain who will be a rock in my defense for YEARS. Hopefully he turns out as expected.

I had a deal all locked up for Christian Romero but his Work Permit got denied... Very frustrating! Good get for you.

[Harper]

On 18/12/2019 at 16:14, Amazingortega said:

Can you share your Tactic? I’m struggling with arsenal 

No, I can't because 1) I don't save my tactics, 2) I tinker with the tactical instructions game to game, 3) I change the tactic in-match frequently, and 4) I think the recent update tweaked some thing that made the core of the tactic (overlaps and crossing) less effective.

Basic outline was alternating between Fluid Counter-Attack and Wing Play, both playing a 4-3-3. I'd change the starting style depending on the opposition and then change in match depending on game state.

AMR as a IW(S or A) and RB as a WB(A), but set to aim crosses to the far post.

Rest of the team had player instructions tailored to the player in the position.

[MattLDempsey]

Come second in the second season with where Madison ended up playing left back for a substantial amount of games over Tierney who constantly seems to get injured.

Third season started terribly and I am currently 8th after 17 games, over 20 points behind leaders city. The only real difference was selling Lacazette and replacing him with Belotti and Barboas.

 

Aoaur is going to become a club legend.

[Yoeri]

We need to change the topic head title. 

What do you guys of the appointment of Mikel?  

[BrickCommo23]

On 21/12/2019 at 16:20, Yoeri said:

We need to change the topic head title. 

What do you guys of the appointment of Mikel?  

I'm staying cautious but have really enjoyed his opening soundbites and promises of 'being ruthless' 

[SteveUK]

Updated the Thread title  also in case anyone isn't aware, we have another Arsenal thread in the Non-FM section of the forum dedicated to discussions of all things Arsenal that aren't FM related, Link below.
 

 

[craiigman]

After messing around in pre-season with a random formation I decided I would go back an auto save and do it properly and so far, wow.

Zeca and Ajer in. 2-0 win away to Liverpool and 3-0 home win to United. So much for a tough start!

[SteveUK]

Not started my Arsenal save yet but was tinkering about seeing who i could sell at the start and buy for when i do begin.

Seems i can raise funds by selling Sokratis to Liverpool for £25mil, Xhaka to United for £38mil, and £70mil for Laca and Auba each.

Which allows me to bring in K.Ajer, R.Dias, D.Olmo, L.Martinez, Bruno Fernandes, might be able to grab Haaland too but at the start he isn't interested in entering contract talks.

 

[Aizo4576]

4 seasons in, it's been interesting. 4th, 2nd and 4th in the league. Currently 2nd 8 games to go. I also won the CL (somehow) in my second season, but been eh since then.

 

Going in to this season I spent £200m with the hope of really pushing for the league and CL, and that may still be possible. We started the season really poorly, then had an incredible run, and now we are starting to potentially stumble again, which is frustrating.

 

I also had a takeover in December this season, two consortiums going against each other to take the club over, one wanted to keep me the other didn't. Thankfully the one that wanted me got it, but he immediately signed Lucas Hernandez and Gimenez for a combined £185m + 450k in wages as part of his 'campaign promise'(?!). Which might be alright if I didn't already have 3 world class CBs... so I had to switch to 3atb, but it does seem to be working okay.

 

This is roughly my first and second XI, though obviously it isn't that simple.

[BrickCommo23]

12 hours ago, Aizo4576 said:

4 seasons in, it's been interesting. 4th, 2nd and 4th in the league. Currently 2nd 8 games to go. I also won the CL (somehow) in my second season, but been eh since then.

 

Going in to this season I spent £200m with the hope of really pushing for the league and CL, and that may still be possible. We started the season really poorly, then had an incredible run, and now we are starting to potentially stumble again, which is frustrating.

 

I also had a takeover in December this season, two consortiums going against each other to take the club over, one wanted to keep me the other didn't. Thankfully the one that wanted me got it, but he immediately signed Lucas Hernandez and Gimenez for a combined £185m + 450k in wages as part of his 'campaign promise'(?!). Which might be alright if I didn't already have 3 world class CBs... so I had to switch to 3atb, but it does seem to be working okay.

 

This is roughly my first and second XI, though obviously it isn't that simple.

Enjoyed that write up - hope you break the duck in Season 4! Although that is looking a great first XI. 

I'm only midway through second season but had 3 'takeovers' collapse - yours sounds much more fun.

Cheers

[Aizo4576]

And we have won the league!

 

Also got to the semi finals of the CL but lost to Liverpool. Won't be making many, if any, changes to the team for next season unless I get any ridiculous offers. Need to build up the finances again after we spent £385m last year (thanks to my board, who spent £185m on two CBs, one of whom doesn't even start)

[Yoeri]

Great team! But which Fernandes are you using as an DLP defend? Bruno Fernandes????

I am likely to start a (new) game with Arsenal as manager Mikel Arteta. No transfer window available until January 2020. Make the best out of it. Will post soon.  

[dcaine100]

33 minutes ago, Aizo4576 said:

And we have won the league!

 

Also got to the semi finals of the CL but lost to Liverpool. Won't be making many, if any, changes to the team for next season unless I get any ridiculous offers. Need to build up the finances again after we spent £385m last year (thanks to my board, who spent £185m on two CBs, one of whom doesn't even start)

Congrats on the league win! was wondering wheres our fantastic youth prospects like Saka, Willock, Nelson, Nketiah and Rowe? They all look really exciting on my save. Did you sell them?

Edited December 27, 2019 by dcaine100

[Aizo4576]

59 minutes ago, Yoeri said:

Great team! But which Fernandes are you using as an DLP defend? Bruno Fernandes????

I am likely to start a (new) game with Arsenal as manager Mikel Arteta. No transfer window available until January 2020. Make the best out of it. Will post soon.  

Yeah, it's Bruno. That sounds like fun, let us know how you get on!

 

51 minutes ago, dcaine100 said:

Congrats on the league win! was wondering wheres our fantastic youth prospects like Saka, Willock, Nelson, Nketiah and Rowe? They all look really exciting on my save. Did you sell them?

Honestly, I hoped to keep most of them around for longer but they just didn't develop as I'd have liked. Nketiah just didn't look good, Rowe was okay but never really made the step up. Willock was always a great squad player but never consistently broke in to the first team. Nelson and Saka are still around, but when my board decided to buy two new CBs I had to switch to my current formation, so I don't use wingers anymore.

 

Overall I'm quite disappointed with it, I could have developed them better tbh. Though by season 4 I just wanted to win the league so went crazy with buying players

[Yoeri]

1 hour ago, Aizo4576 said:

Yeah, it's Bruno. That sounds like fun, let us know how you get on!

 

Honestly, I hoped to keep most of them around for longer but they just didn't develop as I'd have liked. Nketiah just didn't look good, Rowe was okay but never really made the step up. Willock was always a great squad player but never consistently broke in to the first team. Nelson and Saka are still around, but when my board decided to buy two new CBs I had to switch to my current formation, so I don't use wingers anymore.

 

Overall I'm quite disappointed with it, I could have developed them better tbh. Though by season 4 I just wanted to win the league so went crazy with buying players

Why do you use him in that role? He is way better in an attacking role...

[samiam]

End of the third season and having a great time of things! Won the league for the second year straight, 2 points ahead of Liverpool and 4 ahead of Manchester United. Was knocked out of the UCL by PSG in the semis, though we deserved to go through to the final, which was eventually won by Liverpool.

Going into the season Reiss Nelson was my starting Left Inside Forward but he tore his ACL, so Nketiah stepped into that role and did a fantastic job, scoring 17 goals. Haaland was the player of the season, scoring 26 goals, tied with Kane for league leader, with an average rating of 7.72! I guess switching his mentality to Attack had the influence I wanted... 

Going into the third season my only buy was Naci Unuvar ($70M) who will compete with Nketiah for the left wing spot and backup Haaland in the CF slot.

Given Reiss Nelson's injury I will probably send him on loan to see if he can regain fitness/form and then probably sell him (Unuvar is only 18 and is already a beast so there is no space for him...).

With Saka being more of a true winger (something I don't need in my system) I tried to move him on to Wolves who came in for a bid of $80M, which I accepted, but they couldn't get him to nail down a contract.

Unfortunately, success leads to increased expectations, and for 2022/23 the board are requiring that I win the League...

 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by samiam

[BrickCommo23]

1 hour ago, samiam said:

End of the third season and having a great time of things! Won the league for the second year straight, 2 points ahead of Liverpool and 4 ahead of Manchester United. Was knocked out of the UCL by PSG in the semis, though we deserved to go through to the final, which was eventually won by Liverpool.

Going into the season Reiss Nelson was my starting Left Inside Forward but he tore his ACL, so Nketiah stepped into that role and did a fantastic job, scoring 17 goals. Haaland was the player of the season, scoring 26 goals, tied with Kane for league leader, with an average rating of 7.72! I guess switching his mentality to Attack had the influence I wanted... 

Going into the third season my only buy was Naci Unuvar ($70M) who will compete with Nketiah for the left wing spot and backup Haaland in the CF slot.

Given Reiss Nelson's injury I will probably send him on loan to see if he can regain fitness/form and then probably sell him (Unuvar is only 18 and is already a beast so there is no space for him...).

With Saka being more of a true winger (something I don't need in my system) I tried to move him on to Wolves who came in for a bid of $80M, which I accepted, but they couldn't get him to nail down a contract.

Unfortunately, success leads to increased expectations, and for 2022/23 the board are requiring that I win the League...

 

 

Great work - well done.

Do you have many Player Instructions? Just noticed you've got quite low key team instructions.Whatever you're doing is clearly working but just wondering.

[samiam]

1 hour ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Great work - well done.

Do you have many Player Instructions? Just noticed you've got quite low key team instructions.Whatever you're doing is clearly working but just wondering.

I have very minimal PI's with the exception of WB's 'Stay Wider' and instead focus on the right Player Traits. My philosophy is to keep the tactic more fluid, particularly in the midfield where all of my players are phenomenal all around players and I didn't want to limit them (with a BWM role) or force play through them (with a playmaker role).

I have been very happy with how the team plays, in particular:

1) The CB's are true ball players and will drive forward with the ball if the space is available or look to bypass the midfield three with balls directly into the front three, behind the opposition defense for the front three to run onto, or into a forward running wing back. This makes pressing us a really bad idea and we move very quickly up the field.

2) The IF's cut in well and we score a lot of goals from the corner of the box with curling shots to the far post. When setting up the tactic I was worried that all three forwards would cram the middle, but the weak side IF's tend to appropriately delay their inward runs, leaving space for Haaland and the attacking IF. Perhaps this is a benefit of having them on a support duty and/or having high 'Off The Ball' attributes?

3) The midfield supports play and recycles possession to the opposite flank for the IF/WB to attack the space. They are not goal scorers or playmakers, though they will hang outside of the box to add numbers to the attack.

Edited December 27, 2019 by samiam

[SteveUK]

My word, this FM could be the most enjoyable yet for me. Continued my experimenting with first season transfers and assembled this rebuild.



Had Asensio coming in too but fell through due to injury.

[BrickCommo23]

28 minutes ago, SteveUK said:

My word, this FM could be the most enjoyable yet for me. Continued my experimenting with first season transfers and assembled this rebuild.



Had Asensio coming in too but fell through due to injury.

Good grief. How on earth have you managed all that before start of first season? 

[SteveUK]

11 minutes ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Good grief. How on earth have you managed all that before start of first season? 

Sell players for full fees like for instance Auba for £70mil, then buy players by only paying a fraction up front and the rest over 3 years, like Vinicius Junior, who was the biggest transfer fee at £99mil but only cost £20-30mil of the budget and the rest will be paid over the three years, Chilwell cost me £66mil but i only paid £20mil of that upfront, and after unsettling Aaarons they wanted £30mil but only payed £10mil upfront so that's the Auba money used to buy 3 players, now factor in money for Xhaka(34mil), Sokratis(25mil) Mustafi(20mil), AMN(18mil), Laca(50mil) and Kolasinac(25mil) that gives 172mil, to carry on the rest of the transfers.

If you look at Pepe's transfer clauses it shows that Lille are owed 5 payments of £13mil, which reveals Arsenal only paid £7mil up front for him, i just repeat this process with every transfer.

Sell clauses, ask the board to give you 100percent of transfer revenue before selling anyone so you get all of it to use for transfers.

Also sold Ozil to Napoli for £10mil but the board blocked it because of that new feature where they want certain amounts for players.

When i start my save properly i'll also be more optimal on figures, as i could of got a bit more for players and spent a bit less if i had haggled better but was just doing a quick test. Another thing i used to do in older FM's which i could of probably done in this is if i knew i was never going to sell a player i liked for example De Ligt i would offer the club a 50percent sell on fee which would reduce the transfer fee even further, because they believed the player would move on for big money, this also worked for contract negotiations with the player, could reduce a 200k wage demand to 100-150k by promising he would get 50percent of the sell on fee, this is obviously risky as if they forced a move you would get £0 back with those clauses in place.

 

[BrickCommo23]

58 minutes ago, SteveUK said:

Sell players for full fees like for instance Auba for £70mil, then buy players by only paying a fraction up front and the rest over 3 years, like Vinicius Junior, who was the biggest transfer fee at £99mil but only cost £20-30mil of the budget and the rest will be paid over the three years, Chilwell cost me £66mil but i only paid £20mil of that upfront, and after unsettling Aaarons they wanted £30mil but only payed £10mil upfront so that's the Auba money used to buy 3 players, now factor in money for Xhaka(34mil), Sokratis(25mil) Mustafi(20mil), AMN(18mil), Laca(50mil) and Kolasinac(25mil) that gives 172mil, to carry on the rest of the transfers.

If you look at Pepe's transfer clauses it shows that Lille are owed 5 payments of £13mil, which reveals Arsenal only paid £7mil up front for him, i just repeat this process with every transfer.

Sell clauses, ask the board to give you 100percent of transfer revenue before selling anyone so you get all of it to use for transfers.

Also sold Ozil to Napoli for £10mil but the board blocked it because of that new feature where they want certain amounts for players.

When i start my save properly i'll also be more optimal on figures, as i could of got a bit more for players and spent a bit less if i had haggled better but was just doing a quick test. Another thing i used to do in older FM's which i could of probably done in this is if i knew i was never going to sell a player i liked for example De Ligt i would offer the club a 50percent sell on fee which would reduce the transfer fee even further, because they believed the player would move on for big money, this also worked for contract negotiations with the player, could reduce a 200k wage demand to 100-150k by promising he would get 50percent of the sell on fee, this is obviously risky as if they forced a move you would get £0 back with those clauses in place.

 

Fair dos! Good fun. 

[NabsKebabs]

Just finished my first season. Actually made no signings the whole season as I wanted to give the squad a chance. We had a terrific season considering the squad:

Premier League: Board Expectation (Qualify for Champions League)

Second (83 points, 7 behind Liverpool)

Squad simply wasn't strong enough to beat Liverpool to the title over 38 games, however it was very promising that we beat them both home and away. 

Europa League: Board Expectation (Reach Final)

Winner (1-0 vs Wolves)

We had a magnificent run overcoming the likes of Valencia, Leipzig and Lazio in the knockouts on the way to the final. 

FA Cup: Board Expectation (Reach Semi-Final)

Runners up (2-5 vs Man City)

Disappointing to get hammered in the final like that considering we beat them twice in the league. 

Carabao Cup: Board Expectation (Not important)

Quarter Finalists

Knocked out on pens by Swansea

The only transfer out that was made was in January. Saka was showing good signs off developing but then was asking for a big contract that I couldn't give to him (mainly in terms of the playing time he was after). City came in with a bid in January and I was able to negotiate it to £30m (£40m) which is a great profit on an academy player. 

Fans' Player of the Season

1. Bellerin

2. Pepe

3. Guendouzi

Young Player of the Season:

Pepe

Edited December 29, 2019 by NabsKebabs

[NabsKebabs]

Moving forward to the second season, It's pretty clear where changes to the squad are necessary:

Out:

Mustafi is the biggest priority out as I could hardly fit him in my plans.

Xhaka has no future in the squad considering the development of Guendouzi and Willock.

Ceballos will go back to Madrid as his loan expires, never really got the best out of him anyway. Was a squad player for me. 

Martinez will be leaving to Galatasaray on a free. Simply not good enough to be back up to Leno and this weakness of the squad was exploited towards the end of the season as Leno picked up a 2 month injury. 

In:

A new centre half is simply a must. 

A backup GK is also essential. 

Midfield depth may be required. 

We mainly played a 4231 last season with Ozil as a Trequartista. He was decent however I think the way forward is to shift to a 433 with Willock as a Mezzala. 

Laca and Auba are both wanted by Madrid, will listen to offers but only after big money. Nketiah was young player of the season in the Championship, while Nelson, Smith-Rowe and Martinelli all showed good signs of development. A big issue is that the squad really lacks leaders, not easy to address.

Edited December 29, 2019 by NabsKebabs

[The Solman]

Hi All,

I am in my first season with Arsenal and the transfer window was disabled for August and the only person I signed in January was Simon Asta from Ausburg as cover for Tierney and Bellerin but he also has good potential.

 

 

 

 

I have also signed Marco Kena for the following season as I look to develop him into a Vieira/Yaya type player and Dani Almo as a replacement for Özil and Ceballos as Real want 90m for him. So I picked both of these players up on staggered deals worth 20m and 30m including appearances etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am sitting 4th in the League with 8 games to go and in the QF of the Europa v Bayern QF of the FA cup with Everton.

I have played a 4-3-3 with a mix between Attacking fullbacks and Attacking wingbacks as I essentially want to ape the Liverpool 4-3-3 set up. As you can see I have Torrieira as the DLP (D) and I seemed to get joy with Guendouzi as as BBM(S) and Ceballos as a Mezzale(Sup/Att). Both Guendouzi and Ceballos weighed in with goals. Up front has been a tough nut to crack, Auba is my IF(a) on the left, Laca as a DLF(A) and Pepé as IF(a/s). As you can see Auba has nearly 20 goals, Pepe before his injury had 11 but Laca only has 9 in 35 games. I lost Pépé and Ceballos to long term injuries so Nelson came in as a W(a) before I lost him and Saka came in as a IW(a). I brought in Özil in the 3 as a AP and he has done well as I don't want a 10.

 

 

I don't know if it is an engine issue or a confidence issue but all of the front 3 seem to miss a lot of one on ones. Laca went something like 15-20 games with out a goal and I have altered him between a DLF, AF and PF but to no avail. Defensively I have struggled at times to keep clean sheets but in the early results I beat City and Utd convincingly away 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.

What I am looking for is a bit more defensively solidity as I am 5th in terms of goals conceded but seem to be done by balls over the top or I struggled against Wolves and their wingbacks. I've been on dictate the game and may have found a solution to my opposition instructions issue  but I want more out of Lacazette and I want to know whether my tactical set up is right If I want swift counter attacking football winning the ball high up the pitch and getting to the goal as swiftly as possible ala Liverpool.

So I play on an Attacking mentality at home or against weaker teams and Cautious away normally against bigger teams as thats what got me the results against City and Utd however I lost to Liverpool and I only seemed to get into the game playing attacking at Anfield.

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by The Solman

[The Solman]

Is it right that I should play wide players on different mentalities for variation but I don't want to lose the goal threat from Pépé with him being on support and I done want to lose that from Laca on support either. Below is my attacking set up although I will be tweaking with in on the final run in.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2019 by The Solman

[TheBigBoss]

Season 3

 

Transfers In

Kimpembe

Berge

Piatek

 

Transfers Out

Xhaka

Aubameyang 

Lacazette

 

Was actually quite happy with my business, didn't really want to let Auba and Laca go but neither were willing to sign a new deal so I had to sell wasn't willing to let either go on a free. Auba to china 30mil and Lacazette to Real Madrid for £50mil is good return. Meant a lot of pressure were on Piatek and Nketiahs shoulders but they both came through with good totals.

 

Premierleague

An incredible season where we became champions Liverpool pushed us all the way (they're a different beast on this years FM) despite only losing once in the 37th game I actually only finished 2 points clear. 20 goals for Piatek, 8 Nketiah, 16 Pepe and 11 for Martinelli. The goals were spread well within the forwards with the midfield also chipping in

 

Champions League

Got knocked out by PSG in the quarters and sadly it wasn't even close 4-1 aggregate really need to push on in Europe the season before I got knocked out in the last 16

 

FA Cup

Beat United in the final 3-2 wasn't really fussed that much as we won the league but still nice to get one over United

 

Carling Cup

Got knocked out in the third round by Stoke on pens, not really important but still annoyed nonetheless as it's Stoke

 

I don't think I'll add much in the summer maybe one top player I really want the young crop to come through and will give them every chance but Willock hasn't really developed under me. Maitland Niles, Martinelli, Saka, Nketiah and Nelson are pretty much in the squad and developing well

[hasdgfas]

Season 3:

Premier League: An excellent season, with our only two losses being at Man Utd and at Man City, and yet we still only BARELY beat United to the title

Champions League: I'm facing off with Liverpool in the final shortly, will report after it's done(I have something more interesting to discuss and wanted to get this up now)

FA Cup: lost in the fifth round at City, 4-3 in extra time. It was WILD.

Carabao Cup: Beat Newcastle in the final, 5-1

-----

However, after the last match of the League season, I suddenly got this message:

Apparently there was a takeover, and they put in bids for both Thomas Lemar and Arthur because of their campaign promises? We'll see what happens with that, but I think this is a new feature. Have others seen this?

 

EDIT:

Apparently neither Lemar nor Arthur could agree on contract terms, even though the transfer offers were accepted. Fine, that's as undisruptive as I could have hoped for.

[tomzo_2]

Not an Arsenal fan but decided with the Youth talent in the squad and current management struggles they would make an interesting save. Firstly very surprised with the transfer budget being so small in the first season. 15 Million was not what I was expecting, though didn't realise that they had bought so much in the summer!

 

I had a deep look at the squad and have decided on the following:

Selling:

Xhaka (Just don't like him as a player) - 32.5Mill to United

Mustafi - 12.75 Mill to Wolves with an 18K Wage Contribution. Felt he would distract me from using the two Holding and Chambers

Macey - 425K (Not Good Enough)

 

Current Buys:

Bruno Fernandes - 37 Million - Better quality in the midfield

Nicolo Armini - 800K rising to 1.9Mill with add ons (Young CB  - lot of Promise)

Aaron Hickey - 180K - Hearts (Versatile Fullback with a lot of promise)

 

Current outstanding issues that I am looking to resolve:

Would like some extra cover up top as hoping to play a flat 442 for the majority. Will revert to a 41221 away and big teams. Currently looking at Amine Gouiri or Ikoma Lois Openda. Anybody used either?

 

Also I have returned Cabellos back to Madrid as he doesn't fit the tactic and would like to get rid of Ozil due to his wages and not fitting in my system.

 

Any Suggestions or findings from those who have got through the first season?

 

 

[craiigman]

Amazing start to the season! Few teams given me a few problems, Norwich were hard to beat, but they went down to 10 men and scored an own goal so literally gave it to me!

[tomzo_2]

Wrapped up the transfer window with the signing of Gouiri for £17 Million on the scouts reports (76) over Openda (59). Bit more than I was hoping to pay but at 19 years old lots of years left and hopefully will push on.

First 3 matches completed 2 wins and 1 loss. 5-1 win against Leicester. They scored first even though we were dominating possession. 3 goals in quick succession followed by a Chilwell being sent off really helped. Most surprising was Ozil playing really well as my left midfield.

Followed this up with a 5-2 win away at Newcastle holding a good possession amount of 58% with 24 shots. Disappointed with the amount of chances we conceded so need to work on that.

And then at home to Spurs. Changed the formation to try and stop the chances playing 5 at the back. didn't work as we lost 1-0 even with Alli being sent off in the 32 minute. Moura took advantage of the space behind the full back to score. We dominated in the shots department just weren't clinical. So work to do in the tactics!!

We have had the draw for the League Cup where we are away at Blackpool. And in the Europa League we have Young Boys, AS Saint-Etienne & Ferencvárosi.

 

 

[Champfan10]

Just started a new save with Arsenal and will be looking to try and set up similar to Arteta.  I've updated the club staff so I have his staff and Nketiah is back from his loan.

I've bought one player, Ajer from Celtic for £21.5m (£8m up front) and sold no one as I want to give the squad at least half the season to see what they can do.

My tactic looks like the following, theres numerous PIs set up as well:-

Due to injuries thats not my strongest first 11, I will likely have Tierney, Bellerin & Torreira in their rightful positions. I tried Ozil as an AM to get him tracking back and pressing more but he was then left out alot of attacks so switched him to an AP. One thing I've noticed is that the players need to be retrained into there positions (the back up players), so I have AMN, Guendouzi, Cebbalos, Willock, Saka, Auba all training for there new roles.

I've played numerous friendlies with the highlight a 6-1 win against PSG but they was without Mbappe and Neymar. In the league we've won 2 out of 2, 2-00 away at Newcastle and 3-0 home against Burnley. Our next 2 games will be more of an indication of how the season goes as were at Anfield first agains Liverpool and then have the North London derby before the first international break.

[Champfan10]

Season 2019/20.

 

Tactics

Generally stuck with the tactics in my previous post but changed the roles and instructions a bit here and there depending on the opponent. I was counter pressing most of the season but regroup seems to be the only way to stop the balls over the top being as prominent, the tactic is defensively solid exciting going forward and good in possesion.

Transfers

I ended up selling Mustafi £25m and loaning Nketiah to Bournemouth in January with Jack Grealish £50m (up to 65m depending on appearances) and Kalvin Phillips for £23m, the boost to the coffers in November made the board give me an extra £60m towards transfers. Kalvin was great playing as a half back defensive midfielder but Grealish is taking longer to settle in although Ozil is still my go to advanced playmaker.

 

Future Transfers

Camavinga has been making some noise in real life and I wanted to sign an U18 to appease the board who were devastated at me not doing so in January, hes going to help out in defensive midfield and allows me to be open to offers for Xhaka in the future.

Nathan Young Coombes is a player who my scouts picked out as having some real potential so he will go into the U18s for a year, hes an AMC but can operate in the front 4 positions.

Sergio Reguilon is a left back from Real Mardid but has been on loan at Sevilla, he will be providing competition with Tierney and Kolasinac, I don't usually have 3 strong players competing for a single place on the team-sheet but Tierney has been a real sick note.

I wont be trying to get Dani Ceballos as he didn't play much, appearing in 16 games all season.

 

League Performance

I feel it was a season of what could of been, lost the least since 2008/we got the most points we've gathered since 2013/14, conceded the least since 1998/99, so from stats it was a great improvement however we finished runners up, despite being in the race up to the last game. Our away form and inconsistency over Nov-Feb cost us, we was hampered with injuries (I've downloaded a realistic injury update which hasn't worked out) so really needed to use my squad and it cost us in a few games we was expected to win. Anyway we finished runners up to Liverpool, losing out by 3 points in the end, the top 4 was very tight.

 

Europa Cup

We did well in this competition, rotating the squad a lot in the group stages and enjoying a run to the final before Man United robbed us with a 85th minute winner. Highlights was the Nketiah 5 goal haul, he only scored a further 1 goal for us in 21 games before I loaned him out. The 5-0 win over Gladbach was a good performance and we dominated the Semi-Final against Ajax.

 

Domestic Cups

I heavily rotated for these and got to the QF's in both but although it would of been nice to win, I was relieved to not have to make the players have to take part in even more games.

 

Squad Stats/Awards

Aubameyang got the player of the season award and was the top scorer (just) with Laca a goal behind, despite Laca behind our sole forward and Auba cutting in from the left. Ozil was the main creator but the assists came from all over the pitch.

 

Best 11

Kolasinac & Nelson will feel hard done by after covering the injured Tierney and Pepe all season but this is the best eleven.

 

Next Season

I'll be hoping to get that title but I'm not planning on going mad in the transfer market as I'm pretty happy with the squad, I may try and find a natural inverted wing back and will need a new back up keep as Martinez want £50k per week to stay so will look for a younger replacement. We also have Saliba coming in so will start giving him games as he will be the long term replacement for David Luiz. 

[krisdonna]

Might sell Xhaka as he doesn't suit my tactic. Anyone got a decent amount of money for him?

[kuraeero]

2 hours ago, krisdonna said:

Might sell Xhaka as he doesn't suit my tactic. Anyone got a decent amount of money for him?

I got 66M euros for him from Real Madrid in January transfer window in first season.

Laughed all the way to the bank.

[ImDaWeasel]

Anyone manage to get a tune out of Tierney? 2 seasons in and hes been injured for 3/4s of it. Brought in Chilwell now but it's a shame since hes got a high potential. 

[FlairRA]

10 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

Anyone manage to get a tune out of Tierney? 2 seasons in and hes been injured for 3/4s of it. Brought in Chilwell now but it's a shame since hes got a high potential. 

Tierney has been pretty solid for me. Chillwell makes too many mistakes, I bought him too but when he was top of the league for mistakes from all players it proved to be an unwise decision. Plus, Tierney's determination is a very valuable asset.

[Champfan10]

13 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

Anyone manage to get a tune out of Tierney? 2 seasons in and hes been injured for 3/4s of it. Brought in Chilwell now but it's a shame since hes got a high potential. 

Same always injured for me, need to have another left back of similar quality to cover him at all times.

[ImDaWeasel]

3 hours ago, FlairRA said:

Tierney has been pretty solid for me. Chillwell makes too many mistakes, I bought him too but when he was top of the league for mistakes from all players it proved to be an unwise decision. Plus, Tierney's determination is a very valuable asset.

Hes solid when hes fully fit but it's no use for 8 games out the season. Chilwell has been a disappointment so far now looking at Vagnoman at Hamburg.