FM20 - Arsenal: Time For Artekkers Tiki Taka Tactics?

[yey]

11 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

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.

Tried to buy Chilwell too to be back up for Tierney, but figured out that since they are the same age, I cannot guarantee them to have enough playing time and might risk one to be unhappy. So went for older player thinking that Tierney could take one or two years to reach his potential. So I bought Alex Telles instead from FC Porto for 23Mill pound. He was my first choice left fullback for one and half season with Tierney in and out of the team due to injuries. Now Tierney has taken over as no 1 for that spot and Telles is happy to be getting lesser games than before. And he's a fantastic set piece taker too.

[yey]

11 hours ago, Champfan10 said:

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

He was solid for me in 2019/20 season, played 35(2) with 5 assists and avr rating of 7.04. Injured few times in 2020/21 season, managed to play only 20 games, but came back and has been solid in 2021/22 season, played 34 times, scored 2 goals with 6 assist. He played as WB (Su) for my team. His back up is Alex Telles, bought from FC Porto for 23mill pound. Very good back up imo.

[Caka]

On 06/01/2020 at 07:49, krisdonna said:

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

After a decent first half of the season, I sold him to Real Madrid like @kuraeero. I think I managed to get around 68M GBP for him. 

[yey]

4 hours ago, Caka said:

After a decent first half of the season, I sold him to Real Madrid like @kuraeero. I think I managed to get around 68M GBP for him. 

He wanted a new challenge in 2021/22 season and sold him to Sheffield Utd (EPL team) for 41mill pound

[BrickCommo23]

I've found Tierney to be very good. But, between Season 1 and 2 I also bought Alex Telles (£21m) who is immense and feels like a bit of a steal.

He and Tierney rotate as I play WB on both flanks

EDIT: read the rest of the responses now and seems like everyone has bought Telles...

Edited January 8, 2020 by BrickCommo23

[arsenalthebest]

Just started my save with Arsenal only £10m budget make it very difficult to get anyone decent in looking at frees

[ImDaWeasel]

19 hours ago, arsenalthebest said:

Just started my save with Arsenal only £10m budget make it very difficult to get anyone decent in looking at frees

Plenty to sell and plenty of bargains who will do a job. Quite easy to turn around the squad.

[arsenalthebest]

5 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

Plenty to sell and plenty of bargains who will do a job. Quite easy to turn around the squad.

Any suggestions? I might sell Xhaka if I can get around £25m for him which should give me about £26m (spent £6m already)and if I  find a suitable replacement 

[SteveUK]

24 minutes ago, arsenalthebest said:

Any suggestions? I might sell Xhaka if I can get around £25m for him which should give me about £26m (spent £6m already)and if I  find a suitable replacement 

You can get about -

£34-38mil for Xhaka, I replaced him with Bruno Fernandes in my save as he's available for around £36mil which they accept about £12-13mil up front, i almost went for Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma, he has a £26mil release clause and is either footed and Ezequiel Palacios of River Plate who has a release clause of £5.5mil i think.
£26mil for Papa - I replaced him and Chambers with Ajer and Ruben Dias. Igor Rabello is a pretty decent cheap defender for about £8mil if i remember rightly.
£27mil for Kolasinac - I replaced him with Alex Grimaldo. Jose Gaya was another possibility.
£20mil for Chambers.
£14-18mil for AMN - Unsettled Max Aarons and got him for £30mil, (£10mil up front), could loan in Moussa Wague from Barcelona.
£50-90mil for Auba. - Erling Haaland is available, and should be willing to enter contract talks on the final day of the transfer window, for around £40mil, Andrea Belotti is another solid choice.

Edited January 11, 2020 by SteveUK

[arsenalthebest]

15 hours ago, SteveUK said:

You can get about -

£34-38mil for Xhaka, I replaced him with Bruno Fernandes in my save as he's available for around £36mil which they accept about £12-13mil up front, i almost went for Lorenzo Pellegrini of Roma, he has a £26mil release clause and is either footed and Ezequiel Palacios of River Plate who has a release clause of £5.5mil i think.
£26mil for Papa - I replaced him and Chambers with Ajer and Ruben Dias. Igor Rabello is a pretty decent cheap defender for about £8mil if i remember rightly.
£27mil for Kolasinac - I replaced him with Alex Grimaldo. Jose Gaya was another possibility.
£20mil for Chambers.
£14-18mil for AMN - Unsettled Max Aarons and got him for £30mil, (£10mil up front), could loan in Moussa Wague from Barcelona.
£50-90mil for Auba. - Erling Haaland is available, and should be willing to enter contract talks on the final day of the transfer window, for around £40mil, Andrea Belotti is another solid choice.

Thanks I’ll probably sell 2-3 players and bring in replacements don’t want to make to many changes at once

Edited January 11, 2020 by arsenalthebest

[SteveUK]

First Season Complete

Was a very exciting League, possibly the most exciting FM season i have had in terms of how close it was, it went down to the very final day between three teams, in the end too many draws earlier in the season cost me, still i am very pleased with finishing 3rd, undefeated at the Emirates in all competitions and our goal difference bodes well for the future.



As you can see Liverpool won it in the end by a point, City were almost home and dry with it but due to drawing with us on the 3rd to last game of the season it cost them the 2 points that would of sealed it for them!. Guardiola and Pochettino lost their jobs.

Season Highlights -

• Winning the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Europa League.
• Vinicius jr winning the Ballon d'or.
• Erling Haaland top scorer in the Premier League with 24 goals, Vinicius jr top assists with 15.

Key Transfers In -

• Vinicius Jr - £49m (19+30 3 instalments + 50percent of next transfer)
• Haaland - £40m (15+25 3 instalments)
• Lautaro Martinez - £44m (14+30 3 instalments + 50percent of next transfer)
• Ruben Dias - £38m (14+24 3 instalments)
• Bruno Fernandes - £36.5m (12.5+24 3 instalments)
• Alex Grimaldo - £36m (12.75+23 3 instalments)
• Max Aarons - £29.5m (10+19.5 3 instalments)
• Abdoulaye Doucoure - £28m (10+18 3 instalments)
• Sandro Tonali - £26m (8.5+17.5 3 instalments)
• Dani Olmo - £21.5m (7+14 3 instalments)
• Kristoffer Ajer - £21.5m (7+14.5 3 instalments)
• Rayan Aït-Nouri - £10m (3.5+6.5 3 instalments)

I also brought in a large number of youth players most of which were on unprotected contracts which means you can get them for pennies, grand total of transfers in is about 73.

Transfers Out - 

• Aubamayeng £92m - Real Madrid (50+42 1 instalment)
• Xhaka - £34mil - Man Utd (full fee)
• Kolasinac - £27m - Bayern Munich (full fee)
• Sokratis - £26.5m - Liverpool (full fee)
• Mustafi - £22.5m - Watford (full fee)
• Chambers - £19.75 - Leicester (full fee)
• Maitland-Niles - £18.5m - Bournemouth (full fee)
• Macey - £1.1m - Sporting Kansas City (full fee)
• Luiz - Loaned to Man City (300k loan fee, full wages.)
• Ozil - Loaned to Man Utd (300k loan fee, 70% wages)
• 27 other youth players for fees below £1mil or free.

I made no signings in January, and the only outgoing was Ben Sheaf.

Second Season Targets and To Do List

• Challenge for and hopefully win the League.
• Sell Lacazette, Elneny, Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Luiz, Osei-Tutu.
• Possibly sell Doucoure, due to poor performances largely down to not fitting my tactical formations, i have to admit i largely signed him so i could sell Mustafi to Watford for a bigger sum.
• Sign another CB, i want another quality CB to give more depth and allow me to play three at the back in away games, Skriniar, De Ligt or Joe Gomez would be my ideal choices but may be difficult to get seeing how well their clubs have done. So will likely go for Mepham at overachieving Bournemouth or have a scout around.

Edited February 1, 2020 by SteveUK

[hasdgfas]

I waited a bit too long in-game to post this, but I finished up another season:

A fantastic season in the League. 34 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, with both losses being in May, after the title was already won.

 

Also won the Champions League in a nailbiter:

 

My star player is Antony, who is just unbelievable on the right wing.

 

Transfers:

Kana came in, but was a backup midfielder this season. He's going to be playing more this season, with the departure of Tomas Belmonte, who I brought in last season for 6M. A healthy, healthy profit off him.

Vandro came in as a backup to Tierney. He is nowhere near as good defensively, but is performing fine as a backup.

Velamazan was transfer-listed by Barcelona for some reason and was a STEAL. I had to send him out on loan this season, but he's going to be playing for me this season in a rotation with Nketiah, as I start to phase out Aubamayeng and Lacazette. He had 22 goals last season on loan at Sevilla, so I am stoked for him to play for me.

Leger is a cheap pickup I hope to develop and sell at a profit, TBH.

You may notice Tim Krul in the "Out" list. I brought him in for free as a third goalkeeper in the summer, and when people came in for him in January I didn't want to stand in his way.

 

Overall, a fantastic season, and I've hit the point where I may start just playing my developmental prospects more often and phase out/sell my aging players more quickly. Only so much further I can take the club progress-wise at this point, it's now all about the fun I can have developing young players.

[SteveUK]

14 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

I waited a bit too long in-game to post this, but I finished up another season:

A fantastic season in the League. 34 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses, with both losses being in May, after the title was already won.

 

Also won the Champions League in a nailbiter:

 

My star player is Antony, who is just unbelievable on the right wing.

 

Transfers:

Kana came in, but was a backup midfielder this season. He's going to be playing more this season, with the departure of Tomas Belmonte, who I brought in last season for 6M. A healthy, healthy profit off him.

Vandro came in as a backup to Tierney. He is nowhere near as good defensively, but is performing fine as a backup.

Velamazan was transfer-listed by Barcelona for some reason and was a STEAL. I had to send him out on loan this season, but he's going to be playing for me this season in a rotation with Nketiah, as I start to phase out Aubamayeng and Lacazette. He had 22 goals last season on loan at Sevilla, so I am stoked for him to play for me.

Leger is a cheap pickup I hope to develop and sell at a profit, TBH.

You may notice Tim Krul in the "Out" list. I brought him in for free as a third goalkeeper in the summer, and when people came in for him in January I didn't want to stand in his way.

 

Overall, a fantastic season, and I've hit the point where I may start just playing my developmental prospects more often and phase out/sell my aging players more quickly. Only so much further I can take the club progress-wise at this point, it's now all about the fun I can have developing young players.

Brilliant season!, unlucky with those 2 defeats!, really nice return on your Belmonte investment, i just took a look at him in my save and he went to New York Red Bulls for £775k :(, i was thinking about going for Kana but he had a natural fitness of 3 in my save which i think is a randomised stat, which put me off, and then by time i had come to a final decision on it, Spurs got him.

[hasdgfas]

3 minutes ago, SteveUK said:

Brilliant season!, unlucky with those 2 defeats!, really nice return on your Belmonte investment, i just took a look at him in my save and he went to New York Red Bulls for £775k :(, i was thinking about going for Kana but he had a natural fitness of 3 in my save which i think is a randomised stat, which put me off, and then by time i had come to a final decision on it, Spurs got him.

Yeah. Belmonte is good, as you can see, but he under-performed for me compared to what I expect from the position I played him in, and I was a bit clogged in the midfield. Torreira, Kana, Guendouzi, McKennie, and Willock are all fighting for two spots, and Belmonte just meant nobody was getting enough playing time. I like Torreira too much IRL to sell him, and Belmonte is my second oldest midfielder.

 

You had a heck of a first season though! That amount of player movement is way more than I like to do in any save, but it clearly worked for you.

[matt_afc]

Just getting started on my Arsenal save for FM20, excited to get going. Tactic below that I'm starting with.

 

 

Started OK, 4 games in 2 wins 2 loses. One loss was 1-0 away at City, despite playing pretty well and compact they snuck through in the end. Other defeat was away at Burnley who I dominated and missed a pen, but they snuck a last minute winner off a corner. Gutting.

 

Transfer wise, brought in Kehrer from PSG (as several do), Wague on Barca on loan and Dani Olmo from Dinamo for £7m up front raising to £21m. Enjoying having him already! Mustafi to Wolves for £12m (plus £18k contribution) the only major outgoing, apart from youth loans.

 

Onwards and upwards! Although I've just had Kolasinac and Guendouzi both demand new deals in the same week.. despite Guen not starting a game yet and Kola being average. That happened to anyone else? Dropped both of them for my latest win v Villa.

[hasdgfas]

I really feel like I pulled a fast one here somehow:

this fee seems incredibly high for him. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but they're paying more for Cottrell than I did for Velamazan, Belmonte, or Daramy

[Champfan10]

33 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

I really feel like I pulled a fast one here somehow:

this fee seems incredibly high for him. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but they're paying more for Cottrell than I did for Velamazan, Belmonte, or Daramy

He's still knocking around my squad 5 years in. Very versatile but I've only played him 6 times since I started my save, valued at £7.5m so will try and sell him soon.

 

[SteveUK]

3 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

You had a heck of a first season though! That amount of player movement is way more than I like to do in any save, but it clearly worked for you.

Thanks, i desperately wanted to overhaul the squad this FM edition, real life Arsenal getting me down quite a bit to the point where i can't stand to see some of the players names or faces on the telly 

3 hours ago, matt_afc said:

Onwards and upwards! Although I've just had Kolasinac and Guendouzi both demand new deals in the same week.. despite Guen not starting a game yet and Kola being average. That happened to anyone else? Dropped both of them for my latest win v Villa.

I have had several players ask for improved contracts but sometimes able to deflect them with the "You have plenty of time left on your contract" option, can depend on your Level of Discipline stat i think though as to how successful you will be getting them to accept it. I just had to put Leno on a £150k contract despite him having 3 years left, i didn't mind so much as he's been solid for me.

 

3 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

I really feel like I pulled a fast one here somehow:

this fee seems incredibly high for him. Maybe he'll prove me wrong, but they're paying more for Cottrell than I did for Velamazan, Belmonte, or Daramy

That's an impressive price you got for him! I have always found the AI seem to be stingy when it comes to paying fees for youngsters, remember to check your transfer clauses regularly as the club negotiates in the background throughout the season to put you in a position to sell clauses rather than waiting for them to activate, i find it's worth selling them if the player they relate to is in his last year or so of their contract so you get something back.

[VP.]

Currently in pre season before the start of season 3 in my save, season 1 was tough managed to qualify for the europa again and also won the carabao cup. But season 2 we was much improved, winning the Premier, FA Cup and Europa League.

Seasons 1 & 2 transfers below, been trying to give the younger players some playing time too.

Starting 11 going into season 3 but may change if I decide to sign anyone else.

Sold him now but Pepe was brilliant as a pressing forward last season, scoring 36 goals.

[VP.]

Transfer business finished, managed to make a massive deal on deadline day!

[tomzo_2]

First Season Completed:

Competitions:

3rd in the league.

5th Round in the FA Cup vs Watford

Winner League Cup

Finalist of Europa League

 

January Transfer Window:

Sold David Luiz as he wasn't being played and unhappy for 16.25 Million to China.

That was the only sale I was trying to allow. Other than I got an offer of Sokratis on 27th Feb for 37 Million which I wasn't going to turn down at 31 years old. Left myself short at CB as only had Chambers and Holding and had loaned K Mavropanos out.

 

Overall:

Clubs youth has been really impressive just a little inconsistent. Biggest disappointment was my inability to get a tune out of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who scored 14 goals in 32 games even though he had 91 shots on target. Real Madrid are apparently interested so may cash in.

Second Season Targets and To Do List

• Challenge for and hopefully win the League.
• Sell Elneny (Free), Mkhitaryan (Loan Fee), Ozil (No rush as he performed really well but will lose on free), Aubameyang.
• Sign another CM, Looking at Florentino Luís from SLB.
• Find a more balanced formation for a back up. Been using 4-4-2 which worked nicely but occasionally would like to have parked the bus more effectively!

 

 

 

[tomzo_2]

1 minute ago, tomzo_2 said:

First Season Completed:

Competitions:

3rd in the league.

5th Round in the FA Cup vs Watford

Winner League Cup

Finalist of Europa League

 

January Transfer Window:

Sold David Luiz as he wasn't being played and unhappy for 16.25 Million to China.

That was the only sale I was trying to allow. Other than I got an offer of Sokratis on 27th Feb for 37 Million which I wasn't going to turn down at 31 years old. Left myself short at CB as only had Chambers and Holding and had loaned K Mavropanos out.

 

Overall:

Clubs youth has been really impressive just a little inconsistent. Biggest disappointment was my inability to get a tune out of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who scored 14 goals in 32 games even though he had 91 shots on target. Real Madrid are apparently interested so may cash in.

Second Season Targets and To Do List

• Challenge for and hopefully win the League.
• Sell Elneny (Free), Mkhitaryan (Loan Fee), Ozil (No rush as he performed really well but will lose on free), Aubameyang.
• Sign another CM, Looking at Florentino Luís from SLB.
• Find a more balanced formation for a back up. Been using 4-4-2 which worked nicely but occasionally would like to have parked the bus more effectively!

 

 

 

 

[VP.]

Strong start to season 3

[john1]

9 minutes ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

Strong start to season 3

Superb start to season 3  But how from went beat Man Utd away but draw at home to Watford?  

[VP.]

8 hours ago, john1 said:

Superb start to season 3  But how from went beat Man Utd away but draw at home to Watford?  

Just one of those things, we had plenty of chances to score just couldn't. Pleased with another clean sheet though!

[BrickCommo23]

On 12/01/2020 at 20:17, SortitoutsiVP said:

Strong start to season 3

Great work pal - are you still playing that system you shared on the Emery out story from a while ago?

I think it was slightly asymmetric?

[VP.]

26 minutes ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Great work pal - are you still playing that system you shared on the Emery out story from a while ago?

I think it was slightly asymmetric?

No mate I use this now Click

That first tactic got destroyed by the patches  

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by SortitoutsiVP

[arsenalthebest]

My Squad & Transfers after the first transfer window 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2020 by arsenalthebest

[kenny3]

5 hours ago, arsenalthebest said:

My Squad & Transfers after the first transfer window 

 

 

My eyes are bleeding. How could you tolerate such a skin?  

[BrickCommo23]

16 hours ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

No mate I use this now Click

That first tactic got destroyed by the patches  

 

Ah I see - nice. I've invested in Sancho and a couple of other young wingers so that wouldn't be something I could nick but glad it's smashing it for you. 

Although, I am trying to make a flat 3 midfield work so it's good to know that part is possible.

How do you go with possession stats with the tempo? Just out of interest

[VP.]

19 minutes ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Ah I see - nice. I've invested in Sancho and a couple of other young wingers so that wouldn't be something I could nick but glad it's smashing it for you. 

Although, I am trying to make a flat 3 midfield work so it's good to know that part is possible.

How do you go with possession stats with the tempo? Just out of interest

It's certainly not a possession based tactic and only against the far weaker sides will you have more, but that doesn't mean it gives away many opportunities to the opponent. Currently averaging just 49% after 20 EPL games, but what is does do is flood the central areas when in possession which leaves space out wide for the wing backs. Which I will add are very attack minded so their defensive stats don't matter too much (to me anyway) and you can play/retrain wingers to play there. Both Saka and Nelson did a decent job there when needed due to injuries.

[arsenalthebest]

14 hours ago, kenny3 said:

My eyes are bleeding. How could you tolerate such a skin?  

yeah  icould not get it go full screen for some reason

[BrickCommo23]

God this game...

2 points clear with 2 games to go. My final game is away to Wolves (potentially tricky) but before that I am home to Watford so a chance to  give a bit of breathing room.

Cleverly sent off after just 25 minutes...

Liverpool then win the Merseyside Derby which means the table going into the final matches looks like this. Squeaky bum time! Liverpool are away but to Palace - I am away to Wolves...

 

[BrickCommo23]

Update - we both won but they won by more. 

One more draw from my (too many) losses would have been enough...

[VP.]

14 hours ago, arsenalthebest said:

yeah  icould not get it go full screen for some reason

I think he means the light background 😄

13 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

God this game...

2 points clear with 2 games to go. My final game is away to Wolves (potentially tricky) but before that I am home to Watford so a chance to  give a bit of breathing room.

Cleverly sent off after just 25 minutes...

Liverpool then win the Merseyside Derby which means the table going into the final matches looks like this. Squeaky bum time! Liverpool are away but to Palace - I am away to Wolves...

 

Standard end of season FM result, swear the game sometimes tries to make itself more exciting for no reason!

[SteveUK]

8 minutes ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

I think he means the light background 😄

Standard end of season FM result, swear the game sometimes tries to make itself more exciting for no reason!

Yeah i definitely have believed that to be the case, especially in regards to press conference options.

[SteveUK]

Season 2 completed 

Overall very successful and not as close run as the first season, as mentioned before Man City sacked Pep, who was then hired by Tottenham which i thought would mean them challenging, instead they jumped off a cliff later sacking him in the second half of the season and replacing with Rafa Benitez. Marco Bielsa took over at Man City and never really got any consistent form to challenge for the title, Chelsea sacked Frank on the last day of the season after a poor finish for them, Ole clinging to his job after good performances in Carabao cup, beating Southampton in the final. As it stands only 10 managers of teams that have been in the Premier League in my 2 seasons have retained their jobs, and likely to be 9 as Slaven Bilic has just been relegated with West Brom.

Just realised my screenshot doesn't show the Champions League, well after impressive displays beating Lyon, PSG, Barcelona (4-0 at the Bernabeu after a 0-0 draw at the Emirates) and then finally a thrilling 3-3 final in St Petersburg with Liverpool which we came from behind 3 times to win 6-5 on pens.

Transfers In

Summer In - 

• Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - £77mil - Lazio (49+27 over 3 years) Couldn't let Chelsea sign him.
• Jean-Clair Todibo - £78mil - Barcelona (31+47 over 3 years) Absolute beast of a CB, i was only going to go for Upamecano but this guy dwarfs him in all aspects, couldn't believe Barcelona were willing to negotiate either.
• Dayot Upamecano - £30mil - RB Leipzig (15+15 over 3 years) Felt bad for unsettling him and for £30mil he's a steal.
• Diogo Costa - £32.5mil - FC Porto (15+17.5 over 3 years) New back up goalkeeper who has put in some top performances when Leno got injured during the latter stages of the season.
• Angel Gomez - Free - Man Utd

January In -

• Jadon Sancho - £49mil - Dortmund (20+29 over 3 years +50percent of next transfer) He was going to be my third season target, but Vinicius jr got injured for 2 months in January and that left me with just ESR and Nelson to cover my left wing.
• Nicolo Zaniolo - £50mil - Roma (20+30 over 3 years) my formation uses 2 AM's so now i have real depth of quality with Savic, Fernandes, Olmo and Zaniolo, plenty of versatility as well.

Transfers Out

Summer Out - 

• Lacazette - £85mil - Man Utd (Full Fee)
• Elneny - £27mil - AC Milan (Full Fee)
• Ozil - £23.5mil - Man Utd (Full Fee) Getting this guy off the wage bill is how Thanos must of felt at the end of Infinite war.
• Emiliano Martinez - £18mil - Juventus (Full Fee)
• David Luiz - £9mil - Fiorentina (Full Fee, £25k of wages)
• Medley, Sraha, Osei-Tutu, Graczyk, Mcguiness, Butler-Oyedeji all left on small fees but with sell on clauses.

January Out - 

• Doucoure - £40mil - Shanghai SIPG (Full Fee)
• Total of 38 Loans for the season, most notably, Nketiah to West Ham who took them to 5th with 27 goals in 34 Apps, Guendouzi and Saliba to Lazio who helped them finish second in Serie A, Ait Nouri and Mavropanos at Celtic and Martinelli at Newcastle.

Overall i am very happy with the how the season went, Liverpool have become my nemesis, always tricky games 7 games, 2 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses both of which were away or neutral grounds. I haven't lost at home since i started this save which i am pretty proud of.

Third Season To Do List - 

• Make sure i can meet the rules of the competitions regarding home grown players
• ..Which won't be helped when i try and sell Rob Holding, i need to thin my CB's and he just hasn't had the game time he got in the first season, so my plan is to sell him, and replace with Declan Rice who has a phenomenal season at West Ham and would play DM for me which might mean moving on Torreira which i am a bit torn about because he's one of my favorite Arsenal players at the moment and my best performer, but he rightfully wants an improved contract which might mean increasing the wage budget quite a bit.
• I want a better 1st choice GK with better distribution, Ederson is unhappy at Man City who have oddly refused to offer him a new contract since January in the first season so i think ill be going for him.
• Win Fifa Club World Cup.
• And most importantly mock Tottenham in press conferences every chance i get.

[Swills417]

I couldn't resist the temptation to start a save with all the turmoil going on at the club in real life. I simulated the first season , where Emery led the team to a 5th placed finish and the Europa League semi-finals. So another season in the 2nd tier of Europe's competition beckoned! 

Has anyone had any surprises from the academy? Both Spanish giants are circling around Lacazette and Aubameyang so we may need to sign stop-gaps while younger players develop or throw them into the deep end. What defenders do people sign to overhaul the backline?

Edited January 15, 2020 by Swills417

[dcaine100]

Kimpembe is a must, Arsenal U18 left back Lopez developes fast if you give him game time, Rowe, Saka and Willock are my stand out youth players.

I wanted to have a 2nd XI made up entirely of Arsenal youth players, see below 🙂.

Rowe is fantastic as an AMC his stats really develope fast if you play him in the cups and some easier league games.

Edited January 15, 2020 by dcaine100

[VP.]

Season 3 finished, have to be honest and say we was lucky to win the league after losing 7 matches but then we did only draw 3. Outplayed in the CL final but took our chances.

[VP.]

Rude to say no! That's all the budget gone on one player though...

[BrickCommo23]

9 hours ago, SteveUK said:

Yeah i definitely have believed that to be the case, especially in regards to press conference options.

Yep, me too. In all my years of FM, I've literally never ran away with rhe league title. Even when I've had ludicrous unbeaten seasons and gone over 100 points it's been close until the end. 

Whereas other leagues in game you will often see at least one of the big European leagues have a runaway winner. 

[BrickCommo23]

7 hours ago, SteveUK said:

Season 2 completed 

Overall very successful and not as close run as the first season, as mentioned before Man City sacked Pep, who was then hired by Tottenham which i thought would mean them challenging, instead they jumped off a cliff later sacking him in the second half of the season and replacing with Rafa Benitez. Marco Bielsa took over at Man City and never really got any consistent form to challenge for the title, Chelsea sacked Frank on the last day of the season after a poor finish for them, Ole clinging to his job after good performances in Carabao cup, beating Southampton in the final. As it stands only 10 managers of teams that have been in the Premier League in my 2 seasons have retained their jobs, and likely to be 9 as Slaven Bilic has just been relegated with West Brom.

Just realised my screenshot doesn't show the Champions League, well after impressive displays beating Lyon, PSG, Barcelona (4-0 at the Bernabeu after a 0-0 draw at the Emirates) and then finally a thrilling 3-3 final in St Petersburg with Liverpool which we came from behind 3 times to win 6-5 on pens.

Transfers In

Summer In - 

• Sergej Milinkovic-Savic - £77mil - Lazio (49+27 over 3 years) Couldn't let Chelsea sign him.
• Jean-Clair Todibo - £78mil - Barcelona (31+47 over 3 years) Absolute beast of a CB, i was only going to go for Upamecano but this guy dwarfs him in all aspects, couldn't believe Barcelona were willing to negotiate either.
• Dayot Upamecano - £30mil - RB Leipzig (15+15 over 3 years) Felt bad for unsettling him and for £30mil he's a steal.
• Diogo Costa - £32.5mil - FC Porto (15+17.5 over 3 years) New back up goalkeeper who has put in some top performances when Leno got injured during the latter stages of the season.
• Angel Gomez - Free - Man Utd

January In -

• Jadon Sancho - £49mil - Dortmund (20+29 over 3 years +50percent of next transfer) He was going to be my third season target, but Vinicius jr got injured for 2 months in January and that left me with just ESR and Nelson to cover my left wing.
• Nicolo Zaniolo - £50mil - Roma (20+30 over 3 years) my formation uses 2 AM's so now i have real depth of quality with Savic, Fernandes, Olmo and Zaniolo, plenty of versatility as well.

Transfers Out

Summer Out - 

• Lacazette - £85mil - Man Utd (Full Fee)
• Elneny - £27mil - AC Milan (Full Fee)
• Ozil - £23.5mil - Man Utd (Full Fee) Getting this guy off the wage bill is how Thanos must of felt at the end of Infinite war.
• Emiliano Martinez - £18mil - Juventus (Full Fee)
• David Luiz - £9mil - Fiorentina (Full Fee, £25k of wages)
• Medley, Sraha, Osei-Tutu, Graczyk, Mcguiness, Butler-Oyedeji all left on small fees but with sell on clauses.

January Out - 

• Doucoure - £40mil - Shanghai SIPG (Full Fee)
• Total of 38 Loans for the season, most notably, Nketiah to West Ham who took them to 5th with 27 goals in 34 Apps, Guendouzi and Saliba to Lazio who helped them finish second in Serie A, Ait Nouri and Mavropanos at Celtic and Martinelli at Newcastle.

Overall i am very happy with the how the season went, Liverpool have become my nemesis, always tricky games 7 games, 2 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses both of which were away or neutral grounds. I haven't lost at home since i started this save which i am pretty proud of.

Third Season To Do List - 

• Make sure i can meet the rules of the competitions regarding home grown players
• ..Which won't be helped when i try and sell Rob Holding, i need to thin my CB's and he just hasn't had the game time he got in the first season, so my plan is to sell him, and replace with Declan Rice who has a phenomenal season at West Ham and would play DM for me which might mean moving on Torreira which i am a bit torn about because he's one of my favorite Arsenal players at the moment and my best performer, but he rightfully wants an improved contract which might mean increasing the wage budget quite a bit.
• I want a better 1st choice GK with better distribution, Ederson is unhappy at Man City who have oddly refused to offer him a new contract since January in the first season so i think ill be going for him.
• Win Fifa Club World Cup.
• And most importantly mock Tottenham in press conferences every chance i get.

Just out of interest, how do you set up with 2 AMs?

Going to have a tactical rejig over this summer break and considering something similar 

[SteveUK]

55 minutes ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Just out of interest, how do you set up with 2 AMs?

Going to have a tactical rejig over this summer break and considering something similar 

I use OXFORD 41221 from knaps tactics found here,

Sweeper Keeper/defend , back 4 with inverted wbs/support, 2 BPD's/defend,  a DLP/support infront of them, 2 wingers on attack, then 2 AM's on support with a CF on attack, it's a very high pressing tactic, the passing ain't the greatest and is very direct but effective, as i said before haven't lost at home in 2 seasons (will go and jinx myself now haha) need to find another tactic for difficult away games though as it struggles on those.

[SteveUK]

Spoiler

Smashed United 10-1 

[kenny3]

5 hours ago, SteveUK said:

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Smashed United 10-1 

wow lautaro scored 3 in 3 mins. How come?  

[BrickCommo23]

8 hours ago, SteveUK said:

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Smashed United 10-1 

Jesus. 8-1 at half time! Imagine the scenes... 

[SteveUK]

10 hours ago, kenny3 said:

wow lautaro scored 3 in 3 mins. How come?  

Not entirely sure, but all three came down the left, which i believe the yellow Wan Bissaka picked up in the 34 min contributed to it, probably made him extra cautious about picking up a second. 

I love the tactic i'm using for home games, it's high scoring, but also intensive which results in a lot of yellow cards throughout the season so there's a downside.

[OmegaFM]

Hello Everyone,

Started my annual Arsenal save pretty late this year due to doing a KRC Genk save first this time round but currently in Jan in first season and to say we are (arguably) overachieving is an understatement with us firmly keeping up with Liverpool and City in the title race but a poor december could have killed our hopes of the title anyways heres the prem table

europa 

and my tactic which is a more attacking version of Arrigo Sacchi's italy 94 tactic

n

anyways its the start of Jan and i'm off to spend 80 mil on a new defence (backup RB Mallo, Arias or Atleti's croatian whos name i cant spell and a new CB we good at LB tho with me somehow getting good results outta Sead Kolasinac so imma start exploring options for the CB)

[Garygooner666]

23 hours ago, SteveUK said:

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Smashed United 10-1 

Great how you managed to get everyone so fit beginning of the season in August