[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!

[ajw10]

I'm over halfway through my second season and aside from the ridiculous ratings bug I'm enjoying it. 

I won the league in my first season, lost the EL Final to Atletico and lost the FA Cup semi to City. My aim for the save is writing the wrongs of the past. First window I signed Aouar and Wijnaldum to sort the midfield out for a combined £50m+ depending on clauses. I managed to sell Ozil, Chambers, Mustafi, Sokratis, Cedric and Xhaka for a combined £65m so I turned a profit.

Next window I picked up John Stones for a bargain £12m, Raya for £5m and Edouard for £23m. Out went Elneny, Kolasinac and Mari for another £60m. Smith-Rowe, Nelson and Martinelli went out on loan.

I went into the transfer window targeting two players in Bennacer and Gnabry, both players that were prematurely let go by Arsenal. I managed to get Gnabry tied down for a fee of £58m rising to £74m. I noticed Bentancur was available for a low sum of £35m so went for him. I activated Bennacer's release clause after it become clear that Winjaldum was off. Angelino came in for £8m to provide cover at LB. I sold Holding, Wijnaldum (who moaned about not playing as a DLP), Willian, Lacazette, Guendouzi, Torreira, Sheaf and Runnarson for a combined £131m. In the following window an unhappy Raya went for £7m and Balogun went for £1m. Nketiah is out on loan for the season at Frankfurt and Martinelli went on loan again in Jan as I can't get him firing at all. Buffon also came in as cover and for mentoring.

Aubameyang's form has dipped since Christmas and Pepe has lost his place following Nelson and Gnabry's form whilst he was away at the ACON. I'm tempted to sell due to my dislike of him IRL

 

 

 

[hasdgfas]

26 minutes ago, ajw10 said:

I'm over halfway through my second season and aside from the ridiculous ratings bug I'm enjoying it.

What ratings bug is this? I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary

[ajw10]

2 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

What ratings bug is this? I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary

 

[WillyBroadband]

16 minutes ago, ajw10 said:

 

I thought I was getting lower ratings than usual! 

[Swills417]

I thought I would post a brief update on my save.

Finances

So at the start of the save, I decided I would take the sensible finances approach to managing the team. With the club in a somewhat precarious position in real life, reflecting this reality in the game would be a way to keep me interested in the save long-term. I've decided to track the finances of the club using google sheets. This is nothing complicated, merely taking a screenshot of the finances section and transferring that data via a web page screenshot. 

We had a starting balance of £137,728,385, which has since declined £88,532,146 in February 2021. Largely in part to player wages costing around £74,000,000 with about 60% of the season done. We expect a reasonable boost to our balance in the next few months, largely due to on the pitch success in this season so far. We are in a title challenge and into the knockouts of the Europa League. Qualifying for the Champions League will be massive for the club this season. 

We have created two new affiliates with clubs - Hull in league 1 and Bodo/Glimt in Norway. Hull city will be the beneficiary of a recruitment approach with a focus of signing  young domestic based players (17-19 age bracket) with a particular focus on pre-contract agreements and reduced fee transfers due to players being in the last 6 months of their deals. We have signed Marcel Lewis and Karlo Ziger from Chelsea this way. 

Recruitment & Sales

As previously mentioned, we have taken a financially prudent approach to this first season and thus not committed major funds to player recruitment in the January window (the summer window was disabled). We did however pull of a somewhat of a coup with the pre-contract agreement signing of Memphis Depay from Lyon, in a deal worth about £5m p/a with a signing of fee of about £6m. Depay should be able to take us to the level of qualifying consistently for Champions League. We have also agreed another deal to bring in Dortmund's Sergio Gomez on a free. We have also secured promising young players from AC Milan, PSG, Sporting Lisbon and Bayern Munich. This should enable us to build up a strong under 23 side to push for first team contention or be able to sell for profit. 

Outgoings were satisfactory. As mentioned before, Dynamo Kiev took Mustafi and Sokratis off our books for about £6m combined. We accepted a £22m fee for Elneny from China but he declined the offer. We desperately tried to move on Ozil, as a player exchange in various deals. First in exchange for Pavon from Boca Juniors, with about £5m in fees for us to pay, and then in a swap with Juan Mata from Manchester United for a small fee. However, Mesut turned down both contracts offered by these clubs. Luckily he accepted mutual termination for £900k - a small sum to pay considering his £18m p/a deal before bonuses. 

Xhaka, Kolasinac and Cedric departed the club in loan deals with Fenerbache, Betis and Wolves respectively. We will earn small fees for each loan and will attempt again in Summer 2021 to move these players on. 

The number of staff vacancies at the club is absolutely shocking - there are no sports scientists and barely any coaches. We have began the process of rectifying this - we have brought onboard a number of fitness coaches who should ensure the physical style of play is reflected in player attributes. Lots of work to do in this department though. I'm mainly focusing on getting bodies in and working before assessing their quality again in the summer window of 2021. 

On the Pitch

We have been very successful thus far, considering the expectations of the board this season. We are in a title race, the Europa League knockout stages and still in the FA Cup. We have a good chance at silverware this season. We have used a 4-2-3-1 gegenpress with the below lineup. Our metrics suggest we are overachieving - 3rd best expected goals against and for (despite being 1st in the table) and 14th in chance conversion. However, we take the most shots per game and have a disproportional amount of goals from set pieces with 14 (4 from direct free kicks!). 

Squad rotation is fairly limited in the league. Maitland-Niles occasionally comes in for cover at LB, RB and CM. ESR rotates with Willian and Saka with Pepe. Saliba plays whenever Gabriel or David Luiz needs a rest. 

Both ESR and Willock have demanded new deals from the club, which I declined to give them until the end of the season. Hopefully, they settle down before the summer window and we can agree deals that reflect their new found importance to the team. David Luiz will depart the club in the summer, with the need to replace him a priority before any other transfer business. He has actually scored more goals than both Nketiah and Lacazette. I placed him on penalty duty after Aubameyang missed two in a row. 

Moving forward, I hope to update after the season has finished. 

[ajw10]

Had an absolute mare in the CL, so it's time to turn to a serial CL winner to change our fortunes 

[VP.]

Thought I'd mention as forgot to earlier I'm still trying for the new stadium. You may remember the council blocking my first try well I've asked twice since and both times the board have declined me. Even though we now sell out every match.

I'm certainly not going to give up.

[Tee2]

7 hours ago, ajw10 said:

I'm over halfway through my second season and aside from the ridiculous ratings bug I'm enjoying it. 

I won the league in my first season, lost the EL Final to Atletico and lost the FA Cup semi to City. My aim for the save is writing the wrongs of the past. First window I signed Aouar and Wijnaldum to sort the midfield out for a combined £50m+ depending on clauses. I managed to sell Ozil, Chambers, Mustafi, Sokratis, Cedric and Xhaka for a combined £65m so I turned a profit.

Next window I picked up John Stones for a bargain £12m, Raya for £5m and Edouard for £23m. Out went Elneny, Kolasinac and Mari for another £60m. Smith-Rowe, Nelson and Martinelli went out on loan.

I went into the transfer window targeting two players in Bennacer and Gnabry, both players that were prematurely let go by Arsenal. I managed to get Gnabry tied down for a fee of £58m rising to £74m. I noticed Bentancur was available for a low sum of £35m so went for him. I activated Bennacer's release clause after it become clear that Winjaldum was off. Angelino came in for £8m to provide cover at LB. I sold Holding, Wijnaldum (who moaned about not playing as a DLP), Willian, Lacazette, Guendouzi, Torreira, Sheaf and Runnarson for a combined £131m. In the following window an unhappy Raya went for £7m and Balogun went for £1m. Nketiah is out on loan for the season at Frankfurt and Martinelli went on loan again in Jan as I can't get him firing at all. Buffon also came in as cover and for mentoring.

Aubameyang's form has dipped since Christmas and Pepe has lost his place following Nelson and Gnabry's form whilst he was away at the ACON. I'm tempted to sell due to my dislike of him IRL

 

 

 

I played a Milan save on FM20 and very much enjoyed Bennacur - didn't realise at the time that he is an ex-Gooner. How are you getting along with him? I'm thinking of him as an alternative to Partey who isn't really performing to the levels I would hope for in a central role.

[ajw10]

26 minutes ago, Tee2 said:

I played a Milan save on FM20 and very much enjoyed Bennacur - didn't realise at the time that he is an ex-Gooner. How are you getting along with him? I'm thinking of him as an alternative to Partey who isn't really performing to the levels I would hope for in a central role.

He's been excellent.

Partey has had a difficult second season and will almost certainly be sold

[hasdgfas]

2021/22 SEASON REVIEW:

COMPETITIONS:

Well. We held on. Somehow. A second half of the season injury crisis led to us having no attacking midfielders and only one striker for a key chunk of the season, but we held on for the title. Good thing, too, because the FA Cup was a disaster and the Champions League? Well, I'll get to that in a minute here. We should have put it away earlier in the League, but I'll still take a win on GD. Our defense deserved it.

This was the Champions League final and it was heartbreaking, even if it was deserved. A late equalizer, and then giving up the winner in the 90th minute. I'm not even sure what I can point to as going wrong, they were just better.

MATCHES:

The matches I thought were going to lose us the league were the loss to Villa, the draw at Norwich(even though they had a respectable 9th place finish upon promotion), and the draw at Fulham. The rest of the losses/draws were pretty understandable.

SOME INDIVIDUAL HONORS:

I will do another squad review later tonight.

[dothestrand]

I started my Arsenal save, taking over after one season (where they have no European football) and wanting to create a UK and Irish squad only, whilst trying to buy enough young players to keep the board happy. So it was a fire sale of most of the squad, then mopping up as many domestic replacements as possible. I spent around 30-40m with these transfers and crucially saved huge, huge amounts in salaries.

Ins: James Ward-Prowse (25.5m - Southampton relegated), Lewis Cook (9.75m), James Maddison (36m), Harry Winks (17.25m), Aaron Ramsey (22m), Dean Henderson (32.5m), Ethan Ampadu (60m), Wayne Rooney (free), Fikayo Tomori (64m), Jack Walton (5m), Max Aarons (30m), Aaron Hickey (15m), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (25.5m), Jack Grealish (45m), Oli McBurnie (30m - I couldn't sign Calvert-Lewin or Ings, so needed another striker quite urgently), Gareth Bale (13m). 

So some familiar faces and some players who you wouldn't expect to sign for Arsenal.

As I said, everyone else who isn't British, has been sold besides Willian (no takers) or Leno (the board block every 'cheap' sale). I'll leave them in the u23 until I can sell them.

Strongest squad is as shown, though Nketiah may be in for McBurnie. Lots of options here. Hickey, Maitland-Niles, Rooney, Bale and Nelson are also in the squad. Willock and Smith-Rowe are on loan, Nelson will probably go out on loan too.

First league game was home to Watford (newly promoted), which was as much of a gimme as you'd get. We won 5-0. Harder challenges to come obviously. 

[ajw10]

Season 2 is over and we won the league again, on the final day

The best performers were

And the team of the season shows who the dominant teams were in this division

Got robbed of a potential double in due to this crazy semi final, a game which caused me to lose all patience with John Stones

So far I have deals wrapped up for Ronaldo, Meslier and a load of regens. Ronaldo comes in to buy me an extra season of not needing a top level striker plus to mentor some of my promising youth including this signing from Leeds

Apart from that I'd love a top level CB. Partey, Stones, Angelino and AMN are all players I wouldn't mind moving on. I need to work out what to do with Nketiah (top scorer in the Bundesliga this season) and Martinelli (can't get any performances out of him). Auba might be someone I move on to as his pace has dropped to 14 and he's started picking up the old injury.

[2E_2006]

I seem to consistently get low ratings for defenders even if I’ve won comfortably. Is this a bug? 

[madept]

7 minutes ago, 2E_2006 said:

I seem to consistently get low ratings for defenders even if I’ve won comfortably. Is this a bug? 

There seems to be a bug with ratings for defensive players. There's a thread about it in the bugs forum. Defenders only seem to get decent ratings if they contribute offensively, and affects more defensive minded midfielders also. 

[hasdgfas]

8 hours ago, dothestrand said:

I started my Arsenal save, taking over after one season (where they have no European football) and wanting to create a UK and Irish squad only, whilst trying to buy enough young players to keep the board happy. So it was a fire sale of most of the squad, then mopping up as many domestic replacements as possible. I spent around 30-40m with these transfers and crucially saved huge, huge amounts in salaries.

I have never been able to pull the trigger on this style of save because I love cheap foreign pickups too much. I will be watching closely! good luck!

[hasdgfas]

2021/22 SQUAD REVIEW:

Let's look at the players in and around the first team again

STRIKERS:

Alexandre Lacazette - As I mentioned, he took back the starting spot this season. 26 goals(24 in the League) and 4 assists, plus the Premier League Golden Boot meant he got played unless he was injured. Star of the season

Eddie Nketiah - No slouch either!  18 goals(11 in the League) and 5 assists. It was really nice to have a battle between two strikers because they were both performing well.

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS:

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Another fantastic season on the left from Auba. 20 goals(18 in the League) and 6 assists. He only has a year left on his current contract, and it'll be really tough to not give him a new one, even though he's 32.

Nicolas Pepe - A tough season for Pepe with an average rating below 7(6.97). He still got 12 goals(7 in the League) and 5 assists, but he's no longer the first name on the teamsheet. I'm not going to actively ship him out, but if offers come in for him, I'll consider them.

Hakan Calhanoglu - Signing of the season, even if he couldn't keep up his form from the first half of the season. But that is what a torn hamstring in March will do. 2 goals and 11 assists is still a good return for a free signing on 80k a week.

Reiss Nelson - Did all right. 2 goals and 8 assists, wasn't quite as good a provider as 20/21, but still solid. And he's still only 22.

Bukayo Saka - 11 goals and 8 assist. He was very good most of the time, although when he was bad he was very bad.

Joe Willock - A disappointing backup to Calhanoglu. Only 2 assists this season. Although to be fair, Calhanoglu took a ton of time, and Willock also had a long injury at around the same time as Calhanoglu did.

Jack Wilshere - I had planned for him to be a backup DM, but he ended up deputizing at AMC when Calhanoglu and Willock were injured. He was not very good this season. Also only 2 assists and never really found his footing.

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:

Thomas Partey - Our more defensive starting DM. He had 3 assists even in that role and was fantastic cleaning up at the back. Still easily the starter.

Eduardo Camavinga - The switch back to Segundo Volante was exactly what he needed to unlock his performances. 3 goals and 4 assists is still a good return from that position and he had a ton of pre-assists and key passes to unlock others for opportunities.

Matteo Guendouzi - I wanted to give him a chance, as I think he's very talented, and a good backup for Camavinga. He didn't perform well in his appearances, and he had some chances after a couple 3-week injuries to Camavinga during the season. I honestly regret giving him a new contract. But now maybe I'll get something for him instead of letting him go for free or selling him without seeing if he performs well.

Lucas Torreira - Partey's backup, and the starter while Partey was away at the ACON. He was...fine? A serviceable backup, but not worth it as a starter, and with only a year left on his contract, I'm not sure he'll be sticking around.

FULLBACKS:

Hector Bellerin - Back to what I expected from him. He was excellent at DR and got 8 assists. Atletico and Barcelona seem to be interested, but I no longer want to let him go.

Kieran Tierney - Excellent on the left. 2 goals and 11 assists. Easily the starter.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles - No slouch as the backup to Bellerin! He even chipped in with 4 goals and an additional 6 assists.

Kostas Tsimikas - Was not good, but is just the backup, I guess?

CENTRAL DEFENDERS:

Pablo Mari - Stepped it up this season. He got the most appearances of any of my central defenders, and deserved them! He was very consistent all season and even got 3 goals.

William Saliba - Went up a level in performances this season and is a key member of the central defender squad now. Got 1 goal.

Rob Holding - Also consistent, especially in the League. 1 goal.

Gabriel - Did fine as well. 2 goals.

I'm very happy playing any 2 of these 4 in any combination.

GOALKEEPERS:

Bernd Leno - Still easily the #1. Especially with 28 clean sheets.

David Raya - Cup keeper. Did well enough in his appearances, although he only got 8 of them.

LOANED OUT:

I also had a few players right around the first team who I ended up loaning out because they would get more time there.

Brenner - Went to Espanyol in January and got 7 goals in 16 appearances. Didn't perform well, necessarily, but got time. And they ended up at 9th in La Liga. No Europe, but a good performance.

Gabriel Martinelli - Got sent off to Schalke and got 19 goals in 35 appearances. Did very well as their starting striker and helped them qualify for the Champions League via 3rd place in the Bundesliga!

Emile Smith Rowe - Also went to Schalke with Gabi. Did not perform nearly as well. Only 3 goals and 4 assists, but got lots of time, which is important to me.

Thiago Almada - Went to Koln for the season and performed well with 11 goals and 7 assists. Koln was only 14th in the Bundesliga, but not because of him. He did really well!

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

I'll have some tough choices to make in the summer with these players coming back and the ones who I already have and I like. We'll see who gets interest from elsewhere and who else developed in the youth teams. There's nobody I really want to offload, but maybe contracts will force me.

 

[ajw10]

Quote

Apart from that I'd love a top level CB. Partey, Stones, Angelino and AMN are all players I wouldn't mind moving on. I need to work out what to do with Nketiah (top scorer in the Bundesliga this season) and Martinelli (can't get any performances out of him). Auba might be someone I move on to as his pace has dropped to 14 and he's started picking up the old injury.

So Partey and Stones went to United for £100m, AMN to Dortmund for 33m and Angelino to Leipzig for £19m.

Also decided to cash in on Aubameyang. Declining and in his last year so he went to Juve for £25m. Martinelli has gone out on loan again. Neco Williams comes in on loan to replace AMN, Smith Rowe and Nketiah will replace Aubameyang and Partey

I had deals wrapped up for Kounde and Luis Felipe with the intention of signing one. Decided against that though and went massive for this guy

£89m rising to £107m. Worth it though. Sancho went to Spurs for £76m and I really couldn't justify buying him. I had a £90m deal agreed for Felix but he went to PSG instead. Going to wait until next year to go big for a forward. Also got my eye on Camavinga due to his contract being up in a year and Spurs are sniffing around. I have £170m which has been helped by this

I reckon this is my best side going into the new season

Yet to decide my captain after Aubameyang's departure. Bellerin is the vice captain so would be the logical choice. Aouar was my best player last season and has good leadership. I might just go for Ronaldo though

Edited December 29, 2020 by ajw10

[ajw10]

Ronaldo might be good

[hasdgfas]

A player I loved when I started following the team has come back!

[Telegram Sam]

I've just started a new save with my beloved Arsenal and am hoping to bed in for the long term. I'm excited to build the squad over the course of a few seasons and make the most of the young talent currently at the Emirates.

The first thing I did was totally revamp the staff at the club, with a refresh needed in a lacklustre coaching department and an almost non-existent medical team. The scouting department has also seen a heavy restructure, with my aim being to have my guys scouting fresh talent across the globe as the seasons roll on. The key appointments include Ralf Rangnick as Director of Football, reducing Edu to an empty suit in his Technical Director role, and the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Andrea Barzagli, and Warren Joyce coming in to improve the coaching team. I've taken personal control of my scouts' assignments to ensure we're reaching as far wide as possible with our scouting network.

---

In terms of players, I'm pleased with the small amount of business done thus far:

IN

Houssem AOUAR—The man we couldn't quite sign in real life joins from Lyon in a £31m deal to add so much needed creativity in the middle of the park. I hope to bleed in the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock over the course of the season, but Aouar's arrival gives us plenty of immediate quality going into the new season.

Ariel MOSOR—Only 17 years old, the Polish centre-back arrives from Legia Warsaw in a modest deal of around £450k after being spotted by my scout based in Eastern Europe. I've limited expectations for the young defender but he seems to have decent potential and his signing helps fulfil my board's request that I sign players under the age of 18. He's been sent to Barrow in League 2 on loan for the 2020/21 season to help him acclimatise with British football.

OUT

Mesut Ozil—Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to avoid the potential negative influence the German would have in the dressing room by shipping him off to Napoli in a deal worth £12m. I'm paying half of his £350k p/w wages for one more year, but I was happy to move him on this summer and recoup some cash for him in the process.

Sokratis—Unregistered and with a year remaining on his contract, we were able to secure £5m from Wolves for his signature. He would have been my 5th or 6th choice centre-back so he won't be missed.

William Saliba (loan)—I was tempted to keep the young Frenchman and give him some minutes in Europe, but instead opted to send him to Burnley until January to see if he can acquire some Premier League minutes there. I felt it was a risk worth taking with Gabriel, Mari, Holding, Luiz, and Chambers offering me plenty of depth in the centre of defence.

Folarin Balgun (loan)—The young striker signed a new deal with the club before being sent to Colchester United for the season. If he's to have a future at Arsenal he needs to first prove he can score goals and perform in the lower leagues.

In other business, Mohamed Elneny agreed to join Guangzhou Evergrande after I felt he wasn't needed at the club, although that deal won't go through until January. We'll net a tidy £17.5m when he eventually sets sail for China.

---

Our start of the season really couldn't have gone better, with a surprise shoot-out victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield being followed by wins against Burnley (H), Crystal Palace (A), and Leicester (H) in the Premier League. We've been scoring for fun, with eight goals flying past Burnley and Palace, and a 2-0 win over Leicester at the Emirates was made all the sweeter by Jamie Vardy getting his marching orders to help us secure victory. 

In the League Cup, we coasted to a 3-0 win past Huddersfield before Norwich City gave us a good scare at the Emirates by taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. We came back to win 3-2 after two late goals, although we now face Liverpool at Anfield in the Quarter Final.

Nicolas Pepe has started the season on fire, scoring 3 and assisting 3 in the league after his brace in the Shield allowed us to take Liverpool to penalties in a 2-2 draw. His 6 goal contributions in 3 games meant he deservedly ended September as Player of the Month, and we also saw an Arsenal player pick up Young Player of the Month as well, with Bukayo Saka playing superbly and becoming a regular starter in the team. He notched three assists in our first three games and scored a nice goal against Leicester to round off a superb month, and to put the cherry on top, the second goal in that game—a volleyed screamer from Granit Xhaka—also saw us win the Goal of the Month for September.

Another plus has been the form of Thomas Partey, who scored our first league goal of the season with a header against Burnley and followed that up with a brace against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The decision to play him further up the pitch as a box-to-box midfielder, with Xhaka sitting behind him, has paid dividends so far. His chipped finish against Palace, bursting forward from midfield to reach the end of a divine Saka cross, was Vieira-esque.

Moving into October, we've been drawn in a Europa League group which features Real Sociedad, FC Midtjylland, and NK Lokomotiva, so should still be aiming to qualify with ease even if Sociedad line up as decent opposition. We also face league games against Southampton, West Ham, and Newcastle, so there's a chance to continue our positive start before we come up against more of the big boys towards the end of 2020.

It's looking like Liverpool and United will be our closest challengers this season, with both of them having also notched up perfect winning records to start the campaign. Spurs have lost all of their games which makes this table very fun to look at, at least for now.

Edited December 30, 2020 by Telegram Sam

[RossoneriGunner]

2 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

I've just started a new save with my beloved Arsenal and am hoping to bed in for the long term. I'm excited to build the squad over the course of a few seasons and make the most of the young talent currently at the Emirates.

The first thing I did was totally revamp the staff at the club, with a refresh needed in a lacklustre coaching department and an almost non-existent medical team. The scouting department has also seen a heavy restructure, with my aim being to have my guys scouting fresh talent across the globe as the seasons roll on. The key appointments include Ralf Rangnick as Director of Football, reducing Edu to an empty suit in his Technical Director role, and the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Andrea Barzagli, and Warren Joyce coming in to improve the coaching team. I've taken personal control of my scouts' assignments to ensure we're reaching as far wide as possible with our scouting network.

---

In terms of players, I'm pleased with the small amount of business done thus far:

IN

Houssem AOUAR—The man we couldn't quite sign in real life joins from Lyon in a £31m deal to add so much needed creativity in the middle of the park. I hope to bleed in the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock over the course of the season, but Aouar's arrival gives us plenty of immediate quality going into the new season.

Ariel MOSOR—Only 17 years old, the Polish centre-back arrives from Legia Warsaw in a modest deal of around £450k after being spotted by my scout based in Eastern Europe. I've limited expectations for the young defender but he seems to have decent potential and his signing helps fulfil my board's request that I sign players under the age of 18. He's been sent to Barrow in League 2 on loan for the 2020/21 season to help him acclimatise with British football.

OUT

Mesut Ozil—Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to avoid the potential negative influence the German would have in the dressing room by shipping him off to Napoli in a deal worth £12m. I'm paying half of his £350k p/w wages for one more year, but I was happy to move him on this summer and recoup some cash for him in the process.

Sokratis—Unregistered and with a year remaining on his contract, we were able to secure £5m from Wolves for his signature. He would have been my 5th or 6th choice centre-back so he won't be missed.

William Saliba (loan)—I was tempted to keep the young Frenchman and give him some minutes in Europe, but instead opted to send him to Burnley until January to see if he can acquire some Premier League minutes there. I felt it was a risk worth taking with Gabriel, Mari, Holding, Luiz, and Chambers offering me plenty of depth in the centre of defence.

Folarin Balgun (loan)—The young striker signed a new deal with the club before being sent to Colchester United for the season. If he's to have a future at Arsenal he needs to first prove he can score goals and perform in the lower leagues.

In other business, Mohamed Elneny agreed to join Guangzhou Evergrande after I felt he wasn't needed at the club, although that deal won't go through until January. We'll net a tidy £17.5m when he eventually sets sail for China.

---

Our start of the season really couldn't have gone better, with a surprise shoot-out victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield being followed by wins against Burnley (H), Crystal Palace (A), and Leicester (H) in the Premier League. We've been scoring for fun, with eight goals flying past Burnley and Palace, and a 2-0 win over Leicester at the Emirates was made all the sweeter by Jamie Vardy getting his marching orders to help us secure victory. 

In the League Cup, we coasted to a 3-0 win past Huddersfield before Norwich City gave us a good scare at the Emirates by taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. We came back to win 3-2 after two late goals, although we now face Liverpool at Anfield in the Quarter Final.

Nicolas Pepe has started the season on fire, scoring 3 and assisting 3 in the league after his brace in the Shield allowed us to take Liverpool to penalties in a 2-2 draw. His 6 goal contributions in 3 games meant he deservedly ended September as Player of the Month, and we also saw an Arsenal player pick up Young Player of the Month as well, with Bukayo Saka playing superbly and becoming a regular starter in the team. He notched three assists in our first three games and scored a nice goal against Leicester to round off a superb month, and to put the cherry on top, the second goal in that game—a volleyed screamer from Granit Xhaka—also saw us win the Goal of the Month for September.

Another plus has been the form of Thomas Partey, who scored our first league goal of the season with a header against Burnley and followed that up with a brace against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The decision to play him further up the pitch as a box-to-box midfielder, with Xhaka sitting behind him, has paid dividends so far. His chipped finish against Palace, bursting forward from midfield to reach the end of a divine Saka cross, was Vieira-esque.

Moving into October, we've been drawn in a Europa League group which features Real Sociedad, FC Midtjylland, and NK Lokomotiva, so should still be aiming to qualify with ease even if Sociedad line up as decent opposition. We also face league games against Southampton, West Ham, and Newcastle, so there's a chance to continue our positive start before we come up against more of the big boys towards the end of 2020.

It's looking like Liverpool and United will be our closest challengers this season, with both of them having also notched up perfect winning records to start the campaign. Spurs have lost all of their games which makes this table very fun to look at, at least for now.

Nice write up Sam. What tactics you using mate?. What are you doing to Rottenham (deliberate) but whatever it is, keep it up 😂

[VP.]

Had a ridiculous goal scoring start to season 7, +32 after just 11 games.

[BrickCommo23]

12 hours ago, ajw10 said:

Ronaldo might be good

Loving the signing of Ronaldo. It's got me short listing him and seeing if an opportunity pops up

[BrickCommo23]

Midway through pre-season of season two - this suddenly happened:

I must admit to having mixed feelings as the original bid was only about £35m up front and when I suggested a slight rejig with £70m up front they immediately said yes. I feel like I could have gone for more!

So, a slight rejig of plans meant moving Saka to starting AMR which left a sort of gap at AML. And when you're trying to get younger, quicker and ideally - more English - where else do you go?

I would have like to leave out the Min Fee clause but if someone stumps up that much then probably not much I can do about it! Still, net cost is minimal and it's a proper upgrade. Season 2 - here we go...

 

Edited December 30, 2020 by BrickCommo23
Typo

[Telegram Sam]

7 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Nice write up Sam. What tactics you using mate?. What are you doing to Rottenham (deliberate) but whatever it is, keep it up 😂

I've stuck with a 4-3-3 thus far and it's served me well:

Plan is to phase out Xhaka and either sign a deep-lying playmaker to replace him, or push Partey back so I can add more attacking prowess to the midfield.

[hasdgfas]

A couple summer 2022 Transfers of note for me:

Musa Barrow - 20M rising to 24M. With Auba not getting any younger, I'm trying to phase him out on the left, and Martinelli in game is not quite there yet. So when I saw Musa Barrow available at around 20M I jumped on it. Because seriously, look at him. He's great. Eagle-eyed readers will not that he's started really strongly too, with 5 goals so far in the League. Yes, 4 of them were in the opener at home against Newcastle, but he's performed really well overall and has been well worth the purchase.

Yusuf Demir - 30.5M. This was a release clause purchase. I probably don't need him, with Calhanoglu's performances last season and Thiago Almada waiting in the wings, but I really like him, and at 19 he could be a top player for a decade. Or I could make a huge profit in a couple seasons if he wants to go to Real/Barcelona/PSG as I have some other youngsters ready to jump into this role.

[RossoneriGunner]

4 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

I've stuck with a 4-3-3 thus far and it's served me well:

Plan is to phase out Xhaka and either sign a deep-lying playmaker to replace him, or push Partey back so I can add more attacking prowess to the midfield.

Thanks mate, thats my preferred formation as well.

Edited December 30, 2020 by RossoneriGunner

[WillyBroadband]

Hello all, so I got a very interesting CF in my first youth intake...

[WillyBroadband]

Also, I finally got rid of Willian! Wooohoo, haha! 

I saw that Hakim Ziyech was unhappy at Chelsea so I offered £30M plus Willian in a part exchange & they went for it. Offered Ziyech a 1 year deal as I wasn't that fussed about him but he has been so much better than my expectations! Injuries to 3 of my wingers have helped him. 

Got The Ox back too, on loan. Played really well as a Mez/Attack but now he's injured - same old. 

[WillyBroadband]

4 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

Hello all, so I got a very interesting CF in my first youth intake...

 

Having him train with the first team & he's already improving. Will probably loan him out as soon as he's 17. 

[WillyBroadband]

Got SC Heerenveen as a feeder club & have loaned them 4 youngsters for the season & following them closely. 

I sent them Daniel Ballard, Tyreece John-Jules, Miguel Azeez & Folarin Balogun. Ballard & TJJ are doing particularly well, so far. 

[bigman]

Me of my first season. Won the title by 1 point after Liverpool bottled it vs Leeds final day

auba and Pepe killed it this season, if I hadn’t lost Pepe with a long term injury, I may of won the europa league too

cant wait for the off season, going to make massive changes. Camavinga and Martinez of inter arrive and I’m going to sell a whole load of players 

 

 

[VP.]

[BrickCommo23]

Guys, I've seen a few people upload goals as GIFs or very short embebbed files... Any idea how? 

[BrickCommo23]

1 hour ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

In FM20 you could usually 1) Keep negotiating the price upwards 2) Reject an offer and then agree a ridiculous asking price with the player himself? 

[bigman]

Managed to sell xhaka, chambers and have bids for el neney

 

holding furned down several clubs but he’s not going to play much, no one wants mari 

 

Can anyone recommend an elite centre half? Have about 60 mill I can stretch. Gonna sell torreira and guendouzi too. Torreira is massively overrated but tiny so won’t be effective imo for through balls over the top as a dm

Thought about bringing ceballos back on loan but my just buy a cheap talent in that role. Willock is great for me 

[bigman]

1 hour ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

Haaland was too expensive for me in terms of wages etc so I signed martinez

 

haaland wanted to use us as a stepping stone lol

[BrickCommo23]

1 minute ago, bigman said:

Managed to sell xhaka, chambers and have bids for el neney

 

holding furned down several clubs but he’s not going to play much, no one wants mari 

 

Can anyone recommend an elite centre half? Have about 60 mill I can stretch. Gonna sell torreira and guendouzi too. Torreira is massively overrated but tiny so won’t be effective imo for through balls over the top as a dm

Thought about bringing ceballos back on loan but my just buy a cheap talent in that role. Willock is great for me 

Have you tried a guy I mentioned earlier called Ahmedhodzic? He is at Malmo at the start of the game and I still feel like I've got an absolute steal as no one seems to mention him 

[WillyBroadband]

51 minutes ago, bigman said:

Can anyone recommend an elite centre half?

I've always liked Benjamin Pavard at Bayern, I've signed him on a previous save for Arsenal & also Everton & he's been superb. Not the best at heading but his mental stats are superb, he can sometimes become transfer listed too, I've seen. So you can pick him up for about £30-40M. 

Or, Saliba will become elite eventually...

[Telegram Sam]

4 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Guys, I've seen a few people upload goals as GIFs or very short embebbed files... Any idea how? 

I record the goal/ clip via Monosnap, with GIF as the video format, and then save the file to my computer. I then upload it via GFYCat and add the URL into my post as "Other Media".

[bigman]

6 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Have you tried a guy I mentioned earlier called Ahmedhodzic? He is at Malmo at the start of the game and I still feel like I've got an absolute steal as no one seems to mention him 

I have him, saliba, Gabriel, holding and mari

i want to get rid of mari and holding and wouldn’t mind a world class cb and rotate the young ones in. 

[VP.]

8 hours ago, bigman said:

Haaland was too expensive for me in terms of wages etc so I signed martinez

 

haaland wanted to use us as a stepping stone lol

Yeah I never signed him, when I got took over the new owner tried to sign both Sancho and Haalaand (nearly £300m for the pair). Sancho rejected the contract they offered but Haaland accepted and admittedly he's been amazing.

8 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

In FM20 you could usually 1) Keep negotiating the price upwards 2) Reject an offer and then agree a ridiculous asking price with the player himself? 

He's now come to me asking to leave and won't back down resulting in a transfer request. I've offered him out for £300m which obviously no one is interested in, but he's gotta be worth around the £200m mark easily.

[RossoneriGunner]

8 hours ago, bigman said:

Haaland was too expensive for me in terms of wages etc so I signed martinez

 

haaland wanted to use us as a stepping stone lol

I was watching a guy on YT doing a Leicester save and he bought Andrea Belotti and he certainly knew where the goal was.

[WillyBroadband]

2 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Andrea Belotti

I've had him before as well, he was very good. 

[gooseta]

Just started an Arsenal save, will post a few updates in here, probably going to make a thread for more in depth updates in career updates forum. Managed to sell Cedric for £20m which I was pretty happy with, brought in Max aarons and Vandevoort

Edited December 31, 2020 by gooseta

[Harper]

On 30/12/2020 at 00:32, hasdgfas said:

A player I loved when I started following the team has come back!

I too brought Kolo in, but as my U23 Assistant Manager

Edited December 31, 2020 by Harper

[VP.]

[WillyBroadband]

I wasn't massively fussed about getting this guy but so far he has been unreal.

4 goals & 6 assists (one I watched 3 times because it was such a lovely pass!)

[gooseta]

Anyone else pick up Max aarons from norwich? Also brought in Pellegrini from Roma for midfield depth. Would love to have signed Lautaro Martinez or similar but Aubameyang is still great. I do think I'll try and sell both him and Lacazette next summer

[WillyBroadband]

37 minutes ago, gooseta said:

Anyone else pick up Max aarons from norwich? Also brought in Pellegrini from Roma for midfield depth. Would love to have signed Lautaro Martinez or similar but Aubameyang is still great. I do think I'll try and sell both him and Lacazette next summer

Yes mate I got Aarons as Bellerin's back up - for £24M. I really like him.

I play Auba (AML) & Lautaro Martínez (CF) together & they're great.