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

[Sean3h]

I think I'm now at the stage where I may need to sell Bernd Leno. I didn't really want it to get to this point, but Bayern Munich have just offered me £50M up front, rising to £66M. Feels hard to turn down for a 31 year old goalkeeper.

Starting to look at potential replacements, so far I've got the following players on my shortlist:

Gerónimo Rulli - will cost £31.5M from Villarreal. He's been decent for them since signing - last season he only managed 8 clean sheets though. I think he'd be a decent stop-gap while I wait for one of my youngsters to develop.

Kepa Arrizabalaga - Didn't exactly do great at Chelsea, but he's not going to be that expensive and he managed 15 clean sheets last season for Monaco. A bid of £22M (rising to £39M based on appearances) will be enough to bring him in.

Aaron Ramsdale - I've got no idea how much Sheffield Utd want for him, but he's really promising in my save and was in the England squad for the World Cup. I have a feeling he'll be £50M+.

I'm then in the territory of insane deals, like £118M for Unai Simon, £120M for Jan Oblak, etc. I don't think I can bring myself to pay that much for a goalkeeper...

[VP.]

12 minutes ago, Sean3h said:

I think I'm now at the stage where I may need to sell Bernd Leno. I didn't really want it to get to this point, but Bayern Munich have just offered me £50M up front, rising to £66M. Feels hard to turn down for a 31 year old goalkeeper.

Starting to look at potential replacements, so far I've got the following players on my shortlist:

Gerónimo Rulli - will cost £31.5M from Villarreal. He's been decent for them since signing - last season he only managed 8 clean sheets though. I think he'd be a decent stop-gap while I wait for one of my youngsters to develop.

Kepa Arrizabalaga - Didn't exactly do great at Chelsea, but he's not going to be that expensive and he managed 15 clean sheets last season for Monaco. A bid of £22M (rising to £39M based on appearances) will be enough to bring him in.

Aaron Ramsdale - I've got no idea how much Sheffield Utd want for him, but he's really promising in my save and was in the England squad for the World Cup. I have a feeling he'll be £50M+.

I'm then in the territory of insane deals, like £118M for Unai Simon, £120M for Jan Oblak, etc. I don't think I can bring myself to pay that much for a goalkeeper...

 

[Sean3h]

32 minutes ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

 

Oh wow £83M. I can easily afford it, I just don't know if I want to spend all that!

[hasdgfas]

15 hours ago, Sean3h said:

Aaron Ramsdale - I've got no idea how much Sheffield Utd want for him, but he's really promising in my save and was in the England squad for the World Cup. I have a feeling he'll be £50M+.

I'm in the middle of a Leicester save on FM Touch and got Ramsdale for 30M to replace Schmeichel, but it took quite a bit of unsettling over a season.

[VP.]

Am now midway through my 10th season and have decided to share my save for anyone that simply wants to take a look or maybe even start a new game a few seasons in the future. I personally may be starting a new save in a lower league.

Here's how things stand at the moment, has been our best start to a season yet plus the club has a new top scorer. Took him just four and a half years to do it.

https://mega.nz/file/86gR3AZY#EcTcCjc1YRMbxeaPQl-JYvcm_AVSCwm151HuzIgaBTc

[Swills417]

So we started the 2021-22 window as Premier League champions, with bloated squad of overpaid players who were no better than back-up or rotation options. The departures of a number of players were sanctioned early in the window, with Xhaka moving to Fulham for £30m and Cedric making his loan to Wolves permanent for £8m. Kolasinac moved to Milan for £16.25m, followed swiftly by Elneny (part exchange) and Chambers, creating a small ex-Arsenal enclave in Italy. Lacazette was anticipated to join them, but turned down the personal terms they offered, causing us to miss out on £33m. I’m sure his talents and goal return of 1 league goal, can be improved upon. He was offered out in a myriad of deals but turned down everyone. It looks like the French striker is here to stay for his final year of his £9m p/a deal. Rob Holding also departed the club for West Brom, making the squad roster much leaner and wage bill quite a bit lighter.

We definitely fluked our way to the title was last, and anticipating a huge spree by our domestic rivals, we had to strengthen our first eleven. The marque signing of Depay on a free transfer probably being the highlight of our summer incomings. Edu managed to agree a deal with him for £5.8m p/a, with various bonuses and a £6m sign-on fee. A good deal, for a player who could make the difference in our ambition of retaining the title and making a mark in the Champions League.

Other areas of the squad that needed attention was replacing the out-going David Luiz, a high-calibre midfield partner for Partey and a creative number 10 to eventually replace Willian and provide development competition for Smith-Rowe, who seems to suffer recurrent injuries.

We took a scouting approach with regards to seeking new signings to improve the first team, blended with an analytics focus for our squad signings. 3 shortlists were made:

• The David Luiz Replacement
• Goal Scoring Box-to-Box Midfielder
• Creative No.10

The David Luiz Replacement

A ball-playing defender was the first item on the agenda after David Luiz departure. A number of players made this shortlist including eventual squad signing Caci for £775k from Ligue 1, who impressed in key-passes per 90 and pass competition rates, coupling with an attractive price. Samuel Gigot also caught my eye with his natural central defender positioning and 16 flair. Kamar of Marseille also caught the eye of our analysts and scouts. If Saliba doesn’t work out, we have one eye on the next best thing.

Ultimately, we plumped for Teun Koopmeiners from AZ in the Dutch league. Brought in for an initial £19.5m, we now have our ball-playing defender we were looking for, with the additional benefit of being an extremely competent penalty taker. There might be some reservations about his jumping, but being played next to a more physical partner, Gabriel, should be fine.

The Goal Scoring Box-to-Box Midfielder

Based on the criteria of having a good goals per 90 ratio, with an emphasis on shots per 90 also a number of players were brought up. Soumare of Lille caught the eye eearly, with him handing in a transfer request and available for a little as £5m. Dantas from Bayern was also an option, available for reletvely cheap. We spent £375k on Gortler from the swiss league after impressing statistically.

However, there was only one player we really wanted. Franck Kessie. Our top target arrived from AC Milan for £39.5m plus bonuses, with Elneny heading in the opposite direction. An outstanding midfielder on FM for a few years now. We now have that dynamic midfield duo of Partey and Kessie who would rival any midfield pair at any of the top clubs.

A Creative No.10

The position of the least priority, with Willian still impressing in this position and Smith-Rowe and Saka able to play in this role, we saw that real life prospect Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. A steal for £1.9m that could rise to as little as £3.4m. We will see how he develops over the next few months in relation to Smith-Rowe. Our own Kai Havertz.

 

----

Other notable in-comings include:

Sergio Gomez – a free transfer from Dortmund. Has the potential to be a leading creative force. There are question marks over his physicality, but as a development option it was a good deal to make.

Lukas Fabianski – Runnerson has gone on loan to Norwich to develop further, with the old Arsenal goalkeeper coming in to understudy Leno and provide some guidance for some of our young prospect goalkeepers.

Various u23s went out on loan earning a total in £747k in total loan fees. It was far from ideal to loan out Guendouzi and Nketiah in the last year of their deals, but hopefully we can renegotiate in the next few months to prevent us from losing them for nothing. We also have Reiss Nelsen and Lacazette in the final years of their contracts, with both refusing to enter talks.

New deals were arranged for Saka and Leno as below, securing their long term futures with the club. With Leno becoming the 8th highest paid keeper in the world.

At the close of the transfer window, i'll talk more about the finances of the club and on pitch performances so far this season. 

[WillyBroadband]

14 hours ago, Swills417 said:

Sergio Gomez – a free transfer from Dortmund. Has the potential to be a leading creative force. There are question marks over his physicality, but as a development option it was a good deal to make.

I signed him for Everton on my most fun FM20 save & he was unreal, became a club legend. 

[WillyBroadband]

League table 21/22

Transfers end of 21/22 beginning of 22/23 - notable ones highlighted - Tielemans for £38M feels like a steal - Yunus Musah I'm looking forward to as he was an Arsenal youth player before going to Valencia.

[BrickCommo23]

I'm coming towards the end of the second season and we are looking like finishing up empty handed again. 

My system seems to have suddenly become very weak away from home and just lost away to Norwich.

Going to try and get to the end of the season and then go back to trying to make my tiki taka work again, it's the system I most want to use but I do note a lot of people are having major success with high tempo, very attacking systems.

Just annoyed how this season is going to go (again) 

[RossoneriGunner]

7 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

I signed him for Everton on my most fun FM20 save & he was unreal, became a club legend. 

I just took a look at him and offered him a contract. He wanted to be a fringe player and after 15 games wanted £57k pw. He's still at Dortmund 😂

[Goretzka]

Got Donnarumma on free transfer, sent my DoF for Szoboszlai and brought Haaland for whatever it takes. Now I'm going for the Premiership.

 

 

 

Update on Haaland:

 

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Goretzka
A creature named Haaland

[Swills417]

The 4-2-3-1 Gengenpress is serving us well so far! Played 3, won 3. Below is our first choice line up. 

 

You can see from our heat map and average positions in a 5-0 win against Newcastle, we have a strong left sided bias. We almost look like a asymetric 3-4-1-2 when we are attacking. Oddly enough, our highest pass combination is between Bellerin and Pepe on the right flank.  

 

[BrickCommo23]

18 minutes ago, Swills417 said:

The 4-2-3-1 Gengenpress is serving us well so far! Played 3, won 3. Below is our first choice line up. 

 

You can see from our heat map and average positions in a 5-0 win against Newcastle, we have a strong left sided bias. We almost look like a asymetric 3-4-1-2 when we are attacking. Oddly enough, our highest pass combination is between Bellerin and Pepe on the right flank.  

 

That picture doesn't seem to work mate - the heat map one

[lomekian]

7 hours ago, Goretzka said:

Got Donnarumma on free transfer, sent my DoF for Szoboszlai and brought Haaland for whatever it takes. Now I'm going for the Premiership.

 

 

 

Update on Haaland:

 

 

Szoboszlai is SO GOOD for me. Season 1 - 18 starts & 7 sub appearances - 18 goals 21 assists 8.17 av

[raeburn]

Hale End FC - January 2021 Update

This year, inspired by our strong cohort of academy players and in an effort to avoid losing interest in this save when our budget allows me to afford Haaland and Mbappe I've decided to focus on youth development. While I won't be going full-on academy-only, I am limiting the players I can sign to the following:

1. Players who are Home-Grown at Club (eg. Serge Gnabry, Yunus Musah, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain)
2. Players who were part of the academy but left Arsenal before becoming Home-Grown at Club (eg. Ismael Bennacer, Donyell Malen, Semi Ajayi)
3. Players born in the London "Local Region" who will be able to become Home-Grown at Club (which means I must sign them before their 18th birthday)

The goal is for these restrictions to force me to use and develop players who have the potential to become solid squad players and even members of the first XI, but who otherwise would have been blocked by mega-signings.

While I'm not forcing a clear-out of players who do not meet my signing criteria, I am actively trying to move those players who are willing to move. Having turned off the first transfer window, January was my first opportunity to start reshaping the squad.

Transfers Out:

• Mohamed Elneny - 20m to Beijing Guoan
• Sead Kolasinac - 7.5m to Shandong Luneng Taishan
• David Luiz - 250k to Flamengo
• Mesut Ozil - Mutual Termination
• Sokratis Papastathopoulos - Mutual Termination
• Shkodran Mustafi - Mutual Termination

I was unable to generate much interest at all in any of the four players whose contracts were set to expire at the end of the season, but I was able to reach decently favorable terms to terminate each of their contracts, which freed up an enormous amount in our wage budget.

Transfers In:

• Yunus Musah - 13.5m from Valencia
  It's certainly frustrating to have to shell out eight figures for a player we let go for only 90k around 18 months prior, but it's worth it for a player like Musah. Despite being 5 years younger his stats are already comparable to Ainsley Maitland-Niles and he has even greater potential. Depending on how he develops I will likely use him as either a box-to-box midfield or a right back.
  
• Karamoko Dembele - 7.75m from Celtic
  London-born Karamoko came in just a month before his 18th birthday, and in addition to having enormous potential, adding him allows Bukayo Saka to make the permanent transition to left back (where half of his appearances and both of his assists have come so far this season)
  
• Glen Kamara - 5.75m from Rangers
  The 25-year-old homegrown player will be a solid member of the squad, usually as a Deep Lying Playmaker (defend) which should allow him to show off his absolutely elite First Touch (18) and Technique (19)
• Joe Haigh - 925k from Chelsea
  Haigh is a bit of a borderline prospect, but he comes with decent stats and for a decent price in a position (LW) where we don't have any obvious stars in the Academy. He is fairly well rounded too, and is reasonably two-footed so depending on how he develops he could also be a decent utility option in defense.
  
• Leo Castledine - 850k from Chelsea
  A 14 year-old added to the game in Darkness89's Data Update who my scouts came back with an 80 rating for - Castledine definitely has a long way to go but looks like he could develop into a decent Mezzala if I can get his Dribbling up.
  
• Dominic Thompson - 600k from Brentford
  Like Musah, Thompson returns to Arsenal after 18 months away, but in this case we've managed to make a 400k profit on the transaction. He'll never challenge Saka or Tierney for the starting spot, but the scarcity of left footed players makes him a vital depth piece.
  
• Kaylen Hinds - free
  After a 1.3m move to Wolfsburg failed to pan out Hinds has become something of a journeyman already at age 23. Despite that, with Balogun and John-Jules out on loan, he will get significant game time in the U23s. 

The Season So Far:

The season started with a frustrating 2-1 loss in the Community Shield against Liverpool to a 90+4 minute Diogo Jota goal, but thankfully that frustration hasn't carried into the league.

As a part of my focus on youth development I have given each of the club's breakthrough prospects significant minutes in the Premier League, in addition to regular starts in the Europa League and the domestic cups. Despite that we have 45 points, only three defeats, and a solid hold on third place in the league behind Liverpool (56) and Manchester City (51). And the gap from us to 4th place Manchester United is 10 points!

We rode our luck playing fully rotated squads in the Europa League, and even giving regular cameos to members of our U23 squad. Despite a relatively easy group comprising Sparta Praha, Ferencvarosi, and LASK, we only managed 10 points - still enough to top the group though, and set us up for a First Knockout Round against Nice.

We were disappointed to be knocked out of the Carabao Cup 3-2 by Manchester United in the Quarterfinals, but having beaten them only three days prior in the league we can't be too disappointed.

We've made it through to the 5th round of the FA Cup after 3-0 and 4-0 victories over Spurs and Cardiff, although our next opponents are Manchester City so we have a tough road ahead of us as we try to win it for the 15th time.

Surprise Performance:

Reiss Nelson has not only surprised - he has been one of our best players so far this season with 10 goals, 11 assists and a 7.24 average rating in 18 starts and 6 substitute appearances. His performances at on the right wing have won him two Premier League Young Player of the Month Awards, as well as the 2020 Kopa Trophy (ahead of Jadon Sancho and Phil Foden) and the runner-up to the 2020 UEFA Golden Boy (behind Erling Haaland and ahead of Jadon Sancho).

Senior Squad:

 

[RossoneriGunner]

We picked up the CrappyOld Cup after beating Man City 3-2.

The draws for the Quarter finals and Semi finals of the Europa League

Edited January 25, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[Goretzka]

That is ridiculous 

 

[lomekian]

2 minutes ago, Goretzka said:

That is ridiculous 

 

Its the goals vs xG that is so impressive. I had Laca get 38 goals in 30 games in the EPL in season 1, but that was pretty much on equal xG

[BrickCommo23]

2 hours ago, Goretzka said:

That is ridiculous 

 

Wow. That's incredible. 

Have you shared what sort of system you're playing? Or can you play any sort of system with Haaland?? 

[Kayy]

Started a new career with Arsenal on Xbox. First season I finished 5th, two points behind United in 4th which went down to the final game of the season. First season I signed Depay for 25 million along with Leon Bailey.

Sold a lot of the deadwood and in the summer transfer window I’ve managed to sign Pau Torres, Aouar, Aarons and Neres. I’m after a striker if anyone can recommend anyone below 60 million?

[hasdgfas]

13 hours ago, Kayy said:

I’m after a striker if anyone can recommend anyone below 60 million?

Odsonne Edouard is a good pickup.

[Goretzka]

20 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Wow. That's incredible. 

Have you shared what sort of system you're playing? Or can you play any sort of system with Haaland?? 

 

I don't do anything special. I just bought the best players available, they do the rest (:

[BrickCommo23]

2 hours ago, Goretzka said:

 

I don't do anything special. I just bought the best players available, they do the rest (:

Nice to see - well played sir.

[RossoneriGunner]

Has anybody else suffered fixture congestion......like every other day

[lomekian]

2 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Has anybody else suffered fixture congestion......like every other day

Never had it quite so bad - even on my first save where I won every game in every competition. Had 4 in a week once but that is mental. Rotation tastic!

[RossoneriGunner]

15 hours ago, lomekian said:

Never had it quite so bad - even on my first save where I won every game in every competition. Had 4 in a week once but that is mental. Rotation tastic!

Well it turned out OK. After victories over Burnley (a) 2-0,  Man Utd (a) 2-0,  Bayer Leverkusen (a) 3-0, semi final 5-1 agg.

That left us with needing a win at home to Wolves to clinch the Premier League title and we did it with a 1-0 win. That left us champions with 4 games left for us and Man Utd have 3 games left, but they are 11 points behind us.

We have won the EPL and the CrappyOld Cup. We play AC Milan in the Europa League final and Wolves in the FA Cup final. So 2 wins and we will have made a clean sweep and the Quadruple, oh I also forgot we won the Charity Shield as well.

UPDATE
FA CUP  -  Wolves 1  v   Arsenal 5
Europa League  -  AC Milan 2  v  Arsenal 4

Edited January 27, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[RossoneriGunner]

What a great productive season. I can have a cup of tea now 😆

 

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[Swills417]

On 22/01/2021 at 19:59, Swills417 said:

So we started the 2021-22 window as Premier League champions, with bloated squad of overpaid players who were no better than back-up or rotation options. The departures of a number of players were sanctioned early in the window, with Xhaka moving to Fulham for £30m and Cedric making his loan to Wolves permanent for £8m. Kolasinac moved to Milan for £16.25m, followed swiftly by Elneny (part exchange) and Chambers, creating a small ex-Arsenal enclave in Italy. Lacazette was anticipated to join them, but turned down the personal terms they offered, causing us to miss out on £33m. I’m sure his talents and goal return of 1 league goal, can be improved upon. He was offered out in a myriad of deals but turned down everyone. It looks like the French striker is here to stay for his final year of his £9m p/a deal. Rob Holding also departed the club for West Brom, making the squad roster much leaner and wage bill quite a bit lighter.

We definitely fluked our way to the title was last, and anticipating a huge spree by our domestic rivals, we had to strengthen our first eleven. The marque signing of Depay on a free transfer probably being the highlight of our summer incomings. Edu managed to agree a deal with him for £5.8m p/a, with various bonuses and a £6m sign-on fee. A good deal, for a player who could make the difference in our ambition of retaining the title and making a mark in the Champions League.

Other areas of the squad that needed attention was replacing the out-going David Luiz, a high-calibre midfield partner for Partey and a creative number 10 to eventually replace Willian and provide development competition for Smith-Rowe, who seems to suffer recurrent injuries.

We took a scouting approach with regards to seeking new signings to improve the first team, blended with an analytics focus for our squad signings. 3 shortlists were made:

• The David Luiz Replacement
• Goal Scoring Box-to-Box Midfielder
• Creative No.10

The David Luiz Replacement

A ball-playing defender was the first item on the agenda after David Luiz departure. A number of players made this shortlist including eventual squad signing Caci for £775k from Ligue 1, who impressed in key-passes per 90 and pass competition rates, coupling with an attractive price. Samuel Gigot also caught my eye with his natural central defender positioning and 16 flair. Kamar of Marseille also caught the eye of our analysts and scouts. If Saliba doesn’t work out, we have one eye on the next best thing.

Ultimately, we plumped for Teun Koopmeiners from AZ in the Dutch league. Brought in for an initial £19.5m, we now have our ball-playing defender we were looking for, with the additional benefit of being an extremely competent penalty taker. There might be some reservations about his jumping, but being played next to a more physical partner, Gabriel, should be fine.

The Goal Scoring Box-to-Box Midfielder

Based on the criteria of having a good goals per 90 ratio, with an emphasis on shots per 90 also a number of players were brought up. Soumare of Lille caught the eye eearly, with him handing in a transfer request and available for a little as £5m. Dantas from Bayern was also an option, available for reletvely cheap. We spent £375k on Gortler from the swiss league after impressing statistically.

However, there was only one player we really wanted. Franck Kessie. Our top target arrived from AC Milan for £39.5m plus bonuses, with Elneny heading in the opposite direction. An outstanding midfielder on FM for a few years now. We now have that dynamic midfield duo of Partey and Kessie who would rival any midfield pair at any of the top clubs.

A Creative No.10

The position of the least priority, with Willian still impressing in this position and Smith-Rowe and Saka able to play in this role, we saw that real life prospect Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen. A steal for £1.9m that could rise to as little as £3.4m. We will see how he develops over the next few months in relation to Smith-Rowe. Our own Kai Havertz.

 

----

Other notable in-comings include:

Sergio Gomez – a free transfer from Dortmund. Has the potential to be a leading creative force. There are question marks over his physicality, but as a development option it was a good deal to make.

Lukas Fabianski – Runnerson has gone on loan to Norwich to develop further, with the old Arsenal goalkeeper coming in to understudy Leno and provide some guidance for some of our young prospect goalkeepers.

Various u23s went out on loan earning a total in £747k in total loan fees. It was far from ideal to loan out Guendouzi and Nketiah in the last year of their deals, but hopefully we can renegotiate in the next few months to prevent us from losing them for nothing. We also have Reiss Nelsen and Lacazette in the final years of their contracts, with both refusing to enter talks.

New deals were arranged for Saka and Leno as below, securing their long term futures with the club. With Leno becoming the 8th highest paid keeper in the world.

At the close of the transfer window, i'll talk more about the finances of the club and on pitch performances so far this season. 

As previously mentioned, I thought I would comment a little about the finances of the club so far. 

After expectantly winning the league last season, we are looking in a much better financial position. 

The bank balance and the easiest way to measure financial health, is in a much better position than September 2020. This grew from £139m to £231m. With a combination of reducing the annual wage bill from £153m p/a to £135m. This was actually at its lowest in February 2021, at £120m after a month of shifting players on the biggest wage bills out on permanent deals. We have strengthened and renewed the contracts of a number of key first teamers and hale-end academy graduates, with Nketiah, Saka and Nelsen all signing new deals and securing them down on 5-6 year deals to protect their values. 

We have also sold £99m worth of players over the past season, agreed a slightly better sponsorship deal and with the kit deal expiring in 2022, we could be on for a better deal there if a good Champions League showing boosts our reputation enough. 

On the pitch, its 5 wins from 5 in the league and an emphatic reentry into the Champions League with a 4-1 home win over PSV. We also have Real Madrid and RB Leipzig in our group, so a few glamour ties brining in the revenue and challenge to qualify for the knockouts. Pepe has been scintillating and Lacazette is a changed man, and becoming formidable in front of goal. Aubameyang has yet to find his form this season, and perhaps he is firmly in decline now. 

Also, Joe Willock turned in a 20 flair move in a game against Leicester City, with a rabona assist seen below:

 

We've suffered injuries to Tierney, Saka and Kessie already this season, with the latter having played at the Olympics and missing a preseason with the club. Considering we have a few players missing, and are perfect in the league thus far. Our ambition to retain the title looks good so far! 

 

[BrickCommo23]

2 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

What a great productive season. I can have a cup of tea now 😆

 

 

Wowser 

[JoOSTAR]

5 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

What a great productive season. I can have a cup of tea now 😆

 

 

Very nice results!

When do you use your 4-2-3-1 and when your 4-1-2-3 on previous page?

[RossoneriGunner]

35 minutes ago, JoOSTAR said:

Very nice results!

When do you use your 4-2-3-1 and when your 4-1-2-3 on previous page?

 The 4-1-2-3 is actually 4-3-3. I used the 4-2-3-1 in every match and never used the 4-3-3. I made the 4-3-3 as a defensive style of the 4-2-3-1.

Everything in the 4-3-3 is just a copy of the 4-2-3-1 with the AMC moved to DM for extra defensive cover.

I hope this makes sense lol.

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

On 26/01/2021 at 21:11, RossoneriGunner said:

Has anybody else suffered fixture congestion......like every other day

worst ive ever had is man u and tottenham within 2 days of each other in a save I scrapped

[RossoneriGunner]

4 minutes ago, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

worst ive ever had is man u and tottenham within 2 days of each other in a save I scrapped

I'm glad that we could make 2 teams like IRL, otherwise I think I would have been totally stuffed.

I have now scrapped that save, which is a shame as I never got to use Donnarumma who was coming in after his contract expired in June 2021.

I have decided to start another save, only this time I will not be getting Rice and Upamecano until Jan 21 as I have turned off the first transfer window. So lets go for another 'Quintuple'.

[RossoneriGunner]

Well, after winning the 'Quintuple' in my last save, I have decided to start a new save, with the basic squad. In January I will be looking to bring in Declan Rice and Dayot Upamecano.

 

We picked up our first trophy, thanks to a 5-0 demolition of Liverpool in the Charity Shield.

Edited January 28, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

17 hours ago, RossoneriGunner said:

 

 

 

 

 'seized on an error by adrian' here we go again!

 

[RossoneriGunner]

On 29/01/2021 at 15:16, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

 

Well, you have to give the 'old boys' a game now and again 😂

Edited January 30, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[raeburn]

Hale End FC - 2020/2021 Season in Review

Our form definitely dropped off in the second half of the season, but despite that we still held on to third place in the league and won both the Europa League and FA Cup. In a weird quirk of the season we played and defeated Leicester in both finals - meanwhile in the league, Leicester survived the drop by only one point.

Looking back at the number of minutes played by breakthrough prospects I found that six of them (Maitland-Niles, Saliba, Saka, Smith Rowe, Nelson, and Nketiah) made it into our most-used XI, with the two that did not (Willock and Martinelli) missing significant portions of the season due to injury.

As you can see in the following screenshot, this playing time, combined with their strong performances overall, have caused their values to skyrocket. Bukayo Saka holds the highest value in the squad at £61m, while Reiss Nelson ties Thomas Partey for second-most valuable at £59m.

As you can see from the average ratings, despite our successful season, what prevented us from really challenging for the title was our attack - we scored only 61 times in the league while conceding 24, compared to champions Liverpool who conceded the same number but scored 113. While I attribute part of this due to the fact that none of our strikers ever developed any sort of comfort playing as a Pressing Forward (really not sure what went wrong there - every other player reached at least accomplished in their roles) I am planning at least a few tweaks among our attacking setup before next season.

Towards the end of the season fixture congestion and injuries led me to playing Smith Rowe at left wing as an Inverted Winger on Support. This allowed me to change the Pressing Forward to an Attack role, which is certainly a better fit for Nketiah's attributes. Depending on the transfers we make over the summer this may be the direction my tactic evolves into for next season. Another change I am considering is (if I can sell Xhaka and move Partey back to DLPd) changing the Box to Box Midfielder role to a Mezzala on Support.

Summer Transfer Targets

Former Arsenal players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Serge Gnabry, Ismael Bennacer and Donyell Malen are all open to a move this summer, and with transfer+wage budget space of around £150 million even before any outgoing transfers I may have enough room to bring in all of them. Making space in the squad is another question altogether though. So far the only players generating any interest are members of our back-line like Bernd Leno, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers. While none of them fit my homegrown criteria, Arsenal haven't produced too many quality center backs or goalkeepers in recent years, so my preference would be to hold on to them until I can further develop a player like Daniel Ballard to step into a backup CB role, and until I can successfully lure Wojciech Szczesny away from Juventus.

Next Season's Potential Breakthrough Prospects

Ideally each season I will be able to integrate at least two new young players into our senior squad, adding them to the rotation of breakthrough prospects that I attempt to give significant game time to both in the league and the cups. Of last year's initial crop of breakthrough prospects, the only one who has not yet made the step up to first-team quality in my assessment is Gabriel Martinelli who remains on 2.5 stars for his current ability. He is joined by two of our January signings: Yunus Musah (2.5) and Karamoko Dembele (2). This leaves room for at least three more players to potentially join the senior squad. I will use the preseason to really judge who is ready, but my initial options are the following four players:

Daniel Ballard

Tyreece John-Jules

Folarin Balogun

Miguel Azeez

Of course it would be nice to not have any positional duplicates, so I would prefer if Miguel Azeez can stake his claim, which would mean that my choice is between Balogun and John-Jules.

Player Awards

UEFA Europa League Young Player of the Season: Eddie Nketiah

UEFA Europa League Forward of the Season: Eddie Nketiah

UEFA Europa League Defender of the Season: William Saliba

Kopa Trophy: Reiss Nelson

FA U21 Player of the Year: Reiss Nelson

NXGN: Bukayo Saka

Edited January 30, 2021 by raeburn
hit publish too soon

[Cam NBH]

Hey all, when is the next SI transfer update being released please?

[Clifton]

2 hours ago, Cam NBH said:

Hey all, when is the next SI transfer update being released please?

Best to go to General Discussion, but you won't get a firm date from SI at this stage usually.

[Cam NBH]

1 hour ago, Clifton said:

Best to go to General Discussion, but you won't get a firm date from SI at this stage usually.

Cheers

[hasdgfas]

Been wondering for a while what I want to do with Arsenal while I play around with other saves, and I've finally decided. I'm going Youth Only. I intend to sign nobody at all and just use the players that start in the squad, the U23s, and the U18s, as well as future Youth Intakes. This does mean I'll have to be careful with the players I let go, and I'll likely have to do a good amount of individual retraining to make sure I have players who fit the tactic I decide to use. I'm disabling the first transfer window because I don't especially want to lose anyone right off the bat, I want to work with who and what I have.

For now, let's look at the players in the U23s/U18s who my coaches think have bright futures to determine who we want to keep an eye on.

William Saliba starts in the U23s, but I think he's good enough to be a squad player for the first season, at least getting some time in the Europa League and cups, if nothing else.

Emile Smith Rowe is probably the biggest surprise bright spot in the real life Arsenal squad right now, and he looks very good in the game as well. I think he's just below the level I really want out of an attacking player in the Premier League right now, but I think I'll be giving him some EL and Cup time as well.

Gabriel Martinelli is also in the U23s when the game begins, and is still recovering from the awful knee injury. He'll be out the entire first half of the season and probably won't have many chances in the first season to show his quality. We'll see moving forward.

Folarin Balogun will be getting a new contract immediately, as he clearly has potential, and will hopefully develop over time. I think it'll take another season before he can start to get any game time, but I want to get him some pretty soon.

------

There are a couple U18s that also might have potential, but I'll do a more full review at the end of the season. The four above are the big ones I want to make sure to try to develop.

[Azazel05]

Starting my annual save with my beloved Arsenal for fm21 already have some stuff planned transfer wise where I'm gonna take a different approach to say the least

Transfer window:

First thing I did was sanction the sale of Papa to the CSL for £5 million

That takes my transfer budget to £12 million after I sold all the player clauses

I then followed that up with one of the more important signings for the club as I tied Balogun down with a 4 year contract

I also decided to promote Bellerin to Captain and made Mr. KT the vice captain

Then I made a much needed sale in sanctioning the sale of Willian to PSG (Don't know why they want him) for £26 million

This then takes our transfer budget to £38 million which should let me have some fun in the transfer market

I then allowed Nketiah to go out on loan to FC Porto so that he can get some first team experience with a club competing at a respectable level and sent Willock to Celta Vigo for the season for the same reason

Of course Ozil wants to start popping off about me selling such an "influential player" in Willian so 1-0 Arteta cuz managing Ozil is a mission

I then made my first acquisition as gaffer in signing Emi Buendia for £33 million (£42 million + add ons)

 

We then go to Wembley and face Liverpool for the Community Shield but unfortunately lose 2-0

Yes I let Milner walk all over us

[hasdgfas]

YOUTH ONLY - SEASON 20/21 REVIEW

All right, finished the first season. I expect most seasons to go pretty quickly, as I don't have to do any transfer searching and I use an IR skin, since I care way more about the development of young players than I do the minutiae of the season. But season 1 went pretty well.

Enough about that, let's talk about the players, they'll be the focus of all my season reviews:

First, the players who left us this season:

Just Matt Macey, which I am very ok with. If Chelsea really wanted him they can have him.

FIRST TEAM:

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

GOALKEEPERS:

Bernd Leno, you know him, you love him. He's great. Easy #1. 9 Europa League appearances and 37 Premier League appearances, 25 Clean Sheets, average rating of 7.08. Beast.

Runar Alex Runarsson - Did fine in his 12 appearances but I phased him out for the Europa League by the knockouts. I'm going to try to move him on this summer and shift in one of the youngsters.

Dejan Iliev - No.

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

CENTRAL DEFENDERS:

Sokratis - Got 1 Cup appearance all season and will be leaving at the end of the season.

Gabriel - A phenomenal player at the back. 30 League appearances, 8 EL appearances, 3 goals, 2 assists, average rating of 7.10. Nailed-on starter and first teamer. Keeping him around for the long haul.

Rob Holding - A safe hand, but not outstanding. 18 League appearances, 8 EL appearances. 1 goal this season, average rating of 6.99. Solid, but a backup.

William Saliba - Very promising first season. Only 4 League appearances, but 10 EL appearances and 6 Cup appearances. Average rating of 7.06 in the time he did get. He'll get League minutes next season.

Pablo Mari - Always performs really well for me in FM. 24 League appearances, 7 EL appearances. Average rating of 7.11 and is the second starter with Gabriel when it's the first team.

Shkodran Mustafi - I gave him a cup appearance, he was awful. I chucked him into the reserves. He's off to China in the summer.

Calum Chambers - I would have given him more time, but we're so overloaded with central defenders that he only got 5 appearances in all competitions. I intend to offload him.

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

FULLBACKS:

Hector Bellerin - A star, but injured quite a bit. Only 26 League appearances due to that. 6 assists this season though is great, and an average rating of 7.26. If he can stay healthy he's easily the starter.

Kieran Tierney - Also a star, but I rotated him with Kolasinac a bit. Only 24 League appearances, but 1 goal and 8 assists this season and an average rating of 7.35!!!! Very excited for him to keep playing. I love him so much.

Cedric - Good for backup on both sides. 15 League appearances and 10 assists in all competitions. Average rating of 7.17. Very happy with him and for him to stick around a couple seasons while the youngsters develop.

Sead Kolasinac - Whined a bit about playing time, so I gave him some. Good defensively with an average rating of 7.23, even though it was only 1 goal and 1 assist all season. I intend to offload him this summer.

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

DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDERS:

David Luiz - Yes, Defensive Midfielder is where David Luiz is. I'm back on my garbage again, trying to make the most of David Luiz as a Segundo Volante. I think the switch to a Vertical Tiki-Taka instead of full Gegenpress helped him out a lot. He made 19 League appearances, 27 in all competitions. He also had a return of 2 goals and 2 assists, with an average rating of 7.08. Not outstanding, but enough to be a good rotation option. I just want to make the team younger, so I didn't renew his contract and he's off to Flamengo.

Thomas Partey - What a star. BWM and a mainstay in the squad. 48 appearances in all competitions, 3 goals and 3 assists, average rating of 7.20. That's REALLY good at that many appearances.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles - Decided to stick him in rotation with Luiz as Segundo Volante and he did really well here. 36 appearances in all competitions and 6 assists. Average rating of 7.07 is pretty solid. I'll probably have to shove him over to another backup LB/RB, but maybe I'll pull up a youngster.

Mohamed Elneny - Got a lot of sub appearances in the League and therefore ended with 42 appearances in all competitions. 3 goals and 1 assist, average rating of 7.14 is decent. But the midfield is crowding a bit, and either he or Torreira will have to go, I think.

Granit Xhaka - The forgotten man in midfield, honestly. I just didn't want to play him, Even when I did he only got 1 assist and an average rating of 6.96, so the fact that he wants a new challenge is fine with me.

Lucas Torreira - was on loan at Atletico Madrid and only made 15 league appearances at an average rating of 7. We'll see whether he or Elneny is the one I can get rid of.

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

ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS:

Dani Ceballos - The player in on loan from Real Madrid just didn't get that much playing time for me. He did well in the Premier League appearances he got with 3 goals and 2 assists in 11 PL appearances, but I wanted to play ESR. He'll be back off to Madrid and that's fine.

Emile Smith Rowe - I decided to just make him a full first-team player. He performed pretty well too! 2 goals and 8 assists in 44 overall appearances. Average rating of 6.95 is pretty medium, but he's developing nicely(just compare this screenshot to the one a couple posts ago from the start of the save).

Mesut Ozil - Is leaving. He got a few appearances, and 3 assists, but didn't perform consistently well in those few appearances.

Willian - Honestly overperformed. 6 goals and 5 assists is more than I expected from him, especially in his pretty limited time. Due to his age I may offer him out anyway to try to get him off the books, but I wouldn't mind him around as a backup if there's no interest, especially since he can cover any of AML, AMC, and AMR.

Joe WIllock - I sent him on loan to Burnely in January and he was not good. I'm definitely thinking he's not going to develop the way I want, especially behind ESR. I'll probably send him out on loan again next season and then see what happens.

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

WINGERS:

Bukayo Saka - Started off REALLY hot but faded as the season went on. He still ended up with 10 goals and 10 assists and an average rating of 7.02, but I thought it was going to be much higher.

Reiss Nelson - 10 goals and 13 assists and an average rating of 7.07 is very strong when I was expecting him to just be a backup. He took his chances well though.

Nicolas Pepe - Kind of the opposite of Saka. He started slowly but found himself partway through the season. This ended up with him getting 19 goals and 7 assists with an average rating of 7.35. You love to see it.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - He's fantastic, as expected. 28 goals and 7 assists, average rating of 7.17. An absolute star, even if he is getting on the older side.

Gabriel Martinelli - I didn't see him getting time once I hit January, so I sent him to Aston Villa on loan. This was also a mistake. He only got 1 goal and played very poorly with them. I hope he'll do better with us next season, as I intend to give him time.

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

STRIKERS:

Alexandre Lacazette - Was the starter at the beginning of the season, but lost it over the course of the season due to performing very badly. He got 11 goals and 3 assists in all competitions, but an average rating of 6.84 is definitely not what I want out of a 29 year old starting striker. With 1 year left on his contract I think I'm going to let him go.

Eddie Nketiah - And the performance of Eddie is one reason why I'm going to let him go. 21 goals and 6 assists with an average rating of 7.19 is phenomenal return.

Folarin Balogun - I sent him on loan to Colorado in January, but he came back very quickly for some reason, even after scoring 7 goals in 4 appearances there. Because of that I gave him some time with the first team. 2 goals in 3 appearances is pretty good. He also had 8 in 4 in the EFL Trophy, but that's not first team appearances. He's probably slightly behind first-team quality if we're being honest, but I don't care. This is a youth save, I'm going to be aggressively playing young players.

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

And that's the first team. Next time I get a chance, I'll be posting reviews of all players in the U23s and U18s to try to see who might have a future. I'll also do a post on our full Youth Intake, including the players we didn't sign as well as those we did. Again, this is a Youth Save, I really want to dig into all the young players and follow them(maybe I should turn this save into an FMCU thread? I'm not sure how on-topic all of this is for the GPTG Arsenal thread)

 

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

oh poor dani ceballos. about a month or so into the save he did something nasty to his kneecap, and then about a week or 2 after coming back, he had to have a sports hernia operation. We got lazio in the europa semi-finals, and he scored an 88th minute equaliser. his first goal of the season

[hasdgfas]

So I promised a full Youth Review, but that's a lot of players. So instead, I'm going to just track every player on my own and track my Youth Intake players here, to see what they do here or elsewhere. I'm also going to track the players who didn't get signed to Arsenal from a Youth Intake to see what happens to them.

First note: I track youth players in a youth save with a nickname including their intake year and the order my Head of Youth Development thinks they are quality-wise. So 21A is the 2021 top-rated prospect, 21B is second-best rated prospect, etc. All the way down to whatever letter. I'll be shortlisting all my youth intake players who don't sign or once I let them go, for ease of keeping track of them, since I don't need it to track players I'm going to sign!

YOUTH INTAKE 2021

SIGNED:

Byron Rosenior(21A) - GK - Not actually that far behind the couple GK prospects that start in the U23s/U18s, and he's just come in at age 16. Keep an eye on him.

Jackson Mansaray(21B) - AMC - Love some of these mental attributes. Needs to up his physical attributes, but I think he's got great room to grow.

Nana Mensah(21C) - DM - I'm watching him very closely. I love a LOT of his starting attributes for a DM, between the tackling, the bravery, and the stamina. I already gave him a debut, in the last Premier League match of the season, when the title was already secured. I really want him to succeed.

Carlos Robinson(21D) - DR - He has actually become the player with the highest star potential according to the coaches, and it's just the end of the season in which he showed up! Look at those mental attributes! I'm very excited about him and he'll probably get some Cup games this season, even if he's not quite as fast as I might like.

Muhammed Philip(21E) - AML - This is where we start to hit the players who need some sort of big jump to probably make it. Good first touch, good flair, good stamina, good work rate. I don't have high hopes, but maybe.

Gilles Mertens(21F) - AML - Pretty comparable to Philip in every way, except I think he's better physically for the wing.

George Dauda(21G) - DC/DR - Not really expecting much out of him.

Matt Williamson(21H) - AMR - I actually have a little bit of hope for him. 15 passing, decent pass/acceleration, decent determination/flair, maaaaaybe something here?

Here's all the players we didn't sign. They haven't found a club yet

[BrickCommo23]

8 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

So I promised a full Youth Review, but that's a lot of players. So instead, I'm going to just track every player on my own and track my Youth Intake players here, to see what they do here or elsewhere. I'm also going to track the players who didn't get signed to Arsenal from a Youth Intake to see what happens to them.

First note: I track youth players in a youth save with a nickname including their intake year and the order my Head of Youth Development thinks they are quality-wise. So 21A is the 2021 top-rated prospect, 21B is second-best rated prospect, etc. All the way down to whatever letter. I'll be shortlisting all my youth intake players who don't sign or once I let them go, for ease of keeping track of them, since I don't need it to track players I'm going to sign!

YOUTH INTAKE 2021

SIGNED:

Byron Rosenior(21A) - GK - Not actually that far behind the couple GK prospects that start in the U23s/U18s, and he's just come in at age 16. Keep an eye on him.

Jackson Mansaray(21B) - AMC - Love some of these mental attributes. Needs to up his physical attributes, but I think he's got great room to grow.

Nana Mensah(21C) - DM - I'm watching him very closely. I love a LOT of his starting attributes for a DM, between the tackling, the bravery, and the stamina. I already gave him a debut, in the last Premier League match of the season, when the title was already secured. I really want him to succeed.

Carlos Robinson(21D) - DR - He has actually become the player with the highest star potential according to the coaches, and it's just the end of the season in which he showed up! Look at those mental attributes! I'm very excited about him and he'll probably get some Cup games this season, even if he's not quite as fast as I might like.

Muhammed Philip(21E) - AML - This is where we start to hit the players who need some sort of big jump to probably make it. Good first touch, good flair, good stamina, good work rate. I don't have high hopes, but maybe.

Gilles Mertens(21F) - AML - Pretty comparable to Philip in every way, except I think he's better physically for the wing.

George Dauda(21G) - DC/DR - Not really expecting much out of him.

Matt Williamson(21H) - AMR - I actually have a little bit of hope for him. 15 passing, decent pass/acceleration, decent determination/flair, maaaaaybe something here?

Here's all the players we didn't sign. They haven't found a club yet

Tremendous dedication that. Bravo

[BrickCommo23]

Second season went the same as the first - sadly and we finished fourth. 

We started the season brilliantly but (as mentioned previously) my system just stopped working overnight and I spent the rest of the year trying to get a new system to work and had mixed success. We did make it to the semi-finals of the CL (which was seen as a great success) but were eventually bounced out by Liverpool...

So - Season 3...

Made a few signings (including one striker which I bet no one else has signed)...

My scouts found this guy - I can't be the only one to have found him - only cost about £8mil

This chap is well known but joined on a free transfer:

I have seen this guy mentioned on a lot of wonderkid threads and my scouts raved about him - only cost £13mil

And last but not least - this guy cost a bit more. I also promised to upgrade coaches my defence...

And this is our new system - check my slightly random IWB on the left - which is a work in progress...

[KingLara]

FM21 – Arsenal Season 1 Pre-Season/Aug-Sep

I haven’t played Football Manager since fm2016 but thought I would start again.

Since I played of course Arsenal have gone from a top 4 club to Europa league regulars. Hopefully that will quickly change. I’ve never failed to win a first league season as Arsenal but this may be the biggest challenge to that.

The game still seems the same although not as easy to navigate as before. All these new analysts I’m still struggling to understand and get used to how they work.

As I always do I brought in a lot of staff although the quality was lacking from what’s been there before. Steve Round stayed as assistant but I will bring in a new one when the first season is over.

Three days into my reign Bellerin tore his cruciate and would miss the whole season. I acted quickly and brought in Semedo on loan. Injuries were rife at the start and I barely had enough players to fill out matchday squads.

I brought in Draxler as I wanted more options on the left and right and just before the close of the window I was offered Depay and decided to take him with only two registered strikers at the club. I also signed two other players but their work permit applications aren’t due until January so not sure if they’ll go through.

With Draxer and Depay coming in I had to get rid of a couple of players due to squad registration restrictions. Cedric and reluctantly Ozil were loaned out. Mari and Mustafi are still at the club but not registered. Neither is Runnarson for Premier League or Europa.

TRANSFERS IN

Semedo (loan)

Draxler (12m)

Depay (18.5m)

OUT

Sokratis (2.3m) Fenerbahçe

Smith Rowe (loan)

Nelson (loan)

Nketiah (loan)

Cedric (loan)

Ozil (loan)

 

SQUAD

 

My squad for the season

GK – Leno – Runnarsson

DL – Tierney - Kolasinac

DR – Semedo - Niles

DC – Luiz - Holding

DC – Gabriel - Chambers

DM – Partey – Elneny

MC – Xhaka - Willock

MC - Ceballos

ML – Draxler - Saka

MR – Pepe - Willian

AMC - Depay

ST – Aubameyang – Lacazette

Overall on the pitch though pre-season went ok. Lazio played a full strength team while I mostly played kids with the bones left of the first team resting ahead of the Community Shield.

Port Vale 2-0  - Aubameyang Lacazette

Fenerbache 2-1 – Nketiah Nelson

Celta Vigo 3-1 – Aubameyang 3

Olympiakos 1-1 - Semedo

Lazio 0-3

 

COMMUNITY SHIELD

LIVERPOOL 1 - Tiago 22

ARSENAL 1 – Aubameyang 89

ARSENAL won 4-2 on penalties

A tough game to start. Liverpool probably should’ve won but happy to win my first trophy.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United 0

Arsenal 2 – Aubameyang 42 Lacazette 63

The fixture gods weren’t kind with two of the top four in the first two games. Id have taken a draw but was very pleased to overcome a nervous United and win comfortably.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Arsenal 0

Chelsea 0

Chelsea parked the bus and got the draw.

 

Carabao Cup 3^rd Round

Arsenal 4 – Lacazette 3 69 Azeez 18 40

Birmingham 1 – Colin 45

I only played Azeez as I wanted one experienced midfielder on the bench. Very comfortable win.

 

PREMIER LEAGUE

Newcastle 0

Arsenal 1 – Aubameyang 54

Much more comfortable than the scoreline suggests.

 

Carabao Cup 4^th Round

Arsenal 4 – Kolasinac 35 Lacazette 43 55 65

QPR 1 – Ball 81

Despite making a mistake with the tactics it was still comfortable. Walsall at home in the quarters in December.

 

Overall a good month.

We don’t play any of the traditional top six in October/November so should make good progress in the league.

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

SEASON REVIEW 20/21

A dissapointing season in many ways, but incredible in others

 

COMPETITIONS

Premier league

We won the premier league on the final day, beating wolves 2-0 thanks to goals from Aubamayang in Nelson. We finished level on points with Man City, but we were well clear on goal difference, and the final game was comfortable. Unfortunately, I am very dissapointed with my team's habit of collapsing and conceding late goals, which often resulted in dropped points. We finished on 88 points, which is the lowest points tally for a champion in the last 5 years. Chelsea were outside challengers but never really stood a chance, and my one regret for the premier league, apart from the low points tally, was not beating tottenham at their stadium to lift the premier league. Nevertheless, we made history by becoming the first team to go unbeaten on 2 separate occaisions.

 

Europa League

 

We got to the semi's and were knocked out and outclassed by Lazio, losing 4-1 on aggregate and getting embarrased 3-0 at home. we were lucky to draw the first leg, and it took a late equaliser from dani ceballos to get a draw from that game. Dani ceballos had a pretty rubbish season, appearing only 3 times in the premier league. he was good when he played, but got 2 separate major injuries. We never really looked comfortable in any of the knockout rounds, requiring an incredible comeback against leicster from 2-0 down in the first leg. ozil scored a brilliant 90th minute equaliser while willian got the winner in injury time. we werent convincing there at all, and I hope to give a good account of ourselves in europe next season.

 

FA cup

Knocked out in the quater finals by man u, although it was quite simple up to there. it was a tight game, with rashford getting the winner

 

Carabao cup

 

Beaten in the final by man city, who also won the champions league. They completely dominated, scored, went ahead again late in the game through a ruben dias header, and then were hit on the counter in the last minute.

 

TRANSFERS

OUT-

Lacazette-35 million to PSG. had many young talents who could play there, and I just didn't want to impede their development, especially with the return of Martinelli, who may recieve the no. 9 now

Kolasinac- Everton Loan with an option to buy for either 17.5 mil or 22.5 I cant remember which.

Chambers- Dortmund 17.5 mil with a couple of clauses. he was never going to get into the team. However I am happy he went to dortmund as he seems to be starting most games and it will be a chance to revive his career

Runarsson- Loan. will probablyspend the next few seasons on loan too. his stats just dont seem good enough, and if there is an injury crisis I will recall him.

Macey- Free. 26 and nowhere near the first team.

Mustafi- 500k to a french team. wanted to get some money for him before his contract expired, and I did it in the summer window

Sokratis- Free. contract was ending, wasn't getting used, has gone to someplace in china. 

Saliba- Loan to young boys. 7.98 average rating. expect him to be an important player next season

A lot of young players who need experience to develop- Loan to various lower league clubs. some will break into the first team now, others probably not. I will add a screenshot of the loan reports later.

 

IN

Szboszlai- 25 mil and future incentives. He is very good. scores wondergoals every 3 weeks and has made an instant impression. I still can't write his name.

Robin Gosens- 22 mil with not many incentives. versatile down the left, and is there to offer a more attacking left-back option as I see saka as a winger.

Hugo Souza- Better than runarsson according to the DoF, who has decent potential stats. Souza is 21, and looks to be a contender for no. 1 soon. didnt play enough games for a prem winners medal

Alfie Devine- Came in with a few other youth players, but he was the most exciting and impressed alongside patino in a 5-0 win in the europa league, scoring a brilliant volley and getting an assist

Ozil- New contract worth 200k p/week. had a good season

Balogun- New contract worth about 20k p/week

Nelson- New contract worth about 50 k p/week

Tonali- 23 million and incentives i think. unbelievably cheap, and signed in the 2021 summer window.

 

PLAYERS AND AWARDS

Manager of the season

Auba scored 22 prem goals for the 3rd consecutive season and won the golden boot. Got in the prem team of the season

Our ENTIRE back line got in the team of the season, so Leno, Tierney, Gabriel, Holding and Bellerin all made it

My team was the aforementioned back 4, then ahead was partey/xhaka, szboszlai/partey and ozil/sboszlai/ceballos and the front 3 of Auba/Nelson Martinelli/Lacazette/Auba and Pepe/Saka. Willian had a few good games

 

 

 

 

I was wondering if you thought I should sign a striker, as auba is aging, although not noticeably declining and my other strikers are soon out of contract nketiah, martinelli and a returning balogun, all of whom are quite undeveloped.

[BrickCommo23]

Just out of interest...does anyone use any downloaded training schedules or approaches?