[FM22] Arsenal F.C. - Trusting the process?

[RogerC]

The Arsenal Football Club

Official Website | Wikipedia

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Arsenal FC started life as a works team named Dial Square in 1886 – the workers were blacksmith's that built cannons, which is the reason for the club being known as the Gunners. Shortly thereafter, the club turned professional and changed its name to Woolwich Arsenal, becoming a full-fledged member of the Football League in 1893 (the first club from the south parts of the country). 

The club's first rise to prominence came with the hiring of Herbert Chapman as manager in 1925. In the process of modernizing many aspects of the club, Chapman improved the training regimen and made efficient changes to the club's traditional 2-3-5 formation. After following this up by signing a couple of star players, Arsenal won their first major trophy in 1930, defeating Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the FA Cup final. This proved to be the beginning of a fruitful period for the club; during the 30s, they claimed five league titles and another FA Cup trophy. The post-WWII period saw the club continue on their path of prosperity with another two League titles (1948, 1953) and an FA Cup (1950). Those were the last trophies the club would see for the next seventeen years.

After winning their first Double in 1971, it seemed like the club's fortunes had finally turned. Yet, this was followed up by a long string of second-place league finishes and losses in Cup finals, with the 1979 FA Cup victory being the only bright spot on their record during this time. They were a little more successful under George Graham, whose defense-oriented mindset proved a good fit with the club's players. During Graham's nine years in charge (1986–1995), Arsenal won two League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, as well as their first and only Cup Winners' Cup by defeating Parma 1-0 in the final (they had been very close to win the 1980 Cup Winners' Cup Final, losing against Valenca in the final after a penalty shootout).

Arsenal would become far more watchable with the appointment of Arsène Wenger. The then-unknown French manager immediately transformed the club into a goal-scoring behemoth, partly by successful import of French players such as Robert Pirés, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Henry was incredibly effective as the lace of the team's attack. Between 1996 and 2004, Arsenal claimed three League titles and three FA Cups, with the 2003–2004 season being particularly noteworthy due to the club not losing a single game in the Premier League. That squad, powered by Henry's 30 goals in 37 matches, was later dubbed “The Invincibles”.

• Founded: October 1886; 135 years ago as Dial Square
• Ground: The Emirates Stadium (2006)
• Capacity: 60,704
• Super training facilites
• Excellent youth facilites
• Excellent youth recruitment
• Transfer budget: €11.695.859 / £9.844.943
• Wage budgets: €2.963.768 / £2.494.740 p/w

_____________________________________________________________________

The senior squad

 

Welcoming screens

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FM Squads

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 Senior

U23

U18

 

 

Club Honours

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EFL and Premier League

• First Division / Premier League: 1930–31, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1937–38, 1947–48, 1952–53, 1970–71, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2003–04
• League Cup / EFL Cup (2): 1986–87, 1992–93
• League Centenary Trophy (1) (record): 1988

The FA

• FA Cup (14) (record): 1929–30, 1935–36, 1949–50, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1992–93, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2019–20
• FA Community Shield (FA Charity Shield before 2002)  (16): 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1938, 1948, 1953, 1991 (shared), 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020

UEFA

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (European Cup Winners' Cup before 1994) (1): 1993–94
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (1): 1969–70

Stadium

• 2006 - Present / Emirates Stadium
• 1913 - 2006 / Highbury
• 1893 - 1913 / Manor Ground
• 1890 - 1893 / Invicta Ground
• 1888 - 1890 / Manor Ground
• 1887 - 1888 / Sportsman Ground
• 1887 / Plumstead Common

If you'd like to add or modify anything please tell me!

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by RogerC

[itamarled]

So I've decided to start a new save with Arsneal in the Fm 22

 

This is my main tactic this far, doing great actually

 

 

execpt for Kondogbia the rest of the incoming transfars are doing great, even though Lenglet was quite redundent in  hindsight 

Elneny and Nketiah went out a bit on the cheap side but I had no need for them, In the next window or two I'll probebly get rid of Auba, Laca ( renwed his contract for some reason and then he got injured for 3 months) Xhaka and Kondogbia

Been looking ad Ward prowse, Adayimy(from salzborg) and Yusuf demir to come in to the squad.

 

 

Odegaard is amazing so far, as well as ESR and Saka

 

Doing great in the league so far hope the form will continue 

 

Any suggestions maybe? I'm trying to go in the same line of real life arsenal aside from Kondogbia and Lenglet I think that I'm in route to continue the process

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2021 by itamarled

[James30]

Love to see an Arsenal save as I do the same myself ! 
 

Have a look at Arthur Cabral from Basel. I got him for 12m and he’s a superb replacement for Laca.  

[LucasBR]

Playing with Arsenal til the full release... Managed to get rid of Laca, Kolasinac, Elneney, Mari, Chambers and Nketiah... So far I just bought Betancur from Juve, I need a good striker but it's been a pain in the ass to find someone for a good price.

ESR is better playing on the wing or as an AMC?

[itamarled]

13 hours ago, LucasBR said:

Playing with Arsenal til the full release... Managed to get rid of Laca, Kolasinac, Elneney, Mari, Chambers and Nketiah... So far I just bought Betancur from Juve, I need a good striker but it's been a pain in the ass to find someone for a good price.

ESR is better playing on the wing or as an AMC?

 

 

His great at both position's for me

13 hours ago, James30 said:

Love to see an Arsenal save as I do the same myself ! 
 

Have a look at Arthur Cabral from Basel. I got him for 12m and he’s a superb replacement for Laca.  

Will take a look.

Edited October 29, 2021 by itamarled

[gunner86]

13 hours ago, LucasBR said:

Playing with Arsenal til the full release... Managed to get rid of Laca, Kolasinac, Elneney, Mari, Chambers and Nketiah... So far I just bought Betancur from Juve, I need a good striker but it's been a pain in the ass to find someone for a good price.

ESR is better playing on the wing or as an AMC?

ESR can do either AML or AMC really well, it’s just a case of who else you want to accommodate in the team. (He can play AMR but for me, he’s not better than Saka or Pepe). 
So you can use him on the left, with Ødegaard in the AMC role, or stick ESR in the middle and use Martinelli or Auba on the left (although I’m guessing Auba is probably your main striker if you’ve sold Laca; and Martinelli is injury prone).

The only thing I would say, is that for me, he needs to play. Same for Saka and Tierney

[samiam]

Could use some advice on my Arsenal formation...

I am looking to defend in two banks of four (see below)…

 

 

But then transition to more of a 3 at the back system when in possession (see below)…

Any ideas on how I might implement this? Would this do it?

My goal is to use Tierney’s effectiveness going forward, get ESR cutting in from the left to combine with Odegaard while allowing Auba to focus on trying to get in behind the defense, use Saka’s pace on the right side to create width, allow White to dictate play form a central area, and use Tamiyasu’s and Gabriel’s all-around defensive capabilities to stifle counters while keeping possession and going forward at times.

This should require lots of running from Tierney and Saka, so they will likely be subbed every game, but that’s fine with me!

I guess I could scrap the two blocks of 4 idea and go with more of a 3-4-2-1 in defense but that seems more rigid... 

[craiigman]

I am being humiliated in this US camp thing. Don't get me wrong haven't got the full squad, but have enough that this shouldnt be happening. Haven't been playing any sort of system that would warrant this either. They all seem to be playing like prime Barcelona against me at the minute. Don't see me keeping with this save blimey.

[Carmi88]

14 hours ago, craiigman said:

I am being humiliated in this US camp thing. Don't get me wrong haven't got the full squad, but have enough that this shouldnt be happening. Haven't been playing any sort of system that would warrant this either. They all seem to be playing like prime Barcelona against me at the minute. Don't see me keeping with this save blimey.

Whilst i was the opposite with my preseason all being comfortable wins, my first 4 games in the league and cup were extremely frustrating.

 

1-0 loss at home to city, a game i actually dominated.

1-1 draw away to norwich, only got a goal because of an OG  

1-0 loss to brighton in carabao cup second round

3-2 loss to Liverpool away, first one another OG and pepe gets first proper goal, before Tierney gave away a late pen  

 

Came on leaps and bounds since then but stick with it  

[_mxrky]

On 31/10/2021 at 14:52, samiam said:

Could use some advice on my Arsenal formation...

I am looking to defend in two banks of four (see below)…

 

 

But then transition to more of a 3 at the back system when in possession (see below)…

Any ideas on how I might implement this? Would this do it?

My goal is to use Tierney’s effectiveness going forward, get ESR cutting in from the left to combine with Odegaard while allowing Auba to focus on trying to get in behind the defense, use Saka’s pace on the right side to create width, allow White to dictate play form a central area, and use Tamiyasu’s and Gabriel’s all-around defensive capabilities to stifle counters while keeping possession and going forward at times.

This should require lots of running from Tierney and Saka, so they will likely be subbed every game, but that’s fine with me!

I guess I could scrap the two blocks of 4 idea and go with more of a 3-4-2-1 in defense but that seems more rigid... 

I recreated arteta's tactics in fm21 with southampton. We defend in 442, so I used that shape 

 

 

It forms a 325 in attack. 

Player instructions:

• Tomiyasu should be used as fb - d with sit narrowe to form a third cb in possession. Ideally fm need a new role to properly replicate this. 
• Left back with stay wider instruction. 
• SMith rowe can use be used as wide playmaker on attack or iw - su (with sit narrower + roam form position PI) (take more risks optional.
• Left cm (Xhaka or lokonga) covers for when tierney goes forward
• Right cm need not be a player can be just cm s
• Odegaard as false 9 with move into channels and roam from position. THis will let him operate in the right half space
• Right winger (saka/pepe). Stays wide pi to stretch the play 

Works well on course to win the treble currently. Team instructions are up to you and flexible depending on what team ou play and the players at your disposal. 

 

 

[samiam]

33 minutes ago, _mxrky said:

I recreated arteta's tactics in fm21 with southampton. We defend in 442, so I used that shape 

 

 

It forms a 325 in attack. 

Player instructions:

• Tomiyasu should be used as fb - d with sit narrowe to form a third cb in possession. Ideally fm need a new role to properly replicate this. 
• Left back with stay wider instruction. 
• SMith rowe can use be used as wide playmaker on attack or iw - su (with sit narrower + roam form position PI) (take more risks optional.
• Left cm (Xhaka or lokonga) covers for when tierney goes forward
• Right cm need not be a player can be just cm s
• Odegaard as false 9 with move into channels and roam from position. THis will let him operate in the right half space
• Right winger (saka/pepe). Stays wide pi to stretch the play 

Works well on course to win the treble currently. Team instructions are up to you and flexible depending on what team ou play and the players at your disposal. 

 

 

Amazing! Will work on this!

[_mxrky]

8 minutes ago, samiam said:

Amazing! Will work on this!

No problem. I forgot to mention that both CMs should have hold position pi (either by default or added on) to form the double pivot

[oze07]

hay. Im pretty bad with tactics, but i came across this. Ive heard of RDF before, so i assume they know what they are talking about. But with this tactic using a DLF attack, i dont see that as auba's best position? i  do like the look of it.

Mikel Arteta's 4-4-1-1 | FM22 Tactic - Tactical Analysis (rdftactics.com)

[_mxrky]

1 hour ago, oze07 said:

hay. Im pretty bad with tactics, but i came across this. Ive heard of RDF before, so i assume they know what they are talking about. But with this tactic using a DLF attack, i dont see that as auba's best position? i  do like the look of it.

Mikel Arteta's 4-4-1-1 | FM22 Tactic - Tactical Analysis (rdftactics.com)

He’s definitely not right about the 244 shape. It’s a 325

[Aizo4576]

Started my yearly Arsenal beta save, but a bit stuck for a tactic tbh.

 

Brought in Bentancur, Castrovilli, Cantwell and Isak.

Sold Lacazette, Xhaka, El Neny, Kolasinac, maybe others

How is everyone getting on?

[Nonlondoner]

I made a dreadful mistake not shifting Pepe, Xhaka, Lacazette, Chambers and Nketiah in the initial transfer windows. Xhaka was average but then got himself sent off for a second time in the first 10 games of the season and in the 12th minute of the North London Derby. So he was banished to the U23s before going out on loan.  Ended up having a core 11 for the first time in years. 

We did well enough coming close to challenging for the title at the start of April but then fell flat with a number of 0-0s and just about clung on to 4th. Aston Villa failing to win their game in hand is what saved us from the Europa Cup. 

[BrickCommo23]

On 01/11/2021 at 15:13, _mxrky said:

I recreated arteta's tactics in fm21 with southampton. We defend in 442, so I used that shape 

 

 

It forms a 325 in attack. 

Player instructions:

• Tomiyasu should be used as fb - d with sit narrowe to form a third cb in possession. Ideally fm need a new role to properly replicate this. 
• Left back with stay wider instruction. 
• SMith rowe can use be used as wide playmaker on attack or iw - su (with sit narrower + roam form position PI) (take more risks optional.
• Left cm (Xhaka or lokonga) covers for when tierney goes forward
• Right cm need not be a player can be just cm s
• Odegaard as false 9 with move into channels and roam from position. THis will let him operate in the right half space
• Right winger (saka/pepe). Stays wide pi to stretch the play 

Works well on course to win the treble currently. Team instructions are up to you and flexible depending on what team ou play and the players at your disposal. 

 

 

I love the sound of this. Did you have much success?

[Marinho]

On 01/11/2021 at 16:13, _mxrky said:

I recreated arteta's tactics in fm21 with southampton. We defend in 442, so I used that shape 

 

 

It forms a 325 in attack. 

Player instructions:

• Tomiyasu should be used as fb - d with sit narrowe to form a third cb in possession. Ideally fm need a new role to properly replicate this. 
• Left back with stay wider instruction. 
• SMith rowe can use be used as wide playmaker on attack or iw - su (with sit narrower + roam form position PI) (take more risks optional.
• Left cm (Xhaka or lokonga) covers for when tierney goes forward
• Right cm need not be a player can be just cm s
• Odegaard as false 9 with move into channels and roam from position. THis will let him operate in the right half space
• Right winger (saka/pepe). Stays wide pi to stretch the play 

Works well on course to win the treble currently. Team instructions are up to you and flexible depending on what team ou play and the players at your disposal. 

 

 

 

Simmed a season, then took over at Arsenal (finished 6th under AI Management). Just gonna do a quick season or three i think.

So far sold a lot of squad players but also Partey (was unhappy and felt i had other options). So far 'only' bought Vlahovic for 55 mio €, paid 15 for a young german CB Marton Dardai who looks to have the makings of a stellar BPD but also WCB if anyone want to use 3/5 ATB. Left footed, too.

Also bought Ward Prowse for 65 mio, who i used very successfully as a LM in FM before. Actually not setting up any set piece routines (always feels too easy) but having the King of Set Pieces should still help on top of everything else he brings to the table

Might splurge on big time defensive minded CDM/CM yet but there's serviceable options in Torreira, Maitland Niles and Elneny for that specific role.

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

Trying the quoted tactic with a couple changes to it : LM set up as Wide Playmaker since Ward Prowse seems perfect for it and should work well together with the LWB(A) role, RCM set up as CM(A) and dropped the LCM deeper as an asymetric LCDM as BWM (might try HB as well). Rarely go asymetric, but seems right here. When i rest Saka i might also change the RM to a Winger and use Reiss Nelson. Team instructions i don't force outside but balanced as the only change so far.

Friendlies have definitely made me optimistic.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Marinho

[RDF Tactics]

On 03/11/2021 at 20:58, oze07 said:

hay. Im pretty bad with tactics, but i came across this. Ive heard of RDF before, so i assume they know what they are talking about. But with this tactic using a DLF attack, i dont see that as auba's best position? i  do like the look of it.

Mikel Arteta's 4-4-1-1 | FM22 Tactic - Tactical Analysis (rdftactics.com)

 

On 03/11/2021 at 22:06, _mxrky said:

He’s definitely not right about the 244 shape. It’s a 325

previously, yes. 325 was previous attacking shape. Not within the 4-4-1-1 like show in the video. The avg positon since under 4-4-1-1 has changed. I will post more examples.

 

Since using 4-4-1-1

Vs. Aston Villa

 

vs Leicester 

 

vs Watford

 

now, early in the season when formation was 4-2-3-1, the system was different

Vs Brentford 

 

we can see a clear change. Now, there's a back 3, more of a 3-2-5 and different shape used to previous 3 games under 4-4-1-1

 

for further evidence, heres passing map from most recent game (shape we tend to build up with) - the 3-2-5 shape no longer is there

Tomiyasu role is now wide right rather than the 3rd CB

we also operate more with a double pivot making more of a box shape rather than 3 at the back (can look back at the avg positions)

 

Looking at forward passes, we can also see Tomiyasu is almost in same horizontal line as Nuno Tavares, again, suggesting Tomiyasu role has altered 

 

Lastly, again, when we build up notice our "new" shape. The LB and RB hold width and LB deeper than usual, this is another change. 

[RDF Tactics]

On 03/11/2021 at 20:58, oze07 said:

hay. Im pretty bad with tactics, but i came across this. Ive heard of RDF before, so i assume they know what they are talking about. But with this tactic using a DLF attack, i dont see that as auba's best position? i  do like the look of it.

Mikel Arteta's 4-4-1-1 | FM22 Tactic - Tactical Analysis (rdftactics.com)

DLF attack isn't Auba's best position but like in real life, I don't think he's been great because he's not playing his "best" role.

if you look at the images above, you'll notice Auba can operate a lot deeper than what we'd usually have him. Especially against Leicester which is the game I analysed as well as against Villa

Edited November 8, 2021 by RDF Tactics

[RDF Tactics]

 

IN ATTACK 

We see Tomiyasu higher in attack

 

And here for our forward passes, this is a lot more like a 2-4-4 than a 3-2-5

[RDF Tactics]

Sadly we can't see the full shape here. Behind this set up is Gabriel and White, leaving a back two.

As ESR drops to receive from Lokonga, Nuno pushes higher in the attack line. ESR, Partey, Lokonga and Tomiyasu make a midfield four rather than a 3-2-5 shape.

Saka and Auba are occupying the defence, again throwing more of a 2-4-4 than a 3-2-5
 

 

In the same move, now Nuno has dropped back into midfield whilst ESR has pushed forward. Notice Tomiyasu supporting the attack rather than making a back 3 as he's now in the midfield line. 

 

I hope this helps my understanding in the analysis, saying it's more of a 2-4-4. Of course, we all interpret things differently but the purpose of the video was that it's showing Arteta has changed his tactics.

Now during these games, Tomiyasu at times was way more reluctant at getting forward when Arsenal build shape changed. Not one team consistently build up the exact same way as that becomes predictable but I hope i've shown enough to suggest the preferred shape in this system is different to what Arsenal did before 

[_mxrky]

6 hours ago, RDF Tactics said:

Sadly we can't see the full shape here. Behind this set up is Gabriel and White, leaving a back two.

As ESR drops to receive from Lokonga, Nuno pushes higher in the attack line. ESR, Partey, Lokonga and Tomiyasu make a midfield four rather than a 3-2-5 shape.

Saka and Auba are occupying the defence, again throwing more of a 2-4-4 than a 3-2-5
 

 

In the same move, now Nuno has dropped back into midfield whilst ESR has pushed forward. Notice Tomiyasu supporting the attack rather than making a back 3 as he's now in the midfield line. 

 

I hope this helps my understanding in the analysis, saying it's more of a 2-4-4. Of course, we all interpret things differently but the purpose of the video was that it's showing Arteta has changed his tactics.

Now during these games, Tomiyasu at times was way more reluctant at getting forward when Arsenal build shape changed. Not one team consistently build up the exact same way as that becomes predictable but I hope i've shown enough to suggest the preferred shape in this system is different to what Arsenal did before 

I think fm cannot fully replicate the rol. Because when we are buiding up he often forms part of the back three and is inverted,  but as the move progresses into the final third he definitely gets forward more as you show in your pictures. I also think as we’ve improved in the last few weeks he’s been given more license to get forward. So you are right.

 

rRegarding  auba’s role he is probably a dlf-a/cf-a but I found the role simply doesn’t work within my tactic that I creted because it lacks penetration with the false nine. In that regard your 4411 version definitely works as the shadow striker goes beyond the deep lying forward. How do you find the shadow striker’s  movement in terms of operating in the right half space. Does he drop deep enough?

Edited November 8, 2021 by _mxrky

[_mxrky]

On 06/11/2021 at 00:05, BrickCommo23 said:

I love the sound of this. Did you have much success?

Won prem + cl back to back, lost in the fa cup final in both seasons. It’s a good tactic.

doing less well this season, but I have been using different tactic including Arteta’s 433/442/316 hybrid (it’s hard to describe)which I may upload a tactical interpretation of soon.

I don’t know how it translates to fm22 though. In fm21 I have struggles vs 5 at the back 433 with the base so it requires some adjustments (usually changing the full back to support and removing sit narrower vs 5 at the back). Vs 433 I tend to change my tactic to match them.

Edited November 8, 2021 by _mxrky

[RDF Tactics]

17 minutes ago, _mxrky said:

I think fm cannot fully replicate the rol. Because when we are buiding up he often forms part of the back three and is inverted,  but as the move progresses into the final third he definitely gets forward more as you show in your pictures. I also think as we’ve improved in the last few weeks he’s been given more license to get forward. So you are right.

 

rRegarding  auba’s role he is probably a dlf-a/cf-a but I found the role simply doesn’t work within my tactic that I creted because it lacks penetration with the false nine. In that regard your 4411 version definitely works as the shadow striker goes beyond the deep lying forward. How do you find the shadow striker’s  movement in terms of operating in the right half space. Does he drop deep enough?

When we build, Tomiyasu is usually an outlet. He's comfortable on the ball so when we look to play to him, he drops to receive the ball and invert. But most recently since the 4-4-1-1 change, both full backs are deep during build-up (like in pictures) but Nuno isn't comfortable on the ball so Tomiyasu is used more often. But the actually attacking shape is no longer often a 3 at the back, which you said I was definitely wrong about. We look more like a 2-4-4 when we're attacking and getting forward. 

In FM, I have the RB to hold his position (so he's not roaming and swapping with others) also sit narrower when in possession.

Like said, early in the season and last season, we 100% looked to have 3 at the back. In the last 3 EPL games (what the video and analysis is about), the shape has changed slightly allowing both full backs to get up in attack and leaving a double-pivot. Nuno Tavares was still the more adventurous full-back,

Regarding Auba, I don't think he's pinned to a specific role and imo it's changed game-by-game. So actually yeah, CF on FM probably would be best as he can be versatile. I only used DLF because of the game I was watching, My analysis is purely a reaction from the games against Villa and Leicester and not a general coach analysis of this season

[Nonlondoner]

The key to getting Arsenal back into Europe may be how much deadwood you can get rid of. Even if it's on loan. 
Managed to get a mandatory future fee of £10.5m for a Chambers loan. 
With money tight but a huge payroll, I recommend taking a big long look at any Loan offers, some of them can be lucrative. 
Freeing-up wages means you can tweak the transfer budget up, I got an extra £9m. 

Others like Elneny, Cedric, Mari, Kolasinac, Nketiah all sold for varying amounts between £7m and £15. 

Incomings;

Dan-Axel Zagadou DC from Dortmund for £10m plus £10m add-ons. £60k pw
Maxi Gomez ST from Valencia for £20m plus up to £20m in add-ons.  £120 pw

Now have £23m for a couple of wonderkids. Ideally a pacey ST and another dead-ball specialist AMC or AMR I think. 

 

[Sean3h]

Planning on starting my proper save today - have people had much luck offloading players for? In my beta save, I was only able to offload Chambers (£15m) despite offering out Leno, Kolasinac, Mari, Cedric, Elneny and Lacazette.

[Sean3h]

Arsenal - 2021/2022 Season

1st September 2021

The transfer window has now slammed shut, and I've done my absolute best to restructure the club.

Firstly, almost the entirety of the backroom staff were let go. I've brought in my own people, and our staff comparison is now looking quite nice.

I then set out to get rid of as many players as I could. We managed to offload the following:

Our incomings were as follows (I've got no idea why Tierney is showing there considering he's been here a while. Bug?):

Out with the old, in with the new, or "Du" in this case. Dušan Vlahović comes in to add something a little different to our attack. I'm planning on playing 2 strikers, and with Lacazette out of contract I wanted to make sure I got someone in for the long term. My striking options are Vlahović, Aubameyang, Karim Adeyemi and Balogun for this season, and I'm hoping to offload Auba soon. The big money maker was Nketiah, who Newcastle paid a whopping £32m for, rising to £39m.

In midfield, we didn't make any major changes. Burak İnce will join in January, and we also brought in Nico Serrano to rotate on either wing.

Defensively, I felt like I needed a centre back after Pablo Marí was shipped out. Tanguy Nianzou came in to replace him. 

In goal, I struggled to offload Bernd Leno. We accepted a bid on deadline day, initially on loan with a mandatory fee, but he rejected it. In terms of targets, I came across Lucas Cañizares who seems to have decent potential but isn't really interested in joining yet. Maarten Vandevoordt came in instead, although I'm still going to be chasing after Cañizares in future windows.

 

All of this is leaving the squad looking like this:

We started the season without Saka, Tierney and Ødegaard due to injury. Our results so far are as follows:

PL vs Tottenham (H) - 3-2 win. Vlahović managed a goal and an assist on his debut against our rivals, with Aubameyang getting the other 2. We let them have more of the ball (we only had 42% possession) however our xG of 3.31 absolutely dwarfed their 0.86. We were looking pretty good for a 3-1 win before Tomiyasu and Nianzou had a mix up in defence, allowing Kane to score. All in all, a good first result as manager!

PL vs Chelsea (A) - 2-0 win. Another goal for Vlahović and a penalty save for Ramsdale. Pépé scored our second goal in a game where we again gave up large amounts of the ball (we only had 41% this time) but we were lethal. I'm thinking this may be the way forward until we've been able to significantly strengthen the rest of the team.

EFL vs Cheltenham (A) - 6-0 win. With the team struggling with a few injuries, this game gave me a chance to rotate. As there are still a couple of holes in the squad, we gave starts to Joel López, Jack Henry-Francis and Joel Ideho. Ideho unfortunately picked up an injury in the 23rd minute, but Henry-Francis scored his first goal for the club in the 31st. The other goal scorers were Martinelli (3), Gabriel and Balogun. Smith Rowe bagged a 10.0 rating thanks to his 11 key passes & 4 assists.

PL vs Leeds (H) - 2-2 draw. A disappointing result considering we were 2-0 up within 37 minutes. Vlahović scored again to take his tally to 3 goals in 3 games. Martinelli bagged the other goal for us.

[Cam NBH]

8 hours ago, Sean3h said:

Planning on starting my proper save today - have people had much luck offloading players for? In my beta save, I was only able to offload Chambers (£15m) despite offering out Leno, Kolasinac, Mari, Cedric, Elneny and Lacazette.

Doing a save now, got offers for the following on basis of half up front other half 3 installments

Chambers 14m

Elneny 12.5m

No offers for Xhaka at 36m

Cedric and Kola loans only but 100% of wages

 

[RogerC]

20 hours ago, Sean3h said:

Planning on starting my proper save today - have people had much luck offloading players for? In my beta save, I was only able to offload Chambers (£15m) despite offering out Leno, Kolasinac, Mari, Cedric, Elneny and Lacazette.

Half way through January (first window disabled) right now:

• Elneny: 10m
• Cédric: 15m
• Kola: 3m
• AMN: 21,5m
• Marí: 9,75m

Haven't offered out Lacazette, I have offered Leno but no luck yet. Chambers is staying for me.

 

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

I think the secret for Arsenal is to get on the Newcastle United Saudi billions gravy train!  I sold Lacazette to Leicester for £6.25m and even ended up paying some of his wages and then Newcastle spend £59m on Jimenez a week later; can't help but feel I missed out! Did manage to sell them Leno though.

I'm experimenting finishing up the clear-out to make room for some of the young players coming through.

• Aubameyang to PSG for £32.5m
• Leno to Newcastle for £21m
• Chambers to Wolves for £16.25m
• Cedric to Real Madrid for £14.25m
• Elneny to Leeds for £8m
• Lacazette to Leicester for £6.25m
• Kolasinac to Wolves on loan for 30% of his wages

Renewed Nketiah's contract. Promoted Balogun, Patino, Rekik and Hillson. Would sell Pepe if I anyone would come in and promote Hutchinson to back-up Saka, but absolutely no interest so far.

Happy to go with a small squad for a year without European football.

[bibird.]

Just wondering @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!, was the interest in Auba, Leno and Laca natural or had you transfer listed them or offered them out? Did you attempt to flog Xhaka as well?

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

19 minutes ago, bibird. said:

Just wondering @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!, was the interest in Auba, Leno and Laca natural or had you transfer listed them or offered them out? Did you attempt to flog Xhaka as well?

I wanted to sell Lacazette, so I'd offered him out. Was pretty disappointed with the response, but the main thing was getting him off the books and freeing up the space in the squad.

For Leno and Aubameyang, I put reasonable asking prices in their Transfer Status and waited. When Newcastle and PSG showed an interest ('wnt'), I offered them out and negotiated a deal. I did the same for Pepe and Xhaka but nobody showed an interest. Maybe I could have pushed it.

That said, I do actually rate Xhaka a lot higher than most people so am happy enough to have him around.

[ajw10]

Aubameyang is too good to sell

 

[bibird.]

2 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

I wanted to sell Lacazette, so I'd offered him out. Was pretty disappointed with the response, but the main thing was getting him off the books and freeing up the space in the squad.

For Leno and Aubameyang, I put reasonable asking prices in their Transfer Status and waited. When Newcastle and PSG showed an interest ('wnt'), I offered them out and negotiated a deal. I did the same for Pepe and Xhaka but nobody showed an interest. Maybe I could have pushed it.

That said, I do actually rate Xhaka a lot higher than most people so am happy enough to have him around.

Ahh cool. No idea why, but the logistics of selling players is something that always befuddles me slightly, so thanks for your feedback.

Regarding Xhaka, he certainly is an interesting player in terms of attributes. I actually sort of wrote a post about him on FM21!

[SteveUK]

4 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

I think the secret for Arsenal is to get on the Newcastle United Saudi billions gravy train!  

Depending on Start date and database size, they are willing to pay £100m-£120m for a combination of Holding and/or Maitland Niles and/or Partey (have to offer Partey out for like £80mil so you get no offers message and tell him he's not wanted when you get that drop down box on the no offers message.)

EDIT - they came back in for the 3rd of these so that's about £150 mil from 3 players.

£40m + £10m over three seasons + 40% profit of next sale - Holding, he has a sell on clause to Bolton which they get about £7.5mil of that.
£40m + £7.5m over three seasons + 40% profit of next sale - AMN
£60m or £48m + 12m over three seasons + 40% profit of next sale - Partey

I'm just messing about with the transfer window at the moment, seeing how much i could possibly raise from selling deadwood or anyone over 24 and it's about £200mil now with Pepe, Xhaka, Leno and one of the three above left dependent on the save i test.

Goalkeepers seem to have been a pain in the behind to sell on FM for ages now. Only getting loan offers for 'Mr Had a Good Euro's' and Pepe get's silly bids like under £10mil when he's easily worth £20m-30m

Edited November 11, 2021 by SteveUK

[Cam NBH]

1 hour ago, ajw10 said:

Aubameyang is too good to sell

 

What role you giving him here and whats your first XI please?

Edited November 11, 2021 by Cam NBH

[ajw10]

[Cam NBH]

Nice one ta

[hasdgfas]

Started my yearly Arsenal save, and made a few transfers in addition to the ones made in real life. Here are my cash ins/outs:

Wanted to get a bit more for Nketiah, but was pretty happy to not have to stress over whether to give him a new contract or not. I'll need a new striker next summer, but going to stick with Auba/Laca for now.

As far as the ins, in order to replace Elneny as a backup to Partey, I looked to Denmark and the raw but promising Jens Cajuste. He's not good enough to start right now, but he's behind Partey so he doesn't have to. I like his potential, his passing, and his physical attributes, and hopefully I can get a good profit on him in a couple seasons, because I don't expect him to become world-class. He's a backup. That's fine.

I was a little worried about depth in my front 3 because Odegaard broke his collarbone, so to strengthen the wing a bit I picked up the transfer listed Federico Bernardeschi. The oldest player I picked up, because all the younger ones were expensive, but hopefully a bit more experience to help out a young team.

I thought I was going to be fine in central defense until next season with Gabriel, White, Holding, and Mari, so I sent Rekik out on loan, and obviously Saliba's there too. Then Mari goes and breaks his leg and is out for 6 months. So I wanted a young central defender who could sit in the U23s while playing cup games for me. Enter Anel Ahmedhodzic. Another good, solid backup. I think he has a ton of potential, but obviously we've also got Rekik and Saliba in the wings. I'm probably shifting Mari and Holding by next summer to try to make room for everyone.

With the departures of Cedric, Chambers, and Kolasinac, I didn't have anyone to backup Tomiyasu except for Ainsley, and I wanted him to stay in midfield. And so while he's expensive, Calegari looks GREAT. Tons of potential, and may eclipse Tomiyasu if he grows at the rate my coaches like him.

I've also brought Charlie Patino into the fringes of the first team. With 9 sub spots I can sometimes fit him in there and give him some time late in a game we're comfortable in. I'm really excited about him, and hopefully a year training with the first team and getting some game time will help his development.

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

As far as tactics, I have 3 main ones I shift between.

This is the main one, a 4-2-3-1, with the 2s as DMs:

Segundo Volante is my favorite role in FM, and I try to utilize them as often as I can, often to my own detriment. But I just love deep DMs making long runs with the ball, or late runs into the box. This one's been doing pretty well so far, undefeated in the League. We should have 4 wins, except for a Jose Sa masterclass at home against Wolves that ended 0-0 when we had 8 shots on target.

In a game we're comfortable and just want to hold onto the ball, I'll play this: 

Just pushing the midfield up a bit and shortening up the passing range.

If we're heavy underdogs expecting a lot of attacking from our opponents, I'll shift into this: 

Pushing the midfield back a little more and trying to smash and grab on the counter. I used this to start away at Leicester, then we went up 2-0 and I shifted back into other formations because it had done its job. This is the formation I'm least confident in right now though, definitely not my comfort zone.

[_mxrky]

15 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

I wanted to sell Lacazette, so I'd offered him out. Was pretty disappointed with the response, but the main thing was getting him off the books and freeing up the space in the squad.

For Leno and Aubameyang, I put reasonable asking prices in their Transfer Status and waited. When Newcastle and PSG showed an interest ('wnt'), I offered them out and negotiated a deal. I did the same for Pepe and Xhaka but nobody showed an interest. Maybe I could have pushed it.

That said, I do actually rate Xhaka a lot higher than most people so am happy enough to have him around.

Do you mind sharing what tactic you are using with the squad?

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

5 hours ago, _mxrky said:

Do you mind sharing what tactic you are using with the squad?

I will do when I am settled on a system. I'm going back and fourth a bit right now between 4-2-3-1 and 4-3-3; the 4-2-3-1 gets my best players on the field but the 4-3-3 plays better football 

[hasdgfas]

This was fun!

[Nonlondoner]

Top of the league in Nov 2021 though I'm about to play Man Ure at the Theatre of Nightmares. 
Dan-Axel Zagadou, better than White for £10m plus £10m in instalments. 

Karim Adeyemi - the next Henry, top scorer in the EPL with 11 to his name in 9 starts, £4m from Red Bull Salzburg. 

Maxi Gomez -£23m plus add-ons from Valencia - struggled at first up top with Karim in such good form, slowly improving.

Ismael Bennacer - £20m up front £12m in instalments - Better than my Partey and Lokonga who've struggled. 

Fraser Forster - £2 from Southampton, back-up for Ramsdale

Calegari £27m over all manner of add-ons from Fluminense, far, far better than AMN, Chambers, Cedric or Bellerin. 

Out: Xhaka, Leno, Laca, Kola, Cedric, Chambers, Elneny - Brought in £60m in actual funds, plus the number of loans/salaries saved allowed me to tinker with the transfer budget a bit. 
 

 

[backpocket]

Got 3rd in the first season, then won the league by one goal over Liverpool in the 2nd season!! Even had my Aguero moment when Martinelli scored a 95th minute goal to bag us the title.

We were neck and neck with Liverpool throughout the season and our final matches were against Liverpool away and then Leeds. Liverpool beat us 3-1 in the penultimate game and was 3 points clear, and going into the final game I was resigned to finish second. Liverpool were playing away at Man Utd and was expecting a routine win for them.

Thankfully, Ronaldo decided otherwise and the kids did enough for our first league title.

Despite getting third, we had a difficult first season as Tierney injured his ACL and Tomi broke his leg, so I was out of both first choice fullbacks for half of the season. I turned off the first transfer window too, so we could only get reinforcements in January. 

In the January window I brought in Omar Richards on loan from Bayern as LB cover, Thiago Almada on loan too with an option to buy which I used later, and begged the board to spend 14m on Goncalo Ramos from Benfica as a prospect to develop as the 1st choice forward. We needed another CM too as Newcastle offered 36m for Xhaka, and we brought in Mikel Merino as the replacement for 38.5m from Real San Sebastian. 

Also managed to offload Cedric, Mari, Chambers and Elneny for decent fees. As you can see below, Newcastle helped to fund my rebuild 

I honestly really like Xhaka as his crossfield balls are godly, but Merino's all around contribution helps to make for it. He's also strong and could play CB, and has covered there as I have a relatively small squad.

I managed to snag Boubacar Kamara on a free as competition to Tomi for the right IWB position, and he's pretty much made it his own this season. He also covers for Ben White in the BPD position, and I trained him to bring the ball out to make sure I don't miss that aspect of my tactic. I actually tried to teach him to play killer balls as he always ends up high up the field, but it's unsuccessful. 

In the 2nd season transfer window sold Pepe to Inter for 41m + 10m add-ons for appearances, Holding to Juve for 18.5m, while OM activated Guendouzi's 9.5m fee. Nketiah left on a free because he wanted too much money and I didn't want to pay him that, so he signed with Atalanta for 11.25k. Tried to sell Torreira and Bellerin unsuccessfully, so they ended up going on loan with monthly fees, so it doesn't feel too bad. 

Also brought in Esposito as is tradition for me as Auba regressed a lot. Auba asked to be loaned out and he signed with FC Red Bull Salzburg, but only made 2 appearances from the bench. 

Right now I'm quite happy with the squad as they're still developing, so I'll likely not buy any more players for the next season, barring any major departures and start looking at the youth academy. 

[samiam]

14 hours ago, backpocket said:

Got 3rd in the first season, then won the league by one goal over Liverpool in the 2nd season!! Even had my Aguero moment when Martinelli scored a 95th minute goal to bag us the title.

We were neck and neck with Liverpool throughout the season and our final matches were against Liverpool away and then Leeds. Liverpool beat us 3-1 in the penultimate game and was 3 points clear, and going into the final game I was resigned to finish second. Liverpool were playing away at Man Utd and was expecting a routine win for them.

Thankfully, Ronaldo decided otherwise and the kids did enough for our first league title.

Despite getting third, we had a difficult first season as Tierney injured his ACL and Tomi broke his leg, so I was out of both first choice fullbacks for half of the season. I turned off the first transfer window too, so we could only get reinforcements in January. 

In the January window I brought in Omar Richards on loan from Bayern as LB cover, Thiago Almada on loan too with an option to buy which I used later, and begged the board to spend 14m on Goncalo Ramos from Benfica as a prospect to develop as the 1st choice forward. We needed another CM too as Newcastle offered 36m for Xhaka, and we brought in Mikel Merino as the replacement for 38.5m from Real San Sebastian. 

Also managed to offload Cedric, Mari, Chambers and Elneny for decent fees. As you can see below, Newcastle helped to fund my rebuild 

I honestly really like Xhaka as his crossfield balls are godly, but Merino's all around contribution helps to make for it. He's also strong and could play CB, and has covered there as I have a relatively small squad.

I managed to snag Boubacar Kamara on a free as competition to Tomi for the right IWB position, and he's pretty much made it his own this season. He also covers for Ben White in the BPD position, and I trained him to bring the ball out to make sure I don't miss that aspect of my tactic. I actually tried to teach him to play killer balls as he always ends up high up the field, but it's unsuccessful. 

In the 2nd season transfer window sold Pepe to Inter for 41m + 10m add-ons for appearances, Holding to Juve for 18.5m, while OM activated Guendouzi's 9.5m fee. Nketiah left on a free because he wanted too much money and I didn't want to pay him that, so he signed with Atalanta for 11.25k. Tried to sell Torreira and Bellerin unsuccessfully, so they ended up going on loan with monthly fees, so it doesn't feel too bad. 

Also brought in Esposito as is tradition for me as Auba regressed a lot. Auba asked to be loaned out and he signed with FC Red Bull Salzburg, but only made 2 appearances from the bench. 

Right now I'm quite happy with the squad as they're still developing, so I'll likely not buy any more players for the next season, barring any major departures and start looking at the youth academy. 

What was your primary tactic?! 
 

I also lost Tierney for most of the season (I wonder if this is a trend with him) and switched to a 3-4-3 with Saka as my attacking left wingback, which worked great against weaker opponents until he too got injured and I had to ditch the WB system…

[backpocket]

2 hours ago, samiam said:

What was your primary tactic?! 
 

I also lost Tierney for most of the season (I wonder if this is a trend with him) and switched to a 3-4-3 with Saka as my attacking left wingback, which worked great against weaker opponents until he too got injured and I had to ditch the WB system…

Why didn't you use Nuno tho? He did have his brainfart moments but is more than solid for me as he develops.

As for tactics I use a 4231 which was originally inspired by Artetaball. Currently it looks like this:

It's a split block so the front 4 all have close down more, mark tighter and tackle harder except for the PF which has it by default. The right CM also has tackle harder - just to encourage him to run to the ball during transitions as he's so high up during attack. The left CM has hold position as my left WB is really aggressive.

The main idea is to get the ball to the attacking mids to run at the defense. The mezzala is to create a right flank overload, which I copied from the AI after seeing it done against me a lot. This also allows the BPD and IWB to bring the ball into the space vacated, and anyone who plays there has brings ball out of defense. That PPM is slightly overpowered now and CBs or FBs with good mentals and at least 12/13 dribbling can bring the ball past the halfway line. I consider this so important I signed Boubacar Kamara and trained him to bring the ball out and play IWB, so no matter what I'll have 2 players on the right of defense who can do that.

The left flank is pretty basic: the IW moves inside, WB overlaps, and the IW can either feed him or look to play the winger on the far side or the forward if he makes a good run.

I also use plenty of OIs, basically press their backline, force WBs inside and push wingers wide. I'll tight mark lone forwards, and occasionally the CMs if they use a mezzala or the AM if he's an SS or attacks the box a lot.

Originally it was more Artetaball, and I played something like this:

Which is quite solid but low scoring, and needs adjusting if you're behind as it's not very aggressive. The idea is to start buildup on the bottom right, swing it to the left flank, then release the winger on the right most of the time. The pressing is also more of a mid block because of the mentality. Tomi also had PIs to cut inside, sit narrower and hold position to mimic the real life version.

After getting tired watching the AI keep the ball forever and being too conservative, I did the changes you see above. It's really great at attacking but it's really poor against the Liverpools of the world. But then again our record against them is poor even before the changes.

You can see the point where the tactic changes, and I start losing 2-1/3-1 instead of 1-0. But as long as you beat everyone besides Liverpool the league title is doable. I've used this strategy for a long time - just do decent and don't lose too hard against top 4 and beat everyone else, which I remember Fergie did a lot with his Man U side back then.

Besides that it can struggle against Bielsaball and tactics that flood the channels so you might need to change defensive width and add PIs to your CMs to close down more when they overload the flank eg. mezzala + winger + wb.

I honestly don't recommend using it if you're not sure what you should be seeing.

[samiam]

10 hours ago, backpocket said:

Why didn't you use Nuno tho? He did have his brainfart moments but is more than solid for me as he develops.

As for tactics I use a 4231 which was originally inspired by Artetaball. Currently it looks like this:

It's a split block so the front 4 all have close down more, mark tighter and tackle harder except for the PF which has it by default. The right CM also has tackle harder - just to encourage him to run to the ball during transitions as he's so high up during attack. The left CM has hold position as my left WB is really aggressive.

The main idea is to get the ball to the attacking mids to run at the defense. The mezzala is to create a right flank overload, which I copied from the AI after seeing it done against me a lot. This also allows the BPD and IWB to bring the ball into the space vacated, and anyone who plays there has brings ball out of defense. That PPM is slightly overpowered now and CBs or FBs with good mentals and at least 12/13 dribbling can bring the ball past the halfway line. I consider this so important I signed Boubacar Kamara and trained him to bring the ball out and play IWB, so no matter what I'll have 2 players on the right of defense who can do that.

The left flank is pretty basic: the IW moves inside, WB overlaps, and the IW can either feed him or look to play the winger on the far side or the forward if he makes a good run.

I also use plenty of OIs, basically press their backline, force WBs inside and push wingers wide. I'll tight mark lone forwards, and occasionally the CMs if they use a mezzala or the AM if he's an SS or attacks the box a lot.

Originally it was more Artetaball, and I played something like this:

Which is quite solid but low scoring, and needs adjusting if you're behind as it's not very aggressive. The idea is to start buildup on the bottom right, swing it to the left flank, then release the winger on the right most of the time. The pressing is also more of a mid block because of the mentality. Tomi also had PIs to cut inside, sit narrower and hold position to mimic the real life version.

After getting tired watching the AI keep the ball forever and being too conservative, I did the changes you see above. It's really great at attacking but it's really poor against the Liverpools of the world. But then again our record against them is poor even before the changes.

You can see the point where the tactic changes, and I start losing 2-1/3-1 instead of 1-0. But as long as you beat everyone besides Liverpool the league title is doable. I've used this strategy for a long time - just do decent and don't lose too hard against top 4 and beat everyone else, which I remember Fergie did a lot with his Man U side back then.

Besides that it can struggle against Bielsaball and tactics that flood the channels so you might need to change defensive width and add PIs to your CMs to close down more when they overload the flank eg. mezzala + winger + wb.

I honestly don't recommend using it if you're not sure what you should be seeing.

I used Nuno for one game, and the Match Engine kept giving me 'Highlights' of the opposition (I think it was Aston Villa maybe?) just giving him all the space in the world and time to pass the ball, but he couldn't do anything useful with it. I figured it was the games way of saying "You LB isn't a threat so we will let him have the ball, good luck making anything happen..." but perhaps I misinterpreted that :). I ended up losing the game and took it out on him

[hasdgfas]

I've found anyone on the wing in this FM is miserable to watch. They just take it down the wing and then cross at the touchline. Never cutting inside, never crossing if they have a good opportunity, just running into the middle of nowhere.

[backpocket]

2 hours ago, samiam said:

I used Nuno for one game, and the Match Engine kept giving me 'Highlights' of the opposition (I think it was Aston Villa maybe?) just giving him all the space in the world and time to pass the ball, but he couldn't do anything useful with it. I figured it was the games way of saying "You LB isn't a threat so we will let him have the ball, good luck making anything happen..." but perhaps I misinterpreted that :). I ended up losing the game and took it out on him

Ah haven't we all blamed these little pixels before