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

[Cam NBH]

Just played my first game of the season, beat West Ham 3-1. ESR brace and PEA. Soucek from a corner for them.

Made a few signings, mostly u23s & u18s but signed Bennacer for about 21m. Sold Chambers, Elneny, Kolasinac, Cedric, Lacazette and a few u23s too.

I play 4231, 3 different versions. First main tactic is a homage/blatant rip off of ozil to the arsenals. Works really well. Second is an energy saving, control possession tactic for when we are winning. Third is a counter attack version. All largely based on the first.

Team is:

GK (SK/S) - Ramsdale, Leno and Hilson

RB (FB/S) - Tomiyasu and AMN

LB (FB/S) - Tierney and Tavares

RCB (BPD/D) - White and Holding

LCB (CD/D) - Gabriel and Mari

RCM (BBM/S) - Partey and Lokonga

LCM (DLP/D) - Bennacer and Xhaka

AMC (APM/A) - Odegaard and ESR or Cottrell worst case

AMR (IW/S) - Saka and Pepe

AML (IW/S) - ESR and Martinelli

CF (AF/A) - PEA and Nketiah

 

Looking at Adeyemi for next year to replace PEA. I couldn't find a decent U23 LB anywhere(any ideas anyone?) nor good backup to Odegaard so decided to use Cottrell if ESR cant cover.

The game is a lot of fun this year, really enjoying it so far. Some of the interplay around the box is just so pretty but also effective. Third man runs, quick one twos, it plays much more like real football than fm21. You really have to watch the fatigue this year! 

[Vilmar]

After a year of FM sabbatical for me I'm back with Arsenal. Doing a test run to get used to some of the new things. Will do a real start after the winter transfer update. 

Started off with completely overhauling the backroom staff. I think I only kept 3-4 of all the original staff. And managed to get 2 more spots for senior team coaches from the board. Still not satisfied but it's better than it was before. 
Had to give Saka a contract extension as he started to complain. Dropped AMN to squad status but it because so much of a mess through out the pre-season, because he had the support of the team leaders (Auba and Xhaka), I revert it back.
Talking about those two, what a mess, the captain and vice captain, yet Tierney and the newly arrived Berg had better stats. Keeping things like that until next summer when I try to dump both Auba and Xhaka. 

Had some transfers in. Always get Almada. Saw him as a cover at AMC will planning to use ESR and Gabi on the left.
I got Berg because I was looking to offload Xhaka and Elneny. I opted to wait with Xhaka for the sake of the squad harmony. Elneny I waited to long because of his mentality for mentoring. 

As I was setting up my mentor groups I realized how poor the leaders and highly influences players their personality was.
In a push to sell Lacazette I got Álvarez because I made the silly promise to berg to improve our forwards. But also thinking of the future. 
While scouting I bumped into Belotti and his personality was the reason I got him, you'll see why later if you don't know yet.  
Want him to mentor as many of the players as possible and if needed offload him after one season. 

The out going transfers looked like this. Wanted to give Rekik some playing time. Kolasinac was a sale to offload wage.
Cedric has a mandatory fee but only for 6,76 million GBP. With getting Berg I decided that AMN would become understudy to Tomi. 
Sadly Lacazette his sale came with paying half his wage. Flo his loan was because of Belotti's arrival to give him more playing time. 

Before the summer transfer window closed I started the season off  in this formation. Berg played because Partey got injured at the end of pre-season for 3 months.
But also because Berg had an amazing pre-season with long pass assists. Xhaka because he needed some playing time to get fit. ESR was injured but only for a few days. 

Things will change. Álvarez will go on the left. Almada will be cover to Odegaard. Pepé is 2nd to Saka and ESR is plugged in where needed. 
Belotti will 2nd Auba with Nketiah (who signed an extension) as third. 

Fixtures list so far. M'gladback was a horrible match and made me doubt if we were ready for the league. 

Stats of the incoming players

Belotti

Álvarez

Berg

Almada

Sadly i lost Almada after my 2nd league match for about 8 weeks. That caused the dropped in bravery.

We'll see how things go. Facing Chelsea, Manu Utd and Tottenham in September. 

 

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by Vilmar

[hasdgfas]

20 hours ago, Cam NBH said:

I couldn't find a decent U23 LB anywhere(any ideas anyone?)

Tavares is a totally fine backup, but take a look at Luca Netz from Gladbach? I just picked him up after Tavares started to complain about being a backup, a few seasons in. He's not the most defensive-minded LB, but he's got a ton of pace and solid crossing. At least in my save, he has developed pretty well. 

[Cam NBH]

1 hour ago, hasdgfas said:

Tavares is a totally fine backup, but take a look at Luca Netz from Gladbach? I just picked him up after Tavares started to complain about being a backup, a few seasons in. He's not the most defensive-minded LB, but he's got a ton of pace and solid crossing. At least in my save, he has developed pretty well. 

 

Thanks mate. Tavares is fine for 2nd choice LB, it was a LB for my U23s team as I sold Lopez. Thanks for the tip though. I have seen him before but I think he is mega expensive on my game but will take another look, cheers.

[yey]

After not playing FM for 2 years, I finally bought FM22 two weeks ago. I have not started with my (almost) annual Arsenal save yet, but thought I could share Arsenal's performance on my Ipswich (yes, I started my game with Ipswich, more on this later) save, managed by Arteta. Arsenal finished 6th in the first season (back in Europe , yay!) and as expected, Man city took the title. Arsenal won the FA Cup too this season. On top of the current signings, Arteta bought Joao Moutinho and Damsgaard (from Sampdoria). Had no idea who this guy is. He was decent for Arsenal.

In the second season, Arteta bought few more players. Surprisingly, he brought in Danny Ings from Aston Villa and sold Xhaka to Shabab Al-Ahli. This season, Arsenal did slightly better, finishing 5th, just two points behind Chelsea at 4th. Still no UCL for Arsenal but he was awarded with another contract, while Pep, just left Man City at the end of 2022/2023 season.

I'm at the start of season 2023/2024. Arsenal just sold Torreira back to Atletico Madrid and AMN to Fulham. No new players bought yet. That's all for now on how Arsenal on my save. If anybody is interested to know more, I'll post again at the end of this season. Enjoy your Arsenal save!

[BrickCommo23]

Just out of interest - does anyone use the various trigger press options in the opposition tactics screen? Feels like an untapped resource from my POV

[Vilmar]

I do when suggested before the match. With FM22 I think I only adjust it once mid match. 

With Fm20 I used to adjust it a lot before and during the match. 

[toshimitzou1]

I am pleased to say that embracing my interpretation Arteta's approach has paid the ultimate dividends. I had been livid about being pipped to the title by a resurgent Manchester United in the 2023/24 season 

Well. The following season, whilst continuing to limit myself to British only talent I have achieved the unthinkable: complete domestic and European supremacy. Here is a summation.

The tactic: 

The aim was pretty simple here. After recruiting Bellingham and Rice the team was now primed to fully exploit the burgeoning talent of Saka and Smith-Rowe. More Direct Passing and Play out of Defence may seem contradictory but with the back four set to pass it shorter this enabled an unpredictable build up play where we could beat the press and then launch rapid attacks down both flanks. Declan Rice was set to Hold Position and Jude Bellingham to Get Further Forward (aided by player trait gets into opposition area) creating a a varied outlet for penetration and defensive security centrally. The pace at the back (all defenders having a minimum of 15 in Pace and Acceleration) meant we could execute the high line and high press with only a minimal threat in behind from only the true elite. 

We absolutely battered the league:

With goals coming from all the supporting cast:

On top of that, we completed the quadruple, beating Barcelona en-route to defeating Real Madrid in the Champions League Final:

 

Conclusion:

These Arsenal youngsters are not quite at their peak yet. In reality all I have done is implemented a s simple set of roles and duties that make the most of each players inherent ability and ensured I rotated heavily throughout the season. The biggest weakness of the current Arsenal team IMHO is the Central Midfield area which I addressed by bringing in five viable options that played through the season: Rice, Bellingham, Gallagher, Phillips and Mount (the best of British). 

No matter whom started, there was always a blend of defensive awareness, adequate creativity and the ambition to drive forwards when required. 

I maintained the current link-up play of Lacazette with Tammy Abraham operating in the DLF role and used Reece James as a straight replacement for Tomiyasu. Tomori came in, demoting Ben White to a squad rotation option and the current bunch of high potential Arsenal youngsters held there own. 

I  was not sure if I would persist with the save, winning all trophies a couple of years before I had anticipated has somewhat dampened my appetite for the game. However, this seasons success was achieved with a team that could play direct with a relatively low reputation. Most of the teams in the premier league came at as with no more than one DM and more often than not went for the jugular. With my teams reputation now maxed out things will be very different next season. In addition. Klopp took over at Man City in January, also signing Haaland up top and there form since then was equal to my own.

Ok I will continue, with a new aim being to be recognised as the most successful team in Europe ever whilst still adhering to the previously outline principles:

Any new signings must be British as their first nationality!!!

 

[Cam NBH]

Thats fantastic work, made up for your previous disappointment!

[BrickCommo23]

9 hours ago, toshimitzou1 said:

I am pleased to say that embracing my interpretation Arteta's approach has paid the ultimate dividends. I had been livid about being pipped to the title by a resurgent Manchester United in the 2023/24 season 

Well. The following season, whilst continuing to limit myself to British only talent I have achieved the unthinkable: complete domestic and European supremacy. Here is a summation.

The tactic: 

The aim was pretty simple here. After recruiting Bellingham and Rice the team was now primed to fully exploit the burgeoning talent of Saka and Smith-Rowe. More Direct Passing and Play out of Defence may seem contradictory but with the back four set to pass it shorter this enabled an unpredictable build up play where we could beat the press and then launch rapid attacks down both flanks. Declan Rice was set to Hold Position and Jude Bellingham to Get Further Forward (aided by player trait gets into opposition area) creating a a varied outlet for penetration and defensive security centrally. The pace at the back (all defenders having a minimum of 15 in Pace and Acceleration) meant we could execute the high line and high press with only a minimal threat in behind from only the true elite. 

We absolutely battered the league:

With goals coming from all the supporting cast:

On top of that, we completed the quadruple, beating Barcelona en-route to defeating Real Madrid in the Champions League Final:

 

Conclusion:

These Arsenal youngsters are not quite at their peak yet. In reality all I have done is implemented a s simple set of roles and duties that make the most of each players inherent ability and ensured I rotated heavily throughout the season. The biggest weakness of the current Arsenal team IMHO is the Central Midfield area which I addressed by bringing in five viable options that played through the season: Rice, Bellingham, Gallagher, Phillips and Mount (the best of British). 

No matter whom started, there was always a blend of defensive awareness, adequate creativity and the ambition to drive forwards when required. 

I maintained the current link-up play of Lacazette with Tammy Abraham operating in the DLF role and used Reece James as a straight replacement for Tomiyasu. Tomori came in, demoting Ben White to a squad rotation option and the current bunch of high potential Arsenal youngsters held there own. 

I  was not sure if I would persist with the save, winning all trophies a couple of years before I had anticipated has somewhat dampened my appetite for the game. However, this seasons success was achieved with a team that could play direct with a relatively low reputation. Most of the teams in the premier league came at as with no more than one DM and more often than not went for the jugular. With my teams reputation now maxed out things will be very different next season. In addition. Klopp took over at Man City in January, also signing Haaland up top and there form since then was equal to my own.

Ok I will continue, with a new aim being to be recognised as the most successful team in Europe ever whilst still adhering to the previously outline principles:

Any new signings must be British as their first nationality!!!

 

Great effort dude, smashed that league.

Just out of interest, do you have much else in the way of PIs? I only ask as I notice there's not loads of Team Instructions and I'm very much coming round to the approach of limiting team Instructions...

[Carmi88]

Got sacked in my 17th season at Arsenal   Kept moving on players who didn't want to be around due to other clubs sniffing around and just never properly replaced them.

 

5 league titles, 3 champions leagues, 1 europa league, 3 euro super cups, 3 FA cups and carabao cups and 4 community shields. Also happy as a manager i took in more money than i spent when it came to players, but that also may have lead to me getting the sack  

 

Below is my overall best 11, might start up a new save once the next update is out as i never really got Saka anywhere near performing how he does in real life, and was happy to flog him to Liverpool when they threw money at me, might go back to them if they ever ask but now i go to Atletico Madrid who have not won the league in my save yet

 

[tdocwra83]

Doing an unrealistic save with Arsenal until the winter transfer update is released, at which point I'll do another save with more realism. I exploited the payment system and brought in a lot of exciting young players. Slow start to the season, but I'm expecting great things once the team gels. Here's the first window's transfers:

 

[toshimitzou1]

On 31/12/2021 at 10:50, BrickCommo23 said:

Just out of interest, do you have much else in the way of PIs?

Yes, for me it is the choice of role and duty that dictates the way the team plays. The only PI's in play are those geared towards trying to emulate how Arteta's team has been playing, exemplified again in our defeat to Man. City before the STUPIDITY of Xhaka and Gabriel.

EG:

Tierney - LB, Cross more often, cross from byline,

Both CB's, take fewer risks.

Xhaka - LCM, Close down more, tackle harder, mark tighter

Partey - RCM, Hold Position

Martinelli - LM, Close down more, Roam from position

Saka - RM, Close down more, Stay wider, Roam from position.

Odegaard - CAM, Close down more, Move into channels.

Lacazette - CF, Close down more, roam from position.

 

[toshimitzou1]

On 31/12/2021 at 17:39, Carmi88 said:

out as i never really got Saka anywhere near performing how he does in real life,

Yes, in the right set-up he is lethal:

[BrickCommo23]

13 hours ago, toshimitzou1 said:

Yes, for me it is the choice of role and duty that dictates the way the team plays. The only PI's in play are those geared towards trying to emulate how Arteta's team has been playing, exemplified again in our defeat to Man. City before the STUPIDITY of Xhaka and Gabriel.

EG:

Tierney - LB, Cross more often, cross from byline,

Both CB's, take fewer risks.

Xhaka - LCM, Close down more, tackle harder, mark tighter

Partey - RCM, Hold Position

Martinelli - LM, Close down more, Roam from position

Saka - RM, Close down more, Stay wider, Roam from position.

Odegaard - CAM, Close down more, Move into channels.

Lacazette - CF, Close down more, roam from position.

 

Makes sense, thank you. 

I'm working on something similar but using a SV/HB as the double pivot (so in DM strata, obviously).

[toshimitzou1]

7 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

SV/HB as the double pivot

Let me know how off-centre HB goes. Have considered it but not tried it yet.

[SteveUK]

Just finished my first season.



                                                           

Thought that was my business done but discovered some bargains for the youth squad and a steal of a deal for a back up keeper.



Won the League with my only defeat coming away to Liverpool, bet Spurs in the Carabao Cup final and Liverpool in the FA Cup final.



Player Stats :-


Lautaro won Footballer of the year, Players player of the year, PL Golden boot (42 goals) and the Ballon d'or.
Smith-Row won Young player of the year.
Ramsdale won the PL Golden Glove.

I tried to stick to signing players we had been linked with over the past year or so whilst adhering to a young and exciting profile for player recruitment.

Expecting to revamp the defence a bit in the coming seasons as White isn't in my plans he's a good player but he want's to start every game and I have better options, he seems to have hit his ceiling also and isn't much better attribute wise than Holding which is really odd, he also has Real and Newcastle sniffing though the latter seems obsessed with spending hundreds of millions on players over the age of 30. 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by SteveUK

[Muttley84]

1 hour ago, SteveUK said:

I tried to stick to signing players we had been linked with over the past year or so whilst adhering to a young and exciting profile for player recruitment.

That policy is a bit easier when you can afford to spend next to 1 Billion Euro in a single summer on transfers... Good luck next season in CL!

Edited January 2, 2022 by Muttley84

[BrickCommo23]

2 hours ago, SteveUK said:

Just finished my first season.



                                                           

Thought that was my business done but discovered some bargains for the youth squad and a steal of a deal for a back up keeper.



Won the League with my only defeat coming away to Liverpool, bet Spurs in the Carabao Cup final and Liverpool in the FA Cup final.



Player Stats :-


Lautaro won Footballer of the year, Players player of the year, PL Golden boot (42 goals) and the Ballon d'or.
Smith-Row won Young player of the year.
Ramsdale won the PL Golden Glove.

I tried to stick to signing players we had been linked with over the past year or so whilst adhering to a young and exciting profile for player recruitment.

Expecting to revamp the defence a bit in the coming seasons as White isn't in my plans he's a good player but he want's to start every game and I have better options, he seems to have hit his ceiling also and isn't much better attribute wise than Holding which is really odd, he also has Real and Newcastle sniffing though the latter seems obsessed with spending hundreds of millions on players over the age of 30. 

 

£800mil spent? I know some of that is RL signings but £800mil?

Your game obviously - just massive money considering the starting budget is £10m (from memory)

Edited January 2, 2022 by BrickCommo23

[SteveUK]

2 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

£800mil spent? I know some of that is RL signings but £800mil?

Your game obviously - just massive money considering the starting budget is £10m (from memory)

I started with the default Arsenal budgets All my sales are full money though apart from Mari, were as all my purchases are small fees/quarter of the full transfer price up front with most of the full transfer paid over three seasons, for example I believe I only paid £14mil for Lautaro up front, plus I use the 50percent of next fee clause to get the players even cheaper, clubs will knock off practically a third of a transfer fee if they think they will get it back by the next sale which they probably won’t as I only use it on players I know I’ll never sell or if by some chance I do I’ll always receive a profit or break even.

I have a 90 million transfer budget for the next season which will go down some due to the next instalments going out but hopefully will boost it by selling all the players returning from loan like Partey, Pepe, Bellerin etc.

 

[hasdgfas]

14 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

I'm working on something similar but using a SV/HB as the double pivot (so in DM strata, obviously).

This has been treating me really well in my Arsenal save. I've found it a bit inconsistent player rating-wise, but it's very defensively sound.

[luka_zg]

On 24/12/2021 at 04:57, hasdgfas said:

not a Tomiyasu fan? I've found him to be excellent.

A lot has changed since my post :D, but yeah, Tomiyasu replaced Niles as 1st choice RB. Had a nightmare first two months of the season with only 1 win but has since recovered and currently sitting in 4th place after 30 games played. Still it's only 4 points between 3rd and 6th place so it will be a strong fight for european spots. I still didn't develop a tactic I am content with so all my games are pretty tough but I managed to scrape wins(1-0,2-1 mostly) lately. I also have 11 draws in 30 games. Odegaard also had a broken foot and missed almost 4 months of the season. I just lost a huge game v West Ham where a win would have been a big step to secure europa place and now I'm back in a dogfight with West Ham,City,Chelsea and Wolves for this with quite hard schedule. It won't be easy, I'm running on great form from Aubameyang, Lokonga and Gabriel at the moment. Hope they don't get injured.

[john1]

 
 

On my Saint-Etienne save, Arsenal almost went down   Would be a epic challenge to take over my beloved Arsenal   If they did went down.

[BrickCommo23]

So, I have just got to the World Cup break in second season so i thought I would do a small update but also ask for any help or pointers anyone may have...

As mentioned, I am trying to get a 4231 (with 2 DMs) to work. It's based on a couple of things:
1) I really like the idea of the 316 in build up and the HB can make the 3 between the two CBs
2) Big fan of the Segundo Volante role and I have bought Bellingham to be my long term answer there
3) My preferred style of play is always going to be based on keeping possession - ie, more tiki-taka than gegenpress and was suitably inspired by @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!previous posts. 

My current set up looks like this (note, I have only just added in 'force opposition inside' - it's not been used in matches.

Also, I recently pushed Aubameyang further up the pitch as he was playing too close to the AP and it boosted his goals and performances (see City match below). 

Most recent home match was against Man City (still managed by Pep and sitting pretty in 2nd place)

A really pleasing performance and the system (with and without the ball) worked well. Although City had 44% possession they did very little with it and as you can see from the heat map, their predominant positions were exceptionally deep in their own half. This is my passing network - it's not quite as much as a 316 as I might like but it's not too far off. +

However, stick that same system in away from home and this happens:

Now 5 goals off that xG is harsh but we were well and truly battered. And if you look at the passing network again, you can see two things:
1) We barely got out of our half
2) Massive gap between the 2 DMs

I genuinely feel like this isn't miles away from being effective but really hoping for a bit of a steer as I think there are a few people in this forum taking similar approaches? 

I can always create a new topic in the tactics forum but that often tends to end up with people telling you to rip up the whole system, which I would ideally, like to avoid.

Any thoughts fellow Gooners?

Edited January 3, 2022 by BrickCommo23

[SteveUK]

Having your whole midfield set to support/defend isn't the best, it's always good to have one or two on attack, Bellingham is a very capable player too, so you could have him as the Segundo Volante on attack, I'd wager he will be very effective and difficult for opposition to keep a track of. 

[edw]

18 hours ago, SteveUK said:

Having your whole midfield set to support/defend isn't the best, it's always good to have one or two on attack, Bellingham is a very capable player too, so you could have him as the Segundo Volante on attack, I'd wager he will be very effective and difficult for opposition to keep a track of. 

Surely if you want to maintian a certain shape you would have them on support/defend. Doesn't it depend on the team instructions what happens overall?

You don't want players vacating space to leave things open?

[SteveUK]

1 hour ago, edw said:

Surely if you want to maintian a certain shape you would have them on support/defend. Doesn't it depend on the team instructions what happens overall?

You don't want players vacating space to leave things open?

They will maintain a shape but you won’t have much attacking prowess imo even with the overall mentality set to attacking it’s kind of how Arteta was playing for a while with us irl, a lot of possession and structure but no real goal threat or penetration in the final third.

That 5-0 does seem like a freak result and if it’s just an anomaly within the overal results he’s having then he probably doesn’t need to make drastic changes it’s probably just FM doing an FM which we all have to suffer at some point in our saves.

[hasdgfas]

On 03/01/2022 at 15:27, BrickCommo23 said:

Any thoughts fellow Gooners?

Are you still running attacking mentality away from home? I usually push back to balanced/cautious while feeling out the flow and then getting more attacking as the match goes forward and we're settled. I'm more Gegenpress than Tiki-Taka with the SV/HB duo though.

[BrickCommo23]

Thanks folks, 

I've made a few amends but it's still not working as I would like. So, in a burst of craziness - I have arranged a load of friendlies during the 2022 WC and trying a new, simpler system with a positive mentality. Early signs are really promising so fingers crossed. Will report back in a little bit...

[WillyBroadband]

On 28/12/2021 at 12:09, BrickCommo23 said:

Just out of interest - does anyone use the various trigger press options in the opposition tactics screen? Feels like an untapped resource from my POV

I do sometimes, dude, yeah. Especially if it's someone who has really good long shots or a PPM of shoots from distance. I would also use it if playing against a team where I know if a player is injury prone whilst also adding 'hard tackling'. 

[WillyBroadband]

This is something I've not seen before! Shame, as he's been transfer listed. 

[hasdgfas]

2024/25. A season of hits and near-misses.

You can see our defensive strength, but we were too inconsistent offensively. No long injuries for Vlahovic this season, leading an incredible season with 47 goals in all competitions, but he did get tired during the home stretch when we were fighting in so many competitions, so I made sure not to overwork him in Cups and in too many League matches close to Champions League nights, but his backups weren't good enough consistently to keep up the title pace. You can see us with 7 draws compared to United's 3, and that was the difference here. 

The Champions League final really hurt. Just a moment of madness from Tierney, or I think we could have won this.

 

So a good season, but one that could have been so much more. Excited to start bringing more of the youth through, though. Patino joined the full first team squad this season and was really good. There should be a few more coming soon.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I'm doing a French save right now, and I'm just starting the 2030/31 season.

Mikel Arteta is still in charge of Arsenal, and won the title in 2027/28 and participated in a streak of English dominance of the Champions League -- United won in 2022/23, City in 2024-26 and 2027/28, and Arsenal in 2026/27 and 2028/29.  Bukayo Saka is a club icon, with 88 goals and 55 assists in 370 Premier League matches.  Emile Smith-Rowe is also still a critical first-team player, with 338 appearances, 102 goals and 57 assists.  Gabriel, Tomiyasu, Gabriel Martinelli and Kieran Tierney are also still at Arsenal, in and around the first team.

In terms of the first team we know, Ben White left in 2029 to PSG for £38m, and Aaron Ramsdale left to Norwich for £31.5m in summer 2028.  2023/24 saw a massive clearout, with Arteta ridding himself of Partey (Jan 2024), Balogun (early summer 2024), Odegaard (Jan 2024 for £116m!), Bellerin (summer 2023 to Barca, finally), Holding, Torreira, Saliba, Tavares, Xhaka, Lacazette, Nelson, Pepe, Nketiah and Mari (all summer 2023).  Sambi Lokonga moved to Dortmund, Rekik never really broke through and is in Germany somewhere, and Charlie Patino plays for Brighton.

Arsenal had some interesting players come through, too -- Hakim Ziyech, Luis Alberto, Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Christian Pulisic, Rodrygo, Samuel Chukwueze and Tammy Abraham have all played at Arsenal for Arteta.

[hasdgfas]

Sadly, one of the young Guns did leave after having his head turned for the last 9 months or so, but I think I got a really good fee out of it...

[hasdgfas]

I hate the new Club World Cup. It just leads to a ton of injuries because you're constantly playing tired, non-match-fit players, and also you're just playing the same teams from the Champions League. It sucks.

[WillyBroadband]

On 06/01/2022 at 21:53, hasdgfas said:

Sadly, one of the young Guns did leave after having his head turned for the last 9 months or so, but I think I got a really good fee out of it...

Nice you got a good fee, man. He has been unreal for me in my second season! My best player probably. Plus, I love him IRL and I'm a sentimental wally, haha

[WillyBroadband]

On 06/01/2022 at 18:13, WillyBroadband said:

This is something I've not seen before! Shame, as he's been transfer listed. 

I managed to persuade the board to let me sign him and he has been phenomenal as an AML - Inside Forward on Support. I now only have about £10M in the bank though, sold Nelson & Zagadou for a combined £27M so that helped a bit. 

[hasdgfas]

5 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

Nice you got a good fee, man. He has been unreal for me in my second season! My best player probably. Plus, I love him IRL and I'm a sentimental wally, haha

I didn't want him to leave, obviously, but I've won the CL and the Prem already, plus the fee was absurd, especially with 25% of next sale. A new challenge makes sense.

[gggfunk]

6 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

I managed to persuade the board to let me sign him and he has been phenomenal as an AML - Inside Forward on Support. I now only have about £10M in the bank though, sold Nelson & Zagadou for a combined £27M so that helped a bit. 

How did you manage to persuade the board to sign Rashford? I thought it's impossible after such message.

[WillyBroadband]

15 hours ago, gggfunk said:

How did you manage to persuade the board to sign Rashford? I thought it's impossible after such message.

It was easier than I thought it would be, mate. I just said something like "He is a great player and will make us better" and they agreed straight away. Paid £64M straight up, no clauses. 

He is on £200K a week with a load of bonuses with my next highest earner on £115K so I am paying a lot but if he carries on like he's started, he'll be worth it. 

[gggfunk]

Nice, I'm really glad to hear it is possible to sign Rashford to Arsenal. He will definitely be one of my main targets on my Arsenal save which I'm going to start once the winter upate is out.

[SteveUK]

Second Season Complete.

Won every game except one, again Liverpool beating me away in the last few games of the season, quite looking forward to their squad of OAP's shuffling off so they stop this trend 


Season 2 Notable Transfers In - 

Reece James - £78mil + 50% of next fee.
Ronald Araujo - £58mil + 50% of next fee.
Nico Barella - £54mil + 50% of next fee.
Giorgi Mamardashvili - £800k
Luke Thomas - £25mil.
Erling Haaland - £85mil + 50% of next fee + Adeyemi on loan for the season.
Yusuf Demir - £15mil.

Season 2 Notable Transfers Out - 

Frank Kessie - £63mil  - Newcastle.
Ben White - £63mil - Newcastle.
Yves Bissouma - £50mil - Bayern.
Takehiro Tomiyasu - £50mil - Chelsea.
Thomas Partey - £33mil - Inter.
Nicolas Pepe - £31.5mil - AS Monaco.
Hector Bellerin - £23.5mil - AS Monaco.
Sambi Lokonga - £20mil Loan - Dortmund.
Eddie Nketiah - £20mil Loan - Dortmund.
Nuno Tavares - £17.5mil  Loan - Chelsea.
Lucas Torreira - £14.5mil - Napoli.
Runar Runnarsson - £2.1mil - Bournemouth.
Tyreece John Jules - £2.5mil + 40% of profit of next sale - Derby.
Jordi Osei Tutu - £2mil + 40% profit of next sale - Forest.
Konstantinos Mavropanos - £2.4mil - Stuttgart


I'm now into season three at the last day of the summer transfer window, Messi has retired and Ronaldo is contemplating it but Utd have managed to persuade him to do another year, OGS still hanging in there at Utd, Bielsa is in charge of Spurs and Chelsea have gone through Tuchel, Simeone and now on a struggling Luis Enrique, Pep has left City and has been replaced by Vincent Kompany and Klopp is still at Liverpool.

Season 3 Notable Transfers In First Window - 

Youssoufa Moukoko - £68mil.
Matthijs De Ligt - £80mil + 50% of next fee.
Tino Livramento - £80mil.

Season 2 Notable Transfers Out - 

Sam Johnstone - £23mil - Newcastle.
Gabriel Maglhaes - £60mil - Bayern.
Anel Ahmedhozic - £22mil Loan - Napoli.
Nuno Tavares - £21.5mil Loan - Dortmund.
Reiss Nelson - £22mil Loan - Liverpool.
Folarin Balogun - £22mil Loan - Leeds.
Sambi Lokonga - £20mil Loan- Chelsea.
Karim Adeyemi - £20.5mil Loan - Juventus.
Eddie Nketiah - £20mil Loan - Milan.
Omar Rekik - £11mil + 40% Profit of next sale - Feyenoord.
Joel Ideho - £7.5mil +40% Profit of next sale - Newcastle.
Daniel Ballard - £5mil + 40% Profit of next sale - West Ham.
Tim Ronnig - £2.8mil - Sochi.
Luke Thomas - Loan - West Ham.

Discovered in this years edition Big Clubs are more willing to pay big loan fees for players they are interested in, ranging from £1.5mil to £2.5mil per month whilst paying all the players wages as well.

I plan to train Livramento into a left back for the long term, but apart from possibly say Phil Foden or someone incredibly hard to resist I won't be making anymore big signings as I'm very happy with my Arsenal Galactico's  who have a big English core to them.

GK - Ramsdale, Mamardashvili, Vandevoordt.
FB - Tierney, James, Aarons, Livramento, Thomas*.
CB - De Ligt, Araujo, Gomez, Gvardiol, Nianzou, Dorrington.
CM/CAM/DM - Odegaard, ESR, Rice, Barella, Bellingham, Gallagher, Patino.
W/IF - Saka, Musiala, Martinelli, Madueke, Adeyemi*.
ST - Haaland, Martinez, Vlahovic, Moukoko.

*Away on loan but future is at the club for the long term.

[McClane29]

On 06/01/2022 at 18:13, WillyBroadband said:

This is something I've not seen before! Shame, as he's been transfer listed. 

Considering Arsenal have signed Welbeck and Mkhitaryan from United in recent years, this transfer shouldn't be blocked.

I'd recommend reporting this as a bug.

[luka_zg]

Semi finals of CL, 2nd game at Emirates. Fuming, absolutely fuming, restraining myself not to crash the laptop and tv and the whole flat. FFS!!

A rating of 10 for AI keeper?? Really????? Jesus how mad I am...

 

 

[Telegram Sam]

Hey folks! I've been running a save with my beloved Arsenal for a few months now and thought I'd share my progress. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone's careers in here. I myself am currently in the first few months of the 2024/25 season and am really enjoying the save so far. I'll give a recap of the prior seasons and where I'm at.

2020/21

I started my save with the transfer window enabled and made use of that by addressing two clear holes in Arsenal's squad; a quality central midfielder to partner Thomas Partey, and an alternative striking option to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. I opted to bring both Rodrigo Bentancur and Dušan Vlahović in from Serie A, who were already quality players but young enough to grow and improve as part of my team. In January, Bosnian centre-back Anel Ahmedhodžic came in to offer defensive cover from Malmö, along with Patrick de Paula and Jeremie Boga on cut-priced deals from Palmeiras and Sassuolo respectively.

In terms of outgoings, I made use of Newcastle United's newfound fortunes and managed to move on Chambers, Holding and Xhaka to them for very good fees (with the latter two moving in January). I also received a big bid for Eddie Nketiah in January from Manchester City, which I ultimately accepted. I had signed Nketiah to a new deal earlier in the season but only ever planned for him to be a squad player, so £36m felt like an offer too good to refuse. Nketiah went on to barely play for City and was eventually sold to Villa for £10.5m in January 2024. Lacazette, Elneny, Cedric, and Kolasinac also all departed in my first season at the club.

We certainly benefitted from having no European football in 2021/22 and managed to finished a very respectable 3rd place in the Premier League with 85 points, narrowly behind Liverpool in 2nd but quite some way off a rampant Manchester United who won their first league title since 2013. Aubameyang was exceptional this season, scoring 27 goals in total, and bagged himself a place in the PFA Team of the Year. Only Cristiano Ronaldo scored more goals (31) this season.

We primarily played a 4-2-3-1 this season, looking to retain possession and make use of our considerable attacking talent. Alongside Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka had a superb season with 17 goals and 12 assists in all competitions, while Emile Smith Rowe also posted some great numbers (9 goals and 9 assists). Martin Ødegaard only scored one goal all year, but managed to post a superb 19 assists as the creative hub of our side. Vlahović scored a very respectable 17 goals in his first season, but I found it difficult to get him and Aubameyang into the side at the same time.

In the cups, we had disappointing exits to Leicester City in the League Cup third round, and lost 3-4 to City at the Etihad in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. We had led that game 3-1 with only 10 minutes left to play before collapsing towards the end to go out in a very disappointing fashion. We scored a lot of goals in 2021/22 but defensively we needed to improve, conceding 42 goals in the league alone. Nonetheless, we achieved our main goal in season one by bringing Champions League football back to the Emirates at the first time of asking.

Most of our highlights in 2021/22 came at home, with our home record bested only by eventual champions Manchester United. At the Emirates we managed to beat both United and Chelsea 3-0 in some dominant displays, as well as beating Liverpool 1-0 with a late screamer from a soon to be departed Granit Xhaka giving us the win. We avenged the cup defeat to City with a 4-3 win over them at home thanks to a Saka hat-trick, and asserted our dominance over North London with 4-1 and 2-1 victories over Spurs.

2022/23

This was a big season for us back in the Champions League, and we had a very solid transfer window in terms of both incomings and outgoings. While I initially tried to sign Declan Rice from recently relegated West Ham, only for the riches offered by Newcastle to tempt him to join them instead, Teun Koopmeiners arrived from Atalanta to help fill the Xhaka-sized hole left in the midfield, with his superb mental stats along with his prowess from dead balls being particularly appealing (as well as the fact that Arsenal are listed as one of his favoured clubs). Gio Reyna was available from Borussia Dortmund for a very reasonable fee, and I decided to make a slightly unconventional addition to our attack by bringing in Ivan Toney from Brentford. He had scored 17 goals for the Bees in the first season in the Premier League and I was keen to add some experience and grit to our attacking line. I also picked up promising young goalkeeper Maarten Vandevoordt from Genk to replace the outgoing Bernd Leno to serve as a deputy to undisputed number one Aaron Ramsdale.

In terms of sales, I managed to move on the guys that had spent the 2021/22 season out on loan, with Lucas Torreira, Héctor Bellerin and Matteo Guendouzi all leaving on permanent deals. I didn't receive huge funds for anyone this season but was happy to clear out some more deadwood and players who I felt were ready to leave. I allowed Boga to leave on loan after a disappointing six months with us in 2021/22, while Patrick de Paula was allowed to leave to Bayer Leverkusen in January for slightly more than we paid for him after also struggling to make in impact. I also made the decision to allow Folarin Balogun to go out on loan to Besiktas for the season to help him continue his development.

The 2022/23 campaign proved to be an ultimately disappointing one, with us finishing a place lower than season prior (4th, down from 3rd) and with fewer points (78, down from 85). We started drawing far too many games and our home record, a pillar of strength for us in my first season at the club, declined dramatically with 4 of our 6 league defeats coming at the Emirates. Our strength on the road was nonetheless encouraging, with a 2-1 victory away at Manchester City thanks to late, late goals from Saka and Gabriel proving a particular highlight. We looked like we may finish outside of the Champions League places at times but 7 wins from our last 8 games saw us rally to finish strongly ahead of Chelsea in 5th place. Manchester United again won the league with an incredible season from them while City pushed them close.

Our first season in the Champions League offered us the chance to face off against Barcelona in a tantalising tie, with RB Salzburg and FC Köln our other opponents. We opened the group with a daunting trip to the Camp Nou but we came away with a well-earned draw, with Bukayo Saka scoring on the break before Memphis Depay equalized for the home side with 10 minutes to go. This set the tone for our first Champions League campaign for many years, with a 5-1 demolition of Köln at the Emirates and an efficient 2-0 victory in Austria giving us 7 points after 3 games. A disappointing bore draw at home to Salzburg was to follow, but we sealed qualification in our 5th game with a dominant display over Barcelona at home, albeit with a narrow 1-0 scoreline. Reyna was the man the make the difference with a superb curling effort from outside of the box earning us the win. We ended the group with a defeat in Germany but with top spot in the group already sealed, this wasn't too concerning.

Our reward for finishing top was a tie against Inter; not the easiest of draws but certainly one that was manageable. We played at the San Siro in the first leg and dominated the game with a varied 5-2-2-1 formation I had been playing around with, but despite having the better of the game it ended 0-0. Returning to the Emirates, we again dominated proceedings but struggled to breakthrough until Vlahović fired home the first goal of the tie with 10 minutes to play. However, Inter managed to equalise in the 92nd minute despite barely registering a shot on goal the entire game, taking it to extra time. We then managed to concede from a set-piece in the 115th minute and found ourselves crashing out of the competition early which was hugely frustrating.

Our 4th-placed league finish and premature exit from Europe was made all the more disappointing by early exits in both domestic cups, with Leeds knocking us out in the quarter finals of the League Cup and Fulham knocking us out on penalties in our second FA Cup game. In terms of performances, we generally conceded less but scored less as well, and I struggled to find away to accommodate Aubameyang, Vlahović and Toney into our attacking line up. Both Saka and Smith Rowe had fewer goal returns than the season prior and I was still struggling to get the best out of Gabriel Martinelli, who was frequently injured and rarely made a case to play more often with sub par performances. Koopmeiners, Reyna, and Toney had all been solid acquisitions but they hadn't taken us closer to title contention as hoped.

All of that said, I was optimistic going into my third season. We'd finished in the Champions League places two seasons running, had a young team that was growing together, and the departure of Aubameyang at the end of his contract meant I could try new things in 2023/24 with Vlahović hopefully coming into his own. I did however feel that a trophy was needed soon, and consistent Champions League qualification would only be good enough for so long.

The recap of the first two seasons went on longer than expected so I will update more in another post!

Edited January 18, 2022 by Telegram Sam

[Telegram Sam]

2023/24

I went into my third season knowing that either a serious title challenge, significant Champions League run, or a domestic trophy was required for me to feel that I was progressing. 2022/23 was a relatively disappointing campaign that featured form that was too inconsistent, along with some teething issues that came with adjusting to play regular Champions League football again. I was also frustrated with my tactical approach—the 4-2-3-1 I most commonly employed felt like it wasn't penetrative enough, and we often found ourselves having better xG than our opponents but still found ourselves failing to win. I had dabbled with some 5-at-the-back formations with mixed success, but felt that a different approach was needed for us to have a stronger campaign than the last.

My eyes had turned to our summer recruitment and my focus was on evolving the squad with some key additions, rather than overhauling things like I had done the summer that I joined. We had a core of players who I was confident could take us to the next level, but we definitely needed a few faces in as well as a few out. First, the outgoings:

I was happy to let Ainsley Maitland-Niles leave for Brighton at the start of the summer, despite his versatility and home-grown status. He had been little more than average in my first two seasons at the club and felt the £20m offered by Brighton was very good money for a player we'd brought up through the youth academy, but who ultimately was never going to be a regular starter here. Begrudgingly, I allowed Nuno Tavares to leave for Bayer Leverkusen after they came in for him with a serious bid. He had been very good for me since arriving in the summer of 2021, but he was always likely to remain a squad player due to newly-appointed captain Kieran Tierney's importance to the club, and asked to leave. £23m for a player we paid less than £7m for two seasons ago was nonetheless good business.

Moving on Nicolas Pépé to Monaco for £29m was a deal I was happy with, despite it being a massive loss on the then-record £72m we had paid for him in 2019. Like in real life, Pépé often had flashes of brilliance when in the side but his inconsistency meant I was keen to cash in on him with one year left on his hefty £140k p/w contract. We also received good deals for Moses Nyeman, a player I had signed on a free two years prior who never made a start for the club, and Daniel Ballard, who was a decent young defender who was likely never good enough to make it in the first team. Jeremie Boga was sold to Atalanta for nearly £5m more than we paid for him 18 months prior, although we did have to agree to a wage contribution. Making a profit on a player is always healthy but it warned me against signing players for their potential short-term impact alone.

In terms of incomings, I went big on one player in particular who I felt could help take us to the next level:

I had decided quite early in the summer that I'd prioritise a single marquee signing over a host of players, and ultimately settled on making a club-record bid of £95m for Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham. The young Englishman had a £90m release clause but Dortmund were happy to accept payments in instalments for a total fee slightly over that. Bellingham had scored 13 goals and registered 9 assists for BVB in the season prior and I figured it was only a matter of time before United, City or Liverpool snapped him up, so I took the calculated risk that going big on him was key for our success this season and beyond. Signing Bellingham allowed me to transition to a 4-3-3 formation, with Ødegaard sitting alongside him and Koopmeiners behind, which I hoped would allow us to better press opposition teams and utilize Dušan Vlahović as a deep-lying forward. 

My other major signing was that of Sergiño Dest from Barcelona. With both Tavares and Maitland-Niles having departed and us now very short of wing-back cover, Dest's ability to play on both flanks allowed me to try and replace two players with just the one. Benjamin White had the ability to also play at right-back, whereas Bukayo Saka can also deputise on the left in emergency situations, so it seemed like a sensible risk worth taking. Dest's signing also meant we had now accrued some promising American talent in our first team, with Giovanni Reyna having arrived one year prior and Folarin Balogun returning to fight for a first-team place after a successful loan spell in Turkey with Besiktas. He had managed to score 18 goals in 29 Super Lig appearances in 2022/23, finishing as the league's top goalscorer, and I was happy enough for him to come in and take over the first team spot left by our departed captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rather than enter the market for a new striker.

August-October

We started our season with the hardest task possible; a visit to Old Trafford to face back-to-back Premier League champions Manchester United. A successful pre-season trialling our new 4-3-3 formation counted for little as we fell to a 2-0 defeat, being totally outplayed in the process and former Gunner Serge Gnabry scoring the second goal on his United debut in the process to really rub salt into the wounds. We responded brilliantly with 10 goals put past Leicester and Southampton in our next two games but away defeats in the coming weeks to Newcastle and Brighton hampered the progress I had hoped we'd make:

We were controlling more games than we were in the prior season, but still found ourselves dropping points through some profligate finishing and sloppy defending.

In the Champions League we had been given a difficult group, with Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, and Partizan Belgrade our opposition. Partizan were little to worry about but Wolfsburg had finished 2nd in the Bundesliga last season, while Real Madrid were Real Madrid. The group opened with a pulsating 4-3 victory at home to Wolfsburg, who had equalised from a corner in the 90th minute before Teun Koopmeiners rocketed home a free-kick in the dying seconds of the game. A more comfortable 4-1 win at home to Partizan put us in a good position going into our double header with Madrid, the first of which would be away from home. We played fantastically in the first game, out-shooting them and dominating large parts of the game, but fell behind to another header from a corner. A second half rally was quelled when Bentancur received his marching orders with 20 minutes to go, and a second goal from Madrid sealed our fate late in the game.

November-January

After an up-and-down start, we really kicked on in November as our team settled and the 4-3-3 formation bore fruit. With all three Premier Leagues being at home this month, we took advantage of this by comfortably dispatching Wolves and Norwich either side of an emphatic win 3-1 against Manchester City. While we now had a number of players performing well, Jude Bellingham had started the season well and a fantastic goal and assist against City was his biggest contribution yet. We continued this good form into December, with Aston Villa and Sheffield United dispatched without a goal conceded.

We then faced Liverpool.

At this point in the season, Liverpool looked untouchable. Led by Marcelo Bielsa, they had won 13 of their opening 15 games and had Erling Häland leading the line for them. In all competitions, he would go on to score 44 goals for Liverpool, and when they came to the Emirates in December I had all but accepted they'd likely be uncatchable. United were having a poor season after two years of dominance while Man City, now managed by Jürgen Klopp, were the closest team to Liverpool as 2023 was drawing to a close. Nonetheless, I felt that with our strong home form having returned, we could beat them and give our title challenge some life. It didn't work out that well.

We dominated the first half, took the lead through the ever improving Giovanni Reyna, before a totally unnecessary red card from the usually reliable Tomiyasu saw us down to 10. Häland went ahead and equalised a few minutes later with a long range screamer, and Thiago broke our hearts towards the end of the game with a late winner. As frustrating at this was, we did respond positively, winning our final three league games of 2023 which included a 3-1 win away at Spurs. 

Back to Europe, and we had revenge on our minds against Real Madrid. They had beaten us at the Bernabeau but were relatively lucky to do so in the first game and felt we were in a good position to win back in North London. Thankfully we did, and in some style—a goal from Martin Ødegaard against his former club opened the scoring before Vlahović continued his strong season with a brace to seal victory. The goal from Ødegaard was particularly memorable; a delightful chip from outside of the area...

A hard-earned 1-1 draw in Wolfsburg and a 3-0 win away in Belgrade secured qualification from the group, and in the top spot nonetheless. Real Madrid had themselves lost to Wolfsburg which opened up the chance for us to finish first and managed to do so. I hoped moving forward that finishing first ahead of Madrid would give us an easier tie in the next round and allow us to progress at least one step further than the previous season.

Elsewhere, we had managed to get ourselves to the semi-finals of the League Cup after getting past Middlesbrough, Preston, and Brentford. However, a dominant Liverpool awaited us in the two-legged semi-final. Our defeat to them earlier in the season was disappointing but it had given me hope that over two legs, with 11 men on the pitch, we could beat them. 

Again, this has gone on longer than I had expected, so I'll recap the second half of the 2023/24 season in my next post.

[Telegram Sam]

2023/24 - Part 2

The New Year was upon us and after dispatching of Spurs in our final league game of 2023, we welcomed champions Manchester United at the Emirates for our first game of 2024. An early penalty from Vlahović and a beautifully-worked team goal scored by Bukayo Saka saw us run out deserved winners with a 2-0 victory, and this really set the tone for the month. Having won our final three games in December after losing at home to Liverpool, we beat United and won all other league games in January to take our winning run to 8 games in the Premier League.

In the same month, Liverpool drew 3 of their 5 games which allowed us to make some ground on them in the table, while City had lost at Liverpool and drawn two more games themselves. I was still hesitant to believe that we could seriously win the title at this point given the strength of our competitors, but we certainly had more belief than we did after we lost to Liverpool in the league in mid-December.

January also saw us face Liverpool in the League Cup semi-finals, with the first leg being played at Anfield. After conceding to a Salah goal in the 4th minute, I feared the tie could be over before we played the return leg, but as the game went on we began to enjoy spells of dominance which we had never had at Anfield before. The game ultimately finished 1-0, with us squandering plenty of chances and getting no goals from an xG of 1.78, but our performance gave me confidence that we could edge them out in the second leg.

At the Emirates in the second leg, we dominated our opponents and levelled the tie through a Vlahović header from a Bellingham cross after 20 minutes. We peppered their goal with chances but failed to make a breakthrough, and in the 91st minute of the game a penalty was given and Erling Häland had the opportunity to make it 2-1 on aggregate with minutes to play. Up step Aaron Ramsdale...

We were still alive, amazingly, and I was preparing for extra-time until Martin Ødegaard had other ideas:

It was a huge result, not only for getting to our first cup final under my management, but also finally getting one over on Liverpool. It might only be the League Cup, but our performance over the two legs against such a fantastic side gave me real confidence that we could do something special this season.

The January transfer window was soon slamming shut and no incoming business had been done, which was by design. I was mostly happy with the squad I had and didn't feel the need to spend big mid-season when I was already struggling to give all my players games. I had sold Thomas Partey to Spartak Moscow for £14.5m after he fell down the midfield pecking order behind the likes of Bellingham, Koopmeiners, Bentancur and Lokonga, and figured that would be that. However, on deadline day, Barcelona came in with a bid for Ivan Toney. Toney had a decent first season with us 2022/23, scoring 13 goals, and had managed to bag 11 in the first half of this season despite mainly playing off of the bench and in the League Cup. However, I decided that by selling him, I could free up some funds and a place in the squad for a marquee name, and managed to negotiate Barcelona up to the £35m we had paid Brentford for him 18 months prior. Solid business.

I moved quickly to bring in someone I'd wanted for some time; RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai. The Hungarian midfielder was unhappy in Germany and wanted out, and had an £83m release clause that would allow us to bring him in. There was no room for negotiation in terms of a fee, so I went to the board and asked that they take the £60m~ I had saved in the transfer kitty and top it up so we could bring him in. Thankfully, they agreed. Like Bellingham, I assumed he would end up at a key rival—United had bid for him in the summer, but the transfer broke down—so I was delighted to snap him up. He was the kind of talent that I felt could really step us up a gear in our pursuit for major honours.

Back to Europe, and our 1st-placed finish in the Group Stage counted for little as we were drawn against Bayern Munich. Along with their already formidable side, they had added Kylian Mbappe to their ranks in 2022, and I feared that our journey in the Champions League would be cut short at the same stage as last year. In the end, it was quite the opposite. A wonderful finish from Bellingham gave us a tight, slightly fortuitous 1-0 victory in Munich, but in the home leg we took them apart. Another brace from Vlahović, and another goal from Bellingham, saw us end the tie as 4-0 victors in one of the most comprehensive wins of my reign.

These games against Bayern came amidst a really tough run, including going away to Chelsea in both the league and the FA Cup, as well as ties against Manchester City in the Premier League and in the League Cup final:

I've said what happened in the Bayern games, but will recap the other results below:

Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)

Our 10-match winning run in the league had come to an end in the match prior in a frustrating 2-2 draw away at West Ham, but we quickly got back to winning ways with a deserved 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge. £178m worth of talent combined for our goal, as Bellingham set up Szoboszlai for the only goal of the game; a fantastic way to start paying back the hefty fee we paid for him.

Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal (League Cup Final)

Our first visit to Wembley under my management saw us take on Manchester City in the final of the League Cup. Having gotten past Liverpool in the dying moments of the semi-final, I had felt that our name may have been written on the trophy, but it wasn't to be. City took the lead early on with a set-piece goal from Laporte before we eventually equalised in the 78th minute through Reyna, who was having a fantastic season in front of goal. Neither side capitalised in extra-time and in the end, Vlahović's miss from the spot at the start of the shoot out proved decisive as City scored all five of their penalties, denying me my first piece of silverware.

Chelsea 1-3 Arsenal (FA Cup 5th Round)

We bounced back from cup final defeat with another win at Stamford Bridge, this time coming in the FA Cup. Szoboszlai scored an even better goal than his winner a few days earlier, and it looked like it would again prove decisive before Kai Havertz equalized in the 90th minute. Undeterred, we rallied again in extra-time with goals from Reyna and Bellingham securing a superb victory and a place in the quarter-finals.

Arsenal 1-1 Everton (Premier League)

With the fixtures coming thick and fast, we disappointingly dropped points at home to an average Everton side, with Vlahović rescuing a point for us very late in the game. We posted an xG of nearly 2 goals more than the visitors but I felt that the intensity of the fixture list contributed to a pure result.

Manchester City 0-1 Arsenal (Premier League)

We were given a chance to avenge our League Cup final defeat to City and did so with a backs-to-the-walls win at the Etihad. Vlahović buried a penalty in the 40th minute and we held on for the rest of the game to stay firmly in the title race, denting City's chances in the process. 

---

I had hoped our run would get easier from here on out, but our reward for getting past Chelsea in the FA Cup and Bayern in the Champions League was being drawn against Liverpool in both competitions. As March turned into April, 3 of our next 5 games would be against Liverpool, with another trip to Anfield scheduled for the final game of the season. Curiously, and somewhat annoyingly, Liverpool (A) was the final league game in all three of my league seasons so far, and I was frankly sick of playing them so often in the business end of the season.

I'll do one more post on this season; hard to fit it all in!

 

[WillyBroadband]

10 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

 

Hi @Telegram Sam, am loving your updates dude. Am wondering though, why have you blurred out a few transfers? For spoilers? 

I'm about to finish my second season and I have an FA Cup Final against Everton to come, sitting comfortably in 3rd & got to the Champions League semi-final, only narrowly losing to Juventus. Not a bad season and a trophy will make it a lot sweeter. 

Got Connor Gallagher arriving in the summer, who is a player I admire IRL. 

[Telegram Sam]

4 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

Hi @Telegram Sam, am loving your updates dude. Am wondering though, why have you blurred out a few transfers? For spoilers? 

I'm about to finish my second season and I have an FA Cup Final against Everton to come, sitting comfortably in 3rd & got to the Champions League semi-final, only narrowly losing to Juventus. Not a bad season and a trophy will make it a lot sweeter. 

Got Connor Gallagher arriving in the summer, who is a player I admire IRL. 

Thanks mate. I blurred out the January transfers I made (bringing in Szoboszlai, selling Partey/ Toney) as I was just talking about the summer deals at that point.

[Telegram Sam]

2023/24 - Part 3

The first part of our triple header against Liverpool started with FA Cup Quarter Final tie, played at the Emirates. Häland was the bane of my existence once again, scoring in the 17th minute, but two quickfire goals on the brink of half-time gave us a 2-1 lead going into the break. We controlled most of the game and should have gotten a third before William Carvalho scored a superb equaliser from the edge of the area; I hadn't realised he was playing, or even played for Liverpool, until this moment. We once again headed to extra-time, ultimately falling to a winning goal from Duvan Zapata in the 114th minute. If we were to win anything this season, we'd have to win one of the big prizes.

A bore draw away at Norwich was a poor way to get back into things after the final international break of the season, before we then headed to Anfield again for the first leg of our Champions League semi final. I had hoped for a draw at the very least so we could take them back to the Emirates with something, but once again our new Hungarian superstar delivered to gift us another huge 1-0 win away from home:

Some suspect goalkeeping from Alisson had allowed Szoboszlai to nick a header in the 10th minute of the game, but at the other end Ramsdale made a string of saves to deny Liverpool and ended the game with an 8.2 rating. Ramsdale had really grown into his own this season and was starting to deliver in the big matches when we need him most.

Prior to the return leg, we drew again on the road in the league as we drew 1-1 at Bramall Lane against Sheffield United. These results were not terminal as Liverpool had themselves drawn 7 of their 11 league games between January and March, but City had won the majority of their league games in 2024 and now had the initiative in the title race. Our 1-0 win at the Etihad in March was what was keeping us in the race and stopped City from getting too far ahead.

We welcomed Liverpool to the Emirates once more, and again took the lead through Szoboszlai. What at the time felt like something of a luxury purchase was now proving essential with his goals and assists coming thick and fast at the business end of the season. His goal came with a delightful chip over Alisson following a perfect through ball from Ødegaard:

Milinković-Savic made it 1-1 on the night in the second half, but we held on to secure a 2-1 aggregate victory and a place in the Champions League semi-finals. Juventus lay in wait for us, with Manchester City facing Valencia in the other tie. They had beaten United to get through to the semis and with Valencia a considerably weaker opponent, I knew that if we got past Juventus we'd likely face City in another final. Somewhat poetically, the Champions League final was at Wembley this season.

Attention then, finally, turned back to the league. We had four home games in a row against weaker opposition—Leicester, Villa, Palace, Spurs—and knew that realistically 12 points from 12 was likely necessary to give us a chance of grabbing the initiative in the title race. The team seemed to relish the chance to play games in front of our own fans three times in a week, with us easily dispatching the first three opponents with relative ease:

Another huge week was up next; both legs of our Champions League semi-final against Juventus, with a North London derby sandwiched in between. I knew that with only games against Leeds (A) and Liverpool (A) in the league to go, beating Spurs was a necessity to seal the title.

With our first game being in Turin, again I would probably have been happy with a point, but we turned on the style and finished clinically to beat Juventus with a resounding 3-0 scoreline:

Onto Spurs with a place in the Champions League final all but secured. I had faced them 5 times prior and won 4 of those games, drawing 1, so felt confident that we'd win here to keep our title hopes alive. However, after a first half injury to Vlahović and no goals in the first 45 minutes, Harry Kane popped up to give Spurs a 1-0 lead early in the second half. If we weren't going to win the title, I really didn't want Spurs to be the ones to put an end to our challenge. In the end, two of our young stars stepped up to the plate to seal a memorable 2-1 victory:

Later that afternoon, Manchester City drew with Crystal Palace at home. Even more incredibly, while I had been winning convincingly in Turin earlier that week, Liverpool lost only their second game of the season to bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest. This drop in form from my rivals meant that if City failed to win their game in hand against Everton in midweek, we would have the opportunity to seal the title in the penultimate game of the season away at Leeds United. If City won, or if I failed to beat Leeds, then we would likely need to get something at Anfield on the final day to be Champions.

I waited anxiously to see what the result of the City game would be. When it came through, I couldn't believe my luck:

3-1 down with less than 10 minutes on the clock, and Everton had battled back to do us a massive favour. Our own form since we lost to Liverpool in December—16 wins and 4 draws in 20 games—had been exceptional though the second half of the season, but it still required both Liverpool and City losing considerable momentum to give us this opportunity. Now we just had to take it.

I needn't have worried.

20 years on from the Invincibles winning our last league title, our boys had brought it home. A brace from Folarin Balogun, a goal each from Gabriel and Martin Ødegaard (with three assists coming from Dominik Szoboszlai) meant we were 4 points clear of Liverpool and 5 points clear of Manchester City with just one game to play. We were Champions, and I had my first piece of silverware as Arsenal manager. We had dominated Leeds for most of the game and thankfully the scoreline meant I knew we'd won it by half-time. Balogun's opener was a particular highlight:

With the league title secured and a Champions League final to prepare for—we beat Juventus 1-0 at home to finish resounding 4-0 aggregate victors—we inevitably lost at Anfield on the final day for the third season running, but it didn't matter. We weren't resounding champions but had battled back from a poor start to put enough pressure on our rivals to eventually overtake them:

Champions League Final

We had a two week wait for the Champions League final against Manchester City at Wembley. Our only injury concern was Vlahović, who had not kicked a ball since going down early in the North London derby. He was back just in time for the final but due to his lack of match fitness, I opted to start with him on the bench and let Balogun lead the line. Aside from that, we had our strongest XI—Ramsdale in goal behind our settled back four of Tomiyasu, Ahmedhodžić, Gabriel and our captain Tierney, a three man midfield of Koopmeiners, Bellingham and Ødegaard, with Szoboszlai and Reyna cutting in from each wing.

The game started slowly, with both teams feeling each other out for the first ten minutes. Tomiyasu brought down Grealish in the box, and even if he won the ball, the referee still pointed to the spot. Kevin de Bruyne stepped up and fired home the penalty. We were 1-0 down after 11 minutes.

However, as soon as we kicked off, we got a highlight. Szoboszlai received the ball on the left and played a lofted pass through to Giovanni Reyna who was advancing into the City area. Ferland Mendy chased back and brought down Reyna, giving us a penalty of our own within a minute of City scoring theirs. With our usual taker Vlahović sitting on the bench, Szoboszlai stepped up...

Ederson denied us and the score remained 1-0. It was the first time Szoboszlai had done anything wrong since he joined in January, and it came at the worst possible time. I stayed calm and encouraged my team, knowing we had plenty of time to get back in it. As the first half went on, we created chances, but both Ødegaard and Balogun squandered great opportunities to draw us level. Grealish and Foden had decent chances for City but failed to make them pay. As the half was drawing to a close, Reyna's cross resulted in a corner and we had one final chance to draw level before the half was up:

Gabriel rose like a salmon to head home his 10th goal of the season, which I'm pretty sure all came from headers from corners and free-kicks. I'd made sure we were a real threat from set pieces throughout the season and our training paid off here as we drew level on the brink of half-time. It had been a close half but I felt it was what we deserved.

As we headed out for the second, I made a change—on came Dušan Vlahović for Balogun, who had looked nervous and struggled in the first half. The second half started as the first one had ended, with both sides creating half chances with neither side being able to truly dominate. However, in the 64th minute, we found ourselves behind yet again:

Ferland Mendy found Pedro Porro unmarked in the area and the Spaniard rifled home a goal past Ramsdale. We had to do it all over again. 

I made changes, bringing on Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe. We pushed for an equaliser but a determined City defence kept us at bay. Our opponents themselves crafted chances, with Eljif Elmas crashing an effort off of the bar with ten minutes to play. I could feel the game slipping away from us and we faced a second final defeat to City in the space of a few months, although I knew this one would hurt more. I was beginning to console myself with the idea that we had won the league and that losing a Champions League final wouldn't dampen how great an achievement that was.

Now deep into injury time, I had thrown everyone forward in a last-ditch attempt to salvage the game. Just when I thought all hope was lost, up steps Kieran Tierney:

With 92 minutes on the clock, our captain found himself on the end of Tomiyasu's cross and powered home a header in the game's closing stages. Tierney had not scored all season, but when it mattered most, he delivered. A VAR check for offside had my heart racing but there was no infraction and the goal stood. It was 2-2 and we were headed for extra time again.

As extra-time started, I brought on Gabriel Martinelli and within minutes he was through on goal. To my despair, he fluffed his lines and allowed Ederson to deny us taking the lead for the first time. I really didn't want penalties again. In the second half of extra time, Smith Rowe found himself with a superb chance to take the lead, but cannoned his shot high over the bar. We had had the better of extra-time but it felt like we were destined for penalties, until the 115th minute...

We had done it! With five minutes on the clock, Emile Smith Rowe had fired home a winner and the Champions League trophy was surely ours. Or was it?

VAR check...

Goal disallowed.

I couldn't believe it. To the naked eye it looked onside, but on closer inspection Smith Rowe may indeed have been offside by the slimmest of margins:

The full time whistle blew and we would have to exercise some demons to win the trophy. City hadn't missed a single penalty when we lost the League Cup final to them, with Vlahović the only man to miss. He was our first taker for the shootout and this time, he scored. 1-0 Arsenal.

De Bruyne scores. 1-1.

Szoboszlai scores. 2-1.

Osimhen scores. 2-2.

Szoboszlai scores. 3-2.

Elmas scores. 3-3.

Smith Rowe scores. 4-3.

Grealish scores. 4-4.

Martinelli scores. 5-4.

Porro steps up... and Ramsdale saves! Arsenal are European Champions for the first time in their history!

Annoyingly, I can't view the last penalty in the highlights, but if I remember correctly Ramsdale dove to his left to deny Pedro Porro and seal the win for us. This was one of the craziest games I've ever played in Football Manager, with Tierney's last minute equaliser and Smith Rowe's extra-time goal disallowed. We had deserved it though, having the better chances in the game and overcoming Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Juventus, and now Manchester City on our way to the trophy. I hadn't won anything in my first two seasons at the club, and now we were Premier League and European Cup champions. Amazing stuff.

It had been a superb season with the team winning the biggest honours some years ahead of schedule. My big money moves for Bellingham and Szoboszlai had worked out better than expected, but ultimately it was goals from some of the young players currently at Arsenal—Gabriel, Tierney, Martinelli, Balogun—that had gotten us over the line. Here was out best XI for the season:

I'm now in October 2024 in the save, so will do another post about the changes I made following the double win, both in terms of personnel and tactics. Thanks to anyone who read these long posts, it's appreciated!

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Telegram Sam