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

[hasdgfas]

Time for my own season review!

Honestly, this season is a success. Champions League + League Cup make up for a poor FA Cup and just barely losing out on the League.

 

A really, really great season for several individuals. Vlahovic was incredible as usual

Pretty much everyone was great this season! The stars were Vlahovoic(obviously), Gabriel, both RBs, Szoboszlai, and Martinelli.

With the incoming Bellingham, it's time for us to likely say goodbye to Lokonga, who just isn't as good, and isn't an academy player like Patino. It's also time for Reiss Nelson to leave. He's sick of not being played as specifically a Winger, even though he played 35 matches . (I hate role promises. as long as I'm playing you in the right position, it should be fine). We'll see how everyone else feels once a bunch of the loans come back.

[KingLara]

Arsenal Season 1 – Pre-season / August

 

I only played a season and a half of Fm21 but will try and play more this time

 

PRE-SEASON

Pre-season began with me gutting all of the useless staff and bringing in my own men. My new 1^st team coaching squad is;

Assistant Manager – Helmut Jungheim

Coaches – Joel Bats (gk) Inaki Cana (gk) Oliver Bartlett (fit) Shad Forsythe (fit) , Nicolas Jover , Cavell Tivey , Louis Fuerer , Thijs Faber and Ruben Prieto

Physios – Jordan Reese (head), Liam Kershaw,  Simon Murphey,  Pete Shaw.

 

My new head performance analyst is Guiseppe Bellistri. His team are Mark Curtis, Adam Ridgewell Eric Dubray and Gustavo Plaza

I also added staff to the under 21s and under 18s but will be updating and upgrading as time goes on.

Transfers

I only made one signing in the form of Gareth Bale. He only cost 5 million which I can accept. A few other deals tempted me including Martial but ultimately I was happy with the squad and I will see how the team are doing in January.

Out of the door went Lacazette (7.5m), Chambers (7.5m) and Kolasinac (4m). Balogun has gone out on loan as have a few of the other youngsters.  

Squad

GK – Ramsdale – Leno

DL – Tierney – Tavares

DR – Tomiyasu – Cedric – M-Niles

DC – Gabriel – Holding

DC – White – Mari

MC – Xhaka – Lokonga

MC – Partey - Elneny

CAM – Odegaard – S-Rowe

ML – Bale – Martinelli

MR – Saka – Pepe

ST – Aubameyang – Nketiah

 

Pre-Season

I only played the five pre season games not feeling the need to play too many given we had no European Football. I usually play all pre season games away unless I play yhr Emirates Cup but I decided to have the last game at home. Overall performances weren’t bad with possession and chance creation being high and I was pleased with what I saw.

Boreham Wood (A) – 0-1 Aubameyang  

Barnet (A) 2-4 Balogun (3) Cirjan

Rangers (A) 4-3 Aubameyang (2) Pepe

Crystal Palace (A) 0-0

Club Brugge (H) 2-0 Bale Aubameyang

 

AUGUST

PREMIER LEAGUE

BRIGHTON 0

ARSENAL 2 – Tavares 25 Odegaard 81

The Premier League season got underway down in sunny Brighton. The team was at full strength other than Tavares who ended up scoring the opener. Odegaard added a second late on  and we were rarely troubled throughout  

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 2 – Aubameyang 20 Bale 66

SOUTHAMPTON 0

We were excellent against Southampton with 21 shots on goals but in a carbon copy of the Brighton game a goal in each half was enough.

CARABAO CUP 2^ND ROUND

QPR 0

ARSENAL 1 – Lokonga 49

Not the easiest of draws was well negotiated. Patino and Hutchinson made appearances off the bench. Preston at home in the 3^rd round

PREMIER LEAGUE

LEEDS UNITED 1 – Harrison 50

ARSENAL 1 - Aubameyang

We were one game away from making it a perfect August. Unfortunately Leeds carved out a draw. Bale blazing a free close range header over the bar in the final seconds didn’t go down well.

 

Premier league table

1.       Liverpool Played 3 Points 9 Goal Difference +16

2.       Man Utd P 3 P 9 GD 7

3.       Brentford P 3 P 9 GD 5

4.       Chelsea P 4 P 9 GD 1

5.       Arsenal P 3 P 7 GD 4

 

A decent start. Liverpool have hit six against Norwich and Newcastle in their last two games.

 

Global Transfers

Not too many big transfers. Newcastle bringing in Jimenez for 52 million the biggest. Man City signed Ferland Mendy and Renato Sanches.

September October Fixtures

A good start but I don’t play to come fourth so will still aim to win the league this season.

Brentford (H)

Preston (H) – Carabao Cup 3^rd Round

Crystal Palace (A)

Man United (A)

Liverpool  (H)

Newcastle (H)

Tottenham (H)

Norwich (A)

Edited January 30, 2022 by KingLara

[saware]

On 27/01/2022 at 11:22, saware said:

I decided to go big and bring Bellingham in, it cost me more than the £60m I had free so I had to get creative using instalment payments and bonuses but I'm delighted to get a player of his quality in.

Leno departed for Hertha Berlin, I would’ve kept him as he was a very able back-up but he wanted to go & I got £12.5m for him when he was in the final year of his contract. I bought Carnesecchi in from Atalanta for £8.75m to replace him

I've continued a clear-out of the fringe players... Maitland-Niles to Fiorentina for £21.5m, Torreira to Real Madrid for £37.5m, Runarsson is in the middle of contract negotiations to leave for £1.4m, Marseille activated Guendouzi's £9m release clause at the end of his loan, and Mavropanos had a pre-arranged agreement with Stuttgart. Several U23 players have been released or sold off for small fees, whilst Balogun, Patino, and Biereth have been sent away on loan. I've been expecting some interest over the summer for Aubameyang as he's in the last year of his contract but so far nothing! 

I decided to bring Bellerin back into the 1st team squad, & if I can't strike a deal for Livramento over the coming season then I might try to extend his contract as it runs out in June 2023. I've also added Nelson & Saliba back into the fold. If I do lose Aubameyang I've targeted Adeyemi from RB Salzburg as a replacement as he's still cheap at under £20m. 

There’s still some money left in the bank, & I may look at shifting Mari out. However, good, young, & left footed replacements look too costly right now. 

Pepe & Xhaxa are probably due an upgrade over the next season or two so I’ve scouted Raphina & Camavinga respectively, but there are potentially other options & I’m in no rush.

With my creative accounting for the Bellingham deal, a clear-out of fringe players helping to boost the transfer kitty, & a hefty reduction in the wage bill it left me with some £s left over (Mari was also sent out on loan with a mandatory purchase fee of £12.5m).

I had to reinforce at LCB, I had scouted Gvardiol & Ignacio Gonçalo but they would’ve required big transfer fees, wages, & more crucially, a place in the 1st team. I didn’t want to displace Gabriel, who has been excellent, so I settled on Pavlovic from Monaco for £7.5m who was happy to play backup for now.

I had roughly £25m left when deadline day came around, agent offers were coming in left, right, & centre. One name too my eye… Declan Rice! Transfer listed at £67m & almost begging to come. I didn’t have the funds but I didn’t want to miss out, I asked the board to push the transfer through on the basis that it could be a game changer & they agreed. Later that day, he signed a long-term deal.

I’ve still had no interest in Aubameyang, hoping something happens in January as he no longer makes the team & he’s a very expensive bench warmer. Due to not being able to move him on I’ve missed out on Adeyemi, who moved to Dortmund for just under £20m.

I’m still struggling to agree a new contract with Bellerin, he wants to be classed as an important player but he’s a squad player at best right now. I still want Livramento long-term so it’s unlikely I’ll be going back to the negotiating table with Hector.

With Bellingham & Rice now at the club competition for midfield places is fierce. There’ll be rotation but if offers come in for Xhaxa or Partey in January then one, or both, may well leave. Pepe is in a similar bracket, happy to keep him for now but if I get an offer then he’s more than likely to be shown the door.

Looking at the season so far I’m pretty happy with how it’s going. I’ve won all but one of my games, a 1-1 draw away at Chelsea, but that still leaves me 2nd behind Liverpool.

I’m still in the League Cup. I have two wins from three in the Champions League, including one over Juventus. Unfortunately I couldn’t stop Bayern, although they would’ve been held to a draw if it wasn’t for a mistake & a Vlahovic injury.

[Telegram Sam]

6 hours ago, saware said:

I’m still struggling to agree a new contract with Bellerin, he wants to be classed as an important player but he’s a squad player at best right now. I still want Livramento long-term so it’s unlikely I’ll be going back to the negotiating table with Hector.

I picked up Livramento for the 2024/25 season after tracking him since the beginning and he's been worth it, especially if you're looking for a more attacking alternative down the right flank. He contributed more assists in the Premier League than any other defender in his first year with us.

[saware]

25 minutes ago, Telegram Sam said:

I picked up Livramento for the 2024/25 season after tracking him since the beginning and he's been worth it, especially if you're looking for a more attacking alternative down the right flank. He contributed more assists in the Premier League than any other defender in his first year with us.

That’s good to hear, that’s really what I’m looking for. Tomiyasu has been excellent but is better as a defensive wing-back & I like to play with a complete wing-back on support down the right. Having Livramento would give me an additional option & I’d be comfortable with rotating the two if needs be. 

Don’t have quite the same issue down the left, Tierney is firmly favoured as my attacking wing-back. Wondering if it’s worth bringing in a higher quality reserve than Tavares? Saying that, he’s not let me down so far.

Edited January 30, 2022 by saware

[Telegram Sam]

38 minutes ago, saware said:

That’s good to hear, that’s really what I’m looking for. Tomiyasu has been excellent but is better as a defensive wing-back & I like to play with a complete wing-back on support down the right. Having Livramento would give me an additional option & I’d be comfortable with rotating the two if needs be. 

Don’t have quite the same issue down the left, Tierney is firmly favoured as my attacking wing-back. Wondering if it’s worth bringing in a higher quality reserve than Tavares? Saying that, he’s not let me down so far.

Tavares was a very good reserve option for me until Leverkusen came knocking in 2023 and he wanted the move. It's a shame as I think he'd actually be pushing Tierney for a first-team spot had he stayed.

[saware]

1 hour ago, Telegram Sam said:

Tavares was a very good reserve option for me until Leverkusen came knocking in 2023 and he wanted the move. It's a shame as I think he'd actually be pushing Tierney for a first-team spot had he stayed.

Saw you had Dest to cover both left and right back, who did you sign for the left once you sold him? Looks like a bit of a dearth of options, did consider signing signing Ait-Nouri for less than £10m but didn’t have the funds at the time & he went to Brentford from Wolves. Gutierrez at Real Madrid Castilla is also one I’d looked at but it looks as though he’d fail to get a work permit.

[BrickCommo23]

I've had different experiences with full backs in my save.

Tavares has been really poor (same role and details as Tierney) but performances were rubbish. I also got some coach and scout reports and they said he was 2.5 stars at best so I have just moved him on.

At RB, my two best scouts also said Livramento was very average so I think I'm on the verge of about 60m for Reece James. Which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (albeit probably not massively realistic).

I think I'll get him and have Saka as my back up LB as I am struggling to find someone else 

[WillyBroadband]

I got Tyrick Mitchell as my backup LB and he's been good. Paid £4M plus Tavares in exchange. Played more than I would like as KT keeps picking up injuries.

[WillyBroadband]

Pedro Porro is my back up RB - to Tomi. He's also been good when needed. Only paid £7.75M from Man City. 

[saware]

Has anyone got any experience of signing Tayo Adaramola or seen how he’s developed for someone else? Looks like one of the brightest young English full-backs on my save.

[BrickCommo23]

36 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

Pedro Porro is my back up RB - to Tomi. He's also been good when needed. Only paid £7.75M from Man City. 

Yeah, I looked at Porro but City want like £70mil as he played 20 games for them last season.

Mitchell looks interesting though, thank you.

[Telegram Sam]

1 hour ago, saware said:

Saw you had Dest to cover both left and right back, who did you sign for the left once you sold him? Looks like a bit of a dearth of options, did consider signing signing Ait-Nouri for less than £10m but didn’t have the funds at the time & he went to Brentford from Wolves. Gutierrez at Real Madrid Castilla is also one I’d looked at but it looks as though he’d fail to get a work permit.

I ended up just using Saka as a rotational option as I was playing a 4-1-3-2 and didn't really have another place for him. Livramento can also play on the left so I figured I could play Tomiyasi and move him to the other side, but I rarely had to do that.

[Telegram Sam]

43 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

Pedro Porro is my back up RB - to Tomi. He's also been good when needed. Only paid £7.75M from Man City. 

Nice bargain there. He's been a key player for City in my save and every time I've scouted him they're wanting silly money for him (100m+).

[Telegram Sam]

17 minutes ago, saware said:

Has anyone got any experience of signing Tayo Adaramola or seen how he’s developed for someone else? Looks like one of the brightest young English full-backs on my save.

He's still at Palace on my save but has spent each of the last three seasons out on loan. Doesn't look to have developed all that much.

[WillyBroadband]

1 hour ago, saware said:

Has anyone got any experience of signing Tayo Adaramola or seen how he’s developed for someone else? Looks like one of the brightest young English full-backs on my save.

I'm on my 3rd season - 23/24 - and he is still at Palace & looks ok. Palace are in the Championship and he looks about that level. 

[WillyBroadband]

1 hour ago, Telegram Sam said:

I ended up just using Saka as a rotational option as I was playing a 4-1-3-2 and didn't really have another place for him. Livramento can also play on the left so I figured I could play Tomiyasi and move him to the other side, but I rarely had to do that.

I've used Saka at LB (Full Back/Support) a few times, as well, and he's actually done a very good job there. 

[WillyBroadband]

3 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Tavares has been really poor

He wasn't very good for me either mate. I don't like his low scores for decisions, composure & concentration tbh. 

IRL I like him! He's a real prospect. 

[WillyBroadband]

12 hours ago, saware said:

I’m still struggling to agree a new contract with Bellerin, he wants to be classed as an important player but he’s a squad player at best right now. I still want Livramento long-term so it’s unlikely I’ll be going back to the negotiating table with Hector.

I sold Hector to Leicester as soon as his Betis loan ended, think I got about £28M which I was chuffed with. All up front, too. 

Again, IRL, I'm a big fan of the bloke. 

[saware]

12 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

I sold Hector to Leicester as soon as his Betis loan ended, think I got about £28M which I was chuffed with. All up front, too. 

Again, IRL, I'm a big fan of the bloke. 

Did you offer him out or did Leicester come in with a bid? I’m tempted to offer Bellerin & Aubameyang out as their value is depreciating, their contracts expiring at the end of the season, but I don’t want to upset the dressing room.

Doesn’t seem to be any standout candidates for a huge upgrade to Tavares so I think I’ll hold onto him for now. If someone comes in with a good offer for him then I might need to think again.

[WillyBroadband]

2 hours ago, saware said:

Did you offer him out or did Leicester come in with a bid? I’m tempted to offer Bellerin & Aubameyang out as their value is depreciating, their contracts expiring at the end of the season, but I don’t want to upset the dressing room.

 

They were interested so I offered him, was easy peasy really. Auba I sold to Gladbach for free, covering about £70K a week for his final year, amazingly the board let me do it. 

[hasdgfas]

A pretty good opening to the season!

[Telegram Sam]

2025/26 Season - Part 1

I was looking forward to some downtime in the summer after a busy season, but had totally forgotten that after our Champions League win in 2024, we were qualified for the Club World Cup hosted in Japan. It's played at an incredibly awkward time, right when players are either on international duty or halfway through their summer break, but we rocked up with a decent squad of players and looked to add another trophy under our belt. We would face FC Dallas and Internacional in the Group Stage.

Our intercontinental opposition offered little in the way of resistance, with a 5-2 win over Dallas being followed by a 1-0 victory over our Brazilian opposition. In the next round was PSG, and after undeservedly falling behind to a goal from Antoine Griezmann, we battled back to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Anel Ahmedhodžic and Giovanni Reyna. 

The semi-finals saw us face off against Manchester City, who had beaten us to the Premier League by 3 points last season. It was a tight game but one I felt we had edged, and after the game finished goalless and we went to extra-time, we found a winning goal through our Brazilian wonderkid Valtecir. Having spent last season in Switzerland on loan at Young Boys, he had returned to the club this summer and was included in the squad with Folarin Balogun away on international duty with the United States. 

In the final we would face the other club from Manchester, and we took the lead in the 35th minute with a great goal from Jude Bellingham. We had United on the ropes for most of the game but couldn't find a second, and frustratingly Marcus Rashford levelled the tie in the second half to send our battered and fatigued squad into extra-time. However, we persevered, and Valtecir yet again came off the bench to bag the winning goal with a delicate and composed chip over an onrushing David de Gea:

The Club World Cup was a competition I could have done without, but having qualified, I was delighted to have added another piece of silverware to our growing cabinet. I was sure to give each of our players a week's holiday before we ventured into pre-season as I didn't want them too fatigued in the early stages of the new season.

Now, for this summer's transfers:

Outgoings

Unlike previous summers, I did not have a handful of players I was keen to cash in on or move on to help raise funds. My plan was very much to wait and see who generated some interest from other clubs and debate each sale on a case-by-case basis. In the end, our two biggest sales were our reserve centre-back options, with Bright Arrey-Mbi and Omar Rekik both moving on in search of first-team football. I would have been happy to keep both of them at the club as they were solid and versatile back up options in defence, but with neither player likely to ever be good enough to play regular first team football for me, the money on offer seemed too good to turn down. We made healthy profits on both of them with Arrey-Mbi having cost me around £9m when I purchased him from Bayern, while Rekik was already at the club in 2021 having signed for around half a million pounds in 2020.

James McAtee was another young player who I received a good fee for, with his £13m sale to Bournemouth a good deal in my eyes. He had been picked up for only £1.8m after being transfer-listed by Manchester City in 2022, and after middling loan spells at Coventry, Swansea and Austria Vienna, it was time for us to cash in and take our money for a player who again would never likely have a serious impact here.

Both Adam Steele and Teppei Tsukahara were young newgens who had joined in previous windows and failed to develop as I had hoped, so both were sold for some pocket change when they asked for moves this summer. The rest of my outgoing business revolved around finding temporary homes for our many talented youngsters, including Valtecir, who despite his goals in the Club World Cup ended up moving to Stuttgart for the year. I was very tempted to keep him around but with four other strikers in front of him in the pecking order, and with him unlikely to be registered for the Champions League, I figured at least one more year of regular first-team football would serve him well. 

Incomings

I said in my last post that I was unsure about who I would target this summer as we had a large squad with no clear weaknesses. The one place I thought we could potentially do with upgrading was at left-back, as Kieran Tierney had struggled at times last season and I was concerned about relying on him to start the majority of my games this upcoming season. I considered a few experienced options such as Robin Gosens, Marc Cucarella and Owen Wijndal, but after concerns over their wage demands I instead opted to go for youth, and put trust in Tierney to find his feet again this season:

Andrea Facchinetti is an Italian-Japanese full-back who I'd had my eye on for some time. He had broken through at Atalanta and had begun to get some game time for them last season, and I paid £17m to bring him to the club. I plan to use him as an understudy to Tierney this season, with Bukayo Saka likely to also get minutes at the left full-back/ wing-back position, but hope that he will eventually become a regular starter for the club in a few years time. 

Our marquee signing was to come in midfield, although I had debated for some time who that player would be. Big money moves for guys like Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who I did consider, were off the table given the huge fees that would be involved. My primary target was then Ilaix Moriba, who was still at Leipzig and one of the few wonderkids at the start of the game who hadn't already been snapped up by Europe's elite. I was willing to pay the £77m release clause that he had in his contract after raising some money from player sales, but when we entered contract negotiations his salary demands were incredibly excessive. I opted to walk away rather than break my wage structure for a player who wouldn't even be a guaranteed starter, and instead focused elsewhere:

I eventually settled on Ryan Gravenberch, who was available for a reasonable £65m from Ajax. He had developed into a very well-rounded midfielder and his happiness at being a squad player for his first couple of seasons was really important given that we had the likes of Szoboszlai, Ødegaard, Bellingham, Smith Rowe and Reyna competing for central midfield positions. Crucially, he was also able to operate as a creative force in a deeper midfield position, which was hugely attractive to me as I planned on playing around with the Regista and Segundo Volante roles this season.

Kaloyen Vasilev is a young Bulgarian striker who I'd agreed a deal for last season, and after his arrival at the club he went right back out on loan to Molde so he could develop over the coming season. Ilkka Oksanen is a young Finnish goalkeeper who I brought in on a free transfer as we needed depth in that position for the U23s; I'd be surprised if he ever made the grade here, but he has some potential.

Finally, we deadline day looming, I decided to make a move for a young Brazilian newgen I had tracked for some time. With Arrey-Mbi and Rekik gone, we could do with a young replacement to act as our fourth-choice centre-back option, and I activated the release clause of Renan Renato of Athlético Paranaese:

A giant at 6'6", the young Brazilian had decent passing stats alongside some really good mental attributes. Also a left-footer, I liked the idea of him being mentored by his fellow countryman Gabriel and I will look to involve him where I can this season to try and help him develop.

Overall I think it was a solid, if mostly unspectacular window. We received good money for the players we did well while Gravenberch should provide us with some excellent depth in midfield, and I believe Renato and Facchinetti can both go on to become regular starters here. 

Now, in terms of the football, after a fun pre-season we would face Manchester City yet again in the Community Shield, a trophy we lifted last year. We had been on a quietly brilliant run against City in recent games, with three consecutive league victories, our most recent win in the Club World Cup, and of course the penalty shoot-out victory over them at Wembley in the 2024 Champions League final. Still, they were the incumbent Premier League and FA Cup holders, and we'd need a good display to retain the Shield. We did just that:

An early goal from Victor Osimhen gave City the lead in the opening stafes, but we surged back with an incredible three goals in five minutes thanks to Martinelli, Vlahović and Szoboszlai. The latter pair were unsurprisingly our key men once again, but Gabriel Martinelli's hat-trick was a great way for him to celebrate his new five-year contract and upgrade to Important Player status. The scoreline flattered us somewhat but we were superb on the counter, with our new 4-4-2 formation (with two DM's) working wonders at containing City and tearing them apart on the break.

With another piece of silverware secured, our Premier League campaign would now begin with a home game against Chelsea before travelling to the north east to face Newcastle United. Chelsea had defeated us 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of last season but went on to have a dismal season, finishing 8th, with our 9-0 demolition of them in the return fixture at the Emirates a clear low point for them. I wasn't expecting a similar result but a comfortable victory was necessary, and that's what we got:

Martinelli bagged himself a second hat-trick in as many games with a superb attacking performance, with all three of his goals coming in a ten minute spell in the first half. His first goal was the pick of the bunch:

Vlahovič got in on the act to round up the scoring after bagging six in this fixture last season, and secured a superb opening day victory for us. In the following games Martinelli continued his scoring streak with the only goal of the game at St. James' Park, although the scoreline didn't reflect our dominance over Newcastle, and Vlahović bagged himself a brace against Leeds United as we rounded off August with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

It was a perfect start to the league season, especially with City having drawn 2 of their opening 3 games:

In the Champions League, we had been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain for the second season running along with PSV and Celta Vigo, which at least meant all of our away trips in Europe would be relatively short. After a perfect start, September would offer up significantly harder challenges, with three away games at Manchester United, PSG, and Spurs next in line for us.

[Nonlondoner]

I recommend anyone thinking of starting a new Arsenal save to do it before the next game update. 
17 games with a threadbare squad will be erm, interesting. Doing it for a full season on our poverty transfer budget in the game will be a nightmare.

Back to my old save, season 4, Invincibles last term. The wonders of simulation.

 

[alittletoojack]

poverty transfer budget

poverty squad

poverty manager

 

the list is endless. imagine trying to convince saka and martinelli who have two years left on their deals from the summer to extend when we're playing europa conference league football.

[SteveUK]

Whilst it’s cut down how much money you can generate there’s still going to be Holding, Partey, Pepe, Xhaka, Cedric, Elneny and Laca to sell.

Will give it a go myself when the update comes, will largely depend on how the AI behaves and what it sets as it’s managerial targets though.

That said, SI should hopefully add £58 million or so to the transfer budget due to the fact we bid for Vlahovic, probably won’t though 

The wage budget should be over a million though so that’s pretty good.

[hasdgfas]

Yeah, I definitely anticipate a nice boost to the budgets(transfer and wage) with all the wages that were freed up.

[BrickCommo23]

Has this happened in anyone else's save?

End of season 2 - Guardiola steps down from Man City. Not sacked, just agrees not to renew contract.

Klopp leaves Liverpool to take over at City - 'in a move which will spark heated debate'

On the verge of the Community Shield - Guardiola takes over at Liverpool.

I mean, it's fun but kinda stupid. 

Not sure if that'll mean City and Liverpool will still be brilliant - or not. 

[BrickCommo23]

18 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

2025/26 Season - Part 1

I was looking forward to some downtime in the summer after a busy season, but had totally forgotten that after our Champions League win in 2024, we were qualified for the Club World Cup hosted in Japan. It's played at an incredibly awkward time, right when players are either on international duty or halfway through their summer break, but we rocked up with a decent squad of players and looked to add another trophy under our belt. We would face FC Dallas and Internacional in the Group Stage.

Our intercontinental opposition offered little in the way of resistance, with a 5-2 win over Dallas being followed by a 1-0 victory over our Brazilian opposition. In the next round was PSG, and after undeservedly falling behind to a goal from Antoine Griezmann, we battled back to take a 2-1 lead with goals from Anel Ahmedhodžic and Giovanni Reyna. 

The semi-finals saw us face off against Manchester City, who had beaten us to the Premier League by 3 points last season. It was a tight game but one I felt we had edged, and after the game finished goalless and we went to extra-time, we found a winning goal through our Brazilian wonderkid Valtecir. Having spent last season in Switzerland on loan at Young Boys, he had returned to the club this summer and was included in the squad with Folarin Balogun away on international duty with the United States. 

In the final we would face the other club from Manchester, and we took the lead in the 35th minute with a great goal from Jude Bellingham. We had United on the ropes for most of the game but couldn't find a second, and frustratingly Marcus Rashford levelled the tie in the second half to send our battered and fatigued squad into extra-time. However, we persevered, and Valtecir yet again came off the bench to bag the winning goal with a delicate and composed chip over an onrushing David de Gea:

The Club World Cup was a competition I could have done without, but having qualified, I was delighted to have added another piece of silverware to our growing cabinet. I was sure to give each of our players a week's holiday before we ventured into pre-season as I didn't want them too fatigued in the early stages of the new season.

Now, for this summer's transfers:

Outgoings

Unlike previous summers, I did not have a handful of players I was keen to cash in on or move on to help raise funds. My plan was very much to wait and see who generated some interest from other clubs and debate each sale on a case-by-case basis. In the end, our two biggest sales were our reserve centre-back options, with Bright Arrey-Mbi and Omar Rekik both moving on in search of first-team football. I would have been happy to keep both of them at the club as they were solid and versatile back up options in defence, but with neither player likely to ever be good enough to play regular first team football for me, the money on offer seemed too good to turn down. We made healthy profits on both of them with Arrey-Mbi having cost me around £9m when I purchased him from Bayern, while Rekik was already at the club in 2021 having signed for around half a million pounds in 2020.

James McAtee was another young player who I received a good fee for, with his £13m sale to Bournemouth a good deal in my eyes. He had been picked up for only £1.8m after being transfer-listed by Manchester City in 2022, and after middling loan spells at Coventry, Swansea and Austria Vienna, it was time for us to cash in and take our money for a player who again would never likely have a serious impact here.

Both Adam Steele and Teppei Tsukahara were young newgens who had joined in previous windows and failed to develop as I had hoped, so both were sold for some pocket change when they asked for moves this summer. The rest of my outgoing business revolved around finding temporary homes for our many talented youngsters, including Valtecir, who despite his goals in the Club World Cup ended up moving to Stuttgart for the year. I was very tempted to keep him around but with four other strikers in front of him in the pecking order, and with him unlikely to be registered for the Champions League, I figured at least one more year of regular first-team football would serve him well. 

Incomings

I said in my last post that I was unsure about who I would target this summer as we had a large squad with no clear weaknesses. The one place I thought we could potentially do with upgrading was at left-back, as Kieran Tierney had struggled at times last season and I was concerned about relying on him to start the majority of my games this upcoming season. I considered a few experienced options such as Robin Gosens, Marc Cucarella and Owen Wijndal, but after concerns over their wage demands I instead opted to go for youth, and put trust in Tierney to find his feet again this season:

Andrea Facchinetti is an Italian-Japanese full-back who I'd had my eye on for some time. He had broken through at Atalanta and had begun to get some game time for them last season, and I paid £17m to bring him to the club. I plan to use him as an understudy to Tierney this season, with Bukayo Saka likely to also get minutes at the left full-back/ wing-back position, but hope that he will eventually become a regular starter for the club in a few years time. 

Our marquee signing was to come in midfield, although I had debated for some time who that player would be. Big money moves for guys like Frenkie de Jong and Pedri, who I did consider, were off the table given the huge fees that would be involved. My primary target was then Ilaix Moriba, who was still at Leipzig and one of the few wonderkids at the start of the game who hadn't already been snapped up by Europe's elite. I was willing to pay the £77m release clause that he had in his contract after raising some money from player sales, but when we entered contract negotiations his salary demands were incredibly excessive. I opted to walk away rather than break my wage structure for a player who wouldn't even be a guaranteed starter, and instead focused elsewhere:

I eventually settled on Ryan Gravenberch, who was available for a reasonable £65m from Ajax. He had developed into a very well-rounded midfielder and his happiness at being a squad player for his first couple of seasons was really important given that we had the likes of Szoboszlai, Ødegaard, Bellingham, Smith Rowe and Reyna competing for central midfield positions. Crucially, he was also able to operate as a creative force in a deeper midfield position, which was hugely attractive to me as I planned on playing around with the Regista and Segundo Volante roles this season.

Kaloyen Vasilev is a young Bulgarian striker who I'd agreed a deal for last season, and after his arrival at the club he went right back out on loan to Molde so he could develop over the coming season. Ilkka Oksanen is a young Finnish goalkeeper who I brought in on a free transfer as we needed depth in that position for the U23s; I'd be surprised if he ever made the grade here, but he has some potential.

Finally, we deadline day looming, I decided to make a move for a young Brazilian newgen I had tracked for some time. With Arrey-Mbi and Rekik gone, we could do with a young replacement to act as our fourth-choice centre-back option, and I activated the release clause of Renan Renato of Athlético Paranaese:

A giant at 6'6", the young Brazilian had decent passing stats alongside some really good mental attributes. Also a left-footer, I liked the idea of him being mentored by his fellow countryman Gabriel and I will look to involve him where I can this season to try and help him develop.

Overall I think it was a solid, if mostly unspectacular window. We received good money for the players we did well while Gravenberch should provide us with some excellent depth in midfield, and I believe Renato and Facchinetti can both go on to become regular starters here. 

Now, in terms of the football, after a fun pre-season we would face Manchester City yet again in the Community Shield, a trophy we lifted last year. We had been on a quietly brilliant run against City in recent games, with three consecutive league victories, our most recent win in the Club World Cup, and of course the penalty shoot-out victory over them at Wembley in the 2024 Champions League final. Still, they were the incumbent Premier League and FA Cup holders, and we'd need a good display to retain the Shield. We did just that:

An early goal from Victor Osimhen gave City the lead in the opening stafes, but we surged back with an incredible three goals in five minutes thanks to Martinelli, Vlahović and Szoboszlai. The latter pair were unsurprisingly our key men once again, but Gabriel Martinelli's hat-trick was a great way for him to celebrate his new five-year contract and upgrade to Important Player status. The scoreline flattered us somewhat but we were superb on the counter, with our new 4-4-2 formation (with two DM's) working wonders at containing City and tearing them apart on the break.

With another piece of silverware secured, our Premier League campaign would now begin with a home game against Chelsea before travelling to the north east to face Newcastle United. Chelsea had defeated us 2-1 at Stamford Bridge on the opening day of last season but went on to have a dismal season, finishing 8th, with our 9-0 demolition of them in the return fixture at the Emirates a clear low point for them. I wasn't expecting a similar result but a comfortable victory was necessary, and that's what we got:

Martinelli bagged himself a second hat-trick in as many games with a superb attacking performance, with all three of his goals coming in a ten minute spell in the first half. His first goal was the pick of the bunch:

Vlahovič got in on the act to round up the scoring after bagging six in this fixture last season, and secured a superb opening day victory for us. In the following games Martinelli continued his scoring streak with the only goal of the game at St. James' Park, although the scoreline didn't reflect our dominance over Newcastle, and Vlahović bagged himself a brace against Leeds United as we rounded off August with a 2-0 win at the Emirates.

It was a perfect start to the league season, especially with City having drawn 2 of their opening 3 games:

In the Champions League, we had been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain for the second season running along with PSV and Celta Vigo, which at least meant all of our away trips in Europe would be relatively short. After a perfect start, September would offer up significantly harder challenges, with three away games at Manchester United, PSG, and Spurs next in line for us.

Well done on signing Gravenberch. I got him at the start of the first season and he's developing ridiculously well. 

[hasdgfas]

1 hour ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Has this happened in anyone else's save?

End of season 2 - Guardiola steps down from Man City. Not sacked, just agrees not to renew contract.

Klopp leaves Liverpool to take over at City - 'in a move which will spark heated debate'

On the verge of the Community Shield - Guardiola takes over at Liverpool.

I mean, it's fun but kinda stupid.

Not sure if that'll mean City and Liverpool will still be brilliant - or not.

Not quite exact, but Klopp and Guardiola have had some interesting careers...

[Telegram Sam]

2 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Has this happened in anyone else's save?

End of season 2 - Guardiola steps down from Man City. Not sacked, just agrees not to renew contract.

Klopp leaves Liverpool to take over at City - 'in a move which will spark heated debate'

On the verge of the Community Shield - Guardiola takes over at Liverpool.

I mean, it's fun but kinda stupid. 

Not sure if that'll mean City and Liverpool will still be brilliant - or not. 

Guardiola:

- Wins the League Cup in 2021/22 but is sacked after finishing 4th in the league and going out to Bayern in the Champions League quarter-finals.

- Hired by Chelsea towards the end of the 2022/23 season; is sacked in December 2023.

- Joins Atletico in January 2024 and wins the Europa League with them.

Klopp:

- Leaves Liverpool to join City in the summer of 2022.

- Wins nothing but the League Cup in his first two seasons (we beat them in the 2024 CL final).

- Wins the Premier League in 2025 as well as the FA Cup, beating Liverpool in the final.

Marcelo Bielsa took over from Klopp and is still the manager after three seasons. He won the Champions League in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.

[Fragnat]

Whats your guys' solution to Saka/Tomiyasu flank, Saka is by far the best on IW, but then I feel like I cant really play tomiyasu on IWB since hes not a "conventional" wingback

[saware]

3 hours ago, Fragnat said:

Whats your guys' solution to Saka/Tomiyasu flank, Saka is by far the best on IW, but then I feel like I cant really play tomiyasu on IWB since hes not a "conventional" wingback

I’ve found Tomiyasu is pretty versatile, & he club won player of the year in my 1st season. I play a 4-3-3, & I usually play him as a complete wing-back on support. He might be even better as a normal wing-back on defend, it just throws the balance of my team off a bit.

I have Saka as an inverted winger on attack so, as a complete wing-back on support, Tomiyasu overlaps when required. As a normal wing-back on defend he doesn’t get forward as often & so I’d maybe look to play a mezzela on support, maybe Odegaard or Maitland-Niles, in RCM (I usually have my RCM play centre midfield - support) to add a bit more attacking width if needed. In both instances I have a defensive player in the DM role, & in my 1st season it was usually Xhaxa as a DLP-D to give midfield a bit more solidity.

Hope that helps a bit!

[WillyBroadband]

17 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Has this happened in anyone else's save?

 

Guardiola left City at the end of his contract and is currently unemployed and Klopp is still at Liverpool. Nothing exciting on my save! 

Interestingly though, Arteta is manager of Reading and he always bigs me up & I'm in his favoured personell (am also in Solskjær's too, weirdly)

[hasdgfas]

November 2026: There are starting to be rumors about a takeover. We'll see how long it takes for it to actually happen. Based on previous FMs, it's only a matter of time once those rumors start.

[WillyBroadband]

23 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

Guardiola left City at the end of his contract and is currently unemployed

This was incorrect, I looked last night and he's actually managing Juventus now. With Allegri at Man City. Zidane is at Chelsea. 

[WillyBroadband]

Btw lads, I've been playing Ødegaard as a DM on DLP/Support and he's been unreal. Got him to learn the PPM of 'Comes deep to get the ball' too. 

[WillyBroadband]

This was a nice surprise! 21 goals in 26 games is obviously good but it was in the Championship, on loan at Ipswich. 

[Telegram Sam]

On 01/02/2022 at 23:16, Fragnat said:

Whats your guys' solution to Saka/Tomiyasu flank, Saka is by far the best on IW, but then I feel like I cant really play tomiyasu on IWB since hes not a "conventional" wingback

Tomiyasu has been really solid for me. I signed Livramento in 2024 as a more attacking option, but Tomiyasu is still a great squad option who does a good job in a variety of roles (FB, WB, CWB). I've not tried him in an inverted position but imagine he'd still be decent.

23 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

November 2026: There are starting to be rumors about a takeover. We'll see how long it takes for it to actually happen. Based on previous FMs, it's only a matter of time once those rumors start.

I had a takeover right at the end of the 2023/24 season and not much changed, although they do seem more keen for me to spend big and their expectations are higher than under KSE. I'm already getting rumours of another internal takeover at the start of the 2025/26 season.

7 hours ago, WillyBroadband said:

Btw lads, I've been playing Ødegaard as a DM on DLP/Support and he's been unreal. Got him to learn the PPM of 'Comes deep to get the ball' too. 

I've definitely struggled to find room for him in my team ever since I moved away from a 4-2-3-1/ 4-3-3 formation. I love the guy but am debating selling him at the end of the season as he'll only have two years left on his deal.

5 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

This was a nice surprise! 21 goals in 26 games is obviously good but it was in the Championship, on loan at Ipswich. 

Great to see him doing well for you. He tore his ACL and then broke his ankle in my save so I ended up selling him for a minimal fee as he never really recovered from those injuries. He's currently at Cheltenham on loan from Newcastle in my save.

[WillyBroadband]

3 minutes ago, Telegram Sam said:

Great to see him doing well for you.

I'm still unsure if he'll make it, really, tbh. Rashford is my main CF and Weghorst is his backup and I'm selling him so he will get more game time. 

[hasdgfas]

Yep, Takeover has happened:

Minorly worried about some of these expectations from the new board, since they don't mesh with how I like to play, but hopefully I'll win enough that they don't need me to spend money for the sake of it.

[Telegram Sam]

2025/26 Season - Part 2

With the Community Shield in the bag and three consecutive wins secured to give our title push a perfect start, August made way for September as we had the ominous task of facing up against Manchester United, PSG, and Spurs in three big, consecutive away games. Things got off to a poor start as we went down 2-0 to United at Old Trafford, with goals from former Gunner Serge Gnabry and Harry Maguire leading to out first defeat of the season. We responded with a solid but relatively dour 0-0 at the Parc des Prince, with neither side managing an xG of over 1, but with this likely to be our toughest game of the group stage I was more than happy to take a point. 

Against Spurs, neither side was able to take the initiative in the first half in what was setting up to be another low-scoring, tight affair. Things got significantly worse in the second half, with Harry Kane giving Tottenham the lead after 55 minutes before Albert Sambi Lokonga was shown a straight red for a two-footed tackle seconds after play was restarted. I was incredibly frustrated; Lokonga had been given his first start of the season and I wanted to give him the chance of more game time, and he had repaid me by getting himself sent off. We now faced the prospect of losing our second game of the season after five matches when we had only lost the same number across the entirety of last season.

With things looking grim, and a first defeat to Spurs under my management looking inevitable, our star man Dominik Szoboszlai popped up with one of the best goals of the entire save to draw us level:

After getting things back to 1-1 the game petered out and our 10 men had earned a superb point. I'm never happy when we fail to beat Spurs but given the circumstances we'd shown immense character to get something from the game.

A home game in the League Cup against Reading gave me the chance to rotate the squad and try out a new formation—I'd been playing around with a 5-3-2 system that featured a Regista and two Mezzalas—but we toiled against the Championship opposition, with a late penalty from Dusan Vlahović sparing our blushes and earning us a narrow 1-0 victory. I figured we may need to keep things a bit simpler in how we played, despite my love of trying new tactical approaches.

We got back to winning ways in the Premier League at home to Everton, with a dominant 2-0 win being sealed by Szoboszlai and Vlahović. Our second Champions League fixture saw us run out comfortable 5-1 victors over Celta Vigo, with Gabriel Martinelli bagging himself his third hat-trick of the season (all of which had been in different competitions). The goals kept flowing as we demolished West Ham at the Emirates—this time it was Folarin Balogun who got himself a hat-trick, his first goals of the season—before heading into the international break in October.

In our returning game on the road against Villa, I tried a pretty wacky 3-3-3-1 "Total Football" formation as I hadn't been too convinced by the other new formations I'd toyed with this year, even if the results had been strong. We won the game thanks to another goal from Szoboszlai and a stunning brace from Jude Bellingham:

The quality of the finishes made the result seem a bit more comfortable than it was, and Villa had finished the game with a higher xG than us. I was probably overthinking things at this point but was keen to find a formation that utilised the squad I had at my disposal and got us playing dominant, attacking football.

Unfortunate news then befell us as Szoboszlai picked up his first significant injury since joining the club. He'd been our star man ever since he arrived from Leipzig in January 2024, and we likely would not have won the league and the Champions League that season without him. This season his importance to the team had become even more apparent, with him having scored in five consecutive games prior to his injury, and we'd now have to do without him for a few weeks:

In our first game without our Hungarian star, we travelled to Eindhoven to face PSV in the Champions League. After Vlahović has given us the lead in the first half before Madueke had levelled the scores in the second, the game was heading towards a 1-1 draw before some immense drama at the match's finale:

PSV looked to have snatched a lucky victory after earning a penalty in the final minute, but we managed to respond in incredible fashion as Anel Ahmedhodžić bundled home an equaliser from a corner before Martin Ødegaard scored his first goal of the season to snatch us a victory at the death. Late winners had become something of a hallmark of our team in recent seasons and it was great to see us fight to the end once again to earn an unlikely win.

A 4-0 win at home to Brighton came next, with Ryan Gravenberch heading home his first goal for the club in the process, before we then hosted Manchester United at the Emirates in the League Cup Fourth Round. As the only team to have beaten us this season I was keen for us to exact revenge and we did that in style, with goals from Saka, Balogun and Martinelli earning us an emphatic 3-0 victory. Balogun and Martinelli continued their fine goalscoring form with two belters:

Victory meant we would face Norwich City in the quarter-finals for the second season in succession, and with us having beaten United and both Manchester City and Liverpool losing their own ties, the chances of us retaining the League Cup were starting to look promising.

In the Premier League, we continued our fine form and dismantled Leicester City 4-1 at the King Power Stadium, with goals from Bukayo Saka, Vlahović, and a brace from Balogun securing victory. Balogun's opener was particularly noteworthy as he broke a record that had stood for 23 years:

PSV offered far less opposition in our next Champions League game as we ran out 3-0 victors at the Emirates with Smith Rowe, Spirin, and Vlahović at the mark. We were now all but secured qualification after four matches and looked set to finish ahead of PSG in our group for the second consecutive year:

A 2-0 win over Southampton in our final game before the November international break, with Tino Livramento assisting both goals for Balogun and Spirin against his former club, meant we had won 11 games in a row since our draw at Tottenham. Livramento, now an established England international, signed a new five-year deal to signify his importance to our side and was one of four of our players to make it into the Goal 50 for 2025:

I was somewhat bemused to not see Vlahović in there, given that he won the Premier League Golden Boot last season and had scored 11 goals already this season, but was nonetheless happy to see some of our other players receive recognition.

Our great run of form had meant we now occupied first place in the league table:

Reigning champions Manchester City had endured a poor start by their standards but Marcelo Bielsa's Liverpool were looking like a serious threat once again, with no losses to their name yet and the likes of Haaland and Salah in consistently good form. We would face both City and Liverpool in the league in the run up to Christmas.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Telegram Sam

[Telegram Sam]

Tactical Breakdown

I also wanted to talk about some of the tactical systems I have been playing around with after mentioning in my last post that I had trialled some new formations, including a 5-3-2 with a Regista and a 3-3-3-1 (which I only used for a single game). I had also been playing around with a 4-4-2 with two DMs, including a Segundo Volante and an Anchor, but in my most recent games I've found success with a more simple 4-4-2 that channels the Invincibles side of 2003/04. I wanted to try and replicate Wenger's team as best I could and found that with a few tweaks, I could create a strong side in a system that was relatively similar to our most legendary of teams.

The fact that I had the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Kolo Touré on my coaching staff also made the idea all the more tempting.

 

This is probably on paper my strongest XI using this formation, although I have plenty of depth across the side. It's a relatively straightforward formation with not too many tactical instructions, but the key aspect here is the number of support roles I have for the players that ensures my team fluidity is "Very Fluid". The Invincibles were a great side for many reasons but one of them was certainly how different members of the team could do contribute well to both the defence and the attack. I also have a very physically dominant side, with a number of tall, strong players and plenty of speed and agility included too. I'll talk a bit about each part of the team:

Defence

Jens Lehmann was never afraid to sweep up behind the backline during his days at the club, and Ramsdale's ability as a sweeper keeper makes him an analogous fit in this formation.

In the Invincibles side Ashley Cole was more of an attacking full-back than Lauren was, although he too would contribute to attacking play. In my own side Livramento is more of an attacking threat than Kieran Tierney at this stage of my save, so our primary attacking threat from the full-back position comes down the right side rather than the left. In the centre of defence, I can use either Ahmedhodžić or Benjamin White as our Kolo Touré; ball-playing defenders who aren't afraid to bring the ball forward. Gabriel takes up Sol Campbell's role as the more aggressive stopper in defence, but with his passing ability I was still keep to keep him on as a ball-playing defender.

Additional Player Instructions:

RB: Cross From Byline, Stay Wider

LB: Get Further Forward

RCB: Dribble More

Midfield

Declan Rice is our Gilberto Silva—a ball-winning midfielder who specialises in winning back possession and recycling the ball. Rice is probably a more gifted footballer than Gilberto, but with the other attacking talent we have I am keen for him to keep things simple and help us stay solid in the middle of the park to prevent counter attacks.

There is only one Patrick Vieira, a player we have famously never replaced, but with Jude Bellingham and Ryan Gravenberch I have two modern equivalents who can perform a similar role in the side. They are both tall, strong, and technically gifted, and are tasked with both holding down the fort in midfield while also bursting forward from deeper positions to contribute to the attack. Bellingham is also a natural leader, which I love to have in the middle of the park.

Robert Pires was an incredible wide player who teamed up brilliantly with Thierry Henry and Ashley Cole down the left flank. Here my best player Dominik Szoboszlai will play, while Emile Smith Rowe serves as a capable deputy. Szoboszlai has given me a number of quality performances from the left side of the pitch and I'll be relying on him to be our main attacking threat from midfielder when he returns from injury.

The right midfielder position is a bit more complicated, as I don't think Freddie Ljungberg fits neatly into any of the specified roles we can use in that position. He wasn't an out-and-out winger, nor was he a playmaker, but instead specialised on finding space down the right hand side to assist and score goals. I am hoping Bukayo Saka can perform well in this position as I have struggled to properly utilise him in the more narrow formations I've used in the past two seasons, but also am hoping Martin Ødegaard will do a job here when called upon. He has not been brilliant since I started using formations without a clear number 10, or any main playmaker at all, but he's a versatile enough player where he should still be able to contribute.

Additional Player Instructions:

LCM: Pass It Shorter, Hold Position

RCM: Dribble More, Get Further Forward

LM: Shoot More Often, Get Further Forward

RM: Cut Inside With Ball, Get Further Forward, Roam From Position

Attack

I do not have a Dennis Bergkamp and a Thierry Henry in my squad, as they are generational players who were truly unique. However, I do have forwards who can serve relatively similar roles.

Dušan Vlahović is not as creative or as good on the ball as Bergkamp was, but he does have greater physicality and more speed. Crucially, he's happy enough to drop deeper and help link the play between the midfield and attack, and scored 43 goals for us last season as a Deep Lying Forward. I'm using him on Attack duty—to keep things Very Fluid you can really only have the one player on Attack, and not Support—as I want to ensure he still gets himself into goalscoring positions.

The likes of Martinelli, Balogun, and Spirin will all be used as the Complete Forward in my squad. None are as good as Henry, of course, but they are all lightning fast and versatile enough to create chances for others as well as scoring plenty for themselves. While Henry would typically drift into the left flank in the Invincibles team, the striker that occupies this position in my team will be encouraged to do so down the right.

Additional Player Instructions:

RCF: Stay Wider

---

This is my general plan to try and recreate our best side of all-time. I've been tinkering with this formation in recent games and it has worked well, although I don't feel we've nailed it just yet. I'll continue to try it out in the coming weeks and will report back how I get on.

Any feedback is welcome!

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Telegram Sam

[Sysiphus]

12 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

The right midfielder position is a bit more complicated, as I don't think Freddie Ljungberg fits neatly into any of the specified roles we can use in that position. He wasn't an out-and-out winger, nor was he a playmaker, but instead specialised on finding space down the right hand side to assist and score goals. 

I really like this, think you've got it pretty good. There's an old thread in the Tactics forum which goes into detail about the Invincibles formation, might be worth it for you to dig it up to compare to your tactic. I think Freddie's role is probably best emulated by the Raumdeuter role, but that would require you to move Saka up to AMR from MR, which might ruin the aesthetics of the tactic.

Good luck honing it!

[Telegram Sam]

6 hours ago, Sysiphus said:

I really like this, think you've got it pretty good. There's an old thread in the Tactics forum which goes into detail about the Invincibles formation, might be worth it for you to dig it up to compare to your tactic. I think Freddie's role is probably best emulated by the Raumdeuter role, but that would require you to move Saka up to AMR from MR, which might ruin the aesthetics of the tactic.

Good luck honing it!

Thank you, I shall look out for it!

It’s a good point but yes, I am aiming to keep it as a 4-4-2 and have my right midfielder in line with the rest and not pushed too far forward. Having another attack duty would also push my team’s flexibility down from Very Fluid to Fluid.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Telegram Sam

[hasdgfas]

Season Review 2026/27

A very strong League season! A big drop from Manchester United after I set their piece of trash to all 1s and released him, but I feel no shame over doing that as I didn't want to see him in the game. Not great performances in most of the other cups, but CL semis and out to Bayern is fine. As long as they beat Tottenham in the Final.

Vlahovic with the Golden Boot and Ramsdale with the Golden Glove mean this is a hugely successful season in the Premier League.

A few performances to take note of.

12 goals and 10 assists for Academy player Steven Eck, who finally reached the first team this season! He was awesome on the right wing and became the starter pretty quickly.

Decent season for new boy Bellingham. 3 goals and 9 assists is pretty good for the role he was brought in for. Patino, the other one in that role, had a similar output with 1 goal and 11 assists.

Vlahovic remains unreal up front. 47 goals in all competitions? Wow!

----

Overall, a strong season with some exciting standouts. Hopefully we can keep it up moving forward. Not really sure of the next step in squadbuilding. I think it'll depend on who starts to draw interest over the summer.

[hasdgfas]

I am convinced role promises are broken. I have now played multiple players in the roles they wanted enough to match their agreed playing time, and yet they all are complaining about not meeting their promise.

[Telegram Sam]

59 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

A big drop from Manchester United after I set their piece of trash to all 1s and released him, but I feel no shame over doing that as I didn't want to see him in the game.

 

I did the exact same. No regret.

[saware]

19 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

I did the exact same. No regret.

I haven’t purchased the editor this year & I’ve never had a reason to check on previous versions, can you not suspend players? Would be slightly more realistic.

[Telegram Sam]

31 minutes ago, saware said:

I haven’t purchased the editor this year & I’ve never had a reason to check on previous versions, can you not suspend players? Would be slightly more realistic.

I didn't want to see him or his face in the game, so lowered all of his attributes and ability to 1 and terminated his contract with United. He'll almost certainly never play Premier League football ever again, regardless of whether or not he does jail time.

You can remove bans via the IGE but I don't see an option to add one. It can be done in the pre-game editor I believe.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Telegram Sam