Ö-zil to the Arsenal!

FM2018 was my personal favourite for balance between the match engine and functionality of the tactics creator. FM2024 is actually very good if you want to play positional football; easily the best ever for moving between one system on paper and a 3-2-5 / 2-3-5 / 3-1-6 in attack. The downside is that unfortunately positional football has become mandatory; you might try to play a narrow system, diamond, something more creative, but it all ends up in a positional 3-2-5 / 2-3-5..

Hi everyone, Quick question (I have searched and found no answer) - is there any reason custom skins would cause my player relationships (green lines) in the tactics screen to disappear or not form? I have noticed relationships seem to no longer form when using custom skins. If so, is there a way to edit this? Thank you

What do you mean?

Anyone ever manage to work this one out? Player partnerships barely forming for me at all this year

Anyone ever manage to work this one out? Player partnerships barely forming for me at all this year

Nice! What a team..

Thank you for sharing

Nice!! What did you use to make the GIF that long?

Yes, they are looking good; particularly after the UEFA Youth League. Also interested to see Andre Gomes in goal, Rafael Luis, Henrique Araujo and a few others. Looking very strong again

Fantastic One of the things I under-estimated whilst playing this save was Benfica's position as a selling club; able to sell into all of Europe's top 5 leagues without strengthening direct (domestic) rivals whilst still competing in the Champions League. Playing an Arsenal save right now and there's far less market for sales without directly strengthening domestic rivals.

In case anyone has yet to come across the Evidence Based Football Manager youtube channel, it's superb.. Very relevant to this thread and anybody playing youth-focused saves.

I've set up a twitter account - @pontadelanca10 - for Football Manager and tactical discussions. Not 100% sure how it'll look at this point and still very much planning to continue posting here. Please go ahead and connect, if you're interested. Cheers!

I agree. I am coming around to the idea. I like the idea of Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba and White with Tomiyasu ahead of them. On the traits - for me, I find it works very well to combine mentoring groups with training player traits. 'Plays One-Twos' is a good example as I like this trait throughout the squad so I will have quite a lot of players training this trait early in a save and a large mentoring group. My aim is to double-up, so players are simultaneously learning the trait individually and from their mentoring group. Eventually you can get a snowball-effect where, as you have more and more players in the tutoring group pick up the desired traits, the easier it becomes for players in the group to pick up that trait. Over time, I break the mentoring groups down by function where different groups focus on traits for their respective role. For example, defenders 'Bringing the ball out of defence'.

Has anyone ever tried converting Tomiyasu into holding midfield? He's tall, physical, technical and intelligent. Passing, vision and composure are a little light, but I think that could be ironed out within a season. I am thinking he could play the Partey-role at the base of a 4-3-3. Makes good sense in the transfer market. Partey had a good season and could attract £60m in the transfer market and free up £160k in wages. Southampton went down so Livramento is unsettled and would give us an overlapping option at fullback. Plus I have Vagnoman who had a wonderful first season. Undecided tactically though.

Yea I think he does, but I don't quite see him getting ahead of White or Saliba at centre back. I've got Reiss Nelson, Omari Hutchinson, Amani Richards, Mika Biereth, Marcelo Flores, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Omar Rekik all earmarked as potential squad players but not sure I see them being first choice. The challenge is to get the Arsenal-produced players into the most-used 11 for the season.

Anyone else seen the FM Challenge on the Athletic podcast? Essentially to win the Premier League and/or Champions League with Arsenal with six academy players in the team. The caveat is that the six must have come all the way through the Arsenal system, not signed at any point - so for example, Martinelli, Saliba etc. do not count, even if classed as 'home grown', whereas Smith-Rowe, Saka etc. count. The six must also be in the most-used eleven, so not squad players. There must be a couple of people here who have already done it? Seems very do-able. I could certainly see Saka, Smith-Rowe, Nketiah, Balogun and Patino making a solid team, but I'd need to think more about a 6th. Might be fun.

Apologies for the lack of responses; back in remote East Africa with work and haven't had much time to touch the game in months. I do intend to respond to people's posts when I get time. Thank you as always for your kind words In case anyone's interested, Arsenal challenge on the Athletic. https://theathletic.com/podcast/237-the-football-manager-show-by-the-athletic/ Win the league or Champions League with six players from the academy. Must have started at the club (eg. so no Martinelli). Nice timing - as the world goes transfer crazy - to remember the talent we have at the club!

Martin Odegaard drops deep to receive a simple pass from under-pressure Emile Smith-Rowe, dragging Eric Dier out of position. Odegaard then turns and plays a through ball into the space left behind Spurs defence for an on-rushing Gabriel Martinelli to slot home.. ..sealing the title for Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in emphatic style. The game crowned a glorious season for Arsenal; at the end of an 18-year road to redemption. For the first time in what seems like an eternity, Arsenal are a club on an upward trajectory. Arteta & co. have overseen a near complete overhaul of the Arsenal squad; rebuilding the club culture and instilling a clear possession-oriented tactical identity facilitated by: Controlled build-up Attacking rotations Organised pressing My approach has been to implement the same style of play, using a structure that allows us to fit Saka, Smith-Rowe, Odegaard and Martinelli into a fluid attacking unit. Attacking team mentality combined with Support duties instruct the team to attack and defend collectively. Employing Martin Odegaard as a False 9 may be the most interesting decision of the set-up. It really suits his overall attribute profile; I'm surprised it's not talked about more. He has strong work rate and teamwork to lead the overall press. He's our most creative player and this set-up gives him lots of freedom. Frees up space for Smith-Rowe to play centrally, vacating the flanks for Martinelli and Saka. Attacking in a 3-2-5 In possession, we use positional rotations to create a 3-2-5 attacking shape. Tomiyasu plays as a Fullback (Support) with Hold Position and Sit Narrow whilst Gabriel is asked to Play Wider creating a back three. Xhaka and Partey are a simple midfield pivot both holding position; Partey in the more defensive role and Xhaka the playmaker. Martinelli cuts inside as an Inside Forward (Support) with Tierney overlapping as a Complete Wingback (Support) completing the front five. The collective ethos shows through the involvement of the entire team in the pass maps. The natural passing triangles in the 3-2-5 shape allow us to dominate possession with ease. ..completing over 900 per passes per game over the course of the entire season (this would be ridiculous in real life, by the way ). We build up play though our 3-2 unit at the back, who circulate possession and draw the opposition out of position; averaging around 100 passes each per match. The front five are far more creative and clinical in the opposition third. Attacking five channels gives us a numerical advantage over an opposition back four. Chaos ensues Pressing in a 4-4-2 Without the ball, the makeup of the squad lends itself particularly well to pressing. So we play a high line and press with maximum-intensity as a 4-4-2. At times, our press even became an attacking weapon. The Future 4-3-3? Some fantastic Arsenal-related tactical content has come online recently, particularly about Arteta's continued evolution toward 4-3-3. Thought it might be interesting to share. Rohan's Deeper Dive into Arteta's long-term system Ball Over Passion: 4-2-3-1 versus 4-3-3 Modern Football Analyst: How Arteta's Arsenal is becoming an absolute force The positional rotations from 4-3-3 into the 2-3-5 (or 3-2-5) remain the main topic of contention as illustrated here by @EricLaurie. Personally, I think Emile Smith-Rowe attacking from a deeper role suits his attribute profile wonderfully given that we would have Tomiyasu behind him. Recent form of Thomas Partey is starting to turn this into a potential reality. Really opens up can of worms on the role of a full-back in this type of system, but I think that's another topic for another day Thank you for reading. Enjoy!