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Thanks a lot. I guess having Martinelli as an IF-a with a Mezz-a can work. I would however put Martinelli with a stay narrow to forcce your Mezz to overlap him (or to leave it unitck, but do not put stay wider)

Good evening ! The recreation thread is finally all out ! I hope you will like it

Do you observe a pattern on those late goals ?

Ok for the Starting Eleven, but did you check if Saka played on the right and Martinelli on the left ? If you only ticked « use the same tactic », the AI may have put them on their good foot, and maybe Ødegaard has the Mezz-a and not the RMP. Drawing Liverpool away is a great result (I did loose to Anfield). Don’t only focus on the results : did we have a great game against Lutton ? Sometimes, you should have win, but we didn’t : that’s what we must focus on. For away games and games against weaker side/parking the bus, I will explain how to tweak. TL;DR : when away, the other team tends to play way more up, meaning you can turn up the risk to punish them in counter. Against very strong side, we might turn down the risk factor. Thanks for trying my tactic on your save btw !

Can you tell us if most of the draws and defeat were away game or home game ? If away games, we have to tweak them a bit (future part of the thread). And also, do you know if the IA played your wingers on their opposite foot ? For example, I know that my Ass.man will play Saka on the left because I have traditional wingers and not IW. Or, if that’s the case, it makes the tactic way more predictable. Finally, did you put the « Tackle Harder » PI on the front 5 ? But, as you said, the results you get are very far from what I got.

We do aim the balls on Gabriel, and not Saliba. Saliba's goal are when Gabriel wasn't playing. He's my fifth goal scorer. We have scored 26 goals from corner, out of 116 goals scorer, which is near 22% of our goal, for an IRL average of 14%. If you're only average, let's say minus 10 goals, so 16 goals. Meaning that we will still be the first attack of the PL by 12 goals : We have a strong defense, as we conceeded 10 less goals than the 2nd best defense in the PL The thing is, we could reduce our GD by twenty, we'll still be the best team in the PL. I do agree that my set-piece routine is way too good, however, cheking out of curiosity the season's results, we just won one game in the PL thanks to a corner by Gabriel. All other wins with only +1 goal wasn't from corner. I can screen my whole schedule if you want haha. Here you go my good Sir : Just so you know, I think I read something in the forum that FM doesn't count possession as we do IRL. Not sure, tho

I guess it depends on your players attributes.

Couldn’t agree more : the n10 position, in its romantic sense, is dead. If you’re French (I don’t if it has been translated), read the « l’Odyssee du 10 » book, it’s a wonderful book about the evolution of the 10.

I don’t think there are things that will turn the momentum, but only few tweaks that can help. Here is what I can think of depending on the scenario : - if some of your crucial players (for instance, your double pivot in a 4231, your WB in a 3412) are tired, sub them even if they’re doing a wonderful game so far ; - check moral. If a player is nervous and his rating start to drop, you can either encourage him or sub him ; - does the opponent changed his tactics or formation ? Maybe they’re focusing in one of your weakness ; - analyse your strength against the opponent team. It appears that some FM players are scared when the opponent play very aggressively, even if they’re the much better team. If that the case, don’t turn down your risks : turn them up to punish harder !

First part finished (even though I might add IRL footage latter). Next step : Commitment !

Good evening, everyone ! As you can see, I'm writting a fully-written thread on the Arsenal recreation, based on IRL footage, Charles Watts' book and my FM knwoledge. It may take a while, sorry of you can't read it fully written straight away. Futhermore, English isn't my native language : even though I can read it easily, I may struggle with the explanation or even with grammar. Feel free to (gently) point that out I hope you will like the "finished" product and enjoy the on-going reading for the first ones to see it ! And, of course, happy New Year !

Passion Last but not least chapter, how to build a long-term save with Arsenal. We will adress : - The Club DNA ; - The transfers ; - The academy Arteta's DNA : Respect, Commitment and Passion Not really football terms, right ? But they're very important for Arteta. We can translate it like this : Respect, towards your teammates and you opponent. When looking at Arsenal squad, few players have a competitive streak (G. Jesus, Zinchenko, Rice). You also want players with great personnalities (you only have to players with balanced personnality) ; Commitment, going the extramile for your team, for the people, being involved for the team and not for yourself. Arsenal are the best when it comes to Teamwork, very top for Workrate, Concentration, Composure ; Passion, loving Football and the beauty of it : (Best at Technique, top passing, First touch, Dribbling, Inspiration and Vison) In a more FM way, we can add : Anticipation, Off the ball, Agility, Balance, Strengh, Accelaration and Pace Transfers According to Revolution, Arsenal has a young-focus transfer policy : "White, who was at Brighton, was identified as the centerback that Arsenal wanted. At 23, he fitted the age profile of the type of player Arsenal were now targetting under Arteta and Edu, and he also had versatility. Technically he was very strong and he'd shown during a loan spell under Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds that he could play high-intensity football under a demanding coach" "'When the player is 26-plus, with a big salary and he's not performing, he's killing you' Edu had explained." The policy is very straight forward : - For buyings, we're looking at youngsters that showed great qualities and that can perform high-intensity football. Being versatile is a plus ; - For sellings, if you're over 26's, having one of the biggest salaries and you're not performing, you have to get out. Before showing my first buyings during the summer transfer window, I am playing with masked attribute (I have to scout the players to see their attributes) and with my scouting team. I'm not searching manually the best wonderkids. For the buyings : We bought D. Raya as he did a very good season and took the place of Ramsdale when the latter was underperfoming ; Ousmane Diomande ; Mathys Tel K. Thuram For the sellings : Eddie Nketiah Thomas Partey Jorginho Arteta's DNA : Respect, Commitment and Passion Some youngsters from Hale End Charlie Patino Myles Lewis-Skelly There are other, but these are the ones I would recommend ! Here is the end of this recreation thread. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I'm very keen toanswer all your questions ! Take care !

Trust the Process "Journalist : How big is the job for you, at Arsenal ? Arteta : You still have a massive gap to fill in, we have to improve in many départment a lot, we have to respect the process" This was an interview gave by Arsenal's coach in 2020 after a 2-1 win against Sheffield United. Respect the process, trust the process, believe in the process... This is the main catchphrase of Arteta. Nominated as the manager in 2019, the "Boss" lived very hard time before challenging for the PL title. I believed that a lot of FM players don't have faith in their idea. The minute a tactic stop working or a stricker stop scoring, they change everything in a rush. If you want to replicate Arsenal, you also to trust the process. Here are some ways to apply to FM I lose against the last team on the table while I'm the current leader, I dominated xG and possession why did I lose ? Well, losing is a part of life (and not only football). Sometimes, you're doing everything right, the odds are massively on your side. Yet, you lose. And that's suck. A lot. I am not telling you to not savescum : it's a single player game and you enjoy it the way you want. Personnaly, I don't savescum because it feels like cheating and I don't enjoy it. But if you do savescum, don't try to revolutionize the entire tactic, try few tweaks and understand why it worked. I would strongly suggest to stick with your Plan A, and make it a Plan Abis I keep loosing games and games and I might lose the title ! Well, Rome wasn't build in one day. As said before, loosing is a part of the process. I lost the PL title by one single draw. I could have savescum to have, season 1, the best season ever. But hey, did Arsenal's squad is build to complete a treble currently ? The honnest answer is no. I was very lucky with my UCL draws (PSV, Marseille, A. Madrid and Leipzig). I avoided teams like Inter, PSG, Real Madrid, AC Milan and City. In the FA Cup, the only big team I faced was Chelsea. In the Carabao, I did faced Liverpool, Man United and Man City. But, once again, these teams were playing their B team while I was playing my A team. I got lucky. If you're loosing again and again, maybe try few tweaks, benched players that perform poorly. My stricker isn't scoring for 5 games in a row. Benched him for few games, then give him a praise and another chance. He might score again. Maybe the stricker was overperforming ? Maybe is not a great stricker for the PL ?

Respect Contrary to the two previous chapters, all the following chapters (Respect, Trust the process and Passion) were not tested during the played season. For instance : - all the tweaking presented in the current chapter are only based on IRL Arsenal. I have no idea if it really works in FM 24 ; - Once again, regardind "Passion" and creating a long-term save, I will update this thread with my own transfers (and mistakes). There are 2 reasons for tweaks : - the first reason depends on the squad's injuries. Arteta had to juggle with a lot of injuries, and sometimes leading to different ways of building up. Keeping the same principles, these tweakings will be focused on role and duty switches ; - the second one depends on the game's scenario. Even if Arsenal does not adapt a lot on the opponent, they can make adjustment regarding various situations (by playing more direct and on counter, to overload the opponent third or by playing a more discipline mid-block) Injuries When beginning with Arsenal, there is a lack of depth in the following areas : - Fullbacks. With Timber LCA, you only have White, Zinchenko and Tomi for fullbacks (and, you can use Cedric and Kiwior, but they're not at the level required) ; - Right CB. If Saliba is injured, you have to put White on his role, which means that Tomi has to be played as a right FB. In other words, if Saliba or a FB is seriously injured or suspended, you're in serious trouble. Of course, you can always try things to make this work (for instance, Rice as a CB, but you now lack depth in the DM slot with Partey's injuries). All the front 5 is pretty packed, especially for the wingers. As a consequence, we will focus with the sole scenarios of injuries in the back-4. 1. Both White and Tomi are unavailable. You’re lacking of right FB Of course, you could have faith on Cedric. To be honest, he did well as an IFB, but only against way weaker teams. If you trust him, I do think you can make the following changes : - RFB becoming a WB-s or CWB-s, the AM R becoming an IW-a or an IF-a, the DM becoming an HB (the MC R can be changed to a DLP-s if the RPM doesn’t drop enough to make a double pivot with Zinchenko. In this case, you keep your 3-2 defensive build up. 2. Both Zinchenko and White are unavailable You have Tomi to play either as the left or right FB. If you play him on the left, you can make it work with the n°1 tweak. If you play him on the right, you lack a player for the double pivot. So : - play Saka as a CWB-a on the left, switch the MC’s so the Mezz-a is on the right, put the RPM as a DLP-s if the double pivot struggle, switch the AM L to an IF-s or a IW-s, and the AM R to a W-s. 3. If Saliba and Tomi are unavailable (or any case playing White in Saliba’s spot) You can use tweak n°1, or just play Kiwior as the IFB. 4. If all FB are unavailable Play Rice and Partey both as IWB-s (switching the R FB), and Jorginho as an HB. Why Jorginho as an HB instead of Rice ? Because I have more faith in him to recycle the ball rather than to cover a flank, as easy as it is. Of course, there are other scenarios. But you get the idea : finding solutions to keep the 3-2-5. Plan A, Abis, Ater Despite being absolute rivals, Spurs and Arsenal have a common share : they don't really have a plan B. As Postecoglou said : For us, let's say "I don't have a plan B, only plan Arteta (or Arsenal if you're not a fan of the Spaniard)". As I said before : i only did very few tweaks depending of the game : most of the time, I sticked with the same tactic without changing anything (which may have cost us at least a draw, therefore the PL title). Before adressing them, a quick reminder about mentality. As Cleon said in the FM Playbook : We will focus on three mentalities for our tweaks : - Balanced - Positive - Attacking After the first season, I find 3 situations where tweaks can be made : - Despite being the better team, the opponent still play a high-line (ex : Chelsea away, Newcastle, Aston Villa). The idea is pretty much simple ; punishing the audacity of your opponent using a high-line. In my opinion taking also more risk is essential to be sure to punish way harder. - The exact opposite scenario : the opponent knows that they're way weaker and is parking the bus, excpecting to got you on the counter. You have to be patient and over load the opponent third (for instance, doing a 2-2-6, maybe changing the AM R to an inverted role). - Now, you're the weaker team. As does Arsenal IRL, you have to be more disciplined with a mid block, and less risk. To not be sterile, you go with counter ticked

Commitment Arsenal's defense has greatly improved since last season. In fact, in the 2022/2023 season, Arsenal conceded 1.21 xGA, whereas today this same statistic is below 1 (0.92 xGA). In other words, statistically, Arsenal concede less than one goal per game (note that the team is slightly under-performing, currently conceding 1 goal per game, partly due to D. Raya's inconsistent performances). What is the Gunners' philosophy when it comes to defending? Once again, Arsenal take their inspiration from Guardiola and his Manchester City. Arsenal play with a high defensive line and extremely high pressing, with the aim of suffocating the opposing team in their own half of the pitch. There are therefore three distinct phases in the defense of the kings of North London: - how Arsenal counter-pressure when they lose the ball; - how Arsenal defend as a midfield block in the face of challenging opposition; - how Arsenal defend attacking/counter-attacking transitions. Counterpressing To talk about Arsenal's counterpressing, let's start from the beginning: the formation of the team in possession. As we saw earlier, the Gunners play in a hybrid 3-2-5 / 2-3-5 formation, as illustrated below. This possession formation helps counter-pressing, as 7 of the 10 outfield players are ready to pounce on the ball. To add to this intensity, the "Front 5" players each have the "Tackle harder" IP. Triggering of pressing (in IT) has only been taken up a notch. Indeed, while Arsenal is a high-pressure team, it does not dominate the statistics in this respect. The only exception is Gabriel Jesus, whose defensive statistics are well above average, which is particularly surprising coming from a 9 in a dominant team. NB : the "Close Down more" can be added to G. Jesus PIs. To be honest, I did not use it as it looked overkill for me. Furthermore, . G. Jesus still has attributes to press a lot more than usual and will still press a lot without this PI. I let you compare with Haaland first and Nunez second Another example that G. Jesus press way more than the other : As it is, the TI "Prevent short GK distribution" has to be ticked. Mid-block If Arsenal don't get the ball back immediately, the 3-2-5 will start to move into a 4-4-2, as illustrated below. In previous versions of Football Manager, tactics and defensive formations were static: if we wanted our team to defend in a 4-4-2 formation, it was necessary to create a 4-4-2 tactic (or an asymmetrical 4-4-1-1). Now, updating the game engine has led not only to positional play in possession, but also without the ball! Consequently, even with a 4-3-3 formation, if the right pressing parameters and situation present themselves, it's possible to be in 4-4-2 pressing, 4-3-3 defending and 3-2-5 attacking. Let's take a look at some more images from our 5-1 victory over City in the Carabao Cup. Immediately after his engagement, City decided to wait while he set up his block. We can see Stones going up alongside Rodri, and Walker positioning himself as the third CB. Immediately, my team identifies a pressing scenario: Ødegaard climbs up to the level of that crazy Gabriel Jesus, while Rice forms a double pivot with Havertz. Another match, in a 3-1 victory over Liverpool. This time, we're not in a situation of commitment, but of open play. Ødegaard comes near Nketiah, forming once again our pressing 4-4-2 Defendind transition Playing a high-line (or even a very high-line) rymes with direct counter-attack. And Arteta's team is very well aware of that. Fully conscious that only Saliba can regulary compete with Premier League strickers' speed, they choose to block the middle of the pitch and to let the wider area exposed, as you can see in this footage of Tifo IRL This is what helped Arsenal to not be leaking in goals. And, that is also why Arsenal struggle at the end of last season, with Saliba's injury. TI : Trap outside, drop off more Saliba : BPD-C

New Dawn Embrassing La Masia teachings and Guardiola’s experience, Arteta use positional play. Let’s study several scenario before translating it to FM. First and foremost, we have to take for granted that Arsenal is playing in a 433 shape : When in possession, they do move in a 3-2-5 shape with a box-midfield The left-back do tuck inside to form a double pivot with defensive midfielder. With the addition of Rice as the number 6, we have the left-back being a more pass-oriented player while Rice can recycle and rush through the lines carrying the ball. Leftback : IWB-support Defensive Midfielder : DM-support. We do not take put the DM on defend duty as it will limit him on a recycle-only option. Gabriel, Saliba and White form a three-at-the-back while in possession, with Saliba being on the center to counter long ball behind the defense, Gabriel having the liberty to dribble a bit more to bring the block up the pitch. Many discussion are about the role of White : is he a third CB or a right-back (FB, or even a wing-back). Let’s see some IRL footage (source : Youtube, the Holding Midfield): So, there is 2 clear states when building from the back : - when the goalkeeper has the ball, Arsenal has a basic back-4, with both FB going wide ; - when any fieldplayer has the ball, White forms a back-3 with Saliba and Gabriel. Some may argue that White does overlap Saka, which is not the case with an IFB. First, looking at IRL, we have to admit that if White can overlap, it doesn’t do it on a regular basis. We can check the heat-maps of White and Tierney to see the differences from White to a “basic-wing back”. (Source : Sofascore). Both are from the last season. White heatmap Tierney heatmap We can see that the heatmaps is clearly different, White being freer on his movements. Again, if you look Arsenal games, you can see that White can also push up and play in the half-space for a pass into space. Now, applying that on FM, we’re going to take as an example our tremendous win against Manchester City in the Carabao cup final 5-1 You can see that when we are entering in the opponent’s third, White is much more up than Saliba and Gabriel, the shape becoming a 2-3-5. In other words, even if White turns to be a third-CB, he remains way more positive than the other 2. During goalkick, you can see that both FBs are spreading wide, while Rice and Odegaard form the double pivot. If in this game, no action involved an overlapping from White, it does not mean that he does not do it. However, if you really want to emphasize on the overlapping, you can 1. Add the TI (caution, it may slow down the play) or 2. Change the right winger as a IW-a. About the Xhaka/Havertz role, there is not a lot to say : if the former could bring balance and was more of a B2B, the latter is way more agressive. Xhaka heatmap Havertz Heatmap Xhaka stats for 22-23 Havertz stats for current season As you can see, Havertz is better in : - npXg ; - shots - tackles - aerials won However, he is way behind as a creator. In other word, Havertz is more of a goal-oriented player, much more than Xhaka (which, later, will explain the slight differences between last season’s Odegaard and current season’s Norvegian captain). The main difference between the Swiss and the German are their tendencies to come wider : - Xhaka could “overlap” Martinelli, cross the ball or pass it, which helped Martinelli to run into channels ; - Havertz, being more goal-oriented, tends to be much more central and leaves the Brazilians on the flank. In FM, Havertz thrives as a Mezz-a. The heatmap suggests that he could be a CM-a with “Roam from position” PI’s. Watching Arsenal IRL makes me think that the heatmap is a bit flawed with Havertz’s time as the n°9. But both Mezz-a or CM-a can work. Having Havertz by is side, the Gunner’s captain has to bring more balanced in the build up, as we can see : Odegaard heat map of the previous season – staying in the right half-space Odegaard current season’s heatmap – coming deeper to help distributing the ball Last season’s stats : Current season’s stats By droping deeper, the statistics shows that Ødegaard : - Is less in dangerous position to score goals (same amount of shots per 90 with worst stats) ; - Does much more progressive carries (as being deeper), without drooping the progressive passes ; - Get a little better pass completion, which can be explained by simple passes from deep before trying to break the opponent line of defense Being deeper without droping is offensive passes, the King in the North seems to be the perfect RP-s. Talking about the wingers (Martinelli, Saka, Trossard, Nelson, etc.), it is hard to illustrate their pattern without videos. So, without video, we just have to go back to basics : stretching the opposition. As a Guardiola’s student, Arteta likes to have his wingers hugging the touchline, even if they cut inside when they have the ball. IRL, if they can make infuriating decision to funnel attacks into the center, they can also dribble by the byline and try to cutback the ball into the box. Meaning, they can both cut inside or dribble past their opponent. That’s being said, both Wingers are put in W-a/s as : - They have the PPMs “like to cut inside with the ball”, leading to uncertainty for the opponent full backs ; - They can cross and dribble ; - As we have no FB who’s main goal is to stretch the field, we have to put that responsibility on our Wingers To maintain the uncertainty, both Wingers are asked to roam from position, like the other players from the “front 5”. Last but not least, our Brazilian Jesus. He likes to dribble, to pass, to help building up, to run at defense, to roam, to jump over 6ft CB, to press, etc. He pretty much like to do everything, and what is better to do everything than a CF-s ?

I'm going to update my post with a very much more detailled post. To answer quickly : - I did stick with this tactic for the whole season. However, at the end, I tended to tweak a bit. I'm gonna try to offer two tweak version and the scenarios for them to be used ; - with the new ME, with the right pressing options, you can press in a 442 shape while having a 433 defensive shape. To be honest, I was quite amazed by that

Yeah, we had crucial injuries at the middle of the season and, in the final sprint for the PL title, we had 2 very bad away game (losing 1-0 to bad teams, unlucky finishes and so on)

Well, let’s say that in the previous season, Xhaka was more of a B2B, so he could drop deep to help the build-up. Havertz is way more attacking-oriented : Ødegaard is doing more of the bread and butter. I wouldn’t say that he does not get forward or sit deeper : he really position himself depending on what the game needs. That’s why, in my opinion, RPM suits him the best. Especially, and compared to previous FM, Ødegaard received quite a boost on his long range ability.

Yes, the front 5 (ST, AML, AMR, MCL and MCR) have tackle harder. Both wingers have "Roam from position" to help with the build-up. DM has "shoot less often", but you can let it if his good at long range shooting. LCB has "dribble more" to recreate Gabriel movement.

ARSENAL RECREATION - The rise of Arteta's Arsenal Introduction As an inspiration of Charles Watts’ book, please find bellow my recreation of Arteta’s Arsenal. You won’t only find a tactic that works great in addition to recreate Arteta’s way of playing. I’m going to try to give you some general rules on the whole philosophy to build the club, not only on one season, but in the long run. For the ones just looking for a recreation without the borrowing explanation and storytelling, please find below : - the tactic - and the results The principles In a press conference while he was an Guardiola’s assistant, Arteta stated that he wanted his team to : produce an expressive and engaging football ; not be entirely focus on the opponent ; dictate the tempo and create chances ; entertain our fans. In FM terms, we can translate these like this : not going route-one or a counter-attacking playstyle : he wants a possession-based tactic ; we should ask the question to our opponents, and not answer theirs : he wants a possession-based tactic that can be used over and over (which is nice for FM) ; we decide if the game is played slow or quickly at the condition that we're still the ones producing the most and better chances : he wants an agressive possession-based tactic, that can be used over and over (meaning, we don't want possession for the sake of it) ; we want emotions, we have to take risks to score goals : he wants an agressive possession-based tactic in order to win whatever it takes, that can be used over and over (meaning, we play to win, a draw must feel like a defeat). Our development – using Revolution plan – will be the following : 1. New Dawn, or how Arsenal is building-up and attacking 2. Commitment, or how Arsenal is defending 3. Respect, or how can we tweak the tactic regarding Arteta’s principle 4. Trust the Process, or general rules to deal with varations of performance during a season (mid-season slump, leaking or lacking goals, etc.) 5. Passion, or how to build your team in a long-term save (transfers, club DNA, young prospects, etc.).

Thanks !

Not a question about tactic but : where do we take in charge the scheduling of friendlies ? It is always my assistant manager that does it and it screw up my pre-season training

I guess you’re talking about legit formation, and not some of our creation like 1-0-5-1-3 ? For the easiest, I would go with a flat 442. Even if you’re not an expert at tactic, you’re still pretty solid in defense and you do not have the struggle of a lone stricker. for the hardest, I would go with a 3ATB if you’re not familiar with this. Without any line breaker, 3ATB can be tricky and steralise your offense. However, more of the formation, I would say roles are the thing to look out. If you play with fancy roles (F9, RMD, IWB, etc.)., it can really screw up your entire squad

1. Confirmation Bias : if a lot of people complain about something, it must be an issue. Or, maybe a lot of people make the same mistake ? 2. We don’t have a single capture of OP’s tactic or players. How can we be sure that it is not his tactic or his players ? 3. I used to complain a lot about offside. However, the better I became at tactic creation, the less « bug » I face. For example, I’m **** at setpiece and, when playing, I’m like « again a free kick bug for the IA ! » TL;DR : I’m not saying it’s OP’s fault. I’m saying that we don’t have the elements to rule if it’s either a bug or OP’s fault.