FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[lomekian]

September 2011:

EPL:Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool: Diaby (55), Chamakh (86)

A hard fought win in an even game, after RVP missed a penalty in the first half, with both goals coming from rebounds following unconvincing efforts by Walcott

ECL: Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan: Arteta (64), Walcott (68, 90+2).

Much like 3 years ago, Milan struggled to cope with Walcott's pace late on. A strong performance from the inconsistent Andre Santos helped, and Milan without the injured Ibrahimovic were toothless.

EPL: Newcastle 0-2 Arsenal: Ramsey (39), Mertesacker (84).

A tough win after RVP was sent off for two bookable offences just after half-time in a game ruined by fussy refereeing. Both goals came from free-kicks crossed in from wide positions, with Ramsey's diving header very pleasing.

Carling Cup: Arsenal 4-0 Scunthorpe: Oxlade-Chamberlain (3), Chu-young (38), Sigurdsson (42), Miyaichi (46).

A comfortable home win against weak opposition from a second string team. Park and Miyaichi's goals were both good strikes from the edge of the box, but goal of the game was Sigurdsson's 35 yard curler.

EPL: Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd - Walcott (77), Arshavin (79)

A very tense game of few chances, changed by super-sub Arshavin, as we caught the Champion's on the break twice late on.

ECL: Litex 1-2 Arsenal - Yanev (14) - Owen (67, 83)

The Man U game left with me a tired an partially weakened side for this one, and the aforementioned Tom ripped me apart for 45 minutes until i made some tactical changes. The game was slipping away , but I replaced Chamakh with Owen, and the little poacher grabbed two off the bench on his debut. Exactly why I bought him.

[lomekian]

October 2011:

EPL - Stoke City 0-3 Arsenal: Walcott (4, 24), Van Persie (50)

Very pleasing. The early goals deflated the thugs from the potteries, who were tired after their Europa League exertions. Begovic was at fault for the first and the third, and Mertesacker won EVERYTHING in the air.

EPL Arsenal 5 - 1 QPR: Song (13), Walcott (24, 39), Chamakh (28), Koscielny (83), Andre Santos S/0 16 - Mertesacker o.g (68).

Another comprehensive victory, against surprise package QPR who were second before the game. Santos was sent off for a HORRIBLE tackle which I condemned and fined him for (which he accepted). 2 goals and 2 assists from Theo, who was hitting a rich vein of form.

ECL - Arsenal 2 -0 Leverkusen: Owen (80), Chamakh (90)

With 27 shots on goal to 8 this was a one sided affair, but we couldn't break the deadlock until our super-sub came of the bench and broke the deadlock by latching on to a deflected Walcott cross.

EPL Blackburn 1-2 Arsenal: Vukcevic (88) - Mertesacker (47), Song (55)

A really tight game of few chances with TV5 getting man of the match despite his partners goal. A good win as the team underperformed following the midweek game

Carling Cup: Stoke 1-2 Arsenal: Pennant (42) - Sigurdsson (4), Campbell (8)

A good result for the second string, with the Sol Man snatching a goal on his third spell debut, and an absolute wonder strike from Sigurdsson the long range king.

EPL: Arsenal 3-1 Tottenham: Gervinho (20, 82), Walcott (42) - Defoe (30)

The High-riding spurs were put in their place due to the two pacey wing wizards. Gervinho's first was a Pires-esque bender into the far corner from the D, his second a conversion from a Walcott cross. Walcott's was a near post flick from a corner. Not sure what he was doing there!

[lomekian]

November 2011:

ECL: Leverkusen 1-2 Arsenal: Mertesacker og (33) - Arshavin (31), Chamakh (82)

Another extremely tight game, settled by a Chamakh header from an Oxlade Chamberlain cross, after the youngster came off the bench.

EPL: Chelsea 1-5 Arsenal: Terry (13) - Van Persie (4, 27, 90+1), Gervinho (23), Arteta (44)

A comfortable win against a suspension and injury ravaged Chelsea, where our pace going forward, particularly on the counter was too much for them. 3 assists for Theo, and the goal differential was helped by Kalou's inability to finish!

EPL: Arsenal 6 - 1 Bolton: Walcott (6,46), Knight og (15), Arteta (54), Jaaskalinen (og 73, 90+2) - Tuncay (81)

Another comfortable win against a poor Bolton side, aided by 3 own goals. Sigurdsson with 2 assists from behind the front man.

ECL: Milan 0 - 1 Arsenal: Andre Santos (3)

A very fortunate result with a second string, where the early goal allowed me to switch to more defensive tactics to close down Milan's wing-backs. a very cooly taken goal by the Brazilian wing back.

EPL: Aston Villa 2-2 Arsenal: Bent (28), Jenas (34) - Van Persie (36,44)

Villa's aggressive 424 caught me on the hop, and Bent's poaching struck again against Arsenal, with agbonlahor's pace as difficult to cope with as ever. It took 2 great goals from the skipper to squeak us out of this one.

[Carmi88]

starting to lose interest in my arsenal save mainly due to the fact that we have never beaten a team that has gone down to 10 or 9 men, several of those instances in the first 10 mins of the game and we are always 1 down by then, unable to finish chances and yet the opposition always score their first 2-3 efforts, that aswell as poor marking on throw ins and the keeper not being able to claim a ball that is out of the box, backing off instead and conceding, really starting to take the ****

[Gooner Nation]

keeper not being able to claim a ball that is out of the box, backing off instead and conceding

I'm having the same problem with Szczesny but luckily enough it isn't leading to goals. He comes out to near the top of the box and just stops even though he should get to the ball first. He's usually so close to the attacker they shoot high or wide.

[WillyBroadband]

Does anyone think Milito from Inter would be worth signing? I have had a £5m offer accepted by them.

Definitely dude! I got him for £7m & he is my highest earner but so far in 15 games he's scored 7 & got 7 assists, so not a monster but very handy as Theo's been banging them in.

[exorcisto]

I'm relieved to say Wigan beat Manchester United at the DW stadium in my save to preserve our Invincibles record for another season. Unfortunately we lost on the same day when we visited Eastlands, so I'm no nearer to United at the top of the league. We're still 8 behind them in 2nd, but the chasing pack, now led by Manchester City, are only 5 behind me.

I'm progressing in the CL and FA cup though, Lille were sent packing from the Emirates after a 3-1 beating (with a weakened team out), making it 8-2 on aggregate. Stoke almost made me pay though, coming from 1-0 and 2-1 behind, before giving away an 87th minute penalty, and a 93rd minute breakaway by van Persie, 4-2 to the good guys. Peterborough in the next round never had a chance, so we're in the semis - a home tie against Chelsea, who have been scoring 5s and 6s for fun in their last few games. City play Leicester in the other semi.

I'll be satisfied with 2nd in the league, and the CL semi-finals, but I really want to win the FA cup this year and end the trophy draught.

Either way the summer will be about offloading some of the wage-bill. Rosicky will go on a free, hopefully somone will take Squillaci, who has conspired to be injured during all transfer windows so far, and with any luck Porto will take up their option on Diaby who they've had on loan.

I'm also considering letting Mertesacker go, since he never forced Koscielny or Vermaelen out of my team. He can be replaced on lower wages I'm sure, maybe even by Bartley. Anyone got any thoughts on him?

[JEinchy]

Well, this is bull...

Two games into the second season and Craig Dawson has just come to me with concerns that he's not in my future plans and that he wants to leave for regular first team football. Last season, he went out on loan to Lorient and played over 40 games. In what way are these concerns justified? His squad status is backup to the first team, and it's only been two games into the season and he's complaining? Just what the hell?

I tried to be tough with him, but now he wants to leave. How realistic.

[exorcisto]

Well, this is bull...

Two games into the second season and Craig Dawson has just come to me with concerns that he's not in my future plans and that he wants to leave for regular first team football. Last season, he went out on loan to Lorient and played over 40 games. In what way are these concerns justified? His squad status is backup to the first team, and it's only been two games into the season and he's complaining? Just what the hell?

I tried to be tough with him, but now he wants to leave. How realistic.

That's player power, I guess. It seems a little overpowered though, there's no place for giving a moaning player a bit of a smackdown in the game, even youngsters who have achieved nothing in their lives.

I'm having all sorts of trouble with Miyaichi. Are personalities for young players randomly generated or something, because he has an absolute stinker in my save, which bears no relation to real life. His media handling style is "volatile" and "confrontational", and that seems to apply to his chats with me too. He doesn't like training as hard as everyone else, he won't be tutored. If Real Madrid are still interested they are welcome to him in the summer.

[JEinchy]

Miyaichi may have some random personality attributes (things like temprament, controversy, etc.) and you've probably gotten the short end of the stick. Miyaichi on my game is a pretty normal kid who I've had no problems with. In real life, he's down to earth and hard working as most Asian players tend to be. A lot of young players don't really have defined personalities on here unless there are obvious examples.

This whole Craig Dawson business is just baffling. Nothing in his personality suggests he'd be petulant, but then he acted that way anyway. What's more, no other players has given me trouble except the ones not playing first team football like Andre Santos, Squillaci, Diaby etc. and they're easy to deal with.

It's no real great loss, really. As talented as he is, Kyle Bartley seems a bit better on my save and I'm quite happy to give him Dawson's spot in my first team.

[lomekian]

Exactly the same problem on mine. Dawson has requested to leave twice and its only just Christmas. I told him he can stew....

[Sourav]

September Update

The fixtures were as follows:

Premier League:

Arsenal-Aston Villa (2-0) (Walcott, Arteta)

Liverpool-Arsenal (3-3) (Walcott, Van Persie(2))

Arsenal-QPR (3-2) (Rodwell, Mertesacker, Van Persie)

Champions League:

Arsenal-CSKA (3-0) (Gervinho, Chamakh, Mertesacker)

Udinese-Arsenal (0-1) (Gervinho)

League Cup:

Arsenal-Southampton (3-0) (Chamberlain, Vermaelen, Miyaichi)

In the league, Tottenham top and have not lost a single game. At least in the League cup, both the Manchester clubs are pitted against each other.

[bigman]

it took me till the seconde last game to go ahead of ttotenham and win the league

they are syuper good on fm

[hasdgfas]

it took me till the seconde last game to go ahead of ttotenham and win the league

they are syuper good on fm

Was this first season? Because they were incredible in my first season as well then just trailed off completely second

[llama3]

Nice form Lomekian - really top result against Chelsea there. Glad it is going well for you.

JEinchy - I am always VERY firm with my players, fines are dished out for any poor performance, and no player can bully me into a new contract - and tbh, I have no squad management issues or unhappy players. I simply never budge - this isnt a random one-off either - i have been like it as long as i remember on FM, and it has always worked.

[mkabas]

I'm on my first season with Arsenal.

So far I'm at First place. I'm on January

Players in:

Mario Gotze - 62m

Lucas Digne - 2,5 m

Sven Bender - 9 m

Sime Vrsaljko - 5 m

Sergio Busquets - 19m(Board bought him for me).

Players out:

Manuel Almunia - Loan

Andrey Arshavin - 15m

Laurent Koscielny - 5m

I still got 32 m to buy players. I'm thinking in strenght my defence. Any good tips for me????

[Llew_Arshavin23]

£62 million for Mario Götze is a monumental figure

As for your defensive targets, I would look at Gary Cahill [bolton], Álvaro Domínguez [Atlético Madrid] or Alberto Botía [sporting Gijón]

[kizofieva]

Players out: Laurent Koscielny - 5m

I still got 32 m to buy players. I'm thinking in strenght my defence. Any good tips for me????

Yes. Reload your save and don't sell Koscielny. He's great.

[llama3]

Yes. Reload your save and don't sell Koscielny. He's great.

second that, he is magnificent

[JEinchy]

Nice form Lomekian - really top result against Chelsea there. Glad it is going well for you.

JEinchy - I am always VERY firm with my players, fines are dished out for any poor performance, and no player can bully me into a new contract - and tbh, I have no squad management issues or unhappy players. I simply never budge - this isnt a random one-off either - i have been like it as long as i remember on FM, and it has always worked.

Generally, I'm pretty tough on players also. Thing is, he wasn't unhappy before this. Everything was fine and dandy until he just came up to me with these concerns straight out the blue. That's why I'm bemused about the whole thing. I offered him the chance to go on loan again, but he said he wanted to leave. I bascially told him to be quiet and respect my decisions, but that just made him even unhappier. Point is, nothing I could have said in that conversation would have made a difference.

Yes. Reload your save and don't sell Koscielny. He's great.

Third that. Koscielny becomes a great cover defender and has been a very good performer for me. Can't understand why people sell him. I mean, he's better than the targets Llew_Arshavin recommended, for example.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Third that. Koscielny becomes a great cover defender and has been a very good performer for me. Can't understand why people sell him. I mean, he's better than the targets Llew_Arshavin recommended, for example.

Didn't see that he sold Laurent Koscielny :o Anyway, Álvaro Domínguez is a very good centre-half in my opinion; good on the ball, good in the air. I wasn't going to suggest Gerard Pique now, was I?

[llama3]

Season Update 2012/13

After the Carling Cup Final Victory we have continued an impressive season in the cups, as well as improved league form:

H West Brom 3-0 - van Persie (2), Afellay

A Inter 2-1 - Walcott, Arteta (UCL)

A Nottingham Forest 3-0 - van Persie, Afellay, Gervinho (FA)

A Aston Villa 4-0 - Walcott (3), Chamberlain

H Blackburn 4-1 - Walcott, Chamakh, Chamberlain (2)

A Everton 1-2 - Wilshere

H Marseille 1-1 - Koscielny

A Newcastle 4-1 - Vermaelen, Gervinho (2), Chamberlain

A Marseille 2-0 - Gervinho, Walcott (UCL)

N Liverpool 1-1 - Arteta (Liverpool win 3-1 on penalties) (FACSF)

A good month generally, we look nailed for a champions league spot, and am slowly closing the gaps to chelsea and man city. We beat Marseille in the champions league quater final, although the first 45 minutes of the second leg in france we were completely under siege in my own third, with szczesny man of the match for 6 magnificent saves. We lost to liverpool at wembley who played for half an hour with 10 men, but we simply couldnt break through, and then gervinho, andre santos and alex song missed their penalties to send me out. Van Persie may miss the rest of the season with injury (my injury problems have been atrocious this season)

Champions League Semi Finals

Milan v Arsenal

Shakhtar v Chelsea

[exorcisto]

Yes. Reload your save and don't sell Koscielny. He's great.

Completely agree with this. It may not be very helpful advice for you, but it's right. For me Koscielny has been firmly first choice, and every bit as impressive as his partner Vermaelen.

[exorcisto]

Champions League Semi Finals

Milan v Arsenal

Shakhtar v Chelsea

That looks wide open! What on earth happened to Barca, Real Madrid and United?

[llama3]

Barcelona knocked out by Marseille who I beat, Shakhtar knocked out Man Utd, Real Madrid were knocked out by Milan - and they only played each other cos I got beaten 6-3 in Milan in my last group game!

[exorcisto]

Good luck then, hope you get your revenge on Milan!

I've got Real Madrid to look forward to in my CL quarter-final. I wish Song was available for that match, but he broke his leg in December and I've really missed him in the big games since then.

[llama3]

Can I ask how you guys are beating Man Utd? As I have been pulled to shreds time and time again by them. It is at the ridiculous stage where nani was making vermaelen and koscielny look like idiots unable to position themselves, nani beating mertesacker for heads, criscito riding sagna's challenges with ease, and man utd's 2 men controlling the midfield where my 3 can't. cheers guys

[Welshace]

hey all... failed to get into any games fully so far.. so trying with good ol' arsenal....

transfer policy will be adding quality to a few area's .. a few youngsters and a few marquee indulgent players ive always wanted to manage but havent yet.. i.e ronaldinho and maybe another...

[JEinchy]

Can I ask how you guys are beating Man Utd? As I have been pulled to shreds time and time again by them. It is at the ridiculous stage where nani was making vermaelen and koscielny look like idiots unable to position themselves, nani beating mertesacker for heads, criscito riding sagna's challenges with ease, and man utd's 2 men controlling the midfield where my 3 can't. cheers guys

There seems to be a problem on this game where 4-4-2 will always dominate a 4-3-3. The AI just drops a striker onto your holding midfielder and that allows them to dominate posession.

There's no sure-fire way to beat then, but I recommend going like-for-like with a 4-4-2 of your own, or a 4-5-1 with a flat five in midfield. If you're feeling brave, you could try a 3-man defence, which I've found to be very effective against teams playing with two strikers.

hey all... failed to get into any games fully so far.. so trying with good ol' arsenal....

transfer policy will be adding quality to a few area's .. a few youngsters and a few marquee indulgent players ive always wanted to manage but havent yet.. i.e ronaldinho and maybe another...

Good luck with your save. Keep us updated.

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

August Update

Transfers

I already had a pretty good together and saw no real need to spend that much. This window was more about offloading the dead wood more than anything else.

Ins:

Dusan Tadic - £13mil from FC Groningen.

Tadic had been linked with us for a while and since Gervinho wasn't really performing, I thought adding another winger to the bunch couldn't hurt. Tadic is a left winger with an absolutely fantastic cross on him. He's more a traditional wide man than my other wingers, so he adds variety as well as depth to the attack.

Outs:

Johan Djourou - £5mil to CSKA.

Abou Diaby - £4.5mil to Anji.

Carlos Vela - £4.5mil to Roma.

Andre Satnos - £3.5mil to Marseille.

Wellington Silva - £3.4mil to Real Madrid.

Henri Lansbury - £2.4mil to Fulham.

Sebastien Squillaci - £1mil to West Brom.

Nicklas Bendtner - Loan fee £1.5mil to Bayern.

A plethora of free transfers.

Mattias Johansson - Loan to Lorient.

Ryo Miyaichi - Loan to Lorient.

Emmanuel Frimpong - Loan to Norwich.

So most of the guys who returned from loans were sold, as they had no place in my plans. I was disappointed that I couldn't get permanent deals for Denilson and Bendtner, but hopefully Bayern will decide to use the future fee clauses as part of the deals. I couldn't guarantee football to Lansbury, so I sold him on. Madrid came in with an offer for Wellington and since I wasn't going to use him I thought I'd cash in on that one. Djourou was sold with using Craig Dawson in mind, but that one hasn't gone to plan. Fortunately, Bartley is more than capable of making the step-up.

Loan wise, Johansson returns to France for a second spell since Sagna and Eardley are doing excellently at right back. Ryo joins him, as the arrival of Tadic will make it difficult for me to give him first team action. Frimpong likewise, with Song and Coquelin both doing very well.

Denilson - Loan fee £1mil to Bayern.

Community Shield

Arsenal 2 - 1 Manchester City (Jack Wilshere 57', Robin van Persie 84'; Carlos Tevez 86')

I must confees I holidayed over this game. Just a day before my Great Britain olympic team lost to Brazil in the final after extra-time, and I wasn't in the mood to play another big game so soon afterwards. So new assistant manager Steve Round took charge and it looks like we did fine.

Premier League

Arsenal 1 - 0 West Bromwich Albion (Robin van Persie 58')

A tight game with both teams lacking sharpness, it took an absolutely stunning strike from van Persie to get us the win.

Sunderland 0 - 2 Arsenal (Per Mertesacker 6', Theo Walcott 17')

A fairly straight-forward game where Sunderland caused us little problems.

September Update

Since I forgot to do an August Update and have just gone through September in game, you're getting two for the price of one. Aren't you guys lucky?

Premier League

Bolton Wanderers 0 - 2 Arsenal (Theo Walcott 16', Robin van Persie 54')

Another straight forward away day, really. They did manage to anger me though when Wilshere and Coquelin were both injured thanks to reckless tackles by Muamba and Reo-Coker. Thankfully, the two aren't that hurt.

Arsenal 4 - 0 Tottenham Hotspur (Marco Reus 6', 16', 33', Alex Song 32')

A Spurs side that had lost van der Vaart, but had added van der Wiel, Jagielka, Cahill, Afellay and freakin' Hulk over the summer, looked like a tough proposition. Evidently, it didn't turn out that way. Reus, who had a bit of a slow start to the season, just blitzed them with his explosive finishing. No famous combebacks here.

West Ham 1 - 3 Arsenal (Carlton Cole 89'; Robin van Persie 2', pen 59', Thorgan Hazard 45+2')

A game where van Persie's brilliance won us the game, but marred by some real sloppy defending at the end.

Champions League

We were drawn in a group with Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon and Club Brugge. This game loves giving me easy groups...

Bayer Leverkusen 1 - 1 Arsenal (Stefan Keissling 36'; Marco Reus 54')

This game was anything but easy, though. Leverkusen proved to be very tough opposition and we just about came away with a point.

Carling Cup

Carling Cup 3rd Round

Bristol City 2 - 4 Arsenal (Albert Adomah 13', Jamal Campbell-Ryce 60'; Dusan Tadic 6', 72', Gervinho 41', Marouane Chamakh 90+1')

Another trip to Bristol and another game agasint their incredibly annoying 3-2-3-2 formation. Yay. Last time, the game was tight. This time, we just busted our way through their eight defenders with all-out attacking play. Hence, we conceded twice. Still, glad to get the win and I sincerely hope they don't get promoted.

[Welshace]

urrm.. just at the start of the game.. havent hardly pressed continue.. and ive found this lad sitting in obscurity... obviously he's got random stats.. but check your games and see what he's like on yours please?

[JEinchy]

He's not on my save, but I can tell you that all of his attributes bar Dribbling, Finishing and Technique and random. And he has a decent set PA. Also random footedness.

Looks like a great find, either way. Do you have the Paraguain league loaded or did you load extra players from a certain region?

[hoppy_7]

JEinchy

In your 4-2-3-1 formation what roles and duties have you assigned to each position ?

[Sourav]

Was this first season? Because they were incredible in my first season as well then just trailed off completely second

Yes it is the first season.

I'm thinking in strenght my defence. Any good tips for me????

Well at least in the game Vermaelen, Koscielny and Mertesacker are all good. The only problem area are the full backs which you have strengthened although personally I preferred signing an experienced left back (in my case Baines) instead of Digne who is rather young.

[Welshace]

He's not on my save, but I can tell you that all of his attributes bar Dribbling, Finishing and Technique and random. And he has a decent set PA. Also random footedness.

Looks like a great find, either way. Do you have the Paraguain league loaded or did you load extra players from a certain region?

all players from south america loaded

[Leedsfan11]

Just started a new Arsenal save. At August 1st in pre-season of the first season. I have gone mad with transfers using the 48month deals on some of my big signings. I will be playing a 4-3-1-2 system

Ins:

Srna - 15m over 48 months

Bandalowski - £60k

L Baines - 15m over 48 months

Felliani - 21m over 48 months

Hamsik - 23m over 48 months

Tevez - 50m over 48 months

Wilfried - 2.5m

Outs:

Almunia - 1.9m

Mannone - 825k

Santos - 700k loan fee 2.7m future fee

Arshavin - 15m

Rosicky - free

Chamakh - 15m

Park - 700k loan fee 2.3m future fee

Bartley - 2.3m after loan finished

Vela - 3m after loan finished

Mychoi - 2.6m

Watt - 800k

Currently got a 15m offer on the table from Man City for Sagna don't know if I should cash in or have him and Srna fighting it out for RB. Bandalowski is a decent cover tho.

Squad:

GK: Fabianski/Scenzyny

RB: Srna/Sagna/Bandlowski

LB: Baines/Srna/Gibbs

CB: Vermaelan/Mertesacker/Kosicelny/Djourou

DM: Song/Coquelin

CM: Arteta/Fellaini/Ramsey/Wilshere/Benayoun

AMC: Hamsik/Gervinho/Van Persie

ST: Tevez/Van Persie/Walcott/Wilfried

Will update once i've played some games

[ballinisahabit90]

50 m for Tevez, your nuts! Isnt he transfer listed and available for around 20 m at the start?

[llama3]

Season Update 2012/13

H Cardiff 1-1 - Gervinho

A Fulham 0-0

A Milan 1-2 - Koscielny (UCL)

H Man Utd 2-5 - Gervinho, Wilshere

H Milan 1-1 - Koscielny (UCL)

A QPR 2-0 - Mertesacker, Afellay

H Wolves 3-2 - van Persie, Gervinho, Chamakh

A Birmingham 4-1 - Afellay (2), van Persie, Gervinho

UEFA Champions League

Went out to Milan in cruel circumstances at the Emirates. I managed to take a priceless away goal from a dismal performance in Milan (2nd time this season ) and took the lead before half time at the Emirates when Laurent Koscielny got his 3rd critical goal in 4 games in the competition, however we were beaten by an 88th minute goal from Taye Taiwo to send Milan through.

Finished - Semi Finalists

League Cup

Won 1-0 in a tense final at Wembley, the deadlock broken by substitute Alex Chamberlain after 81 minutes, leaving Arsenal to retain the League Cup.

Finished - Winners

FA Cup

Beaten on penalties by 10-man Liverpool at Wembley, in a game we had 9 clear cut chances, but Gervinho, Andre Santos and Alex Song missed their penalties.

Finished - Semi Finalists

Premier League

We were never going to win this, we were off the pace from the start, and Manchester United were incredibly strong. The final table left Manchester United top with 100 points (12 clear of Man City in second) with a mean defence conceding only 15 goals, as well as scoring 92. I finished in 4th, 2 points behind Chelsea scoring 77, conceding 36 - so room for improvement. I will also have to face a Champions League playoff now as a result.

Finished - 4th

Statistics

Goals

Walcott 21

van Persie 15

Afellay 14

Gervinho 13

Chamakh 11

Chamberlain 9

Assists

Walcott 15

Wilshere 15

Afellay 10

Ramsey 8

Arteta 8

Appearances

Szczesny 51

Sagna 50

Walcott 48(4)

Wilshere 45(2)

Koscielny 44(1)

Average Rating

van Persie 7.43

Djourou 7.29

Walcott 7.29

Sagna 7.27

Koscielny 7.27

Vermaelen 7.27

Awards

Player's Young Player of the Year - Theo Walcott

Manager of the Year (3rd Place) - Me

Team of the Year - Bacary Sagna (First XI) & Theo Walcott (Substitute)

Plans

To offload Park, Andre Santos & Rosicky. Kagawa arriving in on a free transfer from Dortmund - keeping an eye for a new striker. Got a regen left back coming in from Bolton, and also a new regen forward from Southampton.

[Sourav]

October Update

Premier League:

Stoke-Arsenal (0-3) (Van Persie (2), Arshavin)

Arsenal-Norwich (4-1) (Walcott (2), Chamakh, Rodwell)

Wolves-Arsenal (0-2) (Van Persie, Park)

Champions League:

Rangers-Arsenal (1-1) (Gervinho, Koscielny red card)

League Cup:

Arsenal-Swansea (4-0) (Williams og, Vermaelen, Arteta, Koscielny)

In other news, Man City were kicked out of the League Cup by United. Tottenham managed to draw a game but still on top. I have consecutive home games against Tottenham and Man City at the start of November. Guess what! Van Persie out for 2-3 weeks. Typical

EDIT: Also forgot to mention. Beckham recalled to international team. Newcastle sacked Pardew and re-appointed Shearer.

[bigman]

Was this first season? Because they were incredible in my first season as well then just trailed off completely second

yeah, adebayor has gone but now they have rondon who looks even more beastyly

[bigman]

Can I ask how you guys are beating Man Utd? As I have been pulled to shreds time and time again by them. It is at the ridiculous stage where nani was making vermaelen and koscielny look like idiots unable to position themselves, nani beating mertesacker for heads, criscito riding sagna's challenges with ease, and man utd's 2 men controlling the midfield where my 3 can't. cheers guys

i beat united with my 4 1 2 2 1 (fluid/control) with quick tempo and deep line

they also lost to my 4 2 3 1 (fluid/control) with a higher line and slower tempo

i think 4 4 2 is very powerful in fm12 but it can be beaten, if u play 4 1 2 2 1 man mark their cms and pressure them!

[JEinchy]

yeah, adebayor has gone but now they have rondon who looks even more beastyly

Better Rondon than Hulk. They signed him for £21mil on my save and he's an absolute nightmare to defend against.

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

October Update

Premier League

Arsenal 1 - 0 Liverpool (Marco Reus 49')

Unlike last seasons away game, this one was very tight. We managed to break our way through by almost literally walking the ball into the net; Reus eventually rounding Reina and scoring the only goal.

Chelsea 3 - 4 Arsenal (Fernando Torres 2', Milos Krasic 12', John Terry 83'; Marco Reus 6', 15', Jack Wilshere 59', Park Chu-Young 88')

Ah, here's the obligatory crazy game of the season. Torres scoring very early on was the worst possible start (and the worst defending I've seen so far), but yet we came back via a Reus piledriver. Krasic put Chelsea ahead again with a header from a corner, but Reus popped up aagin with a remarkable finish from a tight angle. This was by far the most mental 15 minutes I've ever played on a Football Manager game.

As entertaining as it was, I had to make some changes. I changed from our usual 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3, thus matching Chelsea's formation, and the game immediately became tighter. We took the lead in the second half when Wilshere's volley went in off the post. From here I trid to see the game out, but Terry got a late equaliser from a long throw. I thought we'd struggle to come away with a point after that, but I decided to just go for it and brought on Park for Wilshere, going 4-2-2-2. Ultimately the decision piad off; Marco Reus played in an absoulte peach of a cross that Park tapped-in at the death.

Not much else needs to be said. A mental match and a great win.

Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester United (Thomas Vermaelen 76')

I don't know why, but we seem to play all the big boys in a short space of time. Thankfully, we've won them all. City are the only big team in the league we've yet to play.

So far, we've a 100% record in the league. To go with this, we're 45 games unbeaten. Just five more games to go until we break that record. It's something I look to acheive and the fact it could happen so quickly is surprising.

Champions League

Arsenal 4 - 1 Club Brugge (Robin van Persie 7', Laurent Koscielny 12', 77', Thorgan Hazard 20'; Wesley 58')

A pretty easy game with the only blight being Wesley's wonder goal. First win in the group stages this season.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Sporting Lisbon (Dusan Tadic 17', Thorgan Hazard 79')

A pleasing win, in that I played a completely different side and still won comfortably.

Carling Cup

Carling Cup 4th Round

Arsenal 5 - 3 Fulham (Kyle Bartley 8', Jesé 18', Dusan Tadic 36', Per Mertesacker 62', Thorgan Hazard 69'; Bobby Zamora pen 30', 43', 73')

You are not seeing things... Bobby Zamora did, indeed, score a hat-trick. This was a strange game in many ways, since at no point did we look like losing but yet we conceded three goals.

[Clifton]

Well, in my first season decided no editing/cheating for me! Mid Feb I am top of the league playing 4321 with Liverpool the only real threat seven points behind. Mostly achieved with the starting line up as my purchases have been for back up or the future. Wilshere finally gets on to the pitch against Aston Villa reserves for his first match on the way back to fitness when he gets a late tackle and a cruciate ligament injury - out for 7-9 months. Where is the editor!

[llama3]

I bet those Chelsea and Fulham scores annoyed you immensely JEinchy - particularly after last season' defensive record!

[JEinchy]

I bet those Chelsea and Fulham scores annoyed you immensely JEinchy - particularly after last season' defensive record!

They sure did. I'd be more accepting if we conceded some wonder goals (like Wesley's for Brugge) but all six of those goals were avoidable. The defence is showing signs of fragility, so it's something to keep an eye on.

[KingLara]

October/November

I'll be honest, all though the rersults suggest otherwise this month hasn't been the easiest.

Premer League - ARSENAL 1-0 WOLVES - Whitbread s/o 17 - Song 40

An unlikely scorer in an unlikely scoreline. Although Hennesy played well the boys seemed to be already on International break. It was a good trailer for thre next few weeks.

Premer League - CHELSEA 1-1 ARSENAL - Torres 3 - Walcott 6[/color]

Not an ideal team to play when you're coming back from an international break and i was forced to rest Van Persie and Arshavin who picked up knocks. I would say a draw was a fair result. It didn't seem like coming when Torres latched onto a through ball after just 3 minutes but a sharp Walcott finish equalised. Petr Cech had one of those days where he saves everything but chelsea had chances too. I will always settle for a point at Stamford Bridge.

Champions League - VALENCIA 0-2 ARSENAL - Walcott 53 Chamackh 72

An excellent performance against the toughest group opponents. Walcott was just starting to get going.

Premer League - NEWCASTLE 0-0 ARSENAL

I hate playing away after Champions League. Newcatle put up a good fight though. Van Persie and Arshavin both picked up injuries and won miss the next few games.

League Cup (4th Round) - FULHAM 0-0 ARSENAL (ARSENAL WIN 1-0 IN EXTRA TIME) - Walcott 113

I was quite loyal to my third round squad and kept pretty much the same team. I did decide to have a big player on the bench for insurance and that player was Theo Walcott. A lightening run and cool finish was the difference in a game Fulham can be extremely annoyed they didn't win. Fabianski's outstanding man of the match display meant there was pressure on szczeney to perform in the next couple of games.

Premer League - ARSENAL 2-1 LIVERPOOL - Gervinho 24 Bennayoun 88 - Suarez 9[/color]

It's necver easy playing against a top side without your best players and we had to deal with that against Liverpool. No Van Persie, Vermaelen, Arteta or Arshavin meant a massive hole in the team. Lucki;ly an unsung hero came off the bench to grab the winner. It seemed we couldn't buy goals or easy wins

Champions League - ARSENAL 2-2 VALENCIA - Isachsen 12 - Arshavin 6 Van Persie 82

An excellent game at the Emirates. Valencia twice pegging us back. Still a draw was enough to ensure qualification with two games in hand.

Premer League - ARSENAL 1-0 STOKE CITY - Walcott 65

Fanianski was picked above Szczeney and kept a clean sheet. Van Persie returned in a much more dominant display. Somehow Stoke's goal despite having everything thrown at it only conceeded once. Walcott again the scorer.

Premer League - SWANSEA 1-2 ARSENAL - Routledge 88 - Mertesaker 23 Walcott 25

A better display again. Were in complete control throughout the match just without a final cutting edge. I forgot to rest Van Persie in case he got booked which he duly did and would now miss the game against Man United

Champions League - ARSENAL 3-1 ROSENBORG - Van Persie 64 Chamberlain 76 Granero 81 - Backe 73

After his recent glut of goals I decided to rest Walcott for Rosenborg. It was a chance for Chamberlain to stake a claim and he did with an 8.8 man of ther match shwoing. Granero also impressed but neither would get a chance to show trheir skills in the next game as we took on a resurgant Man United.

Premer League - ARSENAL 4-1 MANCHESTER UNITED - Mertesaker 3 Walcott 8 41 Chamackh 16 - Giggs 40

Van who?....United came to the Emirates on the back of a good four game winning run which included a 5-0 win at West Brom and a home 4-1 win against Bolton. I was expecting quite a close game and knew of the dangers of not marking Rooney. Thankfully there was nothing he could do was we raced into an astonishing 3-0 lead inside 16 minutes. Another solid display by Fabianski helped but United din't weant to concede a cricket score so kept it down to 4. A wonderful and hopefully damaging result.

League Cup (Quarter Final) - ARSENAL 2-1 MANCHESTER CITY - Tevez o.g 69 Van Persie 100 - Zabaleta 78

Despite not playing at the weekend I still opted for Van Persie on the bench. Joe Hart was excellent and we dominated the entire game and seemed to had done enough when Tevez bizzarly scored an own goal. City who hadn't rreally threatened all game then scorerd from a corner. I resisted Van Persie until the clock ticked past 90 and brought him on for ecxtra-time. It was his cool finish that sent us into the Semis.

Not quite as good as last months update but still happy. Walcott was in excellent form. Fabianski is now first choice goalkeeper and Mertesaker has found a way into the team. Physios say Wilshere could be back in 7 weeks. More rotation has seen the players who were annoyed at not playing getting more game time. December would be interesting as it took us to Villa Everton and Spurs.

Vilas Boas got sacked from stuttering Chelsea who then hired Louis Van Gaal. Vilas-Boas is now at Aston Villa

Top Scorers (all comps)

Walcott 11

Van Persie 8

Chamackh 5

Arshaivin 5

Gervinho 3

Arteta 3

Average ratings minimum 5 games (games/goals in brackets)

Laurent Koscielny 7.43 (14+1/1)

Bacary Sagna 7.42 (18)

Per Mertesaker 7.34 (11/2)

Andrei Arshavin 7.31 (12+2/5)

Mikel Arteta 7.29 (17+1 /3

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

Robin Van Persie 7.20 (13+2/8)

Tomas Vermaelen 7.27 (19/1)

Theo Walcott 7.28 (15+5/11)

The league table

1. Arsenal played 13 points 35

2. Tottenham played 13 points 27

3. Man United played 13 points 25

4. Liverpool played 13 points 25

5. West Brom played 13 points 24

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

6. Man City played 13 points 22

8. Chelsea played 13 points 21

Should be a cracker at White Hart Lane.

GAME OF THE MONTH

WEST BROM 6-3 LIVERPOOL

Dorrans 1 28 60 90 - Gerard 4

Brunt 33(pen) - Henderson 68

Kuyt o.g 56 - Kuyt 71

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Theo Walcott

6.6 (on64)

7.2 (1)

8.2 (on45) (1)

6.7 (on53)

7.2 (on78) (1)

7

7.2 (1)

7.2 (1)

7.3 (1)

9.2 (2)

6.9

STAT OF THE MONTH

Adebayor in Premier League

0 (on72)

2

2

0

1

2

DNP

Average rating 7.17

[KingLara]

JEinchy

Adam Campbell update

He's only played one senior game so far. He got 6.8. I would like to give him more chances but can't fit him in.

His reserve stats read

played - 5

Rating - 6.9

Goals - 2

Assists - 1

Mom - 1

Yellow - 1

Red - 0

Highest rating - 8.8

Lowest rating - 5-9

[exorcisto]

Frustrating couple of weeks in my save. We beat Arsene Wenger's Liverpool 4-2, but lost Arteta to injury in that game. No problem, Jack Wilshere has just come back to full fitness and after a few sub appearances he's ready to slot in against Real Madrid for the 1st leg of my CL quarter-final.

We're at home, and Real look like they haven't turned up at all, we win 2-0, and van Persie has a penalty saved that could have made it 3. But Real manage to injure Wilshere (out for another 3-4 months) and van Persie (4-5 weeks). Fine, at least we won and kept that vital clean sheet, we have something to protect at the Bernabeu.

Next up Chelsea away, I rest Walcott, and am forced to bring in the out-of-favour Arshavin as my AMC. We go a goal down after 10 minutes, but equalise soon after and the game peters out to a 1-1 draw. Happy with that, and United are away at City who are unbeaten in 14 games, hopefully I can at least make up a point on them. They win 2-0.

So off we go to Madrid, missing top scorer van Persie, top assister (and second top scorer) Arteta, Jack Wilshere, and Alex Song. But our back four is intact, surely we can can hold out against the Real Madrid team who were so poor at the Emirates, maybe nick an away goal to make it that much harder for them.

Erm, no. 5-0 to Real, we barely strung two passes together, and half my team had ratings under 5.5.

[sonic1484]

just finished 1st season, really tough tbh. finished second to man utd who won the title by 11pts, knocked out of all competitions in the quater finals. van persie was my star player with 41 goals in all comps, my only one frustration was almost every game i was dominating games with 30 shots on goal but wasnt scoring more than 1 to 2.

transfers 11/12

in

wiese gk 16mil

hulk wf 28 mill

out

almunia 3 mill

fabianski 4.1 mill

miachi 7.8 mill

just starting new season, hoping to improve, some how ive signed neymar on monthly installments, tevez 16mill and some argentina kid for dm 2.5 mill. will keep you informed.

[jeoe]

Good stuff in this thread. Later on today I will chime in with my arsenal save with more details.

Minor spoilers though :o

Brought in Neymar, Hazard, Thiago, Robinson and Papadopoulos as my biggest singings so far. (this is over 3 seasons btw)

[lomekian]

Time for the December update!:

3-12-11 - EPL: Arsenal 7 - 0 Everton: Walcott (4), Arshavin (8), Sigurdsson (23), Park (70), Van Persie (78,79), Hibbert O.G (87)

An astounding victory marred only by minor injuries to Arshavin and Gibbs. The visitors had one shot on target all game. The team seems to have realised that with Sigurdsson's amazing shooting from range, just laying it off to him about 30 yards out is a legitimate assist. Van the man's second was straight from the kick off a la cesc vs spurs a couple of years ago.

6-12-11 ECL: Arsenal 3-0 Litex: Sigudrsson (pen 67), Owen (75), Djourou (87)

In the end a straight forward win assisted by a sending off for Litex for the penalty converted by Sigurdsson, won by the Ox, whose introduction along with Owen changed the game.

10-12-11 EPL: Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal: Koscielny (54), Chamakh (87)

A routine win, marred by injuries to Gibbs and Mertesacker, though Koscielny's introduction didn't hurt! (another well taken left-footed finish!). Chamakh's was laid on a plate by Gervinho.

14-12-11 EPL: Swansea 0-5 Arsenal: Diaby (10), RVP (27), Rosicky (30), Andre Santos (58), Walcott (68).

Suprisingly comfortable result for a mix-and-match side in a rain affected match. Three great counter attacks for the first half goals, and Santos's was a wonderful free-kick.

17-12-11 EPL: Arsenal 2-1 Man City: Walcott (67), Arteta (pen 75) - Yaya Toure (6)

A big result in a very tight game, squeaked after a HT rollicking. Slightly lucky to be honest, but Gervinho's direct running and Arteta's nerve got us the winner.

21-12-11 CCup: Arsenal 1 0 Tottenham: Sugurdsson (13, missed pen 53) - Kaboul s/o 52

Another squeaked win with an under strength side, in a game that could have gone either way. Sol Campbell pleasingly was MOM in my defence, and Sigurdsson's goal was again from outside the area, but this time passed balotelli like in off the post.

26-12-11 EPL: Arsenal 3 1 Wolves: Walcott (56), Sigurdsson (61), Zubar og (75) - Doyle (36)

A tough match against Mick McArthy's men with assists from Jenkinson, Walcott and the Ox. Needless to say Sigurdsson's goal was from miles out!

31-12-11 EPL: Norwich 0 1 Arsenal: Van Persie (66).

Another tough game that looked like a draw all the way until a moment of magic from the skipper.

Noteably in my game Man City are 9th, and Van Gaal has come in following Mancini's sacking, immediately taking Tevez off the list. I'm hoping this will eventually result on some of their less ridiculously waged players becoming available. Might bring in 1 or 2 new faces in January to cope with the impact of the African Nations tournament, but only if good deals are to be had...