FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[JEinchy]

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.

I can certainly relate. Out of all the away matches I've played, Madrid away is by far the hardest.

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

November Update (12/13)

Premier League

Wolves 1 - 1 Arsenal (Gylfi Sigurdsson 85'; Thoms Vermaelen 17')

A tough game against a pretty decent Wolves side. A draw was probably a fair result, but I am disappointed about conceding so late. There goes our 100% record, too.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Newcastle (Thomas Vermaelen 45+4', Dusan Tadic 67')

Back to winning ways, with Vermaelen scoring from a corner and Tadic wrapping up the points with a great finish.

Aston Villa 0 - 2 Arsenal (Thomas Vermaelen 51', Dusan Tadic 71')

Same goalscorers. As you can imagine, Vermaelen scored from a corner for the third league game running. Tadic made sure of the win with an easy tap-in after some great play from Jesé.

Arsenal 2 - 0 Wigan (Jack Wilshere 29', Mikel Arteta 85')

Over 20 shots and 80% posesion yeilded a 2-0 victory. Can't complain though, because with this win, this has happened:

Always a proud moment when I break that record.

Champions League

Sporing Lisbon 0 -1 Arsenal (Theo Walcott 80')

Funnny that whenever I try and play for a draw, we go on to win.

Arsenal 2 - 1 Bayer Leverkusen (Gervinho 40', Dusan Tadic 44')

Unlike the away fixture, this one was a routine victory.

[NorthernGooner]

Great results there JEinchy, Wolves away isn't the easiest places to go, nice run of clean sheet as well, and well done in Europe

[llama3]

Always a proud moment when I break that record.

Wish I was performing anywhere near that level at the moment - cannot work out what is wrong

[alstarz01]

Hows players like Alex Chamberlain and Ryo Miyaichi doing for people? Be interesting to see how some of our young talent is translating in the game. I have hopes for Coquelin and Frimpong as well as these too and maybe even Miquel although i dont think Jenkinson is up to scratch which is a shame as irl he is looking very promising!

[Zoetermeer]

I've been playing Miyaichi a lot because he complained about playing time halfway through season 1. He's been okay, but he hasn't improved like I would want. However Chamberlain in season 2 is doing great. He's the kind of player that always performs better than his attributes would lead you to think. Jenkinson is a terrible prospect in the game -- I'm not sure about him in real life yet, but Wenger seems to think he's good enough to be out there with the first team so who knows. Of course there isn't really anybody else there at RB with Sagna hurt.

Coquelin seems like a good prospect, but if Song gets hurt, he isn't a good replacement for the BWM role. I don't use him that much.

The big thing I've noticed (and here FM is very good at mimicking real life) is that my offense looks a LOT better with van Persie on the pitch. I don't know where we'd be without him.

I've spent a fair amount on players, especially good young attacking ones, but I'm starting to realize that Arsenal is in a good enough situation with young talent that you can do very well without making any big signings in the first few seasons.

[JEinchy]

Great results there JEinchy, Wolves away isn't the easiest places to go, nice run of clean sheet as well, and well done in Europe

Wolves were 6th in the table when I played them and they've got in some decent players, espeically Sigurdsson who I've had the pleasure of working with myself on another save. A fine player who I'd recommend to anyone needing an AMC.

Thanks for the compliments.

Wish I was performing anywhere near that level at the moment - cannot work out what is wrong

Have you looked at the team report at all? It tells you which formations you do well and struggle against, where your goals come from, where you concede, etc. Perhaps that may help identify where the problem is.

Failing that, perhaps it'd be prudent to remake the tactic from scratch. I find that sometimes when I change a lot of things, I lose track of what it is I'm trying to do with these tactics and just find it easier to rebuild the tactic all together.

Hows players like Alex Chamberlain and Ryo Miyaichi doing for people? Be interesting to see how some of our young talent is translating in the game. I have hopes for Coquelin and Frimpong as well as these too and maybe even Miquel although i dont think Jenkinson is up to scratch which is a shame as irl he is looking very promising!

Miyaichi hasn't developed all that much and is currently riding the bench at Lorient on loan. I've no idea what to do with him at this stage, though his future with me doesn't look too good.

Chamberlain is developing slowly. He's not been helped by a lack of first team action, but no one seems to want to take him on loan. I have to confess that I took a sneak-peak at his PA and it's very high, so I still have high hopes for him.

Coquelin is developing well and is my backup CMd at the moment. Frimpong rarely sees first-team action and probably doesn't have a future with me.

I'm disappointed in myself that I've not been able to develop as many kids as I could have, really.

I've spent a fair amount on players, especially good young attacking ones, but I'm starting to realize that Arsenal is in a good enough situation with young talent that you can do very well without making any big signings in the first few seasons.

You can win the title with the default squad and that's been the case for a few editons of FM now. Overacheiving is quite easy.

[hasdgfas]

I have finished my second season, and it was good, although could have been better.

I won the League Cup and was in the EURO Cup and FA Cup finals, but lost each of them in heartbreaking fashion. 1-0 to Inter in the EURO Cup on a header. Very even game otherwise. I lost the FA Cup final to Man City on penalties after a 4-4 match which was just completely bonkers.

However, I did finish second in the league, much better than the 5th of last season. Man United was so far ahead of everyone that I had no chance of catching them. I do call it a success, as I won a trophy even though I could have won 3. Ah well. I'm unsure what I want to look for, as I feel I'm pretty strong in every position.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Evening lads,

I'm thoroughly enjoying my Málaga save at the moment, I highly recommend them to you, but, seeing that Arsenal are my favourite team, I am itching to make a Arsenal save... This, honestly, must be the longest period of time since I havn't made an Arsenal save

I just want some advice; should I carry one with my Málaga save, which I am enjoying greatly, or should I split my time between both saves?

[JEinchy]

Evening lads,

I'm thoroughly enjoying my Málaga save at the moment, I highly recommend them to you, but, seeing that Arsenal are my favourite team, I am itching to make a Arsenal save... This, honestly, must be the longest period of time since I havn't made an Arsenal save

I just want some advice; should I carry one with my Málaga save, which I am enjoying greatly, or should I split my time between both saves?

What I suggst you do is make a list of objectives you wish to accomplish with Malaga, and then once you've completed them all, or most of them, make an Arsenal save. That's what I'm planning to do this year (once I'm done with Arsenal, I'll be moving on to Southend, then it'll be Malaga), as I've found having multiple on-going saves results in me negleticing one and eventually being disinterested.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

What I suggst you do is make a list of objectives you wish to accomplish with Malaga, and then once you've completed them all, or most of them, make an Arsenal save. That's what I'm planning to do this year (once I'm done with Arsenal, I'll be moving on to Southend, then it'll be Malaga), as I've found having multiple on-going saves results in me negleticing one and eventually being disinterested.

Okay, cheers for that. Wise advice; Ultimately, my objective is to overhaul Barça as the best team in La Liga and consistently make that the case - Cheers mate

[Carmi88]

Just had the best result in my career, thrashing Barcelona 6-2 in the first KO round at the Nou Camp currently 1-0 up after grabbing a goal 60th minute at the emirates I'm going to knock them out!!!

[WillyBroadband]

Evening all,

Just had an odd thing happen in a game against Norwich away in the league, I was 2-0 up half time, both goals from Theo, then early in the 2nd half I got a penalty.. up steps Theo to take it, I did a massive double take as my 3 players I have for penalties are Milito, van Persie & Arteta who were all on the pitch at the time. So why was Theo taking it, for the hat trick maybe?

Anyway, he spooned it over the bar and I ended up winning 4-0 anyway, but still, thought that was very odd.

Has anyone else on here had that happen to them?

[JEinchy]

Just had the best result in my career, thrashing Barcelona 6-2 in the first KO round at the Nou Camp currently 1-0 up after grabbing a goal 60th minute at the emirates I'm going to knock them out!!!

It's always great beating Barcelona. Congrats on a fantastic result.

Evening all,

Just had an odd thing happen in a game against Norwich away in the league, I was 2-0 up half time, both goals from Theo, then early in the 2nd half I got a penalty.. up steps Theo to take it, I did a massive double take as my 3 players I have for penalties are Milito, van Persie & Arteta who were all on the pitch at the time. So why was Theo taking it, for the hat trick maybe?

Anyway, he spooned it over the bar and I ended up winning 4-0 anyway, but still, thought that was very odd.

Has anyone else on here had that happen to them?

I think this was implemented in last years game. Whenever a player is on a hat-trick and you win a penalty, the AI will always give that play the penalty regardless of how many players you have ahead of him on the penalty takers list. There's also no way to override this, as far as I'm aware, so it could potentially work against you.

I'm a little divided on it, myself. While in real life players on a hat-trick would usually be given penalty should their team get one, a lot of bigger sides tend to be strict when it comes to penalties and have the designated penalty taker take it regardless if there's a player on a hat-trick or not. I'd like the option to do this, personally.

[sonic1484]

Date Time Opposition TV Venue Result Competition

Sun, 15.7.2012 21:00 Colorado TV A 2 - 0 Friendly

Tue, 17.7.2012 19:30 FC København TV A 4 - 1 Friendly

Sat, 18.8.2012 15:00 Ipswich A 4 - 0 Premier Division

Sat, 25.8.2012 12:45 West Ham TV H 2 - 0 Premier Division

Sat, 1.9.2012 15:00 Swansea A 2 - 1 Premier Division

Sat, 15.9.2012 15:00 Newcastle H 2 - 0 Premier Division

Wed, 19.9.2012 19:45 Werder Bremen TV H 2 - 0 Champions Cup Grp F

Sun, 23.9.2012 15:00 Aston Villa A 1 - 1 Premier Division

Wed, 26.9.2012 19:45 Portsmouth H 3 - 0 League Cup 3rd Rnd

Sat, 29.9.2012 12:45 Chelsea TV H 1 - 2 Premier Division

Tue, 2.10.2012 19:45 Málaga TV H 4 - 1 Champions Cup Grp F

Sat, 6.10.2012 17:30 Blackburn TV A 1 - 2 Premier Division

Sat, 20.10.2012 15:00 Wolves H 5 - 0 Premier Division

Tue, 23.10.2012 19:45 Dynamo Kyiv TV H 0 - 0 Champions Cup Grp F

Sun, 28.10.2012 16:00 Everton TV H 2 - 0 Premier Division

Tue, 30.10.2012 19:45 Wolves TV A 2 - 1 League Cup 4th Rnd

update 2nd season

had a great start even if i did think they were all winable games but 2 defeats and a draw have put me in to 6th with chelsea and liverpool running away with not 1 defeat yet, i think its going to be tough this season and next as everton have been taken over by a tycoon and there pumpin money in to the club so i can see them challenging aswell

[Lone Gooner]

I have decided to start again as I was not happy with my signings and my game went downhill very rapidly, does anyone think Maxwell would be capable for first choice left back? As I am racking my brains but cant think of anyone else. Also I am trying not to spend all of my budget as I feel we only need depth in a couple of areas I think central defence is fine although I always like Chiellini but he's expensive.

Last time I went for Lavezzi but he did not really do anything for me and I felt he was not worth the £25m I paid for him, anyone got any other ideas, maybe Cavani? Or can Park and Chamakh do a job possibly? I always seemed to struggle without RvP. I tend to go for Hazard but dont really think I need another AMR/L this season as I Arshavin is still here so will probably move on next season.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Cheers

LG

[WillyBroadband]

Thanks for clearing that up JEinchy. An option to change it would be good yeah, it's lucky I won 4-0 really.

[WillyBroadband]

Another thing, sorry:

Have read on here about Wilshere, but was just wondering where you guys play him and with what role?

I play 4-3-1-2 and was thinking of playing him as MLC as a Box to Box? I play Arteta in the middle as Advanced Play Maker/Support & Anatoliy Tymoshchuk at MRC as Ball Winner/Defence (on loan from Bayern, absolute beast, slow but great tackler and very solid)

Thanks for your help Gooners.

[JEinchy]

I've never seen much use in using Wilshere in a deeper role on Football Manager. His defensive stats are subpar and his shooting stats are lacking for a box-to-box role. I've always used him further up the pitch.

But then, people have had success with him in a deeper role so I suppose it does work.

[WillyBroadband]

I think you might be right dude, thanks. I might play him behind my forwards where I normally have RVP..

I've never seen much use in using Wilshere in a deeper role on Football Manager. His defensive stats are subpar and his shooting stats are lacking for a box-to-box role. I've always used him further up the pitch.

But then, people have had success with him in a deeper role so I suppose it does work.

[jeoe]

Season 1 singings:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Current squad:

So it basically comes down to this:

GK: Szczesney / Areola

DR: Sagna / Vrsajlko

CB: Vermaelen / Mertesacker

CB: Papadopoulos / Koscielny

LB: Gibbs / Robinson

DM: Song / Gago

MC: Ramsey / Thiago

AML: Hazard / Wilshire

AMR: Gervinho / Walcott

ST: Persie / Neymar / Niang

I know I am playing totally Arsenal (or should I say Arsene Wenger) unlike but that's what the game is for right? However I do buy youngsters mostly so I do feel I am more or less set for the upcoming years and will probably keep a low profile on the transfer market. I am still keeping my eye on Goetze though so he can replace Gervinho but I dont feel like splashing out 40m+ yet again.

Weird enough I won the league in season 1 relatively easy and in season 2 (even though I had a much better team) it was only by a 1 or 2 point margin coming down to the final play day. Won the CL in season 1 also by drawing easy teams, but lost to Man C in the finals second season. Got kicked out of the FA and League cup first season fast, but won them both next year.

I wonder how Coquelin and Frimpong are doing for others, I gave them both quite a few games (around 10-15ish) each season but they look like they will be fillers mostly. Absolute star players obviously Hazard and V. Persie. Rising talent is Labyad which I got on a free (same with Muniesa) who looks like he will be challenging for a first team spot soon as is Niang.

[Cesc_cil]

Anyone else finding this game ridiculously hard just got the sack!! rightly so, i have tried 3 or 4 tactics my own and others and it just isn't happening.

any advice or a proven tactic would be gratefully received.

[JEinchy]

December Update

Premier League

Portsmouth 0 - 0 Arsenal

So many chances, but no goals... typical Football Manager match, really.

Swansea 0 - 3 Arsenal (Thomas Vermaelen 24', Alex Chamberlain 71', 78')

Back in the goals against sturggling Swansea. Very pleased that Chamberlain bagged a brace off the bench.

Arsenal 5 - 1 Stoke (Robin van Persie 8', 53', Marco Reus 60', Laurent Koscielny 65', Kyle Bartley 75'; Peter Crouch 31')

This scoreline flatters us, as we played rubbish for most of the game. Van Persie's stunning curler put us back in the lead and from there Stoke just lost confidence. Two set-peice goals make the scoreline better than it should've been.

Arsenal 1 - 0 Birmingham (Robin van Persie 73')

Just three days later, we had another frustrating game. Nearly 30 shots, several CCC's, hit the woodwork an astonishing 5 times... we had to literally bundle the ball over the line to get a goal.

Everton 1 - 3 Arsenal (Daniel van Buyten 17'; Theo Walcott 25', Thomas Vermaelen 48', Robin van Persie 73')

This was our best performance of the month; we defended well and took our chances when they came.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Fulham (Park Chu-Young 46', 89', Mark Schwazer OG 72', Marco Reus 76'; Dickson Etuhu 20')

The traditional boxing day fixture produced, again, a flattering scoreline.

Manchester City 1 -1 Arsenal (Edin Dzeko 66'; Marco Reus 44')

A title showdown against our closest contenders, City. I hate playing City away and we should've lost, really. Reus scored, but then pissed me off completely when he tried to take on five players, lost the ball and City scored from the resulting counter attack.

West Brom 3 - 3 Arsenal (Gabriel Tamas 47', Peter Odemwingie 70', Shane Long pen 90+2'; Robin van Persie 4', Gonzalo Jara OG 13', Dusan Tadic 52')

Yeah, I was not happy at all with this. The game was just two days after the City game, so I had to heavily rotate. At 3-1 we looked comfortable, but then Odemwingie just blasted one in from 20 yards and West Brom got awarded a penalty in the last minutes. Guess what? It wasn't a penalty. So yeah, I was pretty mad after this.

Playing eight Premier League games in one month must be some kind of record. We're still unbeaten (think it's 56 games now, or something), but not playing as well as we can do. The table is as follows:

You can see we're conceding more than usual, and not scoring a lot, either. Still a lot of work to do to wrap up the title.

Champions League

Club Brugge 1 - 1 Arsenal (Vadis Odijdja 90+3; Jack Wilshere 53')

Ugh... this was a doddle until Sagna decided to have a brain fart right at the death. He just stood there with the ball in the six yard box instead of lumping it up the field, and Odijdja robbed him and scored. We still won the group, but my god I had never seen anything so stupid.

Carling Cup

Carling Cup Quarter-Finals

Blackburn 0 - 1 Arsenal (Marouane Chamakh 76')

It took a 30 yard curler from Chamakh to get us through to the semi's. Yes, you read right. I do wonder about some of Chamakh's attributes...

Other

Results wise, this season has been excellent so far. Performance wise... not so good. Van Persie is doing brilliantly goals and assists wise, but the likes of Walcott and Wilshere have been extremely disappointing so far. Gervinho remains as poor as ever, while Tadic has been okay in the games he's played. Van Persie and Reus are pretty much the only attackers performing in any capacity at the moment.

Overall, there is a lot of work to be done if we want to reach the targets I've set for the team.

Objectives

These are the objectives I hope to complete in this save:

-- Win the Premier League (Complete)

-- Win the Champions League

-- Win the FA Cup

-- Win the Carling Cup (Complete)

-- Win the Community Shield (Complete)

-- Win the European Super Cup

-- Win the Club World Championship

-- Win two consecutive league titles

-- Win two consecutive Champions League trophies

-- Break Arsenal's unbeaten record (Complete)

Once I've done all that, I'll be moving onto another save.

[Carmi88]

Anyone else finding this game ridiculously hard just got the sack!! rightly so, i have tried 3 or 4 tactics my own and others and it just isn't happening.

any advice or a proven tactic would be gratefully received.

My team are being as realistic as can be, extremely inconsistent! How I can get my players to destroy Barcelona then get knocked out by Lyon is beyond me Into my 5th season now, I must win the league!!!!

[lomekian]

January 2012 update:

3-1-12: EPL Arsenal 3 - 0 Fulham: Van Persie (4), Owen (48), Vermaelen (66)

A comfortable win against a poor Fulham side. A wonder goal from the skipper got us going, before Gervinho's great run to beat 4 defenders set up his replacement (RVP gets SO many knocks in this game) for a tap in.

7.1.12 FA Cup 3rd Round: Bolton 2 - 2 Arsenal: N'gog (6), Davies (90+3) - Rivaldo (pen 4), Tom (52).

My 3rd String side were lucky to get away with a draw in this one with valuable debut contributions from my two new bosman signings. Rivaldo can't run anymore, but his set pieces and distance shooting are a joy, and he looks a great tutor.

11.1.12 Carling Cup Semi-Final Leg 1: Man Utd 2 - 2 Arsenal: Keane (4), Diouf (64) - Park Chu-young (6), Owen (85)

A slightly fortuitous draw in the battle of the reserves. Park started the match on fire creating chances a plenty, before he was taken out by Evans and carried off. After that it was one way traffic the other way, until the Ox set up a great finish by Owen late on. Another vital contribution off the bench by the veteran. In the inverse of normal FM law, we scored with our only shots on target.

15.1.12 EPL: Wigan 1 - 3 Arsenal: Di Santo (45+2) - RVP (6,28), Sigurdsson (26), Sagno S/o (90)

An easy win, wrapped up in the first half hour, marred by Sagna's late red card. Walcott with two more assists, and against all odds, Sigurdsson's goal was a tap in!

18.1.12 Fa Cup 3rd Round Replay: Arsenal 2 - 0 Bolton: Rivaldo (44), Oxlade-Chamberlain (87) - Davies S/o (54)

Another tight game with the 3rd string, assisted by Kevin Davies being sent off for elbowing. A great first time finish from the edge of the D for the aging Brazillian, and The Ox ran from the halfway line to finish after a Bolton corner.

21.1.12 EPL: Arsenal 3 - 0 West Brom: Sigurdsson (3,31), RVP (12).

Another regulation home win wrapped up early. 2 more edge of the area strikes from Sigurdsson, and 2 more good assists by Theo.

24.1.12: Carling Cup Semi 2nd Leg: Arsenal 4 - 0 Man Utd: Djourou (19), Rivaldo (33), Owen (46), Sanogo (76).

A resounding win against a pretty strong Man U side, with Rivaldo grabbing a goal and 2 assists, despite barely running all game. His goal was a free-kick from an absolute mile out, and his corner was put in with an over-head kick by Djourou, which is perhaps pushing the bounds of reality. Sanogo's debut goal was created by Miyaichi, which was very satisfying.

28.1.12: FA cup 4th Round: Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal: Owen (45+1), Andre Santos s/o (58).

A good win in a very very even game, with Fabianski getting MOM. Owen scores against another ex-employer, with Rivaldo giving a great assist.

31.1.12: EPL: Liverpool 1 - 2 Arsenal: Carroll (81) - Arshavin (1), Walcott (23).

Another tight game with Szczesny Man of the Match. Two good assists from the skipper.

January signings:

The sqaud was strengthened in January with a number of additions:

Free:

Douglas Costa £10m (Shakhtar). Actually bought in error, as I bid for him just to stop him going to Chelsea, and accidently went through with it on deadline day. That said, he is young, direct, two footed and a great free-kick taker, so will allow me to offload the inconsistant genius of Arshavin in the summer.

Thiago Neves £2.6m (Al-Hilal). A versatile attacking midfielder who should replace Rosicky. Good long range shooting.

Vitinho £2m (Botafogo). Very promising AM/SC in Brazil who was offered to me. Seemed worth a punt.

Amato Ciciretti £1.1m (Roma). Young midfielder recommended by my scouts.

Alex Hensahll £300k (Man City). Looks better than many of my u18s, so why not.

Rivaldo

Tom (Litex)

Arne Friedrich

Pyatov (Shakhtar)

Verkhovtsov (Naftan)

Mbola (TP Mazembe)

I wanted a strong shadow Squad for the cup runs, so I could keep my first team free for the league and Europe for as much as possible, and felt these signings would allow me to do that. No doubt there will be complaints about game time later on, but I can loan them to my Bulgarian Feeder club or sell them on once the youngsters have come on.

[lomekian]

Also Gervinho is basically now favoured personnel for every other member of my first team squad by the end of January (apart from the New Signings) - And I mean EVERY! Sigurdsson is also very popular, so i guess I'll be hanging onto them for a while!

[Carmi88]

Thinking I'm gonna start a fresh save, Arsenal again, but limit myself to 2 transfers a season, and only sign players under the age of 23. Also tempted to put Thierry Henry back at Arsenal with the Editor just so I can get his total goals for Arsenal up a little bit more

[sonic1484]

help me i have a squad which i think is good enough to challenge for the league,

wiese

sagna vermalan merstacker gibbs

ramsey/ diaby/

arteta wilshire

van persie / thiago / hulk

tevez/walcott

now i posted earlier that i had a good start to the 2nd season but top 2 are running away with the league and im only in january, ive not even included people like walcott etc in my squad, just cant seem to get out of 4th position.

previous versions ive been tactically spot on with my teams after tweaking but this seems really hard. help would be greatful cheers guys.

[exorcisto]

End of my first season. I was happy enough, having come 2nd in the league, been an FA Cup semi-finalist and got to the CL quarters. After trailing United by a long way for most of the season, they started drawing games in the Spring, and in the 3rd to last game I went to Old Trafford knowing a win would see me overtake them. Unfortunately Hernandez tore me apart, and we were lucky, frankly, to only lose 3-1.

Slightly annoyed though that after being one of two teams in contention up until the the 36th game the board didn't consider me to have 'challenged for the title'. My approval rating dipped below 50% for the first time, but they still offered me a new contract, so I guess all is forgiven.

In the 2nd summer I'm really struggling to offload the players who didn't feature throughout the season though. Squillaci, Santos, Arshavin, Diaby and Vela are all turning down moves or demanding money to go. I can't get rid of the likes of Murphy and Freeman even offering them around for £0. I even let Rosicky's contract run down, with a tinge of regret. So far only Mertesacker has left for any money (AC Milan for £9m) but I'm still paying him £12k a week for the privilege.

Anyway, my aim for the next season is to tighten up defensively, after shipping a lot of goals at the end of the season from long balls lifted over my defence. I'm employing a sweeper keeper for the first time, and getting rid of the Stopper/Cover defence which seemed to leave my Stopper stranded uselessly up the pitch far too often. I've also bought Vertonghen for £8.5m (stole him out of Sp*urs' clutches), and a brilliant looking 16 year old regen DC for £3m compensation from Liverpool.

My squad looks a bit like this:

GK: Szczesny / Fabianski

DR: Sagna / van der Wiel

DC: Vermaelen / Vertonghen / Koscielny / Djourou / Hanby (regen)

DL: Gibbs / Digne

MC(bwm): Song / Coquelin / Can

MC(dlp): Hamsik / Ramsey / Henriksen

AMR: Gervinho / Chamberlain

AMC: Arteta / Wilshere

AML: Gaitan / Park

ST: van Persie / Walcott / Sanogo

And beyond those I have some other decisions to make. Bartley and Miquel: loan or sell? Chamakh and Bendtner: sell one or both? Miyaichi: doing my head in, but is he worth keeping? Frimpong: will he ever play?

[exorcisto]

That side isn't good enough to win the league. Simply put.

Do you really think not? Seems pretty good to me, depends what he has by way of squad players behind his back 4 maybe.

I wonder what you make of my squad in that case though.

[exorcisto]

help me i have a squad which i think is good enough to challenge for the league,

wiese

sagna vermalan merstacker gibbs

ramsey/ diaby/

arteta wilshire

van persie / thiago / hulk

tevez/walcott

now i posted earlier that i had a good start to the 2nd season but top 2 are running away with the league and im only in january, ive not even included people like walcott etc in my squad, just cant seem to get out of 4th position.

previous versions ive been tactically spot on with my teams after tweaking but this seems really hard. help would be greatful cheers guys.

My suggestion would be simply to look at who isn't performing for your team. How many assists are Ramsey and Diaby getting for example? Ramsey in my first season was steady, but very unproductive in terms of assists. I hope he will improve over the years, but I didn't feel he was ready for 1st team yet. As for Diaby, I've always been put off by his mental stats. And how does RVP do on the wing? He was deadly for me up front as a Trequartista, but I think he's wasted out wide personally.

Also, find a place for Song in there, if you still have him. He's a great midfielder either in the DM position, or MC. He would probably stop you conceding some goals and give you more possession.

[JEinchy]

Anyway, my aim for the next season is to tighten up defensively, after shipping a lot of goals at the end of the season from long balls lifted over my defence. I'm employing a sweeper keeper for the first time, and getting rid of the Stopper/Cover defence which seemed to leave my Stopper stranded uselessly up the pitch far too often. I've also bought Vertonghen for £8.5m (stole him out of Sp*urs' clutches), and a brilliant looking 16 year old regen DC for £3m compensation from Liverpool.

I've found the Stopper/Cover partnership to be a bit tempramental, too. My defences have always been more solid with just two bob standard central defenders. No stopper, cover, all ball player stuff.

And beyond those I have some other decisions to make. Bartley and Miquel: loan or sell? Chamakh and Bendtner: sell one or both? Miyaichi: doing my head in, but is he worth keeping? Frimpong: will he ever play?

Bartley has developed very well for me under Vermaelen's tutorship. I think he's worth keeping. Miquel I don't think will ever be good enough, since his starting stats are pretty poor.

You may as well get rid of both Chamakh and Bendtner and give the playing to Sanogo.

Miyaichi I don't think is worth keeping. Seems to turn into a decent player at best.

As for Frimpong, I use Coquelin more and think he's the better player. I ended up selling Frimpong when a good offer came in.

His best striker is being played out wide on the right and Theo Walcott should never be played as a lone striker. His all round game is simply not good enough. Where is Gervinho? He's an unbelievable force on the game. Sonic1484 has wasted a lot of money in the wrong areas and has a side that is unbalanced.

On the face of it, perhaps, but I've had great success with Walcott as a lone striker in the last couple of games.

Gervinho has been average for me for some reason. I know what he's capable of doing, but he just never performs up to those standards.

[Sourav]

As for Frimpong, I use Coquelin more and think he's the better player.

Second that.

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

NOVEMBER UPDATE

PREMIER LEAGUE

Sunderland (victor Caceres s/o) 0 - 3 Arsenal (Arshavin 6',20',87')

Arshavin was not performing that well either on the right or the left wing so started him at AMC with the role of inside forward. This worked wonders with Arshavin grabbing a hattrick. walcott weighed in with two of the assists.

Arsenal (Baines m/p 15', Mertesacker 72') 1 - 0 Tottenham

Van Persie was injured and so could not play in this fixture against the league leaders. He was badly missed. I started with my new tactic 4411 (Arshavin at AMC with role of inside forward and Chamakh as a trequartista). Chances created by either side were almost negligible and to top it off, Baines missed a penalty in the 15th minute. Thankfully Mertesacker saved the day with a strong header.

Arsenal (Walcott 1') 1 - 0 Man City

A surprisingly easy match even without Van Persie. Walcott scored in the 30th second and we didn't look like losing after then.

Wigan 0 - 1 Arsenal (Vermaelen 8')

A hattrick of 1 - 0 scorelines for us. Vermaelen scored from an Arteta corner. The hero of the day was definitely Szczesny with 2 super saves in an otherwise drab affair.

Arsenal (Rosicky 9', Van Persie pen 13', 17') 3 - 0 West Brom

3 goals in first 20 minutes effectively finished off the contest. Rosicky scored his first goal of the season. The penalty awarded though was a bit harsh, though.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Arsenal (Park 12', Gervinho 37', Rodwell 49', Arteta 59') 4 - 1 Rangers (Naismith 65')

In simple words, a walk in the park.

CSKA (Doumbia 11', 90 + 1') 2 - 5 (Arshavin 57', 81', Van Persie 67', 77', Song 85')

The first half was the poorest we have ever played since the start of the season. Started with a 4231 but Chamakh upfront was very disappointing to say the least. After half time though we changed formation to 4411 and since then we played like a team possessed although the introduction of Van Persie at 60' was the prime reason. The man is a pure genius.

Arsenal (Vermaelen 19', Walcott 29', Chamakh 79') 3 - 1 (Segolele 28', Pinzi s/o 55')

With 61% possession and 19 shots to their 4, we completely dominated proceedings.

LEAGUE CUP

Qtr Final

Birmingham (Adam Rooney pen 10') 1 - 3 Arsenal (Chamberlain 7', Chamakh 62', Ramsey 85')

In a replay of last year's final, the match proved to be a tight one. We were clinical in our finishing and Chamberlain and Miyaichi put in match winning performances.

FA CUP

In the 3rd qualifying round, I have been handed out a tough fixture. We face Liverpool away.

[JEinchy]

January Update

Premier League

Arsenal 5 - 2 Sunderland (Thomas Vermaelen 33', 90+2', Robin van Persie 38', Paul Robinson OG 57', Alex Chamberlain 72'; Christian Benitez 27', Cedric Mongongu 77')

Sunderland took a shock lead but we stormed right back. At 4-1, Mongongu just took a pot shot from 35 yards and it went in off the cross bar, much to my bemusement. Chamberlain continued his good run of form with the fifth and final goal.

Birmingham 1 - 2 Arsenal (Jonathan Spector 5'; Robin van Persie 15', Thomas Vermaelen 23')

Birmingham have proved to be a tough nut to crack this season. Fortunately, it's rare for us to not score at least once in a game.

Arsenal 4 - 1 Bolton (Dusan Tadic 20', Robin van Persie pen 59', Marco Reus 72', Nigel Reo-Coker 87'; David N'Gog 21')

Under Alan Shearer, Bolton play this annoying 3-5-2 formation that's surprisingly difficult to play against. I countered it with a 3-4-3 and it seemed to work, for the most part. Two tap-ins, a penalty and a deflected free-kick... yeah, not the prettiest of wins, but I'll take it.

Carling Cup

Carling Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg

Arsenal 1 - 0 Newcastle (Alex Chamberlain 28')

A tight game with little chances at either end. With only one goal, the second leg was going to be quite difficult to negotiate.

Carling Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg

Newcastle 1 - 2 Arsenal (Fabricio Coloccini 17'; Francis Coquelin 24', Park Chu-Young 50')

I was proved right when Coloccini scored early on, but the team did well to keep things tight and get the goals necessary to see us through. Coquelin managed to grab his first for the club, while Park rounded off a great counter attack to book our place in the final against Blackpool.

FA Cup

FA Cup 4th Round

Arsenal 2 - 1 Wigan (Mohammed Abdellaoue 5', Laurent Koscielny 34'; Ben Watson pen 83')

New signing Abdellaoue scored his first for the club in a surprisingly closely contested encounter.

[lomekian]

February 2012 update:

5.2.12 : Man Utd 1-1 Arsenal: Diouf (52) - De Gea o/g (29)

A deserved draw in a very even game of very few chances.

11.2.12 Arsenal 3 - 1 Newcastle: RVP (pen 34), Sigurdsson (37), Diaby (78) - Cabaye (pen 3), Cabaye s/o 33.

A game that started badly with Vrsaljko tripping Gutiererz who was running away from goal in the box, but became an easy win once Cabaye chopped a clean through RVP as he was about to score. Sigurdsson's goal was another howitzer from miles out. After that it was attack vs defence.

14.2.12 Lyon 0 - 3 Arsenal: Walcott (43), Rivaldo (63), Chamakh (81).

A clinical away perfomance, where Lloris was at fault for goals 2 and 3, and Coquelin was very impressive in midfield.

19.2.12 Fa Cup 5th Round - Arsenal 1 - 1 Burnley: Craig Dawson (1) - Stanislas (23).

A ****-poor performance from the second string, which I let them know in no uncertain terms!

22.2.12 EPL: Arsenal 1 - 0 Stoke City: Gervinho (62).

The stuttering form continues, but an excellent one man show from the Ivorian on his first game back from the ANC grabed the points. Palacios and Arteta spent the whole game kicking lumps out of each other in midfield!

26.2.12 Carling Cup Final: Arsenal 2 - 1 Sunderland: Rivaldo (5), Maclean o.g (93) - Craig Gardiner (63)

A game i completely dominated, but was let down by Chamakh having one of his post xmas barn-door days. Rivaldo's goal was a beauty, and the winner was a deflected Sol Campbell header from a Miyaichi corner. Sunderland badly missed their on loan top-scorer Nikki B.

The points lead in the EPL will be needed, as things have definitely started creaking in the last month. Luckily for me, Chelsea have had injuries to Drogba, Torres and Cech this year, and Man Utd have had Rooney injured. Man City have started hitting real form now Mancini's replacement Van Gaal has settled, and they are motoring up the table. I'm about 15 points ahead, but 2nd to 7th is a 3 point gap. I just need to get through March unbeaten and the league will be mine. Not holding my breath about Europe as all the big guns are still in!

[exorcisto]

Thanks JEinchy.

You're probably right about Miquel, and I had intended to give Bartley some time until I was slightly forced into buying Vertonghen to stop him going up the road. I'll maybe keep him around for tutoring and see how he goes though.

Also, Sanogo had basically overtaken Chamakh by the end of my 1st season, doing a wonderful job while RVP was injured. Plus I want Walcott to get some time up front too - he was a winger last season, but now I've trained him to place shots and beat the offside trap I think he's ready to move...so probably right again.

Coquelin was in my best eleven last season too, because Song was out for so long, so I rate him quite highly. Hopefully he will be content to be a squad player for me in the long term.

My only issue then is trying to ship out another 4 players in Chamakh, Bendtner, Miyaichi and Miquel. Add them to Santos, Squillaci, Arshavin, and Denilson, that's a lot of people to find buyers for. Not to mention the likes of Galindo, Wellington, Botelho etc, who don't look worth a squad place. Vela and Diaby look like they will go on loan for the season, with loan fees and 100% wages, so they're sorted.

Maybe Chamakh and Arshavin could be kept to add a bit of experience in the dressing room.

[JEinchy]

Well, that's Gervinho gone in the summer.

Came to me with conerns that he wasn't playing and would have to leave. I told him he was rubbish in his last game and should be working hard to get his place in the first team instead of complaining. He said he didn't care and wanted to leave. Then we had a row about professionalism. I dropped him to the reserves, he came to me with more concerns. I said he should prove why he should be in the first team, but he didn't take that well at all and we had another argument.

So basically, he was demmanding first team football even though he wasn't playing well. Instead of knuckling down and working hard to earn more first team football, he throws a strop and demmands to leave.

Hmm, where have I heard this before?

Oh well, no big loss. He's been average for me since day one.

[sonic1484]

1st season my defence plus wiese in goal performed well, finished 2nd, just seemed to struggle with van persie only getting the goals didnt want to become a 1 man team, thats why i thought tevez (bargain), i almost signed lassana diarra but he chose psg instead, so got neymar who i forgot to post in my line up, maybe i have gone too attacking minded, never really thought of it like that, walcott does get more time on the wing but not much with the players ive signed. hmm so i suppose im just trying to fit hulk,neymar,rvp,tevez,thiago and arteta in to the side, thats what could be letting me down. cheers guys back to drawing board will keep you updated.

ps gervinho still there but poor 1st season, unhappy but wont go lol.

[exorcisto]

Wow, definitely too attacking for me sonic1484, but at least the fans will be getting their money's worth with you. Saying that you just need to get the balance right, and with those players (and the money you must have spent) you probably should be winning the league.

Something like this should see you right IMHO:

--------------Wiese--------------

Sagna-Vermaelen-Mertesacker-Gibbs

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

----------Song----Ramsey--------

Hulk---------Thiago--------Neymar

------------van Persie------------

Szczesny, Koscielny, Djourou, Coquelin, Arteta, Wilshere, Tevez on the bench. Looks good to me.

[sonic1484]

well ive gone more defensive and picked up some good victories unfortunatly ive just had the worst game i can remember.

spurs 5 -3 arsenal

took a 3-0 lead in to half time, kept it standard nothing too attacking and spurs hit back with a couple of subs and scored 5 in the 2nd half, tried everything in that 45mins and nothing worked, when chasing a goal at 3-3 i conceded a penalty and vermaalen sent off. 5-3 full time eek, man city next then liverpool. with no chance of the league even top 4 is looking bleak. if i manage to keep my job im sure i can turn things around, not sacked often. cheers for indepth advice guys. feel like hogdson at liverpool lol.

[llama3]

JEinchy - I have taken your advice, and at half time of my crucial 2nd leg against Malaga I am winning 2-1 and have played some sublime stuff, hopefully this sticks!

[llama3]

Season Update 2013/14

Premier League

Arsenal 2-0 Southampton - Kagawa (2)

New signing Shinji Kagawa scored twice on his debut to give us a comfortable if unimpressive 2-0 win over newly promoted Saints. Kagawa looks an excellent buy after his Bosman signing from Dortmund.

Wolves 2-3 Arsenal - Kagawa (2), Walcott

A reasonable performance, but a little below-par in some areas, won by the odd goal in 3. Kagawa continued his good form from the opener against Southampton with a well taken opener after 58 minutes, cancelled out a minute later by Popov for Wolves. Walcott & Kagawa both scored again before Wolves scored a late consolation.

UEFA Champions League

Malaga 2-3 Arsenal - van Persie (2)

A poor performance in Spain, with Toulalan's crashing opener after 2 minutes setting the tone for the evening. Van Persie's goal brought us back into contention, but Santi Cazorla put Malaga back in front. Van Persie equalised with 20 minutes left, but Djourou's red card left us very short, with Diego Capel scoring in the 3rd minute of added time to win the first leg for Malaga.

Arsenal 5-1 Malaga - Walcott (3), Kagawa, Vermaelen

A sublime hattrick from Walcott, an excellent finish from Kagawa and a powerful header from Vermaelen won Arsenal the tie in commanding fashion after the first leg debacle. It could have been more and Szczesny, Vermaelen and Koscielny were all outstanding defensively too. The team was creative all over, and Ramsey and Wilshere combined excellently with van Persie from the midfield.

Group E

Arsenal

CSKA Moscow

Metalist

Anderlecht

Overall a fairly straightforward group, aside from the 2 long trips to Eastern Europe, very pleasing.

Carling Cup

Arsenal v Reading

A straightforward tie at home to Championship opposition.

[bigman]

gervinho is good for me usually, either as an aml if or a rw winger (both with attack) scored over 10 goals in his first year with a good few assists on the left and is really good out on the right too!

is hulk better on the left or right btw? maybe even as a striker?

[sonic1484]

gervinho is good for me usually, either as an aml if or a rw winger (both with attack) scored over 10 goals in his first year with a good few assists on the left and is really good out on the right too!

is hulk better on the left or right btw? maybe even as a striker?

tbh ive had no choice but to play him both aml and amr,too many strikers. 12 goals 13 assist first season, just finished a poor season for arsenals standards he got 10 goals 18 assists with 2month injury, cost me 35mill tho.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Woo; making my first Arsenal save of FM12 - looking forward to it

With many people taking breaks from their Málaga saves, the thread has dimmed down a little and I've decided to take a break on a alternate save too. It was a toss-up between Arsenal, my favourite club, and Paris Saint-Germain but, with some advice from AcidBurn, I've decided to return to The Emirates and attempt to carry Arsene's legacy through into my career.

A few questions, should I allow First Transfer Window budgets and, as JEinchy has done, remove Jack Wilshere's injury?

Itching to get this save going now.

[Carmi88]

I'd personally remove Wilsheres injury, didn't myself and struggled to fit him into the team since I had bought a replacement who I then prefered in his role whilst he recovered

[Llew_Arshavin23]

I'd personally remove Wilsheres injury, didn't myself and struggled to fit him into the team since I had bought a replacement who I then prefered in his role whilst he recovered

Too late I've already started the game, well it's loading now I've decided not to remove Wilshere's injury, to add a realistic side to my save and to test the resolve of my squad. I've also decided against allowing First Transfer Budgets too - hopefully, it should allow youngsters like Francis Coquelin and Manu Frimpong to make a difference. Looking forward to this save now

[dburns1993]

Just started as Arsenal after Llew persuaded me. Firstly, I thought about removing the Wilshere injury but decided against it in the end.

Surprised at the £44 million budget if I'm being honest, targets will include a back up to Sagna, as well as possibly another midfielder to cover the injuries of Diaby and Wilshere as well as the possible sale of Rosicky. After that, I will focus on adding youth and improving the staff at the club.

How have people found Mertesacker as judging by his attributes he lacks the pace for a cover role and the aggression for a stopper role.

[JEinchy]

Mertesacker's mental stats more than make up for his lack of pace. He can play a cover role. If you're uncertain, just use him as a bob-standard central defender.

[dburns1993]

Mertesacker's mental stats more than make up for his lack of pace. He can play a cover role. If you're uncertain, just use him as a bob-standard central defender.

Yea, when I took a better look at his mentals I realised he probably could play it, thanks for the advice

[Llew_Arshavin23]

With no Transfer Budgets for the first Transfer Window, I will be looking towards Youth until January at least, therefore the likes of Emmanuel Frimpong, Oguzhan Özyakup, Carl Jenkinson, Ryo Miyaichi and Francis Coquelin will all play some part in the early stages of our season. Looking forward to seeing how the likes of Özyakup and Carl Jenkinson, who has been criticised in reality, will cope under the pressure.

For the rest of the night, I will be compiling realistic shortlist's, working on some aspects of my tactics and, as usual, creating my training schedules that are quite effective