FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[tomtuck01]

Llew_Arshavin23 - I'd bring in Martin. The fact he is younger would make him a better investment.

[BCFC_Mike]

Llew, not going to lie, I actually love the way you set out your updates. A lot of effort put into it by the looks of it, amazing stuff.

Tempted to start a save as Arsenal...

[Carmi88]

Final game of the season and 2nd to 5th All a point apart, city won the league

However I am in my first champions league final against Marseille! And west brom put me out of da cup semi, once again going 2 down early on then having 10 vs 11 the second half and my team bottle it.

Transfers: will sign messi for free and a young italian regen for him to tutor, Tevez may be out if he does not accept my punishments when given

[malikoi]

I did use a edit pack but, annoyingly, I can't remember where I got it from. Blue_magic PM'd me with the link but, since then, I've deleted all my messages. Sorry; maybe you could PM Blue_magic and ask him about the 'Real Competition Names' pack he uses?

I'll just do that, thanks alot bud.

[malikoi]

If I was to edit Carl Jenkinson to more closely reflect real life, how would the people in here go about his attributes? I feel as they are at the moment he isn't accurately rated.

[JackInDerBox]

Haven't been posting about my Arsenal save for a while but been busy with real life stuff and Skyrim! Will post an update detailing my achievements in the game plus the more exciting aspects my regens. Two have come through the youth academy with potential to be world class and I have also signed a few regens who look the real deal. As a rule of thumb I never check PA of my youth in my game even if I have signed them but broke that rule so I could see the potential of all the regens I had signed once they were signed but not before. Wilshere is 3 off his PA which I believe is important to highlight to any of you who are nervous his long term injury may stop him from reaching those heights. Ramsay has maxed out at his potential which is not astonishingly high but slightly above wilshere's and both are my starting MCs with Song still holding.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Llew_Arshavin23 - I'd bring in Martin. The fact he is younger would make him a better investment.

Yes; he would be the more logical option. I suppose his wage demands would be considerably lower too - let's see what happens in January

Llew, not going to lie, I actually love the way you set out your updates. A lot of effort put into it by the looks of it, amazing stuff.

Tempted to start a save as Arsenal...

Cheers mate I try to make them as interesting as possible.

Make a Arsenal save - I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

[jlm8695]

Yes; he would be the more logical option. I suppose his wage demands would be considerably lower too - let's see what happens in January

Cheers mate I try to make them as interesting as possible.

Make a Arsenal save - I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Was asking for 80k+ on my malaga save, 1st transfer window. And with Wilshere,Ramsey,Arteta, do you really need another young creative midfielder? I would suggest trying to get Lucho on loan, then you can assess your options when all your players are fit, and see if you need Martin.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Was asking for 80k+ on my malaga save, 1st transfer window. And with Wilshere,Ramsey,Arteta, do you really need another young creative midfielder? I would suggest trying to get Lucho on loan, then you can assess your options when all your players are fit, and see if you need Martin.

Well, I need a new creative midfielder as, so far this season, my regular two, Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey, have been plagued by injuries. Tomas Rosicky has just broken his leg after a collision with Q.P.R's Alejandro Faurlin and Aaron Ramsey's going to miss at least 3 months with a broken metatarsal - this only leaves Yossi Benayoun and Oguzhan Özyakup as notable 'creative' deep-lying midfielders. I don't really want to place my trust on Yossi Benayoun, who isn't a natural at CM, and Özyakup, who's only just made his debut as a substitute.

If I could get Gonzalez on loan, I would be delighted but, with his wage demands around £70k, I doubt a loan move would be possible. Yoann Gourcuff's been interesting me too.

[BCFC_Mike]

Cheers mate I try to make them as interesting as possible.

Make a Arsenal save - I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far.

Started one last night, sorted out my training, tactics squad etc. Just want to bring in 1 or 2 players. Pre Season still to take part in, then the first season will begin.

[malikoi]

What do you guys think of the changes i've made to Carl?

[JEinchy]

What do you guys think of the changes i've made to Carl?

I'd raise his Crossing by a couple of points, but decrease Tackling.

Positioning seems too high.

Work Rate and Stamina should be higher, I think. Jenkinson is the fittest player in the squad, so I think 16 for both would be appropriate.

I assume you changed his PA from:

-7 to -8.

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

September Update

Premier League

Arsenal 4 - 1 West Brom (Jack Wilshere 6', Theo Walcott 25', Alex Song 29', Thomas Vermaelen 72'; Shane Long 80')

A pretty routine victory over a poor West Brom side. Disappointed we conceded a goal.

Tottenham 2 - 2 Arsenal (Hulk 34', 81'; Theo Walcott 61', Mohammed Abdellaoue 68')

Spurs are rapidly becoming the most annoying team. They've now sorted out there striking problem by buying El Hamdoui and Rondon, so this game was quite difficult.

Arsenal 7 - 0 Leeds (Jesé 2', Theo Walcott 20', Nathaniel Clyne OG 37', Thomas Vermaelen 55', Alex Chamberlain 67', Laurent Koscielny 73', 85')

Now this is more like it.

Champions League

Arsenal 2 - 3 CSKA Moscow (Jack Wilshere 38', Alex Chamberlain 73'; Vagner Love 26', 40', Wojciech Szczesny OG 56')

Ugh... this game.

Vagner Love scored a curler from 25 yards, then scored from a ridiculous angle. Honda took a free-kick from 30 yards which came off the bar, off of Szczesny's back and into the goal. While we're conceding some ridiculous goals, we're not taking the chances we do create.

All in all, incredibly frustrating game.

Carling Cup

Arsenal 3 - 0 Leeds (Marco Reus 1', 8', Jesé 67')

Pretty easy win, just three days before we demolished them 7-0.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

What do you guys think of the changes i've made to Carl?

Crossing should be risen a little, as should his Work Rate.

Tackling should be decreased by at least 2, while his Stamina should be improved considerably

[tomtuck01]

Stamina increased? More often than not this season he's been going off with cramp late on in games, or at the very least struggling towards the end. In my opinion it should be a couple of points lower.

His Positioning is certainly too high by maybe three points, and I think even his Decisions stat is by a point or two.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Stamina increased? More often than not this season he's been going off with cramp late on in games, or at the very least struggling towards the end. In my opinion it should be a couple of points lower.

His Positioning is certainly too high by maybe three points, and I think even his Decisions stat is by a point or two.

I don't know how you can put cramp down to his lack of stamina? Many players these days get Cramp towards the end of games and, it's partly due to the relentless speed of the modern Premier League game. He struggles, allegedly, at the end of games because he's constantly travelling up and down the right-hand side; as JEinchy said, he's one of the fittest players in the Arsenal squad.

[Welshace]

youve made him as good as kyle walker and the like... clearly isnt anywhere near that level.... just saying...

[ig0rf]

Hello!

I'm brazilian and liked Arsenal since that 2003/04 season.. And I'm a Bergkamp fan (i have his Arsenal shirt )

So, i'm starting here with arsenal in this new FM..

I bought:

Mandanda 11M

Hulk 27M (48 months)

Vrsaljko (3M)

Iker Muniain 22M (48 months)

Christian Eriksen 8M

I intend to buy some center backs, but i saw Gary Cahill will be out of contract in july 2012 and I think I'll try him!

I also sold Chamakh, Djourou, Myiachi and Almunia.

Sorry my english!

Go Gunners!

[ig0rf]

I'm thinking to use Vermaelen as a defensive LB, like Barcelona does with Abidal and Inter used to do with Burdisso.. as a fake CB. So, I can be more offensive on the midfieldiders... And Andre Santos and Gibbs isn't the dream of all manager... Too bad i didn't bought a good CB to replace him on this position... so, I dont know.. i'll test!

[Welshace]

vermaelen works VERY well at LB but as you say... a shame as he can be one of the most effective cb's in the premiership ..

[exorcisto]

Update: October 2012

CL - Lech A 2 - 1 Theo Walcott, Mikel Arteta.

I underestimated Lech Poznan, after Shakhtar beat them 6-0 on match day one, and they took the lead early on. Luckily we fought back well to edge a win.

PL - Wolves H 4 - 0 Nicolás Gaitán, Marek Hamsik, Marouane Chamakh, Gervinho.

Wolves had been on a terrible run leading up to this, having lost 4 in a row without scoring. They had no chance of turning that run around against us in our current form.

PL - Aston Villa H 2 - 2 Nicolás Gaitán, Jan Vertonghen.

This was one of those insanely frustrating games. Song, Gervinho and Chamakh were still on international duty for some reason, so Coquelin, Sanogo and Walcott deputised. All the same we took a 2-0 lead and looked comfortable before an Agbonlahor breakaway from our corner (one defender chased him all the way from halfway, the other defender covering just never went near him), and then another bizarre Vertonghen own goal. If I had a cat I would have kicked it.

CL - Shakhtar A 2 - 2 Laurent Koscielny, Jack Wilshere.

Unlike Lech, I probably overestimated Shakhtar, playing too deep and inviting their AMCs in their narrow 4-2-3-1 formation to swarm all over us in the first half. 1-0 down at half time, Koscielny headed in from a corner straight after the restart, and it was fairly tight after that. On 82 minutes Shaktar took the lead though and it looked like our first defeat of the season, only for substitute Wilshere to equalise at the death. Willian impressed me, I'll definitely look into signing him if the opportunity ever comes up.

PL - Wigan A 3 - 0 Jack Wilshere(3).

After saving us in midweek, I decided to give Jack a start against Wigan, and boy did he grab the opportunity. A clinical hat-trick rounded off by yet another unlikely headed goal.

CC - Wigan H 3 - 0 Andrey Arshavin, Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh.

Back to Carling Cup action, and Wigan again. Arshavin continued his scoring form in this competition, but this match was notable for the emergence of Chamberlain really, who bagged two assists and got man of the match. I haven't been impressed with him until now, but here he was class.

Another good month for us overall, and we have dealt with the absence of van Persie pretty well. Chamakh has done well, but Sanogo has failed to score in a few outings which has disappointed me. We top the league, and our Champions League group too, but United have climbed up to second with, I think, 7 straight wins, and they are now only 2 points behind us.

[llama3]

I have used vermaelen at left back a lot before with injuries, so to be honest, he would be good there. Just as long as you have enough options at centre-back.

[ig0rf]

Thanks guys!

In the first important friendly (before, i just played against some weak MLS teams), against Fenerbahçe, team did very well ofensively, but I didn't liked the fact Fenerbahçe scored twice against me.

6-2.

4x Van Persie, 1x Park Chu Young 1x Theo.

P.s: Got Hulk injured 4 months! ((((((

Now I'll stop playing because I'm going to my team's game (America-RN) on the 3rd division playoff here in Brazil! It's the last game and we need to win to promote to 2nd division! Support me, ppl

Cya!

[llama3]

Thanks guys!

In the first important friendly (before, i just played against some weak MLS teams), against Fenerbahçe, team did very well ofensively, but I didn't liked the fact Fenerbahçe scored twice against me.

6-2.

4x Van Persie, 1x Park Chu Young 1x Theo.

P.s: Got Hulk injured 4 months! ((((((

Now I'll stop playing because I'm going to my team's game (America-RN) on the 3rd division playoff here in Brazil! It's the last game and we need to win to promote to 2nd division! Support me, ppl

Cya!

Good luck, hope you get the result mate

[llama3]

I'm thinking to use Vermaelen as a defensive LB, like Barcelona does with Abidal and Inter used to do with Burdisso.. as a fake CB. So, I can be more offensive on the midfieldiders... And Andre Santos and Gibbs isn't the dream of all manager... Too bad i didn't bought a good CB to replace him on this position... so, I dont know.. i'll test!

Vermaelen is a very good left back, but a much more reliable centre-back. Koscielny I find excellent too though. To be honest Koscielny, Mertesacker, Djourou & Squillaci/Bartley make up a very good back line too

[tyro]

Hi guys. I decided to start my arsenal save. I played them in the demo and then was trying out several teams when the game came out to get used to the new features. Tried a save with Juventus and then Inter but put them on hold as I want to get my arsenal save going.

As I experimented with them during the demo and kept reading this thread, I knew how to start out. It also seems this thread is very active so should be fun. I am now almost end of October. Going to write a summary shortly.

JEinchy, I also played versus CSKA Moscow and it didn't go well. You'll see my update soon.

[Suggy33]

Trying a new Arsenal save out. Spent £56m in the first window, while gaining £11.5m from sales.

Notable first team ins: Marco Reus (Gladbach - £15.75m), Hugo Mallo (Celta Vigo - £1.5m), Zakaria Labyad (PSV - £9m), Nicolas Gaitan (Benfica - £14m) and Henrik Mkhitaryan (Shakhtar - £9m).

Youth signings: Luke Shaw, James Ward-Prowse, Jake Sinclair (Southampton - £3.5m total), Gianluca Caprari (Roma - £1.3m), Lucas Andersen (AAB - £1.5m), Lorenzo Crisetig (Inter - £1.4m) and Muhammed Demirci (Besiktas - £1.5m - joins Jan 2013).

[Carmi88]

Currently losing to Everton thanks to Koscielny, but Liverpool are being beaten by spurs and have dropped to 4th. Final day could not be any tighter! If things stay the same I finish 2nd and United 3rd

All at Half Time

Arsenal 0-1 Everton HF 0-1 FT

Liverpool 0-1 Tottenham 2-3 FT

Man Utd 4-0 Newcastle 5-1 FT

Chelsea 0-0 Bolton 0-0 FT

Won the champions league! Attention seeker Tevez did his best to cost me It since he was on the bench, brought him on at 50 mins and he got sent off, so had it with him, he is gone. Theo also feels he has gained all the glory he can with me and wants out

Hazard grabbed a brace to lead me past Marseille 2-1

Need to get a win against Everton, I know Liverpool are gonna turn it around!

[malikoi]

Ok, so I've changed Carl's attributes to what some of you have suggested, does he look better now?

As im doing this in FMRTE I changed his PA to

155

do you think its a tad high/low?

[malikoi]

Man City have just put a bid of £11.25 million in for Arshavin, with £9.25 million over 30 months.. Do I accept it?

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Hello and Welcome to my second monthly update; this time it's September's turn to be analysed. This was another tough month, especially with a vast amount of mid-week fixtures against tough teams. Here we go.

September;

Barclays Premier League;

West Brom - 0

Arsenal - 3 (Van Persie '21, Benayoun '83, Arshavin '90+1)

Very happy with this result; after 2 weeks off due to the international break, a numerous amount of first-team players came back into the first-team set up and didn't disappoint. Played a good branc of football throughout, keeping possession well. Alex Song and Mikel Arteta dominated proceedings from deep. Very Happy.

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage;

Arsenal - 1 (Koscielny '21, Arteta m/p '65)

Dynamo Kyiv - 1 (Yarmolenko '58)

Should've won; another game in which we disappointed in front of goal. Had many an opportunity to extend our lead, or in Arteta's case to regain the lead, but we squandered many a chance - ARTETA! Not ideal, especially with a long trip to Kiev awaiting us but, at least we didn't lose. Q.P.R next up.

Barclays Premier League;

Arsenal - 1 (Van Persie '23)

Q.P.R - 0 (Barton Red Card '85)

Good win in what was a feisty match. 5 Yellow cards and a Red for QPR while, my team remained unscathed when it comes to discipline. Although, Tomas Rosicky was on the end of a horrible tackle from QPR's Alejandro Faurlin which, once again, went undisciplined when, in all honesty, it should've merited a straight red card. Good win though against a resilient, but dirty, Neil Warnock outfit.

Carling Cup - 3rd Round;

Arsenal - 0 (Szczesny Red Card '7)

Stoke - 1 (Crouch '15)

Stupidity from the match engine. Szczesny collected the ball around the 8-yard line within his own area, fell to the ground and continued 'sliding' until he ended up 5 yards outside our own penalty area and, surprise surprise, handling the ball which resulted in a straight red card. To say the least, I was furious! That ruined our gameplan, the game all together and our chances of glory in a winnable Carling Cup.

Barclays Premier League;

Newcastle - 1 (Gutíerrez '46)

Arsenal - 5 (Van Persie pen '9, Sagna '14, Walcott '29, Chamakh '74, pen '90+1)

What a fantastic, dominant win at St. James' Park, sorry, the Sports Direct Arena. From despair in mid-week, we travel to Newcastle, put 5 goals past them and eventually win the game comprehensively. Delighted win this win; aswell as a good 3 points, we've also boosted our goal difference which cannot do any harm when it comes to the final months of the season. Also, I've found a new attacking outlet in Bacary Sagna - scored a terrific left-footed volley from the edge of the area.

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage;

FC Kobenhavn - 1 (Diouf '89)

Arsenal - 3 (Vermaelen '40, Walcott '70, Chamakh pen '90+4)

Good win over in Denmark's captial, Copenhagen. Walcott continued his great goalscoring form with a sensational dribble from within our half, beating 4 on his way and slotting the ball home. Chamakh also made a good impression while RVP was being rested and 'wrapped in cotton wool' by myself. He really is key to our ambition of a good season.

General review of September;

Once you scrutinize the performances, those moments of luck and the opposition you play against, you can fully understand the month that has just passed. In my opinion, it's a decent month. The opposition weren't great, bar Newcastle, but the performances were promising and, to be fair, lady luck did turn against us. Disappointed that were knocked out of the Carling Cup by Pulis' Stoke but, that was all down to some stupid, mind-boggling 'goings on'. Happy with this month.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE TABLE; AS OF OCTOBER 2nd

My 'Gunner' of the Month;

▲▲▲ Bacary Sagna - Often the forgotten man in many people's Arsenal outfit's but, he's been key for me; one of the most consitant players in the Premier League. He's been influential as ever this campaign for my Arsenal side - bombs up and down the right-hand side of the pitch at a relentless pace. Aswell as his defensive and team qualities, he's found a brand new pair of scoring boots. Hopefully he remains fit and, I'm sure, that he'll become a Arsenal Icon sooner rather than later.

A few final words...

Injuries have hit us hard... We've been plagued by injuries this season, no doubt about it; especially the creative midfielders have been hit by injury and have felt the effects of long lay-offs. With Wilshere already out, the options were limited but, with long-term injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Tomas Rosicky, the pool that I could chose from has been decreased even more. A signing looks likely in January; assessing my options at this very minute.

Assists within the final third - My tactic is all based on good, free-flowing football and, in my opinion, to have a successful tactic, you must be able to perform well in the final third, where you've dominated possession, probed the opposition and are looking for that final ball to open up the defence - here's a graphic showing where my assists have come from in the final third;

I am very happy with where we are making our goals from at the moment. We havn't got an over reliance on goals from Corners, which has been a all too persistent bug on previous FM. With my game tending to be played throught the middle, I'm happy with the amount of assists coming from the centre of the field but, we also have a good habit of allowing Gervinho and Walcott to put in a good, driven cross which someone can, ans usually will, capitalize on.

VICTORY THROUGH HARMONY

[Welshace]

have to applaud the effort you put into your updates llew... makes them a joy to read and personally makes me want to quit my current everton side and start anew with the gunners

[Llew_Arshavin23]

have to applaud the effort you put into your updates llew... makes them a joy to read and personally makes me want to quit my current everton side and start anew with the gunners

Cheers mate Glad you like them; I hope that they are good to read too. You don't have to quit your, what I'm sure, is a great Everton save just because of my updates

[oneskyride]

Decided to give lansbury a chance in a friendly vs Levsky, guess what, he gives a godly performance scoring 4 goals , including a superb lobbed goal , with a 9.9 rating, certainly didn't expect this kind of performance from him (I'm only in my 2nd season, 2012, he's rated as a 3 star potential and 2 stars CA ) . If he's really this good than he's gonna be serious competition for ramsey and wilshere this year.

[bigman]

Has anyone had Park Chu-Young go on a stormer? I'm asking this because I am now in my second season in charge of the club and the player has become something of a phenomenon. In his first season he made 32 total appearances, scored 9 and had 11 assists playing on the wing. First season I primarily ran with RVP as a sole striker up front. This season I'm employing a more traditional 4-4-2 with Park partnering RVP and he's been unstoppable. An overall 13 appearances with 14 goals, 5 assists and an average rating of 8.05. In the last 8 games he's netted in 7 of them and had a match rating of 9.1 or higher in 4. He was solid in the first season, and I'm by no means complaining, but I cannot fathom where Super Park has come from.

he's good as a dlf (support) how do u play him?

[bigman]

Good luck signing Mario Götze. I've seen people having to spend as much £70mil to pry him away from Dortmund.

For £15.8mil, Marco Reus is a much better option.

def going for reus in my next gooner save after the next update!

[Carmi88]

Man Utd offer me Nani for 4 million, perfect replacement for Walcott, and a perfect tutor for my Brazil regen Jacere

And Tevez is staying due to him finally accepting he was wrong that and the fact 4 key players said the way I treated him was harsh, wimps

[WillyBroadband]

Hello!

Had a weird situation with my LB Aly Cissokho, he was out injured for 3 months with a torn calf muscle then when he was fit again he came to me whining that he wasn't getting regular football?! Erm, earth to Aly you wally, you've been injured!?!

It's not the end of the world as he went straight back into my starting line-up anyway, just slightly annoying..

.. has anyone else had a similar thing? I know I should mention it in the bugs forum maybe but I thought I'd mention it to you lot first as I check this thread way more than any other and I am a Gooner

[JEinchy]

I had experienced a similar occurence with players coming back from loan spells. They played 30+ games on loan, came back and then moaned at me for not being in my future plans. In the case of players like Diaby and Bendtner, this is a little understandable since I was trying to sell them (if we ignore the fact that they were on the transfer list before the loans). However, in the case of Craig Dawson, a 21 year old with a squad status of backup, it's a completely ludicrous complaint.

A player coming back from injury complaniign about not getting regular football is most certainly a bug. I know most footballers are pretty stupid, but no one is that illogical.

[ig0rf]

Good luck, hope you get the result mate

Thanks man! We got the result we need.. Won 2-1 even losing a penalty kick

hehe

I'll go back playing with my Arsenal now

[ig0rf]

Well, my team started the first season playing well. Christian Eriksen really impressed me. When I bought him, he's supposed to be just a back up for Wilshere, Arteta, Rosicky... but he's the best of all. Played 3(2) games and made 6 assists and have 8.38 rating!

Fenerbahce (H) - Friendly - 6-2

Roma (H) - Friendly - 2-2

QPR (A) - EPL - 1-0 - Walcott (Played without Hulk, RVP and Muniain! Park wasted a lot of chances!)

Rubin Kazan (A) - UCL - 2-1 - Walcott, Arshavin

Swansea (H) - EPL - 4-0 - RVP, Walcott, Arshavin, Mertesacker

Rubin Kazan (H) - UCL - 4-0 - RVP (3x), o.g

Norwich (A) - EPL - 6-0 - RVP, Muniain (2x), Walcott (2x), Mertesacker.

My group in Champions League is: Villarreal, Leverkusen, Rosenborg. I have a moral obligation to be the first

[craigos717]

def going for reus in my next gooner save after the next update!

hot prospect.. and will perform at the present.. cracker of a player..

[exorcisto]

Decided to give lansbury a chance in a friendly vs Levsky, guess what, he gives a godly performance scoring 4 goals , including a superb lobbed goal , with a 9.9 rating, certainly didn't expect this kind of performance from him (I'm only in my 2nd season, 2012, he's rated as a 3 star potential and 2 stars CA ) . If he's really this good than he's gonna be serious competition for ramsey and wilshere this year.

I've been trying to give him a chance in my second season too, I'd like him around as a back-up, especially as he's homegrown as well. Unfortunately I've just got too many player ahead of him at the moment and he's barely had a look in, even in the Carling Cup. Injuries being what they are for Arsenal, I'm sure he'll get his chance at some point this season though.

[error]

So after beating Barca in the quarters I was drawn against Real who beat me in the final last year but this time it was quite comfortable in both legs. So the final was against Villarreal, who are a bit surprisingly my boggy team having beaten me 4 out 4 in our previous meetings in the groups, but again this was quite a comfortable 2-0 win. Was really chuffed with this as we have been doing ok in the EPL but nothing outstanding.

[exorcisto]

So after beating Barca in the quarters I was drawn against Real who beat me in the final last year but this time it was quite comfortable in both legs. So the final was against Villarreal, who are a bit surprisingly my boggy team having beaten me 4 out 4 in our previous meetings in the groups, but again this was quite a comfortable 2-0 win. Was really chuffed with this as we have been doing ok in the EPL but nothing outstanding.

Congratulations, that's quite an achievement to beat Barca and Real on the way to winning the Champions League. I'm getting jealous of everyone who's won trophies with their Arsenal saves...I really need to get to the end of my current season, I'm sure we'll end the drought this time.

[error]

Congratulations, that's quite an achievement to beat Barca and Real on the way to winning the Champions League. I'm getting jealous of everyone who's won trophies with their Arsenal saves...I really need to get to the end of my current season, I'm sure we'll end the drought this time.

Thanks mate, this is the only thing that I have won in three seasons and I was 15 points off the title so I am not doing that well - I have been getting annoyed that everyone else seems to be winning the EPL when I am doing so rubbish!! I seem to have a good team for Europe as I got to the final last year although lost that one.

[llama3]

europe and the league are completely different beasts though - so it is not abnormal to be good at 1 and not the other

[error]

Agree, I have a team like the Arsenal of a few seasons ago - could win important matches then lose to Swansea! I am confident that I will get there though. Just started the fourth season and I haven't made any major signings, just brought in some youth and am hoping that the settled squad can perform better this season. A positive start so far with 3 wins and a draw with the draw coming via a last minute equaliser away to Everton.

[Sourav]

FEBRUARY UPDATE (2011-12 SEASON)

PREMIER LEAGUE

As you can see from my last update, we had drawn the last game away to Aston Villa and we were hit by another injury crisis. And our position in the league was not that great with the most probable position that I could achieve being fourth. The first game of February wasn't easy as well. Home game against Liverpool is certainly not a walk in the park. Nevertheless I changed lot of things in my version of 4231 and prayed that things would fall into place.

Arsenal (Arshavin 37', Walcott 50', 63', 85') 4 - 0 Liverpool

Arteta and Van Persie were coming back from injuries so expected a better performance from the team. However the scoreline at the end of the match left me flabbergasted. Never thought that we could be so utterly dominant. Our best performance of the season, by far. Liverpool didn't make it easy for us as shown by Szczesny's average rating of 8.1 but Arshavin and Walcott were exceptional which is proved by the fact that Liverpool conceded four and even then Reina's rating was 7.4. I think I have finally stumbled upon THE tactic.

Arsenal (Van Persie 7', 12', Arteta 76') 3 - 0 Stoke

A comfortable win. Van Persie was in a hurry plus they got a red card in the 49th minute which effectively ended the contest.

Norwich 0 - 3 Arsenal (Van Persie 26', 40', 54')

The Van Persie Show. Solid performances from Chamberlain, Sagna and Vermaelen.

Standings:

1 Man Utd - 27 games, 67 points

2 Man city - 27 games, 61 points

3 Arsenal - 26 games, 59 points

4 Tottenham - 24 games, 54 points

5 Chelsea - 27 games, 48 points

6 Liverpool - 26 games, 44 points

Despite some inspired performances, still stuck in the third spot.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

1st Knockout Round Leg 1

Lyon 0 - 3 Arsenal (Va Persie 41', arshavin 45', Walcott 77')

I was playing for a draw but contrary to predictions, we literally thrashed them. A red card for Cris in the 50th minute made things more diffiult for Lyon.

LEAGUE CUP

Final

Newcastle 0 - 2 Arsenal (Miyaichi 18', Walcott 80' pen)

My first Trophy . Over the moon with the achievement. Barring Tottenham in the semis, we had an easy run-in but still a great achievement.

FA CUP

4th Round (Repeat leg)

Arsenal (Arshavin 20', 25', Chamberlain 38') 3 - 2 Bristol city (Stead 9', Maynard 73')

The minnows drew first blood and we were in familiar territory, under performing against weak teams. Thankfully, Arshavin decided to stamp his class over the game with a brace. Chamberlain scored one to seemingly clinch the tie. Maynard's goal brought Bristol city back into the game but we hung on for a hard fought victory.

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▲▲▲ Bacary Sagna - Often the forgotten man in many people's Arsenal outfit's but, he's been key for me; one of the most consitant players in the Premier League. He's been influential as ever this campaign for my Arsenal side - bombs up and down the right-hand side of the pitch at a relentless pace. Aswell as his defensive and team qualities, he's found a brand new pair of scoring boots. Hopefully he remains fit and, I'm sure, that he'll become a Arsenal Icon sooner rather than later.

First let me commend you on the effort put into the posts. KUTGW . As for Sagna, he has been my most consistent player over the season. His average rating has always hovered around the 7.3-7.4 mark and he has never under performed in a game. Another good thing has been that he has remained uninjured over the season which is extremely crucial especially in my case since my backup right back is Djourou whom I retrained.

So after beating Barca in the quarters I was drawn against Real who beat me in the final last year but this time it was quite comfortable in both legs. So the final was against Villarreal, who are a bit surprisingly my boggy team having beaten me 4 out 4 in our previous meetings in the groups, but again this was quite a comfortable 2-0 win. Was really chuffed with this as we have been doing ok in the EPL but nothing outstanding.

Winning the Champions league is no mean feat. Beating Real Madrid and Barcelona on the way makes it even more special. Also two consecutive Champions League finals certainly highlights your consistency. Congratulations

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Thanks Sourav, I just need to sort out the EPL form and I will be more than happy

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My team is playing well, but I'm not very glad with the defensive system, I think I'll try to improve it on the Match Preparation or change something in the tactic.

Against Manchester United, I was winning until 92', when Nani scored

Now I have 5W 1D 0L, tied with the City. And ManU have 4W 2D 0L.

Walcott is fantastic!

(I play in portuguese. C = Home and F = Away.