FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[llama3]

Ouch, I hate seeing those red arrows. Sometimes it's better to just not look, I think.

yeah often I cannot get the player back to the level they were - got it with Abou Diaby & getting it with Wilshere

Speaking of which - JEinchy - how come your Wilshere is that good? even with high physical training he physical attributes barely increased

[KingLara]

December/January update

No intro just straight to the action

Premier League - ASTON VILLA 0-0 ARSENAL

It seemed destined to be a 0-0 just from the team talk. I set up about as defensivly as you can to counter the threats of Bent and Agbonlahor. Diaby started his first game of the season and in an expected drab game Gervinho should have snatched a 90th minute winner but dragged his shot wide when clean through.

Champions League - FC KOBENHAVN 0-1 ARSENAL - Park 34

Kobenhavin had to win by 4 clear goals to take top spot from us and even for a second string that was never on the cards. Park grabbing the only goal in a game we just about deserved to win.

Premer League - ARSENAL 1-1 BLACKBURN ROVERS - Park 58 - Pekrovic 35

A bit of a stutter was happening as again we dropped points to a team we should beat. Blackburn came out with very aggressive tactics and controlled most of the game. In fact they probably can feel hard done by they didn't get more out of it.

Premer League - TOTTENHAM 2-3 ARSENAL - - Bale 38 Pavulchenko 81 Anylukov 90 - Arteta 12 Park 23 34

The top of the table clash saw Arsenal travel to White Hart Lane on the back of an indifferent run of form. Luckily this was one of the good days and although we switched off and allowed them two goals it was the opening 30 minutes that set the game up. Park was starting to score and I wasn't going to drop him until he didn't. A great result.

Premer League - EVERTON 1-0 ARSENAL - - Anichebe 32

We had some close shaves but finally suffered defeat for the first time this season. Never really got the game going at Goodison and Everton deserved to win. Maybe even by a wider margin.

Premer League - ARSENAL 4-0 FULHAM - - Walcott 4 Park 14 34 Mertesaker 79

Much more like it. An excellent performance with van Persie getting 3 assists. Was starting to worry about his scoring though. Hadn't scored since Man City. Sagna was injured and would miss a month.

Premer League - ARSENAL 3-0 SUNDERLAND - - Arshavin 7 Van Persie 57 Mertesaker 86

Doesn't get much easier than that. Sunderland didn't manage a single one of their 4 efforts on target.

JANUARY TRASFER WINDOW

IN

NONE

OUT

Jeffrey - Reading -55k

Aneke - Loan

Ansah - Loan

Djourou - Loan

Diaby - Loan

Freeman - Loan

Hajrovic - Loan

Ozyakup -Loan

Santos - loan

Premer League - ARSENAL 5-0 NORWICH - - Park 1 Walcott 3 56 63 Arteta 23

If there was a team to play with just a 1 day gap from the last game Norwich would be high on the list. The result was about as comprehensive as you get. Walcott hit a great hattrick and could have had 6. I thought the game was the perfect opportunity to give Chamberlain a start and a rating of 9.1 and two assists justified it. It could easily have been 9 or 10 but I will take 5. A great response by the team after the Everton game.

FA Cup 3R - WATFORD 1-3 ARSENAL - Yeates 90 - Chamackh 21 63pen Gervinho 42 Arteta m/p 14

Had to juggle a bit with the carling cup semi on the Tuesday but in the end a comfortable win.

It was actually was the second game I played as the first game crashed after we won 5-1 Park hit a hattrick but in this game did very little.

LC sf 1 leg – Wolves 2-2 Arsenal – O’Hara 12 Hunt 90 – Walcott 4 49

Wolves snatched a last gasp equaliser as it seemed for all the world we would take a lead back to Emirates after a Walcott brace.

Wolves can count themselves unlucky after the game again crashed when they had won the first leg 1-0. Ebanks Blake scoring from the spot with 12 minutes left. Quite fortunate actually Van Persie and Walcott both picked up injuries in that game which would have kept them out for a month and two months

PL – Wigan 0–4 Arsenal - Park 10 17 52 Van Persie 39

Grerat performance. Park kept up his outstanding form with a great hattrick. Nice for Van Persie to get a goal. It’s only his 10th of the season.

Pl – Arsenal 3-0 QPR – Van Persie 41 Park 50 Gibbs 83

Although the scoreline was comfortable it wasn’t the greatest performance but at this stage of the seasons with games coming every three days wins are wins.

LC SF 2leg ARSENAL 2-0 WOLVES – Walcott 45 78

Arsenal comfortably set up a carling cup final against Everton without too much panic. Another Walcott brace sealing the 4-2 aggregate win.

FA Cup 4R – ARSENAL 0-0 CYRSTAL PALACE

Never turned up. Despite starting with Van Persie and Walcott it just wasn’t happening. We all have off days I guess. Palace could almost have sneaked a winner late on. Liverpool at Anfield awaits the winner of the replay. The African Nations and Asia cup started so was losing Park when he had started to hiot form.

Pl MANCHESTER CITY 1-2 ARSENAL – Nasri 83 – Koscielny 6 Walcott 70

Fantastic result and way to end the month. Man City were starting to breath down our necks at the top of the table and with all the big boys starting it was a tough task nut the team were fantastic and hardly gave city a sniff.

Top Scorers (all comps)

Walcott 20

Park 13

Van Persie 11

Chamackh 7

Arshaivin 6

Arteta 5

Mertesaker 4

Top average ratings minimum 5 games (games/goals in brackets)

Park Chu-Young 7.54 (19+2/13)

Laurent Koscielny 7.45 (26+1/2)

Robin Van Persie 7.35 (25+2/11)

Theo Walcott 7.34 (26+7/20)

Bacary Sagna 7.33 (24)

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

Tomas Vermaelen 7.22 (21/1)

The league table

1. Arsenal played 23 points 58.

2. Chelsea played 22 points 45

3. Man City played 23 points 45

4. Man United played 22 points 45

5. Liverpool played 22 points 42

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

6. Tottenham played 21 points 40

Amazing that we have sropped 11 points and still find ourselves with a minimum 10 point lead.

GAME OF THE MONTH

MANCHESTER UNITED 0-4 CHELSEA

/ Ramires 33 Kalou 38 Torres 68 Cole 72pen

Shots 12 - 17

On Ta 2 - 11

Poss 51-49

It took me quite a while to actyually accept that scoreline was real.

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Park Chu-Young

us

7.3 (1)

7.2 (1)

8.8 (2)

6.8

8.8 (2)

7.6

8.8 (1)

7.6

us

9.5 (3)

7.7 (1)

us

STAT OF THE MONTH

The rivals in December/January

Chelsea - WLWWWWWWW

Man Und - LWWWDWWWD

Liverpool - LLWWDWDWW

Man Cty - WDWWWWDWWL

I'm delighted with the two months work. Still in all four competitions with good chances to win them. Liverpool in the FA Cup will be tough but I won't take Orient for granted. Tests will come in the Carling Cup final, the champions League against Lille and premier league matches against Chelaea and Liverpool.

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - December 2011

Premier League

Wigan 2-2 Arsenal - van Persie (2)

Had to come from behind twice to draw at wigan, an odd performance, statistically good but just lacked "it" and were lucky not to lose after Watson hit the post with a late penalty.

Arsenal 3-0 Everton - Arshavin, Walcott, van Persie

After the wigan game just kept things a little tighter, and it worked, the patient approach rode an early everton spell of pressure, and then eventually clinically controlled the game.

Man City 1-2 Arsenal - van Persie, Chamakh

Went 1-0 down in first half, with some poor defending, but after De Jong's red card got back into the game against a City team lacking an out and out striker due to injuries. Van Persie equalised just after half time and entirely controlled the 2nd half, and delighted to win it in injury time with substitute Marouane Chamakh's winner. Really excellent performance.

Aston Villa 1-3 Arsenal - Arshavin (2), Diaby

Poor start, went behind, but soon got the game under control again with a brace from Arshavin. Diaby managed to get a late goal at from the rebound of his first shot.

Arsenal 3-1 Wolves - Walcott, Arshavin, Mertesacker

Regulation win, excellent contributions from the wide men.

Arsenal 4-0 QPR - Walcott (2), Chamakh, Gervinho

Excellent finishing from Walcott, Chamakh dictated the entire game with 2 assists to add to his goal, and Gervinho smashed a goal into the top corner from the bench after 6 weeks out injured.

UEFA Champions League Group B

Arsenal 1-0 Lyon - Chamakh

We controlled the game, without offering much zip in the final 3rd of a dead rubber game. Settled by Chamakh's header just before half time.

Group B

1 - Lyon - +9 - 15

2 - Arsenal - +14 - 12

3 - Otelul - -16 - 4

4 - Basel - -7 - 4

UEFA Champions League Knockout Round

Arsenal v Barcelona

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Not much FM for me until after tonight's game

Although, quick update;

Robin Van Persie's new contract - I am pleased to announce that RVP, the man who's been influential as a captain and player this campaign, has signed a new long-term deal to keep him at The Emirates for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, this 'boost' will push the team on and clinch qualification passed the Champions League group stages, a good run in the Premier League and, once again, it will hopefully allow us to sign players like Mario Götze, Marvin Martin and Eden Hazard in the Transfer Windows that are baring down on us.

Good Luck with your saves lads; COYG!

[Carmi88]

Just about to enter January, 2nd in the league with a game in hand and behind City by 1 point. I've won the European super cup and Club world championship

And I've been drawn against genoa in the champions league KO round, and their team, with 2 quality attacking regens plus Velosa, Giovinco, Balotelli and Ibrahimovic. Plus former gunners Eboue and Diaby!!!

[llama3]

Not much FM for me until after tonight's game

Although, quick update;

Robin Van Persie's new contract - I am pleased to announce that RVP, the man who's been influential as a captain and player this campaign, has signed a new long-term deal to keep him at The Emirates for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, this 'boost' will push the team on and clinch qualification passed the Champions League group stages, a good run in the Premier League and, once again, it will hopefully allow us to sign players like Mario Götze, Marvin Martin and Eden Hazard in the Transfer Windows that are baring down on us.

Good Luck with your saves lads; COYG!

Did you get him as cheap as I did?

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Did you get him as cheap as I did?

Well, I've tied him down to the summer of 2015 on a £115,000 a week pay deal

How 'cheap' is yours?

[llama3]

Well, I've tied him down to the summer of 2015 on a £115,000 a week pay deal

How 'cheap' is yours?

June 2016, £90k pw, £11k appearance and goal bonuses, £550k team of the year bonus, 30 goal bonus of £1.5m - agent fee £3.1m, signing on fee of £2m

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - January 2012

Premier League

Fulham 1-4 Arsenal - Arshavin, Chamakh, Djourou, Park

Took the lead after 25 minutes, but Fulham got back on terms, and just patiently wide until the chances came, we were never in danger.

Swansea 0-2 Arsenal - van Persie, Chamakh

Although we looked excellent we didn't put enough chances away, and it took late sub Chamakh's header with 4 minutes left to finally secure us the 3 points.

Arsenal 2-2 Manchester United - van Persie, Walcott

Really outstanding game and performance, missing Song & Gervinho to international commitments we controlled the midfield, and took a deserved lead just before the break. Man Utd equalised through a corner and a vidic header, but a counter attack midway through 2nd half as Man Utd were starting to exert pressure put us back in front, and it took a late Man utd surge with rooney lifting the ball over szczesny to secure Man Utd a draw.

The draw leaves me 2nd in the league with 51 points from 22 games. 1 point behind man utd.

FA Cup

Arsenal 3-0 Tranmere - Chamberlain, Djourou, Gervinho

An easy win, rested several players, gave some academy players a run out and several impressed.

Preston 1-4 Arsenal - Chamakh (2), Benayoun, Diaby

Another easy win, resting players for upcoming games, and again we looked very comfortable.

FA Cup 5th Round Draw

Everton v Arsenal

[Llew_Arshavin23]

June 2016, £90k pw, £11k appearance and goal bonuses, £550k team of the year bonus, 30 goal bonus of £1.5m - agent fee £3.1m, signing on fee of £2m

£90k a week? I've been done once again by another ludicrous agent. Although, RVP is definitely worth it

[malikoi]

I also tied him down for £90,000! His bonuses are £9,500 appearance fee, £8,500 goal bonus, which his team of the year is a hefty £625,000. His clauses are 'Match highest earner', a 10% sell on fee and £1,500,000 after 25 goals. I paid RvP a £900,000 loyalty bonus which his agent got £1,200,000.

A rather decent deal on my side, wouldn't you say?

In other news, i'll do an update once I get to January.

[exorcisto]

I tied Robin down for £100k p/w at the end of the first season. Can't remember the clauses, but nothing I wasn't very happy to pay him.

My pursuit of Hazard hasn't gone so well though, Sp*rs and Man United pushed the bidding up to £32.5m (no idea where that lot down the road got that sort of money from). I reluctantly bid £32m which was accepted, I've agreed terms with him also at £100k p/w (any higher and RvP and Hamsik would get a pay rise to match). I don't really think he will choose Arsenal though, and to be honest I'd be just as happy keeping my £32m and looking at Willian in the summer.

[llama3]

I also tied him down for £90,000! His bonuses are £9,500 appearance fee, £8,500 goal bonus, which his team of the year is a hefty £625,000. His clauses are 'Match highest earner', a 10% sell on fee and £1,500,000 after 25 goals. I paid RvP a £900,000 loyalty bonus which his agent got £1,200,000.

A rather decent deal on my side, wouldn't you say?

In other news, i'll do an update once I get to January.

Nice work on the bonuses, although i never let anyone have the "match highest earner" or "10% sell on fee" clauses ever.

[malikoi]

llama3 I only did it because I am never going to offer a player over £100,000 a week. So, the highest wage rise RvP would get from that is £10,000. With the 10% fee, I don't expect to sell him ever!

[llama3]

i'm not criticising, just saying what my preferences are in negotiations.

[malikoi]

Ohh, I never said you did buddy, was just explaining as to why I did it.

[error]

I was a bit disappointed with the prize money for the World Club Champ, didn't it used to be about £6m prize money when it first come about? Nice to win it though!

Apart from that victory a very disappointing December with back to back loses to Liverpool, where we had two goals disallowed, and Villa. Has put us back to third 7 points off.

[WillyBroadband]

I got RvP to sign a new contract for £100,000 a week with hefty bonuses, I usually go for the less basic salary but hefty bonuses all the time and it usually works.

I like trying to stick to how Arsenal are irl but I signed Diego Milito and he is on £110,000 a week, which I don't regret as he has been a monster but it will be a pain when I try to offload him as he is 32. He's also contracted until 2014.

[bdixon]

Question, does the Emirates have the chance to be expanded?

[Sourav]

MARCH UPDATE (2011-12 SEASON)

PREMIER LEAGUE

QPR 0 - 1 Arsenal (Connolly og 1')

Contrary to expectations, this turned out to be a closely contested affair. Our possession of 60% suggests otherwise but this was one of our poorest performances to date.

Arsenal (Wilshere 16', Van Persie 69') 2 - 1 Wolves (Fletcher 39')

Wilshere scored in his first start of the season. Wolves kept pegging away and got a goal in the 39th minute via Fletcher but Van Persie sealed a deserved victory in the second half.

Arsenal (Arshavin 31', Walcott 84') 2 - 0 Sunderland

A routine victory.

Manchester City (Bocchetti 74') 1 - 1 Arsenal (Walcott 68')

I decided to change my formation and go in with the Bayern formation that tormented me earlier in the Champions League quarter final. Tweaked 4231 to have 2 DMs instead of CMs and played Rodwell and Song. City started strongly with Aguero taking a series of pot shots at our goal. We sat back, soaked up the pressure and tried to counter attack. In the 38th minute Vermaelen got injured. Somehow we managed to come unscathed at half time. In the second half, City were a lot subdued and we finally started playing our natural game. Van Persie was having a poor game and therefore in the 65th minute subbed Gervinho and brought on Walcott and then moved Van persie to the wing. This move brought almost immediate results with Walcott scoring a magnificent individual effort. A win now seemed possible but a Bocchetti corner goal brought us back down to earth. It was all City after that but we held on.

Standings:

1 Man Utd - 31 games, 79 points

2 Arsenal - 30 games, 69 points

3 Man City - 31 games, 65 points

4 Tottenham - 28 games, 58 points

5 chelsea - 31 games, 58 points

6 Liverpool - 30 games, 54 points

Finally leapfrogged Man City and have cemented the second position. Man Utd though are running away with the league.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

1st Knockout Round Leg 2

Arsenal 0 - 1 Lyon (Gomis 20')

Played a weakened team and lost. Couldn't care less since we qualified.

Quarter Final Fixtures

Chelsea v/s Man Utd

Porto v/s Napoli

Barcelona v/s Real Madrid

Arsenal v/s Bayern

Semi Final Fixtures

Porto/Napoli v/s Chelsea/Man Utd

Arsenal/Bayern v/s Barcelona/Real

Quarter Final Leg 1

Arsenal (Wishere 36', Walcott 53') 2 - 4 Bayern ( Robben 23', 70', Gomez 86', 90 + 3')

Bayern started with no Ribery and a 4231 formation with two DMs. This gave me an impression that they were angling for a draw. How wrong I was Inspite of man marking all of their key players, Robben left Baines in a muddle and scored. I responded by putting two men on the dangerous Robben and we started dominating. Wilshere scored in the 36^th minute with a slick move. Walcott added another after half time. This was the cue for me to become defensive and protect the lead since getting a win against Bayern was an achievement, even at home.Unfortunately in the 70^th minute Robben left both his markers in a tizzy, rounded up Szczesny and scored. We went back to our original tempo in order to nick a goal but Gomez came from nowhere and scored two, leaving me screaming and mad. Ya, I hate this game sometimes.

LEAGUE CUP

Won the League Cup.

FA CUP

5th Round

Arsenal (Van Persie 26', 40', 44' Chamberlain 54', 63') 5 - 1 Fulham (Zamora 23')

Comfortable victory inspite of a red card for Song in the 46^th minute.

6th Round

QPR (Bothroyd 6', Ferdinand 62') 2 - 5 Arsenal (Koscielny 2', Miyaichi 24', Wishere 53', Gervinho 73', Van Persie 78')

Easy win. Disappointed to concede though.

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April month has started on an inauspicious note with both Vermaelen and Koscielny out with niggles. A defence of Djourou and Mertesacker just doesn't inspire confidence.

[error]

Where is everyone playing Wilshere? I have tried using him as a DLP support as I did in FM11 and also an AMC attack but he isn't doing very well in either

[malikoi]

Question, does the Emirates have the chance to be expanded?

Rather stupidly, no it doesn't. Although the architects that build it gave it room to be expanded by 40,000 seats & a retractable roof, Islington council objected to the plans and people don't see that changing for the fore-seeable future.

Where is everyone playing Wilshere? I have tried using him as a DLP support as I did in FM11 and also an AMC attack but he isn't doing very well in either

I cheated a little on my game and got rid of his injury, and have been playing him as an AMC - AP[A]. He's playing pretty well, his stats are: 19(5) ~ 7 goals ~ 9 assists ~ 7.42 Avg Rating (In the league: 13(2) ~ 3 ~ 6 ~ 7.29)

[sulky]

Where is everyone playing Wilshere? I have tried using him as a DLP support as I did in FM11 and also an AMC attack but he isn't doing very well in either

I have had most success as an advanced playmaker, in the AMC position.

[exorcisto]

Where is everyone playing Wilshere? I have tried using him as a DLP support as I did in FM11 and also an AMC attack but he isn't doing very well in either

I'm playing 4-2-3-1 formation, with the '2' being MCs, not DMCs. Wilshere slots into the AMC position, Advanced Playmaker, Support duty for me. The idea being that he doesn't get too far away from my two MCs, allowing them to control possession. He's been scoring more than he's been assisting from there, not that I'm complaining about that.

[Yakutz]

Well, I've finally managed to get my first FM12 save underway, and am doing my annual Arsenal save.

Transfers In:

Shinji Kagawa - £25m. Not my first choice, but when I was being quoted £70m+ for Gotze I decided to plump for Kagawa instead at a reasonable price.

Lukas Podolski - £17m. As Chamakh was utterly useless in pre-season and I was attempting to sell Arshavin, Podolski could come in and cover the departures of both those players.

Marco Reus - £15.75m. Great prospect at his release clause price, will be covering both wings for this season and should become a key figure of my team going forward.

Sime Vrsaljko - £2.5m. With Jenkinson looking extremely inexperienced, I wanted a decent cover for Sagna. Vrsaljko is young and more than capable.

Transfers Out:

Manuel Almunia - £1.9m to Malaga. Delighted I was able to sell him, sadly Squillaci's injury hindered any sale for him as well.

Andrey Arshavin - £15m to Manchester United. I broke down in negotiations for a new contract, so decided to sell him on. Got a good price and a lot of wages of my books, although my fans are disappointed he's gone to United.

Marouane Chamakh - £1.1m loan to Atletico, with an agreed price of £7.5m. I have no idea how some of you managed to sell him for £15m, I had no offers whatsoever and only just got him out of the club on loan before the window slammed shut.

I also managed to get Vermaelen and Van Persie tied down on new long term contracts, which was pleasing.

August:

Premier League - Arsenal 0-0 Tottenham

Disappointing. Kicking off the season with the North London Derby wasn't ideal, but we absolutely battered them, only prevented from winning by a man of the match performance from Gomes.

Champions League - Arsenal 5-0 Zurich (Walcott, Ramsey, Park, Podolski, Song)

Much improved, delighted with getting Zurich in the draw, and this eased me through the tie. I started with a mostly 2nd string side, and they did the business.

Premier League - Man City 2-0 Arsenal

Well, my league started with two difficult matches, and this was, I felt, an unjust result. I had twice as many chances and dominated possession, but RVP has had an appalling start and just can't finish. They took their chances well.

Champions League - Zurich 0-2 Arsenal (Mertesacker, Park)

With the tie settled in the first leg, a Mertesacker header just rounded things off. An entire second string played here and did very well.

Premier League - Arsenal 1-0 Wigan (Koscielny)

The scoreline doesn't underscore how dominant I was, claiming over 70% possession and 15 shots on target. RVP, though, again was awful, which is worrying. Koscielny's headed goal wass actually the last kick of the game, so it was not comfortable despite my dominance.

A tough start leaves me in 11th place in the league, but I'm hoping RVP can gain some form and I can make my way back up the table.

[ig0rf]

Hello guys! There's some fantastic posts here. Congrats to Sourav, llama3 and KingLara... it's very pleasant to read your posts

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I finished my first season here and it was very very very better than I expected!

I had too many injuries. Bought Hulk for 27M and he played only 22 matches along the entire season.

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There's my team in the season:

Eriksen was a great surprise. A lot of assists and good playing in almost all matches.

Arshavin did well too.

Persie was fantastic. Unfortunately I lost him and Hulk for 3 and 4 months respectively, in the end of the season, so they couldn't play the last 5 matches on the Premier and finals of FA Cup and Champions League!!

Muniain, with only 18/19 years was my little hero that replaced very well Hulk and Persie. when necessary

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

The Premier title was very tough, but my attack scored 105 goals and I could beat Man City in the race for the title, even I losing both games against them.

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My path in Champions League wasn't the hardest one.

My group stage was against Villarreal, Rosenborg and Leverkusen.

In the playoffs, I played against CSKA Moscow (5-0 agg.), Villarreal (4-2 agg.), Shakhtar (6-3 agg.) and Man Utd (2-0 in the Final)

The hard thing is that Hulk, Mertesacker, van Persie and Arshavin were injured and I had to play without they.

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

That's my best season in this FM until now! Do you have any suggestions to me in the 2nd season, people? I have 63M for transfers and 7.5M to salaries, but I only spend 6.5M (all values in euros)

[error]

Thanks for the replies, I will try later and see how it goes.

[ig0rf]

I think I need:

one Winger

one CM that knows marking and tackling, but also is good offensively, like Fabregas and Gerrard style. (moutinho is what I want, but city took him :/)

one LB that marks and tackles better than Andre Santos (Baines?)

one good CB to backup Mertesacker and Vermaelen or to be first call

[llama3]

I think I need:

one Winger

one CM that knows marking and tackling, but also is good offensively, like Fabregas and Gerrard style. (moutinho is what I want, but city took him :/)

one LB that marks and tackles better than Andre Santos (Baines?)

one good CB to backup Mertesacker and Vermaelen or to be first call

That centre-back is called Laurent Koscielny

[malikoi]

ig0rf take a look at Arouca, he's great defensively, and just as good going forward. Not sure on the price though, sorry. As for the CB, i'm with llama3, infact Koscielny is my first choice partner with Vermaelen, he's fantastic!

[Yakutz]

That centre-back is called Laurent Koscielny

Yup, definitely my first choice, been my best player so far. Granted, I'm only a month into the season.

Following my profligacy evident in my opening month, I've just won 9-0 away to QPR. That ought to get things started.

[ig0rf]

lol playing the pre-season for almost 3 hours and suddenly appers an error that fm needs to be closed and i lost everything very upset now... i had bought kwadwo asamoah, di maria, alvaro pereira and sold bendtner, vela, diaby, arshavin

now I think i'll continue the save just saturday because i have a test tomorrow

[llama3]

What an outstanding performance against Barcelona! We put in a magnificent performance to come away with a 1-0 victory and control the game against the holders. Boasting a full-strength team and Barcelona missing Carles Puyol only - we controlled over 66% possession, Vermaelen was top passer with 69 completed passes in the game, Sagna made 8 tackles against David Villa and Koscielny and Vermaelen kept Messi very quiet. We won it with a late counter attack in the 3rd minute of added time when Gerard Pique got the final touch onto Gervinho's late strike to divert the ball past Valdes. So we take a priceless 1-0 lead to the Nou Camp.

[oneskyride]

congratulations on the win, although it won't be easy at all to hold that lead at Camp Nou, you might need to adapt a more defensive mentality in order to knock Barca out.

[llama3]

congratulations on the win, although it won't be easy at all to hold that lead at Camp Nou, you might need to adapt a more defensive mentality in order to knock Barca out.

i was fairly defensive-minded in the first leg, focused purely on keeping shape and retaining the ball

may switch to 4-5-1 and play song as an anchorman though

i play european ties under the philosophy that 1-0 on aggregate is good enough

[Welshace]

Yup, definitely my first choice, been my best player so far. Granted, I'm only a month into the season.

Following my profligacy evident in my opening month, I've just won 9-0 away to QPR. That ought to get things started.

awesome.. haven't heard that word being used within football terms... ever... i congratulate you sir

good to know vocabulary is alive and kicking

[malikoi]

First half of season 1 update!

Transfers

Pre-season

In:

Daniele Rugani - Empoli - £1,300,000 ~ He is rated as 3½ stars, so I thought I'd give him a go.

Erick Torres - Chivas - £3,700,000 ~ Heard good things about him around the forums. He hasn't really featured in the first team yet. Looking to loan him out in January.

Out:

Manuel Almunia - Real Madrid - £2,000,000 ~ I have no need for him.

Vito Mannone - Málaga - £2,000,000 ~ I don't feel he is good enough for Arsenal.

Andrey Arshavin - Man City - £11,250,000 ~ Didn't want to turn down such a sizable bid for a player i'm not to fond of.

Alot of reserve players went out on loan.

January

In:

Jack Butland - Birmingham ~ £1,500,000 ~ Wanted a young player that can grow to be a good back-up.

Out:

I will be looking to get rid of Rosicky, Fabianski and Squillaci as I don't have plans for them. Plus they have voiced thier concerns over no game time.

Carlos Fierro will be joining in season 2.

My tactics

The first of the 3 tactics I use most, it is a rather attacking tactic as you can probably see, but it seems to be working pretty well.

The middle one is a tactic I use for them games where i'm not really sure about, a little more defensive but still quite attacking.

The third one I use for games I think will be hard, IE Man City/Barcelona.

Fixtures so far

Premier League

We were playing great most of the time, just a little hick-up in December, but overall i'm very happy of how the League is going. There was a couple of games early on that the team didn't play to well in but we managed to scapre through them (Everton & West Brom - Winner scored in added time).

Champions League

The 2 games against Panathinaikos I played a mix of youth and experience, and it turned out to work pretty well. The group we got wasn't very difficult, but it wasn't that easy either. I again played a mix of players in this, the only game I played a full strength squad was the 3-2 win against Villareal.

I should be getting past Valencia in the first knock-out round, but will play a full strength team in the first leg and see how we go from there.

League Cup

Played my reserve/youth team in this competition, I was very happy with the win against Villa as they fielded a full strength team.

How's the team playing!?

Well, pretty well! The only player I can really pick on is Alex Song, although he isn't playing bad, he isn't exactly playing good either. I've never in all my years of playing FM been good at getting DM's to play well. Any advice would be most welcome!

Chamakh has decided to play well for me! Shock horror!!! I can never normally get him playing well. Very pleased about that. Park Chu-Young has been excpetional when given the chance, he and Chamakh have only really played when there has been injuries or players are tired. May need to start playing them more if their form keeps up. Overall my team is performing pretty well, except maybe Song, as I stated above.

There hasn't really been a stand-out player among my regular squad, but I don't really mind as they are playing very well collectively.

Well! That's the end of my review, I will probably start doing monthly updates as this took for-frkkin'-ever!

If anyone wants more info on something, just ask and I will try to answer you.

As Llew says:

FORZA ARSENAL

[malikoi]

WOW! Man City just offered £15,750,000 for Theo Walcott. I've never seen anyone bid for him before unless I've offered him out. Has anyone had an offer for him before? If so, what was it?

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Malikoi - Very good update mate and, once again, it looks like your having a excellent season. Great wins against both Manchester clubs

As for Walcott and Manicni City's offer, on FM11, Man City bid upwards of £22 million fro my Theo. I presume you've rejected it? Been great for me this season

[malikoi]

Thanks bud, the win against United was rather fortunate, we didn't play well at all, very happy about thw in though.

Yup I rejected it! I wouldn't let him go for anything under £35,000,000. I sold him on FM11 for £39,000,000 to Inter Milan.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Thanks bud, the win against United was rather fortunate, we didn't play well at all, very happy about thw in though.

Yup I rejected it! I wouldn't let him go for anything under £35,000,000. I sold him on FM11 for £39,000,000 to Inter Milan.

Anyway, great job on that United victory, even if it was slightly fortunate. Very tough side to conquer. £39 million!?

Anyway, I'm on my Málaga save at the moment. Havn't been on it for a week or so. Feel free to join me everyone...

[malikoi]

Anyway, great job on that United victory, even if it was slightly fortunate. Very tough side to conquer. £39 million!?

Anyway, I'm on my Málaga save at the moment. Havn't been on it for a week or so. Feel free to join me everyone...

Haha yea, well I did offer him out for £50,000,000. They came back with that so I accepted haha..

[llama3]

Arsenal Update - February 2012

Premier League

Bolton 1-2 Arsenal - Vermaelen, Koscielny

Beat high-flying Bolton with 2 late set pieces after being behind for most of the match, very satisfying. The type of game that makes a team champions.

Arsenal 3-1 Blackburn - Arshavin, Koscielny, Ramsey

Controlling performance, much more slick than the win at Bolton, and an outstanding goal from Ramsey to boot.

Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal - Chamakh, Ramsey, Arteta

An easy win at a side deep in relegation trouble.

Liverpool 1-2 Arsenal - Kelly og, Arteta

Controlled possession, kept it tight, and Liverpool were reduced to 10 men late on with the game under control.

FA Cup 5th Round

Everton 2-1 Arsenal - van Persie

Annoyingly 1-0 up at half time, and let is slip after the break, we couldn't break down a resilient Everton side late on.

UEFA Champions League Knockout Round First Leg

Arsenal 1-0 Barcelona - Pique og

Injury time winner in a game that Barcelona barely got a sniff offensively, a really top performance.

[llama3]

Lost 4-1 away to Barcelona, we were precisely no match for them

[Yakutz]

September 2011 Update

Premier League - QPR 0-9 Arsenal (Van Persie, Kagawa (3), Vermaelen, Arteta, Reus, Walcott, Rosicky)

Not really sure where this one came from. Very cathartic after all my missed chances in the previous month, and everything just clicked. I doubt I'll ever get a result this good again.

Champions League - Valencia 0-2 Arsenal (Koscielny, Reus)

Very pleased with this, a good away win in possibly my toughest fixture in the group. The other teams are Lille and Trabzonspor, so no points to be taken for granted, but more performances like this and I'll be happy. Reus is proving a valuable impact sub.

Premier League - Arsenal 2-0 Blackburn (Mertesacker, Gervinho)

Comfortable victory over the bottom side at the time, still yet to concede a league goal at home.

Carling Cup 3rd Round - Arsenal 2-2 Wigan (Arsenal win 9-8 on penalties) (Chamberlain, Djourou)

A chance for a real reserve side to get a game, and on the whole they were impressive. Chamberlain and Miyaichi on the wings, in particular, did well, although the defence let the team down a bit. The shootout was quite incredible - it came down to Fabianski and Al Habsi, with Fabianski netting the winning penalty. Nice to be through, and Everton next up.

Premier League - Arsenal 1-0 Wolves (Kagawa)

Comfortable performance, although my lack of clear chances being created is starting to worry me. Cracking goal from Kagawa, who is proving an excellent signing in that AMC role.

Champions League - Arsenal 3-1 Lille (Podolski, Kagawa, Benayoun)

With RVP injured, Podolski came in and had a fantastic outing, scoring one and assisting the other two. Yet another goal for Kagawa as well, making it 5 for him this month.

Kagawa's excellent performances have earned him 2nd place in Player of the Month, while going the month without conceding has won Szczesny the Young Player of the Month award. RVP's effort against QPR - his only goal this season - has also won Goal of the Month.

[Sunderland AFC]

a little update from my save, team has just gelled very well so far.

September 2011

Everton 0-1 Arsenal - Van persie

(Champions League) Otelul 0-4 Arsenal - Cavani, Djourou, Mertesacker, Walcott

Arsenal 3-0 Sunderland - Cavani (2), Ganso

(League cup) Wolves 2-2 P Arsenal - Walcott (2)

Wigan 0-1 Arsenal - Mertesacker

(Champions League) Arsenal 4-0 Udinese - Arteta, Cavani, Mertesacker, Walcott

October 2011

Blackburn 1-4 Arsenal - Van persie, Cavani (2), Gervinho

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal - Walcott, Cavani, Ganso

(Champions League) Arsenal 3-0 Valencia - Ganso, Song, Arteta

[craigos717]

a little update from my save, team has just gelled very well so far.

September 2011

Everton 0-1 Arsenal - Van persie

(Champions League) Otelul 0-4 Arsenal - Cavani, Djourou, Mertesacker, Walcott

Arsenal 3-0 Sunderland - Cavani (2), Ganso

(League cup) Wolves 2-2 P Arsenal - Walcott (2)

Wigan 0-1 Arsenal - Mertesacker

(Champions League) Arsenal 4-0 Udinese - Arteta, Cavani, Mertesacker, Walcott

October 2011

Blackburn 1-4 Arsenal - Van persie, Cavani (2), Gervinho

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal - Walcott, Cavani, Ganso

(Champions League) Arsenal 3-0 Valencia - Ganso, Song, Arteta

i believe ganso is straight class!

[hoppy_7]

Who do people appoint as there assistant in the 2nd season ??

[WillyBroadband]

Hello all,

I'm slightly worried I might get the sack at the end of my first season.. in the job security it's saying my job is "insecure", I have never been sacked as Arsenal boss!

I'm about to finish 3rd in the league, I went out of the FA Cup in the 4th Round (lost away to Man Utd), semi-final of Carling Cup & Quarter Final of Champions League to Inter. My finances are fine, squad harmony has never been a problem, I basically had a terrible spell when I went out of said competitions where I lost 6 out of 10 games.

What do you guys reckon?

I really hope I don't as I have some good signings coming in the summer (Carlos Hierro, Smithies, Barkley) and am looking forward to the next season.

PS. This is easily the friendliest Club thread, thanks for your time

[JEinchy]

What were your expectations for the season? Finishing 3rd should still be considered as a challenge for the title. In any case, you won't be sacked with an "insecure" job security. Usually, you'll only be sacked when its "precarious" or "under review".

What I tend to do is set the expectations to as low as it'll allow, and then perform way above them. That gets the board onside pretty nicely.