FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[WillyBroadband]

Hi dude, thanks for getting back to me so quick. I went for the lowest expectations at the beginning of the season as I always do.

So fingers crossed! I've got a stadium expansion completing in September so Emirates will be 70,000 in 2012/13 (I changed that in the editor)

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.

[error]

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

Keown for me, he has all the attributes and has been good so far

[Sunderland AFC]

Keown for me, he has all the attributes and has been good so far

i've just gave him a job as a coach, suits him better than a scout for me. Brought in tord grip with 17 tactical knowledge to scout the opposition.

[Carmi88]

Fausto Salsano Is my Ass man, he is doing ok

[malikoi]

I'm going to take inspiration from JEinchy & Llew_Arshavin, hope you both don't mind? If you do I can easily change it about!

January Update

Premier League

Bolton 1 - 4 Arsenal (Obadeyi 46' - Chamakh 26', Chu-Young 34', Diaby 44', Walcott 83'

With the game all but won by half time I set a slower pace for the second half to conserve some energy for a busy month.

Man of the Match - Theo Walcott - 8.9

Arsenal 2 - 0 Norwich ( van Persie 56', Walcott 84')

Completely dominated this game, could of won by atleast 7 or 8 but I was happy with the result.

Man of the Match - Bacary Sagna 8.4

Q.P.R. 0 - 4 Arsenal (Arteta 23', Koscielny 65', 85', Chu-Young 88')

A game that was on a knife edge until the 65th minute, Q.P.R. just ran out of steam after chasing the ball the whole game.

Man of the Match - Laurent Koscielny - 9.3

League Cup

Semi Final First Leg

West Brom 0 - 1 Arsenal (Koscielny 56')

This game should of been won by 3-4 goals, we completely shattered West Brom's defense at will but we just couldn't beat an inspired Ben Foster.

Man of the Match - Ben Foster 8.7

Semi Final Second Leg

Arsenal 2 - 0 West Brom (van Persie 63' pen 89')

Another game we should of easily won but Foster was a demon in goal again.

Man of the Match - Robin van Persie 9.0

FA Cup

3rd Round

Mansfield 0 - 5 Arsenal (Chamakh 22', 46', 57', Mertesacker 36', Naylor OG 90)

I played a second string team that demolished Mansfield. Could of won by 10 or 12 if the finishing was up to scratch.

Man of the Match - Marouane Chamakh 9.6

4th Round

Arsenal 7 - 1 MK Dons (van Persie 3', 9', André Santos 51', Walcott 56', 59', 75', Jack Wilshere 67'- James O'Shea 7')

I had to play a mix of second string and first team players for this one, injuries and internationals started to take thier toll. A mistake from debutant Aneke which led to the goal shattered his confidence so I replaced him at half time. Wilshere the real star of this game, aswell as his goal he got 4 assists, 9.5 rating.

Man of the Match - Walcott 9.6

Player of the Month

This has to go to Laurent Koscielny, whilst only playing 4 games of the 7 his 3 goals have all been important. Also this month he has an impressive 100% tackling success, he's in inspired form.

Young Player of the Month

Wilshere has been in sparkling form this month, showing exactly why the world rates him so highly. Playing 5(1) games he's scored 1 goal and assisted a further 6. All this whilst achieving over 90% pass completetion.

My team has performed really well this month, scoring and defensive work is definitely improving. Losing players to internation competitions and injuries is starting to hit the team. Robin van Persie is out for 3-4 weeks, Marouane Chamakh & Oxlade-Chamberlain are out for 2 weeks. Alex Song, Gervinho, Chu-Young and Erick Torres are all away on internation duty for atleast another week or two.

That conludes this months review! If anyone would like more info, just ask.

[oneskyride]

Just managed to get Gerard Deulofeu and Ross Barkley (2012) for 9,5M£ and 6,25M£ respectively, 2 great signings in my opinion, players with great potential ( Barkley = 3,5*, while deulofeu = 4 * ) i was surprised as Barca and Everton let these wonderkids go on the cheap , they should be soon dominating the premier league . Anyone had any experience with these players ? I'm planning to develop Barkley into a deep-lying playmaker, focusing on his passing , creativity and mental stats , while deulofeu should play on the left wing as an Inside Forward.

[Yakutz]

October 2011 Update

Premier League - Arsenal 4-1 Newcastle (Vermaelen, Ramsey, Podolski, Arteta)

This was a very tight match, much more it seems - changing when Aaron Ramsey came on with half an hour to go. It was 1-1 and Newcastle dominant, but Ramsey drove on, gave me the lead, and set up the last two as well. Great performance in the second half.

Premier League - Fulham 0-2 Arsenal (Vermaelen (2))

I was hoping RVP would come back from his injury a changed man here, but to no avail. Still, a decent win inspired by Vermaelen, who headed in one free kick and smashed in another one directly.

Champions League - Arsenal 3-1 Trabzonspor (Kagawa, Gervinho, Benayoun)

Trabzonspor took the lead early on, but my team bounced back well and produced a very good result in the end. Marco Reus set up all 3 goals down the right flank, and in a pretty difficult group I've managed 3 wins out of 3.

Premier League - Arsenal 1-0 Everton (Walcott)

Well, this was the match between the top two, with surprise package Everton proving why they were unbeaten and doing so well - Tim Howard. He produced an absolutely inspired performance to keep me out until the last ten minutes, and even then it was Theo's rebound after an impressive double save. Still, this win sent me top and I was very happy with the team's performance.

Carling Cup 4th Round - Arsenal 3-1 Everton (Chamberlain, Reus, Podolski)

Imagine my joy at getting to face Tim Howard again! My second string, however, were much more efficient with their finishing, with Chamberlain again impressing in this competition. Podolski also scoring again, and I'm starting to get to the point where he should really be picked ahead of RVP.

Premier League - Stoke 2-2 Arsenal (Walcott (2); Koscielny, Song, André Santos)

Well, Mike Dean is officially on my hitlist with the worst refereeing performance I've ever seen. After two very similar goals from Theo gave me a comfortable lead with 10 minutes to go, I was enjoying this one, then Dean struck. First, he sent off Koscielny in the 80th minute for a dive on the halfway line from Walters - awful decision. Alex Song then complained about this injustice and picked up his second yellow. With 9 men it was difficult enough and they got one back - but André Santos then made a brilliant challenge, again on the halfway line, and Dean decided to show him a red card as well. Even the commentary seriously questioned this one. Stoke then got an equaliser against my 8 men and I just about held on. To make things worse, I have Manchester United next without three first-team players.

Table at end of October

It's very tight at the top, and had it not been for Mike Dean I would be sitting top going into the difficult November period. I've had a relatively easy run of fixtures for the last two months, but I have a few more difficult games coming up now and it may not be such plain sailing.

The form of Thomas Vermaelen, both defensively and in front of goal, has earned him the Player of the Month award for October, while both Aaron Ramsey and Wojciech Szczesny have featured in Young Player of the Month.

I'm really starting to fear for Robin Van Persie - just how have people got him performing? I've tried him first as a trequartista and then a complete forward in the lone role, but he has just 1 goal and 3 assists in all competitions. His ratings haven't been bad, and obviously I'm doing pretty well overall, but he's just not performing in front of goal. I'm almost at the point where Lukas Podolski is going to replace him as first choice.

[llama3]

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.

absolutely, I second that

[llama3]

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

Martin Keown normally, but Steve Bould is the other I consider

[llama3]

Yakutz I have to say it has been some time since I have seen 3 red cards in a game, commiserations mate

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Personally I would err towards Martin Keown as a Assistant Manager. I've promoted Steve Bould to a defence coach because he can coach the youth players aswell as the senior squad.

Also, I think Keown would be more suited to a Assistant Manager role due to his background in Football punditry and media. I know it's not a factor on FM12 but, I prefer to be realistic

[JEinchy]

I hired a guy named Steve Round. Usually what I do when I need a new assistant is place an advert for the position and then hire someone from the applicants. I'm quite lazy like that. I actually don't even use my assistant that much, so how good he is is fairly irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

I also don't bother with youth coaches, since I believe it's much more efficient to just have regular coaches.

[WillyBroadband]

What a sad day, they did sack me after all first time in the FM series that I've been sacked as Arsenal boss. Ended up losing 3rd place to Chelsea, so I finished 4th, I think it's a harsh sacking really.. didn't help getting Man Utd in FA Cup 3rd round, winning then getting Chelsea away in 4th, board said they were most disappointed with that.

Never mind. Think I might just start again!

Hi dude, thanks for getting back to me so quick. I went for the lowest expectations at the beginning of the season as I always do.

So fingers crossed! I've got a stadium expansion completing in September so Emirates will be 70,000 in 2012/13 (I changed that in the editor)

[llama3]

What a sad day, they did sack me after all first time in the FM series that I've been sacked as Arsenal boss. Ended up losing 3rd place to Chelsea, so I finished 4th, I think it's a harsh sacking really.. didn't help getting Man Utd in FA Cup 3rd round, winning then getting Chelsea away in 4th, board said they were most disappointed with that.

Never mind. Think I might just start again!

hope you didn't tell the board you would win the title. shame though, keep trying

[llama3]

OK Guys this is the last you will hear from me until mid-December as I leave for the Republic of Ireland after the Fulham game tomorrow evening - good luck with your saves, will catch you all when I get back. Ciao!

[Carmi88]

Lost in carlin cup seni 5-3 to city 5-0 away loss and a 3-0 home win.

2 pounts clear of man city, and in the 5th round of the fa cup

Transfers: Out - Nani, Bartley. Total dee of 7.5m

Future out - Dreyer, Young and granero (end of season)

In: A young dutch Cm who looks brilliant, 20 for passing

[Yakutz]

November 2011 Update

Champions League - Trabzonspor 1-3 Arsenal (Podolski (2), Walcott)

I started Podolski here over RVP, and he instantly grabbed 2 goals and an assist within the first 15 minutes which put the match to bed. This plus results elsewhere have given me an 8 point lead in the group with two games to go, so qualification in top place is assured.

Premier League - Manchester United 2-2 Arsenal (Van Persie, Podolski)

Great time for RVP to find his shooting boots, a 35-yard cracker to get his first goal in two months. Podolski also weighed in with another goal, before Andrey Arshavin levelled the match for them. That hurt a bit, but I find ex-players always excel against me.

Premier League - Arsenal 6-0 Swansea (Van Persie (2), Vermaelen, Walcott (2), Koscielny)

Much more like it! RVP scored after 15 seconds and the performance just continued from there. Theo is also in fantastic form at the moment, though the injuries started to pile up as Gervinho joined Ramsey and Arteta on the sidelines.

Champions League - Arsenal 1-1 Valencia (Djourou; Frimpong)

With the group won, I was able to rest my whole team and they did pretty well on the whole, Park Chu-Young excepted. A shame Frimpong got sent off, he was having a very good game alongside Coquelin.

Premier League - Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal Van Persie

Oh dear. Just as RVP was getting his form back, he made an utterly stupid challenge and got himself banned for three games. He's almost reminding me a bit of real-life Torres. Other than that, very disappointing performance against a well-drilled Villa team. Fortunately the other top teams also dropped points and I just about remain in 1st.

Carling Cup Quarter-Final - Reading 3-0 Arsenal

A bit embarrassing really, but it was a much weaker side than my previous Carling Cup teams due to the amount of injuries I have to my first eleven and some of my stronger reserves. Reading were clinical.

Overall I can't complain, sitting top of the league and having won my Champions League group, but form is starting to deteriorate slightly, and the Reading match signalled my first defeat since August. RVP has managed 3rd in Player of the Month despite his sending off, but he was majestic against Swansea and United, while Ramsey and Szczesny both feature in Young Player of the Month once again. Perhaps more surprising is Nicklas Bendtner winning the Player of the Month award. I'm hoping Podolski can keep up his goalscoring form as he takes the place of RVP for the next couple of matches.

[Yakutz]

What a sad day, they did sack me after all first time in the FM series that I've been sacked as Arsenal boss. Ended up losing 3rd place to Chelsea, so I finished 4th, I think it's a harsh sacking really.. didn't help getting Man Utd in FA Cup 3rd round, winning then getting Chelsea away in 4th, board said they were most disappointed with that.

Never mind. Think I might just start again!

Unlucky there, makes me a bit worried going ahead in mine. Top at the moment but it's so tight between the top 8 right now that I feel I could finish anywhere! Seems a very harsh sacking nonetheless, pretty sure the board would take that in real life.

[WillyBroadband]

Yeah irl I think they would, I finished with 7 points more than 2010/11. I went for the lowest expectation at the start which was Title Challenge.

Am pretty sure Peter Hill-Wood would have good ratings on the editor, ie patience etc.

Never mind, am going to start again. Determined to get it right!

Unlucky there, makes me a bit worried going ahead in mine. Top at the moment but it's so tight between the top 8 right now that I feel I could finish anywhere! Seems a very harsh sacking nonetheless, pretty sure the board would take that in real life.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Returning to my Arsenal save for a bit after a enjoyable stint on my Málaga save; managed to sign Marvin Martin on it

Anyway, Dinamo Kyiv now in the penultimate Champions League Group stage game. If I manage to win this, I will qualify top of my group and have a good opportunity to play the youngsters at home against FC Kobenhavn.

Monthly Update coming up later...

[malikoi]

February Update

Premier League

Arsenal 2 - 1 Everton (Walcott 5', Miyaichi 51' - Anichebe 48')

A game we should of won by a bigger margin, but finishing evaded us.

Man of the match - Theo Walcott 7.6

West Brom 2 - 3 Arsenal (Walcott 1', 11', Miyaichi 51' - Thomas 55' Olsson 93')

The score line is a bit deceiving, we dominated but a mistake and corner got them 2 goals.

Man of the Match - Theo Walcott 8.8

Arsenal 1 - 1 Man City (Walcott 66' - Kompany 91')

A game that niether team could get on top, was pretty poor if im honest. Conceded a corner in the last minute to lose 2 points, but a draw against City is a good result.

Man of the Match - André Santos 7.7

League Cup Final

Tottenham 0 - 2 Arsenal (Chamakh 1', Gervinho57')

Should of won by atleast 1 more goal, but Friedel was good on the day. A pretty poor showing from the rest of the Spurs players, much to my delight! My defense without Santos and Sagna held Bale & co back all game, a great defensive performance.

Man of the Match - Laurent Koscielny 8.3

FA Cup

Wigan 0 - 2 Arsenal (Wilshere 57', Chu-Young 80')

Played a mix of youth and experience, but it turned out to be a pretty poor game, score line is flattering.

Man of the Match - Laurent Koscielny

Champions League

Valencia 3 - 3 Arsenal (Mathieu 37', Soldado 69, Susaeta 83' - Walcott 19', Santos 41', Arteta pen 61')

Was lucky to draw this game, my defense seemed non-existent at times. Can't complain about 3 away goals though!

Man of the Match - Markel Susaeta 8.1

Player of the Month

Theo Walcott had a stand out month, scoring 5 goals in 6 game.

Table at beginning of March

With only 11 points seperating the top 4 it could still be anyones game! Im hoping my team doesn't start to burn out towards the end of the season and I can win another trophy this season.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Love your updates, Malikoi. Looks like you're doing very well in the league. Hopefully you can keep it up for the run-in.

Great result over The Spuds too

[malikoi]

Cheers buddy Looking forward to yours aswell!

I tried my Malaga save again last night, but I still couldn't get into it! I was just itching to load up my Arsenal save as soon as the Malaga one was loaded.. :o

[Yakutz]

December 2011 Update

Premier League - Arsenal 8-0 Norwich (Kagawa (2), Koscielny, Podolski, Reus (3), Diaby)

Well, I'm becoming something of a flat track bully! That makes it a 23-0 aggregate over the 3 promoted sides in the first half of the season, and this performance was really something to behold. Everything went right, and Marco Reus was particularly impressive.

Champions League - Lille 1-0 Arsenal

Not much to say really, I played the reserves with the group all over and they were solid without really scoring. Can't complain too much about the result. I've drawn Ajax in the next round.

Premier League - Bolton 1-1 Arsenal (Reus)

Very poor performance, and if I'm honest I think Bolton probably deserved to win. None of my attacking players really did themselves justice, and it was left to super-sub Reus to salvage a point in the last minute. I think he may have edged Gervinho out of my starting line-up.

Premier League - Arsenal 1-0 West Brom (Vermaelen)

Not a great showing, but we did enough. RVP came back and did very well overall, mostly setting up the wingers who missed their chances. It was player of the season so far, Thomas Vermaelen, who popped up with a goal in the second half, having looked extremely assured at the back all game alongside Koscielny.

Premier League - Arsenal 0-2 Chelsea

Once again, this was disappointing. Not a great month so far. I dominated this one but came up against an absolutely inspired Petr Cech, while they were clinical on the counter attack. I slipped down to 3rd, and more worryingly, Spurs went top.

Premier League - Sunderland 0-3 Arsenal (Walcott (2), Arteta)

With Boxing Day came my best performance since that demolition of Norwich. Walcott should have had a hat-trick but missed a penalty in the closing minutes, but his two goals were more than enough. No goal for RVP, but he did provide all 3 assists, which was encouraging.

Premier League - Liverpool 1-3 Arsenal (Kagawa, Diaby, Djourou; Vrsaljko)

An absolutely dismal first half, I was starting to feel the pressure as I went in 1-0 down, but my team really came out fighting in the second half. Firstly Kagawa scored an absolute wonderstrike and the momentum swung completely. I feared Vrsaljko's sending off would swing it back the other way, but instead my players just stepped it up another gear, with Diaby coming on to score the crucial goal. Djourou added a 3rd in injury time. My first win over a big team this season, and it sent me back up to the top of the league as well.

Overall, not a totally successful month, but I've battled my way to the top of the league and am quite happy with that. Very happy with the win at Anfield, I just wasn't expecting it after the Chelsea result. No awards for my guys this month, but none of them particularly deserved any to be honest, although personally I've been pleased with Marco Reus and Thomas Vermaelen. Another month without any goals for RVP, though. I'm hoping he can have a 2012 in this game like his real life 2011. It kicks off with the North London Derby again.

[lucatonix]

After deciding that it was time to end my love affair with Arsenal on FM11 in order to start a save on FM12 with the Gunners.

Pre Season Update 2011

Transfers

I am happy with the deals in the window. I'm not expecting anything special until the squad gels so perhaps til January the team will start to come alive.

Van der Wiel looks the part as a back up and successor to Sagna as a good full back. He looks to have great potential and should be a dependable all-round player.

Joao Moutinho is the perfect complete midfielder with great mental attributes. This makes him perfect to partner Ramsey and a very versatile player. I can see him being an unsung hero for many years to come.

Areola is a signing for the future. I was not completely sure about buying him since Szczesny is so young but I'm confident that I will be able to recoup my money if need be.

Future Targets:

Leighton Baines or a similar player to replace Santos

Neymar as a natural replacement for van Persie

Cavani or Muniain as a competition for Walcott's poacher role (first choice or back up respectively)

Tactics

I was looking forward to this year's edition to be more innovative with my tactical creations. This led me to create this:

When attacking it should look like this:

It should create some nice passing moves, and good off the ball movement to create chances for Walcott and Gervinho who look to attack the goal. I'm rather excited about this tactic and look forward to see how it fairs against the Premier League teams.

Youth

I am looking to utilise the promising youth currently at the club. These include Francis Coquelin, Wellington Silva, Carlos Vela, Myaichi, Alex Chamberlain and Kyle Bartley.

Pre Season Fixtures

Reserves 6-0

Cowdenbeath A 4-0

Colorado A 5-1

Kilmarnock A 5-0

Stuttgart H 3-0

Mallorca A 2-0

San Jose A 4-0

It was an impressive pre season although only Stuttgart and Mallorca were of enough quality to actually cause problems for my side. The premier league will really sort out whether the team is really as ready for action as they appear.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Seeing that it is my birthday and the weather is terrible outside, I've woken up early for a day of FM and Football on the T.V. Normal procedure as I normally do onto the game and then I pressed 'Load Saved Game'. A warning box comes up telling me that 'the saved game file is corrupt'!

I vaguely remember a crash dump last night, I was extremely tired and was all over the place but, when I checked the crash dump file this morning and there was the crash dump that I thought happened last night in there I place full blame on that. Anyway, looks like I'm going to have to leave this save now and search for pastures new Of course, I'll still be active in this thread though. Good Luck with your saves

[Yakutz]

Sorry to hear that Llew, most frustrating thing in the world when a save corrupts itself. Are there no backup versions of it you can continue from? I'll miss your updates, they were very good.

January 2012 Update

Transfers In:

Nicolás Gaitán - £12.5m from Benfica

Transfers Out:

Sebastian Squillaci - £3.2m to Everton

Emmanuel Frimpong - Loan to Brighton

I brought in Gaitán as I was losing Gervinho to the African Nations, and Kagawa to the East Asian Championsips, so was a bit short on attacking midfielders and didn't particularly want to rely on Benayoun. He should be good cover for both wings, along with Marco Reus. Was glad to get Squillaci off the books, and Frimpong needed first team football so I let him to go to Brighton for the rest of the season, while Coquelin plays backup to Song for me here. Onto the matches, then...

Premier League - Tottenham 3-0 Arsenal

Adebayor scored a hat-trick. I don't want to talk about it.

FA Cup 3rd Round - Brighton 3-7 Arsenal (Mertesacker, Miyaichi (2), Chamberlain, Van Persie (2), Koscielny)

Well, I needed this sort of game to cheer me up! I went 4-0 up mostly thanks to the brilliant performances of the two young wingers, Miyaichi and Chamberlain, Brighton did pull it back to 4-3, but with the game being so open I thought it might be a chance for RVP to end his 10 hour goal drought, and he did just that, getting two in quick succession and killing the game.

Premier League - Arsenal 2-1 Manchester City (Van Persie (2))

Wonderful, just what I needed. I did go a goal down, but got a magnificent response from RVP and the rest, with Van Persie netting both goals in spectacular style. Really hoping he can build from this start to the year. A word also for Vrsaljko, who came in for the injured Sagna and would have been MOTM were it not for RVP. Sadly he then strained his knee ligaments and is out til March.

Premier League - Wigan 0-2 Arsenal (Koscielny, Vermaelen)

Job done on a difficult away trip, although it required both goals to come from set pieces I'm quite happy with the performance, and particular a clean sheet.

FA Cup 4th Round - Arsenal 3-0 Burnley (Diaby, Podolski, Rosicky; Djourou)

Nice comfortable win to reach the last 16, Diaby in particular impressing me in a box to box role created just for him. Djourou's sending off could have left me in the lurch but they evened it up with a red of their own soon after. It'll be Blackpool in the next round.

Table at End of January

I'm going ok in the league, 2nd isn't bad and 50 goals with RVP so out of form all season is reasonably impressive, but seeing Spurs at the top really grates with me. I'm making it my sole aim to finish higher than they do, which may well mean having to win the title. I have a nice run of fixtures now so I hope I can build a bit of momentum and really get RVP scoring.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

Sorry to hear that Llew, most frustrating thing in the world when a save corrupts itself. Are there no backup versions of it you can continue from? I'll miss your updates, they were very good.

I will be back soon though; I'll predict about Christmas I will make a new Arsenal save. Anyway, all I can wish is good luck with your saves lads. I'll still be present in this thread so, I won't completely disappear

[malikoi]

Seeing that it is my birthday and the weather is terrible outside, I've woken up early for a day of FM and Football on the T.V. Normal procedure as I normally do onto the game and then I pressed 'Load Saved Game'. A warning box comes up telling me that 'the saved game file is corrupt'!

I vaguely remember a crash dump last night, I was extremely tired and was all over the place but, when I checked the crash dump file this morning and there was the crash dump that I thought happened last night in there. I place full blame on that. Anyway, looks like I'm going to have to leave this save now and search for pastures new Of course, I'll still be active in this thread though. Good Luck with your saves

Happy birthday mate!

Rubbish news about your save file.. You should do a 3 rolling save thingy! Good luck to where ever it is you go now.

On a side note: RIP Gary Speed.. Tragic news.

[lucatonix]

I'm loving the team meeting feature. It's a great and easy way to get the team motivated and to increase morale

[Stu232]

Anybody got a good 4-2-3-1 formation? cheers lads

[malikoi]

After seeing that my team youth in-take had just happened, I went on a bit of a scouting mission and came back with a few players. These are the ones I signed straight away.

Manchester City were stupid for letting Biggs leave, he looks amazing. I signed David Wilson from Leeds because he looks like a good English talent.

These 3 were the best I got from my academy, they look good to.

[Sunderland AFC]

won all 14 league games so far, very very surprised.

Just played liverpool and it was a very even game, first 15 minutes of the second half cavani scored 3 and walcott scored...i coasted out the rest of the game for a 4-0 win.

[ewok01]

I have started a new game (latest patch) and am buying 'no one' so I wanted to know, of the keepers I have available to me, who would you choose as your 1st choice keeper and 2nd. I was going to keep Alumina as 1st choice but he is leaving on a free transfer. Thanks :-)

[Carmi88]

Scznesny is fine as first choice, Almunia and Fabianski were both horrible for me so I had Mannone for the first season as back up.

I'm in 2016 and Scznesny has been brilliant

[malikoi]

I would use Szczesny as first choice, he turns into a fantastic keeper. Use Fabianski as a back-up but be sure to play him a few times in cups etc or he moans about not playing. I would sell Mannone as he isn't good enough. If your at the start you can sell Almunia for £1-2 million, Real Madrid normally buy him when I offer him out.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

In this order;

#1 choice: Wojciech Szczesny

#2 choice: Lukasz Fabianski

#3 choice: Damian Martinez/Vito Mannone

Yes, Almunia doesn't even get a look in

[The Chosen One]

I have started my beloved Arsenal save. I surprisingly didn't do in FM11 but in FM12 I promised myself to get on with it. With that, I have challenged myself to make Arsenal the most successful club in England. Then move on the other big leagues and win the titles one by one before retiring. Enough about that. More about Arsenal.

The injuries don't really do well with the budget given at the start. I wanted to do major changes but just not enough cash. So just had to sort out the threaten positions first then move on to strengthen other positions. First is left back. While Gibbs is good but I don't think he's up for a team that's challenging for the title. 9 in positioning doesn't appeal to me. Andre Santos isn't defensive player but more of wide attacking player. So, I looked for first choice LB. I got one in Federico Balzarreti. 13 1/2 million for 29 year LB is probably too much but other options were just too expensive. To be honest he hasn't put wrong foot so far so money well spent. The other position I looked for was CM so signed Hamsik. Looks good but he hasn't truly dominated in that midfield for me. He was in advanced midfield role with support but now I put him attack just to see if he does better. Back up for Sagna was a must so I signed young Mario Fernandes for 8m (plus 2m for bonus) after unsettling him (as the coaches say he'll reach Sagna's level). Can't believe they asked for 22-25m for him. Since I was going to play one up front I didn't need anyone but RVP. However, him being injury prone (10 natural fitness wohooo) I desperately wanted someone to fill up the void once he's gone for injury. So, Cavani it's. I signed him with some cash up front plus 48 months spread fee as I couldn't afford otherwise.

Unlike Arsene, my back up plan for RVP worked as he got injured few matches into the season. Out for 3-4 months. Ouch. Eden Cavani made me forget him though. What a beast.

I can't seem to get the best out of Gervinho which is why he's on the subs bench. He just doesn't do well. He doesn't assist much let alone score. He misses way too many chances so after RVP's injury the RW was up for grabs but Theo was just too good to be dropped.

Edeeeen.

My home form is brilliant but can't say the same for away. At home, we have won all 7 matches, scored 18, and only conceded 2. Away, only ONE win, 3 draws, and 2 losses (Bolton & Sp*rs).

Cups:

I got out of CC after leading 3-1 away to Wolves only to concede two goals in the last 5 minutes when I have already made all my 3 subs. Then RVP got injured early in the ET but managed to reach penalty kicks. Ohh well. You know how I got out now.

Champions league group stage, I qualified with 2 matches to spare. Dortmund and OM didn't put much fight (yep. I was surprised when I saw the draw had them us with same group just like irl!)

I haven't entered FA Cup yet.

[Carmi88]

The amount of times I've given Almunia a chance and he blunders in the match is unbelievable! well... you know what I mean! I remember when he was good

Anyways, a small update! as I've been working all day and partying all night this weekend

Into March, leading the league after 28 games, 6 points ahead of City, nobody else near us, and I face them in the next match.

Champions league: Lost 4-3 to Genoa, Szczesny having a 3.6 at half time after only conceding 2 goals, but both blunders, and my sub keeper, a dutch wonderkid decided to copy his ttutor with 2 blunders, the second in the 95th minute. However all Is well as I smashed them 3-1 at home, another goal from them coming in the 93rd. Barce, Real, Lyon, Man City,Bayern, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid are all through aswell

FA Cup: beat Bolton 6-0, and Everton 3-0 and I go on to face Norwich in the semi final, other match is Birmingham vs either Liverpool or huddersfield.

And Ipswich smashed City 3-0 in the carlin cup final, and are sat in 15th

[lewis999]

Anyone bought Hamsik? I'm thinking about it and have had a 27.5m accepted and he's set to sign. Looking to play him AMC with Wilshere and Song behind him. Obviously that would mean less time for Ramsey and Arteta as back up but what do you guys think? I'm veering towards saving the money at the minute.

It's not 27.5m all up front, it's half now, half over 4 years.

[ewok01]

Big thanks to all that replied to my goal keeping post.

[Carmi88]

Premier League: Had 8 games left, none against large opposition except Villa and the 2nd last game which was Spurs. villa spanked me 5-0 after Scznesny got injured, and allowed City to go ahead because of GD, fortunately they slipped up 3 times whereas I only slipped up twice and I won the Trophy at White Hart Lane

Champions League: Went out to Real Madrid 5-4 on agg Zwartoed my regen keeper was the keeper for both games and was very error prone, can't blame him since the games are so big, but he effectively cost me the tie. The goal that made me know I would lose, Ronaldo doing to us what he did at United and scoring a goal from a 45 yard freekick and the goalie prepping to ruin out instead of waiting for the ball

FA Cup: Beat Swansea 3-0 in the semi final, and fought out a very close tie with Birmingham and won 1-0 thanks to the ever present threat of Koscielny on corners.

Final game of the season is against Sunderland, and with several players leaving I think I'll let them all have their final game for the club, before having an extremely busy transfer window.

Season accomplishments: Won the league, FA Cup, Euro Super Cup and Club world championships

[malikoi]

March Update

Premier League

Arsenal 1-0 Backburn (Chamakh 93')

What a terrible game! Needed substitute Chamakh to win it. The defense placed very well though, thats a positive I suppose.

Man of the Match - Carl Jenkinson 7.4

Arsenal 1-0 Newcastle (André Santos 48')

We dominated this game from start to end, but an inspired Krul kept us at bay, Santos scoring an unbelievable 40 yard free-kick gave us the win.

Man of the Match - Tim Krul - 9.2

Wigna 0-2 Arsenal (Wilshere 41', Walcott 81')

Another dominant game from the lads, Wigan only had 1 real chance and the squandered it.

Man of the Match - Gervinho 8.0

Arsenal 2-0 Stoke (Chamakh 33', Diaby 41')

A typical Stoke perfomance, kicking chunks out of us and sitting back.

Man of the Match - Abou Diaby 8.5

Swansea 1-3 Arsenal (Scott Sinclair 25' - Djourou 51', Koscielny 83', Chamakh 87')

Swansea were on top until the second half when we suddenly came alive. Arsenal only had 3 shots in the first half, but in the second we had 14. Only 4 on target though, but 3 went in. Horrible performance before the break but im happy with the win.

Man of the Match - Theo Walcott 8.7

FA Cup

Sixth Round

Arsenal 0-0 West Brom

GO AWAY BEN FOSTER!!!!!!! He always plays well against me! We shredded them to pieces but that stupid fool in goal is always magnifcent when he's against me.

Man of the Match - Ben Foster 8.7

Champions League

Quarter Final Second Leg

Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal (Barry pen 15', Milner 45+2' - Sagna 22', Walcott 58')

Very happy to get a draw away to Man City. Other than Sagna the defense was terrible. Mertesacker will be sold, for free if need be, he's terrible. Luckily thier defence was just as bad.

Man of the Match - Sagna 7.7

I drew Inter Milan in the Semi-Final, so that should be a good couple of matches.

Player of the Month

Theo Walcott. He's been exceptional this month, no defence has been able to handle him.

Young Player of the Month

Carl Jenkinson. Sagna was injured until the Man City game and Jenkinson has been fantastic cover, couldn't of asked more from him.

As I shown a couple of pages back, I edited him to be more like he is IRL. And ofcourse he has developed a little bit.

[bluemoon]

Largely inspired by this thread, I started an Arsenal save a few days ago, I'm only in January 2012 but I've got plenty to put in a massive update.

Pre-season

My aim was for a title challenge but I'd be happy with continental qualification.

Pre-season consisted of 8 games, of which we won 6 and drew 2. The highlight being a 4-3 victory over Marseille - an honourable mention for the 7-0 victory against Dag & Red.

Transfers

In

Leighton Baines - £15m

Christopher Samba - £17.5m

Daniel Schwaab - Ln Fee £800k

André Ayew - £11.25m

Jordan Ayew - Ln Fee £2m

Total: £46.2m

Leighton Baines was brought in the absence of a defensively solid left-back. Christopher Samba was bought to add a bit more depth (and some brute force) to defence. Daniel Schwaab brought in as cover for Sagna at RB as an added bonus he can play at CB as well. The Ayew brothers were both brought in from Marseille - André to add some more depth in midfield and Jordan as a backup striker.

Out

Ryo Miyaichi, Lorient, Season-long loan

Manuel Almunia, Malaga, £1m

Sanchez Watt, Charlton, loan

Benik Afobe, Bournemouth, loan

Chuks Aneke, loan

Johan Djourou, Porto, £6.75m

Andrey Arshavin, PSG, £10m

Total: £18m

Djourou was shipped out to Porto, Arshavin was sent to PSG on deadline day for £10m and I was able to get rid of Almunia courtesy of those nice chaps at Malaga. Bringing my net spend to a nice 28 million.

Net spend: £28.2m

August

(H) (PL) 3-0 Swansea - Goals courtesy of Gervinho, Leon Britton and Steven Caulker who generously chipped in an own goal each.

(A) (CL) 3-1 Udinese - Gervinho opened after 3 minutes with Di Natale equalising shortly after. Mikel Arteta stepped up, however, and scored two penalties to give us a valuable victory.

(A) (PL) 1-1 Bolton - We took an early lead courtesy of Theo Walcott but David N'Gog remembered how to score and levelled it. Despite Reo-Coke being sent-off we were unable to finish them off.

(H) (CL) 2-1 Udinese - Di Natale gave Udine an early lead but Gervinho and Vermaelen provided a goal each to secure passage to the group stages.

(H) (PL) 0-1 Everton - A poor performance we lost after a second-minute goal from Tim Cahill.

At the end of August we were in 9th place.

September

(A) (PL) 0-0 Man Utd - A boring but valuable draw at Old Trafford in a game I expected to be handily beaten in.

(A) (CL) 1-0 Slovan - Bratislava We opened our CL campaign with a straight-forward victory the only goal being scored by Gervinho.

(H) (PL) 4-1 Sunderland - We dominated the game with four different players getting on the scoresheet (Walcott, Arteta, Baines and Chamberlain) with the only downside being Ji Dong-Won's consolation goal.

(H) (CC) 0-0 Bristol City - A game we scraped through on penalties. We should won comfortably but a number of sub-par performances let City hold on.

(A) (PL) 5-0 Aston Villa - Brilliant. RvP scored a hat-trick with Samba and Gervinho completing the scoring. Villa didn't get a look in.

(H) (CL) 3-3 Leverkusen - We went 2 down with ten minutes but were able to pull it back thanks to RvP and a Fabian Geifer o.g.

We only picked up one injury this month, Bacary Sagna fracturing his arm against Leverkusen. At the end of September we were in 6th place.

October

(H) (PL) 2-2 Chelsea - Bosingwa gave Chelsea the lead before, André Ayew and RvP scored one each to give us a lead but Mikel Arteta missed a penalty and Fernando Torres scored a penalty to give each side a point each.

(H) (PL) 6-0 Wigan - We utterly dominated Wigan and actually managed to convert possession into goals! Mertesacker, RvP, Walcott (2), Gervinho and Chamakh providing the goals.

(H) (CL) 3-0 Ajax - A comfortable victory over Ajax with Gervinho, Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott on the scoresheet.

(A) (PL) 1-0 Fulham - A close game at Craven Cottage decided by a 11th minue goal from RvP.

(A) (CC) 5-0 Barnsley - A comfortable game - Theo and Chamakh scored twice with Jordan Ayew scoring his first goal for the club.

(A) (PL) 1-2 Tottenham - An awful game. The combination of Adebayor having a stormer and Chesney trying his best to concede resulted in an easy win for Spurs.

At the end of October we reached the heady heights of... 6th!

November

(A) (CL) 2-2 Ajax - We started badly conceding in the 20th minute. RvP pulled one back, so we conceded again. We left it late but in the 81st minute, Alex Song equalised and got us a deserved point.

(H) (PL) 4-0 Blackburn - Another comfortable game with Mikel Arteta, RvP (2) and Gervinho scoring on a breezy Emirates eve.

(A) (PL) 4-2 Liverpool - A poor performance. Chamakh opened the scoring but it was downhill from there. Gervinho gave us a glimmer of hope before Dirk Kuyt and Andy Carroll finished us off.

(H) (CL) 5-0 Slovan Bratislava - A great performance Jordan Ayew opened the scoring with Gibbs, RvP and Vermaelen following up before Jordan Ayew finished them off in the 87th minute.

(H) (PL) 2-1 Man City - A brilliant result against the league leaders. Mikel Arteta gave us an unexpected lead in the 15th minute before Marouane Chamakh put us 2-up after 70 mins. Super Mario scored a consolation for City in the 86th minute.

(A) (CC) 1-1 Man City - A tough game two days after our league clash. Christopher Samba gave us an unexpected lead and we got away with it until the 87th minute when Samir Nasri scored a 30-yard screamer out of nowhere. We held on in Extra-Time but our penalties were utterly woeful, missing all three to City's three scored.

At the end of November we reached the even headier heights of... 7th! It wasn't a great month.

December

(A) (PL) 1-2 Newcastle - A woeful performance that saw us completely outplayed. Our only possible mitigation could be the two (avoidable) dismissals of Vermaelen and Samba. The only consolation was Abou Diaby's goal.

(A) (CL) 3-0 Leverkusen - A comfortable victory in Germany to secure qualification to the knock-out stages with goals courtesy of Samba, Ayew and Vermaelen.

(H) (PL) 4-0 West Brom - A good victory despite being without Walcott and Ramsey, other players stepped up most notably Abou Diaby and Jordan Ayew who both had good games.

(A) (PL) 2-0 QPR - A straightforward game against the table-footers at Loftus Road with André Ayew and Kieran Gibbs scoring the goals.

(H) (PL) 2-0 Norwich - Another straightforward game with André Ayew coming up good again with Bacary Sagna finishing them off.

(A) (PL) 0-1 Stoke - A scrappy game that we didn't really deserve to lose but did anyway. RvP amongst others had a shocker but we lost courtesy of an own goal rather than through being outplayed.

(H) (PL) 1-0 Wolves - Another very close game with André Ayew again getting on the scoresheet.

Going into the New Year we had regained 6th place. Not as good as it could have been but given the poor start to the month, not terrible either.

Summary

At the End of December -

Premier League: 6th place.

Carling Cup: Quarter Final knocked out by City.

Champions League: Qualified in 1st.

My star player so far has undoubtedly been André Ayew, RvP and Chesney have largely disappointed whilst Ramsey, Walcott and Gervinho have all spent considerable time out injured and haven't really had the opportunity to impress as a result.

I think I've mentioned everything. My next update will be considerably shorter.

[Suggy33]

Mid Season Report for Season 1

I started off this Arsenal career, scouting the world for young playerS who can come in for around £1m, and can add something to the reserves, and then the first team in the future. Lots of players were scouted, and many remain targets for the future, but only 6 made the cut for this year.

Luke Shaw from Southampton - £1.2m: Wanted a young left back who could potentially make the first team in the future. Home grown option makes him more appealing.

James Prowse-Ward from Southampton for £1.1m : Mainly to bolster the home grown ranks, rated highly so could make my first team in the future.

Gianluca Caprari from Roma - £675k: Young winger needed as the reserves were lacking. Has the ability to challenge for the first team in the future, but probably won't.

Lorenzo Crisetig from Inter Milan - £550k: Another DM to add to Coquelin, Frimpong and Song. Friendly competition never hurt anyone did it? Made his debut in the Carling Cup vs Leicester.

Lucas Andersen from AaB - £700k: Provides an instant youth option to the first team. Appeared 7 times, scoring once (against Marseille in CL) before joining Portsmouth on loan in January.

Muhammed Demirci from Besiktas - £1.5m (joins 3/1/2013): Looks like he's oozing with talent. 19 technique aged 16 is brilliant.

After this mini spree (all the players joined within a 2 day spell), I went on the hunt for real first team improvements, to add to the initiatl squad, and the fill the gaps left by the departing Arshavin (£10m), Rosicky (£2.3m), Mannone (£1.8m) and Chamakh(loan fee £3.3m).

Marco Reus from Gladbach - £15m: Worth every penny. 30 appearances, 12 goals, 13 assists. Brilliant.

Bibras Natkho from Rubin Kazan - £5m: Came in to play in the DLP MC role which I wanted to play with. 13 apps and 4 assists until he sustained a torn calf, ruling him out for 3 months.

Sime Vrsaljko from Dinamo Zagreb - £3m: Had to pay more than I wanted to fend off interest from other clubs, but came in to back up Sagna, and deputised well during a lengthy injury Bacary picked up. 18 appearances so far, scoring once.

That was it until January.

We motored through the Champions League Group Stage, coming top of a group containing Marseille, Trabzonspor and Basel. We made the Carling Cup semi finals too, beating Leicester, Bolton and Fulham en route. The league is a more of a challenge. Sat in 2nd place so far, 10 points behind dominant Man Utd, and only 6 points above 6th placed Tottenham. Already progressed to the 4th round of the FA Cup, having beaten Aston Villa in the 3rd round.

January also saw 3 new faces at the club.

Alejandro Gomez from Catania - £4.8m: With Gervinho soon to go to the ACON, I knew I needed another AML, preferably an inside forward. Gomez, though not getting a brilliant report, fits the bill perfectly. Fast, right footed AML, cheap and best of all, lesser known.

Rasmus Elm from AZ Alkmaar - £8.25m: Natkho picked up his injury just before January, so I had to get someone in to play DLP. Elm gained a good report, and with his 19 for long throws, brings a new aspect to the team.

Emmanuel Badu from Udinese - loan: Alex Song picked up an injury in December ruling him out for 2 months, so I thought I'd bring in a player to cover for him in his absence. Definitely a temporary thing, and will not have his deal extended.

Only one major transfer out in January saw Squillaci leave on loan. I have arranged one transfer to go through at the end of the season, which will be Felix Bastians on a free from Freiburg. The German LB will provide competition for Andre Santos and Gibbs, and in the long term, replace Andre Santos as my first choice LB.

[The Chosen One]

Quick question guys. Man City have offered 21m cash for Sagna in January, first season, so my question is would you sell him? I am little tempted to be honest. He's 28 years old and valued 10m so offering double is quite good offer. My back up, Mario Fernandes, is couple of seasons away before being first choice RB.

Anyone bought Hamsik? I'm thinking about it and have had a 27.5m accepted and he's set to sign. Looking to play him AMC with Wilshere and Song behind him. Obviously that would mean less time for Ramsey and Arteta as back up but what do you guys think? I'm veering towards saving the money at the minute.

It's not 27.5m all up front, it's half now, half over 4 years.

As you can see the post above yours, I bought him. He hasn't set the world apart for me but hasn't being bad either. I played him as advanced playmaker in CM with supporting role but changed to attack since he wasn't getting many assists and goals. 8 appearances (7 starts, 1 coming on as sub) since the change, he only added a goal and 3 assists to his season. May be he would do better in AMC position because he has terrific attributes.

[malikoi]

I wouldn't sell Sagna if I was you, he's one of the best RB's in the world. You would struggle to find a replacement for less than £20 million so no real point.

[Ron_Burgundy]

I absolutely cannot get on with FM12. Second save with Arsenal and same story again, decent start but not really good enough. Was up in the top 4 but every away game was a shootout, we cannot keep the ball or and never look very solid at the back. It's genuinely doing my head in.

I have been following this thread and it seems to me two truths are evident: 1) You seem to need 2 or 3 tactics to choose from. I have seen in previous FM's, some people had a range of tactics but I never thought that was necessary but with the change to the tactics screen encouraging you to have more than one tactic ready to go, it seems like the AI insists on it this time around otherwise they will figure you out by Christmas (as has happened to me twice now). 2) Possession is king. But, despite my best efforts, my tactics of 10 and 11 do not keep the ball.

I hate to say this...but I think I am starting again. I never really got into this save (not just on results but also my signings)...

Quick question - has anyone had any success with a formation using two strikers?? Would love a 4-2-2-2 or similar to work and have RvP dropping off a really great striker...

[lucatonix]

Nope I wouldn't sell him til he is 30 and you have a replacement.

[The Chosen One]

Cheers, guys. I have declined the stalled offer. They have also being after Vermaelen but made 2m improvement on their previous offer for him. 12.5m won't cut, I rejected that too. Just hope all these offers from City won't unsettle my players.

Lucas Andersen from AaB - £700k: Provides an instant youth option to the first team. Appeared 7 times, scoring once (against Marseille in CL) before joining Portsmouth on loan in January.

f

Fantastic deal. In my save, Wolves bought him and now they want around 12m. ffs.

Very good buys, man.