FM12 Arsenal Thread - Life after Cesc

[malikoi]

How did you lose him? Forgot to renew his contract? :confused:

[malikoi]

Wow... Glad I didn't sell Chamakh! He's started each of the 4 games this season, and has scored 5 goals whilst assisting 3. He's got an average rating of 8.25! He's pretty good once he gets going. Ashame he won't play like this IRL!

[Carmi88]

How did you lose him? Forgot to renew his contract? :confused:

Yup that will teach me

[sakrai]

Okay, so I needed a striker since Mario Gomez had a terrible injury and Nils Petersen wasn't performing, I tried buying Leandro Damião but Internacional wouldn't sell, so I bought Carlos Vela who was transfer listed from Arsenal and he has become my main striker now for two years, guy is a beast, and he also can cover for Ribery since he's always injured, Vela totally caught me off guard,such a pleasant surprise. I'd recommend you guys give him a shot.

[malikoi]

Corners on this game are f'ing ridiculous. Im conceding atleast 1 goal from corners a game, sort it the hell out SI!

[error]

Corners on this game are f'ing ridiculous. Im conceding atleast 1 goal from corners a game, sort it the hell out SI!

Me to, very annoying and nothing I seem change will stop it. I do score a fair amount though so I suppose is evens out

[error]

In my 5th season now and Frimpong has become ok but nothing special, I would suggest focusing on Coq as he has become a great DLP either support or defend if I'm hanging onto a lead.

[Yakutz]

April/May 2012 Update - End of Season

Premier League

Norwich 0-1 Arsenal (Podolski)

Really poor performance overall, but Podolski grabbed a winner in the 93rd minute with probably my first chance of the match. I'll take the win despite it being pretty undeserved.

Arsenal 5-1 Aston Villa (Mertesacker (2), Kagawa, Reus, Diaby)

Coming just two days after the Norwich game, I wasn't expecting much, but we were absolutely rampant. RVP got all 5 assists and took the man of the match award, but the finishing from my midfielders was surprisingly impressive. Much improved.

West Brom 2-0 Arsenal

This was in between the two legs of the Champions League semi-final, which I'll come to later, and my second string just couldn't get going. Not too much harm done as Spurs also managed to lose, so my gap remained 6 points. My first defeat since January 1st in all competitions, though, so I was a bit gutted about that.

Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland (Podolski (3))

With RVP injured in midweek, Podolski stepped up in style here. Great hat-trick, I believe it was a perfect one - left, right, head - and he single-handedly got me a much needed victory.

Chelsea 1-4 Arsenal (Djourou, Gervinho (2), Podolski)

I can't quite believe this! A midweek match with the FA Cup Final at the weekend meant a slightly weakened team, but the two first choice attackers I left on ran riot against a Chelsea side bereft of confidence. Really impressive from Gervinho in particular, and a result which pretty much guaranteed the league title, 6 points clear with 2 games to go.

Arsenal 2-1 Bolton (Diaby, Reus)

And this was the game that did get the title! An unspectacular match where I feared it was starting to slip away. Bolton took the lead, but on came the two players who have really played the role of super-sub this season, and they both grabbed goals which won me the league. Diaby has really impressed me a lot - I was planning to sell him, but may have a rethink now.

Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool (Wilshere)

Pretty drab affair to end the season, but it was nice that Wilshere got my final goal. Not a bad result to cap a successful league campaign.

Table

Premier League Awards:

Footballer of the Year: Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, Luis Suarez

Players' Player of the Year: Edin Dzeko, Theo Walcott, Rafael Van der Vaart

Players' Young Player of the Year: Shinji Kagawa, Samir Nasri, Andy Carroll

Golden Glove: Hilario Gomes, Wojciech Szczesny, Jose Reina

Manager of the Season: Me!, Alex Ferguson, Roberto Mancini

Champions League

Quarter Final Second Leg - Arsenal 2-2 AC Milan (Vermaelen, Diaby)

This was fine after the 4-2 win at the San Siro. Yet another crucial goal for Diaby coming off the bench. Onto the semi-final...

Semi-Final First Leg - Arsenal 2-0 Real Madrid (Van Persie, Koscielny)

I was over the moon with this performance, absolutely top quality all round. My only worries were that I didn't take enough of my chances - it could have been 4 or 5 - and that I lost RVP til the end of the season, and Theo to a broken leg.

Semi-Final Second Leg - Real Madrid 7-1 Arsenal (Reus)

These worries were justified, and I simply cannot believe it. Heartbroken and humiliated. There were significant fines handed out of the entire back 5 after this shambles. To defend it a bit, there were 3 penalties among their 7 goals, but still utterly embarrassing. Really missed Theo and RVP as well, as Podolski had a couple of glorious opportunities that I'm certain RVP would have put away that could have killed the tie off. Ah well, onto next year I guess.

FA Cup

Semi Final - Wigan 0-4 Arsenal (Van Persie, Gaitán, Podolski (2); Gibbs)

See, this is what I wanted from a semi-final performance! Even with 10 men Wigan were outplayed entirely, chances were taken, and it was never in doubt. Eased into the final.

Final - Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal

Just more misery. Another heartbreaking defeat, this time to a scrappy goal from a corner within the first 2 minutes. Shortly after, Gervinho was stretchered off, and without any of my first choice front 3 I lacked penetration and just couldn't get past their defence. Disappointing result.

Overall, a successful season, although I feel like I should have added one of the Champions League or FA Cup to my league title. Still, I'll take the league, I can't say I was really expecting much at the beginning of the year. My personal standout players this season have been Vermaelen, Koscielny, Walcott, and RVP. Van Persie struggled a lot in the first half, but I really got him going in a trequartista role for the second half of the season, where he ended up getting 17 goals and 22 assists. Theo and Podolski also got 17 goals, the three of them topping my goalscoring charts. Sadly, Theo Walcott has broken his leg and I doubt he'll ever fulfil his potential now, which has slightly ruined my plans of eventually moving him into the middle to replace RVP and having Reus/Chamberlain take over the right flank. Thus, my main aim in this transfer window is maybe to bring in another right winger, although I do currently have Reus/Gervinho/Gaitán to fill those positions. Hazard's close to transfer-requesting himself at Lille and I'm keeping a close eye on that one. I'll also be looking to bring in a left back for next season, as although Santos has done really well this year, he's not a long term option for a top side, and I don't particularly rate Gibbs.

[Yakutz]

Probably my favourite player at the moment! First on the team sheet above Vermaelen, van Persie and Wilshere!

He even knows when to be a good lad! Most players I fine go moaning to the press.

Yep, first choice centre-back for me as well. He and Vermaelen are absolutely brilliant, and I had a similar reaction when I fined him after my Real Madrid result above, although that was for poor performance.

[The Chosen One]

Okay, so I needed a striker since Mario Gomez had a terrible injury and Nils Petersen wasn't performing, I tried buying Leandro Damião but Internacional wouldn't sell, so I bought Carlos Vela who was transfer listed from Arsenal and he has become my main striker now for two years, guy is a beast, and he also can cover for Ribery since he's always injured, Vela totally caught me off guard,such a pleasant surprise. I'd recommend you guys give him a shot.

What role does he play for you? He's a back up to Cavani for me. In the month and half Cavani was injured, he led the team but not that great. He did score goals though. He needs to improve his quickness (for me) and some other nits here and there but definitely good player. Better than previous versions.

Speaking of injuries, I had 9 players injured (pretty much out for the same period) and only 1 or two were the bench players while the rest were the starting 11. Now I am 8 points behind coz of that. To say I am annoyed is understatement.

[The Chosen One]

www.facebook.com/arsenalfm12

Pretty much the idea of this thread but on facebook. Like and share it on FB with other gooners.

[bluemoon]

February Update

(H) (PL) 4-0Aston Villa - Another comfortable victory against Villa. Edinson Cavani opened the scoring, with RvP adding another soon after. Cavani added another shortly before half-time, it took us another 45 minutes to score our fourth when Theo Walcott - returning from injury - scored in the 85th minute. A dampener on this victory were injuries of Adam Johnson and Robin van Persie.(A) (PL) 4-0 Sunderland - Our run on form continued in the North-East with an easy victory against Sunderland. Edinson Cavani scored another brace with Jordan Ayew and Christopher Samba.

(A) (CL) 5-0 Valencia - The 1st Knockout Round beckoned with a visit to Mestalla where we triumphed over a lacklustre Valencia side. Mikel Arteta, André Ayew (2), Jordan Ayew and Theo Walcott got on the scoresheet while Fabianski et al celebrated their third-straight clean-sheet.

(A) (FA) 2-1 Nottm Forest - A surprisingly close game, Forest scored early and we rarely looked like moving out of third gear. We conceded in the 15th minute and left it late to turn it around. André Ayew scored in the 79th minute before Per Mertesacker secured the victory in the 4th minute of added time.

(A) (PL) 3-0 Chelsea - Another tough game - albeit more understandably - Thomas Vermaelen opened the scoring from a corner in the 21st minute, prompting 50 minutes of fairly frantic defending. In the 76th minute André Ayew scored again to provide some safety for us before Theo finished them off in added-time.

A potentially tricky month finished fantastically with us in fine form and with new signings settling in well.

[malikoi]

I think I've won this round Sir Alex!

PS: Update will be up soon.

[lomekian]

Continuing from this post: MID-SEASON (First Season)

FULL FIRST SEASON REVIEW

LEAGUE

After rather poor start to the league as you can see above, we got into good form second half of the season. We finally started to win away from home (had like 1 away win in first half of the season) but the 16 points behind Man United and Chelsea was too much to catch. In the end, I had to play for the 3rd spot as United and Chelsea never in my wildest dreams looked like dropping points. They won pretty much every where most of the time. As you can see with 95 and 96 points for Man United and Chelsea respectively. Funny thing, United needed at least a draw in the last match at home against Liverpool. The Kops thumped them 4-1 while Chelsea won their fixture. I LOLed.

Domestic Cups

As you can see in the quoted post, Carling cup I lost to Wolves on penalties. As for FA Cup, I got drawn against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in which they edged by 1-0. Very close encounter and we should have won had we taken our chances. Their goal came from a corner.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

In the first knockout round, I comfortably beat Ajax but had the luck of Ballack by drawing against Barcelona in the quarter finals. The league title hopes were pretty much gone by then so had the luxury to rest some players. This in no way should belittle the team's 1-0 win at Camp Nou. We defended fantastically and took one of the chances we created which weren't as much as Barca's. In the return leg, I don't know. I was quite confident being at home but an early goal from Barca pretty much made them favorites to go through and so they did. 3-2 they won at the Emis. What a bloody shame. 3-3 on AGG but Barca through by the away goals rule.

Snipbit for Nex Season

451 (above) wasn't working as it rellied too much on the lone forward scoring the goals. So, I altered and pushed the attacking CM as AMCR. Just played bit the formation but the tactic mostly is the same.

I am actually loving it. In attack, it becomes 424 and in defense either 433 (AMCR dropping to middle as he has support role) or 451 (both AMCR and wingers dropping to middle). I am unbeaten in the league and only a point behind but it's only 31st of October so long way to go.

Pretty much identical to the set up I had on my incredibly successful game, which I accidently saved over playing slightly drunk after a show....bugger! Starting again with same set up

[sakrai]

What role does he play for you? He's a back up to Cavani for me. In the month and half Cavani was injured, he led the team but not that great. He did score goals though. He needs to improve his quickness (for me) and some other nits here and there but definitely good player. Better than previous versions.

Speaking of injuries, I had 9 players injured (pretty much out for the same period) and only 1 or two were the bench players while the rest were the starting 11. Now I am 8 points behind coz of that. To say I am annoyed is understatement.

I play him as lone striker with an AMC and an inside foward(AML) pumping through balls and an AMR as a winger with crosses set to often and though balls as sometimes.

Here's Vela's instructions:

[james_wilko]

Hello lads, started my usual Arsenal save a couple days ago and about to finish the first season so providing an update.

Transfers:

In-

Landon Donovan (9.25m)

Out-

Martin Angha (95k)

Loans out-

Sanchez Watt, Benik Afobe, Rhys Murphy.

Squad didn't need a lot of work (imo) so I brought in Donovan for his versatility. Covers all midfield positions and upfront, combined with his high mentals he made a great purchase.

Formations:

Primary: 4-2-3-1

First team

Szczesny

Sagna Mertesacker Vermaelen Gibbs

Wilshere/Arteta Song

Walcott Ramsey Gervinho

RvP

Second team

Fabianski

Frimpong Koscielny Djourou Andres Santos

Arteta/Rosicky Coquelin

Arshavin Donovan Miyaichi

Ox/Chamakh

Secondary: 4-2-2-2 (wide)

CAM replaced by one of the back up strikers.

As you can see, I've been retraining several players positions. Gervinho performs well as a LW as an inside forward, but Ryo is constantly pushing for a first team spot. When Gervinho was away for the ACN he stepped in and was one of the best players in January. Ramsey is a little inconsistent but he's growing into the CAM role with every game. Frimpong at right back is a little odd, but his stats made me think it might work and with his potential I wanted to fit him in somewhere. However, Coquelin after a few games showed how good he would be and so Frimpong was shunted into a new position. Chamberlain's pace means he's a great impact sub playing up front or even starting games for weaker opposition.

Just finished the FA Cup, spanking Man City 4-2 to win it despite going 2-0 down in the first half. Probably my second best result, having battered (brutally I might add) Manchester United 5-2(H) and then 3-1(A) in the Champions League.

Now only a few games left, we've won the league, league cup and the FA Cup so far. In the Champions League final against Barcelona and aiming to smash them as I've smashed the other 'big' teams.

On a side note, Arteta was a much better player than I had anticipated. He really covered while Wilshere was injured and is a good CAM back up as well.

[JEinchy]

I was going to do a Malaga save, but since I've not yet accomplished everything I wanted to do with Arsenal, I've carried on this particular save. Having spent a decent week or so away from it means I can tackle it again with new enthusiasm.

My contract expires in 2015, so I may not sign a new deal and manage another club. One and a half more seasons should be plenty of time for me to finish everything up with Arsenal.

[ewok01]

Hi Guys, who do play as your 1st choice CB, since the patch there seems to be many you could choose as 1st team. LB and RB are not an issue, CB x 2?

Cheers

[ewok01]

Arshavin's contract is due, would you keep him? He is on 75k and I can see him asking for more? I won't be keeping Rosisky (I know I spelt his name wrong) as report says he is to injury prone. If anyone does keep Rosisky could you give me an idea if he is worth holding onto (maybe super sub?)

Cheers

Currently 1st (woohoo for a change, got Chelsea next)

[The Chosen One]

Ewok01, Vermaelen (LCB) and Koscienly (RCB)

Well done james_wilko.. Only one signing with those achievements. Makes me mediocre.

[malikoi]

@ewok01 - I use the same as The Chosen One for my CB pairing. I sold Arshavin in the first season, and I kept Rosicky for 1 season to do a little bit of tutoring, then I let him go on a free. Hope that help buddy!

[oneskyride]

Hi Guys, who do play as your 1st choice CB, since the patch there seems to be many you could choose as 1st team. LB and RB are not an issue, CB x 2?

Cheers

I got Toby Alderweireld for 4.2M£ at the start of my 1st season and he;s been partnering vermaelen ever since, pretty good defensively and consistent(averaged 7.24 for me my 2nd season), he's also the same nationality (belgium) as Vermaelen so it may inspire a better partnership. Also his passing attribute makes him probably the best CB passer in the game

[james_wilko]

Good God.

That's the quadruple done, Barcelona beaten 3-2 in the final with Frimpong getting the winner in the last 10 minutes. We got lucky that they had a man sent off late in the first half, giving us a massive upper hand.

Jack Wilshere got MotM, dominated the midfield.

Speechless.

[JEinchy]

Congratulation on winning the quadruple. Beating Barcelona is always sweet, no matter the ocassion.

Since I'm leaving Arsenal in a year or so, I'm hoping to leave them a little present... in the form of Mario Götze. This sort of transfer goes totally against my usual managment philosophies, but hey, I've got to leave some sort of legacy.

[timmy2211]

I'm Midway through my first game with my beloved Arsenal. The only question I have is how I can get the best out of Van Persie and wilshere?

Van Persie has been pretty good so far, I play him stc in a 4-3-3 with wingers, though he can be quite ineffectual some games. Also with jack now back in my side, i was wandering what the best way to deploy him a deep lying playmaker or advanced and are there any specific instructions that i could assign to him to get him playing like he did last year?

[james_wilko]

I'm Midway through my first game with my beloved Arsenal. The only question I have is how I can get the best out of Van Persie and wilshere?

Van Persie has been pretty good so far, I play him stc in a 4-3-3 with wingers, though he can be quite ineffectual some games. Also with jack now back in my side, i was wandering what the best way to deploy him a deep lying playmaker or advanced and are there any specific instructions that i could assign to him to get him playing like he did last year?

RvP - lone striker set as a trequarista with inside forwards outwide to supply. I played a CAM behind him in a support role to provide more ammunition.

Wilshere played as a supporting DLP for me and when he regained fitness he was quality.

& ta JEinchy

[timmy2211]

Thank you, i've often wandered about using the trquarista role, when using rvp in this role do you have him set as a playmaker?

[AcidBurn]

Not a bad start to the season battered Udinese away to qualify for Champions League and continued that good form in the first few games of the CL group stages. The Wolves result was a cup match. As you can see RVP and Llorente are forming a decent team up top I just hope RVP can stay fit as he is constantly scoring and assisting. Walcott borke his leg and Gervinho tore his hamstring so both will be out for around another 3 months Walcott maybe a bit more.

Only signed Llorente so have a bit of cash for the January transfer window if the right player becomes available.

[gholliday87]

Iniesta...£15 mil upfront, £18 mil over 48 months...yes please!

[ewok01]

@ewok01 - I use the same as The Chosen One for my CB pairing. I sold Arshavin in the first season, and I kept Rosicky for 1 season to do a little bit of tutoring, then I let him go on a free. Hope that help buddy!

Thanks to all who replied, I will go with "The Chosen One" but was surprised our 80k CB didn't get a mention. Again thanks :-)

[lucatonix]

I found Mertesacker to be really good in the first season. Best of all the CBs but I'm still selling him due to his insane wages and really low determination.

[ewok01]

I found Mertesacker to be really good in the first season. Best of all the CBs but I'm still selling him due to his insane wages and really low determination.

Thanks, I will probably follow suit as his wages are too much.

[lucatonix]

At what age do you find van Persie declines and is no longer first team. I wondering because at the start of the second season I've been offered Aguero and thinking of getting him or Neymar to be a natural replacement for him.

[ig0rf]

Hey ppl.

First season I won Champions League and Premier.

In this second I was just 2nd place on the Premier and lost in SF's to Real Madrid in Champions. But I won FA Cup as a consolation prize.

For this 3rd season I just bought Nuri Sahin, Kagawa (free) and Hazard.

My team is:

GK: Mandanda, Damian Martinez

FB's: Gibbs, Vrsaljko, Sagna, Alvaro Pereira

CB's: Kyle Bartley, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mikel San José

DM: Song, Flamini

CM: Kwadwo Asamoah, Nuri Sahin, Lansbury, Wilshere, Christian Eriksen

Wingers: Hazard, Kagawa, Chamberlain, Walcott, Reus, Gervinho

ST: van Persie, Hulk, Muniain, Gregoritsch, Wilfried

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

Any tips for me, people? I still have about 30M (euros) to transfers and 1M for salaries, so I can still buy someone...

[The Chosen One]

At what age do you find van Persie declines and is no longer first team. I wondering because at the start of the second season I've been offered Aguero and thinking of getting him or Neymar to be a natural replacement for him.

It depends whether you can keep him off injuries, IMO. He still has around 3-4 years (last one as squad player) in him before he really declines. For me he hasn't being that lucky with injuries so I will look to off load him in the summer. I am now in my second season. He had about two 3-months injuries and few 2-3 weeks length. He just got back from 3months injury but again got injured in the reserves so he's out for couple of weeks. Frustrating. If you are using your own/downloaded training, make sure you don't put high overload to minimize the likelihood of muscle related injuries. 3-5 notches from the middle would be good I suppose.

Thanks to all who replied, I will go with "The Chosen One" but was surprised our 80k CB didn't get a mention. Again thanks :-)

He has low bravery, aggression, work rate (not highly important for DC but still), and determination makes him vulnerable. Ohh and not the mention very slow defender so he's night mare in opposition's long/through balls. I have just bid 21m for Otamendi in January 2nd season (hopefully I will beat to Real and Barca who have also tabled the same offer) as his replacement. I can't find anyone willing to buy Merti though with such high wages.

I rarely find buyers. Bugs me in this game. Diaby and Denilson are still with me (well they are off to loan but still Arsenal players) and some others I even had to request mutual contract termination.

[lucatonix]

I managed to sell Mertersacker for £18.25m at the start of the second season. His value rocketed after doing the double last season and after the euros

[KingLara]

February/March update

Another hugely entertaining month

Premier League BOLTON 0-1 ARSENAL - Walcott 68

A nice start to the month. We had 28 shots but Jaaskelainen was in one of his annoying moods. Walcott's 21st of the season was enough for 3 points. I gave Bennayoun a rare start and he got 8.2 so that was quite pleasing.

FA Cup 4thR Replay - CRYSTAL PALACE 2-4 ARSENAL - Pedroza 46 86 - Bennayoun 4 Van Perise 14 63pen Granero 67

No hiccups in the replay. After a postponed game on the tuesday Sagna could finally return to the side after a lengthy absence. A brace by Van Persie and another good performance by Bennayoun were the two most pleasing factors. A cracker by Granero was the cherry on the cake. Off to Anfield we go.

Champions League 2nd Round 1st Leg - LILLE 1-1 ARSENAL - Basa 11 - Walcott 70

A tale of two halves in France. I set up defensively sticking Walcott and Gervinho on the bench to try and nullify the attack but after 11 minutes Lille took the lead dominating the first half. Then in the second I decided to bring both on and go attacking and we got the equaliser. Both had glorious chances for a winner but I'll take a score draw which should be enough.

.

FA Cup 5r - LIVERPOOL 2-3 ARSENAL – Surarez 5 Carrol 26 – Carragher o.g 8 Song 35 Walcott 50

An absolute cracker at Anfield. 44 shots on goal says it all in a very open game. I would have settled for the replay but was delighted when Walcott provided the key goal again to send us into a quarter final visit to the other side of Merseyside. Wilshere could've played as he's now 94% but just waiting for a reserve game first.

Premier League WOLVES 1-4 ARSENAL – Jarvis 36 – Van Persie 9 Walcott 44 Zubar o.g 75 Bennayoun 90

A great performance. Even when Jarvis pulled it back to 1-1 I was still very confident in getting the win. Granero was starting to put in some great performances. A friendly against Hearts saw the return of Jack Wilshere. Can’t wait to have him back in the first team.

League Cup FINAL - ARSENAL 2-0 EVERTON - Arshavin 10 Howard o.g 90

The carling cup final saw us take on Everton. I kept faith with most of the players who had got us to the final meaning the likes of szcezny and Sagna who hadn’t played a minute weren’t used. Arshavin scored a cracker to get the ball rolling and Everton never really looked like threatening Fabianskis goal. The first of what I hope will be many trophies.

Premier League ARSENAL 2-0 CHELSEA - Park 68 90

A top of the table clash 3 days before the champions league second leg wasn't ideal and I had to think long and hard about team selection. I rested a couple of players but kept the strikeforce and it was Park that came up with the goals. A great win which pretty much wipes out Chelsea from the title race.

Champions League 2nd Round 2nd Leg - ARSENAL 4-0 LILLE – Van Prsie 2 45pen 75 Mertesaker 8

After having a pretty poor season up to date, Van Persie came to life in spectacular fashion was a magnificent hat-trick as Arsenal stunned Lille at Emirates. I would have settled for a 0-0 to be honest but was delighted with one of the best performances of the season. Dangerman and possible target Hazard got a 5.8 rating.

Premier League LIVERPOOL 3-1 ARSENAL – Carrol 67 Kelly 69 Kuyt 88 – Granero 7

A second defeat of the season and again it took place on Merseyside. Having dominated the first half we went 1-0 up and then began to get tired and three set pierces were punished. Had one or two chances to get back in it but wasn’t to be. Luckily with a 10 point lead we could afford defeat. Wilshere made his comeback coming on for Ramsey with 11 minutes left.

Premier League ARSENAL 2-1 WEST BROM– Arshavin 20 Van Persie 74 Vrsaljko 78 – Sharner 40

A real let off. West Brom came with a game plan to frustrate and although we dominated the game they were good value for a draw. Unfortunately for them we had the firepower on the bench and Van Persie who was being rested for the Fa Cup semi in three days time came to the rescue to grab the winner. A lead of 7 points with 10 games to go.

FA Cup Quarter Final - EVERTON 0-1 ARSENAL – Van Persie 31

Having lost to Everton in the league we were seeking revenge in the FA Cup. We only just about got it as we struggle to get to grips with the squickness of the game but eventually prevailed. Van Persie had finally started to score goals. Long may it continue. A big blow came after the game when Gervinho who limped off during the first half suffered strained knee ligaments and would be out until mid-April.

Premier League ARSENAL 1-0 NECASTLE– Chamackh 7

It wasn’t a performance clouded in glory but having risked playing a much weakened team I was glad to get the three points and not have to use any of my super subs either.

Champions Champions League Quarter Final draw

Not ideal to be playing united or have the first leg at home, but I’d rather play them now than the final

Barcelona – Marseille

Real Madrid – Shakhtar

FC Kovenhavn – Manchester City

Arsenal – Manchester United

Premier League STOKE 0-2 ARSENAL– – Van Persie 51pen Chamberlain 89

A hard-fought victory at Stoke. Again due to the Champions League game on the Tuesday I rested a few first teamers but the fringe payers still produced a very good performance. Very happy with the defense at the moment. A good omen going into the united game.

Champions League Quarter Final 1st Leg ARSENAL 2-2 MANCHESTER UNITED– Arshavin 54 Walcott 62 – Hernandez 4 Berbatov 17

It was always a tie I dreaded and we suffered a complete nightmare of a start. First Hernandez finished superbly and then Berbatov scored an absolute cracker past a motionless Fabianski. After that though it was all Arsenal and how we didn’t win the game 4 or 5-2 I don’t know. Lindegard made some fantastic saves in a man of the match display and Arteta hit a deflected freekick against the post. I’m happy we escaped with a draw but I think it might be curtains for this season’s competition.

Premier League ARSENAL 2-0 SWANSEA– Koscielny 18 67

The last game of the month saw me make 11 changes to the team that drew with United as we hosted Swansea in between the two legs. Although Swansea were in the relegation zone I still expected a difficult game. Nangis and Miyachi made the bench for the first time in a league game. It was the unlikely brace of Koscielny that won it for us. I then had a tough decision as to whether I put him in for United.

Top Scorers

Walcott 25

Van Persie 20

Park 15

Arshaivin 9

Chamackh 8

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

Laurent Koscielny 7.45 (36+2/4)

Park Chu-Young 7.42 (24+5/15)

Robin Van Persie 7.40 (37+3/20)

Per Mertesaker 7.31 (28+1/5)

Jan Vertonghen 7.27 (14+5/1)

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

Theo Walcott 7.26 (36+9/25)

Tomas Vermaelen 7.26 (28+1/1)

THE LEAGUE TABLE

1. Arsenal played 31 points 79.

2. Man United played 31 points 69

3. Chelsea played 31 points 66

4. Man City played 31 points 59

5. Liverpool played 31 points 59

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

6. Tottenham played 31 points 59

Forgetting Chelsea, game’s to play in April are

Arsenal – Manchester United (a) Aston Villa (h) Blackburn (a) Tottenham (h) Fulham (a)

Manchester United – Arsenal (h) Chelsea (a) Liverpool (h) Newcastle (a) Stoke (h)

With a 10 point lead We need 12 points to secure the league. I would predict we will have to wait until next month. The United game comes 3 days after the champions league match while villa is only 2 days after that.

GAME OF THE MONTH

I would have said Liverpool 2-3 Arsenal but I won’t select an Arsenal game. Instead,

MANCHESTER CITY 4-1 MANCHESTER UNITED

Could almost feel sorry for United. TYhey have endured a few beatings this season( see stat of the month)

Y Toure 8 Silva 22 Nasri 43 Dzeko 59 //

Shots 16 - 14

On Ta 9 - 5

Poss 52 - 48

PLAYER OF THE MONTH – Laurent Koscielny

A tough one. Could easily have been Granero or Van Persie.

7.3

NS

7.0

7.0

7.2

7.0

7.7

7.5

6.6

NR (on 79)

US

8.0

NS

US

9.2 (2)

STAT OF THE MONTH

Manchester United league form against the big 5

Tottenham (a) LOST 1-0

Manchester City (h) WON 1-0

Arsenal (a) LOST 4-1

Chelsea (h) LOST 4-0

Liverpool (a) WON 3-2

Tottenham (h) DREW 2-2

Manchester City (a) LOST 4-1

It’s a big test to turn around the tie against United. I expect to go out. Got an FA Cup semi final with Birmingham as well.

[Smoothie]

So finally picked up fm12 and started a game as Arsenal. No transfer budgets in the first window (I seem to be in a minority here usually).

Few things... setting match focus to defending set pieces seems to be a must (not sure if it was my imagination to stopping every team scoring at least a corner per match). Watch out for long throws!!!

Season 1

Lost to Man Utd. early in the Carling Cup 1-2.

Went out in the FA Cup to Burnley 1-3 (bit of a shock there).

Lost in the Champions League qtr final vs R. Madrid 3-4.

The league came right down to the wire. The last 10 games were neck and neck and had me changing altering my tactics in game for every substitution, little knock and goal. Got a bit lucky as Chelsea were in control but

couldn't cope with the pressure in the last 2 games.

Transfers: By January the team had blended really well and due to some surprise performances didn't really see the need to spend any cash.

In

Raul ~ Schalke (January) - £1,000,000 - £50,000 a week. || Mostly for tutoring purposes but he tends to play quite well in the hole and has gotten game time as a result.

Graham Alexander ~ Preston (January) - £10,000 - £2,200 a week. || Same deal as Raul and apparently the fans think he is a great bargain.

Sime Vrsaljko ~ Dinamo (January) - £1,500,000 (1,000,000 after 30 appearances) - £15,000 a week. || Plays almost as well as Sagna.

Total - £3,510,000

Out

Marouane Chamakh ~ Sunderland (January) - £20,000,000 || He rejected Liverpool which could of net me slightly more with some add-on's.

Manuel Almunia ~ R. Madrid (January) - £1,500,000

Sébastien Squillaci ~ At. Madrid (January) - £2,500,000

Total - £24,000,000

Player of the season: Robin Van Persie || Runner up: Andrey Arshavin

Unfortunately lost Arshavin on a free transfer because of his agent.

Biggest surprise of the season has to go to Ryo Miyaichi who got his chance early filling in for an injured Walcott. Screenshot says it all.

The OX also had a critical run right at the end of the campaign (4 goals in the run in) to pretty much win me the league with RvP.

No idea how they preformed so well based on their attributes.

Goals for season 2 are to win the double and keep developing Miyaichi and Oxlade-Chamberlain.

[The Chosen One]

Well done, Smoothie. Ryo and Ox could develop into real stars if you give them chances. For me, they missed a lot of chances whenever they played plus the players I bought meant less matches for them. Glad you stuck with them.

May I say fantastic skin that's it. Would you mind telling me the name of it or where you downloaded from? I was looking for good skin with the calender on top. Cheers mate

[The Chosen One]

2nd Season Review

League

My priority for the season was to win the league. Everything else would be a bonus come end of the season. I failed in my first season with no trophies so pressure was on me to get something in the second. I set UCL as the season objective mainly not to put pressure on me. Also, I found that aiming for easier objective usually leads to the team overachieving. So why I stress myself.

We started well and got bit of unbeaten run going until we met Sp*rs at White Hart Lane. They thumped us 3-1 with VDV yet again exploiting my team. I have to say though with the injury crisis we had (9 or so players out thanks to my high overload training) it was always going to be struggle. Few matches later we lost again and it was also another away match yet another London derby. This time Fulham who came from behind in the second half to win 2-1. That was the last time we lost a league match in the season. We cruised for the most parts though we did give away leads in the dying minutes such as against Sp*rs at home. The below league table might look like we won comfortably but really it was bit of struggle. Reaching the latter Champions league had bit of stroll on the players conditioning. We went to Man City knowing a win will give us the league and have nothing to play in the last two matches and jolly did we do it. 2-0 at Etihad Stadium and we lifted the trophy for the first time under me. So freaking delighted.

The Cups:

Carling Cup: We reached the quarter finals but got drawn away to Spurs and lost 2-1. Damn. Was so gutted as we looked the better team keeping in mind I had fringe players playing the match.

FA Cup: Again no success in domestic cups. We reached the semi finals but United looked too good for us. 1-0. They are really my boogey team. I only beat them once and that was 1-0 in CC match at home. Although in this fixture I have to blame the number of matches. We were playing every three days.

Champions League: Easily qualified in the group stage. In the first knockout stage, we got Lyon whom we beat home and away. In the quarter finals, we bloody again got drawn against Barca. Same as last season, we won the first leg at Nou Camp 1-0 and at home we beat them too. 3-2. It was nervy match but we took our chances. In the semi finals, we faced Real Madrid and first leg finished 0-0 at the Emirates. 2nd leg and I really thought of resting the key players to concentrate the league (we were level on points with CHelsea albeit with a game in hand. City were behind four points. Neither of them had anything to play for except EPL) but I said to myself one-match at the time. It paid off. 3-3 away so we went through to the final due to away goals. It was bloody freaking nervy match.

The final was against lesser quality than my quarter final and semi final opponents. OM reached the final after beating Bayern Munich. The UCL was held in Wembley so we had extra incentive to win it. Another nervy match but we ended up winning 2-1 after Song carelessly got second yellow card 15 minutes from the match.

So that's that. We did the 'The Double'.

Transfers

I spent more than I would have liked but Sergio Busquets transfer listed for 16m was bit hard not to get involved. I needed proper deep-playing CDM and Song going away for AFC meant it was necessary deal. Coquelin is good player but still bit away from proper starting eleven. I would look to send him out loan in EPL team in 3rd season to develop better. I was planning to buy Otamendi but withdrew the offer. I didn't really need him and 21m for a back up CB was way too much.

Next Season

Number one priority is again the league but looking for the quad. The team has the ability to win all the competitions and I have some nice youngsters coming through. It's unlikey I will buy anyone above 20m though. I will look to sign only youngsters. As for selling, Arshavin will leave on free transfer that's for sure. I will also sell RVP. Consistently getting injured means he's just average player now in terms of attributes. Sad.

[Smoothie]

The Chosen One

They both preformed way above expectations but I tended to use them mostly at home games, at least for Ox. Ryo was a regular all season once Walcott broke down. Couldn't get Frimpong or Coquelin to develop at all though.

The skin is Serbian FM 'GOLD' you can find it at a few places with a quick google search. I believe the 2011 version has some alternate backgrounds as well, one without the Serbian flag.

[ewok01]

It depends whether you can keep him off injuries, IMO. He still has around 3-4 years (last one as squad player) in him before he really declines. For me he hasn't being that lucky with injuries so I will look to off load him in the summer. I am now in my second season. He had about two 3-months injuries and few 2-3 weeks length. He just got back from 3months injury but again got injured in the reserves so he's out for couple of weeks. Frustrating. If you are using your own/downloaded training, make sure you don't put high overload to minimize the likelihood of muscle related injuries. 3-5 notches from the middle would be good I suppose.

He has low bravery, aggression, work rate (not highly important for DC but still), and determination makes him vulnerable. Ohh and not the mention very slow defender so he's night mare in opposition's long/through balls. I have just bid 21m for Otamendi in January 2nd season (hopefully I will beat to Real and Barca who have also tabled the same offer) as his replacement. I can't find anyone willing to buy Merti though with such high wages.

I rarely find buyers. Bugs me in this game. Diaby and Denilson are still with me (well they are off to loan but still Arsenal players) and some others I even had to request mutual contract termination.

Otamendi , he any good?

[The Chosen One]

Otamendi , he any good?

I haven't had the pleasure of working with him but these attributes are very good. He's not aerially dominant but great when the ball is on the ground. If memory serves me right, he could be trained in other positions like RB so would make a beast player in that pos (though his dribbling & crossing are below average)

[BlueEyes]

Just completed my 3rd season with Arsenal and Won the League, Carling Cup and the World Club Championship and thought i did pretty well. Then the club got taken over buy a consortitum lead by none other than ex goalie Alex Manninger!!! He had the cheek to tell me that once they take over was compelted that he wanted to install a new manager!!! Well what fun that is, build up a quality team and they dont even want me. As luck would have it the board supportd me and i was kept on but thought i was going to lose my tean even though i had just won a butt load of trophies!! At least i got some investment and more money to spend, but wouldnt put him passed him to sack me if i dont bring it all home next season!

[JEinchy]

I'm pretty sure you won't be sacked, BlueEyes. New chairman will always say they want to instill their own man, but if you keep performing to expectations you won't be sacked.

Anyway, a brief update on my save. I'm in mid-March. We're joint top with two games in hand and for once I actually have some competiion in the form of Man City and Man Utd, the latter of which have made some very good buys and have a very good manager in charge in the form of Pochettino (seriously, check out that guy's attributes!).

We won the Carling Cup, beating Villas-Boas' Birmingham 1-0. Yeah, you read that right. Amusingly enough, Chris Houghton manages Chelsea.

In the Champions League, we just beat Napoli in the Last 16 4-2 on aggregate, five of those goals coing at the San Paulo.

So yeah, we're going along well and on course for more trophies. I've also secured quite the bargain, with Jack Robinson, Liverpool's young left back, joining at the end of the season for £11mil. That's a lot better than the £18.5mil I was being quoted before. Since Robinson had complained to Liverpool he wanted to play more, I managed to get him cheaper.

Project Götze is still on, but Dortmund have turned down £50mil... so a bit more work left to be done on that one.

[oneskyride]

Otamendi , he any good?

Otamendi is a pure beast, best defender in FM IMO , he NEVER let me down . well worth his release clause

[jeoe]

Season 5 almost ended now. Current squad:

GK: Szczesny / Areola / Ter Stegen

LB: Robinson / Gibbs

CB: Koscienly / Vermaelen / Papadoupolos / Garlini (regen)

RB: Vrsajlko / Sagna

DMC: M'Vila / Mascherano

MC: Ramsey / Wilshire

AML: Hazard / Acosta (regen)

AMR: Walcott / Labyad

ST: Neymar / V. Persie / Niang

100 mil in the bank and wage balance not that high.

I wonder if anyone ever managed to sign Messi? His contract is running out for a few months now but he remains uninterested

will update more detailed later

[Carmi88]

I wonder if anyone ever managed to sign Messi? His contract is running out for a few months now but he remains uninterested

will update more detailed later

I pulled It off, however unlike you I was unable to get Robinson for my left back, damn you man utd!!!

[Carmi88]

All 4 of my strikers are injured in February!!! The aging Messi is out for 4 months, Connor Wickham who I signed for 15 million due to him being fantastic for both England and his club, despite them being bottom Tevez just got forced off as I play Newcastle and Sanogo is out for 6 months! Never had this big an issue before!

Time to grab a reserve and give him his time to shine

3 of 4 reserve strikers on loan, the 4th is injured for 2 weeks, ahhhhhhhhhh!

[ewok01]

Guys, I need to vent! I am in the 1st season and have been doing well...up until five matches back. I made the comment to the press that we were underdogs v Chelsea in the league cup. Well lost that match 2-0, then went onto lose the next four. Final straw I went down to Wigan 3-0 and it seems something has gone a miss. I cannot turn this around, surely my comments to the press five games back would have caused this? (excuse spelling, have the worst head cold).

I am really disliking this aspect of the game. I mean Wigan...really and to get beaten so bad :-(