FM16: Arsenal FC - Why Fly When You Can Walk on Water

[Scribe]

I'd still sign him I think, but you know what I'm like with money!

[Spike]

I'd still sign him I think, but you know what I'm like with money!

Got signing fees down to £5.5m. Still undecided though.

[Jay_Arsenal]

Arsenal

2015/2016 Season Review

First things first then, I’ve been using Football Manager since a wee boy, huge Arsene fan - so I try to run Arsenal in the same way he would, albeit with a few changes (that I feel as necessary) I started by going through the academy, getting as many academy players out on loan, overhauled the staff, implemented high training, individual targets etc, no transfers here! Well, one, Mourinho offered me £30m for Chambers, I had to accept! I’ve read everyone’s blogs - some very interesting, but I personally don't like buying someone who wouldn’t fit ‘brand’ again the Wenger in me probably..

Because this is a whole season post I’ll try to keep it as concise as possible

Charity Shield 3-3 Lost on penalties (took Cazorla off in the 81st minute what a mistake!

August - November, unbeaten notable performances 4-0 W Liverpool, 3-1 W Barcelona, 2-0 W Man City, November was tricky, losing to Barca 2-0 at the Nou, lost in capital cup 1/4 final away at Everton, December pretty simple in terms of schedule, finished 2nd in Champs group

January, played the fringe players at Fulham in FA cup, knocked out

Drew Bayern in the knockout stage, deja vu? drew 0-0 in the home game by employing 100% containment, hoping for an away performance of the ages, I got it, 1-1 at the Allianz, super Santi! I then got Monaco (yawn) I fluffed my lines, 1-1 away, at home it went to penalties after another 1-1, Sanchez missing the 5th and final pen, shocked.

Charity Shield Runner-up

Capital Cup 1/4 finalists

FA Cup 3rd Round

League Winners 87 Pts

Champions League 1/4 finalists

Summer - Pre-season

Arteta, Flamini, Rosicky all released

I've got screenshots for end of season review, pending transfers and league review, just waiting for image shack to set up an account

[Jay_Arsenal]

[Baptista_8]

Ter Stegen - he became unhappy when Barca refused my bid so eventually got him for £25m

Varane & Alaba - both had around £50m release clause

Pogba - £70m release clause

Really? Surprised Pogba and Alaba were given release clauses...fed up of teams asking me for ridiculous money for players

[Jay_Arsenal]

Ozil, struggling to get him scoring, I use him as a attacking midfielder in attack, shoot more often, move into channels, with Cazorla supporting him, in 31 games he only scored 1, granted he assisted 12 but still! Anyone else having similar issues, or can give me any advice to get him scoring?

[KingLara]

Season 1 End of Season

Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

PSG 0

ARSENAL 0

Despite Sanchez scoring in the first leg he was benched as I set up with a 4-2-2-1-1 with four central midfielders. PSG had plenty of shots (34) but didn't manage to carve out a single clear cut chance. Juventus stunned Barcelona 1-0 in the Nou Camp. We wil meet them at the San Siro.

Premier League

NORWICH 2

Grabban 14 58

ARSENAL 0

A bit unlucky to lose but I don't really care. More annoyingly Coquelin will be suspended for the Cup final.

Premier League

TOTTENHAM 0

ARSENAL 1

Giroud 16

Just 48 hours later we headed to Spurs. We put in a very solid performance to knick the game 1-0. An injury to Sanchez ruled him out of the Fa Cup and possibly Champions League final.

Premier League

ARSENAL 4

Campbell 9 Morata 56(pen) 77 Barbosa 69

SOUTHAMPTON 1

Pelle 26

The final League game saw us host relation bound Southampton. A very timely 4-1 win was good after a run of just 5 goals in the last 5 games.

FA CUP FINAL

ARSENAL 3

Barbosa 38 Darmian o.g 45 Giroud 86

MAN UNITED 4

Depay 11 100 Herrera 17 41

AFTER EXTRA TIME

The whole game was incredibly even. United just took more of their chances than we did. Perhaps in the absence of Coquelin and Flamini I played a too attacking formation. United had 5 clear cut chances which is obviously far too many. Would rather win the Juventus game.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

JUVENTUS 2

Zaza 55 73

ARSENAL 0

We saved probably the worst performance of the season for the champions league final! We literally didn't create a thing. One shot on target from six pathetic attempts. A horrible way to end the season.

[END OF SEASON[/b]

[FINAL LEAGUE TABLE]

1. Arsenal P38 W29 D6 L3 GF83 GA33 P93

2. Tottenham P38 P75

3. Chelsea P38 P75

4. Man CIty P38 P75

5. Man Utd P38 P59

12. Liverpool P38 P48

Relegated - Southampton, Stoke Watford

Promoted - Ipswich, Cardiff, Leeds

Footballer of the year - Eden Hazard

Players Player - Christian Eriksen

Young Player - Kevin De Bruyne

Manager - Kinglara

Top goalscorer - Jamie Vardy (30)

Golden Gloves - Joe Hart (18)

Team of the Year - Hart Darmian Richards Kompany Dier Hazard Richie Willian Erikssen Sanchez Vardy

Goals - Vardy 30 Hazard 25 Kane 21 Okazaki 19 Gomis 17 (Giroud 15)

Assists - Albrighton 15 Eriksen 13 Lamela 12 Okazaki 11 Bony 10 (Ozil 9)

Av rating - Hazard 7.81 Eriksen 7.76 Vardy 7.62 Sanchez 7.58 Willian 7.52

MOM - Hazard 11 Eriksen 8 Fernandez Clyne Vardy 6 (Bellerin 4)

League game timeline

WDWW LWWWWDWWWLWWWWWWWWWDWWWDWWWDWWDLWW

HOME

W17 D2 L0 GF47 GA15

AWAY

W12 D4 L3 GF36 GA18

OVERALL

P64 W48 D8 L8 GF135

Champions League - Runners Up - Lost 0-2 to Juventus

FA Cup - Runners Up - Lost 3-4 to Man United (after extra time)

League Cup - WINNERS - Beat Tottenham 1-0

Community Shield - WINNERS - Beat Chelsea 1-0

Season Stats

played/goals/assists/MOM/Conceeded/CleanSheets/Av Rating

CECH - P47 G 0 A 0 MOM 3 Con 42 Cls 20 AvR 7.04

OSPINA - P17 G 0 A 0 MOM 3 Con 13 Cls 8 AvR 7.05

======================================

Played/Goals/Assists/MOM/AV Rating

KOSCIELNY - P52 G 1 A 2 MOM 0 AVR 7.27

MONREAL - P50(+1) G 2 A 3 MOM 1 AVR 7.31

MERTERSACKER - P48 G 0 A 0 MOM 1 AVR 7.19

BELLERIN - P35 G 0 A 12 MOM 5 AVR 7.70

DEBUCHY - P27(+1) G 0 A 9 MOM 3 AVR 7.67

GIBBS - P21(+5) G 3 A 10 MOM 3 AVR 7.48

GABRIEL - P17(+1) G 1 A 0 MOM 1 AVR 7.27

CHAMBERS - P10(+2) G 0 A 0 MOM 1 AVR 7.47

MAMMANA - P2(+1) G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 7.65

PLEGUEZUELO - P1 G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 6.80

========================================

OZIL - P45(+3) G 9 A 12 MOM 4 AVR 7.46

COQUELIN - P42(+2) G 2 A 2 MOM 0 AVR 7.17

RAMSEY - P38(+9) G 1 A 6 MOM 0 AVR 7.34

SANCHEZ - P36(+7) G 17 A 7 MOM 6 AVR 7.50

VALERO - P26(+10) G 0 A 11 MOM 2 AVR 7.41

CHAMBERLAIN - 25(+14) G 7 A 5 MOM 1 AVR 7.22

CAMPBELL - P22(+12) G 10 A 9 MOM 3 AVR 7.43

WALCOTT - P22(+10) G 11 A 9 MOM 2 AVR 7.39

CAZORLA - P20(+23) G 6 A 7 MOM 0 AVR 7.09

FLAMINI - P17(+9) G 1 A 1 MOM 1 AVR 7.29

BARBOSA - P14(+6) G 10 A 2 MOM 2 AVR 7.52

WILSHERE - P4(+6) G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 7.10

KAMARA P3(+1) G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 6.75

ROSICKY - P1(+3) G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 7.95

ADELAIDE - P1(+3) G 0 A 1 MOM 0 AVR 6.

SHEAF - P0(+1) G 0 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 0.00

=========================================

GIROUD - P33(+13) G 25 A 6 MOM 4 AVR 7.27

MORATA - P27(+11) G 23 A 5 MOM 4 AVR 7.26

WELBECK - P1(+8) G 3 A 0 MOM 0 AVR 7.35

[Youth]

Neither youth side did particually well. The under 21s came 11th in the league although reached the semifinal of the youth cup losibng to Sunderland. Man United won the final. They were knocked out by Sevilla in the Under 19's Champions Cup.

The Under 18's fared better in the league finishing 3rd. They also reached the Quarter-Fibak of the cup but lost at West Brom. Norwich beat Spurs in the final.

[Other News]

As the final whsitle went Mourinho and Pellergrini were both Sacked. Mancini went to Chelsea while Simeone joined City.

The other top leagues were won by Barcelona, Bayern, Juventus and PSG. Shock Horror!!

[season 2 preview]

Not a bad first season. Would like a few more goals. I plan to keep most of the squad together. May sell some fringe players.

I need one more attack minded forward. Also looking at a defensive midfielder and a centre back.

Will probably sell Szczesny and Ospina.

[Kieran87]

Yea yea yea, we starting the season well

What do we think of Tottenham?!?!

[numero uno gunner]

Man City now need to sod off! They beat me to the title in the first season, and have now stolen two of my top transfer targets in Romelu Lukaku and John Stones. Back to the drawing board I go...

I've decided that I'm not going to sign anyone over the age of 24 in this save, so would love some recommendations for players 24 and under at the start of season 2 (I'm currently in pre-season). In particular, I'm looking for a left-back, centre-back and striker. £120m in the bank, so I don't think finances are a huge problem. The bigger issue is my reluctance to spend huge sums on a single player. I'll get over it eventually.

My summer transfer dealings so far:

Transfers in:

Lots of regens - various clubs - £20.2m - I'm aiming to have a good prospect or two in each position. I'm aware that lots of them probably wont progress in the way I want, but if only a couple of them do, the outlay will be worth it. I'll discuss my youth policy later on.

Bartlomiej Dragowski - Jagiellonia - £3.5m - A young keeper who will eventually become the club's number one for years.

Transfers out:

Yaya Sanogo - Ajax - £5m - Never, ever going to be good enough, and I thought this wasn't a bad price for him.

Serge Gnarby - AS Monaco - £8.5m - Unfortunately, he wasn't going to get enough game time due to the high levels of competition in his positions. I've taken the money and reinvested it in future prospects.

Carl Jenkinson - Southampton - £5.5m - The hardest one to let go, simply because he's a Gooner through and through. I didn't want him to waste in the reserves, so he's heading to the south coast.

David Ospina - Hull - £8.5m - He barely played last season, and with Dragowski coming in and Szczesny returning from Roma, I was happy for him to depart.

Per Mertesacker - Dortmund - £5.5m - Probably too cheap for a World Cup winner, but he wasn't playing, and with Chambers returning from a good season on loan at Leicester, he wasn't likely to play at all this season.

The Squad:

GK: Cech / Szczesny / Dragowski

DR: Bellerin / Peruzzi

DC: Koscielney / Mammana

DC: Gabriel / Chambers

DL: Monreal / Gibbs

B2B / AP: Cazrola / Ramsey / Wilshere

CM(d): Coquelin / Romero / Fossum

AMR: Oxlade-Chamberlain / Walcott / Zivkovic

AMC: Ozil / Embolo

AML: Alexis / Luan / Reine-Adelaide

ST: Giroud / Barbosa / Welbeck

So, the defence is obviously an issue, but I'm actively trying to improve that now. I'm still thinking I might need another striker. Is Giroud a good enough forward to win trophies with?

Youth squad:

GK: Leger*

DR: Simsek*

DC: Bollearts* / Thacker*

DC: Castano*

DL: Engelhardt*

B2B / AP: Crowley / Toral / Dragomir

CM(d): Bielik

AMR: Maitland-Niles / Iwobi

AMC: Armenakas / Zelalem / Monk*

AML: Willock / Haberthur*

ST: Akpom / Simpson* / Scimmi* / Simpson* / Poku*

* = Regen

Of the regens, several of them are really young (15/16) but have good potential. The ones I'm most excited by are Bollearts, Engelhardt and Scimmi. I'm hoping that because most have them have come in at an early age they will be able to classify as a home grown player in a few years.

Onwards!

[Scribe]

Gaya, Laporte and Dybala would be my picks for the positions you need, but everyone has them so you might want to try someone else...

[Kieran87]

Gaya is top drawer for me,

I settled on Stones but was also interested in and signed as backups in Van der Beer and Obsibo (spellings - they are at Ajax or one of them). there you have 2 dutch youngsters around 19 and are godly on my save. i 'll post a screenie for you when home

[numero uno gunner]

Funnily enough, I've just scouted Gaya. I wanted Jorge, but his agent refused my offer, despite pretty much giving him what he wanted. I'm also looking at Jetro Willems, Luke Shaw, Ludwig Augustinsson and Ricardo Rodriguez for left back.

At centre back, I think Laporte is a bit too expensive and a little common, like you've said. That said, I am considering him and Raphael Varane. I'm also taking a look at Samuel Umtiti, Jairo Riedewald, Lucas (Atletico), and Jesus Vallejo. I'd love Vallejo, but imagine convincing him to leave Real Madrid might be impossible.

Up front, Pablo Dybala looks fantastic, as does his Juve teammate Alvaro Morata. Weirdly, my scouts have just recommended Saido Berahino. I'm scouting Vincent Aboubakar as well. How much did Dybala cost you?

[TheBigBoss]

Might give Arsenal a go with the new winter update out despite how annoyed I am with them IRL

[Scribe]

Funnily enough, I've just scouted Gaya. I wanted Jorge, but his agent refused my offer, despite pretty much giving him what he wanted. I'm also looking at Jetro Willems, Luke Shaw, Ludwig Augustinsson and Ricardo Rodriguez for left back.

At centre back, I think Laporte is a bit too expensive and a little common, like you've said. That said, I am considering him and Raphael Varane. I'm also taking a look at Samuel Umtiti, Jairo Riedewald, Lucas (Atletico), and Jesus Vallejo. I'd love Vallejo, but imagine convincing him to leave Real Madrid might be impossible.

Up front, Pablo Dybala looks fantastic, as does his Juve teammate Alvaro Morata. Weirdly, my scouts have just recommended Saido Berahino. I'm scouting Vincent Aboubakar as well. How much did Dybala cost you?

Dybala cost me 61m so wasn't cheap, but he is worth it.

I'm also managing Ajax in my game so have experience with quite a few players. In terms of how good they've been for me Gaya is the best left back, then Jorge and Willems are roughly equal. Augustinsson is slightly further behind the three of them. I haven't managed any of the others.

For centre backs, I have managed Varane, Laporte and Riedewald and all of them are very good. De Ligt at Ajax is also very good, but requires a lot of work to develop to a high level.

In terms of strikers, if you don't want Dybala, I can recommend Embolo as well.

[Kieran87]

I second Embolo, top drawer up front.

All of these are on my shortlist , with Obispo in my 1st team, sat on the bench and playing cup games. may be worth a look at one or two?

[3maldini3]

Anyone had luck with expanding the stadium? or building a new one?

[talhak]

Been off FM for few weeks but returned yesterday to finish off me 2017/18 season, twas decent like, time to sort squad for next campaign.

Got 6 players in CL dream team, happy with that (Dragowski, Bellerin, Shaw, Barkley, Ozil & Sanchez).

Hi berrysi,

When did you start playing Dragowski? I know he develops into a world class goalkeeper but as I see you are in 2018. Isn't it too early to play him regularly (I assume that he plays regularly for you since he is in the CL dream team)? Would like to see his profile.

[WillyBroadband]

Anyone had luck with expanding the stadium? or building a new one?

You can only expand The Emirates if you use the Editor to change the expanded capacity section otherwise it will stay at 60,000.

[isakryden]

Just started my third season with my beloved Arsenal. This is my current squad. During the first two seasons i went with the regular 4-2-3-1, which worked out perfectly, winning PL back to back and also CL one year. This season I was inspired by some tweets I saw a couple of days ago, describing a "formula" which to me seemed very interesting and creative.

So this is basically what I wanted to create. Luckily I had already got myself a controller in Kroos, a box to box in Ramsey and a playmaker in Özil. My main target for this season was a Deep playmaker/ball carrier. After som thought of who I enjoyed watching the most in this role IRL Gündogan popped up in my head. So I bought him and this is my current squad. I also have the 4-2-3-1 wide as an alternate tactic, if this doesn't work properly or if I just want to change it up. Unfortunately for you, the values of the players are in swedish crowns. If you want the value in pounds or some other just ask and I will get it.

Here's the current first team squad:

This is my first post here so sorry if I'm doing something wrong Just ask questions!

[swansongs]

Wouldn't a Regista also be a ball-carrier in that quartet? Isn't a controller supposed to be a conservative holding presence (though not just a thug obviously).

[isakryden]

Wouldn't a Regista also be a ball-carrier in that quartet? Isn't a controller supposed to be a conservative holding presence (though not just a thug obviously).

I was thinking that as well. I just started using this tactic and I had a hard time deciding if I should use Kroos as regista or DLP. I chose regista because of his excellent attacking stats. He has performed really well actually.

[Llew_Arshavin23]

I was thinking that as well. I just started using this tactic and I had a hard time deciding if I should use Kroos as regista or DLP. I chose regista because of his excellent attacking stats. He has performed really well actually.

I used a similar midfield three set-up to yourself on my RSC Anderlecht save. But, it was flipped somewhat. I used Tielemans (CDM) as a Regista/Roaming Playmaker - support. In right central midfield, I used Steven Defour as the designated holder, as a Central Midfielder - Defend. Alongside him I used Dennis Praet as a Box-to-box/Central Midfielder - Support.

It worked really well and had a nice balance, especially in a Control mentality. If you find Kroos sits too deep as a deep-lying playmaker in CDM, push him (and his role) forward into CM, using Gündoğan as a Regista from CDM. Just try out different things from game-to-game or even in-game.

[Scribe]

Vlad has spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Real Madrid. He's looking good and will be pushing for a place in the first team squad next season.

[isakryden]

Yes I was thinking of switching it up between these two players. Both Gündogan and Kroos are very good offensively but I'm going to try and switch it between them.

[WillyBroadband]

Vlad has spent the 2019/20 season on loan at Real Madrid. He's looking good and will be pushing for a place in the first team squad next season.

Same here man, I'm in my first season on 16.3 and have him being tutored by Santi and he is improving incredibly well. He's not even 17 yet!

[WillyBroadband]

Looking good. I think he's already got some of Santi's PPMs too.

[WillyBroadband]

Talking of Dragomir, I just brought him on for his debut in the League Cup against Man City & he scored an absolute screamer! He is now Arsenal's youngest ever player & goalscorer. Good lad.

[Sunstrikuuu]

I'm in the midst of the worst run. Chelsea H Saturday - Bournemouth H Saturday - Chelsea A Monday - City A Friday - City A Tuesday in the League Cup semi. No ****ing reason to have league games scheduled with a one-day gap. Fortunately my run-in is fairly easy, which is nice as I'm only a point clear of Chelsea at the top of the table with Pogba, Sanchez, Cazorla, Bellerin, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Welbeck all injured for more than a month, and Luca Toni and Wilshere still working back to full fitness. Included in that list is every player I have who's scored more than two goals and isn't Dirk Kuyt, Joel Campbell or Olivier Giroud.

[Scribe]

Dirk Kuyt and Luca Toni? Didn't realise you were playing FM08

[numero uno gunner]

@Scribe - I've gone for Dybala. Managed to get him for £42.5m as well, so I've not broken Wenger's transfer record and can sleep easy at night. Willems has also come in at left back for £9.5m. Giroud has departed for Chelsea for £30m. I couldn't turn down that sort of money for him, even though he's gone to a rival.

As a result of my transfer business, I'm going to need to rejig my forward line and midfield. I was playing Cazorla alongside Coquelin in central midfield, but he might be needed to deputise for Ozil at AMC. We'll see.

On the centre half front, I had opted for Riedewald, and didn't realise Jonker would do the contract. Riedewald turned us down, so I'm going to go back in a week or so.

[Sunstrikuuu]

Dirk Kuyt and Luca Toni? Didn't realise you were playing FM08

I tend to value players with exceptional mentals as squad depth. A lot of Arsenal's better players aren't really well-suited IMO for tutoring, either. Since I've sold Walcott I needed depth at AMR and MR; with Welbeck coming back I didn't want to spend a lot of money. Kuyt has 18 Determination, 16 Aggression and 17 Bravery (if that matters to you), and has 15+ Consistency, Important Matches, Professionalism, Pressure, Adaptability and Ambition. He's also capable of tutoring, which many aren't. I can get him for less than a million, let him tutor a player with talent and mediocre mentals and let him go at the end of a season. Luca Toni is basically the same. And I signed Angelo Palombo from Verona because Model Citizen. In situations where I fully rotate, I'd like to put out a team of half experienced veterans and half talented prospects.

I've also agreed to sign Miroslav Klose at the end of the 2016 season, and may try to sign Lampard.

[Kieran87]

I know he is not at the club yet in the game but has anyone heard of this lad that Arsenal have just signed? He was player of the tournament @ the U17's world cup and was being courted by Barca / MAdrid / City / Juve / Utd and chose Arsenal instead.

Looks to be able to play across the whole midfield too, much like Yaya Toure / early Viera career wise.

Kelechi Nwakali

[Rozzje]

So with my Arsenal save ox is out for 5/6 months ruling him out for the season.. I was wondering what right wingers would be a good buy for Arsenal?

22 games into the season and I'm 10 points clear from Everton who are second!

Players I bought :

Alaba 47m

Xhaka 25m

Guedes 27m

Oxford 3.5m

Zivkovic 2.5m

I still need to buy a new striker but would dont want to go for the easy option with dybala for example any suggestions?

Thnx!

[Scribe]

I'm definitely not in debt anymore...

Bit sad to see Theo leave and Jeff as well I guess because he's one of the original squad members.

[Cunego]

Horváth is Hungarian player? picture please

[arsenalthebest]

To Those who got dybala or morata how much did you pay?

[Scribe]

Horváth is Hungarian player? picture please

He is English with Hungarian second nationality.

And arsenalthebest, Dybala cost me 61m.

[Sunstrikuuu]

So with my Arsenal save ox is out for 5/6 months ruling him out for the season.. I was wondering what right wingers would be a good buy for Arsenal?

22 games into the season and I'm 10 points clear from Everton who are second!

Players I bought :

Alaba 47m

Xhaka 25m

Guedes 27m

Oxford 3.5m

Zivkovic 2.5m

I still need to buy a new striker but would dont want to go for the easy option with dybala for example any suggestions?

Thnx!

Bernard Silva may have a release clause, and is excellent.

[Kieran87]

I signed Lukaku and he is 13 games 17 prem goals for me.

I keep looking at Morata and also some Brazilian called Malcolm, may be worth a look too?

And as For Right Wingers, Adelaide or Gnabry both could do a great job if you give them time. adelaide is in my 11 now 3 years in.

[WillyBroadband]

I signed Lukaku and he is 13 games 17 prem goals for me.

I keep looking at Morata and also some Brazilian called Malcolm, may be worth a look too?

And as For Right Wingers, Adelaide or Gnabry both could do a great job if you give them time. adelaide is in my 11 now 3 years in.

Adelaide has been very good for me first season! Considering he is only 17; I had major injuries and also sold Joel Campbell and he's been great. Will probably loan him out when everyone is fit though.

I've had Malcom before for my Schalke side, he was ok. I sold him after 1.5 seasons for a huge profit. He didn't really fit my tactic so not really his fault, I panic bought.

[talhak]

Adelaide has been very good for me first season! Considering he is only 17; I had major injuries and also sold Joel Campbell and he's been great. Will probably loan him out when everyone is fit though.

I've had Malcom before for my Schalke side, he was ok. I sold him after 1.5 seasons for a huge profit. He didn't really fit my tactic so not really his fault, I panic bought.

I am not very impressed with Reine-Adelaide during the first season. Of course he is very young & promising for future but not just ready for the first team.

His stats:

12 apps - 1 goal 0 assist 6.84 avg. rating

[Kieran87]

I am not very impressed with Reine-Adelaide during the first season. Of course he is very young & promising for future but not just ready for the first team.

His stats:

12 apps - 1 goal 0 assist 6.84 avg. rating

The issue you have there is : a) we don't know your tactic b) we don't know his role in that tactic c) doe sit play to his strengths?

I have changed my tactic somewhat this season and whereas before Coquelin and Maia would get me 7.54 roughly over 25 games each, they are now sat at 6.98 over 15 games , however their role now is literally to shut down play and pass short, nothing else. I am happy with how they are performing on the pitch when i spectate so i don't feel the ave rating is a big issue for me in my instance. Maybe your stats above are 30 min subs appearances and in a role / position that is not fully trained on not part of the main tactic you are playing.

[talhak]

The issue you have there is : a) we don't know your tactic b) we don't know his role in that tactic c) doe sit play to his strengths?

I have changed my tactic somewhat this season and whereas before Coquelin and Maia would get me 7.54 roughly over 25 games each, they are now sat at 6.98 over 15 games , however their role now is literally to shut down play and pass short, nothing else. I am happy with how they are performing on the pitch when i spectate so i don't feel the ave rating is a big issue for me in my instance. Maybe your stats above are 30 min subs appearances and in a role / position that is not fully trained on not part of the main tactic you are playing.

My tactic is 4-2-3-1 with control mentality and he played as AML - Inside Forward (Support) which is his best role&duty according to its profile.

[Kieran87]

http://prntscr.com/ag59st

This is him last season. He is now + 1 in most of the highlighted too, I play him as a Roaming Playmaker or as a WP in the AMR role, Milan played him AP(S) which was handy as it developed a lot of the similar under their facilities too

I wouldn't pay too much attention to his best role and duty, they are guidelines and will always be flawed based on what you want him and your team to play. They are based on a member of staff and their "guesstimates", nothing more. His vision, work rate and flair with the ability to run made him a good fit for me and how I wanted that role to play, so i stuck him there instead and am very happy with it.

http://prntscr.com/ag5cjn

I was happy with that contribution knowing his age, league he was in and the players around and against him. Of course this is just my experience and belief(s) with him and others in my side. So take what i say with a pinch of salt but maybe let it help you address him.

When i'm home i'll try and upload a more up to date picture too if you want?

[Scribe]

Jeff suffered a lot of niggling injuries for me and it meant he never really got a look in and perhaps didn't progress quite as well as he might have. He had a couple of good seasons out on loan though and I decided to sell him when I got a decent offer from Madrid:

[WillyBroadband]

I'm playing a 4-3-3, Flexible/Standard and The Jeff as an IF/Support at AML.

[WillyBroadband]

Hello all, just wanted to show you guys a screenshot of the youth players I used in my first team in the 2015/16 season. I had bad injuries and tbh loaned out or sold too many players! Won the league & cup though.

[WillyBroadband]

To my big surprise, Tafari Moore played brilliantly! Champions League semi-final against Bayern, Bellerin & Chambers were injured so he played and he was great.

[KingLara]

FM16 ARSENAL SEASON 2

SEASON 1

Premier League - WINNERS

Champions League - Runners Up - Lost 0-2 to Juventus

FA Cup - Runners Up - Lost 3-4 to Man United (after extra time)

League Cup - WINNERS - Beat Tottenham 1-0

Community Shield - WINNERS - Beat Chelsea 1-0

SEASON 2 PRE SEASON

TRANSFERS

Having already snapped up Rulli before the summer my targets were A defensive midfielder and a centre back. However things are rarely predictable. Glancing at my news feed one day as it processed I happened to see United had made an offer for Bale. I expected it to be 60m+ but was surprised when it was only 34m and even more so that it got accepted. I acted quicky and snapped him up. This allowed Walcott to leave and PSG paid 42.5m for him That could rise to a monsterous 58m. Swapping Walcott with Bale for a potential 24m profit isn't too bad i think. Next out of the door was Coquelin. Again big money with Barcelona paying over 30m. Campbell, Gabriel, Szczesny, Ospina, Monreal and Jenkinson were also shown the door. It was between Alonso and Toure for my new midfielder. I went with the Ivorian. I missed out on both Stones and Lapote while I declined the chance to sign Embolo having already signed a few young strikers. I also brought in Carrick on a free transfer to fill the squad. I looked at other left backs but couldn't find one to replace Monreal. Happy to stick with gibbs as first choice until January and loaned Grimaldo as back up. Finally Asensio was also loaned in from Madrid. Looks exciting. Quite a few regens also came in and a couple of futures too.

[iN] (major)

Gareth Bale 34m

Niklas Sule 11m (Rise to 19m)

Yaya Toure 5m

Michael Carrick - Free

Marco Asensio - Loan

Alex Grimaldo - Loan

Regens - Paul Hope (ST) 900k Bunyamin Sisek (ST) 775k Robert Versluis (RB) 665k Javier Aguirre (CB) 575k David Aneke (ML)550k Teriq Lanoix (ML) 525k

Other - Fran Navarro - Free

Total - 64.95m (Potential 71.5m)

[OUT]

Walcott - 42.5m (Rise to 58m)

Coquelin - 21.5m (Rise to 32.25)

Campbell - 12.25

Gabriel - 10.25m (Rise to 14.5)

Monreal - 9.5 (Rise to 13.9)

Szczesny - 4.9m

Ospina - 5m

Silva - 4.1m (Rise to 6.1m)

Jenkinson - 2.8m

Hayden - 900k (Rise to 1.2m)

Free - Flamini, Illiev Huddart Da Graca

Loan - Zivkovic Toral Tielemans Dragowski Zelalem Niles Adelaide Cook Gnabry Akpom Bielik Crowley Bennacer Aneke Dragomir Mammana

Total - 112m (potential - 150.9m)

[Elsewhere]

Some very big signings in the Premier League. Chelsea swapped Costa for Cavani. Villa were also busy.

Chelsea - Cavani Kondogbia

Man Utd - Stones Higuain Musacchio Valero

Man City - Rafinha Vardy Gabbiadini Berahino Samaris

Tottenham - Nasri Embolo

Liverpool - Klaassen

[PRE-SEASON]

With a nightmare fixture list to start to the league season We needed to start well. We won every game of pre-season up until the Emirates Cup final.

Fulham 1-2 Arsenal (Walcott 2)

Ipswich 1-3 Arsenal (Gabriel Giroud Adelaide)

Wurzburg 0-5 Arsenal (Chamberlain 2 Morata Welbeck Pereira)

Regensburg 0-2 Arsenal (Sanchez Willock)

Mainz 1-4 Arsenal (Wilshere Morata Pereira Bale)

Emirates Cup

The four major league winners took part in the first Emirates Cup of FM16. Barcelona were the other side involved but lost 2-0 to Byaern before also losing the 3rd place play off to Juve on penalties.

SF - Arsenal 3-0 Juventus - Caceras o.g Morata Cazorla(pen)

Final - Arsenal 0-0 Bayern

Arsenal win 7-6 on penalties

SQUAD

Squad for Second Season. Mertesacker still captain, Cazorla vc

GK - Cech - Rulli

DL - Gibbs - Grimaldo

DR - Bellerin - Debuchey

DC - Koscielny - Chambers

DC - Mertesacker - Sule

MC - Toure - Cazorla - Carrick

MC - Ramsey - Wilshere

ML - Bale - Chamberlain

MR - Sanchez - Barbosa

AMC - Ozil - Asensio - Pereira

SC - Morata - Giroud - Welbeck

COMMUNITY SHIELD

ARSENAL 1

Morata 51(pen)

MAN UNITED 2

Depay 6, 34

A few players were at the Olympics and Welbeck had been ruled out for four months. Only Bale of the new signings started. We managed to hit the woodwork FOUR times as a Depay double won an even game for United. We face them again in the leaguein a few weeks.

PREMIER LEAGUE

CHELSEA 0

ARSENAL 3

Wilshere 16 Bale 56 Morata 57

Chelsea (a) West Ham (h) and Man United (h) was our opening three fixtures for August. Chelsea got their tactics horribly wrong as we ran out easy 3-0 winners at Stamford Bridge. Playing far too high a line with Bale and Sanchez running riot on the counter. Perfect start.

PREMIER LEAGUE

ARSENAL 4

Bale 13 45 Wilshere 22 Morata 55

WEST HAM 0

Same scorers one more goal. 3 assists for Sanchez.

PREMIER LEAGUE

MAN UNITED 0

ARSENAL 2

Morata 49 Bale 63

Another outstanding display to make it three from three and get revenge for the community shield loss. Both Bale and Morata scored in every game so far.

[League Table]

1. ARSENAL P3 P9

2. Newcastle P3 P7

3. Liverpool P3 P7

4. Man City P3 P7

5. Norwich P3 P6

Other News

[Euro 2016]

Spain made it three in a row. They beat England 1-0 in extra-time. Pedro in the first minute of extra-time.

QF - Spain 1-0 Germany Holland 1-0 Portugal Italy 3-0 Ukraine Turkey 2-3 England

SF - Spain 1-0 Holland Italy 0-3 England

Final - Spain 1-0 England

[Copa America]

Argentina beat USA 5-2 in the final. Messi with a hat-trick.

[Olympics]

Denmark were the surprise gold medal winners. Beating Portugal 2-1.

[draws]

League Cup 3rd Round - ARSENAL vs Tottenham

Champions League Group Stages - ARSENAL Atletico Madrid BMG Salzburg

Bale Bellerin and myself make it an arsenal hat-trick in the monthly awards.

Hodson left his England role. I applied but got immedialty rejected. Not even making an interview. Martinez got the job. He started with a 1-0 home defeat to Iceland.

I sacked Bould and hired Tassotti as my assistant Manager.

September fixtures

League - Cardiff (H) West Brom (H) Norwich (A) Newcastle (A) Cheslea (H)

Champions League - Atletico (H) BMG (A)

Cup - Tottenham (H)

[talhak]

Here is my squad for the pre-season period of 2017-2018

GK: Donnarumma - Petr Cech

DR: Bellerin - John Stones - Calum Chambers

DC: Romagnoli - Koscielny - John Stones - Jeison Murillo

DL: Bernat - Federico Dimarco

MC: Pogba - Renato Sanches - Ruben Neves - Manuel Locatelli

AMR: James Rodriguez - Kingsley Coman - Serge Gnarby - Matheus Pereira

AMC: Christian Pulisic - Angel Correa - Nadiem Amiri

AML: Neymar - Christian Pulisic - Reine-Adelaide - Angel Correa

ST: Embolo - Kelechi Iheanacho - Andrei Ivan

* Going to loan Locatelli one more season in order to gain first team experience since he is not ready to play in EPL or Champions League

* Not decided yet: Should I sign Martial who played with 26 goals and 7 assists in 35 apps or continue with Embolo who played with 14 goals and 7 assists in 34 apps in EPL. Your recommendations are appreciated; related topic: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/455355-Breel-Embolo-or-Anthony-Martial