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FM18 - Arsenal - Updates from a Resurrected Save


Swills417
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NB - A lot of the content posted here has been posted in the FM18 Arsenal GPTG thread. Decided to resurrect this save and post updates in this forum. 

 

After watching the word cup and following our preseason so far, I have started a new save with arsenal and hoping to progress further than the last save. I holidayed the first season to try simulate the final damaging Wenger year and surprisingly the AI controlled Arsenal won the Europa league, finished third and made a few astute signings. The AI staved off any major interest in the squad and as a result I had a similar starting squad, with a few additions, to what we have currently in real life.

I decided early on that if there was interest in any players I would move them on and accept the AI offers. As a result Iwobi moved to Manchester City in a structured deal worth up to £55m. Jesse Lingard was transfer listed by Manchester United and as a player who I quite like in real life was signed for a £31.5m fee with Welbeck heading back to Old Trafford on loan. Chelsea under AI managed Conte disappointed in the previous season and finished 5th in the league. As a result a few players availability was brought up by my scouts. Hazard had a falling out with Conte and was unhappy after too many broken promises. After a few failed negotiations with first Lacazette and then Mustafi not willing to make the swap to West London. Eventually, Raul Sanllehi managed to broker a deal for an initial £82m, rising up to £113m in instalments. With Hazard being secured a real marquee signing, a number of departures followed. PSG came in for Xhaka with a deal worth up to £43m, Mustafi was a target for both Barcelona and Real Madrid, but signed for the latter in a £56m transfer that left us light at the back. An influx of rotational players also occurred, with Ruben Loftus-Cheek following Hazard to the Emirates in an £8.25m transfer. We further added to our English contingent with the signing of Jamaal Lascelles from relegated Newcastle. Following his impressive perfomances in real life and in game for his national team, Domagoj Vida arrived as a senior option at centre-half.  Below show the remaining outbound transfers. 

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During the pre-season friendly, I tested line-up variations of the 4-2-3-1 and 5-3-2 and will go into the community shield with the below tactic and lineup. I will back Macey as the number one for the first half of the season to see how he progress.  Cech will remain at the club as an understudy. The first choice back four may be heavily rotated as I’m undecided who to give the most rotational minutes to out of Chambers,  Mavropanos, Lascelles and Bielik. The central midfield pairing will also likely to be heavily as I want to give plenty of game time to Maitland Miles and Loftus-Cheek. Elneny will slot in as a defensive midfielder in games against rivals and tough away games. Wilshere and will compete to be Ozil’s backup. The right sided Raumdeauter  is also a position a number of players can potentially play with Mkhitaryan, Lingard and Lacazette being well suited for the role and performing well in preseason. Ramsey may be deployed here also, or as a rotation option for Hazard. Up front Aubameyang will lead the line as the main outlet, with Dembele or Lacazette providing rotation. 

I hope to give plenty of game times to u-23 graduates. I will also see leave the DoF in charge of incoming transfers with me confirming the final deal. It will be interesting just to see what players are targeted. The same responsibility will be given to Mertesacker as HoYD when recruiting youngsters. 

I have since played the community shield and European super cup which ended up being high scoring occasions with a 4-2 win over liverpool and a 4-3 loss to Bayern Munich. We conceded a number of goals from set pieces, something I aim to correct. After being inspired by a blog post, I aim to try and make the most of set pieces offensively and defensively. The results are immensely rewarding when they come off, but hugely disappointing when they lead to goals conceded from poor marking or counter attacks. 

The below two are defensive - one completely zonal marking with the striker forward and creative power as the edge of the area player to transition the counter attack. The other is more a desperate, we need a goal late on counter attack set up. 


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The below attacking set piece has Vida attacking the near post, with Loftus-Cheek on a near post flick on, using the strength of Kolasinac to block off the goal keeper collecting the cross.  This came to fruitation in the European super cup final, with Monreal blocking off Neuer and Vida outjumping his marker Brandt. 

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Post #2

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10 games into the season and things are going very well. We have not conceded a goal in 7 game since a half time switch to a holding 4-3-3 below after being constantly cut open in a 4-2-31 with a carrilero and a central midfielder.  Since Elneny came into the team we have been on an upwards trajectory. 

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The 4-3-3 gives us a solid triangle base with the central defenders and half-back performing a defensive triangle. A huge number of chances, especially against title rivals, result from winning possession  deep in our half. This can be from crowding out the area in front of the box, or with wide forwards tracking back and winning possession from a misplaced opposition out-ball to the wing back. They then transition the ball to the forward or deep plying playmaker. The raumdeter would led provide the out ball by being on the shoulder of the last defender and being threw on goal for a scoring chance or cut it back for the onrushing attacking central midfielder or box-to-box midfielder. 

The signing of Hazard has been a revelation. He tops the charts in chances created, assists and key passes. 

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A possible hard-brexit on the way? 

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Post #3

 

I've just reached the half way point of the second season. The save is going very well. Enough going on tactically to be interesting and having key players perform how you like them to is a big part of it. Sitting second currently behind the usual formidable on FM Manchester United. We lead the league by quite some distance for goals scored and have a pretty decent defensive record  - considering Matt Macey has played 19 of 21 games so far. 

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Hazard has been an utter revelation. Being in double figures for goals scored and assists by the half way point. His efforts contributed to him winning the World Footballer of the Year, ahead of Messi and Ronaldo (not sure if this is the Balon D'or). His 50 Key passes and 34 chances created are miles ahead of anyone else in the league. But a questions rises of what happens if he gets injured. 

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As previously mentioned I've tried to give a lot of minutes to under 23 players. Matt Macey being the number 1 for half a season has benefitted the most and has probably filled out his potential. His kicking has developed as I would have liked and would like to see how much of a sweeper keeper he could be going forward. He will probably go out on loan until the end of the season to continue his development as Joao Virginia will step up for half a season between the sticks. 

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Building on the previous post. Can we take a moment to appreciate the versatility of Ainsley Maitland Niles, Ben Sheaf and Josh Da Silva. Between them they can do a job covering anywhere on the pitch :D. If I can get them to any form of premier league standard they could be utility players for years! Ben Sheaf was tutored by Kolasinac and have pick up some his left wing-back positional attributes and has even come on as a Mezzela in some games!. Josh Da Silva has deputised there for a few games since Kolasinac's long term injury. AMN has been his dependable self. Hopefully, I can get him a England call-up at some point!

 

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Post #4

 

Into the final game of the season with a straight game 38 play-off against Manchester United for the league title. They only have to avoid defeat to win the league. Its at Old Trafford, with the reverse being a 4-0 win by me at the Emirates. Any chance of an unlikely away win on this FM? 

They have INJ status' for numerous players while we will miss Ozil through Injury, with Aubameyang only fit enough for the bench. Earlier in the season I purchased Lingard with Welbeck going on loan there as  a makeweight. So many subplots!

 

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The game begins badly with Manchester United's aerial bombardment starting strong with them hitting the bar inside 3 minutes. In my error I set Aubameyang to man mark Pogba to prevent him dictating the game from deep. This prevented me building any counter attacks . United take a early lead through a Lukakau header, followed by Gelson Martins turning Monreal inside out before  lashing one home from 25 yards. . 

A tactical change saw me go striker-less with Lingard as a shadow striker finding space in-between the lines and driving at the defensive line before finding Aubameyang as a Raumdeter taking advantage of Daley Blinds lack of pace at left back. We strike either side of half time to level the game in identical fashion to the below. 

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Before the first half ends, Ander Herrera picks up a second yellow card and is sent out and Mourinho responsds by bringing in Mata. This vacates the left side attacking position sided, leaving Bellerin plenty of space ahead of him to exploit. However, Bellerin has a poor game and fails to complete any of his eleven crosses. Loftus-Cheek who was playing as an auxillarily target man holds up the ball in the Manchester United Half, waiting for midfield runners. Searches out Lacazette playing as the right side raumdeter, who knocks it down for Ramsey who plays it back to Lacazette. Jack Wilshere, the only midfielder behind the ball finds himself in time and space on the edge of area, receives a pass from Lacazette and lashes home a half-volley to make it 3-2 to Arsenal in the 82 minute.

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This was my formation before that went in!

I then go full-defensive mode, changing formation, set pieces and individual instructions. To not avail though, Gelsen Martins who has a superb game skins Bellerin on the right and crosses for Lukaku to find space in the middle of my three center backs to head home the leveller, breaking Arsenal hearts. :( 


I took multiple screenshots in the game, as I watched on full detail. The adrenaline! :D

This means we finish the season trophy-less and Manchester United having the first piece of silverware for a FA Cup, League Title and Europa League winner treble. 

Manchester United and Liverpool will contest the FA cup final. Chelsea will play United in the Europa League final and Liverpool play Monaco in the Champions League Final. 

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Post #5

So a season in review. We finished as runners up in the EPL, to two points and 1 goal in the vital last game. Beyond heartbreak. We also didn't perform well in the cups losing to eventual semi-finalists Juventus by 1-0 aggregate loss. Liverpool went onto win the Champions League. The domestic cups were a similar story. We lost in the 5th found of the League Cup as we fielded many u-23 players against Conte's fierce first eleven. We lost the FA cup fifth round tie versus Everton due to tactical tinkering with a new system .

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Moving forward, I will set the following aims for next season:

  • Have a central midfielder score 20 goals in all competitions
  • Score the most set-plays in the league ( indirect free kicks and corners) - set this as a philosophy
  • Trim the squad - have no players out on loan. Make use of buy-back clauses. 
  • Have a strong eleven in the u-23s - At least decent championship players current ability. Hire a new u-23 manager to play a style more reflective of our own. 
  • Win a trophy

Key Player Analysis

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The key player throughout the season, he performed majestically being miles ahead of the competition and was rightly awarded the Ballon D'or for this efforts. The stats speak for themselves with only Messi leading him in terms of key passes and chance creation. Cutting in from the left wing with the Advanced Playmaker (support) role enabled him to inflict damage and link up with our man leading the line. 

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I shall update when pre-season is over and have a newly calibrated squad with two different tactical approaches. A couple of things to consider:

  • We have Aubameyang, Lacazette, Moussa Dembele,  Welbeck N'Ketiah and Loftus-Cheek competiting for one striker position as a number 9.
    • Mkhitaryan, Kovalenko, Lingard and Reis Nelson can also fill in as a false 9 here. 
  • Ramsey spent a huge chunk of the season injured with knocks with Wilshere impressing in the final run in for the end of season. This competition may lead to one or even both leaving the club, with Kovalenko impressing in a loan spell at Lazio 
  • How to fit in the world player of the year Hazard and not stifle creativity from other areas of the team. 

 

 

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Our board outlined the below expectations for the 2019/20 season:

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I began the 2019/20 season wanting to take a fresh new tactical approach. I started pre-season with the aim of creating a possession-based approach. I created a 4-3-3 DM, with a structured philosophy, with patient build up focusing on exploiting our central midfielders talent.  The aim made at the end of the previous season included getting a central midfielder to score 20+ goals in all competitions. Furthermore, I wanted to focus on scoring as many goals as possible from set plays. This also informed our player recruitment for the summer transfer window of 2019. 

Our first meaningful action in the window was to sign goalkeeper capable with the ball at his feet and being able to provide quick counter attacking key passes which would hopefully lead to a few assists. After scouting a number of options and not willing to splash a heavy transfer fee on a international superstar. I settled upon Pau Lopez from Espanyol. His kicking , composure and concentration stood out as a key attributes and his passes completed was amongst the highest in La Liga for the season. He was joined by Sergio Alvarez from Sporting Gijon, whose leadership qualities and is capable at deputising at DM when called upon. My main target for the summer was to secure a leader defensive deep-lying playmaker. After much courtship, Guido Pizzaro arrived from Sevilla in a deal worth £65m. He possesses solid technical, with good passing, tackling and first touch complimented by his vision and positioning. He also has the PPM of dictates tempo which is what I was looking for from my new starting deep-lying playmaker.

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In defensive positions; Kevin Danso arrived from RB Salzburg to add height to our back line and be a threat from set pieces. He was joined by Yerry Mina, who had been exiled out of starting contention at Barcelona. Petr Cech joined the Catalan club in a swap deal plus £3m. Although, I overlooked the fact that he failed to get a work permit as the Columbian national team manager had not been selecting him for call ups due to his lack of appearances. So on a heavy wage of £160k p/w – I loaned him to PSV for half a season to regain match fitness and play his way into the international squad which should lead to a work permit. Complimenting these towering center backs arrivals was Kerem Demirbay from Hoffenheim,  who in the post above was very influential for the german outfit in terms of key passes and chance creation, arrived for £18.75m. His PPM of curls ball should contribute to our set-pieces danger and also be one of the candidates for a goal threat from midfield.

Our departures included a structured deal for Lacazette to AS Monaco for what could eventually amount to £73m. He was very good for us last season, but was never a key player. Emiliano Martinez left for Napoli and Welbeck was sold to Brentford for a deal rising to £33.5m. Elneny was targeted by RB Leipzig and was sold for an initial £33.5m, he was my starting half-back last season. With Pizzaro’s arrival I wanted to cash in on a player I was never fully convinced with. Opsina also departed for Serie A side Empoli for £7.5m. The stick to my aim at the end of last season to trim the squad as we were very top heavy with forwards. Dembelele left for Inter Milan in a cut-price deal for £19.25m (Rising to £24.5m) and Florinel Coman left for Huddersfield for £10m. I then realised we had a gap in central midfield and transfer listed Stefan Sturaro arrived in a heavily structured deal starting at £8m. Otavio also arrived from Porto in a free deal arranged by my director of football. Reluctantly, I allowed a few players out on loan to gain experience as they were just too far from first team contention but to good for the u-23s. Reis Nelsen went on loan to Hoffenheim (as in real life and has started very well there). Ainsley Maitland Niles was targeted for AS Roma to fill to Naingolan shaped hole in their midfield. Matt Macey went on loan to Leeds, as we could not find a permanent suitor for him. Finally in a deadline day deal – Totteham’s Moussa Sissoko was signed to fill in as a deputy-attacking wing back for Bellerin. His powerful running and reasonable technical’s make him a better fit for the dynamic attacking role than Callum Chambers.

In total we had a total expenditure of £121m and generated £151m from player sales. Turning a nice profit in the window. However, it has emerged recently we are due to fail FFP due to our wage budget being £390k p/w too high so a number of players will have to be shown the door in January.

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15 league games into the season, I thought I would provide an update how the season is progressing. We currently sit 5th in the league, behind Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. After a poor start where we lost to West Brom, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester United and drawing away to Leicester City and Watford we have recovered to take maximum points from our past 6 league games. My tactic set up in pre-season was stifling our creativity with too many TI’s, so I switched to a more balanced 4-3-3 DM below that we played last season. A quick analysis of where our goals scored and conceded have come from seems to suggest the final assist and goals scored often comes from the right hand side of the pitch, from the Rauteder position. I believe this is due to Hazard cutting inside and playing a key pass through to players on the right hand side. This is typified as Hazard has the most key passes in the league – but does not lead the assist or chance creation charts.  Our focus on set-pieces has yet to lead to goals as we only have 3 goals from set pieces in 15 games, with Tottenham leading the way with 5. I will look to address this by changing my approach at set pieces.

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A brief statistically analysis of my starting eleven as below: Pau Lopez Has not been the outstanding sweeper keeper with have been looking for. Is in the top 10 goalkeepers in the European leagues for passes, but has only 67% pass completion rate. This isn’t alarming as I want him to look for the low percentage passes to release players with through balls and long throws to start counter attacks. However, has only contributed one key pass so far. Our 3 main central defenders have also not been standout performers so far this season. Each fails to register high on the metrics of Tackling percentage won, key headers, key tackles, interceptions or pass completion. In fact Koscielny appears quite highly on the mistakes metric and when you look at this with where out goals are being conceded from – perhaps more could be done to mitigate this. Vida appears reasonably high for headers won per 90 minutes.

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Our wingbacks have been also a little underwhelming as attacking and dynamic as Bellerin  and Kolasinac can be, we haven’t seen enough of them in the final third. Sissoko has also failed to set the world alight but has been solid enough for a rotation position as a right wing back. More can be tweaked here to enable our full backs to contribute more. I do have a preference for having a solid defensive full back on one side, with a wing back on the opposite side being the more positive offensive option.  

Our midfield has seen the most rotation, with Pizzaro our only real mainstay as half-back. The  attacking mezzella position is rotated amongst Demirbay, Ozil and Kovalenko. Ozil has been injured frequently and has yet to start a run of games. Ramsey has played mostly as a Raumdeter and as an impact sub. Mikhtarian has been our starting false nine and has shown promising form! In terms of planning for the January window, I have started the process of unsettling Lucas Torreira from Bayern. I feel as though his defensive prowess will enable us to play a deep double pivot and enable our wing backs to push forward. Planned outgoings are numerous. Wilshere I will attempt to move on as his contract expires in 6 months so will look to sell or part exchange him. Fringe players such as Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Lascelles, Chambers and Holding will be offered out to help reduce the wage bill. Yerry Mina will return from loan with a new work permit.

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Edited by Swills417
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  • 7 months later...

Having finished last season with a frustrated holiday for the final few games, which included an FA Cup final victory for assistant manager Roberto Kovac, I wanted to take a fresh approach in the next season. Our final finish of 5th place was quite a drastic dip in form from the 2nd place finish that preceded that. So tearing the project up and starting again was a way to reinvigorate a save I hadn’t played in months. The first issue to solve was the bloated squad and wage expenditure. Since we had suffered as a result of a undefined first eleven most of the previous season, we needed to trim the fat. I wanted to give greater opportunity to graduates from the under 23s and having players like a 31 year old Miktarian and Ozil not performing to their highest capacity blocked the path to the first team. Several high-profile departures were sanctioned.

Despite easily being our best player Hazard was the major casualty of the clear-out. His £375k p/w wages were burning a hole in the finances of the club. We suffered from an overdependence on his chance creation and cutting edge from the left flank and suffered when he was injured. I also felt a players of his calibre would agitate for a move if the club only qualified for the Europa League. A rather unique swap deal was negotiated with Manchester City with a straight swap deal for Raheem Sterling who was being underused by management at City and could star at our club. Ozil departed for PSG for £22 million, with us subsidising wages for his final year of his bumper deal. Miktarian was involved in a swap deal, taking the Armenian to his former club Dortmund which saw £8m change hands and Passlack sign for us. The alarming decline of Aubameyang’s form convinced me to move on the striker for a somewhat disappointing £22m to Inter Milan, who currently have a number of ex-arsenal players on their roster.

I resisted the temptation to bring in a big name marquee type player on big wages (with the exception of Sterling) although I did flirt with the idea of signed James Rodriguez. The 28 year old Columbian was available for £61m but on personal terms he refused to budge and insisted he did not want to join a club not present in Europe’s elite competition. A slightly tweaked tactical approach of our convention 4-3-3 was installed as the primary tactic for the season. This was in order to take advantage of number of proficient dribblers including Reiss Nelsen, Sterling, N’ketiah. The aim tactically is to set up with a mid-block and play direct high tempo transitional football as our main attacking threat. I kept the same eleven for the first 10 premier league games, with slight rotation between Ramsey and Demirabay for the Mezzala position. This enabled me to collect a solid body of stats for these players to analyse part way through the first half of the season.

We won the community shield on penalties after a dreadful shootout with numerous penalty misses. The first four games were all victories including a number of 1-0 that required a combination of inspiration and luck from set plays to win. After a number of games, the momentum of the save really dropped and the laptop I was running FM on really started to struggle. I was unable to make further progress with the save and decided to retire the save. I decided to holiday 5 seasons into the future to see how the AI would manage the side moving forward. Up to January 2020. I allowed my assistant Demicheles to manage the side. Following this I resigned and retired to see how the first season would end.

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By the end of January, we were 7th in the league, into the knockouts of the Europa League and 5th round of the FA Cup. We didn’t sign any players in January as I wanted to see how Demicheles would perform with the same players I would have used. In May, Demicheles had led us to a 5th place finish and a FA Cup final, which we lost in Manchester United who won all domestic trophies and were only denied the quadruple by Monaco in the Champions League Final. Seville won the Europa League. We mostly lined up in a 4-2-3-1 deep formation as below:

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The first full season of AI management began under the reign of Ramon Diaz , the Argentinian manager who had also managed Bestiktas and Samphoria in recent (in game years). We had  huge transfer kitty of £100m+ and the spending spree began by the signing of Son Heung-Min from Chelsea. Followed by a number of south American and Iberian recruits including: Jonathon Calleri and Dario Bendetto to boost of forward options. Full back recuits included Richardo Rodgriuez (a usual AI arsenal transfer and Alex Pinto). Caiao Monteiro, a 24 year olf Brazilian forward from Porto was also recruited. The only major outgoing was Hector Bellerin for £54m to Manchester City and Matt Macey to QPR. The season began with 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss to Stoke, Tottenham and Swansea.

By January Arsenal were sitting in 6th, the best of the rest or worst of the best. Diaz had them playing a wacky 3-4-1-2 I was a big fan of! He had also added a 18 year old number 10 brazilian regen and Ben Chillwell to his squad. Sadly, Diaz lasted until just March when he was sacked and replaced by ex-Barcelona boss Luis Enrique. Together they contributed to a season finishing 7th, Carabao cup finalists and losing in the Europa league knockouts to eventual winner Tottenham.

Luis Enrique's first season in charge began with the signings of Harry Winks and Jorrit Hednrix, to strengthen our midfield options. Lining up in a vague 4-3-3 holding. By January they were languishing in the now familiar spot of 7th, Lucas Torreiria had been appointed captain with Passlack as vice captain. Interestingly at this point I had noticed we had failed FFP in May 2022. Pardew and Torreria had become favoured personell by this time.  January recruitment was based upon the tried and tested FM method of recruiting South American wonderkids. At this point, a semblance of a decent team is forming and the next few seasons under Luis Enqrique will be critical to how the club develops.

However, by March Luis Enqrique had vacated the Emirates and joined struggling Manchester City. Gattuso was drafted in as his replacement, and under his management the club had won it’s first silverware since my time at the club between 2018 and 2021. Lucas Torreira was now an Icon at the club.  Gattuso decided to stick with the hand he was dealt and didn’t sign a single player in the Summer window of 2023 (this could have been as a result of failing FFP). He did begin to dissemble the squad from the Wiliams years including moving on Yerry Mina, Eddie Nketiah, Caligara and Piazzaro. By February Gattuso had guided the team to 3rd in the table, behind both Manchester clubs, without a single additional signing. Despite the club finishing in their highest position since my tenure in 4th , they suffered the ignonmy of losing out on European football altogether as Tottenham won the champions league.

The 2024/25 seaosn began as the previous season did, with no signings again by the club with a number of players leaving the club including Kolasinac, Karbownik (one of the polish recruits from earlier in the save.) By January the club was languishing in 9th with Gattuso’s job under threat. I also noticed Lucas Torreira was now a club legend. The season ended in a disappointing 9th placed finish, with Gattuso resigning at the end of the season. Presumably jumping before being pushed. Despite this he won the second FA Cup of his reign in 2025.

Mourinho was also sacked at the end of 2025, having spent over £1bn on recruits in 9 years, he was replaced by Ernesto Valderverde His successor Slaven Bilic didn’t even make it until Christmas as he was sacked and replaced by Belarussian Vadim Skripchenko who could only lead the team to a final finish of 12th position, equalling Arsenals worst ever premier league finish of 1994/95 season.

At the end of the save around the world the following developments had occurred in the Red side of North London. The final season of the Wenger years culminated in a respectable 3rd place finish,  with a cup double of the Europa League and FA Cup. The closest we came to the title, was the two points off in 2018/19 in my first season in charge. We made the champions league quarters in 2019/20. We also won the FA Cup in 2020, with the assistant manager taking charge of the game. We also won three Community shields. The post-Williams years included many managers, with the pick of the bunch being Gattuso with two FA Cup wins and a community shield.

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As indicated in the screen shots above, my reign had been the most successful following Arsene. With a 62% win percentage and 4 cup wins. Gattuso also succeeded with two FA cups win and a 53% win percentage. The 4 short term reigns of the above illuminate a sense of decline at the Emirates. 

 

 

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