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Hey, just starting as these now, I really want to get into a long term save as i've yet to have one longer than 2.5 seasons, I just seem to get a bit bored. A lively discussion normally helps and this one seems like the most active, so that will be a huge positive. I'm playing on the new patch with Chelsfcg's update.
I've had some really good games with the gooners in the past so hoping for a repeat performance.
Just finished my pre-season, where the team started up practising my new formation. I use a formation I downloaded from last years forum which was a formation based on Guardiolas 4-3-3, I can't remember who I got it from, but its rather good.
Players:
First season starting XI (without any injuries): GK: Szczesny RB: Sagna LB: Gibbs CB: Vermalaen CB: Koscielny DM: Song CM: Arteta AMC: Wilshere AMR: Walcott AML: Gervinho ST van Persie
I want to give the palyers that are here a go first before bringing replacements in, weaknesses at the moment are probably at left back, but maybe Gibbs can step up. What can I expect from players like Andre Santos and Mertesacker because I really don't rate them as players, will they do a job? Also what areas need immediate improvement?
Transfers: In: R. Yttergard-Jennsen - £1m I. Cuenca - Loan Out: M. Almunia - £1.5m M. Chamakh - £10m + numerous young players out on loan.
As you can see i've not been too busy in the market, I tend to give the players I have a chance before I make changes, so January could be quite busy. I also don't want to spend big in the first season because I will be getting a lot of players back in the second one from their loans finishing, like Lansbury and Miyachi. Who I want to try and use. Reason behind my 2 transfers are that I felt CM was lacking, players can play there but a lot of them are really AM's or wingers so I felt I needed a bit of cover and at £1m I can't complain. Also I brought in Cuenca for the season because of the fact i'll be losing Henry in October so I felt I needed a bit more winger coverage, also on the new patch Cuenca looks great (especially compared to the stats he was given when the game was released, SI really dropped the ball on that one) Oh and i've cancelled Benayouns loan, waste of £65k in my opinion.
So any first season tips?
EDIT: Played my first premier league game away at Blackburn and lost 1-0. I'm putting it down to the players getting used to the formation and tactic and the fact I had to play Fabianski because Szczesny is out for 6 weeks.
So yeah, very mixed. 6 wins and 4 losses. I just need them to settle down and get my starting XI playing together for longer than one game without one getting injured. Had a few troubles with injuries alongside Vermalaen and Wilshere, Szczesny, Henry, Rosicky, Gervinho, Arteta, van Persie and Walcott have all been injured at some point.
EDIT: The rest of my ECC group is CSKA, FC Twente and Trabzonspor. Just had the second game of the ECC and beat FC Twente away 4-1.
EDIT 2: Played 7 in the league. Won 2, lost 5. I'm in 16th place and the board are saying I should be performing better in my role. Quickest sacking ever could be on the cards. Still having shit luck with injuries as well.
After beating FC Twente in the ECC I went on to lose my next match to Chelsea 3-2, a late Frank Lampard free kick was the killer. But since then I've gone on a 7 game winning streak, I've qualified from my ECC group with 2 games left, through to the League Cup fourth round and up to 6th in the league. My next match is againt Manchester United which will be tough obviously but after that I have 9/10 games that I should be winning, so hopefully I can pull it off.
Injuries have let up as well, with Jack Wilshere the only current first team injury. Theo Walcott has got 10 in 16 from the right wing and despite a slow start van Persie is now picking up some decent form. Best player of the season so far though has got to be Tomas Rosicky, he's played in the CM and AMC position and has a 7.42 rating. Vermalaen, Koscielny and Djorou are all playing really well and I'm rotating them so they each play as much as possible. I don't have a player in my first XI that has a average rating less than 7 which I always think is a good sign.
EDIT: Just lost my first game in 15 against Wolves, quite dissapointing, but i'm up to 4th now. Beat Man United 3-0 in that run as well.
I'm just coming to the end of March in my first season. In 5th, 4 points behind 4th. Still possible to catch uo, Liverpool are currently in 1st and dominating, which is a shocker.
I won the League Cup, beating Wolves 3-0 in the final. I had a really easy route to the final, playing; Norwich, West Brom, Sunderland, Liverpool and then Wolves. Currently playing in the sixth round of the FA Cup, have played Leeds, Southampton, Newcastle and am currently playing VIlla. So i'm doing well to avoid the big teams. In the second knockout round of the ECC after beating Lyon 6-4 on aggregate, not had the draw for the next round yet though.
Player wise i've currently got everybody at full fitness which makes a change for me, Wilshere has come back and is really playing well. Walcott is still going well and is my top scorer, van Persie struggled a bit at the start of the season but is currently playing well.
Mangaged to sell Andre Santos in January for £7m and Per Mertesacker is going at the end of the season to Dortmund for £8m. I think I need to sign a new left back, Gibbs just isn't cutting it, was interested in Baines but he went to Spurs in January and I try not to sign players in January because I feel it knocks momentum slightly, so i'll have to set my sights elsewhere.
Will give an update at the end of the season as well.
Whats your domestic player situation? Maybe try to aim for an all English (or British) starting XI? I've done that with Arsenal on last years game and it takes a while.
I lost the FA Cup sixth round to Villa 1-0. Bloody James Collins!
Just finished my first season so here's the report.
Competitions:
League - 5th. W.22. D.3. L.13 GD.+16 Pts. 69. Champions League - Second knockout round (Lost Barcelona 6-2 Agg) FA Cup - Sixth round (Lost Aston Villa 1-0) League Cup - Winner (Beat Wolves 3-0)
Liverpool won the league, Man City won the Champions League and Man Utd won the FA Cup.
Players: Top Performers: Robin van Persie - AvRat. 7.55 Laurent Koscielny - AvRat. 7.23 Thomas Vermaelen - AvRat. 7.13 Gervinho - AvRat. 7.12
RvP was my top scorer with 27, only 12 in the league though. Walcott scored 19 and third top scorer was Park Chu-Young who has performed really consistently for me and actually scored some important goals.
Transfers: I've got deals in place for Mertesacker and Fabianski to leave, Gervinho has requested a transfer but he won't be going anywhere (he wanted Seydou Doumbia to be signed and I didn't do it). I have got 3 youngsters coming in from france and in the process of trying to sign Aly Cissokho. I've had my youth players and only really got one decent prospect but he's just damaged his cruciate ligaments and is out for 9 months so I can't see him ever actually reaching his promise.
Summer targets are a left back and thats it, I have players back from loans which I'll let have a chance to prove themselves. So January could be busy.
Starting XI for next season will be: GK:Szczesny RB:Sagna CB:Vermaelen CB:Koscielny LB:Cissokho* DM:Song CM:Ramsey AMC:Wilshere AMR:Walcott AML:Gervinho ST:RvP *If I manage to sign him, if not another LB will be signed.
What do you think? where do I need to improve? Maybe a better AMR?
Brought in Aly Cissokho for £12.75m, 2 youngsters for a combined £2m and also brought in Thiago Alcantara on loan.
Thiago will start in place of Ramsey, I feel he offers a little bit more at the moment.
In terms of people leaving Tomas Rosicky left on a free along with 4 other reserve team players. Mertesacker, Fabianski, Diaby, Squillaci, Zak Ansah, Arshavin, ico Yennaris, Pedro Botelho, Kyle Ebecilio and Ruben Yttergard-Jenssen all left for a combined £21.5m Bendtner went on loan along with a hell of a lot of youth team players.
I see what your saying about the player swap, but on this new patch it really looks like RvP would be wasted on the wing. If they struggle to get goals i'll swap them over though, cheers.
Ha, your right. It was too many losses, i'll see how they get on for the first few league games then look at changing it if needs be.
The James Rodriguez deal fell through he's torn his hamstring which is a ball ache. Just looking at bringing in Derdyk Boyata, for extra cover for CB. Athletic Club came in with a £10m offer for Arteta which I accepted but he didn't agree personal terms. Just about to start the season, Newcastle, Bolton, Swansea and Stoke are my first 4 games. I want 12 points from these.
Ah fair enough. He went to Sunderland in my first season for £10m. I've got to thank them for having both of my dog shit strikers for that first season.
Played my first 8 games of the season, won 7 and drawn 1. Had the draw for the Europa and got Bologna, Sochaux and Rosenborg so i'll qualify from that. Thiago has settled in nicely, played 6, scored 2 with 2 assists and a 7.35 average rating. Best player so far though has been Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, he's started on the right wing, played 7 socred 5 with 3 assists and a 7.57 average, Walcott isn't getting a look in.
My youngsters who i've used in the League Cup (3-2 win over Notts County. A.O-C hattrick) and my Europa qualifiers (5-1 aggregate over Omonoia) have done really well, Miyachi, Boyata, Lansbury and Frimpong have been great and Park Chu-Young who has played a few more than I thought he would after RvP injured himself on international duty, again (really thinking of asking him to retire from internationals, ha) has got 4 in 4 with a 7.52 average.
Yet to play any really good teams though, don't play another recognised good premiership side until Chelsea in a month. So I could be setting myself nicely for the rest of the season.
parmar1993 Bloody hell, the 'Arsenal 3' are phenomenal.
I'm just coming to the end of January of the second season. We're top of the league by 4 points. Knocked out of the League Cup in the quarters by Bolton in extra time. FA Cup 4th round tie against Sunderland is next week. I've got Rubin in the first knockout round of the Europa League.
Having a little trouble with injuries and the African Cup of Nations, so my front 3 are back up players. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has stepped up amazingly this season, made the AMR position his own and now that RvP, Park Chu-Young, and Theo Walcott he's had to play up front, but he's socred 4 in 2 games. Really good performances.
I've made one signing who'll come at the end of the season Andre Ayew, who will come in and play on the left wing, Gervinho will be sold to make room for him.
I play with a DM, MC and AMC. In the first season I had Song at DM, Arteta at CM (Advanced Playmaker - Support) and Ramsey at AMC (Attacking Midfield - Attack). Then when Wilshere came back he moved to AMC and Ramsey competed with Arteta for the CM. Song flourished but the other two were a little dissapointing.
Second season I signed Thiago Alcantara on loan and he took over the CM position, Wilshere played a lot better in the AMC position. Eventually Ramsey has replace Thiago to play in the CM position and he's done really well.
Ramsey has a 7.24 AvRating and Wilshere has a 7.01 AvRating. I'm looking into the possiblity of selling Arteta, he's never really played too well.
Just finished my second season. It was definitely a mixed bag of a season, I totally dominated in the league, but was knocked out of both domestic cups quite early but also won the Europa League.
Competitions: League - 1st. Pl.38. W.28 D.5 L.5 GD.+47 Pts.89 FA Cup - Lost. 4th Rnd. 2-0 to Sunderland League Cup - Lost. Quarter Final. 3-2 to Bolton after extra time. Europa League - Won. Beat OM 1-0.
The other teams in the league helped by being quite poor,won it at the end of April and was 15 points clear with 4 to play, so from then on I gave a lot of young players a go and basically played my second string players. Ended up winning the league by 13 points, my reserves had 2 wins and 2 losses in the last 4 games, including a 5-0 demolition of Spurs.
Players: Top Performers: R. van Persie. Apps.42(2). Gls.34. Ass.16. MoM.12. AvR.7.76 R. Miyaichi. Apps. 19(10). Gls.10. Ass.8. MoM.3. AvR.7.32 A. Ramsey. Apps. 24(10). Gls.8. Ass.6. MoM.1. AvR.7.22 A. Oxlade-Chamberlain. Apps.51(2). Gls.15. Ass.15. MoM.6. AvR.7.21
Vermaelen and Koscielny get a special mention as well with ratings of 7.28 and 7.27 respectively and a combined goal tally of 13. Park Chu-Young had another solid season when called upon and got 9 in 17(14) Apps. Szczesny also improved a lot as well, getting 27 clean sheets along the way to winnin the goalkeeper of the league award.
Transfers: I have deals in place to bring in Andre Ayew from OM who will come in to play on the left wing, and Kevin Trapp has also been signed from Leverkusen to be the back up keeper. I've got Sergi Samper coming as well. Vito Mannone is leaving. I'll also be trying to sell Arteta, Walcott and possibly Gervinho.
Guess it just shows how different the seasons and performances can be. Chamberlain was my first choice AMR from the start of the season, so just playing games improved him greatly, he was shaky to start with but I stood by him and his end of season form proved I was right to do it. Miyaichi only played when Gervinho tore his hamstring and I needed an out and out AML winger to play there and he came and did superbly.
EDIT: Made my summer signings. In: Andre Ayew Dani Parejo (Loan) Scott Sinclair Kevin Trapp Lucas Aguilar (Regen) Sergi Samper Combined total: £44m.
Out: Theo Walcott Mikel Arteta Vita Manonne Gervinho Nicklas Bendtner + 15 loans. Combined total: £34m
nightmare mate. looks like you were on to a decent team there as well. hopefully it'll behave next time.
Had the start to my third season, beat Bolton in the Community Shield, winning 1-0 and then played them again in the first premier league game winning 4-0. Also played Blackpool and won 4-0. Had quite an easy start to the season to be honest and like last season I don't play another 'big' team (Man City) until the end of september. Next game is the European Super Cup against Man Utd. Then I avoid big teams until december when I play Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea ans Spurs on the bounce, also play Dortmund in the ECC in that run as well.
The other teams in my Champions League group are Dortmund, SLB and APOEL.
Currently have both first choice CB's out injured. Vermaelen broke his leg at the end of the season and won't be back for another 2 months and now Koscielny has gone and fractured his skull and is out for 3 months. So Djourou and my new regen Lucas Aguilar need to step up. Andre Ayew has started the season well, getting 3 in 3 with a 8.17AvRat and RvP has 4in3 with 8.37AvRat.
Made another couple of transfers with Carlos Vela leaving in a £8.75m deal to Dortmund and I have signed Javier Hernandez for £10m, thought he was an absolute steal especially considering I didn't really have a decent back up striker and he will be clinical coming off the bench.
parmar1993ho1mesy2011 How have the youngsters that start at Arsenal developed for you? Miyaichi, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Coquelin etc...
EDIT: Lost the European Super Cup 2-1. My Argentinian regen got sent off as well, for violent conduct two-footed Danny Welbeck, will be probably banned for 4 games, so that'll screw me over for the first few Euro games. Alex Song will have to cover I think.