[FM 21] Arsenal - Still Waiting For Arteta's Tiki Taka!

[WillyBroadband]

On 28/12/2020 at 16:01, ajw10 said:

 

@ajw10 Looks like this has been fixed in the latest patch, mate. In the three games I've played since, I've had three clean sheets & my defenders & DM all had proper ratings 

[RossoneriGunner]

How many of you guys 'promised' to reduce the size of the squad and did it make it easier when telling players they were being sold?

[WillyBroadband]

50 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

How many of you guys 'promised' to reduce the size of the squad and did it make it easier when telling players they were being sold?

I personallly didn't but it sounds like a good idea, mate. 

[RossoneriGunner]

15 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

I personallly didn't but it sounds like a good idea, mate. 

I know its only a game BUT, I feel uneasy putting players on the transfer list in case they kick off like David Luiz did. I did put Mustafi on the list and not a murmer.

[WillyBroadband]

1 minute ago, RossoneriGunner said:

I know its only a game BUT, I feel uneasy putting players on the transfer list in case they kick off like David Luiz did. I did put Mustafi on the list and not a murmer.

 I know what you mean, but tbh, if they do kick off it never lasts that long, from my experience anyway. 

[lomekian]

36 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

I know its only a game BUT, I feel uneasy putting players on the transfer list in case they kick off like David Luiz did. I did put Mustafi on the list and not a murmer.

All depends on who they are, and what their level of ability is. Characters like Luiz will kick off if not treated they way they perceive to be fair in real life, whereas for all Mustafi being a nightmare, he's never caused any commotion.  Likewise, Xhaka, both in game and in life is prone to getting emotional about stuff, and can be unhelpful, but if you get him onside he will be a good soldier in his own way.

I signed a few freebies to bolster numbers for cup competitions and then promised to trim the squad, and no-one seemed to care either way. But then they didn't care when I forced out Ozil, Mustafi, Papa and Kola

[RossoneriGunner]

17 minutes ago, lomekian said:

All depends on who they are, and what their level of ability is. Characters like Luiz will kick off if not treated they way they perceive to be fair in real life, whereas for all Mustafi being a nightmare, he's never caused any commotion.  Likewise, Xhaka, both in game and in life is prone to getting emotional about stuff, and can be unhelpful, but if you get him onside he will be a good soldier in his own way.

I signed a few freebies to bolster numbers for cup competitions and then promised to trim the squad, and no-one seemed to care either way. But then they didn't care when I forced out Ozil, Mustafi, Papa and Kola

When I told the squad at the introduction that I was going to reduce the squad, I remember Aubameyang saying 'It don't bother me' lol

[Sysiphus]

Happy with my solid, if unspectacular, first season at the helm. Streamlined the squad, played the youth a lot and brought home some silverware and Champions League football.

[Telegram Sam]

On 30/12/2020 at 02:25, Telegram Sam said:

I've just started a new save with my beloved Arsenal and am hoping to bed in for the long term. I'm excited to build the squad over the course of a few seasons and make the most of the young talent currently at the Emirates.

The first thing I did was totally revamp the staff at the club, with a refresh needed in a lacklustre coaching department and an almost non-existent medical team. The scouting department has also seen a heavy restructure, with my aim being to have my guys scouting fresh talent across the globe as the seasons roll on. The key appointments include Ralf Rangnick as Director of Football, reducing Edu to an empty suit in his Technical Director role, and the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Andrea Barzagli, and Warren Joyce coming in to improve the coaching team. I've taken personal control of my scouts' assignments to ensure we're reaching as far wide as possible with our scouting network.

---

In terms of players, I'm pleased with the small amount of business done thus far:

IN

Houssem AOUAR—The man we couldn't quite sign in real life joins from Lyon in a £31m deal to add so much needed creativity in the middle of the park. I hope to bleed in the likes of Emile Smith Rowe and Joe Willock over the course of the season, but Aouar's arrival gives us plenty of immediate quality going into the new season.

Ariel MOSOR—Only 17 years old, the Polish centre-back arrives from Legia Warsaw in a modest deal of around £450k after being spotted by my scout based in Eastern Europe. I've limited expectations for the young defender but he seems to have decent potential and his signing helps fulfil my board's request that I sign players under the age of 18. He's been sent to Barrow in League 2 on loan for the 2020/21 season to help him acclimatise with British football.

OUT

Mesut Ozil—Much to my surprise and delight, I was able to avoid the potential negative influence the German would have in the dressing room by shipping him off to Napoli in a deal worth £12m. I'm paying half of his £350k p/w wages for one more year, but I was happy to move him on this summer and recoup some cash for him in the process.

Sokratis—Unregistered and with a year remaining on his contract, we were able to secure £5m from Wolves for his signature. He would have been my 5th or 6th choice centre-back so he won't be missed.

William Saliba (loan)—I was tempted to keep the young Frenchman and give him some minutes in Europe, but instead opted to send him to Burnley until January to see if he can acquire some Premier League minutes there. I felt it was a risk worth taking with Gabriel, Mari, Holding, Luiz, and Chambers offering me plenty of depth in the centre of defence.

Folarin Balgun (loan)—The young striker signed a new deal with the club before being sent to Colchester United for the season. If he's to have a future at Arsenal he needs to first prove he can score goals and perform in the lower leagues.

In other business, Mohamed Elneny agreed to join Guangzhou Evergrande after I felt he wasn't needed at the club, although that deal won't go through until January. We'll net a tidy £17.5m when he eventually sets sail for China.

---

Our start of the season really couldn't have gone better, with a surprise shoot-out victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield being followed by wins against Burnley (H), Crystal Palace (A), and Leicester (H) in the Premier League. We've been scoring for fun, with eight goals flying past Burnley and Palace, and a 2-0 win over Leicester at the Emirates was made all the sweeter by Jamie Vardy getting his marching orders to help us secure victory. 

In the League Cup, we coasted to a 3-0 win past Huddersfield before Norwich City gave us a good scare at the Emirates by taking a 2-0 lead in the first half. We came back to win 3-2 after two late goals, although we now face Liverpool at Anfield in the Quarter Final.

Nicolas Pepe has started the season on fire, scoring 3 and assisting 3 in the league after his brace in the Shield allowed us to take Liverpool to penalties in a 2-2 draw. His 6 goal contributions in 3 games meant he deservedly ended September as Player of the Month, and we also saw an Arsenal player pick up Young Player of the Month as well, with Bukayo Saka playing superbly and becoming a regular starter in the team. He notched three assists in our first three games and scored a nice goal against Leicester to round off a superb month, and to put the cherry on top, the second goal in that game—a volleyed screamer from Granit Xhaka—also saw us win the Goal of the Month for September.

Another plus has been the form of Thomas Partey, who scored our first league goal of the season with a header against Burnley and followed that up with a brace against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. The decision to play him further up the pitch as a box-to-box midfielder, with Xhaka sitting behind him, has paid dividends so far. His chipped finish against Palace, bursting forward from midfield to reach the end of a divine Saka cross, was Vieira-esque.

Moving into October, we've been drawn in a Europa League group which features Real Sociedad, FC Midtjylland, and NK Lokomotiva, so should still be aiming to qualify with ease even if Sociedad line up as decent opposition. We also face league games against Southampton, West Ham, and Newcastle, so there's a chance to continue our positive start before we come up against more of the big boys towards the end of 2020.

It's looking like Liverpool and United will be our closest challengers this season, with both of them having also notched up perfect winning records to start the campaign. Spurs have lost all of their games which makes this table very fun to look at, at least for now.

OCTOBER 2020 UPDATE

After a perfect start to the season where we won the Community Shield and won all three of our opening Premier League fixtures, we continued our scintillating form into October with a 6-0 mauling of Southampton at Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka was incredible form, notching a hat-trick to make it four goals and three assists in four games for the 19-year-old starlet. I hadn't managed to get much of him in a previous save, so seeing him start the season on fire has been particularly pleasing. Aubameyang also got on the scoresheet that day, as did both Thomas Partey and Houssem Aouar, who have started their playing career in North London really well. 

For Saka, the goal that rounded off his hat-trick was the best of the lot—a composed left-foot finish into the top corner of the net:

Our next game, away at Newcastle, brought us crashing back down to the ground a bit. We found ourselves 2-0 down within 7 minutes, as Callum Wilson and Federico Fernandez both scored headed goals in the game's early moments to remind us that we're far from the finished article yet. However, despite that setback, we battered Newcastle for the rest of the game, and eventually found a way back into the game through Nicolas Pepe, who scored his 6th goal of the season after receiving a sublime pass from Houssem Aouar. The Frenchman had gotten off the mark against Southampton and was really taking the game by the scruff of the neck as we needed a comeback.

The Aouar-Pepe partnership nearly paid dividends again after another sublime pass found the Ivorian in the start of the second half, but he was marginally offside and the goal was ruled out. We huffed and puffed but an inspired performance from Dubravka in the Magpies' net looked like it would pay off, all until Willian stepped up to score a stunning free-kick in the final moments of the game. The experienced Brazilian has been really good so far, and is only really out of the side due to the incredible form of Pepe and Saka. This was his most telling contribution yet.

Two points dropped, but when you're 2-0 down and away from home, you'll take a point when you can get it. We followed that result with a convincing 3-0 win over Real Sociedad at home, putting to bed the other decent team in our group with relative ease. It was a good day for Alexandre Lacazette, with a clever near post finish and a converted penalty netting him a brace, whilst Reiss Nelson showcased his quality with a clever finish into the bottom corner. However, the game ended on a sour note, with Dani Ceballos being forced to come off in the dying embers of the game, with the injury in question being a damaged achilles tendon:

Ceballos wasn't a starter for us after the arrivals of Partey and Aouar, but was a useful rotation option. The seriousness of his injury, along with the childish reaction his gave when I tried to reassure him about his injury, has me thinking I may terminate his loan earlier than expected when January rolls around.

After the victory against the club from San Sebastian, we again hit six in the Premier League, with West Ham the unluckly recipients this time. Pepe and Aouar gave us a commanding 2-0 lead early on, before West Ham pulled one back through a headed goal from a free-kick. I was thinking we may have let the Hammers back into the game, but a freak own goal from former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski in the 35th minute resulted in our two-goal lead being restored and any nerves we had dissipating. The game was rounded off by goals from Willian, Saka, and an Aubameyang penalty, and we peppered the West Ham net with 28 shots. Of all the goals, though, it was Aouar's fine strike that deserved a second look:

This leaves us looking great in the league table, especially with out goal difference being so strong. I don't think it'll hold but it's great to see us show a ruthlessness and desire to score consistently. We also remain the only undefeated side in the league, and Spurs remain rooted in the relegation zone:

We finished off the month with a routine 3-0 victory away from home against Croatian outfit NK Lokomotiva, with Nelson, Holding and Willian hitting the back of the net in the second half. After rotating heavily, we struggled in the opening 45 minutes, but Reiss Nelson again impressed with his third goal of the season coming via a brilliantly hit strike from the edge of the box with his left foot.

With October drawing to a close, we again had a player pick up Player of the Month—Thomas Partey's goal and three assists, along with his average rating of 8.07, earning him that honour. Saka came second in the Young Player category, with his four goals in October not proving enough to beat Mason Greenwood. November looks a little trickier, with an away trip to Fulham being followed by home games against Manchester City and Everton, where we'll really need to prove our quality. We will face FC Midtjylland twice in the Europa League during November.

Finally, before I wrap this up, one final, unexpected piece of business was done...

After dismissing the idea in the summer, I have decided to bring in former wonderkid Jack Wilshere on a short-term contract until the end of the season. The injury to Ceballos, as well as a torn groin muscle suffered by Emile Smith Rowe, meant I was lacking options in central midfield during a busy period for the club. With Aouar, Partey and Xhaka forming my midfield three in the Premier League, the injuries to Ceballos and Smith Rowe leave me with only Joe Willock and Mohamed Elneny as central midfield options, the latter of whom is due to head to China in January. Ainsley Maitland-Niles can play in the midfield but I'd prefer to use him as a right back as cover for Bellerin.

I expect Wilshere to play a small handful of games, serving as a body if nothing else. With his own injury problems I hope he is at least able to notch up 10 or so appearances, and I have included a one-year contract extension option for the club to take up if he does better than expected. As a homegrown player he could be registered immediately and his time as a free agent meant he was amiable to a relatively low base salary, which the club can more than afford between now and the summer of 2021. 

Edited January 9, 2021 by Telegram Sam

[VP.]

Anyone else have a complete change in performances/results since the patch?

First game I lost 0-1 at home to Newcastle after previously being unbeaten for 28 matches. Most other games have been a struggle and even if we have created loads of chances we've been very poor in front of goal compared to before. Scrapped through to the FA Cup final only to be well beaten by 10th place Bournemouth, threw away the Premier League to Chelsea when before hand we looked odds on to win it but did manage to win the Champions League though just seemed more through luck than anything else.

I know they say there's no changes to the ME but had exactly the same problems with the last patch, just seems to completely ruing your save.

[RossoneriGunner]

I had Arsenal playing one touch football, like IRL, but when teams attack now my defenders don't pass the ball, they slam it out of play. We are playing more like the 'Crazy Gang' just banging long balls to the forwards which ends with us losing possession .

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

On 12/11/2020 at 21:52, Carmi88 said:

Auba has been hit and miss, he and Lacazette never seem to be in form at the same time, reiss nelson however has been more useful on the left wing 

I also found reiss nelson being excellent on either wing  (in my demo save, although i have now switched to fm touch with similar results) , getting 7 goals and 7 assists in 14 games by january, scoring twice against so'ton in the fa cup, winning goal of the month once and becoming my highest average rating player and my teams best assister. on the subject of auba, I have found him usefull as a left-sided dlf support. after a poor spell of form, i moved him there, and he scored twice and got man of the match

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

On 05/01/2021 at 00:08, RossoneriGunner said:

I offered David Luiz to clubs, next thing he's ripping my door off its hinges, spitting fire and brimstone and saying if I wanted to get rid of him then why not say it to his face. He got the right raving hump 😂

I wouldnt sell david luiz, as if you look at your youth squad, you see there are a lot of promising players, a few of which are centre backs, and david luiz wants to go into managements, so I would make him the youth coach once he retires

[RogerC]

Getting back to my Arsenal save, I posted an update in my thread, please check it out!

 

 

[RossoneriGunner]

32 minutes ago, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

I also found reiss nelson being excellent on either wing  (in my demo save, although i have now switched to fm touch with similar results) , getting 7 goals and 7 assists in 14 games by january, scoring twice against so'ton in the fa cup, winning goal of the month once and becoming my highest average rating player and my teams best assister. on the subject of auba, I have found him usefull as a left-sided dlf support. after a poor spell of form, i moved him there, and he scored twice and got man of the match

Definitely, Reiss Nelson is brilliant on either wing. I promoted Smith-Rowe and Saliba to the first team squad and they have been solid, Smith-Rowe plays as AMC/AP/Att.

24 minutes ago, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

I wouldnt sell david luiz, as if you look at your youth squad, you see there are a lot of promising players, a few of which are centre backs, and david luiz wants to go into managements, so I would make him the youth coach once he retires

The reason I wanted to sell him was to try and raise some money as that American Parasite won't give us any lol.

[Sean3h]

The time has come to start a new Arsenal save. My intention at the moment is to play a possession heavy 4-2-3-1 and I'm intending on making some big changes during the opening window.

I'll post a little write up once the window is over, but I'm interested in seeing what you guys think about this offer for Mesut Ozil:

£6M up front, £6M over 6 months, 170k wage contributions. He's valued at £12.75M so I'm almost getting his full value. As he'll be going on a free in the summer, I ideally want to cash in. This will save me a huge chunk of his wages over the course of the season and potentially give me some transfer funds. I'm intending to play with an AP(A) so he's someone that could easily play there for me. Perhaps it's worth trying to squeeze a little bit more money out of Napoli.

[hasdgfas]

1 hour ago, Sean3h said:

The time has come to start a new Arsenal save. My intention at the moment is to play a possession heavy 4-2-3-1 and I'm intending on making some big changes during the opening window.

I'll post a little write up once the window is over, but I'm interested in seeing what you guys think about this offer for Mesut Ozil:

£6M up front, £6M over 6 months, 170k wage contributions. He's valued at £12.75M so I'm almost getting his full value. As he'll be going on a free in the summer, I ideally want to cash in. This will save me a huge chunk of his wages over the course of the season and potentially give me some transfer funds. I'm intending to play with an AP(A) so he's someone that could easily play there for me. Perhaps it's worth trying to squeeze a little bit more money out of Napoli.

I'd take that offer. I tried utilizing Ozil in a save, using an AP, which should be his specialty. And then he just threw a fit about being homesick and I wished I had cashed in on him. Saving on half his wages and another 12M is an easy accept for me. There are so many other players you could play there, either youngsters or cheaper buys that you'll get more time out of. With that good an offer, don't fall into the trap of trying to squeeze more money out.

[RossoneriGunner]

In the role of AMC/AP I switch between Willian and ESR, I've even used Partey or Willock in an emergency and they have all done brilliantly.

[Sean3h]

The window has now slammed shut and... It didn't exactly go to plan. This first update is going to be a bit of a wall of text, but future ones should be a bit nicer!

We ended up doing the following business:

In

Wilfried Gnonto - £700k (rising to £800k) - Zurich - This guy looks like he has some decent potential. He's only 16, and I'm aiming on having him develop with my U18 and U23 teams for now.

Jack Wilshere - Free - We all know Jack. I needed some midfield cover and as he's free, I was more than happy to bring him in.

Andrea Papetti - £1.8M - Brescia - Really promising young defender. He'll be spending the first season out on loan.

Nicolo Rovella - £1.8M - Genoa - He'll be spending this season with us rather than out on loan - I intend to slowly bed him in at DLP, mainly giving him minutes in cup games.

Martin Palumbo - £900k - Udinese - The Italian spree continues. He looks like he's got some really promising stats and hopefully he can develop into a really good partner for Rovella. Like Papetti, he'll be spending the season out on loan.

Yusuf Demir - £34M - Rapid Wien - Yusuf was a little bit of a panic signing. I needed an attacking midfielder to replace the outgoing Ozil, and I was able to bring him in with the majority of the money being spread out in installments. I'm not expecting him to set the world on fire straight away, but he'll be a rotation option for the first season or two while he develops.

Emiliano Buendia - £50M - Norwich - I was panicking a bit, as mentioned above with Demir. My intention was to buy both of them, but Norwich wouldn't budge at all and I couldn't afford him with the budget I had left over. I decided to go with one last throw of the dice and ask the board to handle it, which they did. It's a little more expensive than I'd have liked, but I've been a fan of Emi for a few years and I'm hoping he can make the step up.

 

Out

Matt Macey - £240k - Austin FC - Matt was never going to play for me, so I decided to bring some cash in while I still can.

Cedric - £17.25M - Crystal Palace - Cedric is an acceptable backup, but I'd much rather give minutes to AMN.

Sokratis - Loan (£575k) - Real Valladolid - I'm disappointed with this one. Early in the window it looked like I was getting £5M for him, but he ended up rejecting both Burnley and Brighton.

Andrea Papetti - Loan (£54k) - Burnley - As mentioned above, the intention was to loan out Papetti this year. He'll be spending the season as a squad player at Burnley, so should hopefully get some PL minutes.

Martin Palumbo - Loan (£56k) - Colchester - Palumbo will be getting minutes at a lower level, but he's considered a regular starter there. Colchester have good facilities, so hopefully they'll be able to help him develop nicely.

Mesut Ozil - £12M - Napoli - I did it. I'm not convinced with this one as it left me scrambling slightly, but I felt the need to cash in while I still could. Hopefully he doesn't leave too big a hole in the squad.

David Luiz - £5M - Real Sociedad - Similar to the other aging players I sold, I wanted to cash in and get money while I still could. I'm sure I could have used David this year and he'd have performed fine, but his minutes can now go to Holding, Chambers and Saliba.

Sead Kolasinac - Loan (£575k) - Betis - This loan comes with an optional fee of £27M. I initially had an offer of £11M for him, which I rejected. He's still got a couple of years left on his deal, so if Betis decide not to buy him I'll move him on in the summer.

Mohamed Elneny - Loan (£325k) - Leeds - Again, another optional fee. This time it's £23.5M. He's in the same boat as Kolasinac - I'll be selling him either way at the end of the season. 

 

This now means the squad ends up looking much younger - it's definitely a weaker squad than I'd have liked, but this is (hopefully) the first step in the right direction. Young players with plenty of drive and room to grow, with some older players to guide them through.

GK: Leno | Runarsson 

RB: Bellerin | Chambers

CB: Holding | Gabriel | Mustafi | Mari | Saliba | Chambers

LB: Tierney | AMN

CM: Partey | Xhaka | Ceballos | Rovella | Wilshere | Willock

RW: Pepe | Saka | Demir

AM: Buendia | Willian | ESR

LW: Aubameyang | Nelson | Martinelli

ST: Lacazette | Nketiah | Balogun

 

 

August & September recap

The first couple of months went... ok? Considering our relatively poor transfer window, I'm not too disheartened. Buendia wasn't signed in time for the Community Shield game vs Liverpool, and unfortunately we ended up losing 3-1. We were slightly unfortunate to lose I feel - we had a goal disallowed and pretty much matched them in terms of xG. Promising signs considering the squad overhauls.

Our other results were:

Arsenal 5 - 1 Southampton (PL)

Leeds 0 - 2 Arsenal (PL)

Fulham 1 - 4 Arsenal (EFL)

Arsenal 9 - 0 Fulham (PL)

Arsenal 5 - 0 Birmingham (EFL)

Some of our key players so far are:

Aubameyang - 4 games - 5 goals/3 assists

Lacazette - 4 games - 7 goals/1 assist

Buendia - 3(1) games - 2 goals/3 assists

Nketiah - 2(1) games - 4 goals

Demir - 2(3) games - 3 goals/1 assist

[BrickCommo23]

17 hours ago, SortitoutsiVP said:

Anyone else have a complete change in performances/results since the patch?

First game I lost 0-1 at home to Newcastle after previously being unbeaten for 28 matches. Most other games have been a struggle and even if we have created loads of chances we've been very poor in front of goal compared to before. Scrapped through to the FA Cup final only to be well beaten by 10th place Bournemouth, threw away the Premier League to Chelsea when before hand we looked odds on to win it but did manage to win the Champions League though just seemed more through luck than anything else.

I know they say there's no changes to the ME but had exactly the same problems with the last patch, just seems to completely ruing your save.

Yes!! Possession has dropped off and attacking is far less potent. My system was working nicely bit now I'm managing circa 60-65% possession but only managing 1.5xG or so... I'm with you 

[hasdgfas]

JANUARY 2024 UPDATE:

COMPETITIONS:

Overall, a good start to the season. Still alive in everything.

Premier League:

An away loss and 4 away draws are what's currently hurting us. We drew at Man United to keep it close up top, but they need to start losing more if we want to catch up.

Champions League:

I thought this group would give me more trouble than it did.

MATCHES:

As you can see, good performances overall, and we had some tough fixtures! Hopefully some of these turning into home ties in the second half of the season will help us catch up to United.

INDIVIDUAL HONORS:

Musa Barrow and Nicolas Pepe with fantastic seasons and CAF Footballer of the year shows it. Barrow came third in Ballon 'Or but couldn't quite be consistent enough to take it. Still fantastic for us.

No real player performances of note in the squad mid-season, hopefully by the end of the season. Our goals are being very spread out, which is nice, but it means that there's no standouts.

[Caka]

Hi guys, I have been enjoying reading about everyone's saves.

I was just wondering what stats or metrics do you guys keep track of during a game (if possible, with a screenshot).

I just started playing FM21 and it is a little different from FM20 during a game, and I am struggling to get the right stat screen up during a match.

(Not sure if it's just me, but it seems like you have access to less information during a game on FM21 compared to FM20

Edited January 10, 2021 by Caka

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

15 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

I'd take that offer. I tried utilizing Ozil in a save, using an AP, which should be his specialty. And then he just threw a fit about being homesick and I wished I had cashed in on him. Saving on half his wages and another 12M is an easy accept for me. There are so many other players you could play there, either youngsters or cheaper buys that you'll get more time out of. With that good an offer, don't fall into the trap of trying to squeeze more money out.

I wouldnt sell as i used ozil and it worked very well. i gave him a two year deal, and took him off the transfer list, and after an injury, he did really well. i mainly used him as an advanced playmaker attack in an mc or amc position

[Sysiphus]

Do you guys know why every player I'm trying to sign in the summer window after the 1st season will not join until January 2022? I'm signing these guys in June/July 2021 and it makes squad building very hard as I can't sell deadwood when no new signings will arrive in the first half of the upcoming season. Can't find anything on this when googling.

 

[Telegram Sam]

On 09/01/2021 at 00:38, Telegram Sam said:

OCTOBER 2020 UPDATE

After a perfect start to the season where we won the Community Shield and won all three of our opening Premier League fixtures, we continued our scintillating form into October with a 6-0 mauling of Southampton at Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka was incredible form, notching a hat-trick to make it four goals and three assists in four games for the 19-year-old starlet. I hadn't managed to get much of him in a previous save, so seeing him start the season on fire has been particularly pleasing. Aubameyang also got on the scoresheet that day, as did both Thomas Partey and Houssem Aouar, who have started their playing career in North London really well. 

For Saka, the goal that rounded off his hat-trick was the best of the lot—a composed left-foot finish into the top corner of the net:

Our next game, away at Newcastle, brought us crashing back down to the ground a bit. We found ourselves 2-0 down within 7 minutes, as Callum Wilson and Federico Fernandez both scored headed goals in the game's early moments to remind us that we're far from the finished article yet. However, despite that setback, we battered Newcastle for the rest of the game, and eventually found a way back into the game through Nicolas Pepe, who scored his 6th goal of the season after receiving a sublime pass from Houssem Aouar. The Frenchman had gotten off the mark against Southampton and was really taking the game by the scruff of the neck as we needed a comeback.

The Aouar-Pepe partnership nearly paid dividends again after another sublime pass found the Ivorian in the start of the second half, but he was marginally offside and the goal was ruled out. We huffed and puffed but an inspired performance from Dubravka in the Magpies' net looked like it would pay off, all until Willian stepped up to score a stunning free-kick in the final moments of the game. The experienced Brazilian has been really good so far, and is only really out of the side due to the incredible form of Pepe and Saka. This was his most telling contribution yet.

Two points dropped, but when you're 2-0 down and away from home, you'll take a point when you can get it. We followed that result with a convincing 3-0 win over Real Sociedad at home, putting to bed the other decent team in our group with relative ease. It was a good day for Alexandre Lacazette, with a clever near post finish and a converted penalty netting him a brace, whilst Reiss Nelson showcased his quality with a clever finish into the bottom corner. However, the game ended on a sour note, with Dani Ceballos being forced to come off in the dying embers of the game, with the injury in question being a damaged achilles tendon:

Ceballos wasn't a starter for us after the arrivals of Partey and Aouar, but was a useful rotation option. The seriousness of his injury, along with the childish reaction his gave when I tried to reassure him about his injury, has me thinking I may terminate his loan earlier than expected when January rolls around.

After the victory against the club from San Sebastian, we again hit six in the Premier League, with West Ham the unluckly recipients this time. Pepe and Aouar gave us a commanding 2-0 lead early on, before West Ham pulled one back through a headed goal from a free-kick. I was thinking we may have let the Hammers back into the game, but a freak own goal from former Gunner Lukasz Fabianski in the 35th minute resulted in our two-goal lead being restored and any nerves we had dissipating. The game was rounded off by goals from Willian, Saka, and an Aubameyang penalty, and we peppered the West Ham net with 28 shots. Of all the goals, though, it was Aouar's fine strike that deserved a second look:

This leaves us looking great in the league table, especially with out goal difference being so strong. I don't think it'll hold but it's great to see us show a ruthlessness and desire to score consistently. We also remain the only undefeated side in the league, and Spurs remain rooted in the relegation zone:

We finished off the month with a routine 3-0 victory away from home against Croatian outfit NK Lokomotiva, with Nelson, Holding and Willian hitting the back of the net in the second half. After rotating heavily, we struggled in the opening 45 minutes, but Reiss Nelson again impressed with his third goal of the season coming via a brilliantly hit strike from the edge of the box with his left foot.

With October drawing to a close, we again had a player pick up Player of the Month—Thomas Partey's goal and three assists, along with his average rating of 8.07, earning him that honour. Saka came second in the Young Player category, with his four goals in October not proving enough to beat Mason Greenwood. November looks a little trickier, with an away trip to Fulham being followed by home games against Manchester City and Everton, where we'll really need to prove our quality. We will face FC Midtjylland twice in the Europa League during November.

Finally, before I wrap this up, one final, unexpected piece of business was done...

After dismissing the idea in the summer, I have decided to bring in former wonderkid Jack Wilshere on a short-term contract until the end of the season. The injury to Ceballos, as well as a torn groin muscle suffered by Emile Smith Rowe, meant I was lacking options in central midfield during a busy period for the club. With Aouar, Partey and Xhaka forming my midfield three in the Premier League, the injuries to Ceballos and Smith Rowe leave me with only Joe Willock and Mohamed Elneny as central midfield options, the latter of whom is due to head to China in January. Ainsley Maitland-Niles can play in the midfield but I'd prefer to use him as a right back as cover for Bellerin.

I expect Wilshere to play a small handful of games, serving as a body if nothing else. With his own injury problems I hope he is at least able to notch up 10 or so appearances, and I have included a one-year contract extension option for the club to take up if he does better than expected. As a homegrown player he could be registered immediately and his time as a free agent meant he was amiable to a relatively low base salary, which the club can more than afford between now and the summer of 2021. 

NOVEMBER 2020 UPDATE

November has been and gone and, for the most part, it's been a great month. A disappointing 0-0 draw away at Fulham, where we couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo, was followed up by two convincing home victories against Manchester City and Everton. We secured a dramatic victory against 20th-placed West Brom to prevent us going three away games in the league without a win, and qualification from the Europa League was secured with back-to-back victories over FC Midtjylland of Denmark. There's been plenty else to talk about too.

Not much happened in the Fulham game, with us consistently failing to convert chances we created. In the end we were somewhat fortunate to get a point, as Mitrovic had a golden chance in the final minutes to give the home side the win but his header hit the bar and bounced over. Before we travelled to Denmark, some bad news—Alexandre Lacazette, who has had a decent start to the season despite not starting often, picked up a hip injury that rules him out of action for a couple of months. It's not a devastating blow as I've mainly relied on a front three of Aubameyang, Saka and Pepe thus far, but it does mean that I'm more likely to call upon Eddie Nketiah between now and January.

The game itself was rather poor, and it looked like we may fail to win in Europe for the first time as the opposition took a lead in the first half from a headed goal from a set-piece. Our heavily rotated team was not firing on all cylinders. However, we pulled a goal back in the second half as Ainsley Maitland-Niles' thunderous strike rebounded off the frame of the goal and went in off the goalkeeper's arse. In the end, it was the star of the season so far, Nicolas Pepe, who saved the day:

The following game was our biggest test of the season so far, as we hosted Manchester City at Emirates Stadium. It was a nervy game where both sides enjoyed spells of possession, but we mostly defended well and I felt confident we'd put City to bed if the chances came. We opened the scoring through Houssem Aouar, who is becoming increasingly more influential as he settles into life in England. His header from a deep free-kick was not how I expected him to score but it was what we needed to find the breakthrough.

After that, we managed to hold City at arm's length and wrapped things up with a second goal in the 86th minute. Eddie Nketiah, making his first Premier League appearance of the season off the bench with Lacazette out injured, burst through the centre of Manchester City's defence and latched onto a great ball from Thomas Partey to seal the win for us. It was a great moment for the young striker and for the team it was a superb confidence boost to beat a team with title ambitions. Nketiah isn't someone I expected to make much of an impact this season but I hope to give him more minutes if he continues to make runs and finish like this:

Buoyed by this victory, our following game saw us run out comfortable victors over Everton as we put them to the sword to win by four goals to nil. Our 23 shots to their 3 reflected our confident performance, with David Luiz's first goal of the season being followed with goals from high performers Pepe, Saka and Aouar. At home we seem unbeatable at the moment, and that win was followed by a relatively routine 3-0 win against our Danish friends in the Europa League. We didn't make the breakthrough until a run from Joe Willock resulted in a penalty, converted by Willian, in the 58th minute. Nketiah managed to get himself two more goals in the ten minute period that followed and we cruised to victory from then.

Everything seemed to be going well—almost too well—and the end of November threw up a couple of challenges. First, Sead Kolasinac came to me insisting he was deserved of a new contract, and wasn't placated at all when I informed him no new deal was forthcoming. The Bosnian full-back has done well in Europe against lesser opposition and serves as a fine back-up option to Kieran Tierney, but I planned to likely sell him for a younger, cheaper option next summer, and certainly didn't want to offer him improved terms when he already earns £100k p/w. This resulted in both Granit Xhaka and (somewhat bizarrely) Gabriel Martinelli coming to me in support of their teammate. I had planned to phase out Xhaka next summer as well, but he's been a regular starter so far this year, and his complaints may quicken his departure from the club. Martinelli, who has been injured and not played for me yet, will be given some more time and patience to get over the issue.

Our final game of the month came against West Brom, the worst team in the league so far. We took an early lead through Pepe, but gifted them an equalizer after Gabriel's poor back pass to Bernd Leno allowed the Baggies to draw level. We have struggled on the road against lesser sides, with points dropped at both Craven Cottage and St James' Park, and it looked like it would happen again after we struggled to exert our influence over our weaker opposition. Disaster then struck when Pepe, our player of the season, went off injured, and left us trying to find a victory with ten men on the pitch after all my substitutions had been used. In the end, however, we stole a victory after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got onto the end of a suicidal pass from a West Brom defender and poked the ball home in extra time. It was an important goal for our captain, who has been unimpressive at times this season and somewhat overshadowed by the likes of Pepe and Saka. As a side note, Jack Wilshere came off the bench to make his first appearance for the club since 2018, after numerous games for the U23s allowed him to regain a better level of fitness.

We ground out a win, but there was bad news for Pepe:

This really was about the worst news we could have gotten, as Pepe has been our best player and arguably the best player in the league this season. He has 7 goals and 5 assists in 10 Premier League alone, and 11 in all competitions, and I worry what impact his absence will have on the team as we approach the busy Christmas period. I'm going to be relying on Willian to step up and will certainly offer more chances to Nketiah and Reiss Nelson, the latter of whom has particularly impressed in the Europa League this season.

Nonetheless, after 10 games this season we sit atop of the Premier League, a point clear of Manchester United and three ahead of reigning champions Liverpool:

Our start has been great but I remain wary of the fact we have yet to face Liverpool, United or Chelsea in any capacity, and our only match against any side in the top nine teams in the league was at home against Manchester City. Our away form has been a bit shakier and we've only played four games on the road thus far. We travel to overperforming Sheffield United next, before two home games against Leeds and Brighton. The year will end with much trickier opposition, with a trip to Anfield in the Carabao Cup quarter-final being followed with a trip to lowly Tottenham—now out of the relegation zone, barely—and a home game against Chelsea to close out the year. 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Telegram Sam

[RossoneriGunner]

Does anyone know who arranges friendlies. I set up my pre season friendlies and then I get things like PSG, Real Madrid and Wimbledon have accepted the friendlies, when I didnt even know they had been arranged. I don't want anyone else but ME choosing the friendlies and the time between fixtures.

[Telegram Sam]

7 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Does anyone know who arranges friendlies. I set up my pre season friendlies and then I get things like PSG, Real Madrid and Wimbledon have accepted the friendlies, when I didnt even know they had been arranged. I don't want anyone else but ME choosing the friendlies and the time between fixtures.

Go to your schedule, and then at the bottom of the page you'll see the Responsibilities tab. You can click that and you'll then see an option that mentions backroom staff arranging friendlies for the first team. Uncheck this box and then only you will be able to arrange friendly games.

[RossoneriGunner]

4 minutes ago, Telegram Sam said:

Go to your schedule, and then at the bottom of the page you'll see the Responsibilities tab. You can click that and you'll then see an option that mentions backroom staff arranging friendlies for the first team. Uncheck this box and then only you will be able to arrange friendly games.

Cheers Sam, I looked everywhere, probably looking so hard I couldn't see the wood for the trees LOL.

Just seen it, its right next to where I choose arrange friendly 😂

Edited January 10, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[Gilberto Silva]

I planned to reintegrate Guendouzi into the squad for the second season, yet a week into pre-season he complained about he was being treated despite me not doing anything wrong and then has kicked off to the press.

Changed my mind, going to sell him. Anyone else had difficulties with him?

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

7 hours ago, Gilberto Silva said:

I planned to reintegrate Guendouzi into the squad for the second season, yet a week into pre-season he complained about he was being treated despite me not doing anything wrong and then has kicked off to the press.

Changed my mind, going to sell him. Anyone else had difficulties with him?

no, as he is still on loan. howevere, my backroom staff seem to have been given the new contract responsibilty, and he has signed a 5 year deal worth what i think was 100k p/w, so even if he kicks off, and he probably will because he's guendouzi, I can't sell him. its a bit of a pain

[WillyBroadband]

7 hours ago, Gilberto Silva said:

I planned to reintegrate Guendouzi into the squad for the second season, yet a week into pre-season he complained about he was being treated despite me not doing anything wrong and then has kicked off to the press.

Changed my mind, going to sell him. Anyone else had difficulties with him?

I got rid as soon as he got back from Berlin, mate. Sold him to Porto for about £25M. 

[RossoneriGunner]

8 minutes ago, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

no, as he is still on loan. howevere, my backroom staff seem to have been given the new contract responsibilty, and he has signed a 5 year deal worth what i think was 100k p/w, so even if he kicks off, and he probably will because he's guendouzi, I can't sell him. its a bit of a pain

That's why I am the only one who deals with contracts, even down to backroom staff. I had a situation where a scout was offered a contract for 5 years and he only had 5, 6 for judging player potential and player ability.......crazy. It was also the same for physio's who had ratings of 9, 10, 12, sorry but NOT good enough for Arsenal.

[RossoneriGunner]

2 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

I got rid as soon as he got back from Berlin, mate. Sold him to Porto for about £25M. 

I was thinking about using him when he came back, but now, bye bye pal.

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

8 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

That's why I am the only one who deals with contracts, even down to backroom staff. I had a situation where a scout was offered a contract for 5 years and he only had 5, 6 for judging player potential and player ability.......crazy. It was also the same for physio's who had ratings of 9, 10, 12, sorry but NOT good enough for Arsenal.

I realised this the second they signed guendouzi. 100k is way to much for a player who can kick off at any time, and 5 years means it wont be easy to sell him. On top of that, he isn't as good as tonali, my target for deep lying playmaker, and isnt as good as partey, my box-to box midfielder. I now deal with contracts for all players and staff. on the up side, my staff got holding on a 3-year contract, and he has been consistently one of my best players, forming a great partnership with either gabriel or mari

[WillyBroadband]

10 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

That's why I am the only one who deals with contracts, even down to backroom staff. I had a situation where a scout was offered a contract for 5 years and he only had 5, 6 for judging player potential and player ability.......crazy. It was also the same for physio's who had ratings of 9, 10, 12, sorry but NOT good enough for Arsenal.

Yeah man, same here. I take responsibility for everything - only thing I don't do is manage the games for U23 & U18. I do their training though. 

[RossoneriGunner]

1 minute ago, WillyBroadband said:

Yeah man, same here. I take responsibility for everything - only thing I don't do is manage the games for U23 & U18. I do their training though. 

Don't get me started on training 😂, I leave ALL training to Steve Round.

[RossoneriGunner]

12 minutes ago, Mr. VerticalTikiTaka said:

 got holding on a 3-year contract, and he has been consistently one of my best players, forming a great partnership with either gabriel or mari

I have been using Saliba and he has been brilliant.

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

12 hours ago, Telegram Sam said:

 

 

After that, we managed to hold City at arm's length and wrapped things up with a second goal in the 86th minute. Eddie Nketiah, making his first Premier League appearance of the season off the bench with Lacazette out injured, burst through the centre of Manchester City's defence and latched onto a great ball from Thomas Partey to seal the win for us. It was a great moment for the young striker and for the team it was a superb confidence boost to beat a team with title ambitions. Nketiah isn't someone I expected to make much of an impact this season but I hope to give him more minutes if he continues to make runs and finish like this:

I also found nketiah great, particularly in one game against west brom, where we were underperforming massively, but with the poacher role, he capitalised on 2 defesive errors, mugging the ball of one defender early in the game, and getting on the end of a poor backpass towards the end. his finishing was clinical on both occaisions, and we won 2-1

 

 I'm going to be relying on Willian to step up and will certainly offer more chances to Nketiah and Reiss Nelson, the latter of whom has particularly impressed in the Europa League this season. 

I have had a very good season with willian, who was scoring plenty of goals early on, until the great form of nelson, who had plenty of great games, getting 7 assists by feburary. nketiah has always been good aswel, although he missed a sitter against ajax in the europa league

 

 

[RogerC]

38 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Don't get me started on training 😂, I leave ALL training to Steve Round.

I recommend you check this out: 

 

https://www.fmscout.com/a-fm21-development-guide-and-training-schedules.html

I just recently saw this, still trying it out.

[RossoneriGunner]

I love Eddie and Willian, I'm also using Kolasinac and Cedric. I am going to start a career save. I know I've said this before BUT, I am a 'Tinkerman' 😂. I start a save then I make a tactic, then I read about some else's tactic and I use that to compare against mine, then I think yeah this tactic is great, the I read about...........yeah you got it, I start all over again LOL. I have now started a save which I will keep.🤞🏻

[RossoneriGunner]

6 minutes ago, RogerC said:

I recommend you check this out: 

 

https://www.fmscout.com/a-fm21-development-guide-and-training-schedules.html

I just recently saw this, still trying it out.

I have seen this one and many, many more 😂 but I am never going to get into the training side of it. I started playing this game when it first came out in 1992 and I have NEVER done the training side of it. I stopped playing after the 2014 version, so that's 22 years and I've never trained a player 😂

[RogerC]

5 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

I have seen this one and many, many more 😂 but I am never going to get into the training side of it. I started playing this game when it first came out in 1992 and I have NEVER done the training side of it. I stopped playing after the 2014 version, so that's 22 years and I've never trained a player 😂

I have never really done it before, but with the preset schedules it is actually quite easy, you just have to select and replace the current weeks with the preset ones.

[RossoneriGunner]

Just had an inbox message 'Jack O'Doherty (Brighton) set to sign for Arsenal' as a U18's Physio, his physio stat........11. I rest my case your honour.

Edited January 11, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[WillyBroadband]

26 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

I have seen this one and many, many more 😂 but I am never going to get into the training side of it. I started playing this game when it first came out in 1992 and I have NEVER done the training side of it. I stopped playing after the 2014 version, so that's 22 years and I've never trained a player 😂

I find it massively helpful man. Can make a player that extra bit special, from my experience anyway. 

[WillyBroadband]

16 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

I find it massively helpful man. Can make a player that extra bit special, from my experience anyway. 

But I can also understand why you don't. 

[RossoneriGunner]

5 minutes ago, WillyBroadband said:

But I can also understand why you don't. 

I'm just about to watch that video again......but ain't promising anything LOL

[RossoneriGunner]

19 minutes ago, RossoneriGunner said:

I'm just about to watch that video again......but ain't promising anything LOL

Well I managed to get to 4mins 24secs then turned it off. He goes on about 'ALL' coaches looking at their hidden stats, personalities etc, etc. If I win the PL, ECC, FA.Cup, League Cup and the Charity Shield or any combination or just the PL with my coaches doing the training, then job done and everyone's happy.

Sorry guys but, training is definitely not for me, but thanks anyway guy's. 🍺🍺

Edited January 11, 2021 by RossoneriGunner

[Mr. VerticalTikiTaka]

I had a question about what tactics I should be using. At the moment, I play a 4-3-3 Dm wide or a 4-2-3-1 wide depending on opposition and available players (i tinker with these. depending on opposition, but these are the standard formations). I am quite happy with my vertical tiki-taka style, but I am worried that 'focus play through the middle' means the ball doesnt get to my full backs until they are really high up the pitch. I am also worried about my intensity. I have set my pressing intensity to 'slighly more urgent' and my team is on 'higher tempo', with my mentality set to positive. Unfortunately, my team do not seem to be pressing and passing with as much speed and urgency as I would like. Should I up my tempo and risk injuries, or stick with what I am doing, which has got me to 3rd with a game in hand on everyone

[RogerC]

1 hour ago, RossoneriGunner said:

Well I managed to get to 4mins 24secs then turned it off. He goes on about 'ALL' coaches looking at their hidden stats, personalities etc, etc. If I win the PL, ECC, FA.Cup, League Cup and the Charity Shield or any combination or just the PL with my coaches doing the training, then job done and everyone's happy.

Sorry guys but, training is definitely not for me, but thanks anyway guy's. 🍺🍺

It's mostly about training schedules and quantity and quality of player development, more than the coach side of things. BUT to each their own hehe

[RossoneriGunner]

I've started scouting this new guy Man Utd signed IRL from Serie A side Atalanta. His name is Amad Diallo, just curious.