Arsenal - What is going wrong?

[shaunpaul660]

Hi guys,

I don't post on here very often but I read a lot of topics on this forum.

Basically, I decided to give Arsenal a try, brought in a few players to make an instant impact into the first-team and a few youngsters to develop. The season started off disastrously, losing 4 of my first 7 league games. Results have been picking up for the last few games and I have just about avoided the sack for the time being (I hope).

I would love a few tips/pointers on ways I can improve my tactics and/or playing squad.

I am on patch 14.3.1 and this is the probably the first time I have really struggled on the game so far. I really want to blame the patch but I think it's my tactics which are letting me down haha.

If there is anything else I need to upload for you guys to assist me please let me know

 

[hoosier7]

Does Giroud work well as a poacher in your counter tactic? Try Rambo at DLP alongside Wilshere in the same tactic, i had good results with that plus the wingers on support. Also drill crosses with Giroud up top is no good. You could try Theo up top and Ozil off the right, i had plenty of success with Ozil there but i don't know how Theo would do up front.

I couldn't get Mertesacker to play well for me, looked vulnerable any time he closed down because of his lack of pace and he was poor at playing out from the back (unlike real life sadly). I've heard TV is actually pretty good so give him a go maybe? That or get Balanta he's been quality for me.

Maybe tweak the fullbacks, i use someone else's tactic and it has one fullback on defensive and the other with CWB or something like that, i forget the name, never leaves you exposed.

Balanced can sometimes be better than fluid, might be worth a go. Looking at your 4-2-3-1 control tactic you might want to set the second midfielder to defensive or switch the wingers to support, seems pretty attacking.

 

[shaunpaul660]

I've not really played that much of my counter tactic, Giroud id doing pretty well, got 19 in 17 appearances but as a Poacher I'm not so sure to be honest. Also, I can definitely see what you mean with the tactics being quite attacking. Very good point with drill crosses and Giroud not working, I didn't even notice that. I agree with Mertesacker as well, looking to replace him in January if I can get decent funds for him. For the time being I will give Vermaelen more game time and see how that goes. Nice idea with the full backs I will give that a go.

I will adjust the tactics with your suggestions and I will come back on and discuss the results.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Igneos79]

if you want to play counter, you must understand your team is not always on the counter. When the players see a counter attacking opportunity, with counter or defensive strategy, they will take it and ignore your tactical instructions. Therefore it would be more suitable to set your instructions to what you want your players to do when counter is not on.

 

[shaunpaul660]

Ahhh right ok, I never knew that. I will bear that in mind. Cheers dude!

 

[alexdesouza]

I just started a new season with Arsenal too. Check out my results...

My tip? Stop buying so many players and take more time scouting teams and using the right players. If you haven't got a grasp on tactics I suggest using a smaller team as it takes longer to learn with a lot of the bigger teams because of our perceptions of them. That means that certain players we think play certain roles do the opposite in FM14. One such player is Aaron Ramsey. He was our best defensive midfielder last year but it's close to impossible to play him in any defensive role without it being kind of leaky. We play kind of like Dortmund who have Bender, Gundogan and Mhkikicjijely and we have Ramsey, Wilshere and Ozil. If you play a high pressing game and take extra caution of their condition and give certain players rest when needed and adjust your training if games have 2 or 3 days between the next game. YES, it makes the game much longer but it's worth it.

Here's some screen shots of my season so far...

I only signed 4 players (with LFC Marshall update) - Lukaku, Caulker, Aurier and Vorm.

View attachment 372158 View attachment 372157 View attachment 372156

Loving this team |)

Really want to try get Pogba in the middle and maybe Draxler on the left but otherwise happy with this team.

Might sell Arteta or Flamini next season (one of them, not both) and also one of Podolski or Monreal.

I don't like changing the team around too much. No need.

Good luck on your team bro. It's a COMBINATION of things not just tactics or players... also focus on media when needed. It DOES make a difference to be as "neutral" as possible as to not inflict more damage on your team. I never try create chaos and often laugh off their comments or no comment. TROLL FTW. Have fun with the game that's kind of what it's about..

 

[Igneos79]

Here, try this for a spin. I have just created it,

 

[Logorex]

I just started a new season with Arsenal too. Check out my results...

My tip? Stop buying so many players and take more time scouting teams and using the right players. If you haven't got a grasp on tactics I suggest using a smaller team as it takes longer to learn with a lot of the bigger teams because of our perceptions of them. That means that certain players we think play certain roles do the opposite in FM14. One such player is Aaron Ramsey. He was our best defensive midfielder last year but it's close to impossible to play him in any defensive role without it being kind of leaky. We play kind of like Dortmund who have Bender, Gundogan and Mhkikicjijely and we have Ramsey, Wilshere and Ozil. If you play a high pressing game and take extra caution of their condition and give certain players rest when needed and adjust your training if games have 2 or 3 days between the next game. YES, it makes the game much longer but it's worth it.

Here's some screen shots of my season so far...

I only signed 4 players (with LFC Marshall update) - Lukaku, Caulker, Aurier and Vorm.

View attachment 607100 View attachment 607102 View attachment 607103

Loving this team |)

Really want to try get Pogba in the middle and maybe Draxler on the left but otherwise happy with this team.

How much did you buy Lukaku for?
And what's the price on Pogba? o:

 

[alexdesouza]

Plus about 4m of addons

36m looked better than 40m otherwise they would have accepted it in parts.

I paid 32m up front, 4m over 48 months and 4m worth of add-ons based on performances/appearances/etc.

View attachment 372141

YOLO.

 

[shaunpaul660]

Thanks for the pointers man, much appreciated. I think my main problem was just getting the team to play how I want them to play rather than trying to stop the opposition as well. The past few games I have calmed it down on the attackingness (if that's even a word lol) and form is definitely picking up. I don't know why but I have some crazy obsession with buying players that I probably don't even need. I've done quite a few saves with Rotherham (my team) and saves with the likes of Juve and Southampton, but I get bored after a few years, so I'm wanting this to be a long term project to work on. I'll definitely bear the media in mind in the future, good shout on that one.

Also thanks Igneos, I will try your tactic and report back

 

[David M Caine]

Your basic tactic is gd but id def switch to balanced instead of fluid really makes a big difference with 4-2-3-1 formations plus switching the wingers to support gets them tackling back and helping out defensively.

Lastly remove use offside trap and push up because both instructions leave your defence too far up the pitch, replace those 2 instructions with drop deeper.

 

[Logorex]

Plus about 4m of addons

36m looked better than 40m otherwise they would have accepted it in parts.

I paid 32m up front, 4m over 48 months and 4m worth of add-ons based on performances/appearances/etc.

View attachment 607142

YOLO.

Hey, if it works, it works.
I haven't had Lukaku since FM 2011. :/ I honestly kind of want him, he seems to be a great, physical striker.
What role do you play him as?

 

[Igneos79]

Your basic tactic is gd but id def switch to balanced instead of fluid really makes a big difference with 4-2-3-1 formations plus switching the wingers to support gets them tackling back and helping out defensively.

Lastly remove use offside trap and push up because both instructions leave your defence too far up the pitch, replace those 2 instructions with drop deeper.

actually, fluid suits 4-2-3-1 well because you want your many forward players to help defence, and not get outnumbered....what you should do with 4231 is play attack strategy...

 

[alexdesouza]

Hey, if it works, it works.
I haven't had Lukaku since FM 2011. :/ I honestly kind of want him, he seems to be a great, physical striker.
What role do you play him as?

Woops I accidentally deleted my response while trying to edit it... re-wrote this...

I play him as AF[a] or Poacher depending on a LOT (about 8) variables.

Tactic changes with his role so it's a little irrelevant what role I play him in.

Just check my stats on the defenders... minimum goals/assists (Monreal had 3 assists against Grasshopers in my 8-2 or whatever agg win so that's why he's higher, otherwise only 1 assist in remaining games). Needless to say I'm stoked with this season and I will continue on gloating till I convince people that signings aren't as important as playing good football. Period.

View attachment 372135

 

[Logorex]

Woops I accidentally deleted my response while trying to edit it... re-wrote this...

I play him as AF[a] or Poacher depending on a LOT (about 8) variables.

Tactic changes with his role so it's a little irrelevant what role I play him in.

Just check my stats on the defenders... minimum goals/assists (Monreal had 3 assists against Grasshopers in my 8-2 or whatever agg win so that's why he's higher, otherwise only 1 assist in remaining games). Needless to say I'm stoked with this season and I will continue on gloating till I convince people that signings aren't as important as playing good football. Period.

View attachment 607180

I can't disagree with that. If there's one thing I love to do on this game, it's not only to develop my own players, but to play the best football we can.