Arsenal Team Guide in FM2008
Average Rating: 8/10 Hits: 4443 Submitted: Nov 6, 2007
Here you can find various hints and tips when it comes to managing Arsenal in Football Manager 2008. Ranging from all the basic information about the club, the history of the club, the expectations of the club in both the current season and over the coming years, an overview of the squad and players at your disposal, the best players to buy, the players you should be looking to sell, the best tactics to use, both for attack and defensive and much, much more.
Basically everything you need to know, to aid your career managing Arsenal in the English Premiership, in FM2008.
Arsenal were founded in 1886 as Dial Square. They went through several name changes until they were officially renamed as Arsenal in 1914, just one year after moving into long term home Highbury Stadium. In the 1930's Arsenal enjoyed arguably their most successful spell in terms of trophies, winning 12 in total including 5 old First Division Titles. After World War 2 Arsenal picked up another couple of trophies but entering the mid 1950's the started struggling and went through a lengthly trophyless era. This ended at the beginning of the 1970's when the won their first European Trophy, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
Arsenal
Nation: England
Founded: 1886
Status: Professional
Reputation: Continental
Chairman Status: Enjoying life at the club
Favoured Personnel: Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger, Kolo Toure, Tony Adams, Jehns Lehmann, Patrick Vieira
Fierce Rivals: Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man Utd
Other Rivals: West Ham
Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Capacity: 60432
Pitch Size: Length: 102m Width:68m
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Excellent youth facilities + youth acadamy
Media Prediction: 4th
Captain: William Gallas
Parent Clubs: None
Feeder Clubs: Barnet (England), BEC (Thailand), Boreham Wood (England), Gia Lai (Vietnam)
Transfer Budget: £25m
Wage Budget: £1.1m
In Real Life
Arsenal were founded in 1886 as Dial Square. They went through several name changes until they were officially renamed as Arsenal in 1914, just one year after moving into long term home Highbury Stadium. In the 1930's Arsenal enjoyed arguably their most successful spell in terms of trophies, winning 12 in total including 5 old First Division Titles. After World War 2 Arsenal picked up another couple of trophies but entering the mid 1950's the started struggling and went through a lengthly trophyless era. This ended at the beginning of the 1970's when the won their first European Trophy, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
The following year Arsenal managed to grab a League and Cup double, the first timethey ever achieved this feat.The double winning side was dismantled and Arsenal, over the next decade, were the nearly men of English football finishing as runner up in the League and three times in the FA Cup. They also finished as runners-up in the Cup Winners Cup in 1980. The one and only trophy they managed to win during that era was the FA Cup in 1979.
George Graham
The lean years ended when George Graham was appointed as manager in 1986. Under the Scots' guidance Arsenal returned to the winning ways ofthe 1930's. Grahams' team won two League titles, two League Cups, one FA Cup and another European Cup Winners Cup. Graham was eventually sacked in 1995 when it was revealed he had taken bungs for sigining certain players.
Arsene Wenger took over in 1996, shortly after the departure of Bruce Rioch, and since then Arsenal have become one of the biggest clubs in both England and Europe. During Wengers' tenure Arsenal have lifted no less than 12 trophies including three Premiership titles. The most notable of these League triumphs came in the 03/04 when the team didn't lose a single match during the entire campaign earning themselves the nickname "The Invincibles".
In more recent seasons Arsenal have struggled, domestically at least, to live upto their own high standards finishing in 4th place in the League. However in Europe Wenger did lead them to the Champions League Final in 2005/2006, for the first time in their history, where they lost 2-1 to Barcelona
Emirates Stadium
In July 2006 Arsenal broke almost 100 years of tradition when they moved into the newly built Emirates Stadium. The 60,432 all seater stadium the second largest stadium in the Premiership with only bitter rivals Manchester Utd's Old Trafford above it. Since moving into their new abode the clubs turnover has increased by almost 50% and in terms of financial stability the club are now the richest team in England.
In Football Manager
Arsenal, in FM 08, are just as good as they are in real life. The boardrs' aims reflect this. As a result you are expected to qualify for the Champions League through your final League place and you are given a hefty transfer budget of £25m with a wage budget of £825k.
I would however suggest you up the ante and aim to actually challenging for the title. The increased expectation you place upon yourself if you aim higher comes with an increased transfer and wage budget of £33m and £925k respectively.
On top of the hefty transfer kitty, you will find that Arsenal are not in desperate need of any new faces and you could without a doubt win the League without bringing in anyone. With players like Jens Lehmann, Kolo Toure, Francesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor in your team you have strength throughout the entire squad. If you did decide to spend your money then although not essential, I would bring in a new striker to complement the ones you already have and a left sided winger to compete with Thomas Rosicky.
Your Squad
Goalkeepers
You have three potential first team players toughing it out for the No1 spot. Without a shadow of a doubt this should be none other than the German national keeper Jens Lehmann. The 37 year old is reliable but is prone to making the odd error due to his high level of eccentricity, not to dis-similar from what he is like in real life. Regardless of this, he is still undeniably the best keeper in the squad.
Jens Lehmann
Fighting it out for a place on the bench as 2nd choice goalkeeper you have Spaniard Manuel Alumnia. The 30 year old signed in season 04-05 from Albacete and has lived in the shadow of Lehmann, making only 11 appearances before the start of this season.
Then you have youngster Lukasz Fabianski who joined the club at the tail end of last season. The 22 year old is viewed as the long term replacement to Lehmann by the current Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger but in my opinion he is not up to the required standard and both he and Alumnia should be sold with the view of bringing in somebody more capable.
Defenders
Arsenal have arguably two of the best centre backs at the start of the game in Kolo Toure and William Gallas. Both defenders are nothing short of amazing both on the ground and in the air whilst possessing the ability to mark almost anyone out of the game. In my opinion you will struggle to find another team with a better central defensive pairing at the start of the game. As cover you have young Swiss centre back Phillipe Senderos and Brazilian Gilberto Silva who is equally adapt at playing in central midfield.
On the right flank, playing as a wing back rather than as a full back you have Emmanuel Eboue. the Ivory Coast international came to prominence in the 05/06 season in place of the injured Lauren. Battling against Eboue is another player signed by Arsene Wenger from his home country of France. Bakary Sagna was brought in this summer from AJ Auxerre for a fee thought to be around the region of £6m.
On the opposite side of the pitch playing at left wing back is another Frenchman, the highly talented and pacey Gael Clichy. As Clichys understudy is 17 year old, superstar in the making, Armand Traore. The teenager has the potential to become one of the left backs in the game.
(Left to Right: Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue)
Midfielders
Arsenal have one of the best midfielders in the game in young Spanish sensation Francesc Fabregas. The 20 year old, already an established Spanish INternationalist, is the lynchpin of the team and you should not sell him in any circumstance and you will have to keep knocking back big bids for him from the teams who perform in the upper echelons of European football like Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich. Partnering Cesc should be either Abou Diaby or Denilson. From these two I would opt for Abou Diaby as he seems slightly more capable of playing in the first team at such a young age. This leaves you with Denilson and Alexandre Song fighting to make the step up and get a regular game in the centre of the park.
As with the defence where I opted to go with wing backs instead of full backs, I have chosen to go with wingers playing in the more advanced role of attacking midfielders. Out on the left there is only one choice and he will very rarely let you down. Thomas Rosicky is so fluent and consistent that you will struggle to find anyone more suitable to play in his position. In case of an injury to him then a slight shuffle if the attacking players is all that is needed, moving either Robin Van Persie or Eduardo out into that position.
On the opposite side Aliaksandr Hleb is the stand out choice, much like Rosickyon the opposite flank, he can torment defemders all day long with his runs and trickery. To step in incase of injuries or bans you have young Theo Walcott who has a bright future but still needs a lot of time to develop and turn into the player he has the potential to be.
(left to right: Thomas Rosicky, Francesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Aliaksandr Hleb)
Strikers
Upfront you have five players to choose from however I recommended using one of them on the right wing leaving you with four choices to make up the strike partnership. I found that if you play Robin Van Persie as a striker he perfoms a lot better than if he does on the wing. Partnering the Dutch forward should be Barzilain turned Croatian Eduardo. Both players are capable of getting around the 20 goals per season mark. If either of these two happen to become injured or hit a bad run of form then you can turn to Nicklas Bendtner or Emmanuel Adebayor.
(Left to right: Robin Van Persie, Eduardo
Potential Stars
Trying to pinpoint any specific youngster for stardom from Arsenal is generally an easy task as they have a conveyor belt full of potentially great players including several who have already made the breakthrough to the first team. After spending time looking at the reserve and youth teams I have narrowed it down to three players who are a pick above the rest.
The first is Havard Nordveit. The young Norwegian was brought in from FK Haugesund. He has already featured for the Norwegian U19 sides despite only recently turning 17. He is an exceptional talent, especially for his age and is a player whom I would look at signing as a future star for any other team.
Secondly is the well known Carlos Vela, a reverred superstar of FM 2007, who again in this years version is explosive and will tear defences apart. He starts the game on loan at Osasuna and can get his fair share of first team games there during the year long deal.
Last but not least is Spanish starlet Francisco Merida. At only 17 the attacking midfielder has some pretty impressive stats and under the tutoring of Thomas Rosicky and the odd chance of first team football from the bench the youngster has a bright future at the Emirates Stadium.
Tactical Reccommendations
This tactic may raise a few eyebrows but with the players Arsenal have I decided to experiment and to my surprise I found this to be the best option.
It relies a lot on the wide players to get in decent crosses and takes some of the stress away from central midfielder and playmaker Fabregas.
Transfer Reccommendations
As with my previous guides, I am not going to tell you who to buy, everybody has their own ideas and bring in the players they feel will suit the tactic they are using. However you will need, although not essential straight away, a keeper to replace the ageing Lehmann along with a left sided midfielder/winger and possibly another striker. There are several players like Mathiu Flamini, Lassana Diarra, Justin Hoyte and Johan Djourou who could be sold if you required some extra cash.
Conclusion
Going Arsenal is a lot like going Sevilla in Spain. They are more than capable of challenging for the title but it can at times be difficult. You have such a young squad and at times their inexperience could cause problems when playing in the big matches. You have money at your disposal to turn them into a massive club. Going Arsenal in terms of longetivity could prove to be a short one unless you support them. Achieving domination of both Europe and England is not that difficult and you can win every competition by the second season. So if you are somebody who likes a challenge then I wouldnt suggest going them, instead try the likes of Bolton or Reading.
Arsenal
Nation: England
Founded: 1886
Status: Professional
Reputation: Continental
Chairman Status: Enjoying life at the club
Favoured Personnel: Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger, Kolo Toure, Tony Adams, Jehns Lehmann, Patrick Vieira
Fierce Rivals: Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Man Utd
Other Rivals: West Ham
Stadium: Emirates Stadium
Capacity: 60432
Pitch Size: Length: 102m Width:68m
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Excellent youth facilities + youth acadamy
Media Prediction: 4th
Captain: William Gallas
Parent Clubs: None
Feeder Clubs: Barnet (England), BEC (Thailand), Boreham Wood (England), Gia Lai (Vietnam)
Transfer Budget: £25m
Wage Budget: £1.1m
In Real Life
Arsenal were founded in 1886 as Dial Square. They went through several name changes until they were officially renamed as Arsenal in 1914, just one year after moving into long term home Highbury Stadium. In the 1930's Arsenal enjoyed arguably their most successful spell in terms of trophies, winning 12 in total including 5 old First Division Titles. After World War 2 Arsenal picked up another couple of trophies but entering the mid 1950's the started struggling and went through a lengthly trophyless era. This ended at the beginning of the 1970's when the won their first European Trophy, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.
The following year Arsenal managed to grab a League and Cup double, the first timethey ever achieved this feat.The double winning side was dismantled and Arsenal, over the next decade, were the nearly men of English football finishing as runner up in the League and three times in the FA Cup. They also finished as runners-up in the Cup Winners Cup in 1980. The one and only trophy they managed to win during that era was the FA Cup in 1979.
George Graham
The lean years ended when George Graham was appointed as manager in 1986. Under the Scots' guidance Arsenal returned to the winning ways ofthe 1930's. Grahams' team won two League titles, two League Cups, one FA Cup and another European Cup Winners Cup. Graham was eventually sacked in 1995 when it was revealed he had taken bungs for sigining certain players.
Arsene Wenger took over in 1996, shortly after the departure of Bruce Rioch, and since then Arsenal have become one of the biggest clubs in both England and Europe. During Wengers' tenure Arsenal have lifted no less than 12 trophies including three Premiership titles. The most notable of these League triumphs came in the 03/04 when the team didn't lose a single match during the entire campaign earning themselves the nickname "The Invincibles".
In more recent seasons Arsenal have struggled, domestically at least, to live upto their own high standards finishing in 4th place in the League. However in Europe Wenger did lead them to the Champions League Final in 2005/2006, for the first time in their history, where they lost 2-1 to Barcelona
Emirates Stadium
In July 2006 Arsenal broke almost 100 years of tradition when they moved into the newly built Emirates Stadium. The 60,432 all seater stadium the second largest stadium in the Premiership with only bitter rivals Manchester Utd's Old Trafford above it. Since moving into their new abode the clubs turnover has increased by almost 50% and in terms of financial stability the club are now the richest team in England.
In Football Manager
Arsenal, in FM 08, are just as good as they are in real life. The boardrs' aims reflect this. As a result you are expected to qualify for the Champions League through your final League place and you are given a hefty transfer budget of £25m with a wage budget of £825k.
I would however suggest you up the ante and aim to actually challenging for the title. The increased expectation you place upon yourself if you aim higher comes with an increased transfer and wage budget of £33m and £925k respectively.
On top of the hefty transfer kitty, you will find that Arsenal are not in desperate need of any new faces and you could without a doubt win the League without bringing in anyone. With players like Jens Lehmann, Kolo Toure, Francesc Fabregas and Emmanuel Adebayor in your team you have strength throughout the entire squad. If you did decide to spend your money then although not essential, I would bring in a new striker to complement the ones you already have and a left sided winger to compete with Thomas Rosicky.
Your Squad
Goalkeepers
You have three potential first team players toughing it out for the No1 spot. Without a shadow of a doubt this should be none other than the German national keeper Jens Lehmann. The 37 year old is reliable but is prone to making the odd error due to his high level of eccentricity, not to dis-similar from what he is like in real life. Regardless of this, he is still undeniably the best keeper in the squad.
Jens Lehmann
Fighting it out for a place on the bench as 2nd choice goalkeeper you have Spaniard Manuel Alumnia. The 30 year old signed in season 04-05 from Albacete and has lived in the shadow of Lehmann, making only 11 appearances before the start of this season.
Then you have youngster Lukasz Fabianski who joined the club at the tail end of last season. The 22 year old is viewed as the long term replacement to Lehmann by the current Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger but in my opinion he is not up to the required standard and both he and Alumnia should be sold with the view of bringing in somebody more capable.
Defenders
Arsenal have arguably two of the best centre backs at the start of the game in Kolo Toure and William Gallas. Both defenders are nothing short of amazing both on the ground and in the air whilst possessing the ability to mark almost anyone out of the game. In my opinion you will struggle to find another team with a better central defensive pairing at the start of the game. As cover you have young Swiss centre back Phillipe Senderos and Brazilian Gilberto Silva who is equally adapt at playing in central midfield.
On the right flank, playing as a wing back rather than as a full back you have Emmanuel Eboue. the Ivory Coast international came to prominence in the 05/06 season in place of the injured Lauren. Battling against Eboue is another player signed by Arsene Wenger from his home country of France. Bakary Sagna was brought in this summer from AJ Auxerre for a fee thought to be around the region of £6m.
On the opposite side of the pitch playing at left wing back is another Frenchman, the highly talented and pacey Gael Clichy. As Clichys understudy is 17 year old, superstar in the making, Armand Traore. The teenager has the potential to become one of the left backs in the game.
(Left to Right: Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue)
Midfielders
Arsenal have one of the best midfielders in the game in young Spanish sensation Francesc Fabregas. The 20 year old, already an established Spanish INternationalist, is the lynchpin of the team and you should not sell him in any circumstance and you will have to keep knocking back big bids for him from the teams who perform in the upper echelons of European football like Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan and Bayern Munich. Partnering Cesc should be either Abou Diaby or Denilson. From these two I would opt for Abou Diaby as he seems slightly more capable of playing in the first team at such a young age. This leaves you with Denilson and Alexandre Song fighting to make the step up and get a regular game in the centre of the park.
As with the defence where I opted to go with wing backs instead of full backs, I have chosen to go with wingers playing in the more advanced role of attacking midfielders. Out on the left there is only one choice and he will very rarely let you down. Thomas Rosicky is so fluent and consistent that you will struggle to find anyone more suitable to play in his position. In case of an injury to him then a slight shuffle if the attacking players is all that is needed, moving either Robin Van Persie or Eduardo out into that position.
On the opposite side Aliaksandr Hleb is the stand out choice, much like Rosickyon the opposite flank, he can torment defemders all day long with his runs and trickery. To step in incase of injuries or bans you have young Theo Walcott who has a bright future but still needs a lot of time to develop and turn into the player he has the potential to be.
(left to right: Thomas Rosicky, Francesc Fabregas, Abou Diaby, Aliaksandr Hleb)
Strikers
Upfront you have five players to choose from however I recommended using one of them on the right wing leaving you with four choices to make up the strike partnership. I found that if you play Robin Van Persie as a striker he perfoms a lot better than if he does on the wing. Partnering the Dutch forward should be Barzilain turned Croatian Eduardo. Both players are capable of getting around the 20 goals per season mark. If either of these two happen to become injured or hit a bad run of form then you can turn to Nicklas Bendtner or Emmanuel Adebayor.
(Left to right: Robin Van Persie, Eduardo
Potential Stars
Trying to pinpoint any specific youngster for stardom from Arsenal is generally an easy task as they have a conveyor belt full of potentially great players including several who have already made the breakthrough to the first team. After spending time looking at the reserve and youth teams I have narrowed it down to three players who are a pick above the rest.
The first is Havard Nordveit. The young Norwegian was brought in from FK Haugesund. He has already featured for the Norwegian U19 sides despite only recently turning 17. He is an exceptional talent, especially for his age and is a player whom I would look at signing as a future star for any other team.
Secondly is the well known Carlos Vela, a reverred superstar of FM 2007, who again in this years version is explosive and will tear defences apart. He starts the game on loan at Osasuna and can get his fair share of first team games there during the year long deal.
Last but not least is Spanish starlet Francisco Merida. At only 17 the attacking midfielder has some pretty impressive stats and under the tutoring of Thomas Rosicky and the odd chance of first team football from the bench the youngster has a bright future at the Emirates Stadium.
Tactical Reccommendations
This tactic may raise a few eyebrows but with the players Arsenal have I decided to experiment and to my surprise I found this to be the best option.
It relies a lot on the wide players to get in decent crosses and takes some of the stress away from central midfielder and playmaker Fabregas.
Transfer Reccommendations
As with my previous guides, I am not going to tell you who to buy, everybody has their own ideas and bring in the players they feel will suit the tactic they are using. However you will need, although not essential straight away, a keeper to replace the ageing Lehmann along with a left sided midfielder/winger and possibly another striker. There are several players like Mathiu Flamini, Lassana Diarra, Justin Hoyte and Johan Djourou who could be sold if you required some extra cash.
Conclusion
Going Arsenal is a lot like going Sevilla in Spain. They are more than capable of challenging for the title but it can at times be difficult. You have such a young squad and at times their inexperience could cause problems when playing in the big matches. You have money at your disposal to turn them into a massive club. Going Arsenal in terms of longetivity could prove to be a short one unless you support them. Achieving domination of both Europe and England is not that difficult and you can win every competition by the second season. So if you are somebody who likes a challenge then I wouldnt suggest going them, instead try the likes of Bolton or Reading.
