N Fawcett

Hulk I see your out there, if you see this I wouldn't mind your oppinion.

My Team is

Lloris/Lehman

DL Clichy/Traore

DC Gallas/Taylor

DR Richards/Sagna

AML Silva/Arfa/Riquelme

AMR RVP/Walcott

FC Owen/Defoe

My problem is MC I have become a victim of trying to buy english too much and keep some of existing talent. I now have no real class in this position and NO cash.

My players are, Diaby, Song, Johnson, Riquelme, Flamini and Gilberto.

I wanted to give these guys a run they are either average. In the case of Gilberto and Riquelme, they are getting to old, i am nearing the end of second season both these players are in last six months of contract and I cant / dont want them to sign a new contract. Nobody will buy riquelme even for 3m and he is transfer listed. SO i have ****ed on my chips as he is really unhappy.

I am afraid I have no real talent in MC apart from Pirlo. I also dont have cash and i'm worried how much i will get next season (3rd season with Arsenal) any ideas what to do. Are any of the said players capeable of getting good next campaign? I have a load of good AMC/FC youth but no midfielders. My formation is 4 - 3 - 2 - 1. I'm playing three MC's my weakest set of players, it would make sense to move it to two MC's or 2 MC's and a AMC. But whatever I seem to do to my tactics seems to be a negative thing.

PLEASE HELP im at the crucial end of the season and up until recently were looking to clean up a few trophy's.

macsoz

if i was you id change formation maybe try 2 up front or move to a 4-2-3-1 i like corats 4-2-3-1 its stupidly good. if you did that pirlo be would class in one of ur mcr slot imo as he would just sit an dictate the play and you could use any of the other mc's id go for johnson, diaby or gilberto. try get anything for riquelme and try offload flaminin and song i reckon u shud be able to get around 10mil for the pair. not sure who to bring in tho as thats where i'm looking to strengthen in my arsenal save the best sujuestion ive had is veloso.

HoPeY

If your MC are your weakest area then the best possible solution would be to limit the amount of MC's you have in your tactic.

Johnson and Diaby are not that bad however in my game (4th season) Diaby is quite a player now, so I would suggest that you reduce to two MC's in a attempt to minimise your weak area.

theincrediblehulk

Hello mate.

I dont think you need to worry too much about transfer budget next season. The Arsenal board is very generous and always give a good budget (but an atrocious one). If you win a couple of trophies you should be looking at 50M+ very easily. And thats a low estimate. So you'll be able to invest next season.

As for right now, if your team is not performing well then change your tactics. Thats the only thing to do mid-way through the season. I'd say just play a simple 4-1-3-2 or something. Attacking fullbacks, one DM if you're conceding too many, one MC (Pirlo) and two wingers (Silva & Ben Arfa). Play 2 strikers upfront. I'd put Owen & RVP there. Give RVP a free role and he should bang them in along with Owen. But it all really depends on what you see as your major problem. Is it concending too many goals, not scoring enough? What? So adjust accordingly. Also, I'd suggest changing your tactic when you have an easy home game or two coming up. Atleast give them a couple of games to get used to it I suppose. I've never been a fan of using 1 striker upfront on his own when you're a big club. I can see it makes sense when a small club comes up against a bigger one but not otherwise.

Next season, start getting rid of a few players. Start with Diaby & Song. Diaby should get you atleast 20M if he's been playing regularly. Pompey, Newcastle & Villa are the ones who usually go for him. And at time Inter Milan too. I've got 24M over 24 months for him after season 1 and that too when he only played in the smaller matches most of the time. So you should be able to get atleast that much as well. If Song has got some games as well, you might be able to get 10M odd for him. Most I got for him was 15M. Sell Flamini too as he never quite makes the grade as he has irl.

As for replacements, there are plenty around.

DM - Veloso, Lucas, Zapater, Makoun etc

CM - Fernandez (can play here easily), Javi Martinez and even Lucas & Veloso are good here. You already have Pirlo who's class. Play him with either of Lucas, Veloso, Zapater and Makoun and your midfield should be fine. Oh and Joao Moutinho is awesome as well. He should cost about 15-20M and is well worth it. Very capable replacement for Cesc (although not as good). So you have plenty of options.

Those guys should keep you going. And seriously, do away with the 1 striker upfront thing mate. I know everyone has their own tastes but with the abundance of awesome strikers on the game, you really should have two guys who can score at any second for you. And if you do decide to change your tactics to 2 strikers, get another good one in. Defoe is good as backup but I wouldnt want him to be my starter or even second choice. Not at a big club. Look at Fred, Briand, Aguero, Benzema, Bojan (who might be available on a free) etc. And get a better AMR so RVP can be free for the ST role where he's much better. For AMR, I'd suggest Ribery, Belluschi, Rosina and maybe Quaresma (although he never performs for me).

Oh, and last thing, partner Gallas with Richards in the centre and Sagna at RB. You can move things around when you have injuries/suspensions.

N Fawcett

Thanks lads. Sound advice. I was aiming to try and get throught the season and work on a new formation with 2 strikers for next year. But I dont know if i can hold out that long my next 4 games are Tottenham Away, liverpool Away, chelsea Home and Man u Away. So I REALLY dont want to mess with tactics at the moment but again I can't afford not to. Do you get what I mean.

My best MC's are Pirlo, Diaby and Johnson should be good he's only played 4 games. Next season I will have Djourou back andshould have a nice defence, my current partnership in Central Defence is Gallas and Taylor and Taylor is the one that shines, don't underestimate him he's really worth his transfer fee of 9m? i think.

I may have to swap gallas for Djourou next season but i'm excited about that. I need a keeper to rotate with Lloris. I missed out on Ben Forster for 1m.

If I play 2 strikers i need some exciting formation I can base around silva. Hulk instead of signing a Right winger do you think I could play SIlva on the right? and then play Arfa on the Left?

I will defo get a new striker i'm going all out for 1 to partner Owen. Defoe was a good backup buy for 5.5m

Let me know of any formations, I dont like downloading other peoples tactics though.

theincrediblehulk

Well if Spurs are doing poorly in your game, you might want to change your tactics for that game. And if you're having problems, I'd recommend going to Old Trafford and play on the defensive even though I absolutely hate doing that. But would be your best shot at beating them.

You can keep thinking up a formation to base around after the season is over but right now its damage control and trying to get back on track. Silva is your best winger so you shouldnt be playing him out of position of all people. Ben Arfa can play both sides as well and you might as well put him there. Else keep RVP there and put Defoe upfront with Owen.

My formation would be:
GK - Lloris/Lehmann (whoever has better stats)
DL - Clichy
DR - Sagna
DC - Gallas
DC - Richards
DM - Gilberto
CM - Pirlo
AML- Silva
AMR- Ben Arfa/Walcott (on after 60mins or so)
ST - Owen
ST - RVP (free role)

tarbanrael

For next year, keep up with the Arsenal tradition, get another French keeper! Loads of good ones coming up: Scribe, Jourdren, you've got Lloris, Riou is also very good.
Is Flamini not good enough to play in your central midfield until the end of the season? I've never had him on 2008 in my team but he looks like he could do the job until you sign someone new in July. Get Gourcuff or Gouffran, they'll get you great goals from midfield!