Arsenal Career - Entry #3

Season 3 (2015-2016)

Opening Thoughts

I've just finished watching Arsenal demolish Aston Villa in the FA Cup. It was some of the best football I've see Arsenal play in a while, and it was certainly a less nerve-racking experience than last year's final against Hull City. It's also interesting to see how the real team looks different than the virtual version under my care. Nacho Monreal had a great game today and a great season overall, but I shipped him off immediately in season one. Santi Cazorla was arguably the best player on the pitch today, but due to the game's player aging mechanics, I opted to sell him sooner rather than later. In hindsight, I wish I had just hung on to him and let him retire with the club. I would have also liked to have done the same with Arteta and Rosicky, especially now that I have a better grasp of how the game's economy works (hint: there's too much money).

I finished season three and began season four around Christmas 2014. I moved onto my Grasshopper career shortly thereafter, but I haven't played much FIFA between then and now. Fortunately, I still have a save file from the end of season three, so I'm going post all the in-game information and offer some commentary at the end.

Results and Final Standings

EPL Table
Arsenal 93  (29-6-3) GF: 65 GA: 13 GD:52
Chelsea 91
Mac City 86
Man Utd 82
Liverpool 73

Community Shield:  Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea

FA Cup Final:  Arsenal 1-0 Manchester City
Semi-final: 2-0 win vs. Chelsea
Quarter-final: 3-2 penalty shootout vs. Swansea
Round of Sixteen: 5-0 win vs. Blackpool

League Cup Final:  Arsenal 2-0 Everton
Semi-final: 4-1 win vs. Huddersfield Town
Quater-final: 4-2 penalty shootout vs. Blackpool
Round of Sixteen: 2-1 win vs Bolton

Copa Europe: Arsenal 2-0 Roma

Champions Cup Final: Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid
Semi-final: 5-1 Barcalona
Quarter-final: 1-0 Roma
Round of Sixteen: 2-1 Sevilla

Group F
1st - Arsenal w/12 points 5 GD
2nd - CSKA Moskva w/12 pts 2 GD
3rd - Borussia Dortmund 7
4th - Bordeaux 4

Europa League Final: Bayern Munich 2 vs 0 AC Milan

Transfer History

Record Transfer Fee Paid: James Rodriguez - 79.0 M
Record Transfer Fee Received: Michael Bradley - 30.0 M

OUT
Koscielny - PSG 15M (4.5 value) - Over 30 plus PSG made a great offer
Sanogo - Southampton 5M - Not going to make the cut, preferred to trade to EPL team
Podolski - Athletico Bilbao 9.5M (6 value) - Aged out (30, 78 ovr) plus booted in real life
Giroud - Lille OSC 18.1M (7.5 value) - Wanted to upgrade striker (29, 79 ovr) plus good offer
Bradley - Real Madrid 30M - Surprise mega-bid from RM, didn't plan on selling for another year or two (28) but way too much money to pass up
Johannsson - Calcio Catania 5.5M - Never going to make the cut, languishing on bench despite a few strong cup matches, TEAM USA approach abandoned after disappointing second season

IN
Reus - 19M (12.5 value), 180k for 4 yrs; 26, 85 ovr
Rodriguez - 79M (55.5 value), 220k for 4 yrs; 24, 88 ovr
Cavani - 55M (39.5 value); 29, 88 ovr

Season Loans
Bellerin to Milwall - currently 3rd choice RB

Short Loans
Zelalem - MK Dons
Green - Aston Villa

Free Transfer (secured for season four)
Mandzukic - Free (14M value), 160k for 3 yrs; 30, 83
Sneijder - Free (17.5M value), 190k for 3 yrs; 31, 85
Lewandowski - Free (36.5M value), 240k for 3 yrs; 27, 87

End of Season Finances:
134. 6 M
293.5K in wages

Commentary and Analysis

After a sluggish second season, Arsenal started season three strong by winning both the domestic Community Shield and the continental Copa Europe. These wins set a positive tone for the rest of the season, and we finished the campaign by winning every possible trophy in dominant fashion. In terms of our new found success, there were a few key areas of improvement. First, the Hummels-Varane partnership was solidly in place. We were miserly on defense, giving Gibbs and Jenkinson more opportunities to push forward safely. Second, we had plenty of options in midfield, but most importantly, the line was now being led by a world-class striker in Edinson Cavani. I've always scored plenty of goals with Arsenal (usually with wingers), but this was the first time that the majority of my goals came through a single player. Cavani was dominant in the air, strong on the ball, could poach from anywhere inside the box, and could hit the back of the net from several yards out. He was the complete package and a consistent performer during the entire campaign. Long gone were the days of grinding out victories in the final ten minutes. Most of our matches were decided by half-time, allowing me to sub off both Cavani and Mesut Özil, his favorite supplier. As a result, my two best players were fresh for almost every match of the season, which leads me to my third point.

During the previous season, I spent too much time trying to develop squad and utility players. Although fun against lower opposition, it was too risky in the long-run. Another downside to player development is that player growth is often unreliable. I could score a hundred goals with Sanogo, but it might not make a difference. Without consistently improving stats, I was stuck with bench players that couldn't make an impact on tight games or close out 1-0 victories. To solve this problem, I brought in two world-class midfielders: Marco Reus and James Rodriguez. Reus was brought in to secure the left flank, but he didn't get too many minutes because I was really happy with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Antonie Griezmann (who I must have purchased during season two). Rodriguez, on the other hand, was my go-to sub for tough games. He often replaced Ozil in the middle. The plan is to eventually replace the aging German for the younger Colombian, but this transition is a couple of seasons away at best.

On a final note, although I was sad to see Michael Bradley leave the team, it didn't seem right to me to prevent him from joining Los Blancos. To be honest, however, the 30 million dollar valuation went a long way toward helping ease the pain. Without Bradley, I didn't have much cover for Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsay in the holding midfield position, so I relied on John Brooks and Oxlade-Chamberlain for occasional support. After the amazing season Francis Coquelin has had for Arsenal this past year, I imagine I will be picking him up real soon (even though his FIFA 14 stats aren't so great).

As for next season, I will have to invent new ways to keep the game interesting because not only is my current team completely stacked with talent and trophies, but I'm also getting three great players on free transfer for next year: Mario Mandzukic, Wesley Sneijder, and Robert Lewandowski.