FM2008 - Arsenal FC

Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in Holloway, North London. They play in the Premier League and are one of the most successful clubs in English football, having won thirteen First Division and Premier League titles and ten FA Cups.

Arsenal were founded in 1886, though the club's first period of major success came in the 1930s, where they dominated English football for a decade. After a lean period in the post-war years they became only the second club of the 20th century to win the Double in 1970–71, and during the past twenty years they have been one of the most successful clubs in English football — in this time Arsenal won two further Doubles, the Premier League in 2003–04 unbeaten, and in 2005–06 became the first London club to reach the UEFA Champions League final.

The club's colours have traditionally been red and white, although these have evolved through history. Similarly, the club have changed location over time; the team were initially founded in Woolwich, south-east London, but in 1913 they moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury. In 2006 they made a less drastic move to their current home, the Emirates Stadium in nearby Holloway.

Arsenal have a large and diverse fanbase, who hold a string of long-standing rivalries with several other clubs; the most notable of these is with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom they regularly contest the North London derby. Arsenal are one of the richest clubs in English football (worth over £600m as of 2007), and thanks to their stature, have regularly featured in portrayals of football in British culture.

Club Information
Name: Arsenal FC
Founded: 1886
Ground: Emirates Stadium, London (capacity 60432 all seated)
Chairman: Peter Hill-Wood
League: English Premier League
Rivals: Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool, Manchester United
Value: 352 million Euros (377 million Euros debt)
Training Facilities: Top training facilities
Youth Facilities: Excellent youth facilities + academy
Media Prediction: 4th
Transfer Budget: Ranging from 30 to 45 million Euros depending on squad targets.

First Team Squad

The numbers in brackets are to quote the game help system "each player will receive a star rating based on their expected standard within the team. This can range from 1 to 7 stars, with 7 exceeding expectations and 1 falling well below. Youth players are compared to similar players in their own age group".

GK - Jens Lehmann (4/4), Lukasz Fabianski (2/3)
DL - Gael Clichy (4/4), Armand Traore (3/5)
DC - Wiliam Gallas (6/6), Kolo Toure (5/5), Philippe Senderos (3/4), Havard Nordveit (3yth/3)
DR - Emmanuel Eboue (4/4), Bakay Sagna (5/5)
DM - Gilberto Silva (5/5), Lassana Diarra (3/4)
MC - Francesc Fabregas (5/7), Abou Diaby (4/4)
AMR - Aliaksandr Hleb (4/4), Robin Van Persie (4/5), Theo Walcott (3/4)
AML - Tomas Rosicky (4/4), Francisco Merida (4yth/4)
ST/FC - Eduardo (5/5), Emmanuel Adebayor (4/4), Nicklas Bendtner (4yth/4)

Reserves Squad
GK - Manuel Almunia (3/3), Vito Mannone (1/1)
DR - Justin Hoyte (2/3)
DM - Mathieu Flamini (3/4)
MC - Denilson (3/4), Alexandre Song (4/4)
AMR - Vencent Van Den Berg (1/1)

Highly rated U-18 squad members
ST - Rhys Murphy (3yth/4)
MC - Henri Lansbury (3yth/4)
AMC - Nacer Barazite (4yth/3)

Importantl players out on loan
DC - Johan Djourou (Birmingham)
D/WB L AMLC - Pedro (Salamanca)
AM/FC - Carlos Vela (Osasuna)

Analysis
The while the cream of the team, players such as Fabregas, Gallas, Toure and Van Persie have all maintained a similarly high standard to their last incantations in 07 the real difference to Arsenals squad this time round has been the improvement of squad players like Diaby, Denilson, Song, Adebayor and Almunia to the point that they are very useful rotation/squad players rather than the trade bait they were in FM2007. Ill analyze the squad assuming you're using a vanilla 4-4-2

Goalkeeper - Lehmann seems to have been slightly strengthened in 08, i played a full half season with him and he was very very solid and didnt make the gaff's that he is prone to in real life and in 07. This spot will become a problem after a season or two in the game as Almunia and Fabianski, while solid arnt going to keep many clean sheets if you're consistently playing top level football.
I'd start looking for a suitable replacement after a season. Old favorites Akinfeev, Ustari and Ochao are all rated very highly again and will likely be available for around 15 million euros.

Defense - Toure, Gallas, Senderos and Nordveit are the first team center backs, Eboue and Sagna play the right while Clichy and Traore are on the left. Arsenal again have a very very exciting back starting back four Sanga - Gallas - Toure - Clichy is one of the best in Europe and barring serious injury problems you shouldn't have any problems with that line.
You might look to sign someone short term to cover for Clichy until Traore is able to take over. Djourou returns from his loan at Birmingham at in January to strengthen the center back position.

Midfield - Again a very strong line of four Rosicky(AML) - Gilberto(DM) - Fabregas(MC) - Hleb(AMR) with strong cover from Diaby(MC), Diarra(DM), Flamini(DM), Song(MC) or Denilson(MC) with the potential to rotate any of Walcott(AMR), Eduardo(AML) and Van Persie(AMR/L) through if you're in a crisis. The center of the park is incredibly deep, potentially look at quicker wingers on both sides to cover for Hleb and Rosicky.
Marcelo is available early on and has a release clause of 8 million so he's a definite possibility, other potential targets are the super cheap Luka Modric, Van Der Vaart is able to be picked up for about 15 as well.

Strikers - You start with a great set of five strikers - Eduardo, Van Persie, Adebayor, Walcott, Bendtner and in a season Carlos Vela returns from loan. You can very well go for 10 years without needing to purchase anyone else for this position as every single one of these players is either currently top shelf or will develop to a high level. Of the five i've been most impressed by Walcott, the game engine has a much higher appreciation for speedy players than 07 had and young Theo is one of the quickest in the game, his finishing is a bit low but he makes up for it by running past defenders like they arnt there and getting lots of shots on goal.
Potential targets early on if you're looking to strengthen this area could be Adriano who is listed as "back up" at Inter and able to be purchased for a bargain price of about 10 million and Julio Baptista (i know, sucks in real life, great in the game) who can be picked up for about 15.

Anyway, that's a pretty basic analysis of the squad, I hope it helps some people get a good start at an Arsenal game. You've got a great squad to play with and a massive kitty to strengthen if you need to. Dont hesitate to disagree with any of my analysis or post your own formations, transfers advice, tips and results.

Good luck and Go Gunners!