The real-life 2022/2023 Premier League campaign might have just kicked off… but on my FM22 save with Arsenal, it’s almost over. And what a ride it has been!
Yes, this season has been an absolute disaster – at least where the league is concerned. It looks like Arsenal will miss out on a top-four finish, though we did reach the Final of the EFL Cup which… well, if you haven’t read the previous chapter yet, then you probably should!
There’s also the prospect of another major Final for our young Gunners, who’ve made it to the last eight of the Champions League. Could we possibly go all the way – and become champions of Europe?
RESULTS: APRIL TO MAY 2023
PREMIER LEAGUE
[Sigh] It’s been a miserable league season, so let’s just get this out the way…
Our hopes of getting back into the Champions League places were given a vital boost when we beat 5th-placed Wolves, with 20-year-old Swedish reserve striker Nikolaj Möller coming off the bench to score his first PL goal. After that, we disappointingly dropped points to both Southampton and Brighton…
…and then came an utterly bizarre 7-2 win over Leeds! We were only 1-0 up at half-time! In truth, our first-half display was an utter mess, and we were grateful that Aaron Ramsdale saved a Rafa Mir penalty to keep our lead intact. I tore into the players at the break, and they returned a completely different team, almost completely dominating the second half!
Of course, it didn’t last, as our top-four chances were ended by back-to-back defeats at Everton and Manchester United. United utterly destroyed us 5-0 at Old Trafford, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick on his way to winning a second Premier League Golden Boot. He’s 38 years old, for Christ’s sake!
The season ended with a couple of home wins, sandwiching another away defeat at Tottenham. That result meant we had to settle for 6th behind Wolves, though for the second season running, we did at least finish above our North London rivals.
Liverpool regained the PL title from Manchester City, with FA Cup winners Chelsea completing the top three. Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa won the all-important battle for 7th place, depriving Spurs of any European football next season! Ha, now they know how it feels!
Luton broke a couple of unwanted Premier League records – conceding 104 points and picking up just NINE points to make Derby 2008 look like Brazil 1970! Burnley and Brighton also went through the trapdoor, with West Brom, Brentford and Blackburn all being promoted back to the PL in their places.
As things stood, Arsenal were dropping back down to the Europa League for next season. If we wanted to stay in the Champions League, we would have to actually WIN the bloody thing this time around! But there’s no way in hell a team as streaky and incompetent as Arsenal could possibly go all the way and become European champions… right?
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
I… well, I don’t know what to say.
Napoli were absolutely no match for us in the Quarter Finals. We beat them 2-0 at the Stadio Maradona (and it could’ve been a lot more if Eddie Nketiah knew how to finish easy chances!), then quickly killed the tie off back at home. But despite a comfortable 5-0 aggregate win taking us into the Semis, it wasn’t all good news…
That’s right. Emile Smith Rowe broke his leg. After 17 goal contributions in 37 games, his season was over.
Next up in the Semi Finals were Bundesliga super-mega-giants Bayern München, who had not lost a single competitive match in over a year! Just 16 minutes into the first leg at the Emirates, the challenge we faced looked even more daunting, as right-back Joshua Kimmich and striker Jamal Musiala sent Bayern racing into a 2-0 lead.
Kimmich was tearing our captain Kieran Tierney to shreds, but the rest of the team stayed calm and managed to clawback into the game just before half-time. Bukayo Saka made it 2-1 from a counter-attack before a Reiss Nelson corner went in off Leon Goretzka to draw us level. Unfortunately, ex-Arsenal forward Serge Gnabry restored Bayern’s lead early in the second half, and despite our best efforts, they took a 3-2 advantage back home to Germany.
Then came an extraordinary night at the Allianz Arena. Bayern dominated the opening stages again, but we held much firmer and were always ready to hit them on the break when the time arose. After 27 minutes, we managed to win a corner… and this happened.
That own goal turned the great German goalie Manuel Neuer into a laughing stock. Pretty much every counter-attack Arsenal launched in the second half ended in a goal – one for Nelson, two for Nketiah – as the unbeatable Bayern defence fell apart! We were now 4-0 up on the night and 6-3 on aggregate, and not even a late strike from İlkay Gündogan could save Bayern’s skin!
Unbelievably, Arsenal were through to the 2023 Champions League Final in Istanbul, where we would face…
Oh, for the love of Christ.
2023 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
Here’s a reminder of the The Football Manager Show podcast’s Community Challenge – the main reason why I started this save in the first place. Getting to the CL Final meant I now had a chance at claiming a ‘silver’ medal… and potentially even a ‘gold’.
You see, if I picked six Arsenal academy graduates in the starting XI and we won the Final, I would technically complete the challenge after just two seasons!
I could realistically field a team with Charlie Patino and Yunus Musah in midfield, Nelson and Saka on the wings, and Eddie Nketiah up front, which gives us FIVE academy boys. Smith Rowe would have made that six, but for injury. The next best academy product I could pick was left-back Sean Fallon, but the 17-year-old was not ready to start any first-team match for Arsenal, let alone a Champions League Final!
So I decided to forget about the ‘gold’ medal and just pick my strongest available team. We lined up in Istanbul with just the three Hale End boys up front – Nelson, Saka and Nketiah.
While we were gunning for our first European Cup, our opponents were particularly desperate to claim the one major trophy they’d always craved. This was Pep Guardiola’s seventh attempt to bring the Champions League title to Manchester City – and it was also his last, as City’s Catalan coach would step down immediately after this match.
Unsurprisingly, City put us on the back foot almost straight away, while we relied on the counter-attacks and set-pieces that had served us so well in this competition. After surviving a string of early attacks, we won a corner in the 35th minute.
THAT is why I paid £60million for Declan Rice last summer! Dec’s second Arsenal goal had put us 1-0 up in the Champions League Final!
Naturally, we had to be prepared for a swift response from City. We tried to withstand another onslaught as best we could… but just eight minutes after Rice’s opener, disaster struck for our right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu.
From Hiro to zero. The game was back level, and everything was set for a dramatic second half.
Both teams had their chances in the second half. While we were only thwarted by some frustratingly fantastic goalkeeping from Ederson, we also made couple of defensive errors at the other end that City didn’t punish. Substitute striker Julian Álvarez missed the best of them in the 72nd minute, firing wide when Vinícius Junior’s flick-on left him with just Ramsdale to beat.
Extra-time beckoned, and the drama only intensified as both teams lost their left-backs. In the 103rd minute, City went down to 10 men after Nicolas Pépé‘s fresh legs and fancy footwork drew a second yellow card for João Cancelo. Sadly, our potentially crucial man advantage was nullified in the 111th minute, when Tierney twisted his ankle in a brutal challenge from Bernardo Silva.
Though both teams were tiring late on, I upped the tempo and took the game to City. All our efforts came down to one last chance in the third minute of injury time. Martin Ødegaard stood with a free-kick 20 yards from goal – and Pépé was primed to pounce on any potential rebound.
WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? Nicolas Pépé had WON the Champions League for Arsenal! But wait… is that VAR?
Goal disallowed. Final score, 1-1. It was going to penalties.
Having seen our dream snatched away so cruelly, I just had a feeling this wouldn’t be our night – and it wasn’t. Ederson saved our first two penalties from Ødegaard and Musah, while his City team-mates were perfect from the spot. Pépé netted our third spot-kick to avoid the whitewash, but our relief was short-lived. Moments later, Jack Grealish repaid his £100million fee by scoring the goal that won the Champions League for Manchester City.
So close… but I’m still so proud of this team. To push this legendary City team all the way in the biggest match of the season, especially after such a wretched league campaign, shows just how much we are capable of if we play to our best. Next season could see something pretty special.
2022/2023 SEASON REVIEW & STATS
| Fans’ Player of the Season | Reiss Nelson |
| Young Player of the Season | Reiss Nelson |
| Signing of the Season | Matt Turner |
| Goal of the Season | Reiss Nelson (vs Burnley, 28 May) |
| Top Goalscorer | Bukayo Saka (16) |
| Most Assists | Martin Ødegaard (11) |
| Most Player of the Match Awards | Reiss Nelson (6) |
| Highest Average Rating | Emile Smith Rowe (7.27) |
So, Arsenal’s return to the Champions League lasted for just one season. After finishing 6th in the Premier League, it’s clear that there’s work to do if we want to become long-term members of the European elite again.
We conceded 45 goals in 38 league games – more than everyone else in the top nine bar Aston Villa. That’s close to our xGA of 44.64, which itself has increased by 1.07 compared to last season. Whatever I’ve tried to reduce the number and quality of chances we’re conceding to our opponents, it hasn’t worked so far.
While Rice has been the right signing to protect our backline, I think he’s been playing in the wrong role. In our last few matches, I’ve changed his role from a Half-Back to a standard Defensive Midfielder (on Defend duty), which seems to have helped. I’ve also been instructing Ramsdale to distribute the ball straight to Rice rather than to a centre-back. This should make better use of Dec’s playmaking abilities and speed up our counter-attacks.
I’ve also changed the duties of our wide players, so that the right wing-back and left-sided forward are on ‘Attack’, and their opposite colleagues are on ‘Support’. Tierney hasn’t been the same player since Kimmich skinned him in the CL Semis, while Tomiyasu has been more productive going forward. Giving the Japanese international more licence to attack could help him thrive, while also allowing Tierney to concentrate more on his defensive duties.
Our away form has been incredibly erratic, but we also need to turn the Emirates Stadium back into a fortress. Yes, we won 11 of our 19 home games, but we also dropped points to Brighton and Norwich – and two of our four losses came against Everton and Villa.
I’m certainly not too disappointed with our attacking efforts, as Saka, Nelson and Nketiah scored a combined 45 goals and provided 24 assists. Smith Rowe was also looking very good until… well, you know.
Saka’s 16 goals meant he finished as our top goalscorer this season – one ahead of both Martinelli and a resurgent Nketiah. That’s not bad for somebody who started his senior career as a left-back!
However, the standout performer among our Hale End boys this season was Nelson, with 23 goal contributions in 49 games. He also scored 5+ more goals than his xG and had a 24% shot conversion rate – the 4th-highest in the Premier League! At 23 years old, Reiss is beginning to realise his high potential and will likely play an even more prominent role moving forward.
Since being promoted to the first-team, Patino’s form has been solid if not spectacular. Charlie is playing plenty of promising through-balls and made a couple of assists, but he needs to build up his strength and become a little more defensively responsible. He’s still only 19, though, so I’ll continue to monitor his development carefully.
Three of last season’s youth graduates made their PL debuts on the final day against Burnley, with Fallon coming on for the second half alongside midfielders Alan Wilding and Victor Quintyne. I was most impressed with Wilding, who even made a clear cut chance for Nelson that was unfortunately saved. All three will remain part of the Under-23s squad next season, and maybe a few more cup outings will be on the horizon.
A first-team promotion is definitely on the cards for Northern Ireland defender Daniel Ballard. The 23-year-old has been one of the top performers for Vitesse in the Eredivisie, even though they needed to win a play-off tournament to avoid relegation. After three seasons out on loan, Ballard is finally ready to become part of the main Arsenal squad.
Folarin Balogun scored 16 Championship goals for Middlesbrough and will likely challenge Nketiah and Martinelli up front next season. Though Calvin Ramsay neither played nor developed spectacularly at Bristol City, the Scotland right-back may also earn a promotion.
Marcelo Flores has been very productive during his half-season at Bolton in League One, and the Mexican forward may be set for another loan spell – this time at a higher level. Right-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy and midfielder Miguel Azeez may each need a full Championship campaign under their belts before I can consider them for regular first-team duty.
And that’s a wrap for the 2022/2023 season – an incredible 10-month journey full of misery and heartbreak, but with a taste of cup glory!
The 2023/2024 campaign kicks off next week, with the traditional transfer roundup and season preview. In the meantime, if there’s anything about this save – or this youth challenge – you’d like me to write about in more detail, please let me know by leaving a comment or tweeting me @Fuller_FM.
Thanks for reading.
Fuller FM 
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