FM10: Tottenham Hotspur - Come on you Spurs!

History

Tottenham Hotspur was founded in 1882, Bill Nicholson was the man that made Tottenham Hotspur such a great club. Since then it has grown in popularity and reputation, but will they ever break the top four?

Tottenham is located in North East London, in the Enfield Borough.

Honours

Football League First Division Champions

1950-51, 1960-61

Football League First Division Runners-up

1921-22, 1951-52, 1956-57, 1962-63

Football League Second Division Champions

1919-20, 1949-50

Football League Second Division Runners-up

1908-09, 1932-33

Southern League Champions

1899-1900

Western League Champions

1903-04

Domestic Cups

FA Cup Winners

1901, 1921, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1981, 1982, 1991

FA Cup Runners-up

1987

League Cup Winners 4

1971, 1973, 1999, 2008

League Cup Runners-up

1982, 2002, 2009

FA Charity Shield Winners

1921, 1951, 1961, 1962, (1967, 1981, 1991) *brackets donate shared victories

FA Charity Shield Runners-up

1920, 1982

European Cups

UEFA Cup Winners

1972 Inaugural Winners, 1984

UEFA Cup Runners-up

1974

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winners

1963

Anglo-Italian League Cup Winners

1970-71

Squad

1 GK Heurelho Gomes

2 DF Alan Hutton

3 DF Gareth Bale

5 MF David Bentley

6 MF Tom Huddlestone

7 MF Aaron Lennon

8 MF Jermaine Jenas

9 FW Roman Pavlyuchenko

10 FW Robbie Keane

12 MF Wilson Palacios

13 GK Jimmy Walker

14 MF Luka Modric

15 FW Peter Crouch

16 DF Kyle Naughton

17 FW Giovani Dos Santos

18 FW Jermain Defoe

19 DF Sebastion Bassong

20 DF Michael Dawson

22 DF Vedran Corluka

23 GK Carlo Cudicini

24 MF Jamie O'Hara

25 MF Danny Rose

26 DF Ledley King

29 MF Jake Livermore

31 DF Dorian Dervitte

32 DF Benoit Essou-Ekotto

39 DF Jonathan Woodgate

FM Info

Reputation: National

Status: Professional

Chairman Status: Enjoying life at the club

Finances: Rich

Estimated Value: £162M (Loan Debt: £53M)

Stadium: White Hart Lane

Stadium Capacity: 36310 all-seater

Training facilities: Good training facilities

Youth Facilities: Excellent youth facilities + Youth Academy

Continental Competition: None

Media Prediction: 8th

Legends: Glen Hoddle, Bill Nicholson, Steve Perryman

Icons: Danny Blanchflower, Gary Mabbutt, Dave Mackay, Ledley King, Graham Roberts, Osvaldo Ardiles, Jimmy Greaves, Jurgen Klinsmann, David Ginola, Teddy Sheringham

Game Finances:

Predict Top Half Finish: £6M Transfer Budget - £975K p/w Wage Budget

Predict Continental qualification through league finish: £7.25M Transfer Budget - £1.1M p/w Wage Budget

Predict Title Challenge: £7.75M Transfer Budget - £1.1m p/w Wage Budget

Predict Winner: £8.5M Transfer Budget - £1.1m p/w Wage Budget

Was waiting for this one :-)

started myself last night. 3 friendlies in and I've sold Jenas and signed van der Vaart (a long term FM fave of mine)

Any more tips would be great.

Was waiting for this one :-)

started myself last night. 3 friendlies in and I've sold Jenas and signed van der Vaart (a long term FM fave of mine)

Any more tips would be great.

More well be edited in.

Great job chief.

In my first demo game, signed van der Vaart. Sadly, he agreed to go on loan to Roma in my second game - my second game being my more serious attempt at being immersed into the game.

I'll post more details later re: tactics, approach and players.

Started my season the other night so far i am 7 games in and sitting 3rd in the table behind chelsea and liverpool respectively.

My first job was to try and raise some money as for some reason the budget seems very low? Also i thought we were 1 of the fewer clubs without any debt?

So i've sold:

Pavlyuchenko, Hutton, Obika and Mason.

Loaned out:

Rose, Cox, Bostock and Huddlestone (1.1 million with option to buy for 3.4 million)

Signed:

Jarolim (Bond recommended him and hes ok for backup to Palacios), Borriello (loan with option to buy) and Buanonotte (loan)

Playing a 4,3,1,2

GK: Gomes

RB: Corluka/Naughton (seems like he could be good) (set as auto fullback)

LB: Ekotto/Bale (set as auto fullback)

CB: King (when hes fit keeps getting injured)/Woodgate (set as defend central def)

CB: Bassong (set as defend central def)

RM: Lennon (set as winger attack)

LM: Modric (set as wide midfielder support)

CM: Palacios (set as ball winning midfielder defend)

AM: Krancjar/Gio (set as support attacking midfielder)

ST: Crouch (set as support target man)

ST: Defoe (set as attack advanced forward)

So far my results are:

West Ham - Lost 1-0

Burnley - Won 3-1

Bolton - Won 1-0

Bristol Rovers LC - Won 4-0

Chelsea - Lost 3-0

Aston Villa - Won 4-2

Man City - Won 2-1

Scum LC - Lost 2-1

Everton - Won 1-0

Have had a great start at Tottenham.

Spurs 3-2 West Ham

Burnley 1-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-0 Bolton

Tottenham 8-0 Morecombe with my second choice players.

Have not changed the original squad, and am loving all the new features. Tactics Creator, Touchline Shouts, Backroom Advice, Interface, Media ... by far the best FM yet, KUTGW SI.

Have had a great start at Tottenham.

Spurs 3-2 West Ham

Burnley 1-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-0 Bolton

Tottenham 8-0 Morecombe with my second choice players.

Have not changed the original squad, and am loving all the new features. Tactics Creator, Touchline Shouts, Backroom Advice, Interface, Media ... by far the best FM yet, KUTGW SI.

Don't you find it kinda boring not signing anyone?

Have had a great start at Tottenham.

Spurs 3-2 West Ham

Burnley 1-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-0 Bolton

Tottenham 8-0 Morecombe with my second choice players.

Have not changed the original squad, and am loving all the new features. Tactics Creator, Touchline Shouts, Backroom Advice, Interface, Media ... by far the best FM yet, KUTGW SI.

Strangely enough I had Morecambe in the Cup too, what are the odds!

So far...

Spurs 2-0 West Ham

Burnley 0-3 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-0 Bolton

Tottenham 4-0 Morecombe

Chelsea 0-0 Tottenham

Don't you find it kinda boring not signing anyone?

I haven't bought anyone either. I don't think it's boring at all.

Decided not to sell anyone, basically to see who is worth retaining when I start my proper career game on the 30th October.

I signed David Beckham £625K. Again, just as an experiment. van Nistlerooy and Guti are also easily signed if you want a bit of Real Madrid. As mentioned in an early post - van dar Vaart was missed thanks to Roma, but I will make him my priority next time around.

So, for now I simply have the original squad + Becks.

First thing. Sort out training. Then get your backroom staff sorted to up those stars. Again, as this is a demo, I've not done too much in the way of getting rid of deadwood (although I did sack Sherwood). In the full game, its imperative to get it right. I might get rid of Kevin Bond and get in one of the many top class coaches as an assistant that are available.

What I'd like to see in this thread mind, is not only you chaps sharing any decent finds (re: players) but also any decent staff you happen across too.

Anyway, to business:

I'm playing a 4-3-1-2 formation. My own.

Philosophy - Fluid

Starting Strategy - Standard

Passing Style - Shorter

Creative Freedom - More Expressive

Closing Down - Press More

Tackling, Marking, Crossing, Roaming are all default (and player specific).

Defensive Line - Normal (couple of notches to the left of the middle)

Width - Normal (a slight notch to the right of the middle)

Tempo - Quick

Time Wasting - Sometimes

Focus Passing - Mixed

Counter Attack - Yes

Formation:

Goalkeeper - Defend

Full Back - Automatic (DR)

Full Back - Automatic (DL)

Ball Playing Defender - Defend (DC)

Ball Playing Defender - Defend (DC)

Winger - Support (MR)

Winger - Support (ML)

Central Midfielder - Support (MC)

Advanced Playmaker - Attack (AMC)

Deep Lying Forward - Support (ST)

Advanced Forward - Attack (ST)

Best line-up? Well, Woodgate is back from injury so he'll go into the side soon enough. And Niko Kranjcar is currently out injured - however for the sake of consistency the following team has been the team that's performed for me thus far this season (rather than me posting what I think is the best team from my squad):

---------------------- J. Defoe -------------------------- R. Keane---------------------

------------------------------------- L. Modric ----------------------------------------

N. Kranjcar ------------------------- W. Palacios -----------------------------A. Lennon

B. Assou-Ekotto ---------- S.Bassong ----------- L. King --------------------- V.Corluka

-------------------------------------- Gomes -----------------------------------------

Pre-season:

(H) Tottenham Reserves W 2-0

(N) Swansea D 0-0

(A) Leicester W 4-0

(A) Morecambe W 4-0

(A) Piacenza W 8-0

(A) Brescia W 5-0

(A) Ascoli W 7-0

Prem + Cups:

(H) West Ham United W 2-1

(A) Burnley W 1-0

(H) Bolton W 1-0

(H) Southend W 2-0 (League Cup)

(A) Chelsea L 2-1

Ok. Early days. But the team is shaping up ok. Finding its feet. The tactic and the requirements are probably too much for the current batch of players. Especially with the need for more expressive football. But I'm empire building here and want - over time - for new better players to slot in and for the team as a unit to improve.

Football played is decent enough and I'm making very subtle changes at the moment, mostly concerning the wing positions. I'm undecided whether to have the players as wingers or wide midfielders - but I guess the solution here is simple. If its someone like Lennon, he should play to his strengths (winger) and if its Kranjcar then he should slot in as a wide mid.

What I need to keep an eye out is what type of job they do there and whether I should have then cutting inside or hugging the touchline. Again - feel free to share your opinions on getting the best out of the players.

Palacios is a beast in the middle. Luka has yet to hit devastating heights, but is scoring in the high '7's. But not scoring yet.

I'm impressed with the work ethic (having so many players on 'support' is a worthy option). However, the problem is - for all the possession and decent defending and for the abundance of chances being made - we are not putting them away.

One on One's the main bugbear with plenty missed. I should have beaten Chelsea. The only difference was this: They took their chances. My players didn't.

Some of the shooting in fact is weak. So maybe this is a training issue.

However - what combo are you guys playing up front and what 'ROLE' and 'DUTY' are you assigning.

It might simply be down to confidence/confusion based on my instructions to the players.

Regarding in game strategy - I start at standard, then move onto control and depending on how the game is progressing, shout out from the touchline and shift between attack and overload and back to control again.

Anyways. Will back with another update later this morning or probably tomorrow.

Also worth mentioning that my tactic was shambolic for 45 mins against West Ham. I went 1-0 down after 20 seconds. I gave 'em a b*llocking at half-time and they tore the Hammers apart in the second half (missed countless chances). Since then, it keeps improving. Iwas thinking of scrapping it...proves you need patience in this game.

EDIT: Have made some changes to my tactic. It's evolving. More tomorrow on this.

Naughton was great in my quick game, I retrained him as a LB and he didn't get a rating below 7.

http://rapidshare.com/files/294150928/Spurs_4-4-2__Tottenham__Jul_2009_.tac

Save this file into your My Documents/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2010 Demo/tactics folder. In-game, go to tactics, manage tactics, import, and then select this file. Then select it in game. Your done!

This is my first-choice line-ip:

GK: Gomes

RB: Corluka

LB: Ekottou

LCB: King

RCB: Woodgate

RM: Lennon

LM: Kranjcar

LCM: Modric

RCM: Palacios

LST: Keane

RST: Crouch

If you play Defoe instead of Keane, change his role to poacher. With any new players, you will have to look at thire attributes and maybe change thire role. Good Luck!

This is my first tactic and could well be poor. Uploaded on request of AlexSkree.

*Guide no longer available*

great analysis...Orangekennyy...

I would also recommend using Dos Santos as a 4th striker if you are not going to sign 1.

Why oh why is Bently a higher star rating than lennon??? Lnnon is really underated so far I think.

Lennon is not underrated, he has been upgraded. Look at his teamwork, work rate and crossing. You must also remember his pace takes up a high % of his pa. I used FRMTE to check. His PA has also been upped while Bentley has been lowered.

Lennon is a fantastic player in FM10, because his pace can absolutely destroy teams. The same applies to Walcott, Agbonlahor etc.

Whilst his stats may look pretty bad, the pace he has means he is much better than he looks.

What role/position are you giving Lennon? And are you chaps having him cut in or run into channels?

Also - happy with my tactic, but bloody hell the amount of time my forwards shot at the goalkeeper when its easier to place it to the left or right. Especially Defoe. Anyone had any similar problems?

Modric out of this world so far. Bassong gets on the lot of near post corners without scoring. Naughton looks good at RB. Agree about Defoe shooting at keeper

I have Lennon hugging touchline crossing at byline

Modric is consistent but not amazing, but then I'm playing behind the front two in the 'hole'.

Lennon hugging the touchline? Really? Does he cut in at all naturally or does he just cross the ball in? I have him cutting in. He's averaging about 7.10 at the moment.

Results since the Chelsea defeat:

(H) W 2-1 v Villa

(A) D 1-1 v Man City

(A) W 3-2 v Burnley (League Cup)

(H) D 1-1 v Everton

(A) D 1-1 v Sunderland

(H) W 3-1 v Blackburn Rovers

(H) W 4-0 v Wolves

(H) W 3-1 aet v Man Utd (League Cup)

Not too shabby. But tweaking still required.

Well I guess I'll have to try lennon a bit more. I was playing bentley. I do prefer Lennon but my coach recommended bentley instead so I'll have another try. thanks guys.

Lennon gets to byeline and crosses in. Palacios looking good too. Its early days and using the demo for what it is a demo. Will start main game with either Spurs or Wealdstone on the editor.

King seems to fit , my idea would be to have him coded to be unfit for 6 days after every game

Interesting. I see the board have upped my transfer kitty from £3M to £8.5M in October.

Looks like my side is finally settling down. Bale has been triffic on the left hand side of midfield too. And Defoe is finally finding the net with more accomplished ease.

Results continued...

(A) L 2-1 v Arsenal

(A) W 3-0 v Wigan

(H) W 4-2 v Fulham

(A) W 4-0 v Birmingham

14 Prem games played. Second in the table.

Played 14

Won 9

Drn 3

Lost 2

For 29

Ag 12

30 Pts

Unbeaten at WHL.

JD has 10 goals in 11 (5) games.

Keane 8

Palacios / Crouch 4

Bassong 3

Modric / Pav 2

Bale / Lennon / Jenas / King 1

Still trying to get Modric more involved with the goals. Wilson continues to be a beast in midfield, covering so much ground and involved heavily with passing and getting forward.

Best averages:

Bale 7.70

Keane 7.62

Bassong 7.50

Palacios 7.38

Modric 7.34

Dawson yet to play for me. Huddlestone - who was involved heavily in my first demo game has hardly figured in this one, mainly because I play one in central midfield.

I agree with what people say about Naughton. he will be very very useful.

Hutton is another one not being used too much. And Jenas too has sat on the bench often.

Anyone playing Gio?

I think in my full game proper I will look to sell the following:

Pav, Hutton, Bentley.

Unless anyone of you chaps are going to tell me they are worthy squad members.

Looks like we have a decent FM10 team with no buys.

I have been using Pav to come off the bench and so far he was scored 4 in 5 sub appearances

I brought RVN and he is now partnering defoe up front with keane and Pav ont he bench, also brought 2 youngsters called Koke ans Keko and there both proving good off the bench

So far my games

West ham 7 - 0 Won

Burnley 2 - 1 Won

Bolton 3 - 0 Won

Leeds (Cup) 5 - 0 Won

Chelsea 2 - 3 Lost ( own goal in the 84th minute by corluka after King went off injured then 91st minute goal by drogba with Gomes injured)

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Won

Defoe has been trained to place his shots and he ha scored in every game

Koke and Keko? Sounds like a dance move.

What positions? Clubs?

Oh...and 7-0??? What tactic are you using? I'm curious to know what experiences people are having with style of play as it seems on the one had the Spurs squad is a good one, but others seem to be having difficulty.

I think one of the things about Defoe is on his preferred moves list it has stuff about taking first time shots. He generally doesn't take the time to set himself and hit the corner, which can sometimes mean although he takes it earlier and might surprise the keeper, his accuracy may suffer as a consequence. If it's a real problem, retraining him might help.

On my game I sold Hutton (I thought Naughton would provide good enough cover), Jenas (brought in Becks and Van der Vaart as replacements) and some of the reserve team flops. Looking at what I can get for Pav but I think I'll keep him as Obika isn't quite up to standard yet. Might look to bring in some better Yplayers on the actual game, the U18 squad is terrible.

At the moment I'm playing a control 4-4-2 with Lennon as a winger, modric on the left as a wide mid. cutting in from the touchline, VDV as an advanced playmaker and Palacios as a ball winner. Seems to be working well so far, 3-0 against the hammers and 2-0 away to burnley.

Playing a 4,3,1,2

GK: Gomes

RB: Corluka/Naughton (seems like he could be good) (set as auto fullback)

LB: Ekotto/Bale (set as auto fullback)

CB: King (when hes fit keeps getting injured)/Woodgate (set as defend central def)

CB: Bassong (set as defend central def)

RM: Lennon (set as winger attack)

LM: Modric (set as wide midfielder support)

CM: Palacios (set as ball winning midfielder defend)

AM: Krancjar/Gio (set as support attacking midfielder)

ST: Crouch (set as support target man)

ST: Defoe (set as attack advanced forward)

I'm playing more or less the same as this and have had a terrible start.

Drew the first 3 games, lost to Wycombe in the cup on penalties and lost 4-0 to Chelsea.

what is going on?

I do have direct passing though. Could that be crucial?

At the moment I'm playing a control 4-4-2 with Lennon as a winger, modric on the left as a wide mid. cutting in from the touchline, VDV as an advanced playmaker and Palacios as a ball winner. Seems to be working well so far, 3-0 against the hammers and 2-0 away to burnley.

Re: Lennon

What instructions do you have him on? Hugging touchline? Cutting in?

My tactic, as described in previous posts has changed subtly. I think in the full release it will change further because its dependent on who I actually sign.

Anyways, here's some general stats:

1st in Prem

Played 21

Won 14

Drn 4

Lst 3

For 47

Ag 20

+27

46 points

(Chelsea and Arsenal are on 45 pts)

Best average:

Keane 7.66

Top scorers:

Defoe 16, Keane 15, Modric 9, Palacios 5, Bassong 4

I'm concerned. Is the game too easy or am I simply 'on the ball' tactically?

How are you chaps finding it?

I'm playing more or less the same as this and have had a terrible start.

Drew the first 3 games, lost to Wycombe in the cup on penalties and lost 4-0 to Chelsea.

what is going on?

I do have direct passing though. Could that be crucial?

i have my passing as more direct, luka is playmaker and crouch as target man, creative freedom as default.. seems to be going ok for me so far

Evening yidos. Ive been drawn with Spurs in a 20 man online game, and as an Arsenal fan feel gutted.

I have no idea how to play with Spurs on here, what needs improving and what tactic is best? Help most appreciated.

Ok, I thought I would post how I've done so far. As anyone who has read the Spurs thread before might know I really don't like messing around with tactics so Mr Bond has done all of them using the standard 4-4-2 formation.

Signings:

Jonathan Cristaldo

Marc Muniesa

Iker Muniain

All youths, Cristaldo looks very good for the future and was quite cheap, so was DC Muniesa was looks alright for just 17. Muniain was the risk, cost £4M at just 16 years old but I thought it's only a demo so why not risk it. He somehow scored 7 times in 3(2) friendlies :S

Results so far:

Reserves 3-1

Swansea 1-0

Leicester 5-0

Morcambe 4-1

Piacenza 10-1 !!

Brescia 2-0

Ascoli 4-1

League Results:

West Ham 3-0

Burnley 3-0

Bolton 2-1

Ok guys how good is Modric! I'm a big European team and my scouts rating him very highly at 4 stars, they seem to think he is one of the best attacking midfielders in the game. Does him dominate games/consistant performances/goals/assists? I guess you guys will play him in differnt positions but can he perfrom as a AML. Cheers

Question: why not Corluka CB, since his poor crossing, dribbling and off the ball and good pure defender stats indeed?

Corluka+King+Bassong+Woodgate

Is it me or are Spurs easier to play this season, in the past finishing top in your first season was a very hard thing to do; yet this season myself and several people here are already making a mockery of the Premier League - I know none of us have got to the end of the season yet but I would expect most would retain their positions.

Anyone else agree?

I'm thinking the same thing. I actually always finish 7th or 6th first season and build on from there though on FM2009, for the first time ever I got into the CL in my first season. I would hate it if I won the title in the first season.

Arent u playing the demo urban? how have u made it to cl then?

He mentioned it was on FM09

Have finished the demo in top spot with only 3 other clubs standing a chance of catching me up now. Although annoyingly I beat Man Utd and Liverpool in a row and then lost to Stoke >.<

ok, sorry my bad

Yeah, I just meant that it takes me 2 season to get into the CL on Fm2009. If I'm top at Jan in Fm2010, there's a chance I might even when the title.

I'd hate the game to be easy.

I know what you mean, I think the fact it's quite easy coupled with the fact I've played Spurs more than any other team, I'll probably do an L.L.M challenge or career game.

I might try something more 'tricky' tactically when the game is released so that progress is more fragmented.

It will be nice to experiment.

With Modric as Midfielder Left.

Since he has "run with balls on the left", the different performances/movement with touchline/cuts in/into channel.

Same with Giovani on the right side (he has moves into channel PPM).

I've written a review of FM and also a very casual guide to Tottenham in FM on my blog. Hope it's ok to link to it: http://www.dearmrlevy.com/

great stuff urban! good reading!

Yep im planning on being Spurs once the full game comes out, looks like a fun team to be.

Will sell Pav, Jenas, Hutton and Bentely which will give me some more funds to work with.

Also good guide there Urban, very helpful.