FM11 - Tottenham Hotspur - Rise of the Triffics (take 3)

[Robert the Spud]

I'll be attempting to sign Lukaku this summer(2011). Will pay £15m + if i have to. Also considering Barrios.

[edgar555]

Modric as MC = DLP support. Make him your 'Pirlo' player. Immense.

[Oliseh]

Modric as MC = DLP support. Make him your 'Pirlo' player. Immense.

I know alot of you guys have had succes with him in this role, and 'arry has in real life as well. But he has never clicked for me. Thudd, on the other hand, does very well as DLP for me.

[walsh]

Finished my second season last night and what a good season it was! We won the league on the last day of the season (although it was realistically already done before that given my goal difference of +67) and ended up winning it by 5 points from both City and Arsenal. Vagner Love comfortably finished top scorer again. We also won the Europa League after narrowly squeezing past Leverkusen in the semi's and Atletico (Spanish Champions) in the final. Kyle Naughton actually came on as a sub and won us the Europa 2-1with a back post header in the 88th minute after we had gone behind.

Gareth Bale was sensational and won the Football Writer's award with Vagner Love in 2nd. Luka Modric won PFA player of the year with Dawson, Lennon, Modric, Bale and Vagner Love all in the PFA team first XI and Akinfeev in as a sub. Douglas Costa won PFA young player of the year after scoring 18 goals in all competitions, mainly shining in the Europa League campaign. Tom Huddlestone's only goal of the season was in fact voted goal of the season (a screamer which came in a 4-0 home win against Chelsea) and to cap it off I won manager of the year.

As for transfers at the start of the 3rd season, I have let Pienaar, Hutton, Pav, Radoi and Charlie Adam all leave and so far have only brought in Jeremy Menez for £18.5m to add to my ferocious attacking options

[Bren_D]

I just went out of the League Cup. To the scum. On penalties :| The board expected me to get further than the 4th round too. At least the performance was OK, coming back from 2-0 down with 15-20 to play to force e/t, which we played a lot of with ten men. Injury rather than ill discipline. Not my year, I couldn't have got a nastier draw than Citeh in the 3rd round and the goons in the 4th.

What better way to get over disappointment at the lane than winning on their patch a few days later? In the 86th minute Eden Hazard decided to take the ball from the centre circle to the d, doing Vermaelen in the process, before smashing it into the top corner of Flappyhandski's net and they didn't have much time to reply. Definitely a goal that I'd upload if youtube would play fair!

My lads are slowly starting to play as I'd like them to and I'm nearly done with my signings. Assuming I'll land Phil Jones, I'm only after Neymar and Andre Ayew before I start looking at newgens and saving money for a new ground. Unless I get any brilliant agent offers or can land my beloved Kun Aguero and Pato for semi-decent prices

Imagine Kun and Pato up top with Hazard in the hole and Bale and Azza firing the ball in from out wide. /daydream.

[Robert the Spud]

Modric as MC = DLP support. Make him your 'Pirlo' player. Immense.

Do you get him to run from deep often?

[Bren_D]

I have used the 'slowly starting...' line before, haven't I? Quite accurate this time. For the first part of the season the team blew hot and cold, for every decent scoreline like the Fulham match, we lost to the sort of team we should be beating. But four league wins, two wins over Kazan in the CL and the 2-2 with the goons suggests I have turned sacking form into the sort of form I'd like to see. Lennon has been incredibly poor for me, though. Strange when I have used pretty much the same instructions as I always use for him. I might have to drop him for Pienaar for a while.

Casemiro is better than an 18 year old should be and is going to be a real star for me. Hazard has started to hit some form as the results have improved and Kadlec, Lukaku and Chamberlain are contributing as much as I'd expect kids of their age too. Chamberlain has out assisted Lennon too, 3 assists from four starts and two sub appearances, compared to zilch from seven starts and a sub appearance for Lennon.

edit: Eden Hazard strikes again. This time throwing himself into a slide tackle wide on the left in his own half and winning the ball cleanly before running into the opponent's penalty area and curling it past the 'keeper. The location? Stamford Bridge. In the 92nd minute of a game that had been quite a tight 0-0 up until that point My 3-1-4-1-1 counter punching tactic is working a treat in this save!

[edgar555]

Do you get him to run from deep often?

No. I don't like him getting in the box too much. My ball winner is allowed forward more than him. He's not the best finisher, I'd rather he hung back probing for openings.

[Bren_D]

My winning streak came to an end at 10 league games on the spin with a 0-0 against Liverpool at the lane Annoying as wins against West Ham and Blackburn would have taken me level with the record of 13 wins in a row and Everton might well have provided win #14.

I can't moan at 38 points from 18 games, 2 shy of Chelski with a pretty much even goal difference. I would have taken that at the start of the season!

[Bren_D]

I lost to West Ham anyway, two late goals that left me with no time to reply. The first a throwing the ball over his own goal line fumble from Gomes

This would have been an edit, but I noticed my post count was a triple nelson. Probably why I lost.

[tomtuck01]

The Champions League group stages are about to start, so it is of course time for my post summer transfer window/start of season update.

The summer transfer window has been quite busy, especially with players leaving the club. The squad is a little bigger than it ought to be aswell, and a fair bit of rotation will be needed to keep everyone happy.

Please enjoy the read.

Transfer Activity

Five players joined the club during the transfer window, with eleven players being sold, and a further seven players being loaned out.

Players Out;

Alan Hutton - £7million - Blackburn

Robbie Keane - £6million - West Ham

Jermaine Jenas - £5million - Liverpool

David Bentley - £5million - Newcastle

Steven Pienaar - £4.6million - Stuttgart

Jonathan Woodgate - £2.3million - Wolves

Jake Livermore - £1.9million - Burnley

William Gallas - £1.8million - Inter

Jamie O'Hara - £1.6million - Rangers

Dean Parrett - £1.1million - Ipswich

Andros Townsend - £500k - Sheffield United

Niko Kranjcar - Loan (Fee of £1.5million) - Manchester United

Peter Crouch - Loan (Fee of £1.3million) - Everton

Paul-Jose Mpoku - Loan (Fee of £180k) - Blackpool

Jonathan Obika - Loan (Fee of £35k) - Swindon

Leandro Bacuna - Loan - Racing Santander

Stefan de Vrij - Loan - Hoffenheim

Connor Wickham - Loan - Southampton

A further seven players were released.

Some decent fee's for the players sold, inparticular the Hutton fee. Niko Kranjcar and Peter Crouch have set fee's in their loan deals of £6.5million and £5.5million respectively.

Players In;

Ashley Young - £16.5million (£7.5million upfront with £9mllion over 48months) - Aston Villa

Romelu Lukaku - £7.5million - Anderlecht

Raphael Varane - £5.25million (Paid over 24months) - Lens

Connor Wickham - £3.5million (Plus 20% profit of next sale) - Ipswich

Owen Hargreaves - Free - Manchester United

I can't say that any of the signings will be indispensable to the first team, but Young will get the most games as I rotate the side on a regular basis.

First Team Squad

Goalkeepers;

1.Gomes

23.Carlo Cudicini

35.David Button

Defenders;

4.Younes Kaboul

19.Sebastien Bassong

20.Michael Dawson - Vice Captain

22.Vedran Corluka

26.Ledley King - Captain

28.Kyle Naughton

29.Kyle Walker

32.Benoit Assou-Ekotto

44.Raphael Varane

45.Jordan Lukaku

Midfielders;

3.Gareth Bale

5.Owen Hargreaves

6.Tom Huddlestone

7.Aaron Lennon

8.Ashley Young

11.Rafael van der Vaart

12.Wilson Palacios

14.Luka Modric

17.Giovani dos Santos

30.Sandro

Strikers;

9.Roman Pavlyuchenko

16.Romelu Lukaku

18.Jermain Defoe

31.Leandro

The Season So Far

We began the season with the Community Shield against Manchester United, and crushed them 4-0. Roman Pavlyuchenko, Gareth Bale, and Aaron Lennon gave us a 3-0 halftime lead, and sub Jermain Defoe wrapped it up in the second half.

Community Shield v. Manchester United

In the league we have started excellently, winning all of our opening four games, including an impressive 2-0 win at Everton. We have bagged 11 goals so far, and conceded 3. Roman Pavlyuchenko has started excellently this season, justifying my decision to let last seasons top scorer Peter Crouch leave the club.

Ipswich (A) 3-1 (Bale 2, Young)

Hull (H) 4-1 (van der Vaart, Pavlyuchenko 3)

Everton (A) 2-0 (Pavlyuchenko 2)

Wolves (H) 2-1 (Bale, Leandro)

A screenie of the Premier League table will get posted after around 12 games.

The draw for the group stages of the Champions League has been made and I have been handed what could be a tough-ish group despite being among the second seeds. Along with ourselves, there is Barcelona, Napoli, and Rapid Bucharest. I would hope to get out the group though.

------------------------------------------------

So far the season is going very well.

Any comments or suggestions are welcome, and I'll be happy to upload any screenshots you wish to see.

[Barnetboyz]

finally changed to a decent formation to fit my players and first game with it and we crush Newcastle 4-0 (Bale 2, Dawson 9th of the seaosn ffs & Caulker)

EDIT : Steven Caulker thanks manager Richard Martin after Caulker gets his first England cap :*****)

so proud of the lad

[Robert the Spud]

No. I don't like him getting in the box too much. My ball winner is allowed forward more than him. He's not the best finisher, I'd rather he hung back probing for openings.

Hmm, interesting. I've been trying to get him laying more like he does in real life. He seems to roam anywhere around the left side of the pitch, and get's into the box, especially on counter attacks. But in my game VdV and Bale are in his way really. Tried putting him on the right of centre midfield, box to box role but to no avail.

Also Edgar, how good do you think Sandro can get in the game? I really want to develop him into a top, top midfield player. I think he will be a wonderful player irl from what little i've seen of him. I think. Hopefully

~Only in October, just beaten Bayern 5-3 at the lane.

[Asim]

sandro does become really good, iv tutored him with modric and huddlestone and he has all the attributes for an all-round midfielder.

i usually play him as cm support and he gets his share of goals.

from what iv seen of him irl, he isnt a holding midfielder/defensive midfielder. he gets forward quite alot aswell.

[Robert the Spud]

Yep, he looks like he can be the box to boxer destroyer that Palacios was supposed to be(could've been too he was fantastic for Wigan). Hopefully the Barca rumours are just that. Besides he'd be wasted there, and what would they do with Mascherano.

Defintiely gonna need a new keeper over here. Gomes has cost me 4 pts already with some appalling goalkeeping.

[Barnetboyz]

Gomes is amazing for me, reflexes 20

[adamjigey]

I Got My Champions League Group

Barcelona

Benfica

Spurs

Rubin Kazan

Got An Unlikely 1-0 Victory Over Barcelona Yann M'Vila

[tomtuck01]

Great performance from the guys.

[dxtrsnstr]

In my first season I asked for the training facilities to get an upgrade and it was approved without a fuss. But at the end of the season, when the upgrade process bar was nearing the end, I just got a message saying it was cancelled. Why is that? Can I somehow get it going again (cannot ask for it in the boardroom)? Is this a familliar problem?

Secondly, I asked Levy for more coaching staff permitted, and he granted it, yet I there aren't more spots available than when I asked before. I am fairly well equipped as I have alreday gotten that permission once in the beginning of the season, but I am strangely obsessed with getting five star ratings on all categories with light workload. Any ideas?

Cheers

[WoGBoYz]

Hey lads,

Should I persist with Gomes?? Second season, he produces some AMAZING saves but also concedes some terrible mistakes.. I have shawcross, hummels & hoewdes (sp) rotating infront of him as my CBs...

Option I can see who might come over (finished 4th in epl, LC winners, ECL runners up & fa cup 6th round (I think off the top of my head) 1st season) are De Gea, Akinfeev, Adler, skeltenberg and the usual suspects. Or should I persist?

Btw, Im not a spurs fan irl but love em in FM & they are growing on me!!! Defoe as a poacher & Lennon as inside fwd are immense! VdV is also great value.

Cheers for the advice!

[Oypus]

I'm still with Gomes in 2017.

I initially picked his replacement as Alphonse Areola, but that never really worked out. I am now grooming the actual replacement, a Danish regen who is already pretty damned good.

[Bren_D]

I lied. But none of you expected me to limit my major signings to Neymar, Jones and Ayew, did you?

Being two points behind the leaders come the start of the Jan window, the board gave me the opportunity to change my expectations. Selecting the same as the start of the season, continental qualification, gave me an extra 14m for transfers and 250k or so for wages Enough to land Neymar (40m over 48 months) and my old friend Yaya Sanogo (5m over 48 months). I'll sort Jones and Ayew, perhaps Jordan as well as Andre, come the summer.

I'll have to ditch Super Pav and JD at the end of the season, though. That'll hurt. A lot. Going into battle with Neymar, Lukaku, Kadlec, Sanogo and Kane all the right side of 20 will be a bit of a gamble, but they need time on the pitch if I am going to turn them into world beaters, which I will. JD and Pav will only hold them back. At least I won't be tempted to sign Connor Wickham, Utd nabbed him, which I doubt will be a Man City/Chelski scenario where I can nab him for next to nothing a year or two down the line.

Sadly Neymar is looking a bit Torres like at the moment and hasn't come anywhere near scoring in his first four outings, nor has he clicked with Lukaku in a little n large combo. He looks far too good not to make it, though I just need to work out how to use him. It'll probably take me most of the time renaming in the season to get Yaya fit, I might have to fish him out of the U18s towards the end of the campaign to see if he makes a better playmate for Neymar.

[Bren_D]

I'm still with Gomes in 2017.

I initially picked his replacement as Alphonse Areola, but that never really worked out. I am now grooming the actual replacement, a Danish regen who is already pretty damned good.

I will be if I can help it. I don't know what it is about the big man, but I love him. Of the current crop, only Ledders is higher in my estimations and I'll be gutted if 'arry tries to sign a new GK in the summer. I'll be giving Smithies enough games to develop of course, just to be on the safe side

[Robert the Spud]

In my first season I asked for the training facilities to get an upgrade and it was approved without a fuss. But at the end of the season, when the upgrade process bar was nearing the end, I just got a message saying it was cancelled. Why is that? Can I somehow get it going again (cannot ask for it in the boardroom)? Is this a familliar problem?

Lack of money no doubt. I've never had the problem, but i never buy in the first season so my finances are always as they were pretty much. Take a look at your balance and it will most likely be in the red.

Hey lads,

Should I persist with Gomes?? Second season, he produces some AMAZING saves but also concedes some terrible mistakes.. I have shawcross, hummels & hoewdes (sp) rotating infront of him as my CBs...

Option I can see who might come over (finished 4th in epl, LC winners, ECL runners up & fa cup 6th round (I think off the top of my head) 1st season) are De Gea, Akinfeev, Adler, skeltenberg and the usual suspects. Or should I persist?

Btw, Im not a spurs fan irl but love em in FM & they are growing on me!!! Defoe as a poacher & Lennon as inside fwd are immense! VdV is also great value.

Cheers for the advice!

That is typical Gomes. In my save, he makes a horrendous mess of a near post header against Everton and costs me 2 points, scored a horrible own goal against Wigan etc. Then we go to Old Trafford, and he produces save after save and wins us 3 points. Cannot get through him. IMO he is one of the better GK's IN THE GAME. But he makes some stupid mistakes. I can't rely on him, so if i can get Neuer at the end of season, or possibly De Gea, i will. My decisions in this game are often tarred by my annoyance or love of current players, however

And Gomes is better than Skeltenberg, Adler has even less command of his area than Gomes. The only keeper worth buying OVER Gomes is Neuer/De Gea imo, out of that list.

I will be if I can help it. I don't know what it is about the big man, but I love him. Of the current crop, only Ledders is higher in my estimations and I'll be gutted if 'arry tries to sign a new GK in the summer. I'll be giving Smithies enough games to develop of course, just to be on the safe side

I won't. Unless he buys David James

But seriously Gomes just epitomises unreliability. If that RVP shot the other night was allowed to stand(as it was onside) then people may be thinking differently about him today. He can't save anything that's shot straight at him, terrible at set pieces, can't catch, positional sense is questionable etc. He wins us points, but he also costs us them too. The only problem is i don't think there are better keepers available to the club this summer.

[edgar555]

So, season 4 is done.

After being gutted at being 2nd last year we came out the blocks flying and never really looked like we would do anything other than win the title.

We won it with 6 games to spare, with a record points and goals haul. Finished 20 pts clear of 2nd place Blackburn (!!), Citeh 3rd, Liverpool were 4th with Utd, Cheski & the scum in 5th, 6th and 7th. Mwahaahahahah!

I pretty much forfeit the FA and Carling Cups to concentrate on the EPL & CL. Played youth/reserves in both comps, going out 3rd round of CC and 5th round of FACup.

The CL, like the EPL we were dominant throughout after falling at the group stages last year. No such problems this time as Valencia, Besiktas and Nice were dealth with and I could relax for our last 2 games. Then came a goal bonanza in the KO stages, Leverkusen held us to 1-1 in Germany but we thumped them 5-0 in the 2nd leg. Next away to Milan and a 4-0 win, followed by a 2-1 win at The Lane. Man U were beaten 4-0 at the Lane and 2-1 at OT to make it three 6-1 agg wins in a row. Atletico Madrid ruined a potential NLD final and we met them at Ibrox. They took the lead thru a Bassong OG, but Cavani showed his class and dominated the game, scoring the equaliser and providing the cross that Bassong turned in to win it!! CL champions at last!!

A couple of signings were key in our performances. One planned, one not at all. And even the planned one ended up working out differently to how I'd expected.

(brackets show: apps(subs); goas; assists; avg rating)

The planned move was for Cavani(35(6)-26-19-7.72). £30m was the price and I just really wanted him. He and Rossi(44(5)-31-10-7.45) both had little knocks thru the 1st couple of months so rotated nicely. Once they were fully fit I couldn't choose between them so moved Cavani to AMR in place of the injured Lennon. This worked so well and the team just took off from December on, although some of the credit for this goes to VDV(26(7)-8-16-7.45) returning from a 4 month injury in time for Xmas.

The unplanned transfer came when Gomes broke his leg on the 20th August. Steele isn't a good enough replacement and my regen German at only 17 isn't mentally ready. So out comes the cheque book. Adler is at Sevilla and has a £17.5m release clause. It wasn't even a tough choice. £90k per week, job done. Fully justified when he kept 5 clean sheets in his first 6 games. Amazing keeper. Gomes came back in Feb but is nowhere near the same quality. Back up for him if he's happy with that next year.

Bale(39(6)-19-21-7,79) was as good as ever, but still picked up a lot of knocks. M'Poku and Bostock provided really good cover at AML and AMC as Kranjc struggled with injuries. Kovacic was inconsistent but had glimpses of brilliance. Lennon was great but his injury gave Cavani a shot at AMR and he's not letting it go. Aaron still has a big role to play in my squad though.

In the centre Modric(46(7)-4-7-7.15), on the back of a very poor season, bounced back to dominate games again. Holzhauser continues to shine when called upon to replace him. Rodwell(36(7)-3-6-7.26) stepped it up this year as I wanted him to do but with Sandro providing competition he had no choice.

At the back, Bassong(47(1)-8-8-7.62) was a rock. Musachio started the season alongside him but made too many mistakes. Kaboul(37(4)-6-0-7.40) took his chance and never let it slip. Caulker is developing nicely too. At full back Kyle Walker is the main man on the right and Tremoulinas finally became the player I spent £16m on 2.5 seasons ago. Jose Enrique really struggled this year, not helped by injuries but was still very poor when given a run.

Awards:

Footballer of the Year: Bale 1st; Cavani 2nd.

Players POTY: Rossi 1st

Young POTY: Rodwell 2nd

Team OTY: Adler, Bassong, Tremoulinas, Cavani, Bale, Rossi. Subs: Kaboul & Rodwell

Top scorer: Rossi 2nd with 24

CL Top scorer: Cavani 2nd with 9

CL Best Player: Cavani 1st; Bale 2nd

A really good season that I'm delighted with. There is movement needed though.

Musachio can go, too many errors. Enrique too maybe. With Blackburn looking very threatening this season, I want Phil Jones. So he'll hopefully come in.

Another key in Blackburns efforts was on loan Eden Hazard, he was phenomenal and was 3rd in the FOTY award. I want him and £20m should get him from Rubin for me. Niko will have to go, too many injuries this year and he's nearing 30.

The 3rd component of Blackburns success was Kalinic and I'm sorely tempted but that would be the end of Harry Kane and not sure I can do that.

Anyway, I want to defend both titles and add the Super Cup (beaten by Barca this year) and World Club Cup.

COYS

On the International front I started the season in charge of Belgium however we failed to get to the WC from a very tough group and I quit. I picked up the Argentina job after they flopped at the WC. Happy days.

[Barnetboyz]

i really wish i had a top quality striker for my spurs squad

[edgar555]

Tell Levy to get his cheque book out then BB.

I got Jones and Hazard so heading into my 5th season this is how my squad looks:

GK: Adler/Gomes/Kaminksi (German regen, 18yo)

DR: Walker/Corluka

DC: Kaboul/Jones

DC: Bassong/Caulker

DL: Tremoulinas/Enrique

MCr: Rodwell/Sandro

MCl: Modric/Holzhauser

AMR: Cavani/ Lennon/Kovacic

AMC: VDV/Hazard/Bostock

AML: Bale/M'Poku

ST: Rossi/Kane

Weakening Blackburn means that its likely to be between us and Citeh this year. Still really toying with a Kalinic swoop.

[Barnetboyz]

i've got plenty of money but i'm not one to overspend on a player (saying that as soon as January comes along Jones will be joining for 15M to create the English Uber Force with Dawson, Walker & Baines)

Cavani would cost 40M, Neymar 35M i mean Hooper would cost 8M ffs

[Welshace]

can anyone suggest a formation for my upcoming spurs save? .. want to get the best out of the usual suspects... bale , vdv and the cb's ...

any help would be appreciated

[Barnetboyz]

Into the January transfer window and again am asking for advice on who to get rid of and where i could improve the team

Will be selling Niko as he isn't really needed that much any more despite an amazing season last year

[axehan1]

So, season 4 is done.

After being gutted at being 2nd last year we came out the blocks flying and never really looked like we would do anything other than win the title.

We won it with 6 games to spare, with a record points and goals haul. Finished 20 pts clear of 2nd place Blackburn (!!), Citeh 3rd, Liverpool were 4th with Utd, Cheski & the scum in 5th, 6th and 7th. Mwahaahahahah!

I pretty much forfeit the FA and Carling Cups to concentrate on the EPL & CL. Played youth/reserves in both comps, going out 3rd round of CC and 5th round of FACup.

The CL, like the EPL we were dominant throughout after falling at the group stages last year. No such problems this time as Valencia, Besiktas and Nice were dealth with and I could relax for our last 2 games. Then came a goal bonanza in the KO stages, Leverkusen held us to 1-1 in Germany but we thumped them 5-0 in the 2nd leg. Next away to Milan and a 4-0 win, followed by a 2-1 win at The Lane. Man U were beaten 4-0 at the Lane and 2-1 at OT to make it three 6-1 agg wins in a row. Atletico Madrid ruined a potential NLD final and we met them at Ibrox. They took the lead thru a Bassong OG, but Cavani showed his class and dominated the game, scoring the equaliser and providing the cross that Bassong turned in to win it!! CL champions at last!!

A couple of signings were key in our performances. One planned, one not at all. And even the planned one ended up working out differently to how I'd expected.

(brackets show: apps(subs); goas; assists; avg rating)

The planned move was for Cavani(35(6)-26-19-7.72). £30m was the price and I just really wanted him. He and Rossi(44(5)-31-10-7.45) both had little knocks thru the 1st couple of months so rotated nicely. Once they were fully fit I couldn't choose between them so moved Cavani to AMR in place of the injured Lennon. This worked so well and the team just took off from December on, although some of the credit for this goes to VDV(26(7)-8-16-7.45) returning from a 4 month injury in time for Xmas.

The unplanned transfer came when Gomes broke his leg on the 20th August. Steele isn't a good enough replacement and my regen German at only 17 isn't mentally ready. So out comes the cheque book. Adler is at Sevilla and has a £17.5m release clause. It wasn't even a tough choice. £90k per week, job done. Fully justified when he kept 5 clean sheets in his first 6 games. Amazing keeper. Gomes came back in Feb but is nowhere near the same quality. Back up for him if he's happy with that next year.

Bale(39(6)-19-21-7,79) was as good as ever, but still picked up a lot of knocks. M'Poku and Bostock provided really good cover at AML and AMC as Kranjc struggled with injuries. Kovacic was inconsistent but had glimpses of brilliance. Lennon was great but his injury gave Cavani a shot at AMR and he's not letting it go. Aaron still has a big role to play in my squad though.

In the centre Modric(46(7)-4-7-7.15), on the back of a very poor season, bounced back to dominate games again. Holzhauser continues to shine when called upon to replace him. Rodwell(36(7)-3-6-7.26) stepped it up this year as I wanted him to do but with Sandro providing competition he had no choice.

At the back, Bassong(47(1)-8-8-7.62) was a rock. Musachio started the season alongside him but made too many mistakes. Kaboul(37(4)-6-0-7.40) took his chance and never let it slip. Caulker is developing nicely too. At full back Kyle Walker is the main man on the right and Tremoulinas finally became the player I spent £16m on 2.5 seasons ago. Jose Enrique really struggled this year, not helped by injuries but was still very poor when given a run.

Awards:

Footballer of the Year: Bale 1st; Cavani 2nd.

Players POTY: Rossi 1st

Young POTY: Rodwell 2nd

Team OTY: Adler, Bassong, Tremoulinas, Cavani, Bale, Rossi. Subs: Kaboul & Rodwell

Top scorer: Rossi 2nd with 24

CL Top scorer: Cavani 2nd with 9

CL Best Player: Cavani 1st; Bale 2nd

A really good season that I'm delighted with. There is movement needed though.

Musachio can go, too many errors. Enrique too maybe. With Blackburn looking very threatening this season, I want Phil Jones. So he'll hopefully come in.

Another key in Blackburns efforts was on loan Eden Hazard, he was phenomenal and was 3rd in the FOTY award. I want him and £20m should get him from Rubin for me. Niko will have to go, too many injuries this year and he's nearing 30.

The 3rd component of Blackburns success was Kalinic and I'm sorely tempted but that would be the end of Harry Kane and not sure I can do that.

Anyway, I want to defend both titles and add the Super Cup (beaten by Barca this year) and World Club Cup.

COYS

On the International front I started the season in charge of Belgium however we failed to get to the WC from a very tough group and I quit. I picked up the Argentina job after they flopped at the WC. Happy days.

edgar if its not to much to ask can you tell me how you set up your 3AM's as their goals assists is something i cannot replicate!!also your fullbabacks are they on attackind duties?

[edgar555]

edgar if its not to much to ask can you tell me how you set up your 3AM's as their goals assists is something i cannot replicate!!also your fullbabacks are they on attackind duties?

Yep.

AMR: Winger/Attack, RWB often, No long shots, no thru balls, sometimes crosses. Wide play = hug touchline. AMC: Inside fwd/attack no closing down, almost full creative freedom, roam from position, sometimes long shots, thru balls sometimes, crossing rarely. Wide play = move into channels. AML: Inside fwd/support, RWB often, Long shots rarely, thru balls and crossing sometimes, Wide play = cuts inside.

Full backs are auto but I'm normally on attack so they usually on attack.

[Oypus]

I'm just about to begin (sort of) competitive play in the 2017-2018 season. I have the Shield against United. I'll give an long ass update on how I anticipate things going.

GK: Danish Regen, Gomes, Sam Cowler, Jan Oblak (on loan at R. Madrid): I've had the Danish guy since he was 17, and at 21 he's finally looking to be better than 36 year old Gomes. I plan on giving him the starting role.

CB: Bassong, and three regens. Spanish, English and Argentinian: Bassong's 31 now, and I think the English regen is currently set to take over for him if he starts to slip. The Spanish and Argentinian guys are 23, and the English is 21. The Spanish one is probably better than Bassong, so those two start.

RB: English regen, Sudanese regen and Casemiro: Though I prefer using Casemiro at MC, he's really good at fullback as well. The English regen is lightning fast and has great defensive stats. He picked up one yellow card all last season and no reds, all the while averaging well over a 7.00 rating. The yellow was against C. Ronaldo (and in February), so I can understand that. The Sudanese one is great cover here, as well as at MC.

LB: Coentrao, English regen: This English regen is very similar to the one at RB, but every time I think about dropping Coentrao he pulls out some amazing games.

Midfielders: Modric, Pastore, Kranjcar, Wilshere, Mikel, Casemiro, Sudanese regen, Scottish regen: I rotate these guys all over the place, based on injuries, form and opponents. Usually Modric starts at MC with Wilshere/Kranjcar at AMC, and Pastore actually plays AMR. The Scottish regen is pretty weak, but is good backup. The other three I use as ball winning midfielders, or just defensive if it's Mikel. Mikel and Modric are getting a bit old, but Casemiro is just as good as Mikel, and I may have found a Modric replacement.

Wingers: Bale, Pastore, two French regens, as well as Kranjcar, Modric or Wilshere at times. (Like I said, rotation): There's one regen for each side. One is young and started as a LB, but I noticed he had nothing going for him except a high potential and lots of speed. I've been working at making him a replacement for Bale, but it's a slow process. The other is a Man City castoff, and just pure backup. Pretty similar to Lennon. As to why I'm using Pastore at AMR, he's just ****ing incredible there. Going 1v1 with fullbacks makes him unstoppable. I also have an Argentinian regen joining in January that my scouts tell me will be as good as Pastore. Pumped for that one.

Striker: American regen, Lukaku, Bas Dost, English regen: The American is also, quite frankly, ****ing incredible. 21 years old, either footed, fast, strong, good finisher, etc. Literally a complete striker. He started playing in the first team at 19, in January, due to an injury crisis. In those short months he finished top scorer in the CL. Currently has 26 caps for USA, and 40 goals. He cost me 7m, currently worth 24.5m. Ridiculous. At one point over the offseason, I saw a message saying he was unhappy and wanted a better contract. I was pretty much resigned to giving him the same massive contract Bale and Pastore are on (170k), but he only asked for 80k p/w. Given that I think he's easily one of the best strikers in my game, I happily agreed. Lukaku is a great sub, and Dost is a favorite of sorts. He scored the winner for my Holland team in the 2014 WC, plus joined on a free, and much more reasonable wages than Llorente was asking. The English guy has a lot of potential as well.

TL;DR: My team looks great on paper. Lots of youth all over the place. Right now, the team is pretty much built around Bale, Pastore and the American regen. They definitely pull the weight in terms of goal scoring.

[Oliseh]

Some great and inspiring updates there, Eddie and Oyp. Any of you have a new stadium built? What is the capacity like, and is it expandable?

[tomtuck01]

Just played the 13th league game of the season, so time for a screenshot of the table;

Still unbeaten, and going along very nicely despite being in second place. A few too many goals conceded, three of them coming in a thrilling 4-3 win at Newcastle. Next up in the league is the North London Derby at the Emirates, a ground where I lost last season.

[Robert the Spud]

I tried the old, build new stadium please Mr. Levy, but apparentely we don't have a big enough fanbase. Okkkkaay

Can't wait till the season's over then i can get about my rebuilding process. The spirit of my players is fantastic. 2-0 away at Old Trafford in what was my most solid performance this season by far. Then a last minute equaliser at the Emirates. We dominated the game, but could not find a breakthrough even after hitting the woodwork three times. Of course, Gomes produced an awful own goal to give them the lead, but i bought Defoe on and he hit them on the counter with his running, squaring the ball for Kranjcar to slam the ball home in the 93rd minute.

The Champions league is questionable however. We mullered Bayern 5-3 at WHL, got a 0-0 at the Allianz areana, but we were held to a 1-1 draw in Salzburg after the ref inexplicably let their equaliser stand! The guy pushed Gallas over, then crossed the ball into the box, where the recipient handled it into the net pretty much while fouling Gomes in the process. Even the media agreed! Leaves me needing to beat Dinamo Kyiv by a couple of goals in the last game.

[Robert the Spud]

Tom tuck, going nicely there. see you have Barcelona up next, good luck!

[tomtuck01]

Tom tuck, going nicely there. see you have Barcelona up next, good luck!

Played that already and drew 1-1 - decent result as it means I'll top the group thanks to previously winning 1-0 in the Nou Camp. I have however just played Arsenal at the Emirates;

Seven attempts on goal, seven on target, compared to Arsenal's 18 attempts and just four on target. Clinical stuff.

[Robert the Spud]

has anyone had anyone problems with Bale's training? I have him on a winger shcedule, and he is always unhappy with it/

[GKL206]

has anyone had anyone problems with Bale's training? I have him on a winger shcedule, and he is always unhappy with it/

I had that problem and as he's so important I tinkered around with an individual training schedule finally settling on everything (bar goalkeeping, obviously) in the middle, a couple of notches below heavy overall, and that keeps him happy in my experience. I think it's not having enough defending that upsets him.

[Barnetboyz]

has anyone had anyone problems with Bale's training? I have him on a winger shcedule, and he is always unhappy with it/

Never had any problems myself with Bale's training, he looks fantastic on my schedule now

[Welshace]

guess not then ..

[Barnetboyz]

guess not then ..

4-2-3-1 fairly standard really

[Barnetboyz]

Probably my best result against the scum so far \o/

Bales 24th of the season / Lennons 13th / VDV's 12th

[graman1974]

just into the new year season 2 and looking good touch wood.top of the league played 21 won 19 drawn 1 and lost 1 in a bizarre game near the start of the season against fulham 58 points.liverpool in 2nd with 50 and the arse 3rd with 48. got the scum in league cup semis in a couple of weeks. came top of champ league group including home and away wins against Inter. got fiorentina in 1st knockout round. 3rd round FA cup is against QPR in a couple of days. really chuffed with how its coming along this season and have stumbled across my rock defence(so far) of Bassong and Kaboul who at the start of season were both backups and maybe not even first choice backups! also no place for Modric,VDV or Lennon at the mo.

My only concern is that whenever i give game time to neymar or lukaku they cant hit a cows backside with a banjo!tried composure training,finishing training but not working so im not sure whther to sell one on and tryand get a more established goalscorer in case god forbid defoe is out cos hes a goal machine for me

[Barnetboyz]

no place for Modric, VDV & Lennon?!?

who the hell do you have in your team

[graman1974]

no place for Modric, VDV & Lennon?!?

who the hell do you have in your team

vidal plays box to box,eden hazard plays amc after Vdv got injured in pre season hazard averaging 7.78 for the season and has destroyed defences on his own at times and alexis sanchez plays amr although lennon has made a few super sub appearances and played in league cup games very well

[Barnetboyz]

Hazard & Sanchez i guess are good replacements for VDV & Lennon but i can't see how anyone can ever replace Modric but hey ho its your game

[graman1974]

Hazard & Sanchez i guess are good replacements for VDV & Lennon but i can't see how anyone can ever replace Modric but hey ho its your game

i know but Modric has never really done anything for me and he got a lot of game time last season, vidal doing well he averaging 7.50 and very consistant,adds a bit more bite in the middle alongside palacios but still has quite a few goals and assists.Modric has done quite well as aml when Bale has had a niggle or been rested though so still a very useful squad player

[Oypus]

Some great and inspiring updates there, Eddie and Oyp. Any of you have a new stadium built? What is the capacity like, and is it expandable?

The board changed in my game, and I asked the new guys. They said no.