FM 13 Tottenham Hotspur- Where 4th Place Is No Longer Good Enough

[paulinho]

I've mentioned it before and it's worth mentioning again given the number of managers mentioning his name?Ayew at left back is amazing for me. When he plays I ask him to cut inside and rwb often. He is very dangerous like this and he is also a pretty good LB generally speaking! Though he has a tendency to put the odd hard tackle in?Lam

Good shout, Ayew really has to be one of the must buy players in FM, he can play anywhere except maybe at DC & do an amazing job. I have him cutting onto his left foot from AMR & he's outstanding but also very good at AML or MC. Quick, strong, agile with good balance is how I like my players & when you have great mental attributes plus the obvious technical skills required, you've got yourself a monster FM player. Can't say I've ever taken much notice of the player in real life but I shall start looking out for him in future.

[paulinho]

Managed to win the League Cup using pretty much only the newgens.

A good achievement for my youngsters especially as they had to overcome Liverpool, Chelsea & Arsenal on route & actually gives me more pleasure than winning the League.

The only position I cant fill to my satisfaction from a newgen is the trequartista. I have a couple of decent newgen strikers but they really are far from perfect from the role.

Then the played the 1st team in the following game & lost to Wigan away in the League. Typical Spurs!

[R1ku]

Wasn't happy with Hernandez's consistency and splashed the cash for Neymar on january transfer deadline day (season four) and the funny hair lad scores four goals in his debut, at home against Cardiff, I end up winning 7-0. Could've gone worse. Thirteen games left and I'm 14 points clear at the top.. Surely I can't blow it once again?

[paulinho]

Wasn't happy with Hernandez's consistency and splashed the cash for Neymar on january transfer deadline day (season four) and the funny hair lad scores four goals in his debut, at home against Cardiff, I end up winning 7-0. Could've gone worse. Thirteen games left and I'm 14 points clear at the top.. Surely I can't blow it once again?

How much did Neymar cost you?

I failed to land him in both my saves, 1st one he chose ManU over me, 2nd he went to Barca.

[Hauler]

I got Neymar and James Rodriguez in Season four or five as well. I also have Falcao up top as well. So I play a 4-5-1 with Neymar in the hole behind Falcao and James on the left Bale on the right and Ozil and Sandro in the middle. We are pretty deadly. Got Fellaini on the bench with some other great players.

[Hauler]

I made a lot of free quality signings throughout my time at Tottenham. Got Bony, Rannochria (Central defender Italian), David Villa, Matej Vydra, Lucas Romero(great young central midfielder from Argentina Velez), Agustin Allione(also from Velez on free), Kevin Phillipe youngster from France, Bruno Matins Indi, David Ospina. Sold Bony, Bruno and David getting like 13 each from David and Bony and 22.5 US mil for Bruno. They really helped me out a lot and some still do. Cheap wages or at least for my Tottenham team.

[Hauler]

[paulinho]

I got Neymar and James Rodriguez in Season four or five as well. I also have Falcao up top as well. So I play a 4-5-1 with Neymar in the hole behind Falcao and James on the left Bale on the right and Ozil and Sandro in the middle. We are pretty deadly. Got Fellaini on the bench with some other great players.

I had James Rodriguez for 2 seasons but found him inconsistent so sold him to Bayern for a nice profit.

[RTHerringbone]

I've mentioned it before and it's worth mentioning again given the number of managers mentioning his name?Ayew at left back is amazing for me. When he plays I ask him to cut inside and rwb often. He is very dangerous like this and he is also a pretty good LB generally speaking! Though he has a tendency to put the odd hard tackle in?Lam

I agree, have used him as a full back, wingback and defensive winger on the left. Very consistent player, good defensively and great with an Attacking Duty.

I've reached Season Three after battering teams in seasons one and two. Sold too many players too soon and replaced with undeveloped newgens which is making this season far more interesting to play.

[R1ku]

How much did Neymar cost you?

I failed to land him in both my saves, 1st one he chose ManU over me, 2nd he went to Barca.

I paid 31M€ up front and 31M€ over 48 months for him, so he wasn't cheap, but he never is I guess. Though I sold Sidurdsson to Roma for 25M€, who was my backup to Isco anyway and I have a couple other who can do the job also, and Destro to ManU for 24M€, so those two sales almost cover the Neymar purchase.

Here's the four Spurs debut goals from Neymar. Nothing special in terms of goals, but still something to remember.

[video=youtube;Dagf9y8sBn4]

[kaziks]

So decided to give a spurs save a go, halfway through august, lennon got injured so decided to give holtby a chance there playing him as a inside forward (atk) doing brilliantly there, has any 1 else tried using him there? If so how did he do for you.

[R1ku]

Finally got to hoist the PL trophy in the fourth season!

Otherwise the season wasn't such a good one for us, but my main focus was in winning the league and I'm really pleased about that. Played mainly youths in the league and FA cups and got knocked out pretty early in both. In the Champions League got beaten by City in the quarters 3-5 on aggregate. Falcao was just too much for my guys that time. I did win the Club World Championship, but it came so easily, I almost forgot that I played there.

Squad:

[paulinho]

So decided to give a spurs save a go, halfway through august, lennon got injured so decided to give holtby a chance there playing him as a inside forward (atk) doing brilliantly there, has any 1 else tried using him there? If so how did he do for you.

He does ok there but when Citeh offered me 20m for him I bit there hand off, players like Ayew, Belhanda etc. can be bought with less than that & they are quite a bit better.

[paulinho]

Finished season 5 with another clean sweep of trophies but it wasn't so plain sailing this time around.

6 defeats in the season is a lot more than I've been used to & I'm not quite sure why.

Many of my established stars have underperformed & been outshone by my newgens.

Jovetic in particular has been wretched, usually he's good when not injured & although I dont expect my trequartista to be the League's top scorer I expect more than a 7.03 ave. for the season with only 7 goals & 3 assists! I've decided to flog him as I should still be able to get a good fee.

The problem will be bringing in a replacement, trequartista is a tough role to find the ideal player. Neymar is at Barca, I might see how much it'll take to prise Aguero from Man City, he's 28 now but I really can see no younger players coming through who'll do the job.

Walker will moved on too as I think I can get 20m for him & my newgens are better.

One of Kaboul or Caulker will go too I think as I've got 2 killer newgen DC's & Verts & Diego Reyes are good. One of said newgen DC's is apparently inconsistent according to my coaches but his 8.13 ave in 16 games kind of disproves this. The other has made an ave. 7.81 in 21 games so is none too shabby either.

[paulinho]

Great, another transfer embargo while Levy negotiates selling the club to the owner of the Coach & Horses!

[tajj 7]

Neymar usually gets listed at some point. It's a good idea to keep praising him and tapping him over a period of time as he has a preference to play for Barca.

[sammo10]

Mine fell through too, looks like I'm going to go through the same scene.

I am currently on my second takeover attempt in my 7th season, both have been local businessmen, very frustrating.

EDIT : Attempt 3, this time a Tycoon ! Injuries have been a joke this season, Pretty much the whole season there has been 6-7 players out with 2-3 month injuries. One returns and someone else picks up an injury. Its turning into a joke. Never had it this bad.

[sammo10]

Season 2018/19

Trophy less season, was absolutely destroyed by injuries. Never played a season like it.

Semi finals of the Champions League, this time it was Bayern who knocked me out. Early exits in domestic

You can see by peoples appearances that injuries featured. Suso had a very stron first season showing very good signs. Benteke of course was amazing. Big mention for Byram as well. Walker was one of the worst sufferers of injuries and he was very good all season and managed to get an England cap. Goretzka is getting better and better.

Finally been taken over. Apparently the owner is very rich and is from Oldham. New stadium just completed and the new owner has made plans to improve training and youth facilities.

[paulinho]

I am currently on my second takeover attempt in my 7th season, both have been local businessmen, very frustrating.

EDIT : Attempt 3, this time a Tycoon ! Injuries have been a joke this season, Pretty much the whole season there has been 6-7 players out with 2-3 month injuries. One returns and someone else picks up an injury. Its turning into a joke. Never had it this bad.

The 2nd attempted take over worked this time but just another local business man & no investment other than the usual.

Couldn't get Neymar or Lewandowski from Barca or Aguero from Citeh so I signed Ongenda to make up the numbers, dont think I'm any worse off going by how crap Jovetic was last season.

Loads of dough in the coffers but not enough to get the players I really want (Neymar, Aguero, Lewandowski, Alaba, Hazard etc.)

To improve this squad it's got to be a player of that quality otherwise I'll stick with my wonderkids.

Atletico Madrid offered me 30m for one of my LB wonderkids that cost me 2m, so I sold as I have another couple of LB's coming through & Asamoah is still 1st choice anyway.

[R1ku]

Neymar is such an animal as a Trequartista! Why didn't I try this last season when I bought him at the end of the january transfer window. Though I'm only four league matches into season five, but he's scored 6 goals and assisted 5 in those matches, including a second-half hat-trick (and an assist) away to Chelsea, with me coming from 1-0 behing and winning 1-4.

The two tactics I've been using, if somebody's interested:

[sammo10]

Start of 2019/20 Season

Transfers

Not many additions, Butland is a decent backup goalie for sure.

Felwick is a regen right back who I am pretty confident is going to become the number one England right back.

Have unleashed a few regens that I have had in the reserves for a few year. Mick Davis, Augusto, Pedro Silva are the main ones. Will post some screenshots later.

Fixxtures so far

Everton (H) 1-0 (Benteke)

Stoke (A) 3-2 (Eriksen , Benteke, Felwick)

Brentford (H) 4-1 (Augusto 2, Benteke, Felwick)

Dinamo (A) 0-1

Notts Forest (H) Co Cup 3-0 (M.Davis, Suso, Pedro Silva)

Man Utd 5-0 (H) (Vertonghen 2 Benteke, Pedro Silva, Bale)

Arsenal 5-1 (A) (Eriksen 2 Benteke, Suso, Sandro)

Hull (A) 1-3 (Benteke)

Lille (H) 2-0 ( Benteke, Eriksen )

[R1ku]

Half way through season five and comfortably top of the league by 9 points before Chelsea. Only loss so far came away to Arsenal, which was a bummer. Been rotating the squad quite a bit and seems to be working alright, with a large squad like mine I have fresh legs on the pitch for every match, no matter how few fays there is between matches. Was just drawn against PSG in the CL after winning my group with 14 points. Should be a tough team to beat, hopefully we'll go through.

Table:

Results so far:

Squad:

[paulinho]

Completed season 6 & now am the most successful manager of all time blah blah blah.

Slightly disappointed to lose the FA semi to a dodgy Liverpool penalty but cant complain as I won everything else & broke the 100 pts total for the season scoring 91 goals & only conceding 20.

Didn't miss Jovetic at all as his replacement was the much lower status striker Hervin Ongenda who easily out performed Jovetic once he settled in.

Good little payer Ongenda, starts out at PSG & although lacks a bit of passing & creativity in his attributes to be the ideal trequartista he did well, played 20(11) scored 13, 11 assists & an ave of 7.55. Pretty pleased with that for a 3rd choice player. He's quick, short but fairly strong, good dribbling, shooting, anticipation & composure.

I now have half the 1st choice players as newgens & I've got an excellent & still very young squad who should keep me the top club in world football for the next 5 years or so at least.

[Codename47]

Paulinho,

Do you still use any shouts, OI's or manual player instructions (i.e. MM opposing AMC or DMC) by any chance?

[paulinho]

Paulinho,

Do you still use any shouts, OI's or manual player instructions (i.e. MM opposing AMC or DMC) by any chance?

I usually start with a combination shout of push higher up, stay on feet (i hardly ever get a player sent off), pass to feet, run at defence, work ball into box, retain possession & hassle opponents.

As I'm expected to win every game now even away to the strongest sides I also start every game on overload & generally switch to counter after the 1st goal, sometimes 2 against a weaker side.

Then if things are not working I'll follow my assistants advice on passing style & opponent instructions. I let my assistant decide the oppo instructions except if I think their FB's will be very attacking then I'll close them always, which is one my assistant never seems to deem necessary.

If I go more direct I couple this with get ball forward instead of retain possession.

Against narrow formations like ManCity I always play narrower & exploit the flanks.

Very occasionally when chasing a game as well as going overload I might also alter the the AMR from support to attack & change the DLP to B2B but I never change the shape of my formation.

[Codename47]

wow, don't you find an extreme strategy of overload suicidal against the best teams (any teams for that matter) especially away and against the big five? Doesn't the AI work you out and go counter against you?

Is both overload and counter strategies one of your three saved pre-set formations?

[paulinho]

wow, don't you find an extreme strategy of overload suicidal against the best teams (any teams for that matter) especially away and against the big five? Doesn't the AI work you out and go counter against you?

Is both overload and counter strategies one of your three saved pre-set formations?

You'd think so but it's working, I'm still using a balanced philosophy all the time so overload is not quite as gung ho as you might think.

I have only 1 pre set formation then set to overload & employ the shouts at kick off.

When I started using the overload strategy it was 5th season at home against smaller sides who were playing very defensively & my counter game was not breaking them down effectively enough.

I then started using it even against the big sides in season 6 & it works.

Bear in mind I have an amazing squad now & am favourite to win in every game home or away, the vast majority are at least 4 star ability.

For example I've just finished the 1st game of season 7, away to Arsenal, I was favourite to win with the bookies(I can't remember the odds off the top of my head).

I select overload at kick off & get the 1st goal after 25 mins, I then pull it back to the default strategy for my tactic which is counter bearing in mind they're a good side (2nd the previous season IIRC) & they equalise on 35, I then select overload again & go into the 2nd half, see some of my attacking players under performing & use all 3 subs on 60 mins. This gets the desired effect as I go 2-1 up on 70mins but then backfires a bit with an injury on 75mins leaving me down to 10 men. I then change formation to a 4-4-1 but I still kept overload on & got another goal at the death for 3-1. Moral of the story don't be afraid of overload, even against good sides.

I don't go as deeply into tactics as some & my way of paying FM may not be the most rewarding but you cant argue with the results as I've won every single competition I've been in except 2 FA Cups in 6 seasons.

Talking of that squad I got rid of Kaboul who was declining & wanting a new challenge, Vertonghen wouldn't sign a new contract as rotation & Dembele refused to tutor 2 youngsters that I chose, so they're gone & their squad replacements are newgens of equal quality.

I now have only Bale, Lloris & Caulker (back up) from the Spurs starting squad.

Diego Reyes, javi Martinez who came in on a free, Ayew, Pjanic, Ongenda, Asamoah, Belhanda, Destro & Paredes are the only other non newgens in my squad now.

[Kevmcc87]

After shying away from getting this years edition of FM for so long due to the fact of how much it takes over my life, I finally took the plunge a couple of weeks ago when I noticed it was on sale for a tenner. No self respecting man can turn that down after all, can they?!

I've struggled to get into a decent save so far as my usual saves, Man U, Celtic and Napoli, were somehow not bringing the joy I associate with a good save. Others I tried like Dortmund, Southampton and Bilbao weren't really capturing my imagination either. I was ready to call it quits and wave bye-bye to my 10 spot when I decided to give it one more chance to enchant me and did it ever. I dunno why I didnt think of a Spurs save in the first place. Anyway, I digress, onto my progress so far.

First Season

Only transfer of pre-season was Wellington Nem. I know a lot of people here have said that they have problems with consistency with him and I must admit, he took a little while to settle in but he really kicked on second season. I'll be showing a screenie of his second season later. Shaw and Jones were really no-brainers for me. Bags of potential, home-grown and probably gonna be mainstays of my defence for the next 10 years. Tony Watt.... well, I'm a Celtic fan so couldnt pass up the opportunity to try and get this little guy as good as possible. My chief scout rated him at 4 and a half stars, so we'll see how he turns out.

I was aiming for Champions League football at the start of the season so I was too disapointed with my final standings. Too may stupid defeats cost me but the pre-season target was met. I went out in the semis of the league cup and the europa league. FA cup was a shocking 4th round exit.

Second Season

I wasn't impressed with Ade at all. I didn't feel he was justifying his big wage as he wasn't really performing for me at all. Falcao was transferlisted so, again, a no-brainer really. Isco was brought in to rotate with Bale and Verratti to rotate with Dembele. Antonan is a promising regen GK prospect.

Improved on last season is all I can really say here. Again it was stupid defeats that cost me.

Now we're talking. A much better run than last year culminated with a victory over Chelski and we lift the first of hopefully many trophies of my reign.

Heartbreaking. Just, Heartbreaking.

So here's my first 11 as it is. Caulker and Jones both get rotated with Verts and Kaboul to get the game-time they need as they'll be my 1st choice CB pairing in a year or two. I've bitten the bullet and made Shaw my 1st choice LB. I've seen him become a beast in some peoples saves so gonna give him every opportunity to progress. Holtby has been awesome for me as has Siggy so I get one of those good kind of headaches to as to who plays when. But the undoubted star of the season has to be..................

Not a bad return considering for most of the season he was having problems blending into the squad according to my assistant. That just means I should expect more of the same next year then ;-)

An honourable mention must also go to this man

His goal return might not be the best ever, but he always seemed to have a knack of scoring winning goals or setting up winners in important games. Really liking this guy.

So for next season, I have Lewandowski coming in on a free. Defoe, Lennon and Hud all think they have achieved all they can at the club. Really?! Oh well, screw them. Looks like they'll be heading out the door. So looking for a right winger and a BWM. Any thoughts guys.

[paulinho]

Lewandowski is the nuts (once he settles in) & is one of the few players from other teams that I would like in my team. But I'm in the 7th season now, he is over 30 & really wouldn't be worth the money it'd cost to prize him away from Barca, even though I've got 68m in the transfer kitty to do that if I wanted.

Defoe, Hudd & Lennon are ok but you can easily do better providing you don't need them in your squad for the HG quota for CL.

[Kevmcc87]

So Liverpool offered me 14 mil straight up cash for Hud which I couldnt turn down. In comes Nainggolan who is really just a stop-gap for a few seasons untill my 2 Brazilian CM regens come over. I got him for 12 so made a 2m profit and got a better player for that position. Think that I might give Lennon anothe chance unless Milan drastically drop their asking price for El Sharraway. I'm in the process of trying to unsettle him at the moment.

[paulinho]

I'm not crazy about El Shaarawy, not consistent, doesn't enjoy the big games & on my save pretty injury prone too.

Ayew, Belhanda, Lamela, Shaqiri, Isco & Willian all better IMO.

Lennon's attributes aren't amazing but he's good for 3 seasons.

[SSC]

Do you all play the full version or the consolidated FMC? Im using the later as I dont have time or patience to set up vigorous training regimes etc but I do get frustrated that I cant retrain players, set mentors etc.

Also my tactic is odd, i've set it up and on the most part its quite good, im scoring loads of goals but also leaking quite a few, frequently win games 5-3 or 4-3. Still have random results where I was 4-0 to Stoke after 30 mins, made some tweaks and got back to 4-3 but still lost. Any thoughts?

Also finally who do you normally get in as assistant? Ive not found a suitable replacement for Freund but he's ******* me off. Whenever I get his team recommendations he doesnt even put Dembele in the squad!

[SSC]

Oh and Andre Ayew was a ******* in negotiations and fleeced me for 115k pw.

[paulinho]

I play the full version, training is rewarding once you get into it.

I had Bernard Peters for a while, he was pretty good, I now have Mauro Tessotti.

[edgar555]

Peters and Tassotti are two of the best AssMen in the game. Good work having both of them!

[Kevmcc87]

I had Bruno Demichaelis for the first two seasons but he didn't want to sign an extension for some reason. Fair enough so I went and got Tassotti. Best AssMan in the game IMO.

On a seperate not, my new signing Nainggolan has covered himself in glory. Sent off 2 mins into his debut in my first CL game of the season which I go on to lose. Only managed a draw in my next so looking for at least 3 wins from my final 4 games to be sure of going thru. Teams in my group are FC Lorient, Valencia and Ajax so thats very do-able.

Not started the season great. Lost to Man U in the charity shield and have 3 wins and 3 draws from my first 6 league games. The 3 drawn games are ones I would have expected to win. Not impressed with my defence at the moment. Might need to look at tweeking my tactic a bit as I'm conceding far too many goals for my liking.

[Kevmcc87]

looks like my little tactical tweek is starting to pay dividends ;-)

[SSC]

Peters and Tassotti are two of the best AssMen in the game. Good work having both of them!

Started a new game in full mode after warming up in FMC.

Tassoti was not interested and Peters would only come in as head of youth development. Fine with me as he's far better then what I have. So which wonderkids/young stars should I get right at the beginning, dont want to miss out on anyone obvious.

[muhaimin]

2nd Season with Spurs and I have managed to win the Premier League as well as the European Super Cup, Champions League and the Capital One Cup.

League Standing http://imageshack.us/f/211/6l3.png/

Fourth Trophy http://imageshack.us/f/203/znt.png/

Squad http://imageshack.us/f/196/ovv.png/

Transfers http://imageshack.us/f/819/fbm.png/

So for next season, I am hoping that I will not be splurging during the transfer windows as I have spent wauy too much this season.

If you guys got any advice on my squad improvement, do inform me. I appreciate it greatly.

[paulinho]

Started a new game in full mode after warming up in FMC.

Tassoti was not interested and Peters would only come in as head of youth development. Fine with me as he's far better then what I have. So which wonderkids/young stars should I get right at the beginning, dont want to miss out on anyone obvious.

I find when staff dont want the position you're offering, giving them more in wages nearly always works.

Mike Rigg looks like he do a good job as Ass Man too.

[paulinho]

Will Hughes is a good buy as with good training in a few seasons he will become one of the top midfielders in the game, played in various roles AP, DLP, B2B or even retrained as a wingback or full back.

Ongenda has done really well for me as a striker, trequartista or deep lying forward but he starts the game very young & needs to trained up.

Leandro Paredes is a great young AMC who can also be retrained to be a good MC playmaker or treq striker.

Ayew is a must buy that can play virtually anywhere, Belhanda, Lamela, M'Vila are all good buys. Honda's a no brainer on a free 2nd season.

Diego Reyes has been excellent for me & replaced Vertonghen in my side eventually. good as regular DC or BPD.

[SSC]

I find when staff dont want the position you're offering, giving them more in wages nearly always works.

Mike Rigg looks like he do a good job as Ass Man too.

Oddly most of these guys wont even enter into negotiations with me? Is that because I put premier league player as rep rather than international?

[paulinho]

Oddly most of these guys wont even enter into negotiations with me? Is that because I put premier league player as rep rather than international?

Honestly don't know the answer to that. I can't remember what I put but it was probably whatever was default.

One thing I was wondering is about International management.

In past FM games You could manage an International team at the same time as being a club manager, a bit unrealistic I guess but this always added a new interest in the game when it got to the point where your team becomes the best & the game gets a bit too easy.

I notice that despite being the most successful manager in the history of the game in my save I never get offered any National teams to manage. I even applied for one after the previous manager got sacked but got passed over for the job.

[edgar555]

International management is as bugged as ever. But it is possible. In my main Spurs save I'm England boss as well. Got the job in 2014 after the WC and Roy retired.

[paulinho]

International management is as bugged as ever. But it is possible. In my main Spurs save I'm England boss as well. Got the job in 2014 after the WC and Roy retired.

Thanks Edgar, might have guessed if anyone knew it'd be you.

[cuzn1984]

I've just started my 3rd season with Spurs. I finished 3rd and won the Europa in my 1st season. 2nd I was undefeated in Prem, winning 30 and drawing 8. Needless to say i won the league

My team is:

Lloris

Walker Kaboul Subotic Baines

Sandro Hamsik

Lennon Bale

Lewandoski Falcao

[Addave]

paulinho,

U seem to be the guru on this thread.

You've gotta help me, I've just started a network game against 5 or 6 others and I'm spurs

Which formation should I play - the one that got you success in the first few seasons 4-1-2-1-2 looks great. Do you never play an AP behind the striker instead of a dmc?

I would love to know your team instructions and the corner routine u spoke of etc etc in early posts to give me every advantage I can especially over a fellow network player who is united and has already managed to buy belhanda, ayew, and thiago :-(

Also your team shouts

Basically if u wouldnt mind doing a quick master class on what to do on season 1 tactics wise I'd be very thankful and I'm sure others would do.

I have read your advice on signings. I have already sold thud, and rose and may get rid of dempsey. Have signed Toby a (centre back) and McCarthy for midfielder options. I haven't signed a striker yet, was gunna buy jovetic but it looks as if the rumour about injuries is true. Alternatives? Bony is too pricey (24m) but hasn't moved yet so could be an option...any other options to play up top alone, maybe cheaper ones. I have 20m and was think hamsik but it seems that he wouldn't be needed if I went down the same route as you set up wise.

Ta. If I bring home the bacon I will credit you and give u a well earned thumbs up on here. Lol.

To save time u could save ur tactic and send it my way, I know that's kinda ****** on my part but this network league means war, I will prob make a few tweaks to as every player does but ur tactic is the platform I need I reckon

[Fusss]

Just finished my first season, finally haha. Finished a comfortable 3rd. My signings were;Pablo ArmeroRadja NainngolanDemba BaWellington NemEdinson CavaniIn the close season I want to get a new left back, centre back and striker.Already have Will Hughes coming in for £3.9m so midfield should be ok.Davide Astori is transfer listed for 9.25m but lots of clubs interested, reckon he'd be good enough, he looks pretty tidy!Lucas Digne for the left back spot is avail for about 7m, worth a punt?

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Can someone tell me how much each season they have been given for transfers, thinking of starting a new game as Spurs.

[paulinho]

Addave, haven't been on for a while so only just seen your post.

I'm no guru & I've only been back into the game for a short while but I have had good success in my own game so I'll try to help (flattery get's you everywhere!).

The formation I used 1st season was 4231 with 2 MC's, it was pretty much based on the tactic in Cleons "understanding your tactic" thread in the tactics forum but I moved the DMC to MC & changed his role to BWM & moved the AP from MC to AMC.

Here's my long post after my 1st season which explains in detail what I did.

Some thoughts on Spurs's squad.

Couldn't have wished for a better season really as I was invincible in the league & won the League & Europa Cups too.

My only defeats were playing the kids in a meaningless game at the end of Europa group stage qualifying & a disappointing defeat to Citeh in the FA Cup final.

Here's my squad

GK's

Lloris is simply the best keeper I've ever known on FM & Spurs are really lucky to have him, so many match winning saves & he won Prem golden glove for me. Occasionally makes a howler but I think I could only attribute 2 goals conceded as his fault all season.

Brad, simply isn't good enough, (thank God I didn't have to use him much) I started off using him in the League & Europa games but soon gave that up as he was a liability.

DC's What a great bunch of DC's we have in the game, Kaboul was selected on bench in team of the season (although why Dawson wasn't I don't know as his average rating was better!) Caulker was a very good rotation player too. i have to say I was a bit disappointed in Vertonghen although he got a bad injury & was out for a bit (I think he's better IRL tbf), I sold Gallas quite early on.

FB's, Walker is great (better than real life) & had the best tackling completion ratio of any player for me, didn't contribute many assists considering I play him as a wingback but I've no complaints.

BAE's ratings look good & he contributed well in assists but he made too many mistakes for my liking & I will be looking to upgrade in the summer.

Naughton & Smith had fine ratings as my rotation players but the team was always more vulnerable defensively when they were present & if I want to do well in the league & Cl next season I'll need better as wingbacks can't cope with 2 games a week.

MC's, Sandro was brilliant & was voted Player of the season but the other MC's has disappointing ratings.

Having spent £22m on Cabaye I was expecting more ratings wise but in the highlights he always appears to be doing his job, passing, tackling & had impressive key passes ratings. Sandro's partner in midfield is a DLP when Cabaye plays but I change that to B2B when Dembele plays as he's not as creative but a better dribbler & more dynamic.

I'm still unsure which role is the more effective for the team tbh.

Arouca (£9.25m) was useful in rotation but I'm not sure Parker or Livermore will be around for me next season. Livermore has a bit of an attitude too which is not matched by his ability. I sold Hudd in the Jan window as although he's great in attacking sense with his passing & creativity he's a defensive liability.

Wingers/Inside forwards

Bale wasn't quite the FMGod he should be IMO, & I thought 11 goals & 12 assists in his 33 starts a bit below par. He did get injured a bit though so that might account for it.

He was overshadowed a bit by Antoine Griezmann (my best signing £21m) who had 8 goals & 5 assists in his 13 starts & always a threat being also the best player for shots on target for me by a mile. I'd like to great both bale & Griezmann in the starting line up but neither of them really do it on the right hand side or at AMC.

Lennon was really good & so was Holtby (although he played as many games as AMC as he did out wide), one thing I've noticed about Holtby is that if you don't play him his moral drops straight away making him difficult to use in rotation or back up.

Before I got Griezmann Townsend was very useful despite not having amazing stats (7 goals & 6 assists from 15 starts are great ratings) he will deffo be kept as rotation/back up.

AMC

Sigurdsson is the No1 here & 12 goals & 11 assists are pretty good returns from 32 starts, his set pieces are the best in the squad currently. Holtby was good here too although he was played out wide & in midfield sometimes. I also have Leandro Paredes & Mattheus who could well be stars of the future.

Dempsey was very useful 1st season as a back up in any of the attacking positions but he'll be moved on.

ST's

Probably my weakest area of the team & I guess I should blow a good chunk of my budget on a **** off striker for next season.

Ade was good (13 goals & 7 assists in 23 starts) & his added aerial ability got him the 1st choice over Degoal but he got injured quite a bit.

Degoal finished well as my top goalscorer with 22 in 37 starts but doesn't add quite so much to the team as Ade.

Mason Bennett got 2 on his debut off the bench & I thought he was going to be my super sub but he didn't do anything for the rest of the season & his stats didn't improve one iota either. I guess he will have to have starts to improve but I just wasn't able to give him that with Degoal playing well & scoring. He'll be loaned next season.

Having failed to agree contract terms with Wellbeck & some of my other striking transfer targets Commoli gave me Mame Diouf on the last day of the Jan window & I accepted as I was struggling for numbers with Ade injured then off to ANC.

He didn't look like the kind of striker I required at all (trequartista) though & was dreadful waste of money at 18.5m.

He will be moved on ASAP.

Tactics, my base was Cleon's 4121 but I soon realised I was much better offensively with the players I have with a 4231 shape & kept that exclusively for the rest of the season.

In game I use shouts quite a bit & change the type of passing but not that much tweaking tbh.

My assistant Bernhard Peters was briliant in all his advice all season & having a complete clear out of the backroom staff from the beginning was essential.

I don't think I've ever completed a Prem season unbeaten with Spurs before & I go way back on FM!

Especially surprising as I'd already won it with 3 or 4 games to spare & I was not trying very hard playing the 2nd string saving my 1st team for the FA & Europa Cup final (which made the defeat to Citeh in the FA Cup all the more annoying).

I had worried that not playing a DMC would make me less solid defensively but as you can see only conceding 8 goals away from home all season is as good as you can get.

I was a bit lucky (especially against the big boys) & had to rely on match winning performances from my keeper & defence plus rather wasteful finishing from the opposition.

The key to the succesful 1st season was the fixture list though with a really easy start & run in so by the time I faced anyone really good moral was superb all round.

Another key thing for me was teamtalks, I was able to turn so many draws into wins, losses into draws by saying the right things in individual talks & upping all the players moral. I can't prove this such a big factor but it certainly seemed to be.

I took Cleons advice & played loads of pre season friendlies & got to know the differing approaches I was going to need to up each players moral, for example I found Bale doesn't affected by teamtalks at all unless you are praising him in a calm fashion (basically sucking his dick!).

Unbeaten in the 1st season sounds good but I was probably a bit lucky & I decided to change things quite a bit for the 2nd season & this formation is what I use all the time now which is basically the same formation as in Cleons thread. If you're looking for a one tactic solution I think his is as good as any, you cant download it but you can copy his settings from the screenshots if you want. Better still take some time to read the 1st couple of pages of his thread in it's entirety, you'll understand better. As far as players go looks like you've missed out on most of the best ones that I've used.