FM14: Tottenham Hotspur - No Longer A One-Man Team

[tbtower]

Same happened to me, and I never really got in to my stride - I ended up finishing 11th in my first season and saving my job only by some fast talking in an end of season meeting with the board.

It's the worst I've done in a first season with Spurs on a new FM for years, but I actually found it really refreshing and I'm excited about the challenge it has posed me. I've had to sell Defoe, Sigurdsson and Dembele after falling out with them when they requested transfers due to our under achievement and had big bids for Paulinho and Holtby (who were both rubbish for me, as well as shifting the likes of BAE, Livermore, Falque, Adam Smith, and Prutchard) so I've restructured.

With the money I received for all the aforementioned I bought Thiago (to join Lamela and Eriksen in a 3 behind a striker), Alesandro Florenzi (looks similar to Dembele, maybe better, and cost £8m less than I got for Mousa) and Jackson Martinez (joining Leon Goretzka, Leighton Baines, and Eder Alvarez Balanta who I picked up in January). I let Gomes and Friedel leave at the end of their contracts and picked up Kasper Schmeichel and Declan Rudd on frees to cover for Hugo - with both of them combined being paid half what either one of the other reserve keepers got last year). I'm also going to include Tommy Carroll and Harry Kane in the first team sqaud this season - three games in and 9 points on the board

Mine is starting to pick up, 5 games in with 2 losses and 3 wins under the belt now, just toying with the tactics to find what works for me. I signed Honda as backup (bargain at £2m), Damaio for £7m and a few youth players.

Sold Friedel & Gomes to cut 100k in wages and sold Adebayor as mentioned above.

[Come_On_You_Spurs]

Do you know when you're likely to fill out the rest of the OPs? I'm really looking forward to seeing them!

It will be at some point this weekend. Had a nasty cold this week and haven't been able to play much

[hoverdonkey]

Right, I've just got to transfer deadline day.

My pre-season started with a 2-1 defeat at some no-mark Chinese side and ended with a 3-0 away win at AC Milan with 10 men, which was nice. Have since played 3 league games and won all 3 while easing into the group stage of the Europa.

Sold:

Adebayor - 7.5m

Rose - 7.5m (both to Monaco)

Lennon -14.5m (to Liverpool. Couldn't resist this, he wasn't going to fit into my system.)

Total In - 29.5m

Bought:

Shaw - 12m

Ward-Prowse - 12m

Leandro Damaio - 3.5m

Tom Ince 3.2m (although have since loaned him out to Villa so he plays every week. Don't need him this year.)

Total out - 30.7m

I'm pretty happy with that, to break even and hugely reduce my wage bill. Kaboul got injured in pre-season so have been playing Verts at left-back as Shaw gets used to the team and Chiriches alongside Dawson. Been conscious of the home-grown rule, hence paid up for Shaw and Ward Prose, who will qualify in three years. Will get Carroll involved next season too.

Here's my team:

GK: Lloris (Gomes)

RB: Walker (Naughton)

CB: Dawson (Kaboul when he returns)

CB: Chiriches (Vertonghen once Shaw is up and running and I trust him. Shaw's been great in the Europa games)

LB: Vertonghen (Shaw)

CM: Sandro (as a CM - Defend)

CM: Dembele (Advanced playmaker - support)

AMC: Siggy, Eriksen, Lamela (Chadli and Holtby pushing for starts)

ST: Soldado (Damaio)

Playing Control, Fluid and telling them to express themselves, retain possession, work ball into box, look for overlap and push up. It's working really well. Sandro holds his position really well and the interplay between the 3 AMCs has been brilliant. Soldado has five goals in 3 league games, Lamela has a couple. His dribbling from deep is sensational and Eriksen's incisive passing is great. Walker's marauding down the right has been prominent too.

Paulinho got sent off in my first game so has been banned but he'll struggle to get back in the team the way Sandro and Dembele have been playing. Ward-Prowse has been very good in the Europa games playing the advanced playmaker role, while Capoue is so versatile he's the first on the subs bench.

[dngrs]

Could someone please post a pic of Chiriches's attributes and report?

[Stewart91]

[CLS]

Just finished my first season on the Beta. Had an awful start, acheiving just 5 points from my first 7 league matches without winning a game and scoring only twice to leave us in the relegation zone. We picked up from there but were still horribly inconsistent, being City 2-0 away and Norwich 6-1 at the lane but losing to the likes of bottom-placed Sunderland and West Ham in the middle of me having a raging row with Sam anti-football Allerdyce. On the bright side, we got through the Europa League early stages comfortably enough despite fielding a shadow eleven, getting through Nordjaelland in the playoff before Utrecht, Genk and Austria Wien in the group stage. Our League Cup run however came to an end after losing on penalties at home to eventual winners Man City following a 3-3 draw.

Boxing Day saw us lose 4-0 at Anfield, albeit with three of those goals coming whilst we chased the game in the last twenty minutes. Following this we were down to 12th in the League, and I was called into a meeting with Levy - gulp! He warned failing to win our next game at Hull would leave me out of a job, and refused to back me in the transfer market (I had disabled the first window). Thankfully we won 3-1 at Hull to start some good form that would last the rest of the season and I kept my job. By the time we beat Everton 2-0 on the 8th of February we were up to 6th and meeting our target of Europa League qualification, despite being some way off the top 4 still. We were also in touching distance of 5th-placed Arsenal. Since the debacle at Liverpool, we had picked up 19 points from a possible 24, albeit drawing with Arsenal and losing to Man Utd in terms of the actual big matches.

We followed this up with progress in the Europa League, beating Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate in the round of 32. Unfortunately we then drew a very strong PSG side. Despite absolutely dominating them in the home leg, we lost 2-1. They had 2 shots in the whole match, both from identical corner routines. We fought valiantly in Paris the next week taking a 2-0 lead at halftime, but came under pressure in the second half allowing them to make it back to 2-1 before getting an extra-time equaliser to send us packing. They eventually reached the final, where they lost to fellow French side Bourdeux in Juventus. In terms of the FA Cup, we made it to a Wembley semi-final beating West Ham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Crystal Palace. We managed to draw arch-rivals Arsenal for the big tie.

Post-January the big sides in the league started to struggle a bit more and dropped more points - perhaps as a result of the new version of the Beta going up. We looked like we may make a late push for a Champions League spot, but this seemed distant when Lloris decided to transform into Gomes to give away 3 points to Southampton in March. However, from then on we went unbeaten, meaning on final day we were in a familiar situation. We had an "easy" tie at home to Hull, but needed favours in terms of either Liverpool or City messing up to claim a Top 4 position. In the event however, we beat Hull 4-2 as Liverpool and City BOTH lost to Villa and Norwich respectively to push us into 3rd and an automatic Champions League spot! Hull meanwhile were relegated as Cardiff scored a last-minute goal to beat Chelsea and condemn the Tigers to the Championship in their place.

In terms of the FA Cup, we also delighted fans by winning the semi-final 2-0 against the scum. The final however was not so lucky, as we squandered a 2-1 lead with a minute of extra time to play to lose to Chelsea 5-4 in the shootout. Still however, a very good second half to the first season, and I'm really, really impressed with FM14!

[Terwynder]

Just finished my first season on the Beta. Had an awful start, acheiving just 5 points from my first 7 league matches without winning a game and scoring only twice to leave us in the relegation zone. We picked up from there but were still horribly inconsistent, being City 2-0 away and Norwich 6-1 at the lane but losing to the likes of bottom-placed Sunderland and West Ham in the middle of me having a raging row with Sam anti-football Allerdyce. On the bright side, we got through the Europa League early stages comfortably enough despite fielding a shadow eleven, getting through Nordjaelland in the playoff before Utrecht, Genk and Austria Wien in the group stage. Our League Cup run however came to an end after losing on penalties at home to eventual winners Man City following a 3-3 draw.

Boxing Day saw us lose 4-0 at Anfield, albeit with three of those goals coming whilst we chased the game in the last twenty minutes. Following this we were down to 12th in the League, and I was called into a meeting with Levy - gulp! He warned failing to win our next game at Hull would leave me out of a job, and refused to back me in the transfer market (I had disabled the first window). Thankfully we won 3-1 at Hull to start some good form that would last the rest of the season and I kept my job. By the time we beat Everton 2-0 on the 8th of February we were up to 6th and meeting our target of Europa League qualification, despite being some way off the top 4 still. We were also in touching distance of 5th-placed Arsenal. Since the debacle at Liverpool, we had picked up 19 points from a possible 24, albeit drawing with Arsenal and losing to Man Utd in terms of the actual big matches.

We followed this up with progress in the Europa League, beating Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate in the round of 32. Unfortunately we then drew a very strong PSG side. Despite absolutely dominating them in the home leg, we lost 2-1. They had 2 shots in the whole match, both from identical corner routines. We fought valiantly in Paris the next week taking a 2-0 lead at halftime, but came under pressure in the second half allowing them to make it back to 2-1 before getting an extra-time equaliser to send us packing. They eventually reached the final, where they lost to fellow French side Bourdeux in Juventus. In terms of the FA Cup, we made it to a Wembley semi-final beating West Ham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Crystal Palace. We managed to draw arch-rivals Arsenal for the big tie.

Post-January the big sides in the league started to struggle a bit more and dropped more points - perhaps as a result of the new version of the Beta going up. We looked like we may make a late push for a Champions League spot, but this seemed distant when Lloris decided to transform into Gomes to give away 3 points to Southampton in March. However, from then on we went unbeaten, meaning on final day we were in a familiar situation. We had an "easy" tie at home to Hull, but needed favours in terms of either Liverpool or City messing up to claim a Top 4 position. In the event however, we beat Hull 4-2 as Liverpool and City BOTH lost to Villa and Norwich respectively to push us into 3rd and an automatic Champions League spot! Hull meanwhile were relegated as Cardiff scored a last-minute goal to beat Chelsea and condemn the Tigers to the Championship in their place.

In terms of the FA Cup, we also delighted fans by winning the semi-final 2-0 against the scum. The final however was not so lucky, as we squandered a 2-1 lead with a minute of extra time to play to lose to Chelsea 5-4 in the shootout. Still however, a very good second half to the first season, and I'm really, really impressed with FM14!

Sounds like a real rollercoaster of a season. Who were your biggest impacts during the year? Did Soldado live up to expectations? Did you end up buying/selling anyone in January?

[jenkothfc]

i have found that it takes 2 or 3 months for the tactic to really settle down. its the end of october now and i have just recorded 3 wins on the trot in the league. I am still slipping up now and again.

[CLS]

Sounds like a real rollercoaster of a season. Who were your biggest impacts during the year? Did Soldado live up to expectations? Did you end up buying/selling anyone in January?

Certainly was! My biggest impact was probably Lamela. Started slowly, but by the last 15 matches he scored 9 goals and made 3 assists, many of them crucial. I played him primarily as an inside forward from the left. Soldado managed 14 goals in 34 starts but never really got into full stride, for many of his goals he scored 2 or even on one occasion 3 in a match then disappeared for 6 weeks. To be honest if I got a £20M+ offer I'd probably sell him in favour of a more all-round player.

Nope, did nothing in January. The Board, who were basically preparing to sack me, gave me a transfer budget of £0 and 10% of any revenue from sales, so I didn't have much room to manuvere despite a healthy enough bank balance!

[tbtower]

Is anybody else having trouble at the back? I can't seem to stop leaking goals. It's very rare i'll keep a clean sheet and more often than note i'm conceding two goals a game.

If anybody else is experiencing this, what are you doing to counteract it?

[legaldinho]

Just finished my first season on the Beta. Had an awful start, acheiving just 5 points from my first 7 league matches without winning a game and scoring only twice to leave us in the relegation zone. We picked up from there but were still horribly inconsistent, being City 2-0 away and Norwich 6-1 at the lane but losing to the likes of bottom-placed Sunderland and West Ham in the middle of me having a raging row with Sam anti-football Allerdyce. On the bright side, we got through the Europa League early stages comfortably enough despite fielding a shadow eleven, getting through Nordjaelland in the playoff before Utrecht, Genk and Austria Wien in the group stage. Our League Cup run however came to an end after losing on penalties at home to eventual winners Man City following a 3-3 draw.

Boxing Day saw us lose 4-0 at Anfield, albeit with three of those goals coming whilst we chased the game in the last twenty minutes. Following this we were down to 12th in the League, and I was called into a meeting with Levy - gulp! He warned failing to win our next game at Hull would leave me out of a job, and refused to back me in the transfer market (I had disabled the first window). Thankfully we won 3-1 at Hull to start some good form that would last the rest of the season and I kept my job. By the time we beat Everton 2-0 on the 8th of February we were up to 6th and meeting our target of Europa League qualification, despite being some way off the top 4 still. We were also in touching distance of 5th-placed Arsenal. Since the debacle at Liverpool, we had picked up 19 points from a possible 24, albeit drawing with Arsenal and losing to Man Utd in terms of the actual big matches.

We followed this up with progress in the Europa League, beating Real Betis 5-1 on aggregate in the round of 32. Unfortunately we then drew a very strong PSG side. Despite absolutely dominating them in the home leg, we lost 2-1. They had 2 shots in the whole match, both from identical corner routines. We fought valiantly in Paris the next week taking a 2-0 lead at halftime, but came under pressure in the second half allowing them to make it back to 2-1 before getting an extra-time equaliser to send us packing. They eventually reached the final, where they lost to fellow French side Bourdeux in Juventus. In terms of the FA Cup, we made it to a Wembley semi-final beating West Ham, Liverpool, Cardiff and Crystal Palace. We managed to draw arch-rivals Arsenal for the big tie.

Post-January the big sides in the league started to struggle a bit more and dropped more points - perhaps as a result of the new version of the Beta going up. We looked like we may make a late push for a Champions League spot, but this seemed distant when Lloris decided to transform into Gomes to give away 3 points to Southampton in March. However, from then on we went unbeaten, meaning on final day we were in a familiar situation. We had an "easy" tie at home to Hull, but needed favours in terms of either Liverpool or City messing up to claim a Top 4 position. In the event however, we beat Hull 4-2 as Liverpool and City BOTH lost to Villa and Norwich respectively to push us into 3rd and an automatic Champions League spot! Hull meanwhile were relegated as Cardiff scored a last-minute goal to beat Chelsea and condemn the Tigers to the Championship in their place.

In terms of the FA Cup, we also delighted fans by winning the semi-final 2-0 against the scum. The final however was not so lucky, as we squandered a 2-1 lead with a minute of extra time to play to lose to Chelsea 5-4 in the shootout. Still however, a very good second half to the first season, and I'm really, really impressed with FM14!

What a great write up. Half way through my season and I can't help but feel it'll be the reverse. 10 points clear at the top of the prem, but Damiao's injurned, and Defoe's in one of his ruts. I can see trouble ahead. It's all down to Bobby now! No funds to buy anyone worthwhile either.

[legaldinho]

Is anybody else having trouble at the back? I can't seem to stop leaking goals. It's very rare i'll keep a clean sheet and more often than note i'm conceding two goals a game.

If anybody else is experiencing this, what are you doing to counteract it?

I was experiencing this. My team morale was low, for some reason, and the players took a while to trust me and get motivated - one. Two, I wasn't paying attention to my style. I was playing a fluid style when really I should be balanced. I don't want Kaboul and Dawson to do anything but defend. And on reflection, same for Sandro or Capoue (or Verthongen in DM), so I made sure in DM I had a defensive player and, more importantly, if playing just 2 in midfield that I had a DLP(D) who could tackle a bit - so Dembele, Sandro, Capoue, to keep the shape. I pushed higher up but not always, it all depends on the team I play. Lloris is a SK(S) with relatively good anticipation and pace, so you can use him if your line is high.

[tbtower]

I pushed higher up but not always, it all depends on the team I play. Lloris is a SK(S) with relatively good anticipation and pace, so you can use him if your line is high.

Just been playing around with rigid and it seems a bit better, will definitely give this a go too. Thanks bud.

[CLS]

Don't rule out Harry Kane (unless he's off on loan), gives you quite a different alternative to Bobby should he be needed

[legaldinho]

End of February in my first season, Luke Shaw at Complete WB (A) has rated 9.0, 9.0, 9.0. 9.0 and 9.0 in his last five games. 24 key tackles in that time, 28 interceptions, one goal. I score a lot from corners (I get a ridiculous amount of them) and his penatrating runs into the byline earn me a lot of those. You should all sign him, Rose plays well but he's not going to get that much better. Verthongen does okay there. But Shaw makes an impact in his first season and yet has lots of development to do still. Fingers crossed re: injuries!

[tbtower]

Can anybody post their successful tactics & instructions? I just cannot get it right. I storm pre-season (i'm talking 8-0, only against lesser sides but still) Then as soon as the league starts I simply cannot win. Any opinions welcome.

[legaldinho]

Mentality: Counter

Philosophy: Balanced

Shape: 41221 (Sometimes called 451, which I hate! for me, that's the flat five in the middle. It's more of a 433!)

Instructions vary, but the basic ones for achieving possession play is: Push much higher up, hassle opponents, Pass shorter, Retain possession, Run at opponents. Everything else varies. Sometimes I don't press and play higher up, and play direct balls; at other times I up the tempo and sometimes I lower it to help keep possession and probe.

My one standing player instruction is to Lloris: Distribute to defenders. Lloris is a mediocre kicker and in the beta high keeper balls have a nasty habit of bouncing straigh back at your high line with a Lukaku or somesuch playing off Dawson's shoulder, and then you're praying for a miss.

I have a defence triangle at the bottom CB(D) -CB (D) with an Anchorman in the DM position. That's my defensive base.

I started with two WB(S), but now play with a CWB(A) on the left - Luke Shaw or Rose, Walker on the right. If I play Naughton, and sometimes if I play Rose behind a winger or behind a IF(A), I switch them to support. Rather depends, see what works for you. But for me the best wing play is a CWB(A) on both sides, with Shaw overlapping an IF(A) (or Adv Plym (S)) at AML, and Walker overlapping Lamela who always plays IF(A) and is joint top scorer in the premier league with soldado - 13 goals each so far. But Soldado scored a few penalties. Lamela is my main attacking threat.

So in the ordinary case, I have a defensive triangle in the centre, with attacking FBs behind one supporting IF and one attacking IF. The next triangle is the two MCs behind one SC set to false 9 - Soldado. Only Soldado can play in this position out of our strikers, although if he doesn't work I have tried, in game, switching a well performing and up for it Lamela to that position. He's then emulating the player he was seen as the successor to, growing up in Argentina - the archetypal false 9, Lionel Messi.

But in the ordinary course, I have a BWM(S) and and Adv Playm(A), although I've switched duties, I try to make it so there's one support / pressuring MC (usally Dembele) and one attacking midfielder who can finish moves as well as start them. Here i've tried Paulinho and Erikson, as well as Dembele, Sigurdson, Holtby. Overall I would say I have failed here, particularly as regards Paulinho (who should score more but doesn't) and Eriksen (who should do more all around but doesn't). They both have avg ratings of 7.2 or so, which is not great in a well performing team. Most of my goals come from Lamela, Soldado, and corners.

I rotate a lot, but my first 11 I would say is this:

Lloris

Walker - Kaboul - Verthongen - Shaw

Sandro

Eriksen - Dembele

Lamela Sigurdsson

Soldado.

Although Siggie's lost form so I've played Eriksen at Adv Ply (S) in the AML position, and Paulinho centrally.

Anyway, that's me, and I'm still at the top of the prem despite my huge Feb dip, three draws on the trot and then a defeat to Man U - my first all season. Man City were just one point behind but have now slipped up and I have a four point margin in March. At any rate, I cannot see how I can fail to finish third - Man U are thirteen points behind in fourth right now.

[tbtower]

Mentality: Counter

Philosophy: Balanced

Shape: 41221 (Sometimes called 451, which I hate! for me, that's the flat five in the middle. It's more of a 433!)

Read the whole thing and implemented something almost exactly the same into my play and have to say this is working wonders. Still not getting anything out of my strikers but I'm using Lamela and Ronaldinho (don't laugh - still incredible and a bargain at ~£2million, just rest him for a day after most games...) and they're scoring goals most games. No big wins but dominating each match, complimented by a 67% possession against Man City.

Trying to find somebody who can slip into my starting line up as a False 9 but struggling, will play around with other striker support roles and see what happens.

But in conclusion, thanks very much for the tips!

[Stewart91]

Soldado wont stop scoring for me playing him as a AF with Eriksen in behind in a 4-2-3-1 asymmetric formation.

My problem is my defence dont like to move much.

Lamela on the right inside forward is amazing.

[DANNY1000000]

Where do you play Townsend? Who is wide behind him, and what role do they have?

As for ade, I sold him day 1 of my save, early July, by offering him for his valuation, 7.5 mill, transfer listing him, and placing him in the u21s. Nothing more. I think he went to Monaco. Wherever he went they must have forked out the wages, because he was on silly money. I cannot stand the dude, I always sell him. For me s1 is about using the squad you have, subject to a couple of bargains / youth signings. Shaw is that you n spades. Damiao I signed because we certainly would at a few million IRL.

I squad rotate but he plays either AML or AMR with inside forward role.

[DANNY1000000]

Just sold Sigurdsson for £30M to Monaco and signed Willian as a replacement for £35M

[Inglez18]

Anyone finding it hard to score goals? I have a 4231 formation with:

----------------Soldado-----------------------

--Lamela-------Eriksen-------------Robben-----

So scoring shouldnt be an option. Some games im creating 5-6 clear cut chances but scoring none and other games im barely creating a half chance.

Managed to just finish 6th in first season with a staggering 17 draws, with most teams coming from behind in the last 5 minutes and scoring 1-2 goals to get the draw. Been the most frustrating season ive ever had on FM and not sure what I can do to change it. Robben with 20 dribbling and Lamela with 19 dribbling get tackled far too easily when dribbling and can barely beat anyone. Although im not suprised with the extremely high ratings of all LB's in the prem.

[tbtower]

Anyone finding it hard to score goals? I have a 4231 formation with:

----------------Soldado-----------------------

--Lamela-------Eriksen-------------Robben-----

So scoring shouldnt be an option. Some games im creating 5-6 clear cut chances but scoring none and other games im barely creating a half chance.

Managed to just finish 6th in first season with a staggering 17 draws, with most teams coming from behind in the last 5 minutes and scoring 1-2 goals to get the draw. Been the most frustrating season ive ever had on FM and not sure what I can do to change it. Robben with 20 dribbling and Lamela with 19 dribbling get tackled far too easily when dribbling and can barely beat anyone. Although im not suprised with the extremely high ratings of all LB's in the prem.

I'm finding it tough to score more than 2 a game, they key for me has been tightening up the back. Playing as legaldinho says in post #67 will likely yield better results.

FYI my front three are:

-------------------Soldado (F9)

Ronaldinho (IF A)-----------Lamela (IF A)

Soldado is largely useless in this role, i'm looking for a new striker more suited to F9, but Ronaldinho and Lamela are performing fantastically. I urge people not to write off Ronaldinho due to his age, he's a huge bargain.

[legaldinho]

Goal gluts are rare for me too. Soldado Pamela and corners account the vast majority. Thing is, I get lots of CCCs and most opponents get none or significantly fewer than me. I think there is an issue with strikers skying or miscuing easy shots. We’ll see by 31 Oct I guess.

[tbtower]

Goal gluts are rare for me too. Soldado Pamela and corners account the vast majority. Thing is, I get lots of CCCs and most opponents get none or significantly fewer than me. I think there is an issue with strikers skying or miscuing easy shots. We’ll see by 31 Oct I guess.

Actually seems a bit better for me tonight? Haven't seen what the latest patch addressed but even Soldado is scoring as a F9 tonight.

[huntelaar19]

Hey guys, just started the game tonight. I'll give you a wee insight into the way I set my team up before I ask my questions.

I don't like full backs as I play a system with three centre halves both at home and away so I've sold Walker to PSG for 30m, Rose to Monaco for 10m and Naughton to Everton for 6m. In addition to this I've sold Defoe for 4m to Hoffenheim.

So far I've brought in Jádson for 4m, D'alessandro for 800k and Pavlyuchenko for 10m.

I just won my first game of the season against Arsenal 2-1 courtesy of a Pavlyuchenko brace so I'm on a real high!

Anyway in my system I have a holding midfielder, two wide midfielders and an attacking central midfielder then of course my three strikers so my first question is has anyone had any success playing Lamela ACM or Striker as I don't want him to go to waste? And my second 'dilemma' is Dortmund have offered 17.75m for sigurdsson would you sell?

[huntelaar19]

Oh, and my slightly embarassing 3rd question... how do i set my target man and playmaker!?

[tbtower]

Hey guys, just started the game tonight. I'll give you a wee insight into the way I set my team up before I ask my questions.

I don't like full backs as I play a system with three centre halves both at home and away so I've sold Walker to PSG for 30m, Rose to Monaco for 10m and Naughton to Everton for 6m. In addition to this I've sold Defoe for 4m to Hoffenheim.

So far I've brought in Jádson for 4m, D'alessandro for 800k and Pavlyuchenko for 10m.

I just won my first game of the season against Arsenal 2-1 courtesy of a Pavlyuchenko brace so I'm on a real high!

Anyway in my system I have a holding midfielder, two wide midfielders and an attacking central midfielder then of course my three strikers so my first question is has anyone had any success playing Lamela ACM or Striker as I don't want him to go to waste? And my second 'dilemma' is Dortmund have offered 17.75m for sigurdsson would you sell?

With Lamela at AMC you can attempt the Shadow Striker role - But you'll need to play a STR role who will give him space to perform, it's difficult but can work.

If you only plan on playing with one AMC, you have lamella (SS), Eriksen (AM A) and Holtby (haven't used him much) so you could potentially sell siggie, 17.75 is a good offer.

The difficult you might encounter is having enough support to cover you at the back. At least one, potentially both of your wide midfielders will need to track back or you'll suffer when it comes to conceding from crosses.

Just my opinion anyway! Hope it helps.

[huntelaar19]

Thanks for the reply bro, accepted the offer then it tunred out Dortmund didn't have the funds to complete the deal!!

I don't think the shadow striker would suit if i'm honest with me already playing three out and out strikers in ade, soldado and pav.

Get what you mean about cover at the back, in previous versions I've definitely let in more than my fair share of goals but always played to outscore but it seems teams are taking advantage of the lack of full backs this time round. just scraped through the Europa League play off against FC Thun 8-6 on aggregate! Any ideas for a good winger? Lennon and Townsend aren't cutting it and everyone elses ratings for wide midfield is half a star or less!!!

[Terwynder]

Oh, and my slightly embarassing 3rd question... how do i set my target man and playmaker!?

They did away with the "set as playmaker/targetman" feature when designing the new tactics system. You can still set them though, by assigning someone the Advanced or Deep Lying Playmaker role. If you assign multiple players these roles, they will share the workload. Same goes for Targetman. You can still set your Striker with that role and I believe a Poacher acts like a targetman who recieves deliveries with his feet instead of his head, but that might be wrong.

[legaldinho]

@tbt

Not for me, just monstered newcastle away first half. Games says 2 ccc's but I see five or six chances which should be buried. Krul saves them all. It's like the game is hard wired to keep me out of building cushions. Second half newcastle come out blazing, score one on the hour, equalise on 89. Meanwhile I've had four more shots saved. I criticise Soldado, but he thinks he played well; the game doesn't recognises what I see as bad misses. It thinks it's normal for a drag back to a player totally free in the penalty area, no player within five yards of him, clear goal in front of him, to shoot straight at the keeper - or blaze it over or wide. Nuts, pretty deflating. This will cost me the title.

[huntelaar19]

Jeeeeeesus this isn't a walk in the park anymore. I've never struggled like this in FM before in november and tenth in the league, is anyone having trouble keeping a lead? I know I play extremely attacking football but I've went ahead in almost every match so far and have almost always been pegged back.

In addition to my other signings, I bought Kwadwo Assamoah from Juventus for 14m and what a waste it's turned out to be.

I know most of you will have turned your nose up at my resigning Pavlyuchenko for 10m but thank god I did, I'd almost certainly be out a job if I hadnt, 16 goals in 15 games so far.

[tbtower]

@Legaldinho:

I may have been quick to say it was 'better' last night, but Soldado at least scored about 4 in 7. Not great but the support of Lamela & Ronaldinho made up for it. Any recommendations on a better F9? Was tempted by Welbeck but the cost would be huge...

I've made a slightly riskier version of the tactic you posted as a secondary rotation tactic against bottom half teams. All the same shouts but switches to 'Control' mentality and the CDM position is replaced my a CAM (Eriksen AP S for me). That way he & the F9 are making more chances for the IFs. The downside is you have to make up for that in CM with either two defensive players or a CM D and a BWM S. Gave me a 4-0 result against Newcastle but could just as easily have been luck.

All my players are performing OK (at least a 7.3 rating) with the exception of Lloris who is struggling to break 6.7 and seems very broken, always booting the ball up the pitch to the opposition regardless of my instructions. I know this is a bug & that when fixed he will be one of, if not THE best keeper in the league, but it's frustrating.

@Huntelaar:

Keeping the league is difficult if you're committing to score a lot of goals. It seems the safest bet is to grind out 1-0 & 2-0 at the moment with a high line & low tempo. That seems to be working for me. I can win the league this year, but will guarantee myself top 4, my season expectation.

[Severus90]

Jese from Madrid would make an excellent TQ/F9, I've got him for £18m in Jan Window as Man Utd. Think he had an injury and didn't play much though so might be why he was so cheap. Only wants about 35k per week too!

[legaldinho]

@Legaldinho:

I may have been quick to say it was 'better' last night, but Soldado at least scored about 4 in 7. Not great but the support of Lamela & Ronaldinho made up for it. Any recommendations on a better F9? Was tempted by Welbeck but the cost would be huge...

I've made a slightly riskier version of the tactic you posted as a secondary rotation tactic against bottom half teams. All the same shouts but switches to 'Control' mentality and the CDM position is replaced my a CAM (Eriksen AP S for me). That way he & the F9 are making more chances for the IFs. The downside is you have to make up for that in CM with either two defensive players or a CM D and a BWM S. Gave me a 4-0 result against Newcastle but could just as easily have been luck.

All my players are performing OK (at least a 7.3 rating) with the exception of Lloris who is struggling to break 6.7 and seems very broken, always booting the ball up the pitch to the opposition regardless of my instructions. I know this is a bug & that when fixed he will be one of, if not THE best keeper in the league, but it's frustrating.

@Huntelaar:

Keeping the league is difficult if you're committing to score a lot of goals. It seems the safest bet is to grind out 1-0 & 2-0 at the moment with a high line & low tempo. That seems to be working for me. I can win the league this year, but will guarantee myself top 4, my season expectation.

Having won the league all of a sudden a lot of players show up on a transfer search. The most interesting upgrades on soldado at f9 would be benzema or Rossi. But Rossi is so often injured. Search for players having f9 attributes at 15 or above and the list is short and full of scary players, and Giuseppe Rossi.

Bit soldado did well and I want to make the most out of damiao and develop a yng player. I'm looking at the Italian Egyptian guy off Milan. He can be an upgrade from siggie at AMR IF, and can be accomploshed in the striker position.

[legaldinho]

Also, Pamela as F9 can be devastating. Consider training him there. I'm not going to wellbeck as an f9. Rooney is more f9 than welbeck IMO. Also, Soldado has done great, it's only because of the engine that he doesn't score more. But he's top PL scorer with 18. 4 penalties. Not bad for a player whose main task is to confuse defences and play in others. However, a better, mor creative passer would be great.

Edit- will try your variant and see if it works better than my 4231 control, which is my less used tactic for rotations. Having both an f9 and an am seemed overkill for me so never tried it- used an AF or poacher iresults. Mixed results.

Defoe is off in summer, wants a new challenge and was a disaster for me anyway. Gonna sell Gaitan, injury prone and a mistake. Thinking of selling Capoue too. Carroll is going to get game time. Livermore maybe too. Need them home and club trained players to play Rubin Kazan at home or some such! Gonna do a write up as soon as I can.

[tbtower]

Will take a look at all players mentioned above. Siggie really hasn't had a lot of playtime because of Ronaldinho (Only gave him a two season cotnract as I knew he was a short term solution) so will consider looking at El Sha from AC Milan. But unfortuantely i'm struggling to move on Siggie and Paulinho - both of whom are surplus to requirements for me. Maybe in the summer transfer market I can make more of an impact (I can still win the league after all), or just wait it out for the strikers to be fixed properly.

Am I the only one experiencing keeper issues with Lloris?

[legaldinho]

Hasn't made a mistake all season for Mr. Hasn't missed a game. Like all keepers in fm14 makes saves he has no right to make. Quick off his line. Only issue is kicking it straight to the opposition, that annoys me. Valdes is available on a free but wants too much in wages and is 32. Maybe it's a morale thing, keep encouraging him?

[slakey]

I don't know what it is but this years game seems so hard to get wins.

I've lost 4 drawn 2 and won 0 in the league, yet in Europe I'm top and I get the results.

I just beat Frankfurt 4-0 at their ground and then lose 1-0 to Newcastle... just isn't make sense.

[tbtower]

I don't know what it is but this years game seems so hard to get wins.

I've lost 4 drawn 2 and won 0 in the league, yet in Europe I'm top and I get the results.

I just beat Frankfurt 4-0 at their ground and then lose 1-0 to Newcastle... just isn't make sense.

I did find that, you can go all out attack in Europe, the standard of team you're playing against is probably a lot worse than you're imagining. In the league you need to be more careful, look to dominate possession, not dominate in goals and you'll find yourself pulling more wins together.

[slakey]

Well I'm using a downloaded tactic... But I'm pretty sure I'm getting sacked now.

This year is totally different by a mass amount.

[enders357]

DOMESTIC TREBLE SEASON 2!! Pretty delighted after finishing 11th in season one and nearly getting sacked.

[legaldinho]

Treble season 1 = ruination. Levy's getting a new stadium with debt. Sold three players before realising the game is bugged. Got very little for Defoe. On the flip sode , got a discount on el sharawy, 27m instead of 37ish.

[slakey]

Dunno what I'm doing wrong but my players can't keep possession in every game, I'm always the team with the lowest possession :/

[Jaxspur]

Hi all,

So this is a rather verbose summary of my time with Spurs in the demo to date, so forgive my rambles! When I finally settled on a tactic to use as a base by the second half of the first season I selected the tactics stated by N17Warrior in #17, so thanks for that. I've just finished season 2 with mixed results so far finishing 4th and then 4th again.

Season 1

First of all, the squad already is pretty immense and has adequate cover in all areas so the focus in the transfer window was always to get in youth for tutoring and periphery roles ready for a center spot next season.

In

Doria £6.5m - I thought it seemed alot of cash to shell out on a young Brazilian kid I'd never heard of but he had stats in all the right places. He's been an absolute rock for me averaging 7.6 over 20 in S1 and 7.8 over 40 in S2, still only 20 and improving tons.

Christian Maldini £325k - He has never really made it into the first team, I've only ever called him up once when I had serious injury/tiredness issues towards the end of the season but I did view the RB area as needing a youth prospect. He's done well on loan but at his rate of development, I probably wouldn't get him again but will still sell for a nice profit in a year or two.

Adam Campbell £2.9m - I was keen to get some real English talent in as most of the weaker squad players I wanted to sell were English and was conscious of the HG rules. He's really struggled in the game time I've given him on the PL and even when on loan in the CH he was pretty average. Whether this is due to the match engine being a little funny for Strikers at the moment is unclear, but his development over 2 years has been poor despite plenty of games so I doubt I'd buy him again.

Angel Correa £2.8m - A nifty squad player and still a reasonable prospect, retrained him to cover both wings and he spent some time on loan at Roma who promised he would be a 'key player' after afew months it became clear they were being giant trolls so I had to recall him He still could come through, but I am not convinced yet...

Jan

Juan Fernando Quintero £10m - Unbelievable stats for his age, he had an average first year as an attacking MC but I retrained him as an AML and he's made that position his own in the second season with a host of assists and plenty of set piece goals.

Out

Adebayor Loan £70k p/m+100% wages and £5m buyout to Atletico Madrid - I could of sold him but he wanted me to pay £50k p/w for the indefinite future, so rather than pay his alimony I shipped him out on loan.

Aaron Lennon £13m to Newcastle - while a stalwart core player for most the game in previous FM's, I felt his time had come this year with Lamela's arrival and wanted to cash in before his value dropped from inactivity.

Obika etc

Jan

Michael Dawson £3.3m to Fulham - A pitiful amount I know, I expected him to go for £7.5m as I felt he was still a quality player. However with the arrival of Doria, he just wasn't getting any game time at all.

Lewis Holtby £10m to Dortmund - He threw a tantrum when I rejected their initial bid and I wasn't overly attached as he was a periphery player anyway.

Andros Townsend £3.5m to Stoke - A shame after such good form this season IRL, but I gave him a chance and he wasn't getting the games so let him go.

Summary

The season started awfully, with me languishing in 10th until January having tried out and tweaks 3 or 4 different formations. I finally got some success with a 4-1-2-2-1 attacking, fluid with attacking wingers and play-makers in the center. Once I stuck with this and got Quintero in, the squad really synced and shot up the table to clinch 4th in the last few weeks. Unfortunately it still didn't qualify me for CL football (poor cursed Spurs!) which caused a few tantrums in the dressing room.

Season 2

In

Jose Perez £2.3m - Regen striker sitting in U18's, looks extremely promising for a couple of years time.

Dejan Stojanovic Free - End of contract signing as a back-up/youth keeper. I loaned him out to Crystal Palace (with a recall clause incase Lloris got injured) who was their main keeper, despite them getting relegated he had a reasonable season and got valuable PL experience.

Lukas Spendlhofer Free - Another Austrian prospect, loaned him out to Sheffield Wednesday and he constantly came back with 'youth player of the month' awards and seemd to get solid stats improvements.

Valentino Lazaro Free - A third Austrian talent (boy the future of their national team relies upon my stewardship!) who I used as a backup player in the squad, he got some good exposure in cup/sub games and seemed to make solid improvements. Unlikely to have the quality to ever make the position to make his own though and I may have to shift him on in a couple of years)

Vitinho Free - I know you will have looked at this guy and thought 'OH NO HIS FIRST TOUCH IS AWFUL' as I did too. However he has probably been the signing of the season for me and is improving swiftly and is my normal 'impact' player for the wings.

Paul Hecker £2.5m - Crazy regen LB, 16 but I will be amazed if he doesn't break into the first team. English too

Rafael Guarderas £175k - I tried to get this fella in the previous windows, but got rejected a work permit repeatedly. The second he got here I shipped him off to Sheff Utd (with a recall clause, just incase my midfield utterly died) and he's had a solid season there. Already up to £2m value in 6 months so probably a nice profit to be had in a year or two.

Jonathan Silva £4.9m - I'd been eyeing this guy up from week 1 as he looks a real talented LB, he had a great first season averaging at 8.2 over 20 games or something silly and has claimed the LB spot for Argentina too.

Will Hughes £10m - I expected a little more from Will considering the transfer fee, but he has had moderate improvements and performed OK so far. Jury is still out!

Jonathan Dos Santos £1.9m - Looked a real bargain and in a position I had struggled for last season with injury.

Allan Nyom £12.5m - I didn't really want to sign this guy, but he was the best I could find as a first choice after PSG unsettled Walker. He's done reasonably in the role, but Naughton is probably still first choice.

Gabriel Barbosa £1m - Signed in the first window but only just arrived, he looks a real talent.

Jan

Eder Alvarez Balanta £8.75m - I already considered the spot to be pretty well supported with Vert/Kaboul/Chicy but when I saw the quoted price from the scout, I had to ditch Chicheres which was sad as he had performed well.

Out

Jermaine Defoe £450k to QPR (Oh Harry...) - A travesty that he went for so little, but his age combined with dubious form on loan to Norwich last season meant that he wasn't going to bring in a ton.

Thomas Carroll £3.7m to Stoke - Did OK on loan, but didn't seem to have the quality to make it in the squad.

Jake Livermore £4.3m to Southampton - The same situation as Carroll really.

Benoit Assou Ekotto £3m to Besiktas - Not as much as I would of liked, but preferred Rose.

Adebayor £2.8m to Atletico - Good to finally be rid of him, but again not as much as I would of liked.

Harry Kane £3.1m to Reading - A shame as he has potential, but with only one ST in my line-up I don't think he ever would of cut it.

Iago Falque £1m to Cardiff - Not good enough.

Gylfi Siggy £13m to Southampton - I've no idea what was going through his head, he threw his toys out of the pram when I rejected a £5m lowball offer from some German club so I had to sell him on.

Kyle Walker £25m to PSG - He had an awesome first season and I didn't want to let him go, but Naughton had proved solid in the position and to maintain the good harmony in the squad I sold him for a slightly inflated price.

Jan

Vlad Chiriches £10m to SLB - Performed well, but didn't seem to have any further potential in him and wasn't quite good enough to stake his claim in the first two so had to make way for talent.

Nacer Chadli £4.5m to Newcastle - Gutted as the fee was pretty poor, he had the AML slot to himself for the first half season but really didn't do anything to make it his own so he had to be sacrificed to give Vitinho game time.

Summary

With the tactic settled from last season, I expected to be challenging for the honours in this one. I was wrong. It went horribly until November with a spree of losses against average teams, after that we improved to mediocrity and then really hit our form in February again and went on a great run. If not for a hiccup in the final month we could of won the title, but ended up slipping somewhat frustratingly to 4th and the last CL spot.

Season 3

In

Victor Wanyama £20m – Biggest signing to-date, looks quality!

Marc-Andre ter Stegen Free – Biggest dilemma to date, Marc or Hugo?

Samuel Umtiti Free – Looks like he will be a pretty special talent.

Tomas Martinez Free – I’ll loan him out somewhere, but he looks like he could do well.

Out

Jonathan Dos Santos £4.3m to Southampton - Southampton seem to love my sloppy seconds, made a nice profit and he had served his purpose since I have a new DMC youth arriving shortly

Cristian Eriksen £30m to Real Madrid – This was a horrible saga, not only did I not want to sell but I refused a bid of £37m from Man Utd - which then made him ask to leave – at which point I could only get £30m for him. The only upside is that at least I’m not selling him to a title rival, but I’d rather have the £7m!

Summary

This season I’ve started with some awesome free signings in ter Stegen and Umtiti, both of whom will 100% be pushing for first team spots. After the sale of Eriksen I’ve got £50m to spend, I’d like a top quality striker and would be willing to spend all of it if necessary to get one who will be my n1 striker for the next 5 years but the best I can find are no real improvement on Soldado or refuse to come/clubs won’t sell. I’m also thinking about selling Paulinho as with Wanyama in the squad he won’t get many starts and will only hold back any youth talent from getting games, unfortunately he got injured in S1 and has never regained the lost stats and momentum :<

Current Squad

GK: Huge Lloris / Marc-Andre ter Stegen

WBR: Kyle Naughton / Allan Nyom

DC: Doria / Vertonghen

DC: Eder Alvarez Balanta / Umtiti

WBL: Jonathan Silva / Danny Rose

DMC: Sandro / Etienne Capoue

MC (DLP): Victor Wanyama / Mousa Dembele / Steven Defour / Paulinho

MC (AP): Will Hughes (was Eriksen till now, so I’ve yet to work out who from the four in DLP will be best here, maybe Dembele but he is looking average post-injury)

AML: Juan Fernando Quintero / Vitinho / Angel Correa

AMR: Erik Lamela / Vitinho

ST: Roberto Soldado / Gabriel Barbosa

+A more cover in youth prospects on loan

Questions

Any thoughts on who to sign next, ideally an CF and a AP MC?

Lloris or Ter Stegen?

All suggestions welcome, sorry about butchering the team!

[waitsfornone]

With the demo release, I was finally able to dig in (should get full version next week, woo!) and try out this new look spurs. Still in the preseason, but some interesting things happening.

Bought Leandro Damiao off of the matching offer deal with Internacional and brought in Coentrao at LB. I couldn't resist picking up Damiao for 11 million and there is a definite need at the LB spot. Sold Luongo because I knew he wasn't going to get any playing time in the near future and an offer came in. Also sold Ade for about the cost of Damiao as well since I brought thim in. Using Defoe's experience this season to mentor Damiao as well. Also offered Friedel a coaching position, so he is sticking around as my backup and I am trying to sell Gomes.

Everything looked hunky-dory at that time and I was looking around for some young talent to poach. THEN the injury bug hit... during July training. With Sandro and Holtby already out, I proceeded to lose Paulinho, Naughton and Dembele until after the start of the season and Vertonghen until the day before the first friendly. Losing both of my planned MC players 'forced' me to buy Honda for more than I needed to, but I had the cash just sitting around.

Ended up being completely manhandled by the Revolution despite only losing 2-1. Then the San Jose match happened...

Formation

Lloris (SK/d)

Walker (CWB/a) Kaboul (CD/d) Vertonghen (CD/c) Coentrao (CWB/a)

Galifuoco (DM/d), Bentaleb (BBM/s)

Lamela (IF/a), Eriksen (AP/s), Townsend (W/a)

Damiao (CF/a)

Gallifuoco and Bentaleb were in because with only Capoue and Sigurdsson healthy (and tired after the Revs match) I just needed bodies. Also, Honda was still awaiting his work permit, so I didn't have him available for the match.

After the experience against the Revs, my team started to gel. Attacking moves were good and the defense, while shaky, was holding tough. In the 17th minute, Townsend crossed a beaut to Lamela to open the scoring. 2 minutes later, Lloris handled the ball outside the box... red card. WTF?!?!?! I watched the replay, and sure enough, he grab the ball and strolls right on out of the area. OK... ummmm.... well... I took Bentaleb out to put Gomes into goal and hoped that Eriksen's roaming would keep the link active. I didn't want to disrupt the attacking 4 that had just started to click on the account of the biggest brain fart in the history of Football Manager. Gomes stops the direct free kick and everything keeps ticking over until the 25th minute. At which time Gomes gets called for a hand ball outside the penalty area! Thankfully it was only a yellow, as I did not bring Friedel on my bench. We quickly scored a second goal same as the first. Townsend lifts a great cross to Lamela who backs off the defender to head home.

Well, then... things might turn out OK today! I keep pressing to try and grab a third goal before halftime, after which I would shift to a more defensive setup. Well, San Jose equalized just before the break on a great offside trap beating run. At halftime I pulled Eriksen for Sigurdsson and put Siggy into the MC spot as an AP/s to be a bit more defensive, but as we were still being giving space on the wings to run forward I didn't want ot give up just yet. San Jose quickly scored a second goal to even the score, 2-2. I had some players getting tired at this point and needed to make a decision on going for the third goal or taking the draw. I chose to go for it left things as-is for a while, replacing Townsend with Lennon and Gallifuoco with Capoue. I wasn't able to get the third goal and now my DCs were tired. I needed to shift deeper and provide more cover. Also, SJ was bombarding my goal by this point.

I wanted to win so badly. We could still attack them down the flanks without much effort and Gomes was playing excellently in goal. I had already thought that there was merit in a Lamela at AMC in a SS role and Soldado up top with F9 role. Since I didn't have the 11th man, I simply left the striker spot open, and put Capoue up in the MC role as BBM, along with other changes.

Gomes (G/d)

Walker (FB/s), Dawson (CD/d), Chirches (CD/d), Coentrao (FB/s)

Sandro (DM/d), Capoue (BBM/s)

Lennon (W/a), Lamela (SS/a), Chadli (IF/a)

(open spot)

I got my third goal with Lamela playing Chadli into space and a one-on-one with the keeper, and then quickly gave up a third. At which point I said screw it... I am not losing this 4-3 and put in fresh FBs and somebody for Lamela (can't remember, will edit later) and parked the bus as best I could for the last 10 minutes. Funny thing was, I still almost got a 4th goal and the winner.

My takeaways from this story are that the new tactics are really easy to learn (I haven't played FM13 much and don't really understand the sliders at all), and that Lamela needs to get adjusted IRL!

[Mihalis]

You sir, are my hero

Oh dear lord......

What the hell????

Just for the info. Lamela and Eriksen for such awful money to Premiership title contenders. As well as Bobby. Just shows very poor judgement.

I've played one season. Bobby is worth 20 mill. Eriksen and Lamela are over 30mill now, as is Sandro.

What a waste. Restart.

Siggy and Chadli are good back up players, especially as they play in several positions well.

Adebayor is the only one I give you credit on!!! haha.

Valencia - *****

Januzaj???? Someone got a boner over ONE Manure game.

Smalling???? GIVE ME A BREAK!

I am devastated that you even wrote in this thread!!!!

Fair enough you can do what you wish. But you bought a tear to my eye.....

[billyboy2303]

I have my full copy ready to start my spurs game

[legaldinho]

You sir, are my hero

+1, I thought that poster was winding us up.

Wait one more year and you can make major dollar with those players. I just sold Holtby for 27m. Or at least I would have if it wasn't for the transfer bug. He went for 14m

[Jaxspur]

Anyone else having injury problems?

I've now got Danny Rose, Will Hughes, Quintero, Munianin, Soldado and Barbosa all injured in the first team alone I've even had both Lloris and ter Stegen both injured and I'm only in September!