[FM22] THFC: Just like old times...

[RaySunshine]

November 2023

November was a busy month but of course only serves as a prelude to the December madness. We began in the League Cup against Burton (Alli 32, 38) and it was pleasing to see Dele score from two low crosses to send us on into the QF. We then took on Man Utd and, despite winning the xG battle well, we couldn't turn that into goals. We did though against Krasnodar (Zirkzee 29, 45+1, Bergwijn 36). The pick of the bunch was the superb ball over the top that Bergwijn tracked to half-volley home. The goals continued against Leicester (Kane 57, Alli 80). Musiala slipped a ball across for Kane to smash into the bottom corner from long range and Son picked out Delli for a true striker's header!

Just after the Leicester game, I got the news that my next request for a coaching badge had been granted no questions asked - perhaps the board are looking forward to me staying around! The West Ham game might have made them reconsider though. We had the better of the chances but it was a game of poor quality. Thankfully, we had just enough quality against Braga (Moura 58) and Moura was able to profit from De Arrascaeta's searching pass.

Our draw-heavy run in the league sees us give ground the title race, now being six points behind the running. We have also dropepd out the top four but I'm certainly still considering us in the race for that one. It's a nice feeling to have taken top spot from our Europa League group so we can rest tired legs against Hibs next month.

As ever, December is a mad, mad month. Eight games stand between us the month's end. We have a run against Liverpool, Arsenal and Man City and that is then finished off by the League Cup QF against Newcastle! We'll lucky if there are any legs left on this lot by the end of the season!

[RaySunshine]

December 2023

As you can see by looking at the results, December was a month of two halves! We began by taking on Sheffield United and duly failed to score! The game wasn't full of chances but I did feel like we'd had the better of what was on offer. We then took on Newcastle (Kane 1) where Kane's header from a superb Reguilon corner was enough to give us all three points. We also got some good news...

The good form carried on against Norwich (Kane 41, Romero 62). Winks sent over a deep ball to the far post for Kane to head home and Romero smashed home a De Arrascaeta free kick. The real worry from the game though was the news below...

An entirely-rotated side took on Hibernian (Alli pen 21) where Alli's penalty was enough for us to finish the group stage with a win. Our last win of the month! Next up, we played Liverpool (Son 12, Ahmedhodzic 86). When Son slotted home a beauty early on, I thought it might be our day. But Liverpool took control and scored three to show they had other ideas. We fought back with a late corner but could do no more. Against Arsenal (Moura 61), we found ourselves 2-0 down and playing poorly by HT. Moura bagged one in the second half but again nil points. Man City (Moura 51) handed us our third league defeat in a row to leave my side looking in a really sorry state. I'd hoped that we could pick up and continue in the cup against Newcastle but it wasn't to be as they ran out 2-0 winngers. Oh dear!

We cruise out of our Europa League group but, in the league, we've slipped down to sixth and are now a mighty nine points behind fourth place. It feels like we have a lot of work to do to get our season back on track.

So here we are: January is a run of games that we really could use to improve our standing and get us climbing back up the league again. Everton in the cup won't be easy but we'll do our best to overcome them and keep searching for some form of silverware!

[RaySunshine]

January 2024

It's more than fair to say that our results in January were a massive improvement on how we finished off 2023! The year began with a game against Leeds United (Kane 13, 57, Bergwijn 90+2). Kane began the scoring with missing a penalty but being first to smash home the rebound before following it up with tucking home Moura's slide rule pass. Bergwijin finished off the goals with a superb strike into the top corner to remind us what he can do on his day. We then played Brentford (Son 12). We dominated the game but could only score the one goal courtesy of Son. We took on Everton (Son 18, Moura 90+3) in the cup. Kane again missed a pen but Son was on hand this time to tap the rebound home. Everton fought back via a superb free-kick but Moura broke blue hearts when Dodo's long ball sent him through one-on-one. We broke out all the goals against Wolves (Kane 44, 64, Son 77, 84). The pick of the bunch was a deadly through-ball from Kane for Son to finish. We kept our good form against Bournemouth (Kane 70, Son 73). Kane dinked the ball over the keeper beautifully for the first before turning provider for Son soon after. Nottm Forest (Demiral 45+1) proved a tougher nut to crack but a header from a corner was enough to the do the job. We then claimed manager, player (Kane) and young player (Reyna) of the month to round things off!

Our positive month has seen us re-enter the Champ's League race. We're now only three points behind Arsenal and four behind Man City so, whilst I fully admit that we do have all the chasing to do, it does seem an achievable aim nonetheless.

Transfer-wise, January was a pretty quiet month. In terms of the outs, there were good opportunities for two of the youngsters and, on deadline day, Chelsea offered to take Morato who had been asking for a loan. I felt like it suited us to keep the player happy - let's just hope he doesn't help Chelsea get anywhere near us!

Our solitary signing was £50 million man, Rodriguez. I felt that we were too light in midfield - especially when playing the other big sides - so I hope that Rodriguez will help us to be more combative in those games in particular!

February is a much lighter month with only four games and I view all of them as being quite winnable games - come on you Spurs!

[RaySunshine]

February 2024

February was a pretty quiet month but, in it's few days, it still had time to be pretty galling! The month began with a game against Aston Villa (Son 43). We found ourselves behind when Buendia volleyed home but, just before HT, Lo Celso sent Kane past their defence and he squared the ball for Son to slide home. We took Leicester (Fofana OG 77, Son 84) on in the cup. Despite dominating the game, we found it hard to score but when Musiala slide a ball across, Fofana, knocked it past his own keeper. A loose ball found it's way to Son late on for him to smash home against the bar. Everton were next in the league and we produced a game with barely a highlight to show for it. Lloris wasn't fit to start this game and, part way through, Kane came off with a knock and would miss the Southampton game. Finally we took on Southampton (Reyna 8, Musiala 48). In a real ding-dong game, Zirkzee made a pass for Reyna to slide home a finish before they scored two - the second being a lovely Vlahovic chip. Musiala showed he had chips of his own though to share out the points.

Despite both Man City and Arsenal dropping points in the month, our own poor form meant that we haven't reined them in. We have a game in hand still and, assuming we win that, we'd be three points behind still. It's as you were which really isn't what we want as we seek to grab a top four place. Must do better is the rule of the day!

March is a busy one as league and cups combine. Our league fixtures look pretty serious as we play Chelsea and Man U in the month. I really hope that Rodriguez can show the bite we bought him for. Then we have Leeds in the cup which I'd view as pretty winnable as well as a double-header against Monaco which I'm optimistic about.

[RaySunshine]

March 2024

Like almost the entire season, I have to say that March has been a mixed month. We began in fine form by beating Chelsea (Kane 39) when Dodo pinged the ball into the box from the halfway line and Kane brought it down to smash home. We kept up the good form against Leeds (Musiala 23) when Winks curled a beauty of a ball into the box and Musiala stroked it smoothly home. We didn't keep the form against Man Utd though. We were dominated throughout the game but three of their goals were subjected to VAR checks whereas our goal was ruled out via the same method. The form didn't improve against Monaco where we lost 1-0 in a close tie. We were struggling against Leicester (Zirkzee 75, De Arrascaeta 77) until Zirkzee got involved. He headed home a corner and then nodded the ball down for GDS to volley home. I made the decision to keep Zirkzee up front against Monaco (Zirkzee 2, 16, 22, Musiala 37, Winks pen 45) and I was well rewarded. He put on an absolute show and helped us to destroy the French side and fly into the next round! We couldn't keep the same form against Newcastle who scored the only in a close FA Cup quarter final. Newcastle are becoming something of a bogey team here...

We remain in fifth place but now we're nine points Arsenal. We can close that back to the previous six if we win our game in hand. However, it looks seriously unlikely that we'll close that gap down and play Champ's League again.

Newcastle ended our last month and lead this one. I would love it, love it if we beat them but it certainly hasn't been happening recently! We then face FM legends Athletic Club in the Europa League before a trio of winnable games against Sheffield United, Norwich and West Ham. Finally, we take on Liverpool at the end of the month...

Edited February 27, 2022 by RaySunshine

[RaySunshine]

April 2024

Our season continues very much as it has done with a mixed bag of results. When we found ourselves 2-0 down against Newcastle (Son 44, Reguilon 58, Zirkzee 67, Moura 90+2), I must say that I feared the worst. The pick of our bunch was certainly Zirkzee's lovely chip over the keeper as he seeks to keep Kane out the starting line up. We began well against Athletic Club (Zirkzee 5, 24) with Zirkzee scoring two crashing headers. Athletic fought back late on though and we finished all square. Sheffield United (Moura 90+3) looked like they'd deservedly taken all three points when they scored in the 92nd minute but Moura had other ideas when Olsen spilled GDA's shot to his feet for him to tap home. We took on Athletic Club (Son 33, Lo Celso 90+5) in the home leg. Son smashed home Musiala's slide-rule pass in the first half before Lo Celso secured the result with a superb free-kick late on. We struggled against Norwich (Obamidele OG 90+4), wasting most of our chances until, late on, their defender smashed Moura's late cross. We played well for most of the game against West Ham but they were the team who took their chance to secure the win. We couldn't say the same of our performance against Liverpool (Moura 71) where we were simply blown away - we've got a worrying record against the big side this season.

We hold on to the fifth at the moment but it's far from secure - especially given the fatigue in our side and some of the tough games that we've got coming up next month. It's grit-your-teeth time I think!

The month begins with the huge Europa League semi-final against Roma and former Spurs manager Jose Mourinho. We then play Fulham in the league before finishing our season against Arsenal and Man City. It's not exactly a quiet finish is it?!

[RaySunshine]

May 2024

It's fair to say that the month didn't begin too spectacularly! We played Roma (Son 2). I was in dreamland when we took an early lead. Roma had other ideas though and, four goals later, we're struggling to see how we could possibly progress. That weekend we took on Fulham (Zirkzee 64). We struggled for most of the game and, as a roll of the dice, I switched to a 5-3-2 and saw the chances open up for us to equalise. I kept the same formation against Roma (Zirkzee 4) and hoped for the best with our early goal. There were to be no more though and we crashed out of the Europa League so close to the final. 5-3-2 saw us battle well against Arsenal (Ahmedhodzic 84) and, late on, we powered home a corner to secure a result and fifth place. We did even better against Man City (Kane 1, Dodo 35, Zirkzee 90+2). Kane was put through early on and slotted home to break his goal drought, Dodo smashed home and Zirkzee finished the goals to send the fans into the summer break in style! I think I'm going to have to do some serious homework on 5-3-2 having won three and conceded none!

So here we are - two points up on what we achieved last season but not enough to see us into the top four. It will be an interesting summer as I look to adapt the squad to our new possible formation and see who stays and who goes! Season review will soon follow up!

[RaySunshine]

Season Review

So here we are with the team of the season! The backline and the keeper do not surprise me at all - they're exactly who I would choose for a game. Hojbjerg and Lo Celso have played well this season so no surprises there either. Moving up, Son won the close contest with Musiala and, most strikingly, Harry Kane is not the XI - Zirkzee takes the sole striker slot. Of course, none of this reflects the late season shift we made to 5-3-2 and that might affect seriously who is here next season. I'm expecting at least two of these players to go...

Harry Kane just squeaks ahead of close rival Zirkzee for top scorer. It will be interesting to see how the goal scoring goes when both are lined up to play together next season. Musiala leads the assists chart but again he'll be lined up to play a new role. Finally, stalwart Reguilon is top-rated - long may it continue!

Lots of green remain here again and we have plenty to do! The five year plan sees us go from mid-table to title challengers so there's no wasting time here!

[AlfieLucas]

Just caught up with this. As a Spurs fan also, it's good to see a save like this. You're not doing too badly, definitely have to keep above those South Londoners though. Just starting up one myself.

 

And it's too late now, but you can normally get Romero for 30m, especially if you do it straight away when you take over.

Edited March 1, 2022 by AlfieLucas

[RaySunshine]

Thanks for the post @AlfieLucas. Certainly glad I've kept Romero whatever the cost. Hope that things go well in your save too!

Pre-season

As you can see, we've been pretty busy on the out front this season. Plenty of younger players have left on loan in order to get more minutes and get them ready for the first team. Among them though, are the departures of some pretty significant figures. The first in the list is Delli Alli who chose to leave on a free to Lazio. I'd tried to sell him in January but no-one was prepared to cash in then - all the best in Italy! As a pair, GLC and GDA both depart for River Plate - GDA is a vicitm of the formation change as he's no longer requiered. PEH also departs. He made it clear that he wouldn't renew his contract and then got pretty cross when I put him up for sale - all-in-all, it was quite feisty but it's been done! Emerson Royal departs having lost his place to Dodo and I couldn't turn down £44mil! Finally, Lucas Moura moves on as I don't see us playing wingers now and he's 31. Time waits for no man!

At the moment, two come in versus the horde that leaves. I think we're bringing in quality but the risk is that the squad remains dangerously thin. I've gambled that the best thing to do with the youngsters is to send them out on loan - let's hope it works!

Tchouameni appears to be one of the great prospects in the game and I've brought him in to help dominate the midfield for the forseeable. He has had three seasons of 7+ ratings at Monaco so I feel like I'm getting a pretty good deal!

Misunas is a youngster coming through at Reading and I thought that he has seriously good potential. I've loaned him back to Reading to help maximise his minutes and build on the 38 appearances that he made for them last season.

Gavi is an exciting young prospect out of La Maisa and Barca were keen enough to ask to loan him back for the season so I'm hopeful that we've got something special here too.

Pre-season was pretty straightforward. The results were good and lends more hope to my plan to play 5-3-2 this season. The odd one was my placing of Kane's testimonial at a point where he was winning the Euro's with England so couldn't be there - oops!

We've slipped a place down the predicitons and our odds get longer as some of the super-spenders, like Newcastle and Southampton (Vlahovic and Koman!) look to go ahead of us. I hope that we're seriously undersestimated here!

We start off with two winnable games in Fulham and Leeds before hopefully being able to rotate a bit against Cheltenham in the League Cup. Finally, we face the season's first serious challenge in the form of Man City!

[RaySunshine]

August 2024

It's been a tight and close month but I'm pretty pleased with the results that we got. We opened the season with the Friday night game playing Fulham (Zirkzee 16). We dominated the game but didn't take many chances. The exception was Zirkzee who got our season off and running when he headed home Reyna's floated free kick! He was however, injured in the game and wouldn't play again this month. We followed this up with a game against Leeds. We produced plenty of chances but, without Zirkzee, no-one was putting the ball in the net. Kane hit both posts but couldn't put the ball between them to leave us with a frustrating draw. I then rotated the team with pretty much everything I had to take on Cheltenham (Son 61) and youngster Bosman sent over a beauty of a cross for Son to head home and give us the win. When we conceeded an early goal against Man City (Musiala 15, Son 62), I feared the worst. Musiala had other ideas though - going a mazy run and finish before providing the assist for Son's fierce strike and we come away with a win that I'm very proud of!

It's very early days but, on the 1st September, we're in the top four places - long may it continue!

September begins with a game against Stoke and I'm certainly expecting to win that. I don't know yet how strong a team will face AEK but that needs to be a win alongside the Wolves game too. There's a cup game where we're waiting to see who we'll play before we take on Arsenal in the first NLD of the season!

[RaySunshine]

September 2024

The month began with a game against bottom-of-the-table Stoke and we produced no more than a frustrating 0-0 draw against them. This was followed up by an odd Europa League game against AEK (Scarlett 4, 9, 31, Son 43) where we faced both Parrott and Devine. Scarlett was the one who shone though with a superb hat-trick. His second was the best with a super ball over the top from Winks for him to finish. The good news here was me getting my next coaching badge - happy days!

Wolves (Zirkzee 67) were struggling against relegation and took a shock lead against us but Zirkzee equalised with a superb corner. I decided that, with a small squad, we had to rotate in the League Cup tie against Wolves (Kane 48). Kane smashed a superb strike home to get his season up and running but it wasn't enough to get us a win. This took us onto the North London Derby against Arsenal. This was a chastening experience at best - they dominated the game throughout the 90. We barely had a look and felt a long way away from beating Man City last month...

We've slipped down to ninth in the league but, after only six games, I don't think that matters too much. Overall, I think that we're still only three points off the top four and, having played two serious sides, I hope we're not in a bad place. In Europe, we top the group but we've only played one game.

I was feeling a bit thin in the squad as a whole and I liked the look of Ejupi who we brought in from Genk for £24million. He gives us cover right across the back line and could work out to be a top class signing as the years go by!

After Antwerp, the month doesn't get any easier! We face Liverpool in the league before facing Brighton. Sporting then give us serious competition in Europe before another test against West Ham rounds out the month. Let's see how we go!

 

[RaySunshine]

October 2024

We'd had a rocky end to the month in September and I was looking for better in October for sure. We began well against Antwerp (Scarlett 24, 53, Sessegnon 90). Scarlett underlined his potential by scoring a great brace and then Sessegnon secured the result with a superb volley after making a late run to the far post. We began the game with very little of the ball against Liverpool and the tension clearly got to Zirkzee who was sent off for a horrific two-footed challenge. We dug in though and it looked like we'd escape with a draw until Salah scored right at the death. I was worried by our lack of goals and considered dropping the 5-3-2 but I stuck with it against Brighton (Scarlett 79) and was rewarded with a dominating performace and a win when Scarlett tapped home Kane's slide-rule pass. We took on Sporting in the Europa League and edged the xG game. The familar story though was not being able to score the goal to go with it. The month ended with a derby against West Ham (Kane 17, Scarlett 70). Kane gave us the lead off a superb Scarlett run and then they equalised through a defensive mix-up at the back. Scarlett made sure we got all three points with his second league goal scored in as many games!

In the league we've moved up one place even though the gap to fourth has opened to four points now. I still feel like we're in the race there - I'm not giving up on that yet! In Europe, we remain top of the group and, with a five point gap, I think qualification is secure barring a real disaster.

The month's headline fixture comes first when we take on Man Utd at Old Trafford. That's then followed by a game against Sporting that will help us know whether we're finishing top of the group or not. I'd like to think we can beat Leicester and Burnley in the league before doing the same to Antwerp at the end of the month!

[RaySunshine]

November 2024

It felt that we were turning a corner at the end of October and I'm pleased to say that we built on that well throughout November. The month began with a tough tie against Man Utd (Kane 30). We were under the cosh throughout the game but snatched the lead when Kane headed home from Dodo's cross. They equalised through a corner but we weathered the storm to leave with a creditable point. I rotated the side against Sporting and we didn't win. We played ok but it was a corner that undid us again. The decison to rest mid-week thankfully payed off when we played Leicester (Scarlett 13 Zirkzee 90+4). Scarlett was sent through early and scored but was then forced off with a knock. As the game came to a close, Zirkzee finished it off when Dodo's ball over the top sent him through. Burnley (Kane pen78) were tough to break down as ever but a Kane penalty put home did the job. Finally, a rotated side took on Antwerp (Zirkzee 4, 86, Son 41) and it was pleasing to see Son score to break his drought!

We move into seventh place in the league and are only three points behind fourth with a game in hand. In Europe, we've qualifed and now it comes down to the last game to see if we can top the group. I'm not making that position a priority though as, when you see the month below, we have plenty enough to do!

December sees us play nine games and there's a trio of big ties in there - seeing us take on Southampton, Chelsea and Newcastle. That explains why I know that a fully-rotated side will be playing AEK as I don't think the squad will last otherwise. There's a lot of work for the squad to do here - come on you Spurs!

 

 

[RaySunshine]

December 2024

We finished November with real hope - I finished December out of a job! The month began well against Everton (Scarlett 37, 44, Son 78) with Scarlett scoring the highlight after a wonderful passing move including Sergio Reguilon. Little did I know however, that that would be my last league win. We followed that up with a poor result against Aston Villa and an equally poor performance against Brentford leading to two shock defeats with not even a goal scored. I rotated against AEK (Son 33) with Son scoring a super header to send us through top of the group. We returned to league action and were thrashed at home by Southampton (Scarlett 44) and that led to the emergency meeting with the board. Nine points were required from the next five games for me to stay in the job. The collection process began pretty worryingly with a 0-0 draw against Sheffield Utd and it didn't look much better when we were beat 2-1 by Chelsea (Scarlett 72). It meant we had to beat Newcastle and didn't - Mourinho gets the last laugh in a cruel twist of fate!

This brought this save to a close and Spurs go marching on without me! Fear not though as I have another save in mind. I just need to find my passport...