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

[30.Beast]

They are too old to be tutored.

[30.Beast]

A question for you guys - I am considering buying Andre Ayew from OM for £14.9 mill. I thought of him primarily as a replacement for Bale who might leave - but then considered what a great box to box midfielder he would be. However, I feel he might be a little similar to Dembele, aswell as being really left footed. A 3 man midfield of Sandro, Ayew and Dembele would be beastly, but perhaps too uncreative. I'm not usually a fan of diminutive playmakers(unless theu are Luka Modric), but perhaps I need to bring in an Eriksen instead. Ayew is soooo versatile though. LB, AML, CM....etc.

I don't have the cash to spend on many players, having already bought in Wilfried for £10m. Deals for Honda and Sigporsson or Borriello(love his stats- very mentally strong) in the pipeline. Hudd, Parker, Gallas, Ade and probably Sigurdsson are leaving. Only have £30m to spend, which i'm fine with but I have to choose wisely.

[enders357]

I did exactly this and found Ayew to be exceptional when trained as a central midfielder and played there regularly. I kept him for three seasons, playing him with Dembele in front of Sandro in a three man-midfield or rotating with Dembele next to Sandro in a two-man pivot. As you say, he is quite similar to Dembele. His ability to cover for Bale and play exceptionally well as a DW makes him a really good buy.

A word of caution though, he was sent off 10 times in the league over those three seasons and I ended up selling him after we fell out because he didn't like me fining him. If you can train the 'dives into tackles' out of him you'll probably be okay.

Ps, watching him and Dembele tear past people through the middle all the time is great viewing.

[30.Beast]

Yeah that's what I thought....those three would rip it up together

Add the pace of Bale/Lennon on the wings, and the louche beastliness of Wilfried upfront(who we should buy IRL!) would be lovely. Very physical team though and perhaps difficult to break teams down. Perhaps I can find a creative trickster to bring off the bench? As I said though, Ayew seems a carbon copy of Dembele, left footed, perhaps I should overlook that and use Ayew's versatility as an excuse to get him. I like adaptable players anyway, and will try to use Bale as an AMC aswell. Just very fluid basically.

Didn't know about his tackling tendency. I would be loathe to take that out of him, but ten reds is way too much.

[30.Beast]

Of course I'm forgetting Holtby. He did alright when he came mid-season, but not sure he's the no.10 for me.

This could be nice;

...............Wilfried..............

Bale...........................Lennon

.........Dembele...Ayew..........

...............Sandro...............

BAE.....Jan.........Kaboul...Walker

I would trust that team to challenge for a title. I mean, I'm competing against City, Chels, Utd who have just bought players like Falcao, Fellaini, N'kolou, Benat, Jovetic etc...quite insane, but I'll see. Unfortunately I lack the finance to spend big. Not sure why? People here seem to get money thrown at them.

Anyway, I sold:

Ade to Monaco for £5m

Sigurdsson > Newcastle £8m

Hudd > Fulham £5m

Parker > Fulham £3m

Gallas > Free

Am going to try and raise Carroll, Pritchard, Smith, Fryers into decent squaddies. Naughton and Livermore stay.

[enders357]

Holtby and Sigurdsson both did really well for me as no.10's, and Holtby was very effective as an IF on the right when Lennon was injured too.

Holtby scores more than Gylfi, but Gylfi gets 12-15 assists a season...

[DosSantosFC]

Of course I'm forgetting Holtby. He did alright when he came mid-season, but not sure he's the no.10 for me.

This could be nice;

...............Wilfried..............

Bale...........................Lennon

.........Dembele...Ayew..........

...............Sandro...............

BAE.....Jan.........Kaboul...Walker

I would trust that team to challenge for a title. I mean, I'm competing against City, Chels, Utd who have just bought players like Falcao, Fellaini, N'kolou, Benat, Jovetic etc...quite insane, but I'll see. Unfortunately I lack the finance to spend big. Not sure why? People here seem to get money thrown at them.

Anyway, I sold:

Ade to Monaco for £5m

Sigurdsson > Newcastle £8m

Hudd > Fulham £5m

Parker > Fulham £3m

Gallas > Free

Am going to try and raise Carroll, Pritchard, Smith, Fryers into decent squaddies. Naughton and Livermore stay.

In my old save I had Ayew,Sandro,Dembele mainly and rotating with few others and believe me watch them,Ayew is better at doing what Dembele does for you,he is awesome as a box to box CM but does have a tendancy to get yellow card.

[DosSantosFC]

Holtby and Sigurdsson both did really well for me as no.10's, and Holtby was very effective as an IF on the right when Lennon was injured too.

Holtby scores more than Gylfi, but Gylfi gets 12-15 assists a season...

Im finding it the other way round,Gylfi has been quality for me but so far Holtby hasent,plus with the signing of Thiago i have just made im thinking of retraining Holtby in a position so ur idea of an IF sounds good to me!!!

[spursglenn777]

Into my second season on a new save with updated patch, no transfers till Jan.

At the beginning of season I had 118 mill in bank so Levy gave me 40mill in Nov. Falcao was transfer listed. Job done!

Then in Jan Levy game me a further 35mill, so in came santon (15) and hernandez (20) out went adebayour to sevilla for 15mill

Finished 2nd in league with poor results in carling cup, fa cup and europe. i'm playing a 4411 with either holtby or sig in the hole. During Feb and March my team couldn't score. Went through a run of not conceding in 13 games but drew many games 0-0. Cost me the title on goal difference!!

Start of season 2 and only signing is Garnash as Dembele is out for 4 months. After 4 games 12 points with wins over Chelsea and Man City included. Looking good!!

I have Falcao as a AF but hes goal average is only 1 in 2. I did expect a bit better to be honest with his stats he should be a 40+goal machine. Currently not happening??

[edgar555]

Falcao like any player will need time to settle. Also as an AF he'll be on attack duty which may mean he's becoming isolated from the rest of the team. Also 1 in 2 is hardly poor.

[sammo10]

Been doing this save since the start of the game really on and off. Currently at the beginning of season 6 and haven't posted in here yet. Going post a load of screenies of my save so far and then start posting on a regular basis.

Season 1

Transfers:

Season 2

Transfers

Season 4

Transfers

Season 5

Transfers

Season 6 so far ..

Transfers

So I have two trophies to my name. Feel I should have won more at this stage by this point. But its been steady so far and my squad is still young so definitely room for improvement. If anyone wants a screenshot of any of my players just say and I'll post it.

[Scambob]

I have a front 4 of Neymar, Falcao, Jovetic and Bale. But for the life of me I cant get them to work together. I have tried

Falcao (poacher) Jovetic (Treq)

Neymar (IF) Bale (IF)

and

Falcao (CFs)

Bale (W) Jovetic (Treq) Neymar (w)

[30.Beast]

Dunno, looks cluttered to me. Player probably competing for the same spaces.

Though in the second example, I would use Bale as an IF.

[spursglenn777]

Dunno, looks cluttered to me. Player probably competing for the same spaces.

Though in the second example, I would use Bale as an IF.

I have only had real success as Bale as a winger in the midfield left position, running from deep either crossing or scoring on a slalom run

[Scambob]

well it doesn't matter just got sacked for the first time as spurs manager. galaticos obviously not the way to go with levy

[edgar555]

Bale is phenomenal as an IF from AML or R but as so often the makeup of the rest of the team is crucial.

[Scambob]

right I have started again with Spurs. Not going to sign superstars this time. My time and resources will be spent on developing young players. The new patch has boosted some English youngsters so I think I will buy a load of them and build a legacy.

Spurs players to develop-

Gomlet

Milos V

Soli

Pritchard

Carroll

Kane

Hall

luongo

Smith

Caulker

[30.Beast]

well it doesn't matter just got sacked for the first time as spurs manager. galaticos obviously not the way to go with levy

Perhaps not. The only way we could afford that lot is via an Arab takeover. I would have probably forgotten about Falcao and Neymar, and signed Jovetic - played him upfront as a trequarista or DLF. For me Lennon>Neymar. That may sound silly, but I know what Lennon is going to do and can get the best out of him. He may not look that much but he's plays brilliantly in this game.

right I have started again with Spurs. Not going to sign superstars this time. My time and resources will be spent on developing young players. The new patch has boosted some English youngsters so I think I will buy a load of them and build a legacy.

Spurs players to develop-

Gomlet

Milos V

Soli

Pritchard

Carroll

Kane

Hall

luongo

Smith

Caulker

Unfortunately I don't think Pritchard has been touched. I'm working on him now in the editor because I'm pretty certain he has a future at Spurs - only it's hard to rate him accurately. Don't want to make him a Wilshere, but need to give me a chance to develop him into a good players aswell. I think he deserves parity with Carroll in the PA category, though they are slightly different types of player. Carrol could make it though, IRL and in game, just need to develop his physicality and also things like first touch and technique. Then you could have a great squad player who is homegrown. I'd rather him than Sigurdsson. Smith is also promising, while Caulker can become a top defender despite not having a 'top' PA.

[edgar555]

Perhaps not. The only way we could afford that lot is via an Arab takeover. I would have probably forgotten about Falcao and Neymar, and signed Jovetic - played him upfront as a trequarista or DLF. For me Lennon>Neymar. That may sound silly, but I know what Lennon is going to do and can get the best out of him. He may not look that much but he's plays brilliantly in this game.

Unfortunately I don't think Pritchard has been touched. I'm working on him now in the editor because I'm pretty certain he has a future at Spurs - only it's hard to rate him accurately. Don't want to make him a Wilshere, but need to give me a chance to develop him into a good players aswell. I think he deserves parity with Carroll in the PA category, though they are slightly different types of player. Carrol could make it though, IRL and in game, just need to develop his physicality and also things like first touch and technique. Then you could have a great squad player who is homegrown. I'd rather him than Sigurdsson. Smith is also promising, while Caulker can become a top defender despite not having a 'top' PA.

Luongo is also capable of becoming a decent PL squad player. Kane can make it and I think Milos V can too but they will take work. Gomelt looks like he should make it but has struggled when I've worked on his development.

[30.Beast]

Not forgetting Coulilaby who has major potential, but he still needs a lot of work, games + tutoring.

[spursglenn777]

On my save in season 2, Kane and Soli are both 4.5 star potential.

I have seen milos v become a 5mill prem player for mid to bottom of the table side

[sammo10]

Decided to start a Tottenham save Post update, after having a long term Tottenham save on the original. Definitely going to try and develop Tom Carroll. Think he can be a massive player for us IRL and should start over Parker. Hopefully he can be good for me on here. Not sure what type of style to play probably quite a fast, counter attacking style. Not really sure what the best formation is to get that to work though ?

[DanD2010]

I played Dembele as a box to box midfielder with Sandro as a central mid with defend duty. This worked really well as both defended well and Dembele would score a decent amount too as he was instructed to go further up.

[sammo10]

Made a really good start to my save on the updated patch.

Transfers

IN

OUT

TACTICS

So far I've played 6 games. Five of them in the league, one in the Europa:

Arsenal (H) 3-0 : Adebayor (2), Giaccherini

Wigan (A) 0-0

Stoke (H) 2-0 Adebayor, Giaccherini

West Brom (H) 1-0 Lennon

Dinamo Bucharest (H) 4-0 Defoe, Sandro

West Ham (A) 2-0 Bale, Kaboul

So yeah 4 wins from 5 in the league and yet to concede a goal. Really happy with how solid my team has looked and how quickly they counter attack. Noticed enders357 said Ayew had quite a bad disciplinary record for him. He's already been sent off for me, so thats a slight worry. Giaccherini is proving to be a tidy signing already scored twice and I definitely feel confident in leaving either Bale or Lennon out for him.

[henrikmain]

Season 2015/2016 - short review

The 2014/2015 season was quite successful, with Spurs winning the EURO Cup and the FA Cup. However, losing the league title to Man City in the second to last round was quite painful! Thankfully, I managed to win the league in the 2015/2016 season, and in quite a convincing fashion as well. The newcomers - Vidal, Benedetti and Tachtsidis - all proved to be solid buys, and the squad depth proved to be crucial this season.

League table:

In addition to winning the Premier League, I won the European Super Cup by beating Real Madrid in the first match of the season, and also lifted the League Cup trophy by beating Bournemouth (!) in the final. I easily got through to the quarter finals of the Champions League, but got knocked out by Man City, who also defeated me in the FA Cup quarter finals.

Gylfi Sigurdsson won the Premier League Player of the Year award, and I was named Manager of the Year. Raul Albiol had the highest average rating of all Premier League players.

My squad at the end of the season:

Even though Adebayor has been an absolute beast for me, I plan on not renewing his contract. As I play a system with only one striker (4-1-1-3-1), he has seen less first team action due to the good form of Ademilson and Lewandowski, and his wage demands are a bit too high for a rotation/backup option. The young Belgian Siebe Schrijvers will be promoted to the first squad when Ade goes. Bit unsure of whether I should buy any new players in the summer window, as I feel I have great depth.

[sammo10]

Wow. Harry Kane is tearing up the Europa League. just beat Dinamo Bucharest away 7-0 with Kane scoring Five ! Might have to give him a few games in the premier league. Still going strong. Only two games out of twelve i've conceded in are the two that I have lost. Frustrating that the defeats were to Everton and Southampton, When I have beaten City and Arsenal and drawn with Chelsea.

[henrikmain]

In March 2016, Levy enforced a transfer embargo due to an impending takeover by a Chinese consortium - who promised to give me a transfer budget of £150m if the takeover went through. Sadly, the takeover did not happen, but Levy did not rule out the consortium investing in the club in the future.

Five months later, another transfer embargo is enforced. However, this time it's not the absolutely minted Chinese consortium trying to take over the club, but a "local businessman" named Tony Bloom. This joker actually manages to purchase the club, and greets me with this message:

Oh, FFS!!

[30.Beast]

I hope Levy stays with me forever. I hate being taken over. Is it inevitable?

[danm2501]

Started as Spurs, and Gareth Bale is insanely good (not even been this good for my United side). 6 games in, 6 goals, average rating of 8.12 and 3 assists. Leading the scoring and average rating charts, and second, behind Defoe in the assists. What a man. Top of the league, and Bale's smashing it. Couldn't have asked for more.

Transfers in:

James Ward-Prowse

Luke Shaw

Neal Maupay

Gino Peruzzi

Transfers Out:

David Bentley

William Gallas

Thomas Carroll

Enjoying this so far

[ramie]

Started as Spurs, and Gareth Bale is insanely good (not even been this good for my United side). 6 games in, 6 goals, average rating of 8.12 and 3 assists. Leading the scoring and average rating charts, and second, behind Defoe in the assists. What a man. Top of the league, and Bale's smashing it. Couldn't have asked for more.

Transfers in:

James Ward-Prowse

Luke Shaw

Neal Maupay

Gino Peruzzi

Transfers Out:

David Bentley

William Gallas

Thomas Carroll

Enjoying this so far

How do you ply Bale?

[danm2501]

AML Winger attack. Nothing too complex. Have Sigurdsson alongside him as AMC, and Defoe up top. Been awesome.

[30.Beast]

How do you ply Bale?

IF/Attack - Either cut inside or move into channels. I've been giving him a central trequarista role to great effect aswell. Never as a winger, though should I have a good aerial threat in the box i would reconsider.,

[ramie]

I think thats the key, keeping it simple. Glad his on fire for you mate. Id like to get him playing through the middle but he just isnt as effective there. He hardly dribbles past anyone when his in the middle

[ramie]

IF/Attack - Either cut inside or move into channels. I've been giving him a central trequarista role to great effect aswell. Never as a winger, though should I have a good aerial threat in the box i would reconsider.,

When you set him up as a Treq in the center, do you have a ST infront of him? and do you tweak any settings?

[henrikmain]

I mainly use Bale as an AMR (Support) in a 4-1-1-3-1 system, alternatively as an AML (Attack). He's been on fire from the get go, and has delievered a vast amount of assists to the strikers I have/have had (Adebayor, Lewandowski, Ademilson, Schrijvers), and has also chipped in with a decent amount of goals. I'm in the 2016/2017 season now, and he's still one of my best players.

As for a short update on my Tottenham save - currently in January 2017, leading the Prem with six points down to Man Utd after 21 matches. Sold the rock solid Albiol to Lazio, as his stats started declining after a number of excellent seasons. I used the remainder of my transfer budget (i.e. the money still left from the Levy days) on Kurt Zouma immediately after the new owners took over, as I figured I wouldn't get much money to play with from these stingy ********. I was proven correct, as my new favourite chairman Tony Bloom announced that my transfer budget for January 2017 would be £0m. Ah, the joy of having greedy new owners!

[30.Beast]

I think thats the key, keeping it simple. Glad his on fire for you mate. Id like to get him playing through the middle but he just isnt as effective there. He hardly dribbles past anyone when his in the middle

He should have the dribbles through centre ppm.

When you set him up as a Treq in the center, do you have a ST infront of him? and do you tweak any settings?

No, I play 4-5-1, and usually he is AML as an IF/A. But if I play him centrally he takes up the lone striker role as a false 9, and his role is trequarista. I do this because I don't make any signings first season and I hate Defoe and Adebayor, because of their low work rate/team work and just as real life players in general.

I don't really tweak any settings, other than giving him decent freedom. If he's an AML, he either get's his cut's inside or moves into channels one tweaked.

[Phenomenon]

Rather than me reading back through posts to find out, can someone tell me what the transfer budget is for spurs on the new latest patch?

[danm2501]

Pretty sure I had £23m at the start of the season. Not quite as much as it was using the default database!

[enders357]

Any ideas what you'd get in Jan 2013 if starting on new patch with first window budgets turned off?

[burak700]

I can tell you that in about a few hours.

[30.Beast]

Any ideas what you'd get in Jan 2013 if starting on new patch with first window budgets turned off?

I got given £25m. I think it depends where you are.

[burak700]

I got 30.5 M in Nov 2012.

[enders357]

I only got 9.2m in Nov 2012, but then I had got the board to agree to improve the youth facilites and build a new stadium so I wasn't expecting much.

Put it all in to signing James Rodriguez from Porto (with another £12m over 48 months). Sold Huddlestone (£6m to Schalke) and re-trained Sigurdsson to make him a natural in CM. A bit of a shuffle, but I think I'm stronger for it.

[DosSantosFC]

Havin alot of fun with the new update,I shall be posting later on with the exact team line up etc all I can say is, Siggy is a must keep and Bale is awesome,also I am onto having probaly the best ever Mason Bennett attribute rise ever,he is insanely good,worked hard on him,he is a wonder kid worth £5.5m at the age of 17!!!! Can someone run through how to take screenshots as everytime I try to load them it doesnt work,really want to show him and Will Hughes off!!

[enders357]

You should just need to press your print screen key, which saves a picture of your desktop to the clipboard, and then you can paste it in to whatever software you have and save it as a .jpeg.

Totally agree about Sigurdsson on the new patch - and I'm hoping to sign Will Hughes too.

[DosSantosFC]

I just cant get Holtby to fire and Hughes is more influentual to me than him,also I have James Ward-Prowse so I shall be looking to rid myself of Holtby,looking for a good english team,also if you get a chance sign El Shaawary from AC Milan,what a beast!!!! I have spent way to much money though,cant help myself,also Dawson is a tank!!!!!!

[henrikmain]

SEASON 2016/2017:

Premier League: Winners, second time in a row. Quite amazing considering the numbers of key players that were out injured for quite some time.

League Cup: Winners

Charity Shield: Winners

FA Cup: Knocked out by Sunderland in the 3rd round (!)

Champions League: Knocked out by Real Madrid in the QF (1-2 on aggregate)

Tactics: GK - DR (Automatic), DC (Defend), DC (Defend), DL (Automatic) - Anchor man (Defend) - BBM (Support) - AMR (Support), AMC/AP (Support), IF (Attack) - Poacher (Attack). Style: Fluid. Strategy: Control/attack.

Takeover: Yes, and sadly "local businessman" Tony Bloom edged out the absolutely loaded Chinese consortium who was also interested

Investment by the new owners: Nothing at all in the 2016/2017 season, they even scrapped the training facilities upgrade that Levy sanctioned - two months before its completion. Fuming!

Got a war chest of a whopping £15m by the generous new owners before the 2017/2018 season, after regularly getting £30-40m by Levy. Don't really need any new players now, but it's still annoying.

Some screenshots from the 2016/17 season:

League table

Squad

Transfers in/out

[Falahk]

Havin alot of fun with the new update,I shall be posting later on with the exact team line up etc all I can say is, Siggy is a must keep and Bale is awesome,also I am onto having probaly the best ever Mason Bennett attribute rise ever,he is insanely good,worked hard on him,he is a wonder kid worth £5.5m at the age of 17!!!! Can someone run through how to take screenshots as everytime I try to load them it doesnt work,really want to show him and Will Hughes off!!

theres a guide in the FAQ

I just use print screen, paste into paint save in png format(it work better then jpeg) then upload to photobucket and get the picture link from there

[DosSantosFC]

Cheers for that,if you can imagine the worlds slowest lap top...... times it by 10 and you have mine,I signed up to photobucket after 15 mins and then gave up with it,I will put some on but cant for next few nights,when I do I know I have spent loads and people will probaly comment however I wont be spending anymore money without making sure I make a profit with the purchases with the selling!!!!

Team looks like this ATM halfway into the 2nd season-:

GK- Lloris/Ospina

RB- Walker/Naughton

CB©- Vertonghen/Dawson

CB(D)- Kaboul/Caulker

LB- Alaba/Shaw

CM(D)- Sandro/Diame

CM(S)- Dembele/Hughes/Thiago

RW- El Shawaary/Lennon/Yarmelenko

AMC- Siggy/Thiago/Hughes/JWP

LW- Bale/Yarmelenko

ST- Aubangeyang/Benzia/Bennett

Rough ins and outs costs as cant remember and not on laptop atm-:

In-:

Alaba - £19.5m

Thiago- £21m

El Shawaary- £20.5m

Hughes- £4.4m

Bennett- £5m

Benzia- £7m

Aubangeyang- £13m

Shaw- £15m

James Wards Prowse- £15m

Out-:

Defoe- £7m

Adebayor- £15m

Huddlestone- £6m

Smith- £5m

Holtby- £20m

Luongo- £3m

Bentley/Gallas released/terminated

Gomes- £2m

Livermore- £7m

I think its about £55m spent with all the transfers but I am not planning anymore signings to be honest, maybe if the right one comes in,I havent requested a new stadium yet,I wanted a good structured team first,Bennett and Hughes are wonderkids already and Benzia scores whenever he comes off the bench!!!!

[enders357]

Tip - if you can train Naughton to make long, flat bullet throws he'll get you 10-12 assists a season if you give him the games. Expect Caulker to be nodding a lot of those in.