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

[paulinho]

Ayew is a goon on my save so getting him looks unlikely.

I missed a trick not getting Honda on a free then, I wanted Honda or Fernandinho at the start of the season but Shaktar were asking for ridiculous money at first so I got Honda. Fernandinho then became cheaper in Jan.

Shame they're not both just a little younger as they're brilliant players but obviously I'm not going to get that many seasons out of them before they start declining.

Belhanda is coming in on a free so he will get Holtby's squad place.

As for Cabaye it is a mystery why his ratings are low, I think I may cash in for offers above 20m this time around.

I like the look of Mario Bolatti very much, he has the right attributes to either be a ball winner or a DLP & his ave rating for Internacional this season has been 8.02, a Brazilian record. Only problem he'll be 30 in Feb 2015 so again will probably start to decline.

M'Vila is another option though probably a better ball winner than DLP I'd guess, quite pricey for a player who'd probably be a 2nd choice to Sandro.

How about Herrera or Mkhitaryan for Dembele like players?

[paulinho]

IF's

Bale, the idea of using the 41221 shape instead of the 4231 was to give him more room to play without an AMC & it worked, he was the player I knew with more goals, assists & a higher ave rating.

Griezmann was Bale's understudy again but 14 goals & 11 assists & an ave rating of 7.25 was good , he got retrained at AMR & played a few games there, it's always a weapon to have a left footer cutting in from AMR as inside forward & that's also partly why Aspas is so effective. Only negative point about him is that he still doesn't speak even basic English after a season & a half, lazy git! Still as I mentioned hasn't hampered his progress much.

Aspas was a revelation, I bought him as a back up trequartista striker but then retrained him up at AMR, he played half of his games in either position & was brilliant in both. He's probably more likely to go it alone than assist but he's a special player & very exciting to watch.

This idea of retraining fast strikers to play at AML or AMR is a very good one, if they're pacey with good dribbling & finishing they will probably give you much success. TBH I think I could have probably kept Defoe to play this role.

Lennon played as AMR W (s) last season but this time I left him on the IF role, this did no harm to him at all & he actually ended up in the Prem team of the season. Having him cut inside brought him some great goals & gave Walker the room to go outside & put the crosses in. both players were improved in this campaign.

Townsend didn't get much of a look in this season but he was ok when called upon & worth his squad place for the HG value.

[paulinho]

Strikers

As I've mentioned before my formation is based on the trequartista role.

Adebayor ended up as the seasons top striker, which was surprising as he couldn't buy a goal at the start of the season, got injured & then came back on fire. I suppose he'll be the player to make way for Lewandowski as I cant really keep 4 strikers in the squad using a tactic that only uses 1.

Lewandowski doesn't look like the ideal treq but his all round striker skills should make him effective.

Destro is not really a treq either tbf, I see him more of a poacher but he performs admirably in the role & had a decent 1st season, there's more to come from him & after I started using Edgar's training advice his attributes started to rise.

Aspas I already mentioned in depth.

[edgar555]

Herrera or Mkhtyrian are good options for Dembele like players. How about Xhaka?

[DosSantosFC]

Kovacic was brilliant for me on a previous save as a Dembele role b2b midfielder,specially if you are playing 4-1-2-2-1. Last night I literally just about finished season 2 as you can see the update,probaly gonna get as far as transfer tonight but I am really stuck. As I said in the update,which hope everyone liked, I changed over to 4-4-2 but the problem that gives me is that I have my 2x CM as DLP (D) B2B (s). THe best in those positions were Dembele,Sandro,Ayew,Pogba and Hughes but the issue is I have Thiago and Siggy in the team not getting a sniff due to the formation change,bit stuck on what to do,also I am having to retrain El Shaawary to become a RM. Dont need any striker changes,if anything I may loan Benzia or Bennett and allow Damiao to be my main target man with younger Mex being his understudy,he is 6"9 after all and his stats for target man are brilliant and allow either Benzia or Bennett to be my number 1 poacher with Asamoah as B/O and go into season 4 with both Mex and Asamoah on loan?!?!?! What do you think about that situation?!!?!?!

[paulinho]

Youth

I'll not bore you much with my regens but suffice to say I'm looking forward to their development as there's a handful of gems in there.

I'll outline the progress of the young players that many of you probably have.

Falque has good attributes as a trequartista but he probably won't make the top level & is destined to be moved on for a small fee.

Carroll has not progressed at all in his loans & tbh I should have kept him training at home & he could have possibly been developed for my MC AP role, not convinced he will ever be a 1st teame at the level I'm at now though.

Malanda is a 4 1/2 star potential Belgian DMC who can double as a DC or a DR. A very useful player who never let me down whenever called upon, he's not the most skilful but is very strong. He wasn't improving any until I took Edgars advice on training youth & also got him tutored by Verts, now he's really progressing & will get more games next season.

Bakkali is one nearly everybody buys as he's 5 star potential & cheap. He's currently being tutored by Bale but his attributes have not moved up any as yet. His main weakness is his composure but again I haven't manged any improvement yet. despite this I gave him 5 games at the end of the season & he did well scoring a couple & providing an assist. I have managed to retrain him at AMR & he looks to have all the makings of an excellent player on either flank, just need those attribute sliders to start moving.

Leandro Paredes is a player I strongly recommend. 4 1/2 star potential from Boca for 3.4m, if you use a system with an AMC he's a natural but also retrains well as a treq striker where he's done really well for me scoring 3 & assisting twice in 5 games. I wish I'd have tutored him & used Edgar's youth training advice from the start as he'd probably be even better by now. A keeper.

Mattheus is an AMC I bought from Flamengo for 825 thousand, He's Famous Brazilian striker Bebeto's son IRL & the baby that famous goal celebration was all about in WC 94. (Remembering that makes me feel old!). That's about all I can say about him tbh, he's been on loan a couple of times without coming on. I think he could still do a job as a AP but maybe not at this level. His potential star rating has dropped from 4 to 2 1/2.

Mason Bennett has not been a success for me. He scored 2 on his debut 1st season but has done nothing since, this is probably because my system is not suited to his abilities. I'll hopefully fatten him up for sale in a year or so.

[paulinho]

Herrera or Mkhtyrian are good options for Dembele like players. How about Xhaka?

Not heard of him, I'll check him out.

[DosSantosFC]

You have to give Bennett some playing time and get him tutored up! Is his stats looking anything like mine I have posted?!?!?! Its worth giving him a crack,He doubles up well as a RW as well.

[30.Beast]

Not heard of him, I'll check him out.

Gladbach player.

Arijan Ademi(Dinamo player) is a good one too.

[gjdonaldson]

Starting a new save with spurs as i got tired of my old ones, ive decided to go with to go with a scatter gun transfer policy and sign lots of young talents and hopefully get as many of them as i can into the first team in a few years time and sell on those that arent good enough for a profit.

my starting 11 so far is..

Gk - LLoris - GK

Rb- Walker - Fullback - automatic

LB - BAE - Fullback - automatic

CB- Vertonghen - Centre Back - Defend

CB - KAboul - Centre Back - Defend

DM - Huddlestone - DLP -Defend

CM- Sandro - BWM - Support

CM - Dembele - AP - support

RW - Bale/ Lennon/Holtby - IF - Attack

LW - Bale/ Dempsey - IF- Attack

ST- Lewandowski - AF - Attack

Transfers in

Lewandowski - £22.5m

Maximilian Meyer -£1.77m

Bakkali - £0.6m

Berghuis - £0.5m

Timo Werner - £875k

Alex Grimaldo - £1.1m

Sergi Samper - £1.2m

Transfers out

Bentley - £2.2m

[DosSantosFC]

Some good signings there,I am always bit more inclined to sign young english talent than foreign,can never get Bakkali to improve stats wise whilst others around him are,same applies to Coulibaly!!!! Be interesting with Lewandowski,he seems to be a very hot and cold player on FM13 with people.

[gjdonaldson]

Hoping to sign shaw and will hughes in the coming seasons, shaw is a bit out of my price range at the moment.. also tried to sign adam campbell from newcastle but he accepted their contract instead of mine... yeh one of my aims is to get the best out of coulibaly, never been able to get him to develop in previous saves but im hoping it will be different this time around. anyone had any luck developing tom carroll?

[sammo10]

Looks like everyone is having a successful time on their saves .. Well played.

Just finished my 3rd season. An improvement on my two previous but not quite as successful as some on here.

Season 2014/15

So frustrating to lose the league on goal difference, once again draws were my downfall. In the final 6 games I managed to beat City and Arsenal but draw with QPR who went down and Bristol City.

As for the Champions league I was knocked out in the quarters once again. Got past past Porto and then lost to Man Utd. Managed to get my revenge on Utd though as I got my first trophy against them in the FA cup. Good to finally get a trophy under my belt. Won on penalties even though my highest 4 rated penalty takers had been subbed or were on the bench still.

Another solid season from everyone. Eriksen was the star. Best free transfer I have ever had. Played as an advanced playmaker he is just a magician. Will beat three or four men and play a killer ball or get a decent shot off regularly. He also picked up young player of the year. El Shaarawy had a much better season, scoring a lot of goals as well as some assists. Bale was out for 4 months which was a big loss and I feel I may have won the league with him fit for longer. So pleased with the squad depth. Feel confident resting any player now. Very surprised at how well Ciaran Clark performed when called upon, lost kaboul and Caulker for a long period and he stepped in brilliantly. Benteke and Welbeck shared the goals up top, both very reliable. Ayew was decent again but keeps getting yellow and red cards, including in the FA cup final which put me in trouble. As always Vertonghen and Kaboul were superb as was Sandro. Quick mention for Umtiti who looks like he will certainly be worth the money I payed. Great first season and only 21.

Will Hughes is avaiable on a free, so once June hits I will be pouncing and hopefully snapping him up.

[DosSantosFC]

Yeh on the old patch I tried to sign Campbell as well and failed so I bought him for £7.5m,well worth it he is a beast. I havent bothered with Tom Carroll however he is on loan season 2 with kane at Ipswich and both are worth £3.7m and stats have improved quite a bit!!! Luongo is worth keeping an eye on as well.Worth couple mil on mine and prob be sold for £3/4m for good profit!!!!

[DosSantosFC]

Good work sammo10,good to get ur first trophy under the belt,must admit I have the same problem,beat the likes of Utd one week lose to Reading the next,always find tactical changes during the game have won me most of the games,there are some good reads in the tactics forum. Squad depth looks great as well.Eriksen has just been transfer listed for £14m on my game so maybe worth a poke if I can sale few players!!!!!

[sammo10]

Good work sammo10,good to get ur first trophy under the belt,must admit I have the same problem,beat the likes of Utd one week lose to Reading the next,always find tactical changes during the game have won me most of the games,there are some good reads in the tactics forum. Squad depth looks great as well.Eriksen has just been transfer listed for £14m on my game so maybe worth a poke if I can sale few players!!!!!

I would highly recommend Eriksen he is superb. Yeah I find I just struggle to keep a lead, sometimes I just have a feeling they are going to get a chance and score but just cant decide wether to stay the same, push on for more goals or go a bit tighter. Suppose it depends what I'm up against. Definitely something I will be working on next season.

[DosSantosFC]

Yeh I tinkered alot more half way through 2nd season,found 1st season OK and I dont normally win trophies first season but 2nd season half way through teams found my formation out,never thought a trusty 4-4-2 would save my season!!!!! Just tweaking bits and pieces to my tactics worked a treat.I am probaly gonna have to do the unthinkable and sale Siggy!!!!!! I want Zouma as well but cant stomach selling any of my CB's,Dawson and Kaboul averaged over 7.8 over the whole season and Caulker and Vertonghen 7.5 and 7.3

[sammo10]

Fantastic. Ayew has just broken his leg and is out for 7 months. Only positive is it will probably mean Will Hughes will get more games. Hope it doesnt decrease Ayew's abilty when he's back though !

[paulinho]

I'm not impressed with Ospina as my No2 keeper at all, I think his problem is that he's short (he's even shorter than Cudicini) although he's got a good attribute for aerial his lack of stature makes this a bit redundant when challenging oppo strikers on crosses etc.

I've got a very promising 17 year old regen keeper but he's a year or too away from being a No2.

What are peoples experiences with Butland?

Having Butland as my No2 keeper will add to my HG quota too allowing me to release Townsend & freeing up another place in my 25 man squad.

Or maybe a more experienced keeper (pref British) who's prepared to be back up/domestic cup choice.

[edgar555]

I've always rated Ospina. Butland is potentially good but you've got to work at him to get him good enough and you'll have already missed 2 seasons of chances to improve him. I doubt the ai will have done enough.

[edgar555]

Sorry for double post but Jason Steele is a decent English option who won't moan about sitting on the bench if you play him in the cups.

[paulinho]

Sorry for double post but Jason Steele is a decent English option who won't moan about sitting on the bench if you play him in the cups.

I thought about Steele but worry about his acceleration pace & rushing out as sweeper keeper is part of my tactic.

[paulinho]

What's this stadium expansion by 26 seats, are they serious?

[edgar555]

Just clinched the title in my 1st season with a last minute goal from Bale in the final game. Going into the last game any one of four teams could have won the title (us, goons, City or Utd). We were away to mid table Wigan while closest rivals the goons were home to relegated Norwich. We went 2-0 up quickly but the goons went 3-0 up and were top by virtue of goals scored with 80 minutes on the clock. I threw 4 up front and we battered Wigan until Bale poached with 93 mins on the clock to clinch it. Utterly thrilling and brilliant. COYS.

[paulinho]

Just clinched the title in my 1st season with a last minute goal from Bale in the final game. Going into the last game any one of four teams could have won the title (us, goons, City or Utd). We were away to mid table Wigan while closest rivals the goons were home to relegated Norwich. We went 2-0 up quickly but the goons went 3-0 up and were top by virtue of goals scored with 80 minutes on the clock. I threw 4 up front and we battered Wigan until Bale poached with 93 mins on the clock to clinch it. Utterly thrilling and brilliant. COYS.

Well done, that ploy of putting 4 upfront to grab a last minute goal never works for me, nor does overloading.

[paulinho]

I've always rated Ospina. Butland is potentially good but you've got to work at him to get him good enough and you'll have already missed 2 seasons of chances to improve him. I doubt the ai will have done enough.

Stoke wanted 10m for Butland & he wanted silly wages so I've decided to persevere with Ospina.

[sammo10]

Start of 2015/16

Transfers

Very little business this year. Happy with the squad and it is young so I felt it's better to let them all develop and grow as a team and it should help in the future. Hughes, couldnt say no on a free. Gonna try and turn him into a top BBM. As Ayew got injured for 7 months I felt Hughes would benefit from the game time, but 2 months in he has torn his hamstring and will return about the same time as Ayew.

Lewis is just a back up. Byram was just signed as an upgrade backup to Walker. Felt he's better than Smith and English so was worth it.

A lot of loans, only main departure was Holtby who I was sad to lose but couldnt really give him enough game time.

Team

Fixtures so far ..

Chelsea (Com Shield) 2-1 - Benteke, Bale

West Ham (H) 1-0 - Clark

Sunderland (A) 4-0 - Benteke, Kaboul, Bale, Welbeck

Chelsea (H) 2-1 - Kaboul, Bale

Liverpool (A) 0-1

Genoa (ECC H ) 0-0

Blackburn (H) 1-1 - Bale

Burnley (COCup A) 1-0 - Bale

Man City (H) 3-1 - Hart OG, Benteke, El Shaarawy

[paulinho]

Season 3 underway & I brought in just 3 players Lewandowski & Belhanda on frees & I splashed some cash on Moutinho to replace Cabaye who went the other way to Porto for £22.5m.

Holtby was sold to to Citeh for £20m & Belhanda takes his squad place.

Adebayor had to be let go to make way for Lewandowski & the fans were none too pleased (not much realism there!) & Real came in for him for £14m.

I planned on introducing the new signings into the starting line up slowly but a commanding lead against Citeh in the Community shield allowed me to bring them on & Lewandowski scored.

I then started the in form Pole in the 1st game of the League season as Destro came back from International duty a bit knackered & he bagged a hat-trick in his League debut & we thrashed Wigan 6-1, Belhanda also came off the bench & scored. Looks like a fantastic pair of signings. Moutinho looks like he may take some time to settle.

[paulinho]

Hoping Commoli will bring in some of my targeted regens as I've got quite a bit of cash left & am happy with my 1st team squad but I must admit he's been pretty rubbish at finding me players.

He keeps on trying to sign ManU rejects & doesn't close the deals on my real targets, I gather he's supposed to one of the best DOF's in the game, if that's true the others must be a complete waste of time.

[DosSantosFC]

I have gone way OTT on the signings at the start of season 3,not really realistic and TBH now i have made them i am getting a bit bored of the save!! Ill post screenshot of who went out and more importantly,who came in

[sammo10]

Hoping Commoli will bring in some of my targeted regens as I've got quite a bit of cash left & am happy with my 1st team squad but I must admit he's been pretty rubbish at finding me players.

He keeps on trying to sign ManU rejects & doesn't close the deals on my real targets, I gather he's supposed to one of the best DOF's in the game, if that's true the others must be a complete waste of time.

My DoF does this too. Mine is Paulo Futre and very rarely does a player he goes for choose me over another club unless it is a reject. I find it a lot easier to do the dealings myself.

[edgar555]

Comolli does alright but as I've always said the DoF is still not perfect. I hope to see SI work on what is a great addition to the staff.

Sammo, I hate to say it but my experience of Futre suggests he's utter pants.

[paulinho]

My DoF does this too. Mine is Paulo Futre and very rarely does a player he goes for choose me over another club unless it is a reject. I find it a lot easier to do the dealings myself.

I do too, I targeted a whole load of 41/2 & 5 star potential regens, & Comolli had a month & loads of cash to land some, didn't deliver one.

Interesting you say Futre us the same,I was thinking of replacing Comolli with him.

There are hidden stats for staff called buying players & business, I wonder what their ratings are these?

[paulinho]

Talking about training again, how much percentage do you you guys put on the slider of scheduling between match training & general training?

I'm currently setting 40% match training for Aug & Sept, then 10% for the rest of the season until the final 6 weeks where the really important games are played then I slide it back to 40% again.

[paulinho]

Lloris gets his 1st injury for me, so I put Ospina in & he gets a run of half a dozen games.

He does well but of course when Lloris is fit Ospina goes back to the bench

, now he wants guaranteed 1st team football. I reached Jan window 3rd season & he'll have to go, shame really cos this season he's done good.

[sammo10]

Was just looking at Hugo Lloris and decided to see how many clean sheets he has had so for me. Halfway through season 4 he has 96. Very pleased and impressed with that.

[akuji2012]

Season 3

Season 3 and i still havent won the league finishing 2nd to Liverpool. Last season i won europe but no luck this time getting knocked out in the quarters.

Sold Sigurd and Kaboul for a total of 20 million which gave me 50 million to spend on Cavani who i hope will win the league for me this season.

My board announced plans for a new stadium but only capacity 49k!!!

my team

GK: Lloris

DR: Walker

DC: Umtiti

DC: Caulker

DL: Santon

MR: Lennon

MC: Sandro

MC: Pogba

ML: Bale

SC: Cavani

SC: Caprari

Subs: Verratti, Benzia, and regens.

[paulinho]

Sold Ospina for 7.5m & brought in Rui Patricio (suggested by my assistant) for 11m, a bit pricey but he's looked very good indeed so far, fingers crossed he'll be happy as the No2!

[paulinho]

Season 3

Season 3 and i still havent won the league finishing 2nd to Liverpool. Last season i won europe but no luck this time getting knocked out in the quarters.

Sold Sigurd and Kaboul for a total of 20 million which gave me 50 million to spend on Cavani who i hope will win the league for me this season.

My board announced plans for a new stadium but only capacity 49k!!!

my team

GK: Lloris

DR: Walker

DC: Umtiti

DC: Caulker

DL: Santon

MR: Lennon

MC: Sandro

MC: Pogba

ML: Bale

SC: Cavani

SC: Caprari

Subs: Verratti, Benzia, and regens.

My new stadium is only 49k too, barely seems worth it for a capacity increase of 13k or so.

I'd never sell Kaboul, he's our best defender by a mile & Umtiti wouldn't get in my defence with a jumping attribute of only 11, maybe you've managed to improve this?

Is Pogba good enough? Looks very average on my game, really low concentration. I'd like the look of Verratti though

Capari looks a bit average to me too, I would have thought you could do better than him as a starter.

[spursglenn777]

Started a brand new save and thought id sign a few players who ive always liked but never had before.

My tactic a very simple 442 slightly pushed up. Retrained holtby and sig as wingers to cover lennon and bale. Key Signings were Santon for 13.75m and Aubameyang 14.75 and on deadline day Thiago came available on loan.

By January we were 1st by 3 points. With auba and ade going on african nations I looked at Facundo Ferreyra at Velez. I've seen him on past games get 30+ goals so knew he would come good, however I didn't expect this.....P19...15 goals 8 assists. He is simply amazing. He scores all types of goals using his head and has some amazing dribbles and smart finishes.

Thiago and Dembele have been dynamite scoring 16 goals between. Auba has been genarally ok with 15 goals. Ade hit 24 and Dempsey has hit 10 from 13 games. Bale has been quiet with goals but he and lennon have had nearly 20 assists each.

On deadline day my DOF Corvino (both 20 on ability and potential) gave me a present of El Shaaraway!!! (30m) but was well worth the risk. He started well but broke his foot and is out for 3 months.

Lost the Carling cup semi to Chelski 6-4 on agg. With 33 games played in the league i'm 6 points clear of Liverpool who have played a game more. Currently in the semis of Europe and in the FA cup final. Looking like a treble in 1st season.

Has playing with Spurs become too easy?

[edgar555]

Was just looking at Hugo Lloris and decided to see how many clean sheets he has had so for me. Halfway through season 4 he has 96. Very pleased and impressed with that.

He had something like 60% of clean sheets/games played in my long term save over 6+ years. Love Hugo.

Sold Ospina for 7.5m & brought in Rui Patricio (suggested by my assistant) for 11m, a bit pricey but he's looked very good indeed so far, fingers crossed he'll be happy as the No2!

Decent money for Ospina. Never had Patricio but he looks good enough.

Thiago

Facundo Ferreyra

DOF Corvino (both 20 on ability and potential) El Shaaraway!!! (30m)

Has playing with Spurs become too easy?

With players like Thiago, Ferreyra and SES any team is easy.

On another note, Corvino is an excellent DoF.

A more detailed look at my 1st season:

The switch to 442 worked a charm, making an inconsistent season a sucesful one.

This is how my squad looked at the end of the season:

GK (SK/S): Lloris/Ospina - Hugo was obviously The Man. Won the Golden Glove and is just soooooooo good. Ospina came in for £2.3m in January. I could have had him for free arriving in July but needed someone who gave me more confidence than Friedel.

DR (FB/A): Walker/Naughton - The two Kyles were excellent, Walker more so but Naughts never let me down.

DC (Stopper): Kaboul/Caulker/Dawson/Gallas - Gallas will leave on a free at the end of the season, Dawson will also leave, having sulked about a lack of games. With YK being formidable and Caulks stepping up with superb performances, especially seeing out the last 6 weeks of the season when Kaboul tore a hamstring.

DC (cover): Vertonghen/Caulker - Verts made a couple of silly errors early on but settled in and was unbeatable.

DL (FB/S): BAE/Willems - Can't fault Benny, really impressed all season. Willems had a ropey start but good more and more confident, he has a big future.

MR (Wing/S): Lennon/Townsend - Recalled Andros in Jan but Azza's form meant he was rarely needed. Luckily because Townsend was poor when called upon.

MC (AP/A): Dembele/Holtby/Carroll - Mousa flourished once I switched to 442, scoring and contributing in big numbers. Holtby was seriously disappointing and is going to need a big second season to stay at the club. Carroll produced good performances, mainly in EL when called upon.

MC (CM/D): Sandro/Parker/Livermore - Sandro is able to contribute all over the pitch but I really needed one mid to sit and hold, he did that with style. Parker can leave, he played really well but criticised me on a couple of occassions. I won't stand for that. Jake was impressive and I'm happy to let him back up the Beast.

ML (WM/A): Sigurdsson/Dempsey/Holtby - Sig was sensational from ML, goals and assists in bundles. This was lucky as Deuce picked up two long term injuries that pretty much ended his season in December, although he came back for the last two weeks.

ST (AF/S): Bale/Viktor Fischer - Bale was top scorer with 29 in all comps and also topped the assists charts with 13 (just ahead of Lennon, Sig and Lewandowski all on 12). Fischer came in Jan for £7.75m after Defoe moved to Southampton for £5m. Unfortunately Viktor was very poor when called upon. Hopefully he'll improve and prove to be an effective back up for Bale.

ST (DLF/S): Lewandowski/Adebayor - Ade went to the AFCoN in good form but BadAde came back, only managing one goal after Feb. Despite a 10 hr goal drought Lewy settled well and was fantastic in the run in. Him and Bale can destroy teams.

I've already detailed the title win above and I was clearly delighted with that. We also won the EL, beating Liverpool on pens after a 1-1 draw. Lloris saved two, the vital one from Gerrard to leave Dempsey the chance to win it which he did.

The Capital One and FA Cups were wash outs as the two Manchester clubs dumped us out in the early rounds. Will want better next year.

My summer business will revolve around shifting Ade on and looking for a young striker to back up Lewy. I'll also need a young CB to be 4th choice and a back up MR to support Azza.

COYS

[paulinho]

Has playing with Spurs become too easy?

It's certainly a reflection on how good the starting squad is compared with years gone by.

When I first started playing FM (ChampMan as it was then) Spurs were a mid table side & getting into Europe was a good 1st season.

[paulinho]

Interesting to see that Lewandowski had a 10 hour drought for you Edgar, exactly the same with me. He started on fire with with 11 in 6 then couldn't buy a goal for couple of months then after that came back really strong again. It'd be interesting to know his hidden attributes for consistency & big games too because he's been a bit of a flat track bully for me, scoring hattricks against the dross & missing sitters against the top teams.

[edgar555]

Interesting to see that Lewandowski had a 10 hour drought for you Edgar, exactly the same with me. He started on fire with with 11 in 6 then couldn't buy a goal for couple of months then after that came back really strong again. It'd be interesting to know his hidden attributes for consistency & big games too because he's been a bit of a flat track bully for me, scoring hattricks against the dross & missing sitters against the top teams.

I can't knock him in big games but agree it would be interesting to see his consistency rating. He seems streaky, a real confidence player maybe.

[paulinho]

One thing that's puzzling me.

I'm playing a treq based formation similar to the one in Cleons thread.

When checking out a players suitability for the role on their positions screen, one player who's attributes don't seem particularly suited to the role will show as starred ratings in the position & role while another whose attributes are pretty much perfect wont have a rating at all.

For example Aguero, his attributes would seem perfect for the role & doesn't get a star rating yet Bakkali who is severely lacking in passing, creativity & composure (key treq attributes) does. I appreciate that Bakkali could progress but even so.

None of my 1st team strikers have star rating for this position & role. My highest rated player for the role (star wise) is Griezmann & he's only competent in the striker position!

Aspas on the other hand is a natural striker has at least 15 in every key attribute for the trequartista role, yet no star rating for it.

TBH I dont take that much notice of these star ratings when choosing my players but it does strike me as odd.

[paulinho]

Rui Patricio not happy with being 2nd choice now!

He played in the League Cup final victory & has started all the FA Cup games but I'm not going pick him ahead of Lloris for the important games no matter how well he plays.

I read somewhere that he has a low ambition attribute too!

[sammo10]

Season 201/16

League

Frustrating to lose the title to Chelsea once again. Keep throwing it away and its so annoying. Thinking about a change of formation as although my tactic is very good defensively, Its not the most creative. Obviously a counter attacking formation isnt meant to see me dominate possession I think I may need to create one which sees me having more so I can dominate games against the smaller teams. Lost count of the amount of 1-0's I had.

On a more positive note I won my second trophy. Winning the Carling cup in one of the most dramatic games I've seen. 0-0 all the way until 90+1 when they scored, then Lennon took it to extra time in 90+3. Then by half time in extra time it was 2-2. Bale won it for me in the 119th minute.

Lost in the FA cup in the fourth round and the Champions League in the first knockout round. Millwall and Bayern the teams that beat me.

The team

Standard top season from the defence. Eriksen again top class. Ayew missed 7 months with a broken leg and has declined massively. Probably going to look to sell him. The two new signings Byram and Hughes both were solid when called upon and have big futures. Seemed to get a lot of other longish injuries as well as Ayews. El Shaarawy, sigurdsson, Walker and Caulker all missed about 3 months with muscle tears.

[spursglenn777]

So just won the league, euro cup and fa cup. Quality season! Ferreyra was unstoppable. 26 games 21 goals!!

Just got a bid from assou ekotto from benfica for 20m! (lovely!!), defoe, livermore and dempsey all out for combined 22m. 68 mill budget.

Incomings Alaba (30) and a centre mid to rotate with dembele. Any ideas?

[paulinho]

3rd season finished unbeaten & a clean sweep of all trophies.

Highlights being beating Mourinho's Man U in the League Cup with a team of mostly kids & winning the CL final against PSG with Lloris, Bale, Griezmann, Belhanda, Destro & BAE all missing through injury.

Despite these highs, clean sweep of trophies & an unbeaten season strangely it wasn't that great with way too many draws. I scored far less goals than the previous season, had a lower pts tally & had to really grind out results. I had to resort to 424 overload so often to turn round games that I started to wonder if it shouldn't be my starting tactic!

Also, despite me winning everything Arsene Wenger (who as usual won nothing) was chosen as manager of the year, go figure?

GK's

Lloris was fantastic & my only player to be chosen in the Prem team of the season & a couple of injuries to him left me missing him big time.

Ospina played ok & figured in the League Cup & a CL group game & had a little run when Lloris had his 1st injury, despite this he kept badgering me for a move & finally I relented, not wanting an unhappy 2nd choice keeper around.

I replaced him with Rui Patricio, I read somewhere that his hidden ambition stat was low & as his other attributes are all 1st class I thought he was a good signing. The same thing then happened with him, he played the remaining League Cup games inc. the final, all the FACup games (inc the final) & he had a couple of league games at the end of the season. Same again, complaining constantly that he needs to be playing 1st choice, he played ok until the last game where he had a mare, let in 3 inc. 1 where e literally threw it in his own net!

I also made a foolish mistake not realising he was cup tied for the CL!

So that left my 18 regen GK for the CL final & he played really well. he's 2* ability ATM & 5* potential & I reckon I'm going to flog Rui Patricio & take a little risk to have this young lad as my No2 next season.

[paulinho]

DC's

Caulker was the best performer this season outperforming the other 3 in every defensive stat. He is now my 1st choice with Kaboul. Verts for the 3rd season underperformed compared with the others & if I can afford it I'd love to upgrade. He's not good enough in the game IMO, I notice in real life he made Prem team of the season, he's been way way off this in 3 seasons in the game for me.

I have 3 5* potential DC's coming through so the future s bright.

FB's

All fullbacks performed really well with my back up 5th choice Adam Smith doing just as well as Walker, Baines,Santon & BAE.

BAE doesn't seem very happy having asking for a new challenge, strange as he did well & would have started more than 21 times if he didn't get injured. But as he's now 31. & I have a nice regen LB coming through I might grant him his wish.

DMC's

Sandro has been great as usual but Claudio Yacob as ad a 2nd season of distinctly average ratings. Malanda as been on loan but will be drafted into the 1st team squad next season, as Fernandinho can also play at DMC, so I could possibly let Yacob go.

MC's

Moutinho has been a real upgrade on Cabaye & I'm very happy with him indeed. Honda & Fernandinho have been used in rotation for either the DLP or AP positions although Fernandinho got a long injury that left me very short in midfield with all other decent possibilities out on loan.

Dembele as been great too but I'd still like another similar type player in.

Widemen

On the left Bale has had injuries throughout the season & has only made 18 starts (still my best assister) his dep Griezmann has not been so impressive this season & as I have Muniain coming in on a free, I might move him on. Townsend has been kept in the squad only for his HG status & has hardly featured & will be moved on now that Bakkali will qualify for HG status next season.

On the right Belhanda has been disappointing & Lennon way outperformed him but I'll give him a 2nd season.

Strikers

Lewandowski was a great upgrade on Ade & has been my top scorer despite his occasional barren spells.

Destro was great but got a cruciate injury & wont even make the start of next season, shame as he's been a really fine signing.

Aspas hasn't been as good as last season & as he's now i may move him on especially as I've got Benzema coming in on a free.

Youth

Bakkali is really coming on, I can play him at ST or wide & he does the same thing, runs at speed with the ball towards goal & shoots, useful player & will be in the 1st team squad.

Mason Bennett looks better when I play him at AMR & as such maybe has a future.

Paredes, Malanda & Mattheus have been on loan & Paredes & Malanda will be kept, Mattheus moved on.

I also have 7 regens at 4 1/2* potential so the future is bright. Bringing these players on is very satisfying.