FM16: Tottenham Hotspur - In Harry we trust

[Prowl]

The Football Manager 16 Tottenham Hotspur Thread

Overview

The club was formed in 1882, as Hotspur F.C., and played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when they were elected into the Football League Second Division. Before this promotion Tottenham had won the FA Cup in 1901, making them the only non-League club to (or likely to) do so since the formation of the Football League.

Since then, Tottenham have won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the Football League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and also the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The Cup Winners' Cup victory in 1963 made Tottenham the first English team to win a UEFA competition. In 1960–61 they became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century.

Chairman: Daniel Levy | Manager: Mauricio Pochettino

Captain: Hugo Lloris | Vice Captain: Jan Vertonghen

League: English Premier League | Media Prediction: 6th | European Competition: Europa League

Fierce Rivals: Arsenal, Chelsea | Other Rivals: West Ham United

[Prowl]

Honours

While the club has a history of winning various trophies, the most recent success was the Capital One Cup in 2008. Since that time, the club has qualified for the Champions League on one occasion in 2010 and have flirted with finishing in the top 4 without quite accomplishing that feat.

Your minimum Expectations for the Season are the following:

Barclays Premier League: Qualify for the Europa League

UEFA Europa League: Reach the Group Stage

The Emirates FA Cup: Reach the 6th Round

Capital One Cup: Not Important

With the default starting squad, each of these goals should be fairly reasonable to attain, but I believe that even without any activity in the transfer market, a top 4 finish and a victory in the FA Cup would be considered a successful season

[Prowl]

The Squad

Goalkeepers:

​

Hugo Lloris

Michel Vorm

Lloris is a FM legend and the first name on any team sheet. At 28 years of age, he is approaching his prime years. Keep him at all costs as he is one of the best keepers in the game. Vorm is a capable backup but if you get a decent offer, could be sold. After Lloris and Vorm, none of the other goalkeepers are worth keeping. If you want someone to eventually replace Lloris, I'd recommend Mile Svilar as a very good prospect. At 15-years of age, he's definitely worth as a long term development project.

Defenders:

Jan Vertonghen

Toby Alderweireld

Kevin Wimmer

Federico Fazio

Eric Dier

Kyle Walker

Kieran Trippier

Ben Davies

Danny Rose

Spurs have a solid core of defenders that should be able to do the job during the first season. Vertonghen and Alderweireld should be your top 2 centre backs as they are both solid. Wimmer and Dier are capable backups and young so they will have some room for improvement. Fazio is decent, but could be sold due to the depth at the position and his age. In addition, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Milos Veljkovic are solid prospects in the U-21's that are worth a look. Unless you sell one of the defenders, I don't think this is a position that needs strengthening given the depth in the squad already.

As for the wide positions, Ben Davies and Danny Rose are unspectacular, but decent players who will get the job done. Rose is the faster of the two, and has the higher ceiling according the club scouts. Having said that, you're set at the position. I'd look for prospects that you can develop if you do decide to buy for the position.

Kyle Walker has been a solid player, but his crossing isn't great and his marking and tackling are average. Kieran Trippier looks a solid rotation player and has great pace though similar to Walker in other ratings. While you don't immediately have to upgrade the position, I'd certainly look after the first season for a young replacement as Walker's near the end of his development. A player to keep an eye on is DeAndre Yedlin. He starts off on loan, but I'd see how he develops throughout the season as he could be a decent prospect

[Prowl]

Central Midfield:

Dele Alli

Mousa Dembele

Ryan Mason

Nabil Bentaleb

Tom Carroll

With the addition of Alli, Spurs have a solid central midfield for years to come. Alli is an excellent prospect and should be given as much game time as possible to develop. Bentaleb, Mason, and Carroll, are also good players that should be rotated regularly. At 27 years old, Dembele is the elder statesman of the group, but is versatile and can play various roles in the midfield. Harry Winks is also sitting in the U-21 side and has been rated as a decent player by my scouts. As with the centre back position, I wouldn't recommend buying unless you're going after a world class star. You have enough skill and depth to challenge for a top 4 spot with this group

Wingers:

Erik Lamela

Son Heung-Min

Nacer Chadli

Andros Townsend

Lamela IRL has finally started showing consistent signs of why the club paid a record fee for him. While it has taken time for him to settle, he is no stranger to FM players as he has always been an excellent prospect and this year is no different. Lamela has world class potential and needs to be kept at all costs. Son Heung-Min, a new arrival, looks to be an excellent player and should fit in well with the attack minded players. His finishing is excellent and he too can play throughout the midfield. Nacer Chadli and Townsend are decent squad players, but could be sold in favor of younger prospects. I'd recommend Ramadan Sobhy and Rafik Zekhnini as potential buys or the excellent Luan

[Prowl]

Attacking Midfield:

Christian Eriksen

Joshua Onomah

Like Lamela, Eriksen has been a familiar prospect for longtime FM players. Blessed with technique and youth, he is a player you should be aiming to keep for years to come. Onomah is a decent prospect, and could be worth giving him game time to see how he develops. Mason, Dembele, and Carroll, can all play in the position as well. If you want to buy for the position, I'd consider youngsters like Sobhi, Lincoln, and Ianis Hagi as they can become homegrown for you in time.

Strikers:

Harry Kane

Clinton N'jie

What else needs to be said about Kane? While he's always been a decent prospect in previous FM games, very few saw the rise we did last season when he emerged as one of the best strikers in the Premier League. Thanks to Kane's great play, it finally allowed the club to say good riddance to Soldado and Adebayor. Young, English, and talented, he's the one guy you want to build your club around. An easy no brainer to keep and see if he can take become a club legend. N'jie, a new signing, is able to provide some backup, but this is the biggest position of need for Spurs. Should Kane go down or if you want to play 2 strikers, there really isn't anyone that can fill in for an extended period of time. Luckily, there are no shortage of players you can sign. Gabriel Barbosa, Luan, Breel Embolo, Alex Pato, or Andrei Ivan would also be fantastic additions.

[Prowl]

Tactics Recommendations:

Coming Soon

[edgar555]

Well done Prowl! Finally.

Just a brief update on where I'm at. Only a few games into the season but this is what I've done.

Transfers: just one in, Gabriel Barbosa for an initial £8m rising to £15m over time, appearance and goals.

No one out but lots of youth loaned out.

Dele Alli got injured the first day I took over. Broke his ankle and will miss 4-5 months. Gutted. Because of this I've kept Joshua Onamah in the senior squad for depth.

I'm playing a 4-1-1-3-1 formation with various set ups of instructions according to opposition.

First choices & depth chart looks like this:

GK - SK/Support or def: Lloris/Vorm

DR - FB/Support: Walker/Trippier

DC - CB/Def: Toby/Fazio

DC - BPD/Def: Vertonghen/Wimmer

DL - WB/Attack: Rose/Davies

DM - DM/Def: Dier/Bentaleb

MC - B2B: Dembele/Mason/Bentaleb

AMR - IF/Attack: Lamela/Clinton/Barbosa

AMC - AP/A: Eriksen/Mason/Onomah

AML - Winger/Support: Son/Chadli/Townsend

ST - CF/Support: Kane/Barbosa/Clinton

Have had issues with Lamela & Verts both wanting to go to Man Utd when they made bids but stood my ground and they both came round.

Have made a good start to the season beating City & Liverpool but losing to Chelsea.

Have got Lazio, Dinamo & Groningen in the EL. A tricky but winnable group.

Dier has been excellent at DM but has picked up a 3 month injury. Lamela has been immense along with Son. Barbosa has impressed when given the chance.

The team are playing nice football and are winning. A good platform to build on. COYS!

[morganic1]

Good to see the thread up! Well done!

I need to restart my Spurs game with first window transfer budgets off. In my first go, Man U bid $30 mil+ for Kane, Lamela, Vertonghen, and Bentaleb, leaving them all angry with me after refusing to guarantee we would win the league in the first year.

The only signing I made was Moussa Dembele from Fulham, who turned out to be a pretty great player while Kane was training with the kids at the start of the season.

When I restart, my lineup will likely be:

GK - SK/A - Lloris / Vorm

DR - FB/A - Walker / Trippier

DC - CB/D - Toby / Fazio

DC - CB/D - Vertoghen / Wimmer

DL - FB/A - Rose / Davies

DM - DM/D - Dier / Bentaleb

CM - CM/S - Dembele / Mason

AMR - IF/S - Lamela / Townsend

AMC - AP/A - Eriksen / Alli

AML - IF/A - Chadli / Son

ST - CF/S - Kane / N'Jie

[Wolver]

I need to restart my Spurs game with first window transfer budgets off. In my first go, Man U bid $30 mil+ for Kane, Lamela, Vertonghen, and Bentaleb, leaving them all angry with me after refusing to guarantee we would win the league in the first year.

Had the same thing happen, but kept them all happy. I offered Verts and Bents new contracts before they could be tapped up. Verts will accept at about £60k pw and Bents £40k pw, both quite reasonable. Kane, I told that he wouldn't get much first team footy there and so was better off staying and he went along with that, then asked for a new contact due to their interest about a month later, which I gave him (signed for about £80-90k pw). Lamela, I tried the same tactic as with Kane, but didn't work so told him that he wasn't leaving and would have to get on with his job. Week or so later Utd moved on and hes now happy again. I also had the same thing with Rose and ManC, had to do the same as with Lamela and stand my ground. ManC moved on and now hes happy again.

[therealpete]

So I just sold harry kane to manu for $60m.. It happened so quick! Louis van Gaal cornered me then forced my hand onto the paper to sign him away

[Ginola*]

I'm going to start my Spurs save tonight. On the beta I sold Lamela and Fazio and bought in Mario Fernandes, Nolito and Max Meyer.

[ggeorgiou01]

So I finally finished my first season and I come in 4th in the premier league. Lost out in the 2 domestic cups very early in the first rounds and I managed to reach the quarter finals of the Europa Cup. Not a bad season and champions league football is coming back to white hart lane!

I bought a few youngsters and also bought Charlie Austin for 8 million at start of season for cover for Harry Kane. He turned out to be a great signing and managed to back 20 odd goals to help me to my 4th placed finish.

Player of the season was Dele Alli, pretty much played him in all of my games and got fans player of the year award at the end of the season. Great player in the years FM and turns into a superstar.

[Dictis]

Its a pretty solid squad isn't it!

I have been rotating Clinton into the Euro and Cup games, and the guy actually scores pretty often even though he seems really poorly rated by my scouts etc.

Difficulty comes from deciding to be a selling team (a la Southampton) and giving the squad the game time it needs!

[edgar555]

Its a pretty solid squad isn't it!

I have been rotating Clinton into the Euro and Cup games, and the guy actually scores pretty often even though he seems really poorly rated by my scouts etc.

Difficulty comes from deciding to be a selling team (a la Southampton) and giving the squad the game time it needs!

I've used Clinton in Europe also and he's always good for a goal. Will hopefully develop into a more rounded player over time as he's not much good at anything else.

[sallers75]

I've started as Spurs too and have made a solid start. Am into 5th round of FA cup, still in Europe and 3rd in the league. Son is on fire and scored 30 in 30!

[Ginola*]

Annoyingly I can't sell Fazio to Man Utd for £20m like I did in the beta!

[edgar555]

Trippier definitely doesn't seem up to the job for Spurs. Plus he's really whingey.

In January I paid £10.5m for Pavel Kaderabek from Hoffenheim. He's a 23yo Czech D/WB/M/AM R. He's settled quickly and is an excellent attacking RB. Will give Walker a run for his starting spot.

Edit: also Eriksen was nominated for the Balon d'Or and made it into the FIFPRO Team of the Year.

Clinton & Son won African & Asian Young Players of the Year.

[Wolver]

Anyone else given Pritchard a shot? He's an assist machine in my save so far! I'm only in December of the first season and he's had 5 starts and 10 sub appearances in the League and currently has 5 goals and 9 assists! Forced Lamela out of my team, who has 15 starts with 4 goals and 3 assists. Will prob try and cash in on him.

[Ginola*]

Where are you playing Pritchard and what role?

[Wolver]

Where are you playing Pritchard and what role?

Playing a 4-4-1-1 standard and structured, much more pressing, slightly higher d-line and lower temp. Pritch playing in the MR position as a WM-A, with PI's sit narrower, cross less and dribble more. He is my backup corner and free-kick taker, but most of the assists come from open play. Just played a lovely one-two with Son to make it 10 assists in 6 starts.

Make that 11 assists 6 goals 7 starts!

[izzydizi]

for those who want to start a spurs save, you can get up to 90mil for Kane from ManU in the full game version.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

How did you manage that Izzy ?

[Graham206]

I thought in the beta FM's normally excellent research was a little off but most of my issues with it have been resolved. I suspect Fazio's mum may have done some of it with him rated as our best CB rather than 5th choice as IRL. That's been sorted, as has Dier being mainly a RB rather than a natural CB/DM who can also cover at RB. Personally I'd still mark him down a touch more as a RB: I don't think IRL he's a better RB than Walker but I can live with the way it is. Pritchard a better free kick taker than Eriksen? (in the beta Pritch 18, Eriksen 15?) But full game Eriksen up to a more realistic 19. Likewise Pritchard initially heavily weighted to playing on the right when he's quite often played Inside Forward cutting in from the left. At least that's where he's played for England Under 21s. That fixed too for release. Only thing I've used the editor to quibble with was Kane's penalty taking: he is the club's regular penalty taker with a decent record so I upped his penalty taking to 15.

I intended to run the 1st season with pretty much the existing squad but just signing another striker: I don't think N'Jie/Son are good enough back up options. I ended up signing Pelle by mistake: intended to put him on a shortlist and was suddenly presented with him as a fait accompli for just £11m. I'll stick with that and possibly loan out Clinton. Put what I thought were high enough prices to deter offers on the wanted players but Man Utd almost met my £50m on Kane with their first offer and he's having a bit of a sulk at the moment, but I'm only a couple of games into pre-season.

Starting line up (4-2-3-1, Control, flexible) with rotation options is

Lloris (SK/S)/Vorm (GK/D)

Walker (FB/Aut)/ Trippier (RB/A), Alderweireld (CB/S)/Fazio (CB/S), Vertonghen (C/BPD) Wimmer (C/BPD), Rose (FB/Aut) Davies (FB/Aut)

Bentelab or Carroll (DLP/D) (Dier anchor to close out games) Demblele/Mason/Alli (BTB /S)

Lamela/Townsend/Son (IF/vary A/S) Eriksen/? (find out pre-season) (AP/S) Chadli (W/S) Son (W/S) Pritchard (AP or IF/S)

Kane (AF/A) Pelle (TM/S)

And a more defensive counter option of 4-3-3 bringing Dier into DM (Anchor) and dropping the AP back to CM alongside a BTB CM. Having most roles the same should make learning the 2nd tactic quicker. But I've only played a couple of friendlies to date so things may change.

[slakey]

I want to do a Spurs save like I do every year, but I doubt I'd change anything from what Poch is doing IRL right now.

I would want to put my own stamp on the team etc.

[edgar555]

Finished my 1st season.

4th in PL so into the CL qualifiers. Finished 8 pts behind 3rd place (Chelsea) but 7 ahead of 5th (West Ham!). Unfortunately the gooners won the league.

Kane finished 2nd top scorer in PL with 22, behind Jamie Vardy.

Eriksen was top assister in the PL with 15. He also won PFA PotY and was in team of the year.

We lost in EL semis to Dortmund, a huge error by Kyle Walker putting us out.

We lost in FA cup QF to Chelsea. They got a last minute penalty that shouldn't have been given.

We lost in the Capital One 2nd round to Man City. I put a very young team out while they went strong and it showed.

Made 3 signings in January. Kadarabek I've already mentioned and he was excellent at right back for the rest of the season.

Jeison Merillo cost £7.5m from Inter to replace a moody Fazio who I sold to Celtic for £4m. He took a while to settle but came good.

Sergio Romero was signed on deadline day for £4m after Vorm got a season ending injury. He made a few appearances in cups and also played one league game when Hugo got flu. I think I'll keep him & shift Vorm in the summer.

Kane was obviously our top scorer with his 22 PL goals, he was rested for all other competitions so didn't add to that tally. Lamela got 17 in all comps while Son, Barbosa & Eriksen all got into double figures. Chadli, Clinton & Dembele all got close to double figures.

After Eriksen in the assist department came Lamela, Chadli, Son, Barbosa and then Dele Alli who only reached full fitness in the new year.

For next season I'll be selling Vorm, Trippier & Townsend for sure. I'm tempted to sell Dembele purely because with Bentaleb, Alli & Mason I'm blessed in his position.

The only position I'm looking to strengthen is DM. Dier is undisputed number 1 but a back up is needed.

COYS

[DosSantosFC]

Hi guys, noticed not many signings from anyone, I can understand why! I must admit I am only in pre season but have already signed 7 youngsters, are people just not mentioning signing the youngsters or just not signing in general?!?!

[izzydizi]

How did you manage that Izzy ?

you can get 60 upfront and the rest on additional fees

[edgar555]

Hi guys, noticed not many signings from anyone, I can understand why! I must admit I am only in pre season but have already signed 7 youngsters, are people just not mentioning signing the youngsters or just not signing in general?!?!

Now you mention it I did make two youth signings

[sallers75]

Just finished my first season, came 3rd in the league, 2nd round of Euro cup, 5th round of FA cup and knocked out in 3rd round of capital cup. Good overall season. Son got player of the year and the golden shoe with 31 league goals, Kane scored 20.

Signed Sven Bender in January for £10 million. And Emmanuel Mas for £3.3 million. Also just signed Damian Schmidt for £2 million, and Johnathan Calleri for £7 million who is instantly worth £20.5!!

Champs league here I come!

[reece1973]

Dier, Trippier and Walker all injured before 1st game of the season for me.

Struggling to decide whether to actually sign anyone. Although like has been mentioned if Kane gets injured we are in trouble. Even considering Klose as a back up in case.

[Mihalis]

Just started my save now, No transfer budgets, We seem weak in the CDM position so i had to bring in a loan signing for back up to Dier. Also brought in two other loan signings. My staff is stacked and i feel ready for the season ahead.

My signings are Gideon Jung, Divock Origi and Julian Green as cover for their respective positions.

Only loanees out aswell

[Harryseaess]

Spurs won the league in my first season (when I was managing United), with Harry Kane top scorer in the league. They're also the highest valued club in the world at the start of the second season (£1.22b I think). Seem's to me like they're a bit over-rated...

[swansongs]

Spurs won the league in my first season (when I was managing United), with Harry Kane top scorer in the league. They're also the highest valued club in the world at the start of the second season (£1.22b I think). Seem's to me like they're a bit over-rated...

The squad has a lot of young players who are considered to have high potential, which the game has always valued really highly. It's not like real life where "potential" isn't necessarily going to be fulfilled regardless of gametime etc. and you never very, very rarely win things with kids.

Spurs first team players have a CA that makes them good enough for top 6, and because they're young and at Spurs their PA's will all be even higher.

[Wolver]

Hi guys, noticed not many signings from anyone, I can understand why! I must admit I am only in pre season but have already signed 7 youngsters, are people just not mentioning signing the youngsters or just not signing in general?!?!

Only signed Ajer and a Spanish kid called Kuki. Wanted to see how good the squad is before dipping my toe in the water.

We seem weak in the CDM position so i had to bring in a loan signing for back up to Dier

If your playing your dm in midfield as a cmd then Dembele and Bents are good enough cover for Dier.

Although like has been mentioned if Kane gets injured we are in trouble.

With regards to forwards, Kane got injured for 7 weeks and had to play Son upfront. He's currently the leagues top scorer at the start of Feb and N'Jie has come on a scored a few as well.

Currently sitting top btw at the start of Feb.

[Magicz]

Started my Spurs save a couple of days ago, brought in Gabriel Barbosa and Viktor Fischer to bolster the wings, Khouma Babacar up top as back-up to Kane, Aleksandar Dragovic after I sold Fazio to Man Utd for £22.5m (!!!!!) and a couple of other youngsters. Also had to sell Lamela to Monaco, as he kicked up a fuss about wanting to leave, but I've extended the contracts of Kane, Lloris, Vertonghen, Bentaleb and Chadli.

Fischer is absolute quality btw, and is SO cheap. Has won five Young Player of the Month awards so far and he cost me £3.5m up front.

I'm currently third in the league in mid-January, level on points with Man City and behind Arsenal by 3, so I'm in with a genuine shout of winning the league.

I've been helped by being knocked out of the League Cup by Arsenal (boo) and the Europa League (I finished third in a group with Fiorentina and Panathinaikos as I played the kids constantly).

Did beat Chelsea in the third round of the FA Cup, though. Will update as the season progresses!

[Magicz]

To add to earlier post, managed to sign Tielemans in January on deadline day. Picked him up for £6m up front - and could be worth £18m in total. Reckon that's a decent deal tbh, and sold Carroll after he came in for £3m.

[Ginola*]

I have Kane, Lucas Lima, N'Jie and Lamela all injured. I can't buy a win and am having an absolute Weston.

[edgar555]

Moving into the 2nd season I've made a couple of transfers in and a few out.

Out: Trippier, 3.5m to Stoke; Townsend 4m to Stoke; Carroll 6m to West Ham; Vorm 1m to Capri; Dembele 7.5m to Valencia; Wimmer 15m to PSG.

Considering getting rid of Clinton also.

In: Michael Keane 7m from Burnley; Granit Xhaka 18m from BMG. I've also signed a couple of youngsters for the future.

This year the likes of Josh Onomah, Milos Velkjovic, Harry Winks, Shayon Harrison & Kaz Sterling will all get game time.

Made a slight tweak tactically, going to a 4123 wide.

Squad looks like this:

GK - SK/D: Lloris; Romero

DR - WB/S: Kaderabek/Walker

DC - CB: Toby/Keane

DC - BPD: Verts/Murillo

DL - WB/A: Rose/Davies

DM - HB: Dier/Velkjovic

MC - B2B: Xhaka/Bentaleb/Mason(injured for 5 months)/Winks

MC - AP/A: Eriksen/Alli/Onomah

AMR - IF/A: Lamela/Barbosa/Sterling

AML - W/S: Son/Chadli

FC - CF/S: Kane/Barbosa/Harrison

We beat Sporting Lisbon in the CL qualifier & we will now face Juve, Dortmund and Maribor in the group stages.

COYS

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Is this kaz sterling a relative of raheem ?

[Welshace]

No he isn't

[Denovan6]

Son is class! 30 goals 1st season. Barcelona and Man City showing serious interest now

[valehannes]

I had a brainfreeze when I read the title and thought you meant 'Arry Redknapp.

[artvanderlay]

Just finished my first season - finished 3rd & won the Europa league. Went abit crazy in the transfer market as seen below but paid off in the end.

Transfers in -

Berardi £35m

Embolo £18.5m

Barbosa £10m

Luan £9m

Sisto £6m

Ricky Alvarez - free transfer

Lucas Romero - £5m

Ajer £1.5

Andrija zivkovic £3m

Ross Barkley £35m

Then Mario Fernandes £20.5 in Jan

Transfers out -

Townsend £10m

Chadli £15m

Kane £50m

Fazio £4.5m

Trippier £4.2m in Jan

After injures throughout the season Gabriel barbosa finished top scorer with 20 with Son top assists 13.

The chairman gave me extra money in Jan with was a nice boost

[DannyT]

What about staff changes?

Each year I first try and get 'arry as my assistant. Unsurprisingly, he never agrees.

Has anyone brought in or kicked out coaches/scouts/physios?

Who comes good? What wages do they need?

[artvanderlay]

I managed to get Jimmy floyd hasselbaink quit button n become a coach for me, I also got in Ivan Zamorano & bojan's dad on as scouts.

[Hauler]

Really enjoying playing with us this year. Milo Veijoska (spelled it wrong) has been amazing in the Dier role of Anchor Man. Dier was hurt in preseason for a while and I had no other option, but to try him out and he has been truly inspiring. Had a lot of injuries and also had to play Cameron Carter Vickers at the back in a couple league games and European games as Jan and Wimmer were hurt as well as Dier. He was really good as well. We are in 5th before Jan Window and I really like the squad I have.

I got:

Gabriel Barbosa, Young Serbian winger, and McDermott signed the Birmingham City winger who is 19 who has played some in games and looks like he could develop into something really good. Clinton started well in Europe, but is still raw. Even though with all the injuries at the back and all over I'm happy to let the younger players have a go and they are really developing. Really love Milo V. Don't even need to sign cover for Dier as we have it. Trippier was complaining about not getting in the team so I gave him a shot and he ran with it. So many assists in the games I played him. Fell off a bit, but still looks like he could be a solid backup. All the people up front are scoring. Townsend doesn't seem to have it so I will probably have to let him go, but it hurts cause he is a supporter of Spurs and losing him will sadden me. He just hasn't been good when I play him though. Alli is special and I have signed quite a bit of staff to help with development of our players. Vorm has been ok when he has played so all around we look solid. I sold off some people and so the books look really good.

All in all I feel I can really get more time for the youth and let them show me what they can do without having to do much buying.

I play a 4-1(DM)-1-3-1. Highly structured and on standard. I then have variations on this so that I can switch it up while keeping the same kind of tactic. Works really well. Have had some poor results against Arsenal and the bigger clubs. Beat Man U on opening day 1-4. From there we did well and went unbeaten through like 7 then dipped. Still with the youth in the team and all the injuries I'm happy to be where I am and how the youth has come on. Even though the kids stats don't look good give them a go in games with other more experienced players and they will grow in confidence.

Also sold Bentaleb to Man U as he wanted out and was making a real stink. Got like 50 mil (35 upfront) so I think I did alright with all the youth coming along. Also brought in Meli from Boca. Needs some time still, but I think he will slot in nicely as a combative type to shore up the middle. So I think I have replaced Bentaleb. Mason has been in and out due to injury and Carroll is out on loan and Pritchard just can't get in the team. Played him in one game and he did well. Played him as a winger on the right and he was good. So I think I can work with him and he could very well be a good sub option.

Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying similar success and thanks for doing a Spurs thread.

[Hackers76]

Just started my first save on the full game, was doing well on the beta but improved stats for Dier pulled me in!

Tried a save with first window transfers but Man U went after Bentaleb, Kane and Fazio, Man City went after Dier. All of which threw their toys out the pram at not being allowed to leave and caused mayhem in the squad. Very frustrating and for me the worst part of the game, especially after the real life summer where Kane handled the interest in him from Man U superbly!

So gone for a save with first transfer window disabled. And won my first three games beating Man U and West Ham at home and Sunderland away. Playing a 4-3-3 formation with quite attacking settings but the defence have held up really well and I am yet to concede. Inspired by the comments above (and by Poch) to throw the youth in wherever possible. Will do a proper update when work clams down and I can devote some time to it.

[reece1973]

Typical Spurs making me nervous. Played Everton at home 4th game of the season and went 2-0 up and we were flying.

Through an own goal and another offside they brought it back to 2-2. Saviour Kane scores the winner in 91st minute. PHEW!!!!

I had 23 shots at goal and 11 on target against there 4 shots at goal and 1 on target.

[Prowl]

I started my save as well. Turned off the budget so I could focus on continuing to build on Poch's work. So far so good as I won all 4 of my opening matches after a pre-season spent working on tactics and building morale by thumping lower rep team

Premier League

West Ham 2 Spurs 4

First game started alright as we opened with a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Son and a pair for Kane. Unfortunately, Walker and Rose fell asleep at the back and allowed Payet and Antonio to make the match close at 3-2. Townsend scored off the bench to put the game away. Eriksen was magnificent with 3 assists in the match

Spurs 3 Man City 2

Son scored 10 minutes in to open the scoring before some poor Davies defending allowed Sergio Aguero to score to make it 1-1. Things didn't get any better after as Kevin de Bruyne scored just after the break to make a 2-1 game. However, Danny Rose came on and scored in the 82nd minute to make it 2-2 before another sub, Nacer Chadli, scored a nice header to send WHL into a frenzy in the 90th minute. Pellegrini insisted his side should have won but we were the better side after Rose and Chadli came on.

Aston Villa 0 Spurs 2

Spurs won their third consecutive match thanks to good defending and timely goal scoring. Kane scored his 3rd of the season 20 minutes in and Dele Alli scored his first ever goal for Spurs with a thundering volley just before halftime. Jordan Ayew could have brought Villa back in, but Lloris was up to the task for his first clean sheet of the season.

Spurs 4 Newcastle 1

Spurs end the month of August unbeaten as a very average Newcastle side is crushed. After de Jong scored early to put Newcastle up, Kane scored his 4th of the season. Erik Lamela opened his account with 2 quick goals in succession to put the game away. Son added his 3rd goal of the season. Overall, a good month for the team

We were lucky to avoid a lot of injuries, but Fazio was hurt with a fracture in his vertebrae and Pritchard strained his hamstring near the end of preseason. Once the Europa League and Cups start, I'll look to give Carter-Vickers, Winks, and Walker-Peters some first team football

[Hackers76]

I have had a shocker with injuries but it hasn't affected form and I am currently top after 7 games with 6 wins and 1 draw. Admittedly with the exception of Man U first game I have yet to face any decent oppo. The only draw was at home 1-1 with Lennon coming back to haunt me in the last minute!

Injury wise I had 8 players out at one stage. When Loris first got injured Vorm kept 3 clean sheets, Vorm has now got injured and had to stick Thomas Glover in. First game he kept a clean sheet in a 3-0 away win at Bournemouth! Also had Lamela, Fazio, Dembele, Chadli, N'Jie and Trippier out but the with the exception of Dembele (4 months) they are all due back soon.