FM14: Tottenham Hotspur - "“ Sold Elvis and bought The Beatles..."

[waitsfornone]

One of the things I am trying to do with my Spurs save is turn the academy into one of the top academies in the world and start churning out the HG players for sale and the Spurs squad.

How can I find out where each of the 3 sections start and how many upgrades get them to the top level? Do I need to purchase the editor?

Youth Facilities

Youth Coaching

Youth Recruiting

[enders357]

One of the things I am trying to do with my Spurs save is turn the academy into one of the top academies in the world and start churning out the HG players for sale and the Spurs squad.

How can I find out where each of the 3 sections start and how many upgrades get them to the top level? Do I need to purchase the editor?

Youth Facilities

Youth Coaching

Youth Recruiting

You should be able to see all of those just by starting a new save. Off the top of my head, the facilities are one of the best in the PL (I think just one upgrade away from the best they can be) but the junior coaching and youth recruitment need 2 or 3 upgrades. All should be possible within 3 seasons, I think.

[enders357]

Sold Ericksen to MCity for 47M pound ....

Tough to say no to that kind of cash. What stage of the game are you at? Do you have your eye on anyone to replace him?

[enders357]

To try something different I thought I'd run the game through til the end of the fourth season and maybe take Spurs over then. I ran it through twice to see what kind of differences there would be - and they were massive!

In the first save Spurs had Antonio Conte as manager, were playing a 3-5-2 with Erik Lamela and Wilfried Bony (32 league goals two seasons running!) up front, and had won the league, FA Cup, and Europa League over the last couple of seasons, as well as reaching the CL semi-final. Paul Pogba and Morgan Schneiderlin were the heartbeat of the team, and most of the key players (Vertonghen, Lloris, Walker, Sandro, Eriksen) were still at the club and performing well.

In the second version things hadn't gone so well. We'd sacked AVB, sacked Bielsa, sacked Rafa Benitez, sacked Thomas Tuchel (I had to google him too) and ended up with Steve Clarke as gaffer... who had led the club to an 11th place finish in 2016/17. Expectations were so low by this point that Clarke's job was safe - and his team consisted of a bunch of average players signed from the Scottish league, John Stones was the club's best defender, Asmir Begovic had replaced Lloris, and almost all of the club's good players had left and been replaced by lesser players. The only consistency was that Lamela was still at the club and had again been converted to striker.

[waitsfornone]

Has anyone taken Vertonghen and created a tactic around him as a Sweeper? Say in a 3-5-2 formation? I would like to know if it works and possibly see how it was done. That will be one of my tactics should the youths get a potential bump in the data update.

[enders357]

Has anyone taken Vertonghen and created a tactic around him as a Sweeper? Say in a 3-5-2 formation? I would like to know if it works and possibly see how it was done. That will be one of my tactics should the youths get a potential bump in the data update.

I'd be really interested to see this too, if anyone's done it. He always plays well as a BPD for me, and I've used him in that role in the middle of a 3 man defence before but never as a sweeper.

[Leedsfan111]

Started a new save on 14.2.2

Ins:

Balanta (DC) - £6.5m over 48 months

Leighton Baines (WBL) - £20m over 48 months

Lars Bednar (Anchor Man) - £20m over 48 months

Diego Costa (SS/CF) - £18m over 48 months

Carlos Fierro (SS/CF) - £8.5m over 48 months

Outs:

Friedal - Free (Anji)

Dawson - £3.1m (Everton)

Holtby - £9m (Porto)

Lennon - £10m (Monaco)

Obika - £275k (Bournemouth)

Kane - Season Loan (Forest)

Set up two tactics for home and away

Home:

Attacking/Fluid

GK:Lloris (Sweeper Keeper)

WBR: Walker

CWBL: Baines

DC: Vertonghen

DC: Balanta

DMC: Bendnar (Anchor Man)

BBM: Sandro

AM: Erikson (Advance Playmaker)

IF: Lamela

SS: Costa

DLF: Soldado

Away:

Control/Balanced

GK: Lloris

WBR: Walker

WBL: Baines

CD: Vertonghen

CD: Balanta

DMC: Bendnar (Anchor Man)

BBM: Sandro

AM: Erikson (Advanced Playmaker

IFR: Lamela

IFL: Costa

CF: Soldado

These are my best XI

Rest of Squad

Gomes

Naughton

Rose

Kaboul

Chirches

Paulino

Capoue

Dembele

Sigurdson

Chandli

Townsend

Defoe

Fierro

Adebayor

Results so far:

(Prem) Arsenal 1-1 Spurs (Lamela)

(Euro Cup Q) Zulte Waregem 0-2 Spurs (Lamela & Soldado)

(Prem) Spurs 2-0 Cardiff (Erikson & Vertonghen)

(Euro Cup Q) Spurs 0-0 Zulte Waregem (2-0 agg)

(Prem) - Hull 1-2 Spurs (Erikson & Sandro)

Now at the last day of the trasnfer window. Trying to offload Capoue, Adebayor, Chadli

The two home performances have been poor and are thinking of switching it to more like the away set up although there isnt that much difference

[Hauler]

Started a new save on 14.2.2

Ins:

Balanta (DC) - £6.5m over 48 months

Leighton Baines (WBL) - £20m over 48 months

Lars Bednar (Anchor Man) - £20m over 48 months

Diego Costa (SS/CF) - £18m over 48 months

Carlos Fierro (SS/CF) - £8.5m over 48 months

Outs:

Friedal - Free (Anji)

Dawson - £3.1m (Everton)

Holtby - £9m (Porto)

Lennon - £10m (Monaco)

Obika - £275k (Bournemouth)

Kane - Season Loan (Forest)

Set up two tactics for home and away

Home:

Attacking/Fluid

GK:Lloris (Sweeper Keeper)

WBR: Walker

CWBL: Baines

DC: Vertonghen

DC: Balanta

DMC: Bendnar (Anchor Man)

BBM: Sandro

AM: Erikson (Advance Playmaker)

IF: Lamela

SS: Costa

DLF: Soldado

Away:

Control/Balanced

GK: Lloris

WBR: Walker

WBL: Baines

CD: Vertonghen

CD: Balanta

DMC: Bendnar (Anchor Man)

BBM: Sandro

AM: Erikson (Advanced Playmaker

IFR: Lamela

IFL: Costa

CF: Soldado

These are my best XI

Rest of Squad

Gomes

Naughton

Rose

Kaboul

Chirches

Paulino

Capoue

Dembele

Sigurdson

Chandli

Townsend

Defoe

Fierro

Adebayor

Results so far:

(Prem) Arsenal 1-1 Spurs (Lamela)

(Euro Cup Q) Zulte Waregem 0-2 Spurs (Lamela & Soldado)

(Prem) Spurs 2-0 Cardiff (Erikson & Vertonghen)

(Euro Cup Q) Spurs 0-0 Zulte Waregem (2-0 agg)

(Prem) - Hull 1-2 Spurs (Erikson & Sandro)

Now at the last day of the trasnfer window. Trying to offload Capoue, Adebayor, Chadli

The two home performances have been poor and are thinking of switching it to more like the away set up although there isnt that much difference

Have you signed any coaching staff? I usually do so.

I just started a new save with Spurs and signed a ton of backroom staff and let them handle a lot of the tasks such as training and what not. THey are doing really well with those responsibilities.

My Summer signings have been really really good for me so far.

Only got rid of Dawson for 4.5 US mil to Everton and let Gomes go on a free.

I signed some really outstanding first team upgrades to the team.

Subtoic from Dortmund for like around 11 mil if I'm not mistaken

Andriy Yarmolenko for around 25 mil US and he has been amazing on the left.

Fabio Contranteo for about 10 mil or so he has been inspiring as well

Keisuke Honda for around 2 mil US what a signing for nothing

I think that is all as I can't recall of hand, but I think I may have signed another guy signed a kid from Birmingham City striker really good.

So far we are first in the league about 9 or 10 games in and have been killing teams. The team is really coming together and the coaches have really made it easier to manage the big squad. Got rid of some deadweight when I came in and I just couldn't be happier with my overall playthrough.

I have 1 striker uptop, 1 AMC, 2 AMwingers, 2central Mids, and a normal back four.

Just overall quality in the side and it's easy to rotate players. I actually decided not to register Lamela and Eriksen in the Europa League group stage to prevent them from getting injured and it has been a great idea. Getting people match fit and game time that need it gives me a good balance and good harmony in the squad. Best signing has been Neven Subotic as he is killing it, but got hurt, but doesn't worry me a bit when I can bring on three other quality CB's. My best players have been Aaron Lennon and Ade. Scoring goals and making it look easy. Roberto is finding his feet slowly and Sig is always good for me and Eriksen saved us in a game against Wet Spam when he scored two goals in the last ten minutes to get us all three points.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do next? Should I keep the squad and not spend unless someone extremely talented is available and just maybe fire some more bad coaches/physios/whatever in the staff department and replace them with quality staff? I was looking at Yevhen Konoplyanka as a potential signing as I might try to move on Nacer as I just don't rate him personally and it would be great to get another Ukrainian speaker in the squad for Andriy. He is really my only guy on my radar. Then I have all these loan signings coming back to the squad next year like Tom Carroll who I want to get games or loan him out to a premier league club. Don't want to sign a bunch of youngsters as they wouldn't really get a game unless I get one at LB, or AML.

I usually sell Ade, but he has done ever so well getting a hat-trick early on in the season and I couldn't be happier. I need some more English talent for official reasons so I tried to get Tom Ince, but he wanted to much in wages so I said no. Luke Shaw I feel is too expensive at this time and I don't want to spend that kind of money on such a young player who still needs more games at top level.

Overall I'm very content with the squad as a whole and I don't really think anyone needs to leave, but Defoe has been making some noise about being the odd man out, but when I start him he scores so don't know what to do. Had a 4-4-2 in a Carling cup game at OT and lost 3-2, but Ade and Defoe both scored. Was very happy. So want to try and get him some minutes so he will remain somewhat satisfied at the club till next season.

[enders357]

The data update is live! Who's starting a new save then??

[waitsfornone]

OOH! Firing it up at lunch!

[waitsfornone]

WHOA! Velkojvic (4*), Bentaleb (4.5*), and Fryers (3.5*) all got MASSIVE bumps to PA!

I think Chriches, Kane, Dombaxe, and Ball got small bumps (can't remember their original PAs) and Kaboul got a bit of a downgrade (.5 *)

I might try a save with the first window budgets turned off and see where I can get the boys...

[enders357]

WHOA! Velkojvic (4*), Bentaleb (4.5*), and Fryers (3.5*) all got MASSIVE bumps to PA!

I think Chriches, Kane, Dombaxe, and Ball got small bumps (can't remember their original PAs) and Kaboul got a bit of a downgrade (.5 *)

I might try a save with the first window budgets turned off and see where I can get the boys...

Yeah! I'm excited. That's great news about the PA bumps. How's Bentaleb's CA? First team ready?

[waitsfornone]

Yeah! I'm excited. That's great news about the PA bumps. How's Bentaleb's CA? First team ready?

I have closed out the game, but I think it was from 1* to 2*

He, Velokojvic, and McEvoy are defn ready to be put in the first team as cover. Dombaxe and Ball are almost there, perhaps a loan for a season somewhere decent.

With Defoe gone and Holtby loaned out, the team has a slightly different look to it and could develop into a great team after the first season. However, outside of Bentaleb, there isn't a change that totally changes the easy path of buying the cheap Wonderkids and crushing everyone.

[enders357]

Started a new save last night on the new patch. Great to see the bumps a few players have had - not only a whole host of young players, but also Paulinho, Lennon and a couple of other first teamers who now look a little more like their real life counterparts.

To illustrate the changes, Man Utd just offered me £4.1m +25% sell on for Veljkovic - and I turned it down because the guy has the potential to be a top class centre back. Kane now looks like he might be able to become a good rotiation option, Bentaleb starts off as decent back with potential to be a top player, and people like Dombaxe are now a little improved.

[rune_star]

Could someone post screenies of those guys after the update? Thinking about the likes of Bentaleb, Veljkovic, McEvoy, Ball and Kane. Also Paulinho would be nice to see

[R1ku]

Starting a new save with the new update, which is nice! Just going through the pre-season.

[enders357]

Could someone post screenies of those guys after the update? Thinking about the likes of Bentaleb, Veljkovic, McEvoy, Ball and Kane. Also Paulinho would be nice to see

[waitsfornone]

As a side note, the coaching staff is GUTTED. You now replace Sherwood and there is nobody in charge of the youth teams, or on the U-21 staff. It makes the whole staff overhaul that is needed a bit easier, but it also means that you have to hire a bunch of coaches fast.

[enders357]

As a side note, the coaching staff is GUTTED. You now replace Sherwood and there is nobody in charge of the youth teams, or on the U-21 staff. It makes the whole staff overhaul that is needed a bit easier, but it also means that you have to hire a bunch of coaches fast.

Very true. I like to overhaul the staff anyway though so this is kind of a blessing in disguise for me.

My method is pretty straightforward: I search for coaches in each of the sections with a 20 (goalkeepers, defending, technical, tactical, attacking x2, to cover the shooting section) and who also have 15 for man management and motivation - I have no evidence but it makes sense that they'd be better coaches if they handle people well and can motivate them. I don't always get people who fill those criteria but it's where I start and means I always end up with each training category having at least 4* coverage.

As for the youth squads etc, I advertise for those positions and hire the best applicants. I find searching for these people really frustrating - because there seems no easy way of identifying people happy to work with youth/reserve squads - so I make that compromise on those.

For the assistant manager I look for people with high ratings in Judging CA and PA, Motivating and Man Management and Tactical Knowledge. For important and less easily defined roles - e.g., Head of Youth Development, Chief Scout - I search for staff in that role, order by reputation and offer it to the one with the highest stats in what seem the most appropriate sections.

Here's what I've ended up with on the new patch (Baldini as DoF not shown):

I then go to the training screen, 'remove all' assignments and go through each coach adding him to his best category and then juggling them around a little to get the best results (and, ideally, two coaches on each section - without having any coach work on more than one section). And this leads to...

[enders357]

Starting a new save with the new update, which is nice! Just going through the pre-season.

Made any signings? I got Luke Shaw for £19m + £13m over 48 months. Crazy expensive - and I had to free up money by releasing Gomes and selling Naughton - but worth it, I reckon: best left back at the club the day he joins, with world class potential and (and this is where he stands apart from any other potential left back signing) if you get him before he turns 18 he'll become a home-grown club player.

I had been looking at cheaper options and seeing about strengthening in the AML position as well but I've given Townsend that spot with Winger duties and he's ding well so far. Chadli less so when he covers and he'll probably leave at the end of season one if I can get a decent fee.

[waitsfornone]

I have gone through the pre-season on my no first transfer window. Decided to put a 5-3-2 (2 wing backs, 2 CBs, SW) in at my third tactic slot. Is very open and flowing, but not quite fluid enough for every game use. I will post the tactic once I determine it to be pass/fail in order to get some advice.

[R1ku]

Made any signings?

Sold both Gomes and Friedel, signed Casteels as my second keeper and Dongou from Barca as a future number one striker. Although Dongou is my only striker who has scored a goal (actually two), and I'm already six league matches and two Europa League group games into the season. Adebayor, Soldado and Kane couldn't hit a barn wall even if they were inside the barn. Having a horrible start to the season as well, 2-2-2 in the league and currently lost 5 in a row in all competitions combined. Don't know if I'll last until christmas the way things are going.

[enders357]

... lost 5 in a row in all competitions combined. Don't know if I'll last until christmas the way things are going.

I'm not doing so great, either. The curse is back.

[Scully11]

Ive just taken over tottenham after being offered the job while i was Anderlecht manager cant wait to see what i can do im in august 2016 so will update maybe in january. Ive brought a few players with me who i had at anderlecht the likes of rafinha, Mitrovic, Allione and Kurt Zouma as i was in their favourite personnel it was an easy move for them

[waitsfornone]

Bit of an update on my 14.3 save. Almost to the end of October and finally lost a match to Man City. Unfortunately there have been a large number of league draws in there to keep us in 6th. However, my Sweeper (actually Vertonghen plays a Libero) formation is almost a success. I have played it against smaller teams, good teams, and in the second half when I need a goal. Every time the chances flow. Lamela, Eriksen, and Soldado really connect well in it. Rose even got in on the goal action with a brace in my last Europa match! I will post the tactic tonight, but it has a significant drawback at this time. There aren't any good sweepers out there besides Vertonghen, so I am having to retrain Capoue and Veljkovic as well as look to bringing in a couple more Defenders once January hits. Also, it leaves out a lot of the AM players on the inital roster. We will see if it sticks around past the summer, but I think so. It works well where defense isn't top priority.

[enders357]

Ive just taken over tottenham after being offered the job while i was Anderlecht manager cant wait to see what i can do im in august 2016 so will update maybe in january. Ive brought a few players with me who i had at anderlecht the likes of rafinha, Mitrovic, Allione and Kurt Zouma as i was in their favourite personnel it was an easy move for them

Sounds great. How were Tottenham doing when you took over - presumably not very well? Keep us updated, I'll be interested to hear who's still at the club etc.

[enders357]

Bit of an update on my 14.3 save. Almost to the end of October and finally lost a match to Man City. Unfortunately there have been a large number of league draws in there to keep us in 6th. However, my Sweeper (actually Vertonghen plays a Libero) formation is almost a success. I have played it against smaller teams, good teams, and in the second half when I need a goal. Every time the chances flow. Lamela, Eriksen, and Soldado really connect well in it. Rose even got in on the goal action with a brace in my last Europa match! I will post the tactic tonight, but it has a significant drawback at this time. There aren't any good sweepers out there besides Vertonghen, so I am having to retrain Capoue and Veljkovic as well as look to bringing in a couple more Defenders once January hits. Also, it leaves out a lot of the AM players on the inital roster. We will see if it sticks around past the summer, but I think so. It works well where defense isn't top priority.

Looking forward to the screenshot, interested to see how it all looks. My favourite formation to play on FM14 has been a 3-5-2 but it's hard to use it at Spurs considering it has no wingers and AMs so you have to write off Lamela, Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Lennon, Townsend and Chadli.

[Welshace]

Whoaaa didn't realise K. McEvoy looked so much like Bale... weird

[R1ku]

Was propably a few minutes away from getting sacked after only one win in the last nine matches and the press already wanting my head, but then an injury-time winner from Sigurdsson at the Emirates saved me for now. Managed to beat Hull 3-0 at home after that, helped by a Dongou brace, so things are looking better for now. I'll keep fighting!

Whoaaa didn't realise K. McEvoy looked so much like Bale... weird

Haha, yep, it's a little freaky.

[enders357]

Whoaaa didn't realise K. McEvoy looked so much like Bale... weird

I reckon Levy cloned Bale before he left

[enders357]

Was propably a few minutes away from getting sacked after only one win in the last nine matches and the press already wanting my head, but then an injury-time winner from Sigurdsson at the Emirates saved me for now. Managed to beat Hull 3-0 at home after that, helped by a Dongou brace, so things are looking better for now. I'll keep fighting!

Good luck! Not a lot more depressing than being sacked on a computer game - I've had it twice on FM14. Definitely the hardest FM for a while, but I love it more for that.

[waitsfornone]

Looking forward to the screenshot, interested to see how it all looks. My favourite formation to play on FM14 has been a 3-5-2 but it's hard to use it at Spurs considering it has no wingers and AMs so you have to write off Lamela, Eriksen, Sigurdsson, Lennon, Townsend and Chadli.

Lamela can play as a F9 without retraining (though I probably will retrain next season). I will post at lunch with my choice XI for the tactic.

Edit: couldn't post at lunch... FM still open on my other computer at home and I haven't saved!!!

[Toin]

Started a Spurs save on the new patch, and just finished the first season.

At the start of the season I sold Adebayor and Dawson for a combined €13m, and brought in Kevin Volland (€15m), Niklas Süle (€15m) and Alex Sandro (€22m)

I can say the season was a huge succes, tactic worked like a charm and we managed to win the league, Capital One Cup and the Euro League.In the FA Cup we failed misserably though, getting kicked out by Nothingham Forest in the 3rd round.

By looking at the league table it looks like it was an easy run, but it actually wasn't. I was battling for the first place with Arsenal till around 30 games, and then they went on a terrible run and even got overtaken by Chelsea in the end.

This is my squad and the tactic I used througout the season. The only changes I make is setting the striker to CS (support) if I play Harry Kane (he seemed to do better in that role) and switch to counter when I struggled mightily, but that rarely occured. The board just announced a new 56250-seated stadium, creatively named New White Hart Lane. I don't know to what extent this will affect my transfer budget as this just took €50m out of the balance so now we have a negative balance of €37m.

For the next season I will try again to offload Lennon as I don't rate him, and I will also probably sell/loan out Harry Kane. He did pretty well but didn't develop at all, I guess because of his bad personality (balanced) which didn't improve through tutoring by Soldado. Kaboul's contract is running out and I'm not sure if I will renew it because he demands €95.000 a week and he's my 4th defender at the moment. Milos Veljkovic isn't up to it yet I think so I will have to look for a replacement. Schalke 04 surprisingly got relegated so I'm hoping to get some of their amazing youngsters for little money (Adviaj, Meyer, Goretzka).

Edit: Pictures seem to be very small, but if you copy the URL and open it you can still see it with a bigger size.

[waitsfornone]

Here is my Libero tactic. I don't have any player instructions except to set roles for players with different abilities.

[enders357]

Anyone else finding Townsend much better on the new patch? I used to ship him out as soon as I got a decent offer but I'm finding him and Lamela playing on the wings and swapping positions throughout the game is getting the best out of both of them - Townsend even scored the kind of goal he longs for in real life. Picked the ball up just inside his own half on the right touchline, drifted inside and beat a man, took it forward and beat a couple of other men, found himself about 25 yards out and slammed a left footed drive in to the top corner. It was glorious.

[enders357]

Here is my Libero tactic. I don't have any player instructions except to set roles for players with different abilities.

How does Lamela do as a F9? I'd be tempted to push one of the centre midfielders in to an AM position and have him there, with two ahead of him. When I play a 3-5-2 I like to have a TM upfront, and I reckon Kane could be developed in to a very useful one.

[R1ku]

So I, too, started a new Spurs save after the patch. The last save, nine seasons in, started to get a little boring, so the new patch couldn't have come too soon. I somehow knew things were going to be hard from the start, as it was the same thing in the last save. Didn't expect them to get as rough as they did early on, but now thing seem to have picked up nicely and I still have a nice chance to finish in the top four as I wanted before the season. The turning point thus far was the injury-time winner by Sigurdsson at the Emirates, after a run of seven winless matches and only one win in the last nine. Before that match I changed from Control/Balanced to Counter/Rigid, I'm sure that has played a part in it, too.

Results so far..

August

September

October

November

December

League Table

Transfers In

Transfers Out

My Tactic

[enders357]

That's two of you using Soldado as a Treq... am I missing a trick having him as a straight AF?

[R1ku]

That's two of you using Soldado as a Treq... am I missing a trick having him as a straight AF?

I actually took the idea from the previous poster playing him as a T. It seems to work better than anything I've tried with Soldado. I have no idea why, but I'm happy. Soldado took ages to get his first goal when played as a AF or CFa and didn't score any for a few matches after that either, but since I've changed him into a T he's about a goal/match.

[Toin]

Playing him as a trequarista seems to link up play pretty well and makes sure he won't get isolated. It also creates a lot of space for the inside forwards and sometimes the advanced playmaker to run into. Soldado hasn't been extremely prolific for me, but 24 goals (of which 7 are penalties) and 7 assists in 36 games is good enough for me considering the space he creates. Lamela might be better in that role by the way but he has been unstoppable from the wing so I haven't played him in the striker position.

[enders357]

I actually took the idea from the previous poster playing him as a T. It seems to work better than anything I've tried with Soldado. I have no idea why, but I'm happy. Soldado took ages to get his first goal when played as a AF or CFa and didn't score any for a few matches after that either, but since I've changed him into a T he's about a goal/match.

Playing him as a trequarista seems to link up play pretty well and makes sure he won't get isolated. It also creates a lot of space for the inside forwards and sometimes the advanced playmaker to run into. Soldado hasn't been extremely prolific for me, but 24 goals (of which 7 are penalties) and 7 assists in 36 games is good enough for me considering the space he creates. Lamela might be better in that role by the way but he has been unstoppable from the wing so I haven't played him in the striker position.

I'm only about 12 games in (6 league games) and Soldado has 6 goals (4 in the league) so I'm happy with him as AF but if (when!) he slows down I'll give the Treq thing a go, for sure. I like the idea of opening up space for my wingers to cut in.

[Hauler]

I'm finding the game really unplayable due to silly goals and a lack of being able to defend properly. Full backs regardless of who they are act so silly and no matter who I put out there it doesn't matter and I always concede.

[enders357]

I'm finding the game really unplayable due to silly goals and a lack of being able to defend properly. Full backs regardless of who they are act so silly and no matter who I put out there it doesn't matter and I always concede.

I think there's a lot more emphasis on tactics and player instructions in FM14 than previous games so just having good players doesn't guarantee success. How have you got the team playing?

[Toin]

Just started the second season, won the first 5 league games and got an easy CL draw with RC Genk, Leverkusen and Benfica. Also won the community shield (1-0 over Man City) and the super cup (after penalties over Bayern). The transferwindow was a very busy one. The board gave me €23m to play with and Man City came in with an offer of €52m for Sandro which was just too much to refuse. I sold Townsend for €20m to Monaco and managed to get rid of Lennon, couldn't sell Holtby though so he is out on load at Lyon for the rest of the season.

This gave me a huge budget so I brought in Lars Bender (€28m) to replace Sandro, Samuel Umtiti (€22m) to replace Kaboul whom I let run out his contract, Gabriel Barbosa (€7m), and I managed to get Leon Goretzka (€15m) and Maximilian Meyer (€10m) from the relegated Schalke. Could have gotten Draxler as well for €15m but I didn't really need him so he went to Stuttgart.

[waitsfornone]

How does Lamela do as a F9? I'd be tempted to push one of the centre midfielders in to an AM position and have him there, with two ahead of him. When I play a 3-5-2 I like to have a TM upfront, and I reckon Kane could be developed in to a very useful one.

Lamela does well, even without re-training. I thinik his PPMs suit the role, as he roams a lot. There have been a number of times where he has dropped into the AM position, passed the ball to a winger, and then met the cross in the box for a goal. Also, I might have Eriksen instructed to get further forward, because he usually plays well ahead of Paulinho and Sandro. Bentaleb is a great person on the bench for this tactic as well, he can slot into either BBM or BWM, wheras I don't feel that Dembele does well as BWM.

The midfield is definitely light, but fast attacks out wide can usually bypass central midfield.

Edit: As a note, I am playing a save with Berwick in Scottish League 2 (trying to have the English rule Scotland!) and Spurs won the EPL in the first season. AVB left for ManU and Laudrup came in and took them the rest of the way. As it stands in my second season, Spurs are also at the top of the League. Players of note brought in: Coentrao (S1), Tello (S2), Barkley (S1 Jan), Giovinco (S2)

[Scully11]

Sounds great. How were Tottenham doing when you took over - presumably not very well? Keep us updated, I'll be interested to hear who's still at the club etc.

they finished 6th in the league i think the manager actually left to go to a different club. All the big players were still at the club including Lamela who i managed to get nearly £60mil for from real madrid. I have a specific tactic i use so only certain players fit in the position hence the reason i sold some stars i also dont play wingers so dont have any of them either

[Scully11]

they finished 6th in the league i think the manager actually left to go to a different club. All the big players were still at the club including Lamela who i managed to get nearly £60mil for from real madrid. I have a specific tactic i use so only certain players fit in the position hence the reason i sold some stars i also dont play wingers so dont have any of them either

[enders357]

they finished 6th in the league i think the manager actually left to go to a different club. All the big players were still at the club including Lamela who i managed to get nearly £60mil for from real madrid. I have a specific tactic i use so only certain players fit in the position hence the reason i sold some stars i also dont play wingers so dont have any of them either

How are you getting on?

[Hauler]

I started a completely new game and I won my first season game against Southampton 5-1. Amazing football being played and then I trailed off again with some soft games against mid table opposition. Same tactic didn't want to change success and found my team falter a bit. I'm thinking it could be because of gelling issues, but who knows.

[Scully11]

How are you getting on?

2nd in the league but will probably drop to 3rd when man city play their next game

Im a little concerned about the amound of goals ive conceded but i think that is down to alot of new signings not being properly gelled yet