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Tottenham Hotspur: Building on the Pochettino years

My annual attempt to bring success to my beloved Spurs
Started on 19 November 2019 by LedleyKingsKnee
Latest Reply on 23 November 2019 by ScottT
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Hello, FM Scouters!

Many stories on FM Scout place interesting constraints on mangers - only signing players of their own nationality, only using the clubs youth system, and aiming to win trophies in every continent being a few examples. However, I'll be trying something much more challenging. This year I’ll be turning my annual attempt to bring success to my beloved Tottenham Hotspur into an FM story.

FM2020 brings some unique challenges to Tottenham. Despite successive years of Champions League football, a couple of title challenges, and a glorious new stadium, Pochettino’s reign ended without a trophy.

Recognising that the Champions League final in 2019 was the peak of what his team could reach, the previous incumbent began the arduous process of rebuilding the squad, bringing in Giovanni Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Jack Clarke (who was sent back to Leeds on loan).
However, this rebuild is far from complete, highlighted by the three contract rebels sitting in the squad in the final year of their current deal: Jan Vertonghan, Toby Alderwiereld and Christian Erisken. That should make for some interesting transfer activity this summer...

So what does the Chairman expect of me? I step into Daniel Levy’s office, frankly full of fear that the master negotiator will somehow talk me into giving him my girlfriend and house before I’ve even ask to expand our youth recruitment. Anyway, here goes..



Well that's remarkably reasonable, Daniel! It basically boils down to signing young English players and playing decent football. Fine by me.

How about the 5 year plan?



Again, pretty reasonable, other than expecting to get to the FA Cup final - a bit harsh! It's only preferred though, so if I get Man City in the 3rd round at least its not all over.

Overall, Spurs look like an interesting proposition in this years FM. My own goals for this save:

GOALS

  1. Win the Premier League
  2. Win the Champions League
  3. Win the Treble (PL, CL, FA)
  4. Develop a PL winning first XI team with over 50% players developed at THFC

Good morning FM Scouters,

It's time to delve into Tottenham's squad in this years FM. Let's take a look position by position:

GOALKEEPER

Tottenham have a superb goalkeeper in the form of World Cup winner Hugo Lloris. A sweeper keeper with strong attributes and a Model Citizen personality, Lloris is the current club captain and is more than sufficient for the time being. He is, however, 32 years old, and while goalkeepers can go on for a while, given the high pressing style of football my Tottenham team will play I’ll need to keep an eye on his pace and ability to sweep and be on the look out for a younger option to bring through.

In terms of backup, Paola Gazzaniga is Premier League quality, though his £16.5 million valuation is tempting to cash in on, particularly if I find a young player to bring in cheaply. Hmmm...

We also have Michel Vorm, who was brought back in on a free due to Hugo Lloris’ recent injury. However, in FM2020 Lloris starts the game fit, and so Michel’s £40k a week contract looks pretty wasteful. I’ll flog him ASAP.

Actions: Look out for young prospects, sell Vorm cheaply and perhaps Gazzaniga if a good offer comes in and I've found a young replacement.

DEFENCE

The defence provides probably the most challenging area of the Tottenham squad. Lets run through the players:

RB: Serge Aurier, Kyle Walker-Peters
CB: Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghan, Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Juan Foyth
LB: Danny Rose, Ben Davies, Ryan Sessegnon

There are a few obvious problems. First, Kieran Trippier’s departure to Athletico Madrid was not covered by a replacement in the summer, and Serge Aurier is at best a squad player. Kyle Walker-Peters is a young player who can play multiple positions, and is essentially as good as Aurier, and given the club wants me to bring through youth prospects, is more appealing than Aurier overall. It’s pretty clear we need to strengthen here, maintain Walker-Peters as a backup for now, and move Aurier on ASAP.

The next problem lies in central defence. While Alderwiereld, Vertonghan and Sanchez have enough quality to make a top 4 level defence, the former two are leaving at the end of the season as things stand. If they aren’t willing to sign a new contract, it’s probably best to cash in now. Sanchez is a good player, Foyth is okay, and Dier provides a useful squad option as he covers multiple positions.

On the left-hand side of defence, Rose, Davies and Sessegnon are good enough for now, but I’d sell one of the former two if a good offer came in, and long term I’ll be looking to upgrade here depending how Sessegnon develops. Let’s kick this can down the road if possible..

Actions: New right back, new centre back

MIDFIELD

The midfield is a particularly strong area of Tottenham’s squad. Two new summer recruits have bolstered the centre midfield, while extremely talented players in the more attacking areas provide a threat going forward. Here are our options:

CM: Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks, Victor Wanyama, Moussa Sissoko, Oliver Skipp
AM: Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen, Giovanni Lo Celso,
LW: Son Heung-Min, Erik Lamela
RW: Lucas Moura

We have more than enough talent in central midfield for this season. Our only issues in midfield arise from Christian Eriksen’s likely departure and having only one option for right wing (though most players can play multiple postions).

Interestingly, Son's acceleration seems to have been increased to 17 this year - an overdue upgrade by the Football Manager team. This might make him an interesting option up front if we need to play on the counter against City and Liverpool..

Actions: Sell and replace Eriksen if he doesn’t sign a contract, add a new right winger if there is money left.

STRIKERS

This summer we lost the striker with the greatest hip in world football: Lord Fernando Llorente. However, Harry Kane was always a useful understudy and I have full faith that he can make the step up to the first team.

Okay now seriously, Harry Kane is absolutely world class and my team will be built around getting the best out of him. I’ll be rejecting pretty much any offer, such is the talismanic presence he has at the club, and he’ll probably be my captain.

In terms of backup, we have three options from attacking midfield who can play striker in Dele Alli, Son Heung-Min, and Lucas Moura. However, there is a youth prospect who I’m very interested in giving game time to: Troy Parrott. I think I’m going to take a slight risk here and not sign anyone, instead allowing Parrott and my other versatile squad members to fill in. That is, unless someone is available on loan for the season or on the cheap..

Actions: None!
Good luck with this mate! Always great to take a club you have a connection with to glory ;)
Will be following this, be interesting to see who you bring in to replace the contract rebels!
Love this start, I will be following


Welcome back FM Scouters.

It’s time for our favourite part of any FM save – transfers. Spurs start with a decent transfer budget of £30m and 200k spare in wages. Enough to provide some wiggle room which, combined with outgoings, should let me bring in some interesting players.

In the outgoings column, we have the aforementioned contract rebels, who we will see what we can get for if they refuse to sign. We also have the backup goalkeepers who I’d like to replace with a younger development option. Victor Wanyama starts on the transfer list, but to be honest he’s a decent option and I’m considering keeping him. He’s attracting interest at the moment so let’s see what offers we get. I’d also like to ship on Serge Aurier once we get a good replacement in.

In terms of incomings, my focus is in defence and in particular at centre back and right back. I've scouted a few players to see what they're made of:



My criteria are quick, young players, ideally good on the ball with a lot of potential.

The outstanding candidate for right back is Max Aarons at Norwich as he fits my club vision, looks to be an excellent prospect already capable of playing in the Premier League, and fits the style of football I'd like to play. I start a vicious media campaign to unsettle him, which he seems to respond well to:



I'm less certain at centre back, though I plan to play a high line and could do with someone like Dayot Upamecano's pace. I launch a similar media campaign with him, to which he also reacts well:



OUTGOINGS

With those balls in motion, I move on to the pesky contract rebels. Vertonghen agrees an extension of a year alongside a £11k per week pay cut, though his bonuses for appearances and clean sheets go up - a fair outcome for a 32 year old. Hopefully we can still flog him next summer for something when everything else has settled down more.

Neither Alderweireld or Eriksen are willing to discuss terms, so I set their asking prices and transfer list them. Liverpool immediately come in and trigger Alderweireld's release clause of £25m, shortly followed by Inter - no complaints from me. He choses Liverpool and that's that done.

Manchester United come in with an offer of £51 million + £16m in future fees for Eriksen. That's a decent offer, but obviously I negotiated, and to my astonishment managed to get them to agree to £80m + £10m future fees. £90m for a final year contract rebel is absurd, and I take United's money and run. Levy must be proud.

Weirdly, I get 8 offers of between 1 and 1.5m for a 35 year old Michel Vorm!? Free money, and I get 40k off the wage budget. No brainer. I've taken a look for some cheap, young, talented goalkeepers and Manuel Gasparini seems like the best option, so I put in a low-ball offer and see if I can unsettle him. After a fair bit of haggling we agree £3.5m with some future fees potentially boosting it up to £7.75m, with a £2.9k per week contract - on the high side for someone so young, but I've just shipped 40k off my books and other clubs were circling and I wanted Manuel locked down.

Meanwhile, Wanyama got upset that I rejected an offer of £7m from West Ham (always scrounging for a bargain), and so I decide to sell him to AC Milan for £13m up front with £7m in future fees. Decent business and at least he won't come back to haunt me in the prem.

Unfortunately I fail to unload Serge Aurier as nobody wants to buy him (surprise, surprise).

INCOMINGS

So, how to replace Toby and Christian, and what to do about right back?

I tried incredibly hard to get Dayot Upamecano - an absolutely rapid (18 pace!?) Ball Playing defender, perfect for my style of play - but RB Leipzig won't budge from an £86m price tag, which I can't justify or afford given the other signings I need to make.

I try a few others, including Raphael Varane who appears to be available around the £70m mark, but eventually I go for Ruben Dias from SLB. He's not slow, and is young enough at 22 that I can train him up to be quicker, while already possessing immense power, leadership and general defensive stats. Not my first choice, but a very good second.

A right back, I tried for my first choice Max Aarons, but Norwich were asking for silly money. Instead a scout recommends Nelson Semedo, available for £35m up front with add ons, who I start negotiating with. While checking out the Barcelona squad, however, I notice Moussa Wague, a 20 year old Senegalese RWB who can also play LWB. He's rapid (16 pace, 17 acceleration), and has pretty good all round stats -- a genuine wonderkid as far as I can tell. I sign him for £41m up front, with add ons after league appearances and competition wins taking it higher. It's on the steep side, but given the board want me to sign young players and he's essentially as good as Semedo I think it's worth the extra money.

Next, the most challenging one: replacing Christian Eriksen. There were a few candidates here. James Maddison looks a good player and fits my boards desire for youth and English players. However, when looking at his stats, while decent, I just didn't believe he could replace Eriksen. James Rodriquez is also available on the transfer list at £42.5m, but I worry he's a bit of a mercenary and would ask for wages over £200k, breaking our wage structure. With a heavy heart I decline. Other honourable mentions go to Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek, both of whom I was very tempted by, but I wanted flair and something special in the final third, which I found when my scout turned up Luis Alberto.

I've never come across Alberto in FM before, but his attributes in FM2020 look absolutely outrageous:



Set pieces, flair, passing and vision: for £45m I snap him up.

That leaves one more piece of business before the window shuts. While I want to give Troy Parrott minutes this season, I couldn't help but feel a little short if Kane gets injured, particularly if I'd like a forward to play in a pressing forward role against difficult opposition. I therefore bring in Felipe Caicedo (20 work rate, 20 teamwork, 17 aggression) on loan for a season to kick the shins of defenders while Parrott develops as a proper striker.

SUMMARY

In: Ruben Dias (CB, £52m), Felipe Caicedo (ST, loan), Moussa Wague (RWB, £41m + future fees), Luis Alberto (AM, £45m), Manuel Gasparini (GK, £3.5m + future fees)

Out: Toby Alderweireld (CB, £25m), Christian Eriksen (AM, £80m + future fees), Victor Wanyama (DM, £13m + future fees), Michel Vorm (GK, £1.5m)

Stay tuned as next time I show you my tactical setup and prepare for perhaps the toughest possible opening game of the season: an away trip to Anfield!
Well this is a bit relevant now
1
2019-11-19 20:20#262887 Murray_C11 : Well this is a bit relevant now

I swear to god I had nothing to do with it
Some tidy business conducted in fairness. Good luck here mate!
Poch knows who to blame now! With those movements in the window I am sure he is jealous :D The team is shaping up nicely and I look forward to following this!
Very interesting transfers here, looking forward to seeing how they play out


Welcome back FM scouters,

First, a disclaimer: as far as I'm aware, I had no role in the departure of Maurico Pochettino IRL, though I don't rule out the possibility of my excellent management in preseason catching Levy's eye. My phone is yet to ring though..

Anyway, it's time to get this FM2020 season underway with a challenging trip to Anfield. But first I should take you through the tactics I'm trying to implement.

I'm aiming to play quick, attacking football with a Gegenpress style in defence. Accordingly, and fitting with the players available in the squad, I go for a 4-2-3-1:



However, with an eye on the away trip to Liverpool as the first game of the season, I'm aware I may struggle to press them off the park and so also setup a plan B for these tough away matches. Hoping to keep a fluid style in attack, I opt for a fluid counter-attack:



In the long run I'm hoping not to use this second tactic much, and I'd usually simply start as I mean to go on, but that Liverpool fixture is playing on my mind.

We get good results in preseason, other than a rogue 1-0 loss to Ludogorets, including victories against AC Milan (1-0) and Roma (2-0). Pleasingly our defence, the area I'm most worried about, kept two clean sheets in the these matches, achieved by dominating possession.

However, we did pick up a lot of injuries in preseason, and combined with Son's suspension for the first 2 matches, our summer strengthening still leaves us thin on the ground. Here's how the squad looks going into the Liverpool match, which only increases my trepidation:



MATCH 1: LIVERPOOL V TOTTENHAM, OPENING GAME OF THE SEASON

So we head to Anfield playing our 4-5-1 fluid counter-attacking football, with the following starting lineup:

GK: Lloris
RWB: Wague
CB: Vertonghan
CB: Sanchez
LWB: Rose
DM: Dier
CM: Sissoko
CM: Alberto
RW: Moura
LW: Lamela
ST: Kane

Bench: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Caicedo, Parrott, Winks

Liverpool's team is strong, including recently signed Toby Alderweireld, who starts instead of an injured Virgil Van Dijk.

They line up with: Alisson, TAA, Alderweireld, Gomez, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Henderson, Salah, Lallana (!?), Mane, Firmino. Another rogue selection/signing on the bench for Liverpool: Adnan Januzaj!? Very odd..

After encouraging the players to do it for the fans, to which they respond well, we're off!

Liverpool dominate the first half, probably to be expected given we're trying to play on the break, and we're lucky to go in only one down at half-time, thanks to a Sadio Mane header at the back post. We've defended pretty well all things considered, but offered very little going forward.

I keep things the same until 60 minutes, with the score still at 1-0, before taking off Eric Dier for Tanguy Ndombele, shifting to our Gegenpressing 4-2-3-1 and trying to shift the momentum of the game to nick a result.

We immediately get a highlight and look full of energy, but despite looking much more dangerous for a few minutes, Liverpool break on us and Adam Lallana gets on the end of a Sadio Mane cross to make it 2-0.

It's time to go for broke: off come Moura and Lamela, on come Caicedo and Parrott, and we try going longer. A slightly odd move, but neither Moura or Lamela were offering anything against Liverpool's full backs, and if there is a weakness in the Liverpool defence it's at CB - I try and exploit that by going three up top, while dropping Alberto back to play from deeper.

Despite some good chances, including Caicedo hitting the post after good link up play with Kane and Parrott, Liverpool keep us out and finish the job on 89 minutes with another Mane goal. In truth, we weren't ready for this test so early, and Liverpool deserve to win.

We move on to our next match: at home to West Ham.

MATCH 2: TOTTENHAM V WEST HAM

Buckle up, West Ham are coming to the Tottenham Hostpur stadium. A fiery friday evening fixture awaits as my baptism of fire into the Spurs job continues with a London derby.

This time I play my leading tactic: Gegenpressing 4-2-3-1.

Unfortunately Harry Kane adds to my injury woes by picking up a knock, as does Erik Lamela. It's now a full blown injury crisis, and I'm scraping the barrel for this match. Looking back, that Caicedo loan was a decent move!

Here's how we line up:



Moussa Sissoko on the right wing is less than ideal, but other than that the team is decent. I considered going narrower and bringing Sissoko into central midfield instead, but decided we might need the width to break West Ham down.

I can't even bring myself to bring you detailed commentary of this one. It's a classic FM nightmare match. 58% possession, 29-11 shots, 14-3 shots on target. We dominate the match in every department. Ndombele MOTM making 9 key passes.

However, in truth, I knew what was coming when Luis Alberto missed a penalty 3 mintues in. West Ham sneak a 0-1 win, as Yarmolenko gets free of Danny Rose early in the second half. Alberto goes on to have a 6.0 stinker, and I bring him off at 49 minutes for Lo Celso. Caicedo hits the post again, and I feel well and truly unlucky.

I don't really know what I could have done differently here -- I think I've been a victim of injuries and FM being a troll.

MATCH 3: SHEFFIELD UNITED V TOTTENHAM

I hold faith with my 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress, with Son, Dele and Kane back. I feel I need to give it more of a chance now that our best attacking talents are back.

I line up with: Lloris, Wague, Sanchez, Vertonghan, Rose, Sissoko, Ndombele, Moura, Alberto, Alli and Kane.

They reward my faith with a comfortable win, Kane breaking the deadlock early in the second half and Sissoko finishing the job by knocking in a Caicedo pull back, who came on as Kane tired late on.

We take our 0-2 win and move on to a huge match back home: the visit of Arsenal!

MATCH 4: TOTTENHAM V ARSENAL. THE NORTH LONDON DERBY

Arsenal come into this match top of the league, having beaten Sheff Utd, Everton and Newcastle without conceding a goal. Aubameyang is on fire, scoring 4 in 3 games, and if we lose this I already start to worry about where this is going.

I decide to go for broke: playing counter attack against Liverpool didn't work, and so I stay with my 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress that had given a good performance against West Ham despite an undeserved defeat, and had comfortably beaten Sheffield United.

I line up with:
GK: Lloris
RWB: Wague
CB: Vertonghan
CB: Sanchez
LWB: Rose
CM: Sissoko
CM: Ndombele
RW: Moura
AM: Lo Celso
LW: Alli
ST: Kane

With a bench of: Gazzaniga, Walker-Peters, Alberto, Son, Dier, Winks, Caicedo

In terms of selection, Alberto hasn't performed well yet and the North London derby might be too intense. Though Lo Celso is also new, he hasn't failed yet, so he gets the nod. Son is just returning from a knock he picked up in addition to his suspension, so starts on the bench.

AND SO BEGINS MY FIRST NLD!

It's a very even game, both sides attacking with flair. That is until Lo Celso knocks the ball forward to Kane, who lays it off to Dele Alli, who promptly thumps it past Leno to make it 1-0. A beautiful strike just before half-time - perfect.

A few minutes later, Vertonghan plays a long cross field pass in behind Kolasinac to find Moura in space, who gets the ball across to Dele who nods the ball home. Two goals in three minutes makes it 2-0 before half-time!!

The scoreline hides what has been an even match, with similar numbers of shots, shots on target, and possession. Accordingly I decide to consolidate my lead and go to my 4-5-1 counter, hoping to kill the game and maybe catch them on the break.

The game becomes tight and nervy in the second half, and the minutes wind down until Wague stops Aubameyang on the counter, and after some nice interchange between Sissoko, Kane and Alli, Dele Alli bends another past Leno from 20 yards. A hattrick from Dele, whose clinical finishing has won us the game.

We grind the match down, bringing Winks, Dier and Caicedo on, allowing a short rest for Kane, Lo Celso and Moura. A 3-0 win, though in reality the scoreline flattered us slightly.

When reviewing the stats, we were more clinical than Arsenal, getting more of our shots on target - in large part because of Dele's 3 goals. Dele also finished with a 95% pass completion rate with 3 key passes -- a superb effort. Our defence all had ratings above 7.0 and as a team we won 95% of tackles attempted. New signing Wague in particular caught my eye, looking really lively and dealing with Aubameyang all afternoon.

Overall, a very pleasing result against our bitter rivals, who were sitting top of the league.

So our start to the season looks like this:



An understandable defeat away to Liverpool, followed by a totally maddening loss at home to West Ham. However, an easy win against Sheffield United and a welcome win over Arsenal makes our standing look a little more fair. We rise to 9th, a decent turnaround after a difficult start with some tough fixtures. We're back on track: follow along as next time we visit Chelsea and begin our Champions League campaign.

COYS
A very strong formation choice with a very talented squad. Hope Spurs can NOT emulate real life form, and kick on from here
Much better. A loss to Liverpool is nothing to be too disheartened about, but the manner in which you lost the game was disappointing. After an initially poor start in that respect, you have bounced back well. The victory against Arsenal is an important result in terms of winning over the supporters.


SEPTEMBER 2019

Greetings, FM Scouters,

A little bit of admin: I’ve decided to organise this story by month, just to help you keep track. This post will cover September.

Last time out we started our Premier League season with a mixed set of results: losses away at Liverpool and at home to West Ham, followed by wins away at Sheffield United and home to Arsenal. It left us 9th in the table, and feeling rueful that we couldn’t convert our chances against West Ham.

We received our draw for the Champions League group stage, where ended up in Group C with Lille, Zebre (Juventus of course), and Club Brugge. Juventus will be an interesting test, but we should win home and away against Lille and Brugge and comfortably qualify here.

As September starts, our fixtures are:

Chelsea (A) Premier League
Lille (A) Champions League group stage
Bournemouth (H) Premier League
Manchester City (A) Carabao Cup 3rd round
Manchester United (A) Premier League

A really tough month of fixtures, with away matches against Chelsea, Man City and Man United. I won’t lie, it’s been a relentless start, and by the time September is done we will have played Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United in the league. However, once we are past the United match, our fixtures look favourable until Man City away in the Premier League on 30th November – hopefully a chance to build some momentum.

Interestingly, even though the transfer window has shut, Lille decided to pay us £11.25 + £5m in future fees for Serge Aurier. He’ll leave on Jan 1st – good riddance as far as I’m concerned, especially now that Wague has settled in well. That will knock 70k off my wage budget and provide some funds to bring in some youth players in January, as my board requests.

Okay, onto the fixtures.

MATCH 5: CHELSEA V TOTTENHAM. 3RD LONDON DERBY IN 5 GAMES!

A trip to Stamford Bridge is usually a pretty tough ask. However, new manager Frank Lampard is still learning the ropes, and so Chelsea haven’t had a great start. So far they’ve lost to Liverpool twice (once in the super cup, once away in the Premier League), conceding 7 against them without reply. They also lost 2-1 to a counter attacking Crystal Palace side, though did manage to recover with a 3-0 win against Norwich and a 2-0 win against Wolves.

Chelsea’s loss to Crystal Palace does make me think they will be susceptible on the break, and combined with my success in holding out Arsenal in the second half using my counter attacking 4-5-1, I decide to opt for that strategy from the off in this match.

I therefore line up:



I tell the team to do it for the fans, and we’re off.

I won’t lie, the first half is pretty dull – just as we wanted it to be with out counter attacking strategy. The biggest moment comes after some nice passing around our area, with Willian taking the ball in the box, only to be taken down by a poor and ill-judged challenging by Danny Rose, who seems to a complete liability at left back. Willian steps up to convert, but Lloris makes a really good save – a huge let off!

Chelsea come out brighter in the second half, putting good passing moves together, and get the breakthrough as Azpillcueta switches the play to Marcos Alonso, who drills home from 20 yard past Lloris. A deserved lead, I must admit.

The half goes on, and Chelsea are finding too much space around our penalty area. Kante goes close after one such move, forcing a good save from Lloris.

However, we start clicking more, and our fluid attacking approach is more obvious as we start to attack with more menace. I bring Son on for Alli to try and stretch a tiring Chelsea defence, and after a poor first touch from Azpillcueta following a long ball by Lloris, Son steals the ball and bears down on goal, only to be taken out by Tomori. After consulting VAR, a penalty is given, and Kane has a chance to bring us level – a big moment in a game we’ve not contributed much to. I'm surprised Tomori isn't sent off.

Kane does the business and slots home past Kepa! Chelsea 1, Spurs 1.

A few minutes later, and we have a free kick about 30 yard from goal in a decent crossing position. Luis Alberto clips the ball over the box, it’s partially cleared by Alonso but only as far as Vertonghen, who manages to find Son lingering at the back post. He tucks it home – and we lead 2-1 with 15 minutes left!

Pure tactical genius to bring Son on, of course. He’s responsible for both our goals.

Chelsea lay siege to our goal, and get a breakthrough at 89 minutes – a proper heartbreaker, as Kovacic slams home off the crossbar. That is, until I realise Pedro was offside in the build-up! Another let off!

We hold the ball reasonably well for the rest of the game, and despite there being 7 minutes of extra time (!?), we hold on for the win. An injury to Son on 94 minutes is a pretty major downside though..

A lucky, plucky victory for Spurs, a proper smash and grab job delivered off the bench by Son Heung-Min. A big result!

Result: Chelsea 1 – 2 Tottenham.

Next up, we begin our Champions League campaign away at Lille – a match that is more important than it looks as I'd like to rest players later in the group stages and so want to avoid getting pulled into a dogfight.

MATCH 6: LILLE V TOTTENHAM. BEGINNING OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CAMPAIGN

We head away to France to take on the first Champions League match of my reign. We expect to win this match, so I revert to my 4-2-3-1 and aim to dominate.

I line up with a slightly rotated squad due to injuries and some players needing a rest:

GK: Lloris
DEF: Walker-Peters, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Rose
MID: Winks, Lo Celso, Moura, Alberto, Alli
ST: Kane

Bench: Gazzaniga, Davies, Sissoko, Lamela, Dier, Foyth, Caicedo

In a surprisingly even and scrappy game, despite us dominating possession 59%-41%, Lille cause us some problems at the back, with us both having 9 shots on target. However, a breakthrough on 23 minutes is enough to see us home, with Walker-Peters pulling the ball back to Moura, whose shot is spilled poorly by their goalkeeper Janot. Oh dear…

Not a convincing win, but our Champions League campaign is off to a winning start. I’ll take it.

Result: Lille 0 – 1 Tottenham.

And so back to the Premier League for our home match against Bournemouth.

MATCH 7: TOTTENHAM V BOURNEMOUTH.

Bournemouth have had a mixed start to the season. After a draw against Watford on the opening day, they got a win against Norwich, but lost to Wolves and Southampton before an impressive 1-1 draw at the Ethiad thanks to a Callum Wilson goal on 71 mintues – that result makes me a little nervous. They lined up with a 5-4-1, with Wilson looking to play on the break. The stuff of Tottenham manager nightmares.

Anyway, I decide to have faith that our system can break them down, and opt for my 4-2-3-1 Gegenpress. Some good news on the selection front: Ruben Dias has now recovered from the injury that had kept him out until this point, though Son has yet to recover from his injury against Chelsea.

We therefore start with:



This is one of our most dominant displays so far this season. Over the course of the match, we rack up 63% possession, and register 20 shots. However, Bournemouth’s 5 defenders kept these shots to challenging positions, and so only 4 are on target. At 58 minutes with the scores at 0-0 I decide to make a change, bringing Dele Alli off for Felipe Caicedo, who goes up top alongside Harry Kane, who is now playing as a central Deep lying forward as Caicedo fills in as a pressing forward on the left hand side.

After 10 more minutes, and significant agitation from the manager on the sideline, a Danny Rose cross can only be cleared by Mepham as far as Moussa Wague, whose cross finds Caicedo at the back post to head home. A particularly satisfying goal tactically for me, as I’d left Kane playing as a central striker with Caicedo slightly to the left precisely to try and isolate two of Bournemouth’s 3 centre defenders. It pays off with Caicedo putting us in the lead. It’s also Caicedo’s first goal for the club, which is good to see.

At this point, this goal feels valuable. I make instant changes. Off go Alli and Dier, on come Sissoko and Davies. Rose goes to left midfield, Moura drops back to right midfield, and we play 4-4-2 with two pressing forwards on defend. I tell the players to slow the tempo down and I try go to a possession oriented game, maintaining our press but holding onto the ball to see the game out rather than go for the second.

I live to regret it…

On 89 minutes, just as I think the game is safe, Nathan Ake lumps a ball over our high line to find Callum Wilson, who has drifted free of Ruben Dias. Wilson slots past Lloris, and I’m livid. In hindsight I should probably have dropped my defence deeper, but we had held the ball well until that point and were killing the game off by maintaining possession. It was only their second shot on target all game.

More silly points dropped against average opposition, wasting our good work against Arsenal and Chelsea. Frustrating..

Result: Tottenham 1 – 1 Bournemouth.

My next match is away at Manchester City.

MATCH 8: MANCHESTER CITY V TOTTENHAM. CARABAO CUP.

I’m not much fussed by this match. Away at the Ethiad is about as tough as fixtures get, and this is not a cup the board are judging me on. However, I want to get this team to gel, and so I play a near full strength team. I opt for my counter attacking 4-5-1:

GK: Lloris
DF: Wague, Dias, Vertonghan, Davies
MD: Dier, Alberto, Lo Celso, Moura, Alli
ST: Kane

Desptie City dominating the match in terms of shots and possession, we took the lead through a scrappy Lucas Moura goal, who stole the ball from City's summer signing Savic and slotted into an empty net on 60 minutes. But John Stones equalised with 6 minutes remaining, and the tie went to penalties, which we lost 5-4, with Wague missing the final sudden death penalty. 4 others also missed, which seems to be a theme through FM2020 – there is a very low rate of penalties being converted.

Anyway, we’re out of the cup, which I don’t particularly care about. It’s worthless unless we win it, and so I’d rather go out now than in the semi-final or final after we’ve put our players through more matches.

Result: Manchester City 1 – 1 Tottenham (5-4 on penalties).


Our final September match is also in Manchester, away at Manchester United.

MATCH 9: MANCHESTER UNITED V TOTTENHAM.

This is an interesting test for us. We are similarly positioned in the league, with Man Utd sitting 4th, and us sitting 5th. It’s the kind of match that if we can get something from, we should be well setup for the season. It also sees me face up against our former midfield maestro, Christian Eriksen.

I decide that United are to be respected. Despite a 4-0 loss to City away from home and a 4-1 defeat to Wolves away, United have a 100% home record and have scored 3 or more in every other match. Also, Wolves got their result by playing on the break, whereas Leicester we’re easily despatched trying to play good football. Away from home, I decide to setup for the counter with my 4-5-1 formation. I line up with:

GK: Lloris
DF: Wague, Dias, Vertonghan, Rose
MD: Dier, Alberto, Lo Celso, Moura, Alli
ST: Kane

Son is unfortunately still out, and as we are playing deep I decide to leave Sanchez’s pace on the bench and favour Vertonghen’s experience at the back.

And so we begin another tough fixture. United start brightly, controlling possession, until the ball was passed into Rashford in the box, who slides it to Eriksen to finish from around the penalty spot. A good finish, annoyingly, and it felt inevitable that Eriksen would score against us. 17 minutes in and our counter attacking strategy is in trouble.

United dominate possession, but struggle to convert into chances. We respond in the second half with a goal of our own. Some good work down the right by Moura stretched United’s defence, and he then found Alberto in space on the edge of the area, who picked a good out for Lo Celso to drive home.

We grind the rest of the game out – including with subbing on Sissoko to play right wing as a more defensive option - and gain a hard-fought draw at Old Trafford, despite only having 38% possession. We become the first team to take something there all season – a reasonable return.

Result: Manchester United 1 – 1 Tottenham.

The result sees us drop to 8th, but that doesn’t concern me too much. The September results in full:



We have a favourable run of fixtures in October, with us home to Brighton and Newcastle, and an away trip to Burnley. We also continue our Champions League campaign at home to Juventus – join me next time to see how it turns out.

COYS

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