Tottenham Embargo FC: a Spurs fan story

[Linecoigne1998]

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Welcome to my last FM18 story!
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With my Reviving sleeping giants (chapter 2): Aston Villa story soon coming to an end, I thought I would start one final story, one that I knew I wouldn't get bored of and that I would keep playing for next 2 months until the release of FM19. Enter my favourite team, Tottenham Hotspur. I've been supporting Spurs for as long as I can remember and just like many Tottenham fans, whether that's on this forum or just in general, I wasn't the only one disappointed that the club did not make a single signing for the first time ever since the introduction of the summer transfer window in 2003.

With that, what is the premise and challenge of this story? Well, it'll be pretty self-explanatory from the title! I cannot make a single signing, ever. Loans, frees, permanent transfers, no transfer of any kind allowed! I'll have to rely on the Spurs youth sides, whatever prospects come from it in the next few years and just pray that it gets me over the line as Spurs boss! I don't think anyone needs a club introduction for Tottenham or what the stadium is like or anything, so I'll just jump straight into it, with all the new transfers done as well. Just before that though, meet the man who will have to take Spurs to glory without any transfers at all: George Moore.

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A 30-year old born in London who's spent his whole life in North East London, the man comes in and gets a big salary of £51,000 a week for the next year. Nevertheless, Moore loves to keep possession of the ball and utilise his full backs more as wingers than anything else. With the squad available to him now, he'll need to take Spurs to hopefully a first Premier League title in a long time and maybe even some European glory (quick info, the screenshot was taken with the database started in May 2018 but that didn't work very well, so I have restarted with Moore being a 29-year old, with his contract running until 2018. Promotions and transfers are all up to date!)

I hope you'll enjoy reading as much as I'll enjoy writing this story! (also for those of you who read my Villa story, this will be run side by side with it! I've decided to move on from my Back to the Future challenge as I wasn't having fun with it and will look to start that up again for the next FM).

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Good luck with this, keeping your current players happy will be key as well as making sure your youngster get the right loan moves to help them develop.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

This will be a very difficult challenge so I'm looking forward to seeing how you do! Good luck!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Good luck with this, keeping your current players happy will be key as well as making sure your youngster get the right loan moves to help them develop.

Cheers mate, making sure the youth team and youth facilities are all on point will definitely be the key to this challenge!

This will be a very difficult challenge so I'm looking forward to seeing how you do! Good luck!

Cheers mate, feels nice to have just the one rule for a challenge for once but it should make this one difficult enough still!

 

[djs1]

nice idea mate will be following keenly.As a united fan im tempted to try a similar save as havent managed them this year although not sure i can resist a transfer or two haha.maybe give myself the rule of only signing 1 high profile player season to replace a current first team player.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

nice idea mate will be following keenly.As a united fan im tempted to try a similar save as havent managed them this year although not sure i can resist a transfer or two haha.maybe give myself the rule of only signing 1 high profile player season to replace a current first team player.

I've started pre-season already and with a budget of about £40 million I've definitely been tempted to make a signing! I guess that's why we call it a challenge good luck if you end up doing this with United considering their resources!

 

[djs1]

I've started pre-season already and with a budget of about £40 million I've definitely been tempted to make a signing! I guess that's why we call it a challenge good luck if you end up doing this with United considering their resources!

yeah i think thats why i havent had a utd save for so long as like you say they can sign anyone and the squad is so good in-game that i could probably not sign anyone for years and still be winning things.maybe i will continue with my nantes save

 

[coolmcool]

Similar sort of thing to what i am doing with Barcelona trying to promote the youth and not sign anyone, hardest thing i am finding is those sort of squad players in their mid twenties whether or not to keep them or not, say Andre Gomes around 25 doesnt get a game at the moment with Rakitic and Iniesta in the side but both are the wrong side of 30 and i might be needing him in a few seasons even more but hes not happy being on the bench, and when a youth player from your own academy does well you do have a little extra sense of achievement! Looking forward to your one!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Similar sort of thing to what i am doing with Barcelona trying to promote the youth and not sign anyone, hardest thing i am finding is those sort of squad players in their mid twenties whether or not to keep them or not, say Andre Gomes around 25 doesnt get a game at the moment with Rakitic and Iniesta in the side but both are the wrong side of 30 and i might be needing him in a few seasons even more but hes not happy being on the bench, and when a youth player from your own academy does well you do have a little extra sense of achievement! Looking forward to your one!

Been following your Barcelona one yes and it's been a great read! Might be a little more difficult with Tottenham considering their youth academy is nothing like La Masia but oh well! And I know what you mean, I have the same issue with Janssen and Llorente right now. They're not exactly great players, but at the same time I get nothing out of selling them since I can't spend any money and I'm better off keeping them as backups if Kane get injured!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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2017/18 pre-season

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Hey everyone, George Moore here. This will be my very first update as Tottenham manager and well, it's a packed one! With 5 wins from 5 games, we quite clearly had a very decent pre-season with a tour in China over July and early August. I wasn't there for the club's first friendly against Excelsior but we got a win then, which is always nice. Son, Kane and Alli had great pre-seasons and I'm hoping they'll carry this form into my first season as manager.

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Here is not only the system I'll be looking to use this season but also most likely the starting 11 I'll use. That starting lineup will definitely change based on performances and injuries, but it's good to have a base lineup to start off with. To explain the system a little bit: the two centre-halves in Alderweireld and Vertonghen are both CD on defence. This means they'll just be centre-backs, nothing else. No fancy passing centre-backs, just two great central defenders. On the right, Trippier/Aurier is a full-back on attack in order to help whoever will be playing right midfielder. For now it's Lucas, but Lamela or Alli could end up playing there later in the season as well. As a full-back, Trippier will be running up and down the pitch acting effectively as a second winger down the right and with the attack mentality, we'll be able to use his amazing crossing ability further up the pitch. Davies will do the same on the left but will support Son instead, not looking to create any overlaps due to the huge gap between the two players. As a deep-lying playmaker I currently have Dier, who can pass the ball from deep while acting as a bit of a 3rd centre-back just in the middle of Vertonghen and Alderweireld. Wanyama is a Segundo Volante, who'll be dropping in space in the middle of midfield and also supporting Eriksen in the middle of the pitch. The last 3 players and roles are all pretty straightforward, with Son cutting in as an inside forward due to his incredible finishing and Kane as a target man due to his physicality and the overall physical prowess of the other strikers at the club. Having those two deeper midfielders will allow us to pass from the back and keep most of the possession of the ball.

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A few injury news as Alderweireld, Sissoko and Dier all get injured in early August which means they'll miss the start of the season and therefore our Premier League opener against Manchester United. It's a huge blow, especially given two of these players are first team players but we'll just have to do without I guess...

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Two players go out on loan just before the season starts, as I'm looking to develop these younger players to be able to use them in a few years when the core of our current teams gets a little older. Nkoudou could be a great player in the future so he's been loaned out to Watford to test himself against Premier League opposition, while the loan for Luke Amos has mostly been made to get him some first team football.

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Harry Kane gets the player of the pre-season for some amazing performances over the 5 games he played in throughout the summer. With 8 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, he looks ready to go and looks like he will be one of the most important players in this team for this season and the many more to come after that (if I'm still in charge that is...).

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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August 2017
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The expectations from the board can be seen above. A top 4 finish in the league seems doable with the squad available to me right now, same can be said for the Champions League. An FA Cup final could prove to be a little trickier though, so hopefully they're not placing too much importance on that. Our untouched transfer budget goes up to £50 million from an initial £40 million after telling the board that I believed we could manage a top 4 finish instead of a top 6 finish in the league.

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We didn't have the best opening game ever, losing at Wembley against Manchester United. It was 2-0 at half time and to be honest, I've not built enough of a reputation here yet that the players would listen to me at half time and be roaring to go like they would with Zidane or Sir Alex Ferguson. A 3-1 defeat at home is how we start off our season, Burnley away is up next though (it won't be covered in detail however, since the last game of August is against Chelsea and that's clearly a much bigger game!).

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What a way to end August! And Kane scores in August, how about that?! We absolutely obliterated Sarri's Chelsea side statistically, only managing to score 2 goals but keeping a clean sheet, which is fantastic. I'm really proud of the lads for their performance tonight and this month overall and can't wait to see what the future holds now.

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How fitting that just a couple hours after the real life Champions League draw saw Spurs drawn against Barcelona in the group stages, the same happens to use here?! Barcelona are huge favourites to win the whole competition for sure, so let's just say it won't be an easy campaign throughout the group stages. Sporting are also a great side who could cause us some problems however, while Anderlecht will most likely be our easiest set of games in the group.

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Five more youth players go out on loan, once again with the objective of getting some first team football and improve for when we eventually need them! Most of these young lads have been sent to clubs where they'll have a chance to develop and I'll definitely keep a close eye on them while they're gone for the season.

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Most teams in the league have only played 2 games but after 3 games played ourselves, we find ourselves in 1st place which is just great. We had a pretty bad start to the season against United and I was worried it might have a big impact on our other results but clearly not as we find ourselves top after 3 games.

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Davinson Sánchez is the man earning the Spurs player of the month for August! After some very decent performances in the league in our 3 games (other than a pretty average game against United), the Colombian has announced himself as one of our best defenders at the club and it will definitely give me something to think about when I have to decide playing him or Alderweireld once he comes back from his injury!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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September 2017

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What a world-class performance from the lads once again at home but this time against Manchester City! Arguably, on paper, the best team in the league, it was always going to be a tough game but a commanding performance from us earns us 3 points, thanks to Harry Kane who scored the only goal of the game in the 72nd minute. It was a close one but I'm so happy we did so well.

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A great first match in the Champions League for us against the weakest opponent in the group. Kane could've grabbed a hat-trick had he not missed a penalty in the 43rd minute but it was thanks to Eriksen that we played so well and got such a great result to open up our account in the Champions League this season.

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Kane continues his incredible season with a great hat-trick in the Champions League to take his tally to 5 goals in 2 games before our next CL game against FC Barcelona. What a month he's had so far! We had a few disappointing results in the league where he didn't necessarily turn up but he was still great overall.

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Toby gets a brand new contract which sees him more than double his wage. At 29, he's definitely on the older side but he's a world-class centre-back who definitely deserves a new contract for his good performances with us so far. It is a bit worrying that he has a £60 million release clause in there though considering his value is £52 million right now and could increase even more if he has a great season...

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With defeats against Wolves and Bournemouth this month, we only sit in 7th which is a little disappointing. It's still early days so we have time to turn things around but we're really going to have to turn up a little bit against those weaker teams. In the Champions League, our upcoming game against Barcelona will probably be the decider for 1st and 2nd place in the group so I definitely hope we can get a decent result against them.

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Another great month for Kane who earns the Spurs player of the month for September. With 7 goals and 2 assists, he takes his tally to 10 goals and 2 assists in 10 games. A very decent record which will hopefully get better and better!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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October 2017

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Our first game to highlight was a very important one against Barcelona in the Champions League and well, it's fair to say we crumbled a little bit. With Sporting winning their game against Anderlecht, the battle we're involved in might not be 1st and 2nd but 2nd and 3rd with Sporting!

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A very underwhelming performance overall. We get the win on penalties which puts us through to the Carabao Cup quarter-finals but let's just say I want to see more from this team, especially given the quality of players we have in the attack!

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The next round of the Carabao Cup will see us face Arsenal so this was a perfect way to test ourselves against the Gunners and I'm really proud to say that my first North London Derby was a successful one! Arsenal did have more chances and probably deserved a draw from the game but our good defensive performance and Lloris' prowess in goal have given us 3 points instead of 1, which I'll definitely take!

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We end October on a pretty positive note with a win against Arsenal and a draw against Barcelona! It does mean that with a win against Anderlecht, we should/could be through to the next round and I sure as **** hope we can manage that.

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Our league form in October was, to say the least, abysmal. A defeat against Watford, a draw with West Ham and a win against Arsenal is definitely not good enough and as a result, we find ourselves in 8th after 10 games already. We need to be doing better and I certainly hope a little team meeting before November starts will help us pick things up again. In the Champions League, we should definitely be expecting to finish 2nd if we're going to make it out of the group, although looking at Sporting going down to the Europa League might prove to be a big problem!

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No one particularly stood out in October as our best player in the team, but Eric was quite decent and earns the Spurs player of the month for October. I definitely hope to see Harry start scoring goals again as he's completely let us down this month but I guess we'll see how things go...

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Solid start, KIU

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Solid start, KIU

Cheers mate, have to say my manager reputation has been a big problem so far since every time we lose a game the players start to say it's my fault but hey, that's the challenge I guess! XD

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November 2017

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A really disappointing game against Anderlecht away from home, and one that could prove to be a big issue as we face Sporting in our last game. They drew against Barcelona in their match which means that a bad result against the Portuguese side would put us down in the Europa League!

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This was the other big game of the month for us. Everton have a great manager in Silva and some great players in Mina, Richarlison and more. I was a little worried and rightly so! We just about came away with the 3-2 win thanks to a brace from our main man Harry Kane but it really was a close one.

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That's really not what I would've wanted at the start of November. We ended up doing pretty well with Vorm in goal considering our starting keeper Hugo was out but I can't wait for him to come back. The difference that a decent keeper and a world-class keeper makes in goal is huge and it showed this month I think.

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Some fantastic contract news for us as Christian and Dele both sign new contracts keeping them at the club for the next 5 years. With a huge transfer budget that will not be spent, we can use all that money to boost our wage budget and therefore really satisfy contract demands from the players so that's just great news. These two are some of the best midfielders in the league and I'm glad we'll get to keep them for a little while longer.

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As much as I'd like to say that we had a decent month, we also faced some very weak teams. Fulham, Southampton, Cardiff and Everton are all in the second half of the table and Anderlecht are bottom of our Champions League group, so November really was nothing special in the end. I'm hoping we'll pick up some form in December where we'll play some huge games and hopefully continue climbing the table to maybe make it to a top 3 finish in the league?

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Harry was finally back in the goals after a pretty dry month in October, scoring 6 goals and making 2 assists in 5 games. Not bad at all. With some big fixtures against Liverpool, Leicester and Manchester United in the league on top of Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, let's hope he can repeat this month's form then to get us some much needed points.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Good to see Kane back in the goals! I feel he is going to be absolutely key for you for years to come!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

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December 2017
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Fair to say we've done well to get out of that one... We dominated the game but all Sporting would've needed was one goal, so we definitely got away with one there. The draw puts us in 2nd in the group and through to the next round where we'll face a group winner so it should be interesting to see who we do face.

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Well then, Juventus it is! After getting knocked out of the Champions League by Juventus in real life last season, we'll be facing them as well in 2018! Should be a very interesting matchup, especially considering they have Cristiano Ronaldo in their side now. We could be in trouble...

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I'll take a 2-2 draw away at Anfield! With Keita and Fabinho in the midfield and Alisson in goal, Liverpool are a great side who are incredibly dangerous up front so to have scored twice and be drawing 2-2 is fantastic. A point against such a good side is better than nothing for sure.

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What a win!!! A world class performance at Wembley sees us beat our North London rivals 2-0 to go through to the semi-final, where we'll face Chelsea. Kane was the star man yet again as he's finally started to get scoring again and is picking up the same kind of form he had a few months ago!

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What a win away from home! Old Trafford is never an easy place to get points from but we get all 3 tonight as we beat United 3-2, despite conceding after just one minute... This really is a great way to end 2017 and get ready for 2018 now as we continue to try to break in the top 3.

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With a total of 4 first team injuries this month, let's just say the medical staff at Hotspur Way will a little busy for the next few weeks. Son hasn't had incredible performances as of yet but Kane has been crucial and he'll miss the start of 2018 because of this injury. Dembele and Vertonghen are already back since they got injured in early December but won't be 100% so our first few games in 2018 could be really tough.

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Despite some disappointing games against Burnley, Crystal Palace, and Brighton, we stay in 4th going into the New Year with a Champions League spot. That is unless Liverpool win their game in hand of course, but I think we can basically say we're in the top 4 for now and even if we're not, it would be by just a point. Bring on 2018 now and let's make this a season to remember!

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No one really stood out as a top performer this month except for Toby. He was by far one of the most consistent performers this month and definitely deserves the Spurs player of the month for December. The fact that he had such great games against United and Arsenal are definitely two of the main reasons why he got the award this month.

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Good to see Kane back in the goals! I feel he is going to be absolutely key for you for years to come!

I hope so! Real Madrid are already interested in him so as long as I can satisfy his wage and trophy demands, we should be good!

 

[coolmcool]

I hope so! Real Madrid are already interested in him so as long as I can satisfy his wage and trophy demands, we should be good!

Hes just joined Real Madrid for £117Million in the start of the second season on my Barca save

 

[Klippybo]

Loving it