Tottenham Small guide or how I won the Premier League

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Hello!

Whether you support the Spurs like I do, or any other team, after many hours playing FM (too many according to too many :) ) I finally managed to win the Premier League, and I thought of showing off a bit.

First of all, I have to say I am a bit of a cheater, because I am currently playing the updated version of FM 2013, with Holtby already in, so I brought back Gomes and Danny Rose to WHL through unorthodox means (6)

Players out: Friedel, Bentley and Gallas (although I kept him the season I managed to win the championship, but he was not a decisive factor)
Players in: Ayew brothers, for 15 and 12 mil pounds, and Subotic for 8.5 mil. It is a mistery to me how a defender like that could cost so little. Anyway, works for me.

Tactics:
- I use 3 tactics based on 3 types of games; the kind of games I would throw myself over the window if I lose (Swansea, Southampton, etc), the kind of games I am not sure of (Everton, Fulham, Newcastle), and the kind of games I would drink for a week if I win them (Manchester Utd, City, Chelsea, Arsenal).
- deep defence, or normal defence very close to deep. Never played push-up or plain normal, even when I played against lower clubs. Always deep, because I do not like opposite strikers getting too much space in the box. The box is mine.
- cover/stopper partnership seems to work marvellous, with the more technical player on cover duty. Subotic, for instance, makes an embarassing cover but a great stopper. Vertonghen and Kaboul are suited for the cover duty like no other.
- zonal marking always, I never got along with the offside trap.
- I used drill crossing when playing with Defoe and Jordan Ayew, float crosses when Adebayor was in.

Player instructions:
- GK: passes always set on Direct, and distribution on Long Kick. I do not like to see the goalkeeper having a good time with the ball around the box. And never use a SK, because when did, I sow both Lloris and Gomes acting as if they were high.
- CB: mentality always set on Defensive, and creativity Low for the stopper, normal for the cover but closer to Low
- FB: never felt the need to change anything from the default mode
- Libero: mentality and creativity both Normal
- DM: when playing the 3-6-1 tactics, with 2 stoppers and a libero, and against higher rated teams, I set hit tackling to Hard. Let us break some legs!
- AP or the creative midfielder: always set him to Move into Channels and Run from Deep to Often
- Wingers and IF: a little bit more creative freedom than the default mode allows
- Striker: depends on the tactic, but usually I only change his mentality or creative freedom

Players:
- the game basically tells you the best position you should put each player, you only have to adapt that to every game that comes around. For example, I played with Sandro as a DM or an Anchor Man, usually when playing away and alongside with Walker, Bale and Lennon, fast players capable of getting the ball forward without much help from the middle. Huddlestone as a DLP, set on Defend, and usually when the tempo was slower, alongside with Dempsey or Sigurdsson.
- the best position I found for Dembele was Advanced Playmaker, in the middle, near a BWM. Move into channels and Run from Deep set to Often.
- I used Holtby as an alternative for Dembele, although I would have loved him more advanced, but since there was a total lack of creative midfilders in the centre.... (the most suitable substitute that I found for Dembele in the middle is Sergio Tejera, bought for 4 mil, but unfortunately there was no room for him in the Premier League winning team that season)
- most of the time, I used Bale, Lennon and Andre Ayew as wingers
- Sigurdsson played 90% of his games as an IF on the right side
- very seldom I played both advanced midfielders on attack duty. If I had Bale as a Winger on the left side set on Attack, Sigurdsson or Dempsey on the right side would have been set on Support. And by the way, Dempsey plays very well as a DLF with a support duty alongside any striker.
- usually, avoid having players working in pairs with the same duties and the same instructions. For example, the stopper/cover pair instead of having both CB”s as Central Defenders and both with simple Defend duty. If you are playing with 2 central midfielders, it won”t work properly having them both as BWM or BBM. Not to mention if you are playing with 2 strikers both with the same role and duty.
- I also pay attention on the ability of the players to use their feet. Technically speaking, when using a BWM and a BBM in the centre, it should make no difference if you use the BWM as a MCR or MCL. But since Dembele shoots and passes better with the right foot, I would use him as a MCR rather than MCL. Huddlestone is reasonable with his left foot, Sandro is weak. Ans so on. Defenders with a weak left foot should not be played as a CBL as far as I noticed. Somehow, it is obvious even in real games.

Staff:
Do not disregard the staff importance. My screen shots show my personal choice for the right staff, but no matter which team you are managing and what coaches you like, keep a balance between their attributes. For example, if you are allowed to have 8 coaches, find 2 with high attributes on Attacking, 2 with high attributes on Defence, 2 for Tactics, 2 for Technical Coaching (Ball Control and Shooting). Eva Carneiro is worthless as a physio, but still......;)

Profile:
Never, under no circumstances, fooled by no one, under any kind of bribe temptation, do not set yourself anything else than International Footballer. Once, I set myself as a Sunday League Player and my players had their morale closer to Abysmal and I was getting my **** kicked by everybody. If you are managing an English team and you are not British, setting English as a second nationality is also a great idea because of the language issue. My case for example.

Training:
During the pre-season, I keep General Taining on Team Cohesion, Match Training on Teamwork, Weekly focus on Team Cohesion, and Match Focus also on Teamwork. Intensity set on Very High. And less Match Preparation
Once the season begins, I change the General Training to Balanced, I alternate the Match Training from Attacking Set Pieces to Defending Set pieces, Weekly focus and Match Focus depending on the opposition. And the intensity lowered a bit, High or Average.

As for the Set Pieces, I never made anything extraordinary out of them, I was always average, with a plus when defending. I managed to get the most out of Corners when I set them to 6 Yard Box.

I alway keep my tactics on Balanced for the first part of the season, then I change to Fluid. Except the 3-6-1 tactic which is meant to stay Rigid.

PS: sorry for my English and also I appologise if I misspelled some words. Hope this was helpful! And good luck!
 
Last edited:
I forgot to post the screen shot with Tottenham lying on 1st position, you will have to take my word for it. :D
 
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