The Main Story
Last season didn’t end the way I wanted it to with our form severely dipping due to a lack of any prolific goal-scorer. When the pre-season Transfer Window came around, I knew this is exactly the type of player I needed to purchase. I delved into the Scouting tab and searched for a player with some pace, acceleration, who could finish and could dribble past players if needed. I searched high and wide, but with a transfer budget of £30m, I struggled to find that player that I felt could take us into Europe and keep us there. Last season’s Strikers (Kane, Soldado & Adebayor) showed me that I severely lacked any pace when it came to the final man on the ball, therefore I set my initial attributes to Pace:15, Acceleration:15, this was the base stat that I wanted my new Striker to have. Next was the obvious addition of the ability to Finish as there were countless times last season where Harry Kane, Soldado or Adebayor would miss absolute sitters when any Striker with some real confidence or real finishing prowess would put them in the back of the net with ease.
Eventually, I came across the answers to all my prayers in the form of Carlos Vela, he appears to have the perfect attributes for what I’m looking at. He can dribble, finish, has fair amount of pace and incredible Technique which is something I feel is something that makes for an exciting player along with high flair which he also has! I genuinely feel he can be the player who starts getting me the 20 goals minimum a season that I require.
Two Brilliant Frees
The other interesting stories in my transfer dealings are the brilliant contract-free captures of Andre Ayew and Ibrahim Affelay. I’m sure anyone reading these has heard of both of those players. Affelay, a player who had potential but could never squeeze into arguably one of the best domestic Barcelona teams in history. Andre Ayew, arguably the better of the two Ayew brothers who Arsenal always signed in the two previous Football Managers.
Both players have speed and good dribbling skills, fitting them perfectly into my winger positions that I currently have Lamela and Depay playing. However, both will struggle to make first team appearances with arguably my two best performers last season playing in those respective positions. Therefore, as it stands, Ayew and Affray will be used as rotational substitutes throughout Cup Games and as back-up to the aforementioened characters. However, a massive positive to Andre Ayew is that he is worth £25m despite not costing me a penny which is something that screams profit to me, even if we gets a few games he should retain such a price, selling for £20m minimum if he isn’t a player that benefits my team.
The Exciting Youngster
My only other incoming transfer before the season properly gets underway is one that anyone who has played Fifa 15 or FM15 at all this year will know. Your Tielemans, an incredibly young midfield playmaker who screams potential with incredible passing, vision, technique, speed and dribbling skills. What excited me was the price I managed to get him at, due to his age, I managed to grab him for £7.5m which is an absolute steal considering that potentially by the time he’s 20, he could be one of the best midfielders in not only the Premier League, but the world with his attributes going up a couple of points almost definitely if he gets first team football!
Sales
The main sales throughout my pre-season period were the sale of Nacer Chadli (Napoli - £6.5m), Vlad Chiriches (PSG - £13.25m) and Harry Kane (Leicester City - £6.75m). These are quite interesting sales and some of you may question my choices. However, if you go over my purchases, you’ll realise my choices.
The sale of Harry Kane was to add funds to be able to afford Vela, simply put; I still have Soldado and Adebayor as back up Strikers in case Vela needs a break or gets injured.
Chiriches wasn’t getting much first-team action and I thought the sale of £13.25 was a nice amount of money to receive for him, especially with Balanta, Kaboul, Dedé, Eric Dier and even Stambouli who can all still play in that central defensive role.
Chadly was a player that never really worked for me, and I felt that the additional funds from his rather pricey contract and from his transfer would allow me to bring in some other players now and then throughout January also.
Going Forward
Throughout the season I expect my players to feel more comfortable in the formation I’ve chosen, which I realised I didn’t mention in my previous posts. It’s a 4-1-1-3-1 formation which really takes advantage of not only the players we have, but the attacking philosophy I’ve adopted as well.
I have a strong feeling that Vela will be the player I’ve been looking for to get my 20-30 goals in a season. Along with that, Depay, Eriksen, Lamela, Tielemans, Balanta and other players all have more room to improve as players and gel together over the season which I’m excited to see.
In summary, I want to see more gelling from the team and a faster style of football, with Vela causing some real excitement when it comes to the striking department on my part, I feel I have a team here could really challenge for Europe and a team, with a few more player (next season signings) could push for the top of the Premier League and Champions League football!
This has been my summary of the pre-season going into my second season as Tottenham manager, hoping to improve in nearly every area and hoping to really continue on to a LONG career as a manager for a team with such incredibly exciting potential!
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