After three wins from our opening four games (the other a pithy draw with Fulham), I was excited about what the season ahead would hold. Much like real life, although much more quickly, things inevitably came crashing down after that initial high. How? Well…

Setting up Angeventure Ball

As I set out previously, the aim was never to fully replicate “Angeball”, a decision I made for twosimple reasons:

I’m not good enough at FM to do tactical replications;
I’m not even sure it’s actually possible to replicate how Spurs are supposed to play under Ange in FM.

I did promise to implement some small features of how Ange’s Spurs set up. A ridiculously high line, an intention to win the ball back high up the pitch and two inverted wingbacks crowding out the middle of the pitch.

The Entertainers vol. 2

Three wins from the opening four was left behind and we were left with one win from the next fourteen. That’s one cup exit and seven draws to accumulate a total of 10 points from a possible 39. Job security? Insecure, to say the least.

We were no sooner away from our spared blushes in the Carabao Cup against Wycombe before a trip to Everton decided to bring those very blushes out. Son’s first half goal came as Spurs looked like they were overplaying it slightly on the edge of the opposition’s box before the Captain received it on the penalty spot and fired home.
Everton’s 90+3 minute equaliser could well have been clipped straight from Spurs IRL. Vicario’s short pass to Van de Ven is mis-controlled and Dominic Calvet-Lewin capitalises to share the points.

Creditable draws at home to Man City and away to an overachieving West Ham followed before Fulham unceremoniously dumped us out of the Carabao Cup in the Third Round. The Cottagers were 3-0 up with just 18 minutes on the clock, putting a 4th in just after half time before Udogie and Lo Celso made the result look not just half as disastrous. Leno’s long ball forward, knocked down by Andreas Pereira to Bobby Decordova-Reid who found Raúl Jiminez running free in behind a massively broken backline. PURE ANGEBALL IN MOTION!

We picked ourselves up and went again. Bouncing back incredibly to set Crystal Palace aside without much hassle. Just when I thought it might be the revival - back to back defeats ensue. Sheffield United had their first appointment of the year with Dr Tottenham before Aston Villa came to town. With Villa winning by a solitary goal, Spurs were pushing hard for the equaliser - somehow managing to find themselves missing three glorious opportunities in the space of 10 seconds in the dying minutes of normal time.

“What a game for the neutral, though” as Spurs throw away a two-goal lead only to have to salvage a draw with goals in the 80th and 87th minute against Luton Town. Brighton’s three goal lead was cut to just one with a second half Spurs fightback before Spurs yet again throw a two-goal lead away from home as Wolves come back to draw 2-2. Nélson Semedo coming in totally unmarked at the back post - it’s a Destiny Udogie defending masterclass!!

You’d think it can only get better from here - but you’d be wrong. A late fight back secures a point at home to Nottm Forest after going 2-0 down. 3-0 down away to Brentford before the three goal comeback got a point. The Brentford game’s only notable point for me being that the Spurs goals came on 55’, 66’ and 77’. Spurs were again 2-0 down against bloody Burnley before Kulusevski pulled a goal back, Son then bringing it back to 3-2 from 3-1. Finishing off this round up on the 9th December - the day before my birthday - Spurs went down by a goal to Newcastle with barely a whimper.

After 16 games, we sit in 12th (by some miracle). Closer to relegation than Europe. Having lost in the league to three of the bottom five and drawing with the other two. We’re out of the Carabao Cup. Chelsea to come in January in the FA Cup. 16 league games is a curious time to stop, isn’t it?

Oh, how things can change over the course of thirteen months! When I started writing my FM24 save with Linfield, I was still enjoying the honeymoon period with Ange Postecoglou. It had been just three weeks since the infamous Chelsea implosion that started the rollercoaster (or the latest one) that Spurs fans have been on over the last year.

For those who may be interested, after being sacked following my third success ridden season with Linfield, I somehow snagged the Blackburn job in the EFL Championship. A few near misses at promotion allowed me the chance at struggling West Ham. Another few seasons building a squad there finally led me on to a Liverpool who were dangling in mid-table. Over a decade later and I’ve won everything there possibly is to win, including going within one game of completing the 7 trophy clean sweep… but that won’t be blogged because how many times can anyone really read the story of “FMer goes on to be an undisputed success in England”?!

Anyway - skip to December 2024 (time of writing) and Ange is well and truly on the ropes. What was a welcome breath of fresh air at the start has become noticed as leaving the door lying wide open and letting all the heat out of the house. Numerous collapses from seemingly comfortable positions, an embarrassing loss to previously winless Ipswich and ever more prickly press conferences have brought us to what feels like a real tipping point in Ange’s reign. Accusations of naivety and arrogance have been met with crows about an unwavering philosophy.

In Ange’s defence, Spurs have suffered from terrible luck with player availability due to injuries and suspensions. As a rebuttal to that, the manager’s refusal to rotate when available, baffling substitutions and general refusal to work more pragmatically with what’s available has not helped his cause.

Which leads me to FM. Had it not been for FM25 being MIA, I wouldn’t even be considering this save. The premise is simple - can I do better than Ange Postocoglou?

The Ange Yardstick

Matching him in the cups is a bit of a given, the league position should really be within my reach too.

Of course, I could simply load up the game, snap up all the best players (keep Harry Kane!) and I’d no doubt be hoisting myself above the Greek-Aussie in the manager’s hall of fame list. So there has to be some sort of leveller(s):

Real-Life transfers: I’ll be playing with the real-life mode. Starting in July 2023 and seeing the real life transfers for that season take place. E.g. Kane leaves for Bayern on 12th August while Werner and Dragusin join Spurs in January. I’ll also look to fulfil similar transfers for the 2024/25 season where the game allows.
Some Tactical Likenesses: this won’t be a tactical replication, however, I will adopt some of the familiarities of “ANGEBALL” - a ridiculously high line, nonsensical double Inverted Wingbacks and more than likely a general disregard for marking at defensive set pieces.

Below you can see the Club Culture that the Board want me to stick to along with the current objectives for the first season. All very obtainable.

I’ve initially gone for a 4-3-3 with both inverted wingback, three across the middle, two wingers and a forward that will spearhead the aggressive press. At the early stage of the season I tend to tinker quite a bit with the tactic itself so I’ll come to that in more depth at a later point.

In terms of squad depth, this graphic shows what I consider to be my first choice XI and their direct replacements. I think it is fair to say that the squad lacks real strength in depth beyond the first choice XI. This doesn’t include anyone with a pre-arranged transfer in either window during the season. It will also likely be heavily supplemented by U21 and U18 squads when required.

However, with several players already out for considerable lengths of time as the season starts (Bentancur with 3 months left before his return, Sessegnon’s return thoughts to be 5 months but who knows?) it will require some rethinking from the off.

Pre-Season

With the pre-season training schedule heavily focused on tactics, the results were secondary. However, a good spread of goals across different players/positions bodes well for the season ahead.

Familiar themes already…

Maybe Ange isn’t the problem?! Opening the season with a 3-0 away victory over Manchester United, the home side having been reduced to 10 men just before Romero doubled our lead when Lisandro Martinez was dismissed for a two footed lunge.

You’d think that would lead us into a routine 3 points against Fulham however it was The Cottagers that took a first half lead when Andreas Pereira picked the ball up in acres of space before a 25 yard curled effort clipped the underside of the crossbar before hitting the back of the net. Gio Lo Celso, replacing a broken legged James Maddison (training injury), was the man to equalise in the second half and share the points.

Into the third game of the season and we were back to dominating. A quickly hit Porro freekick from the side of the box found Udogie’s head at the back post. Lo Celso was perhaps fortunate to get his second goal in as many games when his deflected effort found its way past Neto in the Bournemouth goal. Neto would get my vote for player of the match making a series of emphatic saves to keep Bournemouth from a battering.

A semi-rotated side travelled to Wycombe and had to come from a goal behind to get themselves into the hat for the Third Round. Eric Dier, in for Van de Ven, was lucky with a rash slide initially then as the ball was redelivered into the box he bundled his man to the floor. The penalty put beyond Fraser Forster’s reach. Hojbjerg’s late first half equaliser came as the ball was recycled following a poor corner and he found himself standing free just inside the box to finish. With the game looking like it was set for extra time, Emerson Royal’s neat pass into the channel found the run of Manor Solomon who finished superbly across the goalkeeper.

Those first results leave us sitting joint top after three games with Fulham to play in the Third Round of the EFL (Carabao) Cup. The summer transfer window has just “slammed shut” with the deadline day arrival of Brennan Johnson set to bolster our attacking options. Tanganga and Reguilon head out on their respective loans which further depletes our defensive rotation options.

One game to go (Everton away) before the first international break of the season. One achievement already ticked off - beating what Ange achieved in the EFL Cup… I’ll leave you with this insane image of how we look in the attacking phase with Porro (RB), Udogie (LB), Bissouma (RCM) and Son (ST) all highlighted off the ball. ADVENTUREBALL!