Career Scratch Tries Kane and Son [Complete]

[Scratch]

Time for me to attempt Badge 01 in the Badges of Honour series:

For those who don't know (though I'm sure most do by now), the challenge sees you take charge of Spurs for 2 seasons, while you try to get as many goals and assists from Kane and Son as possible. There is a minimum of 100 goals and 50 assists from the two combined. 

Sounds like fun! Spurs are a team I can't remember managing in FMM (or even CM), but I do remember managing them in one of the old Wizard Games of Scotland football games, way back when the players had names like Mabbut and Samways and Sedgley. So thanks to @Rob for taking me back in time with this great challenge!

 

Transfers

With the Last Dance, I didn't make too many signings, as I wanted to preserve the team dynamics. This time around I've been more aggressive with my transfer dealings, given a) this is a 2 season save; b) I think I'm now better at picking who to sell and who to bring in; and c) I'm hope a loss of dynamics won't affect me as much as it did in my first FMM21 saves, because I now have a much more reasonable tactic.

Anyway, here are the transfers:

Spoiler

Probably not much to say there, apart from the fact that I sold Cameron Carter-Vickers to Red Bull Salzburg twice. Still waiting for them to realise and call up asking where the second one is.

I also bought Livakovic in August as backup to Lloris, but Onana became available in January and Livakovic went the other way as a makeweight. 

 

Tactics

I used a very similar tactic to my Last Dance one, but with the DM dropped to CD for better connectivity, and the BBM switching to an RP, giving us this:

As I've commented elsewhere, it works reasonably well, but requires closing down all over to make it effective. I experimented a little with the instructions near the end of the season and might have found a way to close down only in our half, by playing direct through the middle. It may even have been getting me more goals. We'll see how it pans out next year. 

 

Results

So, how did we do? See for yourself:

Not bad! There were some squeaky moments in the Euro Cup where we sneaked past Bayern Munich in the Quarter Final, but we won it in the end. The main disappointment was the 2 goals per game average in the League, which is my lowest for a long time. Still, the lads did okay.

 

The Lads

They ended up looking like this:

 

Injuries

Only one injury this season, Kane out for 3 weeks (both are on low intensity training):

Spoiler

 

Contributions

Even though we only averaged 2 goals per game in the league, the lads still did alright (claiming most of the goals) and they weren't too shabby on the assists either:

• Kane: 62 goals + 17 assists = 79 contributions
• Son: 45 goals + 36 assists = 81 contributions

As you can see, this tactic channels most of the goals through the two of them. That said, Suarez and Messi combined better for me in The Last Dance, with Suarez dropping deeper and assisting more. I was a little surprised that this duo didn't do the same - but I'm not unhappy with the results.

At the halfway mark, we've completed both benchmarks and our score is 160 - that puts us on track to be equal second! Much better than anything I've managed this season so far. Of course we have to wait and see if we can maintain the same pace next season. I'll be back to let you know in a few days! 

 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Scratch

[Rich]

Brilliant first season there mate, smashed it. Liking the look of the tactic as well. What a beast son is as a no 10, actually miss having him in my teams since I did this challenge 🤣

[Scratch]

3 minutes ago, RichD said:

Brilliant first season there mate, smashed it. Liking the look of the tactic as well. What a beast son is as a no 10, actually miss having him in my teams since I did this challenge 🤣

Thanks mate. It certainly worked out better than I was really expecting.

The tactic is pretty much the same as my DT one from last year, just with one of the strikers moved back to be a central defender. Works much better now for FMM21. I am conscious that number of total goals is pretty low, but it focuses the goals on the two lads. So works out alright in the end.

Never used Son before, but he's fantastic. 

[Rob]

Great going. 

[Ian]

A very nice start.

[broodje kip]

Looks like a normal Scratch season having massive scores while everyone else just dreaming of having it

[Kanegan]

Well Scratch at it again. Fantastic start.

[Fash]

4 hours ago, Scratch said:

Thanks mate. It certainly worked out better than I was really expecting.

The tactic is pretty much the same as my DT one from last year, just with one of the strikers moved back to be a central defender. Works much better now for FMM21. I am conscious that number of total goals is pretty low, but it focuses the goals on the two lads. So works out alright in the end.

Never used Son before, but he's fantastic. 

Could you post your tactics

[Scratch]

@Rob @Ian @broodje kip @Kanegan - thanks fellas. I've had a pretty rough start to 21, so it feels good to be doing better. *Maybe* I've got my head around it now. Or maybe not. 🤞.

The tactic I'm using now is a bit like my 1KC one, in terms of it not leading to a lot of goal overall, but focusing the goals on the players you want to be scoring. So it suits this challenge, but maybe not others. Work in progress.

[Scratch]

4 hours ago, Fash said:

Could you post your tactics

Sorry, not releasing it in full at this point. The formation is up above and I mention a couple of intructions I'm trying, but honestly, I keep fiddling with the instructions anyway. So there is no set tactic yet. 

[Scratch]

19 minutes ago, hhooo said:

Brilliant return first season, but the thing that keeps me thinking about another go is the prices some of you got for the backup keepers! I had zero takers even when offering Gazza out for 3.5m

Thanks!

I've got no wisdom on getting other teams to buy players this year. I mean, some things still seem to work (though still haven't fully tested them), like a) offering them out without transfer listing them, b) playing them and getting their rating to 7 then offering them out, c) offering them out low and then bargaining up (only works if certain teams offer) etc. But this year it seems pretty hit or miss whether you'll get an offer or not, so I'm still a bit clueless about it. 

[geordiekrispy]

Cracking score for the first season!

[Scratch]

1 hour ago, geordiekrispy said:

Cracking score for the first season!

Thanks mate, yeah, was pretty happy with it when I added it up and compared it to the leaderboard. Before that I thought I was doing okay, but didn't quite realise it was actually pretty decent.

[Scratch]

Well, all I can say is thank goodness August is almost over!

Either it's that hoodoo back again or these new instructions aren't as good as they appeared on the first attempt..

[Rob]

18 minutes ago, Scratch said:

Well, all I can say is thank goodness August is almost over!

Either it's that hoodoo back again or these new instructions aren't as good as they appeared on the first attempt..

I’m finding second seasons a lot harder this year.

[Scratch]

2 minutes ago, Rob said:

I’m finding second seasons a lot harder this year.

Well I switched back to Short passing, Run with  Ball, Close down all over and Kane scored 5 goals in 2 games. So either the new instructions only worked as a fluke last season and I nee to stick with the old ones, or Kane really can't score in August!

From a team point of view we're doing okay:

 

This is my first second season so far, so can only go by that, but doesn't look too bad for me right now. Out of interest, did you buy many people in the second season? I bought a few including a couple with poor or no English (couldn't turn Varane down) and was expecting a negative effect, but hasn't been too bad, so then I got to wondering if maybe you're supposed to buy a few each year to freshen up the squad. But who knows...

[Rob]

7 minutes ago, Scratch said:

Well I switched back to Short passing, Run with  Ball, Close down all over and Kane scored 5 goals in 2 games. So either the new instructions only worked as a fluke last season and I nee to stick with the old ones, or Kane really can't score in August!

From a team point of view we're doing okay:

 

This is my first second season so far, so can only go by that, but doesn't look too bad for me right now. Out of interest, did you buy many people in the second season? I bought a few including a couple with poor or no English (couldn't turn Varane down) and was expecting a negative effect, but hasn't been too bad, so then I got to wondering if maybe you're supposed to buy a few each year to freshen up the squad. But who knows...

I upgraded 4/5 players. Nothing massive. I did find opposition kept playing the same tactic which seems set up to counter mine, whereas previously that never used to happen... or I never noticed.

[Scratch]

Just now, Rob said:

I upgraded 4/5 players. Nothing massive. I did find opposition kept playing the same tactic which seems set up to counter mine, whereas previously that never used to happen... or I never noticed.

Ahh, will pay that more attention. Maybe because played the last 5 games or so last season with the new instructions, the game is countering that, and my original instructions are unhindered! No idea, but will keep my eyes open for it.

[Scratch]

😢

Spoiler

Could be worse I guess...

[Scratch]

38 minutes ago, Rob said:

I upgraded 4/5 players. Nothing massive. I did find opposition kept playing the same tactic which seems set up to counter mine, whereas previously that never used to happen... or I never noticed.

Yeah, okay, they are all playing Defensive and Narrow against me, even Man City.

Pretty sure that happened last year too. It meant my 1KC tactic wasn't as effective, so I'd have to switch to a more attacking tactic if I wasn't getting chances 20 minutes in. But my DT and TT tactics just ran right over the top of that.

Maybe their defensive tactic works better this year? Man City just held me to 0-0. But I'm winning most games - but not by as much as last year, I'm a long way off that.

[broodje kip]

1 hour ago, Rob said:

I’m finding second seasons a lot harder this year.

Thank god the 3rd and after is a lot easier to me.

[Rich]

I haven’t found much difference to last year with the second season, but maybe I’ve got lucky with the teams I’ve been. I tend to be a lot stronger and got the players I need by season 2/3. Hope Kane bangs a load in to make up for the first 5 games!

[Scratch]

8 hours ago, RichD said:

I haven’t found much difference to last year with the second season, but maybe I’ve got lucky with the teams I’ve been. I tend to be a lot stronger and got the players I need by season 2/3. Hope Kane bangs a load in to make up for the first 5 games!

Thanks. He started scoring once September rolled around, only to get injured... But I'm sure he'll be back scoring soon.

[Scratch]

Making up for lost time...

13 contributions in 1 game! Gotta love when they combine for goals, it's really bonus points. Which is why my tactic focuses on them combining...

[geordiekrispy]

Looking at the player positions, they've got no choice to pass to each other, there's nobody else near them on the pitch

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, geordiekrispy said:

Looking at the player positions, they've got no choice to pass to each other, there's nobody else near them on the pitch

Yep, exactly!

I was thinking about them both being upfront with a AMC behind them, but found the S/AMC combo lead to a lot of combinations and I was sold. Totally makes sense in hindsight.

The tactic I used for my 2KC last year was 4 3 2 1 Defensive for the same reason. The striker was the one taking all the shots because no one else got near the goal! 🤣

[Rich]

13 contributions in one game is awesome mate, looking forward to seeing your final total 😁

[Scratch]

1 hour ago, RichD said:

13 contributions in one game is awesome mate, looking forward to seeing your final total 😁

Haha, unfortunately they aren't all like that and Kane's had 2 injuries (from memory: 1 month and 3 weeks) so we'll have to see where we end up. Should be fairly decent though I hope.

[Scratch]

This will have to be quick, because it's 1am and I have a train to Portsmouth to catch...

I went into this season thinking I could get second place on the leaderboard. I'd scored 160 in the first season (exactly halfway to equal second), and I normally score more in the second season (although I'd be without those soft early Europe games). Surely I could get 161 goals the second time around? 

Well, I wish I could say yes, but it turned out that this season was all about the injuries. Serves me right for telling others to make sure they had Low Intensity on etc - sometimes injuries happen anyway I guess... Let's look at them:

Spoiler

 

 

Harry signalled his intention with a week's injury in the offseason. He then followed it up with a month long injury in September, followed by 3 weeks out in November. No worries, I thought, we can still make second, and we pushed towards it. Then disaster struck. A month out from the end of the season, Son chipped in with a month long injury, missing the end of the season. The very next game, Harry picked up a 3 week injury meaning he got back just in time for the CL final... Altogether they missed 14 weeks of football!

Probably worth noting all the injuries were picked up in games, so maybe the Low Intensity training paid off after all and stopped them getting another bunch of injuries in training. 

 

Well, I guess I better add the transfers here:

Spoiler

I sold a bunch of players I didn't really need and bought Varane, Skriniar, and Goretzka. That left me with 100M in the bank and no one to spend it on! Although I did buy Berge in January just for fun...

 

Results wise, we dominated. The tactic was solid, if not very prolific (and the instructions didn't make much difference). The squad was purring...

 

The lads:

 

The contributions:

• Kane had 51 goals and 12 assists, resulting in 63 contributions
• Son had 53 goals and 29 assists, resuling in 82 contributions

That adds up to 145 contributions. Add the 160 from last season and I finish on 305 contributions, with the milestones cleared easily. @Rob can you please add me to the leaderboard and pop my badge in the post? Thanks!

Not bad, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed. The lads average 1.44 contributions per game, so if they could have managed another 11 games between then, I'd have likely finished second... Still, everyone's suffered injuries this year and I guess it was my turn this time around. There's nothing to be done except chalk it up to "That's football" and to pack my bag and run and catch that train to Portsmouth.

 

[Rich]

Awesome season Scratch, just very unlucky with injuries there mate! Great performance from the team!

Anyway catch that train to Portsmouth, it’s late😁