FIFA 19: Tottenham Career Mode Guide, Tactics, Formations & Tips

Despite failing to bring in any transfers last summer, Tottenham find themselves not only in a title race, but also remain in all competitions at the turn of the year. That’s no mean feat considering the difficulty of their Champions League group, and you wonder if that had brought in any talent at the start of the season, what position would they be in now?

You have the ability to correct that on FIFA 19’s Career Mode, and if you do bring in one or two world class stars, you could turn Spurs into not only a heavyweight in England, but one to be feared across Europe.

RealSport sets you up with the basics as you commence your Career Mode with Tottenham on FIFA 19. 

Team Rating

Spurs claim a five star rating on FIFA 19, consisting of an 89 attack, 82 midfield and 82 defence.

Formation

Under Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs tend to utilise a 4-2-3-1 wide formation, which is their default on FIFA 19. You should look to stick to this, with 4-3-3, 4-1-2-1-2 and a 3-5-2 other options if you wish to experiment in pre-season. 

It’s the team you would expect to lineup for Spurs too. Reliable goalkeeper Hugo Lloris (92 GK reflexes) is behind a back four of Kieran Trippier, Toby Alderweireld, the solid Jan Vertonghen (90 marking) and Ben Davies.

Eric Dier partners Moussa Dembele in defensive midfield, whilst chief creator Christian Eriksen (91 short passing), Dele Alli and Heung-Min Son operate behind marksman Harry Kane (94 finishing).

On the bench go for Michel Vorm, Davinson Sanchez, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama, Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Fernando Llorente.

Tactics and instructions

With Spurs, you should look to dictate possession with your two playmakers in Christian Eriksen (91 vision) and Dele Alli (86 ball control). You can afford to be patient with the North Londoners, but look for the runs of the arriving full backs and the tricky Heung-Min Son (88 acceleration). What’s more, if Harry Kane (93 positioning) finds space, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger.

Looking at the bench, it’s clear who can make the difference. Erik Lamela (86 dribbling) can bring control going forward, with Lucas Moura (94 agility) able to stretch the defence. As for Fernando Llorente (90 heading accuracy), he can offer a direct approach if you need a late goal.

All the instructions in the Tottenham default 4-2-3-1 wide formation are absolutely what you want. Your two defensive midfielders will ‘stay back while attacking’, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli will ‘free roam’ and get into pockets of space, whilst Heung-Min Son on the left will look to use his pace and ‘get in behind’ the defence.

Training

During your training sessions, you should look to use your high growth players as indicated by the green icon. With Tottenham, use Dele Alli, Harry Winks, Georges-Kevin Nkoudou, Paulo Gazzaniga, Juan Foyth and Kyle Walker-Peters. 

The Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £80 million

Starting wage budget: £259,000 a week

Who should go

With a packed squad, you should be looking to sell players to open up space for new ones in your squad. That means bit-part player Moussa Sissoko can go, with the midfield man not holding the technical ability to play for a club of Spurs’ calibre. Let the Frenchman go for £7 million, freeing up £69,000 a week in wages.

Other first team names include striker Vincent Janssen, who has had a torrid time at Spurs, and back-up goalkeeper Michel Vorm. Sell the Dutch pairing for a combined £8.5 million, making a saving of £105,000 a week in wages.

The rest are young fringe players, and don’t have a long-term future at Tottenham. Kazaiah Sterling, Alfie Whiteman, Anthony Georgiou and Shayon Harrison are worth a combined £1.4 million and can save you £25,000 a week in wages. 

Loans

Given the depth of Spurs’ first team squad, you can afford to loan out a few of the youngsters with bright futures. Oliver Skipp, Luke Amos and Tashan Oakley-Boothe are all candidates, but with all three central or defensive midfielders, you may wish to keep hold of one of them for the season.  

Who to sign

New transfer budget: £97 million

New wage budget: £458,000 a week

Starting holding midfielder

You look at the Spurs starting lineup and there are no obvious holes. Eric Dier is the weakest player with an 80 rating, but this can rise to an 84 potential. But, when coupled with a 30-year-old Moussa Dembele, you could do with a certified world class player in defensive midfield.

Blaise Matuidi should be the man to look at, and with Juventus having a whole host of midfielders, he is a feasible option. The French World Cup winner will set you back around £30 million and wages of £128,000 a week, getting you his 85 overall rating. The 31-year-old’s best stats include 94 stamina, 86 sliding tackle, 86 aggression.

Alternative options

Back up striker

You feel Spurs have been hunting for a reliable second strike option ever since Harry Kane became the undisputed choice in attack. Fernando Llorente doesn’t cut the mustard, especially aged 33, and neither does the injury prone Vincent Janssen.

Valencia’s Santi Mina is a realistic option, and won’t break the bank. The 22-year-old is rated at 80 but can grow to a potential of 85, and holds stats of 82 finishing, 82 positioning and 81 dribbling, The Spaniard will set you back around £25 million with a wage of £35,000 a week. 

Alternative options

Contracts

Although Tottenham have not dipped into the transfer market of late, that has allowed them time and budget to get their top talent tied to long term deals. Just five players have contracts running out at the end of the season, with just two of them needing certain renewal.

Moussa Dembele may be over 30 and injury prone, but you will want his quality around until the end of next season at least, and the same can be said of class defender Jan Vertonghen.

As for Fernando Llorente, Michel Vorm and Shayon Harrison, these are players you should be releasing if you don’t wish to sell them.

Managerial objectives

It’s a tough set of managerial objectives for a club who have lifted just one trophy since the turn of the century. For your domestic success, which is of critical importance, you will be asked to do the double and win both the Premier League and FA Cup. 

Continental success has a high importance, for which you need to reach the final of the Champions League. With a seriously tough group containing Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven, you will do well to get out of the group stage.      

Financial is only of a medium importance, and here you will need to increase club worth by 25%. Maintain a profit each season and clinch some silverware to raise this. Youth development is also medium, and this is a good one with a £2.65 million profit target from the sale of youth players over two seasons.

Steal a first Premier League title?

The lack of transfer business for Tottenham does show that they are happy with their squad, and it’s hard to argue with that. But, if you wish to win and not just challenge to silverware, you must dip into the budget.

Claiming the FA Cup is not impossible, but going all the way in the Premier League may be a stretch. The class is there, but having to target a league triumph as well as the other competitions, it is a tough ask. With Kane up front however, nothing is impossible. 

Full Tottenham player ratings