Building a roster

[timmuh1515]

Figured I might start a thread about how people build their rosters in Fifa.

I play mostly offline career mode and have managed a few teams, starting a career mode over once after a few seasons.

For the teams i have settled in at for a few years, a similar trend starts to happen. I find myself with too much depth at some positions causing a few players with decent futures to get upset about time.

In my most recent career, going into year 4 with Sunderland, I find myself only using scouts 3 or 4 months of the year (before the May 1st ratings bump) so that I don't end up having a ton of young talent that doesn't play.

At this point i'm trying to only buy 1 player during the year from other clubs which seems to be helping.

How do others approach this with a team they've run for a few years?

[NFGcjs]

Re: Building a roster

I am new to FIFA so I appreciate your information as I'm only in the beginning of season 2.

Scouting question...I know there are sites out there that show a player's potential and growth...is there a way to see this for 'real' players or players that are not in the youth academy? Thanks in advance!

[doyce7]

Re: Building a roster

Not "in game" but there are sites that show it. As far as the roster building, I keep a fairly small roster for the most part. I play a 4-2-3-1 wide formation, so I like to have 2 GKs, 4 fulbacks(LB/RBs), 4 CBs, 4 CDMs, 4 wingers(LM/RM/LW/RW), 2 CAMs, and 2 ST. All other players get loaned out if possible or they just sit on the bench, til loaned or sold. If a guy has a future with me and I can't get a loan for him, I play him, even if he is worse than my other guys. So if I'm not playing a guy then I don't care if he starts whining and I just sell him, since he wasn't in my plans

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[timmuh1515]

Re: Building a roster

It can be tough in the Premier League if you have any success in the tournaments. Capitol one, FA, Euro League plus the regular season schedule. If i don't have decent depth I end up playing some really tired guys...if i have too much they are unhappy.

I noticed one time i praised the team and morale jumped up across the board. It doesn't work every time...but it was great when it did.

In my pre-season before year 4 I ended up dealing a good young CAM, a good young RW and let two other RWs walk. It gives me some room to move some of my better players into the lineup consistently but it might hurt later in the season.

[doyce7]

Re: Building a roster

When I have a lot of games in a short time, I change the way I play. very few attacks and I just sit back and play D and slow build up play with short passes and no sprinting

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[doyce7]

Re: Building a roster

One good strategy for depth is to take in a bunch of loan players to fill in for tired guys. They don't complain about not playing

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[ADHAMM3R]

Re: Building a roster

this is usually the area where my career mode gets really boring. depending on the team i manage, i like to sign players they are linked with IRL. have done a couple United ones, signing Reus, Ronaldo, Baines, etc. usually ends up with me having the FIFA TOTY for my squad, gets boring fast. but in my current mode with BVB Dortmund, i'm trying to make the squad realistic. Their starting XI is pretty decent, the only weak spot being LB (no cover for Schmelzer imo). but i am trying to be really restrictive with who i sign. no superstars unless they are old and almost retiring, or they want to leave their club and BVB has a realistic chance to sign them. i constantly try to build up a squad with the youth as well. try to sign only players from the country I manage internationally (almost always Germany).

[dmankey1]

Re: Building a roster

I am almost done with my 1st full season at Arsenal after 1 1/2 seasons at Napoli and half a season at Arsenal. I end up doing the same thing with every team. I lose focus on defensive players and end up with too many attackers. I use LW, RW, CF and ST as attackers and have a "backup" for each of the 4 that are nearly as good as my starters. I also have 4 midfielders that trade time but the worse one is 82 ovr so they all want to start and get mad when they don't. I mainly use 6 different defensive players but always have the same 4 starting. I like to have quick players although I don't play a fast paced game all the time but it really comes in handy in those tough situations when you need a quick goal. They key is to get the players you want and stick with it. I found myself in another career selling too many players every transfer period and I would have 4 or 5 new starters by the time it was all said and done. Sometimes it enhanced my team and other times it was a trade off on certain skills that I probably shouldn't have done. Either way, just have fun with it!

[timmuh1515]

Re: Building a roster

I have started to do one thing that seems to be very helpful (although time consuming).

Every new season I'll take inventory of all my players.

Name, Age, Overall, Position Eligibility, Weak foot/Skill moves, contract price/length.

One thing I started to add is their squad expectation (Crucial/Important/Squad Rotation/Sporatic/Future 1st Teamer).

I find that information in the contract section. If you click on a guy you can see their current contract and expectations.

It gives me a layout of what every player wants. If I realize i can't get someone the time he wants i'll either offer him a contract with lower expectations or trade him and move on.

[UK0wnag3]

Re: Building a roster

I usually aim for 25 senior players, and throughout the season I'll sign players from the youth academy to cover for injuries/suspensions.

I also like balance in the squad in terms of left and right footers, and a variety of players in one position, i.e when it comes to strikers I usually like at least one target man, one nippy/quick type player and one poacher.

[dmankey1]

Re: Building a roster

I usually aim for 25 senior players, and throughout the season I'll sign players from the youth academy to cover for injuries/suspensions.

I also like balance in the squad in terms of left and right footers, and a variety of players in one position, i.e when it comes to strikers I usually like at least one target man, one nippy/quick type player and one poacher.

Nice method. I'm going to try this out

[Dempseylicious23]

Re: Building a roster

Here is how I manage my Career Mode for the most part.

My system never changes regardless of the team I play. I'm an ideologue with things and I tend not to stray from my vision. So, I play with a 3-5-2 formation and have strict limitations on how many players I'll have at my disposal every season.

With these restrictions, my squad usually ends up like this:

GK: 3 (with 1 on loan) - 2 Active
LCB: 2 (0 on loan) - 2 Active
CB: 3 (1 on loan) - 2 Active
RCB: 2 (0 on loan) - 2 Active
CDM: 6 (2 on loan) - 4 Active (2 LDM and 2 RDM)
LM: 2-3 (0-1 on loan) - 2 Active
RM: 2-3 (0-1 on loan) - 2 Active
CAM: 3 (1 on loan) - 2 Active
ST: 6 (1-2 on loan) - 4-5 Active (2 LS, 2 RS, and one that can play both)

This leaves me with an active squad of ~24-25 players which gives me enough players so that everyone can rotate, get the proper playing time, and maintain fitness. If I am dealing with injuries, I like to recall loaned players or promote youth from my academy as opposed to using the transfer window to sign a replacement.

As far as keeping a trim squad, I have standards for each position that must be adhered to or my system will not function as it should.

GK: Minimum Height: 6'3" - Preferences: 3* Weak Foot, Acrobatic Style
LCB: Minimum Height: 5'11" - Preferences: 3* WF, 3* Skills, Highly Athletic
CB: Minimum Height: 6'1" - Preferences: 3* WF, 2* Skills, Highly Athletic
RCB: Minimum Height: 5'11" - Preferences: 3* WF, 3* Skills, Highly Athletic
CDM: No Minimum Height - Preferences: At Least 5'11", 3* WF, 3* Skills - Normally I like to have one holding midfielder and one midfielder that can bomb forward from time to time, similar to how Manchester City use Yaya Toure and Fernandinho. Given that, I like one tank of a player (think Paul Pogba) and one creative deep lying midfielder (think Ilkay Gundogan or Toni Kroos), so these players are afforded the most leeway in terms of adhering to any strict standards.
LM: No Minimum Height - Preferences: At Least 5'9", 5* WF, 4* Skills, Extremely High Pace/Agility, High Long Shots/Shot Power/Finishing, Right Footed, Medium Defensive Work Rate, Good Defending Skills.
RM: No Minimum Height - Preferences: At Least 5'9", 5* WF, 4* Skills, Extremely High Pace/Agility, High Long Shots/Shot Power/Finishing, Left Footed, Medium Defensive Work Rate, Good Defending Skills. - The 3-5-2 demands high pace wingers who are highly willing to track back and put in a tackle. I also prefer having inverted, non-traditional wingers that can both cut in to the middle and cross from the outside (thus the preference of a 5* weak foot). Think of players like Gareth Bale (wish his weak foot was better) or Marco Reus.
CAM: No Minimum Height - Preferences: At Least 5'9", 4* WF, 4* Skills, High Pace/Agility, High Long Shots/Shot Power/Finishing/Curve/FK Acc, Very High Vision/Short Passing, Medium Defensive Work Rate, Solid Defending Skills. - My CAM must be a jack of all trades and have killer dead ball striking ability. Think of players like Christian Eriksen or Oscar.
LS: Preferences: At Least 5'9", 5* WF, 4* Skills, Extremely High Pace/Agility, High Long Shots/Shot Power/Finishing, High Vision/Passing Right Footed, Medium Defensive Work Rate.
RS: Preferences: At Least 6'1", 4* WF, 3* Skills, High Pace/Strength, High Long Shots/Shot Power/Finishing/Heading, Left Footed. - Regarding the strikers, I play one passing/goalscoring striker (second striker) and one traditional center forward (a guy you can cross to and expect to put a head on the ball). Think of a strike partnership between Messi and Benteke or Neymar and Ibrahimovic. That is the dynamic for which I look to play.

With these standards and preferences, I catalogue my team according and purge (transfer or drop from the squad) the players who don't meet the standards. It usually helps prevent a significant amount of youth academy players from being considered for spots on my team. Enough that I can retain my overall team size at a manageable amount, which for me, is less than 35 players overall.

[mfp]

Re: Building a roster

What I'm finding is that it's crucial to find guys that can contribute to your team but who you can sign to contracts that don't guarantee a lot of playing time, otherwise you'll be getting lots of players demanding more playing time. Signing a player for a backup role but promising him anything more than squad rotation in his contract is a recipe for trouble.

[Dempseylicious23]

Re: Building a roster

What I'm finding is that it's crucial to find guys that can contribute to your team but who you can sign to contracts that don't guarantee a lot of playing time, otherwise you'll be getting lots of players demanding more playing time. Signing a player for a backup role but promising him anything more than squad rotation in his contract is a recipe for trouble.

This is key.

If you can avoid it, never offer any guaranteed playing time to the players you sign. Sometimes this won't hold true and players will refuse contracts stating that they want to know what club role they will have. Usually, offering another decent sum of money onto their contract will fix this issue.

For example, I had Kurt Zouma at 82 OVR and he was asking for a 2 year contract extension at 60,000 Euro/Season. He rebuked my offer at first demanding to know his club role, but I just bumped my offer up to 80,000 Euro/Season and he accepted without a defined club role.

It's better to overpay players than to lose them because they aren't getting the playing time they are offered (in my opinion).

[dmankey1]

Re: Building a roster

This is key.

If you can avoid it, never offer any guaranteed playing time to the players you sign. Sometimes this won't hold true and players will refuse contracts stating that they want to know what club role they will have. Usually, offering another decent sum of money onto their contract will fix this issue.

For example, I had Kurt Zouma at 82 OVR and he was asking for a 2 year contract extension at 60,000 Euro/Season. He rebuked my offer at first demanding to know his club role, but I just bumped my offer up to 80,000 Euro/Season and he accepted without a defined club role.

It's better to overpay players than to lose them because they aren't getting the playing time they are offered (in my opinion).

I unfortunately got out of this habbit and it can cause big issues. I've luckily been able to avoid it because I rotate my starting squad and it seems to keep them all happy but occasionally I'll have a player question why they aren't in the starting group. I just start them when that happens cause I have a lot of "even" players. For now on though I will definitely be leaving commitments off the contract if they'll agree

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