FIFA Beginners Guide.

[redsox4evur]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

BB88, have you picked up any more tips for your guide?


How many guys do you want on your senior squad?
I've heard people say 23-25. I'm curious as to why you need more than 22. 11 starters, 7 bench, 4 reserves. If you get in trouble with injuries, call a loaned player back. It's easier to keep everyone happy with less players.


When do you start scouting for free transfers?
I always forget to line up anyone up. I'm trying to loan guys out or bring guys in. I'm guessing I need to find these guys prior to January. What is the next step? How do I offer them?


In your guide, you say to ask for money in January. I play with Southampton. I always change my top XI to my worst XI before I start my career. The board expects to not be relegated and round of 32 FA Cup..........I will get both. How much should I ask for and for what? I should finish top half (usually top 5). Last few times, I get to the semi finals (FA Cup).


Thanks for your help.

To offer the free transfers you go into the same thing as when you want to buy/loan a player, and there will be an option that says something to effect of purchase upon contract expiration. I know it's not that but I don't have my Xbox with me at school. Also about asking for money, I usually play with bigger clubs IE Chelsea, Bayern, MCI, etc. I have never gotten like more than 10 million, of whatever currency I am using. And when I go to sign these guys I usually only have like 10 million or so. But I go in asking for like 20-25 million. And I set that I will win everything, and they counter back with like 8 or 9 million. So I would go in asking for around 10 million. I also tend to keep like 30 guys on my roster because I want guys to get rest, and in case of injuries.

[redsox4evur]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

How do i take advantage of free transfers? How do I find someone who's contract is up in 6 months and approach them? Help!

You can use sofifa if you want, but don't think you will get guys like Ibra or Schweinsteiger for that second season. But you can set your GTN settings like everything default, except for contract and set that for 0-1. And then go to like you want to regularly buy a guy on transfer, and click on the one that says something like approach after contract expiration. And also you have to make sure you have the wage budget for the next season at the time you offer the contract. For example, I went after Gary Cahill in AC Milan MM, and didn't have enough wages to offer him and I couldn't offer him the contract.

[Chef Matt]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

That means its a variation of the base formation

Thanks, but I don't even know what that means! /clueless.

As in "the base formation my squad is built to be?"

[BradyBunch88]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

What do the parenthesis around the last numbers I see in some formations mean? For instance
4-3-3 (5) 4-4-2 (2) ?

So let’s take the 4-3-3 as an example, it’s one of my favourite formations and it’s what Pep used at Barca.

Now there are a few variations of the 4-3-3. There’s the 4-3-3(5) or (false 9) which is what Pep Guardiola used at his time in Barcelona as I mentioned. The false 9 became the “Messi Zone”. Meaning there is a huge gap between the midfielders and the defenders that isn’t being covered. The false 9, a sort of CF / CAM exploits this no man’s land to get between defenders and midfielders and just confuse the defence because he can either free roam across the back four, passing the ball to the wingers or he himself can attack and shoot on goal. More or less, that’s my understanding of that formation.

Then there’s the same formation 4-3-3 but now you can have the central midfielder either play in a defensive role “pivote” and this is a great role because the pivote is the guy who plays just in front of the defenders and can read the game, start an attack and is almost like the Quarterback of the team. Guys like Michael Carrick would be good in this role, if you saw the Man Utd Liverpool game last week, Carrick kept coming back in defence to make tackles and restart the United attack, Man Utd won 3-0.

And again, same formation 4-3-3 but now you have that “pivote” role I spoke about, he moves up to become a central attacking midfielder. This is the guy who can cause confusion among the back four defenders, think of David Silva for Man City. Different to the false 9 though because the formation has a true striker as well as a CAM. He can make passes between defenders for Aguero or Jovetic to have an attempt on goal. Or he could just roam anywhere among that attacking third of the pitch, to get the ball and run into space and make passes. As far as I’m aware, the CAM is usually the guy who will pick up a ton of assists during a season. Cesc Fabregras is currently the leader of the BPL with 11 assists and I believe he plays in that CAM role.

FYI - It's also called a "false 9" because back in the good old days of football numbers would reflect positions. 1= GK 2= RB 3=LB 4=CB 5=CB etc, etc. so a true number 9 is a striker. So when he plays in that Centre Forward role in a 4-3-3 he becomes a "false 9" because he's not a striker, he's not a true number 9, he's a false number 9 because he isn't a striker, he's a centre forward.

So there you have the same formation but three different variations and three different game plans. So when you see 4-3-3(5) or even a 4-2-3-1(2) it’s just different variations of a “standard” formation.

I also think that’s what it means so you have the 4-2-3-1 and then you have the 4-2-3-1(2) this is the second variation to the first one. But, I’m not 100% sure on this.

Anyways, I hope this helped!

[Chef Matt]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

Anyways, I hope this helped!

Brilliant read. Thank you for the time and effort. I will re read this numerous times.

[snyder5man]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

How do i take advantage of free transfers? How do I find someone who's contract is up in 6 months and approach them? Help!

One other tidbit I learned last night. Not only search for 0-1 years on contract, but also 23 year old and older. You can't free transfer 22 and below. I had this huge list of guys I thought I could pick through. I had around 10 left and only 3 that had reasonable wage demands (for my budget).

[Staff2Tron]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

Thank you for the guide, the section on the youth squad helped me understand better.

[sroz39]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say thank you for the guide here and many other threads I've been reading with things like house rules and such. Though I wouldn't actually go to the lengths of reloading a game to alter results, every other piece of information was a big help.

I'm not totally green to FIFA as I've played some in the past (and had both 13 and 14, though admittedly only played them casually), I dove all the way in with 15. Started off playing just Pro Clubs with my friends who were looking for something to replace our NHL Clubs experience. As unrealistic as it can be at times playing Pro Clubs, what a great time it is anyway.

A month or so ago I decided to start a Manager Career. I loved playing the game and wanted more but was always apprehensive about starting one because my knowledge of the inner workings of soccer is next to zilch.

You diehards here on these forums definitely didn't disappoint. Great tips and advice but most of all, patience, which guys like myself and Gagnon39 I'm sure appreciates as well.

This is an incredible game and I've gone from watching the World Cup and the odd Liverpool game throughout the season to setting an alarm on weekends so I don't miss any games.

This game was the gateway and you guys on here were the icing on the cake to turn me into a soccer nut.

Many thanks, fellas

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[BradyBunch88]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

Just wanted to drop a quick line to say thank you for the guide here and many other threads I've been reading with things like house rules and such. Though I wouldn't actually go to the lengths of reloading a game to alter results, every other piece of information was a big help.

I'm not totally green to FIFA as I've played some in the past (and had both 13 and 14, though admittedly only played them casually), I dove all the way in with 15. Started off playing just Pro Clubs with my friends who were looking for something to replace our NHL Clubs experience. As unrealistic as it can be at times playing Pro Clubs, what a great time it is anyway.

A month or so ago I decided to start a Manager Career. I loved playing the game and wanted more but was always apprehensive about starting one because my knowledge of the inner workings of soccer is next to zilch.

You diehards here on these forums definitely didn't disappoint. Great tips and advice but most of all, patience, which guys like myself and Gagnon39 I'm sure appreciates as well.

This is an incredible game and I've gone from watching the World Cup and the odd Liverpool game throughout the season to setting an alarm on weekends so I don't miss any games.

This game was the gateway and you guys on here were the icing on the cake to turn me into a soccer nut.

Many thanks, fellas

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

This is why I like to write guides and talk football / soccer. To help people who have not a lot of understanding and give them an overview.

I'm honoured that my guide was able to help you and thank you for your kind words! It's great to hear.

In the near future, I'd really like to expand on the guide, perhaps get a few Operation Sports users involved, go into more detail about formations, game play etc.

But, I just wanted to write a quick, overall guide that covers most career mode questions and it's also for me! If I ever leave FIFA and want to pick it back up again, at least I have something to refer to.

Anyways thank you so much for your comments, it means a lot!

[sroz39]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

It was definitely a huge help, BB. The only question now is whether I continue my Newcastle Career where I made a lot of mistakes...or start fresh with the knowledge from this guide and using some of the house rules guys have mentioned elsewhere on these forums.

Tough choice because I used my Financial Takeover and despite some mistakes, built a team I really really like.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[snyder5man]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

It was definitely a huge help, BB. The only question now is whether I continue my Newcastle Career where I made a lot of mistakes...or start fresh with the knowledge from this guide and using some of the house rules guys have mentioned elsewhere on these forums.

Tough choice because I used my Financial Takeover and despite some mistakes, built a team I really really like.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Ultimately, you should do what feels right. I got into a funk where I would continuously restart my career. I would find new info or realize a mistake. I would start to second guess moves I had made and on how "realistic" they were.
I started a career with Accrington, because they are the worst team. I signed the best talent I could afford from free agents. None of which are from Great Britain. League 2 only has local players. Now I feel like I cheated, even though I had a ridiculous budget and terrible team. Also, I have this tiny stadium and am now in League 1. I should've gotten a bigger stadium; 30,000ish. I'm torn because I don't have enough budget (at the start) to get a 2/3 scout. The scout is the only way to get local players that I can afford.


So, I now ponder...........
1) start a new career w/ Accrington and sign no free agents
2) start a new career w/ MK Dons. They have a good stadium. Good Talent. Fair budget

[sroz39]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

Ultimately, you should do what feels right. I got into a funk where I would continuously restart my career. I would find new info or realize a mistake. I would start to second guess moves I had made and on how "realistic" they were.
I started a career with Accrington, because they are the worst team. I signed the best talent I could afford from free agents. None of which are from Great Britain. League 2 only has local players. Now I feel like I cheated, even though I had a ridiculous budget and terrible team. Also, I have this tiny stadium and am now in League 1. I should've gotten a bigger stadium; 30,000ish. I'm torn because I don't have enough budget (at the start) to get a 2/3 scout. The scout is the only way to get local players that I can afford.


So, I now ponder...........
1) start a new career w/ Accrington and sign no free agents
2) start a new career w/ MK Dons. They have a good stadium. Good Talent. Fair budget

I can see how you'd be torn about what to do. One of the things I didn't do was start with a League 2 team...I started with Newcastle, wanting a middle-of-the-road team. But I hired too many scouts and made so many mistakes as far as inquiries and scouting and my shortlist go, its just become a huge mess.

So I didn't know whether to start over with an even worse BPL team like Hull City, start a new one with a League 2 team (don't think I'd have the patience for it if I'm completely honest) or just carry on.

So far, I'm just continuing with Newcastle as I have remade the team a little bit and have corrected some, if not all, of the mistakes I made previously.

Its hard not to want to start with a BPL team, considering the stadiums, chants and presentation.

When you pick a League 2 team at the start of a Career, is it possible to change their stadium?

As far as that "funk" you're speaking of, I totally understand. Its literally afflicted me in every game I've ever started a Franchise type mode in. All but this one. For whatever reason, I've fallen in love with my Newcastle team, mistakes and all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[snyder5man]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

I'm a So'ton fan. I actually started a League 2 career because I'm waiting until after the window closes before starting back with my team. After playing a while with Accrington, I realize how rewarding the small league can be. I will start a new career with Southampton when the window closes, but I will likely continue the small league also.


I did start over with Accrington. I changed to a larger stadium (26,500). I only signed guys under 60 ovr. I also increased my sliders, to make it more difficult (last time I won the league by 27 points......).


I think we kinda highjacked this thread. Sorry

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

That was a good read. I bought FIFA for the first time ever after just randomly playing with buddies. Really looking forward to becoming good at a sports game now that NCAA is gone.

[snyder5man]

Re: FIFA Beginners Guide.

That was a good read. I bought FIFA for the first time ever after just randomly playing with buddies. Really looking forward to becoming good at a sports game now that NCAA is gone.

Same here. I don't play a lot of games. NCAA was my thing. Trust me, FIFA is 100 times better. Endless possibilities!