How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

[sportsfreak96]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Poulka: Roma! I've always liked them for some reason, maybe because they had Michael Bradley there. I always have always liked their kits, the color combination really works for me for some reason.

Sportsfreak96: I love the choice of Santander. They have a fairly good youth academy historically, and you can really use that to carry on the tradition and build the team up while also adding your own players in through the transfer market to build the team you want.

ChicoBass: Some good transfer additions, and I can't complain when you're taking good players from Celta Vigo Levante continue to be a thorn in your side, but you get to advance with that away goal, but then Sevilla really had your number. Overall this was a rough month for you and your attack really seemed to struggle. But, you remain in 3rd which shows how good of form you were in in leading up to this month.

Indieblue: I like the write up for the Espanyol start! Learned a few things from the history you provided. I've always been interested in them for some reason. They actually have a pretty decent squad to build around from what I looked at, definitely ripe for you to come in and mold into your own vision.

Moose: Some nice work in the transfer windows getting above value for several players and bringing in some of your targets for reasonable fees. Shame that Brooks had to put up a fight in contract discussions, but I think you will be more than happy with Tah. Really rough first two matches. Your keeper was definitely not up for the challenge against Crystal Palace, and the match against West Brom you finally got your main man in goal, and he performed well.

Cruzerr: Shocked that you got so many games! The team is off to a hot start with you in the lineup! Hope you are able to stay healthy and that the manager keeps you in favor. The early game time is a surprise, so hopefully it keeps going. I'm going to guess 2 assists on the next one.

Keano: Portsmouth is always an awesome career choice with their history. You did really well with the loan market to get the team ready. I would be shocked if you don't start off with a promotion. Solid start to the season, although I can't say I approve of the Exeter game! You're doing about where I expected you to right now, and I think you will start to pull ahead of the table going forward now.

Jamie: Really good month, and a complete domination of Zenit to move into the quarter finals for the CL. You have quite the race with City going on right now, and I'm glad your goal difference trumps theirs. I'm hoping that continues to stay close, but that you come out on top of course.

10Cabee: Exeter! I was wondering where you had been. Mixed results in this month, but you are doing fantastic for the PL. 7th place shows how much you are getting out of your squad. Once the quality of your players start catching up to the rest of the league you will really start to fight for those top spots.

Simppu: Shocked to see you lose out to Napoli. You had been in such good form lately that I was sure you would handle them without any problems. You continue to handle your business in league play though and I will be shocked if you don't win the league.

Jagger: Shame that the one match your attack isn't in top form for is the Capital One Cup, but with another leg left to play I knew you would handle business and move on to the final. Rantie is such a fun player to play with because of his pace!

Southernmetalhead: Happy to see Ural get picked, and I can't wait to see how a Russian League career plays out. I like the realistic transfer targets, and this will certainly be a challenge to build the team up into an annual contender.

The nice thing about Santander is that they have a good enough Wage budget to where I can actually make some pre-Contract Signings also Im restarting the CM because my file wont save at all and plus my 2nd year Budget was glitched to where no matter if I put all budget to wage at the end of season 1 or not I would get like 100-150k transfer budget and like 750 dollars wage it was a nightmare

[moose141]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

The Crystal Palace game looked very tough. Everything went right for them and their defence had a pretty good game. And then that West Brom game. Damn, it was like the game didn't want you to score. Posts, saves, misses, just a penalty save was missing. The equaliser wasn't a great goal but you deserved it. I hope Leno performs well for you. Tah and Rafa should be good players, too. I'm sad to see that Brooks rejected the contract offer but maybe that was better for your budget and transfer business.

Yeah, they popped a ton of men behind the ball and really made things difficult on me, plus it was a combination of a new lineup and having not played FIFA for about a week haha, really was feeling a bit rusty. Tah looks solid and Leno of course is an upgrade, but I'm really most looking forward to Rafa because he has great pace, finishing, and skills plus I've had him short listed for so long (since FIFA 13) that I can't eait to play with him in my side.

Moose: Some nice work in the transfer windows getting above value for several players and bringing in some of your targets for reasonable fees. Shame that Brooks had to put up a fight in contract discussions, but I think you will be more than happy with Tah. Really rough first two matches. Your keeper was definitely not up for the challenge against Crystal Palace, and the match against West Brom you finally got your main man in goal, and he performed well.

Yeah, that was the main thing I was going to make sure I did was get fair value for players that if I didn't get solid deals for that I would be okay with keeping them in the side (Jarvis, Sakho), but moving them on gave me the funds to feel okay with such a big spend on Leno with some money still left over. Just now have to really find the formation that will make the most of the new look squad.

[indiblue]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Yeah, that was the main thing I was going to make sure I did was get fair value for players that if I didn't get solid deals for that I would be okay with keeping them in the side (Jarvis, Sakho), but moving them on gave me the funds to feel okay with such a big spend on Leno with some money still left over. Just now have to really find the formation that will make the most of the new look squad.

I presume you've signed Rafa. Now that you have him and another pacey, technical winger in Ox-Chambo, you might want to try out the 4-3-3 false nine. Play Lord Andrew at CF, set him to stay central and get into the box on crosses. Ask both wingers to cut inside and get behind, and experiment with asking one or both to stay forward at all times. In midfield, you'll want Delph at the base and one of the two CMs to have a high attacking work rate. Usual instructions for the DM, ask the attacking CM to get into the box on crosses and get forward, and ask the other to stay back on attack and edge on crosses. Combine it with this custom tactic and let me know how you get on:

Build-Up
Speed 58-61
Passing 44
Organised

Chance Creation
Passing 37
Crossing 31
Shooting 55-60
Organised (this is vital to make sure Carroll can pop in the goals)

Defence
Pressure 48
Aggression 63
Width 67-72
Cover

EDIT: You'll need to work the ball up at a moderate pace. Too slow and you risk missing out on good runs, too fast and you will isolate your MF from your attack. Use the wings often, especially with your RB/LB to bring the ball up the pitch. Dribbling is key, so it helps that you're good at it. Take advantage of your openings, but take NO risks when your DM has the ball.

[indiblue]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Okay, massive breakthrough with my formation hunt. I have a winner here, folks! So what we do is we start with the 4-2-3-1 with three attacking mids, and then...

1. Take the ST and move him slightly further up and to the right, and reposition him at RS. This guy will be your poacher, the one who scores the bulk of your goals. You want a clinical finisher with strength and awareness, but also a decent bit of acceleration to fly over 10 yards.

Work rates: H/L, H/M, L/L
Ideal player: Sergio Aguero, Mario Balotelli

2. Take your LDM up to the front line, on the left side but slightly below the RS. Position him at LS; he is your link-up striker. This guy will feed the poacher and score a few goals himself. Try to have a well-rounded player in terms of finishing, ball control, dribbling, passing, vision, and physical stats. He should be able to create chances for himself and his striker partner.

Work rates: H/M, H/H, M/L
Ideal player: Luis Suarez, Leo Messi

3. Take your RDM and put him as far back as possible between the centre backs. Reposition him to CDM and set him to work as your midfield stopper. His only job is to break up play and distribute it to one of your other players, so he needs defensive stats as well as passing and vision.

Work rates: M/H, L/H
Ideal player: Javi Martinez, Nemanja Matic

4. Of your three attacking mids, the CAM is going to be your playmaker, but he also needs to get back to help out your CDM. He needs to be as well rounded as possible, so go for the complete player in all regards. This is going to redefine the role of the box-to-box player.

Work rates: M/M, H/H, H/M, M/L
Ideal player: Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal

5. Your RAM and LAM's roles depend on the wide defenders at your disposal. The one on the same side as your more attack-minded full back should be a bit more cautious, so traits like long passing and ball control with a bit of strength and plenty of vision help a ton. He plays more like a CM, but we leave him at RAM instead of RCM so he can also provide a touch of width.

The one on the same side as your more defensive full back should look to get forward often, so try to get the quintessential winger who cuts in. Shooting, passing, dribbling, and a good weak foot are vital. Also, move the attacking wide mid slightly forward and the more cautious one slightly backwards.

Attacking
Work rates: High attacking, any defensive
Ideal player: Arjen Robben, Eden Hazard, Marco Reus

Cautious
Work rates: M/M, H/H, M/L, L/M
Ideal player: Mesut Ozil, Xabi Alonso, Toni Kroos

6. Remember your wide CAMs? Find the more attacking one, then grab the full back on the same side and push him as far back as possible. Tuck him in slightly inside without changing his position. This guy will be part of what is going to operate somewhat like a back three in attack and a back four in defence, which is a highlight of this system. The perfect player is a centre back converted to full back.

Work rates: M/H, M/M, H/H
Ideal player: Branislav Ivanovic, Giorgio Chiellini

7. Grab both centre backs and move them slightly away from the newly defensive full back, so that the back three is spread out more evenly. I highly suggest you go for super-defensive players here to safeguard the goal.

Work rates: M/H, L/H, L/M
Ideal player: John Terry, Jerome Boateng, Thiago Silva

8. Now for the attacking full back. Push him out as far wide as possible, and either bring him as far up as possible without altering his position (for a more conservative defence) OR convert him to a wing back (for a more attacking defence). I prefer the wingback option.

Work rates: H/H, H/M, M/M
Ideal player: Dani Alves, Filipe Luis, Phillip Lahm

And you should have something akin to this (with a defensive RB and attacking LWB):



Remember to realign your formation based on the players. The poacher, dribbler and defensive full back should all be on the same side. The link-up striker, deep-lying playmaker, and attacking full back should be on the opposite side.

Player Instructions

GK: N/A
RB: Stay back on attack
RCB: Stay back on attack
LCB: Stay back on attack
LWB: Always overlap
CDM: Cut passing lanes, Stay back on attack
RAM: Stay forward, Get into the box, Stick to position
CAM: Come back on defence, Stay on edge of box, Stick to position
LAM: Come back on defence, Stay on edge of box, Stick to position
RS: Press back line, Stay central, Get in behind
LS: Mixed defence, Drift wide, Get in behind

Custom Tactics

BUILD-UP
Speed 61 (to get the ball out of your defensive third after winning it)
Passing 44 (to prevent players from creating gaps between themselves)
Organised (for discipline)

CHANCE CREATION
Passing 44 (adequate runs without much risk)
Crossing 41 (only crossing will come from your full backs)
Shooting 61 (you want to be able to create chances in the final third)
Organised (to avoid being hit on the break)

DEFENCE
Pressure 58 (press without leaving space behind)
Aggression 51 (to win the ball back ASAP without going berserk)
Team Width 68 (to keep your shape)
Cover (because offside trap is sh*t)

Play style

Build-up

Don't try the following: extremely risky dribbles in your own half, Hollywood passes a la Stevie G, playing it out of defence under pressure, trying to keep possession at all times, etc. Basically, minimise your risk by playing short and safe passes until you're in the opposition half and your CDM has settled back into his holding role. From here, you can go forward through any or all of your attacking midfielders depending on what you need. Spotted a long pass that can be made? Go with the cautious AM. Can you capitalise on a slow opponent? Use the pacey AM. Do you want to go with the 1-2 or pass your way up? The box-to-box AM is your answer. Also, use the LS to your advantage in the final third as an easy out.

Creating chances

Cross with your full backs, use your dribbler to feed the poacher, or give the ball to your link-up striker and play some 1-2 passes in the final third. Do what you have to based on the space at your disposal and the level of risk you can take without compromising yourself. Keep an eye on your CDM, too. Is he far up the pitch? Maybe now is not the time to lose the ball. Keep hold of it until he goes back, and then you can try again. One of my favourite methods has been to play a 1-2 from the dribbler to the deeper CAM, who slingshots it to him further up the pitch. He then links up with the poacher, who plays a 1-2 with the wider striker before bagging a goal. I scored a hat-trick of these goals with Robben (Ribery dribbler, Thiago deep CAM, Lewandowski wide striker).

Defending

Don't. Pull. Players. Out. Of. Position. Or. You. WILL. Lose.

Remember those words, and you'll be fine. Defending in this game requires you to be patient. Shepherd your mark to the wing, where his options are either to cross or put the ball out of play. Crosses can be dealt with by what is effectively a back three of tall, strong centre halves. If he puts the ball into touch or past the byline, you have possession. Remember not to stay too tight to a fast player or a dribbler, as these guys can easily fool you and break way on WC or Legendary. Once you get the ball back, PUNT THAT SH*T! Obviously you don't want to just hoof it upfield, but look to play the ball to a wide man or someone further up the pitch. And in case you do need to send the ball flying up the field or even into touch, do it if that means preventing a goalscoring chance.

Here's a sample team so you get the idea:

[Cruzerr]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

sigh, so what have I been up to.

I loaded up FIFA, picked Man City, simmed a season, got rid of six players that needed to leave due to the new homegrown rules that will take place next season..and I am enjoying FIFA again.

My god, I really cant get anything right.

[Cruzerr]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Right, here is my idea. This is literally my last shot at a proper CM, if this fails then I am done for a while.

So, I did mention City earlier, bare with me, but I was thinking, of making City a All-English team over the course of a few years. Obviously this would feature a ton of trading and a bunch of home-grown players coming from the ranks, but I figured that with all the money and the current system in there, maybe it is not the worst idea for a CM.

Any ideas, thoughts?

[indiblue]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Right, here is my idea. This is literally my last shot at a proper CM, if this fails then I am done for a while.

So, I did mention City earlier, bare with me, but I was thinking, of making City a All-English team over the course of a few years. Obviously this would feature a ton of trading and a bunch of home-grown players coming from the ranks, but I figured that with all the money and the current system in there, maybe it is not the worst idea for a CM.

Any ideas, thoughts?

To make it slightly more challenging, if you receive a bid for a foreign player that is below his paper value, you must accept. If it is more, you must counter with his paper value. Similarly, you must pay whatever the selling club asks when you enquire about a player.

Sergio Aguero @ £35 million
Wolfsburg bid £29M, you accept
Chelsea bid £50M, you counter with £35M

Nathan Redmond in 2020
Norwich ask for £30M, you have to pay it

Of course, it's up to you in the end. Do whatever will let you have fun.

[Cruzerr]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

To make it slightly more challenging, if you receive a bid for a foreign player that is below his paper value, you must accept. If it is more, you must counter with his paper value. Similarly, you must pay whatever the selling club asks when you enquire about a player.

Sergio Aguero @ £35 million
Wolfsburg bid £29M, you accept
Chelsea bid £50M, you counter with £35M

Nathan Redmond in 2020
Norwich ask for £30M, you have to pay it

Of course, it's up to you in the end. Do whatever will let you have fun.

That is actually legit, I love it! Any other ideas like these to add?

[Keano16]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

That is actually legit, I love it! Any other ideas like these to add?

Love the idea! Maybe you have to have a certain percentage of your starting XI English. And increase it as you go on?

[Simppu12]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

That is actually legit, I love it! Any other ideas like these to add?

I really hope this works well for you. It sounds like a very good idea.

Maybe you could try to implement some sorts of Financial Fair Play rules? For example the way Tex does it (you can't spend more than what you earn), you can go only ten million on the negative side or you can't spend more than 20/30 million for a player? Then you could have a rule about the amount of permanent signings per transfer window. That's all that comes to my mind right now.

[sportsfreak96]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

The votes are in and the team you guys chose for me to do when I get back to updating in May is...

Wolverhampton Wanderers

This one is going to be a lot different from my other CM's in the past. I'll explain that in the intro post

[_ChicoBass]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Okay, massive breakthrough with my formation hunt. I have a winner here, folks! So what we do is we start with the 4-2-3-1 with three attacking mids, and then...

I. Love. This.
This, my friend, has been copied and saved on my email. I do not know when I will experiment with it, but it is just too juicy to risk losing. You have some really good stuff here things I have never tried. Like having a CAM who plays as a box to box CM, brilliant. And it makes perfect sense too as with these instructions that CAM will know exactly how you want him to play. Sometimes you don't get that when you have him set as a CM. I also loved the back line part. I had something like that with Wimbledon (4 in defense 3 in attack) but I was never able to replicate it again. While this is not exactly what I had, (for me the CDM became part of the centre back line) it is still something totally worth trying out. You are a genius Indi. Thanks for posting!

[texasbum06]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

Okay, massive breakthrough with my formation hunt. I have a winner here, folks! So what we do is we start with the 4-2-3-1 with three attacking mids, and then...

Love reading this! I would read one of these from everyone if they posted it! It's really interesting to see how you actually plan out every single position and what their role is. The depth of this breakdown was unbelievable. While we generally know what formation everyone likes to run, we rarely get to see all the detail behind it.

Also, Chico, I want to compare tactics with you some time on the 4-4-2 holding if you are still using it from time to time.

[Cruzerr]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

God Save The Queen!
Manchester City
Season 1

First things first

If I don't post this regularly or get bored or for what ever reason quit on this, I will not post a new CM. This is the reality check. I need to make this work, otherwise I am just swapping between CMs. I hope you forgive me for not going on with the Leeds one.

What is this, Cruzerr?

Very simple, I have picked Manchester City. However, there are a few rules and goals that I have for this CM that hopefully will make it unique and hopefully, you will enjoy this approach.

The whole idea of this thing

The idea is to build a team that only consists of English players and win the treble with them, eventually. I will not stop until the full team is English and I win the treble with the same team. If I win the treble earlier, that is obviously nice, but doesn't count for the ultimate goal.

What are the rules?

The rules are mostly transfer based, yet some of them do impact the game itself.

1. Can't spend more than earned (aka I have completely stolen Tex's idea) -- Pretty self explaining. I have to make profit constantly, which will probably be easier the first and second season, yet when the team gets more English-based, it will mean that we will make deals with English players, obviously.

2. All initial foreign players will be put on transfer (unless they can not be transferred at the time) -- This will mean that the higher rated players will go for less amount of money and it will make the process a lot more difficult, as big players like Toure, Agüero and Silva might leave us very early on.

The players that are currently on loan will be put on transfer when they come back from loan.

3. Start a certain amount of English players each game (if possible)

Again, another one that is pretty logical. My starting 11 must consist of English players. This number will grow as time will move on.

1 season: 5-6 players
2 season: 6-7 players
3 season: 7-8 players
4 season: 8-9 players
5 season: 9-10 players
6 season: 10-11 players

Note, it does say IF POSSIBLE, meaning that if I have fitness issues or injury issues, I will try to follow the rule, yet it might have a lower number of players.

4. The buyer has rights -- As Indi suggested, if I recieve a bid for a player that is lower than his paper value, I have to accept it. If it is higher, than I have to set it to the paper value and sell him for lower price.

5. Financial strict -- Less money in the bank after every transfer, yet money shouldn't actually be a problem in this CM.

6. Enquire the price! -- As you know, if you enquire for a players price, the price will go up a lot, so the idea is that every purchase that I make, will be done in the same price that the other team wants. Meaning that I will spend a lot more money for players.

What are we working with?

As you can see, we have a bunch of players that we can sell, almost the entire team. The team itself consists of 9 English players to start with: Sinclair, Lampard, Drury, Milner, Smith-Brown, Richards, Wright, Gunn, Hart.

This obviously means that we can't sell every foreign player the first season, however, keep in mind that the first season is probably the best season to earn profit and bring in players, since we have a lot of foreign players, who go for a lot of money, meaning that we can bring in more players as we sell more.

The next post?

The next post will feature all of the transfers that I have made, probably the starting 11 and the whole squad, the Community Shield game against Arsenal and the first 3 games in the league.

Keep in mind that there will be quite a lot of transfers, since I will try to strengthen the squad early and there are going to be a lot of bids for the transfer listed foreign players.

I hope this CM goes well, by god. Cruzerr, don't f-this one up.

[jamiec47]

Re: How's Your FIFA Career Mode Going?

MAKING THEM DREAM
SEASON 1
PS4
LEGENDARY

Champions League Quarter Final Leg 1

Liverpool 0-1 Chelsea
Fabregas 70
This match was quite a dull, physical match where a lot of the ball was in the centre of the park. Hazard had the first attempt, it being blocked by Moreno and going over the bar. Sturridge had his edge of the box attempt saved before Costa headed just wide from the penalty spot. Coutinho had an excellent effort fly just wide from 40 yards, the ball curling and almost finding the bottom corner. Fabregas got the only goal of the game thanks to Mignolet's error. Firing it towards the bottom corner, Migs got a hand to it but it bobbled up and he landed on the ball, causing it to go in. This was only our second loss of the season in all competitions, the first against Man City back in August.

Match 30

Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool
Kane 19
Ibe 45
Kane opened the scoring when Ibe played Kane through to run away from Arsenal's slow back line and fire into the far corner for his first goal in months. Oxlade then missed an incredible chance, heading over at the far post unmarked with Mignolet out of position. Sanchez put his free kick just over the bar 10 minutes later and on the stroke of half time Migs was forced into an unbelievable save to deny Welbeck's header. Seconds later, Ibe was played through and he cut inside to fire through Ospina's legs and make it 2-0. Not much happened in the second half apart from Ospina being forced into a great save to deny Gerrard.

Champions League Quarter Finals Leg 2

Chelsea 2-2 Liverpool (3-2 agg)
Balotelli 9 (PEN)
Willian 35
Balotelli 36
Fabregas 56
Balo opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Henderson was fouled, minutes after Hazard fired wide at the near post. Fabregas hit the post after Sakho was caught out of position and had his shot saved by Mignolet soon after. Willian finally got Chelsea a goal, firing in near post, being allowed space because once again, Sakho was out of position. Immediately after, Balo ran at the defence, cut inside and took a thunderous drive into the top corner from 30 yards. Unfortunately, Fabregas got the equaliser and took Chelsea through, firing in first time from Costa's ball through.

Match 31

Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle
Toure 33
Kane 85

Match 32

Liverpool 1-1 Manchester United
Balotelli 45
Mata 63
Every time! Every ****ing time! I score a stunner and the get a cheap *** equaliser. Balotelli scored an absolute wonder goal, from the angle of the corner of the box, about 30 yards out on the right hand side, he blasted it with the outside of his right boot and it curled over Valdes and off the bar and in. It was stunning. I uploaded a ****ty phone quality video to YouTube of it because I have no idea about share play on PS4 but it's taking ages to upload. I will post it separately when it's done. Unfortunately, Mata slotted under Mignolet after he was left in open space in the box. Lallana forced an excellent save, Balo hit the bar from the edge of the box and the Italian forced Valdes into another great save but we couldn't get the win.

FA Cup Semi Final

Liverpool 2-2 Arsenal (5-4 pens)
Allen 56
Dzeko 61
Gray 83
Walcott 90
Ospina made the first save of the match, denying Kane from a tight angle before Enrique headed over from the corner that followed. Migs made a good save to deny Ramsey's low, driven effort and we countered, Gerrard putting a ball over the top for Gray who whipped in for Allen's thunderous header. Unfortunately, Dzeko equalised with a header of his own after the ball bobbled up into the air off of Alexis' shin. Gray made it 2-1, darting down the wing to smash in near post but Walcott cut inside and blasted into the top corner to take it to extra time. We came close to grabbing the win in normal time, Ibe letting fly from 40 yards and the ball striking the bar. Soon after kick off, Ibe curled over the bar from distance before Mignolet was called into incredible action on the stroke of half time. First he made an incredible save to deny Gabriel who fired towards the top corner from the 12 yards and then to deny Debuchy with his legs. The match went to penalties and there was a series of goals: Kane; Arteta; Markovic; Giroud; Enrique; Ramsey; Musacchio. And then Ozil missed, but so did Lovren and Alexis stepped up. Ibe fired in and Walcott hit the bar to put us in the final.

Match 33

Hull 1-2 Liverpool
Sturridge 32
Jelavic 54
Sturridge 84

Match 34

West Brom 1-1 Liverpool
Brunt 28
Sturridge 65

League Table

1. Liverpool 79
2. Manchester City 75 (1 game in hand)
3. Arsenal 64
4. Spurs 59
5. Chelsea 57
6. Manchester United 57
-----
18. Aston Villa 31
19. Burnley 30
20. Leicester 26

April Headlines

Premier League

The Premier League is looking at a dramatic month ahead, with Liverpool leading the league by 4 points, but with City having a game in hand. Liverpool still have to play Chelsea and Crystal Palace, the two teams where the title broke down last season, they won't be looking for a repeat in Gerrard's final season at the club. Arsenal are pretty much safe in the Champions League spots but Spurs and Chelsea will be going at it for 4th. United however, will have to look out for a nearby Everton and Stoke and the Red Devils have played 1 more game than most. At the other end, Leicester look resigned to relegation but Burnley and Aston Villa with Palace, West Ham, Sunderland and Hull all within 4 points of the second bottom Burnley.

Champions League

In the Champions League, Chelsea will be facing the Galacticos of Real Madrid in the final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. Chelsea made it to the final by finishing top of Group G ahead of FC Schalke 04, Sporting CP and Standard Liege. They then beat Athletic Bilbao, Liverpool and Barcelona in the knock-out stages. Real Madrid made it to the final by finishing second in Group B behind Liverpool and ahead of Lille on goal difference, and FC Basel. They then beat AS Roma, Juventus and FC Porto in the knock-out stages.

Europa League

In the Europa League, Manchester City will face PSG in the final at the Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw. City made it to the final by finishing third in their Champions League group behind AS Roma and FC Bayern and they went on to beat LOSC Lille, Borussia Monchengladbach and Villarreal in the competition. PSG finished third in their Champions League group behind Barcelona and Ajax but went on to beat VfL Wolfsburg, Sporting CP and AS Monaco in the Europa League.