Introduction: How do these articles work?

Each Sunday I examine a different team in detail and look at why they’re a good team for FIFA 14’s career mode. The teams are broken down into the following categories:

Tier 1: Teams in tough divisions that can push on to challenge for silverware
Tier 2: Teams that will have to fight for survival in a challenging division
Tier 3: Teams that start in a lower division but can hope to get promoted and work their way up higher leagues
Tier 4: Teams that start right at the bottom of the pile, with few funds or high potential players

So today we start with a Tier 1 team: Montpellier HSC in France’s Ligue 1.

Montpellier HSC (Tier 1)

Starting transfer budget: £7,500,000
Starting wage budget: £45,000
Default formation: 4-2-3-1
Board expectations: Qualify for Euro League, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Rémy Cabella
Best young prospect: Morgan Sanson

Why choose Montpellier HSC?

I’ve put Montpellier in Tier 1, which means I think they can push on and challenge for silverware. This is no mean feat for them, however. They’re in a league with two of the richest clubs in the game in PSG and AS Monaco. They have a decent budget but will likely be outspent by rivals like Olympique Lyon and Marseille, who have great transfer and wage budgets. Their starting team is weaker than a good six or seven teams in the league, meaning you’ll have a lot of work to do to build them up. On top of all that, the board wants you to qualify for the Euro League, which means finishing in the top five. No mean feat!

That said, there are a lot of positives going for them. They have a good budget at £7,500,000, allowing you a good amount of freedom in shaping the team to your liking. They have some excellent young prospects on their team who will develop into fantastic players that you can either hold on to or sell on for profit. They’re not too stocked with young talent, though, which gives you plenty of space to bring in the players you want.

Their key player is Rémy Cabella. His excellent pace and superb dribbling make him a real threat going forward, and he could easily play out on the wing with his good crossing. But I’d keep him in that CAM role – his 77 finishing and 79 vision will see him scoring and creating more goals from a central position than he could if he was on the wing. He’s also very good at dead ball situations, and with potential 83 he’s going to become one of your best and most important players.

The best young prospect on the team is Morgan Sansone (I haven’t included M’Baye Niang, as he’s on loan and will leave after a season). A great ball playing CDM, he’s already got 80 vision, which is amazing for such a young player. His passing and dribbling are some of his best stats, so he should grow into a superb deep-lying playmaker in the Xabi Alonso mould. He can defend, too, with a high defensive work rate and 77 stand tackling giving him the ability to break up attacks as well as start his own. With only nine points of growth needed to reach his 80 potential, I wouldn’t be surprised if he reached into the early to mid 80s.

Strongest starting lineup

This is the team’s best starting lineup at the start of a career (OVRs are in brackets)

Suggested formation and starting lineup

Based on the highest potential players in the team, I suggest a 4-3-3 formation with this starting lineup (potentials are in brackets)

This formation allows you to make the most of the team’s pacey wingers and lets Cabella play a key role in your attacks. It also allows you to pair the strong, tough-tackling Benjamin Stambouli with the deep-lying playmaker Morgan Sanson. You therefore play to your team’s strengths and allow your high potential players to shine.

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: CB, LB, ST

There are some glaring holes in the team that need patching up, so here are three players I’d recommend for Montpellier:

Nicola Murru
Position: LB
OVR: 71
Potential: 84
Age: 18
Cost: £2,700,000
Wages: £7,000

Montpellier only have one left back on their team, and that’s the 31 year old Siaka Tiéné (OVR 73). Given how fast FIFA 14 makes players aged 29 or over decline, he’s not going to last long before he starts seriously declining, so getting a new LB is a top priority.

Nicola Murru fits the bill perfectly. He’s young, has a good starting OVR and fantastic potential. He’s got 78 stamina, so you shouldn’t need to sub him out for Tiéné too often, which means less reliance on a declining player. He’s got good pace and crossing and superb tackling, so he’s good in attack and defence.

Cagliari want £3,800,000 for him but I only had to pay £2,700,000. His default wages are £5,000 but I had to bump them up to £7,000 to convince him to join, but that’s still extremely cheap.

John Anthony Brooks
Position: CB
OVR: 71
Potential: 81
Age: 20
Cost: £1,900,000
Wages: £20,000

Another problem area for Montpellier is centre back. Hilton is decent but at 35 he’s going to be declining rapidly and will probably retire soon. Both him and El Kaoutari are 5’11”, while Congré is 6’1”, so the team hasn’t got the tallest centre backs in the world. There’s a risk, therefore, that they’ll get beaten on corners and lofted through balls, so that needs addressing.

My suggestion is John Anthony Brooks. At 6’4” he’s going to have an instant impact and should help you defend corners and cause problems at the opposite end. He’s also got 78 sprint speed, so even if the opposition manage to lob a pass over him, he stands a good chance of catching up and recovering.

Hertha BSC ask for £2,800,000, but £1,900,000 should be enough to buy him. Like Murru, I had to increase his wages to convince him to come over.

Andreas Cornelius
Position: ST
OVR: 71
Potential: 79
Age: 20
Cost: £2,600,000
Wages: £15,000

The third problem area for Montpellier is up front. They only have two strikers on their starting roster – Djamel Bakar and Victor Hugo Montaño. Montaño is rated 70 but is 29 years old, so it won’t be long before he starts declining. Bakar is rated 71 and has potential 74, but really you want a striker with higher potential than that. And besides, you should probably have another striker in case either Bakar or Montaño gets injured.

Given that you need a decent striker with good potential, you can probably only afford one who starts off with a decent OVR. This means we need to find a striker who can fulfil multiple roles on the pitch in order to ensure your money is efficiently spent. That man is Andreas Cornelius. He’s 6’4” with 82 strength and 77 heading, so will excel in the air if that’s your play style. But as well as that, he’s got 77 sprint speed and 75 finishing, so will also work well if you like attacking by playing the ball on the deck. His 78 stamina also means that he shouldn’t often need subbing, which is extremely useful when you don’t have that many strikers.

FC København wanted £4,500,000 for him but I managed to buy him for £2,600,000. His wages are a very affordable £15,000.

So let’s have a look at how much those players cost us:

Starting transfer funds: £7,500,000
Starting wage funds: £45,000

Total spent on transfer fees: £7,200,000
Total spent on wages: £42,000

Perfect. We got three excellent players to address the main problems facing Montpellier, all for within our budget and ensuring we got maximum value for money.

Have you tried a career with Montpellier or any of the suggested players before? Do you have your own recommendations for what to do with a team like Montpellier? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

I’d also like to hear if you have any thoughts about the format of the article itself. Did you find it useful? Conversely, do you think it was missing something that you’d have liked me to include?

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