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
Today I’m looking at a team that will be tasked with surviving in a division containing some of the best teams in the world. That team is Elche CF in the Spanish Liga BBVA.
Elche CF (Tier 2)
Contents
- Why choose Elche CF?
- Lineups
- Recommended purchases
- Suggested sales
- Future considerations
Starting transfer budget: £1,600,000
Starting wage budget: £45,000
Default formation: 4-2-3-1
Board expectations: Finish mid table, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Rubén Pérez
Best young prospect: Carles Gil
Why choose Elche CF?
Tier 2 teams have to survive in a tough division, and leagues don’t come much tougher than when you’re facing Real Madrid and Barcelona twice a season. Elche CF have the second lowest budget in the Liga BBVA, but at least the poorest side – Rayo Vallecano – have around 15 high potential players. Elche CF, by contrast, have around 8, and that’s being very generous. Furthermore, the board don’t just want you to survive, but to finish mid table (as was the case with another tier 2 team I wrote a guide for, SC Bastia). You have to comfortably avoid the drop with a miniscule budget and an ageing squad. No mean feat.
There are positives, though. The team have some very promising players, with four set to hit 80 or above. Of those, Richmond Boakye is one of my favourite high potential strikers in the game, so you should at least be able to get a decent return of goals. The problem is that once you get past these four players, the potential drops off rapidly. Many of the other players with high potential are actually older and already at their prime, so will soon see their OVRs take a tumble. If you’re to hit mid table, you’ll have to replace them fast while improving other areas as well.
Elche CF’s key player is Rubén Pérez. He’s a great all-round midfielder who is able to quickly turn defense into attack. His stand tackling and interceptions stats are already in the 80s, while his short passing, strength and stamina are in the mid to high 70s. He can strike a ball as well, so may chip in with a few goals along the way. He makes a fantastic midfield partnership with Carlos Sánchez, with Sánchez being the muscle and Pérez the creativity. Pérez starts at 75 OVR and has 80 potential.
Carles Gil is Elche CF’s most promising young player, with 82 potential from a starting OVR of 73. Though he’s not the fastest, his 81 ball control and 81 dribbling will make him very difficult for defenders to get hold of. His strong passing, vision and positioning mean you may feel he is best suited to playing as a CAM. What’s certain is that with his high potential he is going to develop into a fantastic asset for the team.
Strongest starting lineup
The following is Elche CF’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets.
Suggested formation and starting lineup
I’ve now changed the formation to 4-4-2 to show you how you could accommodate the team’s highest potential players. All potentials are in brackets.
Recommended purchases
Key signings required: GK, CB, LB
Elche CF have some solid players, but many are in their 30s or late 20s. With several declining players, the defense seemed like the area most in need of immediate attention.
NOTE: I’m making these purchases without selling players so that you can see what it is possible to do with this budget. It was quite tricky to get the following players for the amounts I did (a fair amount of reloading was required), so just be aware that these prices are the best I was able to get, not necessarily the prices I paid at the first attempt. I find a good idea is to bid around £100-£200,000 under the prices I’ve given below, then work your way up £50-£100,000 at a time.
Before making any purchases, go to the budget allocation screen and change the budget ratio to 60:40 (it starts off heavily weighted towards wages). That should leave you with £2,363,999 in transfer funds and £12,307 in wages. Now we can start bringing players in.
Loris Karius
Club: 1. FSV Mainz 05
Position: GK
OVR: 69
Potential: 78
Age: 20
Cost: £550,000
Wages: £6,000
Though Elche CF have two decent goalkeepers, they’re 33 and 31 respectively. FIFA 14 is a bit more lenient when it comes to goalkeepers declining, but you can expect them to start dropping pretty soon. What you therefore need is a young goalkeeper who will be ready to step into their shoes when the time comes.
Loris Karius meets those requirements perfectly. He’s got very good potential (78) and his OVR is high enough that it won’t take long before he’s ready to take over the reins. His diving, reflexes and kicking are already in the mid 70s so he’ll make an excellent shot stopper right from day one. Even better, he’s a godsend for any low-budget team because he is so cheap, and could become a key part of what will be a difficult first season.
Although Mainz wanted £975,000 for him, I only had to pay around half that at £550,000. He should accept the default wage amount of £6,000, but sometimes says he doesn’t want to leave Germany; if this happens, I found increasing his contract length was all it took to convince him to join. If not, bump his wages up to £6,500 and he’ll be yours.
Diego Polenta
Club: Bari
Position: CB
OVR: 69
Potential: 79
Age: 21
Cost: £1,000,000
Wages: £6,000
There’s no doubt Botía is a great centre back and Lombán is a decent pairing for him, but beyond that Elche CF really start to struggle. Pelegrín is 34 and will soon retire, while Charlie l’Anson is only due to hit 71 and Nacho Porcar has even lower potential at 63. If you are to have any hope of surviving (never mind pushing for mid table), you’ll need to make sure you don’t leak goals. Aside from getting a goalkeeper for the future, you’ll need a new centre back.
Diego Polenta of Bari in Serie B was my solution. He’s already extremely strong and has decent pace for a centre back, so he should be able to deal with attackers both fast and strong. He’s got excellent jumping and his defensive stats are good across the board as well, making him a very well-rounded asset. With 69 OVR he can pretty much slot straight into your starting lineup, and his 79 potential will make him a rock at the back for many years to come. Finally, his low/high workrates will see him rarely caught out of position and always willing to track back and help deal with any threats.
Bari tried to get £1.6m for him, but I had an offer of £1m accepted. His wages are £6,000.
Jérôme Roussillon
Club: FC Sochaux
Position: LB
OVR: 67
Potential: 78
Age: 20
Cost: £750,000
Wages: £6,000
The third area I wanted to shore up straight away was at left back. Elche CF’s two starting left backs are, like their goalkeepers, 31 and 33 respectively. As they’re outfielders they will start declining almost instantly, so you can’t waste time and try to make do. However, with the amount we’ve spent so far there’s not a lot left to buy a good player.
Luckily, there is Jérôme Roussillon. He’s fast and has great stamina, which should reduce your dependence on Cisma and Edu Albacar (Elche CF’s current left backs). He’s got good all-round full back stats, from tackling and interceptions to crossing and ball control. As an added bonus, he’s 5’11” so should be able to deal with opposition crosses and lobbed through balls, adding more defensive fortitude to your back line.
£750,000 was all it took to buy him from FC Sochaux. His wages were also £6,000 and didn’t need any improving.
After that, we’re left with £63,999 in transfer funds and £12,307 in wages. I want to patch up a few other areas, so we’ll need to sell some players in order to free up some cash.
Suggested sales
Javi Flores is one of many players who can be sold
Elche CF have a fairly large squad and lots of players who lack decent potential. I’d therefore recommend you have a bit of a clear out. The addition of Roussillon means you don’t need Cisma at left back any more, so he can be sold for around £500,000. That will free up £15,000 in wages too, and you’ll get the same amount back if you sell Toño (goalkeeper). He’s 33 and may well start declining soon, and his sale will net you around £450,000.
Selling Nico, Rodrigues, Sergi Guilló, Sergio León and Javi Flores can get you around £1,000,000 in total and almost £15,000 in wages. Don’t worry, none of them have potential higher than 68. Any of Elche CF’s players with 59 OVR or less could also be sold, but they won’t get you much.
In trimming off all this fat you can free up plenty of money to bring in a couple more players who will have a much larger impact. It also reduces the number of players bugging you for game time throughout the season.
Future considerations – get a new winger
Sekou Oliseh is a brilliant free option for Elche CF
Elche CF don’t have many wingers (three to be precise), and if you choose to sell Rodrigues that number goes down even further. Moreover, Fidel is only set to grow by three points, and while Carles Gil is great, you can’t rely on him alone.
I did what I often do and scoured the free transfer market. The player I settled on was Sekou Oliseh of PAOK in the Rest of World section. He’s 23, rated 73, has 79 potential and £20,000 in wages, and you’ll need to make a move for him in January. He’s got excellent pace and agility, and his dribbling and four star skill moves will make beating defenders simple. Like Carles Gil he is a right midfielder, but seeing as Gil is left footed and Oliseh is right footed, you should still have some flexibility when choosing which wing to play each of them on. By the time he arrives he should be at least 76-77 OVR, which will make a huge difference to your team.
Future considerations – get a new striker
Matos is cheap but brings tons of quality
As I mentioned earlier, Richmond Boakye is one of four highly promising players that Elche CF have. However, the next highest potential striker on their team is Cristian Herrera with 75 potential. Manu Del Moral will soon be declining and Álvaro is not really good enough, so I wanted to bring in another striker to help up the goal tally.
The player I settled on was Matos of Fiorentina. He’s 20 years old, starts at 71 OVR and has 78 potential, and his wages are £20,000. Because he’s not really getting a look in at Fiorentina, his club are willing to let him go for a measly £600,000, which is a fantastic price for someone of his ability. What makes him so good is he is so well rounded – finishing, dribbling, pace, positioning and passing are all strong points, while his jumping and agility mean he’ll be good with the ball in the air or on the deck. Adding him to the team should give Boakye an excellent partner and a player who can drive your squad onwards.
That’s another FIFA 14 career mode guide rounded off. Elche CF present you with a worthy challenge but give you plenty of resources with which to tackle it, so if you’ve given them a try or what to let us know what you thought, make sure you share your ideas 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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