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 16’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
Cagliari (Tier 3)
One reason I like Serie A is that there are so many good teams to choose from, so much competition. That’s great if you start with one of those teams, but coming up from Serie B it can be a very daunting league. That’s why I’ve chosen Cagliari for my next tier 3 team. They should be able to win Serie B fairly easily (although it’s not guaranteed), but life in Serie A will be a whole different kettle of fish. Build for the future quickly and you’ll be able to survive, so a career with Cagliari is as much about tomorrow as it is today – making it hugely rewarding if you get it right.
Contents
- Why choose Cagliari?
- Lineups
- Recommended purchases
- Suggested sales
- Future considerations
Starting transfer budget: £3,600,000
Starting wage budget: £30,000
Default formation: 4-3-1-2
Board expectations: Win the league title, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Marco Sau
Best young prospect: Nicola Murru
Why choose Cagliari?
Cagliari have enough quality players to be able to do reasonably well in Serie A, so getting promoted from Serie B should be straightforward (the board want you to win the league, which will be more tricky). They’ve got one of the few players with potential over 80 in the division, and some fantastic talent in the likes of Marco Sau and Marco Storari. And with the best budget in Serie B, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting in some promising players. Oh, and don’t forget that they have the likes of Víctor Ibarbo (potential 81), Davide Astori (potential 79) and Godfred Donsah (potential 82) all out on loan, and they’ll make a huge impact once they return at the start of the second season.
That said, it’s not all positive. Two of the team’s three goalkeepers are aged 38 and 39 respectively, so pretty soon you’ll be faced with a keeper shortage. They’re lacking in certain positions (particularly full back), and there’s a very real chance you could get instantly relegated after promotion to Serie A, such is the step up in quality.
Cagliari’s key player is Marco Sau. He’s the player to fire you towards the league title. He’s rated 74 as a striker but gets a massive boost to 80 OVR if you play him as a winger, making him by far the best player in the division. With 93 acceleration, 91 sprint speed and 82 dribbling, there’s not a defender in Serie B who can keep him quiet. He’s also got 83 positioning and 77 finishing so will score plenty of goals. Just make sure to play him as a RW or LW to get the most out of him.
The team’s most promising young player is Nicola Murru. He’s fast, can cross and has loads of stamina, but his medium/medium work rates ensure he doesn’t constantly bomb forward leaving your defence exposed. In fact his tackling is fantastic (78 slide tackle and 77 stand tackle), so there’s no need to worry about his defensive capabilities. And with 80 potential he’ll grow into a superb left back in a few years’ time.
Strongest starting lineup
Changing the formation to 4-2-3-1, here is Cagliari’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:
Highest potential lineup
And here’s Cagliari’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:
Recommended purchases
Key signings required: GK, RB, LB, CM x2.
The problem with using a team from Serie B is that a lot of players don’t want to sign for you, and you have to pay over the odds on their wages to convince them to join. To avoid that, we’re only going to look for new signings in the less-travelled leagues, which should help us save some money.
Before we get started, adjust the budget ratio to 55:45. This will give you £2,838,000 in transfer funds and £44,653 in wages. Now let’s see who we can buy with that.
Eren Albayrak is remarkably good considering you don’t pay a penny for him
Eren Albayrak
Club: Çaykur Rizespor
Position: LB
OVR: 72
Potential: 77
Age: 24
Cost: £0 (contract expiry)
Wages: £25,000
Although Cagliari have one of the most promising left backs in Italy (Nicola Murru), left back is actually a bit of a problem position. The only other left back is Antonio Barreca, who is only on loan for the season. Once he’s gone, you’ll need a replacement in case Murru gets injured or tired. Because you have Barreca, you don’t need a replacement straight away, so it’s a good idea to sign a player on contract expiry so he’ll arrive just as Barreca departs at the start of the second season.
My choice is Eren Albayrak of Çaykur Rizespor in Turkey. He’s pacey and full of stamina, which is just what you need in a full back, and brings a high level of flexibility – he’s just as good as a LW as he is at LB. As well as that, he’s great at taking free kicks and has good passing and vision, so should be able to score a few goals as well as great them. And with 77 potential, he’s got plenty of growing to do so will make an excellent backup for Murru.
Approach to sign him in the first January transfer window and you can get him for free. His wages are £25,000.
Viktor Kovalenko is highly promising and surprisingly cheap
Viktor Kovalenko
Club: Shakhtar Donetsk
Position: CM
OVR: 70
Potential: 83
Age: 19
Cost: £1.8m
Wages: £10,000
While Cagliari’s central midfield is decent, it’s nothing special. João Pedro is pretty good, but the next highest potential central mids are Marco Fossati (74 potential) and Davide Di Gennaro (73 potential). You’ll want better players than that if you’re going to last long in Serie A.
With that in mind, I recommend you buy Viktor Kovalenko. Not only does he have an impressive 83 potential, but his 70 OVR means he can slot right into the starting lineup. He’s a fantastically well-rounded player, with good crossing, dribbling, passing and even free kicks. He’ll grow into a superb playmaker, and can be played at attacking midfield if you need him to.
Best of all, he’s ridiculously cheap for someone with 83 potential – Shakhtar Donetsk want £2.6m for him, but I was able to buy him for a mere £1.8m. His wages are also very affordable at £10,000.
Jarlan Barrera can play on the wing if you need him to
Jarlan Barrera
Club: Junior
Position: CAM
OVR: 68
Potential: 81
Age: 19
Cost: £1m
Wages: £8,000
We’ve got Kovalenko to sit in central midfield, but we still need one more to take over from Di Gennaro. My choice is Jarlan Barrera of Junior in Colombia. With his crossing and dribbling being some of his best stats, he can easily be played on the wing to great effect. He’s also got a trick up his sleeve that the screenshot above doesn’t depict – he’s got four star skill moves (as well as a four star weak foot). Combine that with his dribbling and he’ll be making a fool of defenders in both Serie B and Serie A. 81 potential rounds off a great player.
Junior quote a price of £1.7m but I was able to buy him for just £1m. His wages are very cheap at £8,000.
After these transfers you’ll be left with just £38,000 in transfer funds and £1,653 in wages. Let’s have a look at the players we can sell in order to raise some money for scouts or more players.
Suggested sales
Selling Gianni Munari will get you about £400,000
Cagliari have a pretty small squad so you can’t sell tons of players, but there are some that you can get rid of. For a start you should sell Roberto Colombo before he declines any more (he’s aged 39), and selling him straight away will get you about £100,000. There’s also no real need to hold on to Fabio Pisacane – he’s 29 and only rated 64, so won’t get much game time. Selling him will get you around £200,000.
Finally, buying Kovalenko and Barrera means you can sell a couple of central midfielders. Try moving on Gianni Munari and Alessandro Deiola – you’ll get about £500,000 for both of them combined.
Selling all of those players will bring in around £800,000. It’s not a huge amount, but definitely enough to get a decent scout or perhaps a cheap, high potential player for the future.
Future considerations – get a new goalkeeper
Patrik Carlgren makes a great backup goalkeeper
As I mentioned earlier in this guide, two of your three starting goalkeepers are going to retire imminently. There is Simone Colombi out on loan, but he’s only got 72 potential. Alessio Cragno should be your main keeper going forward, but you may also feel that you want a better backup than Colombi.
If that’s the case, you could buy Patrik Carlgren from AIK in Sweden. His contract is expiring so you can get him for free, which is great because it means you don’t have to spend a huge amount on a player who is just going to be a backup. He’s a good player though – his 69 starting OVR and 75 potential will mean he’ll be more than capable of standing in for Cragno if needed. His wages are also very cheap at £10,000, so he’s a very good deal all round if you want a better backup than Colombi.
Future considerations – get a new right back
Ivan Martić is a solid full back and you only need to pay his wages
While the right back situation at Cagliari isn’t as desperate as it is at left back, you should still think about shoring up that position. Pisacane won’t do much good and can be sold, while Andres Tello is excellent but only in on loan for the season. That leaves just Antonio Balzano, who is 29 and will start declining pretty soon.
The situation is stable for the first season while you have Tello and Balzano is just about maintaining his OVR, but you’ll need a new player by the second season. With that in mind, I’d suggest another free transfer, this time Ivan Martić of your Serie B rivals La Spezia. He starts at 73 OVR and has 77 potential, making him a great player to take over the first team slot at right back. He’s got good pace, excellent stamina and some fantastic defensive stats, so he can help keep things solid at the back in your difficult first season in Serie A. His wages are £30,000 so a bit more than Carlgren, but it’s absolutely worth saving up for him.
That just about wraps up this week’s article on good teams for career mode. Cagliari’s budget and talented players should make promotion a very achievable goal, but it’s a different story once you get into Serie A, such is the level of competition. Shore up the midfield and bring in some new defenders and you’ll have build a great foundation to help you survive the difficult first season – and build up to future glories from there.
I’d 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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