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

Stade Lavallois (Tier 4)

With tier 4 articles we look at teams that have it tough, and Stade Lavallois are a great example of this. Lots of aging players, very little in the way of potential and ridiculous board expectations make them a fantastic team if you’re looking for a career mode that will test you to your limits.

Contents

1. Why choose Stade Lavallois?
2. Lineups
   1. Strongest starting lineup
   2. Highest potential lineup
3. Recommended purchases
4. Suggested sales
5. Future considerations
   1. Get a new centre back
   2. Get a new left back

Starting transfer budget: £500,000
Starting wage budget: £6,000
Default formation: 4-3-3
Board expectations: Gain automatic promotion, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Fouad Chafik
Best young prospect: Nordi Mukiele

Why choose Stade Lavallois?

A combination of circumstances make Stade Lavallois a seriously challenging career mode side: they have one of the lowest totals of high potential players in the division (only 8 with potential of 70 or higher), a restrictive £500,000 budget and, to top it all, the board want you to gain automatic promotion. Other promotion rivals like AJ Auxerre and RC Lens have three times Lavallois’s budget and twice as many high potential players – competing will be very, very difficult.

There are some bright notes, though. Lavallois have one of the only players with 80+ potential in the division (Nordi Mukiele; more on him soon), and have a fairly strong team for Ligue 2. You’ll need to strengthen fast to be ready for the top division, but that’s not impossible with the team’s budget (although it is difficult).

Stade Lavallois’s key player is Fouad Chafik. He’s a speedy right back with 75 strength and 90 stamina, so will be running all game long and won’t get easily shoved off the ball. Those attributes mean he can compete against higher rated players, so should be able to create plenty of chances and snuff out opposition attacks at the other end. He’s also got a fantastic slide tackling stat, so isn’t likely to mess up a challenge. Keep him fit and you’ve got a good chance of heading up the league towards promotion.

The side’s most promising young player is Nordi Mukiele. He’s only 17 but has the ability to hold down a starting 11 spot, and thanks to his 81 potential he’ll be a permanent fixture there once he starts growing. He’s fairly strong and good in the air, so is going to be solid at the back right from the off. Give him plenty of games and he’ll repay you with some fantastic growth and great performances to boot.

Strongest starting lineup

Here is Stade Lavallois’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:

Highest potential lineup

And here’s Stade Lavallois’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: GK, CB, LB, CM.

Because we need quite a few new signings but have a restrictive budget, we’re going to concentrate on loaning players in and getting free transfers. We’re still going to buy a player outright, but don’t have the funds to be able to permanently buy a high quality player for every position we need. Loan and free players are thus a great way to bolster your team if you don’t have much in the way of funds.

Before starting, adjust your budget ratio to 37:63. This will give you £300,437 in transfer funds and £9,837 in wages. Now let’s bring in some players.

Mark Birighitti
Club: Newcastle Jets
Position: GK
OVR: 67
Potential: 72
Age: 24
Cost: £0 (contract expiry)
Wages: £4,250

While goalkeepers usually last longer than outfield players before they start declining, Stade Lavallois’s main keeper Lionel Cappone is 36 and so even as a GK he’ll start declining soon. The other goalkeepers in the side really aren’t worth talking about, so we’ll need a long-term replacement who fits within Lavallois’s meagre budget.

Mark Birighitti of Newcastle Jets in Australia fits the bill nicely. He’s a pretty well-rounded keeper with no major weak spots; his reflexes are his best stat and will ensure he reacts quickly to close-range shots. He’s also got 72 potential – while it’s not amazing, don’t forget that you can heavily train goalkeepers and get them to exceed their potential, so you should be able to get him to go much higher than that.

Just go to sign him in the first January transfer window and you’ll be able to get him for free. His wages are very cheap at £4,250, enabling us to save money for some more players.

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Omar Mancilla
Club: Deportes Tolima
Position: CB
OVR: 65
Potential: 76
Age: 20
Cost: £0 (two-year loan)
Wages: £1,000

Although Stade Lavallois have been blessed with Nordi Mukiele, they don’t have any other high potential centre backs to speak of. Djibril Konaté is OK but is 34 and will start declining soon, while the next best centre back only has 66 potential. Changes are needed here.

My suggestion is Omar Mancilla of Deportes Tolima in Colombia. As you can probably see, he’s got three real standout stats – his 85 strength, 74 heading and 73 interceptions. Not only is he extremely strong (so will hold his own against higher-rated forwards), but the mental side of his game is good too and he can read opposition attacks very well. And with good heading like that, he’ll score you a few goals from set pieces too. He’s not particularly fast, but get him alongside almost any attacker and his 85 strength will do the rest.

My tip is to loan him in for two years – his wages are extremely cheap at £1,000 and of course there’s no transfer fee, but you still get him for a good amount of time. That will enable you to build up some more funds to buy a centre back outright in two years’ time, or to develop some youth defenders.

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Alex Gersbach
Club: Sydney FC
Position: LB
OVR: 64
Potential: 75
Age: 18
Cost: £0 (two-year loan)
Wages: £1,000

The situation at left back is in some ways worse than centre back. The starting left back is Erwan Quintin, but he’s only rated 67 and is 31, so will drop off quickly, and the only other LB in the squad has just 64 potential. You’ll need to shore up this position if you are to have any hope of surviving more than just one season in Ligue 1.

I suggest you bring in Alex Gersbach of Sydney FC on loan for two years. He’s much faster than either of Lavallois’s left backs and has very good stamina too, so can comfortably play game after game and grow well. And speaking of growth, his 75 potential will ensure it won’t be long before he’s overtaken Quintin as the team’s best LB. Like Mancilla, I recommend you sign Gersbach on loan for two years to make the most of his cheap wages and high potential while you look for a long-term replacement.

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Anthony Ribelin
Club: Montpellier HSC
Position: CM
OVR: 64
Potential: 74
Age: 19
Cost: £300,000
Wages: £3,400

Stade Lavallois have a couple of half decent central midfielders in terms of potential, but really could do with one more just to strengthen for the future. And while players like Anthony Gonçalves and Hassane Alla seem pretty good now, they’ll both start losing OVR points pretty quickly and will need replacing.

My solution is Anthony Ribelin of Montpellier HSC. He’s an attack-minded midfielder with a quick burst of pace and very good dribbling to his name. He actually goes up to 67 on the wing and 66 at CAM, so brings some extra flexibility to the role, but is just as happy to sit back and play a holding role alongside another central midfielder. With 74 potential he’ll be one of your most promising players once you sign him, and don’t be surprised if he exceeds that potential.

We’ll actually be signing Ribelin outright rather than loaning him in, and an offer of £300,000 should do the trick. His wages are £3,400 and he wants the ‘important 1st team player’ squad role.

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Those transfers will leave you with a puny £437 in transfer funds and £187 in wages – barely enough to get by. Let’s see who we can sell to raise some cash, because you’ll need more than that to bring in more players or hire some scouts.

Suggested sales

With Birighitti joining at the start of the second season, you can get rid of one or two of Stade Lavallois’s existing keepers. Hold on to Cappone, but sell Lesec for £100,000. Once Birighitti arrives next season, you can sell Hautbois for around £200,000.

You can also get rid of Valentin Launay for £100,000 and, optionally, Alassane N’Diaye for about £350,000.

Stade Lavallois have a pretty small squad so I wouldn’t really recommend selling many more players. Depending on how many of the players listed above you decided to ship out, you can make in the range of £200,000 to £750,000.

Future considerations – get a new centre back

Now obviously you’ll only be bringing Mancilla in on loan, and even then you’ve only really got him and Mukiele as the high potential centre backs in the squad – if either gets injured, there aren’t any top quality replacements. Lavallois hardly have any centre backs anyway, so could perhaps do with one more.

So if you wanted another centre back, you could go for Koo Ja Ryong of Suwon Bluewings in Korea. With 82 strength, 78 jumping and 73 sprint speed, you know he’s going to cope well whether he comes up against a strong, fast or tall striker. He starts at 65 OVR and has 73 potential, can be signed for free in January, and his wages are very affordable at around £2,400. That makes him a great cheap option who will markedly improve your defence.

Future considerations – get a new left back

As with LB, we’ll need a long term replacement at left back. My choice is Sakib Aytaç of Antalyaspor in Turkey. What makes him an unusual left back is that he has 80 strength, so will dominate most wingers who come up against him.

Best of all, you can also sign him for free. He starts at 66 OVR and has 72 potential, so should be around 69 OVR by the time he arrives at the beginning of the season, easily making him the team’s best left back. His wages will be around £4,350.

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That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. Stade Lavallois’s board give you some extremely tough objectives, so you’ll need to do well to meet them. But with some good players in the team and some astute playing of the transfer market, you can build a squad that’s ready to take on the challenge of life in Ligue 1.

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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