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
LOSC Lille (Tier 1)
Tier 1 teams are those that sit around mid table but, with a little development, can push on for trophies. That’s exactly the kind of team you get with LOSC Lille in France’s Ligue 1.
Contents
- Why choose LOSC Lille?
- Lineups
- Recommended purchases
- Suggested sales
- Future considerations
Starting transfer budget: £7,500,000
Starting wage budget: £70,000
Default formation: 4-3-3
Board expectations: Qualify for the Euro League, reach cup round of 16
Key player: Vincent Enyeama
Best young prospect: Sofiane Boufal
Why choose LOSC Lille?
There are some leagues where one or two teams dominate all the others. Liga BBVA in Spain is the most obvious example, but the same is true for France’s Ligue 1, with PSG by far the best side. Knocking them off their perch will be incredibly tough – but great fun if you can pull it off.
LOSC Lille are a great team to do just that. With a solid defence and a smattering of flair and talent going forward, they still need to improve in certain areas before you can make a push for the title. And with £7.5m in the bank, they’ve got enough to bring in some great new additions, just be aware that they have noticeably fewer high potential players than their rivals with similar budgets. That makes for a good balance of obstacles and advantages if you choose to take them on.
In a league that plays home to strikers like Zlatan Ibrahimović and Edinson Cavani, you need a good goalkeeper if you want to challenge for the league title. Fortunately, LOSC Lille have that in Vincent Enyeama, their key player. He has an amazing 90 reflexes stat, so he’ll be stopping almost any close range shots that come his way. His 80 handling ensures he’s not going to be dropping the ball in front of opposition strikers as well.
LOSC Lille’s most promising young player is Sofiane Boufal. Where to start with this guy? He’s got 84 potential and 78 OVR, so will quickly grow into the team’s best player. His 86 acceleration, 85 sprint speed and 86 dribbling will tear apart defences, and if that’s not enough he comes with a four star weak foot and five star skills, giving him bags of tricks to bamboozle the opposition. A real gem.
Strongest starting lineup
Changing the formation slightly to 4-2-3-1, here is LOSC Lille’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:
Highest potential lineup
And here’s LOSC Lille’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:
Recommended purchases
Key signings required: CB, CM, ST.
LOSC Lille already have a good starting lineup and lots of future talent, but there are some areas that can be improved. The weakest spot is at centre back, where Baša and Civelli will need replacing eventually. A new central midfielder and striker should round out the team.
The team’s budget is £7.5m in transfer funds and £70,000 in wages – no need to change it for this article. Today I’ve gone for a distinctly Brazilian flavour (all my suggestions play in the Brazilian league) and have unearthed some gems you may not have seen before. Let’s see who we’re going to buy.
Marlon is strong, cheap and has loads of potential
Marlon
Club: Fluminense
Position: CB
OVR: 70
Potential: 80
Age: 19
Cost: £1.6m
Wages: £15,000
The weakest spot – in terms of potential – in LOSC Lille’s starting lineup is Renato Civelli, with 76 potential. That immediately suggests you should get a replacement, but he’s also 31; with Marko Baša being 32, the team’s central defensive partnership won’t last many more years.
My solution is Marlon of Fluminense. With 80 potential he’s already going to be better than Civelli going forward, and being 19 and 70 OVR means that if he plays well, he could exceed that potential. He’s strong and has great stamina, but isn’t slow for a CB either. He’s the ideal understudy for Civelli and Baša, ready to step into the starting lineup as soon as they start declining.
Fluminense will ask for £2.2m for his services, but you can buy him for £1.6m, a real snip. His wages are £15,000.
Rodrigo Dourado makes a superb deep-lying playmaker
Rodrigo Dourado
Club: Internacional
Position: CDM
OVR: 72
Potential: 82
Age: 21
Cost: £3m
Wages: £20,000
With the exception of Rio Mavuba, LOSC Lille’s central midfield is distinctly average – not a huge amount of potential (although Soualiho Meïté looks good) and some OVRs that don’t particularly leap out. Mavuba is 31 and will decline soon, so you need to bring in some talent for the future who can help solidify the midfield.
I suggest you buy Rodrigo Dourado of Internacional, because he makes a fantastic deep-lying playmaker. He’s already got 80 short passing and 76 long passing, so will be supplying accurate balls to his teammates whether they’re near or far. Not only that, but he’s got great defensive stats too, so can win the ball back and then immediately launch and attack of his own.
Internacional want £4.1m for him but I was able to get that down to just £3m. His wages are £20,000.
Clayton is fast and skillful, perfect for beating defenders
Clayton
Club: Figuirense
Position: ST
OVR: 72
Potential: 82
Age: 19
Cost: £2.8m
Wages: £25,000
While Civelli may be the weak link when it comes to potential, the most obvious problem in terms of starting OVR is up front. LOSC Lille’s highest rated striker has just 70 OVR, and the highest potential striker (an old FIFA Scouting Tips favourite in Yassine Benzia) has 78 potential. If we’re going to challenge for the title, we’ll probably need better than that if we want to be firing in the goals.
To solve this problem, I recommend you buy Clayton from Figuirense, as he has some outstanding stats that will cause havoc in the league. To start with, there’s his pace and trickery – 84 acceleration, 85 sprint speed, 77 dribbling and four star skills will make light work of even the most experienced defenders. His 77 finishing is also very impressive for his OVR, and his four star weak foot means he’ll score with whichever foot the ball comes to. He’s good now, so just imagine how amazing he’ll be once he reaches (and exceeds) his 82 potential.
Figuirense want you to pay £3.8m for him, but I was able to knock £1m off that price and get him for just £2.8m. His wages are £25,000.
Those transfers leave £100,000 in transfer funds and £10,000 in wages. If you want to bring in some scouts you’ll need to raise more funds, so let’s have a look at the players you can offload.
Suggested sales
Nolan Mbemba is surplus to requirements at LOSC Lille
LOSC Lille have four goalkeepers, and there’s no need to have that many. Keep Enyeama and the promising Maignan, and sell Steeve Elana for about £3.2m and Jean Butez for £200,000.
You can also sell Adama Soumaoro and Youssouf Koné for around £650,000 and £150,000 respectively, while in midfield Nolan Mbemba can be moved on for around £200,000. I’d then sell either Marvin Martin or Mounir Obbadi for about £1.7m. You could also sell Adriel D’Avila Ba Loua for about £250,000 if you needed a little extra cash.
Finally, Michael Frey and Baptiste Guillaume can both be sold for about £850,000 each.
If you decided to sell all of those players (including both Martin and Obbadi), you could feasibly bring in around £5.35m.
Future considerations – get a new centre back
Gustavo Henrique would make a great future purchase at centre back
As I mentioned earlier, both Civelli and Baša are aging and will soon start declining. While Marlon fills one spot, you’ll need another replacement long term.
My suggestion is another Brazilian – well, it had to be given the theme of the signings today! Anyway, I recommend Gustavo Henrique of Santos. Like Marlon, he’s strong and has great tackling stats, and his 80 potential means he’ll develop well going forward. He’s also 6’5″ and has 72 heading, so is going to be a huge threat from set pieces. Starting at 72 OVR, he’ll quickly adapt to life in Ligue 1 and will grow quickly.
Santos want £2.6m for him, but you can negotiate that down to around £1.9m. His wages are around £20,000.
That just about wraps it up for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. LOSC Lille have a decent budget but lack the real cutting edge to take on the might of PSG. Make some savvy purchases, though, and you’ll have a team that can challenge for the title in just a season or two.
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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