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

Real Zaragoza (Tier 3)

Tier 3 sides like Real Zaragoza start in a low division but have a great chance of working their way up the leagues – perfect for ‘journey’ career modes or returning a team to former glory.

Contents

1. Why choose Real Zaragoza?
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

Starting transfer budget: £1,100,000
Starting wage budget: £30,000
Default formation: 4-1-4-1
Board expectations: Win the league title, round of 32
Key player: Vallejo
Best young prospect: Vallejo

Why choose Real Zaragoza?

Unlike some leagues in FIFA 16, Spain’s Liga Adelante is highly competitive – there are lots of teams with either good budgets or huge numbers of high potential players, making it difficult for any team to win the title outright. But that’s what’s expected of you at Real Zaragoza – gaining automatic promotion won’t cut it.

They do have a decent budget (although it’s around average for the division), but their real strength is that they have the joint-largest number of high potential players in Liga Adelante, so they have a good future ahead of them. You’ll have to focus on the present, though, if you’re going to win the league.

The team’s key player is Jesús Vallejo. He’s only 18 but already is Real Zaragoza’s highest OVR player, so will be integral to their success. He’s got very decent pace for a centre back and good aerial presence too, while his tackling is superb – his stand tackling stat is already 81. He will be key to keeping clean sheets and thus helping the side up the table.

He’s also Real Zaragoza’s most promising young player, with a massive 86 potential. That should mean he grows rapidly, helping him make even more of an impact. However, here’s the catch – he’s only in on loan, so you’ll have to think about replacements after he leaves.

Strongest starting lineup

Changing the formation to 4-2-3-1, here is Real Zaragoza’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:

Highest potential lineup

Adjusting the formation again to 4-4-2, here is Real Zaragoza’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: GK, winger, ST.

Things don’t look too shabby at the moment, with no areas seriously lacking more than the others; conversely, it could mean that every area needs improving! Still, we’re going to focus on the three areas with the lowest-potential players: in goal, on the wing and up front.

Real Zaragoza’s budget is heavily weighted towards wages, so we’ll change that to give us more in the way of transfer funds. So before buying anyone, adjust your budget ratio to 81:19 – that’ll give you £2,154,600 in transfer funds and £9,719 in wages. Now let’s buy some players.

Joël Drommel
Club: FC Twente
Position: GK
OVR: 66
Potential: 80
Age: 18
Cost: £650,000
Wages: £2,850

While goalkeeper do keep growing into their thirties, Real Zaragoza’s first choice keeper Manu Herrera is now 33 and so will decline within a year or so. The next best keeper (Yassine Bounou) is only loaned in, and the third choice only has 64 potential. This is an area that needs sorting out.

My recommended buy is Joël Drommel of FC Twente in the Netherlands. He’s rated 66 at age 18 and has 80 potential, so will be a safe pair of hands for years to come. His OVR makes him an ideal understudy to Manu Herrera – heavily train Drommel (there’s no drawback of doing that for goalkeepers) and he’ll be ready in about a year to take over the number one jersey. You’ll then have a solid goalkeeper for years.

FC Twente want you to pay £1.2m for him but you can actually buy him for about half that – I got him for £650,000. His wages are £2,850.

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Mauricio Tévez
Club: Newell’s
Position: RW
OVR: 67
Potential: 79
Age: 18
Cost: £600,000
Wages: £2,700

Both wings at Real Zaragoza could do with improving – Jaime Romero only has 73 potential, while Freddy Hinestroza has 74 potential and is only in on loan for the season. We’re only going to get one new winger here, but it’s worth thinking about getting a second at some point.

Anyway, my suggested purchase is Mauricio Tévez of Newell’s in Argentina. He’s got a great OVR for his age, and given that he’s only 18, I reckon he can definitely exceed his 79 potential. He’s pacey and has good stamina, and his dribbling and three star skill moves will come in very handy. He’s a talented winger with a very promising future.

Newell’s only ask for £925,000 for him – which is much less than players of comparable OVR and potential – and you can get him for about £600,000. His wages are £2,700.

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Moussa Dembélé
Club: Fulham
Position: ST
OVR: 66
Potential: 81
Age: 18
Cost: £900,000
Wages: £4,000

Striker is the last position I want to focus on for now. Sergio Buenacasa is the weak spot really – 73 potential and 63 OVR isn’t good enough really. Jean-Marie Dongou Tsafack is decent enough (although his 75 potential was 79 until a couple of weeks ago, annoyingly), but he could do with a decent strike partner.

So with that in mind, I recommend you buy Moussa Dembélé of Fulham. Physically, he’s excellent, 78 acceleration and 83 sprint speed will cause all sorts of problems, while his 75 strength and 80 jumping mean he’s not weedy – he can compete with defenders physically if he needs to. His finishing and dribbling are good and his heading isn’t far behind, and his 81 potential means he’ll develop into a nicely balanced striker.

Fulham want £1.3m for him but I was able to buy him for £900,000. His wages are £4,000.

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After those transfers you’ll be left with a mere £4,600 in transfer funds and £169 in wages – not a lot! Let’s see who we can sell in order to raise money for scouts or additional purchases.

Suggested sales

The most obvious player to sell is Pablo Alcolea, as he’s by far the lowest-potential player on the team. Selling him will get you around £200,000.

Next up, Marc Bertrán and Joan Campins are surplus to requirements at right back (although Bertrán can play at centre back and Real Zaragoza have precious few of those, so you might want to keep him). Bertrán will get you about £250,000 and Campins £200,000.

Albert Dorca, Sergio Gil and Javi Ros can all be sold, netting you about £1.3m combined. Finally, there’s no need to keep Jorge Ortí, and selling him will get you about £300,000.

So all combined, those sales will get you in the region of £2m – £2.25m – great considering the budget Real Zaragoza start out with.

Future considerations: get a new centre back

Not only is Vallejo only loaned in, but Real Zaragoza only have two other centre backs in their entire squad. Obviously that’s not a long-term policy by any stretch of the imagination, so you’ll need to recruit a new centre back soon.

My suggestion is Sebastián Vegas. He’s rated 69 OVR at 18 years old – which is great for that age – and has 80 potential, so he definitely is a long-term investment. Unlike many centre backs, he’s strong and great in the air but also very fast, so he won’t be caught out by speedy strikers. Audax Italiano want £1.7m but you can buy him for around £1.1m; his wages are £2,900.

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That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. If you want a team to move up the divisions and compete in a higher league, Real Zaragoza are a great choice. Their budget isn’t the best but they have plenty of good, promising players, and they will be a great career mode challenge to take on.

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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