FIFA 14 | Good teams for career mode – Real Sociedad


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

Returning to Tier 1, today we’re going to have a detailed look at Real Sociedad in the Spanish Liga BBVA.

Real Sociedad

Real Sociedad (Tier 1)

Contents

  1. Why choose Real Sociedad?
  2. Lineups
    1. Strongest starting lineup
    2. Highest potential lineup
  3. Recommended purchases
  4. Future considerations
    1. Buy a new centre back
    2. Buy a new left back

Starting transfer budget: £4,900,000
Starting wage budget: £80,000
Default formation: 4-3-3
Board expectations: Qualify for the Champions’ Cup, reach cup round of 16
Key player: Antoine Griezmann
Best young prospect: Antoine Griezmann

Why choose Real Sociedad?

I decided to do Real Sociedad for this article for a number of reasons. They are absolutely full of talented players, a number of whom reach almost 90 OVR after a few years of development. Not only that but they have a lot of players who already start out with excellent stats and OVRs, not just players who become world class in a few years. This combination of future prospects and starting talent means you will be competing today and tomorrow.

That said, they have a very restrictive budget compared to their direct competitors. At £4.9m you’ll have to spend wisely (although the amount of talent on your team will mean it’s not as bad as it could have been). The Spanish league is very competitive, with at least six teams all in with a chance of grabbing one of the few Champions’ Cup spots that you’ll need to achieve. Without being able to outspend rivals like Valencia and Atlético Madrid, you’ll have to spend wisely to be able to keep up.

Real Sociedad’s key player is Antoine Griezmann. He’s only 22 but is already rated 82, and with 88 potential (which could be exceeded) he’s going to become one of your finest players. With excellent finishing and crossing, he’s equally suited to playing as a winger or a little further back as a right midfielder. He’s fast, has good stamina, can shoot from distance or up close, can take free kicks and can pass – he’s basically got it all. Just think how good he’s going to be in a few years’ time.

He’s also their best young prospect, but he’ll be devastating no matter how quickly he reaches his potential. And with Vela set to reach 87, Iñigo Martínez hitting 86 and Sergio Canales having potential 84, it’s a team full of amazing future talents. These can be sold if you like (Martínez alone can fetch almost £20m) or kept and developed.

Strongest starting lineup

Below is Real Sociedad’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets. I’ve stuck with the 4-3-3 formation in order to get the most out of the team’s natural attacking flair in Griezmann, Vela and their central midfielders.

Real Sociedad's best ineup based on OVR

Suggested formation and starting lineup

I’m going to stick with the 4-3-3 formation here, and many of the players remain unchanged from the strongest starting lineup. As you can see, this is a squad that has a whole host of fantastic players among its ranks.

Real Sociedad's best ineup based on potential

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: GK, CB, RW

As with all teams, there are areas to improve in Real Sociedad’s squad, despite their wealth of high potential players. But before you buy anyone, adjust the team’s budget ratio to 65:35 so that you have £5,889,000 in transfer funds and £60,980 in wages. This will allow you to buy the following players:

Kim Seung Gyu

Kim Seung Gyu
Club: Ulsan Hyundai
Position: GK
OVR: 73
Potential: 82
Age: 22
Cost: £2,600,000
Wages: £20,000

Although Real Sociedad have an excellent goalkeeper in Claudio Bravo, they don’t have a competitive alternative. Bravo is 30, and although goalkeepers generally last longer than outfield players before declining, it’ll only be a couple of years until his stats start going down. For those reasons, the team needs a new goalkeeper who will come in as Bravo’s understudy and be ready to take over the reigns when he starts decreasing.

To solve this problem I went for Kim Seung Gyu of Ulsan Hyundai in the Korean K League. He’s a very well balanced goalkeeper and so should be perfectly suited to whatever’s thrown at him. Young goalkeepers often grow slowly, but Gyu is at the age when they start growing properly, so he should develop nicely and be ready to succeed Bravo in a season or two. His excellent potential will see him become a worthy replacement and a very solid player.

Ulsan Hyundai wanted as much as £3.9m for him, but they accepted my bid of £2.6m. His wages are £20,000. He may ask for a squad role, but he accepted ‘Squad rotation player’ in my test, which means he shouldn’t start demanding games if you decide to rest him.


Del-Fabro-175

Dario Del Fabro
Club: Cagliari
Position: CB
OVR: 69
Potential: 82
Age: 18
Cost: £1,000,000
Wages: £3,000

As with the position of goalkeeper, Real Sociedad have excellent starting centre backs but little in the way of quality replacements. For that reason they need new players, both for the future and for the present (see the ‘Future considerations’ section for my other suggestion).

Dario Del Fabro is the player I’d recommend to address this problem. He’s young and already has a good OVR for his age, which should see him develop well over the next couple of seasons. His high potential (82) means I’d expect him to be in the mid to high 70s in two seasons’ time, making him easily able to compete in a league like the Liga BBVA. His pace is as good as his strength, so he’ll be a real competitor at the back, while his tackling is already excellent. This will all add up to make him a defensive rock.

His price tag is £1.4m but £1m should be enough to buy him. I needed to increase his wages from £2,250, but £3,000 was enough to convince him to join.


Zakaria Bakkali

Zakaria Bakkali
Club: PSV
Position: RW
OVR: 71
Potential: 86
Age: 17
Cost: £2,100,000
Wages: £7,000

While the team have Carlos Vela on the right wing, their only other alternative is Hervías, who has 62 OVR and only 73 potential. If Vela gets injured or tired, there isn’t a ready made replacement able to step in.

So my final recommended purchase is someone I’m sure many readers will know about – Zakaria Bakkali. Despite having a fantastic OVR for his age and amazing potential, he’s actually very cheap and easily affordable to a team like Real Sociedad. He’s only 17 but already he has the Dribbler speciality, and his blistering pace and four star skill moves mean he will tear defences apart. He’s got a four star weak foot so should be comfortable on either wing, and he should develop into a good free kick taker as well. With his ability and potential, he’ll make a great alternative to Vela.

PSV initially wanted £3.7m for him, but a mere £2.1m was enough to purchase him. Like Gyu, he may ask for a squad role, but in my test he was happy with ‘Sporadic 1st team player’, which will give you the flexibility to rest him or play him whenever you choose.


Here’s how much those players cost:

Starting transfer funds: £5,889,000
Starting wage funds: £60,980

Total spent on transfer fees: £5,700,000
Total spent on wages: £30,000

That leaves us with £189,000 in transfer fees and £30,980 in wages. Now, there’s a reason why I wanted to have so much left over in wages, which I’ll explain in the next section.

Future considerations – buy a new centre back

Mateo Musacchio

Mateo Musacchio is an absolute steal if you can get him for free

While Dario Del Fabro is a great player for the future, you may feel you want extra cover at centre back in the form of a more established player. That’s where Mateo Musacchio of Villarreal CF comes in.

With 76 OVR and 83 potential, he’s going to be able to slot right into your defence. He’s fast for a centre back but strong too, and his tackling is fantastic. He’s a danger in the air and can read the game superbly, and with all that he’s well on the way to becoming a complete defender.

Best of all, you can get him for free in January. By that stage he’ll be 23 (the minimum age required to sign players for free), so just approach Villarreal CF and select the option to sign him on contract expiry. His wages are £30,000, hence why I suggested saving that much, but for what you get that’s a very reasonable amount – especially when there’s no transfer fee involved.

Future considerations – buy a new left back

Caner Erkin

Caner Erkin is an excellent attacking full back

Given that left back is the only position that doesn’t have a player with potential 80 or higher, you may feel you need to improve this area too. As with Musacchio, I’d suggest going for a free player, as there won’t be much left in the way of funds.

I’d therefore suggest making a move for Caner Erkin. His contract is expiring, and with 75 OVR and 81 potential he is already better than any of Real Sociedad’s left backs and has higher potential too. He’s an excellent defender but his true strength lies in attack, as he has pace, great crossing and a powerful long shot, as well as scorching free kicks. The only thing to consider is that he’s a free agent, so to find him just search for Turkish left backs aged 24, and he should come up.

And because he’s a free agent, his wages will vary depending on which team he goes to – on my test they were £35,000, so you’d need to sell a player or two in order to afford his wages. But rest assured, he will be well worth the investment.


So that’s that for my in-depth guide to Real Sociedad. If they’re the sort of team you want to try out in a new FIFA 14 career, be sure to tell us 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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