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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 15’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

Sampdoria have a decent budget and some promising players, but winning trophies? Now that will be a real challenge.

Sampdoria (Tier 1)

Contents

1. Why choose Sampdoria?
2. Lineups
   1. Strongest starting lineup
   2. Highest potential lineup
3. Recommended purchases
4. Suggested sales
5. Future considerations
   1. Returning loaned players

Starting transfer budget: £7,500,000
Starting wage budget: £70,000
Default formation: 4-3-1-2
Board expectations: Finish mid table, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Eder
Best young prospect: Pedro Obiang

Why choose Sampdoria?

Serie A is probably one of the most competitive leagues in FIFA 15, with each league objective – winning the league, qualifying for Europe, finishing in the top half, etc – becoming a battleground for at least 5-6 teams. Competing with your closest rivals just to finish mid table is going to be a real test, never mind moving on to challenge the likes of Juventus (budget: £29.5m). If you want to defy the odds and win silverware with a team that shouldn’t really be able to compete, Sampdoria are a great choice.

But they’re not a team to be simply left by the wayside. Their £7,500,000 transfer budget means you’ll have plenty of flexibility when it comes to bringing in new talent, and the players already in the squad have the quality and potential to help you push on. Although there is huge competition for the higher places in the league, Sampdoria have enough going for them that getting higher than mid table – and conceivably winning the years in a few seasons’ time – is not out of their grasp.

The team’s key player is Eder. Though he is a winger, his excellent finishing and powerful long shots mean he is equally well suited to playing up front. His combination of goalscorer and assist provider could be the difference between achieving a respectable finish and losing your job. As he is one of Sampdoria’s better players, you’re likely to receive a fair few bids for him, but I’d hold on to him unless you’re really desperate for cash.

In terms of high potential young players, Pedro Obiang is the one to look out for. The Spaniard will be the defensive rock at the heart of your midfield, where his strength, stamina and high quality tackling will ensure things stay safe in central midfield. He’ll be a useful creative outlet, too, thanks to his 77 vision, 78 short passing and 76 long passing, so don’t be surprised if he chalks up a few assists over the course of a season. And with 83 potential, he has the look of a future captain about him.

Strongest starting lineup

Here’s Sampdoria’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:

I’ve gone for a 4-3-3 formation because it enables you to get the maximum number of high OVR players on the pitch at once. On this evidence, the attack looks good, midfield is solid but defence could do with some strengthening. That’s especially true when you consider that both Viviano and Silvestre are on loan, while Mesbah is 29 and Gastaldello 31, so they don’t have a large number of seasons left in them.

Suggested formation and starting lineup

I’ve changed the formation to 4-4-2 to get more high potential players on the pitch. It’s worth noting, however, that both Romagnoli and Đorđević are on loan (as well as Viviano, of course). Potentials are in brackets.

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: GK, CB, RM, ST.

Although Sampdoria appear to have a fairly strong squad, looks can be deceiving. Several of their key players are only loaned in, and they’re hampered by a serious lack of squad depth. For example, there are four centre backs in the squad. The most promising of which (Romagnoli) is only loaned in for the season. Gastaldello is decent, but 31 years old. Silvestre is also loaned in, and the one remaining centre back (Fornasier) only has potential 66. Once you realise all that, it becomes clear that there’s something of a problem in central defence.

That’s true for the wings, too. There are only three wingers in the entire squad, all of which are left midfielders. Oh, and there are only three strikers, one of which is loaned in. And in goal… you get the idea.

Luckily, Sampdoria have a very decent budget – £7,500,000 – which should be enough to bring in a few players. In fact, I’m going to show you how to bring in five high quality, promising players who can make a real impact as soon as they arrive.

The first thing to do is to adjust your budget ratio to 51:49 so that you now have £5,681,385 in transfer funds and £104,972 in the wage pot. Now that that’s sorted, let’s get spending.

Koen Casteels
Club: 1899 Hoffenheim
Position: GK
OVR: 70
Potential: 80
Age: 22
Cost: £1.7m
Wages: £15,000

Though Sampdoria have some good goalkeepers, there is the aforementioned problem of the best one (Viviano) leaving after a season. Sergio Romero is OK (OVR 74, potential 77), but the other keeper (Da Costa) is at 70 OVR and won’t grow any more. Really, you want a high potential keeper to compete with Romero and form a solid foundation for your push up the league table.

Koen Casteels is that keeper. He’s young, has a very impressive potential and, best of all, is dirt cheap. 1899 Hoffenheim want £2.4m for him, but I was able to negotiate that down to £1.7m, an absolute steal for such a promising keeper. Added to that is his huge height (6’6″) and his diving stat of 75, so he should be able to get across the goal and make some spectacular saves that shorter goalkeepers would fail to stop. His wages are £15,000, which we can easily afford.

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John Anthony Brooks
Club: Hertha BSC
Position: CB
OVR: 71
Potential: 81
Age: 21
Cost: £1.4m
Wages: £19,000

As I outlined earlier, centre back is a huge problem for Sampdoria. So much of a problem, in fact, that I’d recommend bringing in two new players to compensate for when the loanees leave. But what that means is we need real quality for a very low price.

Luckily, John Anthony Brooks of Hertha BSC matches that description perfectly. Long-time readers of FIFA Scouting Tips will know how much I love this guy – he’s tall, fast, strong, can read the game and time his tackles perfectly. That makes him the ideal centre back, beautifully well rounded and able to excel wherever he’s needed. And, like Casteels, he’s extremely cheap for his OVR and potential. I had to bump his wages up to £19,000 to convince him to join, but it’s absolutely worth it.

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Liam Moore
Club: Leicester City
Position: CB
OVR: 69
Potential: 77
Age: 21
Cost: £550,000
Wages: £11,000

So, that’s one centre back down, but really we still need another – one who whose strong potential will mean he should grow well, even if he falls behind the likes of Gastaldello or Brooks in the pecking order. We need a player like that, someone who is ready to fill the boots of Romagnoli and Silvestre once they leave.

My choice would be Liam Moore of Leicester City. Like Brooks, he’s got everything you need in a centre back – pace, strength, great tackling and aerial ability. And because he’s not getting much of a look in at Leicester, they’re willing to let him go for as little as £550,000 – a huge bargain. I had to bump up his wages slightly to £11,000 to get him to join, but that is still highly affordable.

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Carlos Mané
Club: Sporting CP
Position: RW
OVR: 73
Potential: 80
Age: 20
Cost: £1.7m
Wages: £25,000

Sampdoria’s fragile situation on the wings means that should one of their wide players get injured or tired (not uncommon for players who spend so much time sprinting), you’re going to be in trouble. And while Soriano’s stats suggest he could play out wide, really you want him playing centrally where he can do more damage. A new winger is therefore in order.

I’d recommend going for Carlos Mané of Sporting CP in Portugal. He’s extremely pacey (86 acceleration, 87 sprint speed), so can beat defenders with his speed alone. He’s also got sublime dribbling (81) and balance (92), so weaving in and out of the opposition should be a breeze. And thanks to his high OVR and great potential, he’ll be a threat both when he arrives and in years to come. For just £1.7m and £25,000 in wages, he’s a very attractive option.

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Muhammet Demir
Club: Gazientepspor
Position: ST
OVR: 73
Potential: 79
Age: 22
Cost: £0
Wages: £25,000

Once Luka Đorđević returns to Zenit, Sampdoria will only have two strikers in the entire squad, one of whom (Gonzalo Bergessio) has already reached his potential of 70 OVR. That means you’re relying on very few resources up front, and although Eder can play as a striker, that means you’ll have one less wide player – another crisis area.

Fortunately, I’ve got the perfect solution: Muhammet Demir of Gazientepspor in Turkey. Though his club want £4.6m for him, he’s in the last year of his contract so can be signed for free in January. All you’ve got to do is make sure you approach him on or after 10 January (his birthday) to ensure he is 23 and therefore eligible to be signed for nothing. He’ll then arrive at the end of the season, just as Đorđević is leaving – perfect timing! He should have grown a couple of OVR points too, enabling him to form a deadly partnership with Stefano Okaka Chuka.

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All those transfers leave us with £331,385 in transfer funds and £9,972 in wages. If you wanted to raise a bit more money for further transfers or for some scouts, you could try selling some of the players below.

Suggested sales

As I mentioned earlier, Da Costa in goal can be sold off to raise some funds, especially once Koen Casteels arrives, and you could pick up around £1,000,000 for him – a substantial boost to your budget. You don’t really need Matías Rodríguez at right back, either (the other two right backs – De Silvestri and Cacciatore – are both better), and he could gather you around £600,000.

And if there’s one position Sampdoria have an abundance of, it’s central midfield – selling De Vitis (60 OVR, 66 potential) and Rizzo (64 OVR, 69 potential) should enable you to sell off some low potential players to make room for more promising alternatives. You should get about £500,000 for the pair.

Future considerations – returning loaned players

The strange thing about Sampdoria is that at the same time as they have squad depth issues, they also have 10 of their own players loaned out to other teams. You could recall a few rather than buying new players if you wanted to save some money, and Campaña (80 potential) and Gianluca Sansone (75 potential) could make a good difference to your team.

Regardless of whether you decide to recall players or wait for them to return at the end of the season, you’re going to have an influx of players that you’ll need to decide what to do with. Of those players out on loan, I would recommend keeping the aforementioned Campaña and Sansone, as well as Beltrame (LW, 74 potential) and Salamon (CB, 74 potential) as good squad backup players.

Although Vincenzo Fiorillo has 74 potential as well, he’s also a goalkeeper, and I don’t think there will be room for him once you’ve brought in Casteels. Instead, you’d probably be better off selling him – you could make around £600,000 for him.

The other players out on loan are probably worth selling because they don’t have high enough potential to make a real impact. The one exception to that might be Federico Piovaccari (ST, 70 OVR, 70 potential), but only if you intend to use him as a backup striker. If not, you could sell him for just over £1,000,000 – a very decent amount.

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That’s all for the first of my FIFA 15 series on good teams for career mode. Though Sampdoria have plenty of problems, they have some fantastic players and a very useful budget, so there’s plenty of scope to mould them to your own image. If you’ve tried them out or are considering them, let me know your thoughts 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?

And don’t forget to connect with me on social media. I’ve just launched the FIFA Scouting Tips YouTube channel, and you can follow me on Facebook or Twitter for all the latest updates.