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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

Hertha BSC (Tier 1)

A strong budget, some great kits and a squad packed full of talent and potential mean you’ve got a lot at your disposal in a career with Hertha BSC.

Contents

1. Why choose Hertha BSC?
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: £7,000,000
Starting wage budget: £80,000
Default formation: 4-2-3-1
Board expectations: Finish mid table, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Salomon Kalou
Best young prospect: John Anthony Brooks

Why choose Hertha BSC?

I chose Hertha BSC for a number of reasons. They already have some high-OVR starters like Kalou and Stocker, mixed in with a lot of very promising players who will grow well. Their budget is very decent, enabling you to buy new talent but not high enough that doing so becomes too easy. Added to that are their great kits and beautiful stadium, making them an attractive team in almost every respect.

Being a tier 1 team, I believe Hertha BSC can challenge for the title in a few years’ time if you play them right. The problem is, that means taking on the financial might of Bayern and Dortmund, as well as the incredible future prospects of Schalke and Hamburger. Furthermore, aside from the likes of Bayern, most teams in the Bundesliga are of similar quality, meaning there won’t be many easy games.

Hertha BSC’s key player is Salomon Kalou. His versatility is what makes him so essential to the team, as he can play as a lone striker, as a partnership or even on the wing. He’s fast and has brilliant dribbling, but his deadly finishing and positioning will see him scoring a ton of goals. He’s also surprisingly good in the air, so he should be compatible with whatever play style you want to go with.

The team’s best young prospect is John Anthony Brooks, one of my favourite young defenders in the game. There are plenty of centre backs who, like Brooks, are both fast and strong, but there’s often a trade-off in another area – tackling, aerial ability, positioning or some other stat. Not so with Brooks, who has everything covered. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him gain the Complete Defender speciality in a few years’ time, that’s how well-rounded he is.

Strongest starting lineup

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

Highest potential lineup

Now here’s Hertha BSC’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:

Hertha BSC have a very strong team, but there are some areas that should be spruced up. Let’s have a look at who I recommend you bring in.

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: RB, RM, ST.

Before we get started, adjust the transfer budget ratio to 53:47. This will leave you with £5,914,799 in transfer funds and £100,869 in wages. Now let’s get started on the transfers.

Luis Pedro Cavanda
Club: Lazio
Position: RB
OVR: 74
Potential: 82
Age: 23
Cost: £3,400,000
Wages: £40,000

Despite having four left backs, Hertha BSC only have two left backs. Of those, Marcel Ndjeng is 32 and will soon start declining, while Peter Pekarík has reached his potential of 74. You therefore need someone who is going to develop into the future and carry the team forwards.

My choice is Luis Pedro Cavanda of Lazio. What’s brilliant about Cavanda is he is so good and so many different things. He’s extremely fast (with the speedster speciality) but also has 79 strength, which means he shouldn’t get knocked around much by attackers. He’s great at crossing and is brilliant with the ball at his feet, but he can tackle and intelligently read the game as well. And to add to all that, he starts with a great OVR and has 82 potential, so will go straight into the starting lineup.

Lazio want £3,900,000, but you can get Cavanda for £3,400,000. His wages are £40,000.

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Federico Bernardeschi
Club: Fiorentina
Position: RW
OVR: 70
Potential: 81
Age: 20
Cost: £0
Wages: £20,000

Though they have plenty of great left midfielders, Hertha BSC really struggle when it comes to right-sided wingers. There’s Roy Beerens with 75 potential and… that’s it. Though there are some left mids who can play there, I’d recommend getting a dedicated right midfielder with high potential who will be able to hold down that role for years to come.

I’d recommend going for Federico Bernardeschi. Many of you may be aware of him because he can be bought for absolutely nothing, something that has remained unchanged since FIFA 15 came out. Send off an enquiry to Fiorentina and they say they’ll sell him for around £0 – bizarre, but we’re not complaining! With his high potential and good starting OVR, he’s exactly what the team need to provide a bit of a boost on the right flank.

So as I said, you don’t need to pay a penny in transfer fees, while his wages are £20,000. I found that you do, however, need to offer him a 5 year contract and a ‘crucial first team player’ squad role. If you don’t want to offer him that role, try raising his wages to around £23,000.

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Jürgen Locadia
Club: PSV
Position: ST
OVR: 73
Potential: 81
Age: 20
Cost: £2,500,000
Wages: £25,000

Though I mentioned Salomon Kalou as one of Hertha BSC’s strongest assets – and strike partner Julian Schieber is also a very useful striker – the team only have three strikers in total. You ideally want another to give you more options. Moreover, Kalou won’t grow much more and Schieber’s potential is 77, so if you can get a striker who develops into the 80s then that would be fantastic.

Luckily there is a striker who matches those requirements and can be bought with our remaining funds – Jürgen Locadia. The man from PSV in the Netherlands is 6’3″, strong and decent in the air, but also has very good pace and finishing. He’s an excellently balanced striker who combines the best elements of Kalou and Schieber, which, coupled with his 81 potential, should help him become your first choice striker before long.

His asking price is £2,900,000 but I was able to get him for £2,500,000, with wages of £25,000.

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After those transfers have been completed, you’ll be left with £14,799 in transfer funds and £15,869 in wages. I tried to ensure some wages were left over in case you need to spend a little extra on Bernardeschi to convince him to join, but ultimately that should be unnecessary.

So once those transfers have been accounted for, you might want to go with a lineup a bit like this:

Suggested sales

Of course, you might want to buy more players who set up a scouting network, in which case you’ll need to sell some players to raise funds. Here’s who I suggest you sell on.

Hertha BSC start off with four goalkeepers, which just isn’t necessary. You’re not going to be able to give them all enough game time to prevent at least one requesting to leave, so you may as well save yourself the hassle and sell one. Of those, Sascha Burchert has the lowest potential and can be sold for around £400,000.

There’s a similar situation with left backs – four in the first team, plus one more loaned out for the first season. Johannes van den Bergh can be sold for just over £1,000,000 (although you may want to keep him as he can cover at centre back, a position that’s low on numbers). Alternatively, you could recall recall Fabian Holland from loan and sell him for around £500,000.

Future considerations – get a new centre back

As I alluded to earlier, Hertha BSC have serious depth issues at centre back – they only have four players in that position in total. If one were to get injured or if you wanted to try a formation that utilised three centre backs then there could be issues. It’s therefore vital to get a replacement.

Because funds are low after the initial transfers, you may have to pick someone up for free in January. My suggestion would be Fabian Schär of FC Basel. He has 83 potential and starts ate 75 OVR, but of course that will be higher when he arrives at the start of the second season.

Like Brooks, he has that rare gift in a centre back of being both fast and strong – 87 strength and 79 sprint speed will make him very difficult to beat. He’s a huge threat in the air but can also use his feet, and his 81 long passing and 74 short passing mean he can play at defensive midfield if required.

His wages start at £25,000 but may have raised to £30,000 come January. Seeing as there’s no transfer fee involved, however, he should still be very affordable. Just approach him in January and click ‘approach to sign on contract expiry’, and he should join at the start of the second season.

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That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. Hertha BSC have the perfect balance of pros and cons: loads of excellent players and promising youngsters, but enough challenges (including the formidable threat of Bayern) to keep it interesting.

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.