FIFA 16 | Good teams for career mode – Wolves

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

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Wolves (Tier 3)

Tier 3 sides 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 Wolves?
  2. Lineups
    1. Strongest starting lineup
    2. Highest potential lineup
  3. Recommended purchases
  4. Suggested sales
  5. Future considerations
    1. Get a new right back

Starting transfer budget: £5,000,000
Starting wage budget: £25,000
Default formation: 4-1-4-1
Board expectations: Finish mid table, cup round of 32
Key player: Mike Williamson
Best young prospect: Dominic Iorfa

Why choose Wolves?

Wolves (AKA Wolverhampton Wanderers) have it pretty good in FIFA 16. They’ve got the joint-highest number of high potential players in the entire Championship (tied with Middlesbrough), and a good budget too with which to buy new players. Despite these advantages, the board only wants you to finish mid table, so you can take it easy and spend a year developing your players before making a push for the league title in the second season.

That said, they will be easily outspent by teams like QPR (with almost three times Wolves’ budget). The Championship is an extremely competitive division, and almost any team has the potential to give you a thrashing, so promotion is by no means guaranteed. Still, that competitiveness also enhances a Wolves career by making it far more exciting!

Wolves’ key player is Mike Williamson. He’s the highest rated player on the team with 73 OVR, and will be very important in keeping clean sheets and helping you up the table. He’s 31 now so will start declining soon, so we’ll look for a replacement in the recommended purchases section. But for the first season at least he will be the solid foundation of the team.

The most promising young player in the squad is Dominic Iorfa. This guy is one of my favourite young right backs in FIFA 16 because he’s so versatile. With 88 acceleration and 89 sprint speed he’s extremely pacey, and his 76 stamina is very useful for a full back. But as well as that, he’s 6’4″ and has 82 strength, so can easily slot in at centre back and do very well there indeed. His tackling stats are very good too, and they’re only going to get better thanks to his 80 potential. He’s definitely one to keep hold of.

Strongest starting lineup

Changing the formation slightly to 4-4-2, here is Wolves’ strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Highest potential lineup

Changing the formation again to 4-1-2-1-2, here is Wolves’ highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Recommended purchases

Key signings required: GK, CB, LB, CM x2.

Although 4-1-2-1-2 gets the most high potential players on the pitch, I’d build the team around the 4-4-2 formation to provide a bit more stability once you get to the Premier League. So I’ll be looking to bring in two central midfielders to that end.

Before buying anyone, adjust the team’s budget ratio to 77:23. This will give you £4,851,000 in transfer funds and £27,865 in wages. Now let’s buy some players.

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Bruno Varela is an affordable, high potential goalkeeper

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Bruno Varela
Club: Real Valladolid
Position: GK
OVR: 69
Potential: 79
Age: 20
Cost: £1,000,000
Wages: £6,000

Wolves’ goalkeeper situation isn’t great. Carl Ikeme is rated 70 and isn’t getting any better, while Emiliano Martinez has slightly higher potential but is only in on loan. Aaron McCarey and Jonathan Flatt only have 66 potential each so definitely aren’t worth keeping. You’ll need a better quality goalkeeper than these options to push up the league and survive in the Premiership.

My recommendation is Bruno Varela of Real Valladolid in Spain. He starts at 69 OVR and has 79 potential, so will become the first choice keeper almost instantly. He’ll also grow quickly with a bit of training and could well exceed his potential. He specialises in GK diving and reflexes, and with his 6’3″ height he’ll be able to quickly get across the goal and cover every angle.

Real Valladolid actually have two high potential goalkeepers – Varela and Kepa Arrizabalaga. Because Arrizabalaga, Valladolid are willing to let Varela go for a very good price. They want £1.4m for him but you can knock that down to around £1m. His wages are £6,000.


FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Jordan Silva will be a rock in your defence

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Jordan Silva
Club: Toluca
Position: CB
OVR: 69
Potential: 78
Age: 20
Cost: £1,000,000
Wages: £6,000

As I mentioned in the introduction, Mike Williamson will start declining pretty soon. However, because he’s Wolves’ best player, you’ll need to bring in a long-term replacement pretty quickly.

I suggest you buy Jordan Silva of Toluca in Mexico. He starts with 82 strength, which means he’ll instantly be ready for the physicality of life in the Championship. His 83 stamina is another great asset, and means he can play game after game and so will quickly develop towards his 78 potential. He’s not just about physical stats though – his tackling, heading and interceptions stats are all very decent indeed.

Toluca want you to pay £1.4m for him but, like Varela, you only have to pay around £1m for him. His wages are £6,000.


FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Mario Hermoso has great physical stats and potential

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Mario Hermoso
Club: Real Valladolid
Position: LB
OVR: 69
Potential: 81
Age: 20
Cost: £1,400,000
Wages: £6,000

Wolves aren’t short of left backs, but those they have are distinctly average, with Matt Doherty and Sylvain Deslandes both only having 73 potential. That’s not great long term, so let’s bring in someone with a bit more potential going forward.

My choice is Mario Hermoso of Real Valladolid. The second player we’re buying from Valladolid, Hermoso is almost everything you need in a full back. With 87 acceleration and 89 sprint speed he is lightning quick, but also has 72 strength so certainly isn’t weak for his position. His crossing is good so he’ll provide plenty of good opportunities for his teammates, and his defensive stats are also good. He’s also got 81 potential, meaning he’ll be one of the most promising player on the team when he joins.

Real Valladolid want £2.1m for him but you can get him for around £1.4m. His wages are £6,000.


FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Pablo Galdames is an extremely well-rounded central midfielder

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Pablo Galdames
Club: Unión Española
Position: CM
OVR: 69
Potential: 82
Age: 18
Cost: £1,400,000
Wages: £2,700

Central midfield is an area where Wolves really struggle, at least in terms of high potential players. The most promising central midfielder is Jack Price, but he’s only got 73 potential. As well as that, we need at least two good central midfielders so we can adopt a 4-4-2 formation.

The first central midfielder I recommend you buy is Pablo Galdames of Unión Española in Chile. He has some absolutely amazing stats already – 85 interceptions and 86 stamina, for example – which belie his 69 OVR. He’s got great acceleration, he can pass, tackle, cross, shoot and more. In fact, he’s so well balanced that he will do well in virtually any outfield position except striker.

And he’s a real too. Unión Española want £2.1m for him but you only have to pay around £1.4m. His wages are very cheap too at £2,700.


FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Lewis Cook will make a big impact during his loan

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Lewis Cook
Club: Leeds United
Position: CM
OVR: 69
Potential: 83
Age: 18
Cost: £0 (loan)
Wages: £2,000

As stated above, we want to bring in one more central midfielder to help us switch to a 4-4-2 formation. We’ll want another versatile player who can fit into multiple positions, just to help ease that transition.

I suggest you get Lewis Cook of Leeds United. By this stage we’re running a bit low on money, so we’ll just bring him in on loan for a season or two (two may be best to give you time to save funds and buy a central midfielder). Like Galdames, Cook is extremely adaptable – he can play almost anywhere on the pitch and do well. Add to that his 83 potential and he’ll grow rapidly, turning into a fantastically well-rounded midfielder.


Those signings will leave you with £51,000 in transfer funds and £5,165 in wages. You’ll need to sell some players if you want to buy some more players or scouts, so let’s see who we can get rid of.

Because we’re only loaning him, there’s no transfer fee to pay. Even better, his wages are super cheap at £2,000.

Suggested sales

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Danny Batth can be sold for £600,000

We can sell those goalkeepers – McCarey and Flatt for £230,000 and £100,000 each. Next, sell Danny Batth for around £600,000.

There are plenty of midfielders you can get rid of. Sell Razak Boukari for £300,000, David Edwards for £600,000 and Daniel Armstrong for £100,000. George Saville will get you £500,000, while Connor Hunte will bring in about £130,000. If you need a bit extra, sell Nathan Byrne for £500,000 (however, I’d keep him as a backup right back seeing as Iorfa is the only dedicated right back in the team).

Finally, Bradley Reid will get you about £80,000, while Aaron Collins will sell for around £100,000.

All those sales will get you around £2.74m to £3.24m.

Future considerations: get a new right back

FIFA 16 good teams for career mode: Wolves

Felipe Campos is fast, strong and high potential

Seeing as Dominic Iorfa is the only right back in the team, we’ll need to get another in case he gets tired or injured. Note that Nathan Byrne can play at right back (despite being a right midfielder), but he’s not hugely promising so only use him if you only plan on having him as a backup.

Anyway, my recommendation is Felipe Campos of CD Palestino in Chile. Like Iorfa, Campos is fast and strong so will adapt well to life in the Championship. He has excellent defensive stats and good crossing too, so is useful in both attack and defence. And his 79 potential and 70 OVR will give Iorfa some good competition, and will ensure they can both cover for each other with no noticeable drop in quality.

CD Palestino want £2.2m for Campos but you can get him for about £1.6m. His wages are £20,000.


That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. Wolves have a great budget, a lenient board and plenty of high potential players, making this a fun career mode that gives you a chance to build a great long-term dynasty.

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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