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
AS Nancy (Tier 3)
The aim of a tier 3 career mode is to guide your team up through the divisions and on towards future glory.
Contents
- Why choose AS Nancy?
- Lineups
- Recommended purchases
- Suggested sales
- Future considerations
Starting transfer budget: £1,800,000
Starting wage budget: £15,000
Default formation: 4-3-3
Board expectations: Gain automatic promotion, reach cup round of 32
Key player: Mickaël Chrétien
Best young prospect: Clément Lenglet
Why choose AS Nancy?
AS Nancy are promotion contenders in Ligue 2, but their rivals are positioned far better than they are – they either have more money or a greater number of high potential players in their squads. Battling against these teams and gaining automatic promotion (what the board demands of you) will be tough when other sides can out-compete you for resources.
That said, AS Nancy do have two players with potential 80 or above, the highest number in the league. They’ve got plenty of other high potential players too, although you could do with topping up that number. And while there are richer clubs in Ligue 2, they still have a decent amount of money to spend.
The team’s key player is Mickaël Chrétien. Rated 73, he’s their highest OVR player. He’s a classic wing back, with good pace and crossing and excellent stamina, so he can get up and down the wings with ease. His tackling is also very good, so he’ll be solid at the back and be able to shut out the best opposition the division has to offer.
AS Nancy’s most promising young player is Clément Lenglet. He’s only 20 but is already one of the best centre backs on the team and will easily hold down a starting spot. With 81 potential, that will help him grow quickly and mean he’ll soon be ready to take on Ligue 1. He’s the joint-highest potential player in Ligue 2, so make good use of him to ensure he grows into a future star.
Strongest starting lineup
Changing the formation very slightly to 4-2-3-1, here is AS Nancy’s strongest starting lineup, with OVRs in brackets:
Highest potential lineup
And here is AS Nancy’s highest potential lineup, with potentials in brackets:
Recommended purchases
Key signings required: GK, CDM, ST.
Of the three goalkeepers in the team, one is on loan and the other has reached his potential of 68 (and the third is worse). Both CDM spots are lacking in potential but Benoît Pedretti is 34 and will decline soon. Finally, there are only two strikers at AS Nancy – one is 35 and the other only has 67 potential – so you’ll need at least one new attacker.
Before you get started, change the budget ratio to 75:25. That’ll give you £1,935,000 in transfer funds and £12,403 in wages. Now let’s move on to the transfers.
Jind?ich Stan?k is a cheap option but one who will grow into a great player
Jind?ich Stan?k
Club: Everton
Position: GK
OVR: 63
Potential: 77
Age: 19
Cost: £475,000
Wages: £4,000
Goalkeeper is probably the weakest area at AS Nancy. Alexandre Menay has potential 64, Guy-Roland Ndy Assembe has potential 68 and Brice Samba has potential 69 (and is only in on loan). None of those keepers is going to be good enough for long-term survival in Ligue 1, so you need a replacement. But at the same time, you need a replacement who is affordable enough to not take up most of your budget.
My proposed player is Jind?ich Stan?k of Everton. He’s got 77 potential so will be a fantastic player in the future, but with 63 OVR he’s not far off a starting spot at AS Nancy. Train him up during the first season and he’ll be ready to take over the year after. The best thing is that seeing as he’s a goalkeeper, you can make the most of training and get him to exceed his potential. For such a cheap price, that’s an excellent bonus to have.
Speaking of price, Everton want £600,000 for him but you can knock that down to around £475,000. His wages are £4,000 and he wants the ‘squad rotation player’ squad role.
Calvin Verdonk is a deep-lying playmaker who can score too
Calvin Verdonk
Club: Feyenoord
Position: CDM
OVR: 63
Potential: 78
Age: 18
Cost: £525,000
Wages: £2,500
IN the image above of AS Nancy’s highest potential lineup, the central midfield consists of a ballwinner (Diallo Guidileye) and a deep-lying playmaker (Benoît Pedretti). Seeing as Pedretti is 34 and will decline/retire soon, we need to find another deep playmaker to take his place, someone who can sit back and start attacks from midfield thanks to his great range of passing.
My suggestion is Calvin Verdonk of Feyenoord. He excels at distribution, and with a little training and plenty of game time will develop into a pass master. He can also shoot from distance pretty well, so don’t be afraid to let fly if he comes within range of the goal. He’s got 78 potential so like Stan?k, he’ll develop into a fantastic player after a couple of years.
Feyenoord ask for £700,000 for him but I got him for £525,000. His wages are £2,500 and he also wants the ‘squad rotation player’ squad role.
Thierry Ambrose’s rapid pace will cause all sorts of trouble in Ligue 2
Thierry Ambrose
Club: Manchester City
Position: ST
OVR: 65
Potential: 83
Age: 18
Cost: £850,000
Wages: £4,000
The situation up front is desperate at AS Nancy. Youssouf Hadji is 35 and on the brink of retirement, and the only other striker in the squad is Yann Mabella, who is rated 56 and has 67 potential. That is not exactly an ideal situation for the future, to put it lightly! You’ll need a new striker, and fast.
I recommend you buy Thierry Ambrose of Manchester City. The most obvious thing about him is he is absolutely rapid – 87 acceleration and 86 sprint speed will cause havoc in Ligue 2 and do plenty of damage in Ligue 1 as well. But it’s also good to see he’s got great jumping and balance – train or develop his heading and dribbling (alongside his finishing) and he’ll become a fantastic all-round striker. And with 83 potential, he’ll shoot up and grow very quickly indeed.
Manchester City want you to pay £1.3m for him but you can negotiate that down a surprising amount – I managed to buy him for just £850,000. His wages are £4,000.
After those transfers, you’ll have £85,000 in transfer funds and £1,903 in wages. If you’re looking to make some more money for scouts or further transfers, try selling the following players in order to raise some more cash.
Suggested sales
Antony Robic can be sold for around £250,000
First of all you can sell Alexandre Menay in goal – that will bring in about £60,000.
In defence, you can sell Tobias Badila and Julien Cétout for roughly £150,000 and £250,000 respectively.
Then in midfield, get rid of Maurice Dalé, Loïc Puyo, Antony Robic, Jonathan Damián Iglesias and Karim Coulibaly. That will bring you around £1,200,000.
If you decide to sell all of those players, you’ll get about £1,660,000 in total added to your budget – almost what AS Nancy start out with in the first place.
Future considerations – get a new central midfielder
Although we’ve managed to find a replacement for Pedretti, Guidileye isn’t exactly going to set the world on fire with his 70 potential. So you might want to consider getting another replacement central midfielder to eventually take his place.
I suggest you buy Abdou-Aziz Thiam of AS Monaco, who is 63 at 18 years old and has 79 potential. Like Guidileye, he’s a ball winner and will be invaluable in dispossessing the opposition in midfield. His main strengths lie in his tackling, but he can also pass and set up attacks himself.
AS Monaco want £650,000 for him but you can get him for about £575,000. His wages are just £2,000 and he wants the ‘squad rotation player’ squad role.
That’s it for this week’s article on good teams for career mode. AS Nancy really struggle in certain areas of the pitch, but with a decent budget you have the funds available to fix those problems. Add in some very high potential young players and you’ve got a great team to take up into Ligue 1 and on to future successes.
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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