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Arguably the best football game of this generation has been out for quite a while. Yes, this article might be a little too late for most of us absorbed in making our favourite team the champions of Europe and the League. Nevertheless here are a few points to note while playing the vast manager mode in FIFA 13.
Note: I have been playing with Liverpool FC and Bradford FC as well, so I got a taste of an established club in the PL and one which was starting from League Two to understand how players would react to offers and how the finances would play out. Here we go.
1: Squad strength is important.
Based on the objectives provided by the board, you must check your squad for strengthening or trimming. While at Liverpool, I was supposed to win the PL, the FA Cup in the first season. Without any European games in the first season (switched it off), it was a pretty straight forward task. I had a decent starting XI, sold a few players, loaned out a few and got in one or two world class players and the league was won. A relatively small squad got it done.
Bradford City was another task, as most players’ attributes were in the 50′s or max in the 60′s. Very few players wanted to transfer in and of course no funds are available to make that “Gem” signing. You have to play a lot with the low rating players, constantly swapping them every two games, since in the Football League there are a ton of midweek games. 44 league games in a season, the Capital one cup, FA Cup, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. One tough hard season, you need a lot of players to switch about.
2: Transfer magic
As I was stating in the point above, transfers are a big thing in FIFA 13. Players are more moody, top clubs won’t sell their stars easily, players won’t accept roles assigned to them (a player playing in the first XI won’t take the offer of being a squad player or future starting XI player for your club).
At Liverpool, getting the player you want is easy. Offer the right money and playing status and the player is all yours. Raid Germany in the first year, that is a top tip from my end – Draxler, Reus, Holtby(at Spurs now), Ter Steggen – all can be bought relatively cheaply and will grow like magic in 2-3 years time if regularly played.
Trying to get transfers in at Bradford was far more realistic. Players won’t come, you can’t sign anyone above a rating of 70 because you don’t have the money, your best option here is to store the money you get from Cup runs (this is a major source of finance for all small clubs like in real life) and try to get a signing of two from the FREE AGENTS market. 2-3 seasons in the game and you would get players who are young and have an overall rating of 70-79 easily.
3: We Are Young!
Youth is the key in FIFA 13. This is divided into two, as stated above. If you get a FREE AGENT who is 70-79 and is between the age of 17-19, sign him up! Constantly playing the guy will make him grow fast and he could be a world beater in 2 seasons max. I had to sell off a couple of LFC players (Henderson and Lucas) because the kids I signed from the FREE AGENCY were outgrowing the more established players.
The scouting system is a bit more refined, complex as well. To keep things simple, get a good scout of 5 stars, send him out to a top nation, not that the other countries in Africa or Asia won’t yield good kids, but better players come out from the likes of Spain, Germany, England etc.
Sign up only those players whose overalls are between 50-70 and potential goes upto 78-94. Now here is the trick. The more time the player stays in your academy as a signed player, his overall will narrow down to say 60-64 and his potential would rise to 88-94. You can sign players once they are 17 years. I recommend to only sign those who would be an overall of 66-70 and potential 88-94, they are the real gems. Sign them and send them out on loans and watch them grow into the next Messi or any of those crazy German kids.
4: Squad Rotation
Pretty straightforward this, rotate your squad. If you don’t , your players won’t be happy and they will ask for playing time. Ignore them too much and poof! They want to move away from the club. You can’t keep them in the team also, this is where the Board steps in and sells the player before you can react. In my LFC career, Suarez wanted to leave after winning the Euro Cup. I held onto him till the last day of the window, rejecting every offer (50 million from Real) and then the board announces Suarez has joined PSG for 40 Million. Yikes, I lost 10 million! Nevertheless, I bought Reus for 34 million but that served as a warning regarding squad rotation and of course the board, who act like the board of any football club.
5: International Offers
New to this year’s game is the option to coach an International team along with the Club team of your choice. Initially you will get offers from the smaller countries like New Zealand, Bolivia, India. I obviously took India, got them to the World Cup quarters before being knocked out by Spain. I resigned and got top offers from Germany, Italy etc. Again this is important. The players you scout in the country will show up as options to include in your 25-man squad for various international games. So the German kid my scout signed in 2014 would grow into a top 80′s player in 2017 and I was able to draft him into the German national team.
6: The need for SPEED
Speed is the king here in FIFA. The throughball to a fast winger/forward is the tactic to win games. Assaidi and Sterling, fast wingers with Suarez up front, help create bucket loads of chances as they get away from those old, slow, battle tank defenders easily and can get shots on goal. I had to remove Carragher completely from my line up so as to avoid players like Walcott making him look like grandad trying to catch up with his grandson.
So sign players who are fast, they will help you create a lot of chances and for sure you won’t regret having a few speedsters in the squad.
So there you have it. A few things that I have used to make Liverpool champions of England 3 years in a row and champions of Europe twice. Bradford have had 2 back to back promotions and are now in the Championship. Hopefully, I will be able to take Bradford into the Euro Cup in the coming two seasons.
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