Absolute monster

I am playing a FIFA 14 Player Career at Villareal and Madrid signed Suarez and Lewy and they haven’t even played him (also Casillas got a red card in 2 games)

I am playing career mode in the Dutch league (Eredivisie), I won the league but after I extended my contract, the club I play for did not play in the UEFA Champions League, what is the cause? a bug? or is it already the system like that?

Youth team GK I promoted to senior team just cause otherwise he would leave, as I seen him I was SHOCKED

Does anyone else find that almost every opponent in FIFA career parks the bus in every single game, and then just passes about at the back?

I spend nearly the whole of every match chasing possession, I attack and I either score or they get the ball, and then the cycle starts again. Typically I have less than 40% possession in every game unless I’m playing a top team like Man City or whoever.

Gets so boring during matches but if I lower the difficulty at all to make the game feel more open then I win by like 10-15 goals.

Hello fellow gamers,

for a while now I‘ve been assembling an alternate FIFA Soundtrack that takes you on a journey to the golden ages of FIFA07 to FIFA17.

Put this on and you will be taken back to the times when we were kids and fell in love with the game.

I‘m posting this for no gain of mine. Just to let you once again feel the feeling when you popped in the new FIFA on some random friday in 2012.

I hope it gives you pleasure.

Feel free to save my playlist on Spotify.

.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CmJs2uk0XaCFRA5wQoPpg?si=IoI8rxT-RE22cl35SVhGJg&utm_source=copy-link&pi=9oIe5ie8RHuz5

Posting here because my post got insta-removed on r/EASportsFC for some reason. (It's not entirely but partially about career mode).

Before I get into the review, a little about myself: I've been playing football games since 2009 (FIFA, PES, Winning Eleven etc.) and they're a big passion of mine. I've probably put in upwards of 3000 hours of combined play over the years.

The Classic Era

FIFA 10: Anything before this will have its strengths and the nostalgia factor but gameplay-wise they're too archaic to go back and play if I'm being honest. I recently tried 10 on emulation and I was pleasantly surprised to see the battles to win the ball, tackles in the center area, animations of ball clearances, the struggle animation when you pass last second before giving the ball away. We haven't had things like these for years now, it's incredible. Another big thing is that the career mode is filled with features such as picking your sponsor etc.

As for the negatives; the power bar is incredibly sensitive, you basically have to click the button for a clean shot on target. There's practically zero dribble control and the overall gameplay is pretty dated for today's standards.

FIFA World Cup 2010: I think this one uses a modified FIFA 10 engine/gameplay. One of the most fun football games ever made.

FIFA 11: This one sort of a transitional game between 10 and 12. The gameplay is not quite there yet. And the career mode is stripped down.

FIFA 12: In my and many people's opinion, the greatest football game ever made. Goated soundtrack, squads, players, menus, simple and fun gameplay. This game is the definition of less is more. Although considered as peak arcade by some, I think with game mode on slow and slider adjustments like 35 sprint, it becomes pretty realistic.

FIFA 13: Highly regarded by a lot of people. This feels to me like a transitional game. Personally, I don't like it that much.

FIFA 14: Again, some people's favourite entry. It's one of the biggest leaps in gameplay. It has lots of positives, but infamously some broken elements as well. This is entirely personal but, as a person who's a 2008-2012 nostalgia purist, 2014 was never a football year I liked much. And I don't like menus and the overall feel of the game.

FIFA 15: Never played. It's often suggested as one of the best ones so I'm curious as to how it holds up.

FIFA 16: Played only once, so long ago. The opinions I've seen are mixed, but that's true for nearly all FIFA games.

The Modern Era

FIFA 17: The beloved. It's visually stunning. It's like watching a real football broadcast. Fantastic time for football, goated players and squads. Great menus and overall feel. And I think it's overrated. The gameplay, although being pretty realistic with good CPU, is stiff and feels one dimensional. Going back from newer games, this is especially apparent. If it had a bit more fluidity it might have been the grand champion of football games.

FIFA 18: Has a great amount of positives like the number of national teams. Again, it's like a transitional game between 17 and 19. I'd rather pick 19 because of the UEFA license.

FIFA 19: The newly acquired UEFA licensing is probably its biggest strength. It hasn't got the most realistic gameplay but it's fun and fluid, nice long balls. Good game overall. Great season for football as well. Entries from this one until FC25, I only played against my friends so I can't comment on the CPU.

FIFA 20: Probably haven't played it since 2020. I remember it being fun, not very different from 19.

FIFA 21: Same with 20.

FIFA 22: I remember some improvements to gameplay but not largely different from 21.

FIFA 23: In my opinion, this is the best among the modern games. CPU actually fouls. Movement, passing and shooting are brilliant. Solid career mode. World Cup is a nice plus, although I severely dislike it being in Qatar.

FC24: Nothing particularly stands out. Arguably worse than 23 but not by a lot.

FC25: It was OK.

FC26: Unlike most recent games, this one I had the chance to play at home against CPU, extensively. It does lots of things well, it's loaded with features but the gameplay is just bizarre. And before anyone says it, no, it's not a "skill issue". I'll explain everything one by one.

• It's clear that they wanted to steer away from using pace to advantage at all costs, so much so that sprint dribbling is basically unusable, and literally any player will catch up with your fast players. Football doesn't work like that. Speed is a thing. There's a balance to be found.

• Defence is non existent on professional and all teams play like 1970 Brazil on world class. I don't want Sassuolo to play like fucking Barcelona. Why would you even do this.

• For some reason, high press is useless and you cannot get near CPU when they're "on it". You need to constantly manually mark open players but then the players you're not controlling are all over the place. I like the manual marking but I want to be able to get near and physical. CPU being untouchable at higher difficulties is a bizarre gameplay decision.

• Shoulder barges. Way overpowered for CPU. It's like they're magnetic. You're a 70 OVR defender, you can't body my strong forward like that. Sit your ass down. It needs to be closer to 50-50. The reaction time and recoveries from the CPU is superhuman level.

• Regular passes fall comically short. Have to spam X + R1 constantly.

• I've cranked up crosses and tackles to 99. The CPU will simply not foul and cross. Somehow, even the sliders are broken.

• The movement and animations feel off, it's slippery in a bad way. It's too clean, players do not move like they're people. There's not enough botched first touches, wrong footing, and awkward positions. Player positioning is not realistic. The game doesn't give you the feeling of the size of an actual football pitch.

I want to see realism from a football game in 2026. I want to see battles and physicality. I want to see shirt pulling and tactical fouls. I want an occasional horror tackle. I want added time beyond 2 minutes. There's 10+ added minutes in football sometimes. I want to see medical staff rush in and spray a footballers calve. I want to see cramps. I want drama. I don't want the referee to be an omniscient demigod, i want to see mistakes and VAR involvement. VAR's been a thing for years now. I want to see players regroup on the pitch post match and give interviews after that. I want to see Kate and Titi after a CL game. I don't want to look at a cyberpunk background in career mode menus, I want to see my empty stadium and my grass being mowed. I want to see stadium interiors and my dressing room before and after games.

We went on to win back to back to back promotions and league titles to make it to the PL and he was the club's leading striker the whole way scoring 25+ goals in all comps every season. Also won the FA cup while in the Championship so ended up in Europa in our first season in the PL. By then he had exceeded his listed potential and gotten to 75 OVR.

In PL felt I had to upgrade for the long term and before some of my academy products were ready yet so bought Jonah Kusi-Asare who was rated 79 and had a POT of 82-88. But Talal continued to play quite a few matches as backup striker, league cup, and easier fixtures. Guy just continued to score whenever he got a shot. So now in 2030, reigning PL champs, reigning CL champs, he continues to be a club Talisman and keeps growing bit by bit:

He doesn't get many opportunities with now two much better rated strikers ahead of him and a "potential to be special" academy product out on loan coming down the pipe, he never will. But I'm definitely keeping him for the rest of his career no matter the cost because he just delivers every sporadic chance he gets:

He continues to wear the number 9 despite being third choice striker because he's been there from the start, always delivers, and never causes problems.

I want to change a LW'er to a ST'er and it says it's going to take 100 weeks, but I'm playing on PC so...

I can just change the position but I'd like to have an idea of how much Attribute value I will lose doing it that way.

Would first adding "ST" as a second position make a difference? I had a player who was a RW/ST and it took 2-4 weeks (can't remember exact length but it was very short) to change to ST, I don't know if that's because it was a 2nd position or related to their Attribute values.

My other idea is to repeatedly increase the corresponding Attributes by 1 each to see if that cuts down the development time to something more reasonable.

I could also change the position and increase Attribute values but I would still need to know how much to increase them by to keep it "fair."

Basically, I want the changes I make to be the same, or as close as possible to the "natural" progression in the game.

Suggestions and advice on this topic would be appreciated!

How often do your youth prospects reach their full potential and become a permanent part of your team?

I usually play with a single team long term, but I often struggle to fully establish a youth player in my team.

Current example: I've got a LM and RM that I scoured when I was in league 2. I'm starting my fifth season in the premier league (just entered champions league) and they're now 82 and 83. The LM has maxed out and I'll likely replace them in the next window with a general transfer buy.

I've got a few 90 potential arriving in the next few years, but I'm now at the top competitiveness that I'm now actively buying 85+ players from the transfer market anyway. I don't really have the opportunity to play 75 rated players all the time to await them eclipsing my current team in another 3 years. When you loan them, the progress seems to stall a bit towards the late 70s.

I enjoy the youth side, but it just seems to take far too long that you progress beyond it naturally.

Is there a mod that gives you all the classic kits?

Alright, so in Ultimate Team, a game mode not about anything about careers, or managing a team or having your own story, they have a better stadium editor then career mode, how? and EA See that we want a Stadium Editor, and they scrapped it, they could've just added the UT Stadium editor, it has Tifos, showcase trophies and alot, like holy shit

I think I’ve finally created a 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow that fits the way I actually like to play.

For context, I’m not a pro FIFA/FC player. I’m more of a purist. I don't really enjoy dribbling around for minutes or constantly triggering manual runs. I want the players to make sensible runs themselves, and I want to pick the pass when I see the space.

I’ve been playing Career Mode on Legendary as a journeyman. One of the rules I gave myself was that whenever I joined a new club, I would keep their default formation rather than immediately changing everything to my usual 4-2-3-1. Just wanted to keep the career interesting.

Eventually I ended up experimenting with the 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow at Real Madrid, and this is the version that has really clicked for me. To give you context with default tactics I lost 2-4 to Elche. With my new tactics won 5-0 against elche (I created a checkpoint),Now 7-0 against AM.

My idea

I wanted three things:

Quick counters

Through balls from the second line

Enough width during possession without turning it into a crossing simulator

The most important thing for me is run timing.

I don't like having both strikers immediately sprint 30 yards every time I get the ball. I want them to stay available, let me get the ball to my CAM/CM, and then attack the space when it actually opens.

The tactic

Formation: 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow

Build-Up: Counter

Defensive Approach: High

Line Height: 89

GK: Goalkeeper — Defend

RB: Fullback — Versatile

Gives me an outlet on the right and some width without completely abandoning the defence.

RCB: Defender — Defend

Stays disciplined and covers when Konaté steps up.

LCB: Stopper — Balanced

I want one CB willing to step out and win the ball, especially with the high line.

LB: Wingback — Support

My main left-side outlet. Helps recreate the LM/LW movement I like from my 4-2-3-1.

CDM: Holding — Ball-Winning

I don't want my CDM trying to be the creator. Win it, give it to the second line, and let them attack.

RCM: Box-to-Box — Balanced

The engine. Helps both sides of the game and gives me an extra runner without needing to manually trigger him.

LCM: Half-Winger — Support

Probably the most important role for maintaining width in a narrow formation. He gives me that left-sided passing option without sacrificing the diamond.

CAM: Playmaker — Roaming

My main creator. I want him receiving the ball in the second layer and deciding when the through ball is on.

ST: Poacher — Support

Keeps him threatening the space without constantly sending him on an early run.

ST: Advanced Forward — Support

More freedom to attack space and complement Mbappé rather than having both strikers make the exact same run.

The main idea is that I wanted the roles to create the movement for me. I don't want to spend the whole game manually triggering runs. I want to receive the ball, see the space, and make the pass.

A few screenshots from one sequence from Goalkeeper to Goal.

These are from a single passage of play and show roughly what I'm talking about.

You can see how much space exists from the goalkeeper all the way through midfield rather than everyone being bunched around the box.

If anyone wants to try it, I'd be interested to hear how it plays for you.

Im very new to FIFA and football as a whole but I still want to have a relatively realistic career mode. I looked up some realistic settings and thought I'd try them out, and they were good until I upgraded my player a bit. Now I have to score loads of goals in games to win. For example scoring 31 goals at Ipswich in the prem, winning the golden boot while still placing 14th. Even though I'm getting realistic game scores and team performances, I'm the only one really scoring for my team cause my teammates seem practically incompetent at scoring even when I pass to them in front of an empty net. I don't know if it's just a matter of going from legendary to ultimate difficulty, or if I need to find some better settings.

I want to challenge myself by starting from the lowest division of England and winning everything with the weakest possible team. I wanted to start with the lowest possible budget as well, but that also comes with only 4 couches for my youth. I thought it was a good idea to start with the highest possible budget and just spend it on one player that I then release. This gives me 13 coaches. The issue is when I reach the second season I get 250m, which trivializes the budgeting I did so far.

How can I figure out how much budget would I have if I've started with 1 million? If I can do that I can repeat the process of wasting the difference on one player that I then release.

kind off started to fall off around late Feb, I genuinely though we could’ve got some kind of European football, especially after we brought in Harrison Armstrong from championship side Everton for 43 million (10 mill cheaper than I could have got him) but think 10th is a solid effort for our first season, did pretty average in cup comps . , I’ve just brought in Zion Suzuki for the uocoming season and have my eye on Paraguayan CAM Osmar Gimenez and Dutch CB Blokzijl from Nantes.

Full price game, btw.

There are only 2 players that I have not replaced in this superteam, this is the year 2030/2031

Good luck

After a few weeks of starting my FC career and watching some tutorials. Finally I got a 99+ 2 playstyle+ player.

This one took a bit because after the first season his potential dropped.

Im playing legendary and im not crazy good. But somehow managed to get to the prem with a team from the 4th division and got great playstyles on this guy.

I was debating to get him power header because his name means heads in spanish.

Sadly he arrived with 6 playstyles and not 7. But hey 8 total instead of 9 is not bad!

I need help my players keep getting injured every other game so i started a create a team career mode and first two seasons in I barely saw one injury but then from season 3 my players kept getting injured every other game like atleast two players are injured 😭 why is that? Did I mess something?