FIFA 14 Tips Bundesliga Bargains

Football journalist and FIFA fan Darren Cross looks at a great Bundesliga FUT team you can build on a budget…

I’m always getting the urge to create new squads in FUT, and recently I was thinking about what to go for next when inspiration struck. Well actually it was Toni Kroos who struck, and it was the back of my net he hit. Twice.

This wasn’t the first time I’d had a tough game against a Bundesliga team in FUT 14, so I decided there and then to have a good look in the transfer market and see what sort of squad I could put together from that division. I didn’t have mountains of coins available – I’m prone to spending sprees, especially on strikers – so I set myself a relatively low budget and went searching.

Half an hour later I had a nice Bundesliga eleven on paper, which quickly became my current favourite team after just a few matches. I’m still using this squad today, which you can put together for even less than I did at just over 20,000 coins. It’s a highly upgradable squad too, so you can stick with it for the long term and improve it gradually as your coins pile up.

PIERRE-EMERICK AUBAMEYANG
ST * 80
Current Buy Now: 3,600
PAC 95
SHO 76
PAS 73
DRI 78
DEF 55
HEA 76
When I began looking for bargain players to build this team with, I was surprised to see how cheap Dortmund striker Aubameyang was. In the first few weeks of the game I sold him for over 35,000 coins, so I was chuffed to pay just 4,700. Right now his Buy Now is even lower at 3,600 and for that you’ll get an incredibly quick striker who’s a good finisher with his head or dominant right foot. He feels pretty responsive on the ball, too, so I use him both to keep possession and wait for support or stretch defences with his Pace.
UPGRADE TO: Robert Lewandowski – 39,500

IVAN PERISIC
LM * 77
Current Buy Now: 500
PAC 80
SHO 80
PAS 76
DRI 77
DEF 53
HEA 79
My idea with this team was to use inverted wingers – right-footed players on the left and lefties on the right – so I could cut in to support the striker or go for goal. For that reason I was looking for decent numbers for Pace, Shooting and Dribbling – Perisic ticked all the boxes while also being very cheap. I used the Sniper Chemistry style on him to further improve his Shooting and Dribbling and that made him even more effective. If you’d like to read more about my approach to Chemistry Styles.
UPGRADE TO: Marco Reus – 61,500

XHERDAN SHAQIRI
RM * 80
Current Buy Now: 1,000
PAC 87
SHO 76
PAS 74
DRI 86
DEF 66
HEA 50
I think Shaqiri is like a much cheaper version of his Bayern team-mate Arjen Robben. Both players are left-footed right wingers with bags of Pace, great Dribbling ability and they can finish. Robben of course has significantly better numbers but at 250,000 coins will be out of reach for many FUT players, including me, so Shaq is a cracking alternative. I’ve made and scored a lot of goals with him darting in from the wing.
UPGRADE TO: Arjen Robben – 250,0000.

TONI KROOS
CAM * 84
Current Buy Now: 1,600
PAC 57
SHO 83
PAS 85
DRI 83
DEF 62
HEA 56
You’ve got a lot of options for the CAM position as you can use position consumables to push central midfielders forward or bring strikers and CFs back, so it’s worth having a good look around to find one who will suit the way you want to play. I was looking for a CAM with lethal long-range shooting and brilliant passing, and I knew exactly who to go for first. Kroos has smashed in more goals from outside the area for other teams against me in FUT 14 than I’d like to admit, so he was the perfect choice for my team. I should say though that if you like your CAMs to be quick – which can be handy in a 4-2-3-1 – then Kroos is probably not for you.
UPGRADE TO: Mario Gotze – 37,750.

LUIZ GUSTAVO
CDM * 81
Current Buy Now: 1,500
PAC 75
SHO 58
PAS 76
DRI 72
DEF 83
HEA 77
Gustavo is a brilliant all-rounder capable of protecting the back four with his Defending, Heading and Pace while also supporting attacks with his Passing skills. That was exactly what I wanted for one of my CDM positions and, after a bit of patient bidding, I managed to pick him up for just 900 coins. Although all of the main prices I’ve listed here are Buy Nows, you should of course be able to sign any of these players for slightly less if you’re willing to play the market.
UPGRADE TO: Ilkay Gundogan – 17,000.

KEVIN-PRINCE BOATENG
CDM * 81
Current Buy Now: 4,100
PAC 77
SHO 80
PAS 78
DRI 81
DEF 75
HEA 81
Talking of brilliant all-rounders, there aren’t many better in the Bundesliga than Kevin-Prince Boateng. He’s very solid defensively but I use him mostly as late support going forward, as he’s great at picking up possession on the edge of the box and testing the keeper with a shot and I’ve bagged plenty of headers with him too. It’s worth knowing that it’s cheaper to buy KPB as a CM and convert him to CDM if you already have the necessary position consumable – you can save around 1,200 coins that way. In terms of upgrading him I probably won’t as he’s been such a key player for me, but if you’ve got plenty of coins to spend then you could invest in Schweinsteiger or even an in-form CDM version of Lahm.
UPGRADE TO: Bastian Schweinstieger – 50,000.

MARCELL JANSEN
LB * 76
Current Buy Now: 1,000
PAC 80
SHO 69
PAS 75
DRI 74
DEF 76
HEA 71
I try to get my full-backs involved going forward in the 4-2-3-1, so Jansen was a good signing for my first version of this team. He’s tall, quick and more than capable of playing good passes and crosses so a definite bargain at just 1,000 coins. I have since bought David Alaba and he’s made a real difference, but Jansen is a good, solid attacking left-back until you can afford him.
UPGRADE TO: David Alaba – 9,800.

LUKASZ PISZCZEK
RB * 83
Current Buy Now: 3,600
PAC 85
SHO 66
PAS 77
DRI 75
DEF 81
HEA 76
There are of course cheaper right-backs you can sign when you’re just starting out with this team if you’re trying to save a few coins, but Piszczek was one of the players I had to have so I made sure I budgeted for that. He’s a really solid defender that can also make a difference in the final third with his late runs or early crosses. I’m really happy with him so he’s another player that I probably won’t replace, but again there are options if you’ve got the coins.
UPGRADE TO: Philipp Lahm – 22,000.

JEROME BOATENG
CB * 81
Current Buy Now: 1,300
PAC 75
SHO 50
PAS 72
DRI 67
DEF 79
HEA 82
One of the best things about building a new squad in the Bundesliga is that there are loads of great centre-backs available for very little compared to some of the other major divisions. Bayern defender Boateng is a great example of that, costing just 1,300 Buy Now, and he’s been a fantastic player for me so far. He’s got the Pace to handle quick strikers, he’s a great ball-winner and he’s very good in the air, so I definitely recommend signing him up. There are many good alternatives so it’s hard to recommend just one, especially as I’ll most likely keep Boateng in my team for some time yet, but lots of FUT players like Dante so you may want to check him out.
UPGRADE TO: Dante – 2,800.

NEVEN SUBOTIC
CB * 82
Current Buy Now: 950
PAC 72
SHO 59
PAS 64
DRI 53
DEF 80
HEA 82
For info on Dortmund defender Subotic, check out everything I just said about Jerome Boateng. You’ll have absolutely no worries with these two as your centre-backs, but if you would like slightly more Pace then have a look at either Sokratis or Santana.
UPGRADE TO: Felipe Santana – 1,000.

RENE ADLER
GK * 84
Current Buy Now: 1,800
DIV 86
HAN 81
KIC 76
REF 86
SPD 46
POS 83
For me Manuel Neuer is one of the best keepers in the whole game, but he costs twice as much as the rest of this team put together so until you can afford him I recommend Rene Adler. He’s a very good shot stopper and has made some outstanding saves for my team.
UPGRADE TO: Manuel Neuer – 45,000.

So that’s the team I started out with and it went really well for me. I won a couple of promotions and I’m still using them daily up in the higher FUT divisions.

Give them a go if you’re looking to build a new team and, as always, please feel free to comment below or tweet me @darren_cross if you have any more Bundesliga bargains you’d like to tell other FIFA players about.

Thanks for reading,
Darren
@darren_cross