FIFA Weekend League: Road to Elite Part 1

Hey guys, my name is Berhaninho, I’m a 25-year old division 1 and Elite player who has been playing online FIFA since 2011. I started studying criminology this year which leaves me with a decent amount of spare time so I figured, why not give back to the community. This will be the first part of a series I’ll be doing on a consistent basis.

So let’s get right to it then; the talk of the town, the new feature of this year’s FIFA: FUT Champions.
Oh boy has this gamemode brought up some much needed competitiveness in the scene, where winning divison 1 for a measly 15.000 coins was the anti-climax of your blood, sweat, tears and broken controllers.
FUT Champions is where people can go all out, sweat all around. Parking the bus, passing it around the back from minute 21 to 90, another squad with he-who-must-not-be-named.

BUT, despite all these shenanigans, which are to be expected when things get hyper-competitive, there’s something beautiful waiting for you. Elite 1. Everyone wants to make it, few actually do.

I say fuck that, everyone can make it to Elite with the right mindset.

So, how do we go about doing this you ask? We prepare. We prepare well, we play well and we finish well. Easier said than done right? Very true, and that’s exactly why I’m doing this series. I’ll go through every step, every angle and every far post shot you have to take that will make you a better player overall. (disclaimer: I’m aware there is no ”right” or ”wrong” way to play fifa but in my opinion there is a ”optimal” way to play in many cases, which I will be discussing here. If you don’t agree with something I’m open to all forms of discussion)

First thing we’re gonna discuss is the basis: your squad.
Let’s take a look at some squads of 3 top 100 players.

@TyWalton

@Hashtag_Tass (Change to 4-1-2-1-2 (2) in game)

@Kurt0411

Disregard the expensive players for now, it’s clear 4-3-2-1 (switching to 4-1-2-1-2 in game for chem purposes) is tier 1 this fifa. I strongly recommend using this as your starting point.

Second, let’s look at the players. I’ll list some good players for the big 4 leagues.

Goalkeepers:
Neuer, De Gea, Handanovic, Leno, Butland, Lloris, Buffon.
All these goalkeepers are viable, if your on a budget than Butland is the way to go.
Stay away from short goalies like Bravo, Mandana and Ter Stegen, height is rather important.
Chemstyle: Gloves or Cat.

Leftback:
La Liga: Jordi Alba, Marcelo, Filipe Luis, Gaya
Bundesliga: Alaba, Wendell, Hector
Calcio A: Alex Sandro (OP)
Premier League: Shaw, Clichy, van Aanholt, Moreno, Azpilicueta

Rightback:
La Liga: Juanfran, Carvajal, De Marcos
Bundesliga: Piszcek, Brosinski
Calcio A: Dani Alves, Florenzi, Bruno Peres, Abate
Premier League: Walker, Bellerin, Clyne, Valencia

For your fullbacks pace is the most important attribute. If they lack pace, defending attributes have to make up for it (e.g. Azpilicueta).

Optimal workrates: H/H or H/M
Chemstyle: Shadow or Anchor

Centerbacks:
La Liga: Pepe, Varane, Ramos, Umtiti
Bundesliga: Boateng, Sokratis, Toprak, Naldo
Calcio A: Chiellini, Bonucci, Barzagli, Miranda, Manolas, Koulibaly
Premier League: Smalling, Otamendi, Bailly, Koscielny, Mustafi, Matip, Reid

Your centerbacks should have good defensive and physical attributes, preferably with 70+ pace. Stay away from players who lack pace (e.g. Javi Martinez) or bad defensive stats (e.g. Mangala). It’s better to have a pacey defender with lower defensive stats (e.g. Bailly) than vice versa.

Optimal Workrates: M/H, L/H, M/M (it’s fine to have a H/L or H/M defender but make sure you have at least one player with high defending workrates)
Chemstyle: Anchor

Defending Midfielders:
La Liga: N’Zonzi, Casemiro
Bundesliga: Luiz Gustavo, (Vidal and Renato Sanches can be used but are better as CMs due to their workrates)
Calcio A: Khedira, Allan, Felipe Melo (Again, Marchisio and Naingolan can be used but are better as CMs)
Premier League: Matic, Kanté, Dembelé, Can, Fernandinho

As you can see the Premier League has the best defending midfielders. I highly recommend Kanté (or Matic when on a budget). Other leagues lack tier 1 CDMs but I found especially Allan to perform decent.

Optimal Workrates: M/H, M/M. Stay away from player with High Attacking Workrates, it will leave gaps in your midfield and leaves you more vulnerable to counters.
Chemstyle: Shadow or Catalyst.

Central Midfielders:
La Liga: Modric, Iniesta, André Gomes,
Bundesliga: Vidal, Renato Sanches, Thiago, Draxler
Calcio A: Marchisio, Naingolan, Pjanic, Hamsik, Parolo, Asamoah
Premier League:Pogba, De Bruyne, Touré, Gündogan, Can, Dembelé, Touré, Fernandinho, Fellaini, Rooney

Your midfield is the core of your squad and so very important. People tend to overlook workrates though so be careful.

You want at least 1 H/H player (e.g. Vidal, Naingolan, Asamoah, Marchisio, Renato Sanches) who have decent pace, passing, shooting and defending stats. You can fill the other spot with a more all-round defensive player (e.g. Fernandinho, Can, Fellaini) or go with a more attacking option (e.g. Rooney, Hamsik, Draxler). Either way make sure your midfield is well-balanced for the best results.

Optimal Workrates: H/H M/M H/M.
Chemstyle: Hawk, Hunter, Catalyst

Attacking Midfielders
La Liga: Rodriguez, Isco, Rakitic
Bundesliga: Draxler, Götze
Calcio A: Hamsik, Pjanic, Banega
Premier League: De Bruyne, Eriksen, Coutinho, Roberto Firmino

It’s important that they have decent passing, shooting and pace with preferably either 4* + skills or a 4*+ weak foot. Both is better but more expensive obviously.

If you want to play 4-1-2-1-2 (2) by starting 4-3-2-1 and switching in game for chem-purposes, your left with 2 wingers. This only applies when you want to use your wingers as a striker (e.g. Bale, Neymar, Martial) or as a CAM. I’ll list a few wingers and strikers that make for decent CAMs:
La Liga: Griezmann, Neymar, Messi, Benzema, Gameiro, Carrasco
Bundesliga: Reus, Costa, Dembelé, Robben, Bellarabi, Müller
Calcio A: Salah, Cuadrado, Dybala, Mertens, Perisic, Insigne
Premier League: Hazard, Martial, Payet, Son, Bolasie, Sterling, Mané, Mahrez, Mkhitaryan

Optimal Workates: H/L H/M
Chemstyle: Hawk, Hunter

Strikers and Wingers
I’m gonna list strikers and wingers together here due to formation switching. The ones with * behind their name are better suit on the wings.
La Liga: Griezmann, Ronaldo, Bale, Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Benzema, Ben Yedder, Williams*, Carrasco*,
Bundesliga: Lewandowski, Aubameyang, Embolo, Hernandez, Werner, Reus, Costa*, Robben*, Coman*, Dembelé*
Calcio A: Higuain, Dybala, Mertens, Icardi, Immobile, Bacca, Insigne*, El Shaarawy*, Cuadrado*, Salah*
Premier League: Zlatan, Aguero, Lukaku, Sturridge, Remy, Musa, Firmino, Vardy, Hazard, Sterling*, Mané*, Sané*, Mkhitaryan*, Willian*.

Pace, finishing and a strong weakfoot is what you’re looking for. Due to across the body shots being so OP this year, stay away from players with <3* weak foots.

Optimal Workrates: H/L H/M
Chemstyle: Hawk, Hunter

Notable players from other leagues:
Lacazette, Ben Arfa, Aurier, Matuidi, Thiago Silva, SBC Villa, Sneijder, Di Maria, Krychowiak, Tevez. Let me know if you miss anyone that you highly recommend!

Squads
So, now we have a decent amount of players listed but still nothing substantial. Let’s take a look at some tier 1 teams in every price-range.

Expensive (1,000,000+)