Season 4 - Aston Villa - Squad Building Help

[gaz12321]

Hi Guys,

So I am at the end of season 3 with Aston Villa, I won the Championship in season 2 and have just finished 13th in the Prem and runners up in the League Cup, however I'm losing a lot of talent that had been on loan with Josh Tymon, Moise Kean, Andrea Pinamonti & Marko Grujic all leaving, I can't sign any of them on loan or permanent which as you will see has left us very light on quality. I've got £46m available for transfers and around £450k to spare in the wage budget so a decent amount to work with. I generally play a 433 wide, well organised and deadly on the break, or at least that's the aim.

 

What I Have

GK - Nicola Leali, Sam Johnstone

DR - James Bree

DL - Neil Taylor

DC - Waldemar Anton, James Chester, Bally Cargill

MC - Sebastien Rode, Nathaniel Chalobah, Conor Hourihane, Birkir Bjarnason, Henri Lansbury

AMR - Felice D'Amico, Max Sailor (Newgen - fantastic prospect)

AML - Andre Green, Jack Grealish

SC - Scott Hogan

 

What I Need (Most important First)

SC - To replace Pinamonti's 20+ goal haul, needs to be fairly quick, hard working & clinical. Open to trying a target man as we score from crosses regularly.

DL - Taylor doesn't cut it, we need someone better. Has to be a good defender as our FB's don't attack much. Good passing would be nice too.

DR - Need some depth here, as above really but only looking for cover for Bree who has impressed so far.

MC - Looking for a well rounded centre mid, want him to be involved in everything so a roaming playmaker type would be good.

 

Looking forward to any suggestions you might have.

[Wyer]

SC - If you haven't developed Keinen Davis you have seriously missed a trick.

DL - Layvin Kurzawa I got him for 3.3

DR - Callum Chambers I got him for 10 mil

MC - Phil Foden & Carles Alena 

 

I've just finished my 8th season, won all 7 comps that I was in, moving out of Villa Park into the "William McGregor Arena" 67k seater 

 

I use this tactic

 

 

[Welshace]

Davis is fine, but he gets 13's and 14's across the board at best in my experience... 

Your experience is skewed by the fact your using a known exploitive tactic tbh.. I would guess you could put any striker upfront and they would get double figures.

[Wyer]

Your post isn't constructive, go figure.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Wyer I don't think Welshace was being negative, he was just stating fact, Davis does look decent for Championship striker but as Welshace said he only gets 13-14's in attributes but if he performs for you then it don't matter.

 

[Welshace]

Indeed, I wasn't criticising you @Wyer,

Just stating that Davis turns out average at best in my experience in most cases and merely pointing out that the tactic you use makes any striker look premier league standard..  it's a single player game, judging anyone for how they play their own game is pure silly.

[gaz12321]

I have to agree with @Welshace re. Keinan Davis, he was very average and even with regular football in the Championship he never progressed so I let him go.

@Wyer I'm guessing you've moved on Andre Green as you're not using wingers? He's been sensational for me.

Update

I've progressed a bit with the save last night and have managed to secure the signing of Grujic on a free now that the UK has left the EU, I've also managed to sign Tymon from Stoke as they got relegated but he cost me £22.5m.

Up top i've got Maxi Romero in on loan and he looks perfect, looking to sign a hot prospect to provide some cover there, and also still looking for a right back, either on loan to provide cover or a young prospect. I want to keep Bree playing as much as possible to continue his progression.

[Wyer]

I could never create or find a tactic that gave good results with the use of wingers.

[gaz12321]

1 hour ago, Wyer said:

I could never create or find a tactic that gave good results with the use of wingers.

I've struggled for a while with wingers but the 433 wide i'm using with Villa is working a treat so far, kept us up in our first season and we got the League Cup Final. 9 games in to the next season we;ve got 20 points already and have beaten Arsenal in the league and in the cup and also beaten Spurs in the cup.

D'Amico is ridiculously good, he's got 13 assists and 4 goals in 11 starts. I'm using him on the right and Andre Green on the left as an inside forward with either Romero or Mayoral up top and we are deadly. I've found that by having a well balanced and fairly defensive midfield trio the front 3 can just enjoy themselves.

[Tullekunstner]

I'm probably way late on this, but if you're still missing something, I'll give you some recommendations anyway:

 

Considering that you seem to have a pretty decent midfield already, here's a some well-rounded (mostly) cm's I've often seen ridiculously undervalued in game: Ellyes Skhiri, Nicola Vukcevic, Marko Grujic,  Pedrinho (starts of in P. Ferreira), Orbelin Pineda and Lucas Tousart. The last two are often slightly more expensive. Ezequiel Barco or Adama Traore is worth checking out if you're okay with a slightly more attacking cm. 

If you have the money, Arthur (from Gremio) is always a safe bet if he hasn't been snapped up by one of the big clubs yet.

 

As for left back, I've noticed one of Robertson/Moreno often becomes available for cheap. Moreno isn't much of a defender, but he's not horrible either. Zeca's availability is worth checking out as well. For right back, I'd look up Kenny Tete, definitely a defending first type of fullback with lots of potential. No idea what he'll cost you in the fourth season though.

 

I assume you've already found a striker? Willem Geubbels, Amine Gouiri and Lincoln are all worth scouting a bit either way. Still very young on your save and have lots of potential. Florinel Coman turns out very well-rounded and usually available pretty cheap as well (if he's still FCSB at least).

[gaz12321]

7 hours ago, Tullekunstner said:

I'm probably way late on this, but if you're still missing something, I'll give you some recommendations anyway:

 

Considering that you seem to have a pretty decent midfield already, here's a some well-rounded (mostly) cm's I've often seen ridiculously undervalued in game: Ellyes Skhiri, Nicola Vukcevic, Marko Grujic,  Pedrinho (starts of in P. Ferreira), Orbelin Pineda and Lucas Tousart. The last two are often slightly more expensive. Ezequiel Barco or Adama Traore is worth checking out if you're okay with a slightly more attacking cm. 

If you have the money, Arthur (from Gremio) is always a safe bet if he hasn't been snapped up by one of the big clubs yet.

 

As for left back, I've noticed one of Robertson/Moreno often becomes available for cheap. Moreno isn't much of a defender, but he's not horrible either. Zeca's availability is worth checking out as well. For right back, I'd look up Kenny Tete, definitely a defending first type of fullback with lots of potential. No idea what he'll cost you in the fourth season though.

 

I assume you've already found a striker? Willem Geubbels, Amine Gouiri and Lincoln are all worth scouting a bit either way. Still very young on your save and have lots of potential. Florinel Coman turns out very well-rounded and usually available pretty cheap as well (if he's still FCSB at least).

Thanks for the comments, I have sorted my squad out and am 10 games into the season and going well, currently 4th on 21 points so very pleased with that! Just so you know what signings I made:

DL - Managed to sign Josh Tymon on a permanent deal, cost £22.5m but well worth it.

DR - Got in an 18 year old Serbian regen who isn't quite Prem standard yet but not far off and huge potential, great backup for Bree.

MC - After UK left the EU I was able to sign Grujic who had left Liverpool at the end of his contract.

SC - Got Romero in on loan and he's a beat, also signed Mayoral as competition and a long term option.