Achieving success in FIFA 15's Manager Mode can be challenging, even for the most experienced player. Building your ideal squad takes a mixture of skill, patience and a little bit of luck. With tools such as the Transfer/Loan Market and Youth Academy at your disposal, finding the right combination of experienced players mixed in with some promising youngsters can lead to sustained success. In this article we'll take a look at a few approaches centered around building a squad capable of winning trophies give some fairly common scenarios.

The "Experienced Route"

Scenario 1: You're closing in on the January Transfer Window and you have a squad that's ready to break through and challenge for a title but you're lacking a key piece. With no youngsters in the academy ready to step up, you hit up the Global Transfer Network to find that missing ingredient. 

Scenario 2: A key cog in your engine has gone done to a long-term injury.

Scenario 3: You're looking at a congested fixture schedule and you're squad depth isn't enough to handle it. You'd like to keep your Youth Squad members in the academy to get that May 1st boost. 

Solution: Put that Global Transfer Window scout to use and instruct them to find an experienced player that can step in and do a job when called upon. These players usually won't command a very high transfer fee or demand insane wages. Keep them happy with promises of being a "Sporadic First Team Player" or "Squad Rotation Player" and you could find yourself hoisting a trophy. Or look for someone out of favor with their current club and available for loan.

Risk: Low - Players of this mold tend to be relatively inexpensive and plentiful. Since they're often short-term stop-gaps, your future finances aren't tied down allowing you to pursue a more permanent fix later down the road. 

"The Youth Movement"

Scenario 1: You're cruising in the league and have some important mid-week European matches coming up forcing you to rotate the squad.

Scenario 2: The season is a lost cause on the trophy front. You're mired in mid-table glory and out of Cup action. It's time to evaluate what you have for the upcoming season.

Scenario 3: You've just been promoted to the Top League in the country and you lack the funds to seriously challenge for trophies.

Solution: It's time to call-up a kid from the youth squad and see if he has what it takes to be a player on this level. Perhaps he's been at the club since he was 15 and he's ready for the next challenge or you're deep at his position and want to see if he's better than any of your current options. With the scouting available in FIFA 15 you can build up your Academy stashing promising youngsters for as long as possible until the time is right to give them their club debut. You can also take a look to see who's available for loan as several of the larger clubs will often loan out the younger players for experience. Managers can use these players to help avoid relegation and if things work out you can often negotiate for a future transfer fee in hopes of plucking them from their parent club.

Risk: Medium - For every Cesc Fabregas there's a Gael Kakuta. More often than not things don't work out, but when they do you could have a star on your hands. This is a pretty inexpensive way to fill out your squad as youth products tend to sign low wage deals. But when it comes time to renegotiating you better do your homework or risk overpaying. 

"The Impact Signing"

Scenario 1: You're a side battling it out for that coveted league trophy yet you feel like you're a player away from securing the silverware.

Scenario 2: Your dream is to become an elite side but in order to do so you must attract top talent across the globe.

Scenario 3: You have the support of the board and money is no object. Your goal is to create an all-star starting XI and being/further your quest for football domination.

Solution: There's no need to use the Global Transfer Market since you don't need help in finding a diamond in the rough and/or a missing cog. You have a specific player in mind and you won't stop until he's in your side. You might want to take a look at other top clubs and see what they're willing to offload. If you're thinking of a real-life example look no further to when Arsenal gave Manchester United the title a few years back by letting Robin Van Persie go. He then went to capture the Golden Boot as the league's top scorer on the way to hoisting his first league trophy.

Risk: High - The risk is fairly dependent upon your club's finances. You'll most likely being buying an established player and as long as you can meet their wage demands the player should be able to slot right in and be an instant success. However, if you splash the cash for the wrong player (Fernando Torres - Chelsea, Andy Carroll - Liverpool) you could severely hamper your ability to add players during the next few transfer windows. 


No matter how you go about your business through the Transfer/Loan Market and/or Youth Academy there's no denying that FIFA 15 excels in this arena. With the ability to build your squad to your liking you can find yourself spending hours upon hours scouting the globe and tinkering with your club.

How do you go about building your squad?