Cardiff City have come a long way in recent times, now a firmly established Championship club, they have even managed a couple of seasons in the Premier League.
The board wants to see a mid-table finish, and that may be where you end up after the first season, but you should definitely be pushing on from there.
With little budget, it will put your skills to the test on the transfer market and at developing young players in FIFA 22 Career Mode.
Team Rating
Cardiff City have a three-star rating on FIFA 22.
That is due to their rating breakdown of: 67 ATK, 71 MID, and 69 DEF.
Starting Lineup and Formation
Cardiff line up as a 5-2-3, but we're going to mix things up and go a bit old school, with a classic 4-4-2, making the most of our tall and powerful strikers.
It's a front two of Kieffer Moore and James Collins, both well over 6'0", and Moore with pace to trouble defences too.
Ryan Giles has been moved up from LWB to LM, and being the fastest member of the squad will look to get behind the defence and swing crosses in, with Leandro Bacuna doing the same from the other side.
In central midfield we have a partnership of Joe Ralls and Marlon Pack, both more defensive-minded, but with Ralls looking to get forward more.
Joel Bagan is drafted in to take over at left-back, with Perry Ng at right-back who will get up the pitch.
Captain Sean Morrison keeps his place at centre-back, his lack of pace being covered by that of Curtis Nelson.
Dillon Phillips comes in between the sticks, having the same rating as Alex Smithies, but is younger with better potential.
Tactics and Instructions
With not much pace in the side, defensively we are playing on Balanced, so the team doesn't get out of shape trying to win the ball back.
Offensively we're keeping the Long Ball and Direct Passing, looking to get it to the two dangermen up top.
Moore and Collins are both told to Stay Central, keeping the two close to each other to work as a team, and also make sure they are in the box for crosses.
Collins has taken over as the Target Man, with Moore on Balanced so he can make runs in behind if the opportunity arises.
Giles is on Stay Wide and Get In Behind, to stretch the defence and use his pace.
On the other side, Bacuna is told to Come Back On Defence, but more importantly, Cut Inside, allowing space for Ng to Join The Attack and Overlap.
Bagan is told to Stay Back While Attacking, meaning offensively the team should look like a 3-5-2.
Development Plans
There aren't any players with brilliant potential in the squad, but there are definitely players that can support you in getting out of the Championship and then become rotation players in the Prem.
Look to train up Rubin Colwill, Mark McGuinness, Bagan, Isaak Davies and Ng.
Transfer Market
Starting transfer budget: £7.53 million
Starting wage budget: £91,000 a week
Who should go
After a few seasons, all the players will need to have been moved on, so if you get a good offer for any player it would be worth taking.
The only ones we would be looking to keep hold of are Moore, Nelson, Ng, Bacuna and Colwill.
Aside from that, so long as you are bringing in replacements for first-team players you sell, everything should be good.
Loans
Giles is the only player on loan at the club, and will, unfortunately, be leaving at the end of the season.
There are a few players out on loan, but much like the rest of the team, they don't have great potential, so don't get too excited about their return to the club.
It could be worth sending Davies out on loan to see how he progresses, but with a potential of 74 OVR, even if he fulfils it he won't be Prem quality.
Who to Sign
With a tight budget, it will be worth looking for cheap wonderkids and hidden gems to sign.
The first place we're looking to enforce is on the wings, as the squad doesn't have many options apart from the starting players there.
If you can bring in two or three that will give you good options for rotation and cover for when Giles leaves.
Winger options
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kayky | 18 | Manchester City | £2.3m | £10k | 66 | 87 |
Francisco Conceicao | 18 | Porto | £3.4m | £3k | 70 | 86 |
Luka Romero | 16 | Lazio | £2m | £2k | 66 | 86 |
Octavian Popescu | 18 | FCSB | £3.2m | £3k | 70 | 85 |
Amad Diallo | 18 | Manchester United | £2.7m | £10k | 68 | 85 |
If you can find some budget to bring in one of these strikers you can partner their pace with Moore's size and play that classic combination up top, or even use them as a super-sub to finish off games.
Striker options
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Youssoufa Moukoko | 16 | Borussia Dortmund | £3.3m | £4k | 69 | 89 |
Giacomo Raspadori | 21 | Sassuolo | £9m | £19k | 74 | 87 |
Karim Adeyemi | 19 | Red Bull Salzburg | £4.7m | £11k | 72 | 86 |
Brian Brobbey | 19 | RB Leipzig | £6.5m | £27k | 73 | 85 |
Facundo Farias | 18 | Colon | £6m | £4k | 73 | 85 |
Board Expectations
There is only one high priority expectation from the board and that is Domestic Success.
Luckily, this means a mid-table finish as opposed to fighting for promotion, however, that will be expected of you in the long term.
Brand Exposure and Financial objectives are both of medium priority, which should easily be completed by playing the football that will bring a mid-table finish and then getting the prize money.
Of low priority is Youth Development, however, you may want to lean more heavily towards this to produce first-team players from your academy.
You aren't in European competitions, so Continental Success is a very low priority, as there is nothing to be fought for!