FIFA 22 Leeds United Career Mode Guide: Starting Lineup and Who to sign

Leeds United have come up to the Premier League and kept playing the exciting football that brought them there.

There are plenty of young talents who will become great after a few seasons, and budget to bring in a few players, so a long term plan is already in place.

Channel your inner Bielsa and take on the challenge of managing Leeds on FIFA 22 Career Mode, it won't disappoint!

Team Rating

Leeds have a four-star rating on FIFA 22.

That is due to their team rating of: 78 ATK, 78 MID, and 75 DEF.

Starting Lineup and Formation

Leeds line up as a 4-1-4-1, and we will be keeping it like this to maintain the identity that Bielsa has brought to the club.

As much as we like Patrick Bamford, we're sticking Rodrigo up top, as he is better in nearly all aspects of play.

Jack Harrison and Raphinha offer pace on the wings, and also high work rates to get up and down the pitch.

Mateusz Klich and Stuart Dallas are a couple of all-rounders in CM, who are again hard-working to win the ball back quickly.

Kalvin Phillips occupies his usual deep-lying playmaker role at CDM.

New signing Junior Firpo will be a threat getting forward as well as sniffing out trouble defensively at left-back, with youngster Jamie Shackleton offering more legs at right-back than Luke Ayling.

Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are the CB partnership, with Liam Cooper not even included on our bench.

Promising goalkeeper Illan Meslier is between the posts, and will likely be there for the whole of your save.

The bench has some great options, with the aforementioned Bamford a top second striker choice.

There's also blistering pace to bring on from Daniel James and Crysencio Summerville, and multitalented Tyler Roberts.

Tactics and Instructions

As with the formation, we're keeping all the tactics and instructions as they are, giving us an authentic feeling Leeds.

That means they are set to Press After Possession Loss, to swarm the opposition and win the ball back quickly.

Build-up play and chance creation are both Balanced, meaning you can play varying styles and let the players on the field make differing runs.

Both wingers are told to Cut Inside, which will leave space to run into for both full-backs, who are told to Join The Attack and Overlap.

The wingers are also set to Come Back On Defence, so you will be attacking as a unit and defending as one too.

Development Plans

There are loads of young players with potential that can reach 80+ OVR, so look at training up Raphinha, Phillips, Meslier, Koch, Pascal Struijk, Joe Gelhardt, Harrison, Lewis Bate, James, Sam Greenwood, Charlie Cresswell, Fripo, Summerville, Cody Drameh, Roberts, Shackleton and Sean McGurk.

Leo Hjelde, Amari Miller, Dani can den Heuvel, Jack Jenkins, Kristoffer Klaesson and Liam McCarron could all prove to be useful squad members, so keep an eye on their progression too.

As for changing player positioning, Rodrigo is the only one worth adjusting, so his base position is a ST as opposed to a CAM.

Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £39 million

Starting wage budget: £310,000 a week

Who should go

With many promising players coming through, you won't want to get rid of many of your squad.

It also poses a bit of a dilemma because the players with the least potential in the side are currently starters, so you don't want to get rid of them just yet.

Adam Forshaw can go, as can Cooper and Ayling, but from there it's down to you as to who you want to see progress and who won't be good enough for your plans.

Loans

With so many young players with good potential, you will want to send a fair few out to pick up game time.

Look to find a temporary home for McCarron, Klaesson, Jenkins, Van den Heuvel, Miller, Hjelde and McGurk, as they won't be ready to make an impact on the team for a couple of seasons.

There are a few players out on loan, so keep an eye out for the return of Leif Davis, Mateusz Bogusz, Helder Costa and Ian Poveda, who could become key members of your squad and even impact on the starting XI.

Who to Sign

There are a few positions that need improving, and on a tight budget, it's worth finding a youngster who can make that position their own for the future.

The main place is at CM, and Mohammed Kudus would be our first choice, as his pace and high work rates will suit the team's style of play.

Centre-midfield options

We have a young right-back coming through, but Shackleton is only 70 OVR, with a potential of 80 OVR, so we would look to invest here too.

Right-back options

Finally, a young striker would be worth finding, with the current first-team options not likely to improve their ratings and the promising players already at the club not being ready for another few seasons.

Striker options

Board Expectations

There is only one high priority expectation from the board, Brand Exposure.

It's pretty easily completed, getting a streak of 5 games without defeat in the season, and also signing a crucial first-team midfielder.

Domestic Success is of medium priority and is split into short term and long term targets.

The short term target asks you to finish mid-table in the Premier League, and reach the round of 16 of the FA Cup.

The long term target asks that within 2 seasons you finish in a Europa League spot, so make sure you are aiming high and improving your squad.

Youth Development is a low priority, where you will need to sign at least 2 players younger than 20 with a potential greater than the average overall rating of players currently in the same position.

Another low priority is the Financial target, where you need to sign 2 crucial players while still making a £43 million profit.

You aren't in European competition yet, so Continental Success is a very low priority, as there is nothing to be fought for!