Middlesbrough enjoyed over a decade in the Premier League, but aside from the 2016/17 season, they haven't had a spell recently.
They have a team that can challenge in the Championship, but it will be a task to get that ready for life in the Prem again.
With little budget, can you be the manager to bring promotion to the club while also giving it a rebuild in FIFA 22 Career Mode?
Team Rating
Middlesbrough have a three-star rating on FIFA 22.
That is due to their rating breakdown of: 71 ATK, 70 MID, and 69 DEF.
Starting Lineup and Formation
Middlesborough line up as a 5-3-2, but we will switch that to a 4-3-3 as we believe they have the personel to play more exciting, attacking football.
Through the middle is Andraz Sporar, the best striker at the club and a bit of an all-rounder, who has some pace to get in behind, strength to hold the ball up, or can be an aerial threat.
Either side of him are Marcus Tavernier and Onel Hernandez, you can play them as inverted wingers if you prefer, but as they don't have brilliant finishing we've decided not to.
It's a midfield three of Martin Payero, James Lea Siliki, and Jonny Howson as the CDM.
Marc Bola and Darnell Fisher are the full-backs with decent pace, and they both have good physicality to power wingers off the ball.
Paddy McNair has been given a new centre-back partner in Anfernee Dijksteel, who may be a RWB, but is more than comfortable at CB and brings his 75 PAC with him.
In goal is Joe Lumley, who although is slightly worse rated than Luke Daniels does have better potential, so we should see him improve soon.
Tactics and Instructions
As we want to be attacking and on the front foot, we will be using Press After Possession Loss to quickly win the ball back, with a high defensive line to make sure we're winning it back in dangerous areas.
Offensively it's Balanced with Forward Runs, looking to be calm once the ball has been won and play a killer ball in behind the opposition.
Sporar will be told to Stay Central, with both wingers told to Stay Forward and Get In Behind.
Howson is on Stay Back While Attacking to give us another defensively minded player, although he is one of only three!
The full-backs can both be set to Join The Attack, making sure we are squeezing the opposition back and winning the ball back as high as possible.
Development Plans
There are only a couple of players that will reach 80 OVR, Nathan Wood and Tavernier, and although others won't be brilliantly rated, they will play an important squad role.
As well as the two mentioned, look to focus training up Dael Fry, Payero, McNair, Dijksteel and Bola.
Transfer Market
Starting transfer budget: £6.58 million
Starting wage budget: £95,000 a week
Who should go
Most of the players will need to go to compete in the Premier League, but that is a process that will take a few seasons.
For now look to keep hold of all the players that are currently in the starting XI, as well as Wood, Fry and Sammy Ameobi.
If you can find suitable replacements, feel free to get rid of everyone else!
Loans
The club has three players with them on loan, Hernandez, Lea Siliki and Sporar, who all make the starting XI, so keep in mind that you will need to find replacements for them next season.
There are also several players out on loan, but the only noteworthy one is Djed Spence, who could become a useful option at right-back for the side.
Who to Sign
The budget is really tight, but after you've sold some players and hopefully won the pre-season tournament, it could have increased to around £15 million.
Investing in youth is a must, so maybe look to bring in cheap wonderkids or hidden gems who can help the team out in the future.
Reinforcements will be needed everywhere at some point, so it's up to you where to tackle first.
It's probably worth finding replacements now for the players that will be leaving on loan, so that will include a striker, winger and centre-mid.
There are some great options for young strikers who could become brilliant, most notably Youssoufa Moukoko.
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 |
There are also some speedy young wingers that you can get in for cheap, including Manchester United's Amad Diallo.
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 |
Finally, at centre-midfield, there are some cheap options that could slot into the starting XI straight away, and continue to improve.
Centre-midfield options
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kouadio Kone | 20 | Borussia Monchenladbach | £3.5m | £11k | 71 | 83 |
Alhassan Yusuf | 20 | Royal Antwerp | £3.1m | £7k | 70 | 83 |
Cristian Medina | 19 | Boca Juniors | £3.3m | £4k | 70 | 83 |
Amadou Onana | 19 | Lille | £3.1m | £8k | 70 | 83 |
Junior Dina Ebimbe | 20 | PSG | £4.3m | £28k | 72 | 80 |
Board Expectations
There is one high priority expectation from the board, and that is Financial, so look to be winning the league to get that all-important prize money.
If you perform well in the league this will also fulfil the medium priority expectations for Brand Exposure and Domestic Success.
Youth Development is also of medium priority, and with such a small budget should definitely be focussed on to develop the side.
You aren't in European competitions, so Continental Success is a very low priority, as there is nothing to be fought for!