Stoke was once established as a regular in the English top-flight, however, it's been a downward spiral for the Potters over the past several seasons.
With promotion seemingly out of reach, have you got what it takes to take Stoke back to the Premier League in FIFA 22 Career Mode?
Team Rating
Stoke has a 3-star rating in FIFA 22.
The breakdown of the ratings is as follows: ATT 68, MID 72, DEF 69.
Starting Lineup and Formation
The 4-1-2-1-2 formation is most suitable for Stoke to get the most out of their attackers whilst remaining defensively solid at the back.
The wide or narrow variation can be used depending on your own personal preference.
Starting with the most exciting part of the team the strike partnership up front!
Abdallah Sima partners Tyrese Campbell up top, in a potentially frightening attacking force.
The midfield diamond is made up of Romaine Sawyers, Nick Powell and Sam Clucas, with Mario Vrančić in the number 10 position.
In the full-back positions, we've gone for Alfie Doughty and Tommy Smith, whilst Morgan Fox partners Leo Ostigard in central defence.
Adam Davies is the man between the sticks.
Tactics and Instructions
We want to maximise our strike pairing's goal threat, so, instruct the strikers to Stay Forward, Get In Behind and Stay Central to give them the best possible chance of a sight at goal.
Make sure to instruct both full-backs to Overlap and Stay Back While Attacking, in order to provide balance in attack and defence,
You'll also need to instruct your defensive midfielder to Cover Centre and Stay Back While Attacking, or you may leave yourself vulnerable to the counter attack.
Development Plans
When it comes to developing youngsters, it's there are a few players to focus on within this Stoke squad.
Abdallah Sima (POT 86) partners Tyrese Campbell (POT 82) can develop into a top-class strike partnership with a few years of training.
However, you'll need to make sure you purchase Abdallah Sima on a permanent deal as he is currently on loan.
Leo Ostigard (POT 80) is another player with a high potential who you'll need to sign permanently at the end of the season.
We would also recommend converting Morgan Fox (POT 69) to an out and out centre-back, as we think his stats are best suited to that position in FIFA 22.
Transfer Market
Starting budget: £5 million
Who should go?
Stoke City seems to have a fair few players who can be considered as 'dead wood' and can be sold.
James Chester (OVR 70), Josh Tymon (OVR 68), Joe Allen (OVR 70), Steven Fletcher (OVR 70), Jacob Brown (OVR 70) and Sam Surridge (OVR 67) can all go to free up some funds for new signings.
We would also be tempted to let Harry Souttar (OVR 72) leave, as, despite the fact that he is a promising young player, his stats do not fit the 'meta' of FIFA 22 and he can be sold for around £5 million.
The following youngsters can also be sold as their potential rating is not high enough in FIFA 22 to challenge for a first-team spot:
D'Margio Wright-Phillips, Lewis Macari, Adam Porter
Loans
Josef Bursik (POT 79) is one of the most promising youngsters on the books who isn't near the first team at the moment, so a loan spell early on could do him the world of good.
You can use Jack Bonham as the backup goalkeeper whilst Bursik is out on loan.
Kieran Coates (POT 73), Tashan Oakley-Boothe (POT 76) and Demeaco Duhaney (POT 71) are all promising young players capable of becoming good squad players.
The Potters already have several players out on loan too, with Tom Edwards (POT 77) and Oghenekaro Etebo (POT 75) the ones to keep an eye on.
Who to sign?
As mentioned before, we would recommend signing both Abdallah Sima and Leo Ostigard on permanent deals at the end of the season.
Before the, however, you'll have around £15 million to play with after player sales.
The main area where Stoke needs upgrading in FIFA 22 is the defence, with the Potters lacking a real quality centre-half.
Benfica star Lucas Verissimo (OVR 79) is our favourite to fill the centre-back role next to captain Lloyd Kelly, with the 25-year-old able to reach an 84 OVR in the future!
However, you may need to sweeten the deal with a player involved in order to be able to afford the youngster.
Transfer Options (CB)
Player | Age | Club | Cost | Wage | OVR | POT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lucas Verissimo | 25 | Benfica | £20m | £13k | 79 | 84 |
Nico Elvedi | 24 | Borussia Monchengladbach | £20m | £22k | 79 | 83 |
Chancel Mbemba | 26 | Porto | £18m | £14k | 79 | 82 |
Martin Hinteregger | 28 | Eintracht Frankfurt | £16m | £29k | 80 | 80 |
Eric Bailly | 27 | Man Utd | £15m | £86k | 79 | 80 |
Board Expectations
You will have to keep an eye on most of your board expectations as manager of Stoke in FIFA 22.
The Financial targets are the most important for your popularity with the board, as they see it as of high priority to the success of the club.
The board have assigned medium priority to Domestic Success and Brand Exposure, so it's important you are staying on top of these.
The Youth Development and Continental Success targets are a low and very low priority, so you don't need to stress too much about these.