FIFA 22 Brentford Career Mode Guide: Starting lineup and who to sign

Brentford made it to the big-time last season after winning the lucrative Championship Play-Offs, but can you maintain their place in FIFA 22?

The Bees have one of the youngest and most exciting squads in the league with an average age of 23, so the opportunity for growth is endless.

The first season will be tough though, but once you have got through that you are in for a really exciting save in Career Mode.

Team Rating

Brentford has a 3.5-star rating in FIFA 22.

The breakdown of the ratings is as follows: ATT 72, MID 74, DEF 73.

Starting Lineup and Formation

Brentford’s default formation is a 5-3-2 and as we are expecting to do a lot of defending, we are going to stick with this system in the first season.

In goal, 25-year-old Spaniard David Raya (OVR 74) should start ahead of the on-loan Alvaro, at least to begin with.

RWB is an area of weakness for Brentford, with Sergi Canos (OVR 72) the only player of first team quality available in the position, and his defensive stats are not the best!

Your back three should consist of Kristoffer Ajer (OVR 75), Pontus Jansson (OVR 75), and Ethan Pinnock (OVR 74). Having all three on the pitch should make you dangerous from set-pieces.

The pacey Rico Henry (OVR 74) is your LWB, and again there is not much cover if he is to get injured or suspended.

Frank ‘The Tank’ Onyeka (OVR 75) will be a key man in your midfield, and alongside Vitaly Janelt (OVR 74) should provide plenty of energy. Both men boast potentials of 81 OVR too!

Danish star Christian Norgaard (OVR 75) provides some experience in the middle, but Jay DaSilva should be given plenty of game time too as he can also reach 81 OVR.

A strike pairing is the order of the day, with Ivan Toney (OVR 76) and Bryan Mbuemo (OVR 72) causing problems with their pace, power, and trickery.

Tactics and Instructions

In the default tactics, RWB Canos is set to ‘Join the Attack’ and ‘Overlap’, while LWB Henry is also set to ‘Overlap’ but with balanced attacking runs.

We would change Henry to ‘Join the Attack’ too otherwise you may struggle for width down the left side of the pitch.

In midfield, we would leave Norgaard to ‘Stay Back While Attacking’, with Janelt and Onyeka left on balanced to help the attack and defence when required.

Mbuemo is currently set to play as a ‘False 9’, but we would have both Toney and Mbuemo left on balanced so they can play as close together as possible.

Development Plans

You should change Yoane Wissa (OVR 74) to a striker as his current LM position does not fit in the default formation.

There are a couple of other wingers in the squad that won’t fit in the current shape, so it will be worth altering their positions too depending on where you see them playing.

There are some high-potential players in this young squad, so make sure you have the likes of Jay DaSilva, Frank Onyeka, Kristoffer Ajer, Ivany Toney, Bryan Mbuemo, and Vitaly Janelt developing the attributes that will make them most effective in-game.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £16 million

Who should go?

Brentford do have a large squad, and we have picked out four players we think are surplus to requirements at the club.

Centre-backs Julian Jeanvier (OVR 70) and Charlie Goode (OVR 67) will both see limited game time, and they won’t grow to be much better either.

Pacey winger Tariqe Fosu (OVR 70) and Saman Ghoddos (OVR 69) are also on our list to be transferred to help bring in a few extra million for your budget.

The following players can also be let go as their potential in FIFA 22 Career Mode is not high enough to become a first team player at Brentford:

Lewis Gordon (OVR 58), Joel Valencia (OVR 65), Maxwell Haygarth (OVR 59)

In total, these sales should add around £6 million to your budget.

Loans

The midfield department is well stocked with some talented players, but there are some youngsters who are knocking on the door too.

These players could benefit from a loan spell as they will see limited game-time early in your save, so add them to the loan list.

Myles Peart-Harris (POT 79), Mads Bidstrup (POT 77), and Jan Zamburek (POT 76) all have a role to play in the future.

Brentford have five players out on loan already, but truthfully, we are only interested in one of them.

Turkish striker Halil Ibrahim Dervisoglu (POT 79) could become a first-team regular in the future, but the other four can all be sold after season one.

Who to sign?

As we have mentioned above, the RWB position needs a bit more competition and defensive competence, so we are looking for someone to fill that gap.

These players can all play RB or RWB, boast good pace, and have high stamina to make sure they can get up and down the pitch.

Mexican star Jorge Sanchez (OVR 75) is ready for the rigours of Premier League football, and he is rapid too with 92 Pace.

Our cheapest option is Feyenoord’s Marcus Pedersen (OVR 70) who has a potential of 82 OVR and possesses 90 Sprint Speed.

Transfer Options (RB/RWB)

We would also recommend signing a first-team quality striker to partner Ivan Toney and give competition to Bryan Mbuemo.

As your strikers will be isolated a lot of the time, someone with good pace and strength attributes is a necessity.

Benfica’s Darwin Nunez (OVR 76) is terrific but may prove to be out of price range, but there are plenty of other options!

RB Leipzig’s Bryan Brobbey (OVR 73) could be brought in on loan, while Noah Okafor (OVR 72) can be turned into a deadly striker.

Transfer Options (ST)

Board Expectations

There is no pressure on your Continental Success as you won’t be competing in Europe during your first season.

Domestic Success is also of very low importance to the board which comes as a surprise, but let’s just make sure you stay in the league!

Brand Exposure and Youth Development are also low priorities for the board. This is one of the most lenient and forgiving board expectations we have ever seen.

Your Financial targets and the highest priority and even they are only medium, so you really have a clean slate to build the club however you want.