FIFA 23 Nottingham Forest Career Mode Guide: Starting Lineup, Who to Sign & more

Returning to the Premier League and bringing their great history with them, Nottingham Forest could be a tough FIFA 23 Career Mode challenge.

The squad was added to massively after a surprise promotion, however, it still needs a lot of work doing to it to properly compete in the top tier.

Team Rating

Nottingham Forest has a four-star rating in FIFA 23.

The breakdown of the ratings is as follows: ATT 75, MID 76, DEF 74.

Starting Lineup and Formation

Forest starts with a 5-2-1-2 formation, but we're switching it slightly to a 5-3-2 Holding, then changing both CMs to CAMs (for reasons you will see shortly).

The front two are Emmanuel Dennis on the right and Taiwo Awoniyi on the left, who gives a great focal point to the side, with both able to break quickly on the counter.

Morgan Gibbs-White and Jesse Lingard are the ball players behind them, both more suited to play as a CAM, so we have adapted the formation so they don't get negatively impacted.

Behind them is Remo Freuler, a great all-rounder, but sitting as a CDM to break down play and also keep the tempo.

We have two attacking wing-backs, with Serge Aurier on one side and Renan Lodi on the other.

The middle three of Cheikhou Kouyate, Willy Boly and Moussa Niakhate sit in front of Dean Henderson in goal.

Tactics and Instructions

We've switched the defensive style to Pressure On Heavy Touch, which will help the side keep its shape out of possession, but be ready to pounce on any loose balls to start a counter.

Chance creation has been switched to Direct Passing to help with fast attacks, but you can keep this Balanced if you prefer.

Denis is told to Drift Wide and Stay Forward, with Awoniyi to Stay Central and Stay Forward.

Gibbs-White is set to Come Back On Defence and Free Roam, letting him pick up pockets of space and offer passing options.

Lingard is told to Drift Wide, creating a front three when the side is on the attack.

Freuler is asked to Cover Center, to help prevent easy counter-attacks straight down the middle.

Both wing-backs are on Join The Attack to create more passing options when building up play in slower situations.

Development Plans

There are a few players whose base position should be changed, with Kouyate switching to a CB, Gibbs-White to a CM and Brennan Johnson to a ST.

You don't have to do this, but it will help them perform better in the formation, and also means that you can change one of the CAM spots to a CM when Gibbs-White has changed.

Training

There are many players in the squad that you should focus on in training in FIFA 23, including youngster Johnson, who has an 85 POT.

As well as him, look to train up Gibbs-White (POT 83), Neco Williams (POT 82), Joe Worrall (POT 80), Awoniyi (POT 80), Niakhate (POT 80), Orel Mangala (POT 80), Dennis (POT 80), Lewis O'Brien (POT 80), Ryan Yates (POT 79), Omar Richards (POT 78), Giullian Biancone (POT 78), Scott McKenna (POT 78), Sam Surridge (POT 77) and Loic Mbe Soh (POT 76).

All could play a role in the squad in the future, or if they don't you can always sell them for more money after improving them a bit.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £30 million

Who should go?

Over time most of the squad will be moved on, however, in your first season, the majority will stay, keeping your first XI and enough back-ups to rotate if the schedule gets busy.

Feel free to get rid of Ateed Konate, Harry Toffolo, Oliver Hammond, Steve Cook, Lyle Taylor, Jack Colback, Cafu, Jordan Smith and Harry Arter.

It will bring in around another £8 million to play with, not much, but it could be crucial when securing some deals.

Loans

Forest has a fair few players out on loan, but only three are worth keeping an eye on in FIFA 23.

Braian Ojeda (POT 80), Alex Mighten (POT 80) and Jonathan Panzo (POT 77) could all be useful players for the side.

All others can be sold upon their return.

It is worth noting that first-team starters Lodi and Henderson and also Loic Bade are on loan with the club, so prepare for their departures at the end of the season.

Who to sign?

One key area to look at is CB, with Boly and Kouyate at the end of their careers.

The side does have players coming through in that position, but they are capped at 80 POT.

Transfer Options (CB)

We would also look to bring in a CM/CDM or two, to really strengthen the middle of the park and give you more options for rotation.

Transfer Options (CM/CDM)

Then, if you have the funds, it could be worth getting a promising young striker to develop over the years.

Board Expectations

It'll be a tough job at Nottingham Forest, luckily, the board aren't expecting anything miraculous from you.

Of medium priority is Youth Development, where we were tasked with signing four players to the Youth Academy - a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward - something we would be looking to do anyway, with little budget to play with.

Brand Exposure is also of medium priority and on our save we were asked to sign two players born in North America.

The Financial challenge is then of very low priority, with us needing to make £2,600,000 profit from youth player sales within two seasons.

Domestic Success also has a very low priority, asking you to finish mid-table in the Premier League and get to the round of 16 stage in the FA Cup.

With no European competition to worry about, Continental Success has no tasks and is therefore another very low priority.