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

Southampton has managed to stay in the Premier League despite a few scares in recent seasons.

As a selling club, you will be asked to develop and move on talent in FIFA 23 Career Mode, although this doesn't mean you can't build a top side.

There are already plenty of promising players in the ranks, which could lead to a really engaging save with the club.

Team Rating

Southampton has a four-star rating in FIFA 23.

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

Starting Lineup and Formation

Southampton has switched to a 4-2-3-1 Wide recently, but we're reverting them to their default formation in FIFA 23, which is a 5-3-2 Holding, to get the best out of their best players.

Che Adams and Adam Armstrong are the front two, ready to pounce on any chances that come their way and stretch defences with their speed.

James Ward-Prowse will pull the strings in midfield, with Joe Aribo a box-to-box player on the other side, both with High/High work rates and plenty of stamina to get up and down the pitch.

Sitting behind them at CDM is Ibrahima Diallo, although the spot could easily have been taken by the very versatile Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Kyle Walker-Peters and Romain Perraud will provide attacking options at RWB and LWB, eager to get forward but still adept at their defensive duties.

The CB three are all promising talents (like much of the side), with Duje Caleta-Car and Mohammed Salisu sitting on either side of the very pacey Armel Bella Kotchap.

In goal, we've opted for the young Gavin Bazunu over the better-rated Alex McCarthy in order to develop him faster.

Tactics and Instructions

Although we've switched the formation, the tactics will stay the same, giving a very balanced style that lets you adapt to the opposition.

The team will use Pressure On Heavy Touch to hunt down any loose balls but apart from that will look to keep its shape.

Both forwards are told to Stay Forward to give an out ball and provide counterattacking opportunities, whilst also being told to use Aggressive Interceptions to really make the opposition pay for any loose play.

All the midfielders are set to Cover Center to prevent the opposition from breaking through the middle of the side, with Ward-Prowse given a Free Roam role in order to dictate play.

Aribo is asked to Get Forward to provide another attacking threat, with Diallo on Stay Back While Attacking.

Both wing-backs are told to Join The Attack and Overlap, giving width to the side and more passing options in attacking situations.

Training

Southampton has plenty of young talent in their squad in FIFA 23, which will really help out taking the team to the next level.

Look to train up Bazunu (OVR 85), Salisu (OVR 85), Tino Livramento (POT 85), Walker-Peters (OVR 83), Romeo Lavia (POT 83), Bella Kotchap (POT 83), Samuel Edozie (POT 82), Diallo (POT 82), Caleta-Car (POT 82), Sekou Mara (POT 80), Perraud (POT 80), Lyanco (POT 79), Dom Ballard (POT 79), Aribo (POT 78) and Moussa Djenepo (POT 78).

Some will be first-team players for years, others will play important squad roles and give decent depth to your side.

Transfer Market

Starting budget: £40 million

Who should go?

The schedule shouldn't get too busy for Southampton, which means you can streamline the side even more than it already has been, helping you to bring in a couple of new faces to really impact the starting XI.

You can add around another £15 million to your budget by getting rid of players that don't make your main side and won't improve much in the future.

Loans

You could look to loan out Edozie, Mara and Ballard if you feel you have enough cover in the squad, helping them out with some game time to reach their potential.

Of the 12 players Southampton has out on loan, only Nathan Tella (POT 78), is worth keeping an eye on, and he could provide a decent option from the bench in the future.

Maitland-Niles is on loan with the club, and his versatility will be missed when he departs at the end of the season, so make sure you get in a suitable replacement.

Who to sign?

The main place Southampton's first-team needs to improve is up top.

Their strikers don't have great quality and even the promising ones won't become top players.

It is probably worth spending most - if not all - of the budget on at least one player who can take over and also lead the team into the future.

Transfer Options (ST)

Then, if you have the budget left over, look to bring in another box-to-box midfielder.

This will help with any rotation you may need to make, and also give you another option off the bench.

Transfer Options (CM)

Board Expectations

Southampton has a reputation for developing young talents and selling them on, which is echoed in the board's expectations.

Of high priority is Youth Development, where we needed to sign three under-20s with high potential, and also sign two defenders to the Youth Academy.

Then, as a selling club, the Financial task is of medium priority, asking us to end the first transfer window with a £4,300,000 profit (it looks like we'll be doing deals in January instead then).

Brand Exposure is also of medium priority, where we needed to get a five-game streak of scoring in away matches and sign two players born in North America.

Domestic Success is a low priority, but a mid-table finish in the Premier League and getting to the round of 16 stage of the FA Cup would be a good showing off your talents.

With no European competition to compete in, Continental Success is also of low priority, although it should really be very low.