FIFA 19: Newcastle Career Mode Guide, Tactics, Formations & Tips

Newcastle are a big club, but boy, are there floundering. Two relegations from the Premier League in the past decade is unacceptable for a club of their stature. Of course, there is a big reason for this, with owner Mike Ashley refusing to dip into his pockets. If it hadn’t been for Rafael Benitez, the Magpies would have been relegated last season, and it looks as if the former Champions League winner can do it again this time around.

The record signing of Miguel Almiron can at least get Newcastle fans excited again, but there is no long-term development with the current ownership. You have a tough task coming in as Newcastle manager on FIFA 19’s Career Mode, with a limited budget you a will have to scratch and crawl your way towards European football.

RealSport gives you all you need to manage Newcastle on FIFA 19. 

Team Rating

Newcastle receive a four star rating on FIFA 19, which is made up by a 76 attack, 74 midfield and 76 defence. 

Formation

Newcastle have recently opted for a back five system to keep things tight, but you should revert back to something similar to their previous 4-4-1-1 formation. We have gone for the ‘Midfield’ version, with other possibilities a 4-2-3-1, a straight 4-4-2 or a 4-1-2-1-2. 

Martin Dubravka (81 GK reflexes) has been a fantastic acquisition in goal, with the back four made up by DeAndre Yedlin, hard man Florian Lejeune (83 strength), the imposing Jamaal Lascelles (85 jumping) and loanee Antonio Barreca.

Matt Ritchie is on the right-hand side of midfield with Ki Sung Yueng and the adaptable Jonjo Shelvey (85 long passing) in the centre. On loan from Chelsea, Kenedy lines up on the left with new star signing Miguel Almiron (90 acceleration) operating as a number 10. Another loan man, Salomon Rondon is up front on his own. 

On the bench go for Karl Darlow, Ciaran Clark, Paul Dummett, Mohamed Diame, Christian Atsu, Ayoze Perez and Yoshinori Muto.

Tactics and instructions

With this Newcastle side you are going to be sitting deep and springing teams on the counter-attack, hence why Benitez has been using a back five of late. 

There isn’t a huge amount of pace with the exception of new man Miguel Almiron (89 sprint speed), but what you must do is get the ball into wide areas and cross it in for number 9 Salomon Rondon (84 heading accuracy). You can pick out the 6’1” striker with the quality of Matt Ritchie (80 crossing), giving you an out-ball against any opponent. 

Around that there is enough quality for you to pick up results and climb the table, with Jonjo Shelvey (84 short passing) and Ki Sung Yueng (83 short passing) providing a useful midfield partnership. Use that platform to pick out the players in attack, with Almiron (86 agility) that spark to unlock the more stubborn of defences. 

Altering the gameplan instructions can help you implement these tactics to a greater effect, and you should start with offering more protection to the defence. Ki Sung Yueng needs to sit deeper so his attacking support should be altered to ‘stay back while attacking’. 

Matt Ritchie on the right-hand side is left footed, so he should ‘come short’ for his support runs, and you may also want to experiment with his attacking runs and switch them to ‘cut inside’, but you may still want him out the flank to deliver balls into the box. 

This will allow the pacey DeAndre Yedlin (93 sprint speed) to bomb forward from right back, and you can help this by altering his run type to ‘overlap’. 

Miguel Almiron is the key, and for him to have the most impact, alter his positioning freedom to ‘free roam’. That means he will get on the ball more often, and you should look to play give-and-goes with the players around him to get behind the defence.

Almiron is set up perfectly to work behind a classic forward in Salomon Rondon. Due to his aerial ability and size, his support runs should be on ‘stay central’ and attacking runs to ‘target man’, meaning he can bring other players into the game and bust a gut to get into the box. 

Training

To make the most out of your training sessions, look to use high development players. For Newcastle, you will want to use Ayoze Perez, Kenedy, Isaac Hayden, Jamaal Lascelles, DeAndre Yedlin, Antonio Barreca and Javier Manquillo. 

The Transfer Market

Starting transfer budget: £31 million

Starting wage budget: £106,000 a week

Who should go

With saving money on the board’s priorities (see managerial objectives below), you will need to sell in the transfer window. That does not mean you need to get rid of some of your first team starters, but those you struggle for regular minutes can afford to be sold. 

This starts with Ciaran Clark, who can find himself unfortunate to be shown the door. With fellow centre halves Federico Fernandez and Fabian Schar having only recently arrived at St James’ Park, they cannot be sold, meaning the sword has to fall on the Irishman. You can sell him for around £4.7 million and wages of £37,000 a week. 

Another man who can go is striker Joselu, who falls behind Salomon Rondon, Yoshinori Muto and Ayoze Perez in attacking options. The Spaniard may only collect you £4 million, but his £39,000 a week salary is utilised better elsewhere. 

Rob Elliot is the only other first team name you may recognise, with the goalkeeper third choice behind Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow. He will fetch around £1 million in the transfer window and will save you £20,000 a week in wages.

Three youngsters can go as well, and these are Nathan Harker, Stefan O’Connor and Luke Charman. You should collect just under £500,000 for the three of them combined, to save £9,000 a week in wages. 

Loans

Four players can be loaned out for the season, with a big gulf in class between the first team and the rest of the squad. Freddie Woodman, Adam Wilson, Yannick Toure and Victor Fernandez all have potentials of 80, so they can be loaned out for the next season or two to bring them into first team contention in the future.

Who to sign

New transfer budget: £41 million

New wage budget: £211,000 a week

Pacey left midfielder

You must be careful with your money, but it is highly important to bring a wide player in you can offer a pace outlet. Kenedy is only in on loan and starts as the weaker of the two wide midfielders in the starting lineup, so look to bring someone to replace him, and someone who can do so for a number of seasons.

This looks to be Franco Cervi of Benfica, with the Argentine available for around £24 million and wages starting at £13,000 a week. The left winger can grow from a 79 overall to a potential of 84, with the 24-year-old’s best stats his 93 acceleration, 91 agility and 91 balance. 

Alternative options

Long term left back

Moving down to left back, Antonio Barreca is another man in on loan, and he is the weakest player in the starting lineup. Look to give yourself a long-term option for the season, and you may have to loan out Paul Dummett in the meantime. 

High up on your shortlist should be Ludwig Augustinsson of Werder Bremen. Aged at 24, the Swede has stats of 89 stamina, 79 sprint speed and 78 crossing, giving him a 77 overall rising to a potential of 82, meaning he will cost around £13 million. 

Alternative options

Contracts

A number of players have contracts running out at Newcastle, with the names that you are likely increase being Mohamed Diame, Karl Darlow and youngster Victor Fernandez. Keep an eye on Diame’s overall this season however, as aged 31 he could diminish. 

As for Lewis Cass and Stefan O’Connor, the pair can be afford to be released if you fail to sell them over the course of the season. 

Managerial objectives

This is where things get tricky. Your financial objective is the most important at Newcastle, and here you need to finish the season with £18 million unspent funds and reduce player wages by £44,000 a week. That means you will need to leave around £5 million of your transfer budget untouched for the campaign, with the rest being topped up by your Premier League prize money. A win in a pre-season tournament will give you an extra £6 million, so do everything you can to pick up that title.

Brand exposure has a high importance, and here you will need to sign a crucial player in the forward position. Our left wing target of Franco Cervi fits the bill here. You must also gain £26 million from shirt sales, which should be taken care of by bringing in a big name anyway. 

For domestic success, you will be expected to finish mid table in the Premier League and reach the FA Cup round of 16. Not only that, the board demand you to finish in a Europa League place within two seasons, perhaps the hardest task of them all. 

Lastly, youth development sees you needing to bring through a youth academy player and have them play in 50% of games the following season. Get your youth scouts out early to give yourself the best chance here, with the player having to be good enough to at least be on your bench next season. 

Get the Magpies flying

It’ll be a hard task on a tight budget on Newcastle, especially with the demand for European qualification next season. There is enough quality and depth to steer you well clear of a relegation battle, but you may struggle to kick on from there and unsettle the top six. 

Just keep making two signings for your starting lineup each season, and with a couple of youngsters showing potential, you may just have a chance. Newcastle were once a club fighting for Premier League titles, and they are still a club sizable enough do so once again. 

Full Newcastle player ratings