Gaming Matters: FIFA16 Wimbledon Career Season 1

Having already done four seasons with a Roma Career Mode (which I may review in a later blog if I return to it) my mate Rob and I set ourselves a new career project. The challenge started out to take over AFC Wimbledon to begin with and then see where the career could take us in our separate saves (i.e. different clubs, leagues and countries). As the team grew over the seasons though I became more and more attached to them as did Rob with his side. So now we have a review of the three seasons (in three parts) where I took my Wimbledon side (nicknamed Wimboyledon) from League Two to the Premier League in three seasons. Once the season review blogs are done I'll pick back up with the career and do monthly (game months) reviews.

So taking over a League Two side that to be fair isn't the best and turning into promotion candidates would not be easy. With little money I looked at two areas – free transfers and loans. It was the latter that supplied much of my new players for the season as the free transfer players had no scouting information. Some FIFA managers like to forsake the scouts and go for players they know but I'm a stickler for detail and not only hired the maximum quota of six scouts I always took on three youth scouts to develop my own players for free. It's an initial hit on the bank balance but worth it in the long run. The scouts would prove invaluable in January as I was then able to look at which players (and by then my guys had scouted somewhere between 500 and 700 from memory) had contracts expiring in the summer and sign them on pre-contracts. That way I was getting next season's players for free. For both the summer and January windows therefore I pushed all my money into wages and never spent a penny on transfer fees.

I don't have the results of the matches for any of the three seasons or the cup results but looking at the player statistics (which I'll come to) I had a good run in a cup run or two in the first season. I won the league but don't have the end of season table to go with it in terms of games won, lost and drawn. I'll go through the players by position and how they performed after I list the transfers.

Start of Season Sales

Abebayo Akinfenwa – ST – 33yo – England – 64 – Rotherham United - £240k

Sean Rigg – LM/CM/RM – 27yo – England - 60 – Morecambe £210k

Ryan Sweeney – CB – 19yo – Ireland - 56 – Barnet £120k

Tom Beere – CM/RM – 21yo – England – 54 – Bray Wanderers £90k

Joe McDonnell – GK – 21yo – England – 54 – Bray Wanderers £70k

Start of Season Purchases/Loans

Demarai Gray – LM/CAM – 19yo – England – 72 – Leicester City loan

Michael Heylen – CB – 22yo – Belgium – 72 – Anderlecht loan

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – CM – 20yo – England – 71 – Chelsea loan Nathaniel Chalobah – CM/CDM – 21yo – England – 71 – Napoli loan

Lukas Klostermann – RB/CB – 19yo – Germany – 70 – Red Bull Leipzig loan

Brendan Galloway – LB – 20yo – England – 70 – Everton loan

Ezequiel Ponce – ST – 19yo – Argentina – 69 – Roma loan

Sunil Chhetri – ST – 31yo – India – 66 – Bengaluru FC free transfer

Sheyi Ojo – LM – 18yo – England – 66 – Liverpool loan

Joshua Yaro – CB/RB – 22yo – Ghana – 63 – Philadelphia Union loan

Alex Iwobi – ST/RW/LW – 19yo – Nigeria – 61 – Arsenal loan

Loans Out

Egli Kaja – CAM/CM – 18yo – Albania – 57 - Portsmouth

Will Nightingale – CB/CDM – 20yo – England – 59 – Crewe Alexandra Adebayo Azeez – ST/RW – 22yo – England – 60 – Stevenage Borough

Callum Wilson – RB/RWB – 18yo – England – 55 – Galway United

January Sales

Sunil Chhetri – ST – 31yo – India – 66 – Brighton & Hove Albion - £350k

George Oakley – ST – 20yo – England - 54 – Sligo Rovers £80k

January Purchases/Loans

Juan Carlos Arce – ST – 31yo – Bolivia – 66 – Club Bolivar free transfer

Emerson Hyndman – CM/CDM – 20yo – USA – 65 – Fulham loan

Youth Team Promotions

Sergio Mancini – CB/LB/CM – 17yo – Italy - 60

Jackson Solari – CDM/CB – 16yo – Australia – 58

Anton Vall – GK – 18yo – Sweden - 55

Omar Heaton – CDM/CM – 17yo – England – 51

Yasser Al Sulaiheem – LM/CM – 17yo – Saudi Arabia – 50

Jake Conlon – CM – 17yo – England - 49

End of Season Departures

David Fitzpatrick – CAM/LM/RM – 21yo – England – 59 – Released Dannie Bulman – CM/CDM – 37yo – England – 56 – Retired

Paul Robinson – CB – 34yo – England – 65 – Released

Goalkeepers

James Shea – 24yo – England – 66 – 46/0 – 11/0 – 57/0

Kelle Roos – 23yo – Netherlands – 62 – 0/0 – 2/0 – 2/0

Shea was starting his second season with the club and was ever present in the league campaign. In the pre-season tournament I alternated between Shea and Roos (on loan from Derby County before I took over) and found that the former seemed a safer bet. The Dutch keeper made a couple of errors in the tournament which convinced me Shea was the right choice and I only gave him two cup games to play. Roos returned to Derby at the end of the season and Vall was promoted from the youth team.

Right Backs

Lukas Klostermann – 19yo – Germany – 70 – 30/0 – 9/0 – 39/0

Barry Fuller – 31yo – England – 61 – 13/0 – 3/0 – 16/0

George Pilbeam – 20yo – England – 54 – 2/0 – 0/0 – 2/0

Klostermann was a great signing on loan from Bundesliga2 side Red Bull Leipzig the only matches he missed were due to fitness and the exertion of a busy fixture list with around sixty games in total. Fuller was adequate back-up for this division but it was clear he didn't have the pace and ball control for a higher level.

Left Backs

Brendan Galloway – 20yo – England – 70 – 29/1 – 9/1 – 38/2

Jon Meades – 24yo – Wales – 64 – 16/1 – 4/0 – 20/1

Callum Kennedy – 27yo – England – 61 – 3/0 – 0/0 – 3/0

I really like Galloway anyway and think he will be a great left back in future for Everton. I was delighted therefore to get him on loan and he played the majority our games, not only defending well but pushing forward on the overlap too. There weren't many original Wimbledon players that impressed me but Meades was one that I liked. Unlike some of the others he didn't seem hurried on the ball and didn't loose a tackle too often. Kennedy's three games as third choice left back just shows that on three occasions the other two were either recovering from a match of being spared for a more important one.

Centre Backs

Michael Heylen – 22yo – Belgium – 70 – 31/0 – 9/0 – 40/0

Karleigh Osborne – 28yo – England – 65 – 25/0 – 8/0 – 33/0

Joshua Yaro – 22yo – Ghana – 63 – 20/0 – 6/1 – 26/1

Paul Robinson – 34yo – England – 65 – 11/0 – 4/0 – 15/0

Sergio Mancini – 17yo – Italy – 60 – 3/0 – 0/0 – 3/0

I brought in Heylen from Anderlecht on loan not only was he a rock at the back with pace and strength but he became the team captain. Osborne had already been brought in on loan from Bristol City when I arrived but he was actually a pretty good player as was the back-up Ghanaian on loan from MLS, Joshua Yaro. Robinson was the only centre back contracted to the club at the start of the season that I used as a fourth choice but I decided to release him at the end of the season as there was no room for a 34 year-old slow centre back (if only Chelsea understood that!). Mancini was the result of a starlet scouting mission and was promoted from the youth team towards the end of the season and certainly looked like a star of the future.

Central Midfielders

Jake Reeves – 22yo – England – 67 – 31/4 – 10/0 – 41/4

Ruben Loftus-Cheek – 20yo – England – 71 – 26/3 – 9/1 – 35/4

Nathaniel Chalobah – 21yo – England – 71 – 29/2 – 6/2 – 35/4

Christian Toonga – 18yo – England – 58 – 17/5 – 5/0 – 22/5

David Fitzpatrick – 21yo – England – 59 – 17/2 – 4/0 – 21/2

Dannie Bulman – 37yo – England – 56 – 14/0 – 3/0 – 17/0

Emerson Hyndman – 20yo – USA – 65 – 11/1 – 0/0 – 11/1 Jackson Solari – 16yo – Australia – 58 – 7/0 – 0/0 – 7/0

Daniel Gallagher – 18yo – England – 54 – 3/0 – 0/0 – 3/0

Omar Heaton – 17yo – England – 51 – 1/0 – 0/0 – 1/0

Reeves joined Wimbledon from Swindon Town in the January before the game starts and is another of the existing Dons that was able to hold down a regular place in my side. The reason he played in more games than Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah because when they started matches together (as my first choice pairing) he would come on as a sub and when they were being rested he would start in their place and someone else would be on the bench.

Of course Ruben and Nathaniel are both technically on loan from Chelsea but the latter is listed as a Napoli player on FIFA16 as he is there on loan himself from the Blues. Both were key players in the push from promotion and it was Loftus-Cheek who scored the opening goal of my Wimbledon career in the pre-season tournament.

At the start of the season I left Toonga out of the side in favour of higher rated players but after pitching him in for a starting spot in a cup game I noticed how effective he was on the ball and actually had an eye for goal so from then on he played a lot more often. His performances certainly exceeded his rating. Fitzpatrick was a central attacking midfielder who could also play wide so tended to be used as a sub as was Bulman but more due to his age and lack of stamina than anything else. Hyndman arrived on loan in January and became one of the four main rotating midfielders with Reeves, Loftus-Cheek and Chalobah. Solari and Heaton both came through my youth team and were adequate back-up players while Gallagher was a player who came through the same system before I started.

Right Midfielders

Andy Barcham – 29yo – England – 66 – 28/8 – 9/1 – 37/9

George Francomb – 24yo – England – 65 – 22/2 – 5/0 – 27/2

Connor Smith – 23yo – Ireland – 63 – 16/0- 4/0 – 20/0

Barcham can play on the left as well as the right and just joined the club from Portsmouth before my arrival after spells at Gillingham and Scunthorpe United following his departure from Spurs in 2009. He certainly gave the team flexible cover on either side but was the preferred right winger. Former Norwich City player Francomb has been at Wimbledon since 2013 and was the back-up on the right. He was adequate for League Two but didn't have the pace for sterner competition for it was an area to improve for season two. Smith was a free transfer from Watford before I started and had the occasional game when cover was needed due to other player's fitness levels.

Left Midfielders

Demarai Gray – 19yo – England – 72 – 27/6 – 10/4 – 37/10

Sheyi Ojo – 18yo – England – 66 – 28/6 – 5/0 – 33/6

Gray was my personal Player of the Season with some outstanding performances on the left wing. He was the club's second top scorer with ten goals created goals with he mazy runs from the wing. I was equally impressed with Ojo however and both Leicester and Liverpool provided me with fantastic left wingers who could tear defences apart.

Strikers

Ezequiel Ponce – 19yo – Argentina – 69 – 32/12 – 9/3 – 41/15

Lyle Taylor – 26yo – Montserrat – 65 – 25/4 – 11/5 – 36/9

Alex Iwobi – 19yo – Nigeria – 61 – 22/6 – 8/0 – 30/6

Tom Elliott – 25yo – England – 61 – 21/7 – 8/2 – 29/9

Juan Carlos Arce – 31yo – Bolivia – 66 – 6/2 – 0/0 – 6/2

Sunil Chhetri – 31yo – India – 66 – No records

Having used Akinfenwa for a couple of games in the pre-season tournament I realised he wasn't the sort of striker I wanted to use. He's renowned for being the strongest player in the game but I prefer pacey dribblers so sold him to Rotherham United. My main target was Roma's young striker Ponce who came on loan for two years and ended the season as top scorer with twelve in the league and fifteen in total. My other loan striker was Iwobi from Arsenal who had bags of pace but just wasn't as good a finisher as others in the squad. I did keep existing strikers Taylor and Elliott and both scored nine goals each in all competitions. Elliott was down the pecking order at the start of the season but after a couple of good performances in the cup he became more of a super sub for the side. At the start of the season I brought in Chhetri as an unattached player but unfortunately didn't keep any records before he was sold in January. His £350k fee was invaluable (well okay it was worth £350k but you know what I mean) in helping me secure players for 2016/17 on pre-contracts in January. Late in the season I brought in Arce as cover thinking he might be better than he turned out to be.

Top 10 Appearances

1 – James Shea – GK – 57

2 = Ezequiel Ponce – ST – 41

2 = Jake Reeves – CM – 41

4 – Michael Heylen – CB – 40

5 – Lukas Klostermann – RB – 39

6 – Brendan Galloway – LB – 38

7 = Demarai Gray – LM – 37

7 = Andy Barcham – RM – 37

9 – Lyle Taylor – ST – 36

10 = Ruben Loftus-Cheek – CM – 35

10 = Nathaniel Chalobah – CM – 35

Top 10 Scorers

1 – Ezequiel Ponce – ST – 15

2 – Demarai Gray – LM – 10

3 = Andy Barcham – RM – 9

3 = Lyle Taylor – ST – 9

3 = Tom Elliott – ST – 9

6 = Sheyi Ojo – LM – 6

6 = Alex Iwobi – ST – 6

8 – Christian Toonga – CM – 5

9 = Jake Reeves – CM – 4

9 = Ruben Loftus-Cheek – CM – 4

9 = Nathaniel Chalobah – CM – 4

Top 5 Rated Players Overall

1 = Demarai Gray – LM – 72

1 = Michael Heylen – CB – 72

3 = Ruben Loftus-Cheek – CM – 71

3 = Nathaniel Chalobah – CM – 71

5 = Brendan Galloway – LB – 70

5 = Lukas Klostermann – RB – 70

Top 5 Rated Players (no loans)

1 – Jake Reeves – CM – 67

2 = Andy Barcham – RM – 66

2 = James Shea – GK – 66

2 = Juan Carlos Arce – ST – 66

2 = Sunil Chhetri – ST – 66

Top 5 Valued Players Overall

1 – Demarai Gray – LM - £2.2m

2 – Ruben Loftus-Cheek – CM - £1.8m

3 – Nathaniel Chalobah – CM - £1.7m

4 – Michael Heylen – CB - £1.6m

5 – Brendan Galloway – LB - £1.5m

Top 5 Valued Players (no loans)

1 – Jake Reeves – CM - £700k

2 = George Francomb – RM - £475k

2 = James Shea – GK - £475k

4 – Lyle Taylor – ST - £450k

5 – Andy Barcham – RM - £425k

YouTube Videos

PLAY Opening goal of career when Loftus-Cheek scores against Ajaccio thanks to a neat through ball from Ponce

PLAY Taylor scores Sandefjord in pre-season tournament win from kick off, evading four players and firing from distance to sneak the ball in at the far post

PLAY Pre-season tournament winning goal in injury time. We're already into injury time when Niort take a corner with the score 0-0 and heading for extra time. Shea comes out to collect the ball and we're on a quick counter attack. A long punt downfield is defended and cleared up by their defender Assoumou but when looking for someone to give the ball to he is chased down and tackled by Elliott. He immediately passes inside to Ponce who does the rest of the work, beating one player before placing a shot beyond the dive of the keeper to win the trophy with the last kick of the match

PLAY Taylor scored this wonderful swivelling goal against Exeter in the F A Cup. Look for the characteristic surging run of Reeves who released Ojo on the left to cross for Taylor.

PLAY Another goal for Taylor and this time it's a gift from the Port Vale keeper. We're 2-0 in injury time before half time and the ball is heading harmlessly into their right back's area of the pitch when the keeper Alnwick decides to come out of his area to clear it. His clearance deflects off of his own defender Purkiss and loops up into the air, heading towards the centre of the pitch about thirty yards from goal. It's a battle between Taylor and O'Connor for the header and the Wimbledon striker wins and heads towards the unguarded net where it almost trundles over the line for 3-0

PLAY I grew up watching the original Wimbledon Crazy Gang and that was part of the enjoyment in taking AFC Wimbledon on a Road to Glory. This goal reminded me of their late 80s early 90s style which was so effective against the teams who preferred the ball on the ground. In my goal Meades (who would have been Terry Phelan back then) passes back to Shea in goal (Dave Beasant) who clears the ball long downfield. Iwobi (Lawrie Sanchez) flicks the ball on and Elliott (John Fashanu) muscles the ball away from the centre back and slots the ball in. Classic 'route one' football.

PLAY Luton Town were our main rivals for the title so this away match with them towards the end of the season was crucial for our campaign. At 1-0 up the match was in the balance but Iwobi's through ball was perfect for Ojo. Perfect that is until Okuonghae got a nick on the ball and slowed its progress so that Ojo had to change his bodyweight and lift the ball over Tyler in goal to score

PLAY Galloway shows why he was so good on the overlap to score this third goal against Millwall in the F A Cup. Fed down the left wing by Gray he momentarily loses the ball but is determined to win it back then his turn past the left defender is sublime for a left back. He finishes with a right foot shot

PLAY Away to York we were staring at heading back down the M1 with zero points after going 3-0 down on 52 minutes. Here is Iwobi scoring to pull back an immediate goal as he dances through the defence and scores from the edge of the box.

PLAY In the dying minutes of that same York match we managed to equalise for 3-3. Fuller found Francomb as our patient passing refused to relinquish possession. Francomb played the ball in to Ojo who turned his marker to leave himself in the open to score.

PLAY We progressed well in the F A Cup and Yaro scored this late winner to make it 2-1 against Bournemouth. Filling in at right back he collected the ball on the right wing, nicking it away from Daniels before turning and cutting in towards goal, beating a player and smashing the ball past Boruc

PLAY Ojo shows his brilliance with two goals in three minutes against Crawley, taking us from 1-0 down to a 2-1 lead. His first is pure magic, a run from the left wing on the half way line cutting in and beating four players before scoring past Preston in the Crawley goal. At the restart it's Ojo that wins the ball back and sets up an immediate attack. Ponce puts Reeves through on goal but his shot is only parried straight to Ojo who controls and shoots for his second of the game and sixth of the league campaign.

PLAY It's hard to count the number of players Ponce beats before scoring his second of the game to put us back in the lead against Leyton Orient after conceding an equaliser. It's at least five.