Strong Backbone

Now that my place in League One was consolidated and I had some money to spend, my team was beginning to come into place. I decided to build my promotion charge based around a strong backbone of players running through the central area of the pitch, like top teams have done in the past. This backbone consisted of:
Solid GK: Anthony Silva, one of my first signings, who instantly bolstered my defence.
Strong DC: Madjid Bougherra, Algerian who plays for Charlton IRL. The first name on the teamsheet.
Consistent DMC: Anderson Silva, another South American signed on the cheap. Pass accuracy is always more than 70%, and he makes 3-4 tackles per game.
Creative AMC: Anthony Sweeney, an Englishman who got 12 goals and 10 assists in Season 2.
Lethal ST: Kyle Wilson, my top scorer in Season 2 with 22 goals.

I initially used Anthony Sweeney on the right wing, until I signed a few wingers at the start of Season 2, and could therefore move him to his natural position in the centre.

August Transfers
After his impressive start at Oxford, Premier League clubs quickly became interested in Anthony Silva. During the August transfer, I was inundated with enquiries, and Silva started to get unsettled by them, so I felt that I finally had to sell. In the last week of August, Birmingham came in with a £1m offer, which I accepted, and the base of my backbone had gone. I quickly used the money to sign a goalkeeper of similar stature, Richard Lee, who IRL is Watford's first-choice goalkeeper. He had similar stats and cost me just 275k.

Lee has now been at Oxford for two years, and Silva has moved on to Galatasaray after failing to get into the Birmingham team. As you can see from the above, there is little to choose between them, and Lee has better Handling, Aerial Ability and skill with One-on-Ones. He has had a few injuries, but has conceded just 66 goals in 70 games so far. Silva averaged slightly more than one goal conceded per game in about 60 games for Oxford.