Dominating so that it makes others drool :).

3 seasons and 4 off seasons later I decided, my small blog needs another post.
Houghton is a great GW and I enjoy it, though small bunch of users wanted to get rid of me :).
That didn't work, I'm still there and still No1 for nearly 2 months in a row now, what includes 8 Team of the weeks in a row also :). Things I have achieved are 175 games unbeaten, ranking points 2003 etc.

What to do to get near these stats will be explained in this post.

I still recon that tactics to start are either 451, 460, 433 or 4321. I myself use attacking 460 whats based on 451 attacking. It might work for you it might not. But before you join GW, you should know what tactic you will use. Why is that? That's cause you wouldn't spend your small money on players you wont use.

What attributes I use to search out my players:
GK - In Houghton I did it this way, GK was my first big signing. Its a good idea to do sign keeper whom you can use for next 10 seasons, so you want him to be real class and quite young. I went after Rene Alder. GK filter: Handling, Reflex - those 2 should be definitely 15+ // Aerial Ability, Commanding Area, Communication, Positioning, Anticipation, Decisions, Agility, Jumping, One on Ones - these should be also preferably 15+, but it doesn't kill if some of them are slightly lower.

FB - Some ppl say FBs doesn't have to be good, I disagree, they might be very vital against some teams with pacey and skillful wingers. FB filter: Pace, Acceleration, Positioning, Tackling - should be 15+, Agility, stamina, strength 12+.

CB - As I use zonal defending I want my DCs to be fast and good tacklers who can jump, don't care much about their marking or heading. DC filter: Jumping 17+, Tackling, Positioning 15+, Acceleration, Pace 13+, preferably 15+. There are also other attributes that are vital, but these determine my shortlist.

CM/DM - perfect here would have someone like Essien or De Rossi :P. And this position, determines quite much how team is doing, as he is the key part in any 3 center midfielder tactic.
CM/DM filter: Tackling, Passing, Creativity, First touch 15+, this will generate big amount of players, so you wanna add more attributes like suitable pace/acc, long shots, jumping, strength, positioning etc. Might help to narrow it down, usually i prefer that my DM has high long shots, and he likes to power them in also I love if they dictate tempo.

(A)MR/LC - Daniel Montenegro, Hleb etc lookalikes. Filter: Dribbling, First Touch, Passing, Technique, Creativity, Pace, Acceleration, Agility should be 15+ Things to also want from them Off the ball Flair, Anticipation, Long shots.

Wingers/FC(L/R) - Someone who shouldn't lack pace and dribbling, great if they could finish and cut inside. Wing Filter: Pace, Acceleration 17+ // Off the ball, Agility, Dribbling, First Touch, Technique, Flair 14+ // Passing, Creativity, Finishing are something that can also determine their value.

AMCC - Someone who allways has to deal with DCs, cant be weak player. So Kaka, Ben Arfa, CR, Pato, Diego etc will do great here :). Filter: Dribbling, First touch, Passing, Technique, Flair, Off the ball, Pace, Agility, Acceleration 15+ // Composure, Anticipation, Jumping, Strength, Finishing, Stamina 12+
When playing with FCC, you want higher finishing and jumping I guess than for AMC :)

Now, most important is making profit from sales and building stadium when you can. lots of teams who spent 1-2 seasons it top of Houghton ranks have dropped now, due to early swaps and lack of stadium. In whatsoever point you don't want to get taxed when swapping players, it cuts your profit. You have only 5 senior locks so your team should have 4-5 players whom you don't wanna sell, but rest are all about buying low or from wage auctions and selling for profit when tax is gone. I have 4 of those players now, Adler, Richards, Ben Arfa, Essien.

It is always easier to sell during season, cause then you have money to get bargains during off season. Also, it is hard to sell players whom avg ratings suck. So you wanna play attacking football and have good results, cause good ratings are easy to sell for decent profit. That's the main reason I play überattacking 460(btw this doesn't mean attacking mentality, normal is enough for most, wingers and AMCC should be with attacking mentality).
To get good rating, every player needs to have a purpose, so its good to involve your defensive players into attack for set pieces. Like FB to give corners or to attack near post(he should have good jumping for that) during corners. DC usually challenges GK, due to his high jumping during corners.

Now I introduce you easy profit formula without JP. During first season and start of 2nd its cleaver to have a youth team, cause you can sign good regens for low wages. usually regens are created during midnight and ,key point, is good potential youth are quite often with wage demand 300-400. Bid on them for max bid, let say 3k, and you should get them. Involve them int as many youth games and senior games as possible, so that their AQ fee will kick up.
I did so, sold them before 3rd season off season and I had loads to spend on my team which created me a monster 2003 rank points and 175 games unbeaten run.

Behind all this buying and selling you are making profit and there isn't a point to spend it all on new players, some of it should be invested into stadium, start building III-tier stand what has place for corp box. As corp box is something that will bring in most. Its expensive, but well worth it and needed to maintain your level.

So:
1. Filter out your players
2. Buy youth with 300-400 wage demand
3. Sell with profit, buy from wage auctions or transfer auctions during season(younger players are easier to sell).
4. Build stadium
5. Don't get taxed
6. Have patience, be determined
7. I'm still official No1

Peace ya all :).