Option 1.....option 2.....
Nah. Just go with terrible stereotypes.
Step one: Get a German. You won't win anything without a stereotypical German in your squad: efficient, organised, a hint of arrogance. If you're playing in Germany then move straight onto step two.
Step two: Get at least one player with flair and creative talent from either Italy, Spain, Portugal, France or Holland. If you can get 3 or 4, but spread out what nations they come from.
Step three: Get an Asian star to sell shirts. If they have the reputation to sell shirts they likely will be good enough to play for you. If possible make it a Chinese player as they are going to rule the world.
Step four: Don't get an American. This is crucial; they don't understand the game, they believe they can use the English language but in fact will create more mis-communication within the squad rather than fitting right in.
Step five: Ignore all of this, I'm procrastinating heavily.
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Determination, Teamwork and Work Rate are the three general stats I look for in building a squad, much it seems like everyone else here
I'd say one of the most useful things to do is every late December/January always check religiously the players who are going to be out of a contract in 6 months; this will save you untold amounts of money bringing in stars. Can't overstate how important free transfers are when bagging the big stars, or even filling out backup players without having to spend £10 million.
This also works because you can obtain better players since you take the transfer money you would have spent and throw it into wages, allowing you to get the bigger players since they won't need to take such a wage cut to join you (should you be a rising club); or in some circumstances you can offer similar/better money than they were on to convince them its a good move.
Also, I apologise for nothing.