Greetings! If you’ve been with us all day, you must be close to being partied out. We’re into the top 10 now though so you can start thinking about getting your coat.

Catch up here: 25-21, 20-16, 15-11

Who makes the top 10?

10. Richard Wright

Our highest ranking goalkeeper is 19 year old Richard Wright. Goalkeeper is, in my opinion, the most important position on this game due to the way the match engine performs. Having a good one from the outset will therefore help a great deal. Wright is a funny one in game as he can move pretty much anywhere in season 1, he won’t reach his peak ability for a few years so it’s not all sweetness and light in the early days. Nath captures the Wright stuff here:

In this game, having a good goalkeeper can take a good team to a great team. Richard Wright is one of very few top draw goalkeepers. He’s expensive! But if you get him early you’ve got a keeper sorted for 10 seasons easy. He was a staple of my Roma team in the Totti blog I did. He’s a future England number 1 in nearly every save I’ve played on and is another player who is brilliant at every level.

9. Erik Nevland

Breaking the top 10 we have Erik Nevland. Another who is a victim of Man Utd’s wealth of resources, their loss is almost certainly your gain in the early seasons or maybe even on loan in the first. Pre-patch, he was often on a free transfer at the beginning. Nick Rowe has more:

Erik Nevland is one of a select few players who always go straight on my shortlist, and he most recently notched up 139 goals in four seasons for my premier league-winning Plymouth Argyle side. I’ve also seen him score champions league-winning goals for my all-conquering Man City side as part of a deadly front three with Ronaldo and Alfonso.

You can get him for £2m from Man Utd or on a free transfer, and at nineteen years old, you’ll get plenty of years out of him. Couple that with his insane goal-scoring figures and it’s not hard to see why he’s one of my go-to’s and why I rate him as one of the best strikers on the game. If only Fergie gave him a chance, United could have had a different Norwegian hero…

8. Morten Bisgaard

Morten Bisgaard is a superb player on CM9798. I had him as part of the ridiculous Ajax squad many saves ago but if you can buy him, you surely will. Just look at those stats. Rob Tait goes into more detail…

Marvel would have you believe Odin had three children, Norse legend mentions only two, the truth, as is often the case, falls somewhere in between. Few know of where he came from, but all who played CM97/98 know of him, the Viking god, Morten of Bisgaard. Begin a game with any semi-good side, £4.5 million in the bank and he could be yours. You will never be disappointed with this purchase, either wide right or in the hole behind the attack, Morten scores goals and creates chances aplenty, few players are his equal but none are better.

7. Viktor Onopko

I never used to waste a vital non-EU slot on a centre half but Onopko is some boy. With ability of 175 (and a potential of 185) he’ll be in demand from little old Oviedo but he’ll average over 7.50 with minimal fuss and probably a few cards. A vital part of both the Retirement Home and the Retirement Academy, he’s well worth his place in our top 10. Deano has some nice words:

One of the most solid, dependable centre-backs in the game. Big Viktor is gettable from Real Oviedo although you’re likely to face some competition from a host of big clubs for his signature. So be prepared to dig deep. He’s not cheap and will demand high wages. But like with any high-quality items, you get what you pay for.

6. Andrew Duncan

Just missing out on the top 5 is Andrew Duncan. A freebie centre half cast aside by Man Utd, he’s a wonderfully cheap option who has done a job for me on several saves including most recently Cowdenbeath. Zak Brockman has lots of nice things to say…

I’ll admit it. I’d never heard of Andrew Duncan before re-joining the CM9798 fanbase through Dave and his #blogsquad. If I needed a central defender on a free the list would comprise of Nicola Jerkan, Mick Duxbury, Barry Venison, Pietro Vierchowod or Ronny Wallwork. If I was scraping the lower division barrel I may have stretched to Pat Scully or Pat Van Den Hauwe. Yet, in Dave’s list of best central defenders there he was nestled behind The Red Dragon, Robert Page. When Matt Wills put his AFC squad together, there he was again.

As a fledgling of the Carrington training ground, Andrew ‘Andy’ Duncan’s footballing career did not have the same heights as others off Fergie’s 90’s conveyor belt. From January 1998 Duncan made 233 appearances for Cambridge United before retiring for lower league football in 2007 – becoming Cambridge’s part-time commercial manager.

In game, Duncan is a must-buy for any team in the pyramid. He has high attributes for strength, influence, tackling, heading and stamina – all the right places for a tower central defender. His aggression may get the better of him from time-to-time but with a -1 potential ability, his development is always on an upward trajectory. Lower division sides can flip him for a quick profit. He is adept at playing at a higher level and will give a consistent performances at home or abroad.