Written by Troy @FMLife2016
Football Manager over the years has developed in to one of the most realistic video simulation games of all time. From tactics to scouting and everything in between and the team at SI have always strived to make every new edition more realistic than the last. In FM19 we finally received what I believe to be the greatest step towards realism in the world of Football Manager and that of course is the new training module. So why don’t we all use it?
In previous versions of the game training was a set and forget task most handled at the start of their first season in charge. On one side of the fence some players didn’t understand the benefits of training and the key components to set it up convincingly. The most common mistakes I would see is players would alter their training too much, not giving enough time on a certain training schedule to have any effect. The second mistake I would see is that players didn’t quite understand that at the core of training it develops attributes and not much else. Sure you could get a 1-2% boost going into the next match using match preparation but the main purpose of training is developing attributes. On the flip side there were players that knew the ins and outs of training, mastering the act and developing elite talent without a thought. For me it all became uninspiring and a simple set and forget task I would visit once and while.
In FM19 this has all changed. Sure the core idea of training is still to develop attributes, however with the multitude of training schedules and sessions available to us it's anyone's guess as to the best way to master training in FM19. SI have put theirs players on a need to know basis when it comes to training. They are staying tight lipped on how one would “master” training however they’ve given us the tools and the information to develop our own training philosophies. This year there's no right or wrong way to approach training and it's up to you as a Football Manager to decide what your team needs to become champions and reach their potential.
My Training Philosophies
Club DNA or Fibra Training
Tactic Training
Improvement training
Club DNA or Fibra Training:
Let me start off by describing what “Club DNA” or “Fibra” is. The phrase club DNA was coined by community legends Bustthenet and Foxinthebox and its a list of core attributes you look for in a player across every playing position from your Centre half to your forward. Fibra is pretty much the same thing however it sounds foreign and exotic.
In my current Sporting CP save I’ve developed this training method with my core attributes being:
First Touch - Composure - Decisions - Work Rate - Stamina
I’ve narrowed down the training schedules that work on these attributes while trying to hit as many of my Fibra attributes as possible.
Below is each training schedule separated and I’ve listed everytime one of my “Fibra” attributes are trained in each category. When setting up my weekly training schedule I’ll be giving preference to those categories that hit the most attributes eg. Outfield, Possession, attacking patient, transition press etc. I’ve made 2 different weekly schedule one for General training and I’ve grouped the other categories together to not complicate things.
I’ve tracked any improvements via the “team report - squad comparison” screen all be it hard to tell as new players arrive and players exit we are showing improvements in 3 of the designated “Fibra” attributes.
I still need to adjust from week to week as we have mid week games and I’ll issue different match prep training depending of the calibre of opponent we face that week.
Tactic Training
Training attributes to suit your tactic may be the best way forward for some but first you must understand exactly what your tactic is. How does it play? Why does it work? and what is needed to make it better. Are you playing Gegenpressing or Tiki Taka? What are the attributes that are needed to be successful at implementing your tactical approach.
Taking the Gegenpress as the example what are the key Team instructions in this tactic:
High Tempo
Counter
Closing down
Playing with a high tempo your player will need Good mobility, control, and movement on and off the ball. So key attributes to look for and train in your player would be. Anticipation, decisions, team work, vision, acceleration, agility, pace and off the ball.
Playing on the counter your players will need good mobility, endeavour and movement. So the key attributes you’ll need to look for and train in your player would be. Anticipation, team work, acceleration, agility, pace, off the ball, work rate and stamina.
Playing a pressing game while closing down your player will need good Endeavour, mobility and good defensively. So the key attributes you’ll need to look for and train in your player would be. Anticipation, bravery, work rate, acceleration, tackling and positioning.
So overall anticipation - off the ball - acceleration - work rate - agility - pace
Are your core trainable attributes that make the tactic work and by using my first example on narrowing down which training schedules cover these attributes you’ll be able to focus your training on improving your players to suit your tactical philosophy.
Improvement Training
Improvement training is improving your team's weakest attributes through training. First you’ll need to identify the weakest attributes compared to the league your playing in. To do this you’ll need to have a look at your team report - comparison. Filter down to Technical, Mental and Physical to determine what attributes are low compared to the league.
Technical attributes below my standard: Heading and tackling
Mental attributes below my standard: aggression and bravery
Physical attributes below my standard: Jumping reach
All up we have heading, tackling, aggression, bravery and jumping reach so tailoring your training to increase some of those attributes will help as we can see tackling aggression and bravery are key attributes when it comes to closing down and as a whole my Sporting CP lack in those areas.
Because your team train in Units(GK,DEF,ATTK) you might want to add those filters when on the team report - comparison screen as this might show different weaknesses and the units will differ in terms of the training schedule.
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Thanks Troy - FM-Life