Learn how to design Football Manager training schedules, manage intensity, and improve player development for optimal performance.
Master Football Manager training by balancing schedules, player development, and intensity for top performance.
In Football Manager, one of the crucial aspects of securing success on the pitch is the management of your training schedules. As the driving force behind your players' development, a well-planned training schedule can turn a raw talent into a world-class player, and an average team into a formidable squad.
This blog post is a comprehensive guide on the Football Manager training system, intended to help you understand the nuances of training and how to use it effectively to improve your player skills and team performance.
Understanding the Training System in FM
Training in FM consists of three key elements: Team Training, Individual Training, and Intensity.
Creating an effective training schedule in Football Manager can often feel like walking a tightrope. A successful manager understands that balance is the key to excellence. The challenge lies in achieving equilibrium between the three critical facets of football training: physical prowess, tactical understanding, and technical skill.
Overemphasis on physical training, while seemingly beneficial in building endurance and speed, may prove counterproductive by increasing the risk of player injuries. Conversely, putting all your eggs in the tactical training basket may leave your players technically deficient, negatively impacting their performance on the pitch.
Thus, an optimally balanced training schedule incorporates a harmonious blend of tactical, technical, and physical aspects, further interspersed with well-deserved rest periods.
From a tactical perspective, elements such as Match Tactics, Match Practice, and Teamwork should be central to your schedule. These sessions enhance the squad's understanding of your chosen strategy, increase familiarity with set pieces, and build chemistry among players.
The technical segment of your training schedule should encompass key areas like Ball Control, Defending, and Attacking. Regular drills in these areas help players improve their technical prowess, such as first touch, tackling, shooting accuracy, and more.
The physical component, focusing on Endurance, Quickness, and Resistance, helps build your players' stamina, speed, and resilience, ensuring they remain fit and fast throughout the rigorous football season.
Don't underestimate the importance of rest, either. These periods allow players to recover, reducing the risk of injuries and burnout, and ensuring they are always at their best when match day arrives.
Moreover, adaptability is a crucial aspect of creating an effective training schedule. Pay attention to your upcoming fixtures and adjust your training focus accordingly. If your next opponent is known for their lethal wingers, increase the emphasis on Defensive Positioning in your sessions. Alternatively, if you're facing a team with a weaker defence, it would be wise to work more on your Attacking drills to exploit their vulnerabilities.
- Team Training is about your club's training schedule, including general training and match preparation. This encompasses both tactical and technical aspects, influencing your team's on-pitch performance and cohesion.
- Individual Training is where you shape a player's growth by assigning them specific roles to train or particular attributes to develop. Additionally, you can focus on new position training or new move training, giving the player an additional skillset.
- Intensity regulates the workload of the training. It's important to strike the right balance to avoid player burnout and injury, but also to ensure they are adequately prepared for matches.
Designing Effective Training Schedules
Overemphasis on physical training, while seemingly beneficial in building endurance and speed, may prove counterproductive by increasing the risk of player injuries. Conversely, putting all your eggs in the tactical training basket may leave your players technically deficient, negatively impacting their performance on the pitch.
Thus, an optimally balanced training schedule incorporates a harmonious blend of tactical, technical, and physical aspects, further interspersed with well-deserved rest periods.
From a tactical perspective, elements such as Match Tactics, Match Practice, and Teamwork should be central to your schedule. These sessions enhance the squad's understanding of your chosen strategy, increase familiarity with set pieces, and build chemistry among players.
The technical segment of your training schedule should encompass key areas like Ball Control, Defending, and Attacking. Regular drills in these areas help players improve their technical prowess, such as first touch, tackling, shooting accuracy, and more.
The physical component, focusing on Endurance, Quickness, and Resistance, helps build your players' stamina, speed, and resilience, ensuring they remain fit and fast throughout the rigorous football season.
Don't underestimate the importance of rest, either. These periods allow players to recover, reducing the risk of injuries and burnout, and ensuring they are always at their best when match day arrives.
Moreover, adaptability is a crucial aspect of creating an effective training schedule. Pay attention to your upcoming fixtures and adjust your training focus accordingly. If your next opponent is known for their lethal wingers, increase the emphasis on Defensive Positioning in your sessions. Alternatively, if you're facing a team with a weaker defence, it would be wise to work more on your Attacking drills to exploit their vulnerabilities.
READ ALSO: Top 8 Football Manager Mistakes to Avoid
Harnessing Individual Training
Imagine you have a player who's a fantastic striker - fast, agile, with an instinctive knack for being in the right place at the right time. However, their 'Finishing' skill is underdeveloped. This player is like an uncut diamond, and Individual Training is your opportunity to polish and perfect their skills. By setting 'Finishing' as a focus in their Individual Training, you devote specific time and resources to improve this crucial skill, thereby enhancing the player's effectiveness on the pitch and potentially turning lost opportunities into successful goals.
Additionally, Individual Training allows you to guide a player's development based on the specific role they'll play in your tactical setup. This alignment of training and tactics is critical for both player and team performance.
For instance, let's say you're deploying a player as a 'Deep-Lying Playmaker'. This role demands an excellent understanding of the game, top-notch passing skills, and the ability to control the game's rhythm. To excel in this role, the player needs to be trained specifically to improve these areas of their game. Hence, you should ensure their training role is also set as 'Deep-Lying Playmaker'.
When training aligns with tactics, the player's on-pitch responsibilities directly correlate with what they've been focusing on in training. This allows them to perform better in their assigned role, improving not only their individual performances but also contributing more effectively to the overall team strategy.
Managing Training Intensity
Pushing a player beyond their workload capacity is like revving a car engine past its redline – it may lead to breakdowns. In FM terms, this translates to an increased risk of player injuries. On the flip side, under-training or not pushing players enough could result in complacency, lack of match-readiness, and stagnation in their skill development.
To strike the right balance, you need to consider various factors, including player age, match schedule, and current fitness levels. Older players, for instance, may not have the same endurance as their younger counterparts and would require a more carefully managed workload to maintain peak fitness without risk of injury. That said, younger players can also be a little more fragile, as their physical attributes are still developing – although they can generally take a heavier training schedule, especially if they’re outside the first team.
Your match schedule plays a crucial role too. In periods of congested fixtures, it's essential to ease off on training intensity to avoid player fatigue and ensure optimal performance during games. Conversely, in times when matches are sparse, you can safely ramp up training intensity to maximize player development. The Rest tab on the Training page is a very helpful tool in ensuring your players aren’t overworked, particularly late in the season. You can set your players to automatically be given lighter training schedules depending on their condition; helpful when you have a congested fixture list and a thin squad.
Another key consideration is the current fitness levels of your players. Those returning from injury or illness should have their workload gradually increased to avoid any potential recurrence. Similarly, players who are fully fit and have high natural fitness can be pushed harder in training.
Moreover, your medical team's advice in FM is invaluable in managing player workloads. Their expertise and knowledge can provide essential insights into individual player's capacity, helping you adjust the training workloads accordingly to prevent injuries and maximize each player's growth potential.
Final Words
Training in Football Manager is a dynamic, multifaceted process, and mastering it can give you a significant edge over your competition. Remember, patience is key - improvements won't be immediate, but with a well-thought-out training regime, you'll start seeing progress in due course.
With this guide, you're equipped with the knowledge to take control of your training schedules effectively, honing your squad's skills, and bringing your club closer to its goals. Happy managing!
