JohnConnor
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- Nov 16, 2020
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First the results to hook you in. The following results were achieved at Dulwich Hamlet, with training facilities of '5' or (later) '6', and with zero experience in competitive matches.
After 12 months:
After 2 years:
After 3 years:
Next come the caveats.
I use a Knap tactic for both my senior and youth teams, have 4 to 5 star coaches, and I almost always reload from save if a player gets a major injury. I have meticulously trained these players for a number of years. My goal is simple: I want the best possible improvement in attributes, full stop. Therefore you won't find a single 'rest' period in my schedule, which ideally looks like this:
The above aspects mean that my results are not easily comparable with the RDF Training Guide/Schedules, which are about half the intensity, and have been tested without the exploit tactics and injury avoidance I use.
Overload without Injury
The main issue with such a schedule is of course it's overloaded. Here are the principles I employ to mitigate injuries, fatigue and low condition:
Since the tactic is what wins games, start with basing your favored attributes around that. That is, train players in the attributes that are important for your specific player positional roles and individual 'player instructions'. For instance a DL with 'shoot less often' probably needs goal-scoring related attributes less.
You want to set players to train in their specific roles, and more importantly, use 'individual focus' to build up a key attribute. It seems that training for a specific role rather than position, only comes into play when a session calls for 'individual roles' to be trained, which in my schedule, isn't often. It's worth noting that the 'additional' focus is exactly that - additional; that is, it does not take up a slice of the pie from training. This is shown in how despite having limited set piece training, 'Colin Currie' gained '6' in long throws with the focus on.
The other part of this is to choose sessions that train attributes that are, ideally, useful for all positions. Beyond relying upon SI's 'key attributes' for each positional role, I like to give some weighting to attributes that appear to have positive compounding effects. What I consider 'positive' is that which results in improved progress, happiness and performance - which are the three ultimate goals one wants to see of a player in the game I believe.
The larger the font, the more weighting I have given the attribute. An attribute such as 'Stamina' is highly desirable, because not only does it sustain performance in a match (and a series of matches), it also sustains condition allowing a player to train harder and avoid injury. Less injury results in more game time and better performance, and therefore better player happiness. There are multiple compounding effects going on here. Contrast that to 'ambition'. An ambitious player trains harder, but is prone to bouts of unhappiness due to wanting to move to a better club or more game time. This in turn negatively effects their performance and progress. 'Agility' is an example of attribute that has no direct link to happiness or progress, but is quite important for performance (in contrast to say, 'penalty taking').
So in the end we get a list of excellent, decent, and poor attributes. Every position benefits to an extent from 'Stamina' and it also has compounding positive effects, therefore it is an 'excellent' attribute. 'Anticipation' is another example of an attribute that applies to almost all positions. 'Dribbling' is an example of a relatively poor attribute, at least because my tactic disfavors dribbling.. but also because few positions require good dribbling.
Training sessions train certain attributes, often with other bonuses or downsides. Here is a breakdown of every option:
General
'Overall' - A waste. Supposedly all players will be working partly on their goalie skills!
'Outfield' - A bit less worse than overall, since goalkeepers are no longer working on their 'finishing'.
'Goalkeeping' - Although one of the 'general' options, use this once a week as a low intensity period, since there simply isn't enough periods to waste on all the specialized goalkeeper training options.
'Attacking'/'Possession'/'Defending' - Better than 'overall' and 'outfield', but still not as good as the more specialized options
'Tactical' - Use this once a week, because although it is a 'general' option, all the attributes it trains are actually useful
'Physical' - Only ever use this if say you've got a game every second day for 2 weeks but you want to keep all physicals from falling with a minimal impact on condition
Match Preparation
'Match tactics' - Use in place of or alongside 'Teamwork' until the team is fully familiar with the match tactics.
'Teamwork' - One to two times a week as a low intensity period. Improves team cohesion 'greatly', works on a key attribute (teamwork) and keeps up tactic familiarity as well as providing a match bonus.
'Defensive Shape/Attacking Movement' - A waste.
'Match Practice' - Don't know why one would ever use this. Why not just schedule a friendly?
Attacking/Defending/Technical/Tactical
I will post more on these sections of sessions later, but basically your tactic and weighting of attributes should determine what you select here.
Set Pieces
'Attacking Free Kicks'/'Defending Free Kicks' - A poor option since it's basically just a match boost, and your 7th free kick taker will be wasting his time on an attribute he'll never utilize. Best to bring in your set piece takers pre-made, or otherwise use the individual focus option.
'Attacking Corners'/'Defending Corners' - Same as above, but I guess more players will benefit from having better corners
'Penalties' - Same issues, and penalty situations are fairly rare, however it might be worth putting it on once or twice in a season for the 2nd leg of a cup game say
'Set Piece Delivery' - Employ this once every 2 weeks, preferably just before a hard or important match, to at least maintain existing set piece attributes
Extra-Curricular
'Community Outreach'/'Team bonding' - It's tempting to throw one or two of these in for the year just for the sake of it isn't it. These are both inferior to 'Teamwork', however if if your team does need happiness then 'Team Bonding' is a superior option due to it 'greatly increasing' happiness.
I've got more to say but I'll put that in a Part 2 post. Soon™.
After 12 months:
After 2 years:
After 3 years:
Next come the caveats.
I use a Knap tactic for both my senior and youth teams, have 4 to 5 star coaches, and I almost always reload from save if a player gets a major injury. I have meticulously trained these players for a number of years. My goal is simple: I want the best possible improvement in attributes, full stop. Therefore you won't find a single 'rest' period in my schedule, which ideally looks like this:
The above aspects mean that my results are not easily comparable with the RDF Training Guide/Schedules, which are about half the intensity, and have been tested without the exploit tactics and injury avoidance I use.
Overload without Injury
The main issue with such a schedule is of course it's overloaded. Here are the principles I employ to mitigate injuries, fatigue and low condition:
- Have a large selection of players to rotate to keep condition high, fatigue low and to prevent complacency. I personally find the sweet spot to be 2 players per position plus ~3 utilities.
- Have one 'recovery' session after each match. 'Rest' reduces team cohesion and does not reduce 'injury risk'; its only benefits over 'recovery' are a bit more condition and a bit less fatigue - problems already solved by having a large squad. More crucially, 'recovery' greatly reduces 'injury risk', whereas 'rest' doesn't.
- Have a mix of one high (i.e. Quickness), one medium (i.e. Defending Engaged), and one low (i.e. Teamwork) intensity sessions each day. After a match day, 'recovery' replaces the high intensity session.
Since the tactic is what wins games, start with basing your favored attributes around that. That is, train players in the attributes that are important for your specific player positional roles and individual 'player instructions'. For instance a DL with 'shoot less often' probably needs goal-scoring related attributes less.
You want to set players to train in their specific roles, and more importantly, use 'individual focus' to build up a key attribute. It seems that training for a specific role rather than position, only comes into play when a session calls for 'individual roles' to be trained, which in my schedule, isn't often. It's worth noting that the 'additional' focus is exactly that - additional; that is, it does not take up a slice of the pie from training. This is shown in how despite having limited set piece training, 'Colin Currie' gained '6' in long throws with the focus on.
The other part of this is to choose sessions that train attributes that are, ideally, useful for all positions. Beyond relying upon SI's 'key attributes' for each positional role, I like to give some weighting to attributes that appear to have positive compounding effects. What I consider 'positive' is that which results in improved progress, happiness and performance - which are the three ultimate goals one wants to see of a player in the game I believe.
The larger the font, the more weighting I have given the attribute. An attribute such as 'Stamina' is highly desirable, because not only does it sustain performance in a match (and a series of matches), it also sustains condition allowing a player to train harder and avoid injury. Less injury results in more game time and better performance, and therefore better player happiness. There are multiple compounding effects going on here. Contrast that to 'ambition'. An ambitious player trains harder, but is prone to bouts of unhappiness due to wanting to move to a better club or more game time. This in turn negatively effects their performance and progress. 'Agility' is an example of attribute that has no direct link to happiness or progress, but is quite important for performance (in contrast to say, 'penalty taking').
So in the end we get a list of excellent, decent, and poor attributes. Every position benefits to an extent from 'Stamina' and it also has compounding positive effects, therefore it is an 'excellent' attribute. 'Anticipation' is another example of an attribute that applies to almost all positions. 'Dribbling' is an example of a relatively poor attribute, at least because my tactic disfavors dribbling.. but also because few positions require good dribbling.
Training sessions train certain attributes, often with other bonuses or downsides. Here is a breakdown of every option:
General
'Overall' - A waste. Supposedly all players will be working partly on their goalie skills!
'Outfield' - A bit less worse than overall, since goalkeepers are no longer working on their 'finishing'.
'Goalkeeping' - Although one of the 'general' options, use this once a week as a low intensity period, since there simply isn't enough periods to waste on all the specialized goalkeeper training options.
'Attacking'/'Possession'/'Defending' - Better than 'overall' and 'outfield', but still not as good as the more specialized options
'Tactical' - Use this once a week, because although it is a 'general' option, all the attributes it trains are actually useful
'Physical' - Only ever use this if say you've got a game every second day for 2 weeks but you want to keep all physicals from falling with a minimal impact on condition
Match Preparation
'Match tactics' - Use in place of or alongside 'Teamwork' until the team is fully familiar with the match tactics.
'Teamwork' - One to two times a week as a low intensity period. Improves team cohesion 'greatly', works on a key attribute (teamwork) and keeps up tactic familiarity as well as providing a match bonus.
'Defensive Shape/Attacking Movement' - A waste.
'Match Practice' - Don't know why one would ever use this. Why not just schedule a friendly?
Attacking/Defending/Technical/Tactical
I will post more on these sections of sessions later, but basically your tactic and weighting of attributes should determine what you select here.
Set Pieces
'Attacking Free Kicks'/'Defending Free Kicks' - A poor option since it's basically just a match boost, and your 7th free kick taker will be wasting his time on an attribute he'll never utilize. Best to bring in your set piece takers pre-made, or otherwise use the individual focus option.
'Attacking Corners'/'Defending Corners' - Same as above, but I guess more players will benefit from having better corners
'Penalties' - Same issues, and penalty situations are fairly rare, however it might be worth putting it on once or twice in a season for the 2nd leg of a cup game say
'Set Piece Delivery' - Employ this once every 2 weeks, preferably just before a hard or important match, to at least maintain existing set piece attributes
Extra-Curricular
'Community Outreach'/'Team bonding' - It's tempting to throw one or two of these in for the year just for the sake of it isn't it. These are both inferior to 'Teamwork', however if if your team does need happiness then 'Team Bonding' is a superior option due to it 'greatly increasing' happiness.
I've got more to say but I'll put that in a Part 2 post. Soon™.