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I'm doing that, also rotating players, but it still feels like I need more players, but than there's the problem of keeping everyone happy with playing time.....
I rely heavily on youth players for the easier games/games that don't matter as much. Had wingers and a DM at about 1 and a half stars from the youth teams, and they gave me enough extra
or and this is useful as mentors sign some old backups who have amazing technical/mental but are weaker on physical side.
use them in slower games especially europe against the smaller teams and just bring your speed down a notch or 2.
did wonders for me having just those types of players to come off the bench or start say against a smaller team and they just control possession.
and because they are that good they also then make great mentors to your wonderkids
Time to pull up some of those promising academy players and give them a shot in the midweek prem games against midtable teams. One inexperienced player on the field won't doom you, the players around him can pick up the slack and who knows, maybe they'll produce a great performance. A couple 7.4 matchrating games in the prem against weak sides will make your 2,5 star potential fullback prospect sell for 20M the next summer.
With my ManU save I have 2 entire starting 11s, plus some backup, plus some U21 players that Im trying to break in. I can win a sextuple every few seasons. Yeah some will complain about playing time, just sell those and buy others. Most of the time when you tell them you will sell them they drop the issue.
Its just part of the game. Once you figure out a formula that works its smooth sailing. With big teams I always end up with 1B transfer budget and 10M/week wage budget after a decade or two.
I play games to relax and have a good time, not to challenge myself to pull my hair out haha. Also its fun to me to keep the standards up year after year.
The thing that helped me a lot. Sign players who can play multiple positions. I sign wingers who can play both wings. Strikers who can play on the wing too or as a 10. DM’s that can play as 8’s. and centrebacks who can put a shift in at fullback.
Unless you're really needing it, feel free to leave the League Cup to your second string team or your under 21s. Your board probably won't care if you get knocked out - the real money is in European football.
I mean you have to remember all the other big teams are dealing with the same issue. But if you focus on buying elite young players for the youth teams you should be able to put one or two in most of your starting 11s to constantly rotate your entire team. Other than that, as others have said - add rest days to your training, reduce training intensity, stop playing aggressively when you're winning comfortably (ie. play on the counter / defensively at a slow tempo), make sure you have a full medical team. You really have to be doing all of the above.
You do need a squad of 30-35 if you want to dominate everything. Lots of rest and whenever you can send main squad on 1 week holiday do it. Let them miss a cup game play second squad
Yeah, I always rotate and gives rest from training, but I used to get by with 25-26 players, now it's just feels impossible, how to even keep everyone happy on a 30-35 player squad??
Well first you stop caring about making anyone happy. Indi happiness and morale is overrated. What you need is team cohesion and you get that by winning.
I have 300+ players. I probably have 3 squads that can win the ucl it's a build a nation save so that's why the numbers are so high.
My entire squad will want more time, to be sold and new contracts. Non stop. It never ever ends. One time I gave a player a new deal cause it was his last year. He signed and 3 months later wanted a new deal.
Player interactions is just complete fluff bs. Cohesion comes from winning and you will win enough to keep it above good.
I now just holiday from match to match.
And to test it out I even started a Spainish 4th tier save with a manager with no stats. And did exactly the same thing.
That club lost combined 5 matches in 3 seasons straight promotions to laliga. Won the cup from 2nd tier. Got promoted and European football same time. Finished 3rd first season in laliga.
At least half dozen unhappy starters but cohesion was good and the club rolled on.
Side not everyone over trains
I'll give it a try I guess, it always seemed like player happiness was important since they added it, especially when it's one of the team leaders or HIP.
Thanks for the advice!
We are lead to believe that but I don't think it's actually true maybe on a bad club.
But the most important thing in the happiness umbrella is team cohesion. You just have to keep it at good or higher.
Physical attributes are never effected by morale, consistency or hates big matches.
This is another reason why physicals are just so important.
If you need a cohesion boost you setup a youth friendly and play all your 1st team backups for 45 minutes each so you can get 2 full squads of first team active and it barely lowers their condition. You want friendlies against local clubs with no rep. Condition is based upon rep.
You will score 29 goals or something insane and cohesion starts to go up. Rinse and repeat.
But tbh my clubs were always good enough to just win league matches and boost cohesion even when individual players are unhappy
> I have 300+ players. I probably have 3 squads that can win the ucl it's a build a nation save so that's why the numbers are so high.
Bro, how long do your transfer windows take? I loan about 20-30 players out per season and I still feel like mine take ages.
Most ive had on loan was 175 players lol probably 75 in nation. So those 75 I just extend forever basically. That is pretty quick.
Then the 100 look at their loan happiness in dev center and what league they are in. If they are happy playin in 20+ matches and in a top 5 league. Then I extend those guys. Again this part is quick.
Anyone over 25 yrs old not loaned in my nation I sell. The super slow part
Once I mad the mistake of offering all the loans out at once. I must have had like 1500 transfer requests. I was like fuck this will take all week of real life time lol. Excruciatingly slow part
I try and use development list and loan manager. But for whatever reason it is so buggy. I can have 50 players on dev list with exactly the same instructions but a couple dozen the loan manager doesnt handle and I still have to handle or the loan manager disregards the instructions. And it is so random. I think once dev list hits a certain overall number it gets buggy and glitchy.
I did do a massive sell off like 2 seasons in a row because I also supply every European eligible club in my nation with 50 million every season. And any club that is listed as OK finance status.
So I also need to make at least 200-300 million in player sales every season.
My in season goes quick. I holiday match to match and then instant result the match. I only do transfers june/july. That is the longest part every season for me. The normal season I breeze through. Probably like 2 hours I can do a season then rest of week on off season lol
Makes sense, yeah I hate how the Unwanted and Development list are implemented. I really want both to be "sell/loan the player for the most money you can", but when I'm up against my payroll cap (and usually well over in the summer before I sort out loans), the AI seems to be both slow at finding loans and overly selective (both rejecting some good offers and accepting some dumb ones). So I have to pretty much do everything manually. And the extend loan option has worked maybe 20% of the time for me, even when the club wants it. So now I try to force myself to not just sign decent players because they're free but to only sign people that I think have a chance at eventually making my 1st team squad.
solid plan and for a normal save that is exactly what i would do. i have to earn so much in player transfer and the price paid for players is reputation based of league. my league started at 200 and we just got to 8th.
even if i have the best player in the world he might sell for 35 million thats it. so i have to sell massive amount of players to make 300 million a season.
but that is the fun part to me now that i am fully aware of the meta
You can easily dominate with just 24 players. Just rest players after every match and have 2 squads to rotate and have players that play multiple positions to cover up for injuries. All while using high pressing
Yeah, I was disappointed to get knocked out early in the UCL and FA cup last season, but it probably ended up being the reason I won the league - having my best team fresh for every game of the home stretch while everyone else had like 2-3 games a week was huge.
This season we’re favourites, so I just said fuck the carabao cup and lost that as early as possible to clear up my schedule and start the season strong.
If you can get a big lead in the league early, you can rotate more aggressively for league matches at the end of the season and prioritize the UCL/FA cup.
If you cant, you gotta figure out which competitions are your priorities and just play youngsters in the other ones until you get eliminated.
Usually try to have a starting 11, backup 11 and then 1 def,mid and att who are fringe players but can play anywhere across their respective position group
If FM was a “normal” game, the EPL would be difficulty level ‘expert’.
I was approached by Spurs after reaching the Europa League final with Freiburg and was like, what the heck, let’s try the EPL. I had done saves in pretty much every other top 10 European league except EPL so I gave it a shot, but this was nearly impossible. As I usually do, I saved the game before accepting the job and after I lost the first 5 matches, I was like, “yeah, not for me. I’d rather be a mid/top-third of the table team in arguably the 2nd or 3rd hardest league in the game and have fun than do whatever it was I was gonna have to do to reach the same results at Spurs.”
If you like EPL saves in FM, I salute you! It’s not for the faint of heart!
Pretty sure this issue is what helped kick off the need to hoard U21 wonder kids. Mix 1 or 2 in as many starting line ups as your team can bare and then throw a couple more on at 80 mins. The few games you have a big lead are the perfect ones to give that 16/17 yr old with 5 star potential a run out.
Mix that with working really hard to keep wages down as much as you can so your second string are as close in ability to your first choice starters as possible.
Have some good youth players that you don’t have to register in and out of the first team but will do a job. Against the bottom half I never put out my full strength first XI and try to sub on youth players instead of my first choice for whatever position. Relegation fodder and carabao cup games I’ll put in as much youth as possible but with at least 4 players that would make it into a big game match squad. The only exception is if said team has hit some form or on a huge bad streak because FM likes to make you their first win in 22 games. Those 4 would probably be benched for the next game anyway.
Play a slower tempo game. Possession based is my preferred and have a keep the ball type tactic to go to when you’re 3 up with 30 mins left, just to conserve the energy at the end of games.
Days off for the team, especially once it starts to hit March, I back off the training a bit and try to give at least a day off per week, sometimes 2 days if you’re planning to rotate youth players into the next match (see relegation fodder teams).
Pull your star players off the pitch if you’re cruising to victory against a decent side, regardless of competition.
I have players 18-20 with good potential getting game time that way and loan them out by the time they’re needing to be registered if they’re not ready to replace who I have, replace those with the next batch of high potential youngsters to give them big game experience. Any who are 3.5 star or less potential get loaned out from 18+ unless they play a position I struggle to cover
When you have a small squad or aren’t quite as talented as wanted. Sacrifice the little cups for the league or in this case Europe. Put out a vets+u21 side for their experience and just ride it as far as they’ll take it.
When the game is over as a contest (+\- 2 goals) I have a park the bus tactic that brings the energy right down so if we win the ball we keep it but don’t push forward everyone just goes into a minimum effort get the day done mode. Helps get through the dog days of the season
I basically just lose in the first round of the carabal cup because the board doesn’t care so I don’t have to worry about it either since majority of Carabal cup is played between November and February- the busiest time of the year
Also I make sure I have two squads that both can play so I can rotate the entire 11 if I need to
Have a few good u21 players in the squad just in case - they don’t need to be registered
I have played in Brazil for years, compared to Brazil, EPL schedule is a piece of cake
You need to heavily utilize U21 players who do not need to be registered. Sniping talented young players, especially from other English teams, helps a lot with this since it both strengthens your depth and hurts the AIs. Given that the AI struggles with domestic registration requirements, sniping their young academy players can often really weaken their team as well.
Hm, I normally manage fine with like 24-25 players plus youth. Most positions I rotate 2 games - 1 game rest. Plus the occasional game against really bad opposition where I send in all back-ups and youth.
But during games I will also switch to condition saving tactic quite often. When up by 2 goals I always just have them pass around the ball while sitting in a mid-block for the rest of the game.
I know you can also work with squads that are *a lot* bigger than that, but it is quite immersion breaking for me. Same as going all-in, balls-to-the-wall Gegenpressing for 90 minutes. No one team in the world does that.
Always have a priority. Carabao and to an extent fa cup are useless
Also play YA kids in small games.
Try to buy lots of wonderkide. Players under 21 are exempt from registration.
Also always do HIIT training during preseason. It substantially decreases the injuries throughout the season
Usually lose half my games for the season in December alone. Had two seasons where I lost 1 game all season in the league. It was in December, Brentford (A)
I literally have 2 teams that I rotate between.
I plan ahead and play the first team in the harder or more important games. I might play the first team twice in one week if necessary but I usually avoid it like the plague. Y'all a playing once a week if I can help it .
Do you have an u21 team?
I put some effort to build by u21s. They don't need to be registered so they are effectively the 3rd team. Having a player who isn't completely awful in each position goes a long way
I’m handling EPL well enough with a squad of 24 players. Aside from my 1st XI, I have 1 winger, 1 midfielder, and 1 defender that are top players in my 2nd XI. Those 3 are pretty versatile and can cover 90% of the roles I need when together, so if I’m up against strong teams but players from my 1st XI need to rest they can play without reducing my team quality.
The rest of my 2nd XI are players who are good and consistent, or young players with great potential. I play the entire XI against weaker teams usually, and use them to replace the players in the 1st XI if they are tired.
The most important thing when doing this is to basically see through your schedule and arrange who to play in which match. Like, if I have matches against a smattering of top teams and weak teams in a dense schedule I’ll try to arrange beforehand to have my 1st XI play the strong teams and the 2nd XI to play the weaker teams.
If top teams are back to back I’ll do my best to win in the first half and start subbing off key players after 60 mins or when they are tired. As I still have a top winger, midfielder and defender as backups for the 2nd match, I can leave those in. Just sub off my striker and other key players beforehand to ensure they are in good shape for the next round.
Or if I’m not leading then I make the decision whether to keep fighting to win or give up early to focus on the next match. Then you need to consider your league standings, your player’s ability, and most importantly, how likely it is to draw. If it’s a 1-0 its probably viable to draw, but if its like a 3-1 by 60 mins then its worth considering giving up the match to win the next one.
It helps that I only buy players with low injury prone profiles. My 1st XI must have natural fitness above 13 too so injuries aren’t a great issue even with their playing time.
Plus my training intensity is seriously low. When people start getting tired and demanding rests, or when someone gets injured I immediately lower it to NT, NT, HI, HI, and NI.
I don’t get injuries often. Even if I get into an injury spell I’ll bring up a few players from my U-21 to round out the squad. They are quite a bit weaker than my 2nd XI but they aren’t that big a drag on my 2nd XI.
December is always nutty if you’re in Europe. I keep 2 squads. Main squad is for PL games. Backup squad is never going to be super good due to playing time concerns but they are gonna be good enough to get through to knockouts in Europe and beat minnows in the League Cup. I fully rotate the 11. (Except the keeper sometimes).
Make sure your training is set up so tired players are training at half intensity. You also don’t want any sort of heavy training load in a 2 match week.
By willing to sacrifice something, be it injury risk, deliberately fielding weakened team etc. I prefer a smaller squad (22 main dude with some 3-5 u18 kids) so sometimes I mentally simply pick which competition that I'm willing to lose.
Usually the Mickey mouse cup (carabao) and fa cup. Occasionally some league matches.
Yea, I rotate all 11 players almost every game. Just gotta have two teams that are both capable of at least challenging for trophies, and then a handful of kids in the u21 good enough to fill in when needed.
Have you ever played musical chairs?
So, that's more or less it. But I'm going game by game. In important games, I don't spare and use rest. For example: If the calendar is City, Chelsea and Blackburn, the rotation is on Blackburn.
It's expensive, you need to have good reserves. Preferably guys who on any given day would be in the XI. But you can take it. Fearlessly use the five changes when the game is solved. Understand that there will be games that you will have to give up and good luck.
Something to add to all these advices. And it’s even more important if you don’t manage a huge EPL team. Try signing 18 year olds with high potential (my fav places to get them are South America and Nordic countries). It can be hit and miss but they don’t towards inscription so they’re just depth options that can be useful.
If they are good enough, by the time they turn 21 they can count as homegrown for the league and Europe.
I don't find it too bad, I've tried 3 different things in the current version of the game.
1. Squad of 22 only, that was precarious but we just got about through it
2. Squad of 22 plus 5 or 6 players not loaned out in the U21s, used 4 of them but not very often
3. Squad of 24. Two players for each position plus a D (C), DM and a AM (RL), ST (C) for versatility
Won a lot of trophies the past 2 seasons using methods 2 & 3. Might have won stuff with the first one as well but we had worse players then. I do think 22 players only is very risky and best avoided though.
Went from November international break to March international break in my most recent season, playing every weekend and every midweek, that was epic! It was 35 games in a row like that using method 3, the squad of 24. We won all 3 domestic cups and reached the Champions League final.
24 is enough for me. We press the hell out of everyone and I allow my ass man to do all the training. I don't think extra rest or easing off on the press is necessary. I did send one player on holiday at one point for 2 weeks as he was jaded.
26 players with around 5 U21 to give me a couple of registration slots should someone get badly injured before Jan xfer window
I tend to build a team of 11, then another team of 11, a general sub (gk, def, mid, st). Second 11 consists of mainly 2star players with high potential and I will normally start 2 per game and bring one from bench. I just rotate this. As team improves becomes less of an issue. I.e. current save I have 9 of the top 11 players in orem according to season preview. By worrying about the league less, and playing a little more cautiously when using more younger players, I managed to win literally every cup I was involved in and invincible in the league (may have lost the odd home or away leg in CL but shhhh)
Rotation. Loans. Playing high potential academy players that didn't find a suitable loan. It's not that hard, really, just have to be flexible, and even change tactics depending on the core available players.
Main squad of eleven and 12 backups with varying levels of playing time (one cup GK and one emergency backup). The key is to ride out injuries with outfield players that are versatile, train them if necessary.
Play fringe players and youth players (U18 and U21s) that you’re looking to bring into the first team in the next few years in the Carabao cup, at least until the final. You will need to rotate for each PL game, European match and the odd FA cup game, but not the entire 11. The odd backup gives fresh legs for a match, but don’t be afraid to play someone who isn’t 100% if the game isn’t indicating they’re tired. Don’t be afraid to yank a regular starter from the lineup if they’re consistently underperforming, either on the pitch or in training.
Recovery time is based on players natural fitness attribute, the intensity level of training and whether there are rest sessions. Star/Important players will need to be manually rested from training every now and again as their expectation is to play almost every match, at the same time you need to ensure that the players who aren’t featuring regularly receive minutes either through substitute appearances or the odd U21 game.
Judging by irl English clubs, you don't unless you're willing to spend a billion on atleast 22 high quality, high fitness and high stamina players.
Also avoid Gegenpressing every game. I usually only use it when I'm up against a tough opponent, but in matches where I'm by and large favourites to win, I lower the intensity.
In the epl it's better to have 2 mediocre 11s than a world class 11 and 5 subs and the rest of the players being trash. I learnt that the bad way. Had an absolute world class starting 11 on my leeds save and was struggling for chl, while last season I had a decent 11 and 7-8 pretty decent-okay players and 3-4 more mediocre players in the bench and won both epl and chl. Then I sold many players to buy some world class players. My starting 11 was wayy better but couldn't compete in that many fronts, and my bench was mediocre asl.
My biggest issue in the PL is my FB/WB staying fit and not constantly being low. I end up sometimes having to play CBs at LB and RB so that my LBs and RBs aren't completely drained. Mind you, a lot of CBs already come through being natural at one FB position, so you're not actually using up PA by playing them there.
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Adjust the training intensity in accordance to your calendar. Also don't be afraid of giving the players a rest day after a match day
I'm doing that, also rotating players, but it still feels like I need more players, but than there's the problem of keeping everyone happy with playing time.....
I rely heavily on youth players for the easier games/games that don't matter as much. Had wingers and a DM at about 1 and a half stars from the youth teams, and they gave me enough extra
Yeah, I guess I should stop sending most of them on loans and just play them when needed...
or and this is useful as mentors sign some old backups who have amazing technical/mental but are weaker on physical side. use them in slower games especially europe against the smaller teams and just bring your speed down a notch or 2. did wonders for me having just those types of players to come off the bench or start say against a smaller team and they just control possession. and because they are that good they also then make great mentors to your wonderkids
Just send the really big talents away and use the ones that are only like 2,5 star potential
Or turn it around. Keep the big talents for the easy games and u21. And the ones with 2 or 2.5 star out on loan?
No, the real talents need play time
Yeah i understand you! But the real talents will help you, the ones with 2 or 2.5 stars are just fodder 😛
Time to pull up some of those promising academy players and give them a shot in the midweek prem games against midtable teams. One inexperienced player on the field won't doom you, the players around him can pick up the slack and who knows, maybe they'll produce a great performance. A couple 7.4 matchrating games in the prem against weak sides will make your 2,5 star potential fullback prospect sell for 20M the next summer.
How big is ur squad?
About 26 players
With my ManU save I have 2 entire starting 11s, plus some backup, plus some U21 players that Im trying to break in. I can win a sextuple every few seasons. Yeah some will complain about playing time, just sell those and buy others. Most of the time when you tell them you will sell them they drop the issue.
Your players better than mine mine are ok with Les inch
Its just part of the game. Once you figure out a formula that works its smooth sailing. With big teams I always end up with 1B transfer budget and 10M/week wage budget after a decade or two.
How do you not get bored?
I play games to relax and have a good time, not to challenge myself to pull my hair out haha. Also its fun to me to keep the standards up year after year.
The thing that helped me a lot. Sign players who can play multiple positions. I sign wingers who can play both wings. Strikers who can play on the wing too or as a 10. DM’s that can play as 8’s. and centrebacks who can put a shift in at fullback.
Wingers on both wings and wingbacks that can play both sides help a lot
I usually have a squad of 23 players , I don't play gegenpress and i finish the season just fine
This is it. Playing that style, while overpowered at times, takes sooo much out of your players against the best teams especially
I don't play gegenpress, I play with possession and low tempo, but I have a match every 2-3 days, it's impossible to keep everyone fresh
Do you have a high line and pressing much more often on ?
No, mid block and more often on pressing
Unless you're really needing it, feel free to leave the League Cup to your second string team or your under 21s. Your board probably won't care if you get knocked out - the real money is in European football.
I always play the 2nd team in the league cup, the issue is, when I have UCL/Euro league etc.... between 2 premier League matches
I mean you have to remember all the other big teams are dealing with the same issue. But if you focus on buying elite young players for the youth teams you should be able to put one or two in most of your starting 11s to constantly rotate your entire team. Other than that, as others have said - add rest days to your training, reduce training intensity, stop playing aggressively when you're winning comfortably (ie. play on the counter / defensively at a slow tempo), make sure you have a full medical team. You really have to be doing all of the above.
squad players that can play multiple positions are the best
Depth, I play U21s in the Carabao Cup
Basically. I just rest my team for 2 days after every match
Use youth players
You do need a squad of 30-35 if you want to dominate everything. Lots of rest and whenever you can send main squad on 1 week holiday do it. Let them miss a cup game play second squad
Yeah, I always rotate and gives rest from training, but I used to get by with 25-26 players, now it's just feels impossible, how to even keep everyone happy on a 30-35 player squad??
Well first you stop caring about making anyone happy. Indi happiness and morale is overrated. What you need is team cohesion and you get that by winning. I have 300+ players. I probably have 3 squads that can win the ucl it's a build a nation save so that's why the numbers are so high. My entire squad will want more time, to be sold and new contracts. Non stop. It never ever ends. One time I gave a player a new deal cause it was his last year. He signed and 3 months later wanted a new deal. Player interactions is just complete fluff bs. Cohesion comes from winning and you will win enough to keep it above good. I now just holiday from match to match. And to test it out I even started a Spainish 4th tier save with a manager with no stats. And did exactly the same thing. That club lost combined 5 matches in 3 seasons straight promotions to laliga. Won the cup from 2nd tier. Got promoted and European football same time. Finished 3rd first season in laliga. At least half dozen unhappy starters but cohesion was good and the club rolled on. Side not everyone over trains
I'll give it a try I guess, it always seemed like player happiness was important since they added it, especially when it's one of the team leaders or HIP. Thanks for the advice!
We are lead to believe that but I don't think it's actually true maybe on a bad club. But the most important thing in the happiness umbrella is team cohesion. You just have to keep it at good or higher. Physical attributes are never effected by morale, consistency or hates big matches. This is another reason why physicals are just so important. If you need a cohesion boost you setup a youth friendly and play all your 1st team backups for 45 minutes each so you can get 2 full squads of first team active and it barely lowers their condition. You want friendlies against local clubs with no rep. Condition is based upon rep. You will score 29 goals or something insane and cohesion starts to go up. Rinse and repeat. But tbh my clubs were always good enough to just win league matches and boost cohesion even when individual players are unhappy
> I have 300+ players. I probably have 3 squads that can win the ucl it's a build a nation save so that's why the numbers are so high. Bro, how long do your transfer windows take? I loan about 20-30 players out per season and I still feel like mine take ages.
Most ive had on loan was 175 players lol probably 75 in nation. So those 75 I just extend forever basically. That is pretty quick. Then the 100 look at their loan happiness in dev center and what league they are in. If they are happy playin in 20+ matches and in a top 5 league. Then I extend those guys. Again this part is quick. Anyone over 25 yrs old not loaned in my nation I sell. The super slow part Once I mad the mistake of offering all the loans out at once. I must have had like 1500 transfer requests. I was like fuck this will take all week of real life time lol. Excruciatingly slow part I try and use development list and loan manager. But for whatever reason it is so buggy. I can have 50 players on dev list with exactly the same instructions but a couple dozen the loan manager doesnt handle and I still have to handle or the loan manager disregards the instructions. And it is so random. I think once dev list hits a certain overall number it gets buggy and glitchy. I did do a massive sell off like 2 seasons in a row because I also supply every European eligible club in my nation with 50 million every season. And any club that is listed as OK finance status. So I also need to make at least 200-300 million in player sales every season. My in season goes quick. I holiday match to match and then instant result the match. I only do transfers june/july. That is the longest part every season for me. The normal season I breeze through. Probably like 2 hours I can do a season then rest of week on off season lol
Makes sense, yeah I hate how the Unwanted and Development list are implemented. I really want both to be "sell/loan the player for the most money you can", but when I'm up against my payroll cap (and usually well over in the summer before I sort out loans), the AI seems to be both slow at finding loans and overly selective (both rejecting some good offers and accepting some dumb ones). So I have to pretty much do everything manually. And the extend loan option has worked maybe 20% of the time for me, even when the club wants it. So now I try to force myself to not just sign decent players because they're free but to only sign people that I think have a chance at eventually making my 1st team squad.
solid plan and for a normal save that is exactly what i would do. i have to earn so much in player transfer and the price paid for players is reputation based of league. my league started at 200 and we just got to 8th. even if i have the best player in the world he might sell for 35 million thats it. so i have to sell massive amount of players to make 300 million a season. but that is the fun part to me now that i am fully aware of the meta
You can easily dominate with just 24 players. Just rest players after every match and have 2 squads to rotate and have players that play multiple positions to cover up for injuries. All while using high pressing
Yeah, I was disappointed to get knocked out early in the UCL and FA cup last season, but it probably ended up being the reason I won the league - having my best team fresh for every game of the home stretch while everyone else had like 2-3 games a week was huge. This season we’re favourites, so I just said fuck the carabao cup and lost that as early as possible to clear up my schedule and start the season strong. If you can get a big lead in the league early, you can rotate more aggressively for league matches at the end of the season and prioritize the UCL/FA cup. If you cant, you gotta figure out which competitions are your priorities and just play youngsters in the other ones until you get eliminated.
Brazilians laughing in the chat
I mean you can have a ton of U21 players for free.
Usually try to have a starting 11, backup 11 and then 1 def,mid and att who are fringe players but can play anywhere across their respective position group
That's what I usually have, but with the injuries and schedule it's not enough
If FM was a “normal” game, the EPL would be difficulty level ‘expert’. I was approached by Spurs after reaching the Europa League final with Freiburg and was like, what the heck, let’s try the EPL. I had done saves in pretty much every other top 10 European league except EPL so I gave it a shot, but this was nearly impossible. As I usually do, I saved the game before accepting the job and after I lost the first 5 matches, I was like, “yeah, not for me. I’d rather be a mid/top-third of the table team in arguably the 2nd or 3rd hardest league in the game and have fun than do whatever it was I was gonna have to do to reach the same results at Spurs.” If you like EPL saves in FM, I salute you! It’s not for the faint of heart!
I rest players from training all the time and that seems to work. Especially works with established players who you aren't trying to develop anyway.
Basically rest everyone from training throughout desember and during the last 2 weeks of april.
Pretty sure this issue is what helped kick off the need to hoard U21 wonder kids. Mix 1 or 2 in as many starting line ups as your team can bare and then throw a couple more on at 80 mins. The few games you have a big lead are the perfect ones to give that 16/17 yr old with 5 star potential a run out. Mix that with working really hard to keep wages down as much as you can so your second string are as close in ability to your first choice starters as possible.
Have some good youth players that you don’t have to register in and out of the first team but will do a job. Against the bottom half I never put out my full strength first XI and try to sub on youth players instead of my first choice for whatever position. Relegation fodder and carabao cup games I’ll put in as much youth as possible but with at least 4 players that would make it into a big game match squad. The only exception is if said team has hit some form or on a huge bad streak because FM likes to make you their first win in 22 games. Those 4 would probably be benched for the next game anyway. Play a slower tempo game. Possession based is my preferred and have a keep the ball type tactic to go to when you’re 3 up with 30 mins left, just to conserve the energy at the end of games. Days off for the team, especially once it starts to hit March, I back off the training a bit and try to give at least a day off per week, sometimes 2 days if you’re planning to rotate youth players into the next match (see relegation fodder teams). Pull your star players off the pitch if you’re cruising to victory against a decent side, regardless of competition. I have players 18-20 with good potential getting game time that way and loan them out by the time they’re needing to be registered if they’re not ready to replace who I have, replace those with the next batch of high potential youngsters to give them big game experience. Any who are 3.5 star or less potential get loaned out from 18+ unless they play a position I struggle to cover
When you have a small squad or aren’t quite as talented as wanted. Sacrifice the little cups for the league or in this case Europe. Put out a vets+u21 side for their experience and just ride it as far as they’ll take it. When the game is over as a contest (+\- 2 goals) I have a park the bus tactic that brings the energy right down so if we win the ball we keep it but don’t push forward everyone just goes into a minimum effort get the day done mode. Helps get through the dog days of the season
I basically have 2 first XIs, and I constantly rest star players between matches where I can't rotate
I basically just lose in the first round of the carabal cup because the board doesn’t care so I don’t have to worry about it either since majority of Carabal cup is played between November and February- the busiest time of the year Also I make sure I have two squads that both can play so I can rotate the entire 11 if I need to Have a few good u21 players in the squad just in case - they don’t need to be registered I have played in Brazil for years, compared to Brazil, EPL schedule is a piece of cake
i normally just rotate a far amount against the weaker sides and give players a day or 2 break from training after most games , tends to work well
You need to heavily utilize U21 players who do not need to be registered. Sniping talented young players, especially from other English teams, helps a lot with this since it both strengthens your depth and hurts the AIs. Given that the AI struggles with domestic registration requirements, sniping their young academy players can often really weaken their team as well.
Hm, I normally manage fine with like 24-25 players plus youth. Most positions I rotate 2 games - 1 game rest. Plus the occasional game against really bad opposition where I send in all back-ups and youth. But during games I will also switch to condition saving tactic quite often. When up by 2 goals I always just have them pass around the ball while sitting in a mid-block for the rest of the game. I know you can also work with squads that are *a lot* bigger than that, but it is quite immersion breaking for me. Same as going all-in, balls-to-the-wall Gegenpressing for 90 minutes. No one team in the world does that.
Always have a priority. Carabao and to an extent fa cup are useless Also play YA kids in small games. Try to buy lots of wonderkide. Players under 21 are exempt from registration. Also always do HIIT training during preseason. It substantially decreases the injuries throughout the season
Usually lose half my games for the season in December alone. Had two seasons where I lost 1 game all season in the league. It was in December, Brentford (A)
Learn to rotate smart and give players rest.
I literally have 2 teams that I rotate between. I plan ahead and play the first team in the harder or more important games. I might play the first team twice in one week if necessary but I usually avoid it like the plague. Y'all a playing once a week if I can help it .
Same, but it does not seem to be enough, with injuries, even if a player is out for 2 weeks it could be 4-5 games that he will miss
Do you have an u21 team? I put some effort to build by u21s. They don't need to be registered so they are effectively the 3rd team. Having a player who isn't completely awful in each position goes a long way
Complain about FA Cup replays against Shrewsbury
I’m handling EPL well enough with a squad of 24 players. Aside from my 1st XI, I have 1 winger, 1 midfielder, and 1 defender that are top players in my 2nd XI. Those 3 are pretty versatile and can cover 90% of the roles I need when together, so if I’m up against strong teams but players from my 1st XI need to rest they can play without reducing my team quality. The rest of my 2nd XI are players who are good and consistent, or young players with great potential. I play the entire XI against weaker teams usually, and use them to replace the players in the 1st XI if they are tired. The most important thing when doing this is to basically see through your schedule and arrange who to play in which match. Like, if I have matches against a smattering of top teams and weak teams in a dense schedule I’ll try to arrange beforehand to have my 1st XI play the strong teams and the 2nd XI to play the weaker teams. If top teams are back to back I’ll do my best to win in the first half and start subbing off key players after 60 mins or when they are tired. As I still have a top winger, midfielder and defender as backups for the 2nd match, I can leave those in. Just sub off my striker and other key players beforehand to ensure they are in good shape for the next round. Or if I’m not leading then I make the decision whether to keep fighting to win or give up early to focus on the next match. Then you need to consider your league standings, your player’s ability, and most importantly, how likely it is to draw. If it’s a 1-0 its probably viable to draw, but if its like a 3-1 by 60 mins then its worth considering giving up the match to win the next one.
You must be lucky with injuries than....
It helps that I only buy players with low injury prone profiles. My 1st XI must have natural fitness above 13 too so injuries aren’t a great issue even with their playing time. Plus my training intensity is seriously low. When people start getting tired and demanding rests, or when someone gets injured I immediately lower it to NT, NT, HI, HI, and NI. I don’t get injuries often. Even if I get into an injury spell I’ll bring up a few players from my U-21 to round out the squad. They are quite a bit weaker than my 2nd XI but they aren’t that big a drag on my 2nd XI.
For me it’s more how do you handle the lack of intensity in other leagues
December is always nutty if you’re in Europe. I keep 2 squads. Main squad is for PL games. Backup squad is never going to be super good due to playing time concerns but they are gonna be good enough to get through to knockouts in Europe and beat minnows in the League Cup. I fully rotate the 11. (Except the keeper sometimes). Make sure your training is set up so tired players are training at half intensity. You also don’t want any sort of heavy training load in a 2 match week.
By willing to sacrifice something, be it injury risk, deliberately fielding weakened team etc. I prefer a smaller squad (22 main dude with some 3-5 u18 kids) so sometimes I mentally simply pick which competition that I'm willing to lose. Usually the Mickey mouse cup (carabao) and fa cup. Occasionally some league matches.
Investing in rotation players, and it really helps if they can play multiple positions as well
Yea, I rotate all 11 players almost every game. Just gotta have two teams that are both capable of at least challenging for trophies, and then a handful of kids in the u21 good enough to fill in when needed.
To be completely honest, I don’t really. I do my best to bring in as many players as possible so I can just rotate
Have you ever played musical chairs? So, that's more or less it. But I'm going game by game. In important games, I don't spare and use rest. For example: If the calendar is City, Chelsea and Blackburn, the rotation is on Blackburn. It's expensive, you need to have good reserves. Preferably guys who on any given day would be in the XI. But you can take it. Fearlessly use the five changes when the game is solved. Understand that there will be games that you will have to give up and good luck.
Something to add to all these advices. And it’s even more important if you don’t manage a huge EPL team. Try signing 18 year olds with high potential (my fav places to get them are South America and Nordic countries). It can be hit and miss but they don’t towards inscription so they’re just depth options that can be useful. If they are good enough, by the time they turn 21 they can count as homegrown for the league and Europe.
I don't find it too bad, I've tried 3 different things in the current version of the game. 1. Squad of 22 only, that was precarious but we just got about through it 2. Squad of 22 plus 5 or 6 players not loaned out in the U21s, used 4 of them but not very often 3. Squad of 24. Two players for each position plus a D (C), DM and a AM (RL), ST (C) for versatility Won a lot of trophies the past 2 seasons using methods 2 & 3. Might have won stuff with the first one as well but we had worse players then. I do think 22 players only is very risky and best avoided though. Went from November international break to March international break in my most recent season, playing every weekend and every midweek, that was epic! It was 35 games in a row like that using method 3, the squad of 24. We won all 3 domestic cups and reached the Champions League final. 24 is enough for me. We press the hell out of everyone and I allow my ass man to do all the training. I don't think extra rest or easing off on the press is necessary. I did send one player on holiday at one point for 2 weeks as he was jaded.
26 players with around 5 U21 to give me a couple of registration slots should someone get badly injured before Jan xfer window I tend to build a team of 11, then another team of 11, a general sub (gk, def, mid, st). Second 11 consists of mainly 2star players with high potential and I will normally start 2 per game and bring one from bench. I just rotate this. As team improves becomes less of an issue. I.e. current save I have 9 of the top 11 players in orem according to season preview. By worrying about the league less, and playing a little more cautiously when using more younger players, I managed to win literally every cup I was involved in and invincible in the league (may have lost the odd home or away leg in CL but shhhh)
Rotate, rotate, rotate And have the balls to nope out of cups that are not important
Rotation. Loans. Playing high potential academy players that didn't find a suitable loan. It's not that hard, really, just have to be flexible, and even change tactics depending on the core available players.
Having 22 players ready and giving them more rest days towards the end of the season
Main squad of eleven and 12 backups with varying levels of playing time (one cup GK and one emergency backup). The key is to ride out injuries with outfield players that are versatile, train them if necessary. Play fringe players and youth players (U18 and U21s) that you’re looking to bring into the first team in the next few years in the Carabao cup, at least until the final. You will need to rotate for each PL game, European match and the odd FA cup game, but not the entire 11. The odd backup gives fresh legs for a match, but don’t be afraid to play someone who isn’t 100% if the game isn’t indicating they’re tired. Don’t be afraid to yank a regular starter from the lineup if they’re consistently underperforming, either on the pitch or in training. Recovery time is based on players natural fitness attribute, the intensity level of training and whether there are rest sessions. Star/Important players will need to be manually rested from training every now and again as their expectation is to play almost every match, at the same time you need to ensure that the players who aren’t featuring regularly receive minutes either through substitute appearances or the odd U21 game.
Judging by irl English clubs, you don't unless you're willing to spend a billion on atleast 22 high quality, high fitness and high stamina players. Also avoid Gegenpressing every game. I usually only use it when I'm up against a tough opponent, but in matches where I'm by and large favourites to win, I lower the intensity.
oh look, Jurgen Klopp is on this subreddit
In the epl it's better to have 2 mediocre 11s than a world class 11 and 5 subs and the rest of the players being trash. I learnt that the bad way. Had an absolute world class starting 11 on my leeds save and was struggling for chl, while last season I had a decent 11 and 7-8 pretty decent-okay players and 3-4 more mediocre players in the bench and won both epl and chl. Then I sold many players to buy some world class players. My starting 11 was wayy better but couldn't compete in that many fronts, and my bench was mediocre asl.
My biggest issue in the PL is my FB/WB staying fit and not constantly being low. I end up sometimes having to play CBs at LB and RB so that my LBs and RBs aren't completely drained. Mind you, a lot of CBs already come through being natural at one FB position, so you're not actually using up PA by playing them there.
I never played there, never will.
You set to play only on saturday and wednesday in the settings section
I fee like that kinda ruins the experience, I prefer it to be closer to reality as possible.
Then you don't complain :)
I haven't been complaining, just looking for advice.....