What to do in Pre-Season Guide

What to do in Pre-Season Guide

 

This is without question one of my favourite things about playing FMM careers. The season has come to en end and a new one's awaiting in just a couple of months from now. But before I throw myself and my squad into yet another season of hard labour, let me just grab a comfortable chair and ask myself a few important questions: How did I fare as a manager? How did the team perform? Am I still respected by the players? Did we manage to humiliate our rivals? Have I met all, any, objectives we set at the start of the season or at least had a decent league/cup run? Do the fans still chant my name at the end of every home game? Does the board still have faith in me? Well, if you still got the job at this point none of that really matters, does it?

I don't linger too much on the past, and neither should you, but we do want to improve and build upon previous seasons so we need to assess and evaluate a couple of things. As the saying goes: 'You're only as good as your last fight/game', but in FMM terms this translates to 'you're only as good as your most recent season'. Well, that's my interpretation of it anyway. So once last season's celebrations have quieted down a bit, or perhaps for some of you the disappointment's been duly noted, it's time to re-assess, re-adjust and refocus in order to get yourselves ready for a new campaign. And more importantly to make sure the players are well-prepared to hit the (battle)ground running for another 50-60 games. The better prepared your squad is for the waves of relentless opposition that is heading your way in the upcoming football season, the more the odds are stacked in your favor to remain at the helm at the end of it.

The three things I'm most interested in during pre-season are my formation/tactics, my squad and the new available transfer budget. Here are some useful  points for the newcomers to FMM to ponder over, or it can serve as a simple reminder for the veterans here, with a couple more important points/tips/suggestions to think about at the start of every new season. Be competitive, be self-critical and ask yourself the following questions:

 

 

Formation + Tactics

• Have these been effective enough?
• Did we lose too many games?
• Have we struggled to win or draw games during any stage of the season?
• Is there a significant difference between home and away performances/results?

 

For losses I've set 5 as an "acceptable" number throughout the season in all competitions. You don't want to be too north of that amount. And without looking at every game and result in detail I usually have an accurate feel of how well we've performed or whether we generally struggled for points throughout the season. Don't change a winning team, but if you scraped through, be honest and don't hesitate to try something new. I've probably run more test games than actual games in a career so just keep looking and testing to (re)discover your best 11 in new formations until you feel it's an improvement over last season. There's an unlimited amount of possibilities here and impossible for me to cover even a small percentage of that but I feel it's important you acknowledge that you may be just a few tweaks away from a great formation.

For me personally when I feel my squad isn't yet strong enough to face any opposition regardless its strength I opt for a slightly more attacking formation for home games and a slightly more defensive one for away games. If I do feel I have a strong and balanced squad with enough quality subs for cover I just use a single formation for both home and away games but that depends on your managing style of course.

 

The Squad

Starting 11

• Do I have enough depth in the squad to play this formation?
• To provide cover for these 11 in times of injuries/suspensions?
• Has every starter/key player performed up to my/the club's standards?
• Do I need to rejuvenate my starting team? Or the squad?

 

It's basically the quality of the players that decide what type of formation I'm using so once I've settled on one I always look at how well they've done and if they're still good enough to be starters. I never look at names, neither should you, if a player consistently disappoints he'll start the season off as a sub at best. No matter how much I like him he needs to await his chance and play himself back into the team. As for a squad's average age, I never look at age when I evaluate a single player but I do keep it in mind when assessing an entire squad. I make sure it's balanced, a nice mix of young talents, 20 somethings and experienced 30+ers.

 

Substitutes

• Do they accept their role as a sub?
• Have they all made enough minutes on the pitch?
• Are they versatile enough to cover for multiple positions in dire times?
• Has anyone outperformed a regular and made a genuine case for a starting spot? 

 

Versatility has always been my top priority for a substitute. It gives you so many more options/solutions during games that I simply can't ignore it. I also want to give everyone enough playing time not only for their development but also to give them a chance to possibly give a regular player a run for his money and eventually make the starting line-up. Competition for places is the best thing a manager can bring to a squad. I also love having 32-35yo subs, usually former starters a couple seasons away from retirement, as they are still quality, consistent, can provide much needed cover in times of an injury crisis for ex. and never ever complain about lack of pitch minutes.

 

Loanees

• Did they get enough game time during their loan spell?
• Do I see significant improvements over the past season?
• Are they still 'young' and 'talented' enough to remain at the club?
• Could they be an asset to the squad as a regular/sub in the upcoming campaign?

 

I personally only bother with loanees if I believe they stand a legitimate chance of becoming a future squad player, be it starter or substitute. Anything less and I'll dump them into the reserve team or release them so the can start a new chapter in their lives as free agents. I have no problem loaning out a certain players for 4, 5 or even 6 consecutive seasons, as long as he gets game time at his 'new' club and stands a more than reasonable chance of becoming a (future) addition to the squad upon his return.

 

 

Transfer budget

• Are there any funds available for squad reinforcements?
• Do I need to re-adjust the funds to free up some cash?
• Have I earned enough credit (and confidence) to step to the board with a request/demand?

 

Buying players really is fun but as a rule of thumb I never buy for the mere sake of it. It's counter-productive. Only when I feel a starter isn't of good enough quality to make the team and there are no solutions on the substitute bench do I enter the market to look for reinforcements. Provided there are funds to my disposal otherwise this is never an option and I have no choice other than working with the squad at hand. I hardly ever step to the board with requests for a fund increase though, it's in my opinion only a short-term solution, so I don't bother with these.

 

If you have addressed all of these points then I have no doubt that you and your players are 100% ready for the new football season. Goodluck!

Thanks for reading and please feel free to leave a comment.

[Sousa_XI]

I have enjoyed reading .. Thank you very much and yes Im ready for a new season 

[BatiGoal]

Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Pogba]

Very Good read mate I will now take pre-season much more seriously.

[BatiGoal]

Thank you.

I'd say don't rush it and just take your time preparing your squad as it's one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.

[rseven]

Quite good article.

But I will put tactics and formation thinking after checked squad. I will decide tactics based on players I have.

[BatiGoal]

45 minutes ago, rseven said:

Quite good article.

But I will put tactics and formation thinking after checked squad. I will decide tactics based on players I have.

That's the smartest thing to do when you start at a new club.

This guide "starts" when you have completed your first season. Then I think it's best to evaluate the formation/tactics first to see if a new formation/tweaks are needed, but of course this still largely depends on the squad and the transfer funds.

[rseven]

One more,

Check contact status of players, specially for key players and young stars.

If you are playing small clubs, it is better to renew the contract before you player show their ability. Otherwise, they will refuse to renew contract.

[Sousa_XI]

11 minutes ago, rseven said:

One more,

Check contact status of players, specially for key players and young stars.

If you are playing small clubs, it is better to renew the contract before you player show their ability. Otherwise, they will refuse to renew contract.

I totally agree with you .. this is the 1st step up should do if u want to keep ur players at the club 

[Meow]

Great read. Good job. 

I do have a few things that I like to do, like raiding relegated clubs, sign lucrative free transfers, sell players that are on good form and are overvalued atm. Lastly in this new edition, pick up youth players released by clubs (then proceed to sell them for lots and lots of cash to rub it in their faces).

Also, I try my best to topple the hierarchy of clubs. My effort and a little bit of luck can sometimes see european giants tumble down the table (and on rare occasion into relegtion)

Edited December 19, 2016 by Meow

[BatiGoal]

21 minutes ago, rseven said:

One more,

Check contact status of players, specially for key players and young stars.

If you are playing small clubs, it is better to renew the contract before you player show their ability. Otherwise, they will refuse to renew contract.

Good move. Always make sure the players you intend to keep for the future are on long term contracts. The "small" club you're leading may be "big enough" for them to want to stay by the time their contract is up for renewal.

 

11 minutes ago, Meow said:

Great read. Good job. 

I do have a few things that I like to do, like raiding relegated clubs, sign lucrative free transfers, sell players that are on good form and are overvalued atm. Lastly in this new edition, pick up youth players released by clubs (then proceed to sell them for lots and lots of cash to rub it in their faces).

Also, I try my best to topple the hierarchy of clubs. My effort and a little bit of luck can sometimes see european giants tumble down the table (and on rare occasion into relegtion)

Thanks.

I used to do that a lot too btw picking up undervalued players from relegated teams such as Aston Villa or Newcastle.

[Dar J]

2 hours ago, rseven said:

One more,

Check contact status of players, specially for key players and young stars.

If you are playing small clubs, it is better to renew the contract before you player show their ability. Otherwise, they will refuse to renew contract.

I prefer to give them contracts after they've shown their ability because good stats doesn't mean good performance on the pitch

[rseven]

1 hour ago, Dar J said:

I prefer to give them contracts after they've shown their ability because good stats doesn't mean good performance on the pitch

Ha, then you will find you can not afford his demand for renew his contract.

 

Edited December 19, 2016 by rseven

[Dar J]

26 minutes ago, rseven said:

Ha, then you will find you can not afford his demand for renew his contract.

 

Not all the time but if that's the case I'd find someone else

[samhardy]

Bit of a late comment but another excellent article

[BatiGoal]

5 hours ago, samhardy said:

Bit of a late comment but another excellent article

Thank you, Sam.

[wobbly38]

Good article. Given me something to think about. Just started my second season as Wolves. Newly promoted into PL, top scorer (Cavaleiro) was pressing hard for a move so I sold him to Genoa (That'll teach him) and my best defenders were loanees (Stearman, CBJ) who now don't want to come back. Could be a bumpy season. 

[BatiGoal]

1 hour ago, wobbly38 said:

Good article. Given me something to think about. Just started my second season as Wolves. Newly promoted into PL, top scorer (Cavaleiro) was pressing hard for a move so I sold him to Genoa (That'll teach him) and my best defenders were loanees (Stearman, CBJ) who now don't want to come back. Could be a bumpy season. 

Thanks. I hope it helps making your pre-season a tad more effective so your team is better prepared for the all important first season in the EPL.