2010 How to create depth in your squad

[Dec]

Hey guys, I know people go on about creating a deep squad well it is quite easy.

How I am going to do this is go in steps in which you can apply to all of your games.

Formation:

Try to choose a formation which already suits the players around your team however this doesn't matter if your buying a whole new team (this is not recommended, subtle changes each season should help bolster your squad enough, while keeping the already strong players you had orginally). If you have your formation (I will use 4-4-2 as an example) then make sure it suits most of your players.

Amount of players:

I have a theory though it is based on personal preference I feel this works best.

The theory is as follows:

2n+1

N is the number of players you play and this basically means if you have 2 defenders times it by 2 (4) and add one (5). However, if you play 1 DMC and 1 AMC in MC do the technique for both of them.

I will now demonstrate for the 4-4-2 formation.

GK- 1>3

DL- 1>3

DR- 1>3

DC- 2>5

DMC- 1>3

AMC- 1>3

ML- 1>3

MR- 1>3

SC- 2>5

If you notice there are two types of SC - fast and strong. Normally you would play 1 fast and 1 strong so I would do the same as your MC meaning 6 strikers.

Amount of players:

Types of players are different, you get strict position ones and versatile ones. What you want is more versatile ones as this means they can cover more positions.

I would look at buying a DC who can play D RLC as then if needed he can slot in the other positions though this may always not be the case and if possible you should target your players for one position.

Buying:

Try and buy players who have stats all over yellow/green if in a top league, don't buy just to strengthen your starting XI but to improve your team.

If a player has all yellow/green stats he is likely to be a good cover player no matter what as he has a 'whole game'.

Youngsters:

If your team is full of youngsters then that is good, as before I only buy players with yellow/green stats as some can be amazing and picked up cheap as well. However, I normally keep them for the future as if they don't get enough games then they are unhappy.

To combat this put them on loan in the reserves so they don't clog your first team but are easier to get to.

If you think you may need them make sure they have a loan recall clause on your contract, every youngster in your reserves should be a great player already and can get better.

Training to improve players:

The training is the key to improve players when not playing (especially youngsters).

The perfect one I use is Intensive Training as it improves your players loads.

That is all you really need to create the perfect depth in your squad. This can be applied to most games and is very simple to do but works a treat.

[ArsenalFanatic]

How do i put intensive training on a certain player ?

[William]

Well you know how to set intensive training right, so just change one of the training options (eg Fitness) and put all of the training instruction onto that of intensive training.

Then when assigning training schedules to players, only set that certain play on the fitness (which will actually now have been changed to intensive) training.

[ArsenalFanatic]

ahh kk

[JDietz77]

To loan someone to your reserves - do you just put them up for loan and demote them?

[samhardy]

Demote first, then list for loan

[Ali]

Good little guide, it helped me double check I had strengthened my squad correctly.