A user guide to Seasoned Alcoholic's FM2007 Training Schedules

Intro & Download

This topic is a spin-off from this one. Download mirrors are available from these links:

Seasoned Alcoholic's Training Schedules @ FMDownloads.net

Seasoned Alcoholic's Training Schedules @ FileFront

I've built my own training schedules for earlier versions of the series, most relevantly CM4 and Season 03/04. The training systems in these games did appear daunting to those unfamiliar with how training schedules work. However, they were much more fine-tuned than the ones featured in FM2007, and specific (as well as groups of) attributes could be targeted. For example, cross country would help improve a player's stamina, and numerous cross country as well as closing down and pig-in-the-middle sessions were ideal in preparing players during pre-season.

Also, as the training schedules were split into 3 categories, namely Early Morning, Late Morning and Afternoon, players could be made to train together and individually at set times over the week. For example, I would have all my players, including goalkeepers to practice penalties on a Friday afternoon, and all players would play a practice match on a Wednesday afternoon.

Anyways, that's enough drivel about how training worked in previous versions of this game.

The training in FM2007 is somewhat more restrictive than in comparison to previous versions of the game IMO, but that doesn't stop people from getting the most out of what training has to offer. Hopefully the schedules I've built will provide a starting block for you to utilize specific training biases and their advantages. Of course, you can tweak the schedules to your own personal tastes; this is the whole point of any training schedule, as nothing is set in stone, and can be adjusted dependent upon the type of players in your squad.

The training schedules featured in the download will now be briefly outlined.

Full Time Schedules

OF Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for outfield players)

GK Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for goalkeepers)

None (for long-term injuries)

Recovery (light training for players recovering from injuries)

GK (goalkeeper bias schedule for goalkeepers)

CH Tactics (defensive / tactical bias for centre halves)

FB Tactics (defensive / tactical bias for full backs)

DM Skills (defensive / tactical bias for defensive midfielders)

CM Skills (technical bias for central midfielders)

AM Skills (attacking / technical bias for attacking midfielders)

W Skills (attacking / technical bias for wingers / wide players)

CF Shooting (attacking / shooting bias for centre forwards and strikers)

GK Fitness (physical bias for goalkeepers)

OF Fitness (physical bias for outfield players)

Part Time Schedules

OF Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for outfield players)

GK Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for goalkeepers)

None (for long-term injuries)

Recovery (light training for players recovering from injuries)

GK (goalkeeper bias schedule for goalkeepers)

CH Tactics (defensive / tactical bias for centre halves)

FB Tactics (defensive / tactical bias for full backs)

DM Skills (defensive / tactical bias for defensive midfielders)

CM Skills (technical bias for central midfielders)

AM Skills (attacking / technical bias for attacking midfielders)

W Skills (attacking / technical bias for wingers / wide players)

CF Shooting (attacking / shooting bias for centre forwards and strikers)

GK Fitness (physical bias for goalkeepers)

OF Fitness (physical bias for outfield players)

Youth Schedules

OF Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for outfield players)

GK Pre-Season (intensive pre-season training for goalkeepers)

None (for long-term injuries)

Recovery (light training for players recovering from injuries)

GK (goalkeeper bias schedule for goalkeepers)

Tactics (defensive / tactical bias for centre halves, full backs and defensive midfielders)

Skills (technical bias for central midfielders, attacking midfielders and wingers / wide players)

Shooting (attacking / shooting bias for centre forwards and strikers)

GK Fitness (physical bias for goalkeepers)

OF Fitness (physical bias for outfield players)

Further Info

The brief schedule descriptions should be self-explanatory and show you which type of players you need to assign to each schedule, essentially dependent upon position. Remember you can always retrain a player in a new position and side if you have any lack of depth in a certain position within your squad.

The youth schedules may seem fairly sparse compared to the other two types, but as youth players are still developing whilst they are training, a sense of balance has been given to encourage development in other areas. If you look at it from another angle, once a youth player is given a part or full time contract, you can 'mould' a player into a particular position after he has completed his youth development.

Hopefully the schedules will get the ball rolling for you, but remember to experiment dependent upon your squad of players and relative strengths over your rivals. Enjoy!

Excellent post.

Just 1 question though, set piece training is more outfiled players oriented than goalkeepers, so why train this?

I believe people have been crying out for this. Excellent.

Well in previous versions of the game, there were training options such as overloading - attacking, overloading - defending, crosses, set pieces and so on. Links between these training types could be established, such as if plenty of crosses were encouraged in a goalkeeper's schedule, then this may well have encouraged an improvement in his jumping, handling, anticipation and related attributes, which are important for this position. So essentially even if an element of a training schedule seemed out of place for a position (such as a high volume of set pieces for goalkeepers for example), if you look at it from a different perspective then you can see where a player's stats can be influenced and perhaps improved.

I've tried to continue this approach with the schedules provided, but as always there are other extrinsic (i.e. uncontrollable) and intrinsic (controllable) factors that influence a player's training performance.

That is what I'm talking about. Great work. I will try. Tweak & try again. Nuff Respect!

What sort of results have you had with these schedules, has it resulted in your youth players improvement being accelerated?

Hmm personally I wonder about the need to have CD's on such high setpiece training. Doesn't set piece training improve:

Corners. Crossing, freekicks etc? Wouldn't it be better to raise the attacking instead..since that attribute affects passing

Nice thread.

What's your injury frequency like during pre-season? I've been thinking about hiking up my overall intensity, and was curious...

The striker\forward schedules seems weird to me. You're totaly neglecting tactics, which improves off the ball, and you're training heavily on attacking which imo should be "replaced" by ball control or tactics. I'm also wondering if you're noticing decrease in concentration?

Continued

As to my knowledge it's pointless to add extra schedules when a player is injured, because training is adjusted automaticly to it.

About conceantrion: Do you guys agree that concentration shouldn't be affected by training? I think it should be a kind of a "natural" stat which is only affected by match practice. Also, do you think it affects strikers when finishing? (I know it matters alot in real life football, but i'm thinking in FM therms) I've always been afraid to put defensive training too much down because of this

I was under the impression that composure related to strkers, whereas concentration was more defensive.

Concentration does effect strikers yes.

Most of the mental stats are only changed due to age rather than through training.Although training can change them slightly, its rare you will see a big improvement. This happens with age etc.

I would imagine composure, first touch and finishing are three of the most key stats for a striker.

Originally posted by Asmodeus:

I was under the impression that composure related to strkers, whereas concentration was more defensive.

Think of them as first touch and control, if that makes sense?

Originally posted by El Padre:

I would imagine composure, first touch and finishing are three of the most key stats for a striker.

Aye id say that, although concentration is a nice bonus to have.

Anticipation and concentration I think are ideal for a target man rather than a nippy striker. Its all about what kind of player your front man is.

Originally posted by Cleon:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Asmodeus:

I was under the impression that composure related to strkers, whereas concentration was more defensive.

Think of them as first touch and control, if that makes sense? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In that they're useful irrespective of position?

Originally posted by Asmodeus:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Cleon:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Asmodeus:

I was under the impression that composure related to strkers, whereas concentration was more defensive.

Think of them as first touch and control, if that makes sense? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In that they're useful irrespective of position? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah

In fact let me explain a little better of what I think Concentration is.

Btw i love discussions like this that happen naturally

Concentration is a stat that doesn't effect defence/attacking solely. In fact id go as far as saying it doesn't effect other stats. By this I mean, its more of a stats that determines how focused a player is over the duaration of the full 90 minutes.

So in the last few minutes of a game, if you have low concentration players at the back, then you tend to conceed a few late goals because they lack the full concentration. This is more noticeable than the attacking one below. So this is why people think its only a defensive stats

At the other end, a striker misses a chance in the last minute you automatically assume it is his composure or finishing what let him down. This could be the case, but more often than not its a concentration issue.

Thats what I think anyways

Do we have an attribute meaning discussion thread?

Originally posted by Asmodeus:

Do we have an attribute meaning discussion thread?

Thats not a bad idea tbh

What players go into the OF schdule, also would wingbacks go into the W? Thanks!

Originally posted by paz:

What sort of results have you had with these schedules, has it resulted in your youth players improvement being accelerated?

I tend to manage teams in the lower leagues tbh, but am currently playing FM2007 with Nuneaton, and they start with a youth academy (although it is basic). The auto-gen players from the first season were nothing special tbh, but several of the youth squad’s players stats did improve significantly. They improved to such an extent that their stats improvements were noticeable (many sharp and steady green arrows on a regular basis), and I moved selected youth players into my first team squad.

Some of these youth players have now replaced the original first team regulars, who are now rotting in the reserves

Originally posted by rashidi1:

Hmm personally I wonder about the need to have CD's on such high setpiece training. Doesn't set piece training improve:

Corners. Crossing, freekicks etc? Wouldn't it be better to raise the attacking instead..since that attribute affects passing

The way I see it is that its not only attacking players who are involved in the set piece training, but also the defenders and goalkeepers. Training is more realistic for a set piece taker when he is confronted by a backline and a goalkeeper, rather than kicking the ball into an empty net. Therefore, hopefully this may encourage other, less obvious improvements for other positions.

I don’t see training schedule elements as ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ for specific player categories, since in previous versions of the game certain players were affected both directly and indirectly. This is mentioned in the example above with goalkeepers and crosses in their training schedules.

Originally posted by Asmodeus:

Nice thread.

What's your injury frequency like during pre-season? I've been thinking about hiking up my overall intensity, and was curious...

A mixture tbh. One season only a couple of players picked injuries, whereas in a more recent season several players from multiple squads picked up injuries. Very Heavy intensity will probably encourage the chance of injuries occurring in training if not during a match, its a risk I’m always willing to take.

Originally posted by Landsverk:

The striker\forward schedules seems weird to me. You're totaly neglecting tactics, which improves off the ball, and you're training heavily on attacking which imo should be "replaced" by ball control or tactics. I'm also wondering if you're noticing decrease in concentration?

Yeah, this schedule was hard to devise because of the importance of several training elements. Strikers do need the mental (tactical) input in training as this area relates directly to their technical abilities.

The well-used example is that of a striker with excellent finishing attributes, but poor anticipation and off the ball attributes. If he can’t get in attacking positions to create opportunities for himself, then his finishing attributes are worthless.

As mentioned, the schedules are merely a guideline, feel free to make your own fine-tuning to them depending upon the quality of the players in your squad.

Originally posted by fatman311:

What players go into the OF schdule, also would wingbacks go into the W? Thanks!

OF stands for outfield, GK for goalkeepers etc. If your wingbacks are more attack-minded, try them in the W Skills (winger / wide player) training schedule. Otherwise, if they excel at defensive responsibilities, try them in the FB tactics (full back) training schedule.

The way I see it is that its not only attacking players who are involved in the set piece training, but also the defenders and goalkeepers. Training is more realistic for a set piece taker when he is confronted by a backline and a goalkeeper, rather than kicking the ball into an empty net. Therefore, hopefully this may encourage other, less obvious improvements for other positions.

Unfortunatley FM isn't that advanced yet on that front.

I agree- I look on the training as simply a literal method of raising attributes- nothing more.

Very good thread and a lot of great pointers.

Originally posted by Asmodeus:

I agree- I look on the training as simply a literal method of raising attributes- nothing more.

Aye.

I saw a post by PaulC a while back and he said something along the lines of; the training would advance at some point and it will matter if your keepers do set piece training etc. But atm the game isnt at a point where this can be achieved. But its something for the future.

Originally posted by Cleon:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Asmodeus:

I agree- I look on the training as simply a literal method of raising attributes- nothing more.

Aye.

I saw a post by PaulC a while back and he said something along the lines of; the training would advance at some point and it will matter if your keepers do set piece training etc. But atm the game isnt at a point where this can be achieved. But its something for the future. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

My schedules have been influenced by the vast research of Lyssien for earlier versions of the game (CM4, Season 03/04). Its a shame that training has been downgraded from how it was, you could fine-tune a players' training per week and really reap the benefits.

Originally posted by Landsverk:

The striker\forward schedules seems weird to me. You're totaly neglecting tactics, which improves off the ball, and you're training heavily on attacking which imo should be "replaced" by ball control or tactics. I'm also wondering if you're noticing decrease in concentration?

I've just built an alternate schedule for centre forwards / strikers:

Basically sacrificed strength, aerobic and attacking training for more focus on tactical and ball control elements.

can someone tell me what outfield players are? i dont understand it

Originally posted by Showb1z:

can someone tell me what outfield players are? i dont understand it

outfield players are players apart from the goalkeeper

Fitness

how to use the Fitness training? and when?

If a player has been injured, what is the process for training?

none, light, then fitness one or just switching to the previous one?

many 3x

I just stick my players to normal schedules straight away after injuries. Basicly if a player has been out 5 months, then some part of that was rehab training, meaning he is 100% healthy now, and just needs to work on his fitness. I haven't done any real testing on this, but I've noticed no differences between putting a player in a light schedule when he has the orange injury icon (i.e back in training after an injury) or just keeping him on his normal positional schedule.

As for my general training approach, I make a few schedules (GK, DC, Fullbacks, DM/MCd, AM/MCa, Wingers, Strikers) and just stick my players in there. If I come across special players with extremely good technical stats but poor physical, or vice versa, I make a special schedule. Likewise with working on stamina/pace /acceleration of older players on occasion, but those are exceptions.

Great post. That's what I usually use (not bragging). At strikers though, more on attacking I think.

tactics , ball control and shooting high everything else medium should be enough to get you through the season. ensure that the reserves and under 18s are using the same tactics as the first team. my match tactics always have played down both flanks with two quick wingers who cross well ( lennon and barnetta ) and a defense that does not get changed too often.

Robinson

Ifil

Marcello

King /Dervitte ( he is proper quick when given a run the mistakes stop and he is solid )

Metzelder / Dawson

Huddlestone /Schmoller

Jenas / Bueno

Lennon

Barnetta / Ben Arfa

Berbatov / Defoe / Dos Santos

Mido / Higuain

Believe me this team is solid and after three years now their passing is super slick.

great post. will the downloaded .tsh files be compatable on a mac?

these tactics seem heavy on fitness (str and aerobic), is this better in the long run? theres another training thread that suggests having high for the important areas specific to position. If thats the case then there wouldnt be so much fitness training.

Almost all other trainings up for download have much lower fitness training, care to shed some light? if in the long run these are better then i;ll use these. I am aware that attributes not related to str and aerobic increase as player reaches peak.

i'm finding this training regime based heavily around the physical side... i have used this for 2 months and my player's physical ability have risen through the ranks however, im alittle concerned with their technical and tactical ability which seems to drop... im not sure if this is the desired effect of your regime, but as nic9394 has said, im alittle unused due to the fact that most other training regimes are based more heavily around technical ability than physical

also likewise to lathund, my approach to training's usually for postional training i.e. GK, FB, DC, DMC, AMC, WRL, FC etc. although recently i have been using Cleon's training schedules (in a recent post)

seems like all players EXCEPT wingers focus heavily on crossing :/

apart from that these are very good, especially the idea of heavy training before the season, which i never thought of

after further testing, i think these schedules suck as most of my players are unhappy with the workload and as a result have dropped dramatically in stats.

Where do i actually put the files mate?

Has anyone else noticed their two wingers swapping sides? I've noticed a few times Giggs (ML) and Ronaldo (MR) will swap over. From what I can see this isn't in the tactics, i.e. the swap sides setting.

They are on the right sides when the game starts but if I check the tactics in the game they've swapped sides. I can understand in real life they might do this, but only "unofficially" not permanently.

Originally posted by Underz:

Where do i actually put the files mate?

Look in your My Documents folder. You should find a folder called 'Sports Interactive'. Open that up and you should get another folder called Football Manager 2007, in there should be another folder called 'tactics'. If there isn't, go to FM07's tactic page and click Tactics button, then the Edit tactics button. When the window loads, click on the Import button. That should create the 'tactics' folder for you. Place the tactic files in that folder and then when you import them in FM07 you should see the tactics there.

Disregard my tactics question, thought I was in the tactics thread. Sorry.

Sorry for the late responses, been busy lately.

Originally posted by samw1985:

great post. will the downloaded .tsh files be compatable on a mac?

Sorry mate, I have no idea since I've never owned a Mac.

Originally posted by alantas:

i'm finding this training regime based heavily around the physical side... i have used this for 2 months and my player's physical ability have risen through the ranks however, im alittle concerned with their technical and tactical ability which seems to drop... im not sure if this is the desired effect of your regime, but as nic9394 has said, im alittle unused due to the fact that most other training regimes are based more heavily around technical ability than physical

also likewise to lathund, my approach to training's usually for postional training i.e. GK, FB, DC, DMC, AMC, WRL, FC etc. although recently i have been using Cleon's training schedules (in a recent post)

As mentioned ealier, I tend to manage teams in the English lower leagues. The schedules may appear to be biased towards physical development - this is in relation to the nature of the league. If it were an alternative league, such as Serie A for example, a greater emphasis would be required on technical abilities rather than physical development. Also, the schedules have been designed with the lower leagues in mind. Feel free to experiment and tweak schedules to your own perosnal needs, EG you're managing a team in the English Premier. Remember that none of these schedules are set in stone - they are merely stepping stones for you to modify to your own extent

Originally posted by roblfc:

seems like all players EXCEPT wingers focus heavily on crossing :/

apart from that these are very good, especially the idea of heavy training before the season, which i never thought of

In previous versions of this game, specific Crossing training could be allocated to wingers and other players. There are noticable limitations with the current training schedules in FM2007 compared to say CM Season 03/04; essentially specific training such as crossing cannot be focused on as accurately as was once possible.

Originally posted by roblfc:

after further testing, i think these schedules suck as most of my players are unhappy with the workload and as a result have dropped dramatically in stats.

As mentioned earlier, I've never had any of my players complain about the intensity of their training schedules, even though they're unhappy with the existing workload. For me fitter players > unfitter players, regardless of the attitude towards the schedule.

Originally posted by siemens_wolf:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Fitness

how to use the Fitness training? and when?

If a player has been injured, what is the process for training?

none, light, then fitness one or just switching to the previous one?

many 3x </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry I missed this earlier.

The fitness-bias schedule has been designed for those players with poorer physical stats, but as with any training schedule, if you look at it from another angle, you can usually spot another potential benefit for its usage, dependent upon the player in question.

For example, you may wish to improve a technically gifted player's physical side, basically unlocking an area that at first glance may have been impossible to target. EG, improve a players' jumping, stamina, acceleration, pace, natural fitness, strength, balance, agility and so on.

The downside to using the fitness schedule on a technically gifted player is that his technical ability will probably suffer as a result. Perhaps once the player has reached the physical level you want from him, switch him back to a more technically biased schedule. Alternatively, create a hybrid schedule that contains bias towards technical ability and physical improvement to encourage / maintain physical development.

Another example is to improve an already physical fit player. Perhaps you'd like to improve the acceleration, pace and so on of one of your wingers / full backs / wing backs. How could a player who is electrifyingly quick ever be caught? How could he be marked in the first place? Maybe a player with explosive pace and acceleration could be used to exploit potential weaknesses in an upcoming opponent's defence?

Ideally the fitness schedule is there as a short-term measure. Using it for extensive periods is probably unwise due to the risk placed upon the player sustaining some type of injury through physically biased fitness training.

As to players returning from injuries, yeah as you say, move them from None to Recovery to the schedule you want them to utilize.

Originally posted by Cleon:

In fact let me explain a little better of what I think Concentration is.

Btw i love discussions like this that happen naturally

Concentration is a stat that doesn't effect defence/attacking solely. In fact id go as far as saying it doesn't effect other stats. By this I mean, its more of a stats that determines how focused a player is over the duaration of the full 90 minutes.

So in the last few minutes of a game, if you have low concentration players at the back, then you tend to conceed a few late goals because they lack the full concentration. This is more noticeable than the attacking one below. So this is why people think its only a defensive stats

At the other end, a striker misses a chance in the last minute you automatically assume it is his composure or finishing what let him down. This could be the case, but more often than not its a concentration issue.

Thats what I think anyways

I like the way you've illustrated concentration, it does get you thinking about how it affects a player's performance during matches.

Do you think that concentration has some influence over a player's decision making? A player that can concentrate on the game (as well as his own game, his role in the team etc) will probably be able to read the game more, hence he should be able to make more accurate judgements and decisions.

Also, do you believe that a player's personality influences his concentration?

Ive just started my third season with the training schedules that have been posted, but ive noticed that my players are getting injured alot more, like two to three players every match, Im only doing the skills training not the fitness, would that be the reason? Thank You.

I'm currently in my 3rd season as well, and like yourself, my squad has been ravaged by injuries. In some cases, after a player has been put back on exactly the same schedule as he was on before the injury, he has recurred the same injury. In the physio report, there are hints to put such a player on a different schedule.

My squad is only small, so I notice injuries to important players. However, since I have several versatile players in the squad, I do rotate their schedules when switching their playing positions round before matchday. This may lead to the above example of recurring injuries for certain positions, s'pose it depends on whether a player is comfortable training in a certain position, the intensity of the schedule, whether any positional retraining is required in parallel with the new training schedule and so on.

I put the downloaded file in the tactics file, but when i try to import them in the game i cant find them?

I´ve put them in other maps aswell but i just cant seem to import them. Their just not there...

Can some one please help me?

Originally posted by hidenakata:

I put the downloaded file in the tactics file, but when i try to import them in the game i cant find them?

I´ve put them in other maps aswell but i just cant seem to import them. Their just not there...

Can some one please help me?

Its a zip file yes? Extract the contents of it with Winzip Or WinRar Or 7Zip into the tactics folder and you should then be able to see the files.