Commenting on your reserves manager

The manager of my reserves team was recently replaced. Since my reserves are in danger of relegation I decided to help morale and give him a thumbs up, commenting to the press that I was sure he was the man to keep them from relegation. As a result some first team players now have a PR reaction thinking I should not be "praising other clubs".

Hello?? It is bad enough that I have zero influence over how my reserves manager (mis-)treats my reserve players in training, whom he plays in the first 11 or who actually gets the job in the first place. But treating them as a completely different club seems a bit much.

I wasn't aware reserve teams got "relegated"

i think its in the spainish league were there "B" teams are in the same leagues as there main teams.

i think its in the spainish league were there "B" teams are in the same leagues as there main teams.

Spot on, I actually play Gijon in Spain. However, I seem to remember that the same applies for Germany, amongst others.

In the Premiership, can you fully control your reserves, i.e. the same level of control as for your u19? Can you decide on their coaches, tactics, take control of matches etc?

Spot on, I actually play Gijon in Spain. However, I seem to remember that the same applies for Germany, amongst others.

In the Premiership, can you fully control your reserves, i.e. the same level of control as for your u19? Can you decide on their coaches, tactics, take control of matches etc?

Yep. You can manage the Reseves and Under 18s if you so wish - or assign a specific member of your backroom staff to do the same. Although they do tend to use their own team selections and formations, unfortunately!

I am trying to imagine right now what Mourinho or Guardiola would say if they had zero influence on how their reserves train, play etc. I see blood, tears...

But seriously, it can't be right that the B-teams for Spain (and other countries I imagine) are treated as mere affiliates that have nothing to do with the club. In Barcelona and Madrid the B-teams form an integral part of the "cantera" ("quarry") system that are amongst the best youth-to-first team programmes in the world (Barcelona has maybe THE best program worldwide. Just have a look at the Spanish world champion team: Iniesta, Xavi, Pujol, Piqué, Fabregas, Busquets, Pedro, Valdés - off the top of my head, all products of that system). Missing any influence over the 19-23 year-olds in this integrated set-up seems crazy.

Although they do tend to use their own team selections and formations, unfortunately!

Not if you:

1. Save the tactic which you wish the reserves to use

2. Assign that tactic to the reserves

3. Check the 'use current match tactics' on team settings.

I am trying to imagine right now what Mourinho or Guardiola would say if they had zero influence on how their reserves train, play etc. I see blood, tears...

But seriously, it can't be right that the B-teams for Spain (and other countries I imagine) are treated as mere affiliates that have nothing to do with the club. In Barcelona and Madrid the B-teams form an integral part of the "cantera" ("quarry") system that are amongst the best youth-to-first team programmes in the world (Barcelona has maybe THE best program worldwide. Just have a look at the Spanish world champion team: Iniesta, Xavi, Pujol, Piqué, Fabregas, Busquets, Pedro, Valdés - off the top of my head, all products of that system). Missing any influence over the 19-23 year-olds in this integrated set-up seems crazy.

It used to be too far the other way though, and B teams were EXACTLY the same as reserve teams, except that they played in Spanish B1/2/3 etc, which unfortunately meant that if the B team won their league, they would be paid the same win bonus given to the first team.

I do agree that there should be a middle ground though

It used to be too far the other way though, and B teams were EXACTLY the same as reserve teams, except that they played in Spanish B1/2/3 etc, which unfortunately meant that if the B team won their league, they would be paid the same win bonus given to the first team.

I do agree that there should be a middle ground though

How about this:

B-teams should be treated the same as reserve teams, except:

- B-teams cannot be managed on match day

- B-teams should have their bonusses set independently from the 1st team by the board (are the reserves players in England really getting the same bonusses as the senior squad players???)

- B-team managers can decide the training schedues of the players in their squad while using the 1st team infrastructure (training facilities and coaches). I am unsure about this last point, but it seems quite realistic.

I could even see that B-team managers get a wage budget and a transfer budget at the beginning of the season decided by the chairman (or proposed by the 1st team manager?), similar to 1st team managers, and can decide within this budget to buy players. 1st team managers could

- loan players from the senior squad (within the limitations of league rules)

- Introduce a tagging option where senior managers can tag players in the B-team as "no-sells", "prioritise play time" and "no future in the A-team", amongst others. The chairman in his glory could intervene as he likes.

I think this would put the B-teams into a much more realistic framework. Surely the B-team manager has some liberties, but in the end the B team is a mean to an end, and the senior manager should be able to influence heavily how his "quarry" produces the goods.