Match prep WTF moment...

So I finished my first season... it's preseason and I've got a couple new young players but no real lineup changes.

Go into match prep to look around for a sec and see all the formation training is back to nothing... REALLY?! Here I thought match prep was a nice addition but whats the point of a team completely forgetting all the training and match experience with formations?

Sure you can't have it build up and never drop or it maxes out and never has to be trained again right.

Well have it drop over the off season but don't have it reset to the starting point. Then adding new players can have an effect dropping it a portion per new player as well. But for a team that has the same lineup being awkward in all aspects of the 2 formation they used all season is just too much.

How much effect it actually has I don't know, probably not much to be honest, but it just looks really stupid and makes no sense.

Match preparation

They haven't forgotten how to play football, they've simply lost their fluidity in using the system due to a lack of match practice during the Summer.

If it didn't reset, then technically you'd be able to develop a wonder formation for every season.

Basically, use pre-season to sharpen up your match preparation for the big kick off

Happened to me too. It's actually pretty good that the players forget about the tactics, because especially after a successful season (just had a treble!) you have to change your tactics anyway to suit other teams playing more defensively.

so players IRL are so dumb that if they stopped playing for 2 months they will not know what to do in a system they played in for the last year??

come on now :|

Match preparation

They haven't forgotten how to play football, they've simply lost their fluidity in using the system due to a lack of match practice during the Summer.

If it didn't reset, then technically you'd be able to develop a wonder formation for every season.

Basically, use pre-season to sharpen up your match preparation for the big kick off

What nonsense. These arent idiots. They would remember the mental and technical aspects of their tactics. Obviously they would need to work on their physicality but the game has changed monumentally in this respect too as almost all players return to camp in shape (if they want to play).

BTW..I made two changes in my lineup off season and had no loss in fluidity.

What nonsense. These arent idiots. They would remember the mental and technical aspects of their tactics. Obviously they would need to work on their physicality but the game has changed monumentally in this respect too as almost all players return to camp in shape (if they want to play).

BTW..I made two changes in my lineup off season and had no loss in fluidity.

Everton under David Moyes have frequently went into pre-season expecting to fly at the start of the season. Due to a poor Summer playing inferior opposition, Everton have won only three games this year and hover above the relegation places despite the ambitions they hold.

This has happened regularly under David Moyes, ultimately resulting in a turnaround after Christmas which sees Everton fly up the table.

Manchester United under Alex Ferguson during the late 90's/early 00's accused of being "slow starters" in the Premier League but would fly after Christmas.

This is all because it takes several weeks and sometimes months to shake off rustiness, gel with new players and get over some potential upsets early in the season.

More examples? Liverpool take on a new manager in Roy Hodgson and, despite essentially playing the same system with a few new players, have got off to a nightmare of a start.

Put simply, match preparation refers solely to how prepared the players are for a competitive match in using a certain system, how well the players move off the ball, cover positions, make late runs etc. etc. Match prep in FM11 does not have a massive impact on gameplay so it's completely reasonable to expect that after returning from the Summer break the players need to re-adjust and get used to the quick pace of competitive football.

so players IRL are so dumb that if they stopped playing for 2 months they will not know what to do in a system they played in for the last year??

come on now :|

No, they don't "forget" the system and that's not what Match Prep is about. They simply become rusty in the intricacies within the system for fluid movement needed in an active match.

There's got to be more to it. I added no less than 7 new players to my squad before pre-season, and my match prep only went from fluid to accomplished, and only in half the categories. Although, you have to consider that in Switzerland, there doesn't seem to be an Off-season per se. From the last match of the season to the first pre-seaon friendly is only about 15-20 days or so. I like the fact though that part of the match prep you accumulate for one tactic passes on to other new tactics you may create later on, depending on how similar the two are.

There's got to be more to it. I added no less than 7 new players to my squad before pre-season, and my match prep only went from fluid to accomplished, and only in half the categories. Although, you have to consider that in Switzerland, there doesn't seem to be an Off-season per se. From the last match of the season to the first pre-seaon friendly is only about 15-20 days or so. I like the fact though that part of the match prep you accumulate for one tactic passes on to other new tactics you may create later on, depending on how similar the two are.

I've brought in new youngsters that are on the roster but the lineup is the same, no players are gone on my team. I never put enough training into it to get fluid with anything but was accomplished/competent in all areas. Everything dropped to awkward after the off season. mentality, passing, marking, closing all dropped to -0- even.

I get players getting rusty, but that's not rusty... it's more like high school rookies watching the cheerleaders.

So I finished my first season... it's preseason and I've got a couple new young players but no real lineup changes.

Go into match prep to look around for a sec and see all the formation training is back to nothing... REALLY?! Here I thought match prep was a nice addition but whats the point of a team completely forgetting all the training and match experience with formations?

Sure you can't have it build up and never drop or it maxes out and never has to be trained again right.

Well have it drop over the off season but don't have it reset to the starting point. Then adding new players can have an effect dropping it a portion per new player as well. But for a team that has the same lineup being awkward in all aspects of the 2 formation they used all season is just too much.

How much effect it actually has I don't know, probably not much to be honest, but it just looks really stupid and makes no sense.

Strange, it didnt in my second season. It dropped a few bars but nothing major. I am now 4 games into my second season and have set it to very low intensity now as it has now reached fluid in everything.

It would make sense if the bars rise fairly rapidly with pre-season friendlies. it should work like match fitness but in a team sense rather than individual.

It would make sense if the bars rise fairly rapidly with pre-season friendlies. it should work like match fitness but in a team sense rather than individual.

Yep my thoughts exactly. That's what's happened to me in-game actually; it's strange if the bars are not improving for some people in pre-season.