Main Functions of both the reserve and u18s squads?

Obviously the 1st team is where the important stuff happens, where you actually care about the results. But what about the u18 and reserve squads?

1. Shoulder the reserve squad be primilarly for getting unused 1st team players match fitness when they aren't playing the 1st team games and for getting injured players fitness back? What's it's others functions?

2. What about the under 18s? Most teams have more than 11 youth players and so not all of these players will be getting played. Is it best to keep under 15 players in the under 18s, and as soon as they become 17 give them a fulltiem contract and promote them to reserve/1st team depending on their ability before keeping the there or sending on loan?

3. Is it a good policy to send any players who are out injured/with illness for more than 2 weeks into the reserves, so I can build them back up from there?

i use the reserves for players that have no future at the club but are on low wages between 1-3k a week, and players that have been out for over a month go to the res to get a few games before playing in big games again the under 18s in the future team i track results and even watch a few games a year winning here is what its all about winning games keep moral up that help development, thats how i see it anyway

I always set the u18s to be available for the reserve team to let them get even more game time, as I have no true reserve players, they are a waste of space and money. You sometimes get a few players with 60+ games a season, even though it's against poor opposition, it's a lot of game time, especially if you do this over a few years.

With regards to what function reserves and youth teams offer a good read is a Guide To Developing Youngsters by SFraser, I found it really good in how to set up my team. Obviously everyone has their own opinion. The guide was made for FM10 but can be used for FM11 only difference is the Cap on Tutoring which wasn't in FM10 but is in FM11

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/262465-A-Guide-to-Developing-Youngsters?highlight=guide+developing+youngsters

I always set the u18s to be available for the reserve team to let them get even more game time, as I have no true reserve players, they are a waste of space and money. You sometimes get a few players with 60+ games a season, even though it's against poor opposition, it's a lot of game time, especially if you do this over a few years.

You don't have to make U18s available for Reserves they will be picked anyway. Do you find these 60+ game youngsters progress well given the recovery time available to them?

I use the Reserves for returning first-teamers, no-hopers who make up bodies in the Reserves (rather than burning out my entire Under-18s by playing them in two teams, often with inconveniently-arranged combined fixtures), and the best Under-18s. And a backup goalkeeper, usually second-choice but sometimes third-choice (usually, my third-choice goalkeeper is a youngster, unless I have notoriously injury-prone goalkeepers, as I have had on many occasions).

The thing is I want to beable to pick the team every time they play for both U18s and Reserves so I can use the best youth players in the U18 games, and then the best U18s in the reserve games aswell as any 1st teamers who need, and and then maybe a few reserve players to fill the lineup. But teh only way I know I can do this is to anage teh 1st team, reserve and u18s which involves watching the games etc. wich takes far too long. How do I go about doing this w/o having to manage them?

U-18 - recentley promoted regens

Reserves - older regens who could be decent prospects

Dead Wood - sold

Go into your team setting and click Take Control for the Reserves and U18s

Go into your team setting and click Take Control for the Reserves and U18s

Is it possible to control them without having to watch their games?

Come FM12 my 'reserve' squad will become the development squad.

I use the reserves to keep my backup players fit when they don't get enough time in the first team, i seldom put anyone in the reserves but make the players available for reserve games. If I recieve a longer injury that forces me to play a backup player for awhile I just untick the availabe for reserves but usually got a decently fit player to play in the first team. Youth team I use for developing my youngsters, I usually don't give them first team football or loaning them out untill they are 18-19 years old except if I really have to.

Is it possible to pick the exact lineup you want for U18 and reserve games without having to watch the games? And if not, what's the best way to manage all 3 squads.

Is it possible to pick the exact lineup you want for U18 and reserve games without having to watch the games? And if not, what's the best way to manage all 3 squads.

In FM09 you could pick the team and tactics and the assman/coach would use your selection, this no longer works in FM11, sadly.. I've tested it to see and, although my assistant went with ten of my line-up, he did change one of them and all of the subs... the flippin' idiot!

Suarez, One thing I would suggest is to play your best youngsters in the U18s Cup as success in this seems to promote good devlopment.

EDIT: Lazaru5, hopefully this will be rectified in FM12.

In FM09 you could pick the team and tactics and the assman/coach would use your selection, this no longer works in FM11, sadly.. I've tested it to see and, although my assistant went with ten of my line-up, he did change one of them and all of the subs... the flippin' idiot!

How do you pick the tactics and the team on fm09. Can you do it for both reserve and u18s.

How do you pick the tactics and the team on fm09. Can you do it for both reserve and u18s.

IIRC then you can do it for both, yes... basically "use current first team match tactics" in team settings to make them use your tactics, change them in the reserves/kids tactics screen to the same as the first-team then just pick your team as normal, your assistant/coach will pick the same team and tactics... (dunno about the U18's tbf, I had a very good youth team manager who had great success with them. I think they went something like 36 matches unbeaten in the u19's cup (as it was), and they regularly had unbeaten seasons in the youth leagues... Arsenal eventually nicked the coach off me

It also depends what league you guys play, By the sounds of it, you are playing in England, In spain the B team (or reserves) play in the lower leagues, hugely effective to give your 19-20 year olds some game time before you move them into backup roles.

In EPL I just used the Reserve team as a "recycle bin" for surplus backups and youngsters too old for the U19 but not good enough for the senior team.

In Spain and Norway the Reserve team is much more useful, as it's part of the actual football pyramid, so competitive football, albeit at a lower level, is still better than youth competition or of a glorified "losers' league"

So many decent prospect can eventually benefit of a season or two in the B team, even if it's just a way to showcase them and to attract potential buyers.

However if a player isn't good enough at 19 it doesn't really matter what you do with him... be it reserve team, loan out or a backup spot, he'll never turn into a superstar.

Unfortunately under the current development system, a great portion of the tutoring/nurturing debate is moot anyway

The thing is, I know what I want the function of my U18's, Reserve and 1st Team Squads to be, I just don't know how I am able to get full control over them in this game. I'm currently on FM10.

Under 18's: I want to use this for the best <17 Year Old's I have, with the few odd 18 Year Old's that I am likely to ship out once they become to old. Any new talent brought into the club who are Under 17 will go straight here. Any 18 Year Old I buy will NOT go on here, because the U18's will only have deadwood 18 Year Old's in it. For every U18's fixture I play I want to be playing the best U18's I have in the squad, barring any injuries to the best youths.

Reserve Squad: The players in here will all be 18-21 Years Old. No exceptions. There will a few filler players to fill the reserve line-up out if required, but it will really only consist of the 2nd best 18-21 Year Olds. The 1st team will have a few 18-21 Year Olds, who I think are good enough to play there, but the reserve squad will be the rest those in the 18-21 bracket who I don't feel ready to play in the 1st team, but still have a chance to develop into good players. Some will be loaned out. The only other function I want of this is to for players who have just returned from a 3 Week+ injury and need gametime to get back to full fitness, but who have no intention of playing any other games there.

1st Team Squad: This will obviously be the place where I keep all my best 21> players. Any player over 21 in any squad who I don't think has a future will be shipped out. This will mostly made up of players who are 21 and over, while the rest will be made up of the best 18-21 Year Old's in the club, with the intention of loaning some out. There may be an odd exception the rule where I have a sublime 17 year old who is good enough to get 20+ starts in the league, but usually this won't be the case.

So I have my intention's set, but I don't know how I go about doing this in the game. I want to be able to select the line-ups for all three squads, w/o having to watch the games of U18's and Reserves. The U18 squad players will play in the youth games, and only the youth games. None of them will be played in the reserve fixtures. I want to be able to select the reserve squad to pick any players in the 1st team needing fitness after an injury, and then filling it out with the remaining best 18-21 Year Olds at the club.

How do I acheive my goal?

The thing is, I know what I want the function of my U18's, Reserve and 1st Team Squads to be, I just don't know how I am able to get full control over them in this game. I'm currently on FM10.

Under 18's: I want to use this for the best <17 Year Old's I have, with the few odd 18 Year Old's that I am likely to ship out once they become to old. Any new talent brought into the club who are Under 17 will go straight here. Any 18 Year Old I buy will NOT go on here, because the U18's will only have deadwood 18 Year Old's in it. For every U18's fixture I play I want to be playing the best U18's I have in the squad, barring any injuries to the best youths.

Reserve Squad: The players in here will all be 18-21 Years Old. No exceptions. There will a few filler players to fill the reserve line-up out if required, but it will really only consist of the 2nd best 18-21 Year Olds. The 1st team will have a few 18-21 Year Olds, who I think are good enough to play there, but the reserve squad will be the rest those in the 18-21 bracket who I don't feel ready to play in the 1st team, but still have a chance to develop into good players. Some will be loaned out. The only other function I want of this is to for players who have just returned from a 3 Week+ injury and need gametime to get back to full fitness, but who have no intention of playing any other games there.

1st Team Squad: This will obviously be the place where I keep all my best 21> players. Any player over 21 in any squad who I don't think has a future will be shipped out. This will mostly made up of players who are 21 and over, while the rest will be made up of the best 18-21 Year Old's in the club, with the intention of loaning some out. There may be an odd exception the rule where I have a sublime 17 year old who is good enough to get 20+ starts in the league, but usually this won't be the case.

So I have my intention's set, but I don't know how I go about doing this in the game. I want to be able to select the line-ups for all three squads, w/o having to watch the games of U18's and Reserves. The U18 squad players will play in the youth games, and only the youth games. None of them will be played in the reserve fixtures. I want to be able to select the reserve squad to pick any players in the 1st team needing fitness after an injury, and then filling it out with the remaining best 18-21 Year Olds at the club.

How do I acheive my goal?

Can anyone help me?

Go on holiday for one day whenever a reserve or u18 fixture is played should do it...

1st Team - Includes my starting 11 with a back up player for each postion. The 2nd 11 are made up of young talents 16-21 who will at some stage i intend to replace the starting player in his postion. Will also have players who were in the young talents group who have not replaced the starting player but i've not found a young player to train in that postion. All the 2nd string will be available for the reserve team. If i have a under 18 who looks to be a future world class player i will have him on the bench ahead of an older player so i can bring him on for 15-20mins every game and start maybe 10 a season.

Reserve team - I loan out any 18yo who's not in my 1st team and sell any 19yo who again is not in the 1st team. Noramlly only have 3-4 players in this team who i could not find loans for. Add to that the 11 back up players from the 1st team.

Under 18 - Players 17yo or under. Have about 15-20 in this team and will loan a few 17yo who i can send to a good team and will play alot. Don't noramlly get much from here because if i felt they were going to turn out good i would have them in the 1st team.

1st Team - Includes my starting 11 with a back up player for each postion. The 2nd 11 are made up of young talents 16-21 who will at some stage i intend to replace the starting player in his postion. Will also have players who were in the young talents group who have not replaced the starting player but i've not found a young player to train in that postion. All the 2nd string will be available for the reserve team. If i have a under 18 who looks to be a future world class player i will have him on the bench ahead of an older player so i can bring him on for 15-20mins every game and start maybe 10 a season.

Reserve team - I loan out any 18yo who's not in my 1st team and sell any 19yo who again is not in the 1st team. Noramlly only have 3-4 players in this team who i could not find loans for. Add to that the 11 back up players from the 1st team.

Under 18 - Players 17yo or under. Have about 15-20 in this team and will loan a few 17yo who i can send to a good team and will play alot. Don't noramlly get much from here because if i felt they were going to turn out good i would have them in the 1st team.

What my question is how do I get control ove hte line-up and tactics of the u18s and reserves w/o having to watch their games?

Previously I had the tactics set for U18s and Reserves and I put the team settings to 'Use Current Match Tactics' for both, yet they still ended up playing a flat 442 every game.

I decided to set it to control team in team settings, and they used my tactis and lineup that I wanted, but I don't want to haev to holiday at all.

Can anyone help me?

There is away of setting the team you want then holidaying at a certain point before the match. I never holiday so I don't know when that is, but somebody will hopefully help you out soon.

One thing I do is move any U18 players who might get picked by my Youth team manager, ahead of the guy I want, into the reserves for the day of U18 cup matches.

There is away of setting the team you want then holidaying at a certain point before the match. I never holiday so I don't know when that is, but somebody will hopefully help you out soon.

One thing I do is move any U18 players who might get picked by my Youth team manager, ahead of the guy I want, into the reserves for the day of U18 cup matches.

I think I've just decided to take full control of the club.

I imagine in real life the manager watches reserve games and youth games anyway?

It should give me better knowledge of my players. I'll just have to hope one day that options become better so I don't have to watch the matches, but I'm still able to pick tactics/lineups/formations.

I'm not sure holidaying through the matchdays will solve the issue...

Even with the "use current tactic/lineup when possible" option, I'm half-positive the AI will somewhat change things here and there... if anything, the substitutions will be made according to their (poor) judgement...

I suppose the least time-consuming way is to watch the reserve/U18 games in Commentary Only mode on max speed...

P.S. one more reason for the "Result Only" button!!!

I get my U18's on the same match tactics as my first team and develop them to my current style of play. I have detailed training schedules that reflect my style of play and formation. I get rid of all my reserves and don't even bother entering the league. If I need fitness for players that aren't getting games or coming back from injury I just organize friendlies. Also I try and keep my U18's squad to a minimum, I build teams for the future, not for selling them and making money. So chances are if you're in my U18's, in a few years they'll be playing in my first team.

I use the reserve squad to stop my first team squad being clogged up with players.

I use the reserve squad to stop my first team squad being clogged up with players.

buy/sign less players

There is no way of forcing the assistant/coach to pick certain players in FM11. He doesn't pay attention to those things at all, so ticking the "use current selection if possible" box and holidaying does nothing. This is why I arrange 10+ friendly matches during pre-season; it is not only the first team squad that the assistant wants to give match fitness - it is the whole club including youth! Outside playing all of these completely irrelevant fixtures yourself, arranging extreme amounts of friendlies is the only way of ensuring that your whole 1st team squad is match fit in time for the season.

There is no reason having players in the reserve team at all. It is for 1st teamers to get match fitness and youth players to play more than 20 matches a season (which will ensure that most of them will remain in "lacking match fitness" territory - so I wouldn't move the most promising youngsters to the Reserves even though this is how it should be when thinking realism). If you have players in there that have no future at the club, they are taking up valuable slots for more important players and therefore I only use it to store players who are on their way out.

Unless your B-team actually plays football in a loaded league putting promising youngsters there are sure-fire career enders. This is because in Spain you don't control the B-team at all! They are to be considered an affiliated club with its own staff and training facilities. This is from experience with Las Palmas, whose B-team plays in 3rd division and don't get promoted. It may be different at other clubs (at least it looks like it might be).

It may have changed in FM11, but I have read several posts which stated that you can choose your U18/Reserve team and it will be kept if you go on holiday at a certain point just before the kick off. I don't remember what that point is, I never holiday and didn't try it out myself.

i dont use Reserve fixtures/league, but U18's i do, also i used some training schedules and my players have improved, gunna try and win the league with players from the academy

I think I've just decided to take full control of the club.

I imagine in real life the manager watches reserve games and youth games anyway?

It should give me better knowledge of my players. I'll just have to hope one day that options become better so I don't have to watch the matches, but I'm still able to pick tactics/lineups/formations.

In case you change your mind:

What is the work around? This has bugged me for ages when I holiday the last two games in a season or whatever

Pick your team. Progress to the pre-match screens. THEN go on holiday.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/272596-Improvement-to-Holiday-Mode POST #8

buy/sign less players

That's me told

I like working with a squad of 20-25, but I don't like having players who aren't in the matchday squad on the screen, especially if it means scrolling.

I look to run with 50 players - 25 in the senior squad for reqistration purposes and 25 in my U18s - majority of my 18 yr olds will be out on loan until they are ready to take the place of aging players, well thats the general plan anyway