Do you bother with a pre-season?

I usually just have a couple of games and that's it. Never like to go through more than 2 games in pre-season as I find it tedious and scared players will get injured or too tired for start of the season. I get the best fitness coaches in so no real need for too many pre-season games I reckon.

In fm 2011 I sometimes didn't even have a pre-season and just went straight into the season.

Anyone bother going on tours and having an extensive pre-season and if so does it really help anyway apart from getting players injured and tiring them out?

You are going to get your players injured and low on form a lot more ofren, then.

leave it all to the assistant

leave it all to the assistant

Yep, I do this. It saves me a lot of trouble and he's usually right.

I always have a pre-season. More strength and aerobic training, less technical as it's all about getting their fitness levels up. Also more games as I rotate my squad a lot.

Of course gets players into he stride of the formation and give me the opportunity to tinker and give my up and coming players a run out.

I find pre-season invaluable. I arrange loads of friendlies, usually against lower rep opposition, so that by the start of the season the majority of my players will be match fit and in good morale. Whenever I take a shortcut with pre-season I inevitably start the season craply.

I let the assistant control the matches though as that's just a bridge too far for me.

I arrange ~1 friendly per week in pre-season entirely for fitness & morale.

Now I dont have any games, they are always still 100% fit/condition anyway. Their 1st match is the Community Shield. I just use preseason timeframe to organise contracts and the selling/buying of players

I try to have 6 or 7 games, including 3 on a tour abroad. Always try to start and finish against weaker teams too for a morale boost.

I get as many as possible, it's all good money.

I get a good amount of friendlies and let the ass manager control them.

leave it all to the assistant

This.

He arranges the friendlies and he's in charge of them as well, I can't be bothered.

I love pre season, not sure why but picking on really crap teams, rotating players etc, I enjoy it

The most important part of the season.

They may be physically fit from regular training, but after a clsoe season off they will be lacking match practise.

Yeah i agree with leaving it to the assistant. Gives the end result quickly so you know if a new formation I'm working on is worth keeping and lets me focus on getting my new signings as well as keeping the players fit

yep, leave it to assistant manager, unless i want to play certain players, then i might take over, so i can have a good look at them, or try a new tactic.

I take pre season really serious, I make sure we play 2 -3 games for fitness 1-2 side of similar skill and 1 game quite hard.

Make sure everyplayer gets at least 45 min first few games then the starting 11 and formation start to take shape ready for the leauge.

By the end of Pre-season, my aim is to have every single player 'match fit'. Nothing worse than getting an inevitable injury a few games in and having to replace him with a guy who is "Severely lacking in match fitness".

early July - 3 games in 3 days (vs the local amateur teams)

week off (to r&r)

mid july - late july - a game every 4 days against slightly weaker opposition

early aug - quick cup comp against the heavy hitters (Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern etc)

1 game against another amateur team (to build confidence)

rest until start

reserves/u18s go out on tour to some minnow nation chosen randomly (Azerbaijan normally) for match practice

edit: so yes, i do bother with preseason

also, the assman takes over when i can't be bothered (usually after the opening 3 games, 50+ goals is enough)

I leave to the assistant. I'm too busy with contracts, transfers and scouting

I get the assistant to arrange pre-season games, and I'll leave him to play most of them as well, this is usually enough to ensure everyone gets match fit.

I do occassionaly take charge of a friendly myself if I want to have a closer look at how certain players are doing.

I usually play 4 or 5 pre-season games and no one plays more than an hour in any of them. Ill change the whole team either at half time or 60 minutes-ish.

If Im a small club they are all home games and against as big teams as possible, the bank manager loves it!

i like having a pre-season trying new tactics out and trying a few youngsters out and see if they might be good enough for the first team, and obviously getting my first team match fit

I usually always have a pre-season league tournament as its a great way of getting funds in, especially useful if you're in the lower league (£250k can pay for the season in the BSN).

I dont really like doing pre season games but i always do as it helps fitness etc...

this is way I love Pre-Season

I spend a great deal of time on pre-season, maybe too much. Dealing with tactical prep, fitness, contracts, getting rid of some young players that will neither be good enough to make the squad, or good enough to sell for a bob or two when they hit 20. I make sure reserve squad(s) are well covered in each position, I make sure they are not over-covered, so players who will probably see little game time I try to loan out. I also look to loan out promising players who hit 18, unless they are showing signs of rapid development, in which case I don't like to risk "interrupting" that. I look for feeder clubs, get mentally strong players mentoring younger ones, look for new obvious preferred moves to teach players, I try to get a good set of coaches so I am at least 3.5 stars in each coaching category, I set up my scouts to cover key areas. If I see a good player in the last year of his contract I put in a bid for him, even one I don't intend to follow through on because when he accepts your contract and not an extension, it seems the club stops othering contract extensions so you can get him for free at the end of the year. All in all, usually takes me a day IRL to get to the first game of the season, though by that time I'm extra excited.

I have enough of a pre-season to get everyone match fit and sort out any first-team selection conundrums. And get tactical familiarity up. It's a pretty important period to get me and the team ready for prime-time.

It's all about the money!

about 8-10 friendly's for me, mostly against the lower rep teams that pay me the best, to asses the full squad and to watch how youth players/new signings work in my system, and to get everyone match fit

I always have a Pre-Season; about 6+ friendlies are sufficient. It's a good way to see what your Tactic is playing like aswell as the new players' performances.

Usually, I make a friendly competition too. I'm not a huge fan of having all my games against Non-League outfit's. I much rather testing the team against respectable sides. What happens if you do beat someone like Alfreton Town 11-0, then you may have someone like Chelsea on the opening day, put a team out and get caught short due to a lack of knowledge of your players against testing teams?

Yes, but I leave control of the matches to my assistant. As Utd I usually go on Tour to the US and have a few home friendles just before the season kicks off against decent sides.

With Everton I deleted all of their pre-arranged pre season fixtures and arranged the following:-

(a) very low rep team

(a) low rep team

3 match tour of a decent country in the hope of maybe finding a decent player

(a) decent championship team or equivalent from abroad

(h) very large rep foreign opponent to also boost the bank balance

I take charge of them all and use them to take a real good look at my squad. I get to work on formations etc and always look out for a bargain signing...

pre-season is the most important time to me!

Is when we adapt the new players and we win money for the whole season! This year I've done 8 frendlies and each one gave me 20k €

for lower league clubs i set up tons of friendlies away from home against higher clubs. tons of money

By far the most important part of my entire career is the first pre-season. Forget the money; it's the time I assess my squad, decide who goes and who comes, and set up my formation and tactics that will be my template for ever more.

In FM12 in my pre-season I had 6 friendlies and didn't win any until the last one. But they set us up perfectly. As a result once the league campaign kicked off, we won our first 5 fixtures.

Having currently managing a Swedish club, I get about 80 days of non-vacation period between late Dec to March.

Need friendlies to keep players fit. lol

Dont they get a holiday lol

Dont they get a holiday lol

They don't.

And if you are in UEFA Europa or championship, there are matches in between, so they can't go on holiday.

I generally go nuts with friendly system, going on tours, having my own cup matches and stuff during that dull almost-3-month of nothing.

Thats harsh, still must be a good money making scheme if you can find clubs to play against

It's completely opposite of that insanely busy football seasons of England.

It's completely opposite of that insanely busy football seasons of England.

matches with a diference of 2 days lol

Portugal is the oasis compared with that lol

for lower league clubs i set up tons of friendlies away from home against higher clubs. tons of money

Yep. It's my favorite part of the year. Trying to get that elusive Premier League club to play can generate about 60k which is the equivalent of about 5 months wages for the whole team.

Also I like to have a big squad so I cram in about 10 friendlies if I can.

I have a couple of games in my first season and then never bother from then onwards as they are a waste of time for me. I just make sure my custom training schedules get them fit and ready.

I have a set pre-season routine that I employ every season for every edition of the game for as long as I can remember...

I arrange 6-8 games, firstly away matches against affiliated clubs, then a tour of a mid-ranking European nation, then a home friendly against the biggest club that will play me.

I choose my first XI, and a second XI on the bench (plus an extra midfielder). I play the games at full speed, commentary only and put the second XI on at half time.

The only game I take "seriously" is the final home friendly which is played a week before my first competitive match.

I have found this routine enables me to get maximum fitness for the whole first team squad, allows me to get a good look at fringe players (I also usually take over at least one reserve team match per pre-season) and bed new players in.

Yes I think Pre-Season is imperative.

I always arrange around 10 friendlies ( tour included) which is usually good for gelling squad, and getting them familar with tactics, especially if you have alot of new signings.

Then some friendlies against very low rep local teams, it generates little income, but increases everyones match fitness/practise, increases everyone morale because you should win comfortably, so your players are in tip top form. It also gives you chances to tinker with a few things and include fringe players who may not get a chance in the important league games.

Pre-season is my fave part of the game.

Although the option to holiday during the match was always good, as you could start the game with your players, deliver the team talks, make the necessary subs @ h/t then leave the assistant in charge for 2nd half, shame this facility was taken away.

Very very important in my eyes. First 10 days or so I arrange friendlies, every day, against higher league teams to earn money. Then have a 5 day break then friendlies every 3 days against low rep teams to build morale up until 9 days befroe first competitive game, then resting for those 9 days so we're ready for the big kick-off.

Preseason is my favorite part of the game. Trying to make every player 100% match fit - including reserve players, and also getting rid of some useless staff. And buying talents if I get money.