Re-training players

Hi guys,

Has anyone ever trained someone into a new position and had them become natural at it?

Is it even possible? and does it make a diffenerence to a players performance during a match? For example, would a player classed as 'accomplished' in a position ever get a 10 match rating? or is it written in that they will always be a few % down on average compared to someone of similiar ability who was 'natural' in that position?

No I don't think they can become Natural from training. It actually doesn't make sense if you think about it, you are natural on something...by nature, not training.

i could swear this happened to me on FM14, a youth player who was natural Wingback and competent Left Back. I trained and played him as a Left Back and he became natural at some point.

They can and will become natural. There is no artificial limit on player performance if they're not fully accustomed to a position, but there will be an effect on their decision making. Personally I find it more risky to play defenders out of position, attacking players usually do just fine.

I honestly thought (and still think tbh since I've never seen the opposite) that they reach only Accomplished through training.

I honestly thought (and still think tbh since I've never seen the opposite) that they reach only Accomplished through training.

You're wrong. Even currently I have a player in my squad who is now natural in a position he was completely unfamiliar with in the beginning (RB).

You can check him out in your game if you don't believe me. He was a DC/DM at first.

I thought it was possible in previous versions but couldnt be sure.

You think the quality of coaches and training setup etc has an affect?

I thought it was possible in previous versions but couldnt be sure.

You think the quality of coaches and traing setup etc has an affect?

Wouldn't know for sure, but I don't think so. The one thing that majorly affects this is a players hidden versatility attribute. But even if they're not versatile they'll still get there in the end in my experience. It'll just take a lot of time.

Oh and you should always play the players in the position you're training them in, even if they're still unfamiliar. It'll go a lot quicker that way.

Cheers, I'm trying to avoid spending what little money i have on a new LB, when ive got a DM who has potentially great stats to be a great LB

I've no reason to not believe you, just never happened for me.

Depends on the player, some take a few months to become natural and others a couple of seasons. But I assure you I do it all the time and have at least 6 in my first team squad.

100% sure you can, I do it quite regularly. They will improve much quicker and become natural if you are playing them in their new position as well as training them, I'm not sure they will ever hit natural if they aren't playing regularly there though.

Do it all the time, often it's the only way to get the best out of a player.

I've already retrained two players to be natural at their new positions, one couldn't even play there originally. So yes, it can be done.

same here for a couple of my players as well, who are now natural in their position.

One of my greatest ever players was a DM retrained as an AML at age 19 (already in the first team since 17) and then won World Player of the Year I think maybe 4 times? Possibly more.. Its worth it!!!

Definitely possible, and well worth doing if you struggle to keep a large squad happy. Having a smaller squad packed with players who are comfortable in multiple positions is a great way of ensuring you have a small but happy camp of players who all get regular action. In my current Spurs side I'm training Bentaleb to be a left back, Dier to be a right back, Lamela to be a deep-lying striker, Eriksen to be a centre mid and Chadli to be a striker. They won't all come off, but even if they never become completely comfortable in those positions, they'll still be better options than they would have been without the training.

Yes, you absolutely can retrain a player to be natural in a new position. Although if you stop training them in that position and also stop playing them in that position, they will regress back to the level they previously were before the retraining started. Granted that second part might have been changed but it was true as of FM12. I'd retrained a left winger to play left fullback from scratch, gotten him to be a natural, but when I sold him and his new team never used him at left back, he completely lost the ability to play there.

Personally I find it more risky to play defenders out of position, attacking players usually do just fine.

I once read many versions ago (but I suspect it's still true) that playing out of position gives a penalty to Positioning and Decisions. Positioning is primarily a defensive attribute and I think Decisions is mainly used for choosing a pass. Therefore it would make sense if defenders and playmakers were more affected by being played out of position than attacking players.

cheers chaps

Certainly possible. I chop and change my tactics all the time and my poor players have to be retrained pretty much every season

Currently working on getting an AMC player to be natural as a buccaneering wing back, and he's well on his way.

I think you might even be able to re-train players only through matches, if you so choose. Not sure why you'd bother as re-training them on the training field will speed up the process, but I've noticed players at CPU clubs playing out of position to suit a system (for example an AMC playing as an MC because the formation used doesn't include an AMC) and they've quickly taken it on as a natural position. I imagine the AI isn't advanced enough to tell the CPU manager to re-train the player in training - although I could be wrong on that - which would mean that they've taken on the position purely through playing there in games.

AI re-trains position very regularly, possible too much.

AI re-trains position very regularly, possible too much.

Ah right, didn't realise that. How can you check? Or do you know this from your work as a researcher?

AI re-trains position very regularly, possible too much.

Dortmund lifted the Bundesliga twice in a row with Piszczek up front in my save. I have no idea how adept at the position he is in the starting database, but that's pretty much the only position they were using him in.

I wouldn't say that it's over the top overall from what I've seen though. I guess that's one for the dev's soak tests to answer though.

Once saw Chelsea retrain Arturo Vidal to be a natural left back.

Ah right, didn't realise that. How can you check? Or do you know this from your work as a researcher?

In previous FMs when you loaned a player they often already had it set as their training, but you can see from both the real players that start in the database gaining new positions, and players you sell gaining them after you sell them on.

I'd like to know if you still have to keep training them in the new position once they become natural (or will they gradually become less comfortable again if you stop positional training)?

We-ell, that's a question. I don't think they'll lose comfort in the position as long as that's where you're playing them.

But you should go into the training page for the player and check. I retrained Kinglsey Coman from AMLC to AMR; on his training page, positional training was set to AMR (Playing Position) with a 60/40 focus/new position breakdown. I re-selected AMR from the menu and the breakdown changed to 100/0.

Long as you keep playing them in their new position, they won't loose familiarity.