How many weeks of heavy physical training during pre-season?

[danej]

How many weeks of heavy, physically oriented training is the best during pre-season?

From what I know so far I would imagine somewhere between 1-6 weeks. Rashidi (BusttheNet on Youtube) made a recent video where he effectively seems to opt for 1 week (his BootCamp training schedule). Zealand advocates for a similar style heavy physically oriented pre-season training regime, but for 4-6 weeks. Other knowledgeable FM people seem to be within the same range, 1-6 weeks of heavy physical schedules.

It would be nice with more detailed input on this. It is a big difference whether you spend 1 or 6 weeks on physical training during pre-season. I certainly wouldn't consider doing it 4-6 weeks unless it pays dividends. There is obviously lots of other useful stuff that you can do with your training, not least at the start of each season.

I play Gegenpress by the way. Perhaps that matters as well. I imagine that it might be wise to add a few extra weeks of physically demanding pre-season training when you use an extremely demanding tactic like that.

[CARRERA]

The main goal of Pre-Season is to get Matchfitness, Tactical Familarity and good Team Cohesion. I usually use high intense Training upon an average matchfitness of around 85% (will be 100% by the end of Pre-Season) and then start to build on Familiarity and Chohesion. That always worked fine for me and I never really had excessive problems with jaded players throught the season.

If you didn't notice yet, there is a whole thread for quick questions which may not deserve a whole thread to not spam the forums.

 

[danej]

Thanks I didn't know about that thread. So perhaps I should usually try that one first before posting a separate thread? What are the rules regarding what should be in the quick questions thread and what should be a separate thread?

 

85% match fitness, isn't that something from older FM versions? I don't know what that means. I only know the hearts - full green, mostly green, yellow, red and the various nuances.

[danej]

17 minutes ago, CARRERA said:

If you didn't notice yet, there is a whole thread for quick questions which may not deserve a whole thread to not spam the forums.

 

Btw shouldn't this thread be pinned? I think I would have noticed it if it was pinned, but it isn't.

[CARRERA]

3 minutes ago, danej said:

I don't know what that means

When it turns green it should be fine. You can see the exact number if hovering over the heart. There is a circle for Condition and Matchfitness.

 

4 minutes ago, danej said:

Thanks I didn't know about that thread. So perhaps I should usually try that one first before posting a separate thread? What are the rules regarding what should be in the quick questions thread and what should be a separate thread?

I usually use that thread for less complex topics or topics with low amount of content which can be easily answered. I would for example create a new thread if I would like other people to review my tactic, or my training plan. Or if I'd create some sort of content that i would ike to share with the community. 

[danej]

11 minutes ago, CARRERA said:

When it turns green it should be fine. You can see the exact number if hovering over the heart. There is a circle for Condition and Matchfitness.

I don't see any exact number when I hover over with the mouse.

Besides, when you say green Match Fitness, do you mean thumbs up, darker green, or light green, almost half green/half yellow? I guess it is less insignificant whether the arrow is upwards or downwards in this context.

Edited July 26, 2022 by danej

[CARRERA]

3 minutes ago, danej said:

I don't see any exact number when I hover over with the mouse.

Besides, when you say green Match Fitness, do you mean thumbs up, darker green, or light green, almost half green/half yellow? I guess it is less insignificant whether the arrow is upwards or downwards in this context.

If you hover over the Heart, you will get this Overview. Light green arrow is at 80% or more. Yellow / Orange is like 70%+x or even lower. The direction of the arrow is insignificants, it just indicates whether the matchfitness is growing or getting lower.

[danej]

31 minutes ago, CARRERA said:

If you hover over the Heart, you will get this Overview. Light green arrow is at 80% or more. Yellow / Orange is like 70%+x or even lower.

My screen doesn't look like that. I don't see the circles and percentages. Perhaps I should check my setting.

Anyway, from what you write I imagine that that dark green with arrow is above 85%. That can't be totally wrong at least.

 

Thanks for the guidelines.

[danej]

I just re-read this: Training & Youth Intake - A Brief Guide **Updated for FM20** - Tactics, Training & Strategies Discussion - Sports Interactive Community (sigames.com)

 

There is this interesting section:

Best Practice

Pre-Season

It is advisable to run a proper pre-season, whether this be from our list of pre-season templates or your creating your own. If left to the Assistant, he will run pre-season according to his preferences.

During pre-season players will most likely be at their minimum level of fatigue, the exception being those returning from summer international duty. When fatigue is low a player that works hard physically (sessions that increase fatigue) will improve his long term fitness, meaning he can stave off jadedness longer into the season. However, when a player is already becoming fatigued, sessions that are overly physical (increase fatigue) will tire the player further, meaning he will eventually become jaded.
As such, if you run a proper pre-season the players will remain fitter and last longer into the season proper. Under-working the players in pre-season or over-working the players during the season itself will lead to fatigue.
Of course, too much physical work at any time raises the risk of injury, but this can be an acceptable trade-off if you wish to work the players hard.
Pre-season is also a great time to work on those physical attributes that simply cannot be worked on in any great amount during the season itself due to the fixture schedule.

 

I wonder whether this means that it could be a good idea to use a heavy physical schedule as long as almost all players have no fatigue (not even "low" fatigue but only the best category). And on the contrary, stop the heavy physical training once more than perhaps 2-3 players have low fatigue.

Edited July 27, 2022 by danej

[dcayton9]

Since the game uses the training schedule plans it uses for a reason, I always assume that when the preseason schedules are being suggested by the AssMan, that the schedules I implement should be preseason focused rather than the same ones I use during the season.

I often run a bootcamp type schedule focusing on endurance, general sessions to slowly boost that tactical familiarity, and bonding / outreach with no scheduled friendly my first week (and include match practices). Then for the second week run a similar schedule but slightly less intense with an easier friendly. Then, if it's a four-week preseason, my final two weeks are a two match week, then a one match week, and if it's a five-week preseason, my final weeks are a one match week, two match week, one match week. The schedules for these focus a bit less on general training and a bit more on system specific training as well as a continued focus on endurance and managing workload as to prevent injury.

Obviously match fitness is important so I make sure to rotate and try and give each player a half in each game. I used to let the AssMan manage friendlies, but now I just run them on Key Highlights so that I can make the needed substitutions. Also, during this time I like to call up the youth players that may get a first-team opportunity during the season so that they can get some training with the squad. I don't think there's any prescribed answer to max-min the situation but it's an especially fun aspect to play around with to enjoy the role-playing element of the game.

[danej]

29 minutes ago, dcayton9 said:

Obviously match fitness is important so I make sure to rotate and try and give each player a half in each game. I used to let the AssMan manage friendlies

Yeah I also consider starting to manage the friendlies. For the same reason, to be in charge of substitutions. Ass man seems to leave the startert on for way too long during the friendlies.