_Ben_

Thanks @Hootieleece I think SixPoint has it nailed here - take the time to decide what you want. With that style and playing in Serie A as well as your budgets, I'd be looking to (database dependent) set up scouts in Africa. West Africa has long been a good place for talent production for Serie A and the players tend to be quite physical as well as cheap. To build some stats into it - I'd look at identifying a couple of key metrics you want to measure and develop; given your style maybe look at Interceptions/90 for your attacking players, see what you've got currently and then look to see what would make that better. Are your players lacking the Stamina? Are your tactics set up to be too intense? Do you need a player with better Decisions to know when to press? I reckon I'm nearing half a million words in this thread but I do it to verbalise, per se, my ideas. Getting them out helps me see if I actually think that and the help of the community assists in that too.

Thanks for your post! Training is something that used to be really scary for me until I bit the bullet, dived in, and realised that you can't really get it wrong. I just love the synergy of bringing together players, a playing style and a training style. There is no surprise that these are my favourite training blocks: Defensive Shadow Play Attacking Direct In those two - you hit my key attributes of Decisions and First Touch and further improve a lot of the attributes necessary for the way I want to play. In terms of your schedule - I'd say it's possible a little vague. I only say that because I've had success with splitting weeks into attacking or defensive (and, actually, am looking to further develop that into a 'transitional' or 'with ball' week where the other two are a lot more without ball stuff). That way, I'm able to focus on hitting the attributes more times. However - that does not mean it's the only way and I've not actually used a one week periodisation myself. After what @GIMNsaid, I've also since added Match Practice to my most intense (Match -3 days) day of the week and early signs suggest it's a good one!

(Mid) July 2035 Pre-season friendlies done and dusted with the highlight being this delicious through ball from right back Skylar. You can use the way that the CM(a) and F9(s) interweave their attacking movements and it's a joy when they've got this freedom. Elsewhere, it was good to try out some combinations and pairings as well as getting the players match fit. --- I've finished my mini clearout, freeing up spaces within the first team and whittling down the 2-Team squad to allow opportunities for football. I'm left with a really well balanced team and I can begin to mould and develop them over the course of the season. ---- I've ensured that the training for my young first team players is as good as possible. I employ a few different ways of trying to develop the attributes, as seen with some examples here: Hovsepyan - focusing on a different role to what he'll play to attack weak attributes Sakheishvili - utilising a position he's natural in to focus on specific attributes Roganov - employing just an individual focus to hone specific attributes Irala - training a new position for versatility (also - ML to MR, DL to DR etc do not, in my experience, cause a rebalance in CA and, therefore, can create a more rounded player without a cost to attribute values) ' I've also set up a mentoring group that will hopefully allow Hovsepyan to flourish under the tutelage of two experienced forward players: one being very creative and the other being an all-round elite forward. I'm expecting that Dusan grows in their hierarchy as time goes on, which will surely further his influence over Arman and allow him to embed within a social group - a really important and undervalued consideration on my end with new signings. It'll also give him access to adding some new traits: With Arman being developed into a False Nine - the Comes Deep To Get Ball and Gets Into Opposition Area will be nice additions as well as the Tries First Time Shots from Dusan, as he will find himself on the end of balls worked into the box. I am also following this process through with my 2-Team, hoping to continue to build a group of young talented players that can move into the first team, with particular focus, as the owner puts it, on local talent.

I love this and again, it's evidence of another reason why I'm enjoying the deeper dive into the club I'm at. I imagine that I'll move on from Krasnodar at some point to start a new save or manage a new team but they'll always be a team I look out for in the future!