AndreasAust

one thing cannot be contested after several of those experiments (each with 200-300 matches under lab conditions): the training sessions clearly do not train the attributes they claim to train AT ALL (for example one of the earlier videos showed that the "general" sessions train everything but the ones in their description). "attacking corners" trains a number of attributes but of all things it does not train "corners" at all. And as I have said earlier, I can confirm to this after several seasons of using that session regularly. And along with that, many other things clearly do not do the things claimed by the ingame descriptions. So, coming from kinda being a 'Sports Interactive' fan, I am now pretty disappointed. I have put countless of hours into tinkering with my training plans, in order to exactly train the attributes I wanted and having the "upcoming match bonuses" active at all times etc. and nobody can tell me that this is just a bug. Of course SI must have been aware of that. Especially after all this time that has passed and a new FM game coming out each year. Also, sometimes there is a clear pattern, like all the set-piece-sessions training the exact same bunch of attributes - that of course have nothing to do with the ingame description. So my own imagination was fooling me: every time my boys scored a goal from corners, I thought to myself it must have come from my upcoming match bonus "attacking corners" ;-) (edited since I was being too harsh and personal)

I love playing this game but the more I learn about the actual mechanics under the hood, I am beginning to get more and more disappointed with Sports Interactive. For example, there is this youtube channel "Evidence based football manager" that clearly showed that the training sessions seem to train everything but the attributes they claim to train. At first he focused on the sessions in the "general" training section and there abosutely was NO connection between the description and the outcome. In his most recent video he looked at the set-piece sessions and showed that the "upcoming match" bonuses are non-existing (or negligible at best) - but again - the attributes trained make no sense at all. For example, "attacking corners" does train a few attributes but the one attribute it does NOT train is "corners". And I can confirm to that as I have been having this bonus active for several seasons now and never has the corner attribute of my takers improved. Even though not everything this youtube channel does makes 100% sense (like training 7x the same session even though the upcoming match boost does not stack), the test conditions under which those experiments are conducted are absolutely "professional" and beyond any doubt. He creates an absolute "sterile" environment and does like 200-300 matches each. Especially the video about the general training sessions made me question the game. I mean what else is going on under the hood which only has the desired effect in our imagination? I have put in so much work and effort to create perfect training plans for each and every week so that I have the upcoming match boosts active at all times (they last for 2 weeks) and also train the attributes i want to train. Only to learn now that those descriptions basically mean nothing. Disappointing! After so many generations this game has been coming out each year, they didn't even bother to follow their own ingame-descriptions in the slightest, and have their customers (us) believe in them blindly, putting in hours after hours of our precious time in vain.

yes I was trying to find that video again, but to no avail. also, I kinda remember that he showed in this video that the number of scientists does NOT make any difference - just the quality of the main one. The rest is kinda blurry in my memory - probably the number of physios makes a difference. But anyway, I wasn't sure anymore what exactly the scientist can do - if he actually reduces the amount of fatigue or if he just gives the manager a more accurate information on fatigue levels

But Brexit already happened at that time

Hello, I am playing my first save in England and face the problem with work permits. I heard the advice to get an affiliate to loan players out to - for them to eventually gain a work permit. My question is though, if I loaned them out to a UK club, how are they allowed to play them? And if I loaned them out to a EU country instead (as some people recommend) what good would that do? I thought that the EU countries need to apply for work permits as well when moving to England. Apparently, some recommend the approach to sign South Americans and then send them out to Spain as it only takes 2 years for them to gain the Spanish citizenship. But again, how does the Spanish citizenship help with England? Thanks!!

I am in complete control and I don't have an affiliate - yet my B-CLUB has friendlies pre-arranged that cannot be canceled at the beginning of each new season. i wonder if anybody knows that problem? It interferes with my pre-season schedule massively and it's getting annoying as it happens every year again

thank you - yes but probably most of them are not necessary if you want your loan manager to solely find the right club fast. I want to make the decisions myself about if and when to loan players out. So that was my question. I think if you knew which attributes do what, you'd have it much easier to hire the right people for your particular playstyle - and cheaper...

when a player complains about individual training focus (saying that it’s doing nothing), I usually keep them working on it nevertheless because I usually I don’t believe them. However, now I am thinking that they might not put in the necessary effort anyway when they are complaining. So I might just as well give in. Is that a thing to consider?

in one of the forum guides here I found following statement regarding pre-season preparation: "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" I am a little unsure what to make of this because in the game when I hover over the green hearts there is no such thing as "long term fitness", but I had a very bad preparation and I do notice now that my players easily get fatigued - getting red hearts by halftime break already. But I always thought as long as i go into a match with a shiny green heart it is the physical attributes (e.g. stamina) - and those only - which make a difference. Apparently this is not the case? And also, following this statement above, while being in pre-season preparation and doing heavy workloads on each day, always on the next day those players will start the day already a little fatigued which he/she claims to be counterproductive and eventually lead to jadedness. But isn't the preparation supposed to go hard on them during these weeks? Thank you. on an additional note, before reading the statement above I would have defined "long term fitness" as the player attribute "natural fitness" but I don't think that this is meant here since it cannot be affected so much just by a couple weeks in pre-season.