But for me they nearly all (I say this in case I've missed any) that miss a very easy, yet vital trick.
In this post, I am not going to hark on about facilities or hiring staff or setting out training schedules, although I do expand on this last point briefly.
Instead I am going to focus on one specific thing that has seen my injuries cut by up to 70% over the course of a season.
Please note that it does not eradicate injuries, it does not use any editors and it also has positive knock-ons in other areas of the game, like match performance.
And it is achieved by a few clicks, albeit it at regular intervals, of the mouse which take a few seconds after initial set up.
And it is achieved by a few clicks, albeit it at regular intervals, of the mouse which take a few seconds after initial set up.
Tell us!! I hear you screaming at your screen. OK, I will...
After you have gone out and employed the very best physios you can afford, most managers simply sit back and let those physios do some recovery sessions and report (in)accurately on the time that a player will be out injured.
But what if you could be proactive and stop some of those injuries happening in the first place? Well you can, and it's very, very simple.
IT all happens in the Rest screen within the Training section of the game.
During the course of a season your players are listed and you can see how sharp they are their injury risk and you can also set their training intensity. And it is this last bit we are going to manage effectively to cut injuries by up to 70%.
What I do is very simple.
- I highlight all the players in this screen (please note that if a player is injured you will need to highlight him again after he returns from injury, otherwise the players will stay highlighted);
- I then set the training intensity to automaticthis will set the players' training levels to the schedule you have decided as displayed at the top of this screen);
- I THEN go down to the bottom right of the screen and click on Set intensity to physio recommendation. This will then adjust the training intensity for various players depending on what the physio thinks is correct. Some players will not be changed.
BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE...
This has the added benefit of protecting your players against fatigue.
I did not know about fatigue until one day, when using a custom skin, I saw a value for it.
And fatigue works like this:
Generally speaking, players will recover from one match to another without any issues.
However, if you have a lot of games in prolonged periods, for example, you are playing games in the league, and a couple of cups, maybe even European or other confederation competitions too, there is a good chance that players (especially those with low stamina or natural fitness) will suffer from fatigue, which in turn will mean that whilst they are match fit and able to play you might start seeing that their performance starts looking like they've forgotten how to kick a ball overnight.
By using your physio as detailed above, you can keep fatigue at bay and make sure you maximise performances from your squad over prolonged periods of fixture congestion allowing you to field your strongest 11 for more matches when you really need them.
As a said at the beginning, this method does not stop your players from getting injured at all, but it can (and I have personally experienced this with lesser physios managing lesser teams) an DECREASE in injuries by up to 70% over the course of a season - That is 70 less injuries per 100, which is a lot of injuries.
On top of this, there is one other little trick I do in training and it is this.
During the main season, if I have spare extra slots (especially after Match practice sessions) I throw in a Recovery session ALWAYS. It has no negatives as far as I'm concerned.
One final note.
If you decide you want to use this method and start part way through a season, you may experience players going on holiday at the beginning. The only drawback to using this method is that if a physio recommends a holiday, you cannot override them.
I would love to know what you guys think about this.
Maybe you already do this and have similar results?
Maybe you have never thought about doing this and decide to give it a go?
Or maybe you have a different way managing your injuries with equally fantastic results?
If so drop me a comment below.
Thanks for reading, as always.
Discussion: How to minimize injuries in Football Manager 2020 by up to 70%
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