Jealousy and Incompetence (AKA training tips needed)

[ipfreely]

Hi all

I've been playing this game "seriously" for about 5 seasons but am not making much progress  .  A couple of questions to ask:

I've been signing 30-ish yo players with most of their stats around the 95 mark - is this pretty much the transfer market strategy sorted?  I can't afford to spend £5k on the 20 yo players that come along.

Does it really matter if you play 5-2-3/4-3-3 long-ball when it's dry or 4-5-1/3-5-2 passing when it's wet?  So if I have a few midfielders out is 5-2-3 long-ball my best bet on any pitch?

And what I think's the main problem - training!!!  My team's attributes seem to improve way slower than the top teams' (e.g. Aston Villains).  Am I better off mixing my training up every few days, or just find a better combination and stick with that?  Or are my players either not good enough or too old to improve at a decent rate?

Help with any of the above would be much appreciated 

[Turner]

Hi Richard,

Let's begin  :

30 ish year old players with stats around 95 are fine, but they train slower and only last for around 6 seasons before they start declining. I would recommend you find younger players with stats a bit lower, because they train faster and last longer too. It's like this:

15-18 years old when you buy him (10 seasons)
19-23 years old when you buy him (9 seasons)
24-29 years old when you buy him (8 seasons)
30-39 years old when you buy him (6 seasons)
39 years old when you buy him (3 seasons)
40+ years old when you buy him (1 season)

Now for the formation. You are making the same mistake I made when I started playing this game. If you check your team you will notice that you have several ADEF and AMID players. These are attacking players which means you can only use them in attacking formations eg. 4-5-1 ATTACKING and 5-2-3 ATTACKING. You haven't been doing that so you're being penalised for having players out of position which is why you're receiving so many goals against you. Your formation should look like this:

4-5-1 attacking

GK
ADEF(R)
DEF(C or R)
DEF(C or L)
ADEF(L)
AMID(R)
MID(C or R)
AMID(C)
MID(C or L)
AMID(L)
STR(C)

5-2-3 attacking

GK
ADEF(R)
DEF(C or R)
ADEF(C)
DEF(C or L)
ADEF(L)
AMID(R)
AMID(L)
STR(R)
STR(C)
STR(L)

My team (Ruff Ryders) plays with Attacking players so you can check my match reports to see how to set them up, but I would seriously recommend you don't buy more attacking players and change the ones you have with regular players. The thing with attacking players is that if you suffer a lot of injuries you will have difficulty setting up because regular players cannot take their positions. If I would start over I would defenitely not play with Attacking players 

Training: You have to change your training routine every 4 days if not it will not be effective. My training routine is :

4 days Corners corners defence defence
4 days jogging jogging jogging jogging
4 days corners corners corners corners
4 days jogging jogging jogging jogging

and repeat.

Ok I hope this helps, if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask 

Also check the 3 threads above this one. All the info you need is in there.

Good luck!

Turner

[ipfreely]

Cheers Turner - I'll give that a go! 

[dannyjames2]

Hi. I would just like to say Thank you turner this really helps me out aswell.

[The Borg]

Dannyjames make sure your read the Player positioning & SL Tips thread - http://forums.catgames.biz/index.php?topic=27.0
Crucial you get your player in the correct position for the formation you choose.

[dannyjames2]

Thank you Borg.

I was a regular player of SL years ago but just joined back now i got more time on my hands! Looking forward to building a good team. 

[Mancunian_Nick]

I'd also just like to point something out which I seem to recall I did when I first spotted it but believe this is a mistake! Pasting from Turner's post above, whilst understanding and knowing he was cutting and pasting from elsewhere so not responsible for this (before anyone thinks otherwise! lol)

30-39 years old when you buy him (6 seasons)
39 years old when you buy him (3 seasons)

I believe that top line should read 30 to 38 years old otherwise if you buy a 39 year old player, according to that, he can last 6 seasons or 3 seasons, which is obviously incorrect as well as confusing!