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It’s finally here! FMM19 has rolled out onto the digital shelves, and I for one am super excited at this years edition.
For those who have played the game, you will have noticed that the biggest new feature is the revamped training system. We’ve been begging SI for years to revamp the old system and they have finally delivered what we’ve all been asking for.
For those unsure about how the new training system works, fear not, for I have compiled a handy little guide that hopefully you’ll all find helpful as you begin your managerial story in FMM19. For those of you thinking this is some super intensive training regime like I had last year, it isn’t. As of yet I cannot find any way to create such a high intensity training regime this year as each save is unique, and therefore it’s a case of riding your bike without the stabilisers on this year. What this guide will do hopefully, is point you in the right direction of what to do, and what not to do.
First things first, before we even head into the training menu, you need to decide which tactic you’ll be using. The reason you need to do this is simply because you need to know which player roles you need to be training your players in. For example, it’s no good in training your attacking midfielder in the Shadow Striker role when you don’t have a Shadow Striker in your tactic.
Once you’ve decided on the tactic you’ll be using as you embark on your managerial journey, a trip into the training menu is next on the agenda.
At first this page can be completely daunting, but it takes only a little bit of playing around to get used to it. The page is split vertically into six sections which are from left to right:
What I’ll do is talk you through each section individually so we can all get to grips in some way as to what they all do:
Attribute Focus - This is the tab with which you decide which specific attribute to train your player in, and can be changed at any time. Simply tap on the attribute tab next to the player you’d like to change and it will bring up a sub menu with all the attributes listed. Select whichever one you’d like to focus on and voila, that player will have added focus on that specific attribute alongside his other training duties. Still with me? Great 🙃
Positional Focus - This is the tab that has replaced the old “retrain position” option on the player page in the older versions of the game. This is now where you come to retrain your players position on the pitch. Again, it’s just a case of tapping on the position tab that corresponds to the player you want to retrain, and it will bring up the pitch view from previous versions with his aptitude and ability for the position still there. So if your tactic doesn’t employ a DMC, do not waste valuable training time in retraining players to the DMC role.
Role Focus - This one is the same as the previous two in that you press the tab that corresponds to the player you want to train and it will bring up a list of player roles. So currently in my tactic, I’ve got Neymar playing in the AMR position as a Winger. So to go hand in hand with that I train his position to be natural in the AMR spot, whilst focusing his training on the Winger Role and I’m also training up his teamwork as his attribute Focus as to try and make him a little bit less selfish. Note: You can only train a player in a role that is available in the position he’s being trained in. So if you’ve got an AP that could be retrained as a striker, you won’t be able to carry on training him as an AP. For this it would have to be a case of retraining him as a striker at the cost of some of his AP attributes.
Training Intensity - This is where you select how intensive you want a certain player to train. Tap this and up pops three different options; Intensive, Normal & Light. Please note that having every single player on intensive won’t work and you will most definitely have an injury crisis on your hands sooner rather than later. The way around this is to go to a players personal training page which will have a coach report ready for you in there. In the negative column, if your coach states the player “wants a heavier training regime” then by all means whack his training up to intensive - this however, does not mean he won’t get injured. It simply means that a heavier training regime will yield better results. Now if you look on the positive side of some players, they will sometimes have phrases like “robust” or “resilient physique” these are the players that are safe to put on an intensive training regime without fear of serious injury - although they may still get injured, that is unfortunately a risk you take as a manager. Another tip is to check your coach report for the player, if your coach states he “may have concerns over injuries” that means the player is injury prone and will undoubtedly get injured from intensive training, or even medium training. Countering that, if your coach states a player is rarely injured, then by all means take the risk of intensive training.
Progress Bar - Not much can be said on this as it’s still a little bit unclear as to what it all does. I understand that the green bar is the players progress until he makes his next “step up” as a player. From what I’ve gathered so far about the yellow bar, it is when a player has peaked and simply won’t develop any further, unless of course you improve your training facilities or coaches etc in which case he may be able to improve a little more.
Go through each players individual training page for some handy tips from your assistant regarding training Intensity
Listen to your Assitant manager! Especially when you get a news item through stating he’s been impressed with a players progress in training - that means the player in question has “levelled up” so it may be time to change Attribute Focus
Be expressive - this is a largely untested feature, so go ahead and be expressive with it. If you want to train your WB to be a BBM Midfielder then go ahead and do it!
Have fun with it, it will take considerably more time to develop players this year - embrace that, it’s a good thing 😀
Thanks for reading, if I’ve missed anything out that you’re not quite sure of then let me know in the comments below. I know this isn’t the most informative or well structured guide but I’m still learning myself.
If you have any handy tips for your fellow Vibers then feel free to leave them in the comments below and I’d be happy to add them into the OP.
Another thing I've noticed is that the players won't improve if you don't okay them... They gain experience from playing and sonetimes by sitting on the bench.
The progress after each match is how much they’ve learnt in that match to reach their next developmental stage. A good rating in the match will yield better results.
This is actually one of the things I'm not so happy about lol. The whole point of FMM for me is the fast-paced experience. I had no problems with the training from previous FMM versions. If I wanted Bellerin for example to improve his offensive abilities, I'd just set his training on 'Attacking'.
Hate to say it, but I agree with you 🙁 I’ve been calling for improvements to training for god knows how long but now it’s here I kinda wish we had the old one back 😂
Is there a way to set intensity on a team level? For example all players train on intensive level...
Played for 3 months and none of my players physical attributes went up which is really disappointing. Saying that, my players general attributes barely went up at all. Maybe I'm too used to the usual intensive training where the players fly up within 2 months.
Physicals are a bit funny this year, I seem to be having a similar issue developing them. Especially Stamina/Pace. Strength I have managed to increase on certain players.
Great read mate! I personally love the new training possibilities. Focussing on certain attributes and actually getting feedback on progression is perhaps the best addition to the game in the past few years.
Top work....so does this mean that aeriel has nothing to do with height but just his ability to head a ball?
I didn't intend to spend too much time on training in general tbh other than the retrain option but must say it looks quite useful and fun to mess with the attribute and role focus.
All I’m doing at the moment is messing around to see what “can” be achieved with the training. A +8 rise in Aerial is just the tip of the iceberg!