Intoduction to CM4 Training Theory (ΕP 5)

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ThrassosSevvas
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Introduction to CM4 Training Theory and ".tat" files (EP5)

Thrassos Sevvas, "Lyssien"
CM Greece Training Engineer
http://www.cmgreece.com





Contents

1. Introduction.
2. ".tat" files.
3. Training Sessions, one by one.
4. Some thoughts on specific attributes
5. "Train on match day" & "Rest the day after the match" options
6. Suggested Training Schedules (EP5).
7. Summer Vacation, Jadedness and Injuries.
8. Some results about the efficient number of TG points.
Appendix: Experimental results for the suggested schedule.
Last edited by ThrassosSevvas on Mon Aug 18, 2003 11:43 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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1. Introduction

This article builds on the findings of a previous CMGreece effort, titled "CM4 What attributes are improved by each training session", which involved Holiday Mode experiments (during EP3) to find out what good effects each training session (e.g. Pig In the Middle) has on the players' attributes. You can find that article on the same CMGreece forum as this one (CM Discussion). The previous work had been completely experimental, just noting down the attribute increases that were caused by having players train on a very narrow-minded training schedule- consisting by one and only one session repeated throughout the week.

Since then our understanding on CM4 Training has been enhanced through the constructive discussions that took place both at the CMGreece CM4 Training Forum and the SI Tactics and Training Tips forum. Here you will find a rough overview of how I now believe training in CM4 works.

Special Thanks to:
dgiras, DoctorBalendar, Greco, bredinio, Yorgosg7, MikeMinsk, Greek Manager, and the whole of CMGreece crew for their constructive discussions, their help, support and hospitality. Also invy, Redmark, Jormerod, Beware, Montaron, Dragon67, Gurkan, Sven Soderkvest, TooltipDelay and Owener from the SI fora for their inspiring/helpful posts.
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2. ".tat" files

In the CM4 /data/training folder you can find all the basic information about the training sessions that the game delivers. This information comes in the form of ".tat" files. In each of these files you can find the description of the session (the one you can also read on the Training Overview Screen of the game). Moreover, you can find the points each training session contributes towards the improvement of a players' attributes.

The players' attributes have been grouped into 9 categories, namely Fitness, Ball Control, Movement, Team Work, Set Pieces, Shot Stopping, Tactics, Shooting, and Reflexes. Let's go through what attributes each of these Training Groups (TG) involves:

TG_Fitness: Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina, Strength
TG_Ball Control: Technique, Passing, Dribbling, Agility, Balance
TG_Movement: Marking, Tackling, Off the Ball, Positioning
TG_team work: Nothing?? See section 8.
TG_Set Pieces: Crossing, Heading, Set Pieces, Penalty Taking
TG_Shot Stopping: Handling, Anticipation, Positioning, Agility, Reflexes
TG_Tactics: Decisions, Influence, Off the Ball, Positioning
TG_Shooting: Finishing, Long Shots
TG_Reflexes: Agility, Balance, Dribbling, One on Ones, Reflexes

For example, if an imaginary training session involves 2 points for Set Pieces, 5 points for tactics and 7 points for shooting, this means that the inclusion of this session in one day of the schedule wil have the following effect:
Significant improvement for finishing & long shots (TG_Shooting), and improvement for Decisions, Influence, Off the Ball, and Positioning (TG_Tactics). Also, contributes to the improvement of Set Pieces, Penalty Taking, Crossing, and Heading (TG_Set Pieces), provided that there is another schedule on the same day with TG_Set Pieces points too.

Keep in mind however that the numbers I used in the above example for improvement are different for each Training Group. That is, 5 Ball Control points a day are hardly enough to cause significant improvement for the Ball Control attributes etc.

The above list is supported by the research conducted for my previous article, as well as the additional experiments I have run ever since.

Note that many attributes are also affected by a player's condition and number of matches he played, especially stamina, agility, balance and dribbling. Also age, injuries and potential are additional factors to a player's development.
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3. Training Sessions, one by one.

Rest

type=None
display_name=Rest
description=Give your players a break.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

Rest gives 2 points of fitness. Keep this in mind when we discuss Set Pieces Attacking, Crosses, and Tactical Training.


Shooting

type=Outfield
description=This exercise increases the awareness of your players in and around the box and your strikers will gain confidence from hitting the net regularly in training. As well as improving their touch and ability to volley, this session will also encourage your players to practise shooting with their weaker foot. Other benefits include increased composure, anticipation and ability to shoot from distance.
Fitness=2
Ball control=2
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=7
Reflexes=0

We see that according to the above guide, this training session improves mainly Finishing and Long Shots (it gives 7 Shooting points). Also, it contributes 2 points towards the improvement of the Ball Control Attributes, namely Technique, Passing, Dribbling, Agility and Balance. Since two points are hardly enough for improvement, these 2 points will take effect only if they are supported by additional Ball Control points from other training sessions on the same day.
As far as the description is concerned, I cannot see any direct relation between this session and the Anticipation attribute.
Note that the Shooting session faced severe problems with EP4. Basically, it stops having much of an effect on the Finishing and Long Shots attributes. This problem has been corrected in EP5, but it is questionable whether the fix takes effect for games that started with EP4, even if later they were upgraded to EP5. In this case you need to either start a new game, or create a new Shooting2.tat file for the fix to take effect.


Tactical Training

type=team
description=This session is tactics specific and gives the players a chance to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. This will include watching videos of previous games, studying tactics and identifying danger men. As a very important part of preperation for both the team and the individual, players will improve their ability to make decisions and work as a team.
Fitness=0
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=5
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=5
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

This session is not too good for players' fitness attributes, since it gives 0 fitness points (less than what Rest gives!). It improves Off the Ball, Positioning, Decisions, and Influence. It has no effect on the rest of the attributes. The description is not bad in this case.



Weight Training

type=team
description=Weight training builds up muscle definition, including the hamstrings, calf, upper body and neck muscles. At low intensity it can reduce a player's chance of injury, but too much weight training can result in loss of balance, mobility and pace.
Fitness=5
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

Weight training is one of the main fitness sessions, giving 5 fitness points. So it helps Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina and strength. It doesn't help anything else.
Its effect on the injuries is questionable, unless we consider this to be a general phenomenon that relates to all the high-fitness sessions.


Cross Country

type=team
description=Particularly effective during pre-season to get your players fit for the campaign ahead, cross-country running improves stamina and encourages weight loss. This exercise is claimed to have a multiplying effect on other aspects of training.
Fitness=7
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

The most hardcore fitness session, giving nothing but 7 points to the fitness attributes. The description is slightly inaccurate. Yeah, it improves stamina, but no more than it improves Acceleration, Jumping or Strength.
"Multiplying effect"?! Don't know anything about this.


Sprints

type=team
description=Sprinting over short distances with lots of repetition, this exercise improves the acceleration, pace and balance of your players.
Fitness=7
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=2

Similar to Cross Country, Sprints improves Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina and Strength. In addition, Sprints provides 2 Reflexes points, helping Agility, Balance, Dribbling etc. The description of this session has caused a lot of misconception, since Pace doesn't really improve with training.


Technique

type=team
description=This exercise encourages your players to improve their ball control, passing and dribbling. Players will work mainly on skill, using all parts of the body to improve first touch and control.
Fitness=2
Ball control=7
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=7
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=2

Improves mainly the Ball Control attributes, i.e. Technique, Passing, Dribbling, Agility, Balance. Also good for goalkeepers, because of the 7 Shot Stopping points. Good Description.


Agility (Outfield)

type=Outfield
description=Although not fitness intensive, your players will develop a better fluid motion through running, turning and shifting their body weight. This exercise particularly improves acceleration, balance and coordination.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=2
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=5

Mainly works on a player's Agility, Balance and Dribbling. Misleading description, since this session has little to do with Acceleration.


Shadow Play

type=Outfield
description=This low-pace session, best implemented only a couple of days before a match, literally walks the players through what is expected of them in the next match. As well as getting the players comfortable on the ball, this exercise improves teamwork, decisions and movement.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=7
team work=5
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=5
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

Working mainly on Tackling, Marking, Off the Ball, Positioning, Decisions and Influence, this session is a must for Defenders' schedules. So basically it is good for the defensive and the mental attributes. The "low-pace" comment in the description is a bit misleading, since Shadow Play gives 2 fitness points, as most sessions do.


Pig In the Middle

type=team
description=This moderate session involves several players passing the ball amongst themselves within a set perimeter whilst one or two others try to win the ball back. While creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere, your players will particularly improve their anticipation and first touch.
Fitness=5
Ball control=7
Movement=5
team work=5
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

One of my favorite sessions, improves the physical, the ball control, the defensive and the mental attributes. Sometimes it feels that unless you have this session in your schedule, you 're in trouble. Don't be scared to use this session multiple times a week. Its effect on morale is questionable though.


Closing Down

type=Outfield
description=In this exercise, three small sided teams play within a set perimeter. Two teams attempt to keep hold of the ball whilst the third team endeavours to dispossess them. Constant movement ensures players will build up their stamina and also develop their vision, communication and ball skills. Positional play, tackling and team work will also be improved.
Fitness=5
Ball control=5
Movement=5
team work=5
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

Good description. Similar to Pig In the Middle, although I have found that the 2 points difference in Ball Control cause quite a difference in the net effect.


Overloading (Attacking)

type=team
description=By outnumbering the defence in this exercise, your attackers will be encouraged to make use of the extra men down the flanks and get crosses into the box. Your strikers will improve their movement and get used to finishing off moves.
Fitness=2
Ball control=5
Movement=7
team work=7
Set pieces=2
Shot stopping=2
Tactics=5
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Good session, but strange. Improving mainly the defensive, the ball control, and the mental attributes, this session seems more appropriate for defenders and not attackers. Doesn't really have much to do with crosses and headers, since it only gives 2 points for TG_Set Pieces.


Overloading (defensive)

type=team
description=By using more attackers than defenders, this exercise encourages defenders to hold their defensive line and learn which parts of the pitch are most vulnerable to attack. By encouraging tight marking, teamwork and positional play, overloading will also improve the link between your goalkeeper and his defence.
Fitness=2
Ball control=5
Movement=7
team work=3
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=5
Shooting=2
Reflexes=5

Good for the defensive attributes, ball control, TG_reflexes, and the mental attributes, this is a good session especially for defenders. Also good for goalkeepers.


Set Pieces (attacking)

type=team
description=In this routine, your players will work on their attacking set pieces for the big match. By training your set piece takers to deliver accurate free-kicks, corners, penalties and long throws, your team will improve its chances of scoring from these situations.
Fitness=0
Ball control=5
Movement=3
team work=3
Set pieces=7
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=5
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Get your cigarretes out guys!
Very good for the TG_Set Pieces attributes (Set Pieces, Penalty Taking, Crossing, Heading). Also good for the Ball Control skills (Technique, Passing, Dribbling, Agility, Balance). Long Throws doesn't improve with Training.
Apparently players smoke while training Set Pieces Attacking, and that's why this session gives ZERO fitness points, even less than what Rest gives.


Set Pieces (defensive)

type=team
description=In this session, both your goalkeepers and outfield players will practise defending the set piece scenarios that occur within a game. This will improve their anticipation, marking and positioning.
Fitness=2
Ball control=5
Movement=2
team work=5
Set pieces=7
Shot stopping=2
Tactics=5
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Not anything special for goalkeepers, giving only 2 points for TG_Shot Stopping and TG_Reflexes. Good for the TG_Set Pieces attributes, and also the Ball Control and the Mental attributes. Good session for both Attackers and Defenders.


Crosses

type=team
description=This exercise encourages your players to deliver lofted or driven balls into the box. Your midfield players will be taught to hit the right areas with their crosses and your attackers will learn to time their runs to receive the ball in the best positions.
Fitness=0
Ball control=2
Movement=2
team work=2
Set pieces=7
Shot stopping=7
Tactics=0
Shooting=2
Reflexes=5

Good for Crossing, Heading, Set Pieces, Penalty Taking and the Goalkeepers. As far as fitness is concerned, see the comment about smoking I made concerning Set Pieces Attacking. Also contributes slightly on every other area except for Tactics and of course Fitness.


Training Match

type=team
Training Match
description=By playing the selected first team against a second string in a full match, this high intensity session will give your players a chance to play together but is also guaranteed to tire them out. Amongst other things, this exercise improves passing, communication and positioning.
Fitness=5
Ball control=2
Movement=2
team work=2
Set pieces=2
Shot stopping=2
Tactics=2
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Particularly effective for Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina and Strength, Training Match also gives 2 points for all other categories.


5-a-side (large pitch)

type=team
description=Small sided games on larger pitches. Though the players will tire quicker, they will build up stamina, improve their work rate and develop good passing and movement.
Fitness=5
Ball control=2
Movement=5
team work=5
Set pieces=2
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=2
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Somewhat similar to Training Match, this session gives additional advantage to the Mental attributes, as well as the Defensive and the Goalkeeping attributes. Not much to do with Work Rate which I don't think can be improved with training. Misleading information about Passing, since this session doesn't improve Passing more than it helps any other attribute.


5-a-side (small pitch)

type=team
description=Small sided games on smaller pitches. Players will improve their marking, movement and ability to think quickly. Outfield players are also encouraged to get plenty of shots on target, enabling goalkeepers to hone their reflexes and practise one-on-one situations.
Fitness=2
Ball control=2
Movement=5
team work=5
Set pieces=2
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=2
Shooting=2
Reflexes=2

Very similar to 5-a-side-large, the only difference being that this session doesn't really make for TG_Fitness improvement.


Penalties

type=team
description=Gives your players the opportunity to practise taking penalties and increase their composure. This session is most useful before those dreaded penalty shoot-outs in cup competitions.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=5
Shot stopping=7
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=5

Good for Penalty Taking, Set Pieces, Crossing, Heading, Dribbling, Agility, Balance and the goalkeeping attributes.
Also note that it has no effect on the shooting skills (finishing, long shots). Funny session.


Heading

Original Version

type=Outfield
description=Heading exercises help your players to strengthen their neck muscles and get distance on headers. As well as improving their ability to clear the ball quickly and efficiently from dangerous situations, your players will get better at flick-ons, knock-downs and scoring headers.
Fitness=2
Ball control=5
Movement=0
team work=2
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=0
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=0

Oh dear...this session is such a sad story. In its original form described above this session improves mainly the TG_Ball Control skills (Passing, Technique, Dribbling, Agility, Balance) instead of the TG_Set Pieces ones (Crossing, Heading, Set Pieces, Penalty Taking).
Apparently the mistake was identified during the EP5 testing process, and a correction was promised. Unfortunately the correction was missed out of the EP5 installer, and this session was never officially corrected.
A manual correction has been suggested by SI, which involves changing the above numbers in the file with notepad. I won't elaborate more on this here, since I have decided to avoid the use of this session completely to avoid confusion.


Agility (GK)

type=Goalkeeper
description=Training with goalkeeping coach to improve reflexes and agility.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=2
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=7


Distribution

type=Goalkeeper
description=Training with your goalkeeping coach to ensure good recycling of possession and improve distribution from goalkicks.
Fitness=2
Ball control=2
Movement=0
team work=5
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=5
Tactics=2
Shooting=0
Reflexes=5


Handling

type=Goalkeeper
description=Training with the goalkeeper coach to practise positioning and get a feel for the ball.
Fitness=2
Ball control=2
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=7
Tactics=0
Shooting=2
Reflexes=7


Shot stopping

type=Goalkeeper
description=This exercise encourages your goalkeepers to get their body behind the ball and stop powerful shots confidently.
Fitness=2
Ball control=0
Movement=0
team work=0
Set pieces=0
Shot stopping=7
Tactics=0
Shooting=0
Reflexes=7
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4. Some thoughts on specific attributes.


Stamina

This attribute is mainly affected by TG_Fitness points, as do Acceleration, Jumping and Strength. So what makes stamina special? Experiments have shown that the increase or decrease of stamina is also strongly correlated to the number of matches a player plays, unlike the other 3 TG_Fitness attributes. So have a player play the right number of matches throughout the year, and chances are that stamina will increase one point more than the rest of the TG_Fitness attributes. In contrast, have a player play too many or too few matches, and a drop in stamina is possible. The right number of matches per season is strongly dependent on a player's age.

Positioning

Right now Positioning seems to be bugged in the case of Defenders and possibly Defensive Midfielders. Experiments show that this attribute drops in the long run for players of the above positions, regardless of training. Different schedules only seem to delay or speed up the unavoidable damage.
Anyway, there is research still going on for this, so let's not say much more at this point. Positioning doesn't show problems for players who play in other positions than the ones mentioned above.

Set Pieces

Unfortunately, the attribute Set Pieces doesn't seem to work as well as it used to work before EP5 anymore. As we have seen in Section 2 of this article, Set Pieces is supposed to improve along with Penalty Taking, Crossing and Heading (TG_Set Pieces attributes). With EP5 it just seems that Set Pieces never improves as much as the other 3 TG_Set Pieces attributes, and the problem gets more and more visible in the long run (after a couple of years). This observation is still being looked into to understand whether we have to deal with another bug here or there is something else going on.

Attributes that are not directly affected by training

Flair, Bravery, Pace, Long-throws, Aggression, Determination, Team Work, Work Rate, Aerial Ability, Communication, Command of Area, Eccentricity, Kicking, Tendency to Punch, Throwing, Rushing Out. Moreover my experimental results indicate that Anticipation (outfield) and Creativity are not directly related to training either.
Note that changes are possible for most of the above attributes, but they are not directly related to training. Age, Potential, and Injuries are some of the factors that can cause changes in this case.

Influence

Influence seems much harder to increase through training with EP5. Wheras before it usually improved faster than Decisions, with the arrival of EP5 things changed. Decisions still behaves as it used to, but Influence for some reason is much harder to increase now.
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5. "Train on match day" & "Rest the day after the match" options

You can find these to options if you go to the Training Overview screen, click on "View", and then click on "Options". Here is what they do.

Train on match day:
If you tick this option, then all your players will train normally on match days. If you leave it blank (default), then again all your players will train on match days except for the 11 first teamers.
The big question has been whether the substitutes train on match days when this option is not ticked. Since on my experiments I notice that my substitutes sometimes get injured while training on match days, I have to assume that they do train.

Rest the day after the match:
Simple enough. If you tick this option, then the players who played for more than 45 minutes on match day will not train on the following day. The rest of the players will train normally.
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6. Suggested Training Schedules (EP5).


General Schedule ("Gary 2")

Here is the schedule I am suggesting for EP5, and it is similar to the one I had suggested for EP3. The only difference is the Shooting instead of the Overloading Attacking on Saturday:

Sun: Rest, Rest, Rest
Mon: Pig In the Middle, Technique, Closing Down
Tue: Sprints, Overloading Attacking, Crosses
Wed: Technique, Shadow Play, 5 a side large
Thu: Pig In the Middle, Set Pieces Attacking, Weight Training
Fri: Pig In the Middle, Set Pieces Defensive, 5 a side small
Sat: Pig In the Middle, Shooting, Overloading Defensive

Train on match day---> Off (not ticked)
Rest the day after the match---> On (ticked)

This schedule ("Gary 2.1") has been designed for teams that play their league matches on Sunday. If your team plays on Saturdays, then shift the whole schedule one day earlier, meaning that Saturday will become (Rest, Rest, Rest), Friday will become (Pig, Shooting, Overl(D)) etc. ("Gary 2.2")

Gary 2 is a general schedule. This means that it caters for all improveable attributes, and I tried to make it in such a way that most attributes are more or less evenly increased.

If you would like to use different schedules for your attackers and your defenders, then you could do that by slightly tweaking the above schedule. For example you can substitute Saturday's Shadow Play with Shooting (although this may have an undesirable effect on the Mental attributres too), and Overloading Defensive with Set Pieces Defensive for Attackers. Keep an eye on Sections 2 and 3 to see what each session caters for and act accordingly.

You can find the results of my experiments with this session in the Appendix.


Fitness Schedule ("Frank 1", still under research)

OK, what does everybody want from his pre-season schedule? Physical development for my players would be my choice. The problem is that getting the TG_fitness up is very hard, and sustaining the possible gains is even harder.

So after I did the experiments of Paragraph 8, I decided to try to make a fitness schedule, one that would focus solely on the fitness stats. Here is what I have come up with this far:

Sun: Rest, Agility, Training Match
Mon: Sprints, Cross Country, Cross Country
Tue: Sprints, Cross Country, Cross Country
Wed: Sprints, Cross Country, Cross Country
Thu: Sprints, Cross Country, Cross Country
Fri: Sprints, Cross Country, Cross Country
Sat: Pig, Set Pieces Defensive, Shooting

This is probably not optimal, but does the job. There is very high probability of +1 increase for the TG_fitness attributes from the very first week of use, and I have this far found that 2 months of use should be optimal. So what I usually do for my team is put my players under this regime for 2 months (once the summer vacation ends) and then continue with the general schedule above.

Of course you will notice that during the use of this preseason schedule some non-fitness attributes may decrease. That's the price one has to pay I guess, but the subsequent use of the above General Schedule will take care of the losses.

As I mentioned, the attribute gains due to this schedule are focused on the TG_Fitness attributes (Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina, Strength). These gains will start fading away once one switches to the General one. But after the season ends, I find that some players may end up keeping their TG_Fitness gains, so that a couple of them will end up having +1 in these attributes.

Note: Unlike the General Schedule that has been tested in a wide variety of situations, the preseason schedule has only been tested on Panathinaikos (top Greek Club). So approach carefully! Some comments on the results of this schedule can be found in the Appendix. Also note that this Fitness schedule has been tested while attended by 3 coaches (one general and two fitness ones) and 3 physios.
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7. Summer Vacations, Jadedness and Injuries.

There is no doubt that your players need to take vacations in the summer. This will decrease the probability of them getting to feel jaded in the course of the following season. It probably also has a good effect on the injuries. I suggest about 5 weeks of vacation in the summer, by use of the "Set Rest Period" option that you can find in the Training Overview screen (after you click on "View" and "Options").

What about players who participate in National Squad competitions during their vacation time? These players will need additional vacation. Generally speaking, I never let any of my players start preseason training before they are at least "unfit". Being "severely unfit" certainly means that they have rested enough.

Note that once your players are jaded (assuming that you were not able to avoid this), it is not a good idea to stop training them.
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8. Some results about the efficient number of TG points

So what is a sufficient number of points for each of the TG categories that we saw in Paragraph 2? As I mentioned there, this number changes for each TG. In order to get going on this issue, I ran some experiments using made up ".tat" files and monitored my players' attributes for 6 months. Note that the numbers that I give below are not the minimum values for improvement, they are just some good values for probable improvement within a six month period. The 17 players that were monitored and the coaches used can be found in the appendix.

The experiments were run by using a made-up ".tat" file as a new training session using the given values. This new training session was used every day except for Sunday (match day for Greek League) once. Also the option "Rest the day after the match" was ticked.

Fitness:
It took 16 points/day to see 7 players improve their fitness attributes over 6 months. When I used 19 points almost everybody improved.

Ball Control:
I started seeing improvement when I used 7 Ball Control points per day (3 players improved at the respective attributes within six months), but saw a clearer improvement when I used 9 points/day. In the latter case, 6 players improved at Technique, 4 at Dribbling, Agility, Balance, and 3 at Passing.

Movement:
I had to give 11 points/day to see a clear increase. In this case, 4 players improved at Marking, Tackling etc.

team work:
Surprise-surprise!! I tried 5 points, I tried 7 points, I tried 9, I tried 11, I even tried 18 points/day but still nobody improved at anything!!

Set Pieces:
5 points/day seemed enough to improve one third of the players within 6 months.

Tactics:
Again, 5 points were enough to improve the related Mental attributes for more than half the players. When I used 9 points/day, almost everybody improved.

Shooting:
Using 4 points/day, 4 players improved their finishing and 7 players improved their long shots within the six month period.

Reflexes:
No results on this one, since these attributes are heavily affected by the number of matches a player plays, and also the Ball Control value. Moreover, these attributes are strongly affected by the use or not of the options seen in Paragraph 5.
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Appendix

Here are the experimental results for the suggested General schedule of Section 6 with EP5.

I used this schedule for Panathinaikos from 28/6/2002 to 15/3/2003 on Holiday mode. The 17 players that were monitored were
Henriksen, Fyssas, Saric, Seitaridis, Gitas, Gkoumas, Kyrgiakos, Basinas, Konstantinidis, Kolkka, Karagkounis, Boateng, Chainho, Vlaovic, Lyberopoulos, Konstantinou, Olisadebe. A cautious/general, a cautious/fitness, and an attacking/fitness-based coaches were assigned to the schedules, along with 3 physios.

The results were:

Crossing
14 players improved (17 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Dribbling
10 players improved (15 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Finishing
14 players improved (16 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Heading
12 players improved (16 points total), 01 players became worse (01 points total)
Long Shots
15 players improved (19 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Marking
12 players improved (13 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Passing
07 players improved (12 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Penalty Taking
11 players improved (16 points total), 01 players became worse (01 points total)
Set Pieces
11 players improved (12 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Tackling
09 players improved (12 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Technique
12 players improved (15 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)

Decisions
09 players improved (11 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Influence
07 players improved (07 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
OffTheBall
09 players improved (14 points total), 02 players became worse (02 points total)
Positioning
09 players improved (11 points total), 03 players became worse (03 points total)

Acceleration
01 players improved (01 points total), 01 players became worse (01 points total)
Agility
11 players improved (15 points total), 02 players became worse (02 points total)
Balance
10 players improved (14 points total), 03 players became worse (03 points total)
Jumping
01 players improved (01 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)
Stamina
04 players improved (06 points total), 01 players became worse (01 points total)
Strength
01 players improved (01 points total), 00 players became worse (00 points total)


Note that some of the improvements would happen regardless of training, just because players mature and improve with age or because they play matches. So I estimate that you should subtract about 2 points from the Technical attributes increases above in order to see the real effect of training, and 1 point from all the Mental attributes. This is because Olisadebe, Konstantinidis and -to a lesser extend- Gkoumas seem very prone to improve during the above period. Not any noticable effect on the Physical attributes though.
The same goes of course for the odd decreases that appear above. For example, Henriksen is very likely to lose points during this period, probably due to aging.


Combination of the General schedule (Gary 2) with the Fitness schedule (Frank 1):

As I have mentioned in Paragraph 6, I have also tried to combine the use of the Gary 2.1 schedule with the Frank 1 schedule. In this case I used Frank 1 for 8 weeks (from 28/6/02 to 23/8/03) and then switched to Gary 2.1 until the end of the season. The final results were very similar to the ones above, only difference being that there were 2 more people with +1 for Acceleration, Jumping, Stamina and Strength at the end.
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