Why do I always start the season so badly?

[Lucas_26_7]

Hi I have a save with Blackburn and am now in the 2028/29 season. I have been challenging for the title for a couple of years and every year I just miss out due to my inability to start the season off well. I have won every other trophy there is but can not win the PL because of my rough starts.

 

These are my stats to start the season every year in the first 10 games:

2028/29: 13 points

2027/28: 17 points

2026/27: 15 points

2025/26: 17 points

2024/25: 15 points

 

Those are the seasons in which I have challenged for the title - not exactly title winning starts. After this I then usually go on tears where I win for about 20 games straight then choke in the last 2 or 3 games. The frustrating part is that this seems to happen by itself and I don't know what I have done to cause such a run. In these seasons I have only made one or two transfers every year - My team has largely been together for ages. I usually do a 5 week pre season - first 3 weeks is high intensity fitness training then move towards team cohesion last few weeks before the season starts then balanced once that hits. I generally just keep it on balanced throughout the season but if we aren't scoring much I will go attacking and vice versa with defending. Any thoughts?

[Snorks]

Look at your preseason.

You need to be going into the first game with full match sharpness (90% +), high morale and strong team cohesion and tactical familiarity. So, how do you achieve this?

First thing to note, I don't mention fitness - fitness training only works on the physical attributes, it's a bit of a misnomer in the game. To be prepared physically for the first game of the season, Match Sharpness is what's important. This can only be gained by playing matches, so take control of your friendlies, make sure everyone gets rotated based on their match sharpness. With a squad of 25 players, I generally need around 7-9 friendlies in my pre-season (to include tactical familiarity as well). I rarely, if ever touch Fitness Training.

So, my friendlies are set up so that I get roughly, three games against higher rep teams, three against similar rep teams and the last three friendlies against lower rep teams - important to make the last three friendlies  'easy' wins so you go into the season with high morale. Leave a full seven days between the last friendly and first competitive match, and three days between each fixture. Gives you chance to play defensive, attacking, standard tactics depending on opposition. Match Training I usually leave on Tactics, but might do a couple of Set Piece days.

As far as training goes, Team Cohesion and Match Tactics to start. High until the friendlies start then Average thereafter.  Match training a day before the game, rest the day after.  I look at the Team Comparison, to see the averages  for the league, and compare my squad, the attributes we are weak on dictates the Team Training for the season - usually I only work two areas over the course of the season depending on the Comparison as it takes a long time to see any difference.

I don't have too many struggles early on using this approach - but the end of season drop off seems to be a theme for me as well, although I can usually put this down to tiredness, injuries etc.

You could also look at squad personality - determination, ambition and professionalism could all affect the start/end of season. Good leaders will help.

[FrazT]

@Snorks  Some terrific advice there

[Lucas_26_7]

2 hours ago, Snorks said:

Look at your preseason.

You need to be going into the first game with full match sharpness (90% +), high morale and strong team cohesion and tactical familiarity. So, how do you achieve this?

First thing to note, I don't mention fitness - fitness training only works on the physical attributes, it's a bit of a misnomer in the game. To be prepared physically for the first game of the season, Match Sharpness is what's important. This can only be gained by playing matches, so take control of your friendlies, make sure everyone gets rotated based on their match sharpness. With a squad of 25 players, I generally need around 7-9 friendlies in my pre-season (to include tactical familiarity as well). I rarely, if ever touch Fitness Training.

So, my friendlies are set up so that I get roughly, three games against higher rep teams, three against similar rep teams and the last three friendlies against lower rep teams - important to make the last three friendlies  'easy' wins so you go into the season with high morale. Leave a full seven days between the last friendly and first competitive match, and three days between each fixture. Gives you chance to play defensive, attacking, standard tactics depending on opposition. Match Training I usually leave on Tactics, but might do a couple of Set Piece days.

As far as training goes, Team Cohesion and Match Tactics to start. High until the friendlies start then Average thereafter.  Match training a day before the game, rest the day after.  I look at the Team Comparison, to see the averages  for the league, and compare my squad, the attributes we are weak on dictates the Team Training for the season - usually I only work two areas over the course of the season depending on the Comparison as it takes a long time to see any difference.

I don't have too many struggles early on using this approach - but the end of season drop off seems to be a theme for me as well, although I can usually put this down to tiredness, injuries etc.

You could also look at squad personality - determination, ambition and professionalism could all affect the start/end of season. Good leaders will help.

Thanks a lot for the detailed response! I tend to structure my pre season matches similar to that with easy matches going into the end of the pre-season and a similar amount of matches. I usually don't play pre-season but I always shift around my team and make sure the assistant plays my current squad to ensure all players are at their peak match sharpness by Matchday 1. I think the main thing must be having fitness most of pre-season, so I will adjust that in future years to follow your advice, thanks!

[Snorks]

4 minutes ago, Lucas_26_7 said:

Thanks a lot for the detailed response! I tend to structure my pre season matches similar to that with easy matches going into the end of the pre-season and a similar amount of matches. I usually don't play pre-season but I always shift around my team and make sure the assistant plays my current squad to ensure all players are at their peak match sharpness by Matchday 1. I think the main thing must be having fitness most of pre-season, so I will adjust that in future years to follow your advice, thanks!

Yeah -  I always balance out my squad - don;t trust the AssMan to do it lol. I make substitutions based on match sharpness during preseason as well, unless the game is purely about tactic.

[Torminator]

Do you buy and sell a lot o players every summer? This can cause a wobly start.

[HUNT3R]

18 minutes ago, Torminator said:

Do you buy and sell a lot o players every summer? This can cause a wobly start.

This. It's been the cause of many of my slow starts in previous seasons.

[Snorks]

He did say only a couple of transfers each year. Although depending on the dynamics even one can make a difference.