Injury Prone Players - Can They Be Helped?

[ForrestGrump]

I’ve bought plenty of players who are susceptible to injury but until now it’s never been a big issue. I paid £60m for this kid at the start of the season because he fits my tactic perfectly, but he spent most of his time in the physio room! 

The orange box indicates all the injuries this player has picked up this season - totalling 131 days missed - and I’ve just got an email saying he’s out for 2 months after pulling his hamstring at the World Cup. Obviously his bravery needs to improve, but given that bravery decreases every time he gets an injury there’s not a lot I can do with it.

We’ve got 11 physios, 4 sports scientists, and 4 fitness coaches, all at 4 star or higher. Training schedule is pretty much what the assistant picks (majority of the time two sessions per day), but I add more recovery sessions. I always check the ‘rest’ section and set the intensity accordingly when there is an increased/high risk, and he’s never played until the injuries have fully healed and he’s got decent match sharpness.

Is there anything I can do to reduce the number of injuries? Or is it just one of those cases of a player who can’t be helped?

[zyfon5]

Yikes that injury screen is a headache to look at. Not much can be done there. U can try to lower his training and match load but I doubt it will make too much difference. I had players with injury prone traits before but sometimes u can really lower down his frequency of injuries if u rotate a lot and make sure he is not overworked.

[BMNJohn]

1 hour ago, ForrestGrump said:

Is there anything I can do to reduce the number of injuries? Or is it just one of those cases of a player who can’t be helped?

Given enough time and micro-management and essentially pampering the player like a toddler, you can help reducing his Injury Proneness the same way you can increase it by working him too hard. Realistically, you're better selling him while he still holds value and buy someone else who might not be as good but at least will be able to play more than two matches in a row without imploding. It's a colossal pain in the ass to micro-manage players when you still have so many other things you need to take care of as a manager.

Edited April 29, 2020 by BMNJohn

[ForrestGrump]

@zyfon5 @BMNJohn thanks for the advice.

When I looked at his history before buying him it’s was mainly minor injuries so I figured I’d get away with it, but it’s just getting worse and worse.

Think I may give him one more season of a really reduced workload just to see if his fortunes change, and if not I’ll have to get rid. Thankfully I’ve got some good replacements! 

[Alfie31796]

Honestly it's almost pointless trying. As others have said, micro-managing is just too much of a ballache for players like this. The second I see 'Susceptible to injuries' in the scout report, I'm out of there. 

[BMNJohn]

2 hours ago, ForrestGrump said:

@zyfon5 @BMNJohn thanks for the advice.

When I looked at his history before buying him it’s was mainly minor injuries so I figured I’d get away with it, but it’s just getting worse and worse.

Think I may give him one more season of a really reduced workload just to see if his fortunes change, and if not I’ll have to get rid. Thankfully I’ve got some good replacements! 

The thing is that injury prone players actually fairly rarely pick up nasty injuries. When I mean "nasty", I mean the kind of injuries that sidelines a player for half a season or more. Even in your screenshot, the only really season threatening injury was a broken leg. The rest is just the kind of injury where the player is not available for two weeks, three weeks, one month, two months; loads of nonsense like that where the player is never actually available but is not so badly injured that you'd notice much.

The AI also loves playing their squad until they're on their last legs despite tripling every position and despite the fact that FM actually has less injuries than IRL; so a player with manageable injury proneness (noticeable, but not career threatening) just turns into a ticking time bomb after a few years of heavy use by AI managers, especially if they're world-class and play every game they're available for. FM is a place where I've seen the AI think it was reasonable to have Cristiano Ronaldo play a full season, then play the Euro and go far in it, then play the Olympic Games, then go back to his club and play all the Supercups and Champions' League nonsense without any sort of holidays. It's a good thing that he both has very low Injury Proneness and excellent Natural Fitness and avoided bad injuries, but the dude was absolutely strained, stretched so thin that he was noted as "Tired" for most of the Fall season due to having sky-high Jadedness.

To be honest, that's also kinda what had happened to the Brazilian Ronaldo: so essential to his teams that he became a ticking time bomb. Not that it justifies that kind of behaviour: something like this happening before is a warning not to do it again, not a justification to do it again.

[BMNJohn]

I'm now reminded of this thread as I've just noticed I had an injury prone striker go for about two seasons with only 4 days worth of injuries... and I never noticed that he was injury prone at all. Granted, we were a semi-pro club, so the match and training load were really weak, even though I still had him on double intensity. His injury record before he joined the club is far from glorious,  but from 2028 to 2030... only four days off, for 51 apps and 28 goals.

That being said and now that we're turning pro, I don't feel good enough about giving him a contract extension.. especially since he would barely be sitting on the bench due to being outclassed by another striker.

[zyfon5]

3 minutes ago, BMNJohn said:

I'm now reminded of this thread as I've just noticed I had an injury prone striker go for about two seasons with only 4 days worth of injuries... and I never noticed that he was injury prone at all. Granted, we were a semi-pro club, so the match and training load were really weak, even though I still had him on double intensity. His injury record before he joined the club is far from glorious,  but from 2028 to 2030... only four days off, for 51 apps and 28 goals.

That being said and now that we're turning pro, I don't feel good enough about giving him a contract extension.. especially since he would barely be sitting on the bench due to being outclassed by another striker.

if you are playing lower league football, my advice is not to get too attached to any players. for every good player u released, there are a couple of better replacements out there due to the level of football u are playing.

[BMNJohn]

6 minutes ago, zyfon5 said:

if you are playing lower league football, my advice is not to get too attached to any players. for every good player u released, there are a couple of better replacements out there due to the level of football u are playing.

I never do. I replace about 15 players every season. It has its pitfalls, but for now it's been smooth. Well it's not too low anymore since we're getting in D2, which is the first pro division in the Netherlands. I've been getting a promotion every season, but now I think I can settle in D2 for a season in order to get my finances in order.

[Vilmar]

On 29/04/2020 at 16:51, zyfon5 said:

Yikes that injury screen is a headache to look at. Not much can be done there. U can try to lower his training and match load but I doubt it will make too much difference. I had players with injury prone traits before but sometimes u can really lower down his frequency of injuries if u rotate a lot and make sure he is not overworked.

This is exactly what I did.

[ForrestGrump]

Just an update for anyone who still has reply notifications on.

I kept the player and set his additional focus to aerial (to increase bravery), but set it at half intensity for the entire season. I’d usually play him for two games in a row and then stick him on the bench for the next one providing it wasn’t an important fixture.

2029/30: 19 weeks missed

2030/31: 5 weeks missed

Massive improvement! Still saw some attribute progress too with quite a few stats going up by 1, but most importantly bravery going up by 5.

 

Edited May 7, 2020 by ForrestGrump

[zyfon5]

38 minutes ago, ForrestGrump said:

Just an update for anyone who still has reply notifications on.

I kept the player and set his additional focus to aerial (to increase bravery), but set it at half intensity for the entire season. I’d usually play him for two games in a row and then stick him on the bench for the next one providing it wasn’t an important fixture.

2029/30: 19 weeks missed

2030/31: 5 weeks missed

Massive improvement! Still saw some attribute progress too with quite a few stats going up by 1, but most importantly bravery going up by 5.

 

good for you then! players can regain back their bravery if they stay injury free long enough

[IbrahimAliMaher]

I'm very tempted to sign this guy but am hesitating because I had a DCM a couple of seasons ago who was also injury prone and did my head in basically. He kept picking up niggling little injuries for about the first 4-5 months I had him, eventually I managed to nurse him back to health and he became a fantastic player. We rarely lost a game when I could actually get him on the pitch but he was just so fragile. Like this guy he had fantastic mental stats and was a real leader, but it's incredibly frustrating when they keep breaking down just after they come back from injury.

The main difference with Tafari is that looking at his career stats he still managed 40 games a season and consistently banged the goals in despite all the niggles. I'm desperate for a proven goalscorer but he's a big outlay for my club and represents a bit of a gamble on the fitness side...worth a punt?