Developing and Using a B Team

[timothyburger]

I recently started a save in Spain and have a B team that plays at such a low level that they don't show scheduled matches.  Almost impossible to hire staff for the team since they have a poor reputation and I have virtually no wage budget for B team coaches.  I've got the best coaching in the league for my first team and close to the top for U19 as well as great training facilities, but my B team is a big hole in my development pipeline.

I'm really not sure how to manage this vs my U19 team, or. vs sending promising players out on loan. Seems like B matches would be better for development than U19, but playing at such a low level and with a low quality coaching staff doesn't seem great.

Is it possible to get your B team promoted to make it into a legitimate option for developing players just below first team level, any tips on how to manage the B team?

[jdmk88]

I'm having the same issue in portugal. The only way around it for me is scheduling friendlies every month (which leads onto another annoying issue...the B's manager is set to do this automatically but doesn't)

[timothyburger]

14 hours ago, jdmk88 said:

I'm having the same issue in portugal. The only way around it for me is scheduling friendlies every month (which leads onto another annoying issue...the B's manager is set to do this automatically but doesn't)

Your B team is probably playing games, my players assigned to play for the B team are playing games even when I'm not scheduling them, just at a level so low that they aren't visible unless you click into the player's stats and can see that they have been playing games.

My B team is Spanish Federation Level 3, would really like to get them up to Level 1 or even the Second Division so the competition would be more appropriate for developing players, but no idea how to do that or where we even stand at Level 3 since I can't view that level of competition.

[Iggy Hassan]

The B team is complete pain and not very well supported by the AI. It's definitely an area that SI needs to address for future versions as sending players there rather than your U19s seems a backwards step. Often the team isn't in a playable league, so players sent there don't play any matches and often fester.

Like has been said, arranging friendlies is an option but leaving it to the B team manager is hit & miss. Another option is to wait a season or two and your B team may get promoted into a recognised league. The other option is to load up a lower league add-on from a third party so they definitely will play games from the start.

Like has also been said, the staff are usually poor quality but you can sack them and hire better ones yourself via a workaround.

Tbh if there was an option to get rid of the B team via asking the board in-game, I'd take it because players are better off in your U19s or on loan for their development.