WikiUpgrades & Downgrades (PSD)
The PSD is the moment every manager looks forward to: twice per season every player is re-evaluated – stronger or weaker. This is where everything you invested over the half-season in Training, Lineup and match practice pays off. This chapter shows you the real maths behind it.
When & what happens
The PSD runs twice per season – at the start of the season and at mid-season. What's judged is always the preceding half-season (about 26 days). Every single attribute is changed – and with it, ultimately, the overall strength. Simplified, per attribute:
new attribute = old attribute + Training share + Fitness share + Appearances share − age penalty. How large each share turns out depends on age, talent, league and current strength – the details are below.
The three pillars
Every attribute grows from three sources. Their weight and their maximum per PSD:
| Pillar | Weight | max. per attribute | What matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training | 0.5 | +6 | train up the individual values over the half-season and keep them high |
| Fitness (Form) | 0.2 | +5 | keep stamina, freshness and morale consistently high |
| Appearances | 0.3 | +5 | actually play as many of the possible competitive matches as you can |
A player who makes not a single appearance gets zero from the Appearances pillar – and throws away almost a third of the possible upgrade. If you want to develop someone, they have to play. The higher the share of matches played out of the possible matches, the bigger the bonus.
Age – the biggest lever
Nothing influences the PSD as strongly as age. It determines both the growth potential and whether training still has any effect at all:
| Age | Growth potential | Training takes effect |
|---|---|---|
| 18–19 | very high | fully |
| 20–23 | high | fully |
| 24–27 | medium | only half |
| 28–29 | low | only half |
| 30 and up | falling | not at all – instead an age penalty (downgrade) |
From 30, an additional age penalty kicks in that grows noticeably with each year – players decline once appearances and form can no longer offset it. After 32 years, players head towards the end of their career.
Develop them young (ideally 18–23) and give those players game time. From the mid-20s development becomes a slog, from 30 you're only adjusting the pace of the decline. Better to sell veterans before the downgrades hit.
Talent – the ceiling above
Every attribute can only grow up to its talent cap. The closer a value is to its talent, the smaller the upgrade:
| Distance to talent | Growth |
|---|---|
| far below (60+) | slightly boosted |
| 30–60 below | full |
| 10–30 below | slowed (×0.75) |
| just below | heavily slowed (×0.5) |
| reached the talent | barely any (×0.1) |
Attributes with a talent below 35 barely grow at all anyway. So it's worth knowing the Talent values (via Scouting) and investing in the attributes that still have room to grow.
League & top players – two brakes
- League factor: A player develops best as long as he is not too strong for his league. If his strength is above 1.4 times the league average, growth collapses to ×0.1. In other words: a giant in a weak league stagnates – promotion or stronger competition keeps him growing.
- Top-player dampener: From a strength of 110, every upgrade is additionally slowed – at 120 only half, from 130 almost nothing at all. Absolute top players plateau; the last points are the most expensive.
When players get weaker
The "down" side of the PSD hits you when several things come together:
- Age 30 and up – the age penalty bites, training no longer helps.
- Too little game time – the Appearances pillar drops out.
- Neglected form/values – let stamina, freshness, morale and the individual values waste away over the half-season and you hand the PSD bad numbers.
You can hold on to an important veteran for a while by giving him plenty of game time and keeping his form high – that cushions the age penalty. But it can't last forever.
Youth PSD
Your youth players are evaluated independently (at the start of the season and several times along the way). Here what counts above all is talent and the configured development focus – there's no match practice yet. Whoever nurtures the right talents early has a real head start when they make the jump into the senior squad. More on this under Player development.
How to get the most out of every PSD
- Buy young, develop young: 18–23-year-olds with high talent are the best PSD winners.
- Distribute game time deliberately: your development players need to feature regularly – a season on the bench costs a season of growth.
- Keep form high across the half-season: not just before matches, but consistently – the PSD measures the average.
- Invest in unfilled attributes: put training on the values that are still well below their talent.
- Keep an eye on the league: if a gem gets too strong for your league, it slows his development – promotion helps.
- Cash in veterans in good time: the market value follows the strength – sell before the first downgrades, not after.
2×/season, judges the last half-season · three pillars: Training (0.5) + Fitness (0.2) + Appearances (0.3) · 0 matches = 0 Appearances bonus · age is king (young = growth, decline from 30) · talent is the ceiling · too strong for the league or above strength 110 = slowed · form & values count as the half-season average.