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Training

Training has two faces: it keeps your eleven fit in the short term for the next matchday and develops them into better players over the long term. This chapter explains not just where you tap what, but how the training calculation actually works – so you decide deliberately instead of guessing.

Fitness or development? Both.

Every player has two groups of values that training treats differently:

• Fitness – stamina, morale, freshness. These act in the short term and feed directly into the match strength for the next matchday.
• Training values – the 12 individual attributes (pace, tackling, heading, shot power, shot accuracy, technique, game intelligence; for the goalkeeper: reflexes, saves, aerial command, rushing out, ball control). These act over the long term and decide above all at the Player Skill Developments (PSD) whether a player gets better or weaker.

How training calculates

Your training plan consists of 9 sessions and is evaluated once per day. Four rules apply that explain everything:

• Everything decays on its own. Every value loses around 0.8 points per day. Training has to make up for this loss first – only above that does a value grow. Set nothing and the values drop.
• Low values grow fast, high ones barely. The gain depends on the ratio reference value ÷ current value (reference value: 65 for outfield attributes, 50 for goalkeeper attributes). A value of 50 therefore grows much faster than one of 85. Meaning: pulling up a weak value is cheap, pushing a top value even higher is a slog.
• Daily form. Each day the yield fluctuates randomly by ±10 % – some days more, some less, irrelevant over the year.
• Equilibrium. Because the gain falls the higher the value, every trained value settles at a level where gain and decay balance out. Focus harder = higher equilibrium.

The three types of training

Type	Trains whom?	Trains what?	Requirement
Team	whole squad (outfield or goalkeeper)	one focus – usually several related values at once	—
Individual	a single player	exactly one value	the Individual session must be set in the team plan
Special	a single player	a special skill	Special session set and a skill chosen

Team training – the foundation

You pick a predefined focus (e.g. "Pace") that sensibly fills all 9 sessions, or set each session yourself by tap. Important: outfield players and goalkeepers have separate plans – a goalkeeper focus trains entirely different values (see tables below). A focus almost never trains just one value: "Pace", for example, also lifts stamina and a bit of game intelligence.

Individual training – fine-tuning per player

With it you develop a single player specifically in one value – ideal for ironing out a weakness or pushing a talent in his top attribute. It delivers about 80 % per session of what a team training fully geared towards it would deliver, but is in turn freely selectable per player.

Tip: the "Set to lowest value" button automatically sets each player's lowest value as the individual training – the most efficient choice, because low values grow the fastest.

Special training – teaching skills

With the Special session you teach a player a special skill or raise it one level. Each special session fills the progress of the chosen skill; at 100 % the level goes up – which takes around 40 sessions per level.

What each session trains (outfield players)

"Main" = the value that rises most; "Secondary" = what grows along the way. The injury risk tells you how hard the session is on the body.

Session	Main	Secondary	Risk
Recovery	Freshness	—	low
Free	Freshness	Morale	low
Warm-down	Freshness	Stamina	low
Physical training	Stamina	—	medium
Cross-country run	Stamina	Pace	high
Circuit training	Stamina + Pace	—	very high
Pressing	Game intelligence	Tackling, Pace	high
Tackling	Tackling	Game intelligence	high
Dribbling	Technique	Tackling, Game intelligence	medium
Heading	Heading	—	medium
Foot tennis	Shot accuracy	Heading, Technique, Shot power	medium
Shooting	Shot power	Shot accuracy	medium
Solo run	Technique + Shot power	Shot accuracy, Game intelligence	medium
Combination play	Game intelligence	Technique, Shot accuracy	medium
Overload play	Game intelligence	Tackling, Technique, Pace, Shot accuracy	medium
Practice match	All-rounder	almost all skills a little	medium

What each session trains (goalkeeper)

Session	Main	Secondary	Risk
Recovery / Free / Warm-down	Freshness	(Warm-down: Stamina)	low
Physical training	Stamina	—	medium
1-on-1	Reflexes	Saves, Rushing out	medium
Diving	Saves	Reflexes, Ball control	medium
High balls	Aerial command	Ball control, Rushing out	low
Set pieces	Aerial command	Saves, Rushing out, Reflexes	low
Playing out	Ball control	Rushing out	low

Freshness, recovery & injuries

• Freshness is the most important lever for daily form and drops through matches and intensive training. The skill Lungs of steel makes freshness/stamina training 7.5 % more effective per level.
• You should always plan in at least 3 recovery sessions (Free, Recovery, Warm-down) per day. Below that, morale drops and the game warns you – the eleven is training "on wear and tear".
• More than 7 recovery sessions even give a +10 % recovery bonus – ideal for a targeted freshen-up before an important match.

Injured players don't train along, but recover automatically – you don't have to rest them separately.

Morale

Morale strongly steers daily form. Below 100 it recovers back up on its own; above 100 it's worth its weight in gold, but decays back down quickly. The value moves between roughly 80 and 104. Too little recovery pushes morale down – another reason for the 3-session rule.

Training boosters – getting more out of it

Booster	Effect	From where
Training grounds	around +1 % training yield per upgrade level	Stadium surroundings
Pianchi bicycles	+30 % / +20 % / +10 % on stamina + pace (goalkeeper: stamina + reflexes) – as main, stadium and kit sponsor cumulative up to +60 %	Sponsors
Lungs of steel	+7.5 % per level on freshness and stamina training	Special skill
Assistant coach	takes over the training automatically (see below)	Advertising package

The assistant coach

If you book the advertising package "Sponsor appointments" or "Everything" via the slush fund, you get an assistant coach as a bonus – active until the end of the season (a fresh booking extends it). The assistant coach automatically finds your weakest team attribute (outfield and goalkeeper separately) and trains exactly that.

How to make good decisions

• Before important matches: go for freshness/recovery (feel free to use >7 sessions for the +10 % bonus). In the short term, form beats development.
• In quiet phases & before the PSDs: develop skills. Keep the mid-season in mind – just before the PSD, specifically pull up the values that move the player forward.
• Weaknesses first: low values grow the fastest – "Set to lowest value" is almost always efficient.
• Spare prone players: with high injury proneness, prefer soft sessions (low risk) and keep freshness up; a rehab clinic dampens the consequences.
• Stack boosters: upgrade training grounds, lock in Pianchi as a sponsor, take the assistant coach from the advertising package – together a noticeable difference over the year.
• Talents broad, stars focused: young players benefit from the all-rounder (Practice match); mature players you bring to the maximum via individual training in their top attribute.