Little Help

[TonyR]

Hey guys,

I'm new to hattrick, and need a little help. After starting with an awful team, dwindling down my cash reserves down to 95K, I figured I need some outside advice. So, any advice is appreciated. I am putting 20K into my youth squad, 2nd week at weak. I've been training General (Form) for 4th week now.
I've been playing a 4-5-1, but it hasn't been working for me.

Here is my current list of players:

Adam Greco
162 000 US$, 26 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and wretched leadership abilities

Stamina: wretched Keeper: passable
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: wretched
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: passable
*My Keeper

Johnnie Bourque
15 000 US$, 25 years, poor form
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities [Head]

Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a wingback.

Ronald Staley
38 000 US$, 26 years, inadequate form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: wretched
Winger: weak Defending: solid
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a defender

Damian Davis
9 000 US$, 26 years, poor form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable
*not sure what he is

Chris Kearns
14 000 US$, 24 years, inadequate form
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor
*been using him as a winger

Basil Rhodes
95 000 US$, 22 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: inadequate Defending: passable
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a wingback

Sean Reeder
22 000 US$, 25 years, inadequate form
Has poor experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: passable
Winger: inadequate Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: solid
*using him as a winger

Darrell Rodriguez
105 000 US$, 26 years, inadequate form
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: passable Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: inadequate
*using him as an inner midfielder

Ted Shannon
23 000 US$, 18 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak
*new addition as an inner midfielder

Devon Macon
14 000 US$, 22 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable
*not sure what he is

Louis Carlson
35 000 US$, 23 years, weak form
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities [Technical]

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: wretched
*using him as a forward

Carroll Garcia
30 000 US$, 17 years, inadequate form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: weak
*new addition using as a wingback

Joshua Berger
12 000 US$, 20 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities [Quick]

Stamina: disastrous Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable
*uing as inner mid

Owen Turner
27 000 US$, 29 years, inadequate form
Has inadequate experience and weak leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: passable
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: wretched
*not sure

Odell Minor
54 000 US$, 26 years, passable form
Has weak experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Powerful]

Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: passable
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: inadequate
*central defender

Gary Elkins
29 000 US$, 25 years, passable form
Has poor experience and wretched leadership abilities [Unpredictable]

Stamina: weak Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: passable
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: inadequate
*defender (i think)

Ed Coats
16 000 US$, 23 years, weak form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: wretched
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor
*using as inner mid

Fred Gaither
3 000 US$, 30 years, poor form
Has weak experience and weak leadership abilities [Head]

Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: wretched Passing: poor
Winger: disastrous Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor
*central def

Craig Howard
0 US$, 40 years, wretched form
Has passable experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: disastrous Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: disastrous
*coach

[damnMikeBrown]

Stop training general, and never train it again. Switch to Stamina training for 2 weeks. You will see immediate and substantial improvements both in stamina, and your players performance. Expect form drops, as stamina hurts this.

After 2 weeks of stamina, sort what you want to train, make sure you have youth trainees at the applicable position, and train away.

[Vince]

Though I agree with damnMikeBrown about training Stamina, I disagree that you should never train general again. After you train Stamina for a week or two, your team's form will be pretty poor, so it might be a good idea to train General to push some of your players' form back up.

You only have 95,000 left, so that's not too much room to work with, but it doesn't look like you're going to have to run a complete overhaul. You've already got a Passable Keeper, that's good. I'm guessing the 4-5-1 isn't working for you mainly because your midfield sucks. And the big reason your midfield sucks is definitely Stamina is low. Stamina and Playmaking are the two key attributes for an Inner Midfielder, and you're probably getting killed in the midfield with the majority of your players below inadequate stamina.

The next thing to do is decide what you are going to train. The main things you want to train are either 1) Keeper, 2) Defending, 3) Playmaking, or 4) Scoring. If you're running a 4-5-1, I'd recommend training Playmaking, as only your mids will get training, and that way you can max out your training...players only get training if they play a game, so if you play 3 inner mids in the league game, and then 3 different inner mids in the friendly, you can be training up 6 inner mids at once. Once you decide what you are going to train, go look for trainees; 17-19 year old players who are probably at about inadequate or passable at the skill you are training. With only 95k, you might want to hold off on getting a whole set of trainees; there's no reason to put yourself into debt yet.

Anyhow, I hope that helps, and if you need any other help, check out the FAQ that's stickied at the top of the forum.

[daedalus]

These are just my opinions so, y'know, take it for what it's worth . . .

As dMB said, switch from General to Stamina. I'd do it for as long as it takes for your starters to reach passable stamina - a midfielder with stamina below passable will not reach very good performance and a defender with stamina below passable will give up goals at the end of the game, doesn't seem to be very important for either goalkeepers or forwards. If it takes you awhile to get stamina up to passable and form ends up dusted, you might consider adding a week or two of general to bring form back to decency but otherwise, I'd move onto the skill you want to train.

To me, if you have a wingback (like Bourque) with below-passable winger skill, I'd play him "defensive". Below passable, I don't think that you'll get very much offensive contribution from him so you might as well get the most you can and boost his defense.

Passing is a "secondary" skill so, with players who have good passing skill but below-inadequate "primary" skill (like Turner) I don't know that there is much to be done with them. If they were younger (17-18), you might be able to train a weak primary skill up to passable eventually. As is, however, you might be better off cutting your loss (and salary drain) and let them go.

Having 95 000 isn't a BadThing[tm]. You can spend it to improve your team. Just do so carefully.

4-5-1 is good, if you have the right personnel for it. But I'd want a really good forward, if I was going to do it. Otherwise, I think 3-5-2 might be easier to staff for since a passable scorer can be picked up for pretty darn cheaply.

Either way, definitely pick an overall plan and stick with it. See what works and what doesn't work. And adjust the details accordingly. :)

[TonyR]

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate the help.

[dacman]

First a review of the players.

Adam Greco
162 000 US$, 26 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and wretched leadership abilities

Stamina: wretched Keeper: passable
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: wretched
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: passable
*My Keeper

He's pretty good.

Johnnie Bourque
15 000 US$, 25 years, poor form
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities [Head]

Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a wingback.

He's not that great, a so-so backup at best.

Ronald Staley
38 000 US$, 26 years, inadequate form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: wretched
Winger: weak Defending: solid
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a defender

He's pretty good -- needs a little more stamina


Damian Davis
9 000 US$, 26 years, poor form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable
*not sure what he is

He's a future popcorn vendor (fire him).

Chris Kearns
14 000 US$, 24 years, inadequate form
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor
*been using him as a winger

A rather bad backup at best.

Basil Rhodes
95 000 US$, 22 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: inadequate Defending: passable
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak
*been using him as a wingback

He's pretty good -- again, needs more stamina, though.

Sean Reeder
22 000 US$, 25 years, inadequate form
Has poor experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: passable
Winger: inadequate Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: solid
*using him as a winger

He's barely adequate -- if you do play him at winger, set him to "offensive" otherwise don't play him at all.

Darrell Rodriguez
105 000 US$, 26 years, inadequate form
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: passable Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: inadequate
*using him as an inner midfielder

He's about the only decent IM you have. He's also the best team captain candidate if he plays, IMHO.

Ted Shannon
23 000 US$, 18 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak
*new addition as an inner midfielder

He's barely adequate -- needs stamina bad.

Devon Macon
14 000 US$, 22 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable
*not sure what he is

Future nacho cheese dipper (fire him)


Louis Carlson
35 000 US$, 23 years, weak form
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities [Technical]

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: wretched
*using him as a forward

An OK forward.

Carroll Garcia
30 000 US$, 17 years, inadequate form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: weak
*new addition using as a wingback

A potential defender or forward trainee -- not really suited for wingback, IMHO.

Joshua Berger
12 000 US$, 20 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities [Quick]

Stamina: disastrous Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable
*uing as inner mid

He's not good right now-- his stamina is absolutely going to kill you in midfield.


Owen Turner
27 000 US$, 29 years, inadequate form
Has inadequate experience and weak leadership abilities

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: passable
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: wretched
*not sure

Onion dispenser at hot dog stand (you know what to do by now).


Odell Minor
54 000 US$, 26 years, passable form
Has weak experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Powerful]

Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: passable
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: inadequate
*central defender

He's decent.


Gary Elkins
29 000 US$, 25 years, passable form
Has poor experience and wretched leadership abilities [Unpredictable]

Stamina: weak Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: passable
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: inadequate
*defender (i think)

He's OK -- I hate unpredictable defenders, though (personal preference). He'll have to do for now.


Ed Coats
16 000 US$, 23 years, weak form
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: poor Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: wretched
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor
*using as inner mid

He's not very good -- again with the stamina.


Fred Gaither
3 000 US$, 30 years, poor form
Has weak experience and weak leadership abilities [Head]

Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: wretched Passing: poor
Winger: disastrous Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor
*central def

He's OK as a backup.

Craig Howard
0 US$, 40 years, wretched form
Has passable experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: disastrous Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: disastrous
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: disastrous
*coach

What's his coach skill -- that's all that really matters. Hold on I'll look him up......

A passable coach who is fond of attacking

Oh, yeah -- that'll do.

Stamina, stamina, stamina -- your guys get winded walking to the head. I'd train stamina the next 2 weeks, then keep training it every other week until every worthwhile outfielder on the team has at least passable stamina.

Do you have a backup keeper? I don't remember seeing one. Inad. keepers are fairly cheap -- don't pay more than 10-15k.

Your defenders look OK for now -- you only have 1 real wingback, but that's not a huge need right now. Play a passable CD with the "defensive" order at WB to get better ratings if needed.

You definately could use a couple of passable or better playmakers for the midfield. Maybe a passable winger or two as well.

Looks like you'll want a passable scoring forward or two as well.

You won't be able to get all of the above right away -- it'll probably take several weeks at least and as much as a whole season depending on your cash flow situation.

Training: Pick a skill and get 5-6 youngsters (under 20) to play at the corresponding postion -- you make more money in the long run that way. Set intensity to at least 95% and have 2-3 physios.

All the the above is of course, JMHO.

[Poli]

Tony, welcome to my friends at FOFC! Best of luck, and change your socks to puke green!

[TonyR]

Ok, Ok...so the puke green socks guarantee victory or tie? Oh wait, puking on the field after getting winded walking to the head.