Asunto: Some thoughts on theory

If you've never played a sports management sim before, the most important thing to realize is that you aren't necessarily training players for your own team. The primary source of income with which to improve your team is the selling off of trained players... using the funds to improve the non-training areas of your team, buying new trainees, rinse, repeat.

For those that come to Sokker from Hattrick, this will be a familiar concept. However, unlike, Hattrick, all your players use all their skills (just some less than others). So most established teams rotate through at least two (more often more) skills in a training cycle. While this is something that you will be building your team towards, it's probably too much to attempt in the first season and a half or so, your desire to develop specific types of players for your style of play in areas that you don't specifically train will make it necessary.

So, to use my training regimen as an example, I focus on strikers. The first half of each season, I train striking, so 3 A team players and 3 B teamers. The second half of the season I will either train technique (5 A team players and 5 B teamers) or pace (11 A team players and 11 B team players). On the face of it, that means a lot of buying and selling of players as every two seasons you would need to shuffle in trainable players for either tech or pace. In reality, you don't have to sell players that often.

It sounds complicated, but it's not. One of the beauties of Sokker as opposed to say, Hattrick, is the flexibility. Say you want a fast, counterattacking team... you can build your team and tactic that way. There's no "set formula..." like train playmaking and run a 3-5-2.

The main thing to remember is that this is a long-term game... the youngest team in the ML started playing in 09/05.

I am also training Striker this season. While my strikers are Good, their Pace is dismal. So my question- if I train Pace focusing on strikers (giving me 6 trained positions) will these train faster than if I trained Pace on Midfield (with 11 trained postioned a week)?

Pace trains everyone who plays, so 22 total players. When you select a training order, it doesn't make any difference for stamina or pace.

Adding to Benmor's:

Since most of your income will come from selling trainees, it's important how you choose them. I'm also a striker trainer. In 2 seasons, you need to be selling your first million dollar trainees. This is how you will get better players for your team, upgrade your stadium, promote and get better coaches. You'll sell off your oldest A-team strikers and replace them with your best B-strikers.

To be usefull and be worth anything, your trainees needs to have more than one strong skill. Pick your trainees based on what you plan on training.

1) Primary for strikers are pace, tech and striker.
2) You decide to train striker in your 1st season and pace the next.

3) So you're looking for a trainee between 16 and 18yo that has the following skills.

Pace: weak/average; Will reach verygood/excellent

tech: good/solid (should have a secondary pop within 2 seasons)

Striker: weak/average; like pace after 2 seasons.

4) Buy a 16yo or 17yo (preferably 16) that looks like this:

When he's 18 yo (if you got him at 16yo), in week 1 or 2 he'll look like this:

Pace: Excellent
Tech: Solid
Striker: Very good

5) He will sell for 1 million; In fact I'll buy it from you if I have a training spot to fill. Either way, let me know before you sell him, maybe I can make room :)
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