The Second Eleven

Lots of stuff has happened in the previous months, and I'm falling apart due to stress. So one day I decided that after work, I will step away from my workstation for the rest of the day to disconnect and relax. And what better way to do this than to play FIFA manager mode in the living room. Today, I'll be talking about why building a second squad is the easiest way to make your team better.

Fatigue is your biggest enemy when managing a team. It's something you don't immediately notice at the start. But once you rake in more wins, join more leagues, play more games, you put more strain on the players. It takes a full week for a player to recover after playing a full 90-minute match. Not having them rest lowers their performance and increases their chance of injury.

Another enemy when managing a team is the irresistable temptation of buying high-profile players from high-profile teams. With the usual budget, you can often only afford one or two of them per season. And they're only good when they're on the field. Once they get benched or injured, all that investment goes out the window and you're back to square one.

So instead, what I did was spend all of the team's budget building a second squad. And instead of subsituting individuals, I substitute entire squads. This turns the reserve squad into a full-fledged eleven-person squad on standby. And I formulated this process for one reason: to let the squads fully rest by having them take turns playing.

Which squad gets to play depends on the schedule. Scheduling the squad with better players to play the high-profile matches is top priority. Other than that, I just swap out squads as needed, making sure that the squad that gets to play is comprised of well-rested players. I don't take chances, losing key players for months due to injuries is a blow to performance.

So far it has worked out quite well. I've used this against god-tier teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, where you really need your players in top form to get an edge over them. Otherwise, players like Ronaldo, Benzema, Neymar, and Messi will just run circles around your players... literally.

And there you have it. It might not be the most efficient way to manage a FIFA team. But after topping the league for 3 consecutive seasons managing low-tier and mid-tier teams, the approach seems to be working quite well.