SEASON 5: Soccermanager 23; Episode 10 : SQUAD (PT.5)

Let’s finish the week with a banger, shall we?

CONTRACT

On this page, we get to see everything pertaining a player’s contractual situation as well as some important qualities said player possesses. Some of the things that you can expect to see on this page are how highly the player is considered by your Assistant manager, how the player handles pressure, how ambitious the player is, his current squad status (which we’ll be going into in more detail later), the current number of years remaining on his contract, and the estimated weekly wages that this player would consider if he was to go into contractual negotiations with the head of Finances at your club. Bare in mind that a player’s contract will depend on his performances on the pitch.

SQUAD STATUS

If you’ve been casually reading up to this point, I need you to give your complete undivided attention to the following information because it’s EXTREMLEY important. The squad status of each player determines how they impact the rest of their teammates on and off the pitch. Some will appreciate their current squad status, while others will not be too pleased about it. The reason why this is so important is because you must take into consideration your style of play, who your “spine” is, how each player has been performing on the pitch, and certain attributes (particularly the mental ones) before you decide to effectively change a player’s current status.

To see all of the status’ that are available for you to choose from, you’ll have to click the ‘change squad status’ option within the contract page. Here is the list of all 6:

Not needed: This is a player whom you have no intentions of keeping within the squad and should be considered for sale or loaned out to another club.

Youngster: A young player whom you have within your youth development set up.


Hot prospect: The best young players within your squad who have the capability of training with the first team but are just not ready to play any competitive matches for you, but they can be loaned out to a club that plays in a lesser challenging league or team in order for them to get more playing time (think of Amad Diallo or Levi Colwill as examples).


Backup player: Players who are on the fringes of the squad but generally only get game time due to injuries, suspensions or in cup matches. Bare in mind that you shouldn’t have a lot of back up players within your team.


Rotation Player: These are players within the first team who will generally be the ones you tend to bring on within a match, give game time in order to rest more important players, and aim to give them enough minutes in order to call on them if they have a particular skillset you can use during a big match ( think Eduardo Camavinga, Scott Mctominay, Donyell Malen).


First team Player: These are your regular starters, the players whom you trust enough to play at least 75% of the matches and who are also the most cautious since they cannot be complacent due to the presence of Rotational Players.


Key Players: This is the “spine” of your team. These players play every available minute as long as they are fully fit. These are your leaders on the pitch and tend to have a high “leadership” attribute or are your most highly rated player in the squad. Similar to the Back up squad status, there should not be a lot of Key Players within your squad (I’d say the most you should have is five).

Now, all of these statuses are up to you, but I personally believe that you should wait until the midpoint area of the season to start making any changes (unless there are some glaring ones needed like having a young star like an Ansu Fati who currently has the ‘Hot prospect’ or ‘Back up Player’ status which is simply not right). During the season, some players will start getting concerned about their status, so you don’t want to have to add more complications to the situation by changing their squad status too early in the season (remember that players with low morale negatively affect other players within your squad).

And that’s about it, soccermanagerite! It’s been really fun writing about the Squad page this week. But, all good things must come to an end, and there’s way more to cover so we will continue our detailed look into different components of SM23 next week Monday. Still leaving those episodes a secret which means that you gotta show up to figure it out mate. ADIOS!!! ✌️⚽️💚

*CAR BREAK SCREECH*

Are you still here soccermanagerite? Great, because I have an announcement:

So, the following information should’ve been mentioned in episode 8, but it completely went over my mind so I’m explaining it now…. 😅.

The image above showcases a coaching report which was given by my Assistant Manager. This report basically states what he believes are the pros and cons of our current first team. You will also get this report once you start managing your team and it will vary based on the squad adjustments you decide to make throughout the course of your time managing at each club.

Alrighty, now you can leave…. Chat you next week! 🚗💨