If you’ve read our previous blog, then this one will act like a continuation because another thing I’ve realized after playing this game for so long is the lack of the usage of friendlies to do so many things which have the potential to aid us as we look to conquer our respective gameworld. If you’ve been living under a rock, each season you play within SMW grants us the opportunity to play a maximum of 40 freindlies (excluding Pre Season) that tend to play either on Wednesdays and Saturdays, or Tuesdays and Sundays. You might be muttering: “Why should I spend my time playing friendlies when they aren’t even an actual match with acual results?” Well, they are quite a few reasons too actually, and I’m about to explain my top 3 reasons why I believe that we all should be taking advantage of our friendlies.
A GREAT WAY TO TRY OUT NEW TACTICS
The first one is without shadow of a doubt the best reason for anyone to be playing regular friendly matches. If you are a manager that wants to absolutely get the best out of each player within your squad but you don’t know where to start tactically, why not play some low stakes games to see what you have at your disposal? It’s literally the best way to ensure that you get a complete understanding of who you have within your current set up, and you get the chance to do it more than 20 times per season. Another reason for using up those friendly slots could be if you’ve always wanted to tryout a new formation, Attacking Style, Tempo, Mentality, Tackling, etc…… You shouldn’t risk potentially droping points or getting knocked out on gameday, so why not use those friendly slots?
IT ALLOWS OUR YOUNGSTERS TO UNDERSTAND OUR PLAYING STYLE
This is one of the major reasons behind why I love playing friendlies so much. In the midst of having your own crop of younsgters, not everyone will actually be able to go out on loan. So, rather than having them just sit there looking pretty within your youth squad section, you can actively give them gametime via playing them in 2 friendly matches per week which allows you to see what they are really capable of as well as identifying any gems within the club.
I’ve been given my youngsters more than 30+ friendly games per season for the past 11 seasons now, and the following players within my current first team have all made their way through the ranks via first playing a hoax of friendlies:
You see, I am a manager who has one set way that I like to play and since I’ve been implememting these tactics on my youngsters for so long, by the time they make it into the first team there is no actual settling in period since they’re already used to the tactical set up. And when you finally give a youngster the opportunity within your fisrt team, you’ll get some outstanding statistics such as the following:
IT ACTUALLY HELPS OUR TEAM TO REGAIN SOME FORM
No matter how expert we may tend to become within our SMW journey, we all have to suffer that unfortunate consequence of going through a bad run of form. Some of this may even make you want to say ” F$@k it, lemme just stop playing this game”, but it is the ones who have that sheer resilience and determination who will continue to maintain their performances even through the midst of some bad times. And what better way to ensure your team’s regaining of form than actually playing some non contest matches! I mean, seriously, why wouldn’t you take advantage of 38 potential freaking opportunities to get back in form!
We have to be experts in terms of using the resources that we have at our disposal. By utilizing the friendlies we have the potential to level up our managerial abilities thus ensuring that our squad continues to be one of the best within our various gameworlds.
Until the next episode, soccermanagerite! ✌️
The Soccermanager Experience 