One of the most difficult and annoying things about SMW that we all have to go through is the fact there’s certain phases within each season where we potentially lose an integral part of our team to an injury. What’s more, what makes it even worse is when these injuries occur just before important matches. The thing is, we really cannot do much about these injuries since it is bound to happen, but we can prepare the best strategy to ensure that it doesn’t become a reoccurring event.
First thing foremost, let’s discuss the 3 different types of injuries that can occur to your players within SMW:
A mild injury is something that occurs quite frequently to many players and is simply a symptom of playing a contact sport. You can expect these injuries to last anywhere between 1-13 days.
A concerning injury is one where our players are on the sideline for a little longer and could potentially become a habitual thing if it’s not nursed properly in terms of when we allow them to return to the match squad. These injuries tend to take a player out of action for anywhere between 14 days to 4 weeks.
A servere or serious injury is the type that will have your head absolutely spinning since they bring with them the possibility of a player being M.I.A for potentially half of a season and could last anywhere from 5 to 11 weeks. These prolonged injuries were the motive for me deciding to write today’s episode since many managers (myself including) make the mistake of treating a player that has been out for a very long time in the same manner as if he had been out for a couple of days or weeks.
In order to navigate each type of injury, here are the strategies to implement to ensure that each player is back playing well and doesn’t become injury prone:
STRATEGY #1: Don’t pick a player until they have fully rested for half of their injured time
The first strategy is subjective based on the type of injury your player has, but more long term or serious injuries must be treated with a lot of caution since it will be possible that your player returns, plays a few games, and gets injured again. And what’s even worse, your player could potentially never obtain hisbpre- injury form which may lead to you having to find a replacement (and in gameworlds that have a lot of managers, it might not be possible to do so). Therefore, the best approach will be to allow your player to go through a “recovery mode” which is simply not choosing him for any of your matches until half of his injured time has passed. For example, if you have a player that was terribly injured and out for 8 weeks, once that injury period is over, you shouldn’t look to play him until an extra 4 weeks has passed(so, that is a total of 12 weeks out…). I know this might sound insane but trust me when I say that if he was already out for a long time another couple of games missed won’t be such a bad thing as you want to ensure that he is fully fit and ready to conquer once he gets back. The same should be considered for ‘Concerning injuries’ that are 3 weeks or more, but ‘Mild injuries’ are the only exception since your player can simply get back to things once his injury time has passed (depending on the type of injury, which we will explain next).
STRATEGY #2: Foot injuries require more attention regardless of how long the injury is sustained
If you’ve ever played ball before and received an injury you’ll know that one of the most annoying types that seem to never go away are the ones that occur anywhere on your foot. From ankle sprains, broken toes, Achilles tendonitis or shin injuries, these are the worst kinds and will have a massive impact on your player’s performance.
So, the strategy for these kind of injuries will be to slowly bring your lad back into the match team. You can do this by giving him substitution appearances starting from 15 minutes, then 30 minutes, to even a full 45 (if that’s your thing… I’m not a big fan of making substitutions at half time). Once you’ve done this, you can now start him from minute 1 with the intention being to give him 60 minutes, 75 minutes, then eventually a full 90.
STRATEGY #3: Expect player to need a bit of time before they re-find their form
I swear nothing hurts more than when your most important player gets injured and returns a completely different player… Along with the physical detriment that an injury brings, there’s also a psychological (aka morale) effect that occurs whilst being on the sideline. Forget what you see next to your player’s morale within SMW as this part of the game has not been updated and is useless tbh. I once used to have a 95 rated Sadio Mané within my current Dortmund squad (whom I’ve been managing now since 2019). He finished my second season in charge as my top scorer playing in the F(L) position in a 4-3-3A but then suffered a severe injury at the beginning of the following season. I was so eager to get him back that as soon as he returned I played him. two matches later, he got another injury (this time he was out for 2 weeks). After returning, Sadio was never the same and I vow to ensure that a scenario like this never happens to me or any other soccermanagerite again.
STRATEGY #4: STOP playing players in matches when they are less than 80% fit!
If there’s one thing that absolutely grinds my gears is seeing Managers who don’t log in to set their team up days on end. They just leave their team for dead and while this is happening his players’ energy is being drained match after match with their performances getting worser and worser which causes the inevitable injury crisis . If you ever fall into a scenario where you’re not able to log in, I advise that you either set up all of your teams immediately after a match (substitutions and all that), or find a trusted friend who you can tell to do it for you if you really don’t have any time. All in all, let’s ensure that we are resting our players when they need to be rested. A squad consists of 25 men for a reason.
We’ve come to the end of season 8 lads! I hope today’s and the rest of the episodes within this season have been beneficial for you. We’ve gone through so many Random topics, from understanding what the commentary within your match is trying to tell you, identifying the best captains within each age group, to learning how to survive relegation or winning your respective league (and many more).
As always, I trust that you are continually learning and eager for more, and you’ll absolutely love what we have in store for season 9. Believe me when I say that you don’t want to miss it, because these “Roles” “Matter”… 😉 ✌️🚶⚽️
The Soccermanager Experience 