Racking up injuries as the season progresses can be a massive setback for your club.
Injuries in Football Manager are a big deal as they affect how your team plays and can change the trajectory of the season.
From minor setbacks to major disruptions, the occurrence and management of injuries massively influence the outcomes of each match.
In today’s guide, we’re going to explore different ways you can minimize injuries within your squad.
10 Ways to Reduce Injuries in Football Manager 24
There are a lot of smart ways you can save your players from picking up injuries in the game. Here’s how you can do it.
1. Lower Training Intensity
Most managers delegate their team’s general training responsibility to the assistant coach.
Although a good assistant coach can help your team improve their game a lot, the game AI is not smart enough to take injury concerns into consideration.
As a result, you’ll see a ton of high-intensity training scheduled by your assistant in a fixture-packed week.
You really don’t want your players to work on Resistance training right after a match! So it’s best to take the helm of your team’s general and individual training.
The best way to manage general training sessions is by creating 3 custom training schedules:
- 1-match week: Schedule if there’s only 1 match to play that week
- 2-match week: Schedule if there are 2 matches to play that week
- No match week: Schedule if there are no matches to play.
Go easy with the training if your team has to play two matches in a particular week. And focus on building fitness with a lot of general drills during weeks with no matches.
This will help to reduce your team’s fatigue and injury risks on the busier weeks.
As for individual training, set the training intensity to:
- Double intensity during the preseason,
- Normal intensity at the start of the season
- Low intensity around the middle to the end of the season
You can also reduce the training intensity if you’ve multiple matches in the space of a week.
Check the Medical Center screen to get a good look at the player’s risk status. If a player shows risks of injury due to a heavy training load, reduce his training duties.
2. Rest Players
Players with good Stamina and Natural Fitness will be able to quickly recover after matches. But players with poor natural fitness will need more rest to recover after a tight schedule.
By default, the game sets 1 day of resting sessions for the team after a game. This is less than ideal for a team playing in a fixture-heavy league.
You can relieve your players from pitch and groundwork duties and allow them to take extra days for rest. Simply right-click on the player’s name and select training > rest > days.
The game allows you to give the player a maximum of 2 weeks of rest.
So if you have some players who are feeling a bit jaded from heavy match loads, try resting them for a few days.
3. Rotate Your Squad
Most managers like to stick to a particular starting XI as it gives them a better chance of winning the game.
However, a long season of 30+ games can be taxing for players. And they can easily get jaded, running increasing risk of long-term injuries.
A rotation system can help you reduce those risks by giving your starting XI much-needed rest after every few matches.
Mark the important fixtures and keep your starters fresh ahead of the match. Pick the less important matches to field your rotation squad.
This way, you can give the squad players match experiences while lowering match loads for the key players.
4. Hire Better Physios & Sports Scientists
Your medical staff is responsible for injury prevention and management for your squad.
The Sports Scientists are in charge of monitoring your player’s physical condition and preventing potential injuries. While the Physios work on getting injured players back to fitness.
Having medical staff with good attributes can significantly reduce your team’s injuries.
Look to hire more and better physios and sports scientists for the team. Ask your board to allocate more slots to hire medical staff for the main team.
A good Sports Scientist must be good in the following departments:
- Sports Science
- Determination
- Level of Discipline
Similarly, look for these attributes in a Physio:
- Physiotherapy
- Determination
- Motivating
- People Management
5. Reduce Tactical Intensity
How your team plays can heavily impact your player’s injury risks.
A high-pressing Gegenpress tactic requires a high level of intensity from the players. Which in turn affects their condition and likelihood of injury.
So how your team approaches the game will make a difference.
If your players are running a very high risk of injury before a match, it’s best to make some tactical tweaks to lower the intensity.
Here are a few ways you can lower the level of intensity of your tactics:
- Adopt a less aggressive pressing line.
- Trigger press less often
- Avoid getting stuck in
- Adopt a lower tempo
- Set a Cautious/Defensive team mentality
- Be less aggressive in transition
These are some of the ways you can lessen the injury risks of your players.
But if you still want to keep your key players safe, you can individually ask them to Ease of Tackles to save themselves from getting into rash encounters.
Another way to reduce the risk of injury is by going easy with your tackles against powerful opponents from the Opposition Instruction tab.
Lowering the team mentality also helps in easing the intensity.
6. Ease Players Into Full Match Sharpness
Lack of game time and coming back from a long-term injury can see a player struggle with Match Sharpness.
Players with low match sharpness run a high risk of getting injured. So they need to be eased back into full match sharpness before playing an entire 90 minutes of football.
One way to improve a player’s match sharpness is by playing him for a few minutes every match.
You can also play him in U21 or U18 matches to gain back his match sharpness before he is ready to step up for the main team.
Scheduling Match Practice drills in general team training can also help a player recover some of his match sharpness.
7. Sell Injury Prone Players
There’s nothing much you can do about a player who is injury-prone in nature.
These types of players are made of glass and will easily receive an injury even after close monitoring and risk management. And in a highly competitive league where every match requires high-intensity play, these players will struggle even more.
As the manager, your best course of action is to get rid of injury-prone players by selling them or running their contract.
How do you spot an injury-prone player?
Simply go to the player’s profile and ask for his coach’s report. You’ll find whether a player is prone to injury or not in the Cons sections.
Another way to find an injury-prone player is by taking a look at the player’s injury history. Players who suffer severe levels of injury on a frequent basis can be easily deemed as injury-prone.
The best course of action is to get rid of them from the team.
8. Relay Your Pitch
Yes, it’s a thing in Football Manager.
The pitch condition can worsen over the course of the season. And playing on a bad pitch will lead to an increased number of injuries as players.
Relaying the pitch get it in good condition again, lowering the risks of injuries. The board will relay the pitch on your request if it’s in poor condition.
You can check your pitch condition by going to Club Info > Facilities > Field Condition. A recently relayed pitch will have a “Very Good” status.
9. Upgrade Training Facilities
The quality of your team’s training facilities can also lead to injuries if it’s in poor condition.
A higher level of training facilities will result in fewer injuries from training. It also improves the overall standard of training and player development.
10. Avoid Playing With a Knock
Playing a player who has taken a knock will only aggravate his injuries.
If a player takes a knock during the match, it’s best to sub him off for a fitter player. However, if you’re out of substitutes, you should take the player off the pitch.
Players who pick up light injuries before a match shouldn’t be forced to play through injuries. Instead, send them to your physios to rehabilitate the player.
Parting Words
And that wraps up our guide on injury prevention on Football Manager.
Keep in mind that the aforementioned ways are meant to reduce injury risks. It won’t guarantee you injury-free seasons.
Some injuries are inevitable and you’ll have to accept it the way it is.
You should regularly check the status of injured players and motivate them for faster recovery.
Once the player reaches his rehabilitation phase, engage him in General Rehab training.
Good luck!
