Recently, we’ve been putting together some good articles on the importance of having a strong backroom staff in Football Manager. No top manager today is going to be half as good as they are without the analytical team and the support staff around them.
And while you can’t actually go for a quiet pint with your assistant manager, and you can’t actually build fitness and diet plans with your coaching staff, you can do make your life easier by investing in each member of staff.
This includes, more than ever, the Fitness Coach.
Many people have one Fitness Coach and basically, just stick with the one they get when they come in the door. However, a good fitness coach is a fantastic part of any backroom team.
Typically, I recommend that you have at least two fitness coaches at every club – one for the Strength training, and one for Aerobic training.
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| Oliver Bartlett, my go-to fitness coach in Football Manager. |
Good coaches are quite easy to find – the likes of Oliver Bartlett and Tony Colbert are major favourites of mine – but having good coaches is so important.
Why, though, is bringing in good fitness staff into your backroom team so important?
Why you need to invest in your fitness coaching staff
The most important reason why your club has to invest valuable resources into your fitness coaches is simple – without them, your team will not be fit enough to last the season. While most people will look at the Fitness attribute alone, there’s far more to an FC than simply being a good Fitness stat holder.
Three other key stats we recommend you look into include:
- Determination. This is vital for all staff, but especially for an FC. This makes them more determined to whip the players into shape and to take every day seriously, maximising each session.
- Motivation. If they aren’t able to keep players motivated during a session, they’ll simply not put in 100%. A high Motivation stat is something you need to keep your staff happy and onside.
- Level of Discipline. Without a doubt, LoD is a vital part of any good fitness coach. This means players are more likely to adhere to the sessions and come out having improved each day.
While most of these bonuses aren’t something you can exactly quantify, I have far fewer fitness issues with a pair of FCs that have anything above 13 or so in the above stats. This is very important, and it can make sure you get a good overall coaching team. Players will see greater improvements, retain generally higher fitness, and are less likely to complain about training being boring in the fitness side of things with the above.
Need to find a good fitness coach? Then make sure you look up the two fellows mentioned above. Another fine choice for your team will be to bring in Mark Howard, or Florian Wrangler. They can be tough to obtain but are two of the best FCs in the game. Arguably the best FC in the game, though, is Oscar Ortega. Getting him to leave Atletico Madrid can be nigh-impossible, though, so keep that in mind.
Happy coaching!
