3rd season preparation tips
For most new managers, going far into the CL could prove to be the most difficult and it is completely logical to get 3rd in group stage for a far easier route to Super League glory. Not discouraging ambitious challenges at all, but then sometimes it may be more rewarding with our trophy cabinet when being drawn with numerous superior opponents which seems unbeatable (it is more than likely they are 2nd accounts run by very good and experienced managers for referral rewards).
Some important points which may help you:
A) The most striking difference of level 1-2 managers and above is the auction market. As mentioned, it will become an open market for all managers, except level 1 & 2, so it is very obvious the first 2-3 days with auctions is frenzy and very often some final bids for 90%+ players, or even 80%+ on day 1, are way too unreasonably high (mainly because lots of teams need to fill obvious weak spots to try to get through a tough 1st round draw in Cup).
Therefore, when you feel you have got a very winnable Cup first round draw, then if you have a relative tight budget, say 4-5T for a 75%+ 19-21yo player for intended reinforcements, it may be wise to only bid with 5T after others and stop there. Those saved Ts from each bid will slowly but certainly get your FT budget accumulated.
B) It is actually worth spending some time in observing auctions as level 3 & 4 managers:
1) To gradually determine a precise figure in how much T is a reasonable cost for certain quality range of players, say 75%+, 80-85%, 85%-90% & 90%+, with different groups of positions like ST, GK MC & DC, fullbacks & wingers, and wide midfielders, in different day periods of season, say day 1-2, 3-5, 6-8, etc. (so you could instinctively spot a bargain and bid immediately)
2) FT bidding is fantastic to watch, especially when it goes beyond 60T+ , and so it also provides an insight of how much you would need to save up and also jump in with a final bid when the T-cost is proportionate to your team’s needs
3) It was close to impossible to add higher level managers as friends before when you could only access to player profiles of the same level. Now you could click onto each bidder to view, and approximately 1 in 40-50 should be under the same server and could request to add (plus you should also view his league table from day 3 to add the title challengers too). Higher level managers would not mind adding a few lower level managers for easy friendly wins for tasks, while lower level managers should gradually aim to add more of those with a high % win, say 80%+ or even 90%+, as friends.
Their high win rate, usually comes with a shiny trophy cabinet, is a very clear indicator of their team at least doing something very right, at least in players purchase, players training, formation and tactics understanding &/ even intelligent in-match change of orders and use of subs at right time intervals in tight matches. Forumers here can only provide so much info, and real match handling can be best learned from those experienced managers with good records. Watching their hardly-fought quarters and onwards are well worth the time as a new manager in both learning about tactics and also understanding about how to mould our own team into a more efficient and flexible unit.
Those with lower win rates do not necessarily mean they are poor managers, but it would not be time-efficient for us to identify the better ones from them.
And the additional bonus with adding high win-rate managers is they tend to be rather active, and so would be willing to support our matches in return when we actively support theirs (main reason is learning though hehe). This group would be more willing to come on to just support us in semis and finals when we purposefully support theirs.
C) Season 3 draw would be a bit more harder than the previous, so it may be worthwhile to invest in a few good subs to enable an efficient switch from aggressive attacking to ultra-defensive formations, and vice versa, for protecting 1-goal leads in knockouts and final 30-min changes mounting a comeback.
3-5v-2, 3-1-4AM-2 & 3-2MC-3-2 are some of those default panic-button formation switches in last 20 mins for comebacks. (10 mins is too little for comebacks usually)
5-1-3-1AM, 5-2-2-1AM & 4-2DM-3-1AM are also typical ultra-defensive formations for last 20 mins to protect a 1-goal lead, especially against 10-20%+ superior opponents.
Our first teamers should have some flexibility to enable some of these changes within, and with subs to complete the necessary changes at the right time interval. Match management is more important than pre-match formation settings against the best opponents who are mostly very adaptive.
D) 1 more day with current auctions, so it would be wise to buy all those 40%+ sole-role players for tasks (and manipulation if you plan for that), as well as some cheap 95%+ 22-23yo multi-role players (will become 75%+ in day 1 soon, but T-cost of under 10T may still be cheaper than day 3-5 in new season when that player could fill in different gaps for your team in first week to save you even more Ts in rushing to buy a similar sole-role 75% player then)
E) Make sure you increase your ticket price from start of every new season. Will be worth a lot of money income when attendance goes up to a significant level by level 5-6
F) Some may already have started doing surveys for free tokens (check for the free token option after clicking onto the the packs if not yet), and if you have some extra 80-100T to spare, the assistant manager recommended player of 2-3roles + useful SA 18yo player may be worth considering. These recommended players are 2nd class FT (a bit slower than the typical max value 1st class FT) which comes with base market value would be very useful for some 5 seasons until age 22.
Not a cheap option with T-cost, but will help the team enormously in the short to medium run of several seasons when our team is still in the process of saving up greens to build long-term FTs.
As always, hopefully you have won some nice trophies and wish you all a new exciting season ahead!