It's been five months since FC 24 first hit the shelves, and although many will now be familiar with what it has to offer, others remain on the lookout for in-game tips to get the best experience possible.
Alongside Ultimate Team, Career Mode remains highly popular among players, so we've put together a handy training guide that will help you develop your squad to its fullest potential!
The training system has received some noticeable tweaks in FC 24, with the implementation of coaches and revamped on-pitch drills providing welcome upgrades for manager and player Career Modes. This guide will focus on the training plans and drills, in particular, looking at how you can maximise your team's potential and turn a dud into the next big thing.
How to develop players faster through training
Within the game, each team is made up of the following departments:
- Attack
- Midfield
- Defence
- Goalkeeping
Coaches are assigned to the aforementioned departments where they work with both senior and youth players based on their pitch positions. For instance, Pedro Porro is a right-back for Tottenham Hotspur in the game, and he would learn from coaches who fall under the defensive department.
Developing players through training in FC 24 can be done by utilising the tactical knowledge and player development capabilities of the coaches you assign for training.
Now, when it comes to the former, the game presents seven different tactical visions (standard, wing play, tiki-taka, counter-attack, gegenpressing, kick & rush, and park the bus) that a coach has either a novice, accomplished or expert level of knowledge on.
In theory, you could collect all the coaches with expert-level knowledge of these tactical visions, but in an actual sense, the game isn't that simple. This is because the most experienced coaches within Career Mode usually only have accomplished or expert-level knowledge of one particular tactical vision.
However, one good thing about the game is that tactical knowledge isn't a static metric. Over time, coaches can earn XP on tactical visions through matches played, and especially more so through matches won. This XP gained on tactical vision contributes towards them reaching the next knowledge level, be that accomplished or expert.
More so, all coaches at a club are eligible to earn Tactical Vision-specific XP from matches, except the ones that have already reached expert level on that Tactical Vision.
Once you've got your selection of attacking coaches in place, you simply select your preferred tactical vision and let the game do the rest of the work. What happens when you select a tactical vision for your team is that the game automatically assigns the coach with the best knowledge level in each department to increase player attributes.
You should also know that attribute increases work on a sort of sliding scale based on the knowledge level of the coach assigned to a particular department. Novice-level coaches typically increase three attributes at most, whereas expert-level coaches can increase up to nine attributes.
The ability of a coach within the game is also defined by the set of skills they have for developing players over time. FC 24 incorporates a star rating system – ranging from one to five – which differentiates the “achieved quality” of a coach and their overall attribute impact on players.
Of course, to get the maximum possible boost to player attributes, you'll need to sign coaches who have five stars for each of the attacking, midfield, defence, and goalkeeping skill categories.
Anyway, here's a look at how training schedules can be refined for each department in the game.
How to develop attackers
To boost overall ratings for attackers in your career mode save, you're going to need to hire coaches who have expert-level knowledge of some of the attacking tactical visions we outlined earlier in the article.
Just to clarify, the attacking tactical visions you'll need to make note of include:
- Gegenpressing
- Tiki-taka
- Wing play
Attribute increases for players are determined by the combination of the Tactical Vision that the coach knows, as well as the position of the player on the pitch.
So, for example, a wing play coach can increase:
- Strength, Heading, Shot Power, Jumping, and Finishing for Strikers
- Crossing, Sprint Speed, Acceleration, Dribbling for Wingers
The task for you will be to hire coaches with expert-level knowledge of the gegenpressing, tiki-taka, and wing play tactical visions as coaching XP in these areas will bring about boosts to the attacking attributes of your forward players.
How to develop midfielders
Increasing attributes for midfielders is a similar story. You'll simply scout coaches who have expert-level knowledge of the standard tactical vision, which is based on a balanced approach to match play.
Midfielders are involved in both the offensive and defensive phases of the game so it makes sense to train them with coaches who can effectively improve both these elements of their game through the standard tactical vision.
How to develop defenders
When it comes to training your defenders, you should focus on assigning coaches who have expert-level knowledge of the counter-attack, park the bus, and kick & rush tactical visions. Defenders need to build up their ability to deal with opposition pressure, which can only be developed through training by coaches who are knowledgeable in those three areas.
A counter-attacking coach would be able to increase attributes like acceleration, sprint speed, and stamina for defenders.
How to develop goalkeepers
Your approach to developing goalkeepers is likely to vary based on the sort of tactical style you want to deploy in matches. If you favour patient possession build-up, then getting coaches with expert-level knowledge of the tiki-taka tactical vision would be a good fit.
Conversely, if you want to hit opponents on the break with long balls launched from your goalkeeper, assigning coaches with great knowledge of the wing play and counter-attacking philosophies would be ideal.
Training in FC 24 Career Mode
Joining the new coaching module in FC 24 is a host of one-off training drills that allow you to focus your team's attention on a specific area of the pitch and apply temporary PlayStyles for your players.
Let's say, for example, you want your striker to be a real nuisance in the air against your next opponent. By completing the “Game Crossing Scenarios” drill, you'll equip your strikers with a Power Header PlayStyle, and your wingers with Whipped Pass PlayStyles, as well as an Aerial PlayStyle for your Defensive Midfielders, which can hand you a massive in-game advantage.
Here's a full list of all the new training drills you can complete in FC 24 Career Mode:
- Dribbling – Collect the Trophies, Rush, and Effort Touch, Dribbling Maze, Inside the Zone Dribbling and Knock-ons Dribble
- Defending – Interceptor, Run and Block, Defending Scenarios, Take and Clear and Hold the Line
- Passing – Precision Passing, Extreme Hot Potato, Timed Lob Through Pass, Beat and Cross, and Game Crossing Scenarios
- Shooting – Out of the Box Shots, Chip Shots, Fast Shots, Champion Attacking Scenarios, and Counter Attack Scenarios
- Set Pieces – Pinpoint Crossing, PK Against the Keeper, Precision Penalty, Direct Free Kick Adept and In-game Set Pieces
What drills are most effective?
It's difficult to say which drills provide the best benefits when it comes to performance, as it will likely be dependent on the gamer's style of play and their general approach to match tactics.
However, any drill that provides a player boost during set-piece scenarios can give a decent advantage in a tightly contested match.
Training plans
Match preparations will also carry heightened significance in FC 24. The training system within the game has been revamped to better reflect the role that modern managers have on their teams in real life.
Therefore, as a manager in Career Mode, you'll get to choose five different training plans that will allow you to establish the right balance between building performance and regaining energy for each player in the squad.
These plans are as follows:
- Balanced – aimed at maintaining fitness levels while trying to improve player sharpness
- Performance-focused – a mix of increasing sharpness and fitness
- Energy-focused – mainly focuses on player recovery with a small decrease on match sharpness
- All Out Energy – aimed at maximising player recovery
- All Out Performance – greatly increases match sharpness but decreases fitness levels
You can apply any of those plans to a specific player, or the whole squad.
Based on our experience, we recommend having all regular first-team players on the Balanced training plan before games and switching them to Energy-focused for a day or two after the match, this means their stamina will regain faster.
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