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How to train Defending in an ambitious way in terms of results combined with low salaries and awesome players.
Defending has gone from being a type of training primarily focused on making a profit - due to the many available training positions - to becoming the next best multiskill-friendly training type (the best being Short passes). Multiskill is the coolest and most fun thing to train. Some might say that lower wages and larger flexibility is more crucial.
In short there are two ways of approaching Defending training. The first and most classic one is the profit-oriented. It can either be through skilltrading or by training between the more lucrative levels where a lot of money still can be made using the ten training positions fully. I won’t deal further with this type since it is simple and boring. The other way typically demands a little initial capital but most people should be able to take part at a fairly decent level. We can call this second approach result-oriented or maybe more correctly: constructing the perfect defence. The different multiskill players can usually be bought as the more monoskilled talents evolve and therefore most people will be able to play along. So the starting point is ten training positions but I wouldn’t recommend people to get too fixed on this. The 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 formations have some big weaknesses when playing against the classical 3-5-2 formation. More on this later.
I won’t recommend new managers to try this training type as it probably seems very confusing and will be hard to go through with.
So we have, as I would describe it, typically nine trainable positions divided on four types of players.
Tactics, flexibility and the nine trainable positions.
A Defending trainer with nine trainable players is not forced to use 5-4-1 or 5-3-2, 4-4-2 is an option as well. A 4-4-2 formation offers the possibility of a stronger midfield and maybe even a decent side attack. This tactical possibility may seem overestimated but that is not the case. Let us sum up the pros and cons of two typical formations for a Defending trainer:
5-3-2. A very strong defence and a nice attack. The weakest point will usually be the midfield even if you have the players I suggested earlier. This formation should be considered when you have no chance of competing in midfield and you don’t want to be run over in defence. As I see it this formation is risky and should be used with caution.
5-4-1. You have a better chance of making a decent midfield but the attack will be weak. Since you will most likely be able to produce only one strong side of attack this formation is suitable for use with Pressing or Counter Attack tactics. You try to get a strong midfield and hope for a bit of luck when the scoring opportunities are distributed. As I see it, both of these typical formations have a huge element of randomness to them. They aren’t really apt if you want to dominate the midfield and at the same time maintain attack on several sides. So let’s consider two alternatives where trainable positions are sacrificed on behalf of tactical possibilities.
4-5-1. An obvious formation if your opponent either has no defence or if you want to have a strong midfield combined with attacks on the wings. Remember: if you followed the advice given above you should have two fairly good wingbacks to boost your side attack, giving you the possibility of using your wingers towards the middle. Finally you can use a Counter Attack tactic with a strong midfield and hope that the side attack gets the chances to score.
4-4-2. The standard formation that shouldn’t be discarded. I believe this is probably the best formation when training Defending. It covers all possibilities, from Counter Attacks to all out attack. The only limits are your imagination (and your squad).
Challenges
Training Defending does offer some challenges. It takes a long time. Of all the different types of training Defending is the slowest one per increase in level. It may sometimes seem like a real bore. This is why it is so important that you don’t buy talents too cheap or too old. This way of training is not primarily for collecting money, it is designed primarily for improving your team and secondly to make a bit of money. The players we train will off course end up being very valuable on the transfer market but that is equalled by their value to the squad. We play to win, not to make money, and that makes this type of training pretty dangerous after the initial and difficult phase.
Summary
This way of training is aimed at:
Defending has gone from being a type of training primarily focused on making a profit - due to the many available training positions - to becoming the next best multiskill-friendly training type (the best being Short passes). Multiskill is the coolest and most fun thing to train. Some might say that lower wages and larger flexibility is more crucial.
In short there are two ways of approaching Defending training. The first and most classic one is the profit-oriented. It can either be through skilltrading or by training between the more lucrative levels where a lot of money still can be made using the ten training positions fully. I won’t deal further with this type since it is simple and boring. The other way typically demands a little initial capital but most people should be able to take part at a fairly decent level. We can call this second approach result-oriented or maybe more correctly: constructing the perfect defence. The different multiskill players can usually be bought as the more monoskilled talents evolve and therefore most people will be able to play along. So the starting point is ten training positions but I wouldn’t recommend people to get too fixed on this. The 5-3-2 and 5-4-1 formations have some big weaknesses when playing against the classical 3-5-2 formation. More on this later.
I won’t recommend new managers to try this training type as it probably seems very confusing and will be hard to go through with.
So we have, as I would describe it, typically nine trainable positions divided on four types of players.
- First and foremost you will need a goalkeeper and it is obvious to train Defending on almost any goalkeeper. If your goalkeeper is too old I would sell him right away and buy a younger and poorer. The gain from training Defending on a goalkeeper is remarkably large both financially and on the field. You keep your wages down, increase the market value and achieve better defence ratings.
- Every good squad in Hattrick has to have a considerable amount of midfielders and the defence trainer should make use of this fact. Two offensive defenders must be trained. If the reason is not obvious there will be more on this later in the tactics paragraph. These two typically play on the midfield on Sundays and in the defence on Wednesdays. If you are very ambitious (and rich) it is worth considering training defending on four midfielders. It could be two Magnificent/World Class and two Supernatural/Titanic. The first two would in the long term be your permanent central defenders and give you an invaluable boost to the midfield without compromising your defence rating. Your defence rating will come from your improved goalkeeper, your defenders (even if they are played as offensive) and your midfielders.
- Wingbacks. It starts to get complicated to find the perfect talents. If you are training defending your wingback should have four skills; primarily a reasonable level in Winger. After that a decent starting level in Defending, and here is a general consideration; do not buy too cheap as the clock ticks fast when training Defending. Finally we also have to find players that have a bit of Playmaking and Passing. This can be very expensive and the majority will probably compromise with either Passing or Playmaking. If your financial situation is already pushed to the limit a solution could be to let the two wingbacks play winger on Sundays (i.e. train Wednesday) and save money to buy a more regular winger later on. Two is in every way the optimal number of wingbacks. With this we now have: 1 goalkeeper, 2-4 midfielders and 2 wingers. All in all 5-6 training objects.
- Defenders. We also have to train some fairly ordinary defenders. These can be bought quite young. If you are not loaded you are probably running out of money and therefore have to consider the age and level of defending a bit. I have to jump back to point #2. If your squad at this time already consists of 4 midfielders for training you only need two more talents. These would usually be used as reserves in your first team line-up or as players for Counter Attack if that tactic is chosen. Also, if you wish to have a strong defence the first seasons you would have to but some defenders already at a decent level. Initially they will serve as a stabilizing factor in the defence, then as counter attack specialists and backup for the defence. When it comes to side skills we will again focus on the expensive but best solution, namely Passing and Playmaking. We have to bear in mind that a central defender played normal still contributes to midfield with 25% off his Playmaking. In other words: If you have two central defenders with Solid(7) Playmaking instead of Poor(3) you will be able to “save” a level on the Playmaking skill on both your inner midfielders and this can quite a lot of money. The difference between a Titanic and an Extra-terrestrial playmaker is approximately 30.000€. That is a pretty nice sum to save! If you have had to make do with only two (or three) playmakers for Defending training you should still have three or four trainable positions left. I assume by now the funding is running low because otherwise you should’ve spent more on talents with Playmaking. The last trainable positions can be filled with the same kind of central defenders as mentioned above or they can be used for skilltrades. We are now at nine trainable players.
- The tenth trainable position will probably only be used some weeks and there are two options. The first and obvious solution is to use this position for skilltrading. Alternatively you can use it on a midfielder that you have otherwise ignored in your planning because of his age.
Tactics, flexibility and the nine trainable positions.
A Defending trainer with nine trainable players is not forced to use 5-4-1 or 5-3-2, 4-4-2 is an option as well. A 4-4-2 formation offers the possibility of a stronger midfield and maybe even a decent side attack. This tactical possibility may seem overestimated but that is not the case. Let us sum up the pros and cons of two typical formations for a Defending trainer:
5-3-2. A very strong defence and a nice attack. The weakest point will usually be the midfield even if you have the players I suggested earlier. This formation should be considered when you have no chance of competing in midfield and you don’t want to be run over in defence. As I see it this formation is risky and should be used with caution.
5-4-1. You have a better chance of making a decent midfield but the attack will be weak. Since you will most likely be able to produce only one strong side of attack this formation is suitable for use with Pressing or Counter Attack tactics. You try to get a strong midfield and hope for a bit of luck when the scoring opportunities are distributed. As I see it, both of these typical formations have a huge element of randomness to them. They aren’t really apt if you want to dominate the midfield and at the same time maintain attack on several sides. So let’s consider two alternatives where trainable positions are sacrificed on behalf of tactical possibilities.
4-5-1. An obvious formation if your opponent either has no defence or if you want to have a strong midfield combined with attacks on the wings. Remember: if you followed the advice given above you should have two fairly good wingbacks to boost your side attack, giving you the possibility of using your wingers towards the middle. Finally you can use a Counter Attack tactic with a strong midfield and hope that the side attack gets the chances to score.
4-4-2. The standard formation that shouldn’t be discarded. I believe this is probably the best formation when training Defending. It covers all possibilities, from Counter Attacks to all out attack. The only limits are your imagination (and your squad).
Challenges
Training Defending does offer some challenges. It takes a long time. Of all the different types of training Defending is the slowest one per increase in level. It may sometimes seem like a real bore. This is why it is so important that you don’t buy talents too cheap or too old. This way of training is not primarily for collecting money, it is designed primarily for improving your team and secondly to make a bit of money. The players we train will off course end up being very valuable on the transfer market but that is equalled by their value to the squad. We play to win, not to make money, and that makes this type of training pretty dangerous after the initial and difficult phase.
Summary
This way of training is aimed at:
- Low wages
- A high degree of flexibility
- Reasonable possibilities to make a profit and even better possibilities to increase the quality of the squad, instead of training players who doesn’t play on the first team anyway.