Injury proneness will no longer be a problem in FM19!

You bought an amazing player in pre-season, and he smashed the friendly games, even got a few man of the match rewards and as soon as league started, he got injured for a couple of months and all your planning and hopes for him have gone down the drain because you realized he might be a player with high injury proneness?

Have you ever had this scenario happen to you?

We’ve all been there and it is one of the most annoying things in any Football Manager.

There is no bullet-proof way to save your players from injury but there are some things that can be done to minimize the number of injuries and the longevity of the injury itself. Sit back and enjoy this FM19 guide on injury proneness, because we promise you will learn something!

What are Injuries in FM19?

Injury, also known as physical trauma, is damage to the body caused by an external force. A player can suffer an injury at any time during matches or in training. An injured player will be treated by physios and will be unable to take part in matches or training for a period of time until he recovers from the injury. When he has recovered sufficiently, he will be able to take part in light training and also be available for matches.

Attributes That Affect Injury Proneness

There are two main attributes that affect injury proneness, Bravery and Natural Fitness so always keep an eye on them. There is also one hidden attribute which is called the same way, it is Injury Proneness.

Bravery

This attribute determines how committed and indeed, brave, a player is. Braver players will risk injury more in situations a more cautious player may shy away from. They will compete more often in the air, contest more 50/50 or low-percentage challenges, both on the ground and in the air, and look to put their body on the line with blocks and last-ditch challenges.

Natural Fitness

How high the player’s natural fitness is influenced by how well he stays fit when injured or not training. This will help to determine how quickly players recover from injury, how well they retain their physical attributes as they go past their peak, and how fast they recover between matches.

Injury Proneness (hidden attribute)

This attribute just like all others can be a value of 0 to 20. The higher it is, the player is more likely to get injured. If you don’t use game editors or tools like Genie Scout you can never know the exact number of this attribute.

How to Find Out a Player’s Injury Proneness?

Like we mentioned earlier, you can use game editors or Genie Scout to find out the exact number. But if you want to play the game fairly then you have to listen to your scouts and couches.

If under Cons you see that a player “Might have problems with injuries” – run away from him like the devil from the cross. To make it even worse, this particular player, in this case, Younes Kaboul on FM19 also has very low Natural Fitness.

If you want to burn money and pay him to play golf while he is injured 80% of the season then he is the right man for you ????

Using the Medical Centre Properly

Most people don’t use the Medical Centre at all, they just wait out the injury. This is so wrong and you can improve your gameplay 100 times if you just take more care of your players by not playing them if the risk of an injury is too high.

This section is dedicated to all things concerning the physical well-being of your players, from injury prevention to rehabilitation, and everything in between.

Overview

The Overview mainly provides a breakdown of players in the squad who are at risk of injury. The Head of Sports Science (where employed, otherwise an alternative member of staff provides this information) details the workload and injury proneness of each at-risk individual and summarises how likely they might be to pick up an injury in the immediate future. The risks are color-coded, with players in the ‘red zone’ highly likely to encounter problems unless immediate preventative action is taken.

Current Injuries and Injury History

These screens detail every injury suffered by a player in your squad during the current season. The bar traversing the top of the Injury History screen area provides additional information to place these injuries into context; the middle section comparing them to the rest of the league is perhaps the most important, whilst the comparison to your own injury record last season will also offer insight into whether things are getting better or getting worse.

Player Overview

Each player will also have an injury overview page accessible via their player profile from the ‘Reports’ menu, under ‘Medical Report’. This report provides a visual overview of their current injury status, risk assessment, and injury history.

This is what proper player management and taking care of injury risks looks like. Out of 20 teams in the league, my team is 20th in the injury table and a whopping 43% decrease in injuries this season compared to the expected average of injuries.

Moving Players Between Squads

Send a player who isn’t ready to U-23 or Youth

This option allows you to assign players to various squads, most typically a Senior, Reserve or Under-23 or Under-21, and Youth team. As a manager, you have the ultimate say in the development of a player and it’s up to you to decide when a player needs to be tested further, for when he’s not ready or performing at a higher level.

You can also assign a player to a team for a period whilst he recovers from injury in order to allow him to regain his fitness at a lower level where performances and development can be considered more important than the result.

Have the Best Medical Staff Possible

There are 2 main attributes you have to look for in Medical Staff. They are Physiotherapy and Sports Science.

Physiotherapy

This attribute is predominantly for use with Physiotherapists. In general, a high attribute here indicates a more accomplished Physiotherapist, but the rating is also used for fitness tests, player transfer medicals, and assessing injury proneness.

Sports Science

This attribute is also predominantly used by members of the medical team and governs the competency of the individual to accurately manage every player’s fitness level and injury risk in such a way that they are able to keep them in condition to play regular football.

A PRO TIP: Check what the maximum allowed number of staff is and try to fill it up if all positions aren’t filled up already. The more physios you have, the more injuries you can handle at once.

Substitute Tired Players To Avoid Injuries

This one seems like a no-brainer, and in our decades of playing FM, this is probably the most known thing in the game. If your player is tired, he will perform poorly and he has a high risk of getting injured.

When you substitute players, you give players rest, you keep your reserve players happy (in case you start them and you let your main player rest) and you can give talented players some badly needed time in a competitive scenery.

Pitch Condition

Lower league teams need to keep an eye on their pitch condition. If it’s in very poor condition you might ask your board to relay the pitch and if they don’t allow it then you will have to change tactics that suit a bad pitch.

It does impact the match engine just as a downpour will. For example, if it’s wet and you play a short passing game, intercepts are more likely to happen because the ball will slow down in the water and not reach the receiver.

Upgrade Your Facilities

Just like the above one, pitch condition, this might be a bigger problem in the lower leagues. But if you are in the best leagues, you should always ask your board to keep upgrading your facilities.

It brings the best possible experience to your players, they develop more quickly and recover more quickly from injuries. It also feels good to have a State-Of-The-Art facility ????

If you want to find out some more things, or tips and tricks to avoid injuries, you can also check out the video below. Cheers!