Club House

The Club

There is also a window named news. This is private and can only be seen by yourself. This includes news about your team such as if you have had a player transfer come through for instance. To your left you have a list of "friends", which are quick links to friends or other members teams that you would like to check on frequently. Check your competitors for example. When one of these members are logged in they will be shown in bright yellow. To the right you find the five last pieces of news from the ManagerZone team.

To change the information about your team (team name and presentation) go to the link "edit info". Be aware that there is a fee to change your team. Your clubs account will be charged to change name as there is an associated cost with new material and so fourth. If you want to you can use html code on your team presentation. Read more about this in the FAQ.

To change your teams colors and patterns on the jerseys click on the link "jerseys". You can interactively select your colors off the chart and also select what pattern you wish to use for you team. Use different colors for home and away shirts.

The link "sponsor" is where you select the company that will sponsor you. Currently there is no difference money wise between the sponsors so choose the one that fits you better. You will get a chance to wear the logo on your shirts as well. Changes will come where there will be a difference in the companies sponsorships of the teams.

Challenges

Under "friendlies" you can see what practice matches that are booked. A booked match can not be cancelled. When you challenge sombody you go to that teams page and click on the challenge link (tab) and choose an appropriate time. You can there see what matches that particular team already has booked.

The icon to the left top "thumbs up" is lit up in bright yellow when somebody has challenged you to a practice match. If you click on it you will go straight to the page that allows you to accept or decline.

Players

You can at any time change a players number on his shirt. For instance if you want your goalie to have the number 1 jersey you change that under the tab "change numbers".

If you want to sell a player (put him on the tranfer list) you click on "sell" fill in what the minimum price you want for him and check how many days you want him on the transfer. If nobody bids on your player you will keep him. Otherwise the transaction will go through after the deadline (24 hours after as all transactions are checked by ManagerZone crew) and you will reveive the money that was the final bid. You cannot cancel a transfer once a player is on the transfer list. Therefore be very careful and make sure everything such as the price is correct before you activate it. If a player is truly bad you can also choose to fire him by clicking "discard".

You cannot sell youth players. More info can be found under the finances section.

All players skills and characteristics are described with the help of 13 attributes. These attributes has values between 0 and 10 and tells the system a players natrual talent to do various things in various situations on the field. The 13 attributes are Stamina, Experience, Form, Speed, Game intelligence, Passing, Shooting, Ball control, Tackling, Cross balls, Set plays and Goalie.

Stamina
This attribut describes the endurance and how well the player will last in rough, long games. A player with a high value can play longer matches and keeps speed and other attributes accurate even towards the end of the games. High stamina also helps to keep injuries away.

Experience
The attribut experience shows the general knowledge and experience of soccer. This is important in all aspects of the game. Players with a higher value of experience seldom get nervous and misses more seldom important plays. The more important a game, the more experience is gathered. Age and played matches are the larges variables that sets the experience level.
The practical use in ManagerZone of this attribute is that it can enhance other attributes or lower them.

Form
Form is a combination of your physical and mental shape for the day. Form is everything about inner balance and confidence and just like experience it affects a players total capacity on the field. The form attribute is updated twice a week and depending on how many games and what games a player gets to play the form goes up and down. It is important not to over or under play anybody as the form will drop. If you have good balance in the number of matches a player plays a week you will do fine with your form. If you sell more than 10 players during a single season the form will be affected negatively.

Speed
A players speed decides how fast he will move across the field with or without a ball.

Game intelligence
Game intelligence shows how well a player reads and understands the game on the field. It also plays a role in how tactical the player is. A high value means that the player most of the time is placed well and finds the openings to break free for the pass or the scoring chance. He also chooses the better alternatives when there are selections of what to do with the ball. Experience, form and game intelligence are the only three attributes that do not go down with age.

Passing
The passing attribut decides how well and precise a player passes the ball to another player.

Shooting
Shooting includes the move before the shot (to fool sombody to get the opening for the shot) as well as the shot itself. A better shot and the player hits it on the goal and in goal more often.

Header
A high value means the player can not only hit the ball well with his head but also steer it in the right direction. This is great both in offensive and defensive situations. Scoring off of cross balls or to clear the ball in the back.

Ball control
This attribut is all about how a player deals with the ball once he has it. Somebody with great ball control can keep, dribble and receive the ball better.

Tackling
Being good at tackling means the player many times can take the ball from an opponent via a good tackle.

Cross balls
Cross balls shows a well a player can deal with long balls and balls from all the way out towards the edge of the field and put them in towards the goal to create a dangerous scoring chance.

Set plays
If you are good at handeling set plays you are good at corners, free kicks and penalty shots.

Goalie
The goalie must be flexible and fast and never show fear for the ball. The higher the value the better he is when it comes to making sure the opponents can't score.

In addition to the attributes above there are also a handful of other characteristics for each player. These are Age, Value, Salary, Height, Weight and what foot the player prefers to shoot with.

Age
A players age normally varies between late teen to up over 30 years old. Older players are usually more experienced than their younger colleagues. However they also start to lose strength in their important attributes when they get older. Each player age one year per season and they have their birthdays on different days throughout the season.

Value
A players value shows a theoretical calculation of what an appoximate value could be. Depending on their attributes the value is higher or lower. Of course the value that a team pays for a player is very individually set as it depends on the needs of the club. The theoretical value should be seen as guidance when buying and selling players.

Salary
This is the amount that the club pays the player every week. The salary is set based on the theoretical value of the player.

Height
This is the height measured in centmeters. A tall players is often slightly better in the attributes goalie and headers whereas a shorter player usually has better ball control.

Weight
This is the weight of the player. An extremely light person is usually less good at tackling and a heavier person is usually not as fast and has less ball control.

Preferred foot
Normally a player perfers either the left or the right foot to shoot with. However there are also a few that can shoot well with both. This characteristic indicates the preference of the player. A right footed player normally plays a little better on the right side and vice versa for a left footed player.

All attributes are used in a game. Depending on the situation that the player is in, algorithms are used to calculate the probabilities that that player could handle the situation. This is based off of how good his attributes are.

You can sell a player by putting him on the transfer list. You can also discard him which will help your finances as you do not have to pay him a salary anymore. Keep your finances in mind when buying a player as it is not just a one time fee but you also have to pay him a salary for as long as you keep him.

Player Watch

As soon as you find a player you would like to put on your list simply add him by clicking on "watch" and you can after that immediately find him on your list.

Trainers

To have good trainers is very important. In MangerZone you can hire as many trainers as you would like to have and can afford. Each trainer can help with practice every day for one skill or attrubute at a time. When you first get your team you have one trainer that comes with it. To hire more trainers follow the steps below.

More trainers?

For the trainers to know that you are looking to hire, you have to announce this. You do that on the page "search for new trainer" (click the link).

In the drop down box you can choose between 6 classes of trainers (A to F). A is the best type of trainer and A would be a world class trainer and the salary is set accordingly. To activate that you are looking for trainers choose the class that you think will fit best and the salary that you are willing to pay. The approximate salary levels for each class is depicted below. The salary is per week. Amounts shown in USD but varies depening on your currency and the exchange rates.

Klass A: More than 10 000 USD Klass B: 5 000 - 10 000 USD Klass C: 2 500 - 5 000 USD Klass D: 1 000 - 2 500 USD Klass E: 500 - 1 000 USD Klass F: 0 - 500 USD

These salaries are not exact but more a guidance. A trainer can accept more or less but are generelly within these limits. A-class trainers are few and far between and are very picky as to what club they choose. Usually you have to be in a higher division or show something else that might turn them to you. They do not just look at the salary offered but past performance is also of importance.

You can at any time change your selection of class. Simply make your selection again and click "change". That class is then activated. The only thing you need to think of when activating a new class is that it takes about a week for new trainers to see your change. Therefore you should not change too often as nobody might apply. Expect it to take up to 3 weeks before a trainer contacts you. If you have not heard from anybody in that time you might want to consider a lower class trainer for the moment.

Wait for negotiation

If you team seems interesting to a trainer, he will contact you via e-mail. He writes you stating some information about him and send you his resume as far as skills and attributes. You check your emails via the "letter" icon up to the far left. It will be lit up in bright yellow when you have new e-mail.

How do I negotiate?

Once a trainer contacts you, via e-mail, you will find a link in his e-mail. When you click that you can see what his attributes are and if you like what you see you can offer him a job by entering in the salary you would offer him. You can also go to see any and all trainers seeking employment in you club under "interested trainers". When the deadline passes the trainer will contact you. He let's you know if you offer was accepted or if he has chosen to go to another club. A trainer can also choose to stay unemployed until next week if nobody offers him a decent salary that he feels he can accept. A trainer normally applies for employment in more than one club at the same time. The one that offers the best salary normally will get him. However what division you play in and other variables interested to a trainer also affect the decision.

What should I think about?

1. The trainer gives you a deadline that you should take seriously. If you are quick he might just go for your club immediately.
2. A trainer will most likely negotiate with other clubs as well (without you knowing).
3. The number of trainers that apply for the job at your club varies a lot. If you go for a class A trainer and you are in division 6 there might not ever come a trainer to apply for the job. This is because the very best trainers usually like to work for clubs in the higher divisions.
4. The trainer can contact you at any time of the week (Monday through Friday).
5. If you are desperate to find a trainer you should not try to get the top classes as they are rare. Go for the lower such as F or E and you should get somebody soon that will contact you. Remeber that it normally takes about 2 weeks for you to get an offer.

Training

You can practice the following skills (attributes):

Game intelligence Passing Shooting Header Ball control Tackling Cross balls Set plays Goalie - is used only if the player is used as a goalie Speed Stamina

You can move your players from the right to the field by clicking on them, holding down the button and moving the mouse (drag and drop). As you move the player over the field, you will see the skill represented at the top right. When you let go of the player he will practice that particular skill. In addition to the traditional soccer skills you can also practice the more general such as stamina or speed by dragging the player out to the track. When you have placed them as you want them, you should click on "save". Once you hit save they will start to practice those skills. If you have youth players they practice on their own field.

Your trainers

Once you have placed your players on the practice field it is time to get some use out of your trainers. Each trainer can help in one skill at a time. To use him for the skill you think is extra important place him over your players on that particular skill and hit save. The better the trainer is in that skill the more he can help. In other words the trainer will make your players improve faster. If you want any of your trainers to help out on the youth field simply place him outside the field on his resting place and hit save. Click on the tab link "Youth" and you will now find him there with your youth players ready to be moved out on the field. For the trainer to have any affect on your player he must have at least one ball more on the particular skill that is being practiced, compared to the player(s).

You should not have more than 4 players on each skill that you are practicing as your trainer might not be as efficient. Also - do move the players around once in a while as that can improve the speed of improvement.

Matches

There is a match icon towards the top left corner. When you have a match that is currently playing you will see this icon lit up in bright yellow to indicate that there is a match being played. You can click the icon and go straight to the match, which you can watch live. You do this by contiously reloading the match page you will see the text be added minute by minute. You will also shortly be able to see the game live in graphical format.

When you are at a particular match you can see all the matchinfo including the score and the match review text. There is also statistics about everything from the number of corners and chances to bookings and injuries. Under matchinfo you find a link called "match statististics" (only when the match is finished). If you click on that link you will get individual statistics for each player. You see among other things passing and tackles as well as number of shots and percent completed or successful. This gives you, the manager, a chance to evaluate the quality of each player and if the position they are playing seems to be a good fit or not.

League

Below this weeks round of matches you have the standings. Each series has 8 teams that are batteling to reach the higher division. The team that wins the series advances to the next higher division. The teams that end up on the 6th, 7th and 8th places will play one division lower next season. If there is no lower division they stay in the same series. The standings show the following:

M - Number of matches. W - Number of matches won. T - Number of matches that tied. L - Number of matches lost. + - Number of scored goals. - - Nuber of goals scored against. = - Difference between scored and scored against goals. P - Total number of points. The one with the most points win the series.

Below the standings you find the next round. To find out exactly when a match will be played click the link and you will see on the scoreboard what day and time. You play one league match a week (Saturday or Sunday) and you play both home and away against each team.

Tactics

Depending on a players strengths and weaknesses you place him as a forward, midfielder or a fullback. You also need a goalie of course. To better understand what is important attributewise for each position see below:

Fullbacks: Tackling, Passing, Game intelligence, Header Midfielders: Game intelligence, Passing, Ball control, Cross balls, Shooting, Set plays Forwards: Shooting, Ball control, Speed, Header, Game intelligence, Passing Goalie: The goalie attribute is the most important attribute

Above is just a guidline and it is of course good if a player is good in all aspects of the game as all attributes are used by all players (exeption is the goalie attribute).

Before you place your players on the field you must decide what formation to play. This can be 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 for instance. As you place your players on the field (by drag and drop) you will see the formation to the right. Below the field you also have to choose what general tactics you want to play. You can choose between:

Long balls Short passing Use wings

There is no rule of which tactics works best. It all depends on the players you have and their individual attributes. You have to try various formations to find the best one for your team. Keep in mind that it also depends on what team you are playing and their selection of tactics.

You can also choose what type of agreession level and style you want to play.

Formation and tactics is something that you can change at any time before each game to best utilize each player. To make sure your new tactics is used in a game you want to make sure that you set it no later than 2 hours before a match. If you have a great tactics you can of course choose to keep it for as long as it works for you. If you do not place enough players on the field you risk losing by walk over.

You should also have at least 3 substitues with you. On the bench there is a place with a long sleeved shirt which is for the goalie. If you want an extra goalie to be able to be substituted you want to place him there. You cannot change players yourself during the course of a game. It happens automatically if any of your players needs rest or gets hurt.

You cannot place any trainers on the tactics page and you should not. You can still play games even if you do not have any trainers (under the trainers button).

Youth

You can also lower the number of youth players if you feel you have too many. However you cannot choose who those players that leave the club are. So if you go from 10 to 5 you will drop 5 of them randomly. That means your very best junior guy could potentially leave the club.

Cost for your club

You pay a fee of 2500 USD per youth player per week. This is a set fee and is independent of the quality of the player. The youth players do not have a salary and this is your only cost associated with the youth squad. So you total fee would be 2500 USD times the number of youth players.

The trainers

You can let any of you trainers be on the youth field and train the younger guys. You can have one or more but there is no requirement that you have a trainer on the youth field.

To move a trainer from your regular training field to the youth field you simply put the trainer to the right of the practice field. You then save the settings and go over to the youth field. You will now find him there and he is ready to be moved out to the field. You do the same if you want to move him back.

Cups

You can register to join a cup and check out whom else is playing in the cup. If there are any prizes you can also get all the information on those. If you subscribe to one of the packages you can join a cup. If not you can add money to your account and the amount stated for the cup will be deducted from your account.

Some managers create their own cup. Many times they are played as scrimmages against eachother. Check out the cup forum to follow those more in detail as they are usually advertised there.