What Teams Get Wrong Before the Season Even Starts
A lot of iPL teams show up to matchday 1 without having made a decision about almost anything. Who's the first-choice XI? What formation are we using? Who's captain when the regular one isn't available? What do we do at corners?
These things get sorted out in the first four or five games — but that means those games are basically pre-season matches played with real points attached. The teams that spend any time preparing before the season opens tend to look significantly sharper in those early rounds.
Squad Assessment
Start with an honest look at your squad on ClubsHub. Who played regularly last season? Whose stats improved? Who's coming back from a drop in form or availability? Where are the positions where you're one injury away from a real problem?
You don't need a spreadsheet. You need fifteen minutes of honest thinking about what your team actually has, not what you hope it has.
Formation Decision
Pick one. Not a first-choice formation and a backup — pick the formation you're going to start the season with and commit to it long enough to actually learn it as a team. The squads that switch formation every few games never develop the coordination that makes any system work properly.
Your formation should reflect the players you actually have, not the one that's theoretically best in the current meta. A 4-3-3 requires wingers and an aggressive fullback setup. If you don't have those players, you'll struggle more with the right system and wrong personnel than with a slightly less fashionable formation that fits your squad.
Set Your Expectations
What would a good season look like? Top half? Title challenge? Stabilising after a difficult previous campaign? Having a clear target at the start means you have a reference point throughout the season. When you're going through a rough patch, you can assess whether you're still on track or whether the target needs to adjust.
Know the Rivals
Before the season starts, look at what the top teams did last season on ClubsHub. What formations were dominant? Who were the standout players? The meta shifts slowly in the iPL, and understanding where you're starting from gives you context for your own tactical decisions throughout the campaign.