Short, boring, effective. I do this before every serious session.
I used to jump straight into ranked cold and wonder why I'd throw the first two games. Now I do this. It takes eight minutes. Zero exceptions.
Minutes 0-2: Casual. One match. I'm not trying to win, I'm trying to feel the ball. If I get scored on I don't care.
Minutes 2-5: Free play against a rookie bot. Just aerial touches. No goals, no shots — literally just controlling the ball in the air. Rebuilds my depth perception more than anything else.
Minutes 5-7: One more casual match. This one I try. If I lose it, that's my info — I'm not ready yet, do one more.
Minute 8: Water. Actual water. My aim gets 10% worse when I'm dehydrated, I have tested this, I stand by it.
That's the whole thing. It's not fancy. But my first ranked match win rate went from something like 40% to closer to 60% after I made this a habit.