Lesser Cups, Condition, Morale and Squad Harmony

Does anyone else find it hard to juggle these?

Example:

My board don't consider the Italian Cup important. The team are unbeaten in the league (second because too many draws). Morale is top notch and Squad Harmony couldn't be better. Our next match is against Napoli in the semis and following that we have a Championship clash agaisnt Inter.

Logically, I want to maintain condition for the Inter match, so I want to play a second string against Napoli. However, if I do, I will probably lose. Losing will affect morale and I want maximum morale for the Inter game. :confused: What to do, what to do?

I eventually went for a first team in the cup, lost two first teamers to injury and fell further behind Inter in the race for the title, when they beat us in the following match. It's frustrating, because it's incredibly hard to juggle and I wondered what everyone else does in these situations.

Do you sacrifice condition for morale or morale for condition?

I sacrifice morale for condition. It's easier to regain morale than fitness

I say sacrifice condition for morale. You can adjust your training to get them fit again but you can't easily make them happier without winning. Also, an unfit but happy player will play as well as he can, but an unhappy fit player doesn't care how he plays.

As Juve manager, I tend to play my best 11 for the champions league and games agansit anyone in the top 14 of the league and use the fringe players, youngsters and bench players for other league games and the Italian cup. Needless to say we won the Italian cup, came 2nd in the league and did ok in the champions league. Milan are the strongest team at the moment but I'm catching them as rebuild my team with some good youngsters though my ever improving under20 team. Also another tip I have learnt is that after a champions league game,I tend to change the team and we win where as before I would keep the same 11 and struggle.

Generally I go for condition over morale, but when picking the team for those games considered less important I try to find a reasonable balance, so I play a mix of first and second string, and make sure I have the right subs available so I can take off the first-teamers after about 60 mins meaning they will still be fit for the next game.

As Juve manager, I tend to play my best 11 for the champions league

That raises another point. Say you qualify with 2 games spare, do you player a weaker team in the last two games, or are you worried that a loss may affect form/morale?

I normally go for condition over moral but it also depends on what team I am managing.

High profile club such as Barcelona, Man Utd, Arsenal etc

I normally have a big squad and at the start of each season I will spend a lot of time creating or adjusting my tactics and deciding my first team – second team players are. (This gets reviewed over the course of the season)

So at the end I have my First Team who will play –

All Champions League games (If I know the team has already progressed to the next stage, and then I may make few changes)

Leagues games against the top 10 sides if it’s at home and against 14 sides if we are playing away.

Important cup such as the FA Cup – If we playing at home and against strong opposition then it would be the first team, but if we playing a mid table team then I may also make few changes here depending on player condition, happiness or if I need to give someone few games.

If we playing away then almost every time I play my first team regardless of opposition.

Less important cups – League Cups, Charity Shield etc. Always my second team (including youngsters) regardless of who the opposition are and what stage of the competition we are at.

However when I am managing a small club then I would choose moral over condition any times, also I would also study my fixture list (5 games in advanced) to see where I can give any players rest without putting too much strain on the team.

If I have a cup game before an important league game then depending on opposition I may rest some first team members for the cup game (in case of injuries) but have them on the bench so if needed I will bring them on.

This is basically my format of picking players and how I pick my teams.

I play my strongest team in every cup competition, the only way I change that is if I face a team from a lower league I will then pick a half and half team but always havve at least 5 first teamers playing.

Keeping morale high is very important in my opinion.

If you play a second string in the cup game, generally if you los only the morale of players who played will be affected significantly. Players who didn't play may suffer a small drop - e.g. from superb to vgood - but it won't be massive and shouldn't affect your next fixture.

I agree with AcidBurn, morale is essential and the difference between superb and v. good can have a major influence, especially in an evenly contested title clash.

I simply view it as if my striker is already on very good morale and 100 percent fitness if he doesn't play and we lose his morale drops to good. If he does play and he bags 4 goals his morale will go to superb. I think its better to have a player with superb morale and 90-95 percent condition, than a 100 percent condition andgood to very good morale.

The injury thing doesn't bother me as everytime you click continue there is chance they could be hurt in training aswell. I mean do people place there star players on a lower training schedule before a big game?

If I have qualifyed with 2 games to go then I mix the squad as I still want first place

i don't sacrifice anything for anything. i just put out a team that can win the match. i'm not trying to make it sound easy though because i sit around pondering my line up for ages. obviously i'll rest or drop players and change my formation or play youngsters but the principle is to win the next match, always.

unless i'm playing in a crappy competition like the league cup where i normally field reserve players

i don't sacrifice anything for anything. i just put out a team that can win the match. i'm not trying to make it sound easy though because i sit around pondering my line up for ages. obviously i'll rest or drop players and change my formation or play youngsters but the principle is to win the next match, always.

unless i'm playing in a crappy competition like the league cup where i normally field reserve players

Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice due to fixture congestions. I always look a couple of matches ahead before picking my team, to make sure I have the best possible team for the most important matches.

If it's a minor competition, I just field my backups, or "disposable" first teamers, just sparing the Key Players [you don't want your top striker or your playmaker picking up an injury in a cup 4th round...]

Whenever I have a bit of a fixture congestion, the Champions League [or Europa League] match will ALWAYS be my top priority.

If I can't go for the usual "backup team" option, I'll surely sacrifice a bit of morale over condition.

A league is made of 30+ games, so I can afford to drop some points here and there. One loss can be decisive in European competitions.

And in the end, an eventual loss won't affect so much the morale of players who didn't even play... And even if it does, I'd rather have a 100% fit team with v.good morale before a big CL clash than a Superb morale but <90% fit squad.