Squad Rotation

Can anyone that's efficient at rotating their players/squad please give me some help with how best to do it?

It's probably simple, I just can't manage it properly!

Thanks, G.

I don't know how good/efficient I am at it but I'll tell you how I do it anyway.

The way I rotate is to swap the players with the lowest condition prior to a match. I know alot of people do this, but to rotate well and give loads of players games I have a high threshold. Usually anyone below 96% gets rotated. (Also if all but two of my players in the last starting line-up had 100% while they had 98% I would rotate them too!) This generally leads to me constantly bringing players in and out of the line-up and spreading out the season workload. I also find that come a hectic schedule my players are much fresher than they otherwise would have been.

There are two key issues when rotating; keeping players happy and giving the team continuity. I find that on the first, players tend to become unhappy when they miss a RUN of matches, eg four in a row. They don't seem to mind if they play one, miss one and so on. If I want to rotate I usually change 5 or 6 players every match, keeps them all happy.

As for the continuity thing, in my opinion it's vital that the players you bring in have plenty of matches under their belt. Try to split the workload evenly amongst the whole squad, otherwise players will come in who are not ready to step up to the intensity you need.

Also, if I have a big squad which I'm rotating, I can afford to raise the level of training a fair bit. You may get more injuries but the squad can handle it, and it's worth it in terms of performance from the players who are fit.

There're two ways, I think. One is to keep doing the 'horses for courses' thing and pick the team you think will be best suited to get the win on the day, taking into account factors like opposing tactics, dangermen, what you're going to do to counter their threats while posing enough threat of your own, what your players can do, the weather, etc.

That all means that a team that won 4-0 playing 4-4-2 one week might get broken up to a 3-4-3 or 4-5-1 for the next match, and a defensive mid who didn't play in the win comes in to replace a striker who didn't score but set one up, or for the CM who's more attack-minded than you need.

Alternatively, you can have a favoured tactic that everyone is familiar with, and again rotate players in and out according to form, fitness, etc.

Personally, I do things a bit old-school: I try not to change a winning side at all, and juggle the instructions on match day according to weather, opposition style, etc, rather than changing formation and overall playing style. If a side draws, weaker players (out of form, etc) might get hooked for the next match. A defeat, and the team selection is started over, with players getting in on goals, assists, clean sheets for keepers, average ratings, form...stuff like that.

It's really down to what you find works best for you and the players you have at your club. The first option is more realistic at top levels, whilst at lower league clubs players might need to be settled with the style and formation more.

Hope that helps! (and if not, I'm sure others will oblige, even if they just say to try the Tactics forum)

I tend to have a 'backbone' of first choice. So even If I'm rotating, I will still have some of my best players on the pitch.

Its generally a GK, DC, MC and FC (depending on how many I play upfront)

Hmmm, OK, interesting views - mostly different.

I've not been playing FM long, so I rely a lot on my players performing for me, rather than neing tactically astute like others. Added to this, I'm with Torino (now on season 3) so I don't have a lot of money; kinda enough to get by. So at the moment I really have a first pick team and then a lower standard of player who I can bring in to cover now and again.

That's where I'd like to improve. I think a lot of the time one of my first picks is injured and his cover might be 94% fitness but lacking/severely match fitness. The under 20's league in Italy lets you play two over-age players, but that's not enough to keep a 24 man squad at a reasonable fitness level.

If I was at Inter, for example, I'd have no problem rotating Viera with his back-up, Dacourt, for a home game with Napoli. But I just don't have that depth of squad or freedom to risk a result - so far I've managed 11th and 12th.

Hope that all makes sense! LOL

For me, I tend to have an "A" team and a "B" team in my mind - assuming I have that kind of depth, which it doesn't sound like you do, really. The "A" team is my experienced starters - and veterans rate a little more highly than high-attribute youngsters.

If there's only one match in a week, my "A" team plays.

If there's two matches in a week, I'll pick one match that gets the "A" team and one that gets the "B" team, based on quality of opposition and importance of the tournament. Occasionally, I'll have two high-profile matches in quick succession, and both get the "A" team.

When selecting, making the "A" team requires Condition 95% or higher, decent form, decent morale, etc. I believe that dropping a player from the "A" team for poor performance tends to improve motivation.

The "B" team also tends to get Condition 95% or higher, but will include players working back from injury, youth players, low morale players, transfer-listed players whom I'm trying to "display in the shop window", etc. I'll usually make sure to "fortify" them with some top-quality veteran players, especially up the middle: GK, DC, DMC, MC, including either my Captain or Vice-Captain if possible. So, a "B" team match could be anything from 3 to 8 of my regulars, depending on how fatigued the "A" team was and when the next high-profile match was.

The other thing is I'm careful about treating team-talks differently - youngsters, in particular, seem to react less well to pressure than my veterans do, so I have to be careful with the "B" team.

I feel that I have a good rotation, but the effects are a little different than I would like.

I rotate out players with the following conditions:

1. rating of 6 or worse in the previous match

2. unhappy or not confident due to a comment in the press

3. morale drops to good or below if the rotation player has better morale

4. fitness at 93% or worse

5. playing an early round cup game or a bottom of table team

What I find that happens is that my first choice 11 will play well for most of the games from August through December. Even though my rotation players are getting significant games in this period, the first team always starts to underperfom at this point either due to weather conditions or fatigue. But my rotation players tend to play great through this low period. It is not until April that the first team starts to win back a majority of the playing time based on my rotation rules.

So even though I intend for my rotation policy to keep people fresh such that I could always use the first 11 when I want, I find that instead my season is played in thirds with the starting 11 playing the beginning and end of the season and the rotation players getting the middle third, with team performance being steady across each third.

I'll normally change one player at a time, depending on:

• form (striker not scored or played well for a few games? I'll try him as an impact sub)
  
• condition
  
• morale (should ideally be very good or higher)
  
• tactics (I'll have to adjust my tactics to fit in with the player's attributes and PPMs)
  
• age of players (youngsters tend to "freeze" if they play too many matches in a row)
  
• competition (cup/Euro match? Reserves, out you go. Easier team? Reserves again)
  
• Possibly most importantly, opposition. If I'm playing a team like Blackburn, I'll change my 'keeper for one a big, strong, commanding one, and change my faster, shorter DC for a big one. I may consider playing two tall strikers. Also, against far superior opposition I'll make the team more defensive and play the fastest strikers and wingers possible.
  

I'm prepared to make more than one change if necessary, but the only time I'll change more than three is if it's a cup match.

These are all fascinating ideas, people. Some of you, I feel are changing too much - but what do I know! LOL

All your different approaches are interesting and should add more to the gaming immersion.

When i rotate i tend to do this with home matches keeping my best players fresh for the away ones.Continuity, i've found, is very important so i don't rotate every game.Basically try an judge your fixtures an rotate the team accordingly.

Oh an meaningless cup games i never play a first teamer but then i don't give a monkeys about the carling cup!

I have built up a big squad and have 2 players for each position with little to choose between them with exception of 3 outstanding players. So I have a Team 1 & Team 2 and generally alternate on a game by game basis. If it is a vital match I might change this slightly.

Try and rotate a maximum of 6 players. Try and keep your captain on the pitch at all times.

I try and keep:

my GK (unless its for the league cup)

one of my CBs

one of my FBs (although i tend to sub him)

one of my MCs

and

one of my AMCs (i play with 3)

Basically i find the best players to rotate in and out of a squad are forwards, wingers and full backs - mainly because in my tactic i have them running everywhere and they get exhausted more often than other players. As long as you keep a "core" to your team, you should be fine.

i play my first team all the time unless its a cup game against a lower league team or if its european game and ive already qualified.if im winning 2-0 or more at half time i will usually take off the 3 players with the lowest fitness.

Does anyone ever set friendly instructions for international matches so that a player can only play 45mins?

Does anyone ever set friendly instructions for international matches so that a player can only play 45mins?

Yup. I do it for every first team player, the way i see it, is that it halves the amount of time the player can sustain an injury in. I do however allow my fringe players or rotation players to play 90mins as it helps keep them match fit for me.

I usually have 22 equally good players in my team plus some youngsters ( 25-27 players on average) so i simply change entire squad in every game

I usually have 22 equally good players in my team plus some youngsters ( 25-27 players on average) so i simply change entire squad in every game

WOW! Doesn't the lack of continuity impact on your results?

Rotate? Play the babies till they drop. It's not like they have a real job to do the rest of the week.

I used to have virtually 25 players in my first team alone but i felt it hindered the young players coming through so i sold the majority of my first team. Its now 17 although I still feel its too big considering the youngsters im ready to blood. Therefore small squad limited rotation basically. Injuries, condition below 95%(if suitable player is available), suspension and Domestic cup games provide me with natural rotation. Any more and think people are being overly picky.

At the start of each save, I tend to have a strong core of about 15-17 players, and then 8-10 youngsters that i'm trying to blood. So in the first few seasons, I have a regular starting line-up, unless it's a rubbish team, then i'll bring in a few youngsters.

Once the youngsters are ready for more games, i'll pretty much go by the condition of the players. Although this generally ends up with me having an "A" and "B" team, although they aren't that different in age or ability.

I play a 4-2-3-1, and like to have 2 players for each position, plus an extra DC, MC, AMRL and ST. These extra players will be the worst in my team, and are mainly injury cover / subs / cup / rubbish opposition. I never have more players than this, as it's far too much for me to rotate, and maintain any continuity whatsoever. Whenever I rotate I always make sure i have the strong CB / fast CB partnership.

From the above suggestions, the main ones i do are: pick by condition, give each player at least one game in 4, drop for poor performance

WOW! Doesn't the lack of continuity impact on your results?

There is no lack of continuity , i have formation A and formation B , A plays game 1 B plays game 2 A plays game 3 etc , helps to keep players away from fatigue .

depends on how many games we're paying in a short space of time. i genrally dont play 1 play for more than 5 games in a row though unless i've got injury problems. when we get to the end of the season i can rest players every 3 games because the games are closer together.

I only ever rotate players when they get injured or lose form - makes things nice and simple. Sure it means the players who don't play are unhappy, but better than way than having a shambles of a different team out on the pitch every week with no cohesion and everyone getting unhappy!

I'm surprised to see people rotating on condition percentages in the 90's. I mean, I understand it, but it seems one of the last criteria to use, imo...

Two full teams saved in the 'select team' utility, but I rotate 1-5 players / game in practice. I like trying to get partnerships flowing, and though I don't know how well the game models that, I feel better with the model of:

Core Players (1st team)

Backup (kept fit with rotations)

Hot Prospects (rotated for success)

Cup Team

In-Season Friendly Team (backups and has-beens that need to remain in fitness)

The 1st Team is the spine. In any game that matters 80% of the players on the pitch are in that squad, barring injury.

my problem is more about recovery time. What is the best way to ensure a player that has 75% condition on wednesday will have 95% condition on saturday?

I usually have two players for each condition plus a further two who could also play there if needed. My squad size is 24 2 keepers - 7+2 defenders - 10+2 midfielders - 5 strikers

KingLara, you probably can't recover his condition so quickly. Maybe take him off training, don't play him on Wednesday... and hope, really. You need more recovery time than that.

my problem is more about recovery time. What is the best way to ensure a player that has 75% condition on wednesday will have 95% condition on saturday?

I usually have two players for each condition plus a further two who could also play there if needed. My squad size is 24 2 keepers - 7+2 defenders - 10+2 midfielders - 5 strikers

i don't know about boosting recovery time, lower training intensity maybe? the best thing to do would be to sub him off at about 60-70mins in the match if his condition's that bad and you can afford to take him off. Subbing off tired players is a great way of keeping first teamers fit and rotating squad members / bleeding youngsters

I generally have my best 11 and 10-11 players who I know I can play if anyone is injured/unfit/bad form etc. In my backup 11 I will have a few youngsters who can rotate in smaller games and go a majority of the season unplayed without them becoming unhappy. The rest will be old players who I can rely on and some supersubs, who will be rotated in throughout the season dependant on the same factors I use for the youngsters. I have never had a morale problem doing this, with the extra plus side that my team remain fairly high condition all season.

I rarely play with top teams so my second 11 is often considerably worse than my first 11, and I rarely have easy games so I'm very bad at rotating. I always say to myself that next time I'll let that youngster play but then I realize that I need my best players for this game.

I'm currently getting to grips with squad rotation in Italy, which is a new experience for me. It's hard to keep the reserves fit due to lack of reserve games plus any decent kids I have have pretty much been loaned out as they won't develop sat in my reserves. I'm in the champs league this season but for me the priority is the league and I don't feel that comfortable sticking a reserve side out between big champs league matches as I don't think my squad is good enough to cope with it, a la Liverpool. I'm finding it hard at the moment to drop players who are in form to save them for other matches, the only way I can justify it at present is if their condition is below 95% or their attributes aren't suited to the opposition. My players didn't get much rest over the summer due to the euros, I'm hoping they won't get burned out by the turn of the year...

I'm currently getting to grips with squad rotation in Italy, which is a new experience for me. It's hard to keep the reserves fit due to lack of reserve games plus any decent kids I have have pretty much been loaned out as they won't develop sat in my reserves. I'm in the champs league this season but for me the priority is the league and I don't feel that comfortable sticking a reserve side out between big champs league matches as I don't think my squad is good enough to cope with it, a la Liverpool. I'm finding it hard at the moment to drop players who are in form to save them for other matches, the only way I can justify it at present is if their condition is below 95% or their attributes aren't suited to the opposition. My players didn't get much rest over the summer due to the euros, I'm hoping they won't get burned out by the turn of the year...

If you have the patience, and enough players, you could organise friendlies for your reserves every week, to keep everyone in shape.

as well as leaving out or only giving the lower condition players 60/70mins, i do it home and away.

If i'm playing at home i find myself playing the younger/more attacking players whereas at home i tend to go for bigger stronger more solid players e.g. if arsenal, walcott RM at home, with Eboue RM away

I tend to rotate according to how "big" the matches are. Certain players never get sent away to a rivalry game, no matter how good they are overall... and I mean never.

just put all the players you have for each position into hats and draw them out, statistically over a seasons length of games this will give your players an approximate fair share of the action !!

I only rotate my Wingers and AM as I like to keep the backbone of my team the same.

In cup games where I have won easily in the 1st leg or I am already in the knockout stages I will change my whole team apart from my GK and two DC's.

I deally I like having a small squad with a solid base of 11 established stars. On the bench should be quality backup. If confidence runs high I try to give my youth team a run out if they are performing well and oover time try and integrate these into my squad....this enables me to save mmy money for my main players and rely on home grown players for backup.

As a rule I generally put out a weakened team for the early stages of the league and fa cup, as long as im not playing the top 5 or a form team.

Interesting to see everyonne elses opinions on this.

If I have two set-ups on my first team, I'll save each set up under the tactics screen as a "save as" team. "Starters" and "Backups". Then, when I want to load my back-up setup before a game, I just click team tactic on the left side before entering a match and the computer automatically selects those players.

However, you might not be asking that based on the responses you've been given.

Now, for the other matter. If a player participates in a match, I'll decide if they are in my next match (if there are two or three that week) based on their condition following a match. If they finish a match with less than 80% fitness on the squad page the following day after the match (after the match's headlines are given in my inbox), I'll sit them the next match. If I only have one match that week, then I'll rest the same player one day if they are below 85% fitness and two days if it's below 75% fitness.

This player resting does affect my attributes for the player, so you may want to beware resting players like that....but it also prevents them from becoming jaded.