MORALE OR FITNESS ?!? How do you pick your first 11 every saturday?

Hello everyone,

I believe this is very important but i never found such a thread. I often read about team talks and tactics on here but what's the most successful way to pick the best team ?

Example:

GK - Would you pick the one with 100% fitness with top stats but low morale - Or would you pick the one who is 2nd choice but with superb morale who is doing great with reserves ?

Same for different roles either as FW or AML or MC etc

Have the stats always have the priority? Or morale and fitness always count loads ?

again, 100% fitness, great stats but red low morale or

93% fitness, average stats and ok morale or

98% fitness, reserve stats and superb morale

Which one would you guys pick?

Hope the examples are clear enough or at least they give the idea of the answers im looking for....

pls leave feedback!

Cheers

I pick whoever is 100%, dunno but i think fitness outweighs abilitty often the case. But i do have limits, i do not recall reserves, i just have a large squad with similar abilities and i do a rafa benities all the way

I just pick my best time at the time.

You should set yourself a rule of thumb. For me, anyone below with a condition of less than 90% doesn't make it into the first 11. I usually tend to play players even if with low morale as I find it it's the only way to increase it. If I drop them from the team or don't play them at all, it gets worse.

Surely the team wouldnt get much benefit if you filed 1/2 players at 100% with red low morale tho.

I dont think its all about fitness

You are more likely to lose a game if most of your team has low morale, rather than 93% fitness

Surely the team wouldnt get much benefit if you filed 1/2 players at 100% with red low morale tho.

I dont think its all about fitness

If you have managed in the lower leagues of any nation, you would see that you have no option but to play them. As I mentioned before, the morale will increase as the team starts to put in performances.

Recently i have found that a player can be your best and 100% fit but if he has a poor morale then he shouldn't be played.

Its like this.

Picking a team with fitness outweights picking a team with high morale. High fitness and low mean your team won't perform as well but will get through a 90min match. Which will then result in your player upgrading it's morale status. Then the next game he will be fitter and have better morale.

This only works providing you draw or win game depending on your situation.

First I pick the player who has the best last 5 games rating for every position, then I check all of their fitness levels and if any of them are under 90% I swap them for the next best ratings in the last 5 games with over >90% fitness and that's it really. I tend to find that as long as the majority of my first 11 have decent morale it's enough to get away with having 1 or 2 with low morale, as long as they're not all in similar positions. Eg, no more than 1 from backline, 1 mid and 1 striker with low morale, seems to work for me.

First I pick the player who has the best last 5 games rating for every position, then I check all of their fitness levels and if any of them are under 90% I swap them for the next best ratings in the last 5 games with over >90% fitness and that's it really. I tend to find that as long as the majority of my first 11 have decent morale it's enough to get away with having 1 or 2 with low morale, as long as they're not all in similar positions. Eg, no more than 1 from backline, 1 mid and 1 striker with low morale, seems to work for me.

Yes it sounds right but how about if you have a good player who just had a bad run and didnt perform well for the last 5 games?

Them morale would be low as well as the last 5games rating, so how would he be getting another chance? Reserves game only?

How would you recover him ?

I think I agree with what CITYULL says....

Morale seems to be the most important thing, of course when stats are similar, and fitness is at least 90%

What does everyone think?

90% or over is good enuth for me.

but i rotate my squad so it depends on who im playing next & the game after? like this.

H) blackpool.......rotated, some youth players.

H) liverpool........strongest

A) united...........strongest

H) barnsley........rotated, some youth players.

A) chelsea.........strongest

You guys picking high morale. But forget those with low morale will in turn make your team perform less. If low morale throughout the team as a whole exists then as a squad it will be affected. Ie. unable to keep star players, players will moan more, affect the squad morale etc etc.

I pick up my team depending in what they did in the last mach, if they played ok then they'll be in the next first team eleven, if they played bad, they won't be there, unless they substitute in his position played even worse.

Of course, there are exceptions, for example when a player is recovering of an injury, when they have high morale because of what you said to the press or when playing against rival or strong team.

I mostly stick with the same team every time bar if they are under 85% fitness. Also change for the must changes such as injuries and suspensions.

It works perfectly fine too. Wel on my Staines game anyway. Unbeaten in 20 and I have 10 wins and 3 draws in the league

Yes it sounds right but how about if you have a good player who just had a bad run and didnt perform well for the last 5 games?

Them morale would be low as well as the last 5games rating, so how would he be getting another chance? Reserves game only?

How would you recover him ?

Sorry....I forgot to add one crucial point, in Champ league, League cup and F.A cup games I always pick my first 11 by valuation then fitness, so these games + reserve games are my star players chance to get back in the first 11 for the lleague matches.

Sorry....I forgot to add one crucial point, in Champ league, League cup and F.A cup games I always pick my first 11 by valuation then fitness, so these games + reserve games are my star players chance to get back in the first 11 for the lleague matches.

I normally play my best 11 & keep with them unless they are injured, unavailable or really playing poorly over a period of time. Many versions ago I always never picked players who did not have very high fitness levels, but realised over time that was not needed to play well.

I have just played a game in the NI 2nd division, where I was playing away at PSNI. Both sides were at the wrong end of the table, & have struggled to score goals, & I was pleased to win 1-0. What was surprising was the AI decided to play their veteran central defender, who had recently been out injured but was still recovering & had a yellow sticker next to him. He also had 69% fitness & okay morale. I thought great, this should be good, particularly as my team were all in the late 90's of fitness. How wrong I was. This player played the full 90 minutes & was not only their best player, but probably the best player on the pitch.

Made me think about how important things like morale & fitness are, & whether we take them to seriously.

Wow got to say guys this is a complete non issue as I play my strongest team, but if the players aren't at 90% fit I don't give them a full match.

I play weak teams/2nd eleven in competitions I am not chasing.

If I am expected to compete on more than one front, then my squad will be good enough to rotate 11 players anyway.

Only time I don't play my strongest team in the league is when there is an injury or the player is not fit.

i buy lots of young players with huge potential. No matter how good they are at the time i will play them if the first choice player is not at 100%. If hes below 95% then its a definate swap. this way i get my young players who are actually terrible at the time some much needed match experience and they tend to play around 30 games a season for me. For example i have 2 16 year old defenders, a 17 year old right winger, a 16 year old central midfielder, a 16 year old left winger and 2 18 year old strikers. I often play them all at once as well i trust my youth setup that much.

Playing as newcastle btw.

Hello everyone,

I believe this is very important but i never found such a thread. I often read about team talks and tactics on here but what's the most successful way to pick the best team ?

Example:

GK - Would you pick the one with 100% fitness with top stats but low morale - Or would you pick the one who is 2nd choice but with superb morale who is doing great with reserves ?

Same for different roles either as FW or AML or MC etc

Have the stats always have the priority? Or morale and fitness always count loads ?

again, 100% fitness, great stats but red low morale or

93% fitness, average stats and ok morale or

98% fitness, reserve stats and superb morale

Which one would you guys pick?

Hope the examples are clear enough or at least they give the idea of the answers im looking for....

pls leave feedback!

Cheers

I go by fitness as I have faith in my entire squad.

i will go with fitness every time unless it a striker.

if they 93% i will tend to give them a rest but if it a striker and his confidence is low then imight opt to give another striker who has superb morale and then bring on the striker with okay morale in the 2nd half.

by the way posting this while im getting HAMMERED by arsenal 5-1 in the first half and my defence is one of the best in the prem! i know this is off topic but had to post my woes!

I never really bother with morale when it comes to picking the team. I go on fitness, form, and ability.

best player starts the game unless he is injured or on rare occassions when say a striker hasnt scored ill drop him because someone of similar ability is waiting in the wings, have never paid any attention to morale when picking a squad, fitness of course comes into it, but ability and keeping the same first 11 as much as possible to ensure good teamwork between the players

As long as they are match fit (about 90% or over) I play my first eleven regardless of their morale. I play my second eleven in the Carling cup and weak league or weak FA cup opposition at home.

If one of your best players is low on morale, surely you need to play him so that he gains some back? If you leave him out all the time, his morale will stay low? That's how I see it. I've seen many times that a player low on morale has got the man of the match, anyway.

At the end of the season I evaluate their form and make some changes but I don't like changing their squad status mid-season as it makes them unhappy. By doing this at the end of the season, they have about 3 months to get over it in time for the new season. :-)

I always pick my team on a rotation policy

Attributes don't matter to me for squad selection. If they didn't have the attributes, they wouldn't be on my squad at all. It's fitness, fitness, fitness. And maybe some morale thrown in for good measure. That is, if a player I like wants more time on the pitch, I'll give it to him for a spell. But that can be the kiss of death for the player in the long run. I rotate a lot anyway, only a few are signed first-team or better, so if they go grousing about playing time, it's because they are too ambitious, and that just doesn't fly in my locker room. Heaven help the guy who sucks and complains about his dusty shirt...

95% + or best morale. I have a good reserve team, so I can pick the ones who are fitting at the moment. I try to rotate as much as possible. Often with a 50% 1st team and 50% reserve\youth team. Been getting alot of positive results this way.

I pick my best tem, but if the players fitness is below 90% I drop him for that match and bring in a back up

i just play whoever I want to, morale only increases much by player so unless the fitness is under 92% then they play

Well, i dont think it has got much to do with ambitions, form or even fitness.....(although form and fitness are important)!

We all agreeing on the fact a player must be over 90% fitness to start, then most of you look at attributes and/or last 5games form.

The truth is ( and I experienced it myself ), try to field your strongest fit side even when 4/5 players have low or very low morale. I guarantee you will not get a win or you could even get a shock defeat if you play a lower league side.

I used to think the best way to improve morale is winning games but I noticed you arent gonna get many points in the bag if more than 1/2 players have very low morale, not much improvments can be made.

Personally I find giving a run with the reserve team a much better way to solve the "morale" issue, a good player usually comes out of a reserve game with av.rate or 7.0 which would give him back to the first team for the following week fit and with a higher morale, usually ok or good.

Does anyone agree with me ?