Selling players and Winning the League

-Selling players. Is there anything I can do except play them more?

-Is there anyway for me to cut down Chelsea, my main competitors, in an attempt to make the title easier for me to win?

-David Silvs is 30 years old and playing well. My backup is lower quality like James Rodriguez and Quintero. Sell Silva now for a decent value or hold onto him until retirement basically?

-Selling players. Is there anything I can do except play them more?

-Is there anyway for me to cut down Chelsea, my main competitors, in an attempt to make the title easier for me to win?

-David Silvs is 30 years old and playing well. My backup is lower quality like James Rodriguez and Quintero. Sell Silva now for a decent value or hold onto him until retirement basically?

First question is a little hard to understand, if you're talking about backup/fringe players. In games you have a large half time league, bring your best potential off the bench on to the field. I often have 1-2 16/17 Year olds on my bench, ready to shine. Shaw and Timo Werner came off bench last game for me.

Early on in the game stopping Chelsea is hard, there is no real way to just stop them. If you get a tactic that makes your team play well, you have a chance. I personally find it easier to beat teams like Chelsea playing wide wingers, possesion football but leave deeper defense on, with counter.

David Silva still has 2 years of great performance left in him, why get rid of that? Yes you may get some decent cash for him at 30 Years old. But seriously, loyalty + consistent performance = main team. Gerrard has just hit 34 years old for mee, he has yaken a backup status and 70k wage, huge reduction for next two years. He is my tutor in the midfield, he is fantastic for that. It was not until he was about 32 1/2 until he stopped being in first team every game, he then played every 2 out of 3. Now at 34, he is bench/backup and tutor. He has played 4 games this season at half way through..

Don't focus on cutting down competitors - just concentrate on making your own team stronger and it will happen.

I also don't understand the first question. If you are talking about players who get unhappy about lack of playing time, then you may as well sell if you don't need them. As above, it's easy to get youngsters in who will provide backup to senior players and eventually replace them. Senior players can be sold for good money aged 28-30 before their value drops significantly.

In my game I sold Lucas Leiva, despite being a quality player in my HB position, for about £45m aged 28 and bought a new Brazilian called Lucas Silva whose attributes were almost as good and 7 years younger, for just £10m. He is now a top class HB and I'm getting offers of over £30m for him so I'll probably cash in soon and replace with a younger model.

Don't focus on cutting down competitors - just concentrate on making your own team stronger and it will happen.

I also don't understand the first question. If you are talking about players who get unhappy about lack of playing time, then you may as well sell if you don't need them. As above, it's easy to get youngsters in who will provide backup to senior players and eventually replace them. Senior players can be sold for good money aged 28-30 before their value drops significantly.

In my game I sold Lucas Leiva, despite being a quality player in my HB position, for about £45m aged 28 and bought a new Brazilian called Lucas Silva whose attributes were almost as good and 7 years younger, for just £10m. He is now a top class HB and I'm getting offers of over £30m for him so I'll probably cash in soon and replace with a younger model.

Sorry, first question wasn't detailed enough. I have players like Xabi Alonso and Javi Garcia who have got to a stage where I have 3 or 4 regens coming through who are more useful to play. I can't sell them, I ended up releasing Javi Garcia and I still have Xabi Alonso.

With the Chelsea thing, I can't really outperform them firepower wise, they have basically assembled a team of gods. I guess I will just have to trade titles with them for a few years.

Since I posted I've played past January and kept David Silva. I will probably re-assess at the end of the season but it seems like I might keep him for now.

It can be very difficult to sell players like Xabi Alonso and Javi Garcia when they are 30+ years old. They have a huge reputation and salary, only the best clubs can attract and afford their wages, yet they might not actually be good enough for clubs like that, or those clubs may look for other, younger players. So for those type of players you want to limit contract length, or be strategic when offering them a deal. Typically a player will start to go downhill when they hit 29-30, especially with a few injuries. It goes even quicker when they reach 32-33. They still might be very useful to keep around though, and as their physical stats go down their mental attributes go up.

I try to make sure that when I offer players a deal they are only lasting until they are 31. That way, at 29 years old, they have two years left on their contract and I can either sell them at full price, or offer them a deal until they are 33.

The deal which last until they are 33 I don't extend until the very last moment. At that point they usually agree a big pay cut.

It can be very difficult to sell players like Xabi Alonso and Javi Garcia when they are 30+ years old. They have a huge reputation and salary, only the best clubs can attract and afford their wages, yet they might not actually be good enough for clubs like that, or those clubs may look for other, younger players. So for those type of players you want to limit contract length, or be strategic when offering them a deal. Typically a player will start to go downhill when they hit 29-30, especially with a few injuries. It goes even quicker when they reach 32-33. They still might be very useful to keep around though, and as their physical stats go down their mental attributes go up.

I try to make sure that when I offer players a deal they are only lasting until they are 31. That way, at 29 years old, they have two years left on their contract and I can either sell them at full price, or offer them a deal until they are 33.

The deal which last until they are 33 I don't extend until the very last moment. At that point they usually agree a big pay cut.

Good idea. This is the first and only save I've done on FM, so at the start I was just signing people with no idea what I was doing. Xabi Alonso is with me for another year I think. Thanks for the advice, I'll use it in the future when I'm offering contracts.

- Not play them

- Change your tactics, buy better players

- Sell him if you can get a large bid which wouldn't cost you more in performances, also consider selling one of the backups, then use the money to buy a better player.