Injuries/Fatigue

Yes, I know this has been covered multiple times but I've just had something happen that has left me totally baffled.

I'm managing in the Dutch Jupiler League as FC Den Bosch and have just come back from the winter break. My squad reported back fully fit (apart from two season ending injuries) and I went to play my first friendly. Blam, 4 injuries in the first 60 minutes. Every single player who started the game had over 90% fitness and had just come back from an extended break without training. I play on low tempo so I'm not asking them to go and run themselves into the ground and it can't be my training seeing as they haven't actually been in training for the last couple of weeks. To top it off I've now had a message saying my right winger is 'very tired and in need of a rest.' After 3 weeks off? Huh?

It's one match so chalk it up to bad luck, if it happens after every winter break then & to a variety of teams (user & AI) then there could be an issue that warrants further investigation.

The tired winger is more likely to be a bug & is worth raising as a separate issue in the bugs forum.

What triggers a 'this player needs a rest' message? I ask as the winger was subbed after being injured but then didn't have an injury after the game, just this fatigue report so maybe his condition is just really low after that?

Each player has an under the hood jadedness rating that changes over the course of a season to simulate the physical stress of the game, sounds like he was pretty low before the break & failed to rejuvenate himself while on holiday.

If you do log an issue a save right before the winter break & as close to the point he is reported as tired & in need of a rest would probably be the most useful.

They kept 90% match fitness when not playing for 3 weeks? Or do you mean Condition.

Yes condition, sorry.

Top tip is to always add a column to show Match Fitness, without this it's far too easy to start player who has low level of match fitness & this is a key factor in contributing to a cycle of injuries.

Maybe it's time for SI to include it as a default column on the selection view.

Well all my players were lacking match fitness due to not having had a game for 3 weeks.

Which is where squad management comes into play, during pre-season I will even consider bringing a player off after 30 minutes & to make this easier I'll limit my incoming transfers to the bare minimum to reduce the need to build up tactical familiarity.

Well all my players were lacking match fitness due to not having had a game for 3 weeks.

That's normal in FM and real life, of course.

Their condition will drop quicker which makes them more at risk of picking up injuries.

I did that with quite a few players- I made 8 half time substitutions but lost two players to injury in the first 30 minutes. As you say I think I have to chalk this one up to bad luck.

Whenever i have more than two weeks between matches, i arrage a friendly against some nearby non league team.

The only point of that match is to keep match fitness up.

edit:

Or if i am managing in a country which has reserve squad instead of B-team/U-team, i keep the reserves playing friendlies weekly and put first team players in reverse matches if they need match fitness.

Most people dont do pre-season properly, then they suffer a lot of injuries then they complain that the game is broken!

I wont go into training specifics but pre season is or should be about two things: getting people match fit and getting used to tactics/team cohesion.

DO NOT holiday over friendlies as the assman cant rotate for toffee (to get people match fit). Its better to play them yourself and if you want to get them over and done with quickly then use commentary only. But use the friendlies to make the correct subs at the correct time to get everybody match fit for the new season.

Also people dont properly utilise the make a player available for reserves etc facility (which also includes overusing it).

In season always rotate with the intention of keeping everybody match fit but I feel that if you dont properly do preseason then you lose the chance to make everybody properly match fit.

Most people dont do pre-season properly, then they suffer a lot of injuries then they complain that the game is broken!

I wont go into training specifics but pre season is or should be about two things: getting people match fit and getting used to tactics/team cohesion.

DO NOT holiday over friendlies as the assman cant rotate for toffee (to get people match fit). Its better to play them yourself and if you want to get them over and done with quickly then use commentary only. But use the friendlies to make the correct subs at the correct time to get everybody match fit for the new season.

Also people dont properly utilise the make a player available for reserves etc facility (which also includes overusing it).

In season always rotate with the intention of keeping everybody match fit but I feel that if you dont properly do preseason then you lose the chance to make everybody properly match fit.

Without wanting to sound rude this is all totally irrelevant to my OP- it wasn't pre season, it is a mid season break where the players all go on holiday and this was the first friendly back.

Without wanting to sound rude this is all totally irrelevant to my OP- it wasn't pre season, it is a mid season break where the players all go on holiday and this was the first friendly back.

The same principles will apply anyway, since the squad will have little match fitness in both cases.

The same principles will apply anyway, since the squad will have little match fitness in both cases.

Yes but I never holidayed over friendlies, this was the first game back so I couldn't have 'rotated more' and I make subs (usually a full 11 player HT switch for the first game or two). So it's a bit annoying to have someone telling me I 'don't do pre-season properly' without actually replying to the specifics of my post.

You haven't given many specifics. As Barside said though, it was one game.