Squad rotation and player happiness

[ausmjace]

Howdy, 

So I have played the fm series for quite a while, I remember when it was called championship manager and was entirely text based! I have enjoyed the improvements over the years, although admittedly I have not played too much since fm 14. 

Now I am not sure if this is a newer feature or if I am antiquated in how I approach the game, but I always enjoyed having larger squads - I aim to have 2 players for each position ideally. My reasoning revolves mainly around the idea of managing the players' fitness and also allowing a greater amount of my youth players to get first team experience if they are up to it. I have noticed that in fm 19 players really seem to get disgruntled quickly if they are not playing enough. The most recent example has been a save that I just started with Athletic Bilbao (I always enjoy the Basque challenge). La Liga can be fairly congested fixtures wise and so my ocd when it comes to keeping players in peak physical condition really takes over - since I am a firm believer in physical status being linked to performance and injuries. So I might start a squad of 11 for a match and then start an entirely new squad of 11 for the next match like 2-3 days later and then there is another game in 2-3 days etc etc - So I really have 2 teams of 11 going at once, where some out of the other 11 will be the 7 subs for the game they have 'off' if that makes sense. So I have 2 players already getting very upset (I think another is very close) and we are approaching our 7th match of the season, these 2 players will be starting this match meaning they will have started 4 out of the 7 games so far this season. Out of the 2 sets of 11 I always have a primary team which I will use more often during the season. Since there are times when games are 7 days apart and such.

So I understand that a player could not be privy to my way of running a team, and therefore might feel shunted. So sure if they wanted to talk to me about it they can, however I don't think there is a good enough response for when a player does complain since every player that I have used the generic 'long season be patient' they seem to take it as an insult and feel like I am sabotaging their career - Keep in mind we are only 6 games into the season and they have started in 3 matches, whilst being subs in others. Plus we are having great success with 4 Wins out of those 6 games. 

Am I simply rotating my squad too much? Therefore playing the game incorrectly? I would like to keep all my players especially at Athletic due to the Basque rule, and the rigors of a long season will only increase next year if I qualify for European football. I suppose I just wanted to see if others have a better way of going about the game, or if perhaps the game needs another option to calm players unhappy with the amount they are playing. 

Cheers.

[HUNT3R]

Probably the most important thing to take into account, is Squad Status. If a player is listed as a Key Player, he's going to expect to be getting match starts as a key member of the squad. A First Team player will expect less than that, but more than a Rotation player, etc.

Secondly, players also have their own opinion on how good they are and how good they are against others competing for the same spot. They also might want to push for a chance to impress you more to be a more established member of the squad than they currently are.

It sounds like you're giving everyone about 50% of matches and that will cause complaints in almost any squad in the world.

[ausmjace]

Yeah I will have to rethink how I man manage I suppose, which is fine, just wondered if it is a bit extreme for it to happen at the very start of a season! The players who are getting upset do happen to be the ones who have the Key Player status. I did mention that there is a preferred 11 who will play more games in total, so those players (includes all Key Players) would end up racking up close to 30 games in a season perhaps. So maybe if I ride out the unhappy period they might become more content? 

[HUNT3R]

3 minutes ago, ausmjace said:

So maybe if I ride out the unhappy period they might become more content? 

It's possible. When you start giving an unhappy player enough starts, he'll drop the unhappiness.

4 minutes ago, ausmjace said:

just wondered if it is a bit extreme for it to happen at the very start of a season!

Depends. They'll take last season into account too, so if they had a spell at the end of the last season where they didn't get enough starts, they will want clarification that you'll give them a run this season.

[XaW]

In my experience this is roughly how often players expect to start based on squad status.

Key player - Just about every match they are fit for, except national cup matches of low importance. About 90% will keep them happy.
First team - Can be rotated a bit, but should be first choice for their role. 70-90% will do.
Rotation - Will be happy to be left out here and there, but expects their share of matches. 40-60% of matches
Backup - Still expects a decent amount of matches, and the title "backup" is a bit misleading to me. At least 10 matches per season

Hot prospect - Should be given a chance here and there, national cups or a couple of sub appearances should be enough, though, I've never had a hot prospect complain about game time, so I don't know.

I try to follow this for all players I want to keep happy and if I cannot give them within this, I change their status or sell the player.

There is one thing I think FM is lacking, and that is the status of "Pure backup". The kind where "we will only play you if the choice is you or the cafeteria lady" kind of backup. Often an older 3rd choice goalkeeper for instance. Someone like Robert Green in Chelsea this season. He won't make any appearances (unless there is a severe injury crisis) and he know it.

[milamber]

I've played the game with heavy rotation for years because I hate playing with knackered players when the fixtures pile up and having to rely on kids for big matches. Either way is a challenge.

[cocoadavid]

A player's personality also affects the likelihood of complaining. Professional players are less likely to complain about their game time. I've had a player with professional personality who's had First team squad status, started less than half of the games, but never complained. On the other hand, ambitious players are more likely to complain, if you think about it, it makes sense.

[Milad06]

On 30/01/2019 at 08:43, HUNT3R said:

When you start giving an unhappy player enough starts

Do you know how the gaming time is calculated for a player? is it minutes played per the whole playable time ? So, in weeks with no games, they do not expect to play?

[FrazT]

No, it is a % of games played as selected in the starting 11

[HUNT3R]

Just now, FrazT said:

No, it is a % of games played as selected in the starting 11

@Milad06 and to expand further - apart from looking at matches overall, players also look at the last (for example) 5 matches.

Say you have a Key Player. He's expecting to start most matches and he has done so for you. Now suddenly, he hasn't started in any (or maybe 1) of the last 5 matches - he's going to wonder what's going on. 

[FrazT]

To further complicate things, the game puts a different weighting on different competitions when looking at games played- nobody is sure of the exact figures but league matches are certainly more important than league cup matches for example.

[HUNT3R]

Ha. True. I'm at the point where I don't even count the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. Only CL and league.

[Milad06]

@HUNT3R @FrazT  Thanks guys.