Player Fitness Condition: FM is unplayable

[saint.666]

The fitness issue is unbearable in this game... Players can hardly complete a game even though the player's training workload is below medium (Dark Blue) and I varied the tactical intensity (sometimes medium...  Even if you start the game with 100% condition and medium intensity by the 70th minute players are fatiguing and the Ast.coach is instructing to sub-players...   

We are not talking about 1 or 2  (who are in intensive positions) .. we are talking about 7-8 players...  I mean why the hell Center Backs are fatiguing???!!! Even in in Maxed-Out Gangapress Tacitic...  Can anyone tell me when have you ever seen a manager taking a central defender off for fatigue.. the only players that should be susceptible to fatigue are Full-backs and CM/CDMs... maybe strikers if asked to do hard-pressing for the whole game and then retreating to a low block.. but such players should have high stamina scores.. what's the point of having 16+ stamina rating that beed to be substituted EVERY GAME ?!! regardless of the tactic and position 

This is totally unmanageable, as players IRL play easily TWO 90 minutes  3 days.. and the only time that you need to make serious rotation is during the -Christmas/April period (in The English league) as teams will play 3 games within 6-7 days...

Newcastle (who play a very high-intensity style) played 100 minutes against PSG with NO substitutes.. away from home + Int travel.. then the same players played against Man UTD and they won.. so anyone claiming this aspect of FM is relastic 

Even if you are willing to do the Two strong IX to rotate... you get constant player unhappiness for playing time.. plus the game will trigger injuries when you have very good backups .. and ur back to square one

Last year Rodri played 54 games in CDM (no.6) in probably the most demanding role in the team.. in PL he played 90 minutes 32 times !!.. Yes Pep rotates at the start of the season (well everyone except Rodri) but towards the end he was playing the same 7-8 players from Feb-May (in 3 competitions)... Fatigue and deterioration in Physical condition come towards the end of the season March/April.. not in between games in September, October, and November!!! 

Substitution should be used primarily for tactical objectives.. however, in FM24 you constantly need to use ALL substitutions for fitness reasons in EVERY Game... that's nonsensical...

To top it all..now in FM24 it seems that the U21 and U18 managers don't want TO ROTATE and players are constantly out of shape while others are fatigued... In previous versions, if you picked the team then the U21/U18 managers would play that selection ..  but in FM24 they will ignore that selection and go with an exhausted player in a friendly that I arranged to improve the match sharpness... I even edited the squad rotation rating (to 20) for both u21 and u18 head coaches...but that wont work

After more 20 years of making this game and giving us relatively the same product for the past 4-5 years...  SI should have had this issue nailed.. where a medium to high-intensity game should NEVER require any player substitution (maybe ONE or Two) unless for an Injury or tactical reason... and the players should be at 95-98% condition for the following game with medium-intensity training and should be able to complete that game as well without the need for substitution...

By the way, I used intensive Physical Training in the first 2 weeks of pre-season.. still, it did not resolve these Glitches in the game... Players should be able to complete a 90 minutes of a high-intensity game and another 90 medium-intensity game after 3 days without the A NEED to be substituted..  

If people are enjoying such dynamics then that's fine.. but maybe there should be an option for reducing the tactical intensity impact on fitness... 

[phnompenhandy]

Why start a new thread when there's a heated discussion on player conditioning already live?

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/580970-heres-why-gegenpress-is-op/

[turnip]

Also, Newcastle played the same XI in back-to-back games because they have a bunch of players out injured and didn't really have an option.

Their players are now - based on the match against Spurs - utterly gassed. 

Players get tired. 

 

But if you're seriously making every substitution in every game for fitness reasons, you're doing something very wrong. 

[saint.666]

2 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Why start a new thread when there's a heated discussion on player conditioning already live?

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/580970-heres-why-gegenpress-is-op/

The thread police have arrived !! 

cos the title indicates that the thread is addressing a tactic..  

 

3 minutes ago, turnip said:

Also, Newcastle played the same XI in back-to-back games because they have a bunch of players out injured and didn't really have an option.

Their players are now - based on the match against Spurs - utterly gassed. 

Players get tired. 

Well, the same 11 played both games and got great performances... I was not stating that FM should allow 3 games in a week with high intensity with the same players with no fatigue...  Any Professional Player is capable of playing Two highly intense game 

I use the % Physical condition mod and I don't allow players to go below 65% (which is equivalent to 90% empty heart)...  If you substitute a player at 65% they will be around 90-92% for the next game (after 3 days).. and then in the following game, you have several players drop to 65% at around 60 minutes... thus you need to substitute them..

Maybe I'm being too conservative? 

[Dagenham_Dave]

I love it when people are so mad, they call the game unplayable

It's nothing of the sort of course. 

And on topic, through ten seasons of the game so far, I can count on the fingers on one hand the amount of times I've had to sub a CB for fatigue reasons. It's pretty much only my BWM and wide players who are tired late in the game, which is to be expected. Occasionally other players if I've played a few games in a short space of time. Again, nothing more than I'd expect. 

36 minutes ago, turnip said:

But if you're seriously making every substitution in every game for fitness reasons, you're doing something very wrong. 

100% this. 

[saint.666]

44 minutes ago, Dagenham_Dave said:

I love it when people are so mad, they call the game unplayable

It's nothing of the sort of course. 

Well since you have "masterminded" the game enlighten us with specifics..

This is the sort of comment that you get from a dodgy-know-it-all mechanic from "Dagenham".. lol

If you think that I'm doing it wrong then here are some SPECIFICS... 

Attached is the Training pre-game condition... and players' condition at 90 minutes also check the tactical intensity  

 

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2023 by saint.666

[turnip]

Okay, I'll share from my save.

After 120 minutes in the CL, my 3 DCs finished with "Poor" condition - all 3 of them. (I probably would have subbed one of them, but I Instant Result-ed the match).

After 90 minutes of a league match, the 2 DCs who played the match had "Fair" and "Poor" condition. The "Poor" guy was a Libero on Support, so he did a bunch more running around.

90 minutes of a league match, the 2 DCs who played the whole match had "Fair" condition (one of them spent the first half in midfield, so a bunch more running around). 

 

I had a look back through a couple of months of matches and I can't find another situation that one of my DCs finished with "Poor" condition or lower if they played the whole match. My Wing-Backs get pretty tired, for sure. Sometimes my strikers, but I think that's just 'cos they get lumps kicked out of them every match. 

 

 

[turnip]

Okay, SI have said that the "Focus down the ___" instruction results in players getting really tired really quickly.

There's your problem.

[saint.666]

2 minutes ago, turnip said:

I had a look back through a couple of months of matches and I can't find another situation that one of my DCs finished with "Poor" condition or lower if they played the whole match. My Wing-Backs get pretty tired, for sure. Sometimes my strikers, but I think that's just 'cos they get lumps kicked out of them every match. 

 

10 minutes ago, turnip said:

Okay, SI have said that the "Focus down the ___" instruction results in players getting really tired really quickly.

There's your problem.

 

The issue is not one specific game .. the issue is the following game where you get 6-8 players that will need to be subbed...

The example I showed up there after ONE Week OF REST.. and you can see that despite the week's rest not so not-so-heavy training and medium-intensity tactic... I have 6-8 players that need to be subbed (all in the low-mid-60s) which is equal to poor I think...

You should be able to complete a couple of 90-minute games without the need for substituting for fitness concerns.. conserving players should be a sort of a luxury especially early in the season AND NOT A NECESSITY in every game

 

[tropicsafc]

Gangapress 😂

[Dagenham_Dave]

1 hour ago, saint.666 said:

This is the sort of comment that you get from a dodgy-know-it-all mechanic from "Dagenham"

Never been to Dagenham in my life. 

[Dagenham_Dave]

1 hour ago, saint.666 said:

The example I showed up there after ONE Week OF REST.. and you can see that despite the week's rest not so not-so-heavy training and medium-intensity tactic... I have 6-8 players that need to be subbed (all in the low-mid-60s) which is equal to poor I think...

None of those players need to be subbed. Plus you're at 90 mins of a match, not 60!! Players with that level of condition at 90 mins of a match is totally fine. I only really consider subbing players for fitness reasons when the numbers drop into the 'red zone', even then it's not always required. People get too hung up on those numbers. In real life, many managers will start players who have the equivalent of 85-90 condition in FM, but for FM players starting a player below 90 condition is worse than stealing from your own family. You used the Newcastle example earlier. Tomorrow, I'd wager the majority of that squad will start their game with the equivalent of around 85% on FM's condition indicator. 

It's only really a problem if you're getting injury after injury due to condition, and that's when you need to look deeper into it. 

[Dagenham_Dave]

Also, another point very few people realise - In real life, players will have breathers, time to rest when the ball is out of play, etc. Often a manager will instruct them to take it 'easier' for a few mins to conserve energy. Very few FM managers (inc myself) bother with this, the result of which is your players play at the same intensity for almost the whole 90 mins. Now, this would require big levels of micro management, and to quote an old meme, aint nobody got time for dat. Thankfully the game doesn't punish you too badly. 

[Freakiie]

As I said before, this is exactly why SI removed the exact percentages, people got WAY too hung up over it. As Dave said, real life managers would have no issue playing 85-90% condition players and these players will still play perfectly fine. 60% fitness at the end of the game is also perfectly fine and looking at the players you subbed off earlier at around 70% apparently, they still had plenty of steam left.

Considering the Gegenpress thread and various other discussions here on the forum the general attitude towards condition is that it's too easy, not too hard, but when people massively overreact to how good a players condition has to be to play him this happens. As Dave put it, FM managers see playing a non 100% condition player as the most horrendous crime they can commit and then wonder why their players can't reach the number of games players play in the PL every season.

[st4lz]

Is that condition percentage still there, or is it some skin? I thought we had hearts for some time now.

I am not sure why the game is unplayable, I always plan and sub key players if the match goes well or rotate on the next game if I suspect they are not fully fit.

You can check the medical center between tight fixtures every day to see how well they recover fitness.

There is still some distance between 63% and 0% tbh. You should expect them to give all they have on the pitch and be tired after games.

[Dagenham_Dave]

46 minutes ago, st4lz said:

Is that condition percentage still there, or is it some skin?

It's not there on the base skin, SI took this out a couple of editions ago. For this very reason. 

[Os]

Dag Dave is right, players very rarely start matches anywhere near 100% in real life.

90% is fine.

[turnip]

I'll also point out that in any given Premier League season you can basically get your "there are too many matches" Bingo card out and start checking off the names of Premier League Head Coaches who are whining about their players being tired/injured/sad because playing two games in a week is too much.

Plus, if you want your players to play two matches in a week, give them the week off training. You're Arsenal; your first team is already very good and aside from tactical-specific stuff (Set Pieces, etc) they're not getting much benefit from training.

Edited December 12, 2023 by turnip

[jim5000]

it seems the OP is underestimating how exhausting playing a football match is.

It's like any good workout - if you aren't pushing gassed at the end, you could have worked harder. In a football match, especially at pro levels, everything comes back to physical work over 90+ minutes.

[jim5000]

5 hours ago, saint.666 said:

Well, the same 11 played both games and got great performances... I was not stating that FM should allow 3 games in a week with high intensity with the same players with no fatigue...  Any Professional Player is capable of playing Two highly intense game 

 

yes, but they will be exhausted towards the end of each one.

[kopfan1977]

Squad Rotation. That is all.

[GlennLUFC]

How important is pre season when playing high intensity football? And could anyone point me in the right direction as where to read up on any advice on this subject? 

[st4lz]

EBFM claims that pre-season does not have any effect, but my isolated observations say otherwise. I do 2:1 Endurance/Resistance/Quickness coupled with Rest/Recovery in the first two weeks of summer or one week in winter. I never experienced an increased number of injuries pre-season, on the contrary I do experience a lot of injuries because of low match sharpness. It is a big difference when I sign a player on a free transfer, and he doesn't make his pre-season, this is often a vicious cycle of getting injured, losing sharpness, and getting injured again, not allowing his good form to persist for long.

I don't think pre-season is related just to high-intensity football. It applies to all types of tactics in FM, as most injuries are during training, and I don't see low condition as a factor in injuries if your training intensity is set up properly.

I have no idea about the training camp mechanics, which is also tied with pre-season, so it would be great to read about that as well.

Edited December 13, 2023 by st4lz

[priority76]

15 hours ago, tropicsafc said:

Gangapress 😂

That was Daniel Stendel's speciality wasn't it? I miss that guy.

[Cometdude]

60% fitness in the 92nd minute, totally unplayable 

[Dotsworthy]

23 hours ago, saint.666 said:

Newcastle (who play a very high-intensity style) played 100 minutes against PSG with NO substitutes.. away from home + Int travel.. then the same players played against Man UTD and they won.. so anyone claiming this aspect of FM is relastic

We also got battered twice last week so I'm not sure this argument stands 

[av3ry]

Somebody has not seen Newcastle's current injury list

I too play a high intensity game. The intensity bar is at about 85% and red. I just rotate the more tired players out if we play twice a week, that is why we have a squad.

[Davienene]

On 12/12/2023 at 20:50, saint.666 said:

The fitness issue is unbearable in this game... Players can hardly complete a game even though the player's training workload is below medium (Dark Blue) and I varied the tactical intensity (sometimes medium...  Even if you start the game with 100% condition and medium intensity by the 70th minute players are fatiguing and the Ast.coach is instructing to sub-players...   

We are not talking about 1 or 2  (who are in intensive positions) .. we are talking about 7-8 players...  I mean why the hell Center Backs are fatiguing???!!! Even in in Maxed-Out Gangapress Tacitic...  Can anyone tell me when have you ever seen a manager taking a central defender off for fatigue.. the only players that should be susceptible to fatigue are Full-backs and CM/CDMs... maybe strikers if asked to do hard-pressing for the whole game and then retreating to a low block.. but such players should have high stamina scores.. what's the point of having 16+ stamina rating that beed to be substituted EVERY GAME ?!! regardless of the tactic and position 

This is totally unmanageable, as players IRL play easily TWO 90 minutes  3 days.. and the only time that you need to make serious rotation is during the -Christmas/April period (in The English league) as teams will play 3 games within 6-7 days...

Newcastle (who play a very high-intensity style) played 100 minutes against PSG with NO substitutes.. away from home + Int travel.. then the same players played against Man UTD and they won.. so anyone claiming this aspect of FM is relastic 

Even if you are willing to do the Two strong IX to rotate... you get constant player unhappiness for playing time.. plus the game will trigger injuries when you have very good backups .. and ur back to square one

Last year Rodri played 54 games in CDM (no.6) in probably the most demanding role in the team.. in PL he played 90 minutes 32 times !!.. Yes Pep rotates at the start of the season (well everyone except Rodri) but towards the end he was playing the same 7-8 players from Feb-May (in 3 competitions)... Fatigue and deterioration in Physical condition come towards the end of the season March/April.. not in between games in September, October, and November!!! 

Substitution should be used primarily for tactical objectives.. however, in FM24 you constantly need to use ALL substitutions for fitness reasons in EVERY Game... that's nonsensical...

To top it all..now in FM24 it seems that the U21 and U18 managers don't want TO ROTATE and players are constantly out of shape while others are fatigued... In previous versions, if you picked the team then the U21/U18 managers would play that selection ..  but in FM24 they will ignore that selection and go with an exhausted player in a friendly that I arranged to improve the match sharpness... I even edited the squad rotation rating (to 20) for both u21 and u18 head coaches...but that wont work

After more 20 years of making this game and giving us relatively the same product for the past 4-5 years...  SI should have had this issue nailed.. where a medium to high-intensity game should NEVER require any player substitution (maybe ONE or Two) unless for an Injury or tactical reason... and the players should be at 95-98% condition for the following game with medium-intensity training and should be able to complete that game as well without the need for substitution...

By the way, I used intensive Physical Training in the first 2 weeks of pre-season.. still, it did not resolve these Glitches in the game... Players should be able to complete a 90 minutes of a high-intensity game and another 90 medium-intensity game after 3 days without the A NEED to be substituted..  

If people are enjoying such dynamics then that's fine.. but maybe there should be an option for reducing the tactical intensity impact on fitness... 

Rodri playing 54 matches last season doesn't mean he was always not fatigued, he probably was starting most matches at 80% ,90% etc even 70% maybe, very rarely IRL are players at 100%

[Meanonsunday]

On 12/12/2023 at 13:16, phnompenhandy said:

Why start a new thread when there's a heated discussion on player conditioning already live?

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/580970-heres-why-gegenpress-is-op/

That thread got locked now anyway.  Too bad you can’t have a discussion here without some people getting mad that their post didn’t immediately make everyone else agree with them. 

[phnompenhandy]

30 minutes ago, Meanonsunday said:

That thread got locked now anyway.  Too bad you can’t have a discussion here without some people getting mad that their post didn’t immediately make everyone else agree with them. 

Pretty sure the reason is it descended into immature and vitriolic attacks. The OP here seems to have the kind of attitude that will get this thread locked too.

[Tfunk]

Still an issue, seems to be this way to try and nerf high intensity tactics but it doesn't work I can still go the season undefeated but I'm spending more time rotating/subbing than doing anything else.

[FrazT]

Is this not what managing a team is about?

[wazza]

On 12/12/2023 at 19:36, saint.666 said:

Well since you have "masterminded" the game enlighten us with specifics..

This is the sort of comment that you get from a dodgy-know-it-all mechanic from "Dagenham".. lol

If you think that I'm doing it wrong then here are some SPECIFICS... 

Attached is the Training pre-game condition... and players' condition at 90 minutes also check the tactical intensity  

 

 

 

 

Are your OI's trigger pressing certain players and also what are your pressing instructions.

The individual players attributes also affect how tired they get during the game - natural fitness etc....  Each player is different.  Also are you resting players and rotating between the games and have those players who are on 60% been training  hard before games without rest.  Its all feeds into the matchs.  Have a look in your medical centre as all the information is in there for you to manage your squad and team through this situation.  Also did you give the players a tough pre-season with heavy sessions to help them not get fatigued during the season.  All of this affects the game as it would irl football.

I don't see an issues and certainily the game is not unplayable, it is how you manage the player based on the above and probably more. how many matches they play each week, and squad rotation to make sure they are not fatigued.

 

Edited January 22 by wazza

[JimmysTheBestCop]

Right click your squad training rest for 3 days if you got a log of matches. 

If your players are tired their training intensity is too high. If they are top players or maxed out training does nothing. 

Give them rest or set them to half intensity. You could probably set everyone 26 and older to half intensity forever. 

May June if I got 3 finals I set my entire training rest to half intensity and the first two options at no training. Under training rest screen. 

It doesn't sound like you are having match problems but training problems. Looks like you probably got double intensity selected. That is good for under 21 guys not your main squad. 

[whatsupdoc]

On 12/12/2023 at 18:50, saint.666 said:

The fitness issue is unbearable in this game... Players can hardly complete a game even though the player's training workload is below medium (Dark Blue) and I varied the tactical intensity (sometimes medium...  Even if you start the game with 100% condition and medium intensity by the 70th minute players are fatiguing and the Ast.coach is instructing to sub-players...   

We are not talking about 1 or 2  (who are in intensive positions) .. we are talking about 7-8 players...  I mean why the hell Center Backs are fatiguing???!!! Even in in Maxed-Out Gangapress Tacitic...  Can anyone tell me when have you ever seen a manager taking a central defender off for fatigue.. the only players that should be susceptible to fatigue are Full-backs and CM/CDMs... maybe strikers if asked to do hard-pressing for the whole game and then retreating to a low block.. but such players should have high stamina scores.. what's the point of having 16+ stamina rating that beed to be substituted EVERY GAME ?!! regardless of the tactic and position 

This is totally unmanageable, as players IRL play easily TWO 90 minutes  3 days.. and the only time that you need to make serious rotation is during the -Christmas/April period (in The English league) as teams will play 3 games within 6-7 days...

Newcastle (who play a very high-intensity style) played 100 minutes against PSG with NO substitutes.. away from home + Int travel.. then the same players played against Man UTD and they won.. so anyone claiming this aspect of FM is relastic 

Even if you are willing to do the Two strong IX to rotate... you get constant player unhappiness for playing time.. plus the game will trigger injuries when you have very good backups .. and ur back to square one

Last year Rodri played 54 games in CDM (no.6) in probably the most demanding role in the team.. in PL he played 90 minutes 32 times !!.. Yes Pep rotates at the start of the season (well everyone except Rodri) but towards the end he was playing the same 7-8 players from Feb-May (in 3 competitions)... Fatigue and deterioration in Physical condition come towards the end of the season March/April.. not in between games in September, October, and November!!! 

Substitution should be used primarily for tactical objectives.. however, in FM24 you constantly need to use ALL substitutions for fitness reasons in EVERY Game... that's nonsensical...

To top it all..now in FM24 it seems that the U21 and U18 managers don't want TO ROTATE and players are constantly out of shape while others are fatigued... In previous versions, if you picked the team then the U21/U18 managers would play that selection ..  but in FM24 they will ignore that selection and go with an exhausted player in a friendly that I arranged to improve the match sharpness... I even edited the squad rotation rating (to 20) for both u21 and u18 head coaches...but that wont work

After more 20 years of making this game and giving us relatively the same product for the past 4-5 years...  SI should have had this issue nailed.. where a medium to high-intensity game should NEVER require any player substitution (maybe ONE or Two) unless for an Injury or tactical reason... and the players should be at 95-98% condition for the following game with medium-intensity training and should be able to complete that game as well without the need for substitution...

By the way, I used intensive Physical Training in the first 2 weeks of pre-season.. still, it did not resolve these Glitches in the game... Players should be able to complete a 90 minutes of a high-intensity game and another 90 medium-intensity game after 3 days without the A NEED to be substituted..  

If people are enjoying such dynamics then that's fine.. but maybe there should be an option for reducing the tactical intensity impact on fitness... 

This is nonsense. No players "easily" play two full matches in 3 days. It's extremely difficult, increases injury risk and is the reason why managers and players are constantly complaining and lobbying re match, league and tournament schedules. 

[wazza]

On 12/12/2023 at 17:50, saint.666 said:

 

Even if you are willing to do the Two strong IX to rotate... you get constant player unhappiness for playing time.. plus the game will trigger injuries when you have very good backups .. and ur back to square one

 

This is down to you as a manager and nothing to do with faults in the game.  I generally play with 2 players in each position (2 squads) and rotate as necessary to ensure that the players ARE HAPPY with there playing time and fitness, its easily done and you just have to make sure that none of them become concerned which is displayed in the game tabs and that they are happy - If and when they look like they are going to become concerned I will give them a run of games.   In some positions I have youngsters who I want to bed into the team as breakthough prospects and manage to do it, keeping the whole squad happy., by constant rotation.  I look for gaps and easier games in my fixture list which I think are winnable and then use these and plan ahead to fetch such breakthrouh prospects into the team. 

Also when you sign players do not tell your new signings that they will be star players , important players, regular starters etc... if you cannot give the player enough game time and are not better than what you currently have.  If you do sign a star players you will have to adjuist another squads star player status to what his new playing time will be.  This may make him unhappy but thats football - you need to communicate with the players, constantly talk to them praise and critiscise them to get them on board with you been manager.  If the original star player gets upset and wants to leave then thats life. 

Its all about how you as the manager - man manage your sqaud and not the fault of the game or unplayable.  Maybe read some of the guidance on the forums and many websites on how to do this - but the game is deffo not unplayable or broken. 

 

 

[rsihn]

On 12/12/2023 at 13:36, saint.666 said:

 

If you think that I'm doing it wrong then here are some SPECIFICS... 

Attached is the Training pre-game condition... and players' condition at 90 minutes also check the tactical intensity  

 

Your training schedule is a contributing massively to the fatigue problems you are having.  Amazing that you are even here complaining about your players being knackered when you removed all but one rest session for the week.  PLAYERS NEED REST.  It isn't optional.  You are running your players into the ground each match day and then they aren't recovering the following week because you are forcing them to train every waking moment right up until the next match.   Quit using this terrible training schedule and go back to SI's default training schedules which give more rest.  You are probably screwed for the rest of this season as fatigue builds up over time and is very hard to get rid of once it has happened during a season but you need to make significant changes to your training schedules next season. 

[Costav]

On 12/12/2023 at 20:36, saint.666 said:

Well since you have "masterminded" the game enlighten us with specifics..

This is the sort of comment that you get from a dodgy-know-it-all mechanic from "Dagenham".. lol

If you think that I'm doing it wrong then here are some SPECIFICS... 

Attached is the Training pre-game condition... and players' condition at 90 minutes also check the tactical intensity  

 

 

 

 

Not only @rsihn is right about the rest session, but you are also not training from a physical point of view. 
How could you expect them to have a good condition if they don't get trained on resistance, stamina etc....?

[NineCloudNine]

It's hard to know where to start with this topic tbh, so I'm goung to end the working week with a bullet point list!

• I have played about 100 seasons with around 5 clubs in total in FM23 & 24 and have never once had the 'needs a rest' icon, nor had anyone complain of playing time because of condition-related squad rotation, so it can be done.
• I leave all training to my Assistant so no special tricks there, except...
• ...the very first thing I do at the start of every save is go to Training->Rest and set those to (from left to right, No Pitch Or Gym Work - No Pitch Or Gym Work - Half Intensity - Half Intensity - Full Intensity.
• I rotate a lot. If I am winning, I start to bring subs on at 60mins. I use 5 subs every game. I have a clear first team and 9-10 players all with squad status fringe or below. No-one ever complains about game time.
• I have the realism mod with increased injuries. So I get more injuries which means players get a rest. Paradoxical, I know, but the artificially reduced level of injuries in FM makes fatigue/condition more of a problem. Seen how fresh De Bruyne is right now?!
• I have a Squad View which shows fatigue, match load and injury risk. I keep an eye on it. I try to keep match load below 'heavy' where possible. It often isn't, in which case...
• ...I am realistic about the demands of modern football. Players sometimes have to play when in sub-optimal condition. Given how much complaining there is in real football about fatigued players, it's mad to see people write here "but players manage it in real life no problem!'. Did you see Newcastle's players during that run with a big injury list? Starting at 70%, needs a rest, high match load, finishing on 10%.

Edited January 26 by NineCloudNine

[LincolnCanary]

On 12/12/2023 at 18:48, saint.666 said:

The thread police have arrived !! 

You're just not very nice, are you?