Player condition should drop faster than it is now

[Lelo Marin]

Not sure if this is a controversial topic or not but I do believe that player condition is to strong

I believe it needs to go down more per match than it does now and not back to nearly 100% after 2 or 3 days.

I am trying to fit in new players who definetly have a future here but because my key players just aren't tired enough I hesitate to rotate.

I almost never have a player below 80% and by the time the next match starts they are back to 98.

Now I feel i MUST weaken my team every few matches just so I can fit in new players to get more match experience and thus become better.

Every 3 to 4 days my team has a match. Ofcourse it doesnt happen every season.

[Guest]

If you're only resting players when they are showing signs or tiredness you might be taking the wrong approach, I will happily rest a player for a match if I think it is easily winnable without them as this help reduce the effects of fatigue when we get to the business end of the season & gives me confidence that my backups are ready to play whenever called upon.

That being said I do believe there is an issue with how quickly players recover after matches & in particular after long away trips in continental competitions, I've provided some cursory analysis to SI to highlight this as a potential issue that might be worth a more detailed investigation.

[Lelo Marin]

That being said I do believe there is an issue with how quickly players recover after matches & in particular after long away trips in continental competitions, I've provided some cursory analysis to SI to highlight this as a potential issue that might be worth a more detailed investigation.

Yes, exactly. The recovery is just to fast

[Sir Alex FM]

It can't be changed. Teams in multiple competitions at the same time would run out of fit players real quick.

[Lelo Marin]

Currently Man Utd is in

BPL

League Cup

Fa Cup

CL

World Club

I'd that's pretty damn many games per season. Sometimes more than 50 / 60

I think that Barside was spot on. The recovery rate is just to fast. Either that or I have godlike fitness coaches.

I also have only around 18 / 20 players in my team.

[Torminator]

I play 1 match every 3 to 4 days and completely rotate my squad for every match. I don't play players under 94% condition.

[enigmatic]

Personally I'm inclined to worry about the opposite problem: I rotate and substitute religiously and the AI is really bad at it. I think this is one of the major reasons why the likes of PSV and Benfica often have a season where they end up in mid table: tired players after midweek games lose matches they shouldn't do, and even when the AI does drop them it doesn't necessarily plan ahead to make sure the best players are fresh for the more important clash. Tbh I don't think tired players (as opposed to lacking match sharpness players) are that frequently an issue at the top levels IRL, though that's in part because real life managers in continental competitions do rotate effectively.

And the scheduling is still far from perfect (a cup final two days after both participants have played a Champions League knockout second leg? Really?)

[hluraven]

I fully agree that it is far too easy for the human manager to keep players exceptionally fit and injury free, and conversely that the AI seems terrible at both.

[enigmatic]

Currently Man Utd is in

BPL

League Cup

Fa Cup

CL

World Club

I'd that's pretty damn many games per season. Sometimes more than 50 / 60

I think that Barside was spot on. The recovery rate is just to fast. Either that or I have godlike fitness coaches.

I also have only around 18 / 20 players in my team.

Sounds like Mourinho's Chelsea, especially his first stint. Tiny squad, the likes of Lampard playing over 60 games a season at full pelt, and I can't remember tiredness being a theme in Mourinho's excuses on the rare occasions they did slip up.

The real anomaly among top teams is the amount of injuries RL Man Utd pick up, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear van Gaal's successor claim there was a training issue behind that.

[Herter]

I rarely play with bigger clubs but my experience is that players recover just fine. Most players will get really tired after playing 4-5 matches in a row with 1 or 2 mid-week matches and will need rest. If this gets worse I will have to swap my entire squad every 2-3 matches. No team in the world has to do this IRL. Perhaps it has to be tweaked for the very best players if they recover too fast, but the mid-shelf players and lower league players are fine in my opinion..

[Guest]

I rarely play anyone who is less than around 92%, and I tend to pick players over 95% most of the time - this means I have to have two teams, effectively, when I'm playing cup games midweek. I'm fine with this, FM has always been this way and I'm used to it now. Squad of 22 with a few kids to call on when players get injured.

I've noticed in this version that the AI doesn't seem to be too bothered about trying to injure its own players, I've seen teams line up with 5 or 6 players with the rest icon, but it doesn't seem to really affect performances (as far as I can tell), so maybe there's more scope to play players who are below 90%.

[Herter]

I often use player with 85-95% condition and they tend to play just fine, but ofte need to be subbed at HT or at least relatively early

[Draakon]

Few thoughts:

Firstly, rest days - you have to choose wisely if you give rest days before and after match, especially when you play two games in a week. I choose to do so and perhaps lose some training time because of it, but at least my squad is fit and rested and relatively injury-free.

Secondly - training intensity - I keep it to medium, because to my experience FM punishes heavy training intensity with injuries and in long term being healthy is more important, because you can use your full squad and in long run they train and develop better, just because they're not injured.

And IRL comparision - I'm not sure about LvG, but I'm pretty sure there is something seriously wrong with training programs that Arsene Wenger uses in Arsenal. Because that doesn't make any sense how Arsenal players are sidelined in such numbers every single season. And players who are not known as too injury prone, but whenever someone moves to Arsenal, it's pretty much guaranteed he picks up a knock in his first 6 months.

[Guest]

Not sure you've picked up on the general point the OP was making, I believe & to an extent agree that even without taking the steps you've mentioned having players capable of player 2 games a week is not too difficult & even 3 games in 8 or 9 days doesn't appear to present too much of problem.

[GSevensM75]

I'd say the opposite personally. A professional footballer can comfortably play 50 or 60 games a season without physically fatiguing, especially if they are professional. What people don't realise is that most players play with constant injuries and that is what fatigues the most. An ankle niggle that gets steadily worse as the season goes on will eventually require rest. It may only be a week or two off. But it requires rest. That's what needs to be included in the game really. These minor injuries that players can play through for months on end but can have an impact on performance. What really does players towards the end of a season is the mental fatigue, especially if they are in a high pressure situation.

[Guest]

Absolutely agree, have said for years that those small niggles that do not take a player out or even go undetected to the medical team because it's either difficult to spot, the player is hiding it or insists on playing through the niggle.

[GSevensM75]

Absolutely agree, have said for years that those small niggles that do not take a player out or even go undetected to the medical team because it's either difficult to spot, the player is hiding it or insists on playing through the niggle.

A lot of the time it's just accepted or players play with injections. Operations are always a last resort. Most injuries need to be managed because the only cured by prolonged rest. And by prolonged we can be talking a year or two. But as they don't stop the player form being able to play, they simply play through it week in, week out for much of their career.

[davey247]

I've never found this to be a problem. If I have a spell of playing every Sat - Tues - Sat, I find that my players do become tired and struggle to get over 90% fitness especially if you get into week 3 & 4 of such rotation. It could just be down the fitness training you have established or the intensity of your overall training.

[s1111]

Depends greatly on the attributes of your players too. A player with high (17+) natural fitness and stamina can play 90 minutes after 90 minutes without ever dropping below 90%.

[eriktous]

I've seen a couple too many cases of opponents around 40% or lower still able to decide match outcomes, so I've pretty much given up caring about fitness level too much.