Advice on managing squad players

[marcMCFC1986]

Hello

Managing Manchester City, and in Season 4. Having a few issues with keeping the rotation/back up players happy - and is having a knock-on effect come the end of the season.

I have a very strong starting 11, and then in every position 2 or 3 back up players - either players who were brought in as back up and in their mid/late-20's, or youngsters with high potential who I am introducing to First Team football gradually.

The problem is, by January a lot of them are unhappy with their playing time and want to go out on loan - and so I'm left with two options:

1)  Say no - and they are unhappy, then some of the squad support them and become unhappy themselves

2) Send them out on loan

The issue I'm facing - and this is the second consecutive season I've had this issue - is that by end of March/beginning of April time, the players who are left at the club are absolutely exhausted, start picking up injuries and I'm down to the bare bones for the last two months or so of the season. 

For example, last night I played the Champions League Quarter Final, Second Leg v Atalanta, and my bench was made up entirely of 16/17 year olds from academy because everybody else was injured or out on loan. The starting 11 I did put out are still exhausted from the Premier League game 3 days earlier, and I ended up losing the game 3-0. Fortunately, I won the First Leg 4-0 so I scraped through to the Semi's.

How does everybody manage the squad/backup players who get restless and want to go out on loan? Let them go? Or just play hard-ball and tell them they aren't leaving?

[diLLa88]

Give them playtime and they will be happy. 

You don't have to always start your very strong first 11 every single game. You can on occassion swap in 1 or 2 of the back ups for a full match in games where you think it should not be an issue. Chances are that your backups are still better than most other teams when playing as Man City. Also sub them in around 60th minute if possible.

Finally, make sure that the agreed playtime for each player matches the amount you actually think they can realistically get.

Edited November 7, 2023 by diLLa88