"Potential issues with Saka"

[aditya]

Saka has been complaining about game time every season. Noticed a pattern among the star players complaining.

It's November and Saka started 11 games and 3 times as a sub, only me keepr is getting every minute. 

Honestly, this is so frustrating, I'm not sure if its a bug but Declan Rice and Gabriel was sold for that same reason, the moment they're rested they get frustrated and the promise mode comes on. 

[FrazT]

What is his contracted playing time?- if you have played 18 games and he has started only 11 ( sub appearances don't count for game time happiness ) then if he is contracted as a regular starter or above, 11 out of 18 will not be enough.  If he is contracted as a squad player, then start him for a few games and he will be happy.  Depends on his squad status from here.

[Kickballz]

1 hour ago, FrazT said:

What is his contracted playing time?- if you have played 18 games and he has started only 11 ( sub appearances don't count for game time happiness ) then if he is contracted as a regular starter or above, 11 out of 18 will not be enough.  If he is contracted as a squad player, then start him for a few games and he will be happy.  Depends on his squad status from here.

This is it.

Players who are promised important or star player roles are always going to question why they are not starting every game if they are fit. That is the reality of promising game time - it no longer matters whether you think they should be rested.

I sometimes cheat a bit by downgrading the playing time of all the complainers as soon as  the season ends. Some of them get a bit huffy, but they tend to get over it by the time the new season starts.

[NineCloudNine]

Starting 11/18 games would be a problem for real life Saka too. This game module is twitchy, but I don’t think this is an example of it misfiring.

[Pezamaria]

To add to the above here’s a bug thread where SI explain some of the playing time expectations

Also if you go to the happiness tab on a players profile and go to suggest a change in playing time (something like that) it will tell you if they’d be unhappy with the proposed playing time before you select it - but only if they have an agent.

So i click down each one until I get the agent message saying they’d be unhappy. Normally allows you to knock them down a little.

 

Hopefully I’ve not explained that too poorly

 

[kevhamster]

5 hours ago, Pezamaria said:

To add to the above here’s a bug thread where SI explain some of the playing time expectations

Also if you go to the happiness tab on a players profile and go to suggest a change in playing time (something like that) it will tell you if they’d be unhappy with the proposed playing time before you select it - but only if they have an agent.

So i click down each one until I get the agent message saying they’d be unhappy. Normally allows you to knock them down a little.

 

Hopefully I’ve not explained that too poorly

 

This here is actually a great tip.  I'm currently playing my first season in the Premier League following promotion.  Players who were marked as important players previously are now closer to being squad players following the new signings I'd made.  Most of them I was able to knock down their expected playing time a tier or two which helped keep morale high.  I only found out about the feature where you could see if it would upset them a week or two ago.

[aditya]

It doesn't help when Saka's gets fatigue and I can't play him every match.

I understand he's the star player but I dont think AI does a good job recognising situations such as fatigue. 

[NineCloudNine]

3 hours ago, aditya said:

It doesn't help when Saka's gets fatigue and I can't play him every match.

I understand he's the star player but I dont think AI does a good job recognising situations such as fatigue. 

You have to manage his training, game intensity and minutes. You can change the tempo or pressing intensity during the game, you can change training intensity (especially the rest options based on condition). When he gets fatigued, tell him you are going to rest him. He might not like it, but it won’t be as bad as if you only start him in 60% of the games, as you’re doing now.

Also accept that you will often have to play players well below optimal condition. IRL Saka clearly starts some games with what we’d see as a non-full condition heart. And his performances do suffer - he has been obviously tired at some points.

Balancing star player expectations, performance, tactical needs and fatigue is a challenge. Both De Bruyne and Salah have thrown proper strops being taken off this season and they are star, seasoned pros in top teams. It’s part of the game.

[phd_angel]

Yeah, I see that happens sometimes, but more often I have players asking to leave "for a bigger club". Yet I'm coaching Arsenal that already stands at #5 in the global ranking in my save!

[NineCloudNine]

1 hour ago, phd_angel said:

Yeah, I see that happens sometimes, but more often I have players asking to leave "for a bigger club". Yet I'm coaching Arsenal that already stands at #5 in the global ranking in my save!

That happens when a player’s reputation is larger than that of the club. Reputation changes faster for players than for clubs so until your club reputation catches up (which can take years) you risk this problem. This may well throw up some oddities because it’s a crude system, but the idea that a player would want to leave a successful club to go to one with greater historical standing is not itself unusual.