Squad Rotation

I wonder if anyone rotates their players with any success? Basically, is it worth building a team of superstars or is it too difficult to keep them all happy?

I have made it to my 15th season with Arsenal and basically have about 15 world class players and the rest are all young wonderkids. Only problem is that if I get serious injuries towards the end of the season (at the business end of the Champions League) I'm in a bit of a fix.

I prefer to have a regular 11 starting team and use my youngsters in the domestic cups for experience but that means I have trouble keeping the better players happy when they don't play too often.

I try to rotate the squad a bit in the league, changing 3-5 players for 'easier games' but tend to struggle when I do that.

Does anyone have a formula for rotating squads?

well i usually like to build up a squad of 22 players. then obviously some reserve/youngsters as well in the reserve squad.

but with 22 players i can rotate a full 11. i usually go on form/condition when choosing my players.
so i basically got 2 teams 1 i have in cup matches and 1 for league. but i obviously rotate these 2 teams as well. as when an important match is coming up i will rest my best 11 if the schedule is tough.

i usually only play with players who have 100% condition or nearest to 100. as then you can expect to push the players and make them close down a bit more and such. and keep up the tempo.

so condition is usually what i think is most important, obviously the current form matters as well. but im one of those managers who isn't afraid to give certain players the chance a couple of times.

and when playing with a top team ur usually inn many comps so you need to rotate and with that u keep the players going/happy.

at times it has happened that because of having big breaks between a few matches i usually just go with the best eleven and keep the form up and only change 1-2 players depending on form.

I do similar to RedArmy20, i keep a squad of no more than 23/24 players, if i'm playing a top team then i'll play my best 11 and if they're relegation candidates or it's a cup match then i'll stick the second best 11 out, this works better on the continent in leagues with less teams and no Micky Mouse, er ... sorry, league cup.

I certainly get rotation to work... I also play a lot of different formations, although I know this isn't generally recommended (summaries always give me a rating in low single digits for "tactical consistency"! - if it's working, who cares.). This allows me to use different players in different situations. In a current game it happens I'm largely switching between a flat 4-4-2 and a diamond (wide), and I have some central midfielders who are stronger playing specifically in DMC-type or AMC-type roles, while others play better in the true central role; I also have fullbacks who are more attack-minded vs. more defensive, and so on. Picked this up over time, in early FM ventures I tried for as close to an exact replacement for each positions as I could, e.g. if I had a starting left winger who was fast and a great crosser, then I'd scour the leagues for another player who had those attributes too to use as the backup. Now I prefer to have parts that let me change tactics not just between games, but mid-game, to try and shake up something that's not working, become more defensive with a lead I want to protect, etc. It's not that often that I'll do a complete rotate - "easy (sic) cup game, play the whole second XI" (or even some further down the pecking order). Like others, I try to use match fit players - my standard is 95/96% or over (wouldn't it be nice if in real life players came with a floating bubble saying "94% condition"? ) When fitness doesn't make the choice for me, I'll look for games to get a player in to keep them sharp and involved even if a player ahead of them is fit.

So... everybody plays some, but invariably someone is going to get unhappy over not filling a key enough role, that's a factor that's built into the game to mimic real life.

#45575 mwichmann : I certainly get rotation to work...

Not to mention the fact that you managed to rotate Enke and Akinfeev in 2009.

I don't rotate players very often. If the first team is fit, the first team plays. My basic strategy basically works along the fact to build a first team of XI, and then have a few U23s on the subs bench. This way, if you're forced to sell someone, your U23 has developed enough to be a member of the first team, and, if Chelsea throws you stupid money in the transfer-season, you can either choose to run with your U23, or buy a new one.

For example:

Dortmund (2013)

Necid (24)--Vossen (23)
Leitner (LW) (20)--------Shaqiri (20)
--------Götze (21)--Bender (24)----
-------
Samardžić (18)-Hummels (23)-Subotić (24)-Koch (22)
--Handanovič (27)

Actually... now that I have that down, it blows my whole theory out of the water... Seeing that my bench consists of over 27s...

Damnit...

Ever have that feeling where you thought you had a point, but your example completely disproved that?