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So, Im in my 20th season as Castel di Sangro, i have won all there is to win however i have a small problem..
I have a squad of 24 players, 2 players for each position, with a couple of kids as well. Now because im playing 38 league games, champions league and Italian cup i have on average 2 games a week.
Should i chop and change my team every game to ensure that my team are nearly all 100% fit or do i play players that are maybe 90% fit and who are in form...
go for the in-form players, but keep an eye on the fitness levels throughout the games. if you're winning, sub them, give the others a chance, they might play themselves into contention!
I rotate (almost) everybody, all the time. Of the 11 who start opening day, maybe three players will play (start or sub) in more than 75% of my 60+ matches over the course of the season. I know my players are good, and I need to keep everyone match-fit and happy. I have 3 "key players" on the squad, 5 "first teamers", 9 "rotation" and 3 "backups," and I don't have an unhappy player in the clubhouse.
The only time some gets a 'Unh' is if someone suddenly decides he doen't like someone, but that's rare, because I pay close attention to the personalities I sign.
Bad form will come around, and the only way to let it is to have them play through the rough patch.
One thing I've noticed recently, is that the players' Natural Fitness seems to dictate how quickly their Condition bounces back between matches.
Stamina, of course, impacts how quickly their Condition drops during the match.
So, for example, I have a midfielder with 20 Stamina and 20 Natural Fitness, and he has no problems playing 180 minutes in a Saturday-Wednesday format.
On the other hand, I have a striker with 3 Natural Fitness and maybe a 14 Stamina? Due to a massive injury crisis, I was forced into a 3-man rotation among my 2 strikers, and this guy .. far and away the best of the three .. simply couldn't take it. He quickly hit the "Needs a Rest" feedback from my physio, would drop condition rapidly in-match, and couldn't find the net if it had had neon arrows pointing towards it.
I'm quite sure if I'd persisted in playing him, he'd have wound up Jaded and in need of a vacation .. even now on once-a-week he doesn't recover back to 100% with regularity!
I would rarely start any player, regardless of form, who is below 95% condition, so I would say fitness as long as you have a big enough squad of sufficient quality to cover.