Does player rotation stifle attribute development?

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Hi,
I've been playing CM/FM for well over a decade now, and as I play as Arsenal, a team I aim to compete on all fronts with, I've generally favoured a policy of rotating my players to keep them fresh.
Usually, if a player is below 95% condition, I take them out of the side to keep them fit for upcoming games.

It was only recently that I was looking at my friend's FM and realised most of the players I have on my game have developed a lot better on his in terms of technical and mental stats (not with his team, but the likes of Wilshere, Isco, and Gotze had all developed better at their own respective clubs).
However, the players I have seem to have developed noticeably more in terms of physical attributes.

Just wondering if my rotation is likely to be the cause of this discrepancy (allowing them to develop physically due to the additional rest, but not improving their mental or technical attributes as much).

To be fair, the players I mention aren't exactly lacking in terms of appearances - each one has been getting on average 35-40 full games per season - but I could have easily played them more. None of them have had any major injuries either.

I don't tinker with my training too much, but I ensure I have the highest quality coaches I can get. I stick to a balanced training at a medium workload, with training in each attribute of 4 and a half to 5 stars, so I don't think it's due to poor training.

Do you think this theory might be valid? Would I be better served consistently playing players, even if it means starting them in matches where their condition has fallen to or even below circa 90%?

If this is a very ignorant question, I apologise; I've played the game series for as long as I can remember, but I've never actually done much research on how the game system works!

Any responses would be much appreciated :)
 
Obviously the number of games they play in a row greatly helps their development. If they're playing one match 90 minutes, then on the bench for the next, 90 minutes, on the bench, 90 minutes etc.., then they won't grow as well.
 
35-40 full games per season are more than enough in my experience.
 
Generally I don't tend to give anyone below 19 more than 30 full games a season unless they're already one of my best players. I rotate my players constantly and haven't noticed a huge change in player development.

That being said if you do play someone constantly and they do well expect them to reach their peak very early on.
 
Thankyou for the responses, guys.

So perhaps it's not the lack of game time that's the problem, but the constant rotation?
I tend to play a player for a game or two, then have them on the bench, then play them, leave them out the squad......

TJD, yeah, I generally limit the playing time of my regens and youngsters to less than that sort of amount. Their stats still seem to go up, but I wonder if perhaps I'm limiting the amount these stats increase by by not playing these players more consistently.

Gotze, Wilshere, and Isco have all improved a lot with me, but not as much as they have for other players, it would seem :/
 
Thankyou for the responses, guys.

So perhaps it's not the lack of game time that's the problem, but the constant rotation?
I tend to play a player for a game or two, then have them on the bench, then play them, leave them out the squad......

TJD, yeah, I generally limit the playing time of my regens and youngsters to less than that sort of amount. Their stats still seem to go up, but I wonder if perhaps I'm limiting the amount these stats increase by by not playing these players more consistently.

Gotze, Wilshere, and Isco have all improved a lot with me, but not as much as they have for other players, it would seem :/

It would be better to play them consistently. But in my experience, as long as an under 20 year old is getting 15+ starts a season then you should be fine.

Are you rotating Gotze, Wilshere and Isco all around the same position (AMC?)?
If you do keep rotating them so much, they won't get as good as they can be.
I normally only have 2 quality players for every position, then maybe 3-4 really promising youngsters that I have in and around the first team.

Congrats on getting 3 of the best playmakers in the game :p, but if I were you, I'd sell one of them or re-train them and play them somewhere else.
 
I play a 4231 of sorts, as follows:
----------Szczesny
Danilo-Kirchhoff (8.1 average rating!)-Papadopolous-Alaba
--------------Romulo
------Ramsey
Gotze---Wilshere----Neymar
---------regen

Gotze is AMR - advanced playmaker, Neymar is an AML - inside forward (very underwhelming, BTW), and Wilshere is an advanced playmaker in the centre.

I tend to bring Isco in as cover for both Gotze down the right and Wilshere in the centre, which seems to give them all about 30-40 full games per season.

Was never sure if the position rotation hindered development either, as may be the case with Isco :/

I've never really done any retraining, as I always assumed this would take away from their training elsewhere and thus hinder their attribute development?
 
Oh, and I have Eriksen and Bender coming in on bosmans :/ Definitely might need to sell some players!
 
I was wondering something slightly different, I had a 5 star German 18 year old who was in my starting line up and was told that because he was really good very young that later on in his life his stats will drop earlier than usual?! Is this right? He's been in my starting line up since he was 18..
 
I was wondering something slightly different, I had a 5 star German 18 year old who was in my starting line up and was told that because he was really good very young that later on in his life his stats will drop earlier than usual?! Is this right? He's been in my starting line up since he was 18..
If they're good enough, they should play. I've seen players play almost every game since they're 16, if they're well managed, rotated when neccesary, they should not burn out. There's always a risk in FM whatever you do.

In response to this thread, games are games, if they play well, much better. They're getting steady games and even the odd game will help a youth team players development. Basically, as long as they get games, which they obviously are, the development is fine. I rotate heavily and it certainly doesn't effect the development of my squad. Playing low condition players is asking for worse performances, which hurt development and injuries, which hurt even more. 30 games, even if half are off the bench is definitely going to provide enough to develop. Your mate probably just trains a regime more suited to technical and mental development and you physical.
 
Good rotation never stifles development. Over/under rotation can be a negative factor.
 
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