Condition & fatigue
How match minutes drain condition, how training accelerates it, and how to manage rotation.
Condition is a 0–100 value that represents how fresh a player is on matchday. It is not the same as morale or fitness rating. Condition drops during matches and intense training, and recovers between fixtures. Selecting a tired player has direct consequences: lower effective ratings, slower decisions, and higher chance of a soft injury.
How condition drops
- A full 90 minutes drains condition.
- High-intensity training sessions chip another 5–15 per day; low-intensity recovery sessions chip almost nothing.
- Older players (age 30+) recover slower and lose more condition per match.
- Players with low Physical attribute drain faster — buying a 78-rated CM with 55 physical means rotating him every fixture.
Recovery rate
Each in-game day a player recovers a base amount of condition modified by their physical attribute and age. A young centre-back with 85 physical can bounce from 40 to 90 in roughly three days; a 33-year-old with 60 physical needs five or six. Plan rotation around the next two fixtures, not the next one.
Match impact
Below 75 condition the engine applies a gradual penalty to pace, dribbling and decisions. Below 50 the penalty becomes sharp and injury risk climbs. The match engine respects substitution plans (see the Substitutions article), so the safest play is to set automatic triggers at 65 condition for non-essential fixtures and use the bench aggressively in the second half.
Training drain vs benefit
High-intensity training accelerates attribute growth but costs condition the player needs for the next match. A common rotation pattern is heavy training Mon–Wed, taper Thu, light Fri, match Sat. The Training page lets you set intensity per group, so you can keep starters fresh while pushing the squad players who need development.