How can I create a fair team roster for 14 players?

Ian MarshCoach, England

Hi Sasha,

Looks like your question got cut a little short... including what?

If your team are playing 11 a-side this sounds like the perfect number for a squad with 3 subs.

As for how to fairly rotate your players you could either do this on a rota basis where players don't start a game every few weeks (so everyone gets equal playing time). Alternatively if your players are a bit older you could do it on a performance basis, where players who skip training start on the bench or players who don't perform so well have to play better to win their place in your starting line up.

Football CoachCoach

Hi Sasha, it depends on how old your players are, how many a-side you play, and how competitive you want to be. With my under 10's we play 7 a side and i try to be fair to everyone. How i do this is to play my better players mostly, but alternate the weaker players match by match so that everyone gets to play regularly. Sometimes you might leave out your better players but not all of them at once as nobody wants to take a really heavy defeat.

At training sessions, try to get the better players to work with the weaker ones as a sort of mentor. This will be good in 2 ways. The better kids will feel pride in you putting your trust in them to do an important job, and the weaker players will appreciate being good enough to work with their peers

Football CoachCoach

I disagree with David I'm afraid. At under 10's you should be giving equal playing time to all players. Players get better by repetition. By increasing the time played by the better players and reducing the time played by the weaker players the gaps will only widen.

This ultimately depends on the format you play and the age of your players.