What is the most important catorgory you look for in a player?

this is mainly for the lower leagues as in the top leagues pretty much every player is at lest a decent allrounder.

Personally

Acceleration, Pace, Technique, Natural Fitness, Stamina, determination, Decisions & Work rate

A little of all 3 category's, really hard to chose just one

if by category you mean attribute..I would say determination. If by category you mean Technical, mental, physical. I would probably lean towards mental.

that was a bit quick madmike! i had'nt even finished the poll

that was a bit quick madmike! i had'nt even finished the poll

Lol, when I refreshed the poll appeared

Probably physical, especially work rate. Lower League games are pretty open and rapid.

Pace and Acceleration

Determination and Decisions are probably the two most vital attributes ingame.

The rest of the mental attributes are also extremely vital. Aggression, Teamwork, Anticipation, Workrate make incredibly potent players.

Mental, because high mental stats means a player can probably improve on other aspects as well

Lower league has to be physical attributes, i found that filling my team with faster fitter players benefits me greatly.

Looking at the votes a lot of people are different.

Physical, probably. Strikers with no physique really struggle even if they have top-notch technical and mental attributes, while defenders cannot get away with poor physique. For midfielders, obviously, it's not that important - mental attributes take over here.

It's just that you can build tactics purely based on physical attributes, but can't get away with lack of it. Poor Passing? Pass shorter. Poor Crossing? Play narrow. etc.

Looking at the votes a lot of people are different.

yeah i was expecting mostly physical

I don't look at mental so much No wonder my teams are usually a load of *******

Not sure really, go by mainly on my 19/19 scout's reports.

Although I noticed although I play a 4-4-2 attacking formation, I don't score loads, but am resolute at the back.

Having an utility player is essential though, would suggest a guy but I can't tip.

For the lower leagues players with good physical stats really stand out. I signed a striker with 14 pace and acceleration for my irish first division squad, his highest technical stat is technique which is 10. Even though his finishing is around 8 or 9 he still scores heaps of goals because he is one of the fastest strikers in the league. The only positions i think you need to pay more attention to the technical stats for lower league teams are MC, AMC and GK.

Mental attributes.

Not sure if it has been changed, but there was an experiment done on FM08 where a set of players were given all 20's in mental attributes, another group all 20's in technical attributes and another group with all 20's in physical attributes, for each respective player his remaining attribtues were tuned to 10. The players with 20's in mental attributes were immense, technical attributes were good and physical attributes were just ok.

It totally depends on what position they are playing in. If they are a central defender their techincal skills don't need to be up to much, but a playmaking midfielder is exactly the opposite.

Determination and Decisions are probably the two most vital attributes ingame.

The rest of the mental attributes are also extremely vital. Aggression, Teamwork, Anticipation, Workrate make incredibly potent players.

Yes, yes, yes. SFraser and I have shared plenty of discussions about this in other threads, so its hardly surprising I agree with him wholeheartedly here!

I look at Determination, Teamwork, and Work Rate as litmus-test attributes for all players, even youngsters, before purchasing.

Decisions and Anticipation are key attributes when I'm purchasing a "mature" player, the young'uns I'll just train heavily in Tactics.

For away games I tend to look for determination and work rate but for home games I prefer to use more technically adept players. Anyway, I didn't vote since I consider all categories to be equally important.

What I look for first, second, and third aren't in the poll.

Personality, Personality, and Personality.

Once I've eliminated anyone who's not some degree of Determined or Professional, I'll look for the physicals.

Determination and Decisions are probably the two most vital attributes ingame.

The rest of the mental attributes are also extremely vital. Aggression, Teamwork, Anticipation, Workrate make incredibly potent players.

Totally agree, which is no surprise as we've often compared notes in T&TT.

At all levels, strong overall mental attributes can make the difference in a player. For example, in a lower league team, I would prefer to have a striker who has 10+ in most if not all of the mental attributes and lower technical skills, than the reverse. Often, these players perform much better as the best way to describe them is "grafters". They work hard all the time.

What I look for first, second, and third aren't in the poll.

Personality, Personality, and Personality.

Once I've eliminated anyone who's not some degree of Determined or Professional

Most certainly. Good personality traits are a good thing, having a team full of like-minded individuals is a great thing, making for a team that bonds well and works well together.

Overall though, it's mental attributes that are perhaps one of my first considerations, but I'll also look for players with a minimum technique rating of 10+ in any position due to it's influence on many other technical attributes. Additional emphesis I try to look for is reasonable physical attributes, but these depend on player positions. For example, if your midfielders are covering a great deal of ground during matches with your tactical settings, it makes sense that they should have good natural fitness and stamina.

Yes, stamina has to be right up there for midfielders. It is very frustrating to have a determined hard working midfielder who can only last 60 minutes. I don't even consider anyone with less than 16 stamina for a midfield role whereas I couldn't care less that my top scorer has less than 10. As long as the lazy git pops up and sticks it in the net fair play to the lad.