Building your own U19 - scouting issues - new feature in FM09

I'm working hard to build a good U19 team, with young hot prospects that can be ready for my Senior Squad or a chance for some nice incomes through sale.

I'm searching round the world to catch these young players, but I always like a second opinion from my AssMan before taking any decision.

The main problem is that his scouting report is based upon the Senior Squad. The young player I want a report on is compared to the best player in the Senior Squad. I'm not sure it's fair to compare a 16 years old youngster to a 26-27 years old experienced player in the Senior Squad.

I'm afraid that a good prospect can be lost when I get the message "XXX isn't near the standard of XXX" or "XXX is way off the standard of XXX".

In these cases I'm not looking for a young player to immediately fill an important role in the Senior Squad, but to build him up through a long term customizing to my squad's playing style.

Could it therefore be a good thing to have a scrolldown-menu where you can choose between a report based upon using him in the Senior Squad or the U19-team ?

In the latter the report should state if the member of the staff would recommend him to your U19-team for future use.

The main attribute for the member of the staff would be quality in recognizing his potensial.

I guess the only way to get some information about these youngsters, is through the report-detail as it is now, or through the playerinfo saying 'decent youngster', 'hot prospect' etc.

I feel this is not enough info to make some good decisions about these youngsters.

Anyone who feels the same ?

Doesn't the scout report say something along the lines of

XXX is nowhere near the standard of YYY.

XXX has the potential to be [almost as good as / twice the player of / nowhere near] YYY

?

Either that, or just look at their stats, watch them play in their own youth games, or buy them on the cheap and if they turn out rubbish sell them early?

I always have a scout with high potential and good youngster skills watching the England U19 leagues. And I am checking the start of season now when I get 'a fresh bunch of youngsters', I'm search for 15/16 year olds with high skills in finishing, creativity, marking, etc and scout them. Regens are always a pain though, that's why it's my fifth season before I even started thinking of managing my own youth squad. Before I just left a good youth with the job

I can see where you are coming from here, sounds good in places to me.

I agree that judging a teenager by comparing him to an established first teamer isn't the best way of going about it. It would be helpful if you could choose any player you want for a comparison from a scroll down list.

But you have to remember that taking chances on young players adds to the fun of the game, and if you knew exactly how he was going to develop, for profit or otherwise, it would kinda ruin the experience of developing them. Thats just my opinion though.

Ernst - A fantastic Idea. I have thought about this kind of this a lot in the past, and really feel this is an area that can be improved upon massively.

fantastic idea

I think this really does need some improvement especially for those wanting to play a long term career game