How do you get the best out of your youths?

Bought Eden Hazard for about 16 mil at the start of the game (playing as manu, the club I support), he was only 19, had 4 star potential. Almost two years have gone since then and I see almost no improvement in stats, and he has gone down to 3 and a half star potential. Am I doing something wrong, or am I expecting too much? I don't want to make this mistake again if I'm doing something wrong. He is still 21 and a great player though, always in my starting eleven whenever he is 90+ condition, since I bought him (mainly as a Giggs replacement).

On another note, if you don't know about him, eden hazard is amazing... scores and assists SO many goals...

edit : lol title typo

I'd give them a fiver and tell them to nip to betfred

:/ Okay jokes over, can someone answer my question?

I don't know much about training, am sticking to default right now and that seems to work okay. But players tend to go up and down in stars a bit now and then. One reason can be the reputation of the club has increased in the two years since you bought him. If the club is really famous, mentioned in the World page for example, getting players over 3.5 stars is nigh on impossible. 3 stars seem to cover a huge span actually (which I don't like at all, as even 'leading PL players" have 3 stars).

Hazard's attributes doesn't change much.

His CA/PA shouldn't drop on its own, though. That would be weird. An explanation could be that you improved the overall quality of your squad so much that he is no longer considered one of your very best players. Eventually, continental and world class players have 3-star ratings and anything better than that becomes really really rare.

i would suggest you have bought other class players to replace the likes of scholes, giggs, van der sar, etc and because of this his potential stars have dropped as hes being compared to the rest of the team. but if his current stars are the same as when you bought him then he has improved for the same reason.

I let other teams develop them; my club is not a creche and i'm not a fan (to put it mildly) of the mentoring system.

To be perfectly honest I pay little to no attention to Coach Reports. But if he's really not reaching his potential, are you using the Default training schedules? I tend to find DL'ing a really good training schedule set can make a significant difference. (I use N89 by the way)

My guess would be that it's not that his potential has dropped but you've improved your team. Star ratings are relative to your team I believe. For instance, I sign Balasz Dzsudzsak at the start of my Liverpool game, because I like him as a player and I've bought him so many times I know how to use him (And I really needed a good set-piece taker to provide Mats Hummels) and he starts off, on the Coach Report, with 3* CA and 3.5* PA. After a few seasons of 4th, 4th, and 3rd, I totally dominate this season. Win the league with 4 games to spare. He has improved leaps and bounds since I've signed him but he's only a 3* CA still. He would have been a 3.5* if I was still in the same position I was a few years ago, I'd guess.

Ultimately what I'm saying is, Star rating change based on your clubs stature and in my opinion they can be misleading anyway. It tells me Lucas Leiva is only a 2.5* CA when he has consistently got an Average Rating of over 7.2 for 3 seasons running now at Defensive Midfield.

Edited the thread title:)