Star Ratings

How much do you pay attention to the star ratings when it comes to players in your club?

I've read that many people just sell players with less than 3.5 stars or so, but I can't help but wonder is it always the right approach.

Sometimes the world class staff rates a player low, despite him doing the job on a regular basis.

Let me illustrate:

That guy is rated 2 stars by my assistant and the rest of the staff who all have JPA and JPP above 15. They keep rating him the lowest, suggesting me he's the weakest link, and yet he delivers the goods week after week. Some other players in his position are rated higher, but perform considerably worse.

Do you have similar examples or do you always go by your assistants recommendation and just sell all of players below a certain star rating?

I use them as a guide. At the end of the season I always look to get rid of the dead wood and I always check a player's star rating against how he has performed. I'll admit, I'm more inclined to give a 4-star rated player an easier time of it if they've had a single poor-ish season (although not if they have multiple poor seasons) than a 2-star player who has had a poor season. If a player has a 2-star rating and has a good season then they'll get another season. If they have that poor a star rating and have a poor season then generally I'll chuck them, unless I have a specific reason for keeping them such as a 34 year old striker who has been at the club for ten years and who can play non-important cup fixtures or something.

This guy is considered a 2 to 2,5 star player by my assistant now, depending on form. Leading PL player. He is the team captain and still a key player because what he contributes with on the pitch. The combination of attributes makes him quite rare as a type; strong, good in the air, reasonably fast, creative passer... an intelligent footballer. I have recently signed a player that might do what he does given a little time to develop, but such all-rounders as Christ here do not often come around. He delivers in the form of goals, assists and sheer presence so I don't think selling him is a real option anytime soon. Even my recent allrounder-signing won't ever reach the extreme qualities of Mbo, so it really comes down to attribute distribution, not star rating.

It is a good guide, though - usually a higher-rated player is just better.

On my first season for Barcelona I signed a half a star Sol Campbell and he ended the season with a 7.9ish average rating, whilst a 4 star David Villa was in fact very average. In my opinion you really have to go with your gut on the star rating system especially with youngsters with scouts not talking about their amity but comparing them to the current strength of your squad. Scouts and coaches constantly get it wrong due to the fact they look at the main attributes in each position and don't focus on smaller ones that makes up the player.

From my understanding, the stars are directly linked to the CA/PA of a player. Those two data values do not necessarily translate into great performance at a specific position. I've seen very low rated central defenders perform really well because they possess solid jumping, heading, marking, and tackling attributes. Furthermore, I think the stars adjust based on your team's overall position quality, so a 3 star player one year might become a 2.5 star player the next season, simply because his teammates have gotten better.

I wish the star system was on more of an absolute scale than the variable scale it is on in this game. Also, I wish there was a greater spread in values.

Stars are related to a comparison with the rest of your squad, not to CA/PA directly. A 4-star player in your squad might be a 2 star player @ Barca, for example.

In either case they should be ignored if you can do better analysis on your own, which your really should be able to do if you've played more than 10 or 20 hours. Like Overmars said, if you simply look for players with the attributes you require you'll do far better than the stars system. I'd add that having a serious consideration of their personality should weigh in as well. I'd choose a striker with 12/12 composure finishing over a similar one with 14/14 if the former were a model professional and the other were an unambitious, outspoken, inconsistent coward.

Stars are related to a comparison with the rest of your squad, not to CA/PA directly. A 4-star player in your squad might be a 2 star player @ Barca, for example.

In either case they should be ignored if you can do better analysis on your own, which your really should be able to do if you've played more than 10 or 20 hours. Like Overmars said, if you simply look for players with the attributes you require you'll do far better than the stars system. I'd add that having a serious consideration of their personality should weigh in as well. I'd choose a striker with 12/12 composure finishing over a similar one with 14/14 if the former were a model professional and the other were an unambitious, outspoken, inconsistent coward.

I agree with Smac he has it right i dont go by the star rating for purchasing players i only use it to see who is lowest rating compared to all my players in my team. He has it spot on.

I only use the star rating to see how much development is left in a player, cross reference that with there skills and personality.

Stars are a good way for a quick overwiew of a squad. For more detail we all look at attributes and performances i'd imagine but stars are useful when viewing the squad as a whole.

Can somebody explain why this player is only rated 2,5 stars by my world class staff, including the assistant manager who has JPA 20 and JPP 15?

He is better both attributes and performance-wise than all other defenders I have at the club, and all of them are rated 3 stars or higher.

Is it perhaps a reputation thing? Because otherwise it doesn't make any sense...