Why Doesn't This Kid Make The Germany Squad.

I bought this German attacking midfielder from Furth 6 years ago and decided to get him involved with the first team from the off. I did this because I knew he had tons of potential and could handle playing lower league teams at 15 no problem. Over the past 6 years he hasn't let me down once becoming a key player ahead of Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lucas Moura and he still gets over looked time and time again for Germany, yet they play a much poorer regen who plays at Liverpool.

Have you checked whether he fits into the formation that the Germany NT play? Maybe the other fella has an insane rep, although by the looks of it your guy should have too. I've seen some mighty average players get in national squads solely on reputation, and it's not even like it's unrealistic, some managers just have preferred players they'll stick to seemingly no matter what (Löw: Mertesacker, Klose, Podolski; Morten Olsen: Rommedahl, Simon Poulsen; Maradona: Jonás Gutierrez, Martín Palermo etc.)

^ Your from Denmark, so I guess you'll know more about him than me. But from what I've seen of Simon Poulsen recently, he's seemed very good. I've seen two of his games at the Euros (missed the Germany game), and two friendlies beforehand, one against my country Australia, and one against Brazil, who are a team I always watch. He gets forward to great effect and really dominates his flank up and down. He's always there for an out ball too. I know he probably gets some blame for the Varela goal, but I think he's just been unlucky there.

Surely he meant Christian? From what I've seen of Simon he is excellent.

"He gets forward to great effect and really dominates his flank up and down. He's always there for an out ball too."

True, and this is where he excels, as he is not a natural defender, but rather a left winger/midfielder who has been converted out of desperate need into a very attack-minded wingback, with the idea that Kvist and his defensive midfield partner, lately Zimling, can cover for him when he bombs on. Trouble is Denmark can very rarely take the initiative against opponents, and certainly in the "Group of Death", he was only really allowed to do this to admittedly very influential effect in the first game against the Netherlands, where Robben (obviously) didn't track him and he linked up very well with Krohn-Dehli. Pushed back as he was against Germany, he's really not in his element and quite a liability, where a natural left-footed defender like Boilesen or Bjelland might be better options. I can't really fault Olsen for starting Poulsen as Denmark needed at least a point, but in hindsight it looks a bit gung-ho.

Many in Denmark have really jumped on his back, which is really unfair, I thought Eriksen and Rommedahl had much much worse tournaments than him, but people in Denmark seem to have a bit of a beef with Olsen over his little "projects" with certain players, sometimes warranted I would say, but generally a bit hyperbolic.

"Surely he meant Christian? From what I've seen of Simon he is excellent."

Oh my sweet baby Jesus I was shouting at the screen like a madman when that turned out to be Olsen's move against one of the best national teams in the world.

Cool, thanks for the reply. It doesn't surprise me that he is more of a winger than a defender.

Sure thing, hope I made a bit of sense of it all, and sorry to the OP for going a bit off-topic here.

I'm sure he'll feature in the team soon, even if it's a reputation thing as his repuation should be skyrocketing right now.

What's his reputation. And a picture of the guy from Liverpool would be nice, along with his reputation too.

But for what it is worth, team reputation counts a lot for a player's reputation so I believe both should be at least Continental by default.

It's also worth noting that your player is 'Right Foot Only'. If the player who's getting in ahead of him is two footed, there's a decent chance that despite your player looking superior at first glance, that perhaps the other player is indeed better than him.

I know he's a newgen, but still there's this licensing issue with the Germany nt. Doesn't that count for newgens as well? If not maybe the greyed out players are better than this fellow?

You're not allowed to discuss that matter on this forum. I will just point out that he does have U21 caps, so he would therefore be able to play in the main team.

I am most definitely allowed to mention that there's licensing issues with the Germany nt. I am perfectly aware what part I am not allowed to mention.

There's definately something up with the way the German national side picks its players. I understand the issue with the licencing but even way into the future when there are no real players left they still pick really poor players.

In my current Borrussia Dortmund career I have the best side in the world of which there at least 7 or 8 world class germans. Only one of them plays for the national team!

The u19 and u21 sides are littered with my players, but never seem to make the step up.

I think because the likes of Gotze, Muller and Schurrle are still only in there mid 20's my regen doesn't stand a chance of making it for at least another year or two. Germany play a small diamond formation with Schurrle in the attacking mid role, I play Schwarz out wide left in my Arsenal team but he still has natural for both centre and left. And the funny thing is that they play this formation but still have Liverpools regen in there who plays only right mid or right wing.

I may be over exaggerated when I said he was much poorer player than mine but Schwarz has played a lot better over his career that this guy from Liverpool.

Jan Birk

Germany Tactics

I may be over exaggerated when I said he was much poorer player than mine but Schwarz has played a lot better over his career that this guy from Liverpool.

That's because he plays for you. Av.R figures of AI-controlled players don't mean anything.

I am most definitely allowed to mention that there's licensing issues with the Germany nt. I am perfectly aware what part I am not allowed to mention.

Yep, you're allowed to mention that there are licensing issues and as a result the national team can be buggy.

Just to make it clear to anyone else, you are NOT allowed to talk about ways people have tried to circumvent the issue- such discussion can only happen on non-official forums.

Av.R figures of AI-controlled players don't mean anything.

Could you give me a more in-depth answer on this mate?

This is the first I've heard of this, I thought they were just the same as the average ratings we see.

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As Turner there shows, it may go the other way around too, but as a rule no matter how poorly a player does when you buy him he should still perform well for you if he has the skill - and when he leaves he will go back to being poor.

I look at a player's star ratings and attributes when I sign him, as well as his personality hints. I wouldn't hesitate signing a player having an Av.R of 3.40 if I believe he has what it takes to do what I ask of him.

The problem with AI team ratings is that they are more based on reputation than anything else except the match you're playing. In the league you manage in, the results are pretty accurately generated, while in other leagues you have loaded the results are less accurate. Even worse are "view-only" leagues and bottom of the line are the ones you have not loaded; those are closer to a toss of the dice...

Another thing to look out for, is that the AI often uses their players wrong. If they have two D LC and two D RC of equal CA and positions all natural, they can end up using the two of them with 8 Jumping and strength as central defenders in the back four, and the two with 18 Jumping and Strength as the full backs. Not that I have seen such extreme cases like this but I wouldn't have been surprised if I came across one. The point is, the AI is clueless and will cram unsuitable players into their awful tactics instead of building a tactic around the players they have since they base their decisions on CA and Reputation and ignores everything else.

Therefore, relying on what the AI manages to squeeze out of a player as an indicator on how well he will perform in the role you want him for is not a very good idea.

Cheers for that BiggusD, this has changed my perspective when buying players now.