Squad Building - Your Buying Policy?

For years I have been successfull at FM. Not by tactics or training but an ability to find better players than what I already have and severe controls on club finances.

I would only bring in players who would be described by my scouts as at least "better than our strongest".

Now in previous incarnations I've been able to do this however, nowadays it seems that scouts have a serious inability to find "better" players. I currently have NINE scouts. They scout Europe, the UK and South America searching for the World's best talent. I have them report back any player with at least 3 1/2 ability or 4 1/2 potential.

So you would think after a whole season of scouting and 321 scout reports that they could come up with at least ONE PLAYER that would be "better than our strongest"!!!

Apparently not and they waste my time with "isn't much difference between"!!!

I presume it's much the same for everyone else. So my question is how do you manage to find players who are BETTER than what you have???

The main question is "What team are you playing as?"

If you are already playing as a top team with top class players your asking your scouts to do the impossible.

The main question is "What team are you playing as?"

If you are already playing as a top team with top class players your asking your scouts to do the impossible.

I'm sure players there are better players all the time. Before Man United had Ronaldo they had Giggs; before Messi Barca had Figo, etc.

I'm Bolton at the end of season one. So yeah I suppose I can't really get any better players.

My last save was 13 seasons with Torquay and rarely did I buy players over the age of 20. Maybe about 3 in total. The rest were young guns and when you bring in 7 or 8 a season then the squad would replenish steadily. By season 13 and promoted to the prem I could still pick a first XI from players who were with me in League 2. Sure a lot were released or sold as deadwood but when your coaching and facilities allow, you would have... well, a team they came through to the Prem and all brought up through reserve and youth football. Much more satisfying than just buying buying buying just first team players.

To start with I buy players who are better than my current players in the weakest positions. Then, when I feel I have a strong enough first XI, I only buy players 18 or younger with potential to be better than my current crop. Many don't make it and end up being loaned out or sold but a select few will eventually break into my first team and become world stars.

Doing this means I rarely spend more than £10m on a single player, meaning each season my transfer kitty is getting bigger and I can buy more and more young players from all over the world. Even if only 1 out of 6 makes the first team I feel it's worthwhile.

A pretty long shortlist I find helps a lot, that way you can pick up on news items showing player unhappiness or transfer listing as soon as they occur, the AI picks up on these things instantly and makes bids so it gives you a fighting chance to get the player.

On scouting, I've found particularly where the scout has little knowlege, it's more effective to scout a single country then prospects you can scout for games to get more accurate reports.

I always try to buy the best young English players on the market, and always offload African players (due to African Nations Cup).

Does anyone else have a national bias, or is simply the best player regardless of nation.

Nice idea with youngsters but I've always found that until you are the biggest club in the land it's pointless because your current crop of players isn't good enough and you end up getting sacked before the youngsters start breaking through.

I set my scouts to scout only players under 25 and with a value of at least €500k, this way they won't recommend me old or crappy players.

I try to find young players , under 23 and preferably under 1 million so that there is a chance that a good profit can be mde from selling them on.

For years I have been successfull at FM. Not by tactics or training but an ability to find better players than what I already have and severe controls on club finances.

I would only bring in players who would be described by my scouts as at least "better than our strongest".

Now in previous incarnations I've been able to do this however' date=' nowadays it seems that scouts have a serious inability to find "better" players. I currently have NINE scouts. They scout Europe, the UK and South America searching for the World's best talent. I have them report back any player with at least 3 1/2 ability or 4 1/2 potential.

So you would think after a whole season of scouting and 321 scout reports that they could come up with at least ONE PLAYER that would be "better than our strongest"!!!

Apparently not and they waste my time with "isn't much difference between"!!!

I presume it's much the same for everyone else. So my question is how do you manage to find players who are BETTER than what you have???[/quote']

When I need to improve on an area in the team, I just go to the player search and customise my search the old fashioned way. For example, if I was Bolton and wanted a good striker, I would customise my search to only display players that have at least 15 for finishing, composure, off the ball, pace, acceleration etc. Then go through the list of players who have these attributes and make an offer on who I think would be the best signing from the list. I find you have to search for players this way to improve your team initially. I only use my scouts to find good young players who I can sign for a few million maximum. I have a policy of selling my players before they hit 30 so I can still get good money for them. I sold Moussa Sissoko to Man City for 30 million recently just before he turned 30 as one of the youngsters my scout had found was ready to step up. But to get my youngsters ready, I have to tutor them, loan them to give them games, then gently introduce them into my team against weaker opposition etc.

It may be an issue of better players being classed as unrealistic and therefore not reported by the scouts.

My policy is to sign players which either make the team better immediately or who have bags of potential.

Those who are better immediately don't have to be better than the best though if playing in a position which my tactic has more than once or when they are versatile. Increased squad depth may be as valuable as long as I cannot find or get players who would be better than the best.

For potential players, they have to have the potential to be really better than what I have, usually 4,5 stars.

It all depends on who I am obviously. Having been Chelsea once it was hard to come by any player with more than 3 stars ability or potential.

I'm sure players there are better players all the time. Before Man United had Ronaldo they had Giggs; before Messi Barca had Figo, etc.

The star ratings are relative, so if you have players who have 180 CA, you aren't ever going to find players that are significantly better. Hence why Cougar is asking you this. If all your players are "leading premier league players", how are you going to find better players that are significantly than the best that is possible?

I set my scouts to scout only players under 25 and with a value of at least €500k, this way they won't recommend me old or crappy players.

Doesn't this just shorten the list and stop e.g. a quality 26 year old for cheap money being brought to your attention? Or does the number of recommendations stay the same but adhering to your requirements?

Doesn't this just shorten the list and stop e.g. a quality 26 year old for cheap money being brought to your attention? Or does the number of recommendations stay the same but adhering to your requirements?

It does but with the annoying player search lag you don't want too many scout reports.

It does but with the annoying player search lag you don't want too many scout reports.

Hmm, I'll keep with the lag. I've needed a couple of older players at certain times which really helped.

I don't buy players over the age of 18 unless they will be the best in their position at the club. If they're under 18, I wait until they become home-grown at the club before then loaning them out to other clubs. If when they are 22/23 they aren't good 2.5 stars ability I sell them.

As was said above, if you already have Rooney or even better players, your scouts won't find better players in terms of Reputation and PA. However, Rooney's attribute distribution may not be perfect for your tactic, so a player that the scout say is as good as him may in fact be significantly better for you.

When the squad is good enough, 2.5 or 3 star players may in fact be world class superstars, so I would suggest the removal of the CA/PA filtering on scouting.

Players take a while to adapt to the club, squad personality, tactics, and the league they are playing in. So I very rarely sign proven stars that are older than 24. Of course I make exceptions when... A player asks for a new challenge. Then I use the other squad I manage to sign them, rather than risk them being a world beater for a rival!

Also make sure you scout the Toulon Tournament, U-19 and U-21 European Championship, U-20 World Cup, South American and African Youth Championships as well, it's where i normally find the best youth prospects to sign.

I never go by star rating, my scouts are purely used to add players to my player search function that wouldn't be there otherwise or to uncover masked attributes.

I go by attributes. I'll only buy extremely one footed players that have certain attributes in each position. I find it extremely easy to do and have plenty of success doing so.

Having said all that I'm still playing FM09

My strategy:

Monitor the Brazilian U-20 squad throughout the year and poach the players that are still on youth contracts for a small fee. Outside of that, I send my scouts out to search for players under the age of 25.

I always try to buy the best young English players on the market, and always offload African players (due to African Nations Cup).

Does anyone else have a national bias, or is simply the best player regardless of nation.

My current save is Dortmund, so I have a huge bias towards Germans. I have a lot of Dutch,Turkish and Croatian players too, with a strictly no Bristish players policy. Eventually I want to have my team making up most of the German national team. It's expensive though as German clubs don't want to sell players to you, so you need to get in quick by signing their promising youth. I have amazing you intakes though, so that helps and is an area I love. I include true homegrown players in my first team regardless of their potential if I feel they can do a job. Star ratings can be heavily distorted if you have one amazingly good player in the youths position. So a 2 star potential is still regarded as having potential to be a good Bundesliga player.

I'm also pretty loyal to players, I don't just go out and buy the best players I can. It's a waste of money, cheapens the experience and makes it too easy. Putting restrictions on my long term save will make it more competitive and enjoyable in the long run.

I try and sign players that might represent their national team. I focus on the top 20 national teams. My reasoning is that if they play international football they will get better and benefit my team. So i keep an eye on youth internationals and what players are being included in senior squads. I also will give more starts to a player who looks like he is progressing in his national team to give him a boost.

In my first few seasons I based my transfer-dealings almost only on potential. Buying only 4-4.5 star potential players. After seeing as only three of eleven players made it to some potential, I've started looking at determination and personality. Now I've bought two players with the personality "Driven" and two with "Model Professional". In my theory, these players are more likely to reach their potential as they're determined and know what they want. Hopefully having a determined professional squad might rub off on the other players as well, and on the youngsters that come through in the future.

i hoover up most 2* players if they can be bought cheaply, for resale value more than anything else

my national bias is (or should be) VERY low, as i've signed NO english players on this save yet (2014)

i quite like the rewards of scouring Africa, loads of cheap talent there

Youth Youth Youth.....15-18 year olds and develop them at my club.

I am now in my 4th season and my first team squad is half full of my young signings and running riot in the EPL.

It makes the game feel more enjoyable seeing your young guns coming through the ranks rather than spending $80m every season.

I never spend over $10m on a single buy.

with a strictly no Bristish players policy.

No players from Bristol?? I don't blame you, the accent would annoy me too!

I usually don't start as a big club so I'm trying to promote a team. If it's a club like Sampdoria this last season or Newcastle a couple seasons back I focus on players who'll improve the team and who'll be good enough for Serie A, EPL, etc. If trying to promote a team from say BSN, I'll sign anyone as long as they're good enough for the division above or top class for the current division but on short term deals. Don't want to get bogged down with League 2 quality players when you're in the Championship. Sign them on short term deals and release or sell them when I get promoted and bring in new players as allows to try and rise up the divisions asap.

In the top division, in either scenario I try to get some veterans, players in their prime and a couple youth players but mostly the former two. the aim is to establish the team and eventually win trophies. Once I do that I eventually start focusing on potential when buying. The best players are too expensive for me even though I've won things so it's best to rebuild the team gradually to the point where in a few years I'll be able to afford to splash out on the odd big name if needs be but still focusing on signing and developing youth.

The scout is just one mans opinion. I pay little attention to if they think they're better than my best etc. I consider myself to be a better judge than any scout. Look at the player and go with your gut.

well if you are the strongest team in the league, and the scout rates someone with 3,5 stars in ability (in comparison to your team) its actually quite strong

meaning 3,5 stars for your team is probably 5 stars in everyone elses team

Yep, star ratings are relative. Thats why its good to scout for youth when you've got a very strong first choice XI, if a scout tells you a player can become as good as one of your starters then you know you're looking at a very good youth. At this point I don't care if scouts rate a player's PA at 2 or 2.5 stars because I know they are being compared to absolute world class players, and if they get even close to that level it already raises a players value from what, 3m or less, to at least 10m, so can be sold for possibly 20m one day.

well if you are the strongest team in the league, and the scout rates someone with 3,5 stars in ability (in comparison to your team) its actually quite strong

meaning 3,5 stars for your team is probably 5 stars in everyone elses team

Im at the stage now with my dominant Hull City team that i simply buy all £1m+ 15yr old players from around the world without even looking at their stats. Buy between 5 and 10 a season and loan as many out as I can. Of the 10, one or two will make the first team at most and the others are sold for profit after a couple of years development. I'm bored now though and waiting for FM13