Player stats/potential/scouting

When I started my game with arsenal i had world class scouts with 19/20 judging player ablity and potential (rowley, dremmler, conti etc). I got them to scout some players like fazio and ilsinho who i thought had really promising stats. When the reports came back, they said that these players would make "good" epl players and would be "decent" signings. When I then got to 2010 I looked at these guys stats and they were world class, but even then when I scouted them they still said they were only "good" players. Disillusioned and wondering whether I had missed out on any others like them, I download fmscout (just for the record I have never, clearly, used it to help me with the game) and it was telling me that these players were some of the best in the world in their position.

So I have a few questions really. Firstly, should I rely on my judgement more and less on scout reports. For example, with fazio, at the beginning the difference in his scouted CA and PA showed me that he had loads of room for improvement, which made me think he would turn out ot be an immense player, but the scout reports made me think not to buy him as they said he would only ever be "good" and not "leading". Should I (and do others) place less emphasis on reports, and do you have any similiar cases like that.

Secondly, that question kind of ties into my next one, which is, how much emphasis is there on stats? For example, my scouts said that marcelo would be a "quality" signing and a "leading" left back. But the guy has something like 9 for tackling and 10 for positioning so i don't really get that?

Any tips on this would be welcome.

fm scout is cheating you cheater

I think you should rely on your own judgement rather than the scouts'. They don't know how good a player can possibly be, much like in real life.

efctom20 - What was the point of posting if that's all you have to say? Rcallini paid for the game & can do whatever he wants with it.

thanks for your comment ahmufcwafc. I'm just trying to canvas opinion so that i know next time whether to take the scout's word as gospel or to just do it my self as it were. does that mean that even a scout with 20 and 20 in judging isn't always correct?with regards to the fmscout, i already pointed out that i only used it just to check on these players...as i said, if i used it from the start then surely i would have just bought them in the first place?

yeah i agree with ahmufcwafc, at the end of the day youre definitely better off using your own judgement. the thing a lot of people forget about the scout reports is that its only their OPINION of the player. just because they have 20/20 stats, doesnt mean theyll necessarily get it right all the time.

A scout with 20 in judging is not always correct as reality as they do still make mistakes. I use the scouts a lot but still use my own judgement as well.

does that mean that even a scout with 20 and 20 in judging isn't always correct?

Yes it does. Even though a scout with two 20s in judging is the best he can possibly be, it doesn't mean that he's perfect.

Scouts use a large number of factors besides PA and CA when determining if they are/will be "good" or "leading". I'd say reputation, distribution of their attributes in relation to their position also matters. I've seen several players with relative low CA be rated as "good", the same as players with almost 40 points more CA. Reputation seem to be important when they judge youngsters, as they overrate youngsters with high rep and underrate youngsters with low rep.

In short, I look for their attributes first, then as long as they say they can become "good" or better players I'm quite happy. Its a bit hit and miss, but then again that is quite a perfect visualization of reality isn't it

Scouts are only good for spotting CA, not really PA. Then again, you can do that on your own...

It only described the players as good as they were comparing them to the other already great players in your arsenal team. If u were a lower club, it would describe him as an exceptional signing.

Scout the player more times for better info!

its better to use your own judgement imo...

i found this guy who had awesome stats from argentina who had an italian second nationality. My scouts said he would be a terrible signing even though his stats were good for a lower prem striker when he was only 19.... I looked at his pa and it was massive aswel. I then got more scout oppionions and they all said the same thing for some reason so i brought him anyway