Goalkeeper - the right age?

I have 3 goalkeepers in my team, but the best one is only 22 years old. Does the game take into account age, or just attributes?

I've noticed that no matter how good a goalkeeper is, if he's under 26 years then you would still concede loads of goals in every match. For me that's miles away from reality!!!

The game does not take age into account when processing matches as far as I know. Age is only taken into account to help determine the rate at which a player improves/declines.

Remember this also includes mental attributes and hidden attributes. So while a young keeper may look to have good GK attributes he could be let down by some low mental or hidden attributes, which may improve over time.

That said it's certainly possible to have a young keeper play well. I've had keepers like Akinfeev, Ochoa and many regen keepers playing excellent while still under 24.

Originally posted by Nautilus:

I have 3 goalkeepers in my team, but the best one is only 22 years old. Does the game take into account age, or just attributes?

I've noticed that no matter how good a goalkeeper is, if he's under 26 years then you would still concede loads of goals in every match. For me that's miles away from reality!!!

I find that older goalkeepers seem to make fewer silly mistakes. I presume this is because their mental stats are generally more developed.

Originally posted by pelicanstuff:

I find that older goalkeepers seem to make fewer silly mistakes. I presume this is because their mental stats are generally more developed.

Yes, that's perfectly logical. 'If you're good enough, you're old enough' applies to keepers as much as anyone (and Cech is only abt 25), but they are the slowest to develop and tend to peak latest, and thus their mental attributes will reach their maximum later also. In addition, given that they don't run around much, their physical attributes should hold up longer than outfield players.

I have always felt than a older keeper is better just look at David James now IRL in comparison to how he played when he was at Liverpool.

Goalkeepers peak and are at their best between the ages of 28-35 they won't improve much stat wise after they reach this age.