Why (only) buy players below the age of 30????

[Santheman 1984]

When I look at the Fm forums, mostly you lads talking about young stars.

So why (only) buy players below the age of 30.
I now the need of a younger players in the squad, but his it not necessary to have a little bit exercise in the 3 zone's of the pitch.
Don’t think I don’t want younger players, you need them, more then older players. But I don’t understand the vision from example my assistant mangers to don’t get:

Van Nistelrooij ( on a free transfer by Liverpool!!!!, much, much better den Crouch, Kuyt, Voronin)

I now you can buy this lad anyway, but do you only buy young people??

Cheers,

Santheman Holland

[Klimowicz]

because when a player reaches 30, his stats fall very quickly. it's a little unfair imo, i'm sure hernan crespo will still be able to play football next year, but on fm he is useless in 2008/09. hopefully this will be addressed in fm09, i used to have a few 30-somethings in my squads just to balance it out. now, i barely have a 29 year old player.

[SWaRFeGa]

Well it totally depends which team I currently am.

When I started at Workington - I could not be choosy. Age was not an issue with any of the player I tried to sign.

Now I am at Arsenal, I like to buy young for nothing, let them develop - then sell them on for a larger fee unless they are real stars. This allows me the funds to buy 2 or 3 top-class players a year to try and get me back into the Premiership!

[Rocknrollpear]

Bang on about them falling drastically. Drogba at 33 and Anelka also 32 are absolutely pants now. I can sort of see why Anelka might be because he's lazy. Also 31 year old Ronaldinho is now only CA 162/PA 192??

Even goalkeepers stats drop drastically when they get to about 32/33. Even though Van der Saar is still world class, in the game Man Yoo replace him after a season with who we would consider an average keeper IRL just because his stats fall so dramatically.

The only older keepers that are still quite good on my game are Buffon and Jaaskelainen.

[Pricey85]

I always go for the youngsters for two reasons. Firstly the aforementioned issue of players becoming decrepit as soon as they turn thirty, hate this as it makes it hard to keep a player for nostalgic reason such as turning them into scouts. Secondly the fact that you can make a good profit off them if you can pick up a cheap youngster.

[glamdring]

I almost always set all my scouts to search for players under 23, but I sign some older players when I am searching myself. At lower league level I often sign an experienced (e.g. 35 years old) free player who may only play for 1 season, but at higher level I only rarely sign anyone 30 or above.

I signed a 29 year old Juan Roman Riquelme for Werder Bremen because I am a huge fan and his attributes were still superb and he has won Player of the Season for us for the last 2 years and still looks perfectly good for a 3rd season at least.

[Nomis07]

I usually only go for players under 24, but i'm starting my second season as VFB Stuttgart and with no CL football etc it's hard to attract anyone other than cheap older players. I brought in Makoun on a free and he's done well so far, no pace, but still has good stats elsewhere and is averaging 7.23 (he's 34 btw).

[jedclough]

In the game and IRL I don't think it's a particularly good idea to buy players who are over 30, depending on the status of the team. If you are lower league, then the experience of a 30something centreback can be invaluable, for example. however, any team that wants to build for the future should be looking at youth. IRL look at the trouble that Chelsea have had and will continue to have as they try to replace the likes of Carvalho, Makalele, Drogba, even Ballack. They may spend millions on high quality replacements, but they will take time to gel. Compare this to United's set up. They have a few older players, but they've been there for a while, the basis of the squad is young and will grow and improve together. Finally, look at Bolton, it worked well for a while: Hierro, Campo, Speed, Okocha, all played well but they needed replacing and now Bolton are up sh**ty creek. In the words of Whitney " I believe the children are our future..."

[Some guy....]

The eldest player who I've had as a first team regular is Ochoa. He was just about 35 when I replaced him. Apart from that Vidal was still amazing up until this season (apart from the fact he became more psychotic!), I let him go this season at the age of 34. The most recent aging player is Carroll, who because of a massive drop in stats over the off season after his record breaking 55 goal season made me begin to think that he had done his dash (31 at the time). But as always he proved me wrong early on banging in 10 in 10 before tearing his calf muscle. Again that was the end of the world, but wait, he came back to score 21 more goals after January bring his total to 31. This season now going on 33 he's still my top striker and leading my England line up! I'm think I'll keep him on until after the world cup, not sure how long I'll keep him for Derby though. He's on 12 in 13 matches for this season already and he's 1 off equaling Rooney's record of 83 goals for England (in 148 games) in just 86! Speaking of records he also this season beat Bloomers scoring record for Derby (in FA cup and League matches) of 332 recently too.

I think the big problem is that the moment we see declining stats we think: "The end is near!" and either sell them, drop them of otherwise. I did that with Makoun. At 33 he was more than capable of continuing but with Veloso at the club his position went from rotation to reserves fairly quickly. Then the same thing happened with Veloso. At 33 I just went too old despite his continuing performances.

[Nomis07]

Originally posted by Some guy....:
I think the big problem is that the moment we see declining stats we think: "The end is near!" and either sell them, drop them of otherwise. I did that with Makoun. At 33 he was more than capable of continuing but with Veloso at the club his position went from rotation to reserves fairly quickly. Then the same thing happened with Veloso. At 33 I just went too old despite his continuing performances.

I agree, I had Milito at the age of 35 playing in the Champions League final for Barca and in a previous save I had a 36 year old Mexes averaging over 7. I think people have read on here that the player has to be sold when they hit 33 and so everyone does it, whether the player is good enough or not.

[postal postie]

when player degradation works a little better then it may be more viable.
once they get over 32 years old they drop far too quickly.
so a player you'd have to pay top dollar for as a 30 year old will lose value extremely quickly.

having said that i would still go for a young player because you get more years out of them for your transfer fee.

[Some guy....]

The game actually varies developement and decline fairly well. I mean I've had players who hit their peak around 22 and declined at 29, and I've had players who've reached their potential (finally) at 26 as well as players who've played well into their 30s (35-36), as I said, I think we all just overeact!

OH GOD HIS ACCELERATION HAS DROPPED BY ONE!!! ABBANDON SHIP!

[dexta200]

personally i set myself a challenge of winning everything with kids i prefer it that way especially if im a championship side. older good players are too expensive usually. even at 33 lampard was valued at 14m!! thats silly money for someone his age!

[england2110]

I Agree with Juan Roman Riquelme being a great player, he is the only player i have ever signed over 30 and was great for my old arsenal save. I used the kimz tactic, but know i dont so he is not as needed, in my recent man utd save.

[stevio11]

The stats don't always fall fast,I brought Alsono Alves for chelsea and he scored me 30 plus goals for 2 seasons running at the age of 30-31. It all depends on your training and trainers,stats will fall but not as fast if you look after them

[Crayons]

I wouldn't pay too much cash for a player over 30, but if you can sign someone for a free it's always good business even if it's only for a year.

Plus someone like Ronaldinho or other extremally famous players can get the money rolling in from shirt sales even if they only play a few times.

[furney89]

i think it depends on your squad

when im a team which isnt very good, young players are cheap to buy and have higher re-sale value

they are also more likely to sign for you because of there lower rep

HOWEVER

once i get a established team, older players are good squad players because you could play in 20 - 30 games a season and they will perform well

they have this extra bit of class, even if they dont have the pace

i signed pablo aimar on a free when he was 33, to boolster the midfield, he played about 23 games and had a high average rating,only had him a year, but he was cheap and a class against most other players in the division

[DrEdwierd]

Its beyond belief some of the drops, i could understand physical drops in stats but for Mental and some technical stats is just stupid. I looked at Crespo when he was 32 or so and he looked as if he was league 2 standards. His technical stats were completely shot.

And to say that older players cannot cut it in RL is silly. The likes of Drogba and Lampard are still commanding huge sums of money and players like Figo and Giggs cut it at an international standards for years after 30!

[bigwills88]

Originally posted by Nomis07:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Some guy....:
I think the big problem is that the moment we see declining stats we think: "The end is near!" and either sell them, drop them of otherwise. I did that with Makoun. At 33 he was more than capable of continuing but with Veloso at the club his position went from rotation to reserves fairly quickly. Then the same thing happened with Veloso. At 33 I just went too old despite his continuing performances.

I agree, I had Milito at the age of 35 playing in the Champions League final for Barca and in a previous save I had a 36 year old Mexes averaging over 7. I think people have read on here that the player has to be sold when they hit 33 and so everyone does it, whether the player is good enough or not. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>What patch are you using, if any?

[stinger061]

I generally wont but players over 30 because it's just to expensive. If I can get them for a free or for a couple of million max then i'll go for it but to be paying 10M+ for a player towards the end of their career just isn't worth it generally

[Cometdude]

For me the only real problem with older players is at the back, when the pace goes you get murdered by the big clubs with their fast strikers. Every where else on the pitch seems fine, had 37 year old van nistlerooy still scoring 20+ goals, just cant complete 90 minutes every match.

[MSCCG]

It would be good if the older players made up for the loss of physical ability with experience but that doesn't even happen. That said, I still use players above 30 quite happily, although I only give them 1 year contracts after the age of 31 or 32. Just. In. Case.

[t_hall]

Really it's just a matter of choice between youth and experience. Also, I would sign a 30+ keeper or target man, but probably not a 30+ winger, or a forward who relies on pace to be sucessful. It also depends on what league you are buying for.

[keremkrk]

Cos the players over 30 are only good enough to play against 7 year olds in FM 2008.

Correction: 7 year old girls, not boys.

[cice2]

Ya I bought Kevin Philips and Brian Mcbride to tutor the kids. Solid mental stats and determination.

[TheFuzzyOne]

for goalkeepers, i find their best age is around 28-33. For my defence, I prefer them experienced but not slow. Around 24-30. For my midfield, 23-31 is fine. For wingers, they must be fast. From 21-30 preferably. And for my strikers, it depends. I want a young one to partner the older target man. I've got 24 year old Pato partnering 28 year old Briand and it is working wonders.

[Rob123]

The main reason I only search for young players is that you can them "mould" them into your system & style of play. Take a look at Euro 2008 All teams with "older" players France etc.. have gone home

[dwood]

i play fm2006 i dont find age has had much relation to how their stats go up or down. i got mark yeates on a free from tottenham as a 23 year old and he has had red arrows going down ever since. i got fadiga from bolton as a 31 year old (now 33) and he has had green arrows on most of his stats most of the time. also at my barnet team i have had bendtner on loan from arsenal every season for 3 seasons the first two seasons his stats were great but he was ineffective on field now finally in the 3rd season as a 20 year old he has started playing like the £2000,000 value he has.

[Bababui]

It shouldnt be too hard to find the player aging algorithm and edit it.

[CSF90]

Two reasons:

1) As already mentioned, for the most part, players stats deteriorate a little too quickly. So they're not really good long term (or even short term) investments.

2) With the transfer mechanism so messed up in the game, it would cost you a fortune to buy a decent 30 year old, establish player, and it's simply not worth the money. (OK, so not a fortune, but more than it should). At least when buying a young player for an extortionate price, it's for the future and more of an investment.

[Doyle]

I purchase younger players for resale value. Fowler for me at Cardiff was good but he didn't have any pace and with my style of play he didn't fit in.

[glamdring]

I started a new game with Hibernian at the weekend and was ruthless in my pre-season transfer dealings. I sold almost all our experienced players and brought in 17 new players, a couple were 25/26, the rest were 22 or under and mostly Scots so I now have a squad with an average age of 21, so I have a pair of usual midfielders who are 25 and 26 with a bunch of youngsters playing with them, including a back 3 with average age 20.

Needless to say we are struggling a little early season despite some encouraging performances! That is a double whammy though from making so many changes at once and having so many youngsters.

That said, I have a team in Scottish Division 3 with an average age of 16 who have just moved joint top of the table - our 16 year old captain is obviously doing a great job

[paulpaps]

In FM06 (I think) I used to always buy Mehmet Scholl for Liverpool for 500k, and I'd usually win the league, with him being the outstanding player. It all depends on the stats.

[arcturus15]

Usually I prefer to buy in younger players, as they will obviously last longer. However, I have brought in players aged 30+ in my games. Currently in my Sheffield Wednesday game (third season in the premiership), I have a few older players. Daniel Alexandersson played 31 games for me in the second season and currently Edu and Pizarro will play first team throughout the season. In fact, Pizarro has hit 11 goals in 12 games for me