Training Youth Players

[funkymwnci]

I like playing with a target man (currently Necid) and I would like to train up a youngster to fill his sizeable boots. Obviously I would like to raise the key attributes for suitable candidate but what starting attributes should I be looking at to possibly raise to the 17/18 region.

i.e if I found a 6ft4 regen with heading and jumping at 12 could I theoretically raise both these attributes to 18?

Thanks in advance

[R0ca]

Very much depends on certain factors, such as of course his PA, and his personality if you can mould him and give him alot of high level playing time you may have a chance. personally ive found it very difficult to get such gains from a player on very specific attributes. This is most likely down to my lack of focus on the training side of the game however and being unable to offer my younger fringe players too much playing time.

[pigfacemonkeyman]

Even with high PA, professionalism & ambition, tutoring, first team playing time, great coaches & facilities you would struggle to get to 17/18 from 12, especially jumping. However in my experience Strenth can be raised considerably so maybe there is the compromise in the inevitable almost perfect regen.

(I preferred Cardozo for this role but found it better to set him as a Deep Lying F'w'd (support) then mark him as target man under team instructions---great tutor as well)

[funkymwnci]

Thanks for the input. So higher than 12 then. Are jumping and heading particular hard to train? Should I be looking for attributes a lot nearer to where I want them to end up for these two then.

[Romanista1994]

Jumping often appears hard to raise as it takes up a lot of CA to train and (I think, not sure about this) is in some way height related to ensure giants can't be outjumped by dwarfs.

That said, I've had a player go from 13 to 17 jumping so some growth is possible.

[pigfacemonkeyman]

Also watch out for players "preferences" within each group of training Att's. eg Aerobic-Acceleration starting several points higher than Pace and then continuing to gain at a higher/faster rate, higher dribbling than heading, etc. Just keep searching until you find the potential wonderkid with key Target Man Att's that stand out above the others in their respective training groups. If you are very lucky he may even be 6ft 4in, in which case a Jumping attribute of 15 would be a good start.

(And if you possess the luck of the gods he will be "ambitious" but "fits in well with your highly professional squad" in which case he will gain several points on the journey over!)