Older players

[Gunnersmoke]

So after my millionth signing of a player who would be the best on my team if only his physicals weren’t 4 I was wondering if anyone has had much success with one of these older players once their pace starts to go?

i managed to get a 33 year old mertens off Napoli for free and he still had 12 in pace and acceleration and rest of his physicals looked alright too so I kinda hedged my bets on him and 10 months and 2 goals later I very much regret it! 

I also panicked and loaned in higuain for 6 months when I got the dreaded message of 5 games left before a sacking.... when I left higuain has 0 goals and 0 assists 

[FrazT]

FM has always been overly hard on older players by dropping their attributes pretty quickly after 30.  Consequently, I have not bought an older player for about a decade on FM as the risk is rarely worth it.  I am sure that there will be some instances of success, but from reading the forums, there will be rare.

[yolixeya]

If they have great natural fitness they can preserve their physical attributes. In FM 19 I had 34-35 year old Paqueta and his pace and acceleration were around 15 and he was important player for me. I sold him when it started dropping below 12.

But a never bring older players on my own if I am in the top club because I have better options. But I'll bring them sometimes in lower divisions like now in FM 20 I'm in second swedish division and I brought 34 yo Payet for free. His pace and acceleration are around 6 but I'm playing him as a Enganche so he doesnt need to move a lot. He plays great but he is retireing in July and the season in Sweden last until October so I will have to find replacement.

[Baodan]

10 hours ago, FrazT said:

FM has always been overly hard on older players by dropping their attributes pretty quickly after 30.  Consequently, I have not bought an older player for about a decade on FM as the risk is rarely worth it.  I am sure that there will be some instances of success, but from reading the forums, there will be rare.

You're very open regarding the parts of FM that you don't agree with. Are you moderators not bound by some kind of rules prohibiting things like that? To my knowledge you've always been very fair with your criticism, so I guess that might be why it's allowed. 

Unlike some others in similar positions.     

[FrazT]

14 minutes ago, Baodan said:

You're very open regarding the parts of FM that you don't agree with. Are you moderators not bound by some kind of rules prohibiting things like that? To my knowledge you've always been very fair with your criticism, so I guess that might be why it's allowed. 

Unlike some others in similar positions.     

Good question- our sole task as Mods is to ensure that the forum rules are adhered to and to help where we can, but we are under no guidelines about our views on the game.  We are volunteers and play the game like you and it would be hypocritical of us not to express our own views and criticism.  If you look at the Beta bugs forum, the the Mods are amongst the most vocal critics but we are expected to express those views in a positive and respectful way and hopefully these opinions are taken onboard by the developers.

[santy001]

You have to play in a style that suits older players. You also have to pick their positions carefully. I've always been a big fan of signing older players. 

It's from FM19 as I've not really done it this year but:

Aritz Aduriz my 2nd highest goalscorer with a slightly under 1 in 2 ratio, most of the goals came prior to an injury and after that he was pretty much finished. There is also Ibrahimovic in that squad who performed quite well, but was more of a bit part player after also suffering injuries if I remember correctly.

I've had a number of players be very successful until late into their 30's, a 37 year old van Persie as golden boot winner, Toni Kroos as my first choice playmaker until 36 and so on. I made quite a large post last year, including bug reports and a feature request because I felt a number of players were retiring too soon or inappropriately timing their decision. 

There are some positions I'd never trust an older player in, Mertens is actually one I've always swerved away from. Never had any faith in him ageing well and I can't remember why, I just know despite regularly seeing him go on a free as he gets past 30 I've never been tempted. It is generally just much easier to pick up younger players who are more well rounded and make use of them.