Where to play my star regen?

[tigerking]

For the first time, I've got a youth intake player that has potential to be one of the best players of his generation, according to my HoYD:

I feel like his pace/crossing/off-the-ball aren't that good, which are key attributes for wing backs, and he has some excellent mental attributes. Do you think I should leave him as a LB and let the other stuff develop so he becomes a very smart attacking LB, or should I retrain him to either be a ball-winning center midfielder or even a Pressing Forward?

I play essentially the Gegenpress preset with either a 4-3-3, a 4-2-4, or a 4-4-2 narrow diamond.

Edited September 13, 2020 by tigerking

[HanziZoloman]

I would opt for a WB because for striker his flair is to low.

[Cheez3y]

How tall is he?

Looks like a solid DM for 15.

[tigerking]

Only 5'10. If he was a few inches taller I'd probably make him a CB.

In all honesty, he probably should be a BWM or DM, but maybe it'll be a fun experiment to try to play him in the position my youth coaching staff tried to play him at and see how he develops. I'll try him out as a LB and see if he develops enough to be world class.

[Impacto]

Flair is way too low for any attacking roles. With that Bravery and Agression he can a be a force in midfield. Those Decisions are amazing too, and they are super important for any player, but mostly for those in midfield. He also has good passing and decent dribbling, so he can be quite a flexible player. I don't like this guy as a wing back, as he is not that fast, has crap crossing and again, flair is very important for attacking players. 

For me, thats a DLP on defend or a Half Back in the DM strata in a possession based system. His purpose will be to simply recycle possesion in offence, spotting the open team mates and spaces, without doing anything fancy. In defence, he will be protecting the backline as he has decent defending attributes. In more aggressive setups, BWM is a great option, just train his strenght and he will be a pitbull. 

[CaptCanuck]

Depending on your tactics/way you play some kind of CM (D/S) or BWM.  Could be a real Wilfrid Ndidi linchpin type, allowing the creatives to do their thing. Thinking of my side, I'd want him in my midfield 3 in a few years as either:

RPM - CM (D) - Mez

BWM - BBM/Mez
        DLP

Should really turn into a key contributor for you regardless though, have fun training him up!

Edited September 14, 2020 by CaptCanuck

[Blünderbossu]

Maybe a DM support role customised to ask him to close down more, dribble more and shoot less often?

[zlatanera]

I’d train some versatility - in particular at DM and CM as RPM and BBM. Maybe even some time at DC in case you fancy using a back three at some point. I always train my full backs at DR, DL, WBR and WBL as FB-At and WB-At (WB-Su if I don't see any point in trying to increase Flair, like with this guy).
All you guys saying he’s too slow...he’s 15 for Christ’s sake! He’ll get faster, taller and stronger. 

In fact, I wouldn't discount training him purely in full back roles as that Crossing attribute can easily get up to 11 by the time he's 19 or so.

Edited September 14, 2020 by zlatanera

[tigerking]

Ok, I've changed my mind based on all your feedback! I'll train him as a BWM CM and DM, and if he happens to get first team minutes at LB earlier, then good for him.

He will be the heir apparent for Tyler Adams (who, by the way, is like insanely good in this game). Starts out as an excellent BWM-D, and developed his vision, first touch, and passing over time to the point where I have to play him as a CM-D or DM-D to remove the "takes less risks" instructions.

[HanziZoloman]

Sounds great