Who would you play out of these two newgen defensive midfielders?

[Norfair]

These two are in direct competition to become the club's next DMC when our current 29-year old regular starts declining in a few years. The time to start giving them playing time is now, and I'm rotating between them in cup games and letting them come in from the bench in league games where we're already safe. The DMC position is vital in our team as he will have the ball a lot and distribute passes to players in better positions in attack. He will play in a half-back role, but he is the hub of the attack, the place where the ball often lands when the team is trying to break through the opposition.

Josh Conte has no cons listed under report, and on the plus side he's a consistent performer and his personality is driven. He's also pretty much never injured. I envision him to become very reliable, playing over 30 league games every season. I also like his physical stats compared to Lepel's, and it's worth noting Lepel is 7 months older. If that matters much. A huge plus is Conte's bravery compared to Lepel's.

Stephen Lepel on the other hand seems to slightly edge it when it comes to some of the most important attributes. A 4 step lead in Decisions, 3 steps in Passing and a lot better Work rate and Teamwork are convincing points to his credit. His personality is only fairly determined though, and he is injured more than Conte. Not a glass player by any means, but he is out injured more, that's for sure. Other than that, no real complaints.

Neither player has so far stood out, our coaching team rates both of them the same. How do you rate them? I feel it's a close call and have a hard time deciding.

[Prej]

I'd take Lepel.

Decisions, Teamwork and that Work Rate. Passing is quite decent, too.

Considering his age, he's still got time and room for improvement.

[Harper]

Lepel.

 

Anticipation, Decisions, Technique, Passing, Stamina, Strength, Team Work, and Work Rate are already at first team standard.

Could he be in contention for some free kick taking too?

[Tony Wright 747]

Conte

[themadsheep2001]

If the DMC is a half back role and key distributor, then Conte's technique is a concern, as is Lepel's composure, I'd favour Lepel, but it would come down to who can improve that standout weakness the fastest for me

[samdiatmh]

Conte would be the better DC, whereas Lepel would be better as the DM

also depends on who can actually speak the language, because both are equally good prospects (and the ability to speak the local language does actually matter)

 

Lepel would be my choice for a direct DM replacement, however Conte would be worth keeping around to rotate with the DCs as well (as a sub for both roles)

Edited November 1, 2020 by samdiatmh

[themadsheep2001]

16 minutes ago, samdiatmh said:

Conte would be the better DC, whereas Lepel would be better as the DM

also depends on who can actually speak the language, because both are equally good prospects (and the ability to speak the local language does actually matter)

 

Lepel would be my choice for a direct DM replacement, however Conte would be worth keeping around to rotate with the DCs as well (as a sub for both roles)

Agreed, you could turn Conte in to a formidable ball playing defender

[DementedHammer]

My first thought was exactly as described above: retrain Conte into a centre back

[DominicForza]

I'm a big believer in player personalities.  I'll take the 17 year old with Driven personality and "consistent performer."   

I want a team full of those kinds of players.  Makes managing a LOT easier.  

Fairly determined personality isn't bad, and if you have a strong mentality in the club it should improve. 

I also really like central mids, including DM with good long shots.  Even with instructions set to Less Often and Team Creative Freedom set to More Disciplined, good long shooting midfielders will win matches.  

 

All in all..this is a GOOD problem !

[Wavelberry]

I'd play them both but I love DMs so much I think I'm going to use a 3 dm formation in FM21

[YouReds]

Sell Lepel and buy a new defensive midfielder, convert Conte into a CB

[Shenmue-X]

2070. Impressive.

[Norfair]

Thanks for all the responses. I expected people to mostly gravitate towards Lepel, and I think it's clearer to me now that he is indeed ahead by virtue of all the key attributes where he's got a strong lead over Conte. Some of you are saying to retrain Conte into a DC, and that makes sense with his physicality, but the DC slots are quite filled already.

You never know what the future holds, one of these two could simply stop developing. It's happened before and will happen again at some point. But yeah, the way things look right now, Lepel is winning. Thanks for the replies.

[Norfair]

2 hours ago, Shenmue-X said:

2070. Impressive.

Yep, longest save I've ever had in any FM. You'd think it would get boring managing the same club every season but I like it.

[themadsheep2001]

1 hour ago, Norfair said:

Thanks for all the responses. I expected people to mostly gravitate towards Lepel, and I think it's clearer to me now that he is indeed ahead by virtue of all the key attributes where he's got a strong lead over Conte. Some of you are saying to retrain Conte into a DC, and that makes sense with his physicality, but the DC slots are quite filled already.

You never know what the future holds, one of these two could simply stop developing. It's happened before and will happen again at some point. But yeah, the way things look right now, Lepel is winning. Thanks for the replies.

Be interested to see what your DCs are like because Conte looks like he could be "best defender in the world" material

[Norfair]

57 minutes ago, themadsheep2001 said:

Be interested to see what your DCs are like because Conte looks like he could be "best defender in the world" material

Well, we currently have two 28-year olds that are both world class, but then in the recent January transfer window I also took in this guy from Spurs. The only real weakness I see here is the jumping reach. Granted, that's a big one for a DC but other than that (and it's still not bad, only lower than average) he seems incredibly reliable and being only 23 I can see him going on to great things for the club.

I also have to write a few lines about this guy, Ralf Boyer. Came to the club at 15 years of age and looked a certainty to play for us the rest of his career. He still does, but there are a few disappointing things about him. With his high leadership he would have been an obvious choice as team captain, but he can't handle big games, and most importantly he can't handle pressure. The assman even said in a separate news item that he thinks "Ralf Boyer is having problems dealing with the pressure of first team football" or something like that. I can't have a player like that leading the pack, but at the same time his attributes are too stand-out to not play him. An absolute monster, but not perfect.

Adding to these we have 2-3 other promising DC's that need playing time, so Conte is a no-go. For now anyway.

[sporadicsmiles]

As others noted, I would be retraining Conte to play in central defence, and keeping Lepel at DMC. Both are excellent, so I would look to avoid making them have to fight each other for a place in the squad. 

[DominicForza]

Holy Scooby Snacks!  Natanael and Boyer's attributes are immmense.  

 

I see what you mean about not bothering retraining Conte to DC.

[Norfair]

I had to re-bump this thread because of something that just happened.

 

In an instant, his determination dropped NINE STEPS lmao. From 15 to 6. This is about 12 months save-time after I posted the thread, after it's been well established that Lepel should be our next DMC. Josh Conte has been on intensive DC training ever since and is looking like a v.good prospect. Now we'll have to redraw the map again. Conte will remain a DC but as far as Lepel is concerned, he's out. I can't work with a player who has 6 determination. I'll be looking to offload him in this transfer window as we're in January 2071.

I would have preferred almost any other youth prospect over Lepel to get this attitude setback, but at the same time I love that FM throws curveballs like this. There are no guarantees, and that's how it should be.