How to handle generational talent

[Sovereign_KB]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently with FC Kaiserslautern hovering around mid-table in Bundesliga 2. I must have been a good boy this year, cause the gods decided to reward me with this youth prospect. Obviously I'm very excited, but I'm also a bit terrified. I really don't want to Freddy Adu him.

My question: How should I handle him the next 2ish years? Ideally I stick him in the main squad and let him play 10-20 games in the league next year. But does that mess up his development and should I really put him in the u19 for a bit? I can imagine a 15 yearold being a little fragile, but letting him play agaist players who are not on his level might also be a waste. What should I do?

[gunner86]

Game time really doesn’t do much to his development until around the age of 18. Personally, I would keep him around the first team squad but available to play in youth games. Give him occasional first team time but just take it easy on him.

oh and get him in a mentoring group. He’s already fairly professional so he’s on the right track.

[-kay]

Contracts, Contracts, Contracts. I wouldn't play him in the first team, you could move him there for mentoring if you have professional and model citizen players, not because it would hurt his development but because it might increase his reputation making it harder keeping him at your club. Lock him down as long as possible and try do to everything to keep him happy, because soon PSG, Bayern, Real and other big clubs will try to buy him. Unless he's very injury prone he will develop fine, don't worry about it. Check out this video if you want to learn more about training and want to optimize it. But players reach 190+ CA with default schedules. 

Oh and if you do have to sell to a big club make sure to include a high sell on clause. Personally I feel it's a bit cheaty, but there were some tricks and exploits to prevent transfers in FM21, don't know about fm22, but if you want to keep him at all cost, there are probably ways to do that.

[CARRERA]

Never seen a 3,5 star player to come out of the youth department, so congratulations  

I would keep him form 1 or two years in your youth team as training time is more important than match experience being that young. Then make him at 17/18 a first team starter for your squad and start mentoring him.

[XaW]

I personally throw them into the first team, but I always pay very close attention to youth development. Whatever you do, look at how he develops and if he stalls, then do something else.

I had this kid come through last season in my save:

And being a upper mid-table team in the top tier in Norway, he just had to play all matches he was fit for.

This is how his season ended. Based on his progress he is improving (perhaps a bit slower then I had hoped, but still).

[enigmatic]

I'd be more worried about how I could stop Bayern buying him!

In all seriousness, it's the 3-4 years after the next couple that matter more. He's going to hit Bundesliga level before 18 years old regardless of what you do with him

But FM22 slows the development of high ability 18+ year olds considerably if they don't play many matches  (much more than earlier versions) even if they have great personalities. You do want him to have a good all-round personality, but he's German so he'll probably be fine.

The other interesting question is what you want to develop him into. At the moment he looks more of a midfielder than a striker, but at 15 he'll get a lot stronger and quicker

 

[Sovereign_KB]

57 minutes ago, enigmatic said:

The other interesting question is what you want to develop him into. At the moment he looks more of a midfielder than a striker, but at 15 he'll get a lot stronger and quicker

 

The three tactics that I play are fluid-counter 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 and 4-1-4-1. Depending on the oposition I alternate between the striker(s) leading the line (AF, PF(A)) or dropping deep and having midfielders going over (CF(S), DLF (S/A), F9, TF(S), T). My first instinct when seeing him was to hope that he gets a growthspurt, his strenght improves and I can use him as a Complete Forward on support. I reckon he can his heading and first touch can do wonders to hold up the ball and link with the midfielders.

But I'm also very curious what you guys would do!

[Freakiie]

He can't play in the Bundesliga until he's 16 anyway, so that's not a worry for now. If you have a good mentor for him get working on that. Then just have a look at him when he turns 16 and is actually allowed to play for your first team. If he develops even a bit he'll be way too good to just let him sit in your youth team.

As for keeping him around, make sure to put him on a nice long contract (you can use the club contract extension to give him a 3+3 even as a youngster), suck up to him a lot so you're his favorite personnel (giving him his first team debut will also be a massive boost for that). Even if you fail to convince him to stick around if an offer comes in, with a long enough contract and good play time he will shut up sooner or later, at which point you can simply give him another stupidly long contract.

[talhak]

- Sign great youth coaches.

- Mentor him with professional or model citizen seniors.

- Praise his great performances.

- Propose improved contract whenever it's necessary (do not postpone contract renewal)

[2feet]

Do your coaches in the senior squad have high attribute ratings for Working with Youngsters?

Because anyone they coach under the age of 18 will be negatively affected if their ratings are not good.

Hopefully youve packed your U18 staff with people who have high scores for Working with youngsters?

 

Game time is important from age 18 onwards.

They start bugging you for loans at age 17, but in my experience you can still get great attribute increases from just training and U18 games at age 17, so keep them until age 18. Then loan somewhere that has a high quality league, great training facilitiles and is promising at least regular starts gametime.

 

The best things to do are ensure your youth facilities are rated as high as possible, and you have as many brilliant youth coaches as you can get.

Edited August 7, 2022 by 2feet

[Platinum]

If he's good enough for your first team then play him in your first team as soon as you are able to (when he is 16). 

While training is more important than game time before 18 years old, it doesnt mean than game time isnt important at all. Game time at an appropriate level for the player is still important so there is no point playing him in youth football if he is ready for your first team. Also dont overplay him during fixture congestion and make sure he gets rest, and if your coaches ever say he is jaded then give him a long rest. 

Make sure he gets as much training time as you can give him as thats where most of his development will come from for now. And make sure you tailor his training schedule to how you want him to develop.

Also I would actually dont mentor him unless you already have leaders in your team who have better personalities and determination than him. 

Edited August 7, 2022 by Platinum

[Kloppy]

Keep him in academy if you can’t give him gametime, if you have him in first team training but only plays for u21s he misses two days of training a week as he doesn’t train when the 1st team have a game.

When you do play him and he eventually has the big clubs making bids. Reject and when he complains just say they don’t reach the required amount. He asks you what you think it should be. Give a highish that he accepts, then importantly offer him out for about 10 million less than that amount. Don’t transfer list just offer. When they submit the bids, you can reject as they are too low and he won’t complain as they are below the agreed amount. It’s a cheat imo but if ur desperate do it. Only thing you must worry about is getting him tied down with contracts. After he is happy to stay when no team matched the price after a year or so of interest, then give a new deal.