CA, Stars or Attributes

[tony wright]

Hands up, I have the editor, so i can see the CA/PA of any potential signings. my question is when identifying possible signings which  do you use out of CA, Stars or Attributes?

[dothestrand]

As I manage Athletic Club as my main club I am always focused on squad building for the future so potential ability is absolutely key for me. I need to know players are potential first teamers with the right development. Attributes are important depending on the roles you want players to play and the formation you prefer. But sometimes you have to make do and adjust. Personality is really important too. I often take a punt on anyone with resolute, driven or model citizen as I reckon that can push a player to reach their potential. A talented guy with a slack, casual or spineless(!) personality is a risk. So a mix of everything! 

[fc.cadoni]

Since you use the In-Game Editor, I would go for:

1. Attributes
2. PA (if it's under 21 player)
3. Hidden Attributes: Ambition, Professionalism, Injury Prone, Pressure

Judging a player by CA is subjective, because you can have a player with CA 120 in AML position with Acceleration of 11 vs CA 120 in AML with Acceleration of 16. I would go for Acceleration 16 for example.

[rogerdoger]

Piggybacking off of what @fc.cadonisays, you should definitely look at attributes first and foremost if it is a player you want to use and achieve success with. CA is only a generalized tool for judging "at a glance" how good a specific player's set of attributes work for the positions he is accomplished/natural in playing. That's not saying that the CA is in any way shape or form a proper indicator of a players skill and competence in the specific system YOUR team plays, though, but it gives some hints about how many relevant attribute points the player has across all possible roles and duties in his positions.

Hidden attributes/personality can be just as impactful as attributes (or lack of them), especially when it comes to player development. There's no point in players that are far away from their potential (even if that potential is high) if their Professionalism, Ambition or even Determination (not hidden) is very poor. Such a player will probably never reach anywhere near their potential.

I'm currently spending way too much time trying to perfect the player filters to use for my setup, but for simplicity you could (and should if you actually want to play the game) follow the priority stated in the post above.

However, PA is a very good indicator to begin with if you actually want to use the in game editor, so I would suggest looking at PA first, and then decide whether or not to actually sign them after having looked at the attributes and hidden attributes.

E.g. if the best youngsters available  start at PA 150 and descending, there could very well be a kid at PA 135 with a much better attribute spread for your role in that position and with a model professional personality instead of slack or casual. I would definitely sign him first.

Finally, stars are an okay indicator, but at role level. I would look at them last, but you could find a real gem of a player with low positional CA but a good role ability.

 

[meadowsaaron38]

On 20/12/2022 at 18:34, dothestrand said:

As I manage Athletic Club as my main club I am always focused on squad building for the future so potential ability is absolutely key for me. I need to know players are potential first teamers with the right development. Attributes are important depending on the roles you want players to play and the formation you prefer. But sometimes you have to make do and adjust. Personality is really important too. I often take a punt on anyone with resolute, driven or model citizen as I reckon that can push a player to reach their potential. A talented guy with a slack, casual or spineless(!) personality is a risk. So a mix of everything! 

This for me. I've always been Youth Developement. So anyone with a PA of under 160 is a no go for me. And after starting new saves, I only sign players aged 25 or under