Creating a Player

[Romanista1994]

Where did I say off-the-ball is important for defenders? This is again very condescending by you. I am retraining him because I suspect he'll never improve his off-the-ball enough to justify playing him as an attacking full-back. If he had a better off-the-ball level, I might play him as a full-back.

Funny how you think his positioning, anticipation and composure are low. There is only ONE 16-year-old centre-backs with 13+ bravery, aggression and tackling, 10+ marking that have positioning as good as him. Or anticipation. Or composure.

Don't attacking full-backs need off-the-ball then? It's highlighted as a key attribute in TC. And positioning, composure, decisions and anticipation are important as well. Besides, he lacks attacking skills maybe even more than the defensive ones you highlighted (check his first touch, crossing and ofc off-the-ball). For a 16-year-old (6 months till his next birthday) those mental attributes aren't half bad and I have him training extensively on tactics and personal focus is on composure so his lack of aerial ability is the stand-out problem.

In reply to your initial questions: With a few years of focus and training his off the ball could easily go above 10, but from the initial post it wasn't clear that you were asking that question from the point of view of training him into a fullback, so I can see why there was a misunderstanding with Cleon. As for the second question my preference is for central defenders who can dominate every aspect of play, including aerial balls and in my team playing such a shorty would be out of the question.

If you feel he has the potential to improve the weaknesses he has in his game at 16 and become a good centreback in the future then feel free to ignore advice given on here and use him as a centreback. Ultimately the final decision rests with you and all we can do here is say how we would do things in our own game and give advice.

I thought I'd post pics of the best prospect to come through in my Athletic Bilbao save.

That is excellent, really remarkable progress.

[Cleon]

He got 9 games last season, and will get more this season as he has already developed enough to be a rotational player.

First team experience at such a young age aides the developments of the player tenfolds. Especially with his mental attributes, I aways try and give all my better youths a few games early on just to give the attributes a boost.

Looks like its working for you too, the player looks really good

[cemendur88]

First team experience at such a young age aides the developments of the player tenfolds. Especially with his mental attributes, I aways try and give all my better youths a few games early on just to give the attributes a boost.

Looks like its working for you too, the player looks really good

He got the games towards the end of last season, had already developed very well. Has the potential to be the Messi of my midfield. giving him lots of game time this year because he is already good, and want to see him become a legend.

[Gee_Simpson]

I would have focused on his positioning first and foremost though as that's harder to raise than composure.

I thought all attributes have an equal chance of improving?

[Cleon]

I thought all attributes have an equal chance of improving?

Well in training they are, from match experience there not. If a player makes more timed challenges than normal in a game there is a small chance his composure, marking, anticipation etc take a little boost. There are quite a few attributes that can change if a player does something he normally doesn't during a game.

Also if you don't know how much CA a player has then it's even more vital you develop his core attributes early to ensure you still have CA left for him to develop the attributes. Positioning for any player in a back 4 or 5 if you use a DMC is the most important attribute for all. If he can't be in the correct position to begin with then he will always be half a yard behind and will have to rely on his other attributes to bail him out. Which as you'll know can be risky as it won't always work.

[Cleon]

Oh I forgot to add däkkä , if you do use him as a centreback his lack of height, jumping and heading wont be much of an issue if you pair him with someone who is good at the things he isn't . That's what I do if one of the centrebacks is weak in a certain area, use 2 who compliment each other

[Gee_Simpson]

Well in training they are, from match experience there not. If a player makes more timed challenges than normal in a game there is a small chance his composure, marking, anticipation etc take a little boost. There are quite a few attributes that can change if a player does something he normally doesn't during a game.

Also if you don't know how much CA a player has then it's even more vital you develop his core attributes early to ensure you still have CA left for him to develop the attributes. Positioning for any player in a back 4 or 5 if you use a DMC is the most important attribute for all. If he can't be in the correct position to begin with then he will always be half a yard behind and will have to rely on his other attributes to bail him out. Which as you'll know can be risky as it won't always work.

Interesting. I didn't know that, cheers

As for the second part, I'm guessing you meant PA though?

[TRC]

Trying to tutor Adam Campbell for Newcastle with Jari Litmanen. I signed him specifically for tutoring. Doesnt seem to have worked at all though. I've also tried tutoring Remie Streete with Coloccini, they got on well ect, but there was no real change in Streetes attributes, he's gone from 3.5 star potential to 2.5.

[MeesterCat]

I apologise if this has been covered further up in this thread, but I didn't see it.

At what age do people consider their players are no longer Youngsters? For instance, I have a couple of players in my current team who are 19 and 20 and are on the fringes of the first team. Their stats are ok, not bad, but nothing wonderful.

Am I going to get much more improvement out of them, or are all the main attribute increases made between 15/16 and 19?

Edit: I would like to add, this is a fantastic thread and a real inspiration - my favourite part of the game is developing youngsters, but I often feel that I'm not getting the most out of my players. Hopefully I can now start to! In fact, I'm going to attempt individual training regimes for youngsters now as a direct result of read this.

[Cleon]

I apologise if this has been covered further up in this thread, but I didn't see it.

At what age do people consider their players are no longer Youngsters? For instance, I have a couple of players in my current team who are 19 and 20 and are on the fringes of the first team. Their stats are ok, not bad, but nothing wonderful.

Am I going to get much more improvement out of them, or are all the main attribute increases made between 15/16 and 19?

Edit: I would like to add, this is a fantastic thread and a real inspiration - my favourite part of the game is developing youngsters, but I often feel that I'm not getting the most out of my players. Hopefully I can now start to! In fact, I'm going to attempt individual training regimes for youngsters now as a direct result of read this.

I normally stop classing them as youths by the age of 22/23. The player I posted in post 19 Pereira, I had another come through the ranks at the exact same time who played the exact same position. I had a feeling he is the better player although he asn't played as many as the lad I posted about. His improvements weren't as instant as Pereira's but I felt he would develop and be the actual better player. There both just turning 22 now and while Pereira as been a starter for past 6 season the other lad (whos actually called Perinha) as been in and out of the team for years and never been a regular starter. I sent him out on loan and then called him back and sold my best midfielder and used him instead. He's now got stats that I class to be better than Pereira.

I'll try and add some screenshots of them later so you can see yourself how different players develop at different rates and different times

[MeesterCat]

Fantastic, thank you!

[Romanista1994]

I apologise if this has been covered further up in this thread, but I didn't see it.

At what age do people consider their players are no longer Youngsters? For instance, I have a couple of players in my current team who are 19 and 20 and are on the fringes of the first team. Their stats are ok, not bad, but nothing wonderful.

Am I going to get much more improvement out of them, or are all the main attribute increases made between 15/16 and 19?

Edit: I would like to add, this is a fantastic thread and a real inspiration - my favourite part of the game is developing youngsters, but I often feel that I'm not getting the most out of my players. Hopefully I can now start to! In fact, I'm going to attempt individual training regimes for youngsters now as a direct result of read this.

Glad to hear that.

The cutoff from youngsters is around 22/23 for me as well, but players who I don't feel will make it can be booted out of the club much earlier and others can be in the first team from a young age.

[maztheplaya]

Wondering if i'm doing things right with this player. I'm alternating in playing him as Poacher and as an IF.

Bought him at the start of my current season. My assistant says he's got potential. I am aware that maybe i'm a bit late in trying to develope him, but my goal is to try and fix some of his flaws.

As I am playing in the dutch championship the standard aren't that high, and i currently not trying to be a world class team with world class players.

[Romanista1994]

In both of those roles strength and stamina aren't vital attributes (and they can be improved quickly anyway with individual focus), so that's one area which I'd drop in order to raise all the other vital areas. Having him focus on his dribbling (technique, first touch and composure are the other attributes that could do with a raise in this way) is a good decision , but I'd perhaps put it on heavy to speed up the process. 18 definitely not too late to start developing players and if he continues to play well he will become an absolute star for the league at his peak.

[pndc]

I have a player here I'd like some advice on. A youngster with huge potential compared to my squad and I'd like to get the most of him as he develops. He's a media friendly model professional.

First of all, I'd like some input on where he fits best on the pitch. I.e, should I retrain him to play like an AMR/AML? His creativity is way too low to become a good central playmaker at AMC or CM, so I figure he might be better on the wings. Or would I be able to raise his creativity to a decent level? What's your opinion on this?

Second, I'd also like some input on my current training program. He complains about fitness training, but he has to increase strength and stamina. But really, the training program right now focuses on really getting stamina and strength up while giving him important tactical attributes. So it's not really role specific yet. Currently he is on heavy strength individual focus.

So here are some screens:

Thanks in advance - any input is really appreciated, as I don't want to waste this gem.

[Romanista1994]

I have a player here I'd like some advice on.

I'd retrain him as a AML with those attributes and the positions he already knows. Train him until he's accomplished in that position and if you keep playing him there he'll become natural without further position training (this also depends on his versatility, but for him to know three positions already it'd have to be pretty decent).

In terms of his training schedule I'd say there are two main changes I would make. The first is dropping the strength training to a much lower level as the physical attributes that it trains go up easily and can be trained up even quicker with individual focus (I'd only use that on stamina to get it to about 14/15 later though, as I don't really consider strength important for wingers). The other is removing all of his defending training as those attributes growing will take away from other areas which could benefit his game. Dropping these two categories would free up a lot of workload space and you could raise areas like tactics, ball control, aerobic and attacking to very high levels so that key winger attributes are raised, especially since his workload isn't very high in your schedule.

The training focus that I would use is along the lines of quickness to allow him to beat the fullback and put a cross in/shoot which raises his ratings, then first touch to have him do this more often because he controls more balls and finally composure to make him a cool finisher as well (a suitable PPM could then be 'Places Shots' as he will benefit from not shooting with power with his average finishing, though I'd suggest to wait for him to have around 15 in composure as otherwise he'll continue to miss chances under pressure).

[Coentrao]

I'd make him a winger definitely with that technique,crossing,dribbling and he has decent flair, his finishing and composure isn't too low if you want to make him a inside forward as well, in that case i would also try to improve his balance as i find that important to finish chances.

He could still get his creativity to a decent level if you really want it but i think he wouldn't be a good playmaker, maybe an attacking midfielder that would get in the box and beat his man now and then, still i would definetly play him on the wing.

I agree with Romanista regarding the schedule, that much strength training is a waste for a winger i would lower down that a lot.

[pndc]

Thank you very much for the input.

My idea behind raising strength and stamina was to give him a lot of first team football, but placing him on the wing would allow me to utilize him a lot more without raising strength to a high level. Oh, and I forgot to add that he's still only 16, so he does indeed still have a lot of time to develop his physical attributes.

I've now changed to schedule and hope to see some great attribute gains now. He'll still be playing regularly, so it should help a lot .

Thanks so far - the fast and insightful feedback is very much appreciated!

[TRC]

As Newcastle manager I have been developing Remi Streete, Abeid and Vuckic in my first season, they all were tutored and their personalities improved. In the second season I loaned Abeid and Vuckic out to championship clubs, and they are both getting average ratings of around 6.4. With Streete I have tutored him twice, he got along well with both tutors, now has a resolute personality but he has barely improved at all stats wise, although he does now have determination of 16. Just wondering what is the next step with these players?

[Romanista1994]

As Newcastle manager I have been developing Remi Streete, Abeid and Vuckic in my first season, they all were tutored and their personalities improved. In the second season I loaned Abeid and Vuckic out to championship clubs, and they are both getting average ratings of around 6.4. With Streete I have tutored him twice, he got along well with both tutors, now has a resolute personality but he has barely improved at all stats wise, although he does now have determination of 16. Just wondering what is the next step with these players?

Those ratings for the loaned players are unfortunate and mean they won't develop as much as they could while on loan. I've usually found that players who go to a slightly lower level but play well get much more benefit from the loan. These players could be getting low ratings for a number of reasons including the manager being poor, the team struggling or them not being good enough yet to play at that level. Choosing the right team and manager to entrust the player to could be something to keep in mind for future loans.

As for Streete, it may be that he has stalled because the level of games he is getting in the youth reserve team is too low for him now, or because he is lacking match fitness and is getting too few games in the first team, so a loan might be in order here.

If, however, you feel the players are ready to play a backup role in your first team and you're confident that they will get games for you, it's best to keep them under your management so that you can track their progress more closely.

[dennie]

First team experience at such a young age aides the developments of the player tenfolds. Especially with his mental attributes, I aways try and give all my better youths a few games early on just to give the attributes a boost.

Looks like its working for you too, the player looks really good

I have a question about match experience

how many 1st team games should I give my youngsters

Age games

14 =

15 =

16 =

17 =

18 =

18+ =

Also doesn't matter if they are starts or substitute

I also wondering if A player performance has a impact on his development

[Cleon]

I have a question about match experience

how many 1st team games should I give my youngsters

Age games

14 =

15 =

16 =

17 =

18 =

18+ =

Also doesn't matter if they are starts or substitute

I also wondering if A player performance has a impact on his development

An happy player develops faster, the same as someone playing in a team doing well. If he's getting low ratings then drop him for a little while.

As for how mnay games it depends really. If you look at the players I've posted in this thread you'll get an idea of how I did it. How many games he plays is down to how many you can afford to let him play. The more the better as the longer he gets and the more he gets the faster he should develop.

[Coentrao]

With FM12 there was a small change with how contracts work, players on the youth team won't use a full-time schedule even if they have a professional contract.

So does everyone offer a contract to a player when they turn 17 and move them to Reserves? It seems the most logical thing to do and it's what i usually do but it also seems that i'm depleting my youth team this way and end up with very few players there.

It's one of those changes that probably makes the game more realistic but i'd rather the old way for gameplay reasons..

[keef]

I have 2 young players I'm grooming, who have suffered serious injuries. Player 1, was rated at 4* (Potential) before suffering a cruciate ligament injury which sidelined him for 7 months. Now, 4 months after coming back, he's now rated at 2.5* (Potential). Has he got any chance of getting back on track to where he was/destined to be?

Player 2 is only just 18, and has become a First Team regular, who just suffered a broken leg. Is it likely he'll suffer the same fate, the same reduction of his potential? is there any way that I can stop this slide?

[Romanista1994]

With FM12 there was a small change with how contracts work, players on the youth team won't use a full-time schedule even if they have a professional contract.

So does everyone offer a contract to a player when they turn 17 and move them to Reserves? It seems the most logical thing to do and it's what i usually do but it also seems that i'm depleting my youth team this way and end up with very few players there.

It's one of those changes that probably makes the game more realistic but i'd rather the old way for gameplay reasons..

It is pretty annoying, especially in nations where you don't have a reserve league. I'd probably keep them in the youth team as long as the coaches say that they're 'progressing well' in training and move them up if they start to stall.

I have 2 young players I'm grooming, who have suffered serious injuries. Player 1, was rated at 4* (Potential) before suffering a cruciate ligament injury which sidelined him for 7 months. Now, 4 months after coming back, he's now rated at 2.5* (Potential). Has he got any chance of getting back on track to where he was/destined to be?

Player 2 is only just 18, and has become a First Team regular, who just suffered a broken leg. Is it likely he'll suffer the same fate, the same reduction of his potential? is there any way that I can stop this slide?

How far is your second player from his potential? I think you get a message saying that they'll never be the same again if they have no chance of reaching their potential anymore, but if the player is young enough he could still come good if the injury hasn't led his attributes to massive drops.

[Falahk]

I have 2 young players I'm grooming, who have suffered serious injuries. Player 1, was rated at 4* (Potential) before suffering a cruciate ligament injury which sidelined him for 7 months. Now, 4 months after coming back, he's now rated at 2.5* (Potential). Has he got any chance of getting back on track to where he was/destined to be?

Player 2 is only just 18, and has become a First Team regular, who just suffered a broken leg. Is it likely he'll suffer the same fate, the same reduction of his potential? is there any way that I can stop this slide?

potential (PA) always stay the same, a long term injury will however give the player less time to reach his potential, and may make him take a few steps backwards in his development

so if the PA is decent in the first place there's always a big chanse he will still come good

[keef]

.

How far is your second player from his potential? I think you get a message saying that they'll never be the same again if they have no chance of reaching their potential anymore, but if the player is young enough he could still come good if the injury hasn't led his attributes to massive drops.

potential (PA) always stay the same, a long term injury will however give the player less time to reach his potential, and may make him take a few steps backwards in his development

so if the PA is decent in the first place there's always a big chanse he will still come good

Thanks for the response. Player 2 is still a long way from his potential, so this is good news. Before his injury he was at 2.5* CA, but outplaying many 3.5-4* players, so i'm desperate to have him back.

When he returns, is it ok to place back onto his normal training schedule, or should he go into a 'softer' one for a while?

[Cleon]

.

How far is your second player from his potential? I think you get a message saying that they'll never be the same again if they have no chance of reaching their potential anymore, but if the player is young enough he could still come good if the injury hasn't led his attributes to massive drops.

Thanks for the response. Player 2 is still a long way from his potential, so this is good news. Before his injury he was at 2.5* CA, but outplaying many 3.5-4* players, so i'm desperate to have him back.

When he returns, is it ok to place back onto his normal training schedule, or should he go into a 'softer' one for a while?

After long term injuries I actually put mine in the 'conditioning' schedule and let them play for the reserves for a few weeks.

[TRC]

So I've played another 6 months in game, and Adam Campbell went on loan to Walsall, scored 5 in 11, and came back with 4 star potential after he had dropped to 2.5 star. His attributes hadn't changed, but his personality had gone from devoted to fairly loyal. So I'm not sure whats going on here? I now have 3 strikers with 4.5 star potential that are younger than him so I have loaned him out for the season. I have given up on the rest of the Newcastle youth products that start the game.

I have an 18 year old Brazilan DM, with amazing technical attributes, poor mental appart from determination, team work and work rate. and average physical attributes. Not sure what to do with him, I've tutored him once, and he has resolute personality. Noone will take him on loan for some reason.

[Monkfish2004]

I understand that giving your youngsters first team experience is pretty important in helping boost them towards their potential - but does it matter how much time they spend on the pitch? For example - will sticking him on at 85 mins be the same as putting him on at 60 mins? Its still adds one to their appearances count - is that what is needed or do they need to have made an impact in the game to benefit?

[Cleon]

I understand that giving your youngsters first team experience is pretty important in helping boost them towards their potential - but does it matter how much time they spend on the pitch? For example - will sticking him on at 85 mins be the same as putting him on at 60 mins? Its still adds one to their appearances count - is that what is needed or do they need to have made an impact in the game to benefit?

The more time the better. Adding someone on for the last 5 minutes won't make much odds in terms of his development as this won't even give him a rating for the match. He needs around 20 minutes in order for it to be beneficial.

[Monkfish2004]

The more time the better. Adding someone on for the last 5 minutes won't make much odds in terms of his development as this won't even give him a rating for the match. He needs around 20 minutes in order for it to be beneficial.

cheers for clarifying Cleon

[Cleon]

My Santos save crashes because I added extra leagues, so I can't update with the progress of my own players

Well I have a save 2 years older but I don't fancy playing the 2 years over again

[robin1337]

hey i have a question about strength and aerobic, what exactly does they improve? is there a list, where i can check that out?

[Cleon]

hey i have a question about strength and aerobic, what exactly does they improve? is there a list, where i can check that out?

Yes in game. Go to a players profile, then select the training tab, then click the attribute development tab (should already be on this as default though) then on the right there should be a training catergory drop down box. click that and it shows you.

Strength though does jumping, natural fitness, stamina, strength and work rate.

Aerobic does acceleration, agility, balance and pace.

[robin1337]

oh lol, i've never seen that... -.- thank you very much!

[Fabian Jonsson]

Ok, I'm not going to give you a whole lot to work with (I'm at work, so can't post screens), but I thought I'd give it a go anyways.

I'm managing Charlton, so my starting staff and facilities were pretty rubbish, but I'm beginning to close in on something decent. I have several youngsters in my current 1st team that have 4.5-5 star potentials and are thought to become leading premier league players in their respective positions, but I never see the kind of progress you have in some of the screens above (with green arrows for nearly every attribute). Granted, my players have pretty high CA already, but still I hardly ever see increases in more than 2-3 attributes at a time. Since they all have "good" personalities (determined and professional), my custom schedules look rather similar to yours, and they all get a lot of playing time, I guess it's down to either facilities or coaches? Right?

I have 4-star coaches across the board at the moment, but my training facilities are only 3 stars. Where do you ppl think the bottleneck is?

[Cleon]

It's a combination of everything. Not so good training facilities and youth facilities. There's only so much good coaches etc can do with rubbish facilities.

[Fabian Jonsson]

It's a combination of everything. Not so good training facilities and youth facilities. There's only so much good coaches etc can do with rubbish facilities.

Ok.

So far, I've spent the TV money on building a decent squad (the starting squad might be great for League 1 but not for EPL), but maybe next years revenue should go to upgrading the facilities then.

[Coentrao]

On my current save on Fortuna Sittard they have a really decent youth setup already providing me a defensive midfielder that is my starter right now and a backup striker as well, i've been giving chances to another youngsters as well but unfortunately i think they won't make it, haven't got much luck with sending players on loan(probably because the reputation of my club is still too low) and only got a feeder club this season that has horrible facilities despite being on the second dutch tier so i'm not getting much out of that link and will probably cancel it soon.

Getting to the point, this fella was just announced on my intake and it's probably the best player i got so far from the youth setup:

I use a stopper/cover combo and it's a shame that he is lacking aggression or else he would make a perfect fit for that role, that way he will have to play the cover role which means that anticipation has to improve as much as possible, also i like all my players to have decent creativity but i guess it won't improve that much, really a shame though since with that level of technique and decent first touch for a centerback of that age he could really make a great ball playing defender.

This is the schedule i'm using for him with an individual focus on strength for now.

Hopefully i'll get him some playing minutes this season, i'll use this thread to monitor his progress or my failure to make him a top player!

[cemendur88]

Thought I would post an update of my youngster, and realise I didn't give his name last time!

This is Ander Diez when I last posted when he was 17.

Here he is after his first full season in the first team squad, he is now 18.

His stats for last season across all competitions were:

Average rating of 7.31 in 39(5) appearances, 5 goals, 17 assists, 3 man of the match awards. He won Spanish Young Player of the Year award as is now classified as a wonderkid.

[dennie]

HI guys

Dus it's help praise Youngsters keep a good morale just wondering if this will help development

Has any one have any experience with this ?

[Gee_Simpson]

HI guys

Dus it's help praise Youngsters keep a good morale just wondering if this will help development

Has any one have any experience with this ?

A happy youngster will develop quicker so yeah, praise them when they deserve it.

[dennie]

A happy youngster will develop quicker so yeah, praise them when they deserve it.

Just to confirm you praise youngsters if they play well in reserve games and under 18?

[Gee_Simpson]

Just to confirm you praise youngsters if they play well in reserve games and under 18?

Mostly for 1st team games but yes if he has been consistently good in the youth or reserves, you could praise him too.

[Coentrao]

So after a full season here's my youngster:

He played a lot this season specially because my starting center back was injured for some time(and he is unwilling to renew his contract so i might as well prepare his succession) i gave him a lot of matches in Europe and home fixtures against easier opponents, i'm amazed at the improvement on anticipation, just shows what intensive tactics training with some match experience can do.

I also gave him a couple of warnings that seem to have improved his personality as he was just "determined" and now he is "professional".

Strength also improved nicely so i might switch the focus to marking,composure or jumping which are the areas needing most improvement at the moment.

[Romanista1994]

Here he is after his first full season in the first team squad, he is now 18.

So after a full season here's my youngster:

Great improvements for both players, amazing that they're only 18 and 16 and already well on course to becoming world class players.

[Smac]

@Coentrao: What were the warnings you gave him and in what context? I'm always interested to know when these things have had an effect.

[Coentrao]

@Coentrao: What were the warnings you gave him and in what context? I'm always interested to know when these things have had an effect.

He had a game where a "mistake led to goal" and a bad rating so i gave him a warning and he accepted and said that he would try to improve himself, i'm always weary of warning with a wage fine because it can upset them, i'm wondering if maybe someone has a guideline for this?

Besides the noticeable determination and work rate improvements apparently it can also improve professionalism, would be great to know more about this.

[jimbobBRFC]

Got a couple of youngsters in my squad who I think could be outstanding players and are both rated as leading Ligue 1 players so I think they can be good. Im pretty average at creating a brilliant player so would like some advice on the best way to train them. Screenshots here:

Want this guy to be a Dani Alves player, flying forward very attacking but also pretty solid defensively. There is a thread in the GP&TG forum on him but not too many details on how to actually rain him.

Then theres this lad:

Want him to be a deep lying playmaker. Like Alonso, i think his stats are pretty good starting off to build him into that type of player. So yeah any advice would be brilliant