Does Pace Decimated By Injury Return?

[Weston]

I recently signed this CB after which he promptly injured his knee ligaments. Because of this he took a huge hit to pace like I've never seen before. Normally "Bravery" gets knocked down a few, but this was extreme. I remember getting an inbox message notifying me of this and saying that it would come back, but so far it has only improved something like .2 in several months.

Should I expect him to start recovering some speed, or should I cut my losses and sell him ASAP? I play a relatively intense, high-pressing style, so he's a liability. It only just occurred to me to start training him specifically on quickness (I should've begun this instantly, but I guess I got distracted) so it's too early to tell if it will make any noticeable difference.

[santy001]

Some injuries do have quite an adverse effect on physical stats and it might be the case a player is never the same after a certain injury. I don't think its clear whether players will recover or not, it probably owes more to their hidden attributes and general luck with subsequent injuries.

[kandersson]

Personally I'd sell. I would not expect a 28 years old player to recover 3-4 points of pace at that age, plus he's now at increased risk of suffering another knee injury - and lose even more pace/acceleration. 

[Spurs08]

At that age, I'd sell. A young player might recover his pace, but this guy would expect to go into physical decline within a couple of year anyway. I'd say he's more likely to drop to 7 (and get worse from there) than raise it back up to even 10.

[Weston]

Sadly I think you're all right. I was hoping he'd be a solid backup for a few years but looks like I should move him on in the summer, just 6 months after signing. Too bad, too, because I already have pretty high turnover. It'll be interesting to see if I can make a profit off of him - his value has tripled since he went from Serie B to us, the Serie A champions, but in reality he would probably not fetch that high because other clubs would be aware of the injury situation.

[yezzko]

Do you play with DM? He cold be okay-ish there since his pace is not such a liability in that position. 

[Weston]

3 hours ago, yezzko said:

Do you play with DM? He cold be okay-ish there since his pace is not such a liability in that position. 

I do but I just signed two great players for that position.

[herne79]

@Weston I know you said you are playing a high intensity pressing game, so I assume you are also using a high defensive line?  If so then I'm afraid I'd cut my losses and move him on which is a shame as he's otherwise a good top division defender.  If you were playing a low block then Pace is less of an issue but with a high line, Pace is pretty important to help mitigate the risk of balls played behind your defence.

I'd expect him to recover at least some of his lost Pace, but at 28 and having had a serious knee injury he may not get back to his original Pace which to be honest is at the bottom end of what I'd consider for a high def line anyway.

Bad luck really .

[Weston]

4 hours ago, herne79 said:

@Weston I know you said you are playing a high intensity pressing game, so I assume you are also using a high defensive line?  If so then I'm afraid I'd cut my losses and move him on which is a shame as he's otherwise a good top division defender.  If you were playing a low block then Pace is less of an issue but with a high line, Pace is pretty important to help mitigate the risk of balls played behind your defence.

I'd expect him to recover at least some of his lost Pace, but at 28 and having had a serious knee injury he may not get back to his original Pace which to be honest is at the bottom end of what I'd consider for a high def line anyway.

Bad luck really .

All good points! I just was shocked to see such a drastic change because I've had longer / worse injuries with little to no lasting impact, and this guy was only out 5 weeks, but I guess it was a pretty intense issue during that time.