Training: square peg in a round hole or sell.

[Ross Ingersoll]

Been doing a ton of reading over at bust the net and trying to incorporate some of Rashidi 's methods into my own game as far as training and such goes. even downloaded his fm15 343 dragon and using that as a base . tweaking it as i go.

im following a club dna and had this question as far as the youth intake. Everything you do in terms of the youths is gearing them towards your first team,. Lets say a youth doesnt fit the profile as to what his position needs. do you try to change him into what you need or train him up to his strengths and look to sell when he gets value?

[mrw072]

I might not be the best person to answer this as I place very little importance in the youth team. In the main I look to sell youth team players for whatever profit I can get, so that I can put that money into buying ready made players for my first team. So if it was me, I would look to build him up a little bit and sell when you think you can get good value. Then put that money towards buying someone who will fit into your system.

[herne79]

They are young enough to train them how you want, at least to an extent. I probably wouldn't train a 16 year old central midfielder with 1 for tackling and 2 for aggression as a Ball Winning Midfielder for example, but just because he has 12 for passing and vision doesn't necessarily mean I'd start him as some kind of playmaker either.

Just think of their starting attributes as just that - a starting point, and build from there.

And if they don't develop how you'd like, you can still sell them later.

[Ross Ingersoll]

Thanks guys. I will do that. I am looking to base my squad on youths coming through my system . Thanks for the tips.

[ponchos]

Train them as you want. I have a hot prospect whose only 'natural' position is ML, but I'm giving him focused training as an AMR Inside Forward (he's left footed and I play with IFs rather than Wingers), and he plays at AML in the U18s matches, and he's always popping up with goals and assists. It won't work every time but as hern79 said, it's a starting point. Selling them for 50k probably isn't going to get you anywehere anyway!

Also, if you don't want/need to spend your whole transfer budget on the first team, find some good 15-18 years olds and buy them in for the youth team. If it's good enough for Arsenal, Barcelona and the like in real life, then go for it!

I might not be the best person to answer this as I place very little importance in the youth team. In the main I look to sell youth team players for whatever profit I can get, so that I can put that money into buying ready made players for my first team. So if it was me, I would look to build him up a little bit and sell when you think you can get good value. Then put that money towards buying someone who will fit into your system.

Out of curiosity, how do you meet the home grown requirements in the Champions League if you only buy in players and don't go for youth?

[mrw072]

Train them as you want. I have a hot prospect whose only 'natural' position is ML, but I'm giving him focused training as an AMR Inside Forward (he's left footed and I play with IFs rather than Wingers), and he plays at AML in the U18s matches, and he's always popping up with goals and assists. It won't work every time but as hern79 said, it's a starting point. Selling them for 50k probably isn't going to get you anywehere anyway!

Also, if you don't want/need to spend your whole transfer budget on the first team, find some good 15-18 years olds and buy them in for the youth team. If it's good enough for Arsenal, Barcelona and the like in real life, then go for it!

Out of curiosity, how do you meet the home grown requirements in the Champions League if you only buy in players and don't go for youth?

It's very rare I qualify for Europe so it's not really too much of a problem. But if I did I'd be ok because the players I buy tend to be from the same nation as the club I manage. I remember looking at my 'domestic bias' stat and it was something like 84%. I don't like to buy too many foreign players in case they fail to adapt, so I tend to look for good young(ish) players who haven't quite made it at the big clubs in my league. It seems to be working because I've got a good team spirit I think. I also just focus on having as small as squad as possible. So if I had to promote a couple of youth team players into my squad for CL requirements, I'd be able to. It'd be that they are there just to make up the numbers, nothing else.