Re gens-Am I missing something?

[D_Walcott14]

After playing a few seasons, finding young re gens becomes essential to a fm career,

recently, I have started to use a technique, I can only describe as 'stock-pilling'. Where I find any promising player and buy them, this can mean I am buying 10 a season, and really makes the game very unrealistic, so my Q is, how do you find the best re gens?

1)I know the technique where you look at youth intake globally, and scout the majority, but surely there is a more effective way? 

2)Also, how do you find re gens who will grow into high attributes, rather than the ones that will stagnate, or is this pure luck?

[s0ni42]

What is wrong with your current process? 

 

Around intake dates I check every day. Once a group is populated for a country I go to player search and look at the players sorted by value that were just created. If they look like they might fit system and have basic skills I look for I assign scout for that country to gather more info.

 

if they show right amount of potential for my level of play, then I go ahead and declare interest to get an idea of cost. If there’s a hit with a smaller profile club I’ll go ahead and make an offer. Most aren’t interested that soon after being populated but may nab a handful. Then when transfer widow opens I’ll try again. Any renaming that haven’t been interested will get one more shot at end of transfer window.

 

my goal each year is to have 11 intakes per season. Sometimes my own re gens can cover more of the burden, other years less. For example, current group only supplied three viable candidates so my target is to bring in 8 to supplement. Got 3 in the bag with a couple months until transfer window. Decent pace, looking for 5 more before summer window closes

[herne79]

1 hour ago, D_Walcott14 said:

After playing a few seasons, finding young re gens becomes essential to a fm career,

Genuine question - why do you find it "essential" to an FM career?

I know there can be restrictions about home grown players from the same country, but that's easily solved by just buying players.  There can also be restrictions for players home grown at your club for European competitions, but the penalties for non-compliance are not exactly harsh.

Or is it because you are attempting a youth only challenge?  In which case your own youth set up would be essential for that to work.  But you are looking globally so what is it you trying to achieve?

In answer to your questions:

1) For FM18 a new system was put in place to deliberately stop people gaming the newgen system and to purposely make it more difficult to scout global intakes.

2) You rely on your scouts and their opinions of young player's potential.  Scouts can be wrong, although better scouts are less likely to be wrong especially if you have the players fully scouted.  But even if they do find players with high potential, developing them is up to you and your training setup although players do not just develop smoothly.  You could get early bloomers, late developers, players who develop in fits and starts, players who don't develop despite their potential or your best efforts, and everything else in between.  However, the better your set up the greater the chance of success.

[s0ni42]

I only sign guys that project for my level of play. Not interested in cluttering up my system, blocking playing time with guys that lack the potential quality

[Snorks]

On my current save I got AC Milan, so a pretty damn good youth setup anyway, that generates some quality youngsters every intake, but this is my 'general' take on scouting youth.

Firstly, I look at my players who are under 18, work out a team of 11 'best' players by potential, in each position for my main tactic. Then make sure there are another 11 at least - so my U18s first team and subs.

I then use one of those fan lists for the top academies in the game and work out their intake dates. So through February/March, whenever a nation has an intake, I scout those clubs with the best youth setups and get reports on all their newgens.  I get quite picky, only players with 4 or more star potential are scouted thoroughly. I have an 'U18' shortlist in scouting.

By the end of the season, I know which positions my u18s need strengthening in, and I know which players there are around Europe that could fill those spots, so I start to make approaches. Whatever is left of my transfer budget that year is available but  I tend to shy away from any kid that costs more than 4-5mil and even they they have to be outstanding potential. (At end of current season I have three 16 yr olds joining, combined spend of 7.5mil)

So, I should end up with a really strong squad of 25 or so u18s going into the following season. I should point out that I ignore the CA ratings - I ONLY consider potential.

Once they get to that age they are drafted up to the u20s, where I try and use the same approach - I want a squad of about 25 (maybe a few more) u20s playing my tactic. Some of these will be loaned out for development purposes, some will get a run in the first team if injuries occur. If an u20 gets moved up to first team to cover, then an u18 gets moved into the u20s to replace. I may select two or three from the u20s to develop in my own first team as well. This way, some 'above player level' experience gets handed around.

My scouting shortlists are u18s, u20s, Backup and First Team, and players are added to it for 1 year, so every so often they get reviewed, get moved between lists or get discarded so it is perfectly possibly to pick up on a kid on newgen day, and keep an eye on him through youth scouting and keep him shortlisted indefinitely - so I may not put in an offer until he is first team capable.

My u18s are unbeaten in their competition, and have won it two seasons running, my u20s have lost one game all season, and I have three or four first team regulars (also unbeaten in the league) who have come through this system, one of which was bough at 16 yrs old for 800K - now worth 20mil.

If nothing else, it's a fantastic revenue earner for the club and produces some great first-teamers.

[D_Walcott14]

9 hours ago, Snorks said:

I scout those clubs with the best youth setups and get reports on all their newgens

Is there an easy way of doing this, finding the clubs with the best youth set ups, as currently I go through the league checking each team, which is quite time consuming

10 hours ago, Snorks said:

I should point out that I ignore the CA ratings - I ONLY consider potential.

Really! I might try that, as normally I would only go for u16's who have a potential around 4*, but ability of at least 2*, your technique is properly a lot cheaper.

[Baodan]

3 hours ago, D_Walcott14 said:

Is there an easy way of doing this, finding the clubs with the best youth set ups, as currently I go through the league checking each team, which is quite time consuming

Surely a quick google search would find the clubs with the best youth facilities? Yup turns out the first page is a top 134 list - here's a link if you need it: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=best+youth+academy+football+manager+2018

Alternatively you could download something like Genie Scout and have it make you a list of the clubs with best youth facilities/setup and/or simply a list of the highest rated talents. 

[Snorks]

12 hours ago, D_Walcott14 said:

Is there an easy way of doing this, finding the clubs with the best youth set ups, as currently I go through the league checking each team, which is quite time consuming

Really! I might try that, as normally I would only go for u16's who have a potential around 4*, but ability of at least 2*, your technique is properly a lot cheaper.

Plenty of lists out there if you google it - FM18 Best Youth facilities probably do it.

I don;t know if I am over the top, but  I scout the top 50 in my active leagues (or thereabouts) - 4* potential and up get shortlisted regardless of position, and then the ones I need for the u18s team are actively courted.

At that age, the CA is largely irrelevant - they have 4-5 years in which to improve that. If I am paying for a 16 year old I am paying for his potential, and  I am in no rush to get them into the first team.

[D_Walcott14]

11 hours ago, Snorks said:

If I am paying for a 16 year old I am paying for his potential, and  I am in no rush to get them into the first team.

How much would you be willing to spend on a 16year old?

currently I manage Boca, who are only allowed 5 foreign players, so I have to get argentine youngsters, and I fear that my fellow argentine clubs up the price, because of the lack of availability

[Snorks]

On 27/07/2018 at 19:20, D_Walcott14 said:

How much would you be willing to spend on a 16year old?

Depends entirely on his potential, personality, determination, professionalism etc etc. How badly does my u18 team need a player in that position? Most I have spent in this save so far is 3.3mil for a 16yr old winger. But he has the attributes I look for in a winger, only 1* CA but 4,5* PA - which at AC MIlan is scarey good.

 

[zlatanera]

On 27/07/2018 at 08:20, D_Walcott14 said:

How much would you be willing to spend on a 16year old?

currently I manage Boca, who are only allowed 5 foreign players, so I have to get argentine youngsters, and I fear that my fellow argentine clubs up the price, because of the lack of availability

You only need to be an Argentine resident for 2 years to get nationality though. I've stockpiled Colombians in River Plate's reserves, most of them are already at Superliga level so I've loaned them to domestic clubs. I've got three (real) players in the Brazil national team too - Rodrygo, Fabricio Oya and Junior Tavares - and they all gained Argentine nationality after two years, I think the longest it took was Oya needed a couple of months for the paperwork to come through. 

Argentine and Brazilian youth cost more due to the relative financial strength of those clubs compared to the rest of the continent, although you can get some bargains in the lower divisions of both nations.

Argentine clubs don't seem to be great a renewing contracts though, so keep an eye on that - as well as a few first-teamers like Ivan Marcone, I've also managed to snap up a regen CB who had been playing regularly since he was generated for Lanus (he's 18 and has something like 50 league apps) for free as they didn't renew him either. 

[Box]

If you're signing 10 young players per season it's no wonder there's a good amount of them failing to develop or 'stagnating'. You're not developing them properly as you're stockpiling them - I['m guessing they just sit in your clubs u18/u23 teams for a few season with maybe a loan or two here and there, with a very rare cup game thrown in now and then?  That's not great mate, they'll never flourish to their potential. 

Plus, for the ones that do get more attention and develop to a decent level, they will get pushed into your first team quicker which then brings down you're average squad age. Before long this is going to decline substantially so after a few seasons it will further limit the overall experience and mental development options within your first team.

Chill out on the signings, rely on your scouts to do their job more and spend longer watching them at their current clubs (it wont cost too much more to buy them after a season or so) so you get a more accurate report of their potential, as well as their attributes and character (hidden attributes). From there just limit yourself to 3-4 of the very best potential targets per season, taking more care in developing them.  

Its also worth signing the odd experienced player purely to help out with mental attribute development too. 

[Carninho]

when I'm in the mood I just scroll through all the national team squads. I add in the age column and then check any young players that make it into the main squad. I'll then see if any teenagers make it into the U21's and scout them if they look worth it. 

another easy tip is to check out different teams main info page as it will tell you who their star player and hot prospect is. if they are regens and have a quick look.

as for buying players I tend to only have one or 2 young players for every position. You need to give them first team action to fully develop.

 

[D_Walcott14]

On 29/07/2018 at 01:50, zlatanera said:

you only need to be an Argentine resident for 2 years to get nationality though.

Only just realsied this, cheers!

Two questions then:

1)what countrys do you find have young players willing to move? I made the mistake of going after french top division players, all of which had no interest in argentina.

2)Is there a way to make these players want to join, from better teams?

[jaysdailydose]

7 hours ago, Box said:

If you're signing 10 young players per season it's no wonder there's a good amount of them failing to develop or 'stagnating'. You're not developing them properly as you're stockpiling them - I['m guessing they just sit in your clubs u18/u23 teams for a few season with maybe a loan or two here and there, with a very rare cup game thrown in now and then?  That's not great mate, they'll never flourish to their potential. 

Plus, for the ones that do get more attention and develop to a decent level, they will get pushed into your first team quicker which then brings down you're average squad age. Before long this is going to decline substantially so after a few seasons it will further limit the overall experience and mental development options within your first team.

Chill out on the signings, rely on your scouts to do their job more and spend longer watching them at their current clubs (it wont cost too much more to buy them after a season or so) so you get a more accurate report of their potential, as well as their attributes and character (hidden attributes). From there just limit yourself to 3-4 of the very best potential targets per season, taking more care in developing them.  

Its also worth signing the odd experienced player purely to help out with mental attribute development too. 

I have to agree.  I try to keep my youth teams to 16 players overall, both my U18 and U23, if possible.  I'd always kept them small, but it was reinforced by Cleon in his amazing Ajax thread in FM14.  

Here's my general philosophy, and a big thanks to Cleon once again for such an amazing piece of writing that so many in the community use years later.  Quoting Cleon: 

Quote

 

Development Plan

Every Ajax youth eleven has 16 players. There are 2 goalkeepers. Four right-footed players are selected for positions 2, 6, and 7 (right back, right midfield, right wing fwd), Four left-footed players for positions 5, 8 and 11 (left back, left midfield, left forward), Three players for 3 and 4 (central defenders) and finally three players for 9 and 10 (striker and shadow striker). This applies from the Under 10 team up to the first eleven. During the players’ development, therefore, they play in the two or three positions within the team for which they have been selected.

 

And here's the link to the entire thread, which is pure Football Manager gold if you've never read it -- thanks again to Cleon: 

 

[Snorks]

That Ajax article was where  I got most of my 'strategy' around youth development. 

I keep my u18s at 22 players - 2 in each position. My u20s is a larger squad to allow for loans going out, and some players being used in the first team, but essentially built around a 22-player structure again.

My first team, is 22 players as well. Two in each position. With injuries and rotations it naturally provides openings for u20s to fill when needed over the season, plus the cup games etc.

 

[zlatanera]

2 hours ago, D_Walcott14 said:

Only just realsied this, cheers!

Two questions then:

1)what countrys do you find have young players willing to move? I made the mistake of going after french top division players, all of which had no interest in argentina.

2)Is there a way to make these players want to join, from better teams?

1) I just scout South America, but you can get players from the States (newgens at least, I had a couple rated "very interested" from L.A. Galaxy when I last played). Colombia is a goldmine, as is the Brazilian Serie B. I found my own academy produced enough that I had a bloated squad though, and loaned out all the Colombians. Found a few rated good potential from Peru and Chile but their CA tended to be lower. I never tried to buy Mexicans as that league's top clubs can offer higher wages than I could initially then later was willing to, but it might be worth a try.

2) Win the Club World Cup a few times, perhaps? I managed to bloat my finances to the extent I could pay someone £60k a week after a couple of Copa Libertadores and Superliga titles, and a lot of sales, but I could only really get South Americans or lesser nationalities (I have a Serbian international I picked up for free from my affiliate Vojvodina). Still, I had Juan Quintero on loan until December 2018 and he had no intention of joining, by mid 2021 him and Giovanni Lo Celso both wanted in on a free. It'll be a long haul to get your rep up enough, and quite a few players cite "quality of life", before you'll be able to buy many Europeans. I would advise playing like a South American Ajax (which is effectively what the big SAmerican clubs like River, Boca, Santos do). You can, if you're lucky get some good deals:

Possibly the most proud I've ever been of a transfer of a real player. He had broke into the Argentina squad about 3 months earlier and got a couple of caps.

[D_Walcott14]

On 30/07/2018 at 19:55, jaysdailydose said:

Here's my general philosophy,

 

On 30/07/2018 at 19:55, jaysdailydose said:

Every Ajax youth eleven has 16 players.

I am going to try this tactic, but keep the amount of players around 22.

Quick question though, how do you guys judge who to keep in your youth teams, and who to release, currently, I purely look at their potential, as I have very little interest in the low potential ones, is this the right way to look at it?

[Snorks]

10 hours ago, D_Walcott14 said:

 

I am going to try this tactic, but keep the amount of players around 22.

Quick question though, how do you guys judge who to keep in your youth teams, and who to release, currently, I purely look at their potential, as I have very little interest in the low potential ones, is this the right way to look at it?

At 15 or 16 looking at just PA is the way  I go - the older they get, the more their CA becomes part of my thinking. Once they hit 18, I want them at a CA suitable for two divisions below me - they can then get loaned out at that level. If they are not tracking quite as well as that,  I make a decision on whether to continue with training or whether to flag them as 'Releases' - which wont happen till the contract runs out. 

Nothing is hard-and-fast for me, I make my choices based on a number of different things.

Whether my u18 team has enough players in that position, what his professionalism, attributes etc are like.

My youth teams are reviewed every intake day, a plan is put in place, and hopefully the squads are pretty finalized over summer - any extras brought in etc. Whetehr to keep or release is a decision I make near the end of the contract itself, on an individual basis for each player.

[zlatanera]

Do most of you use "sign recommended players" after the youth candidates match, or do you go through them yourself? I used to go through them myself and only sign ones that were 2 yellow 1 black potential and above, but then with a couple of youth challenges on previous FMs and the introduction of "golden generation" intakes I've tended to just sign all of them, especially if I'm a so-called "selling club". 

[HUNT3R]

I've had 2 star PA players be the best of the entire youth intake, looking under the hood at the PA number, so I sign everyone. My coaches can then track their progress.

[jaysdailydose]

6 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Do most of you use "sign recommended players" after the youth candidates match, or do you go through them yourself? I used to go through them myself and only sign ones that were 2 yellow 1 black potential and above, but then with a couple of youth challenges on previous FMs and the introduction of "golden generation" intakes I've tended to just sign all of them, especially if I'm a so-called "selling club". 

I tend to sign all of them to the youth deal.  I kind of hate it, as I like to keep my youth sides to as close to 16 players as possible (Ajax/Cleon strategy)  but I'll usually give them at least 6 months to a year if I'm not completely overloaded at a position (and can't train them to another less-congested area of the side) before making my decision and wielding the axe.

As Hunt3r says in the post directly above, sometimes those lower-stars players wind up becoming big-PA gems, so I like to give everyone at least a shot.  

The thing to remember is that training/tutoring is most important before they turn 18, so if the side is a touch overloaded, the players can still progress... by the time they are 18, though, you need playing time for them, so you actually have 2.5-3 in-game years before HAVING to make a decision on a player signed from the youth intake.

In a situation where my youth team is just massively overcrowded, I still sign at least MOST of the players, and then just figure it out six months down the road.  I still want to get those youths playing time, and if I make a decision to cut someone after six months, and they go on to become a world-beater, I can at least say they hadn't shown me anything for at least six months to make me think they'd ever be more than a kid cleaning boots.    

Whatever you gotta tell yourself, right?  

[Snorks]

6 hours ago, zlatanera said:

Do most of you use "sign recommended players" after the youth candidates match, or do you go through them yourself? I used to go through them myself and only sign ones that were 2 yellow 1 black potential and above, but then with a couple of youth challenges on previous FMs and the introduction of "golden generation" intakes I've tended to just sign all of them, especially if I'm a so-called "selling club". 

I tend not to, as I find the youth squad can become overloaded - although I accept that there are some gems that slip through the cracks. I do spend time looking at them in some detail though before deciding.

[zlatanera]

@HUNT3R @jaysdailydose @Snorks Some good takes - I don't have the editor and don't intend to get it, would never look under the hood and am trying to stop using the wonderkid lists as I think the unpredictability will be more fun.

I don't really mind my u18s becoming too bloated, I'd only micromanage the training of the ones with good potential. Thinking in my new save I'll try just signing them all to youth contracts then not turning pro unless there's interest in them or I'm progressing them to u21s / u20s / B team. 

Can't say I've ever seen someone slip through the cracks to become a world-beater, or even a Conference level player. Had a couple of those ones where it shows a club in their history before the club they join in the intake who were quite good though. Is that perhaps the in-game equivalent of a young player getting his head turned by the youth staff (in this case your HoYD) of a bigger club and moving before they're 16? 

[BamBamBam]

My Process for finding the best Regens is follows:

1) Go to the World Menu, Transfers then Youth Intake at the end of every month.

2) Add all these players to a Shortlist

3) List the players in Value order.

4) Then scout as many of the players starting from the most valuable.

5) Move players with a 5 Star potential into another list clear the rest.

6) Pick the best from that new List. 

 

[Neil Brock]

5 hours ago, BamBamBam said:

My Process for finding the best Regens is follows:

1) Go to the World Menu, Transfers then Youth Intake at the end of every month.

2) Add all these players to a Shortlist

3) List the players in Value order.

4) Then scout as many of the players starting from the most valuable.

5) Move players with a 5 Star potential into another list clear the rest.

6) Pick the best from that new List. 

 

See for me that would 100% go against how I would want to play the game. I'd rather find the players naturally through scouting rather than using their value as an indicator for who to scout via the 'Youth Intake' panel.

But the old classic, everyone is entitled to play the game however they want. Just would really take way the sense of satisfaction of actually finding a good youth player for me. 

[jaysdailydose]

On 02/08/2018 at 20:19, zlatanera said:

@HUNT3R @jaysdailydose @Snorks Some good takes - I don't have the editor and don't intend to get it, would never look under the hood and am trying to stop using the wonderkid lists as I think the unpredictability will be more fun.

I don't really mind my u18s becoming too bloated, I'd only micromanage the training of the ones with good potential. Thinking in my new save I'll try just signing them all to youth contracts then not turning pro unless there's interest in them or I'm progressing them to u21s / u20s / B team. 

Can't say I've ever seen someone slip through the cracks to become a world-beater, or even a Conference level player. Had a couple of those ones where it shows a club in their history before the club they join in the intake who were quite good though. Is that perhaps the in-game equivalent of a young player getting his head turned by the youth staff (in this case your HoYD) of a bigger club and moving before they're 16? 

I also do not use the editor, and have never used it in the entirety of my FM "career."  I also never read any lists for wonderkids/top staff or any of that either, and it makes the game far more enjoyable.  There's nothing better than unearthing a kid no one has even heard of and making him beastly.

Your last paragraph I would say is a very good explanation to what happens, except I don't think they join in the actual intake during that early movement at 15/16... especially if it happens to be an affiliate or something.  It is from a save in FM17, but Everton had Nottingham Forest for a feeder club about four years into the save, and they poached multiple high-PA kids from Forest with a quickness.  Essentially Forest would "grow" the player and Everton would buy the player within the first couple days to where it LOOKED like the player was at Forest pre-intake and came in with Everton, but Everton had actually bought them for a fee within the first few days of the intake appearing.  That was 17, though I'm sure it has not changed much, if at all, in 18.

[jaysdailydose]

On 03/08/2018 at 07:52, Neil Brock said:

See for me that would 100% go against how I would want to play the game. I'd rather find the players naturally through scouting rather than using their value as an indicator for who to scout via the 'Youth Intake' panel.

But the old classic, everyone is entitled to play the game however they want. Just would really take way the sense of satisfaction of actually finding a good youth player for me. 

I'm with Neil... especially at a bit lower club, it doesn't feel realistic to me that I've got a list of every 15/16 year-old that entered the football world at my fingertips... the scouting costs alone to determine valuation would be prohibitive...

But yup, play how you want, of course.  For those that play that way, it would be an extremely good system for finding the best prospects in the world, absolutely.

[jaysdailydose]

On 01/08/2018 at 08:18, D_Walcott14 said:

 

I am going to try this tactic, but keep the amount of players around 22.

Quick question though, how do you guys judge who to keep in your youth teams, and who to release, currently, I purely look at their potential, as I have very little interest in the low potential ones, is this the right way to look at it?

Looking at potential is obviously big, but make sure you at least do a solid glance at all of the attributes.  For instance, if you've got a AML with a 3-star potential, but he has a 1 for Composure, let's say, and he already is saying "The player thinks this training is not beneficial" then you know he'll always be a winger with very little composure on the ball... same with attributes like Decisions, or Stamina, or obviously the required attributes for whatever position they play.

I've definitely had some "low potential" guys that the attribute spread showed they had the ability to at least step in and do a job, and at best could be a solid starter.  

Potential is great at that age, but reaching potential doesn't mean much if the attributes are going to all be in the wrong spots for what you want him to do.

The one thing I want to focus on in your post is: "I purely look at their potential" - I don't do anything in the game PURELY by one thing.  Potential is a great way to roll it all into a ball, but you've got to look at things like the attribute spread I mentioned.  You also have to look at their potential path to the first team.  Are they in a position where you are loaded to where they'll be blocked at U23 level, or the first team itself?  Things like that... I just never make decisions off just one data point.  Try to take the whole ball of wax into consideration.  

Every decision you make will affect the club in a positive or negative fashion long-term, so really take the time to make sure you are making the correct decision for what you wish to accomplish.

I'll end my book now.   Hope this helps.

[Snorks]

6 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

The one thing I want to focus on in your post is: "I purely look at their potential" - I don't do anything in the game PURELY by one thing.  

I think I may have said something along those lines in the past @jaysdailydose so I will try and expand on that a bit, as  I can see where misunderstandings could happen.

 

So, I use the 'World Transfers page, I am at a top club, I can afford it, and it's not unrealistic. I send scouts to the top 50 or so academies each year asking for a report card. You can imagine there are 40-50 cards in my Scouting Meeting,  I go through all of them, I need a quick scan initially. I use the PA for this, ignoring the yellow/black for the moment. 4+ will get further scouted - I want to see the black stars filled as much as possible. I don;pt look at the position, attributes or anything else at this point. Pure PA.

The high PA ones get added to my u18 shortlist and scouted further - to  100% if necessary. Once my own intake and trails are concluded, and players signed,  I look at what positions I need to fill in my u18 team. This is the point I start to consider personality, attribute spread etc. as I am now actually considering bringing them into the club.

 

The rest will remain in the shortlist, they will stay there for however long they are likely to be useful to me. Some will be there until they retire, some get bumped out when they stop developing, but I 'file' them away in different shortlists as  Igo.

My shortlists are:

'Default' - any player i scout could be added here if  Iam not sure I want to SL him, or while waiting for scouting to finish.

Key Player: CA3.5 only i here, these are players I keep an eye on and will pay big money for to step straight into my first team.

Backup: Up to 3* players here, again, these will be able to step into the first team squad, but  would probably be buying them for cover (some higher potential will be in here too)

U23s : Yes I wmay buy some players for the u23 squad, they will have decent potential, but at the moment they don;t have CA to play first team for me - if I have a position to fill in the u23s here is where i will find them

u18s: Newgens get added to this one.

 

Every player added to shortlist for a year so they get looked at every twelve months and decision whether to leave them shortlisted or not is made.

So whatever happens in my game, say I lose a player suddenly, through injury or Barcelona (they seem to be sniffing around a lot and unsettling some of my guys) I have a ready-made list of players  I go to.

Example: Musacchio, my third best DC, was 3* CA and 3*PA - squad player behind Bonucci and Romagnoli - head turned by Chelsea, I negotiated $64mil. Wasn;t a sale  I had planned to make, but while it was going on, I hit my 'Backup' shortlist, found a 22 yr old, 2.5* CA with 4.5* PA - done deal for $32mil. Both TFRs finalised on the same day.

 

Time spent maintaining my shortlists saves a heap of hassle if and when the unexpected happens and I am in a position, as with Musacchio, where  I can take advantage of opportunity when it appears - $32 boost to the finances without having to 'go looking' for anyone.

 

Rambled a bit off-topic there sorry.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

8 hours ago, jaysdailydose said:

For instance, if you've got a AML with a 3-star potential, but he has a 1 for Composure, let's say, and he already is saying "The player thinks this training is not beneficial" then you know he'll always be a winger with very little composure on the ball... same with attributes like Decisions, or Stamina, or obviously the required attributes for whatever position they play.

I've definitely had some "low potential" guys that the attribute spread showed they had the ability to at least step in and do a job, and at best could be a solid starter.  

Potential is great at that age, but reaching potential doesn't mean much if the attributes are going to all be in the wrong spots for what you want him to do.

Agreed.

I evaluate youth by their attribute spread - do they need new position training? Do they have the attributes at a decent level for me to bother with? I tend to look for youngsters with around a 10 in all the key attributes, maybe one or two weak attributes I can 'fix' over five years. Those players are surprisingly common and after tutoring are likely to be ready for first team action by 18-20 usually, which is what I like to see. :P It's unusual because the starting U23/U18's tend to be awful compared to a decent youth intake in my experience. 

 

Low potential guys with a solid attribute spread can be good enough to bench 'stars'. I had one of these at left back in an old Manchester United save - the FM version of Ashley Young, because he benched everyone, it was nonsense. He didn't think he was very good either so he signed low wage contracts and didn't get to 1million in value. (That probably won't happen in 2018 though.)

 

One rare thing I like seeing game-wise (but hate seeing personally) is youth rejecting tutoring options... Usually gets them a ticket out of the club pronto!

[Hovis Dexter]

On 03/08/2018 at 12:52, Neil Brock said:

See for me that would 100% go against how I would want to play the game. I'd rather find the players naturally through scouting rather than using their value as an indicator for who to scout via the 'Youth Intake' panel ....

I think this is probably a stupid question but as I’ve just started to play with attributes masked I’ll ask it anyway. In the scouting screen do you only show players that have been scouted?

[BamBamBam]

On 03/08/2018 at 12:52, Neil Brock said:

See for me that would 100% go against how I would want to play the game. I'd rather find the players naturally through scouting rather than using their value as an indicator for who to scout via the 'Youth Intake' panel.

But the old classic, everyone is entitled to play the game however they want. Just would really take way the sense of satisfaction of actually finding a good youth player for me. 

I scout by value but also list players by stats as well. So I pick up some bargain wonder kids as well. 

I’m only using the game as is. 

[zlatanera]

Everybody does it differently. I'm trying to move away from using online lists of wonderkids, but most of my best signings in the only save since I started that have been ones I only knew about from the lists (Rodrygo and Fabricio Oya for example).  

As Neil said, everyone can play it how they like. I use similar methods to you @BamBamBam once I get to the stage where the newgens start to make it in the game (usually around 2020), but I tend to find myself compulsively buying too many of them to prevent rivals snatching them up, only to then lose interest in managing my bloated squad so I've stopped doing it. No moral thing about it though, just trying to prolong my saves a bit.

It really comes down to how you want to play though - I have fond memories of earlier games when I hadn't discovered all the FM stuff online where I picked up Paolo Dybala on a free and had him become my spearhead, then a few months later he's signing for Juventus for €30million+ and becoming one of the best forwards on the planet. Or taking over Monaco and building my team around Anthony Martial, whom I'd never heard of, and 6 months later he's signing for my rl favourite team and scoring on his debut. When I want to do something really specific tactically however, I prefer to have as much knowledge as possible about my player pool so I can get everything working faster.

[Weston]

I actually think finding talented young newgens is arguably too easy. I find in a few years my entire team is made of teens and low-20s with amazing stats. I mean, I search and scout extensively for them, but is it not pretty obvious that newgens are, on average, much better than the real-life youth players included, thus providing more opportunities for success? 

[Weston]

We did some analysis in another thread and it turns out it there is actually a disproportionately large amount of talented newgens as the game goes on: