Need advice on developing a golden generation

[Jack722]

My favourite part about football manager is developing young players, but I never really get stick around long enough at clubs to be able to take players from the youth academy to become nailed on first teamers. The only players that i really get to integrate in to teams are wonderkids that I buy from other clubs. However, this save I have been blessed with some players from the academy with lots of potential that are all under 21 years old. 

I want to create my own Barcelona situation where i have a core of academy players all playing on the same wavelength and winning trophies. Even though some of these academy players probably won't make it to the very very top, I will sign world class players in the positions that currently aren't covered, with the money saved from not having to buy squad players, to propel this future team to the top.

My issue is that I'm not sure what style this team would play in best.

Lester Lake ST

TThis is the guy who I'm having most trouble trying to train. He's got a mad number of green attributes for a 16 year old, but if you look closer, these are attributes that don't really fit one role. Good aggression and bravery, but poor work rate. Execellent heading and good strength, but poor jumping reach and balance (although these might significantly develop due to him not being fully grown yet.. I hope) I also can't see him dropping deep because of the poor passing, or running onto through balls due to his poor pace and acceleration.

How do you see this player playing? support or attack? on his own or with a partner? Any particular roles that you think may suit him?

Chris Shaw RW

Extremely pacey and has already a few assists from the bench this season at 17. I originally saw this player as an out and out winger, ready to stretch defences and wreak havoc on the counter. However, he's a lot better at passing then crossing, so maybe he'd play better as an inside forward on the left on support, ready to cut in and play a key pass.

Ed Crabb AM

I see Crabb as a classic advanced playmaker. He has excellent mentals for the role as a 17 year old, and also has good balance. I'm currently training his dribbling, as i feel that dribbling, balance and agility could fit well with each other. I see this player sending lots of through balls to Chris Shaw who has the pace on the wing.

Callum Slattery AM

There isn't much to say about Slattery, considering he is already premier league quality, but I see him as a Frank Lampard sort of player, arriving late in the box and scoring lots of goals. He has excellent off the ball, acceleration and finishing. And although he is a strong passer, I dont think the attribute is quite high enough for him to be a designated playmaker.

Jordan Misambo LB

Definitely an attacking full back, or even a complete wingback. This kid has it all for a leftback. I definitely see him overlapping a wide player and sending crosses into the box.

Yan Valery RB

Valery is another fullback without a weakness, but I see him playing slightly more defensive than Misambo due to his excellent jumping reach for the role. He could be used to cut out long balls on the right side.

Future Lineup

 I think that this is the best formation to get the best out of my academy players. I will definitely have to sign a world class defensive midfielder, because Crabb and Slattery playing together doesn't offer much defensive protection, especially if i want Misambo to bomb up the left. I also want to sign a goal threat out wide to play on an attack duty.

If Lake's jumping reach and balance dramtically improves with age, then I can see him being a player who can hold up the ball, he has good strenght and a good first touch. Maybe we could play direct and get Lake to hold the ball up for slattery and the wide players to get a shot off. On the other hand, maybe it would be best to play the ball out of defence and try to get the ball to Crabb in the AP position to pick out a key pass.

How would you guys develop this generation of academy players? I have no idea what style of play would suit this team best. 

[herne79]

3 hours ago, Jack72 said:

How would you guys develop this generation of academy players? I have no idea what style of play would suit this team best. 

The 16/17/18 year olds are all young enough that you can develop them in any way you see fit to suit whatever style of play you want.

Your 16 year old striker for example, you say:

3 hours ago, Jack72 said:

but if you look closer, these are attributes that don't really fit one role. Good aggression and bravery, but poor work rate. Execellent heading and good strength, but poor jumping reach and balance (although these might significantly develop due to him not being fully grown yet.. I hope) I also can't see him dropping deep because of the poor passing, or running onto through balls due to his poor pace and acceleration.

He's only 16.  Poor Pace (13) and Acceleration (10)?  They can be developed.  Poor Work Rate (10) is a solid starting point.

Below the age of 18, Training takes precedence in player development.  So for the under 18s especially (and everyone tbh) make sure you set individual training plans for them yourself - don't let your assistant do it as he doesn't know how you want them to develop.  It's also important to understand that when setting an individual role to train you aren't actually training a role - you are training a set of attributes.  So if you see a set of attributes you like the look of for training, don't be afraid to set that role even if it isn't the role you want the player to play as.  For example - you may want to develop your striker's attributes across the board for a year or two even if you ultimately want him to play as a Poacher.  In which case setting him to train as a Complete Forward for a while could be a good idea before switching his training to the Poacher role.

You've got a good strategy already, now just execute your training plans for them - you can pretty much do whatever you want to .

[enigmatic]

You don't have to play players in the same role you train them in

If you want to fix Lester's passing and vision, give him a creative training role like Trequartista (even though he'll probably never be a Trequartista in a match). If you want him to improve all round at a slightly slower rate , train him as a complete forward. If you're quite happy with him never being a good passer and focusing on being even better at dribbling and finishing and with better movement, train him as an advanced forward. And don't forget he's going to get quicker when he grows anyway.

Shaw probably depends on whether you want a left sided or right sided player more, though he'll be good in both roles if he develops properly regardless of how you train him. Personally even if I wanted to mostly use him on the left cutting in, I'd train him in a winger role (AML) to improve his crossing (you can add shooting to the winger role, but you can't add crossing to the IF). If you're confident you want to play him on the left cutting in all the time, consider training him as a wide playmaker (focuses training effort on mentals instead of his already lightning quick pace)

Looks like you've got plans for the others, and frankly they're young and versatile enough to play pretty much any style you want (bar long balls to a target man, because Lester's never going to be that good in the air)

Crabb needs turning into a MC if you don't expect to play with a 10 much, but again you can choose pretty much any role (AP makes sense, RP trains more attributes, a DLP or CM(D) Carrilero would make him contribute more defensively whilst still helping him pick passes if you're not bothered about his dribbling)

 

 

[Luizinho]

1 hour ago, herne79 said:

Below the age of 18, Training takes precedence in player development. 

So game time isn't essential for a player under 18?

If they're good enough to play for the 1st team, should we avoid it until they're over 18 before being played more regularly?

[herne79]

1 hour ago, Luizinho said:

So game time isn't essential for a player under 18?

If they're good enough to play for the 1st team, should we avoid it until they're over 18 before being played more regularly?

Game time at a relevant level is important for all ages, so don't avoid it.  It's just that below 18 Training is more important.