2014 Youth Development - The Best Method?

[Ashez]

Youth Development - The Best Method?

 

Developing youth is a key factor in Football Manager and there are various ways we can do this, in this guide i will be looking at three methods to see which one develops youngsters the best. Every now and then a thread will appear asking which is the best way to improve youngsters, intensive training, game time or using the loan system. Each method has there pros and cons like using the loan system means the player is no longer on intensive training, so let's get myth busting and find out some facts!

 

The Control:

 

To start things off i needed a player who was fixed on every save to use as a control so i could compare each set of results, for this test i decided to use Julian Draxler, the reason for this is because he is the youngest set player i saw (according to Dec's short list) at nineteen and he has a big difference between his current ability and his potential ability. I also needed to use two clubs for these tests so once again looking at one of Dec's short lists i found Barcelona and Chelsea as the perfect clubs as they have matching training efficiency's.

 

Julian Draxler - CA 148 - PA 175:

 

 

He starts out a good looking player but let's see what is the best method to improve him.

 

 

Test One:

Just Intensive Training:

The Training I used:

 

 

Stats After a Season:

 

 

Stats wise Julian has improved from the starting image at the top, however has his current ability changed?

 

Current Ability After The Season:

 

CA - 148

 

With no game time Julian's current ability remained unchanged, his stats have improved but it's a visual improvement and nothing else.

 

Test Two:

Reserve Team And Intensive Training:

 

We've discovered that IT alone isn't enough to improve a player so let's find out if he'll improve with minutes on the pitch.

 

Stats After a Season:

 

 

A steady improvement on the starting image.

 

Results - Evidence Of Game Time:

 

 

An impressive season.

 

Current Ability After The Season:

 

CA - 161

 

A massive improvement, Julian's current ability has improved by thirteen! 

 

So match time is vital in the development of youngsters.

 

Test Three:

A Season On Loan:

 

We've seen the importance of game time at reserve team level but how does this compare to playing on loan at another club, especially as intensive training will not be used. 

 

Stats After A Season:

 

 

As expected the stats haven't seen much of an improvement due to not being on intensive training.

 

Results - Evidence Of Game Time:

 

 

Another impressive season.

 

Current Ability After The Season:

 

CA - 162

 

The best result yet! Julian's current ability grew by a staggering fourteen points!

 

Conclusion:

 

Game time is the important factor in developing youth, yes intensive training makes the players appealing on the eye but if you want to bring a gem through the ranks minutes on the pitch are the way to go. We've discovered intensive training holds back the player if anything and that it means little if he's not on the field so it's your job as the manager to get him playing. The loan system gave the best results but the difference is that low it hardly means anything but it is a great option if you are a team without a reserve structure and if the player isn't ready for your team yet. The reserve team test is really the best of both worlds as the player in under IT and playing regularly, unfortunately this option isn't available to every club, so when playing as a team without a reserve side i suggest you loan the player out or use him in your first team as much as possible.  

 

Thank you for reading, your comments are appreciated.

This post has been promoted to an article

[PriZe]

nice and informative article mate! Thanks for the work

[Dec]

Really in depth, are you going to try this with different players in different teams at different levels? Interesting that the higher CA yields the worse attributes especially mentally though in theory the actual technical attributes should be worse as he isn't training as hard on them.

Superb Ash, look forward to seeing more.

[Ashez]

Cheers guys, i guess i could look into expanding this, never really thought about it

[Dec]

I would love to see the benefits of a player in League 1 or 2 v English reserve team and Intensive Training as playing level is so much worse.

[iPedanta]

That would be great. Maybe do one with each league in England and compare. This would be a good way of finding out how useful youth development is for lower league clubs.

[Archie Graveluth]

And here I learned something new. Congrats Ash.

 

Btw guys, in the first post, you notice that little white arrow in a green square? Show your love and press it. That's what it's there for and it's about time people like Ash and his informative topics get the proper love.

[Balobelly]

Always wondered about this one - reserves Vs. Loaning out

Great article

[anfieldsquirrel]

Cracking guide. I tend to avoid loaning out - will reconsider now!

Will rep

[affan150]

That was expertly written guide! Great work Ashez. P

[Ashez]

Cheers lads , the save editor brings a lot to the table if you think about it .

[ManagerAddict]

Very informative, +1

[Lee-Roy]

I skimmed thro this first time as I was rushing and then I ended pages and pages back. I've only just come back to it from a link.

Great work, really eye opening.

[Ashez]

Cheers

[pjclark09]

Could someone tell me why my version of fmh doesn't have the option to set training schedules. Only change each player from goalkeeper, defender,midfield,or attacking. I play on android on my lg phone. Is the game diff on tablet? I also have noticed other features everyone seems to have,such as database size. As a new handheld player used to the in depth detail of the pc game im quite envious of you guys that get to adjust and tweak things i cannot.

[benjyotr1]

Could someone tell me why my version of fmh doesn't have the option to set training schedules. Only change each player from goalkeeper, defender,midfield,or attacking. I play on android on my lg phone. Is the game diff on tablet? I also have noticed other features everyone seems to have,such as database size. As a new handheld player used to the in depth detail of the pc game im quite envious of you guys that get to adjust and tweak things i cannot.

You have it's just that you have to swipe through the screen. There's 8 circles next to your team name and each circle represents a screen, you can swipe through of tap the three lines next to the circles and select from that menu.

[pjclark09]

Okay thanks. What about the database size? Am i missing where to change that? And iy looks there no way to add training schedules only change existing

[cRaCkZ]

One of the best article from this forum...i think Youth Developing is the most important thing for a team.

[Balobelly]

If you have a patient board and a bit of money then youths guys will flourish hugely - I prefer loaning them out.

Question - if a player hasn't fulfilled his potential via IT and going out on loan etc i.e. His pace and/or stamina haven't sufficiently improved then how long do you keep them for?

If they haven't broken into my first team squad by the time they are 26 then I cut them loose .... Have so far only seen one huge jump in stats once I'd sold a layer in this scenario.

[Ashez]

@Crackz: Cheers mate

@Balo: 21/23 for me, depends how old they were when i signed them though, every player can be replaced so it's not something i worry about tbh, also as i don't use regens often it's rarely an issue for me .

[Balobelly]

Cheers Ashez

[Argonaut]

Great article; I always loan my young players out if I'm not playing them, helps with financials too. What is the difference between Current Ability and visual stats? Is CA tied more to the 5 star coach report?

[Ashez]

The stars are related to how he compares to the rest of your squad, this is why Messi's regen can get a poor report as he won't always be better than the players in your current squad etc.

[scass]

Really interesting article, but being reasonably new to FMH I'm not sure about how you work out the current ability number - I can't see why after a season for instance Draxlers has increased to 161? Sorry if I'm being stupid....

[Nath]

I always loan my youngsters out to get them some game time, I never use IT however like haven't even tried it this FMH.