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A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 27-10-2021 21:53

[BRAU18]
President

Hi everyone. This post is intended for people who want to build a strong youth team — one that can compete at the highest divisions and perhaps bring some trophies home. I'd like to start by saying that I'm not exactly a top tier manager when it comes to youth teams, but I've read a lot about youth team building (mostly brazilian and argentinian content) and had the idea of bringing the basic principles together for anyone that wants to give the youth competitions a try. So, without further ado, let's get into the details. [b]Planning is key[/b] 18-year-old players are the core of any good youth team. They are usually the most developed and also the most experienced. Generally speaking, the more 18-year-old players you have, the better your team is expected to be. However, in order to develop great 18-year-old players that will carry your team through the season and put them together in a tactical system, you need to wisely train them since the day they arrive in your club as 16-year-old rookies. In other words, you need to start planning your youth team two seasons beforehand. You can't build it overnight. Understand that you need to plan and be patient. [b]This is not about selling players later on[/b] One thing that needs to be made clear about the process of building a competitive youth team is that sometimes you'll need to stick to players that will go straight to the trash bin once they turn senior. Those players are really useful for youth teams, but wouldn't have a chance at senior level. Take this player as an example: [img]https://i.imgur.com/coZOvaF.png[/img] He absolutely bosses the midfield in youth matches, trust me, but unfortunately will never become a good senior player due to his own limitations. And sometimes you'll need to embrace players like this one to get better results. Of course there are players out there with a lot of potential that end up being good prospects for our youth teams as well. You can still make money from your youth players or develop national team players even if you want to be competitive. However, the point I'm making here is that your main goal isn't training players for transfer market purposes. You should focus on building a strong youth team instead, and anything else is a mere bonus. [b]Youth academy setup[/b] Regarding the youth academy, we can have up to 23 youth players from different ages (16, 17 or 18 years old). Every manager has their own approach, but the most consistent and balanced one is having all the 23 players and 7/8 players from each age group (8-8-7, 7-8-8, 8-7-8 and so on). That lets the team remain competitive for many seasons in a row in spite of the 18-year-old players (the core of the team) turning senior. So, your starting team would usually consist of eight 18 year-old players and three "filler" players (that could be 16 or 17 year-old players depending on the point at which we are in the season) every season. Some managers choose to train more than eight players for a specific season. That can lead to an outstanding youth team, since the more 18-year-old players the better (in theory), but that also means unbalancing the youth academy arrangement and putting consistency into risk. What would you prefer? Consistency or going all-in? Make your choice and adjust your youth academy setup accordingly (the youth exchange tool is your friend). [b]Choose a tactical system[/b] Choosing a tactical system for your youth team is very important, the main reason being the fact that it will guide your players training: they will be trained in accordance with the system you elect. The most used tactical systems are short passing and wing play. Again, make your choice. And take into account that you can thrive no matter which tactical system you choose (there are top teams playing both short passing and wing play tactics). Here are the most used tactics in this day and age: [img]https://i.imgur.com/mWglkDt.png[/img] I got the tactics above from the Top Series world league, but you can give the tactics your own personal touch of course. [b]Assign each youth player a role[/b] Assuming you choose the consistency route, you'll have seven or eight 16-year-old players ready to be trained at the beginning of each season. You must assign them a position that suits your chosen tactical system. If you're a short passing oriented team, make sure you have at least: – 1 goalkeeper – 4 defenders (3 defenders if you have only 7 players) – 3 centre forwards If you're aiming for wing play tactics, make sure you have at least: – 1 goalkeeper – 4 defenders (3 defenders if you have only 7 players) – 1 winger – 1 poacher (a forward who can score headers) – 1 centre forward When a new season begins, check your 16-year-old players and assign them a position in accordance with your chosen tactics. Use the youth potential tool to aid in this decision-making process. For example, if a player has tackling as one of his low potential skills, he can't be a defender (note that having tackling as one of his highest potential skills is not necessarily needed though). Also, don't be afraid to assign roles even if it looks like there are no good players for a certain position. For example, let's say that there is no player that looks like good enough to be your goalkeeper. Pick a player anyway. You will probably swap him for someone better later (through the youth exchange tool), but you need to ensure that you have a backup keeper in the case you don't find a better one. After assigning each player a position, use the youth exchange tool to polish your 16 year-old team as the season goes by. Exchange a player for another if you feel like you found a better one for a certain position, but remember to exchange only the 16 year-old players — don't touch the older players; stick with them. Remember that the best players are the ones that arrive at your club with the most amount of balls in important skills (we will talk about this later) and the ones that train faster (according to the youth report tool). Don't forget that the best ones are not necessarily the ones with potential of becoming a really good senior player. And be aware that the only thing that can really "kill" a player is his lowest potential — if he is not compromised there, he could be worth a try. I once had a keeper with 8 keeping and 3 stars high potential in ball control and stamina, for instance. He was more than good enough. When those players reach the age of 18, your goalkeeper will play as a goalkeeper (duh), your defenders will play in the defense (maybe one of them will be the defensive midfielder), the strikers will play upfront and the midfield will mostly consist of the "filler" 16 y.o./17 y.o. players (wherever they're needed). Finally, if you're training more than eight players, you can replace the "filler" players with them. [b]Training your players[/b] Well, that's a bit obvious, but you need to train your players and you need to do it very well. If you want to establish wing play tactics: - Your goalkeeper needs keeping and stamina. Play intelligence and aerial passing can be trained as secondary skills, but aren't as important. Keeping 7 and Stamina 5 are the minimum for a good youth keeper. Aim for the highest you can achieve. - Your winger needs aerial passing, stamina and speed. Speed 5~6 is good enough, so aim for the highest aerial passing and stamina you can get. - Your poacher needs heading, shooting and stamina. Aim for at least 8 balls in shooting and heading and the highest stamina you can get. - Your other forward needs stamina, shooting and (controversially) speed. Aim for 6~7 balls in speed and stamina and for the highest amount of balls in shooting (at least 7, 8 is recommended). Train other skills like passing and ball control as secondary skills, but prioritize stamina and shooting above all. - Your defenders and midfielders mainly need stamina, tackling and aerial passing. Aim for 7 balls in each, then you can train other skills like speed, passing and play intelligence. Keep in mind that skills like speed and play intelligence aren't a must! Aerial passing and stamina are way more important (apart from the obvious tackling). If you want to play short passing tactics, the rules are the same, except for the fact you'll have three forwards instead of a forward, a winger and a poacher. Aerial passing is still important for your defenders and midfielders in some way because they will still clear the ball to someone upfront sometimes, but you can kinda overlook it since they won't be making aerial passes all the time. You can prioritize short passing or even speed training for your defenders and midfielders in this case. It's up to personal preference. Be creative! Also, it's possible that you won't be able to produce players that meet the requeriments listed above. It happens to me quite a lot to be honest. Nevertheless, do your best to produce the best player you can anyway! Last but not least, make sure to send your youths to the training camp at the ages of 16 and 17 (choose relevant training camp packs for each position to the extent possible) and hire coaches for the main skills so they can develop faster when not attending training camps (class B coaches are more than enough). It's advised to send your 17-year-old players to the training camp before day 56 of each season. That secures they will be ready to serve in your team when they are 18 years old from the start the season after. As a rule of thumb, youths don't go to the training camp during the season they are 18 years old (they go towards the end of the season if you think it's worth) because they are needed to carry your team through the season, however there are strategies that differ from that one. You can some of your 18-year-old players to the training camp at the beginning of the season so they come back stronger around day 35 (that would hinder the results at the beginning of the season, maybe), or you can use training camp chips to make sure he develops faster while still being available, for example. [b]Seeing results[/b] After carefully choosing your 16-year-old players and giving them proper training for two seasons, you'll start seeing results. For reference, here are Carrapichel - FDFDF (Season 79 U18 Champions Cup Winner) 18-year-old starters at the beginning of Season 79: https://imgur.com/a/qpy88yJ This team is wing play oriented of course. This is how your players should look like if you want to do well. By the way, guiabud, the Carrapichel manager, is a very nice person and his players are always open for anyone to see. Another example of succesful youth team is O-TT-O. He won many trophies in Season 79, including the U18 Autumn Cup using the short passing playstyle. Here are his players at the time: https://imgur.com/a/XozgBvi I hope this guide is helpful. Credit goes for all the managers that shared their knowledge. If you have anything to add, feel free to… I know youth competitions are not the main part of this game, but I encourage everyone to at least try. It's fun.Hi everyone.

This post is intended for people who want to build a strong youth team — one that can compete at the highest divisions and perhaps bring some trophies home.

I'd like to start by saying that I'm not exactly a top tier manager when it comes to youth teams, but I've read a lot about youth team building (mostly brazilian and argentinian content) and had the idea of bringing the basic principles together for anyone that wants to give the youth competitions a try.

So, without further ado, let's get into the details.

Planning is key

18-year-old players are the core of any good youth team. They are usually the most developed and also the most experienced. Generally speaking, the more 18-year-old players you have, the better your team is expected to be.

However, in order to develop great 18-year-old players that will carry your team through the season and put them together in a tactical system, you need to wisely train them since the day they arrive in your club as 16-year-old rookies.

In other words, you need to start planning your youth team two seasons beforehand. You can't build it overnight. Understand that you need to plan and be patient.

This is not about selling players later on

One thing that needs to be made clear about the process of building a competitive youth team is that sometimes you'll need to stick to players that will go straight to the trash bin once they turn senior. Those players are really useful for youth teams, but wouldn't have a chance at senior level. Take this player as an example:



He absolutely bosses the midfield in youth matches, trust me, but unfortunately will never become a good senior player due to his own limitations. And sometimes you'll need to embrace players like this one to get better results.

Of course there are players out there with a lot of potential that end up being good prospects for our youth teams as well. You can still make money from your youth players or develop national team players even if you want to be competitive. However, the point I'm making here is that your main goal isn't training players for transfer market purposes. You should focus on building a strong youth team instead, and anything else is a mere bonus.

Youth academy setup

Regarding the youth academy, we can have up to 23 youth players from different ages (16, 17 or 18 years old).

Every manager has their own approach, but the most consistent and balanced one is having all the 23 players and 7/8 players from each age group (8-8-7, 7-8-8, 8-7-8 and so on). That lets the team remain competitive for many seasons in a row in spite of the 18-year-old players (the core of the team) turning senior.

So, your starting team would usually consist of eight 18 year-old players and three "filler" players (that could be 16 or 17 year-old players depending on the point at which we are in the season) every season.

Some managers choose to train more than eight players for a specific season. That can lead to an outstanding youth team, since the more 18-year-old players the better (in theory), but that also means unbalancing the youth academy arrangement and putting consistency into risk.

What would you prefer? Consistency or going all-in? Make your choice and adjust your youth academy setup accordingly (the youth exchange tool is your friend).

Choose a tactical system

Choosing a tactical system for your youth team is very important, the main reason being the fact that it will guide your players training: they will be trained in accordance with the system you elect.

The most used tactical systems are short passing and wing play. Again, make your choice. And take into account that you can thrive no matter which tactical system you choose (there are top teams playing both short passing and wing play tactics).

Here are the most used tactics in this day and age:



I got the tactics above from the Top Series world league, but you can give the tactics your own personal touch of course.

Assign each youth player a role

Assuming you choose the consistency route, you'll have seven or eight 16-year-old players ready to be trained at the beginning of each season. You must assign them a position that suits your chosen tactical system.

If you're a short passing oriented team, make sure you have at least:

– 1 goalkeeper
– 4 defenders (3 defenders if you have only 7 players)
– 3 centre forwards

If you're aiming for wing play tactics, make sure you have at least:

– 1 goalkeeper
– 4 defenders (3 defenders if you have only 7 players)
– 1 winger
– 1 poacher (a forward who can score headers)
– 1 centre forward

When a new season begins, check your 16-year-old players and assign them a position in accordance with your chosen tactics. Use the youth potential tool to aid in this decision-making process. For example, if a player has tackling as one of his low potential skills, he can't be a defender (note that having tackling as one of his highest potential skills is not necessarily needed though).

Also, don't be afraid to assign roles even if it looks like there are no good players for a certain position. For example, let's say that there is no player that looks like good enough to be your goalkeeper. Pick a player anyway. You will probably swap him for someone better later (through the youth exchange tool), but you need to ensure that you have a backup keeper in the case you don't find a better one.

After assigning each player a position, use the youth exchange tool to polish your 16 year-old team as the season goes by. Exchange a player for another if you feel like you found a better one for a certain position, but remember to exchange only the 16 year-old players — don't touch the older players; stick with them. Remember that the best players are the ones that arrive at your club with the most amount of balls in important skills (we will talk about this later) and the ones that train faster (according to the youth report tool). Don't forget that the best ones are not necessarily the ones with potential of becoming a really good senior player. And be aware that the only thing that can really "kill" a player is his lowest potential — if he is not compromised there, he could be worth a try. I once had a keeper with 8 keeping and 3 stars high potential in ball control and stamina, for instance. He was more than good enough.

When those players reach the age of 18, your goalkeeper will play as a goalkeeper (duh), your defenders will play in the defense (maybe one of them will be the defensive midfielder), the strikers will play upfront and the midfield will mostly consist of the "filler" 16 y.o./17 y.o. players (wherever they're needed). Finally, if you're training more than eight players, you can replace the "filler" players with them.

Training your players

Well, that's a bit obvious, but you need to train your players and you need to do it very well.

If you want to establish wing play tactics:

- Your goalkeeper needs keeping and stamina. Play intelligence and aerial passing can be trained as secondary skills, but aren't as important. Keeping 7 and Stamina 5 are the minimum for a good youth keeper. Aim for the highest you can achieve.

- Your winger needs aerial passing, stamina and speed. Speed 5~6 is good enough, so aim for the highest aerial passing and stamina you can get.

- Your poacher needs heading, shooting and stamina. Aim for at least 8 balls in shooting and heading and the highest stamina you can get.

- Your other forward needs stamina, shooting and (controversially) speed. Aim for 6~7 balls in speed and stamina and for the highest amount of balls in shooting (at least 7, 8 is recommended). Train other skills like passing and ball control as secondary skills, but prioritize stamina and shooting above all.

- Your defenders and midfielders mainly need stamina, tackling and aerial passing. Aim for 7 balls in each, then you can train other skills like speed, passing and play intelligence. Keep in mind that skills like speed and play intelligence aren't a must! Aerial passing and stamina are way more important (apart from the obvious tackling).

If you want to play short passing tactics, the rules are the same, except for the fact you'll have three forwards instead of a forward, a winger and a poacher. Aerial passing is still important for your defenders and midfielders in some way because they will still clear the ball to someone upfront sometimes, but you can kinda overlook it since they won't be making aerial passes all the time. You can prioritize short passing or even speed training for your defenders and midfielders in this case. It's up to personal preference. Be creative!

Also, it's possible that you won't be able to produce players that meet the requeriments listed above. It happens to me quite a lot to be honest. Nevertheless, do your best to produce the best player you can anyway!

Last but not least, make sure to send your youths to the training camp at the ages of 16 and 17 (choose relevant training camp packs for each position to the extent possible) and hire coaches for the main skills so they can develop faster when not attending training camps (class B coaches are more than enough).

It's advised to send your 17-year-old players to the training camp before day 56 of each season. That secures they will be ready to serve in your team when they are 18 years old from the start the season after. As a rule of thumb, youths don't go to the training camp during the season they are 18 years old (they go towards the end of the season if you think it's worth) because they are needed to carry your team through the season, however there are strategies that differ from that one. You can some of your 18-year-old players to the training camp at the beginning of the season so they come back stronger around day 35 (that would hinder the results at the beginning of the season, maybe), or you can use training camp chips to make sure he develops faster while still being available, for example.

Seeing results

After carefully choosing your 16-year-old players and giving them proper training for two seasons, you'll start seeing results.

For reference, here are Carrapichel - FDFDF (Season 79 U18 Champions Cup Winner) 18-year-old starters at the beginning of Season 79:

https://imgur.com/a/qpy88yJ

This team is wing play oriented of course. This is how your players should look like if you want to do well. By the way, guiabud, the Carrapichel manager, is a very nice person and his players are always open for anyone to see.

Another example of succesful youth team is O-TT-O. He won many trophies in Season 79, including the U18 Autumn Cup using the short passing playstyle. Here are his players at the time:

https://imgur.com/a/XozgBvi

I hope this guide is helpful. Credit goes for all the managers that shared their knowledge. If you have anything to add, feel free to…

I know youth competitions are not the main part of this game, but I encourage everyone to at least try. It's fun.

 

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Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By maria171 - 28-10-2021 02:43

[MAS]
President

Good article with a lot of useful information and tips. I suggest to sticky this thread. Thanks.Good article with a lot of useful information and tips. I suggest to sticky this thread. Thanks.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By evosa - 28-10-2021 11:48

[LEGEND]

I think that limit is 5 per forum section for sticky. so something has to be removed. I personally think that "The WFO Thread" is pointless and well..assistant structure - nice to know but most of the time usernames written there are most of the time out of date! [:P]

maria171 wrote:

Good article with a lot of useful information and tips. I suggest to sticky this thread. Thanks.

I think that limit is 5 per forum section for sticky. so something has to be removed. I personally think that "The WFO Thread" is pointless and well..assistant structure - nice to know but most of the time usernames written there are most of the time out of date!

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By maria171 - 28-10-2021 14:34

[MAS]
President

Yes correct! couldn’t agree any more less. Someone need to remove these two threads and sticky a new one. But, since you’re no longer FMA, I couldn’t ask for your help. 😅

evosa wrote:

I think that limit is 5 per forum section for sticky. so something has to be removed. I personally think that "The WFO Thread" is pointless and well..assistant structure - nice to know but most of the time usernames written there are most of the time out of date!

Yes correct! couldn’t agree any more less. Someone need to remove these two threads and sticky a new one. But, since you’re no longer FMA, I couldn’t ask for your help. 😅

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By evosa - 28-10-2021 17:28

[LEGEND]

You can do that in green forum, under sticky forum thread! And Mike will help you out! [:P]

maria171 wrote:

Yes correct! couldn’t agree any more less. Someone need to remove these two threads and sticky a new one. But, since you’re no longer FMA, I couldn’t ask for your help. 😅

You can do that in green forum, under sticky forum thread! And Mike will help you out!

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 02-11-2021 00:11

[BRAU18]
President

Thank you for the feedback. I still have a lot to learn in this game, but I genuinely think the post will help some people.

maria171 wrote:

Good article with a lot of useful information and tips. I suggest to sticky this thread. Thanks.

Thank you for the feedback. I still have a lot to learn in this game, but I genuinely think the post will help some people.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By maria171 - 03-11-2021 01:44

[MAS]
President

Thank you for that! Now the thread is pinned! hehe 😉

evosa wrote:

You can do that in green forum, under sticky forum thread! And Mike will help you out!

Thank you for that! Now the thread is pinned! hehe 😉

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By maria171 - 03-11-2021 01:45

[MAS]
President

and you're right. :)

douglaskampl wrote:

..but I genuinely think the post will help some people.

and you're right. :)

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By helheim - 09-11-2021 04:51

[SVEA]

[image url=http://i.imgur.com/aaPvRo4.gif]

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By shok22 - 12-11-2021 01:20

[FRFU18]

Man,i whis this post to be out like 1 year ago!Man,i whis this post to be out like 1 year ago!

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By jere92 - 12-11-2021 06:25

This is great tutorial to follow. I have used it last 16 seasons with couple of tweaks as I want to make money and players for older age groups. Im playing short passing way. Im scouting players only with 3-1, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2 potential and I dont care that much their starting abilities. Im training defenders in this order 7 tackling, 7 speed, 7 stamina. At camps they might also get ball control/passing/aerial passing. Im training fowards on this order 7 shooting, 7 speed, 7 ball control. At camps they also might get stamina/passing/aerial passing. Goalkeepers train keeping and on camps they also might get speed/stamina/aerial passing About O-TT-O he had all-in season last season so he is now playing with full team of 16yo. So not very consistent way but surely brings throphies every three seasons.This is great tutorial to follow. I have used it last 16 seasons with couple of tweaks as I want to make money and players for older age groups.

Im playing short passing way.

Im scouting players only with 3-1, 3-2, 4-1, 4-2 potential and I dont care that much their starting abilities.

Im training defenders in this order 7 tackling, 7 speed, 7 stamina. At camps they might also get ball control/passing/aerial passing.

Im training fowards on this order 7 shooting, 7 speed, 7 ball control. At camps they also might get stamina/passing/aerial passing.

Goalkeepers train keeping and on camps they also might get speed/stamina/aerial passing

About O-TT-O he had all-in season last season so he is now playing with full team of 16yo. So not very consistent way but surely brings throphies every three seasons.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By evosa - 15-11-2021 10:49

[LEGEND]

So I finally had time to read it! [:P] Nice article! Me like this! I used to basically do those things, I even made it to the U18 world league div1 - played there from seasons 68.1 to 69.2(So yeah, that was some time a go). then suddenly I run out of luck with youth players and couldn't stop the bleeding and I fell couple of divisions lower and I just quit my U18 focus! Even when I tried,I got low maxers... But I have started to think about giving a second shot as when I made it to U18 world league div1 there were no scout reports! Only youth training camps!So I finally had time to read it! Nice article! Me like this!

I used to basically do those things, I even made it to the U18 world league div1 - played there from seasons 68.1 to 69.2(So yeah, that was some time a go). then suddenly I run out of luck with youth players and couldn't stop the bleeding and I fell couple of divisions lower and I just quit my U18 focus! Even when I tried,I got low maxers...

But I have started to think about giving a second shot as when I made it to U18 world league div1 there were no scout reports! Only youth training camps!

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 15-11-2021 12:16

[BRAU18]
President

Thank you for the comments. There are a few things that I didn't mention in this article. For example, I could point out more tactics or discuss the possibility of using the youth custom setup. I also encourage late subs in youth matches — my supersub nearly always score a goal after coming in, presumably because the keeper's stamina is depleted and thus "outnumbered". It would be cool if managers left their experiences and tips here (like some are already doing). I didn't play this game before the scout report tool. My guess is that it made the competition even harder. However, you can definitely reach div 1 again. Let's be honest, everyone in this game can. Just a matter of picking (and training) the right players when they're 16!Thank you for the comments. There are a few things that I didn't mention in this article. For example, I could point out more tactics or discuss the possibility of using the youth custom setup. I also encourage late subs in youth matches — my supersub nearly always score a goal after coming in, presumably because the keeper's stamina is depleted and thus "outnumbered". It would be cool if managers left their experiences and tips here (like some are already doing).

evosa wrote:

So I finally had time to read it! Nice article! Me like this!

I used to basically do those things, I even made it to the U18 world league div1 - played there from seasons 68.1 to 69.2(So yeah, that was some time a go). then suddenly I run out of luck with youth players and couldn't stop the bleeding and I fell couple of divisions lower and I just quit my U18 focus! Even when I tried,I got low maxers...

But I have started to think about giving a second shot as when I made it to U18 world league div1 there were no scout reports! Only youth training camps!

I didn't play this game before the scout report tool. My guess is that it made the competition even harder. However, you can definitely reach div 1 again. Let's be honest, everyone in this game can. Just a matter of picking (and training) the right players when they're 16!

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 22-12-2021 02:16

[MZ U18]

Trust me. After 8-13 week adrenalin kick last season, it´s very, very boring now. And I proberly not doing it again. But I would try again and not making all the mistakes I did last time. I´m actully end up with at team where only 10 players had been on camp 3 times and the same 10 players is the only I would call first team players. I was lucky in a couple of ways. Houdini was very speciel and haven´t looked like that without chips. I have been beating out of turnement because of red cards and quarantines, but when I won Autumn Cup my opponent missing his to center defenders. With my new 23 youth´s there will be no mistakes, no small trup and no luck. If I win again it will be deserved 😉 Another manager made me aware I had been mentioned here. I´m proud 😎 Otto

jere92 wrote:

About O-TT-O he had all-in season last season so he is now playing with full team of 16yo. So not very consistent way but surely brings throphies every three seasons.

Trust me. After 8-13 week adrenalin kick last season, it´s very, very boring now. And I proberly not doing it again. But I would try again and not making all the mistakes I did last time. I´m actully end up with at team where only 10 players had been on camp 3 times and the same 10 players is the only I would call first team players.
I was lucky in a couple of ways. Houdini was very speciel and haven´t looked like that without chips.
I have been beating out of turnement because of red cards and quarantines, but when I won Autumn Cup my opponent missing his to center defenders.

With my new 23 youth´s there will be no mistakes, no small trup and no luck. If I win again it will be deserved 😉

Another manager made me aware I had been mentioned here. I´m proud 😎

Otto

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 04-01-2022 00:30

[BRAU18]
President

I still have PTSD from your striker Young Houdini. I think I played you 10 times that season and you won 9 matches. My team was not very good back then, but still an impressive record. There was simply no way to beat you. So you have every right to be proud 😎

o-tt-o wrote:

Trust me. After 8-13 week adrenalin kick last season, it´s very, very boring now. And I proberly not doing it again. But I would try again and not making all the mistakes I did last time. I´m actully end up with at team where only 10 players had been on camp 3 times and the same 10 players is the only I would call first team players.
I was lucky in a couple of ways. Houdini was very speciel and haven´t looked like that without chips.
I have been beating out of turnement because of red cards and quarantines, but when I won Autumn Cup my opponent missing his to center defenders.

With my new 23 youth´s there will be no mistakes, no small trup and no luck. If I win again it will be deserved 😉

Another manager made me aware I had been mentioned here. I´m proud 😎

Otto

I still have PTSD from your striker Young Houdini. I think I played you 10 times that season and you won 9 matches. My team was not very good back then, but still an impressive record. There was simply no way to beat you. So you have every right to be proud 😎

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 04-01-2022 00:54

[BRAU18]
President

The season is coming to an end. I hope you all achieved whatever you wanted to. May I remind you all that the beginning of a new season is the perfect time to start building your youth side? It's all about picking the right 16 yo players when they arrive at your club some hours from now! Anyway, here is a text about short passing tactics (at the U18 level) written by [b]pablok7[/b], manager of [b]Terremoto FC[/b]. He is basically the latest U18 World League Top Series champion, so he knows what he is talking about. His advice is valuable! [b]IS IT POSSIBLE TO COMPETE USING SHORT PASSING TACTICS AT THE U18 LEVEL?[/b] That was one of the questions I asked myself while venturing into this particular level. When it comes to senior level, I was able to win the argentinian third division using only short passing tactics. However, in the face of second division, I realized that I was doomed if I didn't resort to their wing variants, so I had to forcibly renew my team to be able to compete. With the idea of keep using my favorite playstyle in mind, I thought about using short passing tactics only in U18 competitions, but how was I supposed to compete with the U18 beasts that play wing tactics? How could I build a really strong team that could fight at the highest level? The first thing you should have in mind, no matter the playstyle, is [b]a plan capable of covering several seasons[/b]. The hard part is not putting together a competitive team for a single season, given that anyone can easily request 23 18 year-old players through the youth customization setup tool. The chances are that you will be the best team of the season if your squad is full of 18 year old players, but what next? The most difficult thing to do in football [b]is to be consistently competitive over time[/b]. It's what every manager would like to. We have to think therefore about the players we are going to need each season. The most balanced option here would be the [b]usual 8-8-7 setup[/b] — 8 or 7 players for each age group. It goes without saying that to compete at this level you must always have the maximum amount of youth players possible (23). We shouldn't forget that, during the season, not every player is going to be available all the time, since some of them will be sent to training camps, get injured or, most frequently, there will always be a plethora of suspended players before important matches [b]@#&[/b]!!! Now, which players should we have in each age group? [b]A goalkeeper is a must-have in each age group[/b]. The 18 year-old one will always be the starter, since he is presumably the most complete goalie we can have. Next, there are 6/7 remaining spots to allocate. This is going to be up to the each manager personal preference, but we usually (I think) [b]train two forwards and the rest of the players then become defenders and defensive midfielders[/b]. Now, let's talk about the key skills for each position. I suppose most of us (including me) train keeping, stamina and aerial passing on our goalkeepers. Defenders must be very good at tackling, stamina and speed. Those skills are essential when hunting down wingers. For our defensive midfielders, the idea is the same, but they can get away with a lesser amount of balls in the aforementioned skills and they can thus train some ball control and passing. And finally the forwards, as expected, must be good at speed, stamina and shooting, with ball control and passing training if possible too. Let's not forget that we don't have a lot of time at our disposal to train lots of skills, so we need to pick the ones which look more important. As to the the minimums of the U18 level, I think we can argue that [b]all players should have, ideally, at least 7 stamina[/b]. However, achieving this is far from easy since luck plays a big part when it comes to maxings. And we U18 teams can't resort to the transfer market to replace our players. Consequently, we can tone the requeriments down and stipulate [b]an acceptable minimum of 6 balls[/b] for stamina, with the as many 7 stamina players as possible. Then, more specifically, we can think of: Goalkeepers: keeping 6 (preferably 7), aerial passing 5. Defenders: speed 6, tackling 7 Defensive midfielders: speed 5, tackling 5 and some balls distributed between ball control and passing. Forwards: speed 6, shooting 7 and some balls distributed between ball control and passing. Regarding the players training, we need to consider that we usually don't send the 18 year-old players to the training camps, given that we need them to compete (although the most underdeveloped ones could be sent at the beginning of the season and that way they miss the least amount of matches possible). So, it's essential that we send all the players to the training camp for 5 weeks (always!) when they are 16 and 17 years old so they can make it to the age of 18 with the best possible development. Regarding the tactics, the short passing teams usually field 3 central defenders-2 cdms or 3 central defenders-3 cdms down the pitch, or the classic 4 defenders-2 cdms formation with fullbacks very wide on the pitch in the event of playing a wing tactics team. In my case, every time I used a 5-at-the-back formation it turned out not to be very effective because there was less offensive power (this doesn't happen at the senior level), but maybe it could suit other teams. To return to the original question, we can see that the latest U18 Primera División champions, i.e., the best U18 argentinian teams of the last few seasons all used short passing tactics. Over the last seasons, some short passing teams also won the U18 World League – Top Series. And some official cups were also won by short passing teams — the U18 Defenders Cup and the U18 Season Break Cup most recently, for example. So, we can safely say that, [b]with a good and sustainable workplan, it's perfecty possible to compete using short passing tactics at the highest levels of U18 competition[/b]. Original source: http://imgfz.com/i/WZ04Ieo.jpegThe season is coming to an end. I hope you all achieved whatever you wanted to. May I remind you all that the beginning of a new season is the perfect time to start building your youth side? It's all about picking the right 16 yo players when they arrive at your club some hours from now!

Anyway, here is a text about short passing tactics (at the U18 level) written by pablok7, manager of Terremoto FC. He is basically the latest U18 World League Top Series champion, so he knows what he is talking about. His advice is valuable!

IS IT POSSIBLE TO COMPETE USING SHORT PASSING TACTICS AT THE U18 LEVEL?

That was one of the questions I asked myself while venturing into this particular
level. When it comes to senior level, I was able to win the argentinian third division
using only short passing tactics. However, in the face of second division, I realized that I was doomed if I didn't resort to their wing variants, so I had to forcibly renew my team to be able to compete.

With the idea of keep using my favorite playstyle in mind, I thought about using
short passing tactics only in U18 competitions, but how was I supposed to compete with the U18 beasts that play wing tactics? How could I build a really strong team that
could fight at the highest level?

The first thing you should have in mind, no matter the playstyle, is a plan capable of covering several seasons. The hard part is not putting together a competitive team for a single season, given that anyone can easily request 23 18 year-old players through the youth customization setup tool. The chances are that you will be the best team of the season if your squad is full of 18 year old players, but what next? The most difficult thing to do in football is to be consistently competitive over time. It's what every manager would like to. We have to think therefore about the players we are going to need each season.

The most balanced option here would be the usual 8-8-7 setup — 8 or 7 players for each age group. It goes without saying that to compete at this level you must always have the maximum amount of youth players possible (23). We shouldn't forget that, during the season, not every player is going to be available all the time, since some of them will be sent to training camps, get injured or, most frequently, there will always be a plethora of suspended players before important matches @#&!!!

Now, which players should we have in each age group? A goalkeeper is a must-have in each age group. The 18 year-old one will always be the starter, since he is presumably the most complete goalie we can have. Next, there are 6/7 remaining spots to allocate. This is going to be up to the each manager personal preference, but we usually (I think) train two forwards and the rest of the players then become defenders and defensive midfielders.

Now, let's talk about the key skills for each position. I suppose most of us (including me) train keeping, stamina and aerial passing on our goalkeepers. Defenders must be very good at tackling, stamina and speed. Those skills are essential when hunting down wingers. For our defensive midfielders, the idea is the same, but they can get away with a lesser amount of balls in the aforementioned skills and they can thus train some ball control and passing. And finally the forwards, as expected, must be good at speed, stamina and shooting, with ball control and passing training if possible too. Let's not forget that we don't have a lot of time at our disposal to train lots of skills, so we need to pick the ones which look more important.

As to the the minimums of the U18 level, I think we can argue that all players should have, ideally, at least 7 stamina. However, achieving this is far from easy since luck plays a big part when it comes to maxings. And we U18 teams can't resort to the transfer market to replace our players. Consequently, we can tone the requeriments down and stipulate an acceptable minimum of 6 balls for stamina, with the as many 7 stamina players as possible. Then, more specifically, we can think of:

Goalkeepers: keeping 6 (preferably 7), aerial passing 5.
Defenders: speed 6, tackling 7
Defensive midfielders: speed 5, tackling 5 and some balls distributed between ball control and passing.
Forwards: speed 6, shooting 7 and some balls distributed between ball control and passing.

Regarding the players training, we need to consider that we usually don't send
the 18 year-old players to the training camps, given that we need them to compete
(although the most underdeveloped ones could be sent at the beginning of the season and that way they miss the least amount of matches possible). So, it's essential that we send all the players to the training camp for 5 weeks (always!) when they are 16 and 17 years old so they can make it to the age of 18 with the best possible development.

Regarding the tactics, the short passing teams usually field 3 central defenders-2 cdms or 3 central defenders-3 cdms down the pitch, or the classic 4 defenders-2 cdms formation with fullbacks very wide on the pitch in the event of playing a wing tactics team. In my case, every time I used a 5-at-the-back formation it turned out not to be very effective because there was less offensive power (this doesn't happen at the senior level), but maybe it could suit other teams.

To return to the original question, we can see that the latest U18 Primera División
champions, i.e., the best U18 argentinian teams of the last few seasons all used short
passing tactics. Over the last seasons, some short passing teams also won the U18 World League – Top Series. And some official cups were also won by short passing teams — the U18 Defenders Cup and the U18 Season Break Cup most recently, for example. So, we can safely say that, with a good and sustainable workplan, it's perfecty possible to compete using short passing tactics at the highest levels of U18 competition.

Original source: http://imgfz.com/i/WZ04Ieo.jpeg

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 04-01-2022 01:07

[BRAU18]
President

And here are [b]Fluminense Football Club (mariorsarruda)[/b] 18 year-old players by the end of Season 80: https://imgur.com/a/XlPU78R This team won Campeonato Brasileiro U18 with some fixtures left to go and almost thrived at the U18 Champions Cup. Playing short passing tactics, of course. He is a great manager!And here are Fluminense Football Club (mariorsarruda) 18 year-old players by the end of Season 80: https://imgur.com/a/XlPU78R

This team won Campeonato Brasileiro U18 with some fixtures left to go and almost thrived at the U18 Champions Cup. Playing short passing tactics, of course. He is a great manager!

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By applezhou - 04-01-2022 04:18

[盛世メ名門]

A very good youth training teaching article, thanks to the author's selfless dedicationA very good youth training teaching article, thanks to the author's selfless dedication

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 04-01-2022 15:53

[MZ U18]

And that´s my nightmare. Because you right about than it´s much easier just having 23 in same age. A lot easier. I´m thinking a lot about how I transform to 3 generations, without bored me. I haven´t find the solution yet 😃 Sorry for given you PTSD 😐 It wouldn´t have happend without chips 😉 I remember your team, but don´t worry. Not many beat me, after the moment I could put 11 best on the field 😉 ? Terremoto won WL, but what happend with Carrapichel - FDFDF who lead by 15 point after 13 rounds? Very well writing artikel and a lot better english than I can "offer" 😥 Otto

douglaskampl wrote:

The first thing you should have in mind, no matter the playstyle, is a plan capable of covering several seasons. The hard part is not putting together a competitive team for a single season, given that anyone can easily request 23 18 year-old players through the youth customization setup tool. The chances are that you will be the best team of the season if your squad is full of 18 year old players, but what next?

And that´s my nightmare. Because you right about than it´s much easier just having 23 in same age. A lot easier.
I´m thinking a lot about how I transform to 3 generations, without bored me. I haven´t find the solution yet 😃

Sorry for given you PTSD 😐 It wouldn´t have happend without chips 😉 I remember your team, but don´t worry. Not many beat me, after the moment I could put 11 best on the field 😉

? Terremoto won WL, but what happend with Carrapichel - FDFDF who lead by 15 point after 13 rounds?
Very well writing artikel and a lot better english than I can "offer" 😥

Otto

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 04-01-2022 23:56

[BRAU18]
President

Thank you for the comment. Needless to say, your team is very good too. There are a lot of good chinese teams. Must be tough to play there. I see all of your players are 17. Next season your team will be unstoppable again it seems, I can already feel it. I think there is a user from Bulgaria (DARAS) and a user from Argentina (Legacy Youth Academy) doing the same this season. Scary. By the way, if you have 23 players, why not exchange the worst 6, 7, 8 from that group for 16 yo players throughout this current season? That would kickstart the process you want, no? As for Carrapichel, I want an explanation too. Lol. He had a great start and everything pointed to another title for him, but somehow Terremoto managed to be even more consistent. But it's deserved.

applezhou wrote:

A very good youth training teaching article, thanks to the author's selfless dedication

Thank you for the comment. Needless to say, your team is very good too. There are a lot of good chinese teams. Must be tough to play there.

o-tt-o wrote:

And that´s my nightmare. Because you right about than it´s much easier just having 23 in same age. A lot easier.
I´m thinking a lot about how I transform to 3 generations, without bored me. I haven´t find the solution yet 😃

Sorry for given you PTSD 😐 It wouldn´t have happend without chips 😉 I remember your team, but don´t worry. Not many beat me, after the moment I could put 11 best on the field 😉

? Terremoto won WL, but what happend with Carrapichel - FDFDF who lead by 15 point after 13 rounds?
Very well writing artikel and a lot better english than I can "offer" 😥

Otto

I see all of your players are 17. Next season your team will be unstoppable again it seems, I can already feel it. I think there is a user from Bulgaria (DARAS) and a user from Argentina (Legacy Youth Academy) doing the same this season. Scary. By the way, if you have 23 players, why not exchange the worst 6, 7, 8 from that group for 16 yo players throughout this current season? That would kickstart the process you want, no?

As for Carrapichel, I want an explanation too. Lol. He had a great start and everything pointed to another title for him, but somehow Terremoto managed to be even more consistent. But it's deserved.

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 05-01-2022 21:12

[MZ U18]

You will feel it 😉 A solution takes form i my head. Much like you write. I will play U18WL with 3 generations in season 83 I remember Daras very wellYou will feel it 😉
A solution takes form i my head. Much like you write. I will play U18WL with 3 generations in season 83
I remember Daras very well

Odp: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By kostrzak16 - 07-01-2022 18:17

[U18-FS]

Very good guides douglas. As probably #2 'short passing only' team in last seasons I agree with what pablok said. I just wish his guide was more detailed, cause for example I still have no idea if passing or ball control is more important in U18 :D I have a bit weird theory that sim treats badly teams that play only with 18y olds and helps younger teams(especially in cups). Otto should have win much more with that squad. Polish national ~2 seasons ago won team playing only four 18y olds.Very good guides douglas. As probably #2 'short passing only' team in last seasons I agree with what pablok said. I just wish his guide was more detailed, cause for example I still have no idea if passing or ball control is more important in U18 :D

I have a bit weird theory that sim treats badly teams that play only with 18y olds and helps younger teams(especially in cups). Otto should have win much more with that squad. Polish national ~2 seasons ago won team playing only four 18y olds.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 08-01-2022 07:29

[BRAU18]
President

I have so many weird theories about this game 😅. I think I can hold my ground with 6 players, but 4 is wild. Must have been a very good group of 17 yo players. Either that or some crazy probabilistic stuff happened on those matches.

kostrzak16 wrote:

Very good guides douglas. As probably #2 'short passing only' team in last seasons I agree with what pablok said. I just wish his guide was more detailed, cause for example I still have no idea if passing or ball control is more important in U18 :D

I have a bit weird theory that sim treats badly teams that play only with 18y olds and helps younger teams(especially in cups). Otto should have win much more with that squad. Polish national ~2 seasons ago won team playing only four 18y olds.

I have so many weird theories about this game 😅. I think I can hold my ground with 6 players, but 4 is wild. Must have been a very good group of 17 yo players. Either that or some crazy probabilistic stuff happened on those matches.

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 10-02-2022 22:45

[MZ U18]

I agree than I proberly should have won more, or at least hit more endgame, but my squad was very small (I only used 14 players) and I had alot of red cards and an important player out for a longer period. There is one positve thing about "only one" titel, and that is than it would be easier topping s79 in s82 😉 I could not bee more satisfied. I´m actually a little proud, because after what other danish manager tell me, no Dane has won internationally in u18 before 😀

kostrzak16 wrote:

Very good guides douglas. As probably #2 'short passing only' team in last seasons I agree with what pablok said. I just wish his guide was more detailed, cause for example I still have no idea if passing or ball control is more important in U18 :D

I have a bit weird theory that sim treats badly teams that play only with 18y olds and helps younger teams(especially in cups). Otto should have win much more with that squad. Polish national ~2 seasons ago won team playing only four 18y olds.

I agree than I proberly should have won more, or at least hit more endgame, but my squad was very small (I only used 14 players) and I had alot of red cards and an important player out for a longer period. There is one positve thing about "only one" titel, and that is than it would be easier topping s79 in s82 😉
I could not bee more satisfied. I´m actually a little proud, because after what other danish manager tell me, no Dane has won internationally in u18 before 😀

Sv: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By freddemand - 24-02-2022 17:45

[TDF]

Absolutly amazing thread! Thank u! Gonna try this out next season, although I miss a Keeper 😁🤷Absolutly amazing thread! Thank u! Gonna try this out next season, although I miss a Keeper 😁🤷

Sv: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By freddemand - 24-02-2022 17:50

[TDF]

Will be trying to train sellable players though. Do you use chips? 4 availabilities and and 4 timesavers should help a bit, no? Not sure which day uxx starts..

freddemand wrote:

Absolutly amazing thread! Thank u! Gonna try this out next season, although I miss a Keeper 😁🤷

Will be trying to train sellable players though. Do you use chips? 4 availabilities and and 4 timesavers should help a bit, no? Not sure which day uxx starts..

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 24-02-2022 20:07

[BRAU18]
President

Yes, it's possible to compete with sellable players, specially if you have chips. We should keep in mind that most youth players earn 6~8 balls per season depending on their training speed (from my experience, 4~6 in training camp, 2 outside the TC). You can add one more ball if you use a time saving chip or two additional balls if you use an efficiency chip. This is for outfield players though. For keepers it's different of course; they tend to earn 4~5 balls per season/2 keeping balls per season, and the training chips seem to do the same. (I did the math once with training data from my own players. Perhaps just ballpark figure, but hit me up in private if you want the details.) With that in mind, you should be able to look at your 16 yo players and evaluate their potential two seasons later. Will his gains meet the stamina, tackling, shooting, keeping, aerial passing etc. requeriments? And ultimately turns out that most sellable players are good enough for U18 competition anyway, especially if you're willing to use training chips. But I'm gonna be honest, I discarded this player early in the season: [img]https://i.imgur.com/JzM7oKL.png[/img] Chances are would be worth a lot in the transfer market, and PERHAPS he would be a good U18 defender with some chip aid, but then I got this one: [img]https://i.imgur.com/qOnBY1e.png[/img] Not an awful scout report, but risky and likely to max early. But we're talking about 12 balls more. He will play better. A lot better than the other one? I don't know. I don't know how much better he is. But he is definitely better and increases my chances of winning matches. Then, it's up to you: how invested in winning U18 matches are you? Who would you choose? It depends on how tryhard you are. But you definitely can put a fight with the sellable players. I hope this post makes sense.

freddemand wrote:

Will be trying to train sellable players though. Do you use chips? 4 availabilities and and 4 timesavers should help a bit, no? Not sure which day uxx starts..

Yes, it's possible to compete with sellable players, specially if you have chips.

We should keep in mind that most youth players earn 6~8 balls per season depending on their training speed (from my experience, 4~6 in training camp, 2 outside the TC). You can add one more ball if you use a time saving chip or two additional balls if you use an efficiency chip. This is for outfield players though. For keepers it's different of course; they tend to earn 4~5 balls per season/2 keeping balls per season, and the training chips seem to do the same.

(I did the math once with training data from my own players. Perhaps just ballpark figure, but hit me up in private if you want the details.)

With that in mind, you should be able to look at your 16 yo players and evaluate their potential two seasons later. Will his gains meet the stamina, tackling, shooting, keeping, aerial passing etc. requeriments?

And ultimately turns out that most sellable players are good enough for U18 competition anyway, especially if you're willing to use training chips.

But I'm gonna be honest, I discarded this player early in the season:



Chances are would be worth a lot in the transfer market, and PERHAPS he would be a good U18 defender with some chip aid, but then I got this one:



Not an awful scout report, but risky and likely to max early. But we're talking about 12 balls more. He will play better. A lot better than the other one? I don't know. I don't know how much better he is. But he is definitely better and increases my chances of winning matches.

Then, it's up to you: how invested in winning U18 matches are you? Who would you choose? It depends on how tryhard you are. But you definitely can put a fight with the sellable players. I hope this post makes sense.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By shok22 - 28-02-2022 19:54

[FRFU18]

what training packageis best for keeper? 1.keep,stamina,intel 2.keep,stamina,aerial passwhat training packageis best for keeper?
1.keep,stamina,intel
2.keep,stamina,aerial pass

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 28-02-2022 23:16

[BRAU18]
President

Generally speaking, a U18 goalkeeper only needs keeping and stamina, so both packages will do the job. If I were to choose, however, I would go with play intelligence. I feel like it plays a bigger role. Aerial passing might help with long pass accuracy, but you would need 6+ for it to be noticeable from the looks of it.

shok22 wrote:

what training packageis best for keeper?
1.keep,stamina,intel
2.keep,stamina,aerial pass

Generally speaking, a U18 goalkeeper only needs keeping and stamina, so both packages will do the job.

If I were to choose, however, I would go with play intelligence. I feel like it plays a bigger role. Aerial passing might help with long pass accuracy, but you would need 6+ for it to be noticeable from the looks of it.

Sv: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By freddemand - 01-03-2022 15:34

[TDF]

Keeping should really be in one of the youth packages.

douglaskampl wrote:

Generally speaking, a U18 goalkeeper only needs keeping and stamina, so both packages will do the job.

If I were to choose, however, I would go with play intelligence. I feel like it plays a bigger role. Aerial passing might help with long pass accuracy, but you would need 6+ for it to be noticeable from the looks of it.

Keeping should really be in one of the youth packages.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 28-03-2022 23:26

[BRAU18]
President

This thread is a little bit outdated by now, especially due to the training camp chips wave that has been going on, but here are some updated friendly reminders. Goalkeepers are key the most important position. A bad one can cost you tons of matches and a very good one can singlehandedly win matches. An average one is acceptable, but he won't cut it if you want to win big trophies. Plus, a bad goalkeeper cannot be replaced. If you have a good team and a bad goalkeeper, you're doomed to failure over the season. If you have a bad defender or a bad striker, it's not the end of the world though (as long as your team is decent overall). Few teams have amazing goalkeepers, but the ones who do have a noticeable advantage. If you don't believe me, we can just take a look at Campeonato Brasileiro U18. Both 27 de Mayo and TaTero Boys, the top two finishers, have goalkeepers with 9+ keeping (and reasonable stamina). They would, more than often, have less shots on target in comparison to their opponents and win the match regardless. In fact, that happened in Tatero's last match against Carrapichel - FDFDF. And the same pattern goes on elsewhere. I am not saying you can field a starting XI with an amazing goalkeeper and 10 awful players and then you will magically win all matches. But it does make a difference even when you have an average team. Here is a pic of a random match I had many seasons ago against a godtier goalkeeper carrying a bang average team: [img]https://i.imgur.com/cK9J19D.png[/img] Fucking 30 SoT against 8, but it's okay, I can live with it. Needless to say my keeper was not very good. The thing is… teams with good goalkeepers are always dangerous, and teams with bad keepers are always dogshit. Fact of life. Here is 27 de Mayo's keeper for example: [img]https://i.imgur.com/YdAOcjZ.png[/img] Speaking of him, you can see his winning squad here: http://mzplayer.se/?id=0328012428 ~ Also, use your chips wisely. You don't need to spam chips for every one of your starters. Just wisely use them and that will be enough to win the forementioned big trophies. Today, Yelonsky Juniors won Top Series and I'm pretty sure he didn't abuse training camp chips. And my team has been poor this season, so I'm like a fat person giving advice to someone who wants to be fit, but I think it's not too far off. ByeThis thread is a little bit outdated by now, especially due to the training camp chips wave that has been going on, but here are some updated friendly reminders.

Goalkeepers are key the most important position. A bad one can cost you tons of matches and a very good one can singlehandedly win matches. An average one is acceptable, but he won't cut it if you want to win big trophies. Plus, a bad goalkeeper cannot be replaced. If you have a good team and a bad goalkeeper, you're doomed to failure over the season. If you have a bad defender or a bad striker, it's not the end of the world though (as long as your team is decent overall).

Few teams have amazing goalkeepers, but the ones who do have a noticeable advantage. If you don't believe me, we can just take a look at Campeonato Brasileiro U18. Both 27 de Mayo and TaTero Boys, the top two finishers, have goalkeepers with 9+ keeping (and reasonable stamina). They would, more than often, have less shots on target in comparison to their opponents and win the match regardless. In fact, that happened in Tatero's last match against Carrapichel - FDFDF. And the same pattern goes on elsewhere. I am not saying you can field a starting XI with an amazing goalkeeper and 10 awful players and then you will magically win all matches. But it does make a difference even when you have an average team. Here is a pic of a random match I had many seasons ago against a godtier goalkeeper carrying a bang average team:



Fucking 30 SoT against 8, but it's okay, I can live with it. Needless to say my keeper was not very good. The thing is… teams with good goalkeepers are always dangerous, and teams with bad keepers are always dogshit. Fact of life. Here is 27 de Mayo's keeper for example:



Speaking of him, you can see his winning squad here: http://mzplayer.se/?id=0328012428

~

Also, use your chips wisely. You don't need to spam chips for every one of your starters. Just wisely use them and that will be enough to win the forementioned big trophies. Today, Yelonsky Juniors won Top Series and I'm pretty sure he didn't abuse training camp chips.

And my team has been poor this season, so I'm like a fat person giving advice to someone who wants to be fit, but I think it's not too far off.

Bye

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 12-04-2022 16:50

[MZ U18]

And that you write after 26 borring weeks 😡 Then I can throw 3 seasons in the toilet. Both my goalkeepers sucks 😥 Good outfield players bad goalkeeper bad manager That isn´t the right cocktail? 😀 Regards from a depressive person who said keep up the good spirit 😀 ByeAnd that you write after 26 borring weeks 😡 Then I can throw 3 seasons in the toilet. Both my goalkeepers sucks 😥

Good outfield players
bad goalkeeper
bad manager

That isn´t the right cocktail? 😀

Regards from a depressive person who said keep up the good spirit 😀

Bye

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 13-04-2022 11:50

[BRAU18]
President

Your keeper is worth 2261031 DKK. Not world class, but he'll do fine 😁. I can see you're already kicking ass.

o-tt-o wrote:

And that you write after 26 borring weeks 😡 Then I can throw 3 seasons in the toilet. Both my goalkeepers sucks 😥

Good outfield players
bad goalkeeper
bad manager

That isn´t the right cocktail? 😀

Regards from a depressive person who said keep up the good spirit 😀

Bye

Your keeper is worth 2261031 DKK. Not world class, but he'll do fine 😁. I can see you're already kicking ass.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By sbrownridge - 01-05-2022 05:06

[Canada]

I'm just jumping back into MZ and am intrigued how speed isn't a vital skill in the guide. I'd always seen speed and stamina as the base 2 skills, then positional (tackling/shooting). Has there been a sim change that pushes speed down the importance queue 3rd for wingers and forwards, and overflow for others? Wouldn't speed be important (especially for the defense) to be able to catch the forwards? Or are lower speed players still effective enough to keep up with play?I'm just jumping back into MZ and am intrigued how speed isn't a vital skill in the guide.

I'd always seen speed and stamina as the base 2 skills, then positional (tackling/shooting). Has there been a sim change that pushes speed down the importance queue 3rd for wingers and forwards, and overflow for others?

Wouldn't speed be important (especially for the defense) to be able to catch the forwards? Or are lower speed players still effective enough to keep up with play?

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 01-05-2022 19:27

[BRAU18]
President

Interesting comment. Let me start by saying this guide is somewhat outdated, so I'll seize the opportunity to say some stuff about this. I actually think speed is important. But let's consider some points: 1) Stamina is more important than speed, no matter the position. After all, you can get away with a 0 speed 7 stamina player, but you can't with a 7 speed 0 stamina player (this one will play much worse, if he plays instead of standing still, that is). 2) If you are rocking wing tactics, aerial passing is also way more important than speed, by a mile. Having 7 aerial passing would be way more valuable than having 7 speed and no aerial passing, since high pass accuracy means higher ball possession and less shots on target for your opponent. From my experience, having slow, average defenders that don't give the ball away all the time is better than having fast defenders who make many passing mistakes, even though the latter will presumably recover the ball more (presumably, because sometimes players with 0 tackling make more tackling than the others during the match, lol). 3) When I wrote this guide, players looked average for the most part (except for the ones that would arrive at your club with crazy amount of balls). You couldn't train every attribute you wanted to so, more than often, you had to make tough choices, like… choosing between speed or stamina. In this scenario, many managers would just overlook speed because they knew the slow players would perform well anyway. 4) Speed is very important for forwards and wingers. They will play way better if they are faster. So will defenders, yeah. But for forwards and wingers it's key. All this talk about speed being overlooked is mostly for defenders. I've seen, however, some 2/3 speed forwards playing really well (I mean, under short passing tactics). Again, slow players performing well. 5) A player who has high stamina and 0 speed, at some point during the match, will just start running faster than other players with higher speed and less stamina. Yes, a 0 speed player will outpace some really fast players depending on the circumstances. With that in mind, you can see why I said speed is not that important. But maybe I used the wrong words. It's not that it's not important, it's just not more important than other attributes maybe/you simply wouldn't have the time to give your players speed. The truth is that you can get away with a lot of slow players on U18, as long as your team is full of stamina and makes sense as a whole (try using any 2/3 speed player at any higher level and you'll get wrecked though). The other day my reserve 17y keeper who has a breathtaking 0 speed, 5 stamina and 1 tackling pack joined my defence as a sub due to a red card, against a fairly decent team, and he didn't compromise at all. But you should also consider that the guide just talked about bare minimums. Often players would just have more than 0 speed anyway. You'll would find some room for 3~4 speed at least, after setting the other desired attributes. And these days, with the emergence of the training camp chips, you can comfortably develop really effective players who are good at both speed and stamina. Also, at which point does a player start being fast or stops being slow? For me, personally, 5 speed with reasonable stamina is already fast enough (for the defence, at U18 level). This is a defender capable of catching up with most of the U18 opposition in my opinion. But some may disagree. (And if you have room to go past 5, of course go and the player will perform even better.) Also, another interesting debate. Which player would you prefer for your back line: one with high stamina, high speed and average tackling (5, for example) or one with high stamina, high tackling and low speed? I'm starting to like fast defenders with bad tackling one, to be honest. They are really effective at U18 level. But slow defenders with high stamina and high tackling also work well. So, I'm still undecided. Ideally, you can just build a perfect player using a chip or whatever, but in case of having to make a choice, I'd be undecided. All of this just to make you such a simple suggestion: try playing with both kinds of players and see which of them appeases you the most. And also to answer your question: yeah, lower speed players are still effective enough, as long as they have decent stamina. This was clear in the past, and now players are getting better and better and hampering the success of slow players, but they still work.

sbrownridge wrote:

I'm just jumping back into MZ and am intrigued how speed isn't a vital skill in the guide.

I'd always seen speed and stamina as the base 2 skills, then positional (tackling/shooting). Has there been a sim change that pushes speed down the importance queue 3rd for wingers and forwards, and overflow for others?

Wouldn't speed be important (especially for the defense) to be able to catch the forwards? Or are lower speed players still effective enough to keep up with play?

Interesting comment.

Let me start by saying this guide is somewhat outdated, so I'll seize the opportunity to say some stuff about this.

I actually think speed is important.

But let's consider some points:

1) Stamina is more important than speed, no matter the position. After all, you can get away with a 0 speed 7 stamina player, but you can't with a 7 speed 0 stamina player (this one will play much worse, if he plays instead of standing still, that is).

2) If you are rocking wing tactics, aerial passing is also way more important than speed, by a mile. Having 7 aerial passing would be way more valuable than having 7 speed and no aerial passing, since high pass accuracy means higher ball possession and less shots on target for your opponent. From my experience, having slow, average defenders that don't give the ball away all the time is better than having fast defenders who make many passing mistakes, even though the latter will presumably recover the ball more (presumably, because sometimes players with 0 tackling make more tackling than the others during the match, lol).

3) When I wrote this guide, players looked average for the most part (except for the ones that would arrive at your club with crazy amount of balls). You couldn't train every attribute you wanted to so, more than often, you had to make tough choices, like… choosing between speed or stamina. In this scenario, many managers would just overlook speed because they knew the slow players would perform well anyway.

4) Speed is very important for forwards and wingers. They will play way better if they are faster. So will defenders, yeah. But for forwards and wingers it's key. All this talk about speed being overlooked is mostly for defenders. I've seen, however, some 2/3 speed forwards playing really well (I mean, under short passing tactics). Again, slow players performing well.

5) A player who has high stamina and 0 speed, at some point during the match, will just start running faster than other players with higher speed and less stamina. Yes, a 0 speed player will outpace some really fast players depending on the circumstances.

With that in mind, you can see why I said speed is not that important. But maybe I used the wrong words. It's not that it's not important, it's just not more important than other attributes maybe/you simply wouldn't have the time to give your players speed.

The truth is that you can get away with a lot of slow players on U18, as long as your team is full of stamina and makes sense as a whole (try using any 2/3 speed player at any higher level and you'll get wrecked though). The other day my reserve 17y keeper who has a breathtaking 0 speed, 5 stamina and 1 tackling pack joined my defence as a sub due to a red card, against a fairly decent team, and he didn't compromise at all.

But you should also consider that the guide just talked about bare minimums. Often players would just have more than 0 speed anyway. You'll would find some room for 3~4 speed at least, after setting the other desired attributes.

And these days, with the emergence of the training camp chips, you can comfortably develop really effective players who are good at both speed and stamina.

Also, at which point does a player start being fast or stops being slow? For me, personally, 5 speed with reasonable stamina is already fast enough (for the defence, at U18 level). This is a defender capable of catching up with most of the U18 opposition in my opinion. But some may disagree. (And if you have room to go past 5, of course go and the player will perform even better.)

Also, another interesting debate. Which player would you prefer for your back line: one with high stamina, high speed and average tackling (5, for example) or one with high stamina, high tackling and low speed? I'm starting to like fast defenders with bad tackling one, to be honest. They are really effective at U18 level. But slow defenders with high stamina and high tackling also work well. So, I'm still undecided. Ideally, you can just build a perfect player using a chip or whatever, but in case of having to make a choice, I'd be undecided.

All of this just to make you such a simple suggestion: try playing with both kinds of players and see which of them appeases you the most.

And also to answer your question: yeah, lower speed players are still effective enough, as long as they have decent stamina. This was clear in the past, and now players are getting better and better and hampering the success of slow players, but they still work.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 01-05-2022 19:32

[BRAU18]
President

By the way, this season was supposed to be a mess. This is one of my strikers right now: [fpl=218971465] You read it right, 0 shooting, but he actually scores a lot. The U18 keepers being not so impressive help, and a 8+ shooting striker would score more, for sure, but my point is that you don't need much to thrive on U18. Even a f* 0 shooting player can score. A lot. It makes me wonder if a starting XI full of players with 7/8 speed/stamina and nothing else would still work. My bet is yes, lol. Speed and stamina seem to have an effect on all attributes as matches go by.By the way, this season was supposed to be a mess. This is one of my strikers right now:

Ægir Mohammadnezadjaneh

Age: 26

You read it right, 0 shooting, but he actually scores a lot. The U18 keepers being not so impressive help, and a 8+ shooting striker would score more, for sure, but my point is that you don't need much to thrive on U18. Even a f* 0 shooting player can score. A lot. It makes me wonder if a starting XI full of players with 7/8 speed/stamina and nothing else would still work. My bet is yes, lol. Speed and stamina seem to have an effect on all attributes as matches go by.

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 10-06-2022 12:04

[MZ U18]

I think now speed is very importent. My team have been build after the "manual" i this tread, and I thnk it´s better, and yes, I win more than I loose.. But againt team with speed all over/on vitale positions I loose, and loose big. Maybe BC also have an effekt. I give up 5-6 weeks ago. Only positive is than I schould have som players who bring som cash,- other wise i 39 weeks in the toiletI think now speed is very importent. My team have been build after the "manual" i this tread, and I thnk it´s better, and yes, I win more than I loose.. But againt team with speed all over/on vitale positions I loose, and loose big. Maybe BC also have an effekt.
I give up 5-6 weeks ago. Only positive is than I schould have som players who bring som cash,- other wise i 39 weeks in the toilet

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 10-06-2022 12:58

[MZ U18]

[img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Fred%2520Holting:::18::&atts=1u:5u:2u:2u:0:1u:7u:1u:0:6u:0:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Bernhardt%2520Lauesen:::18::&atts=1u:6m:4u:3u:0:1u:6m:3u:2u:5u:2u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Claes%2520Engemann:::18::&atts=3u:8m:1u:2u:2u:1u:0:4u:9m:8m:2u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Kai%2520Viftrup:::18::&atts=7m:8m:4u:0:2u:3u:0:3u:9m:5m:1u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Haakon%2520Br%25C3%25B8ndsel:::18::&atts=8m:7m:2u:1u:2u:0:1u:2u:8u:5m:2u:3u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Maurits%2520Brendel:::18::&atts=6m:7m:2u:2u:2u:3u:2u:0:8m:8u:1u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Edgar%2520Hassig:::18::&atts=1u:8u:2u:1u:2u:3u:1u:2u:10m:4u:0:2u:6&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Folmar%2520Kislov:::18::&atts=6u:7m:2u:0:2u:2u:3u:3u:8m:8m:2u:3u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Torkild%2520Jekes:::18::&atts=8m:8m:2u:3u:3u:2u:3u:0:8u:2u:3u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Thorsten%2520Poul%25C3%25B8:::18::&atts=8m:7u:3u:2u:1u:2u:2u:0:7m:2u:2u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Kenni%2520Evaldsen:::18::&atts=4m:7m:5u:8m:3u:2u:0:3u:4m:6m:2u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Rupert%2520Krivald:::18::&atts=4u:6m:1u:1u:1u:2u:1u:3u:5u:8m:2u:3u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=George%2520Maxwell%2520Coppe..:::18::&atts=1u:8m:3u:2u:9u:9u:1u:1u:3u:2u:1u:1u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Pierre-Antoine%2520Houdini:::18::&atts=5u:7u:0:0:7m:9u:0:6u:2u:1u:1u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Micki%2520Alting:::18::&atts=6u:8u:1u:2u:9m:4u:2u:3u:0:0:2u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Mathias%2520Bannerh%25C3%25B8j:::18::&atts=3u:9u:2u:2u:9m:4u:0:3u:0:1u:1u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=David%2520Blaine:::18::&atts=8m:9m:2u:0:1u:1u:1u:4u:2u:9m:0:2u:9&mzv=false[/img][img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Runar%2520Juvonen:::18::&atts=8u:8u:2u:2u:3u:1u:0:1u:0:10m:1u:2u:9&mzv=false[/img] Or it´s just the manager 🤔

Or it´s just the manager 🤔

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 10-06-2022 13:59

[BRAU18]
President

Let's say speed is always useful for any player position (bar goalkeeper maybe, but even then there could be a debate). It's key for some roles, maybe disposable enough for others. And it obviously depends on the player under consideration and on your playstyle. However, your team should be doing better anyway. Firstly because it [i]is[/i] relatively fast. 7 speed is already fast when it comes to u18 (even 6 if you're not too picky). For example, today, at U18 world league, I was able to stop a reasonably good winger with 4/5 speed defenders (plus 5atb). I have to admit it's harder to stop short passing teams with fast strikers, but that's not only on the defenders being slow. It's also due to the simple fact that strikers always have an edge. No matter how good your defenders are, the other team will always find a way to shot on target (unless it's an awful team). So, your defenders are fine in terms of speed. Wingers are also fast no matter which you use. Houdini and George Maxwell Copperfield don't need to be fast. Your striker without heading (don't know how to call it in english, honestly, we just say "ground striker" here, lol) isn't too fast, and that's not ideal, but that shouldn't be an issue either. What can be a issue is your goalkeeper 🤗. 6/7 at this point of the season will simply compromise your team. Some people may disagree, Take a look at your last losses. Most of them were close games, but you conceded more because… yeah. I also have a keeper like this and that's why I already gave up on that season if we're being straight here. I was even 1st at the U18 league 4 points ahead of 2nd, but that was not enough to cheer me up since my goalkeeper can make me lose to any random team at any time if we're, again, being honest. There is also aerial passing. Don't get me wrong. 5 is not too bad for the defenders, but you want 6 or 7, even more if you can afford it. 5 still produces lots of mistakes on behalf of your defenders and you know what that means… it means that the ball is going straight to the other team, and it will try to capitalize on it and generate a shot on target. Every time you make a mistake, you gift the other team with this imminent danger. You don't want that. You want to keep the ball. And it's not a matter of having the fastest players in this case. It's a matter of not making mistakes when you have the ball. If the other team is too fast, it WILL make you make more mistakes, but you can counter that with having better passing stats, or even other stats that might help your players avoid those mistakes (be it speed, ball control, play intelligence or whatever you have on your mind). By the way I'm going to send you a private message.Let's say speed is always useful for any player position (bar goalkeeper maybe, but even then there could be a debate). It's key for some roles, maybe disposable enough for others. And it obviously depends on the player under consideration and on your playstyle.

However, your team should be doing better anyway. Firstly because it is relatively fast. 7 speed is already fast when it comes to u18 (even 6 if you're not too picky). For example, today, at U18 world league, I was able to stop a reasonably good winger with 4/5 speed defenders (plus 5atb). I have to admit it's harder to stop short passing teams with fast strikers, but that's not only on the defenders being slow. It's also due to the simple fact that strikers always have an edge. No matter how good your defenders are, the other team will always find a way to shot on target (unless it's an awful team).

So, your defenders are fine in terms of speed. Wingers are also fast no matter which you use. Houdini and George Maxwell Copperfield don't need to be fast. Your striker without heading (don't know how to call it in english, honestly, we just say "ground striker" here, lol) isn't too fast, and that's not ideal, but that shouldn't be an issue either.

What can be a issue is your goalkeeper 🤗. 6/7 at this point of the season will simply compromise your team. Some people may disagree, Take a look at your last losses. Most of them were close games, but you conceded more because… yeah. I also have a keeper like this and that's why I already gave up on that season if we're being straight here. I was even 1st at the U18 league 4 points ahead of 2nd, but that was not enough to cheer me up since my goalkeeper can make me lose to any random team at any time if we're, again, being honest.

There is also aerial passing. Don't get me wrong. 5 is not too bad for the defenders, but you want 6 or 7, even more if you can afford it. 5 still produces lots of mistakes on behalf of your defenders and you know what that means… it means that the ball is going straight to the other team, and it will try to capitalize on it and generate a shot on target. Every time you make a mistake, you gift the other team with this imminent danger. You don't want that. You want to keep the ball. And it's not a matter of having the fastest players in this case. It's a matter of not making mistakes when you have the ball. If the other team is too fast, it WILL make you make more mistakes, but you can counter that with having better passing stats, or even other stats that might help your players avoid those mistakes (be it speed, ball control, play intelligence or whatever you have on your mind).

By the way I'm going to send you a private message.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By swaan1 - 10-06-2022 18:08

[STARS]

Take a look at your tactics. Pretty sure you can beat any team with These player. Personaly i would have trained a few players 3-5attributes skills different on some players but it IS a very solid team.Take a look at your tactics. Pretty sure you can beat any team with These player. Personaly i would have trained a few players 3-5attributes skills different on some players but it IS a very solid team.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By sbrownridge - 10-06-2022 18:19

[Canada]

Those players look impressive, I'd definitely blame the manager...Those players look impressive, I'd definitely blame the manager...

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By sbrownridge - 10-06-2022 18:32

[Canada]

I think the most interesting thing about the u18 matches is the skill discrepancies at the top levels. Once you're down to the top u18 squads, most players should have similar 'total balls' however unlike the seniors there aren't enough to have high end rounded players so its a lot more 'rock, paper, scissors' with squads focusing on different strengths. So many different builds that would be fun to test out, however with the training time you can only test out so many different 'systems'. High SP/ST can be an edge getting to the balls first, and maybe getting multiple attempts at tackles... but then you've given up potential balls in other areas. High ST helps have a strong finish, but it means you're behind the 8-ball early as lower ST teams would have more balls in other skills. One thing I'd be interested to see is how a completely balanced team would do vs a specialized team... (4/5 balls in all useful skills vs 7/8 in 2/3 skills and minimums in the rest).I think the most interesting thing about the u18 matches is the skill discrepancies at the top levels. Once you're down to the top u18 squads, most players should have similar 'total balls' however unlike the seniors there aren't enough to have high end rounded players so its a lot more 'rock, paper, scissors' with squads focusing on different strengths.

So many different builds that would be fun to test out, however with the training time you can only test out so many different 'systems'.

High SP/ST can be an edge getting to the balls first, and maybe getting multiple attempts at tackles... but then you've given up potential balls in other areas. High ST helps have a strong finish, but it means you're behind the 8-ball early as lower ST teams would have more balls in other skills.

One thing I'd be interested to see is how a completely balanced team would do vs a specialized team... (4/5 balls in all useful skills vs 7/8 in 2/3 skills and minimums in the rest).

Sv: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By freddemand - 10-06-2022 19:43

[TDF]

I would argue that it at least is not the squads fault alone 😁 U are 2 points ahead of me in the league, and the difference in player material dont reflect that. I think my players too squanders possesion a lot due to low crossing skills. Will try shortpass and faster players next season. [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Jo%2520Skistad:::18::&atts=3u:8m:2u:4u:2u:4u:5m:4u:5m:0:2u:3u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=%25C3%2598ivind%2520Lier:::18::&atts=5u:9m:3u:1u:0:2u:1u:1u:8u:8m:1u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Victor%2520Lindel%25C3%25B8f:::18::&atts=4u:8m:1u:2u:1u:1u:1u:1u:7m:6u:0:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Simen%2520Ekerhovd:::18::&atts=4u:7u:1u:0:1u:2u:0:1u:7m:4u:2u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Roger%2520Nyvoll:::18::&atts=2u:7u:1u:3u:2u:1u:0:2u:6m:7u:2u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Max%2520Feldthaus:::18::&atts=4u:7u:2u:1u:1u:1u:2u:0:7u:6u:2u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Andreas%2520Bj%25C3%25B8rnstad:::18::&atts=6m:7m:3u:1u:2u:1u:1u:2u:3u:10m:1u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img] [img]http://mzimage.com/image.php?lang=en&design=1:000000:000000:::&player=Espen%2520Engebretsen:::18::&atts=4u:5m:2u:1u:9u:6m:1u:2u:0:1u:2u:2u:9u&mzv=false[/img]

o-tt-o wrote:

Or it´s just the manager 🤔

I would argue that it at least is not the squads fault alone 😁 U are 2 points ahead of me in the league, and the difference in player material dont reflect that.

I think my players too squanders possesion a lot due to low crossing skills. Will try shortpass and faster players next season.

Sv: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By freddemand - 10-06-2022 20:01

[TDF]

Not may intention to make the longest post ever. A post not thought thru though. The difference would have been greater if we were in the same WL. Anyway, in an attempt to easy your mind, you are currently top in both reagular and world league….Not may intention to make the longest post ever. A post not thought thru though. The difference would have been greater if we were in the same WL. Anyway, in an attempt to easy your mind, you are currently top in both reagular and world league….

Ang: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By o-tt-o - 11-06-2022 20:12

[MZ U18]

Alot of managers said the same 😀 I think I have looked blind about who should bee defenders, CDM, wing etc. I would listen to Swaan1, because he said what I thougt already i last season: I must win something with this team. I have been very lucky with maxings, even on 2stars, witch I have 5 of. Highskills also. I could win something with this team and I will spend my time on the tacticboard the last 3 weeks I know, but nothing to exchange in the last 2 season means than I got nothing to play with in league next season (Maybe I use my part of luck i season 80 where I got all these players. Mostly from the "stock marked" (is that the right word in english?) I have played a lot on autopilot, since I lost the faith on everything

sbrownridge wrote:

Those players look impressive, I'd definitely blame the manager...

Alot of managers said the same 😀
I think I have looked blind about who should bee defenders, CDM, wing etc. I would listen to Swaan1, because he said what I thougt already i last season: I must win something with this team.
I have been very lucky with maxings, even on 2stars, witch I have 5 of. Highskills also.
I could win something with this team and I will spend my time on the tacticboard the last 3 weeks

freddemand wrote:

Not may intention to make the longest post ever. A post not thought thru though. The difference would have been greater if we were in the same WL. Anyway, in an attempt to easy your mind, you are currently top in both reagular and world league….

I know, but nothing to exchange in the last 2 season means than I got nothing to play with in league next season (Maybe I use my part of luck i season 80 where I got all these players. Mostly from the "stock marked" (is that the right word in english?) I have played a lot on autopilot, since I lost the faith on everything

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By sbrownridge - 11-06-2022 22:06

[Canada]

Interesting thing... My 2nd best scorer right now is a zero ball shooter that's playing as an offensive mid. I wonder how strikers would do at U18 if you didn't worry about shooting, instead training speed, stamina and ball control.Interesting thing... My 2nd best scorer right now is a zero ball shooter that's playing as an offensive mid.

I wonder how strikers would do at U18 if you didn't worry about shooting, instead training speed, stamina and ball control.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 11-06-2022 22:41

[BRAU18]
President

Exactly. You were leaving some important players out of your starting XI. Also, the defenders had only 5 aerial passing. But you're in for a treat now. U18 Season Break Cup could be yours hehe 0/1 shooting and high ball control scores sometimes. I can attest for that. But it's definitely not better than having a 8+ shooting striker. A balanced option (like you hinted earlier) could work out and be on par with the above-mentioned 8+ shooting strikers. Something like 6 shooting, 6 ball control and good speed and stamina… I've never tried that myself though. I mean, I've had some similar players, but never a properly trained one. Would be an interesting experiment. And I think this would work (maybe it's the best option), because the game obviously isn't as simple as having tackling and shooting. Quite the opposite. The match engine seems to like balanced players and mix of attributes. Every attribute counts.

o-tt-o wrote:

I think I have looked blind about who should bee defenders, CDM, wing etc.

Exactly. You were leaving some important players out of your starting XI. Also, the defenders had only 5 aerial passing. But you're in for a treat now. U18 Season Break Cup could be yours hehe

sbrownridge wrote:

Interesting thing... My 2nd best scorer right now is a zero ball shooter that's playing as an offensive mid.

I wonder how strikers would do at U18 if you didn't worry about shooting, instead training speed, stamina and ball control.

0/1 shooting and high ball control scores sometimes. I can attest for that. But it's definitely not better than having a 8+ shooting striker.

A balanced option (like you hinted earlier) could work out and be on par with the above-mentioned 8+ shooting strikers. Something like 6 shooting, 6 ball control and good speed and stamina… I've never tried that myself though. I mean, I've had some similar players, but never a properly trained one. Would be an interesting experiment. And I think this would work (maybe it's the best option), because the game obviously isn't as simple as having tackling and shooting. Quite the opposite. The match engine seems to like balanced players and mix of attributes. Every attribute counts.

Odp: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By nonpler - 15-06-2022 23:05

[POLSKA]

I do not know if there are any distortions in the text, but I have trouble understanding why it was created? :) You have to explain to each new player the basics of the game, but such handling by the hand? Each player should discover the tactics on his own and enjoy the game, not copying and duplicating ...I do not know if there are any distortions in the text, but I have trouble understanding why it was created? :) You have to explain to each new player the basics of the game, but such handling by the hand? Each player should discover the tactics on his own and enjoy the game, not copying and duplicating ...

Odp: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By filipek4 - 16-06-2022 13:07

[U18-FS]

Honestly I think that the importance of speed attribute has increased with implementation of events and chips. Usually if you wanted to play wings, you mostly focused on stamina, crossing, tackling. For heading striker it was stamina, shooting and heading. With chips addition it’s easier for teams focused on short passing to get high amount of speed/stamina, which I believe together with right tactics are great counter to wings. Recently I have a theory that more speed may be more important than 8/9 ball in tackling for defenders/midfielders, but I may need some more time to back my theory up. One thing I’m certain of is that heading striker should have at least 5 balls of speed, because it helps a lot. I have watched 3D matches a lot this season and last seasons and I have realised that speed allows heading striker to get much faster into better positions inside the penalty area (last season I had 5@ speed header, this season it’s 2@). @otto Awesome team mate. I would honestly go for a mix of wings and short-passing with it as you may be lacking a few balls in crossing for the best wings-tactic outcome.Honestly I think that the importance of speed attribute has increased with implementation of events and chips. Usually if you wanted to play wings, you mostly focused on stamina, crossing, tackling. For heading striker it was stamina, shooting and heading.
With chips addition it’s easier for teams focused on short passing to get high amount of speed/stamina, which I believe together with right tactics are great counter to wings.

Recently I have a theory that more speed may be more important than 8/9 ball in tackling for defenders/midfielders, but I may need some more time to back my theory up.
One thing I’m certain of is that heading striker should have at least 5 balls of speed, because it helps a lot. I have watched 3D matches a lot this season and last seasons and I have realised that speed allows heading striker to get much faster into better positions inside the penalty area (last season I had 5@ speed header, this season it’s 2@).

@otto
Awesome team mate. I would honestly go for a mix of wings and short-passing with it as you may be lacking a few balls in crossing for the best wings-tactic outcome.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By swaan1 - 16-06-2022 14:10

[STARS]

I think the guide is a very good baseline, and it is always nice to get another perspective then your own. But if many managers train the same way a meta will emerge and you have to adapt to the new meta to still have the edge over the competion. It is like If many teams have low speed then the teams that have a countersetup for it will excel in alot of games since they have the advantage over so many teams. Personally i think it is super important to train each player for a specific positions in your tactics. Since you always have to make compromises with your youth team. I train a MF that are on the opposit side of my winger slightly diffrent from how i train my MF that is on the winger side etc.. each attribute gain can make a huge diffrences since you cant have a fully trained player with everything you want.

filipek4 wrote:

Honestly I think that the importance of speed attribute has increased with implementation of events and chips. Usually if you wanted to play wings, you mostly focused on stamina, crossing, tackling. For heading striker it was stamina, shooting and heading.
With chips addition it’s easier for teams focused on short passing to get high amount of speed/stamina, which I believe together with right tactics are great counter to wings.

Recently I have a theory that more speed may be more important than 8/9 ball in tackling for defenders/midfielders, but I may need some more time to back my theory up.
One thing I’m certain of is that heading striker should have at least 5 balls of speed, because it helps a lot. I have watched 3D matches a lot this season and last seasons and I have realised that speed allows heading striker to get much faster into better positions inside the penalty area (last season I had 5@ speed header, this season it’s 2@).

@otto
Awesome team mate. I would honestly go for a mix of wings and short-passing with it as you may be lacking a few balls in crossing for the best wings-tactic outcome.

I think the guide is a very good baseline, and it is always nice to get another perspective then your own. But if many managers train the same way a meta will emerge and you have to adapt to the new meta to still have the edge over the competion. It is like If many teams have low speed then the teams that have a countersetup for it will excel in alot of games since they have the advantage over so many teams.

Personally i think it is super important to train each player for a specific positions in your tactics. Since you always have to make compromises with your youth team. I train a MF that are on the opposit side of my winger slightly diffrent from how i train my MF that is on the winger side etc.. each attribute gain can make a huge diffrences since you cant have a fully trained player with everything you want.

Re: A guide on how to build a competitive youth team

By douglaskampl - 17-06-2022 18:21

[BRAU18]
President

You have a point. But I feel like this thread is just a starting point (even if the guide is perceived as "in-depth"). You can always put your own touch. And there are different players, chips etc. Teams will never look like exactly the same. There will be similarities of course. But is that really avoidable? At the end of the day, every multiplayer game has a most effective strategy and the top players will always be following it. But I'm with you, I don't like copying stuff either (that applies to mz or life in general) and I learned how to play by myself since I didn't know anyone when I started playing. But in MZ's case there isn't much to do when it comes to tactics. The only thing you can do to spice things up is maybe trying to get a grasp of how the simulation truly works (this is something most people don't understand).

nonpler wrote:

I do not know if there are any distortions in the text, but I have trouble understanding why it was created? :) You have to explain to each new player the basics of the game, but such handling by the hand? Each player should discover the tactics on his own and enjoy the game, not copying and duplicating ...

You have a point. But I feel like this thread is just a starting point (even if the guide is perceived as "in-depth"). You can always put your own touch. And there are different players, chips etc. Teams will never look like exactly the same. There will be similarities of course. But is that really avoidable? At the end of the day, every multiplayer game has a most effective strategy and the top players will always be following it.

But I'm with you, I don't like copying stuff either (that applies to mz or life in general) and I learned how to play by myself since I didn't know anyone when I started playing. But in MZ's case there isn't much to do when it comes to tactics. The only thing you can do to spice things up is maybe trying to get a grasp of how the simulation truly works (this is something most people don't understand).

 

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