Trainee advice

[BrianD]

For those that have been following along with my plight, I'm looking to start buying IMs that I can train up to about ET and change training while I make a push for division III. I was looking to get US players between 19-20 with Outstanding PM and at least Passable passing. I've been looking for about a week and haven't seen even one prospect.

Does it make sense to limit my search for only US players? Any specific attributes that I should be looking for if my current search isn't right? I've just sold one IM, will be selling a second in about a week when he gets healed, and will probably be selling a third in the next 4 weeks. This would be the time to stock up on the right kind of players if I can find them.

[finkenst]

Originally Posted by BrianD

For those that have been following along with my plight, I'm looking to start buying IMs that I can train up to about ET and change training while I make a push for division III. I was looking to get US players between 19-20 with Outstanding PM and at least Passable passing. I've been looking for about a week and haven't seen even one prospect.

Good luck with that.

edit: I found 1 19yo brilliant and 1 20yo magnificent americans with crappy passing

Does it make sense to limit my search for only US players? Any specific attributes that I should be looking for if my current search isn't right? I've just sold one IM, will be selling a second in about a week when he gets healed, and will probably be selling a third in the next 4 weeks. This would be the time to stock up on the right kind of players if I can find them.

honestly, it depends on your goals. Are you planning on keeping the new IMs forever or just training PM forever?

if the former, then getting US trainees makes sense. If the latter, I've found it doesn't really matter.

[BrianD]

I'm planning on keeping the new IMs forever. The plan is to switch to some other kind of training so I can keep some very good IMs and try to compete at the higher levels. I'd prefer to not have to pay the extra 20% on wages for these guys, but from what I'm seeing on the transfer wire, I may have to.

[KevinNU7]

If you are willing to sacrifice passing you will find many more palyers to chsoe from

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by KevinNU7

If you are willing to sacrifice passing you will find many more palyers to chsoe from

That much I had figured out on my own. Do you think it is worthwhile to sacrifice passing, or is it better to look at foreign players? Will my team suffer too much if I drop down on the passing requirements?

[the_meanstrosity]

I've noticed that the transfer wire has really become devoid of USA talent lately. I'm not sure why, but it's certainly affected my purchasing plans.

[daedalus]

Caveat: I train winger so, y'know, my opinion could quite possibly (likely?) mean shite.

I'd drop the requirement down to inadequate in passing. You will open your market up hugely. If these are trainees-for-keep and you would like to have passing on them (for central attack-sake), you can use 1 of your 2 offseason (assuming no Q-game) weeks for passing. By the time they get to good playmaking skill level, you'll have pretty good passing skill level.

As an aside, I don't think it hurts too badly (if you can at LEAST go weak+, though I would do my darnest to get inadequate). I would personally focus on specialty and nationality more.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Caveat: I train winger so, y'know, my opinion could quite possibly (likely?) mean shite.

yeah, cause we all know what a weird bunch these winger dudes are

FM

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

yeah, cause we all know what a weird bunch these winger dudes are

FM

Relying on one of the two weaker market in Hattie? You just KNOW them people aren't right in the head.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by BrianD

I'm planning on keeping the new IMs forever. The plan is to switch to some other kind of training so I can keep some very good IMs and try to compete at the higher levels. I'd prefer to not have to pay the extra 20% on wages for these guys, but from what I'm seeing on the transfer wire, I may have to.

If there guys are "for keeps" at levels around ET, you badly need to buy American. You're talking between 50-90K per player so the 20% would be between 10K and 20K per week per player. Using 15K, that's 210K per season which is a big deal when you start talking about multiple guys you're keeping for a couple of seasons. That's over $5M if we're talking about 3 middies across 8 seasons.

SI

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by daedalus

As an aside, I don't think it hurts too badly (if you can at LEAST go weak+, though I would do my darnest to get inadequate). I would personally focus on specialty and nationality more.

What are the best IM specialties to look for?

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by BrianD

What are the best IM specialties to look for?

If you're selling, passing, passing, passing, passing, and passing.

For personal use, a defensive middie can help and be had on the cheap if you're running the right formation.

SI

[YoSoySean]

Originally Posted by BrianD

What are the best IM specialties to look for?

Powerful can gain PMing in the rain but can lose stamina in the sun.

Technical can gain PMing in the sun but lose it in the rain. It's pretty much a wash.

Unpredictable is also a wash. Unpredictable with low defense could have a negative effect. They could also get a positive unpredictable event which can be aided by scoring or passing.

There really isn't a "must have" specialty for IMs.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by BrianD

What are the best IM specialties to look for?

In my opinion, for "keepers" (as we are discussing), I would consider Powerful and Header to be the best specialties. For a midfielder, Powerful basically has no negative. Yes, they lose Stamina but, with Excellent Stamina, you negate the negative and, if you are running a midfielder out there without Excellent Stamina, you are not handling your business. If you can stick a Hellacious (that's somewhere between Outstanding and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, I believe) Set Piece taker in there, a Header specialist can score some cheap goals for you. And you don't run into nearly as much trouble against a Technical forward as you may with someone with that specialty in the backline.