Stats vs Ability vs Reputation vs Consistency

Hi Guys,

I thought it may be useful to put this together to help any new players or a simple refresher for any experienced players.

The most common question asked by those new to the game is What makes a "Good" player?

The biggest mistake made is by simply referring to a players stats and chasing all those wonderkids!

I will put it out there straight away, the stats a player has IS NOT the best indication of whether a player is "good"!

Let's take a moment a define what "Good" means.  By good we are referring to a player that will add value to our team.  A player that perhaps will make the difference between 0 points, 1 point or all 3 points.  A player perhaps we can turn a profit on.

If you simply buy a player because he is full of greens and don't consider anything else, trust me you will end up disappointed! Another common mistake is to allow your heart to rule your head by constantly playing your favourite player or player with a big reputation and you become blind when assessing that player.

We all play this game to win (after all nobody likes losing)!  So by a "Good" player you should always be thinking what is it my team need from this player?  What do I need him to add to the team?  We win by creating a team!  So therefore everything that player brings should add value to your team.  

For me consistency is much more important than a players stats.  I often use perhaps a 3 or 3.5 star player with blue stats over a 4 star or more with plenty of greens if he simply isn't consistent enough to perform his role within the team.  With the more detailed coach reports now available this is another piece of information we should consider about a player when assessing his suitably for your team and especially when thinking about player roles within your formation.

My most important things to consider for a good player are as follows in priority order:-

1) Consistency (expect a young player to be fairly inconsistent but within reason I.e not lower than an average of 6.5)

2) Player characteristics (check to see what traits a player can bring when performing a certain role). These are critical to your overall tactic which is more important than a players stats!

3) Player behaviour/history (Is this player a trouble maker? Will he upset the rest of my team? Is he injury prone?)

4) Only once satisfied with the above 3 points will I then use stats to choose between a player.  Not all stats are important and you should only be considering the key ones required for certain roles or positions.

5) Age.  Now you know everything you need to know about a player you should be considering their age.  You need a good balance of experience and youth within your team but be careful not to sway too far to either end of the spectrum here.

I will attach examples of each below

Hope this helps?

[Massey127]

To give you a good example of this I will use a few players from my current unemployed challenge (you can follow this in the careers section).

Lets take my RW options in my Grimsby save for example.  I have two main choices for this position as I want to play an IF on the right flank.   Rhys Browne or Tom Bolarinwa.

So let's assess both players as you can see from screenshots below.  On all accounts (Stats, Player traits for my role, Valuation and even international experience) the better option of the two would appear to be Rhys Browne, right?

Wrong! Why?  Because he simply isn't consistent enough! When I play him he adds less value to my team than Tom Bolarinwa who is much more consistent and therefore is scoring and assisting more and therefore is more valuable to my team than Browne.  This could be to do with Browne still being relatively young at 21 but this demonstrates the importance of keeping an open mind, trialling things and not allowing your judgement to become clouded.  This is just one example but I have these in every position throughout my team.

[Dec]

A very interesting subject but can you format it please with headers? Thanks.

[Jack]

I very rarely sign any players that have a rating of below 7 no matter how good their stats are.

[Massey127]

8 minutes ago, Jack said:

I very rarely sign any players that have a rating of below 7 no matter how good their stats are.

I agree mate. The only acceptance of sub 7 should be young players you believe may come good.  Consistency has to be the No. 1 factor!

[BatiGoal]

Interesting points.

I personally don't care too much for the value of players and their CA/PA as these fluctuate all over the place. Stats matter but most important is of course their performances on the pitch (their consistency) as you say. I think playing as a winger Bolarinwa's better technique gives the edge as well as his age possibly. Brown's versatility makes for a great sub, but these two are very close quality-wise.

[Massey127]

Just to add to this, I have just finished my first season with Grimsby and Bolarinwa finished as our most consistent performer in the team! Browne meanwhile finished in 17th place in the team!

Again reason not to take things at face value and do your research.

[veerus]

Seems to me the takeaway here is to pay attention when the scouting/coach report cites inconsistency and maybe to use those players as high variance subs especially when losing and needing that extra boost.

Do you have any observations about other non-attribute stats?

While I'm on the topic, I've noticed that most of the info on that screen is pure noise. A player is called a good dribbler/passer if they have 12+ in that stat. So the key is to pay attention to the non-stat comments. 

[BatiGoal]

14 hours ago, Massey127 said:

Just to add to this, I have just finished my first season with Grimsby and Bolarinwa finished as our most consistent performer in the team! Browne meanwhile finished in 17th place in the team!

Again reason not to take things at face value and do your research.

Perhaps not entirely surprising tho, if you look at the key attr. for wingers: Dribbling, Crossing, Technique, Movement, Pace. Bolarinwa does score better here than Browne, albeit by a single statpoint.

[Massey127]

The position both were competing for was the Right Flank IF.  I didn't want a winger but someone who would cut inside.  I know both were right footed but they were my only options lol.

At the end of the season though there could not have been a bigger difference in the two in terms of performance and that's my point.

The two are very evenly matched when analysing just their stats but the reality proves there is much more that needs considered.

 

[Massey127]

Here are the end of season screenshots that prove how they performed.

[BatiGoal]

Off topic, interesting stat to see Bolarinwa having played for Muanthong (Thailand).

On topic, Browne has fewer games played which isn't a problem per se but did he at least start those games or did he come on as a sub later on? That makes a huge difference (I ask since I didn't see this mentioned in your OP).

[Massey127]

21 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Off topic, interesting stat to see Bolarinwa having played for Muanthong (Thailand).

On topic, Browne has fewer games played which isn't a problem per se but did he at least start those games or did he come on as a sub later on? That makes a huge difference (I ask since I didn't see this mentioned in your OP).

Hi mate, I can confirm that Browne started 19 games and was a sub 4 times. Bolarinwa started 39 games and was a sub in 9 games.

This was simply just down to managing their fitness and squad needs as best I could.

[Scratch]

Interesting. I get what you're saying, but as long as I'm not losing too bad, I'll often play the younger player so that he develops faster. With some consistent game time under his belt Browne will probably be a significantly better option in a year or two (and likely to be more consistent than he is now). Maybe you could load him out, but I've found that if he's not far off the team it's better to grit your teeth and play him. 

[Guille]

I have a right winger which I've been trying to replace since I started my save three seasons ago. He has a couple of blue stats (crossing, dribbling, passing) and that's about it. All of the rest he's either orange or red. But I've found it almost impossible because he's delivering around 20 assists per season plus some goals. He's 25 (probably his peak) and I'm now in League 2 (previous ones were Vanarama regional and national).

 

I think I have a big decision to make here as I will now be more restricted in terms of transfer windows. Should I keep him in the first squad or should I bring someone with better stats?

[veerus]

Your players will quickly outlive their usefulness as you go up in leagues.  I'd look to replace him for someone better.  At that level, I bet you can get a player with 14-15s in crossing/passing and 10+ in dribbling for relatively cheap.  Use your old guy as backup.

[Guille]

11 hours ago, veerus said:

Your players will quickly outlive their usefulness as you go up in leagues.  I'd look to replace him for someone better.  At that level, I bet you can get a player with 14-15s in crossing/passing and 10+ in dribbling for relatively cheap.  Use your old guy as backup.

I had already signed a new guy but it was probably a worthless effort as I was now offered a new job!