Minimum match needed time to fulfil youth potential

[floggg]

Just wondering how much do I really need to play my kids to see them develop.

At the minute much of my Spurs team is under-23, with either two young players competing for the sane spot (eg 22 year old Holtby and 21 year old Saponara for AMC) or a great prospect like 19 year old Kongondobia playing reserve to Sandro who is key to my team and one of the first names on the team sheet.

How much do I need to play them in order to see them reach potential. I know the more the better, but am I just damaging their development having one rotate or even play back up with another?

Is there any point in buying youth prospects if they will only play every other game - especially 21-22 year olds who are almost but not quite stars.

And will they get benefit from being brought on for 20-30 minutes a game when they don't start.

 

[LampardsLegs]

at 16-18 you can let them sit in the U18s/Reserves but keep an eye on their training, so as to make sure they are developing in the way you want. Maybe allow them a first team game or two in non-matches where you've already qualified from a Euro group or already won the league. At 18+ you should look to start allowing them to drift slowly in to the first team depending on how well they cope. If they play one or two games and are shocking send them back to improve their strength/stamina/pace. Maybe even get them out on loan. Young players over 20+ are good for rotating a busy squad. If you are competing in Europe you might want to rest a big star or two when you play Wigan, or Rochdale in the FA Cup. This is where they come in. This way they can still get 10-20 games a season (not including subs). However, any that are only getting 15 minutes here and there are too bit-part to do themselves any good, so it might be best to just get them out on loan, but make sure they're gonna be first-team regulars wherever you send them. Look at their current ability recommendation. If they're a decent player at Championship level, this is obviously where you want to send them. I sometimes like to send those kinds of players to League 1 for half a season first if they're agree to go. It does wonders for their confidence if they're the star of their team.

 

[floggg]

I'd generally follow that approach.

I'm just wondering if giving a 22 year old 20 starts across all competitions is enough to see then fulfil their potential.

I know that the likes of Holtby will never become a superstar world beater so I'm not going to build the team around him and give him every game but I don't want to waste his potential either.

 

[LampardsLegs]

I think 20 games a season, especially if they're starts, will develop him enough. Especially enough to sell him for a decent profit.

 

[floggg]

On a related topic, does it matter where they play (amongst the positions reasonably within their competency) as long as they actually play?

Eg I see Halilovic as an AMC advanced playmaker for me long term but in order to give him games I might run him out as AMR inside forward in some games.

Will he get the same development benefit from that even if his training focus is AP?