Player star rating - fluctuations/relevance

[slcutd]

This has probably been addressed somewhere before but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I'm sorry if I'm repeating a topic that was already discussed. Anyway...

I'm interested in your opinion. How much do people care about the player star rating? And I'm talking about their CA not their PA.

I noticed with some of my players that their star rating ("ability") fluctuates and I'm not 100% sure why. For example, I bought Gundogan who came to my club with 4 stars. But probably through 1/3 of the season his star rating dropped to 3 and never recovered. This also affected his "suitability" to the position he's playing (the little green circle bar) where it used to be almost complete now is at three quarters. There are some other players on my team who's star ratings also fluctuate, such as Rooney, Shaw, Ricardo Rodriguez... Most of them play well and have average ratings of over 7 so I'm not sure if it's related to their form. Rooney started the season with 3.5 stars, played 12 games and scored 9 goals and his rating just dropped to 3 stars...

What do you think why this happens and how relevant is the star rating to the actual effectiveness of the player?

 

[wkdsoul]

The star rating only relate to how good he is compared to your team, a 5 star player in the everton squad may only be a 3 star player in Real Madrids team, as you buy and sell better players the rating will change compared to what the overall quality of the squad is.

Its a simple guide but not really a guarantee of how a player will be. Read the attributes closer than the stars.

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

It also factors in how good your team is compared to the rest of the league.
Best exapmple I can give is that if you fire up a save with Barcelona, you'll find that a lot of their U18 will only have 2.5 stars yet their PA will be around the 150 mark. Players with a lot of potential but since your team is so good compared to the league, 3 stars becomes the average but because your average is world class, it gets hard to find above world class: 4 star+

 

[slcutd]

The star rating only relate to how good he is compared to your team, a 5 star player in the everton squad may only be a 3 star player in Real Madrids team, as you buy and sell better players the rating will change compared to what the overall quality of the squad is.

Its a simple guide but not really a guarantee of how a player will be. Read the attributes closer than the stars.

I thought the star rating was an absolute value, meaning it's comparative to the entire player population and not only limited to your team or competition. The reason I think so is because I noticed that my 4 (and more) star players would have "world class player" on their "Reports" page. It doesn't say "Best in the team" or "Best in the league".
I would like to hear if somebody started with a team in lower divisions and had a 4+ star player with low attributes.

 

[wkdsoul]

Nope. Just factored to you, if you start with Celtic Guidetti is still gonna be a 4/5 star player in relation to your squad and the quality of the scottish league. The more players you buy of better quality than him he will drop down as they arrive.

 

[tommyd150]

If they have the stats for the role they're going to be playing then 90% of the times ill ignore the scout reports.

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

But his opinion of him being a "World Class player" is not tied to them being a 4+ star Potential/Current Ability player. It's the scouts assessment of his reputation.

The star rating is a variable of how good the scout thinks the player is.

1.5 star = Decent player
2 star = useful player
2.5 star = fairly good play
3 = good player
3.5 = very good player
4 star = Superb
4.5 star = Excellent
5 star = Superb

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Here's my example.

Barcelona and Barcelona B are in different leagues but the B team has their contracts tied to the 1st team so I'll be able to compare the 1st team against the B team but the B team manager won't be able to compare against the 1st team.


First team manager's view of the B team
View attachment 315779

B team manager's view of the B team.
View attachment 315789

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Now comparing the same player from both sides.

1st team view of Wilfrid Katoum
View attachment 315777

B team view of Wilfrid Katoum
View attachment 315776

 

[slcutd]

Thanks a lot! This makes things much clearer now but it's still a confusing system. I would expect it to be an absolute value system, which would make the player's ability applicable to all levels of competition. But I guess that's not the case and we have this relative value. But I'm still not 100% sure how this rating is affected. Gundogan is by far my best DM (I only have two natural DMs and the other one is a youngster). Also he is on the list of top 20 players in the world, which would make him one of the best DMs in the league, but he's still at 3 stars...

 

[wkdsoul]

Thanks a lot! This makes things much clearer now but it's still a confusing system. I would expect it to be an absolute value system, which would make the player's ability applicable to all levels of competition. But I guess that's not the case and we have this relative value. But I'm still not 100% sure how this rating is affected. Gundogan is by far my best DM (I only have two natural DMs and the other one is a youngster). Also he is on the list of top 20 players in the world, which would make him one of the best DMs in the league, but he's still at 3 stars...

got **** scouts?

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

Thanks a lot! This makes things much clearer now but it's still a confusing system. I would expect it to be an absolute value system, which would make the player's ability applicable to all levels of competition. But I guess that's not the case and we have this relative value. But I'm still not 100% sure how this rating is affected. Gundogan is by far my best DM (I only have two natural DMs and the other one is a youngster). Also he is on the list of top 20 players in the world, which would make him one of the best DMs in the league, but he's still at 3 stars...

It's more abstract than confusing in my opinion. Once you throw away a binary mentaly of 100% = best and 0% = worst it gets easier to judge players in a "shades of quality" system. Ask 10 random people in a bar who the 5th best player in the world is and I'll guarantee you'll get 10 different answer. FM recognizes that a players ability is mere opinion and in reality, you can't compare players so frankly like FIFA dose.

At a first glace, Messi has more 20's than Ronaldo so people immediately say he's better, **** he only truth that can come out of conversation is that both are world class. Comparing players is almost impossible since there are so many factors.

Also, don't just judge a player by his attributes. His mentality and hidden stats play a huge part. His Determination will play a role in his development while ambition, professionalism will or distort his value. Now factor in that your scouts may not have 20 CA/ 20 PA, don't have 100% scouting knowledge on the player. Even at your own club, it taken 1-2 seasons before your scouts/assistant can get an accurate read on the players ability.

Also, what is your Assistant's judging CA/PA? Since most people trust their assistant empirically

 

[slcutd]

It's kind of contradictory to have this "abstract" value that is based on absolute numerical values (1-20). But I get your point. The intent was to make the game more realistic with this fluctuating rating. It's just going to take me a little bit of getting used to.

 

[LanceLake]

I dont take any notice anymore since being relegated with a plefora of 5 star players and ditching them to keep a backbone of players with decent average ratings. I went on to win the league with only 1 loss all season, the vast majority of players having less than 3 stars for CA. I agree that its just an opinion on a players ability and better to look for players with decent average ratings in similar leagues or higher, prob more like real life. Also read somewhere that CA star rating is just a reflection on total attribute ratings, so if a CB has very high finishing etc (rather then defensive attributes) he could have a high CA level, even though he is a terrible defender