Struggling to make young players ready for first team.

[bondj700]

That's only true for most of the preexisting players, most regens will be at their best by the time they're 25-26 if they get played often. By the time they hit 30 their physical stats do tend to start to drop, some last until 32 or so but not many and at which point you've usually replaced them with someone younger.

Interesting point but i'm not sure why it would be different for regens. What i've read before and experienced is the reason regens might seem to peak earlier is you tend to play them more from a young age (especially if their highly rated) and they then appear to hit their peak in their mid twenties then start to decline at 30. But by overplaying when they are young the PA they hit at 25 is not as high as if they had developed slower and peaked nearer 30. It might only be half a star or 20 PA points or so but it makes a difference. As I said earlier this what i've found and read from others but you might have different experience.

If you think about this is what happens IRL. Players like Owen overplayed when a teenager, was at his peak in early 20's then burnt out by 30. Where as players like Giggs, Scholes and Beckham were managed properly and were at their best in late 20's and Giggs and Scholes still playing at top level at nearly 40. Think how good Owen could have been if had been at United as a teenager rather than when he was already past it at 30.

 

[TJD07]

If you think about this is what happens IRL. Players like Owen overplayed when a teenager, was at his peak in early 20's then burnt out by 30. Where as players like Giggs, Scholes and Beckham were managed properly and were at their best in late 20's and Giggs and Scholes still playing at top level at nearly 40. Think how good Owen could have been if had been at United as a teenager rather than when he was already past it at 30.

Owen got wrecked by injuries more than burning out, the older he got the more they took a toll on him.

 

[Spleen]

I agree that players deteriorate in FM more quickly than in real life - or to be exact, FM doesn't seem to acknowledge that some players can last a lot longer than others. At the moment I'm playing in Brazil and I've seen lots of players at 36, 38, even 40 with really good physical stats. But this is obviously at the start of the game. In my last save I played for 18 seasons, and I never once saw an 'oldest player record broken' message in my inbox, in any competition or any club I was subscribed to.

Obviously those players that can go on past 36 are really rare, but in FM they don't seem to exist. Everyone goes on to about 33, or 36 if they've got world-class ability, then they deteriorate, get released, no-one picks them up and they retire.

I don't think it's to do with games played. In my last save I joined a club who had a regen that was a permanent reserve. He was about 30, had been at that club since a boy, and every season got about 8 games and a few goals, but never had a regular place. I didn't even give him that and he asked to leave. He did, never found a club, and retired at 32.

 

[bondj700]

Owen got wrecked by injuries more than burning out, the older he got the more they took a toll on him.

Thats fair I should have said injuries ather than burn out but the injuries he suffered most throughout his caerer and in the end finished him were muscle type injuries caused by overplaying as a teenager. Giggs actually suffers from similar type injuries (in their youth they both were explosive players who suffer muscle injuries) but Giggs was managed better which is shown in the fact he is still playing at the top.