Seeker7's Guide to a Fun Manager's Mode Experience

[Seeker7]

Start with a English League 2 team of your choice.


First season:

Hire a 2 star scout.

Find 2 (and no more) Elite level Youth Academy goalkeepers. One to use and develop, and one to sell the following season.

Find 2 (and no more) Elite level Youth Academy position players.

Find as many scrub Youth Academy players to have a complete “scrub”bench. I normally sign them immediately, not after May 1^st, so their overall is really low.

Before season turnover, change all starters to the scrubs, on all team sheets. Your next season board goals are based on your starters only.

When looking for Youth Academy players, do the following. When you first assign your YA scout, look ahead on the calendar and make sure their results are not following on the day after a game. On the day before YA scouting results, save the game. Then run the results. If you don’t see anyone you like, exit the game, reload, and do it again. Keep doing until you find someone you like. Sign them and then save to a “temp”save. Go back and immediately sign him to the 1^st team, and sim forward until they join the team. Go into “edit player” and see what they look like. If you like what they look like, go back to your temp save, and move forward. If not, go back to your original save and keep looking.

Second season:

Sell one of your elite goalies so you have funds to work with.

Hire the best YA scout you can afford.

Find 2 more (and no more) Elite Youth Academy players.

Following seasons:

Limit of 2 elite level YA players per season until you have a “starting lineup” of elite level YA players.

Once you have a starting line up of your stud and cool looking elite young players, play the game as normal, remembering to put your scrubs in the starting roster on all team sheets before each season turnover.

Optional house rules:

League 2: Only scout in Great Britain.

League 1: Only scout in Europe.

Championship League: Only scout in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Premier League: Scout the whole world.

[Seeker7]

YA Scouting Guide:

To find strikers:

Scout for "Attackers". You will find CAMs, LW, and RW that are actually strikers. With patience you WILL find players 5'10" to 6'2" tall with post May 1st speed and acceleration in the upper 60s to mid 70s. Or you can scout "Physically Strong" and you will find players with the actual ST position, but they will be slow...they are the same template as CBs, but with the ST position. Or you can scout "Technically Gifted" and find players with the actual ST position. I have found these to be quite rare, but quality strikers if you can find them...pace in the 60s with great technical ability. Or finally you can use the super fast wingers you find under a "Winger" search but they will be shortish (no taller than 5'9") and have no aerial ability at all. My advice, use the CAM, RW, LW guys you find under "Attackers" as your strikers.

To find midfield wingers:

Scout the same as above if you want tall and high finishing wingers. If you want really fast and high crossing wingers, scout for "Wingers". There they will all be 5'7" to 5"9" tall and can't jump. My advice, use the RW and LWs you find under an "Attackers" search. They will have both good crossing and finishing skills with good pace.

To find midfielders:

For CAMs, scout "Attackers". For speedy midfields, scout for Wingers and even though their official position will not be central midfielders they will be effective. For true midfielders, scout "Technically Gifted". You will find very good players with high ball control and passing skills. For defensive midfielders, for ones with pace, scout "Technically Gifted". Hard to find but are there. If you don't care about pace, scout for "Physically Strong" or "Defensive Minded". They will be tall, strong, and slow types with the CDM position.

To find LBs and RBs:

For pace and crossing but lower tackling, just scout for "Wingers" and use RMs and LMs in the back. You can even use the "bugged" super fast LB/RBs that will show, but I avoid them since they seem wrong somehow. For slow but high tackling ones (and no crossing ability), just scout for "Physically Strong"...easy to find. Or if you are really patient, try to find the true CDMs and use them at LB/RB. Again, they are very hard to find. My personal preference is to use RMs and LMs at RB and LB..their tackling will improve over time, and I always have them overlapping and involved in my attack so need the crossing skills.

To find CBs:

Easy to find. Just scout "Physically Strong". You can either use the true CBs which will have high jumping but lower tackling, or use the LB/RBs and CDM that show up, which have very high tackling but low jumping. I prefer the true CBs to guard against headers.

[Seeker7]

One last house rule I forgot to mention. Anytime I sell a high potential player I got from the YA, I must sell them to an Enlish league team. No free money without consequences. You will have to face them moving forward.

I always save at the start of the transfer period and reload if it didn't go right.

[Son of Sam99]

If you're trying to make this harder why do all the reload trick stuff you're describing? I'd say just start with a lower league team and try to climb up with the garbage youth academy players your scouts bring in.

[Seeker7]

Key word is "fun", not "harder".

You also missed the point. Looking for cool looking and unique looking YA players, not just the random boring generic ones. For example, a goalkeeper with a ponytail, or a striker with dreads.

[DataBull]

Quote: Originally Posted by Son of Sam99

If you're trying to make this harder why do all the reload trick stuff you're describing? I'd say just start with a lower league team and try to climb up with the garbage youth academy players your scouts bring in.

For me, fun is not gaming the system to make things easier. Other than the reload stuff, I like the ideas the OP has posted here.

[Seeker7]

Quote: Originally Posted by DataBull

For me, fun is not gaming the system to make things easier. Other than the reload stuff, I like the ideas the OP has posted here.

You certainly don't have to do the reload stuff. I do it because I want each of my youth players to be unique and interesting looking, not a bunch of generic looking dudes. I want dreadlocks, pony tails, baldies, mop tops, etc. Maybe someday they will actually give us the ability to edit the looks of our YA players, but until that happens, that's what I do.