This guide will give you some tips to improve your yearly youth intake in Football Manager.
The yearly Youth Intake is a moment a lot of managers love. Your club gets a fresh pack of Newgens and every year you have the hope that at least one of those virtual kids has the potential to become one of your star players.
Now we all know (or should know) that having a 5 star Newgen on a yearly basis is not possible, but you can definitely improve the chances of getting those Uber Newgens on more than one occasion.
Facilities
One of the most obvious improvements you can make is having the best Youth Facilities possible. Keep stalking your board asking them to improve your facilities (not too much as your board will be very reluctant to grant your wishes if you keep whining too much). And when you finally reach the highest level, keep putting money in so it will stay on the highest level.
As you progress in the game, your facility levels could drop because of Technological evolution. So make sure you keep a close eye on the level of your facilities and ask your board to improve as fast as possible if your facilities’ level decrease.
Sign a Head of youth Development
Another obvious improvement you can make is signing a good Head of Youth Development (HoYd). The only question is; what makes a good HoYd? Sure, you should always look for the one with the best attributes, but his Tactical Preferences and Personality may even be most important.
Always try to look for a Head of Youth Development that has a similar Preferred Formation as yourself, one that has the same Playing Style and has a Positive Personality. It would be a shame if a 5 star regens shows up in your Youth Squad on a position that you don’t use in your tactics and a negative personality. If you do have players that don't fit in your tactical preferences, you could also try to retrain them to a new position.
Sign youth coaches
Are we staying this obvious? Yes we are! Always max out the amount of youth coaches you can sign and make sure you sign the best of the best.
The principle of Youth Coaching is the same as the ones you have for your first team. The only extra high valued attribute these guys need is ‘Working with Youngsters’. That makes them extra valuable for you and your youth set up. Other than that; look for coaches with the same attributes that are needed to get a 5 star coaching rating for the various categories you have.
And do not forget about the Tactical Preferences, Playing style and personalities of your Youth Coaches as well. They really do affect the type of players that will come through the ranks in your yearly Youth Intake.
Invest in youth recruitment
One of the things that you will have to keep doing is investing in your Youth Recruitment. You can ask your board to invest money in the recruitment and that will effect the quality of the recruitment. The current level you have can be found in the Club Info section of your club. A low level means your recruitment will focus mainly on players from your own region, making the pool a lot smaller. A high level means your recruitment will have a more Worldwide focus.
Invest in junior coaching
Make sure to invest in Junior Coaching. This is the training your future newgens will receive before they land in your yearly youth intake. The higher the level of junior coaching, the higher the current ability of your newgens will be during the youth intake. And with higher current ability starting levels, the chances of higher potential ability are also bigger.
Reputation & scouting range
A factor that has some importance for the level of your youth intake is the reputation of your club and yourself as a manager. A small regional club will not attract the best youth players even if you have the best facilities, coaches and head of youth development. A club with a Worldwide reputation will be able to attract better players and therefore more potential stars.
The reputation of your club will grow steadily as you progress in the game and perform by winning matches and winning trophies. The same counts for your reputation as a manager. Win matches, win trophies and your reputation will grow steadily as the years pass.
To close...
Keep in mind that it is impossible to get a potential Lionel Messi every season, but by applying our tips and hints you will improve your chances of getting a Uber Newgen.