CM - Question about young players
 

I am just getting back into CM again after a break and have been able to mostly pick up where I was before. But I do have one question that I haven't been able to find the answer to in any of my notes. I remember that as a manager you have to be careful not to overplay your young players. As I recall you had to limit games for players 23 and younger. Can anyone remind me what the general guidelines for avoiding overplaying young players.

I don't know for sure, but back in CM01-02 I would play really young guys one out of two games.

You might be more lucky finding the answer here

Overplaying players is very dependant upon the player in question really, some players (notably Steven Gerrard, Gareth Barry irl) can take the rigours of football fairly well at a young age and play numerous (ie. 20+) first team games with little wear and tear ... some (notably Michael Owen irl) can't and tend to break down with injuries.

A rough guide to such things is down to the player himself, a young player who is a big strapping young defender will tend to be more endurable than a small agile attacker for instance.

Things to look for which might indicate durability:

* Position, generally defenders do the 'kicking' of other players, attackers recieve it - the more likely the player is to be fouled the more likely he will pick up an injury.
injuries are slightly more common with players who are growing/developing ... when they recieve such abuse.
* Players stamina and strength, these can indicate a player who is likely to stay strong.
* Players condition during matches, some players are naturally fitter than others if your youngsters condition drops like a stone he probably isn't ready to last a full game.
* Condition notes on profile - if you find a players profile indicates he's exhausted or a similar comment then he should be rested, especially if he's a young player.

Hope this helps,

Marc

Well, I signed Freddy Adu at the ripe age of 13. I have started him 5 times this season. After each of those matches I give him about 3 matches off. After every match he starts in I get the message that he is in need of rest, and he slightly concernec about feeling jaded. Then after his break he is fine again.

I'm worried about the same issue as well, as I'm playing Ajax and practically all of its stars are 21 and under - Van der Vaart, Mido, Ibrahimovic, etc. Haven't had many problems so far, but I've been pretty careful about rotating them 2 out of 3. They're still gonna end up playing a fair number of matches, so I'll see how it all works out.