a view from the peanut gallery:
this recent exchange has clarified some issues in my mind. the beauty of this game is the immense range of choices available to the manager; priorities are important, as is long-term planning. i made a decision some time ago to train balanced players for a balanced team; i don't know if this is the best way, i had some initial success, then ran into a brick wall, and now may be figuring out how to climb over that wall; i know this approach suits me psychologically / philosophically, so i am determined to make it work. i gather the game engine is drifting in this direction, rewarding such players / teams; i am unsure, but even if true, i am sure it would be closer to a tweak than a major change in direction.
one consequence of all this is that i don't see how i could be in a position to train a player for the U21 team. i took one look at that player profiled a few posts previously, and saw nothing but holes that my league opponents could exploit. my training process means i could take an 18 year old (i favor 19 year olds for better value -- sort of like buying a one-year old used car) and work on him, but he will not be in a position to even start for me until he is 21 or 22; i think it is a rapid development if he is getting playing time by 20. this is for division play. i am trying to develop an entire squad; the training necessary to develop a player to extraordinary levels before 21 i simply will not do. it is possible, i am suggesting, many other managers may be thinking along these lines.
that said, in two-three seasons i hope to have the type of squad i feel confident about, and will then begin to train single players, hoping to get a routine going of intensely focusing on one player a year. even then, the idea of trying to make a player with atrocious FT skills work just rubs me the wrong way. nevertheless, the game rewards, in various ways, the development of such players, but i want those guys standing on the shoulders of balanced players.