Before going deeper in wage optimization, it is interesting to understand the aspects of training at high levels or simply when the league you are in is very close.

The goal of the below listing is not to consider the money you can make from training one or the other skill but more, to find out what are the main consequences of choosing a training type from a tactical and general strategy point of view. I have assumed in the below that you are trying to train the maximum number of players in that skill.


Goalkeeping: keepers have a very high impact on the team defense rating,
+ tactical flexibility is the best you can have
- your keepers will not have the optimal skill level and experience as you are training them, therefore you might not be able to put up the defense ratings you would like too
+ the rest of your team can be fully made of optimal players that you buy (instead of train), allowing to get the optimal midfield, attacks, experience and tactics levels
- in order to smoothen up the end of cycle of keeper training you should have a relatively high level backup that you will train or buy (but then your profit will be limited)

Defense: many used to say that defense was useless, but counter-attacking has changed all this
+ the number of spots you can train
- the number of spots you have to train, as it will not allow you a lot of tactical flexibility (532, 541 and sometimes 442) especially for great midfield and attack ratings
- your defense will lack experience which might lead to some SE goals
- your defense might not allow you to put the CA ratings that a team with older players will do

Playmaking: according to the barthon.com study , the cost of this skill is very high compared to others
+ you can have full backup line of midfielders to cope with any form/injury/red card problem, and still be able to get high midfield level
+ in the last games you will have a midfield level higher than what your salary levels suggest
- if they are at the highest possible level, you’ll have to sell your best players at the end of the season
- as you buy young players, you will have less chance of having high secondaries

Scoring: unlike in real life, good scorers are not what hattrick managers look for they prefer to invest in good midfielders!
+ attack ratings you can get both in central attack and on the wings (if you have the appropriate wingers to support them) will allow you to score against most of the teams
- second most expensive skill after playmaking
- using 343 your midfield level you will get will be relatively low, as you can not really afford to loose one training spot when you have so few trainees, you might however chose to play 352 for a few games during the season
- you can not really develop interesting multi-skilled players, forwards towards the wing has not yet taken the importance it could have taken

Part 2 of this article on the other training types