My current 1* 24Q DL/DC was the first I trained an SA on and ive kept him in my squad for 5 seasons. He only plays 8-10 matches a season but he is always on point rating 7-9. He scored the first and last goals in my last league victory as well. Some players just overplay their stats. He was my captain for the last half on s1 and all of s2. His notable achievements include 3 seasons unhurt, winning a cup tie with the last penalty kick, and holding the top rated striker in my last season league to 0 goals both times we played. I think he was an academy player but it's impossible to confirm that now.

Every player I have put an SA on has raised their performance and come up clutch in one game or another. The first MC I put corner specialist on is still my leader in assists and he's been gone 2 seasons and only played 2. I find stats to be misleading as there are so many tankers in lower leagues that it's easy to score 20 a season in all competitions. They also sell better and I want my club to be one of positivity and growth not greed and pride. That's why I put an SA on nearly all fast trainers I buy.

I think that people are forgetting that certain formations and playstyles affect the trigger rate of your players' SA. Like you aren't going to trigger your one on one scorer if you play a narrow formation with 2 or more strikers and go short passing. Not that he won't score goals, he just is more likely to trigger his SA if you play him alone with a long ball/counter attacking playstyle. Or playing a playmaker mc in a 442, he's just not likely to get many chances for incisive passes if the opponent is playing 5 midfielders/or 2 dmcs.

So yeah it's not as profitable to do it, especially with the bull**** semi-random way that your player's wages increase as you put points into them in the first 2 seasons of their contract, but having young players with SAs that are a little below average help your Q average and cup/CL/league placement and also can deceive your opponent into thinking you are weaker than you are.

So do it or don't just don't complain about your football ignorance and claim the game is broken.