Sure there is a certain mindset adjustment required when operating VLAs like the Tecnam P2002-JF for ab initio training but there are plenty of 'light' machines around doing the same job which survive alright like the Eurostar.
If people are trained correctly from the outset as to how to treat and operate the aircraft then they should be just fine. We don't have any problems with our p2002-JF so far and they're a very popular amchine all around the world. The nose gear is similar to the Mooney with a trailing link and rubber doughnuts.
A C152 nose landing gear/engine frame is only good for 3 bounces in a row before it cries enough.
The C162 prototype had a Rotax 912S under the cowling but the USofA (engineers (mechanics and the public at large) didn't like/trust/understand the 912 as it wasn't American and it was different. Continental shaved everything they could off the O-200 to make the lightweight 'D' variant as light as possible. Still got mags, single carb drinking 22LPH - 4-5 more than a Rotax which will hit Cessna in Europe.