PESV
Championship
- 28 April 2002
I got fired. During the season i set free a big chunk of my squad consisting of old and/or low rated players as to have more salary to spend on better ones. By the end of the season my squad was so thin that i could never start fully fit and with all positive form arrows.
Good luck playing FUMA with the default players in the English Championship on professionial when you are not in your best shape, i dare you. Many oponnent teams consistent 50% out of Hulk players. If my players are not in their best form these half-mutants throw them around the pitch like little children.
The good news; i got a few job offers and decided to jump into Paraná, a second league Brazilian team, at that time struggling at the bottom of the ranks. I applied my lessons learned and made sure i had a big enough squad so i could pretty much always start with a fresh 11.
To my suprise al the players in the youth team where 16 years old (whereas in England they tended to be 19/20/12). I added some youth defenders to my first team, one of which with rating 71, Naldo, and he's has been amazing from the first match.
The difference with the Championship has been night and day. I have not lost a game yet. Won 6 and draw 2, very close at entering the top 10. There is still a lot of potential in this team and next season i might have a shot at promoting. Bought a new AM and he has been a real quality injection. Its so important to have players that make smart runs and who are technical enough that you dare to pass the ball to them in the near the box. This team is really coming together only within a few matches.
After one and a half seasons ML on professional difficulty i cant say i have noticed unfair scripting. If i consider condition and form and other game mechanics like how you fit in new players, that you need to rotate enough to make sure your bench doesnt hurt your TS too much, etc. I you take these things into account the results on the pitch seem more logical.
For instance, last season i tried to steal a point in an away game against Swansea with the score being 1-1 in the 80' minute. Then Dyer came in so in my strategy i checked if he was man-marked by my DM. He was, but my DM was lot slower to start with and pretty much walking on his last feet by now. I didnt really have any alternatives so i just hoped for the best. Ofcourse Dyer scored the 2-1 in the 88' minute. I can live with that, frustrating as it was, it was my own fault.
My players where tired and i just couldnt hold off the pressure yet i was still hoping for that goal on the counter and didnt go all out defence. I got enough warnings, they missed some big chances before that goal. They where the better team so sure i am going to lose if i dont nail every single tackle to perfection. When your team is in that running in the mud state, you need to adjust your play, and most of all, you need to keep your frustrations in check.
Form arrows and condition just have a big impact, maybe too big you could say. But for me thats what keeps it interesting and challening. I like how i am now building this new team and i need every one in my squad. I also like winning for a chance, but i do miss the challenge of the Championship a bit. Some matches are now just a question of wether my CS is having a good day because i have no trouble creating chances.
Take this all with a grain of salt, i am sure come time i will grow new frustrations and things will become boring and tedious and i will be moaning away. However, my last ML was in the Castollo / Miranda days, so yeah ofcourse i am going to have some fun with this. For now my focus is still on what i do like, not so much what i am missing or find anoying. I was actually expecting the worse and although there is plenty of room for improvement, i definitely think that for newcomers especially the mode as it is now is finished and deep enough to keep a man entertained.
The one thing that i do think is really below bar is the crowd (yes, i actually dont have a problem with the silly animations and interview questions, its part of the charm imho). When you have lost three games in a row, and you find yourself behind in a home match, then i want to hear the crowd booing their longs out. When you then subtitute a fan favourite player, i want to hear them whistle like crazy. Overall, the crowd should be way less generic and part of the overall story.
Related to that, i think form arrows should be more dynamic. If you make a perfect tackle with a defender who has a more passionate mentality, you should see his confidence grow as the crowd cheers him on and the next time you check his arrow it might be a bit higher, as to say he has grown in the game. Maybe some mechanic is there but it should be more explicit. Vice versa a few bad tackles and the crowd might start booing this single player if you are still equal or behind, or if he has a few bad games in a row.
Would be cool then to be able to alocate budget to a sports psychologist(s), or individual trainers (former players?) for more effective training, etc. As long as it adds depth without adding to much complexity. In the end its about the gameplay and imho the things around it should stay stay more like The Sims then Football Manager.
Okey, enough this is too long of a post already, sorry about that
PS next time i feel like sharing ML stories i will do so in the appropiate thread, no worries.
Good luck playing FUMA with the default players in the English Championship on professionial when you are not in your best shape, i dare you. Many oponnent teams consistent 50% out of Hulk players. If my players are not in their best form these half-mutants throw them around the pitch like little children.
The good news; i got a few job offers and decided to jump into Paraná, a second league Brazilian team, at that time struggling at the bottom of the ranks. I applied my lessons learned and made sure i had a big enough squad so i could pretty much always start with a fresh 11.
To my suprise al the players in the youth team where 16 years old (whereas in England they tended to be 19/20/12). I added some youth defenders to my first team, one of which with rating 71, Naldo, and he's has been amazing from the first match.
The difference with the Championship has been night and day. I have not lost a game yet. Won 6 and draw 2, very close at entering the top 10. There is still a lot of potential in this team and next season i might have a shot at promoting. Bought a new AM and he has been a real quality injection. Its so important to have players that make smart runs and who are technical enough that you dare to pass the ball to them in the near the box. This team is really coming together only within a few matches.
After one and a half seasons ML on professional difficulty i cant say i have noticed unfair scripting. If i consider condition and form and other game mechanics like how you fit in new players, that you need to rotate enough to make sure your bench doesnt hurt your TS too much, etc. I you take these things into account the results on the pitch seem more logical.
For instance, last season i tried to steal a point in an away game against Swansea with the score being 1-1 in the 80' minute. Then Dyer came in so in my strategy i checked if he was man-marked by my DM. He was, but my DM was lot slower to start with and pretty much walking on his last feet by now. I didnt really have any alternatives so i just hoped for the best. Ofcourse Dyer scored the 2-1 in the 88' minute. I can live with that, frustrating as it was, it was my own fault.
My players where tired and i just couldnt hold off the pressure yet i was still hoping for that goal on the counter and didnt go all out defence. I got enough warnings, they missed some big chances before that goal. They where the better team so sure i am going to lose if i dont nail every single tackle to perfection. When your team is in that running in the mud state, you need to adjust your play, and most of all, you need to keep your frustrations in check.
Form arrows and condition just have a big impact, maybe too big you could say. But for me thats what keeps it interesting and challening. I like how i am now building this new team and i need every one in my squad. I also like winning for a chance, but i do miss the challenge of the Championship a bit. Some matches are now just a question of wether my CS is having a good day because i have no trouble creating chances.
Take this all with a grain of salt, i am sure come time i will grow new frustrations and things will become boring and tedious and i will be moaning away. However, my last ML was in the Castollo / Miranda days, so yeah ofcourse i am going to have some fun with this. For now my focus is still on what i do like, not so much what i am missing or find anoying. I was actually expecting the worse and although there is plenty of room for improvement, i definitely think that for newcomers especially the mode as it is now is finished and deep enough to keep a man entertained.
The one thing that i do think is really below bar is the crowd (yes, i actually dont have a problem with the silly animations and interview questions, its part of the charm imho). When you have lost three games in a row, and you find yourself behind in a home match, then i want to hear the crowd booing their longs out. When you then subtitute a fan favourite player, i want to hear them whistle like crazy. Overall, the crowd should be way less generic and part of the overall story.
Related to that, i think form arrows should be more dynamic. If you make a perfect tackle with a defender who has a more passionate mentality, you should see his confidence grow as the crowd cheers him on and the next time you check his arrow it might be a bit higher, as to say he has grown in the game. Maybe some mechanic is there but it should be more explicit. Vice versa a few bad tackles and the crowd might start booing this single player if you are still equal or behind, or if he has a few bad games in a row.
Would be cool then to be able to alocate budget to a sports psychologist(s), or individual trainers (former players?) for more effective training, etc. As long as it adds depth without adding to much complexity. In the end its about the gameplay and imho the things around it should stay stay more like The Sims then Football Manager.
Okey, enough this is too long of a post already, sorry about that
PS next time i feel like sharing ML stories i will do so in the appropiate thread, no worries.
