Yesterday was my day off work, I had so many little jobs and chores to do, and I thought I'll get them out of the way, and put some serious time into the MLO Beta. Needless to say, nothing got done, and I played the Beta for over 12 hours, with a slight break in between for my girlfriend to feed me, and give me some sexy time. Not a bad day off that.
I spent half of the day trying to find the best formation, and then buying and selling players to fill these roles. I tried 4-3-3 and the classic 4-4-2 diamond over a good few hours, but nothing felt as good as my favoured 3-5-2, so I ended up reverting back to that. I certainly created more chances with the 3 strikers, but at the expense of nice build-up football.
I played a guy who had Lavezzi, and to be honest, he caused me fits. I then made the stupid mistake of selling Suarez to fund Lavezzi, who was my favourite ML player in PES 2009. After 6-7 games, both myself and the fans missed Suarez, so Lavezzi and the 4-3-3 formation was given the boot, and I resigned Suarez. I then realised that my best option was to stick with my familiar and favoured 3-5-2, and just build and strengthen the quality in my team in each position, player for player.
I played in the competitions all day, in first one I got knocked out in the semi's by an own goal in the last couple of minutes, but still earned £3 million or more. In the second competition I got through to the quarters. I drew a player that had this ridiculous team, but when the game started, I could see he wasnt controlling his players. I thought he must be having a piss, so I tried in vain to get the ball and score, but the lag was terrible. After about 10 minutes game time, the match ended through poor connection. I then got a message saying that the disconnection had been reviewed, it was deemed to be my fault, and the other player went through to the Semi's ? WTF ?? I didnt know whether to laugh or cry.
The last competition I played, I got through the semi's again but had to leave as my girlfriend was waiting at her house for me with the lunch ready, my son took over and lost 1-0. Overall I think I earned about £9 million that day, which I was very happy with.
My main player target for my transfer funds was Fellaini, I have never played with him, in any PES game, but have played against him, and he is a monster. I bought him, and what a fucking player, the man is a machine, and really plays alot better than his stats suggest. I play him in a free central midfield role, he has Free Roaming and Covering (I think), and when your not in control of him and press pressure, I have never seen any player move so quick to break up play and muscle players off the ball. His passing is excellent, as is his lobbed through ball over the top. I was watching his movement on the pitch, and whenever my opponent broke halfway into my own half, I could see him running back offering immense cover. For £2.8 million he is an absolute steal.
I then bought Scott Parker to sit in the DMF role behind him. Parker has Covering, Passing, and a few other Player Cards, and again, he hunts you down and never stops running. I then gave some balance to my left SMF position with the left footed Luque, he has been outstanding. Also on the right I signed Abriel for £2.2 million, another player with the Passer Card and loads of technique, and the scorer of that stunning scissor kick I posted in the MLO Beta thread. I kept Ben Saada in the AMF role, and bought a Brazilian SS/CF named Jeda, who like for like was similar to Pandev, but about £1 million less. My Goalkeeper Van Loo is about 6 foot 10, and although a bit clumsy looking, is very solid in the sticks. I invested in another 2 big CB's, Cabrerra and cant remember the other. I got them both for £1.5 million each and they are strong enough to keep the likes of Ballotelli at bay. They cant play football, but they can certainly stop people from playing football. All 3 are also very dangerous at offensive set-pieces, and solid defending set-pieces.
Without any question, Suarez is my talisman, and play-maker supreme, everything goes through him and Saada. Suarez is so much stronger than Lavezzi, and has sublime feet and a killer pass. He looks so elegant on the ball and reminds me alot of Rui Costa with his presence.
Finally I feel very comfortable with my formation and players, and this game is just sooooo addictive it's almost impossible to put down. I'm loving the lobbed diagonal through ball from the left wing down the channel. And the fact if you just tap it, the high level players just dink one over the top, but when you add power, you can clip one 30-40 yards and into the path of the runner. So much control, but still completely stat attributed. It really is a remarkable engine.
Suarez Jeda
Luque Fellaini Abriel
Parker
Digao Caberra Whatshisface
Van Loo