The Master League adventures thread

[rockstrongo]

Well my main approach is, 4-3-3. I play like this since PES 5. I mostly attack from the flanks. prePES5 i was playing 3-4-3, with diamond in the mid.

I am mostly a type of attacking from the sides and cross the ball.

Now
Midfield is DMF-CMF-AMF. DMF is needed to be anchorman, a libero in front of the D-Line, covers all defensive gaps, rarely leaves his position empty. CMF can be a destroyer or a box to box. I need him to assist while defending, but also participate in attacks.

AMF, i am totally open here, can be a De Bruyne or an old school No-10. Good technique, ball control, shielding and passing.

Attack is 2 SS's as wingers, they are just SS to cut inside when the ball is in the opposite flank, and CF fast, good dribbler, good handling, and taller tham 1,85. A Tier Henry basically

Well i usually end up with a Pazzini or an Aduriz (regen), from non regens someome like Alvaro Morata.

Defense : 2 offensive SBs with good stamina and speed, if i had to sacrifice stats, i would prefer them to be fast and enduring, amd control the ball with the knee or cross it outside the stadium.

CBs, i want them tall, at least 1,88m amd not super slow of possible. Passing skills will be appreciated!

I tried to sign (can't remember the name) a 2.03 CB this window ,but it fell through.
Same here ,often two big CB ,or one big and one smaller who can man mark.
I attack a lot on the wings as well , especially when counter attacking.
But often when in possession up front ,I go wing-centre-wing then a shirt pass or chip in centrally ,just to get their formation stretched out.
My three up front is LWF-CF-RWF mainly to be able to cross ,but also if using two midfielders as winger behind the LWF/RWF you can overload that wing making the CPU try to defend on the wing with 2-3 men and then the centre is wide open.

It's really fun building the team up ,having a clear idea on what the final outcome 3-4 seasons away will be.

So you're on a break from the league ML now and focusing on the euros?

 

[slamsoze]

As for the PL, it will take time to play with a real Premiere League team, cause the schedule is, first couple of matches in August is against Sheffield United and Leeds, fellow teams that promoted last season from EFL with us.
So it will take to September to meet an OG PL team.

 

[rockstrongo]

As for the PL, it will take time to play with a real Premiere League team, cause the schedule is, first couple of matches in August is against Sheffield United and Leeds, fellow teams that promoted last season from EFL with us.
So it will take to September to meet an OG PL team.

One thing I miss if I would play a PL ML is the stadiums.
Wish there were more.
I think the only one I've played (not counting Pes 5-6 with stadium server) was Pes 12-13 were you could create them yourself.
Miss stadium creator

 

[slamsoze]

I tried to sign (can't remember the name) a 2.03 CB this window ,but it fell through.
Same here ,often two big CB ,or one big and one smaller who can man mark.
I attack a lot on the wings as well , especially when counter attacking.
But often when in possession up front ,I go wing-centre-wing then a shirt pass or chip in centrally ,just to get their formation stretched out.
My three up front is LWF-CF-RWF mainly to be able to cross ,but also if using two midfielders as winger behind the LWF/RWF you can overload that wing making the CPU try to defend on the wing with 2-3 men and then the centre is wide open.

It's really fun building the team up ,having a clear idea on what the final outcome 3-4 seasons away will be.

So you're on a break from the league ML now and focusing on the euros?

I wouldn't say it a break exactly . It is more that the menu becomes a hell, the day i am playing with national team, to manage the clubs issues.

So now finished the EURO, like in the World Cup of 2022, i was eliminated in Round Of 16.

Tonight i start my 5th season matches.

 

[rockstrongo]

I wouldn't say it a break exactly . It is more that the menu becomes a hell, the day i am playing with national team, to manage the clubs issues.

So now finished the EURO, like in the World Cup of 2022, i was eliminated in Round Of 16.

Tonight i start my 5th season matches.

Nice!
Ill be playing a few too

 

[slamsoze]

Nice!
Ill be playing a few too

Do you manage a Nation during the ML, or you avoid it? Most people i know don't manage any Nationals, and in FIFA CM, they only do it to improve their manager reputation, not sure how it works though.

 

[rockstrongo]

Do you manage a Nation during the ML, or you avoid it? Most people i know don't manage any Nationals, and in FIFA CM, they only do it to improve their manager reputation, not sure how it works though.

Nope ,no NT for me.
I could be cool if there was some way of only manage a National team (not possible right?) then I'd probably do it

 

[slamsoze]

Nope ,no NT for me.
I could be cool if there was some way of only manage a National team (not possible right?) then I'd probably do it

You mean one specific like only Ghana?

or only Nation without club job?

 

[rockstrongo]

You mean one specific like only Ghana?

or only Nation without club job?

Just nation and no club job ML

 

[slamsoze]

Just nation and no club job ML

Ah ok. No,not. It os impossible in ML.

 

[rockstrongo]

Ah ok. No,not. It os impossible in ML.

Would be a fun challenge ,maybe a bit boring with 2 months between games

 

[rockstrongo]

So game nr 8 (Udinese away) was a true nightmare ,you know when the CPU decides "i don't think so"
Udinese played like prime BVB high pace one touch massive press ,while I was running in mud.
Managed to score on my only real chance really
Very disappointing gameplay this game.


Game 9 Vs Inter at home was another nightmare ,simply because Inter was so much better.
They sat deep ,as soon as I got over on their side ,they pressed me out of possession ,making me doing all sorts of mistakes.
Very fast wingplay with crosses and through balls to Martinez and Sanchez.

Disappointed ,mainly because I should have scored 3 goals ,all missed from a good position ,and that I made some crazy errors on two of their goals.
Worst defeated I've had in a long long time.
Refreshing to know that the CPU can play this good ,and not cheat (too much)


Next game is Hellas Verona away ,a must win for me.

 

[rockstrongo]

After my my disappointing games Vs Udinese and most of all Inter ,I needed to bounce back quickly.
Hellas Verona at home game 10
.
Tough first 20-25 min ,they kept a low defensive line making both crossing and going through the middle tough!
Scored late first half on a corner.
Second half I was chasing a second goal to shut the game down ,and I did in the 55th.
Now I could relaxe a bit, making them come to me then counter attack.
Just what I did late 2nd half ,through their defense and 3-0!
They got a conciliation goal after some scramble in front of my goal.
Great win!


Next up was another home game ,Vs SPAL ,newcomers from Serie B.
And i gave them some show ,didn't let up on the gas all game long ,this was a "welcome to the show" message!
My brilliant playmaker A Cerci had 4 assists this game ,making it 10 in 11 games.
Lass Diarra brick wall all game long ,Painsil my winger was ripping them apart with his speed ,so did my LB Adriano.
Great game!



I'm sitting top of the league after 11 games.
Great start for my team ,and both new and old players are really getting the job done!

 

[slamsoze]

After my my disappointing games Vs Udinese and most of all Inter ,I needed to bounce back quickly.
Hellas Verona at home game 10
.
Tough first 20-25 min ,they kept a low defensive line making both crossing and going through the middle tough!
Scored late first half on a corner.
Second half I was chasing a second goal to shut the game down ,and I did in the 55th.
Now I could relaxe a bit, making them come to me then counter attack.
Just what I did late 2nd half ,through their defense and 3-0!
They got a conciliation goal after some scramble in front of my goal.
Great win!
View attachment 142624

Next up was another home game ,Vs SPAL ,newcomers from Serie B.
And i gave them some show ,didn't let up on the gas all game long ,this was a "welcome to the show" message!
My brilliant playmaker A Cerci had 4 assists this game ,making it 10 in 11 games.
Lass Diarra brick wall all game long ,Painsil my winger was ripping them apart with his speed ,so did my LB Adriano.
Great game!

View attachment 142625

I'm sitting top of the league after 11 games.
Great start for my team ,and both new and old players are really getting the job done!

View attachment 142626

Was that Pablo Piatti in match vs SPAL? Is he a regen?

Pablo Piatti and Pablo Mouche are usually my "poor man's" Messis. Basically for me, they play better than Messi. Them and Piti of Rayo Vallecano as of PES 2017.

 

[slamsoze]

Going on, to conclude this 4th season.

Last match, routine match against Luton City in our home. We play just out of obligation,a lot subs in, only Auba to hunt the Top Scorer title and Joe Lewis to say goodbye.

We lost 2-3, good match though, Auba scorer 2 goals, we are already promoted. From the nice shots, although we promoted and our players made the Lap of Honour, our fans were booing us due to hardcoded Booooo, after a loss!! Typical PES situation here!!!



From the rest ML world news, end of season 2023-2024:


First in our country:

Championship Final table

EPL: Liverpool won the league


Champions League, a classico final



Europa League was a german affair this year


In France my ex-team Paris FC, did not finish in top 3 as under my management. They finished 9th ,but at least they won the Coupe de France, so seems my departure benefited them, i am very proud of them!

Also secured some awards




Spain league table:

 

[slamsoze]

ML summary part 2:

Italy Serie A


The fake Bundesliga, as the Euro 2024 that follows, was a complete "Haaland affair'




Just to serve justice here, stil no Bayern,Schalke and Leverkusen in this OF, this ML is under my old OF , pre-summer of 2021 IRL.

And some interesting match ups, in regional national competitions.

EURO 2024 Greece and Turkey in the same group

AFC Asian CUP
South Korea and North Korea in the same group

 

[abcdefg1]

After a fair bit of editing, I finally started a new ML on 2021 yesterday.

Went with Milan. Zico as manager and a 'fairly large' budget that equated to nearly £500 million to spend!!

First job was to release a fair few players who were rated low 60's and never going to make it.

Then old timers were all listed, Giroud, Ibra, Mandzukic. Also a fair few others shifted out the squad to make it more manageable.

Even with such a large budget, I didn't go too crazy. In come Umtiti, Abner Vinicius, Zakaria, Frattesi, Coutinho, Berardi, David and Zapata.

Starting 11 is usually a 4-2-3-1
Maignan, Calabria, Romagnoli, Umtiti, Hernandez, Zakaria, Kessi, Coutinho, Berardi, Leao, Zapata.

Started off the League with 3 wins and 3 draws. Got a 0-0 v Juve opening day, went quite defensive in a scrappy game. Fixture list has been relatively kind so far, playing some of the weaker teams early doors.

Europa League has seen 1 win and 2 draws so far in a group with Servette, Besitkas and Copenhagen. Rotating squad in these games.

Rafael Leao & Berardi have been the stars so far. Zapata went 7 games without a goal so I played him in the Italian cup v lowly Reggiana and he bagged 3 over 2 legs and is now starting to fire.

Last game I lost my 1st League match 1-0 at home to Torino. Bloody Belotti with a lovely goal.

Really enjoying this already, TS is about 77 so not too bad so early on.

 

[rockstrongo]

Was that Pablo Piatti in match vs SPAL? Is he a regen?

Pablo Piatti and Pablo Mouche are usually my "poor man's" Messis. Basically for me, they play better than Messi. Them and Piti of Rayo Vallecano as of PES 2017.

The real Piatti.
He's been pretty good ,mainly from the bench so far but I can see him starting if he keeps playing like this

 

[Flipper the Priest]

Beast of a cup tie.

Spoiler

I brought this on myself. Got so blasé after going 2-1 up. They totally turned around the shootout as well. My best chance of silverware, gone.

 

[rockstrongo]

ML summary part 2:

Italy Serie A
View attachment 142672

The fake Bundesliga, as the Euro 2024 that follows, was a complete "Haaland affair'
View attachment 142673
View attachment 142674
View attachment 142675

Just to serve justice here, stil no Bayern,Schalke and Leverkusen in this OF, this ML is under my old OF , pre-summer of 2021 IRL.

And some interesting match ups, in regional national competitions.

EURO 2024 Greece and Turkey in the same group
View attachment 142676
AFC Asian CUP
South Korea and North Korea in the same group
View attachment 142677

Greece and Turkey in the same group ,and N/S Korea.
Wow!

 

[rockstrongo]

After a fair bit of editing, I finally started a new ML on 2021 yesterday.

Went with Milan. Zico as manager and a 'fairly large' budget that equated to nearly £500 million to spend!!

First job was to release a fair few players who were rated low 60's and never going to make it.

Then old timers were all listed, Giroud, Ibra, Mandzukic. Also a fair few others shifted out the squad to make it more manageable.

Even with such a large budget, I didn't go too crazy. In come Umtiti, Abner Vinicius, Zakaria, Frattesi, Coutinho, Berardi, David and Zapata.

Starting 11 is usually a 4-2-3-1
Maignan, Calabria, Romagnoli, Umtiti, Hernandez, Zakaria, Kessi, Coutinho, Berardi, Leao, Zapata.

Started off the League with 3 wins and 3 draws. Got a 0-0 v Juve opening day, went quite defensive in a scrappy game. Fixture list has been relatively kind so far, playing some of the weaker teams early doors.

Europa League has seen 1 win and 2 draws so far in a group with Servette, Besitkas and Copenhagen. Rotating squad in these games.

Rafael Leao & Berardi have been the stars so far. Zapata went 7 games without a goal so I played him in the Italian cup v lowly Reggiana and he bagged 3 over 2 legs and is now starting to fire.

Last game I lost my 1st League match 1-0 at home to Torino. Bloody Belotti with a lovely goal.

Really enjoying this already, TS is about 77 so not too bad so early on.

Milan is always a good choice to start with ,sleeping giants

 

[rockstrongo]

Beast of a cup tie.

Spoiler

I brought this on myself. Got so blasé after going 2-1 up. They totally turned around the shootout as well. My best chance of silverware, gone.

Goal keeper went for a walkabout ,need to have a rope tied to the post on that fellow.
Bad luck flip.
But as we bad weather fans says "next year"

 

[slamsoze]

This post is about the EURO2024, next post the preseason build of Brewers, amd then we roll on the next season.

EURO 2024 starts with the hot derby of Balcans/Mediterranean, Greece VS Turkey.

The match went not exactly as we planned. I fell victim here, second time after Eorld Cup with Norway. What happened here?

I select amd plan the EURO squad, in June of 2024. Whem the tournament started in July, some players i have picked, were regenerated as 16 yo, screwing their OPR, theirr tactic affinity,and our TS.

Given the Greek players pool, i can mostly play either 4-2-3-1 or 5-3-2. But 1 of 2 players gets injured in first match, so I'm out of options.

What did i do here? For the first time after PES 2018 i messed around with fluid tactics, doing minor changes, cause my main problem against Turkey was the general team shape and transition.

TS was low, first we exclude individual effect, cause i manage Greece here, so even with 99 TS the individual performance would not be much better.

What was the general problem? Playets whete staying too far one from other, despite the narrow depth in gameplan. The SMFs were always late to cover the SBs, no one from the flanks could do proper overlap to outrun the opponents. On top of that, nobody was making smart moves off the ball, resultimg all playets staying like scarecrows, while Turkey was tearing us apart.

What did we do? Keep in mind that last time we revised our tactics in a great tournament after 1st match, we won a World Cup, so it worths the testing.

We set 4-2-3-1 at kick off, FLUID on. When on possession we go to a 4-2-4. When defending ,we go to a 4-4-1-1.

This seemed to work better to the low TS, not only TS was improved but the whole team as one conpact body ,was now moving better.

This fluid tactics testing, was a good experiment, don't know if it can work during a whole season, with the stamina break, but i must check it again in the future. I think it was a decemt fix to bad teamwork movement due to low TS..

That's how I revised the fluid tactics, CAuTIOn!!ONLY minor changes in positions!
Kick off

On possession

Out of possession


For the record,we were eliminated in the round of 16 to Austria..

Greece vs Turkey

Greece vs Switzerland, much better performance here!

Greece vs Belgium, for another tournament, very disappointing performance by Belgium.

And the Knockout match, our fall in hamds of Austria. Could be better, could be worse

Finally the CUP was conquered by Norway, another time a Haaland personal show!

Next time, the new season with Brewers!!

 

[slamsoze]

Now the preseason period of 2024~2025. I said i am a master tactician and squad planner.Why? Because by the time i figured out Demba Ba regen , coming from youth academy,can stand as a class Striker on his own, i spent almost all our budget to sign Pietro Pellegri fr my exteam ,Paris FC. Also Lihadji and Tevez came fr Paris FC.

So now i have also 2 strikers almost identical,with different potential.

David Silva also in, he is again our Captain! This dude is really our barycentre, when he is absent, we are just a ghost of our past self!

Dani Alves and Adriano Coreira also sold out finally, great money boost. They were too good for the situation,maybe another time in another team!

 

[rockstrongo]

This post is about the EURO2024, next post the preseason build of Brewers, amd then we roll on the next season.

EURO 2024 starts with the hot derby of Balcans/Mediterranean, Greece VS Turkey.

The match went not exactly as we planned. I fell victim here, second time after Eorld Cup with Norway. What happened here?

I select amd plan the EURO squad, in June of 2024. Whem the tournament started in July, some players i have picked, were regenerated as 16 yo, screwing their OPR, theirr tactic affinity,and our TS.

Given the Greek players pool, i can mostly play either 4-2-3-1 or 5-3-2. But 1 of 2 players gets injured in first match, so I'm out of options.

What did i do here? For the first time after PES 2018 i messed around with fluid tactics, doing minor changes, cause my main problem against Turkey was the general team shape and transition.

TS was low, first we exclude individual effect, cause i manage Greece here, so even with 99 TS the individual performance would not be much better.

What was the general problem? Playets whete staying too far one from other, despite the narrow depth in gameplan. The SMFs were always late to cover the SBs, no one from the flanks could do proper overlap to outrun the opponents. On top of that, nobody was making smart moves off the ball, resultimg all playets staying like scarecrows, while Turkey was tearing us apart.

What did we do? Keep in mind that last time we revised our tactics in a great tournament after 1st match, we won a World Cup, so it worths the testing.

We set 4-2-3-1 at kick off, FLUID on. When on possession we go to a 4-2-4. When defending ,we go to a 4-4-1-1.

This seemed to work better to the low TS, not only TS was improved but the whole team as one conpact body ,was now moving better.

This fluid tactics testing, was a good experiment, don't know if it can work during a whole season, with the stamina break, but i must check it again in the future. I think it was a decemt fix to bad teamwork movement due to low TS..

That's how I revised the fluid tactics, CAuTIOn!!ONLY minor changes in positions!
Kick off

On possession

Out of possession


For the record,we were eliminated in the round of 16 to Austria..

Greece vs Turkey

Greece vs Switzerland, much better performance here!

Greece vs Belgium, for another tournament, very disappointing performance by Belgium.

And the Knockout match, our fall in hamds of Austria. Could be better, could be worse

Finally the CUP was conquered by Norway, another time a Haaland personal show!

Next time, the new season with Brewers!!

Some bad luck Vs Austria
Players looks a bit upset after the whistle.
Interesting on fluid formation ,I use it ,but haven't really thought it could effect bad TS (better team play).
Then again I only use it to be able to switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-5-1 if needed and same formation on kick-off/possession/out of possession.
Norway...ffs.
Those clowns haven't qualified for anything since -98

 

[rockstrongo]

Now the preseason period of 2024~2025. I said i am a master tactician and squad planner.Why? Because by the time i figured out Demba Ba regen , coming from youth academy,can stand as a class Striker on his own, i spent almost all our budget to sign Pietro Pellegri fr my exteam ,Paris FC. Also Lihadji and Tevez came fr Paris FC.

So now i have also 2 strikers almost identical,with different potential.

David Silva also in, he is again our Captain! This dude is really our barycentre, when he is absent, we are just a ghost of our past self!

Dani Alves and Adriano Coreira also sold out finally, great money boost. They were too good for the situation,maybe another time in another team!

Director of football seems eager for a 6th position or better?
You told him!
Could be a fun season buddy ,good transfers so far

 

[slamsoze]

Director of football seems eager for a 6th position or better?
You told him!
Could be a fun season buddy ,good transfers so far

Υεs that's some usual ML BS-crap.

Except for the time that i promoted with Paris in Ligue 1, when the director objectives were quite realistic , at least 2/3 were very true, stay in the division, and something similar, the rest times as herr, it is usually some Bullkrap, like finish top-6, another more lenient and/or win the league..

I mean ffs, which team in the world, the very first year is fresh promoted to 1st Division of the pyramid, has another objective than just "Avoid relegation"????

Of course me personally , i target for a top 8 position, but that's my personal desire,the official aim should be , save the category..Just that..

And what puzzles me, i can't figure out the factor that affects that shitty requests.Is it the team ranking? The team OPR? The last season's performance? Really no clue 🙂

 

[rockstrongo]

Υεs that's some usual ML BS-crap.

Except for the time that i promoted with Paris in Ligue 1, when the director objectives were quite realistic , at least 2/3 were very true, stay in the division, and something similar, the rest times as herr, it is usually some Bullkrap, like finish top-6, another more lenient and/or win the league..

I mean ffs, which team in the world, the very first year is fresh promoted to 1st Division of the pyramid, has another objective than just "Avoid relegation"????

Of course me personally , i target for a top 8 position, but that's my personal desire,the official aim should be , save the category..Just that..

And what puzzles me, i can't figure out the factor that affects that shitty requests.Is it the team ranking? The team OPR? The last season's performance? Really no clue 🙂

Good question ,both my seasons have been "don't get relegated" from the boss.
But I had one ML (hardly played it ) that the boss said "stay up is our goal" then I restarted that ML because I did some transfers (mainly on other teams) and the boss said "top 6"
Weird!
I guess it's the teams overall ratings (maybe star players involved).

 

[slamsoze]

After a fair bit of editing, I finally started a new ML on 2021 yesterday.

Went with Milan. Zico as manager and a 'fairly large' budget that equated to nearly £500 million to spend!!

First job was to release a fair few players who were rated low 60's and never going to make it.

Then old timers were all listed, Giroud, Ibra, Mandzukic. Also a fair few others shifted out the squad to make it more manageable.

Even with such a large budget, I didn't go too crazy. In come Umtiti, Abner Vinicius, Zakaria, Frattesi, Coutinho, Berardi, David and Zapata.

Starting 11 is usually a 4-2-3-1
Maignan, Calabria, Romagnoli, Umtiti, Hernandez, Zakaria, Kessi, Coutinho, Berardi, Leao, Zapata.

Started off the League with 3 wins and 3 draws. Got a 0-0 v Juve opening day, went quite defensive in a scrappy game. Fixture list has been relatively kind so far, playing some of the weaker teams early doors.

Europa League has seen 1 win and 2 draws so far in a group with Servette, Besitkas and Copenhagen. Rotating squad in these games.

Rafael Leao & Berardi have been the stars so far. Zapata went 7 games without a goal so I played him in the Italian cup v lowly Reggiana and he bagged 3 over 2 legs and is now starting to fire.

Last game I lost my 1st League match 1-0 at home to Torino. Bloody Belotti with a lovely goal.

Really enjoying this already, TS is about 77 so not too bad so early on.

Rafael Leão, i bought him once, very high stats in future seasons, didn't click with my settings,but is very promising, becomes from the highest rated OG players.

Domenico Berardi, another love here, i use him since PES 2015, and in most recent PES that his speed stats are reduced, he is usually my AMF. (Yes i assign him a B affinity in AMF position, from edit mode, before ML)

Nice roster at all, i will stay tuned for you stories.

 

[slamsoze]

Good question ,both my seasons have been "don't get relegated" from the boss.
But I had one ML (hardly played it ) that the boss said "stay up is our goal" then I restarted that ML because I did some transfers (mainly on other teams) and the boss said "top 6"
Weird!
I guess it's the teams overall ratings (maybe star players involved).

Don't know mate, i counted all teams, the big-6?? Were 4,5* rated, than some Evertons and Palace like at 4*, then us , Leeds, Sheffield, 1~2 more at 3,5* and then 2 teams at 2*, probably leftovers, from clubs that were promoted from Championship in a previous season..

By doing the maths, we are clearly in the bottom-8 of the league clibs ratings.

Who knows!! This you mentioned, happened also to me. I started a ML with decent club objectives, then restarted after some transfer updates, to other teams and the objectives were , "Win the Intergalactic Cup from first season"..

By the way KONAMI works, I wouldn't be surprised,if they work a little bit random, or maybe more specifically, half-arsed..