The Master League adventures thread

@slamsoze I had no idea that Villeurbanne had a famous basketball team! That's cool now they have a competitor in the city. :)
I pretty much took a map of France and took a look at the largest 50 cities, liked how Villeurbanne sounded and looked, and plus they are close to Lyon, an important population center. Took a look and saw they have no major football teams (only a youth one). So there you go, Villeurbanne FC is born! :BSCARF:

I wanted them to be kind of like Bolton.. a suburb of a larger city, so they can draw fans from the Greater Lyon area!

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@Madmac79 Thanks man! Yeah the logo looks cool. I wanted something to do with Dragons that's for sure, I've always liked them ;) Took me a while to find it too, had a different logo at first but I ended picking and editing this one, looked the coolest.

I'm going to be playing in Professional difficulty with @incas36 gameplay mod, available here. I've tested it in a few matches and it plays really well. I like these mods (I'm using one as well for PES 2019), because they increase the difficulty for Professional but maintains the much lesser scripting of that particular difficulty! :TU:
 
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I was finally able to finish my team! I filled it with Free Agents. My highest rated player, 30 year old French-Algerian Lakdar Boussaha, is rated 69. Met my goal of making a team that is the weakest in Ligue 2 in terms of rating (but not in terms of heart!)

My idea is to slowly grow the team.. They have 22 French players and only 2 foreigners (a Japanese player and a Nigerian player), and are starting at the very bottom of the League! Let's see how it goes.

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For all its humble origins, Villeurbanne does have a brand new, stylish signing. They will be managed by none other than the mythical Robert Pires! In his first managerial job, he decided to leave the Arsenal "talent coordinator" role and has assumed the challenge of taking over the helm at "Les Dragons Bleus!" Even though a mythical, elegant player, he is starting with a very humble team and has been given the chance to direct his first professional team!

I guess it was a matter of: playing it safe staying as Arsenal talent coordinator, or step up to his first managerial challenge! Pires opted for the latter! :BSCARF:

One last question guys: Is "challenge" level in ML too difficult, or should I stay with the "classic" ML difficulty level?
 
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millossobek said:
View attachment 193532View attachment 193533

I was finally able to finish my team! I filled it with Free Agents. My highest rated player, 30 year old French-Algerian Lakdar Boussaha, is rated 69. Met my goal of making a team that is the weakest in Ligue 2 in terms of rating (but not in terms of heart!)

My idea is to slowly grow the team.. They have 22 French players and only 2 foreigners (a Japanese player and a Nigerian player), and are starting at the very bottom of the League! Let's see how it goes.

View attachment 193540

For all its humble origins, Villeurbanne does have a brand new, stylish signing. They will be managed by none other than the mythical Robert Pires! In his first managerial job, he decided to leave the Arsenal "talent coordinator" role and has assumed the challenge of taking over the helm at "Le Dragons Bleus!" Even though a mythical, elegant player, he is starting with a very humble team and has been given the chance to direct his first professional team!

I guess it was a matter of: playing it safe staying as Arsenal talent coordinator, or step up to his first managerial challenge! Pires opted for the latter! :BSCARF:

One last question guys: Is "challenge" level in ML too difficult, or should I stay with the "classic" ML difficulty level?
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According to the rulebook, the only difference is that, of playing in challenge mode, you can be fired if the owner's trust falls below 20%.

Basically it applies what is auto implemented in the "modern" ML, post 2020. Meaning that you can be sacked.

If you leave it in classic, it just like every PS4 ML. You get a renew offer by the club you manage, besides other offers.
 
Finally played the Coppa Italia semifinals of my Spezia 2021 ML:


and.. it didn't turned that well lol. In the first leg I started good enough, going very near scoring with USA forward Wright for two times, but a certain S. Lobato (must be the weak brother of the A. Lobato/Allejo reincarnation or something) found a very lucky goal on a post rebound. I found the 1-1 with a Ricci free kick and almost score another one with Shomurodov, but a great shot from Frattesi after an assist of, again, damn Lobato, puts in the final 2-1.

Return match was very similar; they passed with a really beautiful acrobacy of Scamacca, I find the draw with an header of winger Konrad de la Fuente (another Yankee), but a bad read by my central frees Scamacca for a nice shot in the start of the second half, that puts them forward. The situation is quite desperate, I raise the difficulty attack mentality level to the max but I'm conscious I'd need a miracle.. I hit two free kick posts I haven't recorded, but except that I produced little or nothing: I've never had the impression the match could have turned.. in fact, it will end in the same way as the first round: 1-2 for Sassuolo. Shame, as after eliminating Napoli and Fiorentina I was starting to believe I could have been the outsider, but Sassuolo, exactly as I imagined, proved once again to be a REALLY tough underdog.

Almost done with the league as well, just one game to go. Ending up middle of the table again. Will be a very complicated summer market; I've already sold regen Rojo for 9 mln something, and I decided it will be the last regen I'll end up sell for money; with that same sum, I already bought LB Hickey. With that, a 20 mln something of budget (and 13 for salaries) remains. I also have out of charts offers for regens RB Chaves and OMF Muriqui as well, but I'll try to exchange them or most probably just end their contracts. Don't want to end up exploiting the youth team crazy valutation thing lol. The idea to build the team piece by piece with some challenge is way more stimulating.

In contrast with the youth team situation, it seems to me the no renewal/free agents thing is pretty toned down.. I saw a really minimal movement of very good players in this sense, at least until now (and that's kinda good). Only name that truly hit me, is keeper Leno who is not renewing his contract with Real Madrid.. I'd be very tempted to pick him up, as he's quite strong, but on the other hand I love Zoet and the idea to bench him would be kinda heartbreaking. We'll see lol. Only sure thing, is that I have very few money and I need to do a quality jump of some kind all the same. Will also have to resolve some tactical misunderstanding, the biggest one being that I've been playing Angel Gomes as a CC in my 4-3-3, and while the english truly is an exquisite player, probably the best/classier dribbler I have in the team, he's also sacrificed as in his first OMF role he'd surely perform way better. Also need do something in the forwards department; Shomurodov disappointed and I won't buy him out, Kaufmann will be back from loan and I have to understand what to between him and Wright.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg lol. The rest will come after the market I guess!
 
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Madmac79 said:
Finally played the Coppa Italia semifinals of my Spezia 2021 ML:


and.. it didn't turned that well lol. In the first leg I started good enough, going very near scoring with USA forward Wright for two times, but a certain S. Lobato (must be the weak brother of the A. Lobato/Allejo reincarnation or something) found a very lucky goal on a post rebound. I found the 1-1 with a Ricci free kick and almost score another one with Shomurodov, but a great shot from Frattesi after an assist of, again, damn Lobato, puts in the final 2-1.

Return match was very similar; they passed with a really beautiful acrobacy of Scamacca, I find the draw with an header of winger Konrad de la Fuente (another Yankee), but a bad read by my central frees Scamacca for a nice shot in the start of the second half, that puts them forward. The situation is quite desperate, I raise the difficulty level to the max but I'm conscious I'd need a miracle.. I hit two free kick posts I haven't recorded, but except that I produced little or nothing: I've never had the impression the match could have turned.. in fact, it will end in the same way as the first round: 1-2 for Sassuolo. Shame, as after eliminating Napoli and Fiorentina I was starting to believe I could have been the outsider, but Sassuolo, exactly as I imagined, proved once again to be a REALLY tough underdog.

Almost done with the league as well, just one game to go. Ending up middle of the table again. Will be a very complicated summer market; I've already sold regen Rojo for 9 mln something, and I decided it will be the last regen I'll end up sell for money; with that same sum, I already bought LB Hickey. With that, a 20 mln something of budget (and 13 for salaries) remains. I also have out of charts offers for regens RB Chaves and OMF Muriqui as well, but I'll try to exchange them or most probably just end their contracts. Don't want to end up exploiting the youth team crazy valutation thing lol. The idea to build the team piece by piece with some challenge is way more stimulating.

In contrast with the youth team situation, it seems to me the no renewal/free agents thing is pretty toned down.. I saw a really minimal movement of very good players in this sense, at least until now (and that's kinda good). Only name that truly hit me, is keeper Leno who is not renewing his contract with Real Madrid.. I'd be very tempted to pick him up, as he's quite strong, but on the other hand I love Zoet and the idea to bench him would be kinda heartbreaking. We'll see lol. Only sure thing, is that I have very few money and I need to do a quality jump of some kind all the same. Will also have to resolve some tactical misunderstanding, the biggest one being that I've been playing Angel Gomes as a CC in my 4-3-3, and while the english truly is an exquisite player, probably the best/classier dribbler I have in the team, he's also sacrificed as in his first OMF role he'd surely perform way better. Also need do something in the forwards department; Shomurodov disappointed and I won't buy him out, Kaufmann will be back from loan and I have to understand what to between him and Wright.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg lol. The rest will come after the market I guess!
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When you say you raised difficulty to the max, you mean you played on Legend difficulty?
 
i have just started a master league save, for the first time ever, on PES 2017 (playing on PS5).

pre-ramble: played FIFA from the SNES version (we had two multi-taps and played 4v4) with the post-shot ball spin and 'violent shove' features, all the way up through FIFA 08 (had a 10 man fantasy draft and league with real stakes one summer). then, in the post college shuffle / games going truly 'online', i stepped away from consoles. inspired by a handful of match nights at the Camp Nou in 2010, i got heavily invested in Football Manager for the next ten years. kind of lost my sitting attention span and FM allowed me to invest over time. i sort of broke my mind with a Melilla save in FM19 that crossed all levels of football manager prophecy and achievement, and haven't played a soccer sim since (shifted to Gran Turismo Sport, then GT7... which, yeah). ANYWAYS - somewhere along the line, i purchased PES 16, 17, and 18 to play against buddies over drinks. i loved how it played but everyone else was used to the up-and-down of FIFA... so i never invested time beyond updating logos. recently that changed (GT7, what a let down) and i ended up loving PES 2017. playing on superstar, -2 speed, with advanced shooting feels just right to me.

now: using the 19-20v2 roster someone posted here, and 34 all-time XI club teams (one group in Asia, one in S. America). some of the clubs in the updated roster feature great all timers (in addition to the all time teams) but i didn't bother deleting duplicates etc. i think its fun having two paolo maldinis in the world. ronaldo (OG) won europe player of the year, edging out Ronaldinho and Maradona.

i started up with Rayo Vallecano in La Liga 2. after some quick ins-and-outs, i have constructed an absurdly fun and good team... i got a couple huge offers for bad players and used the money to finance expensive one-season get-me-to-la-liga loans. i brought in (all 19-24 year old versions) xavi, basora, butragueno (oh my god butragueno), txiki berguristan, demichelis, marchena... and signed seb larson + gianni imbula +amedeo amadei on frees. i suspect i am going to eventually do a new save with house rules about who / what to sign, but i'm not unbeatable yet (especially using advanced shooting). i've won 5 and lost 1 and every goal i've scored has been unique and more or less impossible to replicate. this really may have be the peak of console football gaming for me!
 
slamsoze said:
When you say you raised difficulty to the max, you mean you played on Legend difficulty?
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Sorry man.. when I write so lengthy posts in english, sometimes I get lost and a term for another just naturally comes out without me noticing, even if I re-read them ten times like I just did. I meant I raised the attack mentality to the highest possible when I was losing :LOL: :EMB:
 
Madmac79 said:
when I write so lengthy posts in english, sometimes I get lost and a term for another just naturally comes out without me noticing
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same thing happens to me. :LOL:
Madmac79 said:
The idea to build the team piece by piece with some challenge is way more stimulating.
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I agree 100%. I also try to place a limit on the youth players I use from the academy.. Probably 1 per year before they are filled with regens. :LOL: 20 million in transfers and 13 million in salary sounds pretty decent though.. Usually what I do in these cases is try to find some good deals with low-70 rated players in the Free Agent market or who don't have massive transfer fees, players with good growth.. I usually like to fill my team with a lot of these type of players instead of investing in one huge deal. :)

Middle of the table is a good result to keep building on. :) It'll be cool to hear what other moves you'll make!
 
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Here are the highlights of "Les Dragons Bleus" first win of the season in their stadium, against Valenciennes! (second game of the season, lost the first game away vs Guingamp and also the French Cup match but rebounded quite nicely in my home debut)

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Here's a few screenhots of my first win against Valenciennes (H),, and also the debut of my first signed player, 22-year old Kamal Miller from Canada, Center Back! He played really well in his first game as a Villeurbanne player, getting some key interceptions and headers out of the box. Looks like a good signing so far with good future. I'm going to play it conservative in the transfer market for now, maybe get one other pickup in the opening window but save some money for the end of the season.

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2 games, 1-0-1. Not a bad start for the lowest-rated team in the league! I'm still getting used to PES 2018's defensive system (tackling is much less common than in 2019, it is more containment-based), but I'm having fun and enjoying the gameplay. Really like the look of the kits as well. :BSCARF:
 
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Out (and in) of context, 4 goals from ML saves, from the latest games. Only in 2018, it was impossible to score a banger!!! :BLEH:

1) PES 2017


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2) PES 2019


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3) PES 2020


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4) PES 2021

 
year 1 of Rayo resulted in promotion with 10 games to go. all the loans were too powerful. year 2 in the summer i signed 16 top loan players using sale fees (not being able to slide the wages/transfer fee is frustrating, as someone who routinely mortgaged clubs' futures in FM). team instantly top 4 in the league overall lmao. got offered a job from Valencia after 10 rounds, but i was ahead of them so i didn't take it on... then first place Barcelona offered me the job (had beaten the big teams and was 2nd). i took it.

PES 2017 is honestly such a joy to play - none of the newer games have the same 'real' physicality to me - and the -2 match speed is perfect to see the animations. also i think its hilarious how severe the collisions / table-topping can be. i played a couple matches of 2021 (with approved mods) but it all still feels very weightless compared to this. its a shame because of the Master League mods but i think FM is the only way to truly satisfy that kind of itch.

the barca team that was compiled by @AntonyC_PESCustomFaces is awesome, first of all. watching the young versions of xavi/puyol develop is great. prime ronaldinho and rivaldo pulling the strings - and we brought in 96 ovr Baggio to sit at the top of the tree.

that said, the game becomes about 2x harder as a Big Club, which i really like. real madrid was flat out taking it easy against my Rayo side, but they were bloodthirsty and relentless against barca and i lost. same goes for a lot of the other teams. so while ML isn't in the same stratosphere as FM in terms of depth of squad-building / transfer AI, its clearly going to be tough to win titles.
 
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permaculturismo said:
year 1 of Rayo resulted in promotion with 10 games to go. all the loans were too powerful. year 2 in the summer i signed 16 top loan players using sale fees (not being able to slide the wages/transfer fee is frustrating, as someone who routinely mortgaged clubs' futures in FM). team instantly top 4 in the league overall lmao. got offered a job from Valencia after 10 rounds, but i was ahead of them so i didn't take it on... then first place Barcelona offered me the job (had beaten the big teams and was 2nd). i took it.

PES 2017 is honestly such a joy to play - none of the newer games have the same 'real' physicality to me - and the -2 match speed is perfect to see the animations. also i think its hilarious how severe the collisions / table-topping can be. i played a couple matches of 2021 (with approved mods) but it all still feels very weightless compared to this. its a shame because of the Master League mods but i think FM is the only way to truly satisfy that kind of itch.

the barca team that was compiled by @AntonyC_PESCustomFaces is awesome, first of all. watching the young versions of xavi/puyol develop is great. prime ronaldinho and rivaldo pulling the strings - and we brought in 96 ovr Baggio to sit at the top of the tree.

that said, the game becomes about 2x harder as a Big Club, which i really like. real madrid was flat out taking it easy against my Rayo side, but they were bloodthirsty and relentless against barca and i lost. same goes for a lot of the other teams. so while ML isn't in the same stratosphere as FM in terms of depth of squad-building / transfer AI, its clearly going to be tough to win titles.
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Hey dude, love your pre-rumble in your previous post. @AntonyC_PESCustomFaces created a really solid Option File, and i liked his way of treatment of leftovers Legendary Players, basically he used a method i tend to use since PES 4 days, and i was impressed that a pro-editor, used the same method/idea, i felt like my BS idea got a little credit after all those years.

In his newer findings, he posted in pesgaming forum, about PES 2017, he messes a lot with some GK stats, to reduct the flying supermen GKs. Don't know if he will make something public this time, as he posts too rare these days.

As for your observation about big clubs, i totally agree. I used to play with made up clubs starting from scratch since the begining, and once i moved ton Inter Milan, things got a little bit in trouble, from the point i was competing for the league title every season, i ended up floating in 2nd position, and everyone was playing like wanting my head in a plate.

That was the reason i restarted a ML save with a fictional team again, Oranje FC, cause i can't handle such pressure, in a very early spot in my ML save, season wise.

Although if i keep up some more than 4~5 seasons, i always have in mind a #Make_this_club_great_again project, maybe with Arsenal or Valencia, or Milan from Italy, etc. But i will preserve it for a latter point, some seasons latter.
 
Reporting back to main timeline, the "mainstream" save, now that i finally achieved to gather all the footage :)

In the previous episode, we were in the 1st position , +5 points from second Huesca...Things should be easy, with 11 matchdays to go, but with Master League, you never know!!! :P :D

So in Matchday 31, the all-mighty Ponferradina visits our home, them being the 21 team of the 22 teams table. So let's assume they fight to avoid relegation.

They opened with a 0-2 and we were forced to fight back to avoid a(nother) shipwreck. Finally with escaped with a draw, 2-2.... Huesca won Albacete, and now they are in point blank position, 3 points from behind us.

Extramdura UD 2 - 2 SD Ponferradina


Matchday 32

We visit Mirandes, prepared for another possible disaster. Finally we endedup with a triumph.

CD Mirandes 0 - 5 EXTREMADURA UD


Next Matchday 33 and 34.

We screw things against Zaragoza, got beaten by an old player of mine, David Villa, who i sold from Extremadura due to regressing stats, but he seems to get his avenge on me.

Matchday 33
EXTREMADURA UD 0 - 2 Real Zaragoza

Matchday 34
While expecting again another disaster, we managed to escape with a scrappy 0-1 win, against one of the toughest teams of the Liga. :)

Sporting Gijon 0 - 1 EXTREMADURA UD


Next match against Castellon, in our home, another match that did not go as intended... It was from that matches, that as we say in Greece: "it doesn't like you"...So we followed the Fernando Santos recipe, when you can't win it, just don't loose it!

Matchday 35

EXTREMADURA UD 0 - 0 CD Castellon


Matchday 36

After our consective shite, we are now 2nd position with 70 points, Huesca is 1st with 70 points too, but they've won us in our between game, and we drew the other, so in case of equal points, they are ahead of us. The 3rd Granada has 65, so we can even loose the straight promotion, by now, and with 6 turns to the photo finish.

And here comes this crazy match against Cadiz, a match that became totally RODEO!!!!!

Cadiz CF 4 - 5 EXTREMADURA UD

Another Fernando Santos 2 quotes here:

1) -i prefer to win 0.5-0 anyday, than 4-3

2) -one goal or three goals, they both give you a win and +3 points

We, unfortunatelly did not follow any of those sayings, and we ended up fighting till the end. We followed another, American quote here :

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going"

But i would prefer a soft going, with an 1-0 win, if you ask me!!! :P :D

Cadiz equalising in 90+1' and we grabbed the win in 90+4' :BAND:

So after MATCHDAY.36, with 6 matches to the end, the top-16 of LaLiga 2 table. As i previously said, GIJON , despite not on top positions, they are maybe the toughest team in the league, and they did the miracle, to win our chaser, co-competitors,

Gijon 4-2 Huesca :D :D

And we pass 1st again.... :D Gracias GIJON!!!!

ExtremaUD.jpg
 
slamsoze said:
In his newer findings, he posted in pesgaming forum, about PES 2017, he messes a lot with some GK stats, to reduct the flying supermen GKs. Don't know if he will make something public this time, as he posts too rare these days.

As for your observation about big clubs, i totally agree. I used to play with made up clubs starting from scratch since the begining, and once i moved ton Inter Milan, things got a little bit in trouble, from the point i was competing for the league title every season, i ended up floating in 2nd position, and everyone was playing like wanting my head in a plate.

That was the reason i restarted a ML save with a fictional team again, Oranje FC, cause i can't handle such pressure, in a very early spot in my ML save, season wise.
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i love the idea, especially given the freedom with kits/emblems/etc, very easy to create your own club mythos! i was not patient enough to build up through the ranks, i wanted to manage the super mega barcelona for a few years. this thread inspired me to redownload FM21, as well.

the pressure of a top club is *real*, especially with advanced/manual shooting... i have choked away more goals than i can count. that said - the goals scored in this game (both user and AI) are delightful and feel hard-earned.

thats interesting regarding the gk's - i didn't play this game enough when it was new to have any idea. and lord knows they're not stopping O Fenomeno - he has 43 goals through 35 matches so far lmao. the CL in this game is fantastic - though having to play against a hybrid modern arsenal/invincibles side in the round of 16 was a bit tough!
 
Personally, I've always played Master League with non-giants or invented teams, well the only time I played with a big team was when I played with Millonarios, but that's a bit different as it is South America and kind of a different footballing universe. :)

But in terms of Europe, let me see: Bolton, Reggina, Villeurbanne (invented), Windsgate (invented). Also Gunma United was invented in the J-League.. So yeah, never a giant. But I like the idea of reviving a dormant giant.. Taking a formerly successful team who is in a title drought or stuck in midtable and try to restore them to their former glory! Sounds like a good idea for a future story.

PS: Now that I remember, I recently played with Dinamo Zagreb, Croatian giants. :TU:
 
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i'll probably go back to a smaller club if i get fired - at times with Rayo i was worried the game was too easy.... but i am getting roughed up at barca, despite having like 4 of the top 10 players ever. its tough to enjoy ronaldinho when hes double teamed and slide tackled every touch.

its honestly a bit discouraging how much effort the CPU put in with Espanyol against me. if i held the ball more than .5 seconds i had a guy tackling me, and they slide-contested every single shot the entire match. its realistic - no one is gearing up for Rayo (team of loans or no) and the opposition opens up. with barcelona, you're receiving everyone's game of their life.

that said, at no point in the 20-30 games ive played have i had a goal scored on me that made me want to reset the console. i lost to ajax in the cl semi and it was honestly beautiful and terrifying to play (and lose) against. and i know i keep bringing up the classic players but the Zidane in this data set is breathtaking - genuinely feels like watching him when he was on his game.

the only real flaw i'm finding in the game is how long CBs dwell on the ball (even on superstar mode)... i get a larger % of goals from defender/goalkeeper interceptions than i'd like. crosses are also pretty accurate but i truly stink at shooting/heading low on advanced shooting. i've tried manual in one-timer situations but i still blow most headers over.

edit: oh yeah, i took over the USA for the 2018 world cup. my best players: Tim Howard, Tim Howard, and Tim Howard. Beat UAE first game, lost a heartbreaker to sweden (2 late corners, im still mad), and then lost to spains backups in round 3. the team was very, very bad and reminded me what its like to feel totally helpless with the ball
 
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slamsoze said:
Cadiz CF 4 - 5 EXTREMADURA UD
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Holy crap!!!!! Circus Maximus indeed!!!! :LOL: :LMAO: Talk about an epic finish!!!!!

Seems like something out of a 90's football movie.. The magic of last fixtures, not only are our teams winning epic promotions, but we are getting favors! Thanks Derby County!! Gracias Gijon!!

Also gotta say.. Am I glad to see Ricardo Marquez doing well. :) From Millonarios to the World!! :BSCARF: :BSCARF:

Good luck in First Division mate. Now with the Gokus it's a whole different story in La Liga. Things will be getting more exciting and unpredictable!!
 
the presentation in PES 2017 master league is so, so, good.

won the CL with super barca. the pre game scene was perfect. after the win, they had my avatar manager running around giving hugs and pumping his fist among the confetti. then, in the european super cup (i lost to super liverpool), pre game both teams captains bring out the respective titles. a lot of little things like this that even the 2023 sports games have just gone ahead and removed but really add to it all.
 
Time for some ML update :P

About my Pes 21 Spezia ML:

I finally faced summer market, and it was the craziest one until now. I could bring in some pretty good players thanks to loan with option to buy: LWF Martinelli, box to box CMF Kudus, FW Augustin. Augustin has the chepeast buyout out of them all at like 3mlns, but Martinelli has some crazy 20 mln somethings and Kudus around 9 iirc, will be really challenging to keep them all.

Also brought in as definitive transfers FW Jonas Wind, RB Calegari, LB Hickey (already done months before), CMF Cuisance and young goalkeeper Gabriel Pereira as a free agent just to have a second.

Relesead for nothing ex youth Chaves and Muriqui as promised and sold De la Fuente (liked him a lot, but there is no more space for him on the left, I also can't sell Amon even if he's worse than him lol), Baluta and Ricci. Was a bit sad to see Ricci go as he was my DMF for so long and kind of a team symbol, but in the new scheme there isn't space for a DMF; I changed from the old 4-3-3 to a 4-2-1-3 of sort with two CMFs, so I can finally make the most of Angel Gomes as an OMF.

When it was field time, start was.. weird. Well, judge for yourself:

2022.12.26-17.58.png

As you can see, there was an absurd amount of draws.. and some incredibly frustrating matches as well. Feels like CPU saw my team growing up in overall and kinda stepped up their game lol. I dominated most of those draws, but there was always something that prevented me from bringing home the win.
I've also been thrown out from Coppa Italia in the very first turn by Serie B Monza in another crazy double confront.. so I won't be able to replicate last year's ride. But it's fine, I overperformate last season, so this could be Pes way to put things in balance, I guess :P.

Anyway, my clear objective is a spot in EL. Will be hard, but I hope I'll be able to fight for it till the bitter end.
I'll leave you with this Gomes goal, one of the most rewarding I scored in my ML until now:


Man.. was so damn pumping to put one in from that distance. I also really that it seems keeper was covered and saw/reacted to the shot in the last second.. no idea if it's a real feature, but it's not the first time I have this impression.

Also, some brief talk about my Pes 2017 Wolves ML.

My idea was to do some kind of loose journeyman ML. Like, picking a team, creating/enforcing a brand/identity, win something and move on. My goal with Wolves is to build an even stronger portoguese colony (not really ALL players from Portugal, but like 2/3 or something, a bit like it's in reality) and lead them to some silverware in two seasons or three, then leave and start anew somewhere else. It's kinda ambitious as a project as a whole, so I have no idea if I'll really pull it out as intended, I'll see along the way. For now I'm having a lot of fun with 17 gameplay anyway and it's my standings at the moment:
2022.12.27-19.50.png

Hope I'll be able to hit an Europe spot here too. Team plays with some peculiar 5-2-1-2; in the end, it's conceptually not much different from a classic 3-4-1-2. Only problem is that I have to adapt Podence, Pedro Neto and Trincao, all good/decent wingers, to do SS or AMF, but they are doing egregiously until now, especilly Podence; for the rest, team is nice and there is a good chemistry in attack between veteran R. Jimenez and young Fabio Silva, who is growing like a beast. We are a bit short on midifielders, having Ruben Neves and Dendoncker as startings but only Moutinho as a backup of level, so I've already bought Vitinha and Renato Sanches for january; market here isn't really much complicated and maybe for what I have in mind it's the best.

I'll leave you with another goal I've really liked:


I find free kicks harder to score with this arrow system, compared with the old school remaster one we had from 2018 onwards. Maybe there are exploits here too, I don't know. Regardless, it's so damn satisfying to trigger the "Keeper sadly watching the ball going in cause he can't do a damn about it" :P animation in any of these "new" games. Unfortunately, from Fox engine era onwards they cutted those animations to almost nothing, so that keepers usually react even when they have zero chances to save.. it's kind of a shame cause I think they really added a lot to goal satisfaction.
 
First time in Pes 2021 I've had an injury so severe in almost 3 seasons and half :SHOCK:! After all these years of only 4-5 days once in a long while injuries, I was thinking longer ones simply weren't a thing.

2022.12.28-19.29.jpg

Two months and two weeks, to be precise. Of course Martinelli does have the lowest injury resistance at 1. Even if it will be of course problematic, it was somehow cool to see it happening as he was having a particularly brilliant night against Juventus, being able to costantly dribbling their players, until CPU developed a sort of "vendetta" and started to hard tackle him almost any chance.. this being the end result.
 
millossobek said:
Guys, for my third Master League Adventure (After Reggina and Bolton), I have decided to pause my Dinamo Zagreb story and start my first French Ligue 2 Adventure in PES 2018 with an invented team!! VILLEURBANNE FC!! :) :TU:

View attachment 193474
(Home/Away/Goalkeeper Kits, a bit based on my Millonarios team colors!)


View attachment 193469
Team name: Villeurbaunne FC
Nickname: Les Dragons Bleus
League: Ligue 2​

Founded in 1981, VBFC has just been promoted from the third division for the first time. Hailing from the small city of Villeurbaunne (population 152,000), "Les Dragons Bleus" look to make their impact on Ligue 2 for the first time!!

My plan is to take low-rated Free Agents (mainly from France but also from other countries) and make it the least talented team in Ligue 2, and take it from there!

Will post more updates soon!! :BSCARF: :BSCARF:
Click to expand...
Should have chosen etoile de deux lac. Turn of the century maaaaaseeve 😄
 
@Madmac79 Finally got around to reading your entire Spezia and Wolves journey bro! :BSCARF:
You know it's interesting that you mention letting go of a team symbol (DMF Ricci), I know exactly what it feels like! For example, in my first two seasons with Reggina, I grew very attached to one Panagiotis Tatchsidis, my Greek DMF which began in the starting eleven but as he aged and I got other replacements (especially Tudor Baluta), he got relegated to the bench and in key situations.. Finally after season 2, I decided to sell him for a good price, it felt kinda bittersweet, but at times you have to be practical and put practicality over sentimentality!

That being said, there is NO WAY I will EVER get rid of Gianluca Lapadula, even if he is aging, he is the heart and soul of the team! :RSCARF:

Also, a very interesting start to the season by Spezia..... The draw kings! Hopefully you'll be able to rack up some consecutive wins as well to get into contention for the Europa League! :TU:I like the EL.... you get to face some very interesting clubs. :)

Also interesting what you mentioned about being ousted early on at the Italia Cup. TBH, in my ML experience, even though I want to win those games, sometimes it is a relief when I get ousted. My focus is usually league position and those games sometimes get in the way in the middle of league games, really draining my players! Good thing with Reggina is that I have a 32 man squad capable of rotation, but in most cases, man those games were kinda frustrating.. A Cup run is cool though..

I like your Wolves idea! Can we call it "The Mourinho Way"? :LOL: Putting the emphasis squarely on the manager career.. Go to a team, rebuild it, win silverware, move on.. It's quite a different approach and one that can be nice for future Master League stories! Make the manager the complete protagonist of the story. I did that in a way with Comizzo and Gunma United, although he did not leave.. His goal was to win the AFC Champions League, which he duly did! All in all, brilliant idea bro, I'd really like to see how your Wolves story continues on..Even if you don't win Silverware, it'll be interesting to see what roads your managerial career takes you in.. By the way, who is the manager?

Looking forward to hearing more of your ML adventures bros! Right now I am working on a couple of Cup Stories posted here, while I take a short hiatus on my Reggina and Bolton stories! :TU:
 
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@Madmac79 Bro, I was reading some news here and there, and heard of a possible linkage of Isco to Wolverhampton!

https://www.90min.com/es/posts/isco-tiene-varias-opciones-y-entre-ellas-dejar-el-futbol-europeo

I like Isco.. Even though he is most probably past his prime and hasn't been able to show his quality for a while in Madrid or Sevilla, I really think he still has some magic. One of the last "pure #10's" in today's game.. Not a physical player, but a skillful one. :)

Just leaving some ideas here.. :)
 
@millossobek Yes mate, I see what you say about Lapadula! I'll keep for sure Verde too and probably Amon and Zoet as well.. if they'll be happy to have a secondary role in the near future, tho. Politics is that I sell who's unhappy, so even if I love them, when they'll inevitably see way less field there is always the risk :D but it's nice to keep team "legends".

To be fair I love Coppa Italia, and Cups in general. It's hard and sometimes frustrating to deal with fatigue between the matches, but also very stimulating. It gives me an excuse to realistically rotate the team and write a more interesting "story".

Speaking of cups, I'll take the chance to update my adventure; finished indeed to play the second part of the season in Spezia 2021 and it was crazy! Managed to grab the sixth place just in the last few games, which will give access to Europe Masters:

2023.01.02-16.31.png

There were so many teams in so few points in the last 4-5 games or so that I was almost certain not to make it. But here we are!

Shockingly lost one of my most beloved pupils Angel Gomes in january market due to Villareal paying the release clause; had to quickly buy a substitute, which I did with a loan + buyout thanks to scouting: georgian AMF Chakvetadze. Despite him interpreting the role quite differently compared with Gomes (the latter being a creative playmaker, the former an hole player who constantly goes in the box despite his very good dribbling) he was able to give a good contribute to the team. However, I'd give the most credit to my "new" three offensive players: FW Augustin, who was a true relevation: first player I was able to score so many goals in League (he ended up with 12 plus 6 assist). Jonas Wind, who I alternated between the FW and the AMF role, ending with 5 goals and 5 assists (and a decisive free kick in one of the last games); and last but not least, winger Martinelli who scored 7 goals and 2 assists, bringing the highest qualitative leap to the left wing.

Of course all the rest of the team gave a great help as well, new (Kudus and Cuisance brought a lot of quality and resistance in the midfield, even I've already lost the latter due to another team paying release clause :SHOCK: ) and old (in particular CMF Caicedo, who was starting behind the hierarchies and ended as the first midfield choice, and Nehuen Perez, who is growing to become my defensive leader in a team in which the defense isn't really the strongest suite).

Now with the market. I need to reinforce the team quite a lot. We'll see what chances I'll be able to get. With three comps I certainly need more depth!

As for Pes 2017.. yes, I've always wanted to do a proper journeyman career in one of the latest games! This will be kinda lighter and I'm planning to not stay more than 2-3 seasons in the same team, winning or not trophies. As I said is kinda ambitious so I don't know if I'll truly be able to play so much lol. When I'll have the new pc I'd love to do a similar one with Pes 21 fully modded!

As for your suggestion, I'd love to buy an Isco or someone like him, we'll see if budget will allow it. I think mixing other latin countries players in my portuguese colony could fit the theme very well. Now I reached january market so I'll give it a try.

Also really loving your cup story as well, will soon comment on your thread ;)

Your Bolton ML partially inspired me to retake Pes 2019. It's so much different than what I remember for some verses! Can't wait to see you keep at that and at 17 Reggina :RSCARF:
 
pes 2017 it is.
But which team, in the past its been decided by stadium/kits/liking the team/wanting create a dynasty.
im leaning tw Napoli this time,kits are pretty bad in this version, but ill live with that, bonus having San Paolo (Diego Maradona stadium).
Could also be Valencia/Sevilla/Werder Bremen.
 
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