The Master League adventures thread

Its that time of the day again.
Fenerbahce away EL round 3
A very tough team to play, went 1-0 down after 25 mins, then replied in the 40 min making it 1-1 before the break.
A fairly even second half followed, but Fener scored the game winner late (74th min) on a shot from Kuyt.
A draw would have been a fair result, but ill take it.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 04-09-2023 23_21_02.png

Back to the league and back to Anoeta for a meeting with a pretty underated Mallorca, quite the upset in the league this season.
A late equalizer for them made it 2-2 on a disappointing night for Real Sociedad.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 04-09-2023 23_50_03.png

Then we had an away fixture in the Copa del Rey vs Malaga, a top 6 team this season as well.
Managed to squeeze in a 0-0 draw vs them with my backup squad.
Decent result tbh.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 04-09-2023 23_52_33.png

We had a rough away game following that cup game vs Malaga.
Real Madrid away.
This became tighter than expected, a fairly even game that ended 3-2 Real Madrid.
Were down to 4th place in the league after 10 games which is really good, especially since weve had loads of games lately.

Last game of the evening
Fenerbahce at home in the 4th round of the Europa League.
This game became the opposite of the away fixture with me scoring a late winner making it 3-2.
Finally a win under our belt and our dream of European football continues
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 04-09-2023 23_58_07.png
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 04-09-2023 23_58_26.png

Next up will be a home game vs Valladolid and its needless to say its a must win.
Must say this -2 game speed is a lot of fun and makes the game very alive, but also tough as hell, you have to plan every move.
But a step up for sure gameplay wise
 
One of those nights...
My Pes 13 ML just feels off right now, defending is a enigma in this game (for me)
Lost it and simmed the rest of the season, ended up in 12th place, knocked out in the 2nd round of the Cup, knocked out of the last 32 of the EL.
Not sure if ill continue this tbh.

Tried a game on my PES 2017 ML, got dizzy by the speed of it.
Then a game on my San Lorenzo ML (PES 2015) where i had quite fun, but the simmed games of the rounds just kills that joy (6-5 7-4 etc)
Think ill just need to keep at it with Pes 13 and get better at defending, but right now, no PES for me
 
Last edited:
Season 1 has come to a close and it was so enjoyable.

We ended the last update right in the mix for European football next season, but our form had suffered a blip since switching to full manual.

We managed to stop the rot with a couple of draws and a narrow win away to Qarabag. As you can see the goals have really dried up, we needed an own goal to get the win but 5 points out of 3 games just allowed us to steady the ship a little bit:

IMG_1506.jpeg
So into the final 3 games. I was still a bit unsure as to where I needed to finish in order to qualify for Europe, the eligibility rules seemed a bit vague. All that we could do is win our games and hope for the best, which is exactly what we did:

IMG_1509.jpeg

1-0 may seem like a boring scoreline but all of those games were really tense and had winning goals which were scored after the 80th minute. Agata rediscovered his early season form to get back amongst the goals. Cellini popped up with a screamer in the last minute against Partizan in order to give us a valuable win.

So after 34 games and the season finale, it left us finishing in 5th, 10 points behind eventual champions Dínamo Zagreb who have led the way since the early weeks of the season.

IMG_1507.jpeg
Overall, a fantastic season. Given the squad size and overall rating, the best I had probably hoped for was a respectable mid-table finish. After a great mid-season run we were able to break into that top part of the league and stay there. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get us into Europe next season. I am at the start of Season 2 and it looks like only the top 3 plus the cup winners (Dynamo Kiev) have qualified. So moving forward, a top 3 finish will be the aim.

I am not too downbeat though, I do think European football would have come a season too soon given the size of the squad and the rebuild we need to achieve.

IMG_1510.jpeg
IMG_1511.jpeg

Goals are obviously an issue but Agata was a standout player for us. Eleven goals is not as prolific as some may want, but he consistently delivered in big moments and scored some crucial goals for us. Other special mentions for Valeny, who was excellent at RB despite his declining stats. He was one of our main threats bombing down the wing and supplying Agata with crosses. Cellini also had an excellent season scoring a couple of goals from DM and being an absolute general in midfield, I’ll be sad to move some of these guys on over the next season or two. Just like in the original PES days, the default players become real cult heroes.

IMG_1508.jpeg

I’m not sure how none of our defenders made it into the team of the season, despite having the best goals against record in the league. Benedetto was our bogey player this season and seemed to tear us apart every time we played Kiev, he scored a hattrick to dump us out of the cup.

Onwards and upwards we go.

I’ve already made a couple of new signings at the start of season 2 and I will reveal all in the next update!
 
Season 1 has come to a close and it was so enjoyable.

We ended the last update right in the mix for European football next season, but our form had suffered a blip since switching to full manual.

We managed to stop the rot with a couple of draws and a narrow win away to Qarabag. As you can see the goals have really dried up, we needed an own goal to get the win but 5 points out of 3 games just allowed us to steady the ship a little bit:

View attachment 233422
So into the final 3 games. I was still a bit unsure as to where I needed to finish in order to qualify for Europe, the eligibility rules seemed a bit vague. All that we could do is win our games and hope for the best, which is exactly what we did:

View attachment 233423

1-0 may seem like a boring scoreline but all of those games were really tense and had winning goals which were scored after the 80th minute. Agata rediscovered his early season form to get back amongst the goals. Cellini popped up with a screamer in the last minute against Partizan in order to give us a valuable win.

So after 34 games and the season finale, it left us finishing in 5th, 10 points behind eventual champions Dínamo Zagreb who have led the way since the early weeks of the season.

View attachment 233424
Overall, a fantastic season. Given the squad size and overall rating, the best I had probably hoped for was a respectable mid-table finish. After a great mid-season run we were able to break into that top part of the league and stay there. Unfortunately, it was not enough to get us into Europe next season. I am at the start of Season 2 and it looks like only the top 3 plus the cup winners (Dynamo Kiev) have qualified. So moving forward, a top 3 finish will be the aim.

I am not too downbeat though, I do think European football would have come a season too soon given the size of the squad and the rebuild we need to achieve.

View attachment 233426
View attachment 233427

Goals are obviously an issue but Agata was a standout player for us. Eleven goals is not as prolific as some may want, but he consistently delivered in big moments and scored some crucial goals for us. Other special mentions for Valeny, who was excellent at RB despite his declining stats. He was one of our main threats bombing down the wing and supplying Agata with crosses. Cellini also had an excellent season scoring a coupmegoals from DM and being an absolute general in midfield, I’ll be sad to move some of these guys on over the next season or two. Just like in the original PES days, the default players become real cult heroes.

View attachment 233428

I’m not sure how none of our defenders made it into the team of the season, despite having the best goals against record in the league. Benedetto was our bogey player this season and seemed to tear us apart every time we played Kiev, he scored a hattrick to dump us out of the cup.

Onwards and upwards we go.

I’ve already made a couple of new signings at the start of season 2 and I will reveal all in the next update!
Great job mate, well deserved.
 
After my horrible ML gaming last night i did start my 2nd season with Real Sociedad this morning,
Made a couple of changes to the teams tactics and brought in some fire power to the team.
I played a 4-4-1-1 last season with a pretty high standing defense trying to have a possesion based gameplan.
This season ive gone with a more traditional 4-4-2, still with a more possesion based tactics, but also with a quick counter/direct football if needed since ive brought in some speed to the team.

I had quite a lot of cash to spend this preseason with incomes from my EL last season.
Sold 6 players to a total value of 9 million euros and bought players for around 21 million euros.
Zapata CB 85 OVR
Basilebeloy CB 83 OVR
Zatoyo DMF 76 OVR
Agdalov CMF 83 OVR
Kelsa CMF 80 OVR
Marreno SS 77 OVR


I really needed to strenghten those positions, a bit of a gamble splashing that amount of money.
Hopefully this will lead to a top 6 position this season
 
After my horrible ML gaming last night i did start my 2nd season with Real Sociedad this morning,
Made a couple of changes to the teams tactics and brought in some fire power to the team.
I played a 4-4-1-1 last season with a pretty high standing defense trying to have a possesion based gameplan.
This season ive gone with a more traditional 4-4-2, still with a more possesion based tactics, but also with a quick counter/direct football if needed since ive brought in some speed to the team.

I had quite a lot of cash to spend this preseason with incomes from my EL last season.
Sold 6 players to a total value of 9 million euros and bought players for around 21 million euros.
Zapata CB 85 OVR
Basilebeloy CB 83 OVR
Zatoyo DMF 76 OVR
Agdalov CMF 83 OVR
Kelsa CMF 80 OVR
Marreno SS 77 OVR


I really needed to strenghten those positions, a bit of a gamble splashing that amount of money.
Hopefully this will lead to a top 6 position this season

Some good signings mate - I’m sure they will pay off. La Liga is a tough nut to crack with the dominance of Real/Barca, took me about 5 seasons to win it with my Valencia save back on PES 2020.
 
Game day 4 of La Liga saw us away to newly promoted Sporting Gijon
Pretty physical game that was close for 45 min, first half ending 1-1.
Second half saw me push forward more and ended up scoring 4 straight goals.
My SS Marreno has 3 goals in 4 games now, making that a solid signing
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 06-09-2023 22_21_10.png

Game 5 was as tough as tough can be, Athletico De Madrid away.
This game made every penny spent on my CB and DMF well worth it, truly a solid performance by them, and with some luck i came away with a 2-1 win.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 06-09-2023 22_25_16.png

Still early days but with both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona dropping points early on, feels like i have some breathing room down the table vs them for a rainy day
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 06-09-2023 22_25_43.png

Next game will be a cup fixture vs Girona a Liga Adelante team, where i need to start with a great deal of reserves since i have a clash at home vs Osasuna three days later.
Vamos!
 
Last edited:
@rockstrongo Buddy you should give PES 2017 Master League a chance. :) Personally, I play it with -1 or -2 speed and I've really enjoyed it! I think this is a very good installment, with great respect for stats and a good combination of realism/arcade! (I always play PA1 but I bet FUMA is also quite enjoyable here). I had my deepest, most immersive campaign in 2017 (with Reggina), and was absolutely psyched to play every single match, it always gave me that "one more match" feeling! :TU:
 
@rockstrongo Buddy you should give PES 2017 Master League a chance. :) Personally, I play it with -1 or -2 speed and I've really enjoyed it! I think this is a very good installment, with great respect for stats and a good combination of realism/arcade! (I always play PA1 but I bet FUMA is also quite enjoyable here). I had my deepest, most immersive campaign in 2017 (with Reggina), and was absolutely psyched to play every single match, it always gave me that "one more match" feeling! :TU:
Love PES 17, my most played game, think ive had 10+8+6+4 ML seasons on it.
I tried yesterday, but it felt so intense, might lower it to -2 gamespeed and see how it feels.
Ive always used -1 and PA0 playing it, but felt so damn fast, im going to have a look at -2 or acctually try and lower gamespeed in kitserver.
But its on my list for my next ML for sure Millos
 
Season 2 is now underway but I just wanted to share how our Summer transfer plans had developed and shaped the squad ahead of the new season.

Outs:

Valeny (250k - Grenoble Foot)
Ximelez (Free Transfer - Villareal B)
Dulic (Released)

Ximelez refused to sign a new contract and moved at the end of his current deal, not a huge loss but left us short in depth in the AM position. Dulic’s stats declined rapidly at the end of last season so we opted to not offer him a new deal.


Valeny was a real tough one - He was excellent at times last season but at 36 his stats were really starting to drop off. A move back to his native France at this stage of his career sounded like a nice story to finish on and part ways.



In:

IMG_1515.jpeg

IMG_1514.jpeg

IMG_1516.jpeg

IMG_1517.jpeg

IMG_1518.jpeg

We only had a transfer budget of £2.5m and with little to be made in terms of outgoings we had to be pretty careful with our signings.

Defence was our strong point last season but we needed a RB to replace Valeny. Weigandt had been flagged by the scouts and was our most expensive signing at £1.5m. He is young and seems to have quite a high ceiling. He is quick too, hopefully he can slot straight in and provide a threat down the right hand side.
Coulibaly was another player picked up by the scouts. We signed him from Leverkusen for £700k. At just 20 years old he looks like he could develop into an excellent player, one for now but also hopefully our CB for seasons to come.

Salazar and Oberlin were a bit left field. Salazar was pretty cheap, just £300k - I’m not expecting a lot from him but he is quick and has decent stats. He will provide some depth for us alongside Minanda and Kondelenan in the AM spot.

Oberlin is the more interesting one, I was all set to stop at 3 incomings this summer but after a poor start in front of goal I decided we needed another striker to add goals. He was a free transfer, so relatively low risk. He is rapid and still quite young, one to keep an eye on to see if he can develop into a future star for us.

I’ll post a season 2 update shortly, it has been a tough start…
 
@Kopite1990 I like what you did there! Starting with PES United with the ORIGINAL PES 6 ML players, this is cool! I am also playing with Castolo (created him) in my Brazilian Save, but that's a completely different story, because I am playing with real players + Castolo (and an invented youngster called Leandro)! :BSCARF:



I did something similar in PES 2019, where I played with ML Default Players with Lugano in the Swiss League, but they were different (Sahnoune, Goios, Giorza, Castledine, etc). It was quite enjoyable and difficult!
 
Last edited:
I just did a one off on my PES 2014 ML with San Lorenzo.
Must say that how off this game must have felt back when, i find it fantastic today.
A bit of a wonky player switch at times, but team mate ai is superb, havent felt this much in control when on the ball for ages.
dribbling feels so natural, not on PES 18 level maybe, but pretty damn good.
Top player 15 min -1 PA1
Underated game for sure
 
@rockstrongo PES 2014 is a good game, the players feel heavy in a good way, a lot of physicality! Actually the base is there for a really entertaining experience!

The three things it needs to be a really solid game are:
- Rainy weather
- A more detailed ML
- A bit more straightforward tactics system (same could be said about PES 2015.. Where is the attack/defense gauge)?

But other than that, it is very entertaining. When I play 2014, I just figure I'm in some sort of "rainless football universe" :LOL:
 
@Kopite1990 I like what you did there! Starting with PES United with the ORIGINAL PES 6 ML players, this is cool! I am also playing with Castolo (created him) in my Brazilian Save, but that's a completely different story, because I am playing with real players + Castolo (and an invented youngster called Leandro)! :BSCARF:



I did something similar in PES 2019, where I played with ML Default Players with Lugano in the Swiss League, but they were different (Sahnoune, Goios, Giorza, Castledine, etc). It was quite enjoyable and difficult!

Love it mate! The Brazilian storyline for Castolo is brilliant, I’ve been following it on the forum. I think you subconsciously inspired me to start my save.

It is definitely challenging like you say, it reminds me of the early PES master leagues where you almost just had to get through the first 2-3 seasons before you had a squad capable of doing anything successful.
 
Love it mate! The Brazilian storyline for Castolo is brilliant, I’ve been following it on the forum. I think you subconsciously inspired me to start my save.

It is definitely challenging like you say, it reminds me of the early PES master leagues where you almost just had to get through the first 2-3 seasons before you had a squad capable of doing anything successful.
Glad to hear that my Brazilian story served as inspiration to your story bro! (Even if subconsciously). :) I'm playing a lot of FIFA 16 ATM, but once I'm done with my current 3-Stars Cup, I will definitely go back to PES 2021 and some of my other previous stories!

It's so great to play ML's with default players.. It's a slow, slow grind, but that's what makes it so cool, upgrading your team little by little is so fun and shaping it in your image and vision is what makes ML the best experience, that's for sure! :TU:
 
@rockstrongo PES 2014 is a good game, the players feel heavy in a good way, a lot of physicality! Actually the base is there for a really entertaining experience!

The three things it needs to be a really solid game are:
- Rainy weather
- A more detailed ML
- A bit more straightforward tactics system (same could be said about PES 2015.. Where is the attack/defense gauge)?

But other than that, it is very entertaining. When I play 2014, I just figure I'm in some sort of "rainless football universe" :LOL:
Yes, not being able to adjust Def/att levels are pretty annoying, and Vs pes 12-13 ML it's very bare boned.
The no rain was the reason I didn't buy it 10 years ago.
Still gameplay is key for me and it's pretty damn good
 
I've had to shelve my Malaga career for a bit.

I'm in the 10th season, PES21 was all I was playing and I've hit that 'not really enjoying it' wall 😕

I do think the regens is a big part of it, I've now got Ibra, Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta etc... appearing as 'reborn'.

It would be so much more interesting if it had a FIFA regen thing where they have a different name so you don't know who they are (I know on FIFA you look at the DOB but that's not on PES)

If a proper regen thing was in the game, I'd probably play 1 save for about a 100 years, it would be so interesting once all the players you know retire. I did that on CM01/02, played for so long that I was then having to scout players as I had no idea of their ability.

I know 10 years is a decent stint for 1 save but I like to see players hit appearance landmarks, or my striker hit 200 goals and become a legend at the club.

I did contemplate renaming players myself, so each season, getting a list of everyone who has retired and editing them, but that would take forever and my database would be a right mess. They'd have the same faces but it wouldn't bother me, I'm just finding it a immersion killer seeing a 87 rated, 21 year-old James Milner in the England squad etc...
 
I just did a one off on my PES 2014 ML with San Lorenzo.
Must say that how off this game must have felt back when, i find it fantastic today.
A bit of a wonky player switch at times, but team mate ai is superb, havent felt this much in control when on the ball for ages.
dribbling feels so natural, not on PES 18 level maybe, but pretty damn good.
Top player 15 min -1 PA1
Underated game for sure

I've read a lot about people saying PES14 is a very underrated game.

I remember when it came out, it just felt a shambles. It was like the players couldn't run properly or the input was lagged to hell.

I'd be interested to have a game on it and see how it plays. It must be half decent, as PES15 followed it and that's the PES I played the most. I did a 40+ year ML, i was addicted and it must have elements of 14 in it.
 
I've read a lot about people saying PES14 is a very underrated game.

I remember when it came out, it just felt a shambles. It was like the players couldn't run properly or the input was lagged to hell.

I'd be interested to have a game on it and see how it plays. It must be half decent, as PES15 followed it and that's the PES I played the most. I did a 40+ year ML, i was addicted and it must have elements of 14 in it.
If you play the pc version thats in the PES 2014 appreciation thread i think you ll like it.
Me too love pes 15
 
11 games in to Season 2 and we’re beginning to climb the table after a stuttering start:

IMG_1524.jpeg

IMG_1525.jpeg

After failing to win any of our opening 4 games I was beginning to think last season may have been an overachievement. I am not sure what happened but everything in the game was working against me. The game felt sluggish, our build up play was slow and I had 4 or 5 players per game on downward form arrows.

On top of that, we crashed out in the preliminary round of the cup - Losing 2-1 to Maccabi Haifa on aggregate. A pretty disastrous start to the season given how positively the last one ended.

…but we managed a couple of narrow wins to steady the ship and 4 straight wins have pushed us right back in the mix in the table. Agata has been our main outlet again, scoring 4 of our 7 goals. Oberlin has scored 2 and Salazar netted a brilliant strike from outside the box to win us the last game against Partizan.

Coulibaly and Weigandt have added extra steel to what was already a pretty sound defence, with only 2 goals conceded in 11 games. Weigandt also has a couple of assists to his name, two crosses nicely dispatched by Agata. He is doing Valeny justice in the number 2 shirt.

I think this could be a really interesting season with lots of ups and downs. With only the league to focus on now we will be making a big push to qualify for Europe next season.
 
11 games in to Season 2 and we’re beginning to climb the table after a stuttering start:

View attachment 234030

View attachment 234031

After failing to win any of our opening 4 games I was beginning to think last season may have been an overachievement. I am not sure what happened but everything in the game was working against me. The game felt sluggish, our build up play was slow and I had 4 or 5 players per game on downward form arrows.

On top of that, we crashed out in the preliminary round of the cup - Losing 2-1 to Maccabi Haifa on aggregate. A pretty disastrous start to the season given how positively the last one ended.

…but we managed a couple of narrow wins to steady the ship and 4 straight wins have pushed us right back in the mix in the table. Agata has been our main outlet again, scoring 4 of our 7 goals. Oberlin has scored 2 and Salazar netted a brilliant strike from outside the box to win us the last game against Partizan.

Coulibaly and Weigandt have added extra steel to what was already a pretty sound defence, with only 2 goals conceded in 11 games. Weigandt also has a couple of assists to his name, two crosses nicely dispatched by Agata. He is doing Valeny justice in the number 2 shirt.

I think this could be a really interesting season with lots of ups and downs. With only the league to focus on now we will be making a big push to qualify for Europe next season.
Getting knocked out of the cup (domestic or not) is a bummer, but focusing on the league completely is a blessing as well.
I noticed with my first season being in the cup plus EL with my tiny squad was a disaster, this season with only the league (cup comes second) to focus on is pretty nice
Good luck
 
A couple of games tonight.
Matchday 6 home to Osasuna
Closer than i wanted, but came away with a pretty solid 1-0 win
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 09-09-2023 01_52_19.png

Were struggling with a few injuries atm, Basibeloy has been out since day one, an 11 wek injury and havent played one second so far this season.
Plus two CBs out for a week

My next game was the return fixture in Copa Del Rey vs Girona (2-0) and i had my reserves play this one again, ended 0-0 and were through to the 2nd round.

Matchday 7 vs Real Murcia at home became a really dull affair, rainy and slow paced that led to a disapointing 0-0 draw, still an ok result since we had a cup fixture 3 days prior.

Barcelona is a mystery so far this season, 9th place and 3 straight losses with only 9 goals in 7 games.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 09-09-2023 02_18_23.png

Next up for us is Valencia CF, most likely a very tough game, good memories from last years 3-0 win will be pushed in the locker room before kick off though.
 
Getting knocked out of the cup (domestic or not) is a bummer, but focusing on the league completely is a blessing as well.
I noticed with my first season being in the cup plus EL with my tiny squad was a disaster, this season with only the league (cup comes second) to focus on is pretty nice
Good luck

It certainly wasn’t part of the plan mate, I was hoping for a decent cup run this season but like you say possibly a blessing in disguise given how small the squad is still.

Great update from your ML too - Sounds like a nightmare with the injuries, there seems to be a real lack of them on PES21 and even when you get one it is only usually for a few games max. I can’t remember which PES it was but sometimes players would be out for months, it really added depth and an extra challenge to the save.

Interesting to see Barcelona stuttering too?
 
Back
Top Bottom