The Master League adventures thread

Nice prof...

I've had that with Wigan and FM Manager a couple of years ago. They bought not less than 3 players that i had bought in FM manager: Ryan Taylor, Jospip Skoko and Pascal Chimbonda...i think it was their first year in the Premiership when they did so well...
 
Did I advise you to buy Ryan Taylor, gerd? :)

He used to play for Tranmere, and a great player he was too. As was Jason Koumas (although very greedy), who also used to play for us and is also now a Wigan player.
 
Finished my second season with my custom ML team, finished 7th on the league and won the cup tournament on PK aganst Inter (1-1 on the game, Ibrahimovic for Inter and Kone for my team).Great performance of Volkan Demirel on the pk :p.

Just bought Matias Fernandez from Villareal for my next seasons.
 
Chris Bauer said:
Did I advise you to buy Ryan Taylor, gerd? :)

He used to play for Tranmere, and a great player he was too. As was Jason Koumas (although very greedy), who also used to play for us and is also now a Wigan player.
Click to expand...

No Chris, is still remember how i bought Taylor.
Each year Four-Four-Two has some sort of Top 50 of players outside the premiership.
I decided to start FM with Wigan (who had plenty of cash) and buy a team to reach promotion. I remember buying Steve Sidwell (who was first in that top 50), Ryan Taylor, an goal keeper from Coventry and of course Wigan Athletic had players like Nathan Ellington, Bullard, Baines, and Roberts in that top 50.

Skoko i knew because he played in Genk (but irl he failed in England) and i don't remember how i came across Chimbonda...

I might do a Tranmere in FM 2009 although i will end up with a second division club, chasing promotion...i'm not that familiar with football outside the Premiership and if i play FM i like to start with players i remotely know...

But i've heard such a lot about Tranmere that it is the only team outside the top two divisions across Europe that i "follow"...so maybe one day (oh i also have a soft spot for Notts County, because that team has so many up and (especially) downs that it is the most stressfull team to be a fan of...).
 
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'Superstar' Schönbächler Sparks OFC Again

Marco Schönbächler continues to make waves in the Bundesliga this season after another match-winning performance for Kickers Offenbach, inspiring his team to a 4-1 victory over FC Nurnberg.

It has been little over a year since the young Swiss forward crossed the border from FC Zurich, but his impact in such short time has led to a host of top scouts attending matches at the Bieberer Berg Stadion this season, witnessing his influence on the Bundesliga's surprise package. The promoted club are presently amongst the European places in the league with a DFB-Pokal Cup semi-final to come.

"The kid's going to be a superstar", admitted veteran fullback Bastian Pinske, captaining the side in the absence of Peter Perchtold. "He's a constant threat and can turn a game in an instant. I'd hate to be the opposition trying to contain him."

Pinske might well yet experience facing the talented 21 year old, should this morning's press speculation be believed. Club officials have refused to comment on rumours of approaches from several of Europe's top clubs.

Unfortunately for Nurnberg, for now Schönbächler remains OFC property. Finding his team trailing 0-1 at half-time, the speedy Swiss international created the equaliser with a disguised pass, rounded the goalkeeper with ease to score the third and was then chopped down on another mazy run to earn the penalty that sealed the win.

With opposition like Hamburg, Bayern and Werder Bremen looming over the coming weeks, Kickers fans will hope that such prodigious form will continue. If so, with respect, they should make the most of what could well be a short-lived assocation with a rising star.
 
I have a question: What makes the ML work for you? First, a little background...

I played that DFB-Pokal semi-final yesterday, what a tense second leg it was! The first leg in Hamburg had finished (a little unfairly) 2-0 in their favour. It was more evenly matched but a couple of slips in defence cost dearly.

The return leg at home was all one-way traffic. The task was to go all-out and score twice just to force ET, while knowing that a single goal conceded at any point would effectively end the tie...

It started well when Perchtold delivered yet another perfect dead-ball for 1-0. The remainder was a highly pressurised game of attack against defence :brick: (but not in a cheap way), where I was like :bounce: and Hamburg were like :SHAKE:, while occasionally threatening on the break.

Ultimately they resisted and the second goal - agonisingly - never arrived, but it was hugely tense to the final whistle. Those kind of games really make the ML :thumbup:

So that got me thinking about what it is that makes the ML the most fun it can be. This has been and still remains an enjoyable ML but, from previous experience, I know that its shelf-life becomes limited the easier that success comes.

Apart from that semi-final defeat I've been a little disappointed in how smoothly this season has gone. Last time I was promoted it was a struggle, this time definitely not. My players have improved, Schonbachler has emerged as being far too good, and Tim Janssen was signed as a stop-gap yet sits smugly atop the goalscorers charts due to being a bit of a beast. With about five games to go Europe is already assured and the top two are still mathematically in reach.

For me, the most enjoyment I get out of the ML is when I have to fight for every point. Going into the match as the underdog and hoping rather than expecting to get a result. I think I need to reign this Kickers squad in a little bit to get back to that feeling.

Hopefully the impressive form of the likes of Schonbachler and Janssen will surely attract bids this summer, and combined with the owners selling policy will mean that the better players could be flogged for whatever they can get... just don't tell the fans... :SHHH:
 
I recongnize your story Nerf.
There are matches one never forgets.
I remember a second leg in the "CL" against Real Madrid with Auxerre in PES3 (or was it PES4). I had lost in Madrid and they scored the first goal in the second leg. Then Auxerre played an absolute stunner of a second half and still managed to qualify.

I haven't got the same attitude as you. I don't necessarily need to struggle (i rarely do, but my next ML will be a struggler's one) but i like building a team. Buying players and complete a jigsaw puzzle which is building a team in the ML. I like the fact that some players become revelations and others fail (i remember Rui Costa failing in an Ajax ML a long time ago). To be fair, i always play with litle teams (Valenciennes, Sochaux, Getafe, Wolfsburg, Palermo and Atalanta aren't exactly big teams) but sometimes i like to buy high profile players. Not the Ronaldo's and the Ronaldinho's but good players like recently Pavelyuchenko...
My next ML (on PSP PS2008) will be an English ML with WBA. I've created WBA over the PES United, there are quite a few WBA players already in the game: Hoefkens, Kim, Brunt, Zuiverloon, Donk, Olsson and the other ones i've simply taken the original PES United players and never raised their stats. In some cases i have even diminished their stats.
I will start with that team in the top level of the ML on the highest difficulty of the ML and i'm fairly sure i'll have to fight against relegation...let's see if i will enjoy it...
 
I select my team quite carefully when it comes to ML, with a few different factors influencing my decision.

When it comes to management, i don't like to change the team much. I like to keep the identity as much as possible. So i'm a bit of a Wenger when it comes to transfers, bringing in a player here and there, who may well be just a squad player or possibly an important, likely-to-be-a-starter type. I love it when i find a great player too. This type of player tends to have mediocre stats, but plays really well for me.

It also goes without saying that i try to keep my transfers reasonably realistic. I like the idea that in PES2009 players may be happy or unhappy with contract terms.

I prefer to play within a country's league too (eg Serie A, La Liga etc) because when you get into Europe, it feels that much more prestigious to face a foreign club.

Cup competitons really are fun/tense affairs for me, particularly Europe, because you can't make it up later, like you can in a league. I like how a first leg can really set up a cracking second leg nicely, ie you grabbed a late away goal, which has thrown you a lifeline.
I haven't won a European cup since PES4, so my quest continues with every ML. As you can imagine, i'm not complacent either, like the people who win the CL every season. This makes it more of a big deal to me. (i'm currently having possibly my last shot at Europe in PES2008).
 
Good luck with the Baggies, gerd.

Professor Nutmeg said:
I love it when i find a great player too. This type of player tends to have mediocre stats, but plays really well for me.
Click to expand...
Perchtold has been the epitome of this for me. He's slow and un-agile, he only has six yellow stats (none above 85); but the combination of his tall stature and decent passing ability has made him an ideal focal point in a particular system. 21 goals, 31 assists and two league MVP awards in the last two seasons combined, yet his attributes are very average.

The daft thing with ML contracts is that they are based on ability, so even though he's a Popularity A player, the newly crowned Bundesliga Player Of The Year and my club captain... he's only asking for 339 :DOH:. I think I'll about double that, Risdale style.
 
When playing the Master league i like to create my own team, and use most of the starting players (Castolo, Minanda...) then win some games and get better players and so on, until i get a good team, i don't try to get famous players, or not as famous (like Ronaldo, Messi etc) i always try to be the underdog team that wins against stronger clubs.

I like to get young players and develop them until they become real stars.

Another important thing is that i like to edit the master league and fit teams from different countries on my league, i try to fit in the best teams on the 4 different leagues (combined, for example i have both Milan and Inter on my league(b) along with Man U and Arsenal, but instead Chelsea, Madrid, Barcelona etc got into the other leagues). Why i do that?, well just because i find it fun.

This is my league (B division 1)-
Arsenal
Manchester United
Inter
Milan
Shakhtar donetsk
Hamburger SV
Porto
Panathinaikos
PSV
Zenit
Palermo
Sampdoria
Athletic club (bilbao)
Copenhagen
Lazio

-Second B division so far
Sparta Rotterdam
Ajax < relegated :(
Hannover 96
Heracles Almelo
FC Koln
Slavia Praha
Lecce
Dynamo Kiev <- relegated too!

(playing on PSP)
 
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OFC Officials Defend Summer Sales

This should have been a momentous summer for Kickers Offenbach fans. The minor club had just enjoyed their most successful season for half a century, yielding a DFB-Pokal Cup semi-final, a 3rd place Bundesliga finish and European qualification. Since then, however, supporters have watched several key players depart; the team that took the Bundesliga by surprise was being dismantled.

"The board was faced this summer with an urgent need to raise significant funds required for necessary structural upgrades", stated a club spokesperson today. "The Bieberer Berg Stadion is not equipped to meet standards demanded by UEFA; nor, increasingly, modern top-level football domestically. In order to apply these standards rapidly whilst remaining sensitive to the unique traditions of the Bieberer Berg, certain decisions had to be taken with this priority in mind."

Those costly stadium upgrades took precedence over the continuity of a promising squad, amongst whom several key players were seeking new deals. Influential captain Peter Perchtold was secured via a lucrative contract extension, but this crucial outlay left little room for others.

Half of last season's defensive line has now gone. Experienced fullback Sebastian Schachten failed to agree terms and walked away a free agent, while a significant deal with Serie A side Palermo was accepted for talented centre-back Niko Bungert.

Joining him in Italy will be the highly-rated Swiss international Marco Schönbächler, snapped up by ambitious Fiorentina for an undisclosed fee. The young forward took the Bundesliga by storm and his departure was long heralded, but will still hurt the OFC faithful. As if that wasn't enough, last season's top scorer Tim Janssen was spotted at Frankfurt airport last night boarding a flight for his home town of Eindhoven, amidst rumours of a fee being agreed with Dutch champions PSV.

Their replacements? Three members of the Kickers youth team have been handed squad numbers to bolster the thin ranks; midfielders Lukas Zdebel (17) and Dieter Anfang (17), along with Polish-born defender Hubert Zuraw (18). These teenagers have high standards to meet if they are to replace the players sold.
 
EMPOLI NEWS.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....EMPOLI NEWS....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE....


EMPOLI REACH KNOCK-OUT STAGES

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Pozzi celebrates his goal against Barcelona

Empoli FC have thrown a spanner in the works of this year's Champions League, by booking a place in the knock-out stages of the competition. The Tuscan minnows registered a shock 2-0 victory against a below-par Barcelona at the stadio Castellani, meaning the Catalan giants require at least a point from their final game, to secure safe passage through. The Azzurri may not finish top of their group, but they are guaranteed at least second place, depending on their and other results.
 
What do you guys think of the game ????
Will there be a "become a legend"-thread with any of us ???
In another thread i read that those pictures are supposed to be below par, i like them...graphically the game looks okay.
I hope the gameplay is better than PES2008 for PS3.
 
gerd said:
What do you guys think of the game ????
Will there be a "become a legend"-thread with any of us ???
In another thread i read that those pictures are supposed to be below par, i like them...graphically the game looks okay.
I hope the gameplay is better than PES2008 for PS3.
Click to expand...

I think the pics will look fine when they are smaller and inset in the corner of the screen. They won't be as large as they are shown.

I'll be playing PS2, gerd. My gut feeling is it will play better.

There may well be a BAL thread.
 
Since i have bought a PS3, i will buy the PS3 version
I must concede that that PS3 was not my best buy...i've played quite a lot of FIFA08, a bit of PES2008 (but not the huge amount of other years, my wife is worried that i don't play it, she must either think that my midlife crisis is over or that i decided that after all i should take an 18 year old mistress...). I quite enjoyed Motorstorm but the "console" i'm using most of all is the PSP...(PES2008 on PSP is quite good).
 
EMPOLI NEWS.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....EMPOLI NEWS....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE....


EMPOLI FACE BAYERN TEST

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Empoli will face four-time winners, Bayern Munich in the Uefa Champions League quarter-finals. The Italians sensationally topped their group on goal difference and will look to continue their adventure, by beating the Bavarian giants over two legs. The clubs last met two seasons ago in the Uefa Cup, when Bayern narrowly claimed victory, 2-1 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals:

Inter Milan v Ajax
Empoli v Bayern Munich
Liverpool v Real Madrid
Manchester Utd v Barcelona
 
EMPOLI NEWS.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....EMPOLI NEWS....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE....


TONI SINKS EMPOLI

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Champions League QF, 1st leg
Empoli 0
Bayern Munich 1 Toni 90'+1

Luca Toni dented Empoli's hopes of a semi-final appearance with an injury time winner at the stadio Castellani. The Italian international scored from 20 yards, in the closing seconds of the first leg, as Empoli scrambled to hold on to a goalless draw.
Petr Cech was unbeatable in the Bayern goal, thwarting every effort Empoli could muster. His heroics eventually ensured the Germans could then go on to claim all three points.
Empoli will need to play out of their skins in the second leg, if they wish to progress further, a task that may prove a game too far for the Tuscans.

******************************

PS Cech is a beast of a keeper. I've played Bayern a few times in this ML and i've only passed him twice i think, in several games. I hope the computer subs him for the second leg :DD
 
EMPOLI NEWS.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....EMPOLI NEWS....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE....


PLUCKY EMPOLI STUN BAYERN
TO REACH SEMI-FINALS

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Pozzi celebrates his equaliser in Munich

Champions League QF, 2nd leg
BAYERN MUNICH 0
EMPOLI 2 Pozzi 64' Giacomazzi 106'

(Empoli win 2-1 on aggregate)

Empoli FC forced extra time to pull off a miraculous comeback against ten-man Bayern, in the second leg of the Uefa Champions League semi-final.

Empoli went in search of a goal, but found Bayern a tough nut to crack. By half time, the game remained goalless as the Germans frustrated their opponents, whilst also keeping them occupied in their own half.
Eventually the deadlock was broken on 64 minutes, when Nicola Pozzi fired low and hard from the edge of the box to beat the diving Petr Cech. Empoli's players celebrated as if they had just won the final itself, as Bayern heads dropped temporarily.

Things went from bad to worse for Bayern. Christian Lell felled Edison Cavani in the box and was shown a straight red for his actions in the 81st minute. All of a sudden, you could feel Empoli's belief grow. Pozzi stepped up to take the spot kick, hoping to swing the game heavily in their favour, but the in-form Petr Cech kept his side in the game with a stunning save.

Extra time followed and Empoli's man advantage began to tell, as the Serie A outfit fashioned more attacks. Professor Nutmeg urged his men forward, keen to avoid penalties. On 106 minutes Cavani's shot was well saved by Cech, but his parry remained in the area. Guillermo Giacomazzi was first to it and he took the ball well, swivelling on his left foot as he struck past Cech from about seven yards. The midfielder's goal sent the tiny travelling support into raptures, as Empoli players bundled on the Uruguayan in praise.

The Azzurri held on for the remaining minutes to register an historic win, leaving Bayern to contemplate where it went wrong. Empoli will now face Ajax in the semi-finals. The other semi-final will be contested between Liverpool and Manchester Utd, ensuring a Premier League side will appear in the final.

Semi-Finals
Ajax v Empoli
Liverpool v Man Utd
 
Great win Prof...
Must have been a memorable match.
Your tema could have had stronger opponents in the semi-finals...i think a place in the final is possibly (but don't take anything for granted).
 
Indeed it was gerd. Brilliant game! In fact, these European knock-out ties are very realistic in terms of excitement. It's like the real thing, lol.

I thought i would face Inter in the semis, but Ajax it is. I hope i can reach the final. It's taken me three PES to get this far again. I wanna lift a trophy :((
 
In my current ML i'm far from lifting a trophy...
I just started a ML (again on PSP) with WBA (PES United with the WBA players like Zuiverloon, Hoefkens, Donk, Kim, Brunt that already are in the game and the PES United players with other names and appearances and lower stats).
I started with a 3-1 defeat against Portsmouth, then a 1-4 loss against Chelsea and now i'm facing Villa...IMHO the PSP version is too difficult...
I talked about that in another thread and i was the only one who tought so...i must be really rubbish.

Good luck against Ajax.

PS: watch out for my fellow Belgian Jan Vertonghen. He was amazing at the Olympics and also very good against Turkey. In our national team he plays DMF but he's very versatile he can play CB, SB, SMF, CMF and even AMF...Since i've seen him a lot this summer i'm convinced he's Belgium's best player...but of course i'm pretty sure Konami will have underestimated him. If they had him spot on, watch out because he is very good at shooting in distance...he should have that special ability...
 
^The PSP version is way harder
on the PS2 I played in Craque difficult (I tihnk it is Top Player in english), on the PSP version, I can't even play properly in Professional, I have to play in normal in order to have a chance =p
also, the controls are a little unresponsive when compared to the PS2...on the PS2 version, you could spam the tackler button and all yours players would sequentially tackle( like, when you get your attacker runnig for the goal and all the other plyers stoppers get desesperate and try to tackle you all the time =p), on the PSP version, it is hard to even make on tackle properly....I don't even touch the O button when I am not attacking in the PSP version....
IMO, it is way harder
 
May I ask you if the posted ML should follow some rules (example: default rosters, default ML team) or if it can be "free"?
I mean, i use the Pategato & Goalgerd OF with some Italian teams added in the Others C (to have a clean Italian ML), ML players still with "original" stats but with different appearance/names (you can't see an Italian lower division team with 20 foreign players out of 23, can't you?) and transfers updated to January 2008.. if so, I may consider to start posting my ML matches, at least to keep my English exercised considering that this would be one of the only occasions I'll have to write something in English for someone to read :D
 
EMPOLI NEWS.....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE.....EMPOLI NEWS....CHAMPIONS LEAGUE....


NINE-MAN EMPOLI STUN AJAX TO REACH FINAL

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Empoli celebrate their passage to the final

Champions League SF, 1st leg
AJAX 0
EMPOLI 1 Pozzi 31'

Champions League SF, 2nd leg
EMPOLI 2 Cavani 16' Menseguez 86'
AJAX 2 Suarez 19' Huntelaar 35'


Empoli have beaten Ajax 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Champions League final. The minnows have continued to upset the order, by claiming another scalp in their remarkable European campaign under Professor Nutmeg. The historic moment came after a thrilling second leg at the stadio Carlo Castellani.

The first leg saw Nicola Pozzi score the only goal of the tie in Holland, putting his team in a strong position to reach the final.

The return leg was full of action. Cavani's sixteenth minute goal saw the Italians put one foot in the final. But a Dutch comeback saw two away goals scored in the first half and the tie quickly turned on it's head.

Ajax now had the upper hand, as Empoli struggled to contain the newly confident Dutch side. The Azzurri's fate looked to be sealed when Spanish referee, Miguel de la Puenta, sent off two Empoli players in as many minutes, with roughly twelve mintues left on the clock. First Czvitkovics and then Cavani both saw red for challenges, as Empoli's hopes of finding a winning goal began to fade.

With ten minutes left, Jan Huntelaar missed a golden opportunity to seal his side's place in the final as he shot wide, with Bassi static between the posts.
There was one more twist to the tie however. Four minutes from time, Menseguez picked up the ball, just over the half way line on the left flank and continued on an incisive run into the box, which culminated in him dinking the ball over the on-rushing Stekelenburg, shocking the visitors and stunning the jubilant home crowd.

Empoli are set to face Liverpool in the final, a tie that is drawing a few comparisons to the 2001 Uefa Cup final, when Liverpool defeated Deportivo Alaves 5-4. Once again Liverpool's European pedigree will be contested by an outsider.
 
Congratulations Prof...
I hope you have more luck (or less bad luck) than Alaves (i never saw that final).
Is Menseguez in the game, and if so with what team ?

I won't talk about Wolfsburg :coolpink:
 
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