PES Chronicles

As every self-respecting PES player should know, it is possible to map strategies to the controller’s face buttons and then use them on the fly during games by pressing L2+X, or Circle, or Triangle, or Square, or any combination thereof. (It’s the same for the Xbox 360, of course. Except with different names for the same buttons.) I’ve met PES players who have played the game for years and know nothing about any of this. They’re strange people.

My setup really hasn’t changed since the controller seen above was grey and belonged to a PlayStation1…

(For those truly strange people who don’t yet know, you configure your strategy setup via your team’s Formation settings. This year the options are tucked away under the Team Tactics heading. Go into that menu and start playing around. It can be a bit fiddly (setting up my strategy layout takes about 10 minutes) but it’s all fairly intuitive once you know where everything is. And don’t forget to save your hard work at the end of it all: Data Management>Copy Formation>Save Formation.)

Strategy Plan A (ultra-defensive)

(Both of the Strategy Plans provide alternate formations that you can configure how you please, and switch to for as long as you like in-game at the press of two buttons, without having to pause and visit the menu screen. FIFA take note.)

• All players set to HIGH defensive responsibilities.
• Back line set to DEEP
• Counter-attacking set to SELDOM

This alternate formation can be almost impregnable if you concentrate fully. Don’t let the CPU’s tricksy passing and one-twos drag your players too far out of position. It’s good for holding onto a lead when the other team is piling on the pressure. It’s also surprisingly good to play with for a little while, as the enhanced midfield and defensive presence leads to great possession in the middle and forward areas. It’s easy to leave this one on for longer than you intended.

Strategy Plan B (ultra-attacking)

Use with extreme caution!

• All players except the CB set to LOW defensive responsibilities
• Back line set to HIGH
• Counter-attacking set to FREQUENT

In PES2008 I have been absolutely carved wide open at times when using this to try to get back into a game. But at other times, as it’s intended to do, it has got me back into games and even won me games. It’s best employed when you want to contain the opposition in its half, especially when you have a corner or a free-kick in an advanced position.

Naturally, it’s at its best when you have the ball. When the other team has the ball, it’s best to cancel it in most cases. Your players will run back to their original positions and hopefully snuff out any danger. Switching straight into the ultra-defensive formation is often more effective than simply reverting to the standard formation (4-3-3 in my case).

The only times I play with this formation switched on all the time, and never cancel it even when the other team has the ball, are when I’m behind or level in the last few minutes and I feel like taking a gamble. It sometimes pays off, and I get the equaliser or the winner thanks to all those attackers. But it also sometimes costs me another goal. As I said, use with extreme caution.

Both of the above alternate formations are very useful for confusing the CPU players under certain conditions. What follows is a bit of an exploit, but I’m not ashamed to say I use it. Not much, but I use it. Considering all the advantages the CPU teams have over me, I think I’m entitled to this small one:

When the opposing GK is about to take a goal kick (for example), quickly switch to one of the above formations. As he takes the kick, none of your players will be where they were when the AI computed its kick. You stand a good chance of getting the ball. Switch back immediately to your regular formation, or play on with the alternate one at your discretion. Again, use this carefully.

Pressure and Counter-Attack

Pressure and Counter-Attack are fairly self-explanatory. In practice their effects are often imperceptible and/or annoying. Both have the potential to tire your players if left on continuously.

Pressure is highly controversial among the PES community. It makes your players go ball-chasing even more than they do already, leaving massive gaps that your opponent (human or CPU) can easily take advantage of. As with Strategy Plan B, I tend to be very sparing with Pressure, only really using it when I’m desperate.

Counter-Attack is an odd one. It’s reputed to make your forwards sit higher up the pitch, level or almost level with the other team’s defence. When you’re defending deep, though, your forwards are often so far away with counter-attack switched on that you struggle to clear your lines. I tend to use it when I have collected the ball in defence and have time to pick a pass to a midfielder, who will them hopefully play it forward to the advanced strikers. It’s not good to have this on when you’re desperately heading or hoofing the ball clear and you just need an outlet.

And that’s it. Obviously, the better your players, the better they will carry out your strategy. In years past, my ultimate teams of Master League galacticos have completely destroyed some opponents using the alternate formations at the right times.

I really do play with these strategies mapped to my controller all the time. I’ve dabbled in the past with Opposite Attack, Player Change, Centre Attack, and the rest of them, but I’m settled on these for now. I’ve never used them online, but that is going to change this year (as soon as the online play gets sorted out). It’ll be interesting to see how they work against a human player.

I’m off the bottom of Division 2. Better late than never.

Every year, there’s a palpable turning point. The single game when you finally get it, when you stop automatically using your old PES tricks, and start to adapt fully to the new game. PES2008 has come alive for me at last.

Playing Master League with the pish-poor Default players has delayed my adaptation. Perhaps I should have played International Cups for longer, or just played any old games with better teams and players.

What it was, for me, was recognising that my automatic reliance on the R1+X+Square method of continuously pressing the opposition was damaging my play. I was knackering my players and dragging my defenders out of position willy-nilly. No wonder the opposition could virtually walk the ball into my net at times. No wonder my team had nothing left in the tank after a while.

It’s always been faintly noobish to auto-clamp your hand around those buttons in order to sprint and tackle and press with a second player. It’s only rarely been all that effective, thinking back. It was just the thing to do when you play PES. (Most online players do it all the time.) It’s almost an autonomic reflex upon losing the ball.

It really doesn’t work in PES2008 – not enough to make it worthwhile, anyway. I decided to take my fingers off the gas last night. I would only press R1 when I had the ball and wanted to sprint with it, or when I wanted to bring one particular defender into one particular area. The old practice of holding it almost all the time had to go.

Results were immediate. My team kept its shape and its energy much better for longer periods of games. I picked up a 1-0 win. A 2-1 win. A couple of 0-0 draws. I won the second round cup game 2-0 against Derby County. Mao Molina scored a nice snapshot from the edge of the box. Suzuki headed the other goal. It was a great result. Derby were relegated last season and are up there at the top this season, duking it out with the Division’s big boys.

My own possession stats are now the reverse of what they were before – 60/40 in my favour on average – and I’m creating more chances with my fresh and well-positioned players. Consequently, I’m scoring goals now.

Schwarz is getting seriously good, and he’s still only 18. Here’s a goal he scored today. Vintage Schwarz, holding off the defender and then powering a low shot into the far corner:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCpYpOrmQY8&rel=1]

Squeezing R1 whilst trying to win back the ball is actually counter-productive most of the time. R1 locks your players into their sprint modes, making any simultaneous use of X or Square seem much less effective. It’s weird, but simply standing off the opposition, biding your time, letting them have harmless possession (rank PES heresy!), and then pressing X (without R1) when you have a player near enough to challenge, works 100 times better than the customary sprint-press method.

The sprint-press technique is still there, of course. It’s still available for you to use when you want to crowd and pressurise an opposition player in and around your penalty box. It’s just not wise to use it all the time.