Week 29 Blues
Message to self: Must stop signing Youth Players. Must stop signing Youth players. Must stop signing Youth players. Message ends.
Here I am toward the end of season 2008 on Master League and the tale of the tape makes for dispiriting viewing. In nine games since the end of the mid-season negotiation period, I have won 2, drawn 1, and lost 6. I’ve scored 7 goals and conceded 12. As for my team’s disciplinary record for the entire season so far… 37 yellows and 21 reds. Gulp.
I had high hopes going into the mid-season negotiations that the ship was finally turning. But this ship has the apparent turning circle of an oil tanker.
The one consolation is that I’m doing better this season than last. I realise now that I’ve made serious mistakes in the transfer market, and not just once or twice. Too many Youth players too quickly.
I’ve got so many young players partly because I found that the usual method of getting older players was often blocked off. In PES2008, you have to ask the other club’s permission to negotiate a trade-in deal. This permission is often denied because your club is not yet prestigious enough. You need the right players to start playing well enough to get some prestige. It’s the old vicious circle effect.
I’ve switched things around slightly in my First XI over the past couple of games, and it seems to have tightened things up at the back. I’ve moved Suzuki back into defence and made him a CWP – a sweeper. It’s one of his alternate positions, and he’s very good at it. Weir has gone onto the bench. Mattsson continues to do well – he seems to make a freakish amount of successful headed clearances. Duffy has gone into the DMF position in Suzuki’s place.
Despite the poor record, there are signs that the oil tanker is turning. This blog has not quite turned into a peculiar comedy just yet. I’m looking now to finish with as many wins under my belt as possible, and then attack the full off-season negotiations with a vengeance.
Yikes. This new ML sounds tough. Is there a ML difficulty setting? If so, which one are you on?
I wish we could see the hidden stats for our players– I’ll never understand why (for example in my current ML) a DMF with slightly above average stats is a goal getting machine, turning up with clutch goals whenever we really need them, and a DMF with better stats accross the board can’t manage a shot on target.
I’m playing on Top Player match difficulty, but there is are two separate ML difficulty settings that govern such matters as stamina, morale, transfer market difficulty, etc, – I’ve got both on Normal! I’m kind of wondering now what the HARD levels would be like…