PES Chronicles

Played two, won two.

Yes, that really is my Coventry City, blurrily riding high in the #1 spot.

I won both games 1-0, playing well and scoring with Schwarz (he’s 19 now – they grow up so fast these days…) in the first game, and, crucially, Frutos in the second game. It’s reassuring to play with a solid striker at last.

Frutos’ goal was nothing special – a snapshot finish during a melee on the edge of the area. I scored it early in the first half of the second game, and spent the rest of the match defending for my life. My new CB, Rami, played in this match (Suzuki was unfit). Rami was immense. He seemed to head everything away from my goal. A commanding presence in the centre of defence is what I’ve been lacking.

I also played a first round game in the Division 2 Cup. I played Hammarby away. (I always seem to play Hammarby in the first round.)

They went 2-0 up before half-time. Both of their goals were among the worst of the worse goals I have conceded in PES2008. Here we go again, I thought.

I decided that I needed an away goal at the very least to take into the home leg and give me a chance. Shortly before full time, Macco came on as a substitute and I switched my formation to Strategy Plan B – the ultra-attacking 1-2-4-3 formation.

I got my reward in the 90th minute. It was a rare kind of goal for me. A sliding tackle on the right wing broke my way for once, and I passed inside to Macco, then jinked past a couple of defenders. After going on a rare dribble and getting in on goal I usually panic and blast it high and/or wide. But I kept my focus and executed a nice dinked finish past the Hammarby keeper.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuHRtfiHVH8&rel=1]

The game ended 2-1 to the hosts. I think I’ll turn them over back at my place.

The cup is a nice bonus – a way to earn extra spending points and experience for certain players, and it would be nice to win the D2 Cup before I hopefully leave the Division forever. But the league is the priority.

The league table right now means nothing. I won’t be taking my eye off the ball. Promotion is the ball. And I’m not taking my eye off it.

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