PES Chronicles

I didn’t realise until now that this season is a season of European football for me. Winning the Division 1 Cup last year automatically qualified me for the European Masters Cup (the game’s UEFA Cup equivalent). Winning the Cup in every other PES has brought European football in its wake, but for some reason this year I completely forgot, or neglected to remember, which amounts to the same thing, really.

Checking out my upcoming European fixture, I see that I’ll be playing Espanyol away in the first leg of a knockout tie. After four-and-a-half seasons of playing the same clubs twice per year, playing a brand-new club with whom I have no prior history just feels weird. The match is a good few weeks away yet. I’m already worried about fixture congestion and how a stamina-challenged squad will cope in all the games. I’ll worry about it when I get there, though.

For now, there’s league games to get through. Europe will look after itself. Finishing as high as possible in the league is the #1 priority.

I thumped Anderlecht 4-1 at their ground. Marcos ruled in this game. He owned. He was 1337. He pwnd them. He – I’ll stop that now. Marcos played most excellently against Anderlecht, and bagged himself this goal:

Marcos is a 24-year-old left-footed CMF/SMF in PES2008. He seems to be a made-up Konami player. I’ve played him in my midfield as the left-sided AMF without any problems at all. He’s been one of the best all-round midfielders I have ever had the pleasure of playing with in any PES.

In the next match against Fenerbahce, he showed that he is more than just a rasping left foot. Fenerbahce had the effrontery to score first. I came back, scoring my equaliser quickly (always good for the nerves, that). Then in the second half I was pressing and pressing for another, but making no headway.

What I love about Marcos is that he’s an effective attacking force, but can also put himself about a bit. If I’m ever short of a DMF, I have no doubt he could play there and do well. On the edge of the Fenerbahce box, I lost the ball to a defender. Up stepped Marcos:

In PES2008, stamina and form is as big an issue for Marcos as for everyone else. However, unlike some players I could mention (Shaw, Shimizu, I’m looking at you two), Marcos can play two games in a row before there’s much of a dent in his stamina bar. Sometimes I can play him for three games in row – league, cup, league again – before having to rest him. My best buy from the Unbelonging list so far? Definitely. Player of the season? Possibly. There’s a ways to go yet.

Marcos simply performs - time and again, game in, game out. Looking at his stats, it’s difficult to see what marks him as so special. It’s psychological with some players, I think. I started well with Marcos, so now when I get him on or near the ball I always believe something special can happen, and I play accordingly – with confidence. It was no surprise to me when Spain came knocking on my door for him.

Marcos’ international call-up meant he was unavailable for the next game, which turned out to be an easy 2-0 league win against Newcastle – sweet revenge for their 1-0 victory back in the second game of the season. My other contender for player of the season, Schwarz, got both of the goals. I haven’t scored with many first-time shots in PES2008. I was happy with this one, as it put the game to rest late in the second half:

Arsenal are next in the Division 1 Cup quarter final. In our recent league match I just couldn’t cope with their skills and teamwork. If I’m going to hold onto that trophy it looks as if I’ll have to do it the hard way.