Truly, Bradley, Deeply
Losing in one Cup might be regarded as unfortunate. Losing in two smacks of carelessness… Getting myself knocked out of both Cups was a PES2008 reality check.
It doesn’t matter if you play well in some games, or even if you play brilliantly in most games. You have to perform consistently in every game to win anything in the Master League.
Chelsea are currently riding high at the top of Division 1. They’ve lost just 2 games all season and are 10 points clear of Man Utd in second place. The lesson for me is clear. Thumping a Division minnow 5-0 every now and again is good for morale and good for goal difference. But if I go out in the next game against a team like Blackburn, say, and manage ‘only’ to draw, or even lose, I’m never going to get anywhere.
Now that I am concentrating solely on the league, I have a full squad of players to draw upon for every game.
Before resuming normal week-by-week league life, I made an adjustment to the First XI. Bradley has shown enough quality to convince me that he should replace Muntari as my automatic first-choice DMF.
I was repaid for my faith in Bradley in his first full game in the First XI. I took on Sunderland – my old enemy – and beat them 4-2.
Bradley really does have it all. Strength, balance, shooting. And a nice dribble too. It really is an easy PES year when routinely even I am going on runs like this, and scoring with a few of them:
I want to finish the season in the top 6 at the very least. The top 2 would be a bonus. I think Manchester United are too far ahead of me to catch them now. There are ten games left and 30 points to play for, though, so anything is possible. I need to win all or most of my remaining games and hope that Man Yoo lose enough of theirs to let me catch up. That almost never happens in PES, though. The teams at the top tend to stick there until the end.
I picked up a couple of 1-0 wins, including a valuable one against the team just beneath me in the table, Liverpool. The winner was a nice diving header by Schwarz from a decent cross by Braafheid.
I’m really glad now that I didn’t get rid of Braafheid in the mid-season negotiations. Pacy SBs who can launch dangerous raids down the wings – and also defend a bit – are hard to come by. And I have two. Guimaraes over on the right side continues to grow into a monster of a player. I keep going on about Schwarz, but Guimaraes has been another success story from the pool of young talent that I assembled back in my first couple of otherwise disastrous seasons.
I’m up to third now and should hold steady until the end of the season. It looks like I’ll be playing at the top European table next season. I’m 9 points ahead of the team in 7th place, and I have a superior goal difference to anyone else in the Division.
I’ve scored 54 goals in 28 games this season. Only Man Utd are anywhere near me in terms of goals scored. However, my goals conceded total is among the very worst – only the teams down in the relegation zone have conceded more. Lucky for me I found my shooting boots this season.
Even now, into the 4th ML Season, my team picks itself. Theyre all capable players or i wouldnt have them!
I wont play blue or lower arrows, or anyone with dire stamina (but that is a rarity as I seem to select players with 85+ stamina)
For those reasons I kinda dont understand the ‘first XI and Second XI’ idea.. I have 30-odd first-teamers (priority to those who can grow in statistics, however)
– How many games do you get out of your Shimizu now that he has developed stats? I have him in my new ML through successful negotiations, and he only lasted 55Minutes, he was DEAD lol
Shimizu is fine now that he’s matured. (I’ve had him for 4 and a half seasons though.) He’s better than fine as a nippy right-sided CF in my 4-3-3 – he’s brilliant. Pace, dribbling, shooting, he’s got it all. His goals and assists are second only to the Schwarz. He manages to play a full game then needs a rest. His stamina is a problem throughout his whole career – same as in PES5 (I never got him in PES6).
Hey Greg, should you ever need a couple of replacement SBs, I’d recommended the following: Walton (plays as CB too), Cem (plays as DMF and SMF too), Doesburg, Leo (not the one from Benfica, though both are Brazilian) and Van Dijk. All have brilliant growth graphics.
I’m glad you’re happy with Bradley. The good thing about him is that he grows very quickly, and stays close to the top of his graphic for his whole career. I’m in 2010, he’s 20 right now, and his stats are brilliant already. Except for goal keeping, all his stats are in the yellow, expect for body balance and defence, which are orange, and shooting power, which is RED, at 95. As his subs I have Lucas and Dudu, both very worthy CMFs in their own right. I play Bradley as CMF and Denilson a little behind as DMF. Great combination, though neither is great in the air.
You know what was my very best CMF in PES6? Maxwell. Yes, the LB from Inter Milan. I don’t how he is in PES2008, but in PES6 he developed to be an amazing CMF. He had good defensive stats, but he really shined when coming to the attack from behind, since he had brilliant shooting abilities along with the much coveted after middle shooting star.
i second the motion of Walton as a good SB. Hes my left-sided midfielder in my normal ML, decent player.
Ill check Bradley out, but in DMF Im using Huddlestone. Im a spurs supporter so i brought him in!
Mirandinha – I finally went with your “Bradley ftw!” suggestions after being impressed with what he could do even in an ‘unfinished’ state. You were right, he’s come on remarkably in just half a dozen or so games since. I’m wondering what took me so long.
david – Huddlestone looked too average to me when I considered getting him a season or two ago, but again it’s who you feel comfortable and confident playing with. My Marcos being a good example.
Another brilliant CMF/DMF is Camacho (a Konami player). He also has the middle shooting star. And yet another brilliant one is Machado. I played LBs in the CMF position for a long time, like Maxwell and Mathieu.
I’ve *always* played Mathieu as a DMF in every PES I’ve had him. He seems wasted at SB to me. Some people in an old discussion thread on PESfan even played him as a CF and reported staggering results – hat tricks every other game and the like. I can believe it.
One thing I’d like to see in PES is the possibility to retrain players’ primary positions – like in Football/Championship Manager.
Mathieu as a CF? Hm…
I played him as DMF a few times too. Never lost any aireal challenges.
does playing players out of position really affect their performance? I havent tried much of said activity to notice. Maybe ill give it a go
“One thing I’d like to see in PES is the possibility to retrain players’ primary positions – like in Football/Championship Manager.”
I’ve always simulated this by changing their primary position through the edit player dialogue. It the changes inside the ML as well.
Coloccini is a bone-crushing DM — 4 seasons into an ML and he’ll have 95+ in both Body Balance and Defense, along with 80s in all the teamwork and passing stats. He’s a monster CB but a legend as a holding midfielder.
There’s no confirmation from anywhere, but there has to be some penalty to playing a player in a secondary or even completely unfamiliar position – surely?
I think even if it’s something as minute as the player occasionally wandering out of position – or less experience points after the game – or more frequent blue/grey form arrows – there’s got to be *some* downside to it.
It’s entirely possible, of course, that there’s none – knowing Konami I wouldn’t be surprised.
I’ve played Marcos as an AMF ever since I got him, ignoring the fact that his two positions are ‘only’ SMF and CMF. He’s been great for me, so it could be that there’s no penalty, but I can’t shake the feeling that there should be one.
That’s the most out of position I’ll ever play anyone, though – CMFs as AMFs, or WFs as CFs, etc. Playing Mathieu as a CF would just feel wrong to me, even though IRL it often happens that big defenders/midfielders will play up front when needed.
I’d only bring a CB on in the SB slot if there was absolutely no one else to fill in (had to do that a few times at the start of ML with the Default squad).
This whole issue might be worth looking into. I’ll search the PESfan forum and see if it’s been discussed.
There does seem to be some really top quality SB’s in the Master League who tend to have better overall stats than players in more notable positions (i mean how many left backs are going to win a player of the season award?). My formation is, and always has been a 3-4-3 and therefore doesn’t use SB’s but luckily for me most players who have that as their primary position also have the ability to play at least 2 other positions.
Currently in my team i have Kaebi as the only primary SB in my team but i play im on the right side of midfield and his pace and dribbling ability make him very strong in that position. The other bonus to playing SB’s out of position is that they will sit back a little more to help out the defence to prevent you from being caught on the counter attack.
Whenever I play someone out of position I always have that feeling the back of my mind that they won’t do so well.
I think because of that they never do so well for me, lack of confidence in them!
stinger – a 3-4-3 all the time? How do you stop the AI attacking down your wings? I’ve found the PES2008 AI most deadly down both sides.
paul – it’s the psychological thing again. Playing online the other night, I won my first game 5-0, and it lifted me for the whole session.
greg much like your favourite 4-3-3 formation i try not to waver from my 3-4-3. With the original default players this simply isn’t a viable formation as the players are to poor to play in this sort of shape but once i made a few changes to my side this is the formation i aim for and now have it set and chances are i wont change it.
I used to find that the opposition did attack me a lot down the flanks and this is where i was conceding my goals from, however given the right players in certain key positions i find it more effective than any other formation I’ve used.
The most important thing is high stamina on my outside midfielders as well as my 3 centre backs. I basically us my SMF’s to track back when attacks come down the flanks. When this is not possible due to my SMF’s being to far up field after an attack i use one of my centre backs to come outand shut down the attacker down the wing still leaving me with my other 2 centre backs as well as my DMF in the centre to defend against any crosses.
It is also important for my formation to have tall centre backs who are good in the air, i find this can easily nullify the threat of the opposition in the air, i will often turn down the chance to sign a defender who looks better overall if they are no good in the air.
Currently still only in my 2nd season of the ML i haven’t had the chance to sign the type of defenders i want but the formation is still working thanks to one man. My Australian DMF who i am a big fan of in real life (down to the fact that i am Australian probably) in Wilkshire. He doesn’t look the most brilliant player but he just seems to be in the right place at the right time when the opposition breaks down the flanks. He appears to be a really hard worker and constantly intercepts opposition attacks.
i must admit using 3 5 2 with the defaults to try and get a formation that was defensive yet allowed attacks. ruskin, ximelez, burchet and the likes playing wide midfield. since the negotiations (and 9fresh faces – 4trade,5youths) ive reverted back to my 4 3 3, similar to yours, greg.
3 4 3 is a little too offensive for the defaults and the level of opponent one comes up against normally, but 3 5 2 is workable (i found).
If/when I do restart ML with everything on Very Hard and in an uber-League of all the top clubs, I’ll probably start with a 4-5-1 (Liverpool-style). At a pinch I could imagine myself going for a 4-4-2, but I’ll never try to play a 4-3-3 with the Default goons again.
What anyone can do, of course, is design a couple of extra formations and assign them to strategy buttons, and switch between them as needed. That’s what I’ve done for several PES years now, and always find it effective – if timed right, of course. as with anything else on the game, better players will swap positions quicker. The Default squad were terrible at switching formations mid-game, mostly.
The problem with formation switching is firstly that it could be forgotten and left on attack or defense; secondly that its tiring for the players (especially those poor defaulters) and thirdly – it could disrupt the harmony you have with your normal formation. I know that with my 433 ill have a winger free to counter with, and by choosing full attack as soon as i get the ball, its practically a goal, i dont need to have my DMFs and so-forth going up.. if its a slow build up, my passes will coincide with the player being forced to make a pass-and-run.
personally i dont assign other formations
It’s very easy to forget and leave a defensive 5-4-1 switched on. Both kinds of alt formations are only really useful for either defending a lead or chasing a goal late on. They’re also wickedly effective at winning back possession – switch to one or the other just as the CPU keeper takes a goal kick, for example, and you’re 95% guaranteed to get the ball straightaway.
They’re useful for dogged defending/desperate attacking. Unfortunately there’s not much call for either in PSE2008 once you get to know the game !