Tempting Fate: “I’ll score 100 goals next season” Comments Off
O’Shea was a risky pre-season signing in many ways: past his peak, and slightly average even at his peak.
But he has been more than adequate in defence, and presents a danger up front at corners. It’s been a long time coming, but he got his first goal for Coventry City. It was an atypical situation for him – receiving the ball in open play just outside the box:
In off the post, lovely. Incidentally – see where Marcos chests the ball down following the initial clearance? Well, in PESes past, I’d have first-timed a volley at the goal, but in PES2008 the shoot button seems to be disabled in these kinds of circumstances. Thus I have become adept at doing what I did with Marcos here: turning away, shielding the ball, and laying it off.
In this game I was constantly battling for possession and trying to make something happen. Some matches are just like that. Blackburn scored again to make the score 1-2. Who should step up to get my second equaliser but Braafheid, my other so-far non-scoring defender:
In off the same post. How peculiar.
After losing 1-2 to Man Utd (tough game) and then thumping the Villa 4-2, I received a notification message: qualification for next season’s European Championships was assured. It was mathematically impossible for me to finish outside the top 6.
This left a couple of fairly meaningless games to get out of the way before the end of the season. All that was at stake was whether I would finish 3rd or 4th. I had my heart set on 3rd, and played accordingly.
I destroyed Arsenal 4-2 at their ground. Or better to say: Schwarz destroyed them. I was 3-0 up by half time thanks to yet another Schwarz hat trick. His third goal was a bit special:
Another replay angle showed that I’ve still not achieved my aim of planting a long-ranger in the ‘postage stamp’ corner of the net just yet. The ball veers toward the centre of the goal. Schwarz’s shooting power alone beats the keeper. (I’ll post a clip here of this other replay view in a day or two.)
Arsenal came back at me, scoring two completely lame goals that made me groan. Happily, I went up their end late on and secured the win with a poacher’s goal from Chiesa.
Going into the final game of the season against Anderlecht, Schwarz was the division’s top score with 23 goals. Rooney was just behind him with 22. I thought Rooney was sure to score at least one goal in Man Utd’s final game. I played Schwarz against Anderlecht despite his stamina bar being only three quarters full. I figured it was worth the risk, as it was the last game of the season and there was always the chance he’d sneak a goal or two.
I beat Anderlecht 4-1. Traore got a hat trick this time. Bramble headed in from a corner. Schwarz had a poor game, lumbering around with his low stamina.
There was no need to worry, though. Rooney didn’t score, and Schwarz finished the season as the Golden Boot winner.
I finished 3rd by two points (Liverpool drew their last game).
So Chelsea won the league with 93 points – 18 ahead of me – and they lost only 3 games all season. That’s fairly realistic, I suppose – real league winners tend not to lose more than a handful of games all season. It’s something I’ll have to replicate next season if I’m going to challenge for the league – as I expect to do. I’ll be looking for at least three top-drawer players in the negotiations coming up.
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Here’s something I’ve never done before: my Player of the Season, and my personal favourite Goal of the Season.
Schwarz has to be Player of the Season. He got 23 goals in 38 games – and he should have had more. With better players and more experience next season, I’d hope for Schwarz to get 50 goals.
Marcos and Guimaraes are joint runners-up for Player of the Season. Marcos has been superb for a player of such modest abilities. Guimaraes has become a true star in my team. But Schwarz’s all-round performances – not just his goals – have been consistently phenomenal all season.
My Goal of the season: Reyes vs Bolton. You’ll see hundreds of ‘better’ goals in all kinds of places, but this is my personal favourite right now – I just love the technique, the lack of backlift, the high graceful loop over the keeper (I’m gushing with praise about Reyes here, not myself. All I do is press buttons):
In many ways I prefer the long-range Schwarz strike from the Arsenal game, but the Reyes goal just looks beautiful.
And so that was season 2011. No relegation battle this time. Just a season of consolidation. If I’d got to grips with PES2008 a bit quicker (what was wrong with me this year?), I’d have been challenging for the title. I’m ready and waiting for the start of season 2012. I’ll be shooting for the Treble. Scoring 81 goals in a season would have won me the league by a long way in previous instalments of the game.
I’ll score 100+ goals next season. The question is: how many will I let in?
Final position: 3rd (75 pts)
Won:23 Drew:6 Lost:9
Goals scored:81 Goals conceded:47 Goal difference:+34
Yellow cards: 31 Red cards: 6