An embarrassment of riches
The mid-season transfer window in season 12 of my Master League career in PES2010 has come and gone. I had two big AI offers on the table for two of my strikers. Tanaka, my 78-rated journeyman Japanese forward, had been on the transfer list since before the start of the season. Only one offer was submitted for him: £24.3m. He’s a slow WF/SS/CF hybrid who barely gets a game for me nowadays. What was I going to do?
Also on the transfer list was Sazi. At one time he was my main man, the apple of my eye, the essential striker whom I thought I needed to win any match. But he’s been seriously lacking in recent seasons, particularly since I paid £2m to equip him with two extra skill cards. Ever since that time, he’s been a shadow of the player he was before. I have serious doubts as to whether the ability to purchase sill cards for players is a worthwhile feaure of the game, or if it’s just glorified makework.
I would have accepted an offer for Sazi of £4m. The offer that came in for him was £16m. So I would easily recoup the money spent on useless skill cards, and then some.
It was a traditional ML no-brainer on both counts. £42,000,000 for two players who hardly get a game for me nowadays. I sold both of them without any regrets.
As for transfers in, I only managed to bring in one new player. I did keep trying for Raul, Scholes, plus a few other genuinely first-class ML performers, but none of them would come to me. I’m pretty sure my team reputation is still below a certain threshold. There was no new talent worth harvesting in my Youth team.
The one player I brought in was a young goalkeeper, a 75-rated Gianluigi Buffon. I spent £1.5m on him. Currently 18 years old, he’ll take over as my #1 keeper in a season or two. I’ve got no problems with Zuberbuhler at the moment—in fact he’s been pretty impressive. I’m looking a good way ahead to the future, is all. I’ll try to sell Fatecha, now my 3rd-choice keeper, at the end of the season.
This lack of buying means that I am very rich indeed. I’ve got about £60m in the bank. The days of struggling to pay my bills at the end of a season are a long, long way behind me. I’ll start spending it all in the next transfer window—if the game will let me.
It occurs to me that I’ve not yet posted an actual, proper First XI during this whole career so far. Every squad image I’ve shown has been jumbled up. So here it is. The First XI seen in the latest squad list on the left currently is my preferred selection, game after game, as long as all are available. With this line-up I can give any team in the ML world a good game—usually…
After a slump in league form I went on a run of 6 wins out of 7. I am now back up to 2nd place, level on points with Man Utd and just trailing on goal difference. In the current crop of league games I had a thrilling clash with Spurs that I won 2-1 with a fine late winner from Zaki.
Sadly, I have been knocked out of the Champions League in the first knockout round for the second season in a row. It’s the same old story. Once I get to the knockout stages, the difficulty seems to go up another notch or two. Last season I was taken apart by Sochaux. This season my quarter final nemesis was in the form of RC Lens.
In PES2010 such teams as Sochaux and Lens are better than 2009 Barcelona and 1990s Milan and 1970 Brazil and late 70s/early 80s Liverpool all put together and pumped full of amphetamines. I don’t know what it is. Obviously I’m a poor player, so that doesn’t help, but it seems to me that strange things happen in these games. The aggression is turned up to 11. The ‘tangle and snatch’ effect that constantly wrests possession away is turned up to 12. All in all I couldn’t live with them over the two legs. I lost the first leg at their ground 2-0, and I lost the second leg at mine 1-2. A feeble exit. I really will have to do better. A Treble may never happen at this rate.
So all I have left to go for now is the league title. With 14 matches left, I think I’ll do it.
Hi not-Greg,
First time post for me. Just wanted to say how much I enjoy reading your PES blogs. Sometimes my master league, as much as I love it, does become somewhat dull and lifeless but I just read your blogs and it gets me in the mood again.
I am currently in my second season, also with Coventry. I started in the Championship with all the ‘real life’ teams and gained promotion in 2nd behind Newcastle with the original team. I was expecting more of a struggle but it was still fun. I previously did a master league with fulham but won everything after 3 seasons so got bored. This time im limiting my OVR to high 70′s and keeping salaries below £150,000. Practically every player has thrown a hissy fit because ive had good offers for most of my squad and turned them down. Im playing the most demented, unbalanced formation with only 1 of my four strikers fit, 2 out with long term injuries. Yet im still top by 3 points after 20 odd games. The AI just seems to struggle to score any goals, ive only let in about 9 so far and Im not particularly prolific myself.
I do agree with you about the Champions League, its a massive step up. Especially at the quaters and semi’s stage. I got to the final with fulham and was 3-0 down to Madrid at half time, I just couldnt stop them!
Anyways keep up the good work and I look forward to your first Champions League glory!
Looks like another title success on the way? Its strange that you are dominating the league but finding Europe so hard. Maybe the 6 star difficulty that mysteriously vanished is still hardcoded into Champions League matches?
My own career has hit another snag, this football gaming year is cursed for me. The new xbox has RROD, yes you heard me. Nay a 2 weeks in and its gone. Worst generation of gaming, full stop.
sosollaz—thanks for your comment, and I do seem to be in a minority who find the game challenging this season without needing any kind of House Rules (yet).
Although it has to be said that I’ve yet to get any 90+ rated superstars in my side. We’ll see how things develop if/when that happens—I suspect I’ll join you and the (seemingly) 99% of other PES2010 players who suddenly find things too easy with a truly talented squad. But I’ll have had a good run—a great run, even—in getting to that point. If that happens. If you could see what happens to me sometimes when the AI decides it’s time for me to lose, you’d see the truth of me being an average player…
Not Given—Europe is another world for me so far in this ML. The Cup too, to a lesser extent. I got to the semi about 9 seasons ago, I recall, but haven’t had a sniff since.
You do seem jinxed this year. Did you install PES2010 to the 360 hard drive? Unlike the PS3 installation, it’s done from outside the game, and copies the whole disk to the HD, and it plays from there. Installing games on 360 really cuts out the main reason for RROD, which is prolonged wear and tear on the disc drive leading to overheating. When you get your new 360 (the shop should replace it, yes?), start installing! If you installed and still got RROD anyway, you really have had bad luck.
I did install it, and i do have terrible luck. This is destroying my many years of fantastic luck with consoles. Oh well I always have reliable PS2 to fall back on, and the games are better as well.
It’s clear that this Xbox was a wet towel job, someone traded in a broken console and I have ended up with it. It lasted in total about 50 hours before breaking again.
Don’t worry, not-Greg, I’m with you on the difficulty, at least as far as a default ML is concerned. My Derby County ML is going OK. I finished 10th in the league in my first season. I would like to see all these players who claim ML is “easy” to do the same setup: defaults, using PES/WE United renamed, Top Player, with European sides (Celtic, Rangers, Europa League teams) in your second division. You have crap players, no money, and no hope for at least the first couple of seasons. Definitely going to be a challenge to get promoted…
BTW, my approach to team building in the beginning is this: At the moment, I only want quality players. I’m just searching for 70+ rated players who will be willing to join me. If you’re 30 years old, so be it. I just need guys who can play. My only “untouchables” are my youth team guys. Defaulters? You are hereby free to leave whenever you feel you need to do so.
Hi, in terms of the cup competitions you’re best to approach the games to keep the ball and play for penalties to start with, hitting on the break and trying to sneak a goal. Just managed to ease past Man Utd in the semi of the league cup with a goal in 86 minutes, very much against the run of play.
Ken, there’s no point in signing 30 year old players, try for players between 22 and 25 who look like they might improve.
Hi Not Greg, some interesting points made by Ken and Madrab, about transfer targets and Euro Comp playing styles, I’d like to chip in that i only ever allow myself the odd mid to late 20s early 30s player (my captain) and spend the rest of my time crawling the bargain basement for young what i would call U21 players, who can do a job basically they get 2 seasons to prove themselves and then if they still flatter to deceive i shove them off anywhere i can. Ruthless i know, but i still have a title to win. In terms of Europe, Ive oddly won the Europa league twice, and nothing else! My most successful tactic is to retain possession as best as possible, crowd the midfield with loads of pace, and have a lone striker, and just absorb the attacks and destroy them on the breaks. Anyway good luck for the rest of the season, do you have any idea how i can score free kicks on this version, my technique from earlier PROEVOS doesnt work and i was wondering if you had any advice?
Not Given—I still have my PS2, bought in 2002, retired in 2007 after what must have been many 1000s of hours of gaming, and I bet it’d still work now. And yes, the games were better. I hear PS2 PES2010 is ridiculously fast but you get used to it. Won’t the shop replace your 360? I was in a GAME store a while back when somebody came in trying to trade in an old 360. The staff plugged it all in and powered it up and it RROD’d, naturally. What if it hadn’t? They’d have taken it and sold it on.
Ken—I think some people who are finding it easy are using all those hardest settings. Somebody I know started out on them, got promoted immediately, and came within a whisker of winning the D1 title in season 2 with 95% of the Default squad! He was on the 360, though. I have a theory about the 360 version being easier, something I was hoping Not GIven could prove or disprove after his time on the PS3 version. Are you playing on PS3, 360, or PC?
I’m with you on the older 30+ aged players. No, they’re not going to be on your books for long, but they can come in and do a job for you for a season or two. Often they’re the only decent players who’ll come to your team.
madrab—Europe and the D1 CUp are massive thorns in my side right now, next time I have a crunch match I’m going to take your advice and play ultra-cautiously.
I like the 30 year old and older players! Often down in D2 the only decent players available on the Free Agents list are older ones. Mind you, I did spend 7 looong seasons down there, so maybe I should have held out for younger players who’d have improved… That’s the genius of ML, particularly the all-new ML: so many ways to approach it.
Lord Stanley—I think a youth policy (barring one or two older players) is a very enticing ‘House Rules’ version of ML and I’d do something similar if I had time to start another ML and play it all over again. I won’t have time to do that now this year (I don’t think so anyway), now that my ‘vanilla’ career has turned out to be a success and kept me playing. I’ll be playing this one career for the foreseeable future, and then moving onto FIFA10/BaL/PES2010(PS2) if/when it ever gets stale.
The only free kicks I’ve scored on thsi version are lay-off free kicks. I’ve never yet scored a direct one. I actually gave up trying for direct goals from FKs very quickly after finding that this is a ‘tough free kick’ year! Again I haven’t got the time to do this myself, but I think an hour or two spent on the training pitch, discovering the various aiming and power sweet spots, would stand you in good stead? I did have one training session way back when, in October, and spent 20 mins or so on free kicks, and they are possible, it’s just that the power/aiming sweet spots are obscure in comparison to past, ‘easy free kick’ PES games.
I’m on PS3 … maybe that is why I find it challenging? On the +30 players, yes, I only expect to have them for a couple of years, as they start declining in performance immediately. But again, that doesn’t mean they can’t help you win now. Wins bring money, prestige, and eventually, good YOUNG players. I’m promoting and developing my young guys, but they really don’t know how to play yet. You need veteran help…
BTW, I wanted to share something that I discovered. Of course, you all probably already know this, but I’ve always wondered why players in PES don’t go on diagonal runs into space. They always seem to run straight forward off the ball. There are two player cards that *could* allow this. One is the dummy runner card, but I’ve yet to see this play out on the pitch. The other is the cutback card, which of course, only gets used when the AI has the ball. The only way that I’ve found to get players to make a diagonal run into space is to dribble at a 45 degree angle, then press L1 + X for the give and go while still pointing the stick in the same 45 degree angle (WITHOUT pressing sprint).
This will make the player continue his run diagonally, possibly creating some interesting opportunities to exploit the defense. For example, two players could potentially switch positions by doing the same type of run. Player 1 runs diagonally and passes to player 2, who starts to dribble diagonally and hits the L1 + triangle through ball back to player 1. Player 2 then continues his run into the space that player 1 just left. Just throwing some tactical thoughts out there to see what sticks…
Things are so bad with PES 2010 that I think it has to be a fault with my disc, or PS3 (even though I just replaced my fat one for a slim!). On my game, that horrible blunt ball sound effect happens out of sync with player’s touch sometimes, players skip animations constantly which gives a serious ‘judder’ effect, and when playing with the big teams, the game speed is lightning fast but also erratic and unpredictable. In those kinds of games, there is no time on the ball, and its always hard to know what to do as you simply have no time to think, and even when you get a through pass off, you know it will just ricochet off someone. It looks really ugly.
In addition, the ball bounces off players shins and heels constantly, and balls that drop from the air into a crowd of players just ping-pong off shins and heels with no sense of order to the proceedings. Not to mention the airborne balls that hit players backs and shoulders with the player seemingly having no awareness, causing possession to be lost all the time. The game was NOT like this for me after the 1.03 patch in December, it played really well actually. Does anyone else see what I’m seeing with the game?
Ken—on PS3, eh? Interesting… There’s no real rational reason why the versions should be different, my suspicions are purely anecdotal and speculative. I’ve just always been struck by the fact that those who’ve said they find the game easy are on 360 (or PC). Technically the PS3 version is the poor relation (tunnel freeze, anyone?)—but would that alone make the game different?
PES badly needs to start unashamedly ripping off next-gen FIFA’s best ideas (“great games STEAL”). If Seabass could only bear to steal one thing, FIFA’s ‘make player go on run’ button—with diagonal runs, of course—would be the one for me.
glen—all the things you mention are in my game too, day in, day out. The insane speed in top games. The ricocheting ball. The utterly stupid rebounds off stupid players’ stupid chests. And have through balls ever been worse in PES—or in any football game, ever?!
(I’m not one of those who believe there was a patch in the December DLC. If you look at the Konami release notes for that DLC, there was no mention whatsoever of a patch, and IMO there certainly would have been a mention—and a lot more than just a mention—if there had been a gameplay patch. The game’s exactly the same for me today as it was in late October 09.)
But despite all of those things, the game still impresses me with flashes of PES genius, constant moments when I’m reminded why I play this game. One of the PES Gaming columnists thinks PES2010 is the best version ever. I wouldn’t go that far—not yet—but it’s certainly surprised me this year. It is a concern just how many PES fans have serious problems with the game for various reasons—we all used to sing as one chorus!—but I can only take the game as I find it. As I say a lot on the blog, I’m probably helped by being a very average player. If I ever do a trick on the pitch, it’s by accident…
I don’t know, I think it’s more of a collective thought of “I expect PES to be awful this year, so any fault I find I’m just going to exaggerate it!!!” That’s the vibe I get when surfing the PES boards. Ever since 08, they just expect the worst. I actually liked PES 09, and think that this year is, if not the best one, certainly an extremely addictive edition. Perhaps it is those “flashes of brilliance” that make it so addictive – you pull off something magical and smooth, and keep trying to duplicate it. The through ball is certainly a hit or miss thing this year, but when they do come off, they are a thing of beauty.
hmm really looking forward to heavy rain…pes in the dump trsy methinks
Ken—PES2008(next-gen) created this atmosphere around PES, and Konami & Seabass are only getting what they deserve IMO. That game was technically disastrous (especially on PS3) and a total insult on the gameplay front. It was a travesty of the PES name that should never have seen the light of day. It was a cynical, calculated cash-in that soured a whole generation of football gaming for a whole generation of football gamers. PES2009 was a worthy PES game, I agree, but the previous year’s horror gave us an ultra-critical pair of spectacles with which to view PES.