Below is a screenshot of one of my player’s current stats.

The player is Schwarz. On the left are his stats back when he joined my club two and a half seasons ago. On the right are his stats now. He has a good many years of continuous development ahead of him yet. It’s almost frightening. All of the youngsters I got in the first and second seasons are starting to come good in a similar way.

So I don’t think I really need to get some great new players during the off-season - but it would be nice.

PES2008’s players’ stamina gauges are frailer than eggshells. They cannot play two full games in succession. Well… they can, but then you lose them for two or more games while their stamina builds up again. You really need at least three players to cover for every position. No wonder the starting squad was so huge this year.

Things got off to a good start in Week 1 of negotiations. An offer came in for Van den Berg. That was a very welcome 2400 points, right there. This boosted my overall points to 26000. My wages at the end of the season would only be 14500 or so. I had lots of points to play with.

Here’s who I got, and why:

KIM U DON (GK, age 17)
Due to those stamina issues, I really need a third goalkeeper in the squad. This Korean youngster is 3 years younger than Friedel but already has better stats than him in every department but one (stamina of course). In addition he shares two key special skills with Friedel: 1-on-1 saves, and Penalty saves. Rather than just lazily looking at the Show All Players and the Openness to Negotiation lists, it’s always worth doing Advanced Searches for players with the exact attributes you want. I searched for a keeper aged 17-26 with the two special skills and a minimum Keeper Skills rating of 80. There were about 30 players who matched the criteria (including my own Friedel). Kim U Don was among them. Yes, a more experienced head would have been preferable, but Friedel at 20, and Ivarov at… whatever age he is, have got the experienced angles covered.

FELIPE (CB, 25)
Not much to say about this one. I traded Valeny for him, paying a couple of thousand points on top. Good stats, good height, good heading ability.

REYES (SS, Age 26)
One of Europe’s brightest real-life stars was sitting on the Unbelonging list, just waiting for a club to come in for him. His abilities actually look a little poor right now, but his development chart shows he still has a ways to go yet. He is primarily an SS, but has alternate positions of AMF and CF. Always handy, that.

CHIESA (SS, 17)
Another worthy name from real life popped up in the Youth list as a regenerated player. I snapped him up in the last negotiation week.

VAN STEENSEL (SB, 26)
I wanted a left-sided SB to replace Ruskin, wonder goals notwithstanding. In the last negotiation week I Advance Searched and found this player. His stamina is pretty poor but in all other respects he’s better than Ruskin. I traded Ruskin for him, paying only 500 points on top.

And that was all - just the four players. I hunted high and low for a great DMF with the precious Middle Shooting ability (or Shooting from Distance as it has been renamed in PES2008).

Mathieu’s club still won’t let me make a bid for him. He’s 27 now. If I don’t get him before he’s 31 or so, it won’t be worth getting him at all - I’d wait for him to retire and then reappear as a Regen. But I’ll be trying for a few more negotiation periods yet.

I did find a DMF (with Middle Shooting) called Muntari. I tried to trade Mao Molina plus 7000-odd points for him, but negotiations broke down in the final week, and Muntari went off to Valencia in the end. I left it alone for now. I still have Donadel, who is still playing just great. And Duffy is starting to mature too.

So, on the verge of game 1 in Division 1 - against Arsenal, no less - here’s my full current squad:

From which I have chosen this First XI:

I’d prefer to stick with Friedel in goal, but I want to give Kim U Don a little run to settle him in. And technically he is the better keeper anyway.

I’m going to start with Chiesa on the right up front as often as I can. One thing I have learned about young players is that they’re ultimately worth it.