After taking on Chelsea on the opening day and beating them comfortably, I had another Championship six-pointer against Manchester United. This one went against me.

I was the away side. It was 0-2 to me before half an hour was over. Then Man Yoo switched on their razzle-dazzle, and my players wilted like men of straw.

The manner of the defeat rocked me back on my heels even further than the setbacks in the European Cup. I had my full First XI out. The players were mainly fully-fit and in good form (orange and red arrows all round). I started well, sure: two good goals from Schwarz and Beerens. But then I was steamrollered in the second half.

In the next league match I ‘only’ managed to draw against Liverpool. I was looking for the win - pretty desperately looking for it - and nearly threw the point away whilst doing so. In PES2008, the CPU teams are at their most dangerous on the counter-attack. This is particularly true following a corner against them. Liverpool almost won the game several times in that way. At the end I felt lucky not to have lost badly.

I’ve fallen to my lowest league position for two seasons. The wheels haven’t come off my league campaign just yet. But they are wobbling slightly. It’s far too early to run a warm bath and break out the razor blades, but it’s affecting my confidence, and in turn my performances.

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The Treble, though, is still on. Just.

The second leg of the D1 Cup first round tie against Newcastle was the most amazing, incredible, nerve-wracking match I have yet played on PES2008.

I lost the first leg 2-3 at home, remember, and approached the second leg with a certain feeling of Doom. This feeling was not alleviated when Newcastle quickly went into a 2-0 lead, as I again panickily raced around the pitch trying to get myself five goals in the first ten minutes or something.

That would seem to have been that as far as the pesky Treble was concerned. It was all over. Wasn’t it?

No. Not quite yet. I got one back before half time. Beerens, my pre-season signing, has been pretty damn good for me so far. He’s got a couple of goals in the league. He played in this cup match, and I scored with him before half time to give me a slender hope. 2-1.

It was still 5-3 on aggregate to Newcastle. I needed two goals just to get to extra time.

In the second half I pulled out all the stops, and had chance after chance. Newcastle counter-attacked dangerously. I lived on the edge at the back as I threw everything forward. Alan Smith raced clear around the 60th minute. Bramble was nearby, just behind and to the side. I sprinted him across as best I could (‘Bramble’ and ’sprinting’ do not sit well together). I thought I had the angle and the positioning to execute a slide tackle. So I did. But I missed the ball and brought down Smith when he would have been clean through. Red card for Bramble, and I was down to ten men.

I still felt I had a chance. I’ve won games easily before with ten men. Never mind that this was Newcastle in the Cup. I could do it. I rejigged my formation. Instead of bringing off a striker for a defender, I rearranged the remaining three defenders into a classic back three and just went for it with a 3-3-3. I got my reward soon after with a goal from Andy Cole. 2-2! But there were only ten minutes of the game left…

Then I only went and made things even harder for myself by getting another player sent off. Bradley this time. I slid in on a Newcastle player in midfield as I was trying desperately to get the ball back, and the resulting foul was deemed a red card offence. Curse you Seabass!

I didn’t bother trying to rearrange my formation this time. To hell with it. 3-2-3 or bust.

By the 90th minute I had more or less given up. I was already preparing my brave face for this here blog. Then a loose ball broke to Beerens on the edge of the box and I took a shot… Goal.

2-3 to me, a mirror image of the first leg scoreline. With the last kick of the 90 minutes. Somehow, I had clawed my way back. Don’t ask me how. It felt more than a little odd at the time. If the game was scripted in my favour, so what. I was too busy punching the air. Bless you Seabass…

In extra time, I was more cautious with my play. I took off a striker and rearranged my defence into an orthodox back four. I pulled my two midfielders back as deep as they could go. I left my strikers up front, hoping to pick up scraps. I was by no means settling for a penalty shootout. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t concede again. I’d rather go out on penalties than go out by conceding a soft goal after all my efforts to get back into the tie.

Extra time was tough. It was a grim battle against fatigue and error, my players’ and my own (this was all taking place at 3 a.m. in the real world). Newcastle pressed constantly but somehow never quite got through. Whenever I got the ball I had few outlets up front or in midfield. The ball always came right back at me. I carved out a few opportunities but missed them all. So, fortunately, did Newcastle.

Penalties. I scored all five of mine. Newcastle missed one of theirs. I was through to the next round.

It felt good.

I know. The coin-toss of a penalty shootout happened to go my way instead of the CPU’s way. I’ve seen my players in penalty shootouts on PES blaze the ball high over the bar or at a post for no real reason too many times to believe that there was any actual skill involved on my part. I was just happy to be through.

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For the Treble to be still on, I had to win all three of my remaining games in the European Championships qualifying group. I’d lost two and drawn one of the opening ties. I was bottom of the group.

Here in stoppage time at the end of a somewhat overlong post (that Newcastle game was just epic), I’ll keep it short, sweet, and simple: I took on Marseille at home and trounced them 4-1. This was on the back of the D1 Cup result. I was on a high. I went into the Marseille game knowing I could and should and would win it easily. And I did.

The qualifying group table still makes for uncomfortable viewing. It’s very disappointing to be bottom with two games to go. But those points totals next to the teams’ names are bunching up nicely.

Ahhh… I found that missing screenshot of my league position. It shows the state of play going into the last three games. It was tucked away in a sub-sub-folder on my PC along with photos of my best friend’s wedding two years ago. Go figure, as they say.

I’m 3 points clear of the relegation zone with three games to play. My goal difference has come down to a workable level. (See Celtic on the bottom with just three wins all season? Guess who they got two of those wins against. Go on, guess.)

This morning I played the critical last few games of the Division 1 League season and the Division 1 Cup Final. It was a very interesting session of play. I’ll post about the League separately later today. For now I want to concentrate on the Cup.

Last night I overcame Manchester United in the semis after a 0-0 draw at my ground and a 1-0 win at theirs. The goal I scored was notable for a couple of reasons. Here it is:

That’s the first goal of its kind that I have ever scored in any PES game. Really. I meant it when I said that I’m not a dribbler. The people who are complaining about these kinds of goals being too easy in next-gen PES2008 might have a point.

I’m still not capable (or really willing) to play like that all the time, so hopefully it won’t become a universal get-out-of-jail card for me. But it is a worry. If I can do it, I can only imagine what players who routinely used to do this in previous PES games must be doing. No wonder so many have said they’ve traded in their copies of PES2008 for FIFA08, or gone back to PES5 or PES6. Hmmm.

So it was Liverpool in the Final. Before starting the game, there was one important thing I had to do. I had to change my First XI. When I started this blog I was naive and never dreamed that it would attract commenters, or that those comments and suggestions would influence my decisions in playing the game. But I also never dreamed I would struggle with PES2008 to the extent that I have.

A consensus seemed to emerge over the past several days. Shore up the defence. Pick midfielders with better strength and body balance. Concentrate more on defending - you don’t have to go charging in. And lots more along those lines. Thanks, all.

I moved the defence upfield a notch or two, and brought the AMFs back a similar distance. By playing the defence deep and the AMFs too far ahead of the DMF, I was inviting the almost constant pressure I came under in most games.

Suzuki had to go from the CB position. Thinking back now I have no idea why I continued to play him while Felipe was sitting on the bench. Pride? Almost certainly.

After careful deliberation I decided I could afford no more than one show pony in the AMF slots. It had to be Shaw on the left. Djiba - poor, neglected Djiba with his high stamina and body balance (high compared to Shimizu, anyway) - came in on the right.

And as for the DMF slot… well, it finally had to be done: Donadel is retired to the bench and Muntari takes his place. Forgive me, Donadel. Don’t look at me like that. Cheer up - look what happened to you:

Up front, Chiesa on the right is another player I’ve probably stuck with for too long due to misplaced pride. Schwarz was relatively blunted out on the left, which is a position more suited to a nippy striker who can do a passable impression of a winger when called for. Poor old Schwarz lumbering down the wing… Let’s not dwell on the past, eh.

So, with my all-new, all-improved First XI, how was I going to get on - in the Cup Final first of all? An instant heavy defeat - requiring more work on the drawing board - or instant success?

Gulp. I won the D1 Cup Final, hammering Liverpool 4-0!

Look at those stats! Liverpool’s world-class stars barely had a kick of the ball. I think Kewell might have had a glancing header at one point. (When I was distracted by a car horn in the street outside. Otherwise it would never have happened.)

My players were like a team at last - a team with a proper spine: Felipe, Muntari, Djiba, Schwarz…

None of my goals were ‘all that’ - each one was crafted, though, with passing and movement (pass and move is how I like to play - no, how I love to play - PES). A header and a snapshot and a scramble and a deft finish from the edge of the box - those kinds of goals. Reyes, Schwarz, Djiba(!), and Reyes again were the scorers. (Leading me to ask myself yet more soul-searching questions about why I’ve left Reyes on the bench most of the season.)

And not a single yellow card.

After the game I was very, very happy to see my Team Ranking progress bar shoot up almost to the end. I’m about this far >-< from going up to rank C. Another couple of wins will do it.

It’d be great to get those wins in the final league games of the season. The Cup is all well and good, and the performance was amazing, but I’ve had these kinds of moments in PES2008 before. I’ve always got up only to fall down again. Would that happen this time? Only one way to find out…