So Farinos has started doing this every three or four matches:

That’s the best of a few similar recent goals from Farinos. It’s a lovely long-range blast from all of 35 yards. Reminds me of PES5’s Mathieu in his prime.

My apologies for the shaky, blurry camera in the Wide view. I was rather excited. Also, it was another one of those pesky bright sunny days outside, which always affects the film quality. Doesn’t Nature know there’s a Master League on?

It hadn’t been the greatest start to the league campaign. But then I played a cluster of matches against weaker opposition. The kind of matches that you have to really win, home or away, if you want to challenge for the title in this PES, in this Master League, on Superstar difficulty.

I played Norwich and beat them. I played Swansea and found them tougher than last season, but beat them. I played Fulham and went 1-0 down. Time was getting on. 80 minutes. It looked like the end of my little run.

Every Master League player has had the experience of going behind in a fixture they have to win. Sometimes you just capitulate and lose the match. Sometimes, though, you say out loud, as I did, “I’m NOT HAVING this“, and roll up your sleeves and force your way back into the match.

I did force my way back in. A scrambled equaliser on 85 minutes. Then, in the last minute, I put Forlan through for a 1-on-1. I tucked that ball into the net and went crazy. I was still in the hunt.

Speaking of last-minute winners, I played probably the best game of my PES2012 career against Liverpool at home. It was 2-2 in the last minute of regulation, and Liverpool were really pushing for a winner of their own and committing lots of players forward. I sent Farinos—that man again—on a run and fed him a simple ball:

Another screaming-out-loud moment there. Perhaps the most gratifying thing about that goal is how far up the field and ragged that Liverpool back line is playing. Comical defending that gifted me a winner.

I played Chelsea and beat them easily. Played Spurs and beat them, including this  across-the-keeper thumper from Forlan, again:

Goals like that have been pretty hard to come by in PES2012.

It’s been an extraordinary couple of days for goals and I’m having a fine run of form, it’s fair to say.

With the January window approaching fast, here’s the current table:

My next two league matches, which I’m off to play as soon as I finish this post, are against Newcastle and Man City. Talk about big games. My minimum requirement from them is 4 points to stay in touch. If I could get 6 points, I fancy I’ll be breathing down Arsenal’s neck.

I’m still in the FA Cup, where I most recently crushed Spurs 5-1. It included an interesting goal from Forlan. After more than 350 hours, this game still has surprises for me. Until yesterday, I had never seen this particular heading animation:

It’s a falling-backwards, cushioned header along the ground past the keeper. Maybe everyone else has seen the animation dozens of times, but this was the first time I ever have. Great stuff.

Caracciolo scored all 4 of the other goals for me in this match. He’s a genuine phenomenon of this season so far. I felt moved to check his individual match record afterwards.

12 touches, and 5 shots, all of them on-target. 4 goals. Not bad at all.

I’ve qualified from the Europa League group with lots of room to spare.

My final match here was against Steaua Bucuresti with nothing at stake for either team. Of course, it was by far my toughest game of the season so far.

Bucuresti played as if it was the Champions League final and they would all be executed afterwards if they didn’t win. They had a man sent off—another rarity—but still ground out a 1-1 draw to spoil my 100% record in the group. Buggers.

Season 14. Played 9 league matches. Won 5, drawn 2, lost 2. Goals for: 11. Goals against: 7. It’s just not good enough, but somehow I’m still in touch:

Not a great start to the season, but I’m still only 7 points off the leaders, and there’s a long way to go. Can’t afford to lose many more matches, though.

I also have a new Away kit, as modelled here by Ruggeri, my captain fantastic at centre-back. I’ve had (and will have) many memorable players in this Master League. Ruggeri is right up there near the top of that list.

Superstar is a great level to play PES2012 at, in my experience.

Get your gameplan wrong, commit a noob error, go 1-0 down, and you’re in serious trouble.

But get it right, and play with discipline and skill and the right tactical approach, and it can be the most rewarding football gameplay ever. PES2012 on Superstar with a mature team is better than PES5. In my opinion.

But I need to start scoring some goals again on Superstar, and fast. If I don’t, I’ll fall out of the running for the League title. I don’t want to end up in a situation where I’m permanently excluded from the top tier on Superstar. I’d (reluctantly) drop down a difficulty level to Top Player before letting that happen.

But I don’t think things will come to that. I think this is more a case of adjusting to life under a new squad management ethos.

I’ve decided to restrict my big-money buys to one or two per season (if that). Instead I’m cultivating Youth players promoted from within, or young Regens brought in from elsewhere.

Caracciolo is such a player. Promoted from my Youths several seasons ago, he’s only now getting an extended run-out in the team, playing up front alongside Forlan (another former Youth player).

Here’s a goal Caracciolo scored for me in the Europa League—I loved his leggy take-down of the ball, and then of course the finish:

(Pardon the blurry quality. It’s the time of year. The recent blazing sunshine has been shining directly into the room. If I hadn’t already used Spending warm summer days indoors as a post title, I would have used it for this post.)

That goal was against a team called Pacos de Ferreira, whose teamsheet featured a thirty-something player called … SHIMIZU. Ah, so this is where he’s ended up, all these years after I sold him way back in the day. He was no trouble at all, and still weaker than an especially weak kitten.

(Yes, it was a deliberately misleading post title today.)

After three matches in the European Masters Cup, aka the Europa League, I’m topping the group table:

I’m also still in the FA Cup. I met Everton in the first round. It was 0-0 pretty much all the way, a tight, ugly game with few clear-cut chances to either side. I won it in the last 5 minutes with a sucker-punch rebound goal scored by that man of the moment, Caracciolo. He seems always to be just there whenever a loose ball squirts across the box. Great stuff.

I don’t think my youngest young players are going to be much help for another season or two (or three).

I’m talking about Hagi and Kaka and Ribery. Even Schweinsteiger. Maybe Schweinsteiger could play when nobody else is avaiable. But those first three are all pretty weak and unformed. They need solid experience and growth before there’s any point playing them. I’d love to send them all out on loan, but there have been no takers. I’ll keep trying.