Anyone else doing a "management"-style PES or FIFA?

Discussion in 'Games' started by Auriaprottu, Jan 22, 2009.

  1. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    I got behind in football games a while back when grad school got serious and just now bought PES2008. The control sucks, and besides that, I'm getting to the point where I'm just not interested in putting in the time to maintain my already mediocre skill level anymore.

    So... I decided to rescue the game by doing the ML simply as a manager and letting the CPU handle the games. It's actually a pretty entertaining game IF you set the AI to 5-star. The better teams play like they should, and the better players do as well. There's a lot of clog in the midfield and some back passes neither you nor the CPU opponents would do if you were controlling the player's movements, but it's not bad watching, especially when taking into account that you're the brains behind the formation and selection.

    Not being all that concerned this time with "fairness" and more with wanting to see a good match, I built Winning XI United into a pretty good team (it was worth right around 9000 points at the start, IIRC) before starting the ML. Gave myself the whole 50K in points to play with and started in the English Second Division. We lost to Portsmouth in the Cup second round on away goals, but won the league and got promoted with Birmingham City. We capped this first EPL season with four straight wins and a 79th minute goal in the last match to earn sixth place ahead of Arsenal and the right to play in Europe next season.

    Anyhoo, here's the lineup:

    4-4-2

    GK Hildebrand
    CB Radoi
    CB Sutto
    LB Friedrich
    RB Yepes
    DM Konno
    RM J. Dos Dantos
    LM Wendel
    AM Hamit Altintop
    CF Kezman
    CF Cavenaghi

    Subs:

    GK Van Heert
    D Kompany (Will replace Sutto's when he retires)
    D A. Ferdinand (also at CM against big teams)
    D Chigrat
    D Nirimorf
    DM Ignashevitch (When I play a big team, he starts at DM and I use 5 mids with either Konno or A. Ferdinand in the center to disrupt their flow)
    M Quagliarella
    M/WF Boa Morte
    M/CF Birsa
    M Romagnoli
    AM Lincoln

    Iujimano, Pjinatnigh, Jig, Boanerm, yada...

    Cavenaghi has been a monster, scoring eight goals and three in the last four matches. The team plays better with him and Kezman than with either of them and someone else.

    I tried this once before and got my ass handed to me for selection reasons. You choose a team a bit differently when you know the CPU is going to control it. I started this one with more guys who had a star by important facets of their relative positions, and more guys who had high marks in teamwork and aggression and for the most part avoided guys who had a star by "dribbling".
     
  2. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Oh, here's another tip: Change the camera setting to Broadcast 2 or Broadcast 3, remove all the icons except the clock and make use of the Commentary options.
     
  3. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    I'm doing a managing career for three different teams in FIFA09, but it kind of doesn't count because I'm also playing as I go along. The three teams are as follows:

    Wellington Pheonix (Australia: Hyundai A-League)
    Toronto FC (USA: Major League Soccer)
    Chesterfield (England: Coca-Cola League 2)

    I'm having a ball with all of them. I've won the A-League Minor Premiership and the Grand Final with Wellington, both in the first season and have built up a tidy little sum that I've spent on upgrading my coaches.

    I've only started Toronto FC for shits and giggles and have beaten a few Mexican teams in pre-season friendlies but will work harder with them later on.

    Chesterfield's my baby and I'm planning to take them all the way into the Barclay's Premiership again (I deleted my other career as I decided to concentrate more on buying players to cope with the higher leagues this time around, other than my coaching staff like last time).

    I will no doubt one day start a proper managing career (if it can be done a la PES style - I hope it can, haven't looked into all too much), with some lower league team, probably the Bundesliga 2 or Serie B, but for now playing it's all too much fun.
     
  4. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Bought Radamel Falcao Garcia and Arteta over the "summer". Started the second EPL season last week. Hoping that Birsa or Garcia will pair well with Cavenaghi, as he's the one scoring the crucial goals in CLQ. We did escape the first group stage by getting a 1-0 win on the road against Juventus.

    MD1- drew at Lazio 1-1 (Juve beats Fener 3-0)
    MD2- beat Fener 1-0 (Juve beats Lazio 3-0)
    MD3- lost to Juve 0-1
    MD4- lost to Lazio 3-1 (after leading 1-0. Juve beats Fener 1-0)
    MD5- won at Fener 2-0 (Lazio beats Juve 2-1... must now get a result against Juve and hope for help from Fener)
    MD6- won at Juve 1-0 (while Fener was beating Lazio 1-0, God bless 'em)

    The extra matches have hurt us domestically (we're 12th right now after six matches, only win was at Old Trafford :eek: ) but so long as we can manage to qualify for the CL, that's okay.
     
  5. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Well, folks aren't posting, but they are reading, so here's an update:

    WXI is now in the winter break of the second EPL season. We're currently tenth, four points out of a European spot. We took a beating in the first four league matches, gaining only a point from one and losing the other three. I want to say that it was because I played only two preseason friendlies, opting instead to use the extra space on te fatigue meter to boost the players' attributes a bit more than I wuld have been able to do if I'd played more friendlies. But we finished second in CLQ in the same period. We rode that streak of CL fortune to clinch at least second in the GS with one match remaining. If my memory of where the teams go from there is correct, we will face either Chelsea or Valencia in the first KO round. Created a top-tier AMF named A. Prottu :D in the break and bought him for 1800 points/season. We'll see how he handles the pressure of playing for the new up-and-coming manager in PES2008.
     
  6. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Yeah I guess I should update too.

    Chesterfield are at the first transfer window of the Coca-Cola Championship and I'm sitting nicely on 28 points, I believe, in 1st. Apart from some injuries along the way I'm happy with the way the team's attributes and their goalpoaching abilities. Right now I've got 2 star strikers out, which is giving my old stars a bit of a revival. The more game time they get the better they'll become, obviously.

    I should say that I've been very anal about keeping a young, fresh team and limiting myself to only 11 total players outside of the starting team. This way I'm sure I can raise my team's star rating beyond the 1.5 it currently (still) is. I've also decided to spend more money on recruiting this time around instead of upping my staff capabilities (although I might give creedence to another point in 'Medical Staff', even though my team seem to be doing alright so far).

    I'm still hesitant about Barclay's next season. I know I'll get in there, but as far as what the hell I will be able to do? Well, that's another concern altogether. Even with faster, younger recruits, EPL teams blitz right by me, most of the time, and it takes a concerted effort (and massive stamina decreases), to keep up.

    With my Wellington Pheonix campaign, I reached the Grand Final of the A-League (again), only to lose out to Melbourne Victory (********ing Southern tards), 2-0. There's always next year.

    Haven't touched my Toronto FC for a while, so might work on that a bit soon :)
     
  7. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    We're back in the European zone- 6th place with four matches remaining.

    We're on an incredible run in the Champions League, reaching the final (will play Inter after our next league match). We played Valencia in the QF. Lost the first leg at home 0-1 on an early goal from Prieto. Won the second leg 1-0 on a Prottu FK late in the game. Traded goals in the ET to advance on away goals (I still don't like that rule as it applies to extra time in two-leg competitions, but I'll take it this time :D ). Then in the semis against Barca, we lost the first (road) leg 1-0, but won the second 3-1 with Prottu scoring twice and Lincoln once before Gio Dos Santos made it scary in the late going. We can win the Champions League in our first season there. I did this once with the UEFA Cup, but never the CL.
     
  8. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Just a question:

    What skill level is everyone playing on right now? I feel a little inadequate losing when I'm still on semi-pro. I keep figuring everyone else is playing on World Class or Professional. I want to make the next step up, but don't want to restart the whole career thing again.

    I guess I'm too far into things to change difficulties right now (even though it'd be a good challenge).
     
  9. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Well, I'm not a good example of what you're talking about (remember, I'm playing manager, meaning I do not control the players. I just choose the lineup and the formation/attacking/defensive tendencies of the team), but I set the AI to the hardest level. That's because on the lower levels, the CPU-only football simply is not watchable. I started this management ML once before on three star (out of five, if you don't play PES), which is what I play when I'm controlling the play, and it looked horrible. Started over (with the ML I'm in now) on five-star and it improved by leaps and bounds.

    I'm having a problem with one of my outside defenders (Mario Yepes), tho. Seems he wants to make runs up the wing with the ball a lot and gets dispossessed in the attacking third before he can pass or cross. I want him to stay back or at least allow the SMf in front of him (uaually J. Dos Santos or Wendel, depending on which side Yepes is on that match) to make that run. The SMF has superior dribbling skills (duh) and doesn't lose possession so often. Anton Ferdinand is becoming an indispensable part of this club, serving in both outside defender and central midfield roles. Sergei Ignashevitch has become a dependable DM.

    This has been a great season- if we can just win the Champions League, I won't be so worried about whether we finish in the top six or not. At this point, the Prem title is out of our reach, and I'd take the CL any day anyhow. But if we lose, we'll have to maintain our standing in the Prem table to be eligible next season. What would that look like- CL runners-up and not even in the tournament the following season?
     
  10. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    So I decided to start a new career in Professional difficulty, with Chester City instead of Chesterfield from the Division 2 in England. I've noticed the difference already:

    - The CPU is quicker to choose a target to pass to or shoot at
    - I find I cannot stand tackle as effectively as I could before
    - The CPU takes advantage of such things as 'wings' and 'crosses'
    - This is going to be hell to adjust to :)
     
  11. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Winning Eleven United- the Champions League winners.. in our first season in the competition. Incredible. The 3-0 over Inter began with a quick early goal in the 11th when Valter Birsa stole the ball from Burdisso in the box and slotted it past a sprawling Julio Cesar. A CK header from Cavenaghi in first half stoppage made it 2-0, and he then finished the scoring in the 80th on a counter.

    We dropped to seventh after a 1-0 loss at Spurs, but we're guaranteed a spot in Europe because we won, so placing sixth isn't really a big deal. Besides, there are still three league matches remaining, and maybe we can play our way into sixth anyhow.
     
  12. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    News from the Barclay's front.

    Chesterfield were given the best possible start to their campaign. And by best I mean the worst possible starting set of matches ever thought possible. Manchester United straight off the bat, followed by Chelsea, then Liverpool and finally Arsenal.

    I managed to lose 4-2 to United (even though I got an early 1-0 lead in the 6th minute), 4-3 to Chelsea (very frustrating 3-1 loss even though they were a man down for at least half the match), and lost 4-3 in heartbreaking crumble to Arsenal (they scored 3 times in the last 20 minutes). I did, however, manage a win against Liverpool - how? I don't know.

    I can't imagine what this season will hold for me. I'm staring at relegation as a real possibility, although that will only do me the world of good at this stage, as I can then give it another crack later on when I have a few more players under my belt (although at this stage my problem seems to be holding onto my leads, not making them, so we'll see what I can do - it's still only the early season yet).
     
  13. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Just finished my last preseason match, clicked over to the next season and found out we're NOT going to be allowed to defend our Champions League title because we didn't place top six in the domestic league. Didn't FIFA deal with this in Liverpool's favor a few years ago? Anyhow, can't argue with a videogame console, so we'll do our best to place top six this season.

    Transfers: Acquired Nani, Raul Albiol and Carlos Vela. Sold Arteta and Ignashevitch.
     
  14. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Ten matches into my third EPL season, and we've been top of the table since fixture 3. We won seven in a row after drawing the opener at Chelsea, only cooling off with a draw against Portsmouth and a loss against Arsenal. Won the first leg of the league Cup tie on the road at Newcastle.
     
  15. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Chesterfield are advancing through the Group Stages of the EFA pretty well with a (surprising) win over AS Roma. Their most recent win against US Bolous (sp?), concretes Chesterfield's 1st place position in Group 2 with 10 points.

    I was more than surprised with the 3-1 win over Roma than usual. I thought I was about to get creamed, however I've discovered that Roma doesn't have a lot of speed (my usual downfall), ergo I managed to handle their attacks quite well.
     
  16. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Just concluded the winter break with a purchase- bought Malouda from Chelsea for Lincoln and a transfer fee they really had to accept. We are currently second in the table, a point behind Man United after 16 matches. United had the fortune of playing a club of limited quality while we drew with Chelsea (who are tied with us on points but behind us on goal difference). We will rectify this situation when we meet United in two matches.

    Here's my lineup:
    (3-5-2)

    GK- Hildebrand
    CB- Sutto
    CB- Radoi
    CB- Yepes
    DM- Raul Albiol
    CM- Anton Ferdinand
    RM- (Julio) Dos Santos
    LM- Malouda
    AM- Prottu
    WF- Nani
    CF- Birsa

    G- Van Heert
    D- Kompany
    D- Friedrich
    D- Chigrat
    D- Nirimorf
    M- Wendel
    M- Boa Morte
    M- Quagliarella
    M- Konno
    M- Boanerm
    M- Hamit Altintop
    F- Kezman
    F- Vela
    F- Radamel Garcia
     
  17. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    Free Agents save me once again. After accidentally selling three players in the transfer window (I thought I'd clicked on 'Ask for me' not 'Accept'), I managed to pull three back via Free Agent signings. Although I'm now paying roughly 90k each game for wages, it's not too bad, because I'm still pulling in 160k through the gate at home matches and 37k each game from my sponsor.

    Two strikers (a 67 and a 70), and a 66 LWM later I'm happy.
     
  18. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Hit a rough patch of form lately, losing to Spurs 0-1, then getting a beat down from Man United 4-1 at home, then drawing with Everton before righting the ship and drawing 1-1 at Liverpool in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal. The goal is to win something every season.

    I was not expecting the drubbing we took from ManU at all. We played them off the park at Old Trafford earlier this season, and I figured maybe we had their number. Obviously, we do not. As it stands now, we've got eleven matches left and we're only three points behind league leaders ManU, but the way we lost that match makes three points feel like nine.
     
  19. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    I got smashed the first time playing against Spurs, 4-1. Then the next time I faced them I got a really solid 2-0 over them (this was after the new arrivals chimed into the squad).
     
  20. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    We lost the Cup final 2-0 to ManU. We're ab-so-lute-ly GUT-ted :D at the result, having worked so hard to reach the final and then this. I know what to do- I'm buying Saha AND Cronaldo (Saha's scored three goals against us in the last two meetings) in the offseason and then sending them to Fener or someplace. I'm going to wreck that team.
     
  21. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    It's too bad you're only watching from the stands as a coach and aren't on the field, or else I'd recommend you take my approach to things ;) *points to signature*
     
  22. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Ah, if only... things are looking somewhat bright, tho.

    The season ended, WXI finished third behind ManU and Chelsea. Milan won the treble, beating ManU in the CL final 2-1. A win in that final would have given ManU the treble, but I guess they weren't good enough.

    We were able to purchase Saha in the summer break, and Antonio Cassano has joined the crusade as well. He's starting up front with Nani for the moment. This team is as good on paper as any in the game and far better than most. We're now into the fourth EPL season, waiting on our stars to gel in the league. In Europe, we're four matches into CL qualifying, sitting second in the CLQ group behind Liverpool and ahead of PSV and Real Zaragoza. We needed a win against PSV and got it in a big way, 4-0. Funny how it happened, tho. Gomez (PSV GK) caught a header and fell to the ground with the ball sitting just in front of the goal line. When he started to get up, he just sort of let the ball roll over the line for an own goal. He did something very similar a few minutes later and gave up a corner which was headed in to make the score 2-0. I don't know what that was about, but even David James can't boast of howlers like that. After that, we scored two more and that was that. A win in one of our next two CLQ matches puts us into the group stage, because we're seven points ahead of PSV on GD- they won't make up that deficit.
     
  23. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Update... we're ten matches into the season, sitting second now, four points behind leaders Arsenal and two aead of Chelsea. Man U, without Saha and Nani, are struggling in seventh place.

    In the League Cup, we've played the first leg of the first round against Man U (I don't know why two of the top three teams in the league would face one another in the first round of the League Cup, but that's how the draw went) and won 1-0. All we need to do is score first on the road leg and we're thru to the second round.

    In Europe, we came second in CLQ and will start the group stage against FC Twente. The other two teams in the group are Milan and Roma. I suspect that WXI and ACM will progress from this group, leaving Twente and Roma to battle for Uefa Cup scraps.
     
  24. cmedina1983

    cmedina1983 New Member

    Nov 14, 2008
    California
    Club:
    Sydney FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Australia
    You're sitting pretty like me, Auria.

    Chesterfield are doing nicely to be in 2nd place, 10 matches into the season as well, after tough draws against Fulham and Bolton, of all teams (I can never get the man marking and tactics right for what seems to be a simple win with these teams, yet I can almost walk over Arsenal in comparison - WHAT?). I'm through to the 3rd round of the English League Cup and I'm awaiting the start of the FA/EFA side of things too.
     
  25. Auriaprottu

    Auriaprottu Member+

    Atlanta Damn United
    Apr 1, 2002
    The back of the bus
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    --other--
    Cool! Are you in the Prem yet? I see matches against Fulham and Bolton.

    WXI defeated defending League Cup champion ManU (I wish I could call it the FA Cup, but it contains only the Prem teams) in the road leg 1-0 to advance 2-0 agg. Tat felt good, knowing that we can put them out of a competition. It was funny, tho- they didn't start Cronaldo, Rooney or Rio, and the first two didn't come in until it was 1-0 and they needed three goals in 35 minutes to stay in the competition.

    Still second in the league after 12, still four points behind Arsenal. We'll catch them (I hope) after the winter break if not before.
     

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