Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Out of hiding

Since I last posted my Federation matches had taken a turn for the better, while still in hiding from the big two in my qualification league I had played 4 games against other teams winning three, losing 1. This had pushed my team up to the brink of the qualification places for the EEFA Premier league which starts next season.



As I had previously reported that I was in federation hiding, due to the two best teams (on current results) continuously circling looking for a quick kill. Two things prompted me to end my cowardly exile, the first was the signing of another player (my eighth!): Pascal Feindouno for £600,000 yet another St Etienne player, but my biggest named player. I bought Pascal as someone I though would help support Gomis who at times appears upfront with the ball on his own, not knowing what to do. Hopefully Pascal's better footballing brain and pace would either help create more chances for Gomis or give Gomis more options. The second things which prompted my return to federation football was an e-mail from the bank manager telling me that it was time to stop buying players (see screen shot) meaning I had to work with what I have got.

Playing the top two teams in my qualification group would determine whether my recent resurgence in the qualification group would be cemented, or whether I would remain at the back of the chasing pack. I set myself the target of getting 4 points from the 2 games as this would keep my in the pack of teams chasing the top two and hoping for a place in the premier league next season (needing a top 6 finish). Although I had games in hand I knew these teams had all played the top two so bad results would put me in an impossible position.

I played just one friendly before hand not wanting to get players injured I decide to wait for my federation window and get the games out of the way.

First up was 1st placed Bayer Neverlosen I did not know that much about, they had constructed a team using a similar tactic to me, opting to bring in a few good players at the expense of not having a 'star'. Both games were close and a bit dull to be honest not a lot of chances, both teams playing variations of 4-4-2. Towards the end of the first game though things did get interesting, with me taking the lead on 79min, before Neverlosen equalized on 83mins only for my new boy Pascal to net the winner on 87mins. The defeat I felt was unfair on Neverlosen they where definitely good for a draw. I was also glad my hide like a coward tactic (which I advised another guy in my league to do as he was losing a lot, and he now seems to be getting a good team together) had worked as I felt my team now had that extra 10% which made the difference. The second game was a very forgettable 0-0 but having played the first off my two big opponents, I already had the 4 points I was hoping for, which was a good thing as next up were FC Technostars who had in their team Ronaldhino.

FC Technostars chose the alternative starting route to teams like me and Neverlosen, they opted to shell out most of their money on a star 'Ronaldhino', and then made up the rest of the team with lesser quality players (I doubt Ronaldhino was wearing his trademark smile when he turned up to his first training session!). On evidence of Technostars ranking which had improved dramatically since the buck toothed wonder had signed, it seemed like this may be a good initial tactic. I had spent most of my afternoon when I should have been working, thinking about what I was going to do about Ronaldhino, was I going to be very English and try and kick the crap out of him, or should I try to keep Technostars on the back foot which would limit Ronaldinho's effectiveness. I opted for the later and after scouting Technostars recent games I knew he liked to play a very attacking game, so I picked a team I thought would control the midfield and keep the ball off Ronaldhino's toes.

In the first game I had limited success, I managed to control the game most of the time, but on a few occasions Ronaldhino wriggled free, only for my keeper to save the day. I took the lead after 67 mins an as the lesser players in Technostars team started to tire, I was able to hold on for the win. On reflection I feel I just shaded the game and was happy with the 1-0.

The second game is perhaps a cautionary tale to people who are thinking of the star player route. The game was 0-0 and not that interesting to be honest, but the difference in terms of our teams performances was quite marked, in terms of shots on goal, possession and general performance my team played much better (Technostars keeper was man of the match). The reason why I was much better in the second game than the first was simple, Ronaldhino put in an indifferent performance which brought down the level of his team.

Players have ups and downs, and if you have a squad of ok players, then when you spot one of the players is not playing so well you can change him, if you build your team on the back of one star then you don't really have a plan B if he plays badly or more importantly gets injured. I have this dilemma with Gomis at the minute, he has just gone 4 federation games without scoring so I have the option to drop or sub him while he regains some form.

After a poor start I am starting to establish myself in my federation qualification group, the matches will probably dry up for a while as I have played most of the regulars in my group, all we can do is sit and wait for the irregulars to show up!









4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your informative story. As a Saint Etienne fan, i'd say that we are full of hope with the new Feindouno-Gomis association in real life...but in FM08, Gomis seems to be underrated.
can you tell why you chose Mansaly (a youngster) in the first place ? Available for low wages ?

dannylfc_live said...

Hi, I find in FML although his stats maybe slightly out Gomis behaves a lot like I see in real life, he is a hot and cold striker who is a big rough around the edges. I find him really frustrating both in FML and in real life.
The reason I got Mansaly, in the squad was because when I first set up my team, I choose the auto generate team option as I was desperate to get started (having wait for almost a year for a beta place), part of the auto generate team option is to choose the team you like in real life. I chose St Etienne, so the game tried to give me some St Etienne players, some of which are better than others. I must say I quite like sticking Mansaly on late in the second half in friendly games as he generally puts in a solid performance especially if I am holding on for a victory. I see him as a one for the future guy.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reply. I have been (modestly) participating in the Saint Etienne research in FM, and one frustrating thing is that every youngster is average (and this is also true to a lesser extent about the first team). Everybody has almost the sames CAs and PAs...
which leads me to another question : what prevents a player in FML to look at the FM08 CAs and PAs through an editor to see where are the gems ?

dannylfc_live said...

Hi in answer to your question, there is nothing to stop people using the FM08 data editor to look up potential stars and I am sure people are doing this in the game. With FML though it is not quite as simple as using the database looking up the players and signing them all. This is because you cannot see all the players in the database only a proportion and the proportion I see is not exactly the same as everyone else (though obviously there is overlap). You can increase the share of the database you see by developing your scouting skills though to develop this skill to the max would take so long that the game would be full of regens by then anyway.
For example I wanted to sign Perrin and although I can see him in the database my scouting skill is not high enough to approach him, so another guy will sign him and I cannot even though I know he exists. This may sound a bit weird but I think it is a good tradeoff for having people just search the FM08 database and collecting all the good players.
My comments in my last post refered to the idea that some beta testers have been testing for a long time and have been through many world restarts so they are in a good postion to know who to sign on FML.