Well, I was hoping to play it normal tonight, and gauge where my team was in terms of ratings at the beginning of this season (and possibly squeak out a cup win). Instead, my best IM gets two yellowcards within 3 minutes in the first half, so not only do I have no chance at the match, I can't see what normal ratings are like with the new match engine. Fun!
Won an easy 1st round 6-0. I played against a beginner who didn't log (well, he logged but didn't set a lineup) so a basic 442 in front.
My PM training went well with my inadequate PM in midfield : finally I managed to make it ! 2 seasons I'm trying to find a week to pop my winger to passable PM
Now is the tricky part, because the game I play next week is the one I am taking on for the #4 spot in my series this year, and I play him on the road. I'm debating using a 4-4-2 CA with an OCD here. My defense should be good enough to stifle this guys team as is if I do that, but he'll probably win midfield. The question is if I would have enough attack or CA chances to pull off the win. Ah new match engine, you're one tricky son of a ***** to figure out.
My 2nd cup game is against a team that's essentially a mirror image of mine in terms of TSI. They're a defense trainer though and don't generate enough in the way of attack or midfield ratings to make much of a dent in my defense. I should be able to win this one rather convincingly if SP doesn't fail me.
Just made a current player my new coach. I need someone who can keep my team spirit up after the PICs. He's still got a couple seasons as a player left as well.
One of my 17 year old keepers(although he's about to turn 18) popped to Outstanding. Just cannot wait until these guys develop and turn them into huge profits.
Won my first match of the season 8-1 against the team that relegated from D.IV. Was not expecting that. In hindsight, I would have liked to have PIC'd, but outside of that I love the result.
Big match next week against another new opponent, but he won his match 11-0 tonight, so it should be a great game.
Won my first match of the season 8-1 against the team that relegated from D.IV. Was not expecting that. In hindsight, I would have liked to have PIC'd, but outside of that I love the result.
Big match next week against another new opponent, but he won his match 11-0 tonight, so it should be a great game.
Nice way to start a season =P
Won my first match 6-0 against my only competition this year. Looks like the guy has stopped logging on, so barring any unforeseen setbacks I should be winning my series.
I have the same regrets about not PIC. My team spirit is at furious atm, but I'm playing a bot team at home next week so I should be fine regardless.
I have to say I am a little baffled by the match engine. Last week I played normal and had an IM sent off in the 34th minute and had a midfield rating of poor high. This week I MOTS'd and had all 3 IM's play the whole match and had a midfield rating of... poor high. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the boost you get from playing at home is comparable to the boost from MOTS?
Gah, I didn't realize my opponent tonight would be one of those people who would not set a lineup using the new system, and therefore play a 4-4-2 using random players in random positions. If I had realized that I would have played quite a bit differently. Nevertheless I won on the road 0-2 with a PIC, so it turned out well I guess.
I'm a little disappointed with my cup draw. My opponent has been playing since 2005 and has a very good team for someone who was in D VI last season. I am pretty much going to lose unless I get very lucky. Last year, with a lower cup ranking, my 2nd round opponent was quite a bit worse than this guy.
Next week I'm home against the guy who won the series last year. I will have a decision to make about PIC vs. Normal. My TS will be quite high since I will have PICed every match coming in. I think I would definitely win midfield with a normal, and I might even win it with a PIC. It will still be hard to win but I have a decent chance for a draw.
Won my first match 6-0 against my only competition this year. Looks like the guy has stopped logging on, so barring any unforeseen setbacks I should be winning my series.
I have the same regrets about not PIC. My team spirit is at furious atm, but I'm playing a bot team at home next week so I should be fine regardless.
I have to say I am a little baffled by the match engine. Last week I played normal and had an IM sent off in the 34th minute and had a midfield rating of poor high. This week I MOTS'd and had all 3 IM's play the whole match and had a midfield rating of... poor high. The only thing I can think of is that maybe the boost you get from playing at home is comparable to the boost from MOTS?
I think the issue is that playing 3 IMs now results in a penalty for your MF rating. At least that's what I understand; I've been wrong before .
I switched to playing 2 IMs and 2 Ws in my match and HO had me at an inadequate (low), which is where I would have been last season with all 3. My match report's a little skewed since I took both Ws out in the last 10 minutes.
Might want to look at playing one WTM and one normal W to go along with your 2 best IMs. You can use your other IMs as the Ws, especially if they have a decent winger skill.
The boost from a MOTS should be better than the boost from playing at home, but that could be another change in the new ME as well.
Gah, I didn't realize my opponent tonight would be one of those people who would not set a lineup using the new system, and therefore play a 4-4-2 using random players in random positions. If I had realized that I would have played quite a bit differently. Nevertheless I won on the road 0-2 with a PIC, so it turned out well I guess.
Yeah, that happened with my opponent too. Gave him a 17.12 to play keeper with no previous match experience. Worked out alright for me .
I think the issue is that playing 3 IMs now results in a penalty for your MF rating. At least that's what I understand; I've been wrong before .
I switched to playing 2 IMs and 2 Ws in my match and HO had me at an inadequate (low), which is where I would have been last season with all 3. My match report's a little skewed since I took both Ws out in the last 10 minutes.
Might want to look at playing one WTM and one normal W to go along with your 2 best IMs. You can use your other IMs as the Ws, especially if they have a decent winger skill.
The boost from a MOTS should be better than the boost from playing at home, but that could be another change in the new ME as well.
My understanding of it was that playing 3 IM's gave a penalty to your MF rating, but as long as they were of comparable skill levels you would still benefit from having 3 MF's as opposed to 2. That said, all of my IM's were of solid-excellent PM with inad-pass passing so I didn't think that was an issue. I mean, if there was no possible way to benefit from having 3 MF's I see literally no reason to every play 3-5-2 or 4-5-1 (other than PM training). I guess I figured the benefit might be small, but it would be there.
I actually played today with one W towards middle and a defensive forward as well.
0-0 tie for my D.V debut, that's a nice resulat away as the 3 other games went to the home team.
I sent a team in 451 with a strong central defense and it worked well, though I didn't have any scoring chance and my FwDef, magical SP was injured... fortunately, only 1 week.
3-0 win in the cup today using a PIC and my B lineup, and it could have been more of a blowout if some of my chances were capitalized on. They only had one chance via counter attack, and I shut that down nicely. Sad to say but this is the farthest I've made it in the cup so far.
edit: at home for the next game cup game. There's actually a good chance I could pull the upset here. I'll have to play my brilliant D wingback as a CD this game but I can definitely live with doing that. His ratings in this last game were 131 HS (51,36,42 breakdown) on the road whereas mine were 129 HS (36,39,54 breakdown) on the road. Boost my defense a bit and maybe use a bit of 4-5-1 in this one and I should be able to take the game. I have the better midfield and better attack as is.
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