Asunto: National Team

Argentina - Ireland 1:0...does it mean Australia is going to the World Cup for the 2nd time? :)

Bad game for Willis...still it's always hard to fight a 5 man defence.

btw. Andy popped to magical pace, and Jose Maras...:)

Jose Maras, age: 21
club: The Evil`s, country: Australia
value: 3 962 000 zł, wage: 28 900 zł
magical form, outstanding tactical discipline

formidable stamina unsatisfactory keeper
divine pace poor defender
incredible technique average playmaker
adequate passing formidable striker

Will get about 3-4 more trainings in pace, then I move to striker which should be quite near to pop. :)

How many weeks did he take to divine?

7. Not that bad I think :)

&^I$@^@@#^!@))$()&!%

he is a MONSTER

7 is awsome
I took 8 weeks up to brilliant pace for players that weren't that bad talented (ok they were 22 too)

:)
Deroo needed 8 to unearthly at 22...I guess Maras was my lucky shot again if it goes with talent :))

btw I have one 18yo guy who popped after 4 weeks to outstanding pace - that's good, isn't it?

4 weeks is poor...

Considering:
> It's you.
> I assume he was 3-3.5 talent in youth school.
> He is 18... very young, should be prime pace training time.
> You have 3 x unearthly assistants.

My advice: replace him. ;)

I'm thinking about it :)) but I need some strikers for striker training..:p

anyway, hard game against Uruguay! Real emotions coming...

Just seen the game. 2 critical flaws and a bit of unluck prevented us from a result. Don't think the tactic was extremely bad outside of the 2 flaws.

1st: Criss crossing defenders. Could have sworn I didn't cross them over at any stage. Either way it opened up holes for them to exploit.

2nd - cost us a goal -> throw in from defensive corners, I hadn't marked a player and it gave them free throws and a rather simple cross almost all the time.

I guess other minor things included the 2 dm's sometimes pushed too far up on offense exposing a central defender to come out of the line then pass through the vacant spot before the defender tackled him.

Wasn't surprised they went in with 5. Was surprised they played deep, that cost us probably 5-6 chances right there and is also why Willis passed early, high pm -> quicker passing rather than trying to beat the man. Higher pm players rarely try to beat the defender and look to offload it all the time, unless they are in behind the player already.

Aim was knowing they'd try to guard Willis, drop him closer to central midfield to fire through the hole in their defense before they could realign (had Hirons/Byers running angles for this purpose) when on the left hand side of the field, but cross field Willis would push up further trying to exploit the Croatian shifting defense which would see Willis get in behind.

Obviously the 5 man defense stopped that working.

Still think their 1st and 3rd goal was a bit streaky and their 2nd was from a tactical error in defensive throw setups. They missed a bundle, but we missed a fair few narrow chances as well, really believe that could have swung either way, obviously didn't but I thought it was a reasonably well executed tactic from 1st watch.

Yeah I was expecting a winger and that's what got me to play 2 dm's in the end to cover the case when one of our defs pushed out wide. Problem was the criss-crossing defenders were then out of position and left the vacant hole (very confused as to why I didn't pick this up when making the tactic, wasn't the intention at all).

Higher pm players rarely try to beat the defender and look to offload it all the time, unless they are in behind the player already.

I'd rather say that higher pm player makes better decisions whether to pass or try to dribble.

has never happened when I've used them, which is why I've never been a fan of high pm. The other thing by better is they take the less risky option, rather than think hey I can beat this player i'll run, it's well I'd have to beat that player but theres a player running there free so I'll pass there.

What I will say is thank heavens there were no major upsets that knocked us into a bad situation. Means we've got Uruguay to beat and we're through, we lose to Uruguay and we're out most likely. Only thing I can be concerned about atm is if Uruguay stick 8 men behind the sticks trying to play for a draw which could hurt, but otherwise it's just a case of getting it right for next week.

Haha ouch, both our starting strikers are out for the crucial match against Uruguay :(. Byers injured, Hirons suspended.

This could be very, very interesting.

I'd rather say that higher pm player makes better decisions whether to pass or try to dribble.

Whether it's a good decision to pass or dribble surely depends on the relative skill of the defender, and the ME does not consider this. So I disagree with this statement. ;)

go with Stephenson. High striker + Willis might do the striked.

And I'd also like you to consider Maras. Just have a glance at his last games, he performes at the same level as Deroo and Briganti :)

@Seca
How do you know that? :P anyway, he 'sees' the position of the def and knows if he gets tackled from behind, up front or from side and that might have an impact on what he does. He rarely passes when the def is behind him, he usually dribbles then.
(editado)

I have a feeling it was something greg once said, as it sticks in my mind quite clearly as something a dev said