Firstly, apologies for the late post, I was away all weekend and only back Monday afternoon so hadn’t had time to prepare Mondays post, but here it is a day later.
As the league table above shows, we have mounted a resurgence, and thanks to a run of 6 wins from 8 games, have climbed up the table from 20th to 8th.
The only defeat in that run was a 4-0 Quarter final defeat away to Everton, to send us crashing out of the FA Cup.
Everton were just stronger, faster and more organised, you could really tell the difference in quality and the game really felt like an away FA Cup match against a big side, I love that about FIFA 19, the games all feel different.
During that run of 6 wins, we scored 3 several times and even a 4-1 win against Blackburn Rovers, we are playing well, scoring, and most importantly I think I’ve got a handle on FIFA’s defending.
Up until now defending has felt clunky, using the tactical defending system, has often felt like I was never in control of my defenders and just couldn’t get close enough to opposition players to defend effectively, but the key is not in pressuring all out and jumping in to tackles, but more jockeying, covering passing lanes and runs, and good timing of the tackle button, I’m getting much better at this as the goals against ratio during the 6 wins would show.
One of the teams despatched was Hull, grabbing a 3-0 victory, highlights of the best goals are shown below, a nice stretched chip shot from my CAM Goncalves, who is keeping Bojan out of the side, and the other goal was a well taken volley from Emmanuel Dennis, who is proving to be a great signing with his potency on front of goal.
The next match was against Sheffield Wednesday, the team placed level with us, on equal points and the other team in contention for a possible play-off place, in this respect it was a 6 pointer, and the commentary team hyped that match top by mentioning that it was a vital game in respect of play off positions.
We won that game 1-0, followed by wins against Blackburn and Villa, goal highlights can be seen at the bottom of the post.
It appears the board still aren’t happy though, despite achieving my objective of signing youth players to each of the outfield positions, and signing a crucial attacking player, my other key object was automatic promotion, and that is not possible, my trust rating currently sits at 60, and I have been notified that the board will soon be reviewing my position as their faith in me wanes.
I’m hoping to see out the season, there are only 4 games left, I can only finish 6th at best, it will be tough clawing back the 4pt deficit that Norwich have over us in that 6th, and final play-off position, but if we can achieve play-offs and promotion, I might just get to keep my job.
FIFA 19 continues to play a solid, enjoyable and very realistic game, you are rewarded for patient play and punished if you don’t focus and concentrate, and this is only in the EFL Championship, I can only imagine the big match atmosphere and carrying team play styles and skill levels are exponentially heightened in the Premier league and Europe.
Goal highlights from Villa, Blackburn & Sheff Weds games:
Palace were duly despatched 2-0 in a game that we had to fight hard to earn anything from, they were strong and organised but had a bad day in front of goal, Roy cut a frustrated figure on the sidelines and booted a few of the water bottles at the final whistle.
Yes, I have gone for the middle-ageing, bald, suited and booted managers avatar, there isn’t much choice in FIFA for personas to choose, I just fancied a Tony Pulis type character over the usual Damian Lewis lookalike.
After 18 games we currently sit 8th in the table, only 7pts off top spot. My objective for the season is to win automatic promotion, that’s a top two finish, the board expect a lot .
As you can see, fatigue plays a much bigger part in this years game, in previous FIFAs, as in PES, players were largely able to run around for the full 90 mins and be fine, and be ready to go on full stamina for the next match, not so much this year.
I have also setup two youth scouts, and recommendations are filtering through, its tough to gauge just how good a youth player can be at 15 or 16 years old, as even the most advanced scouting report only gives a broad range for overall rating and potential, but with another of my objectives being to sign a youth player to a professional contract in each of the 4 positions (GK/Def/Mid/Att) I will have to take a punt, and have just signed 16yr old attacking player, Jobson, to a deal.
I will be playing on World Class difficulty, 5 main halves, and early signs are that the game plays very nicely indeed.
