Approaching the half way point of the season, and a run of 6 games without a win has put the brakes on the playoff places push.
Defeats to Ipswich Town, Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and Preston North End have seen the Trees slip way down the EFL Championship table, the current league table is shown below, we languish in 16th place, 8pts off the bottom, but still only 5pts from the play off places, still lots to play for.
That is if I manage to survive the season, the board are not happy with me, as shown by my current trust rating below, I still have several objectives to fulfil, which is reflected in my low rating, managing to scout a few decent youth players to sign to defensive, midfield and attacking positions will help with my rating, but easier said than done, the rating for youth players is quite broad, so theres some guesswork needed to decide if a youth player may come good and fulfil their potential, any youths signed will immediately go out on loan to gain match experience, at the moment I need to do a Mourinho and just buy for the here and now, rather than building for the future.
I’m gagging to play in the Premier League, with all its realistic real world stadiums, and big match atmospheres.
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.
Since my last post, over-performing Bojan has gone off the boil, he hasn’t scored in 5, and usually runs out of stamina around the 70 min mark so hasn’t been finishing many matches either, the club are devising a specific fitness regime for him with the chief fitness coach, in the hope of building upon his cardio base and helping him feature more prominently in the latter stage of matches.
New signings are needed, on a very tight budget, I did manage to put together a loan deal for a player I scouted heavily using the in-game search function, searching for young players with good finishing, and attacking prowess stats.
18 year old Jonathan David will be joining us in January on a 2 year loan deal, hoping he can provide some much needed firepower.
I have also switched my camera from the fixed custom Broadcast camera to the default broadcast camera, which is much more dynamic.
With the custom angle it stayed fixed that way for every match, with it set to default, the broadcast angle changes slightly depending on the stadium, which is a nice effect, every match feels slightly different and it adds to the atmosphere and experience.
The last match of my most recent play session was a Midlands Derby match, against Derby County, was great to hear the commentary team elude to this and provide location specific comments during the match, I lost that game 3-1, after levelling at 1-1, I was done on the counter attack twice after chasing a goal, World Class CPU will punish you if you don’t focus.
Below are the highlights from the Derby Match.
I was truly battered in that match, apart from the one goal we struggled to create anything of note, Soudani up top (the goalscorer) is a great finisher, but with Grabban and Brewster as the other two CF choices, we are short of firepower, since this session, Jonathan David has signed on a 2 year loan deal and scored on his debut.
My next 3 matches provided one of the best sessions I’ve had on any football game, ever,
it truly was ‘the beautiful game’.
FIFAFX.com 
Good stuff Paul. My own Villa team have gelled after being actually played in the correct positions but I’ve no excuse with that squad. Conceding a fair few headers from near the edge of the box. Big loopy top corner efforts.
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Usually helps to play players in their correct positions 😉
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Paul – idea: if you do get the bullet, start a new CM with Forest moved into the Premier League (with their default budget and squad of course) and take it from there. Or even a League Two side in the Premier. Those are looong seasons in D2 in any football game.
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NG – I quite like the idea of being able to move around clubs, so if I do get sacked, I will see what job offers come up, all part of the Journey, I can see me being an Alan Pardew whilst on World Class.
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Paul – There’s something very enticing about that realistic footy world FIFA serves up. Those match highlights are very impressive.
How is the opposition AI holding up?
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Shed – Amazingly! was going to save the details of my amazing session for another post, but will outline them here.
After a run of 6 defeats in 8 games, and 2 draws, I had slipped right down the table to 21st.
I was losing most games by the odd goal, 2-1, 1-0, never getting battered, and quite often I’d go a goal up but not have the ability, defensive focus, or concentration to keep the AI out, and would end up losing.
Then up came Millwall, away, who are even worst than us, they’re 2nd bottom, the match started with the stats graphics on screen showing the worst defensive records in the league, Millwall had the worst, and commentators remarked that they’d only picked up 2pts in their last 10 games, I said to myself that this would be a true test of how FIFA plays, after facing upper to mid table teams, and being beaten, and closed down quick, I wanted to see if a poor Millwall side lacking in confidence played any differently, because in PES, they wouldn’t, every team, regardless of where they are in the table or form, plays the same in PES, the top team does not feel any different from bottom team, I wanted to see if this was evident in FIFA too.
It most certainly wasn’t.
Immediately from Kick off Millwall were poor, I had much more space in midfield than I had against any other teams, I was allowed to run more with the ball, pick passes out, I got to more second balls than before, Millwall’s passing was quite poor, passes going out of play, crosses overhit, there was much looser marking of my payers around the box, it actually felt like playing a team that were in poor form. I was able to attack fast, and dictate a high tempo as I knew Millwall were vulnerable.
I ended up winning 3-1, by this point the Millwall crowd were loudly booing their own team, and you could physically see that their players weren’t up for it.
With a bit of momentum after picking up a good win for the first time in 8 matches, I then beat Leeds 2-1, after Leeds leveled at 1-1, I got a corner from the Left side, so switched corner taker to a right footed player to swing it in, activated the quick tactics set piece menu and chose ‘run to near post’ and bumped the attack level up to ‘Ultra Attacking’ which I have set to a 4-3-3 formation with players in the box, team height, chance creation, etc all set to maximum.
I played the ball in from the corner, in-swinger, and sure enough my DM Taschitidis, who was now in an advanced position due to my tactics change, ran to the near post, I used a timed shot (power up then second press of the shoot button just as contact is made) and he lunged forward, sending a glancing angled, looping header across the goal into the far corner past a flailing keepers arms.
Tactics employed, tangible effect, good timing of the run and shot, rewarded, as it should be.
I was also able to slow this one down, play a more considered approach and not commit too much and get done on the counter, the ability to control games with varying styles of play within FIFA 19 is amazing.
A second win on the bounce, and now back up to 15th, but only 5 points off the 6th (and final play off place).
Different teams, different abilities, different situations, not only does every match feel different, but each passage of play and section of matches feel different in themselves.
Easily the best FIFA game ever made.
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Paul – intriguing, and matches up with what they’re saying in general chatter across the forums. I don’t like what I hear about no-fouls. I get few enough in PES2019 as you know, so I would probably literally get zero in FIFA19. But as I remarked over the weekend, the highlights of your Forest-Derby match is one of the best showcases for a football game I’ve seen.
Maybe one day… But by the time spring rolls around and PES2019 winds down, my juice is usually dried up and FIFA has usually had the goodness patched out of it.
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NG – Thats the one and only thing about FIFA 19 I’d change – fouls!
It makes PES 19 look like PES 5*
If there is a foul, FIFA calls it, its very good at representing red cards, penalties etc very realistically, but the COM teams just don’t tackle enough, by that I mean foul-worth Slide tackles.
May be able to increase it with slider tweaks but have no wish to go there yet.
The only saving grace is that the game play and AI is so superb that I don’t even think of fouls during or after the game.
*In the WE9 match I played last night, I conceded 9 fouls, but didn’t have a single foul against me.
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I actually meant to post this here:
If you’re completing your football game collection on all platforms, I’d say there are enough differences between the 3 flavours of PES5 (PES5, WE9, WE9LE) to warrant treating them as separate games.
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I installed parallels on the 2017 MBP, and installed a windows 10 pro VM, but gave it a shed load of resources, so be useful to have a few games on it, lunchtime play sessions etc.
Was gonna install PES 19 just to see how it would run. If i can find a ‘trial’ copy.
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Paul – agree with you about the tactics and differences between sides. I have two different set of tactics saved with one for home and another for away games. I try to be come defensively compact when playing away from home. I have also changed the camera again to the actual default camera in the options (broadcast etc) as I love the broadcast camera but am not keen on the crossing, due to the angle. I like to be able to spot the runs in the box better. On low height and zoomed in it isn’t massively different.
As for fouls I am getting about 2 or 3 a game. Yes it could be higher and you are spot on as the decisions are called but the CPU is not aggressive enough. I have had a CPU red card and three penalties so far.
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Good stuff Darryl, the game continues to surprise me with how detailed and realistic the game play and AI is.
I love the isometric broadcast view so sticking with that camera, but there are a good few, and customisable, so something for everyone.
I get 1 foul per match, sometimes 0. so 2 or 3 every match is a good amount for you.
Maybe its grittier and more physical down in League one, I can imagine a few fouls vs Stanley 😉
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Spoke too soon. The two lunchtime games in work have broken me and nearly the laptop/PS4 controller. The way your slightest weakness gets exposed unless you counter it is something else.
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PRS – Are you playing on World Class Level?
I love this difficulty because even though the AI usually does punish mistakes, its all very realistically balanced, they still misplace passes, over hit crosses, shots get skewed wide.
Might be an idea to do an NG, and just play for the draw and then try to take any odd opportunity that comes your way, at least until you have momentum and get a few good results under your wing.
The momentum thing works very well in FIFA, teams at the top will play confidently, attack in numbers, and defend aggressively, weaker out of form teams, will give you more space and freedom to play, and wont be as clinical.
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Yep World class. I’d won four on the spin then a draw and a defeat. 3-0 down from three headers. Crosses into the box against the villa default back 4 is a problem
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Are you using L2 when the ball is in the air ?
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Yep I think it’s Neil Taylor at left back getting out jumped then it either goes straight in or a scramble. So it’s entirely realistic, probably why I get angry playing it. Same emotions as a Saturday. My problem is the AI holding onto the ball after I tackle them.
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PRS – I usually find that jockeying the player then tackling them face on, or using L2 to jostle by tackling then leaning into them with L2 held and pressing the LS towards the COM player yields a higher success rate when tackling.
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It’s a weird feature of FIFA that you have so little choice of avatar. They’ve always seemed reluctant to have any kind of customisation in ea games – madden is a similar limited selection of your in game self.
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Yeah you think they’d at least give you an option to create a likeness of yourself for your manager avatar, especially seeing as though every other real premier league and other manager is in the game.
Another 10/10 session last night, this game really is very good.
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Paul – yes my session last night was up there with one of the best I have had for many a year. The game just gets better as you see more and more new animations and moments in the games I have never witnessed before. Two things stand out and that is the keeper animations and the scoring as it gives the game a real natrual feel. I am currently sat in 4th, although had climbed to top at one point but lost the last game before bed 2-1 in a keenly thought derby match against Blackpool. Have scored a couple of really good long rangers as well.
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Great stuff Darryl, I agree and see the same.
I see new animations and passages of play every match, I’ve heard the fans jeer and boo payers when they have missed sitters, the crowd atmosphere in general during play and goals is superb, with real life chants and songs, and fans boo and jeer ex players too.
You’re doing well on Pro, languishing around 15th on World Class, I only needed 2 wins last night to move up to 6th, but lost one and drew one, my 2 wins both came in the FA Cup which I will discuss Thursday.
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New FIFA update for PS4 just been released, supposed to (according to PC users who had it days ago) make the game even better.
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Man. After last year’s debacle on the Switch, I decided to skip Fifa 19 and rather get Pokémon. You are making me rethink my priorities with this blog….
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Hi janpampoen. I can’t comment on the switch as it’s a watered down version. But if you have access to ps4 or xbox one then you’d love the full version of FIFA19.
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Paul – been following the FIFA thread keenly on EvoWeb – fascinating to see it holding up so well – and is it true EA have explicitly said there are no gameplay changes in the patch? Be interesting to see if the placebo effect carries over if so!
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Paul/NG – indeed and you have to admire the direction they are going here, rather than making knee jerk adjustments they are saying that the community can learn and appreciate the changes they have made. This is a clear statement of confidence and belief in your product. The notes with the patch say it all:-
“First off, we wanted to address gameplay. Due to significant community feedback stemming from FIFA 18 and early into FIFA 19, the gameplay team is limiting changes to gameplay in the initial stages of release. The idea here is to only make targeted fixes in an effort to keep the overall balance and feel of the game consistent, while we continue to gather in-depth feedback from our passionate players. In short, we want players to learn the systems”
This backs up my theory in recent editions that EA and Konami are heading in opposite directions and taking up the ground the other used to offer in terms of gaming philosophy. Fifa tried to do this with Fifa 16 but the 1st patch went back on what they really wanted to put out. Now they are sticking to thier guns and you have to applaud them for it.
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As a lover of comedy though I’m wondering if Placebo fever will strike. A few weeks ago the PES forums convinced themselves there had been a secret Konami patch because a few of them ‘just knew’ there were changes in the game from one session to the next. Konami of course is famously silent about such things. It’ll be interesting to see if the same placebo dynamic surfaces on the FIFA side, when EA has specifically said (unlike Konami) that no gameplay changes have been made.
I remember the FIFA16 debacle as well, and that seemed like the end of an era at the time. Abbeyhill was in on the pre-release Beta and I remember him saying what EA did to the game that year at the behest of ‘feedback’ was shocking.
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NG – EA openly stated that due to overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community around game play that they would not be making any substantial game play changes. And would focus on minor refinements to further improve the experience.
Matt10L tried the patch on pc last week and posted a video showing the refinements and said it’s even more like a realistic sim now. Looking forward to trying it.
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Every forum always states they have seen changes when there hasn’t been any. You can read the full patch notes which list every change EA made, but I know there’s been minor tweaks like pass speed. Physicality etc but all geared to smoothing out the game play that’s there, not fundamentally going back on it.
FIFA this year is the thinking mans footy game. It’s so much more of a sim than PES.
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oh yes I’d forgotten about that FIFA16 career mode closed beta, what a game that could have been. Judging by your impressions so far Paul maybe that promise is now being fulfilled
Janpampoem – Pokémon and FIFA19 sounds a great combination to me, albeit maybe not the Switch for the latter!
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The worst FIFA in an age, so bad strongly thinking about going over to the PES dark side this year 19 is pathetic. Defenders who are just bettter if you leave them alone, pace stats mean nothing, overhead kicks from every distance, passing you can aim towards one teammate, end up at the player thats in the other directon and is offside. I like the feel of the blog and any other year would have loved this but my friend you have picked the worst FIFA I can remember to start this on best of luck.
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give us some context here Don’t Be A Sheep, which mode are you on and how long have you been playing FIFA?
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I think Sheep is actually a troll.
If not then why the secretive sarcastic name?
– Not seen one overhead kick in 30 matches
– Defenders mark and play positionally well, requires patience and skill to drag them out of position
– Pace absolutely matters, don’t get caught running in on goal with Dennis, or Dias on the wing
– You must. be bad at aiming then because I’ve never managed to pass in the opposite direction to where I intended.
Assuming you play skill move laden ping pong pass FUT and have got the hump because EA have made the game more realistic.
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Regardless of the merits or not of each game, no matter what you prefer or think about the action surely one thing can’t be disputed – that ea’s communications pap all over konami’s utterly feeble postings of famous players and what do you think of tonight’s game shit. Even if FIFA was terrible it at least looks like they give one.
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I am deeply impressed what FIFA has to offer this year. Bought both, FIFA and PES, and since one week just can’t give up on FIFA, it plays so damn well. For a moment I stopped even thinking about going back to PES. What I love the most is that every game, every team is different. Currently playing on Legendary and simply love the challenge. World Class was a bit too easy for me on assisted control.
My current CM is a try to step in SAF shoes, so i started with St Mirren in Scottish league :). So far so good, in february sitting at 5/6th. Tried to go for Aberdeen job, but they rejected my offer. Guess it’s too early for it.
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Abbes – you must be an accomplished player. I’m playing on world class and am 16th in the Championship.
Do you play on PS4 or Xbox ? How are you finding the new patch ?
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Night and Day Turf – That much is completely evident and non-arguable.
Look at Konami’s PR and its all about MyClub Legends and other crap, they don’t announce when a patch is coming, or what it contains, at least EA are totally transparent with their ‘Pitch Notes’ section on their website and detail all the things they are working on and state their intention with the patches.
Konami are amateurs and EA are professionals in the way they interact with customers post sale.
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@FIFAFX – I’m playing Fifa and PES since 97, every single one edition, so I guess you can say that i’m kinda accomplished :).
Playing on laptop, so no idea about differences between this PS4 and Xbox version, but the latest PC patch is just pure perfect. Even Matt10 posted in his slider topic, that’s best way is to play with default sliders for a moment, guess it means something, don’t remember anything like it happen recent years :).
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Good stuff abbes. Haven’t got the patch yet, believe it came out yesterday for PS4, so should be there tonight when I play.
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If you are so positive about game before patch, probably you will love it without any boundaries after, trust me :). Can’t wait to read it.
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Heard that pass speed and inertia have been tweaked, which will be good, will touch on my findings on Thursdays post.
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