Self explanatory title. We have dropped right down the table from 3rd to 11th, from a Champions League place, down to 5 points off making a Europa League spot, all due to an absolutely torrid session, 0 wins from 6 games, 0 goals. Awful.
It’s just all fallen apart, simple passes are going to an opponent, chances created are not being finished, our play seems bogged down in midfield, I have no explanation for it, it’s very frustrating, if it is the game trying to impose a sense of realism and crippling my abilities in order to simulate a spell of poor form, then it’s definitely working.
We shouldn’t really complain, finishing mid table was the objective, its being achieved so far with 7 games to play, but to be so close to Europe and fall away is annoying.
On to other business, the January transfer window came and went and we signed Phil Foden from Man City, for £20 million.
Rated 81 OVR at just 21, he has a potential of 91, so was a worthwhile investment, and gives good depth to the CM position.
I also acquired Solanke from Liverpool in a straight player swap deal, with Tammy Abraham going the other way, along with a few other players leaving which actually saw the transfer window end with us making a profit, got to keep the board happy.
Remiro (GK) and Mojica (LWB) as shown above, were both signed on pre-contract’s and will be joining in the summer.
I will officially declare, Suarez has been a disappointment. 5 goals in 31 matches, he does top the assists chart with 9, but I bought him to score goals, and he hasn’t scored enough of them.
He tends, I don’t know if its his player traits or not, to play deeper, more in the hole behind the CF line, as a false 9 if you like, which means he’s more positioned to play a through ball into the box, hence the assists, but now the range shooting has been nerfed slightly, it’s harder to get Suarez in a position to score more freely.
I may not take up the option to renew the contract come the summer.
With the Christmas break approaching, it is highly unlikely I will get any game time over Christmas and new year, due to time away and spending time with family etc so this will be the last past until after the new year.
With that being said, I wish you all a great, safe and merry Christmas and New Year.
See you soon.
FIFAFX.com 
Started last night with QPR. There appears to be a greater physicality in FIFA 19 than previous years, and so far I’m impressed by it. Three pre-season tournament games played so far; two 1-0 wins with the default formation which I think was a 4-2-3-1 and a 2-2 draw when trying a flat 4-4-2. I’m okay for strikers, but badly need a keeper and possibly a CAM if I go to more of a diamond.
Got a couple of scouts out, and am also scouting young CAMs and keepers at Chelsea and both Manchester clubs with a view to a loan deal. Having juggled the finanances I’ve got about 2.5 million and 40k wages.
Oh and for the record on 4 minute halves, in those 3 games I’ve had 3 free kicks and a penalty.
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4min halves Chris? Thats short!
Don’t forget just prior to the January window to setup a scout with instructions to look for players with 0-1 years left on their contracts, this will identify a number of players that have 6 months or less to run, and will be available on a free.
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So little time, so many games to play Paul.
Don’t worry, I know the importance of pre-contracts when you’re strapped for cash. I’ve also noticed a greater variation in blocks and deflections this year. So far it seems like watching a match rather than playing a game, although that could be due to a combination of relatively poor players and my lack of tricks.
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There is that Chris, but matches are so realistic, for me, 4 mins wouldn’t be enough time to accurately reflect the realism, play would be frantic and condensed down into those shorter halves.
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Paul – I can sympathise there as the game did that to me in my first season around the halfway stage. Then in the second season the same thing happened with about 12 games left. Last night with about 8 games left I have been seeing it’s ugly head appear again. I played two games against Wolves at home and Huddersfield away, which I lost 5-1 and 4-0 respectively. This could hamper my title bid which was looking good after beating Chelsea the joint leaders and going top by 3 points. Now they are back ahead by a point and 5 games left.
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Darryl – I had a mini purple patch, winning 4, drawing 2 and losing 1 of my last 7 games, which lifted me to 4th place, I was excited at a european tilt, only for the game to suddenly, next session, go into impossible mode, 11 defeats from 13 and I’m now fighting relegation, ist absurd.
Never experienced this ion FIFA before, suddenly all teams even shit ones pack the box with 10 players, making it virtually impossible to score, i’ve tried everything, formation changes, instruction changes, change of camera angle, ditching the OS sliders, nothing changed anything.
Also noticed you had gone back to broadcast cam? get bored of Dynamic?
I tried it last night, liked it but its too close in, cant see much of the pitch.
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Paul – that sounds rough. A bit disappointed that this is rearing its head in both games in ways never seen before. I was going to suggest the old PES trick of changing formations or tactics but looks like you ‘ve done that already. No choice but to tough it out then unfortunately. I know the frustration of this all too well as PES is doing this to me now albeit in its “lite” variation.
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Paul – It does make you question those purple patches as well and if we play any part in it at all. Yes I am on Broadcast as I have been for most of my time except the odd dabbles back on Dynamic. Usually a change of camera is a reaction to freshen things up during a run like you are having.
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Changing formation is definitely something that has to be done occasionally in FIFA as the game adapts to your play style after a while.
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Darryl / #1 / Chris99 – I plan to soldier on, need to accumulate some new material for the next new post, which will come Monday.
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Wasn’t to be this time. With 5 matches left and a one point deficit between myself and Chelsea I concentrated like never before and won all of my next four games. Did Chelsea slip up? Did they buggery. So with still one point behind we went into the last game. I had the goal news on for the last match away at Man City and was listening carefully for news from the Chelsea game away at 3rd place West Ham. In the end I lost 1-0 and after City went up just before half time I struggled to break them down. So in the end I lost by a single point and finished 2nd by a clear 15 points. So on we go to season 10 and Champions League football. Another story is developing and that is my hatred for Chelsea. They are the moneybags team and keep snapping up all the games top players. This is creating a tense rivalry.
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Correction lost by 2 points as Chelsea drew 1-1.
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Darryl – Commiserations on the runner up spot, but at the same time sounds like you had a fantastic season.
I played a few matches last night, with a killer headache, so concentration wasn’t at its peak but after losing the first 2, I managed to pick up back to back wins against Everton and Southampton, so have pulled a few points clear of the relegation zone, surprisingly, 3 wins, with other results going my way could lift us to 8th, so still a bit to play for in the last 10 or so games.
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Darryl – don’t want to sound too gloomy and all but your comment about purple patches and us playing a role in it is kind of what sums up nupes or even nufootballgaming as a whole. I get the impression too often that things in general are largely predetermined and our input only accounts for maybe 20 percent in the grand scheme of things.
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I think this has always been true though #1, not simply in the nu era
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Same with every game though, there has to be framework in place, a narrative, and the human player is just part of that.
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Abbeyhill – no doubt that its always been there. In my opinion it has never been this overt however, always a subtle hand behind the curtain.
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Darryl – it’s encouraging at least that you were not given the helping hand of table scripting. On the other side of the aisle, with 4 straight wins, you would definitely have been handed the title.
#1 – ever forget to pause a football game properly while you’re off doing something else, then come back to find the game quite happily playing itself, with the player(s) you would have been controlling having only a marginal effect on the overall pattern? If this has never happened to you, do it deliberately: put down the controller and let the game play itself. The painful thing is (on PES at least) is that you will only concede a goal some of the time. I’d like to see a football game being able to tell when the player has abandoned control for any reason, and score hatfuls of goals until he returns, but it just doesn’t happen.
I think with footy gaming it is the same as with any media: suspension of disbelief. Before you watch a movie, you consent to believe that the famous actors really are all their characters, and that the expertly lit and staged events you see taking place are real events. It’s amazing that this trick of the imagination actually works, all the time, to the point where we have the same kind of emotional reactions to events we know aren’t real, as we would in reality. Same with footy gaming, really. I think 20% input is about the right figure for how much genuine input we have. The skill and enjoyment is how much we make that 20% count.
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NG – I’m definitely on board with your view on suspension of disbelief. However – And I think this is at the core of my many rants – when the cheating and just general fuckery gets to the point that I can’t suspend disbelief anymore is when it all falls apart for me. Of course we all have different thresholds when it comes to this phenomenon, but in my view nuPES has really turned the scripting / cheating up since PES 2016 roughly, maybe earlier. Only PES 2017 stood this test for me, to be fair I thought everything else from PES 2014 onwards was pretty shit. PES 2019 isn’t in “shit” territory just yet but it’s getting there fast for me at the moment.
Re. letting the controller “go”: I’ve done that many a time, sometimes on purpose when getting cheat-hammered and just couldn’t be arsed anymore. I noticed the CPU doing next to nothing which means (to me) that the CPU doesn’t actually react to what is happening on-screen but rather reacting to our button input, hence the AI on Superstar and higher (Top Player as well) being clairvoyant and always one step ahead of you. You can notice this when taking a goal kick. on SS each player in your half will be marked tightly. If you switch to player control, as soon as you press X to pass, the CPU will know where the ball is going instantly and if you’re not careful will intercept immediately.
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I’m nearing the end of December in season 2, 4th in League One. I’ve managed to bring in a couple of decent loan players which make life easier, especially up front where my CF is consistently banging in half chances whilst the CPU struggles to finish good opportunities. Most games I have fewer chances but still winning regularly. I found it a little easy to get in decent players, much like PES in that regard but I can understand it because who really wants to have the full lower league experience, not me when real life caters so well for that.
I have a decent DMF coming in from the Norwegian League at the start of January. I swapped him with a CF because I have too many of them in the squad. I’m going to miss the profit target again but youth development and league position is keeping me in the job. Overall, a very enjoyable experience so far.
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Cook – indeed as there does need to be an element of fantasy in these games. Like now I am second with Fleetwood in the Premership. Not something that is ever going to happen in my lifetime but you need good quality players to get there. All this is fine with me.
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Cook – also there is a big gulf in difficulty with each of the divisions, which you will see when you get further into the game.
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Darryl – Agreed, it’d be a depressing slog otherwise. League One and Two are setting the scene for later success. Next season hopefully in the Championship although I’m not adverse to another season in League One if it turns out that way.
Have you started your Champions League season yet?
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Cook – what difficulty are you on? Yes have done so and am second after 7 games with 1 point behind my nemesis team Chelsea. I have also played my first CL game and won 2-0 away at Shakhtar Donetsk. There is a different commentary team for the European games, which add to the uniqueness of the occasion. Gameplay also felt different in a way that PES used to for European games. At the beginning of the season I signed Jesus from Man City. He is prone to diving and has already won me 3 penalties this season. Just when I thought I could not love the game anymore…..
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FIFA convert here for the time being. Find myself going back just sometimes to PES just to see if it’s really that bad now and for me most of the times it is. Most of the time I cannot get a “full” good game, just 3/4 or something and then it goes to scripting shit.
My first impressions of FIFA19 in random order below. playing with OS sliders, on Slow. Started as Swansea in the Championship.
– more randomness than vanilla PES though PES with gameplay patches comes close on PC
– scripting is way less noticeable so far
– presentation top notch, it makes you feel part of a living, breathing world. not just because of the licenses but more a sum-of-its-parts thing with the commentary, news feed et al just working together.
– CPU AI is a bit tame and toothless offensively but that’s the flip-side of less scripting I guess
– shooting feels very good, a good bit better than PES and FIFA18 even
– overall “feel” on the ball is VERY similar to PES bar the ball physics. PES only has this won (for me) by the slightest of margins. the two games truly are nearly interchangeable nowadays.
– no fouls grates sometimes, especially just coming off of PES
– a bit underwhelming graphically, this surprised me. have to get used to herky-jerky nature of animations as well, PES really is excellent here
– not impressed by the passing accuracy of the CPU. It’s not as severe as god-mode-PES but the CPU can sure ping the ball about with the best of ’em, even in the Championship
– player individuality very much present and noticeable. Tried to take a few shots with my RB, who sucks at shooting, and each and every time he ballooned it over. Perhaps a bit exaggerated even, but I like it. Christian Fuchs, who I bought for LB and has several shooting traits, is conversely very good at it. I hope this stays this way throughout the game and it isn’t ruined due to later-season scripting. To be fair this was very much present in PES19 in the beginning and has only just now vaporized for me.
– difficulty is fine on Professional for now, tried WC but will stick with Prof. Won my first two games, lost the third. Got to the semi-finals in the preseason tourney which seems appropaite for my skill level and team.
ALl in all a good experience if a bit flat (PES either has me pulling my hair out or jumping out of my seat). There are still some PES pangs but I know these will go away after re-adjusting.
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Hey guys, have finally managed to get some games in after the xmas hiatus, new post coming Monday morning.
Good to see a few more of us now actively playing FIFA, and Darryl, sounds like your experience is getting better and better, I bet the Champions league feels amazing.
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#1 – Interesting first impressions and I will be following closely to see how you get on.
Paul – Yes it is going from strength to strength as Jesus won me a fourth penalty of the season last night. Apart from the new commentary team and the game playing a bit different they haven’t deviated from the PES presentation. Why not as that was the one thing they did well and if it ain’t broke……
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PES didnt do anything at all with the UCL presentation, apart from play the intro movie before it starts and change the colour scheme of the menus, worst used license in history.
I Love the way in FIFA even when you’re not in the UCL, the live new feed to the right shows the UCL and EL draws taking place and key news snippets fro the comps.
As #1 confirmed in his comment above, and something I’ve been hammering home for ages, FIFA CM feels like a living breathing football world, where stuff going on matters, not some isolated, meaningless shell as portrayed in PES.
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