My PES 2021 ML campaign with Spurs has roared from strength to strength, thanks to the wealth of mods available on the PC version, every play session has been anticipated, enjoyed and left me wanting more, remember those old school days of actually enjoying ML ?!
Of course the ML mode itself is still pretty much as it is in the base console games, structure wise, but with the mods redefining the player database, player stats are much more accurate, player transfer values and wages realistic, and of course all the accurate faces, stadiums, kits and other bits make ML actually playable, and enjoyable.
It took a while for the team to gel under my new stewardship, finally getting the Team Spirit (TS) rating into the 90’s, this factoring makes such a huge difference on how your players respond, react to tactics and how the overall feel of the games are, all that and staving off FIFA muscle memory and learning how to play PES again, meant a bit of a slow start, but thankfully we are in a good position now.
Above is my current starting 11 and subs, I’ve gone for a 4-2-2-2 with the two holding DMF’s as we needed cover for the defence in the early days, when TS was low, now the players arse used to the system and I find it suits my overall style of play better.
I also moved to two CF’s, or a CF and SS, as I’ve always preferred the interlink play between two forwards in PES.
I also made a few signings, Douglas Luiz at DM Signed from Villa, a great box to box player with good ball winning stats, and over on the subs bench you will notice Corte Real, a CF signed as backup cover for Kane and Son, who took time to find his feet but recently has shown some great promise, also Manuel Lanzini signed from West Ham Utd, a very skilful player, who was more of an impulse buy after he performed admirably against us and was a nightmare to defend against, ideally he’d play as an AMF but I shoehorn him into a wide position currently.
Lastly, you will notice one legendary Andres Iniesta over on the bench, we picked him up as a free agent, aged 37, but still with buckles of class, I play him DMF as cover for the other two, and he’s a joy to control, with amazing dribbling and passing stats, spraying the ball around and generally creating chances for forwards.
Unfortunately crashed out of the Europa League in the last 16 round, after losing 2-1 away to Dynamo Kiev, we then won 2-1 in the home leg, taking the game to extra time then penalties, where we lost 4-1.
Penalties in PES are a bugbear, the AI keeper ALWAYS saves them, the Dynamo GK saved 4 of my 5 penalties, no matter where I put them, top corner, bottom corner, down the middle, hard, soft, he always saves them, the ratio is so high it all seems a bit pointless.
I even played multiple friendlies after and forced the games into pens, and in 4 different shootouts, I scored 3 penalties, the AI keeper saved 17 out of the 20, ridiculous.
Five matches left of the season, 8pts clear of Wolves in 5th, the 4th place and UCL qualification is firmly in our own hands, with Burnley Away, and then Liverpool to come, one win and one draw would be enough.
Free scoring Aguero is romping the golden boot, with City Champions elect, but Kane and Son both putting in a good return for the season so far.
Was interesting to see the monthly budget report and looking at my players weekly salaries, £300k+ per week for Kane, those goals come at a cost.
The season should be wrapped up and done within days, so will post updates in the comments section, and I’ll finish this week with a season one goals montage, starting with a debut goal from youth player Viner, who I have sent out on loan, but high hopes for him, and ending with a couple of goals from backup CF signing Corte Real.
FIFAFX.com 
It’s a different game to the one I know, and yet all Konami could manage in a year is a data update. As has been said before simply pay a few people in the community a few quid so we can all benefit.
Been away a few days (uk) so no gaming for me, but I have just installed civilisation iv on the ps. First one since the legendary civ2 and likely to overwhelm me with things to do. Indeed that game that can be saved at any time though as right now I don’t have much opportunity for a long session.
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well quite Turf, and I think I’m correct in saying that this year’s PES is still not officially announced leading to the suspicion Konami will mess up this gen too
loved the video again Paul, the attacking play looked dynamic and exciting, those goals by Bergwijn in particular although clearly he’s not one of your main players. 4-2-2-2 with a slight angle between the players was usually my favourite PES formation too. How is the scripting so far? That was the thing that really put me off PES2019, so much so that I’ve not been back since, although of course FIFA is also guilty. Penalties sound ridiculous, presume you’ve tried your old FIFA technique of changing direction at the last moment?
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and of course Happy Birthday Paul!!
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Turf – Age old comments on that front, Konami should just hire a bunch of community members, Hawke, Juce, Nesa, KnightMD etc and let them do their thing, I guess its only cause of licensing issues that they don’t.
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Abbeyhill – It is late in the year for no announcement to be made regarding PES22, Konami pulled out of E3 in June, so that could only mean that whatever they have so far isn’t ready to be shown to the public, lets hope its just them wanting to completely hone it first, and not because they’ve messed up and are trying to salvage something.
Also hope that somehow the Unreal engine is moddable otherwise PES 22 will ship with the bare minimum as PES games always do but there won’t be any supercharged PC versions to make up for it.
Bergwijn is a bit of a ‘tweener’ in my squad, usually slots in either wide of Lanzini, or Insigne or Lamela are injured, or up top if Kane is off form.
I dont really notice scripting, using Holland’s latest Fusion GP mod and its meant to remove scripting, there are a few odd occasions when my player does something dumb which can lead to an innocuous AI goal, but tats probably down to the altered values in the exe or DT_18 file causing a bit of confusion.
Overall GP i very good and the AI very varied, they build up play much better rather than just pumping long balls forward, and long shots are definitely improved.
On penalties, you cant change direction last min on PES, you set your direction, with the LS, power up the bar and once that power is pressed your direction is locked. Had an 89th min penalty last night in a very tough, tense 0-0 stalemate, so good interlink football around the edge of the box and a delicate little slip pass through saw Son Min get chopped down.
Kane steps up, 94 rating for penalties, aiming reticule in very top right corner, postage stamp accuracy, decent amount of power……… AI keeper dives exact right spot and saves. Ridiculous.
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Hello all. If you continue with another season of Spurs, will you keep it realistic and sell Kane 😉
It would be a huge chunk off the wage bill, although I’m surprised Bale isn’t on more.
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Chris99 – I’ve already made my mind up that next big offer for Kane – he goes!!!
He’s getting on my nerves, in front of goal, a formidable finisher, but 9/10 passes into him, he’s offside!!!
I need to find a like for like replacement, high finishing stats, good physical ability, and good heading, which is easier said than done.
Bales wages were paid by real madrid, as he’s on loan, 60% them, 30% us.
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Haven’t been here a while as I’m in the midst of a goddamn scabies infection. I’m not exaggerating when I say this is one of the worst things I’ve ever experienced in my almost 4 decades of living.
Anyhow, that patch looks great Paul – you’re using Holland’s latest for gameplay, no? Weird thing is the gameplay mods don’t always “take” for me, very strange. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t.
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#1 – Scabies !?!?! WTF?!?! Transmissable by sex in most adults apparently!! dirty boy!!! ;-0
The VirtuaRed patch is beyond impressive, it makes a dreary drab, boring, unprofessional looking Vanilla PES actually look like a polished, professional finished product.
I am using Holland’s latest ‘Fusion 2.0’ GP mod but I’ve now removed it and reverted back to vanilla, there were too many weird and frustrating moments like players bumping into eachother, ridiculous OG’s, etc.
I’d like someone to make a GP mod that simply removes the 100% laser guided AI slide tackles, scripting, and improves the fluidity and responsiveness of user dribbling.
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Paul – hah I wish it were from that (it very well could be) but apparently you can get it from infected bedding and clothing, even someones goddamn floor in extreme cases. The bastards are getting resistant to medication too in some parts of Africa and Australia. It isn’t prevalent here in the Netherlands at all except for college dorms so I’ve been “lucky” I guess. I honestly wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy. All the washing etc you have to in conjunction with treatment is just insanity. Just now euros are getting started and Corona measures are slowly but surely getting lifted. Ugh.
Whew had to get that off my chest. Paul- what style of gameplay do you prefer between the two games? I haven’t touched FIFA at all this year. And I gather you’re tolerating vanilla gameplay pretty well then? I agree on the bumping into each other at stuff. The mods improve things but always at the expense of other things.
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Kane irl might be a huge benefit but in the world of faster is more gaming he is pegged as relatively slow so is not that useful.
ESO patch this morning…that’s three hours taken care of. Insane how big these weigh in at – more than most of my other games.
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#1 – Sounds nasty mate, and wish you a quick recovery!!!
Both FIFA and PES 21 have their pro’s and cons in terms of game play, I played FIFA for so long, the animations etc were superb, but the game was often frenetic and such a high pace, PES 21 DP6 GP is slower, more considered, and I’d definitely say PES is alot more tactically realistic, in that you cant just receive the ball, turn, run and skill your way to goal.
You have to shield, hold the ball up, make sure you cushion passes, etc, and as a result goals feel more rewarding.
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Paul – thanks mate! It’s got me spooked like nothing else before and I’ve been through some gnarly stuff.
Clear in FIFA versus pes, trying to stick with pes then. Are you on superstar or ..?
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Cant imagine mate – its bad enough being ill but when its skin/irritation driven too must be so frustrating and annoying !!!
Im enjoying the PES game play very much, in comparison to FIFA, I did enjoy FIFA but with over 600+ FUT matches played since Jan, i’ve just become tired of its franticness.
Playing on Top Player – all that FIFA muscle memory and relearning the PES mechanics and ways of playing, its about the right level for me at the moment.
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#1 – my sympathies. Once stayed in a really nice hotel in Italy, woke up on the second day and was covered in bites – arms, legs, all nipped. Mrs turf completely untouched but must have been something in the bedding that took a liking to me. Fair ruined the next few days.
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Paul – thanks again mate, I used to make light of it when someone had it ; “dirty this and that” but I will NEVER ever do that again. The itch is a bitch and a half but the mindfuck is not knowing whether or not they’re gone and symptoms after cure can persist for MONTHS. from what I’ve read it’s more prevalent in London by the way, why theres no definitive cure yet is beyond me.
Turf – that sucks (and believe me I know). Not wanting to hijack the post with scabies nonsense but how did you go about curing yourself and how long did it take? Must’ve been bed bugs which are different.
I keep forgetting top player is a viable level after always wanting to migrate to superstar…might have to rethink all that. Paul – does the mega patch you’re using have legends as well?
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Yes, I assumed bedbugs, which is still quite vile in a hotel, but not longer term like yours. I think I just smothered myself in some sort of cream and gave the bedding a right shake. I have got a weirder one – when I was in my 20s my face went purple right across my eyes and down to my mouth, like the Lone Ranger but more colourful. Ended up getting patch tests as they thought I was allergic to something I was touching, which was then being spread onto my face when I ate/blew my nose, etc etc. It was unbelievably itchy, at night I wanted to claw my eyes out. And then it disappeared about a year later. No idea what it was, but I think it was a reaction rather than anything external. Anything with your skin is horrible so best of luck getting shot of it.
Btw irl I’ve got Germany beating France in the euro final predictors. England lose to Sweden in the second round.
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#1 – Not sure if the VirtuaRed Patch has legends included., but seen patches for legends on evo web, which of course you can bolt on to any AIO patch just by adding the modules to sider.
In the Euros I’ve got England beating Slovakia in the KO round, then losing to France in the quarters, who go on to win it, beating Holland in the final.
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While we’re at it I’ve done my predictions for the competition at work using my patented method of adjusted FIFA ratings and two dice from a Yahtzee set. I’ve got England as group winners coming up against the second place from the group of death, which is Portugal in my world. Portugal win 2-1. In the final France draw with Spain 1-1 and end up beating them 6-5 on penalties.
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get on Paddy Power with that Chris99.
Wonder if NG has placed one of his accy’s
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my ps5 is too big for my cabinet, looks lush though.
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Welcome to the club WERD. its a beast of a machine isn’t it.
mine slotted in to the cabinet up in the cinema/games room just perfectly, thankfully.
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Mines on a mini window next to tv luckily. Mrs werd isn’t keen on the wires trailing down the wall but tough, its going back in its box on sat as the niece an nephew will be coming round, knacked our living room door handle last time
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Get some mini trunking and run it through that down the wall, paint it same colour as the wall?
yeah dont let those little brats anywhere near a preciously balanced PS5!
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