The adaptive offline season 2014-2015 classics challenge

James Beaver

James Beaver

Championship
21 December 2014

__________________________________________________

THE ADAPTIVE OFFLINE SEASON 2014-2015 CLASSICS
CHALLENGE
__________________________________________________


1 Intro
=======

Everyone is eagerly waiting for the new season and PES 2016, but fortunately there is also memory lane. In this challenge you have a chance to play through some of the classics of the 2014-2015 football season against the CPU (offline).

The challenge is adaptive so that the difficulty level changes according to whether you are winning or losing. If you are winning, the matches get harder; if you are losing, they become easier. You should therefore expect to experience the entire range of feelings associated with competitive sports. If you would like to, a challenge score will be calculated for you at the end of the challenge.


2 So who will I be competing against in this challenge?
=======================================================

Basically yourself. Although a challenge score will be calculated for you at the end, if you so wish, the scores are not comparable, as no particular gameplay settings are enforced.


3 How to play
=============

3.1 Gameplay settings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The challenge consists of a series of exhibition matches. The gameplay setting are up to you to decide. Personally I will be playing 15 minute matches with following settings: full manual, game speed 0, advanced through ball, all visual aids off, random condition, and player emotions off.


3.2 The difficulty level of the first match
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The difficulty level of the first match is TW: top player, winning team. That is, you will play the first match "San Lorenzo - Nacional" at PES difficulty level top player, controlling team "San Lorenzo" that won the classic.


3.3 Play your first match
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Play the topmost match in the table below at the initial difficulty level.

Notice that in many browsers, you need to scroll the code window below horizontally to see all of the columns in the table. In the table, HG refers to "home team goals" and AG to "away team goals". In order for every match to have a winner, if the match has been a tie, the away team is the designated "winner" of the match. Some of the matches designated as "final" were actually the deciding leg of a two-part final.

For players with vanilla PES 2015, mapping from PES English league names to real Premier league team names can be found at

http://pes.neoseeker.com/wiki/English_League

The Brazilian team CR Flamengo is available in PES 2015 under Copa Libertadores 2014, and its opponent Vasco da Gama is available in section "Other teams (Latin America)".

Code: 
   MATCH                        HOME                      AWAY                 HG  AG  WINNER                    LOCAL MATCH TIME        STADIUM                            LOCATION       
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Copa Libertadores final      San Lorenzo               Nacional              1   0  San Lorenzo               <2014-08-03 Sun 21:15>  Estadio Pedro Bidegain             Buenos Aires   
   UEFA Super Cup               Real Madrid               Sevilla               2   0  Real Madrid               <2014-08-12 Tue 19:45>  Cardiff City                       Cardiff        
   AFC Champions League final   Western Sydney Wanderers  Al-Hilal              1   0  Western Sydney Wanderers  <2014-10-25 Sat 19:30>  Parramatta Stadium                 Sydney         
   Copa Sudamericana final      River Plate               Atlético Nacional     2   0  River Plate               <2014-12-10 Wed 21:15>  Estadio Antio Vespucio Liberti     Buenos Aires   
   North London derby           Tottenham                 Arsenal               2   1  Tottenham                 <2015-02-07 Sat 12:45>  White Hart Lane                    London         
   Africa Cup of Nations final  Côte d'Ivoire             Ghana                 9   8  Côte d'Ivoire             <2015-02-08 Sun 20:00>  Estadio de Bata                    Bata           
   De Topper                    PSV                       Ajax                  1   3  Ajax                      <2015-03-01 Sun 16:45>  Philips Stadion                    Eindhoven      
   Choc des Olympiques          Olympique de Marseille    Olympique Lyonnais    0   0  Olympique Lyonnais        <2015-03-15 Sun 21:00>  Stade Vélodrome                    Marseille      
   Tyne-Wear derby              Sunderland                Newcastle             1   0  Sunderland                <2015-04-05 Sun 16:00>  Stadium of Light                   Sunderland     
   Manchester derby             Manchester United         Manchester City       4   2  Manchester United         <2015-04-12 Sun 18:00>  Old Trafford                       Manchester     
   Derby della Madonnina        Inter                     Milan                 0   0  Milan                     <2015-04-19 Sun 19:45>  Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)  Milan          
   KVNB Cup final               PEC Zwolle                FC Groningen          0   2  FC Groningen              <2015-05-03 Sun 18:00>  De Kuip                            Rotterdam      
   Superclásico                 Boca Juniors              River Plate           2   0  Boca Juniors              <2015-05-03 Sun 22:15>  Boca Juniors                       Buenos Aires   
   Coppa Italia final           Juventus                  Lazio                 2   1  Juventus                  <2015-05-20 Wed 20:45>  Stadio Olimpico                    Rome           
   FA Cup final                 Arsenal                   Aston Villa           4   0  Arsenal                   <2015-05-30 Sat 17:30>  Wembley                            London         
   Coupe de France final        Auxerre                   Paris Saint-Germain   0   1  Paris Saint-Germain       <2015-05-30 Sat 21:00>  Stade de France                    Saint-Denis    
   Copa del Rey final           Athletic Bilbao           Barcelona             1   3  Barcelona                 <2015-05-30 Sat 21:30>  Camp Nou                           Barcelona      
   Taça de Portugal final       Sporting CP               Braga                 5   3  Sporting CP               <2015-05-31 Sun 17:15>  Estádio Nacional                   Oeiras         
   UEFA Champions League final  Juventus                  Barcelona             1   3  Barcelona                 <2015-06-06 Sat 20:45>  Olympiastadion                     Berlin         
   Clássico dos Milhões         Vasco da Gama             CR Flamengo           1   0  Vasco da Gama             <2015-06-29 Mon 00:30>  Arena Pantanal                     Rio de Janeiro



3.4 Choose the difficulty level of the next match
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each match is played at one of the following ten difficulty levels, which have been ordered from top to bottom from the hardest to the easiest.

Code: 
    #  level  PES 2015 level  winning team  losing team 
  ------------------------------------------------------
   15  SL     superstar                     x           
   13  SW     superstar       x                         
   12  TL     top player                    x           
   10  TW     top player      x                         
    9  PL     professional                  x           
    7  PW     professional    x                         
    6  RL     regular                       x           
    4  RW     regular         x                         
    3  AL     amateur                       x           
    1  AW     amateur         x


The difficulty level of the next match is determined by the difficulty level of your previous match and the result of your previous match.
- If you played a draw, your difficulty level stays the same.
- If you won, your difficulty level moves up by one in the table of difficulty levels; for example, from TW (top player, winning team) to TL (top player, losing team).
- If you lost, your difficulty drops down by one; for example, from TW (top player, winning team) to PL (professional, losing team).

If you do not wish to move beyond a given level, you may determine your own highest level. For example, if you do not want to play against superstar, you may decide that your highest level is TL.

If you lose a match at the lowest level AW, you will remain there. If you win at the highest level SW, you will remain there, but we recommend that you play the next match unassisted if you were playing assisted in the previous match.

The difficulty level numbers in the table are used to determine your challenge score.


3.5 Report your result
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you would like a challenge score at the end of the challenge, report the result of your match by sending a message to this thread. In the message please report, for each match

- the match played; example San Lorenzo - Nacional
- your difficulty level in this match; example TW
- your team in the match; example San Lorenzo
- the result; example lost 2-3
- your difficulty level in next match; example PL.

A template is provided here for you to fill in the information:

,----
| MATCH:
| DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
| MY TEAM:
| RESULT:
| NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
`----

You can naturally combine the results of multiple matches in a single message.


3.6 Proceed to the next match
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now play the next match in the table, at the difficulty level of the next match you found above. Pay attention to which team is the winner of the next match. The result of this second match will determine the difficulty level of your third match etc.


4 The challenge score
=====================

Only if you so wish, at the end of this challenge a score will be reported for you. This score will be the mean of your next match difficulty levels.

Let me give an example with a challenge of only four matches. I start at initial difficulty level TW, with level no 10. I then play the four matches with following results:

Code: 
   result  next match level  next level number 
  ---------------------------------------------
   win     TL                               12 
   draw    TL                               12 
   loss    TW                               10 
   loss    PL                                9

My tournament score would then be the average of 12, 12, 10 and 9, that is, 10.75.


5 What next?
============

If you want to play through this challenge, just start playing, and keep an eye on this opening post for possible updates. There is even no need to respond to this thread unless you want to have a challenge score at the end. Most up-to-date info will always be available in this first post.

Let the games begin!

 
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During double checking noticed that Huracán is not in vanilla PES. Will switch that classic for another soon.
 
Just a quick thought: why don't we also add some "scenario" bonuses/maluses based on the score in addition to the points we'd get for completing the match?
So a player winning 3-1 a match at PL level would be rewarded more than one winning the same match 1-0 :)
I'll elaborate a little more tonight if you're interested.
 
*aLe said:
Just a quick thought: why don't we also add some "scenario" bonuses/maluses based on the score in addition to the points we'd get for completing the match?
So a player winning 3-1 a match at PL level would be rewarded more than one winning the same match 1-0 :)
I'll elaborate a little more tonight if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Excellent idea. Just throw me a suggestion of the details.

There were some matches with OT/penalties...
 
It would take goal difference into account.
If your goal difference is better than what happened in the real game (e.g. you play with the losing team but manage to lose only 1-0 when the match ended 2-0, or you play the same match with the winning team and you win 4-1) you get a bonus. If it's worse, points will be deducted from your score.

Let's make an example with the UEFA Super Cup. Let's assume that we play as Real Madrid (TW).
Code: 
OUTCOME     RL RESULT   "NEXT MATCH" SCORE   BONUS/DEDUCTION                     TOTAL POINTS
1-0 WIN     2-0 WIN     12 (TL)              -0.5 (goal difference WORSE by 1)   11.5
3-1 WIN     2-0 WIN     12 (TL)              0 (same goal difference)            12
4-0 WIN     2-0 WIN     12 (TL)              +1 (goal diff. BETTER by 2)         13

2-2 DRAW    2-0 WIN     10 (TW)              -1 (goal difference WORSE by 2)     9

0-1 LOSS    2-0 WIN     9 (PL)               -1.5 (goal difference WORSE by 3)   7.5
This of course applies to the losing team too.
If playing with Sevilla you only lose 1-0 (or 2-1, or 3-2) you add a 0.5 to your overall score.
If you lose 4-1 you face a deduction of 0.5 points, and so on.

So if your manage to have your team (whether it be the winning or the losing one) perform better than what they did in the real match, you get rewarded.
If you do worse, you get points deducted from the overall.

It's kinda simple to compute and it would add a little extra spice to the challenge.
 
Guess I should actually give this a go. Master League ended up disappointing me badly (momentums and crap like that), but maybe that's not a thing in Exhibition?

And it's a decent chance to practice manual settings, at last.

Question thou, does it have to be 15 minutes per game? In all honesty I always do 10 minutes games, but hey, if it's required, so be it.
 
Anjin Miura said:
Guess I should actually give this a go. Master League ended up disappointing me badly (momentums and crap like that), but maybe that's not a thing in Exhibition?

And it's a decent chance to practice manual settings, at last.

Question thou, does it have to be 15 minutes per game? In all honesty I always do 10 minutes games, but hey, if it's required, so be it.
Click to expand...

My humble opinion is that at least when you turn off player emotions in exhibition matches, home team momentum no longer bothers.

As for gameplay settings, you can use whatever you like. I just listed my settings there, they are not the norm. I guess the three of us who are in atm would all play with manual settings.

*aLe, I'll return to your suggestion later.
 
Some of the matches i played already on my channel and you guys could use the tactics from those matches before you play each game which should increase the difficulty and fun factor.

-Spurs Arsenal
-PSV Ajax
- Inter Milan
-Barca Juventus
 
Changed one South-American classic to another in the opening post, because one of the teams was not available in PES.

Notice that if you scroll the match table horizontally, you can see exact match times and stadia.

*aLe: I like your idea of basing the bonus on goal difference. That would automatically sort out things like extra time and penalties.

There is an asymmetry that bothers me, though. Say you are playing a classic that really ended 1-0. If you are playing at TW, as the winner, a result 1-0 would get the job done and bump you to the next level, but gives no bonus. But if you are playing at TL, then a result of 0-1 would also get the job done, with the smallest possible goal difference, and would give you the bonus.

That is, if you win as a losing team, you automatically get a bonus.

Not sure if this is a problem, but I'll need to think about it.
 
Well you're right... I thought that winning with a "losing" team should be rewarded, but maybe it would be a little over the top.
We could think about adding boundaries to bonuses/deductions, so one will always fall in the -1/+1 range.
So if I used Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup and pulled a 2-0 win, I would get a +1 bonus (opposed to the +2 one I would get with "standard" GD difference).
This would also be more fair towards people playing at TW and losing for example, as they would be limited to a 1 point deduction instead of maybe losing 3.
 
*aLe said:
Well you're right... I thought that winning with a "losing" team should be rewarded, but maybe it would be a little over the top.
We could think about adding boundaries to bonuses/deductions, so one will always fall in the -1/+1 range.
So if I used Sevilla in the UEFA Super Cup and pulled a 2-0 win, I would get a +1 bonus (opposed to the +2 one I would get with "standard" GD difference).
This would also be more fair towards people playing at TW and losing for example, as they would be limited to a 1 point deduction instead of maybe losing 3.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but I am still unsure about the specifics. Perhaps, if you are winning by a large margin you can just enjoy the game and show that in your highlight video?

PES 2015 is coming to the end of its lifecycle, but it's giving me its best before letting go. Played one of my best matches ever today. Premier league, me controlling Southampton away against Hull, superstar and full manual. Won 0-1, and the best part was that with fierce defending and a defensive formation, I was able to deny the CPU from shooting during the last 15 minutes of the match. Not even that familiar extra time shot. But I had to use everything I have learned, and I also needed some luck to make some interceptions.

I will be playing the first match of the challenge real soon. Let's get the show on the road!
 
The show hits the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dztgsUGCFYI

,----
| MATCH: San Lorenzo - Nacional
| DIFFICULTY LEVEL: TW
| MY TEAM: San Lorenzo
| RESULT: win 2-1
| NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: TL
`----

This certainly isn't the easiest match to start the challenge with. Even though San Lorenzo was the winner of this classic, it is the weaker of the two teams. I am glad I don't do extended highlights, because particularly at the beginning of the match Nacional broke through the wing again and again, and passed to the box where they often had a free attacker. I got lucky there. As you can see in the stats, the CPU had more crosses than me!

But fortunately San Lorenzo was playing a 4-2-3-1, presumably attacking through the center, because that is the formation I can actually use in this game. So I broke through the center a couple of times, and that did the trick.

Next I am likely to take a beating from Real Madrid. I won't make this a boring monologue, so I will wait for someone else's results before posting my next one.
 
I'm getting a couple of things ready and I'll play some matches during the week too :)

By the way, nice passing action for the first goal. Spot on.
Too bad you conceded from a wrong pass but I feel for you, I also try too much to "short-pass" the ball out of the defence instead of just kicking it as far as possible.
Well, the important thing is that you managed to win it anyway :)
 
*aLe said:
Too bad you conceded from a wrong pass...
Click to expand...

That was also a prime example of my panic defense mode, where instead of coolly delaying the attack - like I should - in the heat of the match I throw everything at them. Against superstar that's like a recipe for an instant goal; here even top player penalised me for it.

Looking forward to your match reports.
 
Last edited:
Hey James, do you play PC or PS4? And if anyone here has PC version and records the videos - which programs do you use? I have Mirillis Action but for some reason recordings of PES 15 are twice as fast as game :(

Regardless, if I will not fix this I wanna start relatively soon. It would be lovely to just be able to have some gameplay to show (highlights etc.) but if that won't work, ay, I will try anyway, in a few next days.

Been practicing manual on PC real hard recently. Suddenly game just...became better. Well, playable :D

I am a happy man because of this.
 
I'm currently using Raptr.
I used to use Bandicam but Raptr is lighter than Bamdicam in terms of performance, at least it looks so to me.
 
*aLe is the master here when it comes to things PC. I do have PES on PC also, but I play mostly on PS4.
 
And finally it's time for me to show my first match.
I'll probably move from the 1080p format to the 720p one for the videos, as FullHD videos would actually take half a day to upload from here. But anyway I'll see if I manage to reduce file size a little before committing to smaller resolutions :)
So, here we go!

As James suggested, I didn't post the result of the match. Of course the reason is that what happened is a little embarassing. :DOH:

Once again I managed to concede straight from kick-off, I don't know why it happens so often to me... Or maybe I do: :ZZZ:
Anyway, we conceded at the beginning of the match and it's been a hillclimb since.

I'm pretty happy about how I played though, trying to pass it in the box (as opposed to them resorting to hoofball, shame on you all) and I forced Munua to make some outstanding saves.
Well actually he performed in this match alone pretty much as many saves as he did in the whole Copa Libertadores. :RANT:

I eventually managed to score with Piatti dinking it past the keeper after a good passing work (I loved the way I managed to wait for him to be in the right position before giving him the ball, it was a little joy in a match made of frustration) and bringing it to extra time, but then I messed up again: a wrong throw by my keeper went straight to the opposition and I got punished.

That's pretty much it: I lost. :FAIL:

MATCH: San Lorenzo - Nacional
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: TW
MY TEAM: San Lorenzo
RESULT: 2-1 AET LOSS
NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PL (lower)

So, I've one thing more to say: VAMOS SEVILLAAAAA!!! :RSCARF::RSCARF::RSCARF:
 
Last edited:
*aLe,

another great thriller. I liked to watch your offensive play again. Nice variation in approaches.

And you were bombing away, so it was just one of those matches. You created a good number of chances, and that's what matters to me.

So we're on to the next match. I will hopefully play mine today.
 
Highlights of my next match: Real Madrid - Sevilla.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFo_Cbcx5TA

,----
| MATCH: Real Madrid - Sevilla
| DIFFICULTY LEVEL: TL
| MY TEAM: Sevilla
| RESULT: win 1-2
| NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: SW
`----

One word describes accurately how playing this match felt most of the time: horrible. In this game RMA players react so frigging fast. There were countless occasions where I thought I had possession of the ball, only to have it stolen by an opposition player from right in front of me or even from my feet.

But let's face it. The same man who won Sevilla the 2015 Europa league final also won them this match. Without a doubt the man of the match; brilliant finishing.

Otherwise... I don't think I have ever before pressed the clear-button so many times in a match. I just couldn't afford to try to hold on to the ball.

(BTW, in that 1-2 RMA goal you can once again see the the AI move my CB up from the line, thus opening the space for the through ball. Let's just hope things will be a bit better in PES 2016. On the other hand, it does happen in real football as well.)
 
It's time for my second match, isn't it?

Another match, another massacre. Not that I expected much against Real, but I'm just a little annoyed anyway. :CURSE:

I mean, Real Madrid players are on another planet when it comes to ball control/reactions. My players, on the other hand, always had to do that "one more touch" to control the ball.
Also, I couldn't touch any of their players if I didn't want to get booked yet they elbowed me several times without the referee giving a damn about it.
On the top of that, add my renowned finishing skills (because I actually had chances and I actually threw all of them down the drain) and you have yet another recipe for a disaster. :FAIL:

Real Madrid scored pretty early and I must admit it was also a nice goal: some good passing, ball to Ronaldo, my keeper failing to retain it and giving the ball back to Ronaldo for an easy tap-in. One nil.
Then one of their players went down like he'd been shot for no apparent reason (OK, I must admit it, it was a foul. It's just that I'm a little biased) and Ronaldo nearly made it 2-0 with the subsequent free kick.
Actually they opretty much dominated the first half and had another chance near the end (again a wonderful ball by Ronaldo, I'm lucky Benzema is just as good as me when finishing), props to my keeper for saving it.

The second half started in a different way, I decided to rely on the counter and I was more determined to equalize.
I had two huge chances with Bacca, one ending straight into Casillas' arms and the other one, well, my finishing skills... You'll see by yourself. :FAIL::FAIL::FAIL:

So it's not a surprise that near the end, when I was trying desperately to score the equalizer, I conceded the 2-0 goal. Once again, great goal by Jesé that received a low pass after a little mess of my defense and managed to lob it past my keeper. GG.

MATCH: Real Madrid - Sevilla
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PL
MY TEAM: Sevilla
RESULT: 2-0 LOSS
NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PW (lower)

Now let's move to Australia :)
 
*aLe,

finishing... Sometimes things click, sometimes they don't. Just won a cup semi 1-3 in the Premier league after playing a series of three 0-0 matches. And even on full manual I can swear it depends on player condition. In one match I had a DMF in red condition, and he shot two amazing long distance goals. I do not operate the controller that well. Full manual isn't really fully manual (some say that with L2 it is, dunno; I only use it regularly in headers).

Played a practice match with the Australian team we'll be playing with next, against Verona. What a great match! Shows once again how this game shines with the lower teams. Passing, shooting etc. is just not so OP with these teams. Looking forward to the real classic.
 
I agree. The matches I enjoy the most are the ones in which the famous used and abused teams are not featured.
For example, the next match has been a real joy to play and I promise it'll be a joy to watch also. :)

WESTERN SYDNEY WANDERERS - AL HILAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H4fBwPRbyw​
Yay! WE WON! :BOP:

This is probably one of the best PES 2015 matches I've ever played.
I knew I could win so I started charging at them straight from the kick off.
Minute 3: We manage to have a shot from outside, saved. One of my players was the quickest to reach the ball and tried a simple tap-in with basically the empty net, I was already rejoicing but their keeper pulled the ball out of the goal. :SHOCK:
From the subsequent corner they started a counter, got a penalty (to be fair, it was legit) and scored. :MAD::MAD::MAD:

Then, it was time for WSW to shine: the 1-1 goal was there behind the corner and it soon came with some passing work and then a shot from inside the box that kissed the post and then went in (actually it is also one of the goals I'm most proud of), and the first half ended 1-1.

The second half can be described with just a name: KWABENA APPIAH.

Subbed in for Hersi, the young right wing pretty much won the match by himself: he showed what he's capable of with a powerful shot from outside that the keeper had to deflect wide, then proceeded to head the ball behind the keeper on the subsequent corner.

We had another couple of chances: before the 2-1 goal, a sweet cross from Santalab resulted in header going wide by inches. And then, after the 2-1 goal by Appiah, I had to pay the usual "poor-finishing tax" (meaning that once again I got one on one with the keeper and once again I fired it wide). :FAIL:

It was only in the injury time that Santalab scored the 3-1 goal, actually well deserved for what he'd done through all the match.

MATCH: Western Sydney Wanderers - Al Hilal
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PW
MY TEAM: Wanderers
RESULT: 3-1 WIN
NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PL (higher)

Now let's go back to South America. I wished to be River Plate, but I'll have to play against them.
Doesn't matter, GO ATLETICO NACIONAL! :GSCARF::GSCARF::GSCARF:
 
*aLe said:
I agree. The matches I enjoy the most are the ones in which the famous used and abused teams are not featured.
For example, the next match has been a real joy to play and I promise it'll be a joy to watch also.
Click to expand...

And to listen to as well. :D

Great work; loved that 1-1 equaliser. I was surprised that you subbed in a player at half time, but it obviously paid off. You clearly dominated the second half.

The matches of these lower teams look so much more like real football than the top level matches. I think the PES team should do something like a 20% lowering of the stats of all players in the game.

Hoping to be able to play my match soon.
 
James Beaver said:
And to listen to as well. :D
Click to expand...
I'm doing this experiment to match the commentary language with the competition so I used Spanish from Argentina for the first match, Spanish for the Real - Sevilla one, Arabic for this... I didn't understand a word of this last match's commentary for example. :LMAO:
Glad you liked the idea though! :)

As for the substitution, I must admit that I had Appiah back in FIFA 14 (I had a squad in FUT made of players from the A-League) so I was already planning to have him playing sooner or alter during the match. I didn't expect such a contribution from him though: he's quick and pretty pacey, and really managed to change the flow of the game in my favour. :BOP:
 
Here we go again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8jBy3UeVW0

,----
| MATCH: Western Sydney Wanderers - Al Hilal
| DIFFICULTY LEVEL: SW
| MY TEAM: Western Sydney Wanderers
| RESULT: win 5-3 after penalties (0-0)
| NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: SL
`----

This is going too well so far: I am in for a free fall soon.

What a match. In the first half I had some solid offensive play and good chances. At 45' the shot count was 8-5 in my favour. After 120' the shot count was 8-6. So the second half and OT were super careful play. I wasn't relaxed towards the end. I think that replicates nicely the atmosphere of a true cup match. Careful play. I wasn't taking any offensive chances by bringing up DMFs or anyone from the back four. And given that the CPU had 1 shot during the last 75' it paid off defensively.

Partially the low shot count can be explained by the fact that twice the CPU went into a 10 minute possession passing spree.

But the six shots the CPU had contained some classics, like the pass into the box from the cut-in. So this could easily have gone either way. It's not the result that I am especially happy about. It is the fact that my total shot count was better than the CPUs.
 
It's time for my second match, isn't it?

RIVER PLATE - ATLETICO NACIONAL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijMboUGycJ8​
Sometimes good luck just decides to be on your side.

That's what happened to me during the first half of this match: after me 'eating' (like we say here in Italy) two goals, River had a chance and the ball hit the post, rebounded off my keeper and looked like it was up for grabs with a River player apprioaching. But my keeper suddenly got up and remembered what he's being paid for. :APPLAUD:

Then again, we pushed them back nd forced them in their box and eventually the goal came. A well played R2 shot by Cardona from the left edge of the box left Barovero with no chances. One nil.

During the second half, though, things turned in their favour: a couple of one-handed saves from my keeper and the equalizer meant we had to go to extra time.

During minute 99, the rehearsal: a through ball for Angel, he shot, Barovero managed to put it wide with his fingertips. But we weren't done there.
The show went then live at the very end of first extra time: another through ball to Angel, but this time he didn't fail and fired it past the keeper. Two one.

We tried it once again in the second extra time, but Angel couldn't find the right timing to aim at the goal and got dispossessed.

Well, the important thing is that they didn't score either I guess. :LMAO:

MATCH: River Plate - Atlético Nacional
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: PL
MY TEAM: Atl. Nacional
RESULT: 2-1 AET WIN
NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: TW (higher)

Now let's play some British football eventually. Once again (like it happened in this match) I feel I'm on the wrong side of the fence (I'll actually be playing that match with an Arsenal shirt watching me from the wardrobe) but rules are rules. :)
 
Forward march!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2gag_fR7A4

*aLe, I'll take a look at your most recent match soon.

,----
| MATCH: River Plate - Atlético Nacional
| DIFFICULTY LEVEL: SL
| MY TEAM: Atlético Nacional
| RESULT: win 4-5 on penalties (1-1)
| NEXT DIFFICULTY LEVEL: SL
`----

Even though I was playing this classic controlling the "losing team," I was actually playing with the stronger of the two teams. So I had the upper hand.

It is a shame that I can't produce such nice highlight videos as *aLe, but it's simply too much hassle for me on the PS4. Anyway, I'll try to describe what happened.

At the very beginning of the match an attacker of mine broke through, but I took one extra touch and the chance dried up. After that my opponent had, in general, the better chances, but they just couldn't finish. I was playing mostly with the default formation, except that I changed containment to middle. So I was defending aggressively with frontline pressure. That left me quite vulnerable to counters, and River Plate broke through 2-3 times, but somehow we survived.

The final shot count was 7-3 in favour of River Plate, but that doesn't include "low hard pass" shots, so in reality it was something like 7-5. I had maybe three good chances, and I utilised one of them.

The CPU deserved the equaliser, but the way they scored has PANIC written all over. First, since time was up, I could have won by simply clearing the ball. Then, after losing possession, I started doing sliding tackles and running all over the place. Panic mode. Well you can see how it went.

At one point this year I thought playing against superstar was unfair quite often, but I now remember when someone wrote already in the autumn that when the CPU scores, he knows exactly how he f*cked up. I now believe that around 80%-95% of superstar CPU goals are a consequence of my own defensive mistakes, at least in these matches where "player emotions" are off.

In general, another really exciting match in which I had the chance to squeeze the controller hard for the full 120'.
 
Nice pass for the 1-0 goal :)
About the equalizer, I noticed one thing: straight after he won the ball back, your opponent looked like he knew you were trying a sliding tackle. I take it's another "difficulty factor" you must take into account when playing at the highest level.
 
*aLe said:
About the equalizer, I noticed one thing: straight after he won the ball back, your opponent looked like he knew you were trying a sliding tackle. I take it's another "difficulty factor" you must take into account when playing at the highest level.
Click to expand...

True that, and the only way to learn these things is through experience. The cases where a sliding tackle works against a superstar attacker are few.

Just watched your last match: well done! Very good use of manual through balls.

It looks like I will have a good gaming week, so starting tomorrow I will be pushing at least a couple of matches each day.
 
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