yosniel8

to the moderators please do not take this as a rant, i love si and fm and do not plan to stop playing the game. i just had this game and it left me quite speechless. i think this proves a lot of what people are saying in the forums, im not going to talk about the game or tactics, i just ask you guys to look at it. thank you very much.

here's the link for the pkm.
http://files.filefront.com//;8035676;;/

rashidi1

From the looks of your match, several things came to my mind.

This is what I think you didn't do:

1. You did not get angry with your players at halftime.

2. You didn't take risks..looks like you did not push up your dline and didn't play wide.

3. Getafe were playing with a really good formation that can be very vicious it can launch 5 players in your half...which means that their midfield can have a field day. Although you did get more possession in the middle most of the interceptions were being made by your defenders. Your two centrebacks were being overworked.

4. Offhand I'd say you didn't deserve to win. Even though you did get loads of possession, your chances were mostly the same type. Though I would say there were a couple of clear goals you should have converted. Your players hardly tested their keeper in the first 20mins

Which is why I think you should have had a go at them...That formation Getafe is nice..makes me want to go make one myself..really interesting how it snuffed you out in midfield without even putting up much of a fight. Even when it didn't win the ball. Their defenders were hardly pulled out of position.

yosniel8

i understand that maybe i might have made some mistakes but is hard to believe lionel messi missing two or three open net goals either wide or over, not to mention thierry henry's misses.

rashidi1

We don't know what kind of chances those really are do we? The 2D engine doesn't distinguish between an easy chance and a hard chance. The one messi had at the far post, should have gone in, but by then it was late in the second half.

Its like last nights match between Qatar and Vietnam. Qatar had a very good finisher by the name of sebastian, who had so many gilt edged chances, the one time he put the ball in the net came from an unlucky bounce for the Vietnamese team.

IRL as well, top sides create loads of chances, but because we can see them on the telly we can distinguish between a good one and a bad one. The 2D engine may have come some way since 97 but it still needs to better distinguish between easy and hard and sometimes the only way to do that is by reading the commentary. Then if you know he's having a bad day, take him off, if his morale is poor at half time, tell him you still have faith in him

That's what i do

yosniel8

yeah but remember, we are talking about lionel messi and thierry henry, world class players, did you by any chance see the goal he scored against Mexico last night? or the one against Getafe in the Copa del Rey?

yosniel8

so i went back and looked over the match with greater detail. the description that i added comes from the match report. here were my chances:

17 min-Ronaldinho clean through, miss
35 min-Henry unbelievable miss, miss
40 min-Messi saved
66 min-Henry heads to crossbar
69 min-Messi creates space, miss(open net)
70 min-Eto'o saved
74 min-Henry only the goalie to beat, miss
75 min-Eto'o header over
84 min-Messi diving header saved (while open net miracously goes slow and keeper gets back in time)


Final stats
Possession- 56-44 barcelona
Passing- 76-63 barcelona
Shots- barcelona 18-5, getafe 9-2

yosniel8

i guess the point that im trying to make is that si in their attempt to make the game more realistic need to improve the realism of shots on goal, players accuracy to score based on their ability, and overall balance of user team vs ai based on quality of players etc. In this game i had 4 world class players who are known for their lethal finishing and wonder goals miss extremely easy chances. they should improve the rate that an user team, having world class players, has of scoring goals and winning games.

rashidi1

The point I'm trying to make is something that is lost on you.

No matter how good a player is, you need to determine whether its a gilt edged chance or a howler. In the case of your match, I didn't get the impression that you were creating enough quality chances. The match generally showed my that the other team was good at parking a bus in front of their goal. Your players were surrounded most of the time.

If by a certain minute you realise that your team isn't scoring did you do anything different?

Your first half wasn't a good performance. If I had played the game I wouldn't even have let Getafe come anywhere near me. Yeah I would have taken risks, my tempo would have been fast and I would have been playing higher up the pitch..

If you think that because so and so is a good player and therefore he is expected to score then you're on the wrong track. As a manager you are supposed to make sure that so and so scores because you have set the team up in such a way that he cannot miss.

I'm sorry no matter what you tell me, the pkm clearly shows to me that you didn't do what was expected of you and you deserved to lose that game. That's my personal opinion, and if you are looking at me to feel sympathy for you, you're not getting it from me. That was a quality side, which deserves a better formation than what you put out. Getafe was playing with a 4231, a really good formation that is meant to have you on the backfoot, but your only reaction is to say...Messi couldn't score???

Messi is a good player running at players...and running behind the line..did you do that? Nope.


Have a look at my pkm and tell me if you can spot the difference between the kind of chances I create and the kind you create...this match is between Merthyr Tydfil against Juventus in Turin. We had only 7 shots on goals and converted 5. There's a lot of ways to skin a cat..but you need to understand the importance of adapting and making changes on the fly, but these aren't really difficult to do..stuff like changing your dline or tempo..and giving the right team talks.

PS> Try and take what I say the right way, I may appear harsh, but this is not a difficult game.

Juve vs Merthyr Tydfil PKM

yosniel8

first of all calmn down i haven't offended you and im not looking for a lengthy argument, second of all i have not said this game was hard as I am on top of the table, can take a screenshot if you like and was only my second loss all year which means moral was high on all players, third how is the 3 or 4 chances that my players were clearly behind their defensive line mean they were surrounded, sure, it happened on some occasions but not all, i realize i might have made a mistake but that was corrected after about the 60th min and all the players were still over 80 in condition. and messi is not a good player, he's a world class player and you yourself would've expected him to score am i right?

wwfan

As yosnie is using my tactic set, I guess I should reply.

Firstly, comparing the two sets he chose with yours, Rash, is an exercise in hopelessness. In your game you were fortunate to open the scoring and could easily have been a goal down, but you capitalized on that fortune in dramatic fashion. Once you did score, you had it much easier as your system totally disrupts the kind of attacking formation Juve used from then on in. Even then, only one of the goals was well-worked, with the other three coming from deflections, clearances and a very fast front two. I doubt it would be so successful in the Barca-Getafe scenario, as Getafe are less likely to throw caution to the winds. The time and space your attackers were afforded would be a luxury. Juve left three marking two most of the game, Getafe have 6 back. It takes a totally different approach towards scoring goals to break such a system down.

As for the Getafe game, firstly I would rarely if ever use the attack formation away or in Spain. I would be looking to start the Getafe match either with Possession or Control. The match stats 10 mins in were not enough in your favour (huge passing percentage advantage for Getafe), so I would have considered changing then. The key is not to concede in such matches and you weren't controlling the game enough. Possession or Control are likely to give you more of the ball so I would have switched to one of them at the 10 minute mark. Another switching point is the 35-min mark, when Getafe are beginning to look dangerous. They had contained you and were starting to get forward, creating a really good chance and winning a dangerous free kick. I would have looked to see the half out at that stage. The goal, when it came, was very unlucky, but there had been warnings. I also don't think either of Barca's first half-chances were easy, despite the commentary. Ronaldinho was lacking space and having to do things quickly and Henry explicitly used his wrong foot. Most of the first half-chances were long range efforts, which should tell you that something is amiss. The key is in watching the closing down. Getafe were doing it all over the pitch (meaning a very defensive setup) and your players were hurrying things, including shots. Slowing it down and deepening the line to open space would have helped dramatically.

Second half was a different story. You switched to Possession first, which was a mistake, and almost cost you a second. It was quite simply too conservative and you were losing the ball in deep positions to Getafe's pressing. Once you went Control your passing and possession stats went through the roof. You were exceedingly unlucky not to score. Messi should have buried his chance and you created a fair few openings via some impressive build up play. My assumption is that you were playing against a fired up Getafe who, if drawing, would have probably capitulated, but were playing above themselves to protect the lead. You still created three or four gilt-edged chances. I think had you been drawing or winning one of them would have been taken, but the extra anxiety of them coming latish in the match (panic/frustration is undoubtedly coded in) plus the score line caused them to be scuffed.

I don't think you gave yourself the best chance to win, mainly because for 60% of the match you were playing with the wrong tactical instruction. I am convinced that Control would have given you a comfortable win if used throughout. The Getafe formation is difficult to combat but for me Control against poor sides, Possession against better ones and Counter against top ones seems to do the trick. Attack should only really be used when you are playing at home against reasonably adventurous opponents.

On a side not, Eto'o at FCL and Henry at FCR? I would have them the other way round.