I mentioned recently that I was interested in playing Temple of Elemental Evil primarily because the combat in that game is very much based the D&D turn based ruleset. Unfortunately, very few turn based tactical games are released these days which is a real shame as turn based games tend to have a very different play style to real time games.
However, as I was thinking about TOEE, something occured to me. One of the comments made about the 4e D&D ruleset was that it was much more easily transferable to a cRPG format. Although no publisher is going to greenlight a AAA turn based game, it was very possible that an indie developer may have made a turn based rpg using the D20 OGL licence.
And after a bit of digging around, I managed to find Knights of the Chalice. In essence, its an indie game based on the older 3.5e D20 licence but what really caught my eye were some of the comments around how complete the help file explained 3.5e rules and how well the game had managed to adapt the 3.5e licence. So it was with great anticipation that I downloaded the demo.
Unfortunately, after playing around with the demo, I uninstalled it. The problem is that the game doesn't appear to be very well balanced. For example, you can only rest your party at designated campsites. You don't get the option of trying to rest in a dungeon but risk being interrupted by monsters. Couple in the fact that, according to comments, quite a few dungeons seal off the entrance after you get in and you can already easily imagine your party going up against the end boss with few spells and limited hitpoints.
But this wasn't what made me uninstall the demo.
While playing the demo, my party of 4 were wandering down a corrider when we were ambushed by bandits. Our party was caught by surprise and lost the initiative battle so the bandits got in 2 turns before my team would be able to act. Two lightning bolts from their mage later and I was left with a mage who had to fight off 6 bandits on his own. This all happened before I got a chance to do anything.
Now, I am generally up for a challenge in terms of gameplay but from my limited playtime with the demo, this game just feels like it would be frustratingly difficult. Furthermore, the game is selling for GBP14.95. Quite frankly, I would much rather pay less money for TOEE and get what is probably a much more balanced game.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Fallout 3
Wow - after a long hiatus, I finally feel that I have played enough of Fallout 3 to give a reasonable opinion on it. I haven't finished the game yet (in the sense that I haven't completed the main story quest) but considering this is an open world RPG, I don't think finishing the main story is all that important (although I definitely intend to do so).
Stuff I liked
Atmosphere
Bethesda have simply done a fantastic job in creating a post-apocalyptic world for you to explore. From the opening cinematic all the way through to the music and graphics, the game not only feels like a wasteland but it also captures the feel of the original Fallout games perfectly. And this isn't just in terms of graphics or sound. What makes the atmosphere in Fallout 3 superb are little touches of how things are placed.
For example, in one of the museums is a demo of the vaults. Basically, it was built by Vault-tec so that they could show people the amazing new vault technology that they had developed. Inside this demo is a skeleton with a mop and bucket next to him. On the ground by his hands is a beer and a snack. Looking at that, you can just imagine the janitor sitting down to enjoy a quick snack just before the bombs hit. Little touches like this really make the game come alive.
VATS
Before I played this game, I really wondered how Bethesda would be able to pull off the VATS system in a real time FPS style. This really isn't an easy thing to do considering that VATS was a system initially designed to enable aimed shots in a turn based game. And I have to say that this is another area where Bethesda have done a good job. They have managed to capture the feel and style of VATS superbly.
Deaths
Another area where the game is hilariously funny are the death animations. I naturally picked the gory death perk as soon as I could and watching people explode into component parts when you get a sneak attack critical just never gets old. If you have played the original Fallout RPGs, then you would know that this is a holdover from those old games and I'm very glad that Bethesda included it in Fallout 3.
Stuff I didn't like
Party or tactical combat
All too often, it seems like your choices are to either have a group or to have tactical combat. Fundamentally, the game does give you lots of options to setup tactical encounters. You can sneak around and set mines. Or you could drop off a grenade in someones pants (which is hilarious).
However, all of those options become moot if you have a group. I have a high sneak skill so I can creep around undetected. My group (currently consisting of dogmeat and the Star Paladin) don't. What this means is that by the time I spot an enemy, they often spot dogmeat or the Paladin at the same time. At this point, dogmeat charges forward to engage in melee. Unfortunately, this also stops me from getting a clear shot so I have to strafe sideways until I can get a clear shot otherwise I end up shooting dogmeat in the arse.
The game tries to cater to this by allowing you to order your group to stay behind. Unfortunately, this isn't easy to do as you have to individually engage each one in conversation and ask that they stay behind. And then, when you want them to regroup, you need to individually engage each one in conversation and ask them to follow you again. Not fun.
I actually thought about ditching the party altogether. The problem is that there are enough instances where you come up against groups of supermutants that you sometimes really do need the extra body count so that the enemy can shoot at someone else instead of directing all their fire at you.
Stupid AI
Bashing a Bethesda game for bad AI - I bet you never saw this coming...
As with other Bethesda games I have played, I'm a little underwhelmed with the AI. In particular, one incident stands out in my mind. At the time, I had dogmeat and Charon in my group and while wandering around the Capital Wasteland, I came across a large raider base. What made this raider base impressive was the fact that they had somehow managed to capture a super mutant behemoth and trap it within some kind of electrically charged cage.
So what does Charon do? He charges into the cage and takes on the behemoth at point blank range. Despite the fact that he is normally perfectly happy engaging enemies at long range with his combat shotgun. Despite the fact that the behemoth is stuck in there and can't come out.
At this point, it doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next. With the amount of hitpoints that a behemoth has, it was able to flatten Charon before we were able to kill it. I thought about reloading but in the end, decided that the stupid twat deserved to die and just kept on going.
Story
Bashing a Bethesda game for its story - I bet you never saw this one coming either...
In some ways, its a bit unfair to pick on Bethesda for this. It is well known that their strength is in creating a fascinating open world for you to explore. In fact, in previous Bethesda games I have played, I have always enjoyed the game more when I deviated from the main story. But at the end of the day, this is an area which could be improved and they should continue to be called on it until they get it right.
Controls
I played Fallout 3 on the PC and in some ways, I wish I had played it on the X360. The issue is that the controls are clearly optimised for a gamepad and the PC version does occasionally suffer as a result of this.
For example, you can assign weapon hotkeys so that you can access different weapons quickly instead of having to go into your inventory each time. Unfortunately, you are limted to only 8 hotkeys - the numbers 1-8. What happened to numbers 9 and 0? The answer is obvious when you look at how the hotkeys are setup around the eight points of the compass which nicely correspond to what the X360 gamepad can handle.
What annoys me about issues like this is that there is simply no reason for the developer not to allow you to use the number 9 and 0 on your keyboard. Its not like they are being used for anything else and even if they were, keyboard mapping on PC games would easily resolve the issue.
Game Breaking DLC
I bought the GOTY edition which came with all the DLC. Initially, I was planning on playing the DLC much later but I accidentally stumbled across the Operation Anchorage DLC while wandering around. Seeing as I was there, I decided to go ahead and complete the DLC.
One of the items you get after completing Operation Anchorage is Chinese Stealth Armour. This armour is awesome in that it acts like a permanent stealth boy provided you are sneaking. At first, I was having a great time sneaking around and headshotting mutants. However, I very quickly realised that the armour actually breaks the game as it becomes too easy to sneak.
Case in point, I now have 200 stimpacks simply as a result of most enemies not having a chance to damage me (and my meager reserves of bloodpacks and ice-cold nuka colas being enough to deal with the minor damage I do get).
Closing Comments
I have to admit that, despite the large number of complaints I have listed above, I do like Fallout 3. It is a good game and it deserves a thumbs up from me as well as the critical acclaim which it has received.
However, one thing which I realised as I played through Fallout 3 was that I really miss the turn based group combat of older D&D games. I really miss those old RPGs where it was really important to have a balanced group able to handle a multitude of situations instead of 1 uber PC who can handle everything. Those kinds of RPGs have a very different feel to them and for me, come closest to the days when I was playing pen and paper RPGs.
After I finish with Fallout 3, I intend to play through Hitman: Blood Money on the X360 (which I borrowed from a friend) but after that, I will probably go buy Temple of Elemental Evil (or maybe go through Icewind Dale).
Stuff I liked
Atmosphere
Bethesda have simply done a fantastic job in creating a post-apocalyptic world for you to explore. From the opening cinematic all the way through to the music and graphics, the game not only feels like a wasteland but it also captures the feel of the original Fallout games perfectly. And this isn't just in terms of graphics or sound. What makes the atmosphere in Fallout 3 superb are little touches of how things are placed.
For example, in one of the museums is a demo of the vaults. Basically, it was built by Vault-tec so that they could show people the amazing new vault technology that they had developed. Inside this demo is a skeleton with a mop and bucket next to him. On the ground by his hands is a beer and a snack. Looking at that, you can just imagine the janitor sitting down to enjoy a quick snack just before the bombs hit. Little touches like this really make the game come alive.
VATS
Before I played this game, I really wondered how Bethesda would be able to pull off the VATS system in a real time FPS style. This really isn't an easy thing to do considering that VATS was a system initially designed to enable aimed shots in a turn based game. And I have to say that this is another area where Bethesda have done a good job. They have managed to capture the feel and style of VATS superbly.
Deaths
Another area where the game is hilariously funny are the death animations. I naturally picked the gory death perk as soon as I could and watching people explode into component parts when you get a sneak attack critical just never gets old. If you have played the original Fallout RPGs, then you would know that this is a holdover from those old games and I'm very glad that Bethesda included it in Fallout 3.
Stuff I didn't like
Party or tactical combat
All too often, it seems like your choices are to either have a group or to have tactical combat. Fundamentally, the game does give you lots of options to setup tactical encounters. You can sneak around and set mines. Or you could drop off a grenade in someones pants (which is hilarious).
However, all of those options become moot if you have a group. I have a high sneak skill so I can creep around undetected. My group (currently consisting of dogmeat and the Star Paladin) don't. What this means is that by the time I spot an enemy, they often spot dogmeat or the Paladin at the same time. At this point, dogmeat charges forward to engage in melee. Unfortunately, this also stops me from getting a clear shot so I have to strafe sideways until I can get a clear shot otherwise I end up shooting dogmeat in the arse.
The game tries to cater to this by allowing you to order your group to stay behind. Unfortunately, this isn't easy to do as you have to individually engage each one in conversation and ask that they stay behind. And then, when you want them to regroup, you need to individually engage each one in conversation and ask them to follow you again. Not fun.
I actually thought about ditching the party altogether. The problem is that there are enough instances where you come up against groups of supermutants that you sometimes really do need the extra body count so that the enemy can shoot at someone else instead of directing all their fire at you.
Stupid AI
Bashing a Bethesda game for bad AI - I bet you never saw this coming...
As with other Bethesda games I have played, I'm a little underwhelmed with the AI. In particular, one incident stands out in my mind. At the time, I had dogmeat and Charon in my group and while wandering around the Capital Wasteland, I came across a large raider base. What made this raider base impressive was the fact that they had somehow managed to capture a super mutant behemoth and trap it within some kind of electrically charged cage.
So what does Charon do? He charges into the cage and takes on the behemoth at point blank range. Despite the fact that he is normally perfectly happy engaging enemies at long range with his combat shotgun. Despite the fact that the behemoth is stuck in there and can't come out.
At this point, it doesn't take a genius to work out what happens next. With the amount of hitpoints that a behemoth has, it was able to flatten Charon before we were able to kill it. I thought about reloading but in the end, decided that the stupid twat deserved to die and just kept on going.
Story
Bashing a Bethesda game for its story - I bet you never saw this one coming either...
In some ways, its a bit unfair to pick on Bethesda for this. It is well known that their strength is in creating a fascinating open world for you to explore. In fact, in previous Bethesda games I have played, I have always enjoyed the game more when I deviated from the main story. But at the end of the day, this is an area which could be improved and they should continue to be called on it until they get it right.
Controls
I played Fallout 3 on the PC and in some ways, I wish I had played it on the X360. The issue is that the controls are clearly optimised for a gamepad and the PC version does occasionally suffer as a result of this.
For example, you can assign weapon hotkeys so that you can access different weapons quickly instead of having to go into your inventory each time. Unfortunately, you are limted to only 8 hotkeys - the numbers 1-8. What happened to numbers 9 and 0? The answer is obvious when you look at how the hotkeys are setup around the eight points of the compass which nicely correspond to what the X360 gamepad can handle.
What annoys me about issues like this is that there is simply no reason for the developer not to allow you to use the number 9 and 0 on your keyboard. Its not like they are being used for anything else and even if they were, keyboard mapping on PC games would easily resolve the issue.
Game Breaking DLC
I bought the GOTY edition which came with all the DLC. Initially, I was planning on playing the DLC much later but I accidentally stumbled across the Operation Anchorage DLC while wandering around. Seeing as I was there, I decided to go ahead and complete the DLC.
One of the items you get after completing Operation Anchorage is Chinese Stealth Armour. This armour is awesome in that it acts like a permanent stealth boy provided you are sneaking. At first, I was having a great time sneaking around and headshotting mutants. However, I very quickly realised that the armour actually breaks the game as it becomes too easy to sneak.
Case in point, I now have 200 stimpacks simply as a result of most enemies not having a chance to damage me (and my meager reserves of bloodpacks and ice-cold nuka colas being enough to deal with the minor damage I do get).
Closing Comments
I have to admit that, despite the large number of complaints I have listed above, I do like Fallout 3. It is a good game and it deserves a thumbs up from me as well as the critical acclaim which it has received.
However, one thing which I realised as I played through Fallout 3 was that I really miss the turn based group combat of older D&D games. I really miss those old RPGs where it was really important to have a balanced group able to handle a multitude of situations instead of 1 uber PC who can handle everything. Those kinds of RPGs have a very different feel to them and for me, come closest to the days when I was playing pen and paper RPGs.
After I finish with Fallout 3, I intend to play through Hitman: Blood Money on the X360 (which I borrowed from a friend) but after that, I will probably go buy Temple of Elemental Evil (or maybe go through Icewind Dale).
Sunday, October 31, 2010
FM 2010 - Preseason 2013/14
What a year 2012/13 turned out to be! Winning the Premiership and Champions League double gave us a stack of revenue but even so, it wasn't enough to cover our operating costs for the year (primarily due to a huge transfer outlay). As a result, there were several key focus points for my transfer policy over the coming summer.
The first was to ensure that I spent funds reasonably. The reality is that my club had a negative bank balance even with the huge revenue streams I received from winning the Prem and the CL. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford a big money signing this year.
The second focus was around Babel and Stevie G - I needed a replacement for Babel as I suspected that he would want to leave the club soon for a new challenge. In addition, Stevie G was starting to get old and I would need a replacement to act as cover in the short term with a view to taking over his slot in the long term. But who could I sign with limited funds?
Luckily for me, our new chairman (if you recall, we managed to kick Hicks out in 2009/10) came up with some additional capital! Together with the sponsorship money and season tickets, our club was not only back into the red, but we had a decent transfer kitty as well!
I like my new chairman :)
Unfortunately, right at the start of the transfer window, Aquilani decided that he wanted a new challenge. Which was a bit of an upset primarily as he was a pretty important player for us.
Lying git - why did you request a transfer if it was so hard for you to leave!
Anyway, time to get started on the transfer market. Which isn't as easy as you would think. The problem is that most players are prohibitively expensive if they are good (you may recall that I spent over GBP40m for Papastaphopoulos who was a CB - imagine how much an attacking player would cost!).
Luckily for me, I knew that I would be looking for a left winger a while ago so I had been keeping tabs on players who might be available and who were able to play in that position. A massive stroke of good luck enabled us to pick up Mesut Ozil for GBP20m which is an incredibly good price considering how good a player he is.
Ozil actually plays best as an AMC but his quality means that he can play AML better than Babel
And the great thing with Ozil is that he can also cover for Gerrard if necessary!
Originally, Ozil was going to be my only new big signing. However, another piece of good fortune would shine on me.
Rumors that I was interested in Wesley Sneijder - I wasn't
A rumor came out that I was interested in Sneijder. The truth was that I wasn't looking to buy him but had scouted him as part of my normal scouting process. However, after the rumor came out, I realised that I could purchase him for a relatively small GBP15m. For a player of his quality, the price was just too attractive and not long after, Sneijder joined our ranks.
Another quality signing - this is shaping up to be a great close season!
Alas, fate would play one more cruel trick upon me. While I benefited from the rumor mill in signing Sneijder, the rumor mill came to bite me in the ass when a couple of clubs showed their interest in Skrtel. I publicly ruled out selling him but alas, by Monday morning, he was in my office asking for a transfer.
Although annoyed, I wasn't too upset as Ian Jones had been doing a fantastic job and I felt he was ready to step up to the first team on a full time basis.
If I ever find proof that someone tapped him up, I will go legal!
As the pre-season draws to a close, this is the look of my squad.
As you can see, I have a pretty huge squad. Part of the reason for this is that I have put a real focus on youth players (new names you see in the team which I haven't talked about are generally people who came up through the youth system or people I bought as youngsters). The other reason for the large squad is that I want to challenge for a couple more cups this year and hence, need some more decent players (even if they are a bit young).
After those screenshots were taken, I made one more new signing. Initially, I had tried to get some experienced CB but they were all looking for guaranteed first team action and I wasn't willing to offer them that. In the end, I had to settle for buying another youngter.
The first was to ensure that I spent funds reasonably. The reality is that my club had a negative bank balance even with the huge revenue streams I received from winning the Prem and the CL. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford a big money signing this year.
The second focus was around Babel and Stevie G - I needed a replacement for Babel as I suspected that he would want to leave the club soon for a new challenge. In addition, Stevie G was starting to get old and I would need a replacement to act as cover in the short term with a view to taking over his slot in the long term. But who could I sign with limited funds?
Luckily for me, our new chairman (if you recall, we managed to kick Hicks out in 2009/10) came up with some additional capital! Together with the sponsorship money and season tickets, our club was not only back into the red, but we had a decent transfer kitty as well!
I like my new chairman :)
Unfortunately, right at the start of the transfer window, Aquilani decided that he wanted a new challenge. Which was a bit of an upset primarily as he was a pretty important player for us.
Lying git - why did you request a transfer if it was so hard for you to leave!
Anyway, time to get started on the transfer market. Which isn't as easy as you would think. The problem is that most players are prohibitively expensive if they are good (you may recall that I spent over GBP40m for Papastaphopoulos who was a CB - imagine how much an attacking player would cost!).
Luckily for me, I knew that I would be looking for a left winger a while ago so I had been keeping tabs on players who might be available and who were able to play in that position. A massive stroke of good luck enabled us to pick up Mesut Ozil for GBP20m which is an incredibly good price considering how good a player he is.
Ozil actually plays best as an AMC but his quality means that he can play AML better than Babel
And the great thing with Ozil is that he can also cover for Gerrard if necessary!
Originally, Ozil was going to be my only new big signing. However, another piece of good fortune would shine on me.
Rumors that I was interested in Wesley Sneijder - I wasn't
A rumor came out that I was interested in Sneijder. The truth was that I wasn't looking to buy him but had scouted him as part of my normal scouting process. However, after the rumor came out, I realised that I could purchase him for a relatively small GBP15m. For a player of his quality, the price was just too attractive and not long after, Sneijder joined our ranks.
Another quality signing - this is shaping up to be a great close season!
Alas, fate would play one more cruel trick upon me. While I benefited from the rumor mill in signing Sneijder, the rumor mill came to bite me in the ass when a couple of clubs showed their interest in Skrtel. I publicly ruled out selling him but alas, by Monday morning, he was in my office asking for a transfer.
Although annoyed, I wasn't too upset as Ian Jones had been doing a fantastic job and I felt he was ready to step up to the first team on a full time basis.
If I ever find proof that someone tapped him up, I will go legal!
As the pre-season draws to a close, this is the look of my squad.
As you can see, I have a pretty huge squad. Part of the reason for this is that I have put a real focus on youth players (new names you see in the team which I haven't talked about are generally people who came up through the youth system or people I bought as youngsters). The other reason for the large squad is that I want to challenge for a couple more cups this year and hence, need some more decent players (even if they are a bit young).
After those screenshots were taken, I made one more new signing. Initially, I had tried to get some experienced CB but they were all looking for guaranteed first team action and I wasn't willing to offer them that. In the end, I had to settle for buying another youngter.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
FM 2010 - Season 2012/13
You will recall that at the start of the year, both Agger and Babel were looking for a new challenge. Agger in particular had submitted a transfer request which had caused me a world of trouble as I had to scramble to buy a replacement CB. Agger subsequently left on a loan (with option to purchase) while Babel hung around for another year.
Luckily for me, Papastaphopoulos (what a name!) turned out to be an excellent player and although I still think I overpayed for him, I have to admit that at least he immediately established himself into the squad as a key player.
Anyway, after the disaster that was season 2011/12, there were two key things that I was looking to change.
Younger players
The first thing I wanted to do was to give my youth players more of a chance to play. If you were paying attention during my pre-season update, you would already know this. What you might not know is why.
One of the problems my side has always faced is a difficulty in breaking down weaker teams. In the first couple of seasons, we were generally able to beat the better teams but we always struggled against the weaker teams. At first, I thought it was simply because weaker teams were playing a lot more defensively thereby making it harder for me to score. However, I ultimately realised that the problem wasn't quite that simple as it seemed like some of my key players really weren't playing that well.
In short, I suspected it was a case of motivation. This was why I wanted to put more youngsters into my first team squad. By playing a mix of younger and more experienced players, I was able to have a solid spine of key players mixed in with young lads who were looking to impress and win a regular first team slot.
Buncha' bottlers
The second key thing I changed this year was in how I approached the mental aspect of the team. The problem I have is that my team are a bunch of bottlers. Put them in a pressure situation and they fold like a cheap suit. Looking back at the disaster that was last season, I think one of the things that went wrong was that I put too much pressure on the team to perform.
The thing is, I should have realised this much sooner. The signs were there. In the 2010/11 season, they buckled badly at the end of the year and there was a fair amount of luck in how we won the Prem that year.
The upshot of all this was that I made a very conscious decision to be a little more lenient on the team. Don't get me wrong, I fully intended to give out the occasional roasting (and in fact, did so on more than one occasion) but the key thing was to find the right balance so that the players had an environment in which they could perform.
Premiership
So, with all that said - did it work? What do you think:
Man City were favourites for the title - hahahaha, lets all laugh at MC!
Despite me ultimately running away with the title, things weren't smooth sailing. The start of the season was very similar to how last season developed in that we had a lot of trouble beating teams. In fact, most of the defeats and draws were in the early part of the season. I suspect this was primarily because the changes in mentality that I was trying to implement took time to take effect. However, after they did take effect - wow. My team went on a ridiculous unbeaten streak where we took on all and sundry!
Still, Arsenal weren't making it easy. It wasn't until around Xmas that I actually took over the lead and even after that, Arsenal were breathing down my back. In the end, the extra experience of my side proved decisive as, for some unknown reason, Arsenal fell apart in April and lost a ton of games.
Ah - it sure does feel good to be back at the top. :)
Cup glory too!
I didn't actually do too well in the League Cup or the FA Cup (which really disappointed the Board). What this means is that, as you can probably guess with a header like Cup Glory, I won the Champions League!
Actually, looking back, I have no idea how I managed to win the CL. All through the group stages and during the knockout stages, my team never played particularly well in CL matches. However, we were generally somehow able to sneak a win (due to Torres being awesome this year) which ultimately ensured our progress.
The final of the CL was against Chelsea and luckily for us, they had a player sent off early in the first half. Despite being down to 10 men, they still played really well. In fact, if I'm being honest, they probably outplayed us. However, Torres managed to score a goal on a counter attack and we ended up winning 1-0. What can I say - I guess we were just destined to win it. :)
The Squad
Final squad ratings below. Actually, that's not strictly true. Both Gerrard and Lucas played lots of games and were key players during the year. Unfortunately, both picked up injuries at the end of the year and I dumped them into the reserves while they were out injured. Of course, being the idiot that I am, I forgot to put them back into the squad for the end of year group pic.
D'oh!
As you can see, Torres was our key player this year
A look at the squad value (which doesn't mean as much as it used to as the value now defaults to what you paid for the player before slowing moving to a lower figure over time). Still, with 5 players valued over GBP10M, this is an impressive squad I've got.
Some concerns around the number of older players but otherwise, a good squad
Finances
Unfortunately, despite my success, the clubs finances aren't in particularly good shape.
Despite receiving GBP40M in prize money (GBP20M for the Prem and GBP20M for the CL), I still had a loss of approx GBP24M with my bank balance overdrawn by approx GBP11M. As you can see from the numbers though, a big reason for this is the huge net transfer spend of approx GBP59M (okay, I admit it - I bought the Prem!).
Luckily for me, Papastaphopoulos (what a name!) turned out to be an excellent player and although I still think I overpayed for him, I have to admit that at least he immediately established himself into the squad as a key player.
Anyway, after the disaster that was season 2011/12, there were two key things that I was looking to change.
Younger players
The first thing I wanted to do was to give my youth players more of a chance to play. If you were paying attention during my pre-season update, you would already know this. What you might not know is why.
One of the problems my side has always faced is a difficulty in breaking down weaker teams. In the first couple of seasons, we were generally able to beat the better teams but we always struggled against the weaker teams. At first, I thought it was simply because weaker teams were playing a lot more defensively thereby making it harder for me to score. However, I ultimately realised that the problem wasn't quite that simple as it seemed like some of my key players really weren't playing that well.
In short, I suspected it was a case of motivation. This was why I wanted to put more youngsters into my first team squad. By playing a mix of younger and more experienced players, I was able to have a solid spine of key players mixed in with young lads who were looking to impress and win a regular first team slot.
Buncha' bottlers
The second key thing I changed this year was in how I approached the mental aspect of the team. The problem I have is that my team are a bunch of bottlers. Put them in a pressure situation and they fold like a cheap suit. Looking back at the disaster that was last season, I think one of the things that went wrong was that I put too much pressure on the team to perform.
The thing is, I should have realised this much sooner. The signs were there. In the 2010/11 season, they buckled badly at the end of the year and there was a fair amount of luck in how we won the Prem that year.
The upshot of all this was that I made a very conscious decision to be a little more lenient on the team. Don't get me wrong, I fully intended to give out the occasional roasting (and in fact, did so on more than one occasion) but the key thing was to find the right balance so that the players had an environment in which they could perform.
Premiership
So, with all that said - did it work? What do you think:
Man City were favourites for the title - hahahaha, lets all laugh at MC!
Despite me ultimately running away with the title, things weren't smooth sailing. The start of the season was very similar to how last season developed in that we had a lot of trouble beating teams. In fact, most of the defeats and draws were in the early part of the season. I suspect this was primarily because the changes in mentality that I was trying to implement took time to take effect. However, after they did take effect - wow. My team went on a ridiculous unbeaten streak where we took on all and sundry!
Still, Arsenal weren't making it easy. It wasn't until around Xmas that I actually took over the lead and even after that, Arsenal were breathing down my back. In the end, the extra experience of my side proved decisive as, for some unknown reason, Arsenal fell apart in April and lost a ton of games.
Ah - it sure does feel good to be back at the top. :)
Cup glory too!
I didn't actually do too well in the League Cup or the FA Cup (which really disappointed the Board). What this means is that, as you can probably guess with a header like Cup Glory, I won the Champions League!
Actually, looking back, I have no idea how I managed to win the CL. All through the group stages and during the knockout stages, my team never played particularly well in CL matches. However, we were generally somehow able to sneak a win (due to Torres being awesome this year) which ultimately ensured our progress.
The final of the CL was against Chelsea and luckily for us, they had a player sent off early in the first half. Despite being down to 10 men, they still played really well. In fact, if I'm being honest, they probably outplayed us. However, Torres managed to score a goal on a counter attack and we ended up winning 1-0. What can I say - I guess we were just destined to win it. :)
The Squad
Final squad ratings below. Actually, that's not strictly true. Both Gerrard and Lucas played lots of games and were key players during the year. Unfortunately, both picked up injuries at the end of the year and I dumped them into the reserves while they were out injured. Of course, being the idiot that I am, I forgot to put them back into the squad for the end of year group pic.
D'oh!
As you can see, Torres was our key player this year
A look at the squad value (which doesn't mean as much as it used to as the value now defaults to what you paid for the player before slowing moving to a lower figure over time). Still, with 5 players valued over GBP10M, this is an impressive squad I've got.
Some concerns around the number of older players but otherwise, a good squad
Finances
Unfortunately, despite my success, the clubs finances aren't in particularly good shape.
Despite receiving GBP40M in prize money (GBP20M for the Prem and GBP20M for the CL), I still had a loss of approx GBP24M with my bank balance overdrawn by approx GBP11M. As you can see from the numbers though, a big reason for this is the huge net transfer spend of approx GBP59M (okay, I admit it - I bought the Prem!).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)