Career 500 International BatiGoals

[Brenty92]

I have found on the EME that playing someone on their favoured foots side has gained more assists for me anyway

[BatiGoal]

6 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

I have found on the EME that playing someone on their favoured foots side has gained more assists for me anyway

But as Wingers I suppose..or as Inside Forwards too?

[Brenty92]

Inside forwards, not necessarily a top assister but more assists than I'm used too for an IF

[BatiGoal]

20 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

Inside forwards, not necessarily a top assister but more assists than I'm used too for an IF

Interesting. I was going to mention to check his Teamwork but I'm not entirely sure how much of an effect that has. I've played similar players one with high and another with low Teamwork and results are similar. Also recent TFM Cup saw Vela being a pretty decent teamplayer despite his poor Teamwork. It's either too insignificant to notice or there's too many other variables in play to be able to single out each one.

Whenever it gets too complicated for me..or starting to make too little sense for my liking.. I return to keeping it simple and look at the obvious stats Thanks for the info, mate.

[Ashez]

Yeah my opinion is similar, just at times I wonder if I'm putting more importance on it than the game is haha.

Like I generally think about the footedness of all my players. Like if I have a right footed CM which direction is he more likely to receive the ball and then which direction is he more likely to pass it etc. It brings a whole level of depth to tactic creating yet I'm not convinced we have the ability to truly take advantage of it. As all we see are dots (not even a touch counter) we have no idea which foot the ball is taken on and so on. I feel there is some massive depth here just waiting to be untapped but we can't tell how to use it which makes me doubt it's importance in the big picture. 

Say you have your right winger as your primary creator or whatever the role is, how can footedness be used to make him more effective.

Let's assume he's a RW APM who's right footed. (All theory and just spitballing what comes to mind.)

Behind - The RB as they stay wide I assume being right footed is best but it would make him play the ball on the outside of the RW more. Being left footed however would ruin crosses, slow down play (Milner at LB as an example) but could potentially play a better ball inside the RW. 

Right sided CM - Left footed would make the best pass for him go to the right you'd think and it would be received on the RW's strong foot. 

Striker - Depends how you see the APM role as if he's just outside the box threading the ball a right footed player would be best I think but if he crosses it in/across box more to back post left could be better. 

Then player traits would play a role. 

I can easily confuse myself when thinking like this but it's all unknowns and why I get naggy about the lack of details and information in game. Someone else could imagine this set up the opposite way of with the players angled differently and it all changes yet we don't know for sure. Does a player control on one foot and then play on with the other? If so should we set it up so a player controls on weaker or stronger foot? All things we have no idea about. 

@BatiGoal - I don't take teamwork as an assisting attribute, I focus on creativity, technique and passing. I'll dig up some articles and send them your way. 

[Brenty92]

Looks like we've opened up a hell of a debate here ?

I have always took teamwork into account however some of my best assist machines of late have had no higher than say 11/12 for teamwork, so I'm starting to doubt its importance in game.

I feel at this point that more details in game are pretty necessary as I'm often tactic building blind due to the lack of info involved in game

[Ashez]

I'll post this here, it's something I did a few years back but seems to hold some weight still. 

Key points: 

1. The OP

2. Peely quotes of FM's manual and it gives good info on teamworks role. 

[BatiGoal]

9 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

Looks like we've opened up a hell of a debate here ?

What have you done! hehe!

20 minutes ago, Ashez said:

@BatiGoal - I don't take teamwork as an assisting attribute, I focus on creativity, technique and passing. I'll dig up some articles and send them your way

Creativity-Passing-Technique without question. Teamwork isn't an assisting attr per se I see it more as a "more frequent passer" if you will vs one that goes for own success a little more often. But that's typically an attr. I look at for forwards (IFs being one of 'em) who are more often in the position to either hit the target or pass to a teammate than say a CM or CB.

Thanks for the links. Will definitely give those a read but I must call it a night..should've done so 2 hours ago lol

Thanks for the feedback guys.

[Brenty92]

11 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I'll post this here, it's something I did a few years back but seems to hold some weight still. 

Key points: 

1. The OP

2. Peely quotes of FM's manual and it gives good info on teamworks role. 

Wow! Peely has almost single handedly changed the way I will set to go about finding support for a striker in a goal challenge! Like you said though it all boils down to how its interpreted by each player, I'm no longer adding teamwork to my filters when looking for playmakers however.

My normal filter includes Passing, creativity and teamwork, that has all gone out the window now ?

[Ashez]

That FM description of teamwork does throw so much out the window tbh. We used to think it meant "more likely to work as team/unselfish" which it does to a degree but not in the way many people think. 

According to that a winger with high teamwork is more likely to stay wide but not guarenteed to look for a pass like many would assume. As I said in that thread would a striker with low teamwork not be more selfish in terms of shooting but in fact in terms of leaving his position and doing his own thing.  

But yeah it all depends how you take the information as it's easy to spin into a negative or into a positive depending on your wording and attitude. 

There is just so much we don't know, like we all assume heading is a stat that impacts both boxes yet it's only influenced by defensive training. We all assume it's also an attacking trait as TM players like Crouch have good heading but is this heading the same? Try playing a CB with mint heading as a TM and he won't score headers like a striker would. Would Crouch at CB clear loads of headers? I can't say for sure. We assume that heading has just been poorly implemented into training yet defensive and attacking headers are totally different and the training hasn't changed ever to add heading into attacking. You can dig very deep into this game but you rarely find the answers. Then again you have the fact heading was renamed at some point, why was that renamed? Is it now taking into account more than heading? Like judging the flight of the ball or something? 

My head hurts :/ 

[Brenty92]

I can't even begin to fathom the ins and outs of this beautiful, stressful, amazingly annoying game!

Mine too ?

[Ashez]

7 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

I can't even begin to fathom the ins and outs of this beautiful, stressful, amazingly annoying game!

Mine too ?

If FMM had a physical release that would he the media quote on the box haha. 

Game is as deep or as simple as you want it to be in most cases, I just wish we had the means to go deeper. 

[Brenty92]

Doubtful that will ever happen tbh, they keep teasing us with 1 new stat each year lol

[BatiGoal]

8 hours ago, Ashez said:

I can easily confuse myself when thinking like this but it's all unknowns and why I get naggy about the lack of details and information in game. 

So true lol

Re teamwork.. one thing I often did as a newbie manager (hmm.. at times I feel I still am haha) what I did was compare the bests of the game per position and simply pick players with similar attributes. Then my idea was to find even better ones and in many cases it'd be identical players to the game's best + teamwork. 

I think the (my) confusion started when we interpret a high number in here to a more frequent passer but that would mean it takes away from his actual role and make him a lesser say IF.

Great read btw. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we really should re-post some of these guides/articles/experiments as they're such enjoyable and useful reads.

[Ashez]

2 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

So true lol

Re teamwork.. one thing I often did as a newbie manager (hmm.. at times I feel I still am haha) what I did was compare the bests of the game per position and simply pick players with similar attributes. Then my idea was to find even better ones and in many cases it'd be identical players to the game's best + teamwork. 

I think the (my) confusion started when we interpret a high number in here to a more frequent passer but that would mean it takes away from his actual role and make him a lesser say IF.

Great read btw. I've said it before and I'll say it again, we really should re-post some of these guides/articles/experiments as they're such enjoyable and useful reads.

That's an interesting approach but I'm not sure how much I buy into it. Say Messi is the best striker in the world yet in game I don't find him elite as such, in fact I think he's fairly poor/average and not a real finisher. 

Say you take a striker from the bottom division with 15 shooting and a Premier League striker with 15 shooting. Is this 15 shooting the same between both players? To me it doesn't feel like it is. With all had strikers with godly stats fail to deliver while strikers with similar stats do kinda thing. 

[BatiGoal]

10 hours ago, Ashez said:

Like I generally think about the footedness of all my players. Like if I have a right footed CM which direction is he more likely to receive the ball and then which direction is he more likely to pass it etc. It brings a whole level of depth to tactic creating yet I'm not convinced we have the ability to truly take advantage of it.

We've had this conversation over PM before but it's still a fascinating topic. It's the same reason why I for example place a CB on the more right side of the CB duo who's an accomplished RB and the one who's a yellow or even red LB to the left side of the two CB spots. It would make sense. Hard proof. Zero.

It does remind me of that BBM experiment I did some years ago, don't know if you remember, but due to their nature being accomplished in DM and AM certainly had its advantages. It resulted in extra assists and goals, a better performance in general.

 

10 hours ago, Ashez said:

That FM description of teamwork does throw so much out the window tbh. We used to think it meant "more likely to work as team/unselfish" which it does to a degree but not in the way many people think. 

Indeed. When should we and when shouldn't we place importance on it. For some reason this reminded me of the stamina attr. which I always wanted to see green but totally depends on the type of game/formation you're playing.

Example: playing 1 guy up front he needs decent stamina, but playing 4 or 5 like I've been doing they rarely turn below yellow after 90min. CBs no different. Playing 2 CBs I need high stamina numbers, playing 4 or 5 defs a small number suffices. Certain attributes gain/lose significance due to the formation/tactics we play.

[BatiGoal]

11 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Say you take a striker from the bottom division with 15 shooting and a Premier League striker with 15 shooting. Is this 15 shooting the same between both players? To me it doesn't feel like it is.

Definitely agree there. I interpret that as a proven 15 on the highest level vs an unproven one.

Btw, no worries about going massively off topic. I'll post a career update tonight and bring this baby back on track

[Ashez]

22 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Definitely agree there. I interpret that as a proven 15 on the highest level vs an unproven one.

Btw, no worries about going massively off topic. I'll post a career update tonight and bring this baby back on track

Sssh, this type of discussion doesn't happen on Vibe mate  

[Brenty92]

One attribute I've always placed massive importance on is stamina,  I've very rarely bought a player with stamina below 10/11, there's just something about seeing physicals go green that fills me with pride/joy (don't ask why!)

Also the shooting thing, that's so true, how often have we all started in the lower leagues and had a striker with 15 shooting who's absolutely tanked?! Lol

[BatiGoal]

 500 International BatiGoals

- 2021 -

 

After a slight loss of sense of direction, despite how so very enjoyable and engaging those attribute discussions and the ever-present mystery surrounding them can be, we really need to get back to this career with the Nigerian Five and their personal quest to a Century of Goals.

Fast-forward to the two finals we played in 2021.

African Nations Final

Another AFCON Cup added to the Trophy cabinet. Awoniyi and Iheanacho sealed the deal in a mildly exciting final vs Ivory Coast.

 

Confederations Cup Final

Our first Confed Cup and we're delighted with it. We survived a tough group with Italy, Mexico and Chili. We beat Iran in the semi's to land a final vs Germany. Looking at the stats and scoreline this European powerhouse was no match for The Super Eagles.

 

Other Games in 2021

Spoiler

5 games - 23 goals. This has truly been one of our best years yet. Awoniyi with a hattrick, Sadiq with a brace. Iwobi with one too. Sadiq repeats his first. Only thing on my wish-list that has yet to occur is seeing all Five Forwards on the scoreboard in the same match. We've been close on many occasions but so far it remains unchecked on the list.

 

Upcoming Fixtures 2022

A delicious World Cup 2022 to look forward to next year. We were knocked out to a stronger Belgium side in the semi's in 2018, but next year will be different. We hope. We're confident tho with a much stronger and experienced Nigerian machine but World Cups bring surprises. We'll make sure we're ready to bring our A game to the pitch and with some luck we get to lift that beautiful Cup at the end of the journey.

 

The Five Forwards

• Taiwo Awoniyi +14gls

Spoiler

Attribute-wise there's little to report here. Our Liverpool legend did fantastic scoring a sweet +14 ITN goals as a Complete Forward.

• Umar Sadiq +17gls

Spoiler

The Serie A has upped Sadiq's strength by +1 and as far as ITN goals our Poacher did great netting a massive +17gls.

• Kelechi Iheanacho +10gls

Spoiler

Our City man and Advanced Forward has become speedier upping pace by +1 and he doubled last year's ITN production, +10gls.

• Isaac Success +10gls

Spoiler

Success' attributes (dribbling and movement) got a +1 upgrade while our Left Flank threat netted a solid +10 ITN gls.

• Alex Iwobi +11gls

Spoiler

Our Gunner and Right Flank brute had a poor 2020 getting a mere 3gls but did much better this year scoring a fine +11 ITN gls.

 

2021 has been by far our best year to date. Last year gave us mere 11 ITN games with nothing but qualifiers and friendlies. This year we played two major tournaments -scoring an incredible combined total of 62 ITN goals- and were fortunate enough to win both the AFCON and Confed Cup. Those two perfect cup runs generated welcome extra games which counted a total of 21 ITN games. That's massive. Add that up to the club games our FFs played in the season and they're well above 50 in total. More like 60-70 games, so they deserve all the credit for the gruelling marathon 2021 has been for each and every one of them. A rest is well-deserved and I'll make sure they're fresh, fit and ready for 2022. Thanks for reading and comments, support, feedback of any kind welcome as usual. Cheers and see you in 2022

 

BatiGoal's African Adventure - 5x 100 ITN Goals - 85 games played

• 48/100 gls - Taiwo Awoniyi
• 56/100 gls - Umar Sadiq
• 57/100 gls - Kelechi Iheanacho
• 41/100 gls - Isaac Success
• 36/100 gls - Alex Iwobi
• 238/500 - 262 remaining

[Mr.Manager]

What a year! A really massive boost for all five. The race is now on between Sadiq and Iheanacho to be the first to smash 100.

[Brenty92]

What's fantastic year pal, I expect more of the same next year!! ?

[mcandrew003]

Quality year mate, the FF really showed up! Making fantastic progress and can see one of them hitting the required target by 2023. Nice work mate! 

P.S This calls for an amazing graphic, back in a minute! 

[BatiGoal]

16 minutes ago, Mr.Manager said:

What a year! A really massive boost for all five. The race is now on between Sadiq and Iheanacho to be the first to smash 100.

Sadiq was a slow starter but definitely got the momentum now. Will be interesting to see who gets his century first.

15 minutes ago, Brenty92 said:

What's fantastic year pal, I expect more of the same next year!! ?

Thanks. We'll do our best

13 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Quality year mate, the FF really showed up! Making fantastic progress and can see one of them hitting the required target by 2023. Nice work mate! 

P.S This calls for an amazing graphic, back in a minute! 

Thanks mate and..can't wait

[Ashez]

That's what I call progress mate! Wonderful run there clearing out a nice chunk of your targets  

[BatiGoal]

25 minutes ago, Ashez said:

That's what I call progress mate! Wonderful run there clearing out a nice chunk of your targets  

Thanks. Confidence is growing now. We've almost reached mid-point (250gls) and they're still a couple seasons away from their peak so pretty bang on schedule atm. It's been a really good year so no intentions on making any changes tactics-wise.

[veerus]

Cruising. You'll be finished before the decade is out. 

[BatiGoal]

That's the idea @veerus

[BatiGoal]

500 International BatiGoals

- 2022 -

 

Already 2022? Time flies. Our Five Forwards will be 25-26yo by the end of this season. Only 1 or 2 seasons away from their peak. Looking forward to play all 5 of them when they hit their best time in their careers. I'm expecting bigger and better results from the FFs during that period. With all the experience they'll have amassed by then surely we'll be all set for more record-breaking. But we're living in the today so let's get cracking with what 2022 has brought our Nigerian friends and fans around the globe.

 

2022 - The Results

15 ITN games. That's what we were able to produce this year. A very bumpy start with 13! conceded in 3 games. But 11 scored so it wasn't all doom and gloom. We picked it up nicely after that with 12 consecutive victories so we're happy, board happy, fans, players, staff, coffee lady, everyone happy. The entire country has plenty of reasons to celebrate.

 

2022 - The Games

Spoiler

Some decent scores. 4 and 5-0. Three times 4-2. A bizarre 5-5 vs USA ahh it's fun seeing those balls fly in. This formation makes sure this challenge keeps ticking along at a decent pace otherwise we'd be nowhere near half-way yet. As long as we outscore opponents and get some silverware in for the fans we're good. Another great year for the Five Forwards.

 

2022 - The World Cup

I was reasonably confident before the WC but it was a pretty tough ride. The 5-5 vs USA got me worried since the next game was Portugal. I needed 3pts before facing this top side but had 1. So another draw or loss would've had us wounded badly. If you scroll up to the Portugal game you'll understand what I mean. You'll see a Gomes hat-trick of disallowed goals. A really lucky escape in that group that could've sent us packing on another day. The games leading up to the Italy final weren't easy either. Morocco AET, Croatia and France by the narrowest of margins. Far from convincing wins so when we went 2-1 down in the WC final with a little over 15min on the clock I thought that could be the end of our WC run. But so it wasn't and we..Nigeria..prevailed. Pheww, nerve-wrecking games but we are World Champions!

 

The Five Forwards

• Taiwo Awoniyi +10gls

Spoiler

Looks like Awoniyi has reached his peak already since his attributes have stopped moving. A good +10 gls for this Red.

• Umar Sadiq +10gls

Spoiler

Sadiq has had 3 top years at Roma which has resulted in a move to Barcelona. Attributes haven't moved much and it's +10 for him as well.

• Kelechi Iheanacho +7gls

Spoiler

Iheanacho doesn't stop bumping those greens up. Decisions Movement Stamina 17->18 and Shooting Pace 19->20. Some progress and easily our best-looking striker atm. He upped his ITN tally with another +7gls.

• Isaac Success +10gls

Spoiler

Looks like Success is also at the top of his game in Milan. Attributes remain the same and ITN total got an increase of +10gls.

• Alex Iwobi +6gls

Spoiler

Iwobi is the prettier flank player of the two. Gorgeous greens and finally a green in Shooting. For an IF that matters. Adding +6gls to his ITN collection he's had a decent year.

So it looks like all 5 but 1 have reached their peak. Awoniyi, Sadiq, Success and Iwobi have shown little to no attr. developments. But no need since they're looking in great shape to reach their Century of Goals in the years to come. Iheanacho is still growing and I'm looking forward to seeing where and when his attr call it a day. He's a beast and altho his new role doesn't make him more prolific, it does help the team a great deal and makes it a little easier for the other 4 to score goals. And that's more important than personal glory at this moment and he understands that. We only win if all 5 get the 100 goals in so we gotta play it smart and help those in need as well. With a decent 15 ITN games in 2022 our FFs managed a lovely 43 goals. No record (which remains at 62) but it's nearly 3gls/game. A number we can live with and build upon. 2023 is already around the corner. See you all then.

Thanks for reading and comments, encouragements, questions, support, or any other on-topic blabber welcome. Cheers!

 

BatiGoal's African Adventure - 5x 100 ITN Goals - 100 games played

• 58/100 gls - Taiwo Awoniyi
• 66/100 gls - Umar Sadiq
• 64/100 gls - Kelechi Iheanacho
• 51/100 gls - Isaac Success
• 42/100 gls - Alex Iwobi
• 281/500 - 219 remaining

[Taff]

A great year mate and a Fantastic job leading Nigeria to the WC

kiu