Career Scratch Presents - The John Charles TT [Complete]

[Scratch]

Hi All,

With my DT wrapped up, I'm going to try a TT! The original TT challenge post is here: 

 

Once again, I'll be using a big club in a league I've never played before. I generally don't like using the top clubs (I'd rather build a club up), but I enjoyed the development boost that players seemed to get when playing with Inter. And I'm taking a few risks this time around, so having a big club might offset that.

As for those risks: Well, two of the three players are 21, turning 22 mid-season, which is a little old to start a challenge like this. But there is a bigger risk here that I'll explain later. Let's just say you will NEVER guess the players I'm using (though you will have heard of them, they are class players). I've used one of them numerous times over the last couple of years. Another I used once, fairly recently. And the third is a player I've almost bought a couple of times, but never actually used.

Anyway, I've started the save and and getting things set up... I'll be back with more details in a day or so...

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by Scratch

[Davaile]

Bayern?

Arp is class....

 

[Scratch]

2 minutes ago, Davaile said:

Bayern?

Arp is class....

 

Wrong league, sorry! Though the Bundesliga is a league I've never played in and I'll try it out sooner or later. Won't be Bayern though, Borussia Dortmund is my German team, ever since Australian captain Ned Zelic played there in the 90s...

[Kanegan]

Portugal or Holland? 

[Scratch]

2 minutes ago, Kanegan said:

Portugal or Holland? 

Neither! 😄

I've actually played Holland before, using Feyenoord for an abandoned 1KC a few years back. Portugal's on my list to try. 

[smoggy90]

I’ve just started a career in Belgium mate, fun league to play with 40 league games overall. Could it be there?

[Scratch]

4 minutes ago, smoggy90 said:

I’ve just started a career in Belgium mate, fun league to play with 40 league games overall. Could it be there?

Ooh, Belgium wasn't on my radar, but that sounds like a good one to try in future. This time around I'm at a much bigger club than any in Belgium!

[Aaron Thornton]

PSG? with 3 English strikers 

[Scratch]

6 hours ago, Aaron Thornton said:

PSG? with 3 English strikers 

Nope, have played a 1 season challenge there and will be back there sometime. This club is even bigger than PSG (though PSG went further in the CL this year)...

Edit: Oh, and one of the 'strikers' is English, but the other two aren't (no ITN for me this time). 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Scratch

[Del1Sketch]

Throwing my hat in the ring and guessing Dundalk or Shamrock in the Irish League 🤔

[Rob]

I reckon you may be using converted player positions. Ajer is one of my predictions. I could be a million miles off, mind you. 

[Scratch]

2 hours ago, Del1Sketch said:

Throwing my hat in the ring and guessing Dundalk or Shamrock in the Irish League 🤔

Nice try, but this club is definitely much much bigger than either of those two clubs. 😄

There is one big league out there that no-one has suggested a club from yet. Though I'll give the answer shortly I think.

[Scratch]

26 minutes ago, Rob said:

I reckon you may be using converted player positions. Ajer is one of my predictions. I could be a million miles off, mind you. 

You're onto something there mate. Definitely not a million miles off. But not Ajer. He was my first though, but I left him aside because I've converted him before (not for challenges, just flexibility) and I think others have used him for 1KCs and the like...

[Ian]

Barca?

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, Ian said:

Barca?

Damn! I literally just typed "I think this is the first time someone hasn't guessed my plans, though @Robwas super close...".  But you have indeed got the club... 😄

[Scratch]

Okay, let's get on with it... 

@Ian has guessed the club and @Rob was super close on the player front - given that actually guessing the players is close to impossible, I think that's full points to him.

 

The country is Spain - I've never played there before, always preferring weaker leagues (or England). However, after loving Serie A so much, I figured I better give La Liga a go. On first glance, I suspect it will be not as strong as I thought it would be. I'm not sure how many league games there are or any of that, but I think I'll be right.

The club is Barcelona - I like building a smaller club up, but starting at Inter had some advantages and I guess they will be even better at Barcelona. Then there is the matter of finances - I probably couldn't afford the players I need at a smaller club. And, this may be weird, but a big part of it is that I like the colours on the top bar, etc. 

The players are all central defenders - I've been planning on doing that for a 1KC for a long time and the idea came back around and just fit this career. I did a fair bit of testing to find defenders who look like they can be retrained as strikers (having at least Very Poor as aptitude for striker). The answer is "not many", which is why I had to go with 21 year olds... 

So, this a bit risky as there is no guarantee they will ever get to green as striker (they all have no colour at the moment). Even if they do, there is a big question mark over whether I'll still be in the job - I'll be playing all three upfront from the very beginning and I'm guessing Barca won't be too patient if the results aren't there from the get go. 

If I make it through that first part, then I think it will all turn out well and a mass of goals will follow. It's not guaranteed, but hopefully by the end of this I'll have 3 entrants for the John Charles Challenge (converted central defender scoring at least 385 goals). 

 

Anyway, here are the players:

Jean-Clair Todibo

The one I've used a lot (not as a striker of course!), and who is conveniently already at Barca (in the November DB, he's on loan in the March one). He's the right shape for a TM, but we'll have to work on the Movement and Shooting. 

 

Ben Godfrey

The one I've used once. He did quite well as a centre back, although I remember I eventually sold him because I had better options. I like his Pace and having Movement of 11 is as good as it gets with candidates for this.

 

Lisandro Martinez

The one I've never used, but almost bought a couple of times this year. I wanted to give him a try, just never thought it would be as a striker. Decent Movement, but gotta work on that Shooting.

 

The Tactics

I've based this on my DT tactic, giving up the AMR role (critical to the DT!) in order to have 3 up front.  I also dropped the left WB back to the final line (though I might end up moving one or both WBs forward a step). 

Time will tell if it will work or if I will need a mad scramble to find a new tactic.

I'm hopeful. One of the revelations of the DT tactic was how the WB and the BBM combined down the left. They tended to work the ball downfield together and then either the WB would cross from deep, or the BBM would cross from closer in (when using a left footed BBM). Sometimes the WB would hang back and the BBM would push on into AML territory and cross from there. So, I'm hoping they will replicate this on both sides here, replacing the missing AMR assists. 

But we'll have to wait and see.

 

So... Do you think I'll survive the first year in charge? Or will I be looking for a new challenge shortly?

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Scratch

[Rob]

Jesus, this is a tough one. Good luck with this!

p.s. I love Todibo as a CB this year so hope he does the business up top.

[Scratch]

14 minutes ago, Rob said:

Jesus, this is a tough one. Good luck with this!

p.s. I love Todibo as a CB this year so hope he does the business up top.

Thanks mate. I'm actually thinking it's going to be fairly easy.

I think they will all retrain, even if it takes a year or so. And they are all quality players, with development up their sleeves, so should end up with reasonable Movement etc - maybe not quite at Pellegri and Esposito levels from my DT, but good enough. Which brings me to: I've seen plenty of cases of fairly poor players, or ageing players whose attributes are shot, actually doing alright in big teams. And I think La Liga is weaker than the EPL and there will be some easy games.

So, it could end up really really good. The key is to win enough in the short term so I don't get sacked, because the first season could be challenging. That said, I think they will still score even though they are out of position etc. The game is not that tough on out of position players...

Oh yeah: Todibo is class. I use him every second career or so! 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Scratch

[Scratch]

This is a sort of mini-update, a bit unusual so quickly after the reveal post, but there are three separate things I thought I might share:

 

1. First 3 Results

We're doing alright so far, 3 from 3 with the odd goal to the lads, only the late win against Valencia was close, so I think this will likely turn out good:

Spoiler

 

2. Fixing the Players

As I've done in all my recent saves, I'm warning or fining players who finish with 6 or less match rating. You need to occasionally give out a new contract, but the benefits to the hidden attributes are great. I've even started fixing Messi, improving his Work Rate twice - we'll turn him into a good player yet.

Spoiler

 

3. Setting Higher Targets With Transfers

I'll do a proper transfer report in the update when I finish the season, but a big shout out to @Rob for this nugget of wisdom from his Rob tries the Messi/Ronaldo Challenge career:

Most of us only ever tend to manage multiple quality players as a focal point in a challenge when deep within a DT or TT began with wonderkids, so this challenge allows us to basically get instant results. Also, Barcelona have a great transfer budget and a well-valued squad, which gives you a fair bit of scope to shape the squad you want.

I'd originally planned to sell Messi, then decided he looked so good I better at least keep him and try him out. However with the rest of my transfers I was following the familiar pattern of going for future stars, albeit it at a slightly higher level than I normally can reach - so picking up Havertz for the midfield and Haaland as backup striker for example. 

After reading Rob's words I suddenly thought - hangon, I can probably buy the best players in the world! So I went out and dropped £225M on 28 year old de Bruyne... I was so set in my ways I didn't even think of doing that, but I'm in the perfect position to do this now. So thanks Rob...

 

Anyway, that's all for now. Just felt like getting that out there before the GP starts! 🏁😄

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Scratch

[smoggy90]

Love the different take on this TT attempt mate, very interesting. I was tempted to try the John Charles Challenge with Upemecano as his physicals are so good you’d think he would mould into a striker pretty well, similar to your choices. 
Good luck and I look forward to following. 

[Scratch]

16 minutes ago, smoggy90 said:

Love the different take on this TT attempt mate, very interesting. I was tempted to try the John Charles Challenge with Upemecano as his physicals are so good you’d think he would mould into a striker pretty well, similar to your choices. 
Good luck and I look forward to following. 

Oh wow, I actually signed Upamecano as a defender, and I just checked and he has the Very Poor aptitude for the striker position, so I could have used him. I thought I checked him, but must have missed him... Ah well, it's done now...

[Rob]

I love that you signed KDB. That must have gone against every grain of how you like to play the game 🤣

[Kanegan]

Now that is some challenge. Martinez is a player very close to my heart as i have signed him in almost every long term or mid term save i play but of course as a BPD and not as a striker so curious to see how he does.

[Rich]

This is really interesting, looking forward to seeing how you do, good luck mate.

[leedsunited87]

John Charles was a amazing footballer, played for us as well as juventus! Great great player, good luck mate 

[Cockers2505]

Wow @Scratch you have literally lost the plot, one defender (Maguire challenge) as a striker is mad, but a TT with 3 defenders is completely mad, all I can say is a massive big good luck, this one is worth waiting to see how you get on, why not mix it up and make your backup striker a GK to add the goalkeeper scoring challenge at the same time 😂

[Scratch]

10 hours ago, Rob said:

I love that you signed KDB. That must have gone against every grain of how you like to play the game 🤣

Haha, yeah... I was like £225M? For a 28 year old? No way!! I'm only just getting used to paying bigger salaries... I normally sell players at around 28 so I don't lose their value, and here I am dropping that sort of money on one. 

Thing is I've used the KDB regen a fair bit (much harder to find now) but never the real thing. And it just all clicked after reading what you wrote that I didn't have to play it my normal way anymore... 

[Scratch]

9 hours ago, Kanegan said:

Now that is some challenge. Martinez is a player very close to my heart as i have signed him in almost every long term or mid term save i play but of course as a BPD and not as a striker so curious to see how he does.

Yeah, I almost pulled the trigger on buying him a couple of times, just never did. Glad to hear you've used him, as that suggests he'll be as good as I suspect he will be. I think he'll be pretty awesome up front once he get's trained up...

added 0 minutes later

9 hours ago, RichDave32 said:

This is really interesting, looking forward to seeing how you do, good luck mate.

Thanks mate! 

[Scratch]

9 hours ago, leedsunited87 said:

John Charles was a amazing footballer, played for us as well as juventus! Great great player, good luck mate 

Yeah, I didn't know anything about him until I read up on him, but he seems like a legend! Thanks.

[Scratch]

9 hours ago, Cockers2505 said:

Wow @Scratch you have literally lost the plot, one defender (Maguire challenge) as a striker is mad, but a TT with 3 defenders is completely mad, all I can say is a massive big good luck, this one is worth waiting to see how you get on, why not mix it up and make your backup striker a GK to add the goalkeeper scoring challenge at the same time 😂

Thanks mate, but actually I think it will end up being one interesting season, then the rest will be a doddle. I was thinking about converting some more CDs to be the backup strikers, but haven't done anything about it yet...