Career Scratch Tries The Split 1KC (Actually Completed!)

[Scratch]

Some more tactics I've tested:

 

I want it to be just him and Scamacca up front, but I have trouble working out what to do with the other players - here I made them AMs which is more of a support role (had to show full list because he missed the ITN game, it's from Vejle up, the last 6 games he played):

Goals: 5
Assists: 11
Lots of corners, lots of assists, but no better on the goal front.

 

Back to the original base I played the first 3 seasons with, but with 1CD and 1DM instead of 2CDs:

Goals: 7
Assists: 5
Better on the goal front, although slightly misleading as the 3 goals was from 3 shots against weak opposition and the 2 goals came from a penalty and a free kick. And not as many assists.

 

Same as the previous one, but with the WBs coming forward and the APs becoming CMs:

Goals: 5
Assists: 9
Decent, but ultimately not any more goals than any of the others we've tried.

 

Trying something odd to get him more shots:

Goals: 9
Assists: 4
Bingo? Definitely more goals and a higher percentage of chances go to him, but less chances overall which is reflected in the low assist number.

 

We're almost at the end of the season now, so I will stick to that tactic for the rest of this season and see if it holds up and whether we get any more assists than that. I guess if worse comes to worse, I can use one of the more balanced tactics most of the time and switch to this for a while to even out the goals/assist ratio.

 

[Dai_]

🤢🤢🤢

I can't handle this. 🤣

[Rich]

You’ve turned in to me Scratch! I’m currently basically doing the same thing as I weigh up doing a 500-500 career, You’re getting good numbers, i genuienly think the game puts a ceiling on how many goals and assists a player can get!

[Scratch]

3 hours ago, Dai_ said:

🤢🤢🤢

I can't handle this. 🤣

Want some more? I could move to a new formation every 3 games if you like! 😄

[broodje kip]

Wtf is that 4th formation 🤮

[Scratch]

30 minutes ago, Rich said:

You’ve turned in to me Scratch! I’m currently basically doing the same thing as I weigh up doing a 500-500 career, You’re getting good numbers, i genuienly think the game puts a ceiling on how many goals and assists a player can get!

Haha, it's gotta be done. Sometimes I have a test save, but I normally just do it live like this, haven't written it up before though.

I'm pretty happy with the numbers themselves, it's just getting the balance so it's about equal. I was expecting goals would be equal, but this guy gets insane assists and lags behind in the goal... Anyway, team is truly world class now, so should be able to dominate Denmark now, so hopefully they'll improve a little too.

[Scratch]

1 minute ago, broodje kip said:

Wtf is that 4th formation 🤮

It's a work of art, that's what it is! 😄 Though to be fair, I find it hard to look at too. 🤣

Basically, I have too many players and I'm not sure what to do with the extra ones to get them out of Lainez's way. I'd start with 10 men if I could. 

Anyway, Lainez headed into the box, Scamacca offset to get out of Lainez's way a little. Daramy is further out of the way (was the other TM but got in the way too much, stealing assists and goals) - I had to put him somewhere and IW seems like someone who will set things up but not take too many too goals etc. On the left side with Scamacca in front of him, so he's not tempted to wander into the box so much.

[DanEnglish]

On 21/09/2021 at 15:38, Scratch said:

Basically, I have too many players and I'm not sure what to do with the extra ones to get them out of Lainez's way. I'd start with 10 men if I could. 

Have you ever played with a ‘Decoy winger’? Can be helpful if you have a spare player or two like Daramy.

If you see on the highlights that the opposition defence is pretty narrow, so there’s not much space for dribbles / through balls with your Strikers, then this helps.

Basically having one or two ‘decoy’ wingers really stretches the opposition defence, their FBs pull wider, giving more space for your ST / Treq. in the channels and centrally between the opposition DCs.

Might be a nice option to test - as long as you can keep the build up play + supply central - the key is to ensure the ‘decoy Wingers’ stay a decoy with no supply!

Note - If the opposition defence isn’t narrow, and you have loads of space, then this won’t help.

May be useful 🙂
 

EDIT - if you do try to play 2 decoy wingers, then you need to ensure there’s no supply to them. So probably want IWBs out wide (not WBs) and APs/RPs (not CMs) on the two wider central midfield roles. Otherwise your WBs will feed the false wingers, and the wider CMs in a central midfield 3 will occupy the ‘De Bruyne’ half spaces, and often feed your decoy wingers. IWBs and APs are better as they should move into more central positions, so have fewer easy opportunities to play it out wide. You probably already know this, but just wanted to clarify in advance.

Edited September 26, 2021 by DanEnglish

[Ian]

If there was a thread to describe the way I’ve been playing the game since the winter update then this is it. I had this going very well before the update and I just haven’t been able to reach those heights again. It’s still great returns here though and I’m constantly telling myself the same thing but it was better beforehand. I just can’t seem to get both the assists and goals going at the same time, well I can to some degree but then the numbers aren’t great.

Frustrating a bit as this is much harder post update but these are still fantastic returns.

Edited September 26, 2021 by Ian

[Scratch]

On 26/09/2021 at 11:15, DanEnglish said:

Have you ever played with a ‘Decoy winger’? Can be helpful if you have a spare player or two like Daramy.

If you see on the highlights that the opposition defence is pretty narrow, so there’s not much space for dribbles / through balls with your Strikers, then this helps.

Basically having one or two ‘decoy’ wingers really stretches the opposition defence, their FBs pull wider, giving more space for your ST / Treq. in the channels and centrally between the opposition DCs.

Might be a nice option to test - as long as you can keep the build up play + supply central - the key is to ensure the ‘decoy Wingers’ stay a decoy with no supply!

Note - If the opposition defence isn’t narrow, and you have loads of space, then this won’t help.

May be useful 🙂
 

EDIT - if you do try to play 2 decoy wingers, then you need to ensure there’s no supply to them. So probably want IWBs out wide (not WBs) and APs/RPs (not CMs) on the two wider central midfield roles. Otherwise your WBs will feed the false wingers, and the wider CMs in a central midfield 3 will occupy the ‘De Bruyne’ half spaces, and often feed your decoy wingers. IWBs and APs are better as they should move into more central positions, so have fewer easy opportunities to play it out wide. You probably already know this, but just wanted to clarify in advance.

Wow, thanks for the great insights.

I've noticed that having wide players can make more space for your central attackers. It's one of the reasons I have Ws but play through the middle in my TT Blaster Tactical System - though I've never articulated it anywhere near as good as you have and my wingers assist way too much in that system. You've given me some things to think about there.

I think at the very least I will turn Daramy from an IW into a wide AP and maybe try one on the other side as well (instead of the DMC). Then after that, I might try proper Ws as they will stay wider than anyone.

I almost went with Ws before but didn't because a) as I said they assist too much for me; and b) I didn't have many players who could play in those positions with my current squad. I've been retraining some players now and I guess it's actually a bonus if they aren't natural Ws as they will help stop them taking too many opportunities. 

Much to consider, thanks!

 

 

[Scratch]

10 hours ago, Ian said:

If there was a thread to describe the way I’ve been playing the game since the winter update then this is it. I had this going very well before the update and I just haven’t been able to reach those heights again. It’s still great returns here though and I’m constantly telling myself the same thing but it was better beforehand. I just can’t seem to get both the assists and goals going at the same time, well I can to some degree but then the numbers aren’t great.

Frustrating a bit as this is much harder post update but these are still fantastic returns.

Yeah, know what you mean. Great numbers, but not as good as pre-update and was expecting more considering the quality of my players and the league I'm in. I should be happy, but I'm not really and I'm trying to push every little bit. And I think maybe I'm inching forward, but it's hard to tell.

I stuck with that last tactic for the next season after that (have to write up two now) and he got 57 goals and 49 assists from 48 games, which was more goals, but less assists than the previous season. His goal ratio was higher until the last 10 games and I think maybe I overplayed him - but then I don't want him to only play 40 games.

Still, he's getting about 50/50 a season which what I was hoping for. So I have to keep coming back to the fact that this is pretty good and just be happy with it! 😄

[smoggy90]

Some varying formations there mate, love seeing that. Lainez is going great for you and some really interesting discussions here.

[Scratch]

17 hours ago, smoggy90 said:

Some varying formations there mate, love seeing that. Lainez is going great for you and some really interesting discussions here.

Thanks mate! I'm a few seasons behind with the write ups now, but am just about to post some more experiments.

[Scratch]

As I just said to the Smogster, I'm a few seasons behind on proper write ups, but I have some more experiments for you based on the ideas from @DanEnglish above. Mind you, this all needs to be taken with a grain of salt as I'm only playing 6 games in each formation, which leaves way to much variance to form, who the opposition is, etc. Anyway...

 

First I tried this, making the left IW into a wide AP on the left and moving the DMC to a wide AP on the right, hoping that this would spread the defenders a little (top 6 results from the list are the relevant ones):

Goals: 7
Assists: 10
Nice result, but a bit worried about goals outside of that 4 goal game.

 

Next, I tried turning the APs into proper Wingers, which should keep them wider BUT ... these are wrong footed wingers (don't want them crossing too much):

Goals: 4
Assists: 6
I have to say this was disappointing in the main, but stupidly can't remember much about these games now (as in whether the Ws were trying to cross or not).

 

Next, I kept the same formation, but played correct footed wingers (though not ones with great Crossing as I don't have any):

Goals: 9
Assists: 8
Really good results. From memory there were quite a few penalties in those goals, so it may be a little inflated (or maybe this formation just earns a lot of penalties). I can't explain why it was so much better than with the wrong footed wingers - except 5 of the games came after the 6 week mid season break, so maybe the team was just fresher. One positive was that he was getting as many shots as the TM, sometimes more which doesn't happen in a lot of these formations I've tried.

 

Lastly, I tried the same formation, but changing the CMs to APs to hopefully limit distribution to the Ws:

Goals: 3
Assists: 12
Maybe it created more room, but it was only more room for Lainez to assist, not score goals. The APs took a couple of shots of him, but that wasn't the main problem - for some reason the TM took the majority of the chances. For whatever reason, Lainez took a lot less shots. 

 

Anyway, there it is. As I said there's not enough games to know if these results are accurate in any way. That said, the clear winner was the second last one, so I'll go back to that for the rest of the season and see whether that holds up or whether it was merely down to the team being fresh (or some other variable).

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Scratch

[Dai_]

Maybe it's time to settle on one formation, even if it's just to give my head peace? Please? 🤣

[Scratch]

1 hour ago, Dai_ said:

Maybe it's time to settle on one formation, even if it's just to give my head peace? Please? 🤣

Well, I think that's a good reason to keep it up!  

Nah, I think I'm done for now. Almost finished this season, then I'll do a 3 season write up...

[Rich]

On 29/09/2021 at 06:30, Scratch said:

As I just said to the Smogster, I'm a few seasons behind on proper write ups, but I have some more experiments for you based on the ideas from @DanEnglish above. Mind you, this all needs to be taken with a grain of salt as I'm only playing 6 games in each formation, which leaves way to much variance to form, who the opposition is, etc. Anyway...

 

First I tried this, making the left IW into a wide AP on the left and moving the DMC to a wide AP on the right, hoping that this would spread the defenders a little (top 6 results from the list are the relevant ones):

Goals: 7
Assists: 10
Nice result, but a bit worried about goals outside of that 4 goal game.

 

Next, I tried turning the APs into proper Wingers, which should keep them wider BUT ... these are wrong footed wingers (don't want them crossing too much):

Goals: 4
Assists: 6
I have to say this was disappointing in the main, but stupidly can't remember much about these games now (as in whether the Ws were trying to cross or not).

 

Next, I kept the same formation, but played correct footed wingers (though not ones with great Crossing as I don't have any):

Goals: 9
Assists: 8
Really good results. From memory there were quite a few penalties in those goals, so it may be a little inflated (or maybe this formation just earns a lot of penalties). I can't explain why it was so much better than with the wrong footed wingers - except 5 of the games came after the 6 week mid season break, so maybe the team was just fresher. One positive was that he was getting as many shots as the TM, sometimes more which doesn't happen in a lot of these formations I've tried.

 

Lastly, I tried the same formation, but changing the CMs to APs to hopefully limit distribution to the Ws:

Goals: 3
Assists: 12
Maybe it created more room, but it was only more room for Lainez to assist, not score goals. The APs took a couple of shots of him, but that wasn't the main problem - for some reason the TM took the majority of the chances. For whatever reason, Lainez took a lot less shots. 

 

Anyway, there it is. As I said there's not enough games to know if these results are accurate in any way. That said, the clear winner was the second last one, so I'll go back to that for the rest of the season and see whether that holds up or whether it was merely down to the team being fresh (or some other variable).

 

Love it, makes the game more interesting at times just trying new things I think, but when something clicks it’s a good feeling. Hopefully you’ve cracked it😁

[broodje kip]

Everything seems to just click for Scratch. I don’t see a reason for him to test multiple formations 🤣

[smoggy90]

Great reading again mate, lots of good ideas and Lainez still racking up the numbers. 

[Scratch]

21 hours ago, Rich said:

Love it, makes the game more interesting at times just trying new things I think, but when something clicks it’s a good feeling. Hopefully you’ve cracked it😁

Thanks mate. Of course, now I'm testing a strikerless tactic, seeing I have some 20 Aerial CDs to take Scamacca's place banging in the corners... 

[Scratch]

21 hours ago, broodje kip said:

Everything seems to just click for Scratch. I don’t see a reason for him to test multiple formations 🤣

Haha, maybe that's why everything clicks for me, because behind the scenes I'm putting hours and hours into testing things.

[Scratch]

11 hours ago, smoggy90 said:

Great reading again mate, lots of good ideas and Lainez still racking up the numbers. 

Thanks mate, just finished season 7 (I think), and his numbers were pretty good, matching my expectations a bit more than the earlier seasons. Still think I can get more out of him, but can't complain now.

[Scratch]

Seasons 5 to 7

Okay, I better post some results... 

 

Transfers

Honestly not really worth posting, just buying a few youngsters who are transfer listed at top clubs (you can get some real bargains that way) then loaning them out. No need to buy real players, they aren't as good as my current squad. 

Spoiler

 

Results

We won most stuff:

Spoiler

Won't bother with the other screenshots, that will give you the flavour of things, not much interesting there to be honest.

 

Development

He's fully developed now and looks glorious.

His Crossing and Shooting keep yoyo-ing up and down depending on whether I play him too much. They are down in this screenshot and will both go up by a point shortly.

 

Contributions

You can see the last 3 seasons here:

 

Progress

Season	Goals	Assists
01	25	29
02	37	35
03	39	54
04	49	42
05	52	66
06	57	49
07	54	60
Totals	313	335

 

Thoughts

The best season goal-wise was season 6, when I mostly used the weird async tactic that made people sick. I could go back to that, or I could try a full season of option 3 from my last test (proper wingers) as that did pretty good, but... I'm going to start the season using a strikerless formation.  

 

 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Scratch

[Rich]

Cracking season Scratch! He smashed it, you are the king of development, I now down to you. Well done mate 

[Scratch]

14 hours ago, Rich said:

Cracking season Scratch! He smashed it, you are the king of development,

Thanks mate, yeah he's doing alright

14 hours ago, Rich said:

I now down to you

umm, no need to go down mate. But thanks for the offer.

[smoggy90]

Fantastic numbers mate, even the tinkering hasn’t impacted his form at all. I’ll be interested to see how your strikerless goes. 

[Ian]

Very nice going and it’s looking like a comfortable run for the 1kc split and beyond that if you have the motivation to continue on.

How are you finding the league in Denmark in terms of the strength and schedule?

[Scratch]

23 hours ago, smoggy90 said:

Fantastic numbers mate, even the tinkering hasn’t impacted his form at all. I’ll be interested to see how your strikerless goes. 

Thanks mate. I'm about to abandon the strikerless attempt after half a season. Wasn't bad, just not any better than anything else, and I have some strikers getting upset about lack of playing time now! 

13 hours ago, Ian said:

Very nice going and it’s looking like a comfortable run for the 1kc split and beyond that if you have the motivation to continue on.

How are you finding the league in Denmark in terms of the strength and schedule?

Halfway through season 8 now and I have just started getting the "I'm over it" feeling... 😄 But I'm close enough now that I'll finish it. 

I think I've got that feeling because Lainez isn't scoring as many as I'd like and I'm spending too long trying to get him to score more. So I'll go back to one of that last set of tactics and try make this more of a 'plug and play and zip through it' save.

Also, I've started thinking about 1KCs again (both goals and assists). The amount of corners we're scoring from here is way above what I've done. and I figure a dedicated W that wasn't also try to score might go close to the 100 mark (my record is 99 I think). At the same time the TM would do really well as well if there wasn't a T taking some goals and he was on pens etc.

The reason for the increase is partly down to a 20 Crossing corner taker sending them into a 19/20 Aerial player, but also due to tweaking with the corner instructions. I moved to Marking the Keeper a while ago and it was a little better than Near Post, but the breakthrough moment came when I decided to just get everybody else out of the box. Before that I had people attacking near post as well, then even when I stopped that, I had people attacking from the edge of the box etc - but the answer is get them all to lurk outside or stay back.

Anyway, Denmark is an interesting league for sure. I was happily surprised to play in the New Firm derby after playing in Scotland's Old Firm derby so many times! The best bonus is 5 substitutes all save long - plenty of chances to give youngsters and fringe players a turn etc. 32 games is a bit short, but the opposition is generally weak, so a good opportunity for scoring a lot etc. The youngsters coming through are decent level (I'm guessing, but feels better than in say Scotland, which makes sense), so I'm playing more of them than I often do. The schedule is annoying though - I thought it would be less intense, but they take 6 weeks off (late Dec to early Feb) and still have to jam the games in. 

[Scratch]

As mentioned above, I'm abandoning my strikerless attempt after half a season.

I was using the following tactic (but tweaked the roles a few times):

I tried APs instead of CMs and there wasn't much difference. I tried RPMs as well and the team went better, but the extra shots were going to the RPMs and the Ws , not Lainez. I tried BBMs and the Ws were scoring too much as well. 

Anyway, here's what he got in half a season:

Not bad, about on pace to finish with similar numbers. There were a few games where he got 3 or 4, so it seems to work well sometimes, but over the course of a season it evens out and doesn't seem to provide any advantage over what we were doing before.

 

[Ian]

1 hour ago, Scratch said:

The reason for the increase is partly down to a 20 Crossing corner taker sending them into a 19/20 Aerial player, but also due to tweaking with the corner instructions. I moved to Marking the Keeper a while ago and it was a little better than Near Post, but the breakthrough moment came when I decided to just get everybody else out of the box. Before that I had people attacking near post as well, then even when I stopped that, I had people attacking from the edge of the box etc - but the answer is get them all to lurk outside or stay back.

I was going with marking the keeper and the corner directed to the penalty spot with everyone else getting out of the way as my preferred routine but then altered it to something more varied like you mention on my Hagi save. The varied routine seemed to work pretty well with Hagi but I’ve since tried it on another save with different players and it’s just not quite as good there so I think I’ll revert back to the original routine from his on.

1 hour ago, Scratch said:

Also, I've started thinking about 1KCs again (both goals and assists). The amount of corners we're scoring from here is way above what I've done. and I figure a dedicated W that wasn't also try to score might go close to the 100 mark (my record is 99 I think). At the same time the TM would do really well as well if there wasn't a T taking some goals and he was on pens etc.

Funnily enough I’ve been thinking about trying a 1kc too as my final save for this year as it suddenly dawned on me that I’ve never completed one for two years. It’s just finding a player to use as you look through the options and we’ve kind of used most of them over the last few years. I have found a player that is tempting me though and I don’t think he’s been used before so I may go with him. He starts out at 18, so a nice age too. I guess I’ll have to test a few tactics out.