BatiGoal

One tough cookie great challenge! Hope someone fancies a go.

Bangkok -> Amsterdam.. via (unplanned) Aktobe

BG's 1-season challenges 5/5 - Double Trouble with Ronni & Messi - Challenge Objective: Score 100 goals with Ronni & Messi - Formation + Masterplan - You've read the intro, now let's move on to the all-important formation and masterplan. We didn't deal with a lot of transfers during pre-season. The only players I bought was of course Ronni and Messi and also a GK. I felt I had enough material in the squad to get 100 goals out of the killers up front. But we were lacking a decent GK so we had to spend most of the budget on a goalie. With only a couple million left in OM's budget I didn't bother to look for extra reinforcements. I'm happy with the squad. So most of the pre-season was filled with looking for the best formation for this squad. I actually spent 3 months -July-August-September- bringing the puzzle pieces together and it was no easy task. I took me 8 games (4 friendlies and 4 league matches) to finally decide on the winning formula. I think, hope, these tactics are going to get me across the finish line. Formation: 4-2-4 I was excited about this one. But what works on paper doesn't always work on the pitch. But we need to give it a shot anyway, right? Sometimes the EME likes weird formations and destroys sensible ones so whatever we think may or may not work, we always gotta put it to the test. And this one's no different. I liked this one mainly because the 2 DFs up front -put pressure on the defensive line, chase down the man in possession and loose balls and generally stop the opposing defence having any time on the ball...prefering to bring other players into the game than create his own chances- so that with pressure, high line in offside trap + committed tackling I thought I was on to something. Failed. I fiddled around with the match settings but didn't really work wonders so I moved on. Formation: 3-1-2-4 I moved on, yes, but still not giving up on those DFs hehe! Gotta work, I thought, but not quite. The triangle DLP + APs worked super well in my "Luuk de Jong" save but in this formation the triangle is down one line. Simply to provide a little more support to the back three and to not go overly attacking so I was hoping for some sort of balance. I had to give it a shot since it was highly effective 3 careers ago. Looks great on paper..all my formations look great on paper but I'm kinda biased lol.. but wasn't effective. We failed to create decent chances and score goals + the DFs underperformed once again so I'm giving up on those two. Playing as DLFs didn't help either. Time is running thin so I'm going to try something new. Formation: 3-1-4-2 This is just a ridiculous formation that flashed through my head and eventho I gave it little chance of succeeding I needed EME's confirmation. No DFs or DLFs, just 2 out and out strikers, poachers, with APs behind. One for each if you will. Wingers on the flanks to provide crosses, a DLP to link back and front and support the 3 defs at the same time. Could be ultra effective if it got the EME approval, but it did not. I barely won the game, and of course I know a single game is nothing to go by, but I just don't have much time to look for formations so I decided to move on and tweak further...I'm enjoying the tweaks tbh.. Formation: 3-2-3-2 This was actually a decent formation. Solid enough with a triangle CM-DLP-AP in the center. Wingers on the sides and our Messi played Target Man to -use his strength and aerial presence to bring teammates into play rather than relying on his technical ability- I've had good success with TMs this year but unfortunately this Messi is no Target Man so this little project failed. I really want to make good use of the 2 loanees Thauvin and N'Jie, they're quality, but at the moment I'm not sure where they'd fit best in the team. One of the reasons I moved away from a back 4 is because Evra aged pretty quickly during the past month or so and he wasn't the top Left Back/Wingback he used to be so I felt he'd become a liability. I felt I could do with an extra man elsewhere but having a hard time to find the winning formula for this OM side. Formation: 3-1-1-3-2 They only reason I tried this one is because it looks ugly hehe! I thought maybe tricking the EME into ugly formations would work but didn't really impress the opponent. Kinda similar to the previous 3-2-3-2 but with a "messed up" triangle in mid. Again, DLP for defensive support, a CM because..well..because he's dead center..and this time an AP from the flank. As I said, those loanees on the flanks are quality, but I can't really find a suitable spot for them on the pitch to get Ronni & Messi scoring. Not as DFs or DLFs, not as Wingers and not as APs. It didn't click in the couple games I tried so I gave up on 'em ..on the flanks that is.. and sorta reverted back to the very first formation I experimented with. Formation: 4-1-3-2 We're back with 4 defenders. No Evra as he's just not good enough anymore at 35yo but with Hubocan taking his LB spot. To me this is a weird one, but it's working pretty well. We're dominating possession and creating a fair amount of chances. Scored some decent goals vs decent opponents..I heard the silent "click" so I'm keeping this one. I actually started with a ridiculous 3 APs behind our main fellas up front but that was too crazy. I turned the middle AP into a CM, something I very rarely do in that spot, but it seems to have balanced things out. So Advanced Forward Ronni has got Payet as his own personal AP and Poacher Messi his personal AP in Cabella. CM Diaby is keeping the two providers apart and linking all parts together. Top dog Sanson is our DLP who -operates in the space between defence and midfield and aims to initiate attacking moves via pinpoint passes to players positioned higher up the pitch- pretty crucial role one would think. Sanson is definitely the right man for the job. The back consists of no-nonsense LDs Rolando and Doria who aren't good enough CDs so they'll do with a more simplified version of a CB. And loanees Thauvin and N'Jie have been demoted to the bench and will serve as subs to cover for injuries, suspensions, or underperformers. I'm actually happy to have a quality bench at my disposal -as we're having some tough opposition and enough games coming up- so I think we're on the right path with good depth in the squad and this 4-1-3-2 formation. And last but not least our Goalie, new GK, Fernando Miguel is there to keep the balls out. He's a hundred times better than the keepers we had at the club so I think we're ready to get Ronni & Messi their 100 goals and complete this challenge. Do you? Cheers for listening. Comments, love, support welcome! Next Update 1st. half season

Dude, you have no idea lol. This reminded me of an emergency landing in Kazahkstan two years ago. Was traveling to Europe and couple problems later we were flying on one engine and had to go for a "pit stop" at the nearest (military) airport. A wobble alright Back on topic, another great season. Shame your "allies" aren't doing their part.

Very interesting tactics indeed! Curious to know how effective it is over the season and how far up the table it takes you.

Fantastic!! Congrats @Mikee1984 !!

29 gls

Damn right And the next decade will make him even deadlier with the progress and experience under his belt. Kiu!

I won most apps (66) Congrats on a successful campaign lads. Great team performance! Me as the guy between the posts I'm not overly happy conceding 50! We had a good GD due to the boys upfront -well done- but the backline needs to improve. Next season I expect to see a much smaller GA, hopefully 30+ tops.

You mean the previous one, The Comeback Kidd? Thanks for the support, guys

Indeed @veerus no legends in this one 150 for the actual legends is probably the right number. But oh man sounds like a massive challenge. Bringing the pair to the same club is a challenge in itself lol Would love to see someone take that on tho. @Taff challenge for ya

Thanks @mcandrew003 I'd like to finish this series on a high. Got 3 successful ones vs 1 failure a positive balance either way.

Thanks @Brenty92 for cutting the requirement in half Can't fail can I? lol Cheers mate!

Unlockables can't be reversed during saves. I'll give it some thought on how to improve Part 1. Unless someone gives it a shot and manages the impossible

BG's 1-season challenges 5/5 - Double Trouble with Ronni & Messi - - Player Introduction - Welcome to my final 1-season challenge: - Double Trouble with Ronni & Messi -. Double Trouble; I'm going to attempt to score 100 goals with Ronni and Messi. That's going to be a walk in the park surely. 50 goals a piece. Piece of cake. Cristiano Ronaldo is a monster. Lionel Messi a wizard. Only little problem is that these two kids were never going to settle for a club like Olympique Marseille (with all respect) at this point in their career. Why OM for this challenge you may ask? A couple reasons. Ligue 1 is the only top league I haven't played in these series + I need a decent club as completing a Double Trouble challenge is no joke. And OM, well, my "Luuk de Jong - 88gls" was a success going with a club in La Coruna that played no European matches. Marseille are in the same boat with league games and 2 domestic cups only. It'll generate the boys roughly 50+ games / season which works perfectly with plenty of rest inbetween games. It worked for Luuk de Jong so hopefully it does as well for Ronni & Messi. Ronni & Messi. Who are these two then? Well, it's no CR7 and certainly no L.Messi. Let's meet the players.. Ronnie Schwartz a.k.a. Ronni & Kalen Damessi a.k.a. Messi Ronni & Messi Background There you go. My version of Ronni & Messi. Not exactly as good as the namesake greats but it'll do. I hope. They only cost me 1M combined so that left me with a solid budget left for other squad improvements. The only position that was in dire need of strengthening was the Goalkeeper. OM had terrible GKs so we had to spend a few Ms on a solid Brazilian GK to keep the balls out. Other than that the squad is pretty balanced. Ronni's got an average collection of blue's and with training and double attacking coaches he should improve some of the blue and get greens before the year's end. Messi no different. No greens but an OK collection of 12s, 13s and 14s and with gametime we hope to see 15+ on some of his more significant attributes. He's nowhere near THE Messi but hopefully a good-enough namesake to bring this challenge home. Let's peek at some other details.. Ronni Player Role I'm playing a 2-striker formation and this role is Ronni's best. It was my intention to play an AF and P up front so this makes deciding a little easier. He "Moves Into Channels". Great I guess. One green. That's all we have to work with. Let's just hope he improves his overall game over time and that the boys behind him, the all-important providers, give Ronni enough chances in the season to score somewhere close to 50 goals. Ronnie the Advanced Forward. Positives/Negatives Some welcome positives here. Shooting from distance, I like. Being a decent penalty-taker is kinda nice since EME loves making penalty-takers miss. A lot. Hopefully Ronni finds a way to stop that nasty habit. As for the negative, no worries, not playing ITN games gives him plenty of rest I suppose so it may turn into a positive for him. Messi Player Role Messi's best role is playing as a Poacher. Again, my intention so no need to waste time on deciding what role to assign him. "Tries First Time Shots", that's actually a pretty nice green to have. Unfortunately it's the only one so like with Ronni, we need to pray the assisters in the AMC strata have what it takes to pass the ball to the duo up front for 100 goals in total. If this Messi comes close to 1% of the real Messi we're good. Messi the Poacher. Positives/Negatives I love this positive. No better positive than Clinical Finisher in the box for goal-scoring challenges. And to top it off he's selfish too. That in my book is another positive. Altho passing the ball to Ronni in a better position is more valuable for this particular challenge but sometimes being selfish gets you more goals. As for lacking leadership..probably the best negative to have so no biggie there. Lacking creativity will hurt. It'll cost assists to Ronni and goals in general but hopefully we can minimize the seasonal damage on this one. Looking at our boys I can't help but feel reasonably optimistic and confident in a successful outcome. Won't be easy but I think Ronni & Messi have what it takes to score 100 goals and complete this Double Trouble...just. Your thoughts?? Next Update Formation + Masterplan