Season 128 - Are you ready?

[Sillybq]

@Sillybq

I am totally with you on this. There must be some significant changes to the team performance when compared with last season. The engine seems to favour less for goals scored by AML/R this season, and favours more for defenders.

A few things that happens that very nearly screwed things up here as well that it never happened in the last 3 seasons (except that I lost my last CL final to a 2% better team - which was like a 50/50, so there was actually nothing much that I could do when the opponent scored 2 late goals). I can nearly fully blame myself that I have been taking the chance on stop-gaps GKs for seasons and finally I got the just punishment for being stingy. Without a doubt, I paid that 37T and 120 greens to power-train a proper recommended 19yo FT GK on day 2 and then another 25T and 120 greens on a 18yo ML/DL/DC to try plugging the gaps and minimise the stupid goals from being conceded.

And you can guess what’s happened right after the new additions. My 115%+ team could only win by 3 or 4 goals against league opponents of 35% when I could easily thrashed those 60% by 7 or more last season. And then even worse is a 5-1 win against a 35% team, 1-0 win against a 36% team and then a 1-1 draw against a 64% team in the last 2 CL games. And obviously my defenders are at least 3* better than attackers, and I at least match the same number of def vs att and mid vid mid, so it is borderline ridiculous that my attackers can only score 2 goals in 2 CL matches. Conceding to 2 40%- teams in 3 CL matches is borderline ridiculous.

My always reliable 145% AML who always average 2.2+ goals in the league has now only scored 18 goals in 10 games. Only 1 hattrick. That is a 20% drop when his best ability stat only got a lot better from last season (245% finishing, with 200%+ in all creativity, speed and header). And somehow the supposedly 88% back-up ST can match my main 115% ST (with 214% finishing as he got top scorer for 4 seasons before my AML joins) in goalscoring ratio of 0.8-0.9 per game.

Do feel your pain in losing your unbeaten streak as you surely did the right thing in match preparation and subs in matches. Lost mine with a 110% team vs 75% in a CL 2nd leg tie when I thrashed the opponent 7-0 in the first leg. Just keep preparing the team as usual and it will be back to normal soon.

My backup MR, ST and MC are performing well unexpectedly , and sometimes even better than the 1.5* better first-11, so maybe this season you could try starting with backup players more often and try the ‘chemistry’ combination when they were starting together. Power-training after 1st week is like losing 4% on your expected top player for seasons (around 50-60 greens vs earlier), so maybe hold on until next season for a new 18yo FT. Exception is you find a 98-99% 2/3-position with SA then may still be worth it.

Since your opponents are weak in general (easier draw than last season like mine without the youth factor like the previous), maybe try spending a few Ts in a few 75%-85% 3-position 19-21yo players (18yo is more expensive) as subs and use them as starters to mix up the chemistry to replace the existing non-performing ones. They should be good enough to win the games against 40%- teams.

Thanks HeavensAAA. I had hoped i was the only one affected so i can just mark it down as a bad season. But if others are affected, it might be tougher in general for all of us moving forward.

I do have about 9 players on the bench within the range you mentioned 75-85. I do not have many multiposition players but 7 slots is just right to cover all fielded positions with the few multiposition players i have. Yup my B team is performing better than my first team this season. Most notably in league with regards to goalscoring. But sometimes when the game wants you to lose. There is really nothing much that can be done about it.

I actually did powertrain at the start but i do not take it to the levels you and superdunk do. The players i track are about the same percentage as me and do well too. But i do sell alot of players, 14 out of 28 minimum every season so my competition is always weak. This is the first season i am facing a scoring issue. I think i might make some drastic changes next season if nothing changes soon.

I will heed your advice, stay calm and continue my daily training which the help of your bonus training regime! Hope things change soon! Good luck to us both!

[HeavensAAA]

Thanks HeavensAAA. I had hoped i was the only one affected so i can just mark it down as a bad season. But if others are affected, it might be tougher in general for all of us moving forward.

I do have about 9 players on the bench within the range you mentioned 75-85. I do not have many multiposition players but 7 slots is just right to cover all fielded positions with the few multiposition players i have. Yup my B team is performing better than my first team this season. Most notably in league with regards to goalscoring. But sometimes when the game wants you to lose. There is really nothing much that can be done about it.

I actually did powertrain at the start but i do not take it to the levels you and superdunk do. The players i track are about the same percentage as me and do well too. But i do sell alot of players, 14 out of 28 minimum every season so my competition is always weak. This is the first season i am facing a scoring issue. I think i might make some drastic changes next season if nothing changes soon.

I will heed your advice, stay calm and continue my daily training which the help of your bonus training regime! Hope things change soon! Good luck to us both!

Yes, exactly. Stay calm and continue training as usual. 1 freak result shouldn’t change our way of playing as it works in all but 1 situations (or a few later, eventually after hundreds and thousands of matches). I lost my hard-earned unbeaten run and went berserk (bet my neighbour must have heard my continuous swearing then ) for that night as well, as going beaten for seasons requires so much hard work in team preparation and concentration during games, and it would only become harder to earn such a long unbeaten run again with seasons ahead likely to be getting harder.

There is a reason why I prefer 2/3-position sub, instead of single-position sub, despite the cost would be some 2-3T more expensive each in general (75%-85%, not higher - any higher is unreasonably costly for subs, for me). If a certain sub somehow works better with current first-11 (we can easily tell from their in-game involvement in key passes, on top of scoring & assist stats), that specific working 2/3-position sub can start and sub more often when any of the 2/3 first-11 has a under-8.0 rating. 30-minute involvement by an impactful sub can easily lead to 2 goals/assists, and they can easily influence the not-so-performing top attackers to somehow score another to sneak the motm when it was very unlikely, and that’s why I’d like the sub to be able to come on at more positions instead of just 1-position.

Eg. 7 subs costing 3T more each = 21T = 21 greens. The multi-position subs (with assist, freekicks gained) somehow help the top attacker achieve motm 5 more times in a season (assuming I don’t cherish the same 6% for most other first-11 players), that 30% extra gained is well worth it when 21 greens can hardly boost the 200%+ attributes. Obviously I am simplifying the contribution, but you probably get what I mean. Plus the 7 multi-position subs can allow a lot of variation to make the best use of better-rating first-11 too, as follows.

And regarding effects of subs, the conventional sub is position-for-position. And that is what I rarely do.
Eg. My 3 top defenders are ML/DL/DC (Wall SA), DC/DR/MR (Aerial defender SA) & DL/DC/DMC (Playmaker SA). If the opponent is playing a lot of attackers, say 3-4, then I would match with the same number of defenders plus DMC. And in-game, it is common there would be yellow cards and under-7 ratings defenders (basically doing nothing much). Usually I would remove non-performing DL & DR (no attack contribution), move the more-performing first-11 DC to DL/DR, and sub in a DC; or remove the non-performing ML or MR (no assist or under 8-rating), move the 3 top defenders to ML/MR/DMC, and sub in a defender; or move all players up a line (def to mid, mid to AMs), and sub out attackers and replace with defenders.

Just a share of what I do with subs, and hopefully your subs work well enough already.

The bonus training regime is to save 1 more red a day (and somehow helps minimising condition loss when ads fail to load ). Hopefully those extras would be useful to ‘exchange’ for more greens when we start playing loads of friendlies later on.

And yes, subs are playing better than some first-11 and definitely scoring a lot more, for some unknown reasons which never happened in previous season, so try to make the best of them (assist more for our top attackers, not scoring for motm ). Good luck too for both of us there!

[Sillybq]

Yes, exactly. Stay calm and continue training as usual. 1 freak result shouldn’t change our way of playing as it works in all but 1 situations (or a few later, eventually after hundreds and thousands of matches). I lost my hard-earned unbeaten run and went berserk (bet my neighbour must have heard my continuous swearing then ) for that night as well, as going beaten for seasons requires so much hard work in team preparation and concentration during games, and it would only become harder to earn such a long unbeaten run again with seasons ahead likely to be getting harder.

There is a reason why I prefer 2/3-position sub, instead of single-position sub, despite the cost would be some 2-3T more expensive each in general (75%-85%, not higher - any higher is unreasonably costly for subs, for me). If a certain sub somehow works better with current first-11 (we can easily tell from their in-game involvement in key passes, on top of scoring & assist stats), that specific working 2/3-position sub can start and sub more often when any of the 2/3 first-11 has a under-8.0 rating. 30-minute involvement by an impactful sub can easily lead to 2 goals/assists, and they can easily influence the not-so-performing top attackers to somehow score another to sneak the motm when it was very unlikely, and that’s why I’d like the sub to be able to come on at more positions instead of just 1-position.

Eg. 7 subs costing 3T more each = 21T = 21 greens. The multi-position subs (with assist, freekicks gained) somehow help the top attacker achieve motm 5 more times in a season (assuming I don’t cherish the same 6% for most other first-11 players), that 30% extra gained is well worth it when 21 greens can hardly boost the 200%+ attributes. Obviously I am simplifying the contribution, but you probably get what I mean. Plus the 7 multi-position subs can allow a lot of variation to make the best use of better-rating first-11 too, as follows.

And regarding effects of subs, the conventional sub is position-for-position. And that is what I rarely do.
Eg. My 3 top defenders are ML/DL/DC (Wall SA), DC/DR/MR (Aerial defender SA) & DL/DC/DMC (Playmaker SA). If the opponent is playing a lot of attackers, say 3-4, then I would match with the same number of defenders plus DMC. And in-game, it is common there would be yellow cards and under-7 ratings defenders (basically doing nothing much). Usually I would remove non-performing DL & DR (no attack contribution), move the more-performing first-11 DC to DL/DR, and sub in a DC; or remove the non-performing ML or MR (no assist or under 8-rating), move the 3 top defenders to ML/MR/DMC, and sub in a defender; or move all players up a line (def to mid, mid to AMs), and sub out attackers and replace with defenders.

Just a share of what I do with subs, and hopefully your subs work well enough already.

The bonus training regime is to save 1 more red a day (and somehow helps minimising condition loss when ads fail to load ). Hopefully those extras would be useful to ‘exchange’ for more greens when we start playing loads of friendlies later on.

And yes, subs are playing better than some first-11 and definitely scoring a lot more, for some unknown reasons which never happened in previous season, so try to make the best of them (assist more for our top attackers, not scoring for motm ). Good luck too for both of us there!

I love triple position players but they are ex. And I only joined associations since level 4 so I am a little thrifty with my spending. Plus I mentioned that I sell min 14 players every season and they have to be replaced so it usually 50 tokens gone. That is also why I don't like gambling with odds for associations. If I feel they ain't good and active enough, I will leave. I rather get 50 than stay in the prestigious platinum only to get demoted the next season. And frankly I am also not good enough. I usually hit 100 at the end of the 2nd week and 110 by the end of the season. Last season higher cos of YA and this season higher as well because I am really worried about the lack of goals.

Yes the training regime helps heaps when you look at it over the entire season. 1 day might not mean much but over time. It can really make a difference. Next season I will try to be more patient and target triple positions. I usually try to settle all initial purchases on Sunday as Mondays are usually my busiest day at work.

[HeavensAAA]

I love triple position players but they are ex. And I only joined associations since level 4 so I am a little thrifty with my spending. Plus I mentioned that I sell min 14 players every season and they have to be replaced so it usually 50 tokens gone. That is also why I don't like gambling with odds for associations. If I feel they ain't good and active enough, I will leave. I rather get 50 than stay in the prestigious platinum only to get demoted the next season. And frankly I am also not good enough. I usually hit 100 at the end of the 2nd week and 110 by the end of the season. Last season higher cos of YA and this season higher as well because I am really worried about the lack of goals.

Yes the training regime helps heaps when you look at it over the entire season. 1 day might not mean much but over time. It can really make a difference. Next season I will try to be more patient and target triple positions. I usually try to settle all initial purchases on Sunday as Mondays are usually my busiest day at work.

Having a 100% team is good enough to join a platinum association, especially with your outstanding records. That extra 50T (vs gold 1) will allow you to invest even more towards the best FT, which gradually makes your team even stronger season after season.

In terms of a ‘good’ draw, from these few seasons’ experience it is ‘easy’ enough even when we bring 9 core players into the next season. This is my first season I try to bring more than 8 players, and it still works very well. Turnover of squad in new season is only 9 players, consisting of 2 FTs (should be 1 FT plus 1 90%+ for 1 season, but couldn’t resist the 33T on auctions for a 18yo 97% ML/DL/DC of about 3% under max value with the ‘lucky’ 20% token-back box opened earlier), plus 7 subs.

Eg. By the end of last season, my top 9 players’ average was around 120%. Plus a 40%+ 18yo and a 20%+ 19yo, and another 8 x 1* players. The league’s top 2 opponents are 70%, the cup’s best 2 are 71% & 70% and CL’s best 2 are 88% (now 94%) and 86%. After strengthening my team, I still have 20%+ advantage (now 116%) over the best opponent in CL, and pretty confident that winning the treble would not be an issue.

Just a suggestion that you could consider keeping and bringing more players into the new season, instead of having to buy 14 new players each season. I did very similar to that until level 4 (I was bringing only 6 core players, so had to buy 12 - 5 first-11 and 7 subs then). That was both very stressful (to keep bidding for so many players) and expensive in T (80%+ 2-position easily costs 5T, let alone first-11 close to 90% costs 8T or more each at least). My association mates reminded me that even 5T per season means 35T for a 18yo FT to be used until 24yo for 7 seasons is very cheap, considering that the best stats keep improving. And more importantly, team performance would be a lot more stable with minimal change of personnel.

That I brought 9 from last season means I only ‘need’ to buy 2 first-11, with 1 to be FT and another 90%+ to fill the gap (that extra 25T FT was so cheap over 7 seasons that it makes no sense to buy 7 players in each season when it I would be more expensive and worse in quality). It means that I only need to look at 2 positions from day 1, plus 7 x ‘5T-or-less 2/3-position 80% subs. Some subs could even be as cheap as 3T if we could get through till day 5. That makes life a lot less stressful when it comes to auctions, and also saves T too.
(I’ll bring 10 into next season and see how it goes. If it still works, then it will save another 10T each season and put back 5-6T in average to build another FT. Even less stressful )

The key starting this is to build this extra first-11 to be brought forward is buying and keeping those 19/20 yo of close to 90% (ideally with useful SA even at a few T extra), so quality-wise they will stay the same over 3 seasons when we start to invest further into the 18yo FT as the very core when we don’t have to worry about replenishing those as they are good enough.

[Sillybq]

Having a 100% team is good enough to join a platinum association, especially with your outstanding records. That extra 50T (vs gold 1) will allow you to invest even more towards the best FT, which gradually makes your team even stronger season after season.

In terms of a ‘good’ draw, from these few seasons’ experience it is ‘easy’ enough even when we bring 9 core players into the next season. This is my first season I try to bring more than 8 players, and it still works very well. Turnover of squad in new season is only 9 players, consisting of 2 FTs (should be 1 FT plus 1 90%+ for 1 season, but couldn’t resist the 33T on auctions for a 18yo 97% ML/DL/DC of about 3% under max value with the ‘lucky’ 20% token-back box opened earlier), plus 7 subs.

Eg. By the end of last season, my top 9 players’ average was around 120%. Plus a 40%+ 18yo and a 20%+ 19yo, and another 8 x 1* players. The league’s top 2 opponents are 70%, the cup’s best 2 are 71% & 70% and CL’s best 2 are 88% (now 94%) and 86%. After strengthening my team, I still have 20%+ advantage (now 116%) over the best opponent in CL, and pretty confident that winning the treble would not be an issue.

Just a suggestion that you could consider keeping and bringing more players into the new season, instead of having to buy 14 new players each season. I did very similar to that until level 4 (I was bringing only 6 core players, so had to buy 12 - 5 first-11 and 7 subs then). That was both very stressful (to keep bidding for so many players) and expensive in T (80%+ 2-position easily costs 5T, let alone first-11 close to 90% costs 8T or more each at least). My association mates reminded me that even 5T per season means 35T for a 18yo FT to be used until 24yo for 7 seasons is very cheap, considering that the best stats keep improving. And more importantly, team performance would be a lot more stable with minimal change of personnel.

That I brought 9 from last season means I only ‘need’ to buy 2 first-11, with 1 to be FT and another 90%+ to fill the gap (that extra 25T FT was so cheap over 7 seasons that it makes no sense to buy 7 players in each season when it I would be more expensive and worse in quality). It means that I only need to look at 2 positions from day 1, plus 7 x ‘5T-or-less 2/3-position 80% subs. Some subs could even be as cheap as 3T if we could get through till day 5. That makes life a lot less stressful when it comes to auctions, and also saves T too.
(I’ll bring 10 into next season and see how it goes. If it still works, then it will save another 10T each season and put back 5-6T in average to build another FT. Even less stressful )

The key starting this is to build this extra first-11 to be brought forward is buying and keeping those 19/20 yo of close to 90% (ideally with useful SA even at a few T extra), so quality-wise they will stay the same over 3 seasons when we start to invest further into the 18yo FT as the very core when we don’t have to worry about replenishing those as they are good enough.

I realised abit late that we have to keep 1 star players. And when i did realise, i did not know i could use their SA and multi position players to keep quality low so they were gaining almost as much as they were losing in rating every season. So for now, till my players quality get lower, i will have to endure selling and buying more players for now. Yes it is stressful and i often buy very weak players 1st and waste tokens buying replacements later so I definitely spend more than 60 tokens per season on average.

Frankly i still track the associations i left previously. One got demoted after last season and the other looks likely to get demoted after this season. They both have alot of inactive players with training maintained at very low percentages. So I definitely made the right choice in leaving. I agree that i might be able to stay or join a platinum association but from what i see, it takes an association with an average of at least 115 from week 1 to retain their platinum division status. Not easy. Also must have well trained and active members.

[Der_Ryan_M]

I realised abit late that we have to keep 1 star players. And when i did realise, i did not know i could use their SA and multi position players to keep quality low so they were gaining almost as much as they were losing in rating every season. So for now, till my players quality get lower, i will have to endure selling and buying more players for now. Yes it is stressful and i often buy very weak players 1st and waste tokens buying replacements later so I definitely spend more than 60 tokens per season on average.

Frankly i still track the associations i left previously. One got demoted after last season and the other looks likely to get demoted after this season. They both have alot of inactive players with training maintained at very low percentages. So I definitely made the right choice in leaving. I agree that i might be able to stay or join a platinum association but from what i see, it takes an association with an average of at least 115 from week 1 to retain their platinum division status. Not easy. Also must have well trained and active members.

What do you mean by average of 115? There are many associations with 90-100% average and they are doing fine. The most important things are activity and also that the members are fairly close to each other in terms of quality to avoid bad draws and being vulnerable to people who "manipulate", so put their bench in and the high guys get the low opponents.
This weekend for example we were very unlucky with the draw, as opponents were approaching draw with bench on the field. But it is our own fault, one member is 140%, I am 129% and another is 117% and all others are around 100%, it's too big of a margin. The 100% guys had the toughest opponents and all lost their matches, so all it takes is one of us slipping in his "easy" matchup and he did...

[Sillybq]

What do you mean by average of 115? There are many associations with 90-100% average and they are doing fine. The most important things are activity and also that the members are fairly close to each other in terms of quality to avoid bad draws and being vulnerable to people who "manipulate", so put their bench in and the high guys get the low opponents.
This weekend for example we were very unlucky with the draw, as opponents were approaching draw with bench on the field. But it is our own fault, one member is 140%, I am 129% and another is 117% and all others are around 100%, it's too big of a margin. The 100% guys had the toughest opponents and all lost their matches, so all it takes is one of us slipping in his "easy" matchup and he did...

What i meant by average of 115 is to add up all the best 11 players average of all 6 teams and the result is around 115? But i have to admit that what i mentioned is an opinion formed through observation and might not be representative.

I do that too. That manipulate bit. I actually did it unknowingly at first as I usually place my B team in the lineup so my opponents cannot take screenshots asking experts for formation/tactical advice. I also noticed people tend to play less friendlies with me when they notice my B team listed. It took awhile before i realised i was always facing the weakest competitor. So far, no one has asked me to stop doing so or had anything negative to say about it but some have joined me. I do not try to be the weakest but i just leave my B team as starters.

What you mentioned does make sense regarding the wide gap in qualities between association mates creating a disadvantage. What i noticed is the associations i have been in do not actively change their association match time. No captain discusses this with its members on a weekly basis or even adjust it when they face associations in other continents. Like it is an obvious advantage for a european association to adjust the time to as late as possible when facing an asian association.

[HeavensAAA]

I realised abit late that we have to keep 1 star players. And when i did realise, i did not know i could use their SA and multi position players to keep quality low so they were gaining almost as much as they were losing in rating every season. So for now, till my players quality get lower, i will have to endure selling and buying more players for now. Yes it is stressful and i often buy very weak players 1st and waste tokens buying replacements later so I definitely spend more than 60 tokens per season on average.

Frankly i still track the associations i left previously. One got demoted after last season and the other looks likely to get demoted after this season. They both have alot of inactive players with training maintained at very low percentages. So I definitely made the right choice in leaving. I agree that i might be able to stay or join a platinum association but from what i see, it takes an association with an average of at least 115 from week 1 to retain their platinum division status. Not easy. Also must have well trained and active members.

With 1* player, you could accumulate them all over a few seasons. Bringing 3 x 40%+ 18/19yo (18yo 1-position with SA or 2-position is best, as roughly 1 season’s training will gain a position or SA - next season they can stand in as 20%+ with SA for first 2 cup games and even probably into day 3/4 with weak opponents) into a new season should not impact your draw. 3 seasons on this cycle you’ll have 9 of those, and they will stay for some 10 seasons before you need to replenish any.

Forum would usually have at least 5 platinum associations looking for member replacement at each season end, and typically they look for teams under 110%, or even 100%, for draw purposes too.

What I did in day 1 to 3 of season 4 was:
1) auction checking just past refresh - no interested players then set alarm timer in 7 mins (to come back with 40s for next lot) ; with interested, then set timer in 3 mins;
2) then check associations by random alphabets combination for platinum -
a) preferably Western Europe-based players (timing suits best, as SE-Asian countries would miss late games);
b) English-speaking (with current experience, I would not want to join one without active interactions);
c) preferably 1160 or above (fighting relegation with 1100 or less is tough when first joining - likely to be weakest and not easy also to be expected to keep beating weakest - My asso mates were bailing me out with their wins initially, until I could strengthen properly in season 5 - we barely kept platinum with 1355 and 1370; the pressure of getting at least 2 x 1st or 1 x 1st + 2 x 2nd is a lot
d) can tell if they are active at the time of joining (mine simply demand attendance and bonus - or else kick ) - just quit and rejoin another until such one is found

Good luck in finding your platinum association soon!

[Sillybq]

With 1* player, you could accumulate them all over a few seasons. Bringing 3 x 40%+ 18/19yo (18yo 1-position with SA or 2-position is best, as roughly 1 season’s training will gain a position or SA - next season they can stand in as 20%+ with SA for first 2 cup games and even probably into day 3/4 with weak opponents) into a new season should not impact your draw. 3 seasons on this cycle you’ll have 9 of those, and they will stay for some 10 seasons before you need to replenish any.

Forum would usually have at least 5 platinum associations looking for member replacement at each season end, and typically they look for teams under 110%, or even 100%, for draw purposes too.

What I did in day 1 to 3 of season 4 was:
1) auction checking just past refresh - no interested players then set alarm timer in 7 mins (to come back with 40s for next lot) ; with interested, then set timer in 3 mins;
2) then check associations by random alphabets combination for platinum -
a) preferably Western Europe-based players (timing suits best, as SE-Asian countries would miss late games);
b) English-speaking (with current experience, I would not want to join one without active interactions);
c) preferably 1160 or above (fighting relegation with 1100 or less is tough when first joining - likely to be weakest and not easy also to be expected to keep beating weakest - My asso mates were bailing me out with their wins initially, until I could strengthen properly in season 5 - we barely kept platinum with 1355 and 1370; the pressure of getting at least 2 x 1st or 1 x 1st + 2 x 2nd is a lot
d) can tell if they are active at the time of joining (mine simply demand attendance and bonus - or else kick ) - just quit and rejoin another until such one is found

Good luck in finding your platinum association soon!

But mate, why were you looking to join a platinum association? Like you said you were being carried along while you strengthened. You run the risk of getting kicked if the position holders get frustrated. Plus it sounded like a fight for survival. Why gamble, there are many associations that are a guaranteed 50 or 100 tokens? So you went in and out of associations just checking their training levels before sticking with your current association? But i do understand why there is a need for associations to demand attendance and bonuses since i was frequently frustrated in my previous associations.

I really like the auction bit. Very efficient use of time! Will probably try that next season. With regards to 1 star players, i still cant afford the 18-19 year olds. The stadium development is draining all my cash. And without developing the stadium, i cant proceed to develop anything else.