(F13) Serie C Discussion

el Sigh

 

At least you hedged your bets. Since he technically was bought out of his contract, does that mean he can join the Sounders ahead of the summer transfer window?

 

Yep, he should be with the team this week. Would love to see him start against Portland Saturday but don't know how realistic that is.

 

bollocks!

 

Hey ladies, Squad Update available today

 

Keep an eye out for the Season 9 schedule to be posted very shortly, boys. And as we embark on our NINTH season, a few things to remember...

1) I will post the scheduling thread for the week every Wednesday. PLEASE post your availability as soon as possible for the week so your opponents aren't trying to chase you down in the last few days of the match week. Serie C had a 100 % completion rate last season for the first time ever, a trend I would very much like to continue!

2) Several of our match weeks coincide with Coppa match weeks, so there are a number of games to get played. I will remind you in the scheduling thread about whether it's an on or off week for Coppa matches. Please respect Broncos218 's schedule for the Coppa. Unplayed matches in the Coppa will result in forfeit, as the schedule there is much tighter than in league play!

3) For the new guys, make sure you're acquainted with our rules regarding pressure, goal differential and sportsmanship. Claiming "I didn't know" is no excuse, as we give plenty of time and guidance to get you prepared!

4) If you have an issue with an opponent (which I know we won't ), take it to a PM and, if necessary, include myself and/or RedAL925 in the thread. Fights on the boards are the quickest way to earning red cards and, as evidenced last season, expulsion from the league.

Looking forward to a great Season 9!!

 

Schedules are posted, best of luck this season!

 

And I'll post a sample tomorrow of the post game stats that the winning team must collect and post or, in the vent of a draw, the home team.

 

Time zone ET PSN Geneseo98 .... pumped for some fun matches... around March Madness, of course (LOVE this time of year)

 

Is there going to be an official "scheduling" thread or should we start getting things done in here?

 

there will be threads posted tomorrow or Wednesday

 

I post the threads every Wednesday morning religiously. The matchweek window opens at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

 

Let's talk a bit about pressure:




Before the season begins, I want to have a discussion about where pressure can begin, where’s too high on the pitch. So I thought I’d offer some thoughts of my own. My rule of thumb is to draw a line across the pitch at the center circle, and this is the point at which I start my defending. If I make a tackle or interception in this area (to the right of the line), I can launch my counterattack. If a tackle or interception is made in the shaded area – on the defensive (left) side of the line – I boot it back out of play for my opponent's throw-in or goal kick. A few yards either side is OK, but if you’re setting up your strikers, attacking midfielders or wingers 10 yards deeper than this, your line is too high and your play is too aggressive, no longer falling into the category of what’s determined to be “reasonable.”

If I’m questioning whether a ball I just intercepted was correct and “good form,” I tend to err on the side of caution and boot it out.

I look at the 20 yards made up by the edges of the center circle as my “soft defense” – it’s where I look to cut off passing lanes, harass the ball carrier, push him off of the running lanes of where he wants to go. Between the center circle and the “D” on the edge of my area, my defense hardens – I bring my forwards back to help, my defensive midfielders look to steal the ball, and I bring in second defenders to win the ball.

And all of this is obviously contingent on what's happening in the game. If it's the final 15 minutes and you're down a goal or 2, stepping up the pressure is entirely reasonable. THEN tackling deeper, intercepting balls deeper, is OK.

I’ve taken the liberty of including below six tackle charts that have been taken from TFS games in seasons past that show bad tackling, where one team (Green in the first four, blue in the fifth, the last I've removed one team's tackles to show how bad the other's are - you can't even tell which goal he was defending and which he was attacking!) is obviously pressing too deep, too aggressively into the defensive third. If your tackle chart looks like this, there’s something wrong. This isn’t the way we want to see our league go. Some of these are downright horrific, and more of what you expect to see in a head-to-head match against a 12-year-old.

These tactics won’t fly here, lads. Please make note of it.

 

And here's an example of the stats we're looking for (and we always LOVE a good post-match write-up of the events that transpired!). Also please include clean sheets if one of the 'keepers gets one. In the event that a player is suspended for a match because of a red card or yellow card accumulation, please make a note of it so it can be recorded in the table, as well.

Matchday 1
VfB Stuttgart vs PSV Eindhoven
Match Facts
3 Goals 1
7 Shots 23
4 SOT 12
55% Possession 45%
14 Tackles 15
3 Fouls 2
0 Offsides 1
0 Corners 2
2 1
0 0
Match Events
Tamas Hajnal (3') William Kvist
Cacau (45') Ibrahima Traore
Cacau (52') Martin Harnik
Ola Toivonen (69') Dries Mertens
- Ibrahima Traore (16')
- Jetro Willems (52')
- Serdar Tasci (56')
MOTM
Jeremain Lens - PSV

Stuttgart - Die Roten earned its first victory of the year against visiting Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and redwings8831 in a match that would be remembered as much for its physicality as it was for the quick first strike that got the home side on the board. Stuttgart was lethal in its passing just minutes into the game, finding tiny pockets of space in which to operate, and capitalizing when William Kvist drew two defenders and offloaded to Tamas Hajnal, whose weak foot blast was too much for Przemyslaw Tyton to handle. ​

PSV tried repeatedly to draw equal, launching cross after cross into the Stuttgart box, but the German defense was able to either out-leap their Dutch opponents, or give enough of a jostle that few of those successful tries ultimately ended on target. Stuttgart twisted the dagger by scoring seconds before the half when pacey winger Ibrahima Traore floated a pinpoint-accurate cross onto the head of Cacau for the first of what would ultimately be a brace for the Brazilian-born striker. Cacau struck again shortly after the half when Martin Harnik was hauled down on the right side of the pitch, about 20 yards from the end line, giving a perfect position for a crossed free kick. At 52 minutes gone, the home side were up 3-0 and looking to cruise.

But the Dutch had different ideas. The tempo and physicality of the match ticked up decidedly, as PSV mixed its attacks with long shots, crosses and attempted through balls to try and penetrate the German defense. At 69 minutes, they were ultimately successful when Dries Mertens sent a cross right along the length of the end line onto the waiting head of Ola Toivonen. But that was all the visitors were able to muster. Despite the scoreline showing 23 shots and 12 on target for them, many of those were deflected by the German backline, and the game wasn't so one-sided as the numbers might suggest. It was, beginning to end, a tense affair. Even up 3 goals, Stuttgart knew that PSV and redwings8831 could be back in the match in a matter of seconds. ​

 

I guess my biggest question regarding pressure is if I'm reading where a pass goes and intercept it, but the player who passed it wasn't under any pressure, he just made a mistake or bad pass, what's the etiquette there? Is any turnover inside the defending team's half supposed to just be kicked out and re-started?

I've noticed a few friendlies that I've played where it seems like guys are playing a 5-4-1 or something similar and so as soon as the ball gets near midfield, there's 8 guys waiting at the centerline to attack so build up play is near impossible. I'd carry into his half, turn it over, he'd carry into mine, turn it over, and back and forth... which I would think kind of circumvents the purpose of the pressure rule. Granted, I'm new so it'll take time for me to adjust, just curious as to what the line is between "realistic sim soccer" and making these games fun for everybody

 

The problem is that with this system we can't 100% replicate "real world" football. So finger slips, button mashing, mistakes from the AI all happen. If the controller doesn't read that you held down the button long enough and instead of sending a 40-yard pass to a wide open guy, it sends a 20-yard pass to a guy who has defenders draped all over him, it's frustrating and unrealistic, as a real player would never do that and it wasn't the player's intent. So yes, in that case, you assume it was a mistake and yes, you boot it out of play. It's not completely realistic and we realize that, but short of turning this league over to full manual controls, we don't have too much of an option, given the mistakes in how the user input and interface interprets your movements.

Some players do opt for a 5-4-1 or something similar, which is much harder to penetrate. Certainly not all of them do, and I'd argue that type of formation is probably a small fraction of the total league's preference. We don't want a whole slew of 0-0 matches where the entire game is played in the 40 yards in the middle, but I don't think there's any formation that's impenetrable. I suspect you'll see a lot more balanced 4-man backlines with plenty of room to operate.

 

Fair points all. Looking forward to kicking off tomorrow.

 

And this is the same reason that we never guard goal kicks. If you have a goal kick and pass to a man that's guarded, there's no "cancel" button - no way to undo that action as there is in real life. You've committed, which is, again, unrealistic. So if, in your haste, you're mashing X to get the ball out on a goal kick and your man's guarded, there's nothing you can do.

 

Well yea, goal kicks were kind of a given, I meant more like a defender trying to make a long through pass to a forward through a couple lines of my defense and my striker is able to pick it off before the center line kind of interception, not the mistake because the AI didn't register which player the guy was trying to pass to.

 

Yeah, I got it. And it's not the center line, remember. Roughly divide the field into thirds - and give a little more in your opponent's half. That's why the center circle is a good line to use. And again, it's all circumstantial - if it's close to that line, it's a judgement call. If a RB has it at his own box and he's trying to hit his wing at the midfield line and you intercept it 10 yards away from the defender, it's a bad turnover and boot it out.

Yeah, the guy probably shouldn't have tried to make that pass, but again, we're limited by what the technology provides us.

 

Selvy9 I'd say the most popular formations here at: 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2 and 4-2-3-1, very rarely you see a 5-4-1.

 

New Squad Update

 

Just a friendly reminder to mix up your play - crosses, through balls, shots from distance, finesse. We don't want anyone falling into the trap of pass-it-to-my-fast-winger-who-crosses-it-into-the-box 15 and 20 times each and every game. Playing against someone who attacks in the same way over and over and over isn't any fun, and it can't be a fun way to play for those doing it.

Remember, even Stoke City with 9'4" Peter Crouch don't send ALL of their balls in to his potato-shaped noggin.

 

ANOTHER NEW SQUAD UPDATE TODAY

 

Lads, I'm headed out of town tomorrow morning, returning Monday evening. Should something crop up that needs immediate attention, please tage RedAL925 and/or Zikry in addition to me to ensure it's handled expeditiously. I'll have access to the forums, but only when I'm not on the beach.