PES 2008, PES 2009, FIFA 09

Yeah, I was 15 back then when I started for them and was going to the juniors (if you play FM, the reserve team ). But there was the issue of me moving to the US with my dad so I got surgery on my toes to fix some stuff and so I had to stop. 8 years later I'm working on a comeback .

Well at 23 you're not too old.
I'm 20 and when I've finished my degree this year I will take my football coaching badges.
Maybe that could be a back door entry to getting the right connections and playing for a living.
I bet they're crying out for soccerball coaches in the states
Do you think you'd enjoy coaching?

I would enjoy, definitely, but would prefer if I could work with people with a different mentality. Last year in my final semester at uni I put up a team together of 8 people, and except for me and my Japanese friend the rest didn't play football and I spent a month and a half teaching them so the team would be ready for the uni league (indoor because it's almost as cold as Siberia where my uni is ), and we won through a ton of solo effort on my side with help from Nippon guy, but still! To see people who never kicked a football go from not knowing position names to actually moving properly and with some notion of positioning was so touching, actually. After the PK shootout in the last game (thanks to 2 mistakes from the newbies ) they were getting our team together for a picture but before it was taken my teammates presented me with a football signed by everyone of them and a few others, my eyes were bloodshot red with tears .

I know I can play but the problem is getting a chance at my age, and without an European passport :P. If I don't get to play professionally I hope to still be able to help others and possibly work with it someday . But for now, it's all about me in PES on the PS2 or FIFA on the PC, hehe. If you do go on to coach somewhere or play at some lower league team I'd not mind moving to England just to play, haha. Just hope I can get enough money to share a flat and buy food :P.

Guimengo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I would enjoy, definitely, but would prefer if I
> could work with people with a different mentality.
> Last year in my final semester at uni I put up a
> team together of 8 people, and except for me and
> my Japanese friend the rest didn't play football
> and I spent a month and a half teaching them so
> the team would be ready for the uni league (indoor
> because it's almost as cold as Siberia where my
> uni is ), and we won through a ton of solo
> effort on my side with help from Nippon guy, but
> still! To see people who never kicked a football
> go from not knowing position names to actually
> moving properly and with some notion of
> positioning was so touching, actually. After the
> PK shootout in the last game (thanks to 2 mistakes
> from the newbies ) they were getting our team
> together for a picture but before it was taken my
> teammates presented me with a football signed by
> everyone of them and a few others, my eyes were
> bloodshot red with tears .
>
> I know I can play but the problem is getting a
> chance at my age, and without an European passport
> :P. If I don't get to play professionally I hope
> to still be able to help others and possibly work
> with it someday . But for now, it's all about me
> in PES on the PS2 or FIFA on the PC, hehe. If you
> do go on to coach somewhere or play at some lower
> league team I'd not mind moving to England just to
> play, haha. Just hope I can get enough money to
> share a flat and buy food :P.

Very nice story that
I guess it's pretty frustrating being somewhere where not many people enjoy football, and that there aren't many decent players around.
Here there are loads of players as you can imagine, but it's not so much what you can do as who you know with regards to getting in the uni team.
Then after the match it's always off for a piss up.

>If you
> do go on to coach somewhere or play at some lower
> league team I'd not mind moving to England just to
> play, haha. Just hope I can get enough money to
> share a flat and buy food :P.



If I do then yeah, why not?
But I'd much prefer to play in the lower leagues in Italy to be honest, where the game is slower and more measured, and they appreciate technique and skill more than power and aggression.
I like to play as the 1 in a 4-3-1-2, a fantasista or trequartista as they call it in Italy.
That however is an extinct position in the English game, and I'd probably pay for my lack of physical agression and height if I were to find myself in the lower leagues here, where the ball is in the air 86% of the time .
What's your position?
Who would you compare yourself to in playing style?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2008 09:34PM by salvasirignano.

I began as a goalie at Botafogo (only because I lived across the street from it!) but got bored of having games end in draws thanks to my team always being me against the opposition's forwards. Ever since I was 8-9 years old I'd play with the high school freshmen (14 year olds) and I even met Junior (left wingback for Flamengo and Brazil in 1986) and he had some very, very nice words about me ! I moved to Flamengo and didn't feel like being a goalie, as a defender I could still prevent goals and actually score. I always had a physical advantage due to my height in Brazil, 1.82m tall (6 feet) at 15 and weighing about 70kg (less than 160lbs), I could run faster than most forwards and jump quite high (tracked at about 38" or 94cm), and it was always giving my heart out so no ball was lost and people hardly scored :P. Despite the stuff I could do, there was room for improvement on headers, passing, and mid-long range shooting, as well as more confidence with ball control but I was progressing fast. Then I moved to a place with 6 months of playable weather (the winter temperature average of Rio de Janeiro almost matches the summer average of Chicago ) and that you had to pay tons of money to play indoor/outdoor for a club, that's when I stopped. I only got back to playing in the end of 1st semester 2004, basically 3 1/2 years later, but in the US the game was so different that I learned to play forward .


Long story made short, I play defense or forward without problems, even goalie if needed though I am not as sharp as I was back when I was 8-14 years old. I'm much more of a guy who likes to keep possession and control tempo, so I began trying to play a more laid back midfielder position as I'm always watching the field for people's positioning so when I get the ball I can send it off to someone else 1st-time or be ready for a quick pass. I can do all that dribbling stuff but in a game I actually rarely resort to doing them, I made sure to focus on passing when I made the switch at Flamengo, so I can place the ball anywhere without having to run much to get open or dribble past people. It saves me a lot of energy , but it's a hassle with so many people not being used to making runs and trusting the ball will be there cleanly for them...

I am not sure who I could compare to, I always had very clear role models as a kid so for goalie, it was all about Walter Zenga (I even had his black/blue shirt ), defense it was mostly Lothar Matthaus but Aldair was up there for me as well, and Maldini very very close behind. So... Lothar Matthäus, though I am working to recover my fitness after 2 months off with patellar tendon issues and I can't compare to how Lothar was, basically a never-dying engine .

Walter Zenga, I remember him (only just, almost before my time) with his rubbish hair, long sleeved grey Italy shirt and eccentric gestures
I myself like to take opposing players out of the game as soon as possible.
If I receive the ball i try and and cut inside, beat players or run at the back four.
I do pass well, but they tend to be threaded/ clipped through balls rather than patient 5 metre lateral passes
I'd probably compare the way I play a bit to Del Piero when he was younger, in his first years at Juve.
Matthaus was an awesome player in his day, but he retired too late I think.
I remember him being in the Germany team when they got massacred by Croatia in World Cup 98, and when they failed miserably in Euro 2000.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2008 10:48PM by salvasirignano.

But remember him for his play in the UEFA final of 99, where Bayern started losing right after he left :P.

I love sending in the long balls crossing the field, the only problem is having someone make a run . Last semester I played indoor with 2 former Brazilian pros who coach here, I'd be the one chosen to run up the field for those balls but also run back all the way to chase the opposition's best/fastest forward. Every night was a major workout, especially when we had 1 less player a couple of games (4 vs 5 indoor, about 60% of an outdoor pitch, with one of the players sometimes being a lazy girl... even bigger workout)!

That's the problem with being mainly a passing player though, you rely on everyoneone else to make you look good.
Like you said, people have to make the runs.
My pet hate is looking up, seeing the opposing wing back too far forward, slotting it between him and the centre back (that sounded pretty gay, didn't it? ), and then seeing my winger or full back stood there, having decided not to make the run.
You can play the best weighted through ball in the world, but if your player checks his run, you end up looking really bad.
It is rewarding though when it does all go right.
I would love to be able to play some recently ex pros in a game, to measure myself against.
I know what you mean about the small sided games. 5 on 5 on a half sized pitch is a killer, especially if you like running with it and are expected to track back



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2008 11:06PM by salvasirignano.

hahaha, yup :P. Recently until my injury I started just running with it and going by people, but when you can't rely much on teammates for coverage and good marking it's not something you want to do so I'm taking my sweet time as I return to playing. I've settled for only a few runs up the field without the ball for now but since this semester I am not playing with the ex-pros (in fact, they're in against me in the same bracket ) and only with bad people, my only hope of doing anything in my runs is by taking the ball with me as they cannot read the game properly or give a pass. Bunch of ballhogs that play as nicely as chicken excrement . Oh, and most of them are Mexicans now, so I'm stuck with people who think they can play :P.

Haha, yeah that's pretty bad luck.
The worst thing about football in England is that a lot of people that play it think they're amazing at it, and being English they are really agressive with it too.
In latin countries, Italy for sure, Spain, I guess Brazil too, young players are encouraged to pass and move from an early age, and develop their technique rather than rely on pace.
This makes for a better team player when they become older.
Whereas in England in junior football it's long ball stuff from a ridiculously young age.
I remember when I was eleven, the league I played in went from being seven a side on small pitches to eleven a side on full sized pitches. Some of the goalkeepers couldn't reach 2/3 of the way up the goal, let alone the crossbar.
And then they wonder why there is a lack of English players with flair and technique :D

In Brazil I actually notice a lot of younger kids just learning how to do tricks and dribble but can't do a thing in the game as they don't pass properly and everyone thinks they can do like Pelé . The way I played was always based on technique but suddenly out of nowhere when I was 14 I was suddenly a fast runner and just had some issues adjusting keeping the ball with me as I darted by :P.

At uni I played sooo much with Africans... definitely you can see technique from some guys (Ghana and Nigeria especially) but not one of them would go without a rough play. I am a fan of flair and finesse over brute force, I am of decent size (6'3" 1.91m now, 87kg thanks to pizza ) but I always made a point to always get the ball and avoid players. Sliding tackles, only twice in my life I fouled someone. I got shouted at before for not fouling people but very rarely I let myself hit them in some way that would harm their run or something. It's definitely something I have to learn to do in small portions to not hurt the team if it's the case but for now I still got the speed to run back to catch up with people before they score but if I have to do it repeatedly in a game, I won't last the full time :P.

To be honest I don't go much for tricks either.
I'm right footed, but I like to drift out to the left side.
The only 'trick' I use in this case that works really well is when I go at the defender and beat him with an elastico on the run. He thinks I'm cutting inside.. no I'm not :p
Seems we're both fair chaps, maybe I'm too nice, but I always feel bad and apologise if I foul someone
I only really tackle if I'm certain I'm going to win the ball, so I don't slide tackle at all. Strange really since I get brought down all the time
I'm 1.78m and 75kg (10 of that is undigested pasta I'm sure )
Maybe I could lose just a couple of kilos, but that would come if I played football more regularly than I do now.
Do you do much gym work at all?

Just got back to the gym this week, before it was just 2x a week working on my recovery with physiotherapy. I'm glad they kept pushing me because on my return I didn't lose that much speed (mostly explosion only) and my stamina is quite surprising for the time I spent away . In fact I just got back from the gym now, I work out after work everyday, mostly do a ton of leg related stuff and a tiny bit of upper body. I just want to drop back to my 83-85 optimum range, I'd say I got 2kg to go. I look skinny but I have massive legs :p

To go back on topic a little bit , decided to take some FK practice:

I myself go to the gym a few times a week.
Upper body work is pretty important for me because I have short legs, so I have to maximise my speed anyway I can :p
Back on topic, I remember playing Fifa World Cup 06 a couple of years back.
As you moved up the difficulty levels, the opposition goalkeepers went from being crap to impossibly good.
I remember to score I had to either chip the keeper, or hit the post and have it roll along the goal line!
What's it like in the lastest release?
Nice screen by the way



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/2008 02:44PM by salvasirignano.

Basically the goalies are too good in FIFA and too crappy on PES . If you're shooting from inside the box, chances are you will only score if you have a good angle/view to the goal and hold the finesse button. Many times shots that go to the opposite post are deflected one handed by the goalies but the ball bounces far too high, that's one area of FIFA that they still need to improve, the ball physics.

You can control the goalie if you want and you actually can press a button to make the saves unlike PES where you're at the AI's mercy. Still is nothing compared to ISS 98 on the N64 . You can score from outside the box too, and usually if you hold the finesse button it might be harder but if you come in diagonally you might be able to bend it around the goalie. Lob shots work nicely too, unlike PES' way too weak and low or way too strong and high. And free kicks are a pleasure to take though you can score quite often.

Brazilian Cup final, suffering the PK that led to 1x0 on quarter finals:




I fight with the defense and goalie for a shot and manage to get the rebound to make it 2x1! In this play I actually slid into the goal post with the legs wide open, ouch !




Couple of plays later after I subbed Gui and Kleberson out they tied on a corner kick header. In the injury time I scored a magnificent off-balance shot with Jônatas from 10m out on top corner to win :D. Another thing with FIFA is that goalies are too reluctant to come out charging, and the AI leaves a couple of gaps when you call them to come pressure (slow to run in front of the box to protect goal) and that can lead to some goals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/2008 04:15AM by Guimengo.

Heads up for anyone looking to buy FIFA. Its now £22 from Amazon which is a pretty sweet deal.

---

Jonatas, didn't that guy score for Espanol against Sevilla in the Uefa Cup Final?
What do you think of fat Ronaldo perhaps playing for Flamengo Gui?

Yeah, Jônatas left Flamengo for Espanyol and despite being hailed as their best player (which to me should be Raul Tamudo) he was just too inconsistent mentally. His technique and class was there but he'd disappear easily. He scored a pretty tying goal but missed his PK .

About Ronaldo, I'd love to have him finally play for us! He has enough money so he shouldn't be so whiny about salary demands. I'm sure he's thinking R$350,000 or something absurd like that but he should settle for the equivalent to 80-100 thousand Euro (our stupid coach makes 85K) a month, but Flamengo won't have the money. Usually the team can pay the previous month's salary a month late but all bonuses are about 10 months late . He bought a mansion in Rio last week, about 10 minutes away from the club. He's never been this close to playing for us since 1991-92 (when the club refused to pay his bus fare and so he left the kids team) and it would be perfect for his career. You got the whole team and directors behind you and over 40 million fans backing you up. Add to that one of the best physios in the world and some of the best doctors and he'll be fine for 3 more years!