The Master League adventures thread

[Billy Jov]

I don't know why, but Rakitic in the J-League somehow makes sense. I can totally picture him playing in Japan.

I always liked Wakame '73's logo and name. It's funny because Wakame is a food, a type of edible seaweed in Japanese cuisine, haha actually really good! But then again the logo has the profile of a person, in my mind it's because he was the founding president of the Club, who loved Wakame as a side dish, so he decided to baptize the club like that in 1973, but being that he was somewhat of an egomaniac, he decided to put his face on the logo instead of a seaweed hahaha.. lool then again it probably looks better that way!

And Tokushima Vortis' logo always looked like a Ramen Bowl to me. 🍜

I don't know why, but to me Wakame'73 feels like an African team name rather than a Japanese one

 

[Juventino32]

I don't know why, but to me Wakame'73 feels like an African team name rather than a Japanese one

Waka waka !

 

[Billy Jov]

Waka waka !

Or Wakanda maybe!

 

[millossobek]

Hahahaha. brilliant!

 

[millossobek]

 

[Juventino32]

I've just completed the first season.
The second half was better and I could finish 4th.



And my team is 65th in the overall rankin.



This ranking is dominated by Chelsea, who won the European Championship !





The European Master Cup has been won by Liverpool.



And our D2 cup has been won by PES United who made the double : League + Cup.



Our league is last in the ranking.



Next season, Yokohama FC and Kashima Reysol will join us in D2.
But before that, I've programmed few friendlies to ear more cash. I've 13.934 and salaries are 10.138. So, I'm good, but would like some more reserves.

[EDIT]

I could finally sign my targetted players (by overpaying a little bit) :
- Mario Gomez & Neuer from the created players
- Pato after his contract ended with SC Internacional

I've also renewed the ending contracts of my players.

My transfert market is completed, only players can leave if I receive a correct offer.



Regarding the friendlies, so far :

Me 0 - 2 Asian All Stars
Me 1 - 1 Club América with my equalizer in stoppage time :-)
Me 2 - 1 Gli Pelati

 

[Juventino32]

I tried my new comers in the next friendly against WE United.
I was leading 3-0 half-time with 2 goals by A. Pato (incl. 1 PK he got and scored) and 1 by Mario Gomez.
Half-time, I switched 7 players incl. them and the game finished 3-2.

The other friendly game I played was against Craquinhos (Kaka, Shevshenko, Henry, Cech, ...) and I lost 0-1.

Minanda has left the team, I accepted the offer from SC Internacional who did not extend Pato's contrat few weeks before. I signed at 35 (36 next season) for a 1 year contract.

Iniesta (22) has not extended with Barcelona. I wiill try to get him next to Rakitic in midfield.

 

[millossobek]

@Juventino32 Iniesta played many, many years in Vissel Kobe, so I think he is a great fit for Wakame!

With a new crop of players including Neuer, Rakitic, Mario Gómez and Pato, I'm sure you'll be contending for promotion next season!! A quite international flavor in your team for sure!

Chelsea had quite a side those days!!

 

[Juventino32]

I could not sign Iniesta and the next friendlies were not very good...
Draw 1-1 against PSG
Lost 0-1 against Club Brugge
Draw 1-1 against Anderlecht

I also created a new kit for the next season and the technical sponsor got changed, from Sweet Years to Kappa.









The first game of the new season finished 0-0 against Yokohama FC who got relegated from the previous season.

 

[millossobek]

Guys, wanted to get the ball rolling on this topic.

What do you think of managing a National Team while playing Master League? I'm a bit torn on this one: Never tried it myself, but I can see positives and negatives, in terms of fun and immersion.

The pros are mainly the fun factor: I think it'd be pretty cool to try it, balance two realities, two campaigns and two different experiences and expectations. Managing a club is completely different from managing a National Team, and it would be fun to try to juggle the two (it would be quite new to remain emotionally committed to two separate campaigns). It would definitely be an interesting challenge, trying to separate club and NT emotionally and in your head (you might be having a bad season in your club but exceeding expectations in the NT, or vice versa..) Could be a cool ride.

The cons (at least to me) is the possible immersion factor: I'm mainly a club fan. I think the daily in and outs, the weekly games, player progression and the transfer market are very fulfilling. Managing both club and and a NT simultaneously doesn't strike me as particularly realistic (even though it's happened before, for example, Guus Hiddink managed Chelsea and Russia in the mid 2000's, and some others).. But the ease and frequency of how it happens in PES seems a bit off-putting, which affects immersion and might divide the emotional factor in two..

What are your thoughts?

PS: I will double post this in a FIFA discussion thread, for FIFA careers.

 

[Juventino32]

@millossobek , in PS2 games, it's not possible to do I guess... Cool idea though !

 

[ryudek]

Guys, wanted to get the ball rolling on this topic.

What do you think of managing a National Team while playing Master League? I'm a bit torn on this one: Never tried it myself, but I can see positives and negatives, in terms of fun and immersion.

The pros are mainly the fun factor: I think it'd be pretty cool to try it, balance two realities, two campaigns and two different experiences and expectations. Managing a club is completely different from managing a National Team, and it would be fun to try to juggle the two (it would be quite new to remain emotionally committed to two separate campaigns). It would definitely be an interesting challenge, trying to separate club and NT emotionally and in your head (you might be having a bad season in your club but exceeding expectations in the NT, or vice versa..) Could be a cool ride.

The cons (at least to me) is the possible immersion factor: I'm mainly a club fan. I think the daily in and outs, the weekly games, player progression and the transfer market are very fulfilling. Managing both club and and a NT simultaneously doesn't strike me as particularly realistic (even though it's happened before, for example, Guus Hiddink managed Chelsea and Russia in the mid 2000's, and some others).. But the ease and frequency of how it happens in PES seems a bit off-putting, which affects immersion and might divide the emotional factor in two..

What are your thoughts?

PS: I will double post this in a FIFA discussion thread, for FIFA careers.

I think it's a fun job if it's the same country you're managing in, that way you can sneak a couple of your players into a World Cup/Euro. I personally love being a NT manager, I do it in PES, FIFA and mostly Football Manager, as I feel that winning the World Cup is the single most important achievement in football.

 

[slamsoze]

Guys, wanted to get the ball rolling on this topic.

What do you think of managing a National Team while playing Master League? I'm a bit torn on this one: Never tried it myself, but I can see positives and negatives, in terms of fun and immersion.

The pros are mainly the fun factor: I think it'd be pretty cool to try it, balance two realities, two campaigns and two different experiences and expectations. Managing a club is completely different from managing a National Team, and it would be fun to try to juggle the two (it would be quite new to remain emotionally committed to two separate campaigns). It would definitely be an interesting challenge, trying to separate club and NT emotionally and in your head (you might be having a bad season in your club but exceeding expectations in the NT, or vice versa..) Could be a cool ride.

The cons (at least to me) is the possible immersion factor: I'm mainly a club fan. I think the daily in and outs, the weekly games, player progression and the transfer market are very fulfilling. Managing both club and and a NT simultaneously doesn't strike me as particularly realistic (even though it's happened before, for example, Guus Hiddink managed Chelsea and Russia in the mid 2000's, and some others).. But the ease and frequency of how it happens in PES seems a bit off-putting, which affects immersion and might divide the emotional factor in two..

What are your thoughts?

PS: I will double post this in a FIFA discussion thread, for FIFA careers.

Well i can see it via both sides.

I am always trying to manage some NT, either my home country or another small or mediocre in power NT, for a good experience in qualifiers and a bit tournament, continental cup or world cup.

On the other hand, especially when a season is too hot, i can see how distracting it can be, and how difficult is to hold two watermelons under the same underarm ( i hope it transaction ok).

What i usually do is lead the nation of Greece and mostly sim the friendlies, playing only crucial qualifiers and the final cup tournaments if i qualify.

 

[millossobek]

how difficult is to hold two watermelons under the same underarm

πόσο δύσκολο είναι να κρατάς δύο καρπούζια κάτω από την ίδια μασχάλη!! 🍉

You know what's funny bro, I've been offered Greece in my FIFA 15 story, and I was this close to accepting, but I said to myself, man that's a big commitment! But I'm still thinking about it!! (Getting offers almost every week, Greece would've ben cool but I have a full watermelon with Super Depor!!)

 

[slamsoze]

πόσο δύσκολο είναι να κρατάς δύο καρπούζια κάτω από την ίδια μασχάλη!! 🍉

You know what's funny bro, I've been offered Greece in my FIFA 15 story, and I was this close to accepting, but I said to myself, man that's a big commitment! But I'm still thinking about it!! (Getting offers almost every week, Greece would've ben cool but I have a full watermelon with Super Depor!!)

Hahahaha, yeah i mean, we day this in greek and i saw some other guy from another country saying it. But do you say it another countries? That you can not hold two watermelons in the same underarm? 😜

As for the commitment, yes it's real. Especially in FIFA it really starts too early. IIRC i am manager of Finland in my 2023 switch, and Bolivia in FIFA 20 and it's a lot of games too soon, i am not settled in my club yet.

Had similar situation in PES, i was managing Bolivia and planned to go for Colombia or higher (if any), but the WC qualifies was exhausting, 10 teams group and home amd away matches, making 18 matches in winter.

Combine this with a European club duties, League,cup and maybe CL/EL and it is a lot of matches and two very big watermelons 😜

 

[millossobek]

Haha! Well in Spanish there is kind of a similar expression.. "El que come y canta loco se levanta" which means something like "he who eats and sings wakes up super crazy" hahahahaha it's actually much funnier in Greek actually. Two Watermelons under one underarm seems almost impossible! 🍉

Yeah man.. I think a lot of it has to do with immersion. Two stories at the same would take a long time! The "classic" South American qualifying is intense, man. The way I usually do it is: Play a 10-team league with all countries, and have the top 4 qualify (with the fifth going up against an Asian, African team, or Australia or New Zealand).. It seems like a fun challenge on its own, but I agree that in FIFA it starts a bit early, and combined with a League, having two squads at once, could be overwhelming. Maybe I'll try it someday, though.

 

[SlovenlyRed]

Hello beautiful people! Not sure if this is the perfect place to ask but here goes:

I’m gonna be without my pc for a little while and will have to rely on my trusty PS4 to scratch the master league itch.

I have a copy of PES 2018 and PES 2019.
Which one should I pick?

Didn't one of them have that issue where all teams had Deep defensive line as an instruction? Making matches very repetitive.

 

[rockstrongo]

Hello beautiful people! Not sure if this is the perfect place to ask but here goes:

I’m gonna be without my pc for a little while and will have to rely on my trusty PS4 to scratch the master league itch.

I have a copy of PES 2018 and PES 2019.
Which one should I pick?

Didn't one of them have that issue where all teams had Deep defensive line as an instruction? Making matches very repetitive.

You'll be playing ML?
18 for sure, though 19s gameplay in exhibition/league mode is good, the ML gameplay isn't very good, way too repetitive CPU, hardly any dribbling or outside the box shots, just the same low cross in to the box and a tap in
So 18!

 

[rockstrongo]

Just wished I could play my PES 18 ML more, game looks so good in the rain, and plays superbly once the TS gets up

 

[Shales]

Hey guys 👋

After a long break I’ve finally started Season 2 in my PES 5 ML;


If you check it out then I hope you enjoy 👍

Thank you 🙏

 

[rockstrongo]

Hey guys 👋

After a long break I’ve finally started Season 2 in my PES 5 ML;


If you check it out then I hope you enjoy 👍

Thank you 🙏

Man it looks so good, even though im a retro player like you, not as old titles as Pes 5 but still retro, its insane that we should have to do it to be able to play a good game right?
And Freddy Adu, the next Pele...
Last club for hom was here in sweden for a third div team.
Great video buddy, lovely presentation

 

[caracal]

I just found out about the existence of this thread anyways here's a link to a reply I wrongfully made on the Retro PES Corner, about my current ML, on PES6:

https://evoweb.uk/threads/the-retro-pes-corner.78697/post-4041667

Expect updates on this thread from now on, now that I know it exists!

 

[Shales]

Man it looks so good, even though im a retro player like you, not as old titles as Pes 5 but still retro, its insane that we should have to do it to be able to play a good game right?
And Freddy Adu, the next Pele...
Last club for hom was here in sweden for a third div team.
Great video buddy, lovely presentation

Thank you! Lovely feedback 😀.

I remember the Adu hype so well. He was everywhere! It is a shame he never lived up to the expectations. Must have been hard to cope with all the media pressure 🙁.

 

[rockstrongo]

Thank you! Lovely feedback 😀.

I remember the Adu hype so well. He was everywhere! It is a shame he never lived up to the expectations. Must have been hard to cope with all the media pressure 🙁.

Must have been hell for him, also a talent is a talent especially at that age, not a sure thing at 20-21.
Love to see more stuff in the future buddy

 

[caracal]

Season 2009 done and dusted, and Mallorca Palma is still going strong!

We sadly crashed out of the fake Copa del Rey on the first round (terrible title defending but oh well), but 14 wins in the league, and a 5-0 win against Inter in the UCL group stage saw us reaching the mid-season as our best selves.

During the winter transfer window, we didn't make many moves... We actually just made one. Signed this 17 year old regen called Zinedine Zidane or something like that

With the UCL group stage over, we had some completely shocking results, such as CSKA Moskva qualifying from a group that included Ajax and Juventus, or the previous year's runners up Barcelona crashing out from the group, straight to the UEFA Cup. We finished 1st, with Arsenal coming in 2nd, while Inter and Liverpool said farewell to the tournament.

We kept on winning in the league, with Benfica being the only one to stop us (twice!!!), with a tie and a win for the portuguese team. But that didn't stop us really, because it would eventually be seen how superior we were to the rest of the league: secured the title with 5 games in hand, 20 point gap between us and 2nd placed Barcelona. 28 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss (thanks a lot Benfica ).

Back to the UCL, we had PSV Eindhoven in the quarter finals next. Having bagged a 2-1 win in the first leg at home, I was kinda worried about the away goal the dutch got for themselves, but that fear completely faded away at the 2nd leg, where an Obinna brace saw us having a 2-0 win, with a 4-1 win on aggregate. Up next, Real Madrid in the semis.

The semifinals saw a complete spanish domination, with Real Madrid and Mallorca Palma on one side, securing a spanish club in the final, and then Chelsea and Valencia in the other semi. Mallorca Palma proved to be the potential next powerhouse in Spain, completely dismantling the "merengues": 2-0 wins home and away meant a 4-0 win on aggregate for the balearic club

Chelsea made sure we didn't have a second all-spanish final in a row, with a powerful 6-3 win on aggregate against Valencia, which meant the english side was the last obstacle in Mallorca Palma's mission to succesfully defend the title!

The final, which was loyal to reality and was held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, saw a tense duel, with both teams having great efforts, but no success in putting that ball on the net. That was of course until the 73rd minute, when Obinna got away with a ball that was caught among a group of disoriented players after a corner kick, and scored the winner that made sure we became back-to-back european champions

I'm having a lot of fun with this ML, and while I know I'll eventually feel like starting something fresh, it has being successful in satisfying all my PES needs

That's it for now! Stay tuned for an update on the 2010 season coming soon! (I can say in advance that 8 weeks into the season I'm sitting comfortably in the 2nd place of the world rankings, so of course my main goal this season is to take that top spot)

While we wait, I've attached a few screenshots of some of my favourite moments of this season I've just finished

 

[slamsoze]

And the final match, of this dramatic CL group, as it evolved.

Champions League, matchday.6, or night

Estadio Francisco de la Hera, with our fans standing by our side, but unable to use our sound effects, goal songs, due to UEFA policy

Extremadura UD - Celtic

The starters

View attachment 237864

We must, no matter what, keep them in low tempo in their third half. If their start their long pass mambo-jumbo from defence to attack, they will score, sooner or latter. Thankfully we kept them in low flights under the rader and Robben (the regen) scored the one and only goal of this night, in minute 80'.

View attachment 237865

So the match concluded with only 2 shots by them, 1 on target, while the possesion was 50%-50%. And we are waiting now the other results.

View attachment 237866

In the other match, Liverpool and Benfica brought zeros. So miraculously, starting from the bottom, we ended up 1st. Leaders of the group, but with a very low point crop. I remember a season, 2004-2005, Olympiakos ended 3rd with 9 points in the group, and it was the talk of the year. So both of us and Liverpool, having 9 points, us being first due to better aggregate in our between matches, 2-5 AWAY and 1-1 HOME. Or better due to have 1W-1D in the matches between us, whatever

View attachment 237867

THE MATCH VIDEO



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The other Groups of this season, Champion League 2024-2025, concluded like this:

View attachment 237868

A lot of surprises. Andrelecht and Shaktar left Inter Milan 3rd, PAOK left Ajax outside of CL knockouts, Young Boys ended with 0 points! Only PSG did the 6/6.

The knock out stage is this. Our opponent will be Lyon.

View attachment 237869

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And now the EPILGUE. While it seems this is the best season for me and Extremadura, both in LaLiga and Champions League, and team is ready for big challenges, either this season or the next, and while i know how anticlimatic those changes are, i decided to move on and swap team in the coming window, December of 2024 - January of 2025. The reasons are, i am burned out, having 3 of 5 seasons in 2 big leagues, EPL and LaLiga, playing in 2 "fake" leagues, despite the edits here and there, i need some authenticity now, and i was also burned out by this crazy chase of Barcelona-Real-Atletico. It's really a lot of pressure.

So the offer from in game were: Arsenal who are 10th in EPL, and playing in EL, but i don't want EPL again, at least in the moment, Paris FC in Ligue 2, which i made a deal, and Fortuna Sittard in Eredivisie, being 16th, which i made a deal too. Have been in Fortuna in PES 2020 for some seasons, and in Paris FC, in every PES since 2018 up to 2021.

So i picked Fortuna Sittard, for the challenge, to "save" them from the bottom 3 positions, to try to climb in the top-6 CL/EL spots and the "package" of the Eredivisie, visible trophies (if i win anything ever ) , Eredivisie transition visuals. And to pay a little bit tribute to @vialli82 who used to say that he wants to see more Eredivisie being played. So going on with Fortunezen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S.: For the shake of the Master League drama, let's say that, Extremadura had some really serious financial problems from the roster creation of this season, who could not be covered even by the CL qualification, so they had to liquidate some of their assets.

The solution came from Netherlands, where Fortuna Sittard offered a respectfull amount of money, in order to buy Arjen Robben (regen) and the coach of Extremadura , Carlos Tanaka. Robben and coach recieved the news with cold heart, but it was the best solution for both sides, as Extremadura could continue to exist financially, having also a solid base of roster that coach Tanaka iherited to them, and coach could meet a brand new and fresh adventure, in a new country, new League.

As an aftermath of all this, Fortuna ended without financial problem, but without any transfer budget too , so Carlos Tanaka had to make evaluation of the existing roster, sell whoever needs to be sold, and either buy some Dutch medriocre 23~25 years old players, some Dutch veterans, and promote some youths from the academies, in order to build a sufficient roster.

In his press conference, coach said for the 5013413444343434th time, that: "We are football players, not cage fighters!!!!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________


P.S.2: Some time, i must pick one of the other options, that says want to see boys playing hard, waiting to listen the coach say something like: "We are CAGE fighters, we will rock you!!! "

---------------------------------------------------------------------

TL;DR: Extremadura out, Fortuna Sittard in!

Quoting myself for this "update" since it's more than 6 months.

I am in season 2024-2025, 5th season total in ML, 3rd season in Extramadura and in the January transfer window of 2025, i moved in Eredivise , Fortuna Sittard for "lore" reasons.

The club when i got the management were near the bottom of the league



Could be better, could be worse. The "objective" is to avoid "relegation" (hypothetical since there is no second division here.

Some significant moments of the season were:

The win against Ajax in the very first match
----------------------------------------------
An amazing 0-4 away win against Groningen


-----------------------------------------------

Well this half-season had a lot ups and downs. It concluded like this in Eredivisie. We finished as we started in Fortuna Sittard, with a match vs AJAX. This time we lost 1-0.


The final Eredivise table for 2024-2025 season was like this:



Well, we climbed 10 positions but nothing significant European-wise.

The good news came from the Dutch Cup, the so called TOTO KNVB Beker.
Started a Road To Glory from quarter finals, against FC Utrecht, winning 3-1


And then in the semi-finals, we won 2-0 against PSV in a very tight match.

 

[slamsoze]

And in the TOTO KNVB Beker final, facing FEYENOORD we finished the season with a good sign for the future, with an emphatic 1-5 cup win!



And the celebrations with the invisible trophy!!!! It's clearly there!!!!



Match film
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So, this was our ticket for next season's Europa League, since we didn't make any better in Eredivisie, for now.

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Starting season 2025-2026, 6th in total, 2nd in Fortuna Sittard, the first was half, and we have the Dutch Super Cup against the current Eredivisie Champions PSV!

Didn't see this coming, but this win clearly changed our mentality and pushed us from the total underdog, to a more top flight approach.



Super Cup match
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The squad for this season, is approximately like this. In the red squares i've marked the regen players, most of them were regened in previous seasons and they are 19-20 yo by now.



The first match of the season was a 2-0 win against VVV-Venlo, like we say in Yu-gi-oh, it's time to Du-Du-Du-Duel!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our Europa League Group is:

-AS Roma (ITA)

-Club Brugge (BEL)

-Livingston (SCO)

-FORTUNA SITTARD (NED)

We started with a 2-3 away win in Club Brugge







The 1st match, and possibly the first European match in Fortuna Sittard club's history

--------------------------------------------------------------

The first derby of this season, a 3-3 draw against Ajax in our home ground. Ajax has not started well this season.



The match film:

 

[caracal]

Hello! After a week I'm happy to say Mallorca Palma's story had a happy ending.

Decided to make the 2010 season my last one. My main objectives before moving on from this team were clear:

1- Reach the 1st place in the World Ranking
2- Win the treble
3- Unbeaten title in the league

Objectives 1 and 3 were achieved! Sadly, we couldn't complete objective #2, after we lost the Cup Final against Real Madrid... But that doesn't take the fact that we were now the best team in the world!

My plan now that I'm a lot less rusty in this game, is to start the real deal. Created club, default squad, 1500 PES points to start.
At the moment I'm focused on the editing part of the game, since something I love is to have all club's kits designed by me (it gives me more of a feel of personalization), as you've seen in previous screenshots I shared (e.g. the Inter Milan kit I made, inspired on the italian club's puma kits from the 70's).

My goal with my future Master League whose most details are TBD, is to make it my longest ever ML. The longest one I've played was 6 seasons long, but something I wish is to try and reach the present year 2024, and compare the clubs considered the best in my save to the ones considered the best IRL.

At the meantime, I'll keep my own tradition and share some screenshots of Mallorca Palma's final season

See you soon!

 

[Shales]

Here is my new episode in my PES 5 ML.

Some great goals in this one 😀