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The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: August 27th, 2017, 10:18 pm
by Ashfordian
How do we see our teams fortunes in the upcoming season?

League

I've (finally) promoted into IV and have been alloted IV.58, the spiritual home of UncleIan who resided here 12 seasons. I don't plan to stay that long!
I'm predicting a 3rd place finish for myself but that could easily be 1st-7th as the teams look close. Last seasons winner won it in his first season after promoting. I'm not daunted by my opposition and feel I can put out ratings equal to theirs.


Cup

I'm concentrating on the league and seeing what I can do there so the cup will definitely be second this season. Because of this I'm not sure I will move forward my PB of R4.


Training

Training 6 HG players in PM but have the flexibility to switch to CA or passing if the league formation dictates it.


Youth Academy

I've made nearly £1m in sales from YA players last season. Have 3 great future prospects but they are not compatible trainees, 2 being Solid Defenders and the 3rd Solid Scorer with a head spec. It's likely I will have to choose one of the other


Stadium/Finances/Coach/etc

I don't expect to expand the stadium above its current capacity of 50 290
Coach recently dropped to Inadequate leadership so he is OK. Although I already have his replacement ready to take over when required. I have at 9 other first team players with Passable or Solid leadership who are on the coach production line.

Finances are healthy at just under £7.8m

Wages are the highest they've ever been at £110k a week and team TSI is 1.05m


Future player changes

A quality winger and striker would probably make the difference and win me the series this season. The problem with that is I don't feel the rest of trainees are there yet and I would prefer to add these players to the squad when it fits withe the long term plan. Now I've written this the winger could arrive soon as they would benefit from my training plan.


GL all for the coming season

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: August 29th, 2017, 8:47 am
by Donut102
League

I've also promoted into IV, but I'm totally outclassed. With one bot opponent, the best I could get is 7th....so a training season, and using the league games to get experience for the future coaches.

Cup

Given the league is over before it's even started, the Cup will be the priority. Would hope to match my PB of R3, with a further 3 rounds of the secondary cup.


Training

Currently scoring, but will re-evaluate after the cup exit.


Youth Academy

I've got one Powerful PM/ Passing prospect who will be retained in the senior squad. Five other potentials, all of whom will be sold.


Stadium/Finances/Coach/etc

Current capacity is 55,000 - given that I'll be losing each week this wont change.
Excellent coach with passable leadership is just fine right now.
Finances are healthy at just under £6.6m. If I switch training I'll look to acquire a new player, otherwise plan to keep money under the mattress.

Wages are the easily manageable at £78k.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 12:10 am
by Eastheath
League

As one stupid result ruined my ‘promotion’, its another season for me in series V. We have two bots this time, which takes the pressure off any potential drop. I’m predicting a top two, barring any more grotesque travesties of justice. A bit of luck and it could be #1. Luck would be nice…

Cup

Round 2 and its already tough. I’m not fussed how it goes, its training priorities for me.

Training


Scoring training is still the game, as there are some yoofs coming through that will keep the conveyor belt going.

Youth Academy

My 1st XI forward line is home grown, as are the next generation. The academy seems to be working.

Stadium/Finances

Stadium stays at 54,000

Finances are OK at £2m

Wages are £144k a week, trimmed down from £180k last season. Team TSI is 620k.


Future player changes

Have recently added a younger midfielder, and still need at add a younger defender. Some of the older hipsters need to move on.

And the big news is…

Flag hunting is complete, after 13 years. Loco have now played home and away in all 128 countries. I’m not going to chase the money grabbing scam that is the Hattrick international flag.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 10:57 am
by UncleIan
Eastheath wrote:
And the big news is…

Flag hunting is complete, after 13 years. Loco have now played home and away in all 128 countries. I’m not going to chase the money grabbing scam that is the Hattrick international flag.


Hats off to you! That's seriously impressive.

League

In IV.15 for another season, not really looked at the teams in detail, but if last season's stats are a rough guide, we should be okay, no huge teams promoted or demoted. Last season's 2nd place are too strong for me, team demoted should fall straight through, I'm thinking anywhere from 2nd to 5th. Yes, hedging my bets somewhat.

Cup

I think the team spirit advantages outweigh the injury/card chances, so will be trying to get a fair distance. Trouble is, that doesn't seem to be that far these days, R2 should be okay, anything after that is a bonus etc.


Training


Still PM training. Some of my fringe trainees, older defender trainees that were getting some IM too need to be moved on I think, and some homegrowns put in their place, then again, may need to switch to passing soon, I think that was the plan, and that'll mean all my strikers getting replaced. Yes, looking at my training estimations, week 5 three of my IMs will hit titanic, probably time to switch then, or three weeks later when another one hits ET.

Youth Academy

One sale last season for £100k, got one lad training with the first team. When did youth team finances appear? Well, that doesn't make good reading! Lost £100k on that last year. Still, topping the TMF league, and that's the important thing right? Right?
YA probably still living off the glory of the U20 keeper (4 caps! Four!) and the keeper sold for £3.5m. :)

Stadium/Finances

Stadium never changes.
Finances are pretty good at £8.5m. Looks like we make £1.8m last season.

Wages are £147k a week, last season average £133k. Team TSI is 865k.

Future player changes

See training. Strikers probably all going mid season to be replaced with trainees.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: August 31st, 2017, 12:17 pm
by Bink333
League

I'm expecting this to be my last competitive season in the EPL. My three youngest (home grown no spec) 1st team players in my team are now all aged 31. I'll have one 32 y/o who I hope will be called up for England NT (quick winger), to replace the 33.5 y/o whose missed chances contributed to our earlier than expected exit from the last tournament. He's one of 5 33 y/o, which includes my GK who will be the first to turn 34 (the age at which at 34% stamina training, stamina drops from 8.0 to 7.9 drifting to 7.0 age 35/111). The other 7 in my 1st team squad are aged between 34 and 35.5.

The 3 35 y/o ideally should have departed and been replaced already but the fuel resources have been burning merrily away in the Aga for a few seasons now and the cupboard is dry, even if we should all be nice and warm for the coming autumn...

It is pretty tricky to call where we'll end up in the Prem this season. I think a top 4 spot is possible, as it was for the last two seasons (6th and 4th finishes both with 21pts), but 21points must be the target, and then to keep fingers crossed for a lucky roll of results.

Cup

R7 and a neutral ground is the minimum target, as the Cup system still has its rewards for Prem sides playing the lowest ranked teams. The income stream from the Cup should really become the start of my rebuilding kitty, but if there's one thing I know about myself its that money (especially ht-money) burns holes in my pockets.

Training

Stamina is at 34% and the plan is to top up all the skills as required on my NT prospect, with some Set Pieces as the preferred primary training when I'm not doing that. If he doesn't get a look in because the new manager doesn't want him, it will open the door for Training Intensity tricks (gambling his form) and so I'll not be crying too much about all those years of training going to waste if we elect some numpty that doesn't use our best winger (imho) prospect.

Youth Academy

Well, I've just promoted my first player for the next rebuild, a 17/89 quick (solid PM passable passing & wing) who is earmarked to be part of the coming rebuild. I'm not that fussed about profit now, I just want some home-grown wt spec talent to train.

Last season I had an unadjusted profit of £1.7m but lost over half of that as a result of a bidding war that took a week 1 sale way over his TC, and much later in the season I had a retrospective adjustment (not reflected in the YA accounts).

Stadium/Finances/Coach/etc

My 78,000 stadium is more than sufficient for a team with no home Cup games. Any larger would definitely be wasteful, and unless I maintain a top half performance in the league I expect I'd be better off dropping it to closer to 60k.

My last solid coach was promoted towards the middle of last season, as an excellent. His leadership is fine and his coaching skill will help with the 5% stamina rebuild training that will be next on the agenda, once the current Prem adventure is over.

Finances are a little precarious at just under £1m, meaning I cannot bring in a decent GK as cover if I get an injury, but I've enough in place to see me through to my first home game in week 2.

Wages have tumbled as the players have aged and primary skills have dropped and are now just under £240k. 2 other Prem managers have lower (the 3 of us finished 3rd-5th last season) and last seasons champion has strengthened his squad and has wages of £365k (the most in the Prem right now).

Future player changes

There's no plan, but I may need to buy cover for form/injury issues (GK always the biggest fear along with my best SP taker). My team will need a complete overhaul under the new spec SE changes, as I've done the best I can to optimise head and quick specs around my home grown core, so it is somewhat fortuitous that the timing of it's arrival next season coincides with the depletion of my resources.

Wombats

2nd team training is going well. I have 5 powerfuls (including 2 homegrown) in defender training, so today's man-marking announcement should add a few quid to their resale values. I also have 3 GK in training, one of which is homegrown, and one of the powerfuls (and a quick) have ET PM so there's the making of the core of a team in training there along with some tidy profit on training GKs in defending.

The team is relegating from II this season, and training under an excellent coach with 5% stamina 2xlevel 5 assistant coaches and a level 5 medic. This is 'optimum'. No aspirations for anything other than to speedily train defending for 3 more seasons, taking my homegrown (due to pop to formidable this week) to titanic, before SP training (1-2 seasons) and then back to GK at higher stamina percentage levels to become competitive again.

Good Luck to all, I know I'll need plenty if I'm going to walk away with any silverware from the current rebuild!

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 4th, 2017, 9:28 am
by UncleIan
So the Albumen start the season (as does everyone else!) and the first time we use the new match order pages in anger, and we like it. Almost too easy. Need to look at what it bases the opponents ratings on, as I can see getting lulled into a false sense of security by a team doing an away PIC then giving you the jump at home. Then again, on the evidence of this week, I'm clearly a bit cautious...

We were at home to fourth, and looking at the ratings, they had no discernible defence, handy midfield and decent attack ratings, so my cunning plan was to grab as much midfield as sensible and attack their weaknesses, so a 2-5-3 it was. If they don't have the ball so much, they can't score with it. I decided not to PIC, not sure why, I can't remember what possession was predicted, but I guess it must have been close.

It was raining, which was a shame, and so the first thing that happened was my quick striker got a negative weather event, slipping around in the mud (when is the league going to allow 3G pitches eh? It's not the 70s!). Then he scored, then he scored again, and again :D halftime score 3-0. Three more unanswered goals for a pretty flattering 6-0 thrashing. Possession was 55/45%, yet they got zero chances. Harsh.

Still, that's me top of the league, possibly for one week only, as next week's away fixture looks tough. May need to go pressing PIC and pray for a draw.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 4th, 2017, 10:28 am
by Bink333
We were away to 3rd, and they just had a whiff of vulnerability about them. One of their WBs was injured in a pre-season friendly, their ageing issues are just a little worse than mine with only one IM in excellent stamina and both wingers had form drops, together with a stronger IM having a form drop in exchange for a weaker one having a boost.

I was expecting them to PIN with a obvious CA away next week, and so I set up to optimise my m/f ratings with 3xOCD, 2xDF and 2xWTM. I had one stamina sub selected for my oldest forward switching to normal when he came on. I still thought they'd have advantage, and HTMS agreed suggesting they had a 44.5% chance for winning against my 37.7%.

I had (just under) 50% and then 51% of the ball and this kept chance distribution tight with 6 to them and 4 to me (5-5 would have been fairer) but having won on the swings they lost on the roundabouts with just 1 of 2 chances in the middle converting and none of the two chances on the left (which had a much better chance for conversion than the ones in the middle), and we bagged one of 2 in the middle as well as one of our side attack chances.

An away 3pts at this level is a comforting way to start the season, but I did that two seasons ago and wound up 6th, so there's little room for complacency. There were some warning signs posted in yesterday's matches:-

1. Last years Champions are away at mine next. They PIC'd (as expected), and that's going to make life a bit trickier for me with a TS disadvantage, against a team usually capable of producing a couple of levels higher m/f (all things being equal). Tricky, tricky, tricky.

2. Auto-promotees Shakhtar Donuts (Long Shots side) won 0-6 yesterday with pull-back taking their central defence ratings to divine +11. That's divine plus eleven after 70 minutes. Side defences were divine plus nine and divine plus 7. They're capable of some pretty tasty looking m/f ratings as well, and they are the first long shots side to reach the Prem, so there's a monster coming over the hill.

3. There was only one home win yesterday, and the other away winner achieved a midfield one sub-level above my own (titanic - high). That was after an injury to an IM. And an injury to a winger. At kick off they were 3 sub-levels higher...

My next 3 games are home to last seasons England Champions, then home to last seasons runners up (who also PIC'd today + although I did the double over them last season - so they'll be after revenge) then away to Donuts' long shots.

For now though, I'm 4th.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 4th, 2017, 5:56 pm
by Ashfordian
At home to 7th, a fellow promotee, who has a dangerous team but plays a predictable 2-5-3

He had brought in a new IM on the Saturday so on seeing this I decided to upgrade from PIC to PIN to make sure. At the start of the game I was happy with my tactics. An injury to an IM after 16 minutes to an IM brought on a sub and ruined a planned stamina tactical change to my passable stamina CD after 68 minutes.

We were 3-1 up at halftime, their goal coming from a quick event. I knew I needed 5 goals to be sure of the win with my weakening CD.
They got the corner-->head event after 73 minutes and scored against my struggling CD in the 84th minute and the game finished 3-3.

I'm 4th in the series but we all look very close.

According to the league statistics I had the strongest team of the week and comfortably the biggest MF. I'm hoping this leads my opponents thinking I MOTS'd so that I can surprise a few more teams :)

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 4th, 2017, 11:55 pm
by Eastheath
We were at home to the team that had wrecked our promotion chances last season (they had won 2-3 with a 3% win probability, or something similarly unlikely).
We put out pretty much the same team as last time, except for a new IM.
Normal service was resumed, with a 5-1 win.
Next week away to 6th, it should be an away win for us. Cup game mid week is much more difficult, why are the tough games so early?!

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 11th, 2017, 10:51 am
by Eastheath
"Next week away to 6th, it should be an away win for us. Cup game mid week is much more difficult...."

Haven't learnt much in 13 years have I ! Cup game may have been difficult, but we won 1-0. The next cup game will be impossible, they have divine ratings all across the defence, and the attack is tasty too. Will be a PIC and a pray I think.

As for the away game in the league, yes, on most metrics it should have been an away win, except they put in another big defence, played 5-4-1, and despite our efforts, it was a stalemate at 0-0.

The draw leaves us in 3rd, two points off the top. Next week we play the league leaders who have yet to be tested. On paper its ours to lose, but I will try not to take it for granted...

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 12th, 2017, 9:53 am
by UncleIan
UncleIan wrote:Still, that's me top of the league, possibly for one week only, as next week's away fixture looks tough. May need to go pressing PIC and pray for a draw.


Didn't bother with any of that negative stuff, went with a 3-5-2 PIN. We got the lions share of possession, 60%! Unexpected, so as my attack v their defence was more or less 50/50, it could have been a cakewalk. We were 0-2 up at the end of the second half, but it was 2-3 after 64', luckily, it stayed that way, and we nicked the three points. Two players injured though both +1s so not the end of the world.

Last season's second place kicked the bottom of a promotee, so they take over first place on goal difference and I slide down to second. Next week we have a home game to another promotee, should be a PIC, but that depends on if we stay in the cup, and I don't have to cope with the usual post cup exit sulk. I've got a monster defence to break down in the cup, could be tricky, will have to pop the thinking cap on lunchtime.

Ian

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 12th, 2017, 10:10 am
by Bink333
I was at home for the first of a home double header. Week one = last season's Champions of England:-

This game was always likely to be about winning m/f, and with a TS disadvantage eating into my home advantage against the team that has produced the best m/f ratings in the Prem for the last 2 seasons, I opted for a 2-5-3 using 2xOCD, 3xDF (including a winger with just excellent scoring) 1xWTM+IMTW on one side and 1xnormal winger on the other.

I'd also decided to set match orders using 'set this as default line-up' only. Every manager in the Prem had (as usual) clicked the send match orders except me & I was hoping this might put them off considering a MoTs or indeed a CA, and although they did change orders fairly close to kick off, I'm not sure if this had any influence or not. I doubt it, as most managers at the sharp end are either too savvy to fall for things like that, or, don't even check...

They opted for the same formationm 2-5-3 only without an IMTW and with both wingers played WTM. Ratings at kick off had me with 52% of the ball and a utopian high m/f. That was the news I wanted. I knew that they were odds on favourite for any SE (based on my fielding just 3 head spec outfielders - in order to accommodate the quick winger as DF for the m/f boost instead of a head). They had 58% in all 3 attack sectors, and I had 59% in the middle and 63% & 74% on the side attacks.

This then was all about chance distribution and not fluffing any "easy" conversions. The ME awarded us 5 chances each (including the corner head SE to them) which wasn't perfect, but my % dropped to 51% in the second half, so it wasn't a huge surprise. They fluffed one, and we didn't, even my relatively low scoring winger converting his chance crossed in from the flanks. There was never more than one goal in it, and we went behind twice in the first half, taking the lead 3 times. It was fun to watch on the live viewer.

So, the good news is that we got the 3pts and move up to 2nd on the table behind the "monster" LS team on GD (after 2 games they've scored 10 without reply, compared to my +2). I'm home to last week's runner up next week, and then away to them.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 12th, 2017, 11:17 am
by Ashfordian
This week I was away to last seasons runner-up and scouting told me I was behind in ability.

I chose a 3-5-2 PIC Pressing with 2 WTM's. The aim was to get MF as close to theirs as possible as they were going to suffer with stamina later in the game. My pressing skill was Formidable.

This skill was good enough to bore the opposition and their supporters into a 0-0 draw. Chances were split 3-3 over the game with 4 chances pressed. The game started with them winning possession on a 55/45 split. Some intelligent IM and Wing substitutions keep them in the lead with possession and never once to did it get better than 50/50 to me.

I'm looking at this as a point gained as I was definitely the underdog in this game.

Increase TS from the PIC should make my cup game easier on a PIC and this will follow through nicely to a strong MF next Sunday with high TS

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 18th, 2017, 10:30 am
by UncleIan
A good week this week, got through the cup on a PIN, which seems a bit excessive, I think it was 2-4, hattrick is down at the moment. Not as close as that sounds, I think it was 1-4 at one point, and they just didn't come back. It was a fair result too I reckon. Though I would say that.

Sunday I was home to a promotee, and I've decided I really like the new match orders thing, especially the "live" ratings, so you can see what effect each change has on your ratings, and the review page where you can look through your oppo's stats in comparison to what you're expected to get. I used this to be fairly confident of a home PIC 2-5-3, and duly ran out 3-1 winners after going behind to start with. Three wins out of three, and where does that leave us? The HT-Gods must have been angered by 1st place in the league, they banana skinned and lost to a good team, but they had better ratings in almost every sector, bossed possession, and yet...lost. One of those. So I'm back on top of the league, 1st slips to 3rd on 6 points, and 2nd are on 7.

Wheels will probably come off this week, cup game looks more than tricky. Can't match their midfield, and they're quite a balanced team so I can't go extreme in any one place. Gone for a PIC press and pray. Penalty takers set, if it comes to that. Then next weekend I'm away to the erstwhile 1st place (who was second last season). They're too strong for me, especially if I go out the cup. Maybe they'll go out the cup too, and I can try the PIC press and pray again. All things being equal, it's an obvious PIC and move on, but I'll have to have another look after Tuesday, see where we both are.

Ian

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 18th, 2017, 11:40 am
by Bink333
Yep. Site was down because their network provider has been doing scheduled/rescheduled maintenance without informing them.

I had my second of two home games, this time against last season's runners up Paignton.

As expected they opted for a midfield heavy CA and I went 2-5-3 with 2xCDN, 2xIMTW, 1xnormal and 1xoffensive winger (I don't use those very often these days). All 3 forwards were played normal. The match orders page suggested I'd have divine side attacks and magical in the middle, and the possession split was in my favour with a titanic m/f (54% in the game).

This meant that I've had majority possession in every game so far this season, and usually that means more chances. However, after yesterdays game I've had a season totalling 14 chances from these first 3 games to my oppositions' 20, skewed heavily yesterday as Paignton had 9 chances to my 5.

On the plus side, my conversion rate this season is running at over 70% and so, after losing an IMTW to a +3 injury with a not-wing-heavy IM being subbed in, and losing my 'calm' player-coach forward (who'd scored my only goal in the first 82 minutes) to a red card (can't even remember him being booked before) my 2-5-2 formation (with weakened attack ratings) came back from 1-3 down to record a home draw 3-3. I also managed 518 hatstats to their 489.

It is a case of 2pts lost even though it felt like a point gained at the time, but I mustn't grumble, as the point puts me top of the Premiership, I'm still unbeaten this season, and so (for 1 week only) I'm back on stage as the toppetiest team in England, and can now celebrate, having already had the obligatory spamalot post land in my guestbook.

Next week I'm away to Donuts long shots, and with my best IMTW crocked I really don't fancy my chances, so I'm going to enjoy this moment while it lasts!

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 20th, 2017, 10:27 am
by UncleIan
UncleIan wrote:Wheels will probably come off this week, cup game looks more than tricky. Can't match their midfield, and they're quite a balanced team so I can't go extreme in any one place. Gone for a PIC press and pray. Penalty takers set, if it comes to that.


That was weird, I'd clearly been in and had a tweak and an play with my lineup. Turned out I PICd but didn't press, but left in all the orders to sub players to keep stamina levels high. My oppo clearly was a bit worried about my recent 2-5-3 matches and switched to a 4-5-1, I had toyed with the same, but my defenders aren't in great form. Went for a 3-5-2, outclassed them in two out of three my defence v their attack sectors, other was roughly 50/50, while their defence trumped my attack by 60/40 across the board. Possession was 53/47%, which on a PIC surprised me. Unsurprisingly given the ratings, lots of missed and stopped chances, an exciting 0-0 at half time, and the first goal only went in on 69'. Them unfortunately, we equalised on 84', and we went into extra time with plenty of fresh legs on the field. Sadly they put one away in the 112' and that was that. Chances were split 10/9, which I think flatters me a bit. Maybe pressing would have sent it to penalties, but hey ho, a scoring loss ain't so bad.

Unfortunately, this weekend's league opponent won in their cup match, so no cup hangover for him. Thinking cap required.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 20th, 2017, 11:21 am
by Eastheath
Bink top of the Premiership. Well done bink, that is some awesome work!

We were at home to the league leaders, which on paper should have been a win. Hatstats were 312 v 255, ratings were higher across the board, match prediction was 3-0 and 89% chance of a win, yada yada yada.

Our 3-4-3 played their 3-5-2. We won midfield 60-40.
First surprise was we had 4 chances to their 7. Seven - Huh?
Second surprise was we didn't win. A 2-2 draw was the result.

Anyway, the draw leaves us in third, still undefeated but we've only won 1 and drawn 2.
The upside is that the other teams in the top four have already played one of the two bots in the league, and we haven't yet, so league positions are a bit skewed.
However, the next game we are away to the new league leaders, who are clearly the best team in the league, their team TSI is 50% higher than ours.
As our following six games will be against the bots and also rans in the league, I can give this game everything I've got (which clearly is not a lot!), and will see what happens.
e

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 25th, 2017, 12:10 pm
by UncleIan
UncleIan wrote:Wheels will probably come off this week


Well, at least one of my predictions was right. Out of the cup, and then chalked up a 3-0 loss in the league. Worse I thought I had a chance in the league, or rather, I knew a PIC wouldn't give me a chance, so PINd. 3-0 flattered them a little I think, chances were 5-4. Hey ho. Confidence now poor and we've slipped down to 3rd in the league. A least we're only one point behind the leaders, who we are at home to next week, another tough match it looks like. Luckily I then have two away matches in a row are against 7th and 8th, then we're half way, so I have them both at home after that. Somewhere in there I should definitely start picking up points again.

Ian

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 25th, 2017, 4:57 pm
by Bink333
I had a really difficult away tie against the long shots monster Shakhtar Donuts. I opted for a 2-5-3 AoW with 2xOCD (head specs) and 1xDF 2xFTW (both head)+2xIMTW plus 2xWTM (wings set to go offensive if I went more than a goal down - this in order to compensate for any pull-back they might get, but at the expense of m/f)

They produced a divine defence ratings and a utopian m/f to my titanic, giving them 55% and 9 chances to my 3. They scored a penalty, the coin toss corner-head SE (4 head specs from both teams at the time), and we scored one of two chances up the middle (!!!) and missed our one chance on the flanks (divine attack ratings there compared to mere titanic in the middle). In the 81st minute they scored from their 3rd dead ball opportunity, an indirect free kick. We then went offensive but too little too late, and had no more chances. On the bright side my GK saved the one LS chance they had, and had we won the coin toss for the corner-head SE, I might have bagged a draw, but not this time...

I've dropped to 4th, 2 points behind the table topping Donuts, and 4pts ahead of 7th who I face next, at home.

Re: The Hattrick Season 66 Thread

Posted: September 25th, 2017, 8:38 pm
by Ashfordian
I was sitting in 2nd, behind the other auto-promotee after a comfortable 5-2 home win last week.

In the cup last Tuesday I made it to R5 for the first time :)

This week in the league, I was away to a team whose manager has not logged in for 20 weeks so at least I knew the line-up.

This should have been an easy win if I wasn't distracted by the cup but wanting to upset an III team this week I picked the 2nd team in the league. We were winning MF slight at kick-off but we lost the head coin-flip to go 1-0 down after 2 minutes, 1 head spec per team! We then went 2-0 down and the pullback improved his already good defence ratings. He was going to suffer from stamina later in the game but apart from me missing chances the game ended a 2-0 loss. I've slipped to 5th in a tight series and next week play the team that won it last season. Potential future cup games look like they will dictate tactics for both of us.

I hindsight I made some player errors by playing my weak form GK when I should have given 2 games this week to the GK in form. Also, playing my main striker would have been enough to give me the win.

Oh well, onto the cup. I'm training SP this week to give me the team flexibility so I hope this switching pays off.