Electronic Arts UK Community - View Single Post - Putting it to the test. Bad teams online.

Dougaldinho · 07-02-2008, 02:42 AM

Putting it to the test. Bad teams online.

After much debate in other threads about peoples choice of team online I decided to give a go what others constantly bemoan the lack of. People not using their 'own teams' online.
I have argued against this for obvious reasons - your opponent will very rarely be doing this so why should you? your team may well be awful and lack the ability to properly compete.

Supporting the mighty Bristol Rovers (a League One team & in real life on a decent FA cup run having knocked out Fulham on penalties a few weeks ago) a half star team with very little quality, it wasn't going to be at all easy. There were the obvious worries I had before really trying this.

Would I be able to compete at all? Is it actually that much harder to compete? Would I get any real enjoyment out of getting (most likely) destroyed by people using far superior sides?

And so the test began. I would play all games as ranked games to ensure that the standard of opposition would hopefully be fairly strong. My online record generally using Inter exclusively gave me a 60% win rate roughly, so I am probably about average as skill level goes.

I lay in wait for my first opponent. Which lucky player would get to witness the might of Inter swiftly morphing to the English Premier league, then the championship, and then League One before falling static on Bristol Rovers?

Game One

Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Manchester United (Meebo - Rank 3829, Skill level 16)

The game started out initially with my thoughts confirmed as Ronaldo skinned my team for pace. I was however able to take possession and at least work it into midfield and keep the ball with no more difficulty than if I was using a top side. The first goal came from a cross and decent finish from Saha - which to be honest could have been conceded by any side. His second then came from me trying to pass it out of the box and allowing the ball to be intercepted. Thats a lesson learnt as you have to realise that it is not as easy to work the ball out of your defence relying on your players ability. Opting for a more cautious approach in defence I was able to close the doors, and when he made an arrogant error and was dispossessed by Richard Walker - it was pegged back to 2-1. I had been repeatedly trying to score from 20 yards or so through the match and I was forcing corners here and there and I actually had him on the back foot and smelt an upset. It was then a shame that his connection appeared to die, and I got the default win.

Score: 3-0 Win (1-2 Before disconnect)

I was actually suprised after this game at the level which I could compete. I included the ranks/skill level to give a vauge idea of the level of player which I was facing and its obviously he wasn't completely awful and had some experience. This gave me confidence to go on and see if real success was possible.

Game Two

Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Chelsea (BugzytheKid - Rank 17253, Skill level 12)

I was able to control the game and maintain a good amount of posession all game and was denied the lead after several good saves from Chech - one denying Lambert a magnificent volley. A spilled ball from the keeper Phillips gave him an opening, but the followup was straight at the stranded keeper.
Drogba was a nightmare all game, and generally smashed his way through everything. I had to withstand a period of huge pressure during the second half but at around the 70th minute got a breakaway - a first time cross ricochet off a Chelsea defender and fell to Lambert who stroked home with ease. I was able to withstand the pressure and maintain a good level of possession up to the final whistle.

Score: 1-0 Win

Game Three

Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Inter (Joshabusa - Rank 20883, Skill level 8)

This was a game that I completely dominated. Also a rare chance to play the side which I usually use. Cesar made a fantastic save from Walker and another from Lambert both from around 10 yards. Several 25 yard drives missed by a whisker and in the end the game was lost due to raw power from Crespo and Ibrahimovic. Having won possession in a 2 on 2, my defender was put under so much pressure he wouldnt even kick the ball and was just overpowered till he lost possession. This led to a simple 1v1 finish for Ibrahimovic. A game in which I had 60% possession and twice as many shots from varies distances goes begging - lost to pure brute force of superior players.

Score: 0-1 Loss

While I play to continue using the side to evaluate this - I have to admit I have enjoyed the past three games Ive played far more than the past thirty with Inter combined.

It is obvious that the main issues you have to deal with when playing with sides at this level are physical strength, and raw pace. These seem to have a huge effect on how good a player is in Fifa, hence why Ronaldo, Drogba & Ibrahimovic all proved almost impossible to handle. I did find however that it is perfectly possible to play a good passing posession based game, and if you are smart - despite a woeful lack of pace - you can put fairly decent counter attacks together.

Anyway - I thought I would put this together to share my experience with others, and hopefully encourage others to try the same thing. It completely changes the complexion of a game when you play with absolutely no expectations, and is actually a lot of fun.

Thanks for reading (if you made it this far.)

07-02-2008, 02:42 AM	#1 (permalink)
Dougaldinho Rookie Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: UK Age: 22 Posts: 282	Putting it to the test. Bad teams online. Putting it to the test. Bad teams online. After much debate in other threads about peoples choice of team online I decided to give a go what others constantly bemoan the lack of. People not using their 'own teams' online. I have argued against this for obvious reasons - your opponent will very rarely be doing this so why should you? your team may well be awful and lack the ability to properly compete. Supporting the mighty Bristol Rovers (a League One team & in real life on a decent FA cup run having knocked out Fulham on penalties a few weeks ago) a half star team with very little quality, it wasn't going to be at all easy. There were the obvious worries I had before really trying this. Would I be able to compete at all? Is it actually that much harder to compete? Would I get any real enjoyment out of getting (most likely) destroyed by people using far superior sides? And so the test began. I would play all games as ranked games to ensure that the standard of opposition would hopefully be fairly strong. My online record generally using Inter exclusively gave me a 60% win rate roughly, so I am probably about average as skill level goes. I lay in wait for my first opponent. Which lucky player would get to witness the might of Inter swiftly morphing to the English Premier league, then the championship, and then League One before falling static on Bristol Rovers? Game One Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Manchester United (Meebo - Rank 3829, Skill level 16) The game started out initially with my thoughts confirmed as Ronaldo skinned my team for pace. I was however able to take possession and at least work it into midfield and keep the ball with no more difficulty than if I was using a top side. The first goal came from a cross and decent finish from Saha - which to be honest could have been conceded by any side. His second then came from me trying to pass it out of the box and allowing the ball to be intercepted. Thats a lesson learnt as you have to realise that it is not as easy to work the ball out of your defence relying on your players ability. Opting for a more cautious approach in defence I was able to close the doors, and when he made an arrogant error and was dispossessed by Richard Walker - it was pegged back to 2-1. I had been repeatedly trying to score from 20 yards or so through the match and I was forcing corners here and there and I actually had him on the back foot and smelt an upset. It was then a shame that his connection appeared to die, and I got the default win. Score: 3-0 Win (1-2 Before disconnect) I was actually suprised after this game at the level which I could compete. I included the ranks/skill level to give a vauge idea of the level of player which I was facing and its obviously he wasn't completely awful and had some experience. This gave me confidence to go on and see if real success was possible. Game Two Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Chelsea (BugzytheKid - Rank 17253, Skill level 12) I was able to control the game and maintain a good amount of posession all game and was denied the lead after several good saves from Chech - one denying Lambert a magnificent volley. A spilled ball from the keeper Phillips gave him an opening, but the followup was straight at the stranded keeper. Drogba was a nightmare all game, and generally smashed his way through everything. I had to withstand a period of huge pressure during the second half but at around the 70th minute got a breakaway - a first time cross ricochet off a Chelsea defender and fell to Lambert who stroked home with ease. I was able to withstand the pressure and maintain a good level of possession up to the final whistle. Score: 1-0 Win Game Three Bristol Rovers (Dougeh) Vs Inter (Joshabusa - Rank 20883, Skill level 8) This was a game that I completely dominated. Also a rare chance to play the side which I usually use. Cesar made a fantastic save from Walker and another from Lambert both from around 10 yards. Several 25 yard drives missed by a whisker and in the end the game was lost due to raw power from Crespo and Ibrahimovic. Having won possession in a 2 on 2, my defender was put under so much pressure he wouldnt even kick the ball and was just overpowered till he lost possession. This led to a simple 1v1 finish for Ibrahimovic. A game in which I had 60% possession and twice as many shots from varies distances goes begging - lost to pure brute force of superior players. Score: 0-1 Loss While I play to continue using the side to evaluate this - I have to admit I have enjoyed the past three games Ive played far more than the past thirty with Inter combined. It is obvious that the main issues you have to deal with when playing with sides at this level are physical strength, and raw pace. These seem to have a huge effect on how good a player is in Fifa, hence why Ronaldo, Drogba & Ibrahimovic all proved almost impossible to handle. I did find however that it is perfectly possible to play a good passing posession based game, and if you are smart - despite a woeful lack of pace - you can put fairly decent counter attacks together. Anyway - I thought I would put this together to share my experience with others, and hopefully encourage others to try the same thing. It completely changes the complexion of a game when you play with absolutely no expectations, and is actually a lot of fun. Thanks for reading (if you made it this far.) __________________