doing the road to glory... again.  again with melb city from league one in england.

scored my first ever free kick. emre can from pretty much front on to the goal post just outside the box.  if the games mechanics are accurate no one outside of the big 5 leagues can score free kicks ever.......

also the AI squads are still fucked.   de bruyne, pogba, sanchez, salah, hazard - all early subs in the second half - pretty much every game against their respective teams.   why can't the AI pick starting squads correctly?  there is something wrong with the game.

Scored a free kick in virtually my first game of FIFA18 - haven't managed to repeat that perfection since.  Similarly, I managed a perfect lobbed volley in one of my first games on FIFA17 - completely by mistake - and haven't repeated that since either.

AI team selection has been fucked for as long as I can remember.  EA have never got on top of it.  Whether it's stockpiling goalkeepers or Man Utd constantly picking Wilson up front regardless of their other options.

Getting pretty bored with 18.  Keep trying to kick the habit but then falling back onto it.  I took to creating 22 of my friends as '70' rated players and using them to replace the entire Sunderland squad last night.  Will pop Sunderland in the EPL and play a season with my squad over the next few days to see how things go.

Took Barnet to the Championship and threw it all away to sign up with Leeds. Currenly in the EPL in 2021 with Luongo Rogic and Mooy killing every game. Josh Vela, and Joe Sbarra are great English players. Ollie banks and Elliot Johnson are such awesome value.

FFS! Got Australia in the first season only to see they didn't qualify for the world cup. Saudi, China and NZ in. What the hell? So now i'll need 4 years of patience and will win the whole thing in 2022.

5 star youth coach to Australia then 4 years of training the sh*t out of any prospects you can find to go to the world cup with a teenage super-squad..?

yup. ive done it.  first thing i do in any career is buy a youth coach and send them to aus. 

you never get any pace out of the youth recruits. they pretty much end up solely taking up GK, CB and CDM spots. they are too slow for any other position. 

I must have bucked the trend - I've got a winger and a striker with a bit of pace.  Annoying as I don't play with wingers - but he seems to be doing ok in AM.

Incidentally - I've managed to go half a season unbeaten in my latest re-start.  2nd season at Everton - finished 4th in first season, Messi on a free transfer, playing up front most weeks with a 17 yr old who can't score to save his life but creates tons of chances for Leo.  14 wins, 4 draws, and won my Euro group too.  Knocked out of the league cup by Burnley, but we won't talk about that.

career mode is pretty good 

Just bought 18. Playing as Charlton Athletic on world class. Holding my own at 3rd place after 14 games, but honestly, what is with my players getting shoved off the ball? It happens a dozen times a game, even when my player has his back to goal. Does anyone know how to counter this? 

yup, the strength thing it quite a big deal in this edition. which is pretty shitty considering how many defenders have high strength stats and how many attackers are low - also hardly any of them get called as fouls - which they should - and even if they do the free kicks are so fucked it wouldnt matter.  i've managed 1 direct free kick into the goal in maybe 100 attempts in game.

ive signed players like martial for run the midfield or step in aas a striker because of his solid strength rating. helps a lot. i have hazard on the team but you cant go anywhere near an opposition player.  also i think world class makes this issue even bigger.

i did some reading on it and supposedly if you train your youth too much the physical stats wont grow.  the theory is that you get them to their overall potential in the stats you are training, whereas if you left them they would reach the potential by an overall rise in stats - including the physical

so i've pulled my best prospects off training now they are in the low 80's and ill see how where they improve as the get up to the 90's.

The same scripting 'bug' hit again...  Despite being so far ahead of the rest of the league in almost every way - and having gone to 16 wins, 5 draws...  I then managed 1 point from 5 games, the defeats all by a single goal (1-2, 2-3, 0-1, 1-1, 2-3)...  Went from being 10 points clear at the top of the league to being a point behind Liverpool.  Haven't played since.

Get rid of the ball quickly.  If in doubt turn and pass back to a defender.

yeah i can see it.  ive got a fullback - the canadian davies - 99 acceleration and 99 sprint speed. opposition with the ball have started to outpace him....

does anyone know how to turn of international team offers on career mode. fkn sick of it.

I don't think there is an option.  I too am sick of it.

i've had some down time and decided to reopen my last campaign.  unfortunately it was in the transfer period which is the most slow and agonising part of the game - has anyone heard if the issue with contract negotiation breakdowns has been fixed in the new games?

anyway.  second season with hudders after surviving relegation last season by focusing on picking up some prospects.  ben brereton imo is still the best youth pickup in the game for the first few years.  i play him as an attacking mid and he has so many late runs and links ups and nails so many goals.  the got the golden boot in my first season.

i managed to pick up post world cup 18 mbappe - on a $60k salary!  first touch for the team in the first game for the season he scores.  picks up a hat trick in his first match. what a gun.  i might have found a fifa ST to match martial.

Finally announced that on FIFA20 they will have an option to turn off international offers!  

One of the biggest flaws on career mode has been the relatively low wages you can sign top stars for - and also their willingness to sign for 'nothing' clubs.  When Sunderland in the championship can sign a world class player on a Bosman, you know the game is messed up.

Meanwhile, Brereton is such a guaranteed hit that I've banned myself from signing him when I start a new game.  Same with Rico Henry at left back.  His rating doesn't go that high, but he's a ridiculously effective option down that side of the pitch.