Shaolin Landfills- HT Season 20, Major League

[BillyNYC]

(As promised...)

A look at the standings after 3 matches:
1. Kansas City Wizards 3 8 - 2 7
2. SHAOLIN LANDFILLS 3 5 - 2 6
3. Slashers FC 3 7 - 5 6
4. Tombstone Titans 3 7 - 4 5

5. Drunk&Disorderly 3 6 - 7 4
6. Red Star Belgrade 3 7 - 8 3

7. Indy Racing Athleti 3 3 - 7 3
8. Panther City FC 3 1 - 9 0

Everything with my team's gone as one would expect. At the start of the season, you can pencil in likely results. Beating Indy and PCFC at home, while losing at Slashers are just that.

Next week's at D&D. I tied both matches with him last season. Another tie might be quite possible. Ties are bad though. One looks at Tombstone and "they haven't lost", but I'm a point up on them with my 2 wins. Getting a win's the thing. I know this firsthand, after having multiple ties last season (3 or 4 I think).

As I said, I expected the 6 pts...but last season i expected a few wins too, but tied @AYSA and also home to D&D. So getting the 6 on the board goes a long way towards my goal of finishing 3rd or 4th.

(Current situation/team analysis next...)

[BillyNYC]

Hmm weird; won't let me paste, so ummm...my match ratings today:
Midfield: Divine
D: supernatural/supernatural/supernatural
Attack: solid/magnificent/supernatural

The D ratings were lower than usual, since my keeper got hurt in the first half. (Only for a week, so he'll be fine.)

The divine mid. was divine+2 levels or so. In my supporter stats, that mid's at 98% (my qual. match divine vs. apoc was 100%; my divine vs AYSA last season was 90%). Considering I'll PIC Weds to get to POE, I might have a divine midfield ON THE ROAD next week. That would be nice.

Also, my supporter "best match ever" was today, which is nice considering the goalie injury. Granted, my team's in good form.

My goal for the end of the season is to get my WHOLE match report to be titanic or better. My mid's there; my D's there (in good form); one side of my attack is near there. I need one great striker and one great wing. I can get that...

(Offseason and player ratings next)

[BillyNYC]

My offseason was pretty quiet. Expanded my stadium from 60,250 to 80,002. It was about time really, with my fan club approaching 3000. I didn't sell out my 60.25k last season all the time, but did most. My first 2 home matches: 52,023 and 79,274. So the jury's out on whether my expansion was a good idea.

No buys or sells. Attempts to sell one of my D's have failed; and attempts to arrange a trade for a wing have failed too. My team's going pretty well as is, but I want a wing and a striker upgrade, as I said in my last post.

My Thai nat teamer and Hong Kong U-20er both have been in good form and both been starting for their nat/U-20 sides. The Thai guy's up to magnif. experience. In a season or two, I'll make him into an excellent coach (inadeq. leadership...so he'll be excellent for 5 or 6 seasons or whatever).

My top midfielder just hit titanic (and the transfer list). So a look at the primary ratings of my team (as of now):

Keeper: outstanding
D: titanic, supernatural, magnificant, brilliant
Midfield: titanic, supernatural, world class, magnificent, outstanding
Wing: outstanding (only have one wing)
Forward: supernatural, magnificent

The titanic mid has wretched passing, so is pretty equal to the 2nd and 3rd mids. So, selling him won't hurt my midfield much. Can use the proceeds to buy a wing hopefully. Or potentially sell my 2nd striker too and upgrade there.

Also, trying to sell the supernatural or the magnif. D. I'm asking for "too much" for both the D and the mid, because I don't NEED to sell either. I WANT to, but won't get less market value for them. Assuming I sell the mid for 7 (he's listed for 8 I think) and the D for 5.5 (he's listed for 6 I believe), I'd have 11M to spend. That can be a great wing and a sizable upgrade on the striker.

So, my all titanic+ match report is quite reachable.

On the negative side, I've fired all 4 (3? I lose track) of my youth pulls this season. All terrible.

But my team's going along pretty well right now.

[TargetPractice6]

80,002? You added those 2 seats just to spite me. Just so you could have a bigger arena than me. I know your motives! *orders 3 VIP boxes* HaHaHaH!!! I will not be thwarted!

Oh yeah, and good dynasty. It should make scouting my opponent(s) in the ML much easier when I get there. Or when you come down here... which ever comes first

[BillyNYC]

8/14/2003 7 new supporters signed up and paid 210 US$ in fees.
Supporter Club: 3001 members

That took long enough. Of course, here's how I line up compared to the rest of ML:
1. Slashers FC Major League 3477
2. Kansas City Wizards Major League 3437
3. Red Star Belgrade Major League 3266
4. Drunk&Disorderly Major League 3230
5. Tombstone Titans Major League 3189
6. Indy Racing Athletic Major League 3102
7. Panther City FC Major League 3068
8. Baystar II.1 3022
9. Aguilas II.1 3015
10. Shaolin Landfills Major League 3001

So, yeah...the longest stay in ML besides Slashers and KC and my fan club's still last. Of course, this won't matter in 2 seasons or so really. Slashers and KC are already around the soft cap, and I'll be closer to them by then (if I stay in ML).

Of course, being below NEW II teams is annoying, but they got the 10% promotion bonus and I did not. I should pass both of those in a week, since they're at/past the II soft cap (based on the problems TargetPractice is having gaining new supporters)

But enough of my bi-annual fan club bitching.

A 1-5 Cup win (PIC'ing) went as well as could be expected. No injuries (one guy ended up bandaided) and NO cards. I figured I'd win easily enough, but used a starting D and starting forward to guarantee it. None of those regular starters had anything negative happen, so all good.

My cup ratings yesterday:
Midfield: outstanding
Right Side Defence: titanic
Central Defence: brilliant
Left Side Defence: formidable
Right Side Attack: excellent
Central Attack: formidable
Left Side Attack: solid


My NEXT cup opponent's ratings yesterday:
KC Allstars
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: excellent
Right Side Defence: outstanding
Central Defence: formidable
Left Side Defence: formidable
Right Side Attack: passable
Central Attack: solid
Left Side Attack: passable

Based on that, I should be OK next week playing the same lineup/PICing

Also, Tombstone Titans became the first ML team to be eliminated from the Cup yesterday. This is potentially quite fortunate for me, as I play them in 2 Sundays. So I get an extra PIC next week, so my spirit should be higher than his by a level or two. Every little bit helps.

Neither of my guys on the xfer list sold. Both have been relisted now. I had a potential trade (my titanic/wretched mid and $1.5M US for an ET/weak striker) lined up for next week, but the ET striker got a bid for 8.8M (from a South Korean team, no less!); my midfielder got no bids at 7.5. I relisted him at 7.2, so maybe the guy will buy him anyway. Not sure.

This week's a tough battle with D&D. It will be a good sign of how good my team is or not. A win and a top 4 finish is quite likely. A loss, and I could be in a dogfight again for qual. spots. We will see.

[sterlingice]

Yay! Landfills dynasty is back!

Hmm weird; won't let me paste, so ummm...my match ratings today

I occasionally have that problem with the browser, but what I do is take my mouse cursor and select some text (y'know, just hold down the left-click and drag) outside of the reply box and then it works fine.

SI

[BillyNYC]

1. Kansas City Wizards 5 14 - 4 13
2. Drunk&Disorderly 5 9 - 8 10
3. Slashers FC 5 16 - 9 9
4. SHAOLIN LANDFILLS 5 8 - 4 9

5. Tombstone Titans 5 8 - 6 8
6. Indy Racing Athleti 5 4 - 9 4

7. Red Star Belgrade 5 8 - 11 3
8. Panther City FC 5 2 - 18 1

Week 4: D&D 2 Shaolin 1 F
Disappointing loss. I tied his twice last season and felt my team was considerably better this year. Ratingswise, was unlucky. He had slightly better mid (55/59 possession for him); I had better D AND attack. Unfortunately, my better attacking side was against his best D side. If it was the reverse, I think I would've won. Supernatural versus brilliant would've gotten me a goal or two.

THIS is why I want a great wing, so both my wing attacks can be supernatural+ and so "luck" (in "which side to defend?" won't matter).

Week 5: Shaolin 2 Tombstone 0 F
People continue to underestimate my team, as has been the case for quite a while. All predictions made by ML teams were for a draw (KC, D&D, PCFC, Indy). Strange, considering I was at home and certainly had better spirit, since Titans was knocked out of Cup a week previously.

2-0 was a fair result too. Mids were about identical (strangely, my utopian mid is better than his magical one, but he won possession barely 50/51). Our attacks were almost identical (same in middle and on one side. He was +1 level on the other side) and my D was clearly superior. This week, my opponent guessed wrong and my magnif. side attack was against his formidable D. It was a match I deserved to win, and so I did.

2 injuries. Superwing Bo Hagersjo out 2 weeks and titanic D Wennling out 1. Hopefully both will be playable by Sunday (as of Friday, Wennling's bandaged; Bo's down to 1 week)

[BillyNYC]

So through 5 matches, I've won all 3 home matches and lost both road matches (both by 1 goal). 9 home pts. ALL LAST SEASON, I got only 10 (wins over AYSA, Indy, Slashers; draw to D&D; losses to KC, RSB, MM).

Next up is at RSB. Tough tough matchup. I'd like a draw. If I lose, it wouldn't kill me. If I win, it would be HUGE. Would put me 9 pts clear of 7th, potentially put me in 2nd. It might also let me focus on the Cup some. KC's untouchable...so if I can secure safety (or at worst, a qual match), I might make a Cup run. Not sure yet.

Speaking of the Cup, won my last 2 Cup matches easily. Was down 2-1 in the last one at the half, but wasn't ever truly concerned. I knew my mid and attack would dominate his D, and so it was in the 2nd half. A very good Stormy Gales team is up next. They've consistently put up outstanding mids and brilliant D. PIC'ing with my trainees, I'm closer to formidable. My D and attack would be better than his though. It could be very tight. Sunday's results might help me decide whether to PIC or normal, but right now am leaning towards PIC'ing.

[BillyNYC]

Both my nat. team guys have been playing for their countries. Mae Noi, my Thai D, is in excellent form and just today went up to world class experience. If I made him an exc. coach (with inadeq. leadership), would cost 2.8M. Not bad. Granted, haven't had a guy with sub-passable leadership in a long time, but having an exc. coach to train with would be nice. Am likely going to wait a while though.

My other guy, the HK U-20, bumped to 19 brilliant PM. So, by the end of next season, he should be 20 supernatural/passable passing. Probably 6-6.5* in good form. He's 5* NOW in solid. And with the other 2 starting U-20 guys being 20 years old, he'll remain a starter indefinitely (unless his form goes in the crapper). So, I'm increasingly happy to have bought him.

STILL can't sell my titanic mid (for 7M), nor my magnif D (for 4). The market's a definite buyer's one, but I won't budge much on it. I sold my extra-terrestrial mid last season for 9M...in wretched form. One level less should be able to sell for 2M less (even more; I had listed him at 6.7M and got no bids). I'm a week away from sucking it up and keeping him until he hits ET at the end of the year.

Not too upset about keeping the D. Gives me nice depth and might set me up for a 4-4-2 versus KC in coming weeks. Plus selling JUST him wouldn't give me the money for a great wing. So I need to sell the mid first, and then the D (ideally). Hopefully this will happen one way or the other in the next 3 weeks. Also my SECOND mid is due to hit titanic soon.

So yeah, I'll have 2 titanic mids on the transfer list at once perhaps. Nice.

So that's what's up with my squad right now.

[Alf]

Always an interesting read

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by Alf
Always an interesting read

I like to consider this dynasty "something to shoot for".

SI

[BillyNYC]

RSB 1 Shaolin 1 F

Well, I got what I hoped for. I actually forgot it was a derby (silly me), so the divine midfield was nice. Midfield about identical (51/50 possession in halfs for me), despite RSB using both wings towards middle (I only use one).

The strategy for RSB is similar to that I use against a few others (Indy I think): RSB uses 2 wings towards middle, so no wing attacks. So 2 central D's and my usual offensive wingback. This worked well.

Was another match I could've won with a super side attack. Even MORE noteworthy, the titanic mid was my wing towards middle, and the D on the list wasn't even used. So I was essentially "playing without them"...imagine if I had a supernatural wing to replace the mid? Still working on that...

[BillyNYC]

Interesting tale of my new buy...

As everyone knows, I've been looking to buy a great wing for weeks. But I couldn't until I sold my damn titanic midfielder. Due to deflation, I couldn't get the 7M I wanted for him. Listed for 6.7 once, and to my shock, no bids

I relisted him numerous times, before surrendering, listing at 3M, and seeing how high he'd sell. To my disappointment, he went for a hair under 6.25M.

Only high wing (wing > magnif) on any list at that time was the following for 6.5M:

Stamina: passable Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: poor
Winger: world class Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor

I considered it, but that seemed awfully high for a guy with no passing and so forth. Plus I had seen better guys listed for 7M in previous weeks. I had about 7M in funds to play with, so waited.

But I thought back to a Romanian team that had 2 great wings listed for 7M weeks ago. I HT-mailed them a few times, saying if I ever got 7M, I'd buy one of them. Got no answer.

Now that I had 7M, I repeated my actions. I got a reply back...in Romanian.

THis is where it's good to know people in HT. On the international IRC channel, I often speak to Romanians (in English). I asked one, DoctorLov, to translate for me. He did, and I sent the owner a message (in Romanian), saying I'd bid 6.5M US on Horia Pop if he re-listed him.

He initially said no, but then changed his mind and relisted.

But he also relisted his other great wing, for 1M less. Here's the dilemma:

For 6.5M US:
Horia Pop
3 635 000 US$, 22 years, excellent form
Has supernatural experience and weak leadership abilities [Powerful]

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: excellent
Winger: world class Defending: passable
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: weak

For 5.5M US:
Doru Ozera (3611265)
3 054 000 US$, 21 years, solid form
Has passable experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: passable
Winger: supernatural Defending: poor
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

Tough call. The first is better with his insane exp. and better defending and playmaking, but 1M better? Yet, I loved the idea of having a guy with THAT high exp., even thoiugh his weak leadership means he might not be a coach candidate.

So I sought more information. I HT-mailed the Romanian national coach to ask why the first guy was on the nat. side and the second was not. He told me both wouldn't be (since they're not being trained in wing anymore), but Pop's experience is so useful that he'll stay on the national team until the next World Cup.

He might be divine experience by then.

That was all the info I needed, and I bid the 6.5M on Pop. No one overbid me. Strangely, no one bid 5.5 on Ozera, so I feel like I overbid on Pop, but I'm not upset about that. I think I got a good deal. I'll think that even moreso when I get a titanic+ wing attack on Sunday.

The Swedish 6.5M guy was re-listed for 0. Will be very interested to see what he ends up selling for. If it's anywhere near 6M, I'd be thrilled with my purchase (admittedly, the idea of buying a non-Swede was an added bonus to me).

Pop's suspended, but I wouldn't have played him in the Cup match Weds. anyway, so he'll be card-free. Wish I had him last Sunday versus KC too.

I have 400k still, which will remain until I buy a trainee midfielder when I'm out of the Cup.

[sterlingice]

That's really cool. Then again, at that level, you guys pretty much write your own prices between buyer and seller since there's not a lot of competition for guys.

SI

[BillyNYC]

I said the other day:

The Swedish 6.5M guy was re-listed for 0. Will be very interested to see what he ends up selling for. If it's anywhere near 6M, I'd be thrilled with my purchase (admittedly, the idea of buying a non-Swede was an added bonus to me).

He sold for EXACTLY 6M. So thus, I'm quite pleased. My guy's 2 years older, about 10k/week in wages more expensive, worse in PM (inadeq. to solid), but like a dozen levels higher in exp. (supernatural to wretched), 5 levels better in wing, and better in D and stamina too.

In other words, my guy should be approx. 1-1.5* better at wing, will be more helpful to both my attack and D for just 500k more. I'll gladly take that. And I'll take him to divine experience before too long as well.

[BillyNYC]

The Cup just became much more interesting.

Had a comfortable 0-2 win yesterday, and drew as my next opponent Team Dank.

Team Dank is owned by FryDog, who I speak to almost daily on IRC, so it'll be a fun match for sure. Trash talk's already started.

And a VERY tough match too. Mythical midfield yesterday, with world class and brilliant attacks. A mediocre defense though (formidable/exc).

I'm not going to match his midfield, especially on the road. I might not even be close. So a PIC is possible (will it help me much to get 33% possession as compared to 30%?). My attack will be better (one side would be insane with Pop), and my D would be 8 levels higher or so. His midfield might be close to 8 levels above me though.

So it could be very very interesting.

[Havok]

well, since its almost impossible to beat KC at home, why don't you just PIC the KC game and play your back-up middy's so you can play your starters in the cup game??

[DukeRulesMAB]

So with KC gone, you gotta go for the Cup now, right?

[BillyNYC]

I don't know. Ever since matches ended, have been debating that.

I've prided myself about "having stayed in ML so long", but is finishing 3rd-6th really that rewarding? As compared to going for a nice trophy thingee and the risk of being relegated.

Indy's 3 points and many goals behind me. So can he get 4 more points than me if I tank the league the rest of the way? Potentially...3 against me, and 1 somewhere else (maybe PCFC would get a point against me, or beat me. I don't know)

The related consideration is if I PIC league matches, my spirit will be much higher than Slashers AND Indy when I play them. So even PIC'ing, I might have an edge and be able to hang on.

I've said in the past that if KC's out of the Cup, I feel I have as good a shot as anyone else. Well, that's finally happened, so yeah, I'm considering going for it.

I look at who's left...I've held my own against RSB and D&D this season, and that was before I got my 6* wing to mess with. The other ML teams were all potentially dangerous (with Indy and PCFC going hard for the Cup, they would've been just as difficult as Slashers or Tombstone). Scary II teams like apoc and Cyclones out. AYSA and Goon's are potentially tough though.

So what I see is: if I can get to the semifinals, I'd be more comfortable. I'm on the road next week, and if I win, the week after. Pebble Street or whoever I play after them could MOTS and beat me potentially (like nearly happened today; I played normal). But if I get to the semis, it's 2-game series. And so, I wouldn't be as susceptible to a MOTS/upset.

So yeah, am leaning towards saying "ML mediocrity's boring; let's go for the Cup". Might change my mind by Sunday. (Of course, I play RSB then, and he might be thinking the same thing.)