X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[Antepli Ejderha]

The Xpert Ladies Youth Academy gave me this. Probably the best ever product I've received.

I've put one of my experienced strikers on the transfer market so I can give Esen Tice minutes and aim for a double jump and to get her to a 20/10.

[Antepli Ejderha]

It looks like the new manager in the Human League isn't going to last long then Sits

[lambers]

Holy moly AE, that's an incredible youth.

Not that I have much to complain about on the Hazers front, but their YA is offering an 18/3 today, they are a horsey-header, but I'm not tempted. Hopefully the Rising Stars academy will live up to its name in the next day or two.

[delicatemoth]

I am envious. Somers Town Sugar Imps are all about SQs, I won't sign players with fewer than three (two for youths).

[Antepli Ejderha]

All of my sides run fully funded youth academies and, with a few exceptions, I rarely buy players. Most of my sides are completely home grown, there's one bought player at the Giraffes and none in any of my other private league sides.

The Xpert Ladies is the exception, I'll always go shopping on transfer deadline day as you can pick up some bargains. Two 16 skilled midfielders for just over 1 million econs bring the latest.

[delicatemoth]

Yep, I got a 22/8 hard training GK for 58k last season, she didn't quite manage to jump but that's great for a backup GK who'll be in post for 12+ seasons.

[Sean of the Shed]

My Xpert Ladies team is all youth products apart from senior keeper Kacey Rust. Just got a youth keeper through today but was only a 19/4, so I probably won't bother promoting her, unless someone buys my reserve keeper. I had to put her on the market as she only got +1 DV and just crept over to a 5 bar. I wouldn't recommend anyone here buys her, but I'll be pleased if one of the sexist twats in the league shells out.

[Hot Orange]

Just catching up on some stats for my teams and noticed that in Holkham Forest's final game of the season away at Palmeiras Ladies, a match that had nothing riding on it for either team or anyone else, the Palmeiras manager tightly marked our captain Karin Huldenaar, a defender.

It always seems odd when defenders are tightly marked, and it seems even stranger in such an inconsequential game. The result was that Huldenaar put in a display six points down on her average rating, and this has arguably cost her Division 1's MVP award, and cost the team however much the prize money is.

I'm not usually bothered by what opposition managers do - they can manage their team however they like, in my opinion - but this seems a bit unnecessary and has irked me a little bit.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Did their player win the MVP award?

I've done that before or if the defender is by a long way the best player in their side or there's no obvious playmaker.

[Sean of the Shed]

It's possible that he wasn't even aware of her challenging for the MVP, and just chose to mark your strongest player regardless of position. I'm not one for marking defenders myself unless they are dramatically better than the rest of the squad, but I have known managers do it before.

[Sean of the Shed]

Did their player win the MVP award?

I've done that before or if the defender is by a long way the best player in their side or there's no obvious playmaker.

Funnily enough it was your player that nicked the top spot, AE.

[Hot Orange]

Did their player win the MVP award?

I've done that before or if the defender is by a long way the best player in their side or there's no obvious playmaker.

I presumed that would be the case when I noticed it, and I would have been fine with that. But no, he didn't have any players in contention and, as Sean notes, good news - Zeugma's Rabia Ozgur has come out on top!

[Hot Orange]

It's possible that he wasn't even aware of her challenging for the MVP, and just chose to mark your strongest player regardless of position. I'm not one for marking defenders myself unless they are dramatically better than the rest of the squad, but I have known managers do it before.

I had a quick check of our previous encounters to see if he makes a habit of just marking the best player, but last time out he marked a run-of-the-mill midfielder. I'm not suggesting he did it deliberately to deny Huldenaar the award (or maybe I am, I'm not sure), just that marking a defender in a meaningless game strikes me as somewhat unusual, and the consequences are a bit bothersome for us.

[Sits]

It looks like the new manager in the Human League isn't going to last long then Sits

Possibly not. For non-Human League admins, Manic Street Teachers’ new manager asked to change their name to Pamela Anderson FC. I told him no, and why not. I’ve heard nothing since but now the new season is triggered it’s fine if he resigns. English is not the first language so some leeway early doors.

And on marking, I had my goalie marked recently in one of the teams.

[Various Artist]

The latter at least has the benefit of being explicable, if rare – I mean, you can see why somebody might try it once in a while. And, indeed, why you'd mark a direct rival for MVP of the season, cynical though it might seem. That marking of Huldenaar, though, is weird. It looks more or less like they were just bored with her dominating the Team of the Round nominations and so decided to play 'spoiler' for shits and giggles.

Either that or they simply marked the wrong person by mistake – either genuine confusion, a momentary brainfart or slip of the finger. I know for sure that every now and then I'll make a seemingly inexplicable tactical cockup purely because I've clicked on something in one of the dropdown menus (this is with the 'old tactics screen') then tapped the arrow keys on my keyboard a few times to scroll up or down the page... without making sure that this isn't just moving the selection up or down that menu.

On one particularly expensive occasion, I remember I was perusing the Match Report page after United Underground had put in a surprisingly strong performance in a run-of-the-mill MLX game, in only the first or second round of group fixtures, and only then noticing that clearly I'd inadvertently reallocated my selection of a win bonus in just this manner – from the 100,000-econ option to the 1,000,000-econ one. Virtually cleaned us out. I had to spend the rest of the regular season trying to repair that mistake to squirrel away anything for the playoffs. Bizarrely, I think it was the last season we actually won the league title, though it wasn't until after we'd actually lifted the trophy that I felt able to admit the accident. It would've looked like I'd been storing up a ready excuse if we'd fallen short!

[Various Artist]

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how AE's amazing new youth does. Esen Tice is a great name, too – albeit it looks like it ought to be a pun or anagram or something and thus is slightly disconcerting as there's not actually one there to be found... as far as I know.

[Sits]

Here’s my new Xpert Ladies youth. I wouldn’t usually go for an 18/4 but this league is a bit different, she has good SQs and we’re back in Div6 so hopefully decent DV opportunities. Plus I managed to get a Crucible themed name in there, now we’re in Massachusetts. And have now looked her up and realised she actually existed, poor woman.

[Various Artist]

That is some nice SQs, it's true. However, I have to say that even in D6, a 19/4 is still a bit of a... courageous move, in the vernacular of Sir Humphrey.

[Various Artist]

This is how Viking South Utsira's own recent wünderkind Elza Klovning is progressing so far, if AE wants a benchmark for Esen Tice to live up to! She arrived as a 17/6, the best youth I've ever had in X11, and at the tender age of 21 just won her first individual gold medal (Most Assists, 7) to help us win Division 3e:


She's gone 17/6 > 18/8 > 19/9 > 20/10 > 21/12 > 22/13 as of the new CR, and is pound-for-pound the strongest player I've ever had, despite having had the worst start when getting a 10-day red cross in only her second ever appearance. Just crossing fingers she doesn't get badly crocked any time soon.

[Sits]

That is some nice SQs, it's true. However, I have to say that even in D6, a 19/4 is still a bit of a... courageous move, in the vernacular of Sir Humphrey.

Oh yes. Not paying attention and thought I had an 18/4. Errr

[Various Artist]

I'm really not laughing at that here mate, honestly.

[Sits]

Well, I am still chucking 200k at the academy and asking for a defender, with Betty Parris due next.

[MortalJoe]

The Xpert Ladies team is starting to grow on me, actually this is the team which I like the most at the moment, and I have quite a lot to chose ;-) We were relegated, but that does not bother me, we will come back. But last season, we got quite a lot of good prospects from the Youth Academy. Starting with defender Brighid Loftus, 17/4 with long passes. Then later in the season came Neasa Calbhach, 17/5 striker, a robust bully, then came Keelan Shanley, a 16/4 intelligent midfielder, and the last one was Ailis Joyce, a 17/4 vanilla striker. The last three came later in the season. Neither of them got a double jump, but that might come this season. Two of our senior palyers retired, and I did not replace them. So they will get a bit more playing time.
This season we got 19/5 midfielder Fionulla Patrick, moody and good with header. I take her.
How things can go right with home-grown youth shows my example Aoibhín McEnroe. She came from the Academy as 18/5 goalie as Allrounder, hard trainer and often stands in the right place. She double-jumnped last season and is now 20/8, worth 6.4 million. I put her on the transfer market and at the end of day one she is already near 6 million. First time since a long time we will have a bit of money to play with.

And we have to replace Michelle Hempel, of course our strongest midfielder, who will retire at the end of the season. I will follow Antepli Ejderhas example and will buy late for next season.

And I had a very rare thing as well here. We bought Albera Viera mid-season as a 32/15 defender. She is a hard trainer. And she managed to jump to 33/16. I am not sure I have seen that in one of my teams yet, normally the older players stay the same, which I am fine with. I am really happy with that. And I bought her for 1.4 million Econ, which is quite good.

When I read the Scribble in the Xpert Ladies, I have a feeling there are mostly grumpy old men there, 95 % of the time they are complaining, especially with teh Youth Academy. They don't get the right youth players, and when of course too late. Why are they not just going on with it as the rest of the people, I guess?

[MortalJoe]

I have also a general question. How are you dealing with players that are retiring? Especially when they are strong players? Do you give them the same game time as normal? or are you replacing them and give player who are playing more game time? Sometimes I am struggling, especially when you are playing for promotion or against relegation and the whole team is struggling with development. How are you dealing with that?

[Antepli Ejderha]

I used to not play them, now I'll play them as normal and if we're safe or not aiming for promotion they'll get less time and eventually none.