One of the advantages of VIP account is that you get to see the latest lineup of other teams, and also the grades of their individual players' performance. What most managers don't know is that you can get this information from the match report although in a less user friendly manner.
Take the latest match report of the team whose information you want to know and hold the mouse pointer over the name of any player of that team, and you'll get the grade for their performance in that match. Of course, you can get the grading for any match this way, but you would most likely be interested in how the players performed in the most recent match.
The information could be useful when you aren't sure which of your opponents' players you should mark. In such cases, the performance of a player in the most recent match could be an indicator to his form and thus help you choose the player to mark.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Give your divas their favorite shirt numbers
It might seem like an insignificant little thing to do, but it's always good to check if your divas have been given their favorite shirt numbers. It's the kind of thing that you have to check once, and then you benefit from it for the rest of the season.
Divas will perform better when they are given their favorite shirt numbers, and their performance drops slightly if they aren't. (That's why they are called divas.) So, having a diva in your team isn't really a bad thing at all, because once he's given his favorite shirt, he will actually play better than others of equal skill.
I've made it a habit to assign favorite shirt numbers to all my players, whether they are diva players or not. I don't think anything has been confirmed either way about shirt numbers affecting the performance of non-diva players, and even if it did, it would matter much less than in case of divas. Nevertheless, I try to assign favorite shirt numbers to everyone in the hope that it does help.
Divas will perform better when they are given their favorite shirt numbers, and their performance drops slightly if they aren't. (That's why they are called divas.) So, having a diva in your team isn't really a bad thing at all, because once he's given his favorite shirt, he will actually play better than others of equal skill.
I've made it a habit to assign favorite shirt numbers to all my players, whether they are diva players or not. I don't think anything has been confirmed either way about shirt numbers affecting the performance of non-diva players, and even if it did, it would matter much less than in case of divas. Nevertheless, I try to assign favorite shirt numbers to everyone in the hope that it does help.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Feature Update: Lineup and tactics page combined
Last week, the Xpert Eleven team released two feature updates that I didn't really expect to see. Neither of them affects gameplay in any way, but they are nice features anyway.
The first was the clubbing together of the tactics page with the player squad page. Now the lineup for the next match is available as a tab in the tactics page and you can no longer use the player squad page to pick players. (Although the player squad page is still available, you can't select the next lineup there.)
I feel it will help managers while setting tactics, as they won't have to go back to the player squad page in the middle of choosing tactics to check something like special qualities or form. Also, the choices you've made in the tactics tab won't be discarded when you enter the lineup tab.
The other feature update is the ability to set tactics for all upcoming matches. You can go to the "coming matches" page from the right sidebar and you'll get links to set tactics for all upcoming matches.
Other changes includes a new flash based interface for "The Game" that looks a lot better than the old Shockwave based one. It also provides some extra stats such as ball possession graph, and standings during match, etc for VIP members.
The first was the clubbing together of the tactics page with the player squad page. Now the lineup for the next match is available as a tab in the tactics page and you can no longer use the player squad page to pick players. (Although the player squad page is still available, you can't select the next lineup there.)
I feel it will help managers while setting tactics, as they won't have to go back to the player squad page in the middle of choosing tactics to check something like special qualities or form. Also, the choices you've made in the tactics tab won't be discarded when you enter the lineup tab.
The other feature update is the ability to set tactics for all upcoming matches. You can go to the "coming matches" page from the right sidebar and you'll get links to set tactics for all upcoming matches.
Other changes includes a new flash based interface for "The Game" that looks a lot better than the old Shockwave based one. It also provides some extra stats such as ball possession graph, and standings during match, etc for VIP members.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Does it make sense to use long balls with pressure?
Long balls is a tactic that weakens your midfield, while pressure makes is a tactic that strengthens your midfield. You use long balls when you want to bypass your midfield in the hope that you can evade a midfield battle against an opponent with a superior midfield. So does it make sense to use these apparently contrasting styles of play at the same time?
The answer is yes. Even though long balls bypasses your midfield, it is used when your team has possession and is attacking. Pressure comes into play when your opponent has the ball and you're defending. So when you are playing against a team with a very strong midfield, it actually makes sense to evade the midfield when you're attacking and try to strengthen the midfield when you're defending.
How often do you use long balls and pressure together? How much success have you had using this tactic against teams with vastly superior midfields?
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The answer is yes. Even though long balls bypasses your midfield, it is used when your team has possession and is attacking. Pressure comes into play when your opponent has the ball and you're defending. So when you are playing against a team with a very strong midfield, it actually makes sense to evade the midfield when you're attacking and try to strengthen the midfield when you're defending.
How often do you use long balls and pressure together? How much success have you had using this tactic against teams with vastly superior midfields?
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Saturday, August 15, 2009
Playing style should complement formation
One mistake I used to do as a newbie Xpert Eleven manager was to set my playing style to offensive with an offensive formation, and to defensive with more defensive formations.
The correct playing style should be to complement playing style and formation by using a defensive style along with an offensive formation such as 4-3-3 or 4-2-4 and use an offensive style with defensive formations such as 5-4-1.
With defensive formations, your team team is likely to create fewer chances, so you should use a more offensive style to make up for that. Conversely, with more offensive formation such as 4-3-3 or 3-4-3, your team will create more chances, but also will be vulnerable in defense, so you must set a more defensive style.
One rule of thumb I usually follow is to use "cautious" playing style with 4-4-2, and set it to more offensive (or defensive) when I use formations that are more defensive (or offensive) in comparison to 4-4-2.
Do you choose playing style based on your formations? What rules do you follow when deciding what playing style to use?
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The correct playing style should be to complement playing style and formation by using a defensive style along with an offensive formation such as 4-3-3 or 4-2-4 and use an offensive style with defensive formations such as 5-4-1.
With defensive formations, your team team is likely to create fewer chances, so you should use a more offensive style to make up for that. Conversely, with more offensive formation such as 4-3-3 or 3-4-3, your team will create more chances, but also will be vulnerable in defense, so you must set a more defensive style.
One rule of thumb I usually follow is to use "cautious" playing style with 4-4-2, and set it to more offensive (or defensive) when I use formations that are more defensive (or offensive) in comparison to 4-4-2.
Do you choose playing style based on your formations? What rules do you follow when deciding what playing style to use?
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Sunday, March 29, 2009
Example press release
I noticed from Google Analytics that a lot of visitors coming here from Google search were looking for example press releases and were directed to the post about press releases' impact on finances. So I decided to post one of my recent press releases in my private league to give readers an idea of what a post match press release might look like.
Writing a press release after every match is a good idea as it helps raise your Xpert rating and also fetches 200,000 econ every week. Post match press releases are the easiest to write because you don't have to make up most of the stuff and just have to write facts.
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Liverpool thrash ManUtd Fans FC
Liverpool are now top of the table after beating ManUtd Fans FC 2-0 in the first match of the Primera División. Two of Liverpool's new signings proved their worth instantly as they scored a goal apiece to sink the home team.
Striker Vilgot Bertilsson and midfielder Kenshi Mukoda were the goalscorers, but it was their star playmaker Roy Preece who was adjudged the man of the match by the fans association for his fantastic performance. Two of Liverpool's other new signings, Yrjö Korvakoski and goalie István Rumos also played a useful part in the victory.
Liverpool now host Friezers FC at home next Saturday in what many consider a very exciting fixture. Their last meeting ended in an emphatic 3-0 victory for Friezers, but they might find it a much more daunting task as Liverpool will be wary of their tactics this time.
Writing a press release after every match is a good idea as it helps raise your Xpert rating and also fetches 200,000 econ every week. Post match press releases are the easiest to write because you don't have to make up most of the stuff and just have to write facts.
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Sunday, March 8, 2009
Teams will now have away kits
According to the latest article in the official news column in Xpert Daily, we can expect a couple of minor feature updates tomorrow, including the ability to choose an away kit and changes in the overview of wins and losses on the list of teams' played matches.
Away kits
Now managers can select an away kit for their teams, which will be displayed in the match report in cases where both teams have the same kits. I'm looking forward to this feature because some teams in my leagues have the same kits as me and the match overview page looks odd in such cases. Here's a screenshot that shows how mesy things can get when there's no away kit.
With seven yellow cards and a sending off, it was a very aggressive match. ;-) But take a look at the team kit image next to each event -- they are all the same color, so it's hard to differentiate the teams at one glance.
Overview of wins/losses
There isn't much mentioned about the changes in the teams' list of results, except that it will make it easier to get an overview of wins and losses. Hopefully this means that the winning team will be displayed in bold or something similar to make it easier to see which side won. We will have to wait till tomorrow morning to see what this update looks like.
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Away kits
Now managers can select an away kit for their teams, which will be displayed in the match report in cases where both teams have the same kits. I'm looking forward to this feature because some teams in my leagues have the same kits as me and the match overview page looks odd in such cases. Here's a screenshot that shows how mesy things can get when there's no away kit.
With seven yellow cards and a sending off, it was a very aggressive match. ;-) But take a look at the team kit image next to each event -- they are all the same color, so it's hard to differentiate the teams at one glance.
Overview of wins/losses
There isn't much mentioned about the changes in the teams' list of results, except that it will make it easier to get an overview of wins and losses. Hopefully this means that the winning team will be displayed in bold or something similar to make it easier to see which side won. We will have to wait till tomorrow morning to see what this update looks like.
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