Martyn Drabik's Blog (1 follower)

Introduction

Woot! Thanks for your predictions yesterday. It will be interesting to see if anyone gets their predictions correct come the end of the season.

End of August 2015

Prior to starting the league season, I chose to watch the Community Shield in person to see how manager's might utilise their teams. The match was last year's league winners, Chelsea, versus the FA cup winners, Arsenal. Here are their line-ups.



With three goals in the opening 17 minutes, I thought this was going to be a ridiculously high scoring game, but it ended just 3-2 to Arsenal, but it was an entertaining game. One thing I noticed is that players were rotated throughout, so that the four versions of Hazard playing in defence were not playing there the whole game. They would be swapped with versions of Hazard in the attacking positions, limiting the reduced player rating.

Another thing that I noticed was that some players had hidden 'nicknames' or 'shirt names'. I eliminated some before starting the game, but apparently some slipped through the net; see Gabriel Paulista in Arsenal's team in the following image.



Either way, we have a fantastic season ahead of us!

Before the first week of fixtures, I had a look at the winning odds within the game. They are not too dissimilar to real life odds - perhaps the game hadn't amended odds statistics yet.



The first round of league fixtures was great. I chose not to attend any games, but this screenshot shows all the madness you could expect. I'm not sure which match is my favourite...

The one where two versions of Vardy score, before Vardy was sent off, and then Vardy scored again to make it 3-0 ... or maybe where two versions of Mulumbu were sent off in the same game ... or a 3-4 game where three versions of Aguero and three versions of Sanchez all played well. It's difficult to pick.



Wait, no. I've got it. Aston Villa vs Swansea, where a version of Joleon Lescott scored a hattrick. Remember that he is a defender. I have not changed his attacking attributes one bit.

A couple weekends later I found that there might be some hiccups to the experiment. I should probably have duplicated more than just 20 of each player. Due to injuries and suspensions, some teams were forced to field 'fake' players. These players are automatically generated by the game to fill in team lists. They are not signed by teams (and cannot be due to restrictions), but teams will use them anyway.



Okay, now on to the League table. Each team has played 4 games so far, and the only team with a 100% record is ... wait, what. Aston Villa?!? In fact, the only other team that has not lost a game is Newcastle. WHAT IS GOING ON?!

Down at the bottom, West Ham are the only team without any points, losing all four of their games, whilst Sunderland are the only other team not to win yet.



The player stats tells an interesting story of its own. As mentioned in the last blog, ignore the player faces. I just copied all data (stats and attributes) to existing players.

Aston Villa have two versions of Joleon Lescott with 4 goals, tied with a version of Moussa Sissoko. They are ahead of a host of players with 3 goals, including Jamie Vardy, Eden Hazard, Sadio Mane, Ryan Shawcross and Roberto Firmino.

Two players have 4 assists; a version of Moussa Sissoko and Alexis Sanchez, whilst four players have 2 Player of the Match awards; Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen, Leighton Baines and Roberto Firmino. The top three players in terms of rating are versions of Christian Eriksen, Juan Mata and ... Juan Mata.



Another thing that I noticed, and maybe I should have expected it is that some players will be surplus to requirements. For example, Manchester United have transfer listed at least 8 versions of Juan Mata, whilst another 3 are unregistered. Other teams have similar issues. We will see how this plays out through the season.



Before the final questions, I introduce you to a new section in this season's blog...

What about Hartlepool?

Especially for one particular reader, I will follow Hartlepool through the season. Their stats have been unchanged.

It's not been the best start to the season, with just one win and one draw in their opening five league games. They've also been knocked out of the League Cup in the first round. Fantastic!



Questions?

Based on what has (surprisingly) happened this month, I ask...
- Does this change your predictions?
- Can Aston Villa and Newcastle challenge for the title?
- Will a version of Joleon Lescott win the golden boot?
- Are Manchester United and West Ham going to fight against relegation?

TUNE IN TOMORROW (OR SOON AFTER)

This is already lots of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing how the season plays out!

Cheers,

drabik