Career The Unicorn: 1K Midfielder

[Jens]

Hi all,

The story I’m about to tell you, is one that finds itself still at its early stages. It’s one of dedication, frustration, and of endless failings. It’s the culmination of a search that began in November and is still going on. The beginning of the end, the be all and end all of 1K challenges.

Before I go on, I’ll apologise in advance for keeping you all waiting. I’m a busy writer who is currently writing loads of different things at the same time. I’m writing as a profession (technology journalism), while simultaneously trying to fill my personal blog (which has taken a hit as well with all my different projects), write a fantasy novel, writing music for my country/folk band. Next to all that, I’m writing a play that will probably be performed next year. Lots of projects, lots of balls to juggle. And next to all that, I would love to do this.

By now, I (should) have the reputation of one who starts off with great ambitions and equally great ideas. But I also (should) have the reputation of being a quitter. Lots of my experiments on here start off okay-ish, only to sizzle down into nothingness. That’s why I’m preparing this in advance - for me, that’s a first really - and taking a piece out of the ol’ Ashez Playbook. When you’ll be reading this, I’ll have advanced until at least the starting point of my actual career.

Because you see, what I have in mind can’t be done from the start. I should rectify that statement somewhat: I can’t do it from the start. Perhaps there are more gifted people among you who can, but I don’t seem to be able anyway. What I want to say is this: forgive if there is a long time between updates. Now, let’s put an end to all this rambling nonsense and take a look at what is up. Insert picture of Barney

The Deal

I’ve spoken about this with some people already: is it possible to have a midfielder reach one thousand goals on FMM? We have loads of (succesful) 1K challenges on here, some that failed, lots that are never finished. We also have quite a lot of 1K Split challenges (500 goals, 500 assists). While every one of those is impressive, I would like to be the first to accomplish what has become the unicorn of 1K’s: one thousand goals with a midfielder.

I’ve tried a lot of different tactics and even more different teams. Everything failed. So I tried something different. I came up with a proof of concept. I wanted to assure myself that something like this would be possible. So I did something no one would condone in a regular 1K: I took an Irish team and beefed them up a bit (a lot actually). I made all the players 3.5-4 star players using the IGE. I wanted to know for sure, so I also took Neymar and put him in my team as a winger-attacker.

My PoC proved successful (see picture). While it still looks to be fiendishly difficult, I think there’s still a big enough chance I can pull this off. But for that, I need to be at the point where my team is the absolute best in an absolutely shitty league (pardon my French). So I went to Ireland.

Why Ireland?

Simply because over the years I noticed that anyone in the league can become champions. Human managers can easily overcome any and all opposition and become a real force that can even challenge in Europe. However: this takes time. At least 5-6 seasons. Which is why this career will be starting a couple of seasons after the start of the game. Forgive me Ash, for using A LOT of regens for this one. My preference goes out to an Irish regen as I always have a weak spot for a home grown national player.

But, of course, a smallish league means also lots of additional complications: if my player of choice is really good enough, will I be able to keep him in Ireland? Or will I have to move? Would Scotland suffice as a back-up nation? Questions we’ll have to find answers to as we go along. I hope you will all bear with me and offer any advice when needed. To live is to learn, right?

I’ll keep you all posted with short updates in the form of a diary until the actual challenge starts. For now, this will do.

P.s.: for clarification: I used the IGE for my PoC. I will, however, not be using it while attempting this challenge. Evidence can be provided if needed.

P.p.s.: I have learned since the beginning of my career that my Proof of Concept (PoC, pics to be found below) wasn't foolproof. There is a very real chance that I will fail miserably. So if you want to have a nice, long, drawn-out laugh, feel free to join in the conversation.

Where am I at currently?

Bray Wanderers
16/03/17: At this point in time, I’m still working on the proof of concept, but it’s coming along nicely. I hope to have this up in a week or so, close enough to the actual starting point of the challenge (probably in season ‘22-’23 as I cannot simply start using a young midfielder from the start; the rest of my team won’t be strong enough yet to easily win the league, you see). Make that two weeks. Keep you posted.

I have updates that are dated up until today. I will post one (or try to) every day until I run out. I hope you all enjoy yourselves at my expense. Also: tips are always welcome.

[Brenty92]

Bold move my friend, bold move! Peaked my interest straight away, Followed ??good luck 

[Scott]

The challenge I spent hours and hours testing tactics and players for and never completed ? 

Good luck Jens 

[AndersJ]

Good luck Jens ! Really interesting challenge !

[BatiGoal]

Whether you fail or succeed, <--- that hopefully, this could be a great journey. Goodluck, mate!

[Jens]

1 hour ago, Scott said:

The challenge I spent hours and hours testing tactics and players for and never completed ? 

Good luck Jens 

Ash told me all about it ? I'm pretty sure I'm not having it nailed down either, but I figured someone ought to spark the debate.

48 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Whether you fail or succeed, <--- that hopefully, this could be a great journey. Goodluck, mate!

Thanks, Bati and the rest of you. Let's hope I can at least make it as close as possible.

[Jens]

A small update on the early progressings of my career (you can sorta guess how many of these small updates will be coming if you look at the date stamp  )

Does anyone have a problem with me just attaching the pics at the bottom? It's easier than uploading them to imgur and inserting them into the text  (I'll put more effort into the next update, there's more to show there)

Slim trimmings turn into a filled trophy cabinet

17/03/17: Halfway the first season. I’ve decided to go with Bray Wanderers, because they’re already 75 years old this year but they’ve never won the domestic title. So far everything’s going great. I didn’t expect to be in first place as soon as we are. Season’s still long and a lot can happen, but I’ve got a good feeling about this.

20/3/17: For four years now, the Irish competition has been one of my favourites. I don’t really follow it in real life, so I was devastated to learn that Limerick had (once again) gotten themselves relegated. U.C.D. weren’t available either (still aren’t after two seasons). They were my second favourite team, because I like the idea of making a college team the best in the country. I went for Bray simply because they’re from the County of Wicklow, where I’ll be hiking in the summer.

It’s easy to see why Ireland’s my favourite: while it’s easy to start of with winning the title, it’s very challenging in every other aspect. You can try to beat your own records season after season, while also hunting for players who are good enough to battle in Europe, while also being cheap enough to get them in your team.

I’m currently at the end of season two. We’ve won our second title and, while we won not a single cup in first season, this year we took them all. We took 5 of six possible prizes. One title, 4 cups; we won every competition we entered without so much as a sweat. God, I love Ireland. Why didn’t we win the other cup? Apparently Bray doesn’t play in the Munster cup for some reason. A shame, but still, 5 out of 6. Great going. A tip for anyone who is looking to manage in lower/weak leagues: don’t listen to anyone giving advice on tactics here. Just slap on pressing + counter and it will work wonders (go ask my premier league Edinburgh players).

We even managed to get into the group stages of the EL. In our second season with pretty much crappy players! We booted home Dutch team AZ in the play-offs. Didn’t expect that to win, if I’m honest. The group stage itself was a bust, but that was to be expected. Now on to bigger and better!

On the screenshots you'll see how easy it was to win my first two titles. The second one by a margin of 5 games before the end. 

[mcandrew003]

Excellent start mate, nice to see Ireland getting some love!

[Jens]

25 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Excellent start mate, nice to see Ireland getting some love!

Long overdue if you ask me  

And with Easter coming on and all that...

[mcandrew003]

[Ashez]

I've been eagerly waiting to see more of this and your classic style is in full swing I see. I can already see this has everything it needs to be a career of the ages, best of luck mate! 

[Jens]

21 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I've been eagerly waiting to see more of this and your classic style is in full swing I see. I can already see this has everything it needs to be a career of the ages, best of luck mate! 

What do you mean by classic style?

Do you mean to say I'm old?

[Ashez]

38 minutes ago, Jens said:

What do you mean by classic style?

Do you mean to say I'm old?

Haha not at all, just the way you write I guess. From text alone I know when a comment/post is yours and this is typical Jens. 

[Jens]

Here's today's small snippet:

20/3/17: A lot sooner than I might’ve hoped, I think I found a first 1KC candidate. An 18 year old Brazilian kid. He’s already good at shooting, with good speed and quite some stamina. He doesn’t look to become a very creative player, which is good since he’ll be focussed on scoring instead. It took a lot of effort to get him in since the appeals board only accepted it after I offered a massive 1 million. But I’ve got such a good feeling about this; if worse comes to worst I’ll sell him on with a profit.

I wasn’t expecting this until at least 4 season in, but my team already seems to be able to smash my opponents to smithereens. I’ll give him a go while keeping my eyes open as well. I had to sell my main goal scorer Akinade to come up with the needed funds, but I made a hefty 400K profit on him, so that’s okay. My main concern right now would be that if he performs well from the start, it’ll be insanely difficult to keep him. Fingers crossed.

I’m tempted to check his PA by using the IGE, but I’ll restrain myself for now. If I ever do decide to check, it will be decided by you lot through a referendum - that’s about the only thing you English/Scottish lads are proficient in these days, innit?

[BatiGoal]

Nice find. If he manages to up some of the essential attributes for a 1K striker he'd be a perfect candidate. Nurture him well, mate.

[Jens]

34 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Nice find. If he manages to up some of the essential attributes for a 1K striker he'd be a perfect candidate. Nurture him well, mate.

If you only knew what was coming...

[Jens]

Today's little snippet after the weekend break. I'll probably post another snippet later today.

21/3/17: Well, here’s a surprise twist for you all. The young Brazilian I splurged ALL of my money on turns out to be incredibly prone to injuries. He hasn’t managed to hit his stride yet, even though we’re halfway through the season. Even more surprising: a young Irishman I bought for 120K is outplaying the Brazilian in his position. I put him there while my ‘star’ was once again injured for a month and he’s killing it there. Perhaps I should switch my focus to this young Irishman? I’ll see how the rest of the season goes before I make that decision final though.

 

[Ashez]

I'm keen to see how this unfolds, seems like some dilemma tbh. The Brazilian was robbed by injury but a star was possibly found in his absence, very interesting indeed. 

[BatiGoal]

40 minutes ago, Ashez said:

I'm keen to see how this unfolds, seems like some dilemma tbh. The Brazilian was robbed by injury but a star was possibly found in his absence, very interesting indeed. 

That's the silver lining

This could be the type of save I end FMM17 with. This or the unemployed one. Keep going, mate.

[Jens]

Turns out I have three smaal snippets for you today. Boy, are you guys just the luckiest???

22/3/17: Season ended with 23 goals for Yadolahi, the Irish midfielder. The Brazilian had three injuries this season, so he got about 15 goals. The search for the right midfielder goes on. Meanwhile, Stephen Ireland is retiring and he might just be the one I need. Fingers crossed.

HOW COOL IS THAT NAME?!?! JOHNNY YADOLAHI, YA BOYS AN' GALS

I also included a screenie of Ireland at the end of his career. Looking back at it now, what was I thinking? That guy isn't going to complete sh*t. (Let me clarify: The date stamps are accurate representations of when I wrote this. Consider these updates something of a diary.) There's another update coming later today. Keep pining for more.

[Jens]

The next update shows more questions than answers. Luckily for all, I have since made up my mind. Aren't you lot just the luckiest?

27/3/17: I’m currently after season 4, the second one with Yadolahi. He managed an excellent 40(!) goals. As long as he’s this young, he’s still only 18, I’m content that he’s simply improving. Once he hits 20 (two years from now), I’ll expect him to bag 60 per season at the least, but for now, I’m content. My team wasn’t good enough to destroy the league either; we’re good enough to win by 20 points clear, but that’s not strong enough if I want this challenge to succeed. Once my team is really sublime, we can aim for more and better.

I’m currently again at a cross-roads. I have picked up Keane’s (Anthony Barry) and Stephen Ireland’s (Shane Brown) regens. I believe they’re both better PA wise than Yadolahi (Keane always gets a 4.5PA). So this is what I’ve done: I’ve backed up the save with Keane and Ireland and I’m continuing with Yadolahi since I feel he’s more prolific than the average midfielder.

If I fail, I’ll return to this point to try again with Keane (he was ‘ideal’ to retrain to AMC and after only 4 weeks he was natural in AMC). If I succeed this challenge with Yadolahi, I’ll return to this point and try to best Yadolahi with Keane. I’m still very hopeful this will work out. I’m also dying to get this show live.

[samhardy]

Looking good Jens, hopefully you don't have any problems keeping them in Ireland in the long run...

[Jens]

To @BatiGoal I would like to say: I told you lads from the beginning I'm a slug and that I wouldn't up my pace for you lot. You shall be happy with whatever I feed you

30/3/17: I’m currently trying Keane’s regen out in a new ‘old’ formation. It’s something I’ve used to great effect on the OME in Ireland. It seems to be paying off, yet I’m not completely satisfied yet. To make things worse, Ashez has pointed me towards someone’s attempt to score 500 goals with a midfielder. His start was very promising. I’ll have to hope he doesn’t get any other ideas or I might have to speed things up considerably. Nonetheless, I wish him the best of luck.

On a sidenote: I did up my pace for a while, of which you'll see the fruits soon enough. The challenge has truly taken off now. 

[Joewins]

Are you playing him in midfield or playing a natural midfielder upfront?

[BatiGoal]

We are more than happy to oblige and decelerate to your blistering pace, Lord Jens.

How re-assuring to see Ashez so emotionally involved in your quest for the big 1000. No surprise as the great man has always had a weak for the weak, and a help for the helpless. 

[Jens]

22 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

We are more than happy to oblige and decelerate to your blistering pace, Lord Jens.

How re-assuring to see Ashez so emotionally involved in your quest for the big 1000. No surprise as the great man has always had a weak for the weak, and a help for the helpless. 

You know nothing, BatiGoal. Ash has merely been accomodating my foolishness.

33 minutes ago, Joewins said:

Are you playing him in midfield or playing a natural midfielder upfront?

I'm playing him as an AMC (even though he's a natural right winger)

[Ashez]

I love this stuff  

My previous comment had some clues hidden away as this update reveals haha. Dunno if Jens even noticed my choice of words though. 

[Jens]

21 hours ago, Ashez said:

I love this stuff  

My previous comment had some clues hidden away as this update reveals haha. Dunno if Jens even noticed my choice of words though. 

I did, but I forgot to respond

[Jens]

Short little update: disaster struck. What do you guys think happened next? Did I trudge on? Dit I give up? Did I transfer myself to Barcelona to try again with Alli?

31/3/17: what a horrible season. Yadolahi underperformed, Keane didn’t do what I expected… I need a break. Let’s hope the next season gets us back on track.

[mcandrew003]

A good read so far, and a good start aswell! Keep up the good work mate!