[Xulu]

As some of you may or may not know I was quite a player in my younger days, nearly receiving a scholarship to play for a small American University before I hurt myself in a match at age 17. Since then I have not played the game in an organized manner, although I occasionally play pickup games. I currently play (in FM terms) as a Target Man, Defensive Forward, or Defensive Winger now in informal games. In my youth I was a "Striker Keeper"; in FM the role is Sweeper Keeper (Attack). I often came way out of the goal to collect loose balls, help distribute from the back, make last-ditch tackles, and even participate in Set Pieces. My most glorious moment was scoring a goal from open play in a match while playing as a Keeper, and this goal did not follow a Set Piece but was cleanly from open play in a non-go-for-broke situation. I did often participate in Set Pieces, sometimes taking the kick but more often giving advice and being a decoy. I occasionally played in the outfield then if I could not see action as a GK, usually as a defender. Still, I was far and away a swashbuckling GK who compensated for the name "Lurch" (as I could not dive at all) and horrendous nearsightedness (which led to more than a few mistakes) by playing very aggressively and off the line as much as possible to cut down angles and playmake from the back.

Thinking about my exploits as a youth, I have often wondered if I could recreate myself as a Keeper in FM and how effective it would be. There is precedent for my role; Rene Higuta was a daring Keeper who had all sorts of wild adventures, Jorge Campos had an exciting style and sense of fashion to match, and Rogerio Ceni was a legend scoring goals as a Keeper (albeit in set piece scenarios). Spain in particular seems to be chock-full of keepers who are excellent at distribution and coming high off of their line, while Latin America boasts some of the most eccentric keepers in the game. Could a goalkeeper play as a quasi-outfielder in the modern game? Would you want your Keeper rushing up to join the attack? Is playing outside the 18 something a Keeper should be doing?

For methodology, I will edit the database to include a player with a few attributes to match. The main tests will be with someone aged 17 to see about development, and I will also consider running the simulation with an older Keeper (perhaps age 30ish) to see how that impacts ability. The player I create will be fashioned in a way that is perhaps a little better than I was in real life, but not quite a wonderkind.


The following are the attributes. Part II will show what the player looks like. I will manage the USA U20s so that I can get a sample of how the player performs in action while allowing the ME to do most of the legwork with the player.

 Xavier Bluetooth (Profile_ Attributes)-2.png (601.98K)
Number of downloads: 17
 Xavier Bluetooth (Profile_ Positions)-2.png (844.02K)
Number of downloads: 15
 Xavier Bluetooth (Profile_ Personal)-2.png (568K)
Number of downloads: 10

This post has been edited by Xulu: 04 November 2011 - 08:33 PM

[Xulu]

Reserved.

[Xulu]

 U.S.A. Under 20s v Senegal Under 20s (U.S.A. U20s__ Tactics)-2.png (723.75K)
Number of downloads: 17

Played a standard 4-4-2 except for GK, who was set on Sweeper Keeper (Attack) with the standard settings for that. Went with "Push Higher Up" 10 minutes in. Eventually changed to Very Fluid/Overload 60 minutes in - a desperate attempt to get more action by the GK.

30 minutes in, I resorted to what you see in the picture. I also gave Primary Playmaker and Hold Up Ball. The results? Not nearly what I had hoped. There was no rushing out for loose balls, and only one mildly adventurous dribble.

Might require a little more tinkering.