Ian

For Everything Else, There's Master League

PES2008 is not a great football game in my humble opinion, it's part of a great series of games but not, in itself a classic. It's strange then that I've just spent a huge chunk of my week playing it again, at the expense of far more important matters. The clue's in the title as to why I'm still persevering with it, the Master League. Few things brings out my inner football geek like a good Master League campaign to sink my teeth into, with the possible exception of Football Manager (which once saw me watching a Brazilian league game on Sky at three in the morning in the hope of spotting an inexpensive left-back).

In most Pro Evo games the masterleague is the icing on the cake, unfortunately in the latest version it's one of the few saving graces of an otherwise pretty shoddy title. Master League is pretty indestructable in terms of someone at Konami coming along and ruining it. There'll always be the underlying satisfaction of taking a terrible team at the bottom of the second division and turning them into World beater's.

I like to build up a solid team of footballers I've never heard of in my life, sod signing Henry and Rooney; give me the likes of Japanese master striker Oguro (I've no idea if he even exists in real-life but he's been ace in every version of PES so far). Barretto, the long-haired Ecuadorian central midfielder is another player I try to snap up first chance I get, me and Barretto have a history of success. In PES4 on the PS2 he joined me at Lyon for a long and honour-strewn Master League career. In PES5 I'd landed myself a job in the hotbed of footballing passion that is Glasgow Celtic and Barretto once again was signed up as a raw young midfielder who matured into a legend. I'll never forget his last gasp winner than secured us promotion to Div 1 that year. Great right peg on the lad.

Obviously I know little of what these guys are like in real life, occasionally I'll sign up someone who's impressed me on Match Of The Day though. Spurs fans know all about Dmitar Berbatov, well I nabbed him on a swap deal back in 2005 in the fifth Pro Evolution, oh he was a twenty goals-a-season man even in them days. He's grown his hair a bit since then, and he's maybe not quite as effective, but still a good buy for any budding PES Alf Ramsey's. Tottenham fan's will also have (less fond) memories of Helder Postiga, the club's flop striker of a few years ago. Well let me tell you something, that boy knows where the goal is. Only last year (PES6) he joined a failing mid-table Division 1 Rosenborg team and fired us to the WAFA Championship Title. We celebrated long into the night after that one.

That's the thing about Master League, the game & you combine to create your own stars - even the cloggers of the default Master League team, Stremer, Huylens, Espimas et al can become cult heroes. Castollo, the dread-locked default striker has become something of a super-sub in this year's version for me. I've had offers for him of course, but I'm not selling, not while the kid's got something to offer us. At present I'm back at Rosenborg, still stuck in Division 2 and with some dodgy signings dragging me down. Mendieta, the former Middlesborough man has done nothing, and Maurice Voltz, another swap deal is similarly hopeless on the right. Barretto's on board though, so good things are obviously just around the corner. Hope he brought his shooting boots, we need some inspiration from somewhere.