July 1888: First Days
When I looked at my squad list, I discovered I didn't have a goalkeeper in the team. To remedy this rather glaring deficiency, I looked at my Scouting page, which contained a list of the players who are known to my Scout, a chap called
Bob Smith. Bob is familiar with about 20 players right now, and three of them are goalkeepers.
My board has given me a transfer budget of £380. Since the highest-valued player Bob knows is listed at £73, I'm pretty flush. The 'keeper I want most,
Robert Smalley of Preston North End, is new to his club, and they aren't interested in selling him. Instead, I purchase a Scot, Hibernian's
Walter Cox, for £4. Cox is only fair at most of the things a 'keeper needs to do, such as Shot Stopping, Aerial Ability, and Distribution. He's very poor at Handling, which could be a problem. Still, unless I can prise Smalley away from Preston, or unless Bob discovers some more goalkeepers, Walter's the man.
By the way, I'm paying my new custodian £1 per week, both in and out of season. My entire wage budget is £30/week.
Retro Football Boss allows me to set my team up in a wide variety of formations; it looks like I can send the Toffees out in any shape that's ever been widely used in English football at any time. I chose to "hide" the formations that weren't really used in 1888. Apparently, if I chose to make my lads play 4-4-2, they'd be basically confused at first, but would slowly learn what I want them to do. In order to keep my Victorian footballers happy, I'll line them up in a 2-3-5 Pyramid, like this:
Look at all those attacking players! One of the formations I could select used SEVEN forwards. I'm actually playing a fairly conservative tactic for 1888.
According to my staff, my best players are
Alf Milward, an 18-year-old left winger, and
Edgar Chadwick, an inside left who is a year older. Chadwick is worth £110, a huge valuation in 1888. Alf and Edgar play side-by-side, and I'll be directing my attack toward them.
How can I do this? I can adjust my tactic by moving sliders for Mentality, Passing Style, Passing Focus, Tempo, Width, Pressing, and Creative Freedom. As I adjust each of these, my staff gives me feedback about how my moves affect the team's actions on the field, described as Organisation, Ball Winning, Direct Football, Ball Retention, Individual Flair, and Chance Creation. So far, I like the way tactics work in this game--simple and intuitive.