Stephen is back, this time identifying players you should avoid signing…
Just like in life, and still in football now, there are some shadowy characters purporting themselves to be the next big thing – when they’re actually filled with hot air. And if art imitates life, then it’s no surprise then there are some big fakes on CM9798.
By fake I mean, players with great stats, but as soon as you sign them they turn to sh*t. Think of George Weah, then getting his cousin, Ali Dia – poor Graeme Souness.
This isn’t a direct list of players to avoid but more of a general warning as patterns occur, in my experience, to try to bait you into these fakes. In all screengrabs, I’m playing as Chester so you can understand my points…
The simple rule is, if it looks too good to be true – it is. Original players, or regens, with stats better than Ronaldo for example are generally fakes. Would you believe there is Gambian striker in an unnamed team with better skills than the great one himself? Unlikely, so swerve them despite the attractive proposition.
Fakes tend to crop up at Minor Teams, sometimes in Africa or South America. If you do an end of season search, in goal order, they’ll come somewhere on the top page. It’ll be like 40 games and 35 goals, but it’ll be their only season on record. Don’t be lured into the trap of high AvR either, like I have.
They’ll be cheap too, like really cheap 250K or less, sometimes free, but it’s like getting a free punch in the face from Tyson – you reckon you can handle it, but in the end you’ll totally regret it and they’ll be hard to shift.
If you don’t heed my advice and you sign a faker, whatever you do get them off your books as soon as any goals dry up. As they’ll be overseas players they’ll need to play at least 50% of games to be eligible for their visa, otherwise they’ll sit in your squad completely ineligible next season.
Don’t give them big contracts either, just agree to their basic terms, or knock a season off at least.
Though there are some hidden gems in the game they generally aren’t found in a general stat search by chance. Instead, they will be players with a trackable history, in a good team with high adaptability rating (13+). I understand these fakes are sometimes too attractive to miss if you’re playing in the lower leagues, just be aware of what you’re getting yourself into.
Hope you’ve enjoyed this guide. Find me on Twitter @sjwalt2006 for more CM9798 chat. Use #CM9798 & follow @CM9798
Have fallen into this trap many times! I tend to only buy players with a trackable record in a decent division now, but I can clearly remember the frustration experienced at alleged goalscoring genius’ incapable of netting when the chips have been down! If you were to set up a filter for finding good team players, what would you be looking for? Great site – best wishes!
Cheers Mark, when the prices are so low you always think they are worth a punt and they never are!
Illustrate the big problem with this game, the hidden ability is very poorly implemented. At the time I did analysis with the editor and it lacks a real balance. It is a bad implementation that pursues the Cm / Fm series until today.