Special Events: The Big Unknown (01-02-04)
This is a very good article that everyone should read, written by my good friend Simon, better known as Elgard from the Canadian Community. Its his first ever article on htzine so take it easy on him guys.
Recently I was
discussing goal special events with a few friends, and was amazed at how little
people seem to know about this very important, albeit often overlooked part of
Hattrick. As a result I decided to write this article to give people a little
more insight into what one of my friends aptly described as, “What makes and
breaks upsets.?And it really is true, special events are at the root of many
wins by a team with seemingly weaker ratings.
There are 8 types of goal special events. Be sure not to confuse specialties
with goal special events. In fact powerful players do not have a special event
associated with them, and head players are only indirectly linked to a special
event. I’ll now go into more detail about each type of special event.
Unpredictable special events are one of the better known of the bunch.
It’s that “Johan Johansson somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the
middle, impossible to miss for Steve Stevenson?message. They can be only caused
by players with the “Unpredictable?specialty. On the other hand there’s also
the “A lunatic dribble by Magnus Magnusson, in front of the own keeper? event.
While most people are aware that these exist, a less known fact is that while
anyone can cause a positive unpredictable event, only inner midfielders and
defenders can cause negative unpredictable events. And an even less known fact
is that the likelihood of a positive unpredictable event depends on the
player’s passing and scoring skills while the likelihood of a negative
unpredictable event depends on the quality (or rather the lack of) the player’s
defending.
Quick special events are also quite well known. An example is “John
Johnson got left behind when Belmac´s Jamie
Jameson made a sudden pull forward? Just as with the previous special event,
while almost everyone is aware of the existence of this event, not everyone
knows that the possibility of it happening can be completely eliminated by
playing a quick defender opposite the quick wingers or forwards (only wingers
and forwards can score on a quick event). Having quality defensemen can also
reduce the chance of the event occurring, but that’s kind of obvious.
Technical special events are the last of the special events directly
related to specialties. It’s the classic “In the 33rd minute, technical Hakan
Hakanson scored 2 - 0 having completely made Per Persson look like a fool? The
occurrence of this event is relatively limited due to the fact that it can only
be triggered by a winger or forward who furthermore must be playing against a
head specialist. Technical events only create chances, which must be finished
off by someone else.
Wing special events are probably the least known type of special event.
The usual reaction I get when I tell people about this event is, “What? Winger
special events??Everyone has probably seen one, but didn’t realize that in fact
they were seeing a special event. It is the little line that says “Rob Robinson
was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box? Winger
events can quite logically be only caused by a winger. The chance of this event
happening depends on how good the player’s winger skill is; so don’t wonder
why your solid winger isn’t getting any of these. Just like the technical
event, this event only creates a chance that must then be finished off by
another player.
Next up is the Long Shot event. This is fairly straightforward and most
people are aware of how it works. Everyone has probably seen the “Andy Anderson
found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot?message
pop up. The higher your player’s scoring and set pieces are the better chance
he has to score on this event. Any player can score off a long shot, but due to
their scoring skills your forwards are probably the ones most likely to. That is
also why I consider set pieces to be more valuable on forwards than on other
players.
The Corner special event consists of more than one part. An example of a
corner event is “A well placed corner kick from Matt Mattson was followed by
Jack Jackson’s hard but accurate header? I do not know how a corner is
triggered; the rules don’t mention it and I’ve never noticed any pattern as to
how they happen. However once a corner is triggered it consists of two parts.
First your set piece taker must have sufficient set pieces to take a “good?kick,
and then the receiving player must have sufficient scoring to put the ball in
the net, just like with technical and winger events. However the number of head
specialists also indirectly figures into the equation here. The rules state: The
higher the number of Head specialists in your team, and the lower the number of
head specialists among your opponents, the better your chances to score. Having
no head specialists at all will make you very weak at defending against corners
and very weak at scoring on your own corners. So while it does not matter if the
player scoring on a corner has head or not, the number of head specialists on
your team and the opposing team modifies your overall chance of a successful
corner.
Experience special events have nothing to do with team experience, and
have just as good a chance of happening in the 5th minute of a league game as in
the 108th minute in overtime of a cup match. While you don’t see the “Jonas
Jonasson son has over the years acquired a talent for predicting the movements
of the enemy defense and this almost resulted in a goal...?event too often, the
“Seemingly due to lack of experience, Bjorn needlessly tripped an opponent just
outside the penalty area?is relatively common. Wingers and forwards can score
using their experience if it is high enough. On the flipside inexperienced
defenders and inners can give the opponent a chance to score.
Tiredness special events are the final type of special event. They are
the “Ronald Ronaldo wasn’t fit enough for a full game made several mistakes
out of sheer tiredness?events. These have become relatively known lately, mainly
during the discussions about stamina worth in players other than inners (and
others that you want to affect the midfield). People have generally come to the
conclusion that while stamina in defenders may be relatively helpful, it is
totally useless in offensive players (forwards and offensive wingers). That is
not entirely true. Yes, it is correct that tired defenders may cause a defensive
blunder during the latter stages of a game, but the rules state that: Unless the
opposing attacker is also too tired, this may create a chance for the opponent.
So essentially it is just as important to have decent stamina in forwards as it
is in defenders.
Phew, so much for the summing up of the individual special event types. Goal
special are the most underestimated part of Hattrick. A team well groomed to
produce the highest possible number of special events and give up as few as
possible can win many a game with seemingly weaker match ratings. Just to finish
off my article I’ll write a little summary of what to look for and what to
avoid when you’re buying that next reinforcement for your team.
Look for wingers and forwards with the unpredictable specialty
Avoid inner midfielders and defenders with the unpredictable specialty.
Look for the quick specialty in any player.
Look for technical wingers and forwards.
Look for players with good set pieces and scoring (finally a use for
those midfielders with solid scoring and solid set pieces).
Look for inner midfielders, wingers and forwards with head specialty.
Avoid defenders with head specialty. Although they too could contribute
to your corner taking so it’s up to you if you want to take the risk of a
technical goal against you.
Look for experienced players.
Look for players with good stamina.
This article was written by Elgard, a member of the Canadian HT community