I'd like to say I can take any positive qualities from that video. But I can't. Perhaps I need to mess around with the settings to promote little things like shooting anywhere near the attacking third. Because not every simulation can be a midfield slog fest but that's what I get every time the New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo square off in FIFA14.
Anyway, this prediction terrifies me because it's the exact same result and almost exact same style of game that the very first simulation cranked out when these two teams opened the season. And I'm not going to even bring up that result because I've blocked all knowledge of that game from my head.
REVS LINEUP (4-1-4-1)
Shuttleworth; Farrell, Soares, Goncalves, Tierney; Dorman; Sene, Nguyen, Kobayashi, Fagundez; Bunbury
DYNAMO LINEUP (4-4-2)
Hall; Sarkodie, Cochran, Taylor, Ashe; Driver, Garcia, Clark, Davis; Bruin Barnes
WHY THIS SIMULATION WILL BE RIGHT
Because both teams are accurately out of form, with 14 of the 22 total players receiving negative modifiers to their individual stats. New England is barely generating half chances on offense despite improvement in their defensive play from the opener in Houston. Teal Bunbury and Saer Sene have been taking some shots but they can't seem to generate anything but half chances. Five games into the season the Revs have been shutout four times, and Lee Nguyen and Own Goal are tied with a goal apiece for the team lead.
The Dynamo are also in a bit of a funk as well. They've lost two in a row including a 4-1 pasting against FC Dallas when a 60th minute straight red to defender David Horst opened the floodgates. Will Bruin got off to a torrid start with three goals in the first two games but has cooled off considerably since. Would a 0-0 midfield slogfest surprise me? Absolutely not...
WHY THIS SIMULATION WILL BE WRONG
...but I said that last time and New England ended up on the wrong side of a crooked socreline. The growing problem that I'm seeing with these simulations is that not enough chances are generated. The players spend to much time dribbling and losing the ball in the midfield. And the AI is allergic to using the "B" button (or the PlayStation equivalent) for the entire 12 minutes of simulation.
I'd like to think that Houston would get a lot more balls out wide and cross into their strikers, the simulation basically had them going up the middle the entire time. The virtual Revs and the real Revs both at times look disjointed and unsure of themselves in the attacking third but at least the real Revs take shots when they get near the box.
Even if I think a draw is very possible, I don't think it will be scoreless. I think both teams will want to try and break out of their respective funks rather early which should produce a few offensive chances.