Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Become a Legend Guide

******************************************************************************

Author: Scott Wilson (Rikuide_Furame)

Version: 1.00
Date Updated: 6 March 2009
Formats: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 & PC

******************************************************************************
Contents
******************************************************************************

A. Introduction [A00]D
B. Version History [B00]
C. Controls [C00]D
D. Career [D00]
Basic Overview [D01]
Creating Your Player [D02]
Exhibition (Scout) Match [D03]
Your First Club [D04]
Your First Season [D05]
Transfers [D06]
Awards/Trophies [D07]
E. Attributes [E00]
Definition of Attributes [E01]
Raising your Attributes [E02]
The God Region [E03]
F. Special Abilities [F00]
Definition of Special Abilities [F01]
Gaining Special Abilities [F02]
Gaining Positions [F03]
G. Ratings [G00]
H. Form Arrows [H00]
I. General Tips [I00]
J. Contact Me [J00]
K. Legal [K00]
L. Credits [L00]

If you wish to jump to a particular section, bring up the find function

(ctrl+f) and search for the 3 character code contained in the square brackets.
So if you want to jump to the Controls section then search for C00.

******************************************************************************
Introduction [A00]
******************************************************************************

I've been a PES fan for years (since the original on the Playstation). For
years I watched as our Japanese counterparts were lucky enough to be able to
create and play as an individual player (then called Fantasia). Now, finally,
the PES team has decided to incorporate this mode into it's current title -
and what a mode it is.

After having played this mode through several times (and having answered many
questions regarding the Become a Legend mode) I've decided to write a guide
and FAQ for it. If you have any questions, suggestions or corrections based on
anything that you've seen in this guide, then feel free to contact me. My
e-mail address can be found in the Contact Me section.

If you want to see all my guides then simply visit:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/79678.html?type=1

Let's begin then.

- RK

******************************************************************************
Version History [B00]
******************************************************************************

Version 1.00 - 06 March 2009

---------------------------

Guide Completed

******************************************************************************
Controls [C00]
******************************************************************************

This section details the controls for BaL mode in both the PS3 and Xbox 360
versions of the game. You can edit the control scheme if you wish. Please be
aware that several of the buttons will not actually do anything in BaL mode.
They're instead used for other modes in PES 2009 where you may be playing as
an entire team, and even coaching them. I haven't included the PC controls as
these are entirely user-defined.

PS3 Controls
------------

o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o
|Input |Action with ball (Action without ball)|
o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o
|Left Analogue Stick |Movement/Tricks |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Direction Pad |Movement/Tricks |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Right Analogue Stick |Manual Pass (N/A) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|X Button |Short Pass/Short Header |
| |(Tackling/Pressure) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|[] Button |Shoot/Shooting Header/Clearance |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|O Button |Long Pass/Cross (Sliding Tackle) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Triangle Button |Through Pass |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|L1 |Various Moves [one-two passes etc] |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|R1 |Sprint |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|L2 |N/A |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|R2 |Special Controls [slow dribbling etc] |
| |(Jockeying) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|START Button |Pause Menu |
o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o

Xbox 360 Controls

-----------------

o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o
|Input |Action with ball (Action without ball)|
o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o
|Left Analogue Stick |Movement/Tricks |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Direction Pad |Movement/Tricks |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Right Analogue Stick |Manual Pass (N/A) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|A Button |Short Pass/Short Header |
| |(Tackling/Pressure) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|X Button |Shoot/Shooting Header/Clearance |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|B Button |Long Pass/Cross (Sliding Tackle) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Y Button |Through Pass |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Left Bumper |Various Moves [one-two passes etc] |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Right Bumper |Sprint |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Left Trigger |N/A |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Right Trigger |Special Controls [slow dribbling etc] |
| |(Jockeying) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|START Button |Pause Menu |
o-------------------------------------o--------------------------------------o

******************************************************************************
Career [D00]
******************************************************************************

********************
Basic Overview [D01]
********************

In Become a Legend mode (BaL) you create your own player and play through the
game via him, and him alone. Your player starts from the age of 17. Once you
reach the age of 27 you can retire (ending your career) or you can play on
right up to the age of 35 whereby the game will automatically retire your
player.

**************************
Creating Your Player [D02]
**************************
When your first create a legend you will have to enter some basic details.
Firstly enter your players name and arrange how it should appear on his
jersey. Now select his injury type. Unless you want your player to be more
vulnerable to injury for some reason, keep this set to A. Finally pick which
foot is your players favoured one. Choose either left or right, it makes no
difference.

You also have to choose your player's nationality. Now this is very important
if you wish to succeed on the international stage. Ofcourse, choosing a nation
can prove to be double-edged. On one hand, choosing a country that is known as
a great team will likely lead to easier success as the players around you are
far more able to win matches. However, this is because the players themselves
are better than those that you would find in the smaller countries and so
getting into the bigger teams can prove more difficult. Bare this in mind.

Now you must pick which position your player plays in. This is not so straight
forward as you might first think. There are 8 positions that you can select
from. You can only select 1 at this time.

Wing Back (c)

Defensive Midfielder (a)
Side Midfielder (a)
Central Midfielder (a)
Attacking Midfieler (b)
Wing Forward (c)
Support Striker (b)
Centre Forward (a)

Beside each position is a letter from a - c. These represent how common each
position is in your average team (a being very common and c being rare). The
importance of this is that your should avoid rare positions. For example you
will be hard pressed to find a team that uses Wing Backs on a regular basis.
If you are playing that role then you may find that you are being played out
of position (a lot!) and as such your player's stats will actually be lower
than normal.

NOTE: wide positions (WB, SMF, WF) will give you the option to select which
side you prefer to play on. Again, unless you really want to specify a side,
just keep it as both sides. This way your player will never receive penalties
to his stats for playing on the "wrong" side.

So try to stick to the positions that are common. Doing so will allow you to
play for any team in the game, potentially. If you choose a rare option you
will either have to play out of position (and suffer the stat penalties) or
you will be forced to narrow down which clubs you play for (i.e. the ones that
use your position regularly).

After all your details have been entered all that is left for you to do is
to create the physical aspects of your player. Really, what you do here is all
up to you, however I would advise against making your player too small
(especially if he is playing a central role) unless you really want to as this
will make winning headers harder for him. In fact, you might want to increase
your players height (anything above 185 cm is considered tall) as this will
make him much more able to win headers. Granted, until his header stat
increases he won't do too much with the headers but atleast he'll win them.

Once you've created your player, you'll be thrust into your first match.
******************************
Exhibition (Scout) Match [D03]
******************************

Now you'll play in a small match. The aim ofcourse is to play well enough
to "impress" the scouts from teams that are there. Even if you perform really
badly in this game and get a poor rating you will still receive two offers
(doing well will grant you 3). However, playing well does two things:

1) increases the quality of teams looking to sign you

2) increases the starting attributes of your player

Both are obviosly important so try to have a good game. An important thing to
note here is that your should keep replaying this match until your starting
Stamina is 80 or above. I'll explain later as to why.

First off, your stats are terrible so keep it simple. You won't be able to
run past players! Instead stick to simple passes, time your runs and try to
stay in space. Doing so will almost certainly grant you a decent rating. If
you want more information on how to increase your rating see the ratings
section.

It's important to note that there are various stats set after this match that
cannot increase. These are as follows:

Agility
Mentality
Agression
Condition
Goal-Keeping
Weaker Foot Frequency
Weaker Foot Accuracy

Whilst (obviously) the Goal-Keeping stat is of no concern the others are.

Agility is especially important if you want a fast player. It represents how
quickly your player does any action such as a small dribble or step over. The
significance of this is that the higher your agility, the more actions your
player can perform in a set period of time. Futhermore, you're far less likely
to run into opposing players because your player was still executing an
action. Unfortunately, you won't be able to see your players stats until you
join your first club. Look at them as soon as you can as you may wish to play
the scout match again in order to receive different stats.

Once the match has concluded, check the performance of your player. This can
be done by accessing the Ratings section under the Match Details section.
Any rating of a 6 or above is good. You can also press select your player's
rating to see in depth stats about his play. You should do this regularly to
see how you're coping. With that done, all that's left to do is sign for a
professional team.

*********************
Your First Club [D04]
*********************

After the match (depending on your rating) will receive 2-3 offers from clubs.
Now choosing your first club is very important and their are two key factors
that you should focus on:

1) Club Ranking
2) The position that the club wishes you to play (!)

Each of the 80 teams found in the four leagues are ranked based on their
success and players. Obviously the higher the better. This is important
for two reasons. The first is that the better the teams success the more
likely you are to find success. For example the better the team the more
likely that they will be competing in European competitions and the more
likely they are to go farther in those competitions. Playing as many games
as possible at the highest level will ensure quicker growth of your player.

The second important factor is where the club intend to play you. If this
does not match with your position then you can expect to be played out of
position, a lot! Considering how bad your stats are, the last thing you need
are penalties for being in the wrong position.

The above rules should be considering when signing for ANY club. Select a club
to continue. On a side note, the points (or salary) that each team is offering
has no impact on the game whatsoever. It's merely a score (if you will)
allowing you to see how well your player is progressing. Another side note,
but still rather important; if you wish to play for a particular team such as
Milan then try to sign with a team in their league. Whilst you'll recieve many
offers from clubs outside of your league throughout you career, many more
offers will be made by clubs in your own league.

***********************
Your First Season [D05]
***********************

When you sign for a new club (like you do at the start of BaL mode), you won't
just be placed into the starting XI. Instead you'll compete in Inter-Squad
matches. These take place whenever your first team has an actual game. Here
you'll simple play against members of your own team. You'll start out in the
second team (the one of the right of the formation menu). Your goal is to
play well and net high ratings. It'll only take a couple 7.0s and upwards to
net you a spot in the first team.

However, this doesn't mean that you'll be playing for the team in actual
matches. You now have to prove yourself in the first team, much like you did
the second team. Again, a couple 7.0s and above will see you progress in a
few games. At this time you'll be given a spot on the bench meaning that you
can be brought on during your teams league/cup games. When this occurs, you'll
no longer participate in inter-squad matches. Instead, you'll simply be able
to watch your side's game until you come on the pitch. By pressing RT/R2 you
can speed the game up until your arrival.

Again, it's all about ratings. Put up some good numbers when you come off the
bench and you'll soon be awarded a starting place in the team. Receiving high
ratings when coming off the bench is far easier than if you had been starting
the match so this shouldn't take too long. Your reward will be a starting
place in the first XI.

Be aware that your player will be under constant scrutiny. If you start
putting up poor ratings, you may be dropped to the bench. Continue to put
up poor ratings from the bench and you may even find yourself back in the
inter-squad matches.

**************
Transfer [D06]
**************

Transfer periods occur at the halfway point and end of every season. During
this time your player may well receive offers from various clubs including
your own (if your contract is up). You should apply the same rules as you did
when you signed for your first club. Take a look at the clubs ranking and
the position(s) that they wish you to play. Again, the salary is little more
than a score. It's important to note that each of the 80 teams will engage in
a fair bit of tranfers themselves. For this reason you should always check the
squad of a team you wish to join prior to joining. In the my first playthrough
of BaL mode, by about my third season Spurs were the powerhouse of the leagues
with players such as Rooney and C.Ronaldo.

It's also important to note that you won't recieve all the offers at first.
Clubs can (and will) use the whole transfer period to sign players. As such,
many clubs will make you offers with only a week or two to go. So if the first
couple offers that you've received don't take your fancy then simply hold off
for more. Beware though, clubs won't chase you all day long. If you wait too
long a club who had made you an offer may retract it. If no one else makes a
late bid, you could find yourself with little (or no) options so bear this in
mind.

As with choosing your first club, choosing which team you sign for will affect
who makes offers for you in the future (and with what frequency). So if you
want to play for a particular team, then try to with clubs inside their
league.

*********************
Awards/Trophies [D07]
*********************

Throughout your career there are various awards and trophies that your player
can receive. These are divided into various categories and are as follows:

World Player of the Year

World Team of the Year
European Player of the Year
European Team of the Year

Individual
----------

Man of the Match

European Championship Most Valuable Player

European Championship Top Scorer
European Championship Assist Leader

European Master's Cup Most Valuable Player

European Master's Cup Top Scorer
European Master's Cup Assist Leader

League A Player of the Season

League A Team of the Season
Leauge A Top Scorer
League A Assist Leader
League A D1 Cup Most Valuable Player
League A D1 Cup Top Scorer
League A D1 Cup Assist Leader

League B Player of the Season

League B Team of the Season
Leauge B Top Scorer
League B Assist Leader
League B D1 Cup Most Valuable Player
League B D1 Cup Top Scorer
League B D1 Cup Assist Leader

League C Player of the Season

League C Team of the Season
Leauge C Top Scorer
League C Assist Leader
League C D1 Cup Most Valuable Player
League C D1 Cup Top Scorer
League C D1 Cup Assist Leader

League D Player of the Season

League D Team of the Season
Leauge D Top Scorer
League D Assist Leader
League D D1 Cup Most Valuable Player
League D D1 Cup Top Scorer
League D D1 Cup Assist Leader

Club
----

League A
League A D1 Cup

League B
League B D1 Cup

League C
League C D1 Cup

League D
League D D1 Cup

European Championship
European Master's Cup

National
--------

Man of the Match

International Cup
International Cup Player of the Tournament
International Cup Team of the Tournament
International Cup Top Scorer
International Cup Assist Leader

European Region Qualifiers Player of the Qualifying Round

European Region Qualifiers Team of the Tournament
European Region Qualifiers Top Scorer
European Region Qualifiers Assist Leader

European Championship
European Championship Player of the Tournament
European Championship Team of the Tournament
European Championship Top Scorer
European Championship Assist Leader

As you can see there's a lot of repetition with the awards. Rather than
describe how to get them all, I'm just going to describe each award. You
can then apply this to every tournament that the trophy/award appears in.

******************************************************************************
Attributes [E00]
******************************************************************************

******************************
Definition of Attributes [E01]
******************************

o-----------------------------o----------------------------------------------o
|Attribute | Definition |
o-----------------------------o----------------------------------------------o
|Attack | The higher this stat, the more difficult it's|
| | for opposing players to steal the ball off of|
| | your player. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Defence | The higher this stat, the easier it is for |
| | your player to steal the ball off of |
| | opposing players. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Body Balance | The higher this stat, the easier your player |
| | can hold off opposing players. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Stamina | The higher this stat, the longer your player |
| | will be able to perform at his best. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Top Speed | The higher this stat, the faster your player |
| | can run without the ball. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Acceleration | The higher this stat, the faster your player |
| | will reach his Top Speed/Dribble Speed. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Response | The higher this stat, the quicker your player|
| | will respond to events such as loose balls. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Agility | The higher this stat, the quicker your player|
| | will complete each action such as step-overs.|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Dribble Accuracy | The higher this stat, the closer your player |
| | will keep the ball to him whilst dribbling |
| | with it. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Dribble Speed | The higher this stat, the faster your player |
| | will run with the ball. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Short Pass Accuracy | The higher this stat, the more accurate your |
| | your player will be with his short passes. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Short Pass Speed | The higher this stat, the more control your |
| | player will have over the speed(weight) of |
| | his short passes. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Long Pass Accuracy | The higher this stat, the more accurate your |
| | your player will be with his long passes. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Long Pass Speed | The higher this stat, the more control your |
| | player will have over the speed(weight) of |
| | his long passes. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Shot Accuracy | The higher this stat, the more accurate your |
| | player's shots will be. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Shot Power | The higher this stat, the more powerful your |
| | player's shots will be. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Shot Technique | The higher this stat, the easier your player |
| | will find it to shoot from awkward angles. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Free Kick Accuracy | The higher this stat, the more accurate your |
| | player's free kicks will be. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Swerve | The higher this stat, the more swerve your |
| | player can put on shots, crosses and free |
| | kicks. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Header | The higher this stat, the more control your |
| | player will have over his headers. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Jump | The higher this stat, the higher your player |
| | can jump. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Technique | The higher this stat, the easier your player |
| | will find it to get the ball under control |
| | from passes etc. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Agression | The higer this stat, the more attack minded |
| | your player is, meaning that he'll make |
| | advanced runs. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Mentality | The higher this stat, the less of an effect |
| | your player's stamina will have on his |
| | performance. |
o-----------------------------o----------------------------------------------o
*****************************
Raising Your Attributes [E02]
*****************************

First off, there is no real way to increase your players attributes quickly.
You won't be anything like Kaka, Ronaldo or Messi until your mid-twenties
(around the same time when you start gaining special abilities). However,
there are methods to decrease just how long it takes to get you there.

Your main source of growth during BaL mode is through your Strenthen Points
(SPs). You have 12 SPs and you can distribute them among 6 separate categories
(though no category can have more than 6). Each category will boost certain
stats however some stats will be raised by quite a bit whilst others will rise
only a little. The 6 categories are as follows:

o------------o------------------------------o--------------------------------o
|Category |Primary Attributes |Secondary Attributes |
o------------o------------------------------o--------------------------------o
|Technique |Short Pass Accuracy |Attack |
|(kicking) |Long Pass Accuracy |Short Pass Speed |
| |Shot Accuracy |Technique |
| |Shot Technique | |
| |Free Kick Accuracy | |
| |Swerve | |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Technigue |Dribble Accuracy |Attack |
|(dribbling) | |Dribble Speed |
| | |Technique |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Power |Long Pass Speed |Short Pass Speed |
| |Shot Power |Header |
| | |Jump |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Balance |Defence |Header |
| |Body Balance |Jump |
| |Teamwork | |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Speed |Top Speed |Response |
| |Acceleration |Dribble Speed |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Stamina |Stamina |Response |
o------------o------------------------------o--------------------------------|

Now as you can see, Stamina is the worst category to invest in hence why I
told you to ensure you already had above 80 Stamina. The other thing to note
is that certain stats are split among two categories. For example, in order
to optimise your header stats growth you would need to invest SPs in both
Balance and Power. This can ultimately slow down your other stats progress
so beware of this.

When you start BaL mode, each category has 2 points assigned to it. This will
slowly but surely raise your players stats equally (roughly speaking) however
it's not the best method. In order to see quicker results you should only
focus on 2 categories at once, investing 6 points in each. There is a reason
for this. The problem with investing 2 points in each category is that whilst
each category grows at the same rate as the others, it takes quite while for
your stats to increase. Now by investing 6 points in only two categories your
player will still be at the same level (in terms of stats) after say 200 games
when compared with a player that used only 2 SPs in each category, however
stat increase comes much sooner. The formula for calculating how much a stat
will increase by (based solely on SPs) is:

Number of SPs in the category * 2

Note: if the stat is a secondary stat of the category then you do not
multiply by 2. It would instead simply increase by the number of SPs invested.

So let's say Player A has 2 points in each category and Player B has 6 in 2
categories. Now if we monitor their top speed stats (which will start at 75)
over 25 games we would see this.

Player A
--------

(2 (number of SPs) * 2) * 25 (number of matches) = 100

So player A's stat grows from 75 to 76 after 100 games

Player B
--------

(6 (Number of SPs) * 2) * 25 (Number of matches) = 300

Not surprisingly, by increasing the SPs by 3 times the initial amount, the
number of stats exp points goes up by 3 times as much so Player B's stat grows
from 75 to 78 in the same time. However because you are only increasing 2
categories at once (i.e. 3 times LESS than Player A) the two even out. The
only advantage for player B is that#individual stats grow quicker, over all he
still develops at the same speed.

Once you have leveled up all stats in the 2 selected categories, you can then
switch to another two (maintaining balance of your player) or keep it as it is
for a little bit more (thereby increasing set stats but limiting others).

After SPs the only other growth your player will experience is through match
experience such as playing in very tight matches, European matches or finals.
However the experience you gain here is tiny so don't rely on it to give your
more than a few exp a game. But every little point helps so it is important to
try and ensure that your player has access to regular European competitions
and is playing teams that can reach the latter stages of cups. Remember, the
more games that you play in a season, the more your SPs level up your stats.

The rate at which your stats increase is not fixed. In fact, as your player
ages, the rate at which his stats increase will drop. By the time you hit 30,
your player will hardly grow at all - his stats will decrease too!

********************
The God Region [E03]
********************

Each attribute is ranked out of 99. The closer that attribute gets to 99 the
better the player will be in that area of play (such as Top Speed). However,
the gap by which a player's ability increases per attribute increase is not
set. From the 1-95, the increase in ability is fixed as a constant. Once a
player reaches 95 in an ability, he has entered the God Region which singles
his ability as one of the best in the game.

The God Region is not just a title to give to players, it really does affect
gameplay. From 95-99, the players ability will massively increase per each
stat increase far more than a player outside the God Region. For example,
a player who's shot power goes from 85-86 will see a slight increase in the
power of his shots. However, a player who's shot power goes from 95-96 will
see a huge increase in the power of his shots.

To fully understand this, try playing a match as a player who has high agility
but not above 94. Then play another match as Messi (who has an agility of 99).
You should be able to see a major difference in how agile each player is.

******************************************************************************
Special Abilities [F00]
******************************************************************************

There are whole host of special abilities that your legend can learn
throughout his career. Special abilities show that your player has a real
talent in that area (being it shooting or passing the ball). To earn these
abilities, again, takes time and you won't be earning them until your
twenties.

Below you'll find each of the abilities and what they actually mean. In the
next section (Gaining Special Abilities) I'll explain how you actually attain
them.

************************************
Definition of Special Abilites [F01]
************************************

o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o
|Special Ability |Description |
o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o
|Dribbling |Your player will be more likely to try and |
| |dribble past defenders.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Tactical Dribbling |Your player will be more likely to try and keep |
| |possession by dribbling (such as doubling back).*|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Positioning |Your player will be more able to find space and |
| |lose markers.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Reaction |Your player will time his runs better and react |
| |even better to loose balls etc.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Playmaking |The players around your player will find space |
| |more easily and make better runs. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Passing |Your player's passes will be much more controlled|
| |and will be more accurate. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Scoring |Your player's shots will be more accurate. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1-on-1 Scoring |Your player's shots past keepers (such as chips |
| |and placements) will be much better. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Post Player |Your player will be much more able to hold the |
| |ball up and hold off opposing players. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|DF Positioning |Your player will time his runs better behind the |
| |opposing defence.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Shooting from Distance |Your player will produce more powerful and |
| |accurate mid-ranged shots. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Side |Your player will try to move out to the wings.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Centre |Your player will try to stay centrally.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Penalties |Your player is better at taking penalties. So |
| |much so that even if the keeper dives the right |
| |way, your player can still score. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1-Touch Pass |Your player will be able to pass and shoot better|
| |even if striking the ball with his first touch. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Outside of the Boot |Your player is better and striking the ball with |
| |the outside of his boot (allowing for curl). |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Marking |Your player will track opposing players better.* |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Sliding Tackle |Your player will be far more likely to take the |
| |ball when sliding. He'll also get up quicker. |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Covering |Your player is better at filling the gaps that |
| |develop in your formation, covering for someone.*|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Long Throw |Your player can throw the ball much farther into |
| |the field. |
o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o

* Special Abilities marked with the asterisk are only in effect when the
computer is in control of your player. The determine how the computer plays
as your player. They offer no actualy bonus to your player's abilities.

Note that your player can also 'learn' various tricks. However, if the player
does not have the adequate attributes, then he'll fail in his attempt. For
example if a player without enough Dribble Accuracy tries to perform the
Marseille Roulette, then he'll likely knock the ball away and fall over.

Ofcourse, these special abilities never show up on your player's profile.

The only way in which you can know if he is able to perform them is to
practice them whenever the associated stats have increased. Needless to say,
don't even bother if your players attributes for the special ability are below
80.

*******************************
Gaining Special Abilities [F02]
*******************************
It's important to note that you cannot learn all of the abilities. There are
many abilities that can only be learned if your play a certain position. Below
I've listed the abilities again along with what attributes affect them. Inside
the brackets after the attributes will be the positions that can acutally gain
those Special Abilities.

o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o
|Special Ability |Attributes (Positions) |
o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o
|Dribbling |Dribble Accuracy, Dribble Speed, Technique (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Tactical Dribbling |Dribble Accuracy, Technique (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Positioning |Body Balance, Response (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Reaction |Acceleration, Response (WF,SS & CF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Playmaking |Short Pass Accuracy, Long Pass Accuracy |
| |(CMF & AMF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Passing |Short Pass Accuracy, Short Pass Speed |
| |(WB,DMF,CMF,SMF & AMF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Scoring |Simply score lots of goals (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1-on-1 Scoring |Shot Accuracy, Shot Technique (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Post Player |Body Balance, Teamwork (WF,SS & CF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|DF Positioning |Teamwork, Response, Acceleration (WF,SS & CF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Shooting from Distance |Shot Technique, Shot Power (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Side |Dribble Speed, Long Pass Accuracy (WB,SMF & WF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Centre |Short Pass Accuracy (DMF,CMF,AMF,SS & CF) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Penalties |Shot Accuracy (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|1-Touch Pass |Teamwork (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Outside of the Boot |Swerve (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Marking |Responce, Acceleration, Top Speed (All) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Sliding Tackle |Defence, Body Balance (DMF,CMF & WB) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Covering |Top Speed, Stamina (DMF,CMF & WB) |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|Long Throw |Shot Power, Long Pass Accuracy, Response |
| |(WB,SMF & WF) |
o--------------------------o-------------------------------------------------o

***********************
Gaining Positions [F03]
***********************
Whilst you can only choose to play in one position at the start of your
career, as your player progresses you'll gain new positions. These will come
about from being played in a new position by your team. The way you play will
also have a small affect of your future positions. For example, if you're
a CMF that gets forward at every oppertunity you may gain the AMF or even the
SS position.

Remember, however, that you can only gain the positions that you can choose
from at the start i.e:

DMF
WB
CMF
SMF
AMF
WF
SS
CF

You won't gain any of the defensive positions nor the goalkeeper position.
Aquiring new positions will allow your player to play in them without a
reduction in attributes.

******************************************************************************
Ratings [G00]
******************************************************************************

Your player's rating(s) in BaL mode are rather important. They will affect how
much game time he receieves, both on a club level and an international level.
Whilst marginal at best, your rating also affects the amount of bonus match
experience your player receives from playing in tight matches and "big" games
such as finals. At the end of the game, the computer will generate a rating
based on your player's game stats (what he did in the game). Now whilst all
stats are taken into consideration, certain ones have more weight than others.
As such, depending on whether you're a striker or a midfielder, there are two
separate ratings guides.

Midfielder (AMF,CMF,DMF,SMF,WB)
-------------------------------

Midfielders are rated based on three main things:

1. assists - setting up a teammate to score

2. interceptions - stealing the ball from the opposing team
3. passing accuracy

The two most important ones are assists and interceptions. If you can create
one or two goals in a game then your rating will be quite high. The same can
be said if you intercept the ball several times. Passing accuracy is more of
a trouble than a benefit. If your player has extremely high accuracy (such
as 100%) then this will increase his rating. However if his accuracy is poor
(50% and below) then this will pull down his rating. This is why you should
stick to simple passes when you first start out.

Ofcourse, scoring goals will also increase your rating, but not as much as
assists do. In other words, if you find yourself in or around the box with
possesion, don't go for goal but instead look for the pass. It's also worth
pointing out that receiving a booking will cost you 0.5 off your rating and
getting sent off with cost you 1.0 off your rating.

Striker (WF,CF,SS)
------------------

Strikers are fairly obvious - their goals are the most important factor in
determining their rating. However assists will also boost your rating to no
end. On top of this, having a high pass percentage and a few intercepts will
also increase your rating but these are not your primary focus. The game seems
to rate your striker on the number of chances that he has/creates rather than
how clinical he is. In other words, if you've had 6 attempts at goal in a
match, provided that you've gotten most on target, you'll net a good rating.
Obviously this will be pulled down if your player under performs in other
areas. Like the midfielder, a yellow card will drop your mark by 0.5 and a red
card will drop your rating by 1.0.

******************************************************************************
Form Arrows [H00]
******************************************************************************

If you check your player under the formation section of your team, you'll
notice an arrow to the right hand side of his name. These arrows (refered to
as Form Arrows) can have a significant affect on your player's abilities.
There are five form arrows:

Red - Up
Orange - Diagonally Up
Green - Horizontal
Blue - Diagonally Down
Gray - Down

The higher the area is pointing the greater your player's form is. So a red
arrows is far better than a green one. The reason form arrows are important is
because they can either increase or lower your player's attributes during a
match. As you may have worked out, Orange and Red arrows increase attributes
whereas blue and gray decrease them. Green simply means that your player's
stats are as normal.

Each stat is affected to varying degrees by the form arrows. The affects on
attributes are all listed below:

o-----------------------------o-------o----------o---------o--------o--------o
|Attribute | Red | Orange | Green | Blue | Gray |
o-----------------------------o-------o----------o---------o--------o--------o
|Attack | +12% | +6.4% | 0 | -8% | -16% |
|Defence | +12% | +6.4% | 0 | -8% | -16% |
|Body Balance | +12% | +6% | 0 | -12% | -18% |
|Stamina | +12% | +6% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Top Speed | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Acceleration | +12% | +6% | 0 | -9% | -18% |
|Response | +12% | +6% | 0 | -9% | -18% |
|Agility | +12% | +6% | 0 | -9% | -18% |
|Dribble Accuracy | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Dribble Speed | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Short Pass Accuracy | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Short Pass Speed | +6% | +3% | 0 | -3% | -6% |
|Long Pass Accuracy | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Long Pass Speed | +6% | +3% | 0 | -3% | -6% |
|Shot Accuracy | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Shot Power | +12% | +6% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Shot Technique | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Free Kick Accuracy | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Swerve | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Header | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -4.8%| -9% |
|Jump | +12% | +6% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Technique | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Agression | +9% | +4.8% | 0 | -6% | -12% |
|Mentality | +12% | +6% | 0 | -9% | -18% |
o-----------------------------o-------o----------o---------o--------o--------o

If you player receives an injury that still allows him to play (yellow) then
he will lose anything from 18-32% from his attributes. This kind of penalty
will turn a great player into a terrible one.

******************************************************************************
General Tips [I00]
******************************************************************************

Stamina
-------

When you first begin BaL mode your stamina will be rather poor. If you've
followed this guide and ensured your player has a Stamina of at least 80 then
he should hold together rather nicely. However, you cannot afford to run
around as you'll only drain stamina quickly. In fact, try to limit your
movement when ever possible.

Interceptions
-------------

With your player lacking speed and body balance, intercepting can prove to be
tough. Rather than shadow players, try to stay close and read the play. When
you see the pass coming, cut in front and steal it.

Stay in Position!
-----------------

Running around (out of position) will do you and your team no good. Your
player will tire more easily. On top of that, you'll often not be where you're
meant to be - such as in the box taking a shot. You'll leave your team open
and your rating will reflect this.

******************************************************************************
Contact Me [J00]
******************************************************************************

My email address is RikuideFurame[at]googlemail[dot]com. Feel free to

contact me if you are in need of help or have questions about PES 2009. I
also, gladly, accept corrections. It's easy to make a few mistakes!

When emailing me, a simple "PES 2009" in the subject field will allow me to
identify your email amongst all the junk I receive. Please be aware that
whilst I try to check my emails on a daily basis, at hectic periods this may
not be possible so please be patient if I have not responded to your email.

******************************************************************************
Legal [K00]
******************************************************************************

This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for
personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise
distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on
any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited,
and a violation of copyright.

The following site(s) have permission to host this guide:

GameFAQs

Please contact me first in the event that you wish to host this guide on your
website; details can be found above. If I give permission to host this guide
then you may, provided that no changes are made to this guide except for the
purposes of reading.

All logos, trademarks and copyrights of Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 are property
of their respective owners.

This guide is Copyright (c) 2009 Scott Wilson. All rights reserved.

******************************************************************************
Credits [L00]
******************************************************************************

Thanks to the following companies for creating PES 2009:

Konami (Developer/Publisher)

Thanks to the following individuals for uploading this guide and keeping it up
to date:

SBAllen (GameFAQs)

Thanks to the following communities for coversations and information:

GameFAQs PES 2009 Board

PESGaming

Finally, thank you to you for reading this guide. I hope you've found it to
be useful. If you have any suggestions, corrections etc feel free to drop me
an e-mail. My e-mail address can be found in the Contact Me section.

==============================================================================
==============================================================================
______ _ _ _ _
 | ___ (_) | (_) | |
| |_/ /_| | ___ _ _ __| | ___
| /| | |/ / | | | |/ _` |/ _ \
| |\ \| | <| |_| | | (_| | __/
\_| \_|_|_|\_\\__,_|_|\__,_|\___|

______
| ___|
| |_ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ __ ___ ___
| _| | | | '__/ _` | '_ ` _ \ / _ \
| | | |_| | | | (_| | | | | | | __/
\_| \__,_|_| \__,_|_| |_| |_|\___|

"You just can't see a dream"

==============================================================================
==============================================================================
END DOCUMENT