After getting burned out on PES 2021, I fired up PES 2019 again today. A few matches in, the differences between the two games stood out immediately. Here’s how PES 2019 feels compared to PES 2021:

Gameplay is simply more fun.

Players feel more responsive, and without the constant ball‑shielding animations, everything moves more freely. I even like the dribbling controls better in PES 2019.

Defense is night‑and‑day better.

Without the heavy shielding, good defenders actually get to show their quality. They poke the ball away, intercept passes, and react naturally. The game also helps by switching you to the nearest defender when the opponent plays a long ball—and it does this while keeping your momentum intact.

Below is something that you would normally see in PES 2019, but not in PES 2021. As the opposing player receives the ball on the wing, my RB (in this case I think that's Nacho) closes in and manages to poke the ball away.

In PES 2019, most defenders with high enough defensive attributes, can poke the ball away from the offensive player as can be seen above. In PES 2021, this only happens if you've got a very good angle on the ball, otherwise the ball-shielding animation will kick-in and your defender will either have to shoulder-charge the opposing player to win the ball, or you'll end up having to fight against the ball-shielding animation. It may be a bit more realistic, but not as fun in a video game, and can downright be frustrating most of the time.

Also in PES 2021, auto‑switching is unreliable unless you force it manually, and even then it often picks the wrong player. Worse, it kills your momentum, which makes defending feel like a chore. PES 2019’s defensive flow is just more enjoyable.

Offense feels smoother and more predictable.

With my usual pass‑assist settings, PES 2019 sends the ball exactly where I intend most of the time. Dribbling is also more responsive and fun without the excessive shielding.

In PES 2021, even with the same settings, pass assist feels inconsistent. I’ve had so many misplaced passes that it gets frustrating.

Visuals: PES 2021 wins easily.

Even without Xbox Series X enhancements, PES 2021 is the best‑looking football game I’ve played. Player models, lighting, and animations are all a clear step up. That said, I still prefer the simpler, cleaner Master League menus in PES 2019.

Sound: slight edge to PES 2019.

Both games are similar overall, but I like PES 2019’s soundtrack more.

Tags: #GameLog #ProEvolutionSoccer2019 #ProEvolutionSoccer2021

After a break (2021) from playing PES 2021, I started playing again a few days ago (2022), and I found myself struggling to get a win. Every game was a struggle to not concede a goal. I was getting really frustrated with the game. I eventually still won the English Premier League. Barely though, just by 1 point. Had some help from the CPU with Liverpool inexplicably not winning against a lesser team. But the biggest surprise to me, was that I was actually playing in Super Star difficulty. No wonder I was struggling so bad. It was bad enough that I took a break from the game. It was a shock to get back and find the CPU playing so well against my team.

I am more than 20 games in while playing in Super Star difficulty. I've finally managed to stop conceding goals. One of the major changes I made is to change my team's formation back to a 4-4-2, where the LMF and RMF are actively involved in defense. In fact, I think they work just as hard as the midfielders do in defense. This helped tremendously in defense as it stopped the opponents from overwhelming the back line and my center midfielders. Most of the time, my LMF and LB/RMF and RB players will work together to stop the opposing players from being able to attack through the flanks. At times, I have my RMF (who is a Box-to-Box) player drift into the center to help with defense. It actually made me realize how hard I work my LMF and RMF players in this formation.

The drawback of course is that I have much less players up the field for attacks. That's because my two wingers (LWF and RWF) were basically converted to LMF and RMF positions respectively. To offset this, I went back to having two strikers up front supported by an AMF. So while in the previous formation I had 4 players on the attack (1 CF, 2 Wingers and 1 AMF), I now have 3 players on the attack, which is only 1 player less. I wouldn't say it has helped me produce as much goals as before, but it is enough that my team can score enough goals to win the game. The biggest benefit though is that my team has stopped conceding goals. So even if we only score 1 goal per game, if the opposing team doesn't score against us, we win. In fact, this is why I'm at the top of the leaderboard in the league, because of conceding so few goals (as of this writing, we only conceded 3 goals).

Also, a few days ago, I learned that you can only have a max of 40 players active in your squad. Which means, if I keep letting players in my youth team go out on loans, which I did, I will run it out of space to sign good players when they become available.

That said, loaning out players seem to be a good way to make transfer money, especially since I'm overflowing in the salary budget department.

Because of the physicality and shielding of the ball in PES 2021, it seems harder to break down the defenders with chipped through passes. What seems to work for me are well timed through passes that go in between defenders. I've already scored a few goals and got behind defenses this way. I'm going to keep using it then since that is what works.

I'm starting to get burned out with PES 2021. I think it has to do with playing in Super Star difficulty. Playing in Super Star difficulty is a taxing way to play, sometimes exhausting. It feels good when I win. But when I lose or concede a goal, most of the time I feel lost. At times, I feel like I cannot stop the CPU from scoring against me no matter how hard I try. Like if the CPU determines it needs to score a goal, it will score a goal regardless of what I do. Even when I play against lower ranking teams, with weaker players, there can be times when I feel like I'm playing against an elite level team. My defenders cannot seem to stop those teams from scoring. It's frustrating because it takes away from the beauty of the game-play. It's annoying when no matter how well you play it, the CPU will simply score when it wants to.

Maybe I need to set the difficulty back down to Top Player, or go back to PES 2019?

Tags: #GameLog #ProEvolutionSoccer2021

Must be noted, these game logs were written back in 2021. The game itself is old and can no longer be purchased today. Still, I think it is still a great game and this is a fun way to track my progress in the game. Plus, sharing it might help somebody new to the game. So, anyway, let's pick up where I left off shall we...

While trying to improve my game, I decided to try swapping the positions for Pogba and Van De Beek on the field. Instead of letting Pogba play CMF, I played him as my AMF and had Van De Beek at CMF. On offense, I think this was a better setup because Pogba is a much bigger threat at AMF. Van De Beek on the other hand, is much better at covering the defense because of his speed and aggression. So playing him as my CMF also worked out well.

I'm on my 2nd Master League season and I'm struggling in PES 2021. I keep conceding goals. Even with Manolas in the game, I still concede. I even signed up Elvedi to increase the availability of quality CBs in every game. I'm still conceding. And it always seems to happen in the first half too. They just break down my defense in the central areas. Not sure how to stop it. Even when I went with 2 deep CMFs, I still conceded.

I probably should change the defensive containment area to wide. Also, I keep losing the ball in the wings. I need to get better at counter attacking and keeping possession of the ball.

^ This was because I was trying to dribble past defenders but didn't really know how to do so. During this time, I had not learned how to use shielding, finesse dribble and the proper use of the dash dribble. This is due to years worth of habit from playing older PES games. These games were simply easier to play and did not have the ball shielding mechanics that were added in PES 2021.

Fast forward a couple of weeks of play...

Now that I have an offer for Pogba in my 2nd Master League season, and now that I have a replacement for him, now he proves invaluable in the games I play him in. It's giving me pause on whether to let him go and get Marquinhos, who is way better defensively, but not as good on the offense.

^ This is a continuation of my struggles and attempt to improve my team's midfield. Pogba is really good on offense, capable of unleashing some great passes. However, he struggles with getting the ball back in defense. Which is why I was looking into swapping him for Marquinhos.

I'm also having trouble finding playing time for Kostic and Elvedi. As a result, their affection for the team is really low.

Fast forward a couple of weeks of play...

I am overflowing with RWF players in my Master League team. I need to get some of them out on loan or transferred. It's unfortunate to let them sit there and not have any playing time. I can barely play all of them at this point.

Players I need to play more:

• Elvedi
• Tuanzebe
• Amad

^ Looking back on this, seemed like I was also having trouble finding playing time for my CBs.

Tags: #GameLog #ProEvolutionSoccer2021

Previously, both players had the Hole Player playing style. This meant that once we get the ball on offense, they would try to rush forward to get into an attacking position. This leaves my CMF/DMF with no one to pass to in the center of the field. Without being able to get it to my AMF, I cannot do play-through passes to my CF or SS. But with the Creative Playmaker playing style, they would actually get into a position to receive a pass from my CMF, LMF or RMF. This allows my offense to flow through the middle. And it allows me to use them to make the final through pass that can lead to goals.

This is not to say that having a Hole Player AMF is useless in a 4-4-2 diamond formation. You just have to play a little differently. Meaning you have to anticipate the forward run by your AMF and play the long ball, or play through the wings.

As mentioned above, one possible way to utilize an AMF with the Hole Player playing style, is to rely on your wingers to bring the ball forward and deliver the ball to the center. This is because the Hole Player AMF will be pushing up as far as he could, almost as if he was a striker. If the opposing midfielders don't track his run, a Hole Player AMF will end up splitting the opposing team CBs. They will have to choose whether to mark the strikers, or the surging AMF. So attacking from the wings is a good option with a Hole Player AMF.

The video below shows Bruno Fernandes splitting the defense, allowing Rashford an easy shot at goal. The long ball came from Luke Shaw (not exactly a winger but you get my point) who was playing LB. It does help that Cavani opened up the defense by drawing the defenders to the wing, which opened up the middle of the field for Bruno Fernandes to make his run.

Another option of playing with a Hole Player AMF, is having a player in the SS position with the Creative Playmaker playing style. Having both in the lineup means your SS will actually drop back into a position to collect the ball, negating the problem of your AMF always running forward.

After a few months of play, one thing I noticed with the Creative Playmaker playing style, is that when the ball is right in front of goal, just outside the box, my AMFs would often times just sit out there not trying to attack. Whereas before when they had the Hole Player playing style, they would try to make runs to get into a scoring position. Just something to take into account when building a lineup.

Tags: #GameLog #ProEvolutionSoccer2021

For my first Master League season in PES 2021, I decided to play Manchester United and used the club lineup. This meant that I had the players that were really part of United's roster at that point in time. That didn't last though as I quickly made changes to the lineup to better suit my play style.

So for my first Master League season with Manchester United, I decided to replace H. Maguirre with K. Manolas as my main CB. Honestly, H. Maguirre in this game is just too slow. If a speedy opposing player gets past him, there's no way he is catching up. And when you have a slow CB playing against fast wingers from elite teams like Liverpool and Manchester City, there's just no room for error. Manolas on the other hand is an awesome defender. Strong enough and fast enough to play against elite strikers in the game.

I also got Kostic to play LMF. This was because I was trying to play my preferred 4-4-2 diamond formation. And in that formation, I was playing Rashford at LMF, which he was having trouble with. Actually, I was having trouble with Rashford at LMF. With Kostic at LMF, that allowed me to move Rashford to SS, where he was much more of a threat and was less prone to getting injured.

With those changes in place, my 4-4-2 diamond formation was starting to become quite effective. Screenshot below shows what my formation and lineup looked like during the 2020-2021 Season.

An interesting thing I noticed in PES 2021, is that most if not all of my players who have an overall rating of 80 and above, were tired from being picked to play for their national squad. The only exception was Martial (I guess France has too many choices when it comes to strikers.) All of my players that had an overall rating below 80, didn't participate in international matches.

So, this tells me, that if I want to avoid having a lineup full of tired players after international games, I need to mix it up and make sure I have some decent players who have an overall rating below 80.

Finally beat Manchester City in PES 2021. The two changes I made were to change “Defensive Containment” to Wide, and to push the Defensive Line further back. Those two changes seemed to decrease the occurrence of their wingers getting behind my defense.

Tags: #GameLog #ProEvolutionSoccer2021

PES 2021 is probably the best looking football video game I've ever played. And when I say that, I mean both in terms of graphics and player animations.

And the ball. You have got to see how the ball moves in this game. I played FIFA 22 for a bit by the way, just to see what I'm missing. The ball physics in FIFA 22 just doesn't compare to what you get in PES 2021. The ball physics in PES 2021 makes the ball one of the stars of the show. It makes it move and bounce in a scarily realistic manner. The ball physics is definitely one of the best features in PES 2021.

These screenshots by the way were taken during my 2023-2024 Master League season. I play Manchester United and have new players in the team (in case you wonder why I have Manolas and Marquinhos on my team). I'll explain more about the lineup changes I've made in a future game log.

Manchester United's stadium is rendered beautifully in the game

Pregame cinematic – A game against Arsenal, which is one of the licensed teams in the game. I mention “licensed teams” because...

Pregame cinematic – A game against Manchester City, an unlicensed team in the game. Konami couldn't get the official license to feature them in the game, which is why their kit/uniform looks generic. If you were playing on PC and Playstation, you could use option files to fix this issue. But alas, that is not an option for Xbox users.

And now another screenshot against a licensed team in the game. I believe this was a game against Olympique Lyonnais. If I'm not mistaken, all teams in Ligue 1 (French League) are fully licensed in the game.

Huddle before kickoff — I love how they intentionally did this off-angle cinematic.

And for the last screenshot for today — just moments before kickoff. This is what my son's soccer coach calls “Soccer Stance”. 😄

Tags: #GameScreenshots #ProEvolutionSoccer2021