Unbelievable Saivet (long, images)

Ok, I know everyone is already well aware of Henri Saivet, but I couldn't resist making a thread to share the incredible things he has been doing for my Leeds team. I know the season is only halfway done, but seriously, have you ever seen a striker in '08 do anything like this?

It's as much the consistency as the sheer volume of goals that's impressive. The only game this season in which he has not scored a goal or rated 8 or higher was one where he was subbed off injured at half-time.

For reference, here's how he's been doing up until this point. He's always been exceptional, but his performances this season have just been otherworldly. He is on the verge of breaking his own all-time seasonal goalscoring record after fifteen league games.

Pretty neat. Here's another screenshot to illustrate just how far ahead of everyone else he is in terms of goals and match ratings. Note that he's also one of the league leaders in assists.

Another lolworthy thing to point out is that, with 29 goals in 15 Premiership games, there is currently no other team in the division that has scored more than Saivet has by himself.

Sorry for double-posting, for some reason the forum software won't allow me to add this next image into the first post.

Anywho, just so that there is more content to this thread than 'omfg saivet', here's a final screenshot of his attributes.

What immediately jumps out at me from this screenshot is that on paper, he actually isn't that good. Teamwork, aggression and bravery are lacking. His touch, dribbling and finishing are adequate at best, and aerially he is poor. Physically he is not great in any area other than pace, and even there he's not world-class.

I have a bunch of other strikers in my squad who, on a head-to-head attribute comparison alone, are considerably better than Saivet. When I scout other top-class strikers, scouts always tell me that they are nowhere near Saivet's standard, despite being better in what you would assume are all the key areas.

What on earth has made him this spectacular? Are all of his hidden mental attributes 20 or something?

Is he two footed in your game mate..?

Is he two footed in your game mate..?

Right footed, according to the last image, although not "Right Only". Not sure what difference that makes though.

maybe his hidden stats are excellent. Particularly critical things like consistency, big games etc. It could also be that you tactics suit him really well (now how often do you hear 'its your tactics' used in a positive way!).

maybe his hidden stats are excellent. Particularly critical things like consistency, big games etc. It could also be that you tactics suit him really well (now how often do you hear 'its your tactics' used in a positive way!).

My coaches report that he's "fairly consistent", but don't have anything to say about his big-game temperament. As for the tactics, I doubt that, to be honest. Though I considered myself pretty good at previous FMs, tactics in FM08 seem a completely different beast, and have remained a mystery to me, as much as I have tried to get to grips with them. I will hold my hands up and admit that I am quite poor in that regard.

The team is playing 4-1-1-3-1 with Saivet at the head of the formation, so most of the chances fall to him, the difference being that he invariably converts them all in a way I've never seen a striker do before.

Excellent record there mate. But yeah, thats Saivet for you. He doesnt look particularly impressive with his stats but scores like crazy. The reason is that the game engine cant handle a player like him very well. That is, a player which his physical attributes. He's got great pace and acceleration (18 is excellent btw) and he's got good strength. The game-engine cant really deal very well with players who've got high attributes in these areas.

Look at the other really prolific strikers on the game and you'll see they all have the same 2 things in common - pace and strength: Adebayor, Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Aguero (many people dont realise how strong he is), Eto'o, Torres. Sure, they have other good stats as well but its because of the two I mentioned that they're so prolific.Everybody keeps moaning about Adebayor, Rooney and Ibrahimovic as being over-rated blah-blah. While some of the stats might be exaggerated, most of it is down to the game-engine.

In Saivet's case, you add to his pace and power the fact that he's creative, composed, moves well without the ball and makes good decisions you have someone who's ridiculously good.

Aggression, bravery, teamwork are not really that important for a striker tbh. Bravery is important for a TM I guess but not for a fast striker. His work-rate is good which is what matters. Teamwork is bascially how often he tracks back to help the team out when you dont have the ball.

Having said that, its still a phenomenol record he has for you.

Hmmm. what happens sometimes is that so many of his attribute points are awarded to his "hidden" attributes that his physical technical and mentals don't llok as flashy.

This is why Benzema and Pato are two of the best strikers in the game without looking to hot stat wise

It's all about the left foot. "Right" as opposed to "Right-only" means that his left foot is decent, probably rated as reasonable or better, and this makes a big difference.

Saivet in my game has about the same or slightly better stats only but a CA of 190+, a lot of it goes to making the left foot decent.

Most of the top strikers mentioned - Torres, Rooney, Aguero, Pato, C.Ronaldo, Ben Arfa, etc have a decent second foot too - hardly any of the top strikers are "Right only" or "Left only".

When buying or comparing players, pay careful attention to how his other foot is listed. Players rated as "Either" will have crap technical/mental/physical stats relative to other players of the same CA but will still perform well.

With the 8.0.1 patch I had Theo Walcott playing up front on his own and he scores loads and loads and loads of goals for my Leicester team.

I agree, if you get a tactic that suits a particular player they'll score an bag full.

I even had in his happiness enjoys the clubs style of play.

Saivet is similar to Theo in respect that his stats don't look great but get him positions he likes then he'll do wonders.

I always sign Saivet but can never seem to find a way to get the best out of him. When I send him on loan he's always scored loads.

As I said before, if you get a player who can use both feet and has good pace/acel, he will be a star even if he doesn't look that impressive stat wise. Classic examples are:

Benzema, Ben Arfa, Menez, Modric(IIRC), Saviet and so on.

Glad he's performing well for you mate, he is a little gem

I just got him on my shakhtar save for 19 million in the 09-10 season. Looking forward to good things in the coming years if the same happens to me :-)

That would never happen irl in a million years. He looks average as well. Great pace but many players have that. I guess his composure and PPM's are the reason for it?

Is he two footed in your game mate..?

He's two footed in all games, but his left foot stat raises over time. At that point he should be 15/20 he starts at 11 I believe. It's the reason why things don't look so good. Some 15/20's are rated Either some are rated Left or Right, I have no idea why.

I need to get back on my Bayern game, I have him on a 199 PA I'll post an SS of his PPM's in a sec. This is him with Tug's Training and at least 6 star coaches from the day he came to my club. I play him as a winger, because he doesn't work that well with Podolski and I want to keep giving him play time. His CA around this time is about 165. Two more seasons and he should be up past 190. Oh, the best thing is his value, he's second on my team to Lahm, even though Podolski gets 50 goals a season and is only like 4 years older lol. Scratch that, Podolski managed to get to 15m finally.

You consider a stat of 15 for pace, dribbling, and first touch to be average? Strange that, considering the stats are out of 20, therefore the "average" stat would be 10.

For Saivet. He had stats similar to that for me in his first season. Technically that is.

I had him @ Partizan Belgrade, he is an machine...

You consider a stat of 15 for pace, dribbling, and first touch to be average? Strange that, considering the stats are out of 20, therefore the "average" stat would be 10.

Not necessarily cause i would think 70% would be average, 80% above average 90% Very good, 100% amazing.

60% and below would be below average.

To me 14 is average.

congrats mate, never seen him so good in terms of form / history. i've only ever brought him along well once, and that was mainly because RVP's ppm's are perfect for tutoring. apart from that i've always lost interest. KUTGW

You consider a stat of 15 for pace, dribbling, and first touch to be average?

For a top-flight striker, especially one with pretensions to being genuinely world-class, a stat of 15 in key areas like touch or dribbling is distinctly average. It is certainly nothing to get excited about.

If we were discussing the sample of every player that existed in the entire database, then sure. In the context of this thread that is plainly not what we're talking about. This should be obvious.

Strange that, considering the stats are out of 20, therefore the "average" stat would be 10.

That would never happen irl in a million years. He looks average as well. Great pace but many players have that. I guess his composure and PPM's are the reason for it?

My thoughts exactly, pretty much. Mental stats or PPMs might be a piece of the puzzle. I didn't know about this two-footedness thing affecting stats so much, either. That would certainly make a lot of sense when contrasting his attributes with his performances.

is he worth paying £10m-£15m for in 2010?just asking as ive had bids of over 10m accepted bt never know whether to go ahead with them. by the way im barnsley in prem patch 8.0.2

his stats aren't always best but he is awesome! so yes i would definetely pay 10-15mil

Unbelievable season, never seen a better one.

10Mil is a bargain for Saivet i have him in my chelsea team and he never gets less than a 7 rating, normally 8's though and pitches in with a lot of goals and important ones! i play him as a winger as i have my beloved Aguero up on his own but saivet is a bit of a beast when you play him as a striker! Does make me laugh cos there as so many strikers on the game with far better stats but this boy is a god!

ok cheers. got him for £8m anyway (im in 2010) after nagging psg lol.so thought that was a bargain!lol

unbelievable, bargain of the decade! Bought him with Man United on a free( small compensation paid to Bordeaux). After loaning him out for 2-3 years to feeder and after a year in the reserves i slowly eased him in and well it is absolutely and totally worth all the effort. He is my top scorer for the last 3 years and is rated above my other strikers (Nazarith, Aguero and Tevez). Infact i even sold off tevez just because of saivet. Seeing how good he becomes...maybe its a bit unrealistic but he is THE best player iv ever played with!