Mls

I'm thinking of starting an MLS game. I have got very, very limited knowledge of the league and I am slightly put off by the transfer system as in I'm not too sure how the drafts work...Anyway, has anyone else done an MLS save and what teams should I look at managing? Cheers in advance!

I'm clearly biased, but you should definitely manage Real Salt Lake. They are my home team But honestly, they have an awesome core group. I have not tried managing MLS teams yet, but will do so soon and will definitely manage RSL.

As for the transfer system, it's unlike any you have encountered, I agree. Being from the US and understanding US sports leagues, I was stunned at how the rest of the world handles transfers (what, you mean I can just buy a player from another team if I have enough money? Really?) I actually like the more complex structures and the how the leagues try to keep "superteams" from developing (although it doesn't always happen - eg New York Yankees, LA Lakers, etc) through drafts, supplemental drafts, re-entry drafts, free agency, and trading. Give it a try - you'll certainly lean a lot that you didn't know before!

The MLS is one of the most enjoyable leagues. I started with PUnion as they are pretty new and no expectations.

Read up on the rules so you don't lose out.

It is easy to understand. If you search google there are some MLS guides on how it works.

I just moved on to Chelsea from my Portland Timbers job; was at Portland for three years. MLS is fun; the transfer system is totally different, though, in that you can always trade for players. So if your left back goes down for six months, you can fix your lack of depth by trading with another club for their left back, pretty much up until the end of the season. Since most MLS training facilities aren't particularly good, that's a real bonus; generally speaking, it's harder to develop youth talent.

There are some quirks about contracts that you do need to pay attention to (how many Senior, Senior Entry Level, Generation Adidas, and Academy Apprentice you're allowed to have, vs. how many you ACTUALLY have, is a key issue throughout the season), and you need to mind the cap (although, to be honest, I didn't find the cap that hard to deal with).

If anything, one of the neat things about being in MLS was that it exposes you to a completely different player base. This was the first time I started a save outside of Europe, and it was neat to have to go out and find new players that I'd never heard of or used before.

Start with TFC/Toronto FC. I am biased though.

There's an MLS guide on Football Manager Wiki. I wrote the FM09 guide, some things are outdated but the core stuff are the same.

I was at the Portland Timbers, senior foreign players were a challenge, but acquire talent was not. Great league the MLS. One of the more tactically demanding ones too

One thing about the MLS that doesn't affect most other leagues is travel and fatigue from it. I doubt the fatigue factor is built into the game, but it's huge for the real players. No quick jump from London to Manchester, for example, except for the PNW teams of Seattle/Portland/Vancouver. Imagine being in Toronto, playing a game, flying to LA and having another game 3 days later. The fatigue can kill a team, especially traveling west to east. I'm rambling because it's not part of the game, but still interesting to consider

One thing about the MLS that doesn't affect most other leagues is travel and fatigue from it. I doubt the fatigue factor is built into the game, but it's huge for the real players. No quick jump from London to Manchester, for example, except for the PNW teams of Seattle/Portland/Vancouver. Imagine being in Toronto, playing a game, flying to LA and having another game 3 days later. The fatigue can kill a team, especially traveling west to east. I'm rambling because it's not part of the game, but still interesting to consider

Very true. Another thing that European players constantly complain about is the fact that about half (maybe more) of the pitches here are artificial turf; for the younger players it's not an issue, but for Beckham, Henry, and other players who've played an entire life on natural grass, it's very hard on their knees. Guillermo Barros Schelotto wasn't able to play on artificial turf during the run-in of his last season with the Crew; he'd travel, but his knees were shot and he couldn't hold up, and I know Beckham has talked about it being a problem before. Would be an interesting addition to the league, I'd think, if you could somehow make it so artificial surfaces fatigued a player more than natural ones if the research backs this up.

Very true. Another thing that European players constantly complain about is the fact that about half (maybe more) of the pitches here are artificial turf; for the younger players it's not an issue, but for Beckham, Henry, and other players who've played an entire life on natural grass, it's very hard on their knees. Guillermo Barros Schelotto wasn't able to play on artificial turf during the run-in of his last season with the Crew; he'd travel, but his knees were shot and he couldn't hold up, and I know Beckham has talked about it being a problem before. Would be an interesting addition to the league, I'd think, if you could somehow make it so artificial surfaces fatigued a player more than natural ones if the research backs this up.

Closer to 25% than half...and Seattle, I believe, just layed down a new type of turf.

GBS is my favorite player to have ever played in MLS!

So can the dynamic league addition in FM 2012 work in MLS? Does the transfer system get in the way of making big multi million dollar/pound purchases of players possible? Can you build up a great team to contend with whichever european giant you might meet in the club world championship final?

I dont know anything about it and was just wondering.

Closer to 25% than half...and Seattle, I believe, just layed down a new type of turf.

GBS is my favorite player to have ever played in MLS!

Oops, you're right, I'd overestimated that by a good margin (lots more soccer specific arenas have popped up, didn't realize that most of them went to grass).

I agree, GBS was great; he definitely tapered off in his last season, but was fantastic when he was at his peak.

So can the dynamic league addition in FM 2012 work in MLS? Does the transfer system get in the way of making big multi million dollar/pound purchases of players possible? Can you build up a great team to contend with whichever european giant you might meet in the club world championship final?

I dont know anything about it and was just wondering.

Every team is allocated with 3 DP (Designated Player) slots as well as about 8 International spots. There is a salary cap that will usually sit around the $3 million mark but some of the entry level players will not count against the cap (I believe it is 6 youth developmental contracts and then GA which is Generation Adidas Contract). Each DP player counts for I believe $350k against your cap no matter how much you spend on them. So, for the Galaxy they are paying Beckham over $6 million/yr but it only counts agains the cap for $350k.

With MLS you are able to trade players, "allocation money"...which can be used to increase your salary cap or as currency to buy players from other teams, draft picks, or you can trade International slots or even DP slots. My Galaxy save I have acquired 12 International slots and I have my 3 DPs (Beckham, Keane, and a Bosnian that I picked up for the rest of the season...I traded Landon Donovan to A.C. Milan for 12 million).

With MLS the draft is what they use to give rights to teams to negotiate contracts with players which prevents bidding wars on unproven talent and keeps overall cost of operation low as the league has a chance to build roots. So, have your scouts check out North America and the "Draft Combine" which you will get a message about.

MLS is the only league I have played so far because I just started playing the game last month, but it is a great league. The Galaxy are wealthy and they have talent.

Some teams only start with two designated player slots and you need to get $250,000 in allocation funds to purchase another designated player slot. I am playing as Colorado and have got 10 international slots through trading and just bought my third designated player slot.

I am not sure on the exact percentage but if you sell a player to a non-mls side you do not get all the money from the sale.

So there's not a youth intake in the MLS? The young players come from the draft?

I never managed outside of Europe as well but i'm somewhat curious, would it be possible to rely only on draft youngsters on the long term? Are the American regens good enough?

You do get some players from your academy team but in my experience they have been worthless and I didnt give them a contract. These players would get academy apprentice(?) contracts. The draft is the main way to obtain players, I cant really say how good the players are but there have been a few American new gens that have ended up playing for the national team. There are also a pretty good number of foreign players that have American as second nationality so there are a lot of South American and Africans with dual nationality.

You get 3 or 4 youth players each year. I'm just finishing the 2018 season and, so far, have only kept one of those youth players. Others teams (such as LA and Toronto) have done much better.

It's not too difficult to build a solid team in MLS. My current team just set records for points (89) and goals (118, including playoffs) and I have almost all of my squad signed up for another 4 or 5 years. I'm actually getting ready to let 2 of my DPs go in the offseason as they're approaching 30 and there's younger players (with more potential) ready to take their place. The secret to MLS dominance- stockpile internationl slots, then raid U-20 teams from nations like Brazil. I currently have 4 active Brazilian U-20 players (as well as 2 Serbian U-21s), one that was never capped, and an honest-to-God senior-squad striker that had 52 goals and 18 assists in 39 games for me this year. He's only 22 and has already earned 5 Brazilian caps. Was really hoping to cap him for Canada in another year...oh, well.

The salary cap isn't a big concern; once you start selling players you can easily bump it up another one or two million if you need to by using your allocation funds.

Gooner- in my save, MLS is now the biggest league in North America (surpassed Mexico in 2015, I believe.) I have yet to win the CWC, having lost in the finals twice, but I have defeated Liverpool 3-0 in the semis.

If I want to sign a DP outside MLS, I can pay whatever I want?

I tried making a Real Salt Lake save in FM11 but I didn't have any Academy Apprentices in my squad and I couldn't figure out how to get any,

Whether it is from inside or outside the MLS, the player only counts against you for $350k ($300 something...not for sure it is $350k). I have only used the Galaxy and they have a ton of cash and so I have never had a problem with funding. I imagine that the problem a different MLS team might have is if they can actually come up with the money to make the signing and also if the player would have any interest in playing for them.

Coming up with the money would be hard I only sign DP's when their contracts have expired.

Beside Galaxy and Red Bulls, which clubs are capable of winning the MLS?

I don't understand this. I'm only spending half of my total wage so I believe I can spend abit more on wages, right? But how come it's limited to 1.7k per week in the salary cap wage budget?

I couldn't even offer an increment to my scout.

Have you got any deals where you have already offered contracts? I think the amount in transfer centre takes those into account.

On your squad registration what does it say the salary cap is on there?

On your squad registration what does it say the salary cap is on there?

hmm...what's the difference between max squad salary and total player wage budget/current player wage?

In my Toronto game I am over my wage budget by a couple thousand dollars a week but I am below the Salary Cap by ten thousand dollars a week or so.

I guess the best example I could come up with to explain it would be this. Designated players only count towards a certain amount of your salary cap but you can pay them more wages fi you can afford it. For example(these are not the real numbers) a DP will only count as $10,000 p/w but you are paying him $30,000. The $10,000 will be reflected in your salary cap which you can see in the squad registration page(maybe other places), and the $30,000 will be reflected in your wage budget.

@manworker, thanks for the explanation. I guess that's the case.

A couple of more questions.

1) Difference between a supplemental draft and superdraft? I see alot of clubs offering the supplemental draft picks to me.

2) What's a weighted lottery?

3) If I want to offload a player, is it better to ask for money or draft picks?

1) The supplemental draft is made up of the players that dont get drafted in the Superdraft.

2) Im not sure exactly how the Weighted Lottery works but essentially it is a draw between teams that choose to participate for a player where the team with the worst record over a set number of games(irl 30) has the highest chance of "winning" the player. Teams are only allowed one player via a Weighted Lottery a year I am not sure how FM comes up with players that are available through a Weighted Lottery.

3)If you dont really care what you get for the player just do the "Offer to MLS clubs" from the contract(?) drop down and see what you get OR you could waive the player although if you do it past the Guarantee date the players wages will still count towards the salary cap. There should be a news item that comes up that tells you when you have passed the Guarantee date.

hmm...what's the difference between max squad salary and total player wage budget/current player wage?

Not sure to be honest but always pay attention to the one on the squad registration screen as that is the one that counts. Also worth noting you can move allocated funds over to the salary cap. What ever you move from the allocated funds towards wages is added to the yearly salary cap. I moved £336,000 of allocated funds to wages and my salary cap increased but £6,400-ish a week, that is why I am never afraid to trade some of my better players with other MLS teams if they offer £500,000. I transferred one of my better CM's to LA for £500,000 and a draft pick this meant I could increase the salary cap and buy a third DP slot.

I try to go for international slots when trading a player but they are valuable so a lot of the time teams do not want to trade them. What I do like is I have offered several players out and tried to get international slots for them, when the club rejects I offer the player out again and get pretty much the same bids. I then try to get draft picks or allocated funds. Even though I do not really care too much about draft picks I can use the ones I get to trade for players I need in the future.

Realised I got a former superdraft number 1 pick called Steve Zakuani but injured till 2012.

Couple of things:

Your board will decide how much money you can offer a player, and it's apparently based almost entirely on reputation. For example, I have a 5 star Brazilian striker on my squad (and is actually playing for Brazil now) that, after two good seasons with me, wanted a pay raise to $1.6million a year. My board would only let me offer $625k per year. I was able to keep him happy for another season (in which he took MVP honors) before my board finally was willing to let me offer him enough money. Contrast that with another player I have, a 29 year-old midfielder that has been with me from the first season. Despite now rating at only two stars, he's currently earning $3million a year as he's proven to be a solid player (first DP contract paid him about $1.5million, second one is his current salary.) If you want to land some great DPs, raid national U-20 squads for high PA players and sign them up to 5 year deals. After about 3 years or so, they'll likely ask for a DP contract to extend their deal. I'm currently planning on dumping my two 29 year-old DPs after the CWC so that I can lock in two younger players for the foreseeable future.

Salary budget is dictated by the league's salary cap. DP contracts will count as $350,000 per year against the cap, and developmental/Generation Adidas/AA contracts do not count against the cap.

Wage budget is set by your board, and includes the full cost of DP contracts. I've been over my wage budget for at least 5 years now with no ill effects.

In real life, teams can use allocation money to "buy down" a players contract. For example, if a player is earning $300,000, the team could spend $150,000 in allocation money so that the player's contract only counted as $150,000 against the cap. FM12 handles it differently, however, and allows you to simply inflate the salary budget by pumping in allocation money. This has to be done each year, but in theory, you could have every senior member of your squad making $325,000 a year, plus 3 DPs, if you have enough allocation funds.

Superdraft is the initial draft, and consists of 150 or so players. The supplemental draft consists of players not selected in the superdraft, in addition to players that are released from their clubs before registration day. Supplemental draft picks are pretty worthless. Always shoot for international slots if you can, otherwise take cash.

seems with the latest update fm 12 im unable to play with la galaxy i went to squad registration to see who was aloud to play now i cant register as the salary is fixed on a price over the aloud salary cap what do i do

Realised I got a former superdraft number 1 pick called Steve Zakuani but injured till 2012.

He had a nasty leg break in 2011 (among other things) and is not expected back until June 2012

He had a nasty leg break in 2011 (among other things) and is not expected back until June 2012

Started with Seattle and looked at him that really had to be really nasty and shame because I remeber him being good player in MLS in FM11(but sold him in FM12 to Fire due to injurie).

Anyway MLS is quite fun to play in and I think its the only league which I really enjoy.

just finished my first season in MLS and have to say I loved it!

Totally different from any league or challenge ive ever faced.

Took time to learn the rules of course as I know these scare off your average Football manager player but after dedicating a little effort to search online and within these forum messages I felt fully confident to give it a go and not looked back.

Totally transformed Seattle into a total beast of a team in just 1 year. Clean swipe on everything!

Just completed my first superdraft and picked up the best player going through exchanging an average striker of mine for the no1 draft pick.

Highly rec anyone whose grown a bit bored of all the usual leagues to give this a try.

Unfortunately you will get tired of winning so easily.

Yeah sometimes it's just too easy to win in MLS once you know how to acquire players within the league effectively. And it's hard to keep good players because they will whine about moving to a bigger club.

thats what ive enjoyed so far though?

Managing the success. Ive managed to build a good squad that in real life terms would be a decent mid table Premier League team and obviously although improved the gap between MLS and Premierleague is still huge.

I never started in the MLS for long term either way. Wanted to build a profile up from virtually no experience, achieve success and hopefully win the Champions League over there, although there is a few strong Mexican sides thatll surely give me a run for my money. Then its my aim to get a job over in Europe. Hopefully the Premier League.

A few of the teams in trouble on my save like Wigan & Bolton has had interest but I was holding out for one of the others who are in trouble like Villa. The Ajax job did grab my interest but I wanted to atleast finish my first season and win all I could before setting sale to Europe. Plus I wanted to experience my first Superdraft.

Was good but I had far to many 1st and 2nd round pics. Due to obviously winning the league I came last in each round and alot of best talent had gone. Though my sale of Eddie Johnson in exchange for the first round, first pick was handy as I picked up the easily best player in the draft who also stated he wanted to join me before the draft in the press. Regen with CA 99 PA 169 so not a starter right off the bat but huge potential dwarfing anyone else in the leagues picks.

Unfortunately you will get tired of winning so easily.

You were right. Only in my 2nd season and ive built a side that would give most English Premier League sides a run for there money. Winning every game with ease. Nobody can touch me in the MLS and even the strong mexican sides in the North America Champs League dont trouble me.

Im searching and searching for the right job abroad. Won everything and anything yet I dont seem to be considered for even mid-table PremierLeague teams. The media linked me with both the Aston Villa and the Wigan jobs who are in the relegation zone. I apply for them and my board totally flip out saying I either apologise or quit. Seems a bit extreme after all the success ive brought them.