Finding players in MLS

Any MLSers out there? I am having trouble finding players. My scouts still like to bring to my attention fancy young guys from Europe on $1mm+ transfer fees. I don't think they realize they work in MLS now. The other clubs are snatching up interesting guys with no contracts, etc.

Is there something I can do to refocus my scouts to find these kinds of players? Any tips on scouting adjustments for MLS would be appreciated.

You could just set your scouts to scout in America and the MLS. That way you'd get players who do well against you and potential free agent American players.

I let most of my scouts look at the MLS and North-America. Especially useful in case of waivers. You could let one of your guys roam around in Europe, but that usually doesn't get me very good results.

Send your scouts to South America. For the MLS the only attributes that you will get for that price are high physical ability and high technical ability. South America is flooded with talent that far out paces most MLS squads and you can get them at bargain prices. The real trick is trying to keep them on your squad once they realize their own potential.

Resume: Have taken 3 different Chicago Fire teams to top tier and have brought several players and coaches with me to top tier European clubs.

Step 1: Have at least the top Brazilian league as playable.

Step 2: Blanket the country with two or three scouts and look for good players; many can be had for less than $100k and are still better than 95% of MLS players.

Step 3: Hire Brazilian staff and scout their recommendations.

Step 4: Check the Brazilian U-20 squad frequently and look for players on a youth contract. If you find one you like, compare how much the club wants for him vs how much compensation you'd have to offer for signing him directly.

Step 5: If you're playing as Toronto FC or Vancouver, there's a sneaky trick--search the American clubs screen for teams such as Ottawa, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Winnipeg, etc. (basically look through the Development League northern regions) and you can snatch up Canadian newgens (I've signed 15 year-olds) without being blocked by draft rules that prevent American clubs from signing American newgens from these leagues.

Step 6: On January 1st, go to your team screen and look at your transfer/history tab. Then use the arrows next to your logo to view the other teams in MLS and find out which players have had their contracts expire--you can usually find some really good players this way!

Loving my 1st ever attempt at the MLS. Riding high with Seattle at the minute.

Few little tips ive found so far is dont be scared off making a bid for one of the scouted european players.

For example at the start of my save I believe the board told me I had £100k in allocation funds to spend.....still......I've managed to sign a player for £1.1m. Long as financially you can afford it and the board believe its worth it, it should be possible. Not talking big money but £1.1m is still alot more than the 100k the board said I had in allocation funds.

Obviously the MLS is mostly done on trades for picks and allocation funds etc....

Few tips on players ive signed....

Brad Davis from Houston is a must. Got him for a lower grade (pretty pointless) supplemental draft pick, around 16k allocation funds and a awful reserve player I had no interest in keeping.

Signed Brazilian Mauricio Alves whose only 21 years old on a free (originally as back up on the left wing for Davis). But when Davis got injured for a month He scored 4 goals from 6 games and ive been forced to shuffle slightly playing Davis a little more centrally.

AJ DeLaGarza has provided very good cover in my back line as he can play anywhere along it and didnt cost much. Just a more minor draft pick.

Heath Pearce at Left back has been an utter beast!

Ike Opara I brought it because I believe hes got the potential to be an amazing centre back. Hes on a generation Adidas contract too....only problem though which I didnt realise is when signing Generation Adidas players it auto selects them as important first team players so after 6-10 games when Opara hadnt been an auto 1st choice he got in a right grump with me demanding to move. (wish there was more options in those private chats....Id love to have been able to say to him i have huge plans for you in the future, keep working hard.....but no i can only say let u go now, end of season, your being disrespectful, or im a big wimp and gonna leave this convo for now)

I signed Crespo on a free as I wanted more options (an experience in attack but at low cost as not much room left salary wise). When I first approached Crespo He wanted to be a DP player (which I already had my max of 3 of) and also wanted around £2000 a week. This and taking into account his age, I decided to ended these talks. Then I noticed about 2 weeks later he hadnt joined anyone. Approached him again and now he only wanted to be a senior player and only wanted £925 a week. I offered him a 1 year deal as I expect him to decline heavily over the season due to his age but his finishing, heading & experience should be a good for the club. (proved to be so far in. 10 starts, 2 subs, 6 goals and fitness has been alot better than I expected.)

Im keen to see what happens after I complete my first season in the MLS. Whether ill be able to pick up some top talent and maybe shuffle my pack. Im pretty stuck when it comes to my salary cap (already adjusted with the board taking away my allocation money so I could increase the cap) as im right on the limit so if im going to improve ive gotta let a few go.

Love the challenge of the MLS! (although smashing New York Red Bulls 7-0 at there stadium in only my second game was slightly unrealistic! lol)

Lol just come accross this on google. Oh how I wish it was proving as easy in the MLS in FM13! None of my old tricks seem to work! lol

Best thing to do first is pick up the American DB edit at the top of the editors forum. Adds all the minor leagues, as well as NCAA, and makes the entire USA world much more realistic. Also makes the draft have a great amount of players, which makes the entire experience that much better!

Best thing to do first is pick up the American DB edit at the top of the editors forum. Adds all the minor leagues, as well as NCAA, and makes the entire USA world much more realistic. Also makes the draft have a great amount of players, which makes the entire experience that much better!

Or you could just do like I do--go through and manually edit (FMRTE) EVERY player available in the draft so that players are more balanced and able to contribute, even with low CA/PA. Sadly, you'll have to bump up the CA of the Generation Adidas players if you want the AI to draft them, as the computer doesn't look at a player's PA when selecting them in the draft. Even then, the AI can't develop them properly. Looking at the most recent US team in my save (2017) the only current players that came through the draft (3 in total) all play for my team, and only one player on the Canadian squad came through the draft. There's generally twenty or so players with a 130+PA in each draft, but I highly doubt that ANY of them (outside of the ones I use) will reach that modest limit.

agree, certainly is frustrating.

Always found that on my epic FM12 save. I managed to pick up good draft players and would do all I could to get the worst teams in the leagues 1st round draft picks. AI would usually pass on most and the system drys up.

With the DB I used the top picks were all GA guys, as they had developed a bit in the NCAA (attribute increases from training and playing actual games).

wheres the best place to get hold of this DB chap? sounds interesting!