Crazy Canuck on Global Managerial Tour - This is the Big (FM12) One!!!

[AK22]

Good luck in DC, rancer A few more MLS saves popping-up this year, I might even be tempted to venture there myself eventually!

You did a really good job with Santo André, getting them into the top four was a great achievement. Weren't you just a little bit curious to see how far you could have taken them? Or is top-four as good as it was likely to get?

Talking of Hamid, I brought him over to the UK on my FM10 save. A really solid 'keeper, you should be able to keep it tight at the back.

[B.W.G]

You did well in Brazil and the best of luck in the MLS with DC United

[rancer890]

Good luck in the MLS dude. Threads like this inspire me to get on with a save and return to writing a career thread, great stuff man.

Cheers AB. We all need to your Oceanic adventure!

Good luck in DC, rancer A few more MLS saves popping-up this year, I might even be tempted to venture there myself eventually!

You did a really good job with Santo André, getting them into the top four was a great achievement. Weren't you just a little bit curious to see how far you could have taken them? Or is top-four as good as it was likely to get?

Talking of Hamid, I brought him over to the UK on my FM10 save. A really solid 'keeper, you should be able to keep it tight at the back.

Cheers AK22! I'm certain I could have gotten them farther up the table, maybe eventually winning the State Championships and getting into the Libertadores, but I didn't sticking around for another 2-3 seasons. Just plain got tired from managing in Brazil.

You did well in Brazil and the best of luck in the MLS with DC United

Cheers B.W.G. Things have been going a bit better since that 3-0 loss.

[rancer890]

2014 World Cup



Hosts: Brazil

Group Stages

                 Group A                                             Group B                 
                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
1st Brazil      3  3  0  0  7  0   9                  1st France       3  3  0  0 10  2   9
2nd South Korea 3  1  1  1  1  3   4                  2nd Spain        3  1  0  2  2  3   3
3rd Turkey      3  1  0  2  3  4   3                  3rd Cameroon     3  1  0  2  1  2   3
4th New Zealand 3  0  1  2  0  4   1                  4th Jamaica      3  1  0  2  2  8   3

                  Group C                                             Group D
                P  W  D  L  F  A  PTS                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
1st England     3  3  0  0  9  3   9                  1st Argentina    3  3  0  0  7  2   9
2nd Ireland     3  1  1  1  3  4   4                  2nd Morocco      3  1  1  1  4  4   4
3rd Tunisia     3  1  0  2  4  5   3                  3rd Netherlands  3  1  0  2  3  4   3
4th Ecuador     3  0  1  2  5  9   1                  4th Mexico       3  0  1  2  2  6   1

                  Group E                                             Group F
                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
1st Russia      3  1  2  0  4  3   5                  1st Belgium      3  3  0  0  8  0   9
2nd Chile       3  1  2  0  3  2   5                  2nd Paraguay     3  1  1  1  4  4   4
3rd Nigeria     3  0  2  1  3  4   2                  3rd Czech Rep.   3  1  0  2  2  5   3
4th Switzerland 3  0  2  1  2  3   2                  4th Japan        3  0  1  2  1  4   1

                  Group G                                             Group H
                P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts                                  P  W  D  L  F  A  Pts
1st Ivory Coast 3  2  0  1 11  5   6                  1st Uruguay      3  3  0  0  6  1   9
2nd Serbia      3  2  0  1  8  5   6                  2nd Slovakia     3  1  1  1  3  3   4
3rd USA         3  1  0  2  6  9   3                  3rd Germany      3  1  0  2  3  3   3
4th Australia   3  1  0  2  4 10   3                  4th Iran         3  0  1  2  0  5   1

Knockout Stage



Coach will be happy to see that Belgium won the 2014 World Cup!

Awards

Best Goalkeeper - Hugo Lloris (France)
Golden Ball - Lionel Messi (Argentina), Seydou Doumbia (Ivory Coast), Nicolas Lodeiro (Uruguay)
Golden Shoe - Sergio Aguero (Spain), Kevin Gameiro (France), Seydou Doumbia (Ivory Coast)
Best Young Player - Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Dream Team

[abulezz]

Lol at Belgium winning the World Cup! Who was the leading scorer and who was the best player (in your opinion, as I know the awards dont always get it right)

[Adelaidean]

Australia bottom of their group.

Best of luck in the MLS, thinking of picking up an international job anytime soon? Surely a small nation like Canada should take you on.

[ArsenalMetro]

Rough showing for CONCACAF there. Eugh.

[deadfncat]

Belgium lost to Brazil in the 2014 cup in my game. Someone at SI is Belgian I see?

Australia are always rubbish at world cups in FM

[deltablue]

Couple of group stage shocks there.

[Raware]

I thought our penalty luck was too good to be true . Brought back down to earth by Uruguay .

[rancer890]

Lol at Belgium winning the World Cup! Who was the leading scorer and who was the best player (in your opinion, as I know the awards dont always get it right)

No idea tbh. I didn't watch a single game. Too busy with MLS.

I did add the awards though so you can see for yourself...

Australia bottom of their group.

Best of luck in the MLS, thinking of picking up an international job anytime soon? Surely a small nation like Canada should take you on.

AFC teams never do that well in the World Cups, including Australia...

And cheers, but I have no intention of taking over a national team for a while (because my seasons are going to be twice as long and MLS has a lot of games!)

Rough showing for CONCACAF there. Eugh.

At least you made the World Cup!

But true. USA can't beat Serbia and the Ivory Coast, and Mexico could only muster up a draw against Morocco. Even Jamaica won a game at least.

deltablue: tbf, had that 'issue' with Germany...

Raware: at least the World Cup was somewhat realistic.

[DodgeeD]

Interesting career so far and good to see you got your MLS action in early.

Belgium, World Champions, eh? No stranger than England 'defying expectations of a poor tournament' to win in my current game.

Oh, and Raware, in the World Cup in my game, England beat Germany in the quarters and beat Portugal on penalities -unrealistic maybe but a dream for many England supporters/sufferers.

[Raware]

Oh, and Raware, in the World Cup in my game, England beat Germany in the quarters and beat Portugal on penalities -unrealistic maybe but a dream for many England supporters/sufferers.

A dream is all it will ever be I fear

[rancer890]

2014 Season Review - DC United - Major League Soccer

Eastern Conference Standings | Overall Standings | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 | Past Positions - Considering how we were when I first came to the club, it's fantastic to see we nearly won the Supporters' Shield. However, the last few games were terrible (or as in the TFC playoff games, Stefan Frei was just way too good!) as we couldn't score any goals for whatever reason. Still nothing much to complain about overall though.

CONCACAF Champions League - DC United were also good enough last season to enter the CONCACAF Champions League. We did a pretty good job despite our loss at RFK Stadium to Pumas, but we returned the favour with a dominant win in Mexico. We also won the Group so we'll be the home team in the Quarter-Final. Cruz Azul and the Puerto Rico Islanders advanced from Group D.

US Open Cup - The only MLS opposition we faced was Sporting KC and we nearly lost to them but managed to win on penalties. We defeated the Minnesota Stars 1-0 to win my first trophy in America.

Transfers - Analysis here!

Squad 1 Squad 2 - A very good team but could be even better with a bit more depth.

Team MVP - Eric Johnson - very good production with 30 goals scored in all competitions.

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Goals:
- Win the MLS Cup. I think we're really close now.
- Go as far as we can in the CONCACAF Champions League

Other:
- We need more depth in every position. There were quite a few injuries.

Summary

Year        Team                 Country       League           Position       Notes and Info    Attendance    
2011        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série C               1st            Promotion         2,599
2012        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série B               3rd            Promotion         3,228
2013        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série A              15th                  N/A         5,437
2014        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série A               N/A                  N/A         -----
2014        DC United            USA           MLS                   2nd  US Open Cup Winners        17,930

[rancer890]

2014 Season Review - DC United - Major League Soccer



Transfers

NOTE: I did not make any transfers prior to May.

As you may (or may not) know, MLS deal with transfers a bit differently from European clubs where trades/part-exchanges are quite common. Now, acquiring money from this method maybe a bit confusing, as how you may value a specific player will be different on how the club you're trying to trade with values its own player and the player/allocation money/draft pick(s) you're willing to give up. In a trade, mainly you try to work out what's best for both clubs. They might have a need and you just happen to have a surplus of a particular asset, whether it's extra money, draft picks, or players that you think will be expendable. Sometimes you don't want to necessarily give up the player but every now and then, to get something you really want, you have to trade away an asset you believe is important. Whether you want to give up what your trading partner wants is up to you, but no player is really untouchable. It just depends if the price you want is met.

Enough about my long winded explanation about the MLS transfer system, let's go the signings/trades!

May 15: Signed Kevin Acosta on a free transfer. The 2012 Superdraft 2nd round pick by Columbus played sparingly for the club before moving to Norway with Viking, where he played mostly with Viking 2. He came back to MLS, signing with Seattle, but was waived before the season before I picked him out. A great signing.

May 17: Traded Eric Avila to Portland for $150k allocation money. We had a lot of wingers, and when I joined he didn't seem to fit in.

May 29: Traded Irakli Modebadze and $150k in allocation money to Real Salt Lake for Alfredo Morales - We traded another high priced winger for a versatile defender who is relatively inexpensive.

June 4:​ Signed Sean Johnson who took over from Bill Hamid as the starting keeper at the club, although they rotated throughout the season. This move made me trade keeper Joe Orozco to the LA Galaxy for their 2016 3rd Round Pick in the MLS Superdraft.

July 13: Signed Mikkel Diskerud on a free transfer. My second Designated Player (at that time) was someone I thought was good enough to earn a DP salary, and he was an American as a bonus. I'm very hesitant on signing a DP but he was a solid choice compared to the other American free agents from Europe who were looking at MLS (one of them was Danny Williams iirc). And he also fit a need as a centre mid.

July 13: Traded Matt Besler to the LA Galaxy for $900k in allocation money. He was one of my better defenders, but I couldn't turn down $900k.

July 15: Signed Magnifique Manzangala on a free transfer. The former Chelsea youth trialed at the club for a couple weeks before I offered a contract and he accepted it. He's a decent player who helped out when I had some injuries.

July 16: Traded Eduardo Ratinho to the LA Galaxy for Jeremiah White. Skill wise, yes I got robbed, but I only made this trade as a salary relief. Ratinho isn't worth paying $3.1 million a season which doesn't expire till 2015, and White is an expiring contract making league minimum.

July 17: Signed Chris Rolfe on a free transfer. He was only a depth signing, which at the time was for the recently departed Ratinho. He doesn't have a future at the club and I'm not sure if he will on the regular season roster in 2015.

July 26: Traded Justin Morrow to San Jose for a 2016 Superdraft 2nd Round Pick (San Jose) - Another fringe player and I was happy to receive a future pick for him.

August 13: Traded 2015 Supplemental Draft 2nd Round Pick and 3rd Round Pick (DC United) to Houston for Shavar Thomas - he was acquired because of the long term injury to right back Marvell Wynne. I'm willing to resign him at the right price, but he's already 33.

August 29: Sold Nicolas Martinez to Cerro Porteno (Paraguay) for $1 million. Fantastic to have received 7 figures for this player considering I only played him a handful of times, even though technically MLS took 33% of the transfer money...

September 12: Waived Danilo. Never played him, didn't really know he was on the team till I decided to waive him...

September 14: Traded Hector Orozco to Chivas USA for $1.5 million allocation money and a 2014 Superdraft 1st Round Pick (DC United) - I couldn't turn this down considering I wasn't playing Orozco that much. I re-acquire the 1st rounder we traded to Chivas USA in an earlier transaction and we get a cool $1.5 million (although only $600k could be used for allocation funds). Chivas USA were pestering me about acquiring him and I just kept raising the price but they kept bidding! I probably could have gotten more than what I asked but September 15 was the MLS trade deadline.

September 15: Traded $550k in allocation money to Philadelphia for Paul Caldwell. We used a portion of the money we got for Orozco to sign another defender, and then immediately signed him to a long term contract. No more moves between MLS clubs until the off-season after the MLS Cup.

November 1: Signed Brice Korta on a free transfer from the Minnesota Stars. I signed when he had 6 months remaining on his contract and he looks like he could be a very good player. In the the US Open Cup Final, he played against Rafael Martins and held his ground against him. I got high hopes for him!

2015 MLS Superdraft:
Chivas USA's 1st Round Pick (1st Overall)
Sporting KC's 1st Round Pick (7th Overall)
DC United's 1st Round Pick (17th Overall)
DC United's 2nd Round Pick (35th Overall)

2015 MLS Supplemental Draft:
DC United's 1st Round Pick

I don't have much expectation, I will take the Best Player Available (BPA). We need overall depth and that's what I will try to accomplish in the draft.

[cerud]

Ahh trading...brings me back to my days of NHL 2000 and the endless run of those games Now this is something I can relate too!

[deltablue]

I'm sure you guys have a far better handle on that stuff than us europeans.

[Nordan]

Enough about my long winded explanation about the MLS transfer system, let's go the signings/trades!

It was quite interesting actually,although I still don't quite understand how it works....

Drafts - Are these like free transfers only the "worst" clubs get to pick first? Or can contracted players be drafted?

I kinda like the idea of helping the "worst" clubs improve.

[rancer890]

Ahh trading...brings me back to my days of NHL 2000 and the endless run of those games Now this is something I can relate too!

It brings me back to EHM07, where I was trading players every month!

I'm sure you guys have a far better handle on that stuff than us europeans.

Perhaps, but as long as you take the time to figure out how the game values draft picks it will be easier. You don't trade players to 'win' the trade, you will never actually get anywhere. You trade players to improve the club.

It was quite interesting actually,although I still don't quite understand how it works....

Drafts - Are these like free transfers only the "worst" clubs get to pick first? Or can contracted players be drafted?

I kinda like the idea of helping the "worst" clubs improve.

Yeah the worst teams get the higher picks in the system so they can improve and (theoretically) get better. The better teams get the 'lesser' talent so (theoretically) they won't be as good in the future. Of course some teams can just be terrible no matter what high draft picks they get.

[Nordan]

Of course some teams can just be terrible no matter what high draft picks they get.

Naturally.Not everyone can have rancer890 as manager.

[rancer890]

Naturally.Not everyone can have rancer890 as manager.

No truer words have been said.

Just traded Conor Shanosky to the Houston Dynamo for their 2015 Superdraft 1st rounder. So now we have the 1st, 7th, 16th, and 18th Overall picks. Not sure how good the quality is in the MLS Superdraft, but hopefully they will improve the squad.

[Nordan]

Just traded Conor Shanosky to the Houston Dynamo for their 2015 Superdraft 1st rounder. So now we have the 1st, 7th, 16th, and 18th Overall picks. Not sure how good the quality is in the MLS Superdraft, but hopefully they will improve the squad.

And just when I thought I understood,you throw a curve ball.

Superdraft?? And you can trade drafts? You're so devious

[rancer890]

And just when I thought I understood,you throw a curve ball.

Superdraft?? And you can trade drafts? You're so devious

Don't worry mate. I'll give a brief explanation when it's time for the MLS Superdraft and Supplemental Draft.

I'll probably type out my offseason plans in detail with a separate feature on the 2 drafts.

[Nordan]

and Supplemental Draft.

You're really enjoying this

Keeping it interesting tho

[AK22]

Good first season in the MLS, rancer, and some silverware too

An excellent insight into how the MLS transfer system works. Not sure I follow 100%, but it has certainly helped to give me a better understanding. I suppose it's quite a fair way of doing things, and in theory, it should stop the best team getting too good and dominating proceedings. Can't see it ever catching on in Europe though

[rancer890]

You're really enjoying this

Keeping it interesting tho

Good first season in the MLS, rancer, and some silverware too

An excellent insight into how the MLS transfer system works. Not sure I follow 100%, but it has certainly helped to give me a better understanding. I suppose it's quite a fair way of doing things, and in theory, it should stop the best team getting too good and dominating proceedings. Can't see it ever catching on in Europe though

Cheers AK. I'll probably give another explanation for for the Drafts when they come. Nice to see you understand it a bit more. It's not too hard.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the Cup run,at least you explaining the transfer system now will help me when I get around to managing in the MLS

[rancer890]

Congrats on the Cup run,at least you explaining the transfer system now will help me when I get around to managing in the MLS

Cheers B.W.G. I did write the MLS guide for FM Wiki so I've gotten quite used to explaining the MLS transfer system...

[roganp]

Not quite grasping the idea of trading, but well done on your cup win

[rancer890]

2014-2015 Off-season - DC United - Major League Soccer

Here's just a brief overview of my transaction before the MLS Superdraft:

2014

November 24: Traded DC/DM/MC Conor Shanosky to Houston for the MLS 2015 Superdraft 1st Round Pick (18th overall)

November 29: Traded DLC Gerson Whitfield to FC Dallas for the MLS 2015 Superdraft 2nd Round Pick (27th overall)

Here are the picks we will have in the 2015 MLS Superdraft and MLS Supplemental Draft

MLS Superdraft
1st Round:

1st overall
7th overall
16th overall
18th overall

2nd Round:

27th overall
32nd overall

MLS Supplemental Draft
1st Round:

16th overall

Next update will be the Superdraft and Supplemental Draft.

[rancer890]

Nice touch SI.



@lovemoresadomba. This is brilliant.

[rancer890]

Not quite grasping the idea of trading, but well done on your cup win

Cheers roganp. Hopefully my explanations will help people know a bit more about the league and maybe give MLS a go in the future.

[ArsenalMetro]

Not quite grasping the idea of trading, but well done on your cup win

Basically, instead of giving clubs money for players, you give them other players, and all contracts remain as they were.

[rancer890]

2015 MLS Superdraft and Supplemental Draft - DC United - Major League Soccer

Superdraft

So, the MLS Superdraft! So, what's so super about the Superdraft? Well, nothing much, it's just a draft . It's quite simple, you have a pool of players, in which some will obviously be better than others. The worst teams usually get the highest picks, but as you can see, I have the 1st Overall pick! Like players, you can trade draft picks too, so I managed to get this first overall pick (although I did not acquire this pick). With the help of your scouts, all you have to do is to choose the best player you think is available! It's really that simple. Of course, if there's 2 players you want but you only have one pick, you obviously can only choose one of them. Think of the Superdraft as something like when you were little and there's 2 captains for 5-a-side and the captains alternated picks to see who goes on which team till everyone was picked. The Superdraft is just the same, except with 18 teams and a lot more players.

1st Round:

1st Overall: Calistus Ncube (Portland U23's) - The centre back became my 1st overall pick at the club. There was really only one other player I would have picked but I settled on Ncube. He'll help out the back line

7th Overall: Ibrahim Polo (Los Angeles Misioneros) - The other player I wanted was picked 3rd but I went to plan B as one of my goals in the draft was to acquire a young attacking left mid with potential. Hopefully Polo fits the bill.

16th Overall: Matthew Williams (Central Florida Craze) - I had thought of getting him at #7 but his stock fell in the draft. He was the best player remaining on the draft board so we decided to draft him

18th Overall: Takesure Yohane (Bradenton Academics) - He was one of the better remaining players to close out the first round, and he also fit a need.

2nd Round:

27th Overall: Ross Van Matre (Kansas City Brass) - another defender who can play left and right back. We'll see if he can secure a roster spot.

34th Overall: Scott Vargas - He's highly unlikely to make the team. There's just way too much competition in front of him. Although it's possible he could go on loan.

MLS Superdraft Grades:

Real Salt Lake: A+
Portland: A+
Chivas USA: A
Columbus: A
Sporting KC: A-
Seattle: A-
New England: A-
Colorado: A-
DC United: B+
FC Dallas: B+
LA Galaxy: B
San Jose: B
Toronto FC: B-
Houston: C+
Philadelphia: C-
New York: E
Vancouver: E
Chicago: E

I can understand why we got a B+. I think Ncube is a fine pick for 1st Overall in the Superdraft, but the draft pundits might think we could have been better with our 2nd first round pick.

Supplemental Draft

1st Round:

16th Overall - Fernando Aguayo (Los Angeles Misioneros) - he's a long shot, but we'll see in preseason friendlies.

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

Other transactions:

January 11: Traded 2015 7th overall pick Ibrahim Polo and Marvell Wynne to Colorado for 2015 3rd overall pick Lovemore Sadomba

I did want Sadomba in the draft but I ended up drafting Polo. Now I gave Colorado Marvell Wynne who they might need at right back, and also trade them Polo to get the player I initially wanted. Win-win.

January 12: Traded Steve Zakuani to Portland for their 2017 2nd Round Pick and a 5 year international slot

Now that I got Sadomba, I didn't need Zakuani anymore, so off he went to Portland and we receive a pick and an international slot. Yes, an international slot isn't a player, but it gives us more flexibility in signing a foreign player, and potentially a Designated Player. My future transfers will put me right near the foreigner limit, so the extra international slot will be really useful.

[cerud]

Nice! I still haven't managed in the MLS yet, but I know the draft will be easy for me as all major sports in North America use a draft system. I follow the NHL draft religiously and will likely as well to MLS drafts now too (especially since Vancouver will choose early again next year ) I thi your explanation is bang on and most others should at least have a basic understanding of how it works.

I also love that they give grades to teams on how well they did! Good feature! And the news item about the one player wanting to be picked by you...reminds me of Eric Lindros being drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the NHL right after publically saying he'd never play for them

[rancer890]

Nice! I still haven't managed in the MLS yet, but I know the draft will be easy for me as all major sports in North America use a draft system. I follow the NHL draft religiously and will likely as well to MLS drafts now too (especially since Vancouver will choose early again next year ) I thi your explanation is bang on and most others should at least have a basic understanding of how it works.

I also love that they give grades to teams on how well they did! Good feature! And the news item about the one player wanting to be picked by you...reminds me of Eric Lindros being drafted by the Quebec Nordiques in the NHL right after publically saying he'd never play for them

I never really bothered too much with the MLS draft, TFC never kept a player for long after drafting him..except for Frei all our draft picks are gone (Edu, Cronin were the only good ones). I don't even think we drafted in the 1st Round in the 2011 Superdraft.

I would love if they gave more info on why they got the grade they had though. I kind of knew why we probably didn't get an A in the draft.

And at least in FM they don't publicly throw a fit about not going to a particular club.

[Nordan]

Traded Steve Zakuani to Portland for their 2017 2nd Round Pick and a 5 year international slot

Nvm I didn't process everything. So trading spots for extra foreigners....something I could have used in Norway before fm09

[iHeadHunta x]

Doing well with DC United Keep It Up.

[cerud]

Yep, basically in North American sports, if you can assign a value to something, its tradeable...money, players, international slots, draft picks, jock straps, David Beckham's hair gel...whatever works

[rancer890]

2015 Offseason Transfers - DC United - Major League Soccer

Transfers

I'm not going to go through the Superdraft and Supplemental Draft transfers because I've covered it already in the previous post, but here's the rest of the transfers.

January 1: Signed Pereira on a free transfer from Ceara. I got notified that his contract was going to expire in 6 months and I had him on my shortlist from the time I was in Brazil and he looked like a good prospect for MLS and so I signed him. A very young player but very quick and will be useful in the physical style of play in MLS.

January 3: Signed Danny Cruz on a free transfer. He's a 6 year MLS veteran who will help us in a depth role.

January 3: Signed Gavin Cuervas on a free transfer. The former LA Galaxy player managed 8 goals and 4 assists in 32 games last season so hopefully he can maintain this kind of production with us.

January 3: Acquired Sam Cronin from Real Salt Lake for Magnifique Manzangala and $400k in allocation money. Cronin is a very good MLS player and will give us another option as a centre mid or a DM.

January 4: Signed Ashley Palmer on a free transfer. The 3rd overall pick by Colorado in the 2012 Superdraft, he couldn't agree to a new contract with them and signed with us. He gives us a starting keeper to replace Bill Hamid, who will be moving to Lyon for $2.1 million + clauses in the summer.

January 21: Signed Greg Cunningham on a free transfer. The former Man City youth player moves to America after stints with Leicester, Swindon, and Hibernian.

January 26: Traded Jack Carey to Houston for $400k in allocation money. He wasn't in my plans and I was happy that Houston paid a good price for him.

March 4: Waived Shavar Thomas and Chris Rolfe. They were both victims of a numbers game and were way too far down the depth chart to make a meaningful contribution to the team.

March 5: Acquired Mamadou Cissé from Red Bull New York via the Waiver Draft. The word 'draft' comes again in this post . RBNY wasted $1.3 million by exposing him to waivers and I was more than happy to select him on a free. This acquisition might move Lovemore Sadomba down the depth chart at attacking left mid but overall this gives us a lot more depth at the position.

March 8: Re-acquired Conor Shanosky from the Houston Dynamo for Anthony Wallace and Rafael Martins. I probably did pay a lot to reacquire Shanosky but Wallace wasn't going to get a lot of playing time, and with Cissé, it meant that Martins' days were numbered. His contract was also set to expire at the end of the season and I wasn't planning to renew it.

------

CONCACAF Champions League

Quarter-Final

(2nd legged aggregate)

Puerto Rico Islanders 3-4 LA Galaxy
Chivas (MEX) (p) 1-1 Cruz Azul
DC United 5-3 America (MEX)
Toronto FC 2-3 Pumas

Semi-Final

Pumas vs Chivas
LA Galaxy vs DC United

Let's get this season started!

[abulezz]

Exciting season ahead - your signings look great

[deltablue]

Interesting Mexico vs USA final due in the CONCACAF CL, but will you be the USA side?

[rancer890]

Exciting season ahead - your signings look great

Cheers mate. They're good on paper but we still need to play the games. And not blow up in the playoffs.

Interesting Mexico vs USA final due in the CONCACAF CL, but will you be the USA side?

Hopefully.

America (MEX) was a really tough opponent but the LA-DC semi will be very interesting as we were the strongest teams in the regular season in 2014.

[deltablue]

Being half-Mexican means I can't entirely lose if you are in the final.

[cerud]

Good move into the MLS. Looking forward to it!

[Adelaidean]

You're building a good squad there, looking forward to seeing how you do!

[rancer890]

I don't need to really comment, just look at the above scoreline and the youtube video in the link below. And borrowing the words from the one and only Dennis Green:

"THE GALAXY WERE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE, AND WE LET THEM OFF THE HOOK!"

[Adelaidean]

That's hilarious! Reminds me of Aurelio Vidmar's conspiracy-theory post-match press conference for Adelaide a few years ago.

"Everyone's involved mate. Everyone. And you know. 'Cause you're involved as well."

[ArsenalMetro]

Wanna get even more upset? You shouldn't be out. In the CONCACAF Champions League, away goals don't function as a tiebreaker in extra time. That match should have gone to penalties. It's an oversight from SI.

EDIT: http://www.concacaf.com/staticFiles/...~160230,00.pdf

Section 2.3, Phase 3

[rancer890]

That's hilarious! Reminds me of Aurelio Vidmar's conspiracy-theory post-match press conference for Adelaide a few years ago.

"Everyone's involved mate. Everyone. And you know. 'Cause you're involved as well."

I can pull out a lot more lovely press conferences from the 4 major American based sports as well as college football and basketball...lot of nice material

And that guy is a nutcase! Did a quick wiki check and it reads:

As a result of comments he made at a media conference in November 2009 about "beheading his players like they would do in Saudi Arabia" if they did not perform well, Adelaide United handed Vidmar a two-match touchline ban. The club also issued Vidmar a $10,000 fine.^[8][9]

And ArsenalMetro, looks like I know where I'm going next [exit stage left, to the FM12 Bugs Forum!]

[rancer890]

Wanna get even more upset? You shouldn't be out. In the CONCACAF Champions League, away goals don't function as a tiebreaker in extra time. That match should have gone to penalties. It's an oversight from SI.

EDIT: http://www.concacaf.com/staticFiles/...~160230,00.pdf

Section 2.3, Phase 3

And to add to that...I knew it was a bit weird that we lost on away goals in extra time. We played like crap but I was looking forward to penalties.

[rancer890]

I'm going to have to replay that game (and bunch of other ones ) because Steam crashed on me.

[cerud]

I'm going to have to replay that game (and bunch of other ones ) because Steam crashed on me.

That sucks....tough beat.

[deltablue]

At least you get another crack at them.

[Flamers]

I am still yet to understand American "soccer" but it seems like you're doing well!

[rancer890]

Well we did still get our arses kicked hard in the 2nd leg again.

And cheers for the comments. Flamers, it's really not that different. Yeah the MLS rules are different than most other ones but it's still football/futbol/soccer!!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Wanna get even more upset?

And Santa doesn't exist either.

[abulezz]

Lol. Sucks (or does it) about the crash

[rancer890]

And Santa doesn't exist either.

lol noooo I'm gutted

Lol. Sucks (or does it) about the crash

It wasn't too bad, I didn't win all my games again but it wasn't that big of a deal considering the team is still firing on all cylinders.

Just hit a rough patch though because my best players are being recalled for Gold Cup and Copa America matches.

[rancer890]

Just finished up my season (finally!!!) and will post it up in a few hours. And just putting this there, but the MLS Cup Final is tonight at 9 PM EST (no idea about the time over there in Europe. ) and it'll be the Houston Dynamo vs the LA Galaxy.

Go Houston because I absolutely hate LA! The update will be up before the MLS Cup Final kickoff.

[iseemonsters1]

The update will be up before the MLS Cup Final kickoff.

Lies!! Just for that, I'm now going to be supporting LA.

[rancer890]

2015 Season Review - DC United - Major League Soccer

Eastern Conference Standings | Overall Standings | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 | Past Positions - We were close, but we couldn't finish the deal, and lost in the MLS Cup Final, 2-1 to San Jose.

CONCACAF Champions League 2014-2015 - We had a fantastic 2 legs against America (MEX), but we blew up in the 2nd leg of Semi-Final.

CONCACAF Champions League 2015-2016 - We started a new Champions League campaign with some solid results, and we won the group. The Puerto Rico Islanders and Morelia (Mexico) advance through Group D.

US Open Cup - I'm very excited about how well we did in this competition, and it's bittersweet to defeat my rivals in the Final.

Transfers - Once again, a lot of turnover, and here are my top 4 acquisitions:

4. Franco Iommi - The San Marino international is actually a pretty good MLS player. He helped out down the stretch.

3. Guillermo Alberto Ramirez - he was a fantastic free signing and I think he can be a fantastic player at DC United. I even signed him to a 5 year contract extension before the end of the season.

2. Lovemore Sadomba - a trade that went in our favour, Sadomba became a starter since the beginning of the season and didn't look back. He couldn't play in the final though due to injury.

1. Ashley Palmer - a free signing from Colorado, he was a rock at the back, and he's one of our best players.

Squad 1 Squad 2 - I think a couple tweaks, and we will bring a championship back to DC.

Team MVP - I'm going to call Predrag Jerinic, Mixx Diskerud, and Eric Johnson co-MVPs. Johnson seems like a walk for MVP but looking beyond the stats the other two were really important in the absence of Johnson on occasion.

Overview | Facilities | Finances | Affiliations

Goals:
- Win the MLS Cup and Supporters Shield. We were really close and if we're healthy and have our best players we should win.
- Win the CONCACAF Champions League.

Other:
- I think my first priority is to find a second Designated Player to take us over the top. Whether that player is a defender, or a attacking midfielder, or even a striker, I will be open to anyone as long as that player fits within the salary constraints.

Summary

Year        Team                 Country       League           Position       Notes and Info    Attendance    
2011        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série C               1st            Promotion         2,599
2012        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série B               3rd            Promotion         3,228
2013        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série A              15th                  N/A         5,437
2014        EC Santo André       Brazil        Série A               N/A                  N/A         -----
2014        DC United            USA           MLS                   2nd  US Open Cup Winners        17,930
2015        DC United            USA           MLS                   2nd  US Open Cup Winners        20,342

[rancer890]

Lies!! Just for that, I'm now going to be supporting LA.

Well it's up now. Photobucket was being an arse. I think they're LA fans.

Cmon Houston, beat LA!!!!!

[rancer890]

And with Garber talking about the DC United situation and RFK stadium situation ($2 million in rent a season!!!), I hope soccer stays in DC and they can have a solution with a new stadium. Never really liked the MLS teams playing in NFL stadiums.

[ArsenalMetro]

Rough to fall just short against San Jose. You'll get them next year. Also, it's interesting to see that the Galaxy are also the dominant side in your game.

Also, how did you get the squad selection info to show up on the attributes screen?

[rancer890]

Rough to fall just short against San Jose. You'll get them next year. Also, it's interesting to see that the Galaxy are also the dominant side in your game.

Also, how did you get the squad selection info to show up on the attributes screen?

Cheers ArsenalMetro. I really hated our performance against San Jose. Like the 2nd leg of the LA game, we didn't show up and like the MLS Cup this evening, San Jose were eventually going to get that go ahead goal. I wish we put up more of a fight because I knew we could have won with my best players (Eric Johnson didn't play due to suspension, and Korta had an injury).

And not sure about your question, I didn't really touch anything and this was all default. It might be a resolution thing, but maybe by looking at your screenshots it could be because you're in windowed mode.

[rancer890]

2015 Awards - DC United - Major League Soccer

Recently, the USSF announced the winners and runners-up for the US Player of the Year and the US Young Player of the Year. DC United had some representation in both awards, with Eric Johnson winning the US Player of the Year, with Mikkel 'Mixx' Diskerud finishing second.

Former DC United player Andy Najar won the US Young Player of the Year award, with MLS rookie Lovemore Sadomba, who I believe was robbed and wasn't given any considering for the MLS Rookie of the Year, finishing second.

Recently asked about the accomplishments of his players, DC United manager Ricky Nakano was excited for the individual awards his players received. "I really excited that the USSF has recognized the individual achievements of 3 of our current players at DC United and I couldn't be happier for them. Johnson and Diskerud both took a big step forward in their development as footballers and Sadomba came to camp in shape and ready to win a spot in my starting XI from the beginning. He really impressed me in preseason friendlies to earn his spot and he never relinquished it throughout the season. He showed the composure and maturity of someone more than a player who just turned pro."

And asked about the disappointment of losing in the MLS Cup final in Kansas City and whether there will be struggles trying to get back to the final again, Nakano responded: "These players are part of a core group that I want to build around to eventually bring a championship back to the DC area for the fans for the 2015 season and beyond. I think the motivation from the loss stings with the coaching staff and the players in the dressing room and I want us to respond positively and hungry for trophies. The fans know we can win, with our back to back US Open Cup titles, but winning the MLS Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League are next on the list for us."

Player of the Year

1st: Eric Johnson (DC United)
2nd: Mikkel Diskerud (DC United)
3rd: Robbie Finley (Seattle)

US Young Player of the Year

1st: Andy Najar (San Jose)
2nd: Lovemore Sadomba (DC United)
3rd: Sean Cunningham (Malmo FF)

[Deisler26]

Congrats on the strong showing with the PotY!

[B.W.G]

Congrats on another US Cup win but unlucky with losing to San Jose in the MLS Cup final!Hopefully next season will see you clinch the MLS title!

[AK22]

Decent season rancer

Unlucky in the league and the Champions League, but nice to get revenge against Galaxy in the cup. Confident about fighting on three fronts again next season?

[rancer890]

Congrats on the strong showing with the PotY!

Cheers Deisler. It's nice to see we got quality players at DC United, which makes me even more confident of my chances of succeeding here.

Congrats on another US Cup win but unlucky with losing to San Jose in the MLS Cup final!Hopefully next season will see you clinch the MLS title!

I hope so too. We were really close and I think this season we can break through.

Decent season rancer

Unlucky in the league and the Champions League, but nice to get revenge against Galaxy in the cup. Confident about fighting on three fronts again next season?

Well we face Mexican club Morelia in the Quarter-Finals in February...the rest of the draw

LA Galaxy vs Chivas
Seattle vs Cruz Azul
Vancouver vs Puerto Rico Islanders
Morelia vs DC United

They've been a midtable side so far, so perhaps we can catch them while they're on bad run.

My contract is expiring at the end of the season, but we'll see what happens. I want to win a Champions League in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa so when I win the CONCACAF Champions League I'm not sure if there's much point (other than winning the MLS Cup) in staying. Personally I would fancy South Africa/China/South Korea after my time at DC United.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Couple of decent seasons at DC.

[rancer890]

2016 MLS Superdraft and Supplemental Draft - DC United - Major League Soccer

Superdraft

Unlike last year, where we used the draft to restock our roster, this year, we won't be big players at the draft.

1st Round: No picks

We traded our first round pick in the Eddie Gaven trade with Sporting KC.

2nd Round:

18th pick- San Jose - Thabang Mavimbela - He was the best player left on the board.

We traded our own second round pick to reacquire Calistus Ncube from Sporting KC.

3rd Round:

14th pick - LA Galaxy - Christian Martinez - I think he will make the team, but not sure about his playing time.

17th pick - DC United - Greg Bailey - I think he can make the squad, but whether he gets some games in remains to be seen.

We acquired this pick for a 3rd string GK in Joe Orozco back in 2014.

2016 Grades:

Philadelphia: A+
Seattle: A+
Real Salt Lake: A+
Chivas USA: A+
DC United: A+
San Jose: A+
Colorado: A+
Portland: A
New York: A-
LA Galaxy: C+
Sporting KC: C+
Houston: C
Columbus: C
Chicago: C-
Toronto FC: E
Vancouver: E
New England: E
FC Dallas: E

No idea how we got A+ in that group we drafted..

Supplemental Draft

It's highly unlikely the following 3 players will make the team but I'll give them a chance.

1st Round - Joe Ramirez - decent player but don't think he's good enough

2nd Round - Xaropinho - he was BPA

3rd Round - Ptah Taylor - I will admit, I drafted him because of his name...

[rancer890]

Couple of decent seasons at DC.

Cheers Nobby. Hopefully the next one can be even better.

[cerud]

I'm liking Thabang at centreback there. What is his star rating?

[rancer890]

I'm liking Thabang at centreback there. What is his star rating?

Not very high. 2-2.5 star potential (or somewhere around there). I'm not releasing him but we have Caldwell, Gilton, Ncube, Williams ahead of him. And Morales and Shanosky can also play centre back if need be. I really don't think this draft class will make as big as an impact as last year's draft class.

[rancer890]

2016 Offseason Transfers - DC United - Major League Soccer

Transfers

Barely made any signings this off-season, only signing 2 players.

Marco Antonio De la Rosa - originally from the Chivas USA Academy, He has played for Real Salt Lake for 3 seasons, and a season with the LA Galaxy.

Emad Mostafa - this highly talented Egyptian played for one of the better clubs in Egypt and all of Africa in Ismaily, scoring 13 goals in 29 games in the 2015-2016 season before coming to play soccer in America in the nation's capital.

Pereira wanted DP salary, and with Mostafa on the team, I wasn't going to give him (or his agent) what they wanted so I got rid of him. It was also because I was over the foreigner limit and needed to get rid of a player, and he was the one. The other players were all fringe players and I wouldn't have played them even if they made the 30-man squad.

--------

CONCACAF Champions League

Quarter-Final

1st Leg: Morelia 0-3 DC United
2nd Leg: DC United 0-2 Morelia

Solid first leg but terrible second leg meant we had to hang on to hopefully advance, which we did.

Other scores:

LA Galaxy 2-5 Chivas
Seattle 2-3 Cruz Azul
Vancouver 7-3 Puerto Rico Islanders
Morelia 2-3 DC United

Semi-Final

1st Leg: Chivas 0-3 DC United
2nd Leg: TBD

Other scores:

Cruz Azul 0-0 Vancouver

Now hopefully we can finish the job in the 2nd leg. This club has a bad habit of chilling a bit too much in the 2nd leg of matches.

-----

I didn't play this save a lot (due to playing my Andorran youth challenge save...) but I'll try and stick with this till the end of the season at least.

Mixx Diskerud doesn't want a new contract, half my team is wanted, many players want a pay raise, the manager wants a pay raise. The chairman of course, said no. So I'm not going to agree to one till I get the salary I deserve. I'm sure they don't want me going on the pitch and pretending to sign a cheque do they?

[cerud]

Nice to see Vancouver doing well in the CONCACAF Champions League

Also, pulling a De Rosario probably won't win you many points

[B.W.G]

Good luck in finishing the job,hopefully you can win CONCACAF Champions League this season

[rancer890]

Nice to see Vancouver doing well in the CONCACAF Champions League

Also, pulling a De Rosario probably won't win you many points

But he won the MVP award this season! So surely he's justified a DP salary now.

TBF, I could a gigantic paycut to come to MLS (from $150,000 a season with a potential of getting $350,000 with EC Santo Andre, to a bit under $70,000 a season with DC United). The team made over $7 million in profit (this is even with the terrible leasing agreement the team has with RFK Stadium where we pay $2 million a season to play there) and there's over $20 million in the coffers...

Good luck in finishing the job,hopefully you can win CONCACAF Champions League this season

Cheers B.W.G. Hopefully all goes well in the 2nd leg...

[CoachFlu]

A bit late - very late even - but: Belgium World Champs...

It's not a total shocker though. I mean, obviously it won't happen IRL, but Belgium does have a talented, young generation of players who have been under-performing IRL, so it's no surprise that they tend to do better in FM than in reality.
(They're not doing nearly as well in my game though.)


Nice progress in the career. Not too far away from real success with DC United, I'd say.
How's the MLS running in this version? I've been considering adding the league to my save later in the career, but the USA still seems to be the most active topic in the "League Specific Issues" section of the bugs forum, so I'm a bit wary.

[rancer890]

A bit late - very late even - but: Belgium World Champs...

It's not a total shocker though. I mean, obviously it won't happen IRL, but Belgium does have a talented, young generation of players who have been under-performing IRL, so it's no surprise that they tend to do better in FM than in reality.
(They're not doing nearly as well in my game though.)


Nice progress in the career. Not too far away from real success with DC United, I'd say.
How's the MLS running in this version? I've been considering adding the league to my save later in the career, but the USA still seems to be the most active topic in the "League Specific Issues" section of the bugs forum, so I'm a bit wary.

Belgium are 3rd in the World Rankings. And have stayed consistently in the top 5 since 2014.

And actually, DC United haven't made the MLS Cup playoffs since 2007 to present IRL...so we're as far from the recent 'success' from DC United as we can get actually.

MLS has been vastly improved compared to previous versions. Mind there are some issues that need to fixed but nothing 'game breaking' as far as I'm concerned. I'm one of those who have posted in the 'League Specific Issues' so hopefully they will get fixed in the next patch.

[rancer890]

We're through to the Final!

Cruz Azul 2-0 Vancouver. So we're facing Cruz Azul in the Final. The first leg is away, and the second leg is at RFK.

[Deisler26]

Good luck with the final! That rental agreement with RFK is mental.

[rancer890]

Good luck with the final! That rental agreement with RFK is mental.

Cheers Deisler. And go figure. The team with the most MLS Championships might be moved to Baltimore. And I'll hate it if that happens. If they can build Nationals Ballpark and Fedex Field I think it's possible for them to build DC United Stadium and demolish RFK. It's not viable for the real life team to pay $2 million in rent when less than 20k go watch the team play. DC and New England need a SSS!!!

[Deisler26]

Cheers Deisler. And go figure. The team with the most MLS Championships might be moved to Baltimore. And I'll hate it if that happens. If they can build Nationals Ballpark and Fedex Field I think it's possible for them to build DC United Stadium and demolish RFK. It's not viable for the real life team to pay $2 million in rent when less than 20k go watch the team play. DC and New England need a SSS!!!

I totally agree. Who owns DC United?

[rancer890]

I totally agree. Who owns DC United?

Will Chang is the chairman in the game. I don't follow DC United much IRL (maybe a little more when DeRo was there), but from a quick wiki check he also partly owns the San Francisco Giants. US sports don't always have local owners so they mostly don't really care where a team is located as long as they make enough profit....

[rancer890]

CONCACAF Champions League Final 1st Leg



It was a decent first leg, and we were lucky to get out of Mexico with a draw.

CONCACAF Champions League Final 2nd Leg



DC United are the Champions of North America!!!!

[Deisler26]

Congrats! Great win!

[ManUTactician247]

Looks like Cruz Azul have a Thomas Vermaelen in their team

[AK22]

Nice result, well deserved too! Well done!

[roganp]

Well done, great victory!

[B.W.G]

Congrats on becoming the champions of North America!

[deltablue]

Great victory.

[rancer890]

Cheers guys. Now my focus is getting DC their first MLS Cup Championship since 2004, and we'll see how we do at the Club World Cup at the end of the year.

And who knows what after that, my contract is expiring at the end of the season.

[City2000]

Doing great with DC Now to bring home that MLS Championship!

[rancer890]

Doing great with DC Now to bring home that MLS Championship!

Cheers City2000. I'll try my best.

[rancer890]

Having a bit of a dilemma:



Here's the Club Overview and the facilities.

At least they have cheaper rent than DC United.

I'm gonna sleep on this, but I'll be delaying at least a week regardless.

[rancer890]

June 28, 2016

2016-2017 Season - Galatasaray S.K. - Spor Toto Super Lig

ISTANBUL - Galatasaray have formally introduced former EC Santo André and DC United manager Ricky Nakano as the new manager of the club. He has signed a 4 year contract until the end of June, 2020 with an annual wage of US$1.5 million. The Canadian-Hong Kong manager had recently guided DC United to the CONCACAF Champions League and had guided the club to a fantastic start in the MLS season.

"I'm very excited to become the new manager of Galatasaray," the Canadian exclaimed, "I believe that club has what it takes to get to the next level and challenge for the domestic title and in Europe. This is a big club with a lot of potential and I'm happy with what's ahead."

"I haven't had much of a chance to look at the squad and the staff at the club but in the next few days I will examine the club from top to bottom and get to work."

-------

I'm going to (try and) raid DC United for some staff and players...

My ass man, coach, and fitness coach all resigned when I left DC so I'm going to try and get them to come with me to Turkey. There's a lot of potential here but there's a strict foreigner limit so I will try and deal with it. Of course, I dealt with strict limits in Brazil and in MLS so this is nothing new.

[cerud]

Great win in teh CONCACAF Champions League! And interesting move to Turkey....I like it though. I think DC have had their time with you and now its time to move on. How's the Turkish league look?