FM12: Philadelphia Union - Finding Their Feet

• Bored of FM12?
  
• Looking for an interesting challenge?
  
• Want to try a completely different league?
  

If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then Philadelphia Union is the team for you!

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History

Philadelphia Union were founded in 2008, after Philadelphia was selected by the MLS to become the home of its 16th franchise. Following rumours that the MLS were looking to expand, the Sons of Ben supporters group was founded, and sought to prove that their city was already a "soccer city" in a bid to see the MLS come to Philadelphia. Ultimately, this intense lobbying is creditted as being the main reason why Philadelphia were awarded the 16th spot.

The First Season

The 2010 MLS season marked the Union's first forays in the MLS. They began life as an MLS team with a 2-0 defeat away to the Seattle Sounders, before playing their first home game against North Eastern rivals D.C. United. In front of nearly 35,000 fans at the Lincoln Financial Field, home of NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, a Sebastien Le Toux hat-trick saw them defeat 10-man D.C. 3-2. Their first game in their permanent home, PPL Park, was an 18,775 sell-out against Seattle. They avenged their opening day defeat with a 3-1 victory over the Sounders.

Ultimately, the Union ended the season with 31 points from 30 games, finishing 7th in the Eastern Conference and 14th overall, ahead of Chivas USA and D.C. United. Their top scorer was Sebastien Le Toux, who finished with an impressive 14 goals in 28 games, including 11 assists.

Facilities

Located next to the Delaware River and beside the Commodore Barry Bridge, both of which can be seen from approximately 60% of the stadium, PPL Park (named after the Philadelphia-based utility firm Pennsylvania Power and Light) opened in June 2010 at the cost of $120m. In FM12, it can hold up to 18,500, with the potential to expand it up to around 26,000. From experience, you will usually see attendances of 97% capacity, which means expansion can usually happen very quickly, if you're successful.

The club also possess Good Training Facilities, although it is lacking in Youth Facilities. Upgrading these is not an urgent matter however, as you will mostly be relying on the Superdraft for your younger players.

Facilities screen

Roster

Goalkeepers

19 year old McMath was a 1st Round (#5 overall) draft pick for the Union coming in the 2011 Superdraft, so in effect he is a complete rookie. His starting attributes vary from game to game, but the attributes above show a basic idea of what you can expect. He is a very talented goalkeeper, and in my game he has a promising PA.

He is a rough diamond, though, and requires a lot of work to enable him to fufill his undoubted potential. He is also the only goalkeeper on the roster, so bringing in another, more experienced goalkeeper is a must. I recommend not bringing in a younger goalkeeper if you want to develop McMath.

Potential transfers - Matt Reis, New England; Bill Gaudette, Free; Steve Cronin, Free

Defenders

Carlos Valdes

Defence is an area with a lot of quality, if lacking a little depth. Carlos Valdes is the best defender on your roster at the start of the game. A new arrival from Santa Fe, he makes for a great all-round centre back. Alongside him at centre-back, you have Danny Califf, who is a decent player, although his age and lack of height mean you should probably look at signing a new defender, especially as Valdes isn't the tallest either. At right back, you have young Sheanon Williams, who like McMath has great potential to become one of your best players. The fact he is already good enough to play week in, week out is a bonus, so you should enjoy watching him flourish into a top quality right back. As for left-back, you only have Porfirio Lopez in on loan. My recommendation is that you bring in at least one left back to cover him, as Williams is the only other player in your team who can competently play at left back.

Potential transfers - Bobby Boswell, Houston; Ike Opara, San Jose; Heath Pearce, Chivas USA

Midfielders

At the start of the game, your midfield is the area with most strength in depth, especially in the centre. Fresh from his European exploits, Freddy Adu is back in the MLS to revive his stumbling career, and provides an excellent creative outlet for your frontline to feed off. To hold the midfield steady, you have great defensive midfielders in the form of Brian Carroll and Gabriel Gomez, as well as young Amobi Akugo, who has the potential to become a great player judging by his PA.

One thing you do lack at the start of the game is out-and-out wingers, although players such as Roger Torres, Michael Farfan and Adu can easily play out wide.

No transfers needed

Forwards

Sebastien Le Toux

Another area with brilliant depth. Sebastien Le Toux is a Union legend following his first season at the club, but you may find it tough to replicate that with his attributes. Still, you'll find he chips in with a few goals if you play him right. The younger forwards are where you should be looking at most, with no fewer than four strikers under the age of 21 who could develop into stars. These are Costa Rican Josue Martinez, Danny Mwanga, Jack McInerney and Chandler Hoffman. It may be best to be rid of Lionard Pajoy, Antoine Hoppenot and Krystian Wikowski.

No transfers needed

Full Roster

4. Danny Califf - DC

5. Carlos Valdes - DC *#

6. Porfirio Lopez - DL #

7. Brian Carroll - DM *

8. Roger Torres - ML #

9. Sebastien Le Toux - ST *

10. Danny Mwanga - ST ^ [GA]

11. Freddy Adu - AM * [DP]

12. Gabriel Gomez - DM #

13. Lionard Pajoy - ST #

14. Amobi Akugo - DM ^ [GA]

15. Gabriel Farfan - MR

16. Raymon Gaddis - DR

17. Keon Daniel - MC #

18. Zac McMath - GK ^ [GA]

19. Jack McInerney - ST ^ [GA]

20. Chandler Hoffman - ST ^ [GA]

21. Michael Farfan - AM

22. Greg Jordan - DM ^

23. Nazir Khalfan - MR #

24. Jimmy McLaughlin - MR

25. Sheanon Williams - DR ^

26. Tom Brandt - DR

27. Zach Pfeffer - MC ^

28. Josue Martinez - ST ^ #

29. Krystian Wikowski - ST

30. Antoine Hoppenot - ST

31. Brandon Zimmerman - DM

# = International player; * = Star player; Italics = On loan; [GA] = Generation Adidas; [DP] = Designated Player; ^ = Youth Prospect;

Tactics

MLS teams prefer to play a compact game, using full backs to provide their width. This means that formations such as 4-3-3 are commonplace, and indeed this is how I've done well with Union in the past. Here's an example of this:

Or you could play a formation that utilizes Adu in a more advanced position, such as the formation below:

The great thing is that there is a lot of versatility in the team, and as you will see, you can utilize players in a number of positions to suit your tactics.

Tips

So you've decided (hopefully) that you want to manage the Union in the MLS, but you may be unsure of how to begin. So here are some tips and hints to make it a smoother ride.

• Familiarise yourself with the transfer system. It can be daunting at the early stages of your career, but after a season you'll be fine. Also familiarise yourself with the squad regulations.
  
• Try and fill your backroom with as much quality as you can. At first, you will only be allowed about 3 coaches, so make them count.
  
• You may have a slow start, you may not be challenging straight away. It's okay, persist. You're only expected to be reasonably competitive in your first year, so as long as you're not 20 points behind the rest of the field half way through the season, you should be fine.
  
• The squad is young and there is pure, raw talent in your roster. They can easily be moulded to your style of play.
  
• You may be tempted to use your free Designated Player spot to bring in a better player from abroad. It may be best to wait a couple of seasons before bringing in a Beckham-esque player, as you may not have the income streams to cover a player coming in on $60k a week.
  
• If you have used up your remaining DP spot (Freddy Adu is also a DP at the start of the game), you can purchase a third one for $250k from your allocation fund. This will be all your allowed however, so use them wisely.
  
• If a younger player isn't getting as much game time as you'd planned, you can use your affiliation with Third Division side Harrisburg City Islanders to give them some experience.
  
• If you can, try not to have a full roster at the start of the season. You can usually pick up a good player in the Waiver Draft, and there are a few "Weighted Lotteries" for (mostly) talented young players to decide where they go, so allow one or two spaces in your roster for that.
  

I think that covers all the bases. Feel free to ask questions about anything, I'll try and answer. Otherwise, have fun and don't let the Sons of Ben down!

Reserved for future use

Reserved, again

this made me install fm12 again... i'm going to give it a try

Had a game as the Union to go along with my Villa save was great fun, mainly because Adu is probably my favorite player well along with Rivaldo and Laursen.

I agree with the compact formation I played my favorite formation 4-3-1-2 with Adu in behind the strikers, this worked very well and I managed to win the Mls,Champions league and the Us Cup 3 seasons running, now having a break from Fm till 2013.

Another tip would be get Reis in as back up keeper then at the end of the English league season get Guzan on a free from Aston Villa.

Nice thread dude .

Welk done.

Cheers guys. First time I've done a thread like this, just figure the Union are a fun team to have a "different" save with. I would say I'm disappointed that I keep mispelling Okugo

Also, just added another tip about not having a full 30 player roster due to the Waiver Draft and Weighted Lottery system.

And I have suggested Reis as a potential transfer in my squad overview

Bump for interest