[FM15] MLS Save with NYCFC

If you have just found this thread, the first 110 posts deal with me playing NYCFC with FM15 for one season. After that, I will be doing the same 2015 season using FM16.

This is my attempt to play NYCFC in MLS in season 2015 with the actual roster. After playing 4 seasons with Wolves on FM15 and a season with RBNY in MLS on FM15, I decided to take a different approach. I have played in the past as a manager who has progressed too quickly through seasons. This time I plan to take my time and maybe only play one match (or 2 ) per week at the most. Although I have played FM since 2007, I feel I have still MUCH to learn from this game. Hopefully, by slowing it down I will learn much more. Here's my profile.

Just now learned how to use Photobucket to post screenshots.

Here's our logo.

Here's where we play:

The game date is now Jan 11, 2015 and I had to do a few tricks to get the roster to be as close to the real thing as possible.

First, I had to wait until SI released the latest update at the end of February. Then after I had problems with the animation, I had to delete my SI files and reload the game. I was very careful in getting my team ready for the 2015 season. I could not begin right away in Jan 2014 as that MLS season was about to begin and NYCFC was not in the game yet. After a little trial & error, I began the game as unemployed with Holiday Man until Dec 7, 2014. The Holiday Man suggestion came from the Challenges Forum. There I began as manager of NYCFC. Carefully, I continued day by day until my squad was assigned to me. It was pretty intact compared to how NYCFC has started IRL. Now this roster was given to me BEFORE the actual expansion draft occurred in the game in late December. I chose NOT to participate in that draft since I already had my squad. A note of significance, Jose Altidore was available from TFC and went to Orlando as the 1st pick.

Could not get Shay Facey on loan from Manchester City after numerous attempts. Either he didn't want to come or I would have had to use a DP roster spot to get him. Loaning him was not an option for me. He would only have been here until June anyway with Lampard coming at that time.

Now I am going to take my time learning more about training & tactics as I have kind of just played the game without learning from the veterans on this forum (especially in trading). I will post later in the week in the middle of preseason as I have 12 friendlies lined up.

I did participate in the MLS supplemental draft and picked up Richie Rivas and Alex Ammann (not showing because he went to the reserves squad). Don't plan to use them unless I have to.

I have rejected about 7 offered for Jeb Brovsky, 5 for Josh Saunders and a few for Andrew Jacobson.

Mix Diskerud wanted to go to a Mexican team, but no offer came. Now he's happy to stay. The next day a different Mexican team expressed interest. Should be interesting how this will pan out.

Adam Nemec is also unhappy because he wants to go to a higher reputation team. I have rejected those inquiries also.

Well, let's see how it goes.

Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi is on my roster in error because, in game, he was traded from SJ to NYCFC in 2014. He played 24 games IRL for SJ that year and has already played 1 match for SJ in 2015. I'll have to decide whether to keep him, trade or sell him.

I can see already it is going to be tough keeping the roster as close to reality as possible.

Good luck

Thanks john1.

Game Dates: Jan 12 thru Jan 19, 2015.

Signed Jeb Brovsky to a 2 year extension as I didn't want to lose him. Salary increase was fair BUT agent fee I don't think was.

After first offer, agent locked fee as non-negotiable. Anyone know anyway around this?

Is there a guideline of what an agent's fee should be compared to player's salary?

Picked up Bismarck Adjei-Boetang, 20 yr old mid, on loan from Man City as a replacement for Facey who I could not get. I'm considering this a fair replacement.

Team came back from holiday and I am trying to set up training but my assistant is in charge of training and even though I've taken away this responsibility from him, the team training is still assigned to him and I can't change the focus. Any thoughts?

I have 32 players on my roster at the moment and will have to cut down to 30 to begin the season. I have a few guys who aren't really with NYCFC and some of them will probably go.

I bought a DP roster spot in case NYCFC picks up someone in the summer, as is rumored.

I just looked at the league odds to win the MLS Cup and we have the 4th best chance at 12-1.

Toronto leads at 3-1, San Jose at 5-1 and LA at 10-1.

This project is fun so far. Let's see if it stays that way.

If the agent locks the fee as non-negotiable, then there's nothing you can do about it really. In fairness, you can make parts of your offer non-negotiable too, so it makes sense the other side can do the same. Shame it's the agent fee in this case, as it's the one thing I most object to, especially in my save when it comes out of a bascially non-existent transfer budget, so in some cases it makes it impossible to sign your players to a new contract because the agent demands a fee yet you have no transfer budget to use.

Training problem solved--had to advance a day in order for me to take charge.

Now that the training problem is out of the way, you can dominate!

I didnt realise the update had the official roster i started a career with NYCFC last month and basically built the squad through the draft, wasn't massively enjoyable so not been back to it .... but might give it another go now!

Good luck

I didnt realise the update had the official roster i started a career with NYCFC last month and basically built the squad through the draft, wasn't massively enjoyable so not been back to it .... but might give it another go now!Good luck

Now that the training problem is out of the way, you can dominate!

We've gone most of the way through preseason by playing 10 of 12 matches. I've played at a quicker pace than originally planned. But now I intend to slow it down and only play 1 or 2 matches per week. NYCFC have now played 3 matches IRL by going 1-2-0. This FM15 squad currently stand at 6-2-2 in preseason.

We started this campaign by going 4-0 in the first 4 matches which included wins vs international squads Millionaros and Atletico Nacional.

We were playing a 4-3-3 wide DM. But my intentions are to play with the actual NYCFC squad, I finally sold one of the best players, DM Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi. My DoF had traded for him in 2014. He is currently on SJ in real life. I sold him to Portland for $300,000 allocation funds and 2 future supplemental draft picks. I figure I might need the funds in case NYCFC sign some big name in the summer.

I began playing with a 3-5-2 defensive formation similar to Cleon's 3-4-3 tactic. However, I slid back the left wing into a CWB so I could play Brovsky. So it is really a 4-4-2 with the defense bearing to the left and the midfield to the right. After making this adjustment, we beat LA Galaxy 4-0 with Villa scoring all 4 (2 FK & 1 PK). But then only tied lowly, Arizona United 1-1. Nemec was, and is, currently injured for that one.

Have 2 more preseason matches against MLS squads, Seattle and Houston.

The 2 losses were against international clubs Sporta Prague 1-3, and FC Red Bull Salzburg 2-4. We were never in the matches.

Here are the squad stats in preseason:

Well, finally about to start the season after playing & replaying numerous matches vs Seattle & Houston for my final 2 preseason games. It took quite a while to determine what formation & tactic that we will use for most of the season, but have finally decided on a 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow. Not much is written in the forums concerning this tactic as it does not seem to be as popular as it has been in the past. I believe it is because the flanks appear to be wide open for opposition runs by the fullbacks. Let's see how it goes.

NYCFC is playing a Control mentality and Structured shape.

-----------CF-a------------DLF-s-----------------

--------------------T-a----------------------------

----------BBM-s-----------RPM-s-----------------

-------------------BWM-d-------------------------

-WB-s----CD-d------------CD-d------CWB-a----

--------------------SK-s--------------------------

Key players are David Villa at the CF-a spot and

Mix Diskerud at RPM-s.

I decided to try to ONLY play with players on NYCFC roster. I sold a good DM and dropped a loanee from Man City who aren't really with the real life team. Both players would have improved the starting lineup.

I also waived 2 picks that I selected in the supplemental draft and 2 players on my reserve squad. I cut them after a certain deadline, however, and I believe their wages will count the whole season vs my salary cap. This could hurt me later on if no wages are available to sign a 3rd DP as is rumored for the real life team (Xavi).

We keep getting offers for a few players that are well below their value in the game. I keep rejecting them. However, Sparta Prague has recently upped its bid for Mix Diskerud that is well above his worth. Rejected it and hope he wants to stay here in NYC.

Recently we tried different defend set piece tactics. One of which was heralded to never give up a corner goal. Well, Houston seemed to pick it apart in every scrimmage we had with a goal a game. Scrapped that one and am trying something else.

In keeping with the true roster of NYCFC, just yesterday I signed newly acquired GK Erik Johansen. It is our 4th GK but I'm trying my best to copy real life NYCFC.

I'm currently confused about the reserve squad. MLS really only allows 30 registered players. Not really enough to have a first team and a reserve team. In fact, there is no reserve league or matches scheduled. I took over and there were 3 reserve matches already scheduled, but no more. Where are my backups supposed to get playing time?

The first team opens up at home vs defending MLS champion LA Galaxy. I am planning to play this match in the next day or two. I will post the results and some thoughts about the match.

I'm currently confused about the reserve squad. MLS really only allows 30 registered players. Not really enough to have a first team and a reserve team. In fact, there is no reserve league or matches scheduled. I took over and there were 3 reserve matches already scheduled, but no more. Where are my backups supposed to get playing time?

Reserve league got ditched a few years ago. Consensus was that it wasn't providing an adequate match experience (partly because they'd have to bring trialists to make up the numbers)

IRL they have an affiliation agreement with Wilmington in USL, so you could farm a few players out there. But of course then you don't have them available to play in your matches.

Well, ready to start the season AND guess what? My game crashes as I'm about to continue to "opposition instructions'. After clicking on Steam and FM15 again and getting ready to go, my 3D players have reverted back to gliding zombies. I'm not even going to try to fix this. I will continue the save in 2D format. After loading the 15.3 version back in February, my squad became zombies then. In order to fix it, I had to uninstall the game and all of its files. NOT doing that again. Haven't played 2D since my FML days.

Well, ready to start the season AND guess what?  My game crashes as I'm about to continue to "opposition instructions'.  After clicking on Steam and FM15 again and getting ready to go, my 3D players have reverted back to gliding zombies.  I'm not even going to try to fix this.  I will continue the save in 2D format.  After loading the 15.3 version back in February, my squad became zombies then.  In order to fix it, I had to uninstall the game and all of its files.  NOT doing that again.  Haven't played 2D since my FML days. 

Played the match in 2D vs LA. Pleasantly surprised that I was able to follow the "dots" and see better what my players were doing right & wrong. I could actually see them keeping their shape and setting up their attacks.

I've been letting my assman do oppo instructions as he seems to have gotten them correct in preseason. I used to just close down & hard tackle strikers. Not doing that anymore. Let him decide. I've noticed that he chooses not to tight mark anyone. Good choice as my CDs are slow.

I have not been very successful in getting a good response from any of my pregame team talks. The best has been "listened keenly". In fact, when I get assman's feedback afterward, David Villa is always disappointed in my team talks.

I did some changes from my lineups that I was frequently playing in preseason. I went with Meara over Saunders in goal as I decided to play with a SK-s because I was playing with a higher line. Meara is given more stars in squad depth but attributes seem to indicated Saunders is a better defender. IRL, Saunders has been given the start in all 4 matches IRL.

I moved Brovsky to CWB-a on the right side from the left. He is right footed and has more stars over there. Decided to go with Wingert on the left and keep Williams on the bench for now. Watson-Strobe got he nod over Hernandez at one CD for now. George John is my best defender with 4 stars. Has not played yet IRL as he is still recovering from an injury sustained in 2013.

Jacobson at DM BWM-d. Gabrovoy at CM BBM-s. Just want solid games from them. Don't need anything spectacular.

Diskerud at CM-RPM-s. Found he was better in this role over AP-a.

Loanee Calle at AMC T-a. Villa at CF-a on the left side. CF will keep him back a little as he was offside too many times. Mullins in at DLF-s in place of Nemec who is injured and may be back for game #2.

The match couldn't have gone better!!!

Mullins scored in the 4th minute on a pass from Villa and Villa scored in the 5th minute. LA got one back in the 23 minute on a header from one of their midfielders. Villa scored again in the 30th minute off a long boot from GK Meara. And that's how it ended NYCFC 3 LA 1.

Robbie Keane was not a threat as he only had 1 shot. Neither was Villarreal.

We outshot LA 24-15 and had 54% possession. Villa had 2 goals, 1 assist, 2 off the woodwork, a 9.1 rating and PoM. Diskerud had a 7.1 rating and seemed to control the midfield. Meara was solid in net with a 7.5.

At the 72nd minute I made one sub by bringing on Mendoza for Mullins. I put Mendoza in as another DM with an A-d role. Changed my WB and CWB to FB-d. I also changed from a Control-Structured to a Standard-Highly Structured mentality-shape. I don't like to go to a prevent defense because it always seems to prevent me from winning the games.

It might be a little quirk of mine, but I always like to make my sub before the 75th minute as I like for them to get a rating for the match. Weird-I know.

It will be hard to replicate that match, but we'll try. The team had a composite 7.5 rating.

San Jose is next with Innocent Emeghara who had 3 goals in their opening match. I had read about him on these boards as a good player to pick up. At least SJ doesn't have Wondo anymore as he is in Columbus in this save.

Reserve league got ditched a few years ago. Consensus was that it wasn't providing an adequate match experience (partly because they'd have to bring trialists to make up the numbers)IRL they have an affiliation agreement with Wilmington in USL, so you could farm a few players out there. But of course then you don't have them available to play in your matches.

Is there a "reserve squad" or a youth squad available? (I'm not managing in MLS atm) Could arrange friendlies for that squad and then just make your reserves available for it.

Yes, there is a reserve squad. But, it came with 2 players on it and I am able to make my senior players available to play in reserve games. There were 4 matches already scheduled back in Jan Feb 2015 which I sent players down to play in these matches. But I am unable to schedule anymore matches for this squad.

What is weird though is that there is also an academy squad with 32 players of which I can arrange matches. The reserve squad has no tab to click to even try to do this.

Preparing for the match vs San Jose. But something I didn't mention about the LA match. I wanted to sub late in the match to prevent injuries to my 2 key players, Villa & Diskerud. Villa had 2 goals and was shooting for a hat trick. Almost got it with a set piece at 90 minutes. Discard was controlling the match, so saw no reason to sub. Well, on the last play of the match, Diskerud gets injured. Luckily, it turned out to be of no consequence.

Now on to San Jose--They won their match easily vs Chicago. SJ is predicted for 2nd place & Chicago 19th. So it could just have been a mismatch. SJ formation was a 4-4-1-1. But the heat map suggests 4-2-3-1 as the wingers were very aggressive in going to the corners. Their RFB, Pinto, also had 17 crosses from deep, as did their RW with 9. Will probably defend with a LFB-d on that side rather than my WB-s. SJ is strong upfront with Contreras at AMC and Innocent at CF. I noticed my DM, Jacobsen, had 8 mistakes in match vs LA. Only one was near the goal. I will start with my 4-4-2 narrow diamond and see how it goes. I may have to revert to a 4-4-2 because of their wing play.

David Villa scored 2 goals and hit the post twice as NYCFC downed SJ 2-0. The goals came in the 6th and 13th minute. Villa had all 7 1st half shots for NYCFC with 4 on target. SJ only manage 5 in the 1st half. The 2nd half turned into a different game. SJ pushed their 4-1-4-1 into a 4-2-3-1 by moving the wings up to AML & AMR and moved the 2 mids to DMs. I though I could take advantage of the large space in midfield but couldn't get anything going. SJ kept coming at us but never really got close to goal as they finished with 12 shots and only 2 on target. NYCFC gradually went more defensive by moving Mix to DM to join Jacobson and making the FBs defensive. All 6 defensive players rated above 7. GK Meara got the clean sheet. Villa finished at 8.8. SJ had 52% possession. Innocent only had 3 shots, none on target and only 5 runs, none near the goal.

I noticed my tactic is a little too crowded in midfield. Calle at AMC (T-a) is coming back too much and getting in the way of the mids. He also has not contributed much to the attack for 2 matches. I will change him to an AM-(a or s) next match. Diskerud at RPM-s is all over the pitch too. Will change him to probably a CM-a. I haven't been getting forward runs from him. Hope this does the trick.

I noticed that the match was played at Buck Shaw Stadium with an attendance of only 10,250. SJ is in a new stadium IRL for 2015. Surprised that the game did not include this.

In prep for the SKC match at home, I can't believe that SKC is rated 18th of 20 MLS teams. This is a squad with Zusi, Feilhaber and Besler. A team that won the MLS championship 2 years ago. SKC produced 29 shots on goal vs Chicago in its last match & lost 0-1. They won their first match 1-0 vs Columbus. I expected a highly offensive match. What I got from SKC was the opposite.

SKC decided to play a 4-2-3-1 2DM vs NYCFC as if they watched the 2nd half of our prior match vs SJ and saw how much difficulty we had. Well, we had difficulty again as we could not breakdown this defense and lost 0-1. SKC got a goal from a scramble in front of the box after a long throw in from Matt Besler. Goal scored by one of the DMCs, Jorge Claros.

Noticed that Matt Besler took all long throws from the final third from both sides of the pitch and NOT from other 2/3s of the pitch. Didn't know the tactics would do that. Will try that soon.

NYCFC was listless the whole match. Played the same 4-4-2 Dia Narrow with just a few tweaks for a little more than a half. David Villa was offside 4 times in the 1st half. (A note to SI: please get the offsides graphics correct, as 3 times there were 2 defenders 5 yards further back on defense PLUS the GK.) This has been a big annoyance in all my saves.

Midway thru the 2nd half I subbed Villa out (terrible match at 6.1 rating) and played a 4-3-3 with 2 wingers and TMs. Could not penetrate the 2 DMs. NYCFC finished with 14 sog but only 3 on target and 8 were long shots. My CWBa RFB Brovsky was all about sending long passes to no one. BBM MC Grabovoy was great at dribbling forward and slowing down and holding the ball until the defense took it away.

Diskerud has yet to break out and I feel it' is because I haven't chosen the correct role for him.

In 2 days NYCFC will play a friendly vs NY Cosmos. This is setup only to give my 2nd string some playing time and to work on a 2nd tactic, 4-3-3.

I would like to know if anyone knows how to breakdown a 4-2-3-1 2DM defense. I am willing to switch to a different formation.

I look forward to your first MLS season.

I arranged a friendly vs Tampa Bay Rowdies 2 days after the SKC match. This was only to have a run off for my 2nd XI. NYCFC got shutout 0-3. No prep was done for this match. I used a 4-4-2 asymmetrical tactic that had done me well in preseason. Well, it didn't now. I needed to get my wingers some minutes as they hadn't been involved in league play at all in our 3 games. The main objective was met- get the 2nd string match fit. Note: Tampa Bay starting XI played so well, their starting XI had ratings from 7.1 up to 9.0.

I will set up more friendlies as there is no reserve squad schedule. These will only be set up when there is a full week between league matches. MLS has many weeks where you play 3 matches in 8 days.

As far as training goes, I have set up a rest after each match. But I adjust it so that there is no rest after these friendlies as the squad already had a day off this week and the 1st XI did not play in the friendly.

Speaking of training, I listened to a podcast with Alex Stewart and learned that you should get your coach's workload down to "light" in each category. Didn't know that. I spread each coach's duties around and got them down to light. I hope it doesn't affect the type of training the players get.

Portland is next on the schedule. I'm worried that I'll continue to see a 2 DM defensive setup. NYCFC has not done well vs this formation. I'm making sure I have wingers on the bench in case I have to go that route. We're sticking with the 442 diamond narrow for now anyway and seeing how it goes. Made a couple of adjustments though. The DM is now an A-d. I set my 2 FBs to WBs. I wanted to be more defensive in the middle and also cut down on the ridiculous amount of stray crosses that my WB & CWB have delivered. Also wanted them to be ready to cover on the flanks. I moved the BWM duty up to my MCL in place of box to box. Mix Diskerud will be a CM-a at MCR and I'm sticking with an AP-a, DLF-s and CF-a up front. Control-Structured is my starting mentality, shape.

Portland is picked to finish 7th in the league but has gotten off to a slow start with 0w-2d-1L. They are dangerous though. I am familiar with most Portland players as I managed them in an online league 2 years ago.

Gametime:

Portland did come out with a 4213 DM wide. I'll stick with our formation and see how it goes. After an initial rush by the Timbers, NYCFC has started to control the match and the passing is looking real good. Good movement around. I had started with direct passing but each time, Villa is not used to it and I go back to short and retain. Playing in low tempo.

First crisis-Calle, my AMC, gets injured in the 12th minute. I substitute McNamara in his place as he has done well in my many practice matches in FMC. And he can play AMR if I want to go wide later. Normally I would sub in Ballouchy.

NYCFC looks real good out there except for NOT putting anything in the net. Villa's shots are way wide and not close. His FKs are over the crossbar. We are controlling the match at halftime with 9 shots vs 3 for Portland and 58% possession.

Portland came out with a 433 formation in the 2nd half. Now I didn't have to deal with the 2DMs. Well, it turned into a different game in the 2nd half. Portland was very aggressive, both offensively and physically. My top CD, George John, had to leave the game and my MCL, Grabavoy, had to hobble around for 15 minutes as I had used my other sub at halftime, Mullins for Nemec at DLF.

NYCFC held on for the draw 0-0. Portland outshot us 9-2 in the 2nd half. NYCFC finished with 55% possession but I am not happy with the 7 of 11 shots being long and only 2 on target. Most of these shots were Villa's FKs from outside the box and over the net.

Villa also had 5 offsides in spite of my playing him at CF-a instead of poacher. 2 of these offsides were not, as there were many defenders between him and the goal. (Let's fix this)! Villa also had 7 shots, only 1 on target.

Mix Diskerud picked up PoM. Portland's 2 DMs won 30 of 32 tackles together. Could not go between them. Probably should have gone with wingers. Grabovoy will be out for 3 weeks but the other injured, Calle and John, are back. NYCFC took out Portland's Nagbe late in the match with a facial injury and he'll be out 8-10 days.

Our next match is a friendly vs New York Cosmos of NASL. 2nd string fit time. Then we play host to Seattle. Another top team, prediction 5th.

Played an away friendly vs New York Cosmos and the 2nd XI came away with a 2-1 victory. Played a little different formation to get our unused wingers on the field. 4231wide. It was an out of position Conor Brandt who scored first for NYCFC. Normally a left wing, he played MCL. Our 2nd goal came from Khiry Shelton who put in a rebound off the opposing GK for the game winner in the 71st minute.

Next is Seattle at home who shall be a problem. Unbeaten in their 4 MLS contests, they have outscored the opposition 13-7. They've won each game since our 0-0 draw with them in preseason. And they played a 4231 2DM formation in each contest which we have had trouble scoring against. But they have given up 7 goals in 4 matches. So they can be scored upon. They will be losing Clint Dempsey and AMC Marco Pappa due to the international break. Their biggest threat is Obafemi Martins with 7 goals in 4 matches. I wish he had stayed at Newcastle.

NYCFC will be missing Mix Diskerud and Adam Nemec for the international break as well. MCL Ned Grabavoy is out for 3 weeks after being injured in the Portland match. Time to be creative here.

NYCFC tied for 1st in the East, Seattle in 1st in the West. Seems like it is the game of the week.

Surprise, Dempsey and Pappa were back for international duty for Seattle and Diskerud was back for NYCFC. Nemec is still away with Slovakia. Adjusted formation slightly by moving Villa out to AML as an IF. Mullins in ST as P-a and Shelton in DLF-s spot. Calle moves back to MCL as BWM. So it looks like same 442 nar dia but with AMC moved to wing, or a 433(451) with AMR moved up to DLF. We were confident for this match and came out with numerous shots in the first 30 min of the match. However, Villa was way off the mark (again) and couldn't find the net. 4 FKs sailed over the crossbar. A few shots from the field went wide of the net. Rest of the squad was not doing much except playing good defense. Halftime score was 0-0 with NYCFC being more dominant.

At halftime, Villa took over the DLF-s spot for Shelton and Ballouchy came on as a winger on the right side. All was even until the 56th minute when Dempsey shot a screamer that Meara couldn't handle and the rebound off his hands went to the right side right to Martins who put it away. NYCFC upped its mentality from standard to control at this point and had a few weak shots on target but nothing dangerous. In the 80th minute, Dempsey shoots hard again from 18 yards and Meara again gave a rebound off his hands to Martins on the left side this time, for his 2nd goal.

Martins got a 3rd goal in the 90th minute with a header off a FK, unmarked.

This was an embarrassment for NYCFC in the 2nd half. Only bright spot was Jacobson at DM anchorman who had an 8.0. Rest of the team low 6s. Seattle's all 11 men 7.1 or higher with Dempsey 8.7 and 2 assists, Martins 9.5 with 3 goals and Frei in goal at 7.9 and 5 saves. Seattle is easily the class of the league at this point after 5 matches at 5-0-0 with 16 GF and 6 GA. NYCFC drops to 11th overall of 20 teams. Not looking good at this time for a squad that is expected to compete for the Supporter's Shield and be in the Eastern Conference title game. Still early in the season with 29 more matches. Question is whether this is a title contender or just an expansion team. Real Salt Lake is next in 3 days who are at 4w 0d 1L.

Sounds like you've had a tough start, hopefully you can turn things around.

In preparation for RSL I noticed that they lead the league in goals with 19 in 5 matches (oh, boy)! They also play 2 formations, 442 narrow, like us, at home and 4231 2DMs away. Their schedule so far has alternated home & away matches and this upcoming home match for RSL indicates they will play 442narrow. We'll see.

NYCFC have some adjustments to make. Before the Seattle match, Josh Saunders GK confronted me about why he wasn't playing. Told him he would get his chance soon. Now is the time after Meara flubbed 2 shots into goals by mishandling them. Also Nemec isn't back from international duty. And Grabavoy MCL is out with an injury.

Going back to tactic and formation, 442 narrow, from first 2 MLS games where Villa scored 4 goals. Putting him in as a poacher. I don't care how many times he goes offsides if he can net one. Also I'm not restricting Brovsky CWB-a on the right with his crosses. He has in the past launched 18 crosses with 1 connection in many matches. Changing to float crosses from whipped. Going to play Matt Dunn at BWM at MCL in place of injured Grabavoy. Calle will remain at AMC with AM-s role even though I've been disappointed with him. Mullins will mov over to DLF-s in place of Nemec. Control-Fluid. Structured seemed too confining even though I have many specialists.

Well, RSL starts off with the 4231 2DM formation, even at home. Probably have been watching films of our matches.

First 25 minutes shows both squads leery of each other. NYCFC has one shot on goal and RSL-zero. Then Pat Mullins gets a breakawy and dashes down 35 yards and avoids a tackle from Vasquez and puts it in the net for a 1-0 NYCFC lead.

(Note: I wish NYCFC also had a nickname!! Getting tired of NYCFC all the time)

Also--lots of booing from the hometown RSL fans each time a former RSL player on NYCFC touches the ball. That is a nice touch by SI in the FM series.

I didn't mention that even though we're 442 narrow with no wingers, we are using exploit the flanks for the first time, instead of exploit the middle. Wanted to see if it produces more runs down the sidelines. I think it is.

Mullins scores another in the 44th minute but it is waved off for offsides.

Halftime shows NYCFC leading 1-0 and RSL has NO shots, at all.

RSL change to their 442 narrow for the 2nd half. Again the match becomes a back & forth contest and RSL doesn't get a shot until the 79th minute and it is not even on target.

NYCFC takes out exhausted Diskerud and puts in an 2nd DM and change to a Standard-Flexible mentality.

RSL must have increased its mentality as now the shots finally start coming. Beckman put a FK over the crossbar from the 18 in the 83rd minute. Morales hits the post in the 89th minute. The final whistle goes off and RSL has now outshot NYCFC 8-6 for the match but NYCFC wins 1-0 where it really counts, goals. Inspite of NYCFC outplaying RSL for almost the whole contest, Kyle Beckerman gets PoM. (damn those local sportswriters)

David Villa had a quiet night with only 1 shot , 1 offsides at P-a. Patrick Mullins had 4 offsides while playing DLF-s.

Morale has improved and is back into the green color for most of the team.

Now we have 3 matches of 4 as friendlies vs NASL sides. The one MLS match coming up is vs rival NYRB. But 2 friendlies come first.

NYCFC played 2 away friendlies at Sacramento Republic and San Antonio Scorpions. Both ended in 1-1 draws. Both saw NYCFC score near the midway point of the match and the home team score shortly thereafter. Nothing spectacular happened in either match. Both were arranged to try to keep the 2nd XI match fit.

The next match is an MLS contest for the battle of New York. The game is at Red Bull which is in NEW JERSEY. NYRB are currently sitting in 10th and last place in the eastern conference. NYCFC is 2nd.

4/14/2015 Game Time (4/17/2015 IRL)

NYCFC at NYRB. The match isn't 30 seconds old when referee awards PK to RB as CD Watson-Strobe trips Roy Miller about 2 inches in the box. Referee Balderomo Toledo had awarded 14 yellows and 2 reds in his only 2 MLS matches coming into this. I removed my "get stuck in" TI. Bradley Wright-Phillips promptly buries the PK and we're down 1-0 inside of one minute.

NYRB playing a 4231. Whew-no double DM.

David Villa receives a rebound off of his own FK and puts it away to make it 1-1 after 28 minutes.

The 2nd half I took out Javier Calle who has been playing AMC (disappointedly in almost every match) and put in Mullins, but as a AML winger-attack. Mullins produced a goal off of a David Villa corner kick that Nemec headed off the crossbar. The rebound went straight to Mullins' feet. A breakaway by Mullins and a cross to Villa produced a 3rd goal at 89 minutes and NYCFC led 3-1. Good thing, because in the 90th minute a NYRB shot by Roy Miller glanced off Wright-Phillips' hip into the goal. That's how it ended, 3-2 victory for the light blue guys.

Villa's 2 goals brought him to 6 for the season and Mullins' goal gave him 3. We got to spread the scoring around to others, though.

The win put NYCFC 2nd in the Eastern Conference, 7th overall. NYRB remained in 10th in the East and 18th overall.

The referee gave out 1 more yellow in the match and ended with a 9.3 rating. His other 2 matches were at 8.1 & 8.3 and he is rated 2nd in the league. I know, who cares about refs?

Another friendly coming up as we travel to Minnesota to play Minnesota United, who just recently have been awarded a MLS franchise for 2018.

WE now have 3 MLS matches in the next 10 days, Toronto at home, Montreal-away and Philadelphia at home again.

Nice derby win! I'm naturally inclined to prefer NYCFC over the Red Bulls for a number of reasons.

1. Frank Lampard. A legend at my club so I'm naturally inclined to take an interest in his American adventure.

2. Red Bulls are named after an energy drink. Enough said.

3. Crests. NYCFC's evokes thoughts of Inter Milan and baseball. Red Bulls' evokes thoughts of... a sugary beverage. And Sebastian Vettel.

4. NYCFC play in a baseball stadium... not that I'm a Yankees fan. But I like Yankee stadium. Well, I liked the old Yankee stadium.

And... that's about it. Oh yeah, blue > red. There's another!

Nice derby win! I'm naturally inclined to prefer NYCFC over the Red Bulls for a number of reasons.

1. Frank Lampard. A legend at my club so I'm naturally inclined to take an interest in his American adventure.

2. Red Bulls are named after an energy drink. Enough said.

3. Crests. NYCFC's evokes thoughts of Inter Milan and baseball. Red Bulls' evokes thoughts of... a sugary beverage. And Sebastian Vettel.

4. NYCFC play in a baseball stadium... not that I'm a Yankees fan. But I like Yankee stadium. Well, I liked the old Yankee stadium.

And... that's about it. Oh yeah, blue > red. There's another!

Agree with all of this.

NYCFC travels to Minnesota and of course there is some snow on the ground, IN APRIL. After we concede 2 goals in the 24th and 26th minute, our 2 strikers score. Shelton in the 41st min and Poku in the 66th. It ends this way. 3 matches vs NASL squads in 2 weeks and all end in draws. I guess our 2nd XI are no better than a 2nd division American team.

After our success in the last MLS match vs NYRB, I was happy with replacing our AMC with an AML winger-attack. Mullins fit the role well in that match. In this friendly, I put Valesquez over there. Happy with his 7.1 rating and completion of 5 crosses out of 20 attempts. We'll be using this formation in the upcoming Toronto match.

Used only 2nd XI in the Minn United match to get these guys match fit and avoid injury to 1st XI. So what happens? Villa gets injured in a training session. Will be out for 3 to 4 weeks. We'll move Mullins to his AF-a spot and put Valesquez at AML W-a. Calle sits the bench.

With Meara and Saunders as my 2 main GKs, it is hard to keep the other two, Fitzgerald and Johansen in shape and match fit. My staff indicates that Fitzgerald is better than both Saunders and Meara. The attributes don't indicate that though. He also just came back from being on the DL and missed the 1st 6 matches as well as training. I played him the whole game vs Minn rather than split duties with Johansen. This in case I need him. Johansen is complaining about training being too hard. He is only training handling and lightly too. Last 2 guys who complained about that, I cut them.

Game Date 4/18/2015, actually played this match IRL on 4/18/2015

Home game vs Toronto. TFC is missing Michael Bradley (suspended for red card in previous match), NYCFC is missing David Villa-injured.

TFC is coming to NYC with Giovinco but not Jose Altidore. For some reason the game had TFC expose him in the epansion draft after he arrived from Sunderland. Really weird. He now has 5 goals in 8 matches for Orlando.

A change in tactics is in the works for NYC. Villa's absence forces us to move Mullins into AF-a position and we're going to use Valesquez as AML winger-s. Decided to keep Calle in the lineup but moved him back to MC as BWM as Grabrovoy is not match fit yet from his injury. Changing the role of DM Jacobson from A-d to DM-d to give him a little more mobility. Changing tactics to a more overall direct tactic. We'll see how it goes.

TFC comes out in a flat 451 with Giovinco on the RW. However, the AI switches him every 6 minutes between RW and LW. I changed both fullbacks to FB-s and dropped the CWB-a and WB-s I had planned.

TFC controlled the match for most of the time but could not handle Patrick Mullins who scored a hat trick. His 3 goals plus an o.g. by TFC had NYC win 4-1. Gilberto notched one for the visitors in the 79th minute.

Liked the way NYC moved the ball around. Diskerud at MC CM-a got more comfortable as the game progressed and finished with 7.8. Jacobson with 9.0 and Mullins with 9.5. The only downside of the match for us was LFB Wingert getting injured and is going to be out 2-3 weeks. Luckily we can cover that. Saunders was solid in goal again. Valesquez was adequate at winger.

Toronto had more shots, 12-10 and more possession 51%-49% in spite of the having about 9% less passes and crosses. I guess I don't understand how possession works. Next we travel to Montreal where the Impact is 17th overall in MLS.

I noticed this thread has over 1,100 views so far in a month. If you don't mind, I would like to get an idea about who is reading this and why. Please give a shout out and any advice or comment that you would like to make. Thank you.

I'm reading! I actually started a NYCFC save myself back before the updated squads came out, it didn't last, though. I'm interested in seeing how well you do.

We travel to Montreal 4 days later with confidence. Actually, overconfidence. The Impact came out flying in their 4222 (2DM) formation. Luckily we held them off and it was 0-0 at halftime. Possession was 61-39 in MTL favor within 20 minutes. We knew it was going to be a tough night when Pat Mullins missed the net completely at 2:40, all alone with just the GK to beat. Mullins was tired coming into the game and Velasquez was lacking match fitness. I started them anyway, probably a mistake and they were subbed out at halftime. Poku in for Velasquez and Shelton in for Mullins. MTL got on the scoreboard at the 58th min. with a header by Gonzalez. Poku evened it up 10 minutes later with a goal off his own rebound shot. Match ended 1-1. We brought our possession up to 47% finally by slowing it down.

Calle was a disappointment. His 4 FKs in place of Villa sailed over the bar (2 games in a row). I think Mix will take them until Villa gets back. Most passes in these 2 matches have gone through Calle. I'm might play him as a DLP instead of BWM next match. CD-d George John was PoM at 7.9. He's been a rock in defense this season so far.

Back home at Yankee Stadium, we are a tired bunch. This is the 3rd game in 8 days and necessitates subbing for 6 players who are tired and 2 players who are injured. And we are hosting the current 1st place team in the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia. PHL comes in missing their top player in Conor Casey because of injury.

I dropped the mentality to STD-FLEX and got rid of most of the TIs as more than half the team are subs and I want to play a basic game. Well it works as MC BWM Ballouchy scores in the 23rd min. This was after Mullins scored what appeared to be the 1st goal, but it was waved off due to the linesman's ERROR by calling offsides.

We led 1-0 at halftime and the squad looked good but was failing to take advantage of shooting from the 18. Subbed in Mix Diskerud at 67 min and added "shoot on sight". It took awhile for the shots to come but Mix scored at 76 min. to seal the match. NYC wins 2-0.

Dealing with a few players who want to leave to join some Mexican clubs even though no offers have come in. Mix to Monterey and Nemec to Los Tigres. Some other players want to leave to get 1st team football also. But the team is gelling well and now we are in 1st place and tied for 2nd overall. Hope this is enough to keep the troops happy. If not, then it might be difficult to keep the squad together for the whole season.

3 days later we have a friendly at Charleston Battery. Time for a runout with the 2nd XI. Used a 4222 formation to get more of the 2nd squad in the match. A nice 3-0 victory with Velasquez getting 2 goals from the AML winger-attack spot. Poku also got one as a DLF-s. Meara was back in goal as Saunders has taken over the starting spot with the 1st team. Meara need some playing time in case we need him in MLS matches.

New England is next at Foxboro. A couple of our subs are a little tired from the friendly but we should be okay.

Not what we expected in Foxboro. NE came out like gangbusters and dominated the contest the entire way. 60% possession. 19 shots to our 9. Fagundez scored at 40th min for NE. After trying to slow the game down to no avail, we stepped it up after halftime by going back to control-fluid. Substitute Khiry Shelton scored off a dynamite pass from Valesquez in the 55th min to tie the score at 1-1. But NE remained relentless and NYC was lucky to hold on for the draw. NYC was down to 10 men when Mix Diskerud was injured with 10 minutes left to go and no subs left. Happy to get a point from this, even though NE is a last place team.

Another friendly for the 2nd XI. This time in Austin, Texas vs the Aztecs. Goals by Thomas McNamara and Kwadwo Poku gave NYC a 2-1 victory. Again this is just a runout to give our subs playing time and keep them match fit.

Now NYCFC goes back home to play Eastern Conference 3rd place team DC United.

It doesn't look like injured David Villa or Chris Wingert will be ready for this match. They'll have to wait and play a little in the next friendly to be ready for the next MLS match vs Chicago Fire.

'

MLS Overall Standings (Supporters' Shield) 1/3 of the season over.

Looks like you've made a solid start, shouldn't have any problems reaching the playoffs.

In spite of dominating DC United, NYCFC came out on the losing end 0-1 as DC scored in the 88th minute off a long pass from just outside on the right of their own penalty area to substitute Conor Doyle who the raced in and hit the back of the net. To make matters worse, Jeb Brovsky picked up an injury in the 90th minute. It is a fractured skull that will see him on the sidelines for 2 to 3 months.

Again it was the 4222 (2DM) that did us in. Having a lot of trouble breaking this down. Only CD George John had an above 7 rating at 7.5. All 4 defenders for DC had ratings between 7.2 thru 7.8.

We tried to go down the wings and avoid the crowded middle but could only connect on 2 of 28 crosses. 53%-47% possession and 13 shots to 7. Although 7 of our shots were from long range. Unlucky, as 2 shots hit the woodwork.

David Villa played the 2nd half but did not contribute much.

Coming up is an away friendly at FC Edmonton and then a MLS home match vs Chicago Fire.

Off to Canada to play FC Edmonton. Again, another 1-1 draw. Purpose is to get everyone match fit and give playing time to Villa and Wingert who've been injured. Tony Taylor scored for NYCFC to tie it up at the 45 minute mark. That's how it remained. Played a 4222 to get our wingers into the game. Taylor was the only one who did well. It's taking him a while to recover from his early season injury. 20 shots but 11 were from long range. Got to cut that down.

Back home at Yankee Stadium in front of 26,482 fans, NYCFC scores at the 21 second mark as Hernandez, playing at RFB, intercepts a Chicago pass and goes down the sideline and crosses to Villa. Villa heads the ball but it is saved by the GK right to the feet of Calle who puts it away. The Fire's Nyarko scores on a nice rebound off the post to even it up at 1-1 at 36 minutes. We are strong up the middle today with Jacobson at DM, Diskerud at MC RPM, and Calle AMC as AM-a. Up front, not so much. Villa has a poor game, as did Mullins. Nemec went in at halftime as DLF-s. Villa comes out at 72 minutes as we put in Shelton. Nemec has not scored all season and he always has his back to the goal at a long distance away. With 4 minutes to go, we switch Nemec & Shelton. Shelton as DLF-s and Nemec as P-a. Well, Shelton, with his speed is able to beat his marker and cross to Nemec who heads it in for the winner 2 minutes later. We win 2-1.

Chicago had played 2DMs in 1st half but loosened up to 422 in the 2nd half. Nyarko's goal was the only bright spot for the Fire.

We're going back to Edmonton as our friendly vs Oklahoma City was cancelled due to their US cup matchup.

NYCFC's 2nd trip to Edmonton was not a pleasant one as the 2nd team squandered a 1-0 halftime lead and lost 2-1. Most players are match fit and we escaped without getting seriously injured.

Next is a trip to Colorado for a MLS clash followed by trip to Harrisburg City to play the Islanders in a 3rd round US Cup match.