SebJan
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Pentland-Meisel Invitational Cup (Champions: Man Utd)
Los Angeles became the IFF’s first representatives in this Champions’ cup; sadly for them it was to be a brief affair as they were drawn against English and European champions Man Utd, who had little difficulty dispatching the fledgling team from California on a baking late-August night in Los Angeles in front of 71,000 spectators: 2-0 it ended at the LA Apple Arena with goals from Scott McTominay and Andreas Pereira the scorers. A well contested game, with even possession and chances, provided encouragement for the upstart league, but in reality there is s long way to go to reach Utd’s level.
In the semi-final, Man Utd beat Europa League winners Arsenal 3-2 at the Emirates in a cracker of a match, before Utd beat Libertadores winners Flamengo 2-1 at Old Trafford ten days later to take the title.
Intercontinental Challenge Cup (Champions: Moscow Jackals)
The Jackals snatched their 2nd pot of the season - and their 3rd overall – with a 1-0 final victory over the Tokyo Sabers at the Tokyo NeonDome. In an evenly contested match, Luan (26, ST; 155/155 – a £17.75 transfer from Gremio) scored the winner on 27 minutes to give the Moscow club their first ‘major’ title.
There were few surprises in round 1 with the hapless Glasgow Eagles eliminated by the Manchester Metros 3-1 on aggregate and Melbourne exited 5-3 by Vienna’s Warlocks. The 2nd round did see bigger surprises though as both past and present AFC champions Catalunya and Knightsbridge were dumped out by Sao Paulo and Tokyo respectively – The Sabers securing a comfortable 4-2 aggregate triumph over Knightsbridge’s expensive side. In the Quarters, Moscow continued their steady climb with a neat 4-1 win over the Metros, as Tokyo advanced with a 4-2 margin over Sao Paulo. The semi finals pitted Sao Paulo against Moscow, with the eventual winners edging this one 3-2, whilst Tokyo beat surprise team Auckland 3-1. After spending £120m in the summer, amongst the biggest investors, the Rams had shown considerable improvement in the PFC – rising from 6th to 4th – and now added a strong cup run to boost their supporters.
Following the great tradition of knock-out cup competitions, the ICC was proving to be war of attrition as teams managed this alongside the World Championship schedule. With a reputation close to the Championship, this cup is clearly being taken seriously (as planned) by all, and in two consecutive years, a team that has won their regional title has gone on to win it – an indicator of consistency and contiguous reasoning by the AI; will there ever be a genuine ‘shock’ winner from lower down the pecking order?
IFF World Championship (Champions: Knightsbridge Royals)
You get what you pay for, and Manuel Pellegrini’s (148/170) Royals side of 2018-19 delivered on every bit of that humongous player recruitment drive, sealing their first world’s title with a 2-1 win over the holders Los Angeles at Toronto’s BMO Field. New star Vitolo was POM, scoring the opener and creating 3 clear-cut chances for his team – a veritable bargain at nearly £100m and £220k per week!
No huge surprises in the group phase, but the random drawing of this stage will always mean someone loses out, with only 8 teams making the championship playoffs. Los Angeles took group A, with Lisbon 1 point behind in second, 3 ahead of the Washington Colts in 3rd. Despite now shelling-out £2.6m per week in wages, the Munich Steelers were absolutely lost here, finishing 5th. The Tokyo Sabers strode through group B, finishing 5 points ahead of Vienna on 25 points and not losing a game. Vienna finished with 3-points of daylight between them and 3rd placed Sao Paulo Wolves. As with the NFC, this was a disaster for the New York Titans as they limped home in 7th, accruing only 6 points from 14 games. This franchise is in serious trouble and needs an overhaul. Group C was this year’s ‘group of death’, featuring the Royals, the Jackals and 2017-18s NFC champs the Chicago Wildcats. In the end, money talked again as the Royals took top spot with 21 points – 3 ahead of Moscow who grabbed 2nd, just a single point ahead of Chicago. A real scare for the soon-to-be ICC winners. The Milan Pacers sat rock bottom in group C with a pathetic 2 points: another team who badly need to access their £600m+ of finance this summer. In group D, Catalunya won-out with 23 points, with the impressive NFC champs Mexico City 2nd and 3 points behind. The Mariners preserved their standards, coming bottom with 4 points.
In the playoff quarter finals, home seed Los Angeles needed penalties to see of spirited Vienna after a 1-1 draw. Fellow group members Catalunya and Mexico City were drawn together, with the Hawks making the most of their home-field advantage for a 2-1 win. The Royals dispatched fellow AFC outfit Lisbon 3-1 in London, whilst in the tie of the round, Tokyo edged past Moscow 2-1 in the evening showdown at the 79,000 capacity NeonDome. Midfield duo Ander Herrera and Gylfi Sigurdsson (£26m and £36m summer arrivals respectively) bossed the game, forcing out the EFC holders and one of the favourites.
In the semis, Los Angeles overcame the disadvantage of losing home-field seeding to Catalunya by travelling to Spain and snatching a 2-1 win with Fabregas scoring and making one in 7.3 rating game of real quality. Likewise, The Royals cared not for daunting prospect of the Sabers’ backyard, travelling to Tokyo and securing a 2-1 win. Herrera and Sigurdsson were overmatched here (both rating 6.6) by the Royals’ Deli Alli (7.3 and 1 assist) and Vitolo again (7.9 and 1 goal).
The Jackals’ Simone Zaza (27, ST; 151/157) won the competition’s golden shoe, notching 13 goals. A £30m capture from Valencia, Zaza had an impressive season, scoring 21 goals in all competitions and hitting a 7.44 average rating. Vitolo of the Royals won MVP with an average rating of 7.52, 7 goals and 3 assists.
Rest of World Roundup:
Man Utd solidified their return to power, winning the EPL with a brilliant 96 points, 14 points ahead of Liverpool and Man City on 82 in 2nd and 3rd. Roberto Firmino (27, ST; 172/172) was highest rated on 7.80 in addition to 12 POM awards – he’s valued at £72, and is ‘wanted’ by the Royals and Sabers… In Spain, Real Madrid were back on top, winning La Liga with 90 points, 3 ahead of city rivals A. Madrid and 7 ahead of Barcelona. Interestingly, Lionel Messi failed to chart in the top 3 in any of the league’s key metrics (goals, POMs, assists, average rating). At 31, is he in early decline? In Italy, Juventus marched to their 8th straight league title, finishing 13 points above 2nd placed Milan. Torino finished 3rd, with Inter (7th) and Roma (10th) miles off the pace. Massive shake-up in Germany, as RBL claimed the title from Leverkusen, with the mighty Bayern slumping into 3rd, 2 points off the leaders. Dortmund recovered from their low last season to finish 4th. In Ligue 1, Monaco made it back-to-back wins, holding off PSG by 3 points. Despite topping the goal charts (Cavani, 27), the assists (Verratti, 15) and the average ratings (Neymar, 7.66), the PSG project seems to be foundering. Some new names featured in the Europa League final as Bilbao took on Fiorentina - the Italians coming out 1-0 winners to take their place in August’s Pentland-Miesel Invitational. They’ll be joined there by Man Utd, who won the 2nd consecutive all-English Champions’ Cup final, beating Chelsea 1-0 in Madrid. Paul Pogba was the star of the final, scoring the winner and amassing an 8.3 rating.
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EFC (Champions: Moscow Jackals)
The Jackals were the 2nd team to make it back-to-back regional titles this season, retaining the EFC by a single point from the Rome Centurians. Moscow players dominated the key metrics, finishing as leading scorer (Simone Zaza – 8), average rating (£43m signing Alessio Romagnoli (24, DC; 160/170) on 7.51 and assists (6, achieved by fellow £15m summer capture Yacine Brahimi; 29, AM; 154/156). Rome had added some 25 new players to their squad this season for a combined £64m – a mixed bag of quality, of whom David Neres (22, AM; 146/146) looks to be the standout - captured for £10.5, from Ajax. He achieved 3 goals, 2 assists for an average 7.38 from 6 matches in the EFC.
AFC (Champions: Knightsbridge Royals)
Perhaps proving the theory that cash is king, Knightsbridge backed up the mega talent investment immediately by cantering to their first regional title. Without losing a game on route, they clocked up a impressive 8 point gap over 2nd placed Lisbon – most impressive when we remember this is a 14-game campaign with 2 points for a win. Below them, the AFC was the tightest of the regional conferences, with only 4 points separating the 2nd to 6th-placed sides. Last year’s champions Catalunya slumped to 6th - with Man Utd’s Matteo Darmian (£10.5m fee; 29, FB; 138/150) the underwhelming highlight of their £72m summer spending. They need to respond swiftly to rising standard in this conference. The Royals’ Santi Mina (23, ST; 139/150) - signed from Valencia for only £6.5m – was leading scorer on 6; he added 4 assists also at a rating of 7.32.Steven Gerrard’s (125/170) Glasgow Eagles hold up the rest for the 2nd year in succession; he will surely be feeling the heat.
With the autumn drawing to a close, the season moved into the World Championship: would the regional series prove a reliable marker for the big two trophies?
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Season Review:
PFC (Champions: Los Angeles Knights)
Los Angeles spent £177m to strengthen their championship winning side, including Cesc Fabregas from Chelsea (32; CM; 148/174) for £13.75m and Ezequil Barco (20; AM; 138/156) from Atlanta United for £18.75. It worked, as they retained their regional title, finishing 2 points ahead of Tokyo. The Knight’s Franco Di Santo topped the goal charts with 10, whilst Tokyo Sabers’ Anthony Knockaert (27; AM; 142/142) – a £29.5m signing from Brighton – amassed a league-high average rating of 7.96. Melbourne Mariners finished rock bottom once more with only 3 points; they’re in danger of falling far behind the pack. They need to spend, and spend wisely.
NFC (Champions: Mexico City Outlaws)
The club based furthest south snatched the NFC title from Chicago, pipping the holders by 2 points. The Outlaws had spent big in the summer – lavishing a conference high £180m on 20 players. Ironically, it was bargain signing Sergio Gomez (26; CD; 135/152) – snapped up for £925k from Celta Vigo – who shone the brightest, with a competition-high average rating of 7.44. Money-bags New York – one of the stellar brand names of the IFF – were 9 points off the pace and need to urgently utilise their near £1bn of funds. Despite spending over £100m, Chicago have to settle for 2nd best, but continue to show ambition: Ajax talent Donny Van De Beek (22; CM; 157/160) was signed for £18.75m midway through the regional phase of the season and is a genuine talent certain to have impact next season.
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Season Review: 2018-19
Transfer and Finances Roundup:
*As part of this section, I’ve now included salary information for each club so as to offer a further insight into how revenue is being used.
Any predictions of a gradual increase in investment were obliterated, as the IFF embarked on a sensational shopping spree. A combined total of just over £2.5 billion was spent across the league – a more-than 1000% increase on the previous season’s investment. There was a high degree of variance in activity: Knightsbridge led the way, shelling out £314million – including a new league record purchase of Vitola from A. Madrid for £94m – whilst NFC outfit Miami spent a measly £600k. The average spend was £80m – up £74m from the previous year. Cash rich New York Titans appeared to have severely under-invested: sitting on nearly £1bn, they elected to spend only £8.5m on some 17 players – surely these couldn’t be of the quality required to compete? The league was flooded with new talent – but who could gel it together quickly into a cohesive unit?
As with transfer investments, wages were on a sharp rise in the IFF. A 32-team cumulative weekly spend of £11.5m in 2017-18 leapt to £45.5m in 2018-19 (rising 295%), with the weekly average now £1.5m as new players arrived with heightened demands. Six clubs are now spending in excess of £2m per week with Moscow, Tokyo and Knightsbridge edging close to £3m each. As we progress, it will intriguing to see how clubs’ average weekly wage spend evolves: these teams are rich, but year-on-year increases in wage costs like these will be unsustainable for even the deepest-pocketed owners: Knightsbridge’s weekly bill rose by 1300% this season and is now a £145m per annum burden on their revenue.
Despite eye-watering amounts of money going out the door, the clubs of the IFF continued to illustrate that they are financial behemoths: every single team saw an increased end-of-year cash balance, with the average rising to £595m (a rise of 23% from 2017-18). IFF clubs are now sitting on a combined cash pile of just north of £19bn, so there is evidently plenty of room for further growth in talent. Moscow Jackals retained their spot on top of the rich list, marginally increasing their reserves to remain at £1.1bn - despite spending £262m on players and topping up wage payouts to £2.9m per week!
So, it was a year of massive investment – but how impactful was it? Are clubs increasing their quality, and will the big spenders see a return on investment through hoisting some silver aloft?
Biggest Deals:
Vitolo (29; attacking midfield; 154/158): A. Madrid to Knightsbridge Royals: £94m
Dele Alli (23; attacking midfield; 173/173): Tottenham to Knightsbridge Royals: £63m (rising to £71m)
Breel Embolo (22; attacking mid/striker; 154/163): Schalke to Tokyo Sabers: £54m (rising to £74m)
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5 hours ago, Dave. said:
Looks interesting! I’m also a big data nerd and often get more enjoyment out of long-term holiday games like this than being an active manager. I’ll be following this.
Thanks Man -
I'll always remember playing champ manager in the family dining room years ago when my older brother's mate wandered through and opined "how can you play a game that's just a load of numbers?" He was missing the whole beauty of it!!
Just doing 2nd season report (they take ages - mainly because pulling all of the data out the game, Genie Scout etc...). Hope to have it up later or tomorrow
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Analysis
In this section I will assess some of the changes to data within the game, in order to ascertain whether the IFF is growing in strength and how specific teams within the competition are developing over time.
League ‘Strength’:
By running counts of players’ CA and PA within the 6 leagues running in full detail, we can get an indication as to how they are fluctuating in quality.
When counting players who have a CA between 160 and 179, we get a good assessment of how many international standard players are active in these leagues. Between summer 2017 and 2018, the overall number grew by nearly 10%; the EPL and Serie A both saw increases in numbers of players at this level, whilst Germany declined slightly. The IFF as yet, has not registered a single play of this calibre, and looking at some of the leading performers in 2017-18, it may be some time before standards rise to this level. Interestingly, 85 of 88 players operating in this CA bracket were playing in the ‘big’ 5 European leagues (96.5%): now that’s what I call an oligopoly.
The pattern is mirrored in the 180 – 200 CA bracket, although on a smaller scale. With such small numbers there’s not much to assess yet here.
The number of under-21 players with a PA of 170 or more grew significantly in a year, from 72 to 95 (32%). Of course there is no direct link between this group and those who will end up in the CA 180 – 200 bracket, as we know many potential stars do not reach their CA, or anywhere near close to it. In this group though, the IFF has an equitable amount to the 5 European leagues, possibly an indicator of the excellent youth facilities the 32 clubs have. I contract to the CA brackets, only 22 of 95 of these talented youngsters (23%) are based in the 6 active leagues, meaning the vast majority of talent is scattered about the world waiting to be found. It will be interesting to see if IFF teams can become adept at finding any of it.
Team Rating Comparison:
In this section I am using FM Genie Scout’s tool which provides each team a % rating. My understanding is that this is formulated of the quality of players and the tactic they are utilised in, providing a crude measure of how effective/strong they are. I plan to do an annual export of this data for all IFF teams, to adjudge how they are changing, and am using a ‘control’ group of European clubs as a means of comparison. I have also set some formulas to calculate averages for each regional conference, to get a sense as to whether any region in particular is becoming disproportionately stronger or weaker. I have included a running count of titles won by each club also as this will illustrate how impactful this measure is (i.e., logically, teams with better ratings over time on average should be snapping up more silverware, because they’re better…)
In 2018, there is predictably a massive gulf between the control group and the IFF teams, but also a near 10% variance between the best- and worst IFF clubs. From the perspective of this being an accurate tool of analysis, this is promising as The LA Knights do stand out as the best team based on this rating and duly swept up 3 trophies. Aside from these numbers raising in future (or falling!), it will be interesting to see if the IFF teams’ median is reduced or if disparity becomes wider: something for analysis after several years when a bigger sample is available. Also, will the control group teams get better or worse? What is the highest % rating that a team can get to? Barcelona have clearly got a damn fine side, but can they or someone else get above 83?
Summary:
After 1 season, the IFF could most certainly be classed as ‘bush league’. The standard of players is low and clubs that went out and strengthened to any extent have reaped the rewards. With so much money available, it will be interesting to see if things kick on this summer and we see a few more notable players arrive. With the league likely to be in major flux for the next 2,3 or 4 years it is tricky to predict where the silverware will go, but the likes of Los Angeles, Chicago and Moscow have given themselves a good head start on the rest. The likes of Melbourne with their abysmal team rating already have some work to do, or they could spend next season propping up others again.
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Talent Watch (A summary of emerging stars in the IFF)
Yoan Brunet (Paris Eclairage – winger; 101/188, valued at £9.1m)
A 17 year-old French winger from Paris’ academy, Brunet has the potential to be legitimate world star, already loaded with flair, determination and acceleration. He made 9 appearances in the World Championship this season, amassing an average 6.52 rating. He’s getting some football at an early stage, but will he be able to maintain this as his club invests? He also made 8 starts for the B team, scoring 2 and assisting 2 for a 6.85 rating overall.
Pau Martinez (Catalunya Hawks – midfielder; 101/186, valued at £25m)
Already tipped as a star with a high transfer value, the 17 year-old academy prospect can play as either a central midfielder or attacking midfielder. With a great first touch, technique, leadership, decision making and fitness, he looks to have the core ingredients of a midfield orchestrator: he played a total of 25 matches for 1st and B teams this season (20 for the 1st team), recording 2 assists and a goal in the AFC and achieving a 6.92 rating overall.
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Rest of World Roundup:
Man Utd won the EPL with a whopping 88 points, 15 ahead of second-placed Arsenal in what looked like a return to the late 90s in England. Spain saw an epic title fight with A. Madrid winning the trophy from Barcelona in second, both teams finishing on 89 points, and Madrid scoring just 2 more goals than the Catalans. More routinely, Juventus won Serie A; finish 14 points ahead of Inter, and Bayern did likewise in Germany, retaining the title by 8 points from Leverkusen. Of greater note, Dortmund slumped to 9th in the final reckoning. In another shock, Monaco claimed Ligue 1, finishing level on points with Lyon but outscoring them by 2. PSG had to settle for 3rd, 7 points behind the leaders. Arsenal rounded-off a good season with a 1-0 win over Lazio in the Europa League final, and Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd capped off an immense return to power by defeating Tottenham 1-0 in the Champions’ Cup Final. Alexis Sanchez was absolutely outstanding for Man Utd this season, averaging 7.60 over 56 matches, scoring 15 and providing 21 for his team. Valued at £76m and earning £350k per week, will any IFF team make a move for him? Would he consider jumping ship whilst riding so high?
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Season Review 2017-18:
PFC: (Champions: Los Angeles Knights)
LA win their division by 3 points over the joint-placed runners-up Tokyo and Seattle. Seattle’s Suleiman Abdullahi was the star, leading the scoring charts with 6 in addition to 4 POM awards. His CA of 117, and £2m transfer fee from Braunschweig pay testament to the limited quality on show in the first season.
NFC: (Champions: Chicago Wildcats)
Big spenders Chicago yield dividend on their investment with a division title, finishing 3 points ahead of the New York Titans. 17 year-old goalkeeper Josh Williams (CA 123, PA 171) looks to be star for Chicago, already valued at £29m and averaging 7.49 during the campaign, in addition to a staggering 11 clean sheets in 14 matches.
EFC (Champions: Moscow Jackals)
Despite only spending £12m of their lavish £1bn budget, Moscow take the EFC by a single point from the Wien Warlocks. The Warlocks’ Tomi Correa (a 33 year-old free transfer from Rapid Vienna whose CA is a paltry 103) top scored in the division with 8. Record signing Leroy Fer was underwhelming for the champions, clocking a dismal average rating of 6.76 during the campaign.
AFC (Champions: Catalunya Hawks)
The Barcelona-based club round out the first batch of regional champions, racing away with the AFC – eventually racking up 24 points and finishing 4 ahead of Knightsbridge. Hector Gonzalez - a 28 year-old Spanish striker generated at Catalunya (valued at £33m despite a CA of only 108) was their absolute star, heading the goal charts (9), the average ratings (7.27) and POM awards (4). Surely a player of his calibre will quickly fall into insignificance as the league standard rises?
Pentland-Meisel Invitational Cup (Champions: Real Madrid)
With no previous IFF World Championship, there was no representation from the nascent league. Real Madrid (who else?!) beat Man Utd 3-1 in the final at Old Trafford, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice against his old club.
Intercontinental Challenge Cup (Champions: Los Angeles Knights)
Continuing their trophy-laden first year, LA secured victory in the final over Knightsbridge on penalties after a 1-1 draw in regulation time. 75,000 fans packed into the hot and humid Apple LA Arena to see the home team take away the cup.
IFF World Championship (Champions: Los Angeles Knights)
LA made it a miraculous treble by hoisting aloft the first World’s Championship after a 3-1 win in the final against Moscow. 27 year-old winder Andrea Nalini (valued at £24.5m with a CA 115/PA 121) was POM, scoring twice. A £675k signing from Crotone, Nalini proved a steal, sealing the big prize for his club.
In the group stage, the pattern set by the regional championships was largely born out, with Wien Warlocks, Madrid Toros (group A), Catalunya Hawks and Rome Centurians (group B), Seattle Bears and Knightsbridge Royals (group C) and LA and Moscow (group D) qualifying for the post-season playoffs. The biggest shock was Chicago, winners of the NFC, being edged out in 3rd place in a strong group D.
The quarter finals saw Seattle edge past Catalunya 2-1 in extra time in Spain, LA dispatch Rome 2-0 in Los Angeles, Wien beat Madrid 2-1 at home in Austria whilst Moscow crept past Knightsbridge 1-0 in Moscow in the tie of the round.
The semi finals were again low scoring affairs: LA dismissed Wien 2-0 in LA – making use of their seeded position and retaining home-field advantage throughout the playoffs – with Moscow doing likewise and beating the travelling Seattle 1-0 in a cool evening encounter at the Gazprom Yashin Stadium before 65,000 supporters (836 making the long trip from the Pacific Northwest).
Catalunya’s Jairo Morillas (striker, valued at £37.5m, CA 112/PA 127) led the scorers charts with 8 after a free transfer from Espanyol. Moscow’s winger Mikhail Kryuchkov (28, valued at £30.5, 110/115) racked up 7 assists to finish the league’s top provider. Andrea Nalini - he of note from the championship final – was named the league’s MVP, with an average rating of 7.59, 8 goals and 6 assists. It will be interesting to see how he fares next season in a potentially tougher league.
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Season Review: 2017-18
Transfer Roundup:
The biggest early mover was Monaco’s Adama Traore, who was snapped up by The Chicago Wildcats for £23.5m, rising to £35.5m. With a CA of 136 and PA of 152, he’s a strong player for the league at this early stage, and he went on to have a solid season; contributing 5 goals, 5 assists with an average rating of 7.03 in 18 league games. The next biggest deal was a £9.5m transfer of Swansea’s Leroy Fer to the Moscow Jackals for an initial £9.75m. In general, teams played it conservative, and certainly did not go for any headline grabbing moves during the first season: the cumulative spend of all 32 clubs was just over £200 million, resulting in an average of £6.2m spent. The Wildcats bucked the trend significantly, spending a total of £50m, whilst the Munich Steelers didn’t spend a solitary penny. With the huge revenues and start-up cash given all teams, this leaves a cumulative bank balance of £15.4billion spread across the teams, with the Moscow Jackals sitting £1.1billion at the top, with the Knightsbridge Royals just behind on £935million. These teams have some serious firepower if they want to use it.
Net Transfer Spending Analysis:
Table illustrates the annual gross spend on transfers for each club (in £m) as well as their bank balance as of June 1st at the end of the season (in £bn). For example, the LA Knights spent £13.25m on players in season 2017-18, and on June 1st 2018 have £783m in the bank. This table will be updated each season, with cumulative and average figures updated.
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This is a project I have been tinkering with on-and-off for quite a while. After playing FM (and CM before it) over many years, I've become more and more interested in the game’s AI – its sophistication and limitations. After several years of creating various edited databases, I decided to create an entirely new set of clubs and their own league to play in, almost entirely divorced from the parameters of the real footballing world. Part of the motivation was to create a new league to play in for a bit of change, but it was also a way of seeing how the game would react to such a situation: would it allow this new league to function in the way that it could (i.e., leverage its wealth and resources to become potentially the leading competition in the sport), or would it maintain the status quo, dominated by UEFA competitions and established European leagues? Moreover, it is an opportunity to see how a league unfolds from the very beginning. None of the clubs have history, staff (apart from some basic backroom staff and owners) or any form of legacy: they all need to establish themselves and either sink or swim in their environment using the resources at their disposal.
As a follower of American sports, I took this project down the US ‘franchise’ route: closed leagues, divisional structure, playoffs, vibrant logos and ostentatious team names… I appreciate this is tantamount to heresy to some*, but if you’re interested in something a bit different, read on…
*I’ll state at the outset, this isn’t one for the purists: many, many aspects of the game have been dismantled, altered, tweaked and tinkered with; the in-game editor is on and tools like FM genie scout and FMRTE will also be used to ascertain information and data: I’m not an active manager in the game and won’t be claiming any ‘achievement’ on route – this is solely about setting up a fictional scenario and seeing what happens. All the same, I appreciate that many like the game to be played ‘properly’ and will detest the very notion of this. I like to play the game in it’s traditional format too, but also enjoy having a mess about and being a bit creative. Likewise, I'm a bit of a data nerd, and reports will be, at least in part, focused on analysing data from the game - again, I appreciate that some will find this utterly pointless and an absurd way to 'play' FM...
Premise:
· How will FM’s AI cope under extreme conditions, namely the disruption of the underlying logic and structure of the game ‘world’? This is an experiment to find out, by creating a new league and new teams that will rival the old establishment of world football
· Based nominally in Canada, a new ‘closed’ league has been created, populated by 32 franchises, spread across the world (although consolidated primarily in more economically realistic nations and cities as would be the case in a real-life situation)
· Every team is extremely well financed via commercial deals and TV revenue (although relatively evenly financed, much like how US sports use collective revenue sharing), and has state-of-the-art facilities and stadiums. They are the football (soccer) equivalent of the NFL, where the ‘closed’ structure ensures their revenue and status are protected. Club reputations have been set high (between 9000 and 6500 on a ratio'd basis) so as to provide the new league with a surge of interest to kick-start it
· Teams from the IFF (the Independent Football Federation) do not qualify for any existing continental or world club tournaments.
Game Setup:
· English, Spanish, Italian, German and French top divisions are running on full detail in addition to Canada, which is running the IFF World Championship and IFF Division II (for B Teams)
· The game has 24,500 players active on a 'medium' sized database
· All other nations are running as normal at game start-up
New League Structure:
· The IFF season is structured as follows:
August – October: The Divisional Series: teams are regionally divided into 4 leagues of 8 teams –
The Pacific Football Conference (PFC);
The North American Football Conference (NFC);
The European Football Conference (EFC);
The Atlantic Football Conference (AFC).
Teams play each-other twice, with winners crowned champions
Additionally, the Pentland-Meisel Invitational Cup runs during August and September. This is a tournament in which the previous year’s IFF champions take on the winners of the continental cups (European Cup, Libertadores etc)
November – May: The IFF World Championship starts with a group phase, in which all 32 teams are randomly drawn in pools of 8, playing each-other twice. The winners and runners-up in each group qualify for the championship playoffs (single-legged seeded knockout rounds played at the home-team stadium, with a final at a neutral venue)
Running alongside the World Championship is the Intercontinental Challenge Cup; a 2-legged knockout cup featuring all 32 teams, drawn randomly
To keep things interesting in these shorter format leagues, 2 points are awarded for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss.
Initial Questions/thoughts:
· How will this new league interact with the established game world? Will players and managers be attracted to the upstart league by the prospect of the money on offer? Will the AI recognise other factors such as the draw of the cities that teams are based in (Melbourne, New York, San Diego, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Miami….?) or even the relatively low number of matches they are required to play in per season?
· Will there be an immediate influx of talent for big money as ambitious owners look to exploit their wealth and grow their empires? How effective will scouting and recruitment be? Will these new clubs, starting from scratch, be to ‘see’ the best players by building a scouting network? How much will this limit their ability to improve quickly?
· In time, will the IFF grow its own superstars with the vast facilities and resources available to clubs?
· What kind of competitive dynamic will emerge in the league? Will the ‘traditional’ football nations and regions (i.e., Europe) mimic their domination over this new league, or will North America become dominant? Will this affect the quantity and quality of youth prospects clubs can generate? Likewise, will dominance emerge from within specific regional conferences, or will competition be balanced?
· Without the restrictions of FFP, will the IFF teams simply be able to outmuscle even the strongest of clubs in the European leagues, or will prestige and tradition ensure the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern always retain their status as the giants?
· Over time, will the IFF offer a higher standard of football for the world? Will we see a consolidation of talent, with 32 highly tuned, high quality teams going head-to-head each year in the toughest club challenge on the planet, or will it simply become another retirement home for past-it stars of Europe, where lavish salaries are paid to has-beens to see out their twilight playing years in glamourous surrounds? Let's find out...
Update Format:
· Each Season I will do a report on the goings-on in this alternative football universe;
· I will cover the winners of each tournament and provide some analysis of team strength and development using the in-game editor and Genie Scout to gather background data such as CA, PA, reputation as well as financial information
· Initially, I will analysing changes to numbers of players with PA and CA bands in each of the major leagues, changes to club values, using a ‘control’ group of clubs from Europe and tracking the transfer spending of the IFF clubs and the ‘control group’ clubs. As the game evolves, there will be additional sections added and developed
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Talent Watch
Stars and Flops:
In this section, we take a look at some big names and big transfers to see how they fared this season:
Vitolo: Knightsbridge Royals (29, WM; 154/158): the record deal for the league, earning £220k per week, the Spaniard proved value for every penny as the Royals won the AFC and World title. On route, the winger scored 12, provided 5, won 5 POM awards and created 37 clean-cut chances for an average 0f 7.43 in all competitions. He added to his team glory with the prestigious IFF MVP award.
Thiago Maia: Mexico City Outlaws (22, CM; 143/164). The biggest deal in the Outlaws’ £180m summer spree, the Brazilian - signed for a deal worth nearly £50m and £105k pw - probably under-delivered despite Mexico City claiming the NFC and having a playoff run: averaging only 6.90, with only 2 assists and 1 clean-cut chance provided, the talented midfielder surely has a bigger impact to offer his team next term.
Youth Prospects:
Joao Felipe: Vienna Warlocks (17, Brazil, CM; 116/190). A tall, technically gifted midfielder who already possesses strong leadership, decision-making and determination, Felipe has the potential to amongst the absolute best. Present in Brazil’s U20 World Cup team, he made only 3 senior appearances this year, contributing 1 assist.
Ciro Pavesi: Milan Pacers (17, Italy, AM; 115/178). In a dire year for his club, the youngster – already rated at £19.5m – found himself thrust into the 1st team, taking part in 10 World Championship games, 3 EFC matches and 2 ICC ties. Failing to score, assist or create a chance and rating at only 6.47, he has a lot to do next year, but unless the Pacers are overhauled, he may get more game time
Past Prospect Watch:
Yoan Brunet: Paris Eclairage (18, winger; 122/188, valued at £27m). Jumping up 20 CA points and his value rocketing, the Frenchman again featured in 12 AFC and WC matches (albeit 10 as sub) scoring 2 and creating 2 clear-cut chances for a 6.72, up from 6.62 in as many games in 2017-18. Still on the fringes, the 18 year-old needs to kick on again next term.
Pau Martinez: Catalunya Hawks – (18, CM; 123/186, valued at £33m). Also racing up more than 20 CA points, Martinez followed a similar path to Brunet: 11 games (8 as sub) with 1 assist and a 6.78 rating in the WC, and 7 sub appearances in the AFC. With Catalunya adding to their squad, he was limited to a bit-part role. Needs more expose to Division II football next year to get games under his belt. Sitting on 1st team bench may be holding him up.