Longhorn
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Posts posted by Longhorn
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So that's the excuse they use for sending my cash to their secret Swiss bank accounts. Scandalous!
I contacted the Football Bureau of Investigation and they managed to recover the funds. To compensate for the lazy auditors I used the in-game editor to add a fixed and recurring income source to the club as "other income" to reflect a reasonable return on the invested sums. The amount of income is 3% of what the board invested for me. I'd like the lazy auditors to do this automatically for me in the future.
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From time to time my board puts substantial amounts into a "reserve investment fund". However, when I look at the club's sources of income the line item "investments" always show no income. Are the members of the board using personal Swiss accounts or should I expect to see some return on these investments?
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As part of the support in FM for MLS I'd like to see the annual MLS Generation Adidas Cup youth tournament added. It is an international tournament for U15 and U17 academy sides. This year sides from 12 countries will participate - all MLS academies, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Spain, England (Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U), France, etc. Of particular interest to me is that since an MLS academy has won the U17 bracket the last two tournaments, and last year an MLS academy won both the U15 and U17 brackets, I would like to see how FM 202x mirrors real life.
Update: in the 2023 MLS Generation Adidas Cup for the third tournament in a row an MLS academy won the U17 bracket and for the second tournament in a row an MLS academy won the U15 bracket. Sides from Man U and Chelsea failed to make it out of the group stage, and a side from Arsenal lost 4-1 in the first knockout phase. Sides from Spain, Mexico, Brazil, etc. were beaten. The only non-MLS academy to reach a semifinal was an U15 side from Genk, and they lost to a side from the Austin FC Academy that has only been in existence for a couple of years. Perhaps the newgens in FM202x should catch up with reality - it is clear that the talent coming through the MLS academies is better than what the game generates.
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My club's colors suddenly changed while I was playing. The new colors are a familiar yellow and blue! I wonder if this a random bug that affected me, or is there more to this? Was anybody else impacted? I am also unable to use the in-game editor to change the colors back.
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"I have not picked up FM23, but I was curious if anyone has looked at MLS. How does it handle over a five years or more? Do clubs stay competitive? League I want to play, but roster management has been a struggle for AI clubs."
I played about half a season with FC Dallas and gave up. The AI is still brain dead in terms of managing teams. For example, Gareth Bale was released on a free waver, as were several other "stars". FC Dallas finished as the 2nd best MLS defense in real life but in the game players just watch opponents blow by them, and the roster is the same as in real life. Some comments would suggest that the problem is tactics but players standing still while opponents waltz past them is not a tactics problem as far as I'm concerned. I tried playing some matches with a few prestigious European teams and saw some of the same things. Perhaps if a squad has a lot of highly rated defenders they might react better, but you can count on the MLS squads to have lower player ratings.
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I decided to take a refund on this version of FM for two main reasons: first, the defense is ridiculous in the matches I've played, and I used different teams with good defensive records for this; second, the feedback seems to indicate problems in the development of young players and my play style is to develop young players in long saves. It is possible that I may revisit this decision in the future if there is reason to do so, but for now I'll continue with my FM 2022 save.
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I hadn't been planning on buying this year's release because the new features were of little interest to me but I decided to try it out anyway because of the promised improvements to the match engine. Now I regret that decision. In my experience the new match engine is worse. I copied my tactics from previous years, which worked successfully then but in the new me I find my side is often losing by big scores. I encounter a message saying there is a gap between my defense and midfield no matter how I tweak the tactics and my offense just resorts to "route 1" football and taking long shots from outside the box. The main problem, however, is that the defense is a disaster, but not only for my side. In all the matches I've run so far the xg is much less than 1.0, but the scores are always high. I adjusted my match tactics to a very defensive low block system and that helps some, but this means I have to set tactics to match the me, not the match. I also notice that the ai for team managers is still a problem. Various talented players were released on free waivers by their sides, including Gareth Bale. In the present condition I consider the current game to be not worth playing so I expect to see a lot of effort put into fixes.
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I'm undecided. I have been in the habit of buying the new version every year even though many/most of the new features usually don't interest me. I guess I always hope for a pleasant surprise. But, I find I play the game less and less of late. I tend to play a national team and one or more club teams, including an MLS team. I find many problems with the support for national teams as well as MLS. Some assurances of improvements in these areas would help. I'm interested to see how MLS Next and MLS Next Pro are handled. I would be delighted to learn that the Generation Adidas Cup (which my club team hosts) would be included, but I'm not holding my breath for that.
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31 minutes ago, enigmatic said:
British schoolkids play basketball more than they play either code of rugby, but we're definitely a top producer of professional players of both rugby codes and basketball is definitely unimportant in the UK compared with most other countries that play it.
The United States (population 329m) produces fewer professional footballers than Croatia (population 4m). Low importance of the game there relative to other sports sounds a better explanation for why that is than most...
Non sequitur, also misinformed about status of the sport in US
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On 19/10/2021 at 10:05, michaeltmurrayuk said:
I'll take your word on the popularity of football in Australia - though a quick glance of wikipedia puts it fifth behind cricket, Australian rules and both forms of rugby, for resources and popularity but does win out on participation but for whatever reason isn't resulting in kids wanting to play professionally, though looking in the editor Australia are down as having an Important rating for GI which is likely correct as there are only four options.
Whereas a quick glance of wikipedia (yes not the best source but it's only a quick glance and I trust the Researchers will have done the actual research to set the values) shows Football is the most popular football in Uruguay hence one reason why it has a Very Important rating for GI.
Though interestingly for FM21 at least they both have a Youth Rating of 90 (out of 200).
Personally I think FM's use of "importance" is incorrect. If I look at common statistics on the popularity of sports in a country, such as America, I may see soccer as the 5th most important sport based on attendance at professional matches, or commercial revenue, or something like that, but other sources have shown that in terms of the number of kids playing an organized sport soccer seems to be the 2nd most popular choice these days. But in terms of the likelihood of talented kids going on the play professionally "importance" may also lead to misleading and incorrect results since even if soccer were the 5th most "important" sport in the US the total number of kids playing and going on is still greater than similar numbers in countries with higher "importance" ratings and youth generation values. Also, MLS is currently experiencing average attendances that put it within the top ten professional soccer leagues in the world.
I can think of ways to shape the talent distribution curve for youth gens in a country, but I wouldn't use "importance" or the PA rating to do so.
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8 minutes ago, Prepper_Jack said:
I've done a lot of testing, and outside of matches where a lot of outside factors coalesce into turning your players into zombies, and thereby nearly guaranteeing a terrible performance, the outcomes can be quite varied. I haven't played much in the national league matches, however, so I don't know what factors might be contributing to that kind of performance, or why it would steer precisely towards a virtually identical outcome. That said, if your players are complacent and overconfident, they may just be doing the absolute minimum. If they don't particularly care for you, they might do the minimum too. So, maybe your assistant coach was able to motivate them properly. Also, even if they're in that zombie like trance, sometimes they can get in a goal, remember that they are actually pro football players, and suddenly start engaging in the match, going on to a blowout.
Good thoughts but I was engaged in the matches. In one we were down 2 to 0 but after some tweaks ended with a tie only to lose 5 to 4 on penalties. I did a review of the match my assistant won but as far as I could tell he was using our standard formation and tactics. I do think that from time to time the game decides to skew things a bit to account for sides having an off day or whatever. In this case 6 identical results no matter what I did does seem curious (maybe the "hand of God"
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My side was involved in a Leagues Cup match (MLS vs Mexican sides) and I decided to use the match to experiment a bit so I saved before the match. I used my standard formation and tactics and was favored to win the match - but the match ended in a tie and we lost on penalty kicks 5 to 4. Curious, we had better stats and were even superior in penalty stats. I reloaded and tried again, and again, and again. Six times I tried different tactics and formations and we always ended up with a tie and the match always went to the opposition 5 to 4 on penalty kicks. Giving up I reloaded and went on vacation for a day so my assistant took the match - and won 6 to 1!
Curious....
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The ideal is to find a spot where the young player gets both excellent coaching as well as first team minutes. There are some twists to this as the reputation of a club and league factor into how much a player will develop so all other things being equal the best spot would be for a more prestigious club in a more prestigious league. For example, a youth player getting first team minutes in a third division club may not develop as much as a player only getting coaching in a highly prestigious club, even if both have good coaching for youth players. Something I do for my youth players that I know will not be getting first team minutes is to lend them to a partner club. In real life my club team sends players to Bayern Munich for training, although mostly just for weeks at a time, but in some cases for a full year. In my game I may use the editor to lend a young player to Bayern Munich that I know will not be playing first team and from what I see the player will often develop faster than if I kept him with my club, even though I have very good facilities and youth coaching.
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10 hours ago, HUNT3R said:
Would agree with this, along with Decisions.
Had an IF in FM20 who was very good at catching defenders in possession and he had better Anticipation than others (with a similar ability) competing for the same spot.
I thought of these as well, but the player in question is 8 for positioning, 11 for anticipation, and 14 for decisions. Other than his physical attributes the one stat that stands out is composure at 16. I have other wings with better stats in positioning and anticipation, some with better decision stats, but none quite as high in composure. In any case all the wings are fairly close in these stats. I notice that if someone on an opposing team manages to intercept our passes a few times it is most often a midfielder or other attacker, so maybe there is something to that.
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One of my wingers is particularly adept at intercepting passes, often sprinting a significant distance to do so. When I examine his stats I see no trait or skill that would explain this to me, although he does have good pace and acceleration. Is this just a random thing that I lucked out on with this player, or is there some way I can develop this in other players?
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5 hours ago, timothyburger said:
Can you use the club's TAM as well, I can't seem to figure out how to use that resource?
I haven't used TAM in the game, but here is a link to the official MLS discussion on TAM.. Targeted Allocation Money | MLSsoccer.com
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1 hour ago, blazertaz13 said:
I have been working on learning the game, now I would like to start playing in the MLS as this is the league I know the best. I realize that are some different rules than the rest of the world. I was wondering two things:
1. Do you have any tips regarding playing in the MLS? I am looking for ways to get the best of out a long term save in the league.
2. If you read some of the league specific bugs, the posts in there seem to be very negative about the ability to play in the league. Is it worth starting a save in the MLS based on what I am reading? I don't see much in the patch notes where the MLS is being updated, so that is why I am asking.
I do appreciate the suggestions and advice.
Thanks,
I play MLS regularly and I know many others do. I don't normally read the posts about MLS but from what I have seen the biggest challenge is learning to deal with the salary cap and the rules related to it. There are also some challenges about the status of a player - only so many reserve, minimum salary, and that sort of thing, so the first piece of advice is to study these. Next you have to understand that MLS is a development league and you simply can't afford to load the roster up with high salaried players. In real life teams are learning to develop young players and then sell them on. In addition, just as in real life, your veteran players often have to be moved on as they want increasingly lucrative contracts as they improve.
The next thing to understand is that the game simply doesn't generate US players as good as what we are seeing IRL. Don't expect any of the US academies to produce a Pulisic or a Sargent or a Gio Reyna. I can't say you'll never see this in multiple game years, just like I can't see you'll never win a lottery jackpot, but don't expect it. There is a thread in the download forum discussing issues with newgens that might be worth reading. Further, the newgens you get in your academy will be around 16 1/2 or 17 and won't normally be first team quality. Contrast this with real life where many MLS teams are signing 15 year olds to contracts. If you do have a talented kid in your academy sign them right away because just as IRL foreign teams will gobble them up. As an example of this, from real life, FC Schalke poached Weston McKennie from the FC Dallas Academy for free. Dallas learned and signed Chris Richards as soon as they could and then sold him to Bayern Munich for a few million even though he never played for the first team. They signed Bryan Reynolds as a 15 yr old and are now in negotiations to sell him to Juventus for $9.2 million after only about a year playing with the first team. So, in your playthrough, harvest your academy talent. Also, you may want to use the ingame editor to adjust ages or PA since what the game generates won't match what we are seeing in real life.
Each database update has people added to the game with CA and PA based on what some human estimates. Historically it seems that US based players will be rated lower than what you would expect. As an example of what I mean, Brenden Aaronson was given a PA of 107 in the 2019 database when he played for Philadelphia, but in the 2021 database he now plays for a European team and has a PA of 150. I've seen this with various other players I've followed that were developed in the US and then moved to Europe. It seems their "potential" improves by transferring to Europe. So, feel free to use the ingame editor if you wish. On a wry note, a 19yr old kid from California who went from an academy in Arizona to FC Schalke just scored a hat trick yesterday in a Bundesliga game, not bad for a kid with a PA of 113.
Your reserve team will only play simulated games and you might not have as much control over it as you want. On the other hand, you can sign young players and then have them "play" in your reserve team as well as your first team, just as IRL.
Check the download forums. A player named Uncle Sam contributes a download for MLS that includes lower leagues from US and Canada. I often use his stuff as it improves the overall experience for me.
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I play MLS all the time. I think the key for most people who have problems is learning how to deal with the salary cap. Learning how and when to use things like GAM are important and it is also important to know that MLS is a development league and currently can not support a roster of expensive players. Even MLS veterans need to be moved on as their salary demands increase. In real life teams are learning that they must develop youth players and then sell them on. For example, Philadelphia just sold a player to Red Bull Salzburg and one to Genk, and Juventus is currently offering $9.2 million to Dallas for a right back that has only played first team for about a year. These kids all played for their MLS teams for a lot less than imported stars make.
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In my years of playing FM I normally have a save playing as an MLS club as well as the US Men's National Team. My play style is to develop young players so each save will cover several game years. Naturally I examine each year's crop of US newgens and speaking about the newgens developed in the US the most you can reasonably expect to see is a very few players with a PA of 130 generated. Contrast this with players that are entered into the database by humans who have scouting knowledge of some sort to rate the real life players and you will note a wide discrepancy. The game will not generate players like Christian Pulisic (PA 170), Weston McKennie (158), Tyler Adams (150), Josh Sargent (146), Giovanni Reyna(162), and several young players still in MLS with PA in the 150 range. It seems to me that this discrepancy should demonstrate that the newgen system produces unrealistic results, at least for the US. The humans that enter real players into the database do better, but even then there are some curiosities. Reggie Cannon went from 119 while at FC Dallas in the 2019 database to 130 in 2021 (he now plays for Boavista). Chris Richards was listed in the 2019 database as 137 while he was essentially on a long term trial from the FC Dallas Academy to Bayern Munich, but in the 2021 database he shows as 158. Brenden Aaronson was listed at 107 while at Philadelphia in 2019, but now shows as 150 since his transfer to RB Salzburg. Because of this discrepancy I now normally adjust the newgen rating for the US with each new version of FM, and even with the newgen PA set to 150 I don't see the type of players generated that we see in real life, although the game will produce newgens that top out at about 139 rather than 130 with the vanilla settings. It should also be noted that simply changing the newgen rating does not guarantee a competitive group of players when viewed at the global level since many other factors affect the newgens, such as facilities, staff, and reputations, and that is as it probably should be, but I do agree that the newgen system needs some work.
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Goalkeeper match ratings are a bit silly. In tis playthrough my keepers are frequently rated poorly, unlike in previous versions of Football Manager. For example, in a match I just complete against a poor side my keeper allowed no goals, had to make no saves, made no mistakes, kept a clean sheet, and was rated at 6.3! I normally scold a player with that level of rating. Given that the keeper had little to do shouldn't the rating be a neutral 6.7 or 6.8?
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1 hour ago, Francis Mooney said:
Hi @Longhorn, have you got a save game from before the match that you can upload please?
Details on how to upload can be found here:
I uploaded a file named National Team UI Problem. Hope it helps. Note that the problem does not appear for club team matches, only for the national team.
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A few of my club team members are on the national team. While they are still available for matches on the club team, they are also available for national team matches concurrently. For example, my club team played a match for the US Cup on 7/7, while on 7/9 some of my players played a USMNT match. The UI did not show these players as away on national team duty, but one of my players out on loan did show as away during this time period. Normally players away for nation team duty are not available for the club team. On the one hand this appears to be a bug, but on the other hand my club team appreciates this
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If I am in the team selection screen preparing for a match with the national team, and then go back to the main squad screen for the national team, I am unable to go back and start the match. However, I can complete the match by going on vacation for a day.
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When a goal is scored I have not seen any information on assists. In FM20 credit for assists was always shown along with the goal scorer's name. Also, at the end of the game I have yet to see a Player of the Match indication. Has this been removed or are my players just not very good this season?
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Reserve Investment Fund
in Football Manager General Discussion
Posted
My income statement shows "interest" and the amount seems to scale with the amount of cash the club has, so it does appear that the club balance produces useful income.