[FM18] Genetically, we are behind. Can-a-di-any better?

[mjaferrie]

MLS Superdraft 2020

We've got a fair whack of picks again in this years' Superdraft.  We've just been hit with the news that Bobby Boswell has decided to retire - he moves into our backroom team - so I need to get a couple of centre backs in. 

First up, though, is GK Javier Gutiérrez. We brought in a couple of 'keepers last season but neither made a mark on the first team and haven't really progressed either.  With David Ousted now 34 years old, we needed a new first choice in.

 

We switch our attention to centre backs.  First up is Chris Locklear.  Looks decent, and with a bit of tutoring hopefully we can get his determination up a bit.  We also bring in Israeli international Bar Gozlan, and Americans Bobby Ockford and Shaquille Young.  Ockford and Young are likely to spend a year or two at Whitecaps 2, while Locklear and Gozlan will be straight into the first team now Boswell has retired.

 

Last up on the defender front is RB Bob Baysinger.  Another one who is likely to spend a year with the Reserve team, but he could be one for the future.

 

In midfield, Alfonso García joins us from FC Boston.

 

And wingers Juan Gómez and Jacob Neal are in.

 

 

Last but not least is striker Paul Hill, who joins his former teammate Locklear from Michigan Bucks.

 

Plenty of new faces, actually quite a ridiculous number.  We've had a fair few departures over the winter so far though with others looking to be heading out the door so these guys will plug some gaps and/or spend time in the Reserves.

[BoxToBox]

1 hour ago, mjaferrie said:

But... a golden generation!  Perhaps.  This was a bit of a common occurrence during the Beta so who knows if it's genuine or not.

I think the "golden generation" tag is a bit more relative than the title lets on. I mean, getting it in the conference, I'm sure it means no more than getting a handful of players who could become conference level.

[mjaferrie]

44 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

I think the "golden generation" tag is a bit more relative than the title lets on. I mean, getting it in the conference, I'm sure it means no more than getting a handful of players who could become conference level.

Seems likely, yeah.  Not many of the academy players are actually breaking into the squad over the years so far, hopefully that changes.

I've also been thinking about my transfer policy.  Because I'm not allowed to pay money for players, I've been overcompensating by bringing in around 8-10 players each time the Superdraft comes around.  Thinking about allowing myself to sign Scottish players only with the view to developing them for the national team, but let's see.

[BoxToBox]

1 minute ago, mjaferrie said:

Seems likely, yeah.  Not many of the academy players are actually breaking into the squad over the years so far, hopefully that changes.

I've also been thinking about my transfer policy.  Because I'm not allowed to pay money for players, I've been overcompensating by bringing in around 8-10 players each time the Superdraft comes around.  Thinking about allowing myself to sign Scottish players only with the view to developing them for the national team, but let's see.

It'd be interesting to add Scots, definitely, or maybe Scots and Dutch, though there's probably have to be extra limits on Dutch as they're so good.

Looking at your drafts though, would you be better off trading up? Rather than 10 picks, say, 5 very good picks?

[andychar]

Feel like your getting closer and closer to that first MLS title.

Either way miracles have been performed with Scotland (despite that Moldova result). I class any major tournament as a miracle.

[mjaferrie]

9 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

It'd be interesting to add Scots, definitely, or maybe Scots and Dutch, though there's probably have to be extra limits on Dutch as they're so good.

Looking at your drafts though, would you be better off trading up? Rather than 10 picks, say, 5 very good picks?

It's a good shout.  I traded four 4th round picks went to Atlanta for their 1st round pick in next years' already and I think I got Houston's 1st round pick in 2022 for the same deal, or something similar.  I might have had to fork out a bit of GAM in both deals as well but I'm not too sure, but it's definitely something worth looking at doing more often. 

2 minutes ago, andychar said:

Feel like your getting closer and closer to that first MLS title.

Either way miracles have been performed with Scotland (despite that Moldova result). I class any major tournament as a miracle.

Could be although we're actually getting less and less points each year Need to up our game this season.  Hoping for a kind draw for Scotland as well, it would be great to get out of the group stage.

[mjaferrie]

Season Preview 2020

Gulp.  The media are expecting us to finish 1st this season, which is a massive jump up from our previous years' of 12th, 12th and 11th.  We've got a fair bit more quality in the team than we did at the beginning of the save but expectations are probably a reflection of our overperformance in the last few years rather than any genuine quality. 

 

This could indeed be our year, although knowing our propensity for a considerable losing streak I'm not convinced.  Here are all of our ins/outs over the off-season:

 

One of the biggest surprises is Escobedo's move to Liverpool - he only made 2 appearances for us last year and wasn't even scratching at the number 1 slot between the sticks.  Since his move he's made one substitute appearances for their U23s... weird.

This has to be one of the most irritating things about transfers in the MLS though.

 

The second or third biggest sale of the save so far (iirc..) and most of it goes to the league.  FFS.  

Anyway, onto Season 4!

[mjaferrie]

Our right back has been injured for up to 3 months while hoovering his car.  Hoovering his ****ing car!

 

[mjaferrie]

Mid Season 2020

We're 17 games deep and, while we're riding our luck quite a bit, sit 2nd in the table - two points behind Houston Dynamo who have also played a game more than us, so we have a chance to go top if we beat Atlanta United in our next match.

  

If we keep up our current form, we're on track to achieve a highest ever points total during my tenure which would be brilliant.  We've been pretty lucky though, as so many of our games have been decided by just the one goal.

 

As you can see though, we hammered Toronto on their own patch in the first leg of the Canadian Championship Semis and look good for a place in the final.  I'm not sure if it's set that we draw Toronto, but we have played them every year so far at this stage of the competition.  It would be great to face some different competition at some point.

Meanwhile, we've arranged a couple of transfers to go through this summer.  George Byers comes to the end of his contract at Swansea and signs for us on a free, as a Senior contract player. 

 

And Lewis Morgan will join as well, as we trigger the £2.1m release clause in his contract at Hibernian.  He will be a Designated Player as his contract goes above the maximum allowed for a Senior contract player.

 

Two Scottish players who will come in and get first team football for us and hopefully become a fixture for the National Team.

Speaking of, here is our squad for the upcoming Euro 2020:

 

[BoxToBox]

Great Scots!

[mjaferrie]

European Championship 2020 - Group Stage

We've been drawn in a tricky Group A with France, Switzerland and Denmark (who we faced in qualifying).  Here are the groups:

  

Given that four of the third placed teams will qualify for the knockout round, I will be really disappointed if we don't make it.

Scotland v Denmark

Here's how we lineup in our opening game against the Danes.

 

A deep 3-4-3 with Kieran Tierney and Ryan Gauld both with license to bomb forward.

Here we go!

[mjaferrie]

19th minute...

A great worked corner by Denmark, 1-0.

 

HALF TIME

It's 1-0 to Denmark and we haven't really threatened much at all in a dull first half.  Need to up our game and pull a goal back from somewhere.  

[mjaferrie]

Full Time

 

A disappointing match against Denmark.  Our three games against them have now finished 1-0, 0-0 and 0-1, and unfortunately we saved defeat for when it really counted.  A really tricky match next against France, and this defeat means we absolutely have to get something from Switzerland to have a chance at qualifying. 

[mjaferrie]

France v Scotland

 

An unsurprising defeat against one of the favourites for the trophy, they absolutely hammered us all match.

Scotland v Switzerland

 

We've done our bit by taking 3 points from Switzerland, which leaves the group looking like this:

 

We'll have to wait to find out whether we have progressed or not, with matches still to be played in the other groups.

 

And unfortunately it wasn't to be.  Results didn't go our way in the last round of games to give us one of the elusive third place slots.  That's two from two international competitions we've qualified for which is fantastic.

Next up for the national team is the European International League Division B.  We won all 6 of our Division C matches, and are rewarded with games against England and Iceland in Group 2.  We kick off against Iceland at Hampden Park on the 4th of September.

[mjaferrie]

2 hours ago, BoxToBox said:

Great Scots!

Unfortunately:

 

I'm not quite sure why exactly, he would have been on a DP contract and I have plenty of room in the budget for him.  I've made the same offer to Hibs again, triggering the release clause, and we'll see what happens. 

Either way, George Byers completes his move to Vancouver and is joined by Gary Fitzpatrick, a £500k signing from St. Johnstone.

 

[mjaferrie]

Same transfer fee, same contract offer:

 

[mjaferrie]

Vancouver v FC Dallas - MLS Matchday 22

I have just finished one of the most incredible matches I've ever managed in FM, and while I was planning to wait until the end of the season before looking at league results again I felt I had to document this one.

 

We line up in a 4-3-3 with Lewis Morgan, and George Byers making their debuts.  

01:04...

 

03:52...

 

06:52...

 

21.02...

 

30:05...

 

30:57...

 

44:08...

 

45:36...

 

Half Time: Vancouver Whitecaps 5 - 3 FC Dallas

50:30...

 

57:52...

 

72:35... 

 

92:09...

 

An absolutely incredible match!  Full Time:

 

Both George Byers and Lewis Morgan score on their debuts. 

[mjaferrie]

Season Review 2020

 

It's taken us 4 years to do it, but we have finally won the Supporters' Shield!

   

Atlanta and Houston were fighting us all the way, with Houston dropping off towards the end as Real Salt Lake looked to get in the mix.  Here are our results in the second half of the season:

 

No more epics after the historic match against FC Dallas  But shock finalists Edmonton gave us two great games in the Canadian Championship final and our victory means we will be participating in continental football for the next two years.

Our new Scottish signings in the summer have been a revelation in the second half of the season, with Lewis Morgan and George Byers making their debuts in the 8-4 game.  Fitzpatrick has had a slower start, with only a couple of appearances, but he should be a bigger part of the team next season.  Morgan and Byers have also broken into the Scotland team in recent months. 

Of the Western conference teams in the Wild Card, LA Galaxy beat Minnesota to earn a Semi-Final tie against us.  Houston are also into the semis and will face Real Salt Lake.

 

[mjaferrie]

Season Update 2020 - Part 2

I forgot to mention earlier that despite winning the Supporters' Shield and our conference, our form against Seattle and Portland wasn't good enough to lift the Cascadia Cup this year, which goes to Seattle Sounders.

 

Onto the playoffs:

  

All too easy against LA Galaxy in the Semi Final, and we progress to face Real Salt Lake for a place in the MLS Cup.  We've never qualified for it during my tenure here so it would be brilliant to get through.

  

Almost had the win and we were in control of much of the 1st leg, but Rusnak came up with an equaliser towards the end of the match, but it doesn't matter because with a strong showing in the 2nd leg we're through to the MLS Cup!

 

We'll face Atlanta United, who pushed us all the way in the Supporters' Shield and have their eye on half my squad.  Hopefully we'll hammer them.

[mjaferrie]

MLS Cup 2020

Vancouver v Atlanta United

 

We're slight favourites, but we've only ever beaten Atlanta once so we'll need to upset the form books to get a win here.  Unlike the playoffs, this is only a one-legged match so it's all or nothing.

 

This is how we line up, depending on how their attacking three look in the game I might switch to our deep 3-4-3.  And yep, that is Mario Mandzukic formerly of Juventus.  He signed for £10.5m and is on a £115k p/w contract at big spending Atlanta, and is easily the best player in the league.

[mjaferrie]

Half Time

0-0.  Dire.

74th minute..

Russell Canouse plays the inswinging corner for Atlanta United.. Chris McCann rises to meet it!  CHRIS MCCAAAAAN!  It's 1-0 for Atlanta!

 

Gutted.  After such a strong season it would have been brilliant to round it off by lifting the MLS Cup, but it wasn't to be.  Next up on our agenda is the December Waiver, and I'm going to look to send out Lewis Morgan and George Byers on loan until March when our own season begins again.  I need them to be playing for the next few months to be ready for our World Cup qualifying campaign with Scotland.

Scotland

Speaking of, here are our results with the National Team since our disappointing Euro 2020:

 

Routine victories over Iceland and a famous victory over England at Hampden Park wasn't enough as we come 2nd behind England on goal difference.  We'll still in Division B next time round but this is encouraging for the future.

We've been struggling for 'keepers with the national team since Craig Gordon, Allan McGregor and David Marshall have retired, and the next tier of Zander Clark, Scott Bain, Jordan Archer and Jack Hamilton just aren't good enough.  I've been trying to convince Angus Gunn to switch his international allegiance to Scotland as he's got no hope of an England call up in-game, despite being called up IRL recently.

My solution has been to call up players who are nowhere near good enough for the National side yet but have serious potential, such as Celtic's Calvin Currie, Norwich's Stevie O'Donnell and St. Johnstone's Sean Evans - all newgens.  They're pretty hopeless at the moment, but I'm hoping that by capping them I'll increase their reputation and they'll get a chance at their clubs.  Who knows.

 

[andychar]

Nooooooo! So close! You are hammering on the US Cup down and its only a matter of time until its opened.

Scotland...don't hold your breath.

[mjaferrie]

47 minutes ago, andychar said:

Nooooooo! So close! You are hammering on the US Cup down and its only a matter of time until its opened.

Scotland...don't hold your breath.

This year! 

December Waiver + Re-Entry Drafts

Youth Intake Day!

 

 

 

David Ousted will be 36 in two weeks, and will surely retire soon, so hopefully Adelis Osorio can step up and take his place.  Otherwise, this is a pretty humming intake.

MLS Superdraft 2021

MORE PLAYERS!

  

Ed Dubois comes in to replace Marcel de Jong who has just retired and moved into our backroom team.  John Pineda comes in as backup for Ian Marples, who apparently has a propensity for overenthusiastic car maintenance. 

 

We've lost Danny Dale to Bethlehem Steel FC, and Mark Russell to Philadelphia since the season finished, so we bring in Jack Fletcher as an upgrade on them at centre back.

  

A couple of midfielders in Mike Castaneda and Brad Smith, who are both likely to be retrained to play in CM as we haven't been using AMCs very often.  Smith might be better suited to being trained as a striker.

  

We certainly don't need any more wingers, but Marco Sandoval and Joe Rosario come in so I can get a better look at them and make a decision on whether they offer more than our current players.  They have great pace and good personalities, so I thought it was worth a shot.  

And lastly:

 

The cream of the crop according to my scouts.  Plenty of room to grow and already has some pretty handy attributes and a Professional personality.  He'll likely be our first choice up front this season.  

[mjaferrie]

Pre-Season Update 2021

We opened the year with the North American Champions League, and we were drawn in the first round against Mexican side Toluca.

 

The first leg was a total goalfest, we scuppered a two goal lead before changing to a 3-4-3 and scoring two late goals.  A 90th minute strike from Gaitán pulled one back for the Mexicans but we had an away win!

Until...

 

Gaitán put 5 past us.  I feel violated.  

We open the new MLS season away to New England.  Here's the transfers in and out before we submitted our roster for the new year:

 

Old hands Nosa Igliebor and Diego Chara both move on to make way for new faces.  Craig Perez found himself pushed out following the arrival of Cerda in the Superdraft and he's gone to Scotland to play with Hibs in the new season.  Hibs have actually had their eye on quite a lot of our players following Lewis Morgan's move in the other direction.

George Byers has also joined Newcastle on loan until the end of the English season, he'll rejoin us at the end of June.  We'll miss him in the first half of the season, but he'll get Premier League and Europa League football, we'll get around £650k and they're paying his wages too.  He's already made 4 appearances for Didier Deschamps' (haha...) men.

And here is our roster:

 

 

[mjaferrie]

We've just completed the signing of Liam Henderson from Celtic who will hopefully be a key player for us for many years.

  

He was unhappy with his playing time in Glasgow - despite making 60 over the last two years, he'd fallen down the pecking order and only made 4 appearances for them this season.  He's a Designated Player, and we'll have to keep an eye on him and Morgan as they're both earning more than £10k a week now.

We've also arranged the signing of Fraser Hornby from Everton on a free transfer.  I tried to get him a year ago before Everton offered him a one year extension so I'm glad to finally get this one over the line.  He looks pretty hopeless for now, but has good potential and will hopefully develop.

 

[kidthekid]

really loving this thread. The MLS is so complicated though.

[mjaferrie]

On 22/11/2017 at 19:10, kidthekid said:

really loving this thread. The MLS is so complicated though.

Thanks!  It's taken me a few seasons to get my head around it! 

[ClemB]

great thread. A shame tho there is so few canadians in the roster. I'm sure you can find some canucks talented enough for a bench role at least

Could you post some screens of your best players (with the view withthe polygon if possible), cheers

[mjaferrie]

20 minutes ago, ClemB said:

great thread. A shame tho there is so few canadians in the roster. I'm sure you can find some canucks talented enough for a bench role at least

Could you post some screens of your best players (with the view withthe polygon if possible), cheers

If they come through the youth intake they'll get a chance, otherwise there has been a pretty big lack of any decent Canadians available in the drafts.

Our best player is a Canadian though!  Right back Ian Marples, who has recently signed an advertising contract with Dyson. 

 

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep him for long though, English teams were after him in the summer so unless I get rid of one of our DPs and bump him up I don't think I can compete with the contract offers.

 

 

 

After Marples, our next best 3 players are all Scottish signings.  A few teams were after Byers in the summer window after his loan at Newcastle ended and I might look to do the same for the beginning of next season, it's a good way of bringing in some extra cash without losing our best players permanently.  

Rounding out our top 5 is American Sammy Howell who was a Generation Adidas player I got in the first Superdraft and has been an incredible signing for us, his average ratings since joining have been 7.25, 7.21, 7.38 and 7.64.

 

I haven't had time to do any updates for this season, and we've actually just finished our league fixtures for the year.  I'll do a season update shortly.

[mjaferrie]

Season Review 2021

We gained 6 points more than last season but Atlanta, who earned 12 points more than last years' total, pushed us really, really hard.

 

 

We had an unbelievable unbeaten run through to the end of the season, where dropped points to FC Dallas and Sporting Kansas City meant we went into the final game of the season equal on points with Atlanta United, with us sitting in 1st place thanks to our Games Won record.  If we won our final match against Minnesota, we would lift the Supporters' Shield for the second season in a row.

 

We did it!  

 

 

An absolutely unbelievable season sees us lift the Supporters' Shield in consecutive years.  Atlanta United are pushing hard though, and their vast improvement this year is a warning for next season.

We also lifted the Canadian Championship trophy in a 4-1 aggregate victory over Montreal Impact, which means we'll be Canada's representatives in continental competition again.

 

We were drawn against Toronto for the 5th season in a row, surely this is a bug?  

[mjaferrie]

Season Update 2021 - Part 2

I forgot to post the league table... 

  

I also realised that when I thought we were ahead by games won (the first sorting rule in MLS), I was accidentally looking at Portland's record.  We had the exact same record of W-D-L as Atlanta and our goal difference going into the final match was all that kept us top of the table.  Two goals won us the title 

 

In the Wild Card, LAFC completed a remarkable rise in fortunes since joining the league a few years ago and they've earned a Semi Final place against us.  Their league finishes in the Supporters' Shield have been 23rd, 22nd, 19th and 9th, and they look to be seriously on the up.  We're undefeated in our last 7 matches against them though, so I'm pretty confident of a place in the final.

 

 

Two narrow wins by the same scoreline over LAFC.  We dominated the second leg and should have been much better than the 2-2 scoreline.  Danny Lisch popped up with a winner in the last few minutes and is now demanding a 500% wage rise.  Dick.

We've been drawn against Portland in the final, with the winner qualifying for the MLS Cup.  Before that though, we have the small matter of our final two World Cup qualifying matches with Scotland.

[mjaferrie]

Season Review 2021 - Part 3

We were drawn against Cascadia rivals Portland in the final, with the winners of the tie going through to the MLS Cup to play either Atlanta United or New York City.

 

Liam Henderson scored his 8th goal from midfield since joining only a few months ago to earn us a drawn in the first leg. 

 

And then scored his 9th to secure the win and a place in the MLS Cup final.  The match also meant that we break records:

 

 

Rematch.  Last seasons' final between the same two teams ended 1-0 to Atlanta after they ran us off the park.  

 

A brilliant performance from the lads, despite losing two late goals to that man Mandzukic, means we lift the MLS trophy for the first time in our 5th season at the club!

 

It's the first time in the club's history that they have lifted the trophy after reaching the final for the first time last season.

We've broken more records:

 

 

And to top it off, we've won some awards.

 

 

 

It's going to be incredibly difficult to keep the team together for next season.  Sammy Howell, George Byers and Danny Lisch all want new contracts that would push them into the Designated Player bracket, so we have a decision to make about whether to let any of Lewis Morgan, Liam Henderson or Matias Laba leave the club in order to keep Byers, Howell and Lisch.  It may well be that we lose several key plays in January.

Rangers have their eye on Yordy Reyna, with a rumoured £3.8m bid on the cards.  I'd be happy to let him leave the club as despite some good performances this season he's overpaid for his ability. 

Tim Parker, Paul Hill, José Alejandro Guadarrama, Pat Doughty, Ian Marples, Henry Smith and Sean Hayes are also attracting attention. 

Scotland

We lost to Croatia in the first meeting between the sides before earning a draw against them at Hampden Park.  Their record of 9 wins and 1 draw from 10 games means they came first in the group and qualified for the World Cup.  We, on the other hand, would have had the same record were it not for a bore draw away to Austria.  That means we come second in the group, and fortunately nick one of the Second Placed spots.  We're going to Australia 2022!  (No Qatar, quelle surprise).

 

 

 

Our group in the World Cup?

 

*Insert crazy laugh here*

Scotland versus England in the World Cup Group Stage.  Muahahahaa!  We are also going to have a rematch against Mexico, who were the only side we beat at Russia 2018.

 

[mjaferrie]

December Waiver Draft 2021

We prepare for a potential exodus in January by bringing in a couple of players in this draft.

 

 

They have some decent attributes but don't look like world-beaters.  We're going to need to see some development from them or they'll just go to Whitecaps 2 and run down their contracts.  It's possible we don't need them at all, but I think that's wishful thinking.

Youth Intake Day!

 

 

 

 

 

  

Some decent prospects.  A few players will leave the academy as you can see, as they didn't merit signing a deal with the first team.  Several players have signed though and will spend next year at Whitecaps 2 to continue their development. 

[mjaferrie]

MLS Superdraft 2022

We only bring in 5 new players this time round, and it's probably the most promising Superdraft pick we've had in recent years.  Previous editions have been more about quantity than quality, but now we have a strong squad and I'm only really looking for players who can come in to fill gaps.

 

 

 

  

 

[ClemB]

Thanks for the screenshots.

Following this thread made me want to start a save with the Whitecaps too! Hopefully the MLS does not suffer from major issues/bugs this year.

[mjaferrie]

59 minutes ago, ClemB said:

Thanks for the screenshots.

Following this thread made me want to start a save with the Whitecaps too! Hopefully the MLS does not suffer from major issues/bugs this year.

As someone who doesn't follow the MLS and doesn't know how it should work, there hasn't been anything game breaking other than an annoying lack of cash movement of players between MLS teams. It seems like when you offer a player out everyone holds off in the hope that you just release them in the waiver instead. So most player departures have been to the NASL or USL, or then to Europe/South  America. 

[kidthekid]

How are the NASL and USL teams compared to MLS, from a player and financial perspective.

[deltablue]

Go Mexico