Jetsetter

Welcome to my new FM blog/story

I has on my previous one fmfan12.wordpress.com I stated in my final post of my intention to play in every continent on the game but it wont be in one save which is the Pentagon Challenge. I will be doing a variation of by managing one club and trying to win trophy in that country and continent for example North America it will be the MLS which means MLS Cup, Supporters Shield, US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League plus the FIFA Club World Cup also .I will be only managing clubs that are in countries that have hosted the World Cup or have been the surprise team at a World Cup for example at the recent World Cup USA and Australia put in some good performances against top teams like the USA v Germany game.

I will be starting this by playing in the MLS has it was one my best saves with LA Galaxy on FM12. The MLS is quite complicated with contracts and transfers plus they have 2 Drafts for players.



I have used Seattle Sounders has an example. Has you can see there are so different conations regarding contracts and registering the squad for the season. One thing this does tell you is that the league take % of transfer fees when you sell players. The draft systems are the same in the NFL, NBA and NHL where the bottom team gets first pick next season.

Chivas USA will be disbanded at the end of the season and their players will be put into a special draft called a dispersal draft. Orlando City and NYC FC will join the MLS in January 2015. There are plans of adding 3 more teams, Atlanta, LA FC (Chivas USA pheonix club) and Miami (David Beckham backed franchise) look set to join in 2017 but it wont happen on FM15.

I have decided it is going to be one of two teams Seattle Sounders and NY Red Bulls has they are only current MLS sides not to win the MLS Cup. This could provide another challenge if I pick teams from top 2 tiers that have had limited or no success.

I hope this is going to be fun and entertaining has my Burton Albion save.

Thanks for reading and I hope you will follow this journey.

Good luck with this mate

Thanks Dan, this is someting new for me to do on FM. On previous games I have always been one club through out but after seeing the crowds for the big screens for in USA for the USA v Germany it got me wondering how would it impact the game and how would this be reflected in FM also how previous World Cups impacted the leagues of the host.

It is not the Pentagon Challenge but a variation of it.

Good luck

Thanks Johno.

Will be updating soon with a review of the squad and club.

All the best with this challenge mate.I have always been curious about managing in MLS but never done it.Be good see someone elses progress/story before deciding if its for me

The first time I did it was with LA Glaxay back on FM12 and I end the save after a few season when I won the Club World Cup. The MLS is a lot of fun to do. and it is a challenge has the more successful you the harder it gets has you are sometimes the last club to pick players in the various drafts which means you miss out on good players. My LA Glaxay team hardly changed over those few seasons.

It has taken a bit longer than I hoped to get this under way. I have done the preseason with Seattle Sounders.


The club has a great setup and the only improvements would be in the youth team staff which would in turn improve the youth recruitment. Even though we have only 38,500 for our home games but there is an extra 28,500 seats available for when the club’s reputation and success grow along with the League’s own reputation. It would be great to see all the MLS clubs have their own purpose built stadium. The improvements are not high up my priority list has they
ould be if I was playing the game the way I usually play it. Generally the facilities in the MLS are of a very good standard and they place an emphasis on the youth more than some clubs in the Premier League.


The Lemar Hunt US Open Cup is the only major success the club has had with 3 consecutive trophies and finishing Runners Up in the Supporters Shield (Overall Table). Improving the trophy cabinet is my aim and doing it in a short space of time. The club has the players to be successful and get the trophies for me to move onto the next team.


The future looks great and I hope that the MLS get stronger which would entice top players in their peak years to play in the MLS has there clubs with the money to pay the fees and the League has money to cover the salary of Designated Player. The wage structure is in place to help financial stability of the clubs and help them to be competitive without straining their financial resources.


The weakest area of the squad is the defence where it appears I need to build a new back four. It is our midfield is the greatest strength and I hope that Dempsey will show the form he had at Fulham. I am hopeful that 2/3 players from the academy will improve my back four but I would need to sign new players especially in the fullback areas either through the draft systems or normal transfer.


In the MLS teams in the same conference (West and East) play each other 3 times and the other teams once. The US Open Cup has only one draw and you can predict who you are going to face in the next round or even the final. It is weird to play LA Galaxy back to back at the end of the season, could this be a Conference decider? Next season will see both conferences be of 10 teams which will increase the competition of the MLS, in the real MLS there could be another 3 teams joining the MLS.


I used every player during the training camp. We lost 2 players for a few weeks due to injury and Djimi Traore took a leave of absence due to being unsettled but is now back and raring to go. The signs are that the players are capable of a lot more and once the tactics are more familiar then we will see the best of the players.

I waivered 3 players and one missed out on a decent back up striker thanks to being 16th in the pick order. Players released after the 25th March who are over 24 and played 3 consecutive seasons in the MLS count against wage budgets for the MLS club that released them for that season unless they find a new club. The rules about finances are designed to protect players and clubs.

I have the feeling that the MLS is starting to become a serious league to play and hopefully it will lose the last pay day tag,

The club are expected to challenge for the Supporters Shield and reach the MLS Cup Final this season. It is going to tough has there some teams that have strengthen and should provide some tough competition. I need every player to perform and be available has we have a small squad.


Denis Stracqualursi hopefully can fulfill hid potential with us as he enters his peak years of his career. Him and Obafemi Martins will be my main strikers for this season and next.


We lost Dempsey for 3months after being injured during training after the Montreal game. We got 4 clean sheets on the bounce which is a new club record along with 9 straight wins. It is great to see that we are scoring in majority of games and that players all over the squad are chipping in with goals. We handed Vancouver Whitecaps their heaviest defeat so far this season. Brad Evans is lethal from the spot after scoring his penalty out of 5 and he is our best penalty taker.




LA Galaxy need to win the 3 games in hand and they will be putting real pressure on us. Houston are looking like they will walk away with the Eastern Conference title and be our main competition for the Supporters Shield.


The Supporters Shield decides who will get first pick in the drafts in the following season and Vancouver could be the ones with the first pick. Chivas USA are trying to make their final season a good one.


We face either FC Dallas or Charleston Battery in the next season if we get past Richmond Kickers. There have been some upsets and I would like to see one or two of the smaller clubs make it to the later rounds.

Our game against Real Salt Lake has been selected has a Fan Day which the aim is to attract new fans to the club and the MLS. The Premier League and Football League should do something similar.

I already know who will be staying and leaving at the end of the season or in the waiver draft.

Welcome,

This will be my last post of 2014 and I am hoping to make it a good one. I hope everyone had a good Christmas.


We just started the US Open Cup and unbeaten in 13 games in the MLS. Can We remain unbeaten all season and claim all domestic Cups?


Obafemi Martins was a beast all season and the wingers, Pappa and Bowen, were fantastic has they were scoring and creating goals in every game. I had to sell Martins to Lille for £3m which meant that I had to using Stracqualursi has my main striker and so far in the last 3 games he has been good with room for improvement. Clint Dempsey has had 2 spells on the injury list with one being for 3-4 months which meant he could not get the games to show what he can do but when he did play he add class to the side. We had 40,000 plus for most homes with a few being sell outs (67,000) which are impressive figures for a MLS has some sides were getting 10,000-25,000 with some getting less than 10,000 for some home games. I used nearly every player that was available with some changes to the formation like 4-4-2 narrow diamond, 4-3-2-1 wingers or 4-4-2.


It is surprising to see New York Red Bulls in 17th place considering they have some good players. The Supporters Shield determines the pick order for the various Drafts but New York City and Orlando City will be the first 2 teams to pick players in the drafts has they are new to the MLS also they will part take in a special draft where players that are not on club’s protected list can get drafted by NY City and Orlando City. We are the best team overall but the MLS Cup determinds who is the MLS Champion for 2014.


The Eastern Conference appears to be stronger than our Western Conference has we manage to top the Western Conference by 30 odd points. The top 3 teams are in the Semi Finals of the MLS Cup with 4th and 5th play for the Wild Card.


I knew if we got past Real Salt Lake we would make to the MLS Cup Final. The real test would any team from the Eastern Conference especially Houston Dynamo who were chasing us hard for the Supporters Shield.


This was my first trophy in the US football. The US Open Cup is like the tennis draw where you can predict who you are likely to play in certain rounds there are times where a club outside the MLS makes an impact on the draw.

I am having to rebuild the playing squad and backroom staff has many people left some were transfered, drafted by other clubs or their contracts expired. I am looking at having somewhere around 22-25 playing squad. There is going to be a new strike force.

The main aim for the 2015 Season is to win the CONCACAF Champions League even if it means losing my unbeaten streak and miss out on the US Open Cup, Supporters Shield and MLS Cup.

See you in 2015.

Quality ending to the year on your save. Congrats

it is has been over a month since the last update. I decided on one single post about the 2015 season.

2015 New Players


He was signed from Oklahoma City for £38k. He is a future No1. keeper but for now he is my backup keeper.




He is cover for Clint Dempsey.


I needed a striker has Martins and Stracqualursi were sold also Parsemain failing to make the lone striker role his to lose.


I needed a keeper with experience to push Frei and provide cover when needed.

MLS



New England Revolution were the only MLS Club to beat us in Regular Season football. Karaman’s fee of £1.4m is appearing to be a bargain has he clocks up 20 odd goals with only Dempsey ahead of him. The front four, no matter which players are selected, seem to have clicked into place. Overall the players were fantastic with some great performances from the players, I had at least 4 players getting into double figures for goals and assists.


New York City FC had a great 1st season in the MLS and they have room for improvement. It is great to have 2 good clubs in New York and LA are set to have another team in 2017 (IRL). The Eastern Conference seems to be more competitive than the Western Conference.

MLS Cup


Lamar Hunter US Open Cup


2016 New Players


He was once tipped to break into the Manchester City first team squad but he is now trying to rebuild his reputation and career. I am looking for him and Osorio to form a deadly and combative pairing in central midfield.




He is my new No1. Keeper and he is young but he is the best keeper I could find. I think he could force himself in the Colombian national side if he can put run of impressive performances.







THe next leg will be with Colo Colo in Chile. I have chosen Kaizer Chiefs, Melbourne and either Newcastle Utd or Nottingham Forest. The European leg will be like my previous saves.

The CONCACAF Champions League has entered the knockout stages with the Quarter Finals which is dominated by MLS and Mexican teams. We face Houston Dynamo in the Quarter Finals with the possibility of facing a strong Mexican side in the Semi Final if we make it also to get the Final.


Clint Dempsey only just returned to full training the day before the first leg against Tigre and he got 2 goals since the start of the season has he was injured. Karaman was fantastic in the CONCACAF Champions League with 12 goals and 7 assists in 10 games which he is the top goal scorer and has the most assists.


This part of the journey is over and I will be heading south to Chile to manage Colo Colo then it will be Melbourne then Kaiser Chiefs then Belgium.

I have changed the South American club from Colo Colo to Fluminense this is due to Fluminense are the Copa Sudamerica (Their version of the Europa League). I have been waiting for the update to arrive before continuing my Pentagon Challenge. Fluminense have the philosophy of producing young players or bringing in young players for the first team, this is a good club to manage for those want to manage a club that are about producing their own players like Southampton and Monaco.

The attendances in Brazil are not great unless it is a derby game and for Fluminense there are plenty in Rio. The season starts with the Regional Leagues ( Campeonato Carioca in Fluminses case) before moving onto the main league competition the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

Welcome,

This is the first time I have managing a club that has some philosophies, buy youth for the first team and bring youth team players into first team, which I like and agree with plus a nice little challenge with the bigger challenge.

The State Leagues run from January to early May and is a good way to bring players into the squad before the main League competition starts. The only downside with the Campeonato Carioca is that there are only 5 good teams and the rest a lower league clubs within the National League setup. I will be using this league to develop my tactics and formations for the main league.

I have added 2 good young players to the squad. I have no transfer budget for the season and it is going to be hard to get decent young players into the squad but it is challenge worth its weight in gold.

Andreas Pereira, Season loan from Manchester United

If he can improve his physical stats to the same level of his technical stats then he is going to be a great player for both club and country. I hope I can get on him on free in January 2015 if he does not sign a new contract by then with Manchester United.

Savio, Free Transfer

I lack natural central midfielders and he it fits the club’s philosophy. He has the attributes to be a great player. I hope I can get him some games.

We won 14 of the 15 leagues while only conceding 2 goals. We had 11 games without a goal being conceded. It took Fred a few games to get going and his form deserves a call up to the national side. I needed the large squad has we suffered quite a few injuries and there were only a few games where I used the same line up. I could have used the fringe players more without affecting the results.

e is break in June/July I hope to arrange some friendlies to keep fitness levels up also give some much needed game time to those that have not played many games.

I think I have the squad to challenge for the trophies to complete the South American leg in 2 seasons plus compete for the Club World Cup. Also it is great to get the first trophy of the season.


Thanks for reading.

Great form there!

Welcome,

I have decided to end this version of the Pentagon Challenge has I have no interest in it now has I miss developing a squad that this young and successful at a club that is either down on their luck or restore a glorious past in the present.

I have either Everton, Newcastle, Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest in mind.

Thanks for reading this story.