An Introduction

Hello, and welcome to what I hope will be a good story. We are embarking on the rarest of journeys, beginning life with a new expansion team in a league few dare manage in. This is the story of St Louis City FC, and how they become the most dominant MLS team in existence. 

Along the way, I hope this will be able to teach me (and you) more about managing in the MLS. I think it's a fascinating league system, convoluted as it may be, and hope that this story will help people become more comfortable with the idea of managing there. 

The Team in Question

While the idea of an MLS team in St Louis, Missouri has existed since 2007, concrete plans only really came into place a decade later. The MLS announced that St Louis would be home to the 28th MLS team at the end of the 2022 season, following the construction of the new Citypark Stadium. In real life, the club announced former South Africa international Bradley Carnell as the team's first head coach, but we shall be taking over in his stead in our quest to establish the pre-eminent MLS dynasty. 

The Format of this story

Along the way, I'm going to try to explain some concepts about how the MLS works as best as I can, such as juggling salary caps, trading for value and drafting well. Hopefully this helps you as well as me figure out what's going on, because it can get very confusing sometimes. 

That's all from me, I'll report back for the Expansion Draft!

A note before it kicks off…

It would probably be best to introduce you to the squad I have available at the club before anything starts. So get ready to meet the originals: 

Designated Players: (Players whose salaries are discounted to a set price, implemented to allow the league to bring in elite players from Europe. Each squad is allowed 3, with one of them allowed to be a Young DP (i.e. under 23). Sometimes called the Beckham rule, named after the first designated player in league history. Any guesses as to who that is?)

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Roman Burki:  A familiar face for those who follow Borussia Dortmund, the Swiss goalkeeper served as starting goalkeeper for BVB for 6 years, before losing his spot for club and country to the emerging Gregor Kobel. Now aged 32, he still has a few good years left in him as our starting goalkeeper.

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Joao Klauss: A towering presence at 6'3, Klauss has had a wildly unstable early career, with a move to Hoffenheim only resulting in 5 separate loan spells before his transfer to St Louis. Despite this, he shows some promise, having previously enjoyed solid seasons in Austria and Finland and looks ready to lead the line for us.

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Eduard Lowen: Like Burki, Lowen spent most of his career in the Bundesliga, playing for teams such as FC Nurnberg, Hertha Berlin and VFL Bochum. At just 25, the two-footed ball-playing centre back with excellent versatility looks like this young team's defensive talisman. 

Senior Contracts: (Normal contracts as would be signed in European football.)

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Joakim Nilsson: Despite having played most of his career in his native Sweden, Joakim only came this way thanks to relegation in…..the Bundesliga. See a theme here? A more limited centre-back than Lowen, Nilsson's defensive solidity nonetheless provides the perfect counterpart to his more attacking partner and gives St Louis a rock-solid defensive line. 

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Selmir Pidro: Finally, someone not from the Bundesliga. Pidro joined from his hometown team FK Sarajevo, after spending a few years winning titles with them. While he is a fine athlete, I'm not too sure about the lack of ability moving forward. He seems like someone I'd rather trade than keep. 

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Tomas Ostrak: Sigh….he came through the Koln youth ranks. What I wouldn't give for some diversity…..Regardless, Ostrak looks like a solid winger, with a turn of pace and a touch of flair. Still remains to be seen how it translates on the pitch. 

Senior Minimum/Reserve: (Players that don't count towards the salary cap, usually meant for veterans or youngsters to increase squad depth. Must pay a fixed salary amount)

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Joshua Yaro: Despite being the worst out of the lot, Yaro still offers something through his pace and work-rate at both right back and centreback. He also is the only American currently on the team, which saves me a single international spot (out of 8). How much he'll play is completely up to his form and fit. 

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Isak Jensen: The potential future of the franchise, Jensen was picked up after his debut season in Denmark for SonderjyskE. Despite being 6'1, he possesses a sharp turn of pace and a lethal finish for his age, combined with solid creativity. With growth and mentorship, he could be a pillar for the future. 

Time to see who we can add during the expansion draft. 

Waiver Draft

The rules seem fairly straightforward - just need to pick the best value available. We've got two selections, including the first one of the draft. We need to find the best player available and take him. They also need to be American, since we only have one foreign slot left and I want to hold on to that for as long as I can. 

Umm….what?

Every single team just passed on their pick….what's that about? I couldn't draft a player at all, the game just wouldn't let me!! Now, granted, most of the players there were hot garbage that you could sign pretty easily without the draft but still, very strange indeed. 

Anyways, onto the main event. 

Expansion Draft

Alright, lets see what we've got going…..

WHAT IS THIS!!

Again, I wasn't able to draft a single guy for some reason, and the players that came up were all autogenerated guys let go by academies, not contracted MLS players. I have no idea why this is (I'm using an expanded US leagues database, maybe that) but it looks like the drafts are useless to me for now. Let me try and find something I can use.