Uncle Sam - Comments

I'll start with #2, because it's the easier question. I choose my designated player (DP) based primarily on need, and then on quality of the players who I think I can get. For example, I play with one up top, so if I have two strong strikers, then I'm going to be less likely to sign a striker as a DP . DP's do count as a max salary against the wage cap, and in MLS you HAVE to be careful not to devote too much salary to one position. Personally, I try to have one DP defensive players, one DP midfielder, and then one DP at striker/winger. With that general framework, I find the best player that I can. The good news is that every year the staff presents a number of good DP options. In my last game I was able to sign guys like Lucas, Dani Alves, Alexsander Kolarov, etc.

As for #1, that's a pretty big question and it doesn't always have the same answer. Early in the game I'm trying to assemble young players. So I try to max-out the "reserve players" and and "off-budget players" categories. Minimum salary players are off-budget, and this is a great place to sign youngsters that you hope to develop into regular contributors.

I also try to get as many foreign players as possible. In MLS you can actually trade international player slots. I usually play with Houston Dynamo, who only begin with 8. One of my first missions is to acquire more international player slots because you can bring a lot of quality players.

As for the age of players, I personally seek young players with high potential. The best age that I've found to sign these guys is at around 20-24, depending on their position. By then you can look for attributes that even if they don't improve, you can know they will be able to contribute. Obviously the hope is that they develop into quality players. Any players over 27-29 I'm looking to move. These guys are going to start deteriorating and if they're on my squad then that means they aren't good enough to demand a contract I can't afford or for another club to want to make an offer for. I do make exceptions for Designated Players. These players I only keep for the length of one contract (maybe even less), so I know I only have them for 2-3 years. They're mercenaries that can hopefully get me over the hump. Not all DPs are worth their contract status, however, For example on starting the game Houston is weighted down by the DaMarcus Beasley contract. The 33-year old is occupying a DP slot that would easily be better filled by someone else.

One thing to keep in mind when building a squad is that you ALWAYS need to have replacements for your first team players. Because of the wage cap and maximum salary rules, the players who develop into stars are going to eventually demand higher salaries than you will be able to afford. That means when a club comes in with an offer that matches their value you should probably go ahead and take it, because it is very rare that you'll get any offers in the final year of a player's contract. If you haven't planned ahead and started developing a replacement, you'll be in a hole when you lose that player. This is partially why I also recommend heavy squad rotation. It helps keep players fresh, happy, aids their development, and it helps you identify players who are ready to contribute to the first team.

I would be willing to start a sort of question-and-answer session in this thread.

Ha, I used to have a guide but to be honest, it would be a lot more in depth as FM has come very close to catching up with how the league works in real life.

So, my latest experiment was to test the theory that issue had something to do with the .png files themselves. So I opened all the kits in photoshop, and then saved them into a new folder, deleted the old folder, and built a new config. Here is the result:

SUCCESS!!!!!


So Mons, if you come across some poor sack that nothing else is working for, it could be some bizarre issue the actual kit files themselves, so add that to your arsenal. I do appreciate you trying to help.

BTW, It wasn't the capital letter .PNG problem, it was just some bizarre issue. It probably had to do with my computer, and not the game.

The real life folder is just a place where I dumped some kits for clubs that I didn't want to lose when I made custom kits. There is not even a config file in the folder.

The custom kits folder is where I put kits for clubs that I created by modifying "Extinct" clubs. I checked, but there is no kits for any MLS clubs and the unique id is not in the config file. Below is a search of the Graphics>Kits folder that reveals I only have one config file containing code for the Houston Dynamo:

Yes, apologies. I do know that the screenshot isn't showing the default kits. That image is of the old kits that continue to show no matter what I do. I did figure out the reason the default kits continued to show. In one of my many experiments I had deleted the old config, reloaded, and then rebuilt the config using the configurator, but I hadn't sorted out the unique id numbers. So I did that, but when I reloaded the game the old kits continued to show. The game is simply refusing to display the new kits. It's almost like the game, or maybe my computer, believes that the new images are still the old images. Anyway, I took screenshots of the kits folder, and here they are:





Probably not much you can glean from those. I have looked in all of the other sub folders and there is no duplicate MLS folder. That couldn't be the problem though, because when I did remove the MLS folder and reloaded the default kits did show. If there was a duplicate folder somewhere, then that wouldn't have happened.

I have looked for duplicate kits, duplicate folders, etc.. While I suppose there is a remote possibility that I've missed something, it really looks unlikely that that's the problem now that the only kits that show up are the default kits. I tried recreating the steps the finally got rid of the old kits, but the new kits are still not showing up as they should be. All of the MLS clubs are like this.

Experiment #2,307:
1. I removed the Football Manager 2017 folder, and restarted the game.
2. When I reloaded the skin, the default kits showed up.
3. I then returned the graphics folder to the new Football Manager 2017 folder WITHOUT the USA kits folder, and reloaded the skin. All the kits except the USA show back, the USA kits are still default.
4. I returned the USA Kits folder to the graphics folder, and now, no matter what I do, the DEFAULT KITS ARE SHOWING UP! ISN'T THIS F**KING HILARIOUS!?!?!?!

I don't know if this helps you to come up with any ideas, but I did manage to get the default kits to show by removing the Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2017 folder from the Documents folder, however once I put the graphics folder back in the old kits showed back up.

I really don't know what other images to post. The screenshot is the old kit. Below is the new kit:

I honestly have tried everything I can think of. I have even uninstalled the game, and reinstalled. I have cleared caches, both in game and manually. I have even removed the folder that has the kits from the graphics folder and reloaded the skin, etc, and still the kits show. This is obviously somewhat maddening.

I'm pretty sure I've narrowed it down to the USA graphics. I've deleted the config file and reloaded and the kits remain. I don't understand at all what the F is happening.

I uninstalled the game, Verify the game's file validity in steam, I've deleted the cache files. I even removed the graphics folder so that everything went back to default, but when I returned the graphics folder and reloaded the skin it STILL showed the old kit files. WTF?!?

So I've traced it back to something with the graphics folder in my documents. I don't understand for the life of me what it could be.

Thank you for the response. One quick question, will I have to reload all of my custom views?

I have tried pretty much everything as far as ticking and unticking the cache box and reloading the skin, but none of my kit changes are taking effect. As I recall there was some hidden cache files somewhere. Does anyone remember that? Or have a different solution?

Thanks

A month full of hardware for the Houston Dynamo as they wrapped up a near-perfect 2015.

Several Dynamo players took home superlatives for their performance in the 2015 MLS season. Tyler Deric was named as the Goalkeeper of the Year for only allowing 14 goals and 27 shutouts. DaMarcus Beasley took the Defender of the Year award with his 7.81 average rating. Tyler Deric, Cristian Maidana, and Raul Rodriguez all made the MLS Best XI Squad.



The Dynamo finished the season with the best record in MLS, earning the Supporters Shield:


In the Conference Semifinals, Houston drew the Portland Timbers. The Dynamo had won both regular season matches against Portland so the club went into the draw confident. In the first leg at Providence Park, Giles Barnes scored early to give the Orange a 1-0 lead. Portland would dominate the rest of the match but couldn't bend the net and the series would go back to Houston with the Dynamo clinging to a 1-0 lead.

At BBVA Compass Stadium, Houston would assert their dominance. They possessed the ball for two-thirds of the match and strolled to victory behind a brace by Erick Torres and an exclamation point goal scored in the waning moments by Joshua Gatt for a 3-0 victory, 4-0 on aggregate.


From there it would be another heated encounter in the latest chapter of an emerging competitive rivalry with Sporting Kansas City. The first leg at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City was mostly even, but a goal by Cristian Maidana with halftime approaching would be the difference, once again giving Houston a 1-0 lead heading home.

The second leg would get chippy, with SKC picking up five yellow cards, one being Marcel De Jong's second earning him an early shower. Although the Dynamo controlled the match, Amobi Okugo's 80th minute goal leveled the affair for SKC. However, it would not be enough as Tomas's 63rd strike served as the series winner. The match finished 1-1, with the Dynamo earning a 2-1 aggregate victory.


The MLS Cup final would pit the Dynamo against Toronto FC. TFC obviously came into the match with a gameplan focused on hard tackling and a packed in defense keeling numbers behind the ball. The strategy was obvious by their 16 fouls committed to Houston's 1 and their surrendering of 72% possession to the Dynamo. The plan did help to limit the chances created by Houston, however the Toronto defense was unlocked in the 38th minute with this Joshua Gatt finish:


This was the third MLS Cup for Houston.



The USA went to the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament expecting to advance. While qualifying was the main goal, Harmon wanted to give all 23 players the opportunity to see the field and he did exactly that. Some future stars emerged over the course of the competition, providing a hopeful future the national team program. DeAndre Yedlin led the competition with an average rating of 8.47. Gedion Zelalem took 3 "Man of the Match" awards, also a tournament-best. Julian Green and striker Jamie Rowland each scored a pair of goals. Right back from the Houston Dynamo system, Gregorio Robinson, was the only player in the tournament whose team did not surrender a goal while he was on the field. Goalkeeper Ethan Horvath established his candidacy for netminder of the future for the USA by only surrendering one goal in the three matches he played in.

The USA started the group stage with a 3-0 win over Cuba that was never in doubt. Goals by Emerson Hyndman, Jamie Rowland, and Gregorio Rodriguez dispatched the Caribbean team who could not even muster a shot. The second match would be a much harder-fought affair against Panama, but the USA did control the run of play and Rowland provided the goal to deliver a deserved 1-0 victory. The final group match against Canada would a nervy affair. The Canucks focused on defending, having only 27% of the ball. MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin finished a counter attack to put Canada up 1-0, a lead they would hold until Julian Green's equalizer in the 75th minute. The match ended 1-1, but it would be enough to win the group for the USA and they meed Canada in a rematch in the semi-final.


Canada obviously came into the semifinal with the same gameplan as the last meeting, but Zelalem would force them to tear it up with his 14th minute goal. The Canucks came out of their shell a little, but it would not be enough to equalize and the US actually came close to finding a match-killing goal. It would end with a 1-0 victory for the United States, and Canada would be off to the third-place match where they would lose on penalties to Costa Rica to finish fourth.

The USA's opponent in the final would be Honduras. The Hondurans came into the match with absolute confidence, having not lost a match in the competition. Their impressive victories included a victory over Mexico, helping to send El Tri home in the group stage. Just before the half, Anthony Lozano pounced on a poor back pass to the keeper by DeAndre Yedlin and Honduras went into the locker room up 1-0. Kenny Saief would equalize for the Yanks in the 58th minute. The US piled the pressure on, but it looked as though the final was destined for penalties until the Americans were given a free kick near the Honduras area:


Julian Green's dramatic finish gave the USA a 2-1 win in the matches' final gasp. Both the USA and Honduras will represent CONCACAF at the 2016 Olympics, but the Americans will take the trophy home.

It was a historic couple of months for the Dynamo. After largely solidifying their position in league play Harmon was able to focus his squad selection on other competitions. Despite usually fielding a squad of several players who sit lower on the depth chart, Houston put together a 5-4-1 mark over the last ten games.

Injuries have created a problem in this stretch as well. Leading striker Erick Torres was out for three months with a torn hamstring and has only just made it back onto the field. Midfielder Alex was lost for the season with damaged cruciate ligaments. Starting winger Joshua Gatt, who also started the season on the disabled list, damaged his knee cartilage and was lost for four weeks, but will be returning in a couple of days. Cristian Maidana was lost for a week to a stomach injury. The versatile Giles Barnes suffered knee ligament damage and is out for 3-5 weeks. And for insult to injury (no pun intended), Leonel Miranda was lost for four days to a head injury. The hope is that the Dynamo will be back to full strength just in time for the playoff run.



Houston has clinched a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs. They hold a commanding 10 point edge for the top seed in the Western Conference, and lead Toronto FC by six points for the Supporter's Shield. The obvious benefit to playing the strongest lineups in Cup matches and resting them during league matches is first team opportunities for younger players. One example is the 18-year old winger Martin Davis:

Davis has made the most of his chances, scoring two goals and assisting on three others. Eighteen year old left back George Arellano is yet tally a goal of assist, but has posted an average rating of 7.58. Getting first team action will help the players' development and build quality depth for the squad heading into the postseason.


The Dynamo drew PDL side Des Moines Menace in the sixth round. While they controlled the match and created more shots, Houston seemed to lose interest towards the end of the match after going up by three goals and the Menace nearly capitalized. In the end, Houston moves on.


The quarterfinal against Columbus Crew was much more competitive. While Houston again dominated possession, as they do, both teams created chances. The difference was that Joshua Gatt was able to finish his chance in the 28th minute and the Dynamo were off to the Semifinal.


Houston absolutely dominated the Real Salt Lake match, but Juan Manuel Martinez scored on the only chance that RSL created in regular time. After an evenly played Extra Time, the Dynamo won the Penalty Shot Lottery 4-2 and booked their place in the final.


In the final the Dynamo came up against a very resolute LAFC defense. It didn't help Houston that their entire front line was sidelined with injury, but still could not create many chances. Teenager Martin Davis made himself a club legend by scoring the only goal of the match, and crushing the hopes of the expansion LAFC in their first US Open Cup appearance.



The win means that the Dynamo have qualified for next fall's CONCACAF Champions League, which will relieve some of the pressure in the remaining matches as continental qualification was always one of the goals.


Dynamo affiliate Rio Grande Valley Toros are nearing the end of their inaugural season. Currently sitting in fourth place in the Western Conference, they have qualified for the USL Championship Playoffs.


The Toros did sport the USL's highest rated player this season, fullback Gregorio Rodriguez:

In his 26 appearances, Rodriguez had an 8.2 average rating and also led the league with 224 key passes. The well-organized Toros also fielded the five players with the leagues best passing percentages and seven of the top ten in that category.

The team led the league with 17 clean sheets while also averaging the league best with 62.21% possession.



With Olympic Qualifying only a couple of weeks away, it's really time to start looking at the potential squad.

At goalkeeper it looks like Ethan Horvath of Molde is the obvious choice. He probably ins't the biggest prospect in the US pool, but he's the best option right now.

In the back DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland) will be our first option on the right, with John Brooks (Tottenham) and Perry Kitchen (Atlanta United) in the middle, and Ventura Alvarado (America MEX) on the left. Yedlin and Brooks don't start at their clubs, Kitchen plays in the midfield for Atlanta, and Alvarado plays at center back, so this will very much be a patchwork back line. Hopefully it will be enough to advance against CONCACAF opposition. Matt Miazga (Chelsea) will help the depth at center back.

In the midfield the options get much better, with more quality and more versatility. Christian Pulisic gives the US team a viable attacking midfielder, Emerson Hyndman a strong holding playmaker, and Julian Green and Bobby Wood dangerous attacking options out wide.

Up front there are options with Jordan Morris (Seattle) or Juan Agudelo (New England) with 16 goals between them this MLS season.

Some high-potential younger players that will probably be called up are DC/DM Jorge Velazquez (Tigres), MR Ricardo Lorz (Darmstadt), AMR Paul Arriola (Tijuana), and AMC Gedion Zelalem (Rangers).

After 20 matches, the Dynamo continue to separate themselves from the rest of the league. They have leaped to the top of the Supporters Shield standings which has propelled them 11 points clear in the Western Conference.

Erick Torres has found the net 12 times this season, putting him fifth in MLS. He has lead the improved scoring the Dynamo have experienced in the last 10 matches, scoring 17 compared to 11 in the first ten matches.


It looks as though the playoff teams are starting to separate themselves from the rest of the league. The NY Red Bulls occupy the final spot in the east with a six point lead, while the LA Galaxy are sitting in the final spot in the west seven points clear.

While Houston appears to be running away with the Western Conference, there is an exciting race developing in the Eastern Conference. Toronto FC are up by two points on Columbus FC. The drama is made more intriguing by the fact that the two clubs have this season's most prolific MLS scorers in Herculez Gomez (Toronto FC, 14) and Kei Kamara (Columbus, 13).

Mauro Biello's job in Montreal is "Under Review" as the Impact are sitting in 9th place in the East with only 18 points from 19 matches.




Houston advanced to the Sixth Round of the US Open Cup with a 2-1 win over Orlando City SC. The Dynamo built a 2-0 lead with a goal by Leonel Miranda and an fluke own goal by the OCSC keeper. They would hold on after surrendering a consolation goal by Carlos Rivas.

The Dynamo will play upstart Des Moines Menace, an amateur PDL club who has made a shocking run to advance this far. After defeating fellow amateur club Evergreen Diplomats 1-0 in extra time, the Menace have ousted four professional clubs on this run. Des Moines beat Rochester Rhinos 1-0 (USL), Oklahoma City Energy 3-0 (USL), Rayo OKC 1-0 (NASL), and Indy Eleven 3-1 (NASL) to earn this match against Houston.



Harmon's work with Houston Dynamo has earned him the nod to manage the United States U-23 national team as they try to qualify for the Olympics. They have been drawn in Group B with Cuba, Panama, and Canada. The CONCACAF Qualifying tournament will be played in October.

DYNAMO OFF TO GREAT START

Ten matches into the season and the Dynamo lead the Western Conference by eight points and are four points clear in the race for the Supporter's Shield. Coach Harmon credits the organized defending and their ability to possess the ball. The Dynamo lead MLS with an average possession rate of 60.6%, the next highest rate is 53.8%.

Houston has only surrendered two goals in the first ten games, but they've only bent the net eleven times. Harmon isn't overly concerned with the lack of goals despite being tied for 12th in total scored. "Atlanta has one more goal scored than we do, and they are at the bottom of the league", said the Houston boss. He said that the goals will come more frequently as the team adapts to his management style and develop cohesion.

DYNAMO PICK UP TWO YOUNGSTERS

The MLS Waiver Draft allowed the Dynamo to select two promising young internationals in Devron Garcia and Martin Davis. Garcia is a defensive central midfielder and Davis can play on either wing. Harmon said that the pair will be on the MLS 28-man squad and will not be option to Rio Grande Valley.

DYNAMO FINISH SECOND AT LAS VEGAS PRO SOCCER CHALLENGE CUP

The Dynamo went into this preseason competition missing several key players. DaMarcus Beasley, Giles Barnes, and Sheanon Williams all missed at least one match with injury. Recent Houston signings Joshua Gatt and Flavio Ferreira arrived with nagging injuries that kept them out of action. The team opened with a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake, the eventual winners of the cup. They would rebound and earn victories over the host Las Vegas Mobsters (2-0) and MLS-rival San Jose Earthquakes (2-1). The performances were good enough for second place.

Erick Torres scored a brace in win against San Jose, and new signing Roger Gomis put in a solid performance against Las Vegas. The Dynamo have three more friendlies before they begin the 2015 MLS season at Columbus Crew.

DYNAMO INK TWO MORE FREE TRANSFERS

New skipper has brought in two new faces to the squad in defender Flavio Ferreira and Roger Gomis. Ferreira is a 23-year old Portuguese center back who can slide up into the defensive midfield. Roger Gomis is a 20-year old Senegalese attacking central midfielder who will give the Dynamo a potential playmaker of the future.

DYNAMO SIGN TOMAS

The Houston Dynamo have added Brazilian midfielder/forward Tomas Tomas signed as a free transfer and will give the attack some creativity on the left.

Dynamo Sign Joshua Gatt

The Houston Dynamo have won the allocation process for right midfielder Joshua Gatt. The pacey winger has two international caps to his credit but was let go by his former club Molde after suffering an injury that will keep him out of action until about May.

THE NEW DYNAMO STYLE

Harmon has been heavily influenced by the high pressing, high possession style of soccer that has become popular after the success of FC Barcelona and the Spanish national team. The primary formation being used will be a 4-3-3, which will fit some of the Dynamo personnel. Mexican national striker Erick Torres will be more suited for the lone striker role in this formation than he would have been in a 4-2-3-1 which is better suited a larger target man. DaMarcus Beasley is the prototypical attacking left back for this style of play. Christian Maidana will slide into the playmaking central midfield role. Spanish central defenders Raul Rodriguez and Agus are obviously accustomed to the style of play. Ricardo Clark is a relatively skilled defensive midfielder and will occupy that role ably.

Filling the other roles will require some creativity. Right back is an area of need that will likely be filled by Oscar Boniek Garcia, who has in the past played as a midfielder. The outside fowards will be filled by Giles Barnes and Andrew Wenger, who are both strong players but not ideally suited for the roles.

HARMON MEETS THE MEDIA

The new Houston Dynamo boss met with media, laying out his plan for making the Dynamo one of the top teams in MLS. "We're going to look to develop youth", said Harmon. While the average age of the Dynamo is only 25, some of their top players are on other side of 30. DaMarcus Beasley (32), Oscar Boniek Garcia (30), and Ricardo Clark (31) are all over thirty years of age.

The Dynamo will also attempt to begin building the depth necessary to compete in multiple competitions. The new skipper wants the club to not only compete for MLS championships, but on the Continental and International level as well. The CONCACAF Champions League is an obvious goal of the Dynamo, but Harmon spoke of the ultimate goal of winning the International Champions Cup and even the Club World Cup as well.

Such a high bar means that the club will have to be very astute with their squad management due to the often difficult to manage MLS rules. The salary cap, transfer budget limitations, and wage cap rules make it challenging to assemble a squad that can compete at the continental level, much less the international level. The new coach brings with him a plan for getting the most value out of the players on the squad.

OK, so I had to start this stupid thing over, I'm going to just edit the original posts and I'll let you know when I do...

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I don't have him taking free kicks because in my game his rating is only a 7. I don't know if that attribute varies from save to save or not, but that's what it is in my game.