sidekickraider
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The Road to Europe
Welcome.
I've been playing FM for a few years now, and I've grown to really enjoy the game. Just like in real life, my worldly experience has been limited. I've really focused on MLS, as I know the players and the league. This save is going to be based on expanding my knowledge of FM, and providing new challenges.
Note - I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about the workings of the league. If you're interested or are having trouble following me, I will selfishly plug my own guide to the league: Reddit Link. Hopefully, this inspires you to do a save of your own.
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Goals
Create a Successful European Career - the number one objective of this save is to make a foothold in Europe. I want to experience the system, and learn to coach beyond the borders of my own country. Just a warning, but I'm going to be picky. At minimum, I'm aiming for a team with a potential for strong youth development - it needs to be located in a decently sized city with high attraction.
Conquer MLS - to make the move, I need to build reputation. I'll be starting with National rep, which may seem a little high, but consider that there are not many opportunities to build that in the US. I also don't want to burn out, either. This will be the culmination of my MLS knowledge to conquer the league and simply bring home as much silverware as possible.
Coach the USMNT - My tertiary goal is to coach nationally, by way of the United States. This is something I've never done, and so will be yet another door to open.
**DISCLAIMER** I am using an updated MLS database, that reduces some of the arbitrary restrictions on star players, and makes parity a little better. Don't expect players like Kaka to be completely up to their full potential, however - just a little more realistic.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, where do we start?
We'll need a team with strong designated players, because transfer funds are very hard to come by in the FM2015 version of MLS. We'll need a foundation that still has some years left to win trophies. This leads us undoubtedly to the West. A star-studded team like Toronto FC would give us Michael Bradley and Sebastian Giovinco to destroy the league. Similarly, Seattle has one of the best starting 11 available. Los Angeles has Robbie Keane, who should be able to slam goals in consistently.
However, any of those teams would make a somewhat boring save because of their reputation. No, we're going to go somewhere a little more humble..
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Yes, we're going to the midwest - right in the smack middle of the country. Sporting Kansas City (or SKC for short) is my local club, and a success story for sports in the United States. Beginning as the Kansas City Wizards, a new ownership group changed the brand and galvanized the youth of city. The current sell-out streak for home games is greater than 50 games.
View attachment 239821
My story begins as a player from the early days of the MLS. My attributes are a little high, but I'm challenging myself in a number of ways here. I'm hoping that this save will leave me with enough experience to start a Journeyman story, and work with a little less. We need to get that national reputation up using the available competitions to find a suitable "Goldilocks" club in Europe.
View attachment 239822
Speaking of competitions, we've got four to work from. The Supporters Shield is your standard points-based title. Most points among both conferences takes the trophy. The MLS Cup is the playoff title at the end of the season, and the more prestigious of the two. The US Cup is the national cup competition and considered unimportant by the board.. however, every title counts, and I'll still be looking to win.
The NACL (Club World Cup qualifier) has not begun, and thus is not displayed below. However, it will be particularly important - the Club World Cup is the best reputation boost available for me, and a win here will be a jump-start for our goals.
View attachment 239823
Our budgets are pretty standard for an MLS team. Keep in mind that allocation funds work differently than your standard transfer budget, and the business side of soccer changes as a result. In addition, there is a salary cap in the MLS - so my payroll is the cumulative total of my salaries, but registration with the league will be far more important. Just because I have money remaining doesn't necessarily mean I can use it.
View attachment 239824
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That's it for this post - really looking forward to this story, and I appreciate any comments. I'll be posting about my first changes as manager and the team overall shortly.
Welcome.
I've been playing FM for a few years now, and I've grown to really enjoy the game. Just like in real life, my worldly experience has been limited. I've really focused on MLS, as I know the players and the league. This save is going to be based on expanding my knowledge of FM, and providing new challenges.
Note - I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about the workings of the league. If you're interested or are having trouble following me, I will selfishly plug my own guide to the league: Reddit Link. Hopefully, this inspires you to do a save of your own.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Goals
Create a Successful European Career - the number one objective of this save is to make a foothold in Europe. I want to experience the system, and learn to coach beyond the borders of my own country. Just a warning, but I'm going to be picky. At minimum, I'm aiming for a team with a potential for strong youth development - it needs to be located in a decently sized city with high attraction.
Conquer MLS - to make the move, I need to build reputation. I'll be starting with National rep, which may seem a little high, but consider that there are not many opportunities to build that in the US. I also don't want to burn out, either. This will be the culmination of my MLS knowledge to conquer the league and simply bring home as much silverware as possible.
Coach the USMNT - My tertiary goal is to coach nationally, by way of the United States. This is something I've never done, and so will be yet another door to open.
**DISCLAIMER** I am using an updated MLS database, that reduces some of the arbitrary restrictions on star players, and makes parity a little better. Don't expect players like Kaka to be completely up to their full potential, however - just a little more realistic.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, where do we start?
We'll need a team with strong designated players, because transfer funds are very hard to come by in the FM2015 version of MLS. We'll need a foundation that still has some years left to win trophies. This leads us undoubtedly to the West. A star-studded team like Toronto FC would give us Michael Bradley and Sebastian Giovinco to destroy the league. Similarly, Seattle has one of the best starting 11 available. Los Angeles has Robbie Keane, who should be able to slam goals in consistently.
However, any of those teams would make a somewhat boring save because of their reputation. No, we're going to go somewhere a little more humble..
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sporting Kansas City
View attachment 239820
View attachment 239820
Yes, we're going to the midwest - right in the smack middle of the country. Sporting Kansas City (or SKC for short) is my local club, and a success story for sports in the United States. Beginning as the Kansas City Wizards, a new ownership group changed the brand and galvanized the youth of city. The current sell-out streak for home games is greater than 50 games.
View attachment 239821
My story begins as a player from the early days of the MLS. My attributes are a little high, but I'm challenging myself in a number of ways here. I'm hoping that this save will leave me with enough experience to start a Journeyman story, and work with a little less. We need to get that national reputation up using the available competitions to find a suitable "Goldilocks" club in Europe.
View attachment 239822
Speaking of competitions, we've got four to work from. The Supporters Shield is your standard points-based title. Most points among both conferences takes the trophy. The MLS Cup is the playoff title at the end of the season, and the more prestigious of the two. The US Cup is the national cup competition and considered unimportant by the board.. however, every title counts, and I'll still be looking to win.
The NACL (Club World Cup qualifier) has not begun, and thus is not displayed below. However, it will be particularly important - the Club World Cup is the best reputation boost available for me, and a win here will be a jump-start for our goals.
View attachment 239823
Our budgets are pretty standard for an MLS team. Keep in mind that allocation funds work differently than your standard transfer budget, and the business side of soccer changes as a result. In addition, there is a salary cap in the MLS - so my payroll is the cumulative total of my salaries, but registration with the league will be far more important. Just because I have money remaining doesn't necessarily mean I can use it.
View attachment 239824
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That's it for this post - really looking forward to this story, and I appreciate any comments. I'll be posting about my first changes as manager and the team overall shortly.
