Welcome to Miami

[Scott Dickson]

I've been playing Football Manager for a good while now, and looking back into my Steam library it goes back as far as 2010. Each year, I do the same thing - pick a small team in Europe, build them up and try to win as much as I can. Then take over a National team, and try to do the same. This year, I thought I'd mix it up a little. This is my first real adventure into the MLS. Welcome to Miami.

 

[FantasticFM]

have a good start!

 

[Scott Dickson]

Inter Miami, is the brainchild of David Beckham and Jorge and Jose Mas. Founded in 2018 and playing out of Fort Lauderdale Florida, it is one of the newest Franchise teams to the MLS.


Miami have a few standout players which I've listed below

Gonzalo Higuain
Gonzalo has performed well in just about every team he has played from his youth days as at River, to Real Madrid, Napoli, Juventus and a short spell at Chelsea. He is by far the biggest name in my squad and still boasts some impressive stats. Although a Designated Player, his wages could prove an issue as I look to bring in new, younger players to the side.

Ryan Shawcross
In his prime, big things were expected of former Stoke centre back Shawcross. At one stage, Manchester United were looking to sign him again after stoke signed him from their academy. Whilst not fully fitting into my formation, he may be a good asset to use in the short term while I look for stronger defensive targets.

Kieran Gibbs
Another ex-Premiership player in Miami is Kieran Gibbs. Formally of Arsenal and West Brom, the full back is looking to see out his final playing days in the MLS. At a fairly low wage, he may be a good asset to the club. However his physical stats aren't great and could be a problem as the season progresses.

Blaise Matuidi
Former French International Matuidi now finds himself on the sunny beaches of Miami these days after his free transfer from Juventus. Registering a single assist in his first season, things haven't started brightly for him, and he will have to show more in my side.

Lewis Morgan
Not many people will know the name, but Lewis is a long time favourite player on mine. Starting at the St Mirren youth academy in Scotland. Lewis played a pivotal role in saving St Mirren from the embarrassment of third tier football, then catapulted them to league success the following year. This prompted a mid season move to Celtic (returning to St Mirren on loan to see out the remainder of the season). After struggling to get into a stacked Celtic side, a short loan spell to Sunderland followed under former manager Jack Ross. Again, Lewis struggled to make a major impact as the Black Cats missed out on promotion through the playoffs. Lewis will play a central role in my side as I look to utilise the potential he has.

 

[Scott Dickson]

Let's get some of the housekeeping out of the way. There is some recognition I need to provide to some people as everything within this save is not my own. I have opted to utilise a few things from the Steam Workshop.

Tactic: The Enda Story Unstoppable Tactic

Moving away from my slight more normally used 4-2-3-1, I will be borrowing this tactic from the Steam Workshop. A slight alteration on a 4-4-2 shape, this formation should allow me to utilise the more experienced players, whilst still allowing younger prospects to develop.

The Skin: FM Rensie 2022

I've had a few people ask about the skin that I am using. Again it's borrowed from the Steam Workshop.

 

[Scott Dickson]

Early Season Results

We're still pretty early in the season, and after making a few blunders (accidentally allowing my youth prospect Valencia to leave of a free after not registering him in the team, then having to re-sign him) I seem to be getting there.

Miami had 4 Designated Players when I started, and with registration rules, I was only able to register Higuain and Matuidi, so for now, Pellegrini and Pizarro will have to sit out. I only made 1 signing, which is a15 year old goalkeeper from my Youth Set-Up Jay Caix.

The first game started well, with a 6-1 victory over LA Galaxy - Lewis Morgan registering 4 assists in the game. This was followed by a 1-4 loss to Philadelphia Union. April rounded off with 7 goals scored and 5 condeded

Goalscorer List (April)
- Carranza: 2
- Robinson: 2
- Shawcross: 1
- Higuain: 1
- Gregore: 1

May has gone really well, with 4 straight victories to take Miami to the top of the league. Nashville were easily put away with a 3-0 win. Atlanta were sent back home after losing 4-1, Montreal were also sent packing with the same score-line, and Cincinnati experienced a 1-0 loss.

Goalscorer List (May)
- Robinson: 2
- Higuain: 6
- Leerdam: 1
- Matuidi: 1
- Morgan: 1
- Carranza: 1

Morgan and Higuain have been by far my best players. However I am about to play my next game against Chicago without Gonzalo due to an injury

 

[Scott Dickson]

So as May draws to a close, we still find ourselves sitting top of the League. the Chicago game saw me go 1-0 down, with goals from Makoun, Carranza and Morgan making it 1-3. Makoun's effort was a 35 yard thunderbolt straight into the bottom left corner. Despite the wonderstrike, it was Matuidi that stole the show with a pin-point accurate pass to meet the boot of Carranza to volleyed home to put Miami ahead.

After deciding to give the majority of the first team a rest, our attention shifted to the US Cup Third round where we drew Tormenta FC. Higuain (one of only 3 first team players starting) put the club ahead with Shea making it 2-0 from the spot.

The month rounded off with a 4-1 demolition of DC United (Seems to be a team favourite scoreline just now) Robinson got the team off the mark in the 29th minute, and the only real point of excitement within the first half. However Higuain put the game well out of reach with a Hat-rick in 11 minutes.

Goalscorer List (May)
- Robinson: 2
- Higuain: 10
- Leerdam: 1
- Matuidi: 1
- Morgan: 2
- Carranza: 2
- Makoun: 1
- Shea: 1

We have also broken a number of club records. Most goals scored in a league (26) after 8 games, longest win streak at 7. Youngest Player to play in a league and cup game (twice). Valencia first at 16 years old, then Calix at 15 years old.

 

[Scott Dickson]

New Recruits

At the beginning of the season, our team was lacking in a new areas, and top heavy in others. We had 5 goalkeepers to begin with, I am now down to 2.

We could have used another striker to provide support for Higuain and Carranza, and after releasing the deadwood in Midfield we could have used some extra players there.

Ryan Cassidy
Ryan is set to join the club from Watford in a months time, signing for a fee of £250k. Ryan will initially provide cover for my forward two, but has shown great potential in previous versions of the game. Ryan fits into my formation and tactics like a glove and will be a much welcome addition to the team. At 20 years old, the price I've paid for him is a great deal and I know Watford have lost themselves a good player.

Imanol Almaguer
Signed from North Texas for a fee of £900k, this one is a little bit of a pricier and riskier transfer. At 20 years old, he shows potential, but his initial stats and reports show it is a gamble. He's another player who suits my tactics and will provide much needed support for Gregor and Matuidi.

 

[Scott Dickson]

US Cup 4th Round
In what has to be one of the worst performances from my team so far, but one of the most exciting to watch, the 4th round of the cup saw me effectively play my Academy side. Miami FC took the lead through Quinteros terrible defending. But Carranza quickly levelled the score. In a team severely depleted with International Call-Ups and Foreign player rules, we struggled to take control of the game with Miami FC Dominating most of the performance. After 90 minutes the score was locked at 1-1. Extra time approached and with only 3 substitutes on the bench, I made two, opting to keep young Calix in between the sticks. Miami too the lead again in the 96th minute to go 2-1 ahead of my side, only for Morgan to provide his second assist of the game for Robinson to take the score to 2-2. Penalties it was then.

After some fantastic penalties by both sides, it fell to Calix to throw himself into the spotlight with a fingertip save to deny Antonelli. Step up Quinteros. A poor effort summed up his evening with a shot straight at the goalkeeper to take the penalties further. 4 further additional excellent penalties meant it fell to both goalkeepers to attempt to win it.

Sylvestre first. A tame penalty straight at Calix put Inter Miami in the driver seat to progress in the cup. Enter Calix. The young goalkeeper had put in a fine performance and was the real reason my team were still in a position to progress. His low, and slow, penalty rolled past Sylvestre and the part on South Beach can continue.

 

[Scott Dickson]

Learning On The Job.
We've taken another learning curve as we continue into the season. The transfer deal for Ryan Cassidy fell through due to my squad having more than the 9 allocated International players within the team. I'm slightly disappointed as my team still strongly need another striker. However, we have had some significant progress within the transfer market over the last few weeks.

Transfers Out
- Brek Shea: Has departed for Auxerre in France for £350k. Harve did offer £750k and I accepted but Brek chose Auxerre instead. I'm fortunate in this one as Brek has just received an injury, and having him sitting on the salary cap made things difficult for my fairly small squad. I also wanted to ship Brek out when I started as he didn't fit the profile of player I wanted with his age. As you can see, any attempt to re-sign him would be strongly ill-advised, so I think I've done the right things here. Didn't realise that the MLS take 25% of the transfer value for players moving abroad.

- Rodolfo Pizarro: Pizarro was an unfortunate casualty at the start of my season as I wanted to get Matuidi and Higuain into the team. It meant, coupled with other factors, that I could get Rodolfo into the side. Morgan and Robinson have performed great in their roles so it made more sense to sell up when West Ham came calling. £4.5million will go a good way to helping develop my team, although Burnley did come in with a late offer of £7mil.

Transfers In

Arbenor Aliu (Loan): Young 18 year old centre back Aliu joins from Schalke for the remainder of the season. His stats are pretty raw just now, but he'll provide good cover for the short term. Ideally i'd love to sign him. used Aliu in my game last year for Schalke and he was outstanding - a player I eventually took with me to Real Madrid.

Keesean Ferdinand (Trade): 17 year old Ferdinand joins the side from Montreal after giving them my 2023 1st Round Draft pick. I also recieved £100k in allocation money. With Gibbs injured and Shea leaving, I needed a left back. Youngster Keesean fits my profile, and whilst still pretty raw. Has already performed well in his first few games.

 

[Scott Dickson]

Season 1: June Update
June was another really impressive month for my side, with 4 games played and 3 wins and 1 draw. As it stands we have not lost in the league or cup since our second league game against Philadelphia Union.

I've already posted about the Cup Game with Miami FC, in which a 15 year old goalkeeper was the hero, but the goals in that game came from Carranza and Robinson. Both of whom have been outstanding.

Robinson was the hero again in the 5th round of the cup in a 1-0 win over Atlanta, in which Gregore was sent off for a second yellow card offence.

My club then took a little trip to play DC United, where the game of the season in terms of goals was played. After going down 1-0, Carranza levelled the scoring, only for DC to immediately go 2-1 up. Figal once again levelled the scoring, followed by Shea taking the club ahead. Carranza then secured the 3 points by scoring twice and completing the hat-rick. DC had a late consolation goal to see the final score at 3-5 for Miami.

The month ended with a rather disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Orlando City, a late Robinson goal disallowed for offside.

Carranza has been a real asset to the club and has formed a great partnership with Higuain up front. Robinson has been excellent on the opposite wing from Morgan, who has continued to provide assists for his team-mates.

At the back we are still conceding too many, which is a problem I want to address when I realistically can (probably at the end of the season). I still have too many international players at the club, which prevents me from bringing in my main transfer target. Matuidi is performing slightly better, but is still too inconsistent for my liking. Marsman has impressed in goal and Alvadaro has made it difficult for Leerdam to get back into the starting XI.

The main problem at this point was addressing the issue at left back. With Gibbs out on a longer term injury and Shea having agreed a transfer away, I needed to find someone to replace him without hindering my cohesion too much.

June Goals
- Carranza: 4
- Robinson: 2
- Figal: 1
- Shea: 1

 

[Scott Dickson]

Season 1: July Update (Part 1)
We're now midway through July in the first season, and have played a further 4 games in the league and cup.

Montreal followed the disappointing 0-0 draw with Orlando, with both my strikers combing to complete a 2-1 victory.

Struggling with injury and fitness concerns I had to field players in the Quarter Final of the Cup I would rather have rested for the league. Colorado took a 59th minute lead, only for Higuain to score a magnificent volley to level the score. It looked like Miami were headed to the semi-finals when Carranza scored an 89th minute goal to make it 2-1, but Colorado Captain, Price, had a different opinion with a 90th minute leveller.

Running on empty, and pinned in their own box, i was begging for something to avoid extra time. A hopeful long clearance by Figal found the right foot of Carranza who scored a 95th minute winner to sent my Miami side to the semi finals of the US Cup.

A tiared Miami side met an inform New England side a few days later, and managed to sneak away with a 1-0 win. Carranza once again finding the net

Next was New York Red Bulls - after demolishing New England 5-1, I was slightly reluctant to face them; given my players jaded legs and 3 days between the games. I opted to play young Arbnor Aliu at left back and give Ferdinand a slight rest. A double from Higuain and a goal from Carranza had the game at 3-3 in a very tight and combative game. 5 yellow cards from my Miami side who fought for what looked to be a win until a late New York goal. Aside from being in a defence that lost 3 goals, Aliu was outstanding. Confident, brave and calm on his passing. He linked up well with Morgan. After Shawcross tired in the second half, I switched him to centre half and brought on Ferdinand, who equally impressed. I'm pleased with how my new signings seem to be settling in.

The team are playing well, but fatigue is starting to set in as I have perhaps one of the smallest squad sizes in the league. I am perhaps over reliant on certain players and should rotate a little more. The transfer market is still open, but I don't want to ring in players just for the sake of it, as it will hinder my progress in achieving my main transfer target.

In some positive news, I have been selected as the USA manager for the All-Starts game, with players Marsman, Higuain and Carranza selected also. I'm slightly gutted that Morgan and Robinson were also not selected



July Goals
- Carranza: 5
- Higuain: 4

 

[Scott Dickson]

Transfer Update
So having had to play about with some of the set-up we have a few changed. After really failing to impress Quinteros and Gibbs were waived and released. Pellegrini was sent out on loan to Santos Laguna, and that allowed me to bring in my primary target.

Welcome to Miami Nathan Patterson.

 

[Scott Dickson]

Season Round-Up
It's been a while since my last update, but we've progressed to the end of the first season, and are currently set up in pre-season just now. So this will be a fairly detailed post trying to summerise and round-up a much as possible.

July Results
I know i've covered the first half, already so here is the remainder of the July results and the goalscorers. A 1-2 loss at home to Philadelphia followed with Carranza scoring again. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury that would keep him out for three weeks. A 3-3 draw with Orlando was next, with Shawcross, Robinson and Figal scoring. Alvarado was sent off, making my player selection process much more difficult.

July Goalscorers
- Carranza: 1
- Higuain: 1
- Shawcross: 1
- Robisnson: 1
- Figal: 1

August Results
August started badly for me, and the poor run of form continued. A 6-2 loss in the US Cup Semi-FInal to NYCFC was difficult to watch, Chapman scored an early goal to give Miami the lead, only for the team to struggle and stutter the game. Higuain scored a 38th minute goal, for New York to run away with the rest of the fixture. A positive 4-0 win over Nashville provided relief to the poor form, with Champan, Figal, Azcona and Higuain all scoring. A quick sight of revenge was presented with another fixture away to New York City, Higuain gave the club a 55th minute leader, only for New York to score in the 92nd minute. Azcona was also another casualty through injury. At this stage Carranza had returned from injury, only to get injured again prior to the All-Star Game.

Thankfully Carranza returned for the Chicago game and was on hand to score in a 2-1 win, Higuain also bagged another goal. Both strikers found the net in a 2-0 win over Toronto. The month ended with a 1-0 loss to Orlando City. Another fairly disappointing month, with players jaded and injured. Other clubs had began to find their form, and I was no longer top of the Supporter Shield.

August Goalscorers
- Chapman: 2
- Higuain: 5
- Figal: 1
- Azcona: 1
- Carranza: 2

September Results
If July and August were difficult, it was to get worse in September. 6 League games in 4 weeks did little to help fatigue. The month began with a 3-1 win over Cincinnati, Matuidi scoring twice and Carranza showing the team what we had been missing. A 2-1 win over Columbus quickly followed with Carranza and Robinson both scoring. However losses against Toronto (3-0) and New York (1-2) followed, with Higuain scoring a penalty. A 2-1 win over league strugglers Nashville followed with Carranza and Higuain both scoring. The month ended with a 1-1 draw to Atlanta, with a goal from Higuain

September Goalscorers
- Carranza: 3
- Matuidi: 2
- Robinson: 1
- Higuain: 3

October Results
7 league fixtures remained by October, and at this point I knew I wasn't going to win the Supporters Shield or Eastern Conference Titles. The month didn't start well, with a 1-1 draw at Portland and a 3-0 loss to Columbus. Robinson scored the only goal across those two fixtures. Robinson and Morgan eased the anguish with victory over Toronto, and a 3-1 win over Cincinnati had me thinking my fortunes had changed slightly (Shawcross, Carranza, Higuain). My ego was brought back down to Earth with a crash with a 4-0 loss to Atlanta - 2 games left at this stage and a playoff spot had been secured. A small glimmer of light in what looked to be a great season. October ended with sweet revenge. NYCFC suffered a 3-0 loss with Higuain scoring twice, and an Azcona returning from injury grabbing a well finished goal.

October Goalscorers
- Robinson: 2
- Morgan: 1
- Shawcross: 1
- Higuain: 2
- Carranza: 1
- Azcona

November Results
The season ended with a 2-1 loss to New England, Carranza grabbing the goal. With playoffs secured, my team had 12 days to recover for our fixture against New York City.

Higuain struck first, only for City to quickly equalise in a hard fought first half. However, Miami shot into life in the second half with a Champan goal and a quick Higuain second to end the scoring at 3-1. Miami Progress.

Columbus next. Could I progress further? Could I defy the press and the Bookmakers? In short, no. My team struggled throughout the game, and suffered a humiliating 3-0 loss. Season over.

November Goalscorers
- Higuain: 2
- Carranza: 1
- Chapman: 1

End of Season Summary
Really, we had a good season, we defied the odds and finished third in the Eastern Conference, and 4th overall. We were predicted 20th. Morgan completed the season with the most assists at 18, whilst Higuain ended with 26 league goals and 10 assists. The team scored 52 goals, whilst we conceded 34. The defence was a problem for the majority of the season, and significant improvements will be required here. There are areas I am already looking to progress on and have some targets in mine. Then we have the draft to look at as well.

Transfer News and Draft
We have brought in a few players from the Inter Miami Academy after our Youth Intake: Huber Garcia (FW), Rully Sudirman (DC) and Frank Flaetgan (MC). Will Vint also joins on a free from Colorado (MC). In the draft we brought in Luke Lee (DL), Dan Willis (DC), Alvaro Lopez (MC) and Ricardo Esqueda (FW). If I'm honest, whilst most of them are rated 5 starts for potential, I am not overly excited by the intake from my youth or the draft. However I don't think any teams fared well in this years Superdraft. Rully will also join the Academy on loan again to gain some first team experience. We have also brought in Alvaro Medran from Real Salt Lake in a trade deal (1 international spot, and a 3rd Round 2023 draft spot)

Leaving the club is George Acosta, who played a bit part in my season as I don't really play with an attacking Central midfielder, and Jay Champan . Alvarado also left the side in a Trade Deal to DC United, I received £120k allocation Money, 1 International slot until the end of 2023 and a 1st Round Draft pick for 2024. We have £8.5 million to spend and £308k for our wage budget. Initially, I will be looking to trim a few of the international players from my side, and try to bring in some more home grown talent. Matuidi, Higuain and Patterson are my 3 listed Designated players, however there is significant interest in Matuidi, who never fully convinced me in my first season.

The defence is a must area for strengthening, as we really struggled last season. We also need to improve on depth and quality in all areas of the park to combat injury and fatigue concerns as the season progresses.