Hello friends and welcome to the wonderful world of Major League Soccer known simply as the MLS. As I live not far from the home ground of Toronto FC I thought that it might be interesting to provide an insight as to how the MLS works as I really don’t know myself as well as adding something different in terms of content to this amazing Football Manager Story website.
I’m really going into this without any pre-planned structure though for sure this will not be in a story format as with my Cambridge United save, but most likely informational postings every now and again. Naturally there will be the results, transfers and standings as I attempt to win the Major League title.
So, as for my team selection it’s Toronto FC of course and in my manager profile I chose my nationality as Canadian which I am in real life, though I’m still British as well . As for the game set up along with the MLS I picked Mexico and Brazil as these other two leagues are realistic enough to ensure some continuity in this undertaking.
Toronto are in the Eastern Conference of the MLS which as you can see comprises of 8 teams with the same number in the Western section. The top two in each division progress to the play offs and then onto the MLS Final. There seems to be another competition called the MLS Cup which I believe the winner of enters something called the SuperLiga the following season though we will have to wait and see.
Toronto FC play their home games at BMO Field just west on the CN Tower and the downtown core. The rail link or GO Train is just 2 minutes walk from the north stand and Lake Ontario is naturally to the south of this compact and very noisy stadium. My home is about 10 miles or so to the east but I can easily get here on the train.
So enough of the background, let’s get on with the game which starts in January 2010 so a bit behind real time which means Vancouver is not included in the game. The first thing I did was set up some pre season friendlies as there was only one planned and to make it realistic all the games will be away from home as it’s freezing here in winter!
I will be using my Wrexham 1.3 tactic so I’ll be making sure my left flank of the field is strong and tight when reviewing the squad. Nick Garica my Assistant provided this team report to give me some transfer targets to look at but this is where it gets complicated.
On the team registration screen it provides the squad rules, a maximum of 26 players, 10 can be internationals, 5 can be Americans, then there’s Designated, Supplemental and Academy players…what?? I think I need a Masters’ Degree to work all this out.
The first thing I noticed when reviewing the team is that I have 10 Americans already so I guess I will have to offload five of them?
My coaching team was not too bad with the exception of Danny Dichio who agreed to mutual termination.
My transfer budget was only £30,000 so any new players will be most likely out of contract players. The temptation is to load up with Brazilians but I’m going to try and avoid that. The other thing is that you cannot offer players to clubs if you no longer need them. You can put them on the transfer list but if no one is tempted by them they are automatically waived at squad registration time so I’m going to lose some money on players. Best bet then is to sign out of contract players.
Here are the players I brought in.
I’ll just show you a couple of players for now and mybe the rest of them as the season goes along.
My starting ML is Brazilian Moreno and should do nicely for my left flank tactic.
Up front and on the left side too is this young Ecudorian.
My pre season games started in February which I’ll show the results later but whilst those were going on you are given a news item about player registration.
As you can see I had two more internationals than the rules allowed but I was within the maximum squad size.
Next was the MLS draft but as I already had my quota of internationals and Americans I passed on the draft picks.
Next was the final roster
So I had to let go of some decent players to comply with the regulations and these were the players that I waived.
We got off to a very slow start in our pre season games and picked up several injuries along the way but finished strongly with a handsome win in Belgium against Westerlo
The season will kick off against rivals Columbus and our first home game will see Philadelphia visit BMO Field
So that’s it for now. This was quite a hard post to put together so I’ll do more player profiles next time. In the meanwhile thanks for reading and have a great weekend!
Laxeyman
12 марта, 2011 at 16:08
Hi Kevin, interesting story you’ve got here, I’ve never seen a story about the MLS, so this is something completely different. It should be a challenge, and you’ve made some decent signings judging by the two profiles you’ve posted. Anyway, looking forward to seeing how you get on, good luck!
Kevin
12 марта, 2011 at 16:44
Thanks Laxeyman
I’m waiting to see if there are any more «rule» surprises next month :)
mark
12 марта, 2011 at 21:32
nice, i have never seen someone do a MLS game. good luck and my Favorited MLS team is Toronto FC because i live in Toronto and my house is 10 minutes away by subway.
Kevin
12 марта, 2011 at 21:45
Hi Mark
Welcome to Football Manager Stories!!
That’s cool you are so close to the stadium and the new season is starting soon. My main story here is Cambridge United but keep checking back in for updates.
Johnny Karp
12 марта, 2011 at 16:33
That squad registration system is confusing to say the least, I admit that I wasn’t able to understand much of it. Anyway, those two new players seem pretty good but I don’t know much about the other teams and the general level of the competition. This should be a very interesting journey with loads of new things to find out, good luck Kevin!
Kevin
12 марта, 2011 at 16:47
Hi Johnny
I was confused by the squad thing as well so I went through a few sheets of paper this morning trying to sort it all out. I think the level is similar to The Championship but to be honest I haven’t watched too many real games.
mark
12 марта, 2011 at 21:35
actually, i like the idea of the roaster system of having two academy apprentices in which it is like the Barcelona system
Darren Smith
12 марта, 2011 at 20:04
Wow Kevin, why do American’s have to complicate such a beautiful game with daft rules. I don’t see how half of them could even benefit American soccer. Anyway, this has certainly been an education. I am really intrigued by this story and can’t wait for the next post. Keep up the good work. :)
Kevin
12 марта, 2011 at 21:48
Hi Darren
All North American sports sort of work the same way with squad and salary caps as well as the draft. All the better Canadian players are mostly in Europe to avoid all this.
Darren Smith
13 марта, 2011 at 10:22
Well I actually like the idea of a wage cap on the squad, it really forces a club to think about what their spending. Though the rest of it kinda goes over my head a little. Hopefully I’ll start to understand the rules better as this story goes on. :)
hils
12 марта, 2011 at 20:05
Hi Kevin,interesting story there!!!!!!!!!! The squad registrasion is confusing!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!
Kevin
12 марта, 2011 at 21:49
Thanks Hils
North America is confusing sometimes :)
Josh Allen
12 марта, 2011 at 23:18
Well, I have never felt so confused!! MLS is a very consfusing tournamtent. Just one question, what is its reputation?
Josh
everythingthatisfm.blogspot.com
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 08:52
Hi Josh
I share your confusion mate:) As for it’s reputation I think it grows a little each year on this side of the world but baseball remains the number 1 sport to watch as both play during the summer. I don’t think the other side of the Atlantic takes much notice though apart from Beckham’s activities.
FMCrazy
13 марта, 2011 at 07:20
Good luck, its not common for an MLS story to be around and should be interesting too :)
In America you are only allowed 5 Americans? That doesn’t make sense, surely they would want to have as many home grown players as possible?
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 08:55
Hi FMCrazy
Toronto is in Canada hence only 5 Americans to encourage home grown talent from North of the border. There’s probably not a whole lot as Ice Hockey is the #1 sport here.
Oliver
13 марта, 2011 at 10:04
Hi Kevin,
Where does it say you’re only allowed up to 5 Americans? I see the rule saying «maximum of 10 internationals (excluding up to 5 American players),» but I would take that to mean you’re allowed up to 5 American internationals in addition to the limit of 10 non-American internationals.
So there is no limit on American players as long as no more than 5 are internationals?
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 12:06
Hi Oliver
Thanks for your comment and insight.Your interpretation is most likely correct. I already had 8 internationals and knew I was brining in two more into the squad making 10 so I assumed I could only have 5 Americans who were all classed as internationals. You could load up your own trial MLS game then let us all know what the rule really is? I would be interested :)
Oliver
13 марта, 2011 at 14:02
I’ve loaded a game with Toronto and I am now very confused.
By “international” it means non-Canadian, whereas before I assumed it meant a member of an international team. Toronto start with 8 players who are in an international team, but 18 players who are “internationals”, 10 of which are American. So if you select the 8 non-American internationals and sign 2 more non-American internationals you can only register up to 5 Americans, meaning you were correct. Alternatively you could register up to 15 Americans, but would then have less room for non-American internationals.
Hope that helps and makes sense.
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 15:15
Hi Oliver
Well may thanks for going to the trouble and doing that. I posted the 2011 rules in a response to Tyler below. I think what you have stated above claers things up nicely and thanks for confirming I did the right thing…I think :)
Sayam Khan
13 марта, 2011 at 13:05
What a weird and confusing rule! Anyway, never seen a story about a team in the MLS so should be intresting! Good Luck!
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 14:39
Sayam
I’m confused :)
Tyler
13 марта, 2011 at 13:32
You can have more than 5 Americans. It’s saying that the 10 internationals excludes the 5 Americans because the MLS is an American league with one (soon to be 3) Canadian teams. So US citizens don’t count as international players for a Canadian team.
Kevin
13 марта, 2011 at 14:56
Hi Tyler
Thanks a lot for your comment. I think I understand now.
Here’s the 2011 rules but I couldn’t find the 2010 form MLS
■The two MLS clubs based in Canada – Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC – began with eight international slots, but their domestic slots may be filled with either Canadian or U.S. domestic players.
■MLS clubs based in Canada are required to have a minimum of three Canadian domestic players on their rosters.
I’m pretty sure all my Americans had an «I» beside their name so I assumed that meant international but I’m not so sure. Too late now though they are gone LOL!
Maybe I»m still confused though?
Oliver
13 марта, 2011 at 15:17
You’re right. All the Americans had «I» next to them which means «international — non-domestic».
Kevin
14 марта, 2011 at 08:06
Cheers Oliver!!!!
Sears
13 марта, 2011 at 20:57
I’ve never fully understood sports in America. American football is just, weird but interesting. This is extremely different to your normal game of FM. Looking forward to your next update :-)
Kevin
14 марта, 2011 at 08:09
Hi Sears
Sport over here is weird but the set up in each sport is designed that in theory all teams should get a shot at the title over the years and that there is no domination like the big four in th Premiership.
Excessive
14 марта, 2011 at 10:05
Make that the big 6 with Spuds and City Kev :).
As for the whole system it’s completely barmy and I don’t understand the sense, nor the rules for that matter so I admire you trying to put up with that. American terms aswell like ‘roster’ and ‘draft’ confuse me aswell. I can see what they are trying to get at with the ‘fair play’ and everyone gets an equal chance but having underdogs and uncertain games is what football is all about. Limiting their potentially famous and ever growing league to a life that really no football fan, having experienced the game in England anyway, would want to put themselves. Probably wrong, and each to their own taste I guess.
Anyway, good luck with it all pal. If you can get your head round it all I’m sure that you’ll push for that MLS title.
Kevin
14 марта, 2011 at 12:03
Hi Jake
Thanks for your comment. It is all very confusing and trying to keep an eye on the roster rules whilst hitting «continue» is challenging. I missed registering one of my Canadian players as I was so concerned with the international ones!
Ana Garcia
14 марта, 2011 at 14:22
Wow!
And I thought South Africa and South Korea was confusing! Am fairly pleased I didnt choose the USA in my challenge after reading this!
Best of luck with this, really nice to see something away from Europe.
Kevin
14 марта, 2011 at 16:08
Hi Ana
As I have a new PC that’s a lot faster I thought I’d try my hand at this league whilst making the Cambridge story my main focus. I’ll probably post in the same way you do.