Stop Yanking my Chain

[Frifoff]

Well I’m a new face around here. I’ve been a long time lurker on these boards and have always admired the dynasty portion of FOFC. This will be my first attempt ever at a dynasty so I may need some format help and other garbage like that.

I’m using WWSM 2005, with the 5.05 patch in place.

I’m pretty much a novice on FM. I’ve played sporadically the earlier versions of this game and was met with pretty lackluster results. I’ve enjoyed fooling around with this version though and have been met with some decent success.

I’ve got a bunch of leagues included. Nearly all of the quality leagues are in there and I basically just put as many leagues out of the top 20 in the FIFA rankings as my computer could handle.

My goal? I’ll be starting off in the MLS and will work my way over into Europe. I’d like to manage the US National team eventually but we’ll see. If I could manage FC Bayern, I would be ecstatic. Otherwise just getting over and competing in Europe is my goal.

We’ll be picking this dynasty up a year into it. I had a successful run my first year with the Chicago Fire and am looking to build upon it.

[Frifoff]

As I said earlier, we’re picking this game up a year in already. We were very successful last year. We won both the US Cup and the MLS Cup. Throughout the year I greatly modified the coaching staff, making it mainly foreign. Here is a cursory look at the coaching staff.

Assistant Coach – Victor Púa is my main sidekick. He is a 48 year old former head coach from Uruguay who I brought in last year. He brings a lot of good things to the table but I especially like his scouting abilities (19 abl, 15 pot). He heads up a very solid coaching staff.

Coaches:
Wellerson – 33 year old coach from Brazil
Daryl Shore – 45 year old GK coach from the US
Nené – 51 year old coach from Spain
Bruno Martini – 43 year old former player from France

All of these coaches are good to very good for the MLS level. This goes with the rest of the coaching staff.

Physios:
Roland Wollmann – 48 year old German physio
Ronan O’Callaghan – 44 year old Irish physio
Dave Hancock – 34 year old English physio

All of my scouts hail from England. They are almost too good as I often get far to many reports for my taste. I probably shouldn’t be complaining but it does get tiresome to go through each and every guy and see if I like them. It was pretty ridiculous this off-season how many they were sending me. These scouts are:
Kit Carson – 56 years old
David Jarrett – 22 years old
John Bedford – 45 years old

Our finances are “secure.” We made nearly $8,000,000 last year which I found absolutely shocking. I’m not all that familiar with the MLS but I don’t think that these figures are in line with reality. Not like I’m complaining though… More money to spend on the team.

[Frifoff]

First think we’ll look at is the two Goalkeepers I’ve got on the team. Keep in mind that a significant portion of the old roster was moved out and more talented guys were brought in.

Goalkeepers:

Zach Thornton – a 31 year old GK who put up very solid numbers last year but didn’t rock the world with his avg R (7.12). He’s in the prime of his career and should be a very important piece of our puzzle. A brave GK, it is kind of surprising that there isn’t much interest from anybody outside of the US in him. Their loss.

Doug Warren – a 23 year old GK prospect who has pretty good skills and potential but saw limited time last year as a result of inconsistent play. Has a lot to learn before he is gets the starting position but I really think he’s got some solid potential to work with.

Next up the Defense …

C.J. Brown – a 29 year old DC for us. Was the cornerstone of the defense last year and was absolutely magnificent. In over 40 appearances (probably too many), he averaged a 7.45 rating. There was interest from some foreign clubs last year in him. We’ll see if I’m able to hang on to him. Had a goal and an assist last year to go along with his 1 Man of the Match award.

Frank de Boer – a 34 year old Dutch SW/DC, de Boer will hopefully help solidify a spot that saw inconsistent play last year. After an amazing career that saw him cap 110 times and play for both Ajax and Barcelona, Frank adds some more veteran savvy to this backline. Was picked up in this past off-season. Has loads of talent still, although I’m unsure how long he will keep playing. He will be our free kick specialist and will be taking our penalties also.

Jim Curtin – a 25 year old DC that was very inconsistent last year. Although he had an alright average rating of 7.1, I felt he was the main problem with the defense. He’ll be platooning time with de Boer. He’s got a future ahead of him but I’m unsure if it is with us. He did not get on the stat sheet at all last year. He is much more of a defensive minded defender than others on our backline. He really lacks the foot speed to make any difference up front.

Iván Leonardo Lopéz – a 26 year old Columbian D R, Lopéz was picked up relatively early last year and played great. He has great talent playing the fullback position and he probably has the most offensive talent on the backline besides de Boer. I like his future on this club. He did get on the stat sheet on more than one occasion last year, ending up with 2 goals, 2 assists, and 3 Man of the Matches. He had an average rating of 7.37.

Jose Burciaga Jr. – a 23 year old D CL, he played slightly better than Curtin last year and as a result will be in a dogfight with Marlon Pierre for the DL position. Has got potential and is already a good player, I’m hoping he can put in a solid year this year. He earned 1 Man of the Match to go along with his 7.16 average rating.

Marlon Pierre – a 23 year old Trinidad and Toboggan D/DM L, my coaches drool over this kid although I’d like to see it on the field. He is still pretty raw but you can tell he has got some skill. A lot like Lopéz in that he’s quite fast, making him ideal for my fullback left position. Will likely be platooning with Burciaga Jr until one of them grabs the position totally. In limited time last year he made an impact playing on the left side of the field. He picked up 2 goals and 5 assists for a 7.29 rating.

Scot Thompson – a 24 year old D RC, Scot was supposed to platoon with Curtin this year until I picked up de Boer. He’ll be the primary DC substitute though as he looks to be quite solid in that position. He saw action very sparingly last year.

Danny Clanton – a 22 year old D LC, Danny has been transfer listed. He has alright talent and potential which means I may include him in some kind of deal later in the year but he just doesn’t have a place on this roster.

[Frifoff]

Midfielders:

Chris Armas – a 32 year old rock in the midfield, this defensive midfielder is the team captain. Still going strong at 32, Armas still gets the occasional cap at the international level. I’ll be looking for him to lead our midfield which emulates him a lot. He brings a tenaciousness that seems to rub off a lot on the other guys. He stats were solid out of the DM C position (3 goals, 5 assists, 3 MoMs, and 7.37 avg rating).

Brian Mullan – at the age of 26, this F RC had an unreal year last year for us and finally got awarded with his first cap. He ended up winning the Honda MLS MVP last year and will be a key person in our attack. At the MLS level, there really isn’t much he can’t do. He is mainly a playmaker though as can been seen in his stats (4 goals, 16 assists, 3 MoMs and a 7.71 rating).

Ramiro Corrales – bought last year for dirt cheap, this 27 year old DM LC was actually very good offensively. He solidified his spot in the top 11 and was very productive. I’m looking forward to seeing him build upon last year (6 goals, 7 assists, 5 MoMs). Not quite as good defensively than Armas, he is better on the offensive side of things though.

Justin Mapp – runner-up to Mullan last year for league MVP, this 20 year old winger is filling the void left by US national DaMarcus Beasley very well. Putting up great stats last year (4 g/14 a/ 6 MoMs/ 7.63 rating), Mapp figures to be a key player again this year. He’s an ideal winger in the MLS, with great speed, off the ball, and crossing ability.

Kelly Gray – a 23 year old D/DM RC hybrid, Gray is our main man off the bench for both defense and defensive midfield. Good enough to start on other teams, Gray will hopefully get more time in the first team this year. There isn’t much to say other than that he is just a solid player overall at both of those positions.

Konrad Nowak – a 19 year old Polish F LC, Nowak was somebody my scouts happened to love last year. I was able to bring him in for relatively cheap and he has proven to be a good guy off the bench. Blessed with great speed and creativity, Nowak can play either the left wing position or striker. He’ll get time at both as he has the physical tools to succeed at this level.

Lebohang Mokoena – an 18 year old AM/F C out of South Africa, this was my biggest pick up in the off-season. I happened to be looking at the African national teams when I spotted this kid who at the age of 18 already had 4 caps. I sent my scouts to look at him and ended up spending a pretty decent amount of money, $300,000, on him. Blessed with great talents, this kid is destined for greatness. I’d say he’s as good a prospect in the MLS as anybody that isn’t named Freddy Adu. He’ll be seeing a lot of playing time at both midfield and striker.

Zach Kingsley – a 25 year old AM/F RC, Kingsley has very solid physical attributes and great determination but lacks slightly on important technical attributes. He’ll see time as a sub mostly.

Logan Pause – this 23 year old D/DM LC is a decent enough player at the DM position. Mainly on the team for depth, he won’t see the field all that much. He won’t do terribly if he does get called up to the first team for injury purposes though. Overall a solid depth guy.

C.J. Klaas – at 21 years old, this D/M RC is supposedly one of our more exciting prospects. He is quite versatile and can play a lot of positions decently, Klaas is still pretty raw. He has a future at this club and I hope to get him into more games this year.
I think his future is at M rather than D though. We’ll see how he progresses.

Ryan Mack – a 25 year old AM L/C, Mack didn’t see the field all that much last year. He seems like he might have topped off already. He does have talent at the left wing position. I’ll try to get him in to some games but it’s unlikely that he’ll have much of an impact.

Craig Capano – this 19 year old AM RLC has better talent than most of my subs but is so slow and gets so tired that he rarely sees the field. He can play a half effectively most of the time. He will see some time every once in a while.

[Frifoff]

Strikers:

Ante Razov – this 31 year old S C is still on top of his game. He shared the Budweiser MLS Scoring Champion with his teammate Clint Mathis who both had 16 goals in league play last year. He has found his niche on this team and really fits our tactics well. He is one of the better American strikers out there and we’re happy to have him.

Clint Mathis – teaming up with Razov, this 28 year old striker gives the Fire one of the best one-two punches in the league. Has a ton of talent and I have changed his roll slightly this year, making him slightly more of a playmaker, although still having him focus on scoring too.

Andy Herron – this 28 year old Costa Rican striker has good talent off the bench but may have been replaced by the two young guns Mokoena and Nowak. He still can chip in a goal off the bench. We’ll see if he makes the 24 man cut.

[Frifoff]

After looking over the roster, I’ve got a bunch of options I can go with as far as formations go. I’m probably going to go with a morphed 4-1-3-2 that features a bunch of different details. I like to play aggressive and I’m hoping this one works out well for me. The main details of the formation are that the 3 midfielders all make runs. The two outer midfielders will make runs to the sidelines. The central midfielder will make a slanted run to the upper left hand side, so that he plays off the left hip of my central striker. The two forwards play differently. The one forward, generally Razov, will be playing dead in the center of the field. Mathis will be slightly off to the side, making slight backward runs as to balance off the forward run of the MC. This will turn Mathis into a AM/S instead of just a Striker.

I know that the above paragraph makes little to no sense. Just realize that I’ve tried to create as much symmetry in the forward runs as possible. This may all be for naught but I hope it works out. I’ve got the old trusty 4-4-2 to break out if things don’t look good.

[Frifoff]

Teusday March 8, 2005



Pfft. Jesus H. For the second year in a row, I have a player go down before the start of the MLS season with a scull fracture. Ramiro Corrales went down today and that throws a wrench in my plans. I think that I’ll be able to cover his loss pretty well, but he really was dynamite last year. He is going to be out for 5 months so this will hurt for a while. BTW last year it was Scott Buete who went down with this injury. He is no longer with the team and is playing for Minnesota in the USL.

The media asks:
”Ramiro Corrales got injured in the game today (freak training accident you dumb reporters) and it looks as if he might be out for a while. Do you have sufficient back-up?”

I respond that although he will be missed, we will have sufficient back-up.

[Frifoff]

March 9, 2005

My assistant manager tells me that after consulting several members of the team, Ramiro Corrales is upset after my comments to the media about his injury. What a nice way to start off the season. We get a blow to team morale. It doesn't look to severe though and Corrales should just toughen up.

In Corrales's profile he is listed as being upset because he "is unhappy with the head coach's recent comments and is worried about his future at the club." I didn't know he'd take it so personally. My god! What a puss.

[Frifoff]

March 14, 2005

We have to submit our 24 man roster for the upcoming season. I selected every single player from the above lists except Ryan Mack. We needed to get underneath the no more than 18 members of the team over 23 bull**** rule of the MLS. Mack wasn't going to start anyways.

[Frifoff]

March 16, 2005

We finally arrive at he first game of this hopefully long dynasty. Today we take on CD Pachuca in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup tournament. Sitting in 2nd place in the Mexican First division, CD Pachuca has a very talented team. This is going to be a tough test on this new tactic so I hope it works out well. They are led by a solid backline that looks like they’re all in their prime. Commanding that group of defenders is Ivan Hurtado, an Ecuadorian international with over 100 caps that is very strong and fast for a DC. A quick team throughout their whole roster, this will be very difficult.

Here is a look at Chicago’s starting eleven:
GK – Thornton
DL – Pierre
DC – de Boer
DC – Brown
DR – Lopéz
DMC – Armas
MC – Mapp
MC – Mullan
MC – Mokoena
FC – Razov
FC – Mathis
S1 – Warren
S2 – Pause
S3 – Kingsley
S4 – Herron
S5 – Thompson
S6 – Gray
S7 – Nowak

Pachuca is 4-5 favorites to with the match. 3-1 for us and 2-1 for a draw. Weather forecast is a dry 37 degrees F. This is a home match up.

[nfg22]

Good so far I will be reading....