CM4: Where will you start?
 

With the anticipation buliding for CM, I ask this question:

Where will you start on your quest for CM4 glory?

My answer is depending on how much national team play has improved, I very well may start with the US National team. I think it would be alot of fun if you could play a match a month and have traning camps and play in cups such as the Gold Cup. But we will see.

If not, I will start with an MLS team, probably either the Chicago Fire or DC United. I am lookin forward to partaking in the Superdraft.

English Conference

English First Division

Nottingham Forest baby, taking them to glory. If all goes well, they should be play-off bound this year. Third in the table with 12 games to go

English Conference - probably Hereford or Dag and Red

Since I've got the Beta, I've already tried France a lot, so I'll probably start in a new championship

Mexico maybe

perhaps MLS, with the draft system, could be interesting.

I plan on taking a national team. Marc has said that the national teams were much improved, allowing you to schedule friendlies and such.

I've always done English 3rd Division. My understanding is that the rules over in England have changed and it's a little easier to get out of the Conference now, right? So perhaps I will give it a shot starting in Conference.

Or Perhaps I will take over my beloved Bristol Rovers again wherever they are at and go from there(pretty sure theyre still in 3rd div tho).

English Conference - Stevenage. I have always started with them in the Conference (well, since CM3). Looks like they may be relegated this year, so they won't be around to choose in future versions.

The Bulls are my team...you stick with Dag :)


Yes, the rules have changed this year. Used to be only the Conference Champion was promoted. Now it is the Conference Champion and a playoff between the 2nd to 5th place teams. Of course, this also means it's easier to be relegated from the 3rd Division as well.

And with the debt of 3rd-World country to boot Paul Hart has done a fantastic job - potentially the next manager of Leeds United (Where he helped set up the academy that produced Alan Smith and Harry Kewell etc).

English Third Division- York City :D

English Conference - Barnet Bees

:D

Plymouth

I will start with one of the following:

Tottenham (English Premiere) - b/c my most memorable game was played with them but cut short due to a database error...

Rushden b/c I like trying to get the teams up to the Premier League...

Team USA - I agree that if national team play is more involved and flows better than it has in past games I will probably partake in that...

At some point I will play with an MLS Team as well but it probably will not be my initial game... Can't wait to play CM 4...

Any word on the release (official that is)???

Find out what team has Landon Donovan, I think it is San Jose, and I will pick them.

I think I will start with Ipswich. I have never played as them and always wanted to but never got around to it. After that I may piddle around with a team in Belgium or Norway, two leagues I've never tried. Maybe this will be the year I also get around to trying the MLS.

English Conference. I used to play with Telford United and managed to get them into the 2nd division in about 6 or 8 years. That was my most successful run.

I don't know if that team is still around though...

Italian Serie B - Bari...gotta take a shot at keeping them from Relegation.

Yes, Donovan is with San Jose.

I will just give a little background info on San Jose. They just lost their best defender and their starting goalkeeper to Europe. They are left trying to rebuild the defense. They have a good D-Mid in Richard Mulrooney, or at least for MLS. They have some creative attackers in Donovan and Canadian international striker Dwayne DeRossio. They have some decent role players in the middle.

Again, the challenge will be rebuilding the defense and finding some stars in the midfield. They were hoping to get Frankie Hedjuk in an allotication but they didn't. In the draft they took a tall defender in Todd Dunviat in the first round who should be able to step in right away. They also took a young striker in Artoru Alvarez who should have a solid finishing rating. The also took some depth at mid, defense, and up top, but I wouldnt expect anything big. Overall they drafted average, but maybe could have done better.

The fan base is not good and the stadium needs an up lift, which means their facillites will probably be average.

So again you have a core of 2-3 players who are good and you can build around, so it should be a challenge.

Anyone else who wants to know about a MLS team let me know.

Back to Lincoln for me, in English Third Division.

I messed around with Lincoln and had great success. I had them all the way to the Preimership and 4 short years. They seem to have an organazation that wants to win and will put all the pieces in place to do so.

Can you give a little about Chicago. They are the other team I was thinking about, I know they lost a few of their star players, but that is about it. Thanks GoldenEagle. :D

The Chicago Fire is a very interesting team. They made some off-season moves that were very questionable, so I think they are an interesting team just because of that.

I will start out with keeping. Zach Thorton is one of MLS's better keepers. He is a monster in goal and at one time was thought to be the heir to the US National Team goalkeeping postiton when the Keller/Freidel era ended, until better choices emerged.

In the back the defense is anchored by Carlos Bocanegra, who is a member of the US National team. Bocanegra is one of MLS's best defenders, and had a training stint with Dutch power Feynoord. CJ Brown adds a veteran to the mix, and is usually overrated in CM. While you have two good defenders, you will want to add more to the mix or may suffer some breakdowns.

The midfield has starlet DaMarcus Beasley, who is probably the second most recognized player in MLS behind Donovan. He will probably request to move to a European club soon, however. Other than that, the midfield is loaded with you talent in Craig Capano, Justin Mapp, and Kelly Gray. All these players are expected to contribute to the national team in the future. You also have sturdy defensive mid in Chris Armas at your disposal.

At forward, rookie Nate Jaqua will be asked to score immediately. He is a great young talent who will be a great player. Rodgrio Faria was acquired from the Metrostars and is a decent player. You will probably want to go out and get a striker from elsewhere to help out. The Fire traded Josh Wolff, who I have seen great things from him in CM, to the Wizards.

The Fire didn't draft bad adding Jaqua and midfielder Ryan Fukamata, who is also a midfielder. They added some depth with some other kids, but none will immediately play.

So overall, it could be a decent challenge, but once some younger players mature you will probably being competing every year.

By the way, MLS is very weak in defenders and the US national team has suffered as a result. If I was a coach in MLS, I would use my forigen allotications on defenders. You may also can go out and get Steven Cherlenduo and Cory Gibbs who are based in Germany.

columbus crew as i live in philly and have taken road trips to see them and Brian McBride is my favorite player. They have a really nice stadium. If you ever want to check out the MLS and your on the east coast check it out, i want to go on a trip to see the la galaxay in their new stadium and Manchester United is playing Barcelona(in a friendly) in philadelphia my friends and i are going

goldeneagle-have you seen or heard about the recent friendlies for the US national team? Boconegra and that big kid from the mls(name currently escaping me) have done very well also convay playing left back has done well if we get a right back we could should be in good shape i got to see 2 games 1 chris armas was really missed as pablo had a bad game but in the other one played well. On a side note anyone heard anything about Reyna? I read his injury was very bad and i haven't seen or heard anything since.

condors - I am so jealous. I'd love to see Man-Utd and Barcelona in Philly. Ill do a scouting report on Columbus later. Not because you asked you for it, but more along the lines that I am bored and have nothing else to do. :)

The defender your probably thinking of is Sahsa Victorne. He, like Convey, is a converted midfielder to defender. They will not play these positions in MLS, so their development will probably hinder.

Here is the most up to-date friendly list:

March 29th Japan at Seattle
April 2nd Mexico at Denver
April 29th Mexico at Houston
May 24th or 26th Wales at San Jose

There is also a rumored match with Brazil in April, a Bolivia match in May, and matches against Paraguay and Portugal in June.

In addition we also have the Confederations Cup and Gold Cup. We could see two completely different teams for those cups.

Ah, forget to address Reyna. He will not play for the rest of the EPL season, which suggests that his recovery is not going well.

At this time, the Confederations Cup looks unlikely for Reyna.

Same as always, my Eagles at Crystal Palace, English 1st Division.

Probably the US national team to start, followed by the lowest level in the US leagues you can play. Isn't it going to have the A league and lower?

Last I heard was that A-League was confirmed and that they were trying to implent D3 pro league and PDL.

I'm probably going to start by managing Chelsea in the Engish Premiership since they're the club I follow in real life. After that, I'm not quite sure. I might drop down to somewhere near the bottom of the English league structure, or I might head out of the country. I had an interesting game going in 01/02 using this year's data while managing Toulouse in the French third division, so I might wind up revisiting them.

I have a question for everyone, since I live in the states will I be able to order CM4 when it is released? Thanks:)

Dargone. Yes. Yes, you will. Just go to the websites that offer it and order it. They ship to the states. Pre-order it now!

I will likely take a team in the English Second Division. First time I played I took Millwall, the next time Tranmere. I'll likely take another team this time. Like to shake things up, keep 'em fresh.

Now they're in French Second division (and will probably be champions by the end of the season)

I probably play an easy game at first to get used to the game, with a club on the lower half of the Premier League or a top div. 1 club. After 3-4 seasons, I'll probably resign and take a job in div. 3. No preferences actually on the specific team, but I never pick teams I have managed before, in earlier versions.

bee army! junior agogo will bag you hatfuls.

i have no idea where i will start, i keep changing my mind. probably in the bottom division of some league somewhere. i was really disappointed at the decision not to include leagues lower than the conference. :(

I don't know what my problem is, but I can't get into the SI website. I've not really checked up on the game, so I don't know what has happened recently. Is there some problem with the site? Just me? Moved?

Try http://community.sigames.com/ if you can't get onto www.sigames.com, that server is under pretty heavy strain at times.

The FAQ's and the SI News forum should be a good source for information about CM4 at least.

Heh, I had just found it before I came back here. The boards are the main thing I was coming for, anyway.

But thanks.

Still not releasing it in the US? :( Have to ship it over...:(

I'm going to start with DC United and the US national team. The drafting should be really, really cool. After I get fired I'll probably start up with an English conference team. Forest Green perhaps even though I have no clue where that is in England. :)

I also just had a thought. CM4 is going to have much better multiplayer capabilites, so I am thinking about a possible FOFC league. Obvioulsy, I dont since I don't have the game in front of me I dont know what is invovled in it. But I think it might be worth a shot to look into.

I will be back with a Columbus and DC United report later. Heck, I might just do all the teams in MLS.

Here we go with Columbus.

As forementioned Columbus has a great system and and good facillites in place. They have a youth academy which should benefit you down the road.

Keeper - The Crew have a couple of veterans in Josh Busch and Tom Presthus. Both of these players are capable of playing in the MLS level, but this may be a postion you want to approve on in the future.

Defedners - The Crew may have the deepest defense in MLS. They have young and exciting prospects Nelson Akwari and Chad McCarthy. Both will play on the USMNT in the future. In addition, they veterans Mike Clark, Internatoinal Daniel Torres, Eric Denton, and Brain Dunseth.

Midfield - The midfield has some players who can play, but it will be a postion to go out and try to find some young players. Kyle Martino is an exciting prospect but I am not sure he will be ready right away. Other than that, you have Diego Walsh and Duncan Ougton who can somewhat play.

Forwards - The Crew have a strong attacking offense, that again, might be the deepest in MLS. Brain West and Jeff Cunnighman have both played with the USMNT, and both bring great speed and pace to the table. They also have Brian McBride, who has been great in the EPL on loan. In addition they have young prospect Luchi Gonzalez.

The Crew took Walsh with their first pick in the draft. They took some other players who may help in the future, but overall did not draft well.

So the challenge with Columbus if finding some midfielders and maybe a goalkeeper. Expectations should be high, esp. if McBride returns.

I'll start with Inter Milan. Now that Ronaldo is gone, a healthy Vieri is lighting things up. And I work two doors down from their headquarters here in Milan to boot!

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Lazio. Due to their EXTREMELY precarious financial position, they might not even exists after this season. None of their players have been paid this year.

Really? Huh. They were in the French National division - the division below the second division - under the most recent patch, and I had thought that was using completely current data. If they are in the second division, that would make them a rather less attractive option.

My self?

Well, there's always Cambridge United, my adopted home team (third division England).. but since I picked up a couple books about il calcio, I think I will start with one of the following teams in Italy..

Hellas Verona (Brigate, Brigate Gialloblù!) (Read a Season With Verona by Tim Parks, excellent book!)

Castel Di Sangro

English Third Division - Carlisle

Well, maybe. In CM 01/02 I had a long running career with those guys bringing them up all the way to the D1 playoffs so I may go ahead and see if I can repeat the magic.

Of course, I may just stick with the hometown Chicago Fire instead and work my reputation up until I'm Europe-ready.

BTW, Goldeneagle, I'd be more than interested if you ever chose to go forth with your multiplayer idea.

Neuqua

yep, the patch updated all the leagues except the french one (because the structure of the leagues changed this season)

You read that book about Castel Di Sangro? By McGuinness i think... excellent, excellent read. Such a good book. I'd suggest all you soccer fans pick it up. I'm for the title, but it's by (Paul?) McGuinness. I'm sure Fozzie can enlighten us all

'Miracle of Castel Di Sangro' is one of the best books I have ever read. Period. I would recommend it to anybody who is a fan of emotional, compelling literature. McGinnis writes it as an outsider to the Italian soccer world, so its very easy to pick up if you're not into soccer. It's not about the game itself as it is the effect of the game on small communities in Italy. Very engrossing.

Golden Eagle
 

It would be nice to have every mls team represented by fofc people have live drafts would be awsome imho

I really would take any team as there are bright spots for everyone.