Guns Go Bang - Portland Timbers #FM22

It had been at least 20 years since Chepiga used his precious ring, he stroked it fondly as it glinted in the bright Miami Sun. It was Soviet technology, it was perfect. Soon the thousands watching in the stands will feel the power of mother Russia once more, and the shockwaves will reach as far as Barranquilla and reverberate through Ojeda’s very soul. The call came from Bastardo, a single spoken word would affect the plan; “Execute”.

Within a fraction of a second, Bastardo’s boats, laden heavy with their bounty, exploded into smithereens. The smoke blocked the glaring Sun for just a moment before red hot pieces of Carbon Fibre began raining down on the fleeing spectators. Through the mayhem one of Bastardo’s boats serenely carried on its path away from the main race and out to Sea.

Chepiga knew this wouldn’t be the end. Ojeda’s Bats were everywhere, listening, reporting, and planning. Bastardo had Fibre but all too often he lacked vision to fully grasp the ramifications of his actions. Chepiga knew better; and in preparation he had stationed “The Gunslinger” , Hristo Stoichkov, in the stands along with Diego & Yimmi Chará. The brothers from Cali had been invaluable to Chepiga for the last two years, they were as keen as Cheipga and Bastardo to see the demise of Don Ojeda.

A skirmish broke out in the base of the stand and Chepiga saw the flowing mane of El Pibe leading Bastardo away. He could not be sure if Bastardo was in jeopardy or not, but there was no time to waste, he had to look out for himself and Natasha.

Chepiga’s men quickly subdued the remaining henchmen loyal to Hugo Ojeda. Their superior fire power, and close combat skills, ensured the encounter with the enemy was brief. None would live to speak of the day the “Boats went Bang”.

Grabbing Natasha’s arm, wide eyed, “Hurry Natasha, my dear, we don’t have much time.” Chepiga’s tone was calm, but curt. The small, three man, submersible surfaced at exactly the moment Chepiga had programmed it to do, some months prior, during a scouting visit to watch Bastardo’s Inter Miami.

The Chará brothers helped heave open the large, rusted, metal hatch, that had been sealed for many months. Stoichkov and Natasha climbed inside. “Goodbye Comrade Chepiga.” Yimmi Chará was visibly upset at the prospect of never seeing Ruslan again. Chepiga kissed each brother on their left cheek, “It was all my pleasure my brothers, Rose City Till I Die.”

The rusted hatch slammed shut, “Quick to the rendez-vous Hristo!” The submersible was slow, and it seemed to take an age to travel the two miles to the meeting point. “We are here.” Chepiga’s demeanour had changed, there was a darkness in him.

Boat 89 was waiting for them, bobbing in the gentle Miami waters, the paintwork glistening in the blazing Sun. The driver opened his safety pod and removed his helmet.

“I got away, I’ve got the money Natasha baby!”

Herb Simon’s excitement was nauseating to Chepiga. Herb Simon was the retired General Manager of Inter Miami, a corrupt real estate tycoon who helped launder Ojeda’s money all across Florida. He was so easy to turn, a cut of a few hundred million dollars, and a pretty Brunette was all it took. Chepiga knew rats like Herb could not be trusted in Eastern Europe. “Calm down comrade, we aren’t free yet.” Chepiga snapped, and in a flash wiped a damp cloth across Herb’s face, the toxin worked remarkably fast, the old man slumped back, he was conscious but incapacitated.

The three remaining members of the syndicate loaded the money from the speedboat to the submersible, Natasha estimated the haul to between eighty and ninety million dollars, more than enough to invest in a club somewhere close to the Black Sea. Every inch of the sub was laden with used bills. “Wait! stop, we are too heavy. We must leave now, leave the rest.” Natasha was right, Chepiga and Stoichkov left a few stacks of cash on the speedboat and jumped down to take control of the submersible. Natasha contorted her small frame into a tiny gap at the rear, completely surrounded by vast columns of money. It was uncomfortable but they could make it.

Chepiga entered the co-ordinates for Aswijan, there he could be sure of a friendly welcome before setting sail for his final destination in Eastern Europe. The sub dived easily given the weight of it’s cargo, old Herb watched, through glazed eyes, as it descended into the clear waters below before finally fading from his view. He tried to call out to Natasha, there was something she needed to know about the men she was with, but no sound would come, his mind fell to darkness…

Finally - Thanks for reading this little Creative piece. I enjoy trying to write them as in my daily work I write and read a lot of scientific reports that are very monotone, it’s nice to try and be creative.

Chepiga is now on his long journey across the Atlantic, through the straits of Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean Sea and finally into the Black Sea. Hristo Stoichov has ideas where their money could best be put to use, but as ever Ruslan will suit himself.

This post should be read in conjunction with @FMGrasshoppers piece “Boats Go Bang”

Over and out

FMEadster!

North meets South - Portland Timbers bring Samba to MLS #FM22

Last time out the Portland Timbers evolved their way to a historical MLS / Continental treble. Could Chepiga add a bit of flair to his functional Russian machine in Season two?

Winter nights with Timber Joey :heart:

Intro

When we first started this save, back in November, the nights were drawing in, the kids hadn’t long been out trick or treating, and Mrs Eadster was starting to talk about Christmas shopping. It is hard to believe that we have now reached the end of our two seasons in MLS. The nights are getting longer, the Easter holidays are in full swing, and Mrs Eadster is making plans for summer holidays. In some ways it feels like a long time, but in others it feels so very short. The passing of time in life really is a strange experience, especially as I enter my 40s.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the save alongside FMGrasshopper, and the “masses” who watched on Twitch. No stream ever felt like a “grind”, the conversation never felt forced, or the laughs fake. I had a tough time during parts of 2021 and being able to get lost in this save universe three nights a week has been a very welcome distraction, and I thank FMGrasshopper for being such a great comrade through the otherwise long winter evenings.

Onto the post, in Season one we exceeded our expectations taking out three trophies. This season the aim was to do it again but add a little panache, a little Samba, if you will.

Season Two: 2022

If Season one was famous for “Eadie-Ball”, (i.e. lots going on but penetration was painfully rare) then season two needed something extra. I decided to move from the functional 4231 to a more expansive 3412, 32212, 5212 however you wish to describe it (I will be writing about the tactic itself in a future post). One of the biggest challenges in MLS is building a roster year after year and still maintain compliance with the salary cap, and other squad registration rules. I decided to turn this into a positive and overhaul the squad in the off season.

Recruitment

Center Backs - One of the first things that required my attention when moving to a back three was upgrading our Center Backs. I felt Dario Zuparic had always carried his partner, whether this be Bill Tuiloma, or Larry Mabalia, during season one. I wanted to move into season two with at least four, maybe even five, decent Center Back options. With Mabalia no longer offering value for money in terms of salary impact, he was traded to Philadelphia Union for an International Slot, meaning we probably needed to add at least another three quality Center Backs to our roster. I wanted more physicality, and guile, at the back to implement the “brand” of football Portland wanted.

Nikosi Tafari (waiver draft) - Tafari had been on my radar for sometime having been previously listed by FC Dallas. When he became available in the waiver draft I jumped at the chance to bring him in. He is American, on low wages, and is comfortable with either foot. He was never going to be a first choice, but his more than adequate physicals meant I was never too concerned when I brought him in as a Center Back on cover. Minutes played: 1,264 Average Rating: 7.06

Rivaldo Coetzee ($750k Mamelodi Sundowns) - Coetzee wasn’t completely unknown to me, he used to be a popular signing in FM saves a few editions ago, so when my scouts recommended him I was immediately interested. I felt he could add a bit of guile to our build up play, especially when we were now playing out from the back. Good vision, and world class passing, mixed with the traits of, ‘brings ball out of defense’, and ‘tries long range passes’ make him a perfect Ball Playing Defender for MLS. One major drawback is his injury proneness, my scouts advised me that he could “have real problems with injuries” and so it proved. Coetzee missed 72 days with six different injuries, he never really got a good run in the side and I don’t think I ever saw the best of him. This is reflected in his minutes played and average rating. Minutes played: 1,880 Average Rating: 6.97

Saad Abdul-Salaam (re-entry draft) - Abdul-Salaam was a strange signing. I needed some cover at wing back and having missed out on my first choice, O’Neill Fisher, to Bastardo’s Inter Miami I moved on to FM Stag’s second recommendation which was Abdul-Salaam. It was only after a few weeks of the season that I noticed he could potentially do a job for us in the Wide Center Back role that I was using. Being a natural full back, but possessing the physicals of a center back, meant he could fulfill this new hybrid role and it ended up working very well. With Coetzee missing a lot of the season Abdul-Salaam became an ever more important player for us. Minutes played: 2,620 Average Rating: 7.40

Ike Opara (free agent) - Opara was signed purely as a back up. Whenever we needed someone to make tackles, blocks and clearances he was the man for the job. Without the emergence of Abdul-Salaam he probably would have played more minutes. He is also American which is always a bonus. Minutes played: 431 Average Rating: 7.02

Bring out the Samba - One of the main criticisms of season one was the manner of our victories. Very often we scored early and dominated possession in our own half without really stretching the opposition or generating any exciting periods of play. Don’t get me wrong, I was very pleased with season one but I wanted season two to be a bit more of a spectacle. With this in mind I set about recruiting players at the top end of the pitch who could provide those magical moments that the Timbers Army would remember forever. It just so happened three of them were Brazilian, and the other was an old familiar face.

Paulinho (free agent) - The weakest area of our side in season one was center midfield. An aging Diego Chará couldn’t be expected to play every game this season across four competitions. Eryk Williamson is a good squad player, thus leaving Cristian Paredes as our only real MLS standard midfielder. We needed an all rounder in there, someone who was equally adept in both boxes. Enter free agent Paulinho formerly of Tottenham and Barcelona, now 33, he still possesses all the attributes required of a box to box midfielder, along with the traits ‘gets forward whenever possible’ and ‘arrives late in opposition box’ #perfect. Minutes played: 2,703 Goals: 8 Assists: 10 Average Rating: 7.36

Nathan ($1.4m Atlético Mineiro) - Despite playing with a number 10 throughout season one I never felt I got the best out of Diego Valeri or Sebastien Blanco (both now retired). I needed someone different here, someone to orchestrate our attacks as well as provide a reliable goal threat. I spent a long time looking for the right player but as often is the case in MLS it was difficult to attract the level of player I wanted, especially from Europe. In the end I “settled” for Nathan who, on the face of it, I felt was no more than a good option, when really I wanted a great one. I couldn’t have been more wrong! He came into the side and immediately lifted us to another level. In his first 11 games he scored 10 goals and while his form dipped slightly towards the end of the season I couldn’t be happier with his contribution over the whole season. Minutes played: 2,999 Goals: 16 Assists: 15 (Portland record) Average Rating: 7.53

Johnathan Goiano (Free - Chengdu Rongcheng) - Look at this beast. “GOLANO” was plucked from the Chinese second division, I am amazed I haven’t heard of him before. A mental and physical specimen with technicals not too far behind. I had to use a chunk of Targeted Allocation Money to buy down his contract as I had no Designated Player slots left by the time I signed him. His trait of ‘comes deep to get the ball’ did, however, cause me to rethink his positioning within the team, in the early part of the season. In the end I opted to play him as a deep lying forward and relied on Nathan and Paulinho to make late runs into the box. The link up play between Nathan, Goiano and advanced forward Yimmi Chará was a thing of beauty at times during the season. Despite playing as a DLF he still managed 16 goals and when chances were laid on for him I was confident he would take them. I’d be interested to hear if anyone else has come across him in their saves. Minutes played: 3,087 Goals: 16 Assists: 12 Average Rating: 7.60 (Fan’s player of the season)

Carlos Tevez (free agent) - Tevez was another strange signing. I was doing a number of searches for a new number 10 and Tevez popped up, as a free agent, having left Boca Juniors. More out of curiosity I entered contract negotiations with him. I was surprised to see he was happy to be an impact sub and only wanted the MLS Senior Minimum Wage of $84,000 per annum. This meant his salary would not count against the MLS salary cap. Tevez also has the trait of ‘comes deep to get the ball’ and when I played him alongside Goiano both of them dropped into midfield at times. This left us short of runners in behind, so I made the decision early on that I couldn’t play Goiano and Tevez at the same time. The form, and availability, of Goiano meant that Tevez’s appearances were limited, but I was still happy to use him as an impact sub as he came off the bench 19 times during the season. He has since announced his retirement, goodbye FM legend. Minutes played: 945 Goals: 3 (Portland’s oldest goalscorer 38) Assists: 2 Average Rating: 6.92

SAMBA!!!!!

⚽💃❤️🪓⚽

SAMBA!!!!! ⚽💃❤️🪓⚽

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

Portland Timbers are the current Lamar Hunt US Open Cup champions, and having already lifted the trophy I was happy to rotate heavily in these games during season two. We even handed out game-time to Portland 2 players not registered to play in MLS.

MLS sides enter the competition in the Fourth round and we were pitted against Tucson, Arizona (as per the Beatles song.). A comfortable 2-0 win with both goals coming from Dairon Asprilla, who operated as an experimental number 10 in this game. Next up was Orange County, California (as per the TV show “the O.C”.). The main take home of this game, wasn’t another routine 2-0 win, it was their beautiful stadium complete with Orange hot air balloon.

Can’t see Miami - odd.

It wasn’t until the Quarter Finals that we came up against an MLS side, Chicago Fire FC. I decided to keep faith with my rotation policy and I was very proud of the guys who came in, as we battled to a 1-0 win with a late goal from substitute Yimmi Chará who I had thankfully kept in reserve should he be needed!

We welcomed Colorado Rapids to Providence Park for the semi-final. With this being a semi-final I decided to use the medical center (sorry Samo) and rest only those guys who had a high match load and still play the other first team players. So it was a fairly strong Timbers side that took to the field. Goals from Nathan and Mora had us 2-1 ahead as we entered the final 15 minutes. Unfortunately two late goals from the Rapids ended our hopes of retaining the Lamar Hunt Trophy as we fell to a late 3-2 defeat. Orlando City took the title this year.

CONCACAF Champions League

Another competition that the Timbers were the reigning champions, however, unlike the US Open Cup I was determined to win this again. Our campaign started off against Santos from Costa Rica in what turned out to be two rather scrappy performances we managed to get through 3-1 on aggregate. With the CONCACAF starting in April I put this down to the new tactic taking time to bed in. I was fairly confident heading into the Quarter Final draw and I just wanted to avoid Inter Miami (aka. Inter Higuaín), I felt I had the beating of everyone in the CONCACAF but Miami would be tougher. I don’t think either of us were happy with meeting so soon in the competition but I was still confident that over two legs we would prevail, especially with away goals still counting double; we would surely score in Miami.

Well done Inter Higuaín

The game was an epic affair, a real rollercoster, we were ahead four times in the tie, and twice by two goals. When Yimmi Chará chipped record signing Esteban Andrada to put us 5-3 ahead, on aggregate, after only 11 minutes of the second leg, I must admit I felt the tie was over. I hadn’t counted on the scourge of Portland Gonzalo Higuaín though, he was simply fantastic in both games. Two hat-tricks, six goals, in a 6-5 aggregate victory tells its own story. The Timbers had been felled by Inter Higuaín once more. I really felt over the two legs we deserved to win by two or three goals, and the stats back this up, with us winning the all important xG battle 4.80 v 2.66 (Higuaín scored six goals from two xG :vomit:).

You can watch a loop of Higuaín’s goals in this post by FMGrasshopper if you like that sort of thing.

MLS All-Stars

It didn’t take long for the Commissioner of MLS, Don Garber, to recognise Chepiga’s talent. With the annual crunch match between the best of MLS and the best of Liga MX coming up he appointed Chepiga manager of the MLS All Stars. FMGrasshopper and I decided to make this an interactive experience with our ones of fans on stream and put a call out for tactics to be sent to me to use. In the end I decided to go with “Wangball” submitted by @lewrich14 for the first 60 minutes, you can see the tactic here. This proved to be a wise decision with the MLS All stars 3-0 up at the half with goals from Portland’s Johnathan Goiano, Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez, and Inter Miami’s Gonzalo Higuaín. At 60 minutes I switched to “Gavball” submitted by @GAV300879 and this slightly more defensive tactic, and I mean slightly, saw us home 4-1, a second goal from Portland’s Goiano was very pleasing, before a late consolation from Tigres’ Guido Pizarro. Another trophy was heading to Chez-Chepiga.

Major League Soccer

Everything so far as been ‘fluff’, success in these competitions would be the icing on the cake. It was success in MLS, and ultimately the playoffs, that I craved the most. How did we do?

The results during the regular season were nothing short of remarkable. One defeat (an MLS record) in 34 games which included another MLS record of 19 games undefeated, and a 5-1 thrashing of Bastardo’s Inter Miami in our Rose City fortress. We also increased our potency in front of goal scoring a staggering MLS record 93 goals and conceding a league low of 29. Comparing this to last season, we increased our points tally by 32 points, and our goals scored by 46, all without losing our defensive solidity, in fact we conceded one less goal this season than last. It was clear looking at the Supporters Shield table that we were the greatest side in MLS history, winning the Shield by 11 points. I put much of this down to our change to a back three, and the introduction of Samba football. It would, however, be remiss of me, to not mention Yimmi Chará. Yimmi moved from a wide position last season to be our main striker (Advanced Forward) this year in our 5-2-1-2, I actually only did this as last season’s top scorer Felipe Mora was injured at the start of the season. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Yimmi Chará ended the year as MLS top scorer with 31 goals (35 goals in all competitions), a Portland Timbers record (who needs Higuaín eh?). We qualified for the playoffs about halfway through the season and secured the Western Conference with seven games to spare, we rotated and planned ahead for the playoffs. It was the MLS Cup that we needed to complete our set in the US, one final push would see us reach immortality.

MLS Playoffs

Having won the Western Conference for a second time, we were awaiting the winners of FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders. My only league defeat all season had come at the hands of Seattle so I was keen to avoid a Cascadian Derby if possible. Dallas duly obliged beating the Sounders 3-2 (AET), I was very confident we would defeat Dallas, as we had already done so twice in the regular season. So it was the case as the Timbers ran out 3-1 winners with two goals coming from Player of the Match, Yimmi Chará. That win got us to the Western Conference Final against Sporting Kansas City (as in the Wizard of Oz). I was brimming with confidence as we had also beaten Sporting KC twice, fairly comfortably, in the regular season. They say pride comes before a fall…

No MLS Cup final this year

We fell 1-0 to Sporting KC in what was a very disappointing display, it was only the second time all season that we had failed to score, and our fourth defeat in all competitions. Sporting were worthy winners, grabbing their goal early in the second half and defending for their lives after that. Their absolute demolition of Inter Miami in the MLS Cup Final left a real sense of what might have been.

What’s Next

I have enjoyed the streaming element of the save more than I was expecting, but I could never do it alone or even with a camera on. I have a new found respect for people who try and do this for a living. Most of all, it was fun interacting with people in the chat on stream and while we didn’t attract large numbers we did have a core social group of guys who seemed to log in most nights. I thank you for spending your evenings with us and getting involved in the random conversations Tony and I were having.

Myself and Tony agreed from the start that a two season network save would be the perfect length, and it does feel that way now we have finished. Another off-season of trades and transfers would surely see us move even further away from the AI. Intelligent squad building is a challenge at the best of times for the AI but, add in the complexities of MLS and I think it is clear, from some of the decisions we have seen, that the AI really struggles with it.

So FMGrasshopper and I have both resigned from our positions as manager and are each taking a copy of the save file away to find new jobs. It will be interesting to watch the two save worlds evolve and diverge from one another over the next few months. Tony has kindly made the save file available at the end of his post which you can get to HERE. Why not have a go and try to rebuild Portland or Miami (they need help after our short termism!).

Despite my disappointing end to season two it is clear from the trophy cabinets of both Portland and Miami that the save was a roaring success. Eleven trophies in two seasons, which include two CONCACAF Champions Leagues, Two Supporters’ Shields, and an MLS Cup - not bad.

MLS

Completed it mate!

🏆

MLS Completed it mate! 🏆

MLS

Completed it mate!

🏆

MLS Completed it mate! 🏆

As ever thanks for making this far, I intend to write up a separate tactic post looking at my 5-2-1-2 in more depth in the next couple of weeks.

Until then,

Over and out.

FMEadster!

Three Cup Finals - A Tactical Evolution - Portland Timbers #FM22

We previously left the Timbers on the brink of two cup finals, the US Open Cup and the CONCACAF Champions League. Pleased to say we toppled our opponents in both semi finals to set up the first cup finals of this save.

 

Throughout the season my tactic has evolved and by looking at my line up and tactics for each cup final we can see how this gradual metamorphosis into something new came about. By the end of the season you would be forgiven for not realising that I started the season with a pre-set tactic, as shown below.

Our starting tactic, a preset from FM.

LAMAR HUNT - US OPEN CUP

The Lamar Hunt Cup was the first trophy to be played for in the MLS Save, we traveled to Washington DC to face DC United. Due to international call ups we were without a number of our roster for this game (this wouldn’t be the last time). It meant a reshuffle in personnel for us but our tactic remained largely as seen above, although there had been some small adjustments. Having started the season using a Deep Lying Forward on attack we changed after match-day two, following a draw with Vancouver and a loss to Houston, to an Advanced Forward. This proved very successful as we won seven of our next eight matches and progressed to the semi finals of the CONCACAF Champions League and the Lamar Hunt Cup. It was around this time that SI released a patch to the Match Engine, I immediately felt my advanced forward was less effective. In response to this I tried using a Pressing Forward as I like to have some pressure on the opposition defense. I have always struggled to get much out of the number 10 position and this was also causing me a headache around this time. Sometimes the playmaking roles in this position attract too much of the ball, in a congested space, so in order to alleviate that we changed to a simple Attacking Midfielder on support. I had yet to make any changes to the Team instructions, so really we headed into the final with DC United with largely the same tactic as we started the season with.

It was typically Breezy in Washington on the day and 20,002 spectators packed into Audi Field. With a makeshift Center-Back pairing of Zac McGraw and central midfielder Cristhian Paredes I was very proud of the team’s performance to come away with a 2-0 win, with goals from Renzo Zambrano and Dairon Asprilla, who was filling in as a striker. For once the stats showed we were under pressure for large parts of the game and Goalkeeper Steve Clark took home the MVP award. Some may say it was lucky but I prefer to look to the determination within the squad to get a result, despite many of our top players being absent.

Beautiful counter corner goal to secure the first trophy of the save!

CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Results after the Lamar Hunt Cup victory were mixed, as were our performances. I felt our play had become a little stale and a lot of our possession was low risk, with not enough penetration. We also become susceptible to counter attacks and this culminated in a 2-0 home loss to Vancouver in October. A game we dominated in terms of Shots, XG, and possession, however, we were undone by two long balls over the top of our high defensive line. We also failed to create any meaningful chances with all that possession.

After this game I decided to make a few tweaks to our tactic as we entered the final phase of the season. I dropped the defensive line, and the higher line of engagement, to cut out the balls over the top and keep us compact. In an attempt to make our passing more incisive I increased our mentality to Positive, I felt fine to do this having already dropped the defensive line, although I would still keep an eye on it.

I dispensed with the Inverted Winger on the left. We weren’t really getting enough runners into the box to provide a consistent goal threat so it made sense to switch to an Inside Forward on attack. Yimmi Chará and Bobby Wood both could fulfill this role perfectly for me.

Line up vs CF América the biggest game in Timbers history!

So, by the time we played CF América in the CONCACAF Champions League final our tactic was starting to look a little different from the pre-set we started with. It was a breezy day again in Portland when CF América came to town. I was ready for a really tough match having listened to @FM_Grasshopper go on about how good Mexican sides are for the last few months. I need not have worried as we routed the Mexicans 4-0. Two goals for Inside Forward Yimmi Chará and one each for Dairon Asprilla and Felipe Mora, who had been restored to an Advnaced Forward role for this game, completed a stunning victory.

After the loss to Vancouver which brought about our changes, we won eight straight games which included the above 4-0 win in the CONCACAF Champions League final, a 4-2 victory on the last day of regular season against Austin which handed us the Western Conference Title. Important victories over Colorado Rapids (penalties) and the Seattle Sounders (4-0) in the MLS playoffs took us to the last cup final of this post, the MLS Cup final. During this time we also traveled to Japan to compete in the Club World Cup, as reigning CONCACAF champions, it seemed this trip was too much for Diego Valeri who decided to retire from Soccerball whilst in Japan; thanks SI. We won a tense Quarter final 2-1 against Al-Ahly of Egypt. So our next defeat wasn’t until we met Chelsea in the semi-final of the Club World Cup, and can you really even call it a defeat? We eventually succumbed 3-2 After Extra Time, losing out to a 118 minute corner hackz goal from Antonio Rudiger. I think the Timbers were the real winners and the streets will never forget Felipe Mora’s chip against Mendy.

Lovely run of results after the 2-0 loss to Vancouver

Western Conference Champions baby!

MLS CUP FINAL

So we come to the last final of the season and it is the big one, the MLS Cup final, against none other than Ángel Bastardo’s Inter Miami. Chepiga versus Bastardo in the showcase match, both managers proving why MLS had gone to such trouble to acquire them in the first place. Unrivaled success was theirs but there was no Libertad here though. Both men remained trapped, completely reliant upon the untrustworthy Americans to keep the Bears and the Snakes from the door. Neither man was free, both were prisoners to the MLS system. Like Maximus and Sparticus before them, these two gladiators would not fight for someone else's amusement. This showcase would be a damp squid as both men met in the tunnel and agreed a non aggression pact. The game would go ahead but it would be 11 v 11* with no input from the beasts on the sidelines. The players were the winners and losers, not Chepiga or Bastardo.

The 11 men trusted to bring home the MLS Cup

The wind was gusting in Fort Lauderdale as the two teams kicked off. Since our last cup final, only minor changes to the tactic had been made. We removed lower tempo to again try and increase our penetration and we switched from a Ball-Winning Midfielder on defend to a simple Central Midfielder on defend. I felt this switch would help us retain our shape better in defensive transitions, something which I think teams were starting to exploit. It also allowed me to release my right wing back, who would start most games on attack in the run in. Portland were on the attack from the outset, breaking the deadlock after only 3 minutes as Yimmi Chará latched onto a lovely Blanco through ball and finished empathically past Nick Marsmann.

It’s a wonder day!

The rest of the game continued in much the same vain as Miami’s 4-4-2 struggled to gain a foothold in the game against Chepiga’s superior 4-2-3-1. Indeed Miami goaltender Nick Marsmann would take home the MVP award, the Miami Ultras were really looking forward to seeing what he could offer the team next season. As the clocked ticked towards 90 minutes the boys in Pink thought they had a late equalizer as Pizarro slotted home from close range after good work from Higuaín. The jubilation would prove short lived however, as the linesman raised his flag indicating there had been a felony offside offence in the build up, and the goal was ruled out. Chepiga had completed the season with three trophies, success had been brought to the streets of Portland a year ahead of schedule. **

Tactical Evolution

So there you have it Season one is “in the books”. If you look at the tactics employed at the very start of the season and compare them to what we finished with you can see they are different, but we got there by making small adjustments along the way by reacting to issues we saw within the games. I started out with a preset tactic “Control Possession” and I sometimes feel people are afraid to use these presets, or are afraid to admit to using them, but they are a great starting point for any tactic. Once you start to tweak things it only takes a season or two for the tactic to become bespoke for your side.

Looking ahead to the second, and final, season in MLS I have decided to switch things up and try to use a back three. I felt a lot of our highlights were becoming predictable and the goals we scored we pretty similar. Having won everything in season one, Chepiga would want to turn on the style in season two.

In my next post I will discuss my recruitment strategy and how I developed an effective back three tactic…hopefully.

Notes

* Due to the MLS Cup final being rescheduled to accommodate my participation in the Club World Cup, the MLS Cup final took place AFTER the Charlotte expansion draft. Ahead of this draft FMGrasshopper and I had to ‘register’ twelve players to protect from being drafted by Charlotte. The result of this was, FM believed we only had twelve players registered for the MLS Cup final. See FMGrasshopper’s bug report HERE. Thankfully we were both affected but it was slightly frustrating that we couldn’t really test each others squads in the showpiece final.

** You can take the man out of Russia but you can’t take Russia out of the man, this is Chepiga’s double speak match report. Unfortunately Portland actually lost the MLS Cup Final 1-0 to a late Pizarro goal, well done to FMGrasshoppper.

Thanks for making it this far. Don’t forget the MLS Save is being streamed live on Twitch over at www.twitch.tv/fm_grasshopper every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 8pm. It would be great to see you there as we enter the final few months of the save.

Over and out

FMEadster!