FM21 Early Access is out. It’s time for your first FM21 save. Do you fancy a Football Manager 2021 journey to America? Don’t know how to manage in the MLS? Don’t worry, this FM21 Guide will show you how to manage in the MLS to make your Football Manager 2021 save perfect!

Are you not sure who to sign in your MLS journey, see our guide on MLS players you should sign, here.

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What drafts do the MLS have?

The MLS have followed other American sports in acquiring players – this starts with the drafts.

There are three types of drafts in the Major League Soccer – two will happen every year – and one will only happen when a new team joins the league.

MLS Superdraft

The MLS Superdraft is arguably the most important draft of all three, the MLS Superdraft drafts college graduates to MLS teams – there are four rounds, teams can pass at any time, but this means that you will no longer be able to pick in any rounds. This draft happens every year.

MLS Re-Entry Draft

The MLS Re-Entry Draft is where players, whose contract has run out can be selected by other MLS teams for free. Teams cannot pick players whose option they just declined. This draft happens every year.

MLS Expansion Draft

The MLS Expansion Draft only happens when an expansion team joins the league. Existing teams can protect 11 players from being picked, and only one player can be claimed from each roster, the expansion has five picks. The Expansion Draft appears in-game in the 2022 season when Charlotte FC joins the league.

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Contract Types

Senior Contract

A senior contract is the equivalent to a full-time contract in Europe – their FULL salary counts towards the salary cap. Examples of current players on Senior contract includes Dax McCarty (Nashville SC), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls) and Fatai Alashe (Columbus Crew). The minimum weekly salary for a player on a Senior contract is $1,800.

Designated Player

A designated player contract is commonly given to the big-name players, commonly known as the Beckham rule, due to being the first player to be given this contract type. The player’s salary is supported by the MLS so he won’t be as big of a salary hit on the salary cap! Examples of DPs include Kaku (New York Red Bulls), Nani (Orlando City) and Jamiro Monteiro (Philadelphia Union)

Reserve Contract

A reserve contract is commonly given to young players just coming through. Reserve players do not count towards the salary cap. Examples of players on a Reserve contract include Caden Clark (New York Red Bulls), Amir Bashti (Atlanta United) and Andre Reynolds (Chicago Fire).

International

Players who do not hold a green card and are an international player – you can have a maximum of 8 internationals in the roster. If they don’t hold a US Green Card, they will take an international slot.

How to transfer within the MLS?

Transfers between teams in the league are done via trades. For example, if Team A want to sign Aidan Morris from Team B, and Team A offer an international slot and Caden Clark, and both teams agree, then Team B will receive the international slot and Caden Clark. Assets that can be used in negotiations are:

• General Allocation Money – GAM can be used to reduce the cost of a Senior player’s cap impact, sign new players, trade to other teams or offer new contracts.
• Current Roster – You can offer players in your current roster as part of the deal
• International Slots – Each team has 8 slots, it is possible to trade a slot for anything from one to five years, or even permanently. Be careful though, if you go over 8 foreign players and can’t register them, they get released!
• Player Rights – Players that are sold out of MLS – and not traded – remain the right of the last MLS club they played for before they left MLS. Rights can last until when their contract would have expired, or permanently.
• Draft Picks – You can offer future draft picks in trades.

What competitions will I manage in?

MLS Supporters’ Shield

The regular season runs from March to October, yes, the MLS is a summer sport. After the regular season ends, MLS Cup Play Offs begin.

To start off with, there are two mini-leagues within one league – the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games throughout the season (17 home, 17 road) and they will play each team in the same conference twice, and teams in the other at least once. There are then also three other matchups with two different conference sides. Charlotte FC join the league in 2022.

Points are tallied up (normal rules apply, 3 points for a win, a point for a tie/draw and zero for a loss) and whoever has the most wins the Supporters Shield, the trophy bestowed to the team with the best regular season record

MLS Cup

Whilst the Supporters Shield is a trophy and all, it does not determine the league winner. Instead, like other American sports such as NBA and NFL the MLS use play offs to determine the league winner.

The top seven teams from both the East and West qualify for the Play Offs. Each conference winner automatically qualify for the Semi-Finals and then the knockout begins! Seventh plays second, sixth plays firth whilst fourth plays third.

The winners of the East and West then advance to MLS Cup Final, which is a single match hosted by the club with the better record during the regular season, the winner of that match is the champion of MLS.

Winning the MLS Cup will also qualify you for the North American Champions League.

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

The US Open Cup is one of the few competitions in USA not to be run by MLS, but instead by US Soccer. Teams based in America can take part in the cup, any teams in Canada cannot, instead they take part in the Canadian Championship.
MLS teams join the cup in round four, the rest of the US soccer structure begin in round one. The cup is the oldest in America, having been played since 1914.

Winning the US Open Cup will also qualify you for the North American Champions League.

Canadian Championship

The Canadian Championship is contested by six teams based in Canada, and the teams in MLS that take part are Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps. Winning the championship will qualify you for the North American Champions League.

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How do I submit my roster?

Teams can only have 3 DPs, 8 international, 10 Off Budget and 6 reserves.

Just like the English Premier League, the MLS has a roster and each season you have to submit your roster. Your roster can be as little as 15 players (I wouldn’t recommend it though…) but can’t have more than 30 players. All 30 of these players can be called up and used in your matchday squad throughout your MLS season. For the 2021 MLS season on Football Manager 2021, each team has a salary cap of $100,000 p/w

The cap only applies to “on budget” players, these are players on Senior contracts, so up to twenty players. The maximum wage that can be paid to an individual player without using allocation money to buy down their contract is $480,635 p/a.

The cap doesn’t apply to off budget players, these are players who are on Reserve contracts.

Don’t forget you can use GAM (General Allocation Money) to buy down the cost of the cap impact for your players!

What clubs are in the MLS?

Eastern Conference

• Atlanta United
• Chicago Fire
• Columbus Crew
• D.C. United
• Montreal Impact
• RBNY
• New York City FC
• New England Revolution
• Toronto FC
• Orlando City
• Philadelphia Union
• Inter Miami
• FC Cincinnati
• Charlotte FC (2022 onwards)

Western Conference

• Colorado Rapids
• FC Dallas
• Houston Dynamo
• LA Galaxy
• LAFC
• Minnesota United
• Real Salt Lake
• Sporting Kansas City
• Portland
• San Jose Earthquakes
• Seattle Sounders
• Vancouver Whitecaps
• Austin FC

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There’s our comprehensive guide on how to manage in the MLS on Football Manager 2021. We hope this helps you on your journey across America, if you have any further questions, feel free to message us on Twitter.

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