The aim of the game is to ‘build’ a Dream Team over time, with managers trading up from the basic starter squad they are given on day one. These starting squads can be chosen from preselected pools of 45-55 players (pic below).
Each manager gets given a unique pool, but these are designed to be of an equivalent standard from manager to manager – all players have Acquisition Fees of under £100,000, and pools are balanced by Current Ability (CA) and, for youth players, Potential Ability (PA). Pools also have a generally uniform spread of player ages and player positions.
Remember, a player's Acquisition Fee is based on a number of factors, including his current ability, his potential ability (how good he may become in the future), his age, his position, and his reputation. This means, for example, that a higher than expected AF for a player who doesn't look great now can indicate the player has good potential.
YOUR ROLE
Your role on day 1 in reset is to lay the foundations of your Dream Team. The players you pick initially won’t necessarily be the ones that get you to the top, but they are the guys that could give you a vital head start.
So, how are you going to sign?
- Do you want young players to develop and/or sell on later?
- Oldies might deliver instant results, but will need replacing sooner!
- The more spent initially, the less that’s left for subsequent transfers. Are you going to go big on fees/wage now, or hold fire?
Making the right decisions in these areas could give you a real edge.
WEEK 1
The good news is that what you can do with your squad in week 1 is very flexible:
You don't need to confirm your squad before playing friendly matches or challenges – this means you can really mix and match in week 1 to discover which of your pool players are the ones you want to go ahead and sign.
SQUAD CONFIRMATION & TRANSFERS
Here are some other quick points on what you can and can’t do in week 1:
- You will not be able to buy, sell, loan or swap players with other managers until after the start of the first season.
- You are still able to sign players from the free market after confirming your squad, but only if they are unlocked (see below).
Note that:
- No extra income is generated through the first pre-season, so there’s no rush to confirm your squad!
- Once you do confirm your initial squad all the players left over in your pool will be released onto the free market for others to sign.
Q. Is there an advantage to confirming my squad early?
A. Confirming your squad unlocks two additional options:
- Firstly, it allows you to start building infrastructure - youth academy or stadium.
- Secondly it allows you to make bids on players that have been discarded by other managers from the initial player pools.
These are the only advantages to confirming your squad early - you will not receive any extra money or be able to buy any other players other than the discarded players mentioned above. You should, however, aim to confirm your squad no later than 24 hours before the season starts, so that you can join an FA and gain access to the associated matches and prize money that brings.
LOCKED PLAYERS
As building an FML Dream Team is a game of skill rather than one of speed, the best players are locked away for gradual release over a gameworld’s first three seasons.
The emphasis lies on earning the right to be (financially) in pole position to sign as player once he becomes unlocked. The ‘Locked Players’ screen will (via 'World' -> 'All Players') tell you when Ronaldo and co are due to become available, so be sure to keep an eye out!
