simpathia wrote: hoospack wrote: 40+ year old players on the NT that just don't fit the new engine. What, in your opinion, is the difference between a player built for the old engine and a player built for the new engine? No criticism, just genuinely curious

The way they were trained. Having certain undertrained skills that were originally less important than they are in the new versions of the engine. For example, many of them are undertrained in areas like Footwork or Tacticals. Many have lost skills like strength and agility.

Also - Team USA was built as a passing team. The fact that the new engine favors the running game completely alters the level of success of the team without a real top RB or FB that is trained across all relevant RB skills.

Got to replace these players.

Gatr22 wrote: 3-5, blah, team was good enough to advance last season....that was not a good showing

This was my first and only season running Team USA. Special thanks for those who voted for me this season. I feel like USA had a good season because I had to re-build some of the team on the fly in what was a very tumultuous season that had injuries, skills depletion, and retirees not claimed in free agency.

The 2 losses that pain me the most:....With the injury update being a few hours before game time, I lost 1 winnable match (Austria) when one of the players got injured and I didn't see it causing a bot lineup. That was unfortunate....Lost a close game by 1 TD against Bulgaria when I went full running attack, but unfortunately USA's RB selection is just not up to par for a National Team (as you know). So there you have it..2 losses and that's the difference between promotion and not.

Team USA had to be re-tooled this season. There were WAY too many players with depleted Stamina, Strength, Speed, Agility, etc. Age has definitely caught up with this team and there doesn't seem to be a lot of talent in the pipeline. Also, several retiring Team USA players got dumped onto the free agency market this year which also caused havoc on the roster.

I found about 5-6 new players but cut about 8 depleted players. This was definitely a retooling season. It is just unfortunate that this team has been neglected for the past 10-15 seasons. Unfortunately, a lot of top flight USA clubs aren't developing players anymore. Team USA is suffering for it.

Good luck to whomever gets the team next season! We will be rooting for you.

Gatr22 wrote: I know who was on the team last season, I ran the team and there were only 3 guys that qualified for HB or FB, so I understand what you are saying, but there was enough talent to have a better run. That's just my opinion. You can still win games with passing, I think the Iron Bowl confirmed that, but it is a challenge to get the team stronger running the ball. Thanks for putting in the time to give it a go

Best of luck to whomever takes over next season. Maybe some new blood with new ideas can take the team in a positive direction!