This is not a how to or a guide to playing like that Liverpool team, just my attempt to recreate the formation and tactics that Rafa employed during the 08/09 season using the (outdated) guide. This is going to be my little festive challenge. Please chime in with suggestions/criticism/sarcasm etc. Not really planning to release this as a download unless people are keen/it really works.
So..
2008/09 was the year Liverpool played some of their best football and scored some amazing goals. Gerrard and Torres were on fire, forming one of the best partnerships in Europe at the time. With Alonso and Mascherano sitting further back, they had a great passer and a tough tackling midfielder. A solid defence and a great goalkeeper gave the team a strong spine.
Rafa Benitez usually employed his favoured deep 4231 formation.
According to the tactical theorems 10 appendix available here http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/wp-content/appendix/TacticalTheorems10Appendix1_1.pdf
Which is very true. Gerrard used to storm into the box and I guess at times, attack the ball from deep positions. He'd drive into the box or shoot from distance. Torres just floated around finding space and took defenders/goalkeepers on one-on-one. He was very good at that.
Gerrard/AMC has to employ a more attacking role in FM to replicate his driving runs and long shot ability while Torres/SC has to employ a supporting attacking role to allow him to drop deep and into space to run at defenders.
The above guide recommends Attacking Midfielder with an Attack role for the AMC and Complete Forward with a Support role for the SC. I agree with this assessment.
Riera or at times Babel used to act as out and out wingers for Liverpool. They would take players on and try to nip past them. Babel had pace, Riera had a bit more skill. Neither were fantastic wingers, but they did their role well that season. Aurelio was a good option at left back and didn't bomb quite as far forward, but crossed from deeper positions.
The guide thinks, despite saying Riera was a wing forward, that an Inside Forward with an attack duty was best here, but I'm more of the opinion that a Winger with an Attack duty would be better for that role. I remember seeing Riera and Babel both trying to get to the byline to whip in crosses. Aurelio's left back role should be Full Back with Support to sit behind and cross from deep.
On the other side, Kuyt didn't act like a typical winger, he worked hard for the team. He would cross but he wasn't your typical winger. He crept into the box a lot. I'm not sure if a Winger with a Support role would be best here or if an Inside Forward with a Support role is best. I guess with Kuyt being a right footed player, Winger Support is the best option. This is up for debate yet though.
The right back position would then have to be Wing Back with an Attack role as we have a winger ahead of him with a support role. The full backs didn't bomb down to the byline like they do under Brendan Rodgers, but they did get up the pitch. This might change to a Full Back with an Attack role in future if it doesn't work out.
Other Roles:
Reina is undoubtedly a Sweeper Keeper who throws the ball out quickly to unleash quick counter attacks. He doesn't drift too far out of the box so I'm keeping him on a Defend role.
The central defensive pairing were centre backs. Carragher always made last ditch tackles and Agger would hit them head on. So a stopper/cover partnership works best.
The Formation:
View attachment 441372
Team Instructions:
View attachment 441371
I went for shorter passing like the guide says, pass into space to try and encourage through balls forward, drill crosses as the guide says and because, like Torres, Suarez and Sturridge aren't the best at heading, but have pace. The team weren't the widest so I've said to exploit the middle. Hassle opponents and stay on feet to avoid going to ground/leaving players out of position while trying to regain possession.
Player instructions:
I'm not going to post every player up just now as I'm still refining their roles. If it works out, I'll update this though.
Results:
I settled on the above instructions once I'd seen the team in action. I did have play narrower, stick to position and be more disciplined on as we all know how Rafa likes structure, but I sacked it off as it wasn't giving my midfielders/attackers enough leeway tactically. Plus, with wingers, it really didn't work with their width. Maybe exploit the middle doesn't.
Transfers In:
Only the two signings. Gaitan and Lallana. Gaitan has good stats for a winger as does Lallana. Lallana can play a number of roles across the AM strata, so I thought he was an excellent signing for not much money, even if he is a Blue.
View attachment 441370
In Action:
View attachment 441369
I've obviously tinkered a little bit with the roles/instructions and played against some weaker teams to build morale before the season kicked off. We played very well against Napoli and lost on penalties. We had a few injuries during pre-season. Agger/Lallana/Toure/Suarez were all injured at some point. But we coped.
A couple of good results in the league. Disappointingly, Gaitan got injured in the first game and is out for 3-4 months.
I fielded a weakened 11 in the cup match against Boro, but I'm still disappointed we lost that one. I've so far seen glimpses of the Gerrard/Torres style partnership between Coutinho/Sturridge. Suarez missed a lot of Pre-Season so he never got much of a chance to develop that relationship with Coutinho. Will report back with progress.
My starting 11 currently looks like this.
View attachment 441366
Suarez is suspended at the moment so he'll fill that Striker role when he gets back. Gerrard takes on the DLP role as he is doing for Liverpool this season and Coutinho slots in behind Suarez/Sturridge.
Still trying to get fluid with the tactic, I usually achieve this between the transfer window closing and the first game after the international break.
Edits to above:
Trying out the DMCL as a Regista instead of a Deep Lying Playmaker to see how that works out.
Anyone got any suggestions etc?
So..
2008/09 was the year Liverpool played some of their best football and scored some amazing goals. Gerrard and Torres were on fire, forming one of the best partnerships in Europe at the time. With Alonso and Mascherano sitting further back, they had a great passer and a tough tackling midfielder. A solid defence and a great goalkeeper gave the team a strong spine.
Rafa Benitez usually employed his favoured deep 4231 formation.
According to the tactical theorems 10 appendix available here http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/wp-content/appendix/TacticalTheorems10Appendix1_1.pdf
Which is very true. Gerrard used to storm into the box and I guess at times, attack the ball from deep positions. He'd drive into the box or shoot from distance. Torres just floated around finding space and took defenders/goalkeepers on one-on-one. He was very good at that.
Gerrard/AMC has to employ a more attacking role in FM to replicate his driving runs and long shot ability while Torres/SC has to employ a supporting attacking role to allow him to drop deep and into space to run at defenders.
The above guide recommends Attacking Midfielder with an Attack role for the AMC and Complete Forward with a Support role for the SC. I agree with this assessment.
Riera or at times Babel used to act as out and out wingers for Liverpool. They would take players on and try to nip past them. Babel had pace, Riera had a bit more skill. Neither were fantastic wingers, but they did their role well that season. Aurelio was a good option at left back and didn't bomb quite as far forward, but crossed from deeper positions.
The guide thinks, despite saying Riera was a wing forward, that an Inside Forward with an attack duty was best here, but I'm more of the opinion that a Winger with an Attack duty would be better for that role. I remember seeing Riera and Babel both trying to get to the byline to whip in crosses. Aurelio's left back role should be Full Back with Support to sit behind and cross from deep.
On the other side, Kuyt didn't act like a typical winger, he worked hard for the team. He would cross but he wasn't your typical winger. He crept into the box a lot. I'm not sure if a Winger with a Support role would be best here or if an Inside Forward with a Support role is best. I guess with Kuyt being a right footed player, Winger Support is the best option. This is up for debate yet though.
The right back position would then have to be Wing Back with an Attack role as we have a winger ahead of him with a support role. The full backs didn't bomb down to the byline like they do under Brendan Rodgers, but they did get up the pitch. This might change to a Full Back with an Attack role in future if it doesn't work out.
Other Roles:
Reina is undoubtedly a Sweeper Keeper who throws the ball out quickly to unleash quick counter attacks. He doesn't drift too far out of the box so I'm keeping him on a Defend role.
The central defensive pairing were centre backs. Carragher always made last ditch tackles and Agger would hit them head on. So a stopper/cover partnership works best.
The Formation:
View attachment 441372
Team Instructions:
View attachment 441371
I went for shorter passing like the guide says, pass into space to try and encourage through balls forward, drill crosses as the guide says and because, like Torres, Suarez and Sturridge aren't the best at heading, but have pace. The team weren't the widest so I've said to exploit the middle. Hassle opponents and stay on feet to avoid going to ground/leaving players out of position while trying to regain possession.
Player instructions:
I'm not going to post every player up just now as I'm still refining their roles. If it works out, I'll update this though.
Results:
I settled on the above instructions once I'd seen the team in action. I did have play narrower, stick to position and be more disciplined on as we all know how Rafa likes structure, but I sacked it off as it wasn't giving my midfielders/attackers enough leeway tactically. Plus, with wingers, it really didn't work with their width. Maybe exploit the middle doesn't.
Transfers In:
Only the two signings. Gaitan and Lallana. Gaitan has good stats for a winger as does Lallana. Lallana can play a number of roles across the AM strata, so I thought he was an excellent signing for not much money, even if he is a Blue.
View attachment 441370
In Action:
View attachment 441369
I've obviously tinkered a little bit with the roles/instructions and played against some weaker teams to build morale before the season kicked off. We played very well against Napoli and lost on penalties. We had a few injuries during pre-season. Agger/Lallana/Toure/Suarez were all injured at some point. But we coped.
A couple of good results in the league. Disappointingly, Gaitan got injured in the first game and is out for 3-4 months.
I fielded a weakened 11 in the cup match against Boro, but I'm still disappointed we lost that one. I've so far seen glimpses of the Gerrard/Torres style partnership between Coutinho/Sturridge. Suarez missed a lot of Pre-Season so he never got much of a chance to develop that relationship with Coutinho. Will report back with progress.
My starting 11 currently looks like this.
View attachment 441366
Suarez is suspended at the moment so he'll fill that Striker role when he gets back. Gerrard takes on the DLP role as he is doing for Liverpool this season and Coutinho slots in behind Suarez/Sturridge.
Still trying to get fluid with the tactic, I usually achieve this between the transfer window closing and the first game after the international break.
Edits to above:
Trying out the DMCL as a Regista instead of a Deep Lying Playmaker to see how that works out.
Anyone got any suggestions etc?
Last edited:
