Muller96

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Back to Basics – A Liverpool Story
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Liverpool FC has today announced the sacking of current manager Brendan Rodgers after being disillusioned by his signings and their league finish. Although recently the league form has improved and the signings of Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge have looked like great deals for the club, it is believed that the American owners are unhappy with costly signings such as Joe Allen and Fabio Borini. They have announced that the new manager will be the new up and coming manager Alex Turner. He has worked his way up the Liverpool Backroom Staff over time. Starting as a under 18’s coach and most recently being the manager of the Successful Liverpool under 19’s squad that triumphed in the NextGen series. It’s hoped that he can help to bed in some of the young talents at the club such as Sterling, Suso and Wisdom. It is believed that he has been given a transfer budget of around 25 million pounds but is also expected that he will be tasked with getting rid of some of the deadwood at the club and improving the playing squad.
 
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I started with a meeting with the board and they offered me a hefty transfer budget of 25 million pounds in order to secure a Europa league finish next season. In reality I’ll be aiming for a top 4 finish but I felt the extra funds weren’t worth the added risk of getting sacked. I set about identifying targets and straight away I saw that we were in desperate need of a left back. Although Enrique is a decent left back he can sometimes be caught napping and the better teams will exploit this. There were some quality players on my radar such as the likes of Alaba and Coentrao. However before I could even start negotiations with the clubs I met a larger problem Luis Suarez was unhappy and was starting to make noises about leaving for a bigger club. I wasn't going to be taken for a fool and immediately transfer listed him with an asking price of £40 million. Swiftly Bayern Munich matched that offer up front and he was gone – with all of it going straight into my transfer budget. But how could I replace my lead striker and main threat..?​
 
Transfer Season
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Ins:

Cavani: £37 million is a lot for any player but I felt that with Suarez leaving we had to bring in a big name that could get us the vital goals and also appease the fans. If we are to do well this season he will be vital to the team and should be a real contender for golden boot with a bit of luck.

Fernando: When I saw that he was transfer listed I thought for that price he’ll be a bargain – hopefully he’ll be a useful squad player for now, offering cover for Lucas and in the long run I believe he will be a great player for the team.

De Bruyne: He looks a really good prospect and has wonderful technical ability. He seems to be a player in the mould of Coutinho. I felt we needed to bolster our attacking prospects and so when he was transfer listed I snapped him up. Also he can play all along the attacking midfield positions with ease and this will come in handy in the latter stages of the season.

Andre Ayew: Another attacking player with lots of quality now, but also time to develop. I feel I may have gone slightly overboard with the amount of attacking options in my squad but when talent like this comes up on the transfer list its hard to turn it down.

Next up is a part exchange deal that I am absolutely delighted with. When Chelsea enquired about Glen Johnson I jokingly asked for 5 million plus Ivanovic and Chalobah. When they accepted the bid I was shocked. I have sent out a good right back and replaced him with a much better one, and also got one of the hottest English prospects in return. One problem with Ivanovic is that he is older than Johnson – however we have young Ryan McLaughlin coming through who looks promising so hopefully he’ll be good enough to replace Branislav in a couple of years time.

Outs:

Luis Suarez: When Suarez started making noises to the press about leaving I immediately decided to take action. If I am to bring Liverpool back to its glory days I know that I will need to show that no player is bigger than the club. So when I received a bid of £40 million I immediately accepted as I knew I could replace him with that sort of money.

Downing: I also sold downing for a decent fee of £6 million – although he was picking up performances I knew that we had better young prospects coming through and keeping him could hinder their development.

Assaidi: Assaidi is a similar case to Downing’s – he hadn’t performed since day one at Liverpool and was a very lazy trainer. This is ok if you have the quality to perform in matches but he didn’t so he had to go. Southampton are paying full wages and 110k a month and they also have an option to buy of £5.5 million at the end of the season.

That’s all the major transfers out, although I did manage to flog Spearing for £2.9 million to Norwich. Other than that there were loans for some of the youth players; with the most notable being Chalobah and Suso.

 
Yeah I'm using LFC marshall's latest update - it's great!
And the Ivanovic deal was unbelievable, it was one where I was just doing it to warn them off so I was shocked when they accepted it
Hopefully have some more updates tomorrow - it would be great if any one following could comment and give any tips/ideas to keep the story fresh and interesting
Thanks
 
Pre-Season Report
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After careful examination of the squad I decided to go with a rather basic 4-2-3-1 formation. I felt it was best suited to the talent at my disposal and will hopefully be perfect for getting the best out of my star players and new signings.
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Liverpool 5 – 1 Crewe
(Luis Alberto x2, Iago Aspas, Daniel Sturridge, OG)

It was a thoroughly deserved win and a great start to my managerial career. It was especially nice to see debut goals for Alberto, Aspas and Sturridge - although it was against lower league opposition.

Liverpool 1 – 2 Braga
(Aspas)

We didn't really perform but it doesn't matter as the friendlies are all about getting match fitness up. I’m annoyed at my assistant though for scheduling such poor friendlies as preparation and think I’m going to take control of that duty next summer. Aspas showed his quality again with a well taken goal and is really putting himself in contention for a starting place for our first competitive game.

Liverpool 1 – 1 Leixoes
(Cavani)

Even if it was a preseason friendly this is still a very poor result. They’re a second division Portugal side so a draw is incredibly poor in a game when I would expect our quality to shine through – even if we were a bit less fit than them. It was nice to see Cavani grab a goal on his debut though. Hopefully he can fire us to continental qualification this year!

Liverpool 2 – 0 Gil Vicente
(Sturridge, Gerrard)

This really was as straightforward a match as possible – realistically I would have liked for us to grab a couple more goals but we showed off our wonderful ability to control possession and our solid defence. It was also nice to see captain fantastic grab a wonder goal and it can only bode well for our season if he’s on top form.

Liverpool 1 – 0 Palermo
(Skrtel)

This was certainly our best result of pre-season as we came up a strong enough Palermo team who are certainly the best team we have faced so far. I played a decent side and we did well – controlling the tempo of the game and Skrtel took his goal well. I was looking at signing a new centre half but if he keeps up this form then I can see him and Agger being a formidable partnership at the back.

 
Nice signings and preseason get some more updates out today:)!
 
August Update
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August was a relatively tough month, with two hard league games followed up by what should be a comfortable cup match. I’ll be hoping to pick up 4 points in the league and to progress in the cup for this month to be a success.

Newcastle 0 – 0 Liverpool
MotM: Daniel Agger

Not too much to say about this match just bore draw in reality. Both sides had chances to win the game but the defences stood strong. It’s these sort of matches that I hoped our added quality in players like Cavani and Gerrard would shine through and get us the three points.


Liverpool 3 – 3 Arsenal
(Sturridge x2, Cavani)

MotM: Daniel Sturridge
This was a decent result overall as arsenal are a very good team and will be up challenging for the top positions at the end of the season. In the first half we were poor and went 2-0 down; but I subbed Sturridge on and he had a blinder. Scoring 2 brilliant goals and completely changing the game around.

Liverpool 1 – 0 Peterborough
(Cavani)

MotM: Martin Kelly
We did what was needed to be done. Didn’t play brilliantly but had a young squad out with Sterling, Wisdom and Alberto making up some of the line-up. In reality the MotM should have been one of the Posh’s Defenders – but it just didn’t seem right. Nice to see Cavani grab another goal and he’s starting to bed himself into the squad, with two goals in his first three competitive games.

Month Review:
Overall it was a decent month. Newcastle away is a tricky fixture whilst Arsenal was always going to be a tough match. We progressed in the cup – even if we did make hard work of it. Our average league form left us in 14th position, which isn’t great. Hopefully next month a improvement in form can see us propelled up the league and in and around the top four.

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Player of the month:
Daniel Agger
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Our vice-captain was a pivotal figure this month with some brilliant performances against Arsenal and the Toon, although he was rested against Peterborough. If he continues this form we will be very solid defensively.
 
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September Update
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It should be a good month if we can get play well, I would expect at least 9 points in the league which should fire us up the table. Also we should easily progress in the cup; and I’ll certainly give some youngsters time on the pitch.

Liverpool 1 – 1 Man City
(Ayew)

MotM: Kevin De Bruyne
Very happy with this result as City are a brilliant team – even though we were at home City have to be my favourites for the league this year. Ayew managed to grab is first goal but went on to get injured only 30 minutes later which will probably keep him out for the rest of the month. I’m going to try and put some faith into the youth for cover, sharing the LW berth between Alberto and Sterling until Ayew is back.

Liverpool 2 – 1 Fulham
(Agger, Sturridge)

MotM: Daniel Agger
Nice to get our first league win under the belt. Good recovery performance after a very poor first half. We went 1- 0 down to a set piece goal early on but turned it around with a screamer from Agger and a very tidy finish from Sturridge.

Liverpool 2 – 0 Aston Villa
(De Bruyne x2)

MotM: De Bruyne
Efficient performance with two lovely pieces of technique from De Bruyne gave us a second league win and we have started to travel up the table very quickly. De Bruyne was magnificent, however Villa were poor – if it wasn’t for a magnificent performance from Vlaar it would have been much much more.

(AET) Liverpool 2 – 1 Stockport
(Aspas, Cavani)

MotM: Joe Allen
Poor performance however the team did feature a number of second string players and youth. Aspas looks a very nice player to have for cover in the squad as he picked up another goal. Cavani came on in extra time and showed his class to win our inexperienced team the game.

Liverpool 3 – 1 Stoke
(Gerrard pen x2, Cavani)

MotM: Steven Gerrard
I started with a weakened team, giving new signing Mignolet a start and a debut for veteran Kolo Toure. Gerrard showed his skill scoring two penalties and Cavani finished the game off late in the second half.

Month Review
What a month! A whole month unbeaten and the perfect response to a decidedly average first month in charge. Four wins out of five is brilliant form and it has seen us rocket up the league table and into the top four. Hopefully we can keep up this level of performance for the rest of the season.

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Player of the Month:

Kevin De Bruyne
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Great month for De Bruyne – he was named Young player of the month and also came was third in the Player of the Month. He scored two and assisted two in five games and also had an average rating of 7.67.

 
What a deal you got for Johnson, cant believe your luck! McLaughlin always seems to turn into a classs right back in my games so keep an eye on him and make sure he gets regular football on a 6-month/year loan deal and he'll be ready to replace Ivanovic when needed. Will follow as this has potential!

Have a look at my story and leave a comment! http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...tories/122755-reviving-hearts-back-brink.html
 
Yeah i know, just got lucky! I tried to loan McLaughlin out but no-one seemed to want him - so i'm trying to give him some game-time every now and again but it's hard when I've got better quality right backs like Wisdom, Kelly and Ivanovic. Yeah, I will do
 
October Update
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Only a few games this month, mainly because of an international break – which left Ayew injured for two weeks. I would expect to get full points in the league and hope to progress in the cup. However I’m mainly focused on doing as well as possible in the league and trying to secure a top four finish.

Cardiff 1 – 4 Liverpool
(Cavani x3, Gerrard)

MotM: Cavani
Brilliant performance from the lads; especially Cavani who played as well as any striker I’ve ever witnessed. He was absolutely incredible and just bossed the whole Cardiff defence. It was also nice to see Gerrard grab another goal.

Liverpool 1 – 0 Swansea
(Cavani)

MotM: Jose Enrique
Solid performance again from the team - would have had liked to have scored some more goals but it was just good to get the three points. Cavani showed his quality and I can only hope he keeps up his recent form as he could fire us to the top four if he continues playing like this.

Hull 0 – 1 Liverpool
(Cavani)

MotM: Lucas
It was a very similar game to against Swansea with Cavani scoring the only goal yet again. He really is on top form and is getting near to the top of the goal scoring chart in the prem. It also secured us our fourth clean sheet of the season with us only conceding 7 goals in nine games. This is brilliant as I was expecting our defence to be a weak point but clearly I was wrong.

Liverpool 1 – 2 Arsenal
(Agger)

MotM: Daniel Agger
This game was a poor loss but thankfully it was in the Capital One Cup which I wasn’t very worried about challenging for. Hopefully it will allow me to focus on keeping up our league form.

Month Review:
Overall it was a good month as we kept up our continental challenge although it was a shame to get knocked out of the cup to one of our closest rivals. One high point was Edison Cavani’s unbelievable goal scoring form and our defensive solidity.

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Player of the Month:

Edison Cavani
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It was a brilliant month for the Uruguayan striker banging in five goals in the four games he played in this month. In the Cardiff game he was just truly unstoppable so he was always destined for this award really. If he keeps this form up he’ll be a real contender for both the Golden Boot and the Player of the Year awards.
 
November Update
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November was quite a tough month for us with a derby and big games against Chelsea and Spurs. I would hope to pick up around 10 points in the league which should be enough to keep us in the top four and challenging.

Liverpool 3 – 0 Everton
(Gerrard x2, Lucas)

MotM: Steven Gerrard
What a game! A brilliant win against our rivals and it means a lot to the supporters. It also keeps us in the top four and showed us that even at 32 Gerrard is a key figure in the team. He dominated there midfield and managed to grab two goal, neither of which were penalties.

Sunderland 2 – 2 Liverpool
(Agger, Ayew)

MotM: Fernando
This was a poor result – especially after going 2 – 0 up within 25 minutes. This year the league is as tight as ever and we can’t afford to be dropping points in games like this.

Liverpool 0 – 0 Tottenham
MotM: Lucas

It’s a decent result in all honesty. It would have been nice to grab a win against Spurs especially at home, but really a draw was about what we deserved in this match. We were solid in defence but weren’t at our best in attack, which was unsurprising as Cavani missed the game.

Liverpool 3 – 3 West Brom
(Gerrard x2, Cavani)

MotM: Gerrard
This game was basically the opposite of the Spurs game. We were clinical in attack but poor in our defense. If we score 3 goals at home then I would fully expect us to win the game.

Month Review
This really wasn’t the best of months, even if we did go unbeaten. It would have been better to win two of the games we drew and loose the other. This is something I hope we will work on as if we can turn some of these draws into wins then I’m sure that we will end up in the champions’ league spots.

(This table is actually from two games into December, as my previous screenshot didn’t save properly)

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Player of the Month
Steven Gerrard

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What a brilliant month from the club captain. Scoring 4 goals and assisting 2 more, even if he did get sent off he was still head and shoulders above the rest of the team. Showing he still is the most vital player in the team and on this form is still the best English midfielder in the world.
 
Not sure if anyone is reading this anyway - but just in case; I'm away at latitude festival from tomorrow till Monday so there won't be any more updates until Tuesday at the earliest
 
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