Fire In Their Eyes - Liverpool F.C.
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TheTwelthMan
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Liverpool threads have been very common this year with Brendn's 5 year plan and Jamie's Jamie Carragher story, but don't let that deter you from posting content! I started a Liverpool thread the other day having not played as Liverpool since CM5 and I've been really enjoying it. 
The Fall
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"Breaking News" from Anfield is that a statement has been released to awaiting fans and media at noon today, as we read you some excerpts from the statement:
"Liverpool F.C. Manager Brendan Rodgers has left the club and his role with immediate effect due to mutual consent, and will not be returning at any foreseeable point in the future"
"The board will not be dealing with any questions to do with Rodgers departure so that they may get on with choosing his successor"
Well there you go Rodgers has left Liverpool, and now the footballing world will be rife with speculation as to who will become the next manager of Liverpool.
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SKY NEWS
"Breaking News" from Anfield is that a statement has been released to awaiting fans and media at noon today, as we read you some excerpts from the statement:
"Liverpool F.C. Manager Brendan Rodgers has left the club and his role with immediate effect due to mutual consent, and will not be returning at any foreseeable point in the future"
"The board will not be dealing with any questions to do with Rodgers departure so that they may get on with choosing his successor"
Well there you go Rodgers has left Liverpool, and now the footballing world will be rife with speculation as to who will become the next manager of Liverpool.
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Who's the new guy?
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As Brendan Rodgers says goodbye to Liverpool, the question on everyone's mind who will be next?
With questions still being asked over Brendan Rodgers sudden and mysterious departure, fans are wondering who will be the Liverpool gaffer, and as speculation grows with each passing day many media pundits are claiming to have inside knowledge that the Liverpool board will take a step away from high profile managers and are looking at many unknown and unproven managers. With the reason for Rodgers departure still unknown some journalists are suggesting that the board is planning to go in an all new direction.
Damien Vertigo - Former statistical analysis expert and one of the best tactical coaches in the world has taken his first steps into football management, being introduced to awaiting fans and media alike. At only 36 years old and with absolutely no managerial experience, this really does seem to be a gamble by the Liverpool board, with many suggesting that he won't have have the man management skills required to succeed at this level. This could well be a an extremely risky decision by the board.
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As Brendan Rodgers says goodbye to Liverpool, the question on everyone's mind who will be next?
With questions still being asked over Brendan Rodgers sudden and mysterious departure, fans are wondering who will be the Liverpool gaffer, and as speculation grows with each passing day many media pundits are claiming to have inside knowledge that the Liverpool board will take a step away from high profile managers and are looking at many unknown and unproven managers. With the reason for Rodgers departure still unknown some journalists are suggesting that the board is planning to go in an all new direction.
It has been confirmed!
The new Liverpool Manager has been announced!
View attachment 289555The new Liverpool Manager has been announced!
Damien Vertigo - Former statistical analysis expert and one of the best tactical coaches in the world has taken his first steps into football management, being introduced to awaiting fans and media alike. At only 36 years old and with absolutely no managerial experience, this really does seem to be a gamble by the Liverpool board, with many suggesting that he won't have have the man management skills required to succeed at this level. This could well be a an extremely risky decision by the board.
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1st Training
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The 1st Training/Squad Report
I got my 1st look at the squad I have inherited, I already knew a bit about these players but I got a good look at them during their first training session, they're a good team with a real togetherness and morale is still high even though Rodgers had left. I had plans to reshape some of the squad, but first I needed assess them. I set them up on a quick brisk jog, and set about analyzing them.
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Most of the squad is in pretty good health with the exceptions of Lallana and Flanagan and their fitness level were good enough considering they have just come back from the off season break.
When all of a sudden two of the older players, Gerrard and Johnson split off from the rest of the group. Gerrard had cramp, but Johnson was tired already! I got me thinking about things and who, if anyone I should look to offload.
I got them doing some passing drills and my next observation was that we have some really good passers, they are good and skilled with the ability move the ball around the field quickly and with good control.
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Gerrard is the current captain and Henderson the Vice-Captain.
Leadership is key for a captain and Gerrard's leadership really stood out, This guy leads on and off the field. Henderson is not a skilled a leader but is a real work horse with good stamina, and is unlikely to pick up injuries. So I will be keeping them in their current roles.
But with Gerrard leaving at the end of the season not only am I going to need a new defensive midfielder, I will also probably need
another player to take the captaincy as I don't think Henderson will be a good enough leader to take the role of captain.
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We then moved on to shooting drills, with Mignolet and Jones taking up their positions between the posts and I noticed some thing almost immediately Jones was no where near as good as Mignolet and Jones being 32 he probably wasn't going to improve in the future. So with his contract up at the end of the season I would probably be setting him for release.
Another thing quickly became apparent that while Balotelli has immense potential getting the best out of him was going to be a challenge, but if I could then he could absolutely devastate defenses and win us a lot of games.
While this squad is one with great ability I feel that some new players might be needed and a few might need to leave, it was certainly something I needed to think about as selling players even only backup players can affect their teammates. And being a tight knit bunch, some of them may not take to kindly to a brand new manager selling off some of their squad-mates.
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The 1st Training/Squad Report
I got my 1st look at the squad I have inherited, I already knew a bit about these players but I got a good look at them during their first training session, they're a good team with a real togetherness and morale is still high even though Rodgers had left. I had plans to reshape some of the squad, but first I needed assess them. I set them up on a quick brisk jog, and set about analyzing them.
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Most of the squad is in pretty good health with the exceptions of Lallana and Flanagan and their fitness level were good enough considering they have just come back from the off season break.
When all of a sudden two of the older players, Gerrard and Johnson split off from the rest of the group. Gerrard had cramp, but Johnson was tired already! I got me thinking about things and who, if anyone I should look to offload.
I got them doing some passing drills and my next observation was that we have some really good passers, they are good and skilled with the ability move the ball around the field quickly and with good control.
View attachment 289550
Gerrard is the current captain and Henderson the Vice-Captain.
Leadership is key for a captain and Gerrard's leadership really stood out, This guy leads on and off the field. Henderson is not a skilled a leader but is a real work horse with good stamina, and is unlikely to pick up injuries. So I will be keeping them in their current roles.
But with Gerrard leaving at the end of the season not only am I going to need a new defensive midfielder, I will also probably need
another player to take the captaincy as I don't think Henderson will be a good enough leader to take the role of captain.
View attachment 289549
We then moved on to shooting drills, with Mignolet and Jones taking up their positions between the posts and I noticed some thing almost immediately Jones was no where near as good as Mignolet and Jones being 32 he probably wasn't going to improve in the future. So with his contract up at the end of the season I would probably be setting him for release.
Another thing quickly became apparent that while Balotelli has immense potential getting the best out of him was going to be a challenge, but if I could then he could absolutely devastate defenses and win us a lot of games.
While this squad is one with great ability I feel that some new players might be needed and a few might need to leave, it was certainly something I needed to think about as selling players even only backup players can affect their teammates. And being a tight knit bunch, some of them may not take to kindly to a brand new manager selling off some of their squad-mates.
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I have big plans for this team but I feel I need to put my own mark on it. After my initial meeting with the board confirmed that I had 21.5 million pounds to work with. I had a substantial budget but I felt that for my plans for this squad meant that I was going to need some more funds, I didn't want to begging to the board for extra funds though. I was going to have to draw up a list of who I felt wasn't needed and I could get a decent sum for.
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The first and most obvious name on my list was Glen Johnson - The England international right back. He is 29 so will start being on the decline soon, is the 3rd highest earner at the club yet is definitely not the 3rd best player. Plus the tactics I plan on using this do not call for a right back and with him being unlikely to adapt to another position that I will be using I feel his time at the club is up, so with his contract finishing at the end of the season I plan on cashing in on him. So I placed him on the transfer list.
Kolo Toure was next the next man on my list. I felt that the 33 year old centre back was not good enough for the team and being on ridiculously high wages given his ability and his contract also up at the end of the season. I also thought it was time to sell him. With interest being shown in Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Jose Enrique I was also looking at the possibility's of them leaving.
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On the staff front things were going to be interesting. I offered mutual terminations to most of the coaches and the reserve and youth managers, as I knew of some way better people to take their places. I kept most of the scouts and youth staff.
Then I encountered my first real problem - Colin Pascoe, The current assistant manager and good friend of Brendan Rodgers, was trying to do my job! He was slowly encroaching onto my responsibilities and taking no shame about it. Every time I approached me about he just deflected the topic, I decided to put up with it until I walked out onto the training ground and found he had called a training session without my knowledge or permission. It was the final straw. So after the session I called him into my office and told him in no uncertain terms that he was fired and just like that I needed a new assistant manager. My mind was instantly drawn to Thomas Tuchel a coach who specialty was tactics like me and I had worked with in the past. So I got on the phone to him and told him there was a job with his name on it and he instantly agreed. Crisis averted
Reshaping/Rebuilding
I have big plans for this team but I feel I need to put my own mark on it. After my initial meeting with the board confirmed that I had 21.5 million pounds to work with. I had a substantial budget but I felt that for my plans for this squad meant that I was going to need some more funds, I didn't want to begging to the board for extra funds though. I was going to have to draw up a list of who I felt wasn't needed and I could get a decent sum for.
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The first and most obvious name on my list was Glen Johnson - The England international right back. He is 29 so will start being on the decline soon, is the 3rd highest earner at the club yet is definitely not the 3rd best player. Plus the tactics I plan on using this do not call for a right back and with him being unlikely to adapt to another position that I will be using I feel his time at the club is up, so with his contract finishing at the end of the season I plan on cashing in on him. So I placed him on the transfer list.
Kolo Toure was next the next man on my list. I felt that the 33 year old centre back was not good enough for the team and being on ridiculously high wages given his ability and his contract also up at the end of the season. I also thought it was time to sell him. With interest being shown in Joe Allen, Fabio Borini and Jose Enrique I was also looking at the possibility's of them leaving.
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On the staff front things were going to be interesting. I offered mutual terminations to most of the coaches and the reserve and youth managers, as I knew of some way better people to take their places. I kept most of the scouts and youth staff.
Then I encountered my first real problem - Colin Pascoe, The current assistant manager and good friend of Brendan Rodgers, was trying to do my job! He was slowly encroaching onto my responsibilities and taking no shame about it. Every time I approached me about he just deflected the topic, I decided to put up with it until I walked out onto the training ground and found he had called a training session without my knowledge or permission. It was the final straw. So after the session I called him into my office and told him in no uncertain terms that he was fired and just like that I needed a new assistant manager. My mind was instantly drawn to Thomas Tuchel a coach who specialty was tactics like me and I had worked with in the past. So I got on the phone to him and told him there was a job with his name on it and he instantly agreed. Crisis averted
Tactical Analysis
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View attachment 289274With about half of the staff having left I was a little under staffed on the training front so I decided to give the boys some gentle exercises and set them some simple tactical drills, while I had a think about who suited what roles best. The the three strong centre backs of Skrtel, Lovren and Sakho could all fit into the roles of either ball playing defenders, limited defenders or the usual central defender.
But other roles were going to be tricky, I felt that to utilize Gerrard he needed to be fully involved in the building of play and be able to dictate the way we played.
I came to the overall conclusion that he would work best as a regista. Henderson's fitness levels and ability to get forward made him an obvious candidate for the role of box to box midfielder, the others however weren't as clear cut. View attachment 289270Can, Allen and Leiva didn't stand out as suiting a particular role specifically. The attacking midfielder front was where some real headaches lay. We had Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana and Markovic who were all natural central midfielders and Sterling and Markovic could play left and right wing respectively, plus the was also Moreno who could cover the left wing position. Finding the right roles for them was going to be hard, and require a lot of thinking. However on the striking front things were a bit easier. While Sturridge could play other roles he was a natural born poacher to me, Lambert plays best as a target-man and although Borini wasn't as good as the others he was very versatile. Balotelli was going to be difficult as he could play well in multiple roles but finding the one he excelled at was going to be a challenge, but an exciting challenge, and if I could find the right role for him then this team would do really well.
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Meanwhile the new poster to be put up around Anfield and The Melwood training ground had been released. I personally thought it was a bit tacky but the board thought it was necessary to help the transition between managers. The public support it generated was good but a few people were still questioning whether I was the right person for the job. And most of the media was saying that how I did business during this transfer window was going to be an indicator of what direction I was going to take the team in.
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Finally some of the scouts were sending back reports on players I had asked them to scout and their own personal recommendations, I had enough of siting back and settling in, it was finally time to enter the transfer market. But I was going to have to act fast, there had already been bids made on a couple of players I was after, and while that gave me an indicator of the clubs asking price it also meant that their would be competition to sign them.
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View attachment 289274With about half of the staff having left I was a little under staffed on the training front so I decided to give the boys some gentle exercises and set them some simple tactical drills, while I had a think about who suited what roles best. The the three strong centre backs of Skrtel, Lovren and Sakho could all fit into the roles of either ball playing defenders, limited defenders or the usual central defender.
But other roles were going to be tricky, I felt that to utilize Gerrard he needed to be fully involved in the building of play and be able to dictate the way we played.
I came to the overall conclusion that he would work best as a regista. Henderson's fitness levels and ability to get forward made him an obvious candidate for the role of box to box midfielder, the others however weren't as clear cut. View attachment 289270Can, Allen and Leiva didn't stand out as suiting a particular role specifically. The attacking midfielder front was where some real headaches lay. We had Sterling, Coutinho, Lallana and Markovic who were all natural central midfielders and Sterling and Markovic could play left and right wing respectively, plus the was also Moreno who could cover the left wing position. Finding the right roles for them was going to be hard, and require a lot of thinking. However on the striking front things were a bit easier. While Sturridge could play other roles he was a natural born poacher to me, Lambert plays best as a target-man and although Borini wasn't as good as the others he was very versatile. Balotelli was going to be difficult as he could play well in multiple roles but finding the one he excelled at was going to be a challenge, but an exciting challenge, and if I could find the right role for him then this team would do really well.
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Meanwhile the new poster to be put up around Anfield and The Melwood training ground had been released. I personally thought it was a bit tacky but the board thought it was necessary to help the transition between managers. The public support it generated was good but a few people were still questioning whether I was the right person for the job. And most of the media was saying that how I did business during this transfer window was going to be an indicator of what direction I was going to take the team in.
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Finally some of the scouts were sending back reports on players I had asked them to scout and their own personal recommendations, I had enough of siting back and settling in, it was finally time to enter the transfer market. But I was going to have to act fast, there had already been bids made on a couple of players I was after, and while that gave me an indicator of the clubs asking price it also meant that their would be competition to sign them.
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It was go time! I had made my first bid and it was for none other that YouTube sensation Hachim Mastour. This guy is super talented but also super young being only 16 means that while he may have all the potential in the world if not nurtured properly he would just become another flop, I put in a bid for 1 million pounds to AC-Milan and they accept it straight away. But then came the real problem, convincing him to join Liverpool.
I got him up on Skype and went to talk to him, he was already to say no, but when I spoke to him in my broken Italian it impressed him enough to stop for a second and listen, I then got about talking to him via a translator and told him that I could see him being Liverpool's next big thing, I asked him to think about all of the past Liverpool legends and how it would feel to be one of them, I was slowly winning him over! He asked about youth training facilities, and my plans for him, I told him that I didn't have any plans for him and that it was up to him to make his own future, He had a quick think and said yes!
I was over the moon but put up a calm facade and told him that contracts discussions could start straight away. I didn't want a drawn out contract debate, so I made him an amazing offer, which he instantly agreed to. He was on his way to Liverpool and I had secured my first transfer!
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By now some of my new staff members had arrived which made training easier, but my mind was still on transfers when I got an email alerting me that Tottenham had made a bid on Glen Johnson for 3.5 million I wanted a bit more for him that and they were wiling to negotiate so I put a counter offer of 20 million just to test the water they replied with 10 million we sat down and had a chat about things and after going back and forwards fora while we finally reached an agreement of 13 million upfront and 3 million over 12 months. I was ecstatic! Not only had I managed to get a bid but it was for well above what I thought he was worth. He took the news that Tottenham had bid on him well and seemed as shocked as I did as for how much the bid was. He told me that while he was sad to leave Liverpool he didn't have any personal issues with me and could understand my reasons for wanting to sell him. So he made his way over to White Hart Lane and set down to negotiate out his new contract with Spurs.
Somehow the news had reached the some of the fans but none of them were angry, in fact most were OK with it and while they would miss him they were happy to have gotten that mush for him .
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One of the new members of staff to come was my new assistant manager Thomas Tuchel he is not only an amazing tactical and attacking coach but is skilled enough in man management and judging players potential that he should be a great addition to my back room staff. The fact that I enough German to be able to talk with him and he spoke enough English to be able to interact with the players meant the language barrier shouldn't be an issue.
I called a mini press conference to introduce him to the local media and fans and he made a good account of himself, telling that he was determined to help me succeed and was hoping to be able to help guide Liverpool forward and bring them success in the future.
View attachment 289265
It was go time! I had made my first bid and it was for none other that YouTube sensation Hachim Mastour. This guy is super talented but also super young being only 16 means that while he may have all the potential in the world if not nurtured properly he would just become another flop, I put in a bid for 1 million pounds to AC-Milan and they accept it straight away. But then came the real problem, convincing him to join Liverpool.
I got him up on Skype and went to talk to him, he was already to say no, but when I spoke to him in my broken Italian it impressed him enough to stop for a second and listen, I then got about talking to him via a translator and told him that I could see him being Liverpool's next big thing, I asked him to think about all of the past Liverpool legends and how it would feel to be one of them, I was slowly winning him over! He asked about youth training facilities, and my plans for him, I told him that I didn't have any plans for him and that it was up to him to make his own future, He had a quick think and said yes!
I was over the moon but put up a calm facade and told him that contracts discussions could start straight away. I didn't want a drawn out contract debate, so I made him an amazing offer, which he instantly agreed to. He was on his way to Liverpool and I had secured my first transfer!
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By now some of my new staff members had arrived which made training easier, but my mind was still on transfers when I got an email alerting me that Tottenham had made a bid on Glen Johnson for 3.5 million I wanted a bit more for him that and they were wiling to negotiate so I put a counter offer of 20 million just to test the water they replied with 10 million we sat down and had a chat about things and after going back and forwards fora while we finally reached an agreement of 13 million upfront and 3 million over 12 months. I was ecstatic! Not only had I managed to get a bid but it was for well above what I thought he was worth. He took the news that Tottenham had bid on him well and seemed as shocked as I did as for how much the bid was. He told me that while he was sad to leave Liverpool he didn't have any personal issues with me and could understand my reasons for wanting to sell him. So he made his way over to White Hart Lane and set down to negotiate out his new contract with Spurs.
Somehow the news had reached the some of the fans but none of them were angry, in fact most were OK with it and while they would miss him they were happy to have gotten that mush for him .
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One of the new members of staff to come was my new assistant manager Thomas Tuchel he is not only an amazing tactical and attacking coach but is skilled enough in man management and judging players potential that he should be a great addition to my back room staff. The fact that I enough German to be able to talk with him and he spoke enough English to be able to interact with the players meant the language barrier shouldn't be an issue.
I called a mini press conference to introduce him to the local media and fans and he made a good account of himself, telling that he was determined to help me succeed and was hoping to be able to help guide Liverpool forward and bring them success in the future.
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With Glen Johnson's move away away from the club have been officially confirmed as he accepted Tottenham's contract offer, I now had a bit of extra money in the bank, but with offers coming in on other players I had more thinking to do before I could look at buying.
View attachment 289236The first offer was for Toure at his asking price of 450k from West Ham, which I accepted. I knew I was going to have to probably pay him some compensation as West Ham would be able to offer him the kinds of wages he would like but I was OK with paying him it if it meant selling him. The second was a non-negotiable 7 million pound offer for Borini from his former club AS Roma, I thought it over long and hard and decided to accept it as not only would it give me more spending power, but it also meant that I didn't have to worry about Borini getting unhappy due to lack of game time. He accepted his former clubs contract offer and flew back to Italy to join them.
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The third was from Arsenal for Joe Allen, I wasn't to keen on parting with the welsh midfielder but when I saw that Arsenal were willing to pay a non-negotiable 19 million to get him I had a tough decision on my hands, I was OK with selling him to Arsenal but would the team and the fans be OK with it. I had to take a gamble, so I accepted their offer and the waited on the outcome, there were two problems that could pop up. One was that he may not agree to their contract offer, and the second was that a couple of days ago whilst training Allen hurt his back in a rough challenge so may possibly fail his medical. My fingers were crossed, and he passed his medical and said yes to their contract offer, so Joe Allen was a Liverpool player no more. I had just lost a good midfielder but on the up side I now had an extra 19 million.
I was now looking at players that I wanted to bring in, I was after young but good players who could still develop but were good enough to be able to play in the first team, I was also looking for long term prospects to develop that would be able to play a role for many years at the club. I wasn't looking to get some quick fix material, I was looking to build a dynasty.
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Domenico Berardi - He is a young talented striker, with huge potential, with all round ability and is a born goal scorer. The problem? He is co-owned by U.S. Sassuolo and Italian powerhouse Juventus, and both want 30 million plus for him. My plan is simple; unsettle him, get him so eager to join Liverpool and leave Italy that both clubs will lower their demands to a point where its worth while going after him. Another person I plan on doing the same to is the giant German defender Niklas Sule, as Hoffenheim want over 50 million for him. So hopefully my plan works and I can sign two amazing young and talented players.
With Glen Johnson's move away away from the club have been officially confirmed as he accepted Tottenham's contract offer, I now had a bit of extra money in the bank, but with offers coming in on other players I had more thinking to do before I could look at buying.
View attachment 289236The first offer was for Toure at his asking price of 450k from West Ham, which I accepted. I knew I was going to have to probably pay him some compensation as West Ham would be able to offer him the kinds of wages he would like but I was OK with paying him it if it meant selling him. The second was a non-negotiable 7 million pound offer for Borini from his former club AS Roma, I thought it over long and hard and decided to accept it as not only would it give me more spending power, but it also meant that I didn't have to worry about Borini getting unhappy due to lack of game time. He accepted his former clubs contract offer and flew back to Italy to join them.
View attachment 289235
The third was from Arsenal for Joe Allen, I wasn't to keen on parting with the welsh midfielder but when I saw that Arsenal were willing to pay a non-negotiable 19 million to get him I had a tough decision on my hands, I was OK with selling him to Arsenal but would the team and the fans be OK with it. I had to take a gamble, so I accepted their offer and the waited on the outcome, there were two problems that could pop up. One was that he may not agree to their contract offer, and the second was that a couple of days ago whilst training Allen hurt his back in a rough challenge so may possibly fail his medical. My fingers were crossed, and he passed his medical and said yes to their contract offer, so Joe Allen was a Liverpool player no more. I had just lost a good midfielder but on the up side I now had an extra 19 million.
I was now looking at players that I wanted to bring in, I was after young but good players who could still develop but were good enough to be able to play in the first team, I was also looking for long term prospects to develop that would be able to play a role for many years at the club. I wasn't looking to get some quick fix material, I was looking to build a dynasty.
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Domenico Berardi - He is a young talented striker, with huge potential, with all round ability and is a born goal scorer. The problem? He is co-owned by U.S. Sassuolo and Italian powerhouse Juventus, and both want 30 million plus for him. My plan is simple; unsettle him, get him so eager to join Liverpool and leave Italy that both clubs will lower their demands to a point where its worth while going after him. Another person I plan on doing the same to is the giant German defender Niklas Sule, as Hoffenheim want over 50 million for him. So hopefully my plan works and I can sign two amazing young and talented players.
Liverpool is one of my favorite clubs to manage. If you can't land Berardi, I'd suggest you go after Memphis Depay or Bernard. Not only are they classy left wingers, but they can be trained to become natural at the Striker position fairly easily.
Yeah its one of my favourite to manage too. Thanks for the suggestions, I had forgotten about Depay, he is definitely a good player already and could became a star striker. Not to sure about Bernard, but will give him a look. But I'm pretty confident that I can land Berardi.
Thanks for the comment!
View attachment 288977While I was waiting on the results of my attempts to unsettle Berardi and Sule, I decided to have a meeting with my scouts and discuss with them the results of their reports and who they recommended. There many names mentioned and while some were not what I was looking for, there were some good suggestions, that I took note of. A player I had never heard of was Jesus Vallejo a good young centre back who had a release clause of 1.1 million pounds. I asked my new head of youth development Dave Parnaby to sign him for me and just like that I had acquired Jesus Vallejo.
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The scouts I had sent to Ajax and Anderlecht had returned, the Dutch and Belgium clubs are famous for having great youth systems and I wanted to have scouts assess their talent and tell me of their findings. I didn't want to spend more than 1.5 mill per player unless I thought they would be worth it big time. Both teams had a number of exciting young players, But two really stood out Vaclav Cerny and Alper Ademoglu. Both were available to approach to sign and they both looked great prospects for the future. The problem with Cerny though was that he had absolutely no interest in joining, Ademoglu on the other hand was extremely interested in signing with Liverpool. So I offered him a contract and he instantly accepted it, being only 16 he would play with the youth team for a year or two and then should be ready to move up to the reserves and then the first team. And there was more signings to come.
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Just when the meeting with my scouts was reaching its end when one of my under18 coaches; Pepijn Lijnders came in and told me he may know of the man to take Gerrard's place, he knew him from his time at FCP. I was intrigued, "who?" I asked, his name is Ruben Neves he replied; he is a natural defensive midfielder but could also play as a central midfielder, had a great understanding of the game and was a natural born leader plus has a 14.75 million release clause. Great I said but there's a catch there is always a catch. Pepijn replied, He's only 17...
17 years old! I was going to have think about this.
Meanwhile my plan had payed off Berardi had after learning of my interest had asked his manager to sell him, when he turned down his request Berardi asked to leave which again was turned down. He was now desperate to leave. So I made my move I put in a bid to Sassuolo which we negotiated to 15 million, Under half of what they were first asking for, then I put in a bid to Juventus for 7.5 to test the waters which they instantly accepted claiming they had had enough of the whole Berardi situation. I offered him a contract, at first he wanted to be rotational position but I told him that I thought it would be better for his development to start of as a hot prospect to which he agreed Domenico Berardi was now Liverpool's newest signing.
View attachment 288975
The other part of my plan was unsettling Niklas Sule and boy had it worked but Hoffenheim still wanted over 40 million for him, he was going to be tricky to sign. But I wasn't going to give up anytime soon.
View attachment 288978
The scouts I had sent to Ajax and Anderlecht had returned, the Dutch and Belgium clubs are famous for having great youth systems and I wanted to have scouts assess their talent and tell me of their findings. I didn't want to spend more than 1.5 mill per player unless I thought they would be worth it big time. Both teams had a number of exciting young players, But two really stood out Vaclav Cerny and Alper Ademoglu. Both were available to approach to sign and they both looked great prospects for the future. The problem with Cerny though was that he had absolutely no interest in joining, Ademoglu on the other hand was extremely interested in signing with Liverpool. So I offered him a contract and he instantly accepted it, being only 16 he would play with the youth team for a year or two and then should be ready to move up to the reserves and then the first team. And there was more signings to come.
View attachment 288979
Just when the meeting with my scouts was reaching its end when one of my under18 coaches; Pepijn Lijnders came in and told me he may know of the man to take Gerrard's place, he knew him from his time at FCP. I was intrigued, "who?" I asked, his name is Ruben Neves he replied; he is a natural defensive midfielder but could also play as a central midfielder, had a great understanding of the game and was a natural born leader plus has a 14.75 million release clause. Great I said but there's a catch there is always a catch. Pepijn replied, He's only 17...
17 years old! I was going to have think about this.
Meanwhile my plan had payed off Berardi had after learning of my interest had asked his manager to sell him, when he turned down his request Berardi asked to leave which again was turned down. He was now desperate to leave. So I made my move I put in a bid to Sassuolo which we negotiated to 15 million, Under half of what they were first asking for, then I put in a bid to Juventus for 7.5 to test the waters which they instantly accepted claiming they had had enough of the whole Berardi situation. I offered him a contract, at first he wanted to be rotational position but I told him that I thought it would be better for his development to start of as a hot prospect to which he agreed Domenico Berardi was now Liverpool's newest signing.
View attachment 288975
The other part of my plan was unsettling Niklas Sule and boy had it worked but Hoffenheim still wanted over 40 million for him, he was going to be tricky to sign. But I wasn't going to give up anytime soon.
Liverpool threads have been very common this year with Brendn's 5 year plan and Jamie's Jamie Carragher story, but don't let that deter you from posting content! I started a Liverpool thread the other day having not played as Liverpool since CM5 and I've been really enjoying it.
Sorry for not replying I forgot about your comment. Yeah, I have noticed alot of Liverpool stories, I put it down to Liverpool being a fun save to play right now, and I won't let it deter me. I had a quick read of your story, and its a good read.
Thanks for the comment
View attachment 288965
Things were going well on the transfer front, but they were about to get even better.
View attachment 288956Niklas Sule was starting to get really desperate to join me at Liverpool, I wasn't prepared to pay more than 20 million for him, but Hoffenheim were still demanding a lump sum of 30+ million, I was sick of trying to negotiate with them. So I made up my mind I would go back for one last round of negotiations, if they failed then this deal was dead. I went and got Markus Gisdol - the Hoffenheim manger on the phone, he instantly made it clear their demands hadn't changed. I then told him that if they didn't start lower their demands then I would walk away and they would have to deal with a furious Sule. That made him think for second then he reluctantly agreed to lower their demands. Finally after what seems like ages we agreed on 7.5 million up front and 15 million over 3 years. Sule was so pleased to have me offer him a contract that he probably would have accepted anything, He had accepted and the transfer was confirmed. Sule was now a Liverpool player.
View attachment 288955
My next transfer was going to be a bit of a gamble, I had gotten multiple reports on Neves and while he was an amazing player and showed great maturity for his young age, he was unproven on a stage like the EPL and there were indications be might not adapt well to living in England. And then there was the matter of the price he had a release clause of 14.75 mill and FCP wouldn't accept anything less, yet I was a lot more than I wanted to pay.
I had to take a chance, I had to trust my instincts and my instincts said yes. So I made the bid and of course it was accepted, He was pretty reasonable with his contract demands although his agent wanted over 1 million as his fee, I told him no way, once that was sorted out, he was signed and now all he had to do was live up to his potential and hope my gamble paid off.
View attachment 288944
While I had been dealing with signing Ruben Neves, I had instructed Thomas Tuchel to analysis the new signings and give me his thoughts on them and where to fit them into squad. His thoughts were interesting; He reckoned that if we could over come the language barrier that Mastour would benefit from tutoring by Sturridge, Berardi should be trained to attempt overhead kicks more frequently considering how agile he was. Yet the most interesting piece of advice was that Sule should be trained as a target-man as he was an absolute beast in the air. At first I was shocked but the more I thought about it the sense it made. So I put them all on their new regimes and hoped they worked well.
Things were going well on the transfer front, but they were about to get even better.
View attachment 288956Niklas Sule was starting to get really desperate to join me at Liverpool, I wasn't prepared to pay more than 20 million for him, but Hoffenheim were still demanding a lump sum of 30+ million, I was sick of trying to negotiate with them. So I made up my mind I would go back for one last round of negotiations, if they failed then this deal was dead. I went and got Markus Gisdol - the Hoffenheim manger on the phone, he instantly made it clear their demands hadn't changed. I then told him that if they didn't start lower their demands then I would walk away and they would have to deal with a furious Sule. That made him think for second then he reluctantly agreed to lower their demands. Finally after what seems like ages we agreed on 7.5 million up front and 15 million over 3 years. Sule was so pleased to have me offer him a contract that he probably would have accepted anything, He had accepted and the transfer was confirmed. Sule was now a Liverpool player.
View attachment 288955
My next transfer was going to be a bit of a gamble, I had gotten multiple reports on Neves and while he was an amazing player and showed great maturity for his young age, he was unproven on a stage like the EPL and there were indications be might not adapt well to living in England. And then there was the matter of the price he had a release clause of 14.75 mill and FCP wouldn't accept anything less, yet I was a lot more than I wanted to pay.
I had to take a chance, I had to trust my instincts and my instincts said yes. So I made the bid and of course it was accepted, He was pretty reasonable with his contract demands although his agent wanted over 1 million as his fee, I told him no way, once that was sorted out, he was signed and now all he had to do was live up to his potential and hope my gamble paid off.
View attachment 288944
While I had been dealing with signing Ruben Neves, I had instructed Thomas Tuchel to analysis the new signings and give me his thoughts on them and where to fit them into squad. His thoughts were interesting; He reckoned that if we could over come the language barrier that Mastour would benefit from tutoring by Sturridge, Berardi should be trained to attempt overhead kicks more frequently considering how agile he was. Yet the most interesting piece of advice was that Sule should be trained as a target-man as he was an absolute beast in the air. At first I was shocked but the more I thought about it the sense it made. So I put them all on their new regimes and hoped they worked well.
View attachment 288680
Things were going well, the players were adapting to their new training regime's and I wasn't having any problems so far on the squad management side of things. Jordan Ibe had been sold to Scottish side Celtic for 6.5 mill as they could offer him first team football, yet he was only reserve squad quality for us. Plus overall the fans had been happy with our transfers this window, and were ecstatic with the departure of Glen Johnson. I was really happy that there weren't any issues to deal, and that everyone was getting on.
View attachment 288681
I had spoken to soon, next thing I knew Jose Enrique was knocking on my office door. He was asking that after learning of Newcastle's interest in him, he wanted a guarantee that I would accept any reasonable bids made by his former club Newcastle. I wasn't to keen on letting him go but considering his injury proneness and how much damage an unhappy player could do to team morale. I said OK, hoping it was just speculation, but then the next day Newcastle in a non-negotiable bid of 8 million, which of course I accepted. Jose Enrique was once again a Newcastle player.
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View attachment 288678
The pre-season fixtures had gone well, with some very pleasing wins, the only worry was the win over Guangzhou. Being 5-0 up at the 60 minute mark meant the team started to relax and quickly let in four easy goals, it was only thanks to some stern works from the touchline that they managed to reorganize themselves defensively, and get us the win. On the plus side Balotelli has been in crazy mode scoring 9 goals in four matches, hopefully a sign of things to come.
The intense fitness training regime the I had put the team on was paying off, with the their fitness levels really good and the only injury so far was Gerrard with a twisted knee which meant he would miss the first game of the season but everyone else was in good health.
View attachment 288675With the squad looking a little bare at the moment, I decided to bring in a player on loan for 5-6 months to give the squad a little more depth. I was looking at bringing in Arsenal's transfer and loan listed player Mathieu Flamini but he was only interested in a permanent transfer and so was Arsenal. So I was back to the drawing board, until I got a call from Atlético de Madrid manager Diego Simeone. He said that he had heard on the grapevine that I was looking for a midfielder to loan in, and that his player Saul was available for loan and had a lot of interest being shown in him, I asked if he was in such high demand why call me? He replied he felt Saul need to play in a top flight division to aid his development and would be happy to loan him out as out as long as he got rotational game time. After bringing up a scout report on him. I said yes, and we agreed to a 5 month rotational position loan.
Things were going well, the players were adapting to their new training regime's and I wasn't having any problems so far on the squad management side of things. Jordan Ibe had been sold to Scottish side Celtic for 6.5 mill as they could offer him first team football, yet he was only reserve squad quality for us. Plus overall the fans had been happy with our transfers this window, and were ecstatic with the departure of Glen Johnson. I was really happy that there weren't any issues to deal, and that everyone was getting on.
View attachment 288681
I had spoken to soon, next thing I knew Jose Enrique was knocking on my office door. He was asking that after learning of Newcastle's interest in him, he wanted a guarantee that I would accept any reasonable bids made by his former club Newcastle. I wasn't to keen on letting him go but considering his injury proneness and how much damage an unhappy player could do to team morale. I said OK, hoping it was just speculation, but then the next day Newcastle in a non-negotiable bid of 8 million, which of course I accepted. Jose Enrique was once again a Newcastle player.
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View attachment 288678
The pre-season fixtures had gone well, with some very pleasing wins, the only worry was the win over Guangzhou. Being 5-0 up at the 60 minute mark meant the team started to relax and quickly let in four easy goals, it was only thanks to some stern works from the touchline that they managed to reorganize themselves defensively, and get us the win. On the plus side Balotelli has been in crazy mode scoring 9 goals in four matches, hopefully a sign of things to come.
The intense fitness training regime the I had put the team on was paying off, with the their fitness levels really good and the only injury so far was Gerrard with a twisted knee which meant he would miss the first game of the season but everyone else was in good health.
View attachment 288675With the squad looking a little bare at the moment, I decided to bring in a player on loan for 5-6 months to give the squad a little more depth. I was looking at bringing in Arsenal's transfer and loan listed player Mathieu Flamini but he was only interested in a permanent transfer and so was Arsenal. So I was back to the drawing board, until I got a call from Atlético de Madrid manager Diego Simeone. He said that he had heard on the grapevine that I was looking for a midfielder to loan in, and that his player Saul was available for loan and had a lot of interest being shown in him, I asked if he was in such high demand why call me? He replied he felt Saul need to play in a top flight division to aid his development and would be happy to loan him out as out as long as he got rotational game time. After bringing up a scout report on him. I said yes, and we agreed to a 5 month rotational position loan.
View attachment 288671
With the pre-season complete and the team ready for the up coming EPL season, I was extremely nervous, although I had been I charge for about 6 weeks already, my managerial career was about to truly begin.
Our first game of the season was against Crystal Palace, not considered one of the stronger teams in the league, they were definitely capable of pulling off an upset. I was ready for the challenge and so were the players all we had to do was win.
View attachment 288657
View attachment 288662
It was a weird feeling knowing that hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide would be expecting a win, but it was a good kind of weird. A lot of journalists were keen to get my thoughts on a range of different topics with many interested on my thoughts on versing Crystal Palace first up. Some were trying provoke me into saying something rash, but most were friendly and nice. I answered their questions and remembered to stay calm, finally it was time. The players walked out onto the pitch, I took my position on the sideline. The whistle went and the game begun. My managerial career and time at Liverpool had truly start.
Hopefully with a win!
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View attachment 288670
We won, but not a comfortably as I would have liked. We dominated most of the key stats, especially shots on target and corners, but I was disappointed in only 55% possession because the game plan was to control the tempo and pace of the game. Balotelli did well on his debut scoring two goals in the process, albeit one was from the penalty spot. Can and Sterling played well but nobody else stood out. Still happy with a first up win .
Our first home game of the season was next, with a clash about Swansea coming up. And hopefully another win!
With the pre-season complete and the team ready for the up coming EPL season, I was extremely nervous, although I had been I charge for about 6 weeks already, my managerial career was about to truly begin.
Our first game of the season was against Crystal Palace, not considered one of the stronger teams in the league, they were definitely capable of pulling off an upset. I was ready for the challenge and so were the players all we had to do was win.
View attachment 288657
View attachment 288662
It was a weird feeling knowing that hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide would be expecting a win, but it was a good kind of weird. A lot of journalists were keen to get my thoughts on a range of different topics with many interested on my thoughts on versing Crystal Palace first up. Some were trying provoke me into saying something rash, but most were friendly and nice. I answered their questions and remembered to stay calm, finally it was time. The players walked out onto the pitch, I took my position on the sideline. The whistle went and the game begun. My managerial career and time at Liverpool had truly start.
Hopefully with a win!
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View attachment 288670
We won, but not a comfortably as I would have liked. We dominated most of the key stats, especially shots on target and corners, but I was disappointed in only 55% possession because the game plan was to control the tempo and pace of the game. Balotelli did well on his debut scoring two goals in the process, albeit one was from the penalty spot. Can and Sterling played well but nobody else stood out. Still happy with a first up win .
Our first home game of the season was next, with a clash about Swansea coming up. And hopefully another win!
View attachment 288622
While we had got of to a winning start to the season there was a lot of work to be done tactically and performance wise, we needed to be dominating games that we were expecting to win and putting up a fight in games we were expected to lose. Some minor changes were needed.
View attachment 288623
The first was that I needed a rest/injury cover defender for the short term, the problem was I didn't want to spent several million on a quick fix player, and most players available for loan were either to young or not good enough.
Solution, Real Madrid's Nacho, the 24 year old central defender can also play left and right back, fits in well with the rest of the squad and is a good reliable player to have as a back up. Real Madrid were happy to loan him out as long as he was used as a rotational player, which I was OK with. So now I now had Nacho in on a five month loan which I would probably extend later on to the end of the season if he played well.
I decided to together with Thomas Tuchel that we should hold a meeting with the coaches, most only had little things to add and reported that pretty much all the players were happy with the current training level and were doing well. I then moved over to my reserve coaches and manager, the feedback was good; Sule had made a small development with his new striker training but was improving each session. But the real point of interest was Berardi, he was way to good for the Under 21's! In just four games he had scored seven goals and layed on 8 assists, the guy was beasting. I had to decide what to do with him.
Then I talked to my Under 18's staff, they all said the youth team was going well and Ademoglu and Mastour in-particular were excelling, this was all good news there were no major issues going on in any of the teams. I could now focus all my attention on out first home game of the season against Swansea.
View attachment 288624
We were heavy favourites for this clash, but I was weary of Swansea especially their counter-attacking prowess.
Approaching this game with the right mindset was key, and I made sure the lads knew it. We were going to use the same tactic and the only change was Markovic in for Lambert. We were ready to win.
View attachment 288625
Well we won, but once again not the best of performances. We again won a lot of key battles but failed to execute properly, which while not a concern yet could become one. Still the score line flattered the Swans, they were pretty average out there, it was only thanks to a injury time pot-shot that they even got on the board. Two from two is pleasing but we were going to have to step things up against Man Utd at Old Trafford, in our first derby of the season or we were going to lose big time.
While we had got of to a winning start to the season there was a lot of work to be done tactically and performance wise, we needed to be dominating games that we were expecting to win and putting up a fight in games we were expected to lose. Some minor changes were needed.
View attachment 288623
The first was that I needed a rest/injury cover defender for the short term, the problem was I didn't want to spent several million on a quick fix player, and most players available for loan were either to young or not good enough.
Solution, Real Madrid's Nacho, the 24 year old central defender can also play left and right back, fits in well with the rest of the squad and is a good reliable player to have as a back up. Real Madrid were happy to loan him out as long as he was used as a rotational player, which I was OK with. So now I now had Nacho in on a five month loan which I would probably extend later on to the end of the season if he played well.
I decided to together with Thomas Tuchel that we should hold a meeting with the coaches, most only had little things to add and reported that pretty much all the players were happy with the current training level and were doing well. I then moved over to my reserve coaches and manager, the feedback was good; Sule had made a small development with his new striker training but was improving each session. But the real point of interest was Berardi, he was way to good for the Under 21's! In just four games he had scored seven goals and layed on 8 assists, the guy was beasting. I had to decide what to do with him.
Then I talked to my Under 18's staff, they all said the youth team was going well and Ademoglu and Mastour in-particular were excelling, this was all good news there were no major issues going on in any of the teams. I could now focus all my attention on out first home game of the season against Swansea.
View attachment 288624
We were heavy favourites for this clash, but I was weary of Swansea especially their counter-attacking prowess.
Approaching this game with the right mindset was key, and I made sure the lads knew it. We were going to use the same tactic and the only change was Markovic in for Lambert. We were ready to win.
View attachment 288625
Well we won, but once again not the best of performances. We again won a lot of key battles but failed to execute properly, which while not a concern yet could become one. Still the score line flattered the Swans, they were pretty average out there, it was only thanks to a injury time pot-shot that they even got on the board. Two from two is pleasing but we were going to have to step things up against Man Utd at Old Trafford, in our first derby of the season or we were going to lose big time.
View attachment 288370
With Liverpool being back in the Champions League after four years of failing to qualify, it was my job to make sure that we progressed out of the group stages to satisfy the expectant fans and thus keep the board happy.
But with out chances of getting out of our group relying heavily on who we were drawn against, things were some what of a lottery. So a kind draw would dramatically improve our chances and being draw in a group of death would seriously hamper them.
Having been out of the competition for four years we were seeded third for the upcoming draw
View attachment 288360
Because teams from the same country couldn't be drawn together meant I would avoid groups A, E and G.
But that still left five possible groups to be drawn in, I really wanted to avoid Group B and would do anything not to be drawn in Group H. But I had no control, I had to sit and wait and hope luck was on my side.
View attachment 288361
Pretty happy with this draw as I don't have to verse one of the super-clubs and it also means that there is no minnow team to cause a potential upset against us. None of these teams will be easy beats but we should manage to get through baring a catastrophe.
With Berardi beasting in the Under 21's I had to do something about it, I didn't feel he was ready to be playing in the first team yet but he needed first team football. The Championship seemed like the tier for him, and with many teams like Fulham, Watford and Bolton showing keen interest in him Berardi was going to be popular.
But then I got a call from Hull manager Steve Bruce, saying that they were interested in having Berardi in on loan for a bit, and were willling to pay his wages in full and give him a key player squad status. It was an enticing offer but meant Berardi would be playing in the Premier League something I didn't think he would be up to yet, so I told Steve Bruce I would get back to him. I went and got Berardi and told him there was an offer from Hull to join them for 5 months on loan, I asked if he would be okay with going there and getting some first team football under his belt. He said he felt it would be good and that he would be up to it. I rang Steve Bruce back told him it was a go, For the next five months Italian wonderkid Domenico Berardi was a Hull City player.
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View attachment 288362
With the first derby of the season being the first chance of the season for fans to get bragging rights, I wanted to get a good result and make sure we went into the international break unbeaten. We weren't considered favourites for this clash, and Man Utd were fresh off the a 5-2 thrashing of West Brom.
But we were going to be bolstered by the return of Liverpool's talismatic captain Steven Gerrard and Balotelli was in excellent form and was keeping Sturridge out of the starting eleven, I was quietly confident but knew e had to play smart in order to win.
View attachment 288359
We should have lost but thanks to a Markovic screamer we drew with them. The stats flattered us, our defence was in shambles for most of the game and our main attacking threat Mario Balotelli was shut out of the game and thus didn't play well. We had 9 shots on target but 8 of them were soft efforts, and we failed to dominate the midfield even when Fellaini was red carded for the most horrible shocking tackle ever. Still a draw means we were unbeaten in out first three of the season heading into deadline day and the international break.
With two from two in the Premier League, it was time to turn my focus elsewhere; to one of the most anticipated draws in club football.
The UEFA Champions League!View attachment 288357
View attachment 288358The UEFA Champions League!View attachment 288357
With Liverpool being back in the Champions League after four years of failing to qualify, it was my job to make sure that we progressed out of the group stages to satisfy the expectant fans and thus keep the board happy.
But with out chances of getting out of our group relying heavily on who we were drawn against, things were some what of a lottery. So a kind draw would dramatically improve our chances and being draw in a group of death would seriously hamper them.
Having been out of the competition for four years we were seeded third for the upcoming draw
View attachment 288360
Because teams from the same country couldn't be drawn together meant I would avoid groups A, E and G.
But that still left five possible groups to be drawn in, I really wanted to avoid Group B and would do anything not to be drawn in Group H. But I had no control, I had to sit and wait and hope luck was on my side.
View attachment 288361
Pretty happy with this draw as I don't have to verse one of the super-clubs and it also means that there is no minnow team to cause a potential upset against us. None of these teams will be easy beats but we should manage to get through baring a catastrophe.
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View attachment 288363
With Berardi beasting in the Under 21's I had to do something about it, I didn't feel he was ready to be playing in the first team yet but he needed first team football. The Championship seemed like the tier for him, and with many teams like Fulham, Watford and Bolton showing keen interest in him Berardi was going to be popular.
But then I got a call from Hull manager Steve Bruce, saying that they were interested in having Berardi in on loan for a bit, and were willling to pay his wages in full and give him a key player squad status. It was an enticing offer but meant Berardi would be playing in the Premier League something I didn't think he would be up to yet, so I told Steve Bruce I would get back to him. I went and got Berardi and told him there was an offer from Hull to join them for 5 months on loan, I asked if he would be okay with going there and getting some first team football under his belt. He said he felt it would be good and that he would be up to it. I rang Steve Bruce back told him it was a go, For the next five months Italian wonderkid Domenico Berardi was a Hull City player.
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View attachment 288362
With the first derby of the season being the first chance of the season for fans to get bragging rights, I wanted to get a good result and make sure we went into the international break unbeaten. We weren't considered favourites for this clash, and Man Utd were fresh off the a 5-2 thrashing of West Brom.
But we were going to be bolstered by the return of Liverpool's talismatic captain Steven Gerrard and Balotelli was in excellent form and was keeping Sturridge out of the starting eleven, I was quietly confident but knew e had to play smart in order to win.
View attachment 288359
We should have lost but thanks to a Markovic screamer we drew with them. The stats flattered us, our defence was in shambles for most of the game and our main attacking threat Mario Balotelli was shut out of the game and thus didn't play well. We had 9 shots on target but 8 of them were soft efforts, and we failed to dominate the midfield even when Fellaini was red carded for the most horrible shocking tackle ever. Still a draw means we were unbeaten in out first three of the season heading into deadline day and the international break.
View attachment 288081
With the season well and truly underway, deadline day was looming but having already secured all my transfer targets for this window meant that I wasn't expecting to do any business. And there was none, my squad was finalized and ready for the rest of the season.
View attachment 288074
Our first game of September was against West Brom. With the team picking up no injuries during the international window we were at full strength and ready to start September with a win.
View attachment 288073
No words, absolutely no words. 64% possession, 47 shots and 14 of those on target yet only one goal, thanks to Balotelli coming off the bench to score in the 89th minute. Their goalkeeper played the best game of his life finishing with a rating of 9.4, while our ball control has been excellent we needed to work on making our finishing more clinical.
View attachment 288075
I decided to try a new strikerless formation that focused heavily on getting into the final third and it seemed to work, while we weren't that dominant we managed to score three good goals. The amount of fouls they conceded also helped us as they couldn't build up any play, a win in our first game of the champions league was good as well.
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A tough game where the draw was a fair result, Southampton played well and we fouled way to often, but we kept hold of the ball well and created some good chances but just couldn't execute still the draw means we are unbeaten this season.
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A good all-round win, we dominated almost every area of the game. Coutinho player superbly but Sturridge wasn't playing well so I subbed him early and Balotelli came on and bagged a brace. The victory means we progress in the Cup.
View attachment 288078
Thanks to a freak own goal and a Gerrard spectacular, we came away with the three points but the real effort came from the defense. They played really well and I praised them after the match for keeping a clean sheet. Sturridge injured himself in the 38th minute, which I hoped wasn't to bad.
View attachment 288079
Losing Sturridge for 5-6 weeks is a real blow to the team as although he wasn't in the best of form he is a key player and leads the attack. Balotelli has been in electric form but Daniel Sturridge is irreplaceable.
A very good month overall, conceding only 2 goals in five games, and remaining unbeaten this season. But next month will be much tougher with big games against Chelsea, Arsenal and an away game against Dortmund and Sturridge's injury will weaken our attack big time. But team confidence is high and no dressing room problems, things are going well.
With the season well and truly underway, deadline day was looming but having already secured all my transfer targets for this window meant that I wasn't expecting to do any business. And there was none, my squad was finalized and ready for the rest of the season.
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Our first game of September was against West Brom. With the team picking up no injuries during the international window we were at full strength and ready to start September with a win.
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No words, absolutely no words. 64% possession, 47 shots and 14 of those on target yet only one goal, thanks to Balotelli coming off the bench to score in the 89th minute. Their goalkeeper played the best game of his life finishing with a rating of 9.4, while our ball control has been excellent we needed to work on making our finishing more clinical.
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I decided to try a new strikerless formation that focused heavily on getting into the final third and it seemed to work, while we weren't that dominant we managed to score three good goals. The amount of fouls they conceded also helped us as they couldn't build up any play, a win in our first game of the champions league was good as well.
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A tough game where the draw was a fair result, Southampton played well and we fouled way to often, but we kept hold of the ball well and created some good chances but just couldn't execute still the draw means we are unbeaten this season.
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A good all-round win, we dominated almost every area of the game. Coutinho player superbly but Sturridge wasn't playing well so I subbed him early and Balotelli came on and bagged a brace. The victory means we progress in the Cup.
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Thanks to a freak own goal and a Gerrard spectacular, we came away with the three points but the real effort came from the defense. They played really well and I praised them after the match for keeping a clean sheet. Sturridge injured himself in the 38th minute, which I hoped wasn't to bad.
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Losing Sturridge for 5-6 weeks is a real blow to the team as although he wasn't in the best of form he is a key player and leads the attack. Balotelli has been in electric form but Daniel Sturridge is irreplaceable.
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September Overview
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A very good month overall, conceding only 2 goals in five games, and remaining unbeaten this season. But next month will be much tougher with big games against Chelsea, Arsenal and an away game against Dortmund and Sturridge's injury will weaken our attack big time. But team confidence is high and no dressing room problems, things are going well.