Hey guys
Huge LFC fangirl here,
Been playing this on the same save since the beta but only 3 days of the beta
so i just got to november in my second season
like most people im finding it much much harder than 2012 and like alot of people i am finding it rather annoying in places
though i did win the premier league and the league cup in my first season, ive read what most people have posted in this thread and others about "bugs" and stuff, and ive noticed a few of them in my game like defenders standing around with the ball in the box waiting to get tackled by a striker, Tim krul even did it in one game for me and only for Dexter blackstocks woeful finishing avoided getting punished for it.
The first season i played very defensively and tried to ****** a goal on the counter, my table was therefore littered with 1 or 2 - 0 wins, in typical LFC style i win comfortably against the big teams and struggle against west brom and QPR etc
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This season ive been trying to adapt my tactics that ive played ever since i spent 9 seasons with inter on 2012, pretty typical italian solid tactical play but with some attacking flare and flash when it comes to it.
Mixed results so far, after juggling with my budgets and argueing with tom, i managed to clear out all the old kenny signings and this gave me room to bring in alot of players, i have noticed that alot of "key" players for teams seem to request transfers on this FM in their first seasons, odd but ultimately to my benefit.
I picked up Klaas jan huntelaar because Suarez just wasnt finishing for me, Michael essien because i rate him despite being a chelsea player and for the 3.9 mill they wanted hes still a very decent player, andre ayew was needed for some creative spark because when you lose sahin you realise how much you lack that with stevie getting injured alot.
i managed to make deals for shawcross and another strange one was cahill, also bernard who id never tried or tested before but now rate very highly, 8 appearances 5 goals 4 assists, then in the dying hours of the transfer window barcelona listed david villa and i simply couldnt say no, once again i whinged and whined to tom and the board negotiated the deal for me.
So this is what ive been doing most of the season so far with these players, Reina, Robinson, Shawcross, Kelly, Walker (swap deal for Johnson), Andre ayew, Lucas, Gerard (when fit), Stirling, Klaas jan and Villa, its worth noting perhaps that for me atleast i am definately not keeping suarez beyond this season, perhaps even not beyond january.
His personality profile doesnt include any notes on selfishness or inconsistency but i find him both, ironic perhaps that my jersey irl is Suarez
, as someone has already mentioned in this thread i think i will sell him and get Lewandowski, i had him on 2012 and found him to be not only a goal getter but a good team player who will get a good amount of assists.
So far i have been playing with normal tempo (10) normal width and normal defensive line, with attacking mentality and balanced style, shorter passing, zonal marking, press more and float crosses, having shawcross and Klaas drift to the far post on corners they both provide a goal threat like Skrtel and Agger before them (both gone).
Playing with an advanced play maker, usually gerard sometimes Ayew and occasionally Bernard, Bernard is a utility player and can really effect things from virtually anywhere you play him, in one game he started on the wing and got 1 assist for Villa, then moved into striking position when i took Klaas off, got another assist this time for Stirling, then when gerard got too tired i moved him into central midfield advanced playmaker and he scored from 16 yards out.
Formations i prefer to play are 433 451 and 442, none traditional though, 433 with wingers not 3 central strikers, 451 with wingers and a defensive midfielder not just 5 accross the middle, and 442 i variate from standard to no wingers and 3 central mids 2 defending 1 playmaker 1 attacking midfielder central usually bernard playing trequatista, villa and Klaas having no legs he provides the flare and speed to provide goals for them.
I know i go on a bit
but i have some issues myself and perhaps someone might be able to help me and perhaps some of this might help others!
not much more i promise
Results so far this season are, a suprise 1-0 win away at Real madrid, played on the counter, 442 variation with the 2 defensive central mids and no wingers, bernard slipping a ball through and relying on villas hatred of madrid for a sly bottom right finish then kelly and cahill defending their hearts out to get us a win not to mention some truly alert goalkeeping from Jose.
4-0 Home win against City, same formation virtually the same players as the madrid game, it was right after, Villa opening the scoring then bernard winning a penalty which villa put away, bernard then scoring from outside the box and after swapping out my formation and going to standard 442 with wingers, stirling adding the fourth.
3-0 Home win against Arsenal, looking at it now i think i played what the game calls a 451, essien gerard and lucas in midfield, stirling and bernard on the wings and klaas upfront (pre villa), Klaas opened the scoring, then bernard and kelly closed it up, i would say that my style of play is ideally suited to teams like arsenal, the italian mentality frustrates them and i have never lost a game to arsenal home or away Fm12 or Fm13 playing as liverpool using these tactics.
In training i tend to focus on team cohesion and then train other things as needed, this season its been all team cohesion with a bit of attacking training and pre match focus on attack movement.
Ok now for the bad news
Like most i have experienced this bizzare domination of games where you have litterally 20 or 30 shots a good 10 or 15 on target and still end up losing, now if i had Suarez upfront i could accept this as simple poor finishing, but Villa and Klaas as im sure your all aware are some of the finest finishers in the world.
So far this season, results im not happy with, and you may accuse me of being a perfectionist if you like
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1-1 Home draw to norwich, Rare red card for Gerard only moments after he came on James morrison goal from 10 yards out, other than that it seemed like a typical day in the office 60% possesion, 25 shots 8 on target 3 clear cut chances, i was pretty confident of finding a goal, but with gerard sent off it was a matter of finding a goal to draw which came from Klaas with a header on 83 minutes.
1-0 away win at Aston villa, its worth noting Villa are doing well this season for me they're so far my closest rivals 3 points behind me in 2nd, the only goal of the game was a Stephen ireland own goal, same deal, plenty of chances all spurned.
To combat this lack of finishing i had fired virtually my entire backroom staff in january of my first season, and bought in what i consider a balanced staff of a few of each coaching type with high ratings in my chosen stat, so i have some of the best attacking coaches around, John carver is my assistant manager and handles shooting training which he has 4 stars in.
Also a 1-1 home draw to newcastle, some would not consider that a bad result but newcastle have started poorly and the media was predicting as i was expecting a comfortable home win, lead the game for much of it and a familiar issue i have faced in many many games and careers at liverpool, complacency, lead to a last minute equaliser for newcastle.
Then finally a 0-0 draw with Olympiakos, comfortable possession, lots of shots, just no finishing.
In all these games i consider "bad results" i have played a somewhat reduced starting line up and only god knows what would have happened had i reloaded and played with my best, however my backup players are good, atleast what i would consider good, and i find their lack of determination and complacency leads me to a fear of playing them in future.
Well anyway my next game is away at QPR
coming off the back of a 3-1 home win against Lokomotiv Moscova, i would have prefered more goals or perhaps a clean sheet against Moscow but they did hold Real madrid to a draw at their home ground so i cant be too harsh on my boys for that
Best wishes
Metz
Edit : Liverpool 6 - 2 QPR, Seems they finally shook off that fear of finishing, for the moment atleast
, Villa scored 4 before i subbed him for Suarez and Stirling got the other 2, for those of you wondering how i got Villa in the first place, if you have any say in it let Lorente go to Barcelona, im sure some of you will rate Lorente higher and because of his age might choose him instead
thats your choice afteralll
but i think ill stick with my Villa hehe, 11 mill after Barcelona got Lorente on a free