Putting the English back in the English Premier League – A Liverpool Story

[Godfish93]

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“After a series of dismal international performances by England, and numerous outpourings by ex-professionals about the lack of English talent playing in Premier League, Liverpool have made a stand, and have announced new measures at the club, meaning that any future signings have to be English eligible, or at the bare minimum, are eligible for Wales, Scotland, Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, more commonly known as the home nations.

Current manager Brendan Rodgers has departed the club after these revelations, and Mr God Fish, a relatively unknown manager, is to take the reins at Anfield, after agreeing to these new terms.

Naturally, Liverpool do have some foreign nationals, and whilst Mr Fish is not expected to be able to sell all of them immediately, it is hoped that he will ensure that the majority of the players in the first XI are English for the first few seasons.” BBC Sport.

So, there’s the plan. As you can imagine, it is not exactly going to be easy. So, what do you need to know?
Well, the first thing you need to know is the domestic bias at the club is currently 52%. Naturally, this is absolutely appalling, even more so when you consider that the league percentage is 60%. Thankfully, I’ve been given a nice healthy budget with which I can spend on our future prospects. £25m, even after our summer spending, should enable me to bring in a couple of new players and prospects.

As suggested, I’ll be looking to play Englishmen in every game. The aim is to have at least 6 in the first XI for every game, but I am aware that that will not always be possible.

In the next post, I will outline my squad, and give you a rough outline of my transfer plans for the upcoming season.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy this story as much as I’m looking forward to playing it!

 

[mcsmokey_2k9]

Definitely going to keep an eye on this! Great idea and maybe instead of just signing brits, you could sing foreign youngsters and gain them citizenship?

 

[Godfish93]

Definitely going to keep an eye on this! Great idea and maybe instead of just signing brits, you could sing foreign youngsters and gain them citizenship?

It is something I thought about, but for now I'll pass. However, should there be a dearth of British, specifically English, talent, I may be forced to

 

[LeedsUnitedAndProud]

Will be following this, good luck!

 

[Godfish93]

Squad and Transfer Plans

Squad:
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Liverpool has had a big summer of spending since Luis Suarez departed in acrimonious circumstances. Unfortunately, not all of these players were English, so that will need working on.

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Our key player is naturally one of our legends, Steven Gerrard. We will be looking to utilise him in the centre of the field, and combined with Jordan Henderson, should provide a very solid middle to our line up.

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One of our other star attractions is Daniel Sturridge, and we will look for him to lead the line up top. Lambert will be useful as support, and for the time being, we also have “Super Mario”, so we should be adequately covered.

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In terms of our youth prospects, we have our main two, Sterling and Ibe, but we also have some other useful talents. Sterling is likely to be a starter, and whilst Ibe is out on loan this year, he will slot in next time around. Rossiter, Sinclair and Harry Wilson will be a trio that will be worth keeping an eye on this year.

Transfer Plans:

In terms of this season, as previously stated, we have £25m available to spend, not including any future departures. A priority is an English defender or two, or a keeper, as they can lock down some of the English player spots.

There are a few players that I would like to move on, including Fabio Borini, but it all depends on the market. It would be nice to have some more money to spend, but I’m not going to be too disappointed.​

 

[bcfc1]

I am surprised to see this on here as I was thinking of doing the exact same thing. I may still do it and compare my performance to yours.

 

[LeedsUnitedAndProud]

I am surprised to see this on here as I was thinking of doing the exact same thing. I may still do it and compare my performance to yours.

That would be interesting to read, you could set yourself similar targets as a challenge on who reaches what target first (in game)

 

[Godfish93]

I am surprised to see this on here as I was thinking of doing the exact same thing. I may still do it and compare my performance to yours.

Great minds think alike I'd love to be able to see the comparison, would be interesting

 

[bcfc1]

That would be interesting to read, you could set yourself similar targets as a challenge on who reaches what target first (in game)

I wouldn't do it as a separate story on here as I don't the game at regular times and I'm not great at making the story interesting. I will let you know how I get along with it though. I can imagine getting rid of some of the foreign players will be hard.

 

[LeedsUnitedAndProud]

I wouldn't do it as a separate story on here as I don't the game at regular times and I'm not great at making the story interesting. I will let you know how I get along with it though. I can imagine getting rid of some of the foreign players will be hard.

I'd love to be kept up to date with it anyway if you decided to begin one

 

[Rootsey]

Good idea mate! Will be following

 

[Dynamo_ZahnZee]

Ryan Fulton is Scottish an in your U18. He'll never be first team but has solid attributes to be a 3rd choice keeper. He kept a clean sheet agasint chelsea when my 1st and 2nd choice keeper were injured so I grew to love him. Give him time and a lot of love and you'll have a good back up.

 

[Godfish93]

Ryan Fulton is Scottish an in your U18. He'll never be first team but has solid attributes to be a 3rd choice keeper. He kept a clean sheet agasint chelsea when my 1st and 2nd choice keeper were injured so I grew to love him. Give him time and a lot of love and you'll have a good back up.

Thanks for the advice! Sent him on loan to start the season so he has some match time under his belt, with a view to him being a squad player in future.

 

[Godfish93]

Pre-Season Update

Friendlies:

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(A side note, the assistant dealt with our friendlies, allowing me to focus on our transfer dealings)

We’ve had better pre-seasons, but ultimately, friendlies don’t matter. What we do on the opening season will be much more important.

Fixture List:

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We have a couple of tough runs, but nothing that stressful, and we will be looking to create a good run of form. The end of the season is a little tough, but by that point I would hope we would have at least secured Champions League as a minimum.

Transfers:

So far, so good in terms of bringing in British talent.

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Milner should be a quality addition in the centre of the park, and will be able to provide cover elsewhere. Maybe not the most exciting player in the world, but then, we needed someone that can effectively take over from Gerrard in a few years’ time.

Delph is another signing I’m pretty happy with. A workhorse of a player, it’ll be useful for him to rotate with Henderson, and allows me a nice, English centre to the pitch.

Ryan Shawcross will provide stability at the back, and hopefully the move to a bigger club will also aid him in his quest for international success. One of the more consistent players in the Premier League, we are delighted to welcome him to the club.

In terms of a longer term transfer, we bring in Patrick Roberts. The young winger has impressed when he has played, and we will look to get him some game time this year at Liverpool. It is more than likely that he will act as Sterling’s understudy for the year.

For our departures, our most significant is Lucas, bringing in just under 20m. With an immediate replacement available, it isn’t the greatest loss in the world, but he is still a good player nonetheless.

Enrique and Borini wouldn’t have played, so leave, and we loan a few youngsters out. We’ll be keeping a keen eye on Cameron Brannagan; if the lad does well this year, he may find himself near the first team in the future.

Aims:

For this season, Champions League would be lovely, but I wouldn’t be too disappointed to make the Europa League. We’re facing a couple of years of upheaval, and naturally that will affect our on the pitch fortunes a little.

Fixtures – August

PL – Everton H
PL – Southampton A
PL – West Ham H

Talk about a cracking start! We will be looking to get one over on our local rivals from the start, whilst the Southampton away match could prove to be a tricky one. West Ham at Anfield seems simple enough, but I’m not getting confident just yet.

We’ll also have the Champions League Draw to look forward to, that promises to be one of the highlights of the season.​

 

[LeedsUnitedAndProud]

Good signings mate especially Fabian Delph, I miss him at ER at least we managed to put more hospitality boxes in our stadium with the sale of Delph though WOOO much better than buying a quality replacement

Edit: I also look forward to see how Roberts plays in the future

 

[Godfish93]

Good signings mate especially Fabian Delph, I miss him at ER at least we managed to put more hospitality boxes in our stadium with the sale of Delph though WOOO much better than buying a quality replacement

Edit: I also look forward to see how Roberts plays in the future

Once I knew that I was doing this challenge, Roberts was one of the first targets, he was amazing on my original save.

Delph should prove useful, I needed a Henderson-esque player at the club

 

[Godfish93]

August 2013

Results:

Everton – Home

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A spirited performance from Liverpool, but there was some shoddy defending on display. A late goal from Sakho earns us the points, and bragging rights for the foreseeable future.

Southampton – Away

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Perhaps a bit lucky to come away with full points, as Soton can feel aggrieved. Lambert comes back to score against his old club, and Coutinho continues his fine form, as we remain unbeaten.

West Ham – Home

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Our first dropped points, as Andy Carroll comes back to haunt us. Patrick Roberts makes his Liverpool debut though, but we can rightly feel disappointed with our efforts.

League Status:

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Up in the top 4 at this stage is more than fine. It gives us something to build on, and also means that we aren’t suffering from poor morale early on.

Player of the Month:

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Coutinho – 3 in 3 so far, it’s a shame that I’ll have to sell him eventually.

Champions League Draw:

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We return to the Champions League, with a trip to the Nou Camp! That should prove to be a rather interesting test for our English starlets. We also have trips to Basel and Anderlecht, which whilst on the surface may not be too taxing, we will be taking very seriously as we seek progress into the later stages.

Capital One Cup Draw:

Burnley at Anfield. Not too taxing, but we’ll need to be careful if we want to go through.

Transfers:

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Since the last transfer update, we have brought in three potential stars. In the centre of the park, we now have Dele Alli and Will Hughes. Both look exciting additions, and will not be on loan this year, as they will feature in the cups, and occasionally in the league.

Up front, we poach Cauley Woodrow from Fulham. After failing to get Berahino in, Woodrow was a logical next step, and is fairly cheap. Again, he won’t be out on loan, as he will be in and around the first team.

September Fixtures:

PL - Leicester City – Away
CL – Anderlecht - Home
PL - Tottenham – Away
COC - Burnley – Home
PL – Chelsea – Home

A much tougher month in store for us, and Spurs and Chelsea will be difficult matches for us. Anderlecht are our first Champions League opponents, as we ease back into the competition. If we can get 6 points, and win both cup games, I’ll be happy with our progress.​

 

[LeedsUnitedAndProud]

Really enjoying this atm. Worst thing that could happen is if you get attached to a foreign player.

Cauley Woodrow didn't do too good for me in my Brum save last season but didn't feature much and obviously you have time to let him improve whilst I had him for a season. Not too sure on his PA in the latest update patch as well.

Could I ask if you take a look at my Birmingham story?

 

[Godfish93]

Really enjoying this atm. Worst thing that could happen is if you get attached to a foreign player.

Cauley Woodrow didn't do too good for me in my Brum save last season but didn't feature much and obviously you have time to let him improve whilst I had him for a season. Not too sure on his PA in the latest update patch as well.

Could I ask if you take a look at my Birmingham story?

Getting attached to Coutinho is no longer a problem, as explained in the next update.

Woodrow should be a good squad player, and given the right coaching, I see no reason why he can't challenge regularly for a first team spot.

And, way ahead of you, already reading, good start so far.

 

[bcfc1]

Your transfers look good so far. I cant believe the amount of money you got for Lucas Leiva. I couldn't get a bid over £10 Million for him. What is your main formation at the moment?