The Liverpool of Yesteryear

[dani3w]

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Next was the first European game I would take control of. After recently recieving our Europa League group it was time to focus on earning qualification. We were set to welcome Vit.Guimares, the Portuguese side. We knew we had to win at Anfield as traveling to both Portugal and Norway aren't guaranteed wins.

This is how we lined up at home against the Portuguese side, again having the options of the wing backs to get forward as well as support our back line. Milner moves to right wing back as Clyne is rested. Lallana and Coutinho pair up in centre midfield with Fimino and Barbosa once again leading the line. The traveling side have four at the back and then two defensive midfielders, it'll be a tough wall to knock down.

A disappointing draw in a game we absolutely dominated in and just couldn't hold on late on. We played seventy minutes with just ten men as Sakho was dismissed for a last man challenge. Can eventually gave us the lead after seventy four minutes. However a ninety third minute equaliser from a corner saw us have to settle for a disappointing draw.

 

[Shedender]

Very poor result in Europe pal, thought you would've won that convincingly being at home.

 

[Kobe631]

Unlucky with the red card and the 93rd min goal mate

 

[dani3w]

Unfortunately I feel the red card to Sakho so early on cost us Shedender

Thanks Kobe631, again the red card upset us and we paid for it late on

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Back to League action and we took a trip down the Southwest as we visited Bournemouth who had made a steady start to life in the Premier League, currently sitting in fifteenth place. We on the other hand were competing within the top four however Arsenal had sailed out the blocks early on.

Bournemouth prepared for our visit with a flat four four two formation, nothing special and really nothing I felt that would challenge us. I had changed to the abnormal 4-1-2-1-2 formation which I hoped would see us control games in the final quarter a lot more. Clyne returned to right back with Can and Sakho centre backs. Moreno sat left back. Lucas sat just infront with Milner centre mid. Firmino, Coutinho, Barbosa and Benteke all leading the line.

Back to winning ways after back to back one all draws after a strong second half. Beteke' first Liverpool goal came sixty four minutes in against Bournemouth and hopefully now he'll move on a grab some more. Clyne with the assist, and it was him who set up Barbosa who struck the second goal, sealing the deal ten minutes from time.

 

[dani3w]

Three games and three different competitions, from Europa League, to Premier League and now we're heading into the Capital One Cup. Hyypia' first game in the competition as manager saw us travel to Hull City, the Championship side who are going to be fighting for promotion and the title there. I had originally agreed to heavily rotate my side before the draw was made, did this change my mind.

I did indeed stick to the rotated side. Young Grabara started in goal at just seventeen years old whilst Stewart, Iloria, Gomez and Moreno made up the back line. Moreno hopefully adding that little bit of experience to the defenders. Can also sits infront of them for a little more support. Henderson returned from injury so sat in midfield again adding experience and giving him some match fitness. Origi and Lallana made rare starts as the season has shown whilst I've stuck with Barbosa and Benteke up top to raise their confidence.

Well the trip to 'The Circle' saw us come away with a spot in the fourth round thanks to a Benteke brace. A goalless first half despite us dominating saw is all square at the break. We didn't change a thing, stuck with the youthful looking side and that's when Benteke broke free to slot home two minutes into the second half. Diomande seemed to have secured at least extra time for Hull, netting eighteen minutes from time however four minutes later we went up the other end and Benteke struck again.​

 

[dani3w]

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The final game of September was a home game at Anfield as we welcomed Stoke, another tricky opponent which could go either way. I decided to restore our star players for this game, as expected despite the youth players doing so well in the cup competition just a couple days ago.

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I've stuck with the same formation as I've used the last few games, it appears to be getting results at the moment so hopefully it will continue especially at home. The big games return to the starting line up against Stoke. They travel down with a 4-4-1-1 formation with Diouf leading the line and Bojan just sitting in behind.

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A narrow win but one richly deserved as we dominated going forward, forcing thirty five shots and hitting the target with fourteen of those. Perhaps Stoke were lucky to go back home with only a one nil defeat. Our goal came through our young starlet, Brazilian born Barbosa who struck after just fifteen minutes.

 

[dani3w]

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We move back to European action now as we head to Norway to take on Rosenborg and after our earlier disappointment at home against the Portuguese side, this game turned into a must win in Norway. I was confident of our chances back home in the game later in the group stage, however this was a nervy affair for us.

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Again with the same formation as it appears we are beginning to dominate possession and create many more chances up font now. Mignolet has kept two clean sheets in a row, if he keeps another his clean sheet record will stretch to over two hundred and seventy minutes. The defence has looked good to date and we've not been too bad going forward either.

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Well, not ideal but we done enough. A lone Coutinho goal after just five minutes proved to be enough to seal the deal. Again we dominated going forward and could of had more, unfortunately we didn't. The one we did grab saw Clyne again grab an assist as his back post cross undone the Norway sides defence and Coutinho poked home.

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Some good news off the field, both the youth and training facilities are set to be upgraded. In one of the first posts I said this would of been the aim over the first season to get the facilities as high as possible, our first step is being made and will cost us a combined four and a half million pounds and will take up to a year before both are completed.

 

[dani3w]

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With three clean sheets on the bounce it was time to try and defend that ongoing record with Mignolet in goal. The tough task next up was a trip to St Marys, a place where in real life Liverpool appear to struggled so i was hoping this wouldn't show in the game. However I knew going in to it, it would be extremely hard.

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Southampton line up against us with a mean looking side, another team using the 4-4-1-1 formation however we know we can't give them any time on the ball. Southampton possess plenty of quality all over the pitch. Despite this I still planned on sticking with the same formation and going for it. Ibe started in the attacking left position, Sturridge returned to the bench to make his first appearance.

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Well the trip to St Mary's Stadium didn't quite go to plan, however we came away with a point still, better than none. Wanyama put the host ahead early on before Benteke netted on the twelfth minute, levelling things up for us. It seemed Sturridge had made the perfect impact to his first appearance this season after coming off the bench to net six minutes from time. However we switched off and Rodriguez scored with three minutes remaining, stealing a point for the Saints.

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And whilst away on international duty we were dealt a double blow as both Mignolet and Bogdan picked up lengthy injuries. Mignolet was first to pick one up as he was ruled out for five to six weeks with a broken finger picked up in training. A week later Bogdan was ruled out for four to five weeks through a sprained ankle. As soon as I knew Mignolet was injured it made me decide to play young keeper Grabara, who at sixteen years old will have a lot of weight put on his shoulders over the next couple of weeks.

 

[Shedender]

Ouch. You got Newcastle'd with those goalkeeper injuries.