The Normal One

[Kobe631]

JANUARY SUMMARY

A top 4 spot is pretty decent I'd say for this season at least and maybe we can push on for that third spot as well!
As for our results this month, we were quite unlucky at times. I felt like we could push Norwich without a doubt but a fantastic freekick from Robbie Brady 25 yards out decided otherwise. Andy Carroll was a great substitute for West Ham in their first leg win, I just felt it coming the second he was subbed on. But Ibe managed to score in the 2nd leg with 18 minutes on the clock after a terrific game. Sturridge had a penalty 7 minutes in but Adrian stopped it and we were dominant throughout.
The Man Utd game was one of the most boring performances by us, but a draw is alright I suppose.
We are finding it easier to keep clean sheets in particular.
Sheffield Wednesday managed to keep us at a 0-0 at Anfield even though we played pretty well. Finished the job off at their place though.
Oh and the MK Dons result? I'll just leave this here..

Better news though in the fact we did beat West Ham on penalties in the Capital One Cup Semi Final. Southampton managed an easy 4-1 overall win against Norwich so we will be playing them in the final in a month time!

TRANSFER NEWS
As it was January, we have done some transfers which I felt were necessary.
I tried to offload some players but I didn't succeed in doing that YET.
For example, I really like Kolo but his contract is expiring in the summer and he is on big wages. He'll be leaving in the summer as will some other players.
So far we sold Adam Bogdan and José Enrique.
Bogdan was never gonna get a chance with Mignolet being my number one goalkeeper and we already have one of the best young goalkeepers coming in the summer.
Enrique was actually in my rotation squad but with his contract ending in the summer and him not being happy with how I reacted after a game and thus not wanting to sign a new one (What?!), I managed to offload him and got a few million euros in return.

Ofcourse, I also signed a few players. Having already announced the signings of Lewis Cook and Ben Garratt. I also signed an American youngster called Michael Suarez who I picked up via my scouts. The young wing back looks very promising but didn't manage to pick up a work permit just yet.
I also signed 2 Dortmund players which were key players during my time there.
Neven Subotic and Sven Bender are 2 players which will be starters for my team that I hope can challenge for the title next season. They were put on the transfer list for barely any money.

In the summer of 2016, a few regens in Carl Molano and James Baker will be arriving as well. The former being a left back and the latter a centre back. Both were picked up via scouting reports.
Joel Matip will also be joining free and it's a player I'm looking forward to.
Last but not least, a fantastic young keeper in Gerónimo Rulli. I don't think this guy needs an introduction!

 

[Kobe631]

FEBRUARY SUMMARY

Great month, except for the loss against Newcastle. Obviously I was trying to get a few players rested for the Marseille game but our first half was awful. Sissoko scored a brace on rebounds after a corner. Awful defending. We managed a solid 3-1 home win against league leaders Arsenal at the time as well.
We are also through to the 2nd Knockout Round where we will be facing Panathinaikos, who managed to overcome a 1-0 loss at Monchengladbach with a 2-0 win at home. Didn't see that one coming! They do have some players to look out for though in Essien and their winger Klonaridis who has one of the most assists and highest average ratings in the Europa League!
I'm also quite confident we can meet our expectations of getting through to the FA Cup Semi Finals, drawing Hull City at home. There are a few big teams left though in this tournament!

Upcoming is the Capital One Cup Final against Southampton!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Great season so far, would be amazing if you reached the FA Cup final as well! Best of luck against Southampton

 

[Kobe631]

MATCH PREVIEW

Big game today! First chance of silverware under my reign! We have a big game just 3 days against Chelsea but the focus must be on this game, right here, right now!
Some pretty bad news just a day before the game as Moreno being injured on training. Thankfully he'll only be out for 2 weeks but he'll miss some important games. Jon Flanagan will look to take over his place until then! Ibe also got a very small injury during our previous game so he'll miss out on the final too.

Pretty much the expected line-up from Liverpool with only Coutinho not in the starting line-up. Mignolet starting in goal with Clyne, Subotic, Sakho and Flanagan infront of him. Bender and Henderson form the midfield. Origi, Lallana and Ojo will be the attacking midfielders with Benteke up top. Garratt, Lovren, Coutinho, Sturridge, Gomez, Can and Milner all start on the bench.

0' LET'S GO!

4' First bit of pressure from Liverpool. Starting out with a corner that was eventually cleared, just to go back in the Liverpool's possession. Clyne sends a long ball forward, Benteke takes it down but his shot was blocked.

7' Clyne goes underneath the ball and that gives Jay Rodriguez the chance to move forward. Charlie Austin lays it off to Wanyama and he decides to have a long ranger which goes flying over the bar!

9' Liverpool are trying to create something here. Lallana finds Clyne on the wing and he sends a ball in from deep, Benteke gets to the ball before Gardos and Romeu and he heads it in! 1-0 TO LIVERPOOL! His 20th goal of the season!

10' Straight from kickoff, Southampton try to create something. Austin passes it to Correa who gets tackled by Sakho. The ball falls infront of Wanyama and he tries to shoot with the ball going high and wide.

11' Lallana takes the corner, headed away from the goal. Flanagan passes it to Origi who has a shot straight in the hands of Forster.

25' Austin with a terrific pass that splits the defence apart and leaves Clyne behind but Correa misses the target by an inch from a pretty wide position. Good chance for Southampton!

30' Some terrific passing play by Southampton but they lose the ball and Liverpool are looking for the counter. Benteke holds the ball up well and Lallana makes a fantastic pass to Origi who scores! But the flag is up! Just a fraction too late.

38' Benteke turns and finds Lallana at the edge of the box who attempts to shoot with his left foot but blocked! Lallana picks the ball up again though, turns beautifully and sends a terrific cross towards Origi who gets on the end of it and only a fantastic Forster could stop him, who had to rush across his goal to get towards it. Great save! Targett clears the ball.

46' Henderson picks up a nasty injury after a challenge with Romeu! He has to come off immediately and straight after the whistle is blown for half time! Milner is his replacement.

Good 45 minutes. Southampton had one real chance which scared me a little bit but we pretty much dominated. Origi was unlucky to not be on the score sheet with a disallowed goal and a fantastic Forster save.

 

[Kobe631]

46' The second half is underway! Southampton made a change, substituting Correa off for Jake Hesketh!

53' Bender nicks the ball from Ward-Prowse deep in Liverpool's half. He passes it to Milner who plays it to Lallana with a low time first pass who looks for a very deep one touch ball for Benteke who is through. Forster comes out, Benteke takes it around him and shoots with a lot of power towards the empty net.. UNDERSIDE OF THE BAR! Romeu clears it! What a great opportunity to make it 2! It really should have been 2..

56' Hesketh plays it to Ward-Prowse who looks for Austin near the 6-yard box with his back towards the goal. He turns and shoots! Good save by Mignolet who holds on to the ball well!

61' Three substitutions. Southampton make their final substitutions by subbing Cédric and Jay Rodriguez off for Steven Davis and Dusan Tadic. Ward-Prowse at right wing back now!
Philippe Coutinho comes on for Ojo, who didn't have the best of games.

67' Origi with some good hold up play, plays in Milner with a surging run down the middle. He still has a lot to do from 25 yards out. Dribbles easily past Romeu and Wanyama and he's alone in front of Forster! But he puts it very wide of the target. Great run though!

76' Davis finds Wanyama inside the box, he has a pop but straight at Mignolet.

77' Last substitution for Liverpool as well. Benteke comes off and Daniel Sturridge is his replacement.

90' 2 minutes of injury time are announced!

91' Southampton can't get an attack going so Clasie has a pop from far! Not missing the bar by much but it's just a little bit too high from the Dutch midfielder.

92' FULL TIME! LIVERPOOL HAVE WON THE CAPITAL ONE CUP!

 

[Linecoigne1998]

Great win and already a trophy! Good work keep it up

 

[Kobe631]

Annoying injury, with the captain picking up some great form but we have enough width to replace him!

Better news here! After having asked it a few times, the youth facilities are finally gonna get upgraded!

Our new signing picks up the 3rd place in Young Player of the Month! Cook has been excellent. Having turned 19 last month, he is also a regular in the England U21 squad!

 

[Kobe631]

MARCH SUMMARY

Fantastic month! And then that last result.

We started off with a good result against Chelsea, where neither team were very dominant but overall we were slightly better and Sturridge got an important goal against his ex-team and league leaders Chelsea.

We had the game under control and finished them off pretty late in the game with a Benteke brace. Benteke is really scoring a lot of goals, especially in the 2nd half of the season. I was thinking of trying to offload him in the summer but I'll have to look towards either Ings or Sturridge now perhaps.

Took us a lot of time before we did, but eventually we did get a really good result. We had a lot of chances and their keeper got a 7.6 rating which says a lot for me.

Our biggest win this month, but not our best performance. Still deserved to win and we are through to the FA Cup Semi Final, where we will be playing Chelsea!

They scored a header from a cross and a long ranger. We had the best chances and in the end an easy qualification. Happy for Danny as well, scoring a brace!

Just like the Newcastle game in February, we just need to get one bad result each month don't we..
After the stupid penalty given away by Lovren, we never got in to the game and they deservedly beat us for the 2nd time this season.

I also signed a new contract with the club. The board are pretty happy with how the things are going and life on Merseyside is brilliant. I really love it here and the fans, the fans are amazing! It can only get better! Klopp delighted with life on Merseyside - Liverpool FC

I also have a good connection with the board. We agreed to upgrade the club's training facilities shortly after the youth facilities. Fantastic!


YOUTH INTAKE

No real players with fantastic potential. Too bad, guess I'll have to look around the transfer market for some young players!


WHAT'S TO COME? APRIL PREVIEW

We could have drawn Schalke, Fiorentina, Besiktas, Zenit, CSKA or Lyon. Ofcourse we don't. We draw Der BVB. My old love against my current love. I would have preferred to have played them in the final or something like that but this is a cool fixture. We first play at the Signal Iduna Park. I wonder what 'die Gelbe Wand' has prepared for me!
Also an FA Cup game against Chelsea. The other Semi Final is Watford/Man City - Man Utd.

 

[PatrickLFC]

Congrats on the Cup win!! That tactic looks familiar

 

[Kobe631]

Congrats on the Cup win!! That tactic looks familiar

Hahaha yep, hope you don't mind this save is actually the first one where I tried to make my own tactics ahead of downloading ones. I thought it was going okay but we were very inconsistent. I tried your tactic out after you posted it and since then I've lost twice, drew one and won the other 11 games. I'm still gonna try to create something with 2 strikers though and try adapting to it in games where we go up by some goals!
Anyways, your tactic is really good mate and like you said the wingers can be changed to inside forward etc etc.

 

[Kobe631]

2-GAME SPECIAL UPDATE

Good result against Southampton. We didn't make it very easy for us at times, Tadic scored a long ranger but it just seems we win every game which shouldn't be a convincing win beforehand and every 'easier game' we seem to lose. Let's just say that the next game, isn't an easy game at all so maybe we can show it in the result? We are going to my home. Signal Iduna Park, or as I like to call it, the Westfalenstadion.

Big game ahead of us. Unfortunately, we had some really really really really really, have I said enough really? Bad news. One day before the big game, this happened.

We have to face Dortmund without our best keeper. Ben Garratt has good potential and looks alright but surely not ready to start these kind of games just yet. Let's just make the best out of it shall we?

I had a gut feeling before the game that I should start Ings rather than Benteke. Don't ask me why, I just thought that Big Ben would have it more difficult and I could use the pace of Ings easier and he's also finding the goal quite often lately. Lovren misses out due to being suspended, Skrtel takes his place!

Emotional moment before the game.​

I don't know what to say. What the **** just happened. Aubameyang, Kagawa and Mkhitaryan were unplayable, getting 8.5, 9.0 and 8.6 ratings respectively but Ings and Lallana on the other hand were even better.
Lallana. 2 goals, 1 assist.
Ings. 2 goals, 1 assist.
Unbelievable. The link-up play for the 4th goal was amazing as well. Ings could have gone for his hattrick but was unselfish and allowed Lallana to poke it in to an empty net!

Even after a really good result away from home, I don't feel qualified just yet. Their attacking force is incredible and with Mignolet missing the 2nd leg as well, I'm taking nothing for granted!

 

[Kobe631]

APRIL UPDATE

I don't want to interrupt too much beforehand. Just watch and enjoy.

I've never, ever loved Football Manager more than after this game. We were 3-0 up at half time, 3-0! The 2nd half begun and within 5 minutes I knew for sure they were gonna find a third after coming back to 3-2. Somehow, thanks to a brilliant Sturridge, we did manage to win this game and I'm sure it'll prove to be fantastic at the end of the season!
Another shoutout to Ben Garratt as well. What a month for the 21-year old keeper. I didn't feel he was ready yet, but my God has he shown different!

We kept them at bay, had some chances ourself but a 0-0 result was fair. They missed Mkhitaryan offensively as I kept Aubameyang pretty easy at bay. My defence line was a lot deeper in this game, as well as the 1st leg which proved very important as Pierre-Emerick had difficulties using his pace through the centre.

Yes, yes, yes! Two early, deserved goals really was the difference. The stats show different but they were really good chances and I don't feel like they deserved anything out of this game. Ben Garratt with another classy save though from very close made sure that we were confident throughout the game. His standout performance so far in his Liverpool career with a solid 7.3 rating.

Aaaaaaaand here we go. Our one inconsistent game we have each month. Don't get me wrong, I thought we played very well and we had excellent chances. Heung-Min hit back with a peach of a goal from 25 yards out, which I felt Garratt could have done better with.. I felt like a win would really push us towards CL Qualification as well as the 2nd spot so I told my players to push in the end. Maybe a little bit my bad, but it should have already been to bed!!!

BOOM! What a game. Can't believe we didn't win it in full time, let alone extra time. Courtois with a 8.0 rating and Zouma with a 8.2 rating were their key players, no doubt. Costa hit back with a long range effort on the return of Mignolet after an early header by the man in form, Christian Benteke. I'm not gonna complain about Mignolet though. 3 OUT OF 3 PENALTY SAVES!!! And they weren't even half bad! Sturridge's miss for us was pretty much straight at Courtois but Hazard, Falcao and Mikel had pretty decent penalties so I'm very happy! I can't wait for the Final and in a second you'll see why..

In the Manchester derby in the Semi Final, Utd beat City 2-1 after extra time. A chance to win our 2nd trophy this season and I was already happy with 1 trophy in my first season! Oh but wait, maybe 3???

CSKA Moscow shouldn't be too difficult to be honest. They beat Lyon 2-0 at home and 0-0 in France, but I feel that every cup we were in this year is pretty much ours! The other Semi Final sees Besiktas play Fiorentina!

SHORT SUMMARY & PREVIEW

A very busy month for us saw us getting some excellent results! Nearly every 3 days we had an important fixture but, except for the Spurs game which we should have actually won, we did really well in every game. I'm very proud of my side and how they coped with some injuries as well! I can't wait to have Firmino back as well!

Things are looking quite well for us, I think we should get that CL spot, no doubt. But I hope you can also see why I tried to push Tottenham. If you calculate 3 points less for them and 3 points more for us, our positions would be swapped, except I'd have 2 games less played! Oh well. Arsenal still have 3 fairly easy fixtures, playing Swansea and Norwich at home, and visiting Leicester inbetween those games. If we manage to win all our remaining games, just one point dropped by them could be vital for us! YNWA!

 

[Kobe631]

EUROPA LEAGUE
Semi Final, 1st leg

CSKA Moscow - Liverpool FC

Great performance. Can only complain about the lack of goals eventually. Not the easiest away game though, even though the conditions aren't as bad as if we would have to play there.
Ojo got his third goal this season , also banging one in against City not that long ago and against Norwich in the FA Cup 5th round.
Lewis Cook, as I've mentioned before, is gonna become a world class player here at Liverpool! He's picked up a few very good performances lately, the only concern is that he's not been growing a lot recently.
Let's get some good performances in our last few games though and push for a great ending to the season!

 

[Kobe631]

MAY SUMMARY

Pretty much deserved the win, proves that the stats don't always prove everything. They scored their only chance of the game. Sunderland were pretty defensive as well, playing in a 5-4-1.

Truely battered them. Deserved the win, although Mignolet did play a part in this win as well with some good saves. Happy for Divock as well who has been important in the cups and in the PL, unfortunately we can't use him in the EL

Easy peasy. Was able to rest a few players as well with a Merseyside derby coming! Fiorentina await us in the final of the Europa League!

Pretty disappointed to have not won this. We played pretty well but it's been quite a tough season, especially our away performances sometimes have been awful. Last away game though! We have West Ham and Swansea at home next in the last 2 games. 4 points will guarantee us of that 3rd spot above Man Utd!

So angry. A Merseyside derby where we should have won and today a game where we were nowhere, means that it's virtually impossible for us to get that 3rd spot. We need to win by 6 goals AT LEAST, that is, if Man Utd only win by 1-0 against.. West Ham! West Ham have 18/18 in their last 6 games so thats impressive, so maybe there's hope?

An impressive start to the game. I wasn't happy with my players after the previous 2 games and I showed that them exactly. They decided to show up and I thought we were really going to finish above Utd, no matter what they do! Unfortunately, Swansea got one back early as well and I was back to realism. Man Utd won 1-0 so that 4th spot will have to do for us... Slightly disappointed, but at least I got CL for next season!

And there we go. The Barclays Premier League has come to an end. We were pretty decent every month, but we also had one awful performance every month. I will have to look to strengthen our squad towards next season. My youth intake wasn't amazing so I've gone looking to other teams and I've picked a bunch of players! I think I might also look to set my team up better on away performances. I can't wait!

Adekanye also set a pretty nice record, becoming Liverpool's youngest goalscorer!

First 'prize' for any Liverpool player, with Sakho making the team of the year! Definitely my most solid defender!

My budget has been set for next season! Should definitely be enough, with some sales, to bring in some good players!

Benteke was also immense during this season! Scoring some vital goals and he was pretty much on an average of one goal per game he played in! Incredible!

My list of injured players, just 3 days before the Europa League final against Fiorentina on Wednesday. On Saturday I have the FA Cup final against Manchester United. F*ck me. This'll get tough!

 

[Kobe631]

I'm happy, but oh my god, can we never leave it that late again? We were the better side, even though we couldn't play all the players that would have played if everyone was 100% fit.
I was so glad when Benteke finally got a deserved goal. I thought it was all over, but they decided to hit one back over us. Clyne left Fernandez alone, and he was left with a free header. Probably the tiredness played part..
Benteke got a bruised head in the 100th min and I had to try and keep him on, knowing that with that injury he didn't make any chance to be able to play in the FA Cup final anyways. That decision paid off. After some great play, Benteke put it in the top corner from close range to make it a deserved 2-1. We had it in the bag then. But those condition percentages are a nightmare to me right now. I want to win the FA Cup final. Especially against Manchester United.

Knew it during the game. Big blow for our leading goalscorer. Hopefully Ings and the returning Sturridge can make an impact!

 

[Kobe631]

FA Cup Final

Liverpool FC - Manchester United

Preview

Mata, Jones and Bernat are 3 players missing in their line-up. Still a solid line-up. Isco was a player who I wanted to get as well but didn't have any funds for. Strong line-up but I feel we can do better than them!
Looking at the Liverpool team, the big players missing are Benteke, Firmino and Lallana. Sturridge just about made it back. Those 3 are 3 players who are starters though so I hope we can play well like we did against Fiorentina.

The English 'el Classico'..
0' [video=youtube;UlrrUgMqPP8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlrrUgMqPP8[/video]

10' Some on and off possession by both sides sees Moreno being able to build up from the back. Origi comes inside from the left wing, finds Coutinho and Origi keeps making the run. Cou plays in Ings, who turns swiftly and plays the ball in front of Origi who gets there JUST before Darmian. The young Belgian goes 1 on 1 with De Gea.. AND SLOTS IT COOLY PAST HIM! 1-0 TO LIVERPOOL!

20' Some good passing display by Man Utd leads to a lovely triangle between first Depay, who passes it to Herrera, who passes it on with a first time touch to Isco who puts Depay through. For some reason though, Depay decides to head it from 16 yards out. Straight into the hands of Mignolet! Easy.

26' Isco controls the ball after a misjudged header by Gomez. Gomez manages to tackle Isco though, but Depay takes over the ball. He finds Herrera completely unmarked on the edge of the box, who finishes with a first time touch into the top corner! The score is 1-1!

29' Depay with a freekick just outside the box. Tries to beat Mignolet by hitting it powerfully straight at him, comfortable punch by Mignolet and Moreno clears it.

33' Rooney finds Shaw with a terrific pass on the wing. Shaw attemps to cross it back to Rooney, only for Cook to tackle the ball off him. The ball however falls straight infront of Herrera who has a crack, straight at Mignolet!

38' After some good passing play by Liverpool, Origi finds Ings inside the box. He completely mishits the ball though, and it goes flying over De Gea's net! Good opportunity.

45' Half time in a game where Man Utd pretty much dominated shots, but all from a decent distance and straight at Mignolet!



56' Januzaj is brought on for Bernardo Silva.

57' Moreno finds Coutinho inside the box with a high cross. Cou takes it down and shoots between 2 players but it hits Rojo and goes just wide! Another good opportunity!

62' Danny Sturridge and Jordon Ibe are introduced for Danny Ings and James Milner.

72'​ Mignolet finds Coutinho with a long free kick. He receives it and controls it beautifully between Rojo, Smalling, Herrera AND Schweinsteiger. Incredible stuff. He plays a brilliant 1-2 with Ibe and finds himself infront of goal. De Gea tips it wide quite easily though.
Coutinho takes the corner, Skrtel narrowly misses it and Rooney clears it only to find Sturridge on the edge of the box.. AND PUTS IT PAST DE GEA! 2-1 FOR LIVERPOOL WITH NOT THAT LONG TO GO!

73' Straight after the goal, Man Utd decide to make a change with Blind replacing Smalling at centreback. Liverpool also decide to substitute Clyne on for Joe Gomez with their final substitution.

80' Man Utd on a fast break with Depay playing it deep to Rooney. He holds the ball up well and plays it to Isco who sees Darmian and Januzaj both rushing down that right wing. Darmian controls the ball, runs at Moreno and plays Januzaj in for a 1-on-1 with Mignolet.. who stays calm and makes a great save! The corner comes to another Januzaj shot but high and wide this time.

83' Depay plays a deep free-kick towards Herrera, who heads it in towards the pen spot where Isco is standing.. but Subotic with a great header! The ball falls to Januzaj on the edge of the box though, who controls it for Herrera who puts in a great first time effort in the top corner! 2-2, Man Utd equalise through another Herrera goal!

94' And we'll be heading into extra time! What a cup final!

To be continued..

 

[Kobe631]

90' Man Utd make their last substitution as well, seeing Darmian go off and Varela taking his place.

98' Origi loses the ball and Moreno leaves Januzaj way too much space on their right wing! Moreno brings Januzaj down and he was already on a yellow! He's off!

111' Herrera finds Januzaj on that right wing of them and he gets way too much space to get to the byline and get a cross in by Clyne. Depay heads in a free header at the 2nd post.. 3-2 to Manchester United!

120' Man Utd have won the FA Cup!

Gutted. Disappointed.
We'll be back for this next year and ​WE WILL WIN THE CUP.

 

[PatrickLFC]

Bad luck in the FA Cup mate but great work in the PL and Europa League!

 

[TicTactition]

Interested to see where you strengthen. The addition of Matip will be welcomed.

 

[KingSmith218]

Hard luck in the cup mate, Cant wait to see what you do in the window!