The Normal One

[Kobe631]

Our first first team signing. He was placed on the transfer list by Barcelona and even at 29, I think he's a really good player. Premier League champions Chelsea were also interested but I managed to sign him before they could even make a bid. I think with only 10 million euros, this is a good deal and Barcelona have made a loss of 26 million.

 

[Dean Wilkes]

Just caught up with this mate, really good read!!! Unlucky in the FA cup but congrats on the EL and Cap One cup...Turan is a great signing, also looking forward to seeing who else you manage to bring in.

 

[xJamieWilliams]

Great start mate, signed Turan myself after the first season, he will be a good player for a couple of years then he drops into a squad player as (if) you progress very nicely!

Loving this so far.

 

[Kobe631]

Just caught up with this mate, really good read!!! Unlucky in the FA cup but congrats on the EL and Cap One cup...Turan is a great signing, also looking forward to seeing who else you manage to bring in.

Thanks mate! At times I felt everything that didn't work out in the league, worked out in the cups just fine! Thanks for following!

Great start mate, signed Turan myself after the first season, he will be a good player for a couple of years then he drops into a squad player as (if) you progress very nicely!

Loving this so far.

Absolutely! He's a great player in real life as well and Barca gave him 0 apps this season. Not even any substitutions or anything. I'm very happy to get him for half his worth and even at 29, he can do a great job for me I believe with being able to play in several positions as well.

Thanks for following!

 

[Kobe631]

09/06 2 weeks prior to start of pre-season

So far, so good. I like the 3 first team signings we have made for next season. Geronimo Rulli, Joel Matip and Arda Turan will fit in nicely with the squad.
Personally, I'm a big fan of Mignolet but except for the FA Cup Final penalty shootout, where he did save all 3 penalties to be fair, he has only kept 8 clean sheets in the PL which puts him below all the top goalkeepers in the PL. At the moment, Rulli hasn't done much better at Real Sociedad, but I believe in this squad he will do very well. I might just have to sell Mignolet, seeing as he is already ageing towards the 30 and he's not better than Rulli.

One thing I was really disappointed with, was our youth intake. It was truely awful. I gave 2 or 3 players a contract, but I don't see them breaking through any time soon. So I told my scouts to go look for 16-17 year olds who seemed decent and I'll start with a few English ones I managed to sign.

Marc Abbott - MK Dons​

Really good stats at 16 already. I picked him up from MK Dons as well, who don't have the best youth so I was really surprised. Sure, he needs some work on his tackling and his positioning, but he's ****** 16! I'll be looking to make him HG for Liverpool!

Donovan Balfour - Fulham​

Can I start with his haircut?! No? Okay! Having already been capped by the England U19, playing alongside Patrick Roberts, the young man is looking good for the future. So far, there is no real certainty over his best position but I feel he'll work best as a creative minded midfielder who doesn't have to defend too much. His strengths are definitely working for the team. According to my coaches and scouts, his best position is RM but I don't feel his crossing is good enough.

Ben Ashby - Blackburn Rovers​

Hard to say anything about young goalkeepers. Ben looks like a player who could grow to become England's next number one. I like a high determination stat on my players, as you can see with the previous lads as well!

Nick Murphy - Brighton and Hove Albion​

Nick lacks the determination which urged me to sign the other players. He does however already have some quality stats at just 16(!!!). Leadership is also very important to me so I just decided to overlook the lack of determination. He'll have to do a lot to fit in the squad but I'll give him a lot of time to do just that!


Those are my 4 English youth signings for next season! Like I said, there will be plenty of other 16 and 17 year olds, mostly due the fact that the board was not willing to improve anything youth related until the end of this season which was disappointing and came after the youth intake.

I've also got one very big player incoming, one that will take up nearly all of my transfer budget but I'm glad that he can join our attack as I've worked with him in the past and he's one we can really use!

 

[Kobe631]

Pre-Season update

I chose for a lot of games to try and blend a couple of the players in our tactics as well as to get good match fitness.
As I said, I've been doing a lot of transfers, just to make up for my lack of youth intake.
I'm really excited about the European Super Cup as well. With us playing Man City, it'll be a pretty local game, played in Norway though! It's exciting! My assistant took care of the games by the way so the results aren't amazing but that's cool.
But first, I'll start with the major signings I've done so far.

Marco ****** Reus has signed for Liverpool. Okay, I had to open up my transfer budget for him, but he's one of the world's best at his position and we're looking to re-create the times we had at Dortmund. Pione Sisto is also an incredible player in my opinion. Whilst still young, he is already looking incredible and his transfer price was incredibly low! I'll be looking forward to using these 2 attacking options, aswell as Arda obviously!
Joel Matip and Geronimo Rulli will no doubt be strengthening our defence. Well needed as I thought we seemed to concede too much goals at times. Ben Garratt is loaned out so Mignolet will have a big, big contest with Rulli for that number one spot! Matip and Sakho should be my number two central defenders at any point.

I'll make a spoiler for all the youth players I've signed. Some of them will already be used this season cause they are looking incredible. I'll start off with the most promising ones in my opinion.

Spoiler

Summary

IN​

OUT​

Skrtel and Allen actually had some game time last season, but with some of the signings coming in, I had to get rid of them. Allen was already complaining last season about the game time he was getting and it was him or Lucas who was leaving. Skrtel was getting old and I'm pretty happy with his transfer fee.
Some of the youngsters leaving as well, with better youngsters coming in and they'll get homegrown at the club too so no reason to keep them around.
2 more players in Balotelli and Luis Alberto leaving. Balotelli was a no-brainer. I was happy with Benteke, Ings and Sturridge upfront as well as youngster Wim Cortie who looks incredible for the future. PSG was happy to pay 45 million Euros for him, I couldn't believe it! Luis Alberto also a decent price tag, was never gonna get involved in my first team.



OTHER NEWS

Belgium wins the Euro 2016 with some incredible wins.

Origi played an important part becoming 2nd in the top goalscorer, not even being the 1st striker at Belgium!

He didn't make the team of the tournament though, Super Mario did! But he made it as far as he would have here at Liverpool .

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

We will be playing Olympique Marseille, to try and get into the CL Group Stages! We should make it past them, having beat them 3-1 last year on aggregate in the 1st Knockout Round of the EL.

 

[Kobe631]

European Super Cup - Manchester City

Went for something different today. Felt like I could use some defensive stability against Man City and then try to use some pace upfront. Rulli is still playing for his country for the U23 at the Olympics, as is Pione Sisto and Coutinho. Matip, Grujic, Reus will get starting debuts. Arda will get his chance later on.

Pretty lucky to came away with a win. The third goal was due to City having to risk everything to try and get an equaliser. But I felt this was more of a pre-season game anyway. Reus was excellent, as was Benteke. After this game, I also decided that Lucas and Sturridge are 2 players who are a big possibility to get sold. We have a lot of midfielders who are already better or are gonna get better than Lucas. Grujic is looking excellent, as is Lewis Cook. Henderson and Milner are obviously working midfielders as well. Emre is a fantastic talent so I've got plenty of talent I feel in midfield.
Benteke can't play in this formation because he just isn't a false nine. I do still have Danny Ings though. Reus, Firmino and Origi can play as a false nine as well so plenty of options in my opinion there. I don't feel like Sturridge has as much as an impact like Benteke and quite honestly, he's a lot more injured than any other squad member and I think I can get the highest fee for him out of all 3 (Sturridge, Benteke, Ings).