Hello everyone. As this is my first FM story ever, please bear with me as I might make some novice mistakes. Furthermore I will apologize for any linguistic errors, as English isn’t my native language and therefore I might not know some football terms in English and will then use less direct describing sentences. Let’s get started!
I chose Liverpool FC as this is the Club I’ve been supporting as long as I remember. I’ve even seen several games on Anfield and a few away games. In real life they are doing pretty good atm. which we have been waiting a long time for. Let’s see if I can do the same.
Fischer takes charge of at Liverpool!
The twenty-five year old is reportedly delighted to be given the opportunity to hone his management skills at Anfield and the Reds supporters will certainly be hoping that Fischer can take their team to new heights.
The new manager reports at his first interview that he will qualify for Euro Cup this year.
Colin Pascoe, Liverpools assistant manager since 2012, had his contract mutually terminated as Fischer seems to think that Rodolfo Borell, Head of youth development in Liverpool since 2012, is better suited for this job and therefor gets a new 5 year contract with a new position at the club.
Furthermore did Fischer get 3 new scouts; David Hamilton, Antonio Fernandez, John Steen Olsen,
6 new coaches and a new Head of youth development, Bernhard Peters.
I’ve decided to try out 4-5-1 tactic at the friendlies, as I think the team is great suited for that tactic.
The first friendly comes up which is CSKA Moscow at home. Ended in a 3-3 draw. Two goals from the MoM Sakho and one goal by Suarez!
The second game is Medellin away, but my offensive was too unsharp which really creates concerns as this should be a sure win. It ended in a 1-0 loss.
[/spoiler] I sold the clubman Martin Skrtel as I didn’t see him in the starting 11 with a new signing coming in. Sold for approx 7.2 m to Roma. Good luck Skrtel.
[spoiler=Varane]
I couldn’t keep my hands off him, as I saw Man City made a bid for him I knew I had to act fast, which resulted in Skrtels departure. Raphaël Varane was bought from Real Madrid for approx 19,7 m. This could really be a scoop as I see this young star to be far more worth, and it will also give Agger and Sakho some challenge for the starting 11 selection.
I also decided to terminate Cissokhos loan contract, as I would rather use some youngster like John Flanagan og Jack Robinson as reserves for the first team.
The third friendly was a home game against Marseille. It was a close game, but again my offensive needed some more precise finishes and therefore we go punished and lost 0-2.
[spoiler=Honda][/spoiler] I luckyly got Keisuke Honda to sign my contract, which will allow him to come on a free transfer the first on January 2014. I will look forward seeing this guy in action.
The forth friendly was an away fixture against Rotherham in which we were struggling with as I used quite a lot reserves to get them in shape for the upcomming season. But we won 2-1 with a stunning goal from the young Raheem Sterling and an own goal by Revell. Jose Enrique was named MoM.
Biggest dissapointment of the month: Simon Mignolet. He was barely doing anything and made two mistakes that led to goals, which really worries me. Luckyly we will get Reina back after his year at Napoli, so Mignolet better step up if he wants to keep his position at the team.
My player of the month: Mamadou Sakho. He has placed in some great performances and have done his defensive job great. He have also been good offensive and scoring a few goals from corners.
General thoughts: The team ain't ready for the season yet, why I will try to get a few new players in before the season begins.
This month starts out bad as my player of the month from July, Sakho, got injured during training and will be out 4-5 weeks.
The 2nd last friendly was an away game against Fenerbache SK. We dominated and won an amazing 0-3 with a hattrick of the loanee Victor Moses!
The way to celebrate his hattrick apparently is to get injured at training. Moses is out for two weeks.
I’ve had a fine draw in Capital one Cup and got bury from League 2.
Bad way to end the preseason with a 2-0 loss to Galatasaray away. Some starting 11 were saved as my assistant planned this match close to the first league game, which is Cardiff at Anfield.
[/spoiler]The first fixture in Premier League was against Cardiff at Anfield. We won 3-1 with goals by Coutinho, Agger and Luis Alberto and an unfortunately own-goal by Allen. Coutinho got the MoM award with both a goal and an assist.
[spoiler=Swansea vs. Liverpool]
The 2nd match in PL was against Swansea at Liberty Stadium which we lost 2-1 with a goal by Captain fantastic.
[/spoiler] We qualified for the third round in Capital one Cup with a 2-0 win against Bury with goals by Gerrard and Coutinho. Johnson was named MoM. Moses had his comeback since he was injured earlier this month. The draw for third round in the cup turned out to give us Newcastle a rather difficult match it will be.
[spoiler=Matuidi]
After a long negotiating time I had Blaise Matuidi to sign a 5 year contract. He left PSG in favor for Liverpool for a 10.5 m signing fee. I look forward to see how this defensive midfielder will fill in the gap between the defenders and midfielders.
[spoiler=Liverpool vs. Southampton][/spoiler] The last game of the month ended as a 2-0 defeat to Southampton at Anfield. Really disappointing game with a lack of quality.
Biggest dissapointment of the month: Daniel Sturridge. As Suarez was out due to the 10-days quarantine he got last season I gave Sturridge the chance to impress and play as number 9. He was invisible throughout the month and didn’t score or assist even once.
My player of the month: Coutinho. This young lad impressed me very much. I’m disappoint how low his attributes are, but he still played well in all the matches and even created a couple of goals.
General thoughts: Suarez is missed. Sturridge ain’t fit to the role as number 9. Not yet atleast. We didn’t face any real great opponents, but still lost two games. Really disappointing. I’ll need to consider benching Sturridge and use Aspas until Suarez returns.
Top 5 transfers in this transfer-window:
Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid to Liverpool - 19,7 m
Ever Banega from Valencia to Paris Saint-Germain – 18,4 m
Kevin De Bruyne from Chelsea to Real Madrid – 17,8 m
Seydou Doumbia from CSKA Moscow to Arsenal – 15,1 m
André Ayew from Marseille to Manchester City – 12,3 m
I made Luis Alberto available for loan and will be playing for Aston Villa this season as I don’t see him get much playtime here.
Both Gerrard and Allen returns injured after playing for their national teams. They will both be out for 3 weeks and I just pray that I won’t get another midfielder injured as I play with 3 midfielders and now we only have 3 left, Matuidi, Lucas and Henderson.
[/spoiler] Important 0-1 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium with a goal from Sturridge. The first of the season! Enrique won MoM with an amazing assist and some solid defensive work. Sakho made his comeback in this match and played very well.
[spoiler=West Bromwich vs. Liverpool]
Time has to come to face West Bromwich away. It ended in a 2-2 draw with two goals from Aspas. His first goals in the red shirt! Enrique made a terrible own goal in 92th minute when they were a man down due to a red card. So his good start of the month definitely ended with costing us 2 points.
[/spoiler] We won 1-2 against Newcastle in Capital one cup. A difficult match we won with two goals from the matchwinner Sturridge and an assist by Suarez who now is back from his quarantine.
? In the fourth round of Capital One Cup we got Derby away. A fine draw considering that most teams left are in Premier League. It’s amazing that Tottenham got Man U and Man City got Arsenal. This will send two great teams out of the cup and that might give us an easier run towards the final.
[spoiler=Liverpool vs. Chelsea]
An amazing 2-1 victory over Chelsea at Anfield. The lads played very good and forced Essien to make an own-goal. Coutinho scored aswell. Gerrard had his comeback after his injury.
Biggest dissapointment of the month: Simon Mignolet. Again I must confess that he didn’t play well at all and could also have saved at least two goals this month with just a little effort, but didn’t. I’ve had a chat with him and he agreed with me saying his performances was too bad and promised to improve. Let’s see.
My player of the month: Sturridge. He has really found his form and is a threat to the opponents defensive everytime he gets the ball. It’s nice to see his teamwork with Suarez. I was close to say Enrique. If it wasn’t for his own goal costing us 2 points against West Bromwich I would probably have named him the player of the month due to some impressive performances with good defending and some sweet runs up the field.
General thoughts: The team has found their form and won against two top four candidates, Chelsea and Arsenal. We reached the 7th place in Premier League but only goal difference keep us away from 6th and thereby Euro Cup. 3 points away from 3rd and 4th place. I was named 2nd best manager of the month after Roberto Martinez who was named the best by leading Everton to 1st place.
It must be said that I this month used a different tactic as I saw problems with the 4-5-1 tactic. I used 4-4-2 this month with no wingers, so just 1 defensive, 2 central and 1 offensive midfielders. At this point it worked way better than my 4-5-1, but I hate that I can’t use Sterling on any position. So if I decide to keep this tactic, he might be on his way away from Liverpool at January or next Summer.
Wow, good results lad, It seems I have your first comment, and I also have a bit of competition:P Good luck lad, If you need any help with your updates please ask!