WeAreLiverpool

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#WeAreLiverpool

Welcome to my latest Football Manager adventure; the latest in a long string of half-assed attempts and save corruption; the tale to break that cycle. This is a joint endeavour between FMScout and my Blog, in which I will tell the story on FMScout, and provide deeper insight and bonus content through my blog pages as the story develops.

The FMScout content will be very much in my usual style - news updates, transfer rumours and monthly roundups. By contrast, the Blog content will focus on youth development, my thinking around the game, and a bit more about my tactical approach to the save.

For now, the blog is not active, so for the first 2 weeks, the story will be exclusive to FMScout, and I will update this introductory post as soon as the blog is live and carrying content, so you guys can have a deeper insight into the journey so far.

Posts will be made to FMScout on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with the blog being updated on Mondays and Fridays when it is active

Sit back, Relax, and enjoy the (hopeful) resurgence of Liverpool FC.

Looking forward to this!

Sorry, I didn't catch that. Who are you?

2017-08-09 10:04#245339 Justice : Sorry, I didn't catch that. Who are you?

Everton.

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Monthly Overview

July was a month in which I largely concerned myself with getting to grips with my new squad, offloading as much deadwood as possible, and starting to build for the future. With that in mind, a fair bit of my transfer business was designed to streamline my youth squads and fill them with future talent (Denoted by a Y below), rather than merely pad the first team. I truly believe that the players I purchased and sold for the first team will have an impact moving forwards, and I believe that the new faces will soon feel like they've been at the club for years.

In terms of fixtures, July was not the most challenging, however I was pleased to get my first games under my belt relatively quickly, and the team's performance in these games was very pleasing.

Transfers In

Geoffrey Kondogobia - Inter Milan - £30m
Sergej Milinkovic Savic - Lazio - £24m
Gianluigi Donnarumma - AC Milan - £26m
Jonathan Tah - Leverkusen - £49m
Sergi Roberto - Barcelona - £26m
Calum Chambers - Arsenal - £35m
Kuki - Malaga - £1.1m
Lucas - Atletico Madrid - £20m

Y - Jake McCarthy - Free Transfer
Y - Alvaro Fernandez - Free Transfer
Y - Andre Dozzell - Ipswich - £4.4m
Y - Sergio Akieme - Vallencano - £625k
Y - Matthew Targett - Southampton - £10.5m
Y - Alessandro Bastoni - Atalanta - £3.5m
Y - Jurich Carolina - PSV - £7.5m
Y - Pelayo Suarez - Sporting Gijon - £1.8m
Y - Nadiem Amiri - Hoffenheim - £13.75m
Y - Marcos Vinicius - Cruzeiro - £6.75m
Y - Luca Clemenza - Juventus - £825k
Y - Diego - Free Transfer
Y - Ronaldo Viera - Leeds - £3.8m
Y - Xadas - Braga - £600k
Y - Nicolas Janvier - Stade Rennais - £3.2m

Transfers Out

Georginio Wijnaldum - Feyenoord - £26m
Mamadou Sakho - PSG - £17m
Lazar Markovic - Monaco - £11.75m
James Milner - Arsenal - £11m
Jon Flanagan - Monaco - £6m
Danny Ings - Wolfsburg - £1.4m
Simon Mingolet - AC Milan - £10.75m
Roberto Firmino - Real Madrid - £110m

Results

4-0 v Scunthorpe
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Chamers, Tah, Lucas, Moreno, Roberto, Kondogobia, Salah, Milinkovic Savic, Coutinho, Origi
Karius, Lovren, Lallana, Matip, Henderson, Kuki, Robertson, Grujic, Kent, Gomez, Mane
Origi (2), Coutinho, Kuki
Origi

3-0 v Stevenage
Starting XI: Karius, Roberto, Tah, Lovren, Lucas, Kondogobia, Grujic, Salah, Lallana, Kent, Sturridge
Donnarumma, Chambers, Milinkovic Savic, Origi, Matip, Can, Mane, Gomez, Henderson, Kuki, Robertson
Kent, Salah, Chambers
Ryan Kent

1-0 v Karpaty
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Chambers, Matip, Gomez, Robertson, Henderson, Can, Mane, Milinkovic Savic, Coutinho, Kuki
Karius, Roberto, Kondogobia, Sturridge, Lucas, Lallana, Salah, Moreno, Lovren, Kent
Can
Gianluigi Donnarumma

5-1 v Roma
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Roberto, Tah, Lovren, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Mane, Milinkovic Savic, Coutinho, Sturridge
Karius, Lucas, Kondogobia, Salah, Matip, Lallana, Kuki, Chambers, Grujic, Kent, Robertson
Sturridge (3), Mane, Kent
Daniel Sturridge

Player of the Month: Daniel Sturridge

An impressive start to pre-season for Sturridge saw him lead the Liverpool line well, scoring a hat-trick against Roma to top it all off. Sturridge's intelligent link-up play and ability to break the opposition's defensive line set the tempo for the Liverpool attack, and also set the bar for the other strikers who will look to break into the Liverpool team this year, such as Divock Origi and Kuki.

Young Player of the Month: Ryan Kent

Ryan Kent was the breakthrough star of pre-season, scoring twice in four starts and assisting twice, his intelligent play on the left flank lit up Anfield, and allowed his team to break forward ahead of him. Playing with a confidence far beyond his years, Kent could well be the surprise package of the season.

A lot of business but you've heavily invested into the youth which is great to see and will definitely pay off in the coming years. A great pre-season too, glad to see Ryan Kent enjoying a good run. Love the graphic as usual!

A great pre season with an awful lot of transfer activity, but hopefully the club is in the right place moving forward!

So, nobody gonna say anything about that Firmino fee?

Some negotiation you managed over Firmino

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Monthly Overview

After a strong July, I was keen to kick on in August, as we opened our Premier League and Champions League campaigns against Newcastle and Brugge respectively. This month was very much one in which the depth of the squad was tested early, playing 6 games in just 19 days.

I think we coped with that pressure well, and look forward to seeing how the season progresses. There were a number of positives to pick out, however I was dissapointed to be forced into selling club captain Jordan Henderson so early, especially to Manchester City, but he forced the move, and I felt the fee we recieved was probably a little higher than it should have been, and it allowed us to balance the books slightly after a busy transfer summer, bringing the club's net spend down to £136m after the board accommodated a last minute move for Henderson's replacement.

Transfers In

Dele Alli - Tottenham - £65m

Y - Milot Rashica - Vitesse - £10m
Y - Fiete Arp - Hamburg - £4.8m
Y - Jack Lee - Sheffield Wednesday - £1.5m
Y - Andres Cubas - Boca - £5.25m
Y - Matty Cash - Nottingham Forest - £5.75m
Y - Jordan Graham - Wolves - £12.5m
Y - Martin Samuelsen - West Ham - £5m
Y - Patrick Roberts - Manchester City - £8.5m

Transfers Out

Milot Rashica - Real Sociedad - Loan
Andres Cubas - Real Sociedad - Loan
Taiwo Awoniyi - RC Strasbourg - Loan
Jordan Henderson - Manchester City - £77m

Results

0-0 v AC Milan
Starting XI: Karius, Clyne, Tah, Lucas, Moreno, Can, Kondogobia, Salah, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge
Donnarumma, Matip, Milinkovic Savic, Mane, Chambers, Henderson, Kuki, Grujic, Gomez, Robertson
N/A
Loris Karius

3-0 v Newcastle
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Clyne, Tah, Lovren, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Mane, Lallana, Coutinho, Sturridge
Origi, Salah, Roberto
Sturridge, Mane, Henderson
Lallana (2), Sturridge
Adam Lallana

2-0 v Club Brugge
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Clyne, Tah, Lovren, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Mane, Lallana, Kent, Sturridge
Robertson, Chambers, Coutinho
Moreno, Clyne, Lallana
Sturridge, Kent
Jonathan Tah

0-0 v West Brom
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Chambers, Tah, Lovren, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Mane, Milinkovic Savic, Coutinho, Origi
N/A
N/A
N/A
Dejan Lovren

3-0 v Club Brugge
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Clyne, Tah, Lucas, Moreno, Roberto, Can, Salah, Lallana, Kent, Sturridge
Milinkovic Savic, Chambers, Coutinho
Lallana, Clyne, Kent
Sturridge, Lallana, Roberto
Lucas

3-0 v Manchester City
Starting XI: Donnarumma, Clyne, Tah, Matip, Moreno, Henderson, Can, Mane, Milinkovic Savic, Coutinho, Sturridge
N/A
N/A
Sturridge (2), Coutinho
Daniel Sturridge

Player of the Month: Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge carried his impressive pre-season form into the regular season, quickly making his mark against defences both in the Premier League and in Europe, scoring 5 goals in 5 matches this month across all competitions. It seems that Liverpool's playing style has really clicked, and the focus placed on the striker breaking the opponent's backline, running into space and causing issues really suits Sturridge's style of play.

Young Player of the Month: Jonathan Tah

While pre-season sensation Ryan Kent continued to impress, Jonathan Tah's work defensively just pips him to the prize. The 20 year old has barely put a foot wrong since arriving in England, and his composure brings a solidity to the Liverpool backline which had previously been lacking. So much so, that Tah also won the Premier League Young Player of the Month award, as he embarks on what could prove to be a highly successful career at Anfield.

Comments

ScottT: Yeah, there's a lot of investment in youth; the reasons will become apparent soon; I wanted to create a situation where youngsters could constantly develop and break into the team consistently

mgriffin2012: I'm pleased with pre-season, and a lot of the transfer activity was either filling gaps in the squad or strengthening the youth setup...financially i think the club will benefit in the long run, and i was (barring one transfer) well within the budget the board set for Net spend

Justice: What can i say, they wanted their man, I didn't want to sell...:P

ninjaskill: Yeah it was an intense transfer: much like Henderson, after a point Firmino decided he wanted to go (after two rejected bids) so i played hardball, and Madrid caught it!

Splashing the cash already.

Amazing team, keep it up bro! on which position are you on the League Table?

WE'VE GOT ALLI, DELE ALLI!

Hendo is gone?? :O a very very good start defensively, how big a kick up the arse did you give them?

What a piece of business, Henderson gone for a huge amount and Alli, who in my opinion is a better player, in for a cheaper fee! Nice to see you have progressed into the Champions League group stages, a great month as a whole with that City result. Similarly to your other Liverpool save though, just unable to get a result against sides like West Brom. As Lucas Leiva says, UNLUCKEEEEE!