The Fields Of Anfield Road

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Hey guys, welcome to another story by myself. I know, I know. Yes, I'll be taking on the challenge of Liverpool. My own supported club. A side that I haven't seen any success with since the times of Football Manager 14. A career in which I ran a story along side which was arguably my best to date.

Now, as I have said I haven't seen much success with Liverpool and that's because...Well...I don't actually know. Maybe there is one stand out reason but I'm still looking for it and hopefully I can find it. This story will not run any further than Liverpool. If I get sacked that is it, if I go on for ten seasons, then awesome!

I hope I can make this a success mostly for you guys as I know we have been down on our luck here lately and I want to re-ignite the passion for writing. I hope I can give that to at least one of you.

Anyway, about our time with Liverpool. How will it be spent? What are my targets? Long-term? Short-Term?

Well to find my underlying problems with this club I'm going to approach my first season differently to how you expect. Liverpool of course in real life have been utterly phenomenal but those trophies still escape us! Or at least until the 26th of May they do

For my first season I want to win a trophy and that doesn't mean going all out in the Premier League and Champions League. Yes I want to do well in both but we need immediate success in order to push any further.

So without further ado...My Targets for this save:-

First Year:
Premier League - 4th Place Finish
Champions League - Round Of 16 Finish
Carabao Cup - Winner
FA Cup - Winner

That's right, my sole focus is the domestic cups. Let's get out there and win something! I hope you all enjoy, to all of you YNWA

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So, I have been at Liverpool for a few days now and we've been thrown right into the action with quite a few things to be dealing with before the season gets underway.

On my first day it was apparent that one player in-particular was starting to rock the boat. Refusing to sign a new deal Emre Can is seemingly looking for a way out of Liverpool come the end of the 2017/18 season so dealing with that first and foremost was utterly imperative to my teams cohesion.

Going into contract talks I didn't know what to expect. It could have been anything from a straight up "No" to "I want 200K a week". Thankfully, it seems a lot of these so called stories were far fetched and I managed to barter the Roaming Playmaker down to a solid 95K p/w contract. Quite good all things considered. The signing on bonus' were rather large but not detrimental to finances in anyway. Clauses were almost non existent.

With that out of the way, it was time to take a look at the squad. Here it is now.


So as you can see, yes we have the winter update on. The obvious spoiler there being the transfer of Van Dijk to Liverpool. With that signing, I can see a solid starting back four. A young one too. Finally!

Our backups can be considered rather suspect, but we'll see how that turns out throughout the course of this first season. Two players I'm really excited to work with are Trent Alexander-Arnold and Robertson but mostly Trent. A true Liverpool lad at right back here, young and capable in most areas of the pitch. A good free kick on him too.

Starting in midfield we have Can, Henderson, and the much improved Oxlade Chamberlain.

Here there is a lot of room for improvement. Can can be better and so can our captain. I'll be wanting big things from these two. Oxlade gets a free pass thanks to his goal against City...Or maybe not.

Our attack as I'm sure you're well aware, is just Suarez on crack right now. So I'll leave you with that.

Everyone here will get their chance, everyone on the bench too. In some places our backups are just not adequate but I'm hoping some of them can prove me wrong as they're all good lads that I've personally warmed too. Personal bias if you will.

We do of course have big injuries to Ings, Clyne, Brewster and Adam Lallana. So bad that it's just not worth them being in the first team right now so just for administrative purposes they have been demoted to the u23s until their return.

Now to close off this rather lengthy update, we have a few young players I'd like you too see.

First in the spot light is of course as I mentioned before...Arnold.

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I'm sure what you're all most excited about is the signings coming in. Now, to stay as true to the real life team as possible for one season I will only be buying ONE player. I know who this player is and he is a big target for me and I think he can be very important to us if we can acquire him.

After this season it's all systems go. Signings will be made and players will leave.

Hope you all enjoyed, signing off

Looking very nice Aaron, best of luck developing those younger players. Liverpool are about as set up as they'll ever be at the moment.

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So I've had time to adjust to my surroundings, the fixture list has been dished out and now we have our schedule for the coming season. Taking this into account, and of course many other factors I've now come up with my tactical approach for the start of the season and hopefully if all goes to plan...The rest of it.

So to start with I pulled out a very basic 4-3-3 as I feel in my head it suits Liverpool down to the ground more than anything at this point in time, and also myself. It's reliable in defense and if used correctly can be ruthless in the offense.

I decided on a starting line-up of as follows:
GK: Karius
RB: Alexander Arnold
RCB: Lovren
LCB: Van Dijk
LB: Robertson
DM: Can
RCM Oxlade Chamberlain
LCM: Henderson
RW: Salah
LW: Mane
ST: Firmino

It's a pretty solid lineup I believe, but it was hard to come up with what roles suit my players best and what kind of football to play. So I dibbled and I dabbled and this concoction game from my wonderful brain.


As you can see I have absolute no idea what's goi...Only joking. No but seriously I'm new to this myself. The two fullbacks naturally prefer to attack but purely for the fact I hate it when my fullbacks get lost in time when on the offense...They're on automatic for the time being.

We also have to take into account we're sacrificing some defensive duties with Can as a roaming play maker. He's a powerful man in the physical aspect of things and I want him to drive us forward in the counter attack.

We're playing with a much higher line in the hope our back four sticks as close as possible to Can and the rest of our midfield in a bid to counter the loss of our defensive capabilities in Defensive Midfield.

In attack we're keeping it nice, narrow and congested to hopefully overload the opposition final third and increase our chances of retaining the ball. Firmino drops deep as a False Nine as it seems to be his best position in the Striker role. If things become to close for comfort I shall push him forward.

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My second tactic is roughly the same to be honest. Only we're using a 4-2-3-1 here to add some more attacking prowess to our side. This (Unless extremely successful) will be our back up tactic for when we need goals, against smaller opponents, or simply a mind game to throw our next opposition off their preparations.


I know, I know, Can in Attacking midfield! Well, I think he'll be great.

Seriously though, that was just me quickly taking screenshots because I'm lazy. In reality Solanke will come in up top here and Firmino will drop from his usual position upfront in to the attacking midfield slot.

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Feliks: Thanks a lot man! Glad you took the time to read and I hope you continue further in. I'm looking forward to working with these youngsters and hopefully many more at Liverpool! It's going to be quite the journey

Arnold at right back over Clyne is a big call but should do wonders for his development.

Feliks: I love him in real life, he's awesome! So lets call it player bias, but Clyne is injured for 8 months so I can't play him even if I wanted too! Arnold will still play ahead of him mostly when he's back though. We'll see

Good luck with this Aaron mate. Looking forward to you working some magic with the Liverpool squad.

Squibble squabble

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ZENIT 0-2 LIVERPOOL MANE X2
LIVERPOOL 1-0 AC MILAN WOODBURN
BRAGA 1-4 LIVERPOOL WOODBURN, FIRMINO, MANE, HENDERSON (C)
FULHAM 1-2 LIVERPOOL FIRMINO X2
ALDERSHOT 1-3 LIVERPOOL FIRMINO X2, SALAH

So as you can see a fantastic start. 100% in pre-season. Of course these games mean nothing and they're generally for a fitness boost and an opportunity to see how my tactics are playing out but we were up against some tough teams to start with and I'm pleased to say how well we did as coming back from the off season holidays can be a hard task for some players.

Ben Woodburn was fantastic throughout the course of our pre-season which is fantastic to see. The young winger has been fantastic whenever called upon and that's something that leaves me with a lot of confidence heading into the season as we will need his quality in case of injuries to one of our starting front three.

Zenit and AC Milan were the two outstanding results in my eyes. I though we were great, and the other three I had expected to win so gladly I can tell you that this has become reality.

I feel like every team we played is each at it's own individual level of quality and this has really helped me to understand who we should be able to beat going into the beginning of our busy schedule.

In conclusion I'm really happy, and we've done brilliantly but it's in the past now and these games have no good meaning too us anyway. The hard work begins now but I think we're more than ready to take on the Premier League and all the challenges the competition brings with it.

Of course I should probably let you know our fixture list as I'm sure you're all dying to know...Here are our first 5 games for the Premier League.

Shedule
Tottenham (A)
Bournemouth (H)
Stoke (A)
Manchester City (H)
Huddersfield (A)

So, it's promising to be a cracker of a start with two massive games to begin with but how will we fair? I think we're in with a great chance here of picking up a good 10 points at the very least. We're in great shape going into the Spurs game.

Of course we do have our Champions League Playoff draw to think about and that will be one leg either side of the Bournemouth game. Not forgetting our Carabao cup 3rd round draw which I believe comes just after our game at Huddersfield.

This is a competition I can't wait to get my teeth into. As soon as this game comes around it's high flying for us I just know it! I want that silverwear.

Lastly, we have signed a player! That's right we've filled our cap of one signing for the season and this comes in the form of another striker.

Now I know what you're all thinking. We have plenty of strikers but let me give you my personal view. Salah and Mane will be primarily on the wings. No where else. Firmino is not a natural striker and because of this, things might not go so well for him. He may have to drop back into the AMC position.

Solanke of course as you know I am going to give chances however my mind is at a place currently that tells me he just won't be good enough to start week in week out for us and my opinion will remain unchanged until he proves otherwise. Which I really hope he does.

Ings is currently injured, and when he's not injured...He's injured. Sturridge is on loan aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand always injured. Origi is also on loan but he too will get his chance next year at Liverpool as past experience has proven he can be rather lethal up top.

Woodburn can play striker too but I prefer him as my back up to Mane on that left wing. Overall I feel like this new signing brings healthy competition to our attack as well longevity and quality.

So here he is - Patrick Cutrone £18M


That just about wraps it all up I believe, stay tuned for more

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ScottT: Thank you very much mate, hope you stick around and enjoy the ride. It'll be bumpy thooooough.

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Here we are then! Nearing our season opener against Spurs at Wembley stadium where they will play all of their home games this season due to a stadium rebuild over there usual ground White Hart Lane.

Now. We have a big season ahead and to begin with I want to talk about the favorites at the top and the bottom.

We are 4-1 for the title with a predicted finish for 4th place which is probably where most people would expect us to come and definitely our target for the first season here.

The teams above us are as follows:
Manchester City 5/2
Manchester United 3/1
Chelsea FC 7/2

Relegation favorites now:
Crystal Palace 1000/1
Swansea 1000/1
huddersfield 1000/1

Our first Merseyside Derby will be on the 28th October and will be played at the ever increasingly depressing Goodison Park. Sorry Everton fans...;)

Our first game against Manchester United will be on the 25th November where we'll look to utilize fortress Anfield to get the best result we can!

The Champions League Playoff draw has also been made and we will play CSKA Moscow

In it's entirety the draw looks like this:
CSKA Moscow vs Liverpool
OGC Nice vs Napoli
Hoffenheim vs Sevilla
Club Brugge vs Dynamo Kyiv
Sporting vs Ajax

An exciting round of football. We'll be going all out in this one to ensure qualification to the groups where we will be considered for the 3rd seed in the Group Stage Draw.

We also got Bournemouth at home again in the Carabao cup meaning we have a fantastic chance to progress to the fourth round. We play them twice at anfield only a few games apart.

That's it then for the preview. We now head out in search of our first competitive win! Let's get it sooner rather than later!

When Fernando Torres played in liverpool, this team can wun the championship

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TOTTENHAM 2-2 LIVERPOOL MANE, CAN
CSKA MOSCOW 1-2 LIVERPOOL SALAH X2
LIVERPOOL 2-2 BOURNEMOUTH MANE, SALAH
LIVERPOOL 4-2 CSKA MOSCOW HENDERSON, MANE, CUTRONE, ARNOLD
STOKE 0-2 LIVERPOOL SALAH, CUTRONE

A mixed bag eh? Yeah I thought so too. It's been a pretty poor start to the Premier League but as you can see we made it through with ease to the CL Group Stages so for that I am happy. It's not all doom and gloom though. Here's the low down.

We started very poorly against tottenham. Within 6 minutes we were 2-0 down. Kane and Alli scoring twice within the space of two minutes. Not a good start, not how I imagined my first game in charge. They came out all guns blazing but dropped off after that and for the remaining 84 minutes we were the much better team.

Emre Can smashed the scoreline wide open in the 18th minute with a thunderous strike from outside the box. It was then left to Mane latching onto a far post cross from Salah. Open wide net, he really didn't have to do too much. 2-2.

But that was it, and we earned a point at Wembley. Not bad going. Onto CSKA.

We started emphatically. 2 minutes it took for Salah to race on past his marker and hammer one into the far bottom corner. CSKA came into the game actually playing their defensive midfielder wernbloom as a partner to their usual striker...Because...You know...Football Manager.

He scored. Because...You know...Football Manager. 1-1 and the game went dead. that was literally it. Quite boring to watch actually. If only Salah could've scored his 94th minute winner a little earlier. Anyway, 2 away goals and a victory. Can't ask for much more!

Yes, another poor performance. No but this one really was poor. We smashed Tottenham in all aspects but goals. Our efforts here just took the cake. Jermaine Defoe completely rinsed our defense in the 20th minute. Things were looking up with ourselves being the more dominant side. We scored through Salah just before half time and Mane took us ahead in the second half.

It wasn't to be though. Lovren takes down Defoe in the box and a penalty is slotted home by Charlie Daniels with 15 minutes to go.

A much needed romping in this one. We were on fire all game. Cutrone bagged his first goal for the club on his debut converting a low cross from Mane.

Arnold produced one of the most fantastic efforts from a free kick. He curled one right around the wall and as far into the top right as it could get.

And then our Captain scored again from a dead ball. Terrific from ole' Hendo.

We were pretty much through at that point so the poor defending for out two conceded goals wasn't to bother us but it will still have to be looked into. Sadio got his rewards for a fine performance in the 92nd minute with our fourth.

Lastly, Stoke away. On a Saturday though. So I wasn't too worried. We put in a brilliant performance to round of the month. Solid at the back formidable up top. Cutrone bagging his second in two games and Salah putting the tie to bed in the 55th. 3 points, that's all I wanted.

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This was tough too call. We had many good players put in great performances but purely based on goals lets go with Mane. Sublime efforts from him seals his Player Of The Month award for August.

Unfortunately his stroke of good form will come with a price as his injury against Stoke sets him back for roughly three weeks. Heading into the national break though...It really couldn't have been better timing.

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Like I said before, a mixed bag in general but we played very well and our performances have been very promising. Our main tactical approach seems to have done us wonders for shots and possession, and even limiting shots. Although I can't seem to get enough goals out of it.

We seem to be suspect to a few mistakes too. I don't think in any of these games there was an opponent that got into double figures on the shot clock.

Not to worry, we will continue to work hard and improve on these results. Manchester City next. Bring 'em on!

OH MANÉ MANÉ

Justice: DO DO DO DO, DO DO

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We got through our playoff draw against CSKA Moscow in fine style with a 6-3 aggregate win. Now we have our Group Stage draw and I couldn't be more excited.

We come in against some big sides due to being in the 3rd seed. So whatever happens the likely hood is that we will be facing a massive challenge. Nonetheless we will see ourselves as favorites against anyone.

The other play off contenders that got through were:
Napoli
Hoffenheim
Ajax
Dynamo Kyiv

Now, here are the all the groups from A to H in full. ...Because why would you do half a job?!

Group A:
JUVENTUS
CHELSEA FC
AS MONACO
FEYENOORD

Group B:
MANCHESTER CITY FC
BVB DORTMUND
ANDERLECHT
VIITORUL

Group C:
LIVERPOOL
SL BENFICA
FC BASEL
RASENBALLSPORT LIEPZIG

Group D:
BARCELONA
SHAKTHAR
CELTIC
ROMA

Group E:
REAL MADRID
MANCHESTER UNITED
DYNAMO KYIV
KOBENHAVN

Group F:
SPARTAK MOSCOW
PARIS SAINT GERMAIN
TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS
BESIKTAS

Group G:
BAYERN MUNICH
OLYMPIAKOS
PORTO
PARTIZAN

Group H:
AJAX
HOFFENHEIM
ATLETICO MADRID
NAPOLI

Erm...Could have gone a lot worse. A LOT worse actually. What a solid group to get! I think our hopes of reaching the Last 16 have just been boosted here. RBL are a tough nut to crack though. I'm confident of good results against Benfica and Basel though.

Lets paint it Red!