TheJanitor

I think you can call 3 over 23 players for the Olympics. How Duncan is doing for you? Could you post a screenshot?

Preferred league(s): Spain, France, Holland (2nd division teams only) Expectations: Top/middle half Finances: Doesn't have to be rich, but not a financial mess Youth/Training Facilities: Good. I want to have a save with a team that has the potential for quality youth development.

Question, how would you create a 4-2-3-1 based around two #10 playing? Specifically, in the AMC and one of the AMLR. No need to get overly specific with roles etc, just a few ideas on how to get the best out of them.

Watch out for Valery and Obafemi, they look potentially amazing. Re-reading @Cleon Ajax thread, what a five-star reading. I think I will try following it with Genk.

God job finishing 8th with Southampton. A bit of an imbalanced squad to start with. How are your academy players progressing?

Finished my first season by winning domestic treble. Reached the quarter-final of the CL, but lost to Real Madrid in a late, dramatic fashion. In terms of signing, I wanted to take the approach of being loyal to my starting squad, and sign mostly young players with scope to grow who will gradually replace my starting players. These are my first season signings: Only major departure was Moreno, who was on his final years and complaining about lack of game time. Markovic was never going to last past this and Solanke, Grabara and Masterson went on successful loans. Josha Vagnoman was signed as a long-term replacement to Nathaniel Clyne as more defensively-minded RB to rotate with TAA. However, after Moreno's departure, he became Robertson deputy and was a revelation. Max Broughton was spotted by my scouts and joined for peanuts. A CB by trade, his attributes are more suited for a midfielder. Haven't developed much since his arrival, but if he could turn some of those 11s and 12s into 14s and 15s, he will be a decent player. Saw this article a few days ago: http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/club/liverpool/364/blog/post/3720726/liverpools-renaissance-in-the-transfer-market-is-a-prime-driver-of-their-premier-league-title-challenge And decided to keep the approach of signing quality youngsters, generally with a good personality, that are on my shortlist for a while. This while keeping hold of my key players. This is my summer window: Wilson, Woodburn, and Grujic haven't developed much on their recent loans and were sent again to hopefully get better next season. Mignolet was shipped off to PSG, as I felt like it was time for him to move on. I want to be loyal, but I want my players to have a good career. For this reason, Origi was loaned. He was pretty bad for me last season and it doesn't look like he got much chance of getting game time for my side. The one departure that I was sad about was Clyne, but he was a back-up player and wanted to join Arsenal, so I was happy to oblige. Nathaniel Clyne's departure allowed me to make my biggest signing in Ryan Sessegnon. Shelled quite a few for him, but he looks so good. I want to be England's Bayern Munich, getting the best players of my club's nation, and I didn't spent much up to this point, no point having virtual money in the bank. My other big signing was Kristoffer Ajer, who will be my future DLP, but he is versatile enough to also be an option as Van Dijk's long-term replacement. Vagnoman was joined by his former HSV teammate, Fiete Arp, who I triggered his £14m release clause. Another player from Germany who's clause was triggered was Timo Horn, who will replace Migs as Alisson's cover. And finally, Andy Tucker and Paul Wood and regens who are more of a long-term project. Wood in particular looks promising. So far I'm pretty pleased about how the save is going. Only issue is Alisson being unhappy. He wanted a new contract, but his current one running until 2024 and his demands are stupid. Tried to get his teammates to talk him out of it, but isn't willing to listen. Anyone got tips for this situation?

What are the chances this guy got to become a capable Sweeper Keeper? Got some excellent attributes, but his First Touch and Composure are just bad.

Thanks for all the replies! You made a lot of good points that I will consider, but I have a question about this specific point. When I instruct my players to pass into space, and there is few or none available, surely they will just recycle possession until they find it? What is the downside of using this shout as long as you have players capable of using space as Liverpool do? I see you saw through my charade. Yes, this has been inspired by real-life events, but also because I think that in 4-2-3-1, the central two should be more about controlling play, while Keita main strength, in my opinion, is to link up between the midfield and the attack, which is why I think he is at his best in this role. I think your suggestion about playing him at MCL is probably closer to real-life, however, I like to use default formations, so I will pass on this for now. This is my formation now: We played 3 matches: vs. Atletico Madrid in the knockouts of the CL - won 2-0 - Salah had 0 shots on goal vs. Manchester United in the final of the League Cup - won on pens - Salah had 3 shots on goal vs. Huddersfield in the Premier League - won 3-1 - Salah had 5 shots on goal (including a pen) I'm clearly not doing a good job creating chances for him, and whatever chances I do create are of poor quality. I'm not very good at analyzing play. What do you think may cause this?

What team is that? Liverpole? Merry Christmas!

I'm playing as Liverpool at the moment and I need some help getting the best out of Mo Salah upfront. I'm simply struggling to create good chances for him. This is my tactic and preferred line-up: I used the default Gegenpressing instructions for a while, but the removed the high defensive line and line of engagement, to prevent compressing space in the final third. It looks like it working slightly better, but I'm still not creating enough chances for him. How can I improve chance creation for Salah?

Finally reached January: Mostly playing 433, breaking the 4231 occasionally. Started off just battering teams, including 7-0 against Newcastle, 6-2 versus Arsenal, and beating Manchester United 3-0. Suffered through injuries with Firmino, Salah, Mane, Henderson and now Keita, who is out for 2-3 months (took a sharp Stamina drop as well, from 17 to 15. Hope he would be able to regain it). In terms of transfers, I just made my first, signing Josha Vagnoman. I intend him to be my long-term deputy to TAA, but since Moreno requested a transfer, I will give him a run as backup LB. My best player has been Salah with 10 goals and 8 assists in 23 starts. Firmino and Mane both got 8 goals and 2 assists, the former in 18 starts and the latter in 21. Meeting Real Madrid in the first knockouts round

What's everyone's approach to Sturridge and Origi? Sturridge is doing well when called upon, but his wages demands are crazy. Origi is meh for me but has some resell value.

It is my 2nd tactic. In the beta Shaqiri was great for me in that tactic.

To relax during that game, I finally started my season with Liverpool. It was a pretty relaxing experience Playing the default Gegenpressing 4-3-3.

Might be a bit difficult to replace him in January, personally I would keep him until the end of the year and try to get Pellegri next season. If you're stuck, Maupay from Brentford looks like an interesting shout. Considered him for Southampton but he looks like more of a goal-scorer than a defensive forward like I needed. Should be available for less than 10 mil. Haller from Frankfurt also looks good, should be just about 25 mil.