Search the Community

Hi When playing as Liverpool (Or any club who uses their recruitment structure for that matter) why don't targets or signings have to be agreed by the transfers committee or taken from the pool of players scouted and shortlisted as a committee?

Welcome to the Football Manager 2018 Liverpool Football Club Thread History Liverpool F.C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892 and Houlding founded Liverpool F.C. to play at Anfield. Originally named "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd" (Everton Athletic for short), the club became Liverpool F.C. in March 1892 and gained official recognition three months later, after The Football Association refused to recognise the club as Everton. The team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, which it won in 1901 and again in 1906. Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. It won consecutive League championships in 1922 and 1923, but did not win another trophy until the 1946–47 season, when the club won the First Division for a fifth time under the control of ex-West Ham Utd centre half George Kay. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal. The club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, Bill Shankly was appointed manager. Upon his arrival he released 24 players and converted a boot storage room at Anfield into a room where the coaches could discuss strategy; here, Shankly and other "Boot Room" members Joe Fagan, Reuben Bennett, and Bob Paisley began reshaping the team. The club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup. In 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners' Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later. Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley.In 1976, Paisley's second season as manager, the club won another League and UEFA Cup double. The following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979. During Paisley's nine seasons as manager Liverpool won 21 trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six League titles and three consecutive League Cups; the only domestic trophy he did not win was the FA Cup. Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagan's first season, becoming the first English side to win three trophies in a season. Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence which separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 fans, mostly Italians. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus. As a result of the tragedy, English clubs were banned from participating in European competition for five years; Liverpool received a ten-year ban, which was later reduced to six years. Fourteen Liverpool fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter. Fagan had announced his retirement just before the disaster and Kenny Dalglish was appointed as player-manager. During his tenure, the club won another three League Championships and two FA Cups, including a League and Cup "Double" in the 1985–86 season. Liverpool's success was overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster: in an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989, hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing. Ninety-four fans died that day; the 95th victim died in hospital from his injuries four days later and the 96th died nearly four years later, without regaining consciousness. After the Hillsborough disaster there was a government review of stadium safety. The resulting Taylor Report paved the way for legislation that required top-division teams to have all-seater stadiums. The report ruled that the main reason for the disaster was overcrowding due to a failure of police control. Liverpool was involved in the closest finish to a league season during the 1988–89 season. Liverpool finished equal with Arsenal on both points and goal difference, but lost the title on total goals scored when Arsenal scored the final goal in the last minute of the season. Dalglish cited the Hillsborough disaster and its repercussions as the reason for his resignation in 1991; he was replaced by former player Graeme Souness. Under his leadership Liverpool won the 1992 FA Cup Final, but their league performances slumped, with two consecutive sixth-place finishes, eventually resulting in his dismissal in January 1994. Souness was replaced by Roy Evans, and Liverpool went on to win the 1995 Football League Cup Final. While they made some title challenges under Evans, third-place finishes in 1996 and 1998 were the best they could manage, and so Gérard Houllier was appointed co-manager in the 1998–99 season, and became the sole manager in November 1998 after Evans resigned. In 2001, Houllier's second full season in charge, Liverpool won a "Treble": the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Houllier underwent major heart surgery during the 2001–02 season and Liverpool finished second in the League, behind Arsenal. They won a further League Cup in 2003, but failed to mount a title challenge in the two seasons that followed. Houllier was replaced by Rafael Benítez at the end of the 2003–04 season. Despite finishing fifth in Benítez's first season, Liverpool won the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, beating A.C. Milan 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended with a score of 3–3. The following season, Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and won the 2006 FA Cup Final, beating West Ham United in a penalty shootout after the match finished 3–3. American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of the club during the 2006–07 season, in a deal which valued the club and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million. The club reached the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final against Milan, as it had in 2005, but lost 2–1. During the 2008–09 season Liverpool achieved 86 points, its highest Premier League points total, and finished as runners up to Manchester United. In the 2009–10 season, Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Benítez subsequently left by mutual consent and was replaced by Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. At the start of the 2010–11 season Liverpool was on the verge of bankruptcy and the club's creditors asked the High Court to allow the sale of the club, overruling the wishes of Hicks and Gillett. John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and of Fenway Sports Group, bid successfully for the club and took ownership in October 2010. Poor results during the start of that season led to Hodgson leaving the club by mutual consent and former player & manager Kenny Dalglish taking over. Despite a record 8th League Cup success against Cardiff and an FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea, Liverpool finished in eighth position in the 2011–12 season, the worst league finish in 18 years and led to the sacking of Dalglish. He was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. In Rodgers' first season, Liverpool finished in seventh. In the 2013–14 season, Liverpool mounted an unexpected title charge to finish second behind champions Manchester City and subsequently return to the Champions League, scoring 101 goals in the process, the most since the 106 scored in the 1895–96 season. Following a disappointing 2014-15 season, where Liverpool finished sixth in the league, and a poor start to the 2015-16 season, Brendan Rodgers was sacked in October 2015. He was replaced by Jürgen Klopp, who became the third foreign manager in Liverpool's history. In Klopp's first season at Liverpool, he took the club to the finals of both the Football League Cup and UEFA Europa League, finishing as runner-up in both competitions. The Fans In Game Budget

The Fields of Anfield Road - Liverpool F.C. I have decided to create a save with the team I have supported since I attended my first ever game at the age of 4 and still attending games to this day whenever possible, I usually go with Liverpool as my first ever save on every years FM however on this occasion with all the new training features I tried it with different teams to get to terms with the new training, tactics etc before making my yearly save with Liverpool. So let's get down to the reason I chose Liverpool for my career update thread, I was born in '94 so since '98 I have been watching Liverpool go through so many ups and downs, watching us have good years such as 2001 and 2005 and very turbulent years over the past 20 years, watching us through the Hicks & Gillett era which was abysmal after looking so promising at the beginning and would've been much worse if it wasn't for the wonderful man of Rafa Benitez and now watching us under relatively new owners who have transformed the club while under the management of Brendan Rodgers and more notably current manager Jurgen Klopp who have fantastic runs in the League, Europa League and Champions League respectively, however, we've fallen short on the final hurdle. It is my plan in this save to replicate the dominance of Liverpool from back in the Shankly and Paisley days and bring the glory days back to Anfield. These are the finances after doing my expectations, so this season I expect to challenge for the title while making the final of FA Cup & Champions League respectively, hopefully we can do better than that but I want to do this as a minimum. A nice healthy transfer budget and hopefully if we can offload a couple of players that don't feature in my plans that'll go higher and get some main targets in. Liverpool have got a very strong squad but there are a few players which aren't really up to the task of where I want to take this team so there will be changes to be expected. The main spine of the team is littered with stars with the likes of Alisson, Van Dijk, Fabinho, Keita, Mane, Salah, Firmino; A couple more world class players and I believe we won't be too far away from being at Man City's squad level of depth and quality but it remains to be seen if I can offload the players that I believe are hindering our future successes. (There is also Origi, Solanke and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the squad too but they are in the U23's due to I'm looking to offload Origi, loan out Solanke and Ox is injured for 11 months). Next update will be the end of pre-season with tactics and transfers.

It ended 2-2, which to me is a great result when you are Palace playing against the Mighty Reds with the best attacking trio in the world (Salah - Firmino - Mane), especially given that we had to play without our leading centre back Sakho due to an injury. We were leading twice, and both times Salah managed to equalize. This guy is simply incredible. He was everywhere across the pitch, always looking for space and making himself available for a pass. and it was clear that sooner or later he was going to put it into the back of the net somehow despite our really good and well-organized team defending. And he scored both goals virtually in the same way and from very similar positions, as you can see in this screenshot: If you look at the Match Stats, you could get an impression that they completely dominated the game, but in this case the stats are somewhat misleading, as I watched the whole match (as I regularly do), so you can trust me If you look better, you'll see they created just one CCC more than we did (3/2), and these were all created while they were desperately trying to equalize. They had a lot more shots overall, but quite a few were either from distance or blocked by my players. And even though I intentionally gave possession over to them, they did not have as much of it as one would have assumed (56/44). And finally, here is the strikerless 4213 which I used as the starting tactic that brought me a 1-0 lead. Later on, when we took the lead, I anticipated they were going to attack us like crazy, so I was making occasional tweaks to the tactic in order to better adapt it to the situation, and at some point even changed the formation to a regular 4-2-1-3 Wide.

SC TRIDENT - B2B.DIRECT AND B2B.SHORT THE FINAL VERSION OF SÉRGIO CONCEIÇÃO TACTICS After lots of saves, inumerous seasons, various teams and leagues, the real tactic aproach, without 3 strikers, without 3 central defenders, reaches a final defensive balance. Best suited for top teams, and skilled players, also can make some middle table teams arise to the top. 4-1-2-3 DM WIDE SET PIECES INCLUDED | NO OI'S | PLUG N PLAY TRAINING BY THE ASSISTANT MANAGER IMPROVED DEFENSIVE SUPPORT STABLE CONTINUOUS ATTACK AND CURATED COUNTER ATTACK EVENTS FOCUS ON TEAMPLAY, FAST TRANSITIONS AND GOAL SCORING THIS TACTIC FORCES THE OPPONENT DEFENSIVE LINE TO MAKE MISTAKES (PENALTIES, FREE KICKS, CARDS, OWN GOALS, BAD PASSES) DOWNLOAD THE TACTIC ON ATTACHMENTS Set Pieces Credits: Trowins from Knap, Corners and Freekicks from kungfu tactic. B2B.SHORT.DM.POACHER THIS THE BEST TACTIC I USED THIS YEAR, THE FINAL RESULT OF 4123 DM WIDE INTENSE TEST Important notes: Tackling is very important for DM and BB CM's Good Finishing is also a must for scoring inside forwards. The Poacher position for CF is important, since it helps the team on defensive matters. I'll detail the tactic theory tomorrow, explaining the roles and how the team works together. This tactic is a team work style of play, so you'll not see any overachiever individual stats. Several players will score: CF a lot, but also the IF's and the CM's, at the same time they assist, with the fabulous CW assists. Sorry for late screenshots, but was finishing this tactic, and due to real life work, only have a few daily hours to players. Have fun and enjoy it! 1ST SEASON WITH TRANSFERS AT LIVERPOOL (WON CL TOO) 1ST SEASON WITHOUT TRANSFERS AT FC PORTO UNDERDOG SHORT.DM.POACHER Version better suited for underdog teams Well, can't say it's perfect. Didn't got the League neither the Euro qualification on first season. But Huddersfield was predicted to finish on 20th place, and a 6th place is very good, with some good victories on the middle. With 2/3 signings it would be better, but money didnt exists around there. SC TRIDENT - B2B.DIRECT - SP - FM18.3.3.fmf SC TRIDENT - SHORT.DM.POACHER - SP - FM18.3.3.fmf SC TRIDENT UNDERDOG - SHORT.DM.POACHER - SP - FM18.3.3.fmf

Liverpool FC - An Introduction Having been an FM Handheld/Older versions of FM player since I was a small boy, it's time for me, Elegant Scoop, to dip my feet into a proper in depth Football Manager save. I'm not a noob by any means, but various factors such as school, work, college, socializing etc. have put me off buying and playing the full computer version of the game and spending time developing tactics and all that goes with it. An injury to my right hand has put me out of work for 6 weeks and left me with time to do something, so FM18 it will be. Liverpool FC, a team that I don't support. But, like many others, I love their fans, their style of football, and their love for the game. They've been a great team to watch since Brendan Rodgers took over and his successor Jurgen Klopp has continued this easy on the eye, exciting brand. Elegant Scoop takes over the reigns at the start of the 2017/18 season. His approach mirrors that of his predecessors. Stellar signings such as Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have been added to a young and exciting squad which is hungry for success. Can the rookie manager take Liverpool to the top? Let's find out...

I'm playing Liverpool and i'm in the second season on top of the table but at 4/5 oktober 2016 the game crash always at this date. When it happens the game closes and I'm back on my desktop menu of my pc... The error report say: v16.3.2.830543 .dmp I hope you guys can help me so i can play more seasons with Liverpool and hoping to win the tittle this season. Thank you in advance! FM 2016 v16.3.2.830543 (2016.08.15 11.01.39).dmp

Hello Guys,I'm Mister Vitz and I play Football Manager since I was a kid,I always loved to recreate tactics from real coaches and this time I decided to reacreate Klopp's Liverpool!I've watched many Liverpool games this season, and I tried to do something similar adapted to FM 17. It's a super mobile 433 with the players always creating opportunities and exploting free spaces!The team is always focused on scoring and pressing as much as it's possible, doing a tight Marking and doing everything to get the ball back as fast as they can. Match preparation: Offensive/deffensive Movement deppending on the opponent that youre gonna face.I dind't change the set pieces, but I managed to score many goals even so. But its up to you, be free to change them if you want What do you need: GK - A Normal Goalkeeper, the best you can Get! Full Backs - Fast, Good Positioning and Off the ball, Teamwork and Work Rate. The higher the mental attributes the better! (ex: Clyne, Jetro Williems, Cancelo...) DC's - Strong players, with the capacity to mark tight and tackle! They should also be fast if possible! (ex: Süle, Calum Chambers, Mauricio Lemos, Jorge Mere...) Defensive Midfielder: A strong player but also with some pass skills and technique in order to start creating your game. (ex: Bazoer, William Carvalho....) Deep Lying Playmaker: A guy capable of controling the game's tempo and creative as well. (ex: Ward-Prowse, Rossiter...) Advanced Playermaker: Your most talent player on the midfield, passing the ball, with hight technique, and capable fo dribbiling too. (ex: Lallana, Oliver Torres, Carles Aleña...) False 9: A guy capable of roaming the pitch, trying to find space and creating opportunities to the other players and to himself! (ex: Firmino, Luan, Alan .... ) Results:Won the premier league, and both cups with Liverpool, won the championhip with Leeds, and everything with FC Porto.Once again I recommend you guys to watch the posted video so you can understand a little bit better how does the tactic work! EXPLANATION OF THE TACTIC! I Highly recommend you guys to watch the video above, it's my quick explanation about how does the tactic work and its main principles !!! Link to Download: http://www.mediafire.com/file/8di929...928603E13B.fmfWaiting for your feedback!

Welcome to the Football Manager 2017 Liverpool Football Club Thread History Liverpool F.C. was founded following a dispute between the Everton committee and John Houlding, club president and owner of the land at Anfield. After eight years at the stadium, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892 and Houlding founded Liverpool F.C. to play at Anfield. Originally named "Everton F.C. and Athletic Grounds Ltd" (Everton Athletic for short), the club became Liverpool F.C. in March 1892 and gained official recognition three months later, after The Football Association refused to recognise the club as Everton. The team won the Lancashire League in its début season, and joined the Football League Second Division at the start of the 1893–94 season. After finishing in first place the club was promoted to the First Division, which it won in 1901 and again in 1906. Liverpool reached its first FA Cup Final in 1914, losing 1–0 to Burnley. It won consecutive League championships in 1922 and 1923, but did not win another trophy until the 1946–47 season, when the club won the First Division for a fifth time under the control of ex-West Ham Utd centre half George Kay. Liverpool suffered its second Cup Final defeat in 1950, playing against Arsenal. The club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1953–54 season. Soon after Liverpool lost 2–1 to non-league Worcester City in the 1958–59 FA Cup, Bill Shankly was appointed manager. Upon his arrival he released 24 players and converted a boot storage room at Anfield into a room where the coaches could discuss strategy; here, Shankly and other "Boot Room" members Joe Fagan, Reuben Bennett, and Bob Paisley began reshaping the team. The club was promoted back into the First Division in 1962 and won it in 1964, for the first time in 17 years. In 1965, the club won its first FA Cup. In 1966, the club won the First Division but lost to Borussia Dortmund in the European Cup Winners' Cup final. Liverpool won both the League and the UEFA Cup during the 1972–73 season, and the FA Cup again a year later. Shankly retired soon afterwards and was replaced by his assistant, Bob Paisley.In 1976, Paisley's second season as manager, the club won another League and UEFA Cup double. The following season, the club retained the League title and won the European Cup for the first time, but it lost in the 1977 FA Cup Final. Liverpool retained the European Cup in 1978 and regained the First Division title in 1979. During Paisley's nine seasons as manager Liverpool won 21 trophies, including three European Cups, a UEFA Cup, six League titles and three consecutive League Cups; the only domestic trophy he did not win was the FA Cup. Paisley retired in 1983 and was replaced by his assistant, Joe Fagan. Liverpool won the League, League Cup and European Cup in Fagan's first season, becoming the first English side to win three trophies in a season. Liverpool reached the European Cup final again in 1985, against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium. Before kick-off, Liverpool fans breached a fence which separated the two groups of supporters, and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing 39 fans, mostly Italians. The incident became known as the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played in spite of protests by both managers, and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus. As a result of the tragedy, English clubs were banned from participating in European competition for five years; Liverpool received a ten-year ban, which was later reduced to six years. Fourteen Liverpool fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter. Fagan had announced his retirement just before the disaster and Kenny Dalglish was appointed as player-manager. During his tenure, the club won another three League Championships and two FA Cups, including a League and Cup "Double" in the 1985–86 season. Liverpool's success was overshadowed by the Hillsborough disaster: in an FA Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest on 15 April 1989, hundreds of Liverpool fans were crushed against perimeter fencing. Ninety-four fans died that day; the 95th victim died in hospital from his injuries four days later and the 96th died nearly four years later, without regaining consciousness. After the Hillsborough disaster there was a government review of stadium safety. The resulting Taylor Report paved the way for legislation that required top-division teams to have all-seater stadiums. The report ruled that the main reason for the disaster was overcrowding due to a failure of police control. Liverpool was involved in the closest finish to a league season during the 1988–89 season. Liverpool finished equal with Arsenal on both points and goal difference, but lost the title on total goals scored when Arsenal scored the final goal in the last minute of the season. Dalglish cited the Hillsborough disaster and its repercussions as the reason for his resignation in 1991; he was replaced by former player Graeme Souness. Under his leadership Liverpool won the 1992 FA Cup Final, but their league performances slumped, with two consecutive sixth-place finishes, eventually resulting in his dismissal in January 1994. Souness was replaced by Roy Evans, and Liverpool went on to win the 1995 Football League Cup Final. While they made some title challenges under Evans, third-place finishes in 1996 and 1998 were the best they could manage, and so Gérard Houllier was appointed co-manager in the 1998–99 season, and became the sole manager in November 1998 after Evans resigned. In 2001, Houllier's second full season in charge, Liverpool won a "Treble": the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. Houllier underwent major heart surgery during the 2001–02 season and Liverpool finished second in the League, behind Arsenal. They won a further League Cup in 2003, but failed to mount a title challenge in the two seasons that followed. Houllier was replaced by Rafael Benítez at the end of the 2003–04 season. Despite finishing fifth in Benítez's first season, Liverpool won the 2004–05 UEFA Champions League, beating A.C. Milan 3–2 in a penalty shootout after the match ended with a score of 3–3. The following season, Liverpool finished third in the Premier League and won the 2006 FA Cup Final, beating West Ham United in a penalty shootout after the match finished 3–3. American businessmen George Gillett and Tom Hicks became the owners of the club during the 2006–07 season, in a deal which valued the club and its outstanding debts at £218.9 million. The club reached the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final against Milan, as it had in 2005, but lost 2–1. During the 2008–09 season Liverpool achieved 86 points, its highest Premier League points total, and finished as runners up to Manchester United. In the 2009–10 season, Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League and failed to qualify for the Champions League. Benítez subsequently left by mutual consent and was replaced by Fulham manager Roy Hodgson. At the start of the 2010–11 season Liverpool was on the verge of bankruptcy and the club's creditors asked the High Court to allow the sale of the club, overruling the wishes of Hicks and Gillett. John W. Henry, owner of the Boston Red Sox and of Fenway Sports Group, bid successfully for the club and took ownership in October 2010. Poor results during the start of that season led to Hodgson leaving the club by mutual consent and former player & manager Kenny Dalglish taking over. Despite a record 8th League Cup success against Cardiff and an FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea, Liverpool finished in eighth position in the 2011–12 season, the worst league finish in 18 years and led to the sacking of Dalglish. He was replaced by Brendan Rodgers. In Rodgers' first season, Liverpool finished in seventh. In the 2013–14 season, Liverpool mounted an unexpected title charge to finish second behind champions Manchester City and subsequently return to the Champions League, scoring 101 goals in the process, the most since the 106 scored in the 1895–96 season. Following a disappointing 2014-15 season, where Liverpool finished sixth in the league, and a poor start to the 2015-16 season, Brendan Rodgers was sacked in October 2015. He was replaced by Jürgen Klopp, who became the third foreign manager in Liverpool's history. In Klopp's first season at Liverpool, he took the club to the finals of both the Football League Cup and UEFA Europa League, finishing as runner-up in both competitions. The Fans In Game

Intro, So I'm currently playing with Liverpool and so far its a successful save, my 4-1-2-2-1 formation is creating goals all over the place for a number of players, I'm currently playing without an out and out striker as Klopp likes to play this way with Firmino (who is in fine form playing as a false 9 btw) and currently having so many good attackers I'm having to rotate between Origi, Sturridge and Firmino. My tactics I feel are very nearly perfect, being 3rd in my first season with only one signing (25m julian Wiegl) and only 2 points off top place, BUT i can't seem to get the best out of Sturridge, and he's kinda playing like he does irl so I'm curious as to how you guys would help him improve and what tips you more experienced players would give me. Brief Summary and pictures below, *Get the best out of Sturridge currently playing as a poacher in a 4-1-2-2-1 formation. Sturridge stats.html Sturridge.html

With FM17 top of my Christmas wish list, countdown the days with me as I set the groundwork for my latest jaunt into the digital domain of football management. Over the next few weeks in the run up to the big day I will run through the decision making process for starting a new game, with regular updates on my game to follow thereafter, all with a something of a twist. Welcome Back Having played the series since its inception in 1992, the 2014-15 season represented a watershed moment in my relationship with Football Manager. After years of starting, failing and rage quitting, playing FM came to feel like a mental test, one that I kept coming up painfully short in. But after the threads of my life started to unravel and I found myself first entering, and then emerging from, a stint in therapy to tackle depression and anxiety, I was inspired to try one last time. I started at the bottom, prepared to learn and work my way up. And I blogged my way through the whole thing, charting not just the highs and lows in game but in my mood. How did FM influence my real life anxiety issues? How did they in turn influence FM? The save took me from the non-league to the Premier League, via the birth of my son and the death of my dad. It was the most rewarding save of FM I have ever played. My journey ended with a comfortable mid-table Premier League finish and a World Cup jaunt with the USA. I walked away a little wiser and a little happier. I genuinely thought that might be the last time I played FM, what with family and other commitments becoming heavier. But after a two year break I decided the time was right to dive back in. Once again I will chart my journey via a blog, this time utilising a more structured format, with weekly updates on VG Almanac. But one thing that will not change will be my approach to writing. No filters, no editing, no holding back. This will be a story about my game for sure but it will once again play out against the background of my life and how mental illness can influence, and be influenced by, my videogame experiences. The Story So Far As someone probably once said, you can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been. I won't trawl through my full mental history, although anyone with a desire to do so is very welcome to read the various blogs on my website. The short version is that after hitting the proverbial wall, I spent three months in therapy for depression and anxiety before emerging to find I had been made redundant. Thus began the challenge of reintegrating myself into the workplace whilst also trying to implement the behavioural changes and strategies I had been taught. Three years on, I find myself in a complex place where I am both happy and yet in many ways more anxious than ever. My work life is settled if unspectacular. I occasionally find myself torn between a desire to push forward and a fear that holds me back. I feel both that I undervalue myself and yet am incapable of any more. My dreams remain unfulfilled, balanced against the fact that I am home in time for the kids to go to bed and leave the office behind me at 5 when I leave. Other complexities have emerged, including where I see myself fitting in, but ultimately I have come to the conclusion that it is the right place for me right now. My home life has become more stressful as my children grow. Twins are inherently more difficult than a single child, something only parents of multiples can ever truly appreciate. Combined with the introduction of my boy going through the terrible two's, the house sometimes feels like a soft play centre with three wailing banshees running wild. I continue to fall short of the unattainable parenting standard I set for myself, which perhaps only helps to fuel the anxiety cycle that I so often find myself pedalling. But no matter the stress, no matter how much I might lose my rag sometimes, I remind myself that this is the life I chose. I wouldn't have it any other way. Anxiety remains a constant companion, that mate who always seems to turn up on the doorstep even when you don't remember inviting him. Others would likely be surprised at the things that cause me genuine internal panic, masked by the calm façade that I attempt to maintain. A decision to go back onto antidepressants earlier this year was mine alone, as was the decision to seek some additional therapy sessions, and I take comfort from my ability to assess my mood and take proactive action. Life is a journey, an ongoing series of lessons with homework every day. My last FM session taught me that I was flexible, adaptable and more capable than I realised, something that seeps into and derives from my real life experiences. FM also caused me to question who I was, how I define myself. And these are issues I continue to wrestle with. I enter FM17 then in some ways anxious yet at the same time a little more prepared, a little more confident and feeling ready to face down the challenges that may come my way. Still To Come In the next instalment we explore the crippling anxiety that comes with the simple act of deciding which team to manage.

4-2DM-3-1 Control Inspired by the tactic Cleon created in his art of possession article. The roles, duties and formation are different, but the mentality and the team instructions happen to be the same. I thought attacking mentality would be over ambitious for my Liverpool side, so went with Control, like Cleon. In terms of the team instructions, I find leaving out work ball into box and shorting passing to be more logical for the way we want to play. I want my players to shoot, and throughout the season there were quite a good amount of long shots scored by my players as well. My coaching staff tell me that most of our goals have come from crosses, although it’s a little bit misleading, because most of these have been low crosses or even passes, through balls from wide. His how the formation, roles and duties look: No extra individual instructions for players apart from the SK(D), which has: Pass it shorter, take short kicks, distribute to centre backs and fewer risky passes. The way are defence and midfield is set up we have sufficient cover. I only started using this tactic at the Arsenal match, after realising my Attacking/Flexible tactic was no longer working with the new patch update. I lost my first two matches with it, but I was impressed by the side, after hovering around mid-table during the early stages of the season, I ended up finishing third behind Tottenham and Utd. I use a lot of passionate shouts. I try vary my team talks so they don’t become repetitive. I think this tactic can win the league for me, but when I started at the Arsenal match the tactical fluidity was really low. So with a full season who knows? I train Team Cohesion on high all the time, with a least one day before the match dedicated to attacking movement. Possession is highest in the league…hopefully it will improve next season as well, closer to the 60% mark. image url 4-2DM-3-1 Control_03A14FA6-D5A4-415D-A51F-DE5D145A422E.fmf

INTRODUCTION In recent years I’ve found myself becoming more and more discouraged when it came to soccer. The modern player is a main cause for that. All too often you will see a player on the losing side smiling and hugging a friend on the opposing team after the match. There are too many individuals in todays game who play for themselves and it really bothers me seeing this sort of stuff (way more than it should). I’m not saying players like this didn’t exist in previous generations, it just seems much more common due to the fact that social media and the tabloid journalism have become prevalent in my lifetime. This dissatisfaction with the modern game and its players led me to start looking up and researching some of the classic teams in history to remind myself how the game used to be played. Hungary during the 50’s, Sacchi’s Milan, Rinus Michels Ajax, the 1970 Brazil world cup team, The invincible Arsenal team, 1999 treble winning Manchester United and eventually, the Liverpool side that totally dominated most of the 70’s and 80’s. I’ve always been aware of their dominance but never really looked into anything further like tactics, key players, philosophies, records, etc. The more I read about Liverpool during this time period the more I learned about Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley. The more I read about their teams and players ,the more I wanted to bring their ideas into FM and see how I fair. They shared a simple playing philosophy, which is something I think a lot FM players should read about and try out on their own. Their tactics and game-plans have never really been fully detailed because I believe it would be a really short report. Shankly and Paisley lived by a simple philosophy; “You pass the ball to another red shirt and then take up another available position.” Pass and move. Of course there was more to it but that quote sums their style up perfectly. They wanted their teams to play simple and express themselves in a fluid framework. Shankly wanted everyone to play and operate like a well oiled machine, turning out results after result. Once they started playing the way he liked, Liverpool began their reign of England and European soccer and had one of the most dominant periods ever. Shankly was mostly opposed to giving opposition instructions as he always considered his team to be better than anyone they came up against. He mostly focused on how he wanted his team to play and had full confidence in them to secure a result. He relied on the players intelligence and technical abilities to win matches. You need a certain kind of player in order to carry out this game-plan. In todays world we're basically talking about a team similar to 2010-11 Barcelona. A team full of 'complete players' is what Liverpool had and that's who I will look to develop and recruit to the club while I manage them. Key Attributes: Technical: First touch, Passing, Technique Mental: Anticipation, Decisions, Determination, Off the Ball, Teamwork and Work rate Physical: Acceleration, Pace and Stamina This is probably going to be the hardest part of this honestly. Finding players of this calibre are hard to come by and if you do find players like this they will not come cheap. If I have to cough up the cash to get the perfect players to play this style then so be it. And these players also have to have a positive personality, obviously. PHILOSOPHIES TO LIVE BY Being that I am a fan of Shankly’s way of thinking and since it ultimately brought Liverpool years of success and trophies, I will be following everything he did as well as adding a few of my own twists to make it fun. After doing some research online, I found a brief summary on his philosophy called “Nine points of Shankly” Not all the points are possible to translate into FM so I omitted them, but this will be my strict philosophy as I embark on bringing Liverpool back to the promise land. (my notes are written in between just to be clear): “Scottish Socialism: - part of the Liverpool success at the time was built around the socialist ethic of collective effort with equal wages and no prima donnas. There was no room for anyone thinking he was above the club. Building a strong team spirit and the fact that no one player was more important than the greater good were his cornerstones.” -I have no desire to bring politics into the sport but I don’t want any prima donnas either. I want one united squad and any player who steps out of place and gets a big head will be shown the door. Simple as that. “Simple Strategy: - “You pass the ball to another red shirt and then take up another available position.” Pass, move, receive the ball. A very basic man with a simple approach – the way to learn how to play football was by practicing with a ball against better and better players.” -Simple playing style with an emphasis on retaining possession and having great off the ball movement. Easier said than done but this is the ultimate goal. I want to be able to give my team the freedom to express themselves and create beautiful plays on the pitch. Very similar to total football. "Tough, Skillful Northern Players who had Served Apprenticeships: The Liverpool way was to sign skillful, resilient players who could fit into the passing and movement game, players who would respond to tough training principles and serve an apprenticeship in playing the Liverpool way, players who could take responsibility for themselves and make decisions on the pitch for the good of the team. He was keen to sign players with character and commitment.” -Theres no way of knowing if my players have served apprenticeships in FM but I can easily find hard working and determined players and thats who I will look to bring to the club. I’ll also be looking to recruit mainly Irish and British players if possible. There is usually a high domestic bias with the all time great teams. I’ll also be focusing on: Youth Development: Liverpool has a rich history of bringing players through their academy and giving them a chance in the first team. Gerrard, Carragher, McManaman, Owen, Fowler, Callaghan and Thompson are just some of the names who came through the academy and went on to have successful careers. I intend to carry on this tradition and give the kids a chance to own their place in the side. 4-4-1-1: It can be argued which formation they used most but they were at their best when they had Dalglish playing behind Rush in my eyes. The only time I may venture away from this formation is in Europe. Paisley had said that you have to change your play style in order to be successful in Europe. Wether I will have to do that or not remains to be seen as we aren't in any European competitions my first season. CONCLUSION My decisions on roles, team shape, team instructions and all that will be shown in my next post I just wanted to give a basic introduction into what I'm doing and why. I am giving myself a deadline of 3 seasons to win the Champions League playing in a similar style as written about above. Obviously it’s not the toughest challenge considering it’s Liverpool after all but I’m in the year 2052 and things aren’t looking to great for the club (I will go over this in my next post). I will be documenting my progress in this thread and look forward to achieving this style of play. I’d also like to open this up and get as many opinions on Liverpools play style and players during that time (70's-80's) as possible. The more information I can gather the more detailed and realistic I can make this. So feel free to express anything you’d like relating to this era of the club! Some sources I used: https://community.sigames.com/topic/344324-bob-paisley-liverpool/ https://community.sigames.com/topic/156880-liverpool-4-4-1-1-quotpass-and-movequot-paisley-era/ Notes On Passing Rhythms Liverpool FC and the Transformation of Football "Red Machine" the story of the dominant 80's Liverpool side Youtube: When Liverpool Ruled The World Liverpool FC In Training In 1970's Everton 0 v Liverpool 5 1982/83 | Football League Classic Matches

For 3 seasons my Liverpool team has really struggled for consistency in away matches. I play a possession based game. Below is my latest tweak. We regularly get high levels of possession and score goals. We have generally dominated at home, but away, we constantly concede just as many as we score. tweaking with the fullbacks and width seems to not matter much, if they're less aggressive, or sit back in a FB role instead of WB we tend to lose without scoring as much instead. Because I'm struggling I've been tweaking on & off for 3 seasons, which I also realize can't help either, but I'm at a lost right now as to why the huge disparity between home & away. Here is a typical CD instruction set: Here are a few match stats from this season: Analysis Reports: Any advice is gratefully received.

Hey guys, I'd like some advice on my Liverpool 4-4-2 diamond tactic. Let me explain, after winning the Premier League on my first year in charge with a 4-3-3 based on high intensity press, overlapping wing backs and a quick build-up from the back with high-intensity short passes about the same instructions that you can see below). But summer arrived, with its surprises, the biggest one was a 120 million euros fee for Coutinho, which was good on the previous season but not as much as expected, with 7 goals and 7 assists in 32 premier league games. I couldn't refuse it, but I lost one of my key players. I have to say that Mane (which was playing a classic winger role) was out for injury for about 8 months, so my 2 wingers where out. As I wanted some change I tried a strikerless 4-4-2 that you can see below, inspired from a tactic I saw on the internet, but I changed some roles and instructions. I recruited Alli and Van Dijk for the 1st team. Don't pay attention to the front line, it's usually Firmino on the left, Alli on the right and Lallana in the middle. I think roles haven't the same abreviations than in French so a quick recap: GK-D WB-S CB-D CB-D WB-S Regista-S BWM-S B2B-S SS-A AM-S SS-A I change the regista for a BWM-S and the BWM for a DLP-S when playing against a team having an MOC. And I have those team instructions, I hope you can understand even if it's in French... But after some terrific games in pre-season, I'm struggling since the beginning of the championship. I know teams need time to get used to tactics but they are perfectly used to it and they struggle a lot. Could you tell me what you think about it? Is it well balanced? I still struggle a lot to create my own tactics, but I keep reading and learning in order to improve. Any comment is welcome, thanks! I've been reading articles on these forums for so long, I'm very happy to be a part of it now!

Liverpool are still waiting for their first Premier League title and have won just one domestic trophy in the last 10 years.I believe Liverpool only need to make a few changes to return to their glory days and this is our Journey to premiership title!!! Episode 1

Liverpool are still waiting for their first Premier League title and have won just one domestic trophy in the last 10 years.I believe Liverpool only need to make a few changes to return to their glory days and this is our Journey to premiership title!!! Episode 1 and first match in season !!! Episode 2 and the most important game in Qualifications for Champions League vs Hoffenheim

Hey everyone, Have just started up on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/c/newton_durham Would love for you to check it out and give me some feedback. Cheers

Hi everyone I've just uploaded a video to my YouTube channel experimenting with how Coutinho does at Barcelona since his transfer to the club a couple of days ago. It's seriously an interesting one, considering just how much of a superstar he really turned into but there were some absolutely laughable transfers Barca signed beside him and also what Liverpool achieved after selling him I won't spoil anything but it's funny how things turn out sometimes in football! Check it out if you're into this sort of thing; really appreciate the support. Let me know if you enjoyed it and also if you've done the same thing as I did; will be interesting to see what other results people get from this one transfer which truly could shake the football world! Maybe post some videos and screenshots below in the thread? Cheers everyone!

Having put in nearly 350 hours in various saves with several teams, I have noticed one common theme: Liverpool are awful. They never succeed in any way. I holidayed to 2021 last night (5 seasons) and watched them finish 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th and 13th, a different manager each season and steadily heading towards relegation. I did it again this morning and there was a similar outcome. I recently managed Dormund and watched on as Liverpool disappeared into mid-table mediocrity. I holidayed a few seasons just now and they are in 16th place near the end of season 3. What's strange in the most recent one is that Klopp was sacked on NYE in the first season when he was only 6 points off the top 4, 20 games played (expectations are to qualify for the Euro Cup so he was hardly failing). It makes no sense. It's not unrealistic for a team to have a bad season of course (or a manager, and that particular manager; look at his last season with Dortmund IRL), but for him to fail miserably every save is very peculiar. Each successive manager Liverpool hire performs worse and worse. As a side note, Liverpool almost always draw Manchester United first in the league (easily 90% of new saves I've loaded and regardless of game set-up). Another curiosity.

Hi everyone, considering what a following we always had in FM for Liverpool, I don't think I have seen active thread yet for FM 2018 playing as Liverpool. If there is, I am sorry and I am sure I get notified. Anyway, I am now playing my third season as Liverpool and I have done quiet a lot of changes to the team and set up as I am sure we all do. Most importantly, selling dead weights to get important money in. After my first season, I am came 4th and semi final in the champions league. My second season, I won the Premiership and quarter final exit at Champions League. Now, after about 12 games in my third season, I am top of the league and qualified for knock out round of champions league. I have also found some really good players which i will share screenshots with. My key players I have brought in and are playing are: Jack Butland for about £35million. We can all agree that a new GK is def needed and Jack has been excellent! I can def recommend him. Keita (who is obviously a given purchase) is magnificent. Had to give him a new deal after 1 season so his wags are quiet high but so worth it. Milner is of course team member already has been one of the surprise packages. He has been top performer with highest average rating and was player of year. Excellent! Joe Gomes is my first choice central defender. He is really excellent too and develops nicely. Give him a chance guys and dont sell him. Partnering Joe is de Ligt. Another amazing performer and so young that you wont have to buy any defender for years. I bought him for my second season after I sold Matip to Barcelona Of course I sold Lovren! Howver keep Klavan. Great squad member with really great average performance rating. I also sold, Mignolet, Karius, Ings, Markovic, Bogdan in my first seaon, In my second season i sold Wijnaldum, Origi (to PSG), Can (to Man City), Coutinho (to Bayern), Salah (to Real Madrid), Matip (to Barcelona). In my third season I sold Mane (to Barca), Moreno and Lallana. I know this sounds a lot and some massive performers going but i got good money or i had to sell as you dont want to upset team atmosphere. But everyone can be replaced. So most important players i got in are: Pulisic (has release clause), Tillman (and loan him out at first), Gouiri (loan him), McKennie, de Ligt, O'Riley, Barco, Odegaard (for on transfer list for 7.5 million), Danso ( good squad player), Tierney, Patrick Roberts (transfer listed), Pellegri, Battaglia (what a star for the future). However, I think my best buy and an expensive buy was for a regen I found. Bought him when he was 15 from Wolves for £35 million!!!!! I post his screen shot below. Cant believe when i saw him

I've seen a couple of people start threads looking at some kind of recreation of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, but they all seem to die a death due to lack of updates and/or development, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on a version I've put together that I successfully used to win the Premier League on my iPad version of FMT and see if it works on the full fat version. The plan is to show the base tactic and then follow it's progress through the season, how I adapt it for different opponents and (hopefully) repeat my success. I'm more than happy to take any feedback or suggestions for improvements that can make it more successful. So, let's get going. The base formation is a modern 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-3 DM if you like), roles and duties as per the images below - the eagle eyed amongst you will have noticed a couple of new faces. In addition, the following PI's have been added AML - AP(A) - Coutinho - Roam from Position AMR - W(A) - Mane - Roam from Position MCR - CM(A) - Lallana - Roam from Position, Move into Channels, Dribble More (some may recognise this as an approximation to the "Central Winger") MCL - CM(S) - Can - Hold Position FBL - WB(S) - Moreno - Stay Wider FBR - FB(A) - Clyne - Stay Wider GK - SK(S) - Ryan - Distribute Quickly, Distribute to Playmaker I had played about with 4-1-4-1 versions, which possibly more accurately reflect how they defend, but I felt I wasn't getting the desired attacking movement. What I aimed to recreate was a system that pressed high up the pitch, attacked with fluid movement of the front 4 (the front 3 + the CM(A)) and that maintained high possession rates. With a high line, we expect to be vulnerable to balls over the top, but I expect to mitigate this with quick defenders to chase back plus pressing of opposition playmakers reduce their effectiveness. Pre-season So we managed to win all 8 friendlies and I didn't play around with the tactic at all so that I could maximise familiarity as quickly as possible. Going into the first league game, the tactic is about 60% familiar. The scores are what they are, but I was most interested in the possession figures to see if that was working. Pleasingly enough, possession ranges between 57% & 68% (including the Milan and Roma matches). Transfers No one's left, but in addition to the 2 players in the graphic above, I've also signed Riedewald from Ajax and Schopf from Schalke (or Gelsenkirchen as the game calls it). I also made a database change pre-game to make Michael Edwards DoF. I'm sure I forgotten something, but it's late and I'm getting told to close down. Due to other commitments, it's unlikely I'll get to update until the weekend, but I hope people like the opening.