After 10 years with FM, my first career update

[john1]

Good win over Man Utd and Fulham  Like ManUtd1 said, loving the details.

[trman73]

January 13, 2032 - Premier League: West Brom (7-7-8, 28 pts., 12th) vs. Leicester (9-6-7, 33 pts., 8th)

West Brom certainly look like they will be able to stay up this season after working their way back to the Premiership following a surprising relegation two seasons ago. But they are also a team that we have to get points from if we're going to challenge for a European spot. We get Jean-Paul Meert back for this one and he's in the lineup. Michael Platt is also cleared for 30 minutes of action so he's in as a sub.

It's scoreless until right before the half, when McGreal steals a pass and fires one in to put us up 1-0 at the break. In the second, McGreal incredibly does the exact same thing, and waltzes in for a second goal that looks like it will put this one away. Just a few minutes later we get another fantastic free kick from Burton to essentially end it as we're up 3-0. West Brom gets one late to deny us the clean sheet, but we win easily for the second straight match.

[trman73]

January 18, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (9-5-9, 32 pts., 10th) vs. Leicester (10-6-7, 36 pts., 8th)

Liverpool is still without a permanent manager although they are playing better under interim coach Matthew Wells, who is 2-0-0. Right now we're just one point back of 5th in the league, so a third straight EPL win would be huge.

We don't get it. We're dominated in this one and lose, 2-0. We just have to pick it back up and get another streak going. There's not much to say here - it was just a bad game.

[trman73]

January 24, 2032 - Premier League: Leicester (10-6-8, 36 pts., 9th) vs. Southampton (5-4-15, 19 pts., 19th)

Our next two matches are against two of the worst teams in the league, starting with this Southampton group. We should definitely get back on track at home here. This team handed us our worst and weirdest loss of the season in beating us 6-3 early in the year, so we should have no issues with motivation.

Prior to the match, left back Chris van Eijden accepts an offer to go play in UAE next season. I offered him an extension, but he refused. He gets a $9.75 million per year contract offer, which is way, way more than what I was willing to offer for a guy who will turn 32 at the end of the season. So we'll be looking for a new left back in the offseason.

We put this one away quickly, and as bad as we played against Liverpool we come back with a vengeance against Southampton. Michael Platt gets his first goal since his return in the 26th, and McGreal adds one a few minutes later. Platt scores again in the 57th to make it 3-0. Sam Austin scores his first of the season on a corner in the 67th, and this is a rout. Sabatini scores late to cap off the 5-0 destruction.

[trman73]

January 27, 2032 - Premier League: Bolton (7-5-13, 26 pts., 15th) vs. Leicester (11-6-8, 39 pts., 7th)

Bolton is actually playing its best football of the season right now as they are 3-1-1 in their last five. Still, we should get a win here. We've worked our way up to that coveted 7th spot, now we have to hold it. Prior to the match five of our players - Burton, Platt, Austin, Morales, and Sabatini - are named to the Team of Week, which one would expect after a 5-0 win.

For the second straight game we have absolutely no problems, and we totally dominate. McGreal gets us going in the 17th on a cross from van Eijden, and it's 1-0 until the half. Burton gets his in the second half, Jose Antonio gets the capper (on another assist from van Eijden), and we win, 3-0. That's 8-0 on goals in our last two. The Liverpool loss is behind us, but next up we're at home against City and then at Arsenal.

[trman73]

Uh oh... decision time. I hinted that something might be coming. It's come.

[sl101075]

This is a excellent read! Keep it up :-). How have Aston Villa done in all the years?

[trman73]

Hey sl, thanks. I'm at work right now but when I return home I'll post on Aston Villa. I believe they have struggled to stay up in the EPL, and are on maybe Year 4 of their most recent time in the Championship.

Folks I can't stop thinking about the pros and cons of Liverpool vs. Leicester. It's Friday, there is a 100% chance I am ducking out of work early, and the spouse is out of town. I plan to make this final decision on my way home from work, immediately open the computer, make the call, and save so that I am locked into whatever I decide.

Liverpool:

• Almost double the resources ($44 million transfer budget, $200+ million payroll) as what I have with Leicester.
• It's Liverpool - the history, the status that would come with building them back up to a Champion - it's perfect.
• They have not won a trophy of any sort since 2012 (EFL Cup), and have not finished in the Top 4 of EPL since 2014, so this really would be bringing the club back to world prominence.
• I really like this team in real life. They are probably my second-favorite English team after West Ham. Of all the "big" clubs this is the one I root for.

Leicester:

• Definitely the bigger challenge with the finances, the reputation difference, etc. This job requires me to be really vigilant with my personnel decisions, which I like.
• Kind of would be a jackass move to leave this team in the midst of both a Euro Cup run and their best EPL standing in a number of years.
• The board and fans love me here and desperately want me to stay.
• We could legitimately go on a run that gets us into Champions League next year.

I am open to anyone's thoughts on what they would do here. I've got about three hours before I decide.

Edited August 25, 2017 by trman73

[john1]

This is a tough one, I personally would stay at Leicester which you are doing well.

[Tajerio]

I would stay at Leicester in part because I hate leaving a club before I record some major success for them.  But the challenge of building up a fallen big club does appeal.

[Chappy2509]

This is an absolute great thread to read tough decision on the Liverpool job looking forward to reading next update 

[trman73]

Okay, a decision has been made, and here's the thinking...

I believe the ceiling for Leicester City is to sneak into the fourth spot in the Premier League and to fight and claw our way into the late stages of Champions League. That's the absolute ceiling; they're not going to have the resources to truly make a miracle run to the EPL title like they did in 2016. (And yes, I understand that the very definition of a "miracle run" is that they did it in 2016 with hardly more than what we have now.)

I believe the ceiling for Liverpool, truly, is winning Champions League. They've done it before, they have the financial backing to do it again.

Eventually I am going to look for a new opportunity after reaching as high as we can with Leicester. So why put it off? At Liverpool, I honestly see this as being my final job of this save. And this is not the same as taking over Juventus, or Man U, or frankly even Roma. This is a team that has been underachieving throughout the 16 years of this save. So while technically it's not as difficult of a challenge as Leicester City, these guys still have an empty trophy case for the entirety of this career, which is what I want - a chance to cement myself in world football by building a once-proud team back into an force. I started doing that with Roma, then got sidetracked with my international career. Juventus wasn't the same - they were already awesome and we just made them more so.

In real life, there is not a single person outside of the most ardent lovers of the Foxes who wouldn't consider Liverpool a step up from Leicester. And I do too.

So, on January 28, 2032, I make my decision to leave King Power Stadium and head west to Anfield, where I have accepted a $3.95 million per year offer to spend the next two and a half years managing...

LIVERPOOL!

[john1]

Good luck with Liverpool  I wonder who Leicester will bring in as your replacement..

[trman73]

Thanks john! I'm serious about this ideally being my last job of this career. If I stick to my plan of retiring at age 65 (and honestly I have already decided that I will likely extend that to age 68 as I want this to end round about when the next version of the game comes out), that would give me seven years. Assuming, that is, that I don't get fired.

Which brings us to...

Liverpool - First Look

Oh my there is a lot to go over here. First, some recent history...

Since the start of this save, the Reds have finished in the top five of the EPL just once, in 2022. Since then it's been 8th, 14th, 11th, 9th, 6th, 9th, 12th, 8th, and 10th. This year we're 10th - so that's an average finish of 9.7th place in the league over the past decade. That is the definition of mediocre for a team like this.

I am their 10th permanent manager during this save. Four of the previous guys lasted less than a year, including back-to-back hirings and firings of Andy Frampton (179 days) and Ross McCormack (140 days), meaning that in a 13 month stretch they had four managers. Their last boss, Christophe Coue (who they passed me over for), lasted two-and-a-half years and finished 44-30-41.

As I mentioned, the trophy case has been gathering dust since the EFL Cup win of 2012. They have made zero appearances in Champions League and four in Europa League, losing in the semifinals in 2022 and 2028 and in the final to OM in 2023.

Domestically, they have made it to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup twice in 16 years, including a loss in their opener this year to League One side Rochdale. As for EFL Cup, they made the final the first year of this save, have been in the semis three other times, and that's it. So basically, they have advanced to the semifinals or beyond in seven of the 36 cup competitions they've been in total.

Financially, on the team salary screen for the EPL, it shows that they are spending $177 in salary and have a $215 million budget. Great, right? Uhhh, no. In reality, they are spending $220 million, or $5 million over budget. So with three days until the transfer window, my plan is to get our house in order financially so that we can start fresh in the off-season.

Which brings us to...

[john1]

Finances are messed up especially 5M over budget  

Edited August 25, 2017 by john1

[trman73]

Liverpool - Team Analysis

Ideally I will implement the 4-3-1-2 formation that has worked for me over the past four years at Juventus and Leicester. This team does not have the personnel to do that. Which is not to say they are devoid of talent... far from it. But that talent does not match my game.

They've been playing a 4-5-1 formation and they have a grand total of three strikers on the club. There are also no players who can play the attacking midfielder spot that is so crucial to my success. So those instantly become my priorities both for the window which will shut in three days, and the summer.

What they do have are a bunch of players who are perfectly adequate for getting them to the 8th and 9th place finishes they've been having over the past decade. Not a single player stands out as a world-class talent. This will require the exact amount of work one would expect in taking over a team that has failed to come close to meeting expectations for nearly two decades.

The team has one clear strength, and that's defense. They've been a top-level defensive club in the league in recent years. They just can't score goals. This year their defense is down and their offense is up a bit, but it's still not good. They also failed to extend the contract of their best goal-scorer, who is leaving for LOSC at the end of the year. Great job, guys!

They also only have five home-grown players, far short of the eight that need to be registered to allow us the full 25-man squad. And one of those is the guy who's leaving at the end of the year, Kenneth Brown.

Staff-wise, I bring a couple of my people over from Leicester. I'll try to find some folks to fill out our staff over the remainder of this season, but will focus more on that in the off-season.

For now, these guys go on the transfer list:

That's $99 million in value and $28.7 million in salary that I hope to see exit in three days time.

[john1]

First two on ridiculous wages   Hope you can shift them out!

[trman73]

Quick note on Aston Villa... it's been way, way worse than I though.

Sorry sl.

[trman73]

Final Thoughts on Leicester

I'm being called a disloyal traitor in the press and had to answer a question at my introductory press conference about my departure from the Foxes in the midst of a second straight quality campaign. I get it. But for the reasons I outlined previously, I've got to do what's best for me.

With that being said, I think that in my year and a half with this team I did my best job of getting the most out of the guys I had. In the grand scheme of world football, guys like Les Burton, Jean-Paul Meert, Walter Morales and Michael Platt are not stars. But they played incredibly well for me, and the team overachieved and met our league expectations big time. I went 44-16-24 overall in my 84 matches, good for a winning percentage over 50. That's the best record of any coaches they've had in this save, and one of those guys, Jamie Vardy, went on to coach England.

So yeah, I left, and I left at a bad time. But I built this team back up and set a good foundation for the future for them. So you're welcome, Leicester fans!

Edited August 25, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

January 28, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (11-5-9, 38 pts., 10th) vs. Southampton (5-4-16, 16 pts., 19th)

I coached my last game at Leicester 24 hours ago. My hiring was announced at 12:31 p.m. this afternoon. Six hours later, I'm on the pitch at Anfield.

I'm incredibly grateful to be facing the Southampton team that my Foxes demolished just four days ago. Despite the extensive struggles I outlined, Liverpool is actually playing its best football of the year right now, having won four straight since firing Coue. We're just two points out of 7th place, and just four back of Leicester for 5th, and have played one fewer match.

I barely have a chance to introduce myself to the team in the locker room before it's time to fill out the lineup and hit the field.

What a weird 24 hours.

We get on the board first in my opener, as forward Kenneth Brown, the guy who's leaving at the end of the season, scores in the 18th. I can see that the guys are going to take a while to adapt to my setup, as we don't look good offensively, but our good defense and Southampton just being terrible should be enough to see us through, and we hold the 1-0 lead late. But in the 82nd, a hot from Southampton bounces off one of our defenders and right to another one of their players, who puts it in to tie it. We get a final chance in the closing minutes with two corners, but don't score, and I settle for a 1-1 draw in my first Liverpool match.

I now face five of the most important days of my career as the transfer window closes Feb. 2.

Edited August 26, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

Well we do make a few moves in the window, but we're not as active in terms of offloading players as I had hoped. We deal two players to my former club, Leicester: central defender Nicolas Villagra and left midfielder Stefano Bove, and the big move is shipping left midfielder Sebastian Vergne to China for $15 million. We immediately reinvest that money into a 19-year-old striker from Spain, Elias Sainz, who we bring in for close to nothing as a backup, and the bigger acquisition, a 27-year-old attacking midfielder from Bayern, Niklas Fliess.

Edited August 26, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

February 9, 2032 - Premier League: Bournemouth (9-2-15, 29 pts., 14th) vs. Liverpool (11-6-9, 39 pts., 9th)

Our first road match is against a Bournemouth team that has won its last two matches. New acquisition Fliess is immediately thrust into the lineup at attacking midfielder. Other than that, I go with the same lineup as the last match. (With 12 matches left in the season, I need to balance checking out all my guys with still trying to compete for one of the final Euro Cup spots; I also will wait to do a full roster report until prior to the beginning of next season.)

We go down 1-0 early in this one, but come right back with a goal in the 16th from midfielder Adrian Sandoval. Once again we play good defense throughout, and once again we concede late, this time in the 78th, and this time it costs us the game. We fall, 2-1, and this is not a good start.

[trman73]

February 14, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (11-6-10, 39 pts., 10th) vs. Bolton (7-6-14, 27 pts., 16th)

I need a little love on this Valentine's Day as we cannot go my first three matches without a win. Especially with the team having won it's four previous games before my arrival, this would be embarrassing, and damaging to my efforts to establish myself as the leader who will take this team to the next level. I make a couple changes to the lineup for this one and frankly hold my breath.

We get on track early here with two first-half goals - one from Jorge Acosta, making his first start for us at midfield, and one from Kenneth Brown on a free kick. We hold that lead at the half, and after Bolton scores to make it 2-1 we put it away on a goal from Jovica Suvajac in the 71st. It's a 3-1 win, and I get my first victory with Liverpool.

 

[trman73]

We get two weeks off as the teams in European competitions play. That means my two previous employers are in action, with Juventus playing Man City in the Champions League for the fourth time in five years. Juve gets the best of them in leg one with a 3-0 home win. Unfortunately for Leicester, they get knocked out of the Euro Cup by PAOK in what has to be called an upset. They fall in the road leg, 3-1, and win at home, 2-1. They are actually 1-0-4 since I left, with their only win coming in that second leg against PAOK, which is basically also a loss. They hired Lazio head coach Juan Cuadrado to replace me. Their struggles make me feel bad... but not that bad. They are now a rival.

February 29, 2032 - Premier League: Everton (8-6-14, 30 pts., 16th) vs. Liverpool (12-6-10, 42 pts., 10th)

After this match we face an absolutely brutal stretch of Man City at home (2nd), at United (5th), home against Arsenal (3rd), and at Tottenham (6th). Yikes, that's just terrible. So we need three points from an Everton team that has fallen off the cliff this season. They were knocked out of the Euro Cup earlier in the week by Fenerbahce.

We give up two goals early, in the 16th and 19th (on a penalty), and are down 2-0. But we get one right back from Florian Claub to make it 2-1, and in the second half we tie it on a great strike from way out by Suvajac. But Everton gets the lead back less than two minutes later, and all the work we did to get back in this was for nought. They add the winner in the 73rd, and this is a bad, bad loss. We're now 1-1-2 in my brief tenure.

[trman73]

March 6, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (12-6-11, 42 pts., 10th) vs. Manchester City (20-5-4, 65 pts., 2nd)

We're in real danger of this becoming a lost season here with our upcoming stretch. I'm not impressing my new bosses, and given their quick trigger fingers with managers, I wonder if I made the right decision coming here. But I've got to put that behind me and focus on putting forth our best effort against City. We are 3-7-27 against this club in this save.

It's a scoreless first half and we are doing just fine. Then, early in the second, we get a corner kick and defender Alejandro Barra positions himself in the box perfectly for the goal to put us up! If we can somehow make this happen it would be absolutely enormous. We do hold on, and in the 79th midfielder Francesco Marano scores for us and we're up 2-0. Four minutes later, in the 83rd, Suvajac scores to ice it. We win, 3-0, over the three-time defending champions, who never record a shot on goal.

Huge. Just huge.

Edited August 26, 2017 by trman73

[john1]

Superb win over Man City!! Hopefully you'll start winning next few games.

[trman73]

March 13, 2032 - Premier League: Manchester United  (15-3-12, 48 pts., 6th) vs. Liverpool (13-6-11, 45 pts., 9th)

It would be enormous if we could somehow string together back-to-back wins over the two Manchester teams. But we've been a mess away from Anfield, with losses to Bournemouth and Everton, not exactly the top tier of clubs. So we need to put in an effort similar to what we gave against City. I may have found a hidden gem on our roster in 22-year-old Uruguayan Jorge Acosta, who has played sparingly in his Liverpool career but has joined the starting lineup for me and played well.

Just as I'm talking him up, Acosta gets us on the board first with a goal in the 32nd minute, and it's 1-0. But United ties it up in the 41st and it looks like we'll go into the locker room all square, until we come right back just 45 seconds later on a long shot from Acosta that's misplayed and winds up an own-goal. We're up 2-1 at the break, but United comes right out in the second half and ties it 35 seconds in. This is an exciting match so far. Things settle down in the second half, and then in the 83rd, Suvajac finds Fliess streaking down the middle, and he puts it past Man U's keeper to put us up, 3-2! We hold on to win it, and it's back-to-back big ones for us!

[trman73]

Thanks john, it looks like we've found our legs here after a rough start. Now, let's see if we can keep it up...

March 20, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (14-6-11, 48 pts., 7th) vs. Arsenal (16-8-7, 56 pts., 3rd)

We're up to 7th in the league and just two points back of a Tottenham team that we play in our next match. We've taken the first six points from this tough four-game stretch, and now we get an Arsenal team that's scuffling a bit, losing it's last two (although they were to Chelsea in the FA Cup and City in league play). Once again, three points here would be huge.

We give up the first goal in this one, as Arsenal takes the lead in the 40th and we're down 1-0 at halftime. But early in the second half forward Ben Woodburn gets his first goal for me on a nice shot from the left side, and we're tied. 

From there on out we're the better team, but we can't get that game-tying goal, and this one ends, 1-1. So that's 2-1-0 three quarters of the way through our run of top teams.

Edited August 26, 2017 by trman73

[john1]

Good result against Arsenal  

[trman73]

April 12, 2032 - Premier League: Tottenham (14-9-9, 51 pts., 5th) vs. Liverpool (14-7-11, 49 pts., 7th)

We've got a one-point lead over Leicester for 7th but they've played one fewer game (although their make-up game is against Chelsea). We got a full three weeks off between games, and emerge injury free from international play, so we're ready to roll. We're the Monday match this week, which I always like. With a win in this one, we actually move up to 5th, and a draw keeps us in 7th. But Tottenham is having a nice rebound season, and they haven't lost a match in two months.

Well, we don't get through the four-game stretch of death unscathed. This one's a dud, as we give up a goal early on a penalty and then two more in the second half, and fall 3-0. It's a disappointing result, but I can't fault the guys for their work over the course of these games. We're still in contention for a European spot.

Edited August 27, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

April 17, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (14-7-12, 49 pts., 8th) vs. West Ham (12-9-12, 45 pts., 11th)

If we got Spurs as they were playing their best ball of the season, we're getting the Hammers at their lowest point. They are 0-3-3 on their last six matches, and have fallen well back of the Euro Cup contending pack. We can almost stick a fork in them with a win at home here, and I expect to get it and put the pressure on the teams ahead of us, including my former employers at Leicester.

It's a second straight bad start for us as West Ham scores early in the 10th minute. We're dominating on offense and a brilliant stretch in the second half gets us the lead, as Brown scores in the 59th and Claus adds one in the 62nd to put us up. Things look great until the 70th, when we get called for our fourth penalty in my nine matches, and for the fourth time, our opponent converts as West Ham ties it. After that goal we have at least six good chances at the net, but never get the winner, and we settle for a frustrating draw in a game where we absolutely take it to them throughout.

Edited August 27, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

We've got four games left in the season, and here's where we stand...

We've got matches with Middlesbrough and Huddersfield and then end the season with tough road matches at Newcastle and Chelsea, who will likely have clinched the league and may not take the match too seriously as they are still in the Champions League. Either way, we've got our work cut out for us, and I'm just 3-3-3 in my nine matches thus far. Honestly, I'm hopeful that we may sneak into 7th when all is said and done, but I'm actually more excited for the off-season than anything, as I will have a chance to really evaluate who can play my style and who we can offload.

April 25, 2032 - Premier League: Middlesbrough (12-11-11, 47 pts., 10th) vs. Liverpool (14-8-12, 50 pts., 7th)

We need this one to stay alive - there's not really much else to say. We haven't won since the victory at Old Tratford.

The guys obviously see the importance of this match, as we play very well. Niklas Fliess gets us on the board in the 39th, and then we lock down defensively. We get a corner kick in the 65th that bounces off a defender for an own goal to make it 2-0. That's enough, and it's a quality performance that moves us up to 6th... for now.

 

Edited August 27, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

May 1, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (15-8-12, 53 pts., 6th) vs. Huddersfield (10-10-15, 40 pts., 15th)

We are indeed in 6th with three to go, as we've leapt over Man U and a reeling Leicester, which is 2-1-5 since my departure. Huddersfield are just about safe from relegation, but I'd like to make them sweat a little bit here. This is our final home match of the season, so let's send the fans home hopeful for next year.

Prior to our match Chelsea defeats West Ham, 2-0, to officially clinch its first Premier League title since 2015. They are just a powerhouse, having scored 95 goals and allowing 35 in the league. They've got three matches to eclipse that 100 goal mark. This may also be the final nail for West Ham manager Paul Hurst, as it's the Hammers ninth straight game without a win, and they will not be in European competition this year after being as high as fifth halfway through the season.

We score 49 seconds into this match as Claus finds Kenneth Brown with a great lead pass and he finds the back of the net. Suvajac puts in a second for us in the 28th on a penalty kick, and it looks like we'll put a nice little stamp on the home season. We continue to pelt their net but get no more, Huddersfield scores midway through the second half to make us sweat a bit, but it's a solid win. We now have two tough road matches to close out the season and try to advance to Europe for the first time in five seasons.

[trman73]

May 8, 2032 - Premier League: Newcastle (18-10-8, 64 pts., 4th) vs. Liverpool (16-8-12, 56 pts., 6th)

Despite being just 5-3-3 in my brief career at Liverpool, the board is "absolutely delighted" with my leadership, which says more about where they've been the last 15 years than it says about me. But if my board is happy, Newcastle's bosses have to be thrilled with the work of Heurelho Gomes, as the Magpies have clinched their first Champions League appearance since 2022. They have gone 4-2-0 in their last six to clinch that fourth spot, and are also in the FA Cup final against Chelsea. They have not lost a game since March 8.

With Newcastle playing Chelsea for the FA Cup final and Arsenal winning the EFL Cup, that 7th spot in the league will get us to Europa League. With the odds of Newcastle catching Arsenal pretty slim (Arsenal has two very winnable matches to end their season - Reading and Stoke), maybe these guys will be content with 4th and they'll leave an opening for us in this one. If we win, Leicester will have to win its final three matches to catch us for 7th. Leicester plays at home against United today, so either way, we'll still be right in the thick of things heading into our final match of the season at Stamford Bridge.

We're without two starters for this one, and for the Chelsea match, as Jorge Acosta has a pulled hamstring and starting right back Goncalo Bernardino suffered a hip injury that will keep him out for two months.

It's a defensive-minded first half, but then Newcastle gets the first of the match in the 39th, and we're down. In the second half, things explode. Newcastle goes up 2-0 early in the half and we go into attack mode. We get one back from Suvajac in the 64th to close to 2-1, but they come right back to make it a two-goal lead again. Then Suvajac gets another, and it's 3-2. In the final five minutes we go into overload to try to get a point, but it backfires and Newcastle gets the clincher in the 89th. It's a tough loss.

Leicester beats United and Tottenham loses. Midweek, Leicester beats Chelsea. The final day of the season, a lot of teams will have something to play for.

[Chappy2509]

Can you screen shot the best player in the world on your save please going well with Liverpool I'm sure next season will be better 

[trman73]

OK, well, here it is...

There are four teams within one point of each other in positions 5-8. So two of Leicester, Tottenham, United and us are going to be in group stage of Euro Cup, one will be in the qualifiers, and one will be left out. If form holds we're the ones in qualifiers. But I don't see form holding.

We're not in the best of positions here as we've got the champs on the road. But they are in both the FA Cup Final against Newcastle and the Champions League Final against Bayern, so perhaps they will start some reserves. If we can just get a point, we'll see. Leicester plays Tottenham, so if someone wins that match and we just manage a draw, we'll be in. We have to assume United will beat an already-relegated Southampton and jump at least one team into a top seven spot. So again, if we don't get one point from this, it's highly likely that we're that team that finishes eighth.

Of course I want to make it to Europe next year. But if we don't it certainly won't be the end of the world. It will give us a full season to focus solely on domestic success without the added matches.

There's only one way to find out...

May 8, 2032 - Premier League: Chelsea (28-4-5, 88 pts., 1st) vs. Liverpool (16-8-13, 56 pts., 7th)

Regardless of what happens here, this will be our best season in four years. Not much of this can actually be attributed to me, as I'm just 5-3-4 in my 12 matches. But we would make an absolutely huge statement by getting a result here.

Thirty-two seconds into the match, we go down 1-0. Ugh. If we lose, the Tottenham-Leicester match won't matter because both of them have better differentials than us, so it will come down to United, and they have a better differential as well, so they'll need to lose.

Chelsea is absolutely relentless on the attack in the early going, but we fend them off until the 41st minute, when they get a corner and score to make it 2-0. This is slipping away from us. We're being completely dominated, and it doesn't look like there's a chance in hell that we're going to get a point from this game. If we go into attack mode we could lose this game 8-0, but that's a chance I might as well take, so we do it. Chelsea scores its 100th goal of the season 27 seconds into the second half, and this is over. I'm already planning for the offseason. If I could scout players while I played out the second half of this match I would. This match is showing us how much work we have to do to consistently challenge the top teams in this league.

This game seems to take forever, because I just want it to be over. But Suvajac gets one for us in the 60th on a nice counter that leads to a 4-on-2 break, and it's 3-1. Then in the 68th... Fliess gets one to make it 3-2! Holy cow. In the 73rd, Brown gets a breakaway, but his game-tying shot is saved by Jonathan Valdes. Argh!

In the 82nd, our hope is snuffed out as Chelsea gets a fourth goal. We switch to overload and immediately give up another on a counter, and that's it. We lose, 5-2, and give up nine goals in our final two matches.

Oh my God. While Tottenham destroys Leicester, Southampton scores an early goal on United and holds their 1-0 lead... until the 90th minute, when United ties it and breaks our hearts. We finish eighth, tied with United with identical 16-8-14 records, and they take it on goal differential.

 

[trman73]

Hey Chappy, here are the four best players in the world. The World Golden Ball winner for 2031 was actually a guy who played for my Italian World Cup winning team six years ago, Simone Diliberto.

[Chappy2509]

Thanks I like  to see  how the new gens progress over the years good luck next season with Liverpool 

[fridge73]

Great move to LFC, Tom. Never a doubt there. It will be fun for you to build up a squad and even more fun following the progress.  

[trman73]

Liverpool 2031-2032 Season Recap

Before the recap, some crazy things in European competitions this year.

• In Italy, Juventus rebounded from its second-place finish big-time by going wire to wire and finishing with 101 points (33-2-3).
• In France, for just the second time in the last 20 years, PSG does not win Ligue 1, as they lose out to Monaco, 95 points to 93.
• And the craziest season was in Spain, which I monitored all year. Barcelona, Madrid, or Atletico had won La Liga every year since 2004. This year, Villarreal had 86 points heading to the final game, Madrid had 84, and Barcelona 83. Barcelona defeated Villarreal on the final day, Madrid drew, and Barca took the title on head-to-head over Villarreal and by one point over Madrid.
• Germany's run of Euro Cup champions ended as Valencia beat SLB in the final.
• Finally, Bayern's quest for back-to-back Champions League titles fell short as they lost on penalties to Chelsea. So Chelsea won FA Cup, the Premier League, and Champions League. And for the third time in four seasons, goalkeeper Jonathan Valdes wins both his league title and Champions League, cementing his legacy as one of the best keepers in history.

Anyway, I don't feel like I can do a traditional recap since I split my time between two teams. So I'll go with what I think we need to do moving forward in Liverpool.

I set a personal record for the most players placed on the transfer list after the season. Here are the key ones...

• DM El Hadji Sene (25 y.o.; $38.5M value) - He is strictly a defensive midfielder, and I don't use that. Tried him at center midfielder and he was terrible. If we don't get enough for him, I'll try to retrain him at center mid and use him.
• DM Adam Newton (28; $35M) - I should get a big fee for this guy who wants to leave and didn't play well for me out of position at center midfielder.
• MR Jorge Cardozo (27; $36M) - No place for him.
• DM Andres Cano (31; $16.5M) - Yet another defensive midfielder who has to go.
• ML Edwin Vallet (27 y.o.; $16M) - Same deal.
• DR Mohamed Talaat (29; $9.75M) - Started the last two games of the year and was absolutely terrible; making too much for a backup.

Finally, I list goalkeeper Jarder Johansen, who is valued at $17.5 million but who I just wasn't impressed with.

As for needs, I want to replace Johansen in goal. I didn't think I needed to tinker with the defense, but I do, particularly on both the left and right sides. The center midfield is fine and I could probably get by with what I have, but it's not great. And we have three total forwards on the roster with Kenneth Brown leaving. One (Ben Woodburn) is 32 and fading fast. Another (Elias Sainz) just turned 20. We've got two teenagers in the Under 23s who look good but won't be ready to make a huge contribution next year.

So, basically, we need to upgrade... everything.

This will be a huge summer for Liverpool. Time to turn this thing around.

[Chappy2509]

Good luck with the rebuilding 

[trman73]

Liverpool 2032 Off-Season Report

Well, we make a ton of moves in the off-season, and have to juggle lots of offers for both players coming in and going out. When all is said and done, I'm not sure how improved we actually are, but at the very least, I got rid of some dead weight and brought in some guys that I know will better fit our system.

First, the outgoings...

• GK Jarder Johansen is first out the door. Our starting keeper for the past six seasons, he is shipped to Lazio for $8 million, and his $10 million salary goes with him.
• DM El Hadji Sene exits for $15.75 million to Wolves. This is well below his value, but we also get his hefty $7 million salary off our books, and he wasn't going to play.
• MR Jorge Cardozo goes to Huddersfield for $15 million.
• DM Andres Cano also exits for Lazio for $3.8 millon
• ML Edwin Vallet becomes the third player to join Lazio, for $7.5 million
• DR Mohamed Talaat now plays for Middlesbrough, and we got $3.8 million for him.

That was basically everyone on my list. I do retain center midfielder Adam Newton, who upon reflection I see as part of our future.

Now, the new faces...

• First, we bring in MC Florian Klaus permanently from BMG for $7.5 million. He played well and became a permanent starter for me last season.
• We replace Johansen in net with Michel Lecomte, a $19.5 million value who we get for $8.5 million from Dortmund.
• We fortify our attack with forwards Bradley Kretzschmar from Celtic and Argentine Federico Aguirre from River. They are each 23 years old and should grow into a good forward tandem. They come in for a combined $10.5 million.
• Our center defense is strengthened both for the short-term and the future, as we bring in 30-year-old Giuliano Scarpone from Southampton and 22-year-old Turk Emir Ogur from Bursapor.
• We replace Talaat as the backup right back with another youngster, 21-year-old Spaniard Valentin Jimenez.
• Finally, a familiar face as our backup attacking midfielder, as Leicester sends us Jose Antonio, who played well for me in limited duty but had no spot in the Foxes' new setup.

Klaus, Lecomte, and Kretzschmar should be starters. Scarpone is our third central defender, Antonio will play at attacking center midfielder (although not start), and Aguirre, Ogur, and Jimenez are signings for the future.

Overall, we collect $54 million on outgoing transfers, and spend... $54 million on the new guys. We also reduce our payroll from $210 million to $180 million.

I have one more thing up my sleeve as friendly season starts, and that's getting one more forward on a loan. We'll see if I can make this happen.

 

Edited August 28, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

We play five friendlies and go 4-0-1...

• Liverpool 2, Bury 1 - A half-hearted performance against a League One side that we have a friendly agreement with. We need a goal in the 90th to win it.
• AC Milan 1, Liverpool 2 - Should have been a shutout but they score late. Much better performance.
• Liverpool 3, Krasnodar 1 - Solid win over a team I used to coach in a previous save.
• Liverpool 2, Anderlecht 0 - Our most complete performance of the pre-season.
• Roma 3, Liverpool 2 - We score early and late, and give up three in between. A poor defensive performance.

Overall I can't complain. We were fine, and emerge from our friendlies with one injury, to forward Ben Woodburn, who will miss about a month. He's a backup.

We make a couple final moves before the start of the season. We get a crazy offer from Krasnodar for 29-year-old midfielder Francesco Marano, a backup center midfielder. Krasnodar offers $25 million up front and another $6 million after Marano's 20th match, and we jump all over it.

To replace him, we reinvest some of that money in a younger, better midfielder, 22-year-old Argentinian Hugo Schmidt, who joins us for $17 million from Southampton. We now have the last piece of our 2032-2033 puzzle.

[trman73]

Liverpool 2032-2033 Season Preview

I feel like I've never entered a league campaign with so many question marks. If all goes well with some of our new acquisitions, I think we can challenge for that fourth and final Champions League spot. If not, we're looking at Europa League.

As for expectations, the board expects us to qualify for Europa League, and the media is picking us 8th. For the FA Cup, the board wants us to reach the quarterfinals, which we have not done in seven seasons. The EFL Cup is not important to them.

Let's look at the starting side and some key reserves...

Goalkeeper - Michel Lecomte comes in and the starting spot is his. I'm pleased with this addition, and Aaron Lovatt is a decent enough backup in case Lecomte goes down.

Right Defender - Italian Goncarlo Bernardino returns after posting a 7.01 rating in 29 games last year. Backup Valentin Jimenez can't do any worse than last year's backup.

Central Defender - This is probably the strength of our team. Anton Turlyakov and Alejandro Barra return as starters. Newcomer Giuliano Scarpone is a very solid third option, with Aisier Pena and youngster Emir Ogur options as well.

Left Defender - Andrea Dagnino returns as well, meaning our starting defense from last year is back intact, but he'll face pressure from a couple guys to keep his spot.

Center Midfield - I think we've improved here and we have a number of quality options. I'll start the season with Mexican Adrian Sandoval in the middle playing a more defensive role, flanked by Adam Newton (who won his starting spot over Jorge Acosta to start the season) and Florian Klaus. There will be significant rotation here as we have a ton of depth, including Acosta, late addition Schmidt, and young 20-year-old Martin Holmes, who I'd love to get some run in big-boy matches.

Attacking Center Midfielder - Niklas Fliess scored three goals with two assists in 12 games after coming on for me last year. He starts, with Jose Antonio backing him up. These guys will split time.

Forward - This is the real question mark. Jovica Suvajac returns to the starting lineup after a 17-goal season last year, but it may wind up being a revolving door in terms of who pairs with him. We need to see who steps up among Elias Sainz (who will get the nod on opening day), newcomers Brad Kretzschmar and Federico Aguirre, veteran Ben Woodburn, and even 18-year-old French phenom Martin Guedet. We have a lot of options here, and someone needs to take control of that second spot.

Season Prediction

I think we're going to be better than our 16-8-14, 56-point season from a year ago. I think it's very realistic to assume that we'll advance to the Europa League and not have to play in qualifiers. That means fifth or sixth. My prediction is that we finish 18-9-11, good for 63 points and a 5th place finish. I think City comes back and retakes the title from Chelsea, who finishes second, with United third and Arsenal down to fourth. We come in fifth, with Newcastle sixth, and I'll go crazy and take Everton to bounce back and finish seventh.

I am going to predict that we make the final of one of the two domestic cups.

We start the season home against Spurs, then face Derby and Bolton before I make my return to King Power Stadium as a visitor against Leicester.

Let's get going! Woo hoo!

[trman73]

August 15, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool vs. Tottenham

It's hardly a gimme in our league opener, as Spurs finished fifth a year ago and is predicted to do so again this year. I don't do particularly well in my openers, but I'd really like to get three points in this one against a team we'll be battling with for a top spot in the league if all goes well. Tottenham has been very up and down in recent years, as their last four finishes are 5th, 8th, 5th, 13th, and 5th. Their 2024 EPL championship seems like it was longer than eight years ago.

I'm very worried about our attack, and want Sainz to get off to a hot start. He's still just 20 years old and did not see much time for me last season after he came over. This is a lot for him to shoulder. I still have $17 million that I can spend, and I may need to do it on a veteran forward (my former Leicester man Lee Wilding is currently listed).

No one does anything in the first 25 minutes of this match, but Tottenham is racking up yellow cards. In the 26th, one of their guys picks up a second yellow and is sent off, and now we've got a chance to make something happen a man up. We start to take control, and in the 35th Dagnino comes in from the left side on a run and finds Suvajac with a pass right in front of the net, and he scores to put us up. We continue to control play but settle for the 1-0 halftime lead. In the 53rd Suvajac finds Adam Newton, who rewards me from placing him back in the starting lineup by giving us a 2-0 lead. We're playing really well here. When Klaus lobs a long pass to Suvajac and he gets by his man, we're up 3-0 in the 57th and this one is basically in the bank. We put in a fantastic opening performance and win, 3-0. There are 10 yellow cards in this match. Whew!

37 more to go!

[trman73]

August 21, 2032 - Premier League: Derby (0-0-1, 0 pts., 18th) vs. Liverpool (1-0-0, 3 pts., 3rd)

Derby had a rough go of it in their return to the Premier League, as they were pummeled by Huddersfield, 3-0. This team is probably not going to be good, and they're picked to finish 19th, ahead of only fellow newcomer Brighton (who actually destroyed Leicester in their opener, 4-1, with all four goals from Jorn Christensen). But however bad they may be, this is still Derby's home opener, and we need to take it seriously. We've got a midweek EFL Cup second-round match with Plymouth on the horizon, but this is the far bigger game for us, and if we can start the season with six points from our first two that will be a real confidence boost.

We lose left back Andrea Dagnino for three weeks to a back strain suffered in training, but we have two others who can play that position, so Eddie Webber gets his first start for us after being loaned out the last four years. I also give newcomer Federico Aguirre a chance to pair with Suvajac at forward, and Kretzschmar will start the Plymouth game.

We don't play well in this game at all. We're 0-0 at the break, and we're not generating offense as the second half winds on. But in the 75th, Newton makes a run and gets fouled in the box for a penalty. Suvajac takes it, and hits the left post and it bounces in! that was close, but we're up 1-0. Derby puts in a quality effort, but in the 90th a shot from Suvajac is saved and bounces right to Jorge Acosta, who scores easily to clinch it, and we win, 2-0.

I'm not sure what we are right now. We played 65 minutes a man up against Tottenham and put in what was actually a subpar performance against a poor Derby team. But what I do know is that we're 2-0-0, we've outscored our opponents 5-0, and after the EFL Cup match we have another very winnable game at home against Bolton.

[fridge73]

Tom, how are you coping with the storm over there?  I have been watching the news trying to find someone in a canoe with a laptop.

Hope all is well. 

[trman73]

August 25, 2032 - EFL Cup, Second Round: Plymouth vs. Liverpool

Plymouth was promoted from League Two to League One and is struggling in the early going of their league season. This is a chance to see some new faces, and we bring in Scarpone, Acosta, Schmidt, Kretzschmar, and 18-year-old forward Martin Guedet. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys in action.

We shot out Tottenham, we shut out derby, and 48 seconds into this match we give up a goal to Plymouth on a defensive breakdown, and just like that we're down 1-0.

That's the best minute of the match for Plymouth. We equalize almost immediately, as Kretzschmar scores on a PK in the 3rd, then we take the lead just over a minute later on Kretzschmar's second, and three goals have been scored in the first four minutes of the match. We go up 3-1 in the 26th on Kretzschmar's third of the half, and we're dominating now. In the 36th Guedet, the 18-year-old, scores for us on a setup by Kretzschmar to make it 4-1. That's the score at the half, but Kretzschmar's not done, as he adds his fourth of the game in the 52nd. He's obviously making his case to be in the regular starting lineup. Plymouth cuts it to 5-2, but that's how it ends, and we do what we need to do and are on to the third round.

In the third round draw, we get... Leeds, at home.

[trman73]

Hey fridge, we're in Dallas, which is about four hours northwest of Houston. So we got a teeny bit of rain Saturday and Sunday and that's it. Hard to imagine it's 90 degrees and sunny where we are and 250 miles southeast, all hell is breaking loose.

However, I did live in Houston for about five years from 2003-2008, and our former neighborhood (Montrose, for anyone out there who may know the city), is not in good shape. Some of the footage they've shown on CNN and elsewhere was right along the route I used to drive home from work. So it hits home. I cannot even imagine once the immediate danger subsides what it will be like to rebuild those neighborhoods and get people back in permanent homes again.

Houston is actually a great city and we loved living there. I've lived in two places where there was a real sense of community and pride in living there or being from there. One was Boston, where I grew up; the other is Houston.

We also used to do spring break in a small town on the Texas Gulf Coast called Rockport, which was basically where the storm first hit late Friday night and Saturday. Lots of destruction there.

I'm not really one to encourage people to make donations so I won't do that. But it's truly terrible down there, so just think some good thoughts for those folks.

Thanks for thinking of me fridge.

[trman73]

August 28, 2032 - Premier League: Liverpool (2-0-0, 6 pts., 3rd) vs. Bolton (0-1-1, 1 pt., 16th)

We're back to our regular lineup for this one, with one obvious change: Bradley Kretzschmar is in the starting luneup. A guy can't score four and assist on a fifth and then not get a second shot. Neither Elias Sainz or Fernando Aguirre were particularly impressive in their starts, so "Kretz" is in there for a match we should win to make it three for three in the league. After this match we get a two-week break.

I completely forgot to note that Holland won the European Championship over the summer. That's their second straight. They beat Portugal 3-1 in the final. As for my former teams, Italy lost to the Germans in the quarters, and Spain was routed 3-0 by the Dutch in the semis. I didn't pay close attention to this as I was immersed in my own off-season.

Well, I think a new star may be born. Niklas Fliess sets up Suvajac for our first goal in the 15th, then it's the Kretzschmar show. He scores in first-half stoppage time to give us a 2-0 halftime lead, then adds another two minutes into the second half. Suvajac caps a great day by setting up Florian Claus midway through the second to make it 4-0, and we are just rolling right now. It's another clean sheet for Lecomte and the defense, we outshoot Bolton 17-1, and our +9 goal differential moves us up to first in the league three matches in.

Edited August 30, 2017 by trman73