Liverpool July and August 2014

Hello everyone, sorry for the delay, I have been very busy recently. However, I now have time to write this post, so welcome back!
After my exploits with England at the World Cup it was back to Liverpool for pre season, I immediately turned my attention to transfers. Only two players left the club for money in the summer, they were Alberto Aquilani, who didn't get many starts and is getting on a bit, and Emilano Insua, who, after losing his place to Anthony Anderson, wanted games.

All the players who were released were young players, who aren't good enough. Obviously, after selling a left back and a midfielder I needed to replace them, and I set about straight away trying to do so. Here are the transfers in, only two players were signed, despite my huge transfer budget.

Stefano Paoli is the centre midfielder, although he is also a natural DMC and accomplished on the right wing. He has very good attributes, and at just 19, he has potential to be one of the best midfielders around. Particularly impressive are his mental stats, they are very good for someone so young. $21.5m is a big fee, but I'm confident he can repay it.

The other signing was, you guessed it, a left back. It is young regen Jonas Helland, he will play as a backup for Anthony Anderson, and he has good potential. Hopefully he can be a good player for us for many years to come.

With the new signings on board it was time to start the new season, here are the results:

Friendlies:

We only played three friendlies, but all of them were won, we played with confidence against both St Mirren and Wigan.

After that it was time for the first competitive match of the season, it was the community shield against Man City. The match wasn't a very good one, the first chance fell to David Silva in the 39th minute, and he tucked it home. It was level just two minutes later, and after that very little happened. Penalties were inevitable, I was confident going into them, but it seemed that we just lost our composure. After Wilshere and Gerrard both missed it was Alexis Sanchez who blew the crucial penalty, and City had won the shootout. I was disappointed as we had created the better chances during the game, but I guess the shootout is just a lottery.

We played three matches in the Premier League in August, and we looked in fine form, we bounced back quickly from the shootout loss to Man City. The Tottenham game was particularly pleasing, we absolutely hammered them, we were clinical in front of goal, partciularly from corner's, that were three of our goals came from.

UEFA Super Cup

The most important game in August was the the UEFA Super Cup final against Valencia. We were looking to win it for the second time in a row, here are the team line ups:

We were missing Valencia old boy David Silva, he had a minor injury, so Jack Wilshere came in. We started the game well, we looked very dangerous going forward, and in the 14th minute Wilshere crossed for Torres to slot in from ten yards. We still looked good, Valencia also looked dangerous on the counter attack. Unfortunately despite our chances we couldn't kill the game off, but Valencia were also wasteful. We managed to hold on in the nervy final stages, but I'm disappointed we couldn't score more goals. However, I'm delighted we have managed to win the trophy, hopefully we can make history and win it three times in a row next season.

We have climbed to the top of the table, I won't show you it, but we are three points clear after our great start.

That's all then friends, thanks for reading!

England At The World Cup 2014

Hello everyone, after another good season with Liverpool, I had a huge challenge ahead of me, my first World Cup as England manager! We were drawn in a group alongside Switzerland, Ecuador and Iran. I was confident of our chances.
Here is the squad I took to Brazil:

I was confident going into the tournament, I felt that we had a strong squad with a good mix of experience and youth, I was hoping that we could go a long way, I felt that we should reach at least the semi finals.

Here is my strongest team, the team I put out when everyone is fit.

The only regen in the team is young full back Anthony Anderson, he plays for my Liverpool side and has developed into the best English left back, you can find his profile in the Current Squad section.

So onto the important stuff, the matches. We started against Switzerland, the team expected to challenge us for top spot in the group. We got off to a good start, the players were knocking it around with confidence and we went ahead when Wayne Rooney played in Ashley Young, who slotted home. It was 2-0 just after half time, Gerrard plauyed a nice ball to Rooney, who got on the scoresheet. After that we started to defend more, we did that comfotably and we made a good start to our World Cup campaign.

After that good start, we needed a win in the next game to edge closer to qualification to the knockout stages. We were up against Iran, I expected a win as they were ranked 50th in the world, 48 places behind us. Once again we started well, and we were ahead in the 16th minute, Jay Rodriguez slotted in from 10 yards after a good move. We had to wait until after half time to get our second, Steven Gerrard smashed it in from the edge of the area, and he had his second soon after, it was a brilliant goal, he picked it up in midfield and hammered it in from a full 35 yards. He was on a hat trick and got a perfect chance to get it not long later, we won a penalty which he took, and he grabbed the chance with both hands, to round of a fantastic performance. It was an important game for Gerrard, it was his 126th apperance for England, he broke Peter Shiltons long standing record.

After that win we were all but secure of qualifcation so I decided to rest a few players for the final game, against Ecuador. In the previous game Ben Foster picked up an injury, putting him out for the tournament. Joe Hart replaced him in goal for the remainder of the tournament. We did the opposite of the previous games this time, we went behind early on through a brilliant goal. We were the better team however, and on the stroke of half time Rooney equalised. I expected us to go out and get a second after that, but it wasn't to be, the game finished level, despite a number of chances for us.

Despite that draw we still finished as group leaders, one point ahead of Switzerland, who went through with us.

So we were through to the knockout stages, we learned that we had a very difficult game ahead of us, we were drawn against Brazil!
Loooking at their team, they had some good players, but I felt we had a great chance, we have some good players as well. Again, we got off to a good start and we went ahead when Wayne Rooney was played in by Lennon, and he fired past the keeper one-on-one. I wanted us to hold out to half time, but I didn't expect us to score again. I was shocked, therefore, when Jack Rodwell burst from midfield to hammer in a second goal for us. The match was even in terms of possession and shots, but whereas Brazil's efforts were mostly from range, ours looked much more threatening, and we killed the game off when Rodwell got his second, he slid it in from eight yards out. It was a great result, we were through to the quarter finals and we would face Nigeria.

In the quarters we were to face Nigeria, they have a good side and are ranked 14th in the world. I still expected a win, but we didn't play well and their keeper had a blinder. After Jay Rodriguez had put us ahead we just couldn't break through again, and they snatched a goal meaning it went to extra time. It was the same story in the additional period, and the match went to penalties, I was disappointed about that, but confident that we had good spot kick takers. I was proved right as, Anthony Anderson, Tom Huddlestone, Wayne Rooney, Jay Rodriguez and James Milner all scored and one miss from them meant we were through! I was very pleased, particularly as we were missing Gerrard in the shootout, he went off injured, but fortunately no injury was there after the game so he was going to be fit for the semi final, where we were to face France.

So we were to face France, they have a very good side, I knew the game was going to be very tough. Sure enough, France started the better, and after just twelve minutes we were behind through Karim Benzema. We looked stunned and they got a second before half time, rounding it off in the second half. We were out then, beaten by a good French side, but I was disappointed with the performance.

We had one more game to play, it was the third place play off against Italy. We didn't play very well again, but we snatched a victory thanks to goals from Curtis Davies and Ashley Young, and some wasteful finishing from the Italians.

That concludes our World Cup campaign, I am pleased that we ended on a high, and I'm satisfied that we got to the semi finals, but our performance against France was woeful, I am disappointed with that. I will stay on as manager though, I've still got to win more trophies with England before I'd consider resigning.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!

Liverpool May 2014 - Chasing The Trophies

 Hello everyone, welcome back! After wrapping up the league title in April, we now had a chance to rest some players ahead of the FA Cup Final against Man City, and the Champions League Final against Real Madrid. Victory in both would secure a historic quadruple, I really wanted that to happen.

First we had three league games to play, and here are the results:

We absolutely hammered Middlesborough, they had no answer to the fantastic attacking play of my young team, Danielsson, Brown, Kortadi and Williams are all young regens, the oldest of them is 22. You can see there profiles (and all the other profiles of all players in the first team squad) in the 'Current Squad' pages.
The Man City game was very even, a draw was a fair result, but I was very disappionted with the West Ham game, the players were poor, it seemed like most of them were on their holidays already.

Here is the league table, another very good season for us, we wracked up 95 points, 1 point more than last year.

After those final Premier League games it was on to the most important games of the month, first up was the FA Cup Final, versus Man City, who had enjoyed a good season themselves.

I expected quite a tough game, but Man City were alot better than I expected. They started the game fantastically and ripped our defence apart in the early staged, deservedly taking the lead when Carlos Tevez rifled in a free kick. We hit back though, our first attack saw Fernando torres whip in a cross from the right and Steven Gerrard bundled the ball in. It was 2-1 not long after though, Jo finished a nice City move that left our defence standing. Once again we managed to equalise, David Silva had an easy finish after good work from Torres. The match then became more even, and I thought the game was going to penalties when Gignac, on as a substitute, was played in and slotted home. I was very happy, I thought the cup was ours, but with 10 seconds left on the clock Pablo Zabaleta powered in from range and the match went to extra time. Extra time was quite boring, little happened except that Sanchez got a second yellow, I was very disappointed with him for that, and the match went to penalties.

 I was quite confident as I chose the spot kick takers, but I was not preapred for what was about to happen. After Anthony Anderson and Carlos Tevez missed in the early stages, everyone on both teams scored until Jose Reina and Nedum Onuoha both missed. After that everyone scored until finally someone crakced under the pressure. Unfortuantely it was Glen Johnson, he rolled his shot wide and we had lost the shootout.

So we had lost the FA Cup Final, but we had to pick ourselves up quickly, we had the Champions League Final coming up! We were facing a very strong Real Madrid side, just look at some of their players!

Casillas, Ramos, Zapata, Pepe, Santon, Diarra, Velosos, Ronaldo, Vucinic, Higuain, Benzema.... not a weak link anywhere. They have such a good squad that Kaka was only on the bench!

R.Madrid started as the better team, they were knocking it about well. Our defence stayed strong, they had no clear cut chances, and we were looking dangerous on the break, using Sanchez, Silva and Torres' pace. We couldn't break through, and neither could they, the match drifted into extra time, and eventually, penalties.

We faced our second shootout in a week, and I'll admit that I wasn't too confident after losing against Man City. Everyone scored in the first five penalties so the match went to sudden death. We immediately had a chance to win it, after Sergio Ramos missed Glen Johnson had the chance to win it but his kick was saved by Casillas. We had another chance straight away, Evra missed for them, but Axier Kortadi couldn't punish them. Another two penalties went in, but Cristian Zapata missed for Real, leaving Nicolas Otamendi with the chance to win it. He ran up and belted it into the top corner, past Casillas, we had won the Champions League! It was our second in a row, I was so pleased that we had managed to defend our crown!

Here are some player stats for the season. I would say the best five players of the season are:

1 Fernando Torres

2 Steven Gerrard

3Nicolas Otamendi

4 David Silva

5 Andre Pierre Gignac

That's about all for now, we have a busy summer ahead, it's World Cup year! I will be leading England there, hopefully we can come home with the trophy, there will be a post about our adventures soon.

Thanks for reading!