General Information

Year Founded: 1892
Status: Professional
Reputation: Continental
Chairman Status: Happy to stay
Icons: Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Alan Hansen and Bill Shankly
Favoured Personnel: Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and John Barnes
Fierce Rivals: Man Utd, Chelsea, Everton
Other Rivals: Arsenal
Finances: Rich
Estimated Value: £279m
Stadium: Anfield, Liverpool
Stadium Capacity: 45,362
Continental Competition: European Champions Cup
Media Prediction: 4th
Squad Personality: Highly Ambitious
Affiliate Clubs: Crewe, Accrington, MTK
Liverpool play in the English Premier Division

Finances

Transfer budget: £3.8m
Balance: £73.28m
Total wage budget: £1.1m P/w
Current wage budget: £1.07m

This is a low transfer budget to begin with, however if you request more from the board they will sometimes give you an increase of around £15m, however sometimes they are reluctant to do this.

Full Squad

Captain: Steven Gerrard
Vice Captain:Jamie Carragher

Expectations

The board have a minimum expectation of you to qualify for the European Champions Cup. This should not be too much trouble with the current squad but with a few good additions you could finish further up the league. Higher your expectations just increases your pressure and as the transfer budget increase is minimal, I do not think it is worth it.

Goalkeepers

Liverpool currently have 3 goalkeepers who could hack it in the first team. First choice though would obviously be Pepe Reina as he is by far the better goalkeeper. The other two you have to choose from are Charles Itandje and Diego Cavalieri. I would use Diego as your back up keeper and sell Itandje as it is unlikely he is going to be called upon.

Best Goalkeeper: Pepe Reina

Defenders
You have quite a few options in defence, however I feel the best four is not too hard to choose. I would start with Arbeloa at right back as he is a good player at this level . He is also the best right back in your team, apart from perhaps Jamie Carragher however he is more effective at centre back. Because of this, I would pair Carragher and Agger at centre back with Skrtel providing solid back up. On the left hand side you have a tougher decision to ake. Both Fabio Aurelio and Dossena have the ability to excel in your team. It does not really matter who you choose to play here, however I would give Dossena the nod.
Best Defender: Jamie Carragher

Midfielders

This is probably the strongest area of the team. However I would suggest off loading quite a few of the players in this position as they are not really up to the standard that is required. I would start with Steven Gerrard playing wide on the right. Although he is probably best played in the centre, I feel it would be better to bring Alonso in and push him out wide. Therefore, I would play Alonso and Mascherano in the centre, two very strong players who would be great additions to any Premier League side. On the left hand side it is a two horse race between Albert Riera and Ryan Babel, both of which can add a lot to your side. My preference however is Ryan Babel, he is a young player who will be a great asset to the side once he develops. I would probably recommend selling and then buy some back up players as this will improve the teams overall quality.

Best Midfielder: Steven Gerrard

Strikers
This is an area I would suggest to improve in. Fernando Torres by far the best striker in this position. Back up includes Robbie Keane, Dirk Kuyt, David Ngog and Ryan Babel who can play in this position however they are not really up to the standard required, other than Robbie Keane and possibly Kuyt. Therefore I suggest investing in a forward or two.

Best Striker: Fernando Torres

Recommended Starting 11

GK – Renia
DR – Alvaro Arbeloa
DL – Andrea Dossena
DC – Jamie Carragher
DC – Danny Agger
MR – Steven Gerrard/Dirk Kuyt
ML – Ryan Babel/Albert Riera
MC – Xabi Alonso/Steven Gerrard
MC – Javier Mascherano
ST – Fernando Torres
ST – Robbie Keane

Liverpool have a fairly good squad on the whole. I’d say the strongest area of the team is in midfield with the likes of Gerrard, Alonso and Mascherano all top Premier League players.

Recommended Sales

Jermaine Pennant – £7.5m
Lucas – £12-15m
Yossi Benayoun – £7.5m
Dirk Kuyt – £14m
Charles Itandje – £3.5m

The reason I suggest you offload all these players is that for the fees you receive you can bring in much better quality.

Recommended Buys
Lassana Diarra – £11m
Michael Owen – £8m
Andrey Arshavin – £10m
Mario Balotelli – £8m (might struggle to get him for this price)

Tactics

I play a flat 4-4-2 with my Liverpool team. However, a think a variety of formations would be successful with Liverpool. You could easily adjust it to a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-2-3-1 which is a good option when you have plenty of attacking midfielders like Liverpool.

I allow the full backs to make forward runs as both of them are good players going forward. This will add strength to attacks and should not weaken our defence too much, unless hit on the counter attack where we might be more at risk.

The two centre back have more defensive runs. This ensures that we don’t commit too many men forward when attacking. Also, they are not the best players going forward and therefore it is best to focus them on their strengths which is defending.

Team Instructions

The above graphic shows the team instructions I have selected for this tactic. I have set the team up so that they are going to focus more on attacking rather than defending. This is by giving the team a more attacking mentality we should create more up front and therefore, with a bit of quality finishing, score more goals. Also, we should be able to put the opposition under pressure by doing this and this will in turn take the pressure off us.

I have selected a passing style which is mixed but focuses mostly on short passing. The players have the ability to pass the ball well and we might as well take advantage of this. It will also help us to keep possession giving us more time and more chances to create goal scoring opportunities.

Again, I have instructed the team to get the ball out quite wide. This will get the wingers into play and give us an extra outlet when needed. Gerrard, if played on the wing will put in some great balls and also Babel or Riera on the left will cause a threat and trouble for opposition defences.

I have limited closing down to our own half as this will prevent players straying out of position and it will help the team to play as a unit.