Thanks for your support guys. I got home yesterday and only played the game for about another 45 mins or so. Had to get some sleep as I had work again this morning. But first things first. Here my transfer activity so far...
LFC Transfer Activity
The atmosphere around Liverpool was not very happy. The fans weren't happy about crashing out of the Champions League and definitely not happy losing to Reading. The good thing was that some fans were happy about winning 2-0 against Everton, so they were still a little faithful towards me. I needed some wins and I needed them badly to prove that I wasn't going to be a flop in a big club like LFC. So my first test was Aston Villa. Assistant Manager Gary Ablett's pre-match report said that Liverpool's form has been dodgy lately and he wasn't expecting us to win. I had Fernando Torres back in action although his morale was at an all time low. My pre-game talk was "For the fans" to everyone, and "No Pressure" for Fernando Torres. And as far as Gerrard goes, since he is team captain, i told him "Expect a performance". This seemed to have done the trick as it fired up some of the lads. Torres netted a goal in the 10th minute of the game and Aston Villa started playing possession football. A quick tactic adjustment during halftime and the half-time talk of "Don't get careless" did the trick. The lads came out with a chip on their shoulder and then netted 2 more goals with the Captain missing the penalty shot for the 4th goal.
Result: LFC 3 - Aston Villa 0
Liverpool 3 - Aston Villa 0
A good bounce back win. Just what the doctor ordered. Since LFC wasn't competing in the Champions League, I now have to make sure that we go deep in the UEFA Cup if not win it. Standing in the way was a team known as Litex. Beat them twice and I would qualify for the UEFA Cup as well. Torres' morale is still low so when we played again, I told him "No Pressure" again. This is my tactic until his morale gets going again. Klaas Jan Huntelaar meanwhile looked like he was going to avail this opportunity to establish himself as a fan favorite. The game was over by halftime when Huntelaar netted two goals.
Litex 0 - Liverpool 2
My next opponent was Wigan. This seemed to be an off game for my strikers, but the midfielders stepped up big time with Xabi Alonso leading the way. He & Lucas contributed a goal each for me to get two straight victories today.
Wigan 0 - Liverpool 2
Next up is Aston Villa again in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup. Now English cups are something I would need to perform better in because of high expectations from the fans. Aston Villa seemed to be coming out on a vengeance after losing to Liverpool 3-0 about 10 odd days ago. They came out attacking on the full. A quick counter attack got LFC a corner and Daniel Agger stepped up to put LFC up 1-0 in the 12th minute. Petrov then equalized with a direct free kick beating Reina. After half-time Gareth Barry netted in at the 60th minute to put AV up 2-1. A quick adjustment to go "All-out attack" saw Torres step up and equalize in the 88th minute. This game was going in extra time. Both extra time halfs weren't the best for both teams and the game went into penalties. I had my best penalty takers set to take penalties. It was 2-2 in the penalty when yup, you guessed it, the Captain missed a penalty. AV didn't miss a single penalty and they beat LFC 5-3 on penalties. LFC are now knocked out of the Carling Cup.
LFC losing a heartbreaker
Meanwhile, I had secured the services of a 16 yr old dutch striker on a free transfer who according to my scouts had the potential to be better than Torres. Into the Academy he goes to become a future star for LFC. I had also been negotiating a deal with Udinese for their Brazilian CB Felipe. My scouts said that he was already as good as Daniel Agger and had the potential to become much better than Agger. He was valued at about $2.8 million by Udinese so a quick bid of $3 million was put in with clauses. Bid Rejected.
I had also been targeting 24 yr old Attacking Midfielder / Forward in Daniel Carvalho. The guy's contract expires in 5 months so I've kept him in my shortlist. I offered him a contract only realize later that he could arrive for free later in the yr. Now I'm waiting for his reply. Because if he accepts it, I owe his parent club $7 million. So I might withdraw my contract and offer him a new and slightly better one once his contract nears expiration.
With $7 million to spend, you can't really do much. My scout Macia also recommended Matias Fernandez from Chile. He had raved about his abilities. Macia suggested that a bid of $20 million would prize him away. He was valued at about $11 million and had minimum release clause of about $227 million. I offered the team $2 million cash with $18 million in 24 monthly installments. The board of his parent club stepped in and wanted to add on a 20% selling fee clause. I saw no harm in it and quickly accepted the offer. The board accepted my bid and allowed me to speak to Matias. He was very enthusiastic about joining LFC, and quickly accepted the contract. He now awaits to join LFC when the transfer window re-opens in Jan.
Getting back to competition. My next opponent was Tottenham. Again I was expected to take a draw from them, but LFC was on a hot streak. Crouch replace Huntelaar to partner up with Torres up front. Torres' morale finally got to OKAY so I told him, "for the fans". The lad responded well and netted 2 goals. Peter Crouch also chipped in with a goal. I dominated Tottenham 3-0.
Next up was Litex at home. Already up 2-0 on the aggregate, I tried to give some fringe players a chance to perform. Babel got a rest with Kewell replacing him on the left. Gerrard was replaced by Benayoun on the right wing. Alonso was in the middle with Mascha as the DM. Torres was rested with Huntelaar & Crouch partnering up front. Huntelaar took it upon himself and netted just before half-time. That was enough to get me to the UEFA Group Stage.
LFC was now on a hot streak. Next up was relegation candidates Derby County. Could they put a dent in my challenge towards the EPL? Not really. Huntelaar put in a career effort with a hattrick and a Reina error cost him his clean sheet. Final score was 3-0. Huntelaar was now becoming a quick fan favorite...
Next up for LFC was Man Utd. They were sitting atop the table and Fergie's pre-match comments had upset the lads. He claimed that Liverpool wasn't capable of challenging for the title and I should set more realistic goals such as qualifying for next yr's champions league. In my response, I said that confidence was high at Anfield and LFC feared no one, to which Fergie replied, we'll try our hardest. BRING IT ON!!! First half, both teams came close but no one really scored. 2nd half, Gerrard opened the scoring in the 62nd minute. A Carragher error helped Saha equalize five minutes later. Huntelaar responded with scoring another goal, putting us up 2-1. I had also lost Torres to injury again. So I subbed in a DC to have 5 Defenders to avoid any more goals. Well, Carragher assured that Man U get their draw. He caused another error and Saha quickly capitalized. Final score was 2-2 with Cara's match rating a measly 5.
The winning streak was still alive and I was quickly climbing the EPL table. My next opponent was AEK in the UEFA Group Stages. They were quickly brushed aside as their own error put us up 1-0 and then Fabio Aurelio and Huntelaar assured that we would win comfortably. This Huntelaar name is becoming common, which the LFC fans are liking :)
My last match for tonight was against Fulham. Confidence & Morale was now high & good respectively. Ablett said that we should have no troubles beating them and boy was he right. Torres was back after missing a game with injury and he netted one in the 14th minute to put us in front. Van der Vaart scored his first goal from the Penalty to put us up for good. He got injured in the 2nd half and is now out for 2 months with a broken arm. Surely he will be missed.
Overall, I think the players are finally starting to gel with this formation. The team only looks to be improving on a day by day basis. With Fernandez joining in January, the squad again will improve. Hopefully I can also sign Carvalho to provide cover for the first team in case injury hits Torres or Huntelaar. I received the Manager of the month award for September. I hope these results continue and I take LFC to new heights...
This concludes this update. Hope you guys enjoyed it!!!
Almost forgot: I'm now at #5 at the table only 5 points behind the leaders Man U. #2 is still Portsmouth with Voronin leading their scoring with 11 goals in 11 matches. (Ridiculous). #3 is Arsenal and #4 is Chelsea.
A new game with Liverpool... 
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