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Right now I’m just about to start my third season playing as Liverpool, see last season fot me was very successful I won the Premiership with five games in hand, ended with 95 pts, won the League Cup but lost on penalties in the FA Cup. My home record was superb, 19 games played, 17 wins and 2 draws. The other thing from last season that really stands is some of the results I had against the top four - home and away… I beat Arsenal and Chelsea at home – 3-0 and 2-1 respectively, and both Chelsea and Man U away – 2-1 and 4-1. Most of the time I had at least between 55-56% of the possession, but against the top four I would playing on the counter so I would have about 48-50% percent of the possession. So we generally play possession football but playing on the counter against the top four most of the – especially away from home. Apart from getting beaten on penalties in FA Cup final, it was all round was a great season (although I really wanted to do the treble but oh well...)
Recently I've followed Starr_Man's two threads with great interest because I'm a massive Liverpool, pretty all my games are managing Liverpool... if not Barca/Valencia. I have always tried to bring his tactically ideas into FM - (generally all my Liverpool games), so of late I've trying to tweak my successful tactic around his ideas/tactics, I'll explain... see Liverpool under Rafa Benitez doesn’t set his teams out to play the pass and move football of the late 70’s early 80’s but there are still some principles in Rafa’s football philosophy.
Compared to other teams (Man U/Arsenal), the current Liverpool team doesn’t play dynamic style of play with high intensity (more traditional utd) and pressure or go for a more possesion based side who control games and open opponents up with slick passing (Traditional Liverpool style), playing on the break against the big teams, even at home if need be – the 3-0 thrashing of Arsenal last season being a good example of this. Most of the time (99% of the time) two defensive midfielders are employed, so instead of having an attacking central midfielder boming forwards and joining in the attacks, with two defensive midfielder you look to build a solid base for your attacking players in the final third. Liverpool these days use their wingers to fully effect, they may not have a Barnes but players like Pennant, Gerrard and now Babel is proving to be very effective, they offer Alonso with quality outlets out wide – so he can use his creativity to full effect. Having a strong, reliable keeper is very important – Reina and Grobbelaar, so is a having a strong defensive but a players that can pass the ball and very comfortable when on it - Hansen and Agger are players are all excellant comparisons between the late 70's/early 80's Liverpool teams to the current team under Rafa Benitez.
LAST SEASON'S TACTIC
Normal/Attacking mentality
The back four, defensive midfielder’s and Target man mentality; Normal.
The wingers and out and out striker mentality; Attacking.
Centre backs/DMC - forward runs and RWB, both - rarely
Fullbacks/(more attacking) DMC/Target man –mixed (both)
Wingers/Striker – often (both)
TEAM INSTRUCTIONS - continued
Medium width
Medium defensive line
Normal/Heavy tackling
Medium/Often closing down
Tight marking
Medium tempo
Rarely Time Wasting
Long Farrows on Wingers
PERSONAL INSTRUCTIONS
The back four and left/right wingers; short/mixed passing.
The two central midfielders; mixed/direct passing
All players except DC’s/DMC’s mixed/often forward runs
All attacking players to play Through Balls often
Medium Creative Freedom.
So my plan this season is to tinker with last season’s tactics, with my aim being - to pressure or go for a more possession based side that control games and open opponents up with slick passing but also capable of playing more direct on the break.
I want the attacking (wide) players picking balls up from the feet of the holding players, but at the same time direct passing down the flanks and attacking players quick passes in the final third around the box, finding those triangles but with the wide men coming deep and then run at full backs or drift inside and play to play intelligently ‘between the lines’ but still supplying the crosses at vital times to your target man – in my case Torres.
For me not team should play at a 100mph all the time, because sooner or later you get figured/caught out by teams. I want most or all to vary our attacks, and not place too much emphasis is placed on play direct to the strikers, I want a much more varied attack with more passing around and moving will be get the best out of our midfielders – Alonso/Gerrard/Mascherano. And it will really help open teams up and make us less predictable. Towards the latter of last season I became very reliant on Torres and seeked him out too much for my liking.
The aim being get my current Liverpool team playing a mixture of pass and football but also flexiable to change to playing on the counter like the current Liverpool team IRL...
09-06-2007, 12:09 PM
Liverpool FC/Rafa Benitez football philosophy. Post #2
If the mods want to merge this with Starr_Man's experiment thread go for it but seeing he decided to quit that project that why I opened a new thread...
Originally posted by Kaz_1983...:
If the mods want to merge this with Starr_Man's experiment thread go for it but seeing he WAS FORCED to quit that project that why I opened a new thread...
Good luck Kaz, I really hope you do well.
I'm genuinely devastated about my own game.
I never just "Gave up" on a whim; there's nothing more I can do except manage, but when the game throws up insurmountable bastions for which I have no reply or answer...
..I'm sorry, I never wanted to quit.
Good luck, mate, I'll be keeping a close eye on this one.
KUTGW :thup:
09-07-2007, 05:13 AM
Liverpool FC/Rafa Benitez football philosophy. Post #6
4-0 Zurich… easy win, Torres got a hat trick – one was from a flick on from Lindfield, a deep cross from Barragan , a stray back pass and a bullet corner from Mancini. The other goal was from a deep cross from Garcia.
3-0 Young Boys… straight forward win, goals coming from a though ball from Gerrard, deep cross from Barragan and a well hit through ball from Aurelio that caught the keeper out.
1-0 Basel… only goal coming from a well taken Aurelio freekcick.
2-0 Nacional de Maderia… goals coming from a byline cross from Anderson to Pazzani and a long range strike from Mascherano.
2-1 Aston Villa… goals coming from a byline cross from Torres to Garcia cutting in and a assist from Pazziani to Torres.
2-0 Watford… goals coming from a through ball by Garcia to Torres and a cross from the byline by Torees looking for Anderson.
6-1 Man U… goals coming from a cross from Barragan to Torres that got defected to Gerrard – resulting in a long range goal, a stray back pass, cross from Torres to Garcia, a cross into the box from Mark Gonzales that resulted in a Man U own goal, a goal from a mazy run by Pazzini past 4 Man U players and a neat through ball from Alonso.
2-0 Arsenal… goals coming from a through ball from Gerrard to Torres and a flick on from Torres to Gonzales.
I’m on top of the latter, with a full nine points – 10 goals for, 1 against. We are the only team unbeaten.
09-07-2007, 07:33 AM
Liverpool FC/Rafa Benitez football philosophy. Post #7
My passing for the Alonso and Gerrard roles and the teams width/tempo are based on wwfan’s ‘Passing, Width & Tempo’ theory in ‘TT&F IV: New Strategies and Theories for '07’ thread….
Quote:
These three settings are intrinsically related and are vital to get right when designing tactics. If you have lots of short passing in an ultra wide formation, passes will be constantly under hit and the opposition will frequently intercept the ball mid-move and counter. Likewise, long balls and a narrow formation will reduce possession percentages as the only option for most players will be a pump up to the FC who will be surrounded by both his own team and the opposition as players are so close together, so his flick ons are likely to be very ineffective. Although you can play a quick tempo with short passing you need highly technical players to do this, and as technique stats seem to have reduced considerably since ’06, you will require a world-class side to pull it off.
If you watch quality teams play in real life, you will notice that it is the central midfield that sets the tempo. Think Viera with Arsenal, Keane with Man Utd. When Keane was at his peak, his quick winning of the ball, bringing it forward from defence and pinging counter-attacking balls forward to the breaking midfielders was the fulcrum off the team. When Veron joined, his slower playmaking style disrupted the team and results fell away. As in real life, when designing your tactics link the tempo and width with your MCs’ passing.
Basically, set the MCs’ passing to whatever passing style you would like your team to play, be it a continentalesque 5, a very Premiership 10, or a LLM 15. Adjust the team width and tempo sliders to match. Then, adjust the passing of the players operating behind the MCs (central defenders, full-backs and goalkeeper) to be slightly (2-5 clicks) longer than the MCs, and the players operating higher up the pitch (wingers and forwards) to be slightly shorter (2-5 clicks).
The logic of this system is based around the position players take on the pitch and how close players are to them when they have the ball. In general, defenders, when in possession and under little pressure, are further away from their nearest player than midfielders or attacker are. So a more direct passing style is more viable. Employing such a style also offers them more passing options, as a direct through ball could find a breaking winger and set a one-pass attacking move in motion. However, when an attacking player is in possession, he is, unless on a quick break, likely to be surrounded by team mates who are all operating in a small zone of the pitch. Short, intricate passing is needed in such situations for moves to succeed.
09-07-2007, 08:48 AM
Liverpool FC/Rafa Benitez football philosophy. Post #9
Liverpool FC/Rafa Benitez football philosophy. 
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