#2 — Setting up.
Or, how I planned my first season as Liverpool’s Manager and got fed up with the media.
Alright, so, being the first woman to ever manage an english top club is a daunting task. It’s intimidating, terrifying and just simply hard. And I’m not even talking about man management or tactics or the football itself: that comes naturally to me. I’m talking about dealing with the press and their horrible speculation. It’s been a few weeks, and I’m still impressed.
Following the announcement, the media decided I was their new target and released story after story about me. Some of them were very liberal on their attacks on my person, or the club. One journalist actually accused me of sleeping my way to the top, which, honestly… I’ve hanged that story on my wall. It’s been an endless source of laughs. But ridiculous or not, it’s hard not to be affected by the outpour of nonsense being said about you. I’m hanging on, but yeah, it’s tough.
Now, even though it hurts, dealing with the media is just a small part of being a Manager and I want to tell you about actual managing. I want to share my vision about our short and long term plans.
The “now”
So, I know these guys, and they know me. I trust them deeply, and they’ve come to trust me as well over the past year. I don’t want to change the roster too much, but I really want to sign a major name, someone creative, fast and young. So that’s on my list.
Tactically, I want attacking, fast paced, high tempo football. That’s pretty much what the team was already doing, but Suarez’ departure is bound to have an effect on the high pressure football we’re playing, marking higher up the pitch. That’s why I’m planning on having 3 central defenders and dropping the full backs. I want two fast and creative wingers to exploit the flanks.
This is my idea for our main tactics, thinking about our squad options:
- 1 striker
- 2 attacking midfielders
- 2 wingers
- 1 central midfielder
- 1 defensive midfielder
- 3 central defenders
- 1 goalkeeper (goes without saying)
We’ll try to score fast and many times, making up for our lack of defensive strenghts.
And this is my current options for the squad. As you can see, I have two high-calibre attackers for me to choose, Stu and Balo. My midfield is pretty much filled with young and fast players, save for Steven and Lucas, who will play more defensively.
I also have 3 great options as defenders: Skrtel Sakho and Lovren. Even though my main tactic doesn’t have a place for full backs, I do have a lot of options, who I’ll most likely use in a different, more defensive tactic. I’m thinking a 4–4–1–1.
The “then”
In the Premier League, I want a top four finish. I know a title run is unlikely, given the new signings, joining the team just now. In the Champions League, I’ll push for qualification to the next round. And it’s a personal matter to take Gerrard to Wembley and see him raise a trophy on his last year as our Captain. Let’s see how that goes.
This is it for now, I’ll get back to my scouts, because the transfer window is still open.
This is my Football Manager series “Blood and Grass”
Previous entry: #1 — My story so far.
