One of the games I've been playing lately is Alan Wake, a survival horror game from Remedy Entertainment which is the same studio behind the classic third person shooter Max Payne. And in many ways, this shows in the game as it contains a lot of similar elements to Max Payne (such as the broody protagonist who likes the sound of his own voice a bit too much). Of course, the key difference is that Alan Wake is a survival horror game (although the developers are billing it as a psychological thriller).
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I do enjoy playing scary games. However, there is a big difference in style between a game like F.E.A.R., which is a shoot em up where you carry a boatload of heavy armament, and survival horror games like Alan Wake where you spend half your time worrying if you are going to have enough ammo for your pistol.
Believe it or not, Alan Wake is actually the first survival horror game that I have ever played. I was interested in Dead Space but it came out around the time when I was boycotting EA which is why I skipped it. I was also interested in the Resident Evil games but never got into them because of the horrible control scheme.
And this is really the first thing worth mentioning about Alan Wake. The game controls like every other TPS on the market and feels great because of it. You can strafe left or right, you can sprint (but only over short distances), you can walk in one direction while looking in a different direction (also known as turning your head). You never feel like you are fighting the clumsy control scheme instead of the monsters which inhabit the darkness. Ultimately, the control scheme makes the whole game better simply because it allows me to focus on the story instead of thinking about how I'm going to control my avatar.
And having played Alan Wake, it just makes it even more incomprehensible why the Resident Evil series continues to use an old and outdated control scheme.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
FM2010 - Season 2009/10
And so ends my first season in charge of Liverpool. Season 2009/10 has come to a close and overall, its been a good year. If nothing else, at least we finally managed to get rid of Hicks.
The dreams of Liverpool fans the world over are finally realised
Premiership
Unfortunately, the story from the first half of the season continued as my team maintained their good run of games against top opposition while struggling to beat "lesser" teams. In addition to beating Tottenham (which I talked about last week), we also managed to beat Man Utd and get a great win against Arsenal.
At this point, I'm pretty sure that everyone is wondering how Arsenal managed to lose this game. They controlled the game from start to finish, scored an early goal and even had a man up late in the second half. And then they missed the penalty. That gave my players some hope and some damn fine counter-attacking play saw us score two goals to get the win!
Unfortunately, we weren't able to beat Chelsea. I intended to play that match with a heavily defensive mindset. I figured that with the number of older players at Chelsea, they would tire late in the match. All I had to do was hold onto the ball and force them to chase after it (with Chelsea being at home, they would feel that they have to attack) until they got tired at which point, I could start my own attack. All was going to plan until Lampard scored with an absolute screamer of a free kick and after that, their players stopped chasing after the ball.
As you can see, Chelsea defended well which meant that I was restricted to long shots.
That defeat by Chelsea was probably critical considering the final league table.
So, so close.
Also - lets all laugh at Spurs! :D
Cup form
The board expectations for my Liverpool squad were to reach the final of the FA cup and the semi-final of the Champions Cup.
I managed to get to the semi-final of the Champions Cup where I went up against Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Real Madrid then proceeded to give me a masterclass in attacking football. My team were not only beaten but completely humiliated 4-0 away from home. Unfortunately, the home leg wasn't much better as they completely controlled the match until late in the second half when they went all out defence. The only consolation was that we managed to score two late goals by throwing everyone forward and ended up winning the home leg 2-1.
As you already know, we were knocked out of the FA cup by Man Utd in the fourth round at which point, I made the League cup a priority. Fate would give us a chance at revenge against Man Utd as we came up against them in the final of the League cup. It was a chance that my team would grab with both hands!
woohoo - silverware in my first season in charge! I can only imagine how furious Fergie must have been at being completely outplayed
The squad
Lastly, here is a summary of my squad as at the year end.
As you can see, Stevie G was easily the best player in my team. 18 goals and 14 assists mean that he was my most important attacking player and was also the most consistent player over the course of the season.
Torres was a huge disappointment. He had constant injury problems throughout the year and, although he started 28 games, the reality was that in a lot of those games, he wasn't really match fit. In addition to all that, he also suffered a huge dip in form in the second half of the season. Frankly, 13 goals is pathetic for a player of his standing.
On the other hand, David N'Gog has been a revelation. Can you believe he was my top scorer! He got into the team primarily because Torres was spending so much time injured and, other than a dip in form midway through the season, he did a fantastic job considering his age.
Key themes
World Class Striker - my team desperately needs a world class striker. Torres is spending way too much time injured and I just can't rely on him to be there when I need him. I already have my eye on several candidates and if Torres isn't careful, his status in the squad is going to drop fast.
Injuries - my team have been blighted by injuries this year. There were several times over the course of the season where I had to play players from my reserves because there was literally no-one in the first team who was fit to play. Hopefully, this is only a one-off. Although I fully expect injuries to be an issue in future seasons, with a bit of luck, it won't be as bad as it has been this season.
Reserves - the injuries also highlighted another serious issue with my Liverpool squad. I have absolutely dreadful players in the reserves and under 18's and anytime I fielded one of them, it was a serious weakening of the tam. With the exception of 1 or 2 players, none of them have any potential worth talking about. In addition to a world class striker, I seriously need to buy in a crop of young up and coming players (particularly with the requirement next season that I have 8 players who trained in England).
Conclusion
Overall, I have to say that its been a good year. I managed to get some silverware and meet board expectations in the Champions Cup and the Premiership (in fact, if it hadn't been for the injury crisis, I may even have been able to win it this year). Granted, the board were upset that I got beat in the 4th round of the FA cup but they did acknowledge that it was Man Utd who knocked me out.
Considering that we got new management midway through the year and that those American losers are no longer in charge, I might even get some transfer kitty to buy a world class striker and win next year.
The future is bright. The future is Red.
The dreams of Liverpool fans the world over are finally realised
Premiership
Unfortunately, the story from the first half of the season continued as my team maintained their good run of games against top opposition while struggling to beat "lesser" teams. In addition to beating Tottenham (which I talked about last week), we also managed to beat Man Utd and get a great win against Arsenal.
At this point, I'm pretty sure that everyone is wondering how Arsenal managed to lose this game. They controlled the game from start to finish, scored an early goal and even had a man up late in the second half. And then they missed the penalty. That gave my players some hope and some damn fine counter-attacking play saw us score two goals to get the win!
Unfortunately, we weren't able to beat Chelsea. I intended to play that match with a heavily defensive mindset. I figured that with the number of older players at Chelsea, they would tire late in the match. All I had to do was hold onto the ball and force them to chase after it (with Chelsea being at home, they would feel that they have to attack) until they got tired at which point, I could start my own attack. All was going to plan until Lampard scored with an absolute screamer of a free kick and after that, their players stopped chasing after the ball.
As you can see, Chelsea defended well which meant that I was restricted to long shots.
That defeat by Chelsea was probably critical considering the final league table.
So, so close.
Also - lets all laugh at Spurs! :D
Cup form
The board expectations for my Liverpool squad were to reach the final of the FA cup and the semi-final of the Champions Cup.
I managed to get to the semi-final of the Champions Cup where I went up against Real Madrid. Unfortunately, Real Madrid then proceeded to give me a masterclass in attacking football. My team were not only beaten but completely humiliated 4-0 away from home. Unfortunately, the home leg wasn't much better as they completely controlled the match until late in the second half when they went all out defence. The only consolation was that we managed to score two late goals by throwing everyone forward and ended up winning the home leg 2-1.
As you already know, we were knocked out of the FA cup by Man Utd in the fourth round at which point, I made the League cup a priority. Fate would give us a chance at revenge against Man Utd as we came up against them in the final of the League cup. It was a chance that my team would grab with both hands!
woohoo - silverware in my first season in charge! I can only imagine how furious Fergie must have been at being completely outplayed
The squad
Lastly, here is a summary of my squad as at the year end.
As you can see, Stevie G was easily the best player in my team. 18 goals and 14 assists mean that he was my most important attacking player and was also the most consistent player over the course of the season.
Torres was a huge disappointment. He had constant injury problems throughout the year and, although he started 28 games, the reality was that in a lot of those games, he wasn't really match fit. In addition to all that, he also suffered a huge dip in form in the second half of the season. Frankly, 13 goals is pathetic for a player of his standing.
On the other hand, David N'Gog has been a revelation. Can you believe he was my top scorer! He got into the team primarily because Torres was spending so much time injured and, other than a dip in form midway through the season, he did a fantastic job considering his age.
Key themes
World Class Striker - my team desperately needs a world class striker. Torres is spending way too much time injured and I just can't rely on him to be there when I need him. I already have my eye on several candidates and if Torres isn't careful, his status in the squad is going to drop fast.
Injuries - my team have been blighted by injuries this year. There were several times over the course of the season where I had to play players from my reserves because there was literally no-one in the first team who was fit to play. Hopefully, this is only a one-off. Although I fully expect injuries to be an issue in future seasons, with a bit of luck, it won't be as bad as it has been this season.
Reserves - the injuries also highlighted another serious issue with my Liverpool squad. I have absolutely dreadful players in the reserves and under 18's and anytime I fielded one of them, it was a serious weakening of the tam. With the exception of 1 or 2 players, none of them have any potential worth talking about. In addition to a world class striker, I seriously need to buy in a crop of young up and coming players (particularly with the requirement next season that I have 8 players who trained in England).
Conclusion
Overall, I have to say that its been a good year. I managed to get some silverware and meet board expectations in the Champions Cup and the Premiership (in fact, if it hadn't been for the injury crisis, I may even have been able to win it this year). Granted, the board were upset that I got beat in the 4th round of the FA cup but they did acknowledge that it was Man Utd who knocked me out.
Considering that we got new management midway through the year and that those American losers are no longer in charge, I might even get some transfer kitty to buy a world class striker and win next year.
The future is bright. The future is Red.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
FM 2010 - Tottenham vs Liverpool
One of the great things about the most recent version of Football Manager is the increased options you have during a match to influence the outcome of that match. Just like with real football, having the right tactics won't guarantee a win as you still need the players on the pitch to execute. However, there is no greater feeling than when they do execute after you identify a gap.
Below is one of those occasions where everything came together perfectly.
You may recall from last weeks post that Tottenham came to Anfield early on in the season and spanked me 2-0. This meant that when it was our turn to travel to White Hart Lane, I really wanted a win. Of course, the fact that Spurs were doing really well and I was in danger of ending up in 5th place in the Prem added extra spice to this fixture.
The lead in to the fixture itself didn't particularly favour us. Both Glen Johnson and Philipp Degen were injured (although Johnson had just returned to full training) so I had to play Carragher as RB (there was also a period in the season when all 3 were injured and I had to play a reserve RB in that position). In addition, both Gerrard and Torres were out injured as well.
Considering the relatively weak team I was being forced to field, I went with a 4-5-1 formation with Kuyt up front. Basically, I was hoping to catch them on the counter. As expected, Tottenham sensed the weakness in my team and, as it was a home fixture for them, they went all out attack straight from the start.
In the first half, they pretty much controlled the game and managed to get a goal to put themselves 1-0 up. However, I noticed that their wingers were really pushing forward in an attempt to get goals so I told my team to clear the ball to the flanks. This paid off as Kuyt managed to score a goal on the counter just after the second half started.
Unfortunately, after that, Spurs just resumed their siege of my goal line and just as I was beginning to think I might be able to steal a draw, Jonathon Woodgate popped his head up in the 80th minute to score a goal and put Spurs up 2-1. With another defeat on the cards, I figured what the hell and changed up my tactics. I changed the positioning to fluid (they had previously been rigid as I wanted them to keep their shape and defend) and put my team on all out attack while Spurs decided to try and defend their one goal lead.
Unbelievably, Babel managed to score a goal in the 86th minute to level us at 2-2. At this point, Spurs changed back to an attacking mentality and I considered moving back to a defensive one. However, it occurred to me that, scoring so quickly after they did, the match momentum may well have swung to Liverpool. I decided to leave my team on all out attack.
One last thing, in the 68th minute, I had brought on Albert Riera and placed him on the right winger position with instructions to cut inside. In effect, he was playing in the inverted winger position.
In summary, by this point in the game, my team were playing fluid positional football with an all out attack mentality. My defenders had been told to clear the ball to the flanks and Albert Riera was playing as an inverted winger. By now, I'm sure you can guess where this is going!
:)
In the 95th minute, my Liverpool side produced a moment of magic that had me leaping out of my chair and screaming like a nutjob.
The move actually started with a Spurs attack.
Here you can see Jenas running at my defence. Crouch (at the bottom of the screen) had just passed the ball to him after drawing in two defenders (git). At this point, I was actually quite worried. If Jenas got past Agger, he would have a clear run on goal.
Of course, the key word in that last statement was "if". Agger managed to get the tackle in and we got the ball back deep in our own defence.
With my instructions to clear to flanks, he immediately knocked the ball up to Riera on the right wing. You can see exactly why I told my defenders to clear to flanks in this screenshot. Look how much space Riera has here as the Spurs players have pushed quite far forward.
Riera takes a step inside and spots the run of Babel on the opposite flank. Using his natural left foot (and justifying my decision to put him on the right wing) he lobs a beautiful ball over the top of the defence.
Babel manages to get in between the defenders and has a clear run on the GK.
With Babel's speed, there was no way that the Spurs defenders were going to catch up. Knocking the ball ahead of himself, he catches up with it just as he gets inside the penalty box.
At this point, its a simple job for him to slot it past Gomes and into the bottom corner. The game finishes 3-2 and I have my revenge!
A couple of final screens showing the overall match stats. As you can see, we were outplayed by Spurs in that they controlled possession and had lots more shots on goal. Having said that, I do feel that my Liverpool side deserved the win as my tactics were spot-on, both for the overall match and for the specifics which lead to the above goal.
Bear in mind that my team were playing counter-attacking football so you would expect Spurs to have more possession and more shots on goal. However, if you look at the numbers closely, you will find that of the 22 shots on goal that they had, 17 of them were from long range. Over the course of the match, they only had 1 clear cut chance and 5 shots from close range. Compare that to the 3 clear cut chances and 9 shots from close range for my Liverpool side.
Below is one of those occasions where everything came together perfectly.
You may recall from last weeks post that Tottenham came to Anfield early on in the season and spanked me 2-0. This meant that when it was our turn to travel to White Hart Lane, I really wanted a win. Of course, the fact that Spurs were doing really well and I was in danger of ending up in 5th place in the Prem added extra spice to this fixture.
The lead in to the fixture itself didn't particularly favour us. Both Glen Johnson and Philipp Degen were injured (although Johnson had just returned to full training) so I had to play Carragher as RB (there was also a period in the season when all 3 were injured and I had to play a reserve RB in that position). In addition, both Gerrard and Torres were out injured as well.
Considering the relatively weak team I was being forced to field, I went with a 4-5-1 formation with Kuyt up front. Basically, I was hoping to catch them on the counter. As expected, Tottenham sensed the weakness in my team and, as it was a home fixture for them, they went all out attack straight from the start.
In the first half, they pretty much controlled the game and managed to get a goal to put themselves 1-0 up. However, I noticed that their wingers were really pushing forward in an attempt to get goals so I told my team to clear the ball to the flanks. This paid off as Kuyt managed to score a goal on the counter just after the second half started.
Unfortunately, after that, Spurs just resumed their siege of my goal line and just as I was beginning to think I might be able to steal a draw, Jonathon Woodgate popped his head up in the 80th minute to score a goal and put Spurs up 2-1. With another defeat on the cards, I figured what the hell and changed up my tactics. I changed the positioning to fluid (they had previously been rigid as I wanted them to keep their shape and defend) and put my team on all out attack while Spurs decided to try and defend their one goal lead.
Unbelievably, Babel managed to score a goal in the 86th minute to level us at 2-2. At this point, Spurs changed back to an attacking mentality and I considered moving back to a defensive one. However, it occurred to me that, scoring so quickly after they did, the match momentum may well have swung to Liverpool. I decided to leave my team on all out attack.
One last thing, in the 68th minute, I had brought on Albert Riera and placed him on the right winger position with instructions to cut inside. In effect, he was playing in the inverted winger position.
In summary, by this point in the game, my team were playing fluid positional football with an all out attack mentality. My defenders had been told to clear the ball to the flanks and Albert Riera was playing as an inverted winger. By now, I'm sure you can guess where this is going!
:)
In the 95th minute, my Liverpool side produced a moment of magic that had me leaping out of my chair and screaming like a nutjob.
The move actually started with a Spurs attack.
Here you can see Jenas running at my defence. Crouch (at the bottom of the screen) had just passed the ball to him after drawing in two defenders (git). At this point, I was actually quite worried. If Jenas got past Agger, he would have a clear run on goal.
Of course, the key word in that last statement was "if". Agger managed to get the tackle in and we got the ball back deep in our own defence.
With my instructions to clear to flanks, he immediately knocked the ball up to Riera on the right wing. You can see exactly why I told my defenders to clear to flanks in this screenshot. Look how much space Riera has here as the Spurs players have pushed quite far forward.
Riera takes a step inside and spots the run of Babel on the opposite flank. Using his natural left foot (and justifying my decision to put him on the right wing) he lobs a beautiful ball over the top of the defence.
Babel manages to get in between the defenders and has a clear run on the GK.
With Babel's speed, there was no way that the Spurs defenders were going to catch up. Knocking the ball ahead of himself, he catches up with it just as he gets inside the penalty box.
At this point, its a simple job for him to slot it past Gomes and into the bottom corner. The game finishes 3-2 and I have my revenge!
A couple of final screens showing the overall match stats. As you can see, we were outplayed by Spurs in that they controlled possession and had lots more shots on goal. Having said that, I do feel that my Liverpool side deserved the win as my tactics were spot-on, both for the overall match and for the specifics which lead to the above goal.
Bear in mind that my team were playing counter-attacking football so you would expect Spurs to have more possession and more shots on goal. However, if you look at the numbers closely, you will find that of the 22 shots on goal that they had, 17 of them were from long range. Over the course of the match, they only had 1 clear cut chance and 5 shots from close range. Compare that to the 3 clear cut chances and 9 shots from close range for my Liverpool side.
Monday, June 7, 2010
FM2010 - Season 2009/10 - mid season update
Despite carefully managing the number of games I buy, I still find myself in the (unpleasant?) situation of having too many games to play and not enough time. This hasn't been helped by me getting FM 2010 as, despite having Alan Wake, COD4, Hitman:Blood Money, Fifa 10 and Freedom Force waiting in the wings for me to play, I find myself spending all my time managing my Liverpool squad.
Anyway, its time for a mid-season update!
Early season league form
I have to admit that the early season games were really tough. I had trouble breaking down teams and found that I got quite a few draws against decidedly dodgy opposition. Part of the reason for this was probably my inital learning curve in figuring out how to play with the new tactics available in the match engine (and it really is incredible how much more options you have during the match).
This culminated in a 2-0 thrashing by Spurs at Anfield despite our team having more possession and more shots on goal (although less shots on target). After the match, I went absolutely ballistic and really started to crack down hard on the team (which got a couple of players annoyed as they felt I was being too harsh on them. Pussies).
However, it wasn't all bad news. After a couple more dodgy draws (and some more fiddling around in the match tactics engine), I managed to start putting together some good results. In particular, I managed to beat Man Utd 2-1, Arsenal 2-0 and Chelsea 2-0.
Despite the stats, we were actually heavily outplayed by Man Utd. It was only midway through the second half when I changed my play style to counter-attack and retain possession that we started to get more possession of the ball and more shots on goal (albeit from long range). At this point, Man Utd went all out for the win and I managed to hit them on the counter. Fergie was furious :)
Somehow, we ended up pwning Arsena. Must have caught them on an off day as their form in the prem is actually really good.
Another lucky result for us. We were basically outplayed by Chelsea. However, with our 4-5-1 formation, we were able to limit their chances to mainly long shots and some brilliant counter attacking play by Babel secured us the 3 points (2 shots on target and 2 goals!!).
Those key wins against the other big 4 teams is the only reason that I am still within touching distance of the league leaders. Having said that, as you can see from the below screenshot of the league table as at Xmas, I will drop to 5th place if Chelsea and Man Utd win their games in hand.
Still, considering that this is my first season of FM2010, I am quite happy with the results so far. More importantly, I feel that I'm starting to get a handle of the tactical options during a match and hopefully, on-pitch results will start to improve.
Cup form
Board expectations were for my team to reach the final of the FA Cup. Unfortunately, although I beat Man Utd at Anfield, they managed to get their revenge on me in the 4th round of the FA Cup (which really didn't impress the Board or the fans).
The really annoying thing was that I felt I had gotten the tactics right. Considering that we were playing at Old Trafford and how they outplayed my team at Anfield, I decided to play a counter-attacking 4-5-1 formation with Kuyt as my lone striker. And we were doing well. Although Man Utd had more possession and more chances, my team was doing an overall good job of stifling their attacks while creating chances on the counter. Unfortunately, Lucas picked up a red card in the second half and we ended up losing the game 1-0.
Frakkin Lucas >:(
Anyway, now that I've been knocked out of the FA cup, I've really been focusing on the League Cup and playing my best team there. Even though the Board don't care about it, it's likely that my only real chance of silverware this season is with the League Cup so I don't intend to just give it up by playing my second stringers.
Key themes
Several key themes have emerged from the first half of the season.
First - my team struggles against "lesser" opposition. Hopefully, this is just a case of me needing to get to grips with the match tactics as results have picked up since those early season games. Having said that, I still have lots of trouble breaking down teams who play very defensively (hey - just like Liverpool in real life!).
Second - I'm really worried about my league position and qualification for Champions Cup next year. Although I'm still within touching distance of the league leaders (due to the above big home wins), the reality is that I still need to go to the home grounds of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. Those are going to be some tough games.
Third - I really need to buy another world class striker. The problem is that Torres is really injury prone in this game. As far as I can recall, he has only been fit for 3 consecutive matchs on two occasions (and one of those was during the early season friendlies!). When Torres is fit, he plays fantastic. The problem is that he just isn't fit often enough.
Anyway, its time for a mid-season update!
Early season league form
I have to admit that the early season games were really tough. I had trouble breaking down teams and found that I got quite a few draws against decidedly dodgy opposition. Part of the reason for this was probably my inital learning curve in figuring out how to play with the new tactics available in the match engine (and it really is incredible how much more options you have during the match).
This culminated in a 2-0 thrashing by Spurs at Anfield despite our team having more possession and more shots on goal (although less shots on target). After the match, I went absolutely ballistic and really started to crack down hard on the team (which got a couple of players annoyed as they felt I was being too harsh on them. Pussies).
However, it wasn't all bad news. After a couple more dodgy draws (and some more fiddling around in the match tactics engine), I managed to start putting together some good results. In particular, I managed to beat Man Utd 2-1, Arsenal 2-0 and Chelsea 2-0.
Despite the stats, we were actually heavily outplayed by Man Utd. It was only midway through the second half when I changed my play style to counter-attack and retain possession that we started to get more possession of the ball and more shots on goal (albeit from long range). At this point, Man Utd went all out for the win and I managed to hit them on the counter. Fergie was furious :)
Somehow, we ended up pwning Arsena. Must have caught them on an off day as their form in the prem is actually really good.
Another lucky result for us. We were basically outplayed by Chelsea. However, with our 4-5-1 formation, we were able to limit their chances to mainly long shots and some brilliant counter attacking play by Babel secured us the 3 points (2 shots on target and 2 goals!!).
Those key wins against the other big 4 teams is the only reason that I am still within touching distance of the league leaders. Having said that, as you can see from the below screenshot of the league table as at Xmas, I will drop to 5th place if Chelsea and Man Utd win their games in hand.
Still, considering that this is my first season of FM2010, I am quite happy with the results so far. More importantly, I feel that I'm starting to get a handle of the tactical options during a match and hopefully, on-pitch results will start to improve.
Cup form
Board expectations were for my team to reach the final of the FA Cup. Unfortunately, although I beat Man Utd at Anfield, they managed to get their revenge on me in the 4th round of the FA Cup (which really didn't impress the Board or the fans).
The really annoying thing was that I felt I had gotten the tactics right. Considering that we were playing at Old Trafford and how they outplayed my team at Anfield, I decided to play a counter-attacking 4-5-1 formation with Kuyt as my lone striker. And we were doing well. Although Man Utd had more possession and more chances, my team was doing an overall good job of stifling their attacks while creating chances on the counter. Unfortunately, Lucas picked up a red card in the second half and we ended up losing the game 1-0.
Frakkin Lucas >:(
Anyway, now that I've been knocked out of the FA cup, I've really been focusing on the League Cup and playing my best team there. Even though the Board don't care about it, it's likely that my only real chance of silverware this season is with the League Cup so I don't intend to just give it up by playing my second stringers.
Key themes
Several key themes have emerged from the first half of the season.
First - my team struggles against "lesser" opposition. Hopefully, this is just a case of me needing to get to grips with the match tactics as results have picked up since those early season games. Having said that, I still have lots of trouble breaking down teams who play very defensively (hey - just like Liverpool in real life!).
Second - I'm really worried about my league position and qualification for Champions Cup next year. Although I'm still within touching distance of the league leaders (due to the above big home wins), the reality is that I still need to go to the home grounds of Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham. Those are going to be some tough games.
Third - I really need to buy another world class striker. The problem is that Torres is really injury prone in this game. As far as I can recall, he has only been fit for 3 consecutive matchs on two occasions (and one of those was during the early season friendlies!). When Torres is fit, he plays fantastic. The problem is that he just isn't fit often enough.
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