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.