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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