For the first time since maybe the Championship Manager days, I’m taking over Liverpool and making a concerted effort to do well with the club, all for Season 11 of The Football Manager Football Show.
I would safely hazard that not since network games in maybe 2003/2004 have I taken charge of Liverpool for anything other than simming a season to see how they get on. Now, thanks to suggestions from listeners coupled with Shane’s desire to do the “rivalry of rivalries” for the podcast, I’m back at Anfield while he takes up the reigns at Man Utd for the first time in FM23. The fact that he’s still there two or three seasons into his multiverse in FM22 with a tasty €700m in the bank has nothing to do with it.
This is the rivalry of rivalries though but I may have gotten the slightly better end of the deal. Both clubs have qualified for the new-format Champions League (we’re in the 2024/25 season) but Liverpool are there by virtue of having won the Premier League, losing out in the final of last season’s Champions League with a heavy beating at the hands of PSG.
The Liverpool squad is ageing though and with an initial transfer budget in the region of €100m, I’m shipping out players I’d love to have at my disposal with a view to building a team capable of continuing to compete at the best level for another 4-5 seasons. We had thought that this save might see us through to the release of FM24 and we would treat our return to England as a two-season run, much like Leicester and Wolves in FM21 but it will have to depend on results and performances. Under-delivering at top-four sides in this game has already seen Arteta, Pep, Tuchel, Simeone, Ten Hag and more sacked in the past three seasons. FM can be ruthless in that regard.
Follow the journey below with the first episode of the new season, and hear our reasoning for going back to the Premier League and the plans for the 2024/25 campaign.
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