Life in Football Manager

Although John Aldridge was born in Liverpool and has an undeniable Scouse accent he managed an 11 year International career with the Republic of Ireland managing to gather 69 caps. Aldo spent the majority of his early career in an amateur league playing for South Liverpool before getting his break signing for Welsh side Newport County and then later Oxford United and scoring for fun at both clubs and at the U’s becoming the first second division player for 19 years to score over 30 goals in a season. His prolific form started to attract attention from his boyhood heroes Liverpool, when he arrived the pressure was already put on his shoulders as he was seen as the player to fill the boots of Ian Rush who was leaving for Italy. John was able to fulfill his expectations and in great fashion and in 1988 when Liverpool won the league comfortably he put away 26 goals. Following was the famous 1989 season when Michael Thomas’ last gasp kick took the league to London robbing Liverpool, John made the switch to Spain becoming the fist non-Basque player to have sign for Real Sociedad he again was on a good run of form, but John’s family found it hard to adapt in Spain and returned to Merseyside, this time over the Water at Prenton Park and after 5 years at the club became player-manager before taking up full time management two years later scoring a magnificent career total of 476 goals. But his managerial career was very up and down, he was strong contenders for Promotion and even took his team to a FA Cup final, but when the bad times hit Rovers they were relegated where they still remain to this day, John never returned to football after resigning and now works mainly in the media.

Season 2007/08

But I have persuaded Aldo return to management with the lure of the Liverpool job, I was surprised to see him still on the database but while he was he went straight in. John wasn’t very active in the transfer window in the first season instead relying on what he already had at the club and getting to know the place before any major changes. But looking at the average ratings of the players, in general you wouldn’t call it a successful season going on the stats alone. Carragher finished as the best player with a rating of 7.38 from 50 games and only 6 players in total were able to get over the bench mark rating of 7. But despite the fact that few individuals stood out, as a unit they were fantastic finishing the first season top of the table by six points, proving me wrong when I thought that Liverpool really needed improvement in the game before they could reach the top. The key to success was that there was good players in key positions starting with Reina at back and moving down the spine of the team to the strikers who all four were able to find the back of the net, Torres as you would expect finished top of the clubs goal tally with 17 goals, Crouch and Kuyt also taking 14 and 13 respectively, Vorinion and Gerrard both scoring 10 goals, showing why Liverpool were able to win the league. At the other end of the pitch a strong defense which has a been a trademark of the new Liverpool for years now, making sure that the goals Liverpool were scoring weren’t being canceled out, only Chelsea finished with a better goal difference.

Liverpool were also able to get important results from games, only dropping 2 points against the top 4 clubs, Chelsea were the only club able to take away a point. The league came at the expense of cup competitions, losing against sides that Liverpool really should have beaten and where does that sound familiar? Fielding a second tier side against League Cup opposition Middlesbrough meant that Liverpool were kicked out of the cup at the third round as Boro managed a 2-1 victory. The FA cup was a little bit more bitter as local rivals Everton were able to dispose Liverpool in the third round reply, Andy Johnson striking twice in a 3-0 victory for the people’s club. In Europe John was able to get past the first round but in a fairly easy group with Lyon, Schalke and Salzburg. But Liverpool were only able to reach 2nd place in the group which set up a hard draw against Real Madrid, which the Spainards won without contest. But what more can be asked? Liverpool fans have been calling for more focus in the league for some season now instead of settling for cup wins and John was able to do it at the first opportunity. At the award ceremonies Steven Gerrard took the footballer of the year and John manager of the year.

Season 2008/09

Come the second season Aldridge was more active in the transfer market spending £29 million on British talent. First to arrive was Manchester City’s young midfielder Michael Johnson who commanded £16.5 million fee, Gareth Bale was the only other signing of the season. Riise who was moaning about wanting a new challenge made the switch to London along with Arbeloa to replace Bale. After a season in John is starting to develop his own squad, Hyypia, Leto and Auriello were all other names to see the door.

The new signings didn’t really make to much of an impact on the side in their first season, Kuyt and Torres continued there scoring records Kuyt finishing top this time topping Fernado by two goals scoring 18. But Liverpool weren’t the force this season as they were last when goals flew in from all round the pitch. This showed in the league position finishing 7 points behind Chelsea who clinched the title as the more observational readers would have realised. But the season saw more individual performances improving and youngsters such as Hobbs, Lucas, Antwi and Insua seeing more time on the pitch, it looks like the Aldridge is keen in developing the youth players in the side. But I am glad to see that it wasn’t just me that had plenty of the Liverpool stars moaning at me, this time it was Xabi Alonso which isn’t good news as he has been on of the better players over the past two seasons.

Under John Liverpool have definitely dropped there Cup team reputation, Chartlon this time in the 3rd round taking down Liverpool 2-1. In the FA Cup after beating QPR and Chelsea 3-0 in the FA cup to reach the 5th round it was Mansfield that were able to take a 2-1 win at Anfield, Kuyt only able to score from the spot. It was the same situation in Europe, but with a tougher group this season it was Munchen that trashed Liverpool in the first knock-out stage.

Season 2009/10

Manchester City seems to have become a big breeding ground now for Liverpool players as John snaps up two more guys from the team, first of all Luis Jimenez who had come via Manchester from Inter. But also Croatian right back Corluka who seems to be a hit with the big teams and able to command a huge over rated value of £24 million, it might have something to do with the defender being able to tackle well as well as get up in the air on paper he looks the part, I have just never seen him put it into practice. Toni Kroos was the final signings of the summer who at 20 looks a bit of a free kick specialist, bringing a bit of style to the Liverpool midfield, unusual for a German. Lucas was allowed to leave for Inter Milan along with Xabi Alonso before he stunk out the dressing room with his constant moaning about wanting to leave the club. I am sure that John wasn’t too fused when he was given £35 million to spend on new players.

First game of the season could not have been harder, Champions Chelsea came to Anfield in a game which could prove to shape up the rest of the season. Javier Mascherano hit first blood just 11 minutes in before another defensive midfielder Sissoko headed it into the back of the net. Drogba tried his best to get Chelsea back into the game but Liverpool were 3-1 up before Kewell saw a red card and Drogba took a second. The first win of the season would prove vital. Derby were sandwiched in-between another one of the title contender, Arsenal the two main strikers Kuyt and Torres gave Liverpool another huge advantage in the title race. The wins continued with the odd blip in the Midlands not being a great place for Liverpool to go losing points to both Villa, Birmingham, West Brom and Coventry. But the wins against the other top 3 meant that Liverpool made up ground and took the Premiership on goal difference. The last time a team won the league on goal difference was 1989 when Liverpool were on the losing end of the difference, it was 3 crucial goals that placed Liverpool ahead of the second place side.

John had his best season yet, managing to take a double. It may have only been the league cup that he won domestically but every game counts. Down the route Chelsea were easily disposed of making the team of professionals look like a lower league side and it was Arsenal in the final, which showed how seriously the Premiership sides were starting to take the League cup title. But Kuyt’s 2nd minute goal was enough to see the cup go back to Anfield in a tight battle. A good run in the FA Cup seen Liverpool get to the Semi-finals, but when Liverpool once again suffered from the curse of the Midlands and Aston Villa with the help of Gareth Barry waved Goodbye to the Reds. The Champions League drew Liverpool with a decent group of supermarket products, Chicken Kiev, down the cleaning aisle Ajax and the herb Basel. Finishing top of that group for the first time in two years meant that Liverpool were given an easy first round tie with Panathinaikos, then a quarter final clash against Paul Ince’s Internazionale a 1-0 win for Milan at the San Siro wasn’t enough to take to Anfield were Babel and Torres set up a tie to Valencia were the curse of the Midlands expanded to Spain where Villa struck three times over two games in a 5-1 aggregated win.

It was the usual suspects that made it for Liverpool Torres, Kuyt and Gerrard. Fernando enjoying his highest goal scoring season in England taking 27 goals 10 ahead of Kuyt. Scott Carson enjoyed a good run in the Liverpool team and was able to put in some good performances to keep the Liverpool goal difference as high as possible, doing his bit between the sticks with Reina. Stephen Darby was another youngster that saw more time in the Liverpool team doing well his last 5 games in the side seeing an excellent run of form. The only new player to really make much of a difference to the Liverpool side was of course money bags Corluka who after 37 games was just shy of a 7 rating Michael Johnsons having a terrible debut season and won’t look like moving Gerrard and Mascherano out of the starting line up for some time. Kroos only 20 managed to gain around 25 starts but was far from amazing, but John Aldridge again took away the manager of the year award.

Season 2010/11

Michael Johnson’s first season in the Liverpool team was to be his last as John realised his mistake and shipped him of to Villa in an attempt to end this dam curse, his price halved and Liverpool took £8.5 million. But during the January John made up for losing money on Michael as he mugged the Italians when Roma came in for Jimenez for £19 million for a player that really didn’t show his talent at Anfield. To strengthen the Premiership winning side John looked to get in some more experience, a player with a bit of flair, Argie D’Alessandro who had shown at his time at Zaragoza that the Premiership missed out when Pompey failed to sign him. But at 30 Andres was still at the top of his game and commanded £12 million and exciting prospect holding high attributes across the board most notably for his dribbling, technique, his off the ball work not to mention his creativity and flair. Another 30 year old Argie arrived with Andres from Spain, Barcelona’s Milito who had also played with D’Alessandro at Zaragoza so maybe the two signings are linked together. To balance out the side two young players were brought in, Roma striker Okaka arrived on a free transfer, at 6′1” looks good in the air and getting himself into those position to head the ball, but still has plenty of work to do before he can break into the side, but has potential. In January Dutchman Aissati arrived from Newcastle another player who is starting to become a finished article and looking good.

Another title winning season for The Reds, but this time Liverpool were able to win it but 10 clear points, dominating the league, but it was a much lower points score by all teams this season just showed how competitive the whole Premiership can be, despite the 10 point deficit between Liverpool and Manchester United. There was plenty more draws in this season against the likes of Chelsea, Derby and Colchester. which reflected how hard the season was. Once again it was the spine of the team that spur the side and again Corluka trying to earn back his money. Okaka was only able to get 9 games in the season but with 7 goals you couldn’t ask for more. John continued with his promotion of Liverpool home grown players, Paul Anderson managed to break into scoring 10 goals himself and Gareth Bale improving this season and looks like it will only be a few season before he is a top Premiership player. But signing D’Alessandro didn’t get much playing time and not showing his skill when he did opposed to he Gabriel Milito who played an integral part in the centre of defense along with Carragher although the guys in the know begged to differ as they voted both Milito and Aissati the worst signings of the season, Voronin who went the other way was voted one of the best.

Liverpool were also able to retain their League cup title at last able to win in the Midlands, Aston Villa were beaten by a Liverpool team full of youth and fringe players, Crouch and Toni Kroos able to cancel out Gardners goal. A derby game awaited in the next round, Everton were able to take it down to the wire but couldn’t cope with the pressure at Anfield as it went to Penalties both Cahill and Jagielka missing. Birmingham were brushed aside and Tottenham who played their own Derby in the Quarter finals against Arsenal, awaited in the final. Crouch and Okaka brought Liverpool back from behind to retain the trophy. But it was disappointment in the other cups, after struggling to Rotherham at home were they were taken to a reply which Liverpool won. The trip down to London was tight, The Gunners playing great possession football, which Liverpool still managed to match them in terms of shots. Gerrard’s 89th minute goal wasn’t enough as they were beaten 3-2. In Europe, once again in an easy group but Liverpool finished on the floor of the group in a terrible season in Europe.

Season 2011/12

After a successful first season with Liverpool, Okaka made a 100% profit as he attracted attention from many top clubs. it was FC Bayern that won his signature in the end and saw him leave Liverpool for £13.25 million. John also cashed in on Liverpool talent as Insua went to AC Milan for £11 million. Contracts were up for Joe Cole and Juan Manuel Mata who arrived at New Anfield. The only cash splashed was on Moutinho who spent a few unsuccessful season with AC Milan. Mata was sent straight back out the club on loan at AA Gent

Fernando Torres again finished the top goalscorer, but the surprise package of the season was Peter Crouch who for years in the shadow of Torres began to come into his own light, taking 15 goals and performing well all season making himself a good alternative to Dirk Kuyt. Corluka continued to grow in stature as a player and again performing well over 43 games. D’Alessandro and Aissati though had an improved season, they mainly played a part as backup’s but when called upon did well. Joe Cole had one of his best season in recent times, although not fantastic it was consistent and valuable to the team. Moutinho though continued his dreadful performances but still managed 22 games, I feel that Andres would have done his job a lot better. But even still all the squad did enough to win the league comfortably once again this time 6 points clear and back to winning ways and scoring for fun. It was consistency beating the teams below the top 4 that won Liverpool the league this season as it was pretty even at the top as three points gained at Arsenal at the start of the season was canceled out later on, which was the trend for much of the season making it all important to beat the lesser sides.

The cups were again the same old story, unable to transfer winning ways into the FA cup and Champions League. Easy draws to Peterbrough and Sheffield Wednesday were easy games Crouch managing to score in each game, but when Liverpool arrived in West Bromwich, Peter Crouch’s goal wasn’t enough as Billy Sharp scored in the 80th minute to create the cup upset. Moutinho didn’t do himself any favours when he was sent off. The league cup Liverpool lost to more respectable opposition, Manchester United in 4th round managed to take the game at Old Trafford to extra time before Darren Fletcher broke the deadlock. A much tougher group in Europe faced Liverpool then they had ever seen in recent years, previous winners Valencia and Struttgart gave a challenge to Liverpool as well as Boavista. This time Liverpool were able to progress below Valencia before crashing out to Roma. At Anfield Liverpool were able to take a fantastic 2-0 victory, Gerrard and Sissoko thinking they had secured a place in the next round. But an amazing performance in the Italian capital crushed Liverpool, Roma scored from half of there shots a 5-0 victory was more then enough to cancel out the 2 goals scored at Anfield. But Liverpool are still winning leagues, the fans placed John Aldridge in there heart and is now recognised as one of the favoured personnel, the fans have been calling for a league title for years and now three in a row John can do no wrong in Liverpool. The reds cleaned up at the award ceremony Torres was top goalscorer and player of the year, but most notably goalkeeper Dean Bouzanis was voted the best young player of the season. But it won’t be surprising that Moutinho was voted the worst of the signings made in the season.

Season 2012/13

No new signings were brought in for the new season, but why should they? Don’t fix what isn’t broken right? Out went Mata, who had a decent season at Genk was allowed to leave the club on a free transfer, Paul Anderson and Scott Carson were given mercy transfers leaving for a cut price in search of regular football. But although Liverpool didn’t strengthen their side, everyone around them did. A dreadful start of the season drawing at Leeds, and losing the next two games, it didn’t get much better losing 13 games all season which despite beating Manchester United away from home wasn’t enough and John failed to qualify for a Champions League place for the first time in his reign. Finally finishing 8th most bitterly Everton finishing above them in the League. Torres stayed consistent getting 25 goals and the goals came from other areas as they always did Kuyt and Amoo getting in on the action Aissati getting a number of goals in a good season for him. But defensively Liverpool were let down, maybe it had something to do with the little experience that they had between the sticks as Dean Bouzanis was given his chance as the first choice keeper. The two guys in the centre Agger and Corluka weren’t the rock that Carragher and Hyypia were, although it is a partnership in the making.

But lack of success in the league meant that the cups were a distraction, an early exit again from the league cup though again from tough opposition, this time it was Chelsea in the fourth round, Mikel’s only goal was enough to see them through. But in the FA cup a competition that had eluded for some years. Easy draws in the early rounds meant that Liverpool could quickly progress Leeds in the sixth round proving the only real challenge to the final, but in the reply Torres proved too powerful to stop. The final game at Wembley was to Iain Dowie’s Reading, were Torres and Crouch continued their great seasons scoring two goals within the space of 5 minutes to put Liverpool’s name on the cup. The final season in the Champions League for Liverpool before a season break was a tough ride, Real Madrid and Italian leaders Reggina along with Zenit Peterburg were in Group F. Liverpool fought gallantly to again reach the next round were the Italian Champions Fiorentina awaited. Fernando Torres and Dirk Kuyt mirrored Liverpool’s performance on each leg winning 2-1 in both games. Barcelona were then beaten easily 5-0 on aggregate, but it was Sporting Lisbon that was able to stop the run to the final. A bogey side for Liverpool in Europe managed to score 4 goals in Lisbon crushed John’s dreams of European glory.

But after failure in the league John felt that he had done all he can at Anfield and it was time to hand over the reigns. John again moved back to Europe taking up the Fiorentina job where once again he was able to win another league title in his first season, but a demanding and harsh Italian board showed no mercy and despite winning games was sacked in the favour of Mihajivoic, John Aldridge didn’t manage again.

German Felix Magath fresh from a year at AC Milan took the Liverpool job, the Wolfsburg manager had already had experience at Middlesbrough and Spurs. Bringing in Portilla who certainly added something to the team among others, his first season with Liverpool he managed to scrap them back into the Champions League, but was able to find European success in the UEFA cup beating his former Italian employers in the process. Felix seemed to be able to spot talent in the transfer market, bringing in another influence on the Liverpool side in Payet. Making further progress with the Liverpool squad he took them back up to 3rd, but again meeting Roma in the Champions League and being dumped. Felix continued with his spending spree up until the last season where he spent £63 million and 2nd place in the league.

It can’t be missed then that John was a great tactician over 38 games, he was blessed with a great Liverpool side, but he was still up against some arguably better players and the signings he did bring in rarely made the difference, so not the best of talent spotters, which leads me to believe that John Aldridge has some tactical nous. But not just doing it with a side at Liverpool but being able to transfer his knowledge to Italy and doing the same in Florence. So to go back to the question we set out to answer, is it the manager or the team that brings success? I think that this time it was the manager, who was able to prove me wrong and winning the league in the first season with The Reds, I am sure that the team he had helped, but Manchester, Chelsea and Arsenal all had stronger sides on paper especially in the first season and looking at the overall average rating for the best eleven.

John Aldridge:

Best Eleven: