Liverpool on Football Manager 2022: 10 tips when starting a new save
By Tom Gott
If you're looking to win as many trophies as quickly as possible, taking over Liverpool is a good place to start on Football Manager 2022.
Winners of both the Premier League and Champions League in recent years, the Reds are blessed with some of the best players on the planet, but their squad isn't as perfect as it might appear at face value and there are a handful of things you need to sort out if you take control.
Here's a look at your first orders of business.
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1. Give James Milner a new contract
You've got two senior players whose contracts are up in 2022. Loris Karius can be sold pretty easily, but you don't want to lose James Milner.
The 35-year-old is still a valuable rotation option for your midfield and is happy to accept a reduction on his £150,000-a-week wages, so extending him shouldn't be too tough.
Among the youth setup, 21-year-old loanee Ben Woodburn is probably the only player you should consider extending. He's never going to be a first-team regular, but there might be some good money in him down the line if you're prepared to put the time in.
2. Brace yourself for the summer of 2023
2023 is a massive summer for Liverpool as Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah are all out of contract.
Naby Keita, Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are all expiring too, as are talented youngsters Billy Koumetio, James Balagizi and Isaac Mabaya.
There's a whole lot for you to sort out there, and you'll regret leaving it all until 2022.
3. Get looking for your next core
Liverpool's core group of players isn't the youngest and they're going to start declining eventually. If you let that happen all at once, you'll be in trouble.
In the next two or three years, you're going to need to replace Salah, Mane, Firmino, Virgil van Dijk, Thiago, Jordan Henderson and Joel Matip, but the only superstar youngsters you have on the books are Harvey Elliott and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
You can enjoy the original core for a year or two, but get your scouts on the lookout for reinforcements pretty quickly.
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4. Loan out Caoimhin Kelleher
Caoimhin Kelleher is a bit of a tricky one. You should loan him out immediately while you've still got Adrian as your first reserve, but what the long-term future holds for the Irishman is unclear.
He's happy playing a backup role for now but is eventually going to grow tired of his lack of minutes, and he doesn't have the potential to develop into your starting goalkeeper. He's Premier League quality, but maybe not Liverpool quality.
Kelleher is under contract until 2025, so you can afford to let him grow for a year or two before making a decision, but he's one you're probably going to have to let go eventually.
5. Shift the unwanted attackers
The signing of Luis Diaz means Liverpool have a fearsome attacking line. Alongside Salah, Mane, Firmino and Diogo Jota, they are more than good enough to challenge for major titles.
You now don't need Origi and Takumi Minamino, who earn a combined £155,000 a week at Anfield. Get them sold.
You don't even need to sign any replacements for the pair just yet, so you can save that money for a major signing.
6. Bolster the academy
Despite their real-life reputation, the Liverpool academy isn't exactly full of many future superstars. Kaide Gordon is your best bet, but there's no guarantee he'll become anything more than a useful squad player.
Behind him, Balazigi, Owen Beck and Leighton Clarkson headline the next core group, but even if they reach their maximum potential, they're never going to be among the world's elite. You need more guaranteed quality coming through.
Instruct your scouts to get looking for the next big thing, and don't be afraid to pull the trigger on four or five of their findings.
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7. Improve your youth recruitment
One way to help find the next star is to wait a year and see who comes through your academy.
Liverpool's youth recruitment is already impressive but there is scope to improve it even more, and given the lack of talent in the ranks already, that's something you should do pretty quickly.
Get your junior coaching budget up too, because why not?
8. Find some specialist coaches
Pepijn Lijnders is the best assistant on the game, while Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos are supremely well-rounded, but Liverpool lack a coach who is a true specialist in any one field.
If you ask your assistant to set up your training, you'll find Liverpool really lack in defensive coaching, so finding somebody to sort that out should be an early move.
For some help with your staff, check out 90min's handy guide.
9. Decide whether to keep faith with Klopp's tactics
Jurgen Klopp built his Liverpool squad around his tactics, so you need to decide whether you're going to stick with that.
Outside of your forwards, Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson are two of your top players, so figuring out a way to get them both in the game as much as possible would be a smart move.
In attack, with Diaz here now, you might want to consider moving Salah to the striker role and playing the Colombian alongside Mane out wide.
10. Don't rule out selling Joe Gomez
Joe Gomez is a player who attracts a lot of interest on FM22 and it's often hard to keep him, given he's behind Van Dijk and Joel Matip in the pecking order.
You could play him now and wait for him to overtake Matip, or maybe loan him out to ensure he reaches his potential instead of sitting on your bench.
Don't even rule out selling him. It's an easy way to bring in a decent sum of money, and since he's only a squad player, you could definitely replace him for cheap.