It was inevitable wasn’t it? Charlie Adam’s transfer to Liverpool has been one long winded affair and now it’s finally over we can all sit back and question whether he worth all the hassle. The scramble for his signature in January never bore fruit for the Reds or his previous suitors Spurs and from then on the writing has been on the wall. Even if Blackpool had survived it was always certain that Adam wouldn’t be wearing tangerine come August 2011.
The chance to work under Kenny Daglish, the Grandmaster of Scottish football, has proved too enticing to the midfielder. By today’s standards you’d say that Adam is a snip at £7 million considering his ‘heroics’ for Ian Holloway’s orange army last season.
However is he the kind of quality that Daglish and Liverpool need? There is no doubting Adam has a left foot akin to that of a perfectly crafted set of golf clubs. That one extremity holds an arsenal that can destroy teams in the blink of an eye. Last season’s total of 12 goals and eight assists displayed his natural talent although a majority of them came from the penalty spot, free kicks and corners. What should worry Liverpool fans is whether there is anymore to his game?
In my opinion Adam doesn’t have the skill, agility or fitness to compete in a team looking at finishing in the higher echelons of the Premier League. He is a set piece expert and that alone. The only way he can operate to his full capacity is if he receives space and enough time on the ball to pick out and execute a pass. But in the cut and thrust of England’s top league time on the ball is a precious commodity that doesn’t occur very often.
He doesn’t have the footballing brain of a Fabregas to work the space, tinker past a few players and slip a quality ball through under pressure. Fitness is also an issue that he got away with at Bloomfield Road last season. With the Kop demanding high tempo football his stamina and conditioning will have to be improved and his chunky physique lost.
However the glaring reason as to why Daglish has paid out for yet another midfield player is to ensure Andy Carroll doesn’t become a multi million pound dud. Liverpool have been missing an obvious threat from out wide for years now and their only decent crosser of the ball, Steven Gerrard, was out for most of last season injured. With Adam’s left foot being his main, and only, strength it’s clear that he will be tasked with providing the crosses for Carroll to deliver the goals expected of him. If Carroll isn’t firing in the goals expect Adam to become the scapegoat for not providing enough balls into the box.
That said he’ll have to force his way into Daglish’s starting eleven first which will prove an unenviable task. Is he better than Gerrard, Raul Meireles, Lucas, Jordan Henderson and even Jay Spearing who showed glimpses of promise last season? Daglish is also after Stewart Downing to fill the gap on the left of midfield and if he signs then where will Adam fit in? It will be difficult for him to slip into a side where he won’t be the centre of attention every week. He was the big cheese at Blackpool, the man that made them tick but he’ll be just another player at Anfield.
Maybe Daglish has some master plan up his sleeve to turn Adam into the midfielder many think he already is. His performances and fans favorite status at Blackpool caused people to look beyond his inadequacies. He’ll have to knuckle down and put every ounce of blood, sweat and tears into his Anfield career if he wants to be labelled a success.
Written by Jak Penny for FootballFancast.com.
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Liverpool played Blackpool twice last season. Adam completely ran both games. He is also a set piece specialist.
For £7.5M he is an absolute bargain, and I can only assume that the author of this, hasn’t seen him play
He’s not world class like Alonso But whilst we are out of European competition he will hopefully help to stabilise the midfield and give the younger players time to mature.
Once Kenny has got a settled side there will be no need to make wholesale changes every summer like it has been in the recent past, More like the hated ManU system and the system we used to have.
most fans have only seen charlie on MOTD and twice against us so they shouldnt have a real opinion to voice on the man, and alonso was not the household name he is now, when we bought him he was pretty well unknown over here
I’ve seen Charlie Adam play many times over the last three years and in my opinion your assessment of him is child-like. For a start, he out-played Liverpool’s midfield twice last season. He also dominated the game when we played United at home. Yes I’. a Blackpool fan, yes I’m biased, but you have made a simplistic assumption that Adam is an overweight one-trick pony, and it simply isn’t true. and Kenny Dalglish knows it. Henderson for £20m, or Adam for £7m? It’s a no brainer. Adam was a MUCH more effective player last season, and will be next season too.
Well written piece, I agree 100% well done Jak
Jak is a ‘plonker’
being a life long Blackpool fan let me straighten the record a bit on two fronts.
First he was in the top ten of pass makers in the premiership last year so not to bad is it?
Regarding his fitness he is way fitter now than at the end of the season and has lost weight.
You have got a very good player and genuine footballer.
Good luck Charlie and show them all what we already know at Blackpool
No offence, Jak, but this has all been trolleyed out a million times before. Opinions based on no evidence. Let’s look at the facts:
1) He was highly regarded at Blackpool, but he was not the only good player there. Infact David Vaughan walked away with the Player of the Season title.
2) Charlie was shortlisted for the PFA Player of the season. Therefore, his fellow professionals placed him in the top 7 players in the country. Remind me how many of Liverpool’s current squad were nominated!
3) You talk about one of Blackpool’s best players not being fit to join the Mighty Reds, but he was good enough to be part of a team that played Liverpool off the park twice last season. Home and away. Under Hodgson AND Dalglish.
Finally, Liverpool are a fine team with a great history, but recently they simply haven’t been good enough. Kenny Dalglish can see that, and has cleared out some of the flotsam at Anfield. In my opinion he is buying very wisely, building a team that can mould together to be a force again. I reckon Kenny knows a lot more than me, and unsurprisingly, more than the contributors to this blog. Personally I trust him, and I expect Liverpool to have a much better season than the last…… They might even beat Blackpool, should they meet in the cup.. :o)