Will Liverpool’s attacking signings come good?

Last week, I took a brief look at how our defensive summer signings were doing; now I’m covering part 2 and looking at our attacking midfielders and forwards. I don’t expect this one to be quite as positive, so brace yourselves…

Adam Lallana was bought with an immediate impact in mind. The former Southampton captain was arguably our biggest bu

y of the summer, and he was expected to replicate his form for the south coast club on Merseyside. Unfortunately, injury meant he missed most of pre-season and the first month of the league season. When he returned, he was both lacking match fitness and had to adapt to a new team where half the starters were new signings (and thus weren’t sure what they were doing), as last year’s key players had also picked up injuries.

Even a player with full fitness would find this a challenge. Thus, while Lallana endeavoured to return to his physical peak, the form of his teammates floundered and he wound up in a side lacking form and confidence. I’m not surprised Lallana has only shown us glimpses of brilliance so far this year (bar West Brom when he was excellent), and I expect his form to improve in parallel with his teammates around him.

Lazar Markovic has gotten quite a bit of stick this season. Even though he was bought with the future in mind, he has struggled to adapt to the English style since his encouraging debut away to Man City. It was said when we bought him that Rodgers believed Markovic could be world class in 2-3 years; that he is struggling now has not changed that for me.

Whenever he’s started games, he has shown moments of brilliance; unfortunately those are usually hindered by poor decision making. The amount of times I’ve seen him run at goal in acres of space, only to run into a defender or give the ball to someone else in a worse position rather than just shoot himself has been rather frustrating. Give him time though and I’m confident he’ll be a huge asset for us. It just might not be until next year.

Rickie Lambert, I find difficult to be positive about. The story behind his signing that everyone praised has ended up becoming his curse. While it is fantastic that a boyhood LFC fan has returned to the club at the peak of his career after being let go from the academy over a decade ago, Lambert seems weighed down by the shirt whenever he wears it. It could be that a run of games would let him settle into the team a bit more, but so far he’s been slow in movement and reaction speed whenever the ball has come to him. He’s looked okay coming off the bench at times but otherwise he’s not convinced. It’s hard to call him a flop seeing as we only spent £4m on him, but I wouldn’t call him a success either. And I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Finally, Mario Balotelli. The man’s unfairly been made a scapegoat since his arrival, but I must admit he’s really flattered to deceive in a red shirt. His one good performance this season came on his debut when partnered with Sturridge, but once the striker got injured Mario was played up front on his own, a role he’s really not suited for. He’s never been the most mobile striker, so he’s not really fit into our playing style. That said, his team mates have been equally as poor in terms of giving him chances so at times games go by when it looks like he isn’t really trying.

Except you can tell he’s desperate to score. Every time he gets to the edge of the box, he lets off a rushed shot that is either blocked, goes wide or is easily saved by the keeper. It seems to me that he would improve drastically if played alongside another striker; though when played alongside Lambert, neither striker is mobile enough to provide a threat, Borini makes lots of runs but still doesn’t offer enough himself to be a decent partner and Sturridge is injury prone.

I think Balotelli will improve once Sturridge returns to partner him, but I have to admit it’s not ideal that our new striker has to rely on a decent partner to give convincing performances.

So there we go: Lallana needs time to improve and Markovic always needed time, while Balotelli’s hopes rest on his partnership with Sturridge and I’m not convinced Lambert will ever come good. It’s not great, but we just have to make the best of it for now.

who was sent to the planet to destroy it
christina aguilera weight loss Designer Clothes are a Matter of Quality and Fashion