I’ve noticed a large shift in opinion for Charlie Adam in the past month or so, from ‘he’s doing OK, he’s improving’ to ‘he’s utter rubbish and isn’t Liverpool quality’ which has me slightly baffled.
Now, I didn’t really want Charlie Adam but at the price he cost us I was willing to give him a go.
At £6.5-7 million, we weren’t really being held to ransom for a player that had just played a part in 21 of his teams’ goals the previous season, particularly as that team was just relegated.
Admittedly, we were all (and are all still) aware that Adam was no Alonso but this was a player that had earned himself a chance at a bigger club and we were giving him that chance at a fairly reasonable fee for both clubs.
So this change in opinions recently has me slightly confused and more than a little annoyed because of the hypocrisy of it all. You see, Adam is being roundly criticized, particularly after his last two games whilst Jordan Henderson seems to be repeatedly getting away with not even playing poorly; he’s barely even there at all most of the time (unless his hair gets slightly mussed, then his fingers spring in to action). On Wednesday against QPR I only realised that Henderson had come on at half time when I glanced at my laptop screen to see the substitution indicator on Yahoo! Sports text commentary, about 30 minutes after he’d come on.
I don’t know how anybody else feels about it but I would much rather see a player trying and failing miserably than to not see him trying at all. If you can think back to when we signed Peter Crouch you might remember that the reason we backed him so absolutely was because he tried so damned hard and was showing signs of actually being a quality player but just couldn’t score. What I see from Adam is a player with limitations but he always puts himself in the thick of things, whether for good or bad.
I don’t see this from Henderson, ever. He’s perhaps had 2 halves of football since we signed him where he’s looked relatively passable as a Premier League footballer but the rest of the time he’s been more-or-less 100% anonymous. Whether it’s a lack of confidence or a lack of quality I don’t know but neither is a promising sign in a young player. Contrast his attitude with that of Shelvey (or even Spearing, who I really don’t rate) – a young lad over a year younger that exudes quality and confidence, yet he never gets an opportunity.
But strangely, the opinions I’ve come across most about Adam and Henderson seem to be that Adam is not good enough for Liverpool and we’ve wasted money, but Henderson is a young player and needs time to come in to his own. Now, I admit there is an age difference with Adam being 26 and Henderson being 21 but at what age are we allowed to start expecting more from a player? I mean, Andy Carroll has only recently turned 23 yet we expected the world from him the minute we signed him and that was largely down to the price tag that was attached to him. But what about the price tag attached to Henderson? Going forward, we’re likely to see the fee for him increase to close to £20 million, which is only a few million short of what Manchester City paid for David Silva who is probably the best midfielder in the Premier League, so does that mean we’re allowed to expect something more from Henderson for our money immediately? The argument I’m becoming sick of from many fans is that we paid that much for potential but I for one would really like to see a little bit more from him right now because while he may only be 21, he turns 22 in a couple of months times so that excuse will not be valid for too much longer.
The funny thing is, Henderson has actually got more Premier League experience than Charlie Adam, having been a first team player at Sunderland for the past few years, making over 70 appearances in the league in that time, whilst Charlie Adam is only in his second season having previously made 35 appearances before joining the Reds so you really have to ask which player we should be expecting more from?
This season Adam has made 31 starts overall, scoring 2 with 6 assists. While Henderson has likewise started 31, scoring 1 with 3 assists. So while neither player has really contributed much this season, you can see that the hate and criticism aimed at Adam is slightly unwarranted given that Henderson has given us half as much and is likely to cost us three times as much in the coming years.
I should finish up by pointing out that I didn’t really want either player and if you offered me close to what we paid for either in the summer I’d snap your arm off for it but if we’re going to criticize players for poor performances we can’t pick and choose depending on how much a player cost or what nationality they are. Sure, Adam hasn’t had a great season and his recent showings have left a lot to be desired but his team-mates’, in many ways, have been even worse but he appears to have been given a free pass because of his age. What I would like to see – as I’m ever an optimist – is both players bringing it together and going on to exceed all expectations but if that can’t happen I’ll settle for fair criticism all-round for all of our players, regardless of circumstance or any pre-conceived ideas our fans may have had about them.
I don’t hate him. I just think he’s rubbish. Very poor decision maker and runs with the ball to much. Not disciplined enough and doesn’t know when to release the ball. Basically, like I said he’s rubbish.
I think like you have said, the age of Henderson has let him off slightly. I honestly think that KD has struggled to drop any of the highly expensive signings, preferring to leave out more established if less expensive signings.
I am at a loss lately, the owners and Ian Ayre have a lot to answer also,where are the plans for a new stadium, they have not once come out and defended our team, our mananger, our striker or the fans, I am beggining to believe something may be amiss??
Sir its not the owners fault ,they did spend a lot
But Mr KENNY bought very bad players.
If you look at Rafa players we sold them to Madrid and Barce for triple the price .
Tell me if we can sell Kenny players for the same price we paid for,
What that lead you to say Kenny is very bad player buyer ,shame on him for wasting the owners money ,,i think they should sue him and put him in jail ,i would do it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,35 m for carrollll
“Kenny is very bad player buyer ,shame on him for wasting the owners money ,,i think they should sue him and put him in jail ,i would do it”
ali – you need to grow up….you should be put in jail. seriously. you green muppet.
u telling me Rafa didn’t buy pathetic players? how about fergie or Arsene?
every manager in europe gets slack for bringing in bad players. however, you seem to forget, that Kenny brought in some good players at Blackburn and won the league with them, he signed Shearer before he became the best striker in europe.
so, lets give it time to Kenny, i think he deserves it.
Right, blame it on the Americans! Now if they had criticizedyou would have complained they were meddling and didn’t know what they were talking about.
What a nail! You have said all what I wanted to tell all the faithful fans and KD. If you have watched all games that Henderson had played, you will see he back away from challenge and never go for the balls.
I think Adam is actually one of our better players , he tries to keep the team moving forward which we lack at times. His form of late has been poor, in fact he has been below standard since Lucas got injured, he has his weaknesses ie mobility but if we play him in his correct role he is more than competent, the problem he has is that a certain Mr Gerrard plays exactly that role
Firstly, I think it’s unfair to criticize Henderson. In almost every game he’s played in, he’s been required to play wide right. He obviously doesn’t have pace so he can’t perform in that area. In the two or three games Kenny’s played him in the middle (Carling Cup semi-final first-leg at the Etihad), he’s been quite impressive. There was one perfect through ball he played where perhaps ,if it didn’t go to Downing, it would’ve been a goal. At Sunderland, he was great down the middle so it’s unfair to put him in the same bracket as Adam. Secondly, I was never convinced Charlie Adam would be the right player for Liverpool. Despite being played down the middle, he’s been pretty poor in 2012. His passes have gone awry, his tackling is terrible and his defensive positioning is horrendous. His pass alone isn’t worth six million pounds so unless his overall play improves soon, the criticism will only continue.
Like you said your self: “…if we’re going to criticize players for poor performances we can’t pick and choose depending on how much a player cost…”
The you cant judge them on the price tag.
The judgement for the Performance for price tag should fall on the one who has final call on signings; KD.
That leaves the judgement on the performance according to their age.
Adam is at near peak of his performance at his age, and he is totally rubbish, Jonjo should have got every game that Adam has got! Adam is slow, bad defender, bad tackler, has slow passes, nearly hits the corner flag when trying a shot, bad positioning, I actually cant find anything to rate him for. Its not hes fault, he might be a nice lad, but he is way sub Liverpool standard. not Adams fault that he was bought to a club way over his standard, but I for sure don’t want him on the pitch for Liverpool – ever!
For Hendo, he IS young! (forget the price tag), and he’s got some pace and might actually work out to be good squad player. If he doesn’t improve next year and the year after, then you will see massive criticism on Hendo. but for now: He IS a young lad with ‘some’ signs of potential. But he should not have been bought to Liverpool, I believe we have got better players in our own ranks.
Adam: Rubbish
Hendo: Some signs of potential
The problem is that both Henderson and Adam were brought into the team when we already had better players.
Raul Miereles, Alberto Aquilani and Maxi Rodriguez.
Maxi is still with us but dropped in favour of these two despite getting more goals with little on the pitch time. Aquilani has been has been a regular for the best team in Italy. Miereles last season was one of our best players!
We simply didn’t need either Henderson or Adam and should of spent the cash on a forward.
As others have noted Henderson deserves at least the chance to play in his regular position, he may come good in the future.
You said all what i ve been say all year around ,,why wasting money of them while we had great players,,,the rubbish is kenny
All what kenny bought is rubbish alllllllllllllllllllll
Agree 100% mate. Well said.
kk is to blame for henderson progress he is being played out of position that to me killed his confidence. Adam just wastefull especially on corners too slow by the time he passes the ball it would be late to continue an attack. Henderson touches got a little bit more brain to it than of adam.
Kk is playing a big part in there development which i believe he is not helping by playing hendo on the right. Charlie needs a bit of competion i dont know why shelvey is not being played only a year younger than Henderson. Seen hendo play central he is actually good only needs to get into the Box more. Henderson can be very good in tiring the opposition if played in the middle he had a better partnership with Lucas than Adam with Lucas.
Truly speaking Adam is rubbish. That’s why many people are on his back.
Can you be a little bit serious when you analyse your football
Adam hasn’t played well, he was the best player in an average Blackpool outfit therefore we can’t expect him to consistently shine in the mould of Gerrard. However, he has provided some stability without Lucas but is nowhere near the standard as him either. Too many Hollywood style passes rather than sometimes thinking direct and simple could be the better passing option. I am sure that Adam and the other Liverpool signings will eventually understand that they need to consistently perform well in order to win over the fans. KK may well feel pressured to play them given the price tags. Henderson has been largely anonymous and I do question his role in the team, Downing has gotten much better recently and maybe we will see much better of him over the final run in.
In the meantime, give them our support and if they fail to deliver by the end of the season then we can evaluate their worth, ability and if they really can take us to the levels needed to compete with the top four next season.
well…the fact is tat our team isn’t good enough to sustain n challenge. The important things is — how to improve?? The players ought to be metally strong n improve their game, KD n comolli need to face the real problems n b wise in the transfer market, and the fans (us) need to stop “boasting” abt “title dreams” or “complaining” abt certain players…..win or lose…one family. YNWA
For the money that we bought, he is a good player.
But right now, he not performing like he used to perform for Blackpool before. He need to raise his standard.
“for the money that we bought”… then: Don’t waste the money, save it to ‘something real’ instead or even donating the money to me would make better sense, since you wouldn’t need to watch that thwart play for us and Shelvey would have got (deservedly) into the team!
With that logic, you could buy a player from Kalmar FF for £600′ and playing him regularly in LFC would be a “good player for that money”.
Adam’s best merit is being a relegation team hero, should never have been bought to a club well over his standard. I feel sorry for the bloke, its not his fault, but he should never wear a LFC shirt unless he’s in a pub!
The team in general has been poor over the last few games. What we need is inspiration on the pitch. The CC Final should`ve been put in the bag but wasnt, imagine if we lost that? The decisions made by KD are annoying and dont make sense. He keeps playing under performing players week in week out. It seems the value of players means if you start or dont. Thats not the Liverpool way, plus Kenny please stop coming up with feeble excuses. Give youth a chance!!
Just GO FOOLGLISH your making us look bad !!! And your signing have been shocking too say the least,yet you still pick them even when there crap,just too justify the wasted money you’ve spent on them ??? I hate your guts,like most LFC fans today ? For putting us back ten years with your terrible spending…
Agree 100%
What waste of money these kenny players are…
LFC should sue kenny the loser..
I wish the fire him so he get insulted for 100m he spend…
I don’t agree less with your analysis and the comments from fans about charlie,hendo and the price tags of our new signings in relation to their performances so far. Hendo is being played off position as a wide man that cannot take d ball to defenders d way johnson as a right back does.
Adam was great when he play alongside lucas,there was this solidity and co-ordination between them. Now,he’s being criticised cos he’s passes can’t initiate or force an attacks cos to me,he’s playing partner is just not there besides,so we shuldn’t criticize him cos sometimes,our expectations are the yardsticks for our criticisms which are mostly biased. Someone should put it across to kk that he’s choice of players and formations are the reasm y we drop unbelievable points. My fear about this whole thing is dat it may make suarez leave. YNWA.
@Dean,
You know you dont belong here. You should join the blues plastic fans, haha.
I agree with ameen that Adam only shows his true ability when he is able to play with a strong DM like lucas.
35m for Carrol ,,,37m for Aguero ..
thats how smart Kenny is
So the money spent on Andy Carroll = Aguero does it?
Andy Carroll on 80k a week; 5 year contract… £20M in Wages + Transfer Fee = £55M
Sergio Aguero on 180k a week; 5 year contract… £47M in wages + Transfer Fee = £84M
That’s how smart you are.
Andy Carroll on 80k a week; 5 year contract… £20M in Wages + Transfer Fee = £55M = NOT MANY ASSISTS AND NOT MANY GOALS. Wasted money.
Sergio Aguero on 180k a week; 5 year contract… £47M in wages + Transfer Fee = £84M = MANY ASSISTS AND MANY GOALS. Money well spent.
WHO’S THE INTELLECTUAL ONE NOW?
Not to mention that Champions League football was also in Aguero’s thinking when he left Atleti – something we couldn’t offer. Ali, if you want someone to blame for LFC not purchasing Aguero, try Houllier/Parry who were offered him for around £11 mil when he first left Argentina, and declined – not Kenny.
We won’t b signing anytop class players anymore than cos with KD as mngr we won’t b in CHL for long time. We will try and win CC again next season and that’s another great trophie in our cabinet and that will b great. Also it will b great progress being made. In KD we trust. NOT.
Maybe all the KD out/safe talk would be better discussed in an article actually based on that subject? i.e http://live4liverpool.com/2012/03/view-from-the-kop/time-for-a-special-one
Jimmy Areabi
You are also incorrect, it was Rafa who had Aguero lined up as a 17 year old for £12 million, and it was Parry who did not sanction it.
I think Ali is trying to say that the £35 million spent on Carroll could have been spent better, and I agree. Like it or not, signing Carroll was Kenny’s fault.
Links to Aguero first surfaced prior to Benitez’s arrival. One thing for certain though is Parry’s incompetence for a series of botched deals during that whole period.
Most would agree that £35million should have been spent better, however to imply we could have purchased Sergio at that time instead, as Ali does, in incorrect.
@Kalle
“Adam’s best merit is being a relegation team
hero, should never have been bought to a club
well over his standard. I feel sorry for the bloke,
its not his fault, but he should never wear a LFC
shirt unless he’s in a pub!”
I was planning on giving my opinion on Adam, but then I saw this comment, must say you summed up Adam pretty well. *Applause*
I can’t believe some of the comments on here. Sure the article makes sense. But saying Adam is rubbish is completely unwarranted. I wish people would watch more football and thus have an educated opinion (ie not only watch Liverpool games before juudging players). Last season Adam was amazing for Blackpool. His long range passing and vision was second to none, he practically carried his team into the penalty area, every free kick and corner he took was bang on (not just here an there but week in week out), he was frightening! and a good reason as to why we lost to them last season. That ability hasn’t just abandoned him now he’s at Liverpool, he just needs to get his confidence up and feel like he has earnt his place on the field. As for Jordan Henderson, yes, he’s been invisible all season, in my opinion he needs a period on the bench and a decent preseason to get his confidence back, his link up play with Gyan and Bent last season was exactly the sort of play that would work well with gerrard and Suarez, he’s just been like a rabbit in the headlights all season. He will come good, he was even on free kicks last season which shows he has qualities that we haven’t yet seen. Just be patient. The only crime that has been committed is the price that was paid, not the players that have been bought. If they were all sub 10 million signings we’d all be happy. And as for playing Jonjo over hendo. Yes I’d agree, he does seem better, but were it the other way round and Jonjo was being rushed into the team, we’d all be crying out for Hendo to be given a chance. Have patience guys. They all have class that will come good. We just need a few world signings to give everyone a massive confidence boost.