Adam Hammill: What the future holds…

By: Brian | May 26th, 2007

After watching the Scottish Cup Final today, I’ve come to the conclusion that Hammill is just not ready for the Premiership. He’s an electrifying prospect and I was a bit surprised with the amount of responsibility that Dunfermline had placed on him in such a big game. I don’t know the exact stats, but it seemed like he took the majority of the free kicks and cornerkicks and was quite good in that regard. He had decent placement, but it seemed as if he lacked a teammate with whom he was online. Also, his pace and dribbling skills are undeniable, but that was already known going into this match. What I found the most surprising, and now that I think about it, maybe shouldn’t, was how much attention Celtic paid him. It seemed that he was often marked off the ball. Quite strange and flattering for a 19-year-old.

The things he needs to work on most is probably his patience on the ball and decision making on the fly. At times when he gained possession and was encroached by a defender or two or three, he would try to immediately pass without thinking first. Most of these passes were going lateral or forward, instead of back, which they probably should have gone, and ended up in the grasps of a Celtic player. Also dribbling past three defenders is a waste of time if he makes an errant pass, and he did just that quite a few times. In his defense though, Celtic hounded him consistently and constantly.

I was also disappointed when he didn’t shoot the ball. Twice, at the top of the box, he was given an opportunity, albeit a minute one, to blast it, and both times he looked to pass it inside. The Celtic defenders outnumbered the Pars two-to-one in these situations, so I doubt anyone would have gave him a hard time for going for the goal.

Anyhow, his talent is unquestionable and unfortunately for Dunfermline, and despite the fact that they will be playing in the UEFA Cup next year, Hammill will more than likely not be playing for them. At the same time, I think it’s a waste to put him on the bench and let him star for the reserves. He’s just not good enough to play on regular basis for Liverpool and I definitely see him on a Championship side next year. It’ll be interesting to see which team get his services, but I’d love to see him go to Watford, Wolverhampton, or Southampton.

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