Adam, Downing, and Henderson: Summer Signings After Six Months

By: Noel | January 15th, 2012

The January transfer window is half way through, and, after the past two windows saw Liverpool one of the most active participants, it’s been surprisingly quiet for a side lacking both midfield steel and finishing touch who before the season began set a return to Champions League action as the minimum requirement. Six months after a summer spending spree that was meant to ensure that success, then, the question is how well the results have matched up to hopes of the time—and if they haven’t, should it be considered a surprise or were the signs clear from the beginning? With that in mind, join us as we look back at what we said here on the Liverpool Offside about Liverpool’s biggest signings of the past summer before, during, and immediately following their arrivals at the club in June and July.

Jordan Henderson

Henderson has rather split opinion from the beginning. On one hand he seemed clearly a signing for the future, yet it was inescapable that his price-tag suggested a player who would need to make an immediate contribution. He was a tidy player who could pick a pass and wouldn’t lose a game, but as an attacking midfielder there were doubts that he had the drive to regularly win them. There were conflicting comparisons to Lucas and to Gerrard, and there were those who thought that no matter how well he developed, spending £16M on a player far from the the finished product when the club was struggling to get back into Champions League contention was at best a misguided luxury purchase. Price aside, however, we were generally positive about the young player’s arrival:

A versatile attacking midfielder, a more highly regarded Jonjo Shelvey with a fair bit of Premier League experience for his age and a player who created the fifth most scoring chances in the entire league over the 2010-11 season. Amongst the many players linked to Liverpool early on in the transfer window, amongst the likes of Ashley Young and Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam, it would have been hard to argue that it wasn’t Henderson who appeared the most promising English name being churned out by the rumour mills.

We were also given the chance to watch both him and fellow Liverpool transfer target—and Manchester United signee—Phil Jones when England’s U21 side took on Spain a few days later, with the early returns only adding to our belief that he was a solid name for the future despite that fans of guts and glory football were already wondering why he couldn’t regularly power past six defenders like a proper £16M English midfielder should:

The signs were at least promising from a Liverpool perspective. Henderson did a good job of ticking things over in midfield, looking to move the team up the pitch with one and two touch passes, handing the ball sideways or backwards to allow himself to move a few yards further upfield while avoiding pressure: Be patient, maintain possession, move up the pitch as a group, and wait for holes. And on those rare occasions when he was allowed to help England into fairly advanced areas of the pitch through exchanging possession with teammates in the middle of the park, he indeed did provide a number of dangerous through balls that on another day might have been converted. Of all the England players, in fact, he’s the one who would have looked least out of place in the fluid and technical Spanish midfield.

Far from the finished product, certainly, but from the beginning he seemed a tidy player with a high level of footballing intelligence and the potential to grow into a role as key distributor at the base of Liverpool’s midfield—just as long as one could get past the high transfer fee to give him the time to grow. All of which six months later seems a fair reflection on the player Liverpool bought, even if to our surprise it has seemed that the Liverpool coaching staff are amongst those who looked at his transfer fee as a sign that Henderson would need to make an instant contribution immediately instead of being a supplementary player in the present who wouldn’t develop into the locked-on starter his fee implied for at least a season or two.

Charlie Adam

Many liked the thought of signing Charlie Adam. They liked his raking Hollywood balls; they liked his ability from set-pieces; and they liked the thirty seconds of flash and flair they saw every week in the highlight packages. Some of them were simply willing to let their faith in Kenny Dalglish or the chance creation statistics Damien Comolli was said to be placing a priority on take precedent over what they could see with their own eyes. Certainly any Liverpool fan would have hoped that Adam could arrive and make an immediate positive impact, but the reality was that the facts at the time simply didn’t suggest that was especially likely to happen—at least not consistently. And those facts were there for anyone who cared to look at them:

It’s the Adam who dragged first St. Mirren and then Blackpool into the Scottish and English top flights respectively as the centerpiece of both sides that everybody wants. Not the Adam who imploded when given his first big chance at Rangers or who became increasingly inconsistent with Blackpool in the Premier League once opponents began to focus on him. Even the good Adam might not be a world class savior, but at least he could become a quality contributor for a club looking to move back into the top four and maybe even take an unlikely run at the title. Or so the general wisdom goes. The other Adam, however, the Adam who has been on display for much of his professional career, is hardly likely to do more than block the development of younger players or potentially lead to the departure of better senior squad members as room is cleared for the new arrival…

Even the good Adam, though, isn’t a player without flaws and question marks. He was the focal point at Blackpool, the player the team was built around, and that meant that he received an endless series of chances with which to make a difference. When opponents gave him time to convert those opportunities he could certainly pick a pass. But when—as happened increasingly often over the second half of the season—he was put under pressure he became wildly inconsistent, at times ending up with completion rates below 50%. At best he was inconsistent. At worst he was a player who needed a bucket of chances to create a handful of successfully telling passes and who wilted under pressure.

If the Charlie Adam transfer saga can be said to have done one unquestionably good thing, it was to for five minutes remind everybody that despite his eventual arrival the overwhelming majority of glory hunting In the Knows were quite completely full of shit. It may have been a reminder that has turned out to have been largely forgotten as the rumour mills chug to life once again, but at least for a couple of weeks it added a touch of perspective to the insane gossip of transfer season:

Now that he finally has signed, we’re likely to be exposed to a number of folks pronouncing their rightness and proclaiming that “deals take time.” I’d preach caution in falling back into the trap, though, as by the time this deal actually did become a reality, there wasn’t a football-following person who didn’t know something was coming. Thinking Liverpool were in for Charlie Adam and that a deal was possible didn’t mean you were in the know, it meant you had a pulse.

As for the player himself, when he finally did sign Ed’s take mirrored that of most who hadn’t become swept up by the Buy British movement:

I also don’t know that he automatically lands ahead of anyone in Liverpool’s current midfield—plenty have been quick to hand him a place in the starting eleven over more proven, more consistent squad members like Raul Meireles and Lucas, which makes no sense if you’re actually paying attention. In my mind neither the Adam or Jordan Henderson signings should displace any of Liverpool’s best midfield last season; they both add depth and something slightly different, but not necessarily much that’s an immediate upgrade.

Some will say that he can still improve, and he can. Some will say that he’s decent value for money as a third or fourth choice in the middle, and that’s probably fair. But he was brought in as a mature player with Premier League experience and in the end the player who many thought should have remained ahead of him on the depth chart was marginalised by his arrival and ended up heading to Chelsea. So while those arguments might be fair, there’s every sign they didn’t in any way reflect the thinking of Damien Comolli or Kenny Dalglish on the matter during the summer when they went out and signed Adam.

Stewart Downing

Liverpool needed a left-footed wide player. Aston Villa just happened to have a left-footed wide player. And while he might have been rather expensive, with Liverpool out of the Champions League and needing to overpay for talent that would be ready to come in and make an instant impact there seemed few better realistic targets than Downing. That he ended up being valued at over £20M with add-ons, making him Liverpool’s fourth most expensive ever signing after Andy Carroll, Fernando Torres, and Luis Suarez, was always a stumbling block, but Liverpool’s new owners were willing to spend to win and even if Downing wasn’t a world class winger we fully believed that he at least guaranteed improvement:

When it comes to fees, too, it’s also worth remembering that while many will consider Downing’s excessive, it was Downing and not recent £16M Manchester United acquisition Ashley Young who was in fact Villa’s player of the season last term. Downing also had two years left on his contract compared to Young’s one, and many would consider Downing’s tendency to play a larger role in build-up play than United’s new and fairly direct winger another point in his favour given Liverpool’s stated desire to fully embrace a pass and move game. When it comes to hard returns, Liverpool’s newest player registered seven goals and seven assists for Aston Villa last season, a haul placing him second on the team in both categories behind Bent (9 goals) and Young (10 assists). It’s a return that would have seen him fourth in goals for Liverpool (Kuyt 13, Maxi 10, Torres 9) and tied for first in assists with Kuyt.

He’s a technically sound but simple player who possess a decent footballing brain. He has some pace but won’t burn past one defender after another all day long; he has a great first touch with his left foot and mostly sticks to knocking the ball one way and using a powerful short burst to buy room for a cross. He’ll track back and make the smart passes and, at times, be accused of simply not being flashy enough—or of not being the huffing, puffing, all action and no plot stereotypical English footballer…

Setting aside any reservations that come about almost entirely due to what seems a high fee, it’s hard to argue that based on Liverpool’s needs Downing isn’t the right man for the job—or at the very least a good option for it.

Of course, in the end, it’s been nearly impossible to set aside his sky-high fee given how little he’s produced at his new club. At the time, we were inclined to largely look past that fee to see a player who was coming off arguably the best season of his career and just hitting his peak, who played at a position of great need for Liverpool, and who would at the very least improve the starting eleven—if we had doubts about the likes of Henderson and Adam being locked-on starters over Jay Spearing, Raul Meireles, or Dirk Kuyt, we saw no such obstacles to Downing walking into the club’s best side.

Here, then, it appears we got it wrong, as Downing certainly hasn’t provided any more than recent makeshift options on Liverpool’s left from Meireles to Yossi Benayoun to the less expensive Robbie Keane. Teammates haven’t done him any favours by failing to convert what chances he has provided, but it’s hard to imagine this season’s side would have looked any worse had John Henry and co. simply kept that £20M in their pocket. Moreover, it has begun to look increasingly as though Downing has wilted under the spotlight at Anfield, an increasingly peripheral figure the tougher things are going and a player whose skill-set is perhaps better suited for playing on the counter against bigger sides instead of trying to unlock smaller ones.

Of course those three, the big midfield three, weren’t Liverpool’s only summer signings. There’s Jose Enrique, who despite a slight dip in November has been the best left back in the Premier League this season and whose arrival for well under £10M seems an absolute steal—and perhaps the best bit of transfer business done by the current Liverpool brain-trust. And there’s also Sebastian Coates, who similarly to Jordan Henderson seems a name for the future but who without the high price-tag and Premier League experience has actually been played as though he’s largely a name for the future.

Adding the two of them to the equation certainly puts a more positive spin on a transfer window that would seem overwhelmingly bleak if one only considered the three British signings who received the majority of press clippings over the past summer. Regardless of that, however, given the heavy expenditure, the club’s stated need to return immediately to the Champions League, and the expectation that paying a premium for a number of players with Premier League experience would allow the club to avoid long settling-in periods that would jeopardize that goal of returning to the Champions League, it seems a great deal of money spent for very little return so far.

After years of watching Liverpool scrape the bottom of the barrel for transfer bargains under Rafa Benitez, hands tied by the ownership duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett, at the very least it’s fair to say that six months on from the club’s first opportunity to buy without having to sell first that increase in funds appears to have made very little difference on the pitch. With sixteen days left in the January window, one can only hope that Liverpool’s owners are still willing to spend despite disappointing overall returns from previous windows and that, if they are, those doing the spending have learned from past mistakes.

Some Related Liverpool Posts:

Match Preview: Liverpool v. Newcastle, 12.30.11

Category: Premier League, Season Review, Team News, Transfer News

« Liverpool 0, Stoke City 0: Hey Look, Sami Hyypia! | Home | Liverpool Face Spurs in NextGen Knockouts, and Other Monday Notes »

Andy

Another top post, Noel.

Henderson: Talented, but not yet able to take a game by the scuff of the neck.
Downing: Decent player, good touch etc, doesn't make me want to punch the TV, but not dangerous enough. Perhaps, when he has a proper striker to finish his chances we'll see him grabbing some assists.
Adam: Great at the hollywood pass, but too inconsistent and about as mobile as a lame dog.

That said, if we can buy a striker with an eye for goal then our season could turn around. Carroll will not get us to a Champions league finish.
RedKen

Solid analysis. Good stuff to think on over the next two weeks. Thx!
ejbauer11

Watched saturday's debacle at a bar and was gonna look over comments section to see reactions; immediately came across "Kenny is an asshole," which put me off reading any more. Looks from Ed's peyote comment, below, that the rest of them aren't much better. At least Arsenal dropped points to Swansea yesterday, and we're still only five points off champs league football. Arsenal get Manure this weekend...Let's all take a deep breath and step away from the ledge. Yes, we need some invention and to take our chances, but there are 17 more games: i.e., a lot of fucking points. YNWA, and long live the King.

Oh, and Downing is the only signing I'm willing to say was a mistake, though I wonder how many of his poor performances can be attributed to a lack of confidence (he looked the business in the first few fixtures). Adam has performed at about his price tag and clearly was not brought in to be a long-term fix. Hendo and Carroll are children and the former, at least, has acquitted himself well, as far as I'm concerned. Regardless, here's to getting back on track against a Cahill-less Bolton on Saturday.
ejbauer11

Sorry about the double post. F'ing disqus.
ejbauer11

Watched saturday's debacle at a bar and was gonna look over comments section to see reactions; immediately came across "Kenny is an asshole," which put me off reading any more. Looks from Ed's peyote comment, below, that the rest of them aren't much better. At least Arsenal dropped points to Swansea yesterday, and we're still only five points off champs league football. Arsenal get Manure this weekend...Let's all take a deep breath and step away from the ledge. Yes, we need some invention and to take our chances, but there are 17 more games: i.e., a lot of fucking points. YNWA, and long live the King.

Oh, and Downing is the only signing I'm willing to say was a mistake, though I wonder how many of his poor performances can be attributed to a lack of confidence (he looked the business in the first few fixtures). Adam has performed at about his price tag and clearly was not brought in to be a long-term fix. Hendo and Carroll are children and the former, at least, has acquitted himself well, as far as I'm concerned. Regardless, here's to getting back on track against a Cahill-less Bolton on Saturday.
WavefunctionCollapse

I think that given time, Carroll could turn into a good striker. He's been getting a lot of flak for not scoring crosses, which most NBA players couldn't score with their hands. Downing is incredibly poor and it affects AC's game, but at the end of the day, AC gets all the flak, headlines and the poor ratings, while Downing gets average ratings, since he's not the one doing "nothing."

The fact that Gerrard can come back from injury and finds Carroll with his crosses in the last ten minutes of a game more than Downing, who was brought SPECIFICALLY for that purpose says a lot.

The idea was that Downing was to supply AC with crosses, but it sounds like Carroll has to adjust his game to fit Downing's style. Which in reality means, Andy Carroll has to change his game from waiting in the box for a cross to trying to intercept an opposition throw-in on the right. Too bad you can't fake reality like he did with that video.

I also feel like KK wants to show that it was all part of a bigger plan that will all click and work rather than admit that there were some mistakes in the plan. I don't see Carroll and Downing working. It just isn't. Either play someone who can cross or someone who doesn't need crosses, but watching Liverpool recently feels like watching a guy who insists he has the right key, trying to open a door with the wrong one.
NotTooXabi

Quaaludes and tater tots for you, Noel. Nice work on a messy mess of a mess. Most of what needs saying about individual players has been said. Beyond that, it seems David Duke and Louis Farrakhan have started to read your esteemed scribblings. Congrats, I suppose.

Taking a "forest" view, there seems to be, at least at first & second glance, a disconnect between the style of play KD wants to instill, the players we're buying, and the set-ups we're rolling out each week.

1. STYLE - Who are the best XI players suited to a "pass and move" style of play?

2. SQUAD - Who are the best XI players we have on hand? Right now. Is this list the same as #1?

3. SYSTEM - Take #1 and #2 and give them both a preferred set-up. Do both team plays the same system?

Consider each of those as independent variables, you can justify and defend many of the decisions made since FSG took over (and KD returned). Put them into the context of the results thus far, and consider the impact one has on the other, and things get muddled.

And as David Lloyd George once said, "We are muddled into war."
lfc80uk

I honestly think that the extortionate transfer fee paid for 'over-rated' players shall we say is the most frustrating thing of all. If Downing cost £10 million like Adam, then one could say that the gamble didn't pay off. The fact that Stewart Downing has 0 assists and 0 goals in the Premiership so far worries me as it should all LFC fans. That fact that we paid £20 million for him is even more significant. Unlike Henderson who has shown glimpses of talent and a 'one for the future' category. A proven Premiership midfielder such as Downing should fit in seamlessly. Downing was bought to provide crosses for Carroll, when both are in the team and the bottom line is that he has failed to do that.
Redarmy

£44M for Henderson, Adam and Downing - amazing really
the perfect example of quantity over quality.

Henderson:
young and supposed to have some kind of potential. a prototypical 'british' player who's running around a lot without doing much. Not really a defensive midfielder, not really an offensive midfielder, can't play on the right, can't play on the left, no glaring strenght, no glaring weakness, not good not bad. Most people tend to like him, not because of what he's doing, but because of what other buys don't do. Kinda looks ok by comparing him to Adam and Downing. Cost a lot of money though - I think there are some guys in our youth/reserve team at the same age or younger than him that could easily give us the same. = waste of money

Downing:
a prototypical left midfielder/winger in a 442. The problem is we don't play a 442. Looked like a decent player for Boro and Villa and even for England, so what's the problem with him? His style doesn't fit with Enrique, they're duplicating each other, both don't like to cut in, playing too close to each other, sometimes beeing in the way of each other, have the same running routes. Looks better on right because Johnson going inside more than Enrique, thus allowing Downing to stay out wide. = waste of money because we already had other options on the right. Should sell either Downing or Enrique to open up that logjam on the left sideline.

Adam:
quite a unique player who has good passing and shooting technique compared to most other british player. Doesn't like to work hard defensively, rather goes for a foul than stay with his man. Has confidence in his abilities bordering on the 'overconfident'. Probably the type of player who gets better with age and experience, because speed and movement is not a big part of his game anyway. Perhaps better suited to play in a less physical league.
ooooooo

the signings:1.Suarez-super hit! 2.Carroll- everyone criticizing him...why?the problem is first of all he returned from injury to play and did score two nice goals against man city last season but this year he has got less chances and chances he has got Liverpool have played awful even defenders thought they can deliver ball in the box ..as a result poor chances ....no one has delivered the perfect cross to him..hope Gerrard does....3.Henderson-play him at a good position ..don't make him a makeshift player ...4.Downing:has played awful...not settled ...Kenny has not made him play from one side...let him settle and then switch sides/wings....5:Adam- has not settled that good yet..but has played OK in absence of Gerrard.6-Enrique:has been the best signing and i would rate him under Aguero as the 2nd best signing in summer in bpl this summer!7-Coates-needs more chance..has shown signs of a bright future!8-Bellamy-energetic and under-rated.9:Doni- no appearence have i seen
Redarmy

So we're in for a south american striker playing in holland?!

perhaps this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D...
Suarez from the car park...

I wouldn't be too quick to believe the rumours whoever is making them.
tony

I agree our summer signings were a failure. 7th today says it all. Just compare what the other 5 did in the summer transfer. I exclude Newcastle because we will pass them by the end of the season. This is objective evidence.

7 ties at home, fact. What-ifs don't change the fact that we are 7th. Yes, if we HAD converted a few more chances, we would have been 4th by now. Every team says the same thing.

Every team misses chances & hits its fair share of woodwork. By comparison, ours were not quality chances. Try watch Chelski & Spuds those they missed all season.

Realistically 4th is a longshot now, uncatchable if godforgiven who Chelsea might buy in the next 2 weeks. We have no stomach for Europa, right? I say we start as many young players as we can the rest of the way. See what Sterling & Suso can do.

Don't give me that never-say-die spirit & fight for 4th. All it does is get in the way of developing young players because my beer says we won't. I am switching to my McLaren during games from now on.
Lis

Stewart Downing not providing more at the left than "the less expensive Robbie Keane" is depressing. He has really underperformed at Liverpool as at first he seemed just a bit too expensive but a rather vital buy and now it seems that him getting dropped is vital for the team. And the fact that our top 3 buys: Enrique, Bellamy and Coates (although I rate Henderson highly) have the combined fee of around 13 million is both great and worrying.
purify_the_body

It's not like it's a surprise. The fans of other teams laughed out loud when we signed these players and even most Liverpool fans spent the summer hoping we would sign Mata, who is a class above. Many fans also liked Suarez, Enrique, Bellamy and Coates before we signed them as well, and lo and behold...they have done well.
Lis

I actually thought Downing would be a lot better than he has been so far (and the first few games seemed to encourage it). He was definitely overpriced, but now he is looking like downright flop (and it pains me to say it about a LFC player). And I still don't think we would've signed Mata, Spurs and Arsenal were probably closer. But yeah, we really have overspent on players who haven't lived up to the billing. And I can't overlook the fact that for two transfer windows in a row Kenny has had big money to spend and he spent almost half of it on Carroll and Downing.
Geoff Twentyman

"I actually thought Downing would be a lot better than he has been so far (and the first few games seemed to encourage it). He was definitely overpriced, but now he is looking like downright flop (and it pains me to say it about a LFC player). And I still don't think we would've signed Mata, Spurs and Arsenal were probably closer. But yeah, we really have overspent on players who haven't lived up to the billing."

Agreed
Ryan

EDIT: Adam has a long cranium.
Ryan

I think when we look at money spent, and what we've gotten in return, Downing is the only real bust. He checks the 3 boxes: He's "old", he was expensive, and he's given us nothing in return. Henderson is not old, was expensive, and still gave us something in return. Adam is old, not expensive, and he has given us exactly what we should have expected, whether you've liked him or not.

Do we think Meireles really left because of Charlie Adam's arrival? Due to the nature of his leaving, it looks like it was somewhat unexpected, as if Liverpool were actually considering him a part of the squad for the whole season. And the fact that he happily spends most of his time on the bench at Chelsea worries me that he might have left mainly because of the wages thing, not because of Charlie Adam. Because, face it, if Meireles was here, he would have logically benched Adam back in October, assuming Adam would have been given the starting XI role. This points to the conclusion that we weren't willing to pay him a lot because we weren't willing to consider him the way moving forward, which would be, as it looks right now, a huge mistake by Liverpool. The Adam for Raul switch has been the biggest change to the side since the charge for Europe last Spring, and in opinion it has been the major contributor to why things have looked shitty ever since Sunderland. We have to be honest and admit that we have been largely disappointed, besides those results against the big teams, Bolton, and Newcastle. And even those results against the big teams were mostly disappointing, because the only ones we won were against a miserable Chelsea side (at the time).

Liked I've said in previous posts, I still believe a quality striker/finisher is necessary to make up for Downing and Adam's lack of ability. Torres and Gerrard made up for the fact that everyone else on the team was shit for years. Gerrard is back now, and given that he replaces Adam hopefully, things can start looking up for the rest of the season. We wouldn't be complaining one bit if those chances we created were put away. Now, we are seeing a Liverpool that looks mostly made up of honey badgers would really don't care about winning. A new player to the squad could give us the boost we need like the one we got last year in January. If we make a surge for the top like we did last year, given that our position is (only slightly) higher than it was last season, we could make the top 4, with one new additional player and some changes in the lineup.
purify_the_body

Adam didn't replace Meireles because they don't play the same position. Adam replaced Spearing in the spot next to Lucas. Meireles scored his goals playing just behind a lone striker, and otherwise he was a utility player who got moved around randomly.

And there's not really a lot of logic factoring into Adam's selection, because if there was any logic happening he wouldn't have been signed, nor played in a 2-man CM at all.

I agree with you that a good signing this month could be a real boost, however, based on their complete bolloxing up of big signings 2 windows in a row, I'm not sure Dalglish and Comolli are the men to do it. We'll see.
Ryan

Well I didn't mean it was a direct, "Meireles out, Adam in" scenario. I'm saying Meireles' place in the starting XI has been taken by Adam (if you take the teamsheet of those who had the most starts last season, and compare it with this season's, Downing replaced Maxi, Adam replaced Meireles, and Henderson replaced Kuyt).

I think there was logic in signing Adam, but I too find it hard to realize why he's put into a two man midfield. For the price, he was a logical buy as a backup or tactical selection again certain teams with Lucas and Gerrard next to him. But yes, you can't buy a Championship level player and build a team around him as a hub trying to get into the top 4.
redtrev73

Aaaaaaaaand I'm off for another break...too much calm, dispassionate and rational analysis by some. Before I go; Fuck everything, burn all British players and shoot the coaching staff...did I get that right? Good.
RednRed

There, they're all dead now, so no chance of KD buying more british c*ap!!!
poorscouserbobby

sorry didn't mean to kill the mood.
redtrev73

Dude, I know you're joking but it should be said that you are a beacon of positivity. And it must be time for a bobby anecdote soon..?!
justin

Let's just click "mutual termination" on all the coaching staff. That'd do.
Suarez from the car park...

The old empire has a lot to answer for...
Mike

Nearly, mate. They burn coaches and shoot donkeys, I believe. "Donkey" Adams, <shivers>, ooh, that's something I'd hoped to forget.</shivers>
Joel

Agree with you on pretty much every point, Noel.

As I'm sure that anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, I love Henderson and think he was a a top buy no matter the price. He's got a great footballing brain and has tremendous technical skill with the ball. All he needs is experience under his belt and more confidence.

I feel the same about Coates as I do Henderson, great buy. He's got a touch of Big Sami and Danny Agger in him, which is about as great of a combination as you can get in a center back.

As for Adam, I'm often a fairly harsh critic of him, but he wasn't a bad buy for the money. I think he'll make a fairly decent squad player, but thus far with Gerrard and Lucas being injured, he's been thrust into a starting role and hasn't seemed fully comfortable. Coming from a squad that was built to get the best of him at Blackpool, he still needs to adapt to a less central role here at Liverpool. Once he learns to play within his ability, he'll be a good option to have in the squad.

Downing. I don't know what is wrong with him, but it is very telling that he looks more effective and confident playing on the right. Yes, we probably overpaid for him, but he isn't an awful player. He is a consistent performer who will work hard, but we've been acting like he should be a Messi-esque game winner on his own. I think he'll look a lot better once the squad starts playing like one and we get someone who can finish the balls he puts into the box.
Geoff Twentyman

I'd hazard a guess that the payers aren't suited to the system we're playing or are adapting to it fr to slowly for our liking;

Dowing tucked inside as a narrow attacking midfielder with Messi-esque creative qualities.

Adam as a 2nd centre midfielder of two expected to create at one end and offer a defensive shield at the other. (but as you rightly point out, with Gerrard and Lucas in there, he's a squad player at best and good business at 8m if thats the case)

Carrol was used differently at NU and from my naive take on tactics a 4222 system doesn't make sense for him as it doesn't provide enough width unless the 2 deep lying centre midfielders are both destroyers allowing the fullbacks pretty much free licence to get forward.

Like you, I think Henderson is going to be a very good player. I've likened him to Xavi on this blog, in that he's not going to dribble past 2 defenders like Iniesta, he's not going to shield the defence like Busquest, but just like Xavi, he'll cover a lot of ground and give the ball to the others in the team who can do those things.

Trouble is, we're missing an Iniesta (creative midfielder), Villa (mobile clinical forward) and Pedro (technically sound creative winger able to come inside and score goals) to get the best of his abilities.
Geoff Twentyman

I know the Barca reference is far fetched, but the point about the style of player is important, not a direct comparison of the players.
justin

Much has been said that doesn't leave much else to say but in a personal perspective, perhaps the one transfer that we got wrong was selling Raul Meireles, in hindsight that is.

He was an option that provided movement, neat and precise passes and could go on a goal trail from time to time. Perhaps, and it's a big perhaps that if we'd kept him then we wouldn't have been so reliant on Adam & Hendo that the glare was constantly on them.

Another issue must and has been the kind of injuries that our team has taken this season, Gerrard was practically out for half a season and Lucas is out for the other half of the season. Now, I'm sure most of us can agree that both of them are pretty critical options to have in our team for it to function.
Geoff Twentyman

Meireles was the experienced player - Hendo the youngster. Kenny took a punt on Hendo stepping up to the mark this year.

Who knows, the experience may do him the world of good. I've said before that its all very good havig talented youngseters, but if they rot in the reserves/youth team for fear of them making a mistake, then they'll never develop - Pacheco anyone?
justin

Likewise, far too much exposure can be detrimental to his development especially given how much he's polarized opinions about his abilities and performances this season.

Perhaps, I'd just like to think back a time when we bought Hendo and thought, "wow, we're absolutely over-stacked in the central park" and then the subsequent thought when Meireles left, "wow, we look kinda short in the central park." Personally, keeping Meireles wouldn't have done Hendo much harm, he was a good experienced option to have ala Maxi and he was good at what he did (not tackling.) Plus, Meireles was definitely more of a goal threat than Hendo is at the moment and not so much a liability as Adam can be at times.
justin

Pacheco as an example is fair. But in addition to the initial part of my comment above, Insua is a direct opposite example who buckled under that kind of exposure.
Geoff Twentyman

...and we're pretty much on the same page.

Meireles should not have been sold considering our midfields performance.

Henderson needs game time and experience so as to not end up like Pacheco, but not be overexposed to end up like Insua.
justin

It's unfortunate but like it's been mentioned somewhere on this page, with Meireles seemingly happy sitting on Chelsea's bench, he most likely pushed for the move based on wages and we have to move on from there.

Pretty sure the only glaring ones at the moment are Downing (age/price/performance), Adam (some performances/potential upwards or downwards?) and Carroll (price/performance/does he fit in?)

Overall, think the support for the team and manager is still pretty important to lift the team onwards. We've not been our best, we've not been the best in anything league-wise or transfer-wise.

But i'm sure we're the best support-wise, keep walking.
Geoff Twentyman

Although Insua's doing well after his ove by all accounts...
Suarez from the car park...

- Hendo might be one for the future, but for now he needs others to actually do the business, whether it's dispossessing the opposition in midfield or doing the damage up front.
That means he should get displaced often by those who can do the business as his development continues via the subs bench. Unfortunately we rely on him and it's a place not used effectively. For a holding type role, Jay is more effective, for an attacking role the older men (not Adam) such as Maxi, Bellamy, Kuyt deliver more end result (except Kuyt this season).- Coates looks like a good intelligent footballer, very assured for a 20 year old. We should try him in the Lucas role, but I bet he's pretty much left to rot on the bench for a season or two or just play early cup rounds and never out of the back 4.

- The promise of passes from Adam was an enticing one of course but he didn't stand up to analysis as articles here stated. The key requirements of today's player are mobility and speed and he doesn't have those. His Hollywood passes are really wasteful and his set piece stuff has been basically useless.

This was Kenny's choice probably over Comolli [and probably filled the right age bracket given younger and older players in the squad] and we've ended up with a player who isn't really dangerous to the opposition, and exposes us in the midfield not to mention the dumb ass fouls he gives away every game.

We seem to think it's ok because he didn't cost much, but he's taking up a place we need filled with better quality and would gain more from eg developing Wii Jay as much as possible. Ridiculous justifying his place from his price.

- Downing needs some coaching on providing service (eg the way Gerrard does from the right) and we need to get more bodies in the box for it. He also needs coaching on overlaps, and what to do when he cuts in as he always shoots and misses.
Near post shots are a waste as there's no spill in a dangerous area but he doesn't get that and the coaches aren't telling him, and other players aren't prepared for anything else. Pretty one dimensional though the purchase was understandable if expensive.

The problem for us is good teams score from players other than the strikers. We have Hendo, Adam, Downing basically not contributing to that and not looking like it either. Maxi, Bellars, Gerrard are our non-striker goalscorers and we just can't rely on them much longer.

Problems are being stored up I fear.
Ed

If anyone wants to share their peyote so I forget most of the comments from the past few days, that'd be cool.

Plus I'd love to ride a two-headed walrus to Jupiter and make love to an alien mermaid. Just a personal goal of mine since childhood.
ShedYourYellow

Peyote is the most beautiful thing that my people have given this world. Given your contributions to the football-writing-universe, I can assist you with the peyote, but the two-headed walrus and alien mermaid you must procure yourself.
Ed

Oh, once we have the peyote the rest takes care of itself.
Red2death

The players have been ok. Not amazing, slightly underwhelming. For some of them like Adam and Downing who were supposed create an immediate impact, they haven't. Others like Henderson, Carroll, we can give them time.

But basically, our results are totally about the players, it's as much about the tactics. These were all decent quality players at their previous clubs - that's why we bought them. We've assembled an extremely attacking squad. Save for our outright defenders, you'll be hard pressed to find a Liverpool player who isn't inclined to marauding forward and attacking the goal.

So let's not knock the players too much. They were strong attacking players before and just because they now wear a different colour shirt they don't suddenly become a different player. What has changed, though, is the way they're deployed. Why Kenny and Clarke can pull off feats of tactical genius against Chelsea and City and Utd, yet spew out downright puzzling drivel against Stoke is completely beyond me. Suffice to say, the players are just tools in their arsenal, and if the job doesn't go right, you can't always blame the tools.
Geoff Twentyman

"marauding forward and attacking the goal"

Thats my problem with the side. There's no-one with any finesse or guile. Its all break down the door stuff.

We don't have a ruthless finisher, nor do we have a player to unlock the door, so our high level of possession almost becomes moot.

Similarly, chance creation is all very good if you consider a ball aimlessly lobbed into the penalty area as a created chance, but I'd like to know the level of quality of the chances.

"Why Kenny and Clarke can pull off feats of tactical genius against Chelsea and City and Utd, yet spew out downright puzzling drivel against Stoke is completely beyond me."

Remember the City game was won on a penalty - we made chances prior to the goal but couldn't finish, so it would have been interesting to see how that match had panned out if we hadn't been awarded a penalty.

I'm not trying to be overly negative here, I just think we're playing with square pegs in round holes still, the culture of our football has changed and there are a couple of players struggling to adapt and find a place in the squad/team.
Red2death

I agree, but only to a certain extent. Everyone keeps saying we need a finisher. That we're not creating quality chances, etc. But we have to remember that the players we bought, in their previous roles, were very much creating quality chances and finishing them off.

At Newcastle, Andy Carroll was a brilliant finisher. Downing was the no-goals-no-assists player we've seen for the past six months, but rather a winger who creates very good chances for his teammates to put away and comes up with vital goals himself too. They were displaying that cutting edge, and that's part of the reason we bought them.

What I'm saying is that the players themselves haven't changed in a mere six months. But what has changed is the way they are asked to play. It's frustrating, yes - as frustrating as it must be for Chelsea fans wondering why Torres just can't score in a blue shirt. It's the same Torres that was terrorizing defences with Liverpool, but just because he's now firing duds does that mean Chelsea now need to go and buy someone who can finish off chances? They needed that before and that's why they got Torres. Sure, they can now go purchase Demba Ba or someone else, but there's no guarantee it'd be any different. Fact is, the quality that Torres had at Liverpool is still there. He didn't change just because he's now wearing blue, and to say they bought a dud would be wrong.

Same with us. We need people who can finish? Well, we have them. Carroll can finish. So can Kuyt, so can Bellamy. They've all proven that. We need people who can create real quality chances? Downing can do that, so can Adam. That's why we bought them. If we switched out Andy Carroll for Demba Ba or Javier Hernandez, would it be any different? No guarantee. Sometimes we have to look beyond the players. They just do their best and do what they're told.

Good players don't suddenly become shit just because they've transferred clubs. And if we go out into the market again and replace them with players whom we now think are good, there's no guarantee the same won't happen again. I guess this is just a very long way of saying that just because chances aren't being finished or the quality of chances isn't good enough, it doesn't automatically mean 'we need better finishers', or 'we need better chance creators'. Players are just one small part of the equation.
Geoff Twentyman

"We need people who can finish? Well, we have them."

Yes we do, and we have an array of different skillsets. However, sometimes a player just doesn't work out and can't fit the system!

Look at Morientes - a spanish international with a cracking scoring rate, who when you looked at his style of play should have fitted into the EPL but didn't.

Can anyone accuse Veron of not being a quality player? No; but he failed at Man Utd.

I guess the reason is they can't adapt to the style of play or in Veron's case are not being used correctly.

Hendo wasn't used correctly in his early games by being played out wide, Adam should never have been in a midfield 2.

Kuyt has struggled to adapt to being back up front, or as a wide man in Kenny's set up.

Lord knows why Downing has been so underwhelming.

Carroll is adapting to the new system which is very different from Newcastle and he may not make the jump - he's young enough of course, but does he have the skills?

"I guess this is just a very long way of saying that just because chances aren't being finished or the quality of chances isn't good enough, it doesn't automatically mean 'we need better finishers', or 'we need better chance creators'. Players are just one small part of the equation. "

Then the approach, tactics, gameplan and culture needs looking at, in which case it's on the manager to fix.

I don't think Kenny has been ruthless enough with his players. It's all very well giving your signings the chance to bed in, but if they don't learn from the coaching and don't start performing, then you've gotta pull em from the starting line up.
Geoff Twentyman

Although I do disagree with you about the quality of chances - if we punt a ball from defence to attack and Carroll somehow manages to get his head on it and flick it goalwards, is that really a quality chance that has been created?

My opinion is that it is not and I would be interested to know the breakdown of chances created by their quality(of course this info isn't available as its subjective)
Mike

Fair points. However, is Downing really being asked to do things vastly different from his Villa days? Is Kuyt the same player he was four years ago, or is it possible that Carroll was a one season flash in the pan? I hope I don't sound obnoxious here, your points are well made, but the argument for a better finisher, or more accurately, a better striker who can play more minutes than Bellamy and doesn't have the injury concerns of Torres is still a valid one.

I enjoy your comments btw.
Geoff Twentyman

Downing is being asked to come inside a lot more; whether that be from the right flank or on the left. He's also being asked to be involved in more of the slow build up play, which he won't be so used to.

Kuyt has re-invented himself for a hard working right forward who made intelligent runs and got in the right place at the right time to poach goals into a hard working right winger who due to that hard work started being seen as a right midfielder. His strength of course was ghosting inside as evidenced by some of his important goals.

He doesn't look as comfortable as a right sided midfielder in the 4222 as he isn't blessed with great creativity/flair or busrt of pace. He's also looks out of practice as an out and out forward.
Red2death

Haha. Thanks.

To your questions, to be honest I don't know. It seems to me like Downing is being utilized in a similar role, but I'm sure there are differences and subtleties that I can't tell just from a cursory look at how he plays once or twice per week. And it also seems to me like Torres is being used in the same way he was at Liverpool, except now he can't score. And maybe Carroll was a one-season wonder and actually isn't worth 'fuck-all' as has been suggested.

You make very valid questions, and I don't know how to answer them. Heh.

But what I do know is that there are any number of reasons why a team doesn't perform, and any number of solutions to remedy it. Getting a different set of players is but one of the myriad possibilities, but it's the one that fans tend to focus on the most especially around transfer season, and inordinately so.

I'd naturally be very happy if we went out, bought a proven finisher and he made an immediate difference like Torres or Suarez. But there's also the possibility we go out and get a proven goalscorer, and he provides a return like Andy Carroll or Robbie Keane. Just have to trust Kenny and Clarke on that one...
Mike

Or perhaps Damien Cornolli? I suppose most teams' fans go through the same sentiments as we do; it's in the nature of fandom, "Buy him! No, buy him" etc. If only Kenny was 25 years younger......
Geoff Twentyman

"marauding forward and attacking the goal"

Thats my problem with the side. There's no-one with any finesse or guile. Its all break down the door stuff.

We don't have a ruthless finisher, nor do we have a player to unlock the door, so our high level of possession almost becomes moot.

Similarly, chance creation is all very good if you consider a ball aimlessly lobbed into the penalty area as a created chance, but I'd like to know the level of quality of the chances.

"Why Kenny and Clarke can pull off feats of tactical genius against Chelsea and City and Utd, yet spew out downright puzzling drivel against Stoke is completely beyond me."

Remember the City game was won on a penalty - we made chances prior to the goal but couldn't finish, so it would have been interesting to see how that match had panned out if we hadn't been awarded a penalty.

I'm not trying to be overly negative here, I just think we're playing with square pegs in round holes still, the culture of our football has changed and there are a couple of players struggling to adapt and find a place in the squad/team.
Geoff Twentyman

ah disquss!

sorry about the duplicate...
James Tyrrell

How we are only 5 points off a Champions League place Fowler only knows. How many draws at home is that this season? Have we earned more points away from home than at home this season? I wouldnt mind but there's not even a whole lot wrong with the team. We need a destroyer to cover for Lucas. We need a finisher. Everyone else's shortcomings wouldnt matter if only we had someone to tap it in from 2 yards, who'd give a left testy how bad Downing was yday if Kuyt nodded one in for a win?...

A Destroyer and a Poacher- sign them up Kenny
purify_the_body

We have drawn 7 of 11 home matches. Turning just 3 of those 7 draws into wins would have us in 4th right now.

We are the 8th home side with 19 pts and the 5th away side with 16 pts...total 7th, 35 pts.

I disagree that we need a destroyer. We need attacking pace, flair and creativity and the wings are the best place for that. Another striker would also help, poacher or not.

We also need addition by subtraction by removing Adam from the squad forever. He is not a winning player.
Shanklys_sons

How much better off would we have been had Lucas not been out injured or if Lucas allowed Gerrard/Adam more license to go forwards.
How important do you think Yaya Toure has been for Man City? Have Arsenal struggled to win anything since losing a Viera like player?

Have Chelsea been struggling without a Makelele or a fit Essien compared to the period when they were most dominant.

I don't doubt we can do with another striker because of missing Suarez and our general impotence in front of goal but how much can be attributed to our shape?
tony

Agree. Adam is slowing us down. I have never seen him make a play like Benayoun flipping a through ball on the run. Adam has to stop, set up his left foot, pass. By then all defenders would have turned and picked their marks. Open play.

How many passes does Adam intercept each match? Compare that with Lucas, Meireles & fucking turn-the-Spuds-around Scott Parker and I have to wonder if Kenny were watching a different Adam from all of us.
Suarez from the car park...

Wii Jay, Enrique could do the Lucas role (Kelly in defence).

I would have half a mind to try Coates in that role too, since KK will want to keep Enrique for his wing work and Coates looks like a decent ball player.

In other words we have the squad to do this, but the management won't consider it.

We have to make the bloated midfield squad more dangerous. That means getting more people into the box in support. Having Lucas in place or an effective replacement makes that an easier task due to the cover.

Hendo doesn't know when to get in the box and just isn't dangerous, Adam is limited in what he can do lacking pace and positioning, Downing seems pretty one dimensional in what he does and noone coaches them to improve the situation.

Bellars understands and has a go, Kuyt is an awkward customer, Maxi knows how to play with quality players. None of these are the future.

If we don't work out how to unlock Adam/Downing/Hendo in dangerous ways, we're in big trouble.
purify_the_body

We are already in big trouble. I don't see why crappy players are expected to suddenly become great. Neither Downing nor Henderson has ever scored many goals, and Adam scored mostly from direct kicks last season. There's nothing to unlock there. They are who they are.

What we need is a new midfield that has a bit of danger to it. Kenny understood this and was correct at identifying this as a need at the beginning of the summer, however, he bought the wrong players so what can we do other than buy new ones?
tony

yea, sell and buy until we get it right
James Tyrrell

I agree with you on Adam, was never a fan of these match of the day highlight reel players, in a way its like relying on chance creation when signing players like Downing etc, it covers their flaws by only highlighting their strengths, The way Kenny sets up most of the time demands a ball winner, Lucas is brilliant at this but he's out, I like Spearing but wouldnt depend on him to do a consistently good job for the rest of the season(if his hammy clears up), I think Liverpool would benefit from the likes of a destroyer, we're not talking Lee Cattermole here we're talking someone like Alex Song who can play a pass and not pick up needless yellows(Adam) and stupid free kicks, allowing teams to sit back and wait to draw a foul on the counter with a good set piece.

With the amount of chances Suarez makes buzzing around someone with good movement and a half decent finish (Chicarito) would hit double figures between now and the end of the season, Kuyt and Carroll aren't the way forward.I'd much prefer to see Adam Morgan given a game in a fluid frontline instead of this hoof into the box nutcask.

A winger would be nice but can't see them splashing in January after wasting 20mill on Downing, love if Sterling got some minutes but it's about as likely as Carroll shaving his head.or doing a keepy upy
purify_the_body

Sure, I would be happy if we signed a quality midfielder at any position, but what I am seeing is that since Lucas went out, all of our CMs but Adam are doing a nice job of covering defensively, avoiding costly fouls, winning possession, and transitioning from defense to attack. That job is being done surprisingly well without Lucas.

The problem is when we get into our attack, the idea is to shuffle the ball out to wing players who don't cause the opponents much trouble. To give an indication of how poor our wings are, our best crosser in the last few months has been Skrtel (what a cross to Maxi for a nice assist, and even against Stoke he put in the best cross of the day).

So if you're talking need, our need for any attacker (winger or striker) with pace, trickery, flair, guile, technique, and shooting ability is 10 times higher than our need for a destroyer.
Geza27

Let's stick with Henderson ladies and gents. He is talented enough, has the opportunity to gather loads of experience week in, week out and importantly is hugely commited to improve and acts accordingly on and off the pitch. In my opinion he is our new "Lucas"...

Adam is a very decent squad player, we might have over-paid a bit, but nothing dramatic.

Coates...well way to early to take a final call, but looks promising to me...

Enrique and Bellamy, great pieces of business as we all agree.

Downing...looks now that it has been a bit of waste of money but in the summer, the deal looked very logical (fitted the bill we were looking for, established English international, Villa's player of the season, etc.) and not many of use wer complaining. Net, shit happens...

And then Carroll...maybe not a panic buy, but due to the bad timings we overpaid by 10-15 MM... As much as I am frustrated with him I still think that he will somehow come good (or at least we'll be able to sell him for 20 MM+....).

And let's not forget about maybe the biggest achievement of the last window: we got rid of tons of dead-wood, even if we still keep paying some of the bills. I think that the Cole loan is working out nicely, he is having a very good year in France and consequently should bring a decent amount of cash to the bank in the summer.

One last comment on this depressing weekend : I don't hate Stoke, I actually think that they are doing a great job with their limited ressources. Shame on us for not being able to deal with them.
Andy

Unless inflation really soars in the next couple of years I don't see anyone paying 20 million + for Carroll. We'll be lucky to get half of what we paid for him, which unfortunately means, we'll be stuck with Carroll for at least another 1-2 years.
Suarez from the car park...

I just want to see the CHAD transfers being actually dangerous to the opposition. None of them are to date and that's a big worry.

Carroll just isn't moving like he was at Newcastle where he was scoring like Ba, assisted by their direct style of football.

Somehow, the club has to get his fitness and sharpness back and so far they haven't managed it and it's affecting everything he does.

Something at Liverpool doesn't agree with him or he's lost the spring of youth in his step. We're going to need a lot of patience waiting for it to come, but remove the goals he scored where the defence were like statues and it shows that he might never be prolific.
Moevawda

I think kenny should be given about 5 games to keep/lose his job because in all honesty we've been bad this season
he should take blame for the putrid signings liverpool have made since he has the last say in that and hes lost us potential match winners in aquilani and meireles
kuyt should have put away his chance yday which wouldve def been the winner
Marieclaritus

Of a truth KK was great as a playa but I don't think it's d same in his coaching... right now I do personally have confident when Liverpool plays even d weakest team is the premiership. The players might be good signings but if KK do not have the right technic to use dem to get the ultimate, dey will neva turn out good. It is either KK is not good or the players are bunch of mediocres. Amongst d signings he got Suarez, Bellamy and Enrique right. Hendo is trying but the rest is awful! I am so disappointed and I think Benitez with the cash would have done better.
Oral Rohon

thats what i have been saying, kenny was a great player for us, but hell man he have been doing nothing for us as a manager...why wait fire him now........
he is not god not great he is just the Carroll of managers....
Oral Rohon

Thats alot of writing, let me help you THAT ALL SUCK
Luis Suarez dentist

Downing - Can't beat a man, can't play a through ball, can't shoot, no good in the air, poor in defence, can't tackle. What he does do is aim floaty crosses in the general direction of two six foot centre backs time after time. Has done nothing in his whole career to be considered good enough to play for Liverpool. A signing that has been a complete disaster. NOT LIVERPOOL QUALITY.

Henderson - Seems scared of his own shadow. Keeps possesion well, but seldom has a cutting edge. There is 'some' potential but I think the jury is very much out on this one. NOT LIVERPOOL QUALITY.

Adam - Hollywood passes which occasionaly hit the mark. Is a keen student of the Frank Lampard school of banging shots from 30 yards and hoping for rebounds. Poor defensively and has looked increasingly lost without Lucas to do the work of two men alongside him. NOT LIVERPOOL QUALITY.

Please lets not even get started on Carroll!

Still there has been some positives. Suarez is quality despite the xenophobia hatred that the FA, Fungus and the media have for him. Enrique has been an absolute bargain and Bellamy has proved me wrong by behaving and been far more effective in his second spell. Coates has bags of potential and once the rough edges are ironed out he will be a quality defender.

Perhaps the biggest inditement of Downing, Adam, Henderson and Carroll is that if any of them left I don't think it would weaken us at all and few tears would be shed. In the case of Downing it could only strengthen us even if we let him leave on a free!
Paho1608

Agree with you. Adam and Henderson are reasons why we hardly score goals through the middle of opposition defense anymore. There's no creativity and confidence to play short interchange of passes through the middle by both of them. Both always seems to opt passing the ball and responsibility to the flanks for them to hit yet another senseless cross. Both are Dalglish buys and Dalglish must be held accountable for a squad that is slow, lacks creativity and capabilities in the middle of the park.
Greek Kopite

For me Hendo is better than them. He deserved to be a member of the team because he is young and very talented. I think Henry must buy top class players around the Europe because we have losing so much money with 'Buy British Movement'
SuaRed

We promised him a wage rise and when the new management came in they said no new contract for him he sulked and left. that's it in a nutshell!
LFC fan

Can someone please give a better explanation as to why we let Meireles go? Considering we are in direct competition for fourth with Chelsea, if that move doesn't happen we are certainly ahead of them. This window also would have made more sense. Adam on the bench to help break down bottom sides, and Henderson to be developed not counted on.
CharlieAdamsBuckteeth

For all of the bad buys (and Downing finally lost me this weekend), this is the most painful thing for me. God knows, our experience in the transfer business has demonstrated how difficult it is to figure out who will pan out at LFC. But when you've got someone like Raul who had made such positive contributions and was by most accounts a well loved member of the team by the players, to let him...why would you...if we could just...[commences sobbing]
Mike

I wonder how true is the narrative of Kenny D going for a British first direction leading to Meireles feeling that he had dropped down the depth chart? With the Euros coming up at the end of the season, and similar to Dirk Kuyt, I wonder if Meireles saw Chelsea as a way of getting more high profile playing time.
kopite32

open your eyes. The midfield are doing their job, we are in the top four, for shots on goal, yet we are one of the lowest scorers

Its Carroll and suarez who are not converting chances

Take Downing, 130+ crosses so far this season, 25% have found a red shirt
Dirk, 13% and Maxi 0%
RVP more shots on goal than anyone and 18 goals
Player with 2nd most shots on goal and 5 goals, Suarez
tony

RVP shots on goal were from mostly quality chances. Ours were not.

Buy Bale & Lennon and Carroll would be fine and allow us to free up Suarez.
fastrail

True that. There are differences between chances and quality chances.
kenny

we're not in the top 4.
kenny

oh you said for shots on goal. nevermind me then, but still
Luis Suarez dentist

And that's the danger of just reading stats and not watching the games.
Brandykaiser1106

Henderson, Coates, bellamy - decent signings even Adam but he's more of a squad player. People notice the flops more because it is on them that we spent more i.e. downing and carroll.
Often we end up getting 2 nd best- keane instead of silva, aquilani instead of javi martinez, carroll instead of aguero, Downing instead of mata. To hell with stats, its clear to see who has more quality. So what if they didn't have pl experience look where they are now and where our signings are......
pls dont let these players go away: christian eriksen and marko marin/xherdan shaqiri, Junior Hoilett (an absolute bargain). These three signings will make a worlds difference
aj

Bellamy?
8u11etpr00f

downing=fail
adam=fail
coates=doesn't look too promising
henderson=glimpses of a world class player
enrique=one of the best left backs in the world
Ed

Have to disagree on Coates--aside from the isolated wobbles and the poorer showing against Oldham, I think he looks very promising. He's 21 and is going to make some silly decisions, but he's also showed buckets of composure, skill, and steel from what we've seen.
Suarez from the car park...

I'd like to try him in the Lucas role as he looks a decent player. Of course Wii Jay is pretty decent there and still developing.
Fabio

Henderson world class? You gotta be kidding. His the greatest cancer in this liverpool midfield and the reason we´re so toothless. I can´t stand his lack of courage, his back passes and his headless chicken routine. We´re going nowhere with him on the team, mark my words. And if Dalglish is still playing him by the end of the season, I say sack him. I can barely stand watching such gutless liverpool performances again. It`s excruciating. I feel like crying with every henderson backpass. Adam at least tries something, what does hendo do? keep possesion? Oh great let`s draw the next 18 games 0x0, then. Henderson is the anti-Iniesta.
Ed

This seems very level-headed, it must be right.
Ryan

Mr. Capello always is.
Scotty

I look forward to your thoughts on Bellamy, Coates and Enrique. I know it's coming but maybe it is a tad unfair to focus on this three first in isolation.

I'd like to say in Dalglish's defence that Man Utd have spent 55 million quid on a goalie who can't handle crosses, a centre-back that can't defend and a winger who is frequently injured or warming the bench.Adam has been a decent buy, likewise Henderson but Downing just seems to get worse with every game.I know this isn't the focus on this blog but Liverpool's problem this year has been our inability to score goals.Danny Murphy was correct in saying last May when Liverpool had put 5 past Fulham that we might find it harder to score so freely this season under a lot more pressure. How correct he was.Anxiety and lack of composure has cost us dearly this season. Being conservative we should have beaten Stoke and Wigan away and Norwich, Man Utd and Blackburn at home. I make that 11 points which would have put us in title contention. Make it 2 less or even 4 less and we'd be on the heels of Spurs.Louis Suarez has been the worst offender. For all of his wonderful approach play where is the world-class striker that scored 4 in his last competitive game for Uruguay? It seems like he is trying just too hard. It's almost unbelievable Dirk Kuyt hasn't scored since May. Yesterday in a game where chances where also going to be scarce because of Stoke's shape he missed a header that should have been converted from 8 yards out with nobody around him. Talking of headers I think I am right in saying that Andy Carroll hasn't scored from one this season? And as for Stewart Downing the less said the better.
Suarez from the car park...

It isn't wise to put so many new players into a team. They have to invent the system they're gonna play rather than fit into an existing system and make it better.

I think that's the biggest mistake, we're not scoring and noone knows how to fix it.We would have been better buying fewer players, integrating them and then getting more later.
Moevawda

how can u even compare our signings to utd?
utd even if they have the shittiest team will still win because of their manager
Baldrick

Instant success from players purchased in the transfer window is a rarity. History tells us that the more players a club buys the less likely it is that they will all work out. Some will come on quicker than others and integrate well with the players already at the club, some won't. It's nobody's fault it's just the way shit happens.

What the club needs now more than anything is STABILITY. We all want Kenny to unearth the next Messi but people it ain't gonna happen! The last thing we need is more panic buys of the likes of Andy Carroll (who is gifted). Fair do's - if a decent player pops up at the right price and can fit into the clubs ethos then great go for it but the players we have bought are not crap (even Adam has ability) they all need TIME and our SUPPORT otherwise we will never escape this cycle of buying at top price - expect instant success - don't achieve instant success - sack manager - but more expensive players - you get the picture.
Only one team can win the league. Our time will come. With patience and support it may come a little quicker.
tony

Compare the following buys from the other 5 this season:
Ashley Young, Phil Jones.
Mata, Meireles
Nasri, Aguero
Adebayor (loan), Friedel, f***ing turn-the-Spuds-around Scott Parker
Benayoun, Gervinho

Should we not cry about ours?
deadlydirk_killerkuyt

indeed thats a tear inducing list...

but all those players went to clubs that finished above us. 4 CL spots, and 1 europa. add to that the wages on offer, the obvious transition phase pool is in, i dont know if any of them would've come to liverpool. one could argue that liverpool didn't try hard enough, but i think hard enough would mean even higher transfer fees and wages.

that being said, i'm not exactly sunny days about our current position but i'm also far from calling for anyones head.

if mancini can say he has a depleted squad...
Suarez from the car park...

I was concerned about the number of purchases too, especially as it was replacing basically everyone in front of Lucas.
Liverpoolfan

Well Said Baldrick.

So fast we forget just what team we were a little over a year ago. Sucsess should not, and does not come overnight! The players so far are part of a bigger picture and although the temptaition is to expect immediacy, we should all stand shoulder to shoulder with Kenny and allow time for the team and his master plan to develop.

In Kenny we trust! YNWA.
ShedYourYellow

Look, I'm not British, and I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about the inner workings about the minds at work at LFC. I don't care if we buy British, or if we buy foreign, or if we buy some alien from the Andromeda Galaxy. I just want a player that's going to further us to Champions League football and get us closer to a Premier League title. I don't care where the players come from if they win us games. If we can sign 'the next Steven Gerrard' from Brazil, why wouldn't we get him rather than another Joe Cole for the sole reason of the latter being English?

If this made very little sense, I apologize.
Mike

If that Andromeda Galaxy player can tackle better than Adam, cross better than Downing and finish better than Carroll, then we're all in on him.