Kenny Dalglish hasn't given up hope of Charlie Adam playing first team football again this season. The Liverpool midfielder is nursing a knee injury sustained at QPR last week. "We know Charlie has strained knee ligaments but we still don't know how long he will be out," Dalglish said. "He hasn't had an operation and as it stands he's not having one. "It's only been a week since he did it. He needs to rest it for another 10 days or so and then he will be reassessed. "We'll see how he is then and we'll be in a better position to know when he will be back playing. "We haven't ruled him out for the rest of the season. We're just waiting to see how he progresses." Would like to see him play again this season just to prove that he is worth staying at the club. We have generally looked better without him this season but despite that, I don't think we can blame one single person for our poor form in the league.
He hasn't been great this season but to often is he our scape goat. With that said the chances of him going this summer will be decreased if he's still injured during pre-season (I know it's likely he wont be). So looks like the lad might get another season or so.
If he does get another season, which I think he will, then he will definitely have to improve his performances. The things I am most surprised about is the quality (or lack of) of his set pieces. At Blackpool he was scoring free kicks for fun and getting plenty of assists from corners but for some reason, it just hasn't happened this season.
Indeed, so much for his set pieces being "worth 10 million alone". But still, we'll see what he's made of if he comes back next season at his best.
I still think that Adam has had a very bad attack of 2nd season syndrome exacerbated by the demands of being at a new club.
Im not too bothered if hes out until next season. I believe Shelvey is a better player and this will force Kenny to play Shelvey when he used to play Adam. I dont blame Adam at all for our poor league form, imo there was way too much expected of him from the start and he was doing well in a pair with Lucas until Lucas got injured. I would like to see him at the club nest season, preferably on the bench as a squad player.
kenny rates him, i don't. if gerrard can play at a decent level and show some stamina him and spearing can do as well as anyone left....
No question Adam is the new scapegoat. Ok he has'nt had the best of seasons but for me it is certainly better overall than Downing, Carrol or others. The problems this season are that there has been little attacking contribution coming from too many players. Many are questioning Adams corners and set pieces and whilst at times they have been poor he still has 11 assists and 2 goals. Last season with Blackpool he got 9 assists for the whole season!, however he did score more goals with 12. It must be said though that a number of those goals were penalties and free-kicks and perhaps that accounts for the lower number because last season he was the top dog, whilst this season he is competing with a number of others not just for penalties but free-kicks too, i.e Bellamy, Gerrard, Suarez and even Downing occasionally. Adam has 11 assists from 36 Liverpool goals this season (roughly 31% of the goals) the same as Henderson, Downing, Carrol, Gerrard, Bellamy and Kuyt combined! Now of course if we had taken more of our chances those figures from the players mentioned would be higher, but by the same token so would Adam's. Not to mention that we have controlled most of the games we played which to me suggest Adam has not been has bad as some claim; especially when you take into account the lack of contribution from others, we must be doing something right to dominate those games and it is certainly not coming from width! For me the biggest problem is that we have spent a large part of the season carrying Downing, Carrol and to some extent Henderson(particularly in an attacking sense) and to add to that the full backs are contributing very little too, in fact as a whole the whole defence have contributed little towards our goal tally, for instance our defence have contributed 4 goals and 5 assists and to put it into perspective here are some others: Liverpool 4 goals 5 assists =9 Man U 3 goals 10 assists =13 Chavski 8 goals 13 assists = 21 Arsenal 9 goals 6 assists = 15 Newcastle 2 goals 10 assists = 12 Spuds 4 goals 8 assists = 12 City 7 goals 16 assists = 23 Norwich(soft spot) 3 goals 8 assists = 11 Looking at those its clear that we lack contribution in an attacking sense from the defence; add this to carrying a few players and it is clear where this seasons problems lie. Obviously converting some of the numerous chances we have created would help those figures but I am not sure how many chance we have missed from a defenders cross? Adam is a contributing factor but to be the scapegoat is laughable when you look at the above figures! When you factor in some other players in the Prem his figures look quite respectable especially for a first season in a team struggling to convert chances: Adam 11(A) 2 (G) Silva 14(A) 5 (G) Modric 6(A) 3 (G) Arteta 2(A) 6(G) Ramsey 6(A) 2(G) Cabaye 4(A) 2 (G) All in sides which score plenty of goals or are in form!
Here's a few more stats to ignore for you Adam haters. Added to his 31% for his assists with the 2 goals he has scored his total major contribution to the teams goals(assist or goal) he has a 36% contribution towards all the teams goals, whilst he is no Van Persie his stats are pretty impressive compared to others who you may expect to be much higher or who are considered key players in their respective sides: Adam 36% Van Persie 59% Rooney 38% Ba 45% Bale 38% Van Der Vaart 23% Silva 26% Aguero 32% So in conclusion Adam really is crap! Ignore away!
Fancy showing how many crosses, set-pieces or final ball attempts he has made for that conversion...? Of some passing and tackling stats...? Maybe distances covered...? Final results in games he has played...? I am not "ignoring" what you guys have said, but focusing on one stat can make anyone look good! What is the use in scoring a goal and creating another if you give the ball away or fail to make a tackle resulting in your team losing 3-2...? It is about the team, not the individual! Oh, and his corners and set-pieces have been 100% ****! Not even considering his "fantastic" penalty record Edit: And no, I am not blaming him for the season or making him a scapegoat. Despite not wanting him in the first place, he got my support and, in the first few games, seemed to be fitting in well, but he has drastically gone down hill whilst others (Carroll, Henderson and Downing) have got on with their work and a showing signs of improvement. I have not seen this with Adam, he is getting worse. His lack of understanding when it comes to bookings drives me cray too, why does he not know a second yellow will get him sent off? Stop doing stupid tackles once booked! In fact, stop doing stupid tackles! I just do not think he is good enough. I think he is you poor mans Paul Scholes!
Its possibly the first time I have ever been asked to provide stats for the other side of my own argument , surely thats for you or others to do! As for providing one stat; if you had read my posts you would see that within those stats were a number of key points; for instance his record this season compared to our other attacking players, how those stats compare to 'star' players for other top sides in which those sides have scored tons of goals. For example Silva has made a major contribution in 19 of City's 72 goals compared to Adam's 13 of 36, with slightly less minutes played! I would also argue that those stats which I presented are slightly more credible than some of the recent stats of some posters such as " we win more when Carrol starts" or " we've won 8 out of nine without Adam" which are purely no more than correlation, and in the latter quote is actually not even true, at least in terms of league results. The point of my defence of Adam and the stats provided were not to show Adam to be some hidden superstar, but rather to show the absurdity of Adam being a scapegoat. People(yourself included) are happy now that certain players are showing improvement, but improvement from what? Both Downing and Carrol couldn't of got any worse and even with their new improvement are still hardly making much of a meaningful contribution. Again here are the stats for the summer signings; Adam>>>>>>>>> Mins 2167>>>>>.assists 11>>>>>>>goals 2 Hendo>>>>>>>>>Mins2061>>>>>>assists 2 >>>>>>>>goals 1 Downing>>>>>>>>Mins2100>>>>>assists 2>>>>>>>>>goals 0 Carrol>>>>>>>>>>Mins 1520>>>>>>assists1>>>>>>>>goals 3 Now all players are making a step up and in some ways Adams is bigger seeing as he came from Blackpool, I would also argue that he is playing in a much more difficult position. A reason that I think Adam has come in for such stick is because he takes risks and does make some mistakes; however I would rather this any day of the week than others who have been anonymous, shirked responsibility, looked disinterested, passed sideways and generally given the ball to others to take responsibility. Adam in my opinion is behind perhaps only Suarez and Bellamy(in an attacking sense) in getting on the ball and trying to make things happen, crucial when the chips are down and goals are few and far between! ok not everything has come off but we are still in transition and the same amount of understanding and patience that others seem to get should be afforded to Adam too. For me he has also largely maintained his form throughout the season, although perhaps of late he hasn't played as well but how much of that is due to having Gerrard back in the team? As many have mentioned on this forum both of them just does not work in the same team, unless of course Gerrard plays behind the striker. Also if the atmosphere towards Adam inside Anfield on matchdays follows the trend of this board then no wonder he is off form! Your final point i.e Scholes; he has been one of the best English players of modern times and truly world class in his position, Adam is nowhere near that and should'nt be expected to be especially for the price we paid for him! However to humour you here are the stats for Scholes in the last 6 seasons(this included); 2011/12 MINS 616 G 2 A 0 2010/11 MINS 1537 G 1 A 4 2009/10 MINS 1939 G 3 A 4 2008/09 MINS 1268 G 2 A 2 2007/08 MINS 1836 G 1 A 4 2006/07 MINS 2593 G 6 A 1 Now of course Scholes is a better player than Adam, as are some of the others I compared to from other teams. However his stats do not in any way justify his status as scapegoat!
I think thats a little harsh on the defence as you only consider the goals produced, like you said it might be the strikers missing all the chances - if you look at percentages were pretty much average, Chelsea are much higher but they seem to be an anomaly. I still think its the strikers not doing anything with the chances. Liverpool - 9/36 = 25% UTD - 13/74 = 17.6% City - 23/72 = 31.9% Chelsea - 22/49 = 44.9% Arsenal - 15/61 = 24.6% Spuds - 12/53 = 22.6% Newcastle - 21/44 = 27.2%
My only major issues with Adam are that he cant defend, gives away dumb free kicks and can be a little wild with his passing. I feel he could be very useful playing further forward, with a defensive midfielder behind him. -----------------Lucas---------------- ------Gerrard----------Adam-------- Seems a fair balance today. Your right that people do dwell on negative stats to much. Like Downing. He gets into a lot of good scoring positions, but has a habit of wasting them. But he still gets to the positions and just needs to refine his finishing. Adam just needs to refine his long passing and learn to tackle.
Clearly missed the point of my post I was not arguing against you. I was saying that basing an argument of stat is ridiculous. Personally, I only ever pay attention to one stat, my eyes! He may well get goals and/or assists but, as I said in the first post, whats is the use of that if that particular player makes errors costing us more goals than he creates?
Because stats are largely based on facts! Your eyes tend to see whatever prejudice happens to be in your mind at that time; thats why people will latch on to " we have won 8 from 9 " without Adam(factually incorrect) and may fail to notice a stat such as the following regarding Gerrard; Gerrard games started 9>>>>>W 1>>>>>>>>D4>>>>>>>>>>L4 Now it must be said that he did come off the bench against Newcastle and turned that match around, however you see how people will look for stats that support their prejudice whilst ignoring similar or worse stats of players that are immune to criticism. You seem to still assume I am trying to paint Adam has our saviour or to claim him to be our most valuable player, this is not the case (although the stats would suggest he may be), I am merely highlighting the double standards when it comes to Adam against others and the absurdity of him being the scapegoat when the stats suggest the opposite should be true! So how many goals has Adam cost us from his defending?
Good point actually! Although you could argue that we have largely had a more settled back-four than some of the others; certainly for the majority of the season we have had our first choice four playing, as perhaps Chelsea have which is reflected in their stats(two more goals today). The point I was trying to make is that we seem largely to have a less attacking defence than others, however perhaps this explains our fine defensive record. The trouble for me though and the reason I highlighted the defence is that when you consider they pose little attacking threat and add Lucas or Spearing to that as another starter who is no goal threat it leaves only the remaining five players to do most of the attacking and to provide the goal threats. When you factor in the fact we have been carrying 2 or occasionally 3 players for most of the season it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that we are over reliant on 2, perhaps 3 players! Thanks god for ADAM!
