Liverpool FC Forum

[metalhead]

Adam is yet again demonstrating his lack of defensive awareness by getting caught out of position for the umpteenth time today... To be fair to the guy, he's not a central midfielder but he's asked to do a job there... With no Lucas in the side, our midfield is looking more exposed than ever.

The problem is that he hardly contributes to the Attacking role as well...He should get the Hendo treatment ,cool on the bench.

He was good today, but as Ace said he can't do the job defensively, his passing was great as usual and he did cut inside a few times.

I thought he was rubbish to be honest. He lost the ball a countless number of times and the goal we conceded was a direct result of poor play and awareness by Adam. As many other mentioned, his shortcomings forced Gerrard to sit back a bit deeper and try to provide the defensive cover that Adam failed to offer.

I still think that he could offer the side something but its getting blatantly obvious that its not going to be as a part of a central midfield duo. Against United when he played alongside Lucas and Gerrard, I thought he did a decent job and it seemed like we had a good balance in the middle of the park with Gerrard tracking back to cover for Adam when he ventures forward or gets caught out of position.

Yeh he lost the ball, but the goal isn't entirely his fault to be honest, especially that Reina's decision to attack the ball in the box when he was no where near. Plus we are still vulnerable at dealing with crosses without a defender who can clear first time balls in the air! I've seen this multiple times in the Norwich game, every time a Norwich player crosses we can't deal with it, its not Adam's fault, its down to our defenders and fullbacks.

[Johnny Boy]

I think he has done 'ok', I don't think him and Lucas are the ideal partnership though.

Considering the fee paid I am more concerned with Carroll, Downing and Henderson who cost around £70 million.

[aCe']

Adam is yet again demonstrating his lack of defensive awareness by getting caught out of position for the umpteenth time today... To be fair to the guy, he's not a central midfielder but he's asked to do a job there... With no Lucas in the side, our midfield is looking more exposed than ever.

The problem is that he hardly contributes to the Attacking role as well...He should get the Hendo treatment ,cool on the bench.

He was good today, but as Ace said he can't do the job defensively, his passing was great as usual and he did cut inside a few times.

I thought he was rubbish to be honest. He lost the ball a countless number of times and the goal we conceded was a direct result of poor play and awareness by Adam. As many other mentioned, his shortcomings forced Gerrard to sit back a bit deeper and try to provide the defensive cover that Adam failed to offer.

I still think that he could offer the side something but its getting blatantly obvious that its not going to be as a part of a central midfield duo. Against United when he played alongside Lucas and Gerrard, I thought he did a decent job and it seemed like we had a good balance in the middle of the park with Gerrard tracking back to cover for Adam when he ventures forward or gets caught out of position.

Yeh he lost the ball, but the goal isn't entirely his fault to be honest, especially that Reina's decision to attack the ball in the box when he was no where near. Plus we are still vulnerable at dealing with crosses without a defender who can clear first time balls in the air! I've seen this multiple times in the Norwich game, every time a Norwich player crosses we can't deal with it, its not Adam's fault, its down to our defenders and fullbacks.

Watch it again. It was poor play from Adam showing a lack of tactical discipline the way he made the run through the middle leaving the space behind him exposed (the back4 where sitting deep which is a different discussion). Norwich targeted that same space time and again and most of their attacks came the same way with Hoolahan finding space behind Adam and ahead of the back4 (most dangerous area of the pitch) and picking his passes with no one anywhere near him.

Given his role in the side, Adam should be behind the ball rather than ahead of it in most occasions and that extra bit of urgency wasnt needed with us being 1-0 up. Happens a bit too much for my liking.

Sure, other mistakes were made leading up to the goal (im not sure Reina would have saved it even if he hadnt come for it and Johnson and Carra probably could have done better physically to make it harder for the forward. Enrique also should have gotten closer to the wide player if we're being anal about it) but the main reason we conceded for me was Adam losing the ball in that area and us not having the cover in midfield.

[redtrader74]

He is tactically and positionally poor, his apparent good passing is largely exaggerrated by his Hollywood passes. Adam, even at Blackpool, doesn't make the cute/ defence splitting/ threaded through balls that really make goal scoring opportunities. At best he is a squad player because he doesn't do one thing very well, he is average, maybe worth what we paid but no more, and never a central defender as he refuses to improve his fitness and stamina.

He should only play with a disciplined defensive midfielder to compensate for his deficiencies or possibly further up the pitch, ultimatly I believe that we will end up with Henderson,once he is playing with confidence consistently, in the centre.

[mart]

He should only play with a disciplined defensive midfielder to compensate for his deficiencies or possibly further up the pitch, ultimatly I believe that we will end up with Henderson,once he is playing with confidence consistently, in the centre.

He should never be played as a CM with his defensive problems. At the moment we lack a proper partner for Lucas in CM. (Who would have thought that with all the cm's we had at the start of this season). If we have to fit Adam into the team i'd like to see a midfield looking something like this:

                 Lucas    New Player/Henderson?(If he improves)


Gerrard           Adam                 Downing/Maxi


                         Suarez

I dont think we should push Gerrard back in CM as he tends to sit too deep, and does not contribute as much as he can do. I'd like to see us try him out wide in the same free role he had for a while under Rafa to make space for Adam in a central attacking role behind Suarez. Ideally then Downing to keep the width out left. Gerrard can then roam as he please the same way he has done before.

If we can drop adam from the team i'd switch Gerrard behind the striker and Maxi, Bellamy or Kuyt on the right.

[aCe']

Penalty scored or not, that was yet another shambolic display by Adam in the middle of the park. Almost non-existent defensively with Lucas having to drift to the left to follow the ball and cover for Adam. Wasnt much better down the other end despite getting on the ball in dangerous positions... wasteful.

[Kukilon]

Haven't made up my mind on him yet. He just seems so slow in certain instances and gives the ball away a lot. He is still not though. Looks like he needs to drop a kg or two to get sharp.

[ethanr]

I actually thought he was really good today.  He was defensively strong, and seemed to always get himself involved offensively.

I was impressed.

[stmichael]

Amazing how fans can have such differing opinions on a player's performance isn't it? Personally I thought he was solid enough again, although his passing was awry at times. After such a commanding and comfortable win I just find it tedious that some fans are still looking to pick holes in individual's performances.

[only me]

Penalty scored or not, that was yet another shambolic display by Adam in the middle of the park. Almost non-existent defensively with Lucas having to drift to the left to follow the ball and cover for Adam. Wasnt much better down the other end despite getting on the ball in dangerous positions... wasteful.

Yep another disappearing act by Charlie. Can hardly remember a positive play he did over the 90 minutes ,except the penalty and one long ball to Downing. In this lineup we must demand more of Charlie ,If Lucas takes the defensive part of midfield Charlie must the rest ,currently disappointing from a player i really liked watching in Blackpool.

[aCe']

Amazing how fans can have such differing opinions on a player's performance isn't it? Personally I thought he was solid enough again, although his passing was awry at times. After such a commanding and comfortable win I just find it tedious that some fans are still looking to pick holes in individual's performances.

Guess we dont need to improve then now that we've beaten the mighty WBA comfortably.

Its the same issue coming up yet and again, we've already lost points because of it (Norwich wasnt that long ago!) yet we still seem insistent on continuing with the same setup. Against any of the stronger sides, playing a midfield 2 of Lucas-Adam would be suicide (Tottenham?).

Today against weak opposition, we had Lucas drifting to the left side for most of the second half to cover behind Charlie Adam. Henderson in turn had to move deeper to cover for Lucas in the middle and as a result, our right hand side was left a little exposed and most of their possession was down that flank.

Its the little things that make a difference and until we are able to minimize the amount of mistakes we make in dangerous areas, we wont be able to compete at the very top of the league.

[JC_81]

Today against weak opposition, we had Lucas drifting to the left side for most of the second half to cover behind Charlie Adam. Henderson in turn had to move deeper to cover for Lucas in the middle and as a result, our right hand side was left a little exposed and most of their possession was down that flank.

Not sure which game you were watching mate.

As far as I saw it Lucas was pretty dominant in the middle and Adam had a steady enough game alongside him.  Henderson always sits reasonably deep when played on the right rather than bombing on like a winger, and Johnson was pretty effective at overlapping him.

He's a bit of a poor man's Alonso is Adam, in that he's a deep lying playmaker and isn't as good as the Spaniard (also less good defensively than Alonso but has more goals in him), but he's still a good player and good value for the price we paid.

[aCe']

Today against weak opposition, we had Lucas drifting to the left side for most of the second half to cover behind Charlie Adam. Henderson in turn had to move deeper to cover for Lucas in the middle and as a result, our right hand side was left a little exposed and most of their possession was down that flank.

Not sure which game you were watching mate.

As far as I saw it Lucas was pretty dominant in the middle and Adam had a steady enough game alongside him.  Henderson always sits reasonably deep when played on the right rather than bombing on like a winger, and Johnson was pretty effective at overlapping him.

He's a bit of a poor man's Alonso is Adam, in that he's a deep lying playmaker and isn't as good as the Spaniard (also less good defensively than Alonso but has more goals in him), but he's still a good player and good value for the price we paid.

About the game: Lucas was excellent and yet again had to cover more ground than anyone else to protect the back4. Defensively, I think Adam was poor yet again. The only difference between this game and the last one was the lack of attacking intent by WBA and the presence of Lucas rather than Gerrard in the middle. The spaces were yet again there to be exploited, and even when he was tracking back his positioning and tackling were poor. If you were keeping an eye on him you would have noticed. Given how comfortable we were for large periods, Im not surprised many havent.  What I meant by Henderson moving deep was coming toward the middle of the park when we didnt have the ball leaving te right flank somewhat exposed. To his credit, he put in a good shift and did a decent job balancing his duties.

About the comparison with Alonso: I dont think theres any similarity between the two in terms of style of play. One of the main criticism of Adam is that he doesnt get back enough to receive the ball from the back 4. Alonso did that consistently and started almost all our attacks by transitioning the ball from our half of the pitch to the opposition half. Also in terms of defensive positioning, you cant compare the two. Alonso was excellent at it while Adam looks out of place.
The only thing they might have in common is that they both have quality delivery.

Its not a criticism of Adam, it was never his role and imo never will be despite our insistence of playing him in the position. Hes obviously much more comfortable and (given his Blackpool record) more effective playing further up the pitch as part of a midfield 3. When Gerrard comes back from injury we'll be somewhat forced to revert back to a midfield 3 and imo we'll see an improvement from Adam when it happens.

[Benny The Noon]

I actually thought he was really good today.  He was defensively strong, and seemed to always get himself involved offensively.

I was impressed.

Your easily impressed then .

He was ok at best - his lack of mobility around the park is shocking . Currently i would rather play Spearing the majority of matches than Adam

[Kenny Kan]

I actually thought he was really good today.  He was defensively strong, and seemed to always get himself involved offensively.

I was impressed.

Your easily impressed then .

He was ok at best - his lack of mobility around the park is shocking . Currently i would rather play Spearing the majority of matches than Adam

I think I'd have to agree with you Benny.

This bloke just thinks he's a 'big-time-charlie' more than anything.