Liverpool FC Forum

by **Zidane** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:31 am

Think he isn't putting enough emphasis on the defensive side, he has to be aware of his responsibilities even though he's the one that is supposed to be spraying the ball around he needs to know he has to put a shift in too. There were a lot of moments against Sunderland where he just jogged back and let players ghost by him only for Lucas to have to pick them up from the opposite side leaving holes in the middle. Don't think those moments ever cost us anything but he needs to do more defensively imo.

by **stmichael** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 10:56 am

Zidane wrote:Think he isn't putting enough emphasis on the defensive side, he has to be aware of his responsibilities even though he's the one that is supposed to be spraying the ball around he needs to know he has to put a shift in too. There were a lot of moments against Sunderland where he just jogged back and let players ghost by him only for Lucas to have to pick them up from the opposite side leaving holes in the middle. Don't think those moments ever cost us anything but he needs to do more defensively imo.

I agree with this which is why I dindn't understand us playing 4-4-2. Adam's lack of mobility will always be exposed if he plays in a midfield 2. He needs to be utilised in a 3 like he was at Blackpool where he has 2 other men to do the leg work around him.

His quality is there for all to see though. He was absolute quality in the first half.

by **Benny The Noon** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:32 pm

ethanr wrote:I think he's a decent tackler. He does get his fair share of yellows, but ever game I've seen him play in so far he's had some very nice tackles.

I really do wonder what game you watch - for all the attributes Adam does have tackling is his worst by a country mile - he was awful in terms of defending on sat . He cant tackle a box of pringles .

by **Bad Bob** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 12:44 pm

Benny The Noon wrote:
ethanr wrote:I think he's a decent tackler. He does get his fair share of yellows, but ever game I've seen him play in so far he's had some very nice tackles.

I really do wonder what game you watch - for all the attributes Adam does have tackling is his worst by a country mile - he was awful in terms of defending on sat . He cant tackle a box of pringles .

Excellent, we've reached the unnecessary polarization of views already. Soon the pro and anti brigades will be identified and the lobbing of insults will really get going. It'll be the Lucas and Kuyt debates all over again. Goody. :sleep

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I'd say that Adam had a solid all around game. He wasn't overrun in the middle of the park--certainly not in the first half--and he was at the heart of a lot of our quality build-up. The world's greatest tackler he is not but he's no powderpuff either. I'm fairly certain he wasn't "awful" on Saturday and I'm equally convinced that a box of Pringles wouldn't slalom through our midfield with him in the side either. (In any case, Lucas would just foul it at the edge of the area if it got past our Charlie.)

by **Benny The Noon** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 1:10 pm

Whoa hold on there a bit Bob - i actually thought he had a pretty good first half and did well with the ball so on an Offensive part of his game was very good just he cant tackle for :censored:

and he needs to work on his defensive areas a bit more .

Think you should of read the post i made a bit more Bob

by **crazyhorse** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 2:31 pm

First league appearance in the red shirt. He did ok. Some positives and things to work on, but work he will. All of the new signings have to grow into the team, we wont find worldbeaters after a single game.

by **bunglemark2** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:51 pm

Wonder if he should be the peno taker when Stevie G is not on the pitch

?

by **metalhead** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:21 pm

Benny The Noon wrote:Whoa hold on there a bit Bob - i actually thought he had a pretty good first half and did well with the ball so on an Offensive part of his game was very good just he cant tackle for and he needs to work on his defensive areas a bit more .

Think you should of read the post i made a bit more Bob

Yep he tackles like Paul Scholes

I thought he had a good game too

by **Bad Bob** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:40 pm

Benny The Noon wrote:Whoa hold on there a bit Bob - i actually thought he had a pretty good first half and did well with the ball so on an Offensive part of his game was very good just he cant tackle for and he needs to work on his defensive areas a bit more .

Think you should of read the post i made a bit more Bob

he was awful in terms of defending on sat . He cant tackle a box of pringles .

I think I read this bit clearly enough and am responding to it. It's well over the top and, IMO, will only serve to polarize views.

by **aCe'** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:45 pm

HE certainly made an impact in the Sunderland game. I dont think anyone is disputing that. However, lets be honest about this, he looks the least fit player in the squad and if I was Kenny I'd tell him to lose a few pounds to try and get the best out of him.
Its not a criticism of the guy, hes always been a bit slow even in his Blackpool days..

With Gerrard injured and Aquilani seemingly on his way out, he's almost certain to start whenever available as part of a midfield 3 (assuming Kenny decides its the way forward in the long term).

The main issue here for me isnt whether hes good enough or not. Given his delivery and the threat he possesses from set pieces, he will always complement A.Carroll's game and as such will be selected. My concern is him playing in a central midfield 2 alongside Lucas. My opinion is that we will always struggle to play a possession game with them 2 in the middle, and as such players like Suarez, Johnson, Enrique and Downing to a lesser extent will always find it harder to get into the game...

Its all good talking about Carroll providing the knockdowns and Adam doing good with his delivery, but we still need to be able to get attacks building up from the back and through the middle without having to rely on long balls and set pieces as our main attacking strengths

by **Bad Bob** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:49 pm

aCe' wrote:but we still need to be able to get attacks building up from the back and through the middle without having to rely on long balls and set pieces as our main attacking strengths

Fair enough overall, aCe', but I'm not convinced we relied over much on the long ball in the first half. Unless I had a supremely defective stream, I thought we were building up play pretty well on the deck. Granted Sunderland seemed to be standing off Adam and Lucas a bit, making it easier for them to turn and pick out passes but I was genuinely surprised how often the defenders (esp. Carra) kept the ball on the deck. We didn't really start the hoof-fest until Suarez started to tire and then we ramped it up at the end, with ideas and energy in short supply.

by **aCe'** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 5:29 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
aCe' wrote:but we still need to be able to get attacks building up from the back and through the middle without having to rely on long balls and set pieces as our main attacking strengths

Fair enough overall, aCe', but I'm not convinced we relied over much on the long ball in the first half. Unless I had a supremely defective stream, I thought we were building up play pretty well on the deck. Granted Sunderland seemed to be standing off Adam and Lucas a bit, making it easier for them to turn and pick out passes but I was genuinely surprised how often the defenders (esp. Carra) kept the ball on the deck. We didn't really start the hoof-fest until Suarez started to tire and then we ramped it up at the end, with ideas and energy in short supply.

Bob, I agree that in the first half we did seem to play higher up the pitch and as such didnt seem to rely too much on the long balls. Sunderland imo did very little in terms of trying to get out of their own half and barely committed anyone upfront throughout the half.. I thought Downing was excellent on possession and Adam did very well in terms of connecting with his passes. Those factors -to a large extent imo- took a lot of pressure off of Adam as you said when he was on possession and as such he didnt need to carry the ball or advance much from his position (which he didnt) to pose a greater threat higher up.

In future games however and against opposition who afford us less time or space in the middle, Adam's lack of pace combined with his defensive struggle might very well hurt us at both ends. An interesting stat I heard about the Sunderland game was that Lucas made more entries in the opposition final third than Adam did. To me that suggests that Adam (who is regarded as the more attack minded of the two) struggled to get on the ball higher up the pitch where he usually produces his best football.

With Blackpool, they had a system designed to allow him the freedom to play higher up without worrying too much about the defensive responsibilities . He got on the ball higher up the pitch, drfited wide and put in crosses/through ball, and generally made an impact doing what he does best without exposing his lack of pace/athleticism. We should be doing something similar here imo.. We already have an established CM in Meireles and until Gerrard return I see little sense in persisting with Meireles down the flank or Adam as part of a midfield 2.

by **Benny The Noon** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:17 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
Benny The Noon wrote:Whoa hold on there a bit Bob - i actually thought he had a pretty good first half and did well with the ball so on an Offensive part of his game was very good just he cant tackle for and he needs to work on his defensive areas a bit more .

Think you should of read the post i made a bit more Bob

he was awful in terms of defending on sat . He cant tackle a box of pringles .

I think I read this bit clearly enough and am responding to it. It's well over the top and, IMO, will only serve to polarize views.

Because i say he cant tackle - its not exactly ground breaking news - the lad even said something along the lines himself during an interview with LFC Tv- which going by evidence i have seen puts him squarely in the Paul scholes school off tackling - he cant tackle . Didnt harm Scholes .

by **Greavesie** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:18 pm

harmed everyone else tho

by **Benny The Noon** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:25 pm

Greavesie wrote:harmed everyone else tho

What i was trying to say is that saying Adam cant tackle is not exactly ground breaking News and certainly not on the levels we have seen in regards Lucas and Kuyt in recent years so in my opinion Bob has overreacted a tiny bit in terms of polarizing opinions etc .

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