It was a tough end to the 2013-2014 season for Liverpool fans, and matters were made worse when it was announced Luis Suarez would be leaving the club for a record fee of £75 million. This spurred Brendan Rodgers and his team on to make a number of signings to help strengthen his Liverpool side. During the 2013-2014 season, it was clear there was a significant lack of squad depth, with players like, Cissokho, Aspas and Kolo Toure filling the bench, so making signings to improve this was inevitable. I am going to be reviewing each player Liverpool brought in to ‘improve’ the squad.
Adam Lallana. Best to start positive! He’s made a total of 14 appearances for Liverpool, due to an injury hit season, scoring 4 goals. Lallana has created 16 chances with an average of 82% passing accuracy. I think it’s fair to say Adam has easily been our best signing of the summer. His skill and dribbling have always been on show when he’s been playing, especially in Liverpool’s recent game against Swansea. Lallana has the ability and technique to slice open holes in the oppositions defence, and can also strike a ball incredibly well. Last year, Lallana was arguably Southampton’s player of the year, so there was always going to be a big price tag on his name. £25 million Liverpool paid, but I personally believe if Liverpool hadn’t of made this signing, other big premier league clubs wouldn’t have hesitated. I would give Lallana a rating of 7/10 so far, purely because of his absence the majority of this season so far due to injury.
Alberto Moreno, a player Liverpool had been trying to buy all summer. Moreno has made a total of 14 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 2 goals. Moreno was brought in for £12 million, which was a very good price considering he was classed as potentially Spains new full back. The signing was inevitable. Glen Johnson’s increasingly poor form worsening and Liverpool had agreed a deal to sell Martin Kelly to Crystal Palace. Because of his pace, he has provided Liverpool with a couple of key goals, a stand out one would be his goal against Spurs. However, after a great start to Liverpool life, his form is beginning to drop, and he found himself sitting on the bench for a short spell during October and November. I would give Moreno a rating of 6/10, but there’s definitely room for improvement and I feel his quality will start to show towards the second half of the season.
Moreno celebrates. (Liverpoolfc.com)
Lazar Markovic as brought in for a price of £19.8 million from Benfica. He’s had a poor start to life in Liverpool, with his confidence clearly low. Lazar has created many chances for himself, but doesn’t seem to be taking them. However, in the past couple of months, we are beginning to see a different player. His confidence has risen, and he recently scored his first goal for Liverpool against Bournemouth in the Capital One Cup. Markovic has made a total of 10 appearences for Liverpool, creating 11 chances but only having a shot accuracy of 17%. I personally feel Markovic has a lot to give, but for now I’m going to give him a rating of 5/10.
Dejan Lovren was signed from Southampton for £20 million, and has arguably been Liverpool’s worst signing of the summer. He hasn’t looked comfortable at all, and its clearly obvious he has no confidence at the moment. He’s made 15 appearances, scoring 1 goal, and made a total of 6 defensive errors. Lovren’s average duels won is 61%, simply no good enough. Last season Dejan looked very solid in a Southampton shirt, but so far this season, nothings worked for him. He provides an aerial threat from corners, so that’s something for Rodgers to look at during the second half of the season. 3/10 for me, just hasn’t shown his talent yet.
Emre Can signed for Liverpool for a total of £9.75 million from Bayer Leverkusen. An injury meant he didn’t start a game until 19th October. He has shown very promising signs, scoring a goal against Chelsea, and making himself known on the pitch. Can is a very strong footballer on the ball, it takes a lot to knock him down. He’s currently in the middle of a spell where Rodgers is playing him as a central defender, and he looked very comfortable there against Swansea at Anfield. I would give Can a 7/10. The guy was a target for Bayern Munich in the summer, and it’s clearly obvious why.
Rickie Lambert completed his dream move to Liverpool from Southampton in the summer for a fee of £4 million. It seemed like a good piece of business for Liverpool at first, with Lambert finding the net a significant amount of times for Southampton last season. This season however, he’s only found the net once in a total of 16 appearances for Liverpool. It doesn’t look like it’s going to be a fairy-tale ending for Rickie, especially with new Crystal Palace boss Alan Pardew looking to make him his first signing. I have given Lambert a score of 5/10.
Source: liverpoolfc.com
Mario Balotelli. The man that just brings controversy wherever he goes. He’s scored two goals in so far, none in the Premier League. It’s fair to say Balotelli has been very poor in a Liverpool shirt. Balotelli has created 5 chances and has a shot accuracy of 55%. But I will end on a positive note for him. Balotelli is not an out and out striker, he needs a strike partner. With Sturridge coming back in a couple of weeks, it wouldn’t surprise me if Mario found his scoring boots. But, you never know with this man, that’s the thing. 4/10 for me, but the season’s not over yet.
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Henry Pike
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