Charlie Adam

[Exiled_red]

Agreed, but people will still complain.

People will always find something to complain about though.

[BobTheCharmer]

Adam is one of my favourite players in the current squad.

I like the way he keeps the ball moving and he creates chances. Plus he's great at set pieces and has a bloody good shot on him.

But I do accept his tackling isn't great and he struggles to go the full 90.

I can't help feeling if we played a high back 4 pushed right up, he would really excell as the gap between front and back would be so much less. But I can't see that happening any time soon.

Anyway there's something about the lad I really like, probably his attitude and his obvious joy at playing for us.

[Shaggy]

Yeah despite his obvious weaknesses he remains a goal threat and is always likely to create one. I think he'd be much better in a middle three with Lucas and Gerrard, but that means leaving Carroll out. A real quandary.

[Mattshark]

My problem remains that when put under pressure, he simply becomes ineffective, he needs space otherwise he is ineffective. He also needs to be able to keep going all game and right now he seems to be unable to do that.

[Daffy Duck]

Yeah despite his obvious weaknesses he remains a goal threat and is always likely to create one. I think he'd be much better in a middle three with Lucas and Gerrard, but that means leaving Carroll out. A real quandary.

That's the midfield I'd start with against United, but leave Carroll in the starting 11 and rather sacrifice Downing or KuytHenderson for Gerrard. Maybe even both (all) of them for Bellamy as well. That would take some pressure of Adam defensively and possibly leave him with some more space in the attack, while I still think that Bellamy and Suarez could offer enough goal threat playing just off Carroll and defensive support on the flanks when needed. Kuyt would do as well. Downing has been somehow disappointing recently and he needs a time out, the same goes for Henderson (at least when it comes to playing a match like the Manure derby).

------Lucas-----
---Gerro-Adam---

Bellamy----Suarez
------Carroll-----

Don't see much wrong with that line-up?

[Mostar]

Mancs have so many offensive weapons and having Adam in partnership with Lucas could be very dangerous especially if we start Stevie who is not overly disciplined in defensive tasks neither.

I think I would rather like to see Lucas and Spearo (drop Adam for this game) and have Stevie control the midfield offensively and hopefully create chances for Suarez and Carroll.

[RichC]

Last season when we beat the Manc's Stevie was amazingly disciplined in the centre of midfield, I think in a 3 he could certainly do that job again if needed.

[Mostar]

He still hasn't played 90 minutes so I am not sure that we can expect much from him just yet.

[RichC]

he's got a couple of weeks still to find fitness might not make 90 but 60 minutes of him not carrying an injury would give the Mancs something to think about!

[Mostar]

Absolutely. No brainer if he should start as long as he can play at least 60-65 minutes.

[RedSince1964]

Arn... i wouldnt go that far because he does have a lot of quality but we need to work on his fitness and his attitude. his passing is very good not that he's shown it consistently at liverpool but from past experience his left foot is a magic wand.

there is no comparison to alonso because xabi's world class and was from a very young age. charlie adam has the tools but currently his mentality and the system we play isnt correct.

remember he only cost £7m and we could get £10m back for him no problem. we cant write players off that quickly but first and foremost we have to change the system to suit him and move to a 4231 with him and lucas holding, downing left, suarez right and gerrard behind carroll. that change might also suit henderson too because playing wide right just doesnt suit the lad.

That could well happen IMO

[dom9]

Yeah despite his obvious weaknesses he remains a goal threat and is always likely to create one. I think he'd be much better in a middle three with Lucas and Gerrard, but that means leaving Carroll out. A real quandary.

I'd take that. We've yet to really see Suarez and Gerrard really link up.

Gerrard has formed so many brilliant partnerships with strikers over the years, going back to Owen.

[dww]

My problem remains that when put under pressure, he simply becomes ineffective, he needs space otherwise he is ineffective. He also needs to be able to keep going all game and right now he seems to be unable to do that.

I don't think it is just under pressure - he is always looking to force the issue and consequently never seems to move the ball quickly and short. We lose a lot of possession through this. His decision making overall is poor for me.

He clearly has talent but I think our team lacks a lot mentally and his position is the natural one to fit that in.

I do agree with Bob though that it is nice to see a player happy to play for us and he does offer an additional goal threat.

[Arn]

Interview: Charlie Adam, Scotland midfielder
Published Date: 09 October 2011
By ANDREW SMITH

THERE is a natural temptation, when you think of Charlie Adam, to recall Scotland against Spain, and arrive at the conclusion: "What a difference a year makes."

The midfielder hadn't started a competitive game for his country when he came off the bench against the world and European champions at Hampden last October to prove the catylast for a stirring comeback from 2-0 down that was only scuppered by the concession of a late goal. Since then he has become Craig Levein's most valuable player and, with his move to Liverpool from Blackpool, the highest-profile performer in the squad after Manchester United's Darren Fletcher.

"That Spain game was maybe pivotal in my international career because I played against Sweden (shortly] before that and never had a great game but came on that night and did OK and maybe that changed it," Adam says of what he accepts was the finest 45 minutes among his 13 appearances for his country. "It was just one of those nights everything clicked. I have a few caps now and just want more."

The two sides meet again in Alicante on Tuesday in the climax to their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign but the problem in hyping up the transformational nature of Adam's last brush with Spain is that, by his own admission, he has not made enough difference to the Scotland cause in the past 12 months. "Up and down," is how he describes his form in the international arena, before conceding, "I've not been great. But I'll let everybody make the decision and the manager will get his opinion on it. If he thinks I'm doing all right, then I'll play. But everybody has an opinion on how you play, and it's different. That's the way it is in football. Performance-wise, I know I can improve for Scotland. I'll put my hand up and say that but it's what happens at times. It is difficult to play at international level. But I'm learning and enjoying it and that's the important thing."

Levein would be aghast at the suggestion, but Adam's attacking attributes may not have been given the most natural platform. The player operates in a deep-lying role for Scotland. He is the one between defence and midfield in a set 4-1-4-1 system. "I enjoy that, but the manager's not said I need to sit and play," he says. "I can go and join in and get forward. That's what I want to do. I want to score goals. It is the one thing I want to do when I play. I hope I can get some for Scotland.

You never know, if I move forward I can get efforts in and get a couple."

Avoiding falling out with the manager hasn't done Adam any harm as he's become the focal point for what Levein wants to build at international level while, for Steven Fletcher, the last year has also made a difference but in a different way.

When the striker made a £6.5 million move from Burnley to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2010, it was viewed as cash-confirmation the youngster was on a career path that would inevitably see him leading the line for his country. But his criticism of the infamous 4-6-0 formation in Prague and his omission from the side that night led to a breakdown in relations between the Scotland manager and the player, who has since resided in international exile. Fletcher implicated Adam in his grumblings about the game in the Czech Republic which the pair watched from the stand - only days before Adam's display against Spain at Hampden had the home supporters leaping from their seats.

"It is one of those decisions that was made a long time ago," Adam says. "These things happen. People say what they say. I've experienced disappointments in life. They are not easy to get over. I wouldn't say I was happy being left out but I got on with it. My thinking was: 'When's the next game, let me get in the squad for that'. It wasn't about spitting the dummy out. At the end up, there are 23, 24 players the manager can pick. It's the same at Liverpool. I've played the last five or six but, when the manager says he's putting someone else in, you respect that. You go away and work harder to get in the team. It is so short a career you don't want to ever forget that. And when he get the opportunity to play for your country it is difficult to turn down. I'm just glad I have been able to represent my country as many times as I have."

Adam's easily-discarded status at Rangers has clearly hardened him to the possibility of not making any team cut. Thus far, he has avoided the fate at Anfield where, following his £7m summer switch, he has relished life on the biggest stage under the club's biggest figure, Kenny Dalglish. One of a raft of new summer recruits, he rates results and performances as acceptable but certain to improve. Liverpool are fifth despite being in the throes of an integration process that sees Dalglish's "new" side having played only ten to 15 games together. Adam is just thrilled to be part of it, with Scotland's most capped player, with 102 appearances, and most decorated Anfield icon at the helm.

Adam says of Dalglish: "No matter what he does or where he goes he's the top of the tree at the club. He's well respected in the game and it's just a privilege to say he was the one that signed me for Liverpool."

The midfielder, whose accent, as well as his game, has been smoothed out by his time in England, has only jocular quibbles about life with the legend.

"Sometimes even I don't understand what he says," Adam says of a man whose Glaswegian is as thick as it was when he left the city in 1977. "Some of the foreign guys are left just looking. Sometimes I interpret, but sometimes he speaks so fast that I can't.

He's a bundle of laughs and a joy to work for every morning. He's always out on the training ground. The only problem is that he still wants to play. We don't like to let him but he still wants to kick the ball around, and does. I've never worked for someone like him. Walter Smith is calmer, more relaxed and laid back, but he (Dalglish] is on the go every day and his enthusiasm rubs off on us. He really celebrated the derby win last weekend, he was so happy. It means a lot to him to be back at Liverpool."

And it says so much for Adam about the difficulty of Scotland's task in two days' time that he won't be facing his Spanish club team-mates, goalkeeper Pepe Reina and defender Jose Enrique, the latter not even in his country's squad. "For me, Pepe is the best goalie in the Premier League and he can't even get in the 18 at times. It just shows how good Spain are," says Adam, of a keeper who is behind Real Madrid's Iker Casillas and Barcelona's Victor Valdes in the national side pecking order. "I've been saying to Pepe that I think they will probably win this one, Euro 2012, as well, and he just keeps laughing. If they could win three competitions in a row, it would be phenomenal." So, then, would a result for Scotland against them this week.

Clicky

[Mostar]

http://www.anfieldindex.com/3548/charlie-adam-story.html

Charlie Adam - The story so far

There was no doubt this summer that Liverpool wanted Charlie Adam. They had tried desperately throughout January to prise him from Karl Oyston’s grasp at Blackpool, and had almost lost him to Spurs in the dying embers of the window. There seemed never a doubt that they would return with another bid as they sought to introduce some passing flair into their midfield.

Adam was praised throughout his breakthrough season at Blackpool for his passing range, his ability to turn defence into attack in a split second and for leading a side given no chance of survival to the brink of the impossible. There always remained doubts over his ability to step up, however, his time at Rangers perhaps giving a clouded view of his ability at a ‘big’ club, and so even though the Reds had to fork out just £7M to finally get their man, eyebrows were definitely raised at the move.

Given the interest in the move, Adam was always going to be under the spotlight as his Liverpool career began. That pressure was possibly even amplified by the fact that Steven Gerrard missed the start of the season and Adam was therefore seen as the de facto focal point of Liverpool’s midfield. Much of the talk surrounding the former Rangers man was of his set piece delivery, and an assist from a free kick on his debut did little to harm that reputation.

A bare look at the statistical story of his season, however, suggests that Adam may not have had the best of starts to his Liverpool career. An average pass completion rate of 78% does not speak particularly well and nor does a figure of just 9 chances created in 7 games, only 2 of which have come from his fabled set pieces. He was won only slightly more possession duels than he has lost (40 to 35) and has conceded 17 fouls whilst only winning 11.

It would be fairly easy to draw a one-sided conclusion that Adam has not proved himself to be anything other than a Blackpool player out of his depth, but to look at stats without nuance is, of course, always deceiving.

There have been both good and bad performances from Adam since his summer move. Against Arsenal, for instance, he gave a very strong performance, his pass completion rising to 81% (his season high came in the recent Merseyside derby at 85%) while he created three chances in open play and won 75% of his possession duels. Alongside Lucas Leiva and Jordan Henderson in a midfield three, there was a domination of the central area at the Emirates and an indication as to what may be in store for the Reds.

The bad, however, was exemplified against Stoke. In a game on which Liverpool struggled to assert themselves, their passing was particularly poor, with Adam one of the main culprits for conceding possession. His pass completion dropped to 76% and he completed only 38 of 62 attempted passes in the Stoke half of the field. When put under pressure to open up a defence which sat deep against him, Adam was found wanting.


The good - Arsenal


The bad - Stoke

And when one’s eyes drift towards one of the best players in his position in the Premier League, it shows just how far his story has yet to go. Luka Modrić was well acknowledged as one of the better creative midfielders in England’s top flight last season, so much so that Chelsea made a hard chase for the Croatian this summer, eventually put off by the £40M valuation.

Such attention may have caused Modrić’s head to be turned, but judging by his overall performance so far this campaign, one would not know it. With an average pass completion of 87%, Modrić is far more assured in possession than his Scottish counterpart, though it is in the attacking half of the field where the real difference can be seen.

Both players keep hold of possession very well in their own half, Adam boasts a 90.98% pass completion rate in the defensive half of the field, only just shy of Modrić’s 93.75%. In the attacking half, however, Modrić has completed 186 of 230 attempted passes (80.87%) whilst Adam has attempted a very similar number, 229, but completed only 146, which shakes out at just 62.45%. The figures point to just how often Adam has given away the ball in the opposition’s half of the pitch, though a certain leeway should be given for the fact that Adam is Liverpool’s regular corner taker.

And perhaps rather than immediately judging Adam against one of the best in the league as he looks to settle into a new club and style, we should look to how he stacks up against the performances that earned him a move to Liverpool. In the 2010/11 season Adam’s pass completion rate was just 72% and fell even further to just 58.43% when looking simply at attacking half passes.

He may have scored more goals and created more chances than he is on course to do this season, but he was both Blackpool’s penalty taker and given far more license to get forward under Ian Holloway. With a move up the ladder comes added defensive responsibility – he is no longer the luxury player in a team built around him – and this is something he is coming to terms with as his percentage of possession duels won is higher than at Blackpool.

Looking at a rounded picture of Charlie Adam’s story so far then, it becomes clear that, while he still has a long way to go if he is to match the best in the league, he has already shown signs of improvement among better players. If he can continue his improvement, and in particular become more accurate in the attacking half of the field, then there is every chance that he can become the player to make the chase worthwhile.