Welcome to LFC Charlie Adam

[Fernandinho]

And another vs Blackburn when Torres scored that cracking volley over Robinsons head.

[Le Chef]

Not sure, but he did score a cracker from open play against West Ham when I was in the crowd with him also backed for first goal.

Yup, at the kop end, bottom left corner

[Jaymo]

Anyone remember his cheeky backheel against Benfica?

[Cormack74]

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rorysmith/100017722/kenny-dalglish-has-got-his-man-now-liverpool-must-work-out-what-to-do-with-charlie-adam/

Kenny Dalglish has got his man – now Liverpool must work out what to do with Charlie Adam.

The turnaround is complete. Few clubs have been as obsessed as Liverpool with off-field matters in recent years. Anfield has been riven by civil war over its manager and united in insurrection against its owners. For four years, each and every summer has been a battleground over which players might go, which manager should go, and whether Tom Hicks and George Gillett ever would go. Not any more. Liverpool’s summer might have raised as many questions as it has answered, but at least the issues under examination relate to football, not finance. The club that suffered for so long from perpetual dearth now faces the problem of plenty.

Charlie Adam’s arrival, likely to be confirmed today, will take Liverpool’s summer spending to £25 million. It will raise the investment of Fenway Sports Group, the consortium which eventually ended Hicks’s and Gillett’s ruinous regime last October, to £82.4 million, on just four players: the former Blackpool captain, Jordan Henderson, Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll. That figure may have been offset by the £60 million or so raised through the sales of Fernando Torres and Ryan Babel, but still: FSG, as promised, have matched their ambitions with actions.

Even the axis of Damien Comolli and Kenny Dalglish appears to be working well. Adam, particularly, and Henderson to a lesser extent are very obviously Dalglish signings, but reports suggest the two men are functioning effectively as a pair.

For the first time in years, then, Liverpool are not finding their summer plans derailed by power struggles or conflicting interests. The talk is not of who the club might have signed or missed out on, or even who will have to be sold simply to satisfy the Royal Bank of Scotland. Instead, Liverpool, in the style of Alan Partridge, have just two questions. Football questions. Henderson and Adam: how and why?

Few would have said, going into this transfer window, that central midfield was a problem area at Anfield. Left-back and central defence, yes. Wide players, most certainly. Central midfield? No. The energy and ever-improving industry of Lucas, the economy of possession and rapidity of transition of Raul Meireles, the elegance and power of Steven Gerrard, the hustle and bustle of Jay Spearing. Even the raw promise of Conor Coady and Jonjo Shelvey. Once they had sold Christian Poulsen, Liverpool should basically have been set.

Yet Dalglish has chosen to add two more midfielders to his squad. Why has he bought them? Henderson adds youth, effervescence, enthusiasm, while even Sir Alex Ferguson admits Adam’s set-piece delivery alone is worth £10 million. To get the entire player, a deep-lying playmaker of the sort Liverpool have lacked since the sale of Xabi Alonso, for less than that price represents good business.

But how will he shoehorn them into his team, in addition to the wide player – most likely to be Stewart Downing – the Scot also covets? That may be a rather more intricate issue.

Any Liverpool system next season, it is fair to say, will have to centre on the club’s three undroppables: Suarez, Carroll and, when fit, Gerrard. Dalglish does not have the resources to play anything other than a four-man back line. That leaves three spots in his first XI. Adam, Henderson, Lucas, Meireles, Downing, Dirk Kuyt, Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez will be left to compete for them (though there remains the possibility of both Cole and Meireles being sold).

Last year, Dalglish favoured a 4-4-2, but such a formation seems incompatible with the players now at his disposal. Deploying Lucas and Gerrard in the middle and Henderson on the right, with Downing on the left, seems the best option – Adam and Gerrard centrally would provide too little cover – but it is unimaginable that the 60-year-old has signed the former Rangers player to be an impact substitute.

Adam could function in a 4-2-3-1, fulfilling the Alonso role with either Lucas or Henderson playing as Javier Mascherano. Gerrard could then reprise his post in the advanced role, with Suarez and Downing playing as inverted wingers and Carroll as the targetman.

It remains to be seen, though, whether Gerrard can ever play that role as effectively as he did in 2009, when he and Torres almost carried Liverpool to the Premier League title. At 31, the England international has lost some of the old explosive power. It may be in his interests for Dalglish to adopt a 4-3-3, with Adam and Gerrard either alongside Henderson or shielded by Lucas, with Downing, Suarez and Carroll as an attacking trident. Such a system may also favour Kuyt, whose form last campaign was such that it would be unfair to write off his Liverpool career.

Or, perhaps, it could be a mixture of all three. If Dalglish felt that Liverpool’s attack was predictable last season, then maybe he wishes to add greater tactical flexibility. Without the distraction of Europe, he does not need tremendous strength in depth, so a desire for a range of qualities may explain his transfer activity rather more than a need for numbers. Dalglish has given himself a problem, of that there is no doubt. For once, though, it is the sort that Liverpool should enjoy.

[RedReet]

If Adam is expected to play as our deep-lying playmaker then his relationship with Gerrard is going to be extremely important. Gerrard will have to show him the same level of trust and respect that he did with Alonso, and Adam is going to be to be strong enough and play his own game and not always take the easy option and pass to Gerrard when there are better options available.

I wonder how highly Gerrard rates him and what he thinks of the signing?

[Buzzo]

I think Charlie Adam, without getting any attention has slotted seamlessly into the team. He is beginning to find his passing range and looks absolutely comfortable in a red shirt. I was an advocate of us signing him but to be honest he has began his Liverpool career even better than I had imagined and seems to be an essential part of our tactics already. An Alonso-esque finish yesterday (placement as important as power) and an assist from a corner is a fantastic return, and it will be interesting to see what he can achieve this season for us.

[Vermilion]

If Adam is expected to play as our deep-lying playmaker then his relationship with Gerrard is going to be extremely important. Gerrard will have to show him the same level of trust and respect that he did with Alonso, and Adam is going to be to be strong enough and play his own game and not always take the easy option and pass to Gerrard when there are better options available.

I wonder how highly Gerrard rates him and what he thinks of the signing?

Who the hell is this 'Gerrard' you keep banging on about ?

[truefan999]

Think how good he could be if he could run faster and for longer than your nan!

[Buzzo]

Think how good he could be if he could run faster and for longer than your nan!

Xabi Alonso couldn't run faster or longer than your nan either, and he did all right.

Actually...maybe we should sign your nan?

[truefan999]

Alonso was a much better athlete than Adam.

He is the oldest and unfittest looking man in his 20s that I have ever seen.

[Exiled_red]

If Adam is expected to play as our deep-lying playmaker then his relationship with Gerrard is going to be extremely important. Gerrard will have to show him the same level of trust and respect that he did with Alonso, and Adam is going to be to be strong enough and play his own game and not always take the easy option and pass to Gerrard when there are better options available.

I wonder how highly Gerrard rates him and what he thinks of the signing?

Dare I say Gerrard will have a fight on for his place

[Buzzo]

Alonso was a much better athlete than Adam.

He is the oldest and unfittest looking man in his 20s that I have ever seen.

A goal and an assist yesterday from Adam and you only see fit to slag him off?
Mind you, we all know about your opinions.

http://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=1829261&postcount=1

[truefan999]

Learn to read. I wasn't slagging him off. I said imagine how good he could be if he could run faster and for longer than your nan.

That's not slagging him off numpty. Its stating the obvious truth. He would be much better if he was athletic and did not run like a Glaswegian after a night on the beer followed by teh chippy

[Buzzo]

Learn to read. I wasn't slagging him off. I said imagine how good he could be if he could run faster and for longer than your nan.

That's not slagging him off numpty. Its stating the obvious truth. He would be much better if he was athletic and did not run like a Glaswegian after a night on the beer followed by teh chippy

It'd be fair to say you are a glass is half empty guy though?

[truefan999]

Nope.......but unlike you I can read.

Now Andy Carroll I have and will continue to slag off. He is ****