Glen Johnson was very rarely the best player on show during his six years at Liverpool, but the full-back was the best player on show for long periods of today’s game at the Britannia Stadium.
This could be due to the Stoke City defender looking to prove a point against his former team or reflective of the general lack of quality play during the season opener, with Phillipe Coutinho’s wonderstrike the notable exception.
It could also be down to the fact that Adam Lallana possesses as much pace as Hans Moleman, not to be harsh on Mr Moleman.
In a game devoid of any entertainment or high quality play, with the added caveat that today’s fixture was a season opener, and players easing themselves back into competitive action, it may seem unfair to single out one player.
However, Lallana was awful.
Adam Lallana's game by numbers vs. Stoke:
71% pass accuracy
1 take-on completed
0 chances created
0 shots on target pic.twitter.com/2FNeoKccRr— Squawka (@Squawka) August 9, 2015
The 27 year old was sloppy in possession, created no chances for his teammates and Liverpool looked much better when he was replaced by Emre Can after an hour, and the Reds switched to a 4-3-3.
Lallana was played out wide but couldn’t effectively track or beat his marker. He is supposed to be a creative midfielder but created no chances for his teammates.
Liverpool also looked better and more balanced for his absence, and starting him can be viewed as a tactical blunder by Brendan Rodgers.
This is without accounting for the fact that Lallana cost Liverpool £25 million yet looks no more than a squad player, and that he’s been repeatedly referred to as a young player, despite being 27.
The club would be lucky to recoup even a third of his transfer fee.
Lallana is a neat, technically capable player who showed very good form in his final season at Southampton. However, he also arguably represents a number of issues with both Liverpool and English football.
He’s the embodiment of the transfer mistakes Liverpool have made in recent years and a reflection of the market they’re shopping in. The club have to take greater gambles than the established Champions League clubs in the transfer market. Sometimes it works, like Coutinho, and sometimes the player fails to make the step up, like, so far at least, Dejan Lovren.
Lallana’s career trajectory also shows how the standards for English players seem have sunk lower and lower in recent years.
By virtue of being a very good player in a top half side Lallana was in automatic contention for a place in the national team. Contrast that with the 1990s and early 2000s, when Robbie Fowler, a goalscoring phenomenon, only earned 26 caps.
A season in the Premier League is now enough to earn a place in England’s squad, inflate a reputation and add a few zeros to a potential transfer fee.
Lallana scored five goals, and made three assists last season, and his performances were, by his own admission “very average”.
“I feel like one of the experienced ones (at Liverpool), he said earlier this week. “I’m 27 and at my peak. I can’t wait to get going and show everyone what I’m capable of.”
No 27 year old footballer, at a club with designs on competing in the Champions League and chasing honours, should ever use the words: “I can’t wait to get going and show everyone what I’m capable of.”
He should’ve already shown it by now, either at his previous team or in his time at his current club , otherwise he doesn’t belong there.
Andre Ayew scored on his debut for Swansea yesterday. The 25 year old winger has played over 150 times for Marseille, 62 times for Ghana, participated in two World Cups and has hit double figures in four of the past five seasons.
However Ayew, who has shown what he’s capable of, signed on a free transfer for Swansea, a good team, but one not with Champions League ambitions.
Lallana performed well for two seasons in the Premier League, gave an ageing Steven Gerrard a tough time in a game in 2014 and was a squad member in a side which exited that summer’s World Cup in the group stages.
He cost £25 million, and 12 months later looks out of place in a team few predicted to break back into the top four.
Rodgers would be wise to start next Monday’s game against Bournemouth with the team that finished today’s 1-0 win. If so, Lallana will have to keep Liverpool fans waiting to show them what he’s capable of.
Although it could be argued he already has, and it’s not good enough for a player who cost £25 million, and for a team hoping to return to the Champions League.
