da dobrowin： Luis Suarez left a tooth-shaped void at Liverpool when he moved to Barcelona following his latest biting offence at the World Cup. Rickie Lambert was not the right man to help fill that void.
da betobet： Brendan Rodgers spent just shy of £120m in the latest transfer window and after they received £75m for Suarez, that’s a reasonable amount of money to be shelling out. The Reds signed Mario Balotelli – who we all know is proven at the highest level when he can be bothered, and so far he has been bothered – netting his first goal for the club against Ludogorets as Liverpool returned to Europe.
Rodgers then had Daniel Sturridge, Balotelli, and Fabio Borini who had returned from a loan-spell with Sunderland last season. Borini’s performances at The Black Cats were impressive and he did well enough for Sunderland to make a reported bid of £14m which was initially accepted by The Reds, but Borini rejected the move in favour of fighting for a place with Liverpool.
There’s no doubting the class of Sturridge and Balotelli, but Rodgers wanted another striker who would be willing to play second fiddle. They went for Rickie Lambert from Southampton, who had been impressive in scoring 17 goals in all competitions last season including a couple for England on his international debuts. Despite this I can’t help but think every time that I see him sitting on the bench, that it was a bizarre choice for both. He has only made three substitute appearances thus far but it’s fair to say that he has been ineffective in that time.
The only sense I can make is that it was a romantic choice and in terms of football – romance is dead. He is 32 and has worked his way up through the lower leagues to reach the very top, deservedly so too. It is well known that Lambert is a life-long Liverpool fan and it’s fantastic that his dream has come true, but he probably wouldn’t have been happy warming the bench at any other time in his career so why now?
Lambert is a technically decent player but it’s his aerial ability and strength that sets him apart from the other strikers currently at Liverpool’s disposal, but it doesn’t particularly set him apart from previous Reds strikers who have been deemed ‘surplus to requirements’. When Brendan Rodgers arrived at Liverpool he quickly set about clearing the way for Andy Carroll to leave as he didn’t see him fitting into his possession style of football. I would have to say that Carroll is essentially a younger Lambert with injuries aside. That’s where I don’t understand (apart from the sentiment) why Rodgers decided Rickie was the right option for him and the club.
Lambert was relatively cheap at £4m and for a 32-year-old that’s a reasonable price. Even more damning for Liverpool and Rodgers is who Southampton replaced Lambert with. They opted for a player in the same mould, as Graziano Pellè joined for £8m. Pellè had been clinical for Feyenoord before signing for The Saints. He has continued that form with Southampton and has so far scored four goals in his first five appearances. He has taken no time at all to settle and he is three years younger than Lambert.
You would suggest from their early starts that Pellè would have been a better option for The Reds, or at least as they were after a back-up it may be more beneficial to sign a young prospect or even develop a player through their renowned academy.
Unfortunately this is one time where Rodgers has let his heart rule his head.
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