End of season player ratings: Midfielders
Liverpool ultimately ended the season having achieved their aim of a top four finish. There were plenty of highs and lows as the Reds went from title challengers to fighting for a place in the Champions League.
As part of our look back at the season, I’ve reviewed the overall performances of Liverpool’s midfielders.
JORDAN HENDERSON – 8
Unfortunately for the Liverpool captain, his season was cut short at the end of February. This was a massive shame as he seemed to have massively grown into his new role at the base of the midfield, showing both the leadership and technical quality we’ve come to expect from Liverpool captains over the years.
Much maligned after his performance away to Burnley in the 2-0 defeat in August, many thought Henderson simply wasn’t up to it and that we should have used the remaining transfer budget to buy another midfielder. However, after a goal-of-the-season contender and man of the match performance in a huge victory at Stamford Bridge in September, the former Sunderland man never looked back. A moment that sticks in my memory was when Bournemouth made it 3-3 against us in the mad 4-3 defeat, everyone’s head completely dropped while Bournemouth were celebrating. Jordan Henderson was the only one trying to rally the troops and get everyone going again – these characters are so important in the side and it could be argued that we need more. In terms of improvement, I think Henderson could add a few more goals to his game. His wonder-strike against Chelsea was his only goal of the season and where other midfielders have hit over five goals this campaign, we could do with the captain chipping in a bit more – we know he has the quality.
GINI WIJNALDUM – 7.5
I’ll be honest here, I wasn’t overly inspired when we paid £25million for Wijnaldum back in July. Off the back of a decent but hardly spectacular year at St. James’ Park, it struck of the typical average signing we’ve come to expect from Liverpool in recent history. I’m happy to admit I was categorically wrong.
We all expected Wijnaldum to play on the wing as he did most of the year at Newcastle and become another attacking option, however, he featured in more of a central midfield role where he usually plays for his country and a position where Rafael Benitez publicly said he was at his most effective.
The ‘new’ role gave Liverpool a reliable source of goals from midfield and, despite his height, use his immense physical attributes and energy to give the Reds a real presence in the midfield. Improvements? Perhaps against lesser teams at Anfield he can struggle to help break them down. That’s probably a slightly unfair criticism as his role this year was never to be the creative spark but with Henderson and Lallana injured and the midfield comprising of Emre Can, Lucas and Wijnaldum for a fair chunk of the year and given his experience playing in an attacking position, this burden was placed on him and he didn’t always deliver. He did when it mattered most though, breaking the deadlock in one of our most important games of the season against Middlesbrough.
ADAM LALLANA – 7.5
It’s fair to say this was a season of two halves for Adam Lallana. Arguably our player of the season until December, the ex-Saints captain went 10 games without a goal or an assist before picking up a hamstring injury and finally scoring his only goal of the calendar year to date in the 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on the final day. Another player who Klopp transformed into a new midfield role this year, not only did his numbers dramatically improve but also he was key in Liverpool’s high press which worked so well all season. Lallana didn’t have the best of times under Brendan Rodgers but it was clear for all to see from the moment Jurgen Klopp was appointed that he looked upon him very favourably and he was one of the first names on the teamsheet all season. A criticism could be that his drop in form coincided with the team’s drop in form: does that show his importance to the side or is it true that he didn’t step up to the plate when we needed him most? I’ll leave that for you to judge. Let’s hope he rediscovers his form next year as he could be a huge asset to us both domestically and in Europe.
EMRE CAN – 7
From the very start of the season, it was clear that Jurgen fancied a midfield three of Henderson, Lallana and Wijnaldum. That said, Emre Can’s ability to stay fit for most of the season, something that couldn’t be said of Henderson or Lallana, meant he was a starter for the majority of the campaign. Emre was heavily criticised at the beginning of the year, not least by myself. His pedestrian nature in midfield and inability to turn at pace often slowed momentum and hindered the quick attacking style. He seemed to be the complete opposite player to Jordan Henderson whose ball retention was so key to our scintillating attacking performances in the early part of the season. Unlike the majority of our players this year, Emre Can started poorly and stepped up to the mark in the second half of the season. When it became apparent that Jordan Henderson wasn’t returning from injury any time soon, all eyes were on the German to up his game; and he delivered. His spectacular overhead kick against Watford won almost every goal-of-the-season contest and vital goals such as the winner in the 2-1 victory over Burnley in one of our worst performances of the season meant he was a key contributor in Liverpool’s successful top four push.
LUCAS LEIVA – 6
There isn’t much to say about Lucas really. We probably use him more than we should yet he is still capable of putting in a performance when called upon. Unfortunately, his legs have very much gone and that was painfully apparent when he was deployed as a centre-half in games which became stretched. He still has a lot of quality, for his height he is staggeringly good in the air and his reading of the game has never been an issue. I would personally keep him around but only use him sparingly – we are potentially hoping to compete on four fronts next season and need a much bigger squad than what we currently have. He isn’t going to get any quicker and certainly can’t be a starter in the league or Europe next year but for League Cup games where potentially the younger players will be coming through, Lucas could be potentially used to help the young players on the pitch and provide an experienced head. At the end of the day it will be up to Klopp and whether FSG are prepared to pay a bit-part player a fairly decent wage.