Lallana best so far of Boys of Summer (ESPN article)

The season has just passed the halfway mark and at long last some of Liverpool's much maligned summer signings are starting to make their presence felt. The jury is still out on all of them, but at least some of the eight new recruits now seem to have settled in and are making a contribution. Lazar Markovic has been in fine form of late, Adam Lallana has caught the eye when he hasn't been on the treatment table and in recent weeks Emre Can and Alberto Moreno have both forced their way into the side on a regular basis. Dejan Lovren and Mario Balotelli on the other hand...

Here's a six-month assessment of Liverpool's 2014 "boys of summer." (Ratings on a scale of 1 - 10):

Rickie Lambert

Local lad Lambert was supposed to be the "Plan B" option off the bench that the Reds lacked at times last season. The Chelsea defeat at Anfield was seen as the perfect example of why Liverpool needed a player like him. Rodgers had spoken very highly of the veteran forward in the past and on the surface it appeared a match made in heaven. Lambert would finally get to play for his boyhood club after spending most of his career in the lower leagues believing that the opportunity to pull on the Red shirt had passed him by, while Liverpool were getting an accomplished target man capable of scoring and creating goals while offering something vastly different to the other forwards at the club.

Don't forget, Luis Suarez was still very much a Liverpool player when Lambert arrived. Sadly for Rickie the landscape changed dramatically as Suarez left, Daniel Sturridge got injured and Mario Balotelli flopped spectacularly. Suddenly, by default, Liverpool needed Lambert to be "Plan A," which was never meant to be the case.

Having gotten off to a poor start in preseason (even missing a penalty, and he never misses penalties) his struggles continued once the real action began. He wasn't playing well and neither were the team. It was a difficult situation and it became more than a little uncomfortable to watch at times. The "dream move" was fast becoming a nightmare, particularly as the Southampton side he left behind were doing so well and were -- and indeed still are -- looking down on Liverpool from a lofty position in the top three.

Eventually, he began to settle down and show a bit of form and he even scored a couple of goals when he was eventually given a run in the side. His lack of pace and mobility restricts Liverpool's preferred style of play, however, and he was jettisoned in favour of a more mobile front line of Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho. The return of Sturridge will further reduce his opportunities to get on the field but perhaps returning to the "Plan B" role which he was signed for won't do him any harm.

Rating: 4

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