A possible solution to the CHARLIE ADAM problem...?

I'm a big fan of Charlie Adam; the Scot is a modern day Jan Molby, and he shares many of the Great Dane's footballing characteristics, such as exquisite passing ability; great close control; a venomous shot, and of course, a distinct lack of pace (!). As we've seen this season, Adam seems to tire early in games, which allows the opposition to exploit the gaps he leaves in midfield. Some fans have argued that Adam is a luxury Liverpool can't afford, but I think there's an easy solution that could bring great benefits to the team.

I think it's fair to say that Adam has been a success at Liverpool so far. He has more goals and assists than Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson and Stewart Downing combined (despite only costing 10% of their combined transfer fees), and he brings creativity, great set plays and top tackling ability to the team (78% of tackles won - the best of all LFC players).

I think it's also fair to say that the Lucas-Adam partnership is not the most effective, especially against pacy teams. That partnership lacks speed and dynamism, and in the latter stages of games, Adam sometimes seems to lack stamina.

So, how do we we solve the situation? To me the solution is simple: In the final third of games in which Adam plays, move him further up the field and play him in the hole behind Suarez.

Like Adam, Steven Gerrard is also a central midfielder who has successfully played in the hole, and like Gerrard, Adam has all the attributes to play that role: great vision and creativity; ability to come up with defence splitting passes, and a keen eye for a goal himself.

This tactical change would also solve the stamina problem; Adam would not have to do as much work playing in the hole; he'd just have to float around and do what he does best: pass the ball and create chances.

When we're missing Gerrard, I don't see the sense in substituting Adam in the latter stages of games, especially when he is arguably our most creative midfielder. Similarly, it seems remiss to keep him in central midfield when his effectiveness is dulled due to a lack of stamina and mobility in the latter stages of games.

I'll use the Swansea game as an example of how this could be implemented. At the 70 minute mark, the team was as follows:

----------------- Reina

Johnson --- Agger ---- Skrtel --- Enrique

Kuyt ----- Lucas ---- Adam ------ Downing

------------ Suarez --- Carroll

At this point in the game, Swansea were all over Liverpool, and the midfield battle was essentially lost. To implement the change I've suggested, the following subs could've been made:

* Carroll out for Bellamy

* Downing out for Spearing

The team could've then looked like this:

----------------- Reina

Johnson --- Agger ---- Skrtel --- Enrique

Kuyt ----- Lucas ---- Spearing ------ Bellamy

------------------ Adam

------------------- Suarez

* Spearing would bring much-needed pace energy to the midfield

* Adam would be relieved of the bulk of his defensive duties, but the team would still benefit from his creative ability.

* The gaps in midfield we regularly see with the Lucas-Adam partnership would probably dissipate.

I argued in a recent article that Lucas should've been removed at half time against Swansea, and Henderson moved into the middle. Incorporating that change into this system, we would have:

----------------- Reina

Johnson --- Agger ---- Skrtel --- Enrique

Kuyt ----- Henderson ---- Spearing ------ Bellamy

------------------ Adam

------------------- Suarez

I genuinely believe that if we had gone for this formation for the last 20-30 minutes on Saturday, the game would've been won.

At present, Liverpool barely have a plan B, and we saw this against Swansea. It's always good to have a few different ways to change a game and this simple change would, in my view, kill two or three birds with one stone.

I doubt it will ever be implemented, but I can't see how it would fail.

Jaimie Kanwar