12 Aug 2012

Lawro warns: £20m LFC flop has 'no place to hide' this year. Can he improve...?

From a creative standpoint, Stewart Downing's debut season at Liverpool was an absolute train wreck. Despite being an experienced Premier League player and England International, the 27-year old winger failed to score or create a single goal in the league all season. Things will have to drastically change this year though, and Anfield Legend Mark Lawrenson has warned that Downing will have no place to hide over the next season.

Speaking to the Liverpool Daily Post this week, Lawro admitted suggested that Downing - and several other Liverpool players - will have to really deliver this season, or face the consequences. He observed:

"Downing will know it’s time to deliver. His winner [against Gomel] will give him confidence but, along with Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson, there can be no hiding place this season.

There’s no doubting his ability but, having scored no goals and provided no direct assists in the Premier League last season, people will rightly wonder what exactly he offered to the team as an attacking midfielder".


In my view, Downing should be replaced ASAP, but Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers seems to rate him. In an interview earlier today, Rodgers made his preference for Downing clear. He said:

"I look at the potential of the front four in terms of Borini, Suarez, Gerrard and Downing and you've got pace, power, creativity and hunger, so I'm excited about going forward"

That front four played in the 3-0 victory against Gomel on Thursday, so unless Liverpool sign Clint Dempsey or some other first team wide-forward by the end of August, it looks like Downing is here to stay.

It's clear that Downing couldn't handle the pressure at Liverpool last season, but after failing to score/create a league goal, the pressure is surely going to be greater this season. Not only does he have to fit into Rodgers system and contribute, he has to exorcise the ghost of last season, something that will probably lay heavily on his mind.

Does Downing have the strength of mind to deal with it? I'm not convinced, but I'm happy to proven wrong.

Jaimie Kanwar


38 comments:

  1. u very sad person please stop pretending your a liverpool supporter, guess im banned again.

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  2. liverpool4life5656:40 pm, August 12, 2012

    Yes, he looks better in pre season so does Carroll... Sterling was brilliant today an what a ball by erinque,

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  3. Downing isn't good enough for a top 4 team. He hasn't got the mental strength or the goal threat. He won't be long in the team before he's dropped.

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  4. Got to make the most of him, 'cos no one will buy him off us. Not one enquiry to my knowledge.

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  5. Mr Point of View7:04 pm, August 12, 2012

    JK stop adding presure to our player...

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  6. As far as having nowhere to hide this season Downing was hardly "under the radar" last season and it's not as if he wasn't given ample opportunity to shine. It could be that KD's midfield trio of Henderson, Adam and Downing realised quite early on in the season that it didn't really matter if they put in a half-arsed performance because they knew they'd be playing in the next game anyway. Off topic, Jaimie, I know, but what is your opinion of Adam being used in a swap deal for Dempsey? To kill two birds with one stone is always a bargain.

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  7. type words this joey doesnt like and he flexes his big muscles and bars u, what a pillock 

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  8. sadasfuuukcuuunt

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  9. I think we would all like to be proven wrong. Experience prem player with international experience needs to deliver at a club like Liverpool. I would give him till jan /end of season and if no improvement try to recoup some of the outlay.

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  10. Downing created the second most chances for Liverpool last season, Adam was directly involved in almost 1/3 of our league goals and Henderson was played in a different position every single game. Carroll is improving and he actually likes to run onto the ball and shoot rather than get his head on it. All of them deserve another chance, I think we'll do alright this season, maybe just miss out on the top 4 since there's a lot of change but it will be a good benchmark for the future.

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  11. I don't look at the stats when I look at Downing debut season as liverpool4life565 said I also saw him put some chances on a plate for our attacking players and he hit the bar post quite a few times. I think he is a very good player to have in the squad.

    Like Carrol and Henderson it's not his fault that Liverpool paid over the odds for him...unnecessary pressure just because the club were not savvy enough picking the right moment to sign these players.

    From what I have seen so far he looks more lively, creative and naturally more settled in a LfC shirt. Does this mean that he is going to set the world on fire? most likely not but if he can keep up the form he is showing at the moment I'm sure he will earn the bit of luck that desperately deserted him last year. (personally I hope he is a mega hit because I would love to here the Kop sing the kool and the gang hit "Get Down on it" as his song)....ahh we can only dream.

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  12. Teams would be in there for him if we made it clear that Downing is available. There's always a market for players with Premier League experience, especially English ones and even after last season Downing would most likely still command more than £10m in the transfer market. Which is more than his on pitch worth to LFC.

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  13. hehehe keep banning me I love lfc u r as sad as can be 

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  14. Saying that a 28 year old, £20m pound winger has to deliver is putting pressure on the player??

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  15. Fingers crossed he's sold and replaced with a proper match-winning type player, instead of just being dropped to be another highly paid bench player...

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  16. hehehe u r as sad as can b i love lfc

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  17. Forget the stats and watch the games - Downing was mediocre last season and has been mediocre throughout his career.
    Reading out a few random stats isn't going to change that fact.

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  18. liverpool4life5657:57 pm, August 12, 2012

    How many times did downing put it on the plate to players?? Loads Adam,Henderson,Suarez,Carroll fluffed their shot every time. Have you seen him in pre season? Looks better even tracks back.

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  19. I see him being a smash hit this season, he knows he has to deliver and i think he will.

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  20. I hear you... but remember the Spanish twat, Torres... he wasn't a mentally strong player either, yet he found success at Liverpool in the amount of goals he got. He's struggled at Chelsea because of his mental weakness. I see the same issue with Downing.


    He must overcome himself because he has all the ability to succeed. Once again I'm going to go out on a limb and back Downing as he is one of KD's choices!
    Good luck Stewie D

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  21. nice hint of a positive twist at the end there JK ;)... my my, are we coming around? haha

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  22. if we get tello or adam johnson who we are still interested then downing will get very little game time.west ham were apparently interested in downing but we'd lucky to get 10mil for him after last season and that's probably what we should have paid for him.

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  23. You play for lfc you have to deal with the pressure that comes with the club, for godsake he's 28 not 18, some people make me laugh. You wanna win things and earn more money but cannot deal with the expectation. Tough, if u cannot handle that then should not be at the club, unbelievable how some people are still making excuses for him. Never rated him, never will, at best he's a squad player if he really really fights for his cause this season. Give him till jan 2013 to prove himself otherwise sell him for a huge cut price

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  24. I probably have to work 2 full years or even more for his 1 week wage. To ask for goals and assist for an attacking player is adding pressure? Sure you are a die-hard supporter of LFC. :)

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  25. It really amazes me by the way that the 4 expensive British players bought by KD and DC are failing at LFC. That is almost 80 mil pounds worth of money. LFC has probably made the greatest mistake in its history by appointing KD as manager and DC as director of football. Those 4 players don't seem to have any future in the club after KD and DC were sacked. I think most of us fans here rate Sterling higher than JH. Stubborn AC still thinks too highly about himself and doesn't want to go to West Ham to revive his career. He rather choose to rot on the bench. For the other 3 dudes, no EPL clubs in their right frame of mind will make offer for them. So for now we shall wait and see how much money we can recoup by offloading these 4 players, if there are any takers.

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  26. It may take a while, but there will always be another Dalglish out there to relief us of our deadwood.

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  27. Carroll is desperate to prove himself at LFC because he knows that if he drops down to a relegation standard team now, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to make his way back up towards the top end of the table.

    Like George says though, there are always clubs willing to throw good money away after bad players with Premier League experience.

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  28. How many times did Downing put it on a plate to his teammates? Not that many!

    I can remember him creating maybe 2 or 3 chances where the attacker was in a position that he should've been expected to score. Far more often I remember Downing just whacking the ball into a defenders shins, or just passively laying it backwards because he doesn't have the skill to beat a defender in the final third.

    And yes, I have watched him this pre-season. He looks like pretty much the same player as last season, just featuring in a better team. You've been starved of good wing play for too long that you've forgotten what a good winger looks like, if you think that this has been good enough. And who didn't track back in our team last season anyway?? A lack of tracking back isn't what caused the abject failure of our team last season; it was the lack of quality in the final third, which Downing does nothing to improve.

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  29. All of you are RIGHT!!! about Downing and co. BUT all I'll say.. This is FOOTBALL.. Nothing is certain, anything is possible

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  30. liverpool4life56512:40 pm, August 13, 2012

    A lot of fans will disagree with you like I do, he was unlucky an he set up more than 2 or 3 lol. An course he has ability to beat defenders :). And he a good winger just needs players to put it away. We will see how many assist he gets this year an goals.

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  31. Jordan Henderson will be a top player.

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  32. A lot of fans will disagree with me, and a lot will agree - doesn't bother me one way or another.

    You can talk about luck over a game or two, but a lack of productivity over a whole season is down to more than luck. I've consistently said he will undoubtedly get more goals and assists this year than last. Let's see how many top class, match-winning performances he puts in though, which is another story altogether

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  33. looks like he's got a fight on his hands to get into the first 11 though.shelvey has impressed.rodgers has heaped praised on lucas and and allen is definitely a starter.

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  34. Downing will be starting plenty of games this season so get behind him.  I think he will have a good season for us.

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  35. Im sorry but i dont think Downing shows the potential, we expected of him? Imho i think Dalglish give him more game time than he really deserved, and in doing so Maxi and Bellamy, Sufferd because of it, and he Dalglish also didin`t play Henderson in his most leathal position on the pitch? which in turn led too some poor performances, by him? So if Downing would have been at say Man-U or City would thier managers have been so patient? I doubt it very much, so why did Dalglish? I hope if players dont perform at thier highest standards, this coming season for our great club, they dont deserve too don, the Red shirt of LFC and should be shown the door asap, no time for unpassionate players, this should be the golden rule for our great club. RedMan4Life. 

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  36. The season is long... We are competing in the amount of competitions Liverpool should be competing in! BR needs a big squad of capable players... add two or so signings to what we've got and then we're ready to go...


    Seeing big things for the young bloods Sterling, Suso, Robinson and Morgan!!!

     

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  37. After the souness debacle now its the dalglish time...Money wasted big time leaving us with piss poor players...rodgers has no choice but to play them ...and AC is causing the sale of Agger because he wont go. There is something really wrong at the club...there has been for some time. The squad is clicky, the brit players feel like they are owed more time and opportunities by virtue of being British even though they pail in comparison with the current Foreigners and what we have watched under previous managers 

    Almost every interview they kept on talking about how great it was to be at the club because of all the brits... and yes they knew(we knew)  that they would get picked because of their nationality whist better players  despite better performances sat on the bench treated like lepers

    this wouldn't be an issue if we could sell CHAD crap

    oh and another thing the youngsters pref by KD are imho quite ordinary brits to add to the numbers of average brit players trhere are in the prem. I'm talking about Flanagen,kelly,robinson etc ...where are the Gerrads/Macca/fowler quality ? 

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