5 Liverpool Players Whose Stock Tumbled in the 2014/15 Premier League Season

The 2014/15 campaign was ultimately very disappointing for Liverpool and Brendan Rodgers.

Despite splashing more than £100 million on new recruits last summer, the Reds struggled to match their exploits of the previous campaign, when they went so close to winning the title.

Instead, Rodgers' side finished sixth, conceded almost the same amount of goals but scored 49 fewer in the Premier League.

Having earmarked winning a trophy as the next step in the club's progress ahead of the season, Rodgers' side lost two semi-finals and twice went out of European competition at the first hurdle.

While Rodgers has had his fair share of criticism for some baffling tactical and managerial decisions, some players have underperformed—not least the expensive signings of last summer.

Here we take a look at five Liverpool players whose stock tumbled in the 2014/15 Premier League season.

Dejan Lovren

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Signed for £20 million, Dejan Lovren was hailed by Rodgers as the leader his squad had missed since the retirement of Jamie Carragher a summer earlier.

Lovren's debut for the club was delayed due to a visa issue, which meant he couldn't join up with the rest of the squad on the pre-season tour of the United States.

After a desperately poor first season at Anfield, supporters find themselves wishing that was the case during the actual season.

Lovren's stock has plummeted due to several high-profile mistakes, with his six "defensive errors" the most committed by an outfield player in the Premier League, recorded by Squawka.

A woeful penalty miss against Besiktas in the Europa League showed his lack of confidence, while forwards such as Bobby Zamora, Dwight Gayle and Yannick Bolasie enjoyed fruitful performances against the Croat.

Liverpool would struggle to recoup even half of the £20 million they paid for Lovren—but perhaps that says more about Liverpool's willingness to pay such a large fee to Southampton for his services.

Mario Balotelli

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Another new signing who endured a miserable first season at Liverpool is Mario Balotelli. However, not all of it was his own doing.

Played in a clearly unsuitable lone-forward role for most of his appearances this season, Balotelli was often scapegoated for Liverpool's failings as a team.

Alas, no matter how Rodgers misused him, one goal in 16 Premier League appearances is a poor return for a player Liverpool paid £16 million for last summer.

While Balotelli's agent, Mino Raiola, has insisted that the Italian will remain at Anfield this summer, "Liverpool are prepared to take a substantial financial hit to offload Balotelli this summer," writes Andy Hunter of the Guardian.

Lazar Markovic

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Another expensive signing who has failed to light up the Premier League so far is Lazar Markovic—but like Balotelli, Rodgers also woefully misused the Serbian during his debut season at Liverpool.

As noted by B/R's Jack Lusby, Markovic has rarely been used in his favoured left-sided attacking role—in fact, not since his debut cameo against Manchester City last August.

The Serbian impressed as an attacking player for Benfica but Rodgers has primarily used him as a wing-back this season.

The Times' Tony Barrett recently wrote that Markovic, who was signed for £20 million, could be the "biggest casualty of the cull" at Liverpool this summer.

"Although Liverpool retain confidence in the winger’s talent, there is a concern that he may not be equipped to thrive in English football," Barrett wrote.

Daniel Sturridge

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Spending 70 per cent of the season injured, starting just 12 games out of 58 Liverpool played, Daniel Sturridge's stock dropped in 2014/15.

The England striker suffered five injuries during the campaign and underwent surgery three times, the latest procedure undertaken to correct his troublesome hip problem and will see him miss pre-season and the start of next campaign, per BBC Sport.

A year ago, Sturridge had just scored 24 goals during the most prolific season of his career to date. There are now doubts he'll ever be fit enough to hit that form again.

Jose Enrique

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Jose Enrique was hardly a player with high stock a year ago, but his stock is about as low as it can get now.

His biggest contributions to Liverpool this season came via social media.

He started just two Premier League games all season, although Rodgers, for some reason, opted to start the Spaniard in the must-win Champions League group game against FC Basel in December. He was subbed at half-time after a thoroughly awful opening 45 minutes.

A loan move to Crystal Palace was mooted in January, reported by the Telegraph, but Enrique remained at Liverpool and didn't start a game.

With a year remaining on his contract, Liverpool would be wise to let him leave on a free to at least shift his wages.