Ranking Liverpool's 2014 Transfer Window Signings on Last Season's Efforts
With Liverpool enjoying another extremely busy summer of transfers so far, manager Brendan Rodgers must be wary of the mistakes made in the market last summer—so, as a reference point, how did his signings from 2014 fare last season?
The Reds secured the signings of Rickie Lambert, Emre Can, Adam Lallana, Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Mario Balotelli, Javier Manquillo and Alberto Moreno for a combined total of £107 million, according to This is Anfield.
Here we rank Liverpool's 2014 summer signings on last season's efforts, based subjectively on impact, influence and consistency, as well as more tangible qualities such as appearances, goals and assists.
Lille striker Divock Origi also made the switch to Merseyside, in a £10 million deal, but given he stayed in Ligue for 2014/15, his efforts aren't considered here.
We kick off with the misery-laden Dejan Lovren, but who fared better last season?
8. Dejan Lovren
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Lovren's £20 million move from Southampton was heralded by Rodgers as "perfect," according to Chris Bascombe of the Telegraph.
"He is exactly what I’ve been looking for since Jamie Carragher left," he continued. "He is a dominant, No. 1 centre-half, who reads the game well, offers good guidance to the back four and the rest of the team—and shows his qualities of range of passing too."
Liverpool supporters were expecting a solid, well-rounded, accomplished centre-back worthy of his lofty price tag, but on his 2014/15 efforts, his performances with Southampton seem to have been largely down to other factors.
Out of sync with every other Liverpool defender when deployed in the back line, Lovren looked shaky, hesitant and desperate at centre-back.
After a torrid season, his position as Rodgers' No. 1 centre-back is rightly under question.
7. Mario Balotelli
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Lovren just edges the worst-signing ranking, but Mario Balotelli is a close second.
The Italian maverick joined from AC Milan in a £16 million deal and, while this always represented a gamble by the Reds, his pedigree both in the Premier League and abroad made this a transfer too promising to turn down.
Things just haven't gone Balotelli's way, however: Deployed in an unfamiliar lone-striker role, Balotelli struggled to adhere to Rodgers' high-tempo, pressing game up front.
The 24-year-old scored just three goals in 21 appearances across the league, FA Cup and in Europe last season, averaging a goal every 425 minutes.
Likely to depart this summer, Balotelli's big move to Anfield was an irrefutable mistake.
6. Rickie Lambert
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Like Balotelli, Rickie Lambert has jarred with Rodgers' system ever since his arrival; as with Balotelli, a move for Lambert may have been an oversight by the Reds.
A £4 million signing from Southampton, Lambert fulfilled a dream when he returned to his boyhood club.
But, at 33 and at the tail end of his career, Lambert could not offer quite what he would have wanted in a Liverpool shirt—though not without endeavour, Lambert's lack of pace and dynamic movement saw him flail in Rodgers' otherwise pace-driven front line.
He scored three goals in 29 appearances in the Premier League, FA Cup and Europe, but averaging a goal every 329 minutes, he can be considered slightly more successful than Balotelli.
However, like Balotelli, Lambert may have been best used as a static, creative No. 10.
5. Lazar Markovic
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Former Portugal star and Benfica director of football Rui Costa praised Liverpool's £20 million winger Lazar Markovic on his arrival on Merseyside, as relayed by Dominic King of the Mail:
"Markovic is a huge talent and I believe his speed and skills can make a difference in the Premier League. He's not a physical player, but he has the ability and the flexibility to escape defenders easily.
[...]
He's always eager to learn, so I think he will adapt himself very quickly.
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The swift transition from Benfica to Liverpool that Costa predicted hasn't quite panned out so far for Markovic, who endured a difficult first season at Anfield.
Regularly utilised out of position in a physically demanding wing-back role, this should be no surprise, and Markovic finished the season with three goals and one assist in 23 appearances across the league, FA Cup and in Europe.
At 21, and poorly managed, this could be expected—Markovic hasn't been a total failure, but he will be looking to forget his first season with the Reds.
4. Javier Manquillo
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Spanish right-back Javier Manquillo started so well at Liverpool, becoming one of the Reds' key players and arguably their best defender in 2014.
But things quickly went sour when Rodgers looked to change up his system over the turn of the year.
"Young Manqui is a good defender. He has come in, he signed a two-year loan because the first year was always going to be about adapting to the league and of course he hasn’t played as much as he probably would have liked to play," Rodgers told James Pearce of the Liverpool Echo in May.
"But a lot of that has been due to the system change. He is a good kid and hopefully he comes back in pre-season and can work well and work his way into the team."
What Manquillo, who averaged a phenomenal 3.8 tackles and 2.6 per 90 minutes in a defence-first role in the Premier League, needs to do to win Rodgers over is a mystery.
Manquillo did no wrong in 2014/15 but didn't play enough, and as such, he is ranked at No. 4 here.
3. Alberto Moreno
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Was Alberto Moreno really the third-best signing of Liverpool's 2014/15 season?
It was definitely a rough ride for the young Spanish left-back in his first campaign on Merseyside, hampered by lapses in concentration and defensive errors, but Moreno was one of Rodgers' more consistent figures.
Primarily an attacking full-back, Moreno combined well with Philippe Coutinho on the left-hand side and was an important figure in Rodgers' lauded 3-4-2-1 formation.
Toward the end of the season, Moreno developed a tenacious defensive approach, too—he won more tackles, quelled more attacks and supported his centre-backs more diligently.
He ranks above Manquillo due to performing consistently over a longer stretch of appearances.
2. Adam Lallana
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Though he played well throughout 2014/15, Adam Lallana hasn't quite lived up to his £25 million price tag—at least yet.
This has largely been down to injury problems, which the midfielder highlighted in conversation with James Riach of the Guardian this month:
"[It was] frustrating as far as injuries were concerned, especially as the season before I was available every game for Southampton. It was stop-start. Every time I felt I was picking up rhythm or Liverpool were picking up rhythm I got another knock and was out for two weeks or so.
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For example, Lallana only made 27 Premier League appearances last season, amounting to £1,395 spent per minute played.
However, in this period he scored five goals and made three assists—he was joint-fourth highest goalscorer in the league—so when he did play, he performed well.
He was one of few Liverpool signings from 2014 that can be considered a relative success, but Lallana must build on this if he is to justify his £25 million valuation in the future.
1. Emre Can
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Liverpool's best signing of 2014 was, undisputedly, £10 million Bayer Leverkusen man Emre Can.
Signed as a midfielder, deputised as a defender: Can operated with strength, composure and finesse in his first season at Anfield, whether driving out from centre-back or spraying passes from midfield.
The only area that Can struggled in was when deployed as a right-back, but across his 27 Premier League appearances last season, only one or two stand out as notably poor.
Recently, Juventus legend Pavel Nedved described Can as the one Germany U21s star he'd most like to join the Old Lady, as relayed by WhoScored's Daniel Busch, declaring: "That's very easy. It would be Emre Can. He has basically everything."
Despite the number of different roles he played in Rodgers' side in 2014/15, Can was one of Liverpool's best players, and he represents perhaps their most high-potential young talent.
Statistics via WhoScored.com.
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