Mauricio Pochettino has left for Tottenham Hotspurs, with
players such as Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana being heavily linked with moves away
from St Marys. The move, though, for Rickie Lambert, suits all parties
concerned.
Lambert, a childhood Liverpool
fan, is 32 years old and so has a limited shelf life at the highest level. He
is unlikely to get another chance to play in the Champions League and so must
take this opportunity.
As a child it would have been his dream to play at Anfield
on a big European night, so you can hardly begrudge him this move.
Those sceptical of the move can argue that he will not play regularly;
he will be the third choice striker behind Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Though, with such a small squad and playing in
four competitions next season, Lambert will have a role to play for Liverpool .
That role could be a vital one. With Gerrard unlikely to
feature in every fixture, Liverpool need a set
piece specialist as skilful. In fact Lambert is a superior penalty taker and so
will offer that option.
He also offers a different style to Sturridge and Suarez.
With his sheer physical presence, aerial ability and holding up skills Liverpool can look to him to be a target when they need
to be more direct.
When in Europe there will be times when Liverpool
will go through periods with little possession and chance will be few and far
between. Lambert is the sort of player who can muscle his way to half chances
from nowhere.
His lack of European experience could be counted against
him. Lambert has never played in a European competition and has only a handful
of caps for England .
Though, in his brief England
career, he has proven to be more than adept.
Lambert scoring on debut in a 3-2 win against Scotland at Wembley
For Southampton , the player
does not have much shelf life left. He has been synonymous with Southampton ’s rise from Championship relegation to a top
ten Premier League finish, but his time is limited. It is the right time to
cash in on the England
international.
It is a very difficult time for Southampton
at the moment and if they are not careful all the hard work over the last five
years could be for nothing. With Pochettino leaving and other players looking
to move on it is going to be interesting to see whether or not Southampton can stay in the division.
It may seem quite brash to suggest a team finishing eighth face
a relegation battle. With many first team players expected to exit it will be
difficult to replace them and build the same sort of team chemistry that Southampton possess with the current squad.
Even though the Southampton
are losing are good player they are right to take the money.
