Will Rickie Lambert be successful at Liverpool?

England striker Rickie Lambert has struggled for first team action since his summer switch to Liverpool

For so long Rickie Lambert was a big part of Southampton’s revival. The striker helped the Saints from League One to an eighth place finish in the Premier League last season.

Then unexpectedly the veteran striker had an opportunity to join childhood heroes Liverpool this summer.

Despite his loyalty to the Saints, the 32-year-old could not turn down the chance to fulfil his dream of playing for the Reds.

Disappointed

Lambert has not had many opportunities to impress this season so far, but captained the Reds in their extraordinary third round Capital One Cup tie against Middlesbrough on Tuesday night, where the Reds won 14-13 on penalties after the game had finished 2-2 after normal and extra-time.

Lambert was disappointed by his performance at Anfield. Talking about the game and being named captain Lambert told Sky Sports: “I wasn’t expecting it, and it was a great honour to lead the team. It was a nice surprise,”

“But forgetting about that, it was a strange game. I wasn’t happy with my own performance, so that overshadowed the honour of being captain a little bit.

“I didn’t feel as sharp as I want to feel. That’s the main thing I want to look at going back into training.

“I want to get my match fitness up because obviously everyone knows I’m not playing every game so I have to adapt myself now. I think I’m going to have to do more so my fitness is up to the same level as everybody else.

“I do work, push myself to the limit, but maybe I am going to have to go to the fitness coach and see if I can do more.”

Older

At 32 it may not be as easy for Lambert to stay fully-fit as it was when he was slightly younger. It is obvious that he wants to make the most of his opportunity at Liverpool, but feels he is not as fit as some of his teammates, which is no surprise considering a lot of them are younger than the veteran striker.

Competition

Rickie Lambert has established himself as a very intelligent top-flight striker in the past few seasons. He is capable of scoring and creating goals and has good vision. However at Liverpool he faces some major competition for a starting role in the Reds team.

Luis Suarez’s departure to Barcelona meant that Liverpool essentially only had England international Daniel Sturridge and the former-Saints frontman. It looked like Lambert was signed to give Liverpool an extra dimension to their attack, a more physical presence up front.

Liverpool decided to increase their attacking options by paying AC Milan £16million for former-Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli. The controversial striker jumped straight ahead of Lambert in the striking pecking order.

Balotelli gives the Reds that physical presence that Lambert was brought in to supply. The controversial striker was always likely to be a regular for the Reds after his move considering his goal scoring record and reputation.

Lambert has struggled to gain much playing time so far this season. The striker has come off the bench in four of Liverpool’s five Premier League games this season, but those four appearances had amounted to just 63 minutes on the pitch.

For those four appearances Lambert has just one assist, which is not really that surprising considering the lack of time he has spent on the pitch. Even with England teammate Sturridge injured in the last few weeks the former-Rochdale forward has not really saw much more first team action.

Risk

Lambert knew when he joined the Reds that he was never going to be guaranteed regular first team action, but the move was just too big for him to turn down. He was released by the Reds in his teen years and wants to prove he is good enough to play for the Merseysider’s.

Lambert took a long time to get to the top level of football and he was finally fulfilling his potential at Southampton. His performances at Southampton were enough to earn him an international call-up and he has been a regular in England squads, including the Three Lions ill-fated World Cup squad.

Derby

This weekend Lambert could fulfil another dream by appearing for Liverpool in a Merseyside derby against arch-rivals Everton. However, with Sturridge set to return from injury and Balotelli likely to start ahead of him for the clash, Lambert is likely to be starting the match on the substitute’s bench.

Maybe the derby could be Lambert’s chance to kick-start his Liverpool career, because at the moment the striker’s time at Anfield so far has been disappointing.

Will Rickie Lambert be successful at Liverpool?