Charlie Adam sums up Liverpool in one word, says Nunez can learn from Suarez, thinks Bellingham is ‘too expensive’ for Reds and talks potential Tierney exit

In an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes: Fanzone, former Liverpool midfielder Charlie Adam discusses what’s gone wrong with the Reds, Darwin Nunez, Jude Bellingham, Kieran Tierney and appearing on Peter Crouch’s podcast.

Click on the link for part one in which he talks about Arsenal, the north London derby, Richarlison and Aaron Ramsdale.

Inconsistency hitting Reds hard

You can sum up Liverpool’s season in one word: inconsistent. That’s it. We see spells here and there, and it’s a team I can never back against, because, like Man City, they’re more than capable of putting together a run or seven or eight wins in a row, so I still believe they’ll be right up there challenging for those top-four spots come the end of the season.

Something’s just not going right for them at the moment, and they’ve not been helped at all by the amount of players they’ve had in and out of the squad with injuries.

They’ll recruit in this window, I’ve no doubt about it. There’s so much pressure on this side right now, and that’s always going to be the case when you’re playing for a club like Liverpool. They’ve been so successful over the past few years, that a bad few weeks stick out like a sore thumb and pressure mounts.

I don’t think there’s one area in particular that you could identify as the main problem. Individuals simply haven’t played well enough for a period of time. Mo Salah hasn’t played well, Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn’t played well, we’ve seen problems in midfield. People often talk about the replacements needed throughout the squad, but you need the funds to be made available for you to do that. I’ve no doubt the manager and the board will be trying as hard as they possibly can to get players in the building during this window, but they’ve got to be right for the club.

Is Jurgen Klopp’s position under pressure? No, not one single bit. Maybe from the outside, because we all know how the world of social media works, and supporters might not accept what they’re seeing from the team at the moment. But inside that building, I don’t think there’s any pressure on him whatsoever. He’s earned the right to have a bit of a tough time and be trusted to get through it. What he’s done to that football club since his arrival is exceptional. He’s taken it to a completely new level. What a job he’s done.

It’s the battle of the inconsistent teams at Anfield this weekend, but I’d never back against Liverpool at home, so I’m going to go with them to beat Chelsea 2-1. It’s going to be a tough game for both teams. Form isn’t great for either side right now, and you can probably expect their new signing to be involved at some point, but I think Liverpool win 2-1.

Darwin Nunez can learn from Suarez’s impact at Liverpool

We all keep talking about the midfield, and that those starters are getting a little bit older and there’s a need for reinforcements. But the standard of players you’re looking at if you’re Liverpool right now don’t come along very often.

I think Cody Gakpo has come in fairly cheaply. I think that’s a good piece of business from the club. Darwin Nunez wasn’t cheap, and so of course there’s a lot of pressure and huge expectation on his shoulders, and these things don’t always work out straight away. That’s not to say he isn’t going to be a success, though… sometimes it just takes a little while for these players to come in and settle.

There are glimpses of a top, top player in there when it comes to Nunez. But we’re also talking about a side who lost Sadio Mane in the summer and they’re still trying to get used to life without him. They brought in Luis Diaz and now he’s injured, so they’ve been very unlucky on that front.

I had one season at Liverpool with Luis Suarez, and by the time I joined the club, he’d had that bedding in period as he joined from Ajax in the January, whereas I moved in the summer. He scored a couple of goals between January and the end of the season but there wasn’t a great deal of pressure on him in that time, and we all know the career he went on to go and carve out for himself at Liverpool.

Luis worked ever so hard every single day in training. He trained like he was playing in a proper match – he was aggressive, he wanted to score goals and wanted to be the winner. That’s how Nunez needs to think, and he needs his team-mates and the coaches to help get the best out of him on a day-to-day basis in training, and they’ll see how that pays off when it comes to matchday.

It took Luis a good four or five months of being at the football club to understand what it meant to play there, learn the history, meet the supporters and get used to this new life in a different country. Nunez will do the same; it takes time when you’re coming from a different country, a different culture and a different background, especially when you’re joining a club the size of Liverpool, as their number nine and dealing with all of the pressure that comes with that.

I have no doubt that Darwin Nunez will eventually become a top striker for Liverpool.

Jude Bellingham would be too expensive for Liverpool

You might want to go out and get a new midfielder, but you have to be cautious you’re not just going out and spending money for the sake of spending money. The owners, and Jurgen, have done a great job. They’re building a new stand, and that’s a big financial hit. So much has been done and so much money has been spent off the pitch, with the new training ground and one eye on the future of the club. The owners have said they’re looking for a sale, and they’ll be leaving Liverpool Football Club in a much better place than it was when they bought it.

Given how the club operates when it comes to recruitment, you’d look at someone like a Mykhailo Mudryk and say straight away that he’d have been too expensive for Liverpool. So, with that in mind, despite the rumours, you’d have to say at the moment Jude Bellingham would be too expensive as well.

But if you want to go and hang your hat on a Jude Bellingham, then you’ve got to bite the bullet and go out and get him. He’s a terrific young player, improving year in, year out. He’s a standout player for Dortmund and he showcased his talent on an international stage in Qatar.

There’s no doubt a whole host of big clubs will be coming in for him in the summer. It’s up to him to make the right choice. I’m certain Liverpool will be in that conversation, but given their current approach to transfers and the price tag that’s currently on Jude Bellingham’s head, the club will have to accept he’s not going to come cheap, if that’s who they really want.

Plenty of clubs would be looking at Kieran Tierney if he wanted to leave Arsenal

There’s no doubt Andy Robertson is the best Scottish player in the Premier League right now. Despite where Liverpool are sat in the table, what he’s achieved in English football so far has been incredible. You talk about somebody with setbacks, and where they started their career versus where they are today, his journey has been incredible. He’s absolutely the best Scottish player in the league.

Kieran Tierney is in a good place at Arsenal – even though Oleksandr Zinchenko seems to have taken over that starting spot at left-back. But Kieran’s had a couple of injuries, so you’ve got to factor that in, and his manager clearly likes him; he’s still getting plenty of opportunities to get out on the pitch.

There’s no doubt that he’s going to go on to become a top left-back for Arsenal. You know, I even saw he was linked with Manchester City in the summer. A lot of clubs would be looking at Kieran Tierney if he was thinking about leaving Arsenal, I’m sure of that. I just don’t think he’d want to leave. I think he’s in a really good place and he just has to be patient and wait for his opportunity to get back into that starting line-up week in, week out.

Hitting a midge’s d*ck from 30 yards for That Peter Crouch Podcast

Peter Crouch has done unbelievably well since retiring, hasn’t he? He’s on everything! Fair play to him, he’s brilliant on his podcast and he was always going to be brilliant at whatever he stepped into next because of the character he is.

You’d never know what he’s achieved in his career because there’s just no arrogance in him whatsoever, he’s just a humble person… a great guy.

There’s always life after football, and it’s something you’ve got to think about. You want to work, you want to be successful in your work because you’ve had that gene in you all your life. Crouchy wants to go out there and graft, and be the best that he can be. At the moment, the podcast is flying. He’s selling out arenas and stuff like that. You’ve got to take your hat off to him. He’s a great person and was always brilliant to have in the dressing room, as you can imagine.

Obviously I made an appearance on the podcast late last year, that came about by Crouchy just messaging me asking if I fancied getting involved in a little bit for the podcast. Absolutely I did; listen, it was a bit of a laugh, it was all good. I was just worried about the people living in these big mansions in London overlooking us, seeing me smashing balls at a midge’s d*ck in the middle of the park. I found that part a bit mad.

But it was great to get involved in, it was good fun. Statman Dave’s the guy who they’re hanging up in the air dressed as a midge. All he kept saying to me was “how’ve I ended up here?”

They’re a great bunch of lads; their podcast is going really well and I’m happy for all of them.