Thursday, July 17, 2014

Club of the Serbian 'Harry Potter' is open to offers

Adem Ljajic is talented, no doubt, but is he worth the £10m price tag?  Kind of yes, but ultimately no, let me explain.  Here are his stats from last season:
npgp90gcp90ccp90ap90ccv
0.280.611.830.2815.2
pass%bp%sacc%shot%TTI90
90.955.852.811.39.8
gsp90gap90gop90tgopgopd
1.830.8311.24-0.24

Not bad, but not mind-blowing.  What about the season before, his last with Fiorentina:
npgp90gcp90ccp90ap90ccv
0.561.062.440.4418.2
pass%bp%sacc%shot%TTI90
88.159.64113.39.5
gsp90gap90gop90tgopgopd
1.941.330.610.74-0.13

Overall better, he impressed with his chance created per 90 minutes as well as his chance created value.  His passing slipped in both directions though, having a lower success percentage and a higher back pass rate. In the end, he failed to leave a positive mark upon either season, having negative goals on pitch differences for both campaigns.  He improved in the areas that he can control. but it failed to translate in the areas he could not.

Roma have Miralem Pjanic and recently added Juan Iturbe, so the 22-year-old Serbian has become expendable.  Unfortunately, there is no real reason sign to him.  Yes, the pattern of his career shows that next year will be a bumper crop, but who knows how bad he'll crash the following campaign.  His inconsistency is his biggest fault.

I think it's nice that we are linked to such a talented, young player, but he's just too big of a risk.  Rodgers should only sign players who have proven themselves over a number of years, no matter the age or the league.  If Ljajic is as talented as advertised, he's still at least two years from being a Premier League star.

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