Liverpool FC Forum

[Reg]

From The Guardian:

Adam Lallana was again England’s best player until he went off, the key component of an aggressive and disciplined front four. Deprived of his increasingly ponderous captain, Southgate did something simple, setting up his England team to play the way the best Premier League teams play right now, pressing and harrying high up the pitch, coiling behind the ball and breaking quickly when Spain had control. There was confirmation here, too, that England have a new No10 and a new, encouragingly workmanlike point of focus. It is a mark of his slight outsider-dom that Lallana had not met Southgate properly until England’s interim manager paid a visit to Liverpool’s training ground shortly before naming the squad.

Lallana did not play in the Premier League until he was 23. It took him 26 caps to score an international goal and yet in the last year he has become, almost imperceptibly, England’s best attacking player, most convincing creative midfielder, the real grown-up in that attacking trio. Here his immaculately-groomed features were captured in full page Stalinist close-up on the cover of the match programme.

It was Lallana who produced England’s outstanding moment with nine minutes gone, conjuring a sublime piece of creative play from the right flank. Jesse Lingard won the ball by the touchline and fed Lallana. His turn was instant, the low curling pass around Iñigo Martínez a thing of beauty. Jamie Vardy took the ball around Pepe Reina and was tripped. Lallana took the penalty, burying it easily for his third goal in three games. Lallana was the best player on the pitch in those opening minutes, scarcely misplacing a touch and constantly dragging Spain’s midfield out of position, with that unusual ability to take possession on the half-turn and swivel into space.

Lallana is a rare bird in other ways, a role model for modern English players, who may well find themselves emerging at lower levels or taking a step back to go forward. Five years ago Sergio Busquets and Thiago Alcântara, Spain’s central midfield here, won the Champions League with Barcelona on this ground. At the same time Lallana was playing for Southampton in League One. England’s other scorer, Vardy, was in the Northern Premier League with FC Halifax Town.

What stands out with Lallana is his willingness to learn. In the last year he has become a Kloppist convert, buying in completely to the synchronised attacking blitz. Lallana even managed to get the lovely little passing sprite Thiago to foul him, which as it happened was the end of his match. Watching Lallana limp off the field half an hour into a meaningless friendly you feared slightly for Jürgen Klopp’s plasma screen.

[Klopptomaniac]

Any news on his injury?

[woof woof !]

Any news on his injury?

From "This is Anfield"

The in-form midfielder seemed to indicate post-match that it wasn’t a serious issue, but has reportedly aggravated a groin injury that he first suffered against Swansea City at the beginning of October.
That injury then saw him miss 12 days of training but reports on this occurrence claim it’s not so serious, meaning he’ll only miss this weekend’s game against his former club.

Although they're optimistic that he'll only miss one game it's worrying that it's an aggravation of an injury sustained just 6 weeks ago. Think that Lallana's work rate is beginning to catch up with him, the fella might be in need of a decent rest.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Definately a big blow that if Lallana misses the Southampton game, we saw how central he was to our pressing when he went off early against Swansea and also when he didn't start against United. We were poor without the ball in both games and couldnt get near the opposition.
When Jurgen talks about a pressing game it's not the centre halves or the fullbacks who do most of the donkey work it's the front 4. You only need one of those front 4 to coast a bit and then our entire pressing game/game plan falls apart.

[Reg]

So why did Liverpool release him for England duty if they knew the lad was injured?

[woof woof !]

So why did Liverpool release him for England duty if they knew the lad was injured?

You're assuming they knew he was injured Reg. Lallana himself may have felt 100%

Take this as a warning though that with our high intensity game players that suffer muscle or groin strains may need a bit more monitoring before being asked to play more than one game a week.

In Lallana's case he was asked to turn out 3 times in 9 days (  v Watford, Scotland and Spain). Not forgetting that he's still training between those games.

[redshade]

Reported PSG after him for 40mil.

[redshade]

Back in training and potentially could be back for sunday. Great news!
We need Lallana more than ever due to Couts loss.
Lallana os the heart of soul to our gegenpress.

[devaney]

Reported PSG after him for 40mil.

It's probably a load of old bollux but to be honest given his first season with Liverpool I never thought I'd see the day when Adam would be linked with the transfer fee of £40m !!

[redshade]

2 goals 1 assist. Best season for him total 6 goals 6 assists. Klopp has got the best out of him. Post match Lallana said manager has not changed much I've just bloomed late .

[parchpea]

Whatever level I think the best managers are able to find a way of utilising any player and Lallana is benefiting from being under Klopps microscope that has enabled him to play in exactly the right areas, at the right times,to maximise his output.

The criticism of Lallana was justified and fans often know better than managers when they are being short changed. We are now seeing things that should be expected and hes delivering, long may that continue.

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

Moving him back into the midfield has proved a master stroke, he can pick and choose his moments when to get forward and as a consequence it's much tougher for defenders to pick him up. Also as he said himself last night he's now arriving in the box slightly later than he used to as sort of a 'second wave' and is pouncing on a lot of loose balls from blocked crosses and the likes when our initial attacks break down.
Has to be said as well for all his flair the lad still rolls his sleeves up and puts in a hell of a shift.

[ethanr]

Moving him back into the midfield has proved a master stroke, he can pick and choose his moments when to get forward and as a consequence it's much tougher for defenders to pick him up. Also as he said himself last night he's now arriving in the box slightly later than he used to as sort of a 'second wave' and is pouncing on a lot of loose balls from blocked crosses and the likes when our initial attacks break down.
Has to be said as well for all his flair the lad still rolls his sleeves up and puts in a hell of a shift.

I think he recognizes that he's not as good as some of the players we consider the better players in the league, so he makes up for it by making sure he's the hardest working player on the pitch every time he plays. I have been saying we underrated him as Liverpool fans since he got here. Last year he started to look better and I thought that was probably his level, but this year he's proved everybody wrong.

[kazza]

As it turns out, he is not a Llama 

[redshade]

With Klopp high intensity game we should be able to get a good 2-3 years out of Lallana at his peak. Lad will be 29 nxt yr.