Been very enjoyable to watch his development here hasn't it? I basked in his signing by Brendan, but the triple whammy of Lambert, Balotelli and Benteke helped to cloud things for a good long while. He was a 50/50 player out wide for a good long while, and those targets up front, with the way we were setting up, wasn't bringing the best out of him.
He was nearly always in that number 10 spot in a 4231 at Southampton if memory serves, and it got the best out of him there. He was the man to make things happen and he often did. We had (and still have) a few number 10 types, so he was shoe-horned to the left and he found things a bit difficult, not helped when we had Balotelli or Benteke up front, especially Balotelli, tho I can't remember how many games they played together. He's at a new club, it's Liverpool, so there are extra demands and pressure, but he's also, not the main creator.
Fast forward a bit, and he gets a gig in a more central role, slightly deeper. Anyone know when he was first played there? I had a quick look at some of my own posts about Lallana, and Sep 2014, I was bemoaning the deployment of Lucas in the 'Allen role', wishing Lallana was there instead. Not a crow, I get plenty wrong, but when we buy a two footed player... especially with some of the other qualities in Lallana, I want them in the middle doing stuff. Doing all those quiet things aswell as the noticeable things... getting many more touches on the ball and knitting in.
So I think his resurgence has been down to many things... his time at the club (now far more at home), his re-deployment (which simply suits him better), better players in front of him (and to the side and behind), and Klopp of course. The change in his fitness levels has also been quite staggering. He was also taken off alot at Southampton... at the start here... 60 mins... Lallana is coming off. Now he's happy to go for about 110 minutes.
And he can get better.