Topic: Adam Lallana

[mc_red22]

It is fucking idiotic.

Plus it is a joke for fans who pay a lot to watch it.

But tennis players play the following day after marathon matches and we never complain.

What makes me laugh is the FA/Premier League threatens teams with fines when they rotate their entire team in situations like this because it's not fair on the second team you come up against, but then they continue to put clubs in a position where they feel the need to rotate so much.

[TepidT2O]

Because Adam missed a fair bit of his early career due to medical problems, he's a player that will probably remain at a high level a wee bit longer than some others...

[Funky_Gibbons]

Because Adam missed a fair bit of his early career due to medical problems, he's a player that will probably remain at a high level a wee bit longer than some others...

Yeah I agree, he hasn't clocked up those miles early in his career, plus he's never relied on pace.

[Alf]

Just read that Lallana covered the most ground of all Premier League players in both games over new year. Borini & Larsson also made the top 10 during yesterday's game.

[AshLFC]

Loving this lad at the min, fantastic and long my it continue.

[Funky_Gibbons]

Player of the month for December, four goals and two assists.

[Angelius]

The Hunter.

[rawcusk8]

Anyone else think he was so timid tonight? Nothing worked for him, he got skinned multiple times and gave it away for fun. A minor blip without a doubt and im sure he'll be back to form on Sunday.

[Fordy]

Anyone else think he was so timid tonight? Nothing worked for him, he got skinned multiple times and gave it away for fun. A minor blip without a doubt and im sure he'll be back to form on Sunday.

Was still our best player.

[007.lankyguy]

Anyone else think he was so timid tonight? Nothing worked for him, he got skinned multiple times and gave it away for fun. A minor blip without a doubt and im sure he'll be back to form on Sunday.

Big problem was him being caught on the ball more than anyone else in the team.

Not really the game for him as part of the front line though. Had to make checked runs away from goal rather than timed runs forward for the majority of the game. Needs to get back to being in a position with play in front of him.

[Kopite B205]

Was still our best player.

No he wasn't.

[ScubaSteve]

No he wasn't.

Lucas was! That's saying something

[iamnant]

Gave the ball away a lot tonight and was easily his worst performance for a long while. But that happens over the course of a season - just a shame it happened on a night when everyone else seemed to forget their footballing abilities back in Merseyside.

[Caston]

Anyone else think he was so timid tonight? Nothing worked for him, he got skinned multiple times and gave it away for fun. A minor blip without a doubt and im sure he'll be back to form on Sunday.

Yeah, second half especially

[LallanaInPyjamas]

That was his worst performance under Klopp. Perhaps in a Liverpool shirt full stop.

It should be stressed, though, that Southampton seriously targeted him as they knew our play would go through him. A player as good at keeping possession as Lallana doesn't lose the ball 11 (!) times purely via his own bad play, although there were certainly more than a few instances of that too.

He needs Coutinho back even more than Firmino does to take the playmaking pressure off him a bit.

[El Lobo]

It should be stressed that

1. Firmino is in dire form
2. Sturridge is in dire form
3. Wijnaldum could do with a rest
4. Lucas is not first team quality
5. Can is in worse than worse than dire form

I certainly wouldn't knock him for failing to carry five other players.

[Lar Salty]

He was terrible today, but I don't think it was his fault. He's at his best when we have him in the middle, facilitating the transition from defending to attacking, with pace in front of him stretching the field and creating space that he can expose. He's never been an effective player attacking from the wing. He's just too slow. He's been an absolutely brilliant central midfielder though. He provides something from that role that literally no one else in the squad is capable of providing.

It's just too easy to defend liverpool when our attack consists of Lallana, Firmino and Sturridge. It's so single speed that we can't stretch the field vertically at all.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

He was terrible today, but I don't think it was his fault. He's at his best when we have him in the middle, facilitating the transition from defending to attacking, with pace in front of him stretching the field and creating space that he can expose. He's never been an effective player attacking from the wing. He's just too slow. He's been an absolutely brilliant central midfielder though. He provides something from that role that literally no one else in the squad is capable of providing.

It's just too easy to defend liverpool when our attack consists of Lallana, Firmino and Sturridge. It's so single speed that we can't stretch the field vertically at all.

I agree, but he was even worse when he dropped back today. In the first half he was largely fine.

He just looked shattered and he was being pressed very, very quicklyz usually by Clasie. It was one of those days for him, he was due one more than anyone given he's been our most consistent player this season.

[JG6]

Terrible tonight but he's earned the right to have an off night, just hope he's back at it on Sunday.

[Binomial]

Terrible tonight but he's earned the right to have an off night, just hope he's back at it on Sunday.

He was one of the better players out there today.

Reason why he shouldn't play in front 3 is because he has no penetration. Very fancy with the twist and turns  ut then ends up going back, Origi and Mane are the players to exploit tight defences.

[Keita Success]

Definitely wasted as a winger.

[Phil M]

He was one of the better players out there today.

Reason why he shouldn't play in front 3 is because he has no penetration. Very fancy with the twist and turns but then ends up going back

About as wide of the mark as a Donald Trump tweet.

[Yorkykopite]

Very fancy with the twist and turns  ut then ends up going back, Origi and Mane are the players to exploit tight defences.

That's right. At last someone has blown his cover. He's just a Fancy Dan footballer, not really a footballer at all. More a hoola-hoop, hop-skotch sort of player. We should replace him with Micky Quinn or Steve Claridge, proper footballers with proper names and less of the twisting and turning.

[Mutton Geoff]

That's right. At last someone has blown his cover. He's just a Fancy Dan footballer, not really a footballer at all. More a hoola-hoop, hop-skotch sort of player. We should replace him with Micky Quinn or Steve Claridge, proper footballers with proper names and less of the twisting and turning.

you forgot Dirk

[newterp]

Yesterday he reverted to taking too many touches - I chalk it up to what happens sometimes when you play your former team.

[JG6]

He was one of the better players out there today.

Reason why he shouldn't play in front 3 is because he has no penetration. Very fancy with the twist and turns  ut then ends up going back, Origi and Mane are the players to exploit tight defences.

He wasn't. He, like most of his team-mates, was awful. And if you think someone as technically brilliant as Lallana can't exploit tight defences you don't watch him closely enough.

[SerbianScouser]

He needs to be moved back to CM Asap.

Our last 4 results (City, Sunderland, Soton and Utd) have been so and so but performances for the high standard we've set this season have been a bit poor. Only 1 goal from open play but more worryingly apart from the goal vs City we hardly created any good quality chances from open play.

One of the main reasons for me is pushing Lallana to the tip of the diamond and wide in 3 of those games. He needs to be moved back deeper because we've got nobody to receive passes from our CBs and then knit the play and get us going. It's why we struggled badly to move up the pitch and get to the final third swiftly and efficiently and had to resort to stupid long balls.

[newterp]

He needs to be moved back to CM Asap.

Our last 4 results (City, Sunderland, Soton and Utd) have been so and so but performances for the high standard we've set this season have been a bit poor. Only 1 goal from open play but more worryingly apart from the goal vs City we hardly created any good quality chances from open play.

One of the main reasons for me is pushing Lallana to the tip of the diamond and wide in 3 of those games. He needs to be moved back deeper because we've got nobody to receive passes from our CBs and then knit the play and get us going. It's why we struggled badly to move up the pitch and get to the final third swiftly and efficiently and had to resort to stupid long balls.

exactly what I was thinking.

[LallanaInPyjamas]

I'm certain he will be in midfield on Saturday alongside whoever doesn't start between Can and Wijnaldum tonight. Origi, Firmino and Coutinho front three.

There's simply no need for a Hendo, Can, Wijnaldum midfield against one of the two weakest sides in the division at home. I actually think it's worked quite well in big games, though, and is a template for us next season when we sign another central midfielder.

[Keita Success]

Lallana is our best player, for me.

[Souness1]

Lallana is our best player, for me.

Definitely the most important for the way we play. Talent wise, Coutinho no question.

[Bend It Like Aurelio]

He needs to be moved back to CM Asap.

Our last 4 results (City, Sunderland, Soton and Utd) have been so and so but performances for the high standard we've set this season have been a bit poor. Only 1 goal from open play but more worryingly apart from the goal vs City we hardly created any good quality chances from open play.

One of the main reasons for me is pushing Lallana to the tip of the diamond and wide in 3 of those games. He needs to be moved back deeper because we've got nobody to receive passes from our CBs and then knit the play and get us going. It's why we struggled badly to move up the pitch and get to the final third swiftly and efficiently and had to resort to stupid long balls.

That is also a function of Coutinho missing from our lineup. Origi, for all intents and purposes, acts like a target man for us, or in a more blunt way of saying, he's our out ball. You can see the difference when Coutinho was introduced into the lineup, he instantly became the missing link, coming deep to get the ball, turn, and singlehandedly dribble away from the pressure situations.

Lallana provides the same function, but he's not as good as Coutinho in that regard for me. But what he does excel over Coutinho is that his tenacity and speed when it comes to the press. It seems that we were missing that in the midfield the past few games with Jordan and him not in their usual positions. I think that more than anything is what we needed Lallana for during December. You can see how our press was a lot less effective once he moved forward. Can, honestly, isn't intelligent enough to play that game for us, even though he does have an excellent work rate.

[SerbianScouser]

Lallana provides the same function, but he's not as good as Coutinho in that regard for me.

I would slightly disagree with this. I think with Dembele and Cazorla, Lallana is the best midfielder in the league against the pressing; and that for me has been our secret this season because him and Gini were so good as pair receiving passes from our CBs and then using their amazing skills in tight spaces to turn teams round and connect our defence with final third. That is what gave us our fluidity which made us so effective in the final third.

Once we moved away from that a bit as we've seen at City and Utd games the lack of courage on the ball/technical quality at the back between Mignolet, Lovren and Henderson got exposed , we couldn't progress up the pitch our usual way so we had to resort to long balls which in effect totally ruined any chance of us playing our best football and finding rhythm in our passing.

[jooneyisdagod]

Lallana is our best player, for me.

Please. And I absolutely love Lallana btw. He's the kind of player I think sometimes Liverpool haven't quite taken a chance on in the past - technically brilliant but combined with the finest work ethic one can image. Our best player is another that does the exact same but with even more natural talent, which is none other than Magic Phil. I thought that although we were sneaking victories after his injury, our performances and chance creation looked quite poor. I think Jackward posted on the other thread that our expected goals per 90 has dropped by almost 1 since Magic Phil's injury. That simply confirms how good he's been. Lallana is superb btw and is definitely one of the best CMs in the league now.

[Giono]

Moving Lallana into Mane`s spot from midfield is a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul.

He is so important when he plays from midfield. He makes our midfield work, bringing the best out of / complimenting Gini, Hendo, Clyne and Milner.

[SerbianScouser]

Jurgen I adore you but for the love of God play Lallana in his best position.

With no Phil, Mane and Adam, Bob moved away from their best positions we moved too much away from our winning combination that got us into this good position in the first place.

[Iloveyoumamadou]

Lallana in midfield is just so crucial to this team, a similar backup has to be the top summer priority.

Games Lallana has played on the wing: Bournemouth (4-3 loss), Man City (1-0 win - not great performance), Man Unt (1-1 - ok performance but not fluid), Swansea (3-2 loss).

Games Lallana has been injured so Can has played in midfield instead: Man Unt (0-0 - struggled), Southampton (0-0 - again, couldn't score), Sunderland (2-0 win - we won but this was a frustrating performance).

Not once without Lallana in midfield have we been at our fluid best, so Jurgen insisting on not playing him there today is beyond me. I think similar things can be said for Firmino out wide (never at his best there), Can in midfield (slows everything down) and playing without Mane (no coincidence that we haven't won without him).

Our first eleven works brilliantly, but take one crucial piece out (Matip, Mane, Lallana, Coutinho) and there is no like for like replacement. The team is shifted too much and we lose cohesion, none more so than when we move Lallana out of midfield.

[mattD]

Lallana in midfield for future games please.

And for the love of god, drop Emre Can. Lallana gives us everything in midfield - seven assists already from that position, but also defensively crucial with his pressing capabilities and all round work rate. Can is sluggish, lairy in the tackle, slow on the turn, and for a big lad, is outmuscled easily.

And I haven't even got on to his woeful creative capabilities - he is not a playmaker, and our front three today were feeding off scraps.

I'm really struggling to see what Klopp thinks Can brings. He's caused nothing but harm to the team and surely now it is time for an imposing figure in midfield again - namely, Lallana.

[007.lankyguy]

Our positional play takes a dramatic drop when he's part of the front three as opposed to supporting the front three. A key element of our best performances earlier in the season was his movement in helping to overload one side (usually the right). That, combined with Firmino's lateral movement off the front, meant that we were either able to combine incisively and get in behind or, if we lost possession, press with four or five players around the ball, supported by Henderson behind. Because the full backs were high up the pitch we could then keep the pressure up or switch it to Coutinho who now had space because of the way the opposition would end up shifting.

Right now, that's gone out the window and it's no coincidence that not only has our combination play deteriorated but we're also not able to keep the pressure on in the same way either because we don't have as many players around the ball to press.

Moving him back has got to be a priority now.

[markmywords]

Klopp is a genius, but he is not perfect

I think he puts too high a priority on being able to press high up the pitch, so players like sturridge and origi are left on the bench, so we can have lallana upfront, chasing the opposition's fullback, just before the fullback launches it upfield anyway

I don't think we should be picking forward players primarily based on their ability to chase and harry.  Lallana is tremendous in midfield, but there are fullbacks in league 2 that would fancy their chances to keep lallana quiet in a front 3