My annoyance with Lallana is that he seems to play well when we as a team play well. He's not really the type of player who will often grab the game by the scruff of the neck and do something and he's even less likely to do so against the better teams (into his third year here now and he's scored against City and Arsenal in the league, many of his goals come against teams in the middle or near the bottom of the table). That's a compliment to him in some ways, because he's got that bit of trickery and two-footedness to break a deadlock, but equally many of his goals come in 4 or 5 nil wins. But he's been talked about as a leader for us and comes out with lots of fighting talk, yet during a pretty difficult 2017 for us so far he's contributed nil offensively and hasn't stepped up to the plate when we've had Mane away for a few games, when Coutinho has been struggling for form and Firmino has been hit and miss.
I understand his primary role isn't to score or assist as he's being deployed deeper but he's got it quite cushy in my opinion. You cite his 7 goals and assists from earlier in the season to highlight his contribution, yet when those dry up when we need them most he's always going to receive credit for his hard work and industry. He's our creative hub from that deeper position and he currently isn't creating much. Klopp adores him and I can see why, I just think people forget that he's one of the senior players at approaching 29 and he has the ability to be a matchwinner and do more when we need him, and in recent months we have done.
I have nothing against Adam. He's an important member of our squad, he works himself into the ground for us and the manager loves him. He can do more for us when we need him to, not just when the collective is firing on all cylinders.
When Mane was away, we had Lallana playing in that position instead, and he's not no where near effective, and we failed to maintain the run we had before Mane's absence. Our midfield falls apart when he's not playing, there is no other player in the squad that can do what he does in midfield.
What player can take the game by the scruff of the neck and change it on his own in midfield? Other than Gerrard, we've had no players like that in midfield in the last 20 years, and there aren't many players like that. If he was like that, he'd be a world class player, but he isn't, he's a good player who is a key part to the way this team functions.
The entire team struggled massively, not many players came out looking well during that run. Mane imo is our POTY, and he's behind him, because when he's not playing, when he hasn't played in midfield for whatever reason, our midfield cant' function and without it functioning we can't play well enough in the attacking third. It's a vital role and only is appreciated when he isn't playing.
