Topic: Adam Lallana

[Longwood NY]

Thought Ox was out until October/November, no?

With a ligament, it'll be into the new year before he'll be able to contribute IMO

[DanA]

Silva,De Bruyne,Gundogan,Fernandinho,Delph,Jorginho

Henderson,Milner,Wijnaldum,Lallana,Fabinho,Keita

Ox out for at least until January. So not much difference now is there?

The construction of their midfield and ours is very different. What they don't lack is creativity in the middle of the park. And apart from Ox who is injured, you only have Keita and Lallana who are capable of creating.

Not exactly bloated in that department at all.

Even if Fekir comes in, he'll be filling the Coutinho void of covering both a midfield position or a wide position.

If you add Ox and Fekir that’s two more than Man City, Grujic makes it three. And I heard November was the earliest possible return for Oxlade, I haven’t seen January.

[DanA]

With a ligament, it'll be into the new year before he'll be able to contribute IMO

It depends on the liagament and the injury. I don’t quite get how you can say it’s a liagament, it’ll be January without knowing even the most basic information.

[BER]

Just needs to get some real fitness going, what an option to have if he comes back close the player he was.

Be like a new signing.

[Gnurglan]

Silva,De Bruyne,Gundogan,Fernandinho,Delph,Jorginho

Henderson,Milner,Wijnaldum,Lallana,Fabinho,Keita

Ox out for at least until January. So not much difference now is there?

The construction of their midfield and ours is very different. What they don't lack is creativity in the middle of the park. And apart from Ox who is injured, you only have Keita and Lallana who are capable of creating.

Not exactly bloated in that department at all.

Even if Fekir comes in, he'll be filling the Coutinho void of covering both a midfield position or a wide position.

City went with Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Fernandinho and Delph last season. 5 players for CM. That's pretty much what we did too (Henderson, Milner, Wijnaldum, AOC, Can). Perhaps we could include Lallana and Coutinho as well, or at least one of them, making it 6. Point being we already have more players for the CM than them and we're adding Keita and Fabinho with Can probably leaving. If we are to improve, without changing too much of the work load, then we already have more than enough players.

I think we're aiming to add the new Coutinho (read Fekir) and what we'd do is we'd use him and Lallana both for CM roles and for a role in the front three. It is even possible that we consider a departure for Lallana as well. Not because he's lacking quality, but because of his age and because we're starting to have quite a lot of players competing for the same roles.

[CraigDS]

City went with Silva, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Fernandinho and Delph last season. 5 players for CM.

If you're going to argue about Lallana and Coutinho being midfielders for us then so was Bernardo Silva for them. Toure got 10 appearances for them in the PL too (played similar minutes to Lallana in total).

If you look at the other competitions then they played quite a few others in there as well.

[Jookie]

If you add Ox and Fekir that’s two more than Man City, Grujic makes it three. And I heard November was the earliest possible return for Oxlade, I haven’t seen January.

I think if you are including Fekir then it's fair to include Bernardo Silva from a City perspective. Personally I think he'll play a bit in midfield (or a front 4) but mainly be used in the attacking 3 positions.

With Grujic I don;t think you can count him. if so then you might as well include Foden from a City perspective.

I also think we are basically discounting AOC until the New Year. In that sense I think we are similarly stocked, numbers wise, to City in midfield.

[Red Beret]

Lallana still has a lot to offer us.  With our new midfield options slotting into place then yes perhaps his game time will be limited.  But he's still quality and you don't just throw that away lightly.  We're after strength in depth and we need some sodding silverware.  Would be mad to throw Adam away.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Lallana is not going to be sold this summer, you can forget about that all together. And some of you including Grujic as if he will play part this season?

The more quality options the better. And if you are including Fekir as a midfielder you might as well include B. Silva for them as well.

People complain about depth all year and now thst we have it all of a sudde  we are bloated, nonsense

[gary75]

Hope lallana can use his time at the world cup to regain his fitness, but we definitely need to keep him, especially if any new signings fail to hit the ground running at the start of the season.

[LincsRedbob]

He's not going to the World Cup

[sms1986]

He's not going to the World Cup

Yeah, he's one of the standby players. Hopefully a good, long pre-season and he'll be back to his best for next season.

[Roger Federer]

We don't have players similar to Lallana in the squad, he's one of few in our midfield who can take care of the ball and slow down the tempo of the game when we need it. The injuries are a concern, as he was often leading our press before, and I don't think he should be played anywhere else other than attacking midfield, but when fit he's still a very good player.

If we buy Fekir, Lallana's importance will probably be reduced, but with Keita, Fabinho, Henderson, Milner and Wijnaldum all better in more defensive roles, Lallana is our only option as the attacking midfielder until Chamberlain is fit. There is no guarantee that Fekir will adapt straight away either, so I expect that Lallana will play quite a lot at the start of the season.

[DanA]

I think if you are including Fekir then it's fair to include Bernardo Silva from a City perspective. Personally I think he'll play a bit in midfield (or a front 4) but mainly be used in the attacking 3 positions.

With Grujic I don;t think you can count him. if so then you might as well include Foden from a City perspective.

I also think we are basically discounting AOC until the New Year. In that sense I think we are similarly stocked, numbers wise, to City in midfield.

Coutinho played pretty much 50% of his time centrally and I've counted half his time.
Fekir played 90% of his time centrally for Lyon and I'm counting him as a half CM replacing Coutinho
Bernard Silva played less than 5% of his time centrally so I'm not counting him as a CM

And Foden turned 18 last week while Grujic is 22. I'd argue they are different.

[SerbianScouser]

What excites me greatly about Lallana next season is that we never got to see him with all of our front 3. He is still one of our top mids when it comes to creating space against low blocks - our front 3 are gonna benefit from having him and Keita creating that precious yard of space against teams that just want to sit on the edge of their box. If injury Gods take mercy on him our record against the dross will improve as we desperately lacked Adam's skills against them last season.

[Gods-Left-Peg]

What excites me greatly about Lallana next season is that we never got to see him with all of our front 3. He is still one of our top mids when it comes to creating space against low blocks - our front 3 are gonna benefit from having him and Keita creating that precious yard of space against teams that just want to sit on the edge of their box. If injury Gods take mercy on him our record against the dross will improve as we desperately lacked Adam's skills against them last season.

While that may be true i think our record against the bottom sides has been better this season than previous years. We struggled against the sides above us this time. Only win coming against City i think.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

While that may be true i think our record against the bottom sides has been better this season than previous years. We struggled against the sides above us this time. Only win coming against City i think.

We drew 12 times this past season out of those 12 only 4 of those were with sides from the top 6. So we still need to do better against the lower side of the table [draw with Everton, West Brom x2, Stoke, Burnley,Newcastle,Watford]

[Dench57]

Be madness to get rid of him, he's got one of the greatest songs to ever grace the Anfield songbook.

[BabuYagu]

Coutinho played pretty much 50% of his time centrally and I've counted half his time.
Fekir played 90% of his time centrally for Lyon and I'm counting him as a half CM replacing Coutinho
Bernard Silva played less than 5% of his time centrally so I'm not counting him as a CM

And Foden turned 18 last week while Grujic is 22. I'd argue they are different.

Yet Fodden played as much football if not more for them last as Ings, Solanke, Lallana, Grujic, Sturridge & Clyne. You have to count him as depth at this point.

As for Bernardo, I suspect his long term position will be that of David Silva even if he is currently only being used in forward positions for City as he is a penetration player more than a production one - like Silva. In terms of depth next season though - he can play there, he has played there, and while it's not his main position in the squad, he would certainly play there when other options aren't available. We rarely saw his there this season as two of De Bruyne, Silva and Gundogan were always available  - unlike with our midfield where we had periods where three of Ox, Gini, Can, Hendo and Lallana were all out who ate up the bulk of the minutes in there the previous season as well as the one new player who was meant to give us that depth.

[CanuckYNWA]

So i am just curious do people honestly think Lallana will still be here come the end of the transfer window? Like honestly?

Fekir, Fabinho, Keita, Oxlade, Gini, Henderson, Milner and Lallana

Thats 8 SENIOR midfielders on the books, if you honestly think we are keeping 8 you are on drugs.

3 new boys and Oxlade and Gini aren't going anywhere for obvious reasons. Henderson won't go this summer and Milner is 33 and contract ends next summer so probably wants to go for a Free next summer for a signing bonus. That leaves 1 to leave that makes sense and its Lallana and also the person who is the most injury prone.

Come to the realization that he won't be here for much longer

[sms1986]

Ox is injuted until November at least so we’ll need Lallana at least until January.

[CanuckYNWA]

Ox is injuted until November at least so we’ll need Lallana at least until January.

So Lallana who is 30 and on his way out should get minutes as a 7/8th midfielder over the Woodburn or Curtis Jones? Sure lets not give youngsters oppurtunitys in Cup games where Lallana would get minutes if any.

Stifling youngsters oppurtunitys to keep Lallana around for 5 months makes zero sense.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

So Lallana who is 30 and on his way out should get minutes as a 7/8th midfielder over the Woodburn or Curtis Jones? Sure lets not give youngsters oppurtunitys in Cup games where Lallana would get minutes if any.

So instead of building up the squad we should sell one of our experienced players ?

[CanuckYNWA]

So instead of building up the squad we should sell one of our experienced players ?

So instead of giving a path to youngsters we should keep Lallana in the team as an 8th midfielder who will get no minutes and we pay him 75-100k p/w to not play?

Great job. Name me a single team who has EIGHT senior midfielders. Thats established pros who are making 60k p/w+

Thats stupid amounts of squad depth. We play with 3 midfielders and you think we need 5 back-ups??

[sms1986]

So instead of giving a path to youngsters we should keep Lallana in the team as an 8th midfielder who will get no minutes and we pay him 75-100k p/w to not play?

Great job.

Klopp likes Lallana and will have no real intention of getting rid of him.

[CanuckYNWA]

Klopp likes Lallana and will have no real intention of getting rid of him.

Mhmmm - we will see.

[Djozer]

Klopp likes Lallana and will have no real intention of getting rid of him.

True. At the same time, I can potentially see Lallana wanting to move on at some point in the near future if he doesn't feature that much, which seems likely given the plethora of midfield options we now have. I wouldn't be looking to sell him necessarily but if he decides he wants out then I don't really think we'll have too much of a problem with it.

[Roger Federer]

We had 6 midfielders last season, but were still down to our bare bones during the last few months. We noticed it during the end of our games and couldn’t rest anyone or make subs without a significant drop off in quality.

With AOC out, we effectively have 7 midfielders going into the new season. What exactly do we gain from getting rid of one of them? Considering that 3 are completely new to the league and more importantly Klopp’s system - one of whom likely wont get a full pre season - I don’t see any upside in selling either Lallana or Milner. If all goes well, our new players adapt and AOC isn’t affected by his injury, then fine, we could probably let go of both without it hurting us much. But why now?

[Giono]

RAWK can be pretty medieval at times. With every new signing there is the inevitable search for who will be banished from the kingdom. Looks like it is Lallana’s turn to be pilloried and scorned.

[Djozer]

We had 6 midfielders last season, but were still down to our bare bones during the last few months. We noticed it during the end of our games and couldn’t rest anyone or make subs without a significant drop off in quality.

With AOC out, we effectively have 7 midfielders going into the new season. What exactly do we gain from getting rid of one of them? Considering that 3 are completely new to the league and more importantly Klopp’s system - one of whom likely wont get a full pre season - I don’t see any upside in selling either Lallana or Milner. If all goes well, our new players adapt and AOC isn’t affected by his injury, then fine, we could probably let go of both without it hurting us much. But why now?

We were, but then we had three long term injuries to midfielders at the same time. I'm not saying that's never going to happen, but it's very rare to have that amount of injuries to players who play the same position simultaneously.

I wouldn't be desperate to shift on Lallana (or anyone), but we could almost certainly cope. For what it's worth, I agree that it might be best to keep hold of everyone we currently have for next season but if one of them decides to leave or if the club decide they'd rather move one of them on to free up some wages and a squad space (I think we'll be a bit tight for the CL squad registration and someone will almost certainly have to be left off as things stand) then I reckon we'd be absolutely fine, unless we have another freakish injury crisis.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

Klopp likes Lallana and will have no real intention of getting rid of him.

I've pointed that out before and got laughed at.

Shouldn't believe all that Klopp says apparently.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

So instead of giving a path to youngsters we should keep Lallana in the team as an 8th midfielder who will get no minutes and we pay him 75-100k p/w to not play?

Great job. Name me a single team who has EIGHT senior midfielders. Thats established pros who are making 60k p/w+

Thats stupid amounts of squad depth. We play with 3 midfielders and you think we need 5 back-ups??

Yawn..

You will find many of my posts talking about giving the youngsters a chance.

Your 60k a week argument shows just how much you are living in the past.

[CanuckYNWA]

Yawn..

You will find many of my posts talking about giving the youngsters a chance.

Your 60k a week argument shows just how much you are living in the past.

Ill revisit this thread on August 10th when the window closes. You can give me all the shit you want if Lallana is still here

We will see then.

[BabuYagu]

So instead of giving a path to youngsters we should keep Lallana in the team as an 8th midfielder who will get no minutes and we pay him 75-100k p/w to not play?

Great job. Name me a single team who has EIGHT senior midfielders. Thats established pros who are making 60k p/w+

Thats stupid amounts of squad depth. We play with 3 midfielders and you think we need 5 back-ups??

Surely you are working on the flawed assumption that he is #8 of 8. When in reality he would certainly be ahead of Milner when both are fit. I cannot think of a time when Lallana has been match fit and Milner was picked ahead of him.

Then when we assess who those EIGHT midfielders are, you quickly realise that one of them is Fekir. It's a tad disingenuous to treat him as a midfielder in terms of depth when in terms of balance, he looks more likely to be a forward. And one of them is Chamberlain who may not actually be fit next season, at least not until January where midfield depth could be reviewed for the second half of the season.

So in reality the depth is Milner, Lallana, Henderson, Gini, Keita, Fabinho + Chamberlain (injured) & Fekir (forward). That seems pretty reasonable in terms of depth, no? Two #6s, two functional 8s, two creative 8s. Long term we do something about depth when Chamberlain is available.

I personally would replace Milner with Grujic there too, but I think Milner will be kept until the end of his contract. Not sure what happens with Grujic. Another loan to Premiership Cardiff?

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Ill revisit this thread on August 10th when the window closes. You can give me all the shit you want if Lallana is still here

We will see then.

I will be glad to give you shit every single time I see your name anywhere on this forum once the window closes and Lallana is still here.

Even more so when he pops in with a goal or an assist, so you can be reminded of the day you spouted shite out of your arse, but more importantly accused of others on being on drugs for thinking that he would be here [which he will be here, based on everything that Klopp has said about him since he's been here, went out of his way to praise him even when he wasn't being asked about him]

Henderson Fabinho Wijnaldum Milner

Keita Lallana Chamberlain Fekir

1. Ox is out until November, may not even be ready to play until January by the time he is fully ready to go
2. We play with 3 midfielders, all have different abilities and qualities. Lallana stands out as he is one of the few who can do what he does on the ball
3. Based on how Klopp rotated, we will have plenty of opportunities to use all of our midfielders
4. Fekir won't always play in midfield, he'll be playing in the front 3 as well
5. Last season to start the season we had Lallana,Can,Wijnaldum,Milner,Henderson,Chamberlain,Coutinho and Grujic to start the season and for most the first part of the season. That's exactly the same number of midfielders we would start with now if Fekir signs


Don't worry, you'l be reminded that you're talking out of your arse at every opportunity

[DanA]

Surely you are working on the flawed assumption that he is #8 of 8. When in reality he would certainly be ahead of Milner when both are fit. I cannot think of a time when Lallana has been match fit and Milner was picked ahead of him.

Then when we assess who those EIGHT midfielders are, you quickly realise that one of them is Fekir. It's a tad disingenuous to treat him as a midfielder in terms of depth when in terms of balance, he looks more likely to be a forward. And one of them is Chamberlain who may not actually be fit next season, at least not until January where midfield depth could be reviewed for the second half of the season.

So in reality the depth is Milner, Lallana, Henderson, Gini, Keita, Fabinho + Chamberlain (injured) & Fekir (forward). That seems pretty reasonable in terms of depth, no? Two #6s, two functional 8s, two creative 8s. Long term we do something about depth when Chamberlain is available.

I personally would replace Milner with Grujic there too, but I think Milner will be kept until the end of his contract. Not sure what happens with Grujic. Another loan to Premiership Cardiff?

1. Fabinho replacing Can
2. Henderson
3. Keita
4. Wijnaldum
5. Milner
6. Oxlade*
7. Fekir (50/50) replacing Coutinho
8. Lallana
9. Grujic
10. Woodburn

I think 6.5 senior midfielders is ideal. It's what we started with last year and we weren't short until we lost Coutinho.  To me one development guy behind them (I'd prefer Woodburn) is all we have room for. So I have one of Grujic or Woodburn gone and one of Lallana, Milner or Wijnaldum to be sold as well.  Maybe in a world cup year, with Oxlade having an LTI we can wait until January but remember we started last season with Lallana on LTI as well.  I personally think we should move on Grujic and one of the other three for squad harmony reasons.

As previously posted:
Last Season (minutes played):
DM: Henderson (3286), Can (2973)
CM: Wijnaldum (3603), Milner (2767)
AM: Oxlade (2074), Lallana(461), Coutinho* (916)         
*50% of Coutinho minutes

Happy to change the names but to me it was the right mix of numbers (prior to losing Coutinho)

[Giono]

1. Fabinho replacing Can
2. Henderson
3. Keita
4. Wijnaldum
5. Milner
6. Oxlade*
7. Fekir (50/50) replacing Coutinho
8. Lallana
9. Grujic
10. Woodburn

I think 6.5 senior midfielders is ideal. It's what we started with last year and we weren't short until we lost Coutinho.  To me one development guy behind them (I'd prefer Woodburn) is all we have room for. So I have one of Grujic or Woodburn gone and one of Lallana, Milner or Wijnaldum to be sold as well.  Maybe in a world cup year, with Oxlade having an LTI we can wait until January but remember we started last season with Lallana on LTI as well.  I personally think we should move on Grujic and one of the other three for squad harmony reasons.

As previously posted:
Last Season (minutes played):
DM: Henderson (3286), Can (2973)
CM: Wijnaldum (3603), Milner (2767)
AM: Oxlade (2074), Lallana(461), Coutinho* (916)         
*50% of Coutinho minutes

Happy to change the names but to me it was the right mix of numbers (prior to losing Coutinho)

Next summer is when there may be departures. This summer I see noth Grujic and Woodburn going out on loan. Cardiff will give Grujic PL experience. Woodburn was going to go out on loan, but was kept as a back up. He needs match time.

Milner will play out the last year of his contract in the meantime and leave next summer. Henderson could want to leave at the end of this season if he doesn’t see much match time. Lallana possibly as well.

But right now we will have 2 midfielders having to adjust to a new league and a physically demanding playing style. Fekir will need to adjust too if he even plays in midfield much. And of course the injury to Ox. We will need our senior midfielders and AMs this season.

[Fruity]

If Fekir arrives then I would imagine we would look to offload at least one midfielder. Though it's unlikely that all 3 new additions in midfield hit the ground running. Ox didn't see a great deal of game time last season till around new year. He had many sub appearances but was not really a first teamer, so I imagine it will take a fair amount of time for the transistion of any new additions. We have been pretty lucky with new players in the last couple of seasons as for the most part they have all slotted in quickly.

Currently I can't see Gini, Ox or Henderson leaving. Henderson could be at risk next season depending on how the newcomers fit in. I think the versatility of Milner would also mean he is safe for another season. So Lallana would probably be most at risk. Though due to his injury record would anyone apart from West Ham take the risk on bidding for him? Be interesting to see if any bids come in for any of our current midfield with 3 potential new additions there.

The one thing I would say is that usually in these situations, you write off a player and they suddenly become invaluable. Hopefully the new competition will make everyone raise their game and up the performance levels.

[joekim87]

Such a pity he is always injured... Can't see him getting another decent contract at another club if he has another big injury next season. Surely it's in everyone's (Lallana and the club's) interest to let him go for a decent fee this summer?

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Such a pity he is always injured... Can't see him getting another decent contract at another club if he has another big injury next season. Surely it's in everyone's (Lallana and the club's) interest to let him go for a decent fee this summer?

Fekir will also be used in the front three and Ox will be out until the end of the year, so there'll be plenty of minutes for everyone. If there's anyone who'll play much less compared to last season, I think it'll be Milner. If healthy, Lallana will play a lot both as a 8 and in the tip of midfield role, IMO.