The Return Of Adam Lallana Could Be A Turning Point Of The Season For Liverpool

The Return Of Adam Lallana Could Be A Turning Point Of The Season For Liverpool
15:38, 17 Nov 2017

Liverpool’s troubles, of which there have been many so far this season, have come at the back. In fact, the Reds’ defensive issues have been so grave it has become something of a cliche - Arsenal always try and walk it in, Stoke City are direct and Liverpool have a dodgy defence. 

Indeed, Jurgen Klopp’s side is grossly imbalanced. They boast one of the most potent attacking lines in the European game, with the quartet of Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino as dangerous as any other in the Premier League. That’s where there are at their best.

So it would seem peculiar to place too much significance on the return of Adam Lallana from injury. The England international has been sidelined up until now this season, but is expected to be nearing a return to the first team fold over the next few weeks. But where does he fit into the Liverpool side following the addition of Salah in the summer?

Of course, some will rightly point out that Lallana’s recovery comes at the right time for the Reds, with Mane sustaining an injury while on international duty with Senegal. But there’s more to it than that. Lallana, despite being an inherently attacking player, could help solve some of the problems Liverpool have experienced at the back.

Without Lallana, players like Emre Can, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum have been asked to fulfil both defensive and attacking responsibilities. Henderson is perhaps the only one of the three who can do that, and so Liverpool’s midfield has lacked presence so far this season. This is where Lallana can prove useful.

He too isn’t particularly adept at combining both the defensive and the attacking side of the game. But Klopp can use Lallana as an out and out attacking midfielder alongside Coutinho, pushing Can and Henderson closer to the halfway line, where they will be required to stay put for the most part. That way, by establishing something of a barrier, Liverpool might come close to shoring up their defensive line. 

“He is a very important player for us,” said Klopp after Lallana signed a new contract with the Anfield club earlier in the year. “For me, it was clear we had to try everything to keep a player like him.” And yet Lallana, for some, is still a squad player for Liverpool. Even Klopp errs on the side of this opinion, going on his comments this week.

“Adam being fit gives us an option, and he’ll know he has to fight to win his place back,” he replied in response to a question over his place in the Liverpool side. “He’s been injured far too much and it’s unfortunate, but he’ll be under no illusions he has more of a fight than ever to hold down a place in this midfield.”

It’s certainly true that Klopp has options in the middle of the pitch. Coutinho is more of a match-winner than Lallana. Henderson is more of a box-to-box type and Wijnaldum is more of a Swiss Army knife. But the re-introduction of Lallana into the lineup might give the Liverpool midfield more of a purpose, and that could in turn recalibrate the Reds’ defence.

Many have predicted that the injury suffered by Mane last week could prove to be a watershed moment in Liverpool’s season, a negative one. But the return of Lallana from injury could be just as significant a watershed, a positive one in a way that isn’t immediately obvious.

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