Adam Lallana's new Liverpool role brings fresh battle after two years of injury hell

New lease: Adam Lallana
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
David Lynch17 July 2019

The disappointment of two consecutive injury-hit seasons might have been easier to take for Adam Lallana had they not also featured the loss of several routes to regular football.

It is a period that has seen the Englishman not only robbed of the chance to make a major impact on the field but also see his chances of doing so in the future seemingly diminish.

This disheartening process began with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shining en route to the first of Liverpool’s back-to-back Champions League final appearances.

The previous season had seen Lallana thrive playing behind a three-pronged attack but, in his absence, a fellow Southampton academy graduate brought new dynamism and goal threat to the role.

Plus, with Naby Keita lined up to join in the summer of 2018, it seemed opportunities in that particular position were going to prove extremely hard to come by going forward.

Lallana had a chance to show he could still be useful elsewhere before the end of the 2017-18 campaign - and on the biggest stage of them all.

Unfortunately, the Englishman’s attempt to stand in for the injured Mohamed Salah in Kiev only served to prove one thing: that the introduction of the raw pace he lacks out wide had been key to the leap forward Jurgen Klopp’s team had recently taken.

Things haven’t improved much in the 12 months since with Lallana having endured a number of further injury setbacks that severely reduced his playing time.

But the midfielder has emphatically rejected the narrative that he might need to move on this summer in order to put those struggles behind him.

Action Images via Reuters

When recently asked if he would be staying at Anfield for the coming campaign, he replied: "Yeah, absolutely no question about it.

"I couldn’t be happier here, winning Champions Leagues. I know my ability and I know what I can give."

And the reasons for Lallana’s certainty over his future have become much clearer in the Reds’ first two friendlies of pre-season.

During victories at both Tranmere and Bradford, the No.20 has taken on an unfamiliar holding midfield role, and to good enough effect that Klopp began drawing comparisons with Chelsea star Jorginho after the latter fixture.

While such an enthusiastic assessment may be a little hasty, there was plenty to enjoy about Lallana’s unique take on a position he will hope can offer a way back into the starting XI this term.

The 31-year-old remains one of the most natural footballers in Liverpool’s squad and, as Klopp pointed out, his ability to take the ball under pressure is well suited to a deeper role.

Liverpool squad 2019-20 | Injuries, contracts and squad numbers

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As such, should he continue to adapt well, Lallana could prove to be an important part of a squad that is set to be tested by the addition of Uefa Super Cup and Club World Cup fixtures this term.

The only downside of this reinvention is that Klopp will now face a headache in deciding which games to leave out his first choice at the base of the midfield, Fabinho.

The Brazilian is not only a certain starter in the biggest of fixtures, he is also incredibly useful at repelling the aerial bombardment favoured by smaller sides. It’s hard to see when Liverpool can ever afford to be without him.

But that is not a concern for Lallana, whose positional change has offered him the chance at an Anfield swansong as he nears the end of his contract with the club.

It is an opportunity that looked a distant dream for much of the last two years.

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