Adam Lallana Is a Late Bloomer Coming of Age for Both Liverpool and England
WEMBLEY STADIUM, London — When Jamie Redknapp made the move to Southampton in 2005, he came across a 17-year-old midfielder in the Saints' academy who, though talented, looked physically short of making the grade at first-team level. Eleven years on, Adam Lallana is working to prove the former Liverpool midfielder wrong.
"I remember Lallana as a kid when I was at Southampton. He was a good young player but a bit too nice, and you could push him off the ball," Redknapp said, per the Daily Mail.
"Now he's developing a nastiness—he is getting on the ball more and adding goals to his game for both club and country."
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Redknapp's move to the south coast came as a last-gasp jaunt at the end of a career—though roundly successful, including FA Cup (1992), League Cup (1995), Charity Shield (2001) and UEFA Super Cup (2001) honours with Liverpool—hampered by a series of knee injuries, and he lasted just six months with the Saints.
A supremely gifted midfielder, whose range of passing and spatial awareness saw him shine for Bournemouth, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and, fleetingly, Southampton, Redknapp was one of a group of English midfielders at the turn of the century whose talent was not matched by a similar level of success.
The likes of Ray Parlour, Darren Anderton and Matt Le Tissier can be considered in a similar regard for either club or country—or both in some cases—and, in Redknapp's eyes, this could be the same for Lallana.
"The challenge for him now is how good does he want to be," he continued. "Does he want to be described as just a good player or one of the best midfielders in Europe?"
But 2016/17 provides Lallana with the ideal juncture to prove Redknapp's initial assessment of 11 years ago wrong; and now 28, he looks to be capable of doing so, as he comes of age for both Liverpool and England.
In modern terms, Lallana is a late bloomer: The St Albans-born midfielder made his Premier League debut in 2012 as a 24-year-old, while his England bow came a year later.
His £25 million transfer to Liverpool in 2014 was something of a recognition of his hard graft—the move he had been working towards his whole career—and, as a result, Bournemouth, the club he was with up to the age of 12, received a £5.75 million sell-on fee for their input.
"For British players across the board there is always that premium and the value is always pushed up. We paid what we thought he was worth and would not go higher," then-Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said on Lallana's arrival, per the Daily Mail's Dominic King.
"Listen, I spoke to enough people about him and have seen enough of him, and know enough people who had seen him and played with him to know he would be a great signing for us. I have no qualms about it. He is a great boy."
However, with a lofty price tag looming over him and with the Reds competing in the Champions League in his first season after their title-challenging 2013/14 campaign, Lallana had not made it just yet.
He scored six goals and laid on four assists in 41 games in 2014/15, averaging a direct goal contribution every 296.7 minutes—or, roughly, every three games.
The same slow start can be attributed to his England career, failing to score in his first 25 outings for the Three Lions—all under former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson—tallying just two assists in those games.
Jurgen Klopp's arrival on Merseyside, just under five years after Hodgson vacated his role, served as a significant turning point for the Reds' enigmatic No. 20.
The sight of an exhausted Lallana collapsing into his new manager's arms on being substituted in Klopp's first game in charge—a 0-0 draw away to Tottenham Hotspur—served to encapsulate the working relationship the pair were to go on to enjoy.
Though their proximity as neighbours in Formby, Merseyside, has been thoroughly documented, it is Lallana's role as Klopp's on-field lieutenant that is most significant—with his form improving dramatically.
Under Klopp in 2015/16, Lallana still scored at the same rate as he did in his first season under Rodgers: He registered five goals and seven assists in 42 games, averaging a direct goal contribution every 260.8 minutes.
But there was a noticeable change, with Lallana's performance alongside Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino in last November's 4-1 victory away to Manchester City underlining this.
Lallana largely operated as a wide player in Klopp's 4-2-3-1 last season, but he has been shifted into a new role as box-to-box midfielder in a 4-3-3 this term.
This has heralded clear results, with his three goals and five assists in just 11 games boosting his average goal contribution to one every 104.4 minutes, but more noteworthy has been how Klopp has maximised Lallana's ability to press the opposition by adapting his tactical approach.
On signing Lallana, Rodgers noted how "he presses for the ball when he does not have it," while his final manager for Southampton, Mauricio Pochettino, utilises a similar high-intensity system to Klopp, meaning this is no new phenomenon for the midfielder.
But the confidence with which he executes these actions, barking orders at the likes of Coutinho, Firmino and new signing Georginio Wijnaldum, underlines a change in Lallana—a new steely edge.
Back in 2014, Pochettino attested that "there is not another player in the country like him," and finally, under interim England manager Gareth Southgate, Lallana looks capable of proving that is the case.
Against Scotland, Southgate first fielded Lallana on the left flank, but with the 28-year-old hampered by the stray movements of Wayne Rooney, he was largely nullified.
However, on switching to the right wing in the second half, he was revitalised, and he performed with the energy, tenacity and creativity that have made him so key to Klopp's Liverpool—albeit in a different role—and his excellent third-man run saw him head home England's second in a 3-0 win.
Against Spain, he operated as a No. 10 in Southgate's 4-2-3-1 formation and served as England's inspiration in the opening 25 minutes, notching his third goal in his last three games for his country from the penalty spot—with his withdrawal through a minor injury hampering the Three Lions' momentum.
This key role is likely why Lallana has advocated Southgate's appointment on a permanent basis, telling reporters before the Scotland clash that "you need stability."
In the softly spoken former Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough defender, Lallana finally has a national team manager who has genuine faith in his ability; a stark contrast to Hodgson who, despite witnessing the Reds man shine as England's only on-form player at the 2016 European Championship, culled him from his starting lineup for the last-16 clash with Iceland.
This may be because Southgate sees some of Redknapp, Anderton, Le Tissier and Parlour—players he knows well from his days in the England squad—in him.
Both Le Tissier, speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Goal), and Glenn Hoddle, writing in his column for the Mail on Sunday, have hailed Lallana as "England's best player" during the November international break, and at this stage, it is difficult to argue with the testimony of two players comparable to the skilful midfielder.
However, continuing his testimony, Hoddle issued a challenge to Lallana—one that his predecessors failed to achieve—saying the England international must find consistency in front of goal:
"At 28, he is playing the best football of his career and maybe that is because he only now believes in himself fully. He should do. He is England's best player at present.
I said at the start of the season that if he could add goals to his assists, he could join the top echelons of the game. Since then he's scored twice for England and three for Liverpool. He needs to maintain that ratio.
"
This reflects the words of Redknapp—"does he want to be described as just a good player or one of the best midfielders in Europe?"—and, given his age, this is the level Lallana should be aiming for.
Fortunately—and particularly under Klopp—this looks to be the case, with Lallana not out of place alongside the likes of Coutinho, Firmino and Sadio Mane. And with his importance growing for both club and country, he has come of age at a crucial stage in his career.
"I feel I'm as settled as I've ever been, with the way I'm playing and the team I'm playing in. I feel [Liverpool] is such a strong team and the way we play suits me down to the ground, and I'm delighted that I can be a part of that," he told Jim Lucas for the official programme for England's clash with Spain.
"I definitely come into England duty with confidence. If you're playing well and getting good results for your club, it definitely helps when you go away with your country."
Lallana's next outing for Liverpool fittingly comes at Southampton on November 19, providing the perfect opportunity to continue to cement his status as one of the Reds' most important players and one of the most in-form players at Southgate's disposal for England.
Lallana is no longer being pushed off the ball, and this new-found "nastiness" has ensured he is now hitting his stride as a top-level player.
Jack Lusby will be covering Liverpool throughout 2016/17 as one of Bleacher Report's lead correspondents. Statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt. Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Follow Jack on Twitter @jacklusby and Facebook here.
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