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Lallana: I need to be better because the team is better 

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By tlw content,
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tlw content Grand Master

tlw content

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Adam Lallana has turned to an external source as he continues to adapt to a new position. Jurgen Klopp deployed the attacking midfielder in a deeper lying position during the pre season and it is something that the veteran enjoyed.

Lallana has taken to watching footage of former Ajax starlet and current Barcelona midfielder Frenkie De Jong along with teammate Fabinho to get a better understanding of the role.

The Liverpool Echo reported Lallana as saying:

“I find it very stimulating because I get more of the ball than I have ever had in my career before.

"Sometimes as a number eight you are making decoy runs, or you are offering and you don’t get the ball.

“If you are in the ‘six’ you are centralised to the play, involved in the build-up a lot more. That is what I noticed straight away. 

“That’s where the stimulation comes from -  it feels good to be on the ball.

 

adam-lallana-liverpool-burnley-100319_u3601zochbfn10rcc46rhy1ln.jpg

Lallana said his captain suggested he look at the style of the Dutch youngster.

“I have not gone into it too deeply. Jordan (Henderson) told me I need to watch Frenkie de Jong. 

“The way he plays it, he kind of dribbles a little bit more than other sixes would, which obviously brings a bit of risk but that is in my game.

“I do watch the six more so now than what the eight does because I know that reasonably well. 

“What are their movements like? I’ve found myself focusing on Fabinho a little bit in our first games and he has played it outstandingly well.”

Lallana has played a very minimal role in this campaign, only coming on as a late substitute against Man City in the Community Shield and at home to Arsenal.

The oft-injured veteran was fit and available for selection for the first league game against Norwich but got a unwelcome shock.

“I didn’t make the squad for the first game of the season (against Norwich City) and that was a bit of an eye-opener. 

“ I didn’t see that happening. I hadn’t experienced that since I was growing up at Southampton.

“But it is a 60-game season and I look at my last couple of seasons and think just be patient, be persistent and eventually my chance will come.

The English international was honest in what has been his failings over the past few seasons and what he needs to work on.

“If I want to be part of this team, the best team in Europe, I need to keep improving and developing and that is what I have found difficult over the last two years because I have not been able to show that.

“I can’t be the same player, I need to be better because the team is better.

“If I am fit, I am sure I will contribute in a big way.”

 


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Elite Grand Master

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Well he isn't going to get any better. I feel a bit sorry for the lad to be honest, wreaks of filling the lad with false hope to make him feel better. Kind of reminds me when they told Del that Mr. Jingles would be joining the mouse circus in The Green Mile.

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 “Worry is the wrong word.

 

“Of course, you think ahead and like to plan to a degree. I love it here. But I’m not obsessing about my future. Being as fit as I can, and working as hard as I can, is at the forefront of my mind. The rest will take care of itself.

“I feel happy. I feel fit and strong. If I want to be part of this team, the best team in Europe, I need to keep improving and developing and that is what I have found difficult over the last two years because I have not been able to show that. I can’t be the same player, I need to be better because the team is better.

 

“I didn’t make the squad for the first game of the season [against Norwich City] and that was a bit of an eye-opener. I didn’t see that happening. I hadn’t experienced that since I was growing up at Southampton.

“But it is a 60-game season and I look at my last couple of seasons and think just be patient, be persistent and eventually my chance will come.

“If I am fit, I am sure I will contribute in a big way.”

 

Lallana, who signed a new contract in February 2017, has bit plagued by injury over the last 18 months and he says he has struggled to come to terms with being sidelined.

 

He added: “It got to the point where I said to the medical team to make my schedule opposite to the rest of the boys, so I didn’t need to act as if everything was ok in front of them anymore. 

“If they came in in the morning, I did afternoon sessions. I felt I was going to be back for the business end of the season [in 2018-19]: semi-finals, going for the league. The rotation for matches was there. So that was a big, big blow.

 

“There were loads of periods during last season when I was sad and angry, not at anyone in particular, just at the situation. I was continually battling to contribute, to be dependable to my team-mates because when you get injured, it is almost, not a sign of weakness, but you are not able to do your job fundamentally.

“At times, my insecurities were real. How am I going to get back into the team? I felt like I was climbing a ladder that was never-ending at times. Sometimes I was taking a step back but the team was taking two forward.”

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