Lallana Shows LFC Patience is Key

Adam Lallana couldn’t have made his debut for Liverpool under more difficult circumstances.

Having just returned from an injury that kept him out for 6 weeks – the remainder of pre-season plus the first 3 weeks  of the season – Lallana made his debut against Aston Villa at Anfield lacking match fitness and having to bed into a team that had already lost other key players to injury, as well as its own identity. Sturridge’s injury and its impact on the team has been well-documented, but Joe Allen’s has hit harder than expected.

The Welshman was responsible for dictating the pace and flow of the game, helping Gerrard at the back as well as linking the midfield with the attack. Lallana had to slot into a midfield that was missing all these things, and with the added injury to Emre Can it meant even more importance was placed on him than ever. With fellow new signings Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic and Rickie Lambert all struggling to settle into a team forced to blood more new players than it wanted, Lallana also struggled to keep up and influence games.

The debut went as well as you’d expect, and the £25m man from Southampton spent the next few games against FC Ludogorets, West Ham and FC Basel working on getting his match fitness back to an acceptable level and trying to gel within a team that was still figuring each other out. We picked up 3 points out of a possible 9, and while Lallana did make a small level of impact when coming on against Basel, it still wasn’t enough.

However against West Brom, the last game before the international break, something clicked. Lallana’s fitness had returned and he seemed to have found his confidence. While the rest of his team mates (Henderson aside) slumped back into the dull patterns of recent games after starting brightly, Lallana was the only one keeping everything afloat.

His work rate was phenomenal, constantly tracking back and getting his team out of trouble with convincing tackles and clever interceptions. When on the ball he repeatedly made a conscious effort to drive the play forward, something Liverpool have been lacking somewhat in recent weeks. His opening goal was spectacular. It required tricky footwork, an impressive level of understanding with Henderson, as the two participated in a 1-2 movement to take the ball past one defender, and then with one touch Lallana took the ball away from the covering centre back and created space for himself as well asa crucial few seconds to line up his shot.

Of course, the shot itself was excellent – it had to be to beat Foster from that angle – but that intelligence and confidence required to give him that sight on goal is something our forwards have seriously lacked since Sturridge and Allen got injured.

It took some time, but finally Lallana is showing that he might just have the quality to be an important player for Liverpool. That is why patience is key; imagine if Rodgers had dropped him after three games? Rather than disappoint, Lallana instead has given us a bit of hope going into the international break.

It’s not like we didn’t need it.

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