Steven Sidwell heaped praise on Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana following his cameo in the 1-1 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Reds midfielder came off the bench to score a late equaliser for Jurgen Klopp’s side to rescue a point against Man United, and Sidwell didn’t seem shocked by his ability to be a gamechanger.
Sidwell raved about the way Lallana glides around the pitch and claimed that the midfielder wasn’t just good from an attacking sense, but complimented the defensive side of his game by describing him as being strong in the tackle.
“What a talent, I mean what a talent,” said Sidwell on Liquid Football (7mins, 33seconds).
“He glides on the pitch, left foot, right foot, strong in the tackle when he wants to be, and in and around the box he gets goals, he has that bit of excitement about him.
“It goes to show that Klopp sees something in him as he has gotten rid of players over the years.”
OPINION
Sidwell couldn’t gush anymore about Lallana if he tried, as he doesn’t seem to have a bad word to say about him. The BT Sport pundit clearly is a fan of Lallana and definitely has a point by claiming that Klopp must rate him as the German boss hasn’t been scared to get rid of players over the years. Lallana has been on the fringes of Liverpool’s squad for a while, so Klopp clearly must have decided to keep him around rather than cash in on him. The 31-year-old finds himself not among the regular starters at Anfield mostly due to his horrendous bad luck with injuries. Lallana spent 31 days stuck on the sidelines due to a groin strain last season, as per Transfermarkt, and over 150 days on the sidelines in his 2017/18 campaign due to a hamstring issue. Aside from these major injuries, Lallana does seem to get little niggles that stop him featuring and as a result, Klopp has been forced to trust other players ahead of him. However the German boss knows Lallana’s talents, as he did throw him on against Man United when his side needed a boost, and it’ll be interesting to see who the midfielder is playing for next season because as it stands, his contract expires in the summer.
