Darren Bent has questioned Jurgen Klopp’s use of Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana after the 2-1 win against Aston Villa.
The Sky Sports pundit admitted he was baffled that the England international was utilised as a holding midfielder at Villa Park, especially given that he is more suited to an attacking role for the Reds.
Bent believed it was an odd decision, with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, and Naby Keita all more suited to the more-defensive role in the heart of midfield.
“It’s an odd role,” he told Football Insider.
“I really like when Lallana is playing wide or playing in the No.10 role as he has quality and two really good feet, I really don’t like him defensively playing there.
“As I think Liverpool have some really good players in there, Fabinho, Naby Keita and even Jordan Henderson if he is asked to play there so I think Lallana playing as a deep midfield holding player…I don’t think that’s his role.”
Lallana was handed a rare start in the 2-1 victory and was replaced in the final 10 minutes by another fringe player in Keita.
OPINION
It is a strange decision to play Lallana in the deeper role but Klopp will have a reason behind it. He will have been expecting to dominate possession against Villa on Saturday, so to have a player such as the former Southampton man in a role where everything goes through him could have definitely have suited him perfectly. The only question marks around him in there is the fact that he can be caught out off the ball – something that Arsenal really exploited in the Carabao Cup. Lallana looked helpless trying to defend certain waves of counter-attacks from the Gunners, and that was one of the reasons they eventually scored five. It was somewhat of an experiment playing Lallana deeper in the Premier League, and it’s something that won’t be seen very often this season. Bent is right to question it, and he proved against Manchester United that he is better in pockets of space in the final third as he can really start to effect games more directly.
