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Liverpool have announced the signing of Adam Lallana from Southampton . The fee has been reported to be in the range of £23m-25m as per different reports. The reported fee has been the subject of intense discussion on social media and fan sites. The popular opinion suggests that Lallana is a good player who would fit well in Brendan Rodgers’ style of football.
History
Adam Lallana has been at Southampton since 2000 after he got transferred from Bournemouth. He has scored 60 goals for Southampton in 265 appearances in all competitions. He plied his trade in the lower leagues before Southampton got promoted to the English Premier League in 2012. He has scored 12 goals and contributed 11 assists in 71 appearances in the Premier League. He has been captain of Southampton since 2012 and made his international debut last year, appearing 8 times for the national team.
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Position and Style of Football
The style of football Southampton have adopted has caught the attention quite a few teams. The Saints had the highest possession of the ball in the Premier League last season. Southampton adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation for most parts in the last two seasons in the Premier League. Lallana played on both the wings as well as behind the striker.
Liverpool modified their style over the last two seasons and adopted a possession based style at the start of last season. Over the course of two seasons, they have evolved their style and have used a mixture of direct counter-attacking football as well as a possession based game. A constant feature has been the high pressing game adopted in the opposition half.
In the second half of last season, the Reds used the 4-3-3 formation and 4-3-1-2 formation (diamond) with Steven Gerrard playing just in front of the defence. Assuming Liverpool adopt a formation similar to the later parts of last season, Lallana could play in the number 10 role or on either flank. There have been suggestions that he could play as one of the two shuttlers in a diamond formation. However, compared to Southampton, he won’t have the luxury of having two holding midfielders behind him. So he would need to show a tactical understanding to adapt to the new formation.
Comparision with existing Liverpool players
Lallana would most likely be fighting with the likes of Sterling and Coutinho for spots in the starting lineup.
| Parameter | Lallana | Coutinho | Sterling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goals (per 90 minutes) | 0.26 | 0.19 | 0.37 |
| Shooting Accuracy | 58% | 38% | 67% |
| Assists (per 90 minutes) | 0.15 | 0.27 | 0.20 |
| Key Passes (per 90 minutes) | 1.84 | 2.21 | 1.87 |
| Dribbles (per game) | 1.8 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| Interceptions (per game) | 1 | 0.5 | 0.6 |
| Pass Success | 85% | 81% | 82% |
In terms of creativity, Coutinho was miles ahead of Lallana and Sterling last season. Coutinho and Sterling had the likes of Suarez and Sturridge to convert their chances, while Lallana had Lambert and Rodriguez. So Coutinho and Sterling were likely to have better movement and finishing ahead of them.
Sterling was the best attacker last season among the three although Lallana performed better than Coutinho. Defensively, Lallana was able to intercept almost twice as many balls as both Sterling and Coutinho. And Lallana was the better passer among the three.
Lallana’s defensive contribution and ball interception has been marked as a strength stastically by WhoScored. Adding to his defensive contribution has been his flexibility and goal scoring form which has caught the eye of Brendan Rodgers. This should suit him quite well as Liverpool need players who press the ball high up the field. His work rate was superb last season as he covered almost 256 miles on the field last season – more than Jordan Henderson.
Consistency and Price Tag
Lallana’s statistics have been quite impressive for the last season. However, in his first season in the Premier League, he did not have a great season in terms of assists and goals. He scored only 3 goals and contributed to 5 assists in 2012-13 compared to 9 goals and 6 assists last season. His goal scoring form has been quite consistent in the lower divisions with 34 goals scored in 3 seasons. There will be doubts whether Lallana can replicate last season’s performances at Liverpool this term.
His price seems quite high for a player who has had one good season in the Premier League and a few good seasons in the lower divisions of England. English players are usually overpriced. Liverpool have paid the premium to buy English talent in recent years. In the past few years, players at Liverpool have suffered under the burden of heavy price tags. The likes of Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll flopped while Jordan Henderson found his feet in the Premier League after a couple of seasons. Daniel Sturridge has been an exception, being a sensational hit right from the start of his career at Liverpool.
Would Lallana be a success at Liverpool? Only time will tell. But he would have to cope with the high expectations and the pressure of being a big money signing. There are no doubts about his ability, but to replicate his performances at the bigger stage will be his biggest challenge.
