Lallana revels in Reds’ new identity
ADAM LALLANA is in an upstairs boardroom at Melwood discussing life at Liverpool when his flow is interrupted by a knock on a glass door that leads out onto a balcony.
In peers the imposing figure of Jurgen Klopp, his expression as stern as his demands to come.
“Ask him if he knows when Spurs start pre-season training,” says the Liverpool manager, putting the midfielder on the spot. “I asked him and he said July 1.”
“I thought you were being serious,” offers Lallana by way of explanation.
Klopp, having dissolved into laughter by now, shoots back: “Are you crazy?!”
The link with Tottenham is a running joke between the pair. Klopp’s admiration for the midfielder is matched by that of Mauricio Pochettino, who worked with Lallana at Southampton and would welcome him with open arms in North London if given any encouragement.
Lallana is not inclined to push for a reunion with the man he hoped would win the Premier League title, though he is justified in pointing out the irony in how persistent speculation is now perceived.
“It is going to be very difficult, I am sure Pochettino knows that,” he said. “I’m really enjoying my football under this manager, the way he wants to play, and getting to two cup finals.
“I am at a massive club here. It is definitely just speculation. It was only last season that people might have read I was leaving and thought, ‘Yes, let’s get him out’.”
Klopp is not the only one proving adept at turning doubters into believers.
When Liverpool confront Sevilla in the Europa League final tomorrow, Lallana will be to the fore: running, ‘gegenpressing’, linking play, offering a threat.
He was described by his manager as the team’s “hunter” after the semi-final win over Villarreal and is integral, whereas before the German’s arrival he would have been regarded in some quarters as ineffective.
Yet seven goals compared to six last term shows the transformation is not that of Lallana, but a club that has fallen dutifully under Klopp’s spell.
“He doesn’t ask anything more of me than he does the other players,” said the midfielder included in Roy Hodgson’s preliminary England squad for Euro 2016.
“He demands 100 per cent. He doesn’t do passive. That is a word he uses a lot. He says if you defend passive there is no point in playing.
“You are entitled to make a mistake and he accepts you will have a bad game, but he really won’t be happy if you are not giving it your all.
“He was screaming at me during the Chelsea game last week to be honest, but he screams so much on the day of a game that you’ve got to take it with a pinch of salt really.
“You definitely can’t take it personally, that’s just him. He was shouting at me to be more compact.
“The worst thing you can do in that situation is gesture, ‘What do you mean?’ or dismiss it.
“The best thing is to just nod your head, even if you don’t understand what he’s saying.
“I made the mistake of saying I couldn’t hear him away at Leicester and that didn’t help.
“His traits bring the best out of a lot of players. He doesn’t get too angry. He’s more disappointed we
‘I am really enjoying my football, the way we play’