STILL A DAM FINE PLAYER
Klopp backs injury-cursed Lallana to regain form and fitness... and his first-team place
A YEAR ago Adam Lallana was first name on the teamsheet for both club and country.
Now the midfielder must sit on the bench at Anfield, like a kid stuck outside the sweetshop, watching the delicious fare being served up by his team-mates.
It is injury, not loss of form, which has cost Lallana his place in the Liverpool starting XI, restricting him to one Premier League start and one in the FA Cup all season.
Yet with the World Cup just three months away, Lallana knows time is fast running out in his bid to win the favour of his Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp and England manager Gareth Southgate.
The former Southampton midfielder could start against Porto tonight, with Liverpoool 5-0 up from the first leg and Klopp likely to rotate, but only a fivestar performance would make him a candidate for a start against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.
But if he has any doubts about his prospects, they were eased by Klopp, who said the Kop midfielder is indispensable, even if not an automatic choice. “Adam was an integral part of the team. And even with the competition we have, he is still important to us,” said Klopp, who added that Liverpool made a mistake in rushing Lallana back from injury too soon. “He needed more time,” he said.
“He looked fit but he wasn’t. We made a mistake. Maybe two little setbacks, not the biggest setbacks, but in and out, in and out, and that makes no sense. So now we have to take it slowly with him. He is close, though.”
With a place in the Champions League last eight all but certain, Lallana has at least 11 more games this season to press his claims for the World Cup.
He was one of Southgate’s most important players last term but a thigh injury picked up in preseason ruled him out until November.
The 29-year-old was back for the visit of Chelsea at the end of that month but then was on the sidelines again for another month.
Klopp believes Lallana is finally ready to show the form which made him an England, and Liverpool, regular.
“Of course he now has no rhythm but we still need him, we will use him,” the Reds boss (below, with Lallana) said. “He sees the quality of the team is good but he is always one of the guys to push training to the next level because he is always so intense.
“The time will come for him. He is very important to this team.” While Klopp will wrestle with the need to give Lallana games, he will also consider resting scoring sensation Mo Salah.
But he insisted the eagerlyawaited weekend game with Manchester United will have no influence on the team he names tonight.
“When I said we will not rest any players I was thinking more that we will bring the best team we can have for this game. We will bring them in for this game and not for the game after that,” he said.
“You have to show up or anything else leads to more problems.
“If you change anything it is for this game and not because we play Manchester United. You must keep momentum going.”