Well said Olly, it's far too early to be writing off Adam. He hasn't reached the peak of his career yet, and although he often found it difficult last season, I am sure Pochettino will get the best out of him in the next couple of years.
Indeed I've never had a problem with Lallana but it intrigues me to see a growing group who believe him to be a liability or 'not cut out for it' at best. Don't think he was particularly outstanding last season but wasn't terrible either, he certainly lost almost all confidence in his shooting ability which did not help him. I think he's in a similar boat to Gaston, he has plenty of natural ability (Not as much as Gaston of course) but hasn't quite honed it into an end product, and I think he can and will improve with some good game time and hopefully an early goal or two to boost his confidence.
I hope you're right, my concern is another season like the last one and Pochettino might write him off. As I said earlier, this will be a big season for him.
Lallana has been our star player for the past few years. We are now in with the big boys and he struggled to shine. No one can doubt his talent, work ethic or love for Saints...this will be an important season for him.
Well another season without really settling would be enough to not necessarily think 'get rid of him', but 'let's look to move on to other options', my concern is more that some are writing him off already. I think two seasons with plenty of appearances is a fair whack for most players, and this coming season will be an important one for many of our players.
For those of us unhappy with Lallana's contribution, don't forget that prior to our Premiership season, he was able to score into double figures 3 seasons in a row, from midfield. It may be that he had a bad season in terms of goals. It may be that he's not Premiership quality. I personally go with the first option, and I certainly think it's too early for any definitive judgements over his Premiership suitability. I think it's fair to say he never really came back to top form after his injury. Looking at the stats, Lallana got either a goal or an assist every other game until the Norwich match in late November. After returning from injury at the end of January, in 14 matches, Lallana only got 1 goal and 1 assist. Another statistic worth considering is that in the first 20 games of the season, 17 of them were in Lallana's preferred left midfield role. However, in the last 7 games of the season, he only actually played on the left twice. Also taking into account the fact that Lallana was called up to the England squad earlier on in the season, it certainly seems that he wasn't the same player after his injury. Here's hoping that he can get back to his Premiership-quality best this coming season.
Good post Birdsnest. Lallana hasn't lost his ability over night. He was not quite the same after his injury, and I hope that this season we see him being a little more effective.
Is that a bad thing? If he has another season like the one just gone then surely looking to move on is more sensible than clinging wistfully to the past?
Lallana earned an England call-up last season, remember. He trailed off in the second half of the season, but I'm pretty sure he's still good.
One of the most exciting players we've produced failing to live up to his potential? Yeah of course it would be bad.
To be fair, the England callup was early September. We can't have played a lot more than 3 or 4 games and I don't remember him being particularly good against City, Wigan, United or whoever else we played.
No ****, obviously it would be bad if he ended up crap at this level, and obviously that's not what I was referring to. I was asking if it would be a bad thing to recognise we need to look at moving on after two disappointing seasons.
Everyone is forgetting that he makes Messi look ****e. I would put money on him having a better season this year than last year. Why does everyone suddenly think one of our best players is crap!?
Don't think most people think that, but we know what we saw this season. We are all on his side and hoping it will be business as usual this season.
Adam easily has the ability to have a great season. Have always thought that he's more sensitive to a drop in confidence than other players. However, based upon the last 6 months of the season and what little I've seen in pre-season, I think Puncheon has overtaken him on all levels. May not naturally be on the same side of the pitch, but if you take it that Gaston (if he stays) will play, I think that Lallana & Punch are in direct competition with each other and currently, Jason is impressing more.
I know, I know. I agree that last season wasn't his strongest, but I think people are forgetting what a talent he is
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