I can't be the only one on here to have seen the various starlets going through the exit door and fearing that Adam would eventually be one of them. I had wondered why he hadn't gone, but Steve Bruce answered a question when he said that he tried to get him to leave Saints in 2007, but Adam didn't want to go. And I think that is essentially it. There haven't been that many enquiries for Lallana over the years simply because he's made it plain from early in his career that he doesn't want to go, plus he wants to stay at Saints for as long as the club will have him. I think he said something about being grateful for all the work the club had put into his career and that he loved being part of the club. That's real loyalty. Almost unheard of these days.
The Lowe quote about Malcolm Elias and Huw Jennings was interesting. I hope we're still pillaging all the regional academy sides. The game is the game.
I remember when Oxlaide-Chamberlain left. The rest of the world still hadn't woken up to how good Lallana was at that point. I don't think anyone was overly upset when Ox left but we would have been gutted if it had been Lallana as even then he was the key figure in the team. Most 'outsiders' seem to thunk that his recent good form has come out of the blue, but we know that he's been preforming at an exceptionally high level for years.
‘I can see similarities, especially with the loyalty he’s shown,’ said Le Tissier. ‘But I’m sure he works a bit harder than I did.’
Joking aside, Tiss is right, he's much more a Gazza type of player than a Tiss type. But as we all know he's a Lallana!
Yeah, of course he's right. Adam is the most skilful player at Saints since Matty, but he's a Gazza type rather than a Le Tiss type because he works hard, tackles, tracks back and defends and Gazza put in the shift as well. Off the top of my head, and although it's the wrong position, Berbatov is the closest I think of, in terms of work rate, compared to Matty, although I think Matt probably worked harder than him. Also, there's no doubt that Matty had more skill in his weaker foot than most great players had/have in their stronger one. He was a total 100% genius footballer, and you tend to let those players get away with doing what they want. If they want to better themselves you get a Messi. If they don't at all you get a Robin Friday. Sadly for Matt, he qualified to play for England, which meant it was never going to happen, big time. He would have got a hat full of caps [if that's possible] representing any other country.
This is such a great point, and I have been saying it for ages. Losing Chambo didn't really effect our promotion push. If Adam had gone then I doubt we would have gone up at the first time of asking. It took him a while to adapt to the premier league (and even longer due to his injuries), but now he has there is no stopping him. His first touch is one of the best I've ever seen, his crossing, long and short passing is great and he works hard. He has all the attributes of a great attacking midfielder. The one thing he needs to add to be considered amongst the best is his shooting, but that seems to be improving this season as his confidence improves. One massive negative is how little he is on soccer Am show boat... I can think of countless times in the championship and league one where he should have been on there! Even last season he barely got a mention on it!
The Daily Mail has seen the error of its ways and is now on the bus? Wonder what has made Adam step up a level this season, if you think back to last season a lot on here were questioning his place in the side and talking about him as a fringe player. Is it the inflluence of a new manager, adjusting to the rigors of the premiership or the team around him? Whatever it is, I'm lovin it.
Another great article http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/nov/12/england-grassroots-southampton-youth-academy
All i remember last year was a lobsided argument as to why Adam and Gaston weren't doing as well as expected and Gaston virtually always was given the nod (by fans) because of 'settling in'. Personally I think it was clear early on that Lallana was the man for the position and definitely we saw that away at Old Trafford last season when that swap let us swarm all over ManU. I think if he had then held that position down for the rest of the season we would have had more confidence this preseason. Its great he's there now and bring on all the garbage 'moneybucks FC and AFC megdollars are lining up a gazillion rubels offer for Lallana' so we can laugh at that as well.
I don't know, but I was definitely among those questioning him. I don't know what made him off-colour last season but this season, he's back to what we saw in L1 and the Championship, but against Premier League defenders. It's brilliant.
He was a bit off his usual standards last season, but the step up was probably a shock to a few. He may have tried too hard....after all you can't win a game on your own. A few players added, extra confidence in the team and longer with the manager, preseason brainwashing (I mean training) has made a difference. Everyone at the club has a spring in their step...and these latest call ups have helped. P.s. Remember that Mauricio is learning about the team and the league as well.
Also, he's been clear of injury this season which is a big point. As well as having the continuity he's also a lot fitter.
I always remember that first goal he scored for us after coming off the bench when we avoided relegation and snatched an equaliser against Champions to be West Brom. He looked a good prospect then. He also started the Championship well 11/12, he was outstanding against Leeds then he lost his way a bit with a few injuries - a bit like Ramsey who was exceptional at Cardiff and before breaking his leg.
His lack of pace is why Lallana was not snapped up to our benefit and another example of the problems of the rigidity of many academies and scouts.
