Not out the club obviously We use Lallana mostly as a wide player, only occasionally moving him inside. He was in NA's words the best player in league 1, technical ability wise and the more I see of him, the more I think it's time we moved him into a freer role. I wonder if championship sides will be able to nullify him more easily if he is kept wide. Let's give him the freedom to go anywhere, in the same manner that we did successfully with Le God. I really think he could do some serious damage if he was allowed to wander freely and this will make it harder for teams to stop him and then Saints. He had proven statistically to be our best player over the last two seasons in terms of team results, so let's exploit that. Adam Lallana - the New Le Tissier Any thoughts?
Perfect example would be the United game. Lallana and Chamberlain were all over the place (in a good way), and made their world-class midfielders look useless. I loved that formation. Lallana and Chamberlain running at defenders from all angles looking to draw them out of position and full-backs bombing down the wings and getting crosses in. Wonderful football.
I think a fairer comparison to Lallana is Messi (The song aside). Messi plays as a second striker officially, but basically sits in a free role linking the midfield and villa, running at players when given the opportunity. We saw examples of this last season in the cup and perhaps with a full pre-season NA may look at the option of playing Lallana, Lambert & Chamberlain as a front three, could it work in the championship? Swansea are the proof that this formation with the right players is workable
I like that idea Saintly. Lallana's ability on the ball is fabulous and I just want it put to the best use possible. With Le Tiss, we had managers that sent him out to go wherever he wanted and that made it harder for a team to counter him. Could we look back in another 8-10 years and think of Lallana as another Le Tiss?
Interesting thought, but what happens when Lallana is out injured? Could we move to a plan B seamlessly or would it disrupt our play?
Lallana was injured and didn't play against United (unless you are talking about some othe United). It was Schneiderlin pulling the strings for that one.
In my opinion, Lallana wasn't really a straight winger last season. He would often cut inside from that position, and I can see him doing the same next season. Of course, at a higher level that might require a change in how the left back plays.
i agree with this, lallana will definitely fair better in a free role, think NA had to use him the way he did last year to ensure we got out of the league as its tough and alot of teams came to restrain us. with the championship being alot more open - like the cup games were - using lallana as a free role up top with lambo and chambo IMO would be a quality selection, then plan B is to revert them to the wings and stick a 2nd striker on (i.e last years formation which didnt work too bad neither) if lallana has a few more years like his last 2 then come 10 years and he has stayed with us we could indeed have a massive club icon
He could unlock even more defences from a free role. Wisescummer is right that he often cuts inside to cause problems, yet I think that better defenders will be able to counter that and a free role will be harder to stop.
Interesting point - think I tend to agree that he could do more damage down the middle - perhaps in a kind of Hoolahan role. After all, Lallana was never a winger. If we got Holmes fit, we could stick AL in central midfield, sit spiderman behind him and have Holmes and Chamberlain down the flanks....
I think he is your most important player..... and when he does not play, you seem to struggle.............and infact in the league, i dont recall you playing well at all when he was not there I think the problem that he had a few injuries last season, and your sake hope that he does not become injury prone.. very good player
He wasn't particularly injury prone before the season and he never got a horribly bad injury either. I think it was the shocking pre-season and our pushing him too fast at the start hat hurt him. Adkins will have pre-season covered. He's definately a differnce-maker for us. He has the creative flair that not many players have have that turns a good team into a great team. Messi has it, Kaka has it, Ozil has it, none of the England squad has it, which is part of the reason we're so poor. I wouldn't mention him alongsde that lot, but he does have similar qualities albeit on a different scale. I like him on the left. He's good on both feet, which makes him unpredictale. A right footed player on the left that always cuts in is predictable and very easy to defend against.
Matt's bang on in his comparison to how Lallana is the equivalent at our level to a Messi or kaka. It'll be interesting to see what impact he has at this level; scored a cracker St WBA off the bench in one of his first outings
