Adam Lallana has probably endured his most difficult couple of seasons to date, but that may all be turning around for the England midfielder.
Jurgen Klopp seems to like Lallana, our boss often includes him in the match day squad. The midfielder delivered a top performance against Burnley, before impressing again when the Reds beat Fulham.
“When there are setbacks you are like, ‘Come on, there will be better times’, but the boys have to go through a lot of darker days pretty much alone with their families and friends,” he told Liverpoolfc.com. “You cannot change it. There is no alternative to rehab.
“But a player with the ability and skills of Adam Lallana is a pure joy to watch when the fitness level is increasing and he is back on the pitch.
“It is clicking for him again. His attitude was always incredible, so why should I doubt him? Only the football world outside make a player old too early. I don’t think like that.
“Adam is in a wonderful age group and, when he is fit, he is a fantastic player. That is the only thing I was waiting for. You cannot force that.
“You can only appreciate it when he is back and we showed that against Burnley. We had a full week to train for that game and Adam was the standout player in training that week, so go for it.
“Every player has to know that we really watch and judge training. And if possible, we show that we saw it. In that case it was important, not just for Adam but for the rest of the squad as well.”
With the decision to walk away from the Nabil Fekir deal, Liverpool’s midfield was crying out for a creative midfielder before the return of Lallana.
Naby Keita hasn’t hit the ground running and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a devastating injury at the tail end of last season, it’s easy to see why Klopp is so happy to have his number 20 back.