Reports this week suggest that Liverpool have agreed a £20m deal to sign Southampton star Adam Lallana, but Saints legend Matt Le Tissier has urged the 26-year old midfielder to snub the Reds and stay at St. Marys.
According to ESPN on Sunday night:
"Adam Lallana will seal a £20 million move to Liverpool from Southampton next week.
"Despite interest from other clubs Lallana has opted to join Brendan Rodgers' side".
Last week, Lallana admitted he has a 'big decision' to make in the summer, and reiterated that he wants to 'play in the Champions League', but Le Tissier warns that it might not as straightforward as that. He told reporters:
"Liverpool will have a big squad. The question is, does he [Lallana] want to play football every week as he does at Southampton, or does he want to go and be part of a squad and probably not play every week? I chose to stay, and I was happy here"
Liverpool will inevitably sign a few more players this summer, and the chances are that one or two more midfielders/attackers will join the club, which will increase the competition for places. Lallana - recently described as 'amazing' by Mauricio Pocchetino - is practically an everpresent for Southampton, but will that be the same at Anfield?
Depending on where Rodgers plays Lallana, he will have stiff competition for his place. Steven Gerrard will almost always play (though will perhaps be rested in domestic cups), as will Daniel Sturridge, and Luis Suarez, so that leaves THREE spaces in the team to fill.
Rodgers will have to choose between Lallana, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Allen, Lucas, Suso (if he returns), plus whoever else Rodgers buys over the summer. That's potentially 7-9 players fighting for three spots in the team (!)
As a comparison: given his price tag, I'm sure Rodgers believed that Joe Allen would go on to become a first-team regular, but that hasn't happened, and now, the Welsh midfielder is basically a squad player. Could the same thing happen with Lallana, or is he too good for that?
Author: Jaimie K
According to ESPN on Sunday night:
"Adam Lallana will seal a £20 million move to Liverpool from Southampton next week.
"Despite interest from other clubs Lallana has opted to join Brendan Rodgers' side".
Last week, Lallana admitted he has a 'big decision' to make in the summer, and reiterated that he wants to 'play in the Champions League', but Le Tissier warns that it might not as straightforward as that. He told reporters:
"Liverpool will have a big squad. The question is, does he [Lallana] want to play football every week as he does at Southampton, or does he want to go and be part of a squad and probably not play every week? I chose to stay, and I was happy here"
Liverpool will inevitably sign a few more players this summer, and the chances are that one or two more midfielders/attackers will join the club, which will increase the competition for places. Lallana - recently described as 'amazing' by Mauricio Pocchetino - is practically an everpresent for Southampton, but will that be the same at Anfield?
Depending on where Rodgers plays Lallana, he will have stiff competition for his place. Steven Gerrard will almost always play (though will perhaps be rested in domestic cups), as will Daniel Sturridge, and Luis Suarez, so that leaves THREE spaces in the team to fill.
Rodgers will have to choose between Lallana, Henderson, Coutinho, Sterling, Allen, Lucas, Suso (if he returns), plus whoever else Rodgers buys over the summer. That's potentially 7-9 players fighting for three spots in the team (!)
As a comparison: given his price tag, I'm sure Rodgers believed that Joe Allen would go on to become a first-team regular, but that hasn't happened, and now, the Welsh midfielder is basically a squad player. Could the same thing happen with Lallana, or is he too good for that?
panel management
Author: Jaimie K
Le Tis is a fan of Southampton and naturally he wants to keep his best players, we can't blame him for that.
ReplyDeleteI would have liked to have seen Le Tissier playing for a top side - he was a brilliant footballer and must deep down harbour some small regret that he never went for it. Really hoping we close this deal for Lallana. Our squad looked a bit thin in the last few games and with champions league games next year we need to sign proper footballers like this guy. What price Daniel Levy pouncing before the window opens in July....
ReplyDeleteLe Tiss was a great player but an absolute moron.
ReplyDeleteWould rather go for Son Heung Min. Will make the grade and give us that extra exposure in the east, with CL we could benefit from it financially
ReplyDeleteLallana can also play along the front line so we have those players mentioned fighting for five positions rather than three. Sterling and Coutinho have already played wide forward roles and will not play twice a week when the time comes either. Unless Jaimie was talking about the three vacated positions in the team he suggests will be free during domestic cups but Lallana won't play as a controller or striker whilst others in the list won't play as a forward. So if Borini comes back and we sell Aspas and Assaidi, we will have three strikers all of whom can play another position in a front three. Sterling, Lallana and possibly Coutinho to play in the non striker positions in a front three. So that works out as two players for all three forward positions. That doesn't seem too problematic.
ReplyDeleteTruth is that a lot of teams will park the bus and more players who are tricky can help with that. I don't see this being much of an issue really.
Signs of desperation in those quotes from LeTiss but if Lallana reproduces this seasons form for LFC he'll play in & start plenty of games. Can't see Henderson losing his place becuse Gerrard needs his legs to be effective so i think Coutinho & Sterling will need to be even more consistant than they have been to keep their places. I still think that Lallana costs way too much & if the figure being banded around for Firmino is correct (17m) i can't understand signing Lallana for 25-30m!?! Shaw is much the same in that regard & i hope we sign Moreno to show everyone what a real attacking FB is all about. Also BR needs to nail down our CM setup. If Gerrard stays as our DM with Hendo around him, is Lucas going to have to adapt his game again & where does he see Allen playing if those changes are permenant?!? Regardless of whether they're squad players or not they'll need this issue sorting asap so they can get their heads down & learn their roles because it's unfair to criticise players who don't quite know where/how they fit into the side!
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the assertion that Rodgers believed Joe Allen would go on to become a first team regular based on his price tag.
ReplyDeleteWe overpaid for Allen. Everyone here knew it, and so did Rodgers. We had to overpay to get him because of our agreement with Swansea that Rodgers could not sign any of their players for a year. Even though we met his release clause, Swansea wasn't going to turn it down because they were never going to get that near value for him elsewhere.
The move to purchase him was more political. Rodgers wanted to play a certain way (tiki taka), and he needed to have someone on the team who would support that way from the outset.
Don't get me wrong... Rodgers certainly hoped that Allen would become a first team regular. But he showed that he was willing to play others ahead of Allen.
Lallana would be an excellent signing for 15m.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that 20m is too much, but the fee is inflated because he's English.
He'd be a nice player for us. Not quite sure that he's a "difference-maker" for us though.
And the question in my mind is: "Can we afford to pay 20m for quality in depth?"
Don't worry about the fee, the Everton fan doesn't want the move and Saints an to refuse all bids anyway as he has 4 years left on his contract. Your measly £ 20m is safe.
ReplyDeleteYeah because Liverpool's all about making money.
ReplyDeleteHAHA now, before I clicked on this and read the name, I already knew who the tosser was. Le Tit is a wanker. Hates Liverpool with a passion. Don't listen to that Quasimodo looking cunt, Adam, and come and joint a proper club. You know it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteLallana will be vying for a spot with Coutinho. Given his ability to play both on the wings and in a CAM role he could well seal his place in the team. Sterling won't be a regular next season if Rodgers has options (Let's face it he's still 19 and we don't want to burn him out, 20 starts max). Lucas and Allen will be bit part players as they offer nothing. Whoever we bring in to compete for Henderson's position will be key. (Boy did we miss him against Chelsea and Palace (we were tired by the 75th minute and he had that Stamina)).
ReplyDeleteMeasly £20M? If you think Lallana is worth more than that then you're as deluded as Saints owner.
ReplyDeleteHe willn't have to worry about Lucas taking a spot because if B.Rodgers has any sense Lucas will be gone because he's useless.
ReplyDeleteProbably lallana is worth that much and to compete in champions league a lot of depth is required and he is a perfect player for liverpool.
ReplyDeleteProbably wouldn't have made it at a top side in England in the 90s because he was so lazy.
ReplyDeleteYou could argue whether that was his fault for not being a great pro, or indicative of a wrong-headed culture in the Britain where we love to see people run round loads.
Would love to see us take a look at Antonio Mirante as a keeper for LFC the Parma keeper...excellent shot stopper very good with his feet and great vision playing out from the back.
ReplyDeleteThat's the thing - we and he will never know if he was up to it. When I watched him I always thought he was unfit rather than lazy if that makes sense, so I'd go with 'not being a great pro' from that point of view.
ReplyDeleteCoates made the Uruguay world cup team. Must of been playing well for Nacional. Wonder if its worth watching his world cup form before making a final decision on him. What do you guys think??
ReplyDeleteYes if that doesn't drive you away, nothing will! I'm still on the fence about bringing him back at this stage.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather Song than diame
ReplyDeleteAldo talking out of his hole as usual. Lallana is decent but not sure he's worth that much. Costa is off to Chelsea. And people seem to be forgetting that Suarez will be off to Real Madrid. So 2 strikers probably needed. I hear Torres might be available on the cheap......
ReplyDeleteI think it is a slight indictment of the Uruguay squad as a whole (he has only made the squad up to now not team). We have to remember that proportionally Uruguay have punched above their weight for a long time. A relatively small country like that perhaps shouldn't have such a reputation.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for bringing them in to the team if they play well enough. But we certainly need to do something. Too many leads were squandered this season Palace being the one that really sticks with me.
ReplyDeleteA top DM would be good too.
We are in trouble if Borini comes back. He is nowhere near up to the standard required. Would he get on the team bus at City or Chelsea? No he wouldn't unless he was the driver or bag carrier.
ReplyDeleteLucas has to go. His severe lack of pace, tendency to give away free kicks and total lack of any creativity are a major problem. Can he really be Brazilian?
ReplyDeleteStrootman is not a for the future player. He's flippin good right now. It's just that he's injured.
ReplyDeleteHow on earth does Glen Johnson made the World Cup Squad is beyond me , he is crap, he partly costs us the Title with his abject defending , good in going forward but hopeless when tracking back and his passing accurancy is non existence , BR must find another RB in new season, otherwise we are going to struggle to win the title with current defenders
ReplyDeletecoutinho?? Sterling your a nut job
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many games Aldridge has seen Diame play in last season
ReplyDeleteWat do u think lfc will buy on this summer.?
ReplyDeleteHa yeh I don't really enjoy watching them but football is football and I usually cheer on the other team ;) I think the problem is, most LFC supporters only see the games we play and then make judgements on that basis and as result they don't see all the other bad performances. I would also add Diame isn't a DM, more of a box to box player and there is absolutely no way in the world he is a better player than Henderson or even Allen. I agree we need a midfielder who can drive the team forward but I really don't see many of that type around... Toure and Ramsey are about the only two I can think of in the league.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I'm not certain in my view, just a guess.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, we can never know which is a shame for us but I'm sure he is satisfied with his career and Southampton fans certainly are.
all Im saying lets see how he performs on the biggest stage in football. We havent heard anything how his season has gone this year being on loan at Nacional but he must have done something right to be picked. Came to LFC with a big rep maybe we wrote him off too early maybe not at least BR gets a chance to see how he performs in the WC
ReplyDeleteHe is preparing a transfer request so I'm guessing you don't know what you're talking about.
ReplyDeleteWe need a Yaya Toure kind of boss
ReplyDeleteWho knows after he was jawing with fans during the game at the bridge. I don't think he wants to leave Athletico but the racists in Madrid are seemingly making his decision for him.
ReplyDeleteYou can't the start the season with a complete new defense. Disaster guaranteed. Besides that are three of your four targets totally unrealistic.
ReplyDeleteThird choice and wouldn't kick up to much of a fuss about it. Would play domestic cups and if Sunderland are anything to go by he could do a job.
ReplyDeleteFair enough.
ReplyDeletethats a weak team, new left/right back centre back, id go back in for masca for 9m SG AL left and right of the diamond 3 interchanging forwards costa all day, but i wouldn't be surprised if its not tevez from juve. Thats been whispered over here but i've got 2 friends who are born and bread Juve fans and theres credible links over there linking him with us some reckon nailed on, the masca link then sounds like something in it. him luis and Daniel upfront is scary thought. cointreau would be my LB - CB is hard so many and such a hit and miss area. We need a bigger squad so the likes of PC, JH LL DA Players linked with moves away is bollocks. They are part of the first team squad who will play a lot of games but you can not replace with the same quality how are settled in the team as its a team game not first 11. asps boreini etc will leave not some of the first team starts from this season. I know this is a dream but any day no matter the price, Ross Barclay perfect replacement for SG. he's a blue but if he's wanting to win things and progress on the best stages he can, with respect he won't do that at Everton. Too many teams above them with money i.e UTD, spurs, Arsenal, City, Chelsea and us. They had a good season with borrowed players and other teams under preforming - next season not even close to the top 6. He stays proud and goes nowhere or, he puts him ambition and career first and comes to us
ReplyDeleteIt is will become big surprise if LFC can steal Diego Costa last minute transfer window.I realy2 hope that Costa,Firmino,Cavalho and Lallana can including into LFC squad next season.
ReplyDeleteYep. A top defensive midfielder is needed to protect the defense
ReplyDeleteIf I am to be honest then I really don't know. I hope whoever they sign, they must come and add quality to the first team and take us to the next level even if its a 1m signing.
ReplyDelete