Adam Lallana – A look back on his Liverpool career

After impressing for Southampton and earning himself a call-up to the England squad during the 2013/14 season, as well as being awarded Southampton Player of the Year and named in the PFA Team of Year, Liverpool expressed their interest in the attacking midfielder in the 2014 summer transfer window.

Following long, drawn-out negotiations, 26 year old Lallana was signed by Brendan Rodgers to bring an added level of attacking flair to the Premier League runners-up the previous season and was named a Liverpool player on 1 July 2014, for a reported fee of £25 million.

On 25 July, it was announced that Lallana had sustained a knee injury and would miss the start of the campaign, something that would be a recurring theme during his Liverpool career.

Lallana finally made his debut for the reds on 10 September in a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.

After making his debut and nailing down a place in the Liverpool first XI, Lallana impressed during the 2014/15 season and went on to make a total of 41 appearances in all competitions, scoring 6 goals along the way.

Two of which came in one of Lallana’s finest performances in a 4-1 win against Swansea City.

At the end of the 2014/15 season, Liverpool were unable to reach the heights of the previous season, finishing an underwhelming 6th in the Premier League.

However, Lallana was named in the Football Manager Team of Decade for consistently high-level performances during his Southampton and Liverpool tenure.

The 2015/16 season could be argued as Lallana’s best in a Liverpool shirt, although suffering from two injuries that kept him out for 7 games throughout the season, at a peak age of 27 he was showing the world why Liverpool paid such a high price for the England midfielder, appearing 49 times, scoring 7 and providing plenty of creativity in midfield.

This season, however, saw an end to Rodgers’ reign as Liverpool manager after a poor start to the campaign, who was replaced by the charismatic German manager, Jurgen Klopp, who proved a popular signing among Liverpool fans.

The highlight of this season etched in Liverpool fans memory was a Lallana injury time winning goal in a 5-4 away win against Norwich City, remembered fondly for the passionate celebrations that resulted in Jurgen Klopp having his glasses broken from a flailing Christian Benteke arm.

Liverpool finished the season in 8th but fans got to see a glimpse of the high-pressing philosophy Klopp was implementing which resulted in a first league cup final since their 2012 win under Sir Kenny Dalglish.

Liverpool went on to lose that final to Manchester City, which would see Lallana miss a penalty during the shoot-out.

However, impressive individual performances saw Lallana named England Player of the Year.

With a new manager in place, overseeing his first full season in charge, Liverpool recruited Sadio Mane from Southampton, Lallana’s boyhood club, and Georginio Wijnaldum from Newcastle.

Two signings that would prove to suit Klopp’s high-pressing style and would revitalise a flat Liverpool team.

The 2016/17 season saw Lallana blighted by three separate injuries but also provided some key moments for the midfielder.

Lallana scored in the season opener in a 4-3 win away at Arsenal, he scored twice in a 3-0 win against Middlesbrough, as well as scoring on the final day of the season in another 3-0 win against Middlesbrough that secured Liverpool UEFA Champions League qualification for the first time in three years.

Lallana provided his best goal return during the 16/17 campaign, ending with 8 goals from 35 appearances for the reds.

That summer, Klopp signed Mohammed Salah, an exciting winger from Roma, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Arsenal who was keen to prove his worth and Andy Robertson, a relatively unknown left-back from Hull City.

With the departure of key player Philippe Coutinho and keen to show he deserves a place in the team, Lallana sustained a groin strain during a pre-season game in the Audi cup final against Spanish side Atlético Madrid.

He wouldn’t see Premier League action until mid-November, coming on as a 89th minute substitute.

The England midfielder made several appearances for Liverpool that season, mostly off the bench as he continued to struggle with injury, after sustaining another hamstring injury during a substitute appearance against Crystal Palace.

Lallana managed to return before season close on 13th May against Brighton Hove & Albion after replacing Sadio Mane in the 74th minute.

A game Liverpool comfortably won 4-0, securing UEFA Champions League qualification for a second consecutive season.

Although only finishing in 4th place in the Premier League, Liverpool, who had added Virgil Van Dijk to the squad in the January transfer window, qualified for the UEFA Champions League final in Kiev against reigning champions Real Madrid.

Lallana replaced Mohammed Salah in the 31st minute, who sustained a collar bone fracture after a tussle with centre-back Sergio Ramos.

With the loss of Salah, who had racked up a record breaking 44 goals in all competitions and the addition of Lallana who had only played a handful of games that season without scoring, Liverpool lacked a real goal scoring threat.

The game ended in a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid after two bad mistakes from goalkeeper Loris Karius and a wonder goal by Welshman Gareth Bale, with no reply from the Liverpool attackers.

The 2018 summer transfer window saw the arrivals of midfielders Fabinho and Naby Keita for a combined transer fee of £98 million, and Brazilian goalkeeper Allison Becker for a reported £65 million.

With competition for a place in midfield consisting of Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner, and newcomers, Fabinho and Naby Keita, Lallana was unable to make a real case for a place in the starting XI after struggling with another groin strain at the start of the campaign.

His chances in the team were limited all season, only making 13 appearances with no goals.

Liverpool however, who were playing some of the best football in the world during the campaign, pushed Manchester City right to the last game of the season.

The season ended in Liverpool recording their best ever points total in a season with 97 points but were unfortunately beaten to the title by one point.

Not all was lost however, as Liverpool were able to make the UEFA Champions League final for a second consecutive season.

They were able to overcome a stubborn Tottenham Hotspur side, winning the tie 2-0, providing Lallana with his first medal in a Liverpool shirt, though being an unused substitute in the game.

In the 2019/20 season, Lallana again struggled to hold down a regular place in the team, even finding substitute appearances a rarity, though most notably he came on away at Old Trafford.

1-0 down against Manchester United and Liverpool needing a goal, Lallana was called upon and had a chance to get on the end of an Andy Robertson cross to slot it in an open goal five minutes from time securing the draw.

This maintained Liverpool’s blistering start to the campaign that saw them post a record breaking 61 points from 63.

Liverpool continued their form into the New Year, remaining unbeaten in the Premier League for 44 games, almost matching Arsenal’s “Invincibles” team’s record 49 games unbeaten.

Unprecedented times in the world caused all football to cease until further notice with the COVID-19 pandemic causing all sporting events to be postponed from February 2020.

Liverpool, 25 points clear at the top of the table, were two wins away from winning the silverware Liverpool fans craved the most before the lockdown and did not know whether the season would be declared null-and-void or whether they would be able to restart.

Alas, eventually the restart was announced, albeit behind closed doors.

Following the restart, with Manchester City losing to local rivals Manchester United and Chelsea, Liverpool were eventually crowned Premier League champions.

Lallana finally got his hands on a Premier League winners medal and will go down in history with a special Liverpool team, one that is still at the beginning of an incredible journey (at the time of writing).

Although Lallana has struggled with injury and competition for places has made game time hard to come by in the last few years of his Liverpool career, there is no doubt that his six years at the club will be remembered fondly by Liverpool fans around the world.

With social media what it is these days, it has given us an insight into life at Melwood and it appears his infectious personality and team player mentality has undoubtedly had a massive contribution to the long term success of this team.

As one of the few who has been around to be part of and contribute to the success of Klopp’s reign from the beginning, he has helped build the foundations for success at Anfield and paved the way for a new crop of exciting, young, attacking players to come through.

The 2019/20 Liverpool squad will go down in history as one of the best ever for ending the 30 year wait to lift the Premier league trophy and Lallana leaves Liverpool with four medals (Premier League, UEFA Champions League, Super Cup, World Club Cup)…not a bad Liverpool career.