Adam Lallana

-----Sturridge-----
Suarez------Lallana

or

Henderson-Lallana
-----Gerrard-----

There's no way we're playing him on the wing if we're still targeting the likes of Sanchez/Markovic. He'll play as a number 10, most likely rotated with Coutinho...

Official Now

Even the official accounts for LFC are now recognising and making fun of "the lean."

25m marquee signing and thread is a ghost town

https://twitter.com/neilmeldrumecho/status/483996284588924928

This guy is some journalist from some local paper and apparently Bournemouth only get 4m which means we only paid 16m up front and the rest in add-ons  

Bournemouth chief executive Neill Blake told the club website: "The transfer fee was undisclosed which means our cut will also remain undisclosed, but it was certainly not as simple as 25 per cent of any fee which has been reported by the press over the past few weeks.

"There were lots of small sacrifices that had to be made by all parties for the deal to happen, but I think each club involved, and the player himself, can be very happy with the final outcome."

http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/11312797.AFC_Bournemouth__Blake_reveals__small_sacrifices__over_Lallana_deal/

Don't call me James wrote:25m marquee signing and thread is a ghost town

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I suppose most of us can't get "£25m excited" about him even though that's what we paid for him.

Absurd as it is, 25m isn't really "marquee" signing money in the current market anymore. Though Art's probably more accurate in this case... even for the money paid Lallana isn't a hugely exciting signing given his age and playing history.

How can I add a Poll in this thread???

Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but I suppose most of us can't get "£25m excited" about him even though that's what we paid for him.

and that too with an exciting World Cup in motion.

RedO or I can add one for you.

Oh great, please add the following

How do You Rate Lallana Signing:

#1. Dream come true
#2. Good one, expected better
#3. Good one, feared worse
#4.   

Done

RedOranje wrote:Absurd as it is, 25m isn't really "marquee" signing money in the current market anymore.

It is though. For a club like Liverpool anyway.

Lallana is now Rodgers' highest paid player, too.

I hope he is a Coutinho/Sturridge of our marquee signing...hope is a biggest tool in life, isnt it!!!!

Regarding the poll options, signing him is definitely better than most of our hopeful buys last summer, we know he is ready to perform in the PL, unlike the likes of Alberto and Aspas were. I was expecting a signing of his quality, but didn't expect it to cost £25m.

However, if he starts performing well, we will forget the price tag, like has happened with Henderson (who, I think, we considered to be too expensive initially). And the worst fear is that he's another Downing, who did well for a mid-table club but couldn't make it at a top club, and was also expensive for us.

I see that Art is another one who voted for 'dream come true'

HEIL MEIN REDS wrote:I see that Art is another one who voted for 'dream come true'

I Voted for 'good one, feared worse', with our near-nightmare'ish summer of 2013 in mind..

But really, quality wise Lallana is a signing I was expecting and am happy with it like that, just not too happy with the price as I don't think Lallana was a 'must get' player.

hmm, i was expecting at least 1 for *facepalm*

Voted for 'Good one, expected better' because that is exactly how I feel. He's a very good little player that will help us but with all the talk of getting CL to attract top quality players making him our #1 target for the summer is very underwhelming.

But really, quality wise Lallana is a signing I was expecting and am happy with it like that, just not too happy with the price as I don't think Lallana was a 'must get' player.

Problem with Lallana is that the circumstance and the price means he has to make an immediate impact. We had good last season and we are expected to match (be a title contender) or even improve upon that. Lallana has been signed with that objective in mind. Even if he has bad first season, the signing will not serve its purpose.

If Rodgers goes with the two main formations we used last season 4-3-3 and 4-4-2(diamond) his versatility is going to be very useful.





Possibly some different formations 4-2-3-1


3-5-2

3-4-1-2

The problem with Lallana's 'versatility' is that he only really is versatile in the attacking sense. He can play anywhere as an attacking midfielder or winger. He doesn't play central midfield, and when he did play in the midfield in 12/13, he was pretty awful. Maybe Rodgers sees something he can groom out of him (similar to how he has really upped Coutinho's pressing/defensive game), otherwise I think he's exclusively for offensive depth.

I'm not upset at the signing. I think it was an overpayment, and that we should be targeting better players, but he's a strong squad/depth player that should be effective if nothing else.

Tony Barrett ‏@TonyBarretTimes 4m
Adam Lallana has been ruled out for up to six weeks after suffering a knee ligament injury in training.