Manager will continue to rotate Liverpool’s midfield options and he has more to work with now Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain appears fully up to speed
It was about an hour after the final whistle had blown at St Mary’s on Saturday that Liverpool’s players returned to their team bus, but before Adam Lallana did so, he decided to first walk towards a man and young boy standing a short distance away. Once there he embraced the former, posed for a photograph with the latter, and was all smiles throughout, which was a little remarkable given Lallana’s complete lack of involvement in the preceding contest and the fact that, in total, he has featured for only 11 minutes so far this season.
But then that has always been one of Jürgen Klopp’s many strengths as manager of the current European champions: an ability to keep all his players happy and connected to “the group”. Lallana clearly feels wanted even if he is barely used, yet that could be because the 31-year-old has been told by Klopp that he will have a part to play for
Liverpool this season as part of an ever-changing, ever-rotating midfield.