Curtis Jones has raved about what he used to see from former Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana during training.
The Reds are set to be reunited with Lallana once again tomorrow, as they take on Brighton. And speaking to liverpoolfc.com ahead of the match, Jones took time out to praise his former teammate.
“First of all, what a player!” he gushed. “I first came around the team when I was 17. There was a lot of the bigger names there I’d say, or ones that were a little bit more known. Of course, Ads [Lallana] was always known, but there were the likes of Sadio, who was there and always scoring goals, Mo, of course, Firmino. But I came into training and [when] I was watching Ads, I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ It was like a joke; in fact it was joy to watch.
“Ads has been a guy around me who has always been a little bit harder on me because he’s old school a little bit. He’s always had that little bit of [a] thing where if you’ve done wrong then you’ll definitely know.
“But then at the same time when I was doing well and training well, I was doing the right things, they could see I was a kid who was trying to learn a lot of things. I was doing stuff inside the gym; I was doing stuff on the pitch. Of course, I wasn’t a shy kid, so I’d always ask questions and stuff to the lads who were more experienced and Ads was one of them. He helped me out a lot.”
A nice snapshot into exactly why Lallana was so appreciated by Jurgen Klopp during his six years at Anfield. Quality on the pitch and a real mentor off it.
Liverpool face Lallana again
It’s always ever so slightly painful listening to testimonies of Lallana’s time at Liverpool. A feeling that the 34-year-old never quite lived up to his potential still lingers.
Quite clearly, he had a huge amount of talent. That was obvious from watching him in any of the 178 games he played for Liverpool. But he just couldn’t shake off his injury troubles.
Had he managed to, perhaps Lallana would even still be at Liverpool. That wouldn’t be popular amongst fans perhaps. But if it were up to Klopp, you get the impression that his contract would have been extended.
As it was, Lallana recognised that it was time to look for a new challenge. Since leaving Anfield he has become a really important player in a pretty exceptional Brighton team.
14 Premier League appearances in 17 games this season, 10 of those starts, shows that his body is absolutely fine.
Since moving to the South Coast, Lallana has a good record when playing against Liverpool. Hopefully that won’t continue tomorrow. Brighton have plenty of players for the Reds to worry about. Their former No.20 should be included in that.
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