Lallana: Comeback Win "Massive" For Team Confidence

A month ago today, Liverpool supporters and pundits alike were openly questioning how long Brendan Rodgers tenure would last as the Reds prepared for the Merseyside Derby. The answer, though few knew it at the time, was "One day, win, lose, or draw."

Five days later, Liverpool appointed the charismatic and successful German manager Jürgen Klopp, and suddenly everything was the best. This is not to say things have been easy for the club or manager; Liverpool played 5 matches across 3 competitions over a two-week period. The new manager has yet to taste defeat with the Reds, and has now won two matches in a row, as the club prepare for the long trek to the Russian interior. (In November! What could possibly go wrong?)

According to England international Adam Lallana, the come-from-behind win at Chelsea was a big moment for the club under the new regime, one that has filled them with confidence ahead of the match up in Kazan.

"It was a great feeling to beat Chelsea, especially off the back of the sucker punch against Southampton the week before when they got that late equalizer. We made a sloppy start and we haven't been scoring many goals recently so to come back like that and win will be massive for our confidence."

The final words of Klopp's first interview come to mind. The supporters became believers overnight. The players seem to be slowly getting there as well. A hallmark of the squad over the last year under Rodgers was the inability to fight back to overcome an early deficit. That fear was put to bed at The Bridge, as the players gradually grew into the game and started creating (and finishing!) chances. The difference was palpable to Lallana.

"You saw 11 players out there fighting for each other. You could see how much we wanted that win." Lallana followed up with the most encouraging comment of the interview, an acknowledgement that improvement is a process, one that has just begun, "It's a step in the right direction but it's important we don't get carried away. It's just one win, we're by no means there yet."

In keeping with the one game at a time, continual improvement mentality, Lallana said:

"Now we need to think about Kazan and trying to improve our situation in the Europa League. They proved at Anfield what a good side they are. We need to rise to the challenge over there to keep this unbeaten run going."

There's no rest for the weary, as Liverpool face two more challenges--away to Rubin Kazan, and home to Crystal Palace--before the international break kicks off. Regardless of the next results, the state of the club has improved drastically from the October break to the November one.