Klopp Talk: We Need Lallana

Adam Lallana, after a long and frustrating season, is fully fit again and ready for selection by Jürgen Klopp. With Liverpool still fighting to maintain their top four position, and hopefully push above Manchester United, as well as battling in the Champions League, it’s all hands on deck in the tail-end of this season.

Lallana’s only real contribution this season has been an unfortunate, violent incident while playing with the U23s — a mistake that got him banned for three games Premier League 2, but didn’t affect his standing in the first team. Klopp believes that Lallana still has a part to play for Liverpool, however, and looks forward to integrating him back into the team.

“He has a 100 per cent statistic when he starts…” Klopp joked to the official website. “He started at Burnley [and against Everton in the FA Cup] and we won! Adam had a serious injury, long-term. Then he was coming back and had two little setbacks; he was not too lucky in these situations.

“Now he is coming back and training good and getting more and more stable fitness levels. That’s good. To be honest, I would love to have six European and nine Premier League games – that would mean there are a lot of games to come. We need Adam, 100 per cent, and we will use him for sure.”

We’d all love six more European games this season, boss. Having Lallana available gives Klopp more flexibility in the middle of the pitch. And if the England man can return to the high-pressing, high-intensity performances we saw him put in last season, it might be just the boost the team needs as they head into the spring.