The latest Adam Lallana comeback has obviously seen some rough patches. The 29-year-old Liverpool man strangled an opponent during his convalescence appearance with the U23s against Tottenham Hotspur; and the video of the incident went viral all over the world.
The 2017-18 campaign has definitely been a very difficult one for Lallana. A thigh issue suffered in the preseason forced him to miss the first four months of the season. After making his first appearance of the season November 25, he saw some limited action over the course of seven appearances, but the muscular injury flared up again.
The ex-Southampton man is in contention for tomorrow’s tilt at his former club, but only as a substitute says Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“He is for sure an option for the squad, but an option for the first XI? I would think not in the moment, but maybe I can sleep twice before we play Southampton so maybe I will change my mind on this,” Klopp said ahead of Sunday’s trip to St. Mary’s.
“We will see. He is in good shape, really quick, he looks fresh and looks good and you think ‘What can we do with him?’ but we did it twice now.”
“I don’t think it was too early when we did it, but it happened twice so we need to settle a little and then use Adam. There are still, I don’t know, hopefully 18, 19, 20 games to go for us and that’s enough for him.”
Since their epic upset win over Manchester City, Liverpool have up and down, and they cannot afford to drop many more points in what has become a very fierce battle for the top four, as they are one of five teams jockeying for the three remaining slots. They could really use a full strength Adam Lallana for the stretch run, to ensure they retain a UEFA Champions League again next year.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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