Not many players came out of Liverpool’s 2-0 defeat to Red Star Belgrade yesterday with much credit. The midfield especially came in for much criticism for its display.
Between them, Adam Lallana, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum did not win a single tackle last night.
With Milner and Wijnaldum still having some credit in the bank from previous performances this season, Lallana came in for the heaviest criticism from fans on Twitter:
Another nothing performance from Adam Lallana tonight. Hard to think of his last contribution of consequence on a football pitch. #LFC
— Nick Howson (@NickHowson) 6 November 2018
lallana in klopps fav and he was so good 2 years ago but now he is some steps behind others #lfc
— MohaMad (@mj_alaviii) 6 November 2018
Get shot of lallana in January and get aaron Ramsey ! #LFC
— Rhys Jones (@RhysJones29) 6 November 2018
'No Oxlade Chamberlain is a big problem'… we knew he was out last season and we didn't replace him. Can't have lallana replacing him. @LFC #LFC
— MagicMané (@MagicManeLFC) 6 November 2018
Lallana ran all night but no end product, the game's past him by I'm afraid. But the whole team were poor tonight, hope we tonk Fulham at the weekend and get it out of our system #lfc
— Gareth Evans (@garethe66) 6 November 2018
Dont really blame Lallana, he did all he could and tried his best tonight, problem is, his best just isn't good enough anymore…#LFC #Liverpool #REDLIV
— Liverpoolzy (@Liverpool_zy) 6 November 2018
Liverpool are worse with Adam Lallana in the side. It's not an easy point to admit, and I refuse to attribute last night's loss to his performance, but he's not the same player as he was in 2016. #LFC
— Liam Bekker (@LiamBekker) 7 November 2018
Edward needs to work hard to find Lallana's buyer in January! #LFC
— Fari Siregar (@Fari_Siregar) 7 November 2018
Lallana' next start should be against a team in the Carabao Cup…playing for another team #LFC
— Pedro J. Salazar C. (@ppedrossalazar) 7 November 2018
The lack of creativity from midfield is also a serious concern. The Reds didn’t have a shot on target until the last 20 minutes of the game yesterday. Not replacing Philippe Coutinho in the summer could come back to haunt Jurgen Klopp it seems.
However, it must be said, they coped pretty well without a number 10 in the second half of last season, with workhorses like Wijnaldum, Milner and captain Jordan Henderson forming a formidable trio at times.
With the front three not firing on all cylinders, though, it seems the need for more creativity is more urgent. A stopgap will likely be to give Xherdan Shaqiri more game time in the middle of the pitch, with perhaps a move for a playmaker in the works for January.
