LIVERPOOL have had a terrific start to the season with plenty of their players attracting the praise they deserve.
There is a lot of talk about Jurgen Klopp and his decisions, whether he plays with Daniel Sturridge up top or a ‘false nine’.
But nobody has been involved in more Premier League goals so far this season than Adam Lallana. He has scored three and assisted three.
What is clear is that Liverpool have developed two very distinctive ways of playing. One with Sturridge and one without.
But in both set-ups, Lallana is key. When Sturridge is in the team — as he was in the 4-1 win over Leicester — he is an out-and-out front man . . . the centre-forward whose job is to stretch the opposition. His average touch position shows that.
And with Sturridge in the team, Lallana looks to find space and create problems in the gap between the defence and the midfield — the void the striker creates with his runs.
But when Klopp picks a team without Sturridge, such as at Spurs, that creates a vacuum through the middle for Lallana to run into.
With the 4-3-3 system there are two options.
You can play with one holder and two box-to-box players, although that in turn puts defensive responsibilities on the two runners.
Or you can play with two sitters — Klopp is using Giorginio Wijnaldum and Jordan Henderson — with a big distance between them and Lallana.
Because he has two defensive-minded midfielders, Klopp gives his attacking midfielder licence to get forward into areas where he can really hurt opposition teams. So even when the opposition win the ball, Lallana adds an extra man to the press, meaning they have four pressing rather than three. That is the key weapon in stopping the counter-attack.
Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Lallana all know that if they lose the ball then they must try to win it back within three or four seconds. The idea is that either makes the opposition go back to the keeper and stops the counter-attack, or just clear it anywhere — which means the counter has broken down, too.
Then it gives Liverpool time to retreat and regroup defensively with no weak point. And they do that really well.
Last season, even though they tried to impose the high press, teams fancied themselves to be able to bypass it by going long, especially if they had a focal point.
Just look at the games at Newcastle, West Ham and Watford last season, when the home sides could play up to Papiss Cisse, Andy Carroll or Troy Deeney.
They were able to get at Liverpool, hold the ball up for the runners to attack in behind and create real problems.
But this season, the defensive shape behind the press is different, even against a big man.
Liverpool have a defensive ‘box’ of the two centre-backs plus Wijnaldum and Henderson.
And while one full-back may push on, the other hangs back.
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If the other team try to expose the space left by the marauding full-back, Wijnaldum or Henderson are now able to go wide and fill that position.
Lallana adding to the press stops the counter and forces the opposition back, but having the two sitters means they are not as vulnerable against a physical target man.
Last season one long ball could bypass the press but the extra body protects them defensively and allows them to pick up the pieces if the ball is knocked down.
That stability is key to why Liverpool are doing so well.
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