Adam Lallana
Adam Lallana says he was blown away by Roberto De Zerbi’s tactical ideas. The Albion midfielder has been hailed as his teacher on the pitch by the head coach. But Lallana says he is learning a lot himself from the Italian on the training ground.
Adam Lallana said: “He is very tactical on the training pitch. There’s lot of phases of play in deep build-up, mid build-up and in the attacking third. Very structured “You’ve got to be disciplined in where he wants you and he gives you all the options. It’s nothing that I’ve experienced before in my career in how he coaches. He is very, very hands-on. Before he came in, I thought I’d had a great experience with the managers I’ve worked for. Then he enters the building and I’m blown away by his ideas and how he sees the game. It’s another string to my bow in terms of experience and just keep learning. It’s incredible to be 34 and still think you know nothing in the game.”
Albion failed to win in De Zerbi’s first five games in charge but have now put together successive victories.
Adam Lallana said: “It was a tough first three or four weeks. We didn’t win in the first five and I could just see it in his face. It wasn’t his choice that Graham left. It took a bit of time probably to get buy-in from every player because there were players who were used to doing things a bit differently under Graham and we were getting huge success doing it that way. There was a bit of a transition period and we suffered with not winning in five games. That can’t have been easy for Roberto coming to a new league, new language and not getting a win in five games. I was extremely made up for him we got back-to-back wins because it took a little bit of pressure off.”
