“I remember the team meeting before we set off for the ground on that day”, Lallana said to The Telegraph.
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“It was just the passion of his words that got to us, and the comparison he made of football to normal life, the idea of getting the win and feeling good about what you’ve achieved”. Liverpool have won six of their last seven matches in all competitions. “If he’s got something to say you can hear him – he always shouts out tactics and [is] always encouraging players to run faster and put more effort into the game”. To be able to grind out that win was really important.
In another boost for Liverpool, captain Jordan Henderson and forward Daniel Sturridge returned from injury off the bench in the 1-0 win over Swansea City on Monday (AEDT).
They add much-needed quality to a squad ahead of a busy period which could prove to be very profitable for Liverpool prior to a big-game double-header against Arsenal and Manchester United in mid-January.
“It is massive. They are two top players and any team in the league would miss them, it is great they are back”, Milner said.
Koeman opted to introduce more attacking threat in the second half, with Shane Long and James Ward-Prowse coming on in place of Cedric Soares and Jordy Clasie.
“You see suspensions and injuries taking hold and teams losing and gaining form”.
“It is a great time to be involved at the club”. What we did previous year was fantastic but it was qualification in Europa League and it’s not a trophy or a title.
Southampton play Liverpool in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals tonight but Koeman has said they will have to change their transfer policy, by spending big to replace the players that they will seemingly inevitably lose, if they want to regularly challenge for trophies.
Having Gerrard around the group, even if it’s only for a month or so, might help remind them of that identity and dynamism that is necessary to wear the shirt bearing the Liver Bird. We are one game away from the semi-finals and then a shot at Wembley.
Of course just the satisfaction of putting one over on the Anfield outfit, who have cherry picked a number of players from Southampton the past two summers, may be enough of a motivation – I’m sure the sellout crowd at St. Mary’s on Wednesday would settle for that for the time being.
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“Everyone would be delighted with that”.
