Lallana can be a better Jorginho than Jorginho

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana could experience a career revival as a central midfielder. In short, he could be a better Jorginho than Jorginho.

The Reds are currently two games into their preseason campaign and Jurgen Klopp has spoken about how he thinks Lallana can have something to offer deeper down the field.

When the former Southampton man joined the club he arrived as a playmaker, but two seasons of disrupted game time have taken their toll on the 31-year-old, who will be desperate to prove what he can offer this campaign.

Klopp name checked Chelsea midfielder Jorginho as the man he thinks Lallana can play like. Klopp reckons Lallana can be a receiver, a passer, an in-between-the-lines-shuttler. The only think he can’t do is play his music in the sun.

More from Rush The Kop

• Set to return, Virgil Van Dijk facing heavy criticism back home
• Liverpool making late comebacks all the rage once again
• Wolves tilt gives Klopp opportunity to tinker with lineup following international duty
• Players to watch in the matchup with Wolves
• Predicting Liverpool’s Next Five Premier League Fixtures

But what does the analysis say about that? Well, we turned to Smarter Scout to find out. In the 2016-2017 season, Lallana played 1,610 minutes as a central midfielder and that’s the largest statistical base to work from, so we will.

Jorginho was on the pitch for a massive 3,346 in the same position as former gaffer Maurizio Sarri relied heavily on the Italian.

So Klopp thinks Lallana can be the new Jorginho, but can he? In a nutshell, yes. And maybe even better than the Chelsea man.

Because the Liverpool star keeps the ball way better than Frank Lampard’s man, which is important if you’re going to try and be a general type figure. With a rating of 82, Lallana blows Jorginho away.

Surprisingly, the Reds man does worse with his link up play and passing into the box is worse – which you wouldn’t expect considering his skills.

But, with stronger dribbling, disruption and recovery numbers than Jorginho, Lallana is able to win the physical and defensive battle because he’s also a far more effective tackler.

Klopp loves reinventing players. He did it with James Milner and now he looks poised to do it with Lallana.