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Life in 1995 was unrecognisable to the modern day.

The internet hadn’t yet consumed our every thought and occupied our thumbs to a point of frenzy, people still wore battery operated walkmans to listen to their favourite music, and some even read books.

During that time, in Michigan, United States, a young, fresh-faced Tom Brady had enrolled in The University Of Michigan with the aim of playing college football as a quarterback.

Life at Great Lake State didn’t start too well for Brady, who was so frustrated at being seventh on the depth chart of the team in his position, that he felt the need to hire a sports psychologist to help him with his anxieties.

Perseverance paid off, and Brady went on to become arguably one of America’s greatest sporting icons, completing 19 seasons with New England Patriots as a renowned quarterback, a position which became synonymous with the 41-year-old’s marketing brand.

What’s fascinating, from across the Atlantic, is that at no point did Brady ever seemingly consider rebranding himself positionally. He was a quarterback from high-school, he will be a quarterback until the day he quits.

The intrigue of an athlete playing one position exclusively and so relentlessly expertly across an entire career is huge, as the concept doesn’t really exist in elite association football. For Liverpool supporters in recent years, the concept feels more alien than ever before.

Since Jürgen Klopp’s arrival at Anfield as manager of Liverpool Football Club in 2015, Reds fans have been witness to a number of player reinventions, some which many would have deemed previously unimaginable and impossible.

Trent Alexander-Arnold was converted from academy midfield starlet to cultured first-team full-back. James Milner completed a season on the opposite flank as a left-back, a position which in all his years he had never graced.

Georginio Wijnaldum has been utilised as a deep lying midfielder, despite arriving as a renowned attacking threat, and Roberto Firmino was known as a number 10 before becoming a number nine. The list is long and will continue to grow.

This is no accident from Klopp; there is no square-peg placed into a round hole with a mere hope for the best. The manager creates pathways, but also emphasises attributes he sees hidden within his players which have yet to be nurtured.

During this pre-season, it looks as though the manager and his staff may be doing the same again.

Klopp has always been a big fan of Adam Lallana. The 31-year-old was employed as the trigger for his coach’s renowned ‘gegenpress’ during his debut season, and he has remained effusive about Lallana’s attributes and ability to contribute to the team’s approach.

However, the England midfielder’s fitness record has led to a tag of inconsistency which has blighted his five years at the club, with only a meagre 16 appearances in all competitions in each of the past two seasons.

Yet Lallana has returned to pre-season buoyant and bullish about his and the team's prospects for the coming campaign, dismissing any possible return to his former club Southampton, which had been loosely mooted by some in early summer.

This has been reiterated by his manager. Klopp has also gone further and hinted at a deeper lying role for the number 20 in the coming weeks and months. Lallana occupied the deepest lying central midfield role in both of the friendlies played to date, against Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City, in a position Klopp refers to as the number six.

Following the victory at Bradford, Klopp was quoted as saying: “Adam is a midfielder through and through, and he is an outstanding player. Outstanding players, you always try to find the best position on the pitch and in some games, it’s possible the best position for Adam Lallana is the number six."

Whether this is a distraction tactic from Klopp remains to be seen, but it doesn’t feel that way.

Lallana’s attributes are well known amongst Reds supporters; his balance and ability to turn, coupled with his two-footedness and slick style are the most recognisable, but how do his statistics stack up with the Premier League average and what can he bring to one of the hardest and most demanding roles in the team?

Based on the amount of minutes Lallana played last season, his stats compare more favourably with the league’s average than one would presume.

In 2018/19, the midfielder won 5.29 pressure regains per 90 minutes (the amount of times the team wins the ball back within five seconds of pressure being applied), compared to a league average of 2.42. He was also up on the average of possession adjusted tackles (4.56 compared to 1.87) as well as pressures (24.70 compared to 16.66).

Offensively, Lallana is also impressive. Last season he managed 9.59 dribbles per match, compared to a league average of 0.71. He was also up on average of Xg stats, recording 0.75 in comparison 0.50 for Xg build-up, and 0.08 over 0.07 for Xg assists.

Interestingly, Lallana is down on deep progressions (passes, dribbles and carries into the opposition third), recording 3.35 per game against 6.46 average for the league. This is also down when pitted against teammate Naby Keita, for example, who averaged 9.32 per game.

This suggests that Lallana is naturally holding his position a lot more than others occupying the more advanced number eight role, and that the transition further back may not need as much adaptation as many have perceived.

There are other areas in which he does come up short when in comparison to other teammates.

Lallana had an 84% pass completion rate in 2018/19, compared to 91% recorded by Wijnaldum. Fabinho finished the campaign with 2.08 possession adjusted interceptions per game, whereas Lallana had 1.48.

He would certainly add something different to the role, and Klopp may well feel that his unique style and skillset could be a big asset for him, should he remain fit and available for the duration of the season.

Adam Lallana now faces a race against time as he strives to accentuate his own legacy as a Liverpool player. Should the change of position and responsibility be a successful one, he may well be highly lauded for being Liverpool’s very own quarterback in the season 2019/20.