Adam Lallana is delighted to have the opportunity to be part of Brighton’s development as a Premier League club.
The Premier League and UEFA Champions League winner signed a three-year deal with the Seagulls last week and spoke in glowing terms about his impressions of the club.
“In terms of a way of playing, they want to handle the ball and control play and dominate possession – they are some of my strengths,” he said.
“It excites me to play like that, but you can’t just rely on it. You have to be prepared to win tackles and win the ball back as well.
“If you get the right mix by being successful both with and without the ball then that’s a formula to do well. If you play well more often than you don’t, you’ll win matches by doing the right things.
“It’s a project and it takes time to build. I saw it at Liverpool where we won the league in [Jurgen Klopp’s] fifth year, it’s a phase-by-phase development process.
“You might not get results overnight, but if you stick to it then you’ll be working towards something and that’s what I can sense we’re going to do here at Brighton.”
The prospect of working with head coach Graham Potter and the players already at the his disposal was also a big factor when Lallana was deciding his next move after opting to leave Liverpool.
“I’m sure there’s so much more I can learn under the head coach, which is the same for all the players here,” he added
“You’re never too old to learn - that’s the beauty of football, you can always improve.
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“Everyone else is trying to do the same thing so it’s important that as a team we keep showing signs of progress.
“That doesn’t happen overnight, which is why the head coach has done such a fantastic job in terms of making that change to the playing philosophy and keeping Brighton in the league.”