NFL fan Adam Lallana was grateful to have the opportunity to play at the Lincoln Financial Field on Saturday night.
The home of the Philadelphia Eagles was the venue for our narrow 4-3 defeat to Chelsea in the opening game of the Premier League Summer Series, but Adam was happy with a lot of aspects of our performance.
“It was a very entertaining game for the fans I am sure, we played some really good stuff. We had a lot of good actions in the game, there are lots of things we can improve on as well, but most importantly everyone came through the game without any knocks and it’s good for us to build on.
“I loved playing there. We’ve got a big group of NFL fans in the team, so just to come here and play at the Eagles’ stadium was an incredible experience. It was a nice one to tick off the list and a great atmosphere to play in.
“It’s great for the club to be competing in a competition like this. With the style of football we’re playing I think we’re different and it’s nice for fans in the USA to come and check us out.
“I’ve loved coming out to America, it’s amazing and we love it out here, everything is so big, it’s incredible. It’s a shame we’re not able to be here for a bit longer.”
Sadly for Adam, he was unable to indulge in one of Philly’s famous delicacies.
“A couple of the lads managed to get out and have a cheese steak. I was hoping we’d have some after the game but there weren’t any, and we checked out early so I didn’t get the chance to have one!
“I couldn’t have one for breakfast, it would have been a bit heavy probably. We tried to see as much as we could in our short stay.”
The game marked Adam’s first outing since our 2-2 draw at Leicester City in January, but he wanted to focus more on the impressive performances of his teammates.
“It’s good to come through unscathed, it’s the longest I’ve had in the legs for a long time.
“I thought we showed lots of good stuff and it was a first game for Mo in the middle of the park. Jack Hinshelwood was very good – you’re going to see a lot of him, he’s a very good young player. Joao Pedro and Deniz Undav were very good in the second half.
“We went down to ten men in the second half and had to show a bit of resilience. It’s always nice when you show that, it’s engrained in our blood and we need to show that throughout the year.”