Adam Lallana believes Brighton’s squad is as mentally ‘strong’ and determined as his title-winning Liverpool team and calls Roberto De Zerbi ‘the big brother I’ve never had’

• Adam Lallana loves life at Brighton under revolutionary boss Roberto De Zerbi 
• He shadowed De Zerbi while injured and is impressed with his attention to detail
• Mail Sport spent a week behind the scenes with Brighton to see how they tick 

Adam Lallana is among a cohort of hugely experienced, over-30, proven winners at Brighton and has forged a particularly close bond with manager Roberto De Zerbi.

‘My relationship with Roberto is like he’s an older sibling, an older brother I’ve never had,’ says Lallana, who joined the club from Liverpool in 2020 and turned 35 in May. ‘He’s demanding as hell but I just always want to impress him and make sure he’s not disappointed in me.

‘He’ll have that effect on every player in the group. His demands are extremely high. As de-manding as Jurgen [Klopp] I’d say, but in a different way. My manager now is obsessed tactically whereas Jurgen was obsessed with emotional footie. They’re different, but both work.’

Lallana’s six years at Liverpool included winning the Champions League in 2019 having also picked up a runners-up medal in 2018, and a Premier League title in 2019-20, among other honours.

When injured for the final four months of last season, Lallana shadowed De Zerbi, attending every planning meeting and acting in effect as a bridge to the younger players. He is also a mentor to the Under-21s.

Adam Lallana has found a new lease of life at Brighton after joining from Liverpool in 2020

He has a great relationship with Roberto De Zerbi and shadowed him while he was injured 

‘The manager’s demands are, well… there are times you walk off the training pitch, there are times I’ve had to speak to lads and say don’t worry [about the intensity of what’s just happened]. It’s coming from a good place.

‘He wants more from you because he believes in you. He wouldn’t be bothering with you if he didn’t think you were in his plans or could be better.

‘But there are moments when you’re out there when you think, “WOAH!”. Just the obsession with the detail if you’re not getting it right. Maybe young players, or players with different languages haven’t seen that before.

‘Roberto does say, “I’m breaking your balls for a reason!”. It’s because he believes in you.’

Lallana says the culture of Brighton has changed a lot since he joined in terms of the ‘attitude and application of the players’ and ‘the demands of the head coach’.

With players like James Milner in the dressing room, Lallana compares it to the culture at Liverpool when they won the Premier League and Champions League 

He is fully invested in De Zerbi. ‘It’s not just me, the whole group is. It runs itself, that dressing room… it’s easily as strong as the Liverpool dressing room when we won everything. Milly [James Milner] will back that up.’

Lallana is quick to clarify he doesn’t mean Brighton are anywhere close to Liverpool in terms of overall player quality, yet. Rather they have an ethos every bit as dedicated to excellence, and are on an upward trend.

Brighton’s ambitious infrastructure and a consistent model has long been there, he says. ‘The culture within the group of players is at a different level from when I walked through the door.

‘Do you have a good person on the football pitch with a good attitude and good application? That’s my recipe. That’s what I believe. That’s how you win.’

Did Brighton bring Lallana in for that reason, to create a culture like that, with Milner and the other older players helping too? ‘Without a shadow of a doubt,’ he says. ‘That was part of my job.

‘I’d just come off the back of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. I had a rough idea of what a winning formula was like. It wasn’t rocket science.

Brighton qualified for the Europa League for the first time and Lallana thinks the culture is at a ‘different level’ compared to when he arrived

‘I’m not going to come here and score 20 goals a season. But I know how the best operate day in and day out.’

Lallana ‘knew straight away’ that Brighton ‘was a perfect fit for me… it really excited me, the project, it really excited me. [Brighton] wanted my experience, an England international, and there was a pathway too for me at the end of my career.’

Lallana is doing his coaching badges, but for now his attention is on this season, for which he signed a one-year contract extension.

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