Adam Lallana has opened up about what it's like to work under the "extremely demanding" Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton – and it makes for an exhaustive yet empowering read.
The 35-year-old attacking midfielder, who joined the Seagulls in 2020 after his contract at Liverpool expired, has played under some high profile managers during his 17-year professional career.
From the likes of Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton to Roy Hodgson, Jurgen Klopp, Gareth Southgate and Graham Potter; he has once again been blessed with another outstanding coach at Brighton.
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In fact, Lallana previously stated that De Zerbi has made football make "so much more sense" to him because of the Italian's tactical input and energy.
He is clearly a huge fan of De Zerbi. Speaking to The Telegraph this month, the experienced midfielder gave a fascinating insight into his manager's dedication to becoming the best.
“The manager? I don’t know how he does it," Lallana said. "The prep for every game. He will have his Italian coaches around his house, the chef cooking food, watching games, it’s his life.
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"His family are in Italy and he sacrifices so much. He puts everything into it. It is not luck, I will tell you that. He is obsessed. Puffing on them fags [cigarettes], no wonder. He’s a different breed.”
Lallana has also explained the differences between De Zerbi and Jurgen Klopp, a manager he worked under at Liverpool.
"My relationship with Roberto is like he’s an older sibling, an older brother I’ve never had," he said via The Daily Mail.
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"He’s demanding as hell but I just always want to impress him and make sure he’s not disappointed in me. His demands are extremely high. As demanding as Jurgen [Klopp] I’d say, but in a different way.
"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."
Lallana added: "It’s not just me, the whole group is [invested]. 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."
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So far, Brighton have enjoyed a productive start to the Premier League campaign, winning five of their opening six games. They travel to Villa Park on Saturday as they continue to challenge high-flying Liverpool and Manchester City.
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images - Instagram/marcelloquinto5Topics: Brighton And Hove Albion, Adam Lallana, Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Premier League