The Adam Lallana PFA Profile Page Has Been Updated to Reflect the Southampton Midfielders Excellent Start to the Season Say Digital Sports Group
(PRWEB UK) 17 November 2013 -- A creative player with an eye for goal, Adam Lallana was provider and executioner in almost equal measure in front of in his final season as a schoolboy. Playing 'in the hole' for Saints' Under-17 side he found the net on 14 occasions and laid on eleven assists for others - the most for any player in Saints' Academy.
The 2004/5 campaign started slowly for Lallana, however, as he required surgery to correct an irregular heart-beat – a condition discovered during the medical examination that followed a first call-up for the England Under-17 squad.
He was also a crucial player for Saints' Under-18 side, as well as turning in some assured displays for the second string. In April 2006, he also made a goal-scoring debut for England's Under-18s, hitting the opener in the Three Lions' 2-1 victory over Slovenia in his home town of Bournemouth.
Adam made his debut for Southampton at the age of 18, starting in a Carling Cup game against Yeovil on Wednesday 23rd August 2006. He made his first league appearance three days later, but had to wait until the following season for his next taste of competitive action. That would come during a month-long loan spell with nearby League 1 side AFC Bournemouth, where he made four appearances in October 2007.
Since then, Adam’s pathway to success coincided with the Club’s rise back up the divisions. Following the takeover of the Club led by Nicola Cortese, Lallana resisted any suggestion of turning his back on Southampton in the aftermath of relegation. Instead, he played 56 games and scored 20 times as Saints capped the 2009/10 season by winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, with Lallana netting the second goal in a 4-1 win over Carlisle in the Wembley final.
The attacking midfielder was a focal point in the Club’s promotion out of League 1 in the following season, scoring 11 goals in 41 games to earn himself a place in the PFA Team of the Year. Lallana's good form carried through into the 2011/12 campaign, getting into double figures once more, including a goal in the promotion-clinching win over Coventry in April 2012.
Having taken over as Team Captain ahead of the Club's Premier League opener at Manchester City at the start of the 2012/13 season, September 2012 proved to be one of the most memorable times for Lallana – he earned his first full England call-up for a World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine at Wembley, before becoming a father for the first time when son Arthur Michael was born.
Head of Operations at DSG, Matthew Tait had this to say: “Adam Lallana is a fantastic player and we have been working hard to provide the most fantastic resource that is both enjoyable to use and useful. Working with the PFA provides unique biographical information and insights that can be found nowhere else online. We are proud of our partnership with the Professional Footballers Association and the unrivalled access this provides us to the players.”
DSG became the official digital partner of the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) earlier this year and have since launched a number of player profile fan pages on social media site Facebook as well as providing official player pages on their football news site football.co.uk.
Simon Boynton, Digital Sports Group, http://www.digitalsportsgroup.co.uk/, +44 1376 336778 Ext: 1404, [email protected]
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