Adam Lallana has revealed how watching videos of Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong could help him transform his Liverpool career.
Lallana has been restricted to two brief substitute appearances so far this season having had his previous two campaigns hampered by injury.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp employed the 31-year-old in an unaccustomed deep-lying midfield role during the summer friendlies programme.
And Lallana admits the switch has proven beneficial in unexpected ways as he explained how observing De Jong - who excelled in the Champions League with Ajax last term - and Reds team-mate Fabinho are giving him an extra understanding of how he can be best suited to the number six position.
“I find it very stimulating because I get more of the ball than I have ever had in my career before," he said. "Sometimes as a number eight you are making decoy runs, or you are offering and you don’t get the ball.
“If you are in the ‘six’ you are centralised to the play, involved in the build-up a lot more. That is what I noticed straight away. That’s where the stimulation comes from - it feels good to be on the ball.
“I have not gone into it too deeply. Jordan (Henderson) told me I need to watch Frenkie de Jong. The way he plays it, he kind of dribbles a little bit more than other sixes would, which obviously brings a bit of risk but that is in my game.
“I do watch the six more so now than what the eight does because I know that reasonably well. What are their movements like? I’ve found myself focusing on Fabinho a little bit in our first games and he has played it outstandingly well.”
Lallana, speaking in a wide-ranging interview to The Times, has also explained his shock at not even making the bench for the Premier League opener against Norwich City.
But the England international is confident he has a part to play over the coming weeks and months.
“I feel happy," said Lallana. "I feel fit and strong. If I want to be part of this team, the best team in Europe, I need to keep improving and developing and that is what I have found difficult over the last two years because I have not been able to show that.
"I can’t be the same player, I need to be better because the team is better.
“I didn’t make the squad for the first game of the season (against Norwich City) and that was a bit of an eye-opener. I didn’t see that happening. I hadn’t experienced that since I was growing up at Southampton.
“But it is a 60-game season and I look at my last couple of seasons and think just be patient, be persistent and eventually my chance will come.
“If I am fit, I am sure I will contribute in a big way.”
