Southampton midfielder Adam Lallana returned to the club in the summer transfer window, after spending some years away to become a decorated player with Liverpool and then developing further at Brighton and Hove Albion.
It was a nice moment for Southampton fans to welcome back Adam Lallana, who came through the Southampton academy and made an incredible 235 league appearances before signing for Liverpool in 2014.
Russell Martin welcomed Lallana back to the club at the start of the season and before the new year, Lallana has already made 10 Premier League appearances for Southampton.
While Lallana will hope that he makes more Premier League appearances next season, he is also not naive to the fact that Southampton are rock bottom of the Premier League table.
Adam Lallana addressed the possibility of relegation. He said that if Southampton do face the drop, he’s confident they will only come straight back up.
In his own words, Lallana said: “At the end of the season, there might be relegation. Hopefully not but three have to go down. If we go down then we’ll come straight back up again. That’s my mentality if that happens.”
Lallana continued: “I’m not going to sit here and ignore the fact that that’s a possibility. Of course it’s a possibility but funnier and stranger things have happened.”
In some ways, it’s quite refreshing to see Lallana talking openly about relegation. After all, it’s the players who are in this position, so it’s on them to address it.
I do believe in toxic positivity. If Southampton brush relegation under the carpet as “something we will avoid”, it will leave the club in a place where they unprepared when the seemingly inevitable happens.
Of course, Southampton need to fight to avoid relegation. This is a given and hopefully the players understand the rewards of staying afloat rather than rolling over to go down.
However, two things can exist at the same time. While Southampton players must fight to stay in the Premier League, they also must look at relegation as a possibility. After all, they are the most likely side to go down, so shying away from it doesn’t do anyone good.