Jermaine Jenas exclusive: Perfect modern midfielder Adam Lallana is emerging as Liverpool's key man

There has been plenty to admire about Liverpool's start to the Premier League season, with the 2-1 victory against Chelsea at the weekend their best performance so far. And at the heart of it all was a player who has enjoyed something of a redemption at Anfield.

Adam Lallana had struggled to win over some fans since he was signed by Brendan Rodgers in 2014, with many assuming he would be a victim of Jurgen Klopp's revolution. But the opposite has happened.

The midfielder came into his own at the end of the last season on Liverpool's run to the Europa League final and was then one of the few players to emerge with credit from England's Euro 2016 campaign.

This year he has carried on that good form - to the degree that I think he has been the Reds' best player this season.

There is a lot of competition for that accolade - Sadio Mane has been a great signing and Jordan Henderson has been excellent, while Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino have chipped in with important goals - but Lallana has been better than all of them.

In the last 12 months he has taken his game to a new level, and the catalyst for this improvement has been unexpected.

When he was at Southampton, there was a lot more luxury to Lallana's game. He'd be the one playing up top with the likes of Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert, scoring and creating goals.

But since Klopp arrived at Liverpool he has been asked to do something else - namely work harder and defend a lot more. And that responsibility seems to have helped him, because he has become fitter, stronger and more effective.

Having been regarded as a winger for the Saints, and also being deployed in that role for England, Klopp has given Lallana a more central role and he has thrived in it.

But the way that Liverpool team is set up, it's a very fluid role. Against Chelsea they had Henderson sitting at the base of the midfield, with Lallana and Georginio Wijnaldum ahead of him and Mane and Coutinho playing ahead of them. But they all had so much freedom to move around.

It would be difficult for me to tell you exactly where any of them played, so imagine how tough it is for defenders. Even the central striker Daniel Sturridge was dropping back into midfield, causing havoc for the midfielders and the centre-halves who didn't know whether to go with him or stay put.

Meanwhile, Lallana popped up on the left, the right, the middle. He was everywhere. He still has a creative attacking role, but he's also being asked to track back, to win tackles and to generally have more of an influence on the game than just being silky on the ball.

His biggest attribute is his balance. You can't predict where he's going to go because he's so strong on both sides.

A lot of players are easy to predict. Me, for example - as a central midfielder I'd always want to get the ball on my right foot, just as left-footed players want it on their left.

So when you're up against them, you can guide them into areas you know they don't like and, more often than not, where they'll have to lay it off rather than spraying a 40-yard diag. You can manipulate players into their weak points.

But you can't do that with Lallana. He can turn wherever he wants and he has two very good feet to strike the ball with.

When he gets the ball, he is always looking to turn his opponent - even when he's in a very tight space - and that often takes them by surprise because he rarely takes the easy option.

It's as if he enjoys those tight spaces more than having time and space on the ball, because he has every trick in the book to get out of them. When you're that quick in your mind and your feet, you don't need to be fast.

Previously Liverpool struggled to fit Lallana into their system, because they already attacking players such as Coutinho and Raheem Sterling.

But now he has a manager that loves him and understands his best attributes, Lallana will be feeling like be belongs. He'll be walking around the training ground and the stadium knowing he is one of their main men.

Key man for club and country

This should also be good news for England, but we've seen time and again that players don't reproduce their club form for the national side.

If I was Sam Allardyce, I'd be tempted to tell the likes of Lallana and Raheem Sterling to just do whatever Klopp and Pep Guardiola have been telling them to do. No further instruction required!

Of course it's not as simple as that. Everything has to work cohesively in a team and players are often given different jobs for England because the make-up of the side is different, but that's exactly the problem. Players are underperforming because they are doing different jobs to the ones they do every week.

I think England have the players to play a more fluid system and I'd love to see Lallana be given that kind of role internationally, because for Liverpool and England over the next couple of seasons he is going to be the main man. He's at the peak of his powers.

The modern midfielder

The role of a "central midfielder" has completely changed, even in the few years since I was playing regular Premier League football.

I actually think it's easier for central midfielders now, especially compared to the old system of 4-4-2.

I normally had two jobs: defend in one box, score in the other one. That's a lot of miles to cover and you really have to manage your game.

But nowadays most teams are set up with the one dedicated holding player and the other central players have more freedom to attack. And when you look at Lallana, you can see he was built to play in this era.

The players it's not so well suited to are wingers, because the full-backs have become wingers, whereas the likes of Lallana, Mane, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen are your creators. It's a new breed of football and it's one that is perfect for Lallana.

As for Liverpool, they are looking very strong and I can't see them not finishing inside the top four. You could see the signs of their improvement last year, and something they have repeatedly done is beat the top sides.

Jurgen Klopp has already beaten Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal since arriving in England - and those are the kind of results that normally have a bearing on who wins the title.