Toure: Lallana our best player

Posted Friday, December 19, 2014 by Foxsports.com

Kolo Toure has named Adam Lallana as Liverpool's player of the season despite Raheem Sterling's eye-catching form.

Lallana has started only nine Premier League games since his 25m move from Southampton and was replaced at half-time of Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Manchester United; he was also left on the bench for Liverpool's must-win clash with Basel in the Champions League.

While Lallana has scored or assisted just three Premier League goals this season, Sterling has contributed to seven goals.

But Toure said after Wednesday night's Capital One Cup win over Bournemouth: "We are very happy with everyones performance. But, for me, Adam Lallana has been the best player in this Liverpool team this year. Definitely."

Toure also spoke warmly about another one of Brendan Rodgers's summer signings who scored against the Cherries, saying: "I am very proud of (Lazar) Markovic.

"Since he came here, he hasnt had a lot of chances to play but hes shown great character and worked hard in training. He is a great boy, works hard, is very quick and technically is very, very good."

He also had words of praise for Sterling: "He is a fantastic boy and a fantastic player. He is playing in a different position, which is not easy to adapt to in two games, but he scored twice.

"We will see a lot to come from him because he is a great player and a great boy as well, very intelligent."