Adam: You can see us growing stronger
Adam Lallana brought fleet-footed festive cheer to Anfield with a brace of goals against Swansea City on Monday night, before side-stepping the spotlight in order to praise his Liverpool teammates.
The midfielder netted twice as Brendan Rodgers' side secured back-to-back victories on a night when Alberto Moreno's opening effort and Jonjo Shelvey's own goal also helped to secure a 4-1 win in the Barclays Premier League.
Lallana showed determination for his first goal, hurtling across the turf to pressure Lukasz Fabianski, whose attempted clearance ricocheted off the Liverpool playmaker's shoulder and flew a full 20 yards into the Kop net.
If his first was bizarre, the second was sublime. Philippe Coutinho back-heeled him the ball. A quick-fire feint and surge wrong-footed two Swansea defenders, who could only watch as the No.20 glided beyond them and angled a low strike into the corner of the goal.
The 26-year-old's display was rightly lauded; however, as he spoke to Liverpoolfc.com post-match, Lallana chose instead to highlight the contributions of others, singling the likes of Emre Can, Raheem Sterling and the majestic Coutinho out for special praise.
"Of late we've picked up our level of performance and the wins have been coming more frequently," said the England international. "We said it was very important to get the back-to-back wins after a tough game against Burnley.
"It was nice tonight, but not just for myself. We're seeing more of a settled Emre Can out there, Lazar [Markovic] has been playing a lot better recently and he's hopefully a lot more comfortable.
"Credit to the manager. He's found a shape which suits the players we have in the squad. Raheem is leading the line brilliantly at the minute and he's sacrificing himself for the team.
"He didn't get the goals today, so it was nice that a few other players could get the goals and chip in and help him out. That's what we have to do. It's a team game.
"Philippe was magnificent tonight. Some of the balls he played and his vision is unbelievable. It's a real pleasure to be playing with such good players."
Lallana's brace against the Swans took his overall tally for the club to four goals in 20 appearances, having hit the back of the net previously against West Bromwich Albion in October and then against Leicester City at the start of this month.
The midfielder, whose early career at Anfield was hampered by a knee injury sustained during the Reds' summer tour, believes the team is starting to turn the corner - and he's targeting three more points against the Foxes on Thursday.
"The first three or four months of the season have been a bit indifferent," said Lallana. "It's been great to be back out there playing after getting a frustrating injury, but it's been tough.
"There's a lot of hard work and a lot of hard graft to become the team that we want to become. But by all means, we'll keep working hard.
"We've got another winnable game now against Leicester on Thursday. So we're picking up a bit of momentum and the performance as well. It's a great chance for us over the Christmas period to pick up points, which can push us up further towards the fourth spot.
"Hopefully we're seeing a gradual improvement as a team. For myself, I want to be putting in more performances like that. I feel more settled playing in a more central role in the team. Hopefully that can bring more goals."