Suarez: Sell or Keep?

[King Emlyn]

Everything suggest that yes.

 

Just a shame we also changed manager from a proven winner to a total bullshitter.

Aye, Carroll, Downing, Coates, Henderson, Adam, the sheer class just rolls off the tongue, and for such paltry fees as well. If Rodgers had just kept it together we could have even retained the mighty whatever it's called these days cup as well! Ah well, never mind.

[Adebisi]

Allen will come good, not every player is an instant success. A few seasons ago man utd fans thought Carrick was shit, last season he was (allegedly) their best midfielder. Obviously we're in a different sitch, we need players to make an instant impact if we want CL, where as they can afford to chop and change and usually have more than one quality player for each position, but Allen is 22(?) and played once season in the top flight before we bought him, did we pay too much, no doubt, but I reckon he'll kick on in a big way this season and certainly chip in with a few more assists.

 

Here's some stats anyway. I know everyone loves a good stat.

 

A detailed analysis of Allen’s figures last season showed that he wasn’t backwards in coming forward (Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson actually passed the ball back more).

 

He wasn’t a crab either, preferring to pass the ball sideways.

 

Joe Allen actually passed the ball forwards more than Mikel Arteta (31% to 29%) and only fractionally less than Yaya Toure. And another Allen myth – that he can only pass the ball short, which in the hurly burly, impatient attacking style of the English Premier League is considered a sin – was spectacularly exploded.

 

Allen’s long pass success rate last season was the second best in the league at 89.66%.

 

So where did it all go wrong for Joe Allen? Because he was clearly no more a Welsh Xavi in the second half of last season than Robert Earnshaw was a David Villa of the Valleys.

 

From an early season average of nearly 93% passing accuracy, Allen’s average dropped to below 86% after the Goodison derby and never recovered. That coincided almost exactly with the shoulder injury which eventually ended his season prematurely – and the moment he was handed the added responsibility/distraction of becoming a father for the first time.

 

Despite the dip in his statistics after October, the only players to out-pass Allen across the season as a whole were Mikel Arteta and Moussa Dembele, while his Open Play Pass Completion (90%), Attacking Zone Pass Completion (85%) and Final Third Pass Completion (81%) were all well above the Premier League average (86.92%, 80.15% and 70.31% respectively).

[Code]

Aye, Carroll, Downing, Coates, Henderson, Adam, the sheer class just rolls off the tongue, and for such paltry fees as well. If Rodgers had just kept it together we could have even retained the mighty whatever it's called these days cup as well! Ah well, never mind.

 

Good enough for a CL challenge for 3/4 of the season and two cup finals with the captain and according to some our best and only defensive midfielder at the club only starting 12 games each in the league.

 

Was it all down to the manager then last season I guess, that we did not evenchallenge for a CL spot the first month of the season.

 

You might build a pretty decent argument for is as our results improved once he started to use the players he tried to marginalize early on, players bought by the former manager.

[PaulMcC]

Henderson is a good player. You didnt include Suarez, Enrique and Bellamy in Dalglish's signing.

[King Emlyn]

Good enough for a CL challenge for 3/4 of the season and two cup finals with the captain and according to some our best and only defensive midfielder at the club only starting 12 games each in the league.

 

Was it all down to the manager then last season I guess, that we did not evenchallenge for a CL spot the first month of the season.

 

You might build a pretty decent argument for is as our results improved once he started to use the players he tried to marginalize early on, players bought by the former manager.

Good enough for a CL challenge for 3/4 of a season? What the fuck does that even mean? And you accuse me of "accepting mediocracy" Seriously?

[Anubis]

I'm not a particular fan of either and we paid over the odds for both, but for me the only the where Adam wins out over Allen is is unabashed hatred of Bale and the fact he never sought to hide it.

[King Emlyn]

Henderson is a good player. You didnt include Suarez, Enrique and Bellamy in Dalglish's signing.

Suarez ill give you. Bellamy had been here before and did well when he came back, Enrique Meh, Dalglish with a cheque book is a fucking disaster, sorry like.

[Section_31]

I wanna see Mignolet tested on crosses. That punch today was dodgy.

 

All keepers are shit on crosses these days, seems to be just the way they're trained.

[bossy]

The only really good signings over the past few years have been Suarez, Coutinho and Sturridge. One or two others have been ok and might improve but most have been gash. It remains to be seen how this seasons signings do of course.

[fowler9]

 

well in Charlie!

[Code]

Good enough for a CL challenge for 3/4 of a season? What the fuck does that even mean? And you accuse me of "accepting mediocracy" Seriously?

 

It means we were up there being able to beat everyone for 3/4 of the season until the wheels fell off after our League Cup win.

[King Emlyn]

 

well in Charlie!

That's the spirit, get amongst them, let them know your there early doors, real footballers!

[King Emlyn]

It means we were up there being able to beat everyone for 3/4 of the season until the wheels fell off after our League Cup win.

Ha ha ha, this is getting too easy!

[Faustus]

It means we were up there being able to beat everyone for 3/4 of the season until the wheels fell off after our League Cup win.

 

Does that mean you're blaming a trophy win for everything going tits up?

[King Emlyn]

Suarez ill give you. Bellamy had been here before and did well when he came back, Enrique Meh, Dalglish with a cheque book is a fucking disaster, sorry like.

Oh and Henderson isn't a good player; again, sorry like.

[Barrington Womble]

 

His natural role is as the main striker and he also sometimes played in the left forward position for Roma and did well there' date=' most of the games he played for us at the start of last season were on the right of the front three and it just didn't suit him at all imo, admittedly he still hasn't done particularly well as a main striker for us but considering his age, injuries and at the time he was fit we wern't playing well as a team and also he has shown he is a capable player at Roma it is too early to right him off imo but he does need to start showing more[/quote']

 

I thought he played down the left last season and sterling down the right (maybe my mind in old afe is deceiving me!)? But anyway it's a moot point as I thought Rodgers made a point of saying he could play anywhere across the front line. I've not seen any evidence of that yet, but in all fairness he hasn't played much - but what I've seen I don't see many signs of a player that makes a difference at the level we need.

 

I honestly wonder if Rodgers hadn't realise quite the level the players need to be when he 1st came in. In my view, I think he's just seen borini, Allen and sigurdson in his past, thought they were head and shoulders above most of his players and thought they'd piss it at the top. I think he's been in for a bit of a shock - which is fair enough, he is a manager learning his trade at a club like very few others.

[PaulMcC]

All keepers are shit on crosses these days, seems to be just the way they're trained.

 

I don't know if he's shit on them or not cos he seems like he mostly stays on his line. I just wanna see him tested before the season starts. Hopefully Olympiakos, Valarenga and Celtic give us more of a game than the teams we've met so far have.

[fowler9]

I don't know if he's shit on them or not cos he seems like he mostly stays on his line. I just wanna see him tested before the season starts. Hopefully Olympiakos, Valarenga and Celtic give us more of a game than the teams we've met so far have.

 

I thought he caught plenty of crosses today although admittedly most were unchallenged, he is generally very good on them, only seen one game v Spurs on the last day of last season where he didn't look comfortable

[PaulMcC]

Oh and Henderson isn't a good player; again, sorry like.

 

He was a better player than Allen last season. I hope Allen can improve like Henderson did after having a season similar to Allen's first season.

[Code]

I don't know if he's shit on them or not cos he seems like he mostly stays on his line. I just wanna see him tested before the season starts. Hopefully Olympiakos, Valarenga and Celtic give us more of a game than the teams we've met so far have.

 

Vaalerenga are shite and will play some reserves, they just got beaten 0-7 against Barca last night.

 

Will we even player our first team against Olympiakos or will it be mostly invited players?

[Brownie]

 

I don't know if he's shit on them or not cos he seems like he mostly stays on his line. I just wanna see him tested before the season starts. Hopefully Olympiakos' date=' Valarenga and Celtic give us more of a game than the teams we've met so far have.[/quote']

 

Although you're undoubtedly right about the opposition, Mignolet has made two absolutely brilliant saves in pre-season. One against Indonesia and one today - I have to admit that I couldn't help think, when watching replays of both of them, that Reina would have gotten nowhere near them.

 

I have no idea if he'll prove to be any good but i've been really impressed so far.

[King Emlyn]

He was a better player than Allen last season. I hope Allen can improve like Henderson did after having a season similar to Allen's first season.

In my opinion Henderson has no heart or confidence, I've never seen a good player without one or the other.

[thompsonsnose]

Checks title of thread.......

[Code]

Although you're undoubtedly right about the opposition, Mignolet has made two absolutely brilliant saves in pre-season. One against Indonesia and one today - I have to admit that I couldn't help think, when watching replays of both of them, that Reina would have gotten nowhere near them.

 

I have no idea if he'll prove to be any good but i've been really impressed so far.

 

I was thinking Reina would have made those saves look like routine saves trhough his superior positioning.

[PaulMcC]

Vaalerenga are shite and will play some reserves, they just got beaten 0-7 against Barca last night.

 

Will we even player our first team against Olympiakos or will it be mostly invited players?

 

I don't think any ex players are invited. I think it's gonna be a pre season match just.