Joe Allen

[Wicket]

He's becoming better with every defeat/shite performance he's not involved in

 

£100m plus of investment and we need 2 players who were already here to come back in to give the team a lift it desperately needs. Depressing.

[RedKnight]

He's great but he's not going to solve the problems that this team is having and he's also unreliable as he seems to be made of glass. Losing him and Can, thus having to revert to Lucas, has been the big problem. No idea why Rodgers has tried to shoehorn Lallana on the wing of a front three when there's currently a gap in midfield he could be filling.

[J-V]

What a load of bollocks.

 

Tony doesn't know.

[billypilgrimnz]

Allen's an excellent player. He just is.

No, he's not. He runs a lot and passes a lot, but he's not a great tackler, not a great dribbler, not great at creating chances, and a shit shooter. That does not an excellent player make.

[Jairzinho]

No, he's not. He runs a lot and passes a lot, but he's not a great tackler, not a great dribbler, not great at creating chances, and a shit shooter. That does not an excellent player make.

 

He's an okay player. Which is better than Gerrard and Lucas. He does simple stuff well, which would improve us considerably. You're right though, for the reasons you list, he's not an excellent player.

[billypilgrimnz]

He's an okay player. Which is better than Gerrard and Lucas. He does simple stuff well, which would improve us considerably. You're right though, for the reasons you list, he's not an excellent player.

Correct. He's more use to us than Gerrard and Lucas, but that doesn't make him excellent. And it certainly doesn't make our midfield in general excellent.

[Jairzinho]

Indeed. Although just having Can/Henderson/Allen as the midfield, whilst not excellent, would function properly, which would improve us immeasurably. Just offering some semblance of protection for the back four, the ability to retain possession, and manage periods of the game where it looks like we're about to collectively shit ourselves.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

Allen's an excellent player.  He just is.

Totally agree. There are a lot of things he does that just ooze class and quality.

[moof]

Allen is brilliant. If he could keep fit he'd become a key player for us.

[King Emlyn]

Allen is brilliant. If he could keep fit he'd become a key player for us.

That's the key, he's a very good player but as with Sturridge he's always hurt.

[Adebisi]

He has a few good games then gets injured, he's not the answer but we do look a hell of a lot better with him in the team. I remember a few games last season, Cardiff and Spurs, where Gerrard was out and Allen and Henderson looked great together. 

Not saying Gerrard is the problem but sometimes we do look a hell of a lot better without him. 

[Gym Beglin]

No pressure, lad, but you're going to have to single handedly make us a good team again.

That's the thing, no he doesn't, he just needs to do his job properly and let everyone else do theirs with a modicum of confidence that he'll be around to sniff out danger on the counter.

 

This team is like a massive calf muscle and a massive thigh connected by a fucked knee. When the knee is fixed we'll kick arses all over the place again.

[Gnasher]

I'd love to see Allen have three months in the side injury free and see him play with confidence, I'm under no doubt there is more to come from this player, his last year at Swansea he was starting to look like he would become some player, the awards he picked up were justified. He gave Stevie, Lucas, Charlie Adam a lesson in pass and move midfield play when Swansea came to Anfield that year, they couldn't get near him.

 

He will never be a YouTube player, but he does possess the intelligence and skill to trap, pass and move the ball, he cuts out angles for opposition attacks and retains possession in tight spaces. Our midfield looks a more complete unit with him in it, although he'll never be flashy enough to take the plaudits.

[sir roger]

I still can't get over the miss at Goodison , I would have scored it in my work suit & shoes.

 

To be fair he is a decent lad, but it is a bit of a worry if after spending the money we have, that he is our best hope to improve exponentially.

[Bobby Hundreds]

He's made of small boys. But anybody who can add some kind of energy into our midfield is a must. A westham player was jogging with the ball yesterday and lucas couldn't keep up with him, his face was full sprint but the body couldn't run, I half expected his teeth to start falling out, not being able to clench his fists and then waking up in a cold sweat. This team needs energy.

[ZonkoVille77]

Remember Allen's first few games for us? He was immense. If he was played in that role again with Hendo and another yet to be purchased physical body (maybe Can) then the midfield would be in better shape. Means either dropping Stevie or moving him forward.

 

Stevie is becoming more and more an issue unfortunately. Better to burn out than fade away isn't it?

[J-V]

Remember Allen's first few games for us? He was immense. If he was played in that role again with Hendo and another yet to be purchased physical body (maybe Can) then the midfield would be in better shape. Means either dropping Stevie or moving him forward.

 

Stevie is becoming more and more an issue unfortunately. Better to burn out than fade away isn't it?

 

Remember them fuck me he's been dining out on them ever since.

 

[Pureblood]

Good player but too injury prone.  Will need replacing if he can't sort out his injury issues.

[stringvest]

No, he's not. He runs a lot and passes a lot, but he's not a great tackler, not a great dribbler, not great at creating chances, and a shit shooter. That does not an excellent player make.

 

He reads the game well, he retains possession, he is a decent tackler and an excellent pilferer of the ball.  he closes down, presses with energy, and has good vision and an excellent range of passing.  He is also prepared to take responsibility to play forward passes in the last third.  His shooting is not shit; in fact, he's been unlucky not to score already this season.  Definitely needs to be scoring 8-12 goals a season though, so it's undoubtedly an area of his game he needs to work on.  

[stringvest]

Correct. He's more use to us than Gerrard and Lucas, but that doesn't make him excellent. And it certainly doesn't make our midfield in general excellent.

 

our midfield is not excellent.  I'll grant you that. 

[Ranxerox]

biggest attribute is he's not Lucas.

[sh#t waffle]

We really miss him. I agree with TK that he is too injury prone which is a shame; he has played in quite a few of our best performances under Rodgers.

[DanDanShaw]

There aren't many better midfield 3s than Hendo, Allen and Can in this league.  They aren't going to give you a second on the ball and Hendo/Allen do have technical ability - you could swap Allen for Lallana who presses just as much, but offers much more going forward.

[Section_31]

biggest attribute is he's not Lucas.

You could say that about anyone though, including Barry Bullsara and Tony Blair.

[Denny Crane]

Do we really miss Allen or just a midfielder with two arms and legs who was fresh and had legs. Henderson played his 6th games in 21 days and Gerrard his 3rd in 7 days. Rodgers needs to manage Gerrard and Henderson much better. An example being, even 0-3 up at spurs after 59mins, both end up playing 90 minutes.