Joe Allen thread

[piscinin]

Just got back from Old Toilet, paid special attention to Allen tonight and was pretty impressed by how he played, it really did remind me of alonso, always asking for the ball of the back 4, decent range of passing and mostly looking to move it forward. I know £15m seems steep but i think we'd get 2 things for a our money, a very promising talent and a player who already knows Rogers style and can help others adapt to it quicker. Id rather see him the squad then Adam.

 

Question is in days of only spending what we make does it make sense to spend that much on the player. Is he 15m better than the options we already have? Is he 10m better than the 10 players barca have in their reserves that Guardiola says are comparable to Wilshire?

 

If this were last season I'd have little issue with it, he is neat and tidy and he is a team player. He will make others better. BUT alas this isn't last season and it just seems to me that there are bigger issues elsewhere. Our forward line is threadbare.

[dennis tooth]

Charlie Adam mark 2?

[Gym Beglin]

Unless we've got great attacking players for Allen to pass to, it's pointless to spend £15m on him now.

That's the issue some of us have with getting Allen at all costs.

 

If you're going to buy a horse and cart, then get the horse first.

[xerxes]

Question is in days of only spending what we make does it make sense to spend that much on the player. Is he 15m better than the options we already have? Is he 10m better than the 10 players barca have in their reserves that Guardiola says are comparable to Wilshire?

 

If this were last season I'd have little issue with it, he is neat and tidy and he is a team player. He will make others better. BUT alas this isn't last season and it just seems to me that there are bigger issues elsewhere. Our forward line is threadbare.

 

A shrewd post.

 

Allen is a decent player- no question. Do we need another decent player in midfield? Not really.

 

Does Rodgers want a voice in the dressing room? Yes.

[DooooodekNo5]

Charlie Adam mark 2?

 

More like a Jordan Henderson Mark 2 , although Allen have a pair of bollocks and actaully pass the ball forward , if were not getting rid of Henderson i dont see any need for Allen , we need a creative attacking midfielder who scores goals , and a right winger , striker and defensive midfielder , basically a whole new midfield bar Gerrard and Lucas.

[Il Fenomeno]

More like a Jordan Henderson Mark 2 , although Allen have a pair of bollocks and actaully pass the ball forward , if were not getting rid of Henderson i dont see any need for Allen , we need a creative attacking midfielder who scores goals , and a right winger , striker and defensive midfielder , basically a whole new midfield bar Gerrard and Lucas.

 

Maybe thats why Rodgers is bringing Allen in, as it allows Rodgers to push Gerrard further forward to be the goalscoring/creative attacking midfielder.

[Mr Nando]

I still don't understand why we need him.

 

I'd much prefer Shelvey to get game time and spend the money on some decent wingers... as if that will fucking happen.

[moof]

A shrewd post.

 

Allen is a decent player- no question. Do we need another decent player in midfield? Not really.

 

Does Rodgers want a voice in the dressing room? Yes.

 

Haha brilliant. Couldn't he buy a player for 2 million if its only to have 'a voice in the dressing room'? You know, as opposed to tireless negotiations and ending up shelling out no less than 15 million. Pretty mental to do all that if he doesn't even think the player will improve the team.

 

Allen is a quality player and better than anything we have in midfield apart from Gerrard, who's injury record is a bit of a problem.

[Il Fenomeno]

Haha brilliant. Couldn't he buy a player for 2 million if its only to have 'a voice in the dressing room'? You know, as opposed to tireless negotiations and ending up shelling out no less than 15 million. Pretty mental to do all that if he doesn't even think the player will improve the team.

 

Allen is a quality player and better than anything we have in midfield apart from Gerrard, who's injury record is a bit of a problem.

 

Can't say I've seen anything from him that elevates him above Lucas. I don't even think there's a huge gap in ability between him and the likes of Aquilani and Shelvey. Just that Allen is more used to Rodgers' system.

[TheHowieLama]

Does Rodgers want a voice in the dressing room? Yes.

 

Does Rodgers want a voice in the dressing room? Don't know.

Does he want it to be a 22 yr old Welshman who has played a single season in the league? Prolly not.

Does only Xerxes think about this stuff? Yes.

[Pidge]

Thought Coates struggled yesterday, not sure how it came across on TV, but his positioning seemed pretty poor from where I was sat (although the left back didn't seem to give a shit about defending which didn't help him). Won pretty much every one on one situation, but his positional awareness cost them the goal and put them at risk on a few occasions.

 

Thought Allen was pretty handy. Was more impressed by his performance against Brazil, watching him sprint to clamp down on Neymar was great to see.

[MLB]

What a truly idiotic post that is by xerxes.

[Code]

Question is in days of only spending what we make does it make sense to spend that much on the player. Is he 15m better than the options we already have? Is he 10m better than the 10 players barca have in their reserves that Guardiola says are comparable to Wilshire?

 

If this were last season I'd have little issue with it, he is neat and tidy and he is a team player. He will make others better. BUT alas this isn't last season and it just seems to me that there are bigger issues elsewhere. Our forward line is threadbare.

 

Haha did he say that?

 

Guardiola is just fuckin brilliant.

[MLB]

Guardiola is wrong though, isn't he.

[Guest San Don]

A shrewd post.

 

Allen is a decent player- no question. Do we need another decent player in midfield? Not really.

 

Does Rodgers want a voice in the dressing room? Yes.

 

You dont half chat some fucking shit, voice in the dressing room?

[Code]

Guardiola is wrong though, isn't he.

 

How is he wrong, Whilshere is almost as overhyped as Rooney was, what exactly has he done so far in his career?

[MLB]

How is he wrong, Whilshere is almost as overhyped as Rooney was, what exactly has he done so far in his career?

 

 

Overhyped? Maybe, but that happens with a lot of young English players. Barkley at Everton is the next in line for that kind of treatment. The fact remains though that there aren't 10 players in the Barca reserves that are comparable (at least not in a positive light) to Wilshere. Maybe there are one or two.

[piscinin]

Overhyped? Maybe, but that happens with a lot of young English players. Barkley at Everton is the next in line for that kind of treatment. The fact remains though that there aren't 10 players in the Barca reserves that are comparable (at least not in a positive light) to Wilshere. Maybe there are one or two.

 

Guardiola's point, I think, and what I was alluding to, is that what makes someone special in a 442 dogs of war league wouldn't necessarily make them stand-out in a league that concentrates on tactical flexibility and technical ability.

 

I think there's some of that with Allen. He looks more special because unlike most of his contemporaries he's been moulded for that that role in a 433. His decision making is better than his peers, but up against players who have come through systems which favour technique and 433 like in Portugal, Holland etc, would he stand out as much? Would he stand out to the extent of 15m? I don't think so.

[Kennys_spell]

Overhyped? Maybe, but that happens with a lot of young English players. Barkley at Everton is the next in line for that kind of treatment. The fact remains though that there aren't 10 players in the Barca reserves that are comparable (at least not in a positive light) to Wilshere. Maybe there are one or two.

 

I wouldn't be able to name three players in the Barca reserve team let alone pass comment on TEN of them and their ability when judged against Wiltshire.

 

Seems to me that there are a lot of people on here with a detailed, in depth knowledge of every team in europe and all their players.

 

Well done.

[MLB]

Oriol Romeu was a Barcelona reserve - and quite a highly rated one at that - and he is nowhere near as good as Wilshere.

 

Guardiola's comment is bollocks, whichever way you look at it. Wilshere is quality.

[Jairzinho]

Thiago was another one. He's fucking brilliant. Better than Wilshere.

 

Piscinin on the money about Guardiola's comment. He didn't literally mean he had 10 central midfielders in his Ressies better than Wilshere.

[Tyler Durden]

I can't understand why we are chasing Allen, we've just had about 10 midfielders playing against Spurs, now ok if he doesn't fancy particular players then why are we not actively trying to ship them out because it doesn't sound like we are, all I've heard is Shelvey going on loan to Swansea.

[MLB]

See my previous comment about one or two comparing favourably with Wilshere. If the point is that Wilshere would not stand out in Barcelona's reserves then I disagree. And his point wasn't very well made if he had to resort to such childish exaggeration.

[Guest Numero Veinticinco]

I can't understand why we are chasing Allen, we've just had about 10 midfielders playing against Spurs

 

Because very few of them are anywhere ear good enough to achieve the aims we're setting ourselves over the coming seasons. 10, 20, 50, it doesn't matter; if they're all like Adam, Spearing, Henderson, Shelvey, et al, we're not going to get anywhere.

 

We need quality, not just quantity. Honestly, people on here - not necessarily you - need to wake up and realise how poor our squad is. Would Adam, Shelvey, Spearing, Henderson, Cole, and their ilk have played any significant amount of games in the Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Sissoko side?

 

There's a reason why those players got us into the top four with ease and challenged for the title, and there's a reason why we're finishing 6th-8th. It's not hard to work out.

[Tyler Durden]

Because very few of them are anywhere ear good enough to achieve the aims we're setting ourselves over the coming seasons. 10, 20, 50, it doesn't matter; if they're all like Adam, Spearing, Henderson, Shelvey, et al, we're not going to get anywhere.

 

We need quality, not just quantity. Honestly, people on here - not necessarily you - need to wake up and realise how poor our squad is. Would Adam, Shelvey, Spearing, Henderson, Cole, and their ilk have played any significant amount of games in the Alonso, Mascherano, Gerrard, Sissoko side?

 

There's a reason why those players got us into the top four with ease and challenged for the title, and there's a reason why we're finishing 6th-8th. It's not hard to work out.

 

Which is exactly why I'm saying why is there no talk of us shifting them rather then us very publicly chasing after 2 players from last seasons Swansea midfield?