Drop Allen...

[The Slugmonster]

Allens not the immediate problem. Yes he needs some time on the bench. But only after Gerrard has a sit there first. Rodger trusts Allen in this system, even in a position that isnt his best. We can talk about the Steven Gerrard that has pulled this club through thick and thin until the cows come home but thats not the Gerrard we're seeing in this system. He looks frustrated and he wont be given license to take the game by the scruff of the neck under Rodgers. Id prefer to see Lucas - Allen - Sahin/Suso when Lucas returns than anything else, but we'll rarely see it because Rodgers wont drop the skipper. Its not a knee jerk either, Gerrards having a massively poor season. And if i'm being honest, Shelvey is way too erratic for my liking to be the saving grace some think he is! Our starting 11 never has any balls or steel. Suarez being the exception!! Regards (vlad 2012)

 

[The Slugmonster]

I did tell yers about a Joe Sideways a month ago but would you listen?

Broken record. He's playing in Lucas' position and Lucas took flak for ages about sideways passes. I'm hoping in February when your referring to a sideways ball player in our team it'll be our Brazilian DM. But you wont, will you!!

 

[The Slugmonster]

I think there's a good chance you will be proved right mate, love him as a player too, but even though he's certainly not the problem at this stage he's not the solution either.

As been said the better side lost last night, thought we were unlucky to be honest. A few strong penalty claims obviously not going our way, loads of golden opportunities and last second clearances by Spurs players left us frustrated once again.

We really do lack a player with the ability to play inbetween the midfield and attacking lines imo. Gerrard can be that player but not in a team where possession is god, he's not a player that thrives the most from tippy tappy football. He's all power, strength and dynamics which is somehow lost in this team at the moment. I know he isn't he's own strong self either, but I believe that is a big part of his "demise".

What to do then, well, I believe Rodgers should stick to his guns really, don't change the system to acommodate one player rather than the team, but he's then obviously short of personel.

I know I am sounding like a broken record here but we desperately need an Eriksen type of player to combine the lines, one who can not only dictate play as Allen does, only 20 yards further up field, but on that can hit that final pass and possess a threat from a distance too. Last night some of our best throughballs where hit by Suarez to whom? Our left back (a left back which by all means has been a real trooper for us over the last few games mind, cudos Enrique).

Şahin has so far not proved to be the answer, he is, albeit rather confusing for me, looking better further back field than when pushed forward. Shelvey is probably the best shout at the moment but again it's not his natural position especially not when we are expecting to pass the ball around loads before making the surging run. Suso may be the answer in a few years but we can't wait that long.

Bonus info: Rodgers has seen Eriksen at first hand when at Chelsea on one of his trials there, even Fischer too, if I'm not mistaken, and those two players would make us all jump in glee within a few months and Rodgers knows that too.

That is a fact. That I believe it, that is.

Fact.

Id love to have Erikson but reckon he'd stunt Susos growth to the first team. I know you have a thing for him but personally if I was to have one player from Ajax at the moment that I think would benefit us short to long term it'd be Siem DeJong.

 

[Fox]

I like Allen but I can't stop thinking that he money we paid for him would have been better spent elsewhere.

It's not like Swansea have missed him

 

[OLD_Lewy]

remember when rodgers came in and sorted out our midfield.......

 

[Piedro]

Broken record. He's playing in Lucas' position and Lucas took flak for ages about sideways passes. I'm hoping in February when your referring to a sideways ball player in our team it'll be our Brazilian DM. But you wont, will you!!

He's not a bad player but for 15 million when we clearly needed ATTACKING players who can put the ball in the net, it's a fucking ridiculous signing.

 

[RedZeppelin III]

Right at this moment £15m is looking a ridiculous price . i don't know , are we at the stage that 15m doesn't buy you a player who can adapt to playing slightly out of position ? I mean it's not as if he's been asked to play up front . He's been asked to drop a little deeper .Should it really cause you to play so shite?. He's a pro footballer for fuck sake , he should be able to contribute.

And be honest , who has watched him properly at swansea ? And i don't mean in MOTD or some highlight shite .I mean properly watched him . I wouldn't suspect many . So why are you all so sure he'll play alot better in a more advanced role ? .

 

[Rosco]

Allen isn't even close to being the biggest concern in our midfield

 

[refugee]

He had 3 assists last year, so it is ample evidence that he will be much more effective in an advanced role.

 

[RedZeppelin III]

true ...but he was a £15m signing brought in to improve it and he's not really added much . we'll have to see if he does in time .

 

[Silver Sean]

I think Allen looks a decent prospect. He has good awareness, reads the game pretty well, and makes good decisions most of the time. He is however playing in team lacking confidence and goals, and playing deeper than he usually does. As we have done for the past fuck knows how long, we play at least ten yards too deep as a unit.
We have a long, long road ahead and need to spend a huge chunk of cash if we are to compete again in the near future.
FSG are broke though so unless they sell the Red Sox we are shafted.
And in reference to an earlier point. I'd rather we were outplayed and won than outplay the opposition and lose.

 

[Silver Sean]

Right at this moment £15m is looking a ridiculous price . i don't know , are we at the stage that 15m doesn't buy you a player who can adapt to playing slightly out of position ? I mean it's not as if he's been asked to play up front . He's been asked to drop a little deeper .Should it really cause you to play so shite?. He's a pro footballer for fuck sake , he should be able to contribute.

And be honest , who has watched him properly at swansea ? And i don't mean in MOTD or some highlight shite .I mean properly watched him . I wouldn't suspect many . So why are you all so sure he'll play alot better in a more advanced role ? .

He's 22. He's in his first season. He is clearly a decent player who will get better. Football never has been, and never will be, an exact science, and players take time to bed in. We have a very young team, a new manager and new coaches. We have no RIGHT to be at the top. We have to earn it, and as we are nowhere near the same spending power as the top sides we have to adapt. That takes time.
You know in the old days we didn't get to see every game with 12 replays of every little foul or mistake. People didn't form opinions in half a season about any player. We waited to see what the contributed over time. Fans were a lot more patient, and football was a lot more enjoyable.

 

[Rosco]

I think Allen looks a decent prospect. He has good awareness, reads the game pretty well, and makes good decisions most of the time. He is however playing in team lacking confidence and goals, and playing deeper than he usually does. As we have done for the past fuck knows how long, we play at least ten yards too deep as a unit.
We have a long, long road ahead and need to spend a huge chunk of cash if we are to compete again in the near future.
FSG are broke though so unless they sell the Red Sox we are shafted.
And in reference to an earlier point. I'd rather we were outplayed and won than outplay the opposition and lose.

Even if they sold the Red Sox, it makes no difference to LFC's finances.

 

[Silver Sean]

Even if they sold the Red Sox, it makes no difference to LFC's finances.

How so? If they sell the Red Sox and invest the money into LFC then it would have a huge impact. Henry's business is suffering at the moment. Red Sox fans hate that money that should be being spent on them is spent on us. Not sure how you think the FSG money is split. my understanding is that they are one company.

 

[Rosco]

Red Sox revenues keep the Red Sox running, not FSG.

LFC revenues keep LFC running, with the exception of the 30m FSG put in to fund the transfers.

If they sold the Red Sox and put money into lFC, not only would it not make any financial sense for them, it would massively breach FFP which they want to adhere to.

Our transfer plans aren't changed by FSG's losses or gains anywhere else, they're hindered by the wage bill which at last count was running at 70% of revenues.

 

[amber cabs]

He is a top class player who looks fucking shagged. He's played most games even at start of \europa league if I remember correctly. Give him a break. Start Shelvey instead this Saturday

 

[nealmac]

I don't like to be too critical of Allen. He was one of our best players this season up until about 5 games ago. Something has gone wrong somewhere. I really hope he finds his form again because he's a cracking player.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

How about we drop/rest Gerrard, and play Allen with Sahin and Suso/Shelvey. When the skipper plays as the second line CM and allows guys to turn him or glide past him at will, Allen's immediately outnumbered and overmatched. Pushing Gerrard further up might not help either - his bursts are gone, he no longer shoots straight from distance (he had a couple of opportunities yesterday and shied away from them), and the few times he played there this season, his wayward short passes when we were attacking led to counter-attacks (if I remember right, I think he didn't recover but just stopped and looked) which led to goals (see: WBA, Arsenal).

Sahin hasn't been that bright himself but he showed a surprising willingness to get stuck in and put himself about against Young Boys. Maybe he deserves a chance now given the others have had their turn and failed.

 

[Mors]

When Lucas is fit, I hope, just once, Brendan treats us to a Hendo, Lucas, Allen midfield. I really, really want to see what 93% possession without crossing the halfway looks like.
Shelvey should the first midfielder on the team sheet by a fuckin mile.

No he fuckin shouldn't. Apart from his little cameo the weekend, did you watch the last 4 or 5 games he played in? He was absolute shite.
There are several problems with midfield, and people do need dropping, but I think the crux is that we don't have a DM apart from Lucas on the books, and it is completely ruining what we're trying to do. Because of that, people like Gerrard, Allen, Shelvey, Sahin, can't play further up the pitch, and the they're having to wipe the fake DM's arse for him.
Not one of our midfielders has been consistently any good this season.

 

[Modo]

Drop insignificance.

 

[Le Chacal]

Funny too see that Rodgers wanted to get rid of Kenny's shit expensive players
but he's still picking the worst and most expensive of them.
I couldnt believe it when I saw Downing was starting again

We'd be better of with Adam and Carroll.

 

[Silver Sean]

Red Sox revenues keep the Red Sox running, not FSG.

LFC revenues keep LFC running, with the exception of the 30m FSG put in to fund the transfers.

If they sold the Red Sox and put money into lFC, not only would it not make any financial sense for them, it would massively breach FFP which they want to adhere to.

Our transfer plans aren't changed by FSG's losses or gains anywhere else, they're hindered by the wage bill which at last count was running at 70% of revenues.

Fair enough. But if they sold the the Red Sox then they would have it liquidated into personal wealth. They could then invest that in whatever the fuck they wanted to. Be it man bras or football clubs or whatever. If they sold the Red Sox FSG would no longer exist, ergo they could create a new company and spend their money how they like.
Get your point though.

 

[StevieM]

I don't think Allen has been that bad. Not great, but not Henderson bad either. Gerrard has struggled as well.

Sahin & Shelvey didn't really set the world alight either.

As mentioned - the midfield may well be dysfunctional, but it's not being overrun. The problem is with the attacking trio. Suarez is carrying them - sterlings end product is not there, and while Enrique has done ok, he's not the answer.

We've established ourselves in games, but failed to translate it into goals.

 

[Insignificance]

Allen is

I don't think Allen has been that bad. Not great, but not Henderson bad either. Gerrard has struggled as well.

Şahin & Shelvey didn't really set the world alight either.

As mentioned - the midfield may well be dysfunctional, but it's not being overrun. The problem is with the attacking trio. Suarez is carrying them - sterlings end product is not there, and while Enrique has done ok, he's not the answer.

We've established ourselves in games, but failed to translate it into goals.

The point is that Allen is the one dictating the pace of our game nowadays. He is not a bad player, but completely shattered and out of form. I believe Sahin behind Shelvey and Gerrard would make us bette at keeping possesion as well as bring more energy to our game. Still noone to win the ball back, but we dont have that regardless. That combination will also attacks the box better than the Hendo-Allen partnership which have been quite poor so far.

 

[Ryan]

Funny too see that Rodgers wanted to get rid of Kenny's shit expensive players
but he's still picking the worst and most expensive of them.
I couldnt believe it when I saw Downing was starting again

We'd be better of with Adam and Carroll.

I thought this was worth bumping (the last line in particular) cos it's quite brilliant really.

"We'd be better off with Adam and Carroll." There you go.

 

[Modo]

The term "lesser of two evils" comes to mind. I'm not completely sure what LeChacal meant but Adam and Carroll arguably did better than Downing and Hendo.
For the record I'd rather not see anyone of them in red again. Not so much Hendo though.