18 months left on contract - get rid of I say. If any club offers £10m, we should bite their hands off. Use the money to buy a proper DM.
Joe Allen
- Thread starter redhorizon2
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We'll probably get 6-8 if we sell in the summer from Swansea or a club at that level.
Footy365 had an interesting piece on him today:
[article]
For better or worse, MailOnline is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom. At the time of writing – 12.33pm on Wednesday – the top headline on their football homepage is ‘Was that really Joe Allen? Liverpool’s £16m man finally shows why Rodgers called him the ‘Welsh Xavi’ with no-look assist for Ibe’. Catchy. The Lying Rag’s website asked a similar question in faux-astonishment. ‘Is Joe Allen Liverpool’s Andrea Pirlo or Emile Heskey in disguise?’
I’ve double-checked, by the way, and it was Allen, not Pirlo, Xavi or Heskey. Not a doubt about that. Definitely Allen.
Now MailOnline might not be to your taste, but it’s obvious that they know their onions when it comes to maximising their audience. Sixteen hours after his assist, Joe Allen might not have been the biggest story in football, but he was certainly the one that would drive the most traffic.
There are very few players in the country who would prompt such a reaction. Mesut Ozil would run Allen close, but that story would focus solely on the German’s magnificence. With Allen, the reaction was one of disbelief.
To an outsider, it’s a farcical scenario. Allen is a fringe player in the Liverpool squad. He’s started 53 league games since arriving in August 2012, and one this season. On Tuesday he set up a goal for a teammate in a League Cup match. Allen had done his job, albeit with a degree of nonchalance.
For Allen, however, this is nothing new – everything he does is big news. If Mario Balotelli was Liverpool’s cause celebre off the field, Allen is his on-field equivalent. He is the subject of a million memes, possibly the most divisive player in the Premier League.
Brendan Rodgers has his own view. “Joe is a player who never gets the same credit as some of the others because he doesn’t score a great deal but that’s not his game,” he said in March. “But his courage and composure on the ball is phenomenal and I thought he was brilliant today.”
Yet Rodgers’ description is flawed, judging by the MailOnline homepage at least. Allen doesn’t just get the credit that others get, he gets far more. He also gets unfair abuse to offset that praise. Yin and yang.
Rodgers played his own crucial part in Allen’s divisive reputation. “This is the Welsh Xavi,” the then-Reds manager said in Liverpool’s tribute to The Office, Being: Liverpool. The first episode of that dickumentary contained almost half of the most cringeworthy moments in televisual history. It should be said that Rodgers’ description was not entirely serious but, unsurprisingly, it stuck.
Instantly, Allen became a hostage to fortune. The comparison – however jovial – with one of the world’s greatest midfielders has hung around his neck like an albatross – an albatross with an exceptional passing range far greater than Allen’s own.
“Some people maybe read too much into comments like that at times,” Allen says. “They heap pressure on you. It was just a comment about my style of play and nothing more, really.” The world’s response is to stick both fingers in its ears while shouting “Welsh Xavi” in an increasingly loud voice.
Allen is also a product of the modern football media. This is a world where Robbie Savage is somehow deemed king, where he who shouts loudest wins. The middle ground is home only to tumbleweeds. The only things better than controversy and opinions are controversial opinions. Ergo Adrian Durham is successful.
Yet this polarity rails entirely against Allen’s own style. He is a neat passer of the ball, a tidy player who is unlikely to grab a match by the scruff of its neck. He is a facilitator. As comedian Micky Flanagan once described himself in his youth: “I wasn’t the man to drive the van, that would have been dreaming. I was the man who carried the stuff to the van.”
But in this age of extremes, players are never allowed to just be. Andy Carroll scores two goals and is back on the plane to Euro 2016. Ross Barkley has exploded onto the scene, struggled to match the hype and then exploded once again. Every one of Allen’s performances is either a redemption or a regression.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Allen in particular. There is no doubt that he has underachieved at Liverpool, but his task is now close to impossible. Do something well and he is mocked. Do something badly and his reputation falls further. Grow some facial hair and it’s news.
All Allen wants to do is improve as a footballer. Instead, he’s become a parody. An ordinary player; an extraordinary fuss.[/article]
Footy365 had an interesting piece on him today:
[article]
For better or worse, MailOnline is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom. At the time of writing – 12.33pm on Wednesday – the top headline on their football homepage is ‘Was that really Joe Allen? Liverpool’s £16m man finally shows why Rodgers called him the ‘Welsh Xavi’ with no-look assist for Ibe’. Catchy. The Lying Rag’s website asked a similar question in faux-astonishment. ‘Is Joe Allen Liverpool’s Andrea Pirlo or Emile Heskey in disguise?’
I’ve double-checked, by the way, and it was Allen, not Pirlo, Xavi or Heskey. Not a doubt about that. Definitely Allen.
Now MailOnline might not be to your taste, but it’s obvious that they know their onions when it comes to maximising their audience. Sixteen hours after his assist, Joe Allen might not have been the biggest story in football, but he was certainly the one that would drive the most traffic.
There are very few players in the country who would prompt such a reaction. Mesut Ozil would run Allen close, but that story would focus solely on the German’s magnificence. With Allen, the reaction was one of disbelief.
To an outsider, it’s a farcical scenario. Allen is a fringe player in the Liverpool squad. He’s started 53 league games since arriving in August 2012, and one this season. On Tuesday he set up a goal for a teammate in a League Cup match. Allen had done his job, albeit with a degree of nonchalance.
For Allen, however, this is nothing new – everything he does is big news. If Mario Balotelli was Liverpool’s cause celebre off the field, Allen is his on-field equivalent. He is the subject of a million memes, possibly the most divisive player in the Premier League.
Brendan Rodgers has his own view. “Joe is a player who never gets the same credit as some of the others because he doesn’t score a great deal but that’s not his game,” he said in March. “But his courage and composure on the ball is phenomenal and I thought he was brilliant today.”
Yet Rodgers’ description is flawed, judging by the MailOnline homepage at least. Allen doesn’t just get the credit that others get, he gets far more. He also gets unfair abuse to offset that praise. Yin and yang.
Rodgers played his own crucial part in Allen’s divisive reputation. “This is the Welsh Xavi,” the then-Reds manager said in Liverpool’s tribute to The Office, Being: Liverpool. The first episode of that dickumentary contained almost half of the most cringeworthy moments in televisual history. It should be said that Rodgers’ description was not entirely serious but, unsurprisingly, it stuck.
Instantly, Allen became a hostage to fortune. The comparison – however jovial – with one of the world’s greatest midfielders has hung around his neck like an albatross – an albatross with an exceptional passing range far greater than Allen’s own.
“Some people maybe read too much into comments like that at times,” Allen says. “They heap pressure on you. It was just a comment about my style of play and nothing more, really.” The world’s response is to stick both fingers in its ears while shouting “Welsh Xavi” in an increasingly loud voice.
Allen is also a product of the modern football media. This is a world where Robbie Savage is somehow deemed king, where he who shouts loudest wins. The middle ground is home only to tumbleweeds. The only things better than controversy and opinions are controversial opinions. Ergo Adrian Durham is successful.
Yet this polarity rails entirely against Allen’s own style. He is a neat passer of the ball, a tidy player who is unlikely to grab a match by the scruff of its neck. He is a facilitator. As comedian Micky Flanagan once described himself in his youth: “I wasn’t the man to drive the van, that would have been dreaming. I was the man who carried the stuff to the van.”
But in this age of extremes, players are never allowed to just be. Andy Carroll scores two goals and is back on the plane to Euro 2016. Ross Barkley has exploded onto the scene, struggled to match the hype and then exploded once again. Every one of Allen’s performances is either a redemption or a regression.
It’s hard not to feel sorry for Allen in particular. There is no doubt that he has underachieved at Liverpool, but his task is now close to impossible. Do something well and he is mocked. Do something badly and his reputation falls further. Grow some facial hair and it’s news.
All Allen wants to do is improve as a footballer. Instead, he’s become a parody. An ordinary player; an extraordinary fuss.[/article]
The thing I remember about Allen is that in his first three or four matches for us he played brilliantly. Then we played Swansea and he had a shite game. He hasn't recovered since.
Rolls Royce's don't come cheap.
I still really like him. The games he's played for Klopp he's actually consistently been one of our better players. If our front 4 players looked like scoring more goals we could probably live with a midfielder who doesn't contribute goals or assists, but as it stands, we could really do with more of contribution in this area.
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He's a good footballer, I liked him at Swansea and had our team as a whole been playing more consistently well he'd have been fine here. However, he does seem to be one of those players who need others around them to be in good form in order to play their best in their own right. IMO the problem's been one of timing rather than one of lack of quality.
Allen is one of those players that will never be good enough for us, but chuck him into a mid tier team and he's a welsh god!
Such a frustrating case. I was delighted when we signed him, and in his first month he was really great. People forget that even in the last two years there have been games where he has put in some great performances - sadly few and far between.
He's the kind of player that could make a massive difference to us if he kept a high level of performance and stayed fit. But he just can't seem to.
If he added a bit of steel I could see him being decent in a Makelele / Hamann type of role in front of the defense. Maybe become a player decent at positioning, decent in the tackle and great at ball recycling and keeping it simple. But I think that might be a stretch.
He's the kind of player that could make a massive difference to us if he kept a high level of performance and stayed fit. But he just can't seem to.
If he added a bit of steel I could see him being decent in a Makelele / Hamann type of role in front of the defense. Maybe become a player decent at positioning, decent in the tackle and great at ball recycling and keeping it simple. But I think that might be a stretch.
I don't think that follows. Naismith did well for the blueslime (among other things he scored more goals than Allen's ever likely to score for us), I was surprised they let him go and the time may come when they regret having done so. I wouldn't expect Allen to fetch more than he did TBH.
We got £10m for Borini, so anything is possible. Remember we paid some team in Spain nearly £7m for a player who was average in their B team.
We might have been told we're buying the Welsh Xavi, but when we're selling him we have dress it up and say he is more the Welsh Mascher. We have to be positive at the price and start it at £14m and see who bids. Some these clubs have littlie debts and next years windfall will mean £10m be nothing to them as they need experience and depth to stay in the Prem and the Welsh Mascher offers just that.
Its like if you're running a hardware shop and someone's come in asking for hammer but you have none left. So you try to sell them something else like a spanner. But because its a spanner not only can you bash things with it, you can also do its prime intended job tightening and loosening bolts and screws.
We might have been told we're buying the Welsh Xavi, but when we're selling him we have dress it up and say he is more the Welsh Mascher. We have to be positive at the price and start it at £14m and see who bids. Some these clubs have littlie debts and next years windfall will mean £10m be nothing to them as they need experience and depth to stay in the Prem and the Welsh Mascher offers just that.
Its like if you're running a hardware shop and someone's come in asking for hammer but you have none left. So you try to sell them something else like a spanner. But because its a spanner not only can you bash things with it, you can also do its prime intended job tightening and loosening bolts and screws.
Ermmm, what? Is Joe Allen a spanner.
Google images coach screws
Joe Allen is someone we don't need, and we need to dress him up to suit would be buyers.
What? So Rodgers called him the Welsh Xavi in the hope Barcelona would buy him? Mind you, he did also think Joe Allen would be worth £30m by now, so that goes to show what he knows.
Or do you mean random people on message boards should start calling him the new Mascherano, in the hope Sam allardyce reads it and buys him?
Is that why he's grown a beard?
We should make him play with one of those fake glasses and nose things. And maybe a hat.
We should design a brochure and show what an asset he is and how sad it would be for him to leave us. Any team investing £14m in such talent will double their investment in two years. Then make sure we sell him as sold as seen.
He needs a brand positioning statement.
I quite like: The Recycler. Or maybe "The Invisible Cog"
"Man of mystery"
Get in touch with Michael Owen's team. Top notch brochures.
Tidy player but like so many we have bought, excelled when he played week in week out and he has never got that here.
I think his time is done unless this injury crisis gives him a chance and he somehow remembers the player he was when he first signed.
I think his time is done unless this injury crisis gives him a chance and he somehow remembers the player he was when he first signed.
I kinda like him and want him to succeed ...probably because he is Welsh. ahh well
He would do well in Spain but he is faaaar too small to play CM in the Premier league. If he was 6'1 he'd be decent enough but in reality he is small, weak and pretty slow.
He would do well in Spain but he is faaaar too small to play CM in the Premier league. If he was 6'1 he'd be decent enough but in reality he is small, weak and pretty slow.
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