Allen will hopefully come good. So far he has not been able to dictate the pace of games, so unfortunately at this stage last season even Chuck Adam contributed way more than him. But there is a footballer in there somewhere, so I am still hopeful.
Joe Sideways
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Ryan made a good analysis of Allen in a thread somewhere else recently - he will be much more effective when he plays further up the pitch as he did for Swansea. This is when he intricacy of passing will really come into its own. As Del says, he is filling the role of a DM as there is no one else who can really be trusted to perform at the same level as he can there.
I don't think he's a specific sideways passer myself. I think he's an intelligent player who's always looking for a smart pass and the sideways passes are symptomatic of a lack of movement in front of him. Movement, or rather lack of it, is an little issue for us at the moment
Ha ha WTF!!!
Sahin will be on the bench. A midfield of Lucas holding with Gerrard and Allen pulling the strings looks good.
I agree that Allen hasn't looked as good recently and some of his passing yesterday was poor but he's young, he's got the vision and he's proved more versatile than being "just" a playmaker. He has been playing the deep lying midfielder and its a role he's not used to.
Plus, we do need someone to keep it simple. Too often our attacks breakdown and we get put under pressure because we try and move it too quick and take the complex option. Keeping the ball and using sensibly is what he's about.
T
the_khl
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Form is temporary class is permanent.
As far Allen goes, he's got class.
As far Allen goes, he's got class.
I think Allen has been technically quite good Piedro; he's a long way from having the best touch in the team whoever suggested that nonsense but he's still very good from a technical standpoint.
Remember Lucas not being considered a good passer of the ball despite I and a number of others always saying he was an excellent first time passer. Then there was movement up ahead of him and suddenly he was being described as Alonso-esque. Allen needs plenty of movement - right now he's off loading the ball pretty quickly and it's usually sideways but that's got more to do with the options ahead of him.
I find it funny that a 22 year old born in the UK is receiving plenty of defense based on being young and at a new club while an 18 year old Brazilian being in a new country, new club at half the price didn't receive any where near the same level of defense. That said, Allen needs to be closer to his front line to play the passes. His is a game of short, intricate passing. Playing him deep is killing his passing cause the only players close enough are beside him. This comes back to the other complaint raised - why we've got two mid fielders sitting and one attacking. That leaves Joe with one option in front of him and close enough for his passing game compared to about 5 players behind or beside him and close enough.
He's never going to take a game by the scruff of the neck like Gerrard IMO but the way he took on the thug last week against the bitters was encouraging. Over matched physically by a long way but he didn't take a backward step all game. Didn't play particularly well either but didn't cower or hide at any point.
He's a good 'un who'll get better.
Remember Lucas not being considered a good passer of the ball despite I and a number of others always saying he was an excellent first time passer. Then there was movement up ahead of him and suddenly he was being described as Alonso-esque. Allen needs plenty of movement - right now he's off loading the ball pretty quickly and it's usually sideways but that's got more to do with the options ahead of him.
I find it funny that a 22 year old born in the UK is receiving plenty of defense based on being young and at a new club while an 18 year old Brazilian being in a new country, new club at half the price didn't receive any where near the same level of defense. That said, Allen needs to be closer to his front line to play the passes. His is a game of short, intricate passing. Playing him deep is killing his passing cause the only players close enough are beside him. This comes back to the other complaint raised - why we've got two mid fielders sitting and one attacking. That leaves Joe with one option in front of him and close enough for his passing game compared to about 5 players behind or beside him and close enough.
He's never going to take a game by the scruff of the neck like Gerrard IMO but the way he took on the thug last week against the bitters was encouraging. Over matched physically by a long way but he didn't take a backward step all game. Didn't play particularly well either but didn't cower or hide at any point.
He's a good 'un who'll get better.
Playing a bit deeper than he will do eventually perhaps he has to take a safety first attitude as most of his passing is from our own half and it would be criminal to give possession away in these areas . Inevitably this involves alot of crab like passes out to the full backs, although as others have said ,possibly its the lack of movement from our other players that inhibits his forward passing. Havent seen much of him in the oppos midfield where he can provide clever incisive passing really, he was great at this for Swansea.
Spot on DB.
From what I've seen at Swansea, Allen actully likes to drive the ball forward, play forward passes and run with the ball. Playing as a holding midfielder with Gerrard he has to be extremely disciplined, that's why his game SEEMS limited. I think Allen is the 2nd most important/irreplacable player in this team after Suarez. Whenever he is rested, we struggle to establish control of the ball.
He always does intelligent things. That's such a relief after years of seeing so many players doing stupid things - even just in a trivial way of, say, passing into a mass of players when there's a team mate free nearby, or punting it aimlessly up the pitch when simple options are available to keep possession. The team's lacked intelligence for ages and he's brought that into the heart of the team. The more it rubs off on them the more adventurous he'll become, but at least now there's someone using the ball in a sensible way throughout the match.
I get some right once a year so I was due!
Don't be so hard on yourself, that's Ryan's job.
He will be fine
regards
regards
It was me. And it's not nonsense. I've never noticed a ball get away from him. And I remember a quite outrageous touch from him in one of his games where plucked it out of the air from about head height.
2?
Goals are always helpful (especially at the moment) but not the be-all-and-end-all in a midfield player, besides which Allen's playing deeper than Rodgers really wants to play him, because that's what we need from him at the moment. He's quality already, and he's going to get better still.
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