AFTER getting a lot of stick for long stretches of last season, I wasn’t surprised to see that Joe Allen was booked in for surgery long before the end of the campaign. Whilst it was a well-kept secret that he was suffering from shoulder surgery, it was obvious that something was amiss.
After an impressive start to his Liverpool career, Allen’s form dipped from October onwards, which is when he began suffering with the injury.
The two facts go in hand in hand and seeing Allen’s pre-season has convinced me further of this, particularly after watching the Olympiakos game on Saturday.
It was with great interest that I watched the Welshman in that match. He was playing with the same purpose that he first started his Liverpool career with. He is an excellent reader of the game and for a man of such slight stature is very competitive in the middle of the park. But he does look set to play a more advanced role when needed this season.
Whilst the shackles remain on Lucas, Allen was joining Gerrard in pushing further up the pitch against the Greeks. He scored one goal and ought to have scored at least one more after volleying over from close range and missing with a stooping header, which was admittedly a much more difficult opportunity.
Many of the criticisms of Allen’s game stem from him keeping it simple and not being particularly adventurous. It might only have been pre-season against pretty ordinary opposition but I hope that Joe Allen is allowed to continue this more attack minded approach. This is of course entirely down to the manager.
Brendan Rodgers will have an idea of what he wants to do and after twelve months, so will most of the players. We played 4-2-3-1 on Saturday and have looked at that formation several times over the last few weeks. It allows us to play to the strengths of Coutinho, Gerrard and our right-winger of choice.
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Raheem Sterling was excellent against Olympiakos. That’s not to say we won’t play 4-3-3 come the start of the season but we might consider changing to this formation. It is one we used very effectively under Benitez. But Rodgers is signing versatile attacking players so I expect him to be versatile with his formation too.
Against better standard of opposition, Allen might be told to sit deep and that’s all there is to it. But against weaker teams, he might be allowed to push on and get into the box. He does take up good positions and does time his arrival in the box well. Just take a look at the goal he scored, though Iago Aspas deserves a lot of credit for the way he picked him out.
Ultimately, I want to see more of Allen going forward. He is very effective at getting us on the front foot because he does win his fair share of possession in that engine room. A lot of emphasis will be on him to make the right options as he brings the ball forward. That will likely end up with him continuing his runs and arriving in the penalty box. Whereas last season he kept it simple and rarely left the halfway area.
If he can add a few goals to his game it will make a massive difference to people’s perceptions of him. He did start well and he did taper off badly. His shoulder injury timing does check out with his significant downturn in form. I am definitely looking forward to seeing more of him next season and hopefully we’ll see a better player than we did for long stretches of last season.
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In the preseason games Allen is clearly fully fit (so no excuses) and I think he’s defending well. It helps massively Lucas is back, but Allen has been particularly good at pressing consistently. His passing still seems cautious to me (he just doesn’t have range) but he is definitely getting further forward. The problem is that he isn’t that natural in those positions.
He doesn’t quite know when to pass, when to drive at the defence or when to shoot when he is in the final third. Despite his tap in goal against Olympiacos he missed a couple of real sitters. A volley from 5 yards he blasted way over, and a free header from 5 yards in which he mistimed his leap and the ball skimmed his head.
It’s good he got in those positions, it shows endeavour, but he’s still lacking either quality or confidence in the final third.
I’m not one to read too much into friendlies, so the important thing for me is how he does in the Premier League. Personally I still wouldn’t play him. I’d play Lucas and Gerrard, with Coutinho behind Sturridge and two wide players.
He is not top quality , everyone can see that. He doesnt score . He doesnt create much . He doesn’t dribble. He is too weak at defending. …all he can do is press and pass sideways (and backward mostly ).
If he wasn’t brendas pet he wouldn’t even be at a premier league club. Rodgers infatuation with Allen will ruin our season (again )
Watch all allens games he barely passes back get ur facts right most of his passes were attack minded. He may not of got many assist but his vision for team goin forwrd are fantastic. Do u even watch lfc matches hes very clever on the ball also is always runnin back and defendin well. DO UR RESEARCH
Watch some games yourself you fool. …you obviously dont
??? What are you on about Dan ? Do you understand football at all ?
You say ‘his vision for the team going forward is fantastic ‘
Ha ha ha ha
If that were even slightly true then he WOULD score and get assists. But it’s not true
Dan . You are the weakest link , a complete lemon
seriously, where on earth did you watch such fantastic allen games? br swansea? even then he wasnt attacking minded but yes that was swansea. this is liverpool for loves sake, we are better than that.
‘He doesn’t score’…..???? Yes he does, he scored the other day!! Clown!!
Lol. It was a friendly u dope. Check out his scoring record in real games
37 apps last season 1 goal 0 assists .
A good player can score goals but doesn’t need to. Pep Guardiola and Hierro were fantastic players who didn’t score much.
Their dictation of play was key to their game and their teams style of ‘ winning’ play.
Who here would say Alonso would have been an awful player had he not scored many or assisted less?
Allen is part of many good passing and moving plays and if we have the ball more often than not, we have more chance if winning. It’s not rocket science. Paul Scholes took a bit of time to add consistency to his goal scoring.
relax guys, football is a sport where people have a right to an opinion, enjoy them and disagree, not worth having a hernia over.
peace & love
Geoff – spot on . One of the worst players ever to wear a red shirt…just like his manager totally out of his depth
Lets hope Rodgers learnt his lesson from last season, when once Allen was injured we played much better football, but alas, I fear that Allen will be one of the first on the team sheet come the game against Stoke.
allen and brendan is our weakest link. his price is a real joke. you clowns who support allen are all mancunians.
Guys give Allen a break… Remember Alonso wasn’t all that good in his 1st 2 seasons and Lucas to some time to get where he is now. Allen is young and needs time. I think we should sign Ivan Rakatic in midfield
We improved so much when Allen was out injured last season , it probably saved Rodgers his job. Allen is pure cr@p in every department
play allen and u will be heading towards the exit door,Brendan!!!…a complete waste!
Allen and the word attack don’t go in the same sentence together . Simply the most negative footballer I have seen in many many years . This guy will never be a top class footballer .
Great to see back from his injury . Looking to see more of him giving good clean tackles on opposition players. And hope he stays fit as well.
The facts of the matter are that, when Allen got injured we actually started to attack more and looked much better, so why would you want him back in the starting line up?
Allen is S H I T
take it or live it, Allen is epl’s xavi. He is just too good and young. We are very lucky to have him @ LFC. I also have faith in BR’s project. He knows exactly what he want. He made swansealona n can do better in LFC.
typical 5year old who doesnt even watch football to start with.
@effect . Are you brain damaged ? Or Brenda in disguise ? (or both ?)
Are you for real?…Its hard to gauge sarcasm over the net.
typical 5year old who doesnt even watch football to start with.
my apologies for insulting 5yr olds with regards to effects rediculous comments. @effect what are you
Trolls are making headlines in the news these days, they also seem to be commenting on here.
Go home you unloved people.
Started this year very well. Passing has bad more penetration. His assist Gerard against Melbourne was a ripper and got into great positions against the Greeks.
Wouldn’t be surprised if he shut a few of u whinging tools up this year.
Lol. Never even one ounce of intelligence from ozred EVER !
Awful awful player . Even laudrup wouldn’t have him in Swansea team now. Biggest waste of 15m ever
Very good again last night.
Against a poor team not putting him under any pressure, I am not fooled that easily, until I see him mixing it against Stoke I will reserve judgement, worried at how nearly all our pre-season games have been against really poor opposition.
I’m not jumping up and down either but hopefully he’s fully recovered and settling in. U can only play who you play and 6 games, 6 wins, 16 goals for and 1 against is a great start to the campaign.
Manu have faced the same quality opposition and have been losing and drawing. Previous seasons we would be drawing and losing games like this as well. 3 -0 against stoke will do nicely!