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Joe Allen

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Gary25

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He's not worth a fuck is he?

Can excuse a player who's been out for 5 or 6 weeks being a bit rusty but still, that sort of performance is one we've become accustomed to with Allen. Meh meh meh.
 
He was horribly rusty today and never looked like improving but I still think he's a smart little player who'll grow in importance next season in Gerrard's absence. At his best he's a metronomic presence in a team, subtly controlling the movement of the whole team. He's never going to be flash and eye-catching but there's much more to come from him.
 
Not that he was ever anything special... but, we have just never even come close to seeing this player: (apologies for poor quality)



I wonder if our muscle mass building regiment has taken away whatever pace and agility he had. He's virtually useless now.
 
He was a lot more dynamic and forward thinking at Swansea and it's been disappointing not to see him show that in a red shirt.. I side with Macca in that I believe still has a lot to contribute in his career with us but there's every right for the fans to be underwhelmed by his contribution so far.
 
Our muscle mass.building regimen?

Ha

We train our players like marathon runners, the worst athletes on planet. Which is why none of them ever improve physically when they're with us
 
My theory re Ryan and his love for Allen (and Lallana, and the early Lucas, etc) is that he knows a fair amount about the game and enjoys showing it off, and that leads him to overvalue qualities that these less - how should I put it? - 'obviously talented' players apparently possess, because by recognising and eulogising them he gets to differentiate himself from other less sophisticated posters in a way that he wouldn't by praising a player's pace, or skill, or strength etc.
 
That tends to happen as you get older anyway. There's zero evidence that our physical training makes the slightest difference to player.

I'm not gonna argue with you. Because every player I name you will say its because of the age they came in; Lucas, Hendo, Allen, Borini have all put on muscle here.

Also, if you can't tell that our players die in the first half of the season, yet spring to life in the second because of our training I don't know how to talk to you.
 
Never improve physically, ha. Tell that to Coutinho, you bat.

@darkstarexodus are you drunk?

No, just laughing my ass off at Rosco. Not evaluating the merits of the argument, just laughing at the delivery.

I also fully endorse Ross' statement about the athletic skills of marathon runners and the implications regarding transfer of said skills to a football pitch.
 
My theory re Ryan and his love for Allen (and Lallana, and the early Lucas, etc) is that he knows a fair amount about the game and enjoys showing it off, and that leads him to overvalue qualities that these less - how should I put it? - 'obviously talented' players apparently possess, because by recognising and eulogising them he gets to differentiate himself from other less sophisticated posters in a way that he wouldn't by praising a player's pace, or skill, or strength etc.
He's a football hipster.
 
His agility on the ball is great and he turns his way out of trouble to get us on the move again in midfield, as Macca says, he's got a metronomic quality in keeping us going in midfield and keeping things moving quickly. Lucas has improved incredibly on that note too, last season against Spurs was a good example of what they both can give us when the forward players are in good form, we're more cohesive as a team, but when you're looking for something more from the middle of the park, I'm not sure if you can justify including Lucas AND Allen across a full season. There's arguably a need for someone who can be consistently dynamic and dominant alongside one of them, not both of them and at the minute, Lucas deserves the nod.

I think alot of it is down to injury, he's just never pushed on an looked like fulfilling the potential he clearly has, but alot of the good work he does, does tend to go unnoticed aswell.
 
His agility on the ball is great and he turns his way out of trouble to get us on the move again in midfield, as Macca says, he's got a metronomic quality in keeping us going in midfield and keeping things moving quickly. Lucas has improved incredibly on that note too, last season against Spurs was a good example of what they both can give us when the forward players are in good form, we're more cohesive as a team, but when you're looking for something more the middle of the park, I'm not sure if you can justify including Lucas AND Allen across a full season. There's arguably a need for someone who can be consistently dynamic and dominant alongside one of them, not both of them and at the minute, Lucas deserves the nod.

I think alot of it is down to injury, he's just never pushed on an looked like fulfilling the potential he clearly has, but alot of the good work he does, does tend to go unnoticed aswell.

Isn't the real problem that he isn't a DM? He is pretty useless there compared to Lucas and Hendo. And he is pretty useless as well compared to Coutinho and Lallana. Rarely have i seen a player that timid in the box.

He wasn't bought for a system like this, was he?

He has a few moments but in general I feel like I seen enough. A bit like how i feel about my x-wife...
 
I think he looks much better playing CM and onwards, when he's in that CM/DM sort of role I don't think he looks very good at all.
Whether we would ever consistently play a formation that would suit that is another thing
 
I do have concerns about Allen, but this is not the game to judge him on. It was always going to be difficult to come back from injury straight into a game against such a physical opponent in the Cup.

In theory, I think a player like Allen could be a good fit in the middle of the park. With 3 CBs, you don't necessarily need a dedicated DM.
 
He looks like the shirt weighs a bit heavy on him and has been unlucky with injuries. If Henderson can go from where he was, Allen can recapture what we bought him for.
 
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