Allen was great earlier in the season, settled in well and was comfortable mopping up and breaking down the play, keeping his passing simple and making the team move all the time. The last month he's seemed slower, less assured, far less accurate with his passing and caught in possession a lot. Could be a blip - simple as. Everyone has them. I'd be more worried if he was still playing like this into New Year... all we can do is wait and watch - and hope his form comes back.
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It is an interesting point but I do think one of the things that has grown in Lucas's game is the ability to move the ball quickly to someone who can start new attacks. Allen at the minute seems to move the ball to keep possession. For me the problem lies in the fact that with him deeper there is no one looking to carry that through midfield - linking midfield to attack in a smooth manner - Henderson runs too much, Gerrard looks for longer balls too quickly and Sahin has looked unable to cope with the pace of PL football thus far.Originally posted by Alex View Post
I think people are being unfair on Allen and that in same ways his defensive work has improved of late - it feels a bit like that has come at the cost of his work on the ball. Perhaps the new fatherhood/tiredness argument also come to bear."The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind."
-- William BlakeComment
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You just don't get it Nige.Originally posted by Nigey View PostHe does the same role. People don't seem to realise that this position requires a lot of skill. I've read people say that he's passing sideways, as if it was an easy thing to do.
A lot of that role involves receiving the ball in optimal positions, which involves a touch, then a pass, to feet and in such a way which doesn't slow down our play. He does it brilliantly most of the time, I'd say, he's got a 90% success rate at that. That makes him excellent.
He doesn't play for Barcelona, that's his problem. He makes some errors, but who doesn't?
Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets pass and move, quickly incisively and in EVERY direction. Joe Allen is a million miles from this right now, infact all our midfield is. Allen is not even that great at winning the ball, yes he gets stuck in but he is often out muscled and hounded off the ball, or forced into making errors.
There is simply no comparison with Allen and the Barca midfield.
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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He is being targeted more. So it's more difficult for him and it's more difficult to keep up the same levels of performances.Originally posted by Tribute View PostAre we winning?Comment
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He should raise his game then shouldn't he? Or maybe he can't?Originally posted by Nigey View Post
"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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I think for a 22 to try and run our midfield, he is doing an ok job at the moment. But as I have said, he really needs Lucas back. Badly.Originally posted by Tee View PostHe should raise his game then shouldn't he? Or maybe he can't?*Except Michael, who died.Comment
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I think he is playing within himself and making things simple due to the ****eness of our midfield.
When he has Lucas next to him and our midfield is a stronger unit, he may look at playing riskier passes as the hope is we will have a better chance of defending that mistake with Lucas in front. At the moment he is our DM, And he isn't Lucas hence I think its really stifling his game as he doesn't have anyone to protect his mistakes._____________________________________
Weak willed, Wank or do they have a masterplan?
Think we have the answer..Slot!!
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But he has proved he canOriginally posted by Tee View PostHe should raise his game then shouldn't he? Or maybe he can't?
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Weak willed, Wank or do they have a masterplan?
Think we have the answer..Slot!!Comment
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Iniesta plays a different role. Xavi and more specifically Busquets, just sit. They all complement each other in arguably the greatest football team of all time. Allen plays the same role but with different players in a team which is not geared yet to play this system perfectly.Originally posted by Tee View PostYou just don't get it Nige. Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets pass and move, quickly incisively and in EVERY direction. Joe Allen is a million miles from this right now, infact all our midfield is. Allen is not even that great at winning the ball, yes he gets stuck in but he is often out muscled and hounded off the ball, or forced into making errors.
There is simply no comparison with Allen and the Barca midfield.Are we winning?Comment
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Also, currently he is ranked 3rd in the player of the season game. That is always a good indicator of how a player performs over the course of a season.*Except Michael, who died.Comment
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IMO it is more an indicator of how poor we have been if he is ranked third.Originally posted by Alex View Post"Its not about the long ball or the short ball, its about the right ball." Bob PaisleyComment
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I don't get the negative Allen posts.
He's playing out of position covering a weak area of our team, acclimatising to a new club after 13 years at his boyhood team and is often doing the running for two positions. He looks tired and could probably do with a rest.
I hate having to type "wait for Lucas" but the squad being the way it is now, thats exactly where we are. Gerrard isn't exactly mobile enough to help him (he seemed rooted in the centre circle yesterday) and Henderson is limited in ability and confidence. Sahin is also a new signing and Lucas is out.
ONce he's settled into his new job, and is played where he can display his talents, then it'll be a fair time to write him off if he has a long spell of being average. Far too early to say anything bad about him, his less than spectacular performances are a symptom of where the squad is rather than him being a bad player.Last edited by Daniel 7; 26-11-12, 12:52 PM.Comment
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Do you want the centre backs to be making things happen going forwards as well? Because thats similar to what you're asking.Originally posted by Tee View Post
For me, the DM doesn't have any attacking responsibilities. He shouldn't get much further forward than the centre circle. At most, he should be offering a "backwards-outlet" for the midfielders who are further forward. i.e. when they run into traffic and have no other options but to play it back.
Once Lucas is back, or god forbid we actually BUY another DM, I would expect to see Allen used more progressively and be contributing to our attacking play, with Lucas in the DM role.Comment
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I don't think we've been that poor. We've created chances, which indicates that the midfield is working, offensively at least. It's in the final third and in the transition between attack and defence that we have an issue.Originally posted by Tee View Post
Final pass has been piss poor for a number of years and we've still not found the right balance when we lose the ball in advanced positions, which is the reason we've been leaking goals.
Defensively we're fine on the whole.Are we winning?Comment
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