Disclaimer:
Joe Allen has not forced this follower of
Liverpool FC to write this piece, he has done so under his own free will,
without duress, or financial persuasion.
Define the word scapegoat.
“A person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place”.
In the time I have spent watching Liverpool FC, I can identify quite a large number of scapegoats. In the best chronological order since the mid 90’s, David James, Bjorn Kvarme, Vladimir Smicer, Jerzy Dudek, Abel Xavier, El Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao, Igor Biscan, Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Manuel Pellegrini, Mark Gonzalez, John Arne Riise, Lucas Leiva, Andriy Voronin, Robbie Keane, Ryan Babel, David Ngog, Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Fabio Borini, Jonjo Shelvey, Aly Cissokho and Iago Aspas. The Liverpool squad of today has quite of number of scapegoats for lack of a better word. Then again, they haven’t had the best of seasons. Mignolet, Lovren, Sakho, Johnson, Markovic, Lambert and Balotelli have all incurred the wrath of the Anfield faithful at various times this year (or in Glen Johnsons case, since it began). And the only thing saving Steven Gerrard from that list is a career of honest dedication to the club and his imminent departure.
However, since his return from injury, it is Joe Allen who has been on receiving end of the more severe criticism, abuse, and judgment amongst the Liverpool fans. Yet, here is the funny thing, something that applies to some of the players listed above. It has been unwarranted. A lot of this criticism is uninformed, blinded by the pain caused by a “teams” poor performance. Sometimes these fans can be onto something, without providing much facts to their argument. Other times they can’t provide an argument whatsoever.
Let’s talk about the player himself. Thing is that people don’t actually appreciate how good Allen is. He’s a natural central midfielder, with the ability to alternate between a deep lying role and a box-to-box type of role. He possesses a technical ability and football brain that is one of the best at the club. His composure and awareness in possession and ability to play the right pass makes him ideal for ball retention. Those two words, ball retention, are lost on a lot of Liverpool fans. Every game I have seen Joe Allen play for Liverpool, he has consistently shown himself available in space for a pass. He never shy’s away from wanting the ball. And crucially, he doesn’t waste it either, dictating the tempo. These are essential requisites of a deep lying midfielder who is allowed control the game. He is ideal component in a team looking to play patient possession based football. He also possesses enough energy and pace to link the midfield and attack efficiently when going forward.
Unfortunately for Joe Allen, his strengths as a player have never been able to blossom fully for a number of reasons. When Rodgers first arrived at Anfield, his philosophy was to play possession based football, with a strong emphasis on controlling the game and the ball. And Joe Allen was integral to that game plan. His performance against Man City in August 2012 was one of the best midfield performances I seen a Liverpool player give. He was everywhere that day and didn't put a foot wrong. As time has progressed however, Rodgers, by choice and by other players progression has abandoned his original possession based philosophy. The manager now favours a more direct attacking approach. That’s not to say Allen can’t still be effective in a Liverpool shirt. When Liverpool adopted the diamond 4-4-2 towards the end of last season, Allen deputised on occasion in the two man midfield and acquitted himself well. Unfortunately for Allen, he has suffered a number of injuries since he has joined and this has stifled his chance to become a first team player. In his last spell out, Rodgers made another tactical switch, adopting a 3-4-3 system with only two central midfielders.
Since returning from his latest injury, Joe Allen has been deputising in the holding midfielder role of this 3-4-3 formation, akin to a defensive midfielder. The common misconception of the type of player Joe Allen is, what he provides and to what role he plays, is the catalyst for uninformed criticism of the Welsh man. While he possesses the strengths to control the game as a deep lying midfielder, he is by no means a holding defensive midfielder. One look at him and you will immediately realise his slight 5’6 frame is not the ideal physique for throwing yourself into challenges. He can cover the space efficiently and track back endlessly but will always find himself struggling in the physical aspect of that position. A defensive midfielder’s primary focus is break up the oppositions attack and retrieve possession. A deep lying central midfielder job is to maintain possession, controlling the ball dictating the tempo of his teams attack from deep. The difference between the two can be highlighted upon a comparative video analysis of the two positions.
Despite being played out of position, Joe Allen has not played as bad as naive angry Liverpool fans would have you believe. Playing alongside an extremely out of form Steven Gerrard, he has found himself consistently tracking back and covering the space in the middle. He also hasn’t shirked a tackle despite his slight physique. That isn’t good enough for Liverpool fans however, vilifying his pass completion rate and success at maintaining possession. To highlight the ignorance, during the FA Cup replay against Bolton, Allen made a crucial last man intervention on a Bolton counter attack. Despite this, you still had “experts” on Twitter wondering if he had done anything. This after he just prevented a one on one from developing. This is insight from those who base their football knowledge on Sky Sports highlights of the game or television broadcasts. The work of a defensive midfielder is not glamourous, I know I’d prefer to see endless highlights of Coutinhos injury time winner than that crucial piece of covering. Yet its value to the team is crucial. Liverpool may have been a goal down even before Guðjohnsen’s penalty without selfish acts of defending by Joe Allen.
Define the word scapegoat.
“A person or group made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place”.
In the time I have spent watching Liverpool FC, I can identify quite a large number of scapegoats. In the best chronological order since the mid 90’s, David James, Bjorn Kvarme, Vladimir Smicer, Jerzy Dudek, Abel Xavier, El Hadji Diouf, Salif Diao, Igor Biscan, Djimi Traore, Harry Kewell, Manuel Pellegrini, Mark Gonzalez, John Arne Riise, Lucas Leiva, Andriy Voronin, Robbie Keane, Ryan Babel, David Ngog, Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen, Andy Carroll, Jordan Henderson, Fabio Borini, Jonjo Shelvey, Aly Cissokho and Iago Aspas. The Liverpool squad of today has quite of number of scapegoats for lack of a better word. Then again, they haven’t had the best of seasons. Mignolet, Lovren, Sakho, Johnson, Markovic, Lambert and Balotelli have all incurred the wrath of the Anfield faithful at various times this year (or in Glen Johnsons case, since it began). And the only thing saving Steven Gerrard from that list is a career of honest dedication to the club and his imminent departure.
However, since his return from injury, it is Joe Allen who has been on receiving end of the more severe criticism, abuse, and judgment amongst the Liverpool fans. Yet, here is the funny thing, something that applies to some of the players listed above. It has been unwarranted. A lot of this criticism is uninformed, blinded by the pain caused by a “teams” poor performance. Sometimes these fans can be onto something, without providing much facts to their argument. Other times they can’t provide an argument whatsoever.
Let’s talk about the player himself. Thing is that people don’t actually appreciate how good Allen is. He’s a natural central midfielder, with the ability to alternate between a deep lying role and a box-to-box type of role. He possesses a technical ability and football brain that is one of the best at the club. His composure and awareness in possession and ability to play the right pass makes him ideal for ball retention. Those two words, ball retention, are lost on a lot of Liverpool fans. Every game I have seen Joe Allen play for Liverpool, he has consistently shown himself available in space for a pass. He never shy’s away from wanting the ball. And crucially, he doesn’t waste it either, dictating the tempo. These are essential requisites of a deep lying midfielder who is allowed control the game. He is ideal component in a team looking to play patient possession based football. He also possesses enough energy and pace to link the midfield and attack efficiently when going forward.
Unfortunately for Joe Allen, his strengths as a player have never been able to blossom fully for a number of reasons. When Rodgers first arrived at Anfield, his philosophy was to play possession based football, with a strong emphasis on controlling the game and the ball. And Joe Allen was integral to that game plan. His performance against Man City in August 2012 was one of the best midfield performances I seen a Liverpool player give. He was everywhere that day and didn't put a foot wrong. As time has progressed however, Rodgers, by choice and by other players progression has abandoned his original possession based philosophy. The manager now favours a more direct attacking approach. That’s not to say Allen can’t still be effective in a Liverpool shirt. When Liverpool adopted the diamond 4-4-2 towards the end of last season, Allen deputised on occasion in the two man midfield and acquitted himself well. Unfortunately for Allen, he has suffered a number of injuries since he has joined and this has stifled his chance to become a first team player. In his last spell out, Rodgers made another tactical switch, adopting a 3-4-3 system with only two central midfielders.
Since returning from his latest injury, Joe Allen has been deputising in the holding midfielder role of this 3-4-3 formation, akin to a defensive midfielder. The common misconception of the type of player Joe Allen is, what he provides and to what role he plays, is the catalyst for uninformed criticism of the Welsh man. While he possesses the strengths to control the game as a deep lying midfielder, he is by no means a holding defensive midfielder. One look at him and you will immediately realise his slight 5’6 frame is not the ideal physique for throwing yourself into challenges. He can cover the space efficiently and track back endlessly but will always find himself struggling in the physical aspect of that position. A defensive midfielder’s primary focus is break up the oppositions attack and retrieve possession. A deep lying central midfielder job is to maintain possession, controlling the ball dictating the tempo of his teams attack from deep. The difference between the two can be highlighted upon a comparative video analysis of the two positions.
Despite being played out of position, Joe Allen has not played as bad as naive angry Liverpool fans would have you believe. Playing alongside an extremely out of form Steven Gerrard, he has found himself consistently tracking back and covering the space in the middle. He also hasn’t shirked a tackle despite his slight physique. That isn’t good enough for Liverpool fans however, vilifying his pass completion rate and success at maintaining possession. To highlight the ignorance, during the FA Cup replay against Bolton, Allen made a crucial last man intervention on a Bolton counter attack. Despite this, you still had “experts” on Twitter wondering if he had done anything. This after he just prevented a one on one from developing. This is insight from those who base their football knowledge on Sky Sports highlights of the game or television broadcasts. The work of a defensive midfielder is not glamourous, I know I’d prefer to see endless highlights of Coutinhos injury time winner than that crucial piece of covering. Yet its value to the team is crucial. Liverpool may have been a goal down even before Guðjohnsen’s penalty without selfish acts of defending by Joe Allen.
Simple things have enhanced my view on how Joe Allen, and by extension, other players perform in any given game. A mixture of playing the game, performance analysis and frequently attending live matches has given me a perspective that far surpasses what the average Sky Sports broadcast can offer someone. Even with my deteriorating eyesight (I really should go to an optician about that) you start to watch what is going on away from the man in possession. TV cameras follow the ball but there is so much more going on and things to look for than just the ball during play. The list can be exhaustive but for example;
- players in space
- making runs
- where is the space
- how is defence lined up
Four simple things off the ball. Let’s go more in depth, how is the full back lined up to cope with an overlapping run on the wing? Is there a covering player behind him? This is the reason I notice what Joe Allen does off the ball, the covering, the tracking back etc. And it’s very easy to determine who is an armchair expert when they offer their argument against.
Detractors of Allen will argue he doesn’t score or create enough, all he does is pass sideways etc. These individuals can’t understand that Allen is fulfilling a role of late that doesn’t allow him the freedom to create more in the final third. He is playing a holding defensive role in that midfield. It is not in his remit to get that far forward. But what was in his remit? Did he do his job? Did he track the runs, cover the space, try to break up attacks, maintain possession? For the most part, yes he did. And Lucas doesn’t exactly have the best goal/assist ratio in comparison does he? The difference between those two players is that Lucas is natural defensive midfielder who can play that role excellently. Allen is not, so therefore he will struggle in that role. Yet he is being judged on ridiculous barometers despite this. You have to understand the role an individual has been given on the field and judge him on that. That is something I don't think Liverpool fans are willing to do.
The sideway passes argument one is such a lazy ill-informed ignorant piece of bullshit that only Liverpool fans could come up with. Joe Allen has no problem playing the ball forward. What he has a problem with is losing possession. Against Bolton, Joe Allen would have looked up and seen who was open in space. But what was in front of him? An ineffective Lallana and Markovic, while Coutinho and Sterling would have been well covered by a large Bolton presence. It is completely lost on some Liverpool fans that it is better to hold on to the ball than just give it away. Maybe, just maybe, he looked up and saw nothing was on so he give it to a player who was free in space and allowed time for the play to open up. It was the same in the Merseyside derby, there was very little going on in the final third that evening. The front three consisted of Gerrard, who offered very little, Coutinho and Sterling. Liverpool’s key players were isolated by the Everton defence. They were well shackled. It was difficult to create anything from deep as there was nothing on.
These Liverpool fans just strike me as absolutely clueless at times. They constantly slate Glen Johnson for giving away the ball in the final third but if Joe Allen plays a short pass to his left or right; he has branded as a coward who only passes sideways. Never mind the fact he has maintained possession and kept Liverpool in control of the game, waiting or the right run to capitalise in the final third. The first mention/complaint of sideways passing and I just don't engage with the fan. There's no point, they've never stepped foot onto a pitch and played the game themselves displaying such ignorance. For anyone following me on Twitter (@FCr_91 – go on! Its great craic!), I’m usually engaging with such bright Liverpool fans on the Joe Allen debate. I am pleased to say there isn’t just a minority of one fighting this brigade. However, the mainstream ignorance displayed from fans is depressing.
Allen’s poor statistics for Liverpool are because he has often found himself playing out of position or has been injured. He has never been able to build on the potential and results he displayed for Swansea. As mentioned earlier, he is ideal for a possession based team, something Liverpool strived to be early in Rodgers time in charge. Rodgers built him up as the Welsh Xavi, only to abandon his original philosophy for the club. The fans expectations haven't changed. They expect him to do everything on the periphary of Liverpool’s 18 yard box. Well Xabi Alonso in his prime was the only one he could make long range passes consistently and score from deep. And he only got a measly 2 goals from inside his own half!
Jordan Henderson played most of his first season at right midfield. And he was usually first to be criticised win, lose, or draw. Look at him today. Captain in waiting and an integral part of the team. All coming about by playing him in his best position, utilising his strengths in the middle of the field. Lucas himself was targeted for years because he didn’t offer what Xabi Alonso did on the ball. He never pretended to either. He had his role and carried out to the best of his ability. Only in recent years has it become apparent to the majority of Liverpool fans how crucial Lucas is to the team. A key part of that realisation came when they understood Lucas played defensive midfield opposed to a deep lying central midfielder.
Some perspective on Joe Allen is badly needed, or perspective in general when it comes to judging players for most Liverpool fans. I do not believe he has much future at the club if they continue playing this 3-4-3 formation. Allen’s potential can only be maximised in a team playing him in a deep lying role playing possession based game. That being said however, the criticism he receives is extremely unwarranted. He still makes a valued contribution off the ball in covering the space, tracking runs from deep, and maintaining possession. Liverpool won’t score the goals their fans desire if they don’t have the ball, and Allen makes sure they have the best opportunity to do that.
With possession of the ball.
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