Liverpool FC Forum

[redalltheway36]

shelvy is more dynamic than lucas, but lucas is a better ball winning.
hendo has the stamina and work rate to be a good box to box mid.
allen is a steady ship, did not commit any mistakes all game. which is good.

im sorry hendo should be sold. I watched him closely many a time and he just goes missing for long periods. Now we have Allen we should recoup some money and have said it many times we need more skilfull attacking players.

[kazza]

Looks like a tidy player, should turn out to be a great acquisition.

[heimdall]

shelvy is more dynamic than lucas, but lucas is a better ball winning.
hendo has the stamina and work rate to be a good box to box mid.
allen is a steady ship, did not commit any mistakes all game. which is good.

im sorry hendo should be sold. I watched him closely many a time and he just goes missing for long periods. Now we have Allen we should recoup some money and have said it many times we need more skilfull attacking players.

Completely agree, Joe is a much much better player than Henderson, I was all for giving Henderson another chance this season but with all our recent signings I think we should try to sell him, Adam, Spearing, Cole and Downing, get rid of all the over paid deadwood and cr@p in one go.

[stmichael]

he's the perfect example of why pundits and journalists are utterly clueless about football.

[SouthCoastShankly]

shelvy is more dynamic than lucas, but lucas is a better ball winning.
hendo has the stamina and work rate to be a good box to box mid.
allen is a steady ship, did not commit any mistakes all game. which is good.

im sorry hendo should be sold. I watched him closely many a time and he just goes missing for long periods. Now we have Allen we should recoup some money and have said it many times we need more skilfull attacking players.

Completely agree, Joe is a much much better player than Henderson, I was all for giving Henderson another chance this season but with all our recent signings I think we should try to sell him, Adam, Spearing, Cole and Downing, get rid of all the over paid deadwood and cr@p in one go.

And what happens if Allen and Lucas get injured.

Our biggest problem has been with squad depth. Whilst we cannot see Henderson pushing out Allen, Lucas or Shelvey we still need cover. Lucas out now for a few week, it would be foolish to get rid of Henderson only to need a backup in a couple of months.

Keep.

[Ben Patrick]

The lad was outstanding against city.

One of the best debuts i have seen.
He seemed to be everywhere and reminded me in his passing and movement reminded me of Xavi.

There's a youtube vid of him, a montage of his performance against city and he was class.
Cant wait to watch more of him this season.

[The Good Yank]

The thing that really impressed me about his performance against City was his composure and the way he held our midfield together.  To have such a young lad do that after Lucas had to be subbed says alot about the player.

I see a bit of Henderson slating in this thread so I'll just add this.  With being back in Europe this season, we've got alot of games to play.  No reason to get rid of Henderson with a busy fixture list.

[redalltheway36]

shelvy is more dynamic than lucas, but lucas is a better ball winning.
hendo has the stamina and work rate to be a good box to box mid.
allen is a steady ship, did not commit any mistakes all game. which is good.

im sorry hendo should be sold. I watched him closely many a time and he just goes missing for long periods. Now we have Allen we should recoup some money and have said it many times we need more skilfull attacking players.

Completely agree, Joe is a much much better player than Henderson, I was all for giving Henderson another chance this season but with all our recent signings I think we should try to sell him, Adam, Spearing, Cole and Downing, get rid of all the over paid deadwood and cr@p in one go.

i agree go  to fulham give them hendo and joe cole  and 5 million and get dembele.

[Kharhaz]

OR Just give them Henderson and Cole !

[crazyhorse]

Loved it when knocked Yaya Toure onto his backside in the second half.

Lots of potential to be a great in the future, but let's not put too much pressure on thd lad.

[Ian Rush's Right foot]

Very impressed with this lad, if he keeps up his potential he'll be replacing Gerrard as club captain in the next couple of years!

As for Hendo the kid has got good technical ability all he needs is some faith, will never be a world beater and nowhere near the class of Allen, however we need strength in depth and he's certainly a decent squad player!

[Reg]

Sunday 02 September 2012

If ever Joe Allen was an ugly duckling, it must have been an awful long time ago. A fully fledged Swan for as long as most can remember, he may now have been transmuted into a Liver bird but retains a simple elegance that has almost certainly been with him since his earliest days. This afternoon there comes a third successive opportunity to demonstrate his quality to a live TV audience after man-of-the-match performances against Manchester City and Hearts, when Liverpool meet Arsenal at his new Anfield home.

"Life is good," he declared after Luis Suarez's late goal denied the Scottish side on Thursday night. And it is good not just on the pitch. Two days earlier Allen had become a father for the first time and if there are sleepless nights, it cannot be anything to do with his football, which has quickly endeared him to the locals after his £15m transfer from Swansea City, the club he joined as a nine year-old. Where Lucas Leiva took a full season and more to settle into his role as a defensive shield in front of the back four, the 22-year-old Allen has taken to his move like a Swan to water.

It has undoubtedly helped that he had already enjoyed the full trust of the manager, Brendan Rodgers, who preceded him in moving from Wales to Merseyside by only a couple of months. Having apparently agreed initially not to take any players with him, it was significant that Allen was the one the new Liverpool manager returned for.

"He's shown me nothing but faith and that's been a massive help since coming here," Allen said. "Obviously knowing his style and how he works is a massive help. When a man shows faith in you like that, the faith to put a young player into a historic club like this one takes a lot of nerve and I've got to be grateful to him for that. In terms of Swansea, they were well rewarded, which I think is important for me. Everyone knows the love affair I've had with that club and I'm glad they got rewarded for it."

Having started young, the west Walian remained something of a prodigy right up until leaving just before the new season began. He was on the bench for an FA Cup tie aged 16, and had both a league appearance and a Welsh Under-21 cap to his name shortly after his 17th birthday. Introduced for a couple of League Cup games by Roberto Martinez early the next season, he walked off with the man-of-the-match award on both occasions, a habit that has continued right up to the present.

Alongside the even smaller Leon Britton, Allen at 5ft 6in became a key figure in Swansea's metronomic passing game while also showing the ability to make a tackle that will be equally important to Rodgers now that Lucas has had his return from injury cut brutally short.

When the Brazilian was forced off against City last Sunday, it was Jonjo Shelvey, two years younger than Allen, who replaced him, as the new Liverpool continued to take shape, with Raheem Sterling doing his tricks down the flank and Steven Gerrard allowed to stay forward in his favoured role just behind the main striker. "I think Joe Allen is brilliant," Shelvey said, "the way he keeps the ball and the tenacity to get the ball back as well. It is outstanding – he is a really good addition to the squad. He is always talking to me through the game, he is a great idol to look up to, him and Stevie."

If Shelvey looks up to that pair, Allen in turn finds himself looking at Gerrard and thinking about how far he has come. "When I look alongside me and Steven Gerrard is standing there, that's something you never would have dreamed of," Allen said. "As a kid and a budding footballer you look up and admire footballers like that. Having been in the Olympics and played alongside Ryan Giggs as well it's been a pretty incredible couple of months."

But he will not allow star-gazing, excuses about the pressure of expectation or even a £15m fee to affect him. "I think no one's going to deny there's pressure on footballers, but it's the career we've chosen and we all live with that. It's important to try not to let that affect you. I said the day I signed here I wouldn't do anything different to what I'd been doing, which is give my all. You've got to remember the reason we're playing this game is because we love it. I'm loving every second here. It's very inspiring."

In farming out Charlie Adam and Andy Carroll, reportedly trying to do the same with Jordan Henderson and moving Stewart Downing to left-back, Rodgers showed what he thought of Kenny Dalglish's £78m shopping spree. If a 3-0 defeat in the opening league game at West Bromwich suggested the road back to former glories will continue to be a long one, there were more promising signs against City and Hearts, the latter success bringing with it an extended Europa League run.

Unlike Allen, Shelvey, who was brought in two years ago as a teenager from Charlton, has had to prove himself quickly to a new manager, and appears to have succeeded. An England Under-21 international, he said: "Whenever a new man comes in, you have your doubts if you are going to be in his plans. When he first came, he said that I would be one of the ones he'd look to go out on loan.

"I took that in deep and felt I had to show this gaffer I want to stay here and I thought I did that in pre-season and it's paid off for me. When we got back from the tour in America, he just said to me he wanted me to be a big part of his plans."

In playing style and personnel, the Red revolution continues.

[metalhead]

He was our best player so far AGAIN, shame his midfield partners let him down.

Best passer in our team for today's game with a success ratio of 93%

[7_Kewell]

signing of the summer for me, he's a cracking player with a brilliant eye for a pass. Reminds me so much of Alonso

[JC_81]

Looks a great signing.

If Rodgers can develop some of our youngsters in a similar fashion we'll be in a healthy position in a few years.