Liverpool FC Forum

For me, he doesn't do anything more than what Lucas does. I don't think that Lucas is as bad in possession as everyone else thinks plus he doesn't get bullied off the ball all the time and can put in a tackle, unlike Allen. Maybe Allen is a bigger goal thread and has better movement and asks for the ball, but he's still an average player and offers less than Lucas. IMO he didn't have a very good game last night. I recall that most of the time Coutinho had to go back deep to receive the ball and bring it out of defense, which is supposed to be Allen's main job.

damjan193 » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:38 pm wrote:For me, he doesn't do anything more than what Lucas does. I don't think that Lucas is as bad in possession as everyone else thinks plus he doesn't get bullied off the ball all the time and can put in a tackle, unlike Allen. Maybe Allen is a bigger goal thread and has better movement and asks for the ball, but he's still an average player and offers less than Lucas. IMO he didn't have a very good game last night. I recall that most of the time Coutinho had to go back deep to receive the ball and bring it out of defense, which is supposed to be Allen's main job.

I agree he didn't have a good game Yesterday ,but I wouldn't pass judgment till he gets his fair share of game time.

damjan193 » Thu Dec 05, 2013 2:38 pm wrote:For me, he doesn't do anything more than what Lucas does. I don't think that Lucas is as bad in possession as everyone else thinks plus he doesn't get bullied off the ball all the time and can put in a tackle, unlike Allen. Maybe Allen is a bigger goal thread and has better movement and asks for the ball, but he's still an average player and offers less than Lucas. IMO he didn't have a very good game last night. I recall that most of the time Coutinho had to go back deep to receive the ball and bring it out of defense, which is supposed to be Allen's main job.

Lucas might be tidy giving 15 yard passes but he is awful at dictating the game or passing the ball forward, he is so limited in that area that he can't even produce one great pass to start an attacking move. Allen showed movement yesterday, which Lucas lacks.

I must have been watching a different game to most last night.

I thought he played well Allen and the team played better as a result of it.
The speed of moving the ball and his own movement is what I mean.

I thought Allen was alright too. He was deeper in the first half and wasn't really around, but it looked like he was given a bit more freedom to go forward in the second, and when he started getting more involved he looked decent. Had a very good shot as well, great save stopped him from scoring.

Ben Patrick » Thu Dec 05, 2013 5:07 pm wrote:I must have been watching a different game to most last night.

I thought he played well Allen and the team played better as a result of it.
The speed of moving the ball and his own movement is what I mean.

he wasnt bad last night at all, sloppy at times but with little match fitness its bound to happen. what needs to happen is rotation between him and lucas more often.

Decent performance from him to be honest. He definately helped us move the ball around better than Lucas does and his movement allowed Gerrard more space to pick passes that could hurt the opposition.

I think he contributed a lot of unselfish movement that Lucas doesn't do and his speed of passing definately helped.

I'd leave him in their now and see how it goes. He can't do any worse than Lucas was doing.

Agree with what others said about him helping with the fluidity of the teams passing.

Its just a shame that everyone thinks you need to have a "DM" / Limited midfielder in your team these days.

I'm still hopeful for this lad, there's a player in there somewhere and he's been pegged back by injuries.  I'd give him a run of games and drop Lucas for now.

Ben Patrick » Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:07 pm wrote:I must have been watching a different game to most last night.

I thought he played well Allen and the team played better as a result of it.
The speed of moving the ball and his own movement is what I mean.

I thought he was off first 15 minutes (down to confidence I suppose) but then picked up

I thought he played well today and reading some of the critisism on other threads is a bit disappointing and reminds me of the sort of sh1t lucas was getting in his first couple of seasons, we know his career here didn't get off to a good start but he can become a very good player for us.

I thought he was alright playing deep, tho did dangerously lose the ball a couple of times. But when Gerrard went out and he went forward, I thought he was playing really well. He offered a lot of good movement, kept the ball quickly moving around and caused a little trouble in the final half.

Boocity » Sat Dec 07, 2013 6:45 pm wrote:I thought he played well today and reading some of the critisism on other threads is a bit disappointing and reminds me of the sort of sh1t lucas was getting in his first couple of seasons, we know his career here didn't get off to a good start but he can become a very good player for us.

Well said ,I thought Joe looked far more composed in possession following Gerrard's withdrawal through injury ,it seems those on his case now ,were probably
the same ones all over Lucas like a rash when he was first finding his feet.

Played a good game today... the balance looks so much better with Allen and Gerrard rather than Lucas and Gerrard.

Exceptional yesterday, especially his pressing.

I think one top quality midfield player would galvanise our midfield and get more out of the likes of Allen, Lucas and Henderson.  They are all good players but none are top class.