Without a doubt, Liverpool have made some extremely questionable purchases – particularly of British prospects – over the past year and a half.
This has left the club subject to much criticism from the press and ridicule from the general public; let’s face it – they’ve been the butt of many of the footballing jokes banded about for a long time now.
So it was no surprise that the £15 million purchase of Swansea’s 22 year old midfield maestro, Joe Allen, raised a few eyebrows, set a few chins wagging and had journalistic pens standing to attention.
Many suggested that this valuation was completely unsubstantiated; they claimed that British talent is overrated; that a decent season at a mid-table team makes a player seem better than their actual ability. As soon as the ink from Allen’s signature dried on that lucrative Liverpool contract, many already imprudently predict that his acquisition is destined to be a doomed one.
Nevertheless, he was handed his debut on Saturday in a 3-0 loss against West Bromwich Albion that further added scepticism to the deal – even if the loss wasn’t directly linked to Allen’s performance.
The jury was out over whether he had a successful debut – and by jury, I mean the optimism of professional pundits versus the pessimism of the footballing world, including numerous Liverpool fans.
On Sky Sports News’ Soccer Saturday, prior to the game, studio pundit, Paul Merson, gave Allen a glowing reference, touting the Welshman to become an immediate success at Anfield. For me, amongst a consortium of terrible performances, he justified this praise in no uncertain terms.
Allen was brought in for three chief tasks: to intercept, maintain possession and assist the defence or attack when required. At The Hawthorns, he wasn’t positioned in the deep defensive midfield role – that position is firmly Lucas’; a man renowned for his tackling and graft – yet Allen was possibly more effective than the Brazilian at recovering possession.
This wasn’t just mindless lunging and last-ditch stuff; this was calculated ‘law of averages’ tackling that allowed him to steal the ball from right under the opponent whilst alleviating any risk of conceding needless fouls in critical areas.
Allen did everything simply which allowed others to express themselves. He’d win the ball back knowing instantly what he was going to do with it. That was something we saw from his time at the Liberty: neat short passing – nothing spectacular – just taking no more than a touch or two on the ball. It’s something that the Liverpool fans may remember in Xabi Alonso’s time there.
You could see that Allen demanded the ball, desperate to move forward with urgency throughout. Liverpool lacked numbers in the final third at times but Allen always provided an extra body whilst never neglected his defensive duties.
He can be that box-to-box type of midfielder in the mould of a Steven Gerrard except, on this occasion, the student had become the master with Allen more involved everything that Liverpool did than the talismanic skipper.
Though Allen was unable to achieve the overall influence that he may have desired, he undoubtedly did the job asked of from Brendan Rodgers. He displayed the kind of poise and tireless tenacity that suggested that if he is able to maintain this rate of personal development, then there’s no telling what he will be able to achieve at Liverpool or individually. In my opinion, this is the first time that Liverpool can honestly feel that Xabi Alonso has been adequately replaced.
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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