Rumour is Joe gets the nod ahead of Jordan in the 11 today Very disappointing if true, frustrating thing is, despite Henderson playing consistently well for about 2 months, he gets dropped because Allen had a good 60 mins. If Allen starts and Hendo doesnt, for BRs sake we had better win
Allen has be a massive flop so far and I will be shocked if he starts today. Hendo is a much better player in every area of the game at the moment.
Allen played really well against Zenit. So he probably deserves a place in the starting like up. Downing? Not so much, but I guess the only other options would be Sterling (apparently injured) or Assaidi (out of favour). Assuming Sturridge is out then the only position up for grabs in the team is the one Henderson & Allen will be fighting for. The rest of the team is pretty much settled now IMO.
Not a great fan of Allen he is just light weight needs to put the beef on.In a way he reminds me of when Lucas joined how frustrating it was to watch him Hope he does the same and becomes better he owes us that for paying the amount of money we did and to return the faith BR showed in bringing him in Would not want him to start today
It's a tough one. Personally I'd go with Henderson at the moment and it doesn't really seem fair if he's getting dropped despite the effort he has put in on the pitch recently. I think it sends out completely the wrong message. Fight for your place and play hard when you get in the team and I'll still drop you for one of my own buys. I agree that it will look like a big mistake if we get over run in midfield because Allen tends to be the one who's usually getting easily taken out of the game. However, Allen does need to gain some confidence and IF Rodgers can get him playing better then we'll have two young players seriously competing for one spot. Whether or not that happens we'll see. I think if Allen does get the nod today then he should be playing for his place for the rest of the season. Play well and he can have another chance or two but play badly and Henderson should get the spot for the rest of the season.
i actually think it makes some sense to have him playing to be honest. agree Henderson should be playing ahead of him, but as with Tex who hopefully will get 20 mins odd, this is probably the game to bring him into and see if his passing is as good as i have been led to believe, as i haven't seen much to be honest yet. he needs game time to get some confidence by the looks of it, just hope Rodgers knows what he is doing and it doesn't have the opposite effect on Henderson, as he could quite easily think why should i make a ****ing effort when i don't play any way or get dropped for someone who is playing ****e.
Allen and Henderson should rotate depending on opposition, Allen against Wigan was the correct choice for me and that's 2 very good games in a row.
Wouldn't say very good but he was better today, still so weak though in the middle in terms of getting bodied off the ball so easily. I think for Spurs it has to be Lucas, Hendo, Gerrard OR Lucas, Gerrard, Coutinho if Sturridge is back.
When playing against Spurs, we won't have any time on the ball and Allen doesn't cope well under pressure. He needs time on the ball, so I'd say that Hendo has to be playing that game. Saying that, as the game wares on it could make sense to introduce Allen near the end. I hope that Coutinho plays again, and for Sturridge to come back would be great as well. If everything goes right for us in the next week (a couple of reds for Spurs tomorrow please) then I can seeing us winning next week.
I would have thought London had enough polish guys I could have taken them btw, but didn't want to hurt them.
Gotta say, ****ing HATE those type of ****s. Those are the lads who vids get posted of after talking too much trash to the wrong person/people.
Completely agree, although Allen hasn't had the best of seasons he's a young player that needs game time and we should be backing him and not looking to condemn before he kicks a ball.
BR plays Allen because an on form Allen has a far greater impact on the team. hendo is performing better but they are not doing the same job so comparing useless. Brendan wants Allen to get to that level and higher so he keeps playing him in order to get him gelled with the team because he has plans for him, I for one have been short on patience but I get what Brendan's at. Horses for courses. BR makes his choice, sometimes it works sometimes not, it doesn't mean that if Hendo played we'd have gotten a better result, nor a worse one. When Allen, who has not been on fire, even v Zenith, was taken off the team as a unit suffered. It ain't as easy as that as much as I'd like it to be
I think Hendo has more impact on the team when on form, tbh. Defensively stronger, more energy, always at the edge of the box for loose balls. Allen played ok yesterday, but I still don't see what value he adds to the team over Hendo. He's meant to be the middle man who passes it around, but often it's Lucas who puts through the forward balls and covers the tackling and keeps the ball even when under pressure. Just don't see how he slots into the team when Gerrrard and Lucas both play.
i just want to say one thing on this.... allen was pure dirt yesterday and couldn't even stand up at times... it was unreal we only made one sub.
I honestly think you need to email Brendan and ask him why he thinks Allen is a better option, I am only saying what I think Brendan is thinking, cos I don't fkn know Allen needs to play lots to get to where Brendan wants him, IF hendo is closer to being integrated then it makes sense to give more time to allen dont it?
There seems to be a link between Sturridge and Hendo. When DS plays we play more 442 and Hendo plays as a CM in a wide position cutting in. When DS doesnt play, we play 433 with Allen playing, in a more central position
Good spot. Against Zenit we did both (with out Sturridge) and it looked quite good. Allen can be useful late in games when we are 3 or more ahead and just want want to shuffle the ball around and avoid unnecessary injuries or tiredness.
Just feel as if the combination of Lucas, Gerrard and Henderson is much more balanced. With Allen in there, it feels as if he doesn't really know his position yet, same problem Henderson had last year. Still think he's a good player and has a future here, he just needs to follow Henderson's example and put in the hours off the field and work hard on his game in areas he needs to improve.
