Joe Allen

Joe Allen: Rodger's Missing Pieces 

His Name is Joe Michael Allen, the 22 years old Welsh Midfielder who used to play for Swansea City is now a Liverpool player. After months of speculation, he finally complete his moves to Liverpool just after he finished represent the Great Britain team with a fee around £15,000,000. he was given long-five years contract with 40,000 pounds wages per week. What a bargain for this young talented midfielder !!

Few of you might be wondering what's so special about this so called "Allen".

The answer is that he might be the missing pieces that we need in order to get into the next level. His style of play is the mixture between Xavi and Iniesta. His simple passing is the key to link between the midfielder and forward, not to mention he is also like to penetrate into the opponent penalty box. Allen also has a decent shooting and tackling. If I have to gave him a rate, i would give an A for his short passing, B- for his long passing, B- for his shooting, B for his speed, and lastly B+ for his tackling. 

His position in the Liverpool starting Lineup would be in the midfield of 3 that Brendan would implement along with Stevie and Lucas. the simplest illustration that i could tell is by using Barcelona's sample. Imagine Lucas as Busquets, Gerrard as Iniesta, and Allen as Xavi. those player has their own role in the midfield which would collaborate and compliment each other. While on the bench we still have Jordan, Jonjo, Jay, and Charile (Sahin on the way) it will only then bring good to Liverpool, we would have plenty of option in the midfield in case some of them are injured. Those are needed to be competitive and hopefully we could grab the Champions League position.

My Last message here is not to get carried away with expectation to this young lad, he's still 22 and have a long way to go to prove his worth. But one thing for sure he has the talent. Brendan believe in him and that's what matters. we must support our manager decision. YNWA!!!

The Way Forward

The Way Forward

The Way Forward is an analysis of how Liverpool Forward would be under Brendan Rodgers; with 4-3-3 formation in which Liverpool would play with 3 forward, there are plenty of option: Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Fabio Borini, Oussama Assaidi, and surprisingly, the 17th years old Raheem Sterling.

from the first two matches, it can be seen that Liverpool play with unusual option on the front. 

Firstly, Downing and Sterling are implemented as a Forward Winger who has a job to dribble down the defense and provide crossing from the left/right side of the opponent half

Secondly, Suarez is implemented as a lone central forward up front. basically, his jobs is not only for scoring goals, but also he acts as a decoy by dragging the defender to be high up the pitch in which would leave some space for the midfielder to exploit.

Lastly, Borini is implemented as a Left/Right Winger up front of 3 forward. truthfully, his jobs is not to be a winger like Downing/Sterling. but to be a Poacher in the front of the goal. He will come freely from behind to score a goal while Suarez and other forward dragging the other defender.

to sum up there are three different job for each of the three forward upfront. for the alternative player that could fill the 1 forward winger role, it would be Assaidi, Sterling, Downing; for 1 central forward role it could be fill by Suarez, Borini, or Carroll; and lastly, the 1 poacher forward role could be fill by Borini or Suarez.

There are still plenty of combination and option in the attacking forward position to be explore by Brendan Rodgers. we still hasn't seen the skills of Oussama Assaidi and Andy Carroll yet. Brendan would have some role for both of them. For Liverpool fans, one think to be remembered is that this is Liverpool Football Club, No one bigger than the club itself, so there is no guarantee of starting 11 for every player, they need to prove themselves and be ready when the club need them.

The "Fat" Central Midfield

This title sum up the fans confusion of why Liverpool brought so many central midfield in the team.  Liverpool bought in Joe Allen and Nuri Sahin to join the the team that already has Steven Gerrard, Lucas Leiva, Jordan Henderson, Jonjo Shelvey, Charlie Adam, and Jay Spearing: Total of 8 player in Central Midfield Position.

For those who think that this amount of player in central midfield position is too much, Let's just first break down the Liverpool Strategy; they used mainly 4-3-3 formation which require ONLY three central midfield. popular choice to fill that position is Lucas, Sahin, and Gerrard. then you might be wonder when and where will Jordan, Jonjo, Joe, Charlie, and Jay would play? the answer is the squad rotation and squad depth. we need this amount of quality midfield to compete on the top level just like United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham.

Let's count how many central midfield that this five top premier league have:

Man Utd: Anderson, Carrick, Scholes, Cleverly, Fletcher, Powell, Giggs = 7 player while they only play with 2 central midfield in 4-4-2 formation

Man City: Milner, Yaya Toure, Rodwell, Barry, De Jong, Nasri, Silva = 7 player while they usually play with 3 or 2 midfield in 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation (Nasri, Silva, and Toure as AMF in 4-3-3 formation)

Arsenal: Diaby, Rosicky, Ramsey, Wilshare,Ramsey, Arteta, Coquelin, Frimpong, = 8 player in Central Midfield position to play in 4-3-3 formation

Chelsea: Essien, Romeu, Lampard, Oscar, Mikel, Meireles, Marin, Ramires, Malouda = 9 player in Central Midfield position to play in 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation

Tottenham: Livermore, Parker, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, VDV, Gylfii, Rose = 8 player in Central Midfield to play in 4-5-1 in which only require 3 midfield

To Sum up, All those top team has abundance of quality central midfield to compete in BPL.

For Liverpool to have 8 Central Midfield, i think it is enough to compete with the top 4 team. We don't have to worry anymore if one of our player are injured. for example Lucas who injured last season make us struggle to find the replacement that has the same quality as him.

My Analysis of Liverpool 3 Main Midfield.

the 3 midfield consist of 1 Defensive Midfield, 1 Central Midfield, and 1 Attacking Midfield.

Defensive Midfield: Lucas Leiva, Joe Allen, Steven Gerrard, and Jay Spearing

Analysis: the priority for this position is Lucas Leiva, he is the best player in this position, second is Joe Allen (in case of Lucas injured) which proved against city that he is a quality player in that position, Third in case of unavailable Lucas and Allen, Gerrard should fill in that position, he has a decent tackle and has a good vision. Lastly is Jay Spearing in which are a good player but i think is not good enough for Liverpool.

Central Midfield: Nuri Sahin, Joe Allen, Jonjo Shelvey, Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam.

Analysis: There is no need to explain that Nuri Sahin and Joe Allen will compete to grab this position, they both are the best player that Liverpool have to fulfill those responsibility in that position, their backup in that position would be Jonjo and then Jordan. and Last priority is the sloppy Charlie Adam.

Attacking Midfield: Steven Gerrard, Jonjo Shelvey, Charlie Adam.

Analysis: Only three player is capable enough for this role. No doubt about Gerrard Quality in this position. and again Adam is the last favorable player to fill this position

"Whatever it takes to make Liverpool successful again, My Live is devoted, it's all part of the dance" Brendan Rodgers

You Will Never Walk Alone

Managers

Liverpool Revolution

Liverpool are desperate for Revolution. All the people who involved with the football club including owners, fans, player, legends, staff, and other that I couldn’t mention; want to bring back the glory days of 80s where we were a Bastian of Invincibility in England. The era where Kevin Keegan, John Toshack, Kenny Dalgish, Ian Rush, John Aldridge, John Barnes, and Peter Beadsley brought a trophy to the Liverpool Cabinet every season. The “pass and move” football is fun to watch, Liverpool play with a joy in their heart and also the will to win every trophy they could. However does glory days are the history that Liverpool wants to repeat. Believe it or not, we were under a transition from manager to manager towards revolution that we want. It all started from Rafa Benitez. Yes, you heard me, it is Rafa who start all of this.

Rafael Benitez (The Foundation):

The man who brought Liverpool 5^th European Cup and 7^th FA Cup are the one who realized that we need a change. Even though he managed to bring a few trophies in his early season with “decent squad”, he has a bigger ambition, which is to bring back the glory days and Win the Premier League. In order to do that he need a world class player which was failed to be deliver by the owners. They didn’t gave the funds that he need, That’s why he has to sold his Star player including Xabi Alonso to buy a new one (Johnson and Aquilani). But that’s not enough, at that time Liverpool need a revolution in their squad and Rafa didn’t get what he want. We can’t blame Rafa at that time, the Xabi replacement (Aquilani) are injured for most of the season, as a result they finished 7^th in the league. 

Rafa was then sacked at the end of the season due to the poor result, but people forget what Rafa has left for Liverpool. It was Rafa who started to build a new system to the Liverpool youth Academy, his vision is to make Liverpool Academy the best in the world to produce world class player just like Barcelona and Ajax did. He brought Rodolfo Borrell and Pep Seguera, both is the former Barcelona youth coach, they have a job to train the Liverpool youth and flourish their talent. People also shouldn’t forget that it was Rafa who bought Shelvey, Sterling, Suso, and Pacheco at young age and if you look at them now, they are close to break into the first team, they have shown their talent. Rafa also is the one who gave the first team debut for Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson at their young age, and now people can see that both of them are giving tremendous pressure for Liverpool 1^st team fullback.  He is the man who builds the foundation for Liverpool Revolution.

Roy Hodgson (The Blamer):

People might think that the assignment of Roy Hodgson to be Liverpool manager is a mistake. For me, it has to be him. At that chaos time, we need a man to take all the blame, it was Roy Hodgson. Tactically, he was poor, he implement rigid formation in which we are usually play boring, wins ugly, and also lost ugly(mostly). But at that condition (confrontation of H&G), there is nothing much that manager can do, it was really a mess and tough time for all the people who involved with the football club. Even Kenny Dalglish couldn’t save Liverpool under that condition. So I personally felt sorry for Roy because he didn’t get his chance. But until the new owner is yet to come, there should be a people who take a blame for poor result. 

Under Roy Hodgson, we could also differentiate which is the glory hunter and which is the real Liverpool fan. At that tough time, Liverpool fans will stand up with their team and if they couldn’t take it anymore, they would support another team. So in this era, Liverpool fans are tested and also learned about pride, loyalty, and believe.

Kenny Dalglish (The Motivator/Philosopher):

King Kenny Dalglish, the man who bring joy to the Liverpool. He replaced Roy Hodgson and implemented the "pass and move" football, the Liverpool traditional football philosophy, the philosophy who won Liverpool 18 Premier League title in the past. He bring back the passion and believe to this football club. something missing under the Roy Hodgson era. Kenny handled the transition that must happen to this football club which is the departure of Fernando Torres. it was written in stone, even though it is Fernando's decision to leave, I think it must be done for the goodness of this football club, Liverpool are too dependent to Fernando, We need a fresh new start to this football club. the departure of star player are exchanged with the arrival of the new, enter Luis Suarez. He inherited the King Kenny's #7,  up until now, Luis has proved that he deserved to wear that prestigious shirt.

The Development of Luis Suarez is also Kenny's work. Suarez has a bad temper and selfish on and off the pitch. but Kenny is the one who taught Suarez how to behave in this beloved football club. Not just Suarez, but all the Liverpool player from the academy to the first team, he emphasized that we must proud to wear this shirt. "Liverpool is more important than any individual" and "All that really matters is the badge on the front, not the name on the back". 

During the Suarez-Evra case, I could see that Kenny has became "The Dark Knight" here. He was blamed for poor management during the case, but for me, he handled it superbly. He showed again what this club is all about, personally Suarez is NOT GUILTY (you all know the reason), and Kenny has shown to Suarez and also everyone connected to the football club that we are all one. we must unite and support the player in times of high and low. this is also something that differentiate Liverpool with other football club. The Liverbird is not a badge, it's family chest. Even though then it cost Kenny the job, we all could see that there are no deny about how important of this football club for the player, especially Suarez who just extended his contract with Liverpool.

This is how crucial Kenny's part to bring revolution to this football club.

Even though he finally could bring the first trophy after five years, he was sacked after his one year and half charge to this football club, the reason is the poor finish in the league, however, even though some people argue that he must still given a change, it must be done, his job's here is done. Actually, His man management skills was superb, tactically, he was helped by his assistant, Steve Clarke; it is not good enough, we need a man who can bring the real revolution to this football club, a man who's tactically brilliant and understand the game in and off the pitch. 

Brendan Rodgers (The Builder):

"Who is him? are you kidding me? is it serious?", maybe those are the majority reaction from the fans when Brendan Rodgers are given the Liverpool job. After the media speculation which consist of big name like Fabio Capello, Frank de Bour, Andre Villas Boas, Rafa Benitez, Joseph Guardiola, and even Roberto Martinez. people doesn't predict and expect that it was Brendan Rodgers who is given the job. 

People doesn't realize that Brendan is capable enough for this football club. he has 20 years of managerial experience due the fact that he is still 39 years old. he was also has previously worked under Jose Maurinho in Chelsea, and even Maurinho predict that Brendan has the capability to became a good manager (not AVB who is also worked with him). He is the type of managers who is tactical (like Rafa and Jose) understand the game superbly. the young manager with modern mind of thinking about football, it was how we could describe him at short. He likes to keep possession and attacking football on to his team, it is the way of going forward for his previous team, Swansea. people even describe Swansea last season as Swanselona, because they play just like them and managed to finished in mid table despite they are promotion team.

That way is the foundation for Brendan to build Liverpool. Brendan emphasized that it was the Liverpool way that he intend to implement here. tiki-taka or Catalan football might be the foundation, but he never said that Liverpool will play "tiki-taka", he always said it is the "Liverpool way",  tiki-taka is the combination of possession and short passing, while the way that Brendan try to implement here is the possession football with short and long pass along with movement. it is the Liverpool way to going forward.

After the difficult era of Rafa, Roy, and Kenny; comes the stability era, the era where Liverpool need to boost up and climb back to the top level, and we need a young manager like Brendan to do that. Not just because he is tactically brilliant, but also because he inherit and idolize the Shanks philosophy. Brendan understand the Liverpool way and even willing to sacrifice anything to make Liverpool success again. the message here for the Liverpool fans is to be patient, we are headed towards the right direction, it is not long for the Glory days to come.

You Will Never Walk Alone

Match Review: Liverpool vs Gomel 3-0 [Agg: 4-0]

What an exciting match, for those who didn't watch the game, If I may quote Suarez,"it's like playing Play Station". The Pass and Movement is really worked. its completely different from the first leg and America tour. the way the football play here is so enjoyful to watch, All the Player know where to pass and where to move. From what i analyzed, it's different with the tiki-taka football that the media said, its the Liverpool way, the combination of short pass, long pass, fast flick, and movement. the only down-point of this match is that we could at least score more goals. another highlight is how fast the player wanted to get back the ball after they lost it, it shows their willingness to control and win the game.

The MOTM is obviously LUIS SUAREZ, his dribbling and movement inspire the goal score by FABIO BORINI, STEVEN GERRARD, and GLEN JOHNSON. Highlight for Borini is that he has crag the egg, the first goal is very important especially when he score it in Anfield. There is no player who played bad at this match. We too solid and strong for the Belarus.

Here is the rating for the LFC Player:

Reina - 7.5 - He make a couple of decent save and play as the 11th player in the team, his pass and quick counter is align with what Brendan Rodgers want

Johnson - 8.5 - Solid, Strong, Fast, his movement from the right was superb, credit for the goal that he scores was an absolute cracker, a left footed strong volley to the left corner of the Gomel Goalie.

Skrtel - 7.5 - Good Defending and Play along with Agger in the center, doesn't gave the opponent chance to score

Agger - 8.0 - Play superbly with his interception and tackle, was very solid along his partner. Doesn't gave a change for the opponent to get pass him

Enrique - 8.0 - Great run and interception from the left. his cross oftenly almost find Luis, but eventually it was often caught in offside position.

Lucas - 8.0 - Brilliant and Solid as DMF, it make Liverpool fans realized how much we miss him.

Shelvey - 7.5 - Prove his worth to the team, work as the box to box midfield where he try to connect the midfield and forward. done superbly, his only letdown is his clumsy tackle.

Gerrard - 8.5 - Deployed as Attacking Midfield who has a great linkup with Suarez and Borini. Deserved his 150th goal. His pass and movement is the core of Liverpool attack

Borini - 8.5 - Has a great Anfield debut. Score his first goal. has a few great linkup with Suarez.

Downing - 7.5 - Has a good game, make a good progress from the right hand side. his dribbling and movement is so fast and it might be the beginning of new era for Stewart.

Suarez - 9.0 - Dribbling, nutmeg, shooting, passing, flick, linkup, All that his done was brilliant, it is a shame that he couldn't  get his goal. but he shown why he deserved to get his new contract.

YNWA!!!

PS: Joe Allen might be on the way to Liverpool, He watch this match in Anfield !!!

The Defense for Brendan Rodgers

In the past few weeks, Liverpool fans are fused about Brendan Rodgers and FSG. They are start to panic and angry about Brendan who had get rid of few players like Kuyt, Aquilani, Maxi, and possibly Agger, Carroll and Bellamy. while on the other side, Liverpool only have signed one player, Fabio Borini, an unproven young striker. His act became unpopular to the eye of few Liverpool fans, they even labeled him as "mediocre manager" and said that FSG is about "Money" and no different with their previous owner. Does it really work that way?

FSG came to save Liverpool from H&G with 300 million, they even paid all the Liverpool debt. Their vision is to bring stability to Liverpool for long term. "The Liverpool way" is the way that they want to do it. There is no doubt that if they want Liverpool can go with Chelsea and City, to bring as many world class player as they can with ridiculous fees and wages; 

The Rise of Jordan Henderson

Who is the most underrated Liverpool Player Last Season? There could be any answer but without a doubt, Jordan name is echoed up there. Labeled with 20 Millions Pounds Transfer fee from Sunderland to Liverpool, People expect something big from the 22 years old midfielder "The Next Xabi Alonso". However, He failed to managed the big expectation from the Liverpool fans and also "British" media. 

Deployed mostly as a Right Midfielder by Kenny Dalglish, People consider Jordan failed to flourish in that position, Winger should have a good dribbling, good crossing, and must be brave enough to move forward. On contrary, Jordan has a poor dribbling, decent crossing, decent shooting, and sometimes he is too "afraid" to push forward with the ball in him. But People DO forget that "Jordan Brian Henderson" Natural Position is Central Midfield, His main attribute is actually his good vision and his pass on the ball.  

To backup my opinion, last season, Kenny sometimes tried to play him in CMF while Lucas is injured, and Jordan managed to done superbly in that position, to give an illustration, he played just like young Frank Lampard.  But unfortunately, The manager are too stubborn to put him in the Right Midfielder even though he could see that Jordan has more potential to play in center more than in right. (I don't blame Kenny's decision, he might think that there is something that Jordan can do/learn from that).  

This article consist of my defense of one of the footballer that I admire, Jordan Henderson. the unfair critics of him should be diminish, the reason is just simply because Jordan style is just doesn't fit with the Kenny's football. in the right midfield, he "must" dribble and cross while his real style is a "pass and move" style. he loved to do pass and movement as well as giving the deadly through ball/cross to the forward. Jordan lacked of contribution last season is just simply because the manager failed to see/use his talent.

The New Liverpool Manager, Brendan Rodgers has footballing philosophy that with fit with Jordan style. Playing with 4-3-3. The style of 3 midfield that consist of 1 ball winning midfielder (Lucas, Spearing) that has a job to get the ball and pass it to the teammates, 1 deep lying playmaker (Jordan, Adam) that has a job to control the game with passes and gave a through ball to the forward. , and 1 Attacking Midfield (Gerrard, Shelvey) that has a job to move forward with the ball, shooting on goal, and gave through passes to the forward. Jordan can fit the 3 midfield slot as the "deep lying playmaker" directly as his attribute is matched with that role and hopefully, Next Season will be the Season for Jordan Henderson to prove his worth to the team and silence the critics towards him.