29 Sept 2012

'Drop him!' - Molby urges BR to replace Allen with 'arrogant' midfield star. Agree?

Nuri Sahin put in superb match-winning performance against West Brom on Wednesday night, and Liverpool legend Jan Molby believes Joe Allen should be dropped to allow the classy midfielder to start this afternoon's game with Norwich City.

In his column for the Liverpool Echo earlier in the week, Molby - who was recently named LFC's best ever passer on the official club website - hailed Sahin's 'football arrogance', and called for Brendan Rodgers to include the Turk in his starting XI this afternoon. He said:

"Sahin deserves to start at Norwich City. At the Hawthorns we caught glimpses of that football arrogance he plays with, which was great, but there is a problem about where he fits into the side.

"Sahin and Joe Allen are very similar players but with Sahin there is certainly more of a goal threat. He would go into my team for the weekend because we need players who can influence games".


I can't see Rodgers leaving Allen on the bench, and I personally wouldn't like to see that happen. However, Molby does have a point: Sahin offers a goal threat and Allen doesn't, though against Man United, the Welshman did get forward a lot more than in previous games.

For me, if an attacking player scores a goal in the previous game he should never be dropped for the next game. I just can't see any positive reason why it makes sense to drop a player who scores, and it is arguably counter-productive to do so. As such, Sahin should definitely start against Norwich, but not at the expense of Allen.

Jonjo Shelvey is suspended, so it seems reasonable to assume that Sahin will take his place. I would like to see the following line-up:

--------------------- Reina

Johnson ------- Coates ---- Skrtel ------ Robinson

--------------- Allen ------ Sahin

--------------------- Gerrard

Sterling ------------------------------- Suso

--------------------- Suarez

Jaimie Kanwar


41 comments:

  1. Love that team Jaimie, spot on!!!!

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  2. Aiassidi!! Suso on @ 60 min!

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  3. Ah, good point Stella. I had a niggling feeling I was forgetting about someone when I did that line-up! Assaidi would work well, but I'd still personally prefer Suso. It's great watching him play.

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  4. ------------Gerrard------Allen-------------

    -----------------Sahin----------------------

    ---Sterling----------------------Assadi-----

    ---------------Luis Suarez-----------------

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  5. I think Steven Gerrad should be dropped to accommodate Sahin, who will be a better attacking threat than Stevie. If Stevie had played against Westbrom, Liverpool would not have created the 10 pass move which resulted in the winning Sahin goal. The reason is simple, Stevie doesn't have the discipline to make simple passes. Stevie would have done his Hollywood special and given away the ball to the opponent. The old adage, don't change the team which is winning. The youngsters proved themselves twice within a week to win games, coming from being a goal down. Most of the seniors have had four attempts in the league and have let the team and club down. Moving forward Brendan must put his faith on the youngsters. Asaidi , Sterling, Suso, Robinson and Wisdom must be fielded today. Cara has to brought back to guide these youngsters. Except for some early touches, Cara had a steadying influence over the team, which Stevie G does not offer at the moment. The bottom line is the youngsters are on a winning run and their play is more pleasing to watch. The boss should also rest Pepe who has been poor since last season. Brad Jones has made some mistakes but is improving every game. With Jones at the back, the defens work harder to protect him. But with Pepe, the defense becomes complacent and lets in silly goals.

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  6. Sahin is much much more a threat than ever Allen will be and a better result will be had if Sahin starts. After all why the hell bother to get him if he sits on the bench.

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  7. Doesn't the same apply to Allen? Why pay 15m for him if you're going to leave him on the bench?

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  8. Gerrard will flop if he plays as the main attacking midfeild... So let him play a bit deeper.

    As a deeper midfield player he has more time on the ball.....can deliver the killer pass/cross .... break the midfield and support the defense while still pffreing some goal threat.

    Let sahin be the main playmaker/midf scorer.

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  9. It's a real shame that we only have Sahin on loan. I can see him turning into our best player and then heading back to Real at the end of the season(understandably so).
    Enjoy his brilliance while we can.

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  10. A long season ahead we need them both that team you put up looks good to me.

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  11. Sasidharen.... you have a point mate! This may be controversial but I think that Suso has more of a footballing brain than Gerrard in that just keep things simple with the passing & ongoing movement. To be honest I'm happy that we have someone who could step in for Stevie G!

    By the way Jaime, you must have been over the moon with BRs' latest statement about Downing & Enrique. I thought it was well overdue!

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  12. Absolutely. Just confirms what lots of fans have been thinking for a while; those two are just not good enough long-term. The sooner we get rid, the better.

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  13. you cannot drop allen for anybody he has been far and away our best player so far!!!

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  14. Here is the best lineup in my opinion for todays match:

    _______________Reina_______________
    Johnson____Agger____Skrtel____Enrique
    ______Suso_____Allen_____Sahin______
    _____Sterling____Suarez____Assaidi____

    I`m not so sure about the defence because Agger may not be totally recovered since last time and enrique hasnt look quite good for some time now. So maybe coates and wisdom can replace them.
    Suso, Allen and Sahin would be the most technical midfield we can play. Assaidi on one side and sterling on the other will leave no chance to the opposition defence...

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  15. This is a nice problem to have when compared to the dross we had last season.

    Brendan will have a even nicer problem when Lucas is back to his previous fitness and level add in Shelvey and there's are going to be some serious competition.
    Don't be surprised if Gerrard at that point is dropped and we have a new captain next season.
    What do you do when you have that much strength in the Midfield ?
    Think about Lucas,Allen,Sahin,Shelvey,Suso,Gerrard!

    I'm going to say something that I have wanted to for a long time and it may prove unpopular.

    When you examine The Daglish Buy British show it's a complete failure and waste of money.

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  16. In my opinion, allen is an "alonso" type of CM that prefers to play close to the defence nd rarely leaves the center of the park, while Sahin plays more like xavi, as he is more adventrous and loves to get into the box. So if spain can play both alonso nd xavi, I see no reason why we can't, this wud also give Gerrard some rest or he cud move to the wings while Shelvey could be used any other time. That's way opposition teams would have selection headaches as to counter our midfield superiority

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  17. Yes. I am agreeable. Stevie should not be in the 1st eleven but come in as a substitute because he is not used to playing short balls. He is also not as agile and making too many mistakes. Johnson should be sold if the price is right. He is just not good defensively and also gives the ball away very often. Many of the goals were due to his defensive weakness. The rest of the team is slowly adapting to a system of short passes and possession.

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  18. You made this comment a few minutes ago, did you actually see the game? Johnson had an absolute blinder and saved at least one goal, he is also a genuine threat going forward, both on the right and left. To say that he isn't good defensively and gives the ball away too often, you clearly don't watch the matches, he has been one of our best players so far, for our system, he is just the type of fullback we need.

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  19. I would like to see that line up played at some stage in the season because that is the best technically gifted team we can field.

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  20. Johnson can be our Daniel Alves if we can keep this momentum and teams start to defend deep, he can always pop behind the fullback, Hes good at that, and Allen and Sahin can play together and i seriously think Stevie shud be drop... and btw, my 3 midfield partnership would be Allen and Hendo doing the passes and Sahin playing in Zidane Role... breaking defenses,

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  21. Skrtel, for me, has been quite erratic this season. He loses focus easily and not as solid as last season. Reina, for all the support I've given him, has been disappointing. His mistakes are too frequent and it seems to happen once every game and these mistakes normally lead to a goal...I'm beginning to trust what is written in rumor mills now.

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  22. What a load of cobblers! just need to replace Downing and Enrique, then add a quality striker, then with the quality the kids have LFC will blossom soon than later. YNWA.

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  23. Molby, just play them in the same side....oops, someone already did that today

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  24. This is a bit late, as the game has already finished :P However, I can't see why Molby would want us to drop somebody like Allen. The guy is clockwork. I've not seen somebody retain possession as well as him in a red shirt, probably since Benayoun. I've heard people complain about Allen's lack of goalscoring, but at this moment in time he's playing the role Lucas normally plays and I honestly think he's been our most consistent player this season.

    I'm so excited about this current team, I honestly couldn't care less where we finish as long as we aren't relegated because this year is about rebuilding. We are playing positive football with some real flair, the addition of the youngsters Sterling, Suso and Adorjan have quite frankly been a breath of fresh air. We always knew that Suso and Sterling could do it and I for one have been very frustrated with the lack of game time they have had under previous management.

    This may seem like its becoming a bit of a cliche for every manager we have lately, but I have to say:

    In Brendan Rodgers, we trust.

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  25. Yeah,so pepe does need a threat to up his game. and skrtel, wheres your focus? if 2 centre backs got wide and a striker breaks,who do you expect to stop him???

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  26. If anyone beleive allen needs to be dropped need head read . he has been one off our best simple. Im a rafa fan the owners have let us down and rodgers but only so far the bad signing is borini. balotteli is very very unhappy at man city buy him he killed the euros. Look how much out off
    place hendrson looked against canarys when he come on.

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  27. Shameful stuff Kanwar. Molby did not say Allen should be dropped anywhere in his article. And he's also wrong to claim they are similar players. That's a bit like saying Xavi and Xabi Alonso are similar players. Allen and Sahin together are going to be an incredible force to be reckoned with.

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  28. nice headline you fuck wit

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  29. Do not to rushing.....Allen,Suso,Sahin and Assaidi is new signing.Give times to adapt life at LFC enviroment.

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  30. Why 'understandably so' ?
    F, you are refering to RM being a bigger club with a better history in Europe,then I think that you,along with many other people 'have it wrong' ; because, RM's record in Europe,ie; ( 9 times European Champions.), was acheived 'mainly prior' to the time when English clubs became interested in that same competition!
    Real Madrid won that trophy 5 times before that! in the 'fifties' I believe!
    And so in the period up to the present time, AC MILAN/AJAX & LFC have all won the European Championship more times than RM,and it baffles me why players want to go and play for them!

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  31. Hi Guys,
    I watched the WBA game on Thursday night and the Norwich game Saturday afternoon and thought Nuri Sahin was absolutely brilliant, or dare I say "the new Xavi Alonso" he's not fully fit yet and trying to adjust to the Premiership he will just get better and better. What I would like to see in the January transfer window is for LFC to buy his contract from R.M. before any other club jumps in with an offer.
    Also Huntalar would be a bonus-------then I think that would be enough for a top 4 finish.
    Steve

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  32. Can you explain what you mean by ARROGANT MIDFIELD STAR. didnt understand that

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  33. LFC fan from Doncaster1:09 pm, September 30, 2012

    Shelvey has a similar arrogance to sahin which makes him the best of the young midfielders, where as henderson is scared to pass forward or move forward and doesn't track back making him all round a bad player.

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  34. TOMRALPH..lol I didn't hear many people say 'In Hodgson we trust'....LOL but I get your point

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  35. Agreed but Henderson is just no good.
    He's better to leave at the end of the season no way he's gonna improve to the point where he going to be better than.
    Suso,Sahin,Allen,Gerrard,Lucas,Shelvey.

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  36. Guys,

    Allen is a class act. He is pivotal in defending as well as attacking and has better influence than Gerrard in midfield. He remembers me Alonso even though he is small in size. The most hard working player in the field after Suarez and never afraid to tackle. Go Allen go. You will be the next greatest footballer for Liverpool

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  37. I think that would be Xabi Alonso?

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  38. That's true...although I don't think Joe Allen has ever put in a proper tackle in an LFC shirt-he doesn't need to(he intercepts intelligently)

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  39. I believe that Woy was simply a yesman for hicks and Gillett, therefore not really a manager of LFC. Its unfortunate for him because I think he's a good coach, just bought into the wrong idea.

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