12 Dec 2012

LFC want 'fantastic' £6m star hailed as 'player of the season'. Lucas challenger...?

Lucas Leiva's return from injury is a massive boost for Liverpool, and the Brazilian slotted straight back in last weekend and helped the team grind out a crucial 1-0 victory against Southampton. Joe Allen covered the defensive midfield role whilst Lucas was injured, and whilst he did a good job, it's not really the Welshman's natural position, and playing there restricts his natural game. In reality, the Reds have just one first-team defensive midfielder, which probably explains why Brendan Rodgers is interested in signing West Ham anchorman Mohamed Diame.

Over the last month, Diame has been linked several times with a move to Anfield, and with Andy Carroll on a season-long loan at Upton Park, there is clearly scope for the Reds to come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement with West Ham.

Prior to having his contract terminated, Kenny Dalgish had pinpointed Diame as a possible free transfer signing in the summer. Liverpool's interest ended when Dalglish left, and the 24-year admits he was 'sad' to miss out on the move. He told the Liverpool Echo:

“I met with Kenny Dalglish and we talked about next season [2012-2013], but God decided to finish this situation. It is true I was very sad in my head as I was thinking to go there”

West Ham co-chairman David Gold confirmed last week that £6m-rated Diame has a buy-out clause in his contract, though he neglected to say how much it is. He tweeted:

"Diame does have a release clause in his three year contract. He joined us from Wigan on a free transfer"

Ex-Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp is impressed with Diame, and after watching him dominate Chelsea's midfield during West Ham's 3-1 victory last Sunday, he wrote:

"I like the look of Mohamed Diame at West Ham; he’s a cross between Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure. He overpowered Chelsea’s midfield on Saturday. Can West Ham keep him? He came on a free and has an agreed get-out clause. There will be lots of interest now".

West Ham legend Trevor Brooking is also a big fan of the Senegalese international, and he praised the midfielder to the hilt in an interview on Monday. He raved:

“The lad has been a revelation for us. I think Sam thought he was a bit tired because he’s had some hard games recently, but Diame has been fantastic. He’s been the player of the season really.”

When asked yesterday about the possibility of Diame leaving in January, Hammers boss Sam Allardyce said:

"I can't discuss personal contracts, obviously. But when people start playing consistently well scouts are always watching and agents get very busy."

Allardyce also revealed that he sought the advice of Kenny Dalglish prior to signing Diame. He recalled:

"I spoke to Kenny about signing Mo. For me, it just made me feel so much better to have Kenny saying ‘Yeah, we were going to take him. It gives you that bit more ­confidence. To have somebody of Kenny’s ­experience backing up your ­judgment is a big help".

Diame put in another good performance in West Ham's 3-2 defeat to Liverpool, and it's no surprise that the Reds only took control of the game after he went off injured.

Lucas, Sahin and Allen are not physically the strongest players, and the Reds could definitely do with a powerful, athletic central midfielder.

Worth a bid?

Jaimie Kanwar


71 comments:

  1. Looks like we missed out big time.... yet again on a fantastic player.

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  2. I swear we are linked to any player who has a good game agaisnt us. £6 million is pretty cheap though, so he could be an option.

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  3. Read somewhere the other day that his release clause is 3.5m.

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  4. Fans Who were calling week in week out for Kenny's head are responsible of Liverpool's failure to land Momo Diame.

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  5. Yes, a million times yes! If we are talking about correcting the errors committed in the summer, it shouid start with Diame!

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  6. hands off he is not a car stereo

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  7. Well if that is true, then I think its a no brainer really.

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  8. Bring him if possible

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  9. Absolutely bring in Diame and the fact that he has different attributes to what Lucas offers could be a bonus. Diame is cruelly underrated and he is easily as good as Yaya Toure. But i doubt BR will sign him as he prefers small technical players but IMO BR should sign Diame as he is big and technically top class.

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  10. So we missed out on Diame on a free. Ok he may be in good form at the moment but let's be honest he isn't top class yet and may never be. A few good games and players get so hyped up (I still remember all Liverpool fans calling for Amir Zaki).

    Lets look elsewhere now.
    Is there any other powerful defensive midfielders available for free this coming summer instead?...... oh yes, Moussa Sissoko!!

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  11. Why do you scousers automatically think every player wants to play for you? Your not even half the club you used to be in the famous 80's!!!!! Yes Dalglish wanted him when he was still at Liverpool but you screwed that one up when you got rid of Dalglish! Diame is a class player but if he goes anywhere he will most probably go to a bigger and better club!!!!!!! Sorry chaps your just not in the same league as the likes of Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal im afraid............

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  12. yeah look we missed out on signing him for free so now look else where i mean the players that you can manage to sign these days for free or small fees is crazy i think we should just look around for 1 bargain and 1 top striker i mean hunterlaar for 6-10mil would be the icing on the cake

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  13. Why do you talk Liverpool then????...............LOL!

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  14. FSG have the money to buy anyone they want, forget the drivel about not spending, they just want value for money!!!

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  15. Yeah we should have given Kenny more time to waste another shed load of money, push more players like Kuyt and Rodriguez out the door and continue to play Henderson as a winger when young Ince was sitting in the reserves. Kuyt may not have been everyones cup of tea but he was linking up much better with Suarez than Carroll was and was our top scorer from the previous season but got dumped to accomodate Kennys 35 milion flop.What were we thinking eh? Bring him back quick. We all love Kenny as a player mate and that will never change but you cannot ignore the shambles of last season. Must also admit I lost a wee bit of respect for him when he said the other week that he had nothing to do with the Suarez t-shirts and that it was the players idea. It may have been their idea but he was the Manager and should have put hsi foot down if he didn't disagree. He let it happen and then tried to distance himself from it. Can't agree with that.

    On the actual subject, Diame looks a great buy at those sort of figures, snap him up.

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  16. I lost another wee bit of respect for him when he told us that Downing is better than he thought he would be. What did he think? That the player would amass a negative mount of league goals and assists?

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  17. I do have a suspicion that Kenny would have redeemed himself in the transfer market this summer to some extent with signings like this, but in the long run can you really argue against Rodgers being the man to take Liverpool forward, bearing the blunt fact that hes almost 30 years younger? Not to me.

    Anyway Diame aint a Rodgers style player so I doubt he'll ever come now. Rodgers I would imagine is focussed almost entirely on bolstering the feeble frontline. The other readjustments can come in the summer...

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  18. Indirectly. makes sense

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  19. Be afraid. Be very afraid.....

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  20. Diame = Success for LFC.

    He absolutely bossed the midfield in the West Ham game and only when he was taken off with a hamstring injury, were we able to capitalise on the lack of presence in their mid.

    He is exactly the cover we have been needing since Alonso left and LFC have had this massive hole in the midfield. We have tinkered and tried for so long, but never really sure'd up the midfield and this has been evident in games against the bigger teams who have won the game through their dominance of the midfield.

    We NEED this player!

    FSG NEED to Step up!

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  21. Of course he is not. What makes you think so?

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  22. He's injured for now. And Liverpool wont buy another midfielder unless they ship out henderson, downing & cole.

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  23. how about cover for allen because now he his playing in his prefered position he still creates nothing he has no goals and no assists this season apart from the penalty he gave away against west ham lol

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  24. LFC....Please get rid from signing Daniel Sturridge, Theo Wallcott, Wilfred Zaha and Darrent Bent.They are only expensive players who will demand high salary.Not best answer for goal scorer issue and very easy to get injure but very slow progress to make come back.What biggest expectation we all can hope from all of them? Disapointed only. Better break the bank to fishing EDison Cavani, Gonzalo Higuin, Mario Gotze, Karim Benzema, Lendro Damiao, Sergio Agguerro, David Villa, Christian Erikson and Tello.Sometimes we must do this plan to get best players.

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  25. yes compared to the heroics of this season well down the league we were 6th last xmas .out of carling cup and also got to fa cup final all with suarez banned and lucas injured utter and complete shambles lol

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  26. i lost all respect for rodgers when he talks shite after draws and defeats but each to there own i know 1 thing 1 will always be a true ledgend and the other will fade into nothing

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  27. You will barely get any assists from Allen, regardless of whether a defensive midfielder players alongside him or not. He is the type of player that plays a key part in the move that sets up the move for the goal. He rarely gave the last pass for a goal, whilst playing for Swansea and I don't see that changing here. Not necessarily a bad thing as the likes of Xabi, Carrick, etc, have been successful and important at it for their sides to varying degrees.

    For me, the problem is player behind Suarez. The prime suspect for playing in the last pass from central areas is the man behind the front man. Gerrard's powers are fading, very early days on Shelvey & Suso, Hendo isn't a ideal player for that role, Sahin is more at home coming from deeper, etc. We haven't really got anyone that can be trusted to playmake/killer-pass from that attacking midfield position behind the front man.

    The one thing I'd like to see more of from Allen is the long switch ball to the wing when its on, especially considering the prowess of the likes of Johnson and Enrique. I don't think he does that enough, unless he is under instruction to keep it to a minimum. That is how Xabi gets most of his assists/killer passes at Real (as well as obviously a better team), where they make full use of the counter attack prowess of Ronaldo & co and the overlaps by the full backs by partially having Xabi doing the long raking passes. He is one of the best at that. See the assist for Arbeloa at Real. Unless under instruction, I feel Allen doesn't have a good eye for playing in from deep positions with long passees the movement Suarez or the adventurous overlaps of the full backs. Not asking him to do it constantly but would like for him to do it a bit more than he is doing at least. For all my criticisms of Johnson, he does provide some serious width and overlap going forward, which need to be exploited more and quicker by his team mates.

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  28. I agree that Rodgers goes over the top with his praise. If you remember the beginning of the season when Kenny took over, his press conferences were brilliant and always made me smile but roll on a few months and I was embarassed listening too him. He was incredibly defensive and looked like he wanted to smack somebody. You are right that 1 will alway be a legend (see original post expressing my love for him as a player) but you cannot predict how Rodgers career is going to turn out. That is just nonsense with nothing to back it up.

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  29. he could be at the club for fifty years and will not win as much as kenny( if anything imo)

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  30. If you look at our next fixtures, we could be fourth by Christmas or in the top 6 at least. Yes we beat a championship team in the Carling Cup final and I was happy to win it but it papered over the cracks. We were awful that day and could have easily lost. I wasn't exactly on the rooftops shouting about it. And yes we did well to get to the FA Cup final and probably should have won it if Carroll had started, considering his previous performances against Chelsea but he was sitting on the bench. As happy as I as with the cup runs, any dog can have its day in the cup. A true reflection of the quality of the team is always the league and it always will be. The shambles I am referring to is the 19 games after Christmas, 5 wins, 3 draws and 11 defeats. That is relegation form and that is a shambles for a club like Liverpool.

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  31. so allen as a free role were he dose not defend or attack just passes for the sake of it sounds great except even his passing has not been to hot either dos,e not matter thou there is more chance of me winning the lottery than him getting dropped imo henderson or susso should get a go and drop allen,his performances do not justify a starting place

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  32. why do you even bother watching football?

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  33. Of who your mum? LMAO

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  34. Riddle me this Riddle me that!!!! English please or are you another plastic fan from abroad?

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  35. justify allens place ,all the excuses about him playing out of position its crap you can be a defencive midfielder and still create the odd chance no chances,in all his game time is pathetic ,something the excuses for him have in common

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  36. Arthur. Why do you even bother replying? This guy is on a mission. "Allen"

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  37. a bit like the shambles of a start to this season also in kennys defence he lost suarez for 8 games,were would rodges be now if he sufford the same fate,also lucas injured thats what effected the league position imo ,and with champions league hope gone kenny concentrated on the cups and if any dog can have its day in the cup why would you be bothered about finishing in the top four because were light years of winning the league

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  38. I wouldn't call the start to this season a shambles seeing as the Manager is introducing a new playing style , a new system and new personnell. If you consider the ridiculous offside decisions we have suffered, we should be at least 6 points better off which would have us challenging for the top 4. If those decisions hadn't gone against us, most fans would be saying that he is doing a fine job. You still want to be in the cups as we all want to win them but as stated above, it is not a true reflection on the quality. You don't win the league through luck but you can win a cup with a slice of luck along the way, that's the point. It seems to be as though some fans are willing Rodgers to fail just so they can turn around and say I told you so. Do you think 18 points out of a possible 57 is acceptable? Under Kenny, we regressed as the season went on instead of progressing. If we regress in the second half of the season under Rodgers, I will start to re-evaluate my opinion of him but I believe we will see progress.

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  39. If the rumored 3.5m buyout clause is correct, we would be insane not to act.
    We desperately need this type of player and here's why.

    The DM position is one of the most demanding in the team.
    The sheer volume of work that position requires is too much for any one player to bear over the course of a season.
    We learnt that the hard way with Lucas.
    Its just physically beyond any one player with the current fixture list in the EPL.

    By obtaining Diame, it would allow us to rotate both over the course of a season, thereby keeping both fresh and operating at their peak levels, while minimizing risk to fatigue related injuries.

    Also, by having a powerful defensive presence it allows us to adjust our midfield balance as needed.
    Some teams will require the physical presence of Diame, while others the fineness of Lucas.
    Horses for courses.
    Its actually to our advantage that both players are slightly different in style.
    He's not the same type of DM as Lucas, but he's still highly effective.

    I also disagree he wouldn't suit a Rodgers style team.
    I see nothing in his play that would disrupt the front 3, our fullbacks, or our playing style.
    Its true, Lucas is a better passer, but few are, and Diame can more than hold his own.
    Both are more than capable of breaking up play and launching attacks from the back.

    Whats more, if plan A isn't working for us, we would have a very effective plan B.
    Diame has no problem getting forward to join an attack.
    His powerful runs from midfield are a potent option to disrupt defences and open up spaces for our forwards.
    He did this to devastating effect against both Chelsea and us.
    It gives us another tool in our armory to crack open stubborn defenses.
    That alone is a very powerful argument for his inclusion in the squad.

    To me, a player like Diame makes perfect sense.
    And having Rodgers seen him dominate us so emphatically close up, gives me hope we just might be back in for him soon.

    And if not Diame, I would still argue for the addition of this type of player because the reasoning is sound.

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  40. your making excuses about 6 points offside its only like saying if the shots that hit the woodwork last season had gone in iam sure our points tally would have been a dam site higher

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  41. You are wrong there. They are completely different. Our players were hitting the woodwork so you can't blame the refs for that. The players cannot do anything about refs calling ridiculous offside decisions so how are they the same. It isn't making excuses, it is stating facts.

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  42. It does look as though KK was right about this one. Diame would thrive in an LFC shirt, and take the pressure off our DM depth. Against the better teams him and Lucas would be excellent, and the ability to push him farther forward would suit our wish to dominate weaker teams. £3.5m? get him in!

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  43. How many assists did Masch and Xabi get in the holding roles? barely any, that is how many. Masch created almost zero chances and do you think he was 'pathetic'?

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  44. Totally agree Jason with most things you say. Allen is so overated and he cost how much again? Was a huge King kenny fan and dont think he should have been sacked. Even so the replacement Rodgers has had a poor start. i feel he is getting a very easy ride to be honest and the owners have saved him with the whole transfer deadline and not getting funds for new striker. What credible manager would let striker go with no cover. He doesnt moan about this until he loses games like Swansea league Cup.

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  45. Totally agree...what has bloody Rodgers done. Sacked after 3 months at reading do people forget this. look where they are now. All we hear is how he brought Swansea up with great flair....martinez and laudrup have done the same...

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  46. Yes! Moussa Sissoko would be a HUGE signing for us and for free would almost certainly be the buy of the season for 13/14 season. Not only powerfull, full of running, and smart but he's good for a couple of goals and assists a season as well. He and Llorient, who is reportedly looking to sign a pre-contract for next season in Jan, should be our top priority targets when the window opens. These two signings should be given as much urgency as the striker we're looking to get in Jan. If we could fend off competition and pull off signing both Moussa and Llorient in Jan (and that would be quite the task), I will go on a limb and say that our team next season will be, at the very least, challenging for 3rd if not the title (with an addition of an attacking mid in the summer). YNWA!!!

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  47. Gerard we have an easy next 4 games. if Rodgers is as good as you think then surely we should pick up 12 out of 12 pints or at least 10 points would u agree?? I really hope Rodgers is the Messiah some fans claim...but I dont think he is. I think he believes in one policy and when doesnt work is clueless. He has to smarten up bigtime in transfer market also. Its a disgrace what has happened with the striker situation. Look at United Rooney, RVP, Hernadez, Welbeck.....us Suaerz and Borini....shocking. Dont put ball in the net dont win games...its that bloody simple. Liverpool will never be sucessful with one striker up top.

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  48. wake up lads, i love the way because intelligent people realise all the facts of what rodgers has had to deal with how we're said to be calling rodgers the messiah! what nonsense! but he is doing a difficult job and handling it well, back the guy for f**k sake! we've had the most difficult opening 5 game sto a premier league season we've ever had in terms of quality of opposition and where we are at as a team and club, had to get rid of players who are past it losing three forwads kuyt maxi and bellamy with no resale value, owners didn't give him much money due to shambles of previous years spending, borini is one of the best young talentsfrom italy who got injured on international duty whci happens and is not rodgers fault! rodgers did try and get in another striker which owners admitted they messed up which is also not rodgers fault! ha sbeen brave from the very start to pick the young players over bigger names, one of the youngest teams liverpool had to play in my lifetime, offered not one penalty in a premier league game has won away from home after being 2-1, which is the first time since 2009! which includes when rafa was at pool hodgenson and dalglish inherited a gerard who's form has been dipping for 18months now, is trying to take the team away from a one man two man team as we have been noted for since the days of mcmanaman and fowler, after ten european games we are still in europe, 4 points of fourth and all this with not that much money to spend no resale for older players who had to move on and was brave enough to send Andy Carrol on loan, and there is no doubt that this is not his team and his players yet! its also hard to think bar arsenal in the league what other team has dominated us, and i agree with post above saying that some people are blinded by what he's had to deal with just so they can say i told ya so and cry out for benitez and dalglish to come back, and also the man no matter what has been thrown at him has got on with the job and not blamed everyone from the owners to bias from the referees for where we are, in Rodgers I trust! Give the man a break and get behind your team.

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  49. Arsenal yeah, tell me the club that knocked them out of the carling cup, what league were they in chief?

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  50. im a king kenny fan and yes he should have been sacked!

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  51. Absolute rubbish. Every Time you comment it is illogical, inaccurate, grammatically poor nonsense. You either support Utd or you're just a bloody idiot.

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  52. Diame would be a fantastic pick up the kind of spending Liverpool should have had under Kenny can play and should make a large impact.
    One thing anyone criticizing Rodgers i must say he has made his fair share of mistakes but have a look at the team he sends out weekly, i think he has done well there.

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  53. they are different players allen is supposed to be the link up man so he should be getting assists but hes either not good enought or lacks confidence he dose,nt even try a killer ball think hes more interested in his passing stats but the last few games he has been shocking don,t even no hes on the pitch till he messes up

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  54. another allen apologist ,lucas is 10x better defensivly and suso and dare i say it henderson look miles more dangerous going forward got he even makes downing look dangerous

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  55. kenny imo should have been given till xmas and iam sure we would have a lot more points than we do now

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  56. ech to there own but rodgers should not have been hired he dose not have the experience for the job when we played swansea in the league they wer only 2 rodgers signings on the pitch he ook martinezs side up and apart from swansea his record is abysmul watford ,reading lol fsg wanted a yes man so they can do what they want with little complaint also any dreamers out there who think we are going to sign big payers in january or the summer are going to be very disappointed fsg=hicks and gillet all here to scr"w the club

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  57. Allen's role is very little different to what Xabi's role was. Xabi barely got any assists for us. Before Lucas came back, Allen played as the primary holding player, like Masch (although executed in a different way) and of course he isn't going to get any assists. Carrick's highest amount of assists in a league season is 4 and he isn't there to get his shirt dirty, he is just there for good defensive positioning and to distribute possession. The highest no. of assists that Busquets has got in a league season is 3. Allen is not supposed to be the link man, just like these other players aren't.

    So no, imo, Allen should not be getting a load of assists as it isn't the be all and end all for a player that plays in a deep central midfield duo.

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  58. how many defensive midfielders do you need on the pitch at the same time imo allen was a complete waste of money he did not manage to cover for lucas and now he still dose nothing every one is entitled to there opinion and allen will have to vastley improve for me to change mine

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  59. We had two deep central midfielders at the same time under Rafa, with Masch-Xabi. Two players that barely got any assists. Two players that barely got forward. Two players that barely got any complaints. No, what is making you sick is the realization that assists aren't the be all and end all for players in his position, such as your mate Xabi, hence your criticism of Allen when based on assists is weak. Fair enough, complain about Allen in other ways and I might agree (e.g. I've criticized his lack of long passing in another post as well as his vision on the counter attack) but when its based on assists, its weak criticism, imo. Of course we are not bloody Barcelona, never said anything explicitly to contradict that. Scholes, one of the best passers in the game, his highest no. of assists in a league season since 03/04 season is 4. To rely on assists as a way to criticise Allen is odd.

    I'll leave it there, as I don't think I can make it anymore clearer that relying on the assists criticism of Allen is very questionable to say the least.

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  60. its not just is assists i think hes had 1 shot all season i think it went out for a throw he is in a comfort zone and needs dropping to shake him out of it like you say the odd time he attempts a long pass and i mean 30 yards it always seems to go astray just think he has done very little to be garunteed a starting place which he seems to have under rodgers henderson as played well recently and imo he or suso should take allens place

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  61. Maybe Hendo with his current improvement deserves a little run in the side but I simply don't trust Suso to be playing in one of the two deeper central midfield. roles He rarely lasts a whole game when he starts, as he fades badly in the second half of games.

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  62. my point is with the games coming up we do not need defensive midfielders so if i had to pick lucas would get the nod every time

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  63. With Rodgers' system, he will always have two conservative central midfielders lying deep to allow the full backs to get forward a lot more. It was the same at Swansea as well, with Britton and Allen sitting in front of the defence. Rodgers, me thinks, will always use two central midfielders like that in front of the defence.

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  64. Seriously Rodgers hasnt blamed anyone, are u having a laugh. He has been moaning about the squad being light when we lost to Swansea, every other week he is talking bout penalty and ref decisions. As soon as something goes wrong he panics IMO. Even you saying he got stitched up by owners...tis is a joke...when he signed all we heard was it was going to be done Brendans way and he wasnt going to take any crap. he should have pushed a lot harder for new signings...and not try and impress the owners.

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  65. Agree 100% Jason. How much was he again??

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  66. exactly he defintely deserved until xmas.

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  67. Hi there matey. Your personal attack on me on another thread today, prompted me to look at my last exchange with you, to see if I caused you offence.But I see my reply to you in this thread was a made as a reply to myself by accident. So seee below for threpley that wasmeant to be for you, not for me.

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  68. Hi there matey. Your personal attack on me on another thread today prompted me to look at my last exchange with you, to see if I caused you offence. But I see my reply to you in this thread was made as a reply to myself by accident, so you may not have not have known about my last attempt at a reply to you in this thread. So see below for the reply that was meant to be for you, not for me, which starts off with ' With Rodgers' system....'. So I did reply to you but in the incorrect manner.

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  69. lol dont worry to be trueful i don,t know what your on about

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