Liverpool’s Joe Allen hammers West Ham

Joe Allen

Liverpool made it two wins at Anfield in the space of four days on Saturday, with a 4-1 victory over West Ham United in the Premier League. The game was largely dominated by the Reds but it took a succession of scrappy goals and deflected shots for their superiority to eventually count, with three out of the game’s five goals being credited to own goals.

In amongst all the penalty box madness though, was a stand-out performer for the Reds who set the tempo of their game and the platform for the attacking players to do their work: Joe Allen. Before the weekend, Squawka took a look at whether he should have been handed the start for the game by Brendan Rodgers—and the Welsh midfielder certainly proved the point with his display against the Hammers.

For starters, Allen’s Heat Map shows just how involved he was in the match. While the Reds dominated possession to the tune of 59% over the course of the game, much of it involved recycling the ball in deeper areas, switching play and waiting patiently for West Ham’s stacked back-line to move out of position. In this regard, Allen was absolutely key, constantly finding space to take the ball off his team-mates and shift it on again to a free man.

He made more passes than anybody else in the game, 70 in total, and also had the best completion rate (91%) out of any of the Reds’ front six players other than Raheem Sterling, who had 93%, but also attempted less than half the total passes of Allen.

It is often said about Allen that he offers little in the way of progressive, penetrative passing and that most of his high success rates are racked up due to sideways or backwards passing—but it’s simply not the case in any given game. Against West Ham, his passing was of the highest quality in terms of both reliability and ambition, as his passing chart shows. His 64 completed passes were largely looking to reload the ammunition for Liverpool’s front line, spreading diagonal balls in both directions and attempting several longer passes too.

Allen created two chances during the match, his first two of the season. Given he had only had one 90-minute appearance in the league before the West Ham game, it’s perhaps not surprising that he hadn’t had a big impact already.

The other notable change in Allen’s game over the past couple of fixtures is his starting position: he has come in for Lucas Leiva in the deepest holding role in midfield, where he has plenty of time and space to make his passing count, but is also intelligent enough to spot chances to burst forward unexpectedly—something Lucas does not have in his locker—and strong enough defensively to contribute to the team structure.

Allen’s two interceptions and two clearances were testament to his work on the occasions that West Ham did venture forward, while he also attempted three take-ons during the game, seeing success in two. Such a change in tempo that he can bring in doing that can quickly open up small spaces behind opposition midfielders for the likes of Steven Gerrard and Philippe Coutinho to take advantage of. He hasn’t yet scored in the league this season for Liverpool, but over the past couple of games he has gone close and Allen saw another effort against West Ham go not too far off target.

Gerrard’s injury in the second half means Allen is likely to stay in the team over the Christmas period now, and his return to form could not have been better-timed given the tough run of games ahead. His role in the side is critical to his level of performance though, and his manager must determine how to still get these high-impact displays from Allen while—more than likely—altering his position on the pitch slightly to make up for Gerrard’s absence. Against West Ham, Allen was one of the best players on the pitch, and he looks more than ready to re-establish himself in a Liverpool team which still rides high in second place in the Premier League.