Why Liverpool’s £15m man is not the answer to their midfield problems

Joe Allen, who has suffered with injuries of late, has played a total of 13 minutes of football for Liverpool this season, in just two unspectacular sub appearances for the club. Allen was an unused substitute against Arsenal on Saturday and his first team opportunities might continue to be limited, but does the Welshman deserve a first team recall?

Statistical analysis

	Passes	Pass %	Chances created per game	Tackles per game	Defensive actions
Allen – 2012/13	51.7	90	0.78	1.3	3
Gerrard – 2013/14	67.9	87	2.5	2.7	4
Henderson – 2013/14	52.5	87	1.2	2.9	5

A brief comparison of Joe Allen last season to Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson, this season, is quite telling. The only area where Allen is superior is in pass completion, albeit he made less passes per game than his two team-mates. Gerrard in particular plays 16 more passes per game and only has a slightly worse pass accuracy, as well as the fact that he creates more chances for his team-mates. Henderson also marginally plays more passes whilst creating more chances.

The significant difference is in defensive contribution, where both Gerrard and Henderson are superior to Allen. Allen made just 1.3 tackles per game last season, less than half the number made by Gerrard and Henderson, who have been quite good at winning back possession for their side this season. The same is true in terms of defensive actions, with Allen also less impressive than his two team-mates. This is the most significant difference.

The Welshman’s passing is not much of an improvement on his midfield rivals. It’s also worth noting that he contests most with Henderson, the player he was, arguably, bought to replace at Liverpool. Henderson though, has improved his passing accuracy drastically from last season and is now a key performer for the Reds. His defensive contribution is also much better than Allen’s, with Henderson a more mobile and energetic runner. Allen is not going to take Lucas Leiva’s role at the base of the midfield, meaning that he’d have to play as one of the two central midfielders ahead. This means he’d need to press the opposition when Liverpool are out of possession, winning tackles and interceptions. This doesn’t suit Allen’s style, with the Welshman more of a creative presence at the base of the midfield, where he has more time on the ball. In a more combative role, he is less likely to have joy.

Conclusion

Joe Allen has been unfortunate that his injury has coincided with a good run of form for the man he was meant to replace, Jordan Henderson. Henderson’s rise has meant that Allen is forced to sit on the bench. Furthermore, the move to a 3-5-2 formation means that Brendan Rodgers prefers two pressing midfielders in front of the holding player, Lucas. This requires Allen, if he is picked, to press the opposition and look to win the ball back quickly, something he isn’t the best at doing, particularly higher up the field. Lucas is the combative force in the holding role, and even he is enjoying good passing stats.

What we might see is that if Lucas is rested or injured, Allen may come in for him and play there; this deep role might be his preferred position in this formation. Right now though, Liverpool’s midfield is looking quite good without Allen in it, who is perhaps not quite multidimensional enough to make an impact in the current system.