Liverpool Boss Brendan Rodgers Raps Alan Shearer Over Joe Allen Gibes

Alan Duffy

10th, October 2012

9 Comments

By Alan Duffy

A fine footballer he surely was, but Alan Shearer remains one of the dullest pundits out there. Still entrenched in the game’s old school, the former England man has come under fire from forward-thinking Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers over his criticism of Welsh midfielder Joe Allen.

Allen, the archetypal Rodgers Tika-Taka schemer, apparently takes the easy option with his passing according to Shearer, a view which has irked the Reds manager, who said:

“I saw something criticising Joe for not playing risk passes.”

“Unbelievable. Our so-called pundits who don’t know the dynamics of a team and how it functions. Joe will prove an absolute bargain.”

Whether or not the diminutive Allen will ever be seen as a ‘bargain’, it’s pretty obvious that while Rodgers embraces the modern game, poor old Shearer is still stuck in a rut.

Posted in FAIL, Liverpool, Media

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9 Comments

  1. Shearer is right says:

    virtually all his passes are backwards so in this case Shearer got it right.

    Rodgers “bore them to death” tactics worked at Swansea because teams thought they should be beating them and pushed on to close them down and got exposed.

    Teams will be quite happy to sit back and let them have it in their own half, half 78% possession and not create any chances and take a point off them. He wont last the season.

  2. Ross says:

    Joe Allen can never be seen as a bargain, £15 mil? If I had attempted such a transfer on Champ Manager I would have encountered ‘the board have blocked this transfer because they see the deal as unrealistic’ message!

  3. Rich says:

    To be fair, as a Liverpool fan, theres definately something in what he says. I could sit in midfield, drop deep and pass back to my own defender all day too. We shouldnt be leaving it to Gerrard all the time to pick the forward pass. Its not as bad if Sahin is on the pitch too, but if we have that donkey Shelvey on with Allen, its all down to Gerrard (as its always has been) to make forward progress.
    Allen = sqaure/back
    Shelvey = give the ball away

  4. Bert says:

    @Shearer is right

    I remember a certain Mr. Valdado of Madrid saying the exact same thing about a player called Makalele, whom now has a position named after him seeing as he played it so well(that’s just before they sold him to Chelsea where he became an integral part of a multiple trophy winning team). passing sideways and backwards is an essential part of retaining possesion and keeping team rythm amongst many other benefits.

    But hey, guess hoofing and hoping is much more modern and effective no?

  5. mILKCHEW says:

    @ Shearer is right

    “bore them to death” tactics. Was Swansea not playing some of the most attractive football last season? Also I note Liverpool shots ratio is comparable with the possession, just they cant put the ball in the back of the net. I think you will find Joe Allen keeps the ball instead of smashing it up fron for the big man to nod down and lose it.

  6. Nuno says:

    @Bert
    Makelele sure wasn’t remembered for his passing skills, he was indeed a terrific player but because of his defensive skills, tackling and positioning. Because he was so good at that, everybody ignored the fact that he couldn’t make a 15-feet pass for his life, and that’s why he was rarely part of the offensive movement.
    Joe Allen, on the other hand, as far as I understand, is seen as a “schemer”, as someone who should start building the attack, and therefore must have good passing attributes.

  7. Allan says:

    Im a fan of Rogers style of play. Hes really trying to get liverpool to play good stuff and Allens a big part of that.

    I loved how he tried to get his team to out pass arsenal and then enjoyed watching it fall over after about 20 minutes but I do wish him success liverpool fans deserve something and if they give him time he can do it.

  8. Degs says:

    I’m with Shearer on this.
    It’s far more effective* for a deep-lying midfielder to lump aimless hoofs up the pitch to a front 3 with an average height 5 feet 5 than to keep possession.
    Rodgers must be stuck in the light ages!

    *there may be no evidence for this whatsoever

  9. Anonymous says:

    The world has not seen the best of Joe Allen after all he is only 22.You could pin this argument on other successful footballers but they have trophys as their reply to this criticism. “Football is a simple game made difficult by men who should know better”.

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