Joe Allen: Liverpool's new Xabi Alonso?

When Brendan Rodgers dished out £15 million for the signature of Joseph Michael Allen, many wondered is he worth it? Ever since Xabi Alonso left the Reds for Real, Liverpool have tried to replace him with someone equally able and have failed on every occasion.The first one was Alberto Aquilani, £20 million of the £30 million received from Alonso’s transfer was spent on the Italian. He never really settled in England, and his first season was plagued by injuries and the following seasons he went out on a series of loans to various Italian clubs.

Lucas Leiva was given the chance to play regularly, and he grabbed this opportunity with both hands, putting up stellar performances week in week out, and looked to be the answer to Liverpool’s CDM problems, but an injury early last season hampered all of those plans and it was back to square one. The next one was Jordan Henderson, another £20 million spent, but the England international looked the shadow of the player he was at Sunderland and never really established himself. Jonjo Shelvey was one player who looked to have the potential which could be harnessed to make him a world class player, but again he was sent out on a number of loan spells and never really got the opportunity to grow at Anfield. So, it comes down to Liverpool’s latest acquisition, which brings me back to my earlier question, is Allen worth it? The answer is he certainly is.

Allen, a product of the Swansea youth academy, made his debut at the tender age of 16! Later on though he did find first team opportunities hard to come by and went out on a loan spell to Wrexham, but when regular midfielder Ferrie Bodde had been ruled out of the season due to an injury, Allen was recalled and finally got his chance! He came on as a substitute with his side trailing 2-0 and only 25 minutes remaining. They ended up drawing the game 2-2 and Allen went on to win the man of the match award and this was just the beginning. He was one of Swansea’s best players of 2010/11 season, which saw them earn promotion to the top flight. In the 2011/12 season, Allen showed everyone just why he is regarded as one of the best talents to come out of Wales, putting in stand out performances every time he went out on the pitch. His passing ability, awareness and ball control were just immaculate and saw him being compared to Xavi. Another thing to be noted is his defensive ability and the dirty work that he is ever so ready to do. He ended up being the highest passing midfielder in the Premier League last season and Swansea’s player of the season.

So when Rodgers made the switch to Anfield, many expected him to take his main man with him, and he did! He has been Rodgers best signing so far, and Liverpool’s best player this season. If this is how Allen is going to continue playing, and grow as he has been the past few years, then Liverpool can put away their CDM problems away, because in Allen they have someone who can glue the team together and has the awareness to always make the right pass. He might not be as good as Xabi right now, but he is still young and with a player of Steven Gerrard‘s quality around, I am sure he can reach those heights!