10:00PM BST 18 Oct 2012
Allen has received plenty of plaudits since his £15 million move to Merseyside, his manager calling him ‘the Welsh Xavi’. But although Brendan Rodgers has allocated Allen a club role designed to run opponents ragged, the Welshman admits he was the one chasing shadows against Modric in midweek.
“He showed me that I’ve probably got quite a lot of work to do in order to get anywhere his level,” said Allen. “He is some player. You want to test yourself against those kind of players and for me personally it was disappointing because I felt he controlled the game for them and he looked comfortable throughout.
“You always want to make it as difficult as possible for him and if I’m honest my level of performance individually just wasn’t quite good enough. He’s a top, top player, he plays for one of the biggest clubs in the world and in his position he is one of the very best.”
Allen is now back on Merseyside preparing for a home game with Reading, and even though international ambitions have been stifled in midweek, he has settled in comfortably at Anfield.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time there so far and am looking forward to the future
with the club. I’ve got no doubts that our results will turn around. The
table doesn’t reflect some of the performances and the things that have
happened to
Rodgers has praised the attitude of his England Under-21 internationals for their character in the face of adversity in their intimidating fixture in Serbia. “It’s disappointing it happened,” Rodgers said. “Sometimes the best response is to go and win the game as they did.”
Rodgers will give a late fitness test to Pepe Reina, who hurt his hamstring on international duty this week. Brad Jones is on standby this weekend. Youngster Suso will sign a new contract in the next few days and Rodgers has again defended Luis Suárez following cheat claims from Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny and Fifa vice-president Jim Boyce.
“People jump on the bandwagon and I am sure they will continue to do so,” said Rodgers. “I’ve had the chance to work with Luis every day and see what type of character he is. He’s had a lot of bad press recently. It was interesting to note in the last game against Stoke that we are happy in this country for someone to clearly stamp on a player’s chest and all we talk about is him diving in the box, which I find incredible.”
