As little as six months ago, Liverpool selling Joe Allen would have been an overwhelmingly popular decision amongst the Anfield faithful.
Towards the end of last season, however, was when the Welshman finally came into his own, and he followed that up with a sensational Euro 2016 campaign, guiding his country to the semi-finals.
Sadly, all that came too little, too late to impress Jurgen Klopp, and Allen was shipped out to Stoke in a £13million deal.
Allen’s compatriot and Liverpool legend Ian Rush is among those who were clearly disappointed at Klopp’s decision, telling the Mirror:
“It was sad to see Joe go because he had a great Euros and in his last three months at Liverpool he did what the manager (Jurgen Klopp) asked.”
“The manager wanted him to score more goals, he did that and got into more (scoring) positions.
“People were raising questions about him when he joined from Swansea, but he overcame that and became a better player at Liverpool.”
Stoke have secured themselves a valuable asset in Allen, as Mark Hughes tries to mould them into more of a footballing side.
Hughes’ gain is Klopp’s loss, though, as Liverpool still don’t look quite the finished article.
In their most recent outing, a 1-1 draw against Spurs, the Reds couldn’t walk away with all three points despite completely dominating the first half, and it’s those kind of lapses that Klopp needs to cut out.
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