Allen, a Welshman’s Xavi-Pirlo amalgam
LYON: When Joe Allen walked through the door at Liverpool football club his former manager Brendan Rodgers beamed at the waiting television cameras and confidently proclaimed: “This is the Welsh Xavi”.
It was perhaps an unenviable moniker for a young player making his way in the game and after four years at Anfield few would claim that Allen has lived up to comparisons to the great Spaniard.
While he has yet to consistently produce his best for his club, Allen’s performances for Wales have been nothing short of superb.
He is unflashy, tenacious without being overly physical and almost metronomic in his ability to recycle possession and move the ball seamlessly from defence to attack. Wales manager Chris Coleman describes him as a leader, although not of the traditional footballing archetype — the quiet, mild-mannered Allen shows the way on the pitch, he says.
“I can’t really speak highly enough of him,” Wales’s talisman Gareth Bale said. “Maybe he doesn’t get the headlines outside but in the squad he gets them. He works his socks off every game and I’m sure he’ll go on to do incredible things in his career.”
Captain Ashley Williams is also a fan. “We have a WhatsApp messaging group and at least once a week we have a Joe Allen Appreciation Day — great beard, great haircut, great guy, he’s the main man in the squad. Class player too.”
Allen’s Euro highlights have included an exquisite pass to release Aaron Ramsey to score Wales’s opening goal in their group stage finale against Russia.
When Allen grew a beard, the Wales fans changed the ‘Welsh Xavi’ nickname to the ‘Welsh Pirlo’, in honour of hirsute Italian midfielder Andrea.
Should Wales beat Portugal in Lyon, and perhaps even go one better, he may be known as just plain ‘Joe Allen’ in future.