Joe Allen Ready For "The New Era"

You just can't stop him! Whether it's his substitution against Rubin Kazan or a potential departure in the January transfer window, Joe Allen is hot news. Now he's back and he's talking about impressing the new manager at Liverpool. Klopp says "restart" but Allen says "reset"—they understand each other already.

When a manager leaves a club everything is up in the air for the players. You have to wait to see who comes in next, what sort of style he plays and if there's a place for you in his plans. I'm confident that the things he's looking to bring into the team are things I pride myself on and I'm looking forward to getting down to some hard work to make sure I'm part of the new era. It's almost like the reset button has been pressed for everyone at the club and we've got a clean slate to re-focus and try to impress him so we can be part of his plans.

Allen went on to say lots of appropriate and sensible stuff about everyone being impressed with Klopp, and there were bits about lots of information to take in and fighting on multiple fronts this season. All pleasant and professional, very well done indeed. Did he mention "his daddy" Brendan Rodgers, though? Every group picture the team takes with Allen, there's been some funnies flying around the interwebs about him missing his mentor. After the time they spent together, the Welsh international obviously had kind words for the former Liverpool manager.

He was a huge influence because he was my manager for over five seasons with two football clubs. We won promotion to the Premier League with Swansea City on a fantastic day in the play-off final at Wembley and obviously we came so close to winning the title here at Liverpool a couple of seasons ago. It means we shared some massive highs but as everyone knows change is something that always happens in football and you have to accept it.

But he doesn't want to accept it, right? For there was never a story of more woe and all that jazz. The reality is that with three central midfielders usually deployed in the 4-3-2-1 formation that Jürgen Klopp intelligently identified as the best fit for the players he inherited, there should be a place for the unassuming tempo setter in the squad. There are two games this week before the November international break, and when Liverpool return, the schedule will run as follows: Saturday, Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday, 2016. James Milner's worrying form, Lucas Leiva's durability, Jordans returning from injury, and protecting the coiffured one means Allen should get a chance in midfield.

In theory, Joe Allen and Adam Lallana should be the perfect high-level squad players for a manager like Klopp. They possess the technical and tactical qualities required along with the appetite for work that invalidates their physical deficiencies. However, they're held up as the two big British signings that haven't provided enough of the "end product" to justify their existence in the Liverpool squad.

If there's a manager they can prove their worth under it's Klopp, but for Allen, he'll need to do more with the opportunities he's given. He may have only started one game since the 48-year-old tactician took charge, but the need for rotation will test Allen's confidence in and ability to apply his abilities on matchdays.