Liverpool FC Forum

[112-1077774096]

The reason Gerrard may have been below par could be the fact that both he and Torres were recovering from food poisoning.

You being sarcastic mate?

they were both ill mate before the game

[112-1077774096]

I just dont understand how Alonso is our "most important player" Reina, Carra, Mascha, Gerrard and Torres are more important than Alonso IMHO, we havent missed him. Now though, with him back we run the risk of fecking up our best CM pairing who have been generally brilliant over the last few months or so.

I agree with you on one point and one point only Xavi is not OUR most important player.
But thats it im afraid because imo he is one of them, The lad has vision for playing a ball and to feet like very few in the prem. Its not liverpool getting rid of the ball or lumping it up the park when hes on the pitch and yes i do believe hes a better passer of the ball than Masherano, im not saying hes a better player cause theve each got there own individual strenghts.

But you cant blame our poor performance on Alonsos pairing in the middle with Gerrard yesterday because i thought Alonso played fine for his first start . The team played as a unit
Anyway i for one am glad to see him back

Is this our first fight treacle

correct nanny , when we were losing against man united , that is whr instead of pumping hollywood balls , we could have passed accurate , long balls like what alonso would offer . Alonso and gerrard are 2 different players , when we are losing gerrard is always eager to get us back and deserts his role , alonso although would stay in his role , passes long and accurate balls , what we have missed is his ability to pass and break down tight defenses with that 1 key pass , and alonso is the 1 man who can do that better than any other

alonso has put his fair share of passes into the stands also, lets not look at this on an individual basis, lets look at what is best for the team and since the gerrard / mash partnership has been working so well then why break it up just for the sake of breaking it up. this is what happened too many times this season and the loss of cohesion was the reason behind our poor spell, so lets not mess around again

[112-1077774096]

Bamaga man-I have to disagree with you about Gerrard and Masch midfield.  I think the team has no balance and our football looks awful most of the time.  There is just not enough creativity with those two in the midfield.  This is why we need Alonso, he's like our Pirlo.  His creative mind and his passing brings balance to the  midfield.  We actually look like we can play good passing football with him in the team.  I am not really bothered where Gerrard plays as long as Alonso's in the midfield.

yeah mate, we looked absolute world beaters agaisnt derby   

lol pee wee , u gonna get another card soon if u keep that up mate 

it wouldn't surprise me, i got this card for an innocuous comment   

i see it as an 'i love you card', you know the type of card that you give for no particular reason as opposed to a birthday or xmas  card 

[Toffeehater]

The reason Gerrard may have been below par could be the fact that both he and Torres were recovering from food poisoning.

You being sarcastic mate?

they were both ill mate before the game

really? didn't know , thx mate

[Toffeehater]

I just dont understand how Alonso is our "most important player" Reina, Carra, Mascha, Gerrard and Torres are more important than Alonso IMHO, we havent missed him. Now though, with him back we run the risk of fecking up our best CM pairing who have been generally brilliant over the last few months or so.

I agree with you on one point and one point only Xavi is not OUR most important player.
But thats it im afraid because imo he is one of them, The lad has vision for playing a ball and to feet like very few in the prem. Its not liverpool getting rid of the ball or lumping it up the park when hes on the pitch and yes i do believe hes a better passer of the ball than Masherano, im not saying hes a better player cause theve each got there own individual strenghts.

But you cant blame our poor performance on Alonsos pairing in the middle with Gerrard yesterday because i thought Alonso played fine for his first start . The team played as a unit
Anyway i for one am glad to see him back

Is this our first fight treacle

correct nanny , when we were losing against man united , that is whr instead of pumping hollywood balls , we could have passed accurate , long balls like what alonso would offer . Alonso and gerrard are 2 different players , when we are losing gerrard is always eager to get us back and deserts his role , alonso although would stay in his role , passes long and accurate balls , what we have missed is his ability to pass and break down tight defenses with that 1 key pass , and alonso is the 1 man who can do that better than any other

alonso has put his fair share of passes into the stands also, lets not look at this on an individual basis, lets look at what is best for the team and since the gerrard / mash partnership has been working so well then why break it up just for the sake of breaking it up. this is what happened too many times this season and the loss of cohesion was the reason behind our poor spell, so lets not mess around again

correct , but i never said break it a successful partnership up , thats murder , i was just showing u the two different types of players they are and what both offer ,  them bring to the table, all i am saying is that give alonso a few more games under his belt and then we can give comments , as he is not match fit yet and i don't think his performance against derby was that torrid , infact , he was one of the better players , to be honest , i thought when torres scored , it was going to be a thrashing already , what a goal and how he beat the defence , then when we went into half time still a goal up , i knew derby would put up a fight , in the 1st half the game should have been over , but we gave them a chance to fight back and a fight is what we got , i swear when giles barnes took the diving header i though sh!te we're gonna lose to fecking derby county and we are challenging for the title! , thank god he missed it and gerrard came to our rescue with the next move

[ruskiy playmaker]

I am pretty surprised some people here would favor Alonso over Mascherano.  I really thought that everyone couldn't wait for Alonso to get back from injury.  I still think that he's a very important player for us and he will play a huge role for us this season.  I'm sure Rafa will figure something out, after all you don't leave a player with such talent and high salary on the bench.

[Toffeehater]

I am pretty surprised some people here would favor Alonso over Mascherano.  I really thought that everyone couldn't wait for Alonso to get back from injury.  I still think that he's a very important player for us and he will play a huge role for us this season.  I'm sure Rafa will figure something out, after all you don't leave a player with such talent and high salary on the bench.

with that in mind , i think rafa will revert gerrard to the eight to accommodate both alonso and masch in the middle .  most of us think this will be our strongest midfield


Gerrad        Masch           Alonso            Kewell






but we all know that gerrad does not like playing on the right , so rafa might rotate masch and alonso to keep them both happy .

[NANNY RED]

I just dont understand how Alonso is our "most important player" Reina, Carra, Mascha, Gerrard and Torres are more important than Alonso IMHO, we havent missed him. Now though, with him back we run the risk of fecking up our best CM pairing who have been generally brilliant over the last few months or so.

I agree with you on one point and one point only Xavi is not OUR most important player.
But thats it im afraid because imo he is one of them, The lad has vision for playing a ball and to feet like very few in the prem. Its not liverpool getting rid of the ball or lumping it up the park when hes on the pitch and yes i do believe hes a better passer of the ball than Masherano, im not saying hes a better player cause theve each got there own individual strenghts.

But you cant blame our poor performance on Alonsos pairing in the middle with Gerrard yesterday because i thought Alonso played fine for his first start . The team played as a unit
Anyway i for one am glad to see him back

Is this our first fight treacle

correct nanny , when we were losing against man united , that is whr instead of pumping hollywood balls , we could have passed accurate , long balls like what alonso would offer . Alonso and gerrard are 2 different players , when we are losing gerrard is always eager to get us back and deserts his role , alonso although would stay in his role , passes long and accurate balls , what we have missed is his ability to pass and break down tight defenses with that 1 key pass , and alonso is the 1 man who can do that better than any other

alonso has put his fair share of passes into the stands also, lets not look at this on an individual basis, lets look at what is best for the team and since the gerrard / mash partnership has been working so well then why break it up just for the sake of breaking it up. this is what happened too many times this season and the loss of cohesion was the reason behind our poor spell, so lets not mess around again

Peewee i agree with you (For once anyway) the Gerrard /Mash partnership has been working but surely you cant tell me that we are just gonna use Alonso as a bit part player the lads to talented to be left sittin on the bench.
Everyone has got there own personal preference in players and Alonso just happens to be mine.

As far as Micks point about some comparing Alonso to Gerrard and not giving him the credit he deserves. Well im a native Mick and a match going fan but i dont think anyone is saying Alonso is better than Gerrard, you cant compare the two, very different players who each bring something special to the team. Yes he would have got in to any old Liverpool team in central mid but you have to look at the bigger picture aswell with Gerrard the lad is so talented that he can be used out on the right which has been proved, and will still score goals, im not sayin stick him there, but from game to game options are different

[account deleted by request]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

If Alonso was playing like he did a couple of seasons ago, maybe there could be an argument, but on Alonso's performances in the last 2 years (which have been below par) surely there can be no argument that Mascherano is the better player.

I certainly don't think its coincidence that Gerrard has started to score (and hit the bar) on such a regular basis again. He is given freedom to go forward, knowing that the door is locked behind him by Mascher and while Mascher may not hit the great Hollywood balls that Alonso can, I often thought that with Gerrard and Alonso both playing it long, we sometimes had too much of a good thing.

They 're both great players but because I believe that Mascher also brings out the best in Gerrard (our best player) I think Mascher is better. The one big advantage that Alonso has over Mascher his height. When Hyypia plays, obviously its not that much of a problem, but once Agger is back Alonso's height does come in handy.

I think we are lucky to have such great midfielders and it would be stupidity on a huge scale if Mascher was allowed to slip out of our clutches.

[Sabre]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

I for one don't question Mascherano's quality. I didn't even question his partnership with Gerrard during the "blip". I like the player a lot.

But the "If Alonso comes back to his game of 2 years ago" used by some posters (more than one) sounds like an old record to me.

Why? because if you read the very posts of the very same people this season, they were acknowledging that there was an improvement compared to last season in the game of Alonso. It's there, it's written. After that he's been injured, so just when he comes back, I wonder if it's fair to come back to the old "he has to recover his game".

Note that I don't find strange this kind of things. I find ok that the level of demand to a player increases through out the years as he gets experience. But it's true that this season Alonso was reported to be playing better, but that has been apparently forgotten after his injury, for some reason.

[66-1112520797]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

I for one don't question Mascherano's quality. I didn't even question his partnership with Gerrard during the "blip". I like the player a lot.

But the "If Alonso comes back to his game of 2 years ago" used by some posters (more than one) sounds like an old record to me.

Why? because if you read the very posts of the very same people this season, they were acknowledging that there was an improvement compared to last season in the game of Alonso. It's there, it's written. After that he's been injured, so just when he comes back, I wonder if it's fair to come back to the old "he has to recover his game".

Note that I don't find strange this kind of things. I find ok that the level of demand to a player increases through out the years as he gets experience. But it's true that this season Alonso was reported to be playing better, but that has been apparently forgotten after his injury, for some reason.

Thats all well and good.

But he hasnt played nowhere near the standard that Mascha's being playing at. And he doesnt compliment Gerrard like Mascha does. Mascha has played better alongside Gerrard has than Alonso has ever done in his previous seasons gone by.

[NANNY RED]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

If Alonso was playing like he did a couple of seasons ago, maybe there could be an argument, but on Alonso's performances in the last 2 years (which have been below par) surely there can be no argument that Mascherano is the better player.

I certainly don't think its coincidence that Gerrard has started to score (and hit the bar) on such a regular basis again. He is given freedom to go forward, knowing that the door is locked behind him by Mascher and while Mascher may not hit the great Hollywood balls that Alonso can, I often thought that with Gerrard and Alonso both playing it long, we sometimes had too much of a good thing.

They 're both great players but because I believe that Mascher also brings out the best in Gerrard (our best player) I think Mascher is better. The one big advantage that Alonso has over Mascher his height. When Hyypia plays, obviously its not that much of a problem, but once Agger is back Alonso's height does come in handy.

I think we are lucky to have such great midfielders and it would be stupidity on a huge scale if Mascher was allowed to slip out of our clutches.

Saint i wouldnt dream of questioning Masherano the lads been a mountain for us and as Peewee said the pairing of him and Gerrard has worked, My only problem is that i rate Alonso aswell in the same bracket as Masherano i understand hes not been at his best but a Xabi on a full tank of petrol is a joy to watch which im sure is still there.
My only negative on this is can we leave such a talented player on the bench week in week out

[Sabre]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

I for one don't question Mascherano's quality. I didn't even question his partnership with Gerrard during the "blip". I like the player a lot.

But the "If Alonso comes back to his game of 2 years ago" used by some posters (more than one) sounds like an old record to me.

Why? because if you read the very posts of the very same people this season, they were acknowledging that there was an improvement compared to last season in the game of Alonso. It's there, it's written. After that he's been injured, so just when he comes back, I wonder if it's fair to come back to the old "he has to recover his game".

Note that I don't find strange this kind of things. I find ok that the level of demand to a player increases through out the years as he gets experience. But it's true that this season Alonso was reported to be playing better, but that has been apparently forgotten after his injury, for some reason.

Thats all well and good.

But he hasnt played nowhere near the standard that Mascha's being playing at. And he doesnt compliment Gerrard like Mascha does. Mascha has played better alongside Gerrard has than Alonso has ever done in his previous seasons gone by.

No? FFS, Peewee is not of the happy clappy brigade, I think we all admit that. He doesn't wear rose tinted glasses.

And just when Alonso was injured, we were doing so well, that he even wrote a thread called "Happy days".

So, I disagree with you. If Peewee writes a "happy days" thread, that necessarily means that the team was clicking, and therefore, Alonso's game had nothing to envy to Mascherano. 

Once again, I could mention abilities of both players, and at the end I'd reckon that both of them are great. It's difficult to quantify who's better or worse, that's  a matter of tastes, but there's not a significant amount of difference in their quality.

[Red Dotty]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

I for one don't question Mascherano's quality. I didn't even question his partnership with Gerrard during the "blip". I like the player a lot.

But the "If Alonso comes back to his game of 2 years ago" used by some posters (more than one) sounds like an old record to me.

Why? because if you read the very posts of the very same people this season, they were acknowledging that there was an improvement compared to last season in the game of Alonso. It's there, it's written. After that he's been injured, so just when he comes back, I wonder if it's fair to come back to the old "he has to recover his game".

Note that I don't find strange this kind of things. I find ok that the level of demand to a player increases through out the years as he gets experience. But it's true that this season Alonso was reported to be playing better, but that has been apparently forgotten after his injury, for some reason.

Thats all well and good.

But he hasnt played nowhere near the standard that Mascha's being playing at. And he doesnt compliment Gerrard like Mascha does. Mascha has played better alongside Gerrard has than Alonso has ever done in his previous seasons gone by.

No? FFS, Peewee is not of the happy clappy brigade, I think we all admit that. He doesn't wear rose tinted glasses.

And just when Alonso was injured, we were doing so well, that he even wrote a thread called "Happy days".

So, I disagree with you. If Peewee writes a "happy days" thread, that necessarily means that the team was clicking, and therefore, Alonso's game had nothing to envy to Mascherano. 

Once again, I could mention abilities of both players, and at the end I'd reckon that both of them are great. It's difficult to quantify who's better or worse, that's  a matter of tastes, but there's not a significant amount of difference in their quality.

Just had a look through the posts and debate you guys are having and thought how lucky we are to even have the debate, but interesting reading guys keep going

[112-1077774096]

I just can't believe that anyone would question Mascherano's position in the team after his performances since he came. I think he has had maybe 2 poor games for us since he came and has been M.O.T.M. in about half of his games.

I for one don't question Mascherano's quality. I didn't even question his partnership with Gerrard during the "blip". I like the player a lot.

But the "If Alonso comes back to his game of 2 years ago" used by some posters (more than one) sounds like an old record to me.

Why? because if you read the very posts of the very same people this season, they were acknowledging that there was an improvement compared to last season in the game of Alonso. It's there, it's written. After that he's been injured, so just when he comes back, I wonder if it's fair to come back to the old "he has to recover his game".

Note that I don't find strange this kind of things. I find ok that the level of demand to a player increases through out the years as he gets experience. But it's true that this season Alonso was reported to be playing better, but that has been apparently forgotten after his injury, for some reason.

Thats all well and good.

But he hasnt played nowhere near the standard that Mascha's being playing at. And he doesnt compliment Gerrard like Mascha does. Mascha has played better alongside Gerrard has than Alonso has ever done in his previous seasons gone by.

No? FFS, Peewee is not of the happy clappy brigade, I think we all admit that. He doesn't wear rose tinted glasses.

And just when Alonso was injured, we were doing so well, that he even wrote a thread called "Happy days".

So, I disagree with you. If Peewee writes a "happy days" thread, that necessarily means that the team was clicking, and therefore, Alonso's game had nothing to envy to Mascherano. 

Once again, I could mention abilities of both players, and at the end I'd reckon that both of them are great. It's difficult to quantify who's better or worse, that's  a matter of tastes, but there's not a significant amount of difference in their quality.

dont drag me into this     

oh i am already in it, carry on   


i dont think anyone is disputing alonsos class, what i am saying is that as a pairing gerrard and mash seem to work better together, this is not to say that alonso is a bad player, far from it, he would walk into any team, but to bring him back just because we have him could be to the detriment of the team, and like i always say the team comes before any individual