Liverpool FC Forum

[Greavesie]

Does anyone know if our game tomorrow is being shown anywere,

Its on Wednesday Nanny KO at 7

Dunno about TV but if I can get a stream I'll send you a link

[Dundalk]

I think we all agree that if the guy wants to leave then he should be let leave but i think Rafa is right in sticking to his guns and getting top dollar for him. Why should we crumble just because it is Real Madrid who are looking for him.

If he wants to leave then much id prefer to get someone else who wants to be at the club

[ConnO'var]

I think we all agree that if the guy wants to leave then he should be let leave but i think Rafa is right in sticking to his guns and getting top dollar for him. Why should we crumble just because it is Real Madrid who are looking for him.

That's not really the point though...

If he wants to go and we hold him, there may be a high price to pay. An unhappy player, an unhappy dressing room atmosphere, a drop in form and perhaps a battle of wills that could result in us losing focus on the big picture.... maybe even a stint in the reserves.

End result? Loss of value and keeping a non-productive player at high wages at the club... draining even more of our apparent lack of resources.

As many have said, he's a model professional and maybe the above scenario won't happen in a world cup year..... but still a risk.

Let him go..... If the rumours are true and he wants to leave.... it's the 2nd best thing to do for the club in this scenario.

[Dundalk]

[bigmick]

I'm going to swim against the tide here with the valuation of Xabi in this "crazy" market. Sabre made the point earlier that if Ronaldo was worth 80 million and Kaka 55 mill then Alonso was worth a huge sum. I'm not so sure. In Ronaldo you're getting a bloke who has almost single handedly won the Mancs the title in the last two seasons. He scored 40 odd goals from right wing a couple of seasons back, so yes I do think he is worth much more than Xabi. Similarly, In Kaka you are getting a recent World player of the year winner.

Much as we all love Xabi, lets be realistic here for a second. He is a central midfielder who doesn't score nor split defenses with passes. He keeps the ball well and reads it well, and at what he does he is one of the best. He isn't though a Ronaldo or a Kaka, and neither by a distance is he a Gerrard either. 25 million is the same as Man City paid for Carlos Tevez, more than the Mancs paid for Carrick, twice what City paid for Barry etc etc. I think it's about right, even in todays "crazy" market.

[Bad Bob]

I'm going to swim against the tide here with the valuation of Xabi in this "crazy" market. Sabre made the point earlier that if Ronaldo was worth 80 million and Kaka 55 mill then Alonso was worth a huge sum. I'm not so sure. In Ronaldo you're getting a bloke who has almost single handedly won the Mancs the title in the last two seasons. He scored 40 odd goals from right wing a couple of seasons back, so yes I do think he is worth much more than Xabi. Similarly, In Kaka you are getting a recent World player of the year winner.

Much as we all love Xabi, lets be realistic here for a second. He is a central midfielder who doesn't score nor split defenses with passes. He keeps the ball well and reads it well, and at what he does he is one of the best. He isn't though a Ronaldo or a Kaka, and neither by a distance is he a Gerrard either. 25 million is the same as Man City paid for Carlos Tevez, more than the Mancs paid for Carrick, twice what City paid for Barry etc etc. I think it's about right, even in todays "crazy" market.

Fair enough, Mick.  In Sabre's defense, he has made the comparison to Diarra a couple of times recently (though perhaps not this one around), which is more revealing.  Can't recall exactly what Madrid paid Pompey for the fella in January but it was a fair wedge.  I think Sabre's correct in suggesting that we approach Madrid with the statement 'if you're going to pay 20-something million for Lassana Diarra we should be looking to have you pay 30-odd million for Alonso.'

At the end of the day, I don't think we'll get 30 million + but I do think we are doing the right thing by keeping the price high and making them work for it.

[bigmick]

Mate there's no argument that we don't just give him up for whatever they offer. I'd be mentioning Diarra, Huntelaar who they overpaid for and all those other numpties who we spanked 5-0 last term. I'd be swearing blind that Alonso is worth every penny of 40 million quid, and during negotiations sticking "you cheeky c...s" on the end of every sentence (no point in being diplomatic after all).

Ultimately though, between us I think 25 million is a fair price. Any more and it's a small result.

[SupitsJonF]

No point in keeping him if it's true he wants to leave.  But it's a huge sign of disrespect, imo, to lower the bid after a larger bid was already denied.  I dont understand the thought process in that unless of course Xabi told them on the phone he is working his hardest to get out of England.

I say sell him to Barce, just to spite Madrid

[aCe']

it was 20mill Euros for Lassano Diarra when the pound was much stronger....

[bigmick]

it was 20mill Euros for Lassano Diarra when the pound was much stronger....

Fair enough mate but I think the point that they overpaid for him still holds good (although I do think he's a good player). The probalem we have with selling Alonso and getting a premium price is trhat firstly it appears the player really wants to go, and secondly that it appears there's only one club in for him.

Somebody mentioned Barcelona ,and yes if he was being courted by them then we could start a bidding war. As it is, it looks like Madrid are the only game in town, they know it and we know it.

With that in mind, I'd do a deal at mid twenties. If Xabi goes there and plays like he did for the two previous seasons to the last one, we might even be able to buy him back for half price at Christmas  (just kidding before somebody goes ballistic).

[skatesy]

My only concern here is with regards to a replacement to Alonso. As of right now, I do not think that we have a viable alternative to Alonso. If we go into a stubborn hold with Real Madrid hoping for them to agree to a higher price for him than we risk only having a short time to get an alternative.

Hopefully Rafa has already been looking for a good alternative, or even someone better as it seems likely that Alonso is going to go.

[aCe']

it was 20mill Euros for Lassano Diarra when the pound was much stronger....

Fair enough mate but I think the point that they overpaid for him still holds good (although I do think he's a good player). The probalem we have with selling Alonso and getting a premium price is trhat firstly it appears the player really wants to go, and secondly that it appears there's only one club in for him.

Somebody mentioned Barcelona ,and yes if he was being courted by them then we could start a bidding war. As it is, it looks like Madrid are the only game in town, they know it and we know it.

With that in mind, I'd do a deal at mid twenties. If Xabi goes there and plays like he did for the two previous seasons to the last one, we might even be able to buy him back for half price at Christmas  (just kidding before somebody goes ballistic).

you mean like tottenham did with Keane 

Yea have to say that we should be considering any bids upwards of 25mill pounds seriously... that was my take on the whole thing from the start and i didnt think Real would pay more than that anyways to be honest... They paid 30mill or so (35mill euros) i think for Benzema who is one of the best forwards in the world today... Alonso, as you said with him wanting to move and Real being the only club in for him ATM , we should be considering the Real offer more seriously.. Wouldnt want Chelsea or Arsenal sniffing around with 25-30mill bids if we reject Madrid... i'd rather we lose out on a couple of mill than see him playing for one of our rivals and if he's very serious about moving whos to say we wouldnt find ourselves in a position where we'd be forced to sell him to a rival (gallas, a.cole anyone ?)

A different thing we can do is that we can try to negotiate a deal with Madrid where we'd get a player + some money... they have some very good players who would definitely improve our squad.. (higuain on loan or RVN or Robben on Sneijder or Gago) wouldnt mind any of them if the money we get besides that makes sense...

Its all about who we bring in now with Alonso seemingly intent on leaving imo, get it right and him leaving shouldnt be as big a blow as some would have you believe...

[Liverpool KAIGELS]

Huh ..? Benzema is one of the best forwards in world today ...? NOT YET , NOT IN THE WORLD AT LEAST !!

Nevertheless , i think we should accept 25million plus player *negredo , van der vaart , robben .
Its time alonso to go . No point keeping him already . You cant blame him , damn we tried really hard to offload him last season in order to get barry !! disgrace

[JoeTerp]

call me crazy but a cheap, short term solution to the loss of Xabi Alonso could be . . . David Beckham.  He has been playing a very similar role to Xabi in the last couple of years, has premier league, title winning experience, and I think he should be available on the cheap as he can opt out of his contract in November. Oh and he helps us with the UEFA english players quota.

[roberto green]

call me crazy but a cheap, short term solution to the loss of Xabi Alonso could be . . . David Beckham.  He has been playing a very similar role to Xabi in the last couple of years, has premier league, title winning experience, and I think he should be available on the cheap as he can opt out of his contract in November. Oh and he helps us with the UEFA english players quota.

Crazy