Liverpool FC Forum

[Boocity]

Not last night he didn't.....One tackle in particular, Lucas arrived his customary 15 mins late and got booked....

The whole team didn't perform last night and I do not believe it would have been any different with alonso on the field from the start.

[Redman in wales]

Looks like thats it then i just hope its all the money up front

Liverpool FC close to selling Xabi Alonso as Real Madrid agree fee

Aug 3 2009 Liverpool Daily Post


With Roma star Alberto Aquilani already lined up as Alonso’s successor Benitez will be keen for Real to put their money where their mouth has been and finally bring an end to the transfer saga.

The chances of that happening appear to have been boosted after reports in Spain suggested that the Bernabeu coffers will shortly be swollen to the tune of £18m due to the impending sale of Dutchman Wesley Sneijder to Inter Milan.

I think we've missed a trick there.

Aquilani and Sneijder are being sold at the same price. I know which one I'd take. And it's not the Italian. 

I wonder if Sneijder would have come to us? - Or if he didn't want to move to England?

I just think Aquilani has a real injury concerns and the fact that Roma's fans are celebrating his departure shows something.

[heimdall]

Not long back, when Alonso's team mates expressed their desire for Alonso to stay, Rafa had a conversation with Xabi saying "perhaps you should stay". I found that very strange. Put yourself in Xabis position. You like the job you doing, your satisfied with conditions but niggling at the back off your mind, your boss tried to ship you off to another working place a year before. You improve yourself, you show you can do the job in hand, but there is still that niggling doubt. Your work colleagues express their admiration of the work you have done and your boss pulls you over for a chat. Rather than say "well done, youve proved yourself a valuable asset" he says "perhaps you should stay".

For me that shows the boss doesnt respect you. What would you do? your not fully appreciated for the job your doing and can move on to another business with better pay?

If he stays, brilliant. He is acknowledging the love of his fellow team mates and supporters. If he leaves I wouldnt blame him one jot. The one person I do blame for this whole sorry business is Rafa. His man management skills leave a lot to be desired.

Were you there to overhear that conversation? there are probably so many things going on behind closed doors that it renders all this speculation as nothing more than fatuous rambling. It is fun though 

My take is that Xabi will be sold within the next few days, we will get a more creative player in and by the end of the season we'll be saying xabi who.

On the flip side I expect Xabi to play a handful of games for RM before spending the next 2 seasons on the bench and then being sold to a team like Espanyol all the while ruing the fact that he left Liverpool the season before they started winning the league on a regular basis.

BTW Lando I thought this was supposed to be a new start so please stop insulting everyone, you have a brain try using it and showing people some respect. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them an idiot, you and I disagree on most things and whilst i think you are rude at times I certainly don't think you are stupid or a "simpleton".

[mistyred]

I have had numerous conversations with other supporters who really don't rate Alonso as highly
as some.

The main point being his lack of pace and the fact that when closed down early and stiffled through out
a game his inability to push forward and make runs pretty much makes his impact on the game null and void.

TBH i think with a more creative attacking midfielder we will be far better off this season, it will
pretty much be the element of suprise for the other teams.

Over the years teams have become aware of our movement in midfield, especially the smaller teams
who tend to park the bus firmly infront of goal.

I am quite looking forward to a new Liverpool going into this season, one that can break teams down and finish
the job when called to do so, not sitting back and waiting for a dodgy team to score a dodgy equaliser.

I want a team the will sniff blood and kill the opposition, i think if Rafa plays his cards right
we could well see a new dinamic Liverpool going into the new season.

[Sabre]

I have had numerous conversations with other supporters who really don't rate Alonso as highly
as some.

The main point being his lack of pace and the fact that when closed down early and stiffled through out
a game his inability to push forward and make runs pretty much makes his impact on the game null and void.

And after that numerous conversations did you lot work out why the fúck he costs 30M despite all that lack of pace and lack of impact?

In all seriousness I've been reading you the last days and I quite like your attitude of "nobody is irreplaceable", as I don't like excessive pessimism because of a player leaves. I do undertand you when you say you want to see the deal done as soon as possible.  That is, I rate Alonso a lot but I don't think he's irreplaceable nor the end of the world.

But I don't think it's necessary to try to paint Alonso as an uneffective player to defend the idea that no one is irreplaceable.

[heimdall]

I have had numerous conversations with other supporters who really don't rate Alonso as highly
as some.

The main point being his lack of pace and the fact that when closed down early and stiffled through out
a game his inability to push forward and make runs pretty much makes his impact on the game null and void.

And after that numerous conversations did you lot work out why the fúck he costs 30M despite all that lack of pace and lack of impact?

In all seriousness I've been reading you the last days and I quite like your attitude of "nobody is irreplaceable", as I don't like excessive pessimism because of a player leaves. I do undertand you when you say you want to see the deal done as soon as possible.  That is, I rate Alonso a lot but I don't think he's irreplaceable nor the end of the world.

But I don't think it's necessary to try to paint Alonso as an uneffective player to defend the idea that no one is irreplaceable.

The value is weird but then it was equally odd to pay £80 million for Ronaldo and £60 million for Kaka, the world's gone mad. I think though that if you have the luxury as Real now have of already having creative attacking midfielders then it's great if you also can have an Alonso type. Unfortunately we don't have the cash to have both types so I think it will benefit us to have the more attacking midfielder especially against the smaller teams who we struggled against last season.

[GYBS]

Not long back, when Alonso's team mates expressed their desire for Alonso to stay, Rafa had a conversation with Xabi saying "perhaps you should stay". I found that very strange. Put yourself in Xabis position. You like the job you doing, your satisfied with conditions but niggling at the back off your mind, your boss tried to ship you off to another working place a year before. You improve yourself, you show you can do the job in hand, but there is still that niggling doubt. Your work colleagues express their admiration of the work you have done and your boss pulls you over for a chat. Rather than say "well done, youve proved yourself a valuable asset" he says "perhaps you should stay".

For me that shows the boss doesnt respect you. What would you do? your not fully appreciated for the job your doing and can move on to another business with better pay?

If he stays, brilliant. He is acknowledging the love of his fellow team mates and supporters. If he leaves I wouldnt blame him one jot. The one person I do blame for this whole sorry business is Rafa. His man management skills leave a lot to be desired.

Were you there to overhear that conversation? there are probably so many things going on behind closed doors that it renders all this speculation as nothing more than fatuous rambling. It is fun though 

My take is that Xabi will be sold within the next few days, we will get a more creative player in and by the end of the season we'll be saying xabi who.

On the flip side I expect Xabi to play a handful of games for RM before spending the next 2 seasons on the bench and then being sold to a team like Espanyol all the while ruing the fact that he left Liverpool the season before they started winning the league on a regular basis.

BTW Lando I thought this was supposed to be a new start so please stop insulting everyone, you have a brain try using it and showing people some respect. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them an idiot, you and I disagree on most things and whilst i think you are rude at times I certainly don't think you are stupid or a "simpleton".

Please tell me thats a joke - If xabi goes there he will pretty much play most of their games - he is one of the main players for us and one of the main players for spain - he will be the creator for Kaka and Ronaldo and work alongside an enforcer like gago.

I can pretty much bet a fair of money that Xabi wont spend 2 seasons on the bench at madrid - the fact he is being chased so much by them shows you how highly they rate him.

[red37]

Dynamo Liverpool FC 


When we are on the front foot in an attacking sense...thats where Alonso's input is most visible. Namely the ability to pick out a pass. Be it a clinical 10 yard thread behind the lines...or a 40 yard loft directly into the path of an onrushing striker.

There aren't many lads in the side apart from Gerrard who have that skill nailed. Yes, there are others capable of finding their man...but Alonso is a master of it.

At the opposite end of the scale, Alonso is not doing a heck of a lot more than the rest of them. He tracks back for set pieces and on occasion his intervention has saved us from conceding goals from open play. However, i see him there as an insurance policy - an extra shield. He is also invariably the first point of contact when the Keeper/defence are looking to usher the ball forward. We will miss that, setting of the tempo from our back line and the pinpoint accuracy of his passing artistry...

The other option when he doesn't play is to bypass that style and go for the longer ball. Which, at times...is perfectly acceptable - when it is on. The fullbacks (and the CB's) though having the tendency to 'hump' the thing into the oppo final third has a distinct element of  'lets see what this does' attitude. Almost if you like, the 'Hot Potato theory'    Of course, more often than not - its coming straight back at them. Hopefully this is where Johnson will slot in. Holding the ball while carrying it directly into enemy territory allows many benefits.

Agger/Gerrard/Yossi/Riera/Kuyt - all players who are comfortable carrying the ball.  Alonso....is adept at finding a target from all over the park with a pass - his abscence will only be offset by the fact that Gerrard can also do that job. Will he be doing that as support for Torres though...or will he indeed be asked to drop back in order to provide the ammo that Alonso would?  We will miss the subtlety of Alonso...but is it going to be the end of all things good about our midfield? I doubt it. The club will evolve.

In any case Im all for getting this one sorted sharpish and allowing a replacement time to 'bed in' Lets face it, even if that were to happen in the next fortnight - there is scant time to prepare now. Besides, its the Defence that needs as much attention for me as the Attack. A fact endorsed over the events of the past 24 hours.

[heimdall]

Not long back, when Alonso's team mates expressed their desire for Alonso to stay, Rafa had a conversation with Xabi saying "perhaps you should stay". I found that very strange. Put yourself in Xabis position. You like the job you doing, your satisfied with conditions but niggling at the back off your mind, your boss tried to ship you off to another working place a year before. You improve yourself, you show you can do the job in hand, but there is still that niggling doubt. Your work colleagues express their admiration of the work you have done and your boss pulls you over for a chat. Rather than say "well done, youve proved yourself a valuable asset" he says "perhaps you should stay".

For me that shows the boss doesnt respect you. What would you do? your not fully appreciated for the job your doing and can move on to another business with better pay?

If he stays, brilliant. He is acknowledging the love of his fellow team mates and supporters. If he leaves I wouldnt blame him one jot. The one person I do blame for this whole sorry business is Rafa. His man management skills leave a lot to be desired.

Were you there to overhear that conversation? there are probably so many things going on behind closed doors that it renders all this speculation as nothing more than fatuous rambling. It is fun though 

My take is that Xabi will be sold within the next few days, we will get a more creative player in and by the end of the season we'll be saying xabi who.

On the flip side I expect Xabi to play a handful of games for RM before spending the next 2 seasons on the bench and then being sold to a team like Espanyol all the while ruing the fact that he left Liverpool the season before they started winning the league on a regular basis.

BTW Lando I thought this was supposed to be a new start so please stop insulting everyone, you have a brain try using it and showing people some respect. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them an idiot, you and I disagree on most things and whilst i think you are rude at times I certainly don't think you are stupid or a "simpleton".

Please tell me thats a joke - If xabi goes there he will pretty much play most of their games - he is one of the main players for us and one of the main players for spain - he will be the creator for Kaka and Ronaldo and work alongside an enforcer like gago.

I can pretty much bet a fair of money that Xabi wont spend 2 seasons on the bench at madrid - the fact he is being chased so much by them shows you how highly they rate him.

All I can say is we will see, maybe he'll do well but I have a funny feeling he will rue leaving us GYBS.

[aCe']

Not long back, when Alonso's team mates expressed their desire for Alonso to stay, Rafa had a conversation with Xabi saying "perhaps you should stay". I found that very strange. Put yourself in Xabis position. You like the job you doing, your satisfied with conditions but niggling at the back off your mind, your boss tried to ship you off to another working place a year before. You improve yourself, you show you can do the job in hand, but there is still that niggling doubt. Your work colleagues express their admiration of the work you have done and your boss pulls you over for a chat. Rather than say "well done, youve proved yourself a valuable asset" he says "perhaps you should stay".

For me that shows the boss doesnt respect you. What would you do? your not fully appreciated for the job your doing and can move on to another business with better pay?

If he stays, brilliant. He is acknowledging the love of his fellow team mates and supporters. If he leaves I wouldnt blame him one jot. The one person I do blame for this whole sorry business is Rafa. His man management skills leave a lot to be desired.

Were you there to overhear that conversation? there are probably so many things going on behind closed doors that it renders all this speculation as nothing more than fatuous rambling. It is fun though 

My take is that Xabi will be sold within the next few days, we will get a more creative player in and by the end of the season we'll be saying xabi who.

On the flip side I expect Xabi to play a handful of games for RM before spending the next 2 seasons on the bench and then being sold to a team like Espanyol all the while ruing the fact that he left Liverpool the season before they started winning the league on a regular basis.

BTW Lando I thought this was supposed to be a new start so please stop insulting everyone, you have a brain try using it and showing people some respect. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them an idiot, you and I disagree on most things and whilst i think you are rude at times I certainly don't think you are stupid or a "simpleton".

Please tell me thats a joke - If xabi goes there he will pretty much play most of their games - he is one of the main players for us and one of the main players for spain - he will be the creator for Kaka and Ronaldo and work alongside an enforcer like gago.

I can pretty much bet a fair of money that Xabi wont spend 2 seasons on the bench at madrid - the fact he is being chased so much by them shows you how highly they rate him.

I dont think he'll have as big a role with Real as he does with us... think we'll see more of the other side of his game than we will the long hollywood passes and the midfield playmaking he does here...
Players like Kaka, Ronaldo and to a lesser extent Robben like to recieve the ball and take it up the field themselves rather than wait for the 40yard pass to chase...

With us you have the likes of Kuyt and Riera playing down the flanks... you have Gerrard and Torres a little further up... Xabi HAS to be the one who picks it up down the middle to allow other to move further up because if he doesnt, quite simply no one else will... Gerrard goes on a run through the middle every once in a while but its mostly on the break and not when we are trying to build an attacking move... With Milan and ManUTd its a different story... Despite having the likes of Carrick, Scholes, Pirlo and Flamini, most of the attacking moves are usually started by Ronaldo and Kaka recieving the ball and making something happen.. in that sense, they dont rely on the traditional playmaker type of player that Xabi is with us...
With them i expect him to do a more defensive role with way more short passes rather than long ones...

Still expect him to be a great player for them because not only is he very good at doing the defensive work, hes also as good as they come in taking the ball out from the back and picking the right pass at the right time...

[JC_81]

Is anyone else here completely underwhelmed by the prospect of Aquilani coming in to replace Alonso??

The lad may well be a good player and I won't pretend I've watched him regularly because Serie A bores the sh.it out of me, but the facts are he has a bad injury record and is coming from a league where players are notoriously hit and miss in terms of adapting to a completely different style of football.  Surely for 18 million we could do better (Sneijder for a start).

[heimdall]

Is anyone else here completely underwhelmed by the prospect of Aquilani coming in to replace Alonso??

The lad may well be a good player and I won't pretend I've watched him regularly because Serie A bores the sh.it out of me, but the facts are he has a bad injury record and is coming from a league where players are notoriously hit and miss in terms of adapting to a completely different style of football.  Surely for 18 million we could do better (Sneijder for a start).

I would also have preferred Sneijder but who's to say we don't end up with him plus a nice little wedge of cash from the Alonso deal. I am still hoping that happens because I rate Sneijder very highly. A player plus cash deal would suit everybody I think.

[aCe']

Dynamo Liverpool FC 


When we are on the front foot in an attacking sense...thats where Alonso's input is most visible. Namely the ability to pick out a pass. Be it a clinical 10 yard thread behind the lines...or a 40 yard loft directly into the path of an onrushing striker.

There aren't many lads in the side apart from Gerrard who have that skill nailed. Yes, there are others capable of finding their man...but Alonso is a master of it.

At the opposite end of the scale, Alonso is not doing a heck of a lot more than the rest of them. He tracks back for set pieces and on occasion his intervention has saved us from conceding goals from open play. However, i see him there as an insurance policy - an extra shield. He is also invariably the first point of contact when the Keeper/defence are looking to usher the ball forward. We will miss that, setting of the tempo from our back line and the pinpoint accuracy of his passing artistry...

The other option when he doesn't play is to bypass that style and go for the longer ball. Which, at times...is perfectly acceptable - when it is on. The fullbacks (and the CB's) though having the tendency to 'hump' the thing into the oppo final third has a distinct element of  'lets see what this does' attitude. Almost if you like, the 'Hot Potato theory'    Of course, more often than not - its coming straight back at them. Hopefully this is where Johnson will slot in. Holding the ball while carrying it directly into enemy territory allows many benefits.

Agger/Gerrard/Yossi/Riera/Kuyt - all players who are comfortable carrying the ball.  Alonso....is adept at finding a target from all over the park with a pass - his abscence will only be offset by the fact that Gerrard can also do that job. Will he be doing that as support for Torres though...or will he indeed be asked to drop back in order to provide the ammo that Alonso would?  We will miss the subtlety of Alonso...but is it going to be the end of all things good about our midfield? I doubt it. The club will evolve.

In any case Im all for getting this one sorted sharpish and allowing a replacement time to 'bed in' Lets face it, even if that were to happen in the next fortnight - there is scant time to prepare now. Besides, its the Defence that needs as much attention for me as the Attack. A fact endorsed over the events of the past 24 hours.

good post but this is the part i dont agree with ...

Agger/Gerrard/Yossi/Riera/Kuyt - all players who are comfortable carrying the ball.

Despite some of them being comfortable carrying the ball as you say, we seem to see very little of that... For starters, Agger is a defender so there will be very little carrying the ball in a sense that it will rarely lead to a direct threat on opposition goal... Between Yossi and Riera, im guessing one of them is going to start, to me Yossi is the better at carrying the ball...still, the amount of times he loses the ball in doing so is unbelievably high .. Rieras a good player but his carrying the ball didnt really prosuce much in terms of final outcome last season... hope he improves in that department this season but it all remains to be seem...
Kuyt is simply a no... He cant carry the ball if his life depended on it... he can run it into space if theres no one around but then again that doesnt count as carrying the ball because Mascherano would do the same thing if played in that position... its a back pass pretty much every time Kuyt receives the ball outside opposition danger areas...

Leaves us with Gerrard and one of Yossi/Riera as the only players who actually do any carrying of the ball ... which is a big worry for me especially if Alonso leaves... Johnson could be a player to look at to address that but his contribution to the side remains to be seen...

Point is, if Alonso is sold. we'll need to replace him with someone who either picks passes as well as he does -which is a big ask- or with someone whos comfortable bringing the ball out through the middle himself... Aquilani does that so in that sense he'd make a good replacement..   if we cant sort that out then the likes of Gerrard, Kuyt and Riera will have much more to do in terms of building attacking moves from deeper...

[red37]

Is anyone else here completely underwhelmed by the prospect of Aquilani coming in to replace Alonso??

The lad may well be a good player and I won't pretend I've watched him regularly because Serie A bores the sh.it out of me, but the facts are he has a bad injury record and is coming from a league where players are notoriously hit and miss in terms of adapting to a completely different style of football.  Surely for 18 million we could do better (Sneijder for a start).

We have to wait and see....there's a few already here at the club who underwhelm almost every time they pull on this shirt. Hopefully Aquilani (if he is coming) won't be another one. Sniejder would be a stronger shout (imo)

Tell you what does underwhelm me for sure though - is 'Transfer Windows' in general. Why can't they be scrapped and a return to the old days of doing business while the season is running. Summer time comes and most players and their agents are either on holiday, involved in money-spinning tours of other continents or playing in World cups/Euro's etc...

You either get in quick before these things happen...or you are left to scrape whats left in the bargain bin during the last couple of weeks in August. Or, you get robbed of course...

Same as January....no-one of real value is moving whilst they are involved in the Champions League. Its folly.

Not to mention the media circus surrounding it played out on Sky Sports (countdown f*cking clocks!) etc....

[Boocity]

The BBC website is stating that we have signed Alberto Aquilani for £15.3m. According to MARCA.

This could just be Marca pushing for Alonso to sign for RM