by bigmick » Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:28 pm
I don't like the onwers anymore than the next man, but those who are huge fans of Xabi and the manager would do well to remember that we haven't got to sell him, owners or not. Alonso wants to stay and he is our player. Clearly, Rafa thinks that Barry is a better player (whether or not we agree with him is by the by) and is prepared to take a financial hit to do the swap. Absolutely nothing to do with the owners on this occasion, Rafa seems to have made his mind up all by himself.
Just as an aside in terms of valuations and getting value. I did say a month or so ago that Alonso was worth low teens and got derided from the rooftops. It's a matter of opinion of course and it always is, but midfielders who lie as deep as Xabi does these days and play with his lack of mobility are limited in terms of where they can play. It's significant for instance that none of the bigger teams in the Premiership have shown any interest, despite his obvious qualities. They've no doubt looked at the way in which he currently plays and the way his passing is nullified with relative simplicity, making him just another holding midfielder. Unfortunately, when you become just another holding midfielder (ie one that never scores a goal, never provides an assist, never gets up to support the attack etc etc) there are plenty of others around who do the same job. Doubly unfortunately for Xabi, there are others who do it with more verve and energy and are therefore better at it, we have one at our own club for instance who as purely an out and out holding midfielder is much the better option.
That said, I'm surprised that at the price somebody hasn't taken the gamble on buying him and trying to rekindle the spark of ability and vision that was there for him two or three seasons ago. Perhaps Ranieri is looking to revitalise his career in the same way as he did with Sissoko.
As for Saints point about the way you approach a club looking to buy their player, I'm fairly sure there is something in it. Equally, we seem to have developed a knack og going for players who are barely a year into a new deal. Saint mentioned Benayoun and I think I'm right in saying he had just signed a new contract before we made our interest known. Barry too has plenty of time left. Compare and contrast this with the Crouch fiasco, a year left and the clock is ticking. Without any concrete bids we make it known that we are looking for 15 million quid for a player for whom we've made it abundantly obvious that he doesn't figure in our plans.
No doubt I'll be accused of being "Wengers bum chum" or something similar by the thought police, but reading about the way Arsenal wooed the young kid Ramsay brought back memories of how we used to do things. Dalglish did a similar thing with Jamie Redknapp when he was a kid, got him up fopr a meal, spent time with him, makde him feel wanted. Whichever way you look at it, our approach at the moment doesn't seem to be doing the trick.
Last edited by
bigmick on Fri Jun 13, 2008 10:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"se e in una bottigla ed e bianco, e latte".
You've been banging this drum for some time now, mate, and I'm still no clearer about who's got your nose out of joint.
