Liverpool FC Forum

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 3:11 pm

Igor Zidane wrote:
Dundalk wrote:
Scottbot wrote:
stmichael wrote:Alonso is unique. The likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas (fantastic though they are) couldn't come into our system and play in the way Xabi does. Alonso's more prone to sit deep and play longer balls into the channels. Those three are more adventurous and favour the more intricate stuff in the final third. They also don't have the physicailty or comitment in the tackle in my opinion.

The likes of Pirlo & Riquelme could come in and play in the same way but price and age might rule them out. I don't think De Rossi has the technical quality (but if Masch went I'd happily have him step in there). Carrick is a poor, poor second (and Utd wouldn't sell to us in a million years anway)

I don't think Gerrard is disciplined or savvy enough to play there and surely we'd prefer him playing off Torres given the partnership they've established?

http://forums.lfconline.com/showthread.php?t=90088&page=3

St.Michael

. St mick at it again .

Rasper of a spot that Scott.

Easy on the guy now... maybe he cant afford a keyboard :wwww

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:46 pm

Juventus Back On Xabi Alonso Trail, But Face Real Madrid Competition - Report

Juventus are eyeing the Liverpool midfielder once again, but Real Madrid's grandiose spending scheme makes them favourites to land him...
30 Jun 2009 10:32:05

Juventus are back on the trail of Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso after failing to land him last year, but they face huge competition from Real Madrid, according to Tuttosport.

Many will remember last year's transfer saga which saw Alonso becoming the centre of Juve's attention. That attempt fizzled out, but new details emerging in Turin following yesterday's annual general meeting suggest the Italian club will try again.

According to the report, Juventus have already been in contact with Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez over the possibility of discussing a potential transfer, and it is said that talks have been on-going with the Reds for four days.

Although Juve's reported interest appears serious, Real Madrid are also keen on the Spanish international. Florentino Perez is spending hand over fist as he continues his European shopping spree and Alonso is on his wish list. Furthermore, the player claimed that it would not be impossible to join Real Madrid, while reports in England imply that Liverpool are trying to salvage their matrimony with him by offering a new deal. The evidence thus suggests Juve's move for Alonso will be fraught with difficulty.

Voices claim Alonso will cost the Bianconeri around €25million, but the Italian giants will try to offer Cristian Poulsen as part of the deal.

The alternative to Alonso will be Felipe Melo, but reports from Florence this morning claim Fiorentina are ready to offer the Brazilian a new deal in an attempt to stop him from leaving/.

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:50 pm

Xabi Alonso: It Is Up To Real Madrid And Liverpool To Talk
Xabi Alonso is none the wiser about where he will be playing next season...
30 Jun 2009 10:39:58

Real Madrid have until July 19 to try and prise Xabi Alonso away from Liverpool and he is unsure about what will happen next after a meeting with his agent.

The Reds have told the Spanish midfielder to join them for pre-season training on that date and it is believed that once he returns there will be no more room for negotiations.

Alonso has just completed a two-week spell in South Africa at the Confederations Cup and flew back to Spain to meet with his representative, Inaki Ibanez, at the Hotel Melia Barajas, according to AS.

After holding talks, the player emerged to tell the paper that "I still do not know what is going to happen" because Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has been on holiday.

"It is up to the clubs to speak now," he added, prompting Real Madrid to make their move if they are actually interested in signing him.

AS believe that while Liverpool have put a fee of €41 million on his head, Madrid are ready to pay just €24 million and that without any movement on price there will be no deal.

by **Toffeehater** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:54 pm

sgs wrote:One player that could come step in seamlessly if Alonso was sold is Mikel at Chelsea if they were willing to sell...

, brilliant that!

by **Toffeehater** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:55 pm

aCe' wrote:Xabi Alonso: It Is Up To Real Madrid And Liverpool To Talk
Xabi Alonso is none the wiser about where he will be playing next season...
30 Jun 2009 10:39:58

Real Madrid have until July 19 to try and prise Xabi Alonso away from Liverpool and he is unsure about what will happen next after a meeting with his agent.

The Reds have told the Spanish midfielder to join them for pre-season training on that date and it is believed that once he returns there will be no more room for negotiations.

Alonso has just completed a two-week spell in South Africa at the Confederations Cup and flew back to Spain to meet with his representative, Inaki Ibanez, at the Hotel Melia Barajas, according to AS.

After holding talks, the player emerged to tell the paper that "I still do not know what is going to happen" because Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has been on holiday.

"It is up to the clubs to speak now," he added, prompting Real Madrid to make their move if they are actually interested in signing him.

AS believe that while Liverpool have put a fee of €41 million on his head, Madrid are ready to pay just €24 million and that without any movement on price there will be no deal.

If he's really unclear about his future and rafa has a heart to heart talk with him , i think he will stay.

by **Bammo** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 5:56 pm

I bet he either didn't even comment or said something along the lines of "I've not spoken to Madrid, I'm off on my jollies for a hard-earned rest. If a club wants to speak to me then they need to approach Liverpool first"

by **account deleted by request** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:10 pm

Igor Zidane wrote:My two penneth . I love Xabi to bits. He's a cracking player , and mascherano aswell .We won't fall to bits though should they be sold . Like we fell apart when Hunt ,keegan , Rush ,Souness and whoever else went . We buy someone better and move on . Rafa's not stupid , if he know's there's a chance they'll go ,well he''ll have someone else lined up . I remember how sick i felt when we lost the above names ,but we managed ok without them . Personally don't think they'll go , by all accounts Rafa is fighting tooth and nail to keep hold of them .

I don't think we fell apart when most of those were sold Igor. We got Toshack for Hunt , Dalglish for Keegan, Aldridge, Barnes and Beardsley for Rush, with Souness probably the one player you mentioned we really struggled to replace.

I think we will lose one of the two, which I think we can cope with, if we lose both I think we will struggle to replace them.

edit Reading you're post again I may have got the wrong end of the stick mate

by **Igor Zidane** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:14 pm

s@int wrote:
Igor Zidane wrote:My two penneth . I love Xabi to bits. He's a cracking player , and mascherano aswell .We won't fall to bits though should they be sold . Like we fell apart when Hunt ,keegan , Rush ,Souness and whoever else went . We buy someone better and move on . Rafa's not stupid , if he know's there's a chance they'll go ,well he''ll have someone else lined up . I remember how sick i felt when we lost the above names ,but we managed ok without them . Personally don't think they'll go , by all accounts Rafa is fighting tooth and nail to keep hold of them .

I don't think we fell apart when most of those were sold Igor. We got Toshack for Hunt , Dalglish for Keegan, Aldridge, Barnes and Beardsley for Rush, with Souness probably the one player you mentioned we really struggled to replace.

I think we will lose one of the two, which I think we can cope with, if we lose both I think we will struggle to replace them.

edit Reading you're post again I may have got the wrong end of the stick mate

Should defo be a sarcasm smiley saint . That's what i was getting at mate . We didn't fall apart and we won't .

by **NANNY RED** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:16 pm

s@int wrote:edit Reading you're post again I may have got the wrong end of the stick mate

Humff whats new :laugh:

by **aCe'** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:17 pm

Bammo wrote:I bet he either didn't even comment or said something along the lines of "I've not spoken to Madrid, I'm off on my jollies for a hard-earned rest. If a club wants to speak to me then they need to approach Liverpool first"

Haha... ofcourse he did... he also said he'd rather play for the Liverpool reserves than move to any other club in the world... he then went on to talk about how great Rafa is and how hes something of a father figure to him and everyone else whos ever played under him... :kungfu:

Live in denial all you want buddy but its clear to me that somethings going on... The fact that he wants to leave isnt that big a surprise really... pretty understandable after how hes been treated last summer...

by **Bammo** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 6:59 pm

aCe' wrote:
Bammo wrote:I bet he either didn't even comment or said something along the lines of "I've not spoken to Madrid, I'm off on my jollies for a hard-earned rest. If a club wants to speak to me then they need to approach Liverpool first"

Haha... ofcourse he did... he also said he'd rather play for the Liverpool reserves than move to any other club in the world... he then went on to talk about how great Rafa is and how hes something of a father figure to him and everyone else whos ever played under him...

Live in denial all you want buddy but its clear to me that somethings going on... The fact that he wants to leave isnt that big a surprise really... pretty understandable after how hes been treated last summer...

It's not denial, it's wanting to read an interview with more than 2 sentences quoted.

Last week he gave an interview in spanish which with each translation was distorted into him being at odds with Rafa. My point was that even if he said it's up to Liverpool and Real Madrid to talk we don't know the context it was said.

He may have said "I can't wait to leave Liverpool, I absolutely detest the place and everyone in it but unfortunately I have to wait for the 2 clubs to sort a fee."

Alternatively he could have said "I'm not thinking of moving, I'd like to stay but I have no control over approaches made for me because that's something for Real and Liverpool to discuss."

There probably is something going on but I don't see the point of panicking over every rehashed story that appears in the papers. Marca prints something - panic. Daily Mail translates it - panic. Website takes it from Daily Mail - panic. Express takes it from website - panic.

There was panic on here after that story said Xabi had been to melwood to say goodbye to the staff, despite him being in South Africa at the time!

I'd like to see or hear Xabi say something himself. Until then I don't see the point in getting stressed over it. Unless Rafa has suddenly appointed newkit as his scouting network then speculating over 99% made up stories in the papers won't achieve a thing.

by **heimdall** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:24 pm

bigmick wrote:
heimdall wrote:Not necessarily, I think we have Benayoun, Lucas and Spearing who can come in and do a job, ok not as good as Xabi but not that much worse either and in some ways offering more attacking thrust and then if we had a top notch second striker/AM we could put Stevie back into midfield when needed.

"Not much worse either" Come on mate, lets be serious for a second. Spearing doesn't even come into the equation, nor does Yossi in central midfield either. lucas? Look, I've been more than prepared to point out that Xabi's form had slipped, that some posters were overstating his importance etc, but that's just off the wall.

If Alonso leaves, we have two options. Either we move Gerrard back, or we sign a top-class central midfielder. You could add toghether the best bits of Lucas, Banayoun and Spearing, and you'd still be a country mile short. Come on, you know this is true?

Depends which Alonso we get, if its the one last season then I totally agree but the previous three seasons he was not exactly electric. I would prefer to keep him because he's a top midfielder but he is going, that is fairly clear now and I'd rather we use the money on a second striker rather than another midfielder.

BTW I'm not advocating that we necessarily drop Stevie back into a 4-4-2 but we badly need another top striker.

by **heimdall** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:26 pm

Bad Bob wrote:
heimdall wrote:Not necessarily, I think we have Benayoun, Lucas and Spearing who can come in and do a job, ok not as good as Xabi but not that much worse either

You do come up with some whoppers, don't you? A bit like saying to your missus, "we can't get to the French Riviera this year but, don't worry, the Norwegian Riviera's just about as good."

Are you referring to the majestic Norwegian fjords? I'd pick them anyday over the pompous and pretentious French Riviera but I get your point.

We would be loosing a lot but I think the addition of a top quality striker would more than compensate.

by **heimdall** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:29 pm

stmichael wrote:
aCe' wrote:Alonsos a good player and all but lets not over exaggerate his abilities or importance to our side here ...
The way i see it, there isnt much difference in quality between the likes of Alonso, Barry, Carrick, Pirlo, Cambiasso...etc... Alonsos passing stands out, Barry's ball retention and crossing stand out, Carricks attacking play and contributions stand out, Cambiasso's defending and linkup play stand out...etc etc... overall theyr all about the same level... You have better players in their positions (Essien, Fabregas, Scholes, DeRossi, Xavi, Iniesta, Ballack..etc) and you have worse...

Again, if we replace Alonso that doesnt have to mean that we'd only be looking for someone who has passing skills that stand out, while everything else he has in his game is prettyy ordinary... Imo, we'd be better off getting someone who offers that little more in the final third in terms of direct contribution to our attacking play.. There are many names out there who imo would do a very good job in our side replacing Alonso in the current setup, and depending on how we go about our transfers IF Alonso leaves, i think we have a very good chance of actually coming out of this whole thing with a better squad and starting 11 than we do now...
And the whole best midfield in the world thing is a funny one... its like Milan having Flamini, Emerson, Ambrosini, Gattuso, Pirlo and about 15 other defensive midfielders and bragging about it... In attacking terms, all of them combined played in the starting 11 amount to half a 74 year old Filipo Inzaghi... ManUtd dont have the best midfield in the world but i'd say they've been doing pretty okay the last couple of years ! Wonder how theyv managed to go on and win games without having Alonso in their side

Carrick's attacking qualities stand out? You're having a laugh mate.

Alonso is unique. The likes of Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas (fantastic though they are) couldn't come into our system and play in the way Xabi does. Alonso's more prone to sit deep and play longer balls into the channels. Those three are more adventurous and favour the more intricate stuff in the final third. They also don't have the physicailty or comitment in the tackle in my opinion.

The likes of Pirlo & Riquelme could come in and play in the same way but price and age might rule them out. I don't think De Rossi has the technical quality (but if Masch went I'd happily have him step in there). Carrick is a poor, poor second (and Utd wouldn't sell to us in a million years anway)

I don't think Gerrard is disciplined or savvy enough to play there and surely we'd prefer him playing off Torres given the partnership they've established?

Why are you laughing at Carricks attacking abilities, they are far better than Alonso's, which is fairly evident by the number of goals scored. :Oo:

by **heimdall** » Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:35 pm

Sabre wrote:
Bad Bob wrote:
heimdall wrote:Not necessarily, I think we have Benayoun, Lucas and Spearing who can come in and do a job, ok not as good as Xabi but not that much worse either

You do come up with some whoppers, don't you? A bit like saying to your missus, "we can't get to the French Riviera this year but, don't worry, the Norwegian Riviera's just about as good."

Yes, it's funny.

What Alonso does must be good because yesteryear the valuation for some members was low teens, and now when we read Dundalk's post the lower sum is about high thirties.

Perhaps I was wrong on Heimdall and he has a higher regard for our players than I thought. I've never slagged Lucas too much, but I never rated him as highly as Heimdall, being able to provide the same or slightly less than a low teens high thirties player.

Anyhoo like Lando says, it's opinions. We'll see who's right. If Alonso goes and we win the league he'll be right. If Alonso goes and we notice it big time, no problem, he'll be right aswell, it will be Rafa's fault.

To be honest I didn't like Lucas at all last season but I just don't quite get the hysteria over Alonso. he is a very good holding midfielder who is a decent passer of the ball (compared to other top midfielders) but I have also thought that he lacks sufficent attacking flair, his goals per season is really very poor and ok I know that's not his primary function but then it probably isn't Carrick's either.

I so have a feeling that Bennayoun in front of Mascha could do a good job as he is effectivey an attacking midfielder and in tighter games I think Lucas can do a good job if he continues his good form which he showed at the end of the season. Spearing is another option to be bedded in this season, he looks lively and I think he can become very usefull for us.

My main point is that we need a second striker more than we need to replace Alonso, although hopefully we can do both but I want quality this time.

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