Posted: Sun Nov 16, 2008 8:08 pm
aCe' wrote:That said though, i still think Alonso needs to start dictating play higher up... his passing and vision are world class no doubt about it... however his contribution in our forward play atm seems to be limited to some hopeful through balls who (and lets be honest about it) cant be expected to result in too many goals throughout the season, and more obviously dictating the play around the halfway line; admirable, impressive, end of the day sometimes hes not all that productive...
Higher up he sort of either goes missing or is simply too deep to have a telling contribution in terms of creating chances or slipping players through...
I think he needs to start getting a little more involved higher up the pitch with Mascherano being the one who covers the back 4 when needed... Alonso certainly seems like a player who'd be very good playing close to the players who have the ball (especially wingers and fullbacks down the flanks) because he can pick out great passes that can open up defenses and put players through... Carrick does that alot for ManUtd and Deco is doing it now for Chelsea, to a lesser extent Barry does it for Villa ?! ?! .... they dont play as deep as Alonso does, and thats probably why they score more goals, have more assists...etc etc..
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There's always room for improvement, but Alonso's playing as near to the top of his game as I've seen him. He isn't, never has been, never will be a Deco type of player. Deco's more like Scholes - two players who link the play higher up, pose a big(ger) goal threat and have immense vision and passing ability. Alonso's style is to dictate from deep - to know when to keep possession, when to spray it wide, and to know when to move into space to help advance the team's position, from which we can apply greater pressure. He's more like Carrick or Barry, just a lot better in this type of form. Carrick isn't an assist merchant either, and only really gets more than Alonso because of the team he plays in. Man Utd's movement off the ball has always much better than ours.