Alonso
I am prepared to be slated for this.
However - I am beginning to have doubts about our Xabi.
there is no doubting his technical ability, in particular his passing which is as good if not better than any previous player at the clib including Mr. Molby.
However I do feel as a midfielder his is too "one paced" in comparison with the great Liqverpool midfielders of the past.
Souness, McDermott, Whelan, McMahon were all more mobile - dare I say it box to box midfielders. They would grab a game by the scruff of the neck and drive Liverpool forward.
I was watching an old Liverpool / Utd game on ESPN classic a couple of weeks ago it prompted this thinking. The game was played at such a pace (albeit highlights), that it made a mockery of the old excuse "the game is much faster now"....
Not on the evidence before my eyes - the ball was pinged from defense to attack with such speed. As someone whose love affair with Liverpool started as a ten year old around 83/84 and was cemented with the Dalglish era, I asked myself have I become through Souness, Evans and Houllier accustomed to a less dynamic approach. Interpassing is one thing but passing the ball across the front of the defence repeatly is something we have become accustomed to. Jamie Redknappitis is what it is called.
What I would like to see is the team play the ball earlier to the wings, through midfield and in effect keep the opposition on the back foot.
Going back to my original question, I do not know if this is what Xabi's game is about (I know he can play the early ball, appreciate his role in Speedy's gal last night etc..) but overall is he a dynamic midfielder in the "classic" liverpool way?
... I am not sure he is.
A modern comparisson of what i am trying to descibe would have been Keane - who Fergie can tell us is difficult to find these days. Gerrard possibly could be by adding a better defensive dimension to his game, however i thnk Momo ultimately will prove to be the man at LFC.
However - I am beginning to have doubts about our Xabi.
there is no doubting his technical ability, in particular his passing which is as good if not better than any previous player at the clib including Mr. Molby.
However I do feel as a midfielder his is too "one paced" in comparison with the great Liqverpool midfielders of the past.
Souness, McDermott, Whelan, McMahon were all more mobile - dare I say it box to box midfielders. They would grab a game by the scruff of the neck and drive Liverpool forward.
I was watching an old Liverpool / Utd game on ESPN classic a couple of weeks ago it prompted this thinking. The game was played at such a pace (albeit highlights), that it made a mockery of the old excuse "the game is much faster now"....
Not on the evidence before my eyes - the ball was pinged from defense to attack with such speed. As someone whose love affair with Liverpool started as a ten year old around 83/84 and was cemented with the Dalglish era, I asked myself have I become through Souness, Evans and Houllier accustomed to a less dynamic approach. Interpassing is one thing but passing the ball across the front of the defence repeatly is something we have become accustomed to. Jamie Redknappitis is what it is called.
What I would like to see is the team play the ball earlier to the wings, through midfield and in effect keep the opposition on the back foot.
Going back to my original question, I do not know if this is what Xabi's game is about (I know he can play the early ball, appreciate his role in Speedy's gal last night etc..) but overall is he a dynamic midfielder in the "classic" liverpool way?
... I am not sure he is.
A modern comparisson of what i am trying to descibe would have been Keane - who Fergie can tell us is difficult to find these days. Gerrard possibly could be by adding a better defensive dimension to his game, however i thnk Momo ultimately will prove to be the man at LFC.
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