Barca after Alonso

[bazza76]

On which planet is that?

I agree with that statement about him being worth £25m
He is the one player who is as important to the defence as he is to the attack, breaking up attacking ans setting them up. He is the kind of platform from which great teams are based on.

[Darth Marty]

I too think Xabi is a fantastic and possibly under rated player, what he does is largely unappreciated but vital to the team. Id be gutted to see him go.....but.....due to the talent we currently have IF he decided to leave us, then id be ok with it because...A) we would get either a large tfr fee or a great Barca player (im thinking eto'o or messi or Ronnie) and more importantly....B)ITS BECAUSE HE WANTS TO GO! If anyone thinks a team is bigger, better or whatever than Liverpool then i dont want them in our team. Simple as. To be honest due to the family ties id wish him all the best and id hopehed get a great welcome back whenever we get to beat barca in the future.

For the record though, I cant see him leaving for a few seasons yet....

[FatTony]

I agree with that statement about him being worth £25m
He is the one player who is as important to the defence as he is to the attack, breaking up attacking ans setting them up. He is the kind of platform from which great teams are based on.

There is not one team that would pay anywhere near £25M for Alonso. We'd get £15M tops for him and to be honest, based on this seasons form, I'd take it.

[Neil Young]

One thing that is realy hitting home of late is we wont have Rafa & Alonso for as long as we would like to have them.
I think Rafa will stay longer than Xabi though. It seems Xabi one day wants to play for Barca and follow in his fathers footsteps. Just when remains to be seen, but a footballers carreer is considerably shorter than a mangers. Another year year at Anfield maybe?. Could we even start the conspiracy theories early and suggest this is why Rafa has brough in Mascherano, because Xabi has privately told Rafa he wants out because all his family is in Spain?.
Im hoping he is here for the rest of his carreer obviously, but life would move on without him and Liverpool im sure would still continue to improve if Rafa is at the helm.

I agree. In fact I suggested the same back in January.

I don't suppose I was the first either.

[Sir Bob]

Players leave clubs for 2 reasons
1. The manager wants them to leave
2. The player wants to leave.

On the face of it it would be a bit of a surprise if Rafa wants rid of Alonso. Howeer, we don't know if Alonso wants to leave. He may be homesick for spain. His Mrs may be brassed off leaving in England. He may want to play for Barca more than LFC & if they come in for him, he'll be off. As ever there are loads of ifs, buts & maybes.

However, it would be foolish to dismiss the posibilty of him leaving. This has been increased by the signing of Mascherano. 4 into 2 midfield positions doesn't go. OK SG may play wide right at times but i'm sure Rafa will be looking to buy another RM player as well. As soon as we bought Mascherano, my initial thought was that Alonso may be on his way. I still think thats a strong possibility.

[Shaggy]

I think this is a very real possibility.

[tomasjj]

Re-****ing-lax.

I refer you back to Xabi's quotes.

[AFII]

Xabi will stay if Rafa stays IMO.

I think that Xabi hasn't signed a new deal yet because he isn't 100% sure that Rafa will stay.

[The_weatherman]

Xabi will stay if Rafa stays IMO.

I think that Xabi hasn't signed a new deal yet because he isn't 100% sure that Rafa will stay.

My sentiments exactly, Xabi will give it until the end of the season and see how it pans out with Rafa, in truth, I would do the same, if we have to replace Rafa we wont be in contention next season so Xabi could be better off in Spain.

[cobain]

Okay, if we lose Rafa, this is much bigger loss than Alonso... If we lose both... Well... Then we're just fecked!

[redblood]

I think Rafa rates Momo ahead of Xabi.

After the game today I think Xabi needs to start every game I would drop Momo or only start him against teams that we need to break up the play.
Stevie needs to be in the centre with Xabi end of. Masher and Momo play
2nd fiddle IMO.
I think Momo is a superb grafter but thats all he gives us at the moment. In time he will develop into an outstanding CM, but I don't think he warrants a place in CM ahead of Xabi and Stevie.
Masher could prove to be an excellent player but is obviously not match fit.

[anfieldanfield]

After the game today I think Xabi needs to start every game I would drop Momo or only start him against teams that we need to break up the play.
Stevie needs to be in the centre with Xabi end of. Masher and Momo play
2nd fiddle IMO.
I think Momo is a superb grafter but thats all he gives us at the moment. In time he will develop into an outstanding CM, but I don't think he warrants a place in CM ahead of Xabi and Stevie.
Masher could prove to be an excellent player but is obviously not match fit.

I completely agree.

Today was a real eye-opener for me today, we played much, much better football when Xabi came on.

[AFII]

I someone offered £10m+ for Sissoko then I would sell him. He hasn't improved since last season. We already have Alonso who can do the same work and actually can pass a ball.

[redblood]

I agree that his first season was his best, simply due to the fact that he was more incredible than any of us could have anticipated. Since then he has had trouble garnering the same kind of response from his football, due in no small part to the role he has had to play in breaking up oppositions' attacks since Hamann left. He is consistently our top tackler and top passer (with, by the way, the highest success rate) and doesn't get the kind of appreciation he deserves, in my opinion.

I don't know if it is just something I see in Alonso or what, but I cannot understand how people can undermine his worth to the squad when it is clear he is one of the most useful and talented players in there.

Here here mate well said.

[redblood]

I completely agree.

Today was a real eye-opener for me today, we played much, much better football when Xabi came on.

I do think also today that Momo wasn't helped by a slightly inexperienced and not quite fit MF partner. Having said that I still think his game is a little to limited to be a starter in a MF pairing.
Unfortunately we have one or two other players who might fall into that category in other areas of the pitch.