The little things that managers love that miss the highlights

[Marky]

What about the final which was Xabi/Stevie?

I thik he rates both extremely highly but I think he thinks Alonso is a superstar.

Yeah i concur. Rafa doesn't do favourites but i think Xabi is his favourite
pupil so to speak. He loves him.

[Parm]

Certainly agree re Alonso. Tactically and positionally he is immaculate and extremely disciplined. He is our metronome.

ooh metronome

Agree with Xabi, last season was watching the Boro away match with some reds in apub and one of Xabi's passes went astray. Straight away this red fan was like "sell him he's ****ing ****, should **** off back to spain!" I was gobsmacked at his comments.
but as Tomas has said a lot of the good quiet work Alonso does gets brushed aside.

[nbryan1764]

What about the final which was Xabi/Stevie?

I thik he rates both extremely highly but I think he thinks Alonso is a superstar.

it wasnt it was xabi and masher with gerrard in front of them

[RedReet]

I find it highly ironical that Mascher gets lauded for his defensive work, where as Xabi gets slated for not doing the wonderful 50 yard passes to the same extent as he did the first season(before teams had him man marked to stop our play...), in addition his ever improving defensive work that he does every match he plays.

But this is not just about Xabi and the quality of the other great midfielders we have at our disposal.

I might be judgemental here, but I feel much of the work Alonso does off the ball defensively, his tackling, positioning and intelligent short passing does go unnoticed by a fair share of fans who lack some insight into the finer points of the game we all love. Arrogance on my part some might say, I don't care.

These same fans appear to me to be blinded by the more visibly pleasing football attributes and actions - I blame Sky pundits and highlights and C.Ronaldo for deceiving the young showpony step-over generation. There is more to football than what appears on the highlights or even on TV, as the cameras can’t show the whole field.

The same lack of appreciation was often shown Henchoz, who made Sami look even better than he is, and Hamann who could mop up like no one else.
Nowadays, to a lesser extent, some of Kuyt's brilliant work also suffers in this respect.

Practically made the exact same points in the Sunderland match thread yesterday. Glad to see I'm not alone in my appreciation for Xabi's new role.

That Carheex boy I wouldn't pay too much attention to. He constantly throws these anti-Alonso posts into threads just to get a response. I've asked him about five time to explain why he doesn't rate him but he never replies. All he ever says in his posts are other people are better and Alonso is useless. :whatever:

[Skillz]

I find it highly ironical that Mascher gets lauded for his defensive work, where as Xabi gets slated for not doing the wonderful 50 yard passes to the same extent as he did the first season(before teams had him man marked to stop our play...), in addition his ever improving defensive work that he does every match he plays.

But this is not just about Xabi and the quality of the other great midfielders we have at our disposal.

I might be judgemental here, but I feel much of the work Alonso does off the ball defensively, his tackling, positioning and intelligent short passing does go unnoticed by a fair share of fans who lack some insight into the finer points of the game we all love. Arrogance on my part some might say, I don't care.

These same fans appear to me to be blinded by the more visibly pleasing football attributes and actions - I blame Sky pundits and highlights and C.Ronaldo for deceiving the young showpony step-over generation. There is more to football than what appears on the highlights or even on TV, as the cameras can’t show the whole field.

The same lack of appreciation was often shown Henchoz, who made Sami look even better than he is, and Hamann who could mop up like no one else.
Nowadays, to a lesser extent, some of Kuyt's brilliant work also suffers in this respect.

I have't read the rest of thread but had to reply to this post because someone had to say it.

People forget Xabi played in front or alongside didi in his first year. He had a different job. 2nd year he took over Didi's role = change of job. He does his job extremely well, as does Mascherano. It should be noted though that Xabi has a lot more to his game (certainly at this stage of their development) than Mascherano.

I suspect people are judging Xabi's performance purely by the quality of his long range passing because that is all they remember from his 1st season (admittedly it was memorable). He has a lot more to his game than that, one being he is man marked in almost every game, giving Rafa something to get an advantage from straight away.

[shelly]

I find it highly ironical that Mascher gets lauded for his defensive work, where as Xabi gets slated for not doing the wonderful 50 yard passes to the same extent as he did the first season(before teams had him man marked to stop our play...), in addition his ever improving defensive work that he does every match he plays.

But this is not just about Xabi and the quality of the other great midfielders we have at our disposal.

I might be judgemental here, but I feel much of the work Alonso does off the ball defensively, his tackling, positioning and intelligent short passing does go unnoticed by a fair share of fans who lack some insight into the finer points of the game we all love. Arrogance on my part some might say, I don't care.

These same fans appear to me to be blinded by the more visibly pleasing football attributes and actions - I blame Sky pundits and highlights and C.Ronaldo for deceiving the young showpony step-over generation. There is more to football than what appears on the highlights or even on TV, as the cameras can’t show the whole field.

The same lack of appreciation was often shown Henchoz, who made Sami look even better than he is, and Hamann who could mop up like no one else.
Nowadays, to a lesser extent, some of Kuyt's brilliant work also suffers in this respect.

I think there's also one person we should point out in this - Pepe Reina..
He does a helluva lot of work sweeping and organizing that defence.. Remember when people thought he was not so great and bring back Kirkland/Carson etc... Sure the "saves of the week" gks eg Dida, Dudek make spectacular saves a la James but mostly because they are in the position to have to make them. Reina/Buffon etc mops them up well before the situation arises. God, I spent last season watching Dida flop all over the place and felt SOOOOOOO relieved when I got back to watching Pepe play.

Oh and re: Xabi - he's the type of player people tend to overlook unless he puts in a spectacular pass.. See Pirlo for eg. People remember him for his freekicks, but he's so much more than that. Milan fans wanted him sold ffs. Idiots. Speaking of which, I wish Xabi would up his freekick taking ability- he's got the talent ffs.

[publiusscipio]

I find it highly ironical that Mascher gets lauded for his defensive work, where as Xabi gets slated for not doing the wonderful 50 yard passes to the same extent as he did the first season(before teams had him man marked to stop our play...), in addition his ever improving defensive work that he does every match he plays.

But this is not just about Xabi and the quality of the other great midfielders we have at our disposal.

I might be judgemental here, but I feel much of the work Alonso does off the ball defensively, his tackling, positioning and intelligent short passing does go unnoticed by a fair share of fans who lack some insight into the finer points of the game we all love. Arrogance on my part some might say, I don't care.

These same fans appear to me to be blinded by the more visibly pleasing football attributes and actions - I blame Sky pundits and highlights and C.Ronaldo for deceiving the young showpony step-over generation. There is more to football than what appears on the highlights or even on TV, as the cameras can’t show the whole field.

The same lack of appreciation was often shown Henchoz, who made Sami look even better than he is, and Hamann who could mop up like no one else.
Nowadays, to a lesser extent, some of Kuyt's brilliant work also suffers in this respect.

Good post Tomas.

In the summer that Alonso arrived (2004) Murphy left. Contrast the two; Murphy got goals and looked good on highlights shows but as soon as Rafa arrived at Anfield the former Crewe player was shown the door. Rafa watched the videos of all our games 03/04 and saw enough that Murphy could go. He didn't track back, didn't work for the team and do all the unseen spadework that Whelan used to do and Didi did, and which Alonso has done these past two years. Other premiership managers also watch games to analyse players and as a result, when their teams play us Alonso is man marked as he not only is immaculate in sweeping up, but in setting the tempo for our play.

[CJ]

all our players have weaknesses.


oh and i nearly forgot STRENGTHS

this is one of the reasons that rafa rotates. (the other and main one is fitness)

but we can all point to things that some players arent good at. but as long as they operate as a team and they all compensate for each other does it really matter?

we now have many possibilities.

[Rocket]

That doesn't happen when Momo and/or Mascherano are playing.

momo still can't pass, and generally, offers no goal threats.

great without the ball though

[Marky]

momo still can't pass, and generally, offers no goal threats.

great without the ball though

That's such a funny line.
"Awk he's a world class footballer when he's on the bench is Momo"

[Woobus]

Alonso played a big part in keeping Chelsea to only 1 shot on target this season with that being a very dodgy penalty. If he was so bad at his job surely a strong Chelsea midfield would have had more luck getting shots in and putting balls through?