Xabi Alonso - the enigma

[redblood]

I think this is our best lineup in the attacking sense:




---------------Crouch-----------------
-------Torres--------------babel----------

---------------Gerrard------------------

---------Alonso--------Masher------

Arbeloa------Agger----hyypia-----Finnan

-----------------Reina-------------------

Oh yes oh yes oh yes oh yes oh yes

Yeah the only one I'd question is Crouch in that line up but to be honest I don't think it would make to much of a difference if Kuyt was in there instead.
The creativity and movement of the other players would be good enough and plenty of goals in that team I think.

[paulcooper4]

Agree with that comment mate it's not his strength and Rafa knows this but his influence as an attacking force is incredible hence the reason for playing him in front of Alonso and Masher.
Yeah that to mate but I think he tends to drift inside anyway when he plays right, so if we gave him the free role and were set up to deal with that he'd create a **** load and score a **** load for us.

youve convinced me fella then

Myself personally, i`d just tell him that if he came more than 10 yards away from the touchline I would break his nose after the game

[redblood]

Gerrard and Mascherano haven't done well as a unit at all. They are a poor midfield duo in terms of possession and distribution.

Agree with that mate.

[redblood]

youve convinced me fella then

Myself personally, i`d just tell him that if he came more than 10 yards away from the touchline I would break his nose after the game

I thought you generally implied this at the match anyway

[paulcooper4]

Like a few other players in the team - Crouch being one - Xabi suffers because of our lack of width. The option to boom the ball to a winger just isn't on for him enough and with teams defending so deep against us (for the most part) his options are extremely limited.

There was some speculation that he might go to Barca at some point last year and I said then that he'd probably develop into a World Class player, a true International star, if he got the chance to play in a team of that style. I just don't see it happening for him though if Rafa continues to persist in playing narrow, restricted football.

He would deffo play better with a QUALITY winger or two this is true

The only thing I would differ with you about is that to be fair to Rafa he is forced to play narrow with the players at his disposal. From what I can see he has tried his best to get genuine wingers since he took over but for one reason or another he hasnt been able to get the wingers in he has truly wanted. Figo, Quaresma, Simao, Joaquin, Mancini, Alves and even Solano have all come extremely close to joining the reds in the past couple of seasons

[Sir Bob]

I know I am in the minority here but i've never been a big alonso fan. He's obviously a very decent player but no more than that. Many people call him world class but I just don't see him as being at that level.

He's a great passer of the ball if you give him time but lets face it, we all know he can be husted off the ball quite easily. He also doesn't offer any real goal threat, his record is worse than 1 goal every 10 games.

i think fans have been taken in by his good start at LFC but teams have long since cottoned on to him. He plays deeper and deeper in order to find the time and space he needs. Truth is he's not as good a defensive player as Masher and nowhere near SG going forward. If you actually analyse his contribution in recent seasons its been pretty limited.

He'd be a much better player in Italy or Spain where his passing can be more of a threat. If a decent offer came in, I'd sell in a flash.

[Sir Bob]

Gerrard and Mascherano haven't done well as a unit at all. They are a poor midfield duo in terms of possession and distribution.

Sorry mate, not having that.
Masher is brilliant at keeping possession, he hardly ever gives the ball away.
SG when he keeps it simple is also top notch.

[Nic83]

He isn't there to score goals. He's there to dictate the play and get moves started. You could see it when he was back in Spain that he was going to be coveted by all the top teams around europe. He's had a tough time recently with injuries but if he gets a run, he'll show his truequality.

PS, if he played a more advance role, he WOULD be agoal threat. He has great shooting ability.

[tomasjj]

His form hasn't been poor then?

And yes, I'm not bothered.

He has been poor now when he came back after his injury.

I thought he did well at the start of the season.

Even if he is off the boil, we play better as a team with him on the pitch.
Even yesterday that showed imo, and Arsenal at home, we lost control of the game when he had to go off. From then on in, Arse started to completely dominate.

Anyway, the deal is that I think SG ends up too deep when we play with him and masch, and I want SG further up, hence the need for alsonso next to javier. Tense issue for many fans, but that is what I think would make us play better football. SG needs to be unleashed, and regardless of what SG himself thinks, I think we play better when he does not try and dictate play from the middle.

[Nic83]

Sorry mate, not having that.
Masher is brilliant at keeping possession, he hardly ever gives the ball away.
SG when he keeps it simple is also top notch.

Recently he has been good but earlier in the season, he was giving it away more than momo Sissoko. He was pasing it into touch and everything.

In general he's a very good player though but doesn't offer as much to our attacking play as Xabi does.

[redblood]

Sorry mate, not having that.
Masher is brilliant at keeping possession, he hardly ever gives the ball away.
SG when he keeps it simple is also top notch.

The problem is mate when Stevie plays centrally like that he rarely does anything simple and results would back up what he's saying about them as a pairing.
Alonso and Stevie have shown to be a better pairing but I still think Stevie should play more advanced and let Masher and Alonso do the tidy simple work behind.
Also in a 3 man MF Alonso has more freedom to get forward.

[JohnDoe]

Sorry mate, not having that.
Masher is brilliant at keeping possession, he hardly ever gives the ball away.

Because he hardly ever tries to make a penetrative pass in an attempt to unlock the opposition's defence.

SG when he keeps it simple is also top notch.

Gerrard is a very inconsistent passer and when he's in charge of our game we become extremely erratic.

[Sir Bob]

The problem is mate when Stevie plays centrally like that he rarely does anything simple and results would back up what he's saying about them as a pairing.
Alonso and Stevie have shown to be a better pairing but I still think Stevie should play more advanced and let Masher and Alonso do the tidy simple work behind.
Also in a 3 man MF Alonso has more freedom to get forward.

I wouldn't disagree with that. In many ways a 3-5-2 system would suit our players better. It would free SG up but also allow Alonso to play deeper which suits him. Also our chronic lack of width would be less exposed. JAR would be a far better wing back than full back. Up front Torres and Kuyt both like to work the channels. Again this is better in a 5 man midfield because it allows SG more chance to get forward.

Having said all that Rafa isn't likely to play that way, he's a 4-4-2 man. In that system I think Masher and SG offer more than Alonso does with either player.

[Sir Bob]

Because he hardly ever tries to make a penetrative pass in an attempt to unlock the opposition's defence.



Gerrard is a very inconsistent passer and when he's in charge of our game we become extremely erratic.

Mashers job is to break up the oppositions play and then give the ball to players in the team with more attacking skills than he has.

SG can be erratic at times but thats because the side look to him to break the opposition down. He's our most creative player and and such is always going to lose possession at times because he's trying to unlock the oppositions defence. Those sort of passes are always more risky.

[redblood]

I wouldn't disagree with that. In many ways a 3-5-2 system would suit our players better. It would free SG up but also allow Alonso to play deeper which suits him. Also our chronic lack of width would be less exposed. JAR would be a far better wing back than full back. Up front Torres and Kuyt both like to work the channels. Again this is better in a 5 man midfield because it allows SG more chance to get forward.

Having said all that Rafa isn't likely to play that way, he's a 4-4-2 man. In that system I think Masher and SG offer more than Alonso does with either player.

Not a bad suggestion mate the 3-5-2 formation but I think Rafa likes the idea of a 4-3-3 that reverts to a 4-5-1 when defending. On the Alonso situation I think we'll have to agree to differ as I think Alonso alongside either Stevie or Masher is a better option just gives us more cohesion and proper distribution.
Masher holds the ball well but he needs someone in close proximity to give to short simple stuff which is fine and why I think we need Alonso there to make things happen going forward.
I just think that Stevie and Masher have looked a little flat when playing together and while Alonso wasn't available I thought Lucas should've played more with them.