Keep Xabi Alonso Thread

[MrMichael]

Rafa knows jack if he thinks swapping one central midfielder for another is going to win us the title. Every man and his dog can see our main priority is to get a player to play off Torres, hence move Gerrard in with Mascherano, keep Alonso as back-up and get a couple of wingers.

That is every man except Rafa who yet again spends a summer chasing a central ****ing midfielder yet again.

If he spunks £20m plus on Barry and Milner then next season should be his last chance. If he doesn't win the title then he should be sacked

We have no idea what the totality of our transfers this summer will be, and as for moving back to a 4-4-2, I wholeheartedly disagree. The 3 teams above us in the league last year don't play that system, and Rafa is most definitely not comfortable setting up a team to play with that formation. We most definitely require more and better attacking options, but there's a hell of a lot of the summer still to go (is the window actually even open yet?) and taking as blinkered and reactionary a view as that above really gets us nowhere.

Reminds me of the sort of things people were posting at this point last summer when all we'd done was sign Yossi.

[RedReet]

Every man and his dog can see our main priority is to get a player to play off Torres, hence move Gerrard in with Mascherano, keep Alonso as back-up and get a couple of wingers.

We're not playing Football Manager here you know?

[hamshanks]

I can understand the thinking behind changing Alonso for Barry

Barry would get us goals and assists. 8 goals and 8 assists last season.; Good crosser, good goalscorer, good header on him, quality set-piece taker. Makes things happen

Alonso hasn't been effective going forward for a long while now and we have Mascher and Lucas who can fill Alonso's role

Because we're playing him to deep. He is our most creative player bar maybe Torres. To spend £20 million on Barry and sell Alonso for 15 is bad business. Barry is a good player but I can't see he's anywhere near Alonso, who, by the way, started to really show form again towards the end of the season after suffering alot of injuries.

[hamshanks]

Might be something to do with him wanting to be with his wife while she gave birth instead of travelling with the team for that CL game. There was a lot of talk at the time of Rafa being hacked off with his decision

Yeah and Rafa was WRONG

[Alpha]

I think this thread totally misses the point of why Xabi is on his way out and Barry is on his way in.

As Alonso is no longer the primary creative influence in our team, we have to consider what else he offers. Because to justify his place, he needs to be at least contributing to the overall functionality of the team and to be honest, I really don't think he does that as much as another player, such as Barry, might.

Can I ask those who want Alonso to stay if they also want us to revert back to the brand of football that suits Xabi the best? Because unless we do, his influence on the team will remain limited.

[Keep_it_real_LFC]

Out with Rafa, he has lost the plot. BARRY is rubish. lets spend that £15 mill on left/right winger. We should have signed Villa before the euros, we had a better chance of signing him, now ever man and his dog will want him...

He doesnt know what he is doing...

[Johnny]

What does Xabi contribute??????


Hopefully Barry will atleast chip in with goals,maybe even match winning goals,something Alonso hasn`t done in a few yrs now.

As for the asking price,a radio station mentions a price and this place goes into meltdown with all the usual mentalists screaming from the rafters,I`ll wait for the club to announce the price.

[Rhys]

barry isnt rubbish at all, he is a very good player. im all for keeping xabi though as we wont get barry for less than 15 million which is silly money for a player who was worth half that a year ago. we need quality wide men first not replacing a quality player who is happy here.

[MrMichael]

Out with Rafa, he has lost the plot. BARRY is rubish. lets spend that £15 mill on left/right winger. We should have signed Villa before the euros, we had a better chance of signing him, now ever man and his dog will want him...

He doesnt know what he is doing...

I hope that post is a (very bad) joke.

Sure, we just snap our fingers and sign David Villa with a wad of monopoly money, its as easy as that.

Quite simply the most bonkers post I've read on here in a long time.

[-V-]

I hope that post is a (very bad) joke.

Sure, we just snap our fingers and sign David Villa with a wad of monopoly money, its as easy as that.

Quite simply the most bonkers post I've read on here in a long time.

You should read the rest of his 11 posts then

[slimbimjim]

I can understand the thinking behind changing Alonso for Barry

Barry would get us goals and assists. 8 goals and 8 assists last season.; Good crosser, good goalscorer, good header on him, quality set-piece taker. Makes things happen

Alonso hasn't been effective going forward for a long while now and we have Mascher and Lucas who can fill Alonso's role

As well as better strength and more suited to the PL. Oh and he can play LB and LM so he is adaptable.

I do love Xabi and he has played a good part in our success so I wish him no ill. But I think Barry is a better signing for us.

[slimbimjim]

Out with Rafa, he has lost the plot. BARRY is rubish. lets spend that £15 mill on left/right winger. We should have signed Villa before the euros, we had a better chance of signing him, now ever man and his dog will want him...

He doesnt know what he is doing...

WUM

[carheex]

If we're going to pay £15-18m for Gareth Barry and sell Alonso for £15m, what is the point?

I mean, I don't know about anyone else but I'm not all that fussed about Barry, I don't think he is any better than Alonso at his best, I think Alonso at his best offers more to the team.

The only way thses transfers make sense to me is if we make profit and get a better player and I don't think we would be doing either.

I think Barry is a better player and much more consistent. However, 18m+ for a 27 yr old midfielder is way too steep. In fact, why are we even looking at midfielders when the whole world knows our weaknesses lie elsewhere!?

[Kenneth]

As well as better strength and more suited to the PL. Oh and he can play LB and LM so he is adaptable.

I do love Xabi and he has played a good part in our success so I wish him no ill. But I think Barry is a better signing for us.

Barry can play in multiple positions, but he's not that good in any of them. Not the player he's being made out to be imo. Yes, I know Rafa obvisouly like him, but he's wrong

[Nic83]

I think Barry is a better player and much more consistent. However, 18m+ for a 27 yr old midfielder is way too steep. In fact, why are we even looking at midfielders when the whole world knows our weaknesses lie elsewhere!?

You'd say Lee cattermole was a better player than alonso