Xabi Alonso.......Respect

[tomasjj]

Alonso isn't good enough for LFC - Rafa knows it and that's what matters. Make no mistake, the ONLY reason Xabi is still here is because Rafa wasn't allowed to buy Barry.

Looks like Rafa was wrong then.

[BFG]

that sounds cool if i was a mad yank living in some flyover inbred part of the states.

the cult of rage, we could make dartboards out of rafa's head, use kuyt to mop the floor (i.m just picturing him running around with all that energy of his) and best of all i could have fredo and johnny strapped to electric chairs zapped everytime they fail to question rafa.

[carheex]

Think you need to get your facts right - Barry's transfer was not dependant on the potential sale of Alonso. Read Rafa's quotes. He was not allowed to sign Barry at that price as the owners did not feel that it was justfied to sign a 28 year old as he would have virtually no sell on value and we already had a lot of midfielders. Even most Liverpool fans who live in a cave with no access to any media whatsoever know this.

Riera would definately not have signed had Barry signed for us. Remember Rafa's quote where he was indirectly referring to Barry: "He's English and can play 3 positions" - Left back, left wing, Midfield

You can say what you like, but you're wrong. Rafa was desperate to selll Xabi so he could afford Barry but Juve wouldn't pay us the money that would allow us to offer the money that Villa would sell for. Now THAT is something most Liverpool fans who live in a cave with no access to any media whatsoever knows!

Not sure where you're coming from regarding Riera so I'll let that one fly.

Oh, and don't believe all the quotes you read - surely you must know that managers say one thing and mean something else (except for joe kinnear!)...especially if they're not getting on with the club owners.

[Skillz]

You can say what you like, but you're wrong. Rafa was desperate to selll Xabi so he could afford Barry but Juve wouldn't pay us the money that would allow us to offer the money that Villa would sell for. Now THAT is something most Liverpool fans who live in a cave with no access to any media whatsoever knows!

Maybe Rafa and Xabi had an agreement to let him go and that is why we got Lucas which was a strange buy, IMO. Rafa found a replacement all's sweet except none of the big clubs expected to come in for him, don't.

****ing mess but Xabi is responding

[Pablo]

How dare you call me scum?! a difference of opinion doesn't warrant abuse. If you want to set up a xabi alonso fan club forum then do so - but you can't expect everyone to agree with you on an open forum like est1892.

ps - nice avatar - been a Leeds Utd fan for long?

In fairness I have never suspected you as a Scum fan You do come across as one of the more negative posters, even you must acknowledge that, but still clearly a red.

[dww]

Getting back to the topic of Alonso is he still behind Senna in the Spanish pecking order?

[I've removed most of the off topic stuff now - this thread is now to stay about Alonso, many thanks in advance]

[dww]

RED WATCH: Rivals seek to stop Xabi Alonso to halt Red rhythm

Oct 8 2008 by Andy Proudfoot Liverpool Daily Post

HAS someone painted a target on Xabi Alonso’s shin pads?

Were he still around, I’d suspect Craig Bellamy of such a jolly jape, conceived as fitting punishment for a perceived misdemeanour such as failing to dance the flamenco at the club’s Christmas Party.

Perhaps it’s Rafa himself, nursing a paranoid grudge for Alonso’s indirect role in the failure to land Gareth Barry.

Whoever the culprit, Xabi will be well advised to be wary of buckets left delicately balanced over door frames, and mousetraps inside his socks.

For someone has clearly put the word out that he must be stopped.

Tim Cahill was the first to have a crack at claiming the reward, launching a two-footed scissor-kick to the Spaniard’s shins and ankles.

Realising his failure to do lasting damage, he retreated 30 yards in the vain hope that Alonso would not be able to identify his assailant to the police.

Luckily an eagle-eyed bystander, Mike Riley, intervened and shopped him to the local constabulary.

Next up is Pablo Zabaleta, a hired gun from Argentina, who decides to take a more direct approach, and lunges over the ball to score an ‘outer’ on the lower portion of Xabi’s standing leg.
More failure, more retribution – sent to the dressing room to ‘sleep with the fishes’ in the plunge bath.

Hang on – Argentinean assassin, and Alonso is vying for a first-team spot with Mascherano, who’s from... Argentina! Coincidence? I’ll let you decide. But like all serial crimes, there’s a pattern emerging here.

Remember New Year’s Day 2005? Of course you do.

On that occasion Frank Lampard’s mistimed tackle broke Alonso’s ankle, at a time when he was at his most imperious and dominating the game from midfield.

Roll forward a couple of years, and the Spaniard suffers a broken toe, a so-called ‘stress fracture’, and has it done again while playing against Arsenal on his return.

Now you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes, or even Jim Bergerac, to find the connection that links these apparently random events.

Could it be that our dastardly opponents have identified Alonso as the key to the tempo of Liverpool’s game?

Does the beat of Xabi’s drum set the pace for the stroke rate of the side, playing short balls when possession is most prized, and striking raking passes when more urgency is required?

It was Luis Garcia who revealed that other players must tackle and harry to allow Alonso to ‘manage the game’, a marvellous phrase which underlined his value to Liverpool, a treasured ability that we nearly threw away in the close season.

Our opponents seem to recognise it, and are not above trying to disrupt his influence on the game by illegal means, if not through premeditated strike, then through frustration at the Spaniard’s ability to steal the ball away from danger, and move it effortlessly to a colleague best placed to make the next move.

Alonso’s reaction to his near-departure has been admirable.

After a fabulous pre-season, he faltered a bit at the start of the season proper, but has recovered with some tremendous performances against the likes of Manchester United, Everton and Man City.

Alonso on form is a joy to watch, mixing simple passes with the odd audacious attempt to score from his own half.

He clearly loves the club and the city, living in the centre rather than hide away in the posh suburbs or further afield in the footballers’ belts of Formby and Cheshire.

Let’s just hope that there’s no reprise of the attempted, undignified fire sale in the January transfer window: instead let’s buy him some new shin pads, and place a horse’s head in the bed of the next player who tries to take him down.

[JPK]

Alonso 'too slow' for Juve.





Claudio Ranieri claims he did not sign Xabi Alonso this summer because the Spaniard is too slow.

Juventus were strongly linked with a swoop for the Liverpool midfielder during the close-season as the Reds became embroiled in a long-running transfer saga over Aston Villa's Gareth Barry.

The Serie A giants held discussions with Liverpool in regards to the Euro 2008 winner, but ultimately decided to turn their attentions elsewhere.

"He was a player we wanted," Ranieri admitted.

"But he is a player, who even though he is an extraordinary man and a great professional, left me perplexed by the slowness of his movement in midfield.

"In the midfield of Rafa Benitez's Liverpool, where all of them are little soldiers, he finds himself in a fantastic position.

"But in our midfield, he would have found it hard to support the midfield line seeing as Mauro Camoranesi and Pavel Nedved are not players that come back to give support like Liverpool's wingers."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11854_4266548,00.html

[JPK]

So Xabi was too slow for the slowest league around. First few yards is in your head with players like Xabi. So glad he is ours and Ranieri will always be a manager who wins nothing with thinking like that.

[El Jefecito]

Sour grapes. I'm sure this is him defending himself as he is probably getting stick for going with Poulson and with how bad they are doing in the league.

I'm sure a few in Italy have seen how well Xabi is doing and are blaming Ranieri for not going the extra yard to get him.

[dww]

To me it reads more like - "My midfield is old and if they have to run they will probably die. As such I was unwilling to spunk the £18m on Alonso Rafa wanted as it would be a waste without players who can actually move about a bit and I thought I might be able to get a couple of those with the cash. As it was I wasted it but c'est la vie"

[RoadEnd]

Juventus, who signed Denmark's Christian Poulsen from Sevilla instead, currently lie 11th in Serie A with two wins from their first six matches.

The last paragraph in a similar article on BBC website says it all. Ranieri is a crap manager who wouldn't know his arse from his elbow.

[MrsB]

[Pablo]

Got to admit he is a good looking man isnt he MrsB, got your juices going has he?

Have you ever noticed however inclement the weather his hair is always absolutely perfect.

[MrsB]

Oh yes