Alonso Speaks...

[kingfunk]

or to roll out that old football cliche.....

'he was playing for a move'

Lets hope all our players play for a move this season.

[red g]

I don't think he was, but I guess we'll never know. The only fact as Rafa would say is that after we tried to sell him we saw a dramatic improvement in his game.

yep it was a short term masterstroke

[DannyMan2006]

Lets hope all our players play for a move this season.

I'm expecting a good performance from Mascherano

Only problem is he and all the others have a world cup to fall back on. They could be **** all season but if they have one good game they'll have managers queing up round the block for them.

Dribble round a French team in the opening game and rumour has it you can get a £10m move to Liverpool

[Craig_H]

Rafa missed his Dad's funeral but we were in Tokyo at the time. Unlike over here, they bury the deceased within 24 hours of their death - so clearly he wouldn't have been able to make it even if he'd opted to go.

Even then, you'd think that he'd want to go and be with his family.

[red g]

Lets hope all our players play for a move this season.

would you take 20 transfer requests for number 19?

[DannyMan2006]

would you take 20 transfer requests for number 19?

yes

[kingfunk]

would you take 20 transfer requests for number 19?

I Might!

[Shaggy]

I've read that back and we were all wrong. Everyone (including me) pointed to the fact that Xabi was a good player, but needed better players around him to bring out his full potential.

But that was wrong. All he needed to do was start passing the ball quicker and move with the ball slightly more to protect it. That is the only change Alonso made in his game last season and it had a dramatic improvement. He certainly didn't get surrounded by better players, with Riera the only decent purchase that summer.

Yeah fair points but I do think Riera's presence on the pitch reaped immediate dividends for Alonso.

I see red g has mentioned it but the 'playing for a move' point is hard to get away from IMO.

Xabi said the relationship was professional, but in the same breath readily admits that as soon as he discovered Rafa wanted to sell him, he wanted out. That's not professional, that's an emotional response. He threw his toys out of the pram, and upped his level as he knew he was in the shop window........

[red g]

yes

me too.......desperate times tkae desperate measures....

although with the yanks in charge that would be there debt paid off and we would be playing with the reserves

[DannyMan2006]

Yeah fair points but I do think Riera's presence on the pitch reaped immediate dividends for Alonso.

I see red g has mentioned it but the 'playing for a move' point is hard to get away from IMO.

Xabi said the relationship was professional, but in the same breath readily admits that as soon as he discovered Rafa wanted to sell him, he wanted out. That's not professional, that's an emotional response. He threw his toys out of the pram, and upped his level as he knew he was in the shop window........

We did even better towards the end of the season with Yossi on the left.

To be fair to Alonso if the coach wants him out then I can see why he would want to leave. But once the coach changed his opinion and asked him to stay I think that is the point at which Alonso has the option of staying and getting on with it.

[DannyMan2006]

me too.......desperate times tkae desperate measures....

although with the yanks in charge that would be there debt paid off and we would be playing with the reserves

You said transfer requests not players leaving!

If we won the league they wouldn't want to leave anyway.

[Tee]

Even then, you'd think that he'd want to go and be with his family.

This side of Rafa's football obsession leaves me uncomfortable.

Look at the bigger picture and football is not very important. Xabi did the right thing by being with his wife when she gave birth and if I had a similar decision to make I would choose family every single time.

Aside from everything else, Alonso put in a proper shift last season and showed that form is temporary. I always maintained that his poor form was down to him being in and out with niggling injuries - when he was fully fit and injury free he proved himself to be invaluable to the team and I am gutted he left.

Despite everything, I still think that no matter what the circumstances were he would have left this summer because the offer from Madrid was just too good to turn down, especially for a Spanish player playing abroad, and he would never had such an offer again.

[Craig_H]

That's certainly possible. I'm still fairly surprised though, that as a Basque, he went to Madrid.

[red g]

We did even better towards the end of the season with Yossi on the left.

To be fair to Alonso if the coach wants him out then I can see why he would want to leave. But once the coach changed his opinion and asked him to stay I think that is the point at which Alonso has the option of staying and getting on with it.

Alonso knows if he was honest he had 2 mediocre seasons for whatever reason

[Craig_H]

Alonso knows if he was honest he had 2 mediocre seasons for whatever reason

Mediocre by his own superb standards. Let's keep it in perspective. Even at a mediocre level, Alonso's still better than the vast majority of PL midfielders who are playing at their own 'good' level.