Alonso - Poll

[badpiggy]

How big of a factor is alonso's departure in our current form?

For me it IS the reason. huge technical blow to our play and a big psychological blow to the players. Aquilani better be ****in brilliant.

[Exiled_red]

For me it's a combination of a number of factors:

-We haven't got his replacement in the team meaning we haven't yet put out our first 11
-We haven't adapted to the new way of playing (either in midfield or in defence with more attacking fullbacks).
-Players not performing to the right level
-Lack of squad depth.

Alonso's loss was a big blow, but it's something we've got to deal with, we have to work with the players we have at least until January, get our first 11 out on the pitch and get them performing.

[vlahka]

Ignoring the fact we only have 1 good striker and havent improved a bunch of other positions, Alonso being sold was the worst move the club has done in years. If only Benitez had tried to offload mascherano for that sack Barry instead of Alonso, things would be a lot different. He was the only player in the team who could actually PASS. Still furious over it.

[Havors]

Its the main reason for me. He was our best player last season and there is not a player in the squad, or league that can do what he does as good as he does it.

He dictated the speed of the game for us. He never lost posession. He was so composed and calm. He had vision in his passing and provided a link between defence and attack that we just dont have now.

Gerrard is probably our best relpacement but he is now pretty much as second striker these days.

It is obvious to see we are not playing the same football as we did last year without him. Maybe when aquillani comes in gerrard will drop into that role but i wont hold my breath...

[Roboklopp]

It is the main reason, although other factors have certainly not helped.

I was all too certain that the loss of him would leave us clueless and shapeless, and I'm gutted to be right so far. Obviously we haven't had aqualani in yet to offset his loss, but that is integral to the issue, rather than mitigating. He will really have to settle fast to ensure this season is anything but a disappointment and the only way I'll not be disappointed is gonna take the CL cos we won't win the league.

The other major factor in our struggles is no back up/ support for Nando, which I agree with Mr M about in that Rafa had the funds pulled from under him. With thatbeing the case, I'd have got the judas back in. Grr.

[cream]

Even if we had kept Alonso, our squad would still be still be ****, which is the main reason for our crapness.

No investment in team this summer has been the biggest factor, but it's ok, paying interest to the detriment of the team is far more important.

[Rich]

Alonso allowed us to switch play far quicker - his ability to bring others in space into play is something we've completely lost.

We're now so sluggish in possession that it allows the opposing team to get back into position and harass our players leaving our weakest distributor with the ball at his feet (usually Skrtel) which then usually means we hoof or play it 50 yards to the opposition.

Gerrard's "hollywood balls", Agger, and sometimes Aurelio are the only players capable of switching play at anything remotely similar to Alonso speed.

[DannyMan2006]

It is the main reason.

When your team is playing badly you need your top players to step in and we have lacked direction and focus in midfield.

I knew we would struggle but I had hoped that we could manage a lot better than we have done until the arrival of Aquilani.

[scully]

For me Alonso was as important as Gerrard or Torres. Alienating him over Barry was irresponsible, letting him go was ****ing insane. I am absolutely hating being proved right on this matter.

[Rich]

For me Alonso was as important as Gerrard or Torres. Alienating him over Barry was irresponsible, letting him go was ****ing insane. I am absolutely hating being proved right on this matter.

I hate you being proved right on any matter

[DannyMan2006]

For the past few seasons midfield has been our strongest point. We all remember the best midfield in the world song.

This year it and our inability to defend set pieces has been our biggest problem. We can't control games unless we play massively inferior sides. Most decent teams in the premier league and in Europe have a decent enough CM, so that is obviously an area in which a top team needs to be very strong.

For me our current set up of Mascherano and Lucas do not compliment each other. I would have preferred Gerrard with Mascherano whilst we waited for Aquilani, but Rafa obviously had other ideas. I can't be certain but I think our best results this year have come from Gerrard playing in CM.

Thankfully Aquilani will be back soon and we all just have to hope that he settles straight away. Which let's face it, is very unlikely. Most foreign players take at least six months, and that's when they're fully fit and have had an entire pre season to get to know their team mates.

I don't think we'll see Aquilani anywhere near his best until after Xmas at the earliest. And if I'm right with that, we are definitely out the title race.

[Guest]

Alonso allowed us to switch play far quicker - his ability to bring others in space into play is something we've completely lost.

We're now so sluggish in possession that it allows the opposing team to get back into position and harass our players leaving our weakest distributor with the ball at his feet (usually Skrtel) which then usually means we hoof or play it 50 yards to the opposition.

Gerrard's "hollywood balls", Agger, and sometimes Aurelio are the only players capable of switching play at anything remotely similar to Alonso speed.

I wouldn't class Agger as a someone who excelled in the art of passing. He is too erratic and dilly dallies with the ball too much. He's excellent with the ball at his feet, but passing and especially switching the play, it hasn't struck me as something he was doing very well.

I agree with Aurelio and Gerrard though. Both superb passers of a football.

[red g]

How big of a factor is alonso's departure in our current form?

For me it IS the reason. huge technical blow to our play and a big psychological blow to the players. Aquilani better be ****in brilliant.

in our current form its the sole reason

but alonso was not a god amongst men and also played in many of those crap games we played last year.

I do think Rafa wanted to try something different though and he has put a lot of faith in Lucas.....which has proven misguided as most believed it would be.

I think we maybe better off in the long term......only time will tell though.

[Guest]

Alonso was the heartbeat of our team, our metronome, so it is fair to say that him going had some kind of negative effect on our play. I don't think IT IS the sole reason for the current state of affairs though, maybe a combination of them all.

Things such as having Johnson and Insua as 'new ones' in our back four may have contributed to us shipping so many stupid goals. Then there's the below average performances of Mascherano, which again was a central figure last year. Remember when we trounced Man. United 4-1, well Lucas and Mascher were pivotal in our midfield even without Alonso.

So it is safe to assume that whilst he it has been a blow losing him, it is a bit too simplistic to say that it is the only reason why we've suffered 4 defeats this season.

[wavydavy]

Bull**** in my opinion. Footy can be more than a little unfair at times. Let's say we managed to put away one or two more chances than we have in certain games and have'nt shown some shockingly uncharactaristic defending at times. We'd be tucked in a point or two off MU and everyone would be saying "Xabi ****ing who? He was **** anyway!!" People said for years we were a one man team. Then two years ago we became a two man team. Now we're **** 'cos we sold someone else altogether and that he was our key player. I don't get it.