Gerrard: I was 'devastated' when Alonso left Liverpool

[Tee]

Alonso was my favourite player too. I was just in awe of his composure, passing and awareness. He calmed the whole team and never got caught in possession. He made Torres and Gerrard play better.

I would disagree - he rarely got caught tbf but to suggest he never got caught out is just a romantic notion that simply is not true.

I watched him against Milan last night and he was caught out more than once, and his passing was a bit off as well.

[vlahka]

I'm sorry, but

Just pointing out the effect its had on the team when we sold him. Not intending to point anything else out more other than tongue in cheek.

[pondus]

Alonso was my favourite player too. I was just in awe of his composure, passing and awareness. He calmed the whole team and never got caught in possession. He made Torres and Gerrard play better.

I think he was pretty average most of the time, and too static to play well with Mascher. Great passer, yes, but not mobile enough to get himself into the box often enough, causing the opposition to panic. Never got caught in possession? I can fully understand Rafa when he wanted to bring someone like Barry in instead, and hopefully we have found this type of player in Aquilani. Lucas has been trying to get forward more when he has filled in this year, but it seems he just can't do it well enough.

Pretty average was maybe a bit harsh on him, good player, but hopefully Aquilani is a more mobile midfielder.

[Havors]

I would disagree - he rarely got caught tbf but to suggest he never got caught out is just a romantic notion that simply is not true.

I watched him against Milan last night and he was caught out more than once, and his passing was a bit off as well.

oh come on, your being pedantic. you know quite well i meant hardly ever....

[Shanks]

Ahhhh... The memories....





[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7bsU1npsjw"]YouTube - Alonso And Gerrard Bonding[/ame]

[FatTony]

Ahhhh... The memories....





YouTube - Alonso And Gerrard Bonding

great memories

[dww]

I never said get rid of Rafa, or blaming him for everything thats happening. I just said him trying to replace Alonso with that useless Barry was his fault, which is what helped hurry Alonso out the door. Not commenting on anything outside that. He can still run the club, but I'm placing that mistake at his feet. Everyones allowed mistakes. Doesnt mean they should be excused for them.

I think Barry is far from useless. At the time Alonso was underperforming and struggling to stay fit for substantial parts of each season (these obviously could be related). Making such a strong push for Barry was probably the last nail in the coffin but at the same time may have provided motivation for what was Alonso's best season with us by a country mile.

I also think we could (and probably ideally should) have four central midfielders and could accommodate Alonso and Barry in the same squad (I'd have had Barry above Keane probably).

I felt at the time and still feel that the only problem with the Barry call was the fact we didn't have the money to make it happen and somehow found the money for the Keane move. I'm not sure who made the financial miscalculation - Rafa, Parry or G & H and I'm not sure there is much benefit trying to find out.

[The Birdman]

With all your 'true red LFC' talk that makes you bigger then me Birdman, I'm sure you were around cheering and backing Souness on at every turn in the season. Infact if a manager leads us into second division youll still cheer because thats what we do, we excuse everything a manager does because of some stupid code that says we must wear red tinted glasses. If you show any kind of passion for the team you are relegated as a madrid fan. **** off.

There was no 'true red LFC' talk in my post.
The fact remains that as a Liverpool fan you must (imo) support the manager 110% until the club decide he should move on.
Knee jerk reactions are exactly that, the reactions of jerks and no I am not calling you a jerk.

The only chance this club has of stability and success given the ownership problems, the stadium problems, the lack of funding and proper transfer budget is if we stick with Rafa through thick and thin.
Don't be sucked in by Sky and all the other media whores who have an anti Rafa agenda, we have one of the best managers currently in world football and no other manager could have done for us what he has over the past 5-6 years given the state we were in when he joined and everything he has had to contend with since.

The Barry/Alonso arguement is old and not worth reopening but they are DIFFERENT players who happen to operate in the same area of the field, Alonso sprayed the ball about but the passing was often sideways and long hollywood balls which look great to the untrained eye but achieve little because it gives the opposition time to get their shape, Barry is more dynamic who plays lots of shorter, quicker passes, gets in the box more and is miles better from set pieces.

The mistake was not seling Alonso the mistake was in not buying Barry last season or this season.

[Guest]

There was no 'true red LFC' talk in my post.
The fact remains that as a Liverpool fan you must (imo) support the manager 110% until the club decide he should move on.
Knee jerk reactions are exactly that, the reactions of jerks and no I am not calling you a jerk.

The only chance this club has of stability and success given the ownership problems, the stadium problems, the lack of funding and proper transfer budget is if we stick with Rafa through thick and thin.
Don't be sucked in by Sky and all the other media whores who have an anti Rafa agenda, we have one of the best managers currently in world football and no other manager could have done for us what he has over the past 5-6 years given the state we were in when he joined and everything he has had to contend with since.

The Barry/Alonso arguement is old and not worth reopening but they are DIFFERENT players who happen to operate in the same area of the field, Alonso sprayed the ball about but the passing was often sideways and long hollywood balls which look great to the untrained eye but achieve little because it gives the opposition time to get their shape, Barry is more dynamic who plays lots of shorter, quicker passes, gets in the box more and is miles better from set pieces.

The mistake was not seling Alonso the mistake was in not buying Barry last season or this season.

I think most people have been sucked up in this 'Alonso made us tick' theory, mostly because newspapers have reported it. Whilst he was an influential player for us, and one I'd have loved to have kept (based on last season's performances), he is by no means responsible (well his absence) for all our ills this season.

We have had to field an unsettled defence for most of the season, chopping and changing with players getting injured etc (Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio), plus we had a new player (with a more attacking mentality) playing as right back and if you add the fact that Insua is relatively new and has become a regular only this season, then you can safely see where have been our problems.

Add to that the fact that we had all our best players coming back at different times in pre-season, all of them with different levels of fitness hasn't helped.

Now if fans start getting on Rafa's back, based on unsubstantiated arguments (the one most fickle of fans normally do), it will not help. At the end of the day if it gets to the majority of us, Rafa won't be in the job for long.

We have to get behind him as I'm sure we'll get better as the season progresses. It will be tough to win the league, but November is not the time to be throwing any towel yet.

[Marky]

Poor little Stevie.

[DannyMan2006]

Rafa also helped us get second and the Champions league. I don't think there was ever a real Rafa or Alonso choice. There would have been no Alonso at Liverpool if it weren't for Rafa either.

This is what people tend to forget.........

Alonso was my favourite player too. I was just in awe of his composure, passing and awareness. He calmed the whole team and never got caught in possession. He made Torres and Gerrard play better.

He never got caught in possession last season. But prior to last season he was continually caught in possession during games when the opposition pressed us. In the CL semi against Chelsea (just before he went after Barry) he got caught dithering on the ball on numerous occasions and cost us that tie. He had been poor all that season and was targeted.

Last season he stepped up his game and seemed to shift the ball around better, resulting in a high number of red cards for fouls on him. Had he played like last season all his career at LFC he would likely still be at the club.

[The Birdman]

Poor little Stevie.

Exactly right, hardly sending across the right message is it skipper??
I'm devastated, we've lost an amazing player.
How about we're Liverpool, better players than Xabi have left before and we'll come out even stronger and better as a team once our injuries clear up

[DannyMan2006]

Exactly right, hardly sending across the right message is it skipper??
I'm devastated, we've lost an amazing player.
How about we're Liverpool, better players than Xabi have left before and we'll come out even stronger and better as a team once our injuries clear up

Now that is what the skipper should say.

[Kenneth]

We have had to field an unsettled defence for most of the season, chopping and changing with players getting injured etc (Agger, Skrtel, Aurelio), plus we had a new player (with a more attacking mentality) playing as right back and if you add the fact that Insua is relatively new and has become a regular only this season, then you can safely see where have been our problems.

I don't really agree. Arbeloa wasn't a particularly solid RB. We swapped around Carra's CB partner last season also. Although it's a cliche, losing Alonso and reducing the quality in the middle of the part has been the biggest impact.

[DannyMan2006]

I don't really agree. Arbeloa wasn't a particularly solid RB. We swapped around Carra's CB partner last season also. Although it's a cliche, losing Alonso and reducing the quality in the middle of the part has been the biggest impact.

I think everythings gone wrong since the start of the season. No question that without Alonso we have lacked creativity in midfield, but with a more defensive minded midfield we should not be conceading this many. And I think that area is where injuries have cost us.

Hopefully our injury crisis is nearing the end and with the arrival of Aquilani I am hoping he will solve our lack of creativity in midifeld.