Xabi Alonso reveals reason for leaving

[Exiled_red]

RCDNW brigade terms like that and 'Rafa bashers' really bug me. I think the reason is that a lot of people can't accept that you can't be somewhere in between - ie if you critisise the manager your are a 'Rafa Basher' or if you defend him you belong to the 'RCDNW brigade'.

[Vermilion]

A few points made there by Alonso which the RCDNW brigade have been dismissing.

Alonso left because of the way he was treated with the Barry deal, not because he just wanted to play for Real.

Rafa is not a great man manager.

Then he's a whimp and not the man i thought he was.

And if his best season to date was a reaction to that, then he could just have cheated us all, maybe this poor man manager just knew Xabi could do better, and wanted more from him, maybe before Barry was even mentioned, who knows, either way it's only when Barry was mentioned that Xabi showed his best form, something i'm sure Rafa is sorry about too.

[rudedog]

What offers did we receive from Juventus, Arsenal and both Milan clubs then?? don't mistake media stories for fact.
My own personal opinion is that Alonso is a good player, he wasn't the messiah some on here think he was but he is clearly a very good player.

If every footballer currently playing for any team got in a strop and left because the manager was trying to improve the squad (in that managers opinion) then players would move every season.

It doesn't really matter what you, I or anyone on else here thinks. All the clubs in the world had the chance to sign Alonso for circa £15 million but none of them did. None of them, that includes Real who paid twice that 12 months later.
That tells you none of the managers of all those clubs rated him enough to make him a priority signing.

If you found out your boss at work was trying to get rid of you and replace you with someone else you would probably have reason to resign and seek compensation from your employer on the grounds of constructive dismissal.

[Nicey]

Then he's a whimp and not the man i thought he was.

Oh for ****s sake its actually quite the opposite

[Vermilion]

Oh for ****s sake its actually quite the opposite

It's actually not.

It's simple, Xabi played well last season, Real Madrid noticed and wanted him, he wanted to go we wanted/desperately needed the cash..no blame.

[Tee]

Whatever the background with Barry etc, I still maintain that Xabi would have gone to Real last Summer. At this stage in his career it was the perfect move and just too good an opportunity to turn down.

[Vermilion]

Whatever the background with Barry etc, I still maintain that Xabi would have gone to Real last Summer. At this stage in his career it was the perfect move and just too good an opportunity to turn down.

Exactly my point.

[Exiled_red]

Whatever the background with Barry etc, I still maintain that Xabi would have gone to Real last Summer. At this stage in his career it was the perfect move and just too good an opportunity to turn down.

I'm sure I remember an interview a while back where he said he wanted to play back in Spain again, that being the case Real Madrid and Barcelona are the top two clubs and you wouldn't turn either down.

[Guest]

Let's not go in this discussion again. It's been done to death.

[the rev leeroy brown]

What offers did we receive from Juventus, Arsenal and both Milan clubs then?? don't mistake media stories for fact.
My own personal opinion is that Alonso is a good player, he wasn't the messiah some on here think he was but he is clearly a very good player.

If every footballer currently playing for any team got in a strop and left because the manager was trying to improve the squad (in that managers opinion) then players would move every season.

It doesn't really matter what you, I or anyone on else here thinks. All the clubs in the world had the chance to sign Alonso for circa £15 million but none of them did. None of them, that includes Real who paid twice that 12 months later.
That tells you none of the managers of all those clubs rated him enough to make him a priority signing.

we received an offer from juve of 12 mill but turned it down cause it didn't reach our price. both milaqn clubs as well as wenger publicly declared their interest in him but as a certain price only. no media bull**** in it.....there was genuine interest from 4 very big clubs there. these are the facts.
the top managers all rated him but in the financial climate none were prepared to bid for him at the price we set.
and most players do leave when the manager makes it clear they want rid. fair play to xabi for sticking it out for another year.
i myself didnt think he was the messiah either but he was easily in our top 4 players each year he was here regardless.

[Vermilion]

Let's not go in this discussion again. It's been done to death.

But Xabi started it.

[dww]

I am baffled by the seemingly general concensus of opinion that he was below average for at least a couple of seasons.

When fully fit he showed what a great player he is and I have no doubt whatsoever that his loss from our team is THE main reason we have struggled this term. We will overcome it but it is taking the team time to adjust without him.

I think the thing is though that as a player at a top team you have to be judged by what you produce. If the reason you don't produce is the fact you have picked up a lot of injuries then that can be dealt with if the underlying cause of the injuries is either ill fortune or something that can be sorted medically and haven't left long term damage on your ability.

There was also the fact that even with Alonso before the arrival of Riera and the blossoming of Benayoun we struggled to break teams down and were over reliant on him to start moves. I think there is some truth in the idea put forward that everything used to go through Alonso and that is part of the problem now - we over relied on him and he is an almost unique player so having a direct replacement was difficult if not impossible.

None of this diminishes the fact that Alonso is an exceptional player.

[Tee]

I think the thing is though that as a player at a top team you have to be judged by what you produce. If the reason you don't produce is the fact you have picked up a lot of injuries then that can be dealt with if the underlying cause of the injuries is either ill fortune or something that can be sorted medically and haven't left long term damage on your ability.

There was also the fact that even with Alonso before the arrival of Riera and the blossoming of Benayoun we struggled to break teams down and were over reliant on him to start moves. I think there is some truth in the idea put forward that everything used to go through Alonso and that is part of the problem now - we over relied on him and he is an almost unique player so having a direct replacement was difficult if not impossible.

None of this diminishes the fact that Alonso is an exceptional player.

The evidence of our reliance on him is there to be seen week in and week out this season. We just miss that quality link player between the midfield and the forward players. A player who could switch the play in an instant with a 60 yard pass, or a first time accurate pass to the front 2.

[rudedog]

I think the thing is though that as a player at a top team you have to be judged by what you produce. If the reason you don't produce is the fact you have picked up a lot of injuries then that can be dealt with if the underlying cause of the injuries is either ill fortune or something that can be sorted medically and haven't left long term damage on your ability.

There was also the fact that even with Alonso before the arrival of Riera and the blossoming of Benayoun we struggled to break teams down and were over reliant on him to start moves. I think there is some truth in the idea put forward that everything used to go through Alonso and that is part of the problem now - we over relied on him and he is an almost unique player so having a direct replacement was difficult if not impossible.

None of this diminishes the fact that Alonso is an exceptional player.

Having a player like Xabi sitting in front of the back 4 also masked the fact that apart from Agger we didn't have a CB who could bring the ball out with any kind of style or panache. This deficiancy is now obvious when Agger is not playing and its painful to see how much possension we squander purely down to the ball being hoofed out of defence.

I think the only team that really picked up on how reliant we were on Alonso was Chelsea under Gus Hiddink - the game last season where they gave us a sound beating, they basically had Lampard sitting on Xabi and harrassing him all game - not giving him an inch of space. Had we kept Alonso, how long before other teams found us out and employed similar tactics?

[Tee]

Having a player like Xabi sitting in front of the back 4 also masked the fact that apart from Agger we didn't have a CB who could bring the ball out with any kind of style or panache. This deficiancy is now obvious when Agger is not playing and its painful to see how much possension we squander purely down to the ball being hoofed out of defence.

I think the only team that really picked up on how reliant we were on Alonso was Chelsea under Gus Hiddink - the game last season where they gave us a sound beating, they basically had Lampard sitting on Xabi and harrassing him all game - not giving him an inch of space. Had we kept Alonso, how long before other times found us out and employed similar tactics?

Sound observations there.