Xabi speaks

[Tee]

Future Liverpool Manager,. Mark my words.

[Pablo]

future liverpool manager,. Mark my words.

8/10

It would have been a 10 if you hadn't used both a comma and a full stop and used a capital F at the start of your sentence. Still a solid effort.

[Reece]

Future Liverpool Manager,. Mark my words.

I can see him being a class manager

[Tee]

8/10

It would have been a 10 if you hadn't used both a comma and a full stop.

[Pablo]

0/10

[Rich]

0/10

[Craig_H]

Rafa did the right thing for the team, indubitably. Xabi did the right thing for his family.

Let's not go through all this again.

Seeking to replace Xabi Alonso with Gareth Barry, is never 'the right thing'. Not for anybody.

It was a monumental cock-up.

[Neil Young]

Look at the mess we're in and it's clear Alonso did the right thing for his career and I won't blame him for that.

He's an intelligent man - maybe he saw it coming.

[Fredo]

Let's not go through all this again.

Seeking to replace Xabi Alonso with Gareth Barry, is never 'the right thing'. Not for anybody.

It was a monumental cock-up.

It was the right decision based on the two mediocre seasons Xabi served prior finishing off with his best season. No one has said that Barry is a better player, I'm sure Benitez wouldn't even say it himself.

It's been a case blown out of proportion by the press. As Xabi said himself, even this incident was played out as if to demonstrate that Benitez had a lot of flaws. To say that it was a 'monumental cock-up' is a tad preposterous if you ask me.

Xabi did the right thing for his career as we are in a mess right now. As Neil pointed out, maybe he saw that coming.

[Craig_H]

As i said mate, no point going through it all again. You'll never admit any fault in Benitez, so it's academic

[Kenneth]

Look at the mess we're in and it's clear Alonso did the right thing for his career and I won't blame him for that.

He's an intelligent man - maybe he saw it coming.

I think that's very unlikely.

[Neil Young]

Why? It's not like people on the outside weren't beginning to question what was happening inside the club. In fact some people expressed doubts before Hicks and Gillett even took over.

[Fredo]

Craig, you've created that thread in the first place, which intimates that it's open for debate. As for going through it all again, I know nothing of this as, as far as I know, this is the first time I'm discussing this with you.

Nit picking flaws in Benitez's reign is akin to nit picking flaws in Bill Shankly or Bob Paisley's reign, if you know what I mean. Of course there are areas where every great manager is open to criticism. Those little things doesn't make their overall reign a disaster by any means, or in this case, make it as one 'monumental cock-up'.

Yes, I have the same opinion that we would have fared better with Xabi in the team than with Barry (we still wouldn't be sure because Barry never played for us though), but I don't think it makes it a big mistake because at that particular point in time, I think it was the right decision to sell a player who's stock was high because of a fantastic season and who indicated he wanted to go in the first place.

That's a no brainer and in that context alone, discussing about this is a bit ridiculous.

[peekay]

Danny Murphy "Too many Spaniards are the cause for Liverpool's problems, you know".

Xabi and Reina are proof of what makes this club special.

[Kenneth]

Why? It's not like people on the outside weren't beginning to question what was happening inside the club. In fact some people expressed doubts before Hicks and Gillett even took over.

I don't think a player would make a decision like moving clubs/country based on speculation of that sort. While possible, I think it's unlikely. We'd just come second, which would probably have removed such fears he may have had the previous summer.