Xabi speaks

[Craig_H]

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.

The topic's been discussed ****loads on here mate. Not your fault, of course

I personally think it was a catastrophic decision and we paid for it badly last season, as the initial period of adjustment from Alonso's loss hurt us.

We're arguably yet to have recovered from it and learnt to play effectively without him. To my mind, it was Rafa's single biggest error of judgement.

[Fredo]

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.

Not related to the club's owners, but he did mention UK's 'very high tax rates' some months before being transferred. I think Xabi's very 'clued on' things, there's more to him than meets the eye.

[saj]

Not related to the club's owners, but he did mention UK's 'very high tax rates' some months before being transferred. I think Xabi's very 'clued on' things, there's more to him than meets the eye.

I think that was a complete lie. Apparently Arbeloa said the same thing too about the taxes.

By the way, Xabi did more or less say in an interview with Football Focus that it was the Gareth Barry/Rafa Benitez situation that caused him to leave. It had nothing to do with the fact Real Madrid came in for him and tempted him.

[Craig_H]

I think that was a complete lie. Apparently Arbeloa said the same thing too about the taxes.

By the way, Xabi did more or less say in an interview with Football Focus that it was the Gareth Barry/Rafa Benitez situation that caused him to leave. It had nothing to do with the fact Real Madrid came in for him and tempted him.

I remember seeing that.

[Fredo]

The topic's been discussed ****loads on here mate. Not your fault, of course

I personally think it was a catastrophic decision and we paid for it badly last season, as the initial period of adjustment from Alonso's loss hurt us.

We're arguably yet to have recovered from it and learnt to play effectively without him. To my mind, it was Rafa's single biggest error of judgement.

As far as the team and how we fared without Xabi, I entirely agree with you.

Rafa's fault is in the fact that he couldn't adequately replace Xabi, but it would have been difficult to replace a player such as him though and would have required him far more money than the amount he was allowed to invest in a player like Aquilani.

That's my take on things mate. The episode about his wife going into labour and Rafa not accepting his refusal to go with the team, and the subsequent 'freeze in their relations' they were supposed to have had as a major factor for him going, were massively exaggerated in my opinion. Xabi is intelligent enough not to let things like this trouble him, I'm sure.

[Fredo]

I think that was a complete lie. Apparently Arbeloa said the same thing too about the taxes.

By the way, Xabi did more or less say in an interview with Football Focus that it was the Gareth Barry/Rafa Benitez situation that caused him to leave. It had nothing to do with the fact Real Madrid came in for him and tempted him.

I dunno mate, I clearly remember reading an interview (or quotes?) he made to the telegraph, where he said that high tax rates would force Spanish (and European players) to consider their career over here.

As for the Barry/Rafa thing, I think there are more shades of grey in it (with Xabi repeatedly making it as it was never a big deal - see the interview Craig posted) in my opinion, so I'd go with the papers using this to hit him hard (Rafa).

[Arn]

Would Liverpool have won the league last season if Barry had signed? It is a question that Benítez must have mulled over a thousand times. He gives a deep sigh, so heavy that it is audible when the tape is played back.

“You never know,” he said slowly. “Football is a funny game. The plan was for Barry to play on the left and feed the ball to Robbie Keane, who would play up front with Fernando Torres. This blueprint had to be scrapped. The collateral damage was Keane, who signed from Tottenham Hotspur before the Barry deal had been done.

“When we wanted to sign Barry, we were sure we were signing a good player with a very good mentality and the quality to play in the Premier League. The priority was Barry, then Keane.”

Against a chaotic backdrop of politicking and finger-pointing at Anfield, Benítez’s priorities were ignored. Keane was the collateral damage but there were wider disappointments for the manager.

“We were looking to the future because we knew we needed three or four English players in the squad [for the Champions League],” Benítez said. “We knew there were rule changes and we needed English players and we were trying to get there early.

“The only way to do that was to sell [foreign] players and bring money in to sign English players. But the main thing about Barry is that he can play in three positions. To sign Barry would have been a very good addition for the team.”

Those who believed Benítez to be innately negative were surprised this season when he signed Glen Johnson as an attacking full back, but the manager has been looking for positive contributions from his defence for a long time. Here, too, he saw Barry as an option. “If you wanted to be more offensive, you could use Barry as a left full back and he would still be controlling the game because he’s good with the ball,” Benítez said. “He could play as a winger. Not a winger just to beat players but one with good delivery, good crosses, good possession.

“That was the idea. Everything was perfect. Good player, good mentality and English.”

The plan had gone awry and a new system was needed to put in its place. Using Steven Gerrard as a second striker compromised Keane’s role. Benítez acted decisively, sending Keane back to White Hart Lane after a mere six months at Anfield.

Would the Ireland striker have been a success in tandem with Barry? “Keane was a very good signing and everybody knew that he was a goal threat,” Benítez said. “He did not settle down in our team for different reasons and we needed to do something, so we did it quickly. With other players around it would have been easier for Keane. We played a different way.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle6920873.ece

[saj]

I remember seeing that.

Yet most people still seem to think he decided to move for his family and because it was Real Madrid and they were too good to turn down - thats all bollocks! If you recall, he almost signed for Juventus a year earlier!

He has said numerous times "everything changed" after the club tried to sign Gareth Barry.

[the rev leeroy brown]

biggest regret in football is having to watch xabi leave for madrid.

it has to go down as the biggest and most monumental **** up in managerial history to try and get rid of this bloke.

seems like a down to earth, proper sound geezer and a true footballing hero.

miss him badly . . . . . come home one day xabi please

[Arn]

Among Benitez's mistakes were Robbie Keane and the alienation of Xabi Alonso in one crucial summer. Keane was, he says, a "good player and a fantastic professional who needed a target man with him". But, crucially, Gareth Barry was Benitez's priority. "Barry was the first but I was not doing the business and I couldn't control it. The timing was a problem. I thought we had the money and it was obvious we didn't have the money."

Benitez had rumbled Hicks and Gillett before this but as they scrambled and failed to find the money for Barry, his plans unravelled. The collateral damage was significant too: Xabi Alonso was lost.

"In the last season Alonso played his best season for us. That is the reason people are talking about him. It was his last year when he gave us his best."

In Alonso's last season, Benitez drove his team towards the title. Liverpool finished second, a stunning achievement given his resources and the apocalypse that was heading Liverpool's way thanks to Hicks and Gillett and the recession caused by men like them.

Benitez's handling of the attempted sale of Alonso the year before alienated the player and ensured he would go. But Benitez planned to replace him with Alberto Aquilani and the Montenegrin Stevan Jovetic. The sale of Alonso was a controversial and ruthless decision and, as so often at Liverpool, he wasn't allowed full control of the solution.

Instead he was given half of what he asked for. Suddenly the money disappeared, as it tends to when working for the indebted. Benitez's last season began with Liverpool as many people's title favourites. But the manager couldn't conceal the club's problems anymore.

"It was a long time, it wasn't just one thing," he says of the process that wore him down. "The feeling was that something was wrong, we couldn't do what we wanted to do. We were preparing the signings and the sales but we could see that we have some targets and we didn't do it."

http://www.independent.ie/sport/socc...k-2362665.html

[Dessy]

Yet most people still seem to think he decided to move for his family and because it was Real Madrid and they were too good to turn down - thats all bollocks! If you recall, he almost signed for Juventus a year earlier!

He has said numerous times "everything changed" after the club tried to sign Gareth Barry.

A poorly managed situation that has cost us dear on the pitch.

[saj]

To put people's minds to rest:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...us/8384196.stm

Forward to 2.50...this is where Xabi specifically says THE CLUB TRIED TO SELL HIM AGAINST HIS WILL...

I have a feeling people will still believe that he left because of family reasons even though in the same interview he says he loved Liverpool as a city!!!

[Arn]

Rafa turned down every offer from Juventus for Xabi and so did the player.

It was nothing more than a normal transfer. Xabi is a professional player and that means that he accepts that sometimes the decision to move isn't yours to make. Sometimes the club want to sell you. If you can't accept that then you simply don't understand what being a professional player is all about.

The players use the clubs to get paid better and the clubs use the player sometimes to get a better transfer fee. It's just the way it's.

If Xabi can't live with that it's up to the club he play for when they want to sell him then he is being more than a bit silly.

Just accept it and move on. It happens time after time that a player that a club want to sell end up staying and then put that behind him. The life of a professional player. Live with it.

[pondus]

Oh good, another Xabi/Barry/Rafa discussion

[Eric Swindler]

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.

If you mention those in the same sentence again, I may have to kill you

Oh good, another Xabi/Barry/Rafa discussion

Yeah goody