Xabi Alonso

[kev776]

Bayern pay him enough so that after deductions his take home pay is 10m over 2 years

[Tee]

He loves his 'Pees' does our Xabi. Good luck to him.

[tsb]

Bayern pay him enough so that after deductions his take home pay is 10m over 2 years

Ah I see. He's a bugger for cash isn't he our Xabi?

[Bender]

Xabi Alonso said goodbye to Real Madrid on Friday and admitted he turned his back on a possible return to the Premier League because he did not want to spoil his Liverpool legacy.
The former Spain midfielder, who joins Bayern Munich from Real Madrid after five years at the club, has been linked with a return to England with former coach Jose Mourinho in the past and even to former rivals Manchester United this summer.

But speaking from the Bernabeu he said: 'I had five great years at Liverpool and I would rather just keep that memory as it is. The interest came in from Bayern in the last two weeks and it's the right decision.

link

[kingfunk]

Legend.

[Bender]

Legend.

Thank You

[kingfunk]

[danperkins]

mascherano would have been perfect. To be honest, i am very very happy with our squad at the moment - however, when i look back to the team that contained Alonso, Mascherano and Gerrard - that was an incredible midfield. Imagine had we kept Torres in fine form and added Suarez to that group!! Damn you Hicks and Gillett!!!

Back to reality - Alonso or Mascherano would be incredible. Masch / Alonso, Gerrard and Henderson would be a class middle 3 for me. Keep the ball ticking over and i think our average possession would go up a good 5% per game. For me, Gerrard in the quarter-back role looks good when he plays the wonderful 50 yard diagonal ball to start counter-attacks but for me it isnt a philosophy to implement to be sucessful in the long term. You're not going to get a high enough percentage of them right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. If gerrard moved up 10 yards or so, and his primary role was to link the defensive midfielder with attack, then we would be more sucessful in the long run. Gerrard would need to cover more ground - and as a consequence he would probably need to miss 10 - 15% of the games over the season - but the football would be more sucessful in my opinion. The most apt comparison i can think of is Scholes. In the latter parts of his career, he did move back deeper and deeper but never to the point where he was the defensive midfielder - he played slightly further up than Carrick - linking play between Carrick and the attack - but he wasn't the main guy protecting the back 4. In my view, it is too an important role to be used just to accomodate an aging player.

Mascherano signed a 5 year deal with Barca this summer. It was reported that he wanted to play defensive midfielder for barca and Luis Enrique gave him assurances that is where he would be. He started last weekend in central defense again - that may change when Vermaelen gets integrated into the team but if he is still playing out of position in Jan or next summer, then we should be in there like swimwear.

[Slinky Skills]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuZd0n8MqWs"]Xabi Alonso Great Goal from Own Half Liverpool v Newcastle - YouTube[/ame]

[Red_Polo]

Cue shouting "shoooooot" every time he gets the ball in our own half for the next year

[marcus50bucks]

JFT96 @RedAlert1963 16 mins
Alonso : I rejected offers from English clubs to protect my #LFC legacy.

Owen : I joined United because #LFC didn't want me.

Alonso

[Red_Polo]

Damn right. Xabi

[Tee]

[Resu]

Or he could join Bayern and make loads of money. If an English club was the only one interested I'm not so sure he'd say no.

[G]

Barrett said United wanted him and would pay him significantly more than Bayern offered, the desperate cunts. Good lad Xabi.