Rafa Benitez - the kingmaker

[Yozza]

Quite possible it was 1.2 million factors a year Yozza.

[Eric Swindler]

Quite possible it was a factor Yozza - the point being, is that Rafa is often slated for trying to sell Alonso, whereas, I don't think he should be.

[Yozza]

Seems petty discussing ****e like this today but Alonso was good for us, not great, not fantastic and not a regular in the Spain team.
He had great games but also went missing for a lot of games, the facts are he had 1 excellent season which ended with him handing in a transfer request because he knew Real were in for him.

You don't have to be Einstein to work out he played for a move that season, I don't blame him it's how football works.
Alonso handed in a written transfer request yet he is universally lauded by fans.

Bonkers

& of course Alonso leaving had nothing to do with earning more money back home - Rafa was partly to blame of course but Alonso was looking for a way out anyway

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/liverpool/5578084/Xabi-Alonso-warns-that-tax-will-drive-top-players-away.html

Xabi Alonso warns that tax will drive top players away

Even footballers have turned on the government. Xabi Alonso believes Gordon Brown's economic policies have weakened English football and that the Premier League's star players could be forced to the Continent to escape the weak pound and the incoming 50p tax rate.

Alonso is refusing to commit himself to Liverpool next season, with Real Madrid eager to to take him to the Bernabeu, and with Alonso estimating he is losing a third of his earnings he is edging closer to a return to Spain.

"Of course we footballers think about it; we are not stupid, we keep an eye on it," Alonso said. "When you see your contract down by 30 per cent you cannot be happy. I cannot do anything – it must be Gordon Brown or David Cameron.

" I think the weakness of the sterling is not helping the Premiership because for those competing and fighting against the European teams it is a big weak point. Hopefully over the next few months and years it will get back to what it was not so long ago."

Liverpool are determined to keep Alonso despite Real Madrid's very public interest, but having just published worrying financial results and with Rafael Benitez having to work with a restricted transfer budget, the Anfield club might be forced to sell, especially if the player wants to leave. Alonso, in South Africa with the Spain squad for the Confederations Cup, pointedly refused to answer questions about his future at Liverpool.

His Anfield colleague Fernando Torres admitted he was concerned about losing his Spain team-mates Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa to La Liga but insisted that playing for a club with the traditions of Liverpool should count for more than a decline in your net income.

"I worry about losing my team-mates, of course," Torres said. "But when you play for a team like Liverpool you don't have to worry about that. You are a top player and you will get a good contract. You don't have to be scared to lose a little bit of money."

That depends on your definition of 'little'. Alonso signed a five-year contract with Liverpool in 2007 worth an estimated £65,000 a week. At the time there were €1.48 to the pound so he was on €96,200 per week but due to the weakness of the pound that has fallen to €76,700 a week. When the 50p tax rate comes in next April that will drop to €69,000 a week, so he could be losing €27,200 every week compared to what he was earning back in 2007. Overall, Alonso fears he could end up losing nearly £1.2 million per year.

Alonso is not the only player unhappy with the British tax system. Andrei Arshavin, of Arsenal, claimed he had an "unpleasant surprise" when he opened his first pay packet and saw how much he was paying in tax. The Russian international is now trying to renegotiate his £80,000 a week contract to ensure he has a higher net earning.

Clubs across the country are concerned that foreign players are using the weak pound as an excuse to get a pay rise.

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, predicted back in April that "the domination of the Premier League will go" because of the government's tax policy and the fact that the United Kingdom has been hit particularly hard by the financial crisis. His prophecy seems to have been realised.

Accountants working with footballers and clubs are trying to come up with all sorts of ways of avoiding paying the top tax rate. One option being explored is paying players in interest-free loans which would attract a much lower tax rate. But ultimately, it seems the power base has shifted to the Continent.

That is particularly true of Spain, who can set up foreign players as 'company executives' who have a preferential 23 per cent tax rate for the first six years. David Beckham was on this kind of deal and Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka will be on a similar scheme. Obviously this gives clubs like Real Madrid and Barcelona a real competitive advantage in the market.

[Tee]

“Last summer the club proposed to me that I might have to be sold to find funds for new players,” Alonso told Sky Sports.

“It was a difficult decision or difficult moment to accept that. I accepted that as a professional and that moment probably changed my mind and I thought that maybe from that moment that maybe it was time for a change.”

He felt he might have to leave, as he says.

Playing CM as he does, those little niggles he seemed to be carrying all the time for me is a major factor in the dip in form he clearly had. The old saying that form is temporary class is permanent could not have been better suited than for Xabi. He showed his true class when he was fully fit.

Rafa ****ed up and knows he did, but as we know he can be very stubborn and I think he will never ever admit it was an error to try and sell Xabi and bring in Barry.

[Eric Swindler]

You can still play a lot of games but have underlying injury problems you know.

I guess, but I'm not sure he was plagued by injuries.

And Alonso is on record publicly as saying that he felt he had to leave Liverpool after losing the backing of Rafa.

“Last summer the club proposed to me that I might have to be sold to find funds for new players,” Alonso told Sky Sports.

“It was a difficult decision or difficult moment to accept that. I accepted that as a professional and that moment probably changed my mind and I thought that maybe from that moment that maybe it was time for a change.”

[Tee]

You can still play a lot of games but have underlying injury problems you know.

[Eric Swindler]

Alonso was plagued with injuries FFS. Once fully fit and with a proper pre-season, he showed his true class. That is all it is!

He had a 1 bad season appearance-wise:

2004-2005 24 0 0 8 0 32
2005-2006 35 5 0 11 2 53
2006-2007 32 1 2 15 1 51
2007-2008 19 3 1 4 0 27
2008-2009 33 3 1 10 0 47.

[The Birdman]

Seems petty discussing ****e like this today but Alonso was good for us, not great, not fantastic and not a regular in the Spain team.
He had great games but also went missing for a lot of games, the facts are he had 1 excellent season which ended with him handing in a transfer request because he knew Real were in for him.

You don't have to be Einstein to work out he played for a move that season, I don't blame him it's how football works.
Alonso handed in a written transfer request yet he is universally lauded by fans.

Bonkers

[The Birdman]

And then he said Barry will be better. Hahahahahahaahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha h!

Yeah the **** Gareth barry with an FA Cup and Premier League Winners medal.
Piss of piss to play week in week out as a first choice regular in that Man City team isn't it.

Gareth Barry makes other players around him and the team tick, if people can't understand that then they are dumb ****ing ****wits.
Not every player has to be spectacularly eye catching.

Watch Mancini bring Barry straight back into the team now he is fit, and by the team I mean the best side in the Premier League with pretty much unparrelled finances, but you know they keep picking Barry because he's ****.

Oh and had we signed Barry we would have made that Liverpool team tick the way that Alonso did.
Different teams, different personal, different tactics but exactly the same role/function.

[Tee]

Alonso was plagued with injuries FFS. Once fully fit and with a proper pre-season, he showed his true class. That is all it is!

[Eric Swindler]

I think it reflects worse on Alonso to be honest. Prior to 08/09 Alonso was very good, but not great. Rafa then tries to sell him, but ultimately doesn't. Alonso is distraught. Alonso then becomes arguably the best midfielder in the league that season. He doesn't forgive Rafa for the previous summer though, and then ****s off.

A) I don't think Rafa was wrong to try and sell him prior to 08/09
B) It took the threat of sale for Alonso to reach his potential.

It's kind of an interesting situation.

Kinda like the question; Would Lucas be the player he is now, if it wasn't for the Aquilaini mess of two seasons ago?

Probably not, is the answer - and although we like to slate Rafa for signing that ****bag Italian, it did result in Lucas been thrown in at the deep end and ultimately we have a young great player on our hands.

[Roboklopp]

Its a pretty silly question. It doesn't reflect well on Rafa if that's the only way he could get the best out of him.

Why's it reflect worse on Rafa than Xabi?

[Eric Swindler]

Its a pretty silly question. It doesn't reflect well on Rafa if that's the only way he could get the best out of him.

I'm not sure why it's silly though. Alonso did play his best ever football that season. And left the following one, stating that Rafa's decision to try and sell him was a deciding factor.

[Kenneth]

Its a pretty silly question. It doesn't reflect well on Rafa if that's the only way he could get the best out of him.

[Eric Swindler]

The question always remains, would Alonso have played as well as he did in 08/09 had Rafa not tried to sell him to Juventus the previous summer?