Xabi Alonso: Why I left LFC

I don't think Rafa saw his transfer as purely a swap for Barry. He expected a nice profit on the deal which he needed because the parasites weren't helping him out. Rafa didn't think Barry was better-he thought he was more versatile which is a plus when you are patching up a squad with little budget. He also possibly foresaw the emergence of Lucas.

Ideally Rafa would have kept Xabi, bought Barry and waited for Lucas to develop fully-reasonable ideals for building a title winning side. Unfortunately we had the owners from Hell.

Just bloody buy him back

Would love to see him back -but I cant see NESV due to wages and age.

For me a 35 year old Xabi would be amazing, his range of passing and vision will make him world class into the latter end of his playing career, so I cant see why not. Normally O would never want to go back for a player, but in this case hell yeah!

Although it is clear he has fond memories, life in Madrid prolly isent that bad... I do like the cliff hanger LFC TV used - I would love to see him answer, but ever the professional it will be an open ended answer!

I don't think Rafa saw his transfer as purely a swap for Barry. He expected a nice profit on the deal which he needed because the parasites weren't helping him out. Rafa didn't think Barry was better-he thought he was more versatile which is a plus when you are patching up a squad with little budget. He also possibly foresaw the emergence of Lucas.

There may be truth in that. I'm no Rafa basher, in fact I'm one of his biggest supporters, but I don't buy this other argument that Xabi wasn't clearly a world class player in his first two seasons and thats why Rafa went after Barry.. Even if his form dipped and consistency wasn't there, it was clear that he was a special player and as soon as he adapted to the Premiership we'd see that.

Xabi in a Kenny team, let it come true.

Top man Xabi ! always was and always will be ,i think Rafa will have been under enormous pressure from the cowboys but regardless of that ,what a tragic error !

Still have a soft spot for this fella.

I too would have him back in a heartbeat, though I don't think he will come back, I think he'll stay in Spain for the rest of his career. I suppose we can all dream.

"At the end of that season, speaking to Rafa, he told me the situation and that he wanted to sign other players and I could be one of the replacements," he explained. "If an offer would have come, probably I would have been sold. That's when I told myself that the situation had changed - from being a very important player to being one of those who can be sold to get funds to sign other players. I accepted it because I am a professional but you have to realise what your situation is. At the end nothing happened because there was no agreement and we started my last season in Liverpool, but knowing what had happened.

You can slag me off as much as you like and the Rafa Mafia certainly have done but this is the very moment ....the pivotal moment .........when I called Rafa's transfer "policy" into question.

It was obvious what looking at another player would do for Xabi's confidence.
A player of his quality being a make weight in a deal for a complete f..ing tosser like Barry.

Xabi.  A Hero Of Istanbul. A Red who wore his heart on his sleeve for the club.


I have nothing but the greatest respect for Xabi that he did act professionally and gave us arguably his best season as his last.

Love the guy.

I still have a huge amount of respect for Xabi. He was a quality player for us and I place a lot of blame of his exit, and some may not like me saying this, but on Rafa and his push for signing Barry. Still a huge regret of mine that he was sold.

It was obvious what looking at another player would do for Xabi's confidence.

So he went from a playing with confidence underperforming to a player lacking confidence who had his finest ever season. That doesn't make sense.

Pure ''Genius'' is 'Xabi. We should all miss him as a player & a person.

"At the end of that season, speaking to Rafa, he told me the situation and that he wanted to sign other players and I could be one of the replacements," he explained. "If an offer would have come, probably I would have been sold. That's when I told myself that the situation had changed - from being a very important player to being one of those who can be sold to get funds to sign other players. I accepted it because I am a professional but you have to realise what your situation is. At the end nothing happened because there was no agreement and we started my last season in Liverpool, but knowing what had happened.

You can slag me off as much as you like and the Rafa Mafia certainly have done but this is the very moment ....the pivotal moment .........when I called Rafa's transfer "policy" into question.

It was obvious what looking at another player would do for Xabi's confidence.
A player of his quality being a make weight in a deal for a complete f..ing tosser like Barry.
A Hero Of Istanbul. A Red who wore his heart on his sleeve for the club.


I have nothing but the greatest respect for Xabi that he did act professionally and gave us arguably his best season as his last.

Love the guy.

With you all the way there Skip. Not a lot I could add to that. People will twist the words of Xabi to suit their agenda. Many blamed Rafa for the departure of Xabi but as you have said, the Rafa Mafia wouldn't have a bar of it. Well it's now been laid out in black and white. Fair play to Xabi for putting it across in a dignified manner, wouldn't expect any less from the man.

We lost one of the best central midfielders in the world in the pursuit of a midfielder that wasn't fit to lace his boots. A f**king disgrace given the love he still shows for us. Even if the plan was to replace him with Barry and Keane it was a stupid plan. Xabi has more skill in his little toe than the two of them combined.

And what's this again, Gerrard tried to engineer the move for Barry?, please, that is just ridiculous. Gerrard and Carra appointed Hodgson, Carra verbally intimidated Torres and scared him away from Liverpool, the conspiracy theories are getting pathetic. The excuses are wearing thin now. Rafa got shot of Alonso, this has come from Alonso himself so let us put this to bed.

And before we get the usual ' he was mediocre for 2 seasons' comments, it was plain to see from just watching the man that he had 'class' and 'authority'.

The single biggest reason the wheels fell off.

And what's this again, Gerrard tried to engineer the move for Barry?

Not saying he tried to engineer it mate, just remember reading it at the time, that Barry was recommended by Gerrard, not putting any blame on Stevie's shoulders at all as I think we all know if Stevie had to choose between Barry and Alonso which way it would have turned out.

But its not unusual for managers to ask players to recommend players think Owen with Houllier he recommended both Heskey and Murphy.

So he went from a playing with confidence underperforming to a player lacking confidence who had his finest ever season. That doesn't make sense.

Don't pick out a sentence from a big post and try and twist it eh?. He was saying that Xabi's confidence took a knock when told by Rafa that he was surplus to requirements. He went from being a happy settled player to an unhappy unsettled player. Have you ever thought that the reason Xabi went on to have the season of his life was because he wanted to say a big, "F**k you, this is what you're going to miss" to Rafa?.

Not saying he tried to engineer it mate, just remember reading at the time, that Barry was recommended by Gerrard, not putting any blame on Stevie's shoulders at all as I think we all know if Stevie had to choose between Barry and Alonso which way it would have turned out.

But its not unusual for managers to ask players to recommend players think Owen with Houllier he recommended both Heskey and Murphy.

I know what you're saying Blood. The fact is this, Rafa was purely to blame for Xabi's departure. It's there in black and white. Yet we have posters that refuse to blame Rafa for it, trying to offload and share the blame with third parties. Why can't people accept that Rafa was fallible and not everything that went wrong was down to the lack of funds and owners?.

This was a massive mistake by Rafa, people need to accept it and stop living in this Rafa Wonderland. He was not flawless and this was no small mistake, look what happened after Xabi left. It's there for all who choose to see it.

But its not unusual for managers to ask players to recommend players think Owen with Houllier he recommended both Heskey and Murphy.

Not to Houllier he didn't as it was Evans who bought Dan and the former Crewe man made his debut before Owen did. (Unless of course you're referring to a particular match)

As for Xabi, what's been has been. We can't change the past. We were heavily linked with Barry, rightly or wrongly and couldn't find anybody willing to pay the price we wanted for Xabi. Remember him being heavily linked with Juventus but wouldn't lash the money in - similar to what they're doing with Aquilani (Xabi's so called replacement).

So thanks for the memories Xabi. Some great performances in a Liverpool shirt. Most famous being the 4-1 demolition of United at Old Trafford I assume

But we've both got to move on. You'll always be remembered and talked about fondly by Liverpool fans, and hopefully you'll do the same about us but this club has got to move forward and stop thinking what could of been.

Not to Houllier he didn't as it was Evans who bought Dan and the former Crewe man made his debut before Owen did.

Yeh you are right Billy was just recounting of my head, but think any one will remember Owen recommended Heskey as he contributed most assists to Owen in the u21 England team, was all over in the press before we signed him.

Those were some hard times under the Cowboys. We all remember how Portsmouth were offering more money to Peter Crouch. Seriously, club like Pompey offering more in salary than us. That was the magnitude of sh*t we were under.

I know what you're saying Blood. The fact is this, Rafa was purely to blame for Xabi's departure. It's there in black and white. Yet we have posters that refuse to blame Rafa for it, trying to offload and share the blame with third parties. Why can't people accept that Rafa was fallible and not everything that went wrong was down to the lack of funds and owners?.

This was a massive mistake by Rafa, people need to accept it and stop living in this Rafa Wonderland. He was not flawless and this was no small mistake, look what happened after Xabi left. It's there for all who choose to see it.

Off course Rafa had a part in Xabi leaving, but so does Xabi and a few others.  To say it's 100% Rafa is more than a little off the mark and more than a little naive.  It still annoys me that the Gareth Barry issue gets raised, especially considering when we first went him for him, it was as an addition to our midfield and not at the expense of any of our players.  I can also understand Rafa's logic, whilst not necessarily agreeing with it, saying he COULD (not would) sell Xabi to raise funds, his form had dropped but he was still a salable asset.  I still don't think we would have got more than another season out of Alonso though and think he would have ended up at Real come what may.

Not to Houllier he didn't as it was Evans who bought Dan and the former Crewe man made his debut before Owen did. (Unless of course you're referring to a particular match)

I knew I remembered reading something about it, must have been When Murphy was out on loan and he was recalled and Houllier tried to offload him

'Michael Owen always told me Danny was his main provider of chances for England Youth and I knew he had an eye for goals himself,' said Houllier.

'He has scored 30 times over the past three seasons and that is a great record from midfield. I am pleased with him but the danger is that you can ease off if you start thinking you have arrived.

'I don't want him slipping into the comfort zone.

'Now is the time for Danny to stretch himself. He has reached a phase where he has to push himself more. It can make all the difference between being a good player and world class.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-229639/Murphy-Liverpool-end-game.html#ixzz1NPkMlkR6

Yeh you are right Billy was just recounting of my head, but think any one will remember Owen recommended Heskey as he contributed most assists to Owen in the u21 England team, was all over in the press before we signed him.

I had no problem with Owen recommending big Emile. He was a handful at Leicester and the perfect foil for Owen (and Fowler). Plus when Heskey first came to us, he was unstoppable. 22 goals in his first full season and a treble of medals. It was then Houllier started playing him on the left and right wing that fu**ed him up.

And if players are recommending others to the manager or recommending the club to other players, who turn out to be stars then we won't be complaining. For example if Maxi has put the word into Aguero's ear that Liverpool is on the rise and the Athletico Madrid man signs we won't be complaining. Or if, for example, when Sami Hyypia recommend Dalla Valle who was touted to be a F***ing star.

If a player is recommended by another player then it's only another option. The manager still has to want them and sign them. (Or at least that's how it should be though it doesn't work like that at all clubs - I think it does here) So Rafa obviously wanted Barry and wanted to sell Xabi on the back of two pretty poor, injury plagued, seasons. It didn't work out and it resulted in us losing Xabi and still not getting Barry. Football isn't an ideal world unfortunately.

Now it's up to the current players to prove Xabi made the wrong move by leaving.

I knew I remembered reading something about it, must have been When Murphy was out on loan and he was recalled and Houllier tried to offload him

'Michael Owen always told me Danny was his main provider of chances for England Youth and I knew he had an eye for goals himself,' said Houllier.

'He has scored 30 times over the past three seasons and that is a great record from midfield. I am pleased with him but the danger is that you can ease off if you start thinking you have arrived.

'I don't want him slipping into the comfort zone.

'Now is the time for Danny to stretch himself. He has reached a phase where he has to push himself more. It can make all the difference between being a good player and world class.

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/columnists/article-229639/Murphy-Liverpool-end-game.html#ixzz1NPkMlkR6

Don't give up do you?

Anyway, like I just said about Heskey, I'm glad Owen did recommend Super Dan as he was a boss little player for us during the treble winning year and the following year when we pushed Arsenal all the way for the title. Always liked him as a player as well. Very clever thinking.

Don't give up do you?

Anyway, like I just said about Heskey, I'm glad Owen did recommend Super Dan as he was a boss little player for us during the treble winning year and the following year when we pushed Arsenal all the way for the title. Always liked him as a player as well. Very clever thinking.

I just remembered very vaguely reading about in the papers mate, I just wanted to find it so I knew I wasn't going daft.

But like you say I'm happy enough players recommending other players sometimes it can be successful as it was with Heskey and Murphy for a time or sometimes it can be a disaster, but if it can help to get the best of a certain player and helps the team as a whole i'm all for it.