Xabi Alonso Player Thread

Exactly he is better with mascherano in the centre than gerrard and also performs better with agger also in the side.

When Xabi came back from injury I was kinda hoping he would give us a lift but he seems to have caught the bug of lethargy along with everyone else what we need is a real good win down at Chelsea this Sunday which would set us up just right for Inter....

He is one of our best players and need to accomodate that. That means shifting Gerrard to the right and playing all 3 of our world class midfielders in one team.

Alonso is a playmaker turned holding midfielder, i dont think it suits him. He shows that he can go forward with onfidence and plays his passes beautifully along with a magnificent shot.

My midfield/strike force?

                           Mascherano

            Gerrard         Alonso           Babel

                     Torres           Crouch

Mascherano is a true defensive midfielder and should play behind Alonso and co. Gerrard should shift right for his own sake and the sake of the team. Babel needs adjusting to the Prem on the wing and cuts back in or goes out wide so he is a very decent LM. Torres and Crouch for obvious reasons.

Alonso though, he should be our maestro, his passing is the best in the team and he is the smartest player in the squad. He has the ability to cut defences with his passing and at times seems he has the ball on a string, let him use his strengths and we could unleash a new Xabi.

My thoughts anyway.

       

My midfield/strike force?

                           Mascherano

            Gerrard         Alonso           Babel

                     Torres           Crouch
       

Got no problems at all with that set up fella. Wouldn't grieve me to see that most weeks.

One change I would make, in the fullness of time is switch Babel into Crouch's position (whcih I feel is inevitable as hee looks a natural at striker) and get a good, quick tricky winger out on the left.

No doubt Bootle Buck. I feel when Babel reaches his height in the game, no defence would be able to cope, until then he can run on the left and gain experience and get a feel for the game.

OI Rafa, im-a comin' for you!

Xabi dropped in starting XI by Aragones for Spain friendly v France tonight, joins Pepe on the bench. Torres starts.

Is it true Rafa is giong to send Xabi to one of Spanish club this summer if he doesn't improve his performance?

That is what is being reported in the press, but it may be a wake up call, but to be fair to him he has just come back from injury and I believe it takes some time to get back into the rhythm of things. Just like real life !

Is it true Rafa is giong to send Xabi to one of Spanish club this summer if he doesn't improve his performance?

Only Rafa would know that at this stage. Not anyone in the media or anywhere else. Although the longer it goes on that Xabi isn't being selected then it will make people wonder.

He's suspended for the Chelsea game though.

get rid! we'd get £15 mil. we could add 5 if them 2 dick heads give it and go get a great playmaker.

Is 15 million worth selling our smartest player with the best passing game and most creative? I dont think so. Keep him.

Is 15 million worth selling our smartest player with the best passing game and most creative? I dont think so. Keep him.

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Smartest player? He's a brilliant passer (accuracy wise) but I wouldn't go further than that. If he IS our smartest player then there is something wrong with our team.

Lucas was playing in the middle with Mascherano today. Xabi Alonso isn't injured.. just dropped. Obviously Rafa has spotted something in training that he's not happy about!

I don't know why but I just feel that Alonso will not be here next season. Like Momo Sissoko he got injured and now someone else has taken his role in midfield like Mascherano did with Sissoko being out. We'll have to see but if Rafa wants to keep Xabi Alonso then he'll have to play him more often because no Spanish International will accept a regular role on the bench.. even worse the stands.

I'd put money on him going back to Spain next season and playing his trade there, it's my gut feeling!

Alonso was suspended yesterday mate. But I'd agree he has to get more games now and prove himself seeing that Lucas is getting regular time on the pitch.

Xabi was suspended for today wasn't he? Picked up his fifth yellow card against West Ham last week.

i think alonso is the best passer in the prem, how often do we see him land 60yard balls on a sixpence? i think he is top quality and it would be a shame if we let him go. he's had some injury problems this season and it would be hard for rafa to put him in ahead of masch but i feel he should definately be accomodated. what do people think of gerrard maybe playing a deep supporting striker's role? he has such a good understanding with torres i think it would work, especially since he has played there a few times before. that would allow xabi to come in and give us a creative outlet in midfield rather than leaving him on the bench or at home. also it would mean no kuyt in the team! im new to the forum but you'll all quickly realise im not a great admirer of kuyt!

Why is everyone going on about how good Alonso is at passing? He has the most accurate long range passing around but latley he's been sloppy with his passing when given the chance to play. It annoys me how much fellow Liverpool fans overrate Xabi Alonso! He has not put it up a gear when given the chance, what makes you think he would now?

Alonso played well for us first season and 2nd because we played at a much slower tempo back then. Alonso likes to slow the play down which I don't think is too clever at times. We need to get that ball moving we are not a Spanish team here.

Because thats the way he plays and he only slows down play when he knows we can and that it will more likely pay off than not.

You could say the same about gerrard and say he plays with too much urgency and needs to slow it down sometimes, but he doesnt, a team needs a good balance of the two and that is what Alonso brings to the team.

If he isnt as good as people claim then why are teams offering to pay almost as much as we paid for torres so that they can get him. He is a great player but unless he has the game of his life the next time he plays and outperforms everyone on the field then it seems some fans wont be satisfied. Its a fact that once a player gets a small bad reputation be it for causing trouble or underperforming, fans tend to look for negative things in his play instead of positive and the same goes for players playing well.

When he was out injured our passing was dreadful and we started to conceded sloppy goals alot more, he came back and we got our passing flow back a bit then he got dropped and its gone a bit sloppy again, he is one of those players that will perform well but wont get the headlines for his display due to going about his job quietly. He does the same kind of thing hamman used to do but just not as well.

MOTD got it right yesterday when talking about hamman and stressed how important a role that type of player plays in a team but it goes rather unnoticed which makes people think maybe that player isnt that important. You need to watch his match play with an unbiased view and not look for bad points during his play to be able to say whether he should still be here or not because he should be. His injury wasnt a short one and its not easy to come back from an injury like that i know from experience.

lil cisse its not going to pay off. Slowing down play is not good. We need fast tempo!

I can tell u didn't understand my post. He can play with both that is all im going to say for now, some fans obviously think he isn't good enough for us but i would rather wait until he leaves and see what people think when we no longer have that option available when we need it.

And consider the fact that slowing down play and controlling the pace of a game are two completely different things, Alonso does the latter.

lil cisse its not going to pay off. Slowing down play is not good. We need fast tempo!

Why is everyone going on about how good Alonso is at passing? He has the most accurate long range passing around but latley he's been sloppy with his passing when given the chance to play. It annoys me how much fellow Liverpool fans overrate Xabi Alonso! He has not put it up a gear when given the chance, what makes you think he would now?

Alonso played well for us first season and 2nd because we played at a much slower tempo back then. Alonso likes to slow the play down which I don't think is too clever at times. We need to get that ball moving we are not a Spanish team here.

I think there are many LFC fans who think they understand football and actually havn't got a clue. I thiink Ra Ra Rafa is close to this type of fan.
Alonso is the one player who plays for LFC who can dictate the pace of play. He can slow it down or  speed it up when we need to unlike Gerrard for example who plays at 100 mph all the time. Alonso makes LFC tick, he controls the MF and looks for the ball of the back 4 and tries to use it positively and more times than not he is succesful. The ideal team would see Masch and Alonso sitting in front of the back 4 allowing Gerrard to do his stuff in the final 3rd. Alonso has had alot of injuries in the last 2 seasons and has only played a handful of games since his broken foot in October. Funny that our form has been rubbish with Alonso out. We need to keep alonso unless we get about 25 million for him

Exactly the point i was putting across, he doesnt slow down play he controls the pace of matches which is something that is vital for a team to be successful.

Well who's he going to replace?

Captain fantastic? Certainley not
Little Chief? Not a chance
Golden boy Lucas? Well if we don't want to get the best out of Lucas then maybe...