The circling speculation over Xabi Alonso

I trust that Benitez will make the right decisions in the best interests of Liverpool Football Club.

If that means that Alonso is to be sold then so be it.

Winning the Premiership is only going to be achieved if the manager is ruthless enough to make changes when players either no longer fit the mould of what he is trying to accomplish...or....he has to accept that a player signed didn't work out (see Morientes as a good example) for whatever reason (couldn't settle, lack of form, unable to adapt to playing style etc...).

Alonso has looked ok in the few pre-season games that he has featured in and for me this is more of a 'shop window' excercise by Rafa than an attempt to re-integrate him back into the starting eleven on a regular basis.

Xabi is an excellent technician and has undoubted quality. Where it all falls down though is in his mind.

Steven Gerrard is the best example I can think of in world football that is playing the game in his head two steps ahead of what is happening on the pitch.  Gerrard pops passes off in a split second to bring people into the game and has incredibly quick vision.  In short...he has the ability to make something happen out of nothing based on his ability to make a quick decision and normally the right one!

Although Alonso is one of the best ball playing midfielders in the modern era he is caught in possesion far too often and can become extremely ineffective if man marked and closed down quickly.

For me it is time to bring someone in a little more dynamic and fluid in the linking up of play and I think that is why Rafa sees Gareth Barry as the ideal replacement.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/aug/16/premierleague.liverpool?gusrc=rss&feed=football

Football: Alonso asks to leave as cracks show in the Liverpool hierarchy
Andy Hunter
The Guardian, Saturday August 16 2008

The fall-out from Liverpool's arduous pursuit of Gareth Barry continued yesterday when Xabi Alonso asked to leave Anfield and Rafael Benítez revealed evidence of his strained relationship with the club's chief executive, Rick Parry.

Alonso, a recent transfer target for Juventus and Arsenal, wants to be sold having become disillusioned with the manager's attempts to finance the Barry deal by off-loading the Spain international amid concerns that his first team chances will be reduced this season. The 26-year-old has not submitted a transfer request, but has asked the club to renew its efforts to sell him in the coming weeks - a stance that will alert the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger.

Arsenal are the only club to have made an official inquiry about Alonso since his proposed transfer to Juventus collapsed over Liverpool's £18m valuation. They too, however, share the Italians' view that Liverpool's price-tag is excessive and are only prepared to pay around £12m for the playmaker who moved to Anfield from Real Sociedad for £10.5m in 2004. Without a compromise from either party Alonso will be left in limbo this season but Benítez remains intent on signing Barry, who is also valued at £18m by Aston Villa, and is prepared to sell his compatriot and/or Jermaine Pennant and Andriy Voronin to fund the transfer of his own accord.

Benítez was refused a short-term loan to complete the Barry transfer last week by the Liverpool owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, with Parry, while denying the Americans had not backed their manager's judgement, issuing a statement that confirmed Villa's asking price was "too high". The Liverpool manager has since had e-mail conversations with the Americans and has been told money is available for other transfers. But yesterday he dismissed suggestions he had driven up Barry's price by publicly revealing Liverpool's interest before the end of last season and that the failure to sell Alonso had changed the club's transfer policy. In doing so, he indicated the Liverpool chief executive was accountable for the Barry saga now entering its fourth month.

"I get blamed for everything, for global warming to high petrol prices," said Benítez. "But in this case [Barry] I want to be very clear. Since I talked to Martin O'Neill about the situation in April, I have not talked to anyone at Aston Villa. All the talks have been between our chief executive Rick Parry, the owner and the chief executive of Aston Villa. And those talks have all been pretty good.

"If anyone wants to talk about Barry in the future they must talk with the owner, Rick Parry or the chief executive of Aston Villa. I was not involved in the talks about Barry, I was not involved in the talks about Alonso and Arsenal. If you want to talk about these players you must talk to the chief executive of our club who was handling the discussions. If you want to talk about football, then you talk with me."

The Liverpool manager remains confident of a resolution before the close of the transfer window, however. "We continue working and we have time. I have some players in mind," he added.
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Latest development.

Wouldnt be suprised to be honest. Hate the way our more quiet reserved (fans favourite) kind of players always end up going on bad terms. I hope this is just a rumour and he doesnt really want to go, cant say im shocked if its true though and if it is I believe he is just fed up with being offered to every club that mentions him just so we can take the money and buy barry with it. 

Not very happy with the way he has been treated recently, part of that is due to me favouring him over barry but i do still think Xabi has been treated rather unfairly.

F**k sake. Thanks Rick you F***ing w**ker!!!!

Not very happy with the way he has been treated recently, part of that is due to me favouring him over barry but I do still think Xabi has been treated rather unfairly.

But how? He has been a shadow of himself in the past two years, He clearly can not fill in for Gerrard when the need arises. This sentimental attachment to Alonso is one luxury that Rafa Benitez can not afford. If he wants Barry, no one should second-guess him. Not only can he use Barry on the left, he can use him when Gerrard is indisposed! Players have had to be sold even when they clearly didn't want to go.

A player hard-done by? Pennant!

i very much doubt that alonso has asked to be sold, more paper speculation imo

i very much doubt that alonso has asked to be sold, more paper speculation imo

I really hope so 7-K K-7.
But if it's true then we shouldn't keep him, he won't perform and play to the best of his ability at a club he doesn't want to be at.

Benitez post Sunderland match interview.

“He’s playing for us, anything else?” he tersely told Setanta Sports.

Alonso was introduced from the bench at half-time and Benitez was complimentary about his impact, as well as that of perennial match-winner Fernando Torres.

“I think he [Alonso] had a dead leg so we needed to protect him a little bit,” he added.

“After Plessi was injured so we used Xabi. The game was more open for his passes.

“Torres is a key player, he can change games. For a striker you talk about goals. He can score these type of goals, which is very important.”

As is now the norm, Liverpool’s pre-season has been shrouded in confusion off the field, but Benitez insists focus remains on the job at hand.

“You could see the team was really focused and concentrating on trying to win,” he added. “The best news for our supporters is to win games.”

Still not backing Xabi then. Shame.

But how? He has been a shadow of himself in the past two years, He clearly can not fill in for Gerrard when the need arises. This sentimental attachment to Alonso is one luxury that Rafa Benitez can not afford. If he wants Barry, no one should second-guess him. Not only can he use Barry on the left, he can use him when Gerrard is indisposed! Players have had to be sold even when they clearly didn't want to go.

A player hard-done by? Pennant!

I think he showed today just how good he has been recently. Man of the match after 45 minutes, not easy to pull off to be honest. I think he can fill in for gerrard to be honest. When has he not been able to ? two injury ravaged seasons then one game in which the entire side bar the goalie wasnt that good and even in that game Xabi wasnt that bad.

He has pretty much been offered to anyone who would stump up the cash just so we could get F*****g gareth barry, I like barry I think he's good but no he cannot play effectively on the left wing, he does not have pace all he can do in terms of wing play is deliver a good pass, he wont take players on from the left hand side and he doesnt have the pace or skill to. He isnt better in the centre than Alonso either, Xabi has looked great in preseason and once again today. Fair enough rafa wants barry but if it isnt a good move im not going to blindly think it is one just because the manager wants him. It isnt being a bad fan its just disagreeing with a managers decision.

To be fair im sick and tired of discussing this, Alonso has been great recently and if people cant see that I think they will never see it again.

If being offered to any club who are willing to stump up the money isnt being treated unfairly then im 100% wrong. Had he not been playing well at the start of this season maybe I would have to agree and say yes maybe its time for him to move on but he's showing the form that got the fans loving him in the first place. If he should go why are the fans chanting his name and so against him leaving, is it all just a blind following of xabi or do people want the best for the team.

Yes I've said many times pennant has been treated unfairly aswell.

'He clearly can not fill in for Gerrard when the need arises.' did he not pretty much do this today. Although stevie played well today it was Xabi who took control of our side today and made us look a better more composed side.

I dont think I will ever agree with anyone who thinks alonso isnt upto the task of filling in for gerrard if needs be. He's a one of a kind player and I dont want him to leave for barry. Not because I have a blind following of Xabi no matter how bad he plays or because I have some vendetta against barry but because I genuinly think he is an important part of the team and will come good this season.

Someone on RAWK summed up how I see some peoples opinions on xabi...It's easy to think a player's not good enough if you've made your mind up that he isn't- you won't see the things he does well (as much), and just concentrate on the things he doesn't do well at.

Sorry for yet another long post.

^Lil_Cisse: yet another great post and i totally agree with you about Xabi. English is not my native language, so its little bit difficult for me to explain my point of view. but never the less, its really nice to read your posts, and they can never be too long.
But unfortunetly i have read some stories about somekind of split between Rafa and Alonso. And Alonso wants to leave Anfield.
18 mil for a 27/28 year old CM, isnt that too much? i hate to admit it but i think Rafa is making a mistake whcih will be a step backwards.

Cisse! Good post.

We need to read matches accurately though. Alonso came in for Plessis who had made the job of attacking midfielder difficult for Gerrard as Gerrard had to be playing deep and sometimes covering even for Arbeloa. You will notice from yesterday's game that Plessis was in awe of Gerrard, so 90% of the balls that came to him, he looked for Gerrard to pass the ball to for the next move. Alonso wont do that. Plessis couldn't make decisions outside of Gerrard. The Plessis that played as a holding midfielder against Arsenal was different.

So the introduction of Alonso in the second brought balance into the midfield. He held the midfield while Gerrard proceeded to Help with the attack. So bringing sanity back to the defensive midfield role helped organize the midfield.

The Champions League game? our midfield was non-existent. They were out playing us in the midfield, the midfield was in tatters until Gerrard came in. That is a huge difference.

*EDIT*

When we talk of injury spells, Kewell comes to mind. A good player that spent his entire period at LFC nursing one injury or the other. Must have been difficult for him, but at the end of the day, the fans turned on him. So see, We the fans are not always the best barometer for a manager's decision direction.

I see what you mean but the champions league game alot of the time the centre mids didnt get a chance to play with the ball as the defence was kicking it straight over their heads and it was coming straight back in the form of a standard liege counter attack.

We can go back and forth over this but i think we should just agree to disagree. Im just hoping Alonso stays so that he can show this season what he's all about, things like him shooting from our half when he spots the keeper off his line impresses me because he is the only one in our team with the creativity to try things like that and it effects games because it keeps the goalkeeper on his toes and thinking alonso could shoot at any time, if he catches the goalie out he will score with the ball on target. Yesterday he missed by just a yard and we have seen him score from that kind of range before. But obviously that isnt all he has to offer. Even i can admit over the last two seasons he hasnt been the same player as when he first joined but he looks a completely new player this season, he's beaming with confidence and its showing in his play. He is aiming to dictate play in our matches and is both defending in the centre and creating chances for the strikers and giving us that added spark we need.

I think he has what it takes to cover for stevie when he is out standard was just a bad game. And even still i havent seen barry have any performances that wowed our fans against any top sides and thats what we need, what makes people so sure if he came he could fill in for gerrard. I think Alonso just needs a vote of confidence i mean when other players have had tough times we havent just said he should go, i think he needs another chance to prove his worth he has started well and losing him would be a mistake.

Fair enough Cisse. I liked his game yesterday. He brought sanity back to the midfield since Plessis wasn't doing much to help Gerrard. If Alonso can produce this consistency on a more regular basis; Cool. I like Alonso too.

Xabi isnt going anywere this season... can we put it to bed please

Xabi isnt going anywere this season... can we put it to bed please

How I'd love to hear Benitez say that.  But until he does....

Xabi isnt going anywere this season... can we put it to bed please

I dont think it will be put to bed until he comes out and says he is staying for sure.

How I'd love to hear Benitez say that.  But until he does....

Surly playing him in the CL is saying he wants to keep him.... without saying it.. i hope :S

Just found this in the skysports transfer clockwatch
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13.30 Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez says it will take a 'massive offer' to persuade him to sell Xabi Alonso.
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Good news

Just found this in the skysports transfer clockwatch
_________
13.30 Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez says it will take a 'massive offer' to persuade him to sell Xabi Alonso.
___________

Good news

Great news!

The thing i find amusing is that the press say that he wants to leave because of how open Rafa has been in his pursuit of Barry but then Rafa comes out and says that its been Parry, and Villa's owners etc who has been trying to do a deal so it just goes and blows the press speculation out of the water

Great news!

The thing I find amusing is that the press say that he wants to leave because of how open Rafa has been in his pursuit of Barry but then Rafa comes out and says that its been Parry, and Villa's owners etc who has been trying to do a deal so it just goes and blows the press speculation out of the water

Yea stupid press should no that you cant get the better of rafa

Just shows you that you can't trust the media until the player or manager confirms something.
Another two weeks and we'll know for sure that Xabi is staying!

I want Xabi to stay!

I want Xabi to stay!

dont we all