We all know how poorly Alonso was treated last summer, but he followed that up by producing his best ever season for us. Since then we've been treated to many weeks of speculation from the media. The latest rumour [link], is that Alonso has apparently told Rafa that he wants to join Real Madrid.
Bear in mind that he hasn't actually handed in a written transfer request. But if it's true and he really wants to go, then it's best to let him leave. Alonso gave us 2 great seasons, and for that we should be thankful.
Bigger players have left LFC in the past and the club has walked on without them. No doubt Rafa has a plan in place to reshape the squad as needed.
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31 comments:
i agree completely... besides i think if Rafa forces him to stay here he may just start to play not so great just out of spite... if he wants to leave let him go... and who knows... maybe Lucas may start to shine after all and live up to his promise... either way i think we could replace Alonso... Alonso isnt the best player in the world in what he does... i believe there are a fare few master passers out there
However Mascherano is a different story alltogether... the type of player he is... there is very few to no players that are better than him in is role... losing him would be much more damaging
If he didn't want to leave last year then it would not have mattered if we had found a buyer, he could have stayed if the timing wasn't right for him. Similarly if the timing isn't right for us we dont have to let him go just because he demands it. It's a WC year so more fool him if he stays and doesn't play well. Man U, Villa played it best for their clubs, why should we bow down to a wealthier club as soon as they demand it, make him stay and sell him next year
it is stupid to say that alonso can be replaced.......every one can......but how much time would the club ned to recover from such a loss?even if the replacement only needed a couple of months to adapt perfectly it would be devastating for our title challenge...do not forget that alonso is our the team's organizer on the pitch.....
it is also stupid to say that he will stop playing well if we keep him even though he wants to leave.
he is a top proffesional and he proved that last season to say the least. if he starts to fall behind his form it would be bad for his status as a player and even worse for his proffesional reputation.
i believe rafa will manage to keep both xabi and masch this year no matter what.and if by that time next year we are still celebrating the 19th they both will be happy to stay for the years to come.
Y.N.W.A.
If we have to let Alonso leaving for his dream to play for Real Madrid, I agree after he had serve Liverpool greatly. But, what annoys me was the price stated by Real compare to Karim Benzima. If Real get Ronaldo for 80M pound, Kaka for 60M, even Benzima for 30m, why they rate Alonso a spanish born international playing at a big club like LFC just 27M pound, and today they decreased to 22M pound??? it really insultings to Liverpool and spanish player as a whole.
I hate all these rumours about Alonso and Mascherano. Like Suley said - Alonso is the more expendable of the two but I want them both to stay.
Been thinking about who Rafa might buy :- Gago, Hamsik, Sneijder etc but none of them seem as good as Alonso. I really hope the Echo story is just more made up crap and that Alonso wants to stay in Liverpool.
Real are treating us like some little provincial club. Our world wide fan base is greater than there's. They are bankrolled by the banks and the King Of Spain. Look at there European success over the last 40 years and it isn't comparable to ours.
Tell them to go take a running jump. Alonso is a better player than Kaka and Ronaldo. They can cough up 100m. Too all those who think we'll be ok without him. Imagine this. No Alonso. More Lucas. That is too scary to contemplate.
I say let him go, if he thinks the grass is greener in Spain so be it he will soon find out.I know now Rafa would need now to buy only a quality top player in order to fill his boots.There are quality players out there that will fill in the team perfectly,ie Ribery or Cambiaso,etc.so send the two timer back to where he belong.Lets see if he can fit in there or even get a starting role.
Hold out for the 35M pounds or make him stay. He was happy to sign a contract ext and receive a pay rise.
Playin well for 3 out of 5 seasons does not warrant an honory discharge in my book.
If he puts in a transfer request then LFC should let him go. Until then the club should hold on to him.
Tell him straight we pay his wages he has 2yrs+ left on his contract if real want him they havta pay the right money other than that let him hand in a transfer request to let us the fans see who is doing what in these romours does he want to leave or not if he does he should just come out and say so.
@suley & @Larry - agree with you both that Mascherano is the real tough one to replace, and the one I fear most.
@SI - I love that LFC isn't cash rich like Real Madrid, Chelsea or Man City and that when players do sign for us it's not because we offered more money but because they want to play for us. LFC is far more authentic than any of those clubs can ever be.
I totally disagree with you about letting Xabi leave. He signed a five year contract just two years ago and this still has three years to run. I don't believe for a nanosecond that Xabi would give anything less than total commitment if he stayed regardless of his wishes. Besides he would have to maintain his form to keep his value to Spain and any other prospective buyers so playing badly is not an option. Letting other clubs unsettle your best players and then let them walk out on a contract with 3 years left to run is a very bad precedent and Rafa is right to tell Madrid to either meet his price of shut to f*** up !!
Allow to 35m and there is no problem, I think for the money Rafa will replace him.
@giasando - replace him with who though ?
Paul,I can't understand why you love that LFC is not cash rich. The reason we have not got a new stadium is because we have no money. The situation of the club oweing many millions of debt with two muppets in charge is not an advantage. I agree that LFC is more authentic than the clubs that you mentioned, but how many titles have we won recently by being authentic? Personally I would rather we win titles than simply being authentic.
As for Alonso, the guy is Spanish remember and Rafa treated him poorly this time last year, so I do not really blame the guy wanting to go back home. It will be a massive loss to us, and having Lucas as the replacement is very SCARY as stated above. Only someone like Ribery will be an adequate replacement, but I can't see him coming to Liverpool.
I will be devastated to lose him and/or Alonso as they will both be extremely difficult to replace, even if we get massive sums of cash for them.
@Scott - it just feels more real / genuine to me. I honestly wouldn't enjoy it as much if we spent the kind of money which Real Madrid do to get players. I want players who want to play for LFC because it's LFC and not a mega paycheck.
Having said all that, I don't want us to be cash poor either, building a stadium is key to ensuring that we're not. Additional investment in LFC will be needed for that...
@ Scott.... i agree wholeheartedly with Paul regarding being cash rich... i love the fact that most of the players that come here want to play here... for me thats a very important thing... combined with our amazing fans and the clubs history... its the reason why i love Liverpool so much... there is that sense of tradition and loyalty not just from fans but even from the players(which is something that is dying out fast in modern foobtall or any sport for that matter) id hate it if a player joined us and the main reason was because we offered him 150k a week...
Well guys after reading your thoughts, I guess I feel the same..
Its just that we need everyone for this season, we have 5 competitions and we need to concentrate on the league.
Who is the best replacement?
@Tawfiq - that's something which has me stumped !
Looks like Real are starting to give up the chase for Alonso -
http://www.thisisanfield.com/topstory/2009/07/alonso-saga-in-circles-as-real-almost-admit-defeat/
It's all speculation. It hasn't come full circle, its going round in circles. What amazes me is that people talk as if he has already gone.
WHOA WHOA. he is still under contract and LFC are his paymasters and if he is STILL at LFC after July 19th "deadline" then he wont be moving.
This has been the worst summer in memory from the media in my opinion, completely regurgitating dead news.
The bigger threat we are the damnedest these B@stards try to unsettle us.
A cool head is needed in this situation and rafa possesses the right analytical frame of mind for these situations.
Cold, detached, aloof? Ha, he's the manager!
Spot on above..
Even if Alonso does leave it is not the unmitigated disaster that the media would like us to think.
Correct me if I am wrong but I thought we were a one man team a la Stevie G so why have the likes of SKY and the Scum paper done a complete u-turn and say Alonso would be "irreplaceable". Obvious. They are trying to rub us up the wrong way. So pay no heed.
If he does leave then how rafa handles the situation is of importance. Say he gets cash in hand and he gets Ruud Van Horseface as a f@ck-you-riposte to Senile Whiskeynose , sneijeder, or van de vaart and cash. He may have money for Silva. This would rebuild Liverpool. Remember we bought Alonso after Owen
QED Liverpool may get stronger after the sale if we pay no heed to Media corps such as SkyShit negativity.
I don't understand the criticism of Lucas. It does my head in.
He is not a holding midfielder. Yet he plays in that position for us. We should not be comparing him with Alonso. If Alonso does leave, i hope he doesn't, then we'll have to change our style of play a little. Lucas will be able to play a little upfront and he might still turn out to a very good player. In the 07/08 season, he player better than Alonso. Lets give him a chance and see what happens. Worst case, we can slot Gerrard back into CM. Not a bad replacement to Alonso.
@Abhiram - I still think Lucas has bags of potential and we've yet to see the best from him. Whatever happens with Alonso, I hope we get to see more of Lucas.
Am not too found of the idea of Gerrard playing CM again, himself and Torres make such an awesome strikeforce, and I wouldn't want to break that up.
If he leaves we can bring in Javi Martinez from Bilbao and also Silva from Valencia (who I consider a more consistent and younger vesion of Garcia, with that similar sort of flair).
I think those 2 would be a progression even with the loss of Alonso. Reira and Silva on the wings would be killer, and I think Martinez has enough talent to at least fill in well for Alonso until he adapts fully to the Prem.
@Azza - those would make 2 very nice signings, wonder if we could afford the 2 of them though !
Its not a bygone fact that Alonso will go
look at the posts below over a year ago but they tell the same story
http://forums.thisisanfield.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=24368
But fans are saying the same things over and over again like media puppets. Sky and the right wing papers are laughing at us.
Nothing new has developed so why do people think its a foregone conclusion and already talking about replacements.
I was glad we signed Johnson but he was very low key by comparison so wait and see how it pans out.
One season does not make a player in Alonso's case.
Paul i did a couple of searches and dug up a couple of good names which are very affordable if xabi leaves:
1 Esteban Cambiasso or Lee Cattermole.. I prefer Lee for we need to increase the English players..
2 Plus getting Javi Martinez..
We need two players along with concentrating on stregnthening the deep lying playmaker role with Mascherano and Lucas..This is our weak point if Xabi leaves..
I guess this is fair enough!
@Tawfiq - Aside from youtube I don't really know much about Martinez & Cambiasso, but I like the idea of Martinez joining as he would probably fit in better with the Spanish culture at LFC, plus he looks like and is reputedly the better player.
If Rafa were to go with an English midfielder, I'd prefer Spearing get the nod (despite his inexperience).
Spearing has no chance of making it - NONE - Benitez will spend big instead of trusting him
All this talk is premature ! Alonso says its out of his hand and is prepared to stay with Liverpool, his bad relationship with rafa has been exaggerated.
We will only sell him if Rafa decides to which means Real have to pay us or pi$$ off.
Lots of bull$hit in the media and this is the start of the backtracking if he doesnt up with the "Los Meringues"!
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