Liverpool FC Forum

Bamaga man wrote:

Makelele is an anchorman/holding mid. He does nothing but break up attacks and square it to the nearest player.

Xabi is a holding Midfielder who happens to be able to play different roles, and happens to be the best passer of the ball this club has seen since Jan Molby. If he were a deep-lying playmaker, he would not sit back at corners, he would not cover the attacking fullbacks, he would not protect the back four, he would not be one of the main men defending set-pieces, he would not cover for the centrebacks when they're marauding forward, he would not play the simple pass that gets the entire team out of trouble, he would not intercept passes, he would not tackle the opposition more than any other player in the team. (I'm sure if you check the stats, this will be proven.)

You've just written Makelele is an anchorman and breaks up the play and nothing else. Then you've gone on to write a tidy paragraph on how great Alonso is. Thats exactly what makelele does.


I'm not going to go down the gerrard thing. Well ........... Gerrard is a central midfielder true to form. Better there than anywhere else. Better even if he was deployed back to HIS box2box role. What did he win PFA player the season last year playing wide right. Didnt work though this year did it, oh thats right he was sulking out wide and hrowing tantrums, ah well when he moved back to the middle the team picked up points and went on a run.
I believe he is at his best when playing box2box, he might not be doing that now, but thats my opinion on him.

Also Gerrard isnt "truly World class" in the free role. Kaka is Zidane is Gerrard isnt. Perfect example of this was when we played Boro at home this season. Gerrard played in the free role, we couldnt score, as usual we huffed and puffed. Gerrard was dropped deeper (midfield) and then sprang up with a thunderous goal. Gerrard is a World class central midfielder, not a world class free roller.

If you can appreciate the things Xabi does then you'd also aprecaite the things Mascha and Hamman do Hamman more notably, he was world class IMO in that holding role.

Carragher warned of saying whos bigger than LFC. I didnt know that meant Milan, Barca, Bayern or Real had put in a huge offer. I also didnt know that Liverpoool had recieved offers for Hyypia thats news to me I'd like to see the quotes.

A deep lying midfielder would do those things you mentioned, S@int said it well. If he was lying deep just spraying balls around, I highly doubt he'd be worth his place in the team. So because he's asked to sit deep where he has time on the ball to dictate a game, he's also asked to protect the back four also.

s@int wrote:First off Lando, no one was calling Alonso, the worst anyone said was that he has had a poor season compared to previous ones. He struggles when he has to play further forward because he is slow mate , thats why he is a deep lying playmaker. He picks the ball up from the defence and gets the team moving with his (usually) sublime passes.

What he can't do is cover the defence in the same way Hamann or Mascherano can, which is why they can play in a two with Gerrard. When Alonso plays with Gerrard we always look vulnerable, unless we have Sissoko, Hamann or Mascherano there as well. Kaka ripped Liverpool a new a$$hole first half, I am not saying it was Alonso's fault but he needed someone to help him. Gerrard was off doing what Gerrard does best and Alonso needed help. Hamann came on and Kaka disappeared, I am not saying it was all down to Hamann either.

If Alonso could play in a pair with Gerrard don't you think they would have been playing regularly as a pair? How often has Rafa played them together without defensive support from Hamann, Sissoko or Mascherano?
He usually DOESNT. He will happily play Gerrard and Hamann or Mascherano. Just as you never see Rafa play Sissoko and Gerrard as a pair.

But no one is saying Alonso is cr@p or even that he is not a good player.

s@int wrote:So we don't want to listen because we have made our fickle f*cking minds up and you are willing to listen ?

peewee wrote:lando again i will say to you that no one on here is doubting his ability thats why your defence of him seems over the top, but even you must be able to see that this season he has not performed (for whatever reason), and if he goes, so what, as long as he is replaced. i am more concerned about whats good for LFC that whats good for xabi alonso, this the last few months his attitude has not been right (again for whatever reason), i pointed this out weeks ago and some idiots attempted to ridicule that only for other posters to also pick up on it.

but i did burst out laughing at this comment

Xabi has been holding this team together for the past 2 seasons,

i can only assume thats anger speaking mate because thats a crazy thing to say   

Ciggy wrote:I hope to god Alonso wont be going anywhere, the problem some people have is the first season he arrived he was better than any player we had had since Molby Gerrard apart.
Everyone was singing his praises and over the moon with him, then along comes Momo who formed a great partnership with Xabi no one complained then.
After 2 seasons Alonso had to raise the bar and looked out of form due to due Sissoko and Gerrard having good games.
But guess what Gerrard has been poor this season by his standards, and since Sissoko got that second injury he hasnt been the same either.
Masch has also been poor the last few games after making a great start.
The truth of the matter is no one can put their hands on their hearts and say any of the players have been fantastic this season.
Because they havent Finnan deserves a shout he has been the most consistant of the lot.
When Alonso hasnt played this season we have really missed him and he would be a major loss if he went as we couldnt replace him.

s@int wrote:I wouldn't sell Momo because I still think Momo is going to be a great player for us. Maybe as Stu says his passing is not going to get any better (I'm not sure about that) but people seem to forget how well he has done for us. FA cup final last year, Barca away, Chelsea in the Charity Shield etc etc big big games and huge performances from Sissoko.

He has had 2 bad injuries and has lost form at the moment, but I think he can still play a big part next season. I would keep all five midfielders for next season, after all what if our young Brazilian friend struggles like Gonzo has? At worst Lucas is just a replacement for Bolo(definitely gone now in my view), at best he's another string to our bow.

Once Lucas has proven himself, maybe then we can reassess the midfield, but if we want to go into next season with confidence I would be looking to keep Xabi AND Sissoko.

I do think signing Mascherano has show us(or me at least) one thing, he is a better defensive midfield player than Alonso. Thats not to say he's a better player than Alonso, but I have always thought of Alonso has a deep lying playmaker who was asked to take on some of a role that he has done admirably but wasn't particularly suited to. This I think was why Rafa was reluctant to pair him with Gerrard, and felt more comfortable pairing him with Sissoko. Similar to Pirlo of Milan who needs Gattuso alongside him, Alonso needs added protection. As I said in an earlier post I don't think Mascherano and Xabi would work together as a pair either.

This leaves either a 3 man central midfield(my choice) or Gerrard paired with Mascherano, and Xabi paired with Sissoko, with Lucas as the unknown quantity.

If we decide to go with the central 3 we need much better quality from the wings than we have seen this year, so I suppose much depends on who Rafa manages to bring in and maybe Kewell's fitness next season. 

In short I agree Bob keep them all

s@int wrote:Who has said he should be sold ? or w@nk ?

peewee wrote:again who said he should be sold?


i havent seen that on here, and why is the old fickle argument raising its head again, surely people can change their opinion on something, but thats not what is happening here, not wishing to sould like a broken record lando, but nobody has said he is sh1t or should be sold