Date: 8th July 2008 at 5:21am
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You have to love the summer transfer chaos! It seemed a couple of weeks ago that Xabi Alonso was set for a move to Juventus but now the Spanish midfielder has come out and said that he would not mind staying at Liverpool. “I am very happy with Liverpool, the city, the people and they treat me very well. It’s great to be a European champion with my club and with my country but now I’d love a league medal. It’s the one thing missing.” Those were the words of Alonso.

Now the question remains; will Rafa be forced to sell Alonso even if Alonso himself wants to stay? I think Rafa needs the money from the sale of Alonso especially since he is on the verge of signing Gareth Barry. But let us look at a scenario where Alonso stays; if Alonso stays and Barry does not sign then I would be happy with that but I am sure Barry would not be as he has already burnt his bridges at Aston Villa. On the other hand if Alonso stays and we also sign Barry then what a midfield we would have! The Kop would have to come up with another rendition of “We got the best midfield in the world” this time including Gerrard, Mascherano, Alonso, Barry and Lucas. I personally can not think of a better midfield in the world.

At initial thought I do not think we would have the luxury of having such a midfield as it is full of world class players and I am pretty sure none of them, maybe bar Lucas, would be happy to play second fiddle. But from a team perspective, we would need such depth and quality of we are to challenge for the Premiership. If you look at Chelsea, their central midfield options include Lampard, Ballack, Essien, Makelele, and John Obi. Thats five good players all rotating. If you take Man. Utd, same thing; Scholes, Anderson, Carrick, Hargreaves and Fletcher (although I do not rate Fletcher at all!)

It may not even surprise me at all if Rafa at time plays Mascherano, Alonso and Barry in central midfield and Gerrard on the right, Babel on the left and Torres upfront. Yet again, Barry is also a left midfield option. So I think it may not be doom and gloom if Alonso stays and Barry signs. My only concern would be how that would affect Rafa’s cashflow.

 

6 responses to “Alonso to stay after all?”

  1. Dipesh says:

    This could be the best news of the summer. I do not want Alonso to go. He adds something special to the midfield and I would take him over Barry any day but if we can get both the better!

  2. jamie says:

    no dude, if we sell alonso, we can obtain more money to to pursue better replacements like villa, barry, or even keane. i think we should sell him

  3. Benjamin says:

    Assuming we sign Barry, we would have more midfielders than we have minutes for. I like Alonso but he hasn’t shown any form in 2 years now.
    It pains me to say it but I think it’s time for him to move on. As Jamie said, put that money towards the areas where we are lacking.

  4. Ron says:

    I understand what you saying guys but Alonso is not that bad. At least we know what he will give us unlike trying to get a new signing who may take a season or two to adapt to the English game.

    Now that Crouch has left we have a bit of cash so to the cash from Riise and surely the Americans had some ‘spare’ cash already so Rafa should be able to buy Barry and then another quality players such as Keane or Silva and not have to sell Alonso.

  5. Benjamin says:

    To be honest, Alonso doesn’t belong in our side anymore. He certainly possesses great skill, but as I said what has he shown us in the past 2 years? He has lost all confidence, as evidenced by his getting caught in possession and failing to make the audacious passes and shots he used to. I just think circumstances have robbed us of him and his value will go nowhere but down.

    I admire him and respect his commitment to the club, but it’s because of that I hope he moves on. He deserves to be playing his best football, and perhaps a new location will do that for him. Regardless of what happens, my best wishes will always be with Xabi. He is a quality person from what I’ve always seen, and if he stays I will be pulling for him to regain what he has lost.

    As always, in Rafa we trust.

  6. Ron says:

    I think I am fighting a loosing battle here, no one seems to want Alonso to stay. I guess I just have to accept the fact that we have lost a player who in my opinion was one of teh best passers of the ball in the game. Granted, Alonso has not been the same ever since the 2005 season and I had hoped he could how us his 2005 form again. There were glimpses of it when he was playing for Spain in Euro 08 and maybe he has now gotten over his injuries and his confidence is back. I guess we just have to wait and see what Rafa decides to do.