Reports in the Liverpool Echo this morning suggest that Xabi Alonso has told Rafa Benitez that he wants to leave Liverpool and go to Real Madrid. This is the kind of news as a Liverpool fan I do not like to hear. For me Alonso was our player of the season last term and loosing him will be a huge blow to our ambitions for this coming season. They say that no one player is bigger than the club so if Alonso really wants to go then I think Rafa should just let him. There is no point hanging onto a guy who does not want to play for you.
The problem now is going to be the transfer fee for Alonso. Rafa wants £35m for Alonso but Real are only willing to offer £27m. Alonso still has 3 years left on his current contract so all this virtually means that there is no point in a player honouring his contract as he can decide to leave anytime he so wishes to. I can understand where Alonso is coming from for wanting to make this move. Real Madrid are building up an amazing team with the likes of Ronaldo, Kaka and Benzema and maybe Alonso feels he should be part of the ‘All Star’ team. Whether this Real team will win anything this season still remains a mystery to me. Remember what happened to the last player who wanted to leave Liverpool and go play for Madrid? Michael Owen….Look what has happened to him now. If I were Alonso I would stay with Liverpool for this coming season as I am very confident that this is the season when we finally win the league.
What really worries me though about loosing Alonso is who we will get to replace him? There are very few players of his caliber in the game today. The only one I can think of right now is AC Milan’s Andrea Pirlo. Since Milan lost Kaka, I do not see them letting Pirlo go. The other option would be bringing Stevie G back into central midfield and then bringing in someone like Eto’o or Bojan to partner Torres upfront. As much as that make look good on paper, I would not like to see Stevie going back into central midfield now as I believe his best position is just off Torres.
But in Rafa I trust and if he does end up letting Alonso go, I am sure he has a Plan B, C, D and E up his sleeve.
If we lose Alonso, we need a phenomenal passer of the ball. long balls that can switch the point of attack on a dime. Would Robben fit that role well? He has pace and is a good passer of the ball. Aquilani?
I don’t think Robben would be the answer as a replacement for Alonso. I am not a fan of Robben and would not like to see him at Liverpool. I have not seen much of Aquilani to make good judgement of him.
One stat I found interesting though is that both Alonso and Mascherano do not score many goals for us. Alonso scored 3 last season, all from set pieces and Masch scored none, so maybe we need some central midfielders who score goals now.
I agree with you, Ron. You said if Alonso wants to leave then there’s no point trying to keep him. He wouldnt have as good a season as he had last season if his heart isnt here.
As for a replacement, Pirlo would’ve been okay but thats not going to happen coz of Milan. I wouldnt ming seeing Gerrard back in central with us buying a super striker up front. Its not ideal but its a solution.
Since no-one wants to buy Lucas from us (and I know Rafa loves him anyway) lets just hope that when he plays he’s improved hectically. Its time he proved he’s worthy of the LFC jersey.