A large majority of us Liverpool fans fell in love with Xabi Alonso when he was a Liverpool player. Many of us were gutted when he was sold to Real Madrid against our wish. Truthfully, Liverpool have never quite been the same team without Alonso. Yes, they say that no single player is bigger than the team and I agree with that, but there is no denying that the loss of Alonso severely crippled our team and we have not been able to replace him as yet.
I can understand why Alonso left Liverpool, the player himself never wanted to leave but he was forced out by Rafa Benitez. Rafa made it clear that he wanted to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa so he could partner him with Steven Gerrard. But Barry never signed for Liverpool even after Rafa made it clear that he will get rid of Alonso to make way for Barry. Alonso was unwanted by Rafa, one of the biggest mistakes Rafa made during his time at Liverpool. But that is all water under the bridge now, Alonso left, Barry never signed and Rafa left.
Alonso has always made it clear that he enjoyed his time at Liverpool and he still loves the club. He has attended several Liverpool games at Anfield ever since he left for Real Madrid and more recently he has said that he intends to bring his son up as a die-hard Liverpool supporter.
“I am still a Liverpool fan and will be forever, absolutely,” Alonso told The Times Online.
“The things that I have lived and the experiences I had during those five years are deep in my heart and the passion and respect I had for the club and its supporters are still the same.
“Hopefully I can transmit to my son what Liverpool Football Club means and how special it is, as he was born in the city and he will visit it in the future.”
I still believe or should I say, I hope that Alonso will return to Liverpool one day and hopefully it could be soon as he is not getting any younger. With the reason for him leaving Liverpool, Rafa Benitez, now gone, there is nothing stopping him from a return. Obviously it would all depend on what is going on at Real Madrid and if they would sell him. It will be an interesting summer in Madrid as they have virtually missed out on winning the title to Barcelona and Jose Mourinho is threatening to quit as Real Madrid boss in the summer. If Mourinho leaves Madrid there is very little stopping Benitez from taking over as manager of Real Madrid. That would be an interesting showdown if he does as he will be yet again taking over from Mourinho just like what happened at Inter Milan and Benitez will be reacquainted with Alonso.
If that is what happens, and if I were Alonso, I would just leave Madrid and head on back to Anfield where we would welcome him back with open arms.
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