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Tell This Newbie About Xabi Alonso

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ClassicGirl14

ClassicGirl14

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A quick note: This is my second and a half season watching LFC, so I have some catching up to do.

First and foremost: why is everyone obsessed with Xabi Alonso? How big was this bromance with Stevie? Would he come back? How would he help?

I feel like I did when I saw my first Doctor Who episode (Matt Smith) and everyone kept referencing David Tennant.
 
Girl, you need to watch the road to Istanbul, and final. It answers all of the above and more, and you'll see some of the best moments of our european history.
 
He was very good and went on to be an excellent player for madrid. But it wasn't all rosey for him, he did have a period of about 12-18months when he was bollocks. He also had the luxury of playing in a team with reina, carragher, gerrard, mascherano and torres all in their prime.
He's not a spectacular player, scoring wonder goals every week and smashing in goal saving tackles, but had a brilliant knack of being the metronome of the team, finding space, playing the right ball, and getting out game flowing. A classier version of Joe Allen if you like.

I think his ship has sailed though, Madrid have already bought his replacement who they are easing into their team, and I think if he came back it would be as much about a payday and the romantic idea of it, much like it was with fowler, rather than us buying a player that can drive us forward for a few years. Saying that, I'd have him in a blink over Lucas.
 
Great player, Not doubting his footballing pedigree.

But he is the greatest footballer ever in terms of PR with the fans and timing his arrival and departures. Undoubtedly his on field elegance extends to the way he manages his career off the pitch also. I did not mean this as a criticism by the way,
 
Fallon said:
Girl, you need to watch the road to Istanbul, and final. It answers all of the above and more, and you'll see some of the best moments of our european history.
Click to expand...

He has a look of fear on his face like no other before he took that penalty.

Done well on the rebound.
 
The decades worth of football I'd been watching before was almost indistinguishable, just normal football that you've seen every week since forever. But then, right from his first game the passing stood out by absolute miles from everything that preceded it, or anything that has come since. It looked unreal the way he was passing the ball I have never been so impressed by a player.
 
Mors said:
He was very good and went on to be an excellent player for madrid. But it wasn't all rosey for him, he did have a period of about 12-18months when he was bollocks. He also had the luxury of playing in a team with reina, carragher, gerrard, mascherano and torres all in their prime.

He's not a spectacular player, scoring wonder goals every week and smashing in goal saving tackles, but had a brilliant knack of being the metronome of the team, finding space, playing the right ball, and getting out game flowing. A classier version of Joe Allen if you like.
Click to expand...
This description does him a disservice.

This is a full list of his major honours:

World Cup - 1
European Championship - 2
CL - 1
La Liga - 1
Copa Del Rey - 1
FA Cup - 1

All honours won as a central figure in the respective teams, not as a bit part player. Plus he's been the La Liga Best Midfielder twice - 2003 and 2012.

He is, without a shadow of doubt, the best holding midfielder of the last decade alongside Pirlo. Comparable to Guardiola, Petit and Redondo from the previous decade. A top of the line, world-class footballer - no less.

The best central midfielder I've seen in my 15 years of supporting the club, and @ClassicGirl14, according to many older posters, easily in consideration alongside Molby, Sounness, Gerrard, McDermott, Whelan etc. as amongst our best ever midfielders.

There's been some contentious debate over the years of the 'dip in form' he suffered in the 2007-08 season, but suffice to say no one in their right mind would say he was 'bollocks'. He had niggling injuries and suffered a bad dip in form (though nowhere near as bad as people will have you believe). He also had a big row with Rafa when he missed a game choosing to be present for the birth of his first child instead. Rafa went nuts, and tried to flog him, and replace him with Gareth fucking Barry that summer. As it turned out, we didn't sell him that summer, and he went on to have his best season for us, being instrumental in our best season in 20 years in 2008-09. He then decided to say a big fuck-you to Rafa and leave for Madrid. We then tried to replace him with the likes of Aquilani, Lucas, Meireles, Poulsen, Adam and god knows who else. Predictably, we went massively downhill.

That's pretty much the story.

But if you just want to know how good a player he is/was, you can't go wrong with how Brendan described him once - 'a Rolls Royce of a footballer'.
 
Excellent post, dmish. I started supporting Liverpool in September of 2004 and now that I think about it, Alonso's style of play was a big part of why I fell in love with this team.
 
Another way to describe Alonso, he does this:



Only about 10 times per game. WITH HIS FEET.
 
Imagine a Rolls Royce, the purr of the engine, the smoothness of the drive, the fine leather upholstery, the smell of success, that feeling of smugness and superiority that you own it and the infidels do not.

Sweet.

Now imagine that this perfection was occasionally stolen and replaced with a fucking Skoda, you know, when they were really uncool and smelled of eight day old white dog shit and oozed the stench of failure and fat girlfriends.

Well that was the Alonso enigma.
 
Ta. Just searched for the spurs one & the account has been pulled sadly.

That midfield looked immense in terms of passing range & speed there, but that video highlights how much better our current attack is, the front line has little pace or movement compared to us currently.

Anyway, back to topic, chuck norris is about right.

A great midfielder, but old now, expensive for what you get, & his reputation & nostalgia factor outweigh the facts.

Were he truly in love with our club & offered to play for a reasonably cheap wage he'd be a fantastic option to boost our midfield depth, but he isn't a long term option & would cost an awful lot in wages alone.
 
I disagree. Alonso has never relied on his speed, so I don't think his performance will have any noticeable drop off for at least a few years. If you watch him play for Real now, he is as good as he's ever been. Despite buying Illaramendi and Modric, they still noticeably miss Alonso whenever he is not playing. He is world class right now and he is 2 years younger than Stevie.

The notion of Alonso being an "option" to add "midfield depth" is ridiculous. He would walk into our team or any other team for that matter.
 
rurikbird said:
I disagree. Alonso has never relied on his speed, so I don't think his performance will have any noticeable drop off for at least a few years. If you watch him play for Real now, he is as good as he's ever been. Despite buying Illaramendi and Modric, they still noticeably miss Alonso whenever he is not playing. He is world class right now and he is 2 years younger than Stevie.

The notion of Alonso being an "option" to add "midfield depth" is ridiculous. He would walk into our team or any other team for that matter.
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Yeah, he'd walk in, but we'd lose something imo in terms of pressing & tackling.

When xabi first arrived here he lacked a bite to his play. Rafa instilled an ability to tackle & play hard that he worked on (& got many cards whilst he honed it, a few red too), his age must have effected that.

If it hasn't, & the Premier league isn't a challenge for him at this age we'd be definite title challengers if we got him in January, but I suspect it will be.
 
FoxForceFive said:
Yeah, he'd walk in, but we'd lose something imo in terms of pressing & tackling.

When xabi first arrived here he lacked a bite to his play. Rafa instilled an ability to tackle & play hard that he worked on (& got many cards whilst he honed it, a few red too), his age must have effected that.

If it hasn't, & the Premier league isn't a challenge for him at this age we'd be definite title challengers if we got him in January, but I suspect it will be.
Click to expand...

He would obviously have to play at the same position as now at Real: as the most deep-lying of the midfield 3. The current 4-3-3 system (which under Ancelotti looks very nicely balanced) has Alonso playing at the "Lucas position", Isco at the tip of the triangle and Modric kind of shuffling in-between, sometimes playing alongside Alonso and sometimes closer to Isco (kind of like Allen is currently playing for us). Before Khedira got injured, Ancelotti preferred a system without Isco, with Modric playing a more controlled game at the tip of the triangle and Khedira kind of box-to-box Henderson-style. In both systems Alonso is the only midfielder to sit deep consistently (sometimes so deep, that he could be mistaken for a 3rd CB); he is doing just fine without being "protected" by a specialist DM.

I don't see why Premier League would suddenly present a challenge for Alonso; he mastered it the first time and in Real he gained even more experience by working with other great players and managers and his positional sense has gotten even better. Unlike Stevie he doesn't have to adjust to losing his speed, because his game was always built on other qualities. And like I said, he is younger.
 
Sir Gary Mac was earning MOTM in a Europa League Final for us at the age of 37, and Alonso's an even better player.
 
Judge Jules said:
Sir Gary Mac was earning MOTM in a Europa League Final for us at the age of 37, and Alonso's an even better player.
Click to expand...

Yep, but does Alonso give us the same set piece influence & would he play a similar role?

I don't think either apply here.

The way I look at it we can be genuine title challengers this season if, IF, we strengthen in a couple of areas in January.

Alonso would command huge wages & restrict that ability.

We're he to come on a free for 30/40k a week I'd be all for it, but Alonso at his age, at the expense of two other players is a gamble not worth taking imo, & I feel we're all a bit biased by nostalgia.

If he comes I hope I'm wrong of course, as Alonso at his influential best would add so s much to us.
 
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