Re: Xabi Alonso will stay at Anfield, says Rafa Benitez
[quote author=gkmacca link=topic=33578.msg891816#msg891816 date=1245490868]
Quite. Benitez was the one who signed Alonso, gave him the chance to play for a bigger club, on bigger wages, in bigger games. He was the one who believed in him. Now Benitez is depicted as if he's the only person who doesn't realise what a good player Alonso is. Talk about condescending! And as for 'last summer', well, it's that old advice: 'Don't take it personally'. Michael Owen won far more games for us than Xabi ever did and he's now treated atrociously by some of the fans who have elevated Xabi to sainthood. I hope they realise if he goes now it's for money, and they don't try to excuse his actions by claiming the poor little lamb had his feelings hurt.
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While Benitez should be congratulated for picking up Alonso at a relatively cheap price (and under the noses of Real Madrid), I don't think you could argue that he took a giant leap of faith in signing him. If Alonso hadn't been given a chance here, he would have signed for Madrid the same season who waited until too late to show their hand. He wasn't plucked out of obscurity, he was one of the finest midfield talents in Europe.
What's more, if Benitez wanted to sell Alonso last season, and felt that he could find a better replacement with the funds he generated, then that's his prerogative. He's the manager and lives or dies by his decisions. Nobody is disputing that. It was the public manner in which he went about doing it which I don't agree with. No player is bigger than the club, but that doesn't mean you have to treat an excellent servant and model professional like shit. It was humiliating and disrespectful. Last summer, that was the general consensus here, too. It's funny how the usual media spin and general apprehension surrounding transfers has seen such a dramatic U-turn in forum opinions.
If Xabi feels his situation here is untenable then I think he's well within his rights to feel that way. He hasn't come out and quashed rumours about his future here, but equally, he hasn't said anything to disrespect the club or the manager. Certainly not to the same extent that Benitez disrespected him last summer. If he desperately wanted to leave, he would have manufactured a move for himself by now. It could well be that he feels a strong attachment to the club but cannot reconcile his relationship with the manager, who knows. All this Xabi negativity is largely based on impatience and presumption and is wholly symptomatic of silly season.
