From The Times November 6, 2009
Xabi Alonso saddened by Liverpool's struggles in Champions League
Oliver Kay
Devastated is the word that Steven Gerrard used to describe how he felt when Xabi Alonso left Liverpool. It is a strong word. “Gutted†is trotted out routinely by footballers, but “devastated†cuts far deeper, revealing the kind of pain that has been all too apparent in the turbulent five-week spell that has turned Liverpool’s season into something already approaching a write-off.
There was a time in the opening weeks of this troubled season when Alonso’s departure to Real Madrid for £30 million was identified as the reason why Liverpool had receded from a title-challenging team into one that had lost four Barclays Premier League games by the middle of last month.
It is only as the results have worsened — one win, one draw and six defeats in the past eight games, leaving them out of the Carling Cup, all but out of the Champions League and nine points adrift in the Premier League — that the focus has shifted away from the gap in midfield and on to deeper, underlying problems.
It is a predicament that brought a sad look to Alonso’s face as he stopped to chat on the way out of the San Siro stadium on Tuesday evening. He had just produced a highly assured performance in Real’s 1-1 draw with AC Milan, but that did not stop him looking ahead to Liverpool’s date with Lyons the night after, backing them to invoke the spirit they have summoned so often in the Champions League — as they seemed to have done again until Lisandro López’s last-minute equaliser left them in need of a “miracleâ€, as Rafael BenÃtez conceded.
“It’s a difficult situation,†Alonso said. “They have had injuries, they’ve had some bizarre moments like the one at Sunderland [when Darren Bent’s winning goal bounced in off a stray beach ball]. Liverpool will always be in my mind. I keep in contact with my former team-mates, I look for their results and, whenever I can, I watch their games on TV.â€
What of Gerrard’s claim that Alonso’s departure left the captain — and thus quite possibly the team — devastated? While the points in Lyons were frittered away in attack, where opportunities were wasted in the 1-1 draw, and defence, where Sotiris Kyrgiakos and Daniel Agger were dragged out of position before López’s goal, few could look at Liverpool’s midfield in recent weeks and claim that they are not missing Alonso. Quite apart from his range of passing, he brought a composure and a tactical discipline that have not been apparent in Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva.
“Everyone knows that in football, when things aren’t right, the best player is always the one who isn’t there, whether they’re injured, suspended or no longer at the club,†Alonso said. “They still have a lot of good players. Alberto Aquilani [the midfield player signed from Roma to replace him] will hopefully be fit soon.â€
This is when the conversation turned to BenÃtez, with whom his relationship changed perceptibly during the 2007-08 campaign. After the manager tried and failed to replace him with Gareth Barry, Alonso went on to become an influential figure in last season’s title challenge but, the damage done, he was vigorous in pursuing the opportunity to join Real when the summer came.
It was an acrimonious split, but even if his name has become taboo around Anfield — it was not his choice that he did not publish an open letter to the supporters on the club’s website, as John Arne Riise and Luis GarcÃa had upon leaving — Alonso backed BenÃtez to drag Liverpool out of their slump.
“I still have great respect for him,†Alonso said. “I’m very grateful to him for the five great years I had at Liverpool. Of course the situation isn’t the best right now, but he knows how to turn it around. It’s not the Liverpool way to sack a manager after a few bad results early in the season. He is the right man for the club. It wouldn’t be a good decision to change the manager. He’s a great manager.â€
Those words will resonate with Liverpool’s supporters, as will the class with which they were delivered by a man who plans to return to Anfield one day to sit among them. At the San Siro on Tuesday his name was jeered by the Milanese in recognition of his role in Liverpool’s Champions League triumph in 2005 — although not quite so loudly as that of Jerzy Dudek, Real’s reserve goalkeeper.
Alonso is linked to Liverpool’s recent past, troubled by their present, but hopeful about their future.
