Alonso

[FC Showster]

Not knee-jerk, not wholly related to today but he's not good enough.

 

He plays too deep. He often makes it look like we've got 5 at the back and he's the 3rd CB

 

He plays too many balls to the full backs and centre backs

 

His long passing gives defences too much time to re-adjust

 

Not mobile enough around the pitch and too often is passing is slow

 

Gives the ball away more than his fans would care to admit

 

Today passed the ball to marked players too often and put them under unnecessary pressure

 

 

I'm not sure what he's adding. Obviously his fans will not claim he's been awesome for twelvety years running but I don't think he deserves a place in our team

[MFletcher]

Rubbish.

 

I'm sorry, I would engage in a debate if your post was in anyway thought out, but it really is rubbish. Any post which starts 'not knee jerk' is exactly that.

 

And for what it's worth, I thought he had a very good game today.

[Hassony]

He was very good today, better than Masch IMO

[Guest RedLegend]

Not knee-jerk, not wholly related to today but he's not good enough.

 

He plays too deep. He often makes it look like we've got 5 at the back and he's the 3rd CB

 

He plays too many balls to the full backs and centre backs

 

His long passing gives defences too much time to re-adjust

 

Not mobile enough around the pitch and too often is passing is slow

 

Gives the ball away more than his fans would care to admit

 

Today passed the ball to marked players too often and put them under unnecessary pressure

I'm not sure what he's adding. Obviously his fans will not claim he's been awesome for twelvety years running but I don't think he deserves a place in our team

 

Let me be the first to say REVISIONIST NONSENSE.

Edited August 31, 2008 by RedLegend

[FC Showster]

Rubbish.

 

I'm sorry, I would engage in a debate if your post was in anyway thought out, but it really is rubbish. Any post which starts 'not knee jerk' is exactly that.

 

And for what it's worth, I thought he had a very good game today.

 

 

Not knee jerk, Torres is great

 

 

Oh f***, how stupid am I?

 

Forget debating Alonso being 10-15 yards deeper than Masch and Lucas when we try to press the ball in the first half, forget Alonso giving the ball away and passing straight to their players even when under zero pressure despite passing being his best attribute, forget his continual inability to get forward on a regular basis, forget how most of his passes are to the CBs or FBs, I started a post with "Not knee jerk" so everything else is just redundant. FFS

[The Guv]

Not knee jerk, Torres is great

Oh f***, how stupid am I?

 

Forget debating Alonso being 10-15 yards deeper than Masch and Lucas when we try to press the ball in the first half, forget Alonso giving the ball away and passing straight to their players even when under zero pressure despite passing being his best attribute, forget his continual inability to get forward on a regular basis, forget how most of his passes are to the CBs or FBs, I started a post with "Not knee jerk" so everything else is just redundant. FFS

 

Absolute rubbish. Alonso and Masch were excellent today.

[McBain]

How does his position on the pitch affect whether he's good enough? He plays where the manager tells him to

[Keita]

How does his position on the pitch affect whether he's good enough? He plays where the manager tells him to

 

 

When he plays for Spain he doesnt seem to play as deep as he does for us.

[FC Showster]

How does his position on the pitch affect whether he's good enough? He plays where the manager tells him to

 

Sorry but I don't think that's true and the reason for that is that it's clear Rafa wanted to sell him to buy Barry. Barry is someone who is more willing to go forward and play a more mobile, one-touch, attacking passing game than Xabi. At least imo

[redjersey]

When he plays for Spain he doesnt seem to play as deep as he does for us.

That'll be their manager telling him where to play as well, maybe?

[Hassony]

Sorry but I don't think that's true and the reason for that is that it's clear Rafa wanted to sell him to buy Barry. Barry is someone who is more willing to go forward and play a more mobile, one-touch, attacking passing game than Xabi. At least imo

Barry was excellent attacking wise today, so great that he ended up playing at left back

[McBain]

When he plays for Spain he doesnt seem to play as deep as he does for us.

 

Aragones and Benitez are two seperate entities

[MFletcher]

Xabi had a fine game today.

 

This topic is bewildering.

[Guest RedLegend]

Barry was excellent attacking wise today, so great that he ended up playing at left back

 

Sounds like he'd be perfect for us.

[MFletcher]

Sounds like he'd be perfect for us.

 

Have we decided Dossena is s***?

[Keita]

That'll be their manager telling him where to play as well, maybe?

 

 

And what does that tell you about Alonso for Spain and Alonso for Liverpool performances wise.

[FC Showster]

Xabi had a fine game today.

 

This topic is bewildering.

 

This is one of the major things that bugs me about this forum. I've stated my opinion I don't believe he's good enough and listed exactly the reasons why. I've also stated that it isn't wholly about today's performance and to sum up your responses

 

"Rubbish"

 

"Xabi had a fine game today"

 

That is bewildering.

 

I almost feel like pointing out that you're not 8 feet tall but merely standing on a carpet that has a lot of things under it. But I shall desist

[Guest Raisbeck]

He is giving the ball away a hell of a lot, and not just when hes pinging difficult balls, its straightforward stuff.

 

It was him who gave the ball away when the team had pushed on against Boro. Simple ball and he gave it away and Mido scored.

 

Today he gave easy balls away a number of times or played teammates into trouble with hospital passes. Rafa clearly didnt want him in the squad anymore, hes only here because of consequence.

[mathewbet1]

Alonso was average today as was the whole team.

[Tones]

Alonso was average today as was the whole team.

 

Ill go along with that

[budgie]

He was very good today, better than Masch IMO

 

 

No way. Masch was all over the place. Driving forward and defending when needed. Xabi wasn't bad but Masch was our MOM.

[Cam]

As Alan Green explained... Alonso was excellent in helping Carragher and Skrtel deal with Carew. They stood off him & let him win the headers, Alonso swept them up.

[stressederic]

I thought Alonso was fine today. It didn't bother me that he wasn't always looking for a defense splitting ball and was happy to shift it about a bit because it meant we kept possession. From most of our games this season our inability to hold onto the ball has been obvious. If we have to be patient and pass it around a bit that's not an issue for me, as long as we have the ball we can make something happen.

[FC Showster]

Alonso was average today as was the whole team.

 

Alonso is frequently described as a deep lying playmaker. Maybe I am being thick but doesn't that mean that he "makes the play", ie makes something happen, rather than too often dumping the ball off to a full back just inside their half and expecting them to beat their man or lump it into the box? Isn't he supposed to be more creative than that or am I expecting too much? I sometimes get the feeling that too many are blinded by the fact that he's learned how to stick his foot in and that his lack of assists is too readily explained by pointing to our defensive record.

[Earl Hafler]

No way. Masch was all over the place. Driving forward and defending when needed. Xabi wasn't bad but Masch was our MOM.

 

I agree. Masch was making last ditch tackles at left back and also had time for an attacking run down the right wing.

 

On another note, Arbeloa's passing is still poor but he coped well with Young today, who switched wings because he couldn't get hold of the ball. And that dive of his was diabolical.