A perfect example of how underated Alonso is...

[richwilks]

Got this of a Villa site earlier today, discussing if Villa should let Barry join Liverpool.

 

The majority of Villa fans were damning of Barry and his performances recently which seems a shockingly low level of loyalty given the service he's given them, but then these are guys who booed one of their top young players for a couple of bad performances over the course of a season....

 

Yes I say let the bloke go and taste the fruits of his hard earned labour from all of his Villa park years, he has stuck with us through thick and thin, and now one feels it is definately time for him to go.

 

On the flip side, I for one would very much like Alonso from the Liverpool to be part of any deal with a good bunch of cash alongside.

 

What do you think? Give them Alonso and £20 million? That should secure a deal.

 

[Montse]

Might as well chuck in a Gerrard and Torres while we're at it!

[Stevie H]

when he does leave us alonso's going to be ronnie whelanesque in his underappreciation. it'll only be liverpool fans who acknowledge how good he was. there just hasn't been a better central midfielder in the league this season, he's been the best by a pretty comfortable margin. carrick? lampard? ballack? nowhere near.

[L19red]

Got this of a Villa site earlier today, discussing if Villa should let Barry join Liverpool.

 

The majority of Villa fans were damning of Barry and his performances recently which seems a shockingly low level of loyalty given the service he's given them, but then these are guys who booed one of their top young players for a couple of bad performances over the course of a season....

What do you think? Give them Alonso and £20 million? That should secure a deal.

 

if you only watch match of the day you'll never appreciate the quality of Alonso.

[johngibo YPC]

Got this of a Villa site earlier today, discussing if Villa should let Barry join Liverpool.

 

The majority of Villa fans were damning of Barry and his performances recently which seems a shockingly low level of loyalty given the service he's given them, but then these are guys who booed one of their top young players for a couple of bad performances over the course of a season....

What do you think? Give them Alonso and £20 million? That should secure a deal.

 

 

Firstly this is just one fellas opinion, so you can't judge all Villa fans by it. Its also difficult to get the context of the article from just that paragraph. He could have been joking, or wishful thinking. Its also not unreasonable for this fella to think Barry is valued higher than Alonso considering Rafa seemed to agree with him last summer. I read quiet a few of the Villa forums last summer and a fair number on there actually couldnt understand Rafa as they thought Alonso was better.

 

I have no real idea how Barry is palying or why they are having a go, but i'm sure Gerrard received similar if not worse stick on here for performances when we thought he was leaving. Carling Cup final anyone? We are also in no position to talk about booing young players. And they never booed him anyway

 

But apart from that

[David Hodgson]

when he does leave us alonso's going to be ronnie whelanesque in his underappreciation. it'll only be liverpool fans who acknowledge how good he was. there just hasn't been a better central midfielder in the league this season, he's been the best by a pretty comfortable margin. carrick? lampard? ballack? nowhere near.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

I'm so much mor relaxed when he's playing. He keeps us fluid, and the ball moving from side to side. A truly superb player. Whelan's a good analogy.

[baz2107]

on the Sky Sports website one of their journalists has done a piece about his candiates for player of the year, there are 10 in total and Xabi is in there so at least he's getting some credit.

 

I know a lot of Villa fans and they fall into one of 2 categories 1) Honest about their side and know they've been punching above their weight this season but are also extremely p1ssed off with O'Neill's treatment of the UEFA cup 2) completely deluded think they have a brilliant squad of 20m-30m players and forget to notice that most of them are English and bar Barry not one of them is an England regular even in the squads.

[Hassony]

when he does leave us alonso's going to be ronnie whelanesque in his underappreciation. it'll only be liverpool fans who acknowledge how good he was. there just hasn't been a better central midfielder in the league this season, he's been the best by a pretty comfortable margin. carrick? lampard? ballack? nowhere near.

 

Andy Gray touched on that on sunday, He said that no other midfielder has been/ more consistent better than Xabi this season

[Bigal]

Firstly this is just one fellas opinion, so you can't judge all Villa fans by it. Its also difficult to get the context of the article from just that paragraph. He could have been joking, or wishful thinking. Its also not unreasonable for this fella to think Barry is valued higher than Alonso considering Rafa seemed to agree with him last summer. I read quiet a few of the Villa forums last summer and a fair number on there actually couldnt understand Rafa as they thought Alonso was better.

 

I have no real idea how Barry is palying or why they are having a go, but i'm sure Gerrard received similar if not worse stick on here for performances when we thought he was leaving. Carling Cup final anyone? We are also in no position to talk about booing young players. And they never booed him anyway

 

But apart from that

 

Gibo and Villa fans in a tree........

[carrafan]

Well, most of us know that Barry is a good player but dont rate him THAT highly anyway, even though he's had 3 cracking seasons for Villa on the bounce. Its just that fans of one team dont watch many games of players from the other and apart from MOTD highlights and when they play each other, its tough to gauge how well a player has done.

According to a lot of Villa fans, Barry should definitely be in the England line up.

Everton fans think Arteta is better than Alonso and the only reason Xabi gets picked is because he's at a bigger club.

Arsenal fans think Fabregas is better than Gerrard.

Arsenal fans think Denilson is the best brazilian talent playing in Britain while United fans cant stop drooling over Fabio and his brother.

 

Its not stupidity, its just a bit of bias.

Edited March 26, 2009 by carrafan

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

Andy Gray is just agreeing with Ryan Giggs - who suggested Xabi should be player of the year

[Stevie H]

Couldn't agree more.

 

I'm so much mor relaxed when he's playing. He keeps us fluid, and the ball moving from side to side. A truly superb player. Whelan's a good analogy.

i actually think that xabi is a lot like late career whelan, they make the difficult stuff look easy and the basic stuff look great. ronnie never got enough credit for his defensive savvy and positioning any more than xabi does. you don't have to dive into eight tackles a game to be a great defensive mid. whelan was way ahead of his time, was like a late 90s argentine midfield general, and xabi's just taken that model on into the modern game by doing it at a quicker pace. it's a really difficult role that only great players can make look easy.

[David Hodgson]

Andy Gray is just agreeing with Ryan Giggs - who suggested Xabi should be player of the year

 

Yeah, f8cking Sky and their anti LFC Manc bias.

[Swagger]

when he does leave us alonso's going to be ronnie whelanesque in his underappreciation. it'll only be liverpool fans who acknowledge how good he was. there just hasn't been a better central midfielder in the league this season, he's been the best by a pretty comfortable margin. carrick? lampard? ballack? nowhere near.

 

Couldn't agree more.

 

I'm so much mor relaxed when he's playing. He keeps us fluid, and the ball moving from side to side. A truly superb player. Whelan's a good analogy.

 

 

My sentiments exactly.

[Bailo]

i actually think that xabi is a lot like late career whelan, they make the difficult stuff look easy and the basic stuff look great. ronnie never got enough credit for his defensive savvy and positioning any more than xabi does. you don't have to dive into eight tackles a game to be a great defensive mid. whelan was way ahead of his time, was like a late 90s argentine midfield general, and xabi's just taken that model on into the modern game by doing it at a quicker pace. it's a really difficult role that only great players can make look easy.

Xabi is on the same level as Xavi this season IMO, one of the world's best at his position. Though I think Xavi is a marginally better offensive player (though that may be a reflection of Barca's general philosophy), Xabi's defensive qualities stand out. Out of interest, have Xavi and Xabi ever played for Spain together?

[Woodsyla]

Xabi is on the same level as Xavi this season IMO, one of the world's best at his position. Though I think Xavi is a marginally better offensive player (though that may be a reflection of Barca's general philosophy), Xabi's defensive qualities stand out. Out of interest, have Xavi and Xabi ever played for Spain together?

Errmm, England v Spain the other week, when they took England's pants down.

[Ste M]

Errmm, England v Spain the other week, when they took England's pants down.

 

As they did the other season.

[Stevie H]

Xabi is on the same level as Xavi this season IMO, one of the world's best at his position. Though I think Xavi is a marginally better offensive player (though that may be a reflection of Barca's general philosophy), Xabi's defensive qualities stand out. Out of interest, have Xavi and Xabi ever played for Spain together?

xabi's defensive game is underrated because he doesn't once a game lunge in at people and get booked for being a narky c***. his entire game is understated. best comparison is pep guardiola in his barca days when he ran a game without ever seeming to break a sweat.

[Swipe]

Xabi is on the same level as Xavi this season IMO, one of the world's best at his position. Though I think Xavi is a marginally better offensive player (though that may be a reflection of Barca's general philosophy), Xabi's defensive qualities stand out. Out of interest, have Xavi and Xabi ever played for Spain together?

 

Played together recently against England, when Spain gave them an absolute spanking!

 

Their midfield was a joy to watch that night.

[Swipe]

xabi's defensive game is underrated because he doesn't once a game lunge in at people and get booked for being a narky c***. his entire game is understated. best comparison is pep guardiola in his barca days when he ran a game without ever seeming to break a sweat.

 

Xabi would love that comparison.

 

Think Guardiola is his idol, as he is for many spanish midfielders of this generation

[Sion]

loads on villatalk were mentioning how they should sign Agger in the summer, didn't seem to be one mention that he might not want to go there.

[John am Rhein]

when he does leave us alonso's going to be ronnie whelanesque in his underappreciation. it'll only be liverpool fans who acknowledge how good he was. there just hasn't been a better central midfielder in the league this season, he's been the best by a pretty comfortable margin. carrick? lampard? ballack? nowhere near.

 

Central midfield's not what it used to be

[John am Rhein]

loads on villatalk were mentioning how they should sign Agger in the summer, didn't seem to be one mention that he might not want to go there.

 

Not much different to when some of us are on about signing Villa, Quaresma, etc.

[Raj]

loads on villatalk were mentioning how they should sign Agger in the summer, didn't seem to be one mention that he might not want to go there.

 

If they want to make the step up to a CL place, then they need to buy players of Aggers quality rather than garbage like Nicky Shorey or Curtis Davies. Fair play that they recognise talented players.

[Sion]

If they want to make the step up to a CL place, then they need to buy players of Aggers quality rather than garbage like Nicky Shorey or Curtis Davies. Fair play that they recognise talented players.

 

It was more the way they were posting things like 'Would Joe Cole/Arshavin etc... play for us?' then just mentioning Agger like he'd jump at the chance to join them.