Going forward

[aussiekeeper]

hey guys new to this forum,I have been sitting here in Sydney watching this Alonso saga drag on and was not sure on how to take it.

now don't get me wrong, I think Alonso is a great player, and I honestly believe there are not to many like him in football today.

 

the only real problem I had with him was his pace, and I am not Necessarily meaning how quick he can run, but how much he slows down the game.

Let me explain, I think the secret the beating teams that pack there defence, is by being able to hit them on the attack with pace when they have pushed forward, you look at the scum and the barca's of this world and they do it better than most.

 

if we can find a player who will be quicker than Alonso in this aspect of this game, maybe as I stated this will be a blessing in disguise for us..

 

I guess time will tell

[_00_deathscar]

We're just trying to find the silver lining. There would be threads looking for it if we'd just sold Gerrard AND Torres.

[BG]

We're just trying to find the silver lining. There would be threads looking for it if we'd just sold Gerrard AND Torres.

 

Maybe some are looking for a silver (spelling?) lining but for me there is no comparison at all to be made with selling Gerrard or Torres and selling Alonso - not least in the fees they would command never mind the impact on our team.

Edited August 5, 2009 by BG

[_00_deathscar]

True - and I do actually believe we'll have to change our style of play. Whether we benefit from this obviously remains to be seen...but let's not start pretending that Xabi was a one-trick/one-paced pony (not saying the OP is).

[John am Rhein]

Replacing Alonso with someone more dynamic will probably add some punch to our attack, but our ability to keep the ball when already in the lead will surely be diminished. That's probably where he'll be missed.

[Mike]

Maybe some are looking for a silver lining but for me there is no comparison at all to be made with selling Gerrard or Torres and selling Alonso - not least in the fees they would command never mind the impact on our team.

correct

 

alonso is a great player and he dictates the pace of the game as well being the fulcrum by which we switch play. that is replaceable far more than what gerrard or alonso can give you. i mentioned it a few weeks ago, but alonso, for all his undoubted ability was never one to chip in with a great number of assists,never mind goals. im hoping his replacement is not a like for like swap, i would like to see an evolution in our game brought on by the loss of alonso.

some times a change is good...fingers crossed.

[Mike]

Replacing Alonso with someone more dynamic will probably add some punch to our attack, but our ability to keep the ball when already in the lead will surely be diminished. That's probably where he'll be missed.

 

reckon that's right as well, but it could mean the evolution of someone like agger so the centre halves takes on some of that role

[Stevie H]

as blackadder said, if it is it's a very good disgiuse.

 

we're going into the new season minus arguably our third most important player and the guy at the heart of all our tempo and direction last season. it's a huge step back and we're not going to sign a player who can just come in a seamlessly get on with a similar role, so we will have to adjust. if the player, which looks like being aquilani, is as good as rumoured then hopefully we'll just crack on regardless. i am though worried that some players are going to be looking around for alonso to give the ball to the first few matches of the season and we risk looking rudderless like we did in a lot of the matches when he was absent.

 

it isn't the end of the world and we'll get over it in the long run, but the short-term impact could be bloody awful.

[Mike]

as blackadder said, if it is it's a very good disgiuse.

 

we're going into the new season minus arguably our third most important player and the guy at the heart of all our tempo and direction last season. it's a huge step back and we're not going to sign a player who can just come in a seamlessly get on with a similar role, so we will have to adjust. if the player, which looks like being aquilani, is as good as rumoured then hopefully we'll just crack on regardless. i am though worried that some players are going to be looking around for alonso to give the ball to the first few matches of the season and we risk looking rudderless like we did in a lot of the matches when he was absent.

 

it isn't the end of the world and we'll get over it in the long run, but the short-term impact could be bloody awful.

 

i don't know. he didn't play against the mancs away or newcastle away or west ham away. we were s*** hot in those games. he is a great player and the upset to the team balance does worry me.

 

personally im thinking we're going to need to get about another 2 top class players in and it needs to be 87 all over again with barnes and beardsley totally reinventing our play.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Mike

[Stevie H]

i don't know. he didn't play against the mancs away or newcastle away or west ham away. we were s*** hot in those games. he is a great player and the upset to the team balance does worry me.

 

personally im thinking we're going to need to get about another 2 top class players in and it needs to be 87 all over again with barnes and beardsley totally reinventing our play.

87 is exactly what i've been thinking of too man, which is why i think we need more than one top player to make up for his going and to help us adjust as quickly as possible. if we could get both aquilani and silva in then i think we'd, maybe, be pretty quickly looking at it as a good piece of business and probably an overall improvement of the squad. if it's just aquilani then probably not.

 

i don't think that the mancs, newcastle or west ham are brilliant guides either by the way - we were more impressive away to chelsea who were stronger at home than all those three and alonso was magnificent that day.

[yellow jumper]

timing could have been better, but the fee here softens the blow massively. just up to rafa to make the most of it now.

[Stevie H]

timing could have been better, but the fee here softens the blow massively. just up to rafa to make the most of it now.

which would assume a) that the manager will have it all to re-invest and b) that selling clubs won't see it as a reason to rip us off. agree timing is horrible, week and a half to sort deals out before the first match, so hopefully we've already got them as good as done and were just waiting for the alonso money to seal them.

[Knox_Harrington]

i don't know. he didn't play against the mancs away or newcastle away or west ham away. we were s*** hot in those games. he is a great player and the upset to the team balance does worry me.

 

personally im thinking we're going to need to get about another 2 top class players in and it needs to be 87 all over again with barnes and beardsley totally reinventing our play.

87's a really good shout. As is the onus on the centre halves (especially Agger).

 

It's movement around Masch. That's the way forward.

[Walrus]

Last summer I was happy enough to see Xabi leaving and a replacement (Barry) brought in. Last season his form saw such a significant improvement that I think replacing Xabi will not be all that simple.

 

However, the season before we were 'only' 11 points adrift and IMO Alonso was nowhere near the level he should've been.

 

Now, if we can get a good replacement (Aquilani?) in and Stevie and Fernando have an injury free season we might still be thereabout as the Mancs have definitely become weaker and Chelsea have yet another new manager and I don't think Arsenal or City will last the distance.

 

Not ideal, but in a way we could be taking a step back before taking a bigger leap forward (an effective Xabi replacement + more attacking full back + fully fit Stevie/Fernando axis + Silva/a.n.other?).

[psl]

We must be due some good news in the transfer market shortly.

[Mike]

87 is exactly what i've been thinking of too man, which is why i think we need more than one top player to make up for his going and to help us adjust as quickly as possible. if we could get both aquilani and silva in then i think we'd, maybe, be pretty quickly looking at it as a good piece of business and probably an overall improvement of the squad. if it's just aquilani then probably not.

 

i don't think that the mancs, newcastle or west ham are brilliant guides either by the way - we were more impressive away to chelsea who were stronger at home than all those three and alonso was magnificent that day.

 

we got chelsea at the right time, they were falling to bits under scolari...their record went down hill from there. no arguement that we and alonso were great that day either.

[Flasher]

Replacing Alonso with someone more dynamic will probably add some punch to our attack, but our ability to keep the ball when already in the lead will surely be diminished. That's probably where he'll be missed.

 

 

I still say that Rafa has thought this for a while, which is why he tried to effectively swap him for Barry last year.

 

Alonso is a brilliant player, no doubt, but is he suited to us or the Premiership?

 

We will definitely miss his ball retention, but look at Arsenal, they have tons of players comfortable with the ball at their feet. These players are not that hard to find.

 

Alonso's passing in the final 3rd, particularly those 1st time hits that other players don't see, they are very special and will also be missed.

[Flasher]

We must be due some good news in the transfer market shortly.

 

 

I'm sure we'll get someone, but Lucas will start the season for sure, and deservedly so. He's waited patiently for this opportunity to step out from the shadows of Mascher, Alonso and Gerrrard - now is his time.

[Herbie von Smalls]

big loss, but sooner Xabi than Rafa. our manager's got the tactical nous to come up with a system to fit whatever personnel are at his disposal - as he has proven. let's hope the loss of a key player is compensated by what we need more than anything else... consistency and the ability to kill off teams we should beat every time.

 

we've made a good profit on Alonso, that's at least some degree of consolation.

[fred milne]

Alonso is a brilliant player, no doubt, but is he suited to us or the Premiership?

Of course he is.

[fred milne]

the only real problem I had with him was his pace, and I am not Necessarily meaning how quick he can run, but how much he slows down the game.

I actually thought that one of his best attributes. Whilst Gerrard still only really plays the game at one tempo, Alonso had the nous about when to slow it down and how to move the ball away from congested areas. Whoever Rafa brings in to replace him will need to have to these qualities or our game will suffer.

[Tommok]

I'm not totally heartbroken about this - I'm coming to terms with it.

 

I just wish that Aquilani had a better injury record.

 

We already have a few injury prone players and spending £16m -£18m on a player that has a track record of only playing something around (broadly speaking) 15 games a season is something of a concern.

 

As a player, I have no problems with his signing and can see how it might even improve us.

[schmuckdonald]

To be fair though, judging by the comments coming out of Italy, Spalleti is a nazi of a trainer and injures players regurarly. We won't sign an injury prone player that can't be fixed

 

Besides, just look at Fabio Aurelio (the most injured player in the world) - he played most of last season and excelled. We don't really sign many crocks, not under Rafa anyway, and our facilities and staff are good enough to deal with a lot of problems as well. They'll see if he has no legs.

 

Full faith he's going to be quality.

 

Note: the exception could be shown to be Degen, but I refuse to regard him as a footballer.

Edited August 5, 2009 by robmcburger

[Tommok]

To be fair though, judging by the comments coming out of Italy, Spalleti is a nazi of a trainer and injures players regurarly. We won't sign an injury prone player that can't be fixed

 

Besides, just look at Fabio Aurelio (the most injured player in the world) - he played most of last season and excelled. We don't really sign many crocks, not under Rafa anyway, and our facilities and staff are good enough to deal with a lot of problems as well. They'll see if he has no legs.

 

Full faith he's going to be quality.

 

Note: the exception could be shown to be Degen, but I refuse to regard him as a footballer.

 

Agger?

[Jarg Armani]

West Ham away is a bizarre example of a game where we managed without Xabi.

 

I thought they passed right through us in the first half and we were ragged until Alonso came on.