Why Rafa must keep Alonso
Columnist By Tony Tannous, 25 May 2009 Tony Tannous is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Alonso, football, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Rafa Benitez, Ronaldo
Liverpool's Steven Gerrard scores from the penalty spot against Athletico Madrid during their Champions League, Group D, soccer match at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008. AP Photo/Paul Thomas
And to think Liverpool came within a whisker of having Gareth Barry pull the midfield strings this season. What on earth was Rafa Benitez thinking over the last European summer in shopping Xabi Alonso around?
Admittedly he hadn’t had the greatest season just prior, but thank goodness Arsenal had their eye on paying off the Emirates and Juventus flinched at the asking price.
I always thought Benitez had rocks in his head for wanting to replace Alonso with Barry, and this season the Spaniard string-puller responded with an outstanding campaign, undoubtedly his best yet.
Quite simply, in a team featuring two of the world’s best players (fair in my opinion to bracket Gerrard and Torres just behind Messi and Ronaldo), it was Alonso who was the fulcrum of this wonderful Liverpool title challenge, setting the tempo from his deep midfield position with his ridiculously precise passing game, be it short or long, left or right footed.
Gerrard was undoubtedly the driving force, Torres provided the explosive touch, pace and ice-cool finishing when he wasn’t injured, Kuijt and Benayoun chipped in with wonderful contributions in the front third and the two fullbacks, Arbeloa and Aurelio, finally provided the Reds with the requisite thrust from deep.
But little of that would have been possible without Alonso doing the prompting.
Whether he was looking for an incisive pass into the front third for Gerrard or Torres, making space to receive the ball from one of his defenders, or opening out to roll a simple ball into the space for one of his fullbacks to join-in, Alonso was poetry in motion, working best when he had Mascherano doing the dog-work nearby.
It all made for some of the best football in Europe this season. Indeed, to my mind, Liverpool was only bettered in terms of the quality of their football by Barcelona, and for a long time fan that grew up on a diet of Barnes, Beardsley and Rush, it was a joy to behold.
Granted, Manchester United are the champions and have the best depth, but their style, this season, can best be described as effective. Indeed, 15 of their 27 wins (prior to this morning’s season finale) were by only one goal, proving they are best at getting the job done. Eight of those 15 wins were 1-0.
Liverpool, meanwhile, too often failed to demonstrate the killer instinct in games they were controlling, especially when Torres wasn’t available. It was no surprise that the three home draws in the month before Christmas, to Fulham, West Ham and Hull, all games Liverpool dominated handsomely, came back to haunt them.
Benitez must now take the next step and add more top quality in the front third to augment the Gerrard/Torres axis. Someone like David Silva, a player I have long admired, would be a dream on the left (not that Albert Riera had a poor season by any measure), while someone of the quality of Tevez would, you imagine, take a bit of the pressure off Torres, even if it would create a bit of a headache as to where to play Gerrard.
How much money Benitez has to spend is another matter, but he mustn’t contemplate the option of selling Alonso to finance signings, and the signs are good.
Manchester United has equalled Liverpool’s record of 18 titles, but for Liverpool fans there is good news. The remarkable tit-for-tat title sequence (Liverpool won two, then United won two, Liverpool the next three, then United three, Liverpool one, United one, Liverpool one, United one, then Liverpool won eleven before United’s recent run of eleven) suggests is Liverpool’s turn.
With the hope that Alonso is again pulling the strings, and that Gerrard and Torres are augmented by a couple of quality front third signings, next season can’t come soon enough.
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The Crowd Says (6) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Alonso, football, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester United, Rafa Benitez, Ronaldo
May 25th 2009 @ 11:17am
Sam said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:17am | Report comment
Good stuff here. Alonso has been the heart and soul of our midfield this season. Along with Mascherano, they have to be two of the best central midfield players going around. For passing range and ability, there are not too many better than Xabi, perhaps only Pirlo and Xavi. In terms of defensive midfield, Mascherano is the world’s best, and has even managed to keep his temper in check this season.
The spine of Liverpool is becoming very strong. I would be reluctant to tamper too much with the starting XI, as you discuss in the article, the Gerrard/Torres partnership is a proven and successful strikeforce, and will get better and better the longer they play together (they only started 13 matches together this season) I would prefer Rafa to focus more on increasing the depth and talent on the bench. Players such as Babel, Lucas, Dossena and Pennant can be sold in the summer to raise some cash, as they are just not good enough, or consistent enough to be in a squad that is challenging for a title and European honours. I dont want that silly Corporation in Manchester having our trophy for too long, it belongs back to our great club, a club with the richest and best history
May 25th 2009 @ 11:21am
Ando said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:21am | Report comment
Sam,
Pennant is already at Portsmouth
I’d love to see a world class right winger. Kuyt has done a fine job this season, chipping in with some important goals but it would be great to see someone else come in to challenge for that position.
May 25th 2009 @ 11:29am
Robbos said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:29am | Report comment
100% correct Tony. I have Liverpool suppporters who love Gerrard & Torres & for very good resons, no doubt, but to me Alonso was always the brains of this team, while Gerrrad is the soul & the driving force & Torres is the flair & depenable goalscorer,it’s Alonso who moves this team around the park.
No co-incidence that when Alonso is out liverpool drops pts, when he plays well they compete against the best.
May 25th 2009 @ 12:23pm
Vicentin said | May 25th 2009 @ 12:23pm | Report comment
Tony, ok, I’m definitely not a fan of Liverpool and frankly am disappointed that Benitiz finally saw the light. For mine, he’s the best player in the team and one of the smartest footballers going around. When on song his passing game is geometrically precise as is much of his long range shooting – they never feel like “speculative” shots do they?
Such a shame that he isn’t playing for someone else – he would have transformed either of Arsenal or (particularly) Juve’s seasons. Question marks must always remain over Benitez’s judgement (on plenty of decisions actually) on considering Barry (who is a decent player) as a replacement for the superb Alonso. Let’s hope Man City makes him an offer he can’t refuse! Actually, Real Madrid would do worse than to try and rebuild their team around such a player….have they expressed an interest? I hate Real ever more though ;0)
If they did buy Tevez they’d certainly have a “busy” team with Gerrard (running around making car noises) and Kuyt buzzing and bumping into each like a bunch of kids with ADD.
May 25th 2009 @ 1:14pm
Sam said | May 25th 2009 @ 1:14pm | Report comment
Ando,
Pennant is currently on loan at Pompy. His contract is up so we probably should have gotten rid of him when we had the chance, even if it was just a couple of Mill. Agree with you that a wide right man is important, but Kuyt is dependable and has scored quite a few goals from that spot this year. Of more concern is the left flank, Riera is much too inconsistent, and Babel is lazy and doesnt have the defensive game to play in the EPL as a winger at this stage. David Silva would be great.
Vicentin, Benitez only thought about selling Alonso because his season prior to this one was average at best. Good teams were sniffing around and we thought we could cash in, thank God we didnt. Now it looks that it may pay off, and we get Barry for $10m not the $18m we would have paid last season, as well as keeping Xabi. Real have an interest, around the $23m mark, I personally wouldnt let him go for under $28-$30m. Its not like Real dont have money!
May 26th 2009 @ 11:09am
Tony Tannous said | May 26th 2009 @ 11:09am | Report comment
Thanks for your comments and feedback guys…
Vincentin, glad Alonso’s on our side, but agree about your points regarding Benitez’s judgement, I’ve never been entirely convinced, another case in point being Robbie Keane.
And I would go further to say that I’ve never quite been impressed about his ability to deliver in terms of player development and getting the absolute best out of his cattle. He’s signed alot of players, at average prices (admittedly he’s never quite had the big bucks to spend on big signings, so he buys many cheaper players) over the years and very few have gone on to become genuine stars of the team.
Skrtel apperars to be one who could have a long Liverpool life, and Benayoun, Aurelio, Lucas, Insua and Arebola have shown good signs this season, but for every one of them there is Deggen, Babel, Pennant or Voronin.
I had just about lost patience with Rafa after last season, but at least this season there were positive signs that he can build a campaign and play the type of football, consistently, required to sustain a title challenge. In the past he has been an effective tactician in Europe, but in the Premier League you need to attack, for the whole season.