A thread about a man named Xabi

[sh#t waffle]

eh?

 

Cattermole =14 million

Aquilani = 18 million

 

Who the fuck is this catmole fella? I thought it was a pisstake by someone off here but now its in the papers as well.

 

edit: Google surprises me sometimes

 

 

Cat like reflexes.

[Scott_M]

I don't have an issue with Cattermole, as long as we buy a more creative / playmaker type player to go with him.

 

The reason for this is, with the noises that have been coming from his representitives all summer, this may well be Mascherano's last season with the club. From what I have seen, Cattermole is more similar to Mascherano than Alonso.

 

If we have the money, it makes sense to get his replacement in as early as possible & give him a season bedding in so it is therefore not as much of a loss come the 10/11 season.

 

However, he should not be bought as a direct replacement for Alonso and a more creative player should be bought to compliment him also.

 

Who that is, I don't know.

[INTORRESTING]

If it is Masch and Xabi who want to leave then they have massively gone down in my estimation, they don't want to finish the job it seems.

 

Maybe we need to look away from recruiting Spanish speaking players? As we will probably always be a stepping stone.

[TheHitman]

If it is Masch and Xabi who want to leave then they have massively gone down in my estimation, they don't want to finish the job it seems.

 

Maybe we need to look away from recruiting Spanish speaking players? As we will probably always be a stepping stone.

 

Probably not too wise a strategy, sounds like something you would hear on talksport.

[INTORRESTING]

Probably not too wise a strategy, sounds like something you would hear on talksport.

 

Was written tongue in cheek as that policy is unlikely to change with Rafa in charge!

[TheHitman]

Was written tongue in cheek as that policy is unlikely to change with Rafa in charge!

 

Some of the stuff you read it does makes you wonder, but I was a bit slow there sorry Intorresting.

[INTORRESTING]

Some of the stuff you read it does makes you wonder, but I was a bit slow there sorry Intorresting.

 

Just pissing about really, have been off work 2 weeks and am basically going insane!

[BigMike]

Cattermole for £14 million? Don't think so. Get Michael Johnson's head screwed back on and he'll be a much better and cheaper option (unless City decide they won't sell to us). Danny Murphy? Noble from West Ham? There are too many options to consider that much for Cattermole.

 

As for the Alonso deal, stop pissin' about and tell them we want Sneijder and Negrado in exchange plus cash. If we are to win the league we have to beat the crap teams. Man Utd took 64 points out of 66 against the bottom teams last year, we have to match this and we will do that with pace and skill. Sneijder fits the bill.

[The Golden Eel]

I don't have an issue with Cattermole, as long as we buy a more creative / playmaker type player to go with him.

 

The reason for this is, with the noises that have been coming from his representitives all summer, this may well be Mascherano's last season with the club. From what I have seen, Cattermole is more similar to Mascherano than Alonso.

 

If we have the money, it makes sense to get his replacement in as early as possible & give him a season bedding in so it is therefore not as much of a loss come the 10/11 season.

 

However, he should not be bought as a direct replacement for Alonso and a more creative player should be bought to compliment him also.

 

Who that is, I don't know.

 

That's it in a nutshell, well said

[Ted]

£14m? If he pays that for him then he's off his fucking head.

[redrosetints]

Oh dear.

 

So why do you think Alonso is handing in his transfer request?

 

Because he would love to play for rafa one more season?

 

Their relationship is fucked and there are only one person to blame for that and thats not Xabi.

 

 

Oh grow up Code. Do you know what, the amount of shite said bout Xabi N Rafa, wake up Xabi isnt the best footballer in the world, not even close. This is the same Xabi Alonso, who in two previous seasons had failed to play to anywhere like his previous level. Had he done so, Rafa wouldnt have tried to sell him in the first place and all the other clubs would have bid 25m last summer. Fact is WEnger and Juve thought him worth 12m last year, thats all.

 

And the constant stream of bile toward Rafa 'its his fault' is lacking in any reason and understanding of how the game works.

 

Id say that a fair majority of those who are now pining for Xabi, holding him up as the neXt Pele and digging on Rafa are the same people who advocated for years that we should bring Michael Owen back. Owen left us, LFC, and Rafa in the lurch, he fucked up all Rafas plans. Yet people continued to spout on about how he was a good red at heart and use it as a(nother) example of Rafa being stubborn.

 

Now, a year after Rafa wanted to sell Xabi, Rafa wants him to stay, but now Xabi wants to leave. So who is being sutbborn now ? Oh no, not Xabi, but Rafa. Surely if Rafa was stubborn over Owen its now Xabi who is being stubborn ?

 

In reality, they are all just beig professionals. You see, players move on in football, its what happens, it always has and always will.

 

Owen isnt a Cnut for going somewhere else, he's just doing his job.

Xabi isnt a Cnut for going somewhere else, he's just doing his job.

Rafa isnt a Snut for staying and tryging to keep or sell either of them, he's just doing his job.

 

But the bottom line is, for all those Owenites (though Im sure there arent many left now) and Xabists, of the three men in question. Two chose to join the money and glamour of Madrid, one of them didnt. ANd of the three, its the man from Madrid, who grew up there, supported them and worked there for years who turned them down and chose to finish off the projects he started here.

 

So ATK, Juan Galonso, TomR, Ted, Philly and the rest, you know who you are. Think about that next time you start to launch into an defence of Xabi or more likely a wibble bout Rafa. The Madrid man is the one who stayed, the one who showed the loyalty, now get off your fucking soapboxes and get behind Rafa and the team.

[Carra_is_legend]

But the bottom line is, for all those Owenites (though Im sure there arent many left now) and Xabists, of the three men in question. Two chose to join the money and glamour of Madrid, one of them didnt. ANd of the three, its the man from Madrid, who grew up there, supported them and worked there for years who turned them down and chose to finish off the projects he started here.

 

So ATK, Juan Galonso, TomR, Ted, Philly and the rest, you know who you are. Think about that next time you start to launch into an defence of Xabi or more likely a wibble bout Rafa. The Madrid man is the one who stayed, the one who showed the loyalty, now get off your fucking soapboxes and get behind Rafa and the team.

 

Rafaists and non-Rafaists assume too many things in my opinion. Code assumes Xabi is leaving because of his personal relationship with Rafa. You are assuming Madrid "really" came in for Rafa and that Rafa turned them down.

 

Who knows? It might be a case of Rafa "really" wanting to sell Xabi. May be Madrid never came in for him? Or may be Rafaists are right - he was desperate to keep Xabi and turned down Madrid. No one knows the truth.

 

You are talking about getting behind Rafa and the team. Take TomR for example - he criticised Rafa (rightly in my opinion) and all the Rafaists jumped on him. When we started to play well, the same TomR came back and praised Rafa - and all the Rafaists jumped on him again as they "thought" nothing had changed in our way of play which non-Rafaists disagreed with.

 

I don't know the point I'm trying to make here but I thought I will write all that crap anyway.

[Skidfingers McGonical]

Liverpool offered swap deal by Real Madrid for Xabi Alonso - Telegraph

 

Liverpool offered swap deal by Real Madrid for Xabi Alonso

Real Madrid are prepared to offer Liverpool a choice of Alvaro Negredo, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar or Rafael Van der Vaart as part of the deal to take Xabi Alonso to the Bernabeu as the Spanish club try to break the deadlock surrounding one of the summer’s longest-running transfer sagas.

 

By Rory Smith

Published: 11:35AM BST 31 Jul 2009

 

Alonso handed in a formal, written transfer request on Wednesday night in a bid to expedite his move, held up for several weeks by Real’s refusal to meet Liverpool’s £30 million asking price for the Spanish international.

 

Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager, had asked Alonso for a decision on his future - though he had not, as has been suggested, put a definite time limit on the deal - and the player had hoped a declaration of intent would force both clubs to reach an agreement.

 

 

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Liverpool eye Aquilani

Alonso's transfer request

Men charged over Dalglish grenade Benitez, though, remains adamant he will not reduce his demands for a player he does not wish to sell while Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, is determined not to pay over the odds for a player he does not see as a marketing investment, as he does Cristiano Ronaldo, and is unlikely to be happy at being forced into a corner.

 

Real would like to pay no more than £24 million and, with the clubs still £6 million apart in their valuations, the stalemate persists, transfer request or no.

 

Reports in Spain suggest Real are keen to overcome that by offering Liverpool their pick of Negredo and Huntelaar, the strikers, or Van der Vaart, the Dutch international midfielder.

 

Benitez insisted earlier in the summer that he has no interest in a swap deal, but he has been tracking Negredo for several months after the forward enjoyed a successful loan spell at Almeria.

 

Madrid are desperate to cut their squad - currently 29 strong, after the purchase of Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool and the sale of Gabriel Heinze to big-spending Marseille - as Spanish league rules dictate they can register a maximum of 25 players for their campaign.

 

They have attempted to offload Huntelaar to the French side and Stuttgart in recent weeks, while Negredo was offered to Valencia as part of a package to sign David Villa.

 

Sources in Italy believe Liverpool have already lined up Alonso’s most direct replacement after offering the Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani a five-year contract.

 

Benitez is thought to be ready to pay around £14 million to sign the Italian international from Roma, in the midst of an ownership tussle and chronically impoverished.

 

Valencia this morning insisted Benitez’s long-term priority target David Silva is not for sale.

[Scott_M]

It's surprise me it hasn't been made official. Didn't the Gerrard transfer request get a story on .tv?

[stringvest]

Rafaists and non-Rafaists assume too many things in my opinion. Code assumes Xabi is leaving because of his personal relationship with Rafa. You are assuming Madrid "really" came in for Rafa and that Rafa turned them down.

 

Who knows? It might be a case of Rafa "really" wanting to sell Xabi. May be Madrid never came in for him? Or may be Rafaists are right - he was desperate to keep Xabi and turned down Madrid. No one knows the truth.

 

You are talking about getting behind Rafa and the team. Take TomR for example - he criticised Rafa (rightly in my opinion) and all the Rafaists jumped on him. When we started to play well, the same TomR came back and praised Rafa - and all the Rafaists jumped on him again as they "thought" nothing had changed in our way of play which non-Rafaists disagreed with.

 

I don't know the point I'm trying to make here but I thought I will write all that crap anyway.

 

Great post.

 

I'm not sure Real actually 'came in' in any genuine sense for Rafa - though he wasn't backward in mentioning it when we were top of the league in order to try and strengthen his position though...

[redrosetints]

Rafaists and non-Rafaists assume too many things in my opinion. Code assumes Xabi is leaving because of his personal relationship with Rafa. You are assuming Madrid "really" came in for Rafa and that Rafa turned them down.

 

Who knows? It might be a case of Rafa "really" wanting to sell Xabi. May be Madrid never came in for him? Or may be Rafaists are right - he was desperate to keep Xabi and turned down Madrid. No one knows the truth.

 

You are talking about getting behind Rafa and the team. Take TomR for example - he criticised Rafa (rightly in my opinion) and all the Rafaists jumped on him. When we started to play well, the same TomR came back and praised Rafa - and all the Rafaists jumped on him again as they "thought" nothing had changed in our way of play which non-Rafaists disagreed with.

 

I don't know the point I'm trying to make here but I thought I will write all that crap anyway.

 

AYe it may be, I'm not trying to be a Rafapologist, Xabist or Owenite, just a fan of LFC! ANd the amount of shite aimed at people from all sides is ridiculous, its like the life of brian round here at the moment.

 

Once Xabi does leave there will be some respite, until we see who Rafa wants to sign, then it will all begin again (Cattermole is shite, no he isnt, yes he is. Aquillani was scoutd by Macia, he'll be shite, no he wont etc etc) when people havent even seen some of the lads in a red shirt yet.

 

My point was simple, that this kind of thing has always happened in footie and it always will. Nothing is certain, however, the season starts in two weeks and we have a title to win. Rafas in charge and whatever he does or doesnt do is what he see's as the best for the club and at times for himself. Ditto, Xabi and Owen. Once the season starts, lets stop whininng about what may or may not be and concentrate on the task in hand.

 

Rafas still here, No 19 is there for the taking, come on you reds.

[WaltonRed]

Take Van Der Vaart and Huntelaar

[INTORRESTING]

I would prefer swaps as i cant see the yanks giving Rafa all of the Alonso money. We should be adding world class players to the squad instead of fucking about like this, we have such an amazing chance to push on and finally win the title. I expect Moores and Parry will still show their face at the ground, they should be made to phone up for tickets like everyone else, the cunts.

[Kingston]

I'd be happy with Huntelaar and Van Der Vaart + £10 mill.

 

Plenty of options there and i actually think we'd be in better shape than with Xabi.

 

I'd be even more happy if it was Sniejder + £10 mill but it doesn't look like he's included.

 

I don't think Rafa wants any of them though.

[rebel23]

still nothing from Madrid then, dont think they want Xabi

 

another friendly tonight for them, lets hope Granero has a good game and they all chant his name again.

[crouchaholic]

Take Van Der Vaart and Huntelaar

 

And sell them for lots and lots!(6)

[AmerScouse]

people, it was 14 million EUROS that Balague quoted for Cattermole it ain't pounds.

 

still high but not the same thing.

[Faustus]

Alonso's supposed to be going to Madrid?

 

God, that one came out of the blue...

[stringvest]

I'd be happy with Huntelaar and Van Der Vaart + £10 mill.

 

Plenty of options there and i actually think we'd be in better shape than with Xabi.

 

I'd be even more happy if it was Sniejder + £10 mill but it doesn't look like he's included.

 

I don't think Rafa wants any of them though.

 

I don't think VDV or Huntelaar are much cop, frankly. But needs must, I suppose.

[t1971]

I think Cattermole is a good little player. Thats not to say hes good enough for us, but ill be happy enough with Rafas judgement on that.