Alberto Aquilani

[Maxi]

Alonso poor for 18 months? Of course he was....:monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes:

[Antynwa]

I would say that once Rafa tried to sell him and Alonso found out nobody really wanted him that was a turning point, it shocked him and he got his arse into gear, that's when we really saw the player he has become

 

Barry and Alonso would have been a fantastic midfield partnership with Gerrard and Torres up front

 

That's a fair point, I wasn't exactly against the decision to sell Xabi originally.

[RedKnight]

He doesn’t want to play for us because we’ve very clearly said we don’t want him. If we were to reverse that rather stupid stand point then I think he would happily play for us. He was happy to come here in the first place.

 

He doesn't want to play for us now if you want to be pedantic.

Edited May 11, 2012 by RedKnight

[Major Tom]

I would say that once Rafa tried to sell him and Alonso found out nobody really wanted him that was a turning point, it shocked him and he got his arse into gear, that's when we really saw the player he has become

 

Barry and Alonso would have been a fantastic midfield partnership with Gerrard and Torres up front

 

Masch was better at what Masch did than what Barry would have been. Rafa was looking at an Alonso/Barry swap not an Alonso/Masch one.

[TheHowieLama]

if you want to be pedantic.

 

:whistle:

Edited May 11, 2012 by RedKnight

[RedKnight]

Dunno what you're talkin' about, bro.

[zigackly]

Quality Trolling.

 

My work here is done.

[aiyic]

Alonso poor for 18 months? Of course he was....:monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes::monkeyrolleyes:

 

I remember very clearly that Alonso seemed uninterested back then before our 86-pointer season. Alonso had a fairly pants season by his standards in 07-08, and as has been said before, no-one snapped him up at £14m, (mooted figure at the time) which is a perfect barometer of how he was perceived. Juve had been linked for ages, and then they got Christian Poulsen instead (are you chewing gum? Bin. Now)

 

Alonso in that 07-08 season wasn't showing for the ball anything like, a) he should have, or b) like he did the following season in 08-09.

 

Barry was in a rich vein of form back then, scoring a lot of goals, and had very dynamic movement; I'd say like a cross between Gerard and Alonso. And yes, Gerrard made very public statements of looking forward to playing with him as they England roomies.

 

I remember in Europe Alonso always pointing up-field to Riise, instead of showing for the pass.

 

So, in short, bring back Aquilani.

[Bobby Hundreds]

I thought Alonso was very good even in the patches people said he was poor, I remember we missed him when he broke his foot and then when he came back he was like a breath of fresh air, he just wasn't as impressive as his first year, then his final year was superb.

 

How many people got sent off with a challenge on Alonso, he'd invite fuckers to lunge at him. The sexy bearded bastard.

[zigackly]

[Liquid football]

I'm not sure if Barry was the man we needed, maybe, maybe not but i wasn't overly bothered when i first heard the rumours that Benitez wanted to sell Alonso. I was massively bothered about Alonso staying the following season though because he had been brilliant that following year. I find it impossible to agree with anyone who thinks that Alonso had been playing at the same level the whole time he was with us.

[goatboy59]

So the Kop singing "You can stick Gareth Barry up your arse" and cheering wildly every time Alonso took a corner against Lazio. That never happened then? He seemed very popular for someone who had underachieved for 18 months.

 

When Rafa changed it to Torres on his own, Gerrard just behind, Kuyt on the right, Alonso and Mascherano in the middle, in Feb 2008, the mostly excellent results made most think that the team only required minor modification.

 

I remember a lot of confused people asking why we needed Barry and Keane at all, unless we were promising Barry the central berth that he had at Villa and then intended to renege once he was here, the left position finally going to Riera.