Xabi Alonso - Why I Left LFC

[Walton Park]

Beans going onto the egg is plain wrong. The sausage should be dividing them apart.

[stringvest]

We need to be more specific. Beans and egg yolk fine. Beans and white part of the egg? Fuck that.

[Juniper]

As long as the beaned wonders aren't touching my bread and mushrooms I'm ok with their wondering.

 

These avid travellers can ramble to their hearts content within these guidelines.

[s(k)aturation]

http://www.liverpoolway.co.uk/forum/gf-general-forum/79820-real-bbq.html

 

I got the impression Aussies were quite adventurous when it came to barbies though, another stereotype blown out the water.

 

I'm a butcher's son and tend to keep it simple. (My Dad calls sausages "mystery bags" so we tend to avoid anything other than certified, trustworthy home made types... except maybe for basic thin pork sausages, a throwback to my Irish wife's love of her famous native "SuperQuinn" ones)

 

My favourite thing at the moment is BBQing a "Tomahawk" rib eye steak, so called because it is the size and shape of said indigenous American implement.

 

It comes in sizes anywhere from around 850g to 1.2kg, so it's meant to be shared although my "mutant coconut"-sized prostate and I could probably have knocked one over ourselves in years gone by.

 

It's to be cooked on searing heat for around 10 mins (5 each side) at first, and then on medium for a further 15 mins (turning once again).

 

Then, carve it Florentine-style and serve those long chunky strips with some chopped flat leaf parsely and a squeeze of lemon.

 

The bollocks.

[That fella]

In an interview published in Spanish newspaper As before the defeat to Everton in the FA Cup, Alonso also insisted that he intends to see out the remainder of his own contract at Anfield.

Alonso was thought to be on his way out of Anfield in the summer but a £16 million move to Juventus never materialised. Since then, the Spanish international has been one of Liverpool’s best performers.

He said: “Liverpool have everything a player could want, the stadium, the stories. We are improving and thanks to Rafa we are where we should be, competing for every trophy we enter.

“The way the fans here talk about former players is so emotional. I will be here for three years, I can assure you.”

 

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez in ‘tug of war’, says Xabi Alonso - Telegraph

[RoboRiise]

Some people even when confronted with the stark truh from Xabi Alonso himself still continue to put their head in the sand and believe what they want to believe.

 

Some people like King Emlyn offer a sensible alternative view that takes accout of what Xabi has said but the majority just dont want to believe Xabi left because of Rafa.

 

 

Some people want to gouge their fucking eyes out with red-hot teaspoons every time a variant of this thread rears its head.

[Jonny83]

I was going to post a picture of White pudding, as it is clearly superior to black pudding, but the picture I found made it look like a white turd.

 

Three months ago before a trip to Dublin I would have been like "what the fuck you on about?"

 

However now I happen to agree with you.

 

Black pudding is still the fucking shit though.

[Jose Jones]

I prefer black to white, but I've only had white a couple of times in dat dere Ireland, so perhaps they could have been dodgy versions. Need more pudding experience.

 

Stumptown you are correct about Australian barbecue, tends to be simple meat or fish grilling, not the basting, brining, smoking extravaganzas you dudes have in the US.

[s(k)aturation]

[QUOTE=Jose Jones

Stumptown you are correct about Australian barbecue, tends to be simple meat or fish grilling, not the basting, brining, smoking extravaganzas you dudes have in the US.

 

 

Speaking of which, I've had my chargrilled chorizo, avocado and relish in Turkish bread for breakfast...

 

... and am now thinking of grilled lamb of some sort for lunch if they have it at Barbarino's just up St Kilda Rd.

 

Fat fuck that I am.

[Dundalis]

Lovely player, but I'd rather not have him back, not as a starting XI player anyway.

We're still fixated on this lovely playmaker angle of midfield, oooh it's so like Barcelona, but we conveniently forget that that lovely play is always underwritten by one of Masch, Busquets and Keita. We still need a player like that first and foremost. Yes we have Speo but we need another one, possibly a bigger version of him.

We had a season of Mascherano and Lucas. Our midfield was still shit, and our build up play was even worse.

 

It's more important to be able to keep the ball than to always be trying to win it back IMO. Having Lucas next to a destroyer with limited technical ability isn't going to help us that much.

[mypost]

So basically what we've learned from the article is, Rafa fell out with someone, screwed up, and the club faced the consequences.

 

Is this news?

[Malarkey]

Black pudding is fucking rancid.

 

But I have beans on my fry up.

 

Ruling.

[Major Tom]

In an interview published in Spanish newspaper As before the defeat to Everton in the FA Cup, Alonso also insisted that he intends to see out the remainder of his own contract at Anfield.

Alonso was thought to be on his way out of Anfield in the summer but a £16 million move to Juventus never materialised. Since then, the Spanish international has been one of Liverpool’s best performers.

He said: “Liverpool have everything a player could want, the stadium, the stories. We are improving and thanks to Rafa we are where we should be, competing for every trophy we enter.

“The way the fans here talk about former players is so emotional. I will be here for three years, I can assure you.”

 

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez in ‘tug of war’, says Xabi Alonso - Telegraph

 

I am sure Xabi meant what he said he and intended to stay at that point. The lure of home and a big pay rise was, understandably, too much to turn down!

[Liverpool lad]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down. I live by this and therefore resist the urge to sit on the internet all day like a lovesick teenager defending either Alonso or Rafa, as if they give a fuck about me.

[JohnnyH]

White pudding and black pudding are superb.

 

However, hagis with breakfast is the best

[JohnnyH]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down. I live by this and therefore resist the urge to sit on the internet all day like a lovesick teenager defending either Alonso or Rafa, as if they give a fuck about me.

 

Amen sister.

[Major Tom]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down.

 

Word.

[zigackly]

White pudding and black pudding are superb.

 

However, hagis with breakfast is the best

 

Haggis is great under any circumstances. Haggis and chips. Yum.

[JohnnyH]

Haggis is great under any circumstances. Haggis and chips. Yum.

 

When I lived in Glasgow I used to love a haggis supper, with an extra single haggis. Salt and sauce and a can of Best. Mmmmmmmm

[ritchie]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down. I live by this and therefore resist the urge to sit on the internet all day like a lovesick teenager defending either Alonso or Rafa, as if they give a fuck about me.

 

That's basically it. But don't forget this interview:

 

February 2009

 

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez in ‘tug of war’, says Xabi Alonso - Telegraph

 

He said: “Liverpool have everything a player could want, the stadium, the stories. We are improving and thanks to Rafa we are where we should be, competing for every trophy we enter.

“The way the fans here talk about former players is so emotional. I will be here for three years, I can assure you.”

 

Madrid came in for him with a massive project and he wanted to go. That was the main thing in 2009.

 

In 2008 Rafa was wrong to try and sell him but there was still no takers at £12m or whatever it was, he stayed and that was for that.

[Jose Jones]

Everyone knows what happened with Alonso, everyone knew then and everyone knows now. Rafa tried to sell him in 2008, no-one wanted to pay what we were asking, so he stayed and had a great season. When Madrid came in for him in 2009 he'd lost the trust in Rafa which played a part in his decision to leave.

Everyone has known this.

[mypost]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down.

 

Very hard to have any middle ground on this issue. The transfer began in July 2008, and took 12 months to complete. Arguably it began earlier, when Xabi withdrew from the squad to play Inter, and we know how Rafa reacts to that kind of thing.

 

The huge wage wasn't a big factor, he was on a fairly hefty wage packet here. About a return to Spain, that is not an issue, as he is a Basque, and we know Basques think of Spain, so he didn't "return home" in the conventional sense. This transfer started when Rafa wanted rid of him, and by the time Rafa wanted to keep him, it was way too late by then.

Edited May 26, 2011 by mypost

[Antynwa]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down. I live by this and therefore resist the urge to sit on the internet all day like a lovesick teenager defending either Alonso or Rafa, as if they give a fuck about me.

 

Lad.

 

The middle ground is for sissies and for people who want to admit defeat.

[Red Nick]

Can we not have a middle ground? One where Rafa was no doubt in the wrong for trying to get rid of him, but the huge wages, a return to Spain and the Galatico project was far too much to turn down. I live by this and therefore resist the urge to sit on the internet all day like a lovesick teenager defending either Alonso or Rafa, as if they give a fuck about me.

 

If that was the truth yes,

 

However according to Xabi it clearly wasnt the situation, He was very polite but made it clear that if he stayed another year it would be very difficult for him personally.

 

Clear as Mud that he had no intention of working with Rafa for another season and the fact Pako was invited to his wedding and Rafa wasnt should tell you everything.

 

Xabi wouldnt lie and its proven Rafa does lie

[Funkasy]

Rafa was liverpool through and through while pako wanted to marry Mourinho at chelsea and Alonso wanted to marry Mourinho at Real Madrid. jup there lies the truth somewhere.

 

cheers everyone.