Do Alonso and Mascherano offer enough for a side looking to compete for a title?
They excel in Europe, where Alonso's passing and ball retention and Mascherano's tackling and tracking are key in the exercise of containment we embark on from the knock-out stages onwards.
The league is practically another sport though, as Saturday's horror show so painfully showed. Bravery and attacking play by quality players against inferior opposition tend to be rewarded.
Against Middlesboro, I'd much rather have seen Gerrard drop slightly further back and Benayoun to come in at the expense of Mascherano. Not ideal, but surely a more constructive approach to the type of game that has ended our title challenge before it ever really began.
Alonso and Mascherano - though probably playing to instruction - offer no goal threat and little real creativity.
I can see the attributes of the two players, but we'll never win a title with both featuring together regularly. It might still get us to Rome though.