Xabi Alonso

[kamikaze80]

letallec (or whoever), whats the deal with the takeover debt that comes due in feb? have the yanks been able to refinance it?

 

[LeTallec]

i think it would pretty stupid to sell Alonso now.. The Alonso of last season was expendable as he was injured a lot and subsequently out of form. Barry was an adequate replacement but Alonso has returned to his old form it is highly unlikely he will be shifted. I think our English quota problems would be solved once our young players return from loan..

As for the yanks I think they will be able to refinance for atleast another 6 months

 

[Lord Dula]

Please dont sign this ****ser

 

[patrick42uk]

Not even sure he's what we need. He has Mascherano next to him at Pool. Here, he'd have Cesc.

 

[kamikaze80]

united do fine with carrick and scholes. and didnt alonso partner with cesc at times during the euros? i think cesc would be willing to sit back a little more with alonso because he respects his talent, and i think alonso would be disciplined and play that deep-lying playmaker role because he's a professional and respects fabregas' talent.

we'd need more intelligent grafting from wide mid, though, to keep balance in midfield.

 

[JazzG]

Not so sure kamikaze, I remember seeing him and Gerrard get raped by Kaka in the CL final twice. Obviously the first was when they won on penalties and the first half Kaka murdered them but even in the match where AC won as soon as Mascherano was taken off Kaka took control again. If we are going to spend big we need to make sure firstly that defensively the guy is spot on, Alonso for me is pretty average in that department.

Thing with Carrick and Scholes is both of them do lie deep for most matches and Fergie coughed up £17mill on Hargreaves because them lot got taken to the cleaners by Kaka as well twice.

 

[raidersoftheark]

TBF, just about any midfielder in the world could get raped by Kaka. He's a quality rapist.

Carrick/Scholes works because they have a rock solid back 4, and never had to worry much about goals thanks to Cronaldo. Our defensive unit is clownish and our attack force - useless.

I'm totally for playing two box-to-box creative CMs, provided we buy a proper CB, a proper winger, a proper goalkeeper, a proper...

 

[Jameel46]

i've said it before and i'll say it agian, Xabi and Cesc will not work.

 

[outlaw_member]

It will work but they are better solutions to our problem.

 

[banduan]

The Xabi / Cesc partnership is perfectly feasible, it would in fact be quite similar to many of our previous successful partnerships except the Flams / Fabs combo.

Can't compare it with Gerrard / Xabi. You can compare Diaby / Cesc with Gerrard / Xabi but Xabi / Cesc would be something else.

 

[scytheavatar]

The Xabi / Cesc partnership is perfectly feasible, it would in fact be quite similar to many of our previous successful partnerships except the Flams / Fabs combo.

What partnership will it be similar to? Don't mention any partnership with Vieira cause Vieira was way better at defending than Xabi or Cesc, and he had way more strength. That's the reason why the whole box to box thing worked in the past, and you're not going to find many midfielders today that can offer the same package of attacking and defending abilities that Vieira and Flamini offered. A Xabi / Cesc partnership would be the same as the Scholes / Carrick partnership , i.e we are giving no cover to our midfield at all. I don't understand why so many of you guys think that's a good idea when the soft Cesc / Denilson partnership was the root cause for much of this season's woes.

 

[Clrnc]

Tbh, many of you guys here is underestimating Xabi's defensive work. He does alot of tracking and tackling back as well.

Xabi and Cesc will work perfectly well to me

 

[kamikaze80]

A Xabi / Cesc partnership would be the same as the Scholes / Carrick partnership , i.e we are giving no cover to our midfield at all.

doesnt seem to cause any problems for united's defence, does it? best defence in the league last year, i believe. and i dont think evra-vidic-ferdinand-neville is that much better, if at all, than clichy-djourou-gallas-sagna.

 

[outlaw_member]

Good to see Clrc mentioning it. Alonso's defensive ability is criminally underrated, it's as if we're talking about Andrea Pirlo. Alonso is very strong on the ball, he positions himself just in front of the defence and fills any gaps that appear. His aerial ability, is also very underrated. There are so many ocassions that he wins the ball before it reaches the centrebacks, his defensive style is no different to Gilberto, although the Brazilian is superior in that department.

The best thing about Alonso is his creative ability, and the confidence he would give Cesc. Cesc will no longer have to do all the creating, he won't have to drop deep and collect the ball. We wouldn't have just one avenue to create from, like we do at the moment. Fabregas, will also be able to concentrate on attacking, and his productivity will increase as a result.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Good to see Clrc, mentioning it. Alonso's defensive ability is criminally underrated, it's as if we're talking about Andrea Pirlo.

Not comparable. I'm the first to admit that Pirlo is one of the most brilliant midfielders of his generation, but he's got Gattuso behind him in Milan and both Gattuso and De Rossi in the national team. Alonso's got Mascherano at Liverpool. Regardless of their defensive abilities it's not the same to put either one of them behind Cesc.

 

[outlaw_member]

I'm not sure what your saying, but let me clarify what I meant. The Pirlo comment was that the Italian's defensive skills are almost non existent, which is why he has Gattuso and Ambrosini protecting him. Alonso despite playing alongside Mascherano, can more than hold his own defensively. So the way people are talking about Alonso, is as if his defensive skills were that of Pirlo's.

 

[kamikaze80]

klaus, how do you explain united's defensive record, then, with scholes and carrick defending? scholes cant tackle worth a lick and carrick apparently isnt rated by many of you.

 

[ricky1985]

klaus, how do you explain united's defensive record, then, with scholes and carrick defending? scholes cant tackle worth a lick and carrick apparently isnt rated by many of you.

They have a great balance between Ferdiand and Vidic. They play a deep defensive line, automatically making themselves more compact and harder to breakdown.

They have match winners in attack. That enables them to sit back and counter-attack against the better teams.

Thats my theory anyway.

 

[kamikaze80]

i dont think they really sit back that much, not when you look at their possession statistics. it just looks like they sit back and counter because they break so quickly and with devastating effect. they need fewer men forward to attack effectively than we do.

as for playing a deeper line, that should theoretically create more space in midfield and expose their CMs' alleged weakness defensively. if you wanted to protect your CMs, you'd play a higher line which tightens everything up in midfield and allows you to play a pressing game, taking the pressure off your CMs and giving it to the CBs instead (who have to worry about the offside trap and not letting runners in behind them). space is always a defender's enemy.

i agree vidic+ferdinand=great balance and they have numerous match winners in attack.

 

[dos1986]

Your forgetting a small detail Kami.

They have the greatest attacking player in the world!!

If we had him we wouldnt be in this mess, he's that good.