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If you were coaching on first touch, and wanted to pull up a video to use as an example, I'd suggest pulling together some clips of Alonso. He likes use his left foot to trap the ball, and in doing so, in one motion he sets himself up ready to make the next play with his favoured right. In many circumstances, it gives him that extra half second as he does not need to re-shuffle his feet or adjust his balance.

Some good points there although I have two to add - when we go away to Chelsea/Man Utd/Arsenal and play well enough to get results (and actually get them), then I'll start believing we're ready to go all the way this season. My other point is this: if Crouchy played instead of Kuyt as the lone striker in the final, we would have had more of a chance.

Anyone that says Xabi Alonso hides or lacks the fight, clearly hasn't got a clue. He plays with guts and a determination that is clearly there for all to see. Some standout performances for me were Blackburn away last season (when he tried to win the game on his own taking some excellent long range shots), Man Utd away the previous season when he put in what I thought was his best defensive performance for the club, and perhaps his best all round match for us, the 3-1 win at home to Everton when he basically ran the show after Stevie got sent off. He plays with heart, and I think most fans recognize that. Unfortunately you'll always have a few with the blinkers on...

The trajectory and dip of the free kick was what was most impressive. You look at the way Gerrard can swing a pacy swerving cross in from the wing and I used to wonder why he couldn't hit free kicks as well as Beckham. The one he hit today was right up there with the best of them I've seen in my opinion.

Gotta say that outing against Boro at home last season was probably one of the worst performances from a midfielder in ages. And I'm including Salif in there as well...glad to hear he's picked it up though! Thought he did alright against South China in some patches.

We have lost our only two players with natural goalscorer's instincts (Fowler + Garcia), but signing Benayoun has made up for some of that disappointment in my opinion. If Garcia was fit we would have won against Everton and then Man Utd at Anfield which would have kept the pressure on the top two. It would certainly have been "on". And I think Garcia would have played on the left instead of Zenden in the final, no doubt. Also, I still think Rafa would have been better off playing Crouchy from the start and using Gerrard on the left.

Luis Garcia is a far better (attacking) header of a ball than Crouchy will ever be - as evidenced in his fantastic goals against Anderlecht and Fulham. Great technique and timing is something that he has, despite standing a foot shorter than Crouchy. I'm a massive fan of Crouch but it seems to be the weakest area of his game, his heading of the ball aggressively (and timing his jump).

Finnan maybe...he is a no.2 after all...

most importantly, what bout Josemi?

Between Robbie and COllymore they had everything. An awesome pairing in 05/06.

Or Van Persie from Arsenal, since they're supposed to be "on the decline" after losing Henry and Wenger not committing past next season...

I'm not a huge fan of Kuyt right now, but I have confidence that if he spent more time in the box he'd be our (at least) 15 league goals-a-season man. Not what purists would call a natural goalscorer, but definitely a very competent one in my opinion.

In my opinion, there was always a spot for Luis Garcia in the team. One match in particular stood out for me - Arsenal away 05/06. He was absolute pants, the worst I'd ever seen him play. Hopeless. But after Gerrard took a 30 yard shot which Lehmann could only parry/deflect, who was on hand to nod home the rebound? He's a proper footballer, and has the instincts of a striker - we missed him dearly last season, and will continue to do so unless he's properly replaced. By a goalscoring midfielder or a creative midfielder.

I am ABSOLUTELY GUTTED... Played his football with imagination and heart, and the player with the best striker's instincts after Fowler. I hope we replace him well. Can't believe it's only £4m...

Fair and accurate statements - bloody media love a stir don't they...

I thought his performance against Spurs in his second game back from the broken ankle was better. An exhibition of long range passes, with the pick of the bunch a raking 75 yard crossfield ball into the path of the oncoming Riise.

Now THAT is top notch!

I'm still traumatized by that match...

So did we sammy, so did we...but that feeling was never there though like it was in '05, was it?

In the few matches he's played for us this season I thought he looked good. If we can loan him out to another Premiership team that would be ideal.

In my defence, that was a disclaimer for some muppets who are ready to tear down anyone who dares praise an opposing player when comparing him with one of our own.

Essien has proven for Ghana in the World Cup and then this season that he is an excellent footballer...

With Fowler gone, Luis Garcia is our most natural goalscorer. In fact, he's the only one with a poacher's instinct in the team. That is our biggest problem with the team as an attacking force. Slag him all you like, but I watched Lampard very closely on Saturday and I thought he was excellent in getting ahead of the play and into dangerous areas. He was also able to stay close to the play and was very often an outlet for the ball carrier. Stevie Gerrard is still the superior player in my eyes, but Lampard is better at running off the ball and bringing teammates into play. Which is something Gerrard might start doing more of when we get better players in the team.

I think ideally we would look domestically for top players, especially from rivals. In Serie A there used to be a lot of trading (not too sure if it's still the case) - Pirlo used to play as a no.10 for Inter if I'm not mistaken. Inzaghi moved from Juve to Milan, and I'm sure there were many more who moved between top clubs. It's just a different mentality/market here in England though.