goodrobotusses

Alonso was a full international who'd just been part of a Sociedad team that nearly won La Liga. I don't get these "plucked from obscurity" type references to our signing him as a way of backing the signing of Martinez. Don't get me wrong, I can't speak with any great confidence about how good Martinez is (though he may be ace), but most people were really excited about us getting Alonso, 'cause most people knew he was brilliant. Don't think the same can be said about Martinez.

This content is not viewable to guests.

What little I have seen of him, he does have a belting shot on him. But yeah, injuries seem to be an issue. Remember Arsenal being interested in him a fair while back.

Aye. Interesting one that. Maxwell is going to Barcelona too. Didn't realise Inter had signed a couple of others already - Thiago Motta and Diego Milito.

This content is not viewable to guests.

Ashley Young... For: English (for quotas, not national pride), would piss off O'Neill, looks like Marlo Stanfield Against: overrated, doesn't score enough, always cuts back onto his right foot

Just to echo recent postings on the subject: he's a gutless sprinter with no brain. I REALLY wanted and hoped for him to be the real deal, but he just looks terrified when he receives the ball half the time. Then he loses it..

Sneijder is a player I like, but he's best played further forward than Alonso does. Maybe in a less aggressive league you could play him as an orthodox CM, but over here he'd probably be as effective in a 2-man CM as Modric was for Spurs in the early part of last season. Of Madrid's current players, Gago is the closest to Alonso in terms of style.

With Alves on form (wish people wouldn't cite the Chelsea games as the by-word for his abilities) you're basically getting about 3 extra players on the pitch. The amount of ground he covers is insane. He pops up everywhere, and must be an absolute nightmare for opposition teams to contend with (outside of his irritating gamesmanship). Plus, he's mental, which is always a plus.

I don't know where people get this idea of Barry being a surging box-to-box type from. Or the idea that he'd add "more pace" to our attacking play - he doesn't move the ball any quicker, and he's just as slow over the ground as Xabi. He's basically become a similar type of midfielder to Xabi, who keeps the play ticking along nicely, while having good positional discipline to make interceptions, cover the back four, and win the ball back. Barry scores a few (FEW) more, but he was Villa's penalty taker. In terms of actual ability though, Xabi pisses on Barry. The biggest argument that could have been made at the time was that Barry is English in an environment where the threat of quotas looms large, and Xabi had had a below par season or two (but had still been vital to us in that time). And even if Barry WERE that type of midfielder, we don't USE that type of player. Lucas was a box-to-box player in Brazil known for his goalscoring from midfield. The only time he's ever played like that for us though has been either when he's played behind the forward, or we've been chasing a match. Invariably he usually ends up attempting to cover either Masch or Alonso's role in the team, and suffering badly for it (he's a poor ballwinner, and not as good at dictating tempo as Xabi). He seems to be a victim of his willingness to adapt and play to orders. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing - it's something Rafa loves in his players (Kuyt being the prime example) - but it is maybe a factor in his sometimes indifferent performances. Lucas aside, the biggest argument you can present for our not using the English-style box-to-box player can be found in the fact that Rafa has from day one not wanted to use Steven Gerrard in this role, when the world and his dog had been convinced for years that this was his calling in life. Some people (hello, Harry Redknapp) are still convinced it is, and that no-nothings like Rafa and Capello just don't know what they're doing. Of course, those folk are wrong (sorry, Harry) - he's a world class attacking midfielder now. I suppose people could argue that Rafa had Baraja at Valencia, but he was still a pretty disciplined CM first and foremost. He just found a knack of intelligently timing his runs and getting a few goals in the season Rafa first won the league there. He wasn't exactly a full-on marauder though. P.S. I know that spiel might have seemed like I was aiming it specifically at you, FT. More me getting carried away revisiting the old Barry/Xabi arguments of last year. Heh.

In terms of direct replacements/possible swaps, wouldn't surprise if Rafa enquired about Gago... even if he is a dirty cheat and a complete fanny all in one.

Think he played there on occasion for Valencia also. Not saying he'd be THE ANSWER (he's not), but if we go into the season with Masch, Lucas, Xabi/replacement, then Fabio could certainly be considered an option for 4th choice.

That one's out of left-field, certainly. Don't know about as a long term option (given he is first and foremost a full-back, nevermind his injury record), but the guy is definitely an option to consider in the "we need 4 CMs argument".

Amazing what you pay these days when you're looking for something to bounce a pass off of. When I was a kid, we used to just use a brick wall.

People being mad at Alonso if he goes doesn't wash with me. If I'm gonna be pissed off with anyone, it'd be Rafa for unsettling him by trying to ditch him for Gareth sodding Barry. He never showed any sign of wanting to go before that whole debacle.

f*** the pair in white trousers off for a start.

Wow, that's like a car pile-up of s*** news.

I would have suggested Jason Bateman from Arrested Development.

Ah, his baby is a little Gallego. Didn't know that Nando's missus was from Galicia - Santiago de Compostela is a lovely place. Congrats to the happy family.

I honestly don't care about this. He's not good enough for them or us, so I'd rather it was them than us.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.

I dunno, it's a pretty apt comparison. Both would make fine athletes, albeit the sort that would run straight into the barrier during a steeplechase.

Curly Wurly still too much. They're not even worth a Freddo.