Alonso has suffered with deeper role.

[Guest mick the baker]

When alonso first came to liverpool he was sensational,not since jan molby,had we a player with a fantastic array of passing,yes we had didi then and both sg,and alonso were allowed the freedom to roam forward,in his last two seasons rafa has played alonso in a more defensive role,therefore limiting his options,as he tends to play a lot more short passes,even when momo was fit rafa has kept alonso deeper.Maybe this is the conundrum,that is affecting his current form,discuss.

[KD07]

The higher up he plays, it seems the more pressure will be exerted upon Xabi from pressing midfielders, and being not the quickest nor the most agile, he would have less time on the ball to pick out a pass. On that note, his ability to put the ball from anywhere means his deeper role doesnt affect the accuracy of his distribution, plus, his astute vision means he would be able to more accurately recognize gaps to exploit using his killer balls. I would though still like him to push up a bit more when we're putting the opponents under sustained pressure just to utilize his shooting from outside the box.

[IgPig]

When alonso first came to liverpool he was sensational,not since jan molby,had we a player with a fantastic array of passing,yes we had didi then and both sg,and alonso were allowed the freedom to roam forward,in his last two seasons rafa has played alonso in a more defensive role,therefore limiting his options,as he tends to play a lot more short passes,even when momo was fit rafa has kept alonso deeper.Maybe this is the conundrum,that is affecting his current form,discuss.

 

He's played deep since he came - played deeper than Didi when they played together. In his 1st season teams did not know about him - he got more space. More often than not he is now closed down very quickly.

 

Don't disagree about moving him further up the pitch though.

[12twelve]

Xabi playing further up would work wonders...but we need to sort out 1) who to play behind him and 2) whether he'll have the stamina to last a full 90minutes bombing forward

[Rimbeux]

It's about the defenders being able to play with the ball and bring it into midfield. The poorer our form is, the less likely the are to trust themselves and play it short.

 

What you then get is Alonso going back and picking it of their toes, stretching the side in a way that isolates the attck, cutting off many simple forward passing options, leaving us playing too many low percentage balls direct to the front man, or in behind fullbacks to try and get forward.

 

It's up to the centre backs to take responsibility on the ball and push the midfeld up into more advanced areas to recieve the ball.

[Flasher]

This will be more likely when Agger plays more regular.

 

We're too slow defensively to allow our midfield to play further up the pitch.

[Dule]

I think that every time Alonso has the ball and looks to spray it wide, the options are just not there anymore.

[Coyler]

Alonso is still great at finding space for himself.

 

For about four weeks in a row our Match of the Day highlights had him doing that same wrongfooting pass after a corner, and he's put people through countless times, when they've been there to put through. While playing poorly.

Edited November 16, 2006 by Coyler

[Bootle Buck]

When he gets the ball in most cases no-one is showing for him. Both Crouch and Kuyt are generally tightly marked with their backs to goal. With neither possessing any speed that option is not on. Our full backs don't get forward enough unless we are playing one of the lesser teams at home. Our wide midfielders have shown no real ambition to get at people consistantly and are under orders away from home to not be too adventurous. Therefore, too many times his only option is back to Carra and Sami. I think Alonso has sorely missed Gerrard at his best were he can lay a ball into a maurarding Gerrard who can do what he does best and run at people. As it is right now we get bogged down in midfield with too many triangles to nowhere.

[Dominus Maximus]

Think Alonso is doing fine. He is really grown with the responsibilty of breaking up the opponents play. Still feel that it is more down to his teammates to get free for his passes, more than him not playing the odd 60 yards perfect pass anymore.

[fred milne]

It's about the defenders being able to play with the ball and bring it into midfield. The poorer our form is, the less likely the are to trust themselves and play it short.

 

What you then get is Alonso going back and picking it of their toes, stretching the side in a way that isolates the attck, cutting off many simple forward passing options, leaving us playing too many low percentage balls direct to the front man, or in behind fullbacks to try and get forward.

 

It's up to the centre backs to take responsibility on the ball and push the midfeld up into more advanced areas to recieve the ball.

Bringing in Agger will clearly help there.

 

The other thing we need is more overlapping runs from the full-backs. This will give Alonso better passing options and allow wide midfielders like Gerrard and Garcia to cut inside. Perhaps this is what Rafa had in mind for Aurelio and Alves.

 

We know that Hyypia isn't comfortable covering out wide so maybe this is another reason to select Agger. Alternatively, we could use all three centre-backs.

 

Whatever we do, one pre-requisite is that Carragher and Gerrard start playing like we know they can. If the two of them were showing anything resembling their top form then I don't think we'd be faring as badly as we are at present.

[richt71]

When he gets the ball in most cases no-one is showing for him. Both Crouch and Kuyt are generally tightly marked with their backs to goal. With neither possessing any speed that option is not on. Our full backs don't get forward enough unless we are playing one of the lesser teams at home. Our wide midfielders have shown no real ambition to get at people consistantly and are under orders away from home to not be too adventurous. Therefore, too many times his only option is back to Carra and Sami. I think Alonso has sorely missed Gerrard at his best were he can lay a ball into a maurarding Gerrard who can do what he does best and run at people. As it is right now we get bogged down in midfield with too many triangles to nowhere.

Completely agree. There were many times just in the a*** game where Xabi had the ball and was getting closed down by a couple of a*** players he made the space to pass to his right only for Stevie to be about 5 yards infront of him and not on the right hand side and with Finnan behind him it stopped any flowing move. I always think of Xabi like a quarterback. They're only as good as the runs made. No runs and they get closed down.

 

Bringing in Agger will clearly help there.

 

The other thing we need is more overlapping runs from the full-backs. This will give Alonso better passing options and allow wide midfielders like Gerrard and Garcia to cut inside. Perhaps this is what Rafa had in mind for Aurelio and Alves.

 

We know that Hyypia isn't comfortable covering out wide so maybe this is another reason to select Agger. Alternatively, we could use all three centre-backs.

 

Whatever we do, one pre-requisite is that Carragher and Gerrard start playing like we know they can. If the two of them were showing anything resembling their top form then I don't think we'd be faring as badly as we are at present.

 

Alves would have been great for overlapping if Stevie is gonna go roaming from the right. Nothing against Finnan but he's not getting any younger even though he does get up and down ok.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

the whole team's playing like s****. why focus on one player?

[Dule]

I think that if Gerrard is moved in the middle like he most likely will now, Xabi will have more space.

[Maldini]

I think that if Gerrard is moved in the middle like he most likely will now, Xabi will have more space.

I think the opposite will probably happen unless Gerrard restricts his rampages forward.

 

FWIW, apart from the first couple of games I think Alonso has been in pretty good form this season.

[Joxer]

I think he's suffering from third season syndrome

[Dule]

Maldini what i meant was that Gerrard will draw the attention that Xabi receives and thus freeing up Xabi to spray the ball around mroe.

[Owen1978]

The overlapping full backs in major issue imo, finnan for all his plus's lacks the pace and power - Micah Richards showed on wednesday the option such a attack minded full back gives you.

 

Riise is ok, he has the attacking insticts and his left foot as we know is deadly but we should look to be getting in, a young full back to give him competition. Who's that LB at Southampton everyone keeps raving about?

 

 

 

 

 

Maldini what i meant was that Gerrard will draw the attention that Xabi receives and thus freeing up Xabi to spray the ball around mroe.

 

Think stevie needs to get back into middle, and get back to doing his all action role up & down the pitch.

[DecidedByPoll]

Alonso is having a very good season and his first half performance against Arsenal was possibly his best performance for us. He was sensational and with Hleb the most influential player on the pitch.

 

I'm not always a big fan of stats but two highlight his contribution this season - the first is that only Parker and McCann have made more tackles than him - they have both played more games and play for team who have less possession. The second is that only Fabregas has made more successful passes.

 

These stats suggest to me that he's by some way the best defensive midfielder in the premiership and the problem with the team is finding someone to partner him with, not pushing him further forward, away from the area where he actually does all his best work. For all Momo's destructive abilities he hasn't (yet) got the ability to unlock defenses, and we struggle to create anything other than pushing the ball out wide and pumping crosses in (we've crossed the ball more times than any other team this season).

 

I have never thought that Gerrard and Alonso could be a world class partnership in the centre, despite their undoubted individual ability. Gerrard needs, over the next 3 months to prove that he really is a top clas central midfielder who can resist the urge to make 30 yard bursts which take him out of position and instead link the play further up the pitch and do the dirty work it takes -which he hasn't had to do for 2 seasons now as he's played wide or in behind the striker.

 

The Gerrard and Alonso axis was taken to pieces by Galatasaray at home, so I hope they manage to gel over the coming weeks. Happily we're not facing another top side for a while, so it could well happen.

[McBain]

Surprised some people think he's done well this season. For me he's been one of the players most out of form. His passing is erratic and he's not influencing games at all.

 

Momo not being in the team for a while is not likely to help him either. As others have said, the combination with Gerrard has rarely worked

 

Not replacing Didi was a big mistake, i thought that at the time and i think it even more now. but we can rectify that in January

[Owen1978]

Surprised some people think he's done well this season. For me he's been one of the players most out of form. His passing is erratic and he's not influencing games at all.

 

Momo not being in the team for a while is not likely to help him either. As others have said, the combination with Gerrard has rarely worked

 

Not replacing Didi was a big mistake, i thought that at the time and i think it even more now. but we can rectify that in January

 

Replacing didi is not the solution - to babysit our slow cb's is not the answer. Get a fast, quality CB - Gallas would have been ideal and push the whole team further up the pitch. Alonso does a decent job, and if stevie can turn himself back into a box to box midfielder, we will have better attacking options.

[mercury]

He's off for the first few matches but gradually played himself into form. The last two or three he's back to himself and against the Gooners, as Maldini has put it, our shining light.

[PhilM]

Didn't he do that last year? He was way off the mark for the first 10 games or so and then started becoming the old Alonso again.

[stonty]

the whole team's playing like s****. why focus on one player?

 

 

 

Thats it in a nutshell.