Goshdarn mothertruckin slug-in-the-ditch

Rafael Benítez rewarded with £30m as Xabi Alonso seals Madrid move Football.Guardian.co.uk

First off, let me just say that I am Jack's complete lack of surprise. Secondly, let me just say there aren't words for how much I hate Real Madrid. I could handle it when they were busy buying everyone else's best players (okay, I thought it was hilarious). But now...well...they make me vomit a little bit in my mouth. Thirdly, let me say stupid, stupid Rafa. He pissed Alonso off last year when he inexplicably thought that Gareth Barry was somehow better than Xabi and tried to offload him to Juventus. It would seem that Alonso has been harbouring significant resentment since then. Otherwise it's a bit baffling why a player who has spent five seasons at Liverpool, each one bringing them closer and closer to the title, would choose now to leave. Last year was Liverpool's best ever points haul since the inception of the Premier League. This season holds (or at least it did till Alonso bailed) the most promise for the title in recent memory. Especially with Ronaldo leaving Man Utd. In my opinion, Benitez has made a pretty big mistake in his treatment of Alonso last year and must shoulder a significant chunk of the blame for this outcome.

The only silver lining is that he had the balls to hold out until he got the full 30million pounds he was after. I must admit that that represents a decent bit of business considering we bought him for only 10.5million pounds in 2004. And it does mean that Liverpool will have some cash to splash out before the end of the tranfer window. However I am deeply concerned about a lack of real creative ball-playing midfielders. There aren's many of Xabi's callibre in the world, and virtually none for sale right now.

So what does this mean for Liverpool's season? Well, bluntly, either we bring a new playmaker, or...we don't. Apparently we are linked to Roma's Alberto Aquilani, though I must admit to know very little about the player, except that he's Italian. And apart from Zola and Vialli in their hey-day at Chelsea and fascist goal scorer extraordinaire, Paolo DiCanio's stint at West Ham, Italians haven't really faired that well in England. Apart from that, talk of David Silva (the Valencia left-winger/forward) is bubbling up again. While I think Silva would be an amazing addition, giving the left wing some serious pace and skill, without someone like Alonso to ping those cross-field Pro Evo passes to him, his skills could well be marginalised. Lucas is decent at breaking up play, but his passing range is far from inspiring, and besides, Mascherano is far better as a destroyer (and distributor) anyway. To bring in Silva without a bringing in a play-making midfielder would probably mean dropping Gerrard deeper than he's played since Torres' arrival (as he is the only other player really capable of hitting those kinds of amazing, long-range passes). But of course that would mean breaking up one of the best attacking partnerships currently going in world football. It must be said that Alonso's sale (on paper at least), looks like a step backwards just when Liverpool were promising to push on.

Having said all that, I'm still going to attempt to end on an optimistic note. These moves are nothing if not exciting. Sometimes I think I'm more addicted to transfers and transfer rumors than the actual sport. Xabi's departure, while definately a loss on its own, does add an element of mystery to the upcoming season, at least from a Liverpool fan's point of view. How will we play? Will a new hero step up? Will Benitez surprise us all with a late transfer-window coup? It's important to keep in mind, I think, the fact that Alonso himself requested the tranfer. If he doesn't want to be there, it doesn't make much sense to force him to stay. Not when there would be heaps of players who would jump at the opportunity to play for the team Alonso has been so keen to leave. On the pitch Alonso will be hard to replace, but not, I should think, impossible.