Alonso sale looking more costly by the day for Benitez

It may be the international break, but Liverpool’s problems have not gone away. Just what has happened at Anfield this season?  Towards the end of last season, as they sought their first title since they won the old first division in the 1989-90 campaign, they demolished Manchester United by an embarrassing 4-1 at Old Trafford. That day, they were simply sublime, in particular Fernando Torres, who meted out a telling revenge on Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand for the bully-boy defending he had endured from them in previous encounters.  

This season however, it has all gone awry for Benitez and his men.  Granted, neither Torres and the hugely influential Steven Gerrard are 100% fit, but their shortcomings in the opening third of this term have called into question the commitment of the entire team. Often in such a situation, a series of events is usually responsible for a decline in a team’s fortunes.  In this instance however, I believe a single incident is answerable for Liverpool’s plight. I am referring to the summer sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid. 

Ever since the first whisperings of Real Madrid’s apparent interest in the Spaniard appeared in the media, I had a feeling he would return to his home country. Real Madrid, despite underachieving for years, seem to possess an irresistible pull for whichever player they take an interest in.  Not that I blame Alonso: Benitez’s relentless yet ultimately failed pursuit of Gareth Barry must have left him feeling undervalued and unappreciated. There would not have been room for the two of them, as well as Gerrard in the midfield, without one of them being played out of position, or Benitez inducting a significant change in formation.

Once the bidding commenced, it was only a question of how much Liverpool could hold out for. In the end, £30 million was a fantastic price given the financial instability at the club created by the Gillett/Hicks saga. What Benitez failed to realise was that you cannot lose someone of the quality of Alonso and hope to continue as before. They have yet to benefit from the purchase of the highly rated Alberto Aquilani, as he is only just returning from injury and no one else has filled Alonso’s gifted boots. The sub-standard Lucas is being deployed more frequently than he should be, and does not possess Alonso’s vision, finesse, or ability to read a game.   

Benitez has also somehow acquired a team of rather over-rated players:  Dirk Kuyt and Albert Riera are a couple of examples.  I liken them to Chelsea in certain ways, their indispensible English backbone of Gerrard and Jamie Carragher mirror Chelsea stalwarts Frank Lampard and John Terry.  However, whereas Chelsea’s foreigners patently add to their menace and hunger for success, you wonder at times, Torres aside, what many of Liverpool’s mix offer on a regular basis. Twelve games in, Chelsea already look like a speck on the horizon to the Reds.  That elusive Premiership crown looks like evading Benitez for another season, and the question on everyone’s lips has to be: will he get another attempt at it? 

Mike Dicker

November 13, 2009