Reuters Soccer Blog

Real Madrid’s Alonso maturing like a fine wine

Xabi Alonso’s 30th birthday on Friday has prompted an avalanche of praise for the Real Madrid midfielder and has also served to highlight the former Liverpool man’s importance in coach Jose Mourinho’s plans for Spanish and European domination.

Widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation, as well as one of the most astute purchases by big-spending Real president Florentino Perez, the quietly-spoken Alonso has gone from strength to strength since joining Real for a fee of 35 million euros ($47 million) at the end of the 2008-09 season.

Spraying passes around the pitch from the centre of midfield with consumate ease and unleashing a crunching tackle when necessary, he is the well-oiled cog at the heart of Mourinho’s Real machine and it would be hard to see them mounting a realistic challenge to great rivals Barcelona without him.

Mourinho has used him more than any other player this season, more even than captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Alonso has spent 1,626 minutes on the pitch, (1,110 in La Liga, 421 in the Champions League and 95 in the Spanish Super Cup, compared with Casillas’s total of 1,592 minutes.

Alonso’s role in the Spain team is no less vital. Alongside Barcelona’s Xavi, the world and European champions surely have two of the best midfielders ever to have played the game, capable of orchestrating long periods of ball possession before unlocking the meanest defence in the blink of an eye.

Among Alonso’s attributes, Spanish media commentators picked out his calm demeanour, leadership qualities on the pitch and the fact that he is able to live his life away from soccer well outside the glare of the media spotlight.

Should Real be punished if red cards are deemed deliberate?

It’s one of the most farcical scenes I’ve ever seen in soccer. Real Madrid duo Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos taking ages to take kicks in the 4-0 win at Ajax and getting second yellow cards for timewasting and hence being sent off.

Deliberate? They face automatic one-match suspensions in the final group game against Auxerre, which is a dead match for Real with the Spanish club already assured of first place in Group G and qualification for the last 16.

However, the red cards mean they will have a clean slate when the round of 16 begins, assuming UEFA hand them only the mandatory one-match ban.

Players have got yellow cards on purpose for similar reasons in the past. Real are not commenting but if these two players did it deliberately, they could be in trouble. Was coach Jose Mourinho aware?

If it was done on purpose, surely it is not in the spirit of the game and some would say disrespectful to a famous name like Ajax and a competition Real are meant to hold dear given they are nine-times champions.

On the other hand, at least they did not go round kicking and possibly injuring someone in order to get a second yellow, even if that might have been less obvious.

So what can UEFA do if it rules the second yellows were deliberate? Finding proof is tricky.

Johnson can provide home comfort Liverpool need

Last season, Liverpool dropped too many points against teams from the bottom half of the table and finally it cost them that long awaited title.

It may well be, then, that the signing of the impressive, energetic Glen Johnson at full-back turns out to be a more significant bit of transfer business than the much criticised decision to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.

With the arrival of Johnson, Liverpool have found an extra man who can torment well-packed defences and the evidence was there in the 4-0 win over Stoke City last week.

What a difference from the two goalless draws Liverpool had against The Potters last season, as Johnson scored one and provided another.

The England man needed no time to establish a good working partnership with the tireless Dirk Kuyt and make the fans see just why Benitez spent so much money to buy a right-back.

It might sound strange to say you can replace a midfield maestro with a defender but that is what Liverpool have done.

As they showed last season, getting the better of your direct rivals is not good enough to win the league — you have to beat just about every other team as well, and a player with Johnson’s aggression and ability to make things happen is going to make a big difference, I expect.

Liverpool have a lot to be concerned about

Last November Spurs beat Liverpool 2-1 at White Hart Lane just after Harry Redknapp took over a side that had slumped to the bottom of the table. Redknapp admitted after that game that Spurs had been lucky to win after being battered by Liverpool, who squandered an early lead and then hit the woodwork three times before losing.

Spurs beat Liverpool 2-1 at White Hart Lane again on Sunday and this time there was no doubting that Spurs deserved their victory.

On the evidence of Sunday’s match a lot has changed at the two clubs since last November.

Spurs have clearly improved but fans have witnessed so many false dawns in the last 10 years or so that no one will get carried away by an opening day win — even over last season’s runners-up.

Likewise, Liverpool will not descend into doom and gloom at one opening day defeat but what is undeniable — and this began to be obvious in their pre-season matches — is that Liverpool are badly missing their gifted Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso, sold for 30 million pounds to Real Madrid.

Liverpool failed to get the ball to Steven Gerrard as often as often as they used to when Alonso was distributing the ball, after putting his foot on it and finding the perfect pass.

Up front Fernando Torres looked jaded – he has hardly had a break after playing for Spain in the Confederations Cup — and Liverpool rarely threatened Spurs with a decisive attack.

Are Liverpool right to sell Alonso to Real Madrid?

At last, Real Madrid have got their man. Liverpool agreed on Tuesday to sell Xabi Alonso, a Real target going back at least six years, for a reported 30 million euros.

It’s decent money for a player Rafa Benitez appeared happy enough to consider selling 12 months ago but Alonso is the sort of assured holder and passer of the ball who is hard to replace at any price.

Certainly, anyone Benitez has his eye on will be a risk. Latest reports say Roma’s Alberto Aquilani could be the man, while other names mentioned include Stephen Defour of Standard Liege and Valencia’s David Silva.

Real Madrid fans will certainly happy. I’m just back after a couple of weeks in Spain and the papers were full of editorials praising Alonso to the skies and saying how lost Real would continue to be without him.

Alonso will be expected to pull the strings in midfield for Real … but were Liverpool right to sell him?

PHOTO: Xabi Alonso takes a penalty during the Champions League final against AC Milan in Istanbul May 25, 2005. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Will Juventus get signings right this time?

Ever since returning to Serie A following their demotion for match-fixing, Juventus have had a terrible run in the transfer market.

Third and second-placed finishes in their two years back in the top flight are largely thanks to players who stuck with Juve during their season in Serie B such as Alessandro Del Piero and Giorgio Chiellini.

In contrast, new recruits such as midfielders Tiago and Christian Poulsen have been frustrating at best while former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg lasted just a season before being shipped off to Olympiakos.

Juve have also tried to sell Poulsen and Tiago but both players have said they would rather stay.

Right back Zdenek Grygera has not convinced all the Juve faithful while striker Amauri had a good start to last term following a big move from Palermo but his form fizzled out towards the end of the campaign.

For this season Juve have re-signed Fabio Cannavaro from Real Madrid, a move which has angered fans who have not forgiven him for leaving the club following their demotion. (Cannavaro argues it was Juve’s economic decision to sell).

Benitez spends big, but does Johnson fit the bill?

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez fought long and hard for greater control of the Anfield club’s transfer funds and first through the door since he agreed his new contract is Portsmouth’s Glen Johnson. He didn’t come cheap, either.

At a reported 17 million pounds, Johnson is an expensive acquisition for a player who never quite made it at Chelsea, and has only recently found success in the England team after raiding down Portsmouth’s right hand side last season.

There may be a lot of rebuilding work still to come from Benitez if Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa are allowed to leave to join the Real Madrid party (and who knows, perhaps Javier Mascherano along with them).

Johnson is not at all a bad player. His general attacking play is more appealing than his defensive talents, but they can be coached. It is not his capabilities that are in question, it’s his price tag.

Another striker must be high on the priority list, but having always openly admired Barcelona’s Dani Alves and then settling for Johnson, Liverpool fans could expect links with Samuel Eto’o or David Villa and end up with Carlton Cole.

PHOTO: England’s Glen Johnson outjumps Kazakhstan’s Tanat Nuserbayev (R) and Zhambyl Kukeyev during the World Cup 2010 qualifier against Kazakhstan at the Central Stadium in Almaty June 6, 2009. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Vlog on the Pitch: table football special

Owen Wyatt has invested in new 3-D technology to provide a fresh look at Real Madrid chances of knocking Liverpool out of the Champions League.

Click on the video above to hear our views on the key battles at Anfield, and a look at what the Spanish papers and Real Madrid players are saying ahead of the match.

The view in Spain seems to be that the form and fitness of Torres will be the decisive factor in this match but we’re not so sure. Liverpool are in charge after the 1-0 win at the Bernabeu but an early goal for Real would change everything. Watch out for that man Raul.