Xabi Alonso

Rafa gets slated for the Alonso saga, but previous season plenty of fans were on Alonsos case...if you remember he used to let runners get past him in midfield.

He then fell out with rafa about being at the birth of his child or something, and they fell out; it happens in football.

No manager IN THE WORLD would have kept Alonso when a £30m bid came in. He was good but not that good.

By the time of the Alonso saga I think the pressure was getting to Rafa. He knew he was close to winning the Premiership and wanted to bring in another couple of signings to ensure success.

The money never came, he had a bust up with Alonso and was too pig headed to admit he was too harsh. Alonso wanted to go back to Spain and then like you say a 30m bid comes in.

The beginning of the end for Rafa.

Alonsos one of the best in the world at what he does i rate him highly if he came back to liverool theyd get top 4 easy imagine the balls he plays to suarez ... i posted 2 articles about him couple days ago

Xabi had a perfect ball to Busquets today.

Busquets finished like a DM

Why would he ever want to go back to liverpool? to visit his hub caps perhaps!

Here's a little tip, Mr Mourinho: jokes are meant to be funny

The funny thing about Alonso is (and you can agree or disagree) he is a very simillar player to Michael Carrick, and we all know how much he is hated in this country.

Even Barca players have said that he would be more respected, rated and talked about.

I think Carrick would definitely suit the style. The way he plays would make him an ideal backup in a side that plays like Spain or Barca.

But he doesn't have the all round quality to be an 'equal' or starter. But he'd fit in quite well.

I don't really rate Carrick but I wouldn't be surprised or think it was a bad decision for Barca to take him as a backup for Busquets. If an injury happened you'd have a minimal disruption in style of play.

Alonso will never return to Anfield. Alonso likes to manipulate the fans and say that he was forced to leave etc. He knows how much the fans love him due to his last season and he plays on this. This is how a player doesn't become a hate figure when they leave.