Re: Liverpool Thread
Reading around a few places and it does look like Alonso will be leaving unfortunately. I'm not totally clued up on European football to know the likes of D'Agostino, Aquilani or De Rossi but I have faith in Rafa replacing him with someone with quality
de rossi and aquilani couldn't replace xabi.
de rossi is not a playmaker... actually there's not a specific english word to describe his role (in italian his role is described as "metodista")..... we might say he's an essien type of player, but that wouldn't be really appropriate aswell (as essien doesn't really fit in the metodista role)... people usually compare de rossi and essien just coz they can absolve the same duties (de rossi being much better than essien in some of em), but in both cases (essien's and de rossi's) their skills and abilities don't really define their own roles.
daniele is, beyond any doubt, the best player in the world in his role (he's pretty much what buffon is for goalkeepers or what pirlo is for deep lying playmakers).... but he's not a deep-lyng playmaker like xabi. among the central midfielders who aren't pure playmakers, he's one of the very best passers, but yet, he's not a specialist in this department.
aquilani isn't a deep lying playmaker either. once again there's not a specific english role to describe his role (seriously guys the english football dictionary is soo poor
). his role is some sort of a a variation on the theme of an advanced midfielder.... pretty much like iniesta (in italian theese kind of players are called "mezz'ali" wich is something different from the proper advanced midfielder, which is usually called "trequartista").
however he's an extraordinary player, but he doesn't play in the same role (neither in the same position) of xabi, so he couldn't take his place.
Frangoitia, i wouldn't say he's inconsistant... infact he's been absolutely great on a pretty constant basis whenever he played..... the thing is he doesn't really play that much as he's more fragile than a crystal glass: as a matter of fact in each of the last 4 seasons he had at least 1 long term injury (by long term i mean a + 3 months injury).
and this is the reason why he disappeared from the top clubs radar... quality wise he should be extremely expensive (almost on the same line of price of iniesta)..... but given his fragility, who would ever spend such a huge amount of money on a player who skipped at least 3 months of football in each of the last 4 seasons?
as for
d'agostino, well he's a proper deep-lying playmaker... he's a bit different from xabi though.
concerning his ability to change the tempo of the plays, he's pretty much on par with xabi,
concerning the ability to read the play he's almost on par with xabi (wich means that he's not as good as xabi, but still very, very good),
also in terms of pure passing skills, he's very, very good, but not really on the same level of xabi (at least imo).
even though he's a proper deep lying playmaker, he ventures foward much more than xabi, has a better shooting ability than xabi and i believe he's also slightly better in "seeing the last pass line" (u might call it "assist-providing ability").... this is due to the fact that years ago he used to play as an advanced midfielder.
given the choice between xabi and d'agostino, i would pick xabi... d'agostino proved himself as a fantastic player in the last 2 seasons, and today he's just 1 step behind the "big guns" in his role (like pirlo, xavi and xabi himself)... but (that's just my personal opinion though) i don't see him making that last step. i think this is the best he can do.
however, if u'll loose xabi, then there aren't better replacement than d'agostino available out there.... at least unless u go for pirlo.
anyhow there's always the same (big) question mark: we're talking about a player who never experienced the pressure and the expectations of a top club like liverpool, so no one could possibly say if he can handle it.
theoretically i would say (given his carachter, his low profile attitude, his determination) he shouldn't face big adapting troubles...... but then again, that's also what i thought about dossena last season.... and i was proved wrong... so...
).
