Alonso's in Singapore pre-season before he asked to leave
They may not have always seen eye to eye, but the man who handed in the first formal transfer request at Liverpool for some years has publically backed Rafa Benitez as the right man for Liverpool.
“It is not the Liverpool way to sack a manager after a few bad results early in the season.
“They have full confidence in him and he is the right man for the club. He’s a great manager and certainly one capable of managing the squad that he has right now. It would not be a good decision to change the manager.
“I still have great respect for Rafa and I am very grateful to him for the five great years I had at Liverpool. He knows the squad very well and is working with the team on a daily basis. Benítez knows how to turn things around.”
Real Madrid’s manager himself is in a precarious position after several below par displays from the Madrid giants. Real’s own qualification in the Champions League is by no means sealed and the club were dumped out of the Spanish cup by 3rd division opponents.
Some fans continue to blame Alonso’s departure for our loss of form but Xabi himself was far more pragmatic about that.
“Everyone knows that in football, when things aren’t right, the best player is always the one who isn’t there, whether they’re injured, suspended or no longer at the club.
2 years ago today Liverpool annihilated Besiktas 8-0 at Anfield to turn around a terrible start in the Champions League group and get their 4th points from 4 games. Some fans may be interested to know that in that game there was no Xabi Alonso, and Andriy Voronin started up front.