ALONSO - SHOULD HE BE PLAYING ?

I think being dropped would give him a kick up the arse and might get him going again.

If he moans about it and doesn't improve his form I would then have to believe his attitude is all wrong and we could do without that altogether.

Besides the introduction of Mascherano it is also true that his form has dropped because he relies on his expert passing. But last season our two main forwards never moved in the right areas, direction or sometimes not at all.

Kuyt and Crouch are two static forwards. When they do run it's usually in the wrong place or time.
Alonso looked superb before their time because he had Cisse and Baros who were quick and could run into the spaces where Xabi could put the ball.

Now with the introduction of Torres he should get back to old form and grow in confidence. Remember only 2 league games have passed and he could shine soon enough. Having said this, I think he should be dropped and made reflect on his performances over the passed 9 months. A break like that could do a player with a good attitude the world of good.

he is a class act rafa has him playing deep, if he had a diffrent role you would see.i think he will hit top form soon.

XABI IS one of the best passers in the game no he is one of the best midfielders in the game, !!!! his form might have dipped yes he might of got caught in position a few times but if you drop him now this soon into the season, who knows what affect it could have, and besides is mascha ready to step up and be as disciplined wk in wk out for us while we rest xabi???? i dont know, sissoko needs time to, so we need a confident mature midfielder, we have that and he is sheer class on top to, Stevie and xabi destroyed "chavski" between them and ran their midfields into the ground, give the guy time he will get back to his best,