Tender. Loving. Care. Earnest.: July 2009

ALONSO STAY!!!

It’s been a long day for Rafa Benitez and his players after saying goodbye to Thailand and hello to Singapore! When the Reds arrived at Singapore airport they were greeted by a hoard of security guards at the foot of the plane, all of whom took the opportunity to produce their camera phones and break into a quiet rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' as the players were taken away to a VIP lounge for refreshments. Bangkok may have set the standards, but Singapore rose to the challenge in style as Liverpool spent the past week proving they really do have the best fans in the world.

Liverpool's time in Singapore, just as in Thailand, was split between public events and important training sessions, with the highlight being a cruise down the Singapore River which drew upwards of 25,000 fans to cheer the Reds along the route.

So as the Liverpool squad look forward to a well earned three days off following their successful trip to Asia, Singaporean Kopites will bask forever in the special memories they have been privileged to enjoy over the last few days.

Singapore may be almost seven thousand miles away from Anfield, but for one never to be forgotten week the Kop was taken to Asia - and our many fans in faraway lands proved just why Liverpool FC is the best club in the world.

The 12 step program to life after Xabi

As any of you who have quit smoking/drinking/heroin know, it is not easy. It tears at you consistently for days and weeks afterwards as you constantly challenge your decision, and withdrawal symptoms aplenty turn you from a dependant but relatively-healthy and sane individual into a gibbering wreck one second away from fits of convulsions. Soon Liverpool football club will be about to go through this process. For the duration of this piece they shall be referred to as 'Subject A'.

Subject A has an addiction that it does not want to give up, but circumstances have decreed that it has no choice anymore. Like a drinker who's been told his liver is one more shot of bourbon away from failing, the decision has rather been made for the subject by other parties. The arguing, denials and pleas have all failed, so now the painful process must begin.

Thankfully, I might add, Subject A's great rivals and fellow former addicts are also going through a similar process. It will at least be of some amusement to see them suffer the same pain of withdrawal.

As with any final decision to give up an addiction, there were usually a few test runs beforehand that failed. Nearly half of all smokers in the UK vow to give up smoking around new year, and so it was with us when Subject A's manager Rafa decided to try and give up the addiction last summer, only for it to cling on.

So now here it is, the time is approaching when we shall no longer see the name Alonso in the lists of players, and we must prepare for life without him. We can do this by following the 12 step program which I've shamelessly borrowed from The AA(just in case you were thinking of doing the real thing) and doctored here for our purposes.

STEP 1

Admit we are powerless over our addictionI think it's fair to say that's an easy step. Look at how poor we were at times 2 years ago when Xabi was off form. When he played badly last season, we played badly. And we don't usually put up this much of a fuss for any old player leaving the club...

STEP 2

Believe in something greaterAgain this should be fairly easy. No one player is bigger than the team, and no matter how important he is to our style of play, and how badly we may him his creative influence in the middle, he's just one of eleven. The team is paramount, and although it will never be the same again, it can still be even better, just playing slightly differently depending on who we bring in.

STEP 3

Put our fate in the hands of a higher powerWell, there's really only one man who's stood firm throughout all the torrid times Liverpool have been through these last five years, and that's Rafa. He has somehow managed to guide us to title challengers on a budget that compared to Chelsea and United's is remarkable. He may not like it any more than we do, but even more so over the last 12 months than before, I trust Rafa to see us through this little storm and on to greater things. After all, he presided over our last dropping of addiction; the Owen saga.

STEP 4

Look on the bright sideThe actual step in the AA text is to 'make a searching moral inventory of oneself', but this amounts to the same thing. As well as Rafa himself, Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt, Benayoun, Agger and others have all committed their long-term futures to the club. They all know that we're on the right path, with or without Xabi.

STEP 5

Admit to ourselves that we'll miss himYes, of course we will. The man who netted the equalising goal in Istanbul? The man who scored from his own half twice, once with each foot? The man who was our heartbeat and arguably one of the nicest members of the dressing room? It's natural to feel upset at moments like these, but we should cherish the good times and not dwell on what might have been. Don't soil what has been a fantastic five years at Anfield for Xabi by condemning his actions now.

STEP 6

Wipe the slate cleanThe number 14 shirt is up for grabs, the central midfield heartbeat role is available. We can command most of the world's best players to turn their heads when we come calling, and with a potential £30million minimum to spend on them, we shouldn't be getting any dross. There will be someone in as replacement therapy. Alright, as with smokers and lollipops (the way I did it, usually it's gum though) it's never quite the same at first, but gradually as you get more and more used to it you stop noticing the difference and instead start to see the greater picture - a team playing well and winning games.

STEP 7

Use this as an opportunity to improve the position, if possibleXabi was great, but even he had his down points. He was still occasionally caught in possession, he was never the quickest, and most pertinently, he was never the most prolific in front of goal. As mentioned in other articles, what benefit a 10 or 12 goal a season central midfielder to add to our attacking talent?

STEP 8

Think of who we could get in insteadIf Madrid have too many players, why not one of their better lesser lights? Sneijder, Van der Vaart, Robben? So long as it's not another Nunez-style dross (I'm looking at you Negredo) then we're sure to get in some class acts. Even if it's an all-cash fee, imagine what Rafa could do with £30million?

STEP 9

Compare our position with that of our rivalsThis is the first time I've gone completely away from what the actual 12-step programme states, as I'm not really sure how Liverpool FC can 'Make direct amends to such people (you have harmed) wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others'.United have lost Ladyboy and Tevez, replacing them with an injury-prone England-obsessed player, a player who's sum league goal tally in the Premiership is about 4 goals in two years, and an unknown Frenchman who might well be great but looks to me more like Bellion than Best.Arsenal are about to lose one of their two prized assets (Adebayor) and for all Wenger's shrewdness in these matters, you can't help but feel it's a loss that will really hurt them on the field. They may also lose Fabregas, which I think would be terrible and personally don't want to see.Man City have done nothing to suggest to me that they'll be any more of a threat this season than they were last. You can sign all the forwards you like, but you'll still ship goals to any team with a decent attack.Finally Chelsea have just lowered the average age of their squad by signing the 30-year old Andrea Pirlo. For £18million. Seriously though, they may well do well this coming season, but again, I don't see them as being any stronger than I did this time last year, when we all thought they were about to re-challenge. We dealt with them then, we can deal with them again.

STEP 10

Admit we were wrong about LucasThis might be a difficult one to do. Lucas has had something of a rough time in his two years at Anfield so far, but the fact is he has been steadily improving during his time with us. He can, and will, step up and fill some of the void. I'm not saying he'll be challenging Stevie and Nando for player of the year accolades, but he's getting better and better. This *could* be his year, it's certainly going to be his big chance.

STEP 11

Get behind the boss, get behind the clubAs with the real list, this is an extension of step two. Right now the club are preparing for their most crucial season since 2002, and all of us have seen so many false dawns we don't dare think that it might actually be the one this time.

STEP 12

Be postive!Whatever doubts we may have (or may be had for us by rivals, the press/media and others), we must still wear the shirt with the pride and loyalty of always. We've a title to win fer feck's sake!No-one can take away the great moments we had last season, such as the 4-1 thrashing of them down the road. Did I mention that Xabi didn't play in that game? What about arguably our best actual team performance of the season, the 5-1 victory at Newcastle. Alonso only came on in the 61st minute.

Alright those are two isolated examples, but proof enough that the team is greater than just this one player.There is an item in the news today celebrating the 16th birthday of a brave girl from Wales, who had a new heart 'piggy-back transplanted' onto her faulty one when she was two. With Mascherano now almost certain to stay, all we need is a similar operation to piggy-back transplant a quality new player into Alonso's void and we'll be running smoothly in no time.