Source: Daily_Mail
MARTIN SAMUEL: Another season, another own goal for Rafa
It could have been worse. It could have been Steven Gerrard or Fernando Torres. Even so, for Liverpool, the addition of Alberto Aquilani and the residue of a £30million transfer fee may still not add up to the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.
If it is the week before the season starts, it must be Liverpool putting a stick of dynamite under their title aspirations again. This time last season it was the failure to secure Gareth Barry, with the resulting fall-out between Rafael Benitez and the board, that dogged the club for much of the season.
Now it is the loss of the player who made perfect use of what would have been Barry's place in the team. Gerrard and Torres are still Liverpool's crown jewels, but Alonso was the pedestal on which they sat. Aquilani is a fine player, too, when he is fit, but for all their technique, foreign imports often take one season to adapt to English football. That was the beauty of Alonso: he played Spanish, thought English. He was already there, ready-made.
Xabi Alonso
Real problem for Rafa: Xabi Alonso has quit Anfield for the slightly more exotic appeal of Real Madrid
This should be Liverpool's year. Yet, whereas a month ago that statement would have been delivered with some confidence, now there is doubt. Liverpool may have lacked the depth of Manchester United last season, but their best XI, and particularly the spine of the team from front to back, was more than sound. Alonso was a huge part of that. His partner, Javier Mascherano, was the destroyer but Alonso was the brains of the operation, a different class to his stand-in, Lucas Leiva.
More from Martin Samuel...
* Martin Samuel: The tail finally wags, but not when the heat is on 09/08/09
* Martin Samuel: City bring on X-factor as Hughes' stars aim to rattle big four 09/08/09
* MARTIN SAMUEL: England's number is up as they hit buffers 07/08/09
* MARTIN SAMUEL: Saving the world, Tony? What about Middlesbrough? 07/08/09
* MARTIN SAMUEL: Wise up! Rugby's now as rotten as football 04/08/09
* MARTIN SAMUEL: Tom has a stack of memories. Freddie will have regrets 19/07/09
* Martin Samuel: Adebayor was a pain but will selling him hurt Wenger more? 19/07/09
* Martin Samuel: How Ma'amy Army was all of a Twitter 17/07/09
* VIEW FULL ARCHIVE
Alonso's passing meant that Gerrard had the confidence to stay high up the field, knowing the ball would reach him, and the repositioning of the captain as a second striker changed the way Liverpool played for the better.
Even when Aquilani is fit, which may be two months from now, Gerrard will have to get used to his style and rhythms. And it is hard to imagine any stop-gap replacement inspiring the same trust he had in Alonso. The worry is that Gerrard then comes deeper in search of the simpler ball, and Liverpool's game-plan is affected. When everything was balanced so impeccably, why gamble with it?
What is true of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure from Manchester United also applies to Liverpool: whatever the money, it is never good to lose one of your best players. Benitez may have driven a hard bargain at £30m, but in cold financial terms the first title win of the modern era would have been worth that and more to Liverpool, and to feed the soul of the club it would be priceless.
That is what is at stake here. Another year of nearly; a fresh round of what might have beens. In his final two seasons at Anfield, Liverpool won 67 per cent of matches with Alonso and 46 per cent without him. That is significant influence gone.
There are more pressing worries this week, with injuries in defence. Liverpool are expected to bid for Michael Turner of Hull City and money from Alonso's sale will support that. It really does not matter how wisely Benitez spends, or if he is allowed to use any of the remainder at all. Liverpool's campaign may already be holed below the waterline before a ball has been kicked. X marks the spot.
Bolton Wanderers were travelling to a friendly with Heart of Midlothian last week when they encountered a complication. On boarding the 1.53pm Virgin Trains service to Edinburgh, their pre-booked seats were taken by a large party of elderly holidaymakers, refusing to move. Bolton ended up making a seven-hour coach journey instead. Virgin took the blame, and the bad publicity.
This seems strange because it is not entirely Virgin's fault if customers do not have the good manners to vacate an allocated seat. We used to be a courteous nation. Just because it was a group of footballers left stranded does not mean they did not merit common courtesy.
Virgin Train
Going north of the border: A mix up meant Bolton had to shun the train for the long coach trip to their pre-season friendly
Suppose the positions were reversed. Suppose a carriage of pensioners with pre-booked tickets boarded a train and in their reserved places were a number of Premier League footballers who would not budge.
Can you imagine the outraged headlines, the sermons on the arrogance of the modern sportsman, the way those players would be pilloried and held up as the epitome of the bankrupt values of modern society?
And can anybody explain what exactly the difference is?
And now we return to our occasional series entitled Spot The Inappropriately Used Verb. This week's entry is provided by the sailing correspondent of the Daily Telegraph. 'A collision between Shirley Robertson's Extreme 40 iShares and a Cowes Week spectator boat, which threw Dee Caffari overboard and left a woman needing hospital treatment, marred the second day's racing in the iShares Cup.'
Those of you who correctly identified that 'marred' should have been replaced by 'cheered up', 'buoyed' or 'made absolutely blinding' can claim for a prize to the usual address and see how far you get.
Those who added 'God, I wish I'd had a camera' to the end of the sentence receive extra credit.
By the way, isn't Shirley Robertson a double Olympic gold medallist? You would think she would know the difference between open sea and the punters.
Maybe Andrey Arshavin had a point about women drivers after all.
At the World Cup quarter-final between England and Portugal in 2006, on one of the Cross of St George flags behind the goal, 'Worthington out' had been incorporated into the red band by a disgruntled Norwich City fan. Now, there was a man with a keen sense of priority.
The successors to Nigel Worthington - Peter Grant and Glenn Roeder - were also unpopular with the locals. Supporters often demand the appointment of a hometown hero, somebody who, as the phrase goes, understands the club.
The followers of Norwich got their wish with the arrival of Bryan Gunn, 477 appearances and an inaugural member of the Carrow Road hall of fame (it is not one of the longest museum visits you'll ever make, mind you).
And there is no doubt that Gunn understands Norwich City, although after Saturday's result, a 7-1 home defeat by Colchester United, whether he understands how to get them out of this mess is very much open to question.
Pompey fans: Any regrets?
With the season less than a week away, and no end to the takeover saga in sight, Portsmouth remain candidates for relegation, despite the encouragement of Saturday's 2-0 friendly win over Rangers.
Alexandre Gaydamak
Cutting his losses: Pompey owner Alexandre Gaydamak is looking to offload the club
They have no committed owner, at least until the unconvincing Sulaiman Al Fahim buys the club, no permanent manager and have been conducting a fire sale of players since winning the FA Cup final 16 months ago.
The question is: was it worth it? If a genie had said to Portsmouth's supporters that the club could win their only major trophy in 58 years, but the price would be a period of difficulty and austerity that may even result in relegation, would they have accepted that trade-off?
This dilemma is crucial to the issues that surround football. Alexandre Gaydamak, Portsmouth's owner, bought the club as an investment and borrowed to fund it, expecting a return. When that failed to materialise, he cut his losses, selling players to recoup money and ending further transfer ambition.
Peter Storrie, the chief executive, has not ruled out more sales if the takeover falls through and says he has no idea whether the new owners will have funds for players.
Yet, without Gaydamak's arrival in January 2006, Portsmouth would have stayed mediocre. They finished in the top half of the Premier League table in 2006-07 for the first time, won the FA Cup in 2008 and entered Europe the next season, playing AC Milan. All this would not have been possible.
Those who believe in stringent financial regulations would have Portsmouth operating only with generated money, not speculated funds, and trapped in the backwaters for ever.
Gaydamak gambled and this is the payback, but was it worth it for Wembley, for Milan and for the years when, briefly, the loyal attendees at Fratton Park were afforded hope? If Portsmouth is your club, the answer is probably yes.
AND WHILE WE'RE AT IT...
An early contender for 'Optimist of the Year' is the commentator who claimed that Middlesbrough's goalless draw with Sheffield United did not live up to the pre-match hype. Oh yes it did, mate.
Tomskfoolery
Fulham have drawn the most remote team in the Europa League. Amkar Perm are situated 729 miles east of Moscow, near the Ural mountains, although they represent a short-haul flight compared to the journey required if their Russian Premier League rivals, FC Tom Tomsk in Siberia, ever make it into Europe.
Roy Hodgson
Long way to go: Roy Hodgson's Fulham side must travel to Russia for their Europa League tie
Tomsk is almost 3,000 miles into Asia. The Champions League, meanwhile, will contain Rubin Kazan from Tatarstan, 450 miles on from Moscow. No wonder European trophies are not retained in the modern era.
The greed for speed
Usain Bolt
Lightning Bolt: Sprinter Usain Bolt has not fallen foul where five of his countrymen have
The credibility of international athletics resides with one man, Usain Bolt, whose world record sprints have to stand untainted if the sport is to remain plausible.
So when five of his Jamaican team-mates fail drug tests, that strikes a blow to the heart of athletics; and when one, Commonwealth Games women's 100 metres champion Sheri-Ann Brooks, escapes punishment on a technicality, it brings the policing of the sport into question.
Brooks will now run in the World Championships in Berlin, pending the permission of the IAAF, because of a procedural error in which her 'B' sample was tested by the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission without her knowledge. The fate of the other athletes will be decided at a secret hearing.
At a time when Jamaica is dominant in world sprinting, this is not good enough. The country conducts its own testing programme instead of relying on the IAAF and this should not be allowed. After the debacle surrounding Brooks, Jamaican athletics has forfeited the right to be independent.
In a sport in which the faith of the public is vital, and dwindling, it is astonishing that a lack of uniform procedure is allowed to continue.
Everton supporters are upset by talk of a big five in the Premier League this season. They claim that their club have finished fifth in the last two seasons and do not deserve to be usurped by unproven Manchester City, who have not even qualified for Europe.
David Moyes
Big five? The Goodison Park faithful will be hoping for another high placed finish in this season's Premier League
The sentiment is understandable, but the tag refers to present potential to win the league, which Manchester City have with the resources at their disposal. Sadly, for all their valour snapping at the departing heels of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal over two years, the fact is that Everton have never been considered title material, as their record of five draws and 11 defeats in 16 league matches against the elite quartet indicates.
No coke? Try grass
There is a suggestion that the claim for a place at the Olympics made by the sport of rugby sevens will be adversely affected by the current drug-related issues affecting Bath. This is unlikely. If the International Olympic Committee threw out every sport with a drug problem, we would all be gathered at London's shiny new stadium in 2012 watching the grass grow.
