It wasn't your argument at all. You jumped in barefooted while I was talking to somebody else. I assumed you were adopting his position but it seems you don't know what it was I was actually replying to.
You don't seem to understand: the person who said Xabi was the best player used the forums/polls/fan opinion. And I used an even bigger/wider site's poll which clearly put Gerrard ahead. So, I don't understand your point at all. How can he use RAWK yet I can't use Liverpool's own official site?
Having read on it would appear that you've got a bit confused here, so try again. Just for the record, this is a forum not a private conversation, so I'll jump into anything I want, thanks. As I've been saying all along, I wasn't adopting either position, merely doubting the credibility of using ANY sort of fans' forum as a reliable source.
TBH, in my experience it is usually United fans. As much I wouldn't like to admit it, you guys have won more and will attract these fans more.
Still, what do you want me to say to that? In your experience you've met a lot of clueless 'Pool fans? That's unfortunate, but it's neither here nor there really.
Please ****ing god tell me you didn't just call me a United fan? Tempted to report the post. You best apologise.
And yeah, I've met a lot of clueless Liverpool fans, because I am from Merseyside. You say it's neither here nor there, I say it is why I am saying that just because the fans say someone is better than someone else, it doesn't make it true, because they are all full of ****.
Sorry mate, you can't have it both ways. Gerrard largely played in the middle in that season and racked up a huge number of goals and practically assisted most of Torres goals himself. He was absolutely immense, yet Torres got the votes. So clearly, people are not that blind, or that biased towards Gerrard. I mean Torres is selling more shirts than Gerrard nowadays. You gotta understand, a lot of Pool fans don't like Gerrard for some inane reasons: think he's a diver (ok, maybe he has had a few but he is no C.Ronaldo), hate that the team is referred as a one-man team; like other players and hate that Gerrard steals the spotlight; etc.
That isn't to say that citing polls is a clear-cut thing and sure they have fallacies, but that goes for both the official Liverpool site and the RAWK. And Gerrard not only won the fans vote, but all the LFC.TV journalist's vote. He had more Man of the Month than anyone by quite a bit.
Gerrard and Torres are both the poster boys for LFC though. You'll never see Mascherano or Skrtel grab such an award on the web, because people who never watch any games aren't really aware of any contributions that these guys make. Honestly, you look at Liverpool's scoresheet and more often than not it's either Gerrard or Torres on there. They all go on, "Nando is a true diehard red," yeah I heard that kids grow up on the streets of Madrid or wherever dreaming of playing for Liverpool....puhlease
Anyway, gone off topic a bit there, but the point is I wasn't purely saying Gerrard wins the polls because he's the most popular, but that a lot of the people who vote don't know what they are talking about and take the easy option.
And who are these reds that hate Gerrard? I don't think I've ever met any.
It's a very easy question: if they wanted Barry instead of Alonso, why did it not happen? It wasn't an issue of money because as I explained the differences added up would have been less than the subsequent Riera transfer. I am not saying Alonso would have stayed had we bought Barry, but I am saying it did not hinge on a straight swap like that and the reason he was in the transfer list were because of his performances the year prior. He was mentioned for sale, provided the price was right, even before Liverpool even went after Barry. You think had he performed well he would be sold at all? He wouldn't have as Rafa showed he clearly wanted Alonso this year. So there is little doubt in my mind that Alonso was put up for transfer because he had been letting himself down, not that Alonso was fine but simply rated Barry higher.
Villa wouldn't sell them barry, that's why. maybe it wouldn't have been a straight swap, but they were getting rid of Alonso to make room for Barry; you're probably right that they wouldn't have felt the need to do so had they felt Alonso had been performing better, but to say that it's revisionist to suggest Benitez wanted Alonso out, Barry in is a bit off. And if there was no hint of that being the main issue, then why was every Liverpool fan I spoke to at the time saying, "ALonso's better than barry, what are we doing?"
. I think he was though
, at Atleti, inside his arm-band it said "We'll Never Walk Alone"
.
Next best thing I guess.
