'Slow' Alonso snubbed by Juventus

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri revealed he turned down the chance to sign Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso in the summer because he was "too slow".

The Spain international described Juve as "a great club" amid reports that the Italian giants were in talks with Liverpool about a £16m move for him.

But Ranieri said: "He left me perplexed by the slowness of his movement.

"He would have found it hard to support our midfield line seeing as our wingers don't give support like at Liverpool."

Alonso's expected departure from Liverpool was thought to be tied in to manager Rafael Benitez's desire to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

That deal failed to materialise after Reds' hierarchy refused to sanction the big-money move, meaning Alonso remained at Anfield.

However, the 26-year-old has re-ignited his Liverpool career this season, playing a major role in the Reds' progress to second in the league table with five wins from seven matches.

Ranieri maintains, though: "He is a player who, in the midfield of Rafa's Liverpool, where all of them are little soldiers, finds himself in a fantastic position."

Juventus, who signed Denmark's Christian Poulsen from Sevilla instead, currently lie 11th in Serie A with two wins from their first six matches.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/7661183.stm

bitter old *****

we're coming first and they are bloody struggling

he's just jealous

yep that's really showing in their table standings at the moment....... not.

and alonso isn't a true dm anyway, masha is. alonso is a clasical central mid

and masha >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>poulson

yes mate even all the way back at shalke. what's your point?

poulsen is decent but like CJ pointed out above alonso isnt a traditional DM but rather a CM. Ranieri wanted alonso all summer but couldnt afford him so he bought poulsen instead. He is bitter because rafa is linked to his job

A-L-O, N-S-O. It's ALONSO! It's Xabi Xabi Xabi Alonso!
A-L-O, N-S-O. It's ALONSO! It's Xabi Xabi Xabi Alonso!

Alonso "too good for juve" more like it!

He didn't buy Pouslen instead, Poulsen was always going to be bought, the snag for Juventus was that Liverpool wanted way too much money for Alonso, that was the whole problem. And while Poulsen hasn't set the world on fire yet, he is all class and rarely losses a battle against a fellow opponent, that's why he's my favorite player in the world and trust me he'll come good at Juventus, he just needs time. Also why he is regarded as one of the top DM in the world too, beat Totti at Euro 2004 and Kaka in the Champions League a couple of years ago.

Too slow for Italian football? Puh-lease.