Several fair points here, but don't think you speak on behalf of all fans regarding Alonso. He hasn't shown much in the red shirt so far, to be polite, and I'd be happy to see him go for a decent fee.

Frank, Dublin

LFC messed villa and mon around and completely unsettled barry.The deal would have gone through if the alonso deal had. How can a club tap up a player based on the notion that they will buy that player only when they have sold first?! Juve didnt want to know because alonso was overpriced, a bit like crouch and carson. End of story. Exactly how does alonso feel now having been used as a makeweight all summer, and what about finnan. Benitez has pissed off his own players and his own fans and thats before we even talk about what he has done to villa and Barry. 18mill was in line with the price for carrick and hargreaves. LFC treated Villa with the disdain of a feeder club. MON has played a blinder. Bring on August 31st.

benitez is said to be the best manager then he know what is best for the team.if he wants g.barry he should buy him bcoz he is more forward, attacking and defensive midfield than alonso.he can pass the ball better and the most important he is an english and know the english football well.

So this somehow makes the yanks look good. I do not agree, Benitez believes that Barry is a player who could make the difference in are challenge for the league. Like Keane he is not young but brings proven premier league experience. The yanks are not concerned about the league, it is purely about money and since Barry will not increase in value they will not sanction the move. I can understand why many reds do not want to see Alonso move and he has put in a decent pre season. But I have to wonder why it has taken the Barry situation for him to make start playing. I think in the long run Barry would be a more consistent performer.

Everybody is talking sense, someway or another, but does everybody forget that the areas most needed for improvement are on the wings. I would like to have Barry and Alonso in our team, but the problem is that Gerard would be sacrificed out of his role and play on the flanks. Do you think that its better should we go for Silva, who is more attacking minded and able to play on both flanks. We need width and players who can create havoc when confronted one on one. I say it would be better should we get Silva.
.... still the americans should leave.

Who don't know these words "i asked for a sofa they gave me a lampshade/three legged table"
Yes, these are the words of Rafa when he left Valencia, its seems he gona use these words again very soon after seeing the fckin americans refuse to fund his mai transfer target.
Its more than 1000% clear Rafa wats to win the EPL title, thats why he is trying to buy players who has already establish themselves in the league. If ALonso is the supposedly ma to help us win the title, then WHY haven't we won it yet????
Last year, we lost just because Rafa was ot given sufficient funds to bring a decent left of central defender, this year we don't wat a repeat thats why a wise man like Rafa is preferig a versatile player like Barry..just like Chelsea has Essien, ManU has Hargreaves, Arsenal has Eboue.. Who do we have???
Silva is just another Garcia, he may help us win the Champions league BUT certainly Not the EPL, same applies for ALonso.
These Greedy yanks just want the C.L as opposed to RAFA.
As for Prick Parry he should have had been the first misfit to shipped out this season!!

frank from Dublin what crap you speak Alonso was off form last season and everyone knows that, as for alonso not doing mutch he as played is part in some great matches for liverpool scoring some wonderfull goals in the process. Alonso is a better footballer than Barry fullstop. Barry is a big fish in a little pound at Villa.

Alonso "has put in a decent pre season. But I have to wonder why it has taken the Barry situation for him to make start playing"...

Errr, might that perhaps be due to his injuries last season??? And as for MON playing "a blinder"... well any manager can put a ridiculous fee as the price for a player leaving - but hey, the player is not stupid. He knows that he's been shafted ... and then MON underlined that by fining him, banning him, cancelling his testimonial and publicly vilifying him... I know that I WOULD feel wanted in those circumstances. MON should have got on with building his depleted squad rather than swanning off to the Euros. It's all a little too little too late - perhaps he allowed himself to be "blindED"??? I'm sure that Barry will end up at LFC and that AVFC will end up with LESS money to replace him with.

How is barry worth the same as carrick or hargreaves? both of them were young when bought and as a result would be able to command a decent fee even after 5 years, hence the £18 mil. barry at 27 won't command an 8 figure transfer fee at the age of 32. what villa have done to barry is disgusting. he has given 10 years loyal service and now when he wants to fulfill his career ambitions they ask for a ridiculous fee. fact is liverpool have mentioned barry to the press in name twice, once was this weekend and once rafa mentioned him AFTER mon had said liverpool had made a bid.

I would have to strongly dispute your claim that Martin O'Neill has come out of this looking like a winner. Yes he keeps Barry for another season but Villa desperately want Barry to sign a new contract and O'Neill's treatment of Barry has ensured this will definitely not happen. O'Neill's ongoing baiting of Liverpool (and also at times Barry) in the media was provocative and tacky to say the least and surely would not have won him any friends. I wonder how all those Villa fans who are praising O'Neill for being "the hard man" will feel when Barry leaves for next to nothing (probably to Liverpool) in one or two years time. Very poor man management.

Barry can pass the ball better than Alonso? Pass the shrooms, please.

Anybody who thinks that the Americans know more about football than Benitez needs to have their had examined. As for Alonso, take what we can get...Barry is a much better player. Has anyone ever seen Alonso take a game by the scruff of the neck and lead his team to victory..no...but Gareth Barry does it all the time for Villa.

Barry was wanted because he is consistent, flexible, scores goals (admittedly alot of penalties) and he's english (which means he will increase the number of UK players if & when the quotas come into effect). Alonso is a great player and one we should keep, but as far as defensive midfielders go: Mascherano is boss there. LFC have to change their approach, playing with 2 deep players has only got the club so far. It's time for bold decisions. Personally i'd prefer xabi stays, but Barry would be a good buy. Our midfield needs to be more flexible and we definitely want more goals from them. Towards the end of last season LFC got into a roll - Alonso wasn't a regular starter. Xabi would not start ahead of Gerrard or Mascherano, and he cannot play out on the flanks. The fact of the matter is: Barry & Alonso should both be in the LFC squad, but Villa are asking for a silly amount and the LFC hasn't got the money - so will continue to add season by season to the squad. This means its harder for Rafa to compete with Chelsea and Man U, who add 3-4 £12-18million players to squads on regular basis with ease.
Hence, Rafa's heavy spending on youth - copying the Wenger model.

Bring on Joe Cole!

The biggest loser in this saga is Martin o Neill. By playing hard ball with the transfer fee, Aston Villa have effectively retained an unfit and mentally weak player for the new season. Liverpool could have easily paid £15m for a player worth £10m.

Martin O Neill may have retained Barry for the next season but Aston Villa have lost out £millions due to the stubborness of their manager.

Liverpool can wait another 6 months and get Barry at a cut price or even a free transfer next year. Alonso will have 6 months to show Rafa that he is a world class midfielder or he will be sold.

Also why is it that Arsene Wenger wants to buy Alonso rather than Barry?(both are similar priced) - because Wenger can see quality in a player whereas Rafa sees quality in the likes of Voronin etc

The whole saga is so utterly BORING. LFC and MON have both come out of this looking like amateurs in the transfer market. MON has messed about his most important player in an effort to raise an extra 6 million quid.
If he'd have just said 12mill, the LFC board would have said yes, Rafa, if you raise a bit of money thru sales, too. Now they are all left in check - Rafa doesn't have his man, the LFC board have pissed off their manager again, Rick Parry has confirmed once again why he should be nowhere near a football club, and MON will probably be forced to sell his most vaulable asset and the club captain. Villa are destabalised with Barry still at the club, they need to ship him fast.

i cannot get my head around why everyone is against barry. mascherano cost 18 mill, carrick cost 17 mill, hargreaves cost 15 mill essien cost about 20 mill. if you are buying a world class sitting midfield player then thats what he costs. plus barry is highly experienced both on the wing and at left back. we would have gerrard who can play in almost every position going forward and barry who can do the same going back. great flexability. on top of everything he gets bagfuls of goals and assists.

he's got an unquestionable premierleague record and i say 18 mill is high but in the current climate ok. if alonso is worth 15mill then barry is at least 3mill better than him, and i'm a massive alonso fan

Alonso played poorly two season ago....and although there was some improvement last season he was still way below the levels of performance he reached in his first season with us...the fact remains that he is an excellent footballer technically but far, far too many times last season he provided nothing in an attacking sense in games which we struggled to win. Barry on the other hand is far more attack minded and has more goals and assists (this is fact- look at the stats)in him than Alonso ever will in the premiership. In an ideal world I'd like to keep both (he'd be a good deputy for Masch in the DM role)as Xabi is quality but if I had to choose I'd take Barry for the greater attacking threat. We have Masch in the team and our first choice team should only have him in it as a defensive midfielder so where does alonso sit then? - there's no room for him...put Barry and Gerrard in the middle in front of Masch with Babel, Keane and Fernando running riot in front of them - sounds tasty to me...also...why has everyone suddenly stopped trusting Benitezs judgment?...he wants Barry so lets hope he gets him...every season we're progressively better, albeit in small increments...but Barrys silly price shouldn't mean we hope we don't get him...he's consistently proven his quality and this is without doubt...he's in the england team ahead of Lampard for plenty of good reasons. Alonso has simply not consistently delivered for the past two seasons...if anyone gives us more than 12m for him I'd take it and run.

I don't believe Barry would replace Alonso at all.

So if we don't sign Barry will we expect Alonso to play on the left?

Alonso would have been /will be competing with Gerrard, Plessis and Lucas (who Rafa said will be playing more next season) for the central place.
Barry on the left with an over lapping full back is mouth watering.

If we sign him, he'll be the most important signing of the summer.

If we can pay almost 20 million for an older Keane (who I not going to rave over till he's producing the goods), then we should be paying 18 million for one of the best English midfielders in the land.

He will improve as a player with us and there will be another 'captain' at the club.

The fans singing bollox about him are up there with the owners.
Complete arsewipes who aren't real fans but spectators who learned their football from shitty TV shows on Sky.

Neutral Football Fan

As an outside observer ( and I don't support Man U , Chelski or Arsenal - Rochdale actually !!) I do not think liverpool showed any respect to Aston Villa. Barry is their contracted player and they can put any price on his head. Liverpool having unsettled him could not afford the price. That seems pretty straightforward. The price was £18 million. Claiming he is worth less than the selling club claim is his value is pretty pointless unless you can convince the seller. Liverpool have both failed to do this and failed to convince the seller that they actually have the money. Liverpool made matters worse when they spent the money they had on Keane - that was a strong message to Barry who should have shown some savvy and told Liverpool that he was no longer interested. The fans don't want him. I guess the real message is that Rafa is now living on borrowed time - a couple of poor results and he'll be gone

Whoever says Barry is good is stupid, blind and brainless.