5 players Liverpool should never have sold

#1 Xabi Alonso

The dream midfield partnership

Liverpool won the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2005, FA cup in 2006 and then the Community Shield. They reached the finals of the Champions League in 2007 and finished second in the Premier League in 2008-09.

After that, Xabi Alonso was sold to Real Madrid and Liverpool since then have struggled to find an apt replacement for the amazing Spaniard. His supposed replacement Alberto Aquilani never had the same quality and had recurring injury problems. Suddenly the defence lacked cover and looked shaky. Lucas Leiva improved , but he was never in the same mould as Alonso.

Rafa Benitez might have given Liverpool their greatest victory in 2005, but he also made the greatest mistake in Liverpool’s Premier League era, when he decided to sell Xabi Alonso. Steven Gerrard blasted Benitez in his autobiography, My Story saying:

"It was a disastrous decision to sell Alonso, and especially for just £30million — which looks a snip now when you reflect on all he has achieved subsequently, both at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and with Spain, winning the Euros and the World Cup.

"I blame Rafa entirely for the loss of Alonso. He could still have been playing for Liverpool six or seven years after he left in 2009."

This could well be the most disastrous sale in Liverpool’s history. Here is a video showing Alonso’s spectacular passing range in an early match under Benitez.

So there you have it. Imagine a team having the midfield of Alonso, Gerrard and Mascherano along with the front-three of Torres, Suarez and Sterling, a frightening proposition for any opposition team.

If these players had never been sold, Liverpool could well have won multiple Premier League titles.

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