Ranieri claims Alonso is too slow for Juve
Ranieri felt Alonso's lack of pace would have been exposed in the Juventus midfield
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Thursday, 09, Oct 2008 09:42
Juventus manager Claudio Ranieri has reveled that he nearly signed Xabi Alonso in the summer, but turned down the opportunity because he felt the Liverpool midfielder is too slow.
Alonso had been expected to link-up with the former Chelsea boss, paving the way for Gareth Barry's proposed move to Anfield, but deal never materialised.
Now Ranieri has claimed that his concern over the Spaniard's lack of pace was the reason the deal never happened.
"He was a player we wanted,” Ranieri said.
"But he is a player, who even though he is an extraordinary man and a great professional, left me perplexed by the slowness of his movement in midfield.
"In the midfield of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool, where all of them are little soldiers, he finds himself in a fantastic position.
"But in our midfield, he would have found it hard to support the midfield line seeing as (Juve wingers) Mauro Camoranesi and Pavel Nedved are not players that come back to give support like Liverpool’s wingers."