NOT exactly going as we’d planned is it? After ending last season on a high, expectations were that a couple of quality signings to strengthen the ribs on our sturdy spine would see Liverpool restored to rude health at the top of the table; instead we seem to have developed a potentially debilitating case of lumbago.

An injury to Martin Skrtel and renewed concern over the condition of Daniel Agger’s back has left the departure of Sami Hyypia looking even more premature than it did last May. San Jose and Ayala don’t convince for me and Martin Kelly would be a big risk at his tender years despite huge promise. Sylvain Distain anyone?

The departure of Xabi Alonso is a major blow; I’m continually amazed by those fans who criticise him and try to belittle his talents. No-one’s suggesting that he is the complete player, but his ability to ‘manage’ the match, as Luis Garcia so memorably described it, beating the drum fast or slow to vary the pace of the game, is a talent few others can match.

If you doubt his importance to the side, I suggest you cast your mind back to last season, and the crude attempts of opponents to stop him that brought five red cards.

Those revisionists trying to play down the impact of Alonso leaving have trotted out the usual clichés about no-one being bigger than the club, and that we’ve lost big players before and managed.

While the former is a truism, the latter ignores the fact that the side has been more mature when the likes of Souness, Keegan etc have departed; this side is just coming of age and Alonso’s absence will delay our Bar Mitzvah.

But most of all, I’ll just miss watching Xabi play. Always an island of calm amongst the increasingly frantic storm of the Premier League, his passing was a joy to watch, his audacious attempts to score from his own half a welcome relief from the midfield congestion so often deployed to nullify his threat. A loss indeed.

So what are the options to replace him? Certain elements of the press would have us believe that Rafa had already lined up Alberto Aquilani of Roma as a like-for-like replacement. Swapping a £30m player for another valued at £15m doesn’t quite sound like-for-like to me, nor does it hint that the side will be improved as a result.

The usual clips have appeared on You Tube showing spectacular strikes by the midfielder, but further research on the internet reveals a player criticised for failing to realise his potential, increasingly prone to injury.