[Andy Bennett]

Originally Posted by Harry Boulton

I don't know about that. I don't believe that Lampard and Alonso ever had anything between them. I think the media stirred that up. You get rival players who hate each other but Lampard doesn't strike me as the kind of player to hold a grudge, and neither does Alonso for that matter. Both are too intelligent for holding needless grudges against one-another.

Maybe though. Stranger things have happened.

In general you're right and I think it was probably overblown by 'the meeja' but there was a bit of niggle between them. It all started when Frank broke Alonso's ankle with a mis-timed tackle when he was first here and continued over the subsequent meetings.

As you say, neither of them are dirty players and are too intelligent to bear a grudge but some of the tackles were certainly a bit.... er.... 'meaty', shall we say.

TBH, though, it's probably all part of the Chelsea/Liverpool games history that have become such a fixture of the league and CL.

[Harry Boulton]

There's certainly some "tasty" challenges being attempted there........

[revelationx]

Rooney. Ibra.

Just thought I'd give them a mention as it has been about 20 posts now!

[JamesBH11]

Originally Posted by Harry Boulton

I'd say Hamann was more defensive than Alonso, to be honest? He was a tough tackler when he was required to be. Tough tackling is not something that springs to mind when you say the words "Xabi Alonso".

It's true. Hamann was a much rougher player than Xabi (who is better in ball skills). I just bring two names as they both play for same team, same position!

[Andy Bennett]

Originally Posted by revelationx

Rooney. Ibra.

Who?

[Finnish Taktix]

I'm not saying that Hamann was the team playmaker, but he did have a role in starting attacks, which makes him a kind of playmaker. I've been trying to say that classic playmakers aren't the only playmakers on-field...