2) Mikel San Jose
Would we all be talking about or problems with Dejan Lovren and Mamadou Sakho if this young Spaniard had been given a fair chance back during his spell at former club Liverpool? San Jose, who failed to make a senior appearance for us during his three years at the club, rejoined boyhood club Athletic Bilbao after leaving Anfield and has since established himself as one of the best centre-backs in La Liga. He’s played more than 200 times for the club in all competitions and helped his side win the Spanish Super Cup with a huge victory over Barcelona last month. His exploits have even earned him recognition on the international stage, where he has won three caps.
1) Xabi Alonso
Surely the greatest sin of the Rafael Benitez era – and arguably the reason for his eventual departure – was allowing Alonso to go to Real Madrid and replacing him with Alberto Aquilani, who arrived at the club injured and never truly recovered. During his time at Liverpool, Alonso had won the Champions League, the FA Cup and two other minor trophies, reached another European final and finished second in the Premier League – if we’d wanted to fight and keep him then surely we had enough ammunition to convince him to do so? The Spaniard has instead continued his hugely successful career with Madrid and Bayern Munich – winning another seven major titles.
