Aquilani: Liverpool will be better without Xabi

Alberto Aquilani insists he'll help Liverpool fans to forget Xabi Alonso.

Since Real Madrid midfielder Alonso quit Anfield, Liverpool have crashed out of the Champions League and have struggled in the Premier League.

They are 12 points adrift of leaders Chelsea and have scaled their ambitions down to a top-four finish.

Aquilani was bought to replace Alonso but has so far failed to convince the Liverpool faithful.

But he insists the Reds are a stronger team without the influential Spaniard.

He said: "Benitez and my team-mates have told me that before this season the whole Reds game went through Xabi. With me just in front of Javier Mascherano and Steven Gerrard just behind the front man, we now have even more solutions in midfield.

"Xabi and I are two very different kinds of player. He is a much better playmaker, or 'regista' as we say in Italy, the one who starts the play.

"I like to get hold of the ball more and go inside or perhaps shoot after a 'give and go' with a midfield partner such as Stevie G or a striker like Fernando Torres, who is a magician when it comes to opening up space.

"In the early part of the season, we struggled a bit because I was injured and the team lacked this midfield geometry.

"This is the manager's fantasy."